Dalet Cut Audio for Dalet Flex
Dalet Cut Audio is the dedicated web editor for audio, in Dalet Flex and Dalet Pyramid environments.
This article outlines how to work with Dalet Cut Audio when accessed from Dalet Flex. For video or combined video/audio editing, consult Dalet Flex Cut.
Dalet Cut Audio for Dalet Pyramid is a separate article.
When opening a video asset in Cut Audio, only the audio tracks are shown/accessible.
Accessing Dalet Cut Audio From Dalet Flex
In Dalet Flex, select Cut Audio from the app navigator.
The Interface
Dalet Cut Audio consists of four interface areas:
- The browser, spanning the entire upper area, gives access to different assets of Pyramid and connected MAM systems OR the Trimmer.
- The audio editing and recording section just beneath with up to 16 audio tracks and one voiceover track.
- Additional effect and volume features, the app setting access and the VU meter are on the right hand side of the UI window. Loudness can be measured as: Integrated, Momentary, Short term (I\M\S)
- On the bottom line, you find the zoom, speed, and counter displays.
PS: you toggle on/off the left browser side by clicking the tree-view icon: .
When you double-click an audio asset in the browser or assignment tab, it will open in Trimmer. You can set an In and Out point and send that selection into an audio track or into a media bin.
The VU Meter
The VU meter shows precise stereo db values: 0 - (-60).
The max peak db is indicated at the top while playing. Click on the top numerals to reset to zero.
Note the value under the VU meter “Loudness” (LU) with three types:
- LU (M) - Momentary (400ms average)
- LU (S) - Short term (3 seconds average)
- LU (I) - Integrated (from the moment play command is triggered until a stop trigger, re-calculating it on the next play
Clicking the loudness indicator will toggle between the types.
Types of LU measurements
There are three different kinds of LUFS measurements. The first two, momentary and short term, are reasonably similar in definition and use. The third kind is called integrated. Let's take a look at how these different measurements interact.
Momentary loudness
Momentary loudness (measured on the right in LUFS in Insight 2) is averaged over about 300 ms. Short term loudness on the left is measured over a period of about 3 seconds. As a result, the two often measure pretty closely to each other, but short term loudness will measure a bit lower because it’s averaging over a longer window.Momentary and short term loudness measurements are often close to one another.
This three-second window for short term loudness tells us a bit more about the persistence of the sound, or a more general impression of the loudness of a track. Both momentary and short term loudness measurements are perfectly viable ways to measure average loudness in a track.
To understand integrated loudness, however, let’s dive a bit into the history behind it.
Integrated loudness
If you're watching TV, and a commercial plays where the advertisement’s audio is suddenly much louder than the show’s audio, it can be really jarring. Advertisers may do this intentionally to get your attention, but this is problematic for you, the viewer. To prevent this, standards for broadcast audio associated with video were set to limit the level of audio across an entire program, both shows and advertisements.This measure of level across a full program is called integrated loudness. If you look at the integrated loudness value on Insight 2, it changes much more slowly. This is because it’s averaging the entire length of the recording. In the United States, The Calm Act was brought into law to set a target integrated loudness for broadcast audio. In the United States, it's -24 LKFS. In the EU, lawmakers chose to set up specs and industry regulation with the EBU R128 spec with a target loudness of -23 LUFS. If a program isn’t at these levels, the mix will be turned up or down to conform.
So, why should we care about integrated loudness in music? Most music streaming services now implement loudness normalization, in which integrated level is measured, and a song is conformed to a playback standard.
You can use an integrated LUFS measurement to measure your mix and understand how it might be affected on different streaming services, depending on their playback standards. (Quoted from: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/are-you-listening-metering-in-mastering.html)
The Contextual menus
Cut Audio offers contextual menus on select areas.
| Area | Contextual menu | Details |
| Browser |
none, icons appear on the right side, when mouse rests on line. |
Asset Options on-mouse line:
|
| Timeline Tracks Control | Delete track | |
| Timeline |
|
Copy/Paste: active segment or fresh selection Cut: active segment Delete: active segment Group/Ungroup/Ungroup All: selected segments (click header while holding CTRL key to select) Effect Presets: n/a Trim silence: removes silence from segment at the edges. The threshold is defined in the settings (right side pane) Paste: on empty areas of a track. |
| Timeline Transition | Between two segments: Linear, Logarithmic, Sinus transition | |
| Timeline Audio Gain line |
On audio gain line: Add point Fade in Fade out Restore default |
Assets in the Browser Collection
You can drag media directly into a track or double-click to open it first in Trimmer, so as to send parts of it to a track. Alternatively you can use the icons "Open in Timeline",
"Open in Trimmer" on the line marked by the mouse.
This is how you handle audio assets in detail:
- Dalet Cut Audio will open showing the browser tab.
