Wot Keys? Hot Keys!
Ready to Explore!

By Michael "Aussie" Holten

It's time to go back to Flying School, and learn your A B C's...
Here Aussie starts a new series exploring the power,
and often hidden-uses,of the OZ-Key alphabet.



G'day Mates,

Included with both Co-Pilot Audio & Co-Pilot Video is "OZ-Keys", a large set of hotkey macro commands that are available at the press of a key. Recently I have found a number of folks who use very few of them, and a couple of folks that never use them at all (One Californian user states "we're too laid back here to use our fingers too!" - I can see that!)

Personally, I see the OZ-Keys as the biggest "ongoing" time-saver, regardless of project. Opening and closing windows just to see an audio volume is too much work... and I dislike doing timecode arithmetic while the computer waits for me to think it through.

In this article, I would like to browse through a few of the hotkeys and explain "when & why" you would use them. I will also point out some hidden features.

Note: We are also sending a free set of added tools (OZ-Keys 2.0 April 98) to users who responded to our "videotape for free disk" deal. We had asked registered users (only) to send us a video that showed any application relating to any of the OZware programs... the overall goal being to cover up my face wherever possible in future video tutorial tapes. A future article will delve into those.

Enjoy, Aussie


First a few OZ-Key basics...

Holding down the Left Amiga Key and then pressing the hotkey triggers all of the OZware hotkeys.
(In these notes we refer to it as LeftA + key.)

You do NOT need to have Co-Pilot running at the time. Here are a few tips relating to the "window requesters":

Since you used the keyboard to trigger the routine, it is often handy to use the keyboard again, to accept or cancel from requesters that we display on the Flyer screen. Pressing the RETURN key is the same as clicking on a "Continue" button. Pressing the ESCAPE key is identical to clicking on a "Cancel" button.

If you are ever typing a word into some requester on the Flyer, you usually need to press the RETURN key at the end of the typing. If you click on a "Continue" button your typing may not be entered. This is the same throughout the Flyer, so it should be a habit.




Audio Information
To remember this hotkey, think of a = audio... or use the catchy, children's rhyme:
"a is for audio info it's true, and Capital A shows us sound fades, too."

In a project... select an audio clip, or a video clip that has sound, then press LeftA + a.
This shows "Audio Information" across the top of the Flyer screen. Pressing this hotkey answers the following questions...

1. What's the audio volume level?
2. Is the video clip a "Split Audio Edit"? (Says "SPLIT" if it is)
3. What audio channels is it using? (Usually "Stereo")
4. Where is it panned left to right? (Usually "Centered")
5. What is the clip's duration/length?
6. Where, in PROGRAM TIME, does the audio track end? (Works for split audio edits too)
If you are more interested in the audio fades instead, press LeftA + SHIFT + A. It adds...
7. What are the audio Fade-in and Fade-out durations?
8. Are the "Auto audio-fades" turned on? (for video clips)


My main uses for this hotkey are:
* to see whether a video clip is a "Split Edit" (i.e. audio/video start & end times are different)
* to compute where an audio clip runs out in "program time"
* and to check an audio clip's length, fade time, or volume.

I especially like this hotkey because it accomplishes many tasks that previously required opening and closing windows, going into fine-tune view, a number of mouse moves, and the always pleasant task of adding timecode numbers (the program start time added to the length to determine the ending in "Program Time"). Instead, an easy key press and nothing more needs be done.

Also see:
v/V - adjust volume down or up
p/P - pan left or right in 20% increments
z -- Find End, which shows the visual crouton where an audio clip runs out
Z -- Force End, forces an audio clip to end (fade out) at a certain spot




"b butts an audio clip to another, and Capital B blends one over the other"
Butt...

Most folks understand the basic idea of 'butt'. Select the second of two audio clips in a row, press the hotkey (LeftA + b) and it will butt the audio clip so that it starts playing immediately after the previous audio clip ends. This is handy for butting together sections of a narration, so that one audio clip follows immediately after the other.

The fastest way to use butt, is to press the hotkey, and when the requester appears telling you what you are about to do, simply press the RETURN key (or ESCAPE key to cancel). This saves time, as it avoids using the mouse at all (and that's at the heart of Co-Pilot, saving your time).

You may not know you can also butt an audio clip to the end of a previous video clip's sound. Place an audio clip after a video clip in your project, then select the audio clip and butt it... the audio now starts instantly after the sound on the video clip ends. This is also designed to work with Split Edits, butting the audio clip to the audio out point of the video clip. So it's very handy around cutaways (visual inserts). Try It.

Note for new 2.0 version... The requester that appears is now a timecode requester instead. This allows you to optionally set a delay (or space) between butted clips. For example, let's say you wanted two narrations to butt, and also add a one-second-pause in-between. The routine also remembers the delay you enter, so it will be there when you next use butt. If the timecode value is set to zero (00:00:00:00), then you butt as normal, just press RETURN.

Blend...

The Blend function (LeftA + SHIFT + B) is similar to butt, but it also overlaps and crossfades the two audio clips. It is handy for performing a crossfade between a couple of music tracks or background sounds. Highlight the second of two audio clips and press LeftA + Shift + B. It will ask for a crossfade length, and then the overlap amount (how soon the second clip starts before the end of the first.)

Let's examine the six potential settings...

Fade time = Overlap Time... (E.g. Fade = 4:00; Overlap = 4:00) If you set the fade length and overlap length to the same value, then you would have a smooth blend; one clip starts to fade out as the other fades in. This is great when you want to carry on a constant sound bed or make the audio transition invisible.

Fade Time > Overlap Time... (E.g. Fade = 4:00; Overlap = 2:00) Having a longer Fade time, and a shorter Overlap time, is handy when you wish to make the audio transition MORE OBVIOUS to the viewer. If the fade time is greater then the overlap time, then your initial sound will start to fade out first, before the second audio clip starts playing. Then the second clip fades in and reaches top volume shortly after the first clip ends. It separates the clips a touch, and the transition is emphasized.

Fade Time < Overlap Time... (E.g. Fade = 2:00, Overlap = 4:00) This can be interesting. If the Fade time is shorter than the Overlap, it will start the second clip fading in, while the first clip plays on, (essentially establishing the new clip into the mix). Then the original sound fades out. The closer the Fade and Overlap times are, the smoother the transition (Fade 5:00, Overlap 6:00). The further apart they are, the more they overlap (Fade 2:00, Overlap 6:00)

Fade Time & Overlap Time = 0... This is a butt!

Overlap Time = 0... (E.g. Fade = 2:00, Overlap = 0:00) Butted with Fades! The first track fades out and then the second starts instantly and fades in. Total separation. But often more useful is a fade time of 2 FRAMES! This gives you a standard butt command, but also fades in and out the two clips quickly, hiding any audio clicks that were bugging you.

Fade Time = 0... (E.g. Fade = 0:00, Overlap = 8:00) A basic, overlap command... a quick way to set the second clip to begin playing a few seconds before the first one ends. An example might be, cueing a narration to start a couple of seconds before the previous music clip ends.

Also see:
l - Links a series of audio clips (a "group butt")
L - Lets you adjust the start time of a linked set of audio clips
r - Room Mix, loops and butts an audio clip to fill a silent hole

Well that's over a thousand words on the first two letters of the OZ-Key alphabet alone. Can you guess what letter we'll start with next time? Have you ever used LeftA + SHIFT + C? Find out this and more in our next adventure in "Wot Keys? Hot Keys!".


Smooth Skies,
Aussie

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