sonic-foundry Sonic Foundry Acid ACID40 manual

After you install ACID and start it for the first time, the registration wizard appears. This wizard offers easy
steps that enable you to register ACID online with Sonic Foundry. Alternately, you may register ACID
online at www.sonicfoundry.com at any time.

Registering your product provides you with exclusive access to a variety of technical support options,
notification of product updates, and special promotions exclusive to ACID registered users.

Registration assistance

If you do not have access to the Internet, registration assistance is available. Please contact our Customer
Service Department.

Registration assistance is currently available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central
Standard Time (CST) by dialing the following numbers:

Telephone/Fax Country

1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands

[phone] (toll-free) Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, UK,

Netherlands, and Japan

[phone] All other countries

1-608-250-1745 (fax) All countries

Customer service/sales

For a detailed list of customer service options, we encourage you to visit www.sonicfoundry.com. Use the
following numbers for telephone support during normal office hours:

Telephone/Fax/E-mail Country

1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands

[phone] (toll-free) Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, UK,

Netherlands, and Japan

[phone] All other countries

1-608-250-1745 (fax) All countries

customerservice@sonicfoundr y.com

Technical support

For a detailed list of technical support options, we encourage you to visit www.sonicfoundry.com/support.

• To listen to your support options, please call 608-256-5555.

• Customers who have purchased ACID Pro receive 60 days of complimentary phone support. The
complimentary support begins when the Pro product is registered. (Registration is required to receive this
complimentary support.) Please call [phone] if you need assistance with your Pro version product.

User manual feedback

If you have comments or suggestions about this user manual, we would like to hear from you. Send us e-mail
at [e-mail].

Sonic Foundry, Inc.

1617 Sherman Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
USA

The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Sonic Foundry. The software described in this manual is provided under the
terms of a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The software license agreement specifies the terms
and conditions for its lawful use.

Sonic Foundry and ACID are registered trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. ASIO is a trademark and VST is
a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies AG. Other brands and products named here are the
trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonic Foundry, its affiliates, or their respective holders.

Copyright © 2002 Sonic Foundry, Inc. This user guide can be reproduced for noncommercial reference or
personal/private use only and may not be resold. Any reproduction in excess of fifteen copies or electronic
transmission requires the written permission of Sonic Foundry.

Table of Contents

Introducing ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Welcome to Sonic Foundry ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Installing ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Using online help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

What’sThis? help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Help on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Overview of ACID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3

Main interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Track list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Window docking area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Keyboard command reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Audio signal flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

MIDI signal flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

What’s New?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Mixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Plug-in effects automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.1 surround mixing and surround pan automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Alternate time signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

ASIO driver support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Loop Cloning in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Bus tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Enhanced time stretching for Beatmapped tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

New audio panning types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

New envelope fade types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

MIDI piano roll editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

MIDI step recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4

MIDI event list editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

VSTi support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Yamaha OPT support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Optimized DLS and VSTi soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Multiple media file previewing and Explorer enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Hotkey commands for track muting and soloing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Optimized ACID playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Autosave crash recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Customizable default track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Windows Media Audio and Video import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Enhanced video handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Starting projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Setting project properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Opening existing projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Getting media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Previewing media from the Explorer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Adding media to the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Understanding track types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

One-shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Beatmapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Adding and editing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Painting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Changing the length of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Erasing sections of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Moving events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Using the cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Positioning the cursor with the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Positioning the cursor with the keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Positioning the cursor with the Go To command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Making selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Selecting an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Selecting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Creating time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Creating event selections within time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Working with tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Reordering tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Resizing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Changing track colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Renaming tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Duplicating tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Deleting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Copying, cutting, and pasting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Adjusting the mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Muting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Soloing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Working with groups of tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Using undo and redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Using undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Undoing all edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Using redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Clearing the undo history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Playing the project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Using the transport bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Using playback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Using the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

5

Viewing the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Using the mixer toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Renaming mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Using the mixer’s faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Saving, rendering, and delivering projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Saving projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Rendering projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Publishing to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Writing to CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Editing Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Copying events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Pasting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Using the Paste command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Using Paste Repeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Using Paste Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Cutting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Deleting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Trimming events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Splitting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Splitting at the cursor position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

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Splitting an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Splitting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Splitting a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Splitting events within a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Joining events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Ripple editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Cutting events in ripple editing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Deleting events in ripple editing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Pasting events in ripple editing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Slipping and sliding events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Shifting the contents of (slipping) events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Slip-trimming events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Sliding events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Changing event properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Using event envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Setting an event’s volume envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Setting an event’s fade-in and -out envelope curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Creating crossfades between events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Working in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Using project markers and regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Working with standard markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Working with time markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Working with command markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Working with regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Using snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Choosing snapping options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Changing tempo, time signature, and key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Changing project tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Changing project time signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Changing project key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Working with tempo/key/time signature change markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Changing a track’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Changing an event’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Adjusting time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Inserting time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Fitting to time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Using the Chopper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Working in the Chopper window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

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Viewing the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Changing the Chopper grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Changing Chopper snapping options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Magnifying the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Previewing in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Using Chopper toolbar and keyboard commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Inserting markers and regions in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Creating selections in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Placing files in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Creating selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Creating selections of a specific musical length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Inserting increments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Creating increments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Creating increments of a specific musical length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Creating increments of a custom musical length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Inserting selections in the track view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

Using the Insert Selection button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using copy and paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Dragging selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Moving the insert position in the track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Saving Chopper selections as new files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

7

Using the Chopper with one-shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Working with Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Using track effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Creating or adding to track plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Arranging plug-in chain order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Bypassing plug-ins in a chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Removing plug-ins from chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Saving plug-in chains as packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Removing or bypassing all effects on tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Using track envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Adding track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Adjusting envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using the Envelope tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Hiding track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Removing track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Choosing stereo pan types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Using the Beatmapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Understanding stretching properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Configuring track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

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Adjusting general track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Adjusting stretching properties for loop or Beatmapped tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Adjusting track properties for MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Reloading files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Replacing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Saving file properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Mixing multiple tracks to a single track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Exporting loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Using the Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Using busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Adding busses to the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Routing tracks to busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Routing busses to system hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Deleting busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Using assignable effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Adding assignable effect controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Working with assignable effects chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Routing tracks to assignable effect controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Routing assignable effect controls to busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Deleting assignable effect controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Using soft synth controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Adding soft synth controls to projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Modifying soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Deleting soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Routing MIDI tracks to soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Using mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Working with mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Adding effects to mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Working with multiple mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Automating mixer controls in track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Recording in ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Recording audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Setting ACID’s recording properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Setting recording levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Recording multiple takes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Reviewing and saving takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Working with MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Adding MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Adding MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Creating new MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Recording MIDI tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Changing MIDI track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Pitch shifting MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Setting root notes for MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Working with tracks in a MIDI file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Previewing MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Using the piano roll editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Viewing the piano roll editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Previewing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Selecting MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Adding note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Editing note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Quantizing note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Deleting note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Undoing and redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Saving MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Using the list editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

9

Viewing the list editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Previewing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Filtering the list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Editing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Creating events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Step recording events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Quantizing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Deleting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Undoing and redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Saving MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Loading third-party OPT plug-ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Routing MIDI tracks to MIDI devices or soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

Resetting MIDI ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Rendering projects with MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Playing MIDI from external devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Adding external devices as MIDI inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Assigning MIDI inputs to soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Synchronizing using MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

TABLE OF CONTENTS

10

Generating MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Triggering from MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Generating MIDI clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Working with Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Managing video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Adding or replacing video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Removing the video track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Hiding and showing the video track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Synchronizing audio and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Removing the video’s audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Changing frame numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Editing video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Moving video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Trimming video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Slipping and sliding video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Using the Video window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using toolbar buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using the shortcut menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Viewing the status bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Previewing on external monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Scoring video with ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Working with 5.1 Surround Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

What is 5.1 surround?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Setting up surround sound hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Setting up surround sound projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Routing to hardware in the mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Assigning audio to the LFE channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Panning audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Panning tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Panning mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Using the Surround Panner window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Automating panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Turning on panning keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Adding panning keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Working with keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Rendering surround sound projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Customizing ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Working with ACID windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Docking and floating ACID windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Changing the time ruler format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

Using the ruler offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Using the project grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162

Setting the grid type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Using the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Hiding and displaying the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Reordering toolbar buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Adding buttons to the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Removing buttons from the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Using the time display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

Changing cursor position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Changing the time display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Monitoring MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Setting default track properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

11

Setting ACID preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Using the General tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Using the Audio tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Using the MIDI tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Using the VST Instruments tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Using the Video tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Using the Editing tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Using the Sync tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Using the Other tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

ACID Tips and Tricks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Adding long media files quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Playing with duplicate tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Detuning paired tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Duplicating with offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Creating ping-pong pan effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Adding depth with assignable effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Playing double time/half time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Constructing the wall of sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Adding through subtraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Tweaking the dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Fading in and out of mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

TABLE OF CONTENTS

12

Adding build ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Creating wah-wah effects with automated Track EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Making automated changes more stark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Abruptly changing volume or pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Turning automated effects on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Making automated frequency changes more natural. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Overriding compress/expand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Slicing and dicing in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Chopping new loops for alternate time signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Chopping multiple files into a new loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Creating drum-roll build ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Creating drum fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Creating one-track remixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Creating DJ-style crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Creating pseudo-granular synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Building instrument solos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Building scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

Introducing ACID

1

1

Welcome to Sonic Foundry ACID

Congratulations on purchasing a revolutionary software application for Windows. Using Sonic Foundry

®

ACID

System requirements

In order to use ACID, your computer must satisfy the following minimum specifications:

• 300 MHz processor (400 MHz processor required for video scoring)

• Microsoft Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, or XP

• 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended)

• 60 MB hard-disk space for program installation

• Windows-compatible sound card

• CD-ROM drive (required for installation from CD-ROM)

• Supported CD-recordable drive (required for CD burning)

• DirectX 8.0 (included on CD-ROM)

• Internet Explorer, version 4.0 or higher (version 5.0 included on CD-ROM)

you can create great music by simply picking, painting, and playing.

13

Installing ACID

Prior to installing ACID, we recommend that you exit all open applications and temporarily turn off any
virus protection.

Note:

running Windows 2000, your user account
must be a member of the Administrators group
to install ACID and a member of the Power
Users group (or higher) to register ACID.

1.

Insert the ACID CD-ROM. The ACID Installation screen appears if CD-ROM AutoPlay is enabled.

Note:

click and choose
dialog, enter the CD-ROM drive’s letter and
add :\setup.exe. Click OK to begin installation.

2.

Click Install Software to begin the installation process.

3.

Follow the on-screen prompts and enter the necessary information when required. At the final screen
prompt, click

If you’re installing ACID on a system

If CD-ROM AutoPlay is turned off,

Run. In the Run

Finish.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

14

Using online help

You can access two varieties of help within ACID:

• Online help

• What’sThis? help (also referred to as context-sensitive help)

Online help

To access online help, choose Contents and Index from the Help menu or press .

Note:

To view online help, Internet

F1

Explorer 4.0 or later must be installed on your
system. Internet Explorer 5.0 is included on
the ACID CD-ROM for your convenience.

Tabs

The

Contents tab provides a list of available help topics. Double-click a closed book ( ) to open the pages

and then click a topic page ( ).

The

Index tab provides a complete listing of the help topics available. Scroll through the list of available

topics or type a word in the

Type in the keyword to find box to quickly locate topics related to that word. Select

the topic and click .

The

Search tab allows you to enter a keyword and display all of the topics in the online help that contain the

keyword you have entered. Type a keyword in the

Type in the word(s) to search for box and click .

Select the topic from the list and click .

The

Favorites tab allows you to keep topics that you revisit often in a separate folder. To add a topic to your

favorites, click on the

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

Favorites tab.

What’sThis? help

What’sThis? help allows you to view pop-up window descriptions for ACID menus, buttons, and dialog
boxes. Choose

What's This? from the Help menu, press , or click the What’sThis? help button ( ) on

Shift +F1

the toolbar and then click any ACID item. To use What’sThis? help in a dialog box, click the question mark
button ( ) in the upper-right corner of the dialog box and then click an item in the dialog box.

Help on the Web

Additional ACID help and information is available on the Sonic Foundry Web site. Choose Sonic Foundry

on the Web

from the Help menu to view a listing of Web pages pertaining to ACID and Sonic Foundry. If

your browser is not already open, ACID will automatically start it for you.

Overview of ACID

ACID is designed to be a powerful and flexible, but easy-to-use music creation application. Many of the
ACID operations, menu items, and shortcut keys are common to other Sonic Foundry applications.

The following sections provide a tour of the ACID work area.

Main interface

The work area includes three main areas: the track list, the track view (or timeline), and the window
docking area. The other parts of the interface are tools and features used while creating and working with
your project. You can resize the track list, track view, and window docking area by dragging the dividers
between them.

15

Track list

Window
docking
area

Divider

Track view

Divider

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

16

Toolbar

The toolbar allows you to quickly access the most commonly used functions and features in ACID.

Opens a new project. You will be prompted to
save any changes to the current project.

Displays the Open File dialog. From this
window, you can browse all of the available
drives to select an ACID project or audio file
to open.

Saves any changes to the current project.

The first time you save a project, the Save As
dialog appears.

Opens the Publish wizard so you can share
your ACID creation on the Web.

Clears the selected items from the track view
and places them on the ACID clipboard. You
can then paste them to a new location.

Creates a copy of the selected items from the
track view on the ACID clipboard. You can
then paste them to a new location.

Inserts the contents of the ACID clipboard at
the current cursor position. The pasted items
cover any existing events. To make room for
pasted events, choose Paste Insert from the

Edit menu.

Reverses the last action performed. ACID
supports unlimited undos, allowing you to
restore the project to any state since the last
save.

Reverses an undo. Opens a frequently updated Web page containing

Turns the snapping feature on or off. With
snapping enabled, you can decide whether to
snap to the grid or to all elements (markers,
regions, etc.).

Locks envelope points so they move with an
event when it is moved along the timeline.

Activates the Draw tool to add and edit events.

Activates the Selection tool to select multiple
events.

Activates the Paint tool to insert events across
multiple tracks.

When used in conjunction with the Ctrl key, the
Paint tool can paint an entire one-shot, MIDI, or
Beatmapped media file to an event with one
click.

Activates the Erase tool to erase events or parts
of events.

When used in conjunction with the Ctrl key, the
Erase tool can erase an entire one-shot, MIDI
track, or Beatmapped track event with one click.

Activates the Envelope tool to select and modify
envelope points.

Activates the Time Selection tool to quickly select
all events within range of time.

Opens a dialog where you can download media
from the Internet.

special offers, tips, tricks, and other good stuff.

Activates What’sThis? help to obtain information
about a specific option, menu, or part of the
ACID window.

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

Track list

This list identifies the track order in your project and contains the track’s controls. The following sections
identify and briefly explain the controls located in the track list.

Bus assignment

Track number/type

Track name

View buttons

View buttons

These buttons control the track’s appearance (size) on the track list and the track view.

Track number and type

This area identifies the type of file (loop, one-shot, MIDI, Beatmapped) contained in the track as well as the
track’s number in the project. You can quickly change the track order by dragging selected tracks within the
track list.

Track FX

Mute

Solo

Surround panner (surround sound projects only)

Multipurpose slider

Multipurpose slider mode

17

Track type icons

Loop

One-shot

Beatmapped

MIDI

Track n ame

When you add a file to a project, the track name is initially the same name as the file’s name. Right-click the
track name and choose

Bus assignment

Rename from the shortcut menu (or double-click) to change the track name.

Clicking the Bus Assignment button ( ) and selecting a letter from the menu allows you to assign the
corresponding track to the specified output bus. However, the button is only available in projects containing
multiple busses. For more information, see Adding busses to the project on page 107.

On a MIDI track, the

Device Selection button ( ) appears instead of the Bus Assignment button. This button

allows you to route a MIDI track to a soft synth or MIDI device. For more information, see Routing MIDI tracks

to MIDI devices or soft synth controls on page 138.

Track FX button

The Track FX button ( ) accesses the Audio Plug-In window from which you can add, edit, and apply effects
to the track. The button image changes ( ) to indicate when an automatable effect is present. For more

information, see Using track effects on page 89.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

18

Mute button

Clicking the Mute button ( ) temporarily suspends playback of the corresponding track, allowing you to
focus on the project’s remaining tracks. A muted track appears grayed out in the track view. For more

information, see Muting tracks on page 46.

Solo button

Clicking the Solo button ( ) isolates the track during playback by muting the project’s remaining tracks. For
more information, see Soloing tracks on page 47.

Surround panner

In 5.1 surround sound projects, the surround panner allows you to view and edit surround panning settings
for a track. Double-click a surround panner to view the Surround Panner window and make fine panning
adjustments. For more information, see Working with 5.1 Surround Sound on page 147.

Multipurpose slider

This multipurpose slider allows you to control the following:

• A track’s volume relative to the project’s other tracks.

• A track’s placement in the stereo spectrum (panning).

• The level of the track’s signal being routed to each of the project’s busses.

• The level of the track’s signal being routed to an assignable effect control.

The multipurpose slider defaults to displaying a track’s volume control. ACID tracks are preset to -6.0
decibels (dB), but the volume range is -inf. to 12 dB. Each track’s slider position is independent from the
others; however, you can move sliders simultaneously by selecting multiple tracks before making your
adjustment. If you do not see this slider, expand the track.

You may choose what the slider controls by clicking the

Multipurpose slider mode drop-down icon. Changing

the slider type for one track changes it for all tracks so you can compare levels of the same control across the
project. For more information, see Adjusting the mix on page 46.

Track view

In the track view, you can view and edit the events in a track. The area in which events display is the
timeline. The track view contains other elements which are described in the following sections.

Loop bar

Marker bar

Beat ruler

Zoom controls

Transport Time ruler

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

(if displayed)

19

Marker bar

The marker bar runs the length of your project and contains the tags for markers and regions positioned
along the project’s timeline.

Beat ruler

The beat ruler allows you to place events in reference to the musical time of bars and beats. This ruler is
fixed and does not update when you change the tempo. This allows the events in the tracks to maintain
their size when you adjust the tempo.

Time ruler

The time ruler provides a timeline for your project. This ruler can show real time in many different formats.

For more information, see Changing the time ruler format on page 161. The ruler changes with tempo, since the

number of beats and beats per second of real time changes with tempo.

Tran sport bar

The transport bar contains the playback and cursor positioning buttons frequently used while working on
your project.

Record new track Pause/resume project playback

Loop playback Stop playback

Play from beginning of project Move cursor to start of project

Play project from cursor position Move cursor to end of project

ACID also includes keyboard shortcuts for these playback commands. For more information, see Playback

commands on page 21.

Zoom controls

To the right of the horizontal scroll bar are the time zoom controls. Clicking the Zoom In Time button ( )
increases the horizontal magnification of the project. To decrease the level of magnification, click the

Out Time button ( ).

Directly below the vertical scroll bar are the dedicated track height zoom controls. Clicking the

button ( ) increases the vertical magnification of the project. To decrease the level of magnification,

Height

click the

Zoom Out Track Height button ( ).

