Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

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Basic methods 5 – 61
Units of time and level
For rulers
You can specify the time and level (amplitude) formats for each ruler in 
each window, by right-clicking on the ruler and selecting a format from 
the pop-up menu that appears.
Time formats
Level formats
• To make a ruler format the default (to be used in new Wave windows), you 
need to save it as part of the default window style.
See “Styling WaveLab – Wave windows” on page 734.
Menu name Description
Time Positions are shown as hours,...

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5 – 62 Basic methods
Setting values
In dialog boxes, you will find yourself adjusting values. The following tech-
niques apply:
Typing values
As in most other Windows programs you can “tab to” or click directly on 
a value and type in a new one.
Using the spin controls/value fields
Values can be set using either the regular Windows spin controls, or any 
of the other methods described below.
• Clicking either arrow raises/lowers the value.
• Keeping the mouse button pressed over an arrow will...

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Basic methods 5 – 63
3.If one or more sliders appear, drag the handle(s) or click the arrows to set 
the value.
The setting is shown in the value box “behind” the slider window.
4.When you have finished, click outside the slider window.
• If the value is “segmented” (for example divided into minutes and seconds, etc.), 
more than one slider will appear, each used for adjusting one of the “segments”.
• The slider window can be dragged to any position on the screen, using the “ title 
bar” at the...

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Zooming
If you hold down [Ctrl] and point at a waveform, the wheel zooms the view 
horizontally.
If you hold down [Ctrl] and [Shift] and point at a waveform, the wheel 
zooms the view vertically.
Changing values
If you point at an edit field in a dialog, the wheel can be used to adjust the 
value.
• If you hold down [Ctrl], the value changes in bigger increments.
• If you hold down [Ctrl]+[Shift] the value jumps to the minimum or maximum.
Master Section
•When working in the...

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Basic methods 5 – 65
Presets
Many dialogs in WaveLab have either a Presets tab or a Presets pop-up 
menu. If you think of the dialogs as forms, presets allow those forms to be 
filled out automatically. WaveLab comes with a selection of presets for 
most dialogs that use them, but the real power of presets becomes evi-
dent when you start creating your own!
• For some WaveLab effect panels there is a Preset button instead of a Pre-
sets tab or pop-up menu. Clicking the button opens the Presets...

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Creating a preset
1.Open the dialog you wish to use and set up the dialog as desired.
2.Click on the Presets tab or pull down the Preset menu.
3.Click on the name line and type in a name for the preset or click the Save 
As… menu item and type in a name in the dialog that appears.
4.Where applicable, click the Add button.
Modifying a preset
1.Load the preset you want to modify, as described above.
2.Make the desired settings in the dialog.
3.Click the Update button or click...

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About non-modal dialogs
Many of the dialog boxes in WaveLab are “non-modal”. This means that 
the window behind the dialog can be operated even though the dialog 
box is still up on the screen.
For example, when you have a Processing dialog up on screen, you can 
still work with the Wave window and the main menus. For example, this 
allows you to perform the following operations without closing the dialog.
• Play back the wave to hear the effect of any applied processing.
•...

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Using the computer keyboard
When you are working with WaveLab, the computer keyboard has several 
different uses:
Transport controls
The Transport functions (such as Play, Stop, Record and so on) can all be 
managed from the computer keyboard. The keyboard commands for these 
functions are located on the numeric keypad, to the right on the computer 
keyboard. See “Using the Transport bar” on page 135 in this book.
Keyboard shortcuts
Shortcuts for menus
Many of the items in...

6
Editing in the Wave window 

WAVELAB
6 – 70 Editing in the Wave window
About this chapter
The Wave window is the heart of WaveLab’s audio editing capabilities. 
This is where you view, play back and edit individual audio files. This chap-
ter describes how to open and save audio files, how to perform wave edit-
ing and how to handle the Wave window itself.
Creating new empty documents
If you want to start with an empty file, for assembling material from other 
files for example, proceed as follows:
Using menus
1.Select New from the...