Sony Sound Forge Pro User Manual

Page 1

After the Sound Forge software is installed and you start it for the first time, the registration wizard appears. This wizard offers easy steps that allow you to register the software online with Sony Pictures Digital Media Software and Services. Alternatively, you may register online at www.sony.com/mediasoftware at any time.

Registering your product will provide 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 during normal weekday business hours. Please contact our Customer Service Department by dialing one of the following numbers:

Telephone/Fax Country

1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands

+608-204-7703 for all other countries

1-608-250-1745 (Fax) All countries

Customer Service/Sales

For a detailed list of Customer Service options, we encourage you to visit

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/custserv.asp. Use the following numbers for telephone

support during normal weekday business hours:

Telephone/Fax/E-mail Country

1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands

+608-204-7703 for all other countries

1-608-250-1745 (Fax) All countries

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/custserv

Technical Support

For a detailed list of Technical Support options, we encourage you to visit

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/default.asp.

• To listen to your support options, please call 608-256-5555.

• Customers who have purchased the full version of Sound Forge receive 60 days of complimentary phone support. The complimentary support begins the date of your first call. (Registration is required to received this complimentary support.) Please call (608) 204-7704 if you need assistance with your full version product. This offer does not apply to Screenblast Sound Forge users.

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Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Media Software and Services

1617 Sherman Avenue Madison, WI 53704 USA

The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a guarantee or commitment on behalf of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. in any way. All updates or additional information relating to the contents of this manual will be posted on the Sony Pictures Digital Media Software web site, located at www.sony.com/mediasoftware. The software is provided to you under the terms of the End User License Agreement and Software Privacy Policy, and must be used and/or copied in accordance therewith. Copying or distributing the software except as expressly described in the End User License Agreement is strictly prohibited. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express written consent of Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Sound Forge, ACID, Vegas, Acoustic Mirror, Wave Hammer, XFX, and Perfect Clarity Audio are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the United States and other countries.

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Table of Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Introducing Sound Forge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Sample files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Full version of Sound Forge versus Screenblast Sound Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Installing Sound Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Getting help within Sound Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

What’s This? help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Help on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

About your rights in Sound Forge software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

About Your Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Proper Use of Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Optimizing for Sound Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Defragmenting your hard drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Increasing total buffer size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Increasing preload size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Turning off the playback cursor and record counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Turning off the play (output) meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Turning on passive updating for video and time displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Turning on passive updating for time displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Turning on passive updating for video displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Learning the Sound Forge Workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Using the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Using the mouse wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

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The main screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Main screen components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Floating and docking windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The data window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Displaying data window components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Playbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Toolbars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Docking a toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Floating a toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Displaying a toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Customizing a toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Standard toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Transport bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Navigation toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Views toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Status/Selection toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Regions/Playlist toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Process toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Effects toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Tools toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Levels toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Play Device toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

ToolTips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Turning off ToolTips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Command descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Resetting clipping indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Scaling meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Displaying VU/PPM meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Showing labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Holding peaks and valleys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Faders and sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Envelope graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Displaying the waveform on an envelope graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Stereo files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Working with stereo files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Selecting data in stereo files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

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Creating a project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Getting media files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Using the Open dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Using the Explorer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Peak files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Working with video files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Playing a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Viewing the current position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Playing a file from a specified point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Playing in Loop Playback mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Playing a selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Viewing selection status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Viewing selection statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Creating a new data window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Active data windows vs. inactive data windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Copying data to a new file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Saving a file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Using the Save As dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Creating custom templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Saving all open audio files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Saving files as a workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Editing audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Pasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Deleting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Trimming/Cropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using undo and redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Using the Undo/Redo History window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Selecting status formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Experimenting with status formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Configuring the Measures & Beats format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Rendering files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Exporting to Net MD devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Exporting to CLIÉ handheld devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Recovering files after a crash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Recovering files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Deleting recovered files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

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Navigating, Zooming, and Selecting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Setting the cursor position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Previewing audio with pre-roll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

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

Adjusting a selection with the keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Restoring a selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

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

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Changing the bit depth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Increasing bit depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Decreasing bit depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Using the Channel Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Converting file formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Save as type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Adding summary information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Viewing and editing summary information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Viewing extended summary information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Editing extended summary information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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

Using markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Inserting markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Naming markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Changing the marker position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Detecting and marking clipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using markers to create regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using command markers in streaming media files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

Defining streaming media commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

Defining Scott Studios data commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Inserting command markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Editing command properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Saving command properties as a custom template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Moving the cursor to a command marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

Deleting command markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

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Using regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Inserting regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Inserting regions automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Editing regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Creating new files from regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Using the Regions List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Displaying the Regions List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Working with the Regions List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Using the playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Displaying the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Adding regions to the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Understanding the playlist display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Customizing the playlist display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Repeating a region during playlist playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Playing from the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Arranging the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Replicating a region in the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Using stop points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Deleting a region from the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Creating a new file from the playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Configuring the playlist as a cutlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Saving a playlist/cutlist file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Opening a playlist/cutlist file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Copying the playlist/cutlist to the clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Recording, Extracting, and Burning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Recording audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Recording manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Recording automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Recording a specific length (punch-in) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Choosing a recording mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Adjusting for DC offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Playing back recorded audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Using remote recording mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Synchronizing with other devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Viewing input levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Inserting markers while recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Configuring gap detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Automatically labeling windows and regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Changing blinking status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

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Page 9

Extracting audio from CDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Previewing CD tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Refreshing the Extract Audio from CD dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Burning CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Correcting the sample rate for CD burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Writing mono tracks to a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Adding tracks to a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Closing a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Proper use of software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Editing, Repairing, and Synthesizing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Crossfading, overwriting, and replicating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Crossfading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Overwriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Replicating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Repeating an operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Using drag-and-drop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Dragging mono selections into stereo destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Snapping to events in drag-and-drop operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Pasting, mixing, and crossfading with drag-and-drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Creating new windows with drag-and-drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Finding and repairing audio glitches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Locating glitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Repairing audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Synthesizing audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Generating DTMF/MF tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Generating audio with frequency modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Generating simple waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Processing Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Applying presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145

Using presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Creating presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Deleting presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Resetting parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Managing presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Previewing processed audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Setting custom preview parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Preview parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Bypassing a process while previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

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Sound Forge processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Auto Trim/Crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using Auto Trim/Crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Auto Trim/Crop controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Bit-Depth Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Converting a file’s bit depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Channel Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Using the Channel Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Channel Converter controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

DC Offset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Estimating DC Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

DC Offset controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Fade - Graphic fade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Creating a graphic fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155

Creating a custom graphic fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Graphic Fade Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Fade - Fade In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Fade - Fade Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Insert Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Inserting silence into a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Insert Silence controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Invert/Flip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Mute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Muting an audio selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Normalize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Normalizing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Normalize Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Pan/Expand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Creating a pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Creating a custom pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Pan/Expand controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Resample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Downsampling audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Upsampling audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Resample controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Reverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Smooth/Enhance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

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Swap Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Time Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Increasing the volume of a selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Volume control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

Applying Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Adding an effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Saving effect settings as a custom preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Adding a chain of effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Applying effects using the Plug-In Chainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Adding plug-ins to a chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Selecting the processing mode for audio tail data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Arranging plug-ins on a chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Bypassing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Removing plug-ins from a chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Configuring chained plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Saving individual plug-in settings as a custom preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Saving plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Loading plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Managing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Using the Plug-In Manager window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Organizing effects in the DX Favorites menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Using the Preset Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Automating Effect Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Adding an effect automation envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Adding a volume or panning envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Adjusting effect parameters with envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Previewing effect automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Applying effects automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Showing or hiding effect automation envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Enabling or bypassing effect automation envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Removing effect automation envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

Adjusting envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

Adding envelope points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

Flipping an envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

Setting fade properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Copying an envelope to another data window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Using Acoustic Mirror and Wave Hammer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

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What is Acoustic Mirror? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

The acoustic signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Adding an acoustic signature to an audio file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Adjusting the acoustic signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

The Acoustic Mirror dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

General tab controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Envelope tab controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Summary tab controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Recover tab controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Creating impulse files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

What you need to create custom impulses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Recording the impulse in an acoustic space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

Recording the impulse through an electronic device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Recovering the impulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Trimming the impulse file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Adding summary information to your impulse file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Using the new impulse file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Using impulse files in creative ways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Processing individual audio elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Adding realistic stereo to mono recordings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Creating special effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Recreating spaces for foley effects and dialog replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Panning with head-related transfer functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194

Troubleshooting Acoustic Mirror. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Stuttering during real-time previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Impulses do not recover properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Recovered impulse is too noisy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Error message explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

What is Wave Hammer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Displaying Wave Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

The Wave Hammer dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Compressor tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Volume Maximizer tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Working with MIDI/SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

What is MIDI? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

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MIDI triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201

Playback versus triggered playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201

Triggering file playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Triggering region playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203

Triggering playback from additional internal/external MIDI devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

Advantages of external MIDI controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

Sound Forge and MIDI timecode synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206

Playing regions using MTC from a sequencer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206

Playing regions using MTC from an external device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Using Sound Forge to generate MTC for a MIDI sequencer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

Using Sound Forge to generate MTC for an external device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208

Sampling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Samplers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209

External samplers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209

Internal samplers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210

Configuring the Sampler Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210

Creating a sampler configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211

Open loop versus closed loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Saving sampler configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213

Sending and receiving samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213

Sending a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213

Receiving a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213

MIDI unity note and Fine tune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Using the MIDI Keyboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214

Displaying the MIDI Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214

Turning on the MIDI Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214

Configuring the MIDI Keyboard output port and channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Troubleshooting the MIDI Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Specifying instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

Generating chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

Setting up MIDI/SDS hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216

Troubleshooting MIDI/SDS with open loop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216

Setting up SCSI/SMDI hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216

Troubleshooting SCSI/SMDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217

Conflicting SCSI IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217

Periodic transfer failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217

Sampler is recognized but does not transfer reliably . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

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Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Sustaining and release loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Creating a sustaining loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220

Creating a sustaining loop with a release loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221

Looping techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Match endpoint amplitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Match endpoint waveform slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Match endpoint sound levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Avoid very short loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Editing loops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Editing a loop without the Loop Tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Editing a loop with the Loop Tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223

Crossfading loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Using the Crossfade Loop tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227

Creating loops for ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Creating an ACID one-shot file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Creating an ACID loop file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Creating an ACID 2.0 disk-based file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Creating an ACID beatmapped file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Using the ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Editing loops for ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Halving or doubling a loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231

Shifting a selection left or right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Rotating audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Setting loop tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

Saving loop points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Working with Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Viewing video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Using the video strip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Previewing files with video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Using an external monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Attaching video to an audio file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Detaching video from an audio file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241

Setting video options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Video file properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Configuring your video settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Saving a video file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Using Spectrum Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

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Working in the frequency domain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Fast Fourier Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

Using a spectrum graph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

Displaying a spectrum graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

Monitoring an input and output source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247

Displaying frequency and amplitude values, notes and statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247

Navigating a spectrum graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248

Changing the graph type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248

Changing the zoom level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Working with stereo files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Updating a spectrum graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Viewing multiple spectrum graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Creating and comparing snapshots of the Spectrum Analysis window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Printing the graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Using a sonogram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251

Displaying a sonogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251

Displaying frequency and amplitude values, notes and statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251

Updating a sonogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Monitoring an input and output source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Tuning a sonogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Returning to a spectrum graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253

Printing the sonogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Adjusting Spectrum Analysis settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253

Saving spectrum graph settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Keyboard shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257

Project file commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257

Magnification and view commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257

Data window edit commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Cursor movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Selecting data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261

Navigation and playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Record dialog keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262

Plug-In Chainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Regions List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263

Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263

Mouse wheel shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264

Additional mouse shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264

Microsoft Audio Compression Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

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Audio data compression and decompression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Transparent playback and recording of non-hardware supported audio files . 267

SMPTE Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

SMPTE 25 EBU (25 fps, Video) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

SMPTE Drop Frame (29.97 fps, Video) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

SMPTE Non-Drop Frame (29.97 fps, Video) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

SMPTE 30 (30 fps, Audio) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Using CSOUND, MTU, IRCAM, BICSF, and EBICSF Files. . . . 271

About IRCAM files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

About BICSF and EBICSF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Opening files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

BICSF and EBICSF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

IRCAM, CSOUND and MTU files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Saving files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i

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CHAPTER

Introduction

Introducing Sound Forge

Thank you for purchasing Sound Forge® and for your continued support of the Sony Pictures Digital 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

• Saxriff.pca

• Voiceover.pca

The files are in Perfect Clarity Audio® (PCA) format, a Sony Pictures Digital proprietary lossless audio compression format.

