Steinberg Wavelab Elements 8 Manual

							Writing Operations
Data CD/DVD Projects
261
Data CD/DVD Projects
A data CD/DVD project can be used to compile and write a data-only 
CD, DVD, Blu-ray, or to write to ISO image. You can enter a name for 
your disc and change the disc file structure before writing your data to 
a CD, DVD, Blu-ray, or ISO image.
Creating a Data CD/DVD Project
A data CD/DVD project can be used to compile and write a data-only 
CD, DVD, Blu-ray, or to write to ISO image.
PROCEDURE
1.In any workspace, select Global > Data CD/DVD.
2. Add files to the project, using one of the following methods:
• Drag the files from the WaveLab Elements file browser or from the 
Explorer/Finder into the Data CD/DVD window.
• Drag a tab from any workspace into the Data CD/DVD window.
• In any workspace, select File > Special > Add to Data CD/DVD, 
to add the open file to the Data CD/DVD project.
3. Optional: Click the New Folder icon, specify a folder name, and 
arrange the files by dragging.
Writing a Data CD/DVD Project
PREREQUISITE 
Open the Data CD/DVD dialog, and add the files that you want to write 
to a data CD/DVD.
PROCEDURE
1. Click the Write Data CD/DVD icon.
2. Select a writing device.
• When you select ISO Image, specify a file name and file location.
• When you select a CD/DVD writer, specify the writing speed and 
make further settings.
3. Click OK. 
						

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Data CD/DVD Projects
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Data CD/DVD Dialog
In this dialog, you can create a data CD/DVD project, and write it to CD, 
DVD, Blu-ray, or ISO image.
In any workspace, select Global > Data CD/DVD.
Media
Select the media type you want to write. If the media size that you 
want to use is not listed, select the media type that offers a size 
closest to your requirements.
Volume name
Specify the volume name of the CD/DVD.
Open Explorer/Finder
Opens the Explorer/Finder to show the location of the selected file.
Remove selected files and folders
Removes the selected files and folders from the CD/DVD project.
New folder
Creates a folder. You can also create sub-folders.
Write Data CD/DVD dialog
Opens the Write Data CD/DVD dialog from which you can write 
the media.
Data CD/DVD list
Shows the contents of the CD/DVD project, and the size and 
creation date of the files.
Available space on media
Indicates how much space is used on the media. The total size of 
the data CD/DVD project is shown below the data CD/DVD list. 
						

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Data CD/DVD Projects
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Reset
Removes all files from the data CD/DVD project.
Write Data CD/DVD Dialog
In this dialog, you can write a data CD/DVD project to CD/DVD or ISO 
file.
In the Data CD/DVD dialog, click the Write Data CD/DVD icon.
Device
Here, select the disc writer you want to use, or select ISO Image 
to write a file on the hard drive. Writing an ISO image creates a 
copy of a future optical media.
NOTE
On the Mac, open WaveLab Elements without a media in the drive. 
Otherwise, the drive is under the control of the operating system and is 
not available for WaveLab Elements.
Refresh
Scans the system for connected optical devices. This is done 
automatically, when this dialog opens. Click the update icon after 
you insert a new blank media, to update the speed menu.
Eject optical medium
Ejects the optical medium present in the selected drive.
Information about selected drive
Opens the Device information dialog, that shows information 
about the selected device.
Erase optical disc
Erases the optical disc present in the selected drive, provided it is 
a rewritable media. If ISO Image is selected, clicking the button 
erases the existing ISO file. 
						

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ISO file name
When ISO Image is selected in the Device menu, specify the file 
name and file location of the ISO file in the text field.
Speed
Here, select the writing speed. The highest speed depends both 
on the capabilities of your writing device and of the media present 
in the device.
Test only, do not write
If this option is activated, clicking OK initiates a simulation of 
writing the CD. If this test is passed, the real write operation will 
succeed. If the test fails, try again at a lower writing speed.
Create CD-Extra session
If this option is activated, the data is written in a new session, after 
the audio tracks. This creates a CD Extra, also known as Enhanced 
CD and CD Plus. For this to work, the CD in the drive must have 
audio tracks on it, written with the CD Extra option. Otherwise the 
operation fails.
Verify after write
If this option is activated, the data on the medium is automatically 
verified after the writing process.
Eject before verifying
If this option is activated, the disc is ejected and retracted before 
the verification process, to force the drive out of the write state. 
This is only possible if the disc can be retracted automatically.
Eject after completion
If this option is activated, the disc is ejected after the write process. 
						

							Writing Operations
About Audio CD Formats
265
About Audio CD Formats
This chapter provides you with background information on the CD 
format, to help you better understand how to create your own CDs.
This documentation can only give basic information on this subject. For 
more information, try a text-book on the subject, or search the internet.
Basic CD Formats
There are a number of different formats for the contents of a CD disc. 
For example, audio CDs, CD-ROMS, and CD-I. These are all slightly 
different.
The audio CD specification is called Red Book. It is this standard to 
which WaveLab Elements conforms.
NOTE
Red Book CD is not a real file format. All the audio on the CD is stored 
in one big file. This is different from hard disks, for example, where each 
file is stored separately. Keep in mind that all the audio is in fact one long 
stream of digital data.
CD-Extra Support
CD-Extra is a format that allows for the writing of both audio and data 
on a single CD, just like Mixed Mode CDs. When writing an audio CD, 
you can prepare it for CD-Extra support (also known as Enhanced CD 
or CD Plus).
The difference is that when Mixed Mode CDs are written with the audio 
placed on the last tracks of the CD, for CDs in the CD-Extra format the 
audio is contained in the first tracks of the CD, and the data follows 
subsequently.
All features of the Red Book audio CD are possible with CD-Extra, 
unlike with Mixed Mode CDs. After an audio CD has been written with 
CD-Extra support, the data can be added to the CD in a separate 
session, by creating and writing a Data CD Project.
NOTE
Some computer CD drives may not recognize CDs in the CD-Extra 
format. 
						

							Writing Operations
About Audio CD Formats
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Types of Events on an Audio CD
There are three types of events that can be used to specify various 
sections of audio on the CD.
About Frames, Positions, Small Frames, and Bits
The data on an audio CD is divided into frames.
A frame consists of 588 stereo samples. 75 frames make up one second of 
audio. This is because 75 x 588 = 44100, and since the sampling 
frequency of the CD format is 44100
 Hz (samples per second), this equals 
one second of audio. When you specify positions on the CD, in WaveLab 
Elements, you do it in the format mm:ss:ff (minutes:seconds:frames). The 
frame values go from 0 to 74, since there are 75 frames to a second.
Technically, there is no way to specify something smaller than a frame 
on a CD. One effect of this is that if the sample length of a track on the 
CD does not equal a perfect number of frames, some blank audio must 
be added at the end. Another effect of t h i s  i s  t h a t  w h e n  you play the CD, 
you can never locate to anything closer than a frame. If you need some 
data in the middle of a frame, you still have to read the whole frame. 
Again, this is unlike a hard disk, where you can retrieve any byte on the 
disk, without reading the surrounding data.
But frames are not the smallest block of data on a CD. There is also 
something called “small frames”. A small frame is a container of 588 bits. 
98 small frames together make up one regular frame. In each small frame 
there is only room for six stereo samples, which means that a lot of space is 
left for data other than the actual audio. There is information for encoding, 
laser synchronization, error correction, and the PQ data to indentify the 
track boundaries. This PQ data is of major importance to anyone who wants 
to create their own CD, and handled effortless in WaveLab Elements.
Event Description
Track start There can be up to 99 tracks on one CD. Each is identified by 
its start point only.
Track sub-index On advanced CD players, a track can be divided into 
sub-indexes (sometimes called only indexes). These are used 
to identify important positions within a track. There can be 98 
sub-indexes in each track. However, since it is difficult and 
time-consuming to search for and locate to a sub-index, many 
CD players ignore this information.
Pause A pause appears before each track. Pauses can be of 
variable lengths. Some CD players indicate the pauses 
between tracks on their displays. 
						

							Writing Operations
About Audio CD Formats267
ISRC Codes
International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) is an identification that 
is only used on CDs intended fo r commercial distribution. WaveLab 
Elementsallows you to specify an IS RC code for each audio track. 
These codes are provided by  your publisher or clients.
The ISRC code is st ructured as follows:
• Country Code (2  ASCII characters)
• Owner Code (3 ASCII  charac
 ters or digits).
• Recording Year (2 digits or ASCII characters)
• Serial Number (5 digits  or ASCII characters)
The groups of characters are oft en presented with hyphens to make 
them easier to read, but hyphen s are not part of the code.
UPC/EAN Codes
UPC/EAN code - the Universal  Product Code/European Article 
Number, is a catalog number for an  item (such as a CD) intended for 
commercial distribution. On a CD, t he code is also called the Media 
Catalog Number and there is one su ch code per disc. These codes are 
provided by your publisher or clients.
UPC is a 12-digit barcode widely  used in the USA and Canada. 
EAN-13 is a 13-digit barcoding  standard (12 + a checksum digit) 
defin

