Page 1 of 1

Storing Labels Within .WAV Files

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 3:43 pm
by mafg1953
Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has considered the possibility of storing the label data that we might create in a project within the actual .WAV file instead of a separate .TXT file. I believe that label data can be included as part of the .WAV file 'parameters/specs' and can be passed from one audio editor to another.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Storing Labels Within .WAV Files

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:13 pm
by kozikowski
.WAV file 'parameters/specs' and can be passed from one audio editor to another.
Any audio editor that's expecting label data to be included in parameters/specs. Can you overload it? Can you have so many labels that the data doesn't fit? I bet this skews the file size estimates.

As a sometime content creator for paying customers, I'm horrified at any effort to "improve" WAV format. BWF and AIFF were enough, thanks. I have personally been a victim of a sound producer who delivered in a way nobody could use. Regular WAVs will open and play effortlessly on all three computing platforms.

Works for me.

Koz

Re: Storing Labels Within .WAV Files

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:19 pm
by steve
It is 'possible' to store many things in WAV file, but there's also a risk that non-standard WAV files could cause problems in other apps.

Re: Storing Labels Within .WAV Files

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:00 pm
by mafg1953
kozikowski wrote:
Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:13 pm
Any audio editor that's expecting label data to be included in parameters/specs. Can you overload it? Can you have so many labels that the data doesn't fit? I bet this skews the file size estimates.
steve wrote:
Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:19 pm
It is 'possible' to store many things in WAV file, but there's also a risk that non-standard WAV files could cause problems in other apps.
I know very little about the do's and dont's related to audio files, and I see what you are saying, ... but the label data associated with 70-80 labels might take up 0.01 MB, which is fairly tiny relative to the full .WAV file.

I can see where it may cause difficulty in other programs, but I assumed that the room for the labels was already available in the standard header format. For example, I believe that Steinberg programs and iZotpe programs can share the labels within the .WAV files.

The reason I'm asking is that if I have done the majority of my editing in Audacity and want/need to do some specialized editing in some other software, it would be nice if the file I exported from Audacity carried my label markers with it so that I could easily locate the problem areas in the other software.

Thanks,

Mike