How to use transport toolbar (advance/return) ?

[lavomatic]

To listen a long recording, I cannot go ahead or back with the transport toolbar ; like any good old recording machine (rapid advance or rapid return). So that I can't select a specific moment of my recording.

How to proceed ?

Thank you and merry Christmas !

[steve]

If you can't see all of the track, press the "Zoom to fit" button: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/ed ... oomproject
Then, to set the playback position, click on the track.

These links may also be useful:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/au ... ction.html
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/zooming.html

[lavomatic]

Thank you to Steve.
But I have great difficulties to use that zoom and select a specific recorded period.

[Gale Andrews]

On your keyboard, try RIGHT arrow for short forwards seeks while playing, or SHIFT + RIGHT arrow for longer forwards seeks while playing.

You can also use period/dot (.) instead for short forwards seeks and SHIFT + . for longer forwards seeks. These work when Audacity is playing or not.

For backwards seeks, use LEFT arrow or comma (,) instead of RIGHT arrow or period/dot.

You can change the short and long seek times in Playback Preferences .


Gale

[kozikowski]

Which is a long way of saying Audacity doesn't scrub. You can't just grab the playhead and push it around to make the audio speed up or slow down and get to an edit point. It's a Very Frequently Requested Feature.

I use only three magnifiers and drag-select to do almost everything. I turn off Preferences > Tracks > Auto Update.

Drag-select a portion of the show's blue waves close to what you need and zoom into it Control-E. If you miss it you can zoom back out a little with Control-3. Zoom out to the full show with Control-F. That's it. I don't use any of the other zoom or track management tools.

We don't have Edit Markers, either, but we do have Labels and you can do a lot with them.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Sorry. You're on a Mac. It's Command-E, Command-3 and Command-F.
Koz

[lavomatic]

Thank you Gale ! This is very helpful.
It now works, but I do not understand the second option : You can also use period/dot (.) instead for short forwards seeks and SHIFT + . for longer forwards seeks. These work when Audacity is playing or not. . I have a french keyboard and I am not familiar with all this.

[lavomatic]

Thank you also to Koz.
Nevertheless, only shift (right or left) on the Mac keyboard works for me. Command E, 3 or F no.

[Gale Andrews]

Which is a long way of saying Audacity doesn't scrub. You can't just grab the playhead and push it around to make the audio speed up or slow down and get to an edit point. It's a Very Frequently Requested Feature.

Yes, so @lavomatic - if you want to add a "vote" for scrubbing, let us know. There is a simpler "scrubbing" that just lets you drag the playhead and does not produce sound until you release the drag. Perhaps that is easier for us to implement.

I do not understand the second option :

You can also use period/dot (.) instead for short forwards seeks and SHIFT + . for longer forwards seeks. These work when Audacity is playing or not.

I have a french keyboard and I am not familiar with all this.

The "." is for the convenience of users of English keyboard layouts. In French layout you may have to use SHIFT and semicolon to produce the period/dot and so SHIFT + period/dot will not work.

If you only need seek when playing, you can just use SHIFT + RIGHT for the long forwards seek when playing.

If you want to use one shortcut for long forwards seek whether playing or not, choose Audacity > Preferences, then the "Keyboard" section. In "Keyboard", change to the "Command" category, then find "Cursor Long Jump Right" and change it to some other convenient shortcut. See Keyboard Preferences - To change or add a binding .


Gale

[Robert J. H.]

Which is a long way of saying Audacity doesn't scrub. You can't just grab the playhead and push it around to make the audio speed up or slow down and get to an edit point. It's a Very Frequently Requested Feature.

Yes, so @lavomatic - if you want to add a "vote" for scrubbing, let us know. There is a simpler "scrubbing" that just lets you drag the playhead and does not produce sound until you release the drag. Perhaps that is easier for us to implement.

Sounds not very accessible to my ears.
In my opinion, , the normal behaviour of such such a function would be to continuously play a short segment and a mouse movement or wheel turning would shift the cursor position.
Alternatively, the current keys (. and ,) could act more dynamically.
The faster you press the keys in succession, the farther the cursor moves, ie. the step is larger and the play speed higher.