Note:

Double-clicking the horizontal or

Zoom In Track

Zoom

vertical scroll bars adjusts the magnification so
that as much of the project (either horizontally
or vertically) is displayed as possible.

Click the

Zoom Tool button ( ) in the corner of the track view to temporarily change the cursor into the

Zoom tool. After you select an area of the track view to magnify, the cursor reverts to the previously active
tool.

Note:

Double-clicking the Zoom tool adjusts
both the horizontal and vertical magnification
so that as much of the project is displayed as
possible.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

20

Window docking area

This area allows you to keep frequently-used windows available
while working on a project. Windows can be docked side by side
or in stacks in the windows docking area. For more information,

see Docking and floating ACID windows on page 160.

Two windows display in the window docking area when you
start ACID for the first time: the Explorer and the Mixer. The
Chopper™, Video, Audio Plug-In, Track Properties, Surround
Panner, and Soft Synth Properties windows can be docked or
undocked after they are displayed by choosing the desired
window from the

View menu.

Click a tab to

view a window

Note:

window docking area by pressing .

Explorer window

You can quickly hide or show the

F11

The Explorer window works similarly to the Windows Explorer. You can use the Explorer window to locate,
preview and select media files to be added to your project. You can also use the Explorer window to perform
common file management tasks, such as renaming files or creating folders.

Mixer

The Mixer window provides access to output levels, as well as advanced features such as busses, assignable
effect chains, and soft synth controls. For more information, see Using the Mixer window on page 49.

Chopper

The Chopper isolates audio events so that you can dissect them and reinsert them into a project to produce
elaborate slice-n-dice effects with minimal effort. Display the Chopper by choosing
menu or pressing . For more information, see Using the Chopper on page 81.

Video

Alt +2

Chopper from the View

This window displays prerendered video files that can be imported and synchronized with an ACID project.
The video file displays during project playback and can be rendered with the project to an appropriate

Alt

format. Display the Video window by choosing

Video from the View menu or pressing . For more

+4

information, see Using the Video window on page 145.

Audio Plug-In

This window displays plug-ins and settings for track, assignable, bus, and soft synth effects chains. Display
the Audio Plug-In window by clicking any

FX button ( ) or by pressing . For more information, see

Alt +5

Using track effects on page 89 and Adding effects to mixer controls on page 114.

Track Properties

This window allows you to change track attributes and edit MIDI tracks using OPT plug-ins. Display the

Alt

Track Properties window by double-clicking a track’s icon or by pressing . For more information, see

+6

Configuring track properties on page 100 and Working with MIDI on page 123.

Surround Panner

This window allows you to control panning in a 5.1 surround sound project. Display the Surround Panner

+7

window by double-clicking the surround panner on a track or mixer control or by pressing . For more

Alt

information, see Working with 5.1 Surround Sound on page 147.

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

Soft Synth Properties

This window allows you to change the attributes of soft synth controls in the Mixer window. Display the Soft
Synth Properties window by double-clicking a soft synth control’s icon or by pressing . For more

Alt +8

information, see Using soft synth controls on page 111.

Keyboard command reference

The ACID keyboard commands are shortcuts that you can use while working on your project.

Project file commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Create new project Ctrl+N Save project Ctrl+S
Create new project and bypass the

Project Properties dialog
Open existing project or media file Ctrl+O Close current project Ctrl+F4

Window view commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Set focus to track view Alt+0 Shift focus forward through open

View the Explorer window Alt+1 Shift focus backward through open

View the Chopper window Alt+2 Shift focus forward (clockwise)

View the Mixer window Alt+3 Shift focus backward

View the Video window Alt+4 Show/hide bus tracks U
View the Audio Plug-In window Alt+5 Show/hide window docking area F11
View the Track Properties window Alt+6 Show/hide track list Shift+F11
View the Surround Panner window Alt+7 Show/hide track list and window

View the Soft Synth Properties
window

Ctrl+Shift+N Open project’s properties Alt+Enter

F6

ACID windows

Shift+F6

ACID windows

Tab
through track list, track view, bus
track view, and bus track list

Shift+Tab
(counterclockwise) through track
list, bus track list, bus track view,
and track view

Ctrl+F11
docking area

Alt+8

21

Playback commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Start/stop playback Spacebar Record Ctrl+R
Stop playback Esc Go to start Ctrl+Home or W
Toggle looped playback on/off Q Go to end Ctrl+End
Play from start Shift+Spacebar (when working

in the track view)

Shift+F12 (from any window)

Play from cursor Ctrl+Spacebar (when working in

the track view)

F12 (from any window)

Pause/resume playback Enter (when working in the

track view)

Ctrl+F12 (from any window)

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

Skip backward Page Up

Skip forward Page Down

Reset all MIDI ports (panic button) Ctrl+Alt+F7

22

Cursor placement commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Go to beginning of active loop
region or view (if no selection)

Go to end of active loop region or
view (if no selection)

Go to beginning of project Ctrl+Home or W Move left to marker(s) Ctrl+Left Arrow
Go to end of project Ctrl+End Move right to marker(s) Ctrl+Right Arrow
Move left by grid marks Page Up Move left to event edit points

Move right by grid marks Page Down Move right to event edit points

Go to
(using measures, beats, and ticks)

Go to
(using absolute time)

Move cursor to corresponding
marker or region

Home Center in view \

End Move cursor to opposite end of time

selection or loop bar

including fade edges

including fade edges

Ctrl+G Move by one pixel Left or Right Arrow

Shift+G Move through a video event one

frame at a time

Number keys (not on numeric
keypad)

Numeric keypad 5

Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow

Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow

Alt+Left or Right Arrow

Loop region commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Make a loop region Shift+Left or Right Arrow Double loop region length ‘ (apostrophe)
Extend loop region left by grid
marks
Extend loop region right by grid
marks
Expand loop region one pixel Shift+Left or Right Arrow Shift loop region right . (period)
Make a loop region during playback I (in) and O (out) Snap loop region to event edges Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Left or Right

Restore past loop regions
(up to last five)

Select loop region Shift+Q (when Time Selection

Shift+Page Up Halve loop region length ; (semicolon)

Shift+Page Down Shift loop region left , (comma)

Arrow

Backspace Expand loop region by one video

frame

tool is selected)

Shift+Alt+Left or Right Arrow

Selection commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Range selection (events) Shift+click range of events Select all Ctrl+A
Multiple selection (events) Ctrl+click individual events Unselect all Ctrl+Shift+A
Select loop region Shift+Q (when Time Selection

tool is selected)

Event commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Paint the entire media file as an
event for one-shot, Beatmapped,
and MIDI tracks

Erase entire event for one-shot,
Beatmapped, and MIDI tracks

Undo Ctrl+Z Slide: move the event while leaving

Redo Ctrl+Shift+Z Temporarily disable snapping while

Cut selection Ctrl+X Copy event Ctrl+drag event
Copy selection Ctrl+C Pitch down one semitone Numeric keypad ­Paste from clipboard Ctrl+V Pitch up one semitone Numeric keypad +
Paste repeat Ctrl+B Pitch down one octave Ctrl+Numeric keypad ­Paste insert Ctrl+Shift+V Pitch up one octave Ctrl+Numeric keypad +

Ctrl+click (on track with Paint
tool enabled)

Ctrl+click (on event with Erase
tool enabled)

Slip Trim: moves the media with the
edge as it is trimmed

Slip: move media within event
without moving the event

the relative position of the media in
place

moving event

Alt+drag edge of event

Alt+drag inside event

Ctrl+Alt+drag event

Shift+drag

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

Description Keys Description Keys

Delete selection Delete Pitch down 4 semitones

(Windows 2000 and XP only)

Move selected event(s) right one
pixel
Move selected event(s) left one pixel Numeric keypad 4 Reset pitch

Split event(s) S Change an event’s gain value Numeric keypad / or *
Join events J Change an event’s gain by 10% Shift+Numeric keypad / or *
Create fades F Change an event’s gain by 25% Ctrl+Numeric keypad / or *
Render to new track Ctrl+M Set an event’s gain to 0.0 dB Ctrl+Shift+Numeric keypad *
Trim/crop time-selected events only Ctrl+T Set an event’s gain to -inf (silence) Ctrl+Shift+Numeric keypad /

Numeric keypad 6 Pitch up 4 semitones

(Windows 2000 and XP only)

(Windows 2000 and XP only)

Shift+Numeric keypad -

Shift+Numeric keypad +

Ctrl+Shift+Numeric keypad - or

+

Track view commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Record Ctrl+R Turn on/off snapping F8
Turn on/off ripple edit mode Ctrl+L Toggle between snap to grid and

Select Draw tool Ctrl+D Insert region R
Select next edit tool in list D Insert marker M
Select previous edit tool in list Shift+D Insert time marker H
Mark in point for selection I or [ Insert command marker C
Mark out point for selection O or ] Insert tempo change marker T
Show/hide track panning envelope P Insert key change marker K
Insert/remove track panning
envelope
Show/hide track volume envelope V Insert time signature change marker Shift+K
Insert/remove track volume
envelope
Toggle through display of track
effect automation envelopes
Show/hide bus tracks U Render to new track Ctrl+M

Shift+P Insert tempo and key change

Shift+V Change project tempo Alt+drag time marker

E Insert MIDI track Ctrl+Alt+Q

snap to all

marker

Ctrl+F8

Shift+T

23

Track list commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Solo track X Decrease fader value Left Arrow
Mute track Z Increase fader value Right Arrow
Delete track Delete Move track selection up one track Up Arrow
Pitch down one semitone Numeric keypad - Move track selection down one track Down Arrow
Pitch up one semitone Numeric keypad + Multi-select tracks Shift+Up or Down Arrow
Pitch down four semitones
(Windows 2000 and XP only)
Pitch up four semitones
(Windows 2000 and XP only)
Pitch down one octave Ctrl+Numeric keypad - Select all tracks Ctrl+A
Pitch up one octave Ctrl+Numeric keypad + Unselect all tracks Ctrl+Shift+A
Reset pitch
(Windows 2000 and XP only)

Shift+Numeric keypad - Move track selection up one screen

of tracks

Shift+Numeric keypad + Move track selection down one

screen of tracks

Ctrl+Shift+Numeric keypad +/-

Page Up

Page Down

View commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Zoom time in/out small increments
when track view has focus or zoom
to loop region (if one exists)
Zoom time in/out large increments
when track view has focus

Up or Down Arrow Zoom track height in/out small

increments when track view has
focus

Ctrl+Up or Down Arrow

Shift+Up or Down Arrow

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

24

Mixer commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Change selection of a mixer control Left/Right Arrow Move the left channel of the fader

Select multiple, adjacent mixer
controls

Select multiple nonadjacent mixer
controls

Move the fader of the selected mixer
control (for assignable effect
controls, moves the Out fader)

Shift+Left/Right Arrow Move the right channel of the fader

Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow Delete the selected bus or control Delete

Up/Down Arrow

for the selected mixer control

for the selected mixer control

Shift+Up/Down Arrow

Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow

MIDI commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Generate MIDI Timecode F7 Enable real-time MIDI Alt+F7
Trigger from MIDI Timecode Ctrl+F7 Reset all MIDI ports (panic button) Ctrl+Alt+F7
Generate MIDI Clock Shift+F7

Chopper commands

For more information, see Using Chopper toolbar and keyboard commands on page 82.

Surround Panner commands

For more information, see Moving the pan point on page 153.

Miscellaneous commands

Description Keys

Online help F1
What’sThis? help Shift+F1
Shortcut menu Shift+F10
Refresh screen F5

Mouse scroll-wheel shortcuts

Description Keys

Zoom in on timeline Default mouse wheel behavior
Horizontal scroll Shift+wheel
Vertical scroll Ctrl+wheel
Move by video frames Ctrl+Shift+Alt+wheel
Move the cursor in grid increments Ctrl+Shift+wheel
Auto-scrolling Press mouse wheel and move

Move fader Wheel over a fader
Make fine fader adjustments Ctrl+wheel over a fader
Move pan point front/back in
Surround Panner window
Move pan point left/right in
Surround Panner window

the mouse in the desired
direction

Default mouse wheel behavior
(when pan point is selected)
Shift+wheel
(when pan point is selected)

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

Audio signal flow

Audio event* Event envelope

Bus pre/post volume

Track FX

Pre

25

Assignable FX
pre/post volume

Pre

Bus send

Post

Track volume

Pan track

†

Mute track

Bus assignment

Post

Assignable FX send

Input Chain Output

Mute

(Pan)

Bus assignment

Assignable FX

‡

Bus Control

VolumeFX Mute

(Pan)

^

Hardware
output

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

Master Bus Control

VolumeFX Mute

Hardware
output

26

Notes on audio signal flow

* This diagram describes non-MIDI audio events. For MIDI events, see MIDI signal flow on page 27.

† In 5.1 surround sound projects, tracks routed to the Surround Master bus send surround panning

(six-channel) information. Tracks routed to busses (e.g., Bus A) send stereo panning (two-channel)
information.

‡ Assignable effect chain panning is available only in 5.1 surround sound projects. In 5.1 surround sound

projects, assignable effect chains routed to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel)
information. Assignable effect chains routed to busses (e.g., Bus A) send stereo panning (two-channel)
information.

^ Bus panning is available only in 5.1 surround sound projects. In 5.1 surround sound projects, busses routed

to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel) information. Busses routed to hardware
send stereo panning (two-channel) information.

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

MIDI signal flow

MIDI event Track volume

Mute track

Device or soft synth assignment

DLS or VSTi assignment

27

External

MIDI

device

Bus Control

Soft Synth Control

VolumeFX Mute

(Pan)

DLS

voice set

^

MIDI

Audio

VST

instrument

VolumeFX Mute

Master Bus Control

(Pan)*

VolumeFX Mute

Hardware
output

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID

Hardware
output

28

Notes on MIDI signal flow

* Soft synth panning is available only in 5.1 surround sound projects. In 5.1 surround sound projects, soft

synth controls routed to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel) information. Soft
synth controls routed to busses (e.g., Bus A) send stereo panning (two-channel) information.

^ Bus panning is available only in 5.1 surround sound projects. In 5.1 surround sound projects, busses routed

to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel) information. Busses routed to hardware
send stereo panning (two-channel) information.

INTRODUCING ACID CHP. 1

CHAPTER

What’s New?

2

2

This chapter is intended for experienced ACID users. It simply addresses the question on everyone’s mind:
“What’s new in this version of ACID?”

Mixing

Plug-in effects automation

In ACID 4.0, you can automate the parameters of plug-ins, provided that the plug-ins support automation.
Effect automation relies on track envelopes, a tool you may already be familiar with from creating volume,
pan, bus send, or assignable effect send envelopes.

29

You can choose which parameters of a given effect to automate and then add points to a track envelope for
the different parameter settings. By viewing bus tracks, you can automate effects not only for tracks, but for
busses, assignable effects, and soft synth controls. For more information, see Bus tracks on page 30.

ACID 4.0 includes new Sonic Foundry automatable effects such as Flange/Wah-wah, Resonant Filter, and
Tr ac k E Q .

For more information, see Adding effect automation envelopes on page 94.

5.1 surround mixing and surround pan automation

ACID 4.0 introduces 5.1 surround mixing capability and surround panning automation. In a surround sound
project, you pan tracks or busses using the Surround Panner window. For even greater control, you can add
keyframes to automate panning changes over time.

Note:

Third-party authoring software is required to
encode final output.

For more information, see Working with 5.1 Surround Sound on page 147.

Alternate time signatures

ACID 4.0 breaks free from the 4/4 model and allows you to see (and snap to) measures of any time signature
from 1/1 to 99/32. You can choose a custom time signature for the project, as well as change time signatures
along the timeline by adding time signature change markers. For more information, see Changing tempo, time

signature, and key on page 77.

ACID mixes 5.1-channel audio only.

CHP. 2 WHAT’S NEW?

30

ASIO driver support

In addition to supporting Microsoft Mapper, Windows Classic Wave, and WDM drivers, ACID 4.0 now
supports ASIO™ drivers. With its more direct data delivery to the sound card, the ASIO driver model
provides professional users with faster audible responses. You can choose which driver model ACID uses on
the

Audio tab in the Preferences dialog. For more information, see Using the Audio tab on page 167.

Loop Cloning in the Chopper

ACID 4.0 provides the option to create new loops using the Chopper. Simply open a track in the Chopper,
make a selection for the new loop, and drag the selection to the track list. ACID saves the selection as a new
file and adds it to the project as a new track. For more information, see Saving Chopper selections as new files on
page 86.

Bus tracks

You can now view any mixer control (bus, assignable effect, or soft synth) on a track at the bottom of the
track view. This allows you to add envelopes to any of these controls. Want to pan several tracks as a group?
Route the tracks to a bus and pan the bus using a pan envelope on the bus track. Want your assignable effect
parameters to change over time? Add an effect automation envelope to the bus track for the assignable
effect. For more information, see Automating mixer controls in track view on page 118.

Enhanced time stretching for Beatmapped tracks

In ACID 4.0, you can time-stretch a Beatmapped track with less stuttering and improved playback.

New audio panning types

Whether you’re using standard stereo panning or 5.1 surround sound panning, you can choose from among
five types of panning for ACID tracks and busses. For more information, see Choosing stereo pan types on page

98.

New envelope fade types

ACID 4.0 provides three new fade types: smooth, sharp, and hold. Fade types determine the interpolation
between two envelope points. For more information, see Changing envelope fade curves on page 96.

MIDI

MIDI piano roll editing

ACID 4.0 introduces a piano roll editor that you can use to create, edit, and quantize MIDI data. The piano
roll editor is one of two OPT (Open Plug-in Technology) plug-ins included in ACID 4.0. For more

information, see Using the piano roll editor on page 126.

MIDI step recording

The new list editor OPT plug-in allows you to step record MIDI from within ACID. For more information, see

Step recording events on page 135.

MIDI event list editing

ACID 4.0 includes a list editor OPT plug-in that gives you direct access to all MIDI data for a track. You can
use the list editor to add, edit, quantize, and delete MIDI events or to step record new MIDI material. For

more information, see Using the list editor on page 130.

WHAT’S NEW? CHP. 2

VSTi support

You can route MIDI tracks in an ACID 4.0 project to a VST® instrument (VSTi) using the new soft synth
controls in the Mixer window. For more information, see Using soft synth controls on page 111.

Yamaha OPT support

ACID 4.0 is an early adopter for Yamaha's new Open Plug-in Technology (OPT) specification. You can
choose any OPT plug-in (including a piano roll editor and a list editor included with ACID) to edit a MIDI
track. This expands ACID's MIDI capabilities to allow plug-ins for MIDI edit views, MIDI effect processors
and filters, arpeggiators, and real-time panel automation. For more information, see Working with MIDI on page

123.

Optimized DLS and VSTi soft synth controls

With this release, you can route MIDI tracks to a soft synth control in the Mixer window. The soft synth
control acts as a sound module, allowing you to choose a DLS set or VST instrument to which you can route
MIDI tracks or external MIDI input devices. For more information, see Using soft synth controls on page 111.

Workspace

Multiple media file previewing and Explorer enhancements

31

The Explorer allows you to select multiple files and preview them in sequence. For more information, see

Previewing multiple media files on page 35.

You can also rename media files from within the Explorer window. Simply right-click a file, choose
from the shortcut menu, and enter a new name for the file.

