Sony ACID User Manual

After the ACID software is installed and you start it for the first time, the registration wizard appears. This
wizard offers easy steps that allow you to register the software online with Sony Pictures Digital Media
Software and Services. Alternatively, you may register online at http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware at any
time.

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

Registration assistance

If you do not have access to the Internet, registration assistance is available during normal weekday business
hours. Please contact our Customer Service department by dialing one of the following numbers:

Telephone/Fax Country

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

[phone] for 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

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/custserv.asp. Use the following numbers for telephone

support during normal weekday business hours:

Telephone/Fax Country

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

[phone] for all other countries

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

Technical support

For a detailed list of technical support options, we encourage you to visit

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/default.asp. To listen to your support options by telephone,

please call 608-256-5555.

About your rights in ACID software

ACID software is licensed to you under the terms of the End User License Agreement. The End User License
Agreement is first presented to you when you install the software. Please review the End User License
Agreement carefully as its terms affect your rights with respect to the software. For your reference, a copy of
the End User License Agreement for ACID software is located at http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware.

About your privacy

Sony Pictures Digital respects your privacy and is committed to protecting personal information. Your use of
the software is governed by the Software Privacy Policy. A copy of this policy is incorporated into the
registration process and you are asked to agree to its terms prior to accepting the terms of the End User
License Agreement. Please review its contents carefully as its terms and conditions affect your rights with
respect to the information that is collected by the software. For your reference, a copy of the Software
Privacy Policy is located at http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/corporate/privacy.asp.

Proper use of software

ACID software is not intended and should not be used for illegal or infringing purposes, such as the illegal
copying or sharing of copyrighted materials. Using ACID software for such purposes is, among other things,
against United States and international copyright laws and contrary to the terms and conditions of the End
User License Agreement. Such activity may be punishable by law and may also subject you to the breach
remedies set forth in the End User License Agreement.

Legal notices

Vegas, Vegas+DVD, DVD Architect, Vegas Movie Studio, Vegas Movie Studio+DVD, DVD Architect Studio, ACID, Music Studio, ACIDized,
Sony Sound Series, Chopper, Groove Mapping, Groove Cloning, Media Manager, CD Architect, Sound Forge, Audio Studio, Acoustic Mirror,
Noise Reduction, Wave 64, Wave Hammer, and XFX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. or its affiliates in the
United States and other countries.

Sony Pictures Digital Inc. may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter
in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Sony Pictures Digital Inc., the furnishing of this document does
not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

Thomson Fraunhofer MP3

MPEG Layer-3 audio coding technology licensed from Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson.

Supply of this product does not convey a license nor imply any right to distribute content created with this product in revenue generating broadcast
systems (terrestrial, satellite, cable and/or other distribution channels), streaming applications (via internet, intranets and/or other networks), other
content distribution systems (pay-audio or audio on demand applications and the like) or on physical media (compact discs, digital versatile discs,
semiconductor chips, hard drives, memory cards and the like).

An independent license for such use is required. For details, please visit: http://mp3licensing.com.

Microsoft DirectX programming interface

Portions utilize Microsoft® DirectX® technologies. Copyright © 1999 – 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft Windows Media 9

Portions utilize Microsoft Windows Media® technologies. Copyright © 1999 – 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Real, RealMedia, RealAudio, and RealVideo applications

2004 RealNetworks, Inc. Patents Pending. All rights reserved. Real®, Real Media®, RealAudio®, RealVideo®, and the Real logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

MPEGLA and MPEG 2

USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN ANY MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE MPEG-2 STANDARD IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED
WITHOUT A LICENSE UNDER APPLICABLE PATENTS IN THE MPEG-2 PATENT PORTFOLIO, WHICH LICENSE IS AVAILABLE
FROM MPEG-LA, LLC, 250 STEELE STREET, SUITE 300, DENVER, COLORADO 80206.

Manufactured under license from MPEG-LA.

Dolby, Dolby Digital AC-3, and AAC encoding

This product contains one or more programs protected under international and U.S. copyright laws as unpublished works. They are confidential and
proprietary to Dolby Laboratories. Their reproduction or disclosure, in whole or in part, or the production of derivative works therefrom without the
express permission of Dolby Laboratories is prohibited. Copyright 1992 – 2004 Dolby Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Dolby®, the double-D symbol, AC-3®, and Dolby Digital® are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. AAC™ is a trademark of Dolby
Laboratories.

