Compare audio file and multitrack session workflows
Take a comprehensive tour of the Audition interface, exploring differences between the Multitrack and Waveform editors and learning how to customize the workspace.
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Let's take a look at some of the key areas of the Adobe Audition interface.
First of all, we've got File, Edit, Multitrack.
A lot of these menus have functionality that is repeated in the buttons in the interface, so my advice is to go looking for a button near the thing you want to do, first of all.
We've got this Mode switch between the Waveform mode and the Multitrack mode.
And you'll notice that depending on the mode you're in, different tools become available because they're relevant to the work that you're doing.
Top left here, we've got a Files panel.
And this includes all of the files that you may or may not choose to work on or include in a Multitrack session.
This panel is persistent, along with a lot of other panels in the interface, when you switch between the modes.
Now, the files that you import here are not really moved anywhere.
You're really just linking to them on your original hard drive.
So do be a little bit careful about where your media is before you bring it into Audition.
You will have trouble, for example, if you import audio from a CD with data on it, because you won't be able to write to the disk, and you're going to end up making copies.
Over on the right, I've got my Editor.
At the moment, I'm in Multitrack mode, which means I'm seeing multiple layers of audio with different clip segments all laid out, with time moving left to right, ready for me to playback and work on my session.
If I switch to the Waveform view, I get an individual sound file laid out as a waveform, again with time from left to right in both cases, I have a navigator at the top, and also in this special Spectral Frequency display along the bottom.
Notice in both cases I've got playback controls and zoom controls along the bottom as well, level beaters and some time information, so my selection, my view, and so on.
You'll notice that at the top here I've got a Workspace menu.
And you can access this under the Window menu as well.
The Workspace menu allows me to jump between some standard layouts for the application, and these are all preset layouts that Adobe felt might be useful, depending on the kind of work you're doing.
You've got a Mastering and Analysis one here, Maximum Editing (Dual Monitor) if you're working with dual monitors, which I'm not, So half my stuff's disappeared off screen, and Radio Production and so on, and so on.
The important thing about this, for the purposes of learning Audition, I think, is to know how to get back to Default and how to reset.
Go to the Reset "Default"... option at the bottom of the list, say yes, I want to reset, and everything will go back to the way it should be.
You can, of course, also create New Workspaces of your own.
That's particularly useful if you are working on a dual monitor system and the monitors don't have the same resolution.
You can configure things to just fit the resolution you've got available.
Over in the Files panel, I have a quick search box, a little filter box, where I can begin to type in the name of something I want to be displayed, and everything else will be hidden.
So for example, here I've got these Strings .mp3s.
If I start to type string - I don't even need to write the whole word - anything that does not match the series of letters is automatically hidden.
Now, one warning I would give you about using this feature is you'll notice I get very, very little indication that it's being applied.
If, for example, I go back a couple of letters, well look now.
I just got 3 items on show in my Files panel.
And the only indication that anything is being hidden is that I've got "st" in this little box up on the right.
So be sure to check this sometimes and clear the box.
Notice that here I've got a little dropdown menu where I can choose Recent Searches.
I'll just click the cross to clear that.
Down below the Files panel I've got a Media Browser that allows me to check the contents of my hard drives.
You notice here I've got all of the drives on my machine, and several different bits of audio in different locations.
The purpose of the browser is to allow me to just listen to and check my audio before I necessarily bring it into my Files panel to work with.
So it's just a way of locating content on your machine.
I have an Effects Rack that appears in both modes as well.
And this allows me to put up to 16 effects on a single clip, or on a track for that matter, and work on them nondestructively and combine them and produce a composite special effects result.
I've got a Markers panel that allows me to add and remove and work with markers on my Timeline.
I can use these both in the Waveform view and in the Multitrack view, and they're just a good way of finding your way around your media.
But they can also be used to define regions for specific tracks on a CD if you decide to burn a CD based on your audio.
The Properties panel is more than just information.
If I select an item here in my Multitrack session, for example, I've got information about the file type, the path to the original file - that's the location on the hard drive - clip start time, and so on.
But if I scroll down a little bit, I've also got the option to extend the duration of the clip.
It's called stretching in Adobe Audition.
So I can make it play back in slow motion or fast motion.
I can also specify things like a clip color.
There we go.
And I can lock it in location, turn it into a loop, and so on.
I can also adjust the gain for the clip.
So quite a lot of controls in this Properties panel.
If I resize a little bit, you'll see I've got a History list, just like Photoshop.
I've got a list of things I've done.
And I can step back in time if I want to.
And I've got a Video panel.
So if I'm producing a mix to picture, I can view the video here.
And in fact Audition makes use of the Adobe Media core for playback, which, in a nutshell, means really good quality video playback.
It's very smooth and easy to use.
There are a number of additional panels available inside of Audition, and if you want to hunt for them, look under the Window menu.
But these are the key panels that you'll be working with day in, day out in the interface.
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