Strange Display when loading wav

[Uli]

Hi,

I'm using Audacity 1.3.7 /Jan.28,2009.
When loading a longer wav-track the display shows stripes instead of the wav. See


Zooming into the track finally shows the normal wav display.

Can I switch off this behaviour? Audacity 1.2.4 does not show this problem

Thx for any useful comment

Uli

[steve]

It's not a problem, it's a feature - and actually it is quite a nice feature when you know what it is doing.

In previous versions of Audacity, when opening uncompressed audio files you had to wait while the file fully loaded and the waveform display calculated before you could do anything. With the new instant access feature, you can start playing the file almost immediately. The stripes indicate the part of the waveform that has not yet had its waveform display calculated, but as you have noticed, as soon as the display has been calculated it replaces the stripes.

[Uli]

nd actually it is quite a nice feature when you know what it is doing

Sorry, but for me it is NOT a nice feature. And I don't know what it is doing.

I load a track of about 2 minutes length. I see the stripes and I know nothing. Waiting for 10 minutes to allow the display calculation ends in - stripes. Nothing else.

Only when I use the zoom function then with a certain zoom size I can see the waveform. But not the total overview.

And please tell me: how to know about what it is doing when there is no documentation ?

Sorry. The old style is much much better. Does it really help to start playing immediately if you dont see what you are playing? IMO Audacity is a wave editor and not just another media player. Now it seems to be a wav editor without display over all.

How to get rid of the stripes?

Uli

[steve]

I load a track of about 2 minutes length. I see the stripes and I know nothing. Waiting for 10 minutes to allow the display calculation ends in - stripes. Nothing else.

OK so it's not a nice feature for you - but that's because, for some reason, it is not working correctly. A 2 minute files should open fully (and display the waveform) very quickly (no more than a couple of seconds, unless you are using an extremely old and slow machine).

The lack of documentation about this feature is because it is a new feature and there is a shortage of volunteers to complete the documentation (volunteers are always welcome). However there is a mention of it in the manual: http://audacityteam.org/manual/index.ph ... nd_Loading

Unfortunately, this documentation seems to be a bit out of date now as in the current version of Audacity there seems to be no way to switch this feature off.

The "On-Demand-Loading" feature has been around for a good few months now, and this is the first post that I have seen where someone is having a problem with it - so there you go - you are special

Probably the best thing is to see if we can quickly fix the problem, and if not, then you could try downgrading to an earlier version.

I think that the most likely cause of the problem is that the Audacity configuration file has got messed up when upgrading from 1.2.4 (but do have a look at that manual page first in case you can spot something obvious that may be causing the problem).

To reset the configuration, you need to find the "audacity.cfg" file - note that it is a hidden file.
The location of the file is:
# Windows (except Vista) : Documents and Settings<user name>Application DataAudacity
# Windows Vista: Users<user name>AppDataRoamingAudacity

Exit Audacity and open audacity.cfg in a text editor, then remove all the content except the line "NewPrefsInitialized=1"
Save the audacity.cfg file and restart Audacity. You should be asked to select the language.

If this does not work, you can download the 1.3.6 version from here - If I remember correctly, this version allows you to switch the feature off, as described in the manual.

http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/sourcefo ... -1.3.6.exe

[Uli]

Hi,

I have modded the config file as proposed. This does not help.

the option 'Make a copy of uncompressed audio files before editing (safer)' give a correct display but it is also slower.
So far I try to live with that and I hope that in the next releases this topic will be solved.

Thx anyway

Uli

[waxcylinder]

the option 'Make a copy of uncompressed audio files before editing (safer)'....

Uli,

and they do mean safer, much safer

Many people fall into the beartrap of not using this safer option - and then later when they move/delete the original source (say by taking the CD out of the tray - or by doing some file/folder housekeeping) they are somewhat surprised when their nice Audacity project shows up with holes in.

So I would always recommend that you use this option and live with the time it takes to import, unless you absolutely know what you are doing. I would prefer it to be the default rather than the "faster" option - but the developers claim that they set it this way for the "power users" of Audacity to maximise performance. I don't agree - I think the defaults should be set so novices don't accidentally foul up.

WC