Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

WAVELAB
Editing in the Wave window 6 – 91
Selecting
Almost all types of editing and processing you perform in WaveLab oper-
ate on the selection. There are numerous ways to make a selection:
By dragging or [Shift]-clicking
The standard way to select a range in a Wave window is to click and 
drag. If you drag all the way to the left or right side of the window, it scrolls 
automatically, allowing you to select larger sections than what can be 
shown in the window. The speed of the scrolling depends on how...

WAVELAB
6 – 92 Editing in the Wave window
Switching the selection between channels
If you have made a selection, you can move this to the other channel or 
extend it to both channels by selecting the corresponding items from the 
Select submenu (on the Edit menu). Or, you can press [Tab] to move the 
selection between channels (if there is no selection, [Tab] moves the cur-
sor between channels).
Selection shortcuts
There are a number of ways to quickly make certain selections (for many 
options there is...

WAVELAB
Editing in the Wave window 6 – 93
Selecting in the Overview
You can select in the Overview, just as in the Main view. To get the selec-
tion tool in the overview, hold down [Ctrl] and move the pointer into the 
overview.
Extending and shrinking the selection
Very often you will have made a selection only to find it isn’t completely per-
fect. In this case you can extend or shrink the selection. In fact you can very 
well use this as a method: make a coarse selection with a lower zoom fac-
tor,...

WAVELAB
6 – 94 Editing in the Wave window
Using the cursor keys
• If you hold down [Shift] and press the [←] or [→] keys, the start or end of the se-
lection is moved one pixel (screen dot) to the left/right. If you also hold down [Ctrl] 
it is moved twenty pixels instead.
• If you hold down [Shift] and press [Page Up]/[Page Down], it will also move 20 
pixels.
• If you hold down [Shift] and press the [Home]/[End] keys, the selection will extend 
from the current cursor position to the start/end of the...

WAVELAB
Editing in the Wave window 6 – 95
Snapping to zero crossings
About zero crossings
If you cut out a portion of a wave and paste it in somewhere else, chances 
are there will be a discontinuity where the two waves are joined. See the 
example below. This discontinuity will result in a transient in the wave when 
it is played back, which is perceived as a “click” or “bump” in the sound.
To avoid this you need to make the splice at a zero crossing.
A zero crossing is – a point where the wave crosses...

WAVELAB
6 – 96 Editing in the Wave window
Setting up zero crossing detection
1.Pull down the Options menu and activate “Snap to zero crossing”.
2.Select Preferences from the Options menu.
3.Click on the Wave edit tab.
4.Fill out the “Snap to Zero crossing” options.
Click the question mark icon in the respective dialog for details.
Checking the effect of Snap to Zero crossing
1.Make sure that “Off at high zoom factor” is not activated and zoom in until 
the zoom factor is 1:1.
2.Make a selection and...

WAVELAB
Editing in the Wave window 6 – 97
Snapping to time units
When “Snap to time units” is activated on the Options menu, selections 
will automatically be extended to the left and right so that they start and 
end at whole time units (and also at the closest zero crossing, if that op-
tion is activated, see above). This allows you to easily make selections 
spanning a certain number of seconds for example.
Note that this means that you must drag across a certain “time area” (for 
example more than...

WAVELAB
6 – 98 Editing in the Wave window
Level selections
For some of WaveLab’s level processing functions, it is useful to make a 
selection not only in time, but in level.
By dragging
1.Make a regular “time” selection.
2.Hold down [Shift].
3.Move the mouse to the top or bottom of the selection box.
The pointer changes into a vertical double arrow.
4.Press the mouse button and drag up/down.
If you then extend the selection time-wise, the level selection still remains 
the same.
Extend to peaks
To...

WAVELAB
Editing in the Wave window 6 – 99
Basic editing commands
Mono/stereo
WaveLab is totally flexible in its handling of stereo. All editing operations 
can be performed on either channel or both.
Copying audio
The following operations allow you to make copies of sections of audio 
within the same file or from one file to another.
Please note that any existing markers (see “What are markers for?” on page 
328) in the source audio section also will be copied.
By dragging
1.Decide whether you want to...

WAVELAB
6 – 100 Editing in the Wave window
5.Release the mouse button.
The selection is inserted at the indicated point. The audio that previously began at that point 
is moved forward so that it is now played after the inserted section.
Using “Magnetize Bounds”
If you have “Magnetize bounds” on the Options menu activated when you 
drag, the cursor will “snap” to the following positions:
• The wave cursor.
• The start and end of the entire wave.
• Markers (see “What are markers for?” on page 328).
Make a...