A special note concerning the use of the Dolby Digital trademark:

Dolby Laboratories encourages use of the Dolby Digital trademark to identify soundtracks that are encoded in Dolby Digital. This is an effective way
to inform listeners of the soundtrack format, and the use of a standard logo promotes easy recognition in the marketplace. However, like any
trademark, the Dolby Digital logo may not be used without permission. Dolby Laboratories therefore provides a standard trademark license agreement
for companies who wish to use Dolby trademarks. This agreement should be signed by the company that owns the program material being produced.
Recording studios or production facilities which provide audio production or encoding services for outside clients generally do not require a
trademark license.

If you would like more information on obtaining a Dolby trademark license, please contact Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. Information
on trademark licensing plus instructions for using the Dolby Digital trademark and marking audio formats can also be found on-line at http://
www.dolby.com.

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
100 Potrero Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94520 USA
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
http://www.dolby.com

PNG file format

Copyright © 2004. World Wide Web Consortium (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for Informatics and
Mathematics, Keio University). All rights reserved. This work is distributed under the W3C Software License in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTIBILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2002/copyright-software-20021231.

Apple QuickTime

Apple® QuickTime® application is a trademark of Apple, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Apple Macintosh Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) file format.

Apple® Macintosh® Audio Interchange™ File Format (AIFF) is a trademark of Apple, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Targa file format

The Targa™ file format is a trademark of Pinnacle Systems, Inc.

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)

Adobe Tagged Image™ File Format is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and other countries. All rights
reserved.

Main Concept encoder

Main Concept® plug-in is a trademark of registered trademark of Main Concept, Inc. in the United States or other countries. All rights reserved.

Steinberg Media Technologies

Cubase®, VST®, and Nuendo® are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

ASIO™ is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

Macromedia Flash

Macromedia and Flash are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Media Software and Services

1617 Sherman Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
USA

The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
guarantee or commitment on behalf of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. in any way. All updates or additional
information relating to the contents of this manual will be posted on the Sony Pictures Digital Media
Software web site, located at http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware. The software is provided to you under the
terms of the End User License Agreement and Software Privacy Policy, and must be used and/or copied in
accordance therewith. Copying or distributing the software except as expressly described in the End User
License Agreement is strictly prohibited. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or for any purpose without the express written consent of Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Copyright 2004. Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Program Copyright 2004. Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

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

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

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

Using this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Installing ACID software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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

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

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

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

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

1

Main window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Track list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Window docking area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Keyboard command reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Audio signal flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

MIDI signal flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2

Understanding track types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

One-shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Beatmapped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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

Folder tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Adding and editing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Painting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Changing the length of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Erasing sections of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Moving events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Using the cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Positioning the cursor with the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Positioning the cursor with the keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Positioning the cursor with the Go To command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Making selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Selecting an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Selecting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Creating time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Creating event selections within time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Working with tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Reordering tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Resizing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Changing track colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Renaming tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Duplicating tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Deleting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Copying, cutting, and pasting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Adjusting the mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Muting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Soloing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Working with groups of tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Using undo and redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Using undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Undoing all edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Using redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Clearing the undo history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Playing the project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Using the transport bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Using playback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Using the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Viewing the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Using the mixer toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Renaming mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Using the mixer’s faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Saving, rendering, and delivering projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Saving projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Rendering projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Publishing to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Writing to CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Editing Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Copying events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Pasting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Using the Paste command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Using Paste Repeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Using Paste Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Cutting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

3

Deleting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Reversing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Trimming events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Splitting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Splitting at the cursor position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Splitting an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Splitting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Splitting a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Splitting events within a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Joining events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Ripple editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Cutting events in ripple editing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Deleting events in ripple editing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Pasting events in ripple editing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Slipping and sliding events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Shifting the contents of (slipping) events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Slip-trimming events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Sliding events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Changing event properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

