Steinberg WaveLab 7 Operation Manual

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You can access this window by choosing Workspace>Shared tool windows >Time-
code . It is available in the Control Window, Audio File Workspace and Audio Montage
Workspace.
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Time Format dialog
CD Frame
SMPTE timecode
Authoring CDs and DVDs
11.2.9 Background task monitor
This specific tool window allows you to view all background rendering processes that are in
progress.
You can adjust the priority with which they are processed, pause or cancel them. It is useful
if you have a number of lengthy processes underway and want to free up some processing
power to focus on editing. You can either lower the priority of a task so it does not use as
much of the computer processor's capacity, or pause the task temporarily.
You can access this window by choosing Workspace>Shared tool windows >Back-
ground task monitor . It is available in the Control Window, Audio File Workspace and
Audio Montage Workspace. You can also access this window in the Control Window by
choosing Utilities>Background task monitor .
You can choose to automatically open the Background task monitor when a rendering pro-
cess begins. To enable this option, select the checkbox via Options>Global Preferences
> Options >Make the Background Task Monitor visible when a task starts . Since
this window is a Shared
tool window, the location where it opens may vary.
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Specific tool windows
Control Window
Rendering
11.2.10 Log window
This shared tool window allows you to view log messages that have been issued by WaveLab.
When using WaveLab's scripting language for example, the logWindow( )function outputs
messages to this window. There are a number of toggle buttons and these allow you to filter
the types of messages displayed.
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Note: When using the logWindow( ) method you need to have the
"Show informal notes"
button selected for the messages to be visible. If no log messages are displayed, make sure
all the toggle buttons are selected -
.
You can access this window via Workspace>Shared tool windows >Log . It is available
in the Control Window, Audio File Workspace and Audio Montage Workspace. You can also
access this window in the Control Window via Utilities>Log .
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Control Window
Specific tool windows
Scripting
11.3 Specific tool windows
Specific tool windows are windows that are specific to the current Workspace. They perform
useful tasks in the active Workspace.
They can be docked and un-docked, and saved in your custom layouts.
Audio File Workspace tool windows:
File Browser
Spectrum editor
Basic Audio CD
Scripting window (Audio File Workspace)
Metadata window
Marker Window
Sample attributes
Error detection and correction
Master Project
Audio Montage Workspace tool windows:
Focused Clip window
Marker Window
Snapshots
File
File Browser
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Zoom
CD
Clips
Notes
Effects
DVD-Audio
Scripting window (Audio Montage Workspace)
History
Navigator
Groups
Master Project
Podcast Workspace tool windows:
Master Project
File Browser
Batch Processor Workspace tool windows:
Master Project
File Browser
Batch Processing Plug-ins
Control Window tool windows:
Master Project
Related topics
About Tool Windows
11.3.1 File Browser
This dialog allows you to browse files directly from within WaveLab rather than using your
operating system's file browser.
It provides you with all the standard browsing functions (such as List and Icon views)as well
as additional controls to audition Audio Files and any marker defined regions.You can use
it to open or insert an entire file or a specific region of a file by dragging and releasing the
file in the location you wish to insert the file. In the Audio Montage Workspace you can also
choose to only view certain types of WaveLab specific files. The File Browser can be very
useful in speeding up the process of auditioning a long list of sound files. It can also be used
to drag to windows such as Data CD/DVD, including dragging folders.
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The playback functions
Play file
Once you have selected a file in the File Browser list, you can audition it by
clicking Play in the File Browser's toolbar. Click again to stop.
Auto-play
You can also have files play back automatically as soon as they are selected.
To do this, activate Auto-Play mode.
Tip: To audition a long list of Audio Files, enable Auto-play and use the UP and DOWN
cursor keys to step through each Audio File in quick succession.
Opening and inserting a file or region
Once you have chosen a file you wish to open, double-click it to open the file in the current
Workspace. You can also open it by dragging it onto an empty tabbed group, or onto the
tab bar of a tabbed group.
You can also drag the file over a wave view to insertit at a given point. When you drag a file
over a wave view, a beam is displayed so as to clearly display the insertion point.
When browsing Audio Files, the file browser also has a region panel. When you select an
Audio File, its related regions are listed in this panel. You can then drag the region from
the list, to insert only that part of the audio. Double-clicking on a region has the effect of
opening the file in the Workspace and selecting that region. You can access this dialog via
Workspace >Specific tool windows >File Browser .
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Specific tool windows
11.3.2 Spectrum editor
This specific tool window allows you to select and perform operations on an Audio File via
its audio spectrum.
It uses high quality linear-phase filters to process a spectrum selection both in the time do-
main and in the frequency domain. This can be useful for advanced audio restoration tasks
like removing noise from a specific source in a recording, for example.
Making and editing selections
Spectrum editing can only be performed when a waveform is first displayed in Spectrum
display mode and when a spectrum selection is defined. To activate the Spectrum editor,
click on the Spectrum edit tool
in the command bar (or viaWorkspace>Specific tool
windows >Spectrum Editor ). This displays the Spectrogram if this is not already the case
(see
The Spectrum display ).
To select a region, point and drag to define a rectangle. The region selection defines a time
and a specific frequency range. This allows you to edit and process audio both in the time
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domain and in a specific frequency domain, as opposed to standard wave editing which
always operates in the full frequency domain.
Notes on spectrum selections:
ˆ When defining a region in a stereo file, a "mirrored" region is automatically created in
the other channel. To define a region in only one channel, press [Shift]while drawing
the region.
ˆ Once you have a region selected, if you place your mouse cursor inside the region,
a pop-up appears showing the currently set frequency range (Hz) and the time range
(seconds/milliseconds) for the selection.
ˆ A selected region can be moved in any direction by clicking and dragging the region
with the cursor.
ˆ If you press [Shift]whilst dragging a region, it only moves horizontally thus retaining
your selected frequency range. If you press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift] the region
only moves vertically thus retaining the selected time range.
ˆ You can resize a region by placing the mouse cursor at the edges of the region (so that
a double-arrow appears) and then clicking and dragging.
ˆ To remove a region that you have drawn, click anywhere else on the waveform and it
disappears.
ˆ If you have defined a region as a Source or Target, it can be selected at any time to
create a new selection using the same dimensions.
Spectrum editor functions
The Spectrum Editor has the following parts:
ˆ Selection - use this part to refine and define your selection(s). You can expand se-
lections, shift selections around and define a source and target region for performing
copy operations.
ˆ Operations - use this part to perform copying, filtering and processing operations.
For copying operations, you require both a source and a target region to have been
defined using the Selection tab. You can choose which method to copy audio between
the Source and Target regions. You can also choose to apply processing to a single
spectrum region using a variety of different modes. See
Spectrum Processing Modes
for information on each mode type.
ˆ Master Section - use this part to process and route selected spectral audio regions
through the Master Section and its effects plug-ins. This allows for frequency-selective
processing. A selected region's frequency spectrum can be routed to the Master Sec-
tion where you can choose to process it separately from the non-selected frequency
spectrum. The signal is split so that one part (region spectrum or non-selected spec-
trum) is sent to the plug-ins, while the other part can be mixed with this processed
signal, after the Master Section output.
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Using the Spectrum editor
You can use the Spectrum editor in two main operational modes:
Region copying and filtering (Operations tab)
This is mainly intended for audio restoration applied over brief time ranges. Selections can
be copied, pasted, and filtered. This type of processing is mainly used to reduce, remove
or replace unwanted sound artifacts in the audio material, and can be carried out with great
precision. This could be useful for example, to replace part of a live recording that contains
an unwanted noise (such as a mobile phone ring tone), with a copy of a similar region of the
spectrum that only contains a "clean" signal. In general, the spectral Copy/Paste combination
gives the best results, given that the source and destination regions are properly choosen.
Master Section processing (Master Section tab)
This allows you to process a specific frequency range via the Master Section. The selected
or non-selected regions of the spectrum can be processed differently. You can also employ
a number of filters (Bandpass/Low-pass/High-pass) to further refine the particular range of
frequencies to be affected by any Master Section effects.
A selected spectrum region can either be:
ˆ Processed separately by the Master Section plug-ins. The non-selected spectrum can
either be bypassed or sent to the Master Section.
ˆ Bypassed. This removes the selected spectrum region from the Audio File. The non-
selected spectrum can either be routed to the Master Section input or the Master Sec-
tion output.
ˆ Sent to Master Section output. The non-selected spectrum can either be bypassed
or sent to the Master Section input. If the latter is selected, it will be mixed with the
selected spectrum region at the Master Section output.
You can access this window by choosing Workspace>Specific tool windows >Spec-
trum Editor .
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
The Spectrum display
Spectrum Processing Modes
Spectrogram options
Spectrometer
11.3.2.1 Spectrum Processing Modes
When applying processing to a spectrum region in the
Spectrum Editor you can use a variety
of different modes:
Damp
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This is used to attenuate the level of a region. The Gain parameter specifies the level of the
attenuation (it is also possible to set positive gain values, i.e. to boost the frequencies in the
region). Three filter types are available to perform the damping:
ˆ Bandpass filter: All frequencies in the region are equally attenuated.
ˆ Low-pass filter: Higher frequencies in the region will be more attenuated.
ˆ High-pass filter: Lower frequencies in the region will be more attenuated.
For the Low- and High-pass filters, a low Filter steepness setting is normally used (around 6
to 18dB).
Blur peaks
This filter operation analyzes the region to find the frequencies with the highest level. The
level of these frequencies will be attenuated (or boosted) according to the set Gain value. If
the gain is negative, these frequencies will be "blurred" and disappear in the mix as a whole.
The purpose of the filter is to mask the loudest frequencies (e.g. it could be used to eliminate
a sudden burst of pitched but unwanted sound in the audio material, like acoustic feedback).
This mode works best with the Infinite steepness setting, which is automatically selected
when Blur peaks is used. You can, however, freely set any Filter steepness setting. The filter
type options are not available when this mode is selected.
Dispersion
This is a special filter that "smears" the dynamics and pitch of the region, without changing
the actual frequency content. This works best on lower frequencies, to mask the identity of
a signal without changing the frequency spectrum.
This mode works best with the Infinite steepness setting, which is automatically selected
when Dispersion is used. You can, however, freely set any Filter steepness setting. The filter
type options are not available when this mode is selected. Dispersion can also be used to
create special effects as it warps the sound in an unique way.
Fade Out
This can be used with any of the three filter types (Bandpass/Low-pass/High-pass). It grad-
ually filters the frequencies in the region along the time axis (from nothing at the left edge of
the region, to maximum allowed by the gain parameter at the right edge), useful for gradually
removing frequencies from a region.
Fade In
This works like Fade out but inversed. It can also be used in conjunction with any of the three
filter types (Bandpass/Low-pass/High-pass).
Fade out then in
This is a mix of the two previous options; the filtering effect gradually fades out until the
middle of the region, then fades back in. It can also be used in conjunction with any of the
three filter types (Bandpass/Low-pass/High-pass).
Fade in then out
The inverse of the above. It can also be used in conjunction with any of the three filter types
(Bandpass/Low-pass/High-pass).
Related topics
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The Spectrum display
Spectrogram options
Spectrum editor
11.3.3 Basic Audio CD
This specific tool window allows you to burn basic "Red Book compatible" audio CDs. You
create your audio CD by adding Audio Files to create a list of tracks. Each track contains
a reference to the external Audio File. This means that you can save your Basic Audio CD
layout as its own session and continue editing individual tracks, for example. Once you are
happy with your CD layout you can choose to check the cd for conformity to the Red Book
standard,
burn the CD or export it to the Audio Montage Workspace to edit further. You
can also choose to consolidate the Audio Files in the CD into a single Audio File with track
markers.
Adding tracks to your audio CD
To create tracks in your audio CD:
ˆ Drag Audio Files directly - drag Audio Files directly from your computer's file browser
into the window. You can also drag Audio Files from the Audio File Workspace by their
tab or document icon. This creates CD track markers at the file edges, quantized on
CD frame boundaries.