Rename

Hotkey commands for track muting and soloing

X Z

Press to solo or to mute selected tracks or busses in your ACID 4.0 project.

Optimized ACID playback

The new ACID audio engine is designed to take advantage of the latest processing power, allowing you to
enjoy significant performance increases during playback.

Autosave crash recovery

ACID automatically saves your work for you so that you can recover your work if your system crashes. For
more information, see Using the General tab on page 166.

Customizable default track properties

You can choose the default volume, pan type, height, and track effects for all new tracks you create in ACID.

For more information, see Setting default track properties on page 166.

Video

Windows Media Audio and Video import

You can now add Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) files to an ACID
project.

CHP. 2 WHAT’S NEW?

32

Enhanced video handling

ACID 4.0 provides two new options for rendering projects containing video: Stretch video to fill output frame

(do not letterbox)

In addition, the Video window now provides an option to display square pixels to compensate for any spatial
distortions due to non-square pixel aspect ratios. For more information, see Using the Video window on page 145.

and Fast video resizing. For more information, see Rendering projects on page 53.

WHAT’S NEW? CHP. 2

CHAPTER

Getting Started

3

3

Now that you have an understanding of ACID’s interface and controls, you are ready to begin learning the
techniques needed to pick, paint, and play ACID projects. In this chapter you will learn the skills that will
allow you to create music in ACID, from locating media files to writing the finished project to CD.

Starting projects

Double-clicking the ACID icon on the desktop starts ACID. You can immediately begin building your
ACID project using the application’s default project properties. However, you may prefer to customize the
project properties prior to beginning the project.

Setting project properties

33

ACID allows you to configure project properties and add summary information prior to beginning a project.
Choosing
and
parameters and information in both tabs as defaults when starting all subsequent projects.

Note:

and summary information at any time.
Choose
display the Project Properties dialog, which
contains the identical tabs and parameters as
the New Project dialog.

Using the Summary tab

This tab allows you to enter information about the project. These boxes may be left blank or if information
exists, you may change it at any time.

Item Description

Title Enter the name or title of the project.
Artist Enter the name of the narrator, band, or artist(s) being recorded into the project.
Engineer Enter the name(s) of the people who mixed and edited the project.
Copyright Enter the date and ownership rights of the project.
Comments Enter information that identifies and describes the project.
Start all new projects with these

settings

New from the File menu displays the New Project dialog. This dialog contains two tabs: Summary

Audio. Selecting the Start all new projects with these settings check box configures ACID to use the

You can edit project audio properties

Properties from the File menu to

Select this check box if your projects’ requirements do not change or you want consistent
settings for future projects.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

34

Using the Audio tab

This tab allows you to set different characteristics the project uses to handle the audio.

Item Description

Master bus mode Choose either Stereo for a standard audio project or 5.1 Surround for a surround

sound project.

Number of additional stereo busses Enter the number of stereo busses that you want in your project. You may add up to 26

busses. The busses appear in the Mixer window.

on page 107

Sample rate Choose a sample rate from the drop-down list or enter your own rate. The sample rate

Bit depth Choose a bit depth from the drop-down list. A higher bit depth results in better quality

Enable low-pass filter on LFE Select this check box to limit the audio sent to the LFE channel in a 5.1 surround sound

Cutoff frequency for low-pass filter Enter a low-pass cutoff frequency value for 5.1 surround sound projects. ACID limits

Low-pass filter quality Choose a setting from the drop-down list to determine the sharpness of the low-pass

Start all new projects with these
settings

range is 2,000 Hz to 192,000 Hz. Higher sample rates result in better quality sound,
but also mean larger audio files.

sound, but also means larger audio files.

project.

audio sent to the LFE channel to frequencies lower than the value you enter. Applying a
low-pass filter approximates the bass-management system in a 5.1 decoder and ensures
that you’re sending only low-frequency audio to the LFE channel.

filter’s rolloff curve. Best produces the sharpest curve.
Select this check box if your project requirements do not change or you want consistent

settings for future projects.

.

For more information, see Working with 5.1 Surround Sound on page 147

For more information, see Using busses

.

Opening existing projects

1.

From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog appears.

2.

Choose a drive and folder from the Look in drop-down list.

3.

Select a file in the browse window or type a name in the File name box. Detailed information about the
selected file appears at the bottom of the dialog box.

4.

Choose a file type from the Files of type drop-down list to limit the files displayed in the dialog box.

5.

Click Open.

Note:

media files when you open an ACID project,
you can choose to leave the media offline and
continue to edit events on the track. The
events point to the location of the source media
file. If you restore the source media file at a
later time, the project opens normally.

Opening ACID projects with embedded media

When you open an .acd-zip project, the project file and all media files are copied to the temporary files
folder.

If ACID is unable to locate one of the

Note:

You can customize the location of the
temporary files folder. For more information,
see Using the General tab on page 166.

Any changes you make to the project are saved to the files in this temporary folder until you save the .acd-zip
file again. For more information, see Saving projects on page 52.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Getting media files

Now that you’ve created a new project or opened an existing project, the next step is to add media to the
project. You can use the Explorer window to locate, preview and add media to your project. You can also
extract audio from a CD or download media from the Web.

Previewing media from the Explorer window

The Explorer window allows you to preview files in looped playback at the current project tempo before
adding them to your project. You can also preview files in the Explorer in conjunction with playing your
project, thereby allowing you to preview how a file will sound in the project.

35

To preview files, use the

Start Preview ( ), Stop Preview ( ), and Auto Preview ( ) buttons at the top of

the Explorer window.

Previewing a media file

Select the media file in the Explorer window that you want to preview.

1.

2.

Click the Start Preview button ( ). The media file begins looped playback. You can monitor its levels on
the preview bus.

3.

Click the Stop Preview button ( ) to end playback.

Previewing multiple media files

You can use the Explorer’s multiple-selection preview feature to preview a group of files in the order that you
select them.

1.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and on the Other tab of the Preferences dialog, select the

Enable multiple-selection preview in Explorer window check box.

If you want, you can enter values in the

play

box, and Number of Beatmapped measures to play box to specify how ACID previews different file types.

2.

Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.

3.

In the Explorer, select the media you want to preview. Hold while clicking to select multiple,
adjacent files or hold while clicking to select multiple, nonadjacent files.

4.

Click the Start Preview button ( ). ACID previews the first selected file in the list and continues through

Ctrl

the list of selected files. ACID changes a file’s icon to a

Number of times to repeat each Loop box, Seconds of each One-Shot to

Shift

Play icon ( ) to indicate which file is currently

previewing.

Note:

your project, press +. Press to

To add the currently previewing file to

Ctrl Enter Enter

add all selected files to your project.

Using Auto Preview

The Auto Preview button ( ) sets ACID to automatically play back media files when you select them in the
Explorer. If your project is currently playing when you select a new file, the new file plays back along with
your project. This feature allows you to listen to the media file in the context of your project.

Click the

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

Auto Preview button ( ) to toggle auto preview on or off.

36

Adding media to the project

You must add media files to a project before you can paint, arrange, and process them. When you add a file to
a project, ACID creates a new track to accommodate it. ACID adds new tracks at the current volume of the
Preview fader in the Mixer window, unless you have set a default track volume level. For more information, see

Setting default track properties on page 166.

There are several methods of adding media files to a project.

Note:

ACID may create proxy files for media
whose compression scheme may cause working
with them to be inefficient and slow. For more
information, see Proxy File on page 187.

Note:

Before using long Beatmapped or long
one-shot files from CDs or shared network
folders, copy the media to your local drive for
the best possible performance.

ACID temporary files

When you add a media file to a project from a removable device, ACID stores a copy of the media file in the
temporary files folder. This keeps the media file available for use even if the source of the media is no longer
accessible.

Note:

You can customize the location of the
temporary files folder. For more information,
see Using the General tab on page 166.

Be aware that the temporary files folder is cleared when you close ACID. However, files are not cleared from
the folder if ACID closes inappropriately.

Adding media files from the Explorer window

The Explorer window will likely be your primary means of locating media files used in projects. Display the
Explorer, if needed, by choosing

Explorer from the View menu, or by pressing .

Alt + 1

There are three ways to add media files from the Explorer window:

• Double-click the desired file.

• Drag the file from the Explorer to the track view or track list. Dragging a file from the Explorer to the

track name of an existing track allows you to replace the original file with the new file, while all events
remain in place.

• Right-click and drag a file to the track view or track list to specify the type of track to be created. When
you drop the file, a shortcut menu appears that allows you to choose whether to treat the file as a loop,
one-shot, Beatmapped track, or as an autodetected type.

Adding media files from the Open dialog

There are three ways to add media files from the Open dialog:

• Select the desired file and click

• Right-click the selected file and choose

Open.

Select from the shortcut menu.

• Double-click the selected file.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Adding media files from outside the application

You can also add a media file to a project by dragging it from Windows Explorer to the track view.

Adding multiple media files simultaneously

37

To add multiple media files to the project, +click (or +click) to select the files and drag them to the

Ctrl Shift

track view or the track list.

Extracting media files from CD

ACID allows you to extract 44,100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo data from CDs. ACID adds extracted CD tracks to new
tracks in your ACID project.

1.

Insert a CD in the CD-ROM drive.

2.

From the File menu, choose Extract Audio from CD. The Extract Audio from CD dialog appears.

3.

If you have more than one CD drive, choose the CD drive that contains the audio you want to extract
from the

4.

From the Action drop-down list, choose how you

Drive drop-down list.

want to extract audio:

• Choose

Read by track and select each track you

want to extract. ACID extracts each track to a
new track in your project.

• Choose

Read entire disc to extract the current CD

to a single file.

• Choose

Read by range and enter a starting time

and ending time (or a starting time and length).
ACID extracts the time range to a new track in
your project.

Click

Play to preview your selection. In order to

preview, your CD drive’s audio output must be
connected to your sound card, or you can connect
headphones to the front of the CD drive.

5.

From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to extract audio.

6.

Click OK. The Save As dialog appears.

7.

Enter a file name and choose a location for the new file(s).

Note:

extracted tracks for you. From the
menu, choose
tab, select the

ACID can automatically name

Options

Preferences, and on the General

Autoname extracted CD tracks

check box. For more information, see Using

the General tab on page 166.

8.

Click Save to start extracting audio.

ACID begins extracting data from the CD and displays a progress meter. If the file is longer than 30
seconds, the Beatmapper™ Wizard appears.

9.

Use the Beatmapper Wizard or choose to open the file as a one-shot. ACID adds the extracted file to a
track. For more information, see Using the Beatmapper on page 99.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

38

You can also double-click a CDA file in the Explorer window (or drag it to the track view) to extract a CD
track without opening the Extract Audio from CD dialog.

Note:

CDs, you may need to press to refresh the

When adding media from multiple

F5

Explorer window to view the new CD’s
contents.

Downloading media files from the Web

The Get Media from the Web command allows you to view and download various audio and video files
available on the Internet.

1.

From the File menu, choose Get Media from the Web.

2.

Choose an icon from the left frame to specify the media provider from which you want to download files.

3.

Preview the file, select the file you want to open and click Download. The Browse for Folder dialog appears.

4.

Select a folder for the download. The selected file is downloaded to the folder specified in the Destination
box.

5.

When you are done downloading, close the Get Media from the Web dialog. ACID adds the file(s) to
your project.

Click

Show Details to display additional information about your download. In this mode, you can add files to

a download queue, specify where the downloaded files should be stored, and monitor the progress of your
downloads. Click

Start to begin downloading queued files, or click Hide Details to return to basic mode.

Understanding track types

When you add media to a project, ACID creates a new track for the file. Depending on the type of media you
add, ACID creates one of four track types to accommodate it: loop, one-shot, Beatmapped, or MIDI. You can
identify a track’s type by looking at the track number/type icon in the track header.

Loops

Loops are small chunks of audio that are designed to create a continuous beat or pattern when played
repeatedly. They are usually one to four measures long. Loops are the type of file that you will use most
frequently.

One-shots

One-shots are chunks of audio that are not designed to loop, and they are streamed from the hard disk rather
than stored in RAM if they are longer than three seconds. Things such as cymbal crashes and sound bites
could be considered one-shots.

Unlike loops, one-shots do not change pitch or tempo with the rest of a project.

Beatmapped

When you add a file that is longer than thirty seconds to a project, the Beatmapper Wizard starts, allowing
you to add tempo information to the file. As a result, these tracks respond to tempo and key changes just like
loops. For more information, see Using the Beatmapper on page 99.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

39

Note:

that starts the Beatmapper in the

You can change the length of the file

Audio tab of

the Preferences dialog. For more information,
see Using the Audio tab on page 167.

MIDI

ACID creates a MIDI track when you open a MID, SMF, or RMI file. You can use MIDI tracks to record
data from and play back through synthesizers and other MIDI-compliant equipment. For more information,

see Working with MIDI on page 123.

Adding and editing events

You have added media to the project, and ACID has created tracks for the media files. Now you can add
events to the track view. The following sections describe three basic techniques used when working with
audio events: painting, deleting, and moving.

Painting events

After you add a media file to your project, you must paint it on the timeline in order to hear it. When you
paint on the media file’s track, you create an event that displays the file’s waveform. You can paint events on
the timeline using either the Draw tool or the Paint tool.

Note:

Media files must be added to the project
before either of these tools can be used to paint
events.

Placing events with the Draw tool

The Draw tool is the most common method of placing events on the timeline. This tool allows you to add
track-specific events, one at a time. In addition, you can use the Draw tool to select, edit, and move events.

For more information, see Adding and editing events on page 39.

1.

Click the Draw Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Draw from the
submenu. The pointer displays as a pencil icon.

2.

Place the Draw tool at the left edge of any track containing a media file.

3.

Click and hold the mouse button while dragging the Draw tool to the right. A waveform representing the
event appears on the timeline as you drag the mouse.

Notice that if you are placing a loop file on the timeline, small indentations appear along the top and
bottom edges of the event indicating the start and end points of each individual loop.

Note:

Events can be also be drawn from right
(end) to left (beginning).

4.

Release the mouse button to end the event.

5.

Click the Play from Start button ( ) on the transport bar. The event plays back.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

40

Painting events with the Paint tool

Unlike the Draw tool, the Paint tool allows you to quickly paint multiple events across several tracks. This
can be useful when you need to quickly add several seemingly random events to a project. The Paint tool is
also best used for painting multiple one-shot events that will be evenly spaced on the grid lines.

1.

Click the Paint Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Paint from the
submenu. The mouse pointer displays as a brush icon.

2.

Click and hold the mouse button while dragging the Paint tool randomly across the several tracks. Notice
that events are painted in every grid space the Paint tool contacts.

3.

Release the mouse button to stop adding events.

4.

Click the Play from Start button ( ) on the transport bar. All new events play back.

Note:

use +click to paint an entire event for one-

With the Paint tool selected, you can

Ctrl

shot, Beatmapped, and MIDI tracks.

Changing the length of events

After an event is painted on the track view, you may discover that it is too long or not long enough;
however, ACID makes it easy to change the length of an event. You may find it helpful to turn snapping
options on by choosing

To alter an event’s length, click the

Snapping from the Options menu and choosing Enable from the submenu.

Draw Tool button ( ) and drag either end of the event. When you drag

the event past the end of the file, looped files repeat, but one-shot and Beatmapped tracks draw silence.

Original event

Drag the end
of the event...

...to increase its length.

Erasing sections of events

Occasionally you may need to delete only specific sections of an event and leave the rest of it intact. The
easiest method of deleting a section of an event is to use the Erase tool.

1.

Click the Erase Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Erase from the
submenu. The pointer displays as an eraser icon.

2.

Drag in the track view to delete event data.

Note:

With the Erase tool, you can delete an
entire one-shot, Beatmapped, or MIDI event.
Just hold while you click the event.

Ctrl

Moving events

The position of the left edge of an event indicates when the event becomes audible during playback. You can
move events along the timeline either individually or as a group.

In addition, you can stack events on top of one another. A longer event placed over a smaller event conceals
the smaller event and makes it inaudible. A smaller event placed over a larger event is audible and renders
the section of the longer event it covers inaudible.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

1.

Click the Draw Tool button ( ).

2.

Click the event to be moved. The event is highlighted to indicate that it is selected.

41

Note:

You can hold or to select

Ctrl Shift

multiple events.

3.

Drag the event to a new location on the track.

Note:

Multiple selected events move in

relation to the event being dragged.

Using the cursor

ACID’s cursor is a flashing vertical line that spans the track view of the entire project. The cursor position
determines where events split, where playback/recording starts, and where clipboard contents are pasted. In
addition, the positioning of the cursor is essential to the creation of time selections.

Positioning the cursor with the mouse

1.

Click the Draw Tool button ( ).

2.

Click in the track view to position the cursor.

Positioning the cursor with the keyboard

While using the mouse to position the cursor in the timeline is quick and intuitive, it is not always precise.
For example, you may want the beginning of a guitar solo to coincide with a snare drum hit, or background
vocals to enter exactly 3 minutes and 24 seconds into a song. For these reasons, ACID also allows you to
position the cursor using your keyboard. For more information, see Cursor placement commands on page 22.

Positioning the cursor with the Go To command

The Go To command is used to place the cursor at a specific location in the ACID project.

• Press to position the cursor based on the position displayed on the beat ruler. Specify a position

• Press to position the cursor based on the time displayed on the time ruler. Specify a time in the

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

Ctrl +G

(in measures.beats.ticks format) in the box that appears in the time display and press .

Shift +G

box that appears in the time display and press .

Note:

You can also open the boxes in the time

Enter

Enter

display by double-clicking the desired value.

42

Making selections

You must select events before you can move or edit them.

Selecting an event

1.

Click the Draw Tool button ( ).

2.

Click an event. The event is highlighted.

Selected event

Selecting multiple events

ACID provides you with several methods of selecting multiple events:

• Press or while clicking events.

Ctrl

• Use the

• Use the

• Use the

Shift

Select All on Track command.
Select Events to End command.
Select All command.

• Use the Selection tool.

Note:

Unless stated otherwise, selections can
only be made using the Draw tool.

Selecting multiple events using the keyboard and mouse

Holding while clicking events allows you to select multiple, nonadjacent events that reside on any

Ctrl

track. This method is useful when you need to move several scattered events by an equal amount within the
project.

Holding allows you to select multiple, adjacent events. Selecting any two events while holding

Shift Shift

automatically selects all events located between the selected events. Events may be selected from the same
track or across tracks. This method is useful when you want to move several adjacent events by an equal
amount within the project.

Selecting multiple events using the Select All on Track command

Right-clicking any track in the track view and choosing Select All on Track from the shortcut menu selects
every event on the track.

Selecting multiple events using the Select Events to End command

Right-clicking an event in the track view and choosing Select Events to End from the shortcut menu selects
every event on the track after the selected event.

You use this command across multiple tracks by holding to click events on several tracks and then right­clicking and choosing

Selecting events using the Select All command

Select Events to End from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl

Choosing Select All from the Edit menu selects all events in a project.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

43

Selecting multiple events using the Selection tool

You can drag the Selection tool across the track view to select events across multiple tracks. This tool allows
you to select events using three methods: vertical, horizontal, and free selection.

Method Description Displays as...

Vertical Allows you to select all events on all

tracks within an interval of time.

Horizontal Allows you to select all events on a track

or several adjacent tracks.

