New Features in Soundtrack Pro 2
This is an overview of the new features in Soundtrack Pro 2. For more information on these features and their use, see the Soundtrack Pro 2 User Manual.

Surround Sound

Soundtrack Pro provides a flexible and elegant toolset for creating and editing audio projects in 5.1 surround. Soundtrack Pro offers an easy-to-use approach to surround panning, mixing, and automation, including unparalleled flexibility with surround files and the ability to easily switch between stereo and surround mixes. Soundtrack Pro also includes a huge library of surround clips for sound effects and music beds, as well as advanced surround reverb and dynamics effects such as Space Designer, which includes new impulse responses for creating accurate representations of actual spaces in full surround.
Multitrack Editing Enhancements
Soundtrack Pro 2 adds powerful editing improvements, including the following: An integrated waveform editorfor editing and processing a clips backing file directly in the File Editor tab and hearing the changes in the multitrack project streamlines your audio post-production workflow. You can view and modify a clips audio file in the File Editor tab without losing the context of your multitrack Timeline. Simply select a clip in the Timeline and it appears in the File Editor tab below. The playheads in the Timeline and the File Editor tab are synchronized so you can play the audio file within the context of your whole multitrack project. Any changes you make to the audio file are updated in the Timeline immediately. The Sound Palette and Lift and Stamp tools are timesaving tools for applying work you have done on one clip to one or more other clips. Use the Lift tool to copy properties from selected clips and create a processing template in the Sound Palette that can be applied to other clips. Use the Stamp tool to apply those properties to the other clips. Match a clips sound characteristics using the Match EQ plug-in.
Use the Fade Selector HUD to quickly apply and adjust fades and crossfades. The Multipoint Video HUD provides frame-accurate context when you are positioning audio clips and making selections in a video-based project. The window intelligently tracks the video frames and locations of a clips start and end points and the movements of the pointer as you work in the Timeline and the File Editor. The Timecode HUD is a resizable floating window that displays the current project timecode. You now have the ability to lock, unlock, enable, disable, and color-label clips and tracks in the Timeline. Soundtrack Pro 2 includes a completely redesigned Timeslice tool for time selections across the Timeline and within individual clips. A new Tracks tab allows for easily viewing, selecting, and grouping tracks, busses, and submixes. Soundtrack Pro 2 offers improved methods for clip selection and moving clips numerically in the Timeline, as well as spotting clips to the playhead and spotting clips to the Timeline (using native timecode). Numerous other multitrack editing enhancements include Final Cut Prostyle J-K-L transport controls, spotting clips from various media tabs to the Timeline, new grouping features, Blade tool improvements, region markers, and a mode for selecting and moving envelope points with clips.

Conform

The Conform feature in Soundtrack Pro 2 removes one of the biggest hurdles faced by sound editors, which is dealing with picture changes. In the past, when a picture editor moved, added, or deleted clips, or changed edit durations, the sound editor had to manually conform the sound mix (with its volume, pan, and effects settings) to the new picture edit. This process was time-consuming and it was easy to make mistakes. Worse, manually conforming the mix distracted a sound editor from the most important job at hand: completing the mix. The Soundtrack Pro Conform feature can quickly compare and conform two versions of the same sequence: the new picture edit (from Final Cut Pro) and the sound mix (from Soundtrack Pro). In this way, Soundtrack Pro 2 takes the drudgery and potential mistakes out of the common conforming process.

Automatic Mixdown Return to Final Cut Pro
In Soundtrack Pro 2, when you create a Soundtrack Pro multitrack project from within Final Cut Pro, all of the sequence clip information is stored in the multitrack project. When you export a mixdown of the multitrack project in Soundtrack Pro, you can choose to open a new copy of the Final Cut Pro sequence that looks just like the original sequence but has additional audio tracks that contain your mixdown.

Multitake Editor

Use the new Multitake Editor to create composite takes of multitake recordings (such as in automatic dialogue replacement, or ADR). This tool allows you to easily mix and match parts of different takes. Once you have finished editing a multitake clip, you can collapse it into a single clip on the multitrack Timeline.
Frequency Selection Tool and Spectrum View HUD
Use the Frequency Selection tool in the Frequency Spectrum view to make selections of frequency ranges as well as copy, paste, delete, and adjust the amplitude of frequency selections. The new Spectrum View HUD provides extensive controls for the Frequency Spectrum view.
Enhanced Multichannel Support
With Soundtrack Pro 2, you can edit up to 24 channels in a single audio file and record and play back up to six channels in a single audio file in the multitrack Timeline. Soundtrack Pro 2 supports the following types of multichannel files: AIFF, WAVE, Broadcast Wave, QuickTime, CAF, and single folder or multi-mono file AIFF.

Multitrack Recording

With Soundtrack Pro 2, you can record across multiple tracks in the Timeline. (This is limited only by your hardware setup.)

Bin Enhancements

The new, improved Bin tab provides a hierarchical display of information about all open projects including duration, timecode, sample rate, Timeline information, takes, file size, file path, copyright, and so on. You can add clips to the Bin for easy access and drag them from the Bin tab to the Timeline. The Bin also features a handy search function to help you locate items in any open project.

Tape-Style Scrubbing

The Soundtrack Pro Scrub tool provides detailed scrubbing that realistically emulates the rock-the-reels scrubbing on analog tape decks. Scrubbing an audio file lets you hear the audio at the playhead position as you drag the playhead, so you can quickly find a particular sound or event in a long audio file.

OMF and AAF Support

Open Media Framework (OMF) and Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) are industrystandard project interchange formats that Soundtrack Pro can use to import editing decisions from other video and audio editing applications. You can also export a multitrack project from Soundtrack Pro as an AAF file.

