Audition CS6, enfin !

Clip Grouping: The ability to group clips has returned to Audition. Not only did we add the abilities from Audition 3, but Audition CS6 extends that to allow users to make changes to individual clips within a group (with our suspend feature) and make group time-alignment adjustments to real-time stretch settings. Of course you can once again perform other group actions like fade, lock, mute, colorize and trimming of all clips in the group as well. Check out a walk-through of grouping in Colin’s sneak peak video here.

Metronome: Audition CS6 introduces a new Metronome track that acts as a full featured part of the Audition CS6 Multitrack. While it was nice to have an on/off switch for this in Audition 3 and earlier, the new track metronome allows for much more flexibility (similar to a normal audio track) which includes routing the output and muting. We also added the option to change the accent pattern and sound set directly within the Properties panel.

Clip Stretching: The return of clip stretching also brings new options and the ability to perform real-time or rendered stretches using iZotope Radius. We have also implemented a varispeed clip stretching option to allow independent adjustments of time vs pitch. We plan to have a more in-depth post about this feature later, but I suggest taking a peek at the reveal video posted on the Production Premium Reveal page for more details.

Session Templates: This feature has been requested since back in the days of Cool Edit Pro and we have now introduced it in Audition CS6. We allow users to create templates from common Multitrack session layouts and load them when creating a new session. We also have a set of defaults that we ship with to help get you started. Check out Durin’s short demonstration on how to use Session Templates in the video posted here. After watching the video you’ll notice that we didn’t load this up with complicated choices or steps. Templates are easy to create and very simple to use.

Session Export Enhancements: This includes the ability to perform a “save copies of associated files” export to package all files included in the session to a new location. Users can also choose to convert file formats and change sample rate and other file properties before exporting their session and assets. Another great addition is the ability to perform a mixdown of your session with advanced options such as exporting multiple versions in mono, stereo and 5.1. We also allow for the choice to export each track (including buses) as individual files.

Preference to save all files with Sessions: This preference (when enabled) will ensure that when a session file is saved, the session will reference all files within the session AND all files open in the Files panel. This allows users to start working on the construction of a session, save the .sesx file, and come back later to continue adding files from the Files panel directly to the timeline. This will be a huge timesaver for many.

Automatic Speech Alignment: Some of you may remember this from the 2011 Adobe Max Sneak Peak when Brian King demonstrated this as a new research feature called “RubbaDub”. Well, we were able to implement the first version of this technology into Audition CS6 as “Automatic Speech Alignment”. The concept is as follows: Choose two clips that are at relatively the same point in time with relative alignment but which are also out of sync with each other. With the clips selected, choose to perform an Automatic Speech Alignment and choose the reference and unaligned targets. Audition will analyze the files and do it’s best to align the waveforms to sync the two sources. This is another feature we plan to give more in-depth coverage later, but Colin also covers it in his sneak peak video to get you started.

Workflow Enhancements: There are many other new features, changes and improvements that have been made to the Multitrack environment of Audition CS6. Below is a list of other features that were high priority and most requested for this release.

Clip spotting: Use the properties panel to manually enter clip start and end times for precise placement.

Control Surface Support: Mackie MCU, native Avid EUCON, other controller support.

Recordable track automation: Full Write, Touch, Latch support with undo.

Skip Selection: A new play mode found in the transport that allows users to define an area and preview the pre and post roll before making an edit.
Select all clips from playhead to end of track: Shortcut to quickly select all clips in a track starting from the playhead position.

Sum to Mono: Button option for each track to control the output to mono.

Bounce selected track: Bounce an entire track as a new clip.

Reveal clip in files panel: Instantly reveal the source of any clip in your timeline.

Trim to selection: Make a time selection and quickly trim your clips to the selection region.

Send clip to back: Arrange clips on the same track by sending the top clip to the back of the stack.

Preference to play or mute overlapped clips: Choose to either play or mute clips (or sections of a clip) that may be hiding beneath others with this new preference.

Snap volume and pan envelopes at 0dB: New snapping control for volume and pan envelopes to ensure 0dB positional placement.

Drag and drop file marker range to multitrack (as clip): With the new “show markers for
all files” button in the Markers panel, drag and drop marker ranges directly into a session as a new clip.