I’m using Mac OS X 10.7.5 and Audacity 2.0.3 with .dmg installer.
Somehow when editing my project the default waveform disappeared and was replaced by another (don’t know how describe it) waveform. Per instructions, I tried to go to Audacity>Preferences to restore it, but “Preferences” is greyed out. A Forum post said that could be caused by the project being in “pause” instead of “stop” condition, but that potential solution didn’t work. Any suggestions?
You may be watching one of the alternate ways to view the timeline. It’s not obvious what you’re doing while you’re doing it, but it makes perfect sense after you mess it up.
Drop down menu to the left (tiny black arrow) > [X] Waveform.
Koz
Koz-
In the drop-down the two “waveform” choices I see are “waveform” itself and “waveform (dB)”. When I select either one by clicking on it it goes grey and the other goes bold type. Neither choice, however, results in the default waveform.
-Chuck
The other thing you can get stuck with is magnification.
Hover over the amplitude labels to the immediate left of the blue waves. The cursor will change into a magnifier.
Shift-Click multiple times should reduce the waveform size to 2.0 up and 2.0 down. Straight Click once more for default 1.0 up and 1.0 down.
If that’s not it, you’ll need to post a screen capture so we can see what you’re seeing. Put your problem on the screen and Shift-Command-3 to capture the whole screen to a file on your desktop. Then upload the file to the forum. Make sure there’s nothing embarrassing or illegal on the desktop when you do that.
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1
Koz
Koz-
Funny thing…I closed my project (with the non-default waveform still showing) before shutting the computer down overnight and when I fired it up this morning and re-opened the project the default waveform was displayed (!). Go figure. Wonder if it’s that “resetting” phenomenon that seems to characterize a lot of solid-state-based electronic devices these days. My experience with electronics began with amateur radio in the vacuum tube era…never had to do any “re-setting”!
I tried your suggestion using the cursor magnifier and got the result you described. The waveform that prompted my forum query, however, displayed only the portion above the zero amplitude line; i.e. only half the waveform was showing.
-Chuck
Try this. With any track displayed, hover the mouse over the “0.5” in the vertical scale, so the centre of the magnifying glass is right over the dash beside the “0.5”. Left-click. See? The “top half” of the waveform is displayed. Now, hover over or near the “0” in the vertical scale and either right-click or shift-click. Did you notice that you can now see most of the waveform? Right-click or shift-click again in the vertical scale and you will get the “normal”, unmagnified view of the waveform.
Please see this page in the manual: Audacity Manual
– Bill
Bill-
Okayyy…got it! Working with this software is certainly a learning experience. Thanks to you, Koz and Gale…
-Chuck