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Subject:How do you crossfade tracks? Posted by: lewjew Date:8/21/2002 3:41:35 PM Hi I ma new to using Sound Forge and i would like to know how i would go about crossfading one track into another! please help thanks
Subject:RE: How do you crossfade tracks? Reply by: rraud Date:8/21/2002 6:04:08 PM Assuming you want to cross-fade one song into the next. Sound Forge is not the best application for this procedure. Vegas or another mult-track application would be much better.... So would CD Architect, but lets not get into that. !#&^&!@! That said, First.. MAKE BACK-UP COPIES YOUR ORIGINAL AUDIO FILES! Adjust your in/out fades on the tracks where you think they should be. Copy the 2cd track to your clipboard. Keep the 1st track open. Put the cursor where you think the X-fade should start on your 1st track, select Edit>Paste Special>Mix (Ctrl+M) -or- Right click and select "Mix" . Play around with the paramerters in the mix function for more control. Sounds easy... but it ain't. This requires some trial & error to get the X-fade to sound the way you want it. Again, MAKE BACK-UP COPIES YOUR FILES as you go along. Maybe someone else can suggest an easier way.
Subject:RE: How do you crossfade tracks? Reply by: drbam Date:8/21/2002 7:35:05 PM <<Sounds easy... but it ain't. >> I agree! I am curious why the crossfade function in SF isn't similar to Vegas? Its one of the greatest functions Vegas has to offer (IMO) and I use it all the time. I can't believe how easy it is! I recently showed this to a friend who has Logic on his Mac powerbook and his jaw dropped! It seems bizarre that SF doesn't work in a similar way with this. drbam
Subject:RE: How do you crossfade tracks? Reply by: Chienworks Date:8/21/2002 8:56:04 PM Actually crossfades may work better for you if you choose "Crossfade" instead of "Mix". The again, depending on the material and what effect you want, it may not.
Subject:RE: How do you crossfade tracks? Reply by: Bison_Flower Date:8/24/2002 12:31:07 PM Hmm, I agree with Chienworks in that crossfade is MUCH better than mix. (by the way there is a known bug with mix and it is a bear to get volumes right - see release notes.) I make ALL of my cuts using crossfade. I edit music for Figure Skating programs and each program usually has atleast 2 cuts per 60 seconds. The trick is in the timing - this is what I do: 1) always add onto the END of the first piece so select a region you want for the first part that includes the last little bit you want to hear fade out and then add about 200-500 msec worth extra and put it in a window. 2) Put a marker at the point in the first piece where you think you may want to start the Xfade. 3) Select THE ENTIRE portion of the second piece (the part you want to add on) including the fade in part (make sure that you include an extra second or so at the end of your selection as its easy to cut it off but hard to put back on) right click and hit copy. 4) Left click at the fade in spot in the first piece and then right click and select crossfade, then hit normal crossfade (for starters) then preview and listen to what you've got. 5) The next step is the most crucial and often may take 5-10 minutes if you are changing tempos - you have to tweak the timing by adjusting the crossfade length. This can be changed by +/- 500 msec in the box and there are many times when you scratch that and go back, move your marker even further and try it again! What I do is start preview tapping the table hard with my finger to get the beat(I have 5 seconds of preview selected in preferences) and bang it out as I go through the preview to make sure the new piece starts a) on the beat b) on a strong beat of a new measure or 3) as a pick up beat for a new measure that should be completely faded in by that point. Silences are tougher and IMHO should be the length of a whole number of measures from the tempo of the first piece. 6) The previous step is the art or craft of the process. If you don't have a good ear it will sound "wrong". If your timing is off it can literally make a skater fall down! If it doesn't feel right then its not right so do it over and remember that some things were just not meant to be put together! 7) Last - adjust the volumes of the fade in/out pieces. This is subtle and polishes up the Xfade. Volumes don't have to match here perfectly and I often use a Smooth Transition with Wave Hammer or a Graphic EQ when I'm completely done with all my editing to make volumes match better. Sorry this is so long but it works Lyle
Subject:RE: How do you crossfade tracks? Reply by: rraud Date:8/24/2002 3:04:08 PM I do not deal with x-fades much and I thought there may be another way. Thanks for alerting me to this feature.