Steinberg WaveLab Elements 7 Operation Manual

							4.6 Offline processing 43
The Loop Tweaker consists of the following tabs:
Loop points adjustment
This is a visualization of the beginning and end of the waveform between the loop markers.
You use this dialog to manually refine a loop selection by dragging on the waveform left/right
or using the automatic search buttons to find the nearest "good" loop point. The aim is to
align the waveforms so they meet in the middle at a
zero-crossing point with the waveforms
matching as closely as possible, being "in phase". When you adjust your loop start and end
points within the dialog the start and end loop markers in the main waveform window will
adjust accordingly. Note that this movement may or may not be visible depending on the
amount you move the markers and the zoom factor you have selected.
It is helpful to have the transport looped during playback so you can hear the difference when
you adjust the loop markers within the dialog. Use the Display options to adjust how the Loop
Tweaker waveform is visualized. You can also use the temporary memory buttons to capture
a number of different loop "candidates" and audition them one by one. Note that if you are
not using a cross fade or post cross fade you do not need to click Apply when just tweaking
loop points. You can also leave this dialog window open and manually adjust the position of
the markers in the main waveform windows if you need to make large adjustments.
Cross fade
This tab allows you to apply a cross fade at the end of a loop by mixing a copy of the beginning
of the loop with it. This can be useful to smooth the transition between the end of a loop and
its beginning - especially when using material that doesn't naturally loop. Use the envelope
drag points or value sliders to adjust the cross fade envelope. Click Apply to process the
cross fade.
Post cross fade
This tab allows you to cross fade the loop back into the audio after the end of the loop. This
is done by mixing a copy of the loop back into the audio. Use the envelope drag points or
value sliders to adjust the cross fade envelope. Click Apply to process the post cross fade.
Using the "Copy" button you can insert multiple copies of the loop into the active Audio File,
creating a smooth audio sequence, since copies will loop without an audible transition.
You can access this dialog by choosing Process>Loop Tweaker... .
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
Markers
Adjusting Envelopes
Zero crossing
4.6.9 Presets
WaveLab's powerful preset system allows you to create your own presets to store commonly
used settings. They are available every time you open WaveLab Elements. Presets can be
saved for many parameters such as plug-in settings, Audio File Formats or File Attributes, for
example. You can access the Presets pop-up menu wherever you see one of these icons:
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							44 WaveLab Elements Concepts
or . Presets are saved as local files on your hard drive, allowing you to conveniently
back-up or copy them for use on another computer.
Working with Presets
When working with Presets you save/edit and load them from their own pop-up menu. De-
pending on the context, the available functions sometimes vary but generally you can:
ˆ Save/Save As... - creates a new Preset file by saving the currently selected settings
to your hard disk.
ˆ Explore presets... - opens the folder where any existing Presets are stored. This
allows you to delete, duplicate and organize your settings into sub-folders using the
flexibility of the operating system's file browser.
ˆ Restore factory settings - restores the current settings to the factory default.
ˆ Preset list - select a Preset from the list of those currently available.
ˆ Store/restore temporary presets - when available, use the temporary slots provided
to save your settings for the duration of the session. This is useful if you want to quickly
test and compare different settings. Select the option "Store temporarily" and from the
submenu select the number under which you want to save (#1 - #5). To quickly load the
saved settings again, select the corresponding number from the "Restore" submenu.
VST-2 Presets
VST plug-ins have their own preset handling. When you click the preset button for this type
of effect the following options are available:
ˆ Load/Save Bank - this allows you to load and save complete sets of presets. The file
format is compatible with Cubase.
ˆ Load/Save Default Bank - this loads the default bank of presets, or saves the current
set of presets as the default bank.
ˆ Load/Save Effect - this loads or saves one preset at a time. The file format is again
compatible with Cubase.
ˆ Edit name of current program - allows you to define or edit the name for the currently
selected preset.
ˆ Preset list - select a Preset from the list of those currently available.
VST-3 plugins have a simplified list of options.
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							4.6 Offline processing 45
About Preset files
Each preset is stored as an individual file inside WaveLab's main presets folder. This makes
it easy to back them up or copy them to another computer. You can change the location of
this main Presets folder via Global Preferences>Setting location . You have the choice
of the following locations:
ˆ a standardized location that can be accessed by all users of the computer. That is, all
users will share the same settings.
ˆ a standardized location accessed by the current user (the default). That is, each user
has his/her own private settings.
ˆ any specific location of your choice. This allows you to customize it for your own re-
quirements.
ˆ a location relative to the application. This allows you to use the application from an
USB dongle.
Default locations - By default the main Presets folder is found at:
ˆ Windows 7 -C:nUsers n[User Name] nAppData nRoaming nSteinberg nWaveLab
7 nPresets
ˆ Windows XP -C:nDocuments and Settings n[User Name] nApplication
Data nSteinberg nWaveLab 7 nPresets
ˆ Mac OS X -root/[User Name]/Library/Prefences/WaveLab 7/Presets/
You can also find this folder by using the "Open active settings folder" link in the preferences
pane. This opens your file browser to wherever the main Presets folder is currently located.
Inside this Presets folder each type of preset file has its own folder. For ex-
ample, all the presets for the Normalizer are stored within C:nUsers n[User
Name] nAppData nRoaming nSteinberg nWaveLab 7 nPresets nNormalizer non Windows
7. When you open the Normalizer dialog and choose a preset via the pop-up menu, the
files in this directory will appear as available presets. The reason each preset type has its
own dedicated folder is so that WaveLab Elements can locate them automatically when you
open the preset pop-up menu.
You can organize your presets into sub-folders so they appear as sub-menus. This can be
useful if you wish to organize a lot of presets into your own categories. You can continue to
nest folders inside one another to build a standard tree structured menu system. Below is
an example of how this looks for a set of window layout presets:
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							46 WaveLab Elements Concepts
Related topics
4.6.10 Rendering
To Render effects into a temporary or final file, you use the Render function (note that the
"Save" function from the File menu does not Render!). The Render function is part of the
Master Section and in other applications is sometimes referred to as "bouncing down" or
"mixing down".
Rendering a file "prints" all audible settings and effects that the audio is being routed through
in the Master section, to the resultant Audio File. This includes any plug-ins, the level of the
faders and any dithering you have set in the Master Section. In WaveLab Elements you
normally use the Render function to:
ˆ Mix down a file in a Wave window to a new Audio File, complete with Master Section
effects, dithering and other settings.
ˆ Mix down a complete Audio Montage to an Audio File.
ˆ "Apply" all settings in the Master Section to a file in a Wave window.
When you render a file you can choose the format of the new Audio File and whether you
wish to create a new file or render the file in place. When the file is rendering you will see
a progress bar in the status bar.This allows you to monitor the progress of rendering, pause
and if necessary cancel the rendering process.
Rendering tips
When you are new to the rendering process in WaveLab Elements there are a few things to
note:
ˆ when rendering a file with the default option "Bypass Master Section on resulting Audio
File" selected in the
Render dialog , the Master Section will be bypassed completely
when the new file has finished rendering. If this option is notselected you will hear the
Master Section effects being played back on top of the newly rendered effects. You can
check if the Master Section has been bypassed by checking the status of the
"Play
through Master Section" button, which is located at the bottom right hand corner of the
status bar.
ˆ the Master Section's "Bypass" switch affects playback only. So even if you can't
hear effects when you are playing back your audio, any applied effects are still rendered.
ˆ the "Effect on/off" switch for each individual plug-in affects both playback and
Rendering.
ˆ if you are working with an Audio File/montage that contains lots of effects and/or tracks
and you experience playback problems, it can be useful to mix down a copy of your
montage/audio file to free up some processing power. You can then continue editing
the resultant file with the effects rendered. Remember to save a copy of your session
before doing this so you can go back and edit any levels or effects if you need to.
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							4.7 Presets 47
For more information about choosing settings when rendering see the Render Wave window
and Render Montage window . For more information on applying effects see the Master
Section
.
Related topics
Render Wave window
Render Montage window
Master Section
Audio Plug-ins
4.7 Presets
WaveLab's powerful preset system allows you to create your own presets to store commonly
used settings. They are available every time you open WaveLab Elements. Presets can be
saved for many parameters such as plug-in settings, Audio File Formats or File Attributes, for
example. You can access the Presets pop-up menu wherever you see one of these icons:
or . Presets are saved as local files on your hard drive, allowing you to conveniently
back-up or copy them for use on another computer.
Working with Presets
When working with Presets you save/edit and load them from their own pop-up menu. De-
pending on the context, the available functions sometimes vary but generally you can:
ˆ Save/Save As... - creates a new Preset file by saving the currently selected settings
to your hard disk.
ˆ Explore presets... - opens the folder where any existing Presets are stored. This
allows you to delete, duplicate and organize your settings into sub-folders using the
flexibility of the operating system's file browser.
ˆ Restore factory settings - restores the current settings to the factory default.
ˆ Preset list - select a Preset from the list of those currently available.