- Single click the categories to see the respective content.
- You can jump to chapter Opening Assets to continue, or continue reading on how to search for assets or how to use the Assignments Tab.
Searching for an Asset/Category
The browser offers a search field under My Collections. As you type, matching assets will be shown.
Creating a New Project
To create a new project in Cut Audio, click on the New Project button . If content had been added to the timeline already, a pop-up window will alert you to save or discard. Once decided, select mono or stereo layout for both the audio tracks and voice over track. Optionally, set the time code for start of material.
You can recognise if a waveform is stereo or mono by its appearance in a track:
| Mono Waveform | Stereo Waveform |
Accordingly, the VU meter of each audio track is shown as mono or stereo.
Editing Basics
Edit assets in Cut Audio by dragging and dropping them from the browser to the timeline, or by opening assets in the Trimmer and sending selections to the timeline.
Using the Trimmer
Open an asset in the Trimmer by double clicking on the asset, or via the contextual menu's open in Trimmer. Trimmer is s a tool to send parts of an asset for editing or to create new assets from a selection you made.
- in Trimmer, you can move the playhead around by clicking, pressing cursor keys (play while pressed forward/backward), spacebar (play). Set In point (
) and Out point (
). You can also drag your mouse while keeping the right mouse button pressed. And for the conservative, you can type in a value in the in counter and press the in icon and like wise for the out point
.. And for the restless, you can do any combination of the above.
- You can zoom in/out by dragging the zoom handles correspondingly
.
- use the transfer icons
to send to track or save the selection as a new asset into the media bin
(if original is from the assignment tab).
Sending a Selection into a Timeline selection
Mark an In and Out point in Trimmer (1).
Mark an In and Out point on the timeline (2). Basically, the order does not matter, just make a selection in either area. You make selecting in the timeline as you do in Trimmer, either by dragging the mouse on the track while holding the right mouse button, by keyboard shortcuts I and O, or by typing a time code in the counter and clicking the In and Out icons.
Click the AV icon (3).
The timeline content, if present, will be replaced for the inserted content, for the length of the track selection.
To learn about editing using the keyboard shortcut "p", jump to section 3/4 Point Editing.
Replacing a Segment's content with Trimmer selection
Using the replace icon you can replace the content of an active segment with the selection in Trimmer.
For 3/4 Point Editing via keyboard shortcut "p", consult 3/4 Point Editing further below.
Send trimmer tracks to specific timeline tracks.
When sending clips from the Trimmer to the CUT Timeline, audio tracks are populated from top to bottom.
To prevent audio from being sent to a track, click on the number field. Disabled tracks will not receive content from the Trimmer
In the image below, only the A2 audio track is enabled. Audio will only populate this track.
To send audio from the Trimmer to a different track in the timeline, drag the track from the number field and drop on the correct position.
In the image below, on the right side the audio was sent with the tracks arranged as usual – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Audio from the trimmer populated the first four tracks.
On the left side, the tracks are arranged in a different order – 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 4.
Upon a sending the media again from the Trimmer, the same audio now populates the last four tracks.
The Timeline
When used first time, Cut Audio opens with four stereo tracks and one voice over track. Each track has icons to control its audio, the control and editing icons are arranged horizontally above the timeline.
| Icon | Action | Shortcut |
| Create a new project | Ctrl + Alt +N | |
| Enable / disable Snap | Ctrl + P (disabled) | |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z | |
| Redo | Ctrl + Y | |
| Make a cut (split) on the current frame | C | |
| Delete selected clips | Delete | |
| Enable/disable ripple mode |
Insert (disabled) |
Zoom
Use the dedicated zoom controls to zoom the timeline in and out. Alternatively, use the mouse wheel or Keyboard shortcuts - / +
Segments
Content on the timeline is displayed as segments, aka clips. When adding an asset, it is considered one clip. An active click has a blue border.
In the image below there are two clips. The upper one is "as dragged", one clip. The lower one has been split into three clips.
Actions are performed only on selected clips.
Click on a clip to select it. To select multiple clips, hold Ctrl and click on multiple clips.
Alternately, hold Ctrl + drag and drop to use the lasso tool for a free-hand selection of clips.
Duplicate a clip or group of clips by selecting, hold Ctrl + drag and drop the clip. You can duplicate to other tracks as well.
Cut (Split)
To make a Cut (split) on a clip, use the dedicated cut icon, or keyboard shortcut C.
NOTE: you can only make Cuts on a selected clip.
Ungrouping/ Grouping
By default, a stereo pair of a clip are grouped together.
You can ungroup via contextual menu (see below) and group any combination of clips by holding the CTRL key while clicking the desired clips and then selecting group from the contextual menu.
Right-Click Contextual Menu
Preform additional actions on a clip by using the right-click context menu,
Context Menu Options
| Action | Description | Shortcut |
| Copy | Copy the In and Out selection, if exists. If no selection exists on the timeline, the selected clip will be copied. | Ctrl + C |
| Cut | Cut the In and Out selection, if exists. If no selection exists on the timeline, the selected clip will be cut. | Ctrl + X |
| Paste | Paste the In and Out selection, if exists. If no selections exist on the timeline, the selected clip will be pasted | Ctrl + V |
| Delete | Delete the selected clip | Delete |
| Group | Group together all selected clips | Ctrl + G |
| Ungroup | Ungroup all selected clips | Ctrl + Shift + G |
| Ungroup all | Ungroup all clips | |
| Effects | Add a preset effect from the list. See Transitions and Effects for more information |
Note: clear a selection with the shortcut Backspace
Note: When you right-click right on the volume line, another contextual menu opens. More info in Editing Audio On the Timeline.
Editing Audio On the Timeline
The white line on the audio clip is the volume effect envelope.
Drag and drop the envelope line to control the volume of the clip.
Lower volume in stereo audio clip:
You can edit the volume envelope to create gradual changed in the audio level of a clip.
This is how you create Fade Ins and Fade Outs.
Right click on a spot on the envelope line.
Add point – add a point to the audio envelope. This point can then be dragged and dropped to adjust the level.
Fade In – create an audio fade in to this point
Fade Out – create an audio fade out from this point
Restore default – resent entire envelope to the default value
Right click on a point to open the point context menu.
Remove Point – delete this point
Modify – enter a new numerical value to change the volume value of this point
Restore default – resent entire envelope to the default value
Audio Preview Routing
Audio tracks and the VO track have individually an option for audio preview routing.
According to the setting, audio will be played from the left, the right, or both directions.
This applies to both stereo and mono tracks.
This does not apply for audio render routing. See Save\Export for more information on audio render routing.
Click on the icon to change the preview play mode. Click again to change again.
| Icon | Routing |
| Play on both sides | |
| Play only Left | |
| Play only Right |
Muting/Unmuting a Track
In the desired track, click the speaker icon, to the right of the tracks's VU meter. To unmute, click again.
3/4 Point Editing
3 Point Editing: Send In/Out Trimmer selection to Playhead in Timeline
You have to be in advanced editing mode for this to work. This mode is accessible only via the keyboard shortcut "P" (or whatever you defined in the settings).
There are two ways of using 3 point editing.
Positioning the Playhead and sending Trimmer selection
Position the playhead at a desired position (1).
Open an asset in Trimmer and make an in (2)/out (3) selection or use the entire clip.
Press the "P" key on the keyboard (4).
A window will appear, asking to insert the in point at the position of the playhead or the out point (5). Decide and click OK.
Accordingly the content will appear up to the playhead (out point) or start from the playhead (in point)
4 Point Editing: Making a Selection first in the Timeline
Make a selection in the timeline (1)(2).
Open an asset in Trimmer and make an in (3)/out (4) selection or use the entire clip.
Press the "P" key on the keyboard (5).
Select one of the four options (6), click OK and take notice of the fine detail in the screenshots.
| Send to selection - ignore target selection out | |
| Send to selection - ignore target selection in | |
| Send to selection - ignore source selection in | |
| Send to selection - ignore source selection out |
Voiceover Recording (VO)
Record Voiceover audio is possible using the dedicated VO track at the bottom of the timeline.
Make sure to connect a microphone to the computer and click the record icon.
The recording can be done either by:
- Clicking the microphone icon
- Clicking the record button icon
- Pressing f4
Allow the browser access to that device.
If the web browser already has the authorisation, just click on the round Record icon (shortcut F4) in the play control area or, equally click the microphone icon of the VO track.
While recording, the record/ microphone icon is red and you can see the VO waveform grow during the recording.
Click the icons/f4 again to stop.
Mono or stereo VO is determined by the project setting, as seen above.
Voiceover Settings
Click the settings icon on the right side of the app and in the Audio>Ducking section.
Ducking will reduce the loudness of the audio of all tracks above the recording of the voice over, according to the settings ducking level (in db), ducking fade in/out.
The Audio Panel
Audio levels can also be controlled in the same manner as effects. Select a clip on the timeline.
Note that both audio tracks and VO track contain audio. Click on the Audio button on the left-hand side. This will open the Audio effects menu.
|
(1) Toggle volume control (2) Reset to 0 db (3) Volume slider (4) For VO track containing audio, when active: Apply Ducking (5) Select the audio tracks to be ducked (6) Enable/Disable speed control and related settings |
Enable or disable the volume control slider, and drag and drop the handle to set the volume level. Click on the db number to enter an exact value.
Click on the Reset button to reset the level to the default 0 db setting.
Use the Mute checkbox to silence the clip.
To enable ducking and choosing the ducked tracks, follow step 5 of the table above.
