Apple Motion 4 - Manual (Page 1342)

To turn the Master track on or off
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Click the checkbox at the left side of the Master track. Click the checkbox again to return
the Master track to its previous state.
When the master track is selected, a master waveform appears in the Audio Editor.
Setting Master Level
You can use the Master Level slider to set the overall volume level for the audio in your
project.
To set the master level
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Drag the Master Level slider to set the level you want.
The Master level works in conjunction with the level setting for each individual track. For
example, if you set a track’s level to 0.5 and you set the master level to 0.5, the combined
level is 0.25 (one-fourth) of the original.
Note: If you raise both an individual track’s level and the Master level so that the combined
increase is greater than 2, you may cause audio distortion or “clipping.”
Viewing the Master Level
To the right of the Master track controls is a pair of stereo level meters that display the
combined level of all the audible tracks.
If either of the two red dots above the level meters (called clipping indicators) light up
during playback, this indicates that your master levels are too high, causing audio distortion
or clipping.
Preventing Clipping
Typically, when working with digital audio, audio engineers set the overall volume level
as high as possible without causing clipping. If the clipping indicators light up above the
master level meters, you need to find where clipping is occurring and lower the level to
eliminate the cause of the clipping.
If clipping occurs, play the project and observe where the clipping indicators light up.
You may want to solo each audio track to determine if a particular track is causing the
clipping. You can also play a track in the Audio Editor and watch the Audio Editor’s level
meters, which show only the levels of the track playing.
1342 Chapter 20 Working with Audio