ˆ Store/restore temporary presets - when available, use the temporary slots provided
to save your settings for the duration of the session. This is useful if you want to quickly
test and compare different settings. Select the option "Store temporarily" and from the
submenu select the number under which you want to save (#1 - #5). To quickly load the
saved settings again, select the corresponding number from the "Restore" submenu.
VST-2 Presets
VST plug-ins have their own preset handling. When you click the preset button for this type
of effect the following options are available:
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							48 WaveLab Elements Concepts
ˆ Load/Save Bank - this allows you to load and save complete sets of presets. The file
format is compatible with Cubase.
ˆ Load/Save Default Bank - this loads the default bank of presets, or saves the current
set of presets as the default bank.
ˆ Load/Save Effect - this loads or saves one preset at a time. The file format is again
compatible with Cubase.
ˆ Edit name of current program - allows you to define or edit the name for the currently
selected preset.
ˆ Preset list - select a Preset from the list of those currently available.
VST-3 plugins have a simplified list of options.
About Preset files
Each preset is stored as an individual file inside WaveLab's main presets folder. This makes
it easy to back them up or copy them to another computer. You can change the location of
this main Presets folder via Global Preferences>Setting location . You have the choice
of the following locations:
ˆ a standardized location that can be accessed by all users of the computer. That is, all
users will share the same settings.
ˆ a standardized location accessed by the current user (the default). That is, each user
has his/her own private settings.
ˆ any specific location of your choice. This allows you to customize it for your own re-
quirements.
ˆ a location relative to the application. This allows you to use the application from an
USB dongle.
Default locations - By default the main Presets folder is found at:
ˆ Windows 7 -C:nUsers n[User Name] nAppData nRoaming nSteinberg nWaveLab
7 nPresets
ˆ Windows XP -C:nDocuments and Settings n[User Name] nApplication
Data nSteinberg nWaveLab 7 nPresets
ˆ Mac OS X -root/[User Name]/Library/Prefences/WaveLab 7/Presets/
You can also find this folder by using the "Open active settings folder" link in the preferences
pane. This opens your file browser to wherever the main Presets folder is currently located.
Inside this Presets folder each type of preset file has its own folder. For ex-
ample, all the presets for the Normalizer are stored within C:nUsers n[User
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							4.8 Rendering 49
Name] nAppData nRoaming nSteinberg nWaveLab 7 nPresets nNormalizer non Windows
7. When you open the Normalizer dialog and choose a preset via the pop-up menu, the
files in this directory will appear as available presets. The reason each preset type has its
own dedicated folder is so that WaveLab Elements can locate them automatically when you
open the preset pop-up menu.
You can organize your presets into sub-folders so they appear as sub-menus. This can be
useful if you wish to organize a lot of presets into your own categories. You can continue to
nest folders inside one another to build a standard tree structured menu system. Below is
an example of how this looks for a set of window layout presets:
Related topics
4.8 Rendering
To Render effects into a temporary or final file, you use the Render function (note that the
"Save" function from the File menu does not Render!). The Render function is part of the
Master Section and in other applications is sometimes referred to as "bouncing down" or
"mixing down".
Rendering a file "prints" all audible settings and effects that the audio is being routed through
in the Master section, to the resultant Audio File. This includes any plug-ins, the level of the
faders and any dithering you have set in the Master Section. In WaveLab Elements you
normally use the Render function to:
ˆ Mix down a file in a Wave window to a new Audio File, complete with Master Section
effects, dithering and other settings.
ˆ Mix down a complete Audio Montage to an Audio File.
ˆ "Apply" all settings in the Master Section to a file in a Wave window.
When you render a file you can choose the format of the new Audio File and whether you
wish to create a new file or render the file in place. When the file is rendering you will see
a progress bar in the status bar.This allows you to monitor the progress of rendering, pause
and if necessary cancel the rendering process.
Rendering tips
When you are new to the rendering process in WaveLab Elements there are a few things to
note:
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							50 WaveLab Elements Concepts
ˆ when rendering a file with the default option "Bypass Master Section on resulting Audio
File" selected in the
Render dialog , the Master Section will be bypassed completely
when the new file has finished rendering. If this option is notselected you will hear the
Master Section effects being played back on top of the newly rendered effects. You can
check if the Master Section has been bypassed by checking the status of the
"Play
through Master Section" button, which is located at the bottom right hand corner of the
status bar.
ˆ the Master Section's "Bypass" switch affects playback only. So even if you can't
hear effects when you are playing back your audio, any applied effects are still rendered.
ˆ the "Effect on/off" switch for each individual plug-in affects both playback and
Rendering.
