Sound Forge Pro 10 ™ User Manual
Revised February 4, 2010 What’s new in version 10? • Event-based editing. For more information, see Using the Event Tool on page 161. • Disc-at-once CD burning. For more information, see Burning disc-at-once (DAO) CDs on page 292. • Enhanced timestretch and pitch shifting with the élastique Timestretch plug-in. For more information, see Time - élastique Timestretch on page 192. • Support for processing musical instrument files (.dls, .sf2, .gig).
Customer service/sales For a detailed list of Customer Service options, we encourage you to visit http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/support/custserv.asp. Use the following numbers for telephone support during normal weekday business hours: Telephone/Fax Country (800) 577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands (608) 204-7703 for all other countries (608) 250-1745 (Fax) All countries Technical support For a detailed list of technical support options, we encourage you to visit http://www.
Dolby, Dolby Digital AC-3, and AAC encoding This product contains one or more programs protected under international and U.S. copyright laws as unpublished works. They are confidential and proprietary to Dolby Laboratories. Their reproduction or disclosure, in whole or in part, or the production of derivative works therefrom without the express permission of Dolby Laboratories is prohibited. Copyright 1992 - 2008 Dolby Laboratories. All rights reserved. Dolby Digital 5.
Sony Creative Software Inc. 1617 Sherman Avenue Madison, WI 53704 USA The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a guarantee or commitment on behalf of Sony Creative Software Inc. in any way. All updates or additional information relating to the contents of this manual will be posted on the Sony Creative Software Inc. web site, located at http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com.
Table of Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Introducing Sound Forge Pro software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Sample files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 System requirements. . . . . . . . . .
Metadata windows (continued) Summary Information window (Ctrl+Alt+M, 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Data windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Data window components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Multichannel files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Working with multichannel files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Selecting data in multichannel files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Selecting status formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Experimenting with status formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Configuring the Measures & Beats format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Publishing files to the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing File Properties and Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 Editing file properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Editing file properties in the File Properties window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Editing file properties in the status bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using markers (continued) Triggering a marker using MIDI commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Using markers to create regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Detecting and marking clipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Using command markers in streaming media files . . . .
Recording and Extracting Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Recording audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Specifying recording and playback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Recording manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Editing events (continued) Pasting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Mixing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Deleting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sound Forge processes (continued) Fade - Fade Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184 Invert/Flip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184 Mute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adjusting envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Adding envelope points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Flipping an envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Setting fade properties . . . . . . .
Using impulse files in creative ways (continued) Recreating spaces for foley effects and dialog replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224 Panning with head-related transfer functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224 Troubleshooting the Acoustic Mirror effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224 Stuttering during real-time previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sending and receiving samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Sending a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Receiving a sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 MIDI unity note and Fine tune . . . . . .
Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261 Sustaining and release loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261 Creating a sustaining loop . .
Using a spectrum graph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Displaying a spectrum graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Monitoring an input and output source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Viewing frequency and amplitude values, notes and statistics . . .
Turning off the playback cursor and record counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307 Turning off the channel (output) meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307 Turning on passive updating for time and video displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307 Time displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Keyboard shortcuts (continued) Navigation and playback shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Event tool keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Record dialog shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapte Chapter 1 Introduction Introducing Sound Forge Pro software Thank you for purchasing Sound Forge® Pro software and for your continued support of the Sony Creative Software Inc. family of products. The software 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.
Installing Sound Forge Pro software The install utility, setup.exe, located on the Sound Forge application disc, creates the necessary folders and copies all files required to operate Sound Forge software. 1. Place the Sound Forge application disc in the drive. The setup screen is displayed (if AutoPlay is enabled for your DVD drive). Note: If the drive’s AutoPlay feature is not enabled, click the Start button and choose Run. Type D:\setup.
Interactive tutorials You can learn more about many of the features in Sound Forge by using the interactive tutorials installed with the software. You can access the tutorials at any time by choosing Interactive Tutorials from the Help menu. Help on the Web Additional Sound Forge information is available on the Sony Creative Software Inc. Web site. From the Help menu, choose Sony on the Web, and choose the desired location from the submenu.
20 | CHAPTER 1
Chapter 2 Learning the Sound Forge Pro Workspace This chapter provides a detailed overview of Sound Forge® Pro toolbars and controls. Using the mouse The following table defines the mouse-related terms used throughout this manual. Mouse Term Description 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 specification, left-clicking is implied.
The main window When you start the application, the main window is displayed. The main window’s workspace is where you perform all audio editing. Menu bar Standard toolbar Transport bar Channel Meters (docked) Workspace Status bar Main window components The following table describes the major components of the main window. Component Description Menu bar Displays the menu headings for the available functions. Standard toolbar Provides quick access to some of the most common tasks in the application.
Floating and docking windows Your workspace can become cluttered quickly if you have several windows and toolbars visible. You can create multiple window docks to organize your Sound Forge windows. These docks can be anchored to the perimeter of the Sound Forge workspace, or they can float over the workspace or on a secondary monitor.
Hiding the window docking areas You can double-click the separator between the workspace and window docking area to hide the docking area. You can also use the following shortcut keys to manage the workspace: Note: These shortcuts do not apply to floating docks. Shortcut key Description F11 Show/hide windows docked at bottom of workspace. Shift+F11 Show/hide windows docked on left/right sides of workspace. Ctrl+F11 Show/hide all docked windows.
Plug-In Chainer window (Alt+9) The Plug-In Chainer window allows you to link up to 32 DirectX and VST plug-ins into a single processing chain. From the View menu, choose Plug-In Chainer to show or hide the Plug-In Chainer window. For more information, see Using the Plug-In Chainer on page 196. Plug-In Manager window (Ctrl+Alt+0) The Plug-In Manager window displays your plug-ins in a tree view like Windows Explorer. From the View menu, choose Plug-In Manager to show or hide the Plug-In Manager.
If you want to customize the format for copying metadata to the clipboard, right-click the window and choose Custom Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu. The Copy Metadata dialog is displayed to let you choose whether you want to copy the data as formatted text or delimited text, set a delimiter, and choose whether you want to include a header row. Click OK to copy the metadata to the clipboard, and you can then paste the information wherever you need it.
ACID Properties window (Ctrl+Alt+M, 3) From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose ACID Properties from the submenu to display the ACID Properties window, where you can view and edit ACID-specific information in a sound file. For more information about creating ACID loops, see Creating loops for ACID software on page 267 Item Description Time signature Displays the number of beats in your clip and the note that receives one beat. You can double-click the value to edit it.
CD Information window (Ctrl+Alt+M, 5) From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose CD Information from the submenu to display the CD Information window, where you can view and edit information about a disc-at-once audio CD. Item Description Universal Product Code/Media Universal product codes (UPC) or media catalog numbers (MCN) can be written to a Catalog Number CD as a means of identification. However, not all CD-R drives support this feature.
Item Description Sustain end Displays the end of the sustaining loop. You can double-click the value to edit it. Editing the end will automatically update the Sustain length value. Sustain length Displays the length of the sustaining loop. You can double-click the value to edit it. Editing the length will automatically update the Sustain end value. Sustain count Indicates how many times the sustaining loop should be played. Click the down arrow ( type a new value. ) to choose a new setting.
FourCC Code Name Description ICMS Commissioned The name of the person or organization that commissioned the subject of the file. ICMT Comments General comments about the file or the subject of the file. If the comment is several sentences long, end each sentence with a period. Do not include new-line characters. ICOP Copyright Copyright information for the file. For example, © Copyright 2009 Sony Creative Software Inc.
Data windows Data windows contain audio data (as a waveform) as well as a number of controls and commands used to edit and process audio. Title bar Time ruler Edit Tool Selector Overview bar Marker bar Lock Channel Selection Level ruler Waveform display CD layout bar Position scrollbar Time zoom in/out Maximize width Level zoom in/out Time zoom resolution Playbar Scrub control Selection status boxes Data window components Component Description Title bar Displays the file name.
Component Description CD layout bar The CD layout bar displays information about the tracks you’ve created for a disc-at-once CD. Each CD track shows the track’s number and length. A red indicator is drawn at the end of the CD layout bar to represent the end of the disc (if the disc length is known). End-of-disc indicator You can use the CD layout bar to perform many of the track-editing functions from the Track List window. For more information, see Moving tracks on the CD layout bar on page 297.
Displaying data window components You can customize the appearance of individual data windows. From the Options menu, choose Data Window, and then choose components from the submenu to display or hide those components. Choose Set as Default to set the current configuration as the default data window appearance. Tip: Right-click the Edit Tool Selector 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 Next Track Moves the cursor to the next disc-at once track or index. Hold Ctrl while clicking to skip index markers, or press Shift to extend a selection. Note: This button is displayed only if disc-at-once tracks are present in your data window.
Toolbars Sound Forge toolbars contain buttons used to quickly perform many of the program’s commands and functions. Toolbars can be dragged throughout the workspace, docked, resized, hidden, and customized. You can use the Toolbars tab in the Preferences dialog to specify which toolbars you want to display. Perform either of the following actions to display this tab: • From the Options menu, choose Preferences. When the Preferences dialog is displayed, click the Toolbars tab.
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. Standard toolbar The Standard toolbar is displayed by default when you start the application. The buttons on this toolbar provide quick access to many common commands. New Creates a new data window. For more information, see Creating data windows on page 65.
Transport toolbar The Transport toolbar also displays by default and contains basic audio transport buttons. Record Click to display the Record dialog. Go to Start Moves the cursor to the start of the file. Loop Playback Toggles Loop Playback mode on and off. Go to Previous Track Moves the cursor to the previous disc-at-once track or index. Hold Ctrl while clicking to skip index markers, or hold Shift to extend a selection.
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. Cursor to Selection End Moves the cursor to the end of the selection. Zoom Normal Resets the audio data to its original magnification. Center Sustaining Start Moves the cursor to the beginning of the sustaining loop. Zoom Selection Maximizes the selection vertically and horizontally.
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. For more information, see Using the Regions List on page 127. Generate MIDI Timecode Configures the software to send MIDI timecode through the MIDI output port. The MIDI output port is specified on the MIDI/Sync tab of the Preferences dialog. Playlist Displays the playlist.
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. For more information, see Auto Trim/Crop on page 175. Mute Mutes the current selection. For more information, see Mute on page 185. Bit-Depth Converter Converts a file to a different bit depth. For more information, see Bit-Depth Converter on page 176. Normalize Normalizes the loudness of an audio file.
Effects toolbar The Effects toolbar contains buttons corresponding to all Sound Forge built-in XFX™ plug-ins. Acoustic Mirror Adds environmental coloration to your existing recordings. For more information, see What are the Acoustic Mirror effects? on page 215. Flange/Wah-Wah Mixes a modulated delay signal with the original signal. For more information, click the Help button Amplitude Modulation Applies a sinusoidal or squareshaped periodic gain to the input signal.
Tools toolbar The Tools toolbar contains buttons corresponding to commands in the Tools menu. Extract Audio from CD Extracts audio from CD and opens for editing. For more information, see Extracting audio from CDs on page 144. Noise Reduction Analyzes and removes background noise such as tape hiss, electrical hum, and machinery rumble. For more information, click the Help button ( ) in the plug-in dialog. Burn Track-at-Once CD Burns the selected audio track to CD.
Scripting toolbar The Scripting toolbar allows you to show, hide, or activate the Script Editor and display the Batch Converter window. You can also add buttons for scripts to the toolbar. For more information, see Using the Scripting toolbar on page 236. Script Editor Allows you to create, edit, or run scripts. For more information, see Using the Script Editor window on page 232. Batch Converter Allows you to modify and manipulate multiple audio files without having to process each file individually.
Digital versus analog levels When recording to an analog medium such as magnetic tape, recording engineers typically try to keep VU (volume unit) meters as close to zero as possible. This ensures a high signal-to-noise ratio while preserving adequate headroom to keep the tape from saturating and distorting. In addition, occasional peaks above 0 do not cause problems because the tape saturation point is not an absolute.
Showing or hiding meters You can display a peak meter, VU/PPM, a phase scope, and mono-compatibility meter for each channel. To toggle the display of each meter, right-click the Channel Meters or Hardware Meters window and choose a command from the shortcut menu. A check mark appears to indicate which meters are currently visible. • For more information about VU/PPM meters, see Using the VU/PPM meters on page 46. • For more information about phase scopes, see Using phase scopes on page 48.
To change the layout of the meters in the Channel Meters window, right click the meters, choose Layout from the shortcut menu, and then choose a command from the submenu. Command Description Horizontal/Vertical/Auto Choose a command to change the orientation of the meters in the Channel Meters window. Stretch to Fit Stretches the meters to fit the window. Narrow Width Toggles narrow- or normal-width meters. Using narrow meters can conserve screen space.
Choosing a VU or PPM scale To change the scale of the meter, choose Channel Meters from the Options menu, choose VU/PPM Scale, and then choose a setting from the submenu (you can also right-click the meter to set its options). 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. PPM scales are useful for monitoring peak levels.
Using phase scopes You can display a phase scope in the Channel Meters and Hardware Meters windows to find phase cancellation among the channels in an audio file. For more information on channel meters, see Using the channel meters on page 44. For more information on hardware meters, see Using the hardware meters on page 111. Right-click the Channel Meters or Hardware Meters window and choose Show Phase Scope from the shortcut menu to toggle the display of the phase scope.
Controls A major step in mastering Sound Forge software 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.
Understanding the envelope graph To use the envelope graph, you must first understand what it represents. In the previous example, the horizontal axis represents time, with the leftmost point representing the start of the selection and the rightmost point representing the end of the selection. The vertical axis represents either amplitude or frequency, depending upon the operation. Moving an envelope point 1. Drag an envelope point to a new position. 2. Release the mouse button.
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 is automatically displayed. Otherwise, selecting an option from the Show wave drop-down list displays the waveform.
Selecting data in multichannel files When editing a multichannel file, you can use the mouse to select data by clicking and dragging in a data window. There are several options for data selection in multichannel files. 1. Open a multichannel file. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Edit from the submenu to select the Edit tool. Tip: Press Ctrl+D or click the Edit Tool button ( ) on the Standard toolbar. 3. Select the data: Drag within a channel to select that channel only.
Toggling channel selections After you place the cursor or create a selection in a multichannel file, you can cycle through channel options by pressing Tab. Previewing channels The single channel selection option allows you to preview channels in a multichannel file individually. 1. Open a multichannel file and select all data. 2. Click the Play Normal button ( ). All channels play. Click the Stop button ( ). 3. Press Tab. The first channel is selected. 4. Click the Play Normal button ( ).
