Audacity Forum

Hi,
I have a need to open multiple audio wav files into one track.
What options are available to do this?

Could I create an adhoc xml session file pointing to the source files?

We need to do open multiple files (20+) a lot, and it would help us with our workflow if we could just start the program with the windows showing all the files concatenated, just as the user will hear the end result.

Thanks,
Graham

it would help us with our workflow

Certainly. That's why Append - Import is a popular future Feature Request.

If you multiple Import now, I believe you get all the clips one above the other. There's a shortcut way to align track two start with the end of track one, three with the end of two, etc, but I need to look that one up. If you do that and export the show as, for example, a WAV file, Audacity will smash them all together into one long track.

Koz

Here it is. Tracks > Align...

I don't know how automatic you can make it, but it does save you having to manually shove each track sideways using the Time Shift Tools (two sideways black arrows).

Koz

Tracks > Align Tracks >Align End to End willline all the tracks up one after the other but still in separate tracks.

If you want them is a single track, then use Ctrl+A to select all the tracks and then use Tracks > Mix and Render

Have a look at this page in the Audacity Manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tracks_menu.html

WC

grahamsc wrote:Could I create an adhoc xml session file pointing to the source files?

That is one solution if you want the work to create the file: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/lof_files.html .

One good point about a LOF file is that you can force the order in which files are imported. Normally, Audacity imports files in alphabetical order of their file name.

If you want more trouble you can specify in the LOF file the offset (starting point on the Timeline) for each file, so line the files up that way.


Gale

Hi guys,
Thanks for your responses.

Yes,

"Append - Import" is a popular future Feature Request.

would be perfect, especially if I could call the feature by the lof file.

It would also be great if the lof file could also put labels at the location of every file.
I'm happy to help anyone test the "Append - Import" feature if your able to develop it.

Regards,
Graham

grahamsc wrote:would be perfect, especially if I could call the feature by the lof file.

Not quite "perfect" because I expect writing a LOF file would be beyond the capabilities of many Audacity users. However it would offer a very useful and flexible solution for everyone else.

steve wrote:

grahamsc wrote:would be perfect, especially if I could call the feature by the lof file.

Not quite "perfect" because I expect writing a LOF file would be beyond the capabilities of many Audacity users. However it would offer a very useful and flexible solution for everyone else.

I'll add grahamsc's "vote" for a GUI Append Import feature that includes LOF file support. For most users though they will need (as Steve says) interface options for import order, offset, space between imported files, perhaps an option to import at the cursor point, and so on.


Gale

Gale Andrews wrote:I'll add grahamsc's "vote" for a GUI Append Import feature that includes LOF file support. For most users though they will need (as Steve says) interface options for import order, offset, space between imported files, perhaps an option to import at the cursor point, and so on.

I think that extending the LOF syntax to support append import would be a good first step, so please add my vote for that.

steve wrote:

Gale Andrews wrote:I'll add grahamsc's "vote" for a GUI Append Import feature that includes LOF file support. For most users though they will need (as Steve says) interface options for import order, offset, space between imported files, perhaps an option to import at the cursor point, and so on.

I think that extending the LOF syntax to support append import would be a good first step, so please add my vote for that.

I'm not quite clear here - if the LOF syntax allowed specifying appending of files, would the user need to use a GUI Append Import rather than simply the existing File > Open... or File > Import...? I was figuring that a GUI Append Import that supported LOF would append from a LOF file using the existing LOF syntax.


Gale