Handling several parts

When you open the Audio Part Editor with several parts selected – all on the same track or on different tracks – they might not all “fit” in the editor window, which can make it hard to get an overview of the different parts when editing.

Therefore, the toolbar features a few functions to make working with multiple parts easier and more comprehensive:

• The Part List menu lists all parts that were selected when you opened the editor, and lets you select which part should be active for editing.

When you select a part from the list, it is automatically made active and centered in the display.

Ö Note that it is also possible to activate a part by clicking on it with the Arrow tool.

• The button “Edit Active Part Only” lets you restrict editing operations to the active part only.

If you for example select “All” from the Select submenu on the Edit menu with this option activated, all events in the active part will be selected but not the events in other parts.

“Edit Active Part Only” activated on the toolbar.

•You can zoom in on an active part so that it fills the screen by selecting “Zoom to Event” from the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu.

•The button “Show Part Borders” can be used if you want to see clearly defined borders for the active part.

When this is activated, all parts except the active one are grayed out, making the borders easily discernible. There are also two “markers” in the ruler with the name of the active part, marking its beginning and end. These can be moved freely to change the part borders.

• It is possible to cycle between parts, making them active, with key commands.

In the Key Commands dialog – Edit category, there are two functions: “Activate Next Part” and “Activate Previous Part”. If you assign key commands to these, you can use them to cycle between parts. Please refer to “Setting up key commands” on page 518 for instructions on how to set up key commands.

Common methods

Assembling a “perfect take”

When you record audio in Cycle mode, either an event or a region (or both) is created for each recorded lap (see “Recording audio in cycle mode” on page 73). These events and regions are named “Take X”, where “X” is the number of the take. You can create a perfect take by putting together sections of the different takes in the Audio Part Editor.

Ö The procedure below will not work if you recorded with “Keep Last” mode selected on the Transport panel.

In that case, only the last take will be kept on the track (although the previous takes will be available as regions in the Pool).

First, you have to create an audio part from the takes. This procedure is slightly different depending on whether you choose to create events or regions.

Creating an audio part from events

1.In the Project window, use the Object Selection tool to draw a rectangle around the recorded events.

This is necessary, since clicking on the event may just select the event on top (the last take). If in doubt, check the info line – the info text should be yellow.

2.Pull down the Audio menu and select “Events to Part”.

The events are converted to an audio part.

• Note that the events cycle record mode also makes it easy to combine different takes in the Project window – see “Create Events mode (Preferences)” on page 74.

Creating an audio part from regions

1.In the Project window, select the event you recorded in Cycle mode.

After recording, this will play the last take.

2.Pull down the Audio menu and select “Events to Part”.

You are asked whether you want to “Create part using regions”.

3.Click “Regions”.

The regions are converted to an audio part.

Assembling a take

1. Double-click the part to open the Audio Part Editor.

Now, the different takes will be placed on different lanes, with the last take at the bottom.

2. Use the tools to cut out pieces of the takes and assemble the final result.

This can include splitting with the Scissors tool, resizing events with the Arrow tool or deleting with the Eraser tool.

• Remember that the events on the lowest lane have playback priority.

Use the Audition icon to audition the result.

3. Close the Audio Part Editor.

You have now assembled a “perfect take”!

Options and Settings

The following options and settings are available in the Audio Part Editor:

• Snap

You can specify an independent Snap mode (and snap value for the Grid mode) in the editor. The functionality is exactly the same as in the Project window.

• Autoscroll

When Autoscroll is activated on the toolbar, the window will scroll during playback, keeping the project cursor visible in the editor. This setting can be activated or deactivated individually for each window.

• Snap to Zero Crossing

When this option is activated, all audio edits are done at zero crossings (positions in the audio where the amplitude is zero). This helps you avoid pops and clicks which might otherwise be caused by sudden amplitude changes.