54 | CHAPTER 2
Chapter 3 Getting Started The Sound Forge® Pro digital audio editing tool is 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 Sound Forge project files to organize and work with your media files nondestructively.
Using the Open dialog 1. From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog appears. Tip: You can also click the Open button ( ) on the Standard toolbar or press Ctrl+O. File information Select to automatically preview files The Open dialog contains several features that allow you to locate and open audio files. These features are detailed below. Feature Description Files of type Use this drop-down list to specify the file format displayed in the system. A variety of file formats are supported.
3. 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. 4. Click Open. The file is opened and a data window containing the waveform appears. 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 or mix the data.
Using the Favorites folder Select the Favorites folder ( ) or choose Favorites from the Address Bar to view the contents of the Favorites folder. This folder contains shortcuts to folders that you use often. Tip: Favorites are saved in the following folders: • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.0\ExplorerFavorites.txt • Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.0\ExplorerFavorites.
3. Choose a method for completing the CD information: • If none of the possible matches is appropriate, click the Submit New button. The Gracenote MusicID Disc Information dialog appears, allowing you to complete information for the CD and submit it for inclusion in the Gracenote Media Database. For help on submitting CD information, click the Help/Guidelines button in this dialog. When you are finished typing information, click the OK button to submit your data.
Working with video files The Sound Forge application has the ability to open and save many video file formats. The video files cannot be edited within the software, 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.
Playing a file After you open a file, you can play it by clicking the Play All button ( on page 37. ) on the transport bar. For more information, see Transport toolbar Viewing the current position As a file plays, the current playback position is indicated 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.
Playing a file from a specified point You can begin playback from any point in a file. 1. Click to position the cursor in the data window. A flashing cursor (spanning the height of the waveform display) is displayed. 2. 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.
Viewing selection status When a selection exists, the boxes in the selection status bar in the bottom-right corner of the data window contain values. These values indicate the start, end, and length of the selection. Double-click a box to edit the value. No selection Selection Cursor position Selection start Selection end Selection length Selecting the status format You can display status values in any supported format.
Viewing selection statistics Choosing Statistics from the Tools menu displays a Statistics window 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 window.
Creating data windows 1. From the File menu, choose New. The New Window dialog appears. 2. Complete the New Window dialog: a. From the Sample rate drop-down list, choose a sample rate. b. From the Bit-depth drop-down list, choose a bit depth. c. Choose a setting from the Channels drop-down list to select the number of channels stored in the file. For more information, see Editing file properties on page 99. 3. Click OK. A new data window with the specified attributes appears.
Working with files 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®. 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. You have the option to save all open files at once or to save all open files as a workspace file. Saving a file 1. Click anywhere in the data window to select it.
1. Click anywhere in the data window to activate it. 2. From the File menu, choose Save As to display the Save As dialog. If you’re working with a Sound Forge project file, you can use the Save As dialog to save your project to a different name or location. Choose Render As to save your project as a media file. 3. Select the folder where you want to save the file: a. From the Save in drop-down list, choose a drive and folder. —or— b.
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 appears next to the Template drop-down list after you choose the file type. When you click the Custom button, a Custom Settings dialog appears. Adjust the settings for the different template properties as needed. For help on the different settings, click the Help button ( ) or press Shift+F1.
To make a template available on another computer or user account, copy the .sft file to the same location in another account. For example, to make JSmith’s custom wave template available for the AJones user account in Windows XP, copy the appropriate .
Working with projects Projects are new to Sound Forge software; however, if you’ve used ACID or Vegas software, then you’ll be quite familiar with how to use Sound Forge projects. You should note that Sound Forge projects do function slightly different than ACID and Vegas projects. A project file is not a multimedia file. It contains pointers to the original source files, so you can edit your project nondestructively without changing your source files.
Editing a media file’s source project When your Sound Forge project uses source media files that are rendered with an embedded project path reference, you can easily open the source project in the associated application if you need to edit the media. By saving your project path reference when you render files in ACID, Sound Forge, or Vegas, you can quickly access the media from Sound Forge via the Edit Source Project shortcut menu.
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 the basic editing operations. Editing Operation Description Copy Copies data from the window to the clipboard. Paste Inserts the contents of the clipboard into the window at the current cursor position.
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 Notes: • Pasting into a multichannel file will insert data to all channels—the channels in a multichannel file must always be equal in length. Silence is pasted to the unselected channel. If multiple channels are selected, the same data is pasted to all selected channels, and silence is pasted to the unselected channel.
4. When you release the mouse button to drop the selection, the selection is pasted. 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. A new window containing the clipboard data is created. Cutting Cutting allows you to remove a section of sound data from a data window and store it on the clipboard until you paste or mix it into another file.
Previewing a cut You can 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 by playing the data before and after the current selection. 1. Create a selection anywhere in Voiceover.pca. 2. From the Transport menu, choose Preview Cut/Cursor (or press Ctrl+K). The selection is ignored and the audio before and after the selection is played to allow you to preview the cut.
Trimming/Cropping Trimming allows you to retain a selection while deleting all surrounding data. 1. Create a selection containing “Wow, sound editing just gets easier” in Voiceover.pca, but do not select the second “and easier.” 2. From the Edit menu, choose Trim/Crop (or press Ctrl+T). Only “Wow, sound editing just gets easier” remains in the data window. Mixing Mixing is a powerful editing function that allows you to mix a copy of the clipboard contents at the current cursor position.
To customize your mix settings, choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list in the Mix/Replace dialog, or adjust the controls as needed: Item Description Source Drag the Source fader to adjust the volume of the selection you want to mix. Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the sustain portion of the wet gain envelope in the data window. Select the Invert Data check box to invert the source audio at the baseline (reverse the phase).
6. Verify that the Source and Destination volume faders are set to 0 dB and click OK. The drum hit is mixed equally with the spoken passage. Preview the file and notice that mixing does not change the length of the file. Using Undo and Redo You can easily undo and redo edit operations, even prior to your last save operation. • You can undo any edit operation by choosing Undo from the Edit menu, or by clicking the Undo button ( toolbar.
Undoing and redoing 1. Verify that the Voiceover.pca data window is active and choose Undo/Redo History from the View menu. The Undo/Redo History window appears. If you have performed the previous procedures, the window should look like the figure below: Notice that the Mix operation appears at the top of the Undo pane. The most recent operations always appear at the top of the appropriate list. In the Undo pane, click the Play button ( ) corresponding to the Mix operation.
6. 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 Redo pane. Tip: To quickly undo and redo operations in the Undo/Redo History window, double-click the operation. 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.
Experimenting with status formats You can experiment with the Voiceover.pca file to see how status formats affect values in the selection status bar display boxes. 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 2. From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and choose Samples from the submenu. 3. 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 220,507.
Changing the default beat values The previous procedure changes the beat values for the current audio file only. Use the following steps to change the Sound Forge default beat values. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Click the Status tab. 3. Type an appropriate value in the Default beats per measure box. 4. Type an appropriate value in the Default beats per minute box and click OK.
Chapter 4 Navigating, Zooming, and Selecting This chapter introduces some of the Sound Forge® Pro 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.
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 items: • 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.
4. Click the Zoom In button ( ) twice. The dark gray 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 dark gray 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 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 2.
Scrubbing Scrubbing is a type of timeline playback that gives you precise control over the speed and direction of playback. Both linear and logarithmic scale scrubbing are allowed. Tip: Choose a setting from the JKL/shuttle speed drop-down list on the Editing tab of the Preferences dialog to control the scrub speed and range when using the keyboard or multimedia controllers.
Scrubbing 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. Playback stops when the mouse button is released. Configuring the audio event locator You can set the amount of pre-roll and loop duration for the audio event locator. 1.
Waveform at 24:1 zoom ratio 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 plus/minus buttons increases/decreases the zoom ratio by single-step increments. • Dragging the spin control increments the zoom ratio 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.
Using zooming shortcuts Zooming to a selection 1. Create a selection. If no selection is created, the Zoom Selection function is not available. 2. Right-click the waveform and choose Zoom Selection from the shortcut menu. The minimum zoom ratio that allows the full selection to appear in the window is calculated, and the selection is then zoomed and centered in the data window. Note: To reverse this function, right-click the waveform, choose Zoom, and choose Out Full from the submenu.
Zooming the time ruler with the Magnify tool 1. Drag the Magnify tool on the waveform to make a small selection box. 2. Toggle-click the mouse until the selection box is the same height as the data window. 3. 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 1.
Selecting audio using start and end values You can select audio by dragging the mouse or by using keyboard shortcuts. (For more information, see Data selection shortcuts on page 331.) 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 Selection drop-down list. 1.
Selecting audio during playback You can 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 a loop region. While you can place these markers by choosing Mark In and Mark Out from the Selection submenu under the Edit menu, the keyboard equivalents are more useful. 1. Play the audio file in the current data window. 2. During playback, press I where the selection will begin. 3.
Using selection grid lines From the Options menu, choose Selection Grid Lines to display grid lines that divide the selection into four equal parts. These lines make creating loops from existing material easier. To change the number of divisions that will be used, choose Options > Set Grid Divisions, and then choose a setting from the submenu. For example, if you’re trying to create a loop in 3/4 time, changing the grid divisions to 3 allows you to divide a selection into three beats.
Understanding snapping If, when extending a selection, the end points seem to “jump” to a different position, an auto snap option is turned on. Turn snapping on or off From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Enable from the submenu to turn snapping on or off. When snapping is enabled, objects will snap to the following points: • The cursor • Time selection edges Tips: • To turn snapping on and off, press F8. • Hold the Shift key to temporarily override snapping.
Snapping to zero crossings When snapping is enabled, you can also choose to have elements in the timeline snap to zero crossings. From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Zero Crossings from the submenu to toggle snapping to zero crossings. Tip: To turn snapping to zero crossings on and off, press Ctrl+B. Snapping the current selection From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose a command from the submenu to force the edges of the current selection to the points you choose.
Command Description Extend to Next Zero This option forces both edges of a selection to the next zero-crossing of the waveform. Performing edits at zerocrossings reduces the possibility of introducing glitches in your sound file. Tips: • You can also press Z. • The Editing tab in the Preferences dialog allows you to choose whether this is a negative, positive, or any zerocrossing. Extend Edge to Next Zero This option forces the active edge of a selection to the next zero-crossing of the waveform.
Creating and using views Views are used to save and recall selections, zoom ratios, and waveform display positions. Sound Forge software 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 69.
Chapter 5 Changing File Properties and Formats This chapter deals with the supported file properties and formats in Sound Forge® Pro software and discusses file summary information. Editing file properties When you open or create a file, its properties are displayed in the first four boxes of the status bar at the bottom of the Sound Forge workspace. The file properties are sample rate, bit depth, channels, and length.
Item Description File name The name of the file saved on disk. Location The folder where the file is saved. File size The size of the file on disk. File attributes Indicates whether file attributes (read-only, hidden, etc.) have been set. Last saved The date and time the file was saved. File type The file type for the file. Audio format The format used to save the audio stream.
Copying file properties to the clipboard If you want to copy file properties to the clipboard, right click the File Properties window and choose Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu. If you want to customize the format for copying file properties to the clipboard, right-click the File Properties window and choose Custom Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu.
Changing the bit depth Bit depth refers to the number of bits used to represent a sound. You 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. 1. Open a file with a small bit depth. 2. From the Process menu, choose Bit Depth, and then choose Bit-Depth Converter from the submenu. The Bit-Depth Converter dialog appears. 3.
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.
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. 1. From the Effects menu, choose Noise Gate. The Noise Gate dialog appears 2. 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.
Converting mono/stereo channels You can convert mono files to stereo or stereo files to mono. To perform quick channel conversion without specifying the mix, use the Audio channels box on the File Properties window or right-click the Channels box in the status bar and choose 2 (Stereo) or 1 (Mono) from the shortcut menu. For more information, see Editing file properties on page 99. Converting from mono to stereo 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. This file is located in the same folder as the application. 2.
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. Source Description 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.
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. Viewing and editing summary information The Summary window is used to view and edit the summary information stored in the file. 1. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Summary Information from the submenu.
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.
Chapter 6 Editing Multichannel Audio With Sound Forge® Pro software, you can edit multichannel audio files in the same way you work with mono or stereo files. Sound Forge software supports multichannel files in the following formats: • Dolby AC-3 (.ac3) (AC-3 is available as a render format only) • Raw Audio (.raw) • Sony AVC (.mp4, .m2ts, .avc) • Sony Wave64 (.w64) • Wave (.wav) • Video For Windows (.avi) – specifically DV, SDI • Windows Media Audio/Video (.wma or .wmv) • ATRAC (.
Routing channels to hardware outputs If you’re working with multichannel files and have a sound card with multiple outputs, Sound Forge provides you with a great deal of flexibility in routing the channels to the outputs on your sound card: you can route each channel to a separate output, or you can route all the stereo pairs to a single set of outputs to simulate a stereo downmix. The Hardware Meters window displays a meter and gain fader for each enabled output port.
Recording multichannel audio files With Sound Forge, you have the ability to record multichannel audio if your hardware supports this feature. For more information, see Recording manually on page 136. Using the hardware meters From the View menu, choose Hardware Meters to toggle the display of the Hardware Meters window. You can use this window to adjust the levels of your audio device’s hardware outputs for monitoring and to view a peak meter, VU/PPM meter, phase scope, and mono-compatibility meter.
Showing or hiding meters You can display a peak meter, VU/PPM, a phase scope, and mono-compatibility meter for each hardware output. To toggle the display of each meter, right-click the Hardware Meters window and choose a command from the shortcut menu. A check mark is displayed to indicate which meters are currently visible. For more information about peak meters, see Using the channel meters on page 44. For more information about VU/PPM meters, see Using the VU/PPM meters on page 46.
Chapter 7 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® Pro software 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.
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. Markers can be quickly selected from the list in the Go To dialog. Also, markers are displayed in the Regions List for quick playback. Inserting markers 1. Click to position the cursor in the waveform. 2. From the Insert menu, choose Marker. A marker is placed in the waveform at the exact location of the cursor.
Customizing marker labeling You can set Sound Forge to automatically label new markers as they are created. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2. Click the Labels tab. 3. In the Marker labels area, adjust the labeling controls as desired: Control Description Label Markers Select this check box if you want Sound Forge to automatically name markers when you insert them during playback or recording.
Deleting all markers within the selected area Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All in Selection from the submenu. All markers and regions in the selected area are removed. Previewing a marker Click a marker’s Play button ( ) in the Regions List. —or— 1. Right-click the marker tag ( ) and choose Edit from the shortcut menu. The Regions List appears. 2. Click the marker’s Play button ( ). Triggering a marker using MIDI commands 1.
