Sound at high speed

A clip that plays faster than ×12 loses its sound in the preview and in the export, while its picture keeps playing. Frame Job asks before an edit takes a clip there.

Menu: Clip ▸ Speed…Clip ▸ Speed Ramp…Clip ▸ Retime Range…Clip ▸ Speed Up Typing…
Where: Clip tab ▸ Clip ▸ Speed sectionThe ⌥ rate stretch on the timeline
Agent tools: set_speedrate_stretchadd_speed_rampset_action_endretime_range

Sound is left out above ×12

The limit is the same with Keep pitch on or off. At exactly ×12 the sound still plays, and at anything faster it doesn’t. The picture carries on to the top of the speed range, ×1000.

The limit is fixed, and no setting changes it. It sits a margin below the speeds at which an export with sound can stall.

Nothing is deleted. Bring the clip back to ×12 or below and its sound returns.

The alert

Before an edit takes a clip with sound from ×12 or below to above ×12, an alert asks first. For one clip it reads:

“Interview” will be silent at ×16.

Frame Job leaves a clip’s audio out above ×12. The picture still plays.

For several clips it counts them. It reads “3 clips will be silent at ×16.”, or “3 clips will be silent at their new speeds.” when their rates differ, and then “Frame Job leaves a clip’s audio out above ×12. The pictures still play.”

The alert is a question, not a block. You can always go ahead.

Button	What it does
Set Speed	Makes the edit exactly as you asked. It’s the default button, and it keeps this name when the edit is a ramp or a stretch.
Cancel	Changes nothing and adds no undo step.

You’re asked once. A clip that’s already above ×12 isn’t asked about again, even if you make it faster still. A clip whose sound is switched off, or whose file has no sound, isn’t asked about at all.

Where the alert appears

You’re using	If you choose Cancel
Clip ▸ Speed…	The sheet stays open.
Clip ▸ Speed Ramp…	The sheet stays open.
Clip ▸ Retime Range…	The sheet stays open.
Clip ▸ Speed Up Typing…	The sheet stays open.
The Speed section: Rate, its quick picks, Keep pitch, Reset or Fit to	The fields go back to what they showed.
The ⌥ rate stretch	The clip stays as it was before the drag.

A stretch is put back when you let go, so nothing has changed while the question is up. Set Speed then applies it again.

Moving, resizing or removing an action can’t raise a clip’s fastest rate, so those edits never ask.

Ramps and the ×12 rule

On a ramped clip, Frame Job looks at the fastest rate set anywhere on the clip. If any rate in the ramp is above ×12, the whole clip is silent, not only the fast part.

The alert counts the ramp’s peak rate in the same way. A clip at ×1 with one Speed action ending at ×16 is asked about at ×16.

An end rate on an action lying past the clip’s end still counts, even though that part never plays. If a trimmed clip has gone silent for no clear reason, check the count in the header of its action lane in the Clip tab. An action wholly past the clip’s end has no band you can reach, but it’s still counted.

The silent audio note

The Speed section shows Audio is silent above ×12 while a selected clip is past the limit. It needs a clip whose file has sound and whose sound is on. It appears in either pitch mode, and a ramp counts by its fastest rate.

Good to know

A clip that only has sound follows the same rule, and is silent above ×12.
Clips inside a nest count too.
Turning a clip’s sound back on while it’s above ×12 doesn’t bring up the alert, because the speed didn’t change. The silent audio note shows instead.
When Speed Up Typing runs by itself after a recording lands, Frame Job can’t stop to ask. A speed-up that would silence a clip isn’t made, and the reason appears at the foot of the inspector.

With an agent

An agent is never asked. Its edit goes through, and the result lists the ids of the clips that went silent in audio_left_out, with a sentence saying so in audio_note. Neither appears if no clip crossed the limit. See Above ×12 the sound is left out.