A place to post all your useful Adobe Audition keyboard shortcuts. Those that you use every day and that improve your workflow. Thanks for @Fluffman71 for getting us started with great tips on the live stream today!
Note from @Fluffman71
After a post below by Cyberlarson, an oversight I simply forgot to mention here is to try and keep a consistency in the formatting of this Wiki.
As the Wiki started out, I’ve constantly been making improvements to it to make it easy to read and find things.
I’ve been making sure that:
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I always include both the Windows and Mac controller keys, ie, [Cmd] & [Ctrl], and, [Opt] & [Alt], and putting the Mac controller keys first (to keep the Mac users happy. I dont know the proportion of Mac to Windows users there are here.)
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I am using the format “[Cmd] or [Ctrl] + [KEY]”
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I always use the controller keys in Sentence case
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I am putting the keys in brackets and making only the KEY text bold, not the brackets. But perhaps what I’ll do is duplicate this post and do one just for Windows users just to compare and for you to view and give your opinions on.
Personally I’m not too happy with using two controller keys in the one line, as it seems to bulk out and make the line untidy. But I also don’t really want to enter an extra line for each platform’s controller key. It’s a shame this forum code doesn’t allow tables. That would make layout a lot easier. Oh well.
What are your opinions?
Shortcuts
Note:
Nearly every element in Audition has a right-click menu for it. Make that your first ‘go-to’ for relevant commands to do with what you’re currently working with. Otherwise, a keyboard shortcut as outlined below will be your next step.
Global
Commands to use in both Waveform and Multitrack
Edit Preferences [F4]
View keyboard shortcuts [Option] or [Alt] & [K]
Waveform View [9]
Multitrack View [0]
Toggle between Waveform and Multitrack View [F12]
Zoom reset [\]
Zoom out full [Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [\]
Zoom Out Full (Selected Track) [Shift] & [/]
Select All [Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [A]
Insert Marker [M]
Rename Selected Marker [/]
Delete Selected Marker [Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [0] (zero)
Move to Next Marker [Option] or [Alt] & 
Move to Previous Marker [Option] & [Alt] & 
Insert Silence
Individual sequential keystrokes:
[Alt] or [Option], [E], [I], [S]
Using your mouse to drag the blue number values throughout Audition:
hold [Cmd] or [Ctrl] for fine increments,
and [Opt] or [Alt] for large increments
Likewise, when changing the values in the Selection/View panel:
It will do the selection and view ranges for you instead of you fiddling around in the main multitrack getting the view and selection you want.
Transport
[Space] Toggle Play
[Shift] & [Space] Toggle Recording
[J] Shuttle Left
[K] Shuttle Stop
[L] Shuttle Right
[Home] Move Playhead to Start of Waveform or Multitrack
[End] Move Playhead to End of Waveform or Multitrack
Waveform View Only
[F9] or [Shift] & [D] Toggle Frequency Spectrum Window
[E] Marquee Selection Tool
[D] Lasso Tool
[P] Paintbrush Tool
[B] Spot Healing Brush
[ [Left bracket] Decrease Brush size
] [Right bracket] Increase Brush size
[Option] or [Alt] & [ Decrease Brush Opacity
[Option] or [Alt] & ] Increase Brush Opacity
[Shift] & [P] Capture a noise reduction profile for the Noise Reduction effect
Multitrack
Add Stereo Audio Track [Option] or [Alt] & [A]
Add Stereo Bus Track [Option] or [Alt] & [B]
Delete selected Track [Cmd] + [Shift] + [Backspace]
Select All Clips [Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [A]
Select Next Clip in track [Option] or [Alt] & [N]
Rename Selected Clip [F2]
Split clip under cursor [Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [K]
Trim to time selection [Option] or [Alt] & [T]
Keeps what you highlight and removes the rest. (Like a reverse delete)
[T] Time Selection Tool - the default editing tool
[V] Move Tool
[R] Razor tool
Press [R] twice to select the double razor to split over all tracks
Press [T] to return to the normal Time Selection Tool.
Move playhead to next significant point in a track: a Marker, or the Start or End of a clip.
Move Left: [Option] or [Alt] &
Move Right: [Option] or [Alt] &
Nudging
This allows Gentle Movement of clips for lining up things without fiddly mouse movements.
How much movement occurs depends on your zoom level. Being zoomed in close will cause smaller moves than being zoomed out, even using the same adjustment amount.
[Alt] + [<] Nudge Clip Left -1
[Alt] + [,] Nudge Clip Left -5
[Alt] + [>] Nudge Clip Right +1
[Alt] + [.] (Period) Nudge Clip Right +5
Because I use nudge 1 more often that 5, I’ve customised my keyboard to do the opposite and not use the Alt key.
I use [,] and [.] to Nudge 1, and [<] and [>] to Nudge 5
Copying and Moving with the mouse
When dragging multiple files into the multitrack, hold down [Opt] or [Alt] to choose between dropping files on one track or separate tracks.
Hold the right mouse button to drag a clip without needing to grab the header of the clip. Beware: if you do grab the header of the clip and drag it with [Opt] or [Alt], it will make a copy of it and bring up the popup menu. Just press escape to get out of this while you have your mouse button held.
These next ones will require you to grab the header of the clip.
Hold [Option] or [Alt] and drag the clip to copy it.
Hold [Shift] to move it to another track and keep it locked in time.
Hold [Shift] & [Option] or [Alt] to copy it to another track and keep it locked in time.
Hold [Cmd] or [Ctrl] to drag a clip and not have it snap to anything if you have Snapping On.
Ripple Deleting
When deleting clips or time selections, they are normally just erased and no other clips move. Ripple deleting works more like Word Processing in that clips to the right of what’s being deleted are moved to the left to take up space based on what type of Ripple Delete you are doing.
Don’t worry - deletions can be easily undone with [Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [Z]. Cue markers won’t move from their current positions except for the 4th command option: Ripple Delete Time Selection in All Tracks.
I’ve made a custom shortcut for this first one
[Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [Backspace]
It is only available when you have nothing selected and have the playhead between two clips:
Ripple Delete Gap in Selected Track
Removes the gap between clips based on where your playhead is.
[Option] or [Alt] & [Backspace]
Ripple Delete time selection in selected clips
Similar to highlighting text and pressing Delete
[Shift] & [Backspace]
Ripple Delete Whole Selected Clips, not just a time selection
Removes selected clips and moves others to the left
[Cmd] or [Ctrl] & [Shift] & [Backspace]
Ripple Delete Time Selection in All Tracks
Same as 2nd command above but in all Tracks, and any cue markers to the right of the deletion will be moved back also.
I urge you to try it out and put a decent-length file into the multitrack, and copy it around the place on multiple tracks and multiple times on those tracks. Then try each of the above commands to see what they can do for you.
The Shift Key as a Lock
The [Shift] key is used as lock when holding it down for various situations:
- Move your clips through the tracks while keeping them locked in time.
- Stop an automation keyframe changing in time.
- Hold [Alt] with [Shift] to make it lock in value but move in time. Let go of the mouse button before letting go of the keys or the keyframe will end up where your mouse is.
- In CC 2018 onwards: When grabbing fade handles, it locks it in time, based on which way you moved the handle first.
Hold Shift and:
- Drag left or right: it will change the time but lock the cosine fade value but .
- Drag up or down: it will lock in time and change the cosine fade value.