Detecting and marking clipping The clip indicators in the channel meters help you determine whether clipping occurs in your file, and you can use the Find command to find audio that matches levels you specify. For more control, however, you can use the Detect Clipping tool. 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.
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.
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, 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, refer to your Scott Studios documentation.
3. Click the Save Template button ( ). Tip: Your metadata command templates are saved in the cmdtemp.xml file in the locations below. You can edit this file directly to modify your templates. • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.0\ • Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.
Region tags Inserting regions by dragging selections One of the easiest ways to insert a region is to drag a selection from a data window into the Regions List. 1. Create a selection containing the opening drum roll in Fill.pca. 2. Drag the selection from the data window to the Regions List. The region is inserted. Inserting regions using the time ruler shortcut 1. Create another selection in the waveform display. 2. Right-click the time ruler and choose Insert Marker/Region from the shortcut menu.
Inserting regions while recording The most efficient way of inserting regions is to do it while recording your audio. This is especially useful when working on a project that you will piece together from multiple takes. To create regions while recording, specify Multiple takes creating Regions from the Mode drop-down list in the Record dialog. For more information, see Multiple takes creating Regions on page 141. Tip: Regions are automatically named for you while recording.
Inserting regions based on rapid sound attacks 1. Open the Fill.pca file. 2. From the Tools menu, choose Auto Region. The Auto Region dialog appears. 3. Clear the Build regions using the current tempo check box if it is selected. 4. Specify a preset from the Preset drop-down list or configure a new setting using the dialog’s active parameters shown in the table below. Parameter Description Attack sensitivity Determines the sensitivity of the attack-detection algorithm to rapid volume increases.
Inserting regions based on marker positions 1. Open the Fill.pca file. This file is located in the same folder as the application. 2. Play the file and drop several markers using the M key. 3. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and choose Markers to Regions from the submenu (or right-click the Regions List and choose Markers to Regions from the shortcut menu). You are prompted to verify whether the markers should be used to create regions. 4. Click Yes.
Moving a region 1. Drag the desired region tag ( ) to a new position. Both associated region tags are highlighted. 2. Release the mouse button. The region’s values update in the Regions List. Tip: To move both region tags at once, press Alt while dragging. Deleting a region Right-click the region tag ( ) and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. Deleting all markers and regions Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All from the submenu.
Triggering a region using MIDI commands 1. Right-click the region tag ( ) and choose Edit from the shortcut menu. The Regions List appears. 2. Click the down arrow ( ) in the region’s Trigger column and choose a trigger type from the drop-down list. Trigger type Description Note On - Play The region will be played when the specified note on message is received and will play for the full length of the file.
4. If the path in the Destination folder box is not appropriate, click the Browse button and browse to the desired destination folder. 5. Type the desired prefix in the File name prefix box. 6. If desired, clear the Use long file names for destination file names check box and enter an appropriate numeric value in the Start file counter index box. 7. Type a name in the File name prefix box if you want add a prefix to extracted regions. For example, enter Test to extract the files Test Region 001.
Changing region order By default, the Regions List displays regions in alphabetical order by name, but you can specify an alternate order by clicking the column heading to sort in ascending ( ) or descending ( ) order.
Saving a Regions List file You can save a file’s Regions List to an external file. This offers the flexibility of using multiple Regions Lists for the same audio file. 1. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and choose Save As from the submenu (or right-click the Regions List and choose Save As from the shortcut menu). 2. Use the Save Regions/Playlist As dialog to specify a folder and file name. 3. Click Save.
Using the Playlist After you create regions, you can arrange them in the Playlist. Unlike the Regions List, which displays its contents in alphabetical or chronological order, the Playlist displays and plays its regions in a user-specified arrangement. In addition, you can rearrange and audition regions endlessly in the Playlist without performing a destructive edit when you save the file. As with the Regions List, you can save the Playlist information as metadata in most file types.
Arranging the Playlist Moving regions After you have added regions to the Playlist, you can arrange them using drag-and-drop. Replicating a region in the Playlist A major advantage of arranging the Playlist is the ability to repeat a region in multiple places without actually copying the audio data. This feature is called replicating. 1. Right-click the region to be replicated and choose Replicate from the shortcut menu. The region is replicated in the Playlist. 2.
Using stop points You can attach stop points to regions in the Playlist. When a stop point is encountered during playback, the corresponding region is repeated the number of times specified by the Count value and playback is halted. Creating a stop point Perform one of the following actions to set the stop point for a Playlist: • Right-click a region in the Playlist window and choose Stop Point from the shortcut menu.
Treating the Playlist as a Cutlist 1. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Playlist from the submenu. The Playlist window is displayed. 2. Right-click the Playlist and choose Treat as Cutlist from the shortcut menu. A check mark appears adjacent to the command in the shortcut menu and the Cutlist appears. The Play as Cutlist button ( ) appears in the playbar. Adding regions to the Cutlist 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. This file is located in the same folder as the application. 2.
Opening a Playlist/Cutlist file Importing a Playlist file offers the flexibility of using multiple Playlists for a file. Opening a new Playlist file clears the current Playlist. Make sure you have saved the current Playlist before continuing. 1. From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and choose Open from the submenu (or right-click the Playlist/Cutlist and choose Open from the shortcut menu). 2. Use the Open Regions/Playlist window to browse to an existing regions file. 3.
Chapter 8 Recording and Extracting Audio This chapter describes the processes for recording audio and extracting audio from a CD in Sound Forge® Pro software. Recording audio Sound Forge provides two central methods for recording: manual (normal) and automatic. In normal recording, you choose your settings and control your recording session while you’re sitting at your PC.
Recording manually You can record into an existing window or create a new window at the time of recording. If you have an audio device that supports multiple inputs, you can use Sound Forge to perform multichannel recording. Tips: • Sound Forge is not a multitrack editor. Check out our Vegas and ACID families of products for full multitrack recording and editing. You can use multichannel recording to create surround audio or capture field recordings.
4. From the Method drop-down list, choose Normal. 5. Choose the destination data window for your recording. By default, the application records into the active data window. If this is not where you want to record, use one of the following methods to prepare for recording: If Then You want to record into a different data window Click the Window button and choose a data window from the Record destination window drop-down list. Click OK to return to the Record dialog.
12. Click the Record button ( ) in the Record dialog (or press Alt+R). Recording begins. Stop button appears Recording message Time recorded value increases 13. Click the Stop button ( ) to stop recording. 14. Click the Close button to close the Record dialog. Recording automatically In addition to the normal recording method, there are three automatic recording methods: Time, Threshold, and MIDI Timecode.
5. Use the Time Options tab at the bottom of the Record dialog to set the timer: a. Click the Add button ( ) to create a timer setting. The Record Timer Event dialog appears. b. Type a name in the Name field to create a name to identify the preset. c. Choose a setting from the Recurrence drop-down list to indicate whether you want to record one time only or repeat the selected recording day and time at a regular interval. d.
Setting a prerecord buffer for threshold recording On the Advanced tab at the bottom of the Record dialog, select the Prerecord buffer check box and type a value in the edit box to maintain a set amount of time in a buffer when Sound Forge software is armed for recording. A prerecording buffer helps to ensure you won’t miss a perfect take if you’ve set the threshold a bit too high.
Choosing a recording mode You can choose any of several recording modes in the Record dialog’s Mode drop-down list: Mode Description Automatic retake (automatically rewind) Automatic retake mode is the easiest method of recording. Recording begins at the position displayed in the Start box when you click the Record button ( ) and continues until you click the Stop button ( ). When you stop recording, the start position resets to the beginning of the take, allowing for immediate review and retake.
Recalibrating the DC adjustment If you have multiple sound cards, you should recalibrate the DC adjust each time you select a new recording device. Certain sound cards must also be recalibrated each time the sample rate changes or when switching between mono and multichannel recording. Tip: You can recalibrate at any time, even during recording. However, it is preferable to perform recalibration with silence at the record inputs.
Monitoring audio input The input meters in the Meters tab at the bottom of the Record dialog show the level of the incoming signal. For recording purposes, the incoming audio should remain primarily in the yellow, only occasionally entering the red. Enabling the recording meters Recording meters are displayed in the Meters tab at the bottom of the Record dialog so you can check your input level before recording.
To toggle between the blinking status settings, right-click the Record dialog and choose Blinking Status from the shortcut menu. A check mark displays adjacent to the command to indicate that the frame is configured to flash. Extracting audio from CDs You can extract data from CDs and open tracks in the Sound Forge workspace. Tip: Double-click a .cda file in the Explorer window (or drag it to the workspace) to extract a CD track without opening the Extract Audio from CD dialog.
6. Select the Create CD tracks from full subcode scan check box if you want to create a disc-at-once CD track for each extracted track. Note: When you select the Create CD tracks from full subcode scan check box, the software will create a disc-at-once track list based on the PQ data on the disc. ISRC data is added to each track if the data exists on the disc. Universal product code/media catalog number information is updated in the CD Information window. 7.
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Chapter 9 Editing, Repairing, and Synthesizing Audio This chapter introduces some of the Sound Forge® Pro advanced editing, repair, and synthesis features. Overwriting and replicating Earlier in this manual, paste and mix were described as ways of adding clipboard contents to the current data window. As your audio editing projects become more elaborate, you may discover the need for two more sophisticated paste operations: overwrite and replicate.
5. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and choose Overwrite from the submenu or right-click the data window and choose Overwrite from the shortcut menu. The selection is overwritten with the clipboard contents. Note: If any of the selection data remains, it is because the length of the clipboard contents was less than the length of the selection. Replicating Replicating allows you to overwrite your current data window selection with several copies of the clipboard contents.
5. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special and choose Replicate from the submenu. The Replicate dialog is displayed. 6. Select the Copy partials radio button and click OK. The selection is overwritten with multiple copies of the clipboard contents. A partial copy of the clipboard contents is used where appropriate. Repeating an operation Once you perform an operation on an audio file, you can quickly repeat it with the same parameters by choosing Repeat from the Edit menu.
3. Perform one of the following actions: • From the Preset drop-down list, choose a preset that has been stored for the plug-in. • Specify the length of silence that you want to add in the Insert box and choose a setting from the at drop-down list to specify where the silence should be inserted. Setting Description Cursor Inserts silence at the current cursor position. Start of file Inserts silence at the beginning of the file. End of file Inserts silence at the end of the file. 4.
Create a selection in the source window Drag the selection into the destination window and then press and hold Ctrl 3. Hold the Ctrl key and drag the selection to the Voiceover data window. • A vertical line representing the leading edge of the source selection appears in the destination window. • The letter “P” appears in the box adjacent to the pointer. Tip: When dragging a selection to paste sound data, drag up or down before moving the mouse left or right.
Mixing 1. Open the Voiceover.pca and Drumhit.pca audio files. 2. Select all audio data in the Drumhit data window. 3. Drag the selection to the Voiceover data window. • A shaded region representing the source selection appears in the destination window. • An “M” appears in the box adjacent to the pointer. Tip: When dragging a selection to paste sound data, drag up or down before moving the mouse left or right. Dragging left or right before moving the mouse vertically adjusts the selection length.
4. Continue holding the left mouse button while clicking the right mouse button. The mouse icon and the appearance of the selection region change to indicate the current drag-and-drop mode. 5. Release the left mouse button. The source audio data is pasted, mixed, or inserted as a CD track. Creating new windows by dragging and dropping a selection Drag-and-drop also allows you to create a new data window from a selection. 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 2. Create a selection containing “Wow.” 3.
6. Click OK. The first glitch in the file is found and its location is marked with the cursor. Tip: If you can hear glitches that the Find tool does not locate, decrease the Threshold slope and increase the Sensitivity. Locating additional glitches using the same settings Once you have configured the settings in the Find dialog, you can find the next glitch in the file without viewing the Find dialog.
4. From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and choose Interpolate from the submenu. The glitch data is replaced with interpolated data. Data is interpolated within the selection Replacing audio with preceding data The Replace tool allows you to repair audio files by replacing the damaged data with the data immediately preceding it. This repair method is useful for repairing longer glitches such as needle drops and scratches. 1. Open the file containing the glitch. 2.
4. Drag to draw a new waveform section. The new section is integrated into the original waveform, replacing the section containing the glitch. Repairing audio using Audio Restoration plug-in Sound Forge software includes an DirectX plug-in (part of the Noise Reduction plug-in) called Audio Restoration that you can use to remove surface noise from old recordings. For more information on this plug-in, see the Sound Forge online help file (accessible from the Help menu by choosing Contents and Index).
Generating audio with frequency modulation The Sound Forge FM Synthesis feature can be used to create complex sounds from simple waveforms using frequency modulation (FM). In frequency modulation, the frequency of a waveform (carrier) is modulated by the output of another waveform (modulator) to create a new waveform. If the frequency of the modulator is low, the carrier is detuned slowly over time.
Modifying an operator 1. Select the Current operator radio button corresponding to the operator to be modified. 2. Use the envelope graph to modify the amplitude of the operator over time. For more information, see Envelope graphs on page 49. 3. From the Operator shape drop-down list, choose a waveform shape. 4. Specify the frequency of the operator in the Frequency box. Notes: • If Frequency is set to 0.00, a DC (zero-frequency) waveform is produced regardless of the waveform specified.
7. From the Insert new waveform at drop-down list, choose a position to determine where the waveform is placed in the data window. 8. Click OK.
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Chapter 10 Using the Event Tool The Event tool ( ) in Sound Forge® Pro software allows you to edit multiple audio events in a single data window, which can be an easier way to edit edges and fades and lay out tracks for disc-at-once CDs. Notes: • Events do not loop and cannot exceed the start, end, or channels of the underlying media. For example, you cannot trim an event past its right edge to insert silence. • To preserve events in a file after saving, use a Sound Forge Pro project file.
6. Choose the Event tool ( ). Notice that the file contains two events: one event for the pasted “Wow” and one event for the original part of the file. • Selected events are highlighted. • Events are separated by a thin line. Event #1 Event #2 Moving events You can move events horizontally along the timeline by dragging them. Moving an event past the end of the current file inserts time into the data window. You must remove any unwanted silence when you are finished editing the file.
Cutting events Cutting events removes them from the file, but places the cut information on the clipboard. After the events are on the clipboard, you can paste them into any data window. Events before cut Clipboard contents Events after cut 1. Select the events to be cut. For more information, see Selecting events on page 168. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Cut, or click the Cut button ( ) on the Standard toolbar. The selected events are removed from the data window and placed on the clipboard.
