Conditions in which crossfades don't work

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aironaudio

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Conditions in which crossfades don't work

PostMon Sep 20, 2021 8:44 am

I'm working on two rigs. One is in a studio that runs a 2-bay fader/knob-bank/editor/1-LCD setup on OSX and accesses all projects and media from a network server.

The second rig is my own at home with Resolve Studio on a Windows 10 machine.

At all times I'll be working on the Fairlight page.

On the first machine I've had several instances of crossfades not working. I was using the Protools keyset for speed on the Fairlight and had a message "Cross fades cannot be created"(do not remember the exact message) on a pop-up window that rather unhelpfully had to be closed with the mouse.

I have been unable to replicate this on my Windows machine setup.

My question is, under what circumstances does this error message pop up ?

Can this only happen on media that lies on servers ? Is it an OSX issue ?

We're doing first post production tests with dialogue editors and since everybody is supposed to work on this network-attached setup, this could be a deal breaker.
"My ego comes pre-shrunk." - Randy Thom
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Reynaud Venter

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Re: Conditions in which crossfades don't work

PostMon Sep 20, 2021 9:39 am

aironaudio wrote:On the first machine I've had several instances of crossfades not working. I was using the Protools keyset for speed on the Fairlight and had a message "Cross fades cannot be created"
Is this Console only or also reproducible via the UI? Which function was used?

Was the Fade command targeting a Clip, layered editing, or a Range?
(e.g. Batch Fades / Crossfade Selection / Audio Editor Range menu > Fade Head/Tail)
⟦ Mac Pro 7,1 Rack ⊕ 16-core 3.2GHz ⊕ 32GB RAM ⊕ Radeon 580X • Resolve Studio 18.6.6 • macOS 14.3.1 ⟧
⟦ Fairlight Studio Console ⊕ Fairlight Audio Accelerator ⊕ Merging Hapi • Anubis • Ravenna CoreAudio VAD ⟧
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Re: Conditions in which crossfades don't work

PostMon Sep 20, 2021 10:57 am

Reynaud Venter wrote:
aironaudio wrote:On the first machine I've had several instances of crossfades not working. I was using the Protools keyset for speed on the Fairlight and had a message "Cross fades cannot be created"
Is this Console only or also reproducible via the UI? Which function was used?


The function is menu-Trim/Crossfade Selection bound to a key on the computer keyboard. The same happens if the function is executed via the menu. In this case the function is bound to the key "F", as it is in ProTools.

Sidenote: the editing console does not provide access to this function.

Was the Fade command targeting a Clip, layered editing, or a Range?
(e.g. Batch Fades / Crossfade Selection / Audio Editor Range menu > Fade Head/Tail)


It was targeting a range across two clips that was made with the Edit Selection Mode cursor and alternately with the IN and OUT keys on the editing console. Both produce the same results on some of these operations.

Preceding the crossfade command was copy/pasting small bits of another clip on top of others.

Clips upon which you past a small bit seem to survive underneath that pasted clip, and moving bits outside the pasted clip moves the one on the other side of the pasted clip. That's another matter I'll address in a different post. Perhaps this produces the problems.

One aspect I can reproduce on the Windows/non-networked machine seems to be entirely by design, which is that I get a windows that shows "Invalid Selection and in smaller grey text "Unable to create crossfade(s)". That is when there is a gap between the two clips across which I've made a range selection with the Edit Selection Mode cursor. That's a rather ancient design decision that costs a lot of time to fix, because it can happen a lot.

I'll be at the studio rig again in a day or two. I can run any tests that need be.


@Developers for the Fairlight page:
Crossfades should always work if they can with the range provided. Even if the range is too great for the clip source material to cover it, adjust the range to make a crossfade possible. Please always give the user the least amount of work to do.
"My ego comes pre-shrunk." - Randy Thom
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aironaudio

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Re: Conditions in which crossfades don't work

PostWed Sep 22, 2021 4:37 am

I think I may have figured out why I get an "Invalid selection". Confirmed this on both the OSX(networked storage) and Windows machine(local storage).

Audio Track Layers.

I've attached a screenshot to illustrate the issue.

It appears that Resolve is unable to create the crossfade if the clips are on different layers, which happens a lot in dialogue editing, or rather just editing in general.

The clip itself was generated by processing it in an external editor, Izotope RX in this case. It was shifted to the right, split, a piece trimmed out and moved together. I made sure the clips would be on different layers(or lanes?) by having "View/Show Audio Track Layers" activated, because otherwise you can't see why Resolve is failing to create crossfades.

Of course an editor cannot be expected to keep audio track layers visible at all times. This is quite the waste of screen real-estate.

This has to be fixed immediately. I simply cannot state this more clearly. Our dialogue, effects and music editors depend on crossfades simply working at all times, and while we're in the training phase right now, production tasks are a couple of weeks away. Take a cue from Reaper, Protools or even Cubase on the matter of crossfades. An absolutely essential task, because it is performed hundreds, if not thousands of times a day, which deserves its own key on the editing console as well.
Attachments
DavinciResolve17.3.1_build5_InvalidSelection_AudioTrackLayers.png
Screenshot of an invalid selection across different Audio Track Layers, inhibiting the creation of crossfades across a range selection
DavinciResolve17.3.1_build5_InvalidSelection_AudioTrackLayers.png (242.72 KiB) Viewed 1068 times
"My ego comes pre-shrunk." - Randy Thom
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Reynaud Venter

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Re: Conditions in which crossfades don't work

PostWed Sep 22, 2021 6:05 am

The Crossfade Selection command is targeted at the keyboard/mouse workflow of Edit Selection Mode within Resolve's UI which is not relevant to the Fairlight Console.

With layered editing enabled the CTI is the sync point and crossfades may be created via:
Fairlight Audio Editor: Edit megamode > Fade Head/Tail
Resolve UI: Trim menu > Fade In/Out to Playhead.

The Fairlight Audio Editor panel provides an additional Crossfade function under the Range menu where the Fade Head/Tail keys are both highlighted. Either key produces a crossfade which is the only instance where new media is generated for the duration of the Range (which benefits additional workflows).

Alternatively, Batch Fades provide global operation.
Fairlight Audio Editor: Edit Megamode > Batch Fades (long press for Settings)
Resolve UI: Fairlight menu > Apply Batch Fades (Settings available under same menu)
⟦ Mac Pro 7,1 Rack ⊕ 16-core 3.2GHz ⊕ 32GB RAM ⊕ Radeon 580X • Resolve Studio 18.6.6 • macOS 14.3.1 ⟧
⟦ Fairlight Studio Console ⊕ Fairlight Audio Accelerator ⊕ Merging Hapi • Anubis • Ravenna CoreAudio VAD ⟧
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Re: Conditions in which crossfades don't work

PostWed Sep 22, 2021 9:04 pm

Thank you, I'll take a look at the options available on the editing console when I get back in to the studio., but this is quite exhausting.

So much of this stuff was not intuitive, and is starting to feel like a step back. Can't say I'd go down this path again if I knew how this worked.
"My ego comes pre-shrunk." - Randy Thom
5950X/GTX1070/Reaper/Resolve/Protools
aironaudio.weebly.com

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