Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

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The Audio Montage 19 – 421
Dragging selections to create new clips
If you have made a selection range in a clip, you can copy this to a new 
clip, in the following way:
1.Create the selection range, see “Selection ranges” on page 413.
If the selection range covers more than one clip, only the section belonging 
to the focused clip will be copied!
2.Position the pointer over the selection, in the mouse zone to which you 
have assigned the “Select range” function (by default the upper clip area).
3.Drag the selection to the desired position.
When you are dragging, the position of the pointer is displayed on the info line. Magnetic 
bounds apply, as when duplicating clips.
4.Release the mouse button.
The Insert options pop-up menu appears (see “The Insert options” on page 388). Select 
one of the options to insert the new clip.
Envelopes and effects will not be included when you copy selection ranges.  
						

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19 – 422 The Audio Montage
Resizing clips
In this context, “resizing” usually means moving the start and end points of 
a clip, so that more or less of the original audio file is “revealed”. However, 
in the Audio Montage there are two ways of doing this: with the audio 
source “static” or “tied”. These two methods are explained below. 
As with other clip operations, the mouse zones determine which function 
is used, and the pointer changes shape to indicate the current function.
The “Resize clips” pointers for static and tied audio sources, respectively.
Resize clips (static audio source)
This is the traditional way of resizing clips, you move the start or end point 
to the left or to the right:
1.Point at the left or right edge of the clip.
By default, it doesn’t matter whether you click in the upper or lower half of the edge, but it 
is possible to select either half for the alternate resize method, as described below.
2.Click and drag to the right or left.
The start and end positions and length of the clip are displayed on the info line while you are 
dragging.
• You cannot drag the edge of a clip past the start or end point of the audio file it 
refers to.
• The clip edges will snap to any activated magnetic bounds, as described in the 
section “Magnetic bounds” on page 409.
• When you drag the right edge of a clip this way, the auto-grouping settings on the 
Edit view : Options menu are taken into account.
As when copying clips, this means that if Track auto-grouping is activated, all the following 
clips on the track will be moved when you resize the clip (so that the distance between the 
clip’s right edge and the next clip on the track remains the same).
If Global auto-grouping is activated, the same is true, but for clips on all tracks in the Audio 
Montage.   
						

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The Audio Montage 19 – 423
Resize clips (tied audio source)
When you resize a clip using this method, the audio source is “tied” to the 
edge you are moving. This means that the audio is “scrolled” at the other 
edge of the clip, as in the picture below.
1.Point at the left or right edge of the clip, and press [Ctrl].
2.Click and drag to the right or left.
The start and end positions and length of the clip are displayed on the info line while you are 
dragging.
In this example, the right edge of the clip is moved to the right. As a result, the start point 
of the clip will refer to an earlier position in the audio file.
•Magnetic bounds and the auto-grouping options apply as when resizing 
with static audio source.
•It is also possible to assign either the upper of lower half of the clip edge 
to this alternate resize method. 
This is done on the Edit view : Options menu, by selecting “Resize clip (tied audio source)” 
for the upper or lower clip edges on the Mouse zones submenu. In this case, you don’t need 
to press [Ctrl] in step one above, but you must take care to aim at the desired mouse zone 
(upper or lower) when you resize the clip.
Resize clips (tied audio source) selected for the lower half of the clip edges.
Resizing all selected clips
•If you press [Alt] when resizing, all selected clips will be resized by the 
same amount.
To resize multiple selected clips using tied audio sources press [Alt] + [Ctrl] (unless you 
have assigned a mouse zone for this).   
						

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19 – 424 The Audio Montage
Resizing by trimming
If you need to remove unnecessary material at the beginning and end of a 
clip, this can be quickly done by trimming:
1.Make a selection range within the clip (see “Selection ranges” on page 
413), encompassing the audio material you want to keep in the clip.
2.Right-click to open the clip speed menu.
3.Select Trim to selection.
The clip is resized to contain only the selected audio.
Sliding the audio in a clip
If you want to adjust the position in the audio file to which the clip refers, 
you can do this by “sliding” the audio within the clip, without resizing it:
1.Position the pointer over the clip, in the mouse zone to which you have as-
signed the “Select/Move clip” function (by default the lower or bottom 
clip area).
2.Press [Ctrl] and [Alt].
The pointer takes on the shape of a double arrow.
3.Drag left or right to slide the audio source.
•It is also possible to assign a separate mouse zone to this function. 
This is done on the Edit view : Options menu, by selecting “Slide audio source” for the de-
sired zone on the Mouse zones submenu. In this case, you don’t need to press [Ctrl]-[Alt] in 
step two above. Be careful not to slide the audio by accident, though.   
						

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The Audio Montage 19 – 425
Moving a clip with the audio source fixed
This is the opposite of sliding the audio: this function moves the clip in the 
Montage, but the audio source remains fixed in position:
1.Position the pointer over the clip, in the mouse zone to which you have as-
signed the “Select/Move clip” function (by default the lower or bottom 
clip area).
2.Press [Shift] and [Alt].
The pointer takes on the shape of a box with arrows.
3.Drag left or right to move the clip, “revealing” other sections of the “un-
derlying” audio source.
•It is also possible to assign a separate mouse zone to this function. 
This is done on the Edit view : Options menu, by selecting “Move clip – source remains 
fixed” for the desired zone on the Mouse zones submenu. In this case, you don’t need to 
press [Shift]-[Alt] in step two above.
Splitting a clip
You can split a clip in two, using the following method:
1.Set the Montage cursor to the position at which you want to split the clip.
2.Position the pointer over the clip, in a mouse zone for which you have ac-
tivated the “Split at cursor with a double click” function (by default the top 
clip area).
The cursor takes on the shape of a pair of scissors.
3.Double click.
The clip is split in two. The two clips will have the same name and settings. Envelopes and 
fades (see “The volume envelope” on page 445) are converted, so that the two clips play 
back as before.   
						

