Using Start and End time values to select content

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brianejsmith
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Using Start and End time values to select content

Post by brianejsmith » Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:52 am

Hi

I have imported a large .wav file which I want to break up into the individual songs it contains. I went through the file - it's over 2 hours long - noting the start and end times for each piece.

The first time I used the Start and End times to select a portion of the file and export it the process worked fine. Since then, however, any attempt to repeat the process for song 2, 3, 4 etc, results in the Start time reverting to 0 and the End time to the length of the file.

What am I doing wrong or is not it possible to use the Start and End time fields in this way?

If it isn't then it's a shame because, personally, I find using the cursor or keyboard to select content to be a pain and imprecise.

Hope you can help.

Brian

PGA
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Re: Using Start and End time values to select content

Post by PGA » Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:04 pm

brianejsmith wrote:I find using the cursor or keyboard to select content to be a pain and imprecise.
I cannot answer your question about the Start/End times; but I would offer the following observation about "imprecise". If you click at the approximate point in the waveform and then use the Zoom In tool to "magnify" around this point, you can keep zooming in until you are looking at individual sample points. It doesn't get more precise than that!

billw58
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Re: Using Start and End time values to select content

Post by billw58 » Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:26 pm

Are you using File > Export Selection to export the songs?

If you are already going through the file writing down the start and end times, then entering those times into the Selection Toolbar, and you prefer that to using the mouse to select ranges of audio, then this method might be a bit faster.

1) Select a song using the Start and End times in the Selection Toolbar - the selection should appear on the screen
2) Do File > Add Label at Selection
-- a Label will appear, ready for editing: type the name of the song in the label and press the Enter key
3) Continue to the next song.

Now all your songs are labelled. You can export all of them in one step by using File > Export Multiple.

-- Bill

brianejsmith
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Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:13 am
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Re: Using Start and End time values to select content

Post by brianejsmith » Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:05 pm

Thank you to both of you. I'll give both methods a go.

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