Blackmagic Forum

I have a "master audio mix" timeline which gets put into tracks in numerous other timelines, but I'm not getting the mix output (from another bus) on those timelines.

I can patch the mix output to various outputs on the PC, but I see no way of patching the output bus to the "output" of the timeline - in fact, the Fairlight page seems to have no such thing as an "output".

Studio mixing desks have been part of my entire working life, and I'm really struggling here.

One other semi-related question is how can I lock the track heights and mixer positions in Fairlight, because every time I go back to the Fairlight page, the track heights are shrunk and the mixer has slid off to the right. So, every time I go back there (which at the moment is very often) I have to resize the tracks and fiddle with the mixer to get it back. I thought saving the workspace might lock that, but it doesn't.

And the legend on the left of the mixer is only showing the last letters.

Thanks

emteepee wrote:I have a "master audio mix" timeline which gets put into tracks in numerous other timelines, but I'm not getting the mix output (from another bus) on those timelines.

Is this a nested Timeline workflow?

Nested Timelines may be expanded on the Fairlight page via the Clip contextual menu's "Decompose in place" command with options to "Preserve Existing Paths" or create "New Matching Busses".

Alternatively, configure the target Track format in the destination Timeline to match the Buss configuration of the source Timeline.

I can patch the mix output to various outputs on the PC, but I see no way of patching the output bus to the "output" of the timeline - in fact, the Fairlight page seems to have no such thing as an "output".

The Fairlight environment provides multiple pickup points to patch any source to any destination.

The monitoring configuration is defined in:
Preferences > System > Video and Audio IO > Audio I/O > Output Device

Patch IO will reflect the (source) "Monitor Out" patching to the (destination) "Audio Outputs" when configured via Resolve's Preferences.

Note that Timelines do not share a Fairlight Mixer configuration, where each Timeline accesses a unique Mixer configuration. The monitoring configuration therefore should be defined in Resolve's Preferences which is global rather than via Patch IO which is Project specific.

"Bus 1" in Flexi Bussing mode (the default in version 17 and later) is equivalent to the "Main 1" Buss in Fixed Bussing mode (the default in version 16 and prior) - i.e. the default first Buss listed in the Fairlight menu > Bus Format window. Note that each Timeline requires at least one Buss to be present in the Bus Format window.

By default, "Bus 1" is the active source selected in the Fairlight monitoring panel which feeds the "Monitor Out". All sources routed to "Bus 1" will therefore be monitored and alternate sources may be selected via the Fairlight monitoring panel (e.g. monitoring Stems and individual Sums and Returns).

Patch IO also provides a "Monitor Direct" if a pickup is required bypassing the Monitoring panel (e.g. feeding external metering or a print recorder).

Reynaud Venter wrote:Is this a nested Timeline workflow?

Indeed it is. I never thought of it as that, and a quick search shows that there are all sorts of problems with audio in nested timelines.

In fact Fairlight is messing up my audio so badly with multiple glitches, brief clips of audio suddenly appearing, ghosting of track audio (that is, two versions playing, separated by about a second, but doesn't happen all the time) and many more issues that I've had to go and put the original audio in Adobe Audition and balance there.

I bring the WAV back into DR without touching Fairlight, and it works (a VERY slow process, especially as I have to manually sync, but at least will get the job done)

Reynaud Venter wrote:"Bus 1" in Flexi Bussing mode (the default in version 17 and later) is equivalent to the "Main 1" Buss in Fixed Bussing mode (the default in version 16 and prior) - i.e. the default first Buss listed in the Fairlight menu > Bus Format window.

Thanks - after a lot of searching earlier today I did find the Bus1 output was default main output in 17 (the last Fairlight work I did was a while ago in 16). It's a little frustrating as I use an external mixer panel (PreSonus Faderport) and, while it's possible to moved channels around on the Fairlight page, bus1 seems to be permanently link to the first channel after the audio channels on my mixer. I'm sure I can remap this somehow, but getting the project completed is #1 priority.

Thanks again

emteepee wrote:bus1 seems to be permanently link to the first channel after the audio channels on my mixer. I'm sure I can remap this somehow, but getting the project completed is #1 priority.

Mike, in Resolve 17, tracks and busses have fixed sections in the mixer: you can rearrange tracks using the Track Index panel and busses using the Fairlight menu > Bus Format window, but they can only be arranged within their own sections. In Resolve 18, you can freely rearrange all tracks and busses using the Track Index panel.

Andy Mees wrote:In Resolve 18, you can freely rearrange all tracks and busses using the Track Index panel.

Thanks, Andy - I'm planning to move to 18 once this current project is done and dusted, so that'd be really useful.