Dragging channel boundaries You can drag the top and bottom edges of events if you want to use only a subset of the channels in a multichannel file. This method is also useful for duplicating or rearranging channels without using the Channel Converter, which always processes the entire file. Drag the bottom edge of a multichannel event to hide one or more channels. You can quickly restore contiguous channels by dragging the event edge back instead of stepping through undo operations. Splitting events 1.
Crossfading events You can crossfade between two events on the same channel. Crossfading fades out one event’s volume while another event’s volume fades in. Fade in volume line Fade out volume line Note: You can show or hide the crossfade length ToolTip by selecting Event and then Show Crossfade Lengths from the Options menu or pressing Ctrl+Shift+T. Using automatic crossfades The automatic crossfades features turns the overlapping portions of two events into a crossfade.
Changing crossfade curves You can change the crossfade curves that are used to fade in and out between two events. Right-click a crossfade to choose a different crossfade curve. 1. Right-click anywhere in the crossfade region to display a shortcut menu. 2. From the shortcut menu, choose Fade Type, and then choose the desired fade type from the submenu. Using event envelopes (ASR) You can apply envelopes to individual events.
Setting an event’s fade in and fade out The event handles allow you to change an event’s fade in and out volume. You can also change the type of curve that the event uses to control the volume’s fade in or fade out. 1. Place the mouse pointer on a handle (upper corners of the event). The pointer changes to the fade cursor ( ). 2. Click the corner of the event and drag to create a fade. To remove a fade, drag the end of the fade curve back to the edge of the event.
Selecting events When working with the Event tool ( ), you can select one or more events, but you cannot create time selections. To select an event, click it. Double-click an event to select it and adjust the loop bar to the length of the event. Selecting events using menu commands From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Select Next Event or Select Previous Event from the submenu to select the next or previous event in the data window.
Selecting a range of events 1. Hold the Shift key. 2. Click the first event that you want to select. 3. Click the last event that you want to select. All events between the first and last selected events are selected. Zooming events To zoom an event, right-click the event and choose Zoom Event from the shortcut menu, or press Ctrl+Up Arrow. The event is zoomed to fit the width of the data window.
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Chapter 11 Processing Audio This chapter provides descriptions of processing presets and previews as well as an overview of all functions in the Sound Forge® Pro Process menu. Applying presets Many Sound Forge dialogs contain drop-down lists of presets used to quickly apply processes and effects. Presets are especially useful when you are learning the application, as they allow you to hear the results of processing as well as view the control settings used to produce these results.
Creating presets You can also create custom effects and save them as presets. 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 2. From the Process menu, choose Fade, and then choose Graphic from the submenu. The Graphic Fade dialog is displayed. 3. From the Preset drop-down list, choose the -3 dB exponential fade out preset. The dialog’s controls change to reflect the preset. 4. Drag any of the graphic fade points to a new position. 5. Click the Save Preset button ( ). The Save Preset dialog appears. 6.
Managing presets After you have created custom presets, you can use the Sound Forge Preset Manager to back up, transfer, or delete custom presets from any of the installed effects, processes, tools and plug-ins. You can also use the Preset Manager to manage your ACID® and Vegas® presets. For more information, see Using the Preset Manager on page 204. Previewing processed audio You can preview the effect that a process has on a file by using the Preview button found in most audio processing dialogs.
Adjusting the data window selection You can easily adjust your data window selection from within most processing dialogs by clicking the More button on the right side of the dialog and specifying the selection parameters explained below. Clicking the More button displays additional information you can use to adjust your data window selection. To hide this information, click the Less button. Control Description Start Determines the starting point for your selection in the data window.
Sound Forge processes The remainder of this chapter describes the functions located in the Process menu. Auto Trim/Crop Auto Trim/Crop removes silence from an audio file. In addition, this function automatically fades the endpoints of a phrase. Using Auto Trim/Crop 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 2. From the Process menu, choose Auto Trim/Crop. The Auto Trim/Crop dialog is displayed. 3. From the Preset drop-down list, choose Phrase Concatenator 1 and click OK.
Control Description Minimum inter-phrase silence When you choose the Remove silence between phrases mode, the Minimum inter-phrase silence value determines the minimum amount of silence needed between phrases for a new region to be created. Minimum length following loop end When you choose the Remove data beyond loop points mode, the Minimum length following loop end value determines the number of samples that must follow a loop.
Bit-Depth Converter controls The following controls are located in the Bit-Depth Converter dialog. Control Description Bit depth Choose a setting to specify the number of bits that should be used to store each sample. Dither This control allows you to specify the randomness of the dither (generated noise) used to mask quantization distortion resulting from conversion to a lower bit depth.
iZotope MBIT+ Dither From the Process menu, choose Bit Depth, and then choose iZotope MBIT+ Dither from the submenu to convert sound files to different bit depths and apply dithering. Tip: Because the signal-to-noise ratio decreases when you decrease the bit depth of a file, you should maximize the volume of the sound file using the Volume or Normalize functions before performing the conversion. 1. From the Process menu, choose Bit Depth, and then choose iZotope MBIT+ Dither from the submenu.
Item Description Dither bits/amount When Type 1 or Type 2 is selected in the Dither mode drop-down list, you can choose a setting from the Dither bits drop-down list to choose whether you want to use 1 or 2 dither bits. 1 works well for most applications. When MBIT+ is selected in the Dither mode drop-down list, you can choose a setting from the Dither amount drop-down list to control the amount of dithering applied. Normal works well for most applications.
3. Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list, or adjust the controls as needed: a. Choose a setting from the Output channels drop-down list to indicate the number of channels in the converted file. b. Click in the Output box for each output channel and type a gain value (or drag the fader) to adjust the amount of the original mono file that will be mixed to the new channel. c. Select the Invert Mix check box if you want to reverse the phase of the new channel’s content. 4. Click the OK button.
Channel Converter controls The following controls are located in the Channel Converter dialog. Control Description Output channels This drop-down determines the number of channels in the output file. Source Determines the amount of the original channel data that will be mixed to the new file. Invert Mix Select this check box to reverse the polarity of the new channel. More Click this button to view additional options that you can use to adjust your data window selection.
DC Offset controls Choose DC Offset from the Process menu to display the DC Offset dialog. The following controls are located in the DC Offset dialog. Control Description Automatically detect and Calculates and corrects the DC offset for each channel individually. remove Adjust DC offset by Allows you to specify a DC offset value manually.
6. Click OK. The specified fade is applied to the selection. Creating a custom graphic fade 1. Open the Musicbed.pca file. 2. Select the first half of the audio (approximately five seconds). 3. From the Process menu, choose Fade, and choose Graphic from the submenu. The Graphic Fade dialog is displayed. 4. From the Show wave drop-down list, choose Mono source. The Musicbed.pca waveform displays in the graph. For more information on the dialog controls, see Graphic Fade controls on page 183. 5.
Fade - Fade In The Fade In command is used to linearly fade a selection from a volume of -Inf. to a volume of 0 dB. The size of the selection determines the length of the fade. 1. Open the Musicbed.pca file. 2. From the Process menu, choose Fade, and choose In from the submenu. The fade is applied, and volume increases over the length of the entire file. Fade - Fade Out The Fade Out command is used to linearly fade a selection from a volume of 0 dB to a volume of -Inf.
Mute The Mute command forces the selection to a volume of -Inf. dB (silence). Muting an audio selection 1. Create a selection in the data window. 2. From the Process menu, choose Mute. The selection is muted.
Normalize The Normalize command maximizes the overall volume of a file without introducing clipping. When you normalize a file, the entire file is scanned and a constant gain is applied to raise the file’s level to a specified value. Normalizing audio 1. Open the Musicbed.pca file. 2. From the Process menu, choose Normalize. The Normalize dialog is displayed. 3. From the Preset drop-down list, choose Normalize RMS to -16 dB (music) and click OK.
Control Description Normalize to This fader specifies the level to which the highest peak should be set. With Peak level, if the peak level is -10 dB and the Normalize to value is -3 dB, a constant boost of 7 dB is applied to the entire file. With Average RMS level, normalizing to 0 dB means boosting the signal until it has the same apparent loudness as a 0 dB square wave. This results in all the dynamic range of the signal being flattened and all peaks being either clipped or seriously compressed.
Pan/Expand Pan/Expand allows you to create panning effects and stereo compression/expansion in selections. Creating a pan A pan is used to control the apparent position of a sound between the left and right channels of a stereo file. 1. Open the Musicbed.pca file. 2. From the Process menu, choose Pan/Expand. The Pan/Expand dialog is displayed. 3. From the Preset drop-down list, choose Left to right (linear). The pan envelope is displayed on the graph.
Pan/Expand controls The following controls are located in the Pan/Expand dialog. Control Process mode Description The Process mode drop-down list contains the following options: • Pan (preserve stereo separation) Applies the pan effect without mixing the channels, thereby simulating the spectral positioning of stereo recordings. • Pan (mix channels before panning) Mixes the left and right channels prior to applying panning effects.
Downsampling audio 1. Open the Musicbed.pca file. 2. Right-click the data window and choose File Properties from the shortcut menu. The File Properties window is displayed. Notice that this file has 44,100 Hz sample rate and a file size of 0.48 MB. 3. Click OK. 4. From the Process menu, choose Resample, and then choose Resample from the submenu. The Resample dialog is displayed. 5. From the Preset drop-down list, choose Resample to 8,000 Hz with anti-alias filter and click OK.
iZotope 64-Bit SRC You can use the iZotope 64-Bit SRC process to change the sample rate of an existing sound file. 1. From the Process menu, choose Resample, and then choose iZotope 64-Bit SRC from the submenu. The iZotope 64-Bit DSRC dialog is displayed. 2. Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list, or adjust the controls as needed. Item Description New sample rate Specify the sample rate to which the sound file will be converted.
Item Description Prering Low-pass filters are characterized by the amount of ringing they introduce into their output. Higher Steepness settings produce increased ringing. A setting of 100% produces a linear phase filter with equal pre and post ringing. A setting of 0% produces a minimum phase filter that offers no preringing but has nonlinear phase distortion. Intermediate settings allow a tradeoff between preringing and postringing and allows you to linearize phase in the pass-band.
Volume The Volume command alters the volume of an audio selection. Increasing the volume of a selection 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 2. Create a selection containing the word “Wow.” 3. From the Process menu, choose Volume. The Volume dialog is displayed. 4. From the Preset drop-down list, choose 6 dB boost (200%) and click OK. The specified boost is applied to the selection. 5. Play the file. The “Wow” data clips and distorts upon playback. Exercise caution when using the Volume command.
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Chapter 12 Working with Effects Effects, or plug-ins, can be used to improve the quality of the audio or to create special artistic effects. Additional DirectX® and VST plugin effects, both from Sony and other third-party vendors, can also be used. Adding effects You can choose an effect from the Effects menu to apply to a file or just a portion of a file. If you’ve added an effect to the FX Favorites menu, you can select it from that location as well.
4. Click the Preview button to test out the effect. Adjust the settings as needed and click Stop to end the preview. Tips: • If the selection you made in the data window needs to be adjusted, click the Selection button to adjust the selection. • When using the Event tool ( ), click the Go to Previous Event ( you selected and preview and modify the effect for each event. ) and Go to Next Event ( ) buttons to navigate to the events 5. Click OK.
Creating a plug-in chain 1. Select the data you want to process. If no data is selected, the effect chain is applied to the entire file. 2. From the View menu, choose Plug-In Chainer or click the Open Plug-In Chainer button ( ) on the data window. The Plug-In Chainer window is displayed. 3. To use an existing chain preset, choose the chain from the Chain drop-down list. For more information, see Saving plug-in chains on page 200. Otherwise, add the desired plug-ins to a new custom chain.
Removing a plug-in from a chain To remove a specific plug-in from a chain, select it and click the Remove Selected Plug-In button ( remaining plug-ins are adjusted. ). The plug-in is removed and the Tip: You can also remove plug-ins by performing one of the following actions: • Press Ctrl+Tab to select the next plug-in or Ctrl+Shift+Tab to select the previous plug-in, and then press Ctrl+Delete to remove the selected plug-in from the chain.
Bypassing effects You can bypass single effects or all effects in a chain while previewing the file. Bypassing a plug-in on a chain To bypass a plug-in, clear its check box in the Plug-In Chainer window. A bypassed plug-in does not process the audio signal, allowing you to preview the effect of the remaining plug-ins. Bypassed plug-in Notes: • You can bypass multiple plug-ins. • You can also bypass the plug-in by right-clicking a plug-in in the chain and choosing Bypass from the shortcut menu.
Saving plug-in chains After you’ve set up an effect chain, you may want to save it for later use. When you save a plug-in chain, you not only save the order of the effects in the chain but also the parameters of each individual effect. 1. Create an effects chain in the Plug-In Chainer window. 2. Type a name for the new chain in the Chain box. 3. Click the Save Chain Preset button ( ). The new chain is saved in the Chain drop-down list. Click the Save Chain Preset button to save the new chain.
Loading plug-in chains or plug-in presets Once you have saved a plug-in chain, you can easily load it into the Plug-In Chainer. Loading a plug-in chain preset Choose a setting from the Chain drop-down list. The preset chain loads into the window using the saved settings for each DirectX and VST plug-in in the chain. Loading an individual DirectX plug-in preset Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list. The plug-in settings stored in the preset are loaded.
Using the Plug-In Manager You have several tools to help you manage your plug-ins, including the Plug-In Manager, FX Favorites menu, and the Preset Manager. The Plug-In Manager window not only allows you to add plug-ins and saved plug-in chains, but it also provides a way to manage your plug-in files—to rename plug-ins, hide plug-ins, create folders, add plug-ins to an FX Favorites folder, and perform other standard file management tasks.
4. Drag the plug-ins from the Plug-In Manager window to the Plug-In Chainer window. The selected plug-ins are added to the chain. Tip: You can also drag plug-ins or a plug-in chain from the Plug-In Manager window to a data window. The Plug-In Chainer window is opened with the selected effects in a new chain. 5. Use the Plug-In Chainer to preview your effects and adjust settings as needed. You can select the Bypass button ( ) to hear the original, unprocessed audio. 6.
Automatically adding and organizing plug-ins You can automatically add all the plug-ins on your computer to your FX Favorites folder and organize them by the first word in the plugin name (usually the company name). This replaces any menu structure you may have created with a rebuilt FX Favorites menu. 1. From the FX Favorites menu, choose Recreate by Plug-In Name. You are prompted to confirm the reorganization of the FX Favorites folder. 2. Click Yes to continue.
