Optimizing Sound Forge

This topic contains information about configuring your system to maximize Sound Forge performance

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Hard drive use

Sound Forge is a disk-based sound editor, which means that all editing operations are performed on your hard drive rather than in your computer’s memory.

The drive you specify in the Temporary storage folder on the Perform tab of the Preferences dialog must have enough free space to store data for each opened sound file, as well as undo, redo, and clipboard information.

The faster your disk access, the faster Sound Forge will be. The easiest way to improve your performance without buying new hardware is to defragment your hard drive. For more information, refer to your Windows User's Guide.

Optimizing Windows 98 and Me

Ensure that you are using the default Windows system configuration settings to optimize Windows and Sound Forge performance.

  1. Click the Start button.

  2. Choose Settings from the Start menu, and choose Control Panel from the submenu.

  3. Double-click the System icon and choose the Performance tab on the System Properties dialog.

  4. Restore file system settings:

a. Click the File System button.

b. Choose the Hard Disk tab and set the Read-ahead optimization slider to Full.

c. Choose the Troubleshooting tab and clear all check boxes.

d. Click the OK button.

  1. Restore graphics settings:

a. Click the Graphics button.

b. Set the Hardware acceleration slider to Full.

c. Click the OK button.

  1. Restore virtual memory settings:

a. Click the Virtual Memory button.

b. Select the Let Windows manage my virtual memory settings radio button.

c. Click the OK button.

Editing in Direct mode

When you open a file in Sound Forge, a backup copy is created so that the original file is not affected until you save your work. However, when you open a file as read-only or in Direct mode, Sound Forge will not create a backup copy of the file, which opens files faster and uses less disk space.

The first time you open a file in Direct mode, Sound Forge will scan the file to create a peak (.sfk) file. This peak file is stored in the same location as the wave file with the same base name as the wave file. After a peak file is created, Sound Forge automatically updates it when you edit the file. The peak file may need to be regenerated if you modify the file with an application other than Sound Forge.

Direct mode can only be used on uncompressed AIFF or Wave files.

When you edit a file in Direct mode, you no longer have the security of a backup file. In most cases this is not a problem, since all changes can be undone (with ample disk space). However, if Sound Forge terminates improperly, the file will remain in its edited state.

Fast file saving

When creating a new file, Sound Forge creates a temporary file that contains all of your new sound data. When you are ready to save the file, Sound Forge must copy this data into the file you specify in the Save As dialog. If you are saving the sound data as a Microsoft Wave file, Sound Forge can make this process almost instantaneous by quickly moving the file rather than copying the data to a new file if the temporary storage folder is on the same drive where you are saving the file.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences and select the Perform tab to specify a temporary storage folder.

Setting up wave devices

Sound Forge allows you to choose any installed Windows-compatible sound card for playback and recording. You may also use the Microsoft Sound Mapper for playback and recording. The Sound Mapper attempts to select the most appropriate sound card (map) on which to play a sound, or it will translate the sound into a format that can be played on your sound card.

If you experience skipping or gapping, this may be caused by the overhead introduced when the Microsoft Sound Mapper performs format conversions. To check this, make sure that your sound card supports the data format you are playing or recording. The easiest way to do this is to choose a playback and record device other than the Sound Mapper. If Sound Forge is able to play and record the sound using the sound card’s Wave driver, then the Sound Mapper is not causing the gapping.

However, if the Sound Mapper must be selected to play or record the format that you are having trouble with, you should convert your sound data to a format that is directly supported by your sound card. This will remove all overhead required to translate the sound data for your sound card.

When the sound data format is directly supported by your sound card, the Sound Mapper will simply pass the data to your sound card, which requires negligible overhead. For more information about the Sound Mapper, see Sound Forge and The Microsoft Audio Compression Manager.

Forced write-through during record

Sound Forge implements a forced write-through during recording to prevent drop-outs and gapping under Windows 98 and Me. However, this process increases hard drive activity and can produce noise.

To override forced write-through, clear the Enable forced write-through on Record check box on the General tab of the Preferences dialog. This is not recommend, however, as gapping during record may occur.

Playback cursor and record counter

If you are recording or playing at sample rates above 44,100 Hz and are experiencing gapping or skipping, clear the following check boxes on the Perform tab of the Preferences dialog:

Meters Sound Forge only

If you experience gapping during playback and the Play Meters are displayed, turn them off by choosing Play Meters from the View menu.

If you experience gapping during recording and you have the Monitor check box selected in the Record dialog, clear the check box to turn off the Record Meters.

Passive updating for video and time displays

If you experience gapping during playback or your computer just seems to be bogging down during playback, try turning on Passive Update. This will force the video and time displays to update only if there is time to do so. In most cases you won’t be able to tell if it is missing some updates.

Disable scan for external monitor

Sound Forge has the ability to display its video preview on an external video monitor. By default, Sound Forge will scan for an external monitor when you open an AVI file. If you do not have an external monitor, you can turn off this feature to open AVI files more quickly.

Select the Disable scan for External Monitor support check box on the Video tab of the Preferences dialog.

Background processing

When Sound Forge is performing operations that take a long time, such as opening a file or performing audio processing, a progress meter is displayed on the status bar. You can cancel the operation at any time by clicking the Cancel button or pressing the Escape key.

All processing performed by Sound Forge is done in the background, so you do not have to wait for Sound Forge to finish its work before you can use other applications.

If you minimize Sound Forge while it is processing, the percentage processed is displayed in the taskbar. This allows you to monitor Sound Forge’s progress while using other applications.

You may have noticed that Sound Forge displays the amount of processing time an operation required in the status bar when it is completed. This processing time is not intended for accurate performance profiling. The accuracy of this processing time value is dependent on what other activity is being performed by your computer while Sound Forge is working. Using other applications while Sound Forge is working can cause the processing time to increase substantially.

Audio and video synchronization

If your video has been opened from a slow device, such as a CD-ROM or network drive, Sound Forge may have trouble accurately playing back the audio and video in sync. You should always copy your video files to a fast hard drive.

After you open an AVI file, you may be notified that your video has very few keyframes. This is generally representative of tutorial videos captured with a program that saves the video as a Run Length Encoded (RLE) stream with a single keyframe. Save your file with more keyframes and reopen it for better performance during digital editing.

Here are a few other tips that can help when trying to synchronize the audio and video: