[QLab] How to simple fades and crossfades

[asco...@gmail.com]

Hi everyone. I am currently using qlab for a project, and I am having
a lot of trouble creating fades and crossfades. I'm not sure how to
use the levels and stuff. Please can someone help me and tell me how
to use the fades? I am brand new to sound design. Thank you!

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[*]

Thanks to Jason Knox, there are some very useful video tutorials I'd
suggest you watch to get up & running asap.

You can see them all here...

http://figure53.com/qlab/tutorials/

In the meantime,

If you want to fade in from nothing,
The audio cues levels should all be @ nothing.
The following fade cue (you need to drag the audio cue on top of it to
assign it) sets the levels. Just make sure you don't click on STOP AUDIO
at the end of the fade or your audio will discontinue.

For a fade out,
you set up starting level via the audio cue's levels
The following fade cue levels should be set to nothing or whatever lower
or higher level you want by the end of the fade.
Again you have to assign (drag over) the audio cue to the fade before it
will work.

In order to cross fade, it's a matter of linking these sorts of audio/fade
cues in whatever sequence you need to get the desired result.

Pretty much IF you can picture it in your head you can do it via the
available cues.

The other things that might be handy to know:

AUTO CONTINUE & AUTO FOLLOW. These features (arrows with or without a
circle at the tail) to the right of each cue decides if a cue waits X
amount of time or if it goes when the previous cue is complete.

Read up about these in HELP & make sure you understand which one does what.

In addition to DURATION, you also have a PRE WAIT & POST WAIT box for each
cue. These allow you to control things in very complex ways. Read up about
them too.

Feel free to write back with questions once you've had a little success
with a simple fade up & down.

If you are fading something out completely, you should check the STOP
AUDIO CUE (not sure what it's really called but it's a box in you fade cue
properties) so that the audio quits playing when the fade it done.
Otherwise it will just play with it's level @ nothing.

Go into SYSTEM PROPERTIES before you get too far & turn off GUARANTEED
SYNC. You probably don't need it & it can cause problems some times.
Change this under workspace properties too. If you've already dropped a
bunch of cues into your workspace / cue list, you can go thru & unclick
the SYNC option manually.

Welcome to the world of Qlab.

I don't have a Mac / Qlab rig in front of me so all of my descriptions are
based on memory & might be a little off regarding exact wording :)

My apologies in advance.

Best Regards,

*

[Jason Knox]

Thanks for the kind words regarding the tutorials.  The hope has always been that they'll be helpful to new users.

Coincidentally there should be a new tutorial posted any day now that deals specifically with Fade and Group Cues.

Jason

[alex scordato]

What exactly are the audio cue levels? I have the fade specifically assigned to a cue, and I have moved around the bars and the circles in the levels tab, but nothing seems to be working when I actually play the cue. What am I doing wrong?

[*]

Alex,

A few questions.

Do you hear your audio files at all?
Do you have RED X's on the right side of all of your cues?

If all you cues play fine & this is just a matter of fades don't work,

I bet 30 minutes with Jason's video will resolve the missing information.

If no audio works (I bet it does) then you might need to go to workspace
properties & assign an audio output. Drag a noodle across from Qlab
outputs to "built in" sound / audio.

I could spend the next 8 hours guessing what you're doing on your end but
I have to go to sleep now:)

Between the manual (online & included inside Qlab) & the tutorials, you
should be able to figure it out.

If not, proof that there needs to be more simple explanations for new
comers. Some times it's hard to remember what it was like to not have
Qlab:)

Let us know how you make out. I Check email again tomorrow late morning.

Best Regards,

*

P.S. For every cue, there is a tab (if you have the properties option on)
that shows you the wave file, settings, levels, etc...

That is where you set your levels.

For a fade cue, you have different options but still in the same place.

Don't give up!!!

On Sat, July 31, 2010 11:43 pm, alex scordato wrote:
> What exactly are the audio cue levels? I have the fade specifically
> assigned
> to a cue, and I have moved around the bars and the circles in the levels
> tab, but nothing seems to be working when I actually play the cue. What am
> I
> doing wrong?

[alex scordato]

*

Yes, I do hear the files up until the fade. Then the file that the fade is attached just ends, then the fade plays itself, and then it keeps going. The fade isn't connecting to the sound file, even though I have specified which cue it is attached too. Which video should I watch of Jason's?

[Charles Coes]

I'd start at the beginning of the videos and jump ahead as you can.

Remember that unless you have auto follow (not auto continue) enabled for a cue, you have to manually take the fade (press space again) before it will take effect.

Charles Coes
cco...@gmail.com 
www.charlescoes.com
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." - Buckminster Fuller

[alex scordato]

Hey so I figured out how to fade. Now my problem is, for some reason the Inspector tabs are all grey and I can't click on anything in them. I'm not really sure how that happened, because I was using them a second ago. But it won't let me put waits in or change the levels of the fades or click on auto-continue/auto-follow etc. What am doing wrong?

[John Leonard]

I think you've inadvertently locked the show. Check the little padlock in the upper right-hand corner of the Qlab screen. Is it locked or unlocked? If locked, click to unlock and all should be well.

Regards,

John

On 1 Aug 2010, at 14:19, alex scordato wrote:

> But it won't let me put waits in or change the levels of the fades or click on auto-continue/auto-follow etc. What am doing wrong?

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