Howdy! I've got a 12 second animated clip that I'm scoring, one scene with no cuts. I've got a trumpet hit on beat 4 of the measure and the animated character's face contorts just over the upbeat. I want his face to contort at the same time as the trumpet hit, on the downbeat of four. I've watched the beatmapping tutorials, but I'm not quite getting how to make it work in this case, as there are no scene cuts to detect. So far all I've been able to do it make the tempo shoot up to 300bpm the moment the guy's face contorts, but it still doesn't line up with the trumpet hit. Advice? Much appreciated. ;)

There are far more experienced voices on this board than I, but I'm wondering if flex editing your audio would be an easier way to achieve what you want instead of beat mapping. Something to try while waiting for one of the big boys to weigh in...

Yes, Flex View is the way to go. Use the Flex Tool (Esc+R) Use the tool to select a region. Choose a Flex Mode appropriate to the audio file when the prompt comes up. This will analyze the audio file. Then go to the Arrange > View > Flex View. Now you can add flex markers and move these markers around which will move the audio around so that you can sync the audio up with your animated clip.