Change Speed - Stretch audio to a specified length

[Gale_Andrews]

@steve

@Gale Andrews

“Stretch” as the name of “StretchAudio.ny” is a little misleading for non-technical users

If I recall correctly, “stretch” was the term used by the user that was asking how to “stretch” one track to synchronise with another.

Probably, but another user could be wanting to contract a track to synchronise with another.

More advanced users may see an inference to time stretching, which is not what this plug-in does.

@steve

“adjust length” may well be interpreted as “truncating” or “chopping bits out/adding bits in”

Yes, perhaps, but I think on the whole it’s less open to misinterpretation than “Stretch”. Perhaps it could even just be called “Length”.

@steve

many users miss the point that “Change Speed” affects the length.

Hence the suggestion that built-in Change Speed should address that issue (IIRC, Vaughan was not strongly opposed to adding Length boxes when someone on feedback@ asked for this). Then we wouldn’t need “StretchAudio”.

Also, what proportion of users realise that extra Nyquist plug-ins are available, or want that inconvenience for such an obvious limitation in the built-in effect?

Aside: Perhaps we should have a “Download” button in Effects Preferences pointing to Wiki Download Nyquist Plug-ins?

@steve

@Gale Andrews

I think it would be better to add length boxes to the built-in Change Speed than have a “simple” length adjust plug-in on Wiki that has only one control. Length boxes in Change Speed has 19 votes on Feature Requests.

Looking at that another way, why should it matter what language “Change Speed” is written in?

Do you mean what coding language Change Speed is written in?

@steve

With a few improvements to the Audacity/Nyquist interface, most of the built in effects could be written in Nyquist, which has the significant advantages of rapid development, terrific maintainability and simple modification/customisation.

Is anyone planning Nyquist GUI in the near future?

@steve

@Gale Andrews

Change Speed (ny) could look simpler with less text.

I agree, though “optional” plug-ins have the difficulty that they are not documented in the manual. One of the feature’s of LL’s “version 4” plug-ins is that they can have built-in help, accessed via a “Help button”.

I think we had agreed not to load the interface with text even in optional plug-ins. We can use Help screens (Nyquist error interface) or a bundled help text file until there is a proper Help button, allied with good choice of label names.

In “Change Speed (ny)”, the ;info text “Enter the required duration as two numbers” isn’t mandatory (you can enter one number to get seconds). So it is misleading to have that text.


Gale