Effects disappear when applied? -Adobe Audition

[erisidae]

So, I'm brand new to Audition. I've watched some basic tutorials and I'm generally familiar with the composition of Adobe products, so I don't consider myself totally incompetent. However, I can't seem to add any effects. When I add an effect to a track, it will appear on the Effects Rack while the dialogue to edit the effect remains open. However, as soon as I hit Apply, the effect disappears from the track and the Effects Rack. Every tutorial I've seen says only to select the effect and apply it once it sounds good, but am I missing a step?

[ryclark]

Are these effects that you are adding in the Multitrack or Waveform view? The way effects take effect depends which mode you are working in. Hitting Apply within an effect is only applicable in Waveform editing since it actually changes the audio file. In the Multitrack view setting up the effect in the Rack only allows you to here the effect and it isn't committed to the audio file until you do a Mixdown. or Export of your session.

[erisidae]

Thank you! I just discovered that instead of selecting which mode to work in, I simply dragged an audio file into Audition and assumed that I was working in Waveform mode.

[erisidae]

Update: even when I select the mode and import an audio file, which I thought was the issue, no effects will remain in the Effects Rack. I can apply them, but they will not remain in a place where I can see/edit them once I apply them for the first time. For example, if I wanted to change the pitch, I could do so by using the Pitch Shifter. However, once I have applied this effect, it does not remain in the Effects Rack and thus I cannot edit this effect in the future. Why is this?

[SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Accepted solution]

erisidae  wrote

Update: even when I select the mode and import an audio file, which I thought was the issue, no effects will remain in the Effects Rack. I can apply them, but they will not remain in a place where I can see/edit them once I apply them for the first time. For example, if I wanted to change the pitch, I could do so by using the Pitch Shifter. However, once I have applied this effect, it does not remain in the Effects Rack and thus I cannot edit this effect in the future. Why is this?

I think you need to understand a little more about the way Audition works! There are two basic operating modes or views - destructive editing, which happens in 'Waveform', and non-destructive editing, which is what happens in 'Multi-track'.

With destructive editing in Waveform, applying an effect involves selecting part or all of the file, opening the effect, previewing it, and pressing 'apply'. This will apply the effect to your file, and if you save it, that becomes permanent - no chance of an undo after that. If you put a series of effects into the effects rack and press 'apply' then the same thing applies; when you save the file, this becomes permanent. There are operational differences, though, when you use the rack - you preview it with the space bar, just like normal playback. But, unless you know exactly what you're doing, this is probably not the best approach to use, as it's a really good way of screwing up your original file permanently if you forgot to make a copy to work from (that's a big hint, BTW).

With non-destructive editing, nothing happens to your original file at all. Multi-track mode is really a large selective playback machine, where you can apply effects in a variety of ways to the 'clips' (selections from your file) on the track. You can apply effects to a clip, or the whole track - depends what you want to do. But, to make any of this permanent you have to either export or 'mix down' the track. This creates a new file of what you've arranged in Multi-track, with the effects applied. By default this opens up in Waveform view, where you can save it. If you just elect to export the file, you can save it at that point. But, because there's a separate 'session' file created which stores what you've done, you can go back to this if you want, and change things in the Multi-track session after the event if you're not happy with the result - all you have to do is make another mixdown, and get rid of the first one. This is incredibly useful if you need to 'version' files, or anything like that.

Using multi-track for editing is way more flexible in other ways too - there are no limits to the number of times you can use the same clip in different tracks, and there's also a very flexible automation system which can give you way more options than are available in Waveform view. Waveform view is great if you just want to top and tail files (put fades on them), and it's also an easy place to save in alternative formats, like MP3 for distribution copies.

[erisidae]

Okay, that helps me understand the process a little bit more.

So, if I want to edit my effects after I add them, I have to work in multi-track because it's non-destructive and thus the effects can be changed. Whereas in Waveform mode, they are applied directly and irreversibly to the track. Is that an accurate description?

The reason I was confused is that I watched an online tutorial in which a woman (at least appeared to) manage her effects in the Rack while in Waveform mode, and I chose to start with Waveform since it seemed the most beginner-friendly. However, that would be impossible if I'm now interpreting it correctly.

Again, thanks for helping!

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

erisidae  wrote

Okay, that helps me understand the process a little bit more.

So, if I want to edit my effects after I add them, I have to work in multi-track because it's non-destructive and thus the effects can be changed. Whereas in Waveform mode, they are applied directly and irreversibly to the track. Is that an accurate description? 

Pretty much, yes! The only thing I'd add is that until you save changes in Waveform mode, there's an undo system (which is what Audition uses its temporary folders for), which will let you go back a few steps. But once you've saved, that's it.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

The other thing that I ought to add is that Audition's Record mode is different in each view. In Waveform view, anything you record is written to the aforementioned temporary folder and not actually saved until you've finished recording and actually saved it. If you elect to record in Multi-track mode, then anything you record is written directly to a file as you record it. If you think about it, this makes sense; Multitrack can only work on saved files, and not something stored in a temp folder, so to keep everything consistent, audio is written directly to an actual file. This has implications  when it comes to awkward things like power failures - you are far less likely to lose everything if you record in Multi-track.

[erisidae]

Good to know, and thanks a lot for the introduction! It works a bit differently from the way I expected, but that's for the better.