Free selection Allows you to select a group of adjacent

events on adjacent tracks. This is ACID’s
default selection method.

1.

Click the Selection Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Selection from

Parallel dashed line spanning the vertical
length of the project.
Parallel dashed line spanning the
horizontal length of the project.
Dashed line box.

the submenu.

2.

Place the pointer on the track view. The pointer displays as an arrow with an adjacent dotted box ( ).

3.

Drag the mouse on the track view. A dashed rectangular box appears on the track view and all events
within and adjacent to it are selected.

4.

While holding the left mouse button, click and release the right mouse button (referred to as toggle­clicking). The selection method changes to vertical and again, all events within and adjacent to the
selection area are selected.

5.

Toggle-click the mouse once more. The selection method changes to horizontal and all events within and
adjacent to the selection area are selected.

Creating time selections

ACID does not limit you to selecting events. Frequently, you may want to select only audio events occurring
within a time selection. You can do this using the Time Selection tool.

1.

Click the Time Selection Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Time

Selection

2.

Drag the mouse in the track view. The selection area is highlighted on the track view.

3.

Release the mouse button. A time selection is created and all events within it are selected.

Note:

from the submenu. The pointer displays with an adjacent cursor ( ).

If the selection area is automatically
snapping to the track view’s grid lines, ACID’s
snapping feature is turned on. You can turn
snapping off by pressing .

F8

Creating event selections within time selections

ACID also allows you to select specific events within a general time selection. This technique is useful for
selecting individual instruments from a particular section of a song. For example, you may want to copy all
percussion events from a song’s bridge and re-use them in the coda.

1.

Click the Time Selection Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Time

Selection

from the submenu. The pointer displays with an adjacent cursor ( ).

2.

Drag the mouse in the track view. The selection area is highlighted on the track view.

3.

Release the mouse button. A selection is created and all events within it are selected.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

44

4.

Ctrl

Hold and click any event that extends beyond the time selection. The entire event appears
highlighted; however, only the section of the event contained within the time selection is actually
selected.

Note:

the time selection by continuing to hold

You can select additional events within

Ctrl

while clicking events. In addition, holding

Shift

allows you to select the events of multiple

adjacent tracks within a selection.

Working with tracks

ACID automatically creates a new track for each media file added to a project, and all events placed on the
track derive from that file. Because of this, you can use track-level functions to affect every event on the
track. The following sections explain several basic track functions and features.

Reordering tracks

When building an ACID project, you may want to reorder the tracks to place similar instruments in
proximity to one another. For example, placing all drum loops together in the track view makes it easier for
you to fine-tune the mix of the song’s overall drum sound.

1.

Drag the track header to a new location in the track list. A heavy black horizontal line appears on the
track list to indicate where the track will be placed.

2.

Release the mouse button. The track is dropped in the new location and the entire track list/track view
adjusts accordingly.

Note:

holding or while selecting tracks and

You can reorder multiple tracks by

Ctrl Shift

dragging the tracks as a group.

Resizing tracks

ACID allows you to change the height of a track, thereby affecting how many tracks display in the track
view. This is especially useful when building a project with a large number of tracks. In addition, you can
decrease the track’s height until only the multipurpose slider,
are visible.

1.

Drag the bottom edge of a track up or down in the track list. The pointer displays as a vertical stretch
icon ( ).

2.

Release the mouse button to establish the track’s new height.

Note:

You can set the default height for all
new tracks by right-clicking the newly resized
track in the track list and choosing

Track Properties

from the shortcut menu. For

Set Default

more information, see Setting default track

properties on page 166.

Tr a ck F X button, Mute button, and Solo button

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Changing track colors

As mentioned previously, ACID automatically creates tracks to accommodate new media files. ACID also
supplies these tracks with a default color. However, you can change track colors to organize the tracks in
your project. To change the color, right-click the track in the track list, choose

Color from the shortcut

menu, and choose the desired color from the submenu.

Renaming tracks

To rename a track, right-click the track name and choose Rename from the shortcut menu, or double-click
the track name. Renaming a track applies to the project only and does not change the file associated with
the track.

Duplicating tracks

To duplicate a track, right-click it and choose Duplicate Track from the shortcut menu. ACID creates an
exact copy of the track and its events and adds it below the original track in the project. The words “Copy
of” appear before the name of the duplicate track to identify it in the track list.

For creative ways to use duplicate tracks, see Playing with duplicate tracks on page 173.

Deleting tracks

You can delete unnecessary tracks from a project by selecting the track and using any of the following
methods:

45

• Choose

• Right-click a track and choose

• Press .

Delete from the Edit menu.

Delete Track from the shortcut menu.

Delete

Copying, cutting, and pasting tracks

Copying a track places an exact copy of the selected track on the clipboard, but leaves the track view
unchanged. To copy a track, select the track and do one of the following:

• Click the

• Choose

• Right-click the track header and choose

• Press .

Cutting a track removes it from the track view and places it on the clipboard. To cut a track, select it and do
one of the following:

• Click the

• Choose

• Right-click the track header and choose

• Press .

Tracks that are copied or cut to the clipboard can be pasted back into the current project or into a different
project an unlimited number of times. This is a useful way to share tracks between different compositions.
You can paste a track in one of the following ways:

Copy button ( ) on the toolbar.

Copy from the Edit menu.

Copy Track from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl +C

Cut button ( ) on the toolbar.

Cut from the Edit menu.

Cut Track from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl +X

• Click the

• Choose

• Right-click the track view and choose

• Press .

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

Paste button ( ) on the toolbar.

Paste from the Edit menu.

Paste Track from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl +V

46

Adjusting the mix

Use the multipurpose slider to adjust the mix of a specific track.

Click the

Function Description

Volum e Controls how loud a track is in the mix. A value of 0 dB means that the track plays with no boost or cut from

Pan Controls the position of a track in the stereo field. Dragging the slider to the left places the track in the left

FX Controls the level of the track sent to each of the assignable effect chains that you have created. Dragging the

Bus Controls the level of the track sent to each of the additional busses that you have created for your project.

Once you have chosen what you want to adjust, drag the slider to adjust the level. You can hold or

Multipurpose Slider Mode drop-down icon to choose what you want to adjust.

ACID. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.

speaker more than the right, while dragging the slider to the right places the track in the right speaker.

Because ACID uses true stereo panning, you can introduce clipping when panning a track to the left or right.
Unlike a left/right balance control—which simply decreases the volume of one channel—ACID’s default panning
mode actually adds the audio from one channel to the other. When panning a track, adjust the track volume
accordingly.

You can choose among five panning types to determine how ACID pans a track.

Choosing stereo pan types on page 98

fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.

Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging the fader to the right boosts the volume.

.

For more information, see

Ctrl Shift

to select multiple tracks and move the sliders together as a group.

Note:

When adjusting the mix of your tracks,
remember to look at the meters on the mixer.
Because you are adding the volumes of all the
tracks together, it is easy to clip the audio
output. Make sure that the meters never
display the red clip indicator during playback.

Muting tracks

Each track has a Mute button (). Clicking this button shades the corresponding track (to indicate that it is
muted) and renders it inaudible during playback. Clicking the
its original level in the mix. Toggle-muting a track is an effective way of determining whether a track
contributes to the overall sound of a project.

You can also press to mute a track or group of tracks.

Note:

Press and click the Mute button to

Z

Ctrl

mute only the selected track (and restore any
other muted tracks). If the selected track is
already muted, press and click the

Ctrl

Mute

button to restore all tracks.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Mute button a second time returns the track to

Soloing tracks

Located next to the Mute button, the Solo button ( ) allows you isolate tracks in a project during playback.
When you click this button during playback, the corresponding track remains audible and all other tracks
are muted. Clicking the
Toggle-soloing a track is an effective method of configuring and previewing isolated track effects against
how they sound in the project.

Solo button a second time returns all tracks to their original levels in the mix.

47

You can also press to solo a track or group of tracks.

Note:

Press and click the Solo button to

X

Ctrl

solo only the selected track (and restore any
other soloed tracks). If the selected track is
already soloed, press and click the

Ctrl

Solo

button to restore all tracks.

Working with groups of tracks

Select a group of tracks by holding the key while you click the track header of the desired tracks. Now
you can adjust the volume, panning, track color, and other track attributes simultaneously.

Ctrl

Using undo and redo

ACID provides unlimited undo and redo capabilities. ACID adds each edit you perform in the project to an
undo history, which allows you to quickly restore the project to any of its previous states. In addition,
undoing an edit automatically places it in the project’s redo history where it can be quickly re-performed.
However, any new edit performed on the project overwrites the redo history.

Note:

when you close the project or exit ACID.

The undo and redo histories are cleared

Using undo

To undo an edit, click the Undo button ( ) on the toolbar or press . Edits are undone in the reverse
order they were performed.

Note:

You can also undo the most recent edit

by choosing Undo from the Edit menu.

Undoing a series of edits

Clicking the down arrow next to the Undo button ( ) displays the project’s undo history. The history
displays as a drop-down list with the most recent edit located at the top. Undoing an edit in the list requires
all subsequent edits to be undone as well.

1.

Click the arrow to the right of the Undo button ( ). The undo history appears.

2.

Locate the edit to be undone. Notice that all subsequent edits are automatically selected and the total
number of edits to be undone is indicated at the bottom of the drop-down list.

3.

Click the edit to be undone. The project is restored to the state it was in prior to the selected edit.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

Ctrl +Z

48

Undoing all edits

Choosing Undo All from the Edit menu undoes all project edits and automatically adds them to the redo
history.

Using redo

To redo an edit, click the Redo button ( ) on the toolbar or press . Edits are re-performed in

Ctrl +Shift +Z

the reverse order they were undone.

Note:

undone edit by choosing

You can also redo the most recent

Redo from the Edit

menu.

Redoing a series of edits

Clicking the down arrow next to the Redo button ( ) displays the project’s redo history. The history
displays as a drop-down list with the most recently undone edit located at the top. Redoing an edit in the list
requires all subsequently undone edits to be re-performed as well.

1.

Click the arrow to the right of the Redo button ( ). The redo history appears.

2.

Locate the edit to be redone. Notice that all subsequently undone edits are automatically selected and the
total number of edits to be redone is indicated at the bottom of the drop-down list.

3.

Click the edit to be redone. The project is restored to the state it was in prior to the selected undone edit.

Note:

Clicking the desktop outside the
drop-down list cancels the redo operation.

Clearing the undo history

ACID allows you to clear the undo and redo histories without closing the project or exiting the application.
After the histories are cleared, ACID creates new ones as you continue building the project.

1.

From the Edit menu, choose Clear Undo History. A confirmation dialog appears, alerting you that this
action permanently deletes the current edit histories.

2.

Click Ye s to clear the edit histories or No to retain the current edit histories.

Playing the project

ACID provides several methods of playing your projects.

Using the transport bar

All buttons required to play your project are located on ACID’s transport bar. The transport bar should look
somewhat familiar to you, as it contains buttons found on most home CD and cassette players. For more

information, see Transport bar on page 19.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Using playback options

As you build a project, you will likely have different playback needs. For example, you may want to hear the
project in its entirety when checking the final mix, but not when you are working on the ending. Because of
this, ACID offers three playback options:

• Playing the entire project.

• Playing from the cursor position.

• Playing in looped playback.

Playing the entire project

To begin playback from the beginning of the project, click the transport bar’s Play From Start button ( ) or

Shift +Space Space

press . To stop playback, click the transport bar’s

Playing from the cursor position

Stop button ( ) or press .

49

To begin playback from the current cursor position, click the transport bar’s Play button( ) or press .
To stop playback, click the transport bar’s

Playing in looped playback

Stop button ( ) or press .

Space

You can also limit playback to a specific loop region on the track view. This playback method uses the
transport bar’s

Loop Playback button ( ) and allows you to fine-tune mixes and effects while continually

listening to the selected area. For more information, see Transport bar on page 19.

1.

Drag the handles of the loop bar to create the desired loop region.

Handle Loop bar

2.

Click the Loop Playback button ( ) to turn on looped playback.

3.

Click the transport bar’s Play button ( ) or press . ACID begins playback of the selected area. To
stop playback, click the transport bar’s

Stop button ( ) or press .

Space

Space

Using the Mixer window

Space

The Mixer window is a dockable window with a default location in the lower-right corner of the ACID
workspace. The Mixer window contains the following controls:

•

A Preview fader, which allows you to adjust the loudness of media files previewed from the Explorer

window, Track Properties window, Beatmapper, or the Chopper. Also, the Preview fader’s volume
determines the volume of new tracks added to the project, unless you have set a default track volume
level. For more information, see Setting default track properties on page 166. This allows you to set up a quick
mix while you are adding media to your project.

• A Master bus fader, which controls the overall volume.

• Faders for up to 26 project busses when added to the project.

• Faders for up to 32 assignable effect chains when added to the project.

• Faders for up to 32 soft synth controls when added to the project.

The function of the bus, assignable effect, and soft synth controls are beyond the scope of this chapter. For
more information, see Using the Mixer on page 107.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

50

Viewing the Mixer window

The Mixer window appears by default when you start ACID, but you can hide it if necessary. To view or hide
the Mixer window, choose

Mixer from the View menu or press . A check mark appears adjacent to

Alt +3

the command to indicate when the window is displayed.

Using the mixer toolbar

The Mixer window toolbar contains four buttons: Project Audio Properties, Insert FX, Insert Bus, and Insert Soft

Synth

.

Button Description

Displays the Project Properties dialog.

Adds an assignable effect chain to your project. The Plug-In Chooser
dialog appears so that you can create a plug-in chain.

information, see Using assignable effects on page 109

Adds another bus to your project. The Audio tab in the Project
Properties dialog updates to reflect the new number of busses.

information, see Using busses on page 107

Adds a soft synth control to your project. You can assign MIDI tracks or
external MIDI input devices to the soft synth control and assign the soft
synth control to a DLS set or VSTi plug-in.

Using soft synth controls on page 111

.

For more information, see

.

For more

.

For more

Renaming mixer controls

Double-clicking a mixer control name allows you to rename the control. Press to save the change.

Enter a new
name for the
mixer control

Enter

Using the mixer’s faders

Adjusting the Preview fader

Drag the fader up or down to adjust the preview volume.

Hiding the Preview fader

Once you have added all desired media files to a project, you may want to hide the Preview fader to make
room for additional busses, assignable effects, and soft synth controls. To hide the Preview fader, right-click
within the Mixer window and choose
hidden until you choose

Show Preview Fader from the shortcut menu again.

Show Preview Fader from the shortcut menu. The fader remains

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

51

Adjusting split faders in the mixer

Split faders allow you to adjust the levels of the left and right channels independently. To move the faders
individually, drag the fader for the desired channel and release the mouse when it is in the correct position.

However, you can adjust both channels simultaneously by doing either of the following:

• Drag in the middle of the fader while making your adjustment.

• Click the

Lock Fader Channels button( ) before adjusting the fader.

You can also change the fader level by double-clicking:

• Double-click the fader to reset it to 0.0 dB.

• If you have set each channel differently, double-click either channel to match the remaining channel to

its level.

Changing meter resolution

ACID allows you select the meter resolution. This is useful when building a project from several media
source pools that have varying volume levels. To change the resolution, right-click a meter and choose the
desired resolution from the shortcut menu.

Note:

Changing the meter resolution of one
fader automatically changes all other meters in
the mixer to match the selected resolution.

Adjusting for clipping

The volume of certain media files may cause a meter to clip. Clipping results in a distorted audio signal and
displays in a red indicator at the top of the meter. If the meter clips, lower the volume and click the red clip
indicator to reset the meter. Continue adjusting the fader and resetting the meter until you eliminate the
clipping.

Note:

right-clicking it and choosing

You can also reset a meter by

Reset Clip from

the shortcut menu.

Saving, rendering, and delivering projects

Though ACID provides you with the tools to quickly build impressive musical projects, you may find
yourself building elaborate projects over a period of weeks or even months. While you are working on a
project, you should save it in ACID’s native format, the ACID project file (.acd).

Note:

earlier version of ACID in ACID 4.0, it will
be unusable in earlier versions of ACID. Use
the Save As dialog to save the project with a
new name after editing it in ACID 4.0.

If you save a project created in an

When you are finished building a project, ACID allows you to render projects in a variety of formats. You
should determine the project’s final format (or formats) based on how you will deliver the media. For
example, you would render your project to a streaming media format if you plan to publish it to the Internet.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

52

Note:

Be aware that projects containing
MIDI files that are routed to external MIDI
ports must be rerouted to internal DLS sets or
VST instruments (VSTi) to be included in the
rendered mix. For more information, see

Rendering projects with MIDI tracks on page

139.

Saving projects

An ACID project file (.acd) is the default file format for saving a new project and should be used for saving
unfinished projects. There are two ACID project file types.

Format Extension Description

ACID Project File .acd Contains all information regarding the project including

track layout, envelope settings, and effects parameters.
However, this type of file does not contain actual audio,
only references to the audio files.

ACID Project with
Embedded Media

.acd-zip Contains all information regarding the project including

track layout, envelope settings, and effects parameters. In
addition, all audio files used in the project are embedded
into the project file.

If you save a project in .acd-zip format, the project file and
all media files are copied to a temporary files folder. If you
continue to work on your project after saving the .acd-zip
file, your changes are saved to the files in this temporary
folder.

You can customize the location of the temporary files

For more information, see Using the General tab on

folder.

page 166

.

1.

To save a file, display the Save As dialog using any of the following options:

• Click the

• From the

• Press .

2.

From the Save in drop-down list, choose the drive and directory where the file will be saved.

3.

Enter a name for the project in the File name box.

4.

From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the desired ACID project file type.

5.

If you want ACID to save a copy of each of the project’s media files to the same location as your project
file, select the

6.

Click Save. ACID saves the project.

Note:

Save As command from the File menu to

the

Save button ( ) on the toolbar.

Edit menu, choose Save.

Ctrl +S

Copy all media with project check box. This is available when saving as an ACID project file.

Once the project is saved, you can use

create a copy of the project with a new name or
save to a different ACID project file format.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Rendering projects

Rendering refers to the process of converting the ACID project into a file that is formatted for a specific
playback method. Possible playback methods include media player applications, Internet streaming media,
CD-ROM, and CD audio. When an ACID project is rendered, it is not overwritten, deleted, or altered and
you are able to return to the original project to make changes and re-render.

1.

From the File menu, choose Render As. The Render
As dialog appears.

2.

From the Save in drop-down list, choose the drive and
folder where the file will be saved.

3.

Enter a new name for the project in the File name box.

4.

From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the
desired file format.

5.

If the selected file type supports it, you can choose an
encoding template from the
or click

Custom to create a new template. For more

information, see Creating custom rendering settings on
page 54.

6.

Select or clear the following check boxes as needed:

Te mp l a te drop-down list,

53

• Select the

Render loop region only check box if you

want to save only the portion of the project that is
contained within the loop region. The loop region
does not need to be active for this option to work.

• If the selected file type supports it, you can select the

Save project markers with media file check box to

include markers and regions in the rendered media file.

• Select the
own file. The

Stretch video to fill output frame (do not letterbox): Selecting this check box stretches the source video frame

•

Save each track as a separate file check box if you want to render each track in the project to its

File name box changes to Folde r, which displays the name of the folder in the Save in box.

if the destination frame size differs. When this check box is cleared, ACID uses letterboxing or
pillarboxing to keep the frame aspect correct.