Automating effect parameters When you add an effect that supports automation to the Plug-In Chainer, a list of the effect’s automatable parameters is displayed on the right side of the window. You can use these controls to add, show/hide, and enable/bypass automation envelopes. Plug-in parameters can be edited using the automation envelope in the data window. Note: Choosing a new effect chain preset will clear the current effect automation settings. Adding an effect automation envelope 1.
Adjusting effect parameters with envelopes An envelope is displayed in the data window for each effect parameter that you’ve chosen to automate. Envelope points represent plugin parameter settings at a specific point in time. You can add points, adjust their positions, and change the fade curves between points to modify effect parameters and the transitions between them.
Adjusting envelopes When the Envelope tool ( automation envelopes. The Edit tool ( ) on the main workspace is selected, you can add, remove, select or adjust envelope points on effect ) allows you to add, remove, or adjust envelope points, but you cannot select envelope points with the Edit tool. By default, a new envelope will contain a single envelope point. If you want to adjust the overall level of an envelope, drag the envelope up or down.
Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points 1. Select the Envelope tool ( ). 2. Click within a data window to select it. 3. Drag horizontally in a data window to select envelope points. 4. From the Edit menu, choose Cut or Copy. 5. Click to position the cursor where you want to paste envelope points. Tip: Click within a different data window if you want to paste envelope points across data windows. 6. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. Copying an envelope to another data window 1.
Sound Forge effects The remainder of this chapter describes the functions located in the Effects menu. Acoustic Mirror The Acoustic Mirror effect is a powerful digital signal processing tool that allows you to add environmental coloration to your existing recordings. For more information, see What are the Acoustic Mirror effects? on page 215. Amplitude Modulation Use the Amplitude Modulation effect to apply a sinusoidal or square-shaped periodic gain to the input signal.
Envelope From the Effects menu, choose Envelope to apply an envelope to vary the amplitude of a waveform over time. Unlike the Graphic Fade command, which simply fades a waveform by a specific amount over time, the gain at each point is dynamically calculated to achieve the exact specified envelope. Applying an amplitude envelope 1. From the Effects menu, choose Envelope. The Envelope dialog appears. 2. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound: • Drag the small envelope points up or down.
Displaying the waveform Choose a command from the Show wave drop-down list if you want to display the waveform in the envelope graph. If you’re working with a multichannel file, you can choose to view individual channels or the mixed waveform. Note: The waveform is unavailable when the selection is greater than 300,000 samples. Flange/Wah-Wah From the Effects menu, choose Flange/Wah-Wah to apply flanging, phasing, and wah-wah effects to a sound.
3. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound: • Drag the small envelope points up or down. • To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope. • To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
Reverb From the Effects menu, choose Reverb to simulate various acoustic spaces. Reverb consists of early reflections, which are the first reflections that arrive back to your ear, and the reverb itself. For information about using the Reverb plug-in, click the Help button ( ) in the Sony Reverb dialog or refer to the Sound Forge online help (from the Help menu, choose Contents and Index). Vibrato From the Effects menu, choose Vibrato to apply periodic pitch modulation to a selection.
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Chapter 13 Using Acoustic Mirror and Wave Hammer This chapter is designed to familiarize you with the Sound Forge® Pro Acoustic Mirror™ and Wave Hammer™ effects. The Acoustic Mirror effect is a powerful digital signal processing tool that allows you to add environmental coloration to your existing recordings. The Wave Hammer effect is an audio mastering tool that features a classic compressor and volume maximizer.
4. Drag the Dry Out fader up. Notice the audible change in output as the balance between the Wet Out and Dry Out values changes. Tip: If you are experiencing difficulty previewing processing in real-time, decrease the Quality/speed value. 5. Drag the Response delay slider to the right. Notice the audible change in the reverb’s delay. The Acoustic Mirror dialog contains four tabs: General, Envelope, Summary, and Recover.
Envelope tab controls The following sections describe all controls located on the Envelope tab. Control Description Impulse This control is identical to the Impulse drop-down list on the General tab. This allows you to view the envelope graphs for the specified impulse file. For more information, see Impulse on page 216. Dry Out This control is identical to the Dry Out fader on the General tab. For more information, see Dry Out on page 216.
Summary tab controls The Summary tab provides information about the impulse file. The following section describes all controls located on the Summary tab. Control Description Impulse This control is identical to the Impulse drop-down list on the General tab. For more information, see Impulse on page 216. Dry Out This control is identical to the Dry Out fader on the General tab. For more information, see Dry Out on page 216. Wet Out This control is identical to the Wet Out fader on the General tab.
Impulse recovery mode You can choose from three Impulse recovery mode options to determine the method used to recover the impulse: Use the start and end of the recorded file as timing spikes, Auto-detect timing spikes, or Do not use timing spikes. Each of these modes is described below. • Use the start and end of the recorded file as timing spikes This option specifies that the beginning and end of the recorded file are used as timing spikes.
Creating impulse files You can obtain impulse responses from anything that accepts test tone input and supports recording the output. This includes physical spaces as well as electronic audio equipment. Creating custom impulse files requires planning, work, and additional audio equipment.
Setting levels After the devices are positioned, you should begin playback of the test tone. The test tone should be played as loudly as possible (or practical) to produce the best signal-to-noise ratio. With the test tone playing at optimum volume, set the levels on the recording device. Recording devices levels should also be set as high as possible, but not permitted to clip or distort. Safe levels are determined by whether you are recording to an analog or digital medium.
Naming, configuring, and recovering the impulse 1. From the Effects menu, choose Acoustic Mirror. The Acoustic Mirror dialog is displayed. 2. Click the Recover tab. 3. Enter the name and path of your impulse file in the Recorded File box or click Browse and locate the file. 4. Enter the name of the original test tone file in the Test file used box. 5. Enter the desired name for the impulse response file to be created in the Impulse output box.
Adding summary information to your impulse file If you plan on sharing impulses with other Sound Forge users, we recommend adding summary information and BMP images to your files. 1. Open the impulse file in the software. 2. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Summary Information from the submenu. The Summary window is displayed. 3. Enter the appropriate information in each box.
Recreating spaces for foley effects and dialog replacement Frequently, dialogue recorded in the field is rendered unusable by ambient noise. If you are shooting in the field and realize that overdubbing will be necessary, you should create an impulse in each filming location. This allows you to overdub dialog during post production that is indistinguishable from dialog recorded on location.
Increase the DirectX buffering size 1. Open the Acoustic Mirror dialog. 2. Right-click an empty area of the dialog outside of the four tabs and choose Configuration from the shortcut menu. The Real-Time Preview Configuration dialog is displayed. 3. Reconfigure the Buffers to process per second and Total playback buffers controls. Typically, lowering the Buffers to process per second value and increasing the Total playback buffers value reduces gapping during real-time previewing.
The level of the first spike is low. Do you wish to use it as a timing spike? This typically means that no actual timing spike was detected. Verify that the first spike is within one second of the start of the recorded file. If the recording is noisy and the spike is not very pronounced, you can aid detection by muting the audio immediately before and after the spike. An error occurred reading the test tone file Either the test tone file was not found or is not a valid test tone file.
What is the Wave Hammer plug-in? The Wave Hammer DirectX plug-in is an audio mastering tool consisting of a classic compressor and a volume maximizer. The Wave Hammer tool can be used in any Microsoft DirectX-compatible host application (for example, Sound Forge and ACID® Pro software), and the quality and functionality of the Wave Hammer plug-in is the same in each host application; however, the method of previewing effects is different.
Control Description Smart release The Smart Release slider allows you to configure the compressor to automatically increase the release time for sustained notes and decrease the release time for sharp transients. Setting this value higher increases the internal variability of the specified Release value. Generally, louder overall audio levels can be achieved with lower Release values. However, low Release values can also lead to an increase in “pumping” artifacts.
Volume Maximizer tab The controls on the Volume Maximizer tab are used to limit the peak amplitude of an audio file or to boost the overall level without clipping the waveform and distorting the audio. These controls are explained below. Control Description Threshold The Threshold fader is used to adjust the audio level at which the volume maximizer activates.
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Chapter 14 Using Scripting You can use scripting to streamline repetitive tasks and implement customized features. When the Script Editor window displays, you can use it to create, edit, or run scripts. Sound Forge® software can use scripts written using JScript, VBScript, or C# as well as scripts that have been compiled as DLLs. Scripting references Sample scripts You can find the most recent scripting API (application programming interface) and sample scripts on our Web site at http://www.
Using the Script Editor window From the View menu, choose Script Editor to display the Script Editor window. You can use the Script Editor window to open, run, create, or edit scripts. Script area Splitter panel Output area • Script area - Displays the current scripts written code. • Output area - Displays text results for the current script. • Splitter panel - Allows you to adjust the size of the output area window by dragging it up or down.
Opening and running a script You can open and run a script that has already been developed. Warning: Scripts can pose a security risk to your computer. A script has the power to delete files, read files, write files, execute programs, access the Internet, access files on your network, and so on. Always examine the contents of a script before running it. If you don't understand the script, do not run it unless it comes from a trusted source.
Script arguments A script can accept arguments to dynamically change the behavior of a script. Arguments allow you to develop a single script that performs multiple functions controlled by the arguments sent to the script. Each argument is a key/value pair. The key is a string that identifies the argument’s value. Multiple arguments are delimited by an ampersand (&).
Creating a script Sound Forge scripting uses the Microsoft .NET framework for scripting. You can write scripts in JScript, Visual Basic .NET, or C#. 1. From the View menu, choose Script Editor to display the Script Editor window if it isn’t already displayed. 2. Click the New Script Template button ( ) and choose C#, JScript, or VBScript. A new script is displayed in the Script Editor window, with what is needed to write a script. 3. Replace the /*begin here*/ text with your script. 4.
Using the Scripting toolbar Adding or removing toolbar buttons 1. From the View menu, choose Toolbars. The Preferences dialog appears with a list of available toolbars. 2. Select the Scripting check box. 3. Click Customize. The Customize Toolbar dialog appears. 4. Use the controls in the Customize Toolbar dialog to add, remove, or rearrange the buttons on the selected toolbar. All scripts from the Script Menu folder are listed in the Available tools column.
Creating custom button images You can display custom button images for the scripts that you have added to the toolbar by adding .png files to your Script Menu folder. 1. Create a .png file with the icon that you want to use. Note: Icons should be 16x16 pixels. Transparency is supported. 2. Save the .png file in your Script Menu folder using the same name as the name of the script that you want it to represent (i.e. to assign a custom icon to the HelloWorld.js script, the icon should be saved as HelloWorld.
Using the Batch Converter You can use the Batch Converter to modify and manipulate audio files without having to process each file individually. Converting using an existing batch job 1. From the Tools menu, choose Batch Converter. The Batch Converter window is displayed. 2. Open the batch job that you want to run. a. Click the Open Job button ( ). The Open dialog is displayed. b. Browse to the folder where your batch job (.bj) file is saved. c. Select a batch job and click the Open button. 3.
6. Select the Save tab and verify the file output settings. For more information, see Creating or editing a batch job on page 239. Note: If you want to convert to multiple formats at once, click the Add Save Options button to create a setting for each file type that you want to convert. 7. Click the Run Job button to start processing. The Batch Converter will then display the Status tab to allow you to monitor the progress of your batch job. Creating or editing a batch job 1.
4. Select the Metadata tab and type values for any metadata (file information) that you want to save in the output files. If Then The Overwrite check box is not selected and the destination file already includes information for a metadata item The existing information is preserved (keywords; however, will be appended).
Chapter 15 Sampling Used in conjunction with the Sampler Tool, Sound Forge® Pro software’s powerful editing capabilities allow you to create, edit, and transfer samples between external and internal samplers. This chapter describes the procedures used to transfer (dump) samples between the computer and sampler with the Sampler Tool. Samplers Samplers are devices that produce on-demand playback of audio samples at varying pitches.
Configuring the Sampler Tool Configuring the Sampler Tool is fairly straightforward, especially if the desired configuration exists in the list of presets. 1. From the Tools menu, choose Sampler. The Sampler dialog appears. 2. From the Configuration drop-down list, choose the desired configuration. If the desired configuration is not listed, you must create it in the Sampler Configuration dialog. For more information, see Creating a sampler configuration on page 242. 3.
4. Specify input/output settings for the sampler: If Then Your sampler uses MIDI/SDS transfer Select the MIDI radio button and choose input and output ports in the MIDI In and MIDI Out boxes Your sampler uses SCSI/SMDI transfer Select the SCSI radio button and select your sampler in the Sampler box. Note: The Sampler box lists all devices connected to the selected SCSI host, including devices that are not samplers. 5. If desired, enter a value in the Sample bias box.
Saving sampler configurations Once you complete a sampler configuration, you can save it as a preset and quickly access it in the future. 1. From the Sampler Configuration dialog, click Save As. The Save Preset dialog appears. 2. Enter a descriptive name in the New preset name box and click OK. The new configuration is saved and can now be chosen from the Configuration drop-down list in the Sampler dialog. Note: To delete a preset, choose it from the Preset drop-down list and click Delete.
Editing MIDI unity note and Fine tune Both values can be edited and used with samplers that support tuning information in the Sampler Loops window. For more information, see Sampler Loops window (Ctrl+Alt+M, 6) on page 28. Note: The software does not use this information. Processing musical instrument files Sound Forge can open and save DLS, GigaStudio/GigaSampler, and SoundFont 2.0 musical instrument files, allowing you to add effects and processing to existing samples.
If you want to open a sample’s audio data, browse to an instrument file in the Explorer window. Click the down arrow next to the Views button ( ) and choose Region View from the menu. Each wave is then displayed at the bottom of the Explorer window. You can double-click a wave to open it as a wave file: Previewing samples Playback for musical instrument files behaves slightly differently than playback in a normal data window.
You can select all samples in a bank by clicking the bank in the left pane: You can select all of an instrument’s samples by clicking the instrument in the left pane: You can select all samples within a note range by clicking the note range in the left pane: You can select individual samples by expanding a note range or the Sample Pool list and clicking a sample in the left pane: SAMPLING | 247
Processing selections 1. Select the samples you want to process. If no samples are selected, processing will be applied to all samples. 2. Choose a command from the Process, Effects, or FX Favorites menu. 3. Choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the dialog controls as needed. For more information, see Applying presets on page 171. Note: Plug-ins that can change the length of audio data (such as reverb or delay) will use Insert Tail Data mode.
