How to extend boundary/region?

[cyrano]

The major reason I use Audacity, is because it is a destructive editor.

I never do any editing in a DAW. Non-destructive editing doesn't work for a lot of things, like sample editing.

[JesseKorosi]

I saw that this thread was really old, so I thought I'd check back in if this is still a limitation of the software? I have to agree with the original person that posted here and really don't understand why the Admin was arguring with him about this... I come from the video editing side of things (Avid, Premier, FCP) and was testing this software out to see if I could use it for editing a podcast. The idea that if by accident I trim something out, I have to completely re-import the file and attempt to drop it back into place, is absolutely insane. Like the original person, I feel like this is a show stopper for me... Hopefully this has been addressed by now though...?

Thanks!

[waxcylinder]

Nothing has changed in this respect over those three years - Audacity remains (and is extremely likely to remain) a destructive sample editor and it is not a DAW.

If a destructive editor suits your production workflow needs then Audacity may well suit you - and you can't argue with the price

However, if you need a full-blown non-destructive DAW then you would need to find (an probably pay for) one.

This project is run and maintained by a tiny team of part-time volunteers, we are not a large corporation with a big team of developers and QA folk. To create a DAW from Audacity would require a team much, much larger than we have now - or are ever likely to have in the future.

WC

[waxcylinder]

The idea that if by accident I trim something out, I have to completely re-import the file and attempt to drop it back into place, is absolutely insane.

It depends how far back in the editing you
a) made the mistake
b) are prepared to lose edits after the mistake

Provided you haven't closed Audacity you can always use the Undo command or the History functionality to wind back to just before you made the mistake,

Alternatively you could keep your edits and then also open up a copy of the original to fine the bit you accidentally trimmed out and drop it back ion at the appropriate place in your edited project. That assumes that you follow good practice and keep a copy of the original - better practice is to use Save Lossless copy of Project at key editing stages - so then you can always revert back to one of those, rather than go back and start all over.

WC

[JesseKorosi]

I appreciate the feedback. I oversee a development team as well and can understand the concern over scope and budget. I don't think either of us in this thread were really looking for the tool to become a full blow DAW. It's actually already very well equipped though. It was just the one feature of being able to extend a cut we were hoping was possible.

But either way, I appreciate your prompt replies and the edit undo could definitely work if the edit we want to make is noticed right away. Just not if it's desired after the fact, maybe while we're playing down the sequence.

Thanks!

[steve]

I don't think it's really a matter of "scope and budget", but rather a matter of the type of tool it is.

Comparing a real-time DAW with a sample editor is like comparing Photo Shop with Microsoft Word. Even though both may end up with output from the printer, they are different types of app with different design goals.