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Using event envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Setting an event’s volume envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Setting an event’s fade-in and -out envelope curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Creating crossfades between events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Using the Media Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Creating a new media library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Opening a media library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Adding media files to a library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Removing media files from a library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Tagging media files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Creating a tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Applying a tag to a media file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Removing a tag from a media file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Deleting a tag from a library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Merging subtags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Arranging tags in the tag tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Editing tag names or images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Viewing or creating palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Saving tags and properties to media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Backing up your media libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Opening a Reference Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Using the Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples reference library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Searching for media files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Searching using a keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Searching using tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Sorting search results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Viewing previous searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Using advanced search options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Previewing media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Adding media to your project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Resolving offline media files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

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Customizing the Media Manager window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Automatically hiding the Search pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Docking and undocking the Search pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Resizing columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Moving columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Showing or hiding columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Adding custom columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Setting Media Manager options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Working in the Track View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Using project markers and regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97

Working with standard markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Working with time markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Working with command markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Working with regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Using snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Choosing snapping options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Changing tempo, time signature, and key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

5

Changing project tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Changing project time signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Changing project key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Working with tempo/key/time signature change markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Changing a track’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Changing an event’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Adjusting time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Inserting time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Fitting to time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Using the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Working in the Chopper window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Viewing the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Changing the Chopper grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Changing Chopper snapping options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Magnifying the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Previewing in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Using Chopper toolbar and keyboard commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Inserting markers and regions in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Creating selections in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Placing files in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Creating selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Creating selections of a specific musical length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

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Inserting increments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Creating increments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Creating increments of a specific musical length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Creating increments of a custom musical length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Inserting selections in the track view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using the Insert Selection button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using copy and paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Dragging selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Moving the insert position in the track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Saving Chopper selections as new files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using the Chopper with one-shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Working with Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Using track effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Using ACID FX as track effects in ACID Music Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Using track effects in ACID Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Using track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Adding track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Adjusting envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Using the Envelope tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Hiding track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Removing track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Choosing stereo pan types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Using the Beatmapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Understanding stretching properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Configuring track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Adjusting general track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Adjusting stretching properties for loop or Beatmapped tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Adjusting track properties for MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Reloading files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Replacing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Saving file properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Working with grooves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Applying or removing grooves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Creating grooves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Editing grooves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

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Using folder tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Creating a folder track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Adding existing tracks to a folder track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Removing tracks from a folder track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Muting a folder track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Soloing a folder track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Editing events in a folder track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Mixing multiple tracks to a single track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Exporting loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

Using the Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using busses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145

Adding busses to the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Routing tracks to busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Routing busses to system hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Deleting busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Using assignable effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

7

Adding assignable effect controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Working with assignable effects chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Routing tracks to assignable effect controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Routing assignable effect controls to busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

Deleting assignable effect controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

Using soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Adding soft synth controls to projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Modifying soft synth control properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Deleting soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Routing MIDI tracks to soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Using mixer controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Working with mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Adding effects to soft synth mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Working with multiple mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Automating mixer controls in track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Working with ReWire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

Using ACID software as a ReWire mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Using ACID software as a ReWire device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Recording in ACID Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Recording audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

Setting ACID recording properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Setting recording levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

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Recording multiple takes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Reviewing and saving takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Working with MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Adding MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Adding MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Creating new MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Recording MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Changing MIDI track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Pitch shifting MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Setting root notes for MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Working with tracks in a MIDI file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Previewing MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Using the piano roll editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Viewing the piano roll editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Previewing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Selecting MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Adding note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Editing note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Toggling note snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Quantizing note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Deleting note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Undoing and redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Saving MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Using the list editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Viewing the list editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Previewing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Filtering the list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Editing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Creating events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Step recording events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Quantizing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Deleting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Undoing and redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Saving MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Loading third-party OPT plug-ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Routing MIDI tracks to MIDI devices or soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Resetting MIDI ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Rendering projects with MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

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Playing MIDI from external devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193

Adding external devices as MIDI inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Assigning MIDI inputs to soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194

Synchronizing using MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195

Generating MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195

Triggering from MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Generating MIDI clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Working with Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Managing video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199

