Automation allows you to vary the volume and pan of each clip or track over time. By default, MixPad displays the automation for the volume of a clip. You can swap between Pan, Volume and No automation by using the drop down menu on each track's control panel (left of the track). You can add fade points to this envelope by using the left click mouse button.

To edit a fade point click on the point you wish to edit and drag it to a new location. As you drag the item you should see a bubble tip providing precise information about the new position of the fade point.

To remove a fade point, move your mouse cursor on the fadepoint and it will be selected automatically, right click and the fade point will be deleted.

Cross fading

A common usage of fade points is to crossfade two audio tracks to create a smoother transition between them. MixPad features a short cut option for doing this. Just select the two clips you wish to cross fade and select Clip --> Cross Fade Selected Clips from the menu. The clips need to overlap in order for this to work, either on separate tracks or the same track. At this point you can then edit the fade points as described above to fine tune the fade.

Overlapping the clips can automatically add the crossfade. To disable this, go to Options -> Clips and uncheck the Automatically apply a crossfade to overlapping clips. To remove all the overlapping fade points, right click on the clip and select Clear Clip Fade Points.

Track Automation

Another usage of fade points is to set up an automation track based on volume, pan and VST plugins. Suppose you want to vary one parameter of a vst plugin over time. Click the Add Automation command from the Track tab and choose VST Plugin from the drop menu, choose a vst plugin file(*.dll), tick parameters from the plugin, and when you are done a new automation track(s) will be added to that track. Now you can click the line to add and edit the fade points, which will apply the parameters of the vst at the levels you specify while playing.