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Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 4:38 pm
by brianejsmith
Hi
I'm running Audacity 2.0.2 on a Windows 10 Pro and I'm editing a large (more than 2 hours) audio file.
Ideally I'd like to use my mouse (wheel) to scroll forward and back through the file and use the left button to start and stop playback and the right button to add begin and end marks to allow extraction/export/deletion of sections.
Is this possible?
Brian
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 4:57 pm
by steve
Ctrl + Mouse wheel to zoom in/out
Shift + Mouse wheel to scroll horizontally
Mouse wheel scrolls vertically if you have more tracks than fits on the screen
Mouse events are not currently customisable. Look in "Edit > Preferences > Mouse" for the full list.
Start/Stop is set to spacebar by default.
Keyboard shortcut keys may be customised. See:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/ke ... ences.html
The full list of default keyboard shortcuts is here:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/ke ... rence.html
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:18 pm
by brianejsmith
Thanks Steve
That's really helpful.
One last question. Say I've advanced to a point in the file perhaps 5 minutes into it and I want to select from there back to the beginning as a selection for export. At the moment I'm scrolling back and takes forever; is there a quicker way?
And, finally (sorry

, is there a way of adding markers to a long recording that Audacity can quickly skip to? Supposing I'm recording a singing session and there are songs interspersed with periods of chat etc. Is there a sort of audio clapperboard?
Brian
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:24 pm
by steve
brianejsmith wrote: Say I've advanced to a point in the file perhaps 5 minutes into it and I want to select from there back to the beginning
You've not said how you are "advancing". If you are "playing" the track and there is no audio selection
1) Shift + A (stop and set cursor)
2) Shift + Home (extend selection to start).
brianejsmith wrote: is there a way of adding markers to a long recording
Audacity has "labels"
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/label_tracks.html
You can also play instantly from any position using the "Timeline Quick Play" feature (click on the Timeline:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/timeline.html#tqp)
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:28 pm
by brianejsmith
Thanks again Steve
I scroll through till I'm where I want to be then I use the mouse to mark the position with a thin vertical black line then I drag that line back to he beginning to highlight the section I want to export.
I meant adding markers during the time the recording is being made like a film director uses a clapperboard to mark starts and not after in editing.
B
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:40 pm
by steve
brianejsmith wrote:I scroll through till I'm where I want to be then I use the mouse to mark the position with a thin vertical black line then
then "shift + Home".
brianejsmith wrote:
I meant adding markers during the time the recording is being made like a film director uses a clapperboard to mark starts and not after in editing.
That's on the page that I gave a link for:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/label_tracks.html
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:45 pm
by brianejsmith
Hi Steve
I read that but it's based on your being inside Audacity during recording time but that's not my situation.
I set up a digital recorder (an Olympus LS10) and let it run through an entire session; some 2 hours or more. I then offload the recording to my PC where I get to work on it with Audacity.
If there was a means of recording start and stop points that Audacity could find that would be brilliant.
B
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 1:37 pm
by Gale Andrews
brianejsmith wrote:I read that but it's based on your being inside Audacity during recording time but that's not my situation.
I set up a digital recorder (an Olympus LS10) and let it run through an entire session; some 2 hours or more. I then offload the recording to my PC where I get to work on it with Audacity.
If there was a means of recording start and stop points that Audacity could find that would be brilliant.
That is an Audacity "feature request". The standard method would be for the recorder to add embedded cue points into the WAV file. Some audio editors can see those points, but Audacity cannot.
Gale
Re: Using the mouse for Editing
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 1:40 pm
by brianejsmith
Thanks Gale
Wasn't intending to be a nuisance and I definitely don't want to be suggesting more work!
Audacity's brilliant; I just don't know it well enough.
Brian