Apple Final Cut Express HD - Manual (Page 606)

606 Part VIII Audio Mixing
Whether or not the audio item in the Viewer is a stereo pair also affects how volume
and pan levels are set.
 If you opened mono items, each channel is in its own tab in the Viewer, and is mixed
separately from all others.
 If you opened a stereo pair, both waveforms appear in the same tab, named Stereo.
Adjusting the levels of one channel adjusts the levels of the other.
As you adjust the volume and pan levels of clips in Final Cut Express HD, your changes
can be played back immediately. By default, Final Cut Express HD mixes the levels of up
to eight tracks of audio in real time, so you don’t need to render your audio as long as
your computer can handle the number of tracks you’re working on. Real-time audio
processing is covered in more detail in “
Real-Time Audio Mixing in Final Cut Express HD ”
on page 876.
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Tip: Using effects like cross fades and filters requires processing power, which reduces
the total number of tracks you can mix in real time. If you exceed the number of tracks
your computer can handle, you’ll need to render your tracks. Audio usually renders
much faster than video, however, so it shouldn’t take too long.
When you edit a new clip into a sequence, its level is set to 0 decibels (dB) by default.
You can change the level to be any value you like, up to +12 dB. You can use three
controls to adjust the audio level of a clip. Each of these controls is mirrored by the
other controls as you make adjustments. If no keyframes are set in the clip in the
Viewer, using these controls adjusts the level of the entire clip.
To adjust the volume using the Level slider:
m Drag the Level slider to the left or right.
To adjust the volume by entering a numeric value:
1 Enter a value in the Level field.
To enter a negative value, type – (the minus sign) and the number.
2 Press the Return key to apply this value to your clip.
To adjust the volume by dragging the level overlay:
1 Place the pointer over the level overlay of your clip in the waveform display area of the
Viewer (the overlay looks like a pink line, or—for stereo—two pink lines).
The pointer turns into an Adjust Line Segment pointer.
2 Drag the overlay up or down to change the level of the clip.
As you drag, a box displays the new audio level.
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Tip: Hold down the Command key while you drag to “gear down” the speed at which
the level is adjusted.