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19 – 426 The Audio Montage
•If the options “Create default fades in new clips” is activated on the Edit 
view : Fade menu, a crossfade is automatically created between the re-
sulting left and right clip.
•You can also split a clip by setting the Montage cursor and selecting 
“Split at Cursor” from the clip speed menu, or by pressing [S] on the com-
puter keyboard (in which case the focused clip is split).
Cutting and erasing sections of a clip
You can cut or erase a selection range within a clip, by using the func-
tions “Cut selection” or “Erase selection” on the clip speed menu, or by 
selecting Delete or Erase selected range from the main Edit menu.
Cutting
If you select “Cut selection” (or Delete on the main Edit menu), the se-
lected range is removed, and the right section of the clip is moved to the 
left, to fill out the gap.
•If any of the automatic crossfading modes or the option “Create default 
fades in new clips” are activated on the Edit view : Fade menu, a default 
crossfade is created between the resulting two clips, ensuring a click-
free, clean transition.
Furthermore, if “Snap to waveform when crossfading” or “Create optimized crossfade when 
snapping to other clip” are activated on the Edit view : Fade menu, the position of the right 
clip will be adjusted for the best possible phase match between the clips (see “Moving and 
snapping to another clip” on page 417).
•The auto-grouping settings in the Edit mode are taken into account.
This means that the following clips (on the same track or on all tracks) may be moved to the 
left, depending on the auto-grouping settings.  
						

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The Audio Montage 19 – 427
Erasing
Selecting “Erase selection” removes the selected range, resulting in two 
clips with a gap between them.
•If “Create default fades in new clips” is activated on the Edit view : Fade 
menu, a default fade-in is created for the right clip, and a default fade-out 
for the left clip.
Deleting clips
There are two principal ways to delete a clip:
•Right-click on the clip to bring up the clip speed menu, and select “Delete 
clip”.
•Select it, and press [Backspace].
Instead of using [Backspace], you can press the [Delete] key or select “Delete” from the 
main Edit menu.
Make sure there is no selection range before deleting – otherwise the range 
will be deleted instead of the clip. To ensure there is no selection range, 
press [Esc].
Locking clips
Sometimes it’s useful to lock a clip (or several selected clips), to prevent 
you from accidentally moving, editing or deleting it. This is done by select-
ing “Lock” from the clip speed menu.
This clip is locked. This is indicated by the mouse pointer taking on the shape of a lock 
symbol, whenever you move it over the clip. The default color for locked clips is green, 
but you can change this if you like (see “The color elements” on page 742).  
						

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19 – 428 The Audio Montage
Unlocking a locked clip
There are three ways to unlock a locked clip:
• Click on the clip, and click “Yes” when asked whether you want to remove the lock.
• Uncheck the checkbox in the Lock column in the Clips view (see “The columns” 
on page 439).
• Deactivate the Lock item on the clip speed menu.
•To lock or unlock several clips in one go, select the clips and select 
“Lock/Unlock all selected clips” from the Edit view : Select menu.
To be able to select locked clips, you need to use a selection rectangle (by pressing [Ctrl] 
and [Shift] and dragging with the mouse).
Using cue points
A cue point is a defined position marker that belongs to a clip. It may be 
positioned within or outside the clip. Cue points are displayed as dotted 
vertical lines.
A cue point
When you move a clip, its cue point will be magnetic to any edges, mark-
ers or positions activated on the Magnetic bounds menu (see “Magnetic 
bounds” on page 409). There are several uses for this:
• Set the cue point at a “relevant” position in the audio and use it to align the clip 
with other clips, etc.
• Set the cue point before the start of a clip, allowing you to position clips in a row 
with pre-defined spaces (by magnetizing the cue point to the end of the previous 
clip).
• Set the cue point at the fade-in or fade-out point of a clip, making it easy to maintain 
defined fade lengths when crossfading (see “Using crossfades” on page 462).  
						

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The Audio Montage 19 – 429
To set the cue point for a clip, proceed as follows:
1.If you want to set the cue point at an arbitrary position, move the Montage 
cursor to that position.
This may be within the clip or outside it.
2.Right-click on the clip to bring up the clip speed menu.
3.Open the Cue point submenu.
4.Select one of the functions on the submenu:
Each clip can only have one cue point. This means that if you repeat the 
procedure above and select another option on the submenu, the cue point 
will be moved to a new position.
Option Description
Set at cursor Sets the cue point at the current Montage cursor position.
Follows fade-in 
end pointSets the cue point at the clip’s fade-in junction point (the left purple han-
dle in the volume envelope). The cue point will follow the handle if you 
move it. See “Editing fades” on page 457.
Follows fade-out 
start pointAs the previous option, but for the fade-out start point.
Set at default 
pregap positionSets the cue point before the start of the clip, at a distance governed by 
the default pre-gap position (set on the Edit view : Options menu).  
						

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19 – 430 The Audio Montage
Nudging
The Audio Montage window has a special function for making fine adjust-
ments, or “nudging”. The Nudge function is not restricted to the position 
of clips; it can be applied to a number of objects and properties in the 
Track View.
Basic procedure
1.If necessary, select the object(s) you want to nudge.
For example, if you want to adjust the position of a clip, or any property such as left/right 
edge, fade-in/fade-out length, etc., you need to select the clip.
2.Pull down the Edit view : Options menu and bring up the Nudge submenu.
3.Select the element or property you want to nudge, from the lower part of 
the submenu.