Steinberg WaveLab Essential 6 Operation Manual
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161 Analysis 3D Frequency Analysis This function allows you to view a wave file in the fre- quency domain rather than in the time domain. Although a wave display (time domain) tells you a lot about where one sound starts or ends in a file, for example, it doesn’t say anything about the timbral contents of the file. A frequency graph (frequency domain) does. The graph used in WaveLab Essential is actually some- thing often referred to as an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) plot. Creating the graph 1.Select the part of the file you want to analyse. If you select a stereo recording, a mix of the two channels will be analy- sed. 2.Select “3D Frequency analysis options” from the Anal- ysis menu and click on the Frequency tab. Adjust the set- tings if needed. These are the only settings that cannot be redone when the graph is al- ready open. 3.If you only want to see a plot for a part of the frequency range, adjust the “From” and “To” values. The range must always span at least three octaves. 4.Decide if you want the frequency axis in the graph to be linear or logarithmic. Logarithmic is often the most natural choice since each octave (doubling of the frequency) is then represented by an equal distance on the fre- quency axis. 5.Click OK to close the dialog. 6.Select 3D Frequency analysis from the Analysis menu. The wave is analysed and the graph opens in a new window. The frequency graph shows you how the different fre- quency components vary over time. A high “mountain” means that this frequency is very prominent at that partic- ular time. Adjusting the view There are a number of settings you can make that affect the way the graph is displayed. 1.Either select “3D Frequency analysis options…” from the Analysis menu, or double click directly on the graph. Click on the Style tab. 2.Decide whether you want the graph to be in color, grey scale or black and white. 3.Decide whether you want to use a change in color to represent the amplitude (the height of each mountain de- termines its color) or if you want it to represent frequency (the frequency spectrum is drawn in colors ranging from red to purple). 4.Decide on a background color (black or white). 5.To view the effect of your changes, click Redraw. !The length of the selection affects the accuracy of the analysis. For short selections the result will be very detailed. For longer selections (over a minute or so) it will not give equally detailed results, since the harmonic content might vary “between the measure points”, which is then not shown in the display. You might for example make a separate analysis of the at- tack (beginning) of a sound, since the most drastic varia- tions usu ally occur there.
162 Analysis 6.Click the Perspective tab. 7.Decide from which point of view you want to examine the graph (use the “freq/time” figure as a directional guide). 8.Decide whether you want a linear or exponential am- plitude display. The Wave window’s level rulers use a linear display, so this is a natural choice to start with. 9.Again, if you so desire, click Redraw. Working with multiple views If you wish you can view the same graph in several win- dows, but with different style and perspective settings. This allows you to get a better view of an otherwise crowded graph. To open a second view of the graph, drag-create a window, see “Working with multiple windows” on page 25. To make settings for one of the windows, select it, open the “3D Frequency analysis…” options dialog from the Analysis menu and proceed as described above. Examples of how the graph can be used The graph can be used for example for the following pur- poses: To see how the frequency spectrum is distributed in a mix. As a basis for EQ-ing, so that you know which frequencies to reduce or boost. To see which parts of the audio spectrum a certain background noise occupies (for removing by filtering). For educational purposes – these graphs tell you a lot about how different sounds are “built”.
164 Podcasting Introduction Podcasting is a method of distributing multimedia files over the Internet, e. g. for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. A Podcast can be downloaded auto- matically, using software capable of reading RSS feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a stan- dard for distributing news and other information via the In- ternet. An RSS news feed sends short messages on a certain topic (e. g. sports, music, etc.), made available from a web site. In order to read the messages, the user employs a program (e. g. a special feed reader or an Internet browser) that has the ability to monitor multiple feeds and automatically download new messages on a regular basis. Technically speaking, a Podcast is an RSS feed including data content, such as audio or video files. Like a kind of show with new episodes released regularly, for an audi- ence that wants to listen when, where and how they want. As such, this is a great way to make information available to anyone. As you know, WaveLab Essential is capable of editing and producing audio material, but it also has the ability to cre- ate and publish Podcast episodes at will. And all this with- out ever quitting the program! All you need, except for WaveLab Essential itself, is some webspace with an FTP account for it in order to upload the Podcast data. Creating a new Podcast In order to create a new Podcast from scratch, pull down the File menu, and select Podcast... from the New sub- menu. This will bring up a new Podcast window where you can enter all information required for the Podcast (usually this will be paths to mp3 audio files along with some textual in- formation). Alternative ways to create a Podcast There are other ways to create a Podcast, which can be shortcuts, depending on what kind of documents you al- ready have opened in WaveLab Essential.Given that a Wave window is the currently active docu- ment: Pull down the Edit menu and select Create Podcast from Wave.... This will create a new Podcast window, with the audio file already being selected for episode 1. Pull down the File menu and select Add to Podcast... from the Special submenu. A dialog appears from which you can either select a Podcast currently open in WaveLab (if any), or browse and open an existing Podcast from your harddisk. In both cases, a new episode will be added to the Pod- cast, with the audio file selected for this episode. Alternatively, you can also choose to create a new Podcast from this dialog, with the audio file already being selected for episode 1. Given that an existing Podcast window is currently open: Select Clone this Podcast... from the Podcast win- dow’s Options menu. An untitled copy of the existing Podcast is created, containing all infor- mation of the original Podcast. Alternatively, you can drag the Podcast window’s Document icon onto the WaveLab Essential desktop to achieve the same. Podcast templates WaveLab Essential allows to store Podcast templates from open Podacst windows: Pull down the File menu and select Save as template... This will store the currently active Podcast window’s information in a template. Next time when you create a new podcast by using any of the methods described above, you can choose this template, so that the in- formation is already filled in the new Podcast window.
165 Podcasting The Podcast window A Podcast window including four episodes. The Podcast window is divided into two panes. The lower pane shows an item list of the basic feed and all episodes included in the Podcast. The upper pane shows the information for the feed or an episode, depending on the item selected in the list below. This is where you will be adding files, Internet links or tex- tual information to the Podcast feed and its episodes. Adding, moving and deleting episodes There are two ways to add an episode to a Podcast: Select New from the Podcast window’s Episodes menu. This will add a new untitled episode without any information being present. Select an existing episode in the Podcast window’s item list, then select Duplicate from the Episodes menu. This will add a new episode, copying all information from the existing ep- isode to the new one. Episodes can be moved by using the Move up/down functions in the Podcast window’s Episodes menu. Alter- natively, you can also re-order episodes by using drag- and-drop in the item list. In order to delete an episode, select it in the item list and use the Delete function in the Episodes menu. ÖThere must be at least one episode present in the Podcast. Adding information to the Podcast The upper pane of the Podcast window shows various fields and settings that are related to the basic feed or an episode, depending on what you have selected in the lower pane’s item list (the fields are slightly different for the feed and episodes). ÖField labels in bold letters point at a field that is man- datory to fill. For quick publishing of your Podcast it is suf- ficient to fill these fields only. Following settings are available for the feed: Setting Description Title Sets the title of the feed (e. g. the topic of your pod- cast). This is a mandatory field. Description Further description of the feed content (HTML tags are also allowed). This is a mandatory field. Import HTML fileAllows to browse for an HTML document, replacing the description above. Clicking the Pen button launches your HTML editor (see “Global Podcast options” on page 166), which allows for more com- plex designs. Internet link (URL)Your feed’s main link presented to the user. Use this to direct people to a certain website that is related to your feed. This is a mandatory field. Clicking the Link button will open the specified URL in your system’s default Internet browser, to make sure that the link is correct. Picture You may add a picture to your feed. This picture can- not be larger than 144 x 400 pixels according to the RSS standard, but it is possible to automatically re- size the picture, if required (see “Global Podcast op- tions” on page 166). Clicking the Glasses button will open the specified picture in your system’s default image viewer. Publication date and timeAllows to set the feed’s publication date and time. If As most recent episode is checked, this will auto- matically be set accordingly. Clicking the Now but- ton will set your system’s current date and time.
166 Podcasting These settings are available for episodes: Please note the following: When using HTML files and publishing the Podcast, any picture files that may be referenced by the HTML file will automatically be uploaded without any intervention (for this to work, HTML files should be in unicode utf-8 or Windows Latin code 1252 format). All fields support WaveLab Essentials Default text vari- ables from the Options menu (see “Defining user vari- ables” on page 152). It is possible to add an open Podcast to a Data CD/ DVD project, using Add to Data CD/DVD from the Spe- cial submenu of the File menu. This way you can easily backup the complete Podcast including all accompanying media files to a CD for example. Optional information Clicking the Extra... button in the Podcast window’s up- per pane allows to specify optional information for the feed and the individual episodes. The information here is not mandatory and rarely used. Feed receiving programs may or may not take advantage of these settings, and this is why they are gathered in an extra dialog (your Podcast will play perfectly without specifying anything here, but you may go ahead, if you so desire). If any optional information is set in this dialog, the small light within the Extra... button will turn from orange to green. iTunes extension If your Podcast should be received using Apple’s iTunes application, you may want to activate the iTunes exten- sion checkbox in the feed settings. This enables the iTunes... button to specify additional feed and episode information. Again, the information here is not mandatory, and your Podcast will play fine in iTunes, even without the iTunes extension activated. But making proper settings here (e. g. in the Categories and Keywords sections) may help your Podcast getting distributed more easily among iTunes us- ers. Global Podcast options There are some additional options you can set, which are valid for all Podcast windows. Selecting Global op- tions... from the Podcast window’s Options menu brings up this dialog: The Global Podcast options dialog. Setting Description Title Sets the episode’s title. This is a mandatory field. Description Further description of the episode content (HTML tags are also allowed). This is a mandatory field. Import HTML fileAllows to browse for an HTML document, replacing the description above. Clicking the Pen button launches your HTML editor (see “Global Podcast options” on page 166), which allows for more com- plex designs. Internet link (URL)An additional link related to the episode. Clicking the Link button will open the specified URL in your system’s default Internet browser, to make sure that the link is correct. Audio file Sets the path to the audio file you want to add to the episode. This could be any file type that is supported by WaveLab Essential, but should be an mp3 file for best possible compatibility. Clicking the Arrow button allows to directly add any file that is currently open. Alternatively, it is also pos- sible to drag an opened audio file’s Document icon onto the Podcast window’s upper pane. Clicking the Play button will open the specified file in your system’s default media player. Publication date and timeAllows to set the episode’s publication date and time. Clicking the Now button will set your system’s current date and time.
167 Podcasting The following options are available: Publishing the Podcast When you are finished with adding files and information to your feed and episodes, you can directly publish the Pod- cast to the Internet from within WaveLab Essential, using the built-in FTP client. The requirement for this to work of course is, that you must have some webspace with an FTP account for it in order to upload data, so that you can make your Podcast available at a publicly accessible Internet address. FTP site manager WaveLab Essential’s FTP site manager stores all informa- tion required for the Podcast upload process. Selecting FTP site... from the Podcast window’s Publish menu brings up the FTP site dialog: FTP site dialog. Following settings are available and must be specified: Here’s an example: Your FTP host address is ftp.MyPage.com, your public web site address is www.MyPage.com. The Feed file name setting is podcasts/fantastic- cast.xml, the Associated web site setting is www.MyPage.com/podcasts. The Podcast’s media files will then be uploaded onto the FTP at ftp.MyPage.com/podcasts. The Podcast file itself (and as such the Internet address to be distributed) will be found at www.MyPage.com/podcasts/fantastic-cast.xml. Each Podcast stores its own complete FTP site informa- tion. It’s also possible to save and recall FTP site presets using the Preset functions at the bottom left of the dialog. Uploading the Podcast Once you have specified the FTP site settings, uploading the Podcast is rather simple by using the functions in the Podcast window’s Publish menu. Option Description Automatic picture resizingDefines what to do, if specified pictures exceed the maximum size allowed by the RSS standard. If pic- tures need resizing, the original images on your hard- disk will not be modified. Time offset with GMTThe displayed dates and times are local. If your sys- tem is properly set, WaveLab Essential will automat- ically adjust the time offset in relation to GMT correctly. However, if you want to have time and date relative to a different time zone, adjust the value here. HTML EditorSets the path to the external HTML editor, which will be launched when clicking the Pen button in the feed or episode Import HTML file setting.Setting Description Host Your own FTP address. User name Your login user name to your own FTP address. Password The password to your user name. Use Passive ModeThis should be left activated and only changed if you experience problems with the FTP connection. Feed file name (with path)The Podcast file name, as you want it to end up on your FTP site (extension .xml), including the relative path to it. Both, file name and path, are part of the Podcast’s fi- nal public Internet address, so you may want to avoid long names. Associated web site (URL)Your own web site address, including the path to the feed (see above).
168 Podcasting Following upload functions are available: ÖPlease note that when we say all items, we in fact mean all items which have their Enabled checkbox acti- vated in the item list. If not enabled, these episodes are simply omitted from the Podcast. ÖUploading happens in a separate background pro- cess, so that you can continue working in WaveLab Es- sential, in case uploading takes time. Checking the Podcast Selecting View XML source document... from the Pod- cast window’s Publish menu launches your system’s de- fault XML editor, in order to visualize the contents of the feed XML file produced by WaveLab Essential. And as a final check, select View published Podcast... from the Podcast window’s Publish menu, to open your system’s default Internet browser and receive the Podcast you have just published from the Internet. Function Description Update all items on FTPUploads/updates the XML Podcast file on the FTP; also uploads all items’ media files, but only if they are not already present on the FTP. This is the most common function to upload and up- date your Podcast. Upload/Re- place all items on FTPSame as above, but always uploads/replaces all items’ media files; useful if you have changed the au- dio data, for example. Update se- lected item on FTPUploads/updates the XML Podcast file on the FTP; also uploads the media file of the currently selected item in the list, but only if it is not already present on the FTP. Upload/Re- place se- lected item on FTPSame as above, but always uploads/replaces the media file of the currently selected item in the list; useful if you have changed the audio data, for exam- ple.
170 Sampling and creating loops Introduction This chapter describes various operations related to cre- ating loop sounds (e.g. for samplers). Looping is a common technique used in samplers to sim- ulate the infinite (or at least very long) sustain of many in- strumental sounds. WaveLab Essential has tools for creating smooth loops, even for the most complex types of sounds. What we normally refer to as audio files in WaveLab Es- sential are probably called “samples” in your sampler. In this chapter we will adhere to this terminology and call au- dio recordings “samples”. Using WaveLab Essential with Steinberg HALion If you are the lucky owner of Steinberg’s HALion software sampler, you can use WaveLab Essential as your sample editor. You can add samples by dragging audio file selec- tions from WaveLab Essential onto the HALion Key Zone Editor or by using copy and paste. It is also possible to transfer multiple samples from WaveLab Essential to HALion in one go, using the following procedure: 1.Open and set up the audio files in WaveLab Essential. You may for example need to adjust the root key settings in the “Sample attributes” dialog (see “Editing sample attributes” on page 170), so that they correspond to the proper pitches of the files. 2.If you have edited the files in any way, make sure they are saved. This is very important, since HALion will load the actual file from disk. ÖIf you haven’t edited the actual audio, but only the loop markers or sample attributes (e.g. root key settings), you should save the file(s) with the “Save as” command. This is because those settings are stored in the file headers, which are only rebuilt when the audio is re-saved. If the audio portion of a file hasn’t been changed, WaveLab Essential will not re-save the audio on a regular “Save” – hence you should use “Save as”. 3.Make a selection range in one of the files, covering the section you want to use as a sample. 4.Press [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[C]. With this function, no audio is copied, only the audio file reference and the position of the selected region. 5.Make a new selection in another file and press [Ctrl]- [Shift]-[C] again. The file and region information for the new selection is added to the clip- board, without removing any previous information there. 6.Copy the regions of as many audio files as you like in the same way. 7.When you have copied the desired regions, go to the Keyzone Page view in HALion and press [Ctrl]-[V]. The copied regions appear as separate samples in HALion, assigned to keys corresponding to their original root key settings. ÖIf you are using HALion with Cubase SX/SL, and have selected WaveLab Essential as your external Wave Editor, you can open HALion samples for editing in WaveLab Es- sential directly from the sampler, by selecting “Edit in Cu- base SX/SL”. Editing sample attributes The “Sample attributes” dialog. This menu item on the Sampling menu allows you to make settings for a sample. They do not process the sample in any way, they just give it properties that your sampler may or may not take advantage of.