3 Steps to mastering the ACID Pro Chopper window
by Gary Rebholz
As with all Sony Creative Software applications, there are many different ways to approach editing in ACID Pro and ACID Music Studio. One tool that might be underutilized in your workflow is the Chopper window. In this article, we'll look at the Chopper and give you an idea of how you might use it in your next project.
The Chopper basically enables you to do what it sounds like it enables you to do: namely, chop up audio files into pieces and add those pieces to your project. Any tasks you can perform in the Chopper can be done in other ways, but there are times when the Chopper might give you a more flexible, efficient, and creative workflow. Follow these steps to start using this powerful tool.
Step 1: Adding a file to the Chopper
This is a rather obvious step because you won't get far if you don't first add a file to the Chopper window! To add a file, the file must first appear on a track in your project. So, add a loop to a new track in your project. In your main timeline, place the cursor where you want to insert the first piece of the file from the Chopper.
Right-click the event in your timeline that holds the file you want to open in the Chopper and choose Select in Chopper from the menu.
Step 2: Selecting a portion of the file
The file now appears in the Chopper with all of its contents selected. Notice that the main timeline contains a solid (but empty) box with a thin arrow over the top of it. The box corresponds to the amount of space the event will take when you add it to your project from the Chopper. The Arrow represents the amount of time down the timeline the project cursor will move after you add the file piece. Right now the box length matches the arrow length, but this isn’t always the case.
If you don't want to add the entire file to your project, select just the portion of the file you want in the Chopper. You can use the transport buttons at the bottom of the Chopper to audition the selection you make.
You can make your selections as small as you want them. There are also a few handy selection buttons that can easily adjust the selection. To see how these work, select the entire file in the Chopper window if it's not still selected. Now, click the Halve Selection button to cut the length of the selected area in half. Click it again so that now your selection is only a quarter of the file.
Click the Double Selection button to make the selection twice as long again. Notice that as you adjust the length of the selection in the Chopper, the length of the box in your main timeline adjusts correspondingly. This box always shows you how long the event will be if you add the file using the current selection in the Chopper.
You can also shift your selection back and forth within the Chopper window. This enables you to easily maintain the length of your selection while choosing other portions of your file. To see this, select a short section of the audio in the Chopper. Then click the Shift Selection Left and Click Selection Right buttons to move the selection to different portions of your file.
Step 3: Adding the file piece to your project
Now that you've selected the portion of the file you want to add to your project, let's add it. There are a few different ways to add the file from the Chopper. The most direct way is to drag the selected area of the file from the Chopper onto your timeline. When you do this, a box appears at your cursor to indicate where the file will be located if you release the mouse button. Position the box where you want the file segment and release the mouse button.
You can also add the file without leaving the Chopper and there are a couple of different tools that enable you to do so. First, if your main project is not playing, click the Insert Selection button. This drops the selected portion of the file into your project at the location indicated by the box in your main timeline. Notice that when you add the file, ACID Pro creates a new event in the timeline and moves the insertion cursor, the insertion indicator box, and the insertion indicator arrow to the end of the newly created event.
In some cases, you might want the events that you create to overlap as you create them. Or you might want to create a predetermined amount of space between the events that you create. If so, click the Link Arrow to Selection button in the Chopper. Now, adjust the selection in the Chopper timeline. Notice that now the arrow does not match the selection. In the timeline, the insertion box and arrow no longer match either. Now click the Insert Selection button again and notice that the event is created according to the length of the Chopper selection, but the insertion arrow in the main timeline is repositioned according to the length of the arrow in the Chopper. Click the Link Arrow to Selection button again to link the two back up.
This method of adding the selection to your project works great when you're project is not playing. However, sometimes, you might want to listen to your project and add the selected portion of the file to the timeline. Of course, ACID Pro gives you a method for doing this. Play your project. As it plays, click the Chopper to make it the active window. Notice that the Play cursor moves through the file, while the edit cursor and the insertion box stay stationary.
To add the selected portion of the file to the project, click the Insert Selection at Play Cursor button. This drops the selected portion into your project at whatever location the play cursor was at when you clicked it. The project continues to play and you can use the same technique to add as many events as you want to your project.
And that's pretty much it. The Chopper is a powerful tool for getting your work done quickly and creatively. Now that you know how to use the basic tools, experiment with it and discover where it can help you in your next project.
For more training resources including archives of all my newsletter tutorial articles, free videos, webinar archives, and more, visit www.sonycreativesoftware.com/training.
Gary Rebholz, is the training manager for Sony Creative Software. Gary produces the popular Seminar Series training packages for Vegas Pro, ACID Pro, and Sound Forge software. He is also co-author of the book Digital Video and Audio Production. Gary has conducted countless hands-on classes in the Sony Creative Software training center, as well as at tradeshows such as the National Association of Broadcasters show.
