Centre Channel Extract not applying in render and losing settings

Question

Hi,I think this might be a bug but perhaps someone knows a workaround?I have some 3 part harmony acapella music in stereo files. I want to isolate the three voices (not perfectly, just enough to hear clearly the different lines for the purpose of learning the songs or transcribing the different parts).Using centre channel extract (CCE from here on) I'm able to get useable separation, it appears the main voice was mixed to centre, with the two others panned left and right respectively. So far so good. I can have three tracks, with different pan settings in the CCE on each, and solo the three different voices while playing back the multitrack.However, when I try to get a file out of audition, it appears as though the settings have been reset in the CCE effect. I've triedmultitrack mixdown exporting each track separately (exported file does not sound like it did in Audition - sounds like the CCE pan slider is at centre)multitrack mixdown exporting full mix, but with only one track soloed (exported file does not sound like it did in Audition - sounds like the CCE pan slider is at centre)pressing the pre-render button on the track effects (this results in the separation being lost, sounding just like the exported files)bouncing the tracks with the effect to new tracks (again the separation is lost)abandoning the multitrack and just working on three instances of the file, applying the effect in "clip effects" rather than "track effects" and pressing applyIn all cases, the effect is being applied, as you can hear that it isn't the original mix, and you can hear artefacts of the CCE effect. When I go back to the effect and check the settings (or in the case of clip effect, undo the apply button and check the reinstated effect), I find that the pan setting which I had adjusted to the left or right to get the left or right channels to the fore, has reverted to the centre.It seems that all of the above procedures result in the pan being reset to the centre. Which means the effect is useless unless you're using it to extract the centre. Obviously, it is called the CENTRE Channel Extractor for a reason, but surely there wouldn't be a pan control if its setting wasn't intended to be reflected in the output.Bug?Many thanks,Mark

SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Answer

marcocarlioli wrote
Obviously, it is called the CENTRE Channel Extractor for a reason, but surely there wouldn't be a pan control if its setting wasn't intended to be reflected in the output.

No, it has nothing to do with the output at all - the pan control controls where the extracted signal comes from in the original. I've just tried using the CCE in multitrack, and mixed down the file, and got exactly what I expected - the stereo spread remains the same, but the extracted signal is where it was in the mix previously, but louder.

In your scenario, with the mix as you describe, you'd probably be better off doing this in Waveform view, and yes you'll have to do the extraction three times, just to reduce the level of the centre voice for the side extractions. To play safe, do this on a copy of the file!. So you do one pass with the CCE pan control set to left, one with it set to centre, and one with it set to right. Each time you do this, you do either a 'Save As' or a 'Copy to New File' and save the result there. With the original file still open, you should be able to undo the extraction you just made to get the original back, and do the next one. When you've finished, you'll have the three files you need.

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