Using the MIDI keyboard With the MIDI keyboard, you can control internal/external synthesizers and samplers from the Sound Forge application. The MIDI keyboard can also be used to listen to the sounds on a synthesizer or in the synthesis section of the sound card. Displaying the MIDI keyboard To display the MIDI keyboard, choose Keyboard from the View menu. The keyboard can be resized, moved, or docked within the workspace.
Specifying instruments 1. Choose Send Program Changes from the MIDI Out button ( ) menu. A check mark appears adjacent to the command to indicate that this option is turned on. If this option is turned off, patches cannot be switched. 2. From the Voice drop-down list, choose the new voice and click any key. Note: Patch names are arranged as specified in the General MIDI Standard. For synthesizers not using the General MIDI convention, use the patch number instead of the instrument name.
Setting up MIDI/SDS hardware To use MIDI/SDS protocol with an external sampler that supports MIDI/SDS, you must install a MIDI card with MIDI input and output ports in the system. 1. Using a MIDI cable, connect the MIDI output port of the sampler to the MIDI input port of the MIDI card. 2. Connect the MIDI input port of the sampler to the MIDI output port of the card. Note: This is the same configuration used to connect a MIDI keyboard to a computer for sequencing.
Periodic transfer failures Messages such as “The SCSI Device is not responding” or “A problem was encountered while transferring the sample” may indicate a problem with a SCSI bus. 1. From the Tools menu, choose Sampler. The Sampler dialog is displayed. 2. Click Configure. The Sampler Configuration dialog is displayed. 3. Repeat the selection of the SCSI host. This causes a series of SCSI commands to be executed that may settle the bus. If the problem persists, power down and restart all equipment.
Chapter 16 Working with MIDI/SMPTE This chapter describes using Sound Forge® Pro software in conjunction with internal and external MIDI devices. What is MIDI? The musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) is a set of commands or a language that music software and hardware use to communicate. The most common way to utilize MIDI is to have a device, such as a MIDI sequencer, generating and sending MIDI commands to another device, such as a synthesizer.
Configuring the MIDI device 1. From the View menu, choose Keyboard. The MIDI Keyboard appears. On/Off Voice Note/Chord Output Channel MIDI Out Octave Output Velocity 2. Open the Voiceover.pca file. 3. Click the MIDI Out button ( ) and choose the appropriate MIDI router from the menu. 4. Set the keyboard’s Output channel value to 1. The MIDI device is configured. Turning on MIDI input synchronization 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2.
Starting playback 1. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and choose Trigger from MIDI Timecode from the submenu. A check mark appears adjacent to the command, indicating that it is active and the software is ready to receive MIDI commands. 2. Click the C4 key on the MIDI Keyboard. The Voiceover.pca file is played in its entirety. Resetting MIDI triggers Once set, MIDI triggers are not permanent. They can be edited or deleted as needed. 1. From the Options menu, choose MIDI Triggers.
6. Type 1 in the Channel box and C4 in the Note box. A small musical note appears adjacent to the “Wow” region in the Regions List to indicate that a trigger has been configured. A small musical note indicates a region trigger 7. Repeat steps 4 through 6, providing each region with a unique MIDI trigger. Using region playback triggers 1. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and choose Trigger from MIDI Timecode from the submenu.
Sound Forge software and MIDI timecode synchronization MIDI timecode (MTC) is a method of using SMPTE timing signals to synchronize multiple devices. Although MIDI timecode is typically used to synchronize audio and video, it can also be used to synchronize playback devices. You can synchronize to external MTC or generate MTC for other devices to follow. For more information, see SMPTE Timecode on page 339.
6. Click OK. 7. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and choose Trigger from MIDI Timecode from the submenu. A check mark appears adjacent to the command to indicate that synchronization to MTC is ready. Configuring the sequencer 1. Set the sequencer’s MIDI output port to correspond with the Sound Forge MIDI input port. 2. Turn on the sequencer’s MTC output. If the sequencer supports generating MTC, it is now ready to sync. 3. Press the sequencer’s Play button.
Configuring the sequencer 1. Specify the sequencer’s MIDI input port that corresponds to the Sound Forge MIDI output port. 2. Set the sequencer’s SMPTE offset time value as needed. Note: Sound Forge software uses 00:00:00:00 as its output start point, but certain sequencers recommend a SMPTE offset time of at least four seconds to ensure synchronization. 3. Turn on the sequencer’s MTC input. 4. If required by the sequencer, press the Play button.
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Chapter 17 Looping Sound Forge® Pro software is an excellent tool for creating loops and provides the perfect compliment to the revolutionary ACID® line of loop-based music creation tools. Creating loop regions in files is useful only when you intend to transfer the files to a hardware sampler that supports the loop regions. Loops A loop is a sample or region in an audio file that is repeated during playback. Samples are finite and frequently very short in length.
3. From the Insert menu, choose Sample Loop (or press Alt+L). The data window displays the appropriate tags in the ruler to specify the loop’s start and end points. The Play as Sample button ( ) appears on the playbar. Loop start and end tags 4. Right-click the sustaining loop and choose Edit Sample Loop from the shortcut menu (or press Alt+Shift+L). The Sampler Loops window appears. 5. In the Sustain count box, choose Custom and then type a value of 10. Press Enter. 6.
Looping techniques Depending upon the source material, creating a natural-sounding loop can be a difficult task. Many factors beyond your control may produce distracting pops and glitches, thereby calling unwanted attention to the loop. Although looping skill is largely the product of practice and experimentation, there are some guidelines to consider.
The left side of the Loop Tuner window displays the end of the loop, while the right side displays the start of the loop. This arrangement allows you to fine-tune loops by viewing a graphical representation of the junction between the end and the start of a loop. Displaying the Loop Tuner 1. Open the Loop.pca file. A sustaining loop appears in the data window. 2. From the View menu, choose Loop Tuner. The Loop Tuner appears and displays the waveform of the file’s loop.
Viewing loop amplitude The sample amplitude at the loop’s start and end points appears in the lower-right corner of the Loop Tuner. End Loop Amplitude Start Loop Amplitude Although it is dependent on the specific waveform, a good rule of thumb is that the closer these two amplitude values are, the more natural the resulting loop sounds. Finding zero-crossings The Loop Tuner’s zero-crossing finders are used to locate zero-crossings adjacent to the current loop tag location.
Locking loop length The Lock Loop Length button ( ) allows you to freely move the start and end points of a loop without altering its length. When the button is selected, any editing that moves a loop point affects both loop points, thereby keeping the loop length constant. Clicking the Lock Loop Length button a second time turns this feature off and allows loop points to be edited independently with no regard for the loop’s original length.
Creating loops for ACID software The Sound Forge application is an excellent tool for creating and editing loops to be imported into any of the ACID family of products. You can create three different types of files for ACID use: • One-shot file • Loop file • ACID 3.0 or later beatmapped file Creating an ACID one-shot file One-shots are files that do not stretch with tempo or change pitch to match the key of the ACID project.
Creating an ACID beatmapped file ACID beatmapped files can change tempo and pitch to match an ACID project. You must specify the file’s original tempo and root note for transposing upon configuration. If you do not specify these values, no tempo or key changes occur. Beatmapped files are typically used in ACID software version 3.0 or later for extended vocal tracks or other long audio files that do not loop. 1. Open the Voiceover.pca file and select the entire waveform. 2.
Editing loops for ACID software You can use a number of tools to prepare audio for use in ACID software. Halving or doubling a loop These commands allow you to quickly change the size of a selection. Loop Half loop Double loop Halving a loop From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and choose Halve from the submenu. Tip: You can also click the Halve Selection button ( ) on the Navigation toolbar or press the semicolon key (;).
Rotating audio You can move the beginning of a loop to the end, or the end of a loop to the beginning by rotating the audio. From the Process menu, choose Rotate Audio. Notes: • You can also click the Rotate Audio button ( ) on the Process toolbar or press : (colon). • If the selected audio does not originate from the start or end of a loop, Rotate Audio has no effect. • Rotating the audio has different effects, depending on what is selected.
Setting loop tempo You can calculate, and if necessary edit, the tempo of your loops. Loop tempo is especially important if the loop will be used for building a project in any ACID product. For more information, see Creating loops for ACID software on page 267. Calculating loop tempo 1. Select the loop. 2. From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and then choose Edit Tempo from the submenu. The Edit Tempo dialog is displayed. 3.
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Chapter 18 Working with Video Sound Forge® Pro software supports opening and saving Microsoft® Audio and Video Interleave (AVI), Windows Media® Video (WMV), QuickTime® (MOV), and MPEG video files. You can edit a video file’s audio track with single-frame accuracy. Viewing video You can view the video portion of a file in the data window’s video strip and in the Video Preview window. You can also view video on an external monitor.
Using the cursor to select a frame When frame animation is turned on, clicking anywhere within the audio portion of the data window displays the corresponding video frame in the video strip. To move the cursor by single frames, press Alt+Right Arrow or Alt+Left Arrow. Viewing frame numbers You can display frame numbers on each frame in your video strip, which can assist you in positioning your audio. As you zoom in more tightly, each frame in the strip represents one frame in the video. Frame number 1.
Previewing files with video If you are working with a media file that contains video, you can use the Video Preview window for previewing. You must have the Video Preview window displayed to preview the audio stream. You can hide or display the Video Preview window by choosing Video Preview from the View menu. To begin previewing the current data window, click the Play All button ( ) on the transport bar. Tip: To display the Video Preview window, press Alt+4.
Resizing the Video Preview window Double-click the title bar of the Video Preview window to automatically resize the window to fit the current video file. Double-click the title bar again to resize the window to half its previous size. This smaller size window allows for faster video frame previewing. Using an external monitor You have the option of viewing video on an external monitor.
Setting video options Video file properties The video properties for a file affect how video is displayed and rendered when you save the file. In most situations, you can leave these settings at their default values. However, you can adjust the video properties of a file as needed. 1. From the View menu, choose File Properties. The File Properties window appears. 2. Choose a setting from the Video field order drop-down list.
Saving a video file 1. From the File menu, choose Save As. The Save As dialog appears. 2. From the Save as type drop-down list, choose a video file format. 3. Name the file in the File name box. 4. Select or clear the following check boxes as needed: • Stretch video to fill output frame size (do not letterbox): Selecting this check box stretches the source video frame if the destination frame size differs.
Chapter 19 Using Spectrum Analysis This chapter introduces you to the concept of frequency and describes the Sound Forge® Pro Spectrum Analysis. Spectrum Analysis allows you to examine audio frequencies and overtones using either spectrum graphs or sonograms. Working in the frequency domain Unlike the waveform display, which represents audio in the time domain (amplitude vs. time), Spectrum Analysis allows you to examine sound by representing the sound in the frequency domain (amplitude vs. frequency).
Using a spectrum graph In the spectrum graph, the horizontal axis represents frequency in Hertz (Hz), while the vertical axis represents amplitude in decibels (dB). Displaying a spectrum graph 1. Open an audio file. 2. Select the portion of the waveform you want to analyze. The sound or note you want to analyze should be in the center of the highlighted area. Note: Analyzing long sections of audio can take a long time and decreases the time resolution, so your selection should be relatively short.
Monitoring an input and output source Click the Real Time Monitoring button ( ) to turn real-time spectrum analysis on or off. Click the down arrow next to the button and choose a command from the menu to specify whether you want to monitor your sound card’s input or output: • When you choose Monitor Input, Sound Forge will monitor the recording devices selected on the Record page of the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog. For more information, see Audio tab on page 322.
Navigating a spectrum graph After a spectrum graph is displayed, Grab/Pan mode allows you to scroll vertically and horizontally. To enable Grab/Pan mode, right-click the Spectrum Analysis dialog and choose Grab/Pan from the shortcut menu. A check mark appears next to this option when Grab/Pan mode is enabled. The cursor appears as a hand ( ), and you can drag horizontally or vertically to scroll through the graph.
Viewing multiple spectrum graphs Once you create a selection in the data window, you can display up to 64 individual spectrum graphs (each representing a specific point in time). 1. Open an audio file. 2. From the View menu, choose Spectrum Analysis. The Spectrum Analysis window appears. 3. Click the Settings button ( ). The Spectrum Settings dialog appears. For more information, see Adjusting Spectrum Analysis settings on page 287. 4. Type a number in the Slices displayed box.
Erasing snapshots You don’t need to erase individual snapshots to update or replace them. Simply click the Set Snapshot button ( snapshot button ( ) in the Spectrum Analysis toolbar to update its image. If you want to erase all snapshots, click the Clear all snapshots button ( ), and then click a ).
If there is no selection in the waveform display window, the sonogram analyzes the sound data from the current cursor position to the end of the file.
Tuning a sonogram It is frequently necessary to experiment with the control parameters in the Spectrum Settings dialog to produce the best possible sonogram. For more information, see Adjusting Spectrum Analysis settings on page 287. Improving the graph’s contrast To improve the contrast of the sonogram, decrease the frequency and amplitude ranges as much as possible. Smoothing the graph’s display If the graph appears too pixelated, raise the Set sonogram resolution value to 200.
Adjusting Spectrum Analysis settings From the Spectrum Analysis toolbar, click the Settings button ( the role of each control in audio spectrum analysis. ) to display the Spectrum Settings dialog. The following table explains Item Description FFT size Choose a value from the FFT size drop-down list to set the size in samples of the analysis window and number of discrete frequencies analyzed.
Item Description Sync graphs If you are analyzing a multichannel file, select the Sync graphs check box to synchronize the displays so you can view the same region of the FFT in all channels. Logarithmic graphing Select the Logarithmic graphing check box to display the X-axis in logarithmic mode rather than linear mode. In logarithmic mode, more of the graph is devoted to lower frequencies. Note: Logarithmic graphing affects the display only when Normal Display is selected. Freq. Min.
Chapter 20 Burning CDs You can write audio to CD if your system is configured with a supported CD-R/RW drive and the necessary drivers. Understanding track-at-once and disc-at-once burning Sound Forge® Pro software provides two ways to burn audio to a CD: track-at-once and disc-at-once. Track-at-once Track-at-once burning records individual tracks to the disc and results in a partially recorded disc. However, the CD remains unplayable on most systems until you close the disc.
Burning track-at-once (TAO) CDs You should always save your audio files prior to writing them to CD. 1. From the Tools menu, choose Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD. The Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD dialog is displayed. The bottom of the dialog displays the length of the current audio file and the amount of time remaining on the CD currently in the CD-R/RW. Note: If there is no CD in the current drive, only the Drive and Speed drop-down menus and the Close button are available in this dialog.