•

Fast video resizing: Selecting this check box speeds the process of saving video. When this check box is

cleared, the time required to save the file can increase dramatically. Clear this check box only when you
have critical material where nothing but the highest quality video rendering will do.

7.

Click Save. A progress dialog appears.

When rendering is complete, you can choose one of the following options:

• Click

• Click

• Click

Open to start the associated media player and play the newly rendered file.
Open Folder to open Windows Explorer and display the location of the newly rendered file.
Close to close the progress dialog and return to the ACID window.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

54

Supported formats for rendering

The following table briefly describes the file formats available for rendering a project.

Format Extension Description

AIFF File .aif The standard audio file format for audio used on Macintosh

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 .mpg MPEG files are a format used when burning audio and video to a

MPEG-1 Layer 3 .mp3 A highly compressed format used for portable digital players and

Ogg Vorbis .ogg A patent-free audio encoding and streaming technology.
QuickTime .mov QuickTime for Microsoft Windows.
RealMedia .rm The RealNetworks standard for streaming media via the Web. This

Sonic Foundry Perfect
Clarity Audio
Sonic Foundry Wave64 .w64 A Sonic Foundry proprietary wave format that does not have a

Video for Windows .avi The standard video file format used on Windows-based

Wave .wav The standard audio file format used on Windows-based

Windows Media Audio .wma The Microsoft audio format used to create files for streaming or

Windows Media Video .wmv The Microsoft audio and video format used to create files for

.pca A Sonic Foundry proprietary lossless audio compression format.

computers.

Video CD, Super Video CD, or DVD. ACID supports MPEG-1 and
MPEG-2 file creation through the use of the MainConcept MPEG
plug-in.

Internet sharing of media. ACID provides 20 free MP3 encodes.
After you have used the free encodes, you must register the
plug-in to continue rendering MP3s.

option renders both audio and video into one file.

restricted file size (unlike Windows standard WAV format which is
limited to ~2GB).

computers.

computers.

downloading via the Web.

streaming or downloading via the Web.

Note:

Some plug-ins, such as MP3, may

require registration.

Creating custom rendering settings

The Custom Settings dialog appears when you click Custom in the Save As dialog. You can use the Custom
Settings dialog to create custom encoding templates for many of the file formats available in ACID.

1.

From the File menu, choose Render As. The Render As dialog appears.

2.

Choose your preferred file format from the Save as type drop-down list. If the format allows you to create
custom settings, the

3.

Click Custom. The Custom Settings dialog appears.

4.

Make the appropriate setting changes for the chosen file format. For help on individual settings, click the

What’sThis? Help button ( ) and click a setting.

Note:

To save the custom settings for future

Custom button becomes active.

use, enter a name for the template in the

Te mp la t e box and click the Save Template

button ( ).

5.

Click OK. The Custom Settings dialog closes.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

Publishing to the Internet

When your project is finished, you have the option of publishing it to the Internet. The most common place
to publish your project is ACIDplanet.com, a virtual community of ACID users. ACIDplanet.com allows
you to do the following:

• Share your music.

• Listen to projects built by other ACID enthusiasts.

• Download free loops.

• Enter remix contests co-sponsored by Sonic Foundry and major record labels.

Publishing your project to the Internet involves two distinct procedures: creating a personal account and
uploading the project.

Creating a personal account

ACID allows you to create accounts at Web sites where you can publish your song files. Each Web site that
offers publishing directly through ACID will guide you through its own account creation process. If you
haven’t created an account and you attempt to publish a song, you will be directed to complete the Publish
Setup utility.

1.

From the File menu, choose Publish Setup.

2.

Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your account.

At any time, you can go back and create another account at a different Web site. The Web site you are
currently logged into in the Publish Setup utility is where ACID publishes your song when you choose

Publish from the File menu.

55

Uploading a project

Publishing a project file copies your media to the Web so you can share it with other Web users. The
following procedure assumes you already have an account set up with a publish provider. If not, you will first
be redirected to set up an account. After successfully creating an account, you will be directed back to the
Publish feature.

1.

From the File menu, choose Publish. The Publish dialog appears.

2.

Select the appropriate radio button to specify whether the song to be published is the current ACID song
or a different song.

• To publish your current ACID song, choose a streaming format and bit rate.

• To publish a different song, enter the path to the song or click

Browse to locate the file. This song must

already be in a streaming format.

3.

Click Next. If you are publishing the current ACID song, ACID renders it in the format and bit rate you
specified. A window appears from the publish provider with directions for completing the publishing
process.

4.

Follow the instructions provided by the publish provider. ACID begins uploading the file to the provider.
A progress dialog informs you when the upload is finished.

5.

Click OK. The publish provider provides a link to the song on their Web site; however, this may vary
depending on provider.

Writing to CD

ACID allows you to burn your projects to CD using supported CD-R/CD-RW drives. ACID renders your
project so it can be played on consumer CD players; however, the disc must be closed before it can be played
in a CD player.

CHP. 3 GETTING STARTED

56

Note:

ACID writes the entire project length
to a CD track. If your project has events on
muted tracks that extend beyond the end of the
audible material, the muted events burn as
silence at the end of your CD track. To burn
just a portion of a project, create a loop region
and select the Burn loop region only check box.

1.

Insert a blank CD in a supported CD-R/CD-RW drive.

2.

From the Tools menu, choose Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD.

Notice that the Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD dialog indicates the amount of time that the current
project will fill on the CD as well as the total amount of time remaining on the CD. If the

audio

value exceeds the Time available on disc value, ACID does not allow you to write the track to the CD.

Note:

CD-RW drive, only the

If there is no CD in the CD-R/

Cancel button is

Time needed for

available in this dialog.

3.

Choose a setting from the Action drop-down list:

• Choose

Burn audio to begin recording audio to your CD when you click Start. You must close the disc

before it can be played in an audio CD player.

• Choose

Test, then burn audio to test whether your files can be written to the CD without encountering

buffer underruns. Recording begins after the test if it is successful.

• Choose

Test only to test whether your files can be written to the CD without encountering buffer

underruns. No audio is recorded to the CD.

• Choose

Close disc to close your disc without adding any audio when you click Start. Closing a disc allows

your files to be played on an audio CD player. You cannot add tracks to a CD once it has been closed.

• Choose

Erase RW disc to erase a rewritable CD when you click Start.

4.

Select your burning options:

• Select the

• Select the

Erase RW disc before burning check box to erase a rewritable CD before you begin burning.
Close disc when done burning check box to close the CD after burning. Closing a disc allows

your files to be played on an audio CD player. You cannot add tracks to a CD once it has been closed.

• Select the

• Select the

Eject disc when done check box to eject the CD automatically when burning is complete.
Burn loop region only check box to burn only the selected loop region. Clear the check box to

burn the entire project.

5.

From the Drive drop-down list, choose the drive for burning CDs.

6.

From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to burn. Choosing Max uses your
drive’s fastest possible speed; decrease the setting if you have difficulty burning because of buffer
underruns.

7.

Click Start.

Note:

Once ACID begins writing to the CD,
cancelling the write operation renders the CD
unusable.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 3

CHAPTER

Editing Events

4

4

In this chapter, you’ll learn about basic event editing techniques such as cutting, copying, pasting, trimming,
splitting, and joining events. You’ll also learn how to use ripple editing to expand the possibilities of timeline
editing. Finally, you’ll take a look at advanced editing techniques such as slipping and sliding events,
changing event properties, and adding event envelopes.

57

Note:

chapter, make sure that ripple editing is turned
off. Verify that the
the
information, see Ripple editing on page 62.

For the basic event editing topics in this

Ripple Edits command in

Options menu is not selected. For more

Copying events

Copying an event, a time selection, or event within a time selection places an exact copy of the selected
event(s) on the clipboard, but leaves the track view unchanged. Events copied to the clipboard can be
pasted in the project an unlimited number of times. In addition, clipboard content remains on the clipboard
until replaced by new content.

1.

Select the event data you want to copy or make a time selection. For more information, see Making

selections on page 42.

2.

Copy the event data using any of the following methods:

• Click the

• Choose

• Right-click the selection and choose

• Press .

Copy button ( ) on the toolbar.

Copy from the Edit menu.

Copy from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl +C

Pasting events

The clipboard’s contents can be pasted in a project an unlimited number of times. However, an event is
always pasted in the track it was copied/cut from. In addition, pasting the contents of the clipboard over an
existing event results in the pasted event overlapping the existing event. To avoid pasting over existing
events, you have two options:

• Use the

• Turn on ripple editing. For more information, see Ripple editing on page 62.

When events are cut/copied to the clipboard and subsequently pasted into a project, ACID maintains and
pastes the time data inherent in the cut/copied events. For example, if you select two events on the same
track that are separated by five seconds of silence, copying and pasting these events results in the five
seconds of silence also being pasted into the project.

CHP. 4 EDITING EVENTS

Paste Insert command. For more information, see Using Paste Insert on page 58.

58

Original events

Pasted events

Taking this concept a step further, if you select discontinuous events from several tracks, copying and pasting
these events results in any selected time data being pasted into the project as well. This maintains the
relative position of events in the project.

Original events Pasted events

Using the Paste command

1.

Place the cursor at the desired position on the timeline.

2.

Paste the clipboard contents using any of the following methods:

• Click the

• Choose

• Right-click the track view and choose

• Press .

Paste button ( ) on the toolbar.

Paste from the Edit menu.

Paste from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl +V

Using Paste Repeat

When building projects, you often need to paste the contents of the clipboard several times. Rather than
repeatedly pasting and moving the content, the
times and at what interval the clipboard’s contents are pasted on the track view. This is a useful way of
quickly building a project that uses a repetitive riff or structure. For example, you can build the backing
tracks for a twelve-bar blues, copy them, and use

Paste Repeat command allows you to specify the number of

Paste Repeat to paste several copies of it in the project.

1.

Click the Time Selection Tool button ( ).

2.

Drag the mouse in the track view to create a time selection spanning several events and copy it to the
clipboard.

3.

Click the Go To End button ( ) on the transport bar or press to send the cursor to the end of

Ctrl +End

the project.

Ctrl

4.

From the Edit menu, choose Paste Repeat or press . The Paste Repeat dialog appears.

5.

Enter a number in the Number of times to paste box.

6.

Select the End to end radio button and click OK. ACID pastes the events end to end the number of times

+B

specified in step five, starting at the cursor position.

Using Paste Insert

To insert the contents of the ACID clipboard at the current cursor position and force existing events to
move in time to accommodate the pasted events, choose

If the cursor is in the middle of an event, the event splits at the cursor position where the new events are
pasted. For more information, see Splitting events on page 60.

Paste Insert from the Edit menu.

EDITING EVENTS CHP. 4

Cutting events

Cutting an event, a time selection, or an event within a time selection removes the audio data from the
track view and places it on the clipboard. Once data is placed on the clipboard, it can be pasted back into
the project an unlimited number of times. Clipboard content remains on the clipboard until it is replaced by
new data.

1.

Select the event data you want to cut or make a time selection. For more information, see Making selections
on page 42.

2.

Cut the event data using any of the following methods:

59

• Click the

• Choose

• Right-click the selection and choose

• Press .

Cut button ( ) on the toolbar.

Cut from the Edit menu.

Cut from the shortcut menu.

Ctrl +X

All selected events are removed from the track view and placed on the clipboard.

Deleting events

Deleting an event, a time selection, or an event within a time selection removes the data from the track
view and discards it. Deleted events are not placed on the clipboard and do not replace or interfere with
current clipboard content. In addition, deleted events cannot be pasted back into a project.

Note:

project using the
information, see Using undo on page 47.

1.

Select the event data you want to delete or make a time selection. For more information, see Making

selections on page 42.

2.

Delete the event data using any of the following methods:

• Choose

• Right-click the selected event and choose

• Press .

Deleted data can only be replaced in a

Undo command. For more

Delete from the Edit menu.

Delete from the shortcut menu.

Delete

All selected events are removed from the track view and discarded.

Trimming events

Whereas deleting allows you to select event data to be removed from the project, trimming allows you to
select the data that remains. Trimming is performed by creating a time selection or selecting an event within
a time selection and subsequently deleting all unselected data.

1.

Create a time selection or select specific events within a time selection. For more information, see Creating

time selections on page 43.

2.

CHP. 4 EDITING EVENTS

Ctrl +T

Press to trim the data within the selection. All unselected event data is removed from the track
view and discarded.

60

Splitting events

Splitting is a quick way to create independently functioning events from a single one. You might consider
splitting an event if you want to adjust a small part of the track. For example, you may want to apply pitch
shift to a guitar track for a few measures and then return the track to its original setting.

Splitting occurs at the cursor position or at the in and out points of a time selection. When you split an
event, ACID creates a new ending point for the original event and creates a starting point for the newly
created event.

When you split an event, the newly created events abut each other. If

Quick fade edges to prevent clicks is

selected in the Event Properties dialog, ACID adds fades at the split point. For more information, see Changing

event properties on page 66.

Split position Two events

However, you may move either of the events, which creates a gap.

Split position

Two events

Splitting at the cursor position splits all selected events that the cursor crosses on all tracks.

1.

Select the event(s) that you want to split.

2.

Place the cursor where you want the split to occur or make a time selection.

3.

From the Edit menu, choose Split or press . The result of the split depends on how events were selected.

S

Splitting at the cursor position

Splitting at the cursor position splits all events that the cursor crosses on all tracks.

Events before splitting Events after splitting

Cursor position
and split point

EDITING EVENTS CHP. 4

After the split, the three events
become six events

Splitting an event

Selecting a single event prior to splitting prevents other events from being split at the cursor’s position.

Events before splitting Events after splitting

61

Event to
be split

Cursor position
and split point

Only the selected
event splits
at the cursor
position

Splitting multiple events

Selecting multiple events splits only the selected events at the cursor’s position. Be sure to set your cursor
position before selecting events. Attempting to set your cursor after selecting events causes you to lose your
event selection.

Events before splitting Events after splitting

Events to
be split

Cursor position
and split point

Only the selected
events split
at the cursor
position

Splitting a time selection

Making a time selection allows you to split events at the time selection’s in and out points across all tracks.

Events before splitting Events after splitting

Loop bar

In point Out point

CHP. 4 EDITING EVENTS

Loop bar

Split point Split point

62

Splitting events within a time selection

When selecting events within a time selection, only the selected events in the time range split at the in and
out points.

Events before splitting Events after splitting

Selection bar

Selection bar

Only the selected
event splits at
the in and out
points

In point Out point

Event to be
split at the time
selection’s in and
out points

Split point Split point

Joining events

You may join events on ACID tracks that have been segmented along the timeline. Joining events is an
efficient way to redraw an event and remove any splits or silent regions between events.

You would want to join events if you decided that the event should play uninterrupted over the specified
time range.

1.

Select the events or range of events that you want to join. For more information, see Selecting multiple events
on page 42.

2.

From the Edit menu, choose Join or press . The selected events are joined.

J

Select all the events that you want to join.

You can also select the first and last events
you want to join, creating an event selection range.

After you join the events, a single event appears.

Joining events is similar to dragging the
edge of an existing event

Ripple editing

ACID includes a ripple editing feature. This feature is a timeline-based procedure that allows you to cut,
delete, and paste events or portions of events within a time selection and simultaneously adjust the position
of all later events on a selected track. The existing events’ timeline position adjusts by the total amount of
the time selection that is being cut, deleted or pasted from the clipboard.

Ctrl

You may turn on ripple editing mode by choosing

Note:

Ripple editing is only available when a

Ripple Edits from the Options menu or pressing .

time selection is present.

EDITING EVENTS CHP. 4

+L

Cutting events in ripple editing mode

Cutting events or portions of events removes them and their time information from their respective tracks.
This information is placed on the clipboard, from which you may paste the information back into your
project.

1.

From the Options menu, choose Ripple Edits to enter ripple editing mode.

2.

Click the event to be cut or make a time selection.

63

To cut multiple events, use the key, the key, or the

Ctrl Shift

Selection ( ) tool to select the events. For

more information, see Selecting multiple events on page 42.

3.

Click the Cut button ( ) on the toolbar to cut the event(s) to the clipboard.

The cut events and their time information are removed from the selected track(s) and placed on the
clipboard. Existing events in the selected track(s) move forward to occupy the space created by the cut.

Cutting time selections in ripple editing mode

Events within the time selection are reproduced and placed on the clipboard. Also, the time information is
placed on the clipboard. Existing events occurring after the time selection move forward in the project by
the length of the time selection.

Events before cut Clipboard contents Events after cut

Existing events
adjust to occur
sooner in the
project

Cutting time and event selections in ripple editing mode

Events and portions of events within the time selection are reproduced and placed on the clipboard. Also,
the time information is placed on the clipboard. Existing events occurring later than the time selection
move forward by the length of the time selection. Only tracks containing selected events are affected by the
ripple edit.

Events before cut Clipboard contents Events after cut

Existing events on
the top track adjust
to occur sooner in the
project

Deleting events in ripple editing mode

Deleting events or portions of events removes them and their time information from their respective tracks.
However, this information is not placed on the clipboard. Existing events move forward when you delete
material from a selected track.

1.

From the Options menu, choose Ripple Edits to enter ripple editing mode.

CHP. 4 EDITING EVENTS

64

2.

Click the event to be deleted or make a time selection.

To cut multiple events, use the key, the key, or the

Ctrl Shift

Selection ( ) tool to select the events. For

more information, see Selecting multiple events on page 42.

3.

Deleting time selections in ripple editing mode

Delete

Press to delete the event(s).

Events within the time selection and their time information are removed from the project. Existing events
occurring after the time selection move forward in the project by the length of the time selection. When
information is deleted, it is not placed on the clipboard.

Events before delete Clipboard contents Events after delete

Deleted information is not
placed on the clipboard.

Existing events
adjust to occur
sooner in the
project

Deleting time and event selections in ripple editing mode

Events within the time selection and their time information are removed from the project. Existing events
occurring after the time selection move forward in the project by the length of the time selection. When
information is deleted, it is not placed on the clipboard.

Events before delete Clipboard contents Events after delete

Deleted information is not
placed on the clipboard.

Existing events on the
top track adjust to
occur sooner in the
project

Pasting events in ripple editing mode

Once information is copied to the clipboard, you may choose a variety of ways to paste the clipboard items
into tracks. For more information, see Pasting events on page 57. The following procedures explain pasting
information in ripple editing mode.

Note:

own tracks at the cursor position.

1.

From the Options menu, choose Ripple Edits to enter ripple editing mode.

2.

Move the cursor to the desired timeline location.

3.

Place the cursor within the track where you want to paste the event.

4.

Click the Paste button ( ) on the toolbar to paste the event into the track.

Clipboard information is pasted at the cursor’s position on the track. Existing events or portions of events
after the cursor adjust to occur later in the project. The amount of adjustment is based on the total length of
the information being pasted.

EDITING EVENTS CHP. 4

Events are always pasted into their

65

Pasting single track information in ripple editing mode

The information on the clipboard determines how many tracks are affected when you paste. If you have
copied or cut information from one track, only the selected track is affected by the pasted event and time
information.

Clipboard contents Events before paste Events after paste

Existing event
adjusts to move
later in the project.

Paste
position

Newly pasted
event

Pasting multitrack information in ripple editing mode

ACID can paste multiple events as easily as single events.

