Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

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•File header: Genre –If the audio file is associated with Genre information 
(meta-data, such as ID3), it is inserted. 
You can also insert a prefix and suffix.
•Time line position (for clips and markers only) – This allows you to insert 
the time line position. The time format is the same as the one defined for 
the time ruler of the window where the clips/markers are located. 
You can also insert a prefix and suffix.
•Line X from text file – You can specify a text file consisting of a name list 
(one name per line). WaveLab inserts the name #1 for the first renaming 
operation, then name #2, etc. 
This option is mainly useful for markers, because markers are renamed one after the other 
according to their time position, hence the text file can be written with this knowledge (as 
opposed to files and clips which are renamed in no specific order).
About regular expressions 
The inclusion of regular expressions as a way to specify ranges and oper-
ations is intended for the advanced user. A regular expression is a set of 
text symbols that describe a method to find a specific text string within a 
larger text, and then apply a specific operation to this text string. Regular 
expressions are commonly used in many different areas to perform vari-
ous text-based operations. 
In WaveLab, the use of regular expressions should be seen as an added 
functionality for those who are familiar with the subject. 
As illustrated in the previous sections, the Operating Categories/Types 
together with the Start/From Range settings allow for almost any type of 
conceivable renaming operation, without ever having to specify regular 
expressions.
But if you are familiar with regular expressions, you can use this powerful 
feature to further customize text searches and perform any desired re-
naming operation!
It is beyond the scope of this manual to fully describe this subject (there 
are many internet links available), but please read on if you wish to famil-
iarize yourself with the basic building blocks used in regular expressions. 
						

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Common expressions
A regular expression is a formula composed of characters that have spe-
cial meanings (called “operators”). Other characters are just plain letters 
and numbers that are searched for. The search engine browses the target 
text one character at a time and stops as soon as it finds a sequence of 
characters that matches the regular expression. Searches are not case-
sensitive.
Note that there are various versions of regular expressions. WaveLab 
uses a version that represents a good compromise between power and 
ease of use.
When “Regular expression” is selected for the Range, you can add regu-
lar expressions in the text field, either by typing them in manually, or by se-
lecting expressions from the corresponding pop-up menu.
The term “expression” refers to a single character, a character class, or a 
sub-expression enclosed with () or {} (see table below).
The following items are available on the Regular Expression pop-up menu:
Menu item Operator Description
Any character . Symbolizes any character.
Character in range [ ] A bracketed text is treated as a single character, i.e. any 
character from this text. Example: [AEW13] means A or 
E or W or 1 or 3.
A hyphen within the brackets specifies a range of char-
acters. Examples: 
• [F-I] means F or G or H or I.
• [A-Z0-9] matches all letters and all digits.  
						

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Character not in range [^] A circumflex located at the first position in a bracket is a 
complement operator. In other words, all characters 
match but those included in the bracket. Example: [^E] 
means any character but E.
/ A slash before a character means that this character is 
treated literally, not as an operator anymore.
0 or 1 match 
(1 if possible)? Matches 0 or 1 time the preceding expression. 1 repeat 
if possible is grabbed, then the rest of the regular ex-
pression continues to be evaluated.
0 or 1 match
(0 if possible)?? Matches 0 or 1 time the preceding expression. 0 repeat 
if possible (the NEXT step in the regular expression is 
also evaluated and has priority).
0 or more matches
(as many as possible)* Matches 0 or more times the preceding expression. As 
many repeats as possible are grabbed, then the rest of 
the regular expression continues to be evaluated.
0 or more matches
(as few as possible)*? Matches 0 or more times the preceding expression. As 
few repeats as possible are grabbed (the NEXT step in 
the regular expression is also evaluated and has prior-
ity).
1 or more matches
(as many as possible)+ Matches 1 or more times the preceding expression. As 
many repeats as possible are grabbed, then the rest of 
the regular expression continues to be evaluated.
1 or more matches 
(as few as possible)+? Matches 1 or more times the preceding expression. As 
few repeats as possible are grabbed (the next step in 
the regular expression is also evaluated and has priority).
Or | OR operator. Use this to separate 2 expressions and to 
match expression #1 or expression #2. E.g. Piano|Drum 
matches all texts that contain Piano or Drum.
Not ! Negation (NOT) operator: the expression following ! 
must not match the browsed text. E.g.: a!b matches any 
“a” not followed by “b”.
Generic Group () Grouping operator. Useful to form a sub-expression. 
This sub-expression can be followed by one of the 
repeat operators.
Capture {} Capture operator. By default, the found text corre-
sponds to the entire regular expression. But it is possi-
ble to limit a part of the regular expression with { }, and if 
a part is matched, this will be the retained part. For in-
stance the regular expression “ab{cd}ef” that is applied 
on “abcdef” will return “cd”. 
Beginning of text ^ Put this sign to specify that the sought-after text MUST 
be located at the start of the browsed text. Any match 
not located at the start of the browsed text is ignored. Menu item Operator Description 
						

