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There are several ways to mix audio in Avid Media Composer.
When you are working with audio you may want to configure an Audio Workspace which will
make things easier when mixing audio tracks.
First lets edit a music track under the fire rescue sequence.
Load the music clip into the source window.
As soon as you do that, you will notice that this music clip has two tracks of audio, which
means the clip is probably in stereo.
The default set up for Media Composer is to have 2 video tracks and 2 audio tracks for
a new sequence.
To add a new audio track, right click in this grey area of the timeline window and choose
new audio track - mono.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut command U to add a new audio track.
Now, remember when using the red overwrite function, make sure you tell Media Composer
where you want your content to go.
In this case, we want the music to go onto audio tracks 3 and 4.
So in this example, I'll patch source audio A2 to A4 and A1 to A3.
Also, it's important to turn off any additional sequence tracks.
Otherwise, blank filler will be overwritten on top of them.
The next step is to mark in and out points for an area for where you would like the music
to go.
Now, when you have an entire section like this, it is easier to press the mark clip
button to mark the entire area.
You can also press the T key on the keyboard.
Okay now it time to press the overwrite button or the B key so the music goes to tracks 3
and 4 within the sequence.
Let's check it out.
"Not sure of the cause right away, came to find out they said it was possibly methane.
Inside they were doing work."
Now, you will notice the audio mix needs some help.
You may want to configure the interface so it is easier to adjust audio levels.
First navigate to the windows menu, and choose workspaces, Audio Editing.
This will automatically bring forward the audio mixer and audio tool.
Now you can change the workspace to your liking.
So for example, you may want a larger timeline area for the audio editing workspace.
For Media Composer to remember the new window arrangement, navigate back to the windows
menu, and choose save current.
Now, once that's done, you may want to increase the size of the audio tracks.
To resize a track individually, hold the alt key while dragging from the bottom of each
track indicator.
If you are running Media Composer on a PC, hold down the CTRL Key.
Next, navigate to lower left corner of the timeline window and click on the fast menu.
Choose audio data - clip gain.
This will show you Volume Unit indicators within the audio tracks.
Now, once you have everything configured the way you like it, click on the timeline view
menu at the bottom of the timeline.
Choose save-as, and give it a name.
This makes it easy to switch between different timeline views the next time you are ready
to work with adjusting audio levels.
Now, when you switch between workspaces, I recommend that you link your workspace with
the correct timeline view.
To do this, navigate to the windows menu and select workspaces / properties.
The workspace view dialogue box will appear.
Click on the Link to Named settings button.
Now type in the exact name of the timeline view for audio editing.
So now, assuming you have configured and linked the various workspace views, when you switch
between workspaces everything should be configured the way you like it.
So now, when I go back to the Audio Editing workspace, the timeline view and interface
windows will jump to their configured location.
Okay, you've now got the basics of configuring workspaces and timeline views.
And don't forget, GeniusDV also offers classroom and flat rate onsite Avid Media Composer training.