ACID Specifics


One of the greatest attributes of ACID is the interface, which is quick to learn and very easy to master. It’s a great choice for game development, especially for individuals with graphics or programming experience who have been given the task of developing music for their game. For those with a music background, ACID becomes another extremely powerful tool in their arsenal of choices. For those without any music background, Sony offers royalty-free loops that you can use to create your music.

The Interface

To begin, let’s look at the screen and identify the various elements that make up the ACID window, which can be seen in Figure 11.11. At the top of the window you will see the familiar Windows title and menu bars. Below that is a toolbar that gives you quick access to the most commonly used commands. These tools can be used to edit, play back, and save your composition. We’ll look at these tools in more depth later in this chapter.

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Figure 11.11: The interface offers standard Windows menu bars.

Again looking at Figure 11.11, you can see three main areas that the rest of the screen has been divided into. First, in the upper-left portion of the screen, you can see the ACID Track List. To its right, you will find the Track View, and at the bottom, you will see the Multi-Function area. The Multi-Function area contains the Media Explorer and Properties windows (ACID Pro contains additional windows, but we won’t cover them here). Finally, along the bottom of the window you will see the status bar, which displays useful information such as available system memory. Figure 11.12 displays the interface with labels so that it’s easier to see the different areas of ACID’s interface.

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Figure 11.12: The interface with labels.

Altering the Interface

You can resize the main windows that make up the interface. For instance, you could lengthen the Track List, Track View, or Multi-Function sections. To try this, you can place your mouse over a border between the Track List and Multi-Function sections and then click and drag to the top. You will see the windows change. When you wish to stop, simply end the click. Once you have the windows the way you like them, ACID will automatically remember the settings every time you open it.

The Media Explorer

The Media Explorer is very much like the standard Windows Explorer that you are probably already familiar with. On the left is a directory view of the drives on your computer and drives on the network if you are connected to a network. When you click on a drive or a folder in a drive, you will see the contents displayed on the right. Click on the plus (+) to the right of the C: drive icon to display the contents of your computer hard drive. You can see an example of this in Figure 11.13.

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Figure 11.13: The Media Explorer works similarly to Windows Explorer.

You use the Media Explorer to locate and find tracks that you would like to add to your project. Once they are located, you can simply double-click them or drag them to the Track View or Track List.

The Track View

The Track View is used to compile the project. By “drawing” the tracks in the Track View, you are able to compose a track. Figure 11.14 contains a labeled drawing for the Track View window.

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Figure 11.14: The Track View is the space where you will draw events on each track.

Beat Ruler

The Beat Ruler is displayed along the top of the Track View and allows you to place events in reference to the musical time of bars and beats. The timeline has a fixed length and will not change when you alter the tempo. In Figure 11.15, the 1.1 represents beat one of measure one, and each ruler mark represents one beat.


Figure 11.15: Close-up of the Beat Ruler.

Time Ruler

The Time Ruler (Figure 11.16) is displayed along the bottom of the Track View. To change the format of the display, right-click on the timeline and choose an option from the shortcut menu. This timeline will change with tempo because the number of bars and beats per second of real time will change with tempo.


Figure 11.16: Right-clicking the Time Ruler changes the format.

Scrollbars

The horizontal scrollbar is displayed below the Time Ruler. Click and drag the scrollbar to pan left or right through the project. The scrollbar also functions as a zoom control. Click and drag the edges of the scrollbar to zoom in and out, or double-click the scrollbar to zoom out so that the entire length of the project will be displayed.

The vertical scrollbar is displayed on the right side of Track View. Click and drag the scrollbar to pan up and down through the project. Double-click the scrollbar to zoom out the project so that as many tracks as possible will be displayed.

Zoom Controls

The magnifying glass icons displayed at the ends of the scrollbar allow you to change the magnification level of your ACID project. The large icon, seen in Figure 11.17, increases the track height zoom level; the smaller icon decreases the level. You can also display a zoom tool by clicking on the box located between the sets of zoom tools.


Figure 11.17: The zoom controls give you control over the entire area.

Track List

The Track List contains the master controls for each track. From here you can adjust the volume, mute the track, and reorder tracks. You can see a sample of the Track List in Figure 11.18.


Figure 11.18: The Track List gives you control over each of the tracks.

There are a few areas within the Track List that we should look at further. The Volume and Pan drop-down control, which can be seen in Figure 11.19, is very useful. It allows you to alter the volume and the pan of a track. By selecting Volume from the list, you can determine how loud a track is in the mix. A value of 0 dB means that the track is played with no boost or cut from ACID. Clicking and dragging the fader (which is directly to the right of the drop-down) to the left decreases the volume, and clicking and dragging to the right boosts the volume.


Figure 11.19: The volume controls how loud a track is in a mix.

Pan controls the position of a track in a stereo field. Clicking and dragging the fader to the left will place the track in the left speaker more than the right, while moving the fader to the right will place the track in the right speaker.

Another thing that the Track List is used for is the placement of tracks. They can be moved around to create logical groupings at any time during a project’s creation. To do so, you click on its icon in the Track List and drag it to a new location. While you are dragging it, a new location is indicated by a highlighted line separating the tracks, a sample of which can be seen in Figure 11.20. You can move multiple tracks by using Shift or Control to highlight them before dragging.

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Figure 11.20: The highlighted line indicates the new position for a track.

Lastly, you can rename a track using the Track List by right-clicking the track label and choose Rename from the shortcut menu (you can also double-click the track label). Renaming a track applies to the project only and does not change the file associated with a track. Figure 11.21 shows a track being renamed.

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Figure 11.21: The track is being renamed within the project.

Properties Tab

The Properties tab, which is located at the bottom of the ACID window and can be seen in Figure 11.22, contains options to modify the behavior of whole tracks or events on a track. From this tab, you can ACIDize files, modify a track’s stretching properties, or edit the start point and pitch of a specific event.

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Figure 11.22: The Properties tab offers several options to modify behaviors.

ACIDizing a file involves adding extra information that is ACID specific to the audio file. This is information such as stretching properties, root note, and number of beats or tempo of the file. This information is then used by ACID to time-stretch and pitch-shift the file for you automatically when you open it. You can alter a file and then save it, or you can simply save the ACID-specific information for a given project.

To adjust the properties that are saved when a file is ACIDized, you also use the Properties tab. Figure 11.23 displays the track properties that determine how a file behaves in ACID.


Figure 11.23: The Properties tab is one of the most powerful features offered in ACID.




Awesome 3d Game Development(c) No Programming Required
Awesome 3d Game Development: No Programming Required (Charles River Media Game Development)
ISBN: 1584503254
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 168

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