Inspector Window

This window allows you to add effect plug-ins to clips, tracks, track groups, and the montage output, import the plug-ins from the Master Section, and make pan and gain settings.

  • To open the Inspector window, open an audio montage and select Tool Windows > Inspector.

Clip/Track/Group/Output

At the top of the Inspector, you can select if you want to display and edit the plug-ins for clips, tracks, track groups, or the montage output in the Inspector window.

Clip Color/Track Color/Group Color

Allows you to specify a color for the waveform of the selected clip, track, or track group.

Select Clip/Select Track/Select Track Group

Allows you to select a clip, track, or track group.

Edit Clip Name/Edit Track Name

Allows you to specify a name for the selected clip or track.

Pane Visibility

Allows you to show or hide panes in the Inspector window.

The following options are available:

  • If you have selected Clip, you can Show Montage Effects, Show Automation/Envelope, and Show Gain.

  • If you have selected Track, you can Show Clean, Show Enhance, Show Montage Effects, and Show Gain.

  • If you have selected Group, you can Show Montage Effects and Show Gain.

  • If you have selected Output, you can Show Montage Effects and Show Gain.

Clean (Only for Tracks)

The Clean pane contains a DeHummer, DeNoiser, and DeEsser to remove unwanted sounds and noises from your audio in real-time.

Fold/Unfold Clean Pane

Folds or unfolds the Clean pane.

Bypass All Effects Displayed Here

Bypasses any effect processing during playback and rendering.

DeHummer

DeHummer allows you to decrease power hum interference that is caused by a bad grounding or unreliable recording equipment. This is done by removing the corresponding frequencies from the audio.

The following parameters are available:

  • Reduction allows you to specify the amount of the hum reduction.

  • Listen allows you to listen to the signal that was removed from the audio material. This allows you to verify that you did remove the correct portions of the audio.

  • 50 Hz and 60 Hz allow you to remove harmonic noise with a fundamental frequency at 50 or 60  Hz. These disturbing frequencies can be caused by electric noise due to badly shielded recording equipment, for example.

DeNoiser

DeNoiser allows you to remove noise from the audio material, for example, ambience sound.

The following parameters are available:

  • Reduction allows you to specify the amount of the noise reduction.

  • Listen allows you to listen to the signal that was removed from the original audio material. This allows you to verify that you did remove the correct portions of the audio.

DeEsser

DeEsser is a compressor that reduces excessive sibilance, primarily for vocal recordings.

For example, you can use it when close proximity microphone placement and equalizing lead to situations where the overall sound is just right, but where unwanted sibilants occur.

When recording a voice, the position of DeEsser in the signal chain is usually after the microphone pre-amp and before a compressor/limiter. This keeps the compressor/limiter from unnecessarily limiting the overall signal dynamics.

The following parameters are available:

  • Reduction allows you to specify the amount of the sibilance reduction.

  • Listen allows you to listen to the signal that was removed from the original audio material. This allows you to verify that you did remove the correct portions of the audio.

  • Character allows you to specify the frequency on which the DeEsser is applied. A low Character setting is generally used for low male voices, for example. Higher Character settings generally apply to higher voices of females or children, for example.

  • The Reduction meter shows how much the DeEsser is working.

Enhance (Only for Tracks)

The Enhance pane contains the Voice Exciter, Reverb, EQ, and Maximizer that allow you to increase the clarity, expression, and deepness of your audio in real-time.

Fold/Unfold Enhance Pane

Folds or unfolds the Enhance pane.

Bypass All Effects Displayed Here

Bypasses any effect processing during playback and rendering.

Voice Exciter

Voice Exciter allows you to add upper harmonics and increase clarity and intelligibility of your voice recordings.

The following parameters are available:

  • Amount allows you to specify the amount of the effect.

  • Clarity allows you to increase the clarity and intelligibility of your voice recording.

Reverb

Reverb allows you to add more room and space to recordings that sound a bit lifeless.

The following parameters are available:

  • Size allows you to specify the room size.

  • Mix allows you to set the level balance between the dry signal and the wet signal.

EQ

The three band EQ allows you to tame or boost the Low, Mid and High frequency ranges. An additional Low Cut filter allows you to cut the low end below 30 Hz for even more clarity.

