Paste/replace

[hatrabbit]

Hello all,
When I copy a selection and paste it into a track, the portion of the track forward of the cursor is moved to the right and the pasted selection is sandwiched in there. Is there a way to paste it in, and have it replace a section equal to its own length?

[billw58]

Only if you first make a selection exactly the same length (to the sample) as the audio you are about to paste in.

First let us know if you are really using 1.2.x, or 1.3.12 - the instructions vary depending on the version.

-- Bill

[hatrabbit]

I'm using 1.13.12-beta. Is there a way to select the precise length segment as my selection, other than manually doing it by eye? Thanks.

[kozikowski]

You can sometimes do better by leaving both tracks one above the other and using the envelope tool to turn one on and then the other. Neither clip changes size or location. If you want one of them to appear earlier or later, then you can use the Time Shift tool -- White button with two black arrows.

The Envelope Tool gives you a blue rubber band above each performance that you can use to push the volume around -- note by note if you need it. Each track has a set. When you get to the magic edit point, push the main show down and the new material up. Reverse at the end of the "edit."

Koz

[steve]

I'm using 1.13.12-beta. Is there a way to select the precise length segment as my selection, other than manually doing it by eye? Thanks.

I would normally do it the way described by Koz, or a slight variation:

1) Put the audio to be "pasted" on a new track.
2) If necessary, drag the new track so that it is directly below the track with the audio to be replaced (click on the Track Control Box on the left end of the track and while holding the left mouse button down, drag the track up/down)
3) Use the Time Shift tool (double headed arrow button <-->) to slide the audio clip (in the lower track) left/right into the correct place
4) Select the area to be replaced (the selection should snap to the edges of the audio clip in the other track)
5) Press Ctrl+L to silence the selected audio.

An alternative to step 5 is to use the "Fade In" / "Fade Out" effects to make a smooth cross fade.
In this illustration I've marked the areas that have been faded:

cross-fade.png (8.82 KiB) Viewed 6482 times

If you need to select an area of a precise length, set the time display in the Selection Toolbar to units that include "samples" (for example hh:mm:ss+samples)
Click on the "Length" button.
You can then select a precise length by typing the required length into the middle time box in the Selection Toolbar.
This image shows a selection of precisely 1807 samples:

selection_toolbar.png (7.04 KiB) Viewed 6482 times

[billw58]

And yet another method, very similar to Steve's.

Follow Steve's steps 1 through 3

4) Double-click on the clip in the lower track (and do Edit > Copy to put it in the clipboard if necessary)
5) Press shift + UpArrow - this extends the selection into the upper track
6) Press DownArrow - this moves the focus to the lower track
7) Press Enter - this deselects the bottom track
8) Do Edit > Paste - the paste is done into the upper track, and no audio is moved because the selection in the upper track is exactly the same length as the clip you are pasting.

It looks like a lot of work but is actually very fast. Shift+UpArrow, DownArrow, Enter, CTRL+V

-- Bill

[bgravato]

The straight answer to the initial question is at the end of steve's post:

If you need to select an area of a precise length, set the time display in the Selection Toolbar to units that include "samples" (for example hh:mm:ss+samples)
Click on the "Length" button.
You can then select a precise length by typing the required length into the middle time box in the Selection Toolbar.

The straight answer to the initial question would be:
1) select the part you want to copy
2) take note of the samples number at the selection toolbar
3) copy
4) select the part you want to replace (use the selection toolbar to enter the same number of samples)
5) paste

Doesn't mean this is the better technique, but it's the one hatrabbit asked about I think.

[kozikowski]

<<<it's the one hatrabbit asked about I think.>>>

Probably true. However, it's the least likely to result in a graceful edit. Hard cuts, real ones, rarely come without disturbances at the cut point which announce their presence. If you insist on doing that, you have to match up waveforms and only cut on zero crossing points and even some of them aren't going to work right.

Most video editors perform a very rapid sound crossfade at the edit points and even back in the dark ages, physical edit blocks had a diagonal cut in them so the editor could spread out the cut over time.

Koz

[billw58]

it's the least likely to result in a graceful edit. Hard cuts, real ones, rarely come without disturbances at the cut point which announce their presence.

Quite true. But let the OP try the various techniques and learn from doing.

-- Bill