Auto crossfade when clips overlap?

[bhuether]

Hi, if I have clips on the timeline overlap, how do I get them to auto crossfade?

I am using Pro Tools 2020 (Education discount, so probably not Ultra version).

I looked in prefs and under Editing I don't see anything for auto crossfades.

In manual I see how I can use selector and select time then Cmd-F. But then when I move clips, the crossfades don't move.

I am trying to figure out if I can get this version of Pro Tools to behave how I am used to in Reaper, where dragging a clip that overlaps with another also readjusts crossfades.

thanks

[Darryl Ramm]

You don’t, not automatically like you are used to. It’s frustrating, even simple automatic fade is a Pro Tools Ultimate feature.

But you need to work out how to do this best in Pro Tools, open up the Reference Guide and start reading about batch fades. The reference guide should be your go to first source for help how to do stuff.... vs. trying to work it out by futzing with the application.

[Riinehart]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread... but:

I think this is a feature that's sorely lacking in PT, and think devs should seriously consider adding this capability.

I bumped into this thread searching in desperation. Several years ago I switched to Reaper as my main DAW, and I love it. But I've started working more in post-production and felt some pressure to use "the industry standard" as I work on larger projects.

Oddly, of all the things to learn/re-learn, this is the one I'm having the hardest time with: just the simple ability to merge two clips and have them auto-crossfade (default behavior in Reaper, and apparently not possible at all in PT).

I find it to be equally valuable in music production as in film. Drag a clip atop another (and especially in music be able to quickly, visually match up phase), move on.

To maybe better explain the biggest strength of this, an example: Let's say I want to add a small bit of room tone to a dialogue track that has a gap. And let's say, beyond the end of the dialogue track that I'm connecting to, there's something in the clip I don't want to be audible; and beyond the beginning of the room tone clip I'm crossfading in, there's also something I don't want to be audible.

In Reaper, I can merge these two by simply dragging the room-tone clip into the other clip; they'll auto-crossfade, and I have no risk of hearing what was beyond the bounds of either clip.

In PT, this seems to be a much more imperfect science. Drag the one clip over the other, then try to crossfade as best as possible without introducing those unwanted sounds at the beginning/end of either clip.

I'd love to hear if anyone has a workflow they're happy with for quick crossfades like this in PT. I keep wondering if I'm missing something, but I've spent hours going through the manual and looking online and I'm coming up with nothing.

[firmflange]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

You don’t, not automatically like you are used to. It’s frustrating, even simple automatic fade is a Pro Tools Ultimate feature.

But you need to work out how to do this best in Pro Tools, open up the Reference Guide and start reading about batch fades. The reference guide should be your go to first source for help how to do stuff.... vs. trying to work it out by futzing with the application.

Darryl, are you saying that this feature as possible in Protools ultimate?

[BScout]

Originally Posted by firmflange

Darryl, are you saying that this feature as possible in Protools ultimate?

It doesn't create fades but it plays back with auto-crossfades. There are preferences for it. I've never checked if this works in hybrid mode. This was an Ultimate HDX feature. The outgoing audio would use voices and fade out while the incoming audio would use different voices to fade in on the DSP chips. All behind the scenes. But if you were near the threshold of voices for your HDX system, it would stop working as there were no free voices.

It was great for tracking quickly to prevent pops when editing as you were tracking. But it was never really an auto-crossfade feature for mixing. Manual/batch cross fades are still the way to go there. It was never something like what happens in Cubase/Nuendo.

[Darryl Ramm]

^^^ dang, that is the great reply I wish I could have written, but I was sure not aware of the voice behavior.

[BScout]

Just checked the manual since I haven't checked in years about this.

Seems it's available in all Ultimate modes (Hybrid, Classic, Core Audio/ASIO). It's part of the destructive punch/track punch section (Ultimate only). The fades are now editable afterwards. (You used to not even see them, they just didn't make pops on the edit) Quick punch (available on all systems) also has its own crossfade options.

But, as you can see, not really for mixing/editing.

[smurfyou]

I think they added the auto fade to Native back in PT11 or whenever it was they rewrote the audio engine.

As far as auto crossfade that doesn't sound that useful to me. If you have to edit and make sure the overlap is exactly where you want the fade to be I don't see how it's different than putting the fade where I want it.

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by smurfyou

I think they added the auto fade to Native back in PT11 or whenever it was they rewrote the audio engine.

As in the automatic fade that is invisible on every cut you make to a region that was only in HD/Ultimate versions of PT?

I don’t believe this is in Studio or Artist versions. If it is, I’d love to see some written confirmation of this. To my knowledge, that’s only ever been in the Ultimate/Top tier versions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darryl Ramm]

If only we'd started with somebody saying...

It’s frustrating, even simple automatic fade is a Pro Tools Ultimate feature.

And OK technically its called clip auto fade out/in. And as BScout pointed out is documented in the reference guide (as an Ultimate only feature).