Full scale volume when moving clips

[Frank Kruse]

Hi,

I think I´ve mentioned this a long time ago but it´s still not changed. At the point when digi introduced the instant volume update when you adjust volume when playing they also introduced the "feature" that when you move a clip to another track it will playback at digital full scale the moment you move it.

This is VERY unhealthy when you sitting on a stage moving a digital full scale gun shot that plays at -20dB and all of sudden you speakers almost come flying through the projection screen.

Digi, isn´t there a way to fix this? It would be better for my ears and my speakers.

Thanks,

Frank.

[tj_davies]

I'm sure you know that the workaround could be:
- set at least 1 breakpoint inside the track where you want to move the region from.

"ß" ("-" on American keyboards) -- (volume automation view)
"cmd+/" -- (create breakpoint)


Timothy

[Frank Kruse]

I´m not sure I understand. When I move a region it will create breakpoints automatically. What I mean is that the moment you move a region or when you delete it from a track the volume will switch to full scale if that region is currently playing.

f.

[tj_davies]

Aaaah.

Misunderstood you - sorry! Never had this problem - so 1st time now, that I noticed this behaviour.

I thought you meant, that if you move a region from a track without automation (but volume at -20) to another track without automation (volume at 0), that then the region is back to 0!

Workaround:
- create a shortcut for "Automation follows Edit" (we use ctrl+cmd+A)
- before deleting region hit the shortcut
- delete
- shortcut

Maybe this helps a little bit.

I know this is only a workaround for deleting and not moving!

Timothy

[tj_davies]

I think I understand now, why I never stumbled over this. If your automation starts slightly earlier than the region, you won't get this problem. Basically Pro Tools jumps to the volume that is set before the region start.

So if the track volume was -infinity and you raised your region volume to -20, and now move the region, you wouldn't get this problem as Pro Tools would jump to -infinity.
Obviously, if your track is set at 0 (as it is by default) and your region is reduced to -20, you get what you describe.

As - most of the time - I start the automation slightly before the region and end slightly afterwards, when deleting the region during playback, the volume would not jump. That's why I never noticed this odd behaviour.

Hope this helps,
Timothy

[Felix Rost]

No, I think Frank is not talking about Automation glitches at the beginning of a region.

It's about moving (and trimming) regions while in playback. Say, if you move a region with volume e.g.-20dB to a track that has e.g. 0dB automation, for a very short time this region will be played back at 0dB - WHAM!

[tj_davies]

Yeah,

I misunderstood him. But the last 2 posts give a few possible workarounds.

Obviously best workaround would be Digi getting rid of the problem completely - and if Digi gets rid of this behaviour, maybe we could get instant un/muting- / moving- / deleting- / trimming-regions while playback - or is this a TDM-no-go-area?


Timothy

[tj_davies]

Say, if you move a region with volume e.g.-20dB to a track that has e.g. 0dB automation, for a very short time this region will be played back at 0dB - WHAM!

Not entirely true.
The problem is not the track you move the region to, but the volume level that is right at the beginning of the region.

So if your track fader is set to -30 and you automate the region from up to -20 and then move the region to another track, Pro Tools would shortly playback the region at -30 (not at 0), as Pro Tools is a bit slow with region edit while playback. That's why deleting causes the same effect, as Pro Tools plays back the region a little bit longer.

So if your automation starts a bit earlier than the region, you wouldn't get this problem.


Timothy