Every Region has a fade-in and fade-out. By default, the region fade
+is very short, and serves to de-click the transitions at the start and
+end of the region. By adjusting the regions fade length, a more
+gradual transition can be accomplished.
- Region fades are possible at the beginning and end of all audio - regions. In object mode, a grip appears at the top left and top right of an - audio region when the cursor hovers over it. Placing the cursor over the top - of the grip displays the region fade cursor tip. Click and drag the grip left - or right in the timeline to adjust the length of the fade. +
Region fades are possible at the beginning and end of
+all audio regions. In object mode, a grip appears at the top left and
+top right of an audio region when the cursor hovers over it. Placing
+the cursor over the top of the grip displays the region fade cursor
+tip. Click and drag the grip left or right in the timeline to
+adjust the length of the fade.
- To activate/deactivate or change the shape of the fade, hover the cursor - over the regionfade grip till the cursor tip indicates region fade editing - and context-click to bring up a context menu. In the context menu there is a - list of options for the regionfade. Activate/Deactivate enables - and disables the regionfade. The different types of fades are, - Linear, Slow, - Fast, Symmetric, and - Constant Power. -
-- Crossfades refer to the behavior of a region fade when regions - overlap other regions. Crossfades are regionfades. When one region - overlaps another and there is a regionfade on the top region the fade-out will - be mirrored as a fade-in on the underlying region. The grip for the top region - will allow changing the length and type of the crossfade. +
Crossfades refer to the behavior when you want to make
+a smooth transition (mix) from one audio region to another on the same
+track. Historically, this was done by splicing 2 pieces of analog
+tape together, and this concept was carried forward into digital
+editing. Each track is a sequence of sound files (regions). If
+two regions are butted against each other, there needs to be a method
+to splice them smoothly together. The crossfade allows one region
+to fade smoothly out, while the next region fades smoothly in, like 2
+pieces of tape that have been cut at and angle, and overlapped.
But Ardour uses a more refined "layered" editing model, and
+therefore it is possible for multiple regions to be stacked on a single
+location with arbitrary overlaps between different layers. For
+this reason, crossfades must be implemented differently. We can't
+assume that a crossfade is an entitry that exists between 2 regions;
+instead each region must have its own associated crossfades at each
+end, and the topmost region must always crossfade down to the
+underlying region(s), if any.
+
Ardour solves this problem by putting a crossfade at the beginning
+and end of every region. The fades of the bottom-most region are
+first rendered, and then each region is rendered on top of the one
+below it, with fades at the end of each region providing a crossfade to
+the region(s) beneath it.
+
It is important to understand that region fades are crossfades. When one region has
+another region or multiple regions beneath its fade area, then you will
+hear the topmost region fade-out be mirrored as a fade-in on the
+underlying region(s). The grip for the topmost region will allow
+changing the length and type of the crossfade into the underlying
+region(s). In this way you can create a complicated series of
+crossfades, and then layer another region atop the others, and fade
+into _that_ complicated series. An image here would
+probably help.
+
If a region doesn't have any region(s) under it, then the region is
+crossfaded to silence; for convenience we call this a "fade"
+rather than a crossfade.
+
To activate/deactivate or change the shape of a region's fadein or
+fade-out, hover the cursor over the regionfade grip till the cursor tip
+indicates region fade editing and context-click to bring up a context
+menu. In the context menu there is a list of options for the
+regionfade. Activate/Deactivate enables and
+disables the regionfade.
+
Because each fade is also a crossfade, it has an inverse fade shape
+for the audio beneath the fade. It is important to know how the
+shapes differ, and which are most suitable for various editing tasks.
+
The different types of fades are:
+
Although these fade shapes serve specific purposes, you might find that
+any of the shapes is usable in your situation. The final decision
+is an artistic choice rather than a
These fade curves are developed to provide a range of common uses, and
+are developed with the least possible amount of changes in the "slope"
+of the line. This provides artifact-free crossfades. Some
+DAWs provide complicated fade editors with parametric "spline" controls
+of the fade curves. While it might be interesting to develop a
+fade curve with a faster cutoff, the mathematical difference between
+this and simply shortening the fade is vanishingly small; and the
+amount of effort to shorten the fade is much easier than messing with a
+crossfade editor dialog.