MSP7: Audio track control points behave oddly IMHO

[Karlos]

I've been meaning to post about this for a while. A pet peeve, and hopefully it is because I don't know what I'm doing!

In MSP7, if you insert audio control points in an audio track to adjust the volume of certain sections - decreasing volume in one specific area, or bleeping a word or two, for example - it just seems logical that those control points should be relative to the audio stream, not the timeline.

But, if I edit the clip (linked video/audio - not split) and change the length - the mark-in value, the audio curve that I carefully created to align with my dialog stays at the absolute time position while the audio track content slides either left or right. (Put another way: the control points stay relative to the mark-in point, rather than to the beginning of the clip which would lock them to the waveform.) So, I have to tediously find every single sound position again and move every single control point.

Suppose I have a 10 second clip and decrease the volume 6 seconds into it with a mark-in at 2 seconds and a mark-out at 9 seconds (7 seconds of video/sound). It seems that the control point should be defined as start of clip +6 seconds. Instead, it seems to be defined as mark-in +4 seconds. Now, if I edit the clip and change the mark-in to 1 second in, then I still want my audio tage at +6 seconds from the start ... which would be +5 seconds relative to the new mark-in. If MSP is storing the time relative to the mark-in for the control points, as it seems, then all they have to do is to adjust all control points when the mark-in is changed, adding the mark-in delta to each control point to keep everything synchronized.

Am I missing something obvious? Is there some way to tell the sound level control points to lock themselves relative to the entire clip and not the mark-in position so that you can adjust the clip and keep the sound curve properly attached/synchronized?

Thanks,
Karl

[Devil]

I don't think you are missing anything obvious other than the fact that the dvp file is based on the timeline and the timeline alone, whether it be audio or video. Suggestion, adjust volumes after all the other editing.

[Karlos]

Bummer. Thanks, Devil. Fixing at the end works for a single project as a workaround. (But of course if you copy the track into another project, or use it in multiple projects, you're stuck having to edit each time ... or else render out an edited version for subsequent use.)

Since you've been a beta tester for MSP8 ... do you know if the behavior that I wish for is on the MSP wish list or even radar screen?

Do you know if Premiere or Final Cut do it "right"?

Thanks!
Karl

[Devil]

Not to my knowledge. AFAIK, this is the first time the issue has been raised, although I may be wrong. With MSP8, it would be easier to create a sub-file for insertion in other projects from a sub-time line.

I have no experience with the other software. Terry is the Premiere expert and isn't Final Cut from the unmentionable OS stable?