Apple Motion 2 User Manual
Page 891
Chapter 13
Working With Audio
891
You select the Master track by clicking its area at the bottom of the Audio tab. When
selected, the Master track area appears highlighted.
Turning the Master Track On or Off
The Master track is turned on by default. When it is turned off, no sound is audible
when you play the project, and no audio is included when you export your project.
When it is turned on, all audio tracks that are turned on are included in your export.
To turn the Master track on or off:
m
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:
m
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.” For
information about how to prevent clipping, see “
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.
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