ed by the GS1 standards orga nization. EAN is now renamed as 
International Article Number, but the abbreviation has been retained.
Pre-Emphasis
CD pre-emphasis refers to process de signed to increase, within a band 
of frequencies, the magnitude of  some (usually higher) frequencies 
compared to the magnitude of other (usually lower) freq uencies in order 
to improve the overall  signal-to-noise ratio by  lowering the frequencies 
during reproduction.
Pre-emphasis is commonly used in telecommunications, digital audio 
recording, record cutti ng and i

n FM broadcasting transmissions. The 
presence of pre-emphasis on a track is  sometimes indicated by a tick in 
the 
 column on the  Import Audio CD  dialog. 
						

							Writing Operations
About Audio CD Formats
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Disc-At-Once - Writing CD-Rs for Duplication Into Real CDs
WaveLab Elements only writes audio CDs in Disc-at-Once mode.
•If you want to create a CD-R to use as a master for a real CD 
production, you must write the CD-R in Disc-At-Once mode. In 
this mode, the entire disc is written in one pass. There are other 
ways of writing a CD, namely Track-At-Once and Multi-Session. If 
you use these writing formats, the link blocks created to link the 
various recording passes together will be recognized as 
uncorrectable errors when you try to master from the CD-R. These 
links can also result in clicks when playing back the CD.
• Disc-At-Once mode provides more flexibility when specifying 
pause lengths between tracks.
• Disc-At-Once is the only mode that supports sub-indexes.
Writing On The Fly vs. CD Images
WaveLab Elements writes a CD on the fly, that is, it does not create a 
CD image before writing. This method makes writing CDs/DVDs faster 
and requires less disc space. However, you can also create an image 
prior to writing a CD/DVD. 
						

							 269
Loops
This chapter describes various operations that are related to looping. 
Looping is used to simulate the infinite or at least very long sustain of 
many instrumental sounds. WaveLab Elements has tools for creating 
smooth loops, even for the most complex types of sounds.
Basic Looping
Looping a sound allows you to repeat a section of the sample 
indefinitely in order to create a sustain of unlimited length. Instrumental 
sounds in samplers rely on looping. An example of this would be an 
organ sound.
Without looping, you can only play audio as long as the original 
recording. With looping, audio can be of any length. In WaveLab 
Elements, loops are defined by loop markers. Loop markers are added, 
moved, and edited such as any other type of marker.
To ensure that you find a good loop point note the following:
• There are only two types of loops: very long and very short loops. 
Loops of intermediate lengths usually do not provide good results.
• A long loop sounds the most natural and should be used 
whenever possible. However, if the sound does not have a stable 
section in the middle (an even sustain part), it might be hard to find 
a good long loop. For example, a piano note which decays 
continuously is hard to loop since the start point of the loop is 
louder than the end point. A flute is much simpler, because the 
sound in the sustain section is very stable.
• Very short loops that cover only a few cycles or periods can almost 
always be found but may sound static and unnatural.
• A loop should start shortly after the attack portion, that is, when 
the sound has stabilized to a sustaining note.
• If you set up a long loop, it should end as late as possible but 
before the sound starts decaying to silence. 
						

							Loops
About Refining Loops
270
• Short loops are difficult to position within the sound. Try to position 
them near the end.
NOTE
More information about looping in general, and the exact capabilities of 
your sampler in particular can be found in the manual of the sampler.
Creating a Basic Loop
PROCEDURE
1.In the Audio Files workspace, select the audio section that you 
want to loop.
2. Right-click the top of the ruler, and select Create loop from 
selection.
3. On the Transport bar, activate Loop.
4. Play back the loop and adjust the position of the markers to change 
the loop.
AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK: 
Dragging markers to various positions does not necessarily lead to good 
loops. Most often, you hear a click or an abrupt change in timbre at the 
turning point.
We suggest you only use this method for setting up the basic length of 
the loop and then use the Loop Tweaker and Loop Tone Uniformizer 
for optimizing.
About Refining Loops
The Loop Tweaker tool allows you to refine a region of audio for 
seamless looping. Use the Loop Tweaker to tweak an existing loop 
selection so that it loops perfectly or use it to create a loop from material 
which does not naturally repeat.
You can automatically detect loop points by scanning the area between 
two loop markers. You can specify parameters that determine how 
accurate the program should be when suggesting loop points.