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titles and CD text information then click the Burn Audio To CD button. This is not a graphical layout, so you can’t do any level adjustments, plug-in additions or cross-fades. However, the CD Layout format can work with marked subsets of audio files, allowing you to use only those portions of a track that are suitable for burning. I found that using the multitrack layout to string together a CD, using CD track markers to set the track locations, then moving the whole works into a CD Layout for burning worked very well for creating both music CDs and audio archives. This is a welcome addition to the software, and one that will soothe the nerves of engineers looking for a way to quickly lay out and burn CD content. Auto speech alignment A function that will save the day during audio-video sync sessions is the new Automatic Speech Alignment function. This will take one speech-based audio track and use it to lock in a second recording. This will work either for voiceover matching, or to align a track that was recorded through other means. I’ve tried this function in some video software (notably Final Cut Pro X), but have not gotten satisfactory results. Audition’s system worked flawlessly. I recorded some presentation video, while also recording the audio with my TASCAM DR-7 portable recorder. The TASCAM had much better audio than the camera’s content, so I decided to use the Audition system to sync the DR-7’s audio with the original video. Selecting the two audio tracks (the camera’s and the TASCAM’s), setting the camera track to be the reference track and then hitting “apply” gave me a perfect sync in about 10 seconds. See Figures 3a and 3b. This system does more than a straight start-point alignment; it will move and stretch the audio as necessary to make the target audio match the reference audio, making it perfect for speech replacement as well as straight recording sync. In my case, my audio files were much longer than the video, since I started the recorder long before, and ended it long after, the video recording. The file analysis also properly shifted the audio track start- and end-points to match up before beginning its time shifts, meaning that things were appropriately aligned and not overly effected. Other additions There are many other features as well: support for new audio formats, a built-in
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RECORDING September 2012

metronome (yeah!), some new effects (including an interesting Graphic Phase Shift tool) and a media browser that simplifies file access across enormous file systems. But perhaps the most significant improvement to Audition is the overall sense of smoothness that the interface provides. As Audition is maturing, it is becoming easier to navigate through difficult tasks while embracing comfortable user-interface standards. Conclusion As you can see, Adobe Audition CS6 is a series of additions and refinements that make the whole package better without introducing a lot of complexity into the interface. The new editing functions are seamlessly integrated into the already-efficient workflow, and the addition of CD burning and video post functions mean
3a

that it can cover more of the work that you might need to accomplish. I’ve been using Audition for my own editing purposes, and have found it to be a fantastic tool for both waveform editing and multitrack compositing. I’ve also been using it to teach audio to students at the university level; the spectral options help visualize concepts that are otherwise hard to understand. Now that I can manipulate pitch and time with even less strain, I’m finding that there are very few situations where Audition CS6 does not fulfill my editing-focused workflow. Price: $349 (on its own; also available as part of larger Adobe bundles) More from: Adobe, www.adobe.com Darwin Grosse (grosse@recording mag.com) is a musician, producer, composer, engineer, and thinker of new thoughts, living and working in the Colorado Rockies.

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http://www.adobe.com
Recording - September 2012

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