Oops!
This dreaded expression is usually accompanied by wailing and gnashing of the teeth after a bad audio edit is saved by mistake. Depending upon when the problem is discovered, this could be followed by hours of re-doing all your edits or it could mean loss of a client if the original file is lost or damaged beyond repair.
The Adobe Sound Document (ASND), which is pronounced “a-sound”, was introduced in Soundbooth CS4 to address the “Oops Factor” in the world of audio editing. When you save your edits to an audio file using the ASND format, effects and volume changes are saved in a non-destructive way so that you can open the file later and tweak these settings. Additionally, the ASND format supports the notion of snapshots. Similar to snapshots in Photoshop, this gives you the ability to save multiple versions of your edits and allows you to easily switch between them. By default, Soundbooth will ask if you want to save the original document in the ASND package so you can always retrieve the untouched file you started with.
When you need to do more complex editing or work with multiple audio clips, you can use Soundbooth’s multitrack view. In multitrack the ASND format is used to save all project and timeline information, as well as packaging together all the clips used. You also get the benefit of saving clip trims, clip effects, volume and pan envelope changes and snapshots non-destructively. The packaging of all the source clips and project info into a single file also makes moving this media around to different workstations as easy as a single file copy. No more hunting down source materials months after the original editing session. It’s self-archiving!
While the actual contents of an ASND can be quite complex, it appears to other applications in CS4 as a simple audio file (e.g., .WAV). Each ASND contains a mixdown of the edits that have been made, which is what is used in other CS4 applications. ASND is supported in Flash, Premiere Pro and After Effects CS4. So you can import an ASND into your library or project, preview the file, place it on the timeline and render it into your Flash or video output. To make changes to an ASND simply right-click (command-click on Mac) and choose “Edit in Soundbooth.” This will open the full audio project so you can make additional edits, switch to different snapshots, etc. After you save your changes in Soundbooth, switch back to Flash or Premiere Pro and you will instantly see your changes updated in the ASND file.
While we can never completely eliminate all your oops, we hope ASND is one tool in your toolbox that can help reduce them.
Happy editing!
-Paul
Paul Ellis
Engineering Manager