Adding or replacing video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Removing the video track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199

Hiding and showing the video track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Synchronizing audio and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Removing the video’s audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Changing frame numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Editing video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

9

Moving video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Trimming video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Slipping and sliding video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Using the Video window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201

Using toolbar buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Using the shortcut menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Viewing the status bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Previewing on external monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202

Scoring video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202

Working with 5.1 Surround. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

What is 5.1 surround?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203

Setting up surround hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204

Setting up surround projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204

Routing to hardware in the mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Assigning audio to the LFE channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206

Panning audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206

Panning tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Panning mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Using the Surround Panner window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

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Automating panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Turning on panning keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Adding panning keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Working with keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Rendering surround projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Burning AC-3 files to DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Customizing ACID Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Working with ACID windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Docking and floating ACID windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Changing the time ruler format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Using the ruler offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Using the project grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Setting the grid type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Using the toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Hiding and displaying the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Reordering toolbar buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Adding buttons to the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Removing buttons from the toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Using the time display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Changing cursor position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Changing the time display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Monitoring MIDI timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Setting default track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Setting ACID preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Using the General tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Using the Audio tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Using the MIDI tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Using the VST Effects tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Using the VST Instruments tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Using the ReWire Devices tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Using the Video tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Using the Editing tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Using the Sync tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Using the Keyboard tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Using the Display tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Using the Other tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Using the Folders tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACID Tips and Tricks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Adding long media files quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Playing with duplicate tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

Detuning paired tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

Duplicating with offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Creating ping-pong pan effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234

Adding depth with assignable effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Playing double time/half time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Constructing the wall of sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Adding through subtraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Tweaking the dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Fading in and out of mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Adding build ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Creating wah-wah effects with automated Track EQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Making automated changes more stark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

11

Abruptly changing volume or pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Turning automated effects on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Making automated frequency changes more natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Overriding compress/expand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Slicing and dicing in the Chopper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Chopping new loops for alternate time signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Chopping multiple files into a new loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Creating drum-roll build ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Creating drum fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Creating one-track remixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Creating DJ-style crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Creating pseudo-granular synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Building instrument solos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Building scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241

Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

12

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

Introducing ACID Software

1

1

Welcome

Congratulations on purchasing a revolutionary software application for Microsoft® Windows®. With
ACID® software from Sony Pictures Digital, you can create great music by simply picking, painting, and
playing.

System requirements

The following lists the minimum system requirements for using the ACID software:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP

• 800 MHz processor (1 GHz if using video)

• 200 MB hard-disk space for program installation

• 600 MB hard-disk space for optional Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples™ reference library installation

• 256 MB RAM

• Microsoft Windows-compatible sound card

• 1024x768 screen resolution

• CD-ROM drive (for installation from a CD only)

• Supported CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning only)

• Microsoft DirectX® 8.1 or later

• Internet Explorer 4.0 or later (version 5.0 included on ACID CD)

13

Using this manual

This manual is provided to assist both ACID Pro and ACID Music Studio users. For this reason, product
features exclusive to ACID Pro software are identified throughout the manual using the following icon:

In addition, issues and features that pertain only to ACID Music Studio software are identified by the
following icon:

Note:

ACID application throughout this manual are taken from
ACID Pro software. If you are using ACID Music Studio
software, your windows and dialogs may appear slightly
different.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

Unless otherwise noted, the pictures you’ll see of the

14

Installing ACID software

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

1.

Insert the CD-ROM. The setup screen appears (if CD-ROM AutoPlay is enabled).

Note:

If CD-ROM AutoPlay is not enabled, click the

button and choose

appears, type the CD-ROM drive’s letter and add

:\setup.exe. Click OK to start the installation.

2.

Click Install. The installation process begins.

3.

Follow the on-screen prompts to install the appropriate version of the software for your computer.

Run. In the Run dialog that

Note:

Windows Installer is used for all versions of
Windows. Windows Installer is installed and then you are
asked to restart your system.

