Can't Achieve Smooth Audio Fades

The sharp 'drop off' on the volume overlay is like that for a reason, it's to do with how the human ear perceives volume. We are much more sensitive to volume changes in the higher dB range, therefore at lower dB, the volume change is logarithmically exagerated in order to achieve 'smooth' fade-outs as we humans perceive it.

I can't remember the exact dB equation, but it's something like : a change from 0dB to -6dB has the same 'perceived' volume change as -18dB to -30dB (these figures are wrong, I'm just using them to explain this).

This isn't a final cut 'thing' , the volume overlay is drawn/calculated like this to compensate for how we hear changes in volume.

However... If you really do want to have a more 'even' looking line, you can zoom right in to the timeline and add more keyframes using the pen tool to smooth out that sharp 'drop' off the end of the line.

Or... Send the audio to Soundtrack pro and you have an array of audio fade options.

Remember, when mixing audio go by what you hear, not what you see.

Final Cut Pro presents the user with an accurate visual indication of the logarithmic nature of an audio fade.

Audio levels never increase or decrease in a linear fashion and you are not seeing what you think you are seeing.

Some editing packages, such as Premiere dumb this down and present the visual information as a linear change. In the real world, sound does not work like that.

That said, you can apply a fake linear fade by using the *Crossfade +3dB* audio transition in FCP. It adds an equal power ramp to the volume level to maintain a constant change. I think it sounds unnatural, but maybe you will like it.

I'd like to resurrect this topic, as a solution really wasn't found.

I am looking for an audio-fade-out that is PERCEIVED as a smooth fade all the way to silence.

I am aware the the CROSSFADE+0dB and CROSSFADE+3dB audio transitions technically provide two "correct" solutions (constant power? and constant amplitude?, I believe) but there's no getting away from it: when using those transitions to fade-to-silence, they SOUND like "too-little-fade at the beginning", and then "too-much-fade at the end", giving an abrupt attenuation at in the last couple of seconds, as the music suddenly drops away too quickly.

Anyone know of any FCP audio plug-ins that might be better? Or techniques that might help to do this manually? I am tired of key-framing audio levels as a work-around! (That's not very precise, either.)

Thanks.

Hello moobile

Are you familiar with use of the 'Pen Tool' to adjust your fades?

I realize this method is strickly a 'manual approach', but I use it all the time when I'm not happy with the preset fades.

After you've responded to this, perhaps I can provide more.

Mike

ENIGMACODE wrote:
Hello moobile

Are you familiar with use of the 'Pen Tool' to adjust your fades?

HI Mike: yes, thanks: that's what I meant by "key-framing audio levels" - using the Pen Tool (alt-mouse-click) to set a number of key frames on the audio level, and adjusting the levels manually.

Hello again

And so you've tried both methods of audio fade? Both the manual Pen Tool placing dots every so often as you go along, dropping/dragging the level down further and further and also the fade presets? Still not getting the desired effect?

And so you've tried both methods of audio fade?

Yes:

Both the manual Pen Tool placing dots every so often as you go along, dropping/dragging the level down further and further and ....

Yes: works, but (very) time-consuming and imprecise, and not repeatable.

......also the fade presets?

Yes. Both Crossfade+0dB and Crossfade+3dB

Still not getting the desired effect?

Not with those presets - they roll off too slowly at the beginning, and too quickly at the end.

I know it can be done, as colleagues (with other NLEs) get a perceived fade much closer to what I want. I believe it just need to drop MORE QUICKLY than the presets do at the beginning, and MORE SLOWLY than the presets do at the end.

Hence my hope for an audio FCP plug-in - but actually I can find very few audio plug-ins for FCP at all. 😟

And of course you've also tried extending the presets, (streching them), to a much longer fade.

I agree, this is one plug in that I've haven't found either. And Soundtrack Pro also provides the same type of engineering for their fades as well.

FYI, don't know if it's applicable/uselful for you; you can actually duplicate your manual fades that you've placed at the end of one piece for another. Again this may be useful especially if the next piece is totally different?

Mike