Full version of Sound Forge versus Screenblast Sound Forge

This manual is provided to assist users of the full version of Sound Forge as well as Screenblast Sound Forge users. For this reason, product features exclusive to the full version of Sound Forge are identified throughout the manual using the following icon:

In addition, Screenblast Sound Forge-only issues are identified and described where appropriate.

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 257.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION

Page 18

System requirements

The following lists the minimum system requirements for using Sound Forge and Screenblast Sound Forge:

• 400 MHz processor

• 64 MB RAM, 128 MB recommended

• 60 MB hard-disk space for program installation

• Microsoft Windows® 2000 or Windows® XP

• Microsoft Windows®-compatible sound card

• CD-ROM drive (for installation from a CD only)

• Supported CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning only)

• DirectX® Media 8.0 Runtime (included on CD-ROM)

• Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 or later to view online help (version 5.0 included on CD-ROM)

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.

Place the Sound Forge CD-ROM in your system’s CD-ROM drive. AutoPlay launches the Setup menu.

Note:

and choose

If AutoPlay is not turned on, click the Start button

Run. Type “D:\setup.exe”, where D is the drive

letter of your CD-ROM drive.

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. If you purchased the boxed version of Sound Forge, Internet Explorer version 5.0 is included on your CD-ROM.

INTRODUCTION CHP. 1

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Toolbar

Tabs

Information pane

The Contents tab provides a list of available help topics. Double-click a closed book ( ) to open the pages, and then click on a topic page ( ).

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 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 button. 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 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.

Click the question mark ( ) in the upper-right corner of the dialog box. The cursor changes to a question mark icon ( ).

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 F1

Help on the Web

Additional Sound Forge information is available on the Sony Pictures Digital Media Software Web site. From the

Help menu, choose Sony on the Web, and choose the desired location from the submenu. Sound

Forge starts your system’s Web browser and attempts to connect to the appropriate page on the Sony Web site.

About your rights in Sound Forge software

Sound Forge software is licensed to you under the terms of the End User License Agreement. The End User License Agreement is first presented to you when you install the software. Please review the End User License Agreement carefully as its terms affect your rights with respect to the software. For your reference, a copy of the End User License Agreement for Sound Forge software is located at

http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware.

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About Your Privacy

Sony Pictures Digital respects your privacy and are committed to protecting personal information. Your use of the software is governed by the Software Privacy Policy. A copy of this policy is incorporated into the registration process and you are asked to agree to its terms prior to accepting the terms of the End User License Agreement. Please review its contents carefully as its terms and conditions affect your rights with respect to the information that is collected by the software. For your reference, a copy of the Software Privacy Policy is located at http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware.

Proper Use of Software

The Sound Forge software is not intended, and should not be used for, illegal or infringing purposes, such as the illegal copying or sharing of copyrighted materials. Using Sound Forge software for such purposes is, among other things, against United States and international copyright laws and contrary to the terms and conditions of the End User License Agreement. Such activity may be punishable by law and may also subject you to the breach remedies set forth in the End User License Agreement.

INTRODUCTION CHP. 1

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CHAPTER

Optimizing for Sound Forge

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.

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 result in a delay when starting and stopping playback. For more information, see Increasing preload size on page

20.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Wave tab.

Use the Total buffer size slider to configure an appropriate buffer size value and click OK.

requires additional memory. Combined with a large preload size, this may

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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 ( ) 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.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Wave tab.

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. If 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.

From the Options menus, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Pe r form tab.

Clear the Show the position of the playback cursor and Show the record counter while recording check boxes and click

OK.

Turning off the play (output) meters

Sound Forge’s play meters use a small amount of processing overhead during playback. However, if you detect dropouts during playback and previous fixes have failed, try turning off these 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 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.

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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.

CHP. 2 OPTIMIZING FOR SOUND FORGE

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OPTIMIZING FOR SOUND FORGE CHP. 2

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CHAPTER

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 Moving the mouse pointer over an item. Clicking Pointing to an item and quickly pressing and releasing the left mouse button. If there is no left or

Right-clicking Pointing to an item and quickly pressing and releasing the right mouse button. Right-clicking is

Double-clicking Identical to clicking, but instead of pressing and releasing the mouse button once, it is done twice

Triple-clicking Identical to clicking, but instead of pressing and releasing the mouse button once, it is done three

Toggle-clicking Clicking the right mouse button while holding down the left mouse button. This is used to toggle

Shift-clicking Holding down the Shift key while clicking the mouse. Shift-clicking is typically used to skip

Ctrl-clicking Holding down the Ctrl key while clicking the mouse. Ctrl-clicking is used to modify the operation

Dragging Holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse pointer and releasing the mouse at

Slow-dragging Holding down the right and left mouse buttons while adjusting sliders and faders increases the

right specification, left-clicking is implied.

frequently used to display shortcut menus.

in quick succession. Double-clicking always indicates the left mouse button.

times in quick succession. Triple-clicking always indicates the left mouse button.

options and is a shortcut for drag-and-drop editing and using the Magnify tool.

dialogs and quickly repeat operations.

of a normal click.

the desired location. Dragging is used to quickly move sections of data between windows, as well as to adjust sliders, scrollbars, and faders.

resolution of the movement. This is useful when making fractional adjustments to parameters.

Tip:

Once you are familiar with Sound Forge basics, you

may want to use mouse and keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Shortcuts on page 257.

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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 10ths of screen width) Shift+Wheel Down Scroll right (in 10ths 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

Workspace

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. 30). Transport bar Provides quick access to basic audio transport functions (pg. 30). 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.

Play Meters (docked)

Status bar

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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 the full version of Sound Forge), and Time Display (available only in the full version of Sound Forge) 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.

View menu, including the Regions List, Playlist (available only in

Docked Play Meters

Stacked windows with tabs

Docked Keyboard

Docking a window

Drag a window to the edge of the workspace. The outline of the window changes shape as you approach

the edge.

Release the mouse. The window docks against the edge of the workspace.

Preventing a window from docking

Ctrl

Press while dragging a window to prevent it from docking in the workspace.

Tip:

You can choose to reverse this behavior so that windows will not dock unless you press . From the menu, choose

windows to dock check box on the General tab.

Preferences, and clear the Allow floating

Ctrl

Options

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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.

Hiding the window docking area

You can double-click the separator between the workspace and window docking area to hide the docking area. You can also use shortcut keys to manage the workspace.

Shortcut key Description

F11

Shift F11

Ctrl F11

Show/hide window docking area at bottom of workspace.

Show/hide windows docked on left/ right sides of workspace.

Show/hide all docked windows.

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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

Edit Tool

Selector

Level ruler

Waveform display

Level zoom in/out

Time ruler

Playbar Selection status boxes

Position

scroll bar

Overview bar

Ruler tags

Time zoom resolution Time zoom in/out Maximize width

Component Description

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

Playbar Contains audio transport buttons, including Go to Start, Go to End, Stop, Play Normal, Open/

Selection status boxes Displays the beginning, end, and length of a selection. If no selection exists, only the cursor

Waveform display Displays a graphical representation of an audio file. The horizontal axis represents time, and the

Position scroll bar Scrolls forward/backward through an audio file to display sections of the file not visible in the

Overview bar Allows for quick navigation and playback of any part of an audio file. The overview bar also

Time zoom resolution Specifies the number of samples of data represented by each horizontal point on the screen. This

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.

allows you to display or hide data window elements.

Play Plug-In Chainer (available only in the full version of Sound Forge), Play as Cutlist, and Play as Sample. For more information on the playbar, please see page 28.

position displays. Double-click the leftmost box to display the Go 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.

vertical axis represents amplitude. Right-click within this display to open the waveform display shortcut menu.

current area of the waveform display.

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.

determines the length of time displayed in the data window. Smaller resolution values display less time.

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Displaying data window components

Sound Forge allows you to customize the appearance of individual data windows.

Alt

From the File menu, choose Properties or press + . The current file’s Properties dialog appears.

Click the Display tab.

Display/hide specific components by selecting/clearing the corresponding check boxes.

Select the Save as the default for all new windows check box if you want to set the new configuration as the

Enter

default data window display.

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.

Go to Start: moves the cursor to the start of the file.

Go to End: moves the cursor to the end of the file.

Stop: stops playback and returns the cursor to its position prior to playback.

Play Normal: 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.

Play Plug-In Chainer: previews the audio processed through plug-ins when the Plug-In Chainer window is open.

If there is a selection, plays from the beginning of the selection to the end of the selection.

If the Plug-In Chainer window is not open, the Open Plug-In

Chainer button ( ) appears instead.

Play as Cutlist: plays the file with the regions in the cutlist omitted. This button appears only if you treat the playlist as a cutlist.

Play as Sample: 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.

Current playback mode

When you play a file from the playbar, a small horizontal line appears beneath the selected Play button’s icon ( ). This indicates Sound Forge’s current playback mode, which is the mode used when you click the transport bar

Changing the current playback mode

Play ( ) button. For more information, see Transport bar on page 30.

To change the current playback mode, click a playbar button or press .

Optional Backward and Forward buttons

You can choose to display Rewind () and For ward ( ) shuttle controls on the playbar. From the Options menu, choose

General tab.

LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 3

Preferences, and select the Show shuttle controls on Data Window transport check box on the

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To o l b a r s

Sound Forge’s toolbars contain buttons used to quickly execute many of the program’s commands and functions. Toolbars can be dragged throughout the workspace, docked, resized, hidden, and customized.

Docking a toolbar

When you drag a floating toolbar to any edge of the main screen, the toolbar docks on that edge.

Floating a toolbar

When you drag a docked toolbar away from an edge, the toolbar becomes a floating toolbar.

Displaying a toolbar

From the View menu, choose Toolbars. The Preferences dialog appears with a list of available toolbars.

To display a toolbar, select the corresponding check box and click OK.

Select a check box to display a toolbar.

Click Customize to add, remove, or rearrange buttons on a toolbar.

Note:

The dialog box pictured above is from the full version of Sound Forge. If you have Screenblast Sound Forge, you will not have all of the tabs and options pictured above available to you.

Customizing a toolbar

From the View menu, choose Toolbars. The Preferences dialog appears with a list of available toolbars.

Select the check box for a toolbar and click Customize. The Customize Toolbar dialog appears.

Use the controls in the Customize Toolbar dialog to add, remove, or rearrange the buttons on the selected toolbar. Click

Reset to restore the toolbar to its default setting.

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Standard toolbar

The Standard toolbar displays by default when you start Sound Forge. The buttons on this toolbar provide quick access to many common commands.

New: creates a new data window. Play Clipboard: plays the audio on the

clipboard.

Open: displays the Open dialog. Trim/Crop: removes all data from the file that

Save: saves the current audio data. Undo: reverses the last edit operation.

is not currently selected. This command has no effect if there is no selected data. This command does not copy data to the clipboard.

Save As: saves the current file with a new name or format.

Render As: renders the current project file to a media file.

Cut: removes selected audio data and places it on the clipboard. This command has no effect if there is no selection.

Copy: copies selected audio data to the clipboard. This command has no effect if there is no selection.

Paste: inserts a copy of the clipboard data at the current insertion point. If there is a selection, this command replaces the selected data with the clipboard data.

Mix: mixes a copy of the clipboard data with the current audio file. The mix start point is either the cursor point or the start or end of the selection in the destination data window.

Redo: reverts the previously undone edit operation.

Repeat: repeats the last operation. This command can be used with most processing functions. The previous operation’s parameters are repeated. To specify new parameters, hold Shift and click this button.

Edit Tool: selects the Editing tool.

Magnify Tool: selects the Magnify tool.

Pencil Tool: selects the Pencil tool.

Envelope Tool: selects the Envelope tool.

Transport bar

The transport bar also displays by default and contains basic audio transport buttons.

Record: records data to a new or existing data window.

Loop Playback: toggles Loop Playback mode on and off.

Play All: plays the entire file from beginning to end, regardless of cursor position, selection, or playlist.

Play: plays the file in current playback mode (Play Normal, Play Plug-In Chainer, Play as Cutlist, or Play as Sample).

Pause: pauses playback and maintains the cursor at its current position.

LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 3

Stop: stops playback and returns the cursor to its prior position.

Go to Start: moves the cursor to the start of the file.

Rewind: moves the cursor backward in the current file.

Forward: moves the cursor forward in the current file.

Go to End: moves the cursor to the end of the file.

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Navigation toolbar

The Navigation toolbar contains buttons used to navigate within the current data window.