Using online help

You can access two varieties of help within ACID software:

• 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 Explorer 4.0 or later
must be installed on your system. If you purchased the ACID
Pro or ACID Music Studio boxed version, Internet Explorer
version 5.0 is included on your CD-ROM.

Toolbar
Tabs

F1

Information
pane

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1

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

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 information is available on the Sony Pictures Digital Media Software Web site. From the

Help menu, choose Sony on the Web, and choose the desired location from the submenu. The software starts

your system’s Web browser and attempts to connect to the appropriate page on the Sony Web site.

15

Overview of ACID software

ACID music creation software is designed to be powerful and flexible, yet easy to use. Many of the ACID
operations, menu items, and shortcut keys are common to other Sony Pictures Digital applications.

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

Main window

The ACID workspace 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.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

16

Track list

Window
docking
area

Divider

Timeline

Track view

Divider

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1

Toolbar

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

17

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. Unlimited
undos are supported, allowing you to restore the
project to any state since the last save.

Reverses an undo. Opens a dialog where you can download media from the

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 Metronome to keep time during
recording and playback.

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.

Activates the Groove tool to apply a groove to a track.
You can use grooves to manipulate the timing of tracks
by quantizing media to predefined grooves or by
applying the feel of one track to another. Available

only in ACID Pro software.

Activates the Groove Erase tool to erase grooves or
parts of grooves. When used in conjunction with the
Ctrl key, the Groove Erase tool can erase an entire
groove event. Available only in ACID Pro software.

Internet.

Opens a frequently updated Web page containing special
offers, tips, tricks, and other good stuff. Note: This
button is displayed on the toolbar by default in ACID
Music Studio™ software only. To add this button to
your toolbar in ACID Pro software, choose Customize
Toolbar from the Options menu.

Opens the Show Me How Tutorials, which explain some
of the basic tasks you can perform within ACID
software. Available only in ACID Music Studio

software.

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

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

18

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 projects only)

Multipurpose slider

Multipurpose slider mode

Track type icons

Loop

One-shot

Beatmapped

MIDI

Tra ck n a me

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 145.

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 192.

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. For more information, see Using track effects on page 117.

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1

19

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 49.

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 50.

Surround panner

In 5.1 surround 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 on page 203.

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 slider label. 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 48.

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

Tran sp or t

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

Time ruler

(if displayed)

20

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 217. The ruler changes with tempo, since the
number of beats and beats per second of real time changes with tempo.

Tra n s por t b ar

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

The software also includes keyboard shortcuts for these playback commands. For more information, see

Playback commands on page 26.

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 vertical scroll bars

Zoom In Track

Zoom

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.

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1

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 216.

Click the Close button to remove a
window from a floating dock or the
window docking area.

Click the Maximize/Minimize
button to control the size of
the window in the window
docking area.

Click the handle to drag a
window to a different
location or dock.

Click a tab to
view a window.

The default windows display in the window docking area when you start ACID software for the first time.
Additional windows can be displayed by clicking the window’s tab or by choosing the desired window from
the

View menu.

21

Tip:

You can quickly hide or show the window docking area

by pressing .

F11

The available windows can be docked anywhere at the bottom of the ACID window or floated over the
ACID window or on a secondary monitor (this setup requires a dual-monitor video card). You can also
create floating docks anywhere by dragging more than one window to the same area.

Explorer window

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. Display the Explorer by
choosing

Chopper

Explorer from the View menu or pressing .

Alt +1

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

+2

the

View menu or pressing . For more information, see Using the Chopper on page 109.

Mixer

Alt

Chopper from

The Mixer window provides access to output levels, as well as soft synth controls and the project audio

+3

properties. Display the Mixer by choosing

Mixer from the View menu or pressing . For more

Alt

information, see Using the Mixer window on page 53.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

22

Video Preview/Video

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
format. In ACID Pro software, display the Video Preview window by choosing
menu or pressing . In ACID Music software, display the Video window by choosing

View menu or pressing . For more information, see Using the Video window on page 201.

Media Manager

Alt +4

Alt

+4

Video Preview from the View

Video from the

This window displays the Media Manager™, which you can use to search for, manage, and tag your media
files. Display the Media Manager window by choosing

Alt +5

ACID FX

. For more information, see Using the Media Manager on page 79.

