D I G I T A L J U I C E StackTraxx USER'S GUIDE StackTraxx User's Guide M U LT I -T R A C K D I G I TA L M U S I C Inside Cuts with Creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 What is the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Installing the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Installing Catalogs in the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 To install a catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 To uninstall a catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Using the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 An Overview of the Juicer Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 StackTraxx Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 StackTraxx as Conventional Buyout Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 To render out a full mix from the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 StackTraxx Remixed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 To render out a remixed file from the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 StackTraxx Separated into Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 To separate the tracks out of a StackTraxx song . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Syncing Your Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Audio CD Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 To capture analog audio to an editing appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Media Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Search Your Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 To perform a keyword search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Media Processing (Rendering) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Why Convert File Formats? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 The Batch Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 To convert media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Saving Custom Settings to the Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Saving a Batch List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX | DIGITAL JUICE | 3 Inside (continued) Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 To render media in the Juicer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Physical Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Settings Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 File Size and Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Output Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Split into Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Effects Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Render Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Saving and Loading Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 To save render settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Saving Default Render Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Tutorials and Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Basic Mixing Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 A Complete Production Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Radical Remix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 StackTraxx Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Having Trouble? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Program Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Menu Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Insert Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Window Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Shortcuts Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 4 | DIGITAL JUICE | USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX StackTraxx User's Guide Cuts with Creativity ERY nearly every production needs music. You have three options: (1) violate the law and use copyrighted music, (2) compose and perform your own songs or (3) purchase buyout music from a library. We'll assume that violating the law is not an option for you most of the time, so that leaves options #2 and #3. Option #2 has the obvious downside that you need a whole lot of time and talent (and money to hire musicians). While buyout tracks are easy to use and ready to go without modification, they are rather inflexible. This leaves a huge gap between complete creative control and no creative control. V Fortunately, Digital Juice's StackTraxx are as easy to use as inflexible buyout music, yet they also give you some simple mixing options that allow you to customize the music to fit not only your project, but different parts of your project as well. Here's how StackTraxx work. First, audition and preview the library and find what you need using the free Juicer software. Second, copy the song you want over to your hard drive, separating it into it's various layered tracks (again, using the Juicer). Finally, mix the tracks in your editing software to get the perfect blend. This might mean that you use the full, high-energy 60-second version for your program's title credits, followed by a version that mutes the lead guitar and serves as the music bed under your host's introduction. As an outro and an intro to and from commercial breaks, you might use a quick 15-second verb, but for the closing credits you run the full version, muting the drum track to ease out of the program. The result is fully unified and coordinated program music, all with just a few clicks. USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX | DIGITAL JUICE | 5 Cuts with Creativity (continued) You can think of the individual StackTraxx tracks as the source tracks that emerge from a multi-track recording studio. As you know, studio musicians typically record their parts individually and one at a time while listening to the playback of the rest of the song. After the artists are finished recording their independent performances, a mixing engineer then mixes the tracks together to create the final balanced song. StackTraxx let you exercise creative control over which tracks or instruments appear in your custom final mix. StackTraxx songs are already professionally mixed, however, so you also have the ability to turn individual elements on and off and still have a balanced song. 6 | DIGITAL JUICE | USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX StackTraxx User's Guide What is the Juicer? The Juicer is the free software that comes with all Digital Juice products. It allows you to browse, search, audition and manage all of your Digital Juice content. It is also the software that lets you break StackTraxx songs up into their individual tracks. The Juicer was originally created to be a rather sophisticated animation processing and format conversion application, but as far as StackTraxx are concerned, it is simply the tool you'll use to find the music you need and break it down into its individual tracks. Installing the Juicer You can find the installer for the Juicer on the Juicer CD included with your package. When you insert the CD, the Juicer installation process may begin automatically, depending on how your computer is configured. If it doesn't, you can begin the process manually by using your file manager to browse the CD and then run setup.exe. Follow the prompt and click the Installation option. We are constantly striving to update the Juicer software and recommend downloading the latest version. The download is very small, and there's never a charge for updates: http://www.digitaljuice.com/download.html Installing Catalogs in the Juicer Once you have installed the Juicer, launch the application and install the preview files for your Digital Juice content. Catalog previews allow you to search and audition your media more conveniently. Since high-quality Digital Juice media files are very large, it is convenient to install digitally-compressed previews of these media files on your hard drive. While these previews do take up some space on your hard disk, the storage requirement is considerably less than the original files would otherwise require. USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX | DIGITAL JUICE | 7 What is the Juicer? (continued) To install a catalog: 1. Run the Juicer application. 2. Insert the Index DVD disc of your product into your DVD-ROM drive. 3. From the File menu, select Install Previews. 4. Click the OK button in the dialog. At this point, the Juicer will ask if you would like to install the StackTraxx MP3 previews (Figure 1). The MP3 previews take up a significant amount of disk space (around a few hundred MB), but will make the auditioning process much faster. If disk space is tight and you do not install the previews, you can still audition the songs and break them up into their component tracks, but you will need to place the StackTraxx DVD in your drive every time you want to audition the songs. The downside to this is that you'll have to swap discs in and out of your drives, which interrupts your workflow and costs you time. To uninstall a catalog: 1. Run the Juicer application. Figure 1: Installing MP3 previews will let you audition the various tracks, but will take up more space on your hard disk. NOTE: You can find the media previews and source files on the Index DVD disc, which may be located in the back of your StackTraxx library packaging. A set of StackTraxx audio CDs are also included in your package, which is how most conventional buyout music libraries are distributed. 2. From the File menu, select Uninstall Previews. 3. Select the product catalog that you would like to uninstall using the drop-down list. 4. Click the Uninstall button in the Uninstall Catalogs dialog. 8 | DIGITAL JUICE | USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX StackTraxx User's Guide Using the Juicer If you are working with a computer-based editing application, the Juicer is the software you'll use to interact with Digital Juice media files. The Juicer is a media management tool that helps you organize, sort, search, browse and find the media you need for your project and a media processing tool that converts Digital Juice source media into a format that is compatible with your editing software and equipment. The Juicer interface (Figure 2) has four windows that suggest an efficient workflow. These windows are all freely movable (drag them by the bar at the top of the window), resizable (drag handle on the lower-right corner) and you can toggle windows on and off with the associated command on the Windows menu. Figure 2: The general workflow when using the Juicer software to find and process your media. USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX | DIGITAL JUICE | 9 Using the Juicer (continued) An Overview of the Juicer Workflow: 1. The Keyword List is used in conjunction with the Product Browser to filter and narrow your search. 2. The Product Browser window lets you visually browse through the media. When you click on an item, the Preview Window displays the various t ...