Regular Interval Labels improvements

Special Interest Groups Audio Processing
1

Running v1.3.12-beta (Unicode) on Windows XP Pro sp3

When using ANALYZE > REGULAR INTERVAL LABELS to place labels at 5 minute intervals (for example), there are two problems because I use the label name on export to create CD track numbers as part of the name of each track (Export Multiple > Name Files = Numbering after Label/Track Name & File Name Prefix = “Track”). Feature #1 & #2 address the two problems below:

Feature #1
The first label is generated as 0 not 1. When Export Multiple is used, the first track is named Track 0, then second track is named Track 1, etc. There should be an option to start the label numbers at 1 instead of 0.

Feature #2
If there are more than 10 labels generated, the first ones are single digit (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) and the rest are double digit (10,11,12, etc). This causes a problems with outputed track names because they will not sort in the proper order when sorting by name (on Windows anyways). They get ordered as:
Track 1, Track 10, Track 2, Track 20, Track 3, etc
So the labels should all have the same number of digits. If there are 22 labels in all, then labels 1 to 9 should be 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 ,06 ,07 ,08 & 09. If there are 100 labels, then they should be 001, 002, 003, etc. This way the tracks will sort properly on a Windows computer (and playback in the proper order).

Feature #3
Regular Interval Labels should also be included in the TRACKS drop down menu right underneath Add Label At Playback Position because it is part of Adding Labels to the track. I had no idea that feature was available until I accidentally came across it in the ANALYZE menu. You would think that all the options for adding labels to tracks would be in the same place! Adding Labels, in my opinion, has nothing to do with analyzing!

Thanks

2

Features 1 and 2 should be quite easy to implement.
I’ll post something shortly to address these issues.

I do see your point about Feature request #3 and it took me a while to find it when I first started using Audacity.
However it is not (currently) possible because “Regular Interval Labels” is a Nyquist plug-in.

Nyquist plug-ins can be one of three types:
“Generate” type plug-in (will usually generate sound into an audio track)
“Process” type plug-in (usually an “effect” that processes existing audio data)
“Analyze” type plugin (usually outputs text, labels or files but not audio)

Audacity places Generate plug-ins in the Generate menu, Process plug-ins in the Effect menu and Analyze plug-ins in the Analyze menu.
Because this plug-in outputs a label track and not audio, it is classed as an “Analyze” plug-in.

Regular Interval Labels enhancements
3

Thanks for implementing #1 and #2 … that will be great! Perhaps they could both be options, something like this:
[] CHECK HERE TO START AT 1 INSTEAD OF 0
[] CHECK HERE TO INCLUDE LEADING ZEROS

As for #3, does Audacity have the ability to place a “shortcut” in a menu that links to another menu? That way you could place the shortcut link under Tracks, but the original would still appear under Analyze! I suppose the shortcut would have to be smart enough to grey out if that particular plugin was removed though.

Thanks again

4

Audacity is a community effort, so here’s the deal: I’ve nearly finished coding the changes - they’re a little bit more extensive and I think a bit more versatile than your original proposal, but I think they will meet your requirements. When I’ve posted it, could you test it as thoroughly as possible and post some feedback. Thanks.

[Update] New plug-in posted here: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=55523

5

Wow… that’s the fastest feature request I have ever seen! THANKS.

I tested it with a whole bunch of variations, and it worked great in every scenario I could think of!

One interesting thing is that you can even start the count with a negative number… I choose -2 and the labels were:
-2, -1, 0, 1, 2, etc
This is not an issue, just interesting!

Otherwise there are no problems that I can find!

Thanks again, this is a great improvement to this plugin!

6

Regular interval labels improvements of Frequent label should be included in the songs are right underneath the drop down menu. Add Label to the Playback Position, because it is part of the Add Brand to track. You would think that all the option to tag the tracks will be in one place! Add labels, in my opinion, has nothing to do with the analysis!

7

The reason that “Regular Interval Labels” is in the Analyze menu is because it is a Nyquist Plug-in.

Audacity supports three types of Nyquist Plug-ins: Generate, Process and Analyze.

  • Generate Plug-ins usually generate audio so Audacity puts this type of plug-in into the “Generate” menu. They are the only type of plug-in that can be run without a track selection.
  • Process Plug-ins usually take audio from the track, process it in some way and return the processed audio to the track. Audacity puts this type of plug-in into the “Effect” menu (below the line).
  • Analyze Plug-ins usually output text in one way or another, either to the screen, to a file, or into labels. Audacity puts this type of plug-in into the “Analyze” menu.
8

@steveford - I agree, but I also understand the limitation. Take a look at this Feature Request and maybe leave your vote for it:
http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=56720