ˆ if you are working with an Audio File/montage that contains lots of effects and/or tracks
and you experience playback problems, it can be useful to mix down a copy of your
montage/audio file to free up some processing power. You can then continue editing
the resultant file with the effects rendered. Remember to save a copy of your session
before doing this so you can go back and edit any levels or effects if you need to.
For more information about choosing settings when rendering see the
Render Wave window
and Render Montage window . For more information on applying effects see the Master
Section
.
Related topics
Render Wave window
Render Montage window
Master Section
Audio Plug-ins
WaveLab Elements 7 
						

							Chapter 5
Audio File editing
The Audio File Workspace's Wave window is the heart of WaveLab's audio editing capabili-
ties. This is where you view, play back and edit individual Audio Files.
The Wave window gives you a graphical representation of an Audio File. It consists of two
parts:
ˆ The upper waveform ( Overview)
This is mainly used for navigating through long files. Since you can have different zoom
factors in the two areas, the Overview can display the entire wave while the Main view
only shows you a detailed portion for precise editing.
ˆ The lower waveform area ( Main view)
This is where the audio editing action takes place. You can perform various operations
on the wave such as copying, cutting, pasting, moving and deleting.
Waveform views
In the Audio File Workspace, the main wave editing window and the overview can indepen-
dently be set to display one of three display modes:
ˆ Wave- this is the default waveform display.
ˆ Loudness - this displays the average loudness of an Audio File, which can be useful
in many circumstances. For example, this display mode gives you an overview of the
amount of compression applied to a song. The more dips in the curve, the more dy-
namics in the audio material. An even curve with few dips indicates that the material
is compressed with a limited dynamic range (which is common for modern pop/dance
music). Up to four different curves can be shown simultaneously in the Loudness enve-
lope display. These curves have different colors and represent the average loudness of
the signal in different areas of the frequency spectrum. This can be useful to visualize
where in the frequency domain the loudness is "spread" at a given time, or to display
the loudness of a specific part of the spectrum. The curves can be shown individually
or in any combination. 
						

							52 Audio File editing
Rulers
There are both time and level rulers. These can be hidden and displayed (see the Ruler and
Wave Display context menus). You can also set which units of time and level they show. To
access the settings for both rulers, right-click anywhere on the relevant ruler.
Editing Tools
Precise editing of your audio is achieved in the main (lower) waveform window. There are
three main tools that are used for directly editing an Audio File:
Time Selection cursor - This is the default cursor and allows you to select and resize
regions of audio you wish to edit. Click and drag in the main waveform window to make a
selection. You can modify the selected region by click-dragging on the edges of the selection.
You can also modify a selected audio region by holding down [Shift]and clicking on the
waveform. The selection extends/shrinks to the clicked point. If you hold the cursor over one
channel of a stereo file you can make selections in that individual channel. You can double-
click inside a region to select it then drag the mouse to select the next or previous regions,
that is, you snap to markers while dragging.
Pen tool - this tool allows you to redraw the waveform directly in the wave window. It
can be used to quickly repair waveform errors by hand. The Pen tool can only be used if the
Zoom resolution is set to at least 1:8 (one pixel on the screen equals 8 samples) or higher.
If you wish to redraw the waveform of both channels in a stereo file at once, press [Shift]
while drawing.
Once you have defined an audio selection there are many editing tools available in the Edit
menu of the Audio File Workspace for you to explore. These range from basic editing com-
mands such as Copy and Paste to special functions which can perform tasks such as trim-
ming, muting, crossfading, appending, prepending, silencing and repeating an audio selec-
tion, for example. It is well worth exploring the tools available in this menu.
There a number of options available that affect editing in the waveform window. See
Audio
File editing preferences
for more information on the various preferences available.
Editing Shortcuts
You can navigate through your Audio File by dragging the Time Selection cursor. Alternatively
you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:
ˆ Use the [Left Arrow] and [Right Arrow] to move the cursor one pixel in either direction.
ˆ Use[Ctrl]/[Command] + [Left Arrow] and [Right Arrow] to move the cursor twenty
pixels in either direction. You can also use the [Page up] and [Page Down] keys.
ˆ Use the [Home] and [End] keys to navigate to the beginning and end of the wave.
You can also scroll and zoom within the Audio File Workspace using several other mouse
and keyboard shortcuts. See
Zooming and scrolling for more detailed information.
To audition your Audio File hold down [Alt]/[Option]and click anywhere in the waveform to
begin playback.
Dragging can also be used with several editing functions in the Audio File Workspace. See
Audio File Workspace in
Dragging operations for more information.
WaveLab Elements 7