Audacity Forum

Hi
New to Audacity.
I've had a look but I can't see a way of typing in the start/end time of segment i want to split.
Is there a way to do this?
If not, can you suggest an alternative utility?

Also, if I do use the selection tool to specify a segment, is there an easier way to find if I the end is at the correct place other than playing through the whole segment?

Direct entry of times and offsets is a future feature request. Once you get used to it in a video editor, you're spoiled rotten.

<<<easier way to find if I the end is at the correct place>>>

You've never had to play through the whole thing. Pick the "in" point with the mouse and label it (Apple-B or Control-B). Then click where you're expecting the end point to be and [spacebar] play it. Adjust as needed. The [spacebar] toggles between play and stop. When you find the end, Apple-B another label. The labels are sticky/magnetic which makes selecting the whole piece much easier.

Another thing that makes this easier is the keyboard shortcuts for Zoom To Selection and Zoom Out which are slightly different depending on your Audacity. For example, once you have a rough idea where an edit point needs to be, drag-select a chunk around it and zoom in. Keep going in and playing until you get the accuracy you need. You can hit an edit point to the nearest digital sample that way (1/48000 of a second)

Koz

kozikowski wrote:Direct entry of times and offsets is a future feature request.

Actually it's in the Beta 1.3 version already - via a new toolbar called the Selection Toolbar.

WC

Dave F. wrote:I've had a look but I can't see a way of typing in the start/end time of segment i want to split.

You need Audacity 1.3.x

• In the "Selection Toolbar", click on the little black arrow to the right of any of the "time" boxes and select the time format that you prefer.
• Click in the "Selection Start" box and type in the required start time.
• You can select "Length" or "End" for the second box - If you select length, then enter the length of the required selection. If you prefer, select "End" and enter the End Time of the required selection.
• You can now use Split, Duplicate, Copy, an effect, or anything else on the selection.

Dave F. wrote:Also, if I do use the selection tool to specify a segment, is there an easier way to find if I the end is at the correct place other than playing through the whole segment?

In Audacity 1.3.x, Yes.

• Make your selection and press Ctrl+B This will create a labelled region. Clicking on the name box of the label will select the labelled region.
• Hold down the Shift key and drag the left side of the selection to where you want it to start playing, then press the spacebar (or click on the Play button) to commence playback.
• To adjust your selection, click on the end marker of the label and drag it to where you want it.
• When you have the two ends of the labelled region in the exact location that you want selected, click on the name tag of the label, and the labelled region will be selected.

Thanks for the replies.

As it's says it's for advanced users, how stable is 1.3 Beta?

Do I need to wear a paper mache suit & be prepared to dive under a running shower?

Dave F. wrote:Do I need to wear a paper mache suit & be prepared to dive under a running shower?

That shouldn't be necessary
There are a few issues with Audacity 1.3.x, (it's beta), but they do not affect all machines. The only problems that I have are:
If I cancel an effect after previewing it Audacity will freeze (the workaround is to apply the effect and if necessary use "undo").
Occasionally I get the problem with using the letter Z in labels (the workaround is to reset keyboard shortcuts).
Occasionally I get the problem with LAME ignoring the compression settings and defaulting to 128kbps (not much of a problem since I don't use MP3 export often, but if I do need an MP3 with specific compression settings I need to check that Audacity has done it correctly, or use a different compressor such as LameDrop).

With Audacity 1.3.4 on Windows I had no issues at all - completely stable.

The beta version is now very close to becoming the new stable version (which will be Audacity 1.4).

There is a list of known issues here: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... own_Issues
These do not apply to all users, but it's worth doing a bit of testing and playing with Audacity 1.3 before starting a major project so as to not get caught out.

Audacity 1.3.5 has many advantages over 1.2.6 (additional and improved features), so as long as you are aware of any issues that affect your set-up it is well worth the upgrade.

In my experience, 1.3.4 is the best for Windows XP, but it looks like 1.3.6 will be even better when it is released. (mostly bug fixes, but a few nice improvements as well).