Audio channels
Sound in a chapter flows through named channels — think mixer strips, not files. Each channel is a track on the timeline, and three actions do all the work.
Channels, not files
Every audio track in the timeline's Audio section is a channel with a name of
your choosing: narration, ambience, stingers.
A channel plays one file at a time, and actions address the channel by name. That
indirection is what makes audio easy to restructure: swap the file an action plays, and
every fade and stop aimed at that channel keeps working untouched.
Three actions drive a channel, and together they draw its clips on the timeline:
| Action | What it does | On the timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Play Audio | Starts a file playing on the channel | Opens an audio clip |
| Stop Audio | Stops whatever the channel is playing | Closes the clip |
| Fade Audio | Ramps the channel's volume to a target level over a duration | A marker inside the clip's span |
A channel with no Stop simply plays to the end of the segment; the timeline shows its clip running to the segment's edge. Full parameter details are in the actions reference.
Play Audio's parameters
Play Audio is where the mixing decisions live:
- File. The audio asset to play, chosen from the media you've imported.
- Channel. The channel name. Chapter Studio suggests existing channels so a typo doesn't silently create a stray one.
- Volume. 0 to 1. This is the channel's starting level; Fade Audio can move it later.
- Loop. When on, the file repeats until a Stop Audio (or the segment ends). Ideal for ambience beds.
You can adjust volume and loop right from the timeline, too. Expand the clip's row in the clip inspector for an inline slider and toggle.
Hearing your mix in the editor
Audio in Chapter Studio is audible, and auditioning is built for editing. Playback runs the mix at natural rate; scrubbing plays the moment under the playhead and holds, so you can drag through a segment and hear exactly where the narration lands without starting playback. Two channels can play the same file at once as independent voices, which is how overlapping ambience beds behave on device too.
Audio clips trim like video: drag their edges, or mark a range in the Source Previewer before placing, and the clip plays just that slice of the file. See trimming for the edge model.
The speaker button and slider in the viewer's transport bar are the editor's master volume: one gain and one mute across scheduled audio, video previews and the backdrop's soundtrack. It's your monitoring level, not a mix decision: it persists on your Mac and never changes what the chapter plays on a headset.
Volume rides: keyframed automation
Beyond Fade Audio's one-shot ramps, each channel has an automation lane where volume is keyframed over time, plus a Master row for the whole mix. Park the playhead, choose Timeline ▸ Set Audio Volume Key at Playhead and pick the channel, and a diamond lands on the lane; drag diamonds to move them, double-click to delete. The player samples the ride on device, and a gate holds a volume ride exactly where it holds an animation curve, so your duck under the narration waits with the story.
Creating channels by dropping
The quickest way to add a channel is not to create one at all. Drag an audio chip from
the action library onto the Audio section's empty rail and Chapter Studio auto-creates a fresh
channel (named channel_1, channel_2, and so on) and places
the action on it in one gesture. Drop onto an existing audio track instead and
the action targets that channel. See
adding actions for the full drop behavior.
Renaming a channel
Auto-generated names are fine to start, but narration reads better than
channel_3 six months from now. Right-click an audio track's header and
choose the rename command:
Right-click the track header in the Audio section, the header showing the channel's current name.
Enter the new name. Chapter Studio updates every Play Audio, Stop Audio, and Fade Audio in the segment that referenced the old name, along with any triggers that wait on the channel finishing.
Because every reference moves together, a rename can never orphan a Stop or a Fade. Audio that was playing keeps playing and fades still find their target; nothing goes silent.
Tip. Name channels by role, not by file: narration
outlives vo_take_04. When you swap in a new recording, only the Play Audio
action's file changes; the channel and everything targeting it stay put.
Audio during playback and gates
During playback, audio follows the timeline: each Play fires at its authored moment, fades ramp over their durations, and stops land on their beats. When a step holds at a gate, waiting for the viewer to act, audio that is already playing keeps playing. A looping ambience bed carries right through the wait, which is usually exactly what you want: the world stays alive while the story pauses. Time-based beats that haven't fired yet simply wait with the step.
Note. If a sound should end at a gate rather than play through it, schedule a Stop Audio or a Fade Audio to zero just before the gated step — silence is authored, not assumed.