Zoom In Full: magnifies the selected area to a 24:1 ratio.

Zoom Normal: resets the audio data to its original magnification.

Zoom Selection: maximizes the selection vertically and horizontally.

Custom Zoom 1: sets the audio data to a custom time magnification level.

Custom Zoom 2: sets the audio data to a custom time magnification level.

Insert Marker: drops a marker at the current cursor position.

Mark In: marks the “in” point of a new selection.

Mark Out: marks the “out” point of a new selection.

Go To: displays the Go To dialog and allows you to quickly move the cursor to a specific point in a file.

Cursor Center: centers the display with the cursor displayed in the center of the data window.

Cursor to Selection Start: moves the cursor to the beginning of the selection.

Cursor to Selection End: moves the cursor to the end of the selection.

Center Sustaining Start: moves the cursor to the beginning of the sustaining loop.

Center Sustaining End: moves the cursor to the end of the sustaining loop.

Center Release Start: moves the cursor to the beginning of the release loop.

Center Release End: moves the cursor to the end of the release loop.

Views toolbar

The Views toolbar contains buttons used to store and retrieve data window views.

Toggles views 1-8 between setting and restoring.

Stores and recalls specific selection views.

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Status/Selection toolbar

The Status/Selection toolbar contains buttons used to specify a file’s status format and control snapping functions..

Samples: changes the status format to Samples.

Time: changes the status format to Time. SMPTE Non-Drop: changes the status format

Seconds: changes the status format to Seconds.

Time and Frames: changes the status format to Time and Frames.

Absolute Frames: changes the status format to Absolute Frames.

Measures and Beats: changes the status format to Measures and Beats.

SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps): changes the status format to SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps). Available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

SMPTE EBU: changes the status format to SMPTE EBU (25 fps). Available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

to SMPTE Non-Drop (29.97 fps, Video). Available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

SMPTE Drop: changes the status format to SMPTE Drop (29.97 fps, Video). Available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

SMPTE 30: changes the status format to SMPTE 30 (30 fps, Audio). Available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

Auto Snap to Zero: forces the ends of selections to the nearest zero-crossing. Available only in Screenblast Sound Forge.

Auto Snap to Time: forces the ends of selections to the nearest whole time division on the time ruler. Available only in Screenblast Sound Forge.

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.

Regions List: displays the Regions List. Generate MIDI Timecode: configures Sound

Playlist: displays the playlist. Pre-Queue for MIDI Timecode: opens the wave

Trigger from MIDI Timecode: 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 202.

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.

device and preloads data for the next region to be played from the playlist.

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.

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Process toolbar

The Process toolbar contains buttons corresponding to all commands located in the Process menu.

Auto Trim/Crop: removes silence and automatically fades in/out the end-points of each phrase.

Bit-Depth Converter: converts a file to a different bit depth.

Channel Converter: converts between mono and stereo formats. Can also intermix the left and right channels of a stereo file to create panning effects.

DC Offset: changes the baseline of an audio file.

Graphic EQ: opens Sony Pictures Digital’s XFX Graphic EQ.

Paragraphic EQ: opens Sony Pictures Digital’s XFX Paragraphic EQ.

Parametric EQ: opens Sony Pictures Digital’s XFX Parametric EQ.

Graphic Fade: creates user-configurable fades. Smooth/Enhance: opens Sony Pictures Digital’s

Fade In: fades-in the selection. Time Stretch: opens Sony Pictures Digital’s

Fade Out: fades-out the selection. Volume: adjusts the volume of an audio file.

Insert Silence: inserts user-configurable silence into audio files.

Invert/Flip: inverts (or flips) the polarity of the current selection.

Mute: mutes the current selection.

Normalize: normalizes the loudness of an audio file.

Pan/Expand: creates custom pans, expands, and mixes.

Resample: creates a copy of the audio file with a new sample rate.

Reverse: reverses the current selection.

XFX Smooth/Enhance tool.

XFX Time Stretch tool.

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Effects toolbar

If you are using the full version of Sound Forge, the Effects toolbar contains buttons corresponding to all Sound Forge’s built-in XFX™ plug-ins.

Acoustic Mirror: adds environmental coloration to your existing recordings.

Amplitude Modulation: applies a sinusoidal or square-shaped periodic gain to the input signal.

Chorus: simulates multiple audio sources from a single sound.

Multi-Tap Delay: creates a delay with up to eight delay-taps spaced anywhere within 2.5 seconds of the original sound.

Simple Delay: adds a delayed copy of the audio signal to the file.

Distortion: simulates the overloading of an amplifier.

Graphic Dynamics: applies compression, expansion, and limiting to affect the dynamic range of an audio file.

Multi-Band Dynamics: allows compression and limiting to be placed on up to four different frequency bands.

Envelope: forces the amplitude envelope of a waveform to match a specified envelope shape.

Flange/Wah-Wah: mixes a modulated delay signal with the original signal.

Gapper/Snipper: removes/inserts sections of silence at regular intervals to create unusual effects.

Noise Gate: removes signals below a set amplitude threshold.

Pitch Bend: creates a modified sound envelope that corresponds to increasing or decreasing the pitch of a sound file over time.

Pitch Shift: changes the pitch of a selection with or without preserving the duration of the file.

Reverb: simulates the acoustics of different environments.

Vibrato: creates periodic pitch modulation in an audio file.

Wave Hammer: acts as a classic compressor and volume maximizer.

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Tools toolbar

The Tools toolbar contains buttons corresponding to commands in the Tools menu.

Burn CD: writes the selected audio track to CD. Replace: replaces selected audio data with

Extract Audio from CD: extracts audio from CD and opens in Sound Forge for editing.

Auto Region: creates regions in an audio file according to rapid sound attacks or a specified time interval.

Crossfade Loop: mixes audio occurring before the loop start point into the end of the loop to smooth transitions.

Extract Regions: extracts all file regions and saves them as individual files.

Find: searches for clicks and pops, volume levels, or silent breaks in an audio signal.

Preset Manager: backs up and transfers userconfigured presets from effects, processes, and plug-ins.

Copy Other Channel: replaces selected audio with a corresponding selection from the opposite channel.

Levels toolbar

previous adjacent data.

Interpolate: replaces selected audio with interpolated audio data based on the selection’s beginning and end samples.

Sampler: allows you to transfer samples to/ from Sound Forge.

Clip Detect: performs clip detection on the current file or selection. Note: clip detection is available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

Statistics: displays statistics corresponding to the current file or selection.

DTMF/MF Tones Synthesis: generates dial tones used by telephone companies.

FM Synthesis: uses frequency modulation and additive synthesis to create complex sounds from simple waveforms. Note: FM synthesis is available only in the full version of Sound Forge.

Simple Synthesis: generates a simple waveform of a given shape, pitch, and length.

The Levels toolbar displays the audio levels in the left and right channels in the user-specified format. You can right-click to choose the format from a shortcut menu.

Left Right

channel level channel level

ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar

The ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar contains buttons corresponding to commands used when creating audio loops for Sony Pictures Digital’s ACID® family of products. For more information, see Creating loops for

ACID on page 228.

Edit ACID Properties: displays the Edit ACID Properties dialog.

Edit Tempo: calculates the musical tempo (beats per minute) based upon the current selection.

Double Selection: doubles the size of the current selection.

Halve Selection: divides the current selection in half.

Shift Selection Left: shifts the current selection to the left so the current start point becomes the end point.

Shift Selection Right: shifts the current selection to the right so the current end point becomes the start point.

Rotate Audio: moves the current selection to the opposite end of the file.

Selection Grid Lines: toggles the selection grid line display on/off.

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Tempo window

The ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar also contains a Tempo window that appears to the right of the toolbar buttons. 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.

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.

To o l T i p s

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.

ToolTip

Turning off ToolTips

From the View menu, choose Toolbars. The Preferences dialog appears.

Clear the Show ToolTips 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.

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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.

The full version of Sound Forge provides peak and VU/PPM (peak program) meters that you can use to monitor your audio levels.

The peak meters display instantaneous levels during playback to help you determine the loudest level in your audio signal and whether the signal is clipping.

Volume unit (VU) and peak program (PPM) meters help you determine the perceived loudness of your audio signal (peak program meters provide faster response times to volume increases than VU meters). VU/ PPM meters are especially helpful when you’re mastering: comparing two audio files’ VU/PPM readings will help take the guesswork out of matching levels.

VU/PPM readings should fall near the 0 (or reference) mark. 0 VU is merely a reference level, and your signal may exceed 0 VU. To prevent clipping, keep an eye on your peak meters. Peak levels should never exceed 0 dB. To accommodate louder or softer intensity material, you can use the Preferences dialog to calibrate the VU/PPM meters to their associated levels on the peak meters and adjust the VU meters’ sensitivity (to access the Preferences dialog, choose Preferences from the

Resetting clipping indicators

Other tab in the

Options menu).

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

Click the clipping indicator to reset it.

You can also detect and mark clipped audio using the detect clipping tool. For more information, see Detecting

and marking clipping on page 95.

Scaling meters

Meters can display a peak range and a VU (volume unit)/PPM (peak program) scale. To change the meter’s display levels, right-click the meter and do one of the following:

• Choose the submenu.

• Choose from the submenu.

Peak Range from the shortcut menu, followed by the desired range from

VU/PPM Scale from the shortcut menu, followed by the desired scale

VU and PPM scales are most useful for displaying the average volume of the signal: the meter represents the RMS average level during playback, and their attack and decay are not as sensitive as the peak meter.

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PPM scales are useful for monitoring peak levels. The meters use a fixed integration time (5 or 10 ms) that is sensitive to increases in volume, but the meters are less sensitive to decreases in volume than the VU scales, which produces less meter activity and decreased eyestrain.

Displaying VU/PPM meters

Sound Forge provides peak and VU/PPM (peak program) meters that you can use to monitor your audio levels.

You can toggle the display of the meter’s VU/PPM scale on and off. Right-click the meter and choose

VU/PPM

Adjusting the VU meters’ sensitivity

from the shortcut menu.

Unlike peak meters — which read instantaneous changes in your audio signal — the VU/PPM meters read a portion of the signal and calculate the average level. The size of the signal that the meters read is determined by the meters’ integration time.

To set the amount of data surrounding the cursor that will be used to calculate levels in the VU meters, specify a value in the Preferences dialog, choose

VU meter integration time box on the Other tab of the Preferences dialog (to access the

Preferences from the Options menu).

The PPM scales use a fixed integration time:

Scale Integration time

UK PPM 10 ms EBU PPM 10 ms DIN PPM 5 ms Nordic PPM 5 ms

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

Show

Right-click the meters to access the Hold Peaks and Hold Valleys commands in the shortcut menu.

• Choose

LEARNING THE SOUND FORGE WORKSPACE CHP. 3

Hold Peaks to display a marker on the meters indicating the highest reading.

Hold Valleys to display a marker on the meters indicating the lowest reading.

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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.

Fader

Drag to set value

Slider

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 change the value in small increments.

Page Up Page Down

• and change the value in larger increments.

Home

• and set the control to its maximum and minimum values respectively.

End

• Hover the mouse over the fader or slider control and move the mouse wheel to change the value in larger increments. Press while using the mouse wheel to change the value in small increments.

Ctrl

Envelope graphs

Envelope graphs are used to configure the shape of frequency or amplitude envelopes applied to audio waveforms.

Envelope point

Envelope

Time axis

Amplitude or frequency axis

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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

Drag an envelope point to a new position.

Release the mouse button. The point is repositioned and the envelope adjusts.

Moving multiple envelope points

Starting in an unused area of the envelope graph, drag the mouse to create a selection box containing all

points to be moved.

Select the envelope points

Release the button. The selected envelope points are displayed with a white square center.

Drag any of the selected envelope points to the desired position. The pointer displays as a multidirectional arrow and the selected points move together.

Release the mouse button. The entire envelope graph adjusts.

Reposition multiple envelope points

Changing the fade curve between two points

To change the type of fade between two envelope points, right-click an envelope segment and choose a fade type (Linear Fade, Fast Fade, Slow Fade, Smooth Fade, Sharp Fade, and Hold) from the shortcut menu.

Selecting or clearing all envelope points

Ctrl + A

Press to select or clear all envelope points.

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Adding an envelope point

Hover over the envelope.

Place the pointer on the envelope and double-click to add a point.

Double-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 40.

Deleting an envelope point

Right-click the point to be deleted and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. The point is deleted and the envelope adjusts.

Delete all points

Delete all envelope points by clicking the Reset Envelope button.

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.

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 44.

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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.

Left channel only

Both channels

Right channel only

Open a stereo file.

Select the Edit tool by choosing To ol from the Edit menu and Edit from the submenu.

Press + or click the

Position the tool near the top of the left channel and notice its appearance. The tool displays as . This

Ctrl D

Edit Tool button ( ) on the Standard toolbar.

indicates that only audio data in the left channel will be selected.

Position the tool in the middle portion of the data window and notice its appearance. The tool displays as a standard cursor. This indicates that it will select a mono file or both channels of a stereo file.

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Position the tool near the bottom of the right channel and notice its appearance. The tool displays as . This indicates that only audio data in the right channel will be selected.

Cursor selects only the left channel

Cursor selects both channels

Cursor selects only the right channel

Toggling channel selections

Once you place the cursor or create a selection in a stereo file, you can cycle through channel options (left, right, both) by pressing .

Tab

Previewing channels

The single channel selection option allows you to preview channels in a stereo file individually.

Open a stereo file and select all data.

Click the Play Normal button ( ). The file plays in stereo.

Tab

Press . The left channel is selected. Click the Play Normal button ( ). Only the mono left channel plays.

Tab

Press . The right channel is selected. Click the Play Normal button ( ). Only the mono right channel plays.

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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.

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CHAPTER

Getting Started

Sound Forge is a state-of-the-art digital audio editing tool for 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.

Creating a project

You can use project files in Sound Forge to organize and work with your media files nondestructively. When you save a project file, Sound Forge creates a .frg file and a subfolder that contains your media file and all of the temporary files created while working on your project. This file is not a multimedia file, but is used to render the final file after editing is finished. When you copy, cut, paste, and otherwise edit your project, the process is nondestructive—meaning you can edit without worrying about corrupting your source files. Within the project file, you can also undo any past operations, including those occurring before your last save. Once you are finished working with a project file, you can save your work to a media file using the

Render As option on the File menu.

Note:

To use the advanced undo/redo capabilities mentioned above, you must have the selected on the the Preferences dialog, choose menu.

From the File menu, choose Save As to save the current data window to a project file. The Save As dialog appears.

Using the Save in drop-down list, locate the folder where you want to save the project.

From the Save as type drop-down list, choose Sound Forge Project File (*.frg).

In the File name box, enter a name for the file.

Click the Save button.

Sound Forge creates a .frg file with the name you specified, and creates a folder with a similar name (

projectname_frg, for example) in the same location for the temporary files.

Important:

Forge should not be deleted, as this will cause your project file to be unusable.

File tab of the Preferences dialog. To access

The associated project folder created by Sound

Allow Undo past Save check box

Preferences from the Options

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Getting media files

Sound Forge can open a variety of audio and video files. There are three main methods for locating, previewing, and opening media files:

• From the

File menu, choose Open to display the Open dialog.

-or-

• From the

View menu, choose Explorer to display the Explorer window.

-orThese methods are explained in greater detail in the following sections.

Note:

To have Sound Forge automatically remove pulldown fields when opening 24 fps progressive-scan DV video files, select the box on the

Allow pulldown removal when opening 24p DV check

Video tab of the Preferences dialog. To open your

24p DV video files as 29.97 fps interlaced video (60i), clear this check box.

Using the Open dialog

From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog appears.

Click the

Open button ( ).

File Information Display

Select to Preview Files

The Open dialog contains several features that allow you to locate and open audio files. These features are detailed below.

Files of type Use this drop-down list to specify the file format that Sound Forge displays in

Recent Use this drop-down list to locate recently accessed folders. Auto play Select this check box to automatically preview files as you select them in the

Merge L/R to stereo Select this check box to merge two mono files to left and right channels of a

GETTING STARTED CHP. 4

the system. Sound Forge supports a variety of file formats.

Tip: Choose the CD Audio (*.cda) option from this list to extract audio tracks from a CD.

Open dialog.

stereo file when opening.

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Locate and select a media file using the Look in drop-down list at the top of the dialog.

To preview the file before adding it to your project, click the Play button.

Note:

If you have the Auto play check box selected, your file

will automatically begin previewing when you select it.

Click Open. Sound Forge opens the file and displays a data window containing the waveform.

File displays in the data window

Using the Explorer window

In addition to using the Explorer window for locating, previewing and opening media, you can drag files or regions from the Explorer window to an open data window to paste, mix, or crossfade the data. Click the right mouse button while dragging to toggle mix, crossfade, and paste drag-and-drop modes. You can also extract audio from a CD.

Previewing media

The Explorer window allows you to easily preview files before you open them. The Explorer window has a mini-transport bar with sent to the play meters on the main workspace (for audio files) or to the Video Preview window (for video files).

Note:

To preview video files, you must have the Video

Preview window open. To display the Video Preview window, choose Video Preview from the View menu.

Select a file in the Explorer window.

Click the Play button ( ) to listen to the file.

Click the Stop button ( ) or select a different file to stop previewing the file.

Tip:

To automatically preview selected files, click the Auto

Preview button ( ) on the Explorer window’s transport bar.

Play, Stop, and Auto Preview buttons ( ). When you preview a file, its stream is

Opening media

To open a media file into a new data window from the Explorer window, double-click the file. To open a media file in a specific data window, drag the media file from the Explorer window to the data window.

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Extracting audio from CD

The Explorer window allows you to easily extract audio from a CD into a data window. Each audio track on the CD is extracted into a separate data window.

Use the Explorer window to browse to and select your CD drive. The CD’s audio tracks display in the right pane of the Explorer window.

Select the track(s) you want to extract.

Drag the track(s) to the main Sound Forge workspace. Sound Forge begins extracting the selected tracks into individual data windows.

To stop the extraction process, you can click the Cancel button on the status bar to stop the whole process or on the individual data windows to stop extracting a specific track.

Tip:

To extract a single audio track into a new data window, double-click the track in the right pane of the Explorer window.

Using Explorer views

You can control the information that is displayed in the Explorer window by clicking the Views button ( ) and selecting a view. These options are explained below:

Item Description Tree View Displays all of the available drives and folders that you may choose

from to find files. Region View Displays any regions that have been defined in the selected media file. Summary View Displays a short description of the selected media file at the bottom of

the Explorer window. Details Displays the file size, date and when the file was last created or last

modified. All Files Displays all file types in the active folder.

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.

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Working with video files

Sound Forge has the ability to open and save many video file formats. The video files cannot be edited within Sound Forge, but this functionality allows you to attach, detach, and edit audio for the video. Once you’ve edited the audio, you can preview the audio and video together.

When you open a media file containing video, the data window displays the video portion in a video strip above the audio.

For more information, see Working with Video on page 235.

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Playing a file

After you open a file, you can play it by clicking the Play All button ( ) on the transport bar. For more information, see Transport bar on page 30.

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 64.

Cursor position

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.

Click to position the cursor in the data window. A flashing cursor (spanning the height of the waveform display) displays.

Click the Play button ( ) 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.

Status boxes

• 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 51.

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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 ( ) on the transport bar to turn Loop Playback mode on and off.

Press .

Playing a selection

You can play specific portions of audio data by creating selections in the waveform display.

Drag the mouse within the data window. Notice that the waveform is selected as the mouse is dragged.

Click the Play button ( ). Only the selection plays.

Selection status boxes

Create a selection on the waveform

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

Cursor Position

Selecting the status format

Beginning Value End Value Selection Length

You can display status values in any format supported by Sound Forge. For more information, see Selecting

status formats on page 64.

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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 The cursor position (in samples) from the start of the audio file. Sample value at cursor The actual number stored by a single sample. The maximum allowed sample value is

Maximum/minimum sample position and sample value

RMS power The Root Mean Square of the sample values relative to the RMS value of a maximum-

Average value (DC Offset) The sum of all sample values in the selected region divided by the number of samples. If

Zero crossings The number of times per second that the waveform fluctuates from a negative to a

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 (a built-in XFX plug-in installed with the full version of Sound Forge). For example, to determine the noise amplitude of a file, run Statistics on a region of noisy silence.

amplitude square wave (the loudest possible recording).

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.

this value is not zero, it usually indicates a DC offset in the recording process.

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

From the File menu, choose New. The New Window dialog appears.

Complete the New Window dialog:

• From the

• Select the desired

For more information, see Editing file attributes on page 83.

Click OK. A new data window with the specified attributes appears.

Tip:

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 93.

Sample rate drop-down list, choose a sample rate. Bit-depth drop-down list, choose a bit depth.

Channels radio button.

New Window dialog

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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.

Open an audio file and create a selection.

From the Edit menu, choose Copy. The selection is copied to the clipboard.

Click the

Create a new data window. For more information, see Creating a new data window on page 52.

From the Edit menu, choose Paste. The selected data is pasted in the new data window.

Click the

Copy button ( ) in the Standard toolbar.

Paste button ( ) 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 and RealMedia™. 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.

From the File menu, choose Save. When saving a new file, the Save As dialog appears. If the file was previously saved, choosing

automatically saves the file without your input.

From the Save as type drop-down list, choose a file format.

In the File name box, enter a name for the file.

Save

Select other options in the Save As dialog as needed and click Save. For more information, see Using the

Save As dialog on page 54.

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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.

Select file type

Select recent directories

Select template

Template description

Select saving metadata option

Select video options

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.

Te m pl a t e

The Te mp l at e 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

55.

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

89, and Saving loop points on page 233.

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

242.

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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 242.

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 choose the file type.

Te mp l a te drop-down list after you

When you click the template properties as needed. For help on the different settings, click the click a control, or click a control and press + .

When you are finished editing the template properties, click the

Saving custom templates

Custom button, a Custom Template dialog appears. Adjust the settings for the different

What’s This Help button ( ) and

Shift

OK button.

You can save a custom template to use again by entering a template name in the Te mp l at e box (in the Custom Template dialog) and clicking the

Deleting custom templates

Save Template button ( ).

You can delete a custom template by selecting the template from the Te mp la te drop-down list (in the Custom Settings dialog) and clicking the

Delete Template button ( ).

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 while choosing the Save All command automatically saves all open files without prompting you to approve each save.

Shift

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Saving files as a workspace

To accommodate complex editing scenarios, 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 Plug-In Chainer. For more information, see Creating and using views on page 80 and Adding a chain of effects on page 170.

Saving the current workspace

From the File menu, choose Workspace, and choose Save As from the submenu. The Save Workspace

dialog appears.

Browse to the folder where the file will be saved.

Enter a name for the file in the File name box and click Save.

Opening a workspace

From the File menu, choose Workspace, and choose Open from the submenu. The Open Workspace dialog

appears.

Browse to the folder containing the desired SFW file.

Select the desired file and click Open.

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. Tri m/C rop 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.

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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

Open the Voiceover.pca file.

Note:

This file is located in the same folder as the

application.

Create a selection containing “Wow.”

From the Edit menu, choose Copy. The selected data is copied to the clipboard.

Click the

Previewing clipboard contents

Copy button ( ) or press .

Create a selection in the waveform

Copy the selection

Data is copied to the clipboard, but the waveform is unchanged

Ctrl + C

To preview the contents of the clipboard, choose Clipboard from the View menu, and choose Play from the submenu.

Tip:

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.

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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

Move the cursor to the beginning of the Voiceover.pca file by clicking the Go To Start button ( ) in the

playbar. For more information, see Playbar on page 28.

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

To confirm that the data has been pasted into the file, click the Play All button ( ). “Wow. Wow. Sound

Paste button ( ) or press .

Ctrl + V

Clipboard contents are pasted Into the data window

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

Create a selection containing the second “Wow” (there should be two if you are following the examples)

in Voiceover.pca.

From the Edit menu, choose Cut. Sound Forge removes the selected data from the file and places it on the clipboard.

Click the

Click the Play All button ( ). “Wow. Sound editing just gets easier and easier” plays back.

GETTING STARTED CHP. 4

Cut button ( ) or press .

Ctrl + X

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Create a selection

Cut the selection

Selection is removed from the data window and placed on the clipboard

Previewing a cut

Sound Forge allows you to preview cuts prior to performing the edit. This option allows you to determine if you made the selection accurately and if the results are desirable.

Create a selection anywhere in Voiceover.pca.

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 + .

Configuring cut pre-roll and post-roll lengths

Ctrl K

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.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Other tab.

Configure the Pre-roll and Po st- 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

Press .

Delete (Clear) from the Edit menu.

Note:

Special menu, Playlist/Cutlist submenu) is selected, deleting

If the Treat as Cutlist command (available in the

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 110.

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Trimming/Cropping

Trimming allows you to retain a selection while deleting all surrounding data.

Create a selection containing “Wow, sound editing just gets easier” in Voiceover.pca, but do not select the second “and easier.”

From the Edit menu, choose Trim/Crop. Only “Wow, sound editing just gets easier” remains in the data window.

Create a selection

Trim/Crop the selection

Only the selected audio remains

Mixing

Mixing is a powerful editing function that allows two sounds to be combined into a single waveform.

Open and play the Drumhit.pca file. The file contains a snare drum and crash cymbal sound.

Verify that the Drumhit.pca window is active and choose Select All from the Edit menu. The entire waveform is selected.

From the Edit menu, choose Copy.

Click the

Activate the Voiceover.pca data window and click the Go To Start button ( ) on the playbar. The

Copy button ( ) or press .

cursor moves to the start of the file.

From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and choose Mix from the submenu. The Mix dialog appears.

Click the

Mix button ( ).

Ctrl + C

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Set both faders to 0dB

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.

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, even prior to your last save operation.

• You can undo any edit operation by choosing

• You can redo any undone edit operation by choosing

Important:

The ability to undo past save is available only in the full version of Sound Forge, and is disabled by default. To enable this functionality, choose

Options menu, click the File tab, and select the Allow Undo past Save

check box. When this option is enabled, Sound

Preferences from the

Forge will retain your undo/redo history until you close the file or exit Sound Forge.

Click the on the Standard toolbar or press .

Undo ( ) button on the Standard toolbar or press . Click the Redo () button

Ctrl + Shift + Z

Undo from the Edit menu.

Redo from the Edit menu.

Ctrl + Z

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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

Alt + 7

Press .

Note:

The undo/redo history for an audio file is retained

Undo/Redo History from the View menu.

until you close the file or exit Sound Forge. If you want to retain undo/redo history indefinitely, you should work with a Sound Forge project (.frg) file.

Play buttons

Performed operations

Undone operations

Undoing and redoing

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:

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.

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In the Undo pane, click the corresponding to the Mix operation. The audio file plays without the drum track.

Play the pre-mix file

Select the Mix operation and choose Undo from the Edit menu. The drum track is extracted from the Voiceover.pca data window and the

Choose Undo from the Edit menu

Mix operation moves to the Redo pane.

In the Redo pane, click the corresponding to the Mix operation. The audio file plays with the mixed drum track.

Select the Mix operation again and choose Redo from the Edit menu. The drum track is remixed into the Voiceover.pca waveform and the

Select the Tr i m/ Cr op operation in the Undo pane and click . 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

Mix operation is returned to the Undo pane.

originally performed.

Double-click the Cut operation in the Undo pane. The Cut and Trim/Crop operations are both undone in the waveform and moved to the

To quickly undo/redo operations in the

Redo pane.

Double-click the Cut operation

Undo/Redo History window, double-click the operation.

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Clearing the Undo/Redo History for the current file

Clearing the current file’s Undo/Redo History frees up disk space by deleting the file’s temporary undo/redo files. However, deleting these temporary files prevents you from undoing changes made to the file since it was last saved (or beyond, if you have the Preferences dialog). To clear the undo/redo history for the current file, go to the

Undo/Redo History, and choose Clear from the submenu.

Note:

A file’s undo/redo history is also automatically cleared

Allow Undo past Save check box enabled on the File tab of the

Special menu, choose

when you close the file or exit Sound Forge.

Clearing the Undo/Redo History for all open files

Sound Forge also allows you to simultaneously clear the undo/redo history for all open files. Once again, however, you cannot undo any previous changes once these histories are deleted. To clear the undo/redo history for all open files, go to the

Special menu, choose Undo/Redo History, and choose Clear All from the

submenu.

Selecting status formats

The status format determines how Sound Forge displays a file’s position and length information. The following table briefly describes status formats that Sound Forge supports (hh=hours, mm=minutes, ss=seconds, and ff=frames).

Format name Description Format

Samples Number of samples Numbered (starting with zero) Time Hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds hh:mm:ss.sss Seconds Seconds and fractions of seconds sssss.sss (to three decimal places) Time & Frames Hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. hh:mm:ss.ff Absolute Frames Frames and fractions of frames Numbered (starting with zero, to

Measures & Beats Measures, beats, and quarter beats measures:beats.quarters SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps) SMPTE at 24 frames per second for

synchronizing with film

SMPTE EBU (25 fps, Video) SMPTE at 25 frames per second for

European Broadcasting Union SMPTE Non-Drop (29.97 fps, Video) SMPTE at 29.97 frames per second hh:mm:ss:ff SMPTE Drop (29.97 fps, Video) SMPTE at 29.97 frames per second using

dropped frame numbers SMPTE 30 (30 fps, Audio) SMPTE at 30 frames per second hh:mm:ss:ff

three decimal places)

hh:mm:ss:ff

For more information, see SMPTE Timecode on page 269.

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Experimenting with status formats

You can experiment with the Voiceover.pca file to see how status formats affect values in the status display boxes.

Open the Voiceover.pca file.

From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and choose Samples from the submenu.

Select all data in the Voiceover.pca window by choosing Select All from the Edit menu. Notice the selection status boxes.

• The first selected sample is sample 0.

• The last selected sample is 220,506.

• The total number of samples in the selection is 220,507.

From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and choose Time from the submenu. Notice that status values change from samples to hours, minutes, and seconds.

From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and choose SMPTE Non-Drop (29.97 fps, Video) from the submenu. Notice that status values change to hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.

Experiment with each status format and make note of how each format displays.

Note:

Selecting a new format changes the status format for

the current data window only.

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To quickly change a file’s status format, right-click any of the data window’s status display boxes and choose a new format from the shortcut menu.

Choose a format from the shortcut menu

Configuring the Measures & Beats format

Choosing the Measures & Beats format allows you to specify the beats per minute and beats per measure values used to calculate measures and beats.

Changing a file’s beat values

From the Special menu, choose Edit Tempo. The Edit Tempo dialog appears.

Enter an appropriate value in the Tempo in beats per minute box.

Enter an appropriate value in the Number of beats in a measure box and click OK.

Alternately, you can make a selection in the file equal to one measure, and then enter the number of beats in the sample measure in the

beats per minute

Changing the default beat values

value based on the selection length and number of beats.

The previous procedure changes the beat values for the current audio file only. Use the following steps to change Sound Forge’s default beat values.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Status tab.

Enter an appropriate value in the Default beats per measure box.

Enter an appropriate value in the Default beats per minute box and click OK.

Selection length in beats box. Sound Forge automatically calculates the Tem p o i n

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Rendering files

Once you are finished editing a Sound Forge project (.frg) file, you can save it to any type of media file supported by Sound Forge. You can render 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.

From the File menu, choose Render As.

From the Save as type drop-down list, choose a file format.

In the File name box, enter a name for the file.

Select other options in the Render As dialog as needed and click Save.

The Render As dialog looks and behaves just like the Save As dialog. For more information on using this dialog, see Using the Save As dialog on page 54.

Exporting to Net MD devices

You can export your audio files from Sound Forge to your Net MD device.

From the File menu, choose Export to Net MD.

Type information about your project:

In the Name of track box, type the name you want to use to identify your audio file on your Net MD device.

In the Name of artist box, type the artist name you want to associate with this track on your device.

In the Name of genre box, type the genre you want to associate with this track on your device.

In the Comment for track box, type any comments you want to associate with this track on your device.

Click the Export button. Sound Forge converts your project to the appropriate format for your device and begins transferring when conversion is complete.

Exporting to CLIÉ handheld devices

You can export your audio files in MP3 format and transfer them to your Sony® CLIÉ® handheld device, all in one step.

From the File menu, choose Export as MP3 to CLIÉ. The Export current project to CLIÉ dialog box displays.

In the Rendered file name box, type the name you want to use for your rendered MP3 file.

In the Choose Sony device drop-down list, choose the CLIÉ device to which you want to transfer your file.

In the Choose MP3 template drop-down list, choose the audio settings you want to use for your file.

Click the Export button. Sound Forge renders your MP3 file and transfers the file to your device.

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Recovering files after a crash

If Sound Forge terminates improperly, you can recover all open and unsaved audio files not opened in readonly mode. When Sound Forge opens a file, it automatically creates temporary files that it uses to save any changes made to the file. The original file remains unchanged until it is saved. If Sound Forge terminates improperly, the temporary files remain on your hard drive and can be used to recover any unsaved changes made prior to the crash.

Tip:

You can specify the folder used to store temporary files by choosing designating a

Perform tab.

Recovering files

Click the Recover button to restore the changes and undo history for the files listed in the

Deleting recovered files

Click the Cancel button to delete the temporary files. The original media files remain unchanged.

Preferences from the Options menu and

Temporary files and record folder location on the

Files that can be recovered list.

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CHAPTER

Navigating, Zooming, and

Selecting

This chapter introduces some of Sound Forge’s navigation and selection features.

Setting the cursor position

While you can click anywhere in the waveform to position the cursor, there are times when you may need to position the cursor more precisely. You can use the Go To dialog to move the cursor to a specific point in an audio file and center it in the data window.

Tip:

You can also use a variety of keyboard shortcuts to

position the cursor. For more information, see Cursor

movement on page 260.

Go To dialog

Choose Go To from the Edit menu.

You can also use the following methods:

•Right-click the waveform, choose

•Double-click the leftmost selection status box.

•Press .

Set the cursor position using one of the following methods:

• From the

Click OK. The cursor is placed at the specified position in the data window.

CHP. 5 NAVIGATING, ZOOMING, AND SELECTING

Ctrl + G

Go To drop-down list, choose a preset. Input format drop-down list, choose a format and enter an appropriate value in the Positio n box.

Cursor, and choose Go To from the submenu.

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Previewing audio with pre-roll

Many audio editing operations depend upon accurate placement of the cursor in the data window. The Pre-

roll to Cursor

command allows you to preview audio data leading up to the current cursor position. This

command is extremely useful when recording punch-ins. For more information, see Recording a specific length

(punch-in) on page 117.

Sound Forge designates a 1.5 second pre-roll. However, you can change this value if necessary. For more information, see Configuring cut pre-roll and post-roll lengths on page 59.

Place the cursor anywhere in the data window.

From the Edit menu, choose Pre-roll to Cursor. Sound Forge plays the audio leading up to the cursor and stops at the cursor.

Ctrl + Shift + K

Press .

Using the overview bar

When navigating or editing a file, the overview bar changes to reflect the current position in the file.

Title bar

Overview bar

Time ruler

The overview bar represents the length of the entire file zoomed out to its maximum position. By observing the overview bar, you can determine the following:

• The section of the audio file currently displayed in the data window.

• The location and size of a selection in relation to the audio file and data window.

• The current cursor location.

Understanding the overview bar

Open the Voiceover.pca file and verify that the waveform display is zoomed completely out (1:512 in this case).

The entire overview bar is bracketed

Notice that the entire overview bar is bracketed, indicating that the entire file appears in the data window.

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Place the mouse pointer over the word “Wow,” and click. A small vertical marker, representing the cursor, appears in the overview bar.

Small marker in the overview bar

Create a selection containing the word “Wow.” A shaded block, sized in relation to the size of the selection within the entire audio file, appears in the overview bar.

A shaded block in the overview bar

Click the Zoom In button ( ) twice. The bracketed area in the overview bar becomes incrementally smaller as less of the waveform appears in the data window.

Zooming in on a selection decreases the size of the bracketed area

However, the selection remains the same size and does not move. This allows you to quickly locate a selection, even when another section of an audio file is displayed.

Navigating in the overview bar

Open the Voiceover.pca file.

Click the Zoom In button ( ) until you reach a 1:32 zoom ratio.

Click outside the bracketed region in the overview bar.

Clicking in the overview bar outside the bracketed area places the cursor beyond the visible data window

The cursor position changes, but the cursor is located beyond the scope of the data window.

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Double-click anywhere in the overview bar.

The cursor is centered in the data window

The cursor position updates and centers in the data window.

Playing audio in the overview bar

To make navigating a file from the overview bar easier, Sound Forge allows you to start audio playback from the overview bar.

Open the Voiceover.pca file.

Right-click the overview bar. Playback of the file begins from the cursor location.

Right-click the overview bar again. Playback pauses.

Right-click the overview bar once more and immediately left-click at several random positions in the overview bar. Each time you click the mouse in the overview bar during playback, the cursor jumps to the new location and playback continues. The feature is useful for quickly navigating a file and locating general events.

Navigating with the audio event locator

Dragging the mouse within the overview bar initiates playback of small audio loops adjacent to the cursor position. This is not technically a scrub function, but it serves a similar purpose. It allows you to audition brief audio segments and quickly locate specific events within a file.

Configuring the audio event locator

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Other tab.

In the Audio event locator section, edit the Pre-roll and Loop time values as desired and click OK.

Zooming and magnifying

Since there are considerably more samples in a sound file than horizontal points (pixels) on the screen, many data samples must be represented by each horizontal point when audio data displays in the data window. Depending upon the editing operation, you may want to view the entire file at once or a small portion of data in greater detail. For this reason, Sound Forge allows you to utilize two varieties of zooming: time ruler zooming and level ruler zooming.

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Zooming the time ruler (horizontal)

The current time ruler magnification ratio appears in the lower-right corner of the data window above the status boxes.

Time ruler zooming controls

Zoom ratio

Zoom Out

Zoom Spinner

Zoom In

Understanding the zoom ratio

The zoom ratio determines the number of samples represented by each horizontal point on the screen. The zoom ratio is a value of X:Y, where X is the number of horizontal points and Y is the number of samples. If the ratio is 1:1, each point on the screen represents one sample. At this zoom ratio, a brief but detailed selection of time displays.

Waveform at 1:1 zoom ratio

Conversely, if the zoom ratio is 1:1024, 1,024 samples are represented by each point on the screen and a greater length of time displays.

For very precise editing, you may want to zoom in more tightly than a 1:1 ratio. The full version of Sound Forge allows up to a 24:1 ratio, where 24 points on the screen represent one sample. This high level of zoom may be useful when editing with the Pencil tool. For more information, see Repairing audio glitches manually

with the Pencil tool on page 140.

Sample

Waveform at 24:1 zoom ratio

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Changing the zoom ratio

To edit the zoom ratio, use the Zoom In/Out spin control located adjacent to the zoom ratio display.

• Clicking the magnifying glass buttons increases/decreases the zoom ratio by single-step increments.

• Dragging the spin control increments the zoom ratio quickly in the corresponding direction.

Right-clicking the waveform display allows you to quickly access time ruler zoom commands from the shortcut menu.

Using the time zoom shortcut

Note:

When Sound Forge opens a file, the horizontal

magnification is set to the value specified by the

ratio

setting in the Display tab in the Preferences dialog. To

access the Preferences dialog, choose

Options menu.

Preferences from the

Normal zoom

Using zoom time commands

If you prefer using commands, you can control the time magnification from the View menu. The following table briefly describes the available time zoom commands. You can access these commands from the menu by choosing

Zoom Time and choosing the desired command from the submenu.

View

In Full If you are using the full version of Sound Forge, this command increases the zoom ratio

to represent each audio sample with 24 screen pixels (24:1 zoom ratio). If you are using Screenblast Sound Forge, this command increases the zoom ratio to represent each audio

sample with 1 screen pixel (1:1 zoom ratio). Normal Returns the file to its default zoom ratio. Out Full Changes the zoom ratio to display the entire file within the data window. Selection Changes the zoom ratio to maximize the display and center the selection within the data

window. Custom Zoom X:Y Sets the zoom ratio to a custom setting. For more information, see Using custom zoom

settings on page 75.

Zooming the level ruler (vertical)

Zooming along the level ruler displays a larger vertical waveform and allows for more precise editing at low audio amplitudes.

Level ruler zooming controls

Zoom In

Zoom Spin Control

Zoom Out

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Changing the level zoom

To edit the level ruler zoom, use the Zoom In/Out spinner control located above the playbar.

• Clicking the magnifying glass buttons increases/decreases the level ruler

zoom by single-step increments.

• Dragging the spin control increments the level ruler zoom quickly in the corresponding direction.

At high zoom levels, only low-level samples are visible because the peaks of the waveform move beyond the vertical scope of the data window. Consider the following data windows.

Level zoom out maximum Level zoom in maximum

Both data windows display the same audio file at a 1:1 zoom ratio. The window on the left shows the level ruler zoomed to its maximum out position. The window on the right shows the level ruler zoomed to its maximum in position. Notice that wave peaks clearly visible in the left window are out of display range in the right window.

Using zoom level commands

If you prefer using commands, you can control the level magnification from the View menu. The following table briefly describes the three available zoom level commands. You can access these commands from the

View menu by choosing Zoom Level and choosing the desired command from the submenu.

Out Full Decreases the zoom level to minimize the display of the file’s amplitude. Window Changes the level zoom to display the entire waveform amplitude in the data window. Selection Maximizes the display of the selection (vertically and horizontally) in the data window.

Formatting the level ruler

You can configure the level ruler to display in decibels or percent by right-clicking the ruler and choosing

Label in Percent or Label in dB from the shortcut menu.

Using custom zoom settings

You can create two custom time zoom settings for quick access to time magnification levels that you use frequently.

Creating custom zoom settings

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Display tab.

Select time magnification settings from the Custom zoom ratio 1 and Custom zoom ratio 2 drop-down lists.

Click OK.

Zooming to custom settings

From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and choose a custom zoom setting from the submenu.

Click a keypad.

Custom Zoom button ( or ) on the Navigation toolbar or press or on the numeric

1 2

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Using zooming shortcuts

Zooming to a selection

Create a selection. If no selection is created, this function is not available.

Right-click the waveform and choose Zoom Selection from the shortcut menu. Sound Forge calculates the minimum zoom ratio that allows the full selection to display in the window, then zooms and centers the selection in the data window.

To reverse this function, right-click the waveform, choose

Zooming the window

Zoom, and choose Out Full from the submenu.

Right-click the level ruler and choose Zoom Window from the shortcut menu. Sound Forge calculates the maximum zoom level that allows the loudest portion of the selection to display in the window and adjusts the entire sound file.

To reverse this function, right-click the level ruler and choose

Zooming out full

Zoom Out Full from the shortcut menu.

To quickly display all data in a data window, right-click the waveform, choose Zoom, and choose Out Full from the submenu. This command sets the zoom ratio and zoom level to the lowest values required to display all data in the window.

To reverse this function, go to the

Zooming in full

View menu, choose Zoom Time, and choose Normal from the submenu.

To quickly set the zoom factor to its maximum magnification, right-click the waveform and choose Zoom In

Full

from the shortcut menu. The maximum magnification available is 24:1 in the full version of Sound Forge

and 1:1 in Screenblast Sound Forge. To reverse this function, right-click the waveform and choose

Optimizing time and level ruler scaling

Zoom Normal from the shortcut menu.

To optimize both the time ruler and level ruler display of a selection, double-click the level ruler. Doubleclicking the level ruler a second time restores both displays to their default levels.

Using the Magnify tool

The Magnify tool provides an additional way to magnify a section of an audio file. You can access the Magnify tool in three ways:

• From the

• Click the Magnify Tool button ( )on the Standard toolbar.

• Click the Edit Tool Selector in the upper-left corner of the data window until the Magnify tool appears.

When you select the Magnify tool, the cursor displays as . You can use this tool to create a selection box indicating how audio data is magnified. By using the Magnify tool and toggle-clicking the mouse, you can toggle between time zoom, level zoom, and simultaneous time/level zoom.

For more information, see Using the mouse on page 23.

NAVIGATING, ZOOMING, AND SELECTING CHP. 5

Edit menu, choose Tool, and choose Magnify from the submenu.

To temporarily use the Magnify tool, hold while creating a selection.

Ctrl

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Zooming the time ruler with the Magnify tool

Drag the Magnify tool on the waveform to make a small selection box.

Toggle-click the mouse until the selection box is the same height as the data window.

Drag the Magnify tool to create a time zoom selection and release the mouse button. The zoom ratio of the selection increases.

Selection box spans the height of the window The selection is time zoomed

Zooming the level ruler with the Magnify tool

Drag the Magnify tool on the waveform to make a small selection box.

Toggle-click the mouse until the selection box is the full width of the data window.

Drag the Magnify tool to create a level zoom selection and release the mouse button. The zoom ratio of the selection increases.

Selection box spans the width of the window The selection is level zoomed

Zooming both time and level with the Magnify tool

Drag the Magnify tool on the waveform to make a small selection box.

Toggle-click the mouse until the selection displays as a box.

Drag the Magnify tool to create a time/level zoom selection and release the mouse button. The level zoom and time zoom of the selection increase.

Selection displays as a box The selection time and level are zoomed

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Selecting audio using start and end values

You can select audio by dragging the mouse or by using keyboard shortcuts (pg. 261). For the sake of accuracy, however, it is often useful to create selections by entering specific start and end point values. The Set Selection dialog allows you to create selections in this way or by choosing a preset selection from the down list.

For users of the full version of Sound Forge: from the Edit menu, choose Selection, and choose Set from the submenu.

Selection drop-

For users of Screenblast Sound Forge: from the

Edit menu, choose Selection.

The Set Selection dialog appears.

Shift

Ctrl

Press + + .

From the Input format drop-down list, choose the format to be used for creating the selection. The values in the

Start, End, and Length boxes change to reflect the specified format.

Configure the selection by entering appropriate values in the Start and End or the Start and Length boxes.

If you are working with a stereo file, choose Left, Right, or Both from the Channel drop-down list.

Click OK.

Using the Set Selection dialog

The following sections briefly describe additional controls located in the Set Selection dialog.

Set Selection dialog

Play

Clicking Play plays the current selection.

Play looped

Selecting the Play looped check box allows you to play the selection in Looped Playback mode.

Snap Zero

Clicking Snap Zero forces the Start and End values of the selected area to the next zero-crossing.

Snap Time

Clicking Snap Time forces the Start and End values of the selected area to a whole time division as designated by the markings on the data window’s time ruler.

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Zero-crossing preference

When using a Snap-Zero command, you can configure Sound Forge to snap to positive slope, negative slope, or either slope zero-crossings.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the Editing tab.

From the Snap to zero-crossing slope drop-down list, choose the desired slope and click OK.

Selecting audio during playback

Sound Forge allows you to create selections during playback using the Mark In and Mark Out commands. These commands place temporary markers in the data window, which are then used to create the selection. While you can place these markers by choosing equivalents are more useful.

Play the audio file in the current data window.

Mark In and Mark Out from the Special menu, the keyboard

During playback, press where the selection will begin.

Press where the selection will end. Sound Forge creates a selection using the in and out points you

identified.

Fine-tuning a selection

After creating a selection, you may discover that the start or end point has not been positioned properly. In cases like this, you can try to reselect the data, but it can be difficult to accurately create selection points. For this reason, Sound Forge provides a number of tools designed to help you fine-tune selections.

If you find that the selection jumps unexpectedly as you fine-tune it, snapping may be turned on. For more

information, see Understanding snapping on page 80.

Adjusting a selection with the mouse

You can fine-tune selection start and end points by dragging the edge of the selection to a new location.

Open a file and create a selection in the waveform.

Position the mouse pointer over one of the selection edges. The pointer displays as a bi-directional arrow ().

Drag the selection edge to a new position.

Drag the edge of the selection to a new position.

Release the mouse button. The selection updates.

Adjusting a selection with the keyboard

Using the keyboard, you can quickly and accurately select data or update a selection. For more information, see Selecting data on page 261.

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Restoring a selection

If you lose a selection while editing, you can restore it by choosing Toggle Selection from the Special menu or by pressing .

Backspace

Understanding snapping

If, when extending a selection, the end points seem to “jump” to a different position, an auto snap option is turned on.

Snapping to time divisions

Auto Snap to Time ensures that all start and end points reside on whole time divisions. To turn this option

on, choose indicate that the option is turned on.

Snapping to zero-crossings

Auto Snap to Zero ensures that all start and end points reside on zero-crossings. To turn this option on,

choose indicate that the option is turned on.

Auto Snap to Time from the Options menu. A check mark appears adjacent to the command to

Auto Snap to Zero from the Options menu. A check mark appears adjacent to the command to

To turn

Auto Snap to Zero on and off, press .

Ctrl + B

Snapping the current selection to time divisions or zero-crossings

You can force a selection to snap to time divisions or zero-crossings. From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and choose either (the edge where the cursor flashes), choose either

Snap to Time or Snap to Zero from the submenu. To snap just the active edge of a selection

Snap Edge to Time or Snap Edge to Zero from the submenu.

Disabling Auto Snap to Zero at high magnifications

When editing an audio file displayed at a high magnification, you may wish to turn off the Auto Snap to Zero option. This allows you to position a selection’s start and end points exactly where you choose.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the Editing tab.

Select the Disable auto-snapping below 1:4 zoom ratios check box and click OK.

Creating and using views

Views are used to save and recall selections, zoom ratios, and waveform display positions. Sound Forge can retain eight different views for any audio file, each containing any or all of the following elements:

• Selection

• Cursor position

• Magnification

• Position scroll bar placement

Tip:

Views are discarded when you close the file. To save

views with a file, save the file as part of a workspace. For more information, see Saving files as a workspace on page 56.

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Displaying the Views toolbar

From the View menu, choose Toolbars.

Select the Views check box and click OK. The Views toolbar appears.

Views toolbar

Creating views

Open the Voiceover.pca file and create a selection containing “Wow.”

Click the Set button ( ) on the Views toolbar. A view can now be created.

Click the Set button

Click . The selection is saved as view 1 and is underscored to indicate that a view was created.

The 1 button is underscored to indicate that a view was created.

Create a new selection anywhere in the audio file, preferably at an increased magnification.

Click the Set button ( ) followed by . The selection is saved as view 2.

Click . The view 1 selection displays.

Click . The view 2 selection displays.

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NAVIGATING, ZOOMING, AND SELECTING CHP. 5

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CHAPTER

Changing File Attributes and

Formats

This chapter deals with the file attributes and formats Sound Forge supports. This chapter also discusses file summary information.

Editing file attributes

When you open or create a file, its attributes display in the first three boxes of the status bar at the bottom of the main screen. The file attributes are sample rate, bit depth, and channels (mono or stereo).

File attributes in the status bar

Sample rate Bit Channels File length Free storage

You can edit audio file attributes in the Properties dialog or in the status bar.

Editing attributes in the Properties dialog

You can edit file attributes in the Properties dialog.

From the File menu, choose Properties. The Properties dialog appears.

Click the Format tab.

Edit the file attributes as needed and click OK.

depth available

You can also access the Properties dialog by doing any of the following:

•Double-click a format box.

•Right-click the waveform display and choose

Enter

•Press + .

Alt

Properties.

Edit attributes in the Properties dialog

Editing attributes in the status bar

You can quickly edit individual file attributes by right-clicking the status value to be changed and choosing a new value from the shortcut menu.

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Changing the sample rate

The sample rate is the number of samples per second, measured in hertz (Hz), used to record audio. When creating a new file in the full version of Sound Forge, you can specify sample rates from 2,000 Hz to 192,000 Hz. When creating a new file in Screenblast Sound Forge, you can specify sample rates from 2,000 Hz to 48,000 Hz. Typical sample rates are stored as presets in the Sound Forge can increase or decrease the sample rate of an existing audio file.

Open and play the Voiceover.pca file.

Note:

This file is located in the same folder as the

application.

Right-click the Sample Rate status box and choose 48,000 from the shortcut menu.

Play the file. Notice that the pitch is higher and the duration is slightly shorter.

Right-click the Sample Rate status box and choose 8,000 from the shortcut menu.

Play the file. Notice that the pitch is lower and the duration is longer.

Changing the sample rate of a file also changes the pitch and duration. To change the sample rate of a file while preserving its duration and pitch, use the

Resample command. For more information, see Resample on

page 163.

Sample rate drop-down list. In addition,

Changing the bit depth

Bit depth refers to the number of bits used to represent a sound. Sound Forge can increase or decrease a file’s bit depth.

Increasing bit depth

Increasing the bit depth does not improve the quality of a file, but it allows subsequent processing to be performed with increased precision.

Note:

Screenblast Sound Forge is 16 bit.

Open a file with a small bit depth.

From the Process menu, choose Bit-Depth Converter. The Bit-Depth Converter dialog appears.

From the Bit depth drop-down list, choose a larger value and click

Note:

Noise shaping controls should be set to None and Off,

respectively.

The maximum bit-depth allowed for a sound file in

OK.

When increasing a file’s bit depth, the Dither and

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Decreasing bit depth

To maximize storage space, larger sound files (24- and 16-bit) are frequently converted to smaller (16- and 8bit) files using Sound Forge. However, representing a sound file at a decreased bit depth results in audible distortion referred to as quantization error.

Note:

The maximum bit-depth allowed for a sound file in

Screenblast Sound Forge is 16-bit.

Open a 16-bit file.

From the Process menu, choose Bit-Depth Converter. The Bit-Depth Converter dialog appears.

From the Bit depth drop-down list, choose 8 bit.

If desired, choose an option from the Dither drop-down list. For more information, see Dither on page 85.

If desired, choose a Noise shaping type. For more information, see Noise shaping on page 85.

Click OK.

Note:

quality when decreasing bit depth. Experiment with the and

There are no rules regarding maintaining audio

Dither

Noise shaping controls to determine the optimum settings

for each audio file.

Understanding dither and noise shaping

You can adjust Dither and Noise shaping settings when decreasing a file’s bit depth.

Dither

The Dither value determines the randomness of the dither (generated noise) used to mask quantization distortion resulting from conversion to a lower bit depth. This drop-down list requires you to select from several shapes, each of which roughly describes the pattern that would be produced if you plotted a graph with the dither amplitude on the X-axis and the probability of the dither values on the Y-axis.

As is frequently the case when working with audio, you should experiment with dither values to yield the best results. However, keep the following information in mind:

•

Rectangular eliminates distortion products caused by conversion to a lower bit depth, but the noise level is

more likely to be dependent on the signal.

•

Triangular eliminates the distortion products as well as any noise floor modulation, but results in a slightly

higher noise level. The option typically works well in conjunction with noise shaping.

•

Highpass Triangular behaves like triangular dither, but shifts its noise into higher frequencies. This is

typically the best option when used in conjunction with noise shaping.

•

Gaussian does not perform as well as Rectangular and Triangular dither, but may be suitable for certain audio.

Noise shaping

The Noise shaping value determines the aural positioning of quantization noise. Using this control, you can shift the noise into audio registers that are less perceptible to human hearing. This lowers the perceived noise floor and creates the illusion of cleaner audio.

•

High-pass contour noise shaping attempts to push all quantization noise and error into high frequencies.

•

Equal-loudness contour noise shaping attempts to push the noise under an equal-loudness type of curve.

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Noise shaping dangers

Noise shaping places quantization noise near the audio’s Nyquist frequency, a value equal to one-half of the file’s sample rate. Consider the following:

• A file with a sample rate of 44.1 kHz has a Nyquist frequency of 22.05 kHz (at the high end of human hearing). Applying noise shaping to this file results in audio perceived to be cleaner than it actually is.

• A file with a sample rate of 22 kHz has a Nyquist frequency of 11 kHz (well within the sensitive range of human hearing). Applying noise shaping to this file results in audio that is perceived to be noisier than it actually is. Ironically, this defeats the entire purpose of noise shaping.

For this reason, we do not recommend using noise shaping on files with sample rates less than 44.1 kHz.

Minimizing quantization error

There are at least three methods of minimizing quantization error when decreasing a file’s bit depth: noise gating, compression, and normalization.

Noise gating

Frequently, low-level signals become noise when a file’s bit depth is decreased. For this reason, it is preferable to have complete silence between sounds in an audio file.

From the Effects menu, choose Noise Gate. The Noise Gate dialog appears.

Specify a noise gate

Choose a noise gate preset from the Preset drop-down list and click OK. A noise gate is applied to the audio, negating its low-level signals.

Compressing

Decreasing the dynamic range of a sound file makes it easier to represent with decreased bit depth.

For users of the full version of Sound Forge: from the Effects menu, choose Dynamics, and choose

Graphic from the submenu. The Graphic Dynamics dialog appears.

For users of Screenblast Sound Forge: from the

Effects menu, choose Dynamics. The Dynamics dialog

appears.

Choose a preset with a small amount of compression (2:1 or less) from the Preset drop-down list and click

OK.

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Normalizing

Normalizing a file prior to decreasing its bit depth ensures that the entire dynamic range is used. In addition, normalization lowers the signal-to-noise ratio.

From the Process menu, choose Normalize. The Normalize dialog appears.

Note:

The Normalize dialog pictured here is from the full version of Sound Forge. If you are using Screenblast Sound Forge, not all of the controls pictured here will be available to you.

Select the Pe a k level radio button.

Set the Normalize to fader to 0 dB (peak) and click

OK.

Applying compression and normalization simultaneously

From the Process menu, choose Normalize. The Normalize dialog appears.

Select the Average RMS power radio button.

Specify Apply dynamic compression in the If clipping occurs drop-down list and click OK.

Converting mono/stereo channels

The channels setting indicates whether a file contains one (mono) or two (stereo) channels. Sound Forge can convert mono files to stereo or stereo files to mono.

Converting from mono to stereo

Open the Voiceover.pca file.

Note:

This file is located in the same folder as the application.

Right-click the Channels status box and choose Stereo from the shortcut menu. The Mono To Stereo dialog appears.

Select the Left Channel radio button and click OK. Sound Forge places the mono data in the upper half of the data window (left channel) and silence in the right channel.

For more information, see Specifying the audio destination on page 88.

Play the file. “Wow, sound editing just gets easier and easier” plays in only the left channel.

Tip:

If your sound card supports only mono data, stereo files can be played by specifying the Sound Mapper as the playback device. To do this, choose

Options menu. Click the Wave tab and specify Microsoft Sound Mapper from the Playback drop-down list.

Preferences from the

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Specifying the audio destination

The Destination radio buttons in the Mono To Stereo dialog allow you to specify where the mono audio data is placed in a stereo file. The following table describes the available data destinations.

Left Channel The mono data is placed in the left channel. The right channel is set to silence. Right Channel The mono data is placed in the right channel. The left channel is set to silence. Both Channels The mono data is copied into both channels.

Converting from stereo to mono

Open the Saxriff.pca file.

Note:

This file is located in the same folder as the

application.

Right-click the Channels status box (indicating Stereo) and choose Mono from the shortcut menu. The Stereo To Mono dialog appears.

Select the Mix Channels radio button and click OK. The left and right channels combine into a mono channel.

For more information, see Specifying the audio source on page 88.

Specifying the audio source

The Source radio buttons in the Stereo To Mono dialog allow you to specify what stereo data is used to create the mono file. The following table describes the available data sources.

Left Channel Mono data is taken only from the left channel of the stereo file. Right Channel Mono data is taken only from the right channel of the stereo file. Mix Channels Mono data is created by mixing both channels of the stereo file.

Using the Channel Converter

You can also use the Channel Converter to convert files between mono and stereo formats. Using the Channel Converter provides the added flexibility of independent level settings for each channel, thereby allowing you to intermix the channels of a stereo file to create pan effects. To use this tool, choose

Converter

from the Process menu. For more information, see Channel Converter on page 152.

Channel

Converting file formats

The previous sections have described changing a file’s sample rate, bit depth, and channel configuration. Using Sound Forge, you can also convert a file’s format and compression settings.

To demonstrate this, open the Voiceover.pca file and choose

Ty pe

and Te m pl a te drop-down lists. For more information, see Using the Save As dialog on page 54.

Save as type

When the Save As dialog appears, the Save as type drop-down list defaults to the Sound Forge project file (.frg) format. However, using the

Save as type drop-down list, you can specify any file type supported by

Sound Forge.

Te m p l a te

The Te mp l at e drop-down list provides standard settings for saving your audio file. If the templates do not match your particular needs, click the

CHANGING FILE ATTRIBUTES AND FORMATS CHP. 6

Custom button to create custom settings.

Save As from the File menu. Notice the Save as

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Adding summary information

Specific audio file types allow you to store text fields of summary information in addition to the audio and video data. File types offering this feature include WAV, AVI, ASF, and RealMedia™ file formats. You can view and edit these text fields using Sound Forge.

Viewing and editing summary information

The Summary tab is used to view and edit the summary information stored in the file.

From the File menu, choose Properties. The Properties dialog appears.

Click the Summary tab.

Edit the summary information as needed and click OK.

Viewing extended summary information

From the File menu, choose Properties. The Properties dialog appears.

Click the Summary tab. The Summary dialog appears.

Click the Extended button. The Extended Summary dialog appears. The dialog is divided into two sections: the

Fields pane and the Contents pane.

The Fields pane

The Fields pane displays the following components for each available field:

• A check box to turn the field on or off.

• The abbreviation of the field type.

• A short description of the field.

• An indication of the field’s current status.

Full field indicator

Field abbreviation

Field description

On/Off check box

The Contents pane

Empty field indicator

Located immediately below the Fields pane, the Contents pane displays the current contents of the selected field.

Extended summary field contents

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Editing extended summary information

Select the field to be edited in the Fields pane. Its contents display in the Contents pane.

Enter the new information in the Contents pane and click OK.

Turning summary fields on and off

Adjacent to each field in the Fields pane is a check box used to turn the corresponding field on and off when saving files in applicable formats.

Note:

If a field is turned on but contains no information, it is

not saved with the file.

Setting new default summary information

Clicking the Default button in the Extended Summary dialog saves the text in the summary fields as a default setting. Sound Forge uses this default summary information when you create a new file or when you click the

Load button in the Properties dialog for an existing file.

Tip:

The Creation date field (ICRD) is always filled with the

current date for new files.

Saving summary information

You can save files containing summary information that have been edited in Sound Forge with or without summary information.

From the File menu, choose Save As. The Save As dialog appears.

Select the Save metadata with file check box and click OK.

Note:

If you save to a file type that doesn’t support

metadata, this check box is unavailable.

Including additional embedded information

Some file formats allow non-text data (such as embedded bitmaps and metafiles) to be embedded in files. If you use Sound Forge to edit a file containing data created in another application, Sound Forge tracks the embedded data and places it back in the file when it is saved in its original format.

Saving additional embedded information

To save additional embedded information, choose Save As from the File menu and select the Save metadata

with file

in an external file with an .sfl extension.

Removing additional embedded information

To save a file without additional embedded information, choose Save As from the File menu and clear the

Save metadata with file check box.

check box. If the file type does not support metadata, Sound Forge prompts you to save the metadata

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CHAPTER

Using Markers, Regions, and the

Playlist/Cutlist

This chapter describes the use of markers, command markers, the Regions List, and the playlist/cutlist. These tools allow you to tag and organize audio data and make audio editing more efficient. Sound Forge can save marker, Regions List, and playlist/cutlist information as metadata in most file types. You also have the option of saving the Regions List and playlist/cutlist to an external file. For more information, see Save metadata with

file on page 54.

Why use markers, regions, and the playlist?

There are at least four reasons for you to master the use of these features:

• Rapid navigation

• Added effects for streaming media

• Multiple versions of edits

• MIDI synchronization and triggering

Rapid navigation

The most obvious use of the Regions List is for dissecting an audio file into multiple regions. Once created, regions can be selected and played in the data window. You are also able to tag important time positions with markers. This allows you to navigate large files and locate important audio events.

Added effects for streaming media

Command markers allow you to add interactivity to media streamed over the Internet by inserting metadata into streaming media files. As your file plays, any number of other actions can be triggered, including opening a Web page in a browser or displaying caption text.

Multiple versions of edits

The playlist and cutlist allow you to try out different edits before committing to them. You can add regions to the playlist or cutlist and then rearrange and audition them endlessly without requiring Sound Forge to perform an edit on the file.

Another advantage is that you can quickly save regions organized in the playlist or cutlist as a new file based on the finished arrangement.

MIDI synchronization and triggering

You can trigger regions created in Sound Forge using MIDI or SMPTE timecode. This feature is used for synchronizing audio files to sequencers, MIDI controllers, or any other time-based media. For example, a MIDI trigger can be assigned to an audio file in Sound Forge and triggered by a sequencer along with other MIDI instruments. For more information, see Triggering region playback on page 203.

You can also assign SMPTE times to special effect audio files. This allows you to match audio to the action on the screen.

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Using markers

A marker is a tag placed in an audio file that is used as a reference point. Markers make navigating a file easier and more efficient.

Inserting markers

Click to position the cursor in the waveform.

From the Special menu, choose Insert Marker. Sound Forge places a marker in the waveform at the exact location of the cursor.

Press .

e marker is placed

in the waveform

Inserting markers using the ruler shortcut menu

The ruler shortcut menu allows you to insert and name a marker in a single step.

Click to position the cursor in the waveform.

Right-click the ruler and choose Insert Marker/Region from the shortcut menu. The Insert Marker/Region dialog appears.

Enter a name for the marker in the Name box and click OK. The new marker appears in the waveform.

Inserting markers during playback

To insert markers in real time during playback, press .

Inserting markers during recording

To insert markers during recording, click the Drop Marker button ( ) in the Record dialog or press . For

more information, see Inserting markers while recording on page 125.

Naming markers

When you insert a marker, Sound Forge automatically names it for you. You can customize this automatic labeling feature, or you can name markers manually.

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Customizing automatic labeling

You can customize the way that Sound Forge names new files, markers, or regions.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.

Click the Editing tab.

Click the Automatic Labeling button. The Automatic Labeling dialog appears.

Automatic Labeling dialog

Adjust the labeling controls as desired. For help on the different controls in the dialog, click the What’s

This? Help

Click OK to close the Automatic Labeling dialog.

Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.

button ( ) and click a control.

Naming markers manually

You can name markers to make them easily identifiable.

Right-click a marker and choose Edit from the shortcut menu. The Edit Marker/Region dialog appears.

Select Edit from the shortcut menu

Enter a name for the marker

Enter a name or description for the marker in the Name box and click OK. The marker is named in the waveform display.

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The marker is labeled in the waveform

Changing the marker position

You can change a marker’s position by dragging it to a new location or by updating its position to the current cursor location. You can also enter precise values to move a marker to a specific location.

Changing the marker position using drag-and-drop

Drag the marker to a new position on the data window ruler.

Drag the marker to the new position

Release the mouse button. The marker is dropped at its new location.

Changing the marker position using update

Position the cursor where you want the marker to be.

Right-click the marker and choose Update from the shortcut menu. The marker moves to the cursor position.

Changing the marker position using the Edit Marker/Region dialog

Right-click a marker and choose Edit from the shortcut menu. The Edit Marker/Region dialog appears.

Enter a new marker position value in the Start box and click OK. The marker position updates.

Enter the marker position value

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Detecting and marking clipping

The clip indicators in the play meters help you determine whether clipping occurs in your file, and you can use the the detect clipping tool.

Find command to find audio that matches levels you specify. For more control, however, you can use

From the

Tools menu, choose Detect Clipping to scan a selection of audio for clipping and add markers where

clipping occurs. Markers can be quickly selected from the list in the Go To dialog. Also, markers are displayed in the Regions

List for quick playback.

Select the audio you want to scan.

From the Tool s menu, choose Detect Clipping. The Detect Clipping dialog is displayed.

Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the controls as necessary.

Drag the Threshold slider to determine the sound level you want to find.

Set a value in the Clip Length box to specify how many sequential samples must meet the Threshold setting to constitute clipping.

Click the OK button.

Sound Forge scans the selection and adds a marker whenever there are a number of sequential samples (determined by the Clip Length setting) with the same value above the Threshold setting.

Tip:

Use Detect all clip-related plateaus from the Preset drop-down list to detect clipped peaks that may exist in your file after decreasing the levels in the file. You can then use the

Penci l tool or the Clipped Peak Restoration tool in the Sony

Pictures Digital Noise Reduction plug-in to restore the clipped peaks.

Using markers to create regions

Once you have placed markers in a waveform, you can use them to create regions. For more information, see

Inserting regions based on marker positions on page 102.

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Using command markers in streaming media files

Command markers add interactivity to media streamed over the Internet by inserting metadata into streaming media files. As your file plays, any number of other actions can be programmed to occur. These commands are a part of the Windows Media Audio, Windows Media Video, and RealMedia streaming formats. Most frequently, these actions add text or open a related Web site.

Command markers can also indicate when an instruction (function) occurs in a WAV file being used in a radio broadcast environment (Scott Studios data). The following two sections define the markers for both streaming media and Scott Studios files.

Note:

While streaming media files can be played on any hard drive or CD-ROM, they require a special streaming media server (provided by your ISP) to stream properly across the Internet.

Important:

commands unless the check box is selected on the

Windows Media Player 9 will ignore metadata

Run script commands when present

Security tab of the player's

Preferences dialog. Be sure to instruct your audience to select this check box before playing your file.

Defining streaming media commands

In a streaming media file, command markers can be used to display headlines, show captions, link to Web sites, or any other function you define. Some command types are exclusive to either the Windows Media files or RealMedia files.

Command Player type Description

URL Windows Media

and RealMedia

Tex t Windows Media Displays text in the captioning area of the Windows Media Player located below the

Title RealMedia Displays the entered text on the media player’s title bar.

Author RealMedia Displays the entered text (Author’s name) when a user selects About This

Indicates when an instruction is sent to the user’s internet browser to change the content being displayed. With this command, you enter the URL that displays at a specific time during the file’s playback.

video display area. You enter the text that displays during playback.

Note: To view captions during playback in Windows Media Player 9, choose Captions and Subtitles from the Windows Media Player Play menu, and then choose On if Available from the submenu.

Note: When rendering Windows Media files, title information is based on the settings

on the Summary tab of the Sound Forge Project Properties dialog or the Index/ Summary tab of the Custom Template dialog. The summary information from the Project Properties dialog will be used if information has been specified in both places.

To view this information during playback, choose Now Playing Options from the Windows Media Player View menu and select the items you want to display.

Presentation from the RealPlayer shortcut menu.

Note: When rendering Windows Media files, author information is based on the

settings on the Summary tab of the Sound Forge Project Properties dialog or the Index/Summary tab of the Custom Template dialog. The summary information from the Project Properties dialog will be used if information has been specified in both places.

To view this information during playback, choose Now Playing Options from the Windows Media Player View menu and select the items you want to display.

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Command Player type Description

Presentation from the RealPlayer’s shortcut menu or Properties from the Windows

Media Player shortcut menu.

Note: When rendering Windows Media files, copyright information is based on the settings on the Summary tab of the Sound Forge Project Properties dialog or the Index/Summary tab of the Custom Template dialog. The summary information from the Project Properties dialog will be used if information has been specified in both places.

To view this information during playback, choose Now Playing Options from the Windows Media Player View menu and select the items you want to display.

HotSpotPlay RealMedia Displays the RealMedia file you specify when users click the RealPlayer video display or

Properties from the Windows Media Player shortcut menu.

HotSpotBrowse RealMedia Displays the Web page you specify when users click the RealPlayer video display. HotSpotSeek RealMedia Jumps to the time you specify when users click the RealPlayer video display.

Defining Scott Studios data commands

For WAV files using Scott Studios data, command markers can be used to define information about the WAV file.

Command Description

SCOTT EOM Calculates when the next queued clip starts playing in a Scott Studios system. For more information,

please refer to your Scott Studios documentation.

SCOTT Cue In Sets the beginning of a file in a Scott Studios system without performing destructive editing. For more

information, please refer to your Scott Studios documentation.

Inserting command markers

Position the cursor where you want to place the command marker.

From the Special menu, choose Insert Command. The Command Properties dialog appears.

Press .

Complete the Command Properties dialog:

• From the template. For more information, see Saving command

properties as a custom template on page 98.

• From the command you wish to create or type a custom command.

• Enter parameters to define the behavior of the command in the

• Specify the timing of the command in the Sound Forge automatically sets this value to the current cursor position.

Te mp l a te drop-down list, select a custom

Command drop-down list, select the type of

Parameter box.

Posit ion box.

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Click OK. The new command marker appears in the data window.

Command marker

Editing command properties

Right-click a command marker and choose Edit from the shortcut menu to open the Command Properties dialog and edit the marker.

Saving command properties as a custom template

If you plan to use a command more than once, you can save command properties as a template. You can then reuse the command properties by selecting the template from the

Create a command and complete the Command Properties dialog.

Te mp l a te drop-down list.

Click in the Te mp l a te box and enter a name for the template.

Click the Save Template button ( ).

Tip:

Sound Forge saves your metadata command templates in the cmdtemp.xml file in the Sound Forge program folder. You can edit this file directly to modify your templates.

Moving the cursor to a command marker

Click the command marker to place the cursor at the current command marker position.

Deleting command markers

Place the mouse pointer on the command marker. The pointer changes to a hand icon ( ).

Right-click to display a shortcut menu.

From the shortcut menu, choose Delete. The command marker is removed.

USING MARKERS, REGIONS, AND THE PLAYLIST/CUTLIST CHP. 7

Sony Sound Forge Pro User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Introduction

Introducing Sound Forge

Sample files

Full version of Sound Forge versus Screenblast Sound Forge

Shortcuts

System requirements

Installing Sound Forge

Getting help within Sound Forge

Online help

What’s This? help

Help on the Web

About your rights in Sound Forge software

About Your Privacy

Proper Use of Software

Optimizing for Sound Forge

Defragmenting your hard drive

Increasing total buffer size

Increasing preload size

Turning off the playback cursor and record counter

Turning off the play (output) meters

Turning on passive updating for video and time displays

Turning on passive updating for time displays

Turning on passive updating for video displays

Learning the Sound Forge Workspace

Using the mouse

Using the mouse wheel

The main screen

Main screen components

Floating and docking windows

The data window

Displaying data window components

Playbar

To o l b a r s

Docking a toolbar

Floating a toolbar

Displaying a toolbar

Customizing a toolbar

Standard toolbar

Transport bar

Navigation toolbar

Views toolbar

Status/Selection toolbar

Regions/Playlist toolbar

Process toolbar

Effects toolbar

Tools toolbar

Levels toolbar

ACID Loop Creation Tools toolbar

Play Device toolbar

To o l T i p s

Turning off ToolTips

Command descriptions

Meters

Resetting clipping indicators

Scaling meters

Displaying VU/PPM meters

Showing labels

Holding peaks and valleys

Controls

Faders and sliders

Envelope graphs

Displaying the waveform on an envelope graph

Stereo files

Working with stereo files

Selecting data in stereo files

Getting Started

Creating a project

Getting media files

Using the Open dialog

Using the Explorer window

Peak files

Working with video files

Playing a file

Viewing the current position

Playing a file from a specified point

Playing in Loop Playback mode