Podcasting

With Soundtrack Pro 2, audio creators can quickly and easily produce extremely high-quality audio and video podcasts directly from their Soundtrack Pro projects. Soundtrack Pro provides podcasters with the complete production package for recording, editing, mixing, and compression. And with the podcasting workflow built right in to Soundtrack Pro, even motion picture post-production personnel can easily create iPod-ready or web-ready versions of their sound-for-picture mix or edit.
Music and Sound Effects Clip Library
Soundtrack Pro 2 provides over 1000 sound effects (SFX), music beds, transitions, and more, enabling you to further add professional polish to your sound work. These professionally produced and recorded elements make it easy to get started fast and keep the quality high.
Advanced Effects Plug-ins and Impulse Response Files
Soundtrack Pro 2 includes high-quality stereo and surround effects plug-ins and impulse response files from the Logic Pro effects library that you can use in your projects. Soundtrack Pro 2 introduces many new special surround effects, including Surround Compressor, Delay Designer, Space Designer, and Multichannel Gain. Impulse response files are audio files that contain the reverberant qualities of unique spaces from around the world, including stadiums and cathedrals. You can use the Space Designer convolution reverb plug-in to add and modify impulse responses in your sound editing projects.

Enhanced Export Options

Soundtrack Pro 2 has a variety of sophisticated export options. You can export all, or selected, tracks, busses, or submixes to either stereo or multichannel audio files or to groups of mono files. You can export a project to a mono, stereo, or multichannel audio file. Export file formats include the following standard audio file types: AIFF, WAVE, NeXT, Sound Designer II, MP3, AAC/Podcast, and Dolby Digital Professional (AC-3). You can also export a project to numerous other audio and video formats using Compressor, the Final Cut Studio transcoding application, directly out of Soundtrack Pro. The Soundtrack Pro Export dialog includes a variety of post-export actions that can automatically open the exported files in a Final Cut Pro sequence or in File Editor project view, or export a mix to iTunes, Motion, Logic, or Waveburner. You can also add your own custom AppleScript documents to the Export dialog. You can streamline your workflow by creating custom export presets with any combination of exported items, file types, bit depths, sample rates, and post-export actions. You can also export your project using AAF, an industry-standard project interchange format.

Copyright 2007 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, AppleScript, Final Cut, Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Studio, iPod, iTunes, Logic, QuickTime, and Soundtrack are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. NeXT is a trademark of NeXT Software, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Dolby Laboratories: Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. Dolby, Pro Logic, and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. Confidential Unpublished Works, 19921997 Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies.

The following Voluntary Product Accessibility information refers to Soundtrack Pro 2 for Mac OS X. For more information on the accessibility features of Mac OS X and Soundtrack Pro, visit Apples accessibility web site at http://www.apple.com/accessibility Summary Table Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

1194.21 Software applications and operating systems. 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications. 1194.23 Telecommunications products. 1194.24 Video and multimedia products. 1194.25 Self contained closed products. 1194.26 Desktop and portable computers. 1194.31 Functional performance criteria. 1194.41 Information, documentation, and support.

Supporting Features

Please refer to the attached VPAT Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable Please refer to the attached VPAT Please refer to the attached VPAT
Subpart B -- Technical Standards 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems.
Criteria Supporting Features Remarks and explanations
(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually. (b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer. (c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes. (d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text. (e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application's performance.

Partially supported

Many functions are accessible without having to use a mouse. Some shortcuts are available. In most dialog boxes, the focus can be moved to the form elements from the keyboard.

Supported

The focus in dialog boxes on some elements is sufficiently detectable.
Most dialogs are accessible to VoiceOver and to keyboard-only users.
(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes. (g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes. (h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one nonanimated presentation mode at the option of the user. (i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. (j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided. (k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. (l) When electronic forms are used, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.

The VoiceOver speak text function works when the mouse is passed over elements that have been explicitly labeled.
Some buttons and images are identified by text labels or tool tips in addition to color. Some title bars and buttons have sufficient contrast for accessibility.

See 1194.21(a) and (f)

Subpart C -- Functional Performance Criteria 1194.31 Functional performance criteria.
(a) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided. (b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for assistive technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided. (c) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided. (d) Where audio information is important for the use of a product, at least one mode of operation and information retrieval shall be provided in an enhanced auditory fashion, or support for assistive hearing devices shall be provided. (e) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people with disabilities shall be provided. (f) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided.
Some information is passed to the screen reader. Some contrast, labeling, and keyboard control features make use possible for someone who is visually impaired.

See 1194.31(a)

Visual alerts can be used in place of audible alerts.
Mouse Keys can be used to execute certain fine-motor functions instead of the mouse.
Subpart D -- Information, Documentation, and Support 1194.41 Information, documentation, and support.
(a) Product support documentation provided to end-users shall be made available in alternate formats upon request, at no additional charge. (b) End-users shall have access to a description of the accessibility and compatibility features of products in alternate formats or alternate methods upon request, at no additional charge. (c) Support services for products shall accommodate the communication needs of end-users with disabilities.

Online documentation can be found at http://www.apple.com/support/soundtrackpro/
Information about Apples built-in access technologies is available at http://www.apple.com/accessibility.
E-mail support and discussion groups are available at http://www.apple.com/support/soundtrackpro/
Apple does not promise that the information provided in this document will be error-free, or that any errors will be corrected, or that your use of the information will provide specific results. THE DOCUMENT AND ITS CONTENT ARE DELIVERED ON AN AS-IS BASIS. ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. APPLE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.