Audio Effects
Some effects, such as Fade in-Out, can be accessed via the contextual menu, when clicking right on the volume line.
Cut Audio offers several transitions by default. More will be added in the future.
| Transition | Type | Result |
| Crossfade | Linear | In this situation you have identical and time-aligned (ie. fully coherent) material on both sides of the cut, so at the middle of the crossfade the level of each half has to be -6dB to ensure that the summation of the two identical halves is the same level as the original, increasing/decreasing linearly pro rata either side of the centre of the crossfade. |
| Logarithmic |
The logarithmic fade sounds consistent and smooth since the perceived volume is increased over the whole duration of the fade. This makes this curve very handy for fading standard pieces of music. It is best used on a long fade-out since the fade has a perceived linear nature. 2 cross lines, the volume will increase and decrease in both clips respectively Although fades commonly start or end at silence (fade-in and fade-out respectively), a fade is simply a transition from one amplitude level to another. The Adjustable Fade effect allows fading from any arbitrary level to any other level. This is the most simple type of fade where the level rises or falls at a constant rate. The "shape" of a fade is commonly described in terms that suggest the appearance of a constant level signal that has had the effect applied to it. |
|
| Sinus | A raised sine curve (or cosine curve) is based on the shape of a sine wave. This fade type is often used for fading out music as it produces a smoother, more musical sounding fade out than a linear fade. It is also sometimes used as an alternative to the Equal Power Fade for crossfading as it avoids the possibility of the peak level increasing during the crossfade (Like linear fades, it produces an "Equal Gain" crossfade). |
Apply a Transition Audio
Open the transition section on the right bar.
Open the Audio Section>Crossfade.
Pull the desired crossfade icon between two adjacent audio tracks. You can grip the side handles to change the duration.
The transition will be indicated by a miniature representation.
To modify a transition in, right click when the mouse is right on it and select Modify Transition.
Provide a new duration and press Enter.
Alternatively, change the transition by pulling the right or left border sideways.
To delete a transition in, right click when the mouse is right on it and select Delete Transition.
Adding Tracks
You can have one VO track and up to 16 audio tracks. By default there are 8 mono or 4 stereo tracks, when creating a new project. The initial appearance of Cut Audio is four stereo channels and one VO channel.
There is also the option to add a text track.
Deleting a Track
From the left track control side, select Delete from the contextual menu.
You cannot delete the VO track.
Save As
Use the Save As button to save a project to Dalet Flex.
In Flex MAM the project is available for further actions, such as rendering and distribution.
Cut Audio Settings
Click the settings icon on the side pane.
General
Set the default transition time and define the auto-save interval.
Audio
Ducking: set the ducking level and fade in/out times
Auto-Trim: set the silence level that will trim silence when applied.
Captions
Set the font and size for text clips.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Cut Audio has a variety of keyboard shortcuts for a quick and efficient editing experience.
Click the settings icon and in the preferences window, the keyboard Shortcuts section.
Open the Keyboard shortcut section, scroll to/search for the desired action, click and press the new key combination.
Default Keyboard Shortcuts
General / Preview / Selection
| Action | Shortcut |
| New Project | Ctrl + Alt + N |
| Save | Ctrl + S |
| Jump to Start / End of media | Home / End |
| Jump one frame backward / forward | Right / Left arrows |
| Play / Pause | Space |
| Play Backwards up to X4 speed (press again to increase) | J |
| Pause | K |
| Play Forward up to X4 speed (press again to increase) | L |
| Set IN / OUT selection | I / O |
| Play selection in loop | F7 |
| Reset Selection | Backspace |
Trimmer
| Action | Shortcut |
| Zoom In / Out | + / - |
| Send the Audio selection from the Trimmer to the Timeline | S |
| Send the Audio selection only from the Trimmer to the Timeline | A |
| Send Audio selection from the Trimmer to an In-Out selection on the Timeline | Shift-S |
| Send selection to replace marked clip in timeline | R |
| Export the selection to a MediaBin | Shift + C |
Timeline (Storyboard / Advanced)
| Action | Shortcut |
| Toggle Ripple Mode | Inset (Ins) |
| Toggle Snap Mode | Ctrl + P |
| Zoom In / Out | + / - |
| Delete Selected Clip | Delete |
| Cut (split) | C |
| Copy | Ctrl + C |
| Paste | Ctrl + V |
| Cut | Ctrl + X |
| Group | Ctrl + G |
| Ungroup | Ctrl + Shift + G |
| Open CG panel | Shift + C |
| Record Voice Over | F4 |
Mouse Shortcuts
In order to avoid unwanted mouse actions during editing, you can set a modifier key to accompany some mouse actions.
Trimmer
Set the Trimmer track layout to mono, if you wish. Then all audio sources are separated a mono track each. The default mode is: According to imported media.
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