Media Manager from the View menu or pressing

This window displays the ACID FX chain for the selected track. Display the ACID FX window by clicking a
track’s

Tr a c k FX button ( ), by choosing ACID FX from the View menu, or by pressing .

Track Properties

Alt +5

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

+6

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

Alt

Configuring track properties on page 130 and Working with MIDI on page 169.

Surround Panner

This window allows you to control panning in a 5.1 surround project. Display the Surround Panner window
by double-clicking the surround panner on a track or mixer control or by pressing . For more

Alt +7

information, see Working with 5.1 Surround on page 203.

Soft Synth Properties

This window allows you to change the attributes of soft synth controls in the Mixer window. Display the Soft

Alt

Synth Properties window by double-clicking a soft synth control’s icon or by pressing . For more

+8

information, see Using soft synth controls on page 149.

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 a track’s

View menu, or by pressing . For more information, see Using track effects on page 117 and Adding effects

Alt +9

Tr a c k FX button ( ), by choosing Audio Plug-In from the

to soft synth mixer controls on page 156.

Plug-In Manager

This window allows you to view and choose effects plug-ins to be added to a track, bus, or assignable effects
chain. Display the Plug-In Manager window by choosing

Ctrl + Alt + 1

Groove Pool

.

Plug-In Manager from the View menu or by pressing

This window allows you to view and edit the grooves in your project. Display the Groove Pool by choosing

Groove Pool from the View menu or by pressing . The upper half of the Groove Pool window

Ctrl + Alt + 2

shows all of the groove maps currently in your project. The lower half of the window displays the selected
groove map in the Groove Editor, which allows you to make changes. For more information, see Working with

grooves on page 135.

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1

Keyboard command reference

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

General commands

Description Keys

Display online help F1
Display What’sThis? help Shift+F1 and click an item
Refresh screen F5
Shortcut menu Shift+F10
Temporarily suspend snapping Shift+drag

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 the current project Ctrl+F4

Ctrl+Shift+N Open project properties Alt+Enter

23

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

24

Magnification and view commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Show Explorer window Alt+1 Shift focus backward

Show Chopper window Alt+2 Restore project magnification to the

Show Mixer window Alt+3 Restore track height to a level

Show Video/Video Preview window Alt+4 Reduce timeline magnification so the

Show Media Manager window
(available in ACID Pro software
only)

Show ACID FX window (available in
ACID Music Studio software only)

Show Track Properties window Alt+6 Zoom in time until each video

Show Surround Panner window
(available in ACID Pro software
only)
Show Soft Synth Properties window Alt+8 Change track height for all tracks Ctrl+Shift+Up or Down Arrow

Show Audio Plug-In window
(available in ACID Pro software
only)
Show Plug-In Manager window
(available in ACID Pro software
only)

Show Groove Pool window
(available in ACID Pro software
only)

Shift focus forward through open
ACID windows

Shift focus backward through open
ACID windows
Shift focus forward (clockwise)
through track list, timeline, bus
track timeline, and bus track list
(when track view or timeline has
focus)

Alt+5 Zoom time in/out small increments

Alt+5 Zoom time in/out large increments

Alt+7 Zoom track height in/out (when

Alt+9 Minimize/restore track height for all

Ctrl+Alt+1 Return all tracks to the default

Ctrl+Alt+2 Minimize/restore the window

F6 Minimize/restore timeline vertically

Shift+F6 Minimize/restore the track list Shift+F11 or Shift+Alt+’

Tab Show/Hide bus tracks U

(counterclockwise) through track
list, bus track list, bus track
timeline, and timeline (when track
view or timeline has focus)

default settings

where all track list controls are
displayed

entire length of the project and as
many tracks as possible are
displayed

(when timeline has focus)

(when timeline has focus)

thumbnail represents one frame

timeline has focus)

tracks

height

docking area

and horizontally (window docking
area and track list will be hidden

Shift+Tab

F9

Shift+F9

Ctrl+F9

Up or Down Arrow

Ctrl+Up or Down Arrow

Alt+Up Arrow

Shift+Up or Down Arrow

‘

Ctrl+’

F11 or Alt+’

