Fastest way to compile some short segments into a new track?

[pshute]

I have a long track, and I'd like to take several dozen 2 short segments of it, around 2 seconds long, and place them into a new track, separated by some silence, say 0.5 seconds.

Method 1:
- Select each segment one by one and press control+D to duplicate it into a new temporary track.
- Merge the new tracks to a new one.
- Delete the temporary tracks.
- Delete the large silences between the segments, leaving just a second or so.
I don't like the large number of temporary tracks this produces, and the merge operation takes a very long time for some reason. Perhaps the length (3 hours)?

Method 2:
- Duplicate the whole track
- Select the left then right boundaries of each desired segment, and press control+I to place a clip marker
- Double clip between each segment and Delete
This method is way less messy, but now I have to insert the silences between clips.

Method 3:
- Add a label track and add region labels for each desired segment
- Export Multiple
- Import every second exported track.
This sounds messy, but is at least repeatable, although I'm not sure I need it to be.

Can anyone think of a better way? I like method 2, but don't know how to easily add the silences between segments. It would be nice If I could do a very short fade at the start and end of each segment too, but not essential.

[steve]

I think I get what you want to do.

Try this:

• Add labels to each 2 second section that you want to keep
• Select the label track
• Edit > Labelled Regions > Copy
• Select the audio track
• Ctrl+V (paste)
• Delete the label track

Note that the labels must not be touching each other.
Unless my proposal is adopted, labels that touch will be treated as one region, so if you have, say 3 labels of 2 seconds each that touch, then it will be pasted at one region of 6 seconds duration. (feel free to comment on my proposal in the other thread)

[pshute]

• Add labels to each 2 second section that you want to keep
• Select the label track
• Edit > Labelled Regions > Copy
• Select the audio track
• Ctrl+V (paste)
• Delete the label track

I would never have thought of using Labelled Regions menu items, never knew it existed.

To make it work properly, I had to select the label track AND the audio track. Otherwise it was copying stuff from other audio tracks as well. This is obviously only necessary if there's more than one audio track.

But now I've got to reduce the gaps down to one second. I've discovered I can use Effect/Truncate Silence to trim them down to a second.

This is a good way to do it, because it's repeatable if I want to do it again. Thanks for your help.

Any suggestions for fading all the segments in and out?

[steve]

Any suggestions for fading all the segments in and out?

Will all of the segments be exactly 2 seconds long with exactly 0.5 seconds gap between them?

[pshute]

Any suggestions for fading all the segments in and out?

Will all of the segments be exactly 2 seconds long with exactly 0.5 seconds gap between them?

The segments will vary, the gaps will all be 0.5s if Truncate Silence does its job.

[steve]

Could you post one "typical" example of a sound section.
I have an idea how the fades can be done (almost) automatically using the "Auto Duck" effect, but it depends what the sounds are like.

[pshute]

Could you post one "typical" example of a sound section.
I have an idea how the fades can be done (almost) automatically using the "Auto Duck" effect, but it depends what the sounds are like.

Here you go, it's just a few segments of a chirp, with the gaps reduced to 0.5s.

The trick here will be to get the control track right, won't it? If I use a copy of the track I want to fade, I can get AutoDuck to fade it in the opposite directions to what I want. Do I need to have a control track with audio only in the gaps?

I then tried cutting the segments again, but this time pasting into a new track at the position of the start of the first label after doing an Edit/Labelled Regions/Copy. That gave me my segments still aligned with their original time positions.

Then I duplicated the original track and did an Edit/Labelled Regions/Cut, giving me a track with the bits between the desired segments. It might be more reliable to do this with a constant generated tone rather than the original track, in case of level variations?

Then AutoDuck with a -30db duck amount, and 0.2s outer fade lengths gave me the desired fades.

It would be easier to generate the segments track if there was a command like Edit/Labelled Regions/Duplicate. It's a little fiddly having to paste into a special position, but it's not something I'll have to do that often, so it's still going to save heaps of time.

Thanks for suggesting using this feature, and please tell me if you know of better ways to do it.

I'm a bit surprised there isn't a plugin to just do the whole operation. Surely cutting and fading segments isn't that uncommon?

[pshute]

Apologies for the giant screen dump. I should have reduced it.

[steve]

The trick here will be to get the control track right, won't it?

Yes.

It might be more reliable to do this with a constant generated tone rather than the original track,

Yes.

I think you've got the idea - do you need me to work through some settings with you or have you got it?
Compromise - here's some screen shots....

tracks006.png (12.39 KiB) Viewed 1363 times

tracks007.png (12.59 KiB) Viewed 1363 times

tracks008.png (12.83 KiB) Viewed 1363 times

[steve]

I'm a bit surprised there isn't a plugin to just do the whole operation. Surely cutting and fading segments isn't that uncommon?

Feel free to start a new topic about that.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "the whole operation" in a way that "isn't uncommon" but if there's a good case for a plug-in and Nyquist is capable of doing it then we can have a go at doing that

This forum board would probably be the best place: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewforum.php?f=42