6. Click the Start button. Important: Clicking Cancel after the CD writing process begins renders the CD unusable. After the audio is written to CD, the CD Operation dialog indicates whether the writing was successful. 7. Click OK to clear the message. Closing a CD Closing the CD allows you to listen to it in an audio CD player. However, you cannot add tracks to a CD once it is closed. 1. From the Tools menu, choose Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD. The Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD dialog is displayed. 2.
Burning disc-at-once (DAO) CDs From the Tools menu, choose Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD to burn a disc-at-once CD using the current CD layout. Use DAO CDs when you need to create a master disc for mass replication. Tip: When creating DAO CDs, right-click the ruler or Time Display window and choose Audio CD Time from the shortcut menu to help you arrange your project. In Audio CD Time format, the ruler will display hh:mm:ss:ff (hours:minutes:seconds:frames). Audio CD time uses a frame rate of 75 fps.
Adding CD tracks and index markers to a sound file Creating CD tracks 1. Select the time range that you want to use to create a track. A track must be at least four seconds long. 2. From the Insert menu, choose CD Track (or press N). A CD track is added to the CD layout bar in the data window. Tip: You can drag CD tracks to rearrange them, drag either end of a track to change its length, or use the Track List window to edit the track’s position or name.
Creating CD tracks from regions in a file If you have a live recording that uses regions to indicate the sections of the recording, you can use this feature to create tracks without having to scan through the audio and create tracks manually. 1. Add regions as necessary to indicate the tracks in your recording. 2. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Create Tracks from Regions. Each region is marked with a CD track.
Dragging files to the Track List window Drag a file to the Track List window. An indicator is displayed to show you where the track will be added when you release the mouse. When you drop the file, a track is created, and pause time is added before the new track.
3. Drag the files to the Track List. When you drop the files, a track is created for each file, and pause time is added before each track. Pause time Tips: • When you create tracks using media files that include title and artist metadata, this information will be added to the Track List window as CD Text. • You can use the Default time between CD tracks control on the CD Settings tab of the Preferences dialog to adjust the default pause time.
Moving tracks on the CD layout bar The CD layout bar displays information about the tracks you’ve created for your disc-at-once CD project. Each CD track shows the track’s number, active take name, and length. Note: A red indicator is drawn at the end of the CD layout bar to represent the end of the disc (if the disc length is known). You can use the Automatically detect CD length and Default CD length controls on the CD Settings tab of the Preferences dialog to set CD length.
Hiding the CD layout bar From the Options menu, choose Data Window, and then choose CD Tracks from the submenu. The CD layout bar is hidden. Choose CD Tracks from the submenu again to display the CD layout bar. Tip: Right-click the Edit Tool Selector to display or hide components for the selected data window. For more information, see Displaying data window components on page 33. Editing pause time for a disc-at-once CD Pause time is the space between CD tracks.
• Drag either end of the track to adjust the track’s starting or ending position. The pause time between tracks is displayed in a ToolTip: • The Pause column in the Track List window allows you to edit the pause time between tracks. Type a new value in the box, and tracks will move accordingly in the timeline.
Using the Track List window From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Track List from the submenu to toggle the display of the Track List window. The Track List window is essentially a text representation of the events on the CD layout bar for a disc-at-once CD. You can use the Track List window to view track and index markers, edit track position and length, edit track names, adjust pause time, toggle protection and emphasis flags, and edit ISRC data.
Toggling protection and emphasis flags Select the Prot check box to add a flag to the Q subcode to prevent digital copying of your CD. In order to use copy protection, the CD player must support the copy-protection flag. Select the Emph check box to add a pre-emphasis flag to the Q subcode. Pre-emphasis is a basic noise-reduction process that is implemented by a CD player. Emphasis involves boosting high frequencies during CD writing and cutting those frequencies during playback.
Copying track lists to the clipboard 1. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Copy Track List to Clipboard from the submenu. The Copy Track List to Clipboard dialog is displayed. Tip: Right-click the Track List window and choose Copy Track List to Clipboard from the shortcut menu. 2. Choose the format you want to apply to your track list information: • Cue sheet for replication The track list is formatted so track times are listed relative to the beginning of the CD.
Printing track lists 1. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Print Track List from the submenu. The Print Track List dialog is displayed. Tip: Right-click the Track List window and choose Print Track List from the shortcut menu. 2. Choose the format you want to apply to your track list information: • Cue sheet for replication The track list is formatted so track times are listed relative to the beginning of the CD. This is the preferred format for CD replication houses.
2. Add title and artist information for each track on your CD: a. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Track List to display the Track List window. b. Double-click the Title (CD Text) box and type the name of the track. c. Double-click the Artist (CD Text) box and type the name of the artist who performed the track. 3. Burn your disc. Select the Write CD Text check box in the Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD dialog to write CD Text while burning.
6. Select the Render temporary image before burning check box if you want to render your CD project to a temporary file before recording. Prerendering can prevent buffer underruns if you have a complex project that cannot be rendered and burned in real time. Note: The rendered temporary file will remain until you modify your project or exit the application. If an image file exists when you open the Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD dialog, the check box is displayed as Use existing rendered temporary image. 7.
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Chapter 21 Optimizing for Sound Forge Pro Software This chapter contains information on configuring your system to optimize the performance of Sound Forge® Pro software. Defragmenting your hard drive The Sound Forge application 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, you are able to edit large files as well as retain extensive undo/redo information and clipboard data.
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. 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.
Chapter 22 Customizing Sound Forge Pro Software You can customize Sound Forge® Pro software to suit your project needs and working preferences. Many of the settings depend on your equipment or studio setup. Sound Forge Pro software can be set to work with the components that you use in your studio. Saving and recalling window layouts A window layout stores the sizes and positions of all windows and floating docks in the Sound Forge Pro workspace.
5. The Folder box displays the path to folder where the layout will be saved. Window layouts are saved in the following folders by default: • In Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.0 • In Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.0 You can click the Browse button to choose a different folder. 6. Click OK to save the new layout.
3. Click the Delete Layout button to remove the selected layout from your computer. Note: You cannot delete a layout that is included in the Current layouts in menu list. First, select the layout in the Current layouts in menu list and click the Clear button. Next, select the layout in the Available layouts in current folder list and click the Delete Layout button. 4. Click OK to close the Organize Layouts dialog and apply your changes.
Setting preferences Preferences affect how Sound Forge software functions. Any changes that you make to the preferences remain set until you change them again or reset Sound Forge software to use the default presets. You can access the Preferences dialog by choosing Preferences from the Options menu. This dialog contains tabbed pages. The following sections explain the settings on each tab. General tab The General tab allows you to set miscellaneous Sound Forge options.
Option Description Allow floating windows to dock When this check box is selected, windows will automatically be docked when you drag them to the edges of the Sound Forge workspace. You can hold the Ctrl key while dragging a window to prevent it from docking. When this check box is cleared, windows will not dock unless you hold the Ctrl key. Spacebar and F12 Play/Pause instead of Play/Stop Select this check box if you want the F12 and spacebar keyboard shortcuts to toggle between Play and Pause mode.
Option Description Allow Ctrl+drag style zoom in data When this check box is selected, you can hold Ctrl and drag in a data window to zoom to a selection. windows Automatically name regions and markers if not playing When regions and markers are added, this option automatically prompts you for a name. This does not happen when adding markers on-the-fly during playback.
Description Option Tabs for maximized data windows Choose a setting from the drop-down list to choose whether you want to display tabs to help you browse maximized data windows: • Choose None if you do not want to display tabs. You can navigate data windows by choosing a window from the Window menu or by pressing Ctrl+Tab. • Choose Top to display tabs above the waveform display. • Choose Bottom to display tabs below the waveform display.
Editing tab The Editing tab allows you to specify preferences for editing and undo operations. Option Description Disable triple-clicking to select all sound file data Select this check box if you don’t want to select all data when you triple-click in a data window. You might want to select this option if triple-clicks are falsely detected when you make a selection and then try to perform a drag operation. Otherwise, decrease Windows’ double-click threshold time.
Option Description Fade In Type a value in the Fade In box (or use the spinner) to set the default length of the fade in between the processed and unprocessed signal. Click the Fade Curves button ( fade in. Fade Out ) and choose a curve type from the menu to set the speed of the Type a value in the Fade Out box (or use the spinner) to set the default length of the fade out between the processed and unprocessed signal. Click the Fade Curves button ( fade out.
3. Adjust additional settings as necessary: Item Description New marker prefix Type a prefix in the box if you want to assign a name to new markers. Clear the check box if you do not want to include a prefix (if you want to number markers only, for example). Use counter and start at Select this check box and type a number in the box if you want to number new markers.
Previews tab The Previews tab allows you to specify options for previewing files. Item Description Limit non-realtime previews to Select this check box and specify the length of audio that will be used when generating a preview. Low values decrease the amount of time needed to generate a preview when tuning effects or processing values. Pre-roll Select this check box and specify how many seconds of unprocessed audio will be played before the processed selection.
Status tab The Status tab allows you to specify preferences for displaying information in the status bar. Item Description Default frames per second The default frame rate used to calculate frame values. Frame values are useful when trying to synchronize sound with animation. Most animation players specify a playback frame rate at which video frames are shown to the user. If you are using an animation that has a frame rate of 15.0 frames per second, you would set the frame rate to 15.0.
CD Settings tab The CD Settings tab allows you to specify settings for burning and extracting audio from CDs. Item Description Use strict Red Book specification for Select this check box if you want to be notified prior to burning a disc-at-once CD if anything about DAO validation your CD project is against strict Red Book standards. These warnings are not critical, and in most cases you will not write an unreadable disc if you proceed.
Audio tab The Audio tab allows you to specify playback and recording options. Basic audio preferences Item Audio device type Description Choose a driver type from the drop-down list. • Microsoft Sound Mapper - The default setting. Allows the Sound Mapper to choose appropriate playback and recording devices. • Windows Classic Wave - Allows you to choose a specific audio device using a classic Wave driver. • ASIO - Allows you to choose a specific audio device using a low-latency ASIO driver.
Advanced audio preferences You can click the Advanced button on the Audio tab to access the advanced audio preferences. Setting Description Audio devices This list contains all of the audio devices that are installed in your computer. Select a device from the list to set the options below for that device. Interpolate position When this check box is selected, the software will attempt to compensate for inaccurate devices by interpolating the playback or recording position.
Item Description External monitor device Choose a device from the drop-down list to configure an IEEE-1394 device for use with an external monitor. Sound Forge will send your video output to this device when you click the External Monitor button ( ) in the Video Preview window. More information on this device are displayed in the Details pane.
Customizing keyboard shortcuts From the Options menu, choose Customize Keyboard to customize the keyboard shortcuts available in the Sound Forge interface. The Shortcut keys box displays the currently assigned shortcut keys for the selected command. Click a tab in the middle of the dialog to choose which shortcuts you want to see. Editing or creating shortcuts 1. From the Options menu, choose Customize Keyboard. The Customize Keyboard dialog appears. 2.
Saving a keyboard mapping 1. From the Options menu, choose Customize Keyboard. The Customize Keyboard dialog is displayed. 2. Click the Save as button and type a name to save your current keyboard shortcuts to an .ini file in the following folder: • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.0 • Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Sony\Sound Forge Pro\10.
Appendix A Shortcuts This appendix contains information about the shortcuts you can use to make editing in Sound Forge® Pro software quicker and easier Keyboard shortcuts The following shortcuts represent the default configuration. Your system may differ if you’ve used the Customize Keyboard window to customize your keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Customizing keyboard shortcuts on page 325. The available shortcut keys are arranged in tables according to function.
Magnification and view shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Set input focus to the waveform display in the active window Alt+0 Show/set input focus to the Explorer window Alt+1 Show/set input focus to the File Properties window Alt+2 —or— Alt+Enter Show/set input focus to the Video Preview window Alt+3 Show/set input focus to the Time Display window Alt+4 Show/set input focus to the Hardware Meters window Alt+5 Show/set input focus to the Channel Meters window Alt+6 Show/set input focus to th
Data window shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Select previous/next editing tool D/Shift+D Select normal edit tool Ctrl+D Select all data in the active window Ctrl+A Copy the selected data onto the clipboard Ctrl+C Paste the clipboard contents into a new data window Ctrl+E Mix data from the clipboard with the active window Ctrl+M Trim (crop) to the current selection Ctrl+T Paste data from the clipboard into the active window Ctrl+V Move (cut) the selected data onto the clipboard Ctrl+X
Cursor movement shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Move one pixel right/left Right Arrow/Left Arrow Go to end of file Ctrl+Right Arrow —or— Go to the next region, loop or marker boundary (if regions, loops, or markers exist in the file) Go to beginning of file Ctrl+Left Arrow —or— Go to the previous region, loop or marker boundary (if regions, loops, or markers exist in the file) Move one video frame right/left (available only if the data window contains a video file) Alt+Right Arrow/Left Arrow M
Data selection shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Show the Set Selection dialog Ctrl+Shift+D Select from the cursor to the next/previous screen pixel Shift+Right/Left Arrow —or— Select next/previous event (when the Event tool ( ) is selected) Select from the cursor to the next/previous sample Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Right/Left Arrow Select from the cursor to the next/previous video frame (available only if the data window contains a video file) Shift+Alt+Right/Left Arrow Select from the cursor to the fi
Navigation and playback shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Save a view in cell where ranges from 1 to 8 Ctrl+Shift+ Restore a view using cell where ranges from 1 to 8 Ctrl+ Move cursor to corresponding marker or select corresponding region 0-9 keys (not numeric keypad) Increase time magnification (zoom in) Up Arrow or mouse wheel up Decrease time magnification (zoom out) Down Arrow or mouse wheel down Increase level magnification Shift+Up Arr
Event tool keyboard shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Select the previous/next editing tool (Edit tool, Magnify tool, Pencil tool, Event tool) D or Shift+D Split events at cursor S Show/hide fade lengths between events: Ctrl+Shift+T Toggle automatic crossfades on/off Ctrl+Shift+X Select the next event Shift+Right Arrow Select the previous event Shift+Left Arrow Extend the selection to the next event Shift+Ctrl+Right Arrow Extend the selection to the previous event Shift+Ctrl+Left Arrow R
Regions List shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Play or stop the active marker or region Spacebar Edit the active marker or region Enter Delete the active marker or region Delete Create region from the current selection R Ctrl+I Replicate selected region Ctrl+D Update region to match selection Ctrl+U Playlist/Cutlist shortcuts Command Keyboard Shortcut Play or stop the active playlist entry Spacebar Edit the active playlist entry Enter Delete the active playlist entry Delete Add one t
Drag-and-drop shortcuts Drag-and-drop allows you to quickly perform operations crossing between open data windows, the Playlist/Cutlist window, the Regions List, and the time ruler. Command Function Drag to New To create a new file from the current selection, drag the selection to an open area of the Sound Forge desktop. Note: You can also drag regions from the Regions List to the desktop.