Ctrl+F11 or Ctrl+Alt+’

Explorer window commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Add all selected files to the track list Enter Add selected file or currently playing

file to the track list

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1

Ctrl+Enter

Cursor placement, loop region and time selection commands

Description Keys Description Keys

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

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

Toggle cursor between beginning
and end of loop region
Time select loop region (when Time
Selection tool is selected)
Toggle previous selection Backspace Move left/right to event edit points

Go to beginning of project W or Ctrl+Home Move through a video event one

Go to end of project Ctrl+End Create or extend loop region/time

Move left by grid marks Page Up Double loop region/selection length ‘ (apostrophe)
Move right by grid marks Page Down Halve loop region/selection length ; (semicolon)
Go to
(using measures, beats, and ticks)
Go to
(using absolute time)
Set end of time selection
(using measures, beats, and ticks
when Time Selection tool is selected)

Home Center in view \

End Move cursor to corresponding

marker or select corresponding
region

Numeric keypad 5 Move left/right one pixel Left/Right Arrow

Shift+Q Move to marker(s) Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow

including fade edges

frame at a time

selection

Ctrl+G Shift loop region/selection left , (comma)

Shift+G Shift loop region/selection right . (period)

Ctrl+Shift+G

Number keys (not Keypad)

Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right Arrow

Alt+Left or Right Arrow

Shift+Left or Right Arrow

25

Event editing commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Paint the entire media length for all
media except video (only when Paint
tool is selected)
Select Draw tool Ctrl+D Create fades F

Select next edit tool in list D Reverse event U
Select previous edit tool in list Shift+D Trim events to selection length. This

Undo Ctrl+Z Slip Trim: moves the media with the

Redo Ctrl+Shift+Z Slip: move media within event

Cut selection Ctrl+X Slide: move event while leaving the

Copy selection Ctrl+C Pitch down one semitone Numeric keypad -

Copy event Ctrl+drag Pitch up one semitone Numeric keypad +

Paste from clipboard Ctrl+V Pitch down 4 semitones Shift+Numeric keypad -

Paste repeat from clipboard Ctrl+B Pitch up 4 semitones Shift+Numeric keypad +

Paste insert Ctrl+Shift+V Pitch down one octave Ctrl+Numeric keypad ­Insert event at cursor Y Pitch up one octave Ctrl+Numeric keypad +
Paste event at cursor Shift+Y Reset pitch Ctrl+Shift+Numeric keypad - or

Ctrl+click in timeline Join selected events J

Ctrl+T
command has no effect if there is no
selected data. Trimming does not
copy data onto the clipboard.
Available only when the Time
Selection tool is active

Alt+drag edge of event
edge as it is trimmed

Alt+drag inside the event
without moving the event

Ctrl+Alt+drag event
underlying media in place

-

=

Shift+-

Shift+=

+

Ctrl+Shift+-/=

CHP. 1 INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE

26

Description Keys Description Keys

Delete selection Delete Change an event’s gain setting Keypad / or *
Move selected event(s) right one

pixel
Move selected event(s) left one pixel Numeric keypad 4 Change an event’s gain setting by

Temporarily suspend Snap To Shift while dragging an event Set an event’s gain to 0.0 dB Shift+Ctrl+Keypad *
Erase entire event Ctrl+click event with Erase tool Set an event’s gain to silence Shift+Ctrl+Keypad /
Split event(s) S Render to new track

Numeric keypad 6 Change an event’s gain setting by

10%

25%

Chop to new track if the Chopper
window has focus

Shift+Keypad / or *

Ctrl+Keypad / or *

Ctrl+M

Playback commands

Description Keys Description Keys

Start/stop playback Spacebar Record Ctrl+R
Stop playback Esc Go to start of project Ctrl+Home or W
Toggle looped playback Q Go to end of project Ctrl+End
Play from start Shift+Spacebar or

Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar when the
timeline or track view has focus

Shift+F12 from any window

Play from cursor Ctrl+Spacebar when the timeline

or track view has focus

F12 (from any window)

Pause/resume playback Enter when the timeline or track

view has focus

Ctrl+F12 from any window

Skip backward Page Up

Skip forward Page Down

INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE CHP. 1