Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

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Master Section 10 – 241
Result
Here, you can choose whether the original wave file should be changed 
(“applying” the Master Section settings) or whether a new audio file 
should be generated.
Create named file
If this is activated, the resulting new file will be saved (not temporary). The 
field below the checkbox allows you to specify a name and location for the 
file, and you can click the audio properties button to set the desired audio 
format. Clicking the “Rename as source” button will set the file name to 
the same as the file being processed (but retaining any path you have 
specified above).
If “Regions” is selected as the Render Range, the field normally used for 
the file name is instead used to define the destination folder. Each region 
must have a unique name.
Option Description
Process in place Modifies the original file. If you wish to keep the changes, you need to save 
the file again. Note: if you use this for adding effects to a file, you may want 
to activate the “Activate Global Bypass” option on the Schedule tab (see 
below).
No tail If this is activated, the resulting file will end where the original did, even if 
the processing adds material (like for example echoes or reverb tails).
Copy markers If this is ticked, the resulting new file will contain all markers present in the 
original file.
Do crossfade at 
boundaries/Do 
fade-in/out at 
boundaries“Do crossfade at boundaries” is useful when processing in place (selec-
tion or regions), because it allows smooth transitions between the pro-
cessed/non-processed parts. 
“Do fade-in/out at boundaries” is selectable when “Process in place” is 
not activated. In this case, the generated files get a short fade-in at the 
start, and a short fade-out at the end.
The crossfade time and shape is set in the “Default fade/crossfade” sec-
tion in the Preferences–Wave edit tab. 
						

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10 – 242 Master Section
You can of course create unique names for the Region markers manually, 
but it is much quicker to do it automatically. You can do this in two ways:
•Use the Batch Renaming tool. 
This allows you to define numerous options for renaming markers. See “Markers” on page 
311.
•Use Auto Split to generate regions with markers (although this would 
have to be done when the Marker regions are created).
Auto Split gives you the option of adding numbers to each created marker region name. 
See “The Auto Split dialog” on page 342. 
• If you click the audio properties button at the bottom of the dialog, you 
open the Audio File Format dialog in which you can choose the desired for-
mat of the file and make settings for the conversion and encoding. Click the 
question mark icon for details about the Audio File Format dialog.
Batch…
This button opens up the Batch Processor (see “Opening the Batch Pro-
cessor” on page 276).
This is only available if “Whole file” is selected and “No tail” is disabled.
Options on the Schedule tab
• The On Start options determine what  WaveLab should do before rendering:
• The On Completion options determine what should happen after rendering:
Stop playback Stops playback to free up some processing power. This option is not 
available if playback is already stopped.
Open Monitor window Opens the Monitor window, see “The Monitor window” on page 247.
Minimize window The file window is minimized to free up screen space.
Beep WaveLab will beep to signal that the operation is completed.
Show 
message boxWaveLab will display a message to confirm the operation. Click OK to con-
tinue.
Restore 
audio windowUpon completion, WaveLab will restore a minimized window (see above) to 
its original size.
Activate 
Global BypassWaveLab will automatically activate the Bypass switch in the Master Section’s 
Effects pane (see “Bypass, Mute and Preset” on page 228) upon completion. 
This allows you to play the processed file back after rendering, without hearing 
the effects “twice” (applied to the file and activated in the Master Section). 
						

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Master Section 10 – 243
• The Priority setting lets you specify how fast the file should be processed.
Any dropouts that occur as a result of too little processing power left will 
only affect the played file. Files processed in the background will always be 
free of dropouts!
Processing the file
Once everything is set up correctly, click OK to initiate the processing. 
Or, if you change your mind, click Cancel.
• Tip: If you just need to process the current audio selection in place, you can 
press [Ctrl] while clicking on the Render button. This will process the audio 
selection in place without opening the dialog. 
Settings like Crossfade on/off are kept from the last time you accessed the dialog.
Working with multiple files
Once you have applied settings to one wave, as described below, you 
can continue with processing the next. The processing of the first wave 
will continue in the background. This way you can apply processing to as 
many waves as desired. Please also note that each wave can have its own 
priority setting, as described below.
If you are rendering to MP3 format, you should only render one file at a time.
Relax 
BackgroundThe file is processed in the background, but priority is given to audio playback 
and to your continued work on other files. This makes WaveLab as responsive 
as possible, but slows down processing.
Background The file is processed in the background but with a lower priority given to your 
continued work on other files. This makes processing faster but the program 
less responsive. Try this mode when several files should be processed in the 
background.
Fast Processing is given a high priority. A fairly high-performance computer may be 
required to avoid dropouts in playback. 
						

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10 – 244 Master Section
Smart bypass
This function is available from the Tools menu. The main reason for Smart 
bypass that processing audio often changes the level or loudness of the 
signal. When comparing the processed signal with the original signal, 
your ears will be sensitive to this loudness change, which may in turn af-
fect your judgement. If you need to compare the sound of the effect inde-
pendently from the loudness change, a level correction is required.
Smart bypass allows you to compare the original (unprocessed) signal to 
the processed signal with a level correction applied to it. This function is 
particularly useful when you are making final level adjustments to a re-
cording, i.e. during mastering.
Smart bypass compares the signal at the input of the Master Section to the 
signal at the output of the Master Section, and adjusts the level accordingly.  
						

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Master Section 10 – 245
Basic operation
Smart bypass works as follows:
1.Open the “Smart bypass” dialog from the Tools menu.
When the dialog opens, it monitors the processed audio (the output of the Master Section) 
by default.
2.The three Play options allow you select what to monitor; the original (un-
processed) audio, the processed audio plus level correction or the pro-
cessed audio.
3.You can select between three modes of level correction: Match Peaks, 
Match loudness (RMS) or Custom correction.
These are explained in the table below.
4.Specify a time range to be analysed in the Time field.
5.Play back the audio and wait for the analysis to complete (i.e. the time 
specified in the previous step).
6.Click the “Update gains” button.
Depending on the selected correction method, the level correction that will be applied is 
shown below the corresponding button. 
7.Now you can switch between the three Play mode options to compare 
between the processed audio with level correction, the processed audio 
without level correction and the unprocessed signal.
8.If you should change the analysis time or start playback from another po-
sition you have to wait for the set time and then click the “Update gains” 
button again to update the analysis (i.e. repeat steps 5 and 6). 
						

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10 – 246 Master Section
Dialog items
The Smart Bypass dialog contains the following items:
Item Description
Play – Original audio This monitors the unprocessed signal at the Master Section input.
Play – Processed 
audio + level correctionThis monitors the signal at the Master Section output plus the ap-
plied level correction. To listen to the corrected level requires that 
you have clicked the “Update gains” button first.
Play – 
Processed audioThis monitors the signal at the Master Section output without level 
correction.
Level correction – 
Match peaksIf this is selected, the output signal will be level-corrected so that 
the peak levels of the processed signal and the original signal 
match. 
Level correction – 
Match loudnessIf this is selected the output signal will be level-corrected so that 
the loudness of the processed signal and the original signal match. 
This is the overall most useful mode, as it works similarly to how 
the ear perceives loudness.
Level correction – Time This determines the length of the level analysis.
Level correction – 
Update gainsThis will update the current analysis. You have to play back the au-
dio for at least as long as the set “Time” before clicking this but-
ton. If you change the level correction parameters, you have to 
click “Update gains” again to refresh the analysis.
Level correction – 
Custom correctionThis allows you to set a custom level compensation (no analysis). 
						

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Master Section 10 – 247
The Monitor window
This window allows you to monitor the ongoing processes, check how 
hard your computer’s CPU is working with various tasks, and more.
To open this window, select “Monitor” from the Specialized Windows 
submenu on the View menu or click the Monitor button on the Window 
controller bar.
The Monitor button
The window has three displays, selected by clicking the corresponding 
tab at the bottom of the window.
The Progress display
The Progress display shows a list with the following columns:
Column Description
Name The name of each wave or montage being processed.
Progress How much of the wave has been processed so far.
Remaining time This indicates how much time is required to finish the processing.
Priority Boost The priority assigned to this particular processing (see “The Priority set-
ting lets you specify how fast the file should be processed.” on page 
243 and below).    
						

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10 – 248 Master Section
Process menu
Even while a wave is being processed, you can change its settings. Posi-
tion the pointer in the monitor window and press the right mouse button.
The following options are available:
Option Description
Suspend/Resume Suspends processing of the wave. The menu option changes to Re-
sume so that you can activate processing again. When a process is 
suspended, more CPU power will be available to the other processes.
Suspend/Resume All Halts/starts processing of all waves.
Relax Background, 
Background, FastChanges the priority status for the wave, see “Relax Background” on 
page 243.
Cancel Cancels the processing operation for the selected wave, in which 
case the message in the Priority Boost column reads Cancelled until 
WaveLab has performed all the necessary clean up operations.  
						

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Master Section 10 – 249
The Performance display
The Performance display provides an overview of the processing power 
currently being used.
• The yellow lines refer to the power used for providing input to the Master Section, 
either reading waves from disk or Audio Input. Please note that the values are an 
approximation.
• The purple lines indicate the processing power that is required for all processors 
currently running in the Master Section. The shorter the line, the less the load on 
the CPU. This is a very precise measurement.
• The blue lines reflect the processing power required by the output device.
• There is also a number indicating processor usage in percent.
Customizing the Performance display
You can customize the way the processing information is displayed. If you 
want to see more of what is going on, resize the window.   
						

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10 – 250 Master Section
Other options are available if you position the cursor anywhere in the 
black part of the window and press the right mouse button. The following 
options are available:
• You can activate/deactivate the Input, Process, and Output information 
(see above)
• To get an exact (but not as smooth) picture of the processor usage, deactivate 
Average.
• You can select a Zoom factor for the display (50%~400%).
• You can change the direction of the status information flow ( horizontal or vertical).
The Timecode display
This has two uses (selected on the Options pop-up menu in the window): 
• To display incoming timecode when synchronizing WaveLab to external equipment. 
See “Synchronizing WaveLab to external devices” on page 649.
• To show the current position of the playback cursor in the active Wave or Montage 
window.
You can resize the window as desired, changing the size of the numerals.