Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating fades

There are two main types of fade-ins and fade-outs in audio events in Nuendo: fades created by using the fade handles (see below) and fades created by processing (see “Fades created by processing” on page 89).

Fades created by using the fade handles

Selected audio events have blue handles in the upper left and right corners. These can be dragged to create a fadein or fade-out respectively.

Creating a fade-in. The fade is automatically reflected in the shape of the event’s waveform, giving you a visual feedback of the result when you drag the fade handle.

Fades created with the handles are not applied to the audio clip as such but calculated in real time during playback. This means that several events referring to the same audio clip can have different fade curves. It also means that having a huge number of fades may demand a lot of processor power.

•If you select multiple events and drag the fade handles on one of them, the same fade will be applied to all selected events.

•A fade can be edited in the Fade dialog, as described on the following pages.

You open the dialog by double-clicking in the area above the fade curve, or by selecting the event and selecting “Open Fade Editor(s)” from the Audio menu (note that this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade-in and fade-out curves).

If you adjust the shape of the fade curve in the Fade dialog, this shape will be maintained when you later adjust the length of a fade.

•You can make the fade longer or shorter at any time, by dragging the handle.

You can actually do this even without selecting the event first, i.e. without visible handles. Just move the mouse pointer along the fade curve until the cursor turns into a bidirectional arrow, then click and drag.

•If the option “Show Event Volume Curves Always” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page), the fade curves will be shown in all events, regardless of whether they are selected or not.

If the option is deactivated, the fade curves are shown in selected events only.

•If the option “Fade Handles always on Top” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display-Audio page), the fade handles stay at the top of the event, and vertical help lines indicate the exact end or start points of fades.

This is useful in situations where you want the event volume to be very low, as this option allows you to still see the fade handles.

•If the option “Thick Fade Lines” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display-Audio page), the fade lines and volume curve are thicker, increasing their visibility.

Fade handles on top of the event and thicker fade and volume lines allow you to edit and view fades even in situations where event volume is very low.

• When the option “Use Mouse Wheel for Event volume and Fades” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Edit- ing–Audio page), you can use the mouse wheel to move the volume curve up or down. When you hold down [Shift] while moving the mouse wheel, this will change the fade curves. This is useful in situations where the fade handles are not visible (e.g. because of a very high zoom factor).

When you position the mouse pointer somewhere in the left half of the event, the fade in end point is moved. When the mouse pointer is in the right half of the event, the fade out start point will move.

ÖYou can set up key commands for changing the event volume curve and any fade curves, if you don’t want to use the mouse for this.

You will find these commands in the Key Commands dialog, in the Audio category. See “Key commands” on page 517.

ÖAs an alternative to dragging the fade handles, you can use the items “Fade In to Cursor” and “Fade Out to Cursor” on the Audio menu to create fades.

Position the project cursor on an audio event where you want a fade in to end or a fade out to begin, and select the appropriate option from the Audio menu. A fade will then be created, ranging from the event’s start or end to the position of the cursor.

Creating and adjusting fades with the Range Selection tool

“Handle-type” fades can also be created and adjusted with the Range Selection tool, in the following way:

1. Select a section of the audio event with the Range Selection tool.

The result depends on your selection, in the following way:

•If you select a range from the beginning of the event, a fade-in will be created within the range.

•If you select a range that reaches the end of an event, a fadeout will be created in the range.

•If you select a range encompassing a middle section of the event, but not reaching neither the start nor the end, both a fade-in and a fade-out will be created outside of the selected range. In other words, the fade-in will cover the area from the beginning of the event to the beginning of the selected range, and the fade-out will cover the area from the end of the selected range to the end of the event.

2. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Adjust Fades to Range”.

The fade areas are adjusted according to the selection range.

You can select multiple audio events on separate tracks with the Range Selection tool, and apply the fade to all of them simultaneously.

Applying Default Fades

You can also create fades by using the commands “Apply Standard Fade In” and “Apply Standard Fade Out” from the Audio menu.

1.Select one or more audio events in the project window.

2.From the Audio menu, choose either “Apply Standard Fade In” or “Apply Standard Fade Out”.

A fade will be created that is the same length and shape as the Default fade (see “As Default button” on page 90 for more information on how to define Default fades).

About the volume handle

A selected audio event also has a blue handle in the top middle. This is the volume handle, and it provides a quick way of changing the volume of an event, directly in the Project window. It is linked directly with the volume setting on the info line, that is, dragging the volume handle also changes the value on the info line.

The event waveform reflects the volume change.

Removing fades

To remove the fades for an event, select the event and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

You can also use the Range Selection tool to remove fades and crossfades within the selected range:

1.Drag the Range Selection tool in the Project window, so that the selection encloses all of the fades and crossfades you wish to remove.

2.Select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

Fades created by processing

If you have selected an audio event or a section of an audio event (using the Range Selection tool), you can apply a fade-in or fade-out to the selection by using the “Fade In” or “Fade Out” functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. These functions open the corresponding Fade dialog, allowing you to specify a fade curve.

Note that the length of the fade area is determined by your selection. In other words, you specify the length of the fade before you enter the Fade dialog.

Also note that you can select multiple events and apply the same processing to all of them simultaneously.

Fades created this way are applied to the audio clip rather than to the event. Please note the following:

•If you later create new events that refer to the same clip, these will have the same fades.

•You can remove or modify the fades at any time using the Offline Process History (see “The Offline Process History dialog” on page 251).

If other events refer to the same audio clip, you will be asked whether you want the processing to be applied to these events or not.

•Continue will apply the processing to all events that refer to the audio clip.

•New Version will create a separate, new version of the audio clip for the selected event.

•You can also activate “Do not show this message again”. Regardless of whether you then choose “Continue” or “New Version”, any further processing will conform to the option you select.

You can change this setting at any time in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page), under “On Processing Shared Clips”.

The Fade dialogs

The Fade dialogs appear when you edit an existing fade or use the “Fade In”/”Fade Out” functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. The picture below shows the Fade In dialog; the Fade Out dialog has identical settings and features.

• If you open the Fade dialog(s) with several events selected, you can adjust the fade curves for all these events at the same time.

This is useful if you want to apply the same type of fade-in to more than one event, etc.

Curve Kind

These determine whether the fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Fade display

Shows the shape of the fade curve. The resulting waveform shape is shown in dark gray, with the current waveform shape in light gray.

You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display.

Curve shape buttons

These buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes.

Restore button

The Restore button (to the right above the fade display) is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to cancel any changes you have made since opening the dialog.

Fade Length Value

The Fade Length Value can be used to enter fade lengths numerically. The format of values displayed here are determined by the Primary Time Display in the Transport Panel.

When you activate the “Apply Length” option, the value entered in the Fade Length value field will be used when clicking “Apply” or “OK”. This setting is deactivated by default.

When you set the current Fade as the Default fade, the length value is included as part of the default settings.

Presets

If you have set up a fade-in or fade-out curve that you may want to apply to other events or clips, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button.

•To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.

•To rename the selected preset, double-click on the name and type a new one.

•To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu and click Remove.

Stored fade-in presets will only appear in the Fade In dialog, and fade-out presets will only appear in the Fade Out dialog.

As Default button

The “As Default…” button is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to store the current settings as default fade. This shape will be used whenever you create new fades by dragging event handles. Both the shape and length will be used when you create fades using the “Apply Standard Fade…” commands from the Audio menu.

Preview, Apply and Process

The buttons in the bottom row are different depending on whether you are editing a fade made with the fade handles or applying a fade using processing:

The Edit Fade dialog.

The Process Fade dialog.

The Edit Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

The Process Fade dialogs have the following buttons: