Fast Edit Screen

  1. Fast Edit uses a split-screen waveform display to make non-destructive editing fast and intuitive.
Figure 2-1 The Fast Edit Main Screen
The Read-Only and Modify windows
  1. The split-screen Fast Edit (Figure 2-1) has a top window and a bottom window, both for waveform display. The top window is called the Modify window, and is the window where editing operations take place. The bottom window is the Read Only window, and soundfiles are opened into the bottom window, where they can be played or copied without any damage or alterations to the original recordings. Generally, soundfiles are opened into the bottom window, and parts of soundfiles are copied into the top window, where the new, edited soundfile is constructed.
  2. There are a number of features common to both the Modify window and the Read Only window:
  3. A bar spans the top of each window and indicates the name of the currently displayed sound file at its left side and the amplitude scale of the currently displayed sound file at its right side. The bar above the active window is red, and the other window's is blue. When a stereo sound is displayed, the left channel is displayed above the right channel, with a horizontal dotted line separating the two. When a mono sound is displayed, a single waveform appears in the window.
  4. There are several differences between the top and bottom window, all related to the distinctive functions of the two windows. The bottom window is the Read Only window and the title "Read Only" appears permanently in the center of its upper bar. A sound file in the Read Only window is protected from change in any way, but all display and playback functions operate normally.
  5. The top window is the Modify window. In addition to display and playback features, the full editing and processing capabilities of Fast Edit are available in the Modify window. The title "Modified" appears in the center of its upper bar when its contents have been changed.
  6. Clicking the mouse in either window will make that window the active window. The active window can also be selected using the up- or down-arrow keys, or the F3 key.
  7. Under each window is a set of control buttons (see See Control buttons.
Main Screen Controls and Status Indicators
  1. Between the Modify window and the Read-Only window are a number of controls and status indicators. Some of the controls are duplicated under the Read-Only window.
Figure 2-2 Main Screen Controls and Status Indicators
Control buttons
  1. Figure 2-3 shows the control buttons under the Modify window.
Figure 2-3
  1. Zoom in and zoom out - horizontally zooms the waveform by a factor of 2.
  2. Looped playback - continuously plays a selected area.
  3. Selection - turns on the selection tool, so that dragging the edit cursor marks a section of a waveform. If selection is already on, this button turns it off.
  4. Automatic crossfades - turns the automatic crossfade feature on and off. Automatic crossfades are used to de-glitch edits (see See The Automatic Crossfade Option..
  5. Copy - copies a selected area into the clipboard.
  6. Paste - pastes the sound from the clipboard into the Modify window.
Scroll bar
  1. Figure 2-4 shows the scroll bar.
Figure 2-4
  1. The top part of the scroll bar positions the cursor in the waveform window. The thin line under the scroll bar is used to indicate how far you are zoomed in, and where you are in the waveform. For instance. the gray area is about 1/4 of the total length, and it is in the middle. This means that you are zoomed in to show 1/4 of the total waveform, and you are showing the section that is in the middle of the total waveform.
Clipboards
  1. Figure 2-6 shows the Clipboards.
Figure 2-5
  1. Fast Edit has 5 Clipboards indicated by the 5 buttons in the "Clips" window. Clipboards are a convenient place for the temporary storage of sounds.
  2. When the button is gray, it has no sound stored, and it is not selected.
  3. When the button is yellow, it is selected but has no sound.
  4. When the button is red, it has a sound stored, but it is not selected.
  5. When the button is red with a yellow outline, it is selected and has a stored sound.
Transport and time
  1. Figure 2-6 shows the transport and time window.
Figure 2-6
  1. The transport buttons are rewind, stop, play, pause, fast forward, and record.
  2. The time indicated is the time at the Play Cursor when Fast Edit is Playing, and the time at the Edit Cursor when Fast Edit is not Playing.
Plug-ins window
  1. Figure 2-7 shows the plug-ins window.
Figure 2-7
  1. This window lists the DirectX? plug-ins that are currently active.
Info window
  1. Figure 2-8 shows the info window.
Figure 2-8
  1. This window displays information about the soundfiles in the active waveform display window. During the use of tools, the window displays a progress meter.
Moving the Edit Cursor
  1. When a sound file is opened, a vertical line appears in the middle of the waveform display area. This line is the Edit Cursor, which points to a specific sample in the waveform. The Edit Cursor is moved by dragging it with the mouse.
  2. To grab the Edit Cursor, first move the mouse pointer to the Edit Cursor. When the mouse pointer is at the Edit Cursor, it will change from a diagonal arrow to a horizontal double arrow, or, if the Edit Cursor is near the edge of the window, it will turn into a single horizontal side arrow (Figure 2-9).
Figure 2-9 Near the Edit Cursor, the mouse pointer changes to a double side arrow, or a single side arrow.
  1. When the cursor is a single or double side arrow, you can hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor.
  2. The cursor can also be moved with the left and right arrow keys. To move the Edit Cursor quickly with an arrow key, hold down the Cntl button and then hit the arrow key.
  3. The Edit Cursor can be moved using the Scroll Bar underneath the waveform display ().
Figure 2-10
  1. You can grab the scroll button and drag it to the left or to the right to move the Edit Cursor to the left or right. Also, you can click on the left or right arrow button to make the Edit Cursor move a very small step to the left or right. If you hold down one of the arrow buttons, it will repeat, moving the Edit Cursor smoothly to the left or right.
  2. If you click in the gray area to the right of the scroll button, the waveform display will scroll to the right. If you click in the gray area to the left of the scroll button, the waveform display will scroll to the left.
  3. The Edit Cursor can be made to jump to the left side of the window using the Home key, and will jump to the right side of the window using the End key.
  4. A "splice point" is the location where an edit operation has occurred in the top window. During editing, it is often helpful to return to an exact splice point for another edit operation. Fast Edit remembers these points. Using the "<" and ">" keys will make the Edit Cursor jump left or right to the nearest splice point.
  5. When markers have been used in the window, the Tab key and the Shift-Tab key can be used to make the Edit Cursor jump right or left to the nearest marker. Markers are discussed in See Markers..
  6. A special feature lets you grab the Edit Cursor quickly, no matter where it is. Just move the mouse pointer to where you want the Edit Cursor to be, and double click the mouse. The Edit Cursor will snap to the mouse pointer.