ˆ Drag an audio selection - dragging a selection (rather than a whole file) into the
basic audio CD creates a CD track with markers at the edges, but quantized on CD
frame boundaries, not necessarily exactly on the exact position of the selection edges.
ˆ Browse for Audio Files - selectFile>Add track(s)... from the Basic Audio CD
menu. You can then select Audio Files to insert in your CD.
Once you have added your tracks, information about each track is displayed. Each track also
has its marker information nested within it. To access this information click on the left most
arrow icon to expand the track view.
Using the track list
Once you have added a number of tracks to your audio CD you can use the track list to:
ˆ Audition playback - you can audition each track, with or without pre-roll, by clicking
on the leftmost icons. Click on
in the "audition" column to play the track from that
track's start marker with a pre-roll. Click on the right hand button to playback the track
exactly from the start marker position. You will notice a progress display appears at the
bottom of the window to show you the playback position/time and track number. You
can also start playback with or without a pre-roll from the tracks start or end markers
using the same controls. If the markers are not visible click on the track expand arrow
to reveal the track's markers.
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ˆ Edit a track's start pause time - for all tracks except the first one you can adjust
the pause duration before the track begins playing. If the pause checkbox is not visible
click on the track expand arrow to reveal the track's markers and pause time setting.
Double click in the cell to edit the value.
ˆ Add ISRC code - add an ISRC code for a track by
Select-clicking on the field under
the ISRC column.
ˆ Edit a track name - by
Select-clicking on the name in the list. This also renames the
track's start marker labels.
ˆ Add a comment - add a comment to each track by
Select-clicking to edit its value.
ˆ Editing track times - you cannot edit track start and end times directly in the track
listing. Instead, open the tracks accompanying Audio File via Edit>Edit Audio and
adjust the track start and track end marker locations in the main waveform display. The
start and end times will update accordingly.
Completing your Audio CD
In addition to editing via the track window you can also set overall CD settings via the
Basic
Audio CD Settings
dialog. You can use this dialog to add UPC/EAN codes and adjust
pauses and silences in your CD. The Master Section is never used to process the signal to
burn, unlike in the montage. This is why playback through the Master Section is an option
that is off by default.
When you are happy with your CD layout or you wish to further refine it further you can:
ˆ Check CD conformity - before burning your CD you can first check its Red Book
conformity by choosing Edit>Check CD conformity .
ˆ Write audio CD - choose to burn the CD using the
Write Audio CD dialog.
ˆ Convert to Audio Montage - convert the CD layout into an audio montage for
further editing by choosing Edit>Convert to Audio Montage
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Authoring CDs and DVDs
Basic Audio CD Settings
Write Audio CD
Select-clicking
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11.3.4 Scripting window (Audio File Workspace)
This window allows you to write and execute scripts in the Audio File Workspace.
The inbuilt text editor helps you when writing scripts by highlighting the different parts of
the script with colors, making it more readable. A script can also be written in another text
editor, and loaded via the File menu. To run a script, from within the script window choose
Functions >Execute script .
For a general description of scripting, see
Scripting . For an overview of the scripting lan-
guage, see
ECMAScript Reference .
You can access this dialog from the Audio File Workspace via Workspace>Specific tool
windows >Script .
Note: To view trace or log messages when executing scripts that contain the logWin-
dow() function, ensure that the
Log window is visible and that it's warning filter buttons -
are selected.
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Scripting
ECMAScript Reference
Log window
11.3.5 Metadata window
This specific tool window displays any Meta-data tags belonging to the currently active file.
This usually consists of a set of tags that describe the audio contents. For example it might
include the title of the track, the author, and the date it was created. This data will vary
depending on the file type, and not all file types store this information so it may be blank. To
edit the file's meta-data tags click anywhere in the window. This will open the corresponding
file attributes dialog.
You can access this dialog in the Audio File Workspace via Workspace>Specific tool
windows >Meta-Data .
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Specific tool windows
11.3.6 Marker Window
The marker window is a specific tool window that allows you to create, edit and use markers
while working on an audio waveform.
WaveLab 7