Thanks for the comments Gale.
If this is included in Audacity I think that line can be omitted entirely. If it is only available as an optional plug-in, then I agree that it should say exactly which versions it works correctly on. I’ve only tested with Audacity 1.3.12 to 1.3.14 so far. Are you saying that it works in Audacity 1.3.4 but not in 1.3.3?
Personally I’d prefer “Cross-Fade” but I was being consistent with the current “Cross Fade In” and “Cross Fade Out”.
Fixed.
Fixed.
Fixed.
The term “curve” is used on DJ mixers (and several other audio applications) to describe the fade shape. Increasing the “curve” setting causes the fade to be at a higher level for longer than with a linear fade. There are plenty of references to “fader curve” (for example: http://www.rane.com/note146.html )
So “Curve” is the (correct) name of the control and “(increase to boost mid fade)” is a description that I feel describes the function in a simple way for anyone that is unfamiliar with the term (similar to how we have “Q (higher values reduce width)” in the notch filter effect.
because I wanted to quote “Cross-Fade” as the name of the effect but was not sure that " would work correctly as an escape character on all platforms, whereas I knew that single quotes work correctly. Are you aware of any plug-ins that use double quotes in the info text? (I’m mid way through reinstalling my OS at present so it’s difficult for me to check).
Yes, a little bit, but only as far as it removes some of the functionality.
Yes there are, but not (currently) included with Audacity.
The inclusion of Fade-In/Out options allows more advanced users to use fade curves when creating cross-fades “properly” (across two tracks).
It also provides a raised cosine fade-out which is one feature that I find painfully absent in Audacity.
I think that is just as confusing. What that would suggest to me is that the duration of the cross-fade will be 10 seconds, when in fact it will be 5 seconds.
The current error message will say something like:
"Error.
The selection length (5.50 seconds) is too short
for the initial 5 and final 5 seconds to fade.
For a 5 second cross-fade the selection must be
at least 10 seconds."
Does that not explain clearly what the error is?
(also Bill’s comment “I think the cross-fade length should be eliminated from the dialog”)
We have to assume that the user may not make the selection such that exactly half of the selection is the end of the first song and that the other (exact) half is the start of the second song. Let’s say that the user selects the final 6 seconds of the first song and the initial 4 seconds of the second song. If the “idiot’s fade” cross-faded this selection then the fade out would consist of the first 5 seconds of the first song and the fade-in would consist of the final second of the first song, plus the first 4 seconds of the second song. (Audacity Nyquist does not know when audio clips start and end.)
With the current plug-in, for a 5 second fade the user should ensure that at least 5 seconds of each song is selected. The start of the selection should be at the point where they want the first song to start fading out and the selection should end at the point where they want the second song to be fully faded-in.
This is the important concept for this plug-in and is described in the Help screen as:
When ‘Cross-Fade’ is selected, the fade duration is
determined by the ‘Fade Length’ setting. For example,
Fade Length = 3 seconds
The first 3 seconds of the selection fade out,
The final 3 seconds of the selection fade in.
The two sections are then overlapped.
In this example the selection must be at least 6
seconds to accommodate both fade sections.
This can be easily covered in the manual - I’ve already got some screenshots for illustration.
It is equally valid to apply this effect to two clips in one track, or to two separate tracks. Detailed usage tips are not a practical proposition in the severely restricted Help screen space but, unlike the other included effects, basic usage instructions have been included in the plug-in.
I’m more than happy for the help screen text to be improved, but I’ve put as much useful information as I could fit into the available space.
On the subject of “help”, the Vocoder. Noise Removal and Auto Duck are far from intuitive and could benefit from built-in help.