Make ducking controlled by audio output of VO track
closed
Mikael Sandgren
Have music ducking be controlled by the audio output of the VO track instead of 'visually' controlled (by the presence/absence of a VO clip, whether VO is playing or not)
Kevin from Descript
Hello! Great feedback here. There is a very quick + easy workaround in the timeline for ducking with the script track. Here is a video to walk you through the process: https://share.descript.com/view/TXF72xMnZac
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Support Team
closed
Kevin from Descript
Hello! Great feedback here. There is a very quick + easy workaround in the timeline for ducking with the script track. Here is a video to walk you through the process: https://share.descript.com/view/TXF72xMnZac
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Bill Russell
Kevin from Descript: Thanks, Kevin. I am definitely familiar. My problem is a little different, though. Here's a summary: https://share.descript.com/view/zG9rfDJz9Hv
(I feel like this is what OP Mikael was talking about.)
Kevin from Descript
Bill Russell: thanks Bill! not sure I follow, though. In your video, what do you want to happen when playback hits the early part of that clip? continue reduce the volume of the ambient sound(s) will prioritizing the sounds of the clips in your layer track?
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Bill Russell
Kevin from Descript: Thanks, Kevin... What I want to happen is that no pinned tracks get ducked when it hit the beginning of the clip (which contains a few seconds of non-speech sounds), and instead to have the option to duck only when the actual dialogue comes in.
I hope this link doesn't muddy the waters further... but the main thing is: we often need the audio to duck based on the Script track clip
level
and not where the clip boundary is. B
Bill Russell
I probably said better before:
A toggle to set "clip boundary" or "audio level" as the controlling element
Kevin from Descript
Bill Russell: Got it, thanks! Unfortunately, We don't have a plan to change this specific effect at this time. I'd say for the foreseeable future, moving any ambi sound from the script track to the layers track is your best bet. You can still add the same effects/EQ if needed, and if there is Studio Sound added, it will stay attached to the file. Additionally, in these cases, you could also automate the volume up so the ducking is less prevalent. Sorry we couldn't provide a better answer!
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Bill Russell
Kevin from Descript: Understood. I do appreciate the consideration and follow-up, Kevin.
Andrew Mason
open
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Bill Russell
Andrew Mason: Woohoo! That's awesome news.
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Bill Russell
Currently, the ducking is based on, e.g. whether there's a clip in the script track, versus a gap clip or space. It would be better to have it controlled by the output of the controlling track (usually the Script track). Sometimes you need a little bit of "top" or "tail" on the main clip (maybe some ambi from a location clip before the sound bite, etc.), but you don't want the music to duck as soon as it "sees" a clip. Either a toggle to set "clip boundary" or "audio level" as the controlling element--or just using the audio level as the controlling factor--would be my vote.
Andrew Mason
FYI this feature is now available in the beta: https://help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042638691-The-Descript-Beta-Program
In the inspector, view a track, and you'll see a new "Reduce volume on other tracks" option.
Andrew Mason
exploring
Timothy Dowd
Andrew Mason: I am about to decide on the Creator or Pro subscription do we have a timeline for ducking?
Andrew Mason
closed
Julian Kwasneski
There are times when we want to use Pause events to let music post for creative reasons. This almost always happens at the end of a tour but we used to use them to carve out space for music all the time.
Now that we're bouncing VO into a single stem, the engine doesn't see Pause events so my suggestion for an "allow ducking" contextual menu option doesn't really apply.
This is something Mikael and I as well as others on the audio team have struggled with and there's currently no easy solution. You can bake the volume boost into the file but that introduces other problems.