Steinberg WaveLab 7 Operation Manual

							Chapter 14
How do I...
The following is a list of common tasks and brief instructions on how to achieve them using
WaveLab.
... import songs from an audio CD into WaveLab?
... use VST Plug-ins?
... edit an existing Audio File?
... compile and edit several Audio Files on multiple tracks?
... apply processing to an Audio File?
... convert an Audio File into another audio format?
... play back with real-time effects?
... record new Audio File?
... convert the sample rate of an Audio File?
... create a Podcast?
... open an aac, m4a or m4p Audio File from Apple iTunes?
14.1 ... import songs from an audio CD into WaveLab?
From the Audio File Workspace, select Utilities>Import Audio CD tracks...
This opens the Import Audio CD dialog window where you can specify the tracks to import
or the specific time ranges to import for each track. You can also specify where the output
Audio Files are stored and the format in which to save them.
See
Import Audio CD for more information.
14.2 ... use VST Plug-ins?
You use the Master Section to apply effects to a file (or a selection), using the built in and/or
third party VST plug-ins.
See the
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							388 How do I...
The VST plug-ins are described individually in Audio Plug-ins .
14.3 ... edit an existing Audio File?
You can open Audio Files from within the Audio File Workspace by:
ˆ opening the file directly using the File>Open command
ˆ using WaveLab's File Browser to locate your file and open it (you may need to change
the file type filter so that the file type matches the Audio File)
ˆ dragging a file directly from the operating system's file browser
When you open the Audio File, it appears in a Wave edit window for you to begin editing. In
the Audio Montage Workspace you can only drag Audio Files into an existing montage; you
can't open an Audio File directly.
14.4 ... compile and edit several Audio Files on multiple tracks?
To accomplish this you need to create an Audio Montage.
First create a new Audio Montage file from File>New in the Audio Montage Workspace,
or if you are working within the Audio File Workspace from Edit>Create Audio Montage
from Audio File...
To add more Audio Files you can use drag them directly from:
ˆ the File Browser
ˆ the Operating System's file browser
ˆ the document button in the status bar from within the Audio File Workspace. See
Status Bar for more information.
ˆ the document tab.
To add further tracks to your montage, right-click on the [1]button on the left side of the
window and choose "Add stereo track/Add mono track".
See
Audio Montages for more information.
14.5 ... apply processing to an Audio File?
The Audio File Workspace Process menu contains a number of options for manipulating
Audio Files, including fade-in, fade-out and normalize. Use these functions to process a
complete Audio File (or a selected region) that you have open in the main editing window.
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							14.6 ... convert an Audio File into another audio format? 389
You can also use the "Process in place" rendering function in the Master Section. This applies
effects to a file (or a selection) using the built in and/or third party VST plug-ins. You can use
the unlimited "Undo" function to reverse any bad editing decisions.
See
Render Wave window for more information.
Power users may wish to use the facilities available in the Batch Processor Workspace. This
allows complex processing to be applied to a list of Audio Files. See
Batch Processing for
more information.
14.6 ... convert an Audio File into another audio for- mat?
There are two ways:
ˆ From the Audio File Workspace you can either use the "Save as" or the "Save Special"
commands in the File menu. See
Save Audio File dialog and Audio File Format Dialog
for more information.
ˆ You can also use the Render function within the Master Section. See Render Wave
window
for more information.
Power users may wish to use the facilities available in the Batch Processor Workspace. This
allows complex processing to be applied to a list of Audio Files. See
Batch Processing for
more information.
14.7 ... play back with real-time effects?
You can play back Audio Files with real-time effects using the Master Section.
Plug-in effects (supplied with WaveLab or available from third parties) are inserted into the
audio signal path via the Master Section effects slots.
See
Master Section and Audio Plug-ins for more information.
14.8 ... record new Audio File?
Use the
Record button on the Transport toolbar, or select Recordfrom the Transport
menu.
This opens the Record dialog where you can set up a new Audio File and begin to record.
Once recorded, the new file appears in a Wave window where you can edit it or add it to a
Montage using Edit>Create Montage from Audio File...
See
Recording Dialog for more information.
14.9 ... convert the sample rate of an Audio File?
There are two ways to do this.
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ˆ From within the Audio File Workspace choose Process>Convert Sample Rate...
ˆ You can also convert the sample rate in real-time using a resampler plug-in such as
Crystal Resampler, which is included in WaveLab. See
Crystal Resampler .
See
Render Wave window for more information on applying VST effects.
Power users may wish to use the facilities available in the Batch Processor Workspace. This
allows complex processing to be applied to a list of Audio Files. See
Batch Processing for
more information.
14.10 ... create a Podcast?
To create a Podcast you use the Podcast Workspace.
First you need to create a new Podcast, there are several ways to do this.
ˆ From within the Podcast Workspace choose File>New , or
ˆ From the Audio File Workspace add Audio Files to a podcast by choosing File>Spe-
cial >Add to Podcast... , or
ˆ SelectEdit>Create Podcast from Audio File...
The Podcast Workspace is where you assemble, define and publish your Podcast to the
Internet.
See
Podcasts for more information.
14.11 ... open an aac, m4a or m4p Audio File from Apple iTunes?
Apple OS X and iTunes uses a number of proprietary audio codecs. These can be found
natively on Apple OS X but on Windows platforms you need to install QuickTime (this is
normally installed with iTunes on a PC).
QuickTime provides WaveLab with the necessary codecs to open these file formats.
Other file formats that are available using QuickTime include .caf, .m4v, .qt, .dv and others.
