Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

WAVELAB
Customizing 32 – 731
Creating startup preferences
To make sure the program starts with the same preference settings each 
time you launch it, proceed as follows:
1.Set up all preferences as desired and make sure “Save preferences on 
exit” is activated.
2.Quit the program.
3.Launch the program again, and deactivate “Save preferences on exit”.
Now you can change the preferences for this session, but the settings you had when you 
last quit will be the ones you get next time you launch the...

WAVELAB
32 – 732 Customizing
Work folders
The Work folders are usually set up after installing WaveLab, as the fold-
ers specified for temporary files have an important bearing on WaveLab’s 
overall performance. See “Temporary files” on page 28 for a description 
of how to set up these folders.
Document folders
For each WaveLab document type, you can specify paths to open and 
save folders (given that the document can be saved). This is done in the 
following way:
1.Click on the plus sign for a document...

WAVELAB
Customizing 32 – 733
Saving the window layout
If “Open last window layout on startup”, on the Preferences–General tab 
is activated, the program will open in exactly the same state as it was 
when you last quit (with the option activated). The snapshots, and even 
the document windows you had open (and their “layout”) will automati-
cally be reopened.
You can use this to create a startup “layout” that will always appear when 
you launch WaveLab:
1.Set up all windows as desired.
2.Make sure “Open...

WAVELAB
32 – 734 Customizing
Styling WaveLab – Wave windows
It’s possible to “style” the Wave windows to your liking, by adjusting col-
ors (of waveforms, background, cursor lines, etc.) and changing the look 
of the ruler and other window details. This can be done in two ways:
• By changing the default style.
This is the style that is normally used when you open or record an audio file in a Wave win-
dow.
• By having the program assign different styles to different Waves, according to 
specific...

WAVELAB
Customizing 32 – 735
Setting up style conditions
In the Audio Window Styles dialog, there are 15 additional style “slots” 
(apart from the default style), some of which already hold pre-defined 
styles to use or overwrite, as you see fit. For each of these styles, you can 
specify that it should be applied to all Wave windows with audio files that 
meet certain criteria, called conditions:
1.Open the Audio Window Styles dialog from the View menu.
2.Select one of the style slots.
This could hold a...

WAVELAB
32 – 736 Customizing
The following settings are available:
5.Click OK to close the “Style condition” dialog, and close the Audio Win-
dow Styles dialog.
Now, if you open or record a new file that meets all conditions specified 
for a style slot, it will automatically be shown in that style.
Note that the conditions are set for the style slots – not for the actual style 
settings stored in the slot. This means you can set up your conditions first if 
you like, and then change the style settings...

WAVELAB
Customizing 32 – 737
Waveform elements
To change the waveform elements, right-click on a waveform (in the over-
view or in the main display), select Elements and then select the desired 
item from the submenu that appears.
Note that you make separate settings for the main waveform display, the 
overview and for the two channels in a stereo file! Which section you make 
settings for depends on where you click.
Colors
To set the color of a certain element in the display, right-click in the Wave...

WAVELAB
32 – 738 Customizing
If you prefer a single background color (or if you need to speed up display 
redraws, typically with slower graphic cards), you can turn this feature off 
by activating “Do not use gradient backgrounds” in the Preferences–En-
vironment tab. The background color will then be a 50/50 mix of the top 
and bottom color.
Again, when changing colors for the waveform images, you make separate 
settings for the main waveform display, the overview and for the two chan-
nels in a stereo...

WAVELAB
Customizing 32 – 739
Styling WaveLab – Audio Montage windows
Using custom colors
You can create and assign different color schemes to different clips, 
tracks or groups to make it easier to find your way through the Montage:
•To assign a color scheme to a track, open the Track menu and select a 
color scheme from the Color submenu.
The selected color scheme is used for all current clips on the track, as well as for clips you 
add later on. However, note that this color selection is overridden by...

WAVELAB
32 – 740 Customizing
Defining custom colors
You can redefine all colors on the Color pop-up menus, as well as the 
colors for various other elements in the Audio Montage. This is done in 
the Audio Montage Colors dialog, using the following procedure:
There are many items of different color displayed in a Montage. If you rede-
fine colors, be careful not to choose colors which cause some elements to 
“disappear” (e.g. black marker lines on a black background).
1.Pull down the View menu and select...