The EQ bands have the following specifications:

  • Low: low-shelf, frequency 250 Hz, 12 dB/octave

  • Mid: peak, frequency 1500 Hz, Q 1, 12 dB/octave

  • Hi: high-shelf, frequency 5000 Hz, 12 dB/octave

Maximizer

Maximizer allows you to add loudness and punch to your recording while making sure that the signal does not exceed -1 dB. The Optimize dial lets you specify how much compression is applied.

Montage Effects

The Montage Effects pane allows you to add and manage effect plug-ins.

Fold/Unfold Effects Pane

Folds/Unfolds the Effects pane.

Bypass All Effects Displayed Here

Bypasses any effect processing during playback and rendering.

The following options are available on the Menu pop-up menu:

Remove Selected Plug-ins

Removes the selected plug-in from the Montage Effects list.

Remove All Plug-ins

Removes all plug-ins from the Montage Effects list.

Remove Selected Plug-in from Selected Clips

Removes the selected plug-in from the selected clips.

Remove All Plug-ins from Selected Clips

Removes all plug-ins from the selected clips.

Copy

Copies the selected plug-in and its settings to the clipboard.

Copy All

Copies all plug-ins and their settings to the clipboard.

Paste (Insert)

Inserts the plug-in that was copied to the clipboard before the first selected slot. If no slot is selected, the plug-in is inserted at the end of the plug-in list.

Paste (Replace)

Replaces the selected plug-in with the plug-in that was copied to the clipboard. If no slot has been added, a new slot is created.

Paste to Selected Clip

Pastes the plug-in that has been copied to the clipboard to the selected clip.

Close All Windows

Closes all plug-in windows related to this audio montage.

Plug-in Map

Opens the Plug-in Map dialog that displays all plug-ins that are used in the audio montage and the clips, tracks, and track groups that are using them.

Bypass All Plug-ins in the Montage

If this option is activated, all plug-ins of the active audio montage are bypassed during playback.

Plug-in Window Handling

Opens the Plug-in Window Handling dialog where you can set up the appearance of plug-in windows.

Add Effect

Allows you to add an effect.

The following options are available on the toolbar of the Montage Effects pane:

Load Plug-in Chain

Replaces the current plug-ins with a plug-in chain that has been saved on disk. Plug-in chain presets contain the settings you have made in the Montage Effects pane, Clean pane, and Enhance pane.

Save Plug-in Chain

Saves the current plug-in chain as a preset. Plug-in chain presets contain the settings you have made in the Montage Effects pane, Clean pane, and Enhance pane.

Import Master Section Plug-ins

Imports the plug-ins that are loaded in the Master Section. Existing plug-ins are overwritten.

Copy

Copies the selected plug-in and its settings to the clipboard.

Paste

Inserts the plug-in that was copied to the clipboard before the first selected slot. If no slot is selected, the plug-in is inserted at the end of the plug-in list.

Remove Selected Plug-ins

Removes the selected plug-ins from the Montage Effects list. You can Ctrl/Cmd-click the plug-ins to select the plug-ins that you want to remove.

Remove All Plug-ins

Removes all plug-ins from the Montage Effects list.

Effects List

The effects list displays the effect plug-ins of the selected clip, track. track group, or montage output. In the list, you can replace effect plug-ins, change the effect order, and edit the Send Level, Fixed Gain, and Tail of effects.

Channel Processing

Allows you to specify which channel to process. If you select one channel, the other channel is bypassed.

Routing of the Processed Signal (clips only)

Allows you to set the routing of the processed signal for the selected clip. You can control the mix between the dry and the processed signal with an envelope. The following routing options are available:

  • Insert (Standard)

  • Blend Wet into Dry (Send)

  • Parallel Processing

Edit Automation Envelope opens the Envelope tab and selects the automation envelope.

Fixed Gain

If you click the arrow to the left of the plug-in name, you can specify a gain value for the plug-in.

Tail

If you click the arrow to the left of the plug-in name, you can specify the tail value for the plug-in.