Clipboard contents Events before paste Events after paste

These events will be
pasted

Note:

Pasting in ripple editing mode ripples

Paste
position

Existing events on the tracks adjust
later in the project

only the events on the tracks that receive the
clipboard contents. If you want to ripple all
tracks at the paste position, use the

Insert command from the Edit menu.

Paste

Newly pasted events

Slipping and sliding events

To help you picture what happens when you slip and slide events, think of an event as a window to a media
file. The window can display the entire media file or a small section. When the window displays only a
portion of the media file, you can move either the window or the underlying media to adjust the media
played by an event:

• When you slip an event, your event maintains its place on the timeline, but the media file moves in the
direction you drag.

• When you slide an event, the media file maintains its place on the timeline, but the event moves in the
direction you drag.

CHP. 4 EDITING EVENTS

66

Original loop event

Slipping the event two measures to the right

Slip-trimming the event two measures to the right

Sliding the event two measures to the right

Shifting the contents of (slipping) events

Alt

Hold while dragging an event. The slip cursor appears ( ).

As you drag the event, the contents of the event shift, but the event does not move. You can use this
technique when you want to maintain an event’s length and position but want the to event play a different
section of the source media file.

For creative ways to use event slipping, see Duplicating with offset on page 174.

Slip-trimming events

Alt

Hold while dragging the right or left edge of an event. The slip-trim cursor appears ( ).

As you drag the event edge, the media moves with the event edge.

Sliding events

Ctrl +Alt

Hold while dragging an event. The slide cursor appears ( ).

As you drag, the relative position of the media remains fixed on the track, and the event position changes.
You can use this technique when you want to maintain an event’s length but want the event to play a
different section of the source media file at a different point in your project.

Changing event properties

To access event properties, right-click the event and choose Properties
from the shortcut menu, or simply double-click the event.

These properties are saved in the project but are not saved into the file
when you save changes to a track in the Track Properties window

more information, see Saving file properties on page 104.

. For

EDITING EVENTS CHP. 4

The following table describes each of the settings in the Event Properties dialog.

Item Description

Start offset The Start offset for an event specifies a playback starting position that is

Pitch shift The Pitch shift value specifies a pitch shift for the selected event. Event-based

Speed The Speed setting allows you to change the playback speed of an event on a

Quick fade edges to
prevent clicks

different than the beginning of the file. This is especially useful for loops; you
can change the feel of a loop by simply starting on beat two rather than beat
one.

pitch shift is calculated after the project key and any pitch shift assigned to a
track.

For more information, see Changing tempo, time signature, and key on

.

page 77

one-shot track. Changing the speed also changes the pitch.

When you add an offset to an event so that it does not end on a loop point, you
can introduce an audible click at the edges of the event. Select the Quick fade
edges to prevent clicks check box, and ACID performs a quick fade-in or
fade-out on the event edges.

To adjust a quick fade, zoom into the event and hover over the upper-left or

upper-right corner of an event until the cursor is displayed as . Drag the
edge of the fade to adjust its duration.

event’s fade-in and -out envelope curve on page 67

For more information, see Setting an

.

Using event envelopes

67

ACID enables you to use envelopes on individual events. Envelopes give you the ability to control each
event’s fade-in, fade-out, and overall volume. Envelopes are useful for transitional effects between events by
subtly fading out one event’s volume while another fades in.

These envelopes are different than track envelopes because they affect only the event whereas track
envelopes can affect multiple events on the track. For more information, see Using track envelopes on page 93.

The event’s volume level and fade curves are represented by a line on the event.

Setting an event’s volume envelope

You can control an event’s overall volume by setting an envelope at the desired decibel (dB) level.

1.

Place the mouse pointer at the top of the event. The envelope cursor ( ) appears.

2.

Drag the volume line to the desired level. As you drag the volume line, ACID displays the event’s decibel
level.

3.

Release the mouse to set the event’s dB level.

After you set the event volume level, you may change it later by dragging the envelope line.

Setting an event’s fade-in and -out envelope curve

You can control an event’s envelope fade-in and -out characteristics by adjusting the event’s envelope
handles. These handles allow you to control the length and dB level of fade-ins and fade-outs. Also, you can
change the type of curve that the event uses to control the volume’s fade characteristics.

1.

Place the mouse pointer on the upper corner of the event. The envelope cursor ( ) appears.

CHP. 4 EDITING EVENTS

68

2.

Drag the envelope cursor and position the envelope curve. As you drag the cursor, ACID displays the
following information:

• The event decibel level.

• The length (in measures.beats.ticks) of the fade-in or fade-out.

3.

Release the mouse to set the fade-in or fade-out characteristics.

Changing the event’s fade curve type

You can set an event’s fade curves (fast, linear, slow, smooth, or sharp) that are used to raise or lower the
volume over time. Right-click the fade region, select

Fade Type from the shortcut menu, and choose the

appropriate fade curve from the submenu.

Creating crossfades between events

ACID allows you to quickly create crossfades between overlapping events painted on different tracks.

1.

Select two events. The events must overlap, but do not need to be on adjacent tracks.

2.

F

Press . The end of the first event fades out, and the second event fades in.

For creative ways to use crossfades, see Creating DJ-style crossfades on page 180.

EDITING EVENTS CHP. 4

CHAPTER

Working in the
Track View

5

5

This chapter introduces you to several ACID features that increase your productivity, such as markers,
regions, and snapping options. You’ll also learn about the different ways to change a project’s tempo, key and
time signature. Finally, you’ll learn several options for adjusting the project timeline.

Using project markers and regions

ACID markers and regions identify areas of your project and provide navigational cues for quickly finding
those areas. After you insert markers and regions, you may adjust their position along the project’s timeline
and label them with meaningful names for your reference.

Marker type Description

Marker (standard) Markers identify specific reference points in your project. Points that you may

Time marker Time markers are fixed to the time ruler and mark absolute time in your

want to identify are introductions, bridges, refrains, choruses, or whatever
you choose.

project. They are very useful when scoring video.

69

Command marker Command markers indicate when an instruction or function occurs in a

streaming media file.

Regions Regions subdivide your project into time segments. Regions have in and out

points, which allow them to function as permanent time selections.

Working with standard markers

Markers are tools that can make creating music easier by identifying specific points along the project’s
timeline. They can be named, moved, and serve as snap and navigational points for the cursor and events.
When you place markers, ACID automatically numbers them in the order that you place them.

Placing markers

Markers are placed at the cursor position. You may place a marker in one of the following ways:

• From the

• Right-click the marker bar, choose

from the submenu.

• Press . You may use this method to place a marker while the project is playing.

Insert menu, choose Marker.

Markers/Regions from the shortcut menu, and choose Insert Marker

M

Marker barMarker

CHP. 5 WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW

70

Moving markers

Place the mouse pointer on the marker to be moved. The hand cursor ( ) appears.

1.

2.

Drag the marker to the desired position.

Naming markers

ACID allows you to name markers in your project. You may want to name markers based on parts of the
project. For example, you may want to identify choruses, refrains, bridges, or instrument solos as reference
points along the timeline.

1.

Place the mouse pointer on the marker to be named. The hand cursor ( ) appears.

2.

Right-click the marker and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. A box appears next to the marker.

3.

Type a marker name in the box and press to save the name.

Note:

You can use the same steps to rename a

Enter

marker. Alternately, you can double-click the
marker and enter a new name.

Navigating to markers

While you are working on your project, you may have scrolled to a portion of the project where the cursor is
not visible. There are two ways to move the cursor directly to the selected marker:

• Right-click the marker and choose

Go To from the shortcut menu.

• Click the marker once.

• Press the number key (not on the numeric keypad) corresponding to the marker number.

Note:

marker to the next by pressing +left/right

You may also navigate from one

Ctrl

arrow key.

Adjusting tempo to match cursor to marker

Position the cursor, right-click the marker tab, and choose Adjust tempo to match cursor to marker from the
shortcut menu. The project tempo changes so that the cursor position matches the selected marker.

Deleting markers

You may remove markers from the project at any time. Because markers are automatically numbered when
they are placed, ACID does not renumber the remaining markers when one is deleted. Rather, the remaining
markers retain their numbers. However, if you add markers later, ACID begins numbering to fill the
sequence gap.

For example, if you have five markers in your project and delete markers three and four, the remaining
markers are listed as one, two and five. When you add markers again, ACID begins numbering the markers as
three and four.

1.

Place the mouse pointer on the marker to be deleted. The hand cursor ( ) appears.

WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW CHP. 5

2.

Right-click the marker and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. The marker is removed from the
project.

Working with time markers

Unlike standard markers, time markers are tied to absolute time within your project. They are added
differently than standard markers and appear on the time ruler at the bottom of the track view. Otherwise,
time markers can be manipulated just like other markers.

Placing time markers

Time markers are placed at the cursor position. You may place a time marker in one of the following ways:

71

• From the

• Press . You may use this method to place a time marker while the project is playing back.

Insert menu, choose Time Marker.

H

Time marker

Note:

Adjusting tempo to match marker to cursor

ACID does not number time markers.

Using this function with time markers is particularly useful when scoring video. For more information, see

Scoring video with ACID on page 146.

Position the cursor, right-click the marker tab, and choose

Adjust tempo to match marker to cursor from the

shortcut menu. The project tempo changes so the time marker matches the cursor position.

You can also align the marker and cursor by holding while dragging the marker. For example, hold

Alt Alt

while dragging a time marker to a location on the beat ruler. The project tempo adjusts so the time at the
marker occurs on a specific beat. For example, if you place a time marker at 10 seconds on the time ruler and

Alt

hold while dragging the marker to 5.1 on the beat ruler, ACID adjusts the project’s tempo so the first
beat of measure five occurs at ten seconds.

Working with command markers

Command markers add interactivity to a multimedia presentation streamed over the Internet. As your media
plays, any number of other actions can be programmed to execute. These commands are a part of the
Windows Media and RealMedia streaming formats. Most frequently, these actions add text or open a related
Web site. The specific commands available vary depending on the final format of your project.

Note:

back from a hard drive or CD-ROM, but in
order to stream properly across the Internet,
the file must be on a streaming media server.
Check with your internet service provider for
details and availability of this service.

CHP. 5 WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW

Streaming media files can be played

72

Placing command markers

Command markers appear on the command ruler, which is above the marker bar.

URL command marker

Command ruler

Marker bar

1.

Position the cursor where you want to place the command marker.

2.

From the Insert menu, choose Command, or press .

3.

Complete the Command Properties dialog:

• From the

Te mp la t e drop-down list, choose a custom

C

template. For more information, see Saving command

properties as a custom template on page 72.

• From the

Command drop-down list, choose the type of

command. For more information, see Defining streaming

media commands on page 73.

• Enter parameters in the

Parameter box to define the

behavior of the command.

• Enter your own notes or comments in the

Comment

box.

• Specify the timing of the command in the

Position box. Command markers are automatically set to the

current cursor position unless you change this value.

4.

Click OK. The new command marker appears on the command bar.

After you create a command marker, you can move the marker by dragging it to a new location.

Editing command marker properties

Double-click any command marker to open the Command Properties dialog and edit its contents. You can
also right-click a command marker and choose

Saving command properties as a custom template

Edit from the shortcut menu.

If you plan to use a command more than once, you can save command properties as a template. You can then
reuse the command properties by selecting the template from the

Te mp l a te drop-down list.

1.

Create a command and complete the Command Properties dialog.

2.

Click in the Te mp l at e box and enter a name for the template.

3.

Click the Save Template button ( ).

Note:

ACID saves your metadata command
templates in the cmdtemp.xml file in the ACID
program folder. You can edit this file directly to
modify your templates.

WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW CHP. 5

73

Defining streaming media commands

In a streaming media file, command markers can be used to display headlines, show captions, link to Web
sites, or any other function you define.

ACID includes several command types that you may add to a streaming media file. Some command types are
exclusive to either the Windows Media (WMA or WMV) or the RealMedia (RM) file types.

Command Player Type Description

URL Windows Media

and RealMedia

TEXT Windows Media Displays text in the captioning area of the Windows Media Player located

WMClosedCaption Windows Media Displays the entered text in the captioning window defined by an HTML

WMTextBodyText Windows Media Displays the entered text in the text window defined by an HTML layout page.
WMTextHeadline Windows Media Displays the entered text in the headline window defined by an HTML layout

Title Windows Media

and RealMedia

Author Windows Media

and RealMedia

Copyright Windows Media

and RealMedia

HotSpotPlay RealMedia Allows you to define an area in the RealPlayer video display that users can

HotSpotBrowse RealMedia Allows you to define an area in the RealPlayer video display that users can

HotSpotSeek RealMedia Allows you to define an area in the RealPlayer video display that users can

Indicates when an instruction is sent to the user’s Internet browser to change
the content being displayed. With this command, you enter the URL that
displays at a specific time during the rendered project’s playback.

below the video display area. You enter the text that displays during playback.

layout file.

file.
Displays the entered text on the player’s title bar.

Displays the entered text (author’s name) when a user selects About this
Presentation from the RealPlayer’s shortcut menu or Properties from the
Windows Media shortcut menu.

Displays the entered copyright information when a user selects About this
Presentation from the RealPlayer’s shortcut menu or Properties from the
Windows Media shortcut menu.

click to jump to another RealMedia file.

click to jump to a Web page that you specify.

click to jump to a point in the current RealMedia file.

Defining HotSpot commands

Hotspots are defined using the following parameter syntax:

HotSpotPlay MM:SS (LEFT, TOP, RIGHT, BOTTOM) "LABEL" FILENAME

HotSpotBrowse MM:SS (LEFT, TOP, RIGHT, BOTTOM) "LABEL" URL

HotSpotSeek MM:SS (LEFT, TOP, RIGHT, BOTTOM) "LABEL" MM:SS

The

Parameter box for a typical HotSpotBrowse command for a hotspot rectangle that is 50 pixels wide by 20

pixels tall and lasts for 10 seconds would look like this:

HotSpotBrowse 00:10 (0, 0, 50, 20) "Sonic Foundry" http:\\www.sonicfoundry.com

All parameters are optional except the last. The hotspot defaults to the entire duration of the file and the
entire video frame if the duration and dimensions are not specified.

Adjusting tempo to match cursor to marker

Position the cursor, right-click the marker tab, and choose Adjust tempo to match cursor to marker from the
shortcut menu. The project tempo changes so that the cursor position matches the selected command
marker.

Deleting command markers

To delete a command marker, right-click the marker and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

CHP. 5 WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW

74

Working with regions

Regions are useful tools that allow you to subdivide your project into time sections by designating in and out
points along the timeline. Regions can function as permanent time selections for playback and editing
purposes. Like markers, regions can serve as reference points and may be moved, named, and provide snap
points for the cursor and events.

When you place regions, ACID automatically numbers them in the order that you place them.

Placing and moving regions

Regions are placed at the start and end points of a loop region (time selection). You may place a region in
one of the following ways:

• From the

• Right-click the marker bar, choose

Insert menu, choose Region.

Markers/Regions from the shortcut menu, and choose Insert Region

from the submenu.

• Press .

R

Region start

Region end

Loop region

After you place a region, you may change its position by dragging the region tag to the desired position.

Note:

changing its size by holding while dragging

You can move a region without

Alt

either region tag.

Naming regions

ACID allows you to name the placed regions in your project. You may want to name regions based on parts
of the project or to define the amount of time that the regions encompass. For example, you may want to
identify introductions, solos, or special time-related features in your project as reference points.

1.

Right-click the region’s start tag and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. A box appears next to the
tag.

2.

Type a region name and press to save the name.

WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW CHP. 5

Enter

75

Navigating to regions

While you are working on your project, you may have scrolled to a portion of the project where the cursor is
not visible. You may click in the track view to move and view the cursor or you may use region tags to bring
the cursor into view.

To move the cursor to the selected region tag, right-click the region tag and choose

Go To from the shortcut

menu.

Note:

in your project by pressing +left/right

You may also navigate between regions

Ctrl

arrow key or the number key (not on the
numeric keypad) corresponding to the region
number.

Selecting regions

You may use the region’s start and end tags to make a time selection across all tracks in your project. The
information within the time selection can then be used for playback or editing.

To select a region, right-click a region tag and choose

Select Region from the shortcut menu. The loop bar

appears between the region tags and the tracks are highlighted.

Loop bar

Deleting regions

You may remove regions from the project at any time. Because regions are automatically numbered when
they are placed, ACID does not renumber the existing regions when one is removed. Rather, the existing
regions retain their numbers. However, if you add regions later, ACID begins numbering to fill the sequence
gap that exists.

For example, if you have six regions in your project and delete regions four and five, the remaining regions
are listed as one, two, three and six. When you add regions again, ACID begins numbering the regions as
four and five.

To remove a region from a project, right-click the region tag marker and choose

Delete from the shortcut

menu.

Using snapping

Snapping helps you to align events in your project with other items. ACID is preset to snap event edges to
the project’s grid lines as you drag an event along the track. If snapping is enabled and the
is turned off, the event’s edges automatically align to these designated snap points:

• Cursor position

• Grid lines

• Markers

• Regions start and end points

• Loop region (time selection) in and out points

Grid Only option

CHP. 5 WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW

76

You may turn on snapping for these elements in the project or limit snapping to grid lines.

Snap point examples

Choosing snapping options

If the snap function is preventing you from placing an event precisely where you want it, you may turn
snapping off. Turning off snapping prevents events from automatically aligning to the cursor, grid lines,
markers, regions, and time selections.

The

Options menu allows you to toggle snap functions. The button image next to the Enable command

indicates when snapping is turned on. The button image next to the
of snapping in use.

Select to turn all snapping on/off

Select to toggle between snapping
to grid lines only and snapping to all
elements.

Grid Only command indicates the type

Note:

while dragging by holding down the key.

You can temporarily suspend snapping

Shift

Turning snapping on and off

You may turn snapping on and off in one of the following ways:

• Click the

• From the

• Press .

Snapping to grid lines

Enable Snapping button ( ) on the Toolbar.

Options menu, choose Snapping, and choose Enable from the submenu.

F8

With snapping turned on, you may choose to snap only to grid lines. From the Options menu, choose

Snapping, and choose Grid Only from the submenu. The button image next to the command indicates that it

is active.

Snapping to all elements

With snapping turned on, you may choose to snap to all elements. From the Options menu, choose

Snapping, and choose Grid Only from the submenu. The button image next to the Grid Only command

appears deselected when snapping to all elements.

Note:

Ctrl +F8

Press to toggle between grid
only and all elements.

WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW CHP. 5

Changing tempo, time signature, and key

You can set a tempo, time signature, and key for your ACID project. You can also make adjustments during
playback.

ACID allows you to add specific tempo, time signature, and key changes within a project using
tempo/key/time signature change markers. These markers appear on the marker bar above the track view.
When the cursor passes over one of these markers, the master project tempo, key, and/or time signature
changes in real time.

Set the tempo, time signature, and key for the whole project... ...or change these elements dynamically in the timeline.

77

Project Tempo

slider

Project Key

Project Time Signature

Project Tempo

Changing project tempo

With ACID, you can change the tempo of a project without affecting the project’s key.

Changing tempo using the Project Tempo slider

Drag the Project Tempo slider at the bottom of the track list. Dragging the slider to the left slows the tempo,
while dragging it to the right speeds the tempo.

Note:

the
value. Press when you are finished.

