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Looking for the simplest way to put cross fades just on the audio.
Alright, I edit a television story, there’s a bit of narration and several b-roll clips with natural sound that I keep low in the background.
I’ve never liked sudden jarring sound cuts, so I generally put very short dissolves on the clips, 6-10 frames, just to soften up the audio cuts.
FCP 7 lets me select multiple clips, opt-cmd-T to add default crossfade, and bingo, the entire groups of clips has the audio nicely blended.
FCP X, I need to open up the outgoing video clip to see the soundtrack, extend the soundtrack, click and drag on the little fader button, then do the same thing on the ingoing clip. I put the soft crossfade on dozens of clips in an average story.
There has to be a better way!
I can apply video transitions, and FCPX will crossfade the audio, but I don’t want transitions.
Apple… do you have some love for me?
–> Mark
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Mark Morache
Evening Magazine
Seattle, WA -
15 Replies
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For audio only crossfade.
Create audio only Secondary storyline,
Then adding a dissolve will be an audio only crossfade.They way I’d it should work is the same as the way a video only dissolve works.
Expand the adjoining clips in a storyline. They you can add a video only dissolve
but not an audio only dissolve.Doing one or the other shouldn’t involve two completely different procedures.
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Thanks Craig… that’ll work, but that’s not my favorite solution. Breaking the video from the audio makes it difficult if I want to make any changes later. Why should I have to break the connection between my video and my audio to get the simple cross dissolves I can already get in FCP 7?
That little fader they’ve placed at the end of each audio clip is a thoughtful touch, but there needs to be a simpler way to operate it, or add it automatically.
I understand 2 steps forward and 1 step backward, but with FCP X, it feels like we have 99 steps forward and 99 steps backwards, in addition to about 1000 steps sideways.
Tryin’ to make it work.
–> Mark
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I agree. The simplest things take way too many steps. For all the things FCPX does quickly there are a lot of little things that are overly complex.
If video is Expand Clips add video dissolve, audio should also be Expand Clips and add audio crossfade. That they require too completely different workflows is not only too may steps but wildly inconsistent implementation of the GUI in my opinion.
Heck why not have a keystroke for video only and a keystroke with modifier key for audio only and not even have to expand the clips. Just select the edit point and execute. The GUI display would be a dissolve icon that covers either only the video or audio portion of the clips as it’s displayed.
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I think if they made a keystroke for crossfading audio, then it would seem more like we have tracks, and remember that we don’t have tracks. There are no tracks in FCP X. You have been liberated from tracks.
For adjusting audio levels, I like using the R key to select a region, and use the cmd+ and cmd- to adjust the audio for that region. But I’m more than miffed that I can’t apply level adjustments on individual tracks, without breaking the clip apart. I think I’ll just need to break the clip apart and then group them back into a group clip.
Another easy thing made more difficult.
Still tryin’ to make it work.
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[Mark Morache] “You have been liberated from tracks.”
I don’t mind being liberated from tracks but I also want to be liberated from keystrokes.
Any more keystrokes for “simple” functions and I’ll have to take piano lessons to improve my editing speed.
“Is that a B minor 7 chord or are you just trying to do an audio crossfade?”
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What I find I am often doing is a select all and then opening up the audio video.
I agree that add dissolve is a quick and dirty fix up for what you are trying to do but I really appreciate just grabbing the handle in the timeline and pulling a crossfade.
If they took that dissolve idea from logic interface it would be efficient. Just grab the audio crossfade tool and go.
A fast way to put say a 4 frame dissolve on everything is indeed missing but the new tools are much more powerful and have a more finished feel.
I am like all if us. I want it all andvill want both now. I would for sure encourage many to provide feedback.
______________________________
Believe me. Everything is a lie. -
You can apply the fades to one clip, then copy and “paste effects” to the rest.
Roger Hendrick
The Airship Factory
http://www.airshipfactory.com
HD Video Production – Blu-ray Authoring -
How about creating a custom Audio-only transition in Motion, so you can apply it straight to the primary storyline (the video transition would equal a normal cut) ?
all the best,
frank, sonicVision.de
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Craig, can you clarify what you mean by
”Create audio only Secondary storyline”
Many Thanks
Francis Robertson
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In order to do an audio only crossfade using the dissolve transition, you must detach the audio. Select both audio clips. Use Command G to convert them from Connected Clips to a Secondary Storyline. At that point when you add the dissolve transition it will be a crossfade.
Basically you can’t add an audio only dissolve in the Primary Storyline if they are attached to video. Conversely you can add a Video only dissolve in the Primary Storyline simply by Expanding the clips and adding the dissolve to the video only. It’s inconsistent behavior so adding an audio only crossfade is not intuitive.
Alternately, if you use Expand clips, you can overlap the audio clips and crossfade using the fader handles.
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