Some effects, such as reverb and delay, produce audio tails. This means that the effect sound continues after the clip sound ends. For example, if you add echo to a clip without specifying a tail value, the echo effect is muted as soon as the clip ends. Set the tail length so that the effect is allowed to decay naturally. If you add another plug-in to the clip that also produces a tail, there is no need to set a separate tail value for this plug-in, unless you want the decay to sum up. The overall tail length for the clip is the sum of the tail of each plug-in. The maximum tail setting is 30 seconds.

Effect Name

Click the effect name to open the corresponding effects window. Right-clicking an effect name opens the Plug-ins menu where you can select a new effect.

Latency

If a plug-in has latency, the latency value is displayed next to the plug-in name.

Presets

Allows you to save and restore plug-in presets.

Effect Options

Opens the Plug-ins menu where you can select a new plug-in and remove the plug-in.

Bypass Effect

Bypasses the plug-in during playback and optionally during rendering. The signal is still processed by the plug-in, but is not injected in the audible stream.

Automation/Envelope (only for Clips)

In this section, you can add clip envelopes for parameter automation. You can add clip envelopes for plug-in parameters, volume, pan, and wet/dry.

Fold/Unfold Automation/Envelope Pane

Folds or unfolds the Automation/Envelope pane.

Only Show One Envelope

If this option is activated, only the selected envelope is shown in the montage window.

Reset Selected Envelope

Resets the selected envelope to its default setting.

Remove Selected Envelope

Removes the selected envelope. You cannot remove the Volume/Fades envelope.

Show/Hide Automation Envelope

Allows you to show/hide the automation envelope.

Select the Focused Envelope

Allows you to select the envelope. You can edit the value and position of the selected envelope point in the Value and Position fields below.

Pan Law

Allows you to select the pan law for the pan envelope. The following settings are available:

  • Channel Damp (0 dB/Mute)

  • Constant Power (+3 dB/Mute)

  • Channel Boost (+4.5 dB/Mute)

  • Channel Boost (+6 dB/Mute)

Level/Fade Envelope After or Before Effects

If this option is activated, the level/fade envelope is placed after the clip effect slot instead of before. This is useful when using dynamic processors that alter the level of the clip.

Pan Envelope After or Before Effects

If this option is activated, the pan envelope is placed after the clip effect slot instead of before.

Reset Envelope

Resets the volume/fades envelope to its default setting.

Smoothing

Smoothes the resulting envelope curve angles. This produces more natural envelope curves.

Activate/Deactivate Automation Envelope

Allows you to activate/deactivate the automation slot.

Remove

Removes the automation slot from the list.

Add Automation Envelope

Allows you to add an automation envelope to the list.

Value

Allows you to edit the value of the selected envelope point. The format of this field depends on the selected parameter.

Position

Allows you to edit the horizontal position of the selected envelope point on the timeline.

The format that you have selected when you right-click the time ruler in the montage window is also used as the format in the Position field. That is, Timecode, Clock, Samples, or Bars and Beats.

The options Time Relative to Start of Montage, Time Relative to Start of Clip, and Time Relative to End of Clip allow you to choose whether the position should be measured from the start of the montage, start of the clip, or end of the clip.

Gain

In this section, you can edit Gain and Pan settings for each clip, track, and track group. You can also set the global gain for the montage output.

Fold/Unfold Gain Pane

Folds or unfolds the Gain pane.

Reset Gain to 0 dB

Resets the gain to 0 dB.

Gain

Allows you to set the gain for the effects.

If you select Output at the top of the Inspector window, you can set the global gain for the active audio montage.

Pre/Post Effect (Montage Output only)

Allows you to apply the gain before or after the montage output, depending on the Pre/Post Effect setting. Pre Effects is the default setting.

The Loudness Meta Normalizer can change the global gain to set the audio montage output loudness, for example, to match the EBU R-128 recommendation.

Gain Range

Allows you to increase the slider precision. If the active gain is outside a certain gain range, you cannot select the gain range.

Lock Fader

If this option is activated, you cannot change the fader with the mouse.

Pan Dial (Clip and Track only)

Allows you to set the pan for the clip effects and the track effects.

Reset Pan to Center (Clip and Track only)

Resets the pan to the center position.

Pan Mode (Clip and Track only)

Allows you to select a pan mode different than 0 dB or mute to compensate a dB drop when the signal is panned hard left or right.