As you drag the
a track is being stretched to match the project tempo. The mark in the center of the bar represents the
original tempo of a file. When the bar appears to the right of the mark, the project tempo is faster than the
original file; when the bar appears to the left of the mark, the project tempo is slower than the original file.
The amount of change also displays as a percentage at the right end of the bar.

As you drag the slider, a colored bar appears for each track.

Double-click the tempo value next to

Project Tempo slider to enter an exact

Enter

Project Te mp o slider, a colored bar appears under each track’s name to represent the amount

Project tempo is slower
than file tempo.

Project tempo is faster
than file tempo.

Project Tempo slider

CHP. 5 WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW

78

Changing project tempo to match file tempo

Each track’s shortcut menu contains the option Use Original Tempo. The original tempo of the file used on
the track appears to the right of this option in the shortcut menu. To change the project’s tempo to match
the original file tempo, simply choose

Use Original Tempo from the shortcut menu.

Changing project time signature

Click the Project Time Signature control and select a time signature from the menu to adjust a project’s time
signature. Select

Other from the menu to enter a custom time signature.

Changing project key

Click the Project Key control and select a key from the menu to adjust a project’s key.

Project Key control

This feature makes it possible to use media that are in different keys in the same project: each loop that has a
specified root note is transposed to the key indicated by the

For example, if three loops have root notes of A, B, and C, and your

Project Key control.

Project Key control is set to D, ACID

pitch-shifts the loops by five, three, and two semitones, respectively.

Note:

Don’t Transpose in the Track Properties

If the root note for a track is set to

window, the track does not pitch shift with the
rest of the project.

Working with tempo/key/time signature change markers

Tempo/key/time signature change markers allow you to make changes to the tempo, key, and/or time
signature at specified points in your project.

Note:

the first beat of a measure.

Adding tempo/key/time signature change markers

Position the cursor where you want the change to occur.

1.

Time signature changes must occur on

2.

From the Insert menu, choose Tempo/Key/Time Signature Change. The Tempo/Key/Time Signature
Change dialog appears.

WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW CHP. 5

3.

Select the check boxes for the types of changes you want to
occur at the cursor position.

•

Key Change changes the key of all tracks until ACID

encounters another tempo/key/time signature change marker.

•

Tempo Change changes the tempo of all tracks until ACID

encounters another tempo/key/time signature change marker.

•

Time Signature Change changes the time signature of all tracks

until ACID encounters another tempo/key/time signature
change marker.

4.

Specify the desired change information and click OK to close the dialog. A marker appears in the marker
bar at the cursor position that displays the change information.

Editing tempo/key/time signature change markers

There are several ways to edit the tempo/key/time signature change marker:

79

• Position the cursor on or after the marker and adjust the

Project Tempo, Project Time Signature, or Project Key

controls. The marker’s text reflects the change.

• Right-click the marker, choose

Edit from the shortcut menu, and enter the appropriate change in the

Tempo/Key/Time Signature Change dialog.

• Double-click the marker and enter the appropriate change in the Tempo/Key/Time Signature Change
dialog.

Adjusting tempo to match cursor to marker

Position the cursor, right-click the marker tab, and choose Adjust Tempo to Match Cursor to Marker from the
shortcut menu. The project tempo changes so that the cursor position matches the selected marker.

Deleting tempo/key/time signature change markers

To delete a marker, right-click the marker and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

Changing a track’s key

You can change the key of an entire track without affecting the project’s key. For creative ways to use track key
changes, see Detuning paired tracks on page 173.

1.

Right-click the track and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. The Track Properties window
appears.

2.

On the General tab, enter the number of semitones by which to adjust the key in the Pitch Shift box or use
the spinner control. Use the minus (-) key for negative values.

3.

Close the Track Properties window. The pitch shift displays in the track’s icon.

Note:

Another way to change the key of the

track is to select the track in the track list and

+

press or on the numeric keypad.

CHP. 5 WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW

-

80

Changing an event’s key

You can change the key of an individual event without affecting the pitch of the track or project.

Right-click the event in the track view, choose
and choose

Up Semitone or Down Semitone from the submenu. The pitch shifts one

Pitch Shift from the shortcut menu,

semitone in the direction specified, and the amount of shift displays on the event
itself.

You can also change an event’s key using keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Event commands on
page 22.

Adjusting time

ACID provides two commands for adjusting your project’s timeline: Insert Time and Fit to Time.

Inserting time

Use the Insert Time command to insert a specified amount of blank space into the project at the current
cursor position. This feature can be used to create space in the project for new events.

1.

Position the cursor where you want to insert time.

2.

From the Insert menu, choose Time. The Insert Time dialog appears.

3.

Enter the amount of time you want to insert and click

Note:

The Insert Time dialog uses the

OK.

measures.beats.ticks format used by the beat
ruler.

Fitting to time

The Fit to Time command allows you to adjust the project’s overall length to a specified amount of time.

Note:

limited to reduce the possibility of creating
audible artifacts through the
compression/expansion process.

1.

From the Edit menu, choose Fit to Time. The Fit to Time dialog appears with the current project length
displayed in the

The maximum and minimum length is

New length box.

2.

Enter the new project length in the New length box. The length is always entered in time format,
regardless of the format used on the time ruler.

3.

Click

OK. The dialog closes and ACID adjusts the tempo to alter the project’s length.

WORKING IN THE TRACK VIEW CHP. 5

CHAPTER

Using the Chopper

6

6

The Chopper allows you to quickly create slice-and-dice effects. For creative ways to use the Chopper, see

Slicing and dicing in the Chopper on page 178.

Working in the Chopper window

Selecting a track automatically places it in the Chopper where it can be immediately manipulated and
inserted into the track view.

Toolbar

Beat ruler

81

Time ruler

Transport bar

Viewing the Chopper

Alt

To display the Chopper, choose Chopper from the View menu or press .

Changing the Chopper grid

The Chopper’s grid uses the same increments available on the track view. To change the grid display, right-
click the waveform area of the Chopper, choose
desired display from the submenu.

Changing Chopper snapping options

The snapping behavior of the track view and Chopper are linked. To enable snapping in both components,
choose

When snapping is turned on, you can choose between snapping only to the grid or snapping to all elements.

For more information, see Using snapping on page 75.

Snapping from the Options menu and choose Enable from the submenu, or press .

Grid Spacing from the shortcut menu, and choose the

+2

F8

CHP. 6 USING THE CHOPPER

82

Magnifying the Chopper

There are three ways of adjusting the magnification of the Chopper.

• Click the

Zoom In Time () and Zoom Out Time ( ) buttons located in the lower-right corner of the

window.

• Click within the Chopper and use the mouse wheel.

• Quickly magnify a selection by right-clicking and choosing

Zoom to Loop Region from the shortcut menu.

Previewing in the Chopper

The Chopper contains a dedicated transport bar that can be used to preview selections prior to inserting
them into the project.

Using Chopper toolbar and keyboard commands

In addition to the transport bar, the Chopper contains a toolbar that is designed to make creating selections
quick and easy. The following table briefly describes the toolbar buttons and the associated keyboard
commands.

Button Keyboard Function

/ A

or

Ctrl +,

Ctrl +.

N

;

(semicolon)

(comma)

(period)

Inserts the Chopper selection in the track view at the current cursor
position.

Shifts the track view’s cursor position to the left by the length of the
increment arrow.

Shifts the track view’s cursor position to the right by the length of the
increment arrow.

Links the length of the increment arrow with the length of the selection.
When toggled on, the length of the increment remains equal to the
length of the selection. When toggled off, you can configure the
increment independently of the Chopper selection.

Halves the length of the Chopper selection.

‘’

(apostrophe)

< ,

or (comma)

> .

or (period)

Ctrl +Shift +,

Ctrl

+Shift +.

Ctrl

+;

(semicolon)

Ctrl

+

(apostrophe)

‘’

R

M

I

O

(comma)
(period)

Doubles the length of the Chopper selection.

Shifts the Chopper selection to the left by the length of the selection.

Shifts the Chopper selection to the right by the length of the selection.

Shifts the selection left by the increment length.

Shifts the selection right by the increment length.

Doubles the length of the increment arrow.

Halves the length of the increment arrow.

Inserts a region.

Inserts a marker.

Marks the start point of a loop region.

Marks the end point of a loop region. Once the endpoint is established,
the loop region becomes highlighted.

USING THE CHOPPER CHP. 6

Inserting markers and regions in the Chopper

When working with events in the Chopper, you can drop markers and create regions just like in the track
view. For more information, see Using project markers and regions on page 69.

These markers and regions are saved with the project when it is saved. They can also be saved back to the
original media file by clicking the

Save File button ( ) in the Track Properties window. For more

information, see Saving file properties on page 104.

Creating selections in the Chopper

After you place a file in the Chopper, you can use the toolbar, transport bar, and mouse (or their keyboard
equivalents) to create and preview selections within the file. When have made the selection you want, you
can insert the selection into the track view.

Placing files in the Chopper

To place a file in the Chopper, do any of the following:

• Select a track in the track list.

• Select an event.

• Right-click an event and choose

Select in Chopper from the shortcut menu.

83

Note:

If you choose Select in Chopper on an
event that contains only a portion of a file,
ACID places the entire contents of the file in
the Chopper. The part of the waveform
selected, however, matches the contents of the
selected event. This allows you to see the event
in the context of the entire media file.

Creating selections

To create a selection, drag the mouse, or hold while pressing the arrow keys. A shaded region appears
in the Chopper to indicate the current selection, and its start point, end point, and length display at the
bottom-right corner of the window in measures.beats.ticks format. You can preview the selection at any time

by clicking the

Play button ( ) on the Chopper’s transport bar or pressing .

Increment

Shift

Space

Start End

CHP. 6 USING THE CHOPPER

Length

84

Note:

In addition, an increment arrow
appears on the track view above the selected
block. For more information, see Inserting

increments on page 84.

As you make a selection in the Chopper, a colored block appears in the track view. This block indicates
where the selection will be placed on the track view when you insert it from the Chopper.

Creating selections of a specific musical length

You may want to create a selection with a length corresponding to a musical value. You can easily do this in
ACID using the Chopper’s selection shortcut menu.

1.

Create a selection or place the cursor in the Chopper. For more information, see Creating selections on page

83.

2.

Right-click and choose the desired musical length from the shortcut menu. ACID creates a selection
equal to the specified musical length.

Inserting increments

In addition to creating selections, the Chopper allows you to configure the sections of silence between
selections painted on a track. When you click the

increment arrow length with the selection length. This forces the increment and selection lengths to remain
equal, thereby allowing you to insert selections seamlessly, end-to-end, in the project.

Link Arrow to Selection button ( ), ACID links the

Selection and increment length

When the

Link Arrow to Selection button is toggled off, the increment arrow is displayed in black and you are

Chopper selection inserted end-to-end three times

able to establish a increment length that is independent of the selection length. The increment arrow can be
set by dragging either end of the arrow or by using the increment shortcut menu.

When the increment length is greater than the length of the selection, ACID inserts an appropriate amount
of silence following the selection when you insert it in the track view. This affects the track’s insert position
and allows you to paint selections separated by the specified increment.

Increment greater than selection

USING THE CHOPPER CHP. 6

Selection inserted with specified increment three times

When the increment length is less than the length of the selection, ACID overlaps the selections as you
insert them in the track view.

85

Increment less than selection

Selection overlaps when inserted three times

Creating increments

1.

Verify that the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) is toggled off and the increment arrow is displayed in
black.

2.

Drag the point of the arrow to configure an increment of the desired length.

Note:

While dragging the increment arrow,
the Chopper’s middle status value temporarily
displays the length of the increment.

Creating increments of a specific musical length

The increment shortcut menu, like the selection shortcut menu, allows you to create increments that
correspond to the specified musical length.

1.

Verify that the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) is toggled off and the increment arrow is displayed in
black.

2.

Right-click the increment arrow and choose the desired musical value from the shortcut menu. The
increment length is automatically configured to the selected value in both the Chopper and the track
view.

Creating increments of a custom musical length

1.

Verify that the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) is toggled off and the increment arrow is displayed in
black.

2.

Right-click the increment arrow and choose Custom from the shortcut menu. The Custom Length dialog
appears.

3.

Choose the desired increment format from the drop-down menu.

4.

Enter an appropriate value in the adjacent box and click OK. The increment length is automatically
configured to the selected value in both the Chopper and the track view.

Note:

that results in the increment arrow extending
beyond the scope of the Chopper. If this
occurs, an accurate depiction of the increment
still appears in the track view.

CHP. 6 USING THE CHOPPER

It is possible to set an increment value

86

Inserting selections in the track view

You can add selections from the Chopper to your project in several ways.

Using the Insert Selection button

After you create the desired selection and increment, you can insert the selection in the project at the track
view’s cursor position by clicking the

the cursor moves to the end of the increment.

• If the increment length is equal to the selection length, selections are painted end-to-end.

• If the increment length is greater than the selection length, an appropriate amount of silence is painted

prior to the next insert position.

• If the increment length is less than the selection length, selections overlap.

Using copy and paste

You can right-click the selection in the Chopper and choose Copy from the shortcut menu to copy the
current selection to the clipboard. You can then use the
view. After the event is pasted, the cursor advances to the end of the pasted event.

Insert Selection button ( ). After the Chopper inserts the audio,

Paste command to insert the selection in the track

Note:

When you paste a selection from the
Chopper to the track view, ACID ignores the
increment setting.

Dragging selections

You can drag a Chopper selection from the Chopper to the track view. Release the mouse at the location
where you want to insert the selection.

Moving the insert position in the track view

Click the Move Track View Cursor Left button ( ) and the Move Track View Cursor Right button ( ) to move
the current insert position in the track view left/right by the increment length.

Saving Chopper selections as new files

You can quickly create a new loop by making a selection in the Chopper and saving the selection as a new
file. ACID adds the file to your project as a new track.

1.

Make a selection in the Chopper.

2.

Right-click the selection and choose Chop to New Track from the shortcut menu. Alternately, press

Ctrl +M

. The Chop to New Track dialog appears.

Note:

You can also drag a selection from the
Chopper to the track list.

3.

In the File name box, enter a name for the new file.

4.

From the Save as type box, choose a file format for the new file.

5.

From the Te mp la t e drop-down list, choose a template for rendering the file, or click Custom to create
custom rendering settings. For more information, see Creating custom rendering settings on page 54.

USING THE CHOPPER CHP. 6

6.

Click Save.

ACID saves the selection and adds the file as a loop to a new track in the project.

Using the Chopper with one-shots

Selections of loops and Beatmapped files transfer flawlessly between the Chopper and the track view because
the beats are clearly identified. However, one-shot files present more of a problem. You can use the following
method to create accurate single-hit selections in one-shot files.

1.

Verify that ACID’s snapping options are active. If snapping is not active, choose Snapping from the

Options menu and choose Enable from the submenu, or press .

2.

Verify that the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) is selected.

3.

Create a selection of the desired musical length in the Chopper. For more information, see Creating

selections of a specific musical length on page 84.

F8

87

4.

From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and choose Enable from the submenu, or press to toggle all

F8

snapping options off.

5.

Click the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) to toggle the linking option off. You can now adjust the
selection without changing the increment.

6.

Drag the middle of the increment arrow to reposition selection length in the Chopper.

7.

Use the mouse and/or keyboard to fine-tune the selection. The increment arrow does not change.

8.

Insert the desired selection data in the track view. For more information, see Inserting selections in the track

view on page 86.

9.

Repeat steps six through eight to insert all desired selections in the track view.

CHP. 6 USING THE CHOPPER

88

USING THE CHOPPER CHP. 6

CHAPTER

Working with Tracks

7

7

This chapter covers advanced track features including track effect chains, track envelopes, and stereo
panning modes. You’ll also learn more about track types, track properties, and rendering tracks to new files.

Using track effects

ACID enables you to create DirectX plug-in chains, adjust the order of plug-ins on a chain, bypass a plug-in,
remove plug-ins from the chain, and save frequently used chains as presets.

The EQ plug-in is assigned to all tracks by default; however, it does not use CPU power or affect the sound
until you adjust its settings. You can remove the EQ plug-in if desired. For more information, see Removing

plug-ins from chains on page 91.

89

Note:

altering effects (such as time stretch,
gapper/snipper, pitch-shift without preserving
duration, and some vibrato settings) with an
ACID project. Time-altering effects cause a
track to play out of synchronization with the
waveform display in the track view and with
other tracks.

In addition, you can use effect plug-ins in the Mixer window by applying effect chains to busses or soft
synths, or by creating assignable effect chains and routing tracks to them. For more information, see Using the

Mixer on page 107.

Creating or adding to track plug-in chains

A plug-in chain can contain one or more plug-ins. When you add multiple plug-ins, you may set the
processing sequence that the track’s events go through when the project is played back. Moreover, the plug-
ins that you add to the chain may be added more than once. For example, a plug-in chain could look
something like this: EQ, Compression, EQ, and Noise Gate.

After you create a plug-in chain, ACID processes the track’s events by each plug-in in its respective order on
the chain. The events’ effects processing is cumulative, so in some cases, you may want to rearrange the order
of plug-ins to achieve the desired sound. For more information, see Arranging plug-in chain order on page 91.

1.

Click the Tr a ck FX button ( ). The Audio Plug-In window appears.

We recommend you do not use time-

CHP. 7 WORKING WITH TRACKS

90

Note:

The Tra c k FX button indicates whether
the current plug-in chain includes automatable
effects ( ) or does not include automatable
effects ( ). By default, an ACID Pro track
plug-in chain includes the Track EQ plug-in,
which is automatable. For more information,
see Adding effect automation envelopes on
page 94.

2.

Click the Edit Chain button ( ) to display the Plug-In Chooser dialog.

Chain area

3.

Select the plug-ins that you want to add. There are three ways to add a plug-in to the chain:

• Double-click the plug-in.

• Drag the plug-in to the chain area.

• Select the plug-in and click the

4.

Rearrange the order of plug-ins as needed by dragging plug-ins to different locations in the chain or by
selecting a plug-in and clicking the

5.

Click OK. The Plug-In Chooser dialog closes. The Audio Plug-In window displays the plug-in chain and

Add button.

Shift Plug-In Left () and Shift Plug-In Right ( ) buttons.

the settings for the plug-in last selected on the Plug-In Chooser dialog.

6.

Click a specific plug-in and adjust the effect’s parameters manually, or choose one of the presets from the

Preset drop-down list. For more information about effect parameters, click the Plug-In Help button ( ) in

the Audio Plug-In window.

Note:

You can save an effect’s parameters as
a preset to be used in other projects. To save a
preset, enter a name in the

Preset box and click

the Save Preset ( ) button.

7.

Click the Close button ( ) to close the Audio Plug-In window.

You can use a track effect chain as a default for all new tracks you create. For more information, see Setting

default track properties on page 166.

Automating plug-in parameters

You can automate the parameters of certain plug-ins by adding envelopes to the track. For more information,
see Adding effect automation envelopes on page 94.

WORKING WITH TRACKS CHP. 7

Arranging plug-in chain order

The plug-ins are cumulative during playback. For example, when the track’s signal passes through the EQ, it
carries the EQ’s settings as it passes through the compression plug-in, then the signal carries both those plug-
in settings to the next plug-in.

