After you start Sound Forge for the first time, the registration wizard appears. This wizard offers easy steps that allow you to register Sound Forge online with Sonic Foundry. Alternately, you may register Sound Forge online at www.sonicfoundry.com at any time. Registering your product provides you with exclusive access to a variety of technical support options, notification of product updates, and special promotions exclusive to Sound Forge registered users. Registration Assistance If you do not have access to the Internet, registration assistance is available. Please contact our Customer Service Department. Registration assistance is currently available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST) by dialing the following numbers: Telephone/Fax 1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) +800-000-76642 (toll-free) +608-204-7703 1-008-250-1745 (Fax) Country US, Canada, and Virgin Islands Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Japan for all other countries All countries Sweden, UK, Customer Service/Sales For a detailed list of Customer Service options, we encourage you to visit www.sonicfoundry.com. Use the following numbers for telephone support during normal office hours: Telephone/FaxJE-mail 1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) +800-000-76642 (toll-free) Country US, Canada, and Virgin Islands Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, UK, Netherlands, and Japan for all other countries All countries +608-204-7703 1-608-250-1745 (Fax) customerserviceC&sonicfoundrycom Technical Support For a detailed list of Technical Support options, we encourage you to visit www.sonicfoundry.com/support. To listen to your support options, please call 608-256-5555. Customers who have purchased Sound Forge receive 60 days of complimentary phone support. This complimentary support begins when the product is registered. (Registration is required to receive this complimentary support.) Please call (608) 204-7704 if you need assistance with Sound Forge. Sonic Foundry, Inc. 1617 Sherman Avenue Madison, WI 53704 USA The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Sonic Foundry. The software described in this manual is provided under the terms of a license agreement or non-disclosure agreement. The software license agreement specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means for any purpose other than the purchaser's personal use, without written permission from Sonic Foundry, Inc. Sonic Foundry and Sound Forge are registered trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. The brands and products named here are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonic Foundry, its affiliates, or their respective holders. © 2002 Sonic Foundry, Inc. Table of Contents Introduction............................................. 15 Introducing Sound Forge................................................. 15 Sample files.............................................................15 Shortcuts...............................................................15 Installing Sound Forge .................................................. 16 Getting help within Sound Forge.......................................... 16 Online help ........................................................................16 What's This? help....................................................................17 Help on the Web.....................................................................17 What's New?............................................ 19 Nondestructive editing .................................................. 19 Improved audio plug-in management ..................................... 19 Improved Audio Plug-In Chainer with easier previewing ................................ 19 Plug-In Manager....................................................................19 Customizable DX Favorites menu .................................................... 20 Multitask background rendering .......................................... 20 Tabbed docking windows ................................................ 20 Updated playbar........................................................21 Looped Playback mode .............................................................21 Play Plug-In Chainer mode ..........................................................21 Play as Sample mode ...............................................................21 Customizable toolbars ................................................... 21 Play Device toolbar ..................................................... 21 Updated file support .................................................... 21 Support for files larger than 4 G13 .....................................................21 Support for QuickTime, MPEG 1 and 2, and Windows Media Video files ................. 21 Support for32-bit/192 kHz files .......................................................22 Enhanced Preset Manager ................................................ 22 TABLE OF CONTENTS Enhanced zoom capabilities .............................................. 22 Greater than 1:1 time zoom ..........................................................22 Customizable zoom settings ......................................................... 22 Improved video handling ................................................ 22 Video properties....................................................................22 Video Preview window ..............................................................22 Frame numbering options ........................................................... 22 Options for saving video files ........................................................ 23 Rendering preferences ..............................................................23 External monitor preview setup ......................................................23 Optimizing for Sound Forge .............................. 25 Defragmenting your hard drive ........................................... 25 Checking Windows 98SE and Windows Me default settings ................. 25 Increasing total buffer size................................................ 26 Increasing preload size................................................... 26 Turning off the playback cursor and record counter......................... 26 Turning off meters....................................................... 26 Turning off the play (output) meters .................................................. 27 Turning off the record meters ........................................................27 Turning on passive updating for video and time displays.................... 27 Turning on passive updating for time displays ......................................... 27 Turning on passive updating for video displays ........................................ 27 Learning the Sound Forge Workspace ..................... 29 Using the mouse ........................................................ 29 Using the mouse wheel .................................................. 30 The main screen .......................................................30 Main screen components ...........................................................30 Floating and docking windows ....................................................... 31 The data window........................................................32 Displaying data window components ................................................ 33 Playbar............................................................................33 Toolbars................................................................34 Docking a toolbar...................................................................34 Floating a toolbar...................................................................34 Displaying a toolbar ................................................................34 Customizing a toolbar................................................................34 Standard toolbar ...................................................................35 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Transport bar ......................................................................36 Navigation toolbar..................................................................37 Views toolbar ......................................................................38 Status/Selection toolbar .............................................................38 Regions/Playlisttoolbar .............................................................39 Process toolbar.....................................................................40 Effects toolbar......................................................................41 Tools toolbar.......................................................................42 Levels toolbar ......................................................................42 ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar .................................................... 43 Play Device toolbar .................................................................43 ToolTips................................................................44 Turning off ToolTips ................................................................44 Command descriptions .................................................. 44 Meters..................................................................44 Scaling meters .....................................................................44 Showing labels.....................................................................44 Holding peaks and valleys ...........................................................44 Resetting clipping indicators ......................................................... 45 Controls................................................................45 Faders and sliders ..................................................................45 Envelope graphs ...................................................................46 Displaying the waveform on an envelope graph ....................................... 48 Stereo files..............................................................48 Working with stereo files ............................................................48 Selecting data in stereo files ......................................................... 48 Getting Started .......................................... 51 Opening a file...........................................................51 Peakfiles .........................................................................51 Using the Open dialog ..............................................................52 Playing a file ...........................................................53 Viewing the current position .........................................................53 Playing a file from a specified point ................................................... 53 Playing in Loop Playback mode ...................................................... 54 Playing a selection ..................................................................54 Viewing selection status..............................................................54 Viewing selection statistics ..........................................................55 Creating a new data window. ............................................. 55 Active data windows vs. inactive data windows ........................................ 56 Copying data to a new file ........................................................... 56 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Saving a file ...........................................................56 Using the Save As dialog ............................................................57 Creating custom templates ..........................................................58 Saving all open audio files ........................................................... 58 Saving files as a workspace...........................................................59 Editing audio ..........................................................59 Copying ..........................................................................59 Pasting ...........................................................................60 Cutting ...........................................................................61 Deleting ..........................................................................62 Trimming/Cropping.................................................................62 Mixing ...........................................................................63 Using undo and redo .................................................... 64 Using the Undo/Redo History window ................................................ 64 Selecting status formats ................................................ 66 Experimenting with status formats ................................................... 67 Configuring the Measures & Beats format ............................................ 68 Recovering files after a crash ............................................ 68 Recovering files ....................................................................68 Deleting recovered files .............................................................68 Navigating, Zooming, and Selecting ....................... 69 Setting the cursor position .............................................. 69 Previewing audio with pre-roll ........................................... 69 Using the overview bar.................................................. 70 Understanding the overview bar ..................................................... 70 Navigating in the overview bar ....................................................... 71 Playing audio in the overview bar .................................................... 72 Navigating with the audio event locator ............................................... 72 Zooming and magnifying ................................................ 72 Zooming the time ruler (horizontal) ................................................... 73 Zooming the level ruler (vertical) ..................................................... 74 Using custom zoom settings..........................................................75 Using zooming shortcuts ............................................................ 76 Using the Magnify tool...............................................................76 Selecting audio using start and end values................................. 78 Using the Set Selection dialog ....................................................... 78 Selecting audio during playback ......................................... 79 Fine-tuning a selection .................................................. 79 Adjusting a selection with the mouse ................................................. 79 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 Adjusting a selection with the keyboard ............................................... 79 Restoring a selection ................................................................79 Understanding snapping ................................................. 80 Snapping to time divisions .......................................................... 80 Snapping to zero-crossings ..........................................................80 Snapping the current selection to time divisions or zero-crossings ....................... 80 Disabling Auto Snap to Zero at high magnifications .................................... 80 Creating and using views................................................. 80 Displaying the Views toolbar ......................................................... 81 Creating views .....................................................................81 Changing File Attributes and Formats ..................... 83 Editing file attributes .................................................... 83 Editing attributes in the Properties dialog .............................................. 83 Editing attributes in the status bar .................................................... 83 Changing the sample rate ................................................ 84 Changing the bit depth .................................................. 84 Increasing bit depth .................................................................84 Decreasing bit depth ................................................................84 Understanding dither and noise shaping .............................................. 85 Minimizing quantization error ........................................................ 86 Converting mono/stereo channels......................................... 87 Converting from mono to stereo ..................................................... 87 Converting from stereo to mono ..................................................... 87 Using the Channel Converter ........................................................88 Converting file formats................................................... 88 Save as type .......................................................................88 Template .........................................................................88 Adding summary information ............................................ 88 Viewing and editing summary information ............................................ 88 Viewing extended summary information ............................................. 88 Editing extended summary information ............................................... 89 Saving summary information ........................................................ 90 Including additional embedded information ........................................... 90 Using Markers, Regions, and the Playlist/Cutlist ............ 91 Why use markers, regions, and the playlist?................................ 91 Rapid navigation ...................................................................91 Added effects for streaming media ................................................... 91 Multiple versions of edits ............................................................ 91 MIDI synchronization and triggering .................................................. 91 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Using markers..........................................................92 Inserting markers ...................................................................92 Naming markers ...................................................................92 Changing the marker position .......................................................94 Using markers to create regions .....................................................94 Using command markers in streaming media files ......................... 95 Defining streaming media commands ................................................ 95 Defining Scott Studios data commands ............................................... 96 Inserting command markers..........................................................96 Using regions .........................................................97 Inserting regions ...................................................................97 Inserting regions automatically ......................................................98 Editing regions ....................................................................100 Using the Regions List .................................................. 101 Displaying the Regions List ......................................................... 101 Working with the Regions List ...................................................... 101 Creating new files from regions .....................................................103 Using the playlist.......................................................104 Displaying the playlist...............................................................104 Adding regions to the playlist ....................................................... 104 Understanding the playlist display .................................................. 105 Customizing the playlist display ..................................................... 105 Repeating a region during playlist playback .......................................... 105 Playing from the playlist ............................................................ 106 Arranging the playlist ..............................................................106 Replicating a region in the playlist ................................................... 106 Using stop points...................................................................107 Deleting a region from the playlist ................................................... 107 Creating a new file from the playlist ................................................. 107 Configuring the playlist as a cutlist .................................................. 108 Saving a playlist/cutlistfile .......................................................... 109 Opening a playlist/cutlist file ........................................................ 109 Recording, Ripping, and Burning ......................... 111 Recording audio ......................................................111 Recording into a new data window ..................................................111 Recording a specific length (punch-in) ............................................... 112 Choosing a recording mode ........................................................113 Adjusting for DC offset .............................................................114 Playing back recorded audio ........................................................115 Using remote recording mode ......................................................116 Synchronizing with other devices ...................................................117 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 Viewing recording levels ...........................................................118 Inserting markers while recording ...................................................119 Configuring gap detection .......................................................... 119 Automatically labeling windows and regions ......................................... 119 Changing blinking status ...........................................................119 Ripping audio from CDs................................................. 120 Previewing CD tracks ..............................................................120 Refreshing the Extract Audio from CD dialog ......................................... 120 Burning CDs...........................................................121 Correcting the sample rate for CD burning ........................................... 121 Writing mono tracks to a CD ........................................................ 121 Adding tracks to a CD ..............................................................121 Closing a CD ......................................................................122 Editing, Repairing, and Synthesizing Audio ............... 123 Crossfading, overwriting, and replicating.................................. 123 Crossfading .......................................................................123 Overwriting .......................................................................123 Replicating ........................................................................124 Repeating an operation ................................................. 125 Using drag-and-drop.................................................... 126 Dragging mono selections into stereo destinations .................................... 126 Snapping to events in drag-and-drop operations ...................................... 126 Pasting, mixing, and crossfading with drag-and-drop ................................. 126 Creating new windows with drag-and-drop .......................................... 129 Finding and repairing audio glitches...................................... 129 Locating glitches ..................................................................129 Repairing audio ...................................................................130 Synthesizing audio ..................................................... 132 Generating DTM F/M Ftones ........................................................132 Generating audio with frequency modulation ........................................ 133 Generating simple waveforms ...................................................... 135 Processing Audio....................................... 137 Applying presets ....................................................... 137 Using presets .....................................................................137 Creating presets ...................................................................138 Deleting presets ...................................................................138 Resetting parameters ..............................................................138 Managing presets .................................................................138 Previewing processed audio............................................. 138 TABLE OF CONTENTS Setting custom preview parameters ................................................. 138 Preview parameters ...............................................................139 Bypassing a process while previewing ............................................... 140 Sound Forge processes ................................................. 140 Auto Trim/Crop .......................................................140 Using Auto Trim/Crop...............................................................140 Auto Trim/Crop controls ............................................................ 141 Bit-Depth Converter....................................................142 Converting a file's bit depth ......................................................... 142 Channel Converter.....................................................144 Using the Channel Converter ....................................................... 144 Channel Converter controls ......................................................... 144 DC Offset..............................................................145 Estimating DC Offset................................................................145 DC Offset controls .................................................................145 EQ....................................................................146 Fade- Graphic fade .................................................... 146 Creating a graphic fade..............................................................146 Creating a custom graphic fade .....................................................147 Graphic Fade Controls ............................................................. 147 Fade- Fade In.......................................................... 147 Fade-Fade Out........................................................ 148 Insert Silence .........................................................148 Inserting silence into a file ..........................................................148 Insert Silence controls...............................................................149 Invert/Flip..............................................................149 Mute..................................................................149 Muting an audio selection ..........................................................149 Normalize.............................................................149 Normalizing Audio ................................................................150 Normalize Controls ................................................................150 Pan/Expand............................................................153 Creating a pan ....................................................................153 Creating a custom pan .............................................................153 Pan/Expand controls ...............................................................154 Resample .............................................................154 Downsa m pling audio ..............................................................155 U psa m pling audio .................................................................155 Resa m ple controls.................................................................155 TABLE OF CONTENTS C9 Reverse................................................................156 Smooth/Enhance.......................................................156 Time Stretch...........................................................156 Volume................................................................157 Increasing the volume of a selection ................................................. 157 Volume control....................................................................158 Applying Effects ........................................ 159 Adding an effect........................................................ 159 Saving effect settings as a custom preset ............................................ 160 Adding a chain of effects ............................................... 160 Applying effects using the Audio Plug-In Chainer ..................................... 161 Adding plug-ins to a chain ..........................................................161 Selecting the processing mode for audio tail data ..................................... 162 Arranging plug-ins on a chain ....................................................... 163 Bypassing effects ..................................................................163 Removing plug-ins from a chain .................................................... 163 Configuring chained plug-ins ....................................................... 164 Saving individual plug-in settings as a custom preset ................................. 164 Saving plug-in chains ..............................................................164 Loading plug-in chains .............................................................165 Adjusting settings for multiple data windows ......................................... 165 Managing effects.......................................................165 Using the Plug-In Manager window ................................................. 165 Organizing effects in the DX Favorites menu ......................................... 166 Using the Preset Manager...........................................................166 Using Acoustic Mirror and Wave Hammer................ 167 What is Acoustic Mirror? ................................................ 167 The acoustic signature .............................................................167 Adding an acoustic signature to an audio file ............................. 167 Adjusting the acoustic signature .................................................... 168 The Acoustic Mirror dialog .............................................. 169 General tab controls ...............................................................169 Envelope tab controls ..............................................................170 Summary tab controls .............................................................171 Recover tab controls ...............................................................172 Creating impulse files .................................................. 173 What you need to create custom impulses ........................................... 173 Recording the impulse in an acoustic space .......................................... 174 TABLE OF CONTENTS 10 Recording the impulse through an electronic device .................................. 174 Recovering the impulse ............................................................175 Trimming the impulse file .......................................................... 176 Adding summary information to your impulse file .................................... 176 Using the new impulse file ......................................................... 177 Using impulse files in creative ways...................................... 177 Processing individual audio elements ............................................... 177 Adding realistic stereo to mono recordings ........................................... 177 Creating special effects..............................................................177 Recreating spaces for foley effects and dialog replacement ............................ 178 Panning with head-related transfer functions ......................................... 178 Troubleshooting Acoustic Mirror......................................... 179 Stuttering during real-time previewing ............................................... 179 Impulses do not recover properly ...................................................179 Recovered impulse is too noisy ..................................................... 180 Error message explanations ........................................................180 What is Wave Hammer? ................................................ 180 Displaying Wave Hammer...........................................................180 The Wave Hammer dialog .............................................. 181 Com pressortab ...................................................................181 Volume M aximizertab .............................................................183 Working with MIDI/SMPTE .............................. 185 What is MIDI?..........................................................185 MIDI triggers...........................................................185 Playback versus triggered playback .................................................. 185 Triggering file playback ............................................................ 186 Triggering region playback ......................................................... 187 Triggering playbackfrom additional internal/external MIDI devices ..................... 189 Advantages of external MIDI controllers ............................................. 189 Sound Forge and MIDI timecode synchronization ......................... 190 Playing regions using MTC from a sequencer ........................................ 190 Playing regions using MTC from an external device ................................... 191 Using Sound Forge to generate MTC for a MIDI sequencer ............................ 191 Using Sound Forge to generate MTC for an external device ............................ 192 Sampling .............................................. 193 Samplers..............................................................193 External samplers .................................................................193 Internal samplers ..................................................................193 Configuring the Sampler Tool ........................................... 194 TABLE OF CONTENTS Creating a sampler configuration......................................... 194 Open loop versus closed loop ....................................................... 195 Saving sampler configurations........................................... 196 Sending and receiving samples.......................................... 196 Sending a sample .................................................................196 Receiving a sample ................................................................197 MIDI unity note and Fine tune ....................................................... 197 Using the MIDI Keyboard ................................................ 197 Displaying the MIDI Keyboard ......................................................197 Turning on the MIDI Keyboard ......................................................198 Configuring the MIDI Keyboard output port and channel .............................. 198 Troubleshooting the MIDI Keyboard .................................................198 Specifying instruments..............................................................198 Generating chords .................................................................198 Setting up MIDI/SDS hardware........................................... 199 Troubleshooting MIDI/SDS with open loop................................ 199 Setting up SCSI/SMDI hardware ......................................... 199 Troubleshooting SCSVSMDI............................................. 199 Conflicting SCSI IDs.................................................................199 Periodic transfer failures.............................................................200 Sampler is recognized but does not transfer reliably.................................... 200 Looping............................................... 203 Loops.................................................................203 Sustaining and release loops .......................................................203 Creating a sustaining loop ..........................................................204 Creating a sustaining loop with a release loop ........................................ 204 Looping techniques.....................................................205 Match endpoint amplitudes.......................................................... 206 Match endpoint waveform slope .................................................... 206 Match endpoint sound levels ....................................................... 206 Avoid very short loops .............................................................206 Editing loops...........................................................207 Editing a loop without the Loop Tuner ............................................... 207 Editing a loop with the Loop Tuner .................................................. 207 Crossfadingloops......................................................209 Using the Crossfade Loop tool ...................................................... 209 Creating loops for ACID ................................................210 Creating an ACID one-shot file ......................................................211 Creating an ACID loop file ..........................................................211 TABLE OF CONTENTS 12 Creating an ACID 2.0 disk-based file ................................................. 211 Creating an ACID 3.0 beatmapped file ............................................... 212 Using the ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar .............................. 212 Editing loops for ACID .................................................. 213 Halving or doubling a loop ......................................................... 213 Shifting a selection left or right ...................................................... 213 Rotating audio ....................................................................214 Setting loop tempo ................................................................215 Saving loop points ..................................................... 215 Working with Video..................................... 217 Viewing video..........................................................217 Using the video strip ...............................................................217 Using the Video Preview window ................................................... 218 Using an external monitor...........................................................219 Attaching video to an audio file ......................................... 219 Setting video options ................................................... 220 Video file properties ...............................................................220 Video preferences .................................................................221 Saving a video file ..................................................... 221 Using Spectrum Analysis................................ 223 Working in the frequency domain........................................ 223 Fast Fourier Transform .............................................................223 Using a spectrum graph ................................................ 224 Displaying a spectrum graph .......................................................224 Monitoring playback................................................................224 Monitoring an input source ......................................................... 224 Displaying frequency and amplitude values .......................................... 224 Displaying frequency and pitch ..................................................... 225 Working with stereo files ...........................................................225 Updating a spectrum graph ........................................................225 Viewing multiple spectrum graphs .................................................. 226 Adjusting spectrum graph settings .................................................. 227 Saving spectrum graph settings ....................................................228 Navigating a spectrum graph ....................................................... 229 Using Grab/Pan mode .............................................................231 Using the overview window ........................................................231 Using a sonogram...................................................... 232 Displaying a sonogram ............................................................232 Displaying frequency and amplitude values .......................................... 232 TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 Updating a sonogram ..............................................................232 Tuning a sonogram ................................................................232 Returning to a spectrum graph ...................................................... 233 Shortcuts.............................................. 235 Keyboard shortcuts.....................................................235 Waveform display keyboard shortcuts ............................................... 237 Navigation and playback keyboard shortcuts ......................................... 239 Record dialog keyboard shortcuts ...................................................239 Regions List and playlist keyboard shortcuts .......................................... 240 ACID loop creation tools keyboard shortcuts ......................................... 240 Audio Plug-In Chainer keyboard shortcuts ............................................ 240 Mouse shortcuts........................................................241 Mouse wheel shortcuts ............................................................241 Additional mouse shortcuts ........................................................ 241 Microsoft Audio Compression Manager .................. 243 Audio data compression and decompression ............................. 243 Transparent playback and recording of non-hardware supported audio files.. 243 SMPTE Timecode ...................................... 245 SMPTE 25 EBU (25 fps, Video) ........................................... 245 SMPTE Drop Frame (29.97 fps, Video) .................................... 245 SMPTE Non-Drop Frame (29.97 fps, Video)................................ 245 SMPTE 30 (30 fps, Audio)................................................ 246 SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps) ............................................... 246 Using CSOUND, MTU, IRCAM, BICSF, and EBICSF Files.... 247 About IRCAM files ...................................................... 247 About BICSF and EBICSF files............................................ 247 Opening files...........................................................247 BICSF and EBICSF files ............................................................. 247 IRCAM, CSOUND and MTU files .................................................... 247 Saving files............................................................248 Index ..................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ' 4L Introducing Sound Forge Thank you for purchasing Sound Forge and for your continued support of the Sonic Foundry family of products. Sound Forge provides you with the powerful features you have come to expect, as well as a number of new features designed to make digital audio editing quick and easy. Sample files Throughout the manual, you will find references to six sample audio files. The manual directs you to use these files as you experiment with different Sound Forge features. These files are installed in the same folder as the application: Drumhit.pca Fill.pca Loop.pca Musicbed.pca Saxrif£pca Voiceover.pca The files are in Perfect Clarity Audio (PCA) format, a Sonic Foundry proprietary lossless audio compression format. Shortcuts As experienced users of Sound Forge products know, there are often several methods of executing a command, including menus, shortcut menus, and keystrokes. Throughout this manual, the typical method of executing a command is identified in the procedure, and alternate methods are identified in a section indicated by the following icon: A full list of keyboard and mouse shortcuts appears in the first appendix to this manual. For more information, see Shortcuts on page 235. 7 Introduction CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION 16 Installing Sound Forge The install utility, setup.exe, located on the Sound Forge CD-ROM, creates the necessary folders and copies all files required to operate Sound Forge. Note: Sound Forge requires Microsoft DirectX 8.0 or later and Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. The setup program alerts you if either is not detected on your system and prompts their installation from the Sound Forge CD-ROM. 11 1. Place the Sound Forge CD-ROM in your system's CD-ROM drive. AutoPlay launches the setup menu. Note: If AutoPlay is not turned on, click the Start button and choose Run. Type "D: \setup.exe", where D is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive. 11 2. Click Install, and follow the instructions in the dialogs to complete the installation. Getting help within Sound Forge You can access two varieties of help within Sound Forge: • Online help • What's This? help (also referred to as context-sensitive help) Online help To access online help, choose Contents and Index from the Help menu. Press Note: To view online help, Internet Explorer 4.0 or later must be installed on your system. INTRODUCTION CHP. 1 Toolbar Tabs les ound Fmge and Sound Forge XP Studio Online Help 71 a- n Hide Options Sho0cuts Glo çomants Indti I sea-I F,-aasl C Werk',ng with Files Previewing a File Recording Selecting Data and Positioning the Basic Editing Markers, Regions, and Commands Editing with the Playllst Repairing Glitches or Clicks Processing Sound Adding Effects e Synthesis e sampl'~ng MIDI Synchronization Spectrum Analysis Acoustic Mirror Wave Hammersound Forge The Sound Forge Window Shortcuts Appendix Glossary sonicfoundry Copyright ©2002 Sonic Foundry, Ino All Rights Reserved Rev, March 21, 2002 mom Information pane I u 0 The Contents tab provides a list of available help topics. Click a closed book (*) to open the pages, and then click on a topic page (n). The index tab provides a complete listing of the help topics available. Scroll through the list of available topics or type a word in the Type in the keyword to find box to quickly locate topics related to that word. Select the topic and click the Display button. The Search tab allows you to enter a keyword and display all of the topics in the online help that contain the keyword you have entered. Type a keyword in the Type in the word(s) to search for box and click the button. Select the topic from the list and click the Display button. =LIT-1- The Favorites tab allows you to keep topics that you revisit often in a separate folder. To add a topic to your favorites, click the Add button on the Favorites tab. What's This? help What's This? help allows you to view pop-up descriptions of controls in dialog boxes. 1. Click the question mark ( ?J) in the upper-right corner of the dialog box. The cursor changes to a question mark icon (4?). 2. Click a control in the dialog box. A pop-up description of the item appears. Click a control in the dialog box and press Shift 1211 Help on the Web Additional Sound Forge information is available on the Sonic Foundry Web site. From the Help menu, choose Sonic Foundry on the Web, and choose the desired location from the submenu. Sound Forge starts your system's browser and attempts to connect to the appropriate page on the Sonic Foundry Web site. CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION CHP. 1 CHAPTER What's New? 2 This chapter is intended for experienced Sound Forge users. It simply addresses the question on everyone's mind: "What's new in this version of Sound Forge?" Nondestructive editing With this release, Sound Forge moves to a nondestructive editing model. Nondestructive editing eliminates the bottleneck of waiting for each edit to complete processing because moving and deleting audio data is instantaneous. When you save the file, Sound Forge renders all your edits out to a physical file on disk. Improved audio plug-in management This release includes several improvements relating to DirectX plug-ins. Improved Audio Plug-In Chainer with easier previewing Sound Forge 6.0 makes it easier to preview the result of applying a DirectX plug-in on different sections of an audio file. The Audio Plug-In Chainer window allows you to reposition the cursor or make selections in the data window without closing the chainer. Preview one section of the file, make adjustments in the Audio Plug-In Chainer window, and preview a different section of the file-all without closing the window. You can even dock the Audio Plug-In Chainer window in the Sound Forge workspace for quick access. The playbar on each data window now has an Open Plug-In Chainer button (-a- 1) that opens the Audio Plug-In Chainer window. Once you open the chainer, the Play Plug-In Chainer button ( o°°`) appears. With the Play Plug-In Chainer button selected, you can preview audio through the plug-ins shown in the open Audio Plug-in Chainer window. For more information, see Adding a chain of effects on page 160. Plug-In Manager Sound Forge 6.0 improves access to audio plug-ins by providing a new Plug-In Manager. This window allows you to see a Explorer-style view of your audio plug-ins and plug-in chains. You can use the Plug-In Manager to manage your plug-ins-to rename plug-ins, hide plug-ins, create folders, add plug-ins to the DX Favorites menu, and perform other standard file management tasks. For more information, see Using the Plug-In Manager window on page 165. The Plug-In Manager also makes it easier to apply a plug-in to an audio file. To use a plug-in, simply drag it onto a data window. To add a plug-in to an existing plug-in chain, drag the plug-in onto the Audio Plug-In Chainer window. For more information, see Adding a plug-in to a chain from the Plug-In Manager on page 162. CHP. 2 WHAT'S NEW? 20 Customizable DX Favorites menu When you add any DirectX plug-in to the DX Favorites folder, Sound Forge adds the plug-in to the DX Favorites menu in the workspace. The DX Favorites menu makes accessing the plug-ins you use most often much easier. You can create folders to organize the plug-ins in the DX Favorites menu or allow Sound Forge to automatically organize your plug-ins for you. For more information, see Organizing effects in the DX Favorites menu on page 166. Multitask background rendering In earlier versions of Sound Forge, you were forced to go do something else as your computer chugged away processing that two-hour file. In Sound Forge 6.0, you can continue to perform many common tasks on other data windows. The secret is multitask background rendering. When you save or process a data window, the data window becomes inactive while it waits in the queue to be processed. While this data window is inactive, all other windows not pending processing are available for use. You can perform the following actions on other data windows while background processing is underway: • Open • Play • Preview • Cut • Copy • Paste • Delete If you need to perform any other processing or saving actions, the data window is queued and becomes inactive. Tabbed docking windows In Sound Forge 6.0, windows such as the Regions List and Time Display can be docked in a stack in the workspace. Docking windows allows you to keep more windows open while maintaining a greater degree of organization. You can dock windows individually or in a stack. When stacked, each window has a tab at the bottom with its name on it. Click the window's tab to bring it to the top. The following windows can be docked: Regions List Playlist Keyboard Video Preview Time Display Play Meters Undo/Redo History Plug-In Manager Audio Plug-In Chainer For more information, see Floating and docking windows on page 31. WHAT'S NEW? CHP. 2 Updated playbar The playbar that appears at the bottom of each data window has been updated to streamline and simplify Sound Forge playback options. Looped Playback mode In previous versions of Sound Forge, you used the Play Looped button ( o~') to play a file or a selection in a continuous loop. In this release, you can play audio in Looped Playback mode regardless of which playback mode (Play Normal, Play Plug-In Chainer, Play as Cutlist, or Play as Sample) is selected in the playbar. Click the Loop Playback button ( 01) on the transport bar to turn Looped Playback mode on and off. For more information, see Playing in Loop Playback mode on page 54. Play Plug-In Chainer mode The playbar now has an Open Plug-In Chainer button (-u-j) that opens the Audio Plug-In Chainer window. Once you open the chainer, the Play Plug-In Chainer button ( o°°° ) appears. With the Play Plug-In Chainer button selected, you can preview audio through the plug-ins shown in the open Audio Plug-in Chainer window. For more information, see Adding a chain of effects on page 160. Play as Sample mode The Play as Sample button ( >J) now appears only when a sample loop is defined. For more information, see Creating a sustaining loop on page 204. Customizable toolbars The many toolbars available in Sound Forge 6.0 are now customizable. You can add any available button to any toolbar in any order. For more information, see Customizing a toolbar on page 34. Play Device toolbar Now you can choose a playback device on the fly using the Play Device toolbar. For more information, see Play Device toolbar on page 43. Updated file support Support for files larger than 4 GB While Sound Forge 5.0 supported formats that supported greater than 4 GB files, its data windows still had a limit much smaller than that. Sound Forge 6.0 now truly supports files of all sizes (using NTFS file system). Support for Quicklime, MPEG 1 and 2, and Windows Media Video files Sound Forge 5.0 could only open AVI files and save them to Quicklime, MPEG or Windows Media Video. Using Sound Forge 6.0, you can now open these files and save them to other formats. Note: MPEG 1 and 2 support requires the purchase of the MainConcept MPEG plug-in. CHP. 2 WHAT'S NEW? 22 Support for 32-bit/192 kHz files Sound Forge 6.0 supports full resolution 32-bit files for pristine audio quality. You can now open, record, and save 32-bit files. Note: In order to record 32-bit files, you need a 32-bit capable audio interface. However, you can open, edit, and save 32-bit files even if your device doesn't support them. Enhanced Preset Manager Sound Forge 6.0 expands the functionality of the Preset Manager. The Preset Manager can back up, transfer, and delete user-defined presets for Sound Forge, ACID, and Vegas. The Preset Manager is designed to work with existing plug-in presets and packages only; you create your presets and preset packages in Sound Forge, ACID, or Vegas, but use the Preset Manager to manage them. For more information, see Using the Preset Manager on page 166. Enhanced zoom capabilities Greater than 1:1 time zoom Sound Forge 6.0 removes the horizontal zoom limitation of one pixel per sample. You can now zoom in to a ratio of 24:1 (24 pixels = 1 sample). This increased zoom ratio allows for more precise editing, especially with the Pencil tool. Customizable zoom settings You can create two custom time magnifications for zoom settings that you use often. You can access the custom zoom settings through menu commands, toolbar buttons, or keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Using custom zoom settings on page 75. Improved video handling Sound Forge 6.0 has a number of new or updated features to better handle files with video streams. Video properties For files with a video stream, the Video tab in the Properties dialog now provides user-editable settings for Field order and Pixel aspect ratio. For more information, see Video file properties on page 220. Video Preview window The Video Preview window provides a new option to compensate for non-square pixel aspect ratios. Right- click the Video Preview window and select Display Square Pixels to compensate for any spatial distortions due to non-square pixel aspect ratios. For more information, see Adjusting Video Preview window settings on page 219. Frame numbering options Sound Forge 6.0 provides several options for frame numbering on the video strip. For more information, see Viewing frame numbers on page 218. WHAT'S NEW? CHP. 2 C23 Options for saving video files Sound Forge 6.0 also provides two new options when saving a file with a video stream: Stretch video to fill output frame (do not letterbox): Stretches the source video frame if the destination frame size differs. When this option is turned off, Sound Forge uses letterboxing or pillarboxing to keep the frame aspect correct. Fast video resizing: Speeds the process of saving video. When this option is turned off, video quality increases slightly, but the time required to save the file can increase dramatically. For more information, see Saving a video file on page 221. Rendering preferences By selecting the Resample source video check box in the Video tab of the Preferences dialog, you can make Sound Forge interpolate frames when you save a file where the destination frame rate is greater than the source frame rate. You can also choose an option from the Deinterlace method drop-down list to determine how Sound Forge separates the two fields that make up a video frame when you render to a progressive format. For more information, see Video preferences on page 221. External monitor preview setup Previously, Sound Forge scanned for an external monitor each time you opened an AVI file. With Sound Forge 6, you can designate an external monitor device in the Video tab of the Preferences dialog. To use this feature, you must have an OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 DV interface and a device to convert the DV signal to video, such as a DV camcorder, deck, or media converter. For more information, see Using an external monitor on page 219. CHP. 2 WHAT'S NEW? WHAT'S NEW? CHP. 2 CHAPTER 3 Optimizing for Sound Forge C25 This chapter contains information on configuring your system to optimize the performance of Sound Forge. Defragmenting your hard drive Sound Forge is a disk-based digital audio editor that allows editing operations to be performed on the system's hard drive rather than in memory. Because of this, Sound Forge is able to edit large files as well as retain extensive undo/redo information and clipboard data.This also means that the hard drive specified for temporary storage must have sufficient free space to store large quantities of data. With time and usage, hard drives become fragmented, leading to discontiguous files and slow access. This is particularly true for older hard drives. Since Sound Forge is hard drive intensive, faster disk access equates better performance. Therefore, the initial step in improving system performance is hard drive defragmentation. The computer's operating system is typically equipped with a defragmenting program that should be run prior to using Sound Forge. Checking Windows 98SE and Windows Me default settings System configuration settings deviating from Windows 98SE and Windows Me defaults may result in reduced performance from Sound Forge. 1. From the Start menu, choose Settings, and then choose Control Panel from the submenu. 2. Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog appears. 3. Click the Performance tab and verify that File System and Virtual Memory are set to 32-bit. 4. In the Advanced settings window, click the File System button. The File System Properties dialog appears. 5. Click the Hard Disk tab and verify that the Read-ahead optimization slider is set to Full. 6. Click the Troubleshooting tab and verify that all check boxes are cleared. 7. Click OK to return to the System Properties dialog. 8. Click the Graphics button in the Advanced settings window. The Advanced Graphics Settings dialog appears. 9. Verify that the Hardware acceleration slider is set to Full and click OK. Note: I f you detect dropouts in playback, experiment with different Hardware acceleration settings. CHP. 3 OPTIMIZING FOR SOUND FORGE 26 Increasing total buffer size The total buffer size value determines the amount of RAM used for recording to/playing from the hard drive. A total buffer size of 512 KB is recommended, but increased buffering may be necessary if you detect gaps during playback. Increasing the total buffer size requires additional memory. Combined with a large preload size, this may result in a delay when starting and stopping playback. For more information, see Increasing preload size on page 26. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Click the wave tab. 3. Use the Total buffer size slider to configure an appropriate buffer size value and click OK. Increasing preload size The preload size value determines how much sound data Sound Forge prepares and loads into the sound card driver prior to starting playback. Preloading occurs between the time you click the Play button ( o ) and the first sound of playback. Increasing preload size may eliminate the dropouts evident at the beginning of playback that are characteristic of slow and/or fragmented hard drives. The trade-off for increasing the preload size is a delay prior to the start of playback. The length of the delay is proportional to the size of the preload. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Click the wave tab. 3. Use the Preload size slider to configure an appropriate preload size value and click OK. Note: Certain Windows sound drivers do not support this option. I f you detect noise or dropouts at the start of playback and the system's sound drivers do not support preloading, turn off this option by setting the Preload size to 0. Turning off the playback cursor and record counter The playback cursor and record counter options determine whether these displays are updated during recording and playback. If you detect dropouts and skipping at high sample rates (greater than 44,100 Hz), turn these displays off to minimize processing overhead. 1. From the Options menus, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Click the Perform tab. 3. Clear the Show the position of the playback cursor and Show the record counter while recording check boxes and click OK. Turning off meters Sound Forge's play and record meters use a small amount of processing overhead during recording and playback. However, if you detect dropouts during recording or playback and previous fixes have failed, try turning off these meters. OPTIMIZING FOR SOUND FORGE CHIP. 3 C27 Turning of the play (output) meters >From the view menu, choose Play Meters. The check mark adjacent to the command is cleared, indicating that the play meters are turned off. Turning of the record meters 1. From the special menu, choose Transport, and choose Record from the submenu. The Record dialog appears. 2. Clear the monitor check box and click OK. Turning on passive updating for video and time displays Passive update options lower the priority of redrawing the video and time displays during playback. When these options are turned on, the displays update only if there is ample time. Frequently this goes unnoticed, and enabling these options minimizes playback overhead with little or no inconvenience. Turning on passive updating for time displays >From the Options menu, choose Time Display, and choose Passive Update from the submenu. A check mark appears next to the command to indicate that this option is turned on. Turning on passive updating for video displays >From the Options menu, choose Video, and choose Passive Update from the submenu. A check mark appears next to the command to indicate that this option is turned on. CHIP. 3 OPTIMIZING FOR SOUND FORGE OPTIMIZING FOR SOUND FORGE CHP. 3 CHAPTER 40 C29 Learning the Sound Forge Workspace This chapter provides a detailed overview of Sound Forge toolbars and controls. Using the mouse The following table defines the mouse-related terms used throughout this manual. Pointing Clicking Right-clicking Double-clicking Triple-clicking Toggle-clicking Shift-clicking Ctrl-clicking Dragging Slow-dragging Moving the mouse pointer over an item. Pointing to an item and quickly pressing and releasing the left mouse button. If there is no left or right specification, left-clicking is implied. Pointing to an item and quickly pressing and releasing the right mouse button. Right-clicking is frequently used to display shortcut menus. Identical to clicking, but instead of pressing and releasing the mouse button once, it is done twice in quick succession. Double-clicking always indicates the left mouse button. Identical to clicking, but instead of pressing and releasing the mouse button once, it is done three times in quick succession. Triple-clicking always indicates the left mouse button. Clicking the right mouse button while holding down the left mouse button. This is used to toggle options and is a shortcut for drag-and-drop editing and using the Magnify tool. Holding down the Shift key while clicking the mouse. Shift-clicking is typically used to skip dialogs and quickly repeat operations. Holding down the Ctrl key while clicking the mouse. Ctrl-clicking is used to modify the operation of a normal click. Holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse pointer and releasing the mouse at the desired location. Dragging is used to quickly move sections of data between windows, as well as to adjust sliders, scrollbars, and faders. Holding down the right and left mouse buttons while adjusting sliders and faders increases the resolution of the movement. This is useful when making fractional adjustments to parameters. Note: Once you are familiar with Sound Forge basics, you may want to use mouse and keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Shortcuts on page 235. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 30 Using the mouse wheel Sound Forge allows you to use your mouse wheel to navigate audio files. The following table briefly describes the available mouse wheel functionality. Wheel Up Zoom in horizontally Wheel Down Zoom out horizontally Ctrl+Wheel Up Zoom in vertically Ctrl+Wheel Down Zoom out vertically Shift+Wheel Up Scroll left (in ] Oths of screen width) Shift+Wheel Down Scroll right (in 1 Oths of screen width) Ctrl+Shift+ Wheel Up Cursor left or current selection point left (if there is a selection) Ctrl+Shift+ Wheel Down Cursor right or current selection point right (if there is a selection) The main screen When you start Sound Forge, the main screen appears. The main screen's workspace is where you perform all audio editing. Menu bar Standard toolbar Transport bar Sonic Foundry Sound Forge 6.0 FM EM v- SP-ai P-ass Eir-is rods Favo,tes Opt,- WMow He1P Workspace ~3- 45 51 57 66 66 72 78 81' 87 3,248.7 HB Play Meters (docked) Status bar Main screen components The following table describes the major components of the main screen. Menu bar Displays the menu headings for the available functions. Standard toolbar Provides quick access to some of the most common tasks in Sound Forge (pg. 35). Transport bar Provides quick access to basic audio transport functions (pg. 36). Status bar Help and processing information appears on the left side. The boxes on the right side display the playback sample rate, bit depth, channel configuration (mono/stereo), length of the active data window, and total free storage space (pg. 83). With the exception of the free storage space box, you can edit these boxes by double-clicking or right-clicking them. When no data windows are open, only the free storage space box contains a value. Workspace This is the area located behind the data windows. Audio selections dragged to the workspace automatically become new data windows. Windows such as the Regions List and Playlist can be docked along the edges of the workspace. Play Meters Displays the level of the output audio signal. These meters can be toggled on/off by choosing Play Meters from the View menu. Right-clicking the play meters displays a shortcut menu that allows you to precisely configure the appearance of the meters. LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 Floating and docking windows With the many features in Sound Forge, it is easy for the workspace to become cluttered. Docking windows allows you to keep more windows open while maintaining a greater degree of organization. You can choose to float or dock the windows listed in the View menu, including the Regions List, Playlist, Time Display, and Audio Plug-In Chainer windows. You can dock windows individually or in a stack. When stacked, each window has a tab at the bottom with its name on it. Click the window's tab to bring it to the top. 1>> 11-1 U4.I»>1 -L W....o..d edamg- - Docked Play Meters 0 Cnt Name Start End 0 1 saa o000ozz00 001001029II Il IIII 00000z1, l0 1 so~~u~d abuî~9,u=t9ai~ aasa, 1Eo7 0 1 ua~aa IlIlIl11, IIIIIIII II 0 1 snnd eare~ Il IlIl11, Stacked 0 1 000007 00.00.07 Il Il Il Il 00.00.m.s43 Il n Eod d P~ay1=< - windows with tabs Ha9~o~ / n me o piaY 1000 Unnamed EI NN- -r] F1 10 - Docked Keyboard Docking a window 1. Drag a window to the edge of the workspace. The outline of the window changes shape as you approach the edge. 2. Release the mouse. The window docks against the edge of the workspace. Note: Press ctrl while dragging a window to prevent it from docking in the workspace. Floating a window Drag the handle on the left side of a docked window away from the edge of the workspace. Close window Expand window Drag the handle - away from the edge of the workspace to float the window. x N CM Name Start End r 1 Silence O0:00:01.46î 00:00:02.209 0 1 Sound editing just gets easier 00:00:02.209 00:00:04.373 1 Silence 00:00:04.373 00:00:05.115 0 1 ...And easier 00:00:05.115 00:00:06.476 -- End of Playlist -- Time Display Playlist Undo/Redo-Wow, sound editing. I I I IQ 44,100 H, 16 ht m- 000005000 72445ME CHP.4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 32 The data window Data windows contain audio data (as a waveform) as well as a number of controls and commands used to edit and process audio. Title bar Time ruler Edit Tool Selector Level ruler - Waveform display Level zoom in/out 7- -7 Playbar Position Selection status boxes scroll bar Title bar Displays the file name. If title information is included in the summary of a file, it appears here instead of the file name. Double-click to maximize and restore the window. Level ruler Displays the amplitude of the waveform. Right-click to display the level ruler shortcut menu. Drag to shift the view up/down when zoomed in vertically. Time ruler Displays the current location in the data window as well as ruler tags. Right-click to display the time ruler shortcut menu. Drag to scroll the data window. Ruler tags Indicates the position of region end points, loop end points, and markers. Right-click a tag to display the ruler tag shortcut menu. Drag to edit a tag's position. Double-click anywhere within a region to select it. Edit Tool Selector Toggles through the Edit, Magnify, and Pencil tools. Right-click to display a shortcut menu that allows you to display or hide data window elements. Playbar Contains audio transport buttons, including Oo to Start, Oo to End, Stop, Play Normal, Play Plug-In Chainer, Play as Cutlist, and Play as Sample (pg. 33). Selection status boxes Displays the beginning, end, and length of a selection. If no selection exists, only the cursor position displays. Double-click the leftmost box to display the Oo To dialog. Double-click either of the other two boxes to display the Set Selection dialog. Right-click to display the status format shortcut menu. Waveform display Displays a graphical representation of an audio file. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents amplitude. Right-click within this display to open the waveform display shortcut menu. Position scroll bar Scrolls forward/backward through an audio file to display sections of the file not visible in the current area of the waveform display. Overview bar Allows for quick navigation and playback of any part of an audio file. The overview bar also indicates the portion of the waveform currently depicted in the waveform display, as well as the selected region. Click to move the cursor. Double-click to center the cursor in the waveform display. Right-click to start or pause playback. Drag to activate the audio event locator. Time zoom resolution Specifies the number of samples of data represented by each horizontal point on the screen. This determines the length of time displayed in the data window. Smaller resolution values display less time. Time zoom in/out Changes the zoom resolution for the time (horizontal) axis. Level zoom in/out Changes the zoom resolution for the level (vertical) axis. Maximize width Resizes the data window to maximize its size within the workspace. ..~ music6ed-wa, 0 ©I 'r1 MI I }J >1 J 00:00:01.880 00:00:03.076 00:00:01.195 [-Overview bar Ruler tags Time zoom resolution Time zoom in/out Maximize width LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 C33 Displaying data window components Sound Forge allows you to customize the appearance of individual data windows. 1. From the File menu, choose Properties or press Alt Enter The current file's Properties dialog appears. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Display/hide specific components by selecting/clearing the corresponding check boxes. 4. Select the Save as the default for all new windows check box if you want to set the new configuration as the default data window display. 5. Click OK. Right-click the Edit Tool Selector (upper-left corner of data window) to display or hide components for the selected data window. Playbar The playbar is located in the bottom-left corner of a data window. You can use the playbar to navigate and play audio files in a variety of ways. LPlay as Sample Play as Cutlist Play Plug-In Chainer Play Normal Stop Go to End Go to Start Moves the cursor to the start of the file. Plays from the cursor to the end of the file. If there is a selection, plays from the beginning of the selection to the end of the selection. Moves the cursor to the end ,p, Previews the audio processed through plug-ins when the Audio Plug-In of the file. Chainer window is open. If there is a selection, plays from the beginning of the selection to the end of the selection. If the Audio Plug-In Chainer window is not open, the Open Plug-In Chainer button ( "°d) appears instead. For more information, see Adding a chain of effects on page 160. Stops playback and returns the cursor to its position prior to playback. Plays the file with the regions in the cutlist omitted. This button appears only if you treat the playlist as a cutlist. For more information, see Configuring the playlist as a cutlist on page 108. Plays the file with the sustaining and release loops repeating the specified number of times. This button appears only if you have defined a sample loop. For more information, see Looping on page 203. Current playback mode When you play a file from the playbar, a small horizontal line appears beneath the selected Play button's icon ( p ). This indicates Sound Forge's current playback mode, which is the mode used when you click the transport bar Play ( > ) button. For more information, see Transport bar on page 36. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 34 Changing the current playback mode To change the current playback mode, click a playbar button or press Ctrl Space Optional Backward and Forward buttons You can choose to display Backward ( loop. Marks the "in" point of a new selection. Moves the cursor to the beginning of the release loop. Marks the "out" point of a new selection. ~, Moves the cursor to the end of the release R4 3 loop. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 38 Views toolbar The Views toolbar contains buttons used to store and retrieve data window views. L~_ Set View # Toggles views 1-8 between setting and Stores and recalls specific selection views. restoring. Status/Selection toolbar The Status/Selection toolbar contains buttons used to specify a file's status format and control snapping functions. SMPTE 30 (30 fps, Audio) SMPTE Drop (29.97 fps, Video) SMPTE Non-Drop (29.97 fps, Video) SMPTE EBU (25 fps) SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps) Measures and Beats Absolute Frames Time and Frames Seconds Changes the status format to Samples. 24 Changes the status formatto SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps). 61 Changes the status format to Time. 16 25 Changes the status format to SMPTE EBU (25 fps). SEE Changes the status format to Seconds. nD IM Changes the status format to SMPTE Non- Drop (29.97 fps, Video). Changes the status format to Time and DROP Changes the status format to SMPTE Drop 41 Frames. 11111 (29.97 fps, Video). Changes the status format to Absolute Frames. Changes the status format to SMPTE 30 (30 fps, Audio). Changes the status format to Measures and Beats. LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 C39 Regions/Playlist toolbar The Regions/Playlist toolbar contains the Regions List and Playlist buttons as well as buttons corresponding to synchronization commands and status displays. Pre-Queue for MIDI Timecode Generate MIDI Timecode Trigger from MIDI/MTC Playlist Regions List Displays the Regions List. BUT MII Configures Sound Forge to send MIDI timecode through the MIDI output port. The MIDI output port is specified on the MIDI/Sync tab of the Preferences dialog. Displays the playlist. Opens the wave device and preloads data for the next region to be played from the playlist. IM MII Configures Sound Forge to be triggered by MIDI commands received through the MIDI input port. The MIDI input port is specified on the MIDI/Sync tab in the Preferences dialog. For more information, see Turning on MIDI input synchronization on page 186. Playlist Position display Displays the current playback position of an audio file being played from the playlist. Right-clicking this box displays a shortcut menu that allows you to specify a new format. Sync Status display Allows you to monitor the status of incoming/outgoing MIDI commands. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 40 Process toolbar The Process toolbar contains buttons corresponding to all commands located in the Process menu. Mute Invert/Flip Insert Silence Fade - Fade Out Fade - Fade In Fade - Graphic Fade EQ - Parametric EQ EQ - Paragraphic EQ EQ - Graphic EQ DC Offset Channel Converter Bit-Depth Converter Auto Trim/Crop Volume Time Stretch Smooth/Enhance Reverse Resample Pan/Expand Normalize Removes silence and automatically fades in/out Inserts user-configurable silence into audio the end-points of each phrase. files. Converts a file to a different bit depth. Inverts (or flips) the polarity of the current selection. Converts between mono and stereo formats. Mutes the current selection. Can also intermix the left and right channels of w MJ a stereo file to create panning effects. Changes the baseline of an audio file. Normalizes the loudness of an audio file. Opens Sonic Foundry's XFX Graphic EQ. R Creates custom pans, expands, and mixes. Opens Sonic Foundry's XFX Paragraphic EQ. Creates a copy of the audio file with a new sample rate. Opens Sonic Foundry's XFX Parametric EQ. Reverses the current selection. ,q I Creates user-configurable fades. Opens Sonic Foundry's XFX Smooth/Enhance S t tool. Fades-in the selection. Opens Sonic Foundry's XFX Time Stretch tool. Fades-out the selection. [ Adjusts the volume of an audio file. LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 Effects toolbar The Effects toolbar contains buttons corresponding to all Sound Forge's built-in XFX. Wave Hammer Vibrato Reverb Pitch Shift Pitch Bend Noise Gate Gapper/Snipper Flange/Wah-Wah Envelope Dynamics - Multi-Band Dynamics Dynamics - Graphic Dynamics Distortion Delay - Simple Delay Delay - Multi-Tap Delay Chorus Amplitude Modulation Acoustic Mirror Adds environmental coloration to your existing Mixes a modulated delay signal with the recordings. //( original signal. I Applies a sinusoidal or square-shaped periodic Removes/inserts sections of silence at regular AM gain to the input signal. % intervals to create unusual effects. Simulates multiple audio sources from a single sound. Removes signals below a set amplitude threshold. Creates a delay with up to eight delay-taps spaced anywhere within 2.5 seconds of the original sound. Creates a modified sound envelope that corresponds to increasing or decreasing the pitch of a sound file over time. Adds a delayed copy of the audio signal to the Changes the pitch of a selection with or file. without preserving the duration of the file. Simulates the overloading of an amplifier. Simulates the acoustics of different environments. Applies compression, expansion, and limiting to Creates periodic pitch modulation in an audio affect the dynamic range of an audio file. dr I file. Allows compression and limiting to be placed Acts as a classic compressor and volume on up to four different frequency bands. %71 maximizer. Forces the amplitude envelope of a waveform to match a specified envelope shape. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 42 Tools toolbar The Tools toolbar contains buttons corresponding to commands in the Tools menu. Synthesis Statistics Spectrum Analysis Sampler Repair - Interpolate Repair - Replace Repair - Copy Other Channel Preset Manager Find Extract Regions Crossfade Loop Auto Region Extract Audio from CD Burn CD Synthesis - Simple Synthesis Synthesis - FM Synthesis DTMF/MF Tones Synthesis Writes the selected audio track to CD. , CR J + Extracts audio from CD and opens in Sound Forge for editing. Creates regions in an audio file according to III rapid sound attacks or a specified time interval. Mixes audio occurring before the loop start point into the end of the loop to smooth rEJ transitions. Extracts all file regions and saves them as 011 individual files. Searches for clicks and pops, volume levels, or ~J silent breaks in an audio signal. Backs up and transfers user-configured presets PM from effects, processes, and plug-ins. Replaces selected audio with a corresponding selection from the opposite channel. J Replaces selected audio data with previous adjacent data. Replaces selected audio with interpolated audio data based on the selection's beginning and end samples. Allows you to transfer samples to/from Sound Forge. Performs spectrum analysis on the current file or selection. Displays statistics corresponding to the current file or selection. Generates dial tones used by telephone companies. Uses frequency modulation and additive synthesis to create complex sounds from simple waveforms. Generates a simple waveform of a given shape, pitch, and length. Levels toolbar The Levels toolbar displays the audio levels in the left and right channels in the user-specified format. Left Right channel level channel level LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 C43 ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar The ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar contains buttons corresponding to commands used when creating audio loops for Sonic Foundry's ACID products. For more information, see Creating loops for ACID on page 210. Selection Grid Lines Rotate Audio Shift Selection Right Shift Selection Left Halve Selection Double Selection Edit Tempo Edit ACID Properties Tempo Window Displays the Edit ACID Properties dialog. Shifts the current selection to the left so the current start point becomes the end point. Calculates the musical tempo (beats per Shifts the current selection to the right so the 4/ minute) based upon the current selection. current end point becomes the start point. Doubles the size of the current selection. Moves the current selection to the opposite 2 end of the file. Divides the current selection in half. oil Toggles the selection grid line display on/off. Tempo window The ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar also contains a Tempo window. This window calculates and displays the ACID project's tempo as if the current selection represents a complete measure. Play Device toolbar The Play Device toolbar allows you to choose a playback device on the fly. Microsoft Sound Mapper Play Device drop-down list Play Device drop-down list Choose a playback device from the drop-down list. Use the Play Device drop-down list as a shortcut for choosing Preferences from the Options menu and choosing a Playback device on the wave tab. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 44 :)- TooITips Hovering the mouse pointer over a button or status bar box for longer than one second displays a small text box adjacent to the pointer. This text, called a ToolTip, is a brief description of the item's function. Using ToolTips is an effective way to quickly familiarize yourself with Sound Forge. 00:00:07.012 00:00:02.972 ToolTip Selection Length f----"' Turning off TooITips 1. From the View menu, choose Toolbars. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Clear the Show TooITips check box and click OK. Command descriptions When you click and hold a menu item or a button in a toolbar, a brief description of the command appears in the lower-left corner of the status bar. If you release the mouse button outside of the menu item or toolbar, Sound Forge does not execute the command. Meters Meters display audio levels in a number of different places in Sound Forge: the Play Meters show audio file levels; meters in the Record dialog help you adjust levels for recording; and meters in the Wave Hammer dialog help you adjust levels when applying this effect. Regardless of where the meters appear, you can control them in much the same way. Scaling meters Meters can be scaled to various dynamic ranges by right-clicking the meters and choosing the desired range from the shortcut menu. Showing labels Right-click the meters and choose Show Labels from the shortcut menu to toggle the meter dB markings on and off. Holding peaks and valleys Right-click the meters to access the Hold Peaks and Hold Valleys commands in the shortcut menu. • Choose Hold Peaks to display a marker on the meters indicating the highest reading. • Choose Hold Valleys to display a marker on the meters indicating the lowest reading. Reset Clip 12to0dB 24to0dB 42to0dB 60to0dB 78to0dB 90to0dB 120to0dB 138to0dB _Show Labels Hold Peaks Hold Valleys Always on Top LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 C45 Resetting clipping indicators When audio levels are too high, clipping can occur. A red indicator appears at the top of the meter to show when audio is clipping. Click to reset the indicator, or right-click the meters and choose Reset Clip from the shortcut menu. Clipping indicator Play Makers Q Play Meters Q Click the clipping indicator to reset it. Controls A major step in mastering Sound Forge is becoming familiar with the controls used to set and adjust feature parameters, including faders, sliders, and envelope graphs. Faders and sliders Faders and sliders are frequently used to edit effect and process parameters. To use either control, drag the control to the desired position and release. 16.00 dB (15.85 i) Fader Normalize to [-60 to 0 dB] Drag to set value Response width (0 to 100). Resetting fader and slider values Double-click to return the control to its default value. Fader and slider shortcuts There are numerous keyboard shortcuts available when using faders and sliders. and 0 change the value in small increments. change the value in larger increments. set the control to its maximum and minimum values respectively. Hover mouse over the fader or slider control and move the mouse wheel to change the value in larger Page Up Home and Page Down End and the increments. Press ctrl while using the mouse wheel to change the value in small increments. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 46 Envelope graphs Envelope graphs are used to configure the shape of frequency or amplitude envelopes applied to audio waveforms. Level 100 % 50/ 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Smooth gain to minimize distortion an steep slopes Show wave: Reset Envelope I Amplitude or frequency axis - Envelope point - Envelope - Time axis Understanding the envelope graph To use the envelope graph, you must first understand what it represents. In the previous example, the horizontal axis represents time, with the leftmost point representing the start of the selection and the rightmost point representing the end of the selection. The vertical axis represents either amplitude or frequency, depending upon the operation. Moving an envelope point 1. Drag an envelope point to a new position. 2. Release the mouse button. The point is repositioned and the envelope adjusts. Moving multiple envelope points 1. Starting in an unused area of the envelope graph, drag the mouse to create a selection box containing all points to be moved. 100% 50 0 % ........................................ ........................... `... .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ...................................... 0 Length (seconds) 1.000 Select the envelope points 2. Release the button. The selected envelope points are display in red. 3. Drag any of the selected envelope points to the desired position. The pointer displays as a multi- directional arrow and the selected points move together. LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 C47 4. Release the mouse button. The entire envelope graph adjusts. 100 .. 5o i a. 0 Length (seconds) 1.000 Reposition multiple envelope points Selecting all envelope points to select all envelope points. Press Ctrl A Adding an envelope point 1. Hover over the envelope. The pointer displays as 50 0% Place the pointer on the envelope and click to add a point. 0 2. Click the mouse. A point is added to the envelope graph and can be positioned as needed. For more information, see Moving an envelope point on page 46. Deleting an envelope point Double-click or right-click the point to be deleted. The point is deleted and the envelope adjusts. 50 0% Place the pointer on the point to be deleted and right-click or double-click. Delete all points Delete all envelope points by clicking the Reset or Reset Envelope button. CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 48 Displaying the waveform on an envelope graph Certain envelope graphs (such as in the Graphic Fade dialog) allow you to view the audio waveform on the graph. If the selection is small, the waveform automatically displays. Otherwise, selecting an option from the Show wave drop-down list displays the waveform. Displaying stereo waveforms The Show Wave drop-down list allows you to specify how stereo files display in the envelope graph. Graphic Fade - muzicbed.war Pieeet 1 R dB eeponenfial fade out numGai¢ R 100- BJB] - 100°:[.6,B] r 400;(.12JB) Revel Envelope Show wa~e IM"ohanneis Le- -~, l only„ Seleotiorz OO.cQ07.16 Riu ~. ~ I •~~ - I Channels BoU, 71 OK HdP BP- Specify the channel to be displayed Stereo files When a data window displays a stereo file, the upper half of the data window shows the left channel and the lower half shows the right channel. Working with stereo files When playing, editing, or processing stereo files, you can select the left channel, the right channel, or both channels. However, certain processing tasks cannot be performed on an individual channel of a stereo file. For more information, see Single-channel editing on page 50. Selecting data in stereo files When editing a stereo file, the waveform display is divided into three sections. The mouse pointer location determines which channel (or channels) is selected. • The upper quarter of the data window selects the left channel. • The lower quarter of the data window selects the right channel. • The middle half of the data window selects both channels. Fn_musicbed.wav e0 00:00:00 00:00:05 s.0 N. 6.0 6.0 W. 6.0 M A I > -j- 00:00:00.000 Left channel only Both channels Right channel only LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 C49 1. Open a stereo file. 2. Select the Edit tool by choosing Tool from the Edit menu and Edit from the submenu. or click the Edit Tool button ('r1). The file plays in stereo. 3. Press Tab . The left channel is selected. 4. Click the Play button ( > 1). Only the mono left channel plays. 0. The right channel is selected. 6. Click the Play button ( ~ ). Only the mono right channel plays. Tab 5. Press CHP. 4 LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE 50 Single-channel editing Stereo files are held together by the nature of their stereo format. Because of this, you cannot perform certain editing operations (such as cut or paste) on a single channel of a stereo file. Channel lengths must remain equal in stereo files. Frequently, this issue can be side-stepped by copying a single channel of a stereo file to the clipboard. Once this mono selection is located on the clipboard, you can do any of the following: Paste it into a mono file. Paste it into both channels of a stereo file. Mix it into a single channel of a stereo file. Mix it into both channels of a stereo file. Note: When mixing mono clipboard data to a stereo file, the Mono to Stereo dialog prompts you to mix it to the right, left, or both channels. LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 4 CHAPTER Getting Started Sound Forge is a state-of-the-art digital audio editing tool with users from all musical backgrounds. It is an extremely deep program, containing features that may only be required by the most advanced or specialized users. Nonetheless, a firm grasp of Sound Forge basics is essential. This chapter is designed to provide you with information on Sound Forge fundamentals. Opening a file 1. From the File menu, choose open. The Open dialog appears. For more information, see Using the Open dialog on page 52. Click the open button ( 21). 2. Select the Voiceover.pca file. Note: This file is located in the same folder as the application. 3. Click open. Sound Forge opens the audio file and displays a data window containing the waveform. 11 Wow, sound editing--- _ 0© uc 00:00:00 loo:oo:oz loo:oo:oa Silence :Wow Sound editing just gets easier... ...And easier 2.5 j I 6.0 j I 12.0 Î Inf. I ~7W~1 V/~ ~ 12.0 I 6.0 I I 2.5 I I _41®0 MU®®~®_ M A I > --1- 00:00:05.000 File displays in the data window Peak files When you first open a file, Sound Forge scans the entire file and creates a peak file. The peak file is stored with the same name and in the same location as the audio file, but it is given an sfk extension. Sound Forge automatically updates this peak file whenever the original file is edited. If you modify a file in an application other than Sound Forge, you can regenerate the peak file by choosing Rebuild Peak Data from the special menu. 5 CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 52 Using the Open dialog The Open dialog contains several features that allow you to locate audio files. Files of type: All Known Media Files Recent: I C:1Media\Audio Files F_ Open as read-only .w- Wo Auto play T Select to Preview Files Open 8© LOOk,, -JAudI,IFlles ~muscbedwav JsAXRIFF.pca LTUTFILLpca 1,ium0 wa ~mu=, amplewav ~sa.d„.wa~ ~c~w~aLwav ~ruroaz, ~' cpea -^I3AXRIFFwma ~TUNLwme s mmtzwa -.twav scalanotaF.wav LTuTMusicpca LTUTOR5h ,m... -.twma vtJSound2.wav S~Twmusicwav S,TWOtwnpn ~nem.~ oam ~talklngheadavi LJTDTOR1.pca widtealzt RIa~ 0 Fileeoftyp0 AIIKnown HediaFiles Canoel Re=ent C%Medi,K4udIoFllex ~ upenastead-only r A_u[oplay FileLype F,- Audio: Lmgth. Video: Lmgth. u", nota: L.Ip[s) . sMPTE: 1-/R,/nn, ACID Commence ,I_- I File Information Display Files of type The Files of type drop-down list specifies the file format that Sound Forge displays in the system. Sound Forge supports a variety of file formats. Recent The Recent drop-down list contains recently accessed folders. Auto play Selecting the Auto play check box configures Sound Forge to automatically preview files as you select them in the Open dialog. Note: You can also preview files by selecting the file and clicking Play. File information display If Sound Forge recognizes the format of the selected file, information regarding its format, length, and attributes displays in the lower pane of the Open dialog. The following table describes each of these values. File type Indicates the type of the selected file. Format Indicates the format of the selected file. Audio Indicates the sample rate, bit depth, and channels value of the selected file. Length Indicates the length of audio. The length is expressed in hours:minutes:seconds, with seconds shown to three decimal places. Video Indicates the frame size and frame rate of video (when present). Length Indicates the length of video (when present). The length is expressed in hours:minutes:seconds, with seconds shown to three decimal places. Unity note If the selected file is a sample, this is the MIDI note that triggers a sampler to play the sound file at its original pitch. Loop (s) Displays information about loops that have been defined in the selected file. SMPTE Displays the SMPTE offset for the selected file if an offset has been defined. Rgns/Play/ACID Indicates whether the file contains Regions List, playlist, or ACID properties information. Comments Displays any comments included in the file. You can enter comments for a file by choosing Properties from the File menu and entering information in the Comments box on the Summary tab. For more information, see Adding summary information on page 88. GETTING STARTED CHIP. 5 53 Playing a file After you open a file, you can play it by clicking the Play All button ( uo) on the transport bar. For more information, see Transport bar on page 36. Viewing the current position As a file plays, Sound Forge indicates the current playback position in the data window in three ways: • A cursor travels across the visible portion of the data window. • The current playback position in relation to the entire file appears in the overview bar. • The first selection status box in the playbar displays the current position in the user-specified format. For more information, see Selecting status formats on page 66. Cursor position -11 Wow, sound editing--- : ',, e0 'r -j- 00:00:02.275 Overview bar current position Status box value Playing a file from a specified point Sound Forge also allows you to begin playback from any point in a file. 1. Click to position the cursor in the data window. A flashing cursor (spanning the height of the waveform display) displays. 2. Click the Play button (>I) on the transport bar. The file plays from the cursor position. If you do not hear playback, you may have inadvertently created a small selection. To determine if you created a selection, examine the status boxes in the bottom-right corner of the data window. MW... snund Ad-... eo© Slle- ~Wow Soundditingius[gelsea°iei ~..Andeasiei U >1 J > -~ I oooo:oz.z,s H Status boxes 00:00:02.275 • If only the first box contains a value, there is no selection. • If all three boxes contain values, a selection has been created. Clear the selection by clicking anywhere in the data window. For more information, see Viewing selection status on page 54. CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 54 Playing in Loop Playback mode You can play an entire file or a selection in Loop Playback mode. In Loop Playback mode, Sound Forge plays the audio in a continuous loop. Click the Loop Playback button (01) on the transport bar to turn Loop Playback mode on and off. Press Q Playing a selection You can play specific portions of audio data by creating selections in the waveform display. 1. Drag the mouse within the data window. Notice that the waveform is selected as the mouse is dragged. 2. Click the Play button (>I). Only the selection plays. I-aw....... d .Mil . eo©I r° s~~en~e so~naea~~n9~~~~9e~~ea~e~ anaea~~e~ 4 -, .-W„r e'w- r ®o ~o®®iEll 1J > J > -r 100100100.743 ddlddl01 474 00 00 00 731 1 Create a selection on the waveform Selection status boxes 00:00:00.743 00:00:01.474 00:00:00.731 Viewing selection status When a selection exists, the selection status boxes in the bottom-right corner of the data window contain values. These values indicate the start, end, and length of the selection. No selection Selection 00:00:01.155 00:00:01.155 00:00:01.422 00:00:00.267 Cursor Position Beginning Value End Value Selection Length Selecting the status format You can display status values in any format supported by Sound Forge. For more information, see Selecting status formats on page 66. GETTING STARTED CHP. 5 C55 Viewing selection statistics Choosing Statistics from the Tools menu displays a Statistics dialog showing information about the current selection or, if there is no selection, on the entire file. The following table describes all statistical categories displayed in the Statistics dialog. Cursor position Sample value at cursor Maximum/minimum sample position and sample value RMS power The cursor position (in samples) from the start of the audio file. The actual number stored by a single sample. The maximum allowed sample value is often referred to as 100% or 0 dB. The maximum and minimum sample values and the locations (in samples) where they occur. These values may help determine if clipping will occur in the audio file. These values can also be used to determine the noise level of a signal for use with Noise Gate. For example, to determine the noise amplitude of a file, run Statistics on a region of noisy silence. The Root Mean Square of the sample values relative to the RMS value of a maximum- amplitude square wave (the loudest possible recording). Average value (DC Offset) The sum of all sample values in the selected region divided by the number of samples. If this value is not zero, it usually indicates a DC offset in the recording process. Zero crossings On short intervals, this value relates to the volume level of the audio file. If used on a large selection with large volume variation, this value becomes less meaningful. The number of times per second that the waveform fluctuates from a negative to a positive value. This value can be used as a rough estimate of the frequency of the audio data for very simple waveforms. Creating a new data window 1. From the File menu, choose New. The New Window dialog appears. New Window Sample rate [2,000 to 192,000 Hz]: Bit-depth: 16-bit Channels: r Mono C' Stereo Cancel Help Maximum editing time: 11:13:42 New Window dialog 2. Complete the New Window dialog: • From the Sample rate drop-down list, choose a sample rate. • From the Bit-depth drop-down list, choose a bit depth. • Select the desired Channels radio button. For more information, see Editing file attributes on page 83. 3. Click OK. A new data window with the specified attributes appears. Note: Sound Forge automatically names new windows. You can customize this automatic naming feature to suit your needs. For more information, see Customizing automatic labeling on page 92. CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 56 Active data windows vs. inactive data windows When multiple data windows are displayed on the workspace, only the window currently being edited is active, and all operations affect this window exclusively. Activating a window To activate a data window, click anywhere within it. The title bar changes to the color defined as the active window color and the previously active window is deactivated. Note: Choosing Focus to Data Window from the view menu also results in the focus being returned to the current data window. Copying data to a new file You can create new audio files by copying data to a new data window. 1. Open an audio file and create a selection. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Copy. The selection is copied to the clipboard. Click the Copy button ( ) in the Standard toolbar. 3. Create a new data window. For more information, see Creating a new data window on page 55. 4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. The selected data is pasted in the new data window. Click the Paste button ( 11) in the Standard toolbar. Saving a file You can save a file in a variety of formats, including popular audio formats such as WAV and AIFF, and streaming media formats such as Windows Media Audio (WMA) and RealMedia (RM). You can save a file using a standard template, or you can customize the settings to suit your needs. Once you create custom settings, you can save those settings as a template. Sound Forge also provides an option to save all open files at once or to save all open files as a workspace file. 1. From the File menu, choose Save. When saving a new file, the Save As dialog appears. If the file was previously saved, choosing Save automatically saves the file without your input. 2. From the Save as type drop-down list, choose a file format. 3. In the File name box, enter a name for the file. 4. Select other options in the Save As dialog as needed and click Save. For more information, see Using the Save As dialog on page 57. GETTING STARTED CHP. 5 C57 Using the Save As dialog The Save As dialog allows you to save an audio file with a new name, in an alternate format, or with new attributes. Save As Save in: -A Audio Files musicbed.wav 44]Tutorsmp.wav S~ musicsample. wav S~ Saxriff.wav S~ scalenotel'. wav S~Sound2.wav S~ Tutfill.wav S~ T utmusic. wav S~ T utorl. wav S~ T utor2. wav File name: NewAudio.wav Save Select file type Save as type: Wave [Microsoft] ['.wav] Cancel Select recent directories Recent: C:Wedia~Audio Files Help Select template Template: Default Template Custom... Template description Description: IRender 44,100 Hz, 16-bit, Stereo PCM audio) About... wave file Summary... Select saving metadata option Save metadata with file Free space: Select video options Stretch _video to fill output frame [do not letterbox] 3,247.5 MB Fast video resizing Save as type The Save as type drop-down list allows you to choose any format supported by Sound Forge. Recent The Recent drop-down list allows you to access frequently used folders. Template The Template drop-down list provides a list of standard templates for saving your files. Select a template from the list, or click Custom to customize the settings. For more information, see Creating custom templates on page 58. Description The Description box displays the attributes of the selected template. Save metadata with file Select the Save metadata with file check box to save marker, region, playlist, sampler, loop, and summary information with the file. If the file type selected in the Save as type drop-down list doesn't support metadata, Sound Forge prompts you to save the metadata in an external file with an sfl extension. For more information, see Using Markers, Regions, and the Playlist/Cutlist on page 91, Adding summary information on page 88, and Saving loop points on page 215. Sonic Foundry Sound Forge 6-0 Unable to save all metadata inside of the file. Would you like to save it in an external file? Remember my preference and apply it in the future No Details >> For file formats that don't support metadata, Sound Forge prompts you to save the metadata in an external file. CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 58 Stretch video to fill output frame (do not letterbox) This option applies to file types that contain a video stream. Selecting the Stretch video to fill output frame (do not letterbox) check box stretches the source video frame if the destination frame rate differs. When this option is turned off, letterboxing or pillarboxing occurs. For more information, see Saving a video file on page 221. Fast video resizing This option applies to file types that contain a video stream. Selecting the Fast video resizing check box speeds the process of saving video. When this option is turned off, the time required to save the file can increase dramatically. Clear this check box only when you have critical material where nothing but the highest quality video rendering will do. For more information, see Saving a video file on page 221. Creating custom templates If the file type you select supports it, you can create custom settings for saving files by clicking the Custom button. Note: If a file type supports custom templates, a Custom button displays next to the Template drop-down list after you choose the file type. 11 When you click the Custom button, a Custom Settings dialog appears. Adjust the settings for the different template properties as needed. For help on the different settings, click the What's This Help button (-?J) and click a control, or click a control and press shift + When you are finished editing the template properties, click the C K button. Saving custom templates You can save a custom template to use again by entering a template name in the Template box (in the Custom Settings dialog) and clicking the Save Template button (~d I). Deleting custom templates You can delete a custom template by selecting the template from the Template drop-down list (in the Custom Settings dialog) and clicking the Delete Template button ( x ). Saving all open audio files Choosing Save All from the File menu automatically prompts you to save all open audio files on the current workspace. Note: Pressing shift while choosing the Save All command automatically saves all open files without prompting you to approve each save. GETTING STARTED CHP. 5 C59 Saving files as a workspace To accommodate large projects, Sound Forge allows you to save the entire workspace as an alternative to saving individual files. Workspaces are saved as Sound Forge Workspace (SFW) files. When you open a workspace file, Sound Forge restores all files to their previous sizes, positions, and magnification. Sound Forge also restores each file's current cursor position, custom views, and plug-ins in the Audio Plug-In Chainer. For more information, see Creating and using views on page 80 and Adding a chain of effects on page 160. Note: Sound Forge only saves Audio Plug-In Chainer information with the workspace when the Share Plug-In Chainer command on the Options menu is not selected. Saving the current workspace 1. From the File menu, choose Workspace, and choose Save As from the submenu. The Save Workspace dialog appears. 2. Browse to the folder where the file will be saved. 3. Enter a name for the file in the File name box and click Save. Opening a workspace 1. From the File menu, choose Workspace, and choose open from the submenu. appears. 2. Browse to the folder containing the desired SFW file. 3. Select the desired file and click open. The Open Workspace dialog Editing audio New Sound Forge users should remember that even the most complex editing is derived from a few simple operations: copy, paste, cut, delete (clear), trim/crop, and mix. The following table provides a brief description of Sound Forge's basic editing operations. Copy Copies data from the window to the clipboard. Paste Inserts the contents of the clipboard into the window at the current cursor position. If a selection exists in the data window, the pasted data replaces the current selection. Cut Deletes data from the window and copies it to the clipboard. Delete (Clear) Deletes data from the window, but does not copy it to the clipboard. Trim/Crop Deletes all data in the window with the exception of the selection. Mix Mixes data from the clipboard with the data in the current window, starting at the current cursor position or the start of the current selection. Copying You can copy audio data from a data window to the clipboard without changing the original file. Once audio data is on the clipboard, you can paste it into existing files or use it to create new files. Copying data to the clipboard 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. Note: This file is located in the same folder as the application. CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 60 2. Create a selection containing "Wow." 3. From the Edit menu, choose Copy. The selected data is copied to the clipboard. A Click the Copy button (-%jl) or press ctrl +0. D law -ow. auund editing_. 6F' ~ Silence Sound editing iusl gels easier... L..A,d easier -CIF q'w- r #* U iI J > -~ 00100100.743 000001.474 0000.00.731 Copy the selection ,~ Wnn. snund edding... eQer wr 4 Silence SoundAndeasier i®o ~o®®i®r U >1 J 2 .r 00.00.00.7a3 00.00.01474 00:00.00.731 Data is copied to the clipboard, but the waveform is unchanged Previewing clipboard contents To preview the contents of the clipboard, choose Clipboard from the View menu, and choose Play from the submenu. Note: You can display detailed information on the size and attributes of the clipboard contents by choosing Clipboard from the view menu and Contents from the submenu. Recycling clipboard contents Once audio data is on the clipboard, you can paste or mix it into an infinite number of windows. Data remains on the clipboard until you replace it with new data. Pasting Once audio data is on the clipboard, you can paste or mix it into an existing data window or use it to create a new data window. Pasting data in an existing data window 1. Move the cursor to the beginning of the Voiceover.pca file by clicking the Go To Start button (H]) in the playbar. For more information, see Playbar on page 33. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. Sound Forge inserts the clipboard data into the file and the data for "Wow" appears on the left side of the waveform. Click the Paste button (-~Jl) or press ctrl +E. GETTING STARTED CHP. 5 I-M W....... d edling -IM-] Xi Mf ° Silence IWow ISoundedlringjustge0ceaser... -4ndeavier 7 U >l J > -r 00100100.731 Clipboard contents are pasted Into the data window 3. To confirm that the data has been pasted into the file, click the Play All button ( u> I). "Wow. Wow. Sound editing just gets easier and easier" plays back. Pasting in a new data window To use data from the clipboard to create a new data window, go to the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and choose Paste to New from the submenu. Sound Forge creates a new window containing the clipboard data in a single step. Cutting Cutting allows you to remove a section of audio data from a data window and store it on the clipboard until you paste or mix it into another file. When deciding between cut and copy, consider the following: • Copying data has no effect on the original file. • Cutting data modifies the original file. Cutting data from a window 1. Create a selection containing the second "Wow" (there should be two if you are following the examples) in Voiceover.pca. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Cut. Sound Forge removes the selected data from the file and places it on the clipboard. Click the Cut button ( ~) or press Ctrl 3. Click the Play All button ( u> J). "Wow. Sound editing just gets easier and easier" plays back. Create a selection MW... sound edit-... eo© i5lenoe Soundedilingluetgeteeasier... Andea°Ier 'IFir-W IF Ç'W- r )J >l J > -J• 000001 462 000002.205 0000.00.743 I-M W....... d edtiog eo©I r° silence Sgundedllingpsigetseasier... ...Andeasiw 'wr-w1r R'wr^- -i lo ' ',, ir W- U >1 J > -~ 00100101.462 Cut the selection Selection is removed from the data window and placed on the clipboard CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 62 Previewing a cut Sound Forge allows you to preview cuts prior to performing the edit. This allows you to determine if you made the selection accurately and if the results are desirable. 1. Create a selection anywhere in Voiceover.pca. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Preview Cut/Cursor. Sound Forge ignores the selection and plays the audio before and after the selection to allow you to preview the cut. Press Ctrl Configuring cut pre-roll and post-roll lengths Frequently, the default pre-roll and post-roll lengths are insufficient to evaluate the accuracy of an edit. For this reason, Sound Forge allows you to configure pre-roll and post-roll lengths. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Click the Other tab. 3. Configure the Pre-roll and Post-roll values in the Cut preview configuration area of the dialog and click OK. Deleting Deleting a selection permanently removes it without replacing the data currently residing on the clipboard. To delete data, choose Delete (Clear) from the Edit menu. Press Delete Note: If the Treat as Cutlist command (available in the Special menu, Playlist/ Cutlist submenu) is selected, deleting a selection creates a region in the Cutlist window, but does not remove the selection. For more information, see Configuring the playlist as a cutlist on page 108. Trimming/Cropping Trimming allows you to retain a selection while deleting all surrounding data. 1. Create a selection containing "Wow, sound editing just gets easier" in Voiceover.pca, but do not select the second "and easier." 2. From the Edit menu, choose Trim/Crop. Only "Wow, sound editing just gets easier" remains in the data window. GETTING STARTED CHP. 5 C63 a w uw-auund Mit- -In Xi ,r And easel allol~l 1111512 lall4la U >l J > -~ 00100100.000 00 00.03.622 00100103.B22 a w uw-auund Mit- -171o ,r -d edti 1, -i,, ~ and-ber C~ 11 1J >1 J > -r 00100100.000 00.00:03.622 00100103 .622 512 14110 Create a selection Only the selected audio remains Mixing Mixing is a powerful editing function that allows two sounds to be combined into a single waveform. 1. Open and play the Drumhit.pca file. The file contains a snare drum and crash cymbal sound. 2. Verify that the Drumhit.pca window is active and choose Select All from the Edit menu. The entire waveform is selected. 3. From the Edit menu, choose Copy. k Click the Copy button ( -cd) or press ctrl +FH1. 4. Activate the Voiceover.pca data window and click the Go To Start button (~) on the playbar. The cursor moves to the start of the file. 5. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and choose mix from the submenu. The Mix dialog appears. Click the mix button ( •-j ). Mi. -Wow, sound Ailing... Ptesel: sp..pechpbped Nat-1-W-aenndedhmg B.BJB B.BdB 1100.00 il 11 o0.00 %1 vplnm -I,r m1sdei r invertdele ~ Pie/Po,Nad,destinationed-(0m5mccl r- T-( 5001.500-t o.0 ; Tpt,1 mIx1ength 00100102.997 sam. 00.00.00.00o 00 0002997 sam. 00100100.000 0.0 d9 0.0 d9 0 End. 00100102997 [11717.170 i] [11717.170 i] Start: 00:00:00.000 Start: 00:00:00.000 r End: 00:00:02.997 End: 00:00:02.997 r P"'- Il vpmr, pla.1p15JB1 F Inveatd- r- Bypass r- r- OK n'IP Set both faders to OdB Source: Clipboard Destination: Wow, sound editing... Volume Volume [-Inf. to 15 d9] F Invert data [-Inf. to 15 d9] F Invert data CHP. 5 GETTING STARTED 64 6. Verify that the Source and Destination volume faders are set to 0 dB and click OK. The drum hit is mixed equally with the spoken passage. -awnw, znund editi.g...~~ - LOJ wr o ~SiI-- ~Sounde&ingluetgelseaeiei... 4 r®o~~o®®r®r 1J > J > -r 00 00 00 000 Both waveforms are combined Preview the file and notice that, unlike pasting, mixing does not change the length of the file. Using undo and redo Sound Forge encourages experimentation by allowing you to easily undo/redo edit operations. You can undo any edit operation by choosing Undo from the Edit menu. You can redo any undone edit operation by choosing Redo from the Edit menu. Click the Undo ( n I) button on the Standard toolbar or press on the Standard toolbar or press ctrl +Shift +0. Ctrl Click the Redo ( nl) button Using the Undo/Redo History window The Undo/Redo History window may seem confusing at first, but you will find it invaluable once you have mastered it. This window allows the audio file to be auditioned in various versions by undoing/redoing multiple operations. To display the Undo/Redo History window, choose Undo/Redo History from the View menu. Press Alt 0 undo/Redo -Wow, sound editing.. © undo Distortion [0.000000 to 5.000136] E Undo Envelope (0.000000 to 5.000136) I] Undo Chorus (0.000000 to 5.000136) Redo [] Redo Graphic E4 (0.000000 to 5.000136) © Redo Gapper/Snipper (0.000000 to 5.000136) F Play buttons U ndo 0 Undo Distortion (0.000000 to 5.000136) I 0 Undo Envelope (0.000000 to 5.000136) 0 Undo Chorus (0.000000 to 5.000136) Performed operations Undone operations GETTING STARTED CHIP. 5 C65 Undoing and redoing 1. Verify that the Voiceover.pca data window is active and choose Undo/Redo History from the View menu. The Undo/Redo History window appears. If you have performed the previous procedures, the window should look like the figure below: Undo/Redo - Wow, sound editing... Undo 0 Undo Mix [00:00:00.00 to 00:00:02.14] Undo Trim/Crop [00:00:00.00 to 00:00:03.09] 0 Undo Cut [00:00:01.07 to 00:00:02.03] Undo Paste Redo Current Undo/Redo History window Notice that the Mix operation appears at the top of the Undo pane. The most recent operations always display at the top of the appropriate list. 2. In the Undo pane, click the track. corresponding to the mix operation. The audio file plays without the drum Undo/Redo - Wow, sound editing... U ndo 0 :Undo Mix 00:00:00.00 to 00:00:02.14 UUndo TrimlCrop [00:00:00.00 to 00:00:03.09] Undo Cut [00:00:01.07 to 00:00:02.03] Undo Paste Play the pre-mix file 3. Select the Mix operation and choose Undo from the Edit menu. The drum track is extracted from the Voiceover.pca data window and the Mix operation moves to the Redo pane. Choose Undo from the Edit menu Undo/Redo - Wow, sound editing... Undo Undo Trim/Crop [00:00:00.00 to 00:00:03.09] 0 Undo Cut [00:00:01.07 to 00:00:02.03] Undo Paste Redo 0 Redo Mix [00:00:00.00 to 00:00:02.14] 4. In the Redo pane, click the drum track. corresponding to the mix operation. The audio file plays with the mixed 5. Select the mix operation again and choose Redo from the Edit menu. The drum track is remixed into the Voiceover.pca waveform and the mix operation is returned to the Undo pane. 6. Select the Trim/Crop operation in the Undo pane and click 4. Only the mix operation is undone and moved to the Redo pane. This is due to the fact that operations can only be undone or redone in the order origina