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The Shortcuts submenu on the Regular Expression pop-up menu con-
tains the following options:
All special characters used for regular expressions are available from the 
“Special characters” submenu. 
There is also a Presets sub-menu with pre-defined operations. The items 
on this sub-menu are as follows:
End of text $ Put this sign to specify that the sought-after text MUST 
be located at the end of the text. Any match not located 
at the end of the text is ignored.
Menu item Operator Description
Any digit /d Special code to symbolize any digit, as [0-9].
Any non-digit  /D Special code to symbolize any non-digit, as [^0-9].
Any letter /l Special code to symbolize any letter, as [a-z].
Any non-letter /L Special code to symbolize any non-letter, as [^a-z].
Any alphabetic /w Special code to symbolize any alphabetic character, as 
[0-9a-z].
Any non-alphabetic /W Special code to symbolize any non-alphabetic charac-
ter, as [^0-9a-z].
Any number  /u Special code to symbolize a number (without a sign).
Number with possible 
+- before /i Special code to symbolize a number which can be pre-
ceded by a + or - sign.
Quoted string /q Special code to symbolize quoted text.
Simple word /z Special code to symbolize a simple word (a sequence of 
letters surrounded by non-letters, e.g. spaces).
Menu item  Description
1st/2nd/3rd word This searches for the first, second or third word, respectively 
(separated by a space).
Last word  This searches for the last word (separated by a space).
1st/2nd/3rd expression
in parenthesesThis searches for the first, second or third string enclosed in 
parentheses, respectively. Menu item Operator Description 
						

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Last expression
in parenthesesThis searches for the last string enclosed in parentheses.
1st/2nd/3rd expression
in brackets.This searches for the first, second or third string enclosed in 
brackets, respectively.
Last expression in brackets This searches for the last string enclosed in brackets. Menu item  Description 
						

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							15
Markers 
						

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Introduction
What are markers for?
Markers allow you to save and name certain positions in a file. You can 
use these positions later on in various ways:
• Set the wave cursor to a marker.
• Select all audio between two markers.
• Define CD tracks according to markers.
• Loop the section between two markers, etc.
There is no limit to the amount of markers you can have in a file.
This chapter describes how to use markers in Wave windows. 
Audio Montages have their own markers, see “Using markers in the Mon-
tage” on page 492. Please note however, that if you define CD tracks with 
markers and import the file containing the markers into an Audio Montage 
intended for a DVD-A, the existing CD Track markers will automatically be 
used in the montage as DVD Track markers.  
						

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The various marker types
The following marker types are available:
About marker pairs
Four of the marker types come in pairs: CD, Loop, Mute and Region.
Since you can’t have a CD track that starts but never ends, a loop end 
point without a start, etc., special rules exist for creating, deleting and 
moving these types of markers.
• CD track markers must always be “balanced”.
For example, if you delete a track start, the corresponding end marker will also be deleted, 
or other markers will get changed.
• Loop, Mute and region markers only have a functionality when balanced.
You can enter just a start marker, but its purpose will be defeated by the lack of a corre-
sponding end marker.
Marker type Description
Generic This is mainly used for locating certain important positions and for editing 
(for example selecting all audio between two positions). Generic markers 
can be created directly during recording if needed (see “About dropping 
markers during recording” on page 153).
Temporary As Generic, but not saved with the file.
CD Track Start, 
End and SpliceThese denote where CD tracks start and end. A CD track splice is used 
when a CD track starts just where another ends. As previously mentioned, 
these will automatically serve as DVD track markers if the wave file is im-
ported into an Audio Montage that will be used to create a DVD-A.
CD Track Index These are used to create “index” points in CD tracks.
Loop start and 
endThese are used for defining loop points. This is useful for editing pur-
poses as well as when creating loops before transferring a sound to a 
sampler.
Mute start and 
endThese let you temporarily silence a certain section. Muted sections can 
also be skipped on playback (see “Skipping sections during playback” 
on page 137).
Region start and
endUse these to define start and end points for generic regions. This is use-
ful for editing purposes and can be created directly during recording if 
needed (see “About dropping markers during recording” on page 153).
Playback Starter This is used to program a playback start point. See “Setting the start 
point for playback” on page 136. 
						

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About importing and saving loop markers
There are a few points to be aware of when importing files with loops into 
WaveLab. This is because the loops can be defined in two places: Wave 
and AIFF file formats have the ability to contain loop points, and WaveLab 
stores loop points as markers separately for each file, in “.MRK” files. So, 
there’s a potential risk for conflict:
• When you import a file that has never been used in  WaveLab before, and which 
contains loops, the loops are “imported” and displayed as loop markers (in addi-
tion, the sample note and detune information described in the section “Editing 
sample attributes” on page 667 is imported, if present).
• When you then save the file in AIFF or Wave format, the loop points are stored, 
both as part of the actual file (so that other applications can read them) and in the 
“.MRK” file (for WaveLab).
• When you open a file that has been used in  WaveLab before, loop indications 
that were originally in the file, before you used it in  WaveLab, are ignored. Only 
the loop information in the “.MRK” file is used.
The Marker toolbar
This is a special control bar for markers. It can be brought up from the 
Control Bars submenu on the View menu.
Add CD markers
Add new 
marker
Drop Generic marker Add loop 
markers
Open marker listGo to previous markerGo to next marker
Add Mute markers Add region markers