Because of this cumulative effect, you may need to arrange plug-ins in a certain order so that one plug-in’s
processing does not adversely affect the next plug-in on the chain. There is no right or wrong way to order
plug-ins, although some plug-ins work better when they follow another. However, the plug-in order in the
chain is strictly based on your preferences and desired output.

1.

Click the Tr a ck FX button ( ). The Audio Plug-In window appears.

2.

There are two ways to arrange plug-ins in your chain:

• Drag the plug-in to a new location in the chain.

• Right-click the plug-in and choose Move Left or Move Right from the shortcut menu.

3.

Click the Close button ( ) to close the Audio Plug-In window.

Bypassing plug-ins in a chain

You can bypass a plug-in without removing it from the chain by clearing the check box for the plug-in.
Alternately, right-click the plug-in and choose

Bypass from the shortcut menu.

91

Note:

a chain, right-click the

To bypass (or re-enable) all plug-ins in

Track FX button ( )

and choose Bypass All or Enable All.

Bypassing effect automation

For plug-in chains that include effect automation using envelopes, you can bypass automation by clicking
the

Bypass FX Automation button ( ). This does not remove any effect automation envelopes from the track,

but rather temporarily bypasses processing of the effect automation. You can toggle this button on and off to
hear the difference between the plug-in chain as a standard (non-automated) effect versus an automated
effect.

Removing plug-ins from chains

1.

Click the Tr a ck FX button ( ). The Audio Plug-In window appears.

2.

Right-click the plug-in and choose Remove from the shortcut menu, or click the Remove Selected Plug-In
button ( ).

3.

Click the Close button ( ) to close the Audio Plug-In window.

Note:

right-click the

Delete All.

To remove all plug-ins in a chain,

Track FX button ( ) and choose

CHP. 7 WORKING WITH TRACKS

92

Saving plug-in chains as packages

ACID allows you to save plug-in chains as packages so that you may use them again with other projects. If
you use a combination of plug-ins often, saving them as a package saves you time. Effect packages retain their
chain order and individual plug-in settings.

You may save plug-in chains as packages from existing chains on tracks or when you are creating a plug-in
chain. The plug-in chains that you save as packages appear in the Plug-In Chooser dialog in the

Chains

folder. You can apply an effect package to a track the same way you assign a plug-in to a track.

Once you have created custom presets for effects or effect chains, you can use the Preset Manager to back up,
transfer, or delete custom presets from any of the plug-ins you use in ACID. For more information, see Using

the Preset Manager on page 117.

1.

Click the Tr ack F X button ( ). The Audio Plug-In window appears.

Packaged

Note:

clicking the

If the track has no plug-in chain,

Tr a c k FX button ( ) displays the

Plug-In Chooser dialog.

2.

Click the Edit Chain button ( ) to display the Plug-In Chooser dialog.

3.

Add and arrange plug-ins to create a plug-in chain and click OK.

4.

Click a specific plug-in and adjust the effect’s parameters manually, or choose one of the presets from the

Preset drop-down list. For more information about effect parameters, click the Plug-In Help button ( ) in

the Audio Plug-In window.

5.

Click the Save Chain Preset button ( ). The Save Plug-In Package dialog appears.

6.

Enter a name for the package.

7.

Click OK to save the plug-in chain as an effect package.

Removing or bypassing all effects on tracks

You can clear a track of all effects by right-clicking the Track FX button ( ) and choosing Delete All from the
shortcut menu.

You can bypass all of a track’s effects without removing them by right-clicking the
choosing
choose

WORKING WITH TRACKS CHP. 7

Bypass All from the shortcut menu. To apply them again, right-click the Tra c k F X button ( ) and

Enable All from the shortcut menu.

Track FX button ( ) and

Using track envelopes

Track envelopes allow you to control volume, panning, assignable effect send levels, bus send levels, and
effect parameters (for effects that support automation) for a specific track. You can distinguish the various
envelopes by their color.

Envelope type Envelope color

Volume Blue

Pan Red

Bus send Purple

Assignable effect send Green

Effect automation Wood tones (various)

93

Note:

You can customize ACID envelope
colors. For more information, see Using the

Other tab on page 171.

Adding track envelopes

This section describes how to add each type of track envelope. For creative ways to use track envelopes, see

ACID Tips and Tricks on page 173.

Adding volume or pan envelopes

Select the track to which you want to add the envelope. (You may select multiple tracks.)

1.

2.

Add the envelope to the selected track(s) in one of following ways:

• From the

• Right-click the track header in the track list, choose

and choose

• Press (volume envelope) or (pan envelope).

A blue line appears across the track(s) for a volume envelope, and a red line appears across the track(s) for
a pan envelope.

Insert menu, choose Envelopes, and choose Volume or Pan from the submenu.

Insert/Remove Envelope from the shortcut menu,

Vol ume or Pan from the submenu.

Shift + V Shift +P

Envelope line

Note:

Because the default panning mode is
additive, you can introduce clipping when
panning a track to the left or right. Choose an
appropriate pan type and adjust the track
volume accordingly. For more information,
see Choosing stereo pan types on page 98.

Adding bus envelopes

A bus envelope controls the level of a track sent to a particular bus. Before you can add a bus envelope, you
must add busses to the project. For more information, see Adding busses to the project on page 107.

1.

Select the track to which you want to add the bus envelope. (You may select multiple tracks.)

CHP. 7 WORKING WITH TRACKS

94

2.

Add the envelope to the selected track(s) in one of the following ways:

• From the

Insert menu, choose Envelopes, and choose the bus for which you want to add an envelope

from the submenu.

• Right-click the track header in the track list, choose

Insert/Remove Envelope from the shortcut menu,

and choose the appropriate bus from the submenu.

A purple line representing the envelope appears across the track(s).

Adding assignable effect envelopes

An assignable effect envelope controls the level of a track sent to a particular assignable effect chain. Before
you can add an assignable effect envelope, you must add an assignable effect chain to the project. For more

information, see Adding assignable effect controls on page 109.

1.

Select the track to which you want to add the assignable effect envelope. (You may select multiple tracks.)

2.

Add the envelope to the selected track(s) in one of following ways:

• From the

Insert menu, choose Envelopes, and choose the assignable effect chain for which you want to

add an envelope from the submenu.

• Right-click the track header in the track list, choose

Insert/Remove Envelope from the shortcut menu,

and choose the appropriate assignable effect chain from the submenu.

A green line representing the envelope appears across the track(s).

Adding effect automation envelopes

If a plug-in supports automation, you can use envelopes to adjust effect parameters over time. The
appearance of the plug-in in the Plug-In Chooser window indicates whether the plug-in supports

automation. Plug-ins with this icon ( ) support automation, while plug-ins with this icon ( ) do not. In
addition, you can quickly locate plug-ins that support automation in the

Automatable subfolder.

For creative ways to use effect automation envelopes, see Creating wah-wah effects with automated Track EQ on
page 176 and Turning automated effects on and off on page 177.

1.

Click the Tr ack F X button ( ) on a track to open the Audio Plug-In window.

If no track effects exist, clicking the

Tr a c k FX button displays the Plug-In Chooser. Use the Plug-In Chooser

to create an effect chain including an automatable plug-in. For more information, see Creating or adding to

track plug-in chains on page 89.

2.

Click the FX Automation button ( ) to display the FX Automation Chooser.

3.

Click a plug-in at the top of the FX Automation Chooser. A list of the effect’s automatable parameters
appears.

4.

Select the check box for each parameter that you want to control with an envelope. You can use the Select

All

and Select None buttons to quickly change your selections to all or none of the parameters.

WORKING WITH TRACKS CHP. 7

5.

Click OK to close the FX Automation Chooser.

Envelopes display on the track for parameters that you selected in the FX Automation Chooser. To
control which effect parameter envelope displays on the track, click the arrow adjacent to the
button ( ) and choose an envelope from the menu.

95

Tra c k FX

Note:

E

Press to toggle through the display
of all effect parameter automation envelopes.

Adjusting envelopes

To adjust the overall level of an envelope, simply drag the envelope line up or down. A tooltip displays the
amount of the adjustment as you drag. You can adjust envelopes in real time.

You can also change the level of an envelope over time by adjusting individual envelope points that you
place along the envelope line.

Note:

track, hover over an envelope to display a
tooltip indicating the name of the envelope.

Adding envelope points

After you have inserted an envelope, you can add envelope points to control the level of signal or amount of
panning at specific points in time.

1.

Place the mouse pointer on the envelope line. The envelope cursor ( ) appears.

2.

Add an envelope point in one of the following ways:

• Double-click the envelope.

• Right-click the envelope and choose Add Point from the shortcut menu.

If you have multiple envelopes on a

Note:

If you add too many points, you may
delete a point by right-clicking it and choosing

Delete from the shortcut menu. Or, you may

clear all envelope points by selecting

Reset All

from the shortcut menu.

Adjusting individual envelope points

You can set the level of each envelope point by dragging it up or down. As you move an envelope point, a
tooltip displays both the point’s occurrence on the timeline and its level.

Other ways to set the level include:

• Right-click an envelope point and choose a setting from the shortcut menu.

• Choose

• Right-click an envelope point and choose

Select All from the shortcut menu to raise or lower all points on the envelope.

Set To from the shortcut menu. This displays a box in which

you can specify a setting.

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96

You can adjust an envelope point’s location on the timeline by dragging it right or left. If snapping is enabled,
the envelope point snaps to time divisions as you drag. Hold while dragging to override snapping. For

Shift

more information, see Using snapping on page 75.

Changing envelope fade curves

You may set the type of fade curve that occurs between envelope points: linear, fast, slow, smooth, sharp, or
hold. To change the fade curve, right-click an envelope between two envelope points and choose the
appropriate fade curve from the shortcut menu.

Note:

Smooth and sharp fade curves are not

available for effect automation envelopes.

Locking envelope points to an event

From the Options menu, choose Lock Envelopes to Events if you want envelope points to move with an event
when it is moved along the timeline.

Using the Envelope tool

The Envelope tool is designed to manipulate multiple envelope points. Use the Envelope tool when you
want to edit envelope points but do not want to change other elements of the project. With the Envelope
tool selected, events cannot be moved or edited.

Selecting and moving envelope points

To select multiple envelope points using the Envelope tool, click the track that contains the envelope and
drag your cursor in the track view to select the points you want to move. Selected points display in an
alternate color. Click any selected point and drag it to the new position; all selected points will follow.

To deselect the points, click anywhere outside the selection.

Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points

Select the Envelope tool using one of the following methods:

1.

• From the

• Click the

Edit menu, choose Editing Tool, and choose Envelope from the submenu.

Envelope Tool button ( ) on the toolbar.

2.

Click within a track to select it.

3.

Drag along the timeline to select envelope points.

4.

From the Edit menu, choose Cut or Copy.

5.

Position the cursor where you want to paste envelope points across a track.

6.

From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

Copying envelopes to another track

Select the Envelope tool using one of the following methods:

1.

• From the

• Click the

2.

Click within a track to select it.

3.

From the Edit menu, choose Select All.

4.

From the Edit menu, choose Cut or Copy.

5.

Click within a track to select it.

WORKING WITH TRACKS CHP. 7

Edit menu, choose Editing Tool, and choose Envelope from the submenu.

Envelope Tool button ( ) on the toolbar.

6.

Click the Go to Start button ( ) if you want the envelope to appear exactly as it was in the original track,
or click to position the cursor where you want the envelope to start.

7.

From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

Hiding track envelopes

After you have created your envelope and set your envelope points, you may hide the envelope. Hiding an
envelope does not affect the envelope point settings or track playback.

Hiding volume, pan, bus, or assignable effect envelopes

1.

Select the track(s) whose envelope(s) you want to hide.

2.

From the View menu, choose Show Envelopes. A submenu appears. A check mark next to an envelope
type indicates that it is visible in the track view.

3.

From the submenu, choose the type of envelope you want to hide. The specified envelope type no longer
appears in the track view for the selected track.

You can use the same steps to display the envelope again.

97

Note:

volume envelope or to hide a panning

Select a track and press to hide a

P

V

envelope. Press the key again to display the
envelope.

Hiding effect automation envelopes on a track

To hide effect parameter envelopes, click the arrow adjacent to the Track FX button ( ) and choose Hide All

FX Automation Envelopes

button ( ) and choose

Note:

E

Press to toggle through the display

from the menu. To display envelopes again, click the arrow adjacent to the Track FX

Show All FX Automation Envelopes from the menu.

of all effect parameter automation envelopes.

Removing track envelopes

You can remove envelopes from tracks quickly and easily.

Note:

track and then add it again, you must recreate
its envelope points.

When you remove an envelope from a

Removing volume, pan, bus, or assignable effect envelopes

Select the track(s) from which you want to remove the envelope(s).

1.

2.

From the Insert menu, choose Envelopes. A submenu appears showing a check mark next to the
envelopes being used.

3.

From the submenu, choose the type of envelope you want to remove. The envelope type is removed from
the selected track(s).

CHP. 7 WORKING WITH TRACKS

98

Note:

envelope or press to remove a pan

Shift +V

Press to remove a volume

Shift

+P

envelope.

Removing effect automation envelopes

Click the arrow adjacent to the Track FX button ( ) and choose FX Automation from the menu. The FX

1.

Automation Chooser appears.

2.

Click the plug-in whose automation envelopes you want to remove. The parameters for the effect appear
in the dialog.

3.

Clear the check boxes for the envelopes to be removed.

4.

Click OK.

Note:

You can bypass effect automation
without removing envelopes. For more
information, see Bypassing effect automation
on page 91.

Choosing stereo pan types

When you pan a track using the multipurpose slider or a pan
envelope, you can choose among several pan types to determine
how ACID pans the track.

Note:

When applying stereo pan types,
ACID interprets a monaural track as a stereo
track with the same data in both channels.

1.

Click the Multipurpose slider mode drop-down icon and choose Pan. The pan slider appears.

2.

Click the Multipurpose slider mode drop-down icon again, choose Pan from the menu, and choose a pan
type from the submenu.

• The

Add Channels pan type is most useful for panning stereo source material. This pan type makes the

stereo image appear to move as a unit between the speakers. As the fader is moved from the center to a
side, more and more of the signal from the opposite side is folded into the side you are panning towards,
until at the extreme, both channels are fed at full intensity into a single channel. This pan type uses a
linear panning curve.

Balance pan type is most useful for adjusting the relative signal levels of the right and left channels

• The

in stereo source material. In this pan type, moving from the center to a side, the opposite side starts at a
base dB level (either 0 dB, -3 dB, or -6 dB) and decays to no signal level. The signal in the side you are
panning towards starts at the base dB level (either 0 dB, -3 dB, or -6 dB) and increases to 0 dB. When
the stereo source is panned fully to one side, that side plays at 0 dB while the other side provides no
signal at all. This pan type uses a linear panning curve.

• The

Constant Power pan type is most useful for panning mono source material. As you move the fader

from side to side, this pan type creates the illusion of the source moving around the listener from one
side to the other, in a semi-circle. This pan type uses the constant-power panning curve.

You can choose a pan type as a default for all new tracks you create. For more information, see Setting default

track properties on page 166.

WORKING WITH TRACKS CHP. 7

Using the Beatmapper

When you add a file to a project that is longer than 30 seconds, ACID’s Beatmapper Wizard starts. This
allows you to decide whether or not to add tempo information to the file.

The Beatmapper identifies a file’s downbeats and measures, allowing the file to stretch/compress in
conjunction with the project’s tempo. A file added without the Beatmapper behaves as a one-shot,
maintaining its original length regardless of the project tempo.

1.

Add the file to your project. The Beatmapper Wizard starts if the file is longer than 30 seconds.

99

Note:

triggers the Beatmapper in the

You can change the file length that

Audio tab of the

Preferences dialog. For more information, see

Using the Audio tab on page 167.

2.

Specify whether you want to use the Beatmapper Wizard:

• Select the

• Select the

3.

Click the Play button ( ) to verify the downbeat marker’s position. If the marker is positioned on a
downbeat, click

Ye s radio button and click Next to detect measures and downbeats.

No radio button and click Finish to close the Beatmapper and add the file as a one-shot.

Next. Otherwise, drag the marker to the appropriate location and click Next. The

Beatmapper draws the file’s waveform and places a region to indicate the length of the first measure.

Note:

The Reset button sets the downbeat

marker back to its detected position.

4.

Click the Play button ( ) to verify the measure’s length.

• Select the

• Click the

Metronome check box to preview the measure with the assistance of a metronome.

Halve Loop Region () or Double Loop Region ( ) button to change the length of the

selection. If the Beatmapper misdetects the length of the measure, it may be off by either half or double
the actual amount.

• If the region is positioned correctly, click
locations and click

Next.

Next. Otherwise, drag the region markers to the appropriate

The waveform appears with measure lengths selected.

5.

Drag the Measure slider to scroll through the song and click the Play button ( ) to verify each measure’s
length. If the song’s tempo is consistent, the measures are placed correctly. If the tempo fluctuates, you
can drag the end of the measure selection to change the measure’s position.

Changing the measure length affects the entire song; if adjusting the last measure of the song causes the
first measure to be incorrect, the downbeat may not be positioned correctly, or the song's tempo may not
be consistent enough for the Beatmapper.

6.

Click Next when the measure lengths are correct. The Beatmapper adds tempo information to your file
and displays some additional options.

CHP. 7 WORKING WITH TRACKS

100

7.

Specify your preferences for the following options:

• Select the

Change project tempo to match Beatmapped track check box if you want ACID to set your project

tempo to match the tempo calculated by the Beatmapper Wizard. Selecting the check box ensures that
your Beatmapped track plays at the original tempo.

• Select the

Preserve pitch of the Beatmapped track when tempo changes check box to maintain the track’s

original pitch regardless of the project’s tempo.

• Select the

Save Beatmapper information with file check box if you want the file to open with the

Beatmapper settings each time you use the file.

8.

Click Finish to close the Beatmapper Wizard. The file is added to the project as a Beatmapped track.

9.

Draw the event in the track view.

Note:

You can place the entire event by using
the Paint ( ) tool. With the Paint tool
selected, press while you click once in the

Ctrl

track to place the Beatmapped file.

Understanding stretching properties

All loops on the ACID 4.0 CD-ROM (as well as all loop library CD-ROMs) contain stretching properties.
This means that tempo and key information is stored in the loops, allowing the application to accurately
perform its time stretching/compressing and pitch-shifting functions on these loops when placed in a project.

Keep in mind that you do not need to designate stretching properties for loops that you create for ACID
projects. The application typically makes an accurate estimate regarding the loop file’s tempo. In addition,
you can temporarily assign a root note to the file to allow it to be transposed to the project’s key. However,
when creating custom loops for use in multiple projects, you should define stretching properties.

You can set the stretching properties for loops and Beatmapped tracks. For more information, see Adjusting

stretching properties for loop or Beatmapped tracks on page 101.

Configuring track properties

Double-click a track icon (such as ) to display the Track Properties window.

Note:

for non-MIDI tracks. For information on
MIDI track properties, see Changing MIDI

track properties on page 124.

Once you modify the properties of a track, ACID saves the information with your project, but does not alter
the original media file. If you want, you can save your changes to the media file as well. For more information,

see Saving file properties on page 104.

Note:

editor, changes to the sound file are reflected
immediately after you save the file. Changes to
a media file's ACID properties are not updated
in your ACID project until you click
the Track Properties window.

This section addresses track properties

When you edit a track in an external

Reload on

WORKING WITH TRACKS CHP. 7