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							Chapter 15
Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z
A
ADPCM AES31 AIFF files Apple Lossless files ALAW files Aliasing Amplitude ASIO Attack
Audio montage
B
Bandwidth Bit depth Blu-ray Disk
C
CD Frame CD Pre-emphasis CD Text Chorus Clip Clipping Compression Cross fade
D
DAW DC Offset DDP files Decibel (dB) Dithering DVD-A
E
ECMAScript Ensoniq Paris files Equalization 
						

							392 Glossary
F
FFT Focused Clip Formant FTP Site
G
No entries available.
H
Headroom
I
ISO image ISRC
J
No entries available.
K
No entries available.
L
Loops Loudness
M
Markers Media Catalog Number MIDI MIDI Channels Mixing Mobile phone Audio Files MP2
files
MP3 files
N
Non-destructive editing Normalize NTSC
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O
Ogg Vorbis files OSQ files
P
PAL/SECAM Pan Peak level Plug-ins Pre-roll and Post-roll Preset system Processor cores
Q
Quantization
R
Raw PCM files Red Book CD-DA Regular Expressions RF64 files RMS
S
Sample rate SMPTE timecode Sound Designer II files Spectrogram Sun/Java files
T
Tempo Text/Excel files
U
ULAW files UPC/EAN
V
No entries available.
W
WAV files WAV64 files Waveform Wet/Dry WMA files
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							394 Glossary
X
No entries available.
Y
No entries available.
Z
Zero crossing
15.1 ADPCM
ADPCM – Microsoft/Dialogic is an audio file format commonly used for games and tele-
phony applications that offers a lower bit rate than linear PCM and thus requires less storage
space/bandwidth.
The file extension is .vox or .adpcm
Glossary contents
15.2 AES31
The AES31 Standard is a non-proprietary audio file format developed by the Audio Engi-
neering Society Standards Committee (AESSC). Its aim is to allow a project to be moved to
another audio editing system with a minimum of fuss, and to reproduce the project (including
Edit Decision Lists and other assets) as accurately as possible.
AES31 does not have a 2GB file-size limit and can be read by PC and Mac platforms. The
standard uses a form of universal resource locator for accessing files on any platform or net-
work, together with a sample-accurate Audio Decision List: in/out points of the component
audio fies are defined in terms of hours:minutes:seconds:frames andsample count.
The file extension is .adl
Glossary contents
15.3 AIFF files
AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) is the default uncompressed audio file format
used on the Macintosh.
AIFF was developed by Apple Inc. from IFF (Interchange File Format) which was in turn
developed by Electronic Arts. The audio data in AIFF is uncompressed PCM (Pulse Code
Modulation). A compressed variant, AIFF-C or AIFC, supports a number of compression
codecs. 8-, 16-, 20- or 24-bit resolutions are supported.
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							15.4 Apple Lossless files 395
Typical filename extensions are .aiff, .aif, .aifc, .snd.
Glossary contents
15.4 Apple Lossless files
ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio codec developed by Apple Inc. for loss-
less data compression of digital audio. Also known as Apple Lossless and Apple Lossless
Encoder (ALE), ALAC audio data is stored within the MP4 container and uses the mathe-
matical technique of linear prediction to achieve a file size reduction between 60% to 40%,
depending on the audio content.
The Apple Lossless Encoder is part of Quicktime.
Typical filename extensions are .m4a and .alac.
Glossary contents
15.5 ALAW files
ALAW is an audio encoding and compression technique for telephony, using 8-bit resolution.
The EU telephone system uses A-law encoding for digitization.
Typical file extensions are .alaw, .vox
Glossary contents
15.6 Aliasing
Aliasing is a type of distortion caused during the analog-to-digital conversion process. If the
sampling rate is not at least double the frequency of the analog signal, spurious harmonics
and other artifacts may be created.
Careful filtering before the sampling stage can reduce this aliasing to a minimum.
Glossary contents
15.7 Amplitude
Amplitude is the height of a waveform above or below the zero line.
Glossary contents
15.8 ASIO
Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) is a computer device driver protocol for digital audio
specified by Steinberg, providing a low-latency and high fidelity interface between a software
application and a computer's soundcard.
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Glossary contents
15.9 Attack
Attack is the initial part of the sound. An attack is said to be fast when the maximum am-
plitude is reached very quickly (with percussive sounds from drums, guitar or piano, for ex-
ample). Orchestral strings generally have slow attack, where the volume increases more
slowly.
Glossary contents
15.10 Audio montage
An Audio Montage is a compilation of audio Clips composited together. In WaveLab the
Audio Montage Workspace allows you to compile and edit multiple Clips (references to
Audio Files on disk) on one or more tracks.
The resulting Audio Montage can include both track and Clip-based effects, volume and pan
automation, wide-ranging fade and cross fade functions.
Multichannel support makes it possible to create surround mixes that can be burned to DVD-
Audio compatible disks.
Glossary contents
15.11 Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the group of frequencies (expressed in Hertz or in musical octaves) that pass
through a device with a loss of less than 3dB.
Glossary contents
15.12 Bit depth
Bit depth is the number of bits used to represent a single sample. 8-, 16- and 24-bits are
common bit depths. Larger bit depths represent the sample more accurately and are less
noisy, but take up more space on the disk.
Bit Meter
Glossary contents
15.13 Blu-ray Disk
Blu-ray Disk (BD or Blu-ray) is an optical disk storage medium designed to replace the
standard DVD format. The disk has the same physical dimensions as standard CDs and
DVDs, but the standard data storage capacity is 25GB (single layered), and 50GB (dual
layered disk).
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