Struggling With The Basics

[DJ Skippy]

Hi, I'm probably missing something really simple but I can't seem to get the hang of how files work between Waveform and Multitrack views (of the same 'track').  By that I mean I hit record in Multiview, and then if I double click to edit it, it opens in Waveform.  Presumably to adjust/clip out unwanted bits etc.  I do this but when I go back to the multitrack view, my edits haven't 'stuck' and I still have the unwanted bits in it. 

I've tried deleting the unwanted part in Mulititrack view and dragging in what I think ought to be the edited version (from the Files box, but I end up with the original file back. 

AA is fairly intuitive but I just can't get the hang of this.   Thank you fo rany help anyoine can give.  

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Multitrack is just a selective, sophisticated file player. Because it's selective, you don't need to clip out anything from a file - you just select the bit you want to play, place it at the point you want it to, and off you go. If you want to use a section more than once, that can be done too - just place the file again and select the bit you want, either by. This form of editing is called 'non-linear' - you can put anything wherever you want, and the original file remains untouched. And you can add more files to a session as well - creating a complete multitrack mix.

Recording in Multitrack is a good thing to do - it's written direct to file, which isn't what happens in Waveform view. In Waveform view, anything you record is written to a temporary file, and not actually saved in its final form until you save it. There can be some significant issues with this. Waveform view, unlike Multitrack is destructive - any changes made to a file become permanent when you resave it. If you make Waveform view cuts to a file that you've been using in Multitrack, you'll get a warning, because that can directly influence the way you've placed parts of it in your Multitrack session.

So, you can't actually delete any part of a file in Multitrack, and in Waveform, if you do delete part of a file that you're using in Multitrack, it can screw you up! Once you've got your head around this, it's relatively straightforward, and makes a lot more sense.

[DJ Skippy]

Thank you so much for trying to help.

Sorry, but I don't understand.  I edit the track in Waveform view, play it and its what I want to incorpotrate into my project in Multitrack view.  In Waveform view I hit save (top of screen, File>Save and play it in Waveform view.  It soiunds like I want it to.  then I delete the part of Multiview that I wan the edit to replace and drag waht I think is the edited track from files into Multiview and it hasn't saved.    

I know I'm the issue but I'm just not foillwoing how to achieve what I want to.  I have the creative ideas, i just don't have the skills.  

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

So if you close your edited file in Waveform view, and reopen it, does it sound just the same? If it does, then you haven't inserted the right track into your Multitrack session. If it doesn't sound the same, then you haven't succeeded in saving it correctly. There really isn't any more to it than that. If you place a file into Multitrack view, and do nothing to it, it will play just the same as it does in Waveform view.

The way to tell whether a track has been saved in Waveform view is easy - it won't have an asterisk at the end of the name in the Editor tab, or in the Files list. If you right-click on the file in the files list, you get an option to insert it directly into your multitrack session - no need to drag anything, or accidentally pick up the wrong file.

[DJ Skippy]

Thank you Steve,

I don't know how to close a track in Waveform view but was simply hitting save to try and preserve whay I'd done and then return to that track in Multiview.   

I did a test piece and attach the screen shots.  This time, and without hitting save, the edits were preserved, and the file names aquired the asterix.   I think I'm more confused now TBH.  

I'm working Nights for a few days now, and so will give it a rest and start again afresh when I have Rest Days.

Cheers

[DJ Skippy]

Thanks Steve,  So, is it the case that when I double click on the part of a track, I want to edit, and it automatically opens in Waveform view, I'm not then editing the same track area in Multitrack view?   I'm probably being really naive here but that's what I imagined it was doing.  

If that's not the case, how can I best learn the workflow of making corrections to a Multitrack recording please? 

For instance, I've tried to stick to working in Multitrack to remove breath sounds and mistakes etc but its more fiddly than in Waveform view.  ie I've tried using the razor to cut the noise out, but then have to fiddle around butting the resulting bits together.  Sometimes the whole track slides, but I've not figured what I've wrongly slecected to do that.   I've also tried putting the dots on (keyframes?) If I do 4 I can drag th evolume down on the middle two to cut the volume, but then may have protracted silence.

I've seached and watched lots of videos, but my way of learing would ideally be to be shown, or coached, while I try and work.  To date, I've not found anyone who can do that at a price I can afford.  So, I'm very grateful fo the help yo provide in this community.

Steve

[SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Accepted solution]

In Edit>Preferences>Multitrack clips, there's an option at the top that says 'Synchronize Clips with Waveform Editor'. If you have a check in this, then when you double-click on a clip, the whole file it came from will be displayed, but the cursor will be at the point in the file that it is in in the multitrack clip.

People have different views on what you should edit where. My take on it is that you do temporal edits in Multitrack, but anything that's purely processing of the sound, especially de-umming, NR, or anything like that is fine to do, relatively easily, in Waveform. The advantage of this is that you haven't disturbed the time flow of the file this way, so any edits you've done in Multitrack will remain intact. The edits you do in Multitrack, with a few exceptions, should be structural; in other words selecting bits of the file and putting them where you want. The obvious exceptions will be any effect where one track is informing another - so ducking, and any form of sidechain dynamics processing. Actually you don't get a choice; they are only available in Multitrack. The other exception is that any effect (like reverb) that you want to apply across a mix - or several tracks if you use a bus - can also only be applied in Multitrack.

I don't quite see what is difficult about removing mistakes in Multitrack (except for a philosophical point). Highlight what you want to remove in a clip and hit the Delete key. It's gone, and all you have to do is join up the gap, which isn't exactly difficult... The philosophical point, incidentally, is that editing isn't about removing mistakes - it's about selecting and arranging the material you want to include. That's important, because inherently this makes you more selective - or at least it should...

[DJ Skippy]

Thank you for your patience Steve, I'm probably using the wrong tool in Multitrack , so will try the others to highlight and backspace/dekete.  I will also check the Edit presences to make sure it's set to Synchronise.  

I take your philosophical point, and would say I have a creative imagination and I'm trying to get Audition to help me realise that.   

Once again, thank you.  

Steve