Mouse shortcuts Command Function Select All Double-click the waveform display to select the entire sound file. Triple-click when regions, loops or markers are present (if the Disable triple-clicking to select all sound file data check box on the Editing tab in the Preferences dialog is cleared). Zoom Time and Level Double-click the level ruler to zoom the current selection vertically and horizontally. If no selection exists, the entire waveform display data is zoomed.
Appendix B Microsoft Audio Compression Manager The Microsoft Audio Compression Manager (ACM) is a standard interface for audio compression in Windows. This interface allows applications such as Sound Forge® Pro to use compression algorithms provided by other companies. Sound Forge software fully supports audio compression through the ACM. This allows you to use any ACM-compatible compression.
Transparent playback and recording of non-hardware supported audio files The second component of the ACM is called the Sound Mapper. It allows playback and recording of audio data formats that are not directly supported by the sound card. You can select the Sound Mapper as the Playback and Record devices on the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog. You can perform any additional configuration of the Sound Mapper from the Windows Control Panel. The Sound Mapper functions as follows.
Appendix C SMPTE Timecode The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) timecode may be one of the most misunderstood concepts among individuals within the music industry. The problem with SMPTE timecode formats is that they may mean different things to people in the audio and video fields. What follows is a brief description of each SMPTE timecode format.
340 | APPENDIX C
Appendix D Using CSOUND, MTU, IRCAM, BICSF, and EBICSF Files Although Sound Forge® Pro software supports a large number of sound file formats directly, it does not support the CSOUND, MTU, IRCAM, BICSF or EBICSF file types. However, you can use the Sound Forge Raw File Type capabilities to extract sound data from these file types. About IRCAM files The IRCAM or IRCAM-Gross format consists of a 1024-byte header prior to the audio data.
Opening an IRCAM file 1. From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog appears. 2. Specify Raw Audio from the Files of type drop-down list. 3. Select an IRCAM file to open and click Open. The Raw File Type dialog appears. 4. Configure the following parameters: • Specify a sample rate from the Sample rate drop-down list. • In the Sample type area, select the 16-bit PCM radio button. • In the Format area, select the Signed radio button. • Select the appropriate Byte order radio button.
Appendix E Glossary A-Law A-Law is a compounded compression algorithm for voice signals defined by the Geneva Recommendations (G.711). The G.711 recommendation defines A-Law as a method of encoding 16-bit PCM signals into a nonlinear 8-bit format. The algorithm is commonly used in United States telecommunications. A-Law is very similar to μ-Law; however, each uses a slightly different coder and decoder.
Analog When discussing audio, this term refers to a method of reproducing a sound wave with voltage fluctuations that are analogous to the pressure fluctuations of the sound wave. This is different from digital recording in that these fluctuations are infinitely varying rather than discrete changes at sample time. See also Quantization on page 354. Attack The attack of a sound is the initial portion of the sound. Percussive sounds (drums, piano, guitar plucks) are said to have a fast attack.
Bit The most elementary unit in digital systems. Its value can only be 1 or 0, corresponding to a voltage in an electronic circuit. Bits are used to represent values in the binary numbering system. As an example, the 8-bit binary number 10011010 represents the unsigned value of 154 in the decimal system. In digital sampling, a binary number is used to store individual sound levels, called samples. Bit Depth The number of bits used to represent a single sample.
Compression Ratio (audio) A compression ratio controls the ratio of input to output levels above a specific threshold. This ratio determines how much a signal has to rise above the threshold for every 1 dB of increase in the output.
DC Offset DC offset occurs when hardware, such as a sound card, adds DC current to a recorded audio signal. This current results in a recorded waveform that is not centered around the baseline (-infinity). Glitches and other unexpected results can occur when sound effects are applied to files that contain DC offsets. Sound Forge software can compensate for this DC offset by adding a constant value to the samples in the sound file. In the following example, the red line represents the baseline.
DirectX A set of Application Program Interfaces designed by Microsoft for multimedia development. A DirectX plug-in, such as the Sony Noise Reduction DirectX Plug-In, uses the DirectX Media Streaming Services (DMSS) API. Because DMSS is a standard API, a DirectX plug-in can be used in any application that supports DMSS. Dithering Dithering is the practice of adding noise to a signal to mask quantization noise. See also Quantization Noise on page 354.
Frequency Modulation (FM) Frequency Modulation (FM) is a process by which the frequency (pitch) of a sound is varied over time. Subaudio frequency modulation results in pitch-bending effects (vibrato). Frequency modulation within audio band frequencies (20 Hz - 20,000 Hz) creates many different side-band frequencies that drastically alter the timbre of the sound. Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis This type of synthesis relies on the principles of Frequency Modulation.
Invert Data Inverting sound data reverses the polarity of a waveform around its baseline. Inverting a waveform does not change the sound of a file; however, when you mix different sound files, phase cancellation can occur, producing a “hollow” sound. Inverting one of the files can prevent phase cancellation. In the following example, the red line represents the baseline, and the lower waveform is the inverted image of the upper waveform. Limiting Limiting is essentially a hard compressor.
MIDI Channels MIDI allows for 16 discrete channels for sending data. When dealing with MIDI triggers, Sound Forge software needs to know what MIDI channel to look at for receiving the trigger. The channel this information is sent to in Sound Forge software depends on the device sending the MIDI messages. MIDI Clock A MIDI device-specific timing reference. It is not absolute time like MIDI Time Code (MTC); instead it is a tempo-dependent number of “ticks” per quarter note.
Nondestructive Editing This type of editing involves a pointer-based system of keeping track of edits. When you delete a section of audio in a nondestructive system, the audio on disk is not actually deleted. Instead, a set of pointers is established to tell the program to skip the deleted section during playback. Normalize Refers to raising the volume so that the highest level sample in the file reaches a user-defined level.
Pre-roll/Post-roll Pre-roll is the amount of time elapsed before an event occurs. Post-roll is the amount of time after the event. Pre and post-roll have various uses in Sound Forge software. Pre-roll can be added to a crossfade preview to listen to the sound before the crossfade begins to give context to it. Pre-roll can also be used in the Playlist to hear previous regions when playback is initiated from the middle of the Playlist.
Quantization Quantization is the process by which measurements are rounded to discrete values. Specifically with respect to audio, quantization is a function of the analog-to-digital conversion process. The continuous variation of the voltages of a analog audio signal are quantized to discrete amplitude values represented by digital, binary numbers. The number of bits available to describe these values determines the resolution or accuracy of quantization.
Ruler, Level The level ruler is the area on a data window to the left of the waveform display. It shows the vertical axis units as a percentage or in decibels. Ruler, Time The time ruler is the area on a data window above the waveform display. It shows the horizontal axis units as well as marker, region, and loop tags. Ruler Tags Ruler tags are the small tab-shaped controls on the time ruler that represent the location of markers, regions, and loop points in the waveform display.
Sample Value The Sample Value (also referred to as sample amplitude) is the number stored by a single sample. The number stored by a single sample: • In 32-bit audio, these values range from -2147483648 to 2147483647. • In 24-bit audio, they range from -8388608 to 8388607. • In 16-bit audio, they range from -32768 to 32767. • In 8-bit audio, they range from -128 to 127. The maximum allowed sample value is often referred to as 100% or 0 dB.
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) SMPTE time code is used to synchronize time between devices. The time code is calculated in hours:minutes:second:frames, where frames are fractions of a second based on the frame rate. Frame rates for SMPTE time code are 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 frames per second. Sound Card The sound card is the audio interface between your computer and the outside world. It is responsible for converting analog signals to digital and vice-versa.
Undo Buffer This is the temporary file created before you do any processing to a sound file. This undo buffer allows you to rewrite previous versions of the sound file if you decide you don’t like changes you’ve made to the sound file. This undo buffer is erased when the file is closed or the Clear Undo/Redo History command is selected.
Zero-Crossing A zero-crossing is the point where a fluctuating signal crosses the baseline. By making edits at zero-crossings with the same slope, the chance of creating glitches is minimized. Zipper Noise Zipper noise occurs when you apply a changing gain to a signal, such as when fading out. If the gain does not change in small enough increments, zipper noise can become very noticeable. Fades are accomplished using 64-bit arithmetic, thereby creating no audible zipper noise.
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Index audio editing copying, 71 cutting selections, 73–74 deleting selections, 74 drag-and-drop, 150–153 mixing, 75–77 overwriting, 147 pasting, 72–73 repeating an operation, 149 replicating, 148 trimming/cropping, 75 audio event locator configuring, 87 scrubbing with, 87 Audio Restoration plug-in, 42, 156 audio synthesis DTMF/MF tones, 156 FM synthesis, 157–158 simple, 158 auditioning recorded audio, 142 Auto Preview button, 57 Auto Region tool button, 42 musical time intervals, 123 rapid sound attacks, 12
Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD dialog, 42, 290–291 burning CDs.
crossfade types, 165 command markers (continued) crossfading events, 165 Scott Studios, 119 CSOUND, 341 commands cue sheets.
data windows (continued) customizing, 33 overview, 31 overview bar, 84–85 playbar, 34 scrolling during playback, 61 DC Offset button, 40 calibrating for recording, 141 dialog, 182 estimating, 181 overview, 181 recalibrating for recording, 142 decibels, defined, 43 Default time between CD tracks preference, 296 defragmenting the hard disk, 307 Delay/Echo effects, 209 Delete (Clear) command, 74 deleting all Cutlist regions, 133 all markers and regions, 115, 125 all markers and regions within a selection, 125
effects (continued) Flange/Wah-Wah, 41, 211 FX Favorites menu, 203 Gapper/Snipper, 41, 211 Graphic Dynamics, 41, 209 hiding, 203 loading saved chains, 201 loading saved presets, 201 Multi-Band Dynamics, 41, 209 Multi-Tap Delay, 41, 209 Noise Gate, 41, 211 Pitch Bend, 41, 211–212 Pitch Shift, 41, 212 Plug-In Manager, 202 Preset Manager, 204 previewing automation, 206 removing automation envelopes, 206 removing plug-ins from chains, 198 renaming, 203 Resonant Filter, 41, 212 Reverb, 41, 213 saving chains, 200
files (continued) playing, 61 previewing, 57 publishing to Web, 81 recovering after crash, 81 saving, 66 saving all, 68 saving metadata with, 107 statistics, 64 video, 60 Find tool, 42, 153 finding and repairing audio glitches, 153 Flange/Wah-Wah effect, 41, 211 flipping envelope graphs, 207 floating windows. See windows FM synthesis, 39, 157–158 Focus to Data Window command, 65 Forward button, 34, 37 frame animation, 273 frame numbering, 274 .
inserting (continued) command markers, 119 markers, 114 markers during playback, 114 markers during recording, 114 markers while recording, 143 regions, 120–121 regions automatically, 121–124 silence, 149 installing, 18 interactive tutorials, 19, 36 intermixing channels, 180 internal MIDI devices, 256 samplers, 241 International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC), 301 interpolating audio to repair glitches, 42, 154 introduction, 17–19 Invert/Flip process, 40, 184 IRCAM, 341 ISRC codes, 301 iZotope 64-Bit SRC p
Loop Playback button, 37, 62 Loop Tuner displaying, 264 finding zero-crossings, 265 locking loop length, 266 playing loops, 264 switching between sustain and release loops, 264 viewing loop amplitude, 265 window, 25 loops creating for ACID, 267–271 doubling, 269 editing, 263–266 halving, 269 locking length, 266 locking lengths, 126 release, 261 rotating audio, 270 saving, 271 setting tempo, 271 shifting selections left/right, 269 sustaining, 261 M Magnify tool button, 36 overview, 90 zooming level ruler, 9
mixing by dragging and dropping, 75, 152 events, 163 from clipboard, 76 monitor for video previewing, 276 monitoring audio input levels while recording, 143 monitoring levels decibels, defined, 43 digital vs.
Paste button, 36 Paste Markers/Regions option, 72 paste special overwriting, 147 replicating, 148 Paste to New command, 73 pasting by dragging and dropping, 72–73 drag-and-drop, 150 events, 163 in existing data windows, 72 in new data windows, 73 Pause button, 37 pause time, 298, 300 peak files, 59 peak program meters.
preferences (continued) Video tab, 323–324 VST Effects tab, 324 Pre-Queue for MIDI Timecode button, 39 Pre-roll to Cursor command, 83 Preset Manager, 42, 204 presets applying, 171 creating, 172 deleting, 172 overview, 171 resetting parameters, 172 saving in Spectrum Analysis graph, 288 previewing CD tracks, 145 channels in multichannel files, 53 cuts, 74 effect automation, 206 markers, 116 processed audio, 173 regions, 125 video, 275–276 previewing files in Explorer window, 57 pre-roll to cursor, 83 preview
regions automatically naming, 124 benefits of using, 113 building using current tempo, 123 creating CD tracks from, 294 creating from markers, 116 deleting, 125 deleting all, 125 deleting all within a selection, 116, 125 editing default names, 317 extracting to new files, 126 inserting based on marker position, 124 inserting based on musical time intervals, 123 inserting based on rapid sound attacks, 123 inserting using drag-and-drop, 121 inserting using keyboard, 121 inserting using menu commands, 120 inse
saving all open files, 68 command properties as template, 119 custom templates, 68 Cutlist files, 133 files, 66 loop points, 271 metadata with files, 107 Playlist files, 133 project paths in rendered files, 70 projects, 69 Regions List to file, 129 sampler configurations, 244 summary information, 107 video files, 278 workspaces, 69 Scott Studios commands, 119 script commands, 118 Script Editor button, 43 scripting adding scripts to the Scripting submenu, 234 API and sample scripts, 231 arguments, 234 Batch
sliders resetting, 49 shortcuts, 49 using, 49 slipping events, 164 slip-trimming events, 164 Smooth/Enhance process, 40, 192 SMPTE, 253–259 SMPTE 30 button, 38 SMPTE Drop button, 38 SMPTE EBU button, 38 SMPTE Film Sync (24 fps) button, 38 SMPTE Non-Drop button, 38 SMPTE timecode, 339 Snap Edge to Grid command, 96 Snap Edge to Zero command, 96 Snap to Grid command, 96 Snap to Zero command, 96 Snap to zero-crossing slope preference, 92 snapping See also Quantize to Frames disabling at high magnifications, 97
T Tabs for maximized data windows preference, 33, 315 TAO CDs.
Volume process, 40, 193 volume unit meters.
