I’m going to keep going over how to use Digital Performer, but for now, some helpful tidbits.
Beyond the manual, DP has very useful online help. Under the help menu you can find context sensitive help for the active window, as well as more comprehensive help (Digital Performer Help). You should either read the DP basics section in the manual or the online help section. The help files are particularly good at giving an overview of the workspace.
The main work area in DP is the “consolidated window.” Within it, you can open different work areas (tracks, sequence editor, mixing board, soundbites, etc.), either alone or in combination. You can also break panes out of the consolidated window so that they can be moved around independently.
One of the big things to learn about DP is that each window pane has its own mini menu for context sensitive commands. In the new version of DP (v. 6), you the mini menus are indicated by an arrow inside a circle, at the top right of a pane.
The mini menu for the sequence editor (where you place soundbites into tracks) has an option for “Edge Edit Copy.” Make sure this option is selected before you edit soundbites in the sequence editor. With edge edit copy on (a check will appear by the item in the mini menu), edits to the lengths of soundbites will create a new soundbite, rather than changing the lengths of all occurences of the soundbite that you’re editing. Edge editing creates a copy of the soundbite.
Always add a Master Fader track to your project. Within the sequence editor, click anywhere in the bottom-most track. Then choose Project | Add Track… | Master Fader Track. The Master Fader track is the sum (mix) of all of your track outputs. You may have perfectly good levels in individual tracks, but the mix of the tracks can cause distortion that you cannot see unless you have the master fader.
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