Splitting and Time Shift

[kdoc]

How do I split a track in two, (without making a new track), so that with the time shift tool I can slide the right hand segment to the right, but the left segment stays where it is? If this is possible, is it perfectly acceptable (from a workflow point of view) to keep all of one speaker on one track, simply separating sections when I want the talking or music of another to be interjected--is that better than making a new track whenever there's a break from one speaker and the next?

kdoc

[steve]

How do I split a track in two, (without making a new track), so that with the time shift tool I can slide the right hand segment to the right, but the left segment stays where it is?

Place the cursor where you want the split, then press Ctrl+I (that's the letter "i")

is it perfectly acceptable (from a workflow point of view) to keep all of one speaker on one track

Yes - you can also apply a short fade out/in at the end of each "clip" so as to avoid an clicks or abrupt changes if there is any background noise on the track.

is that better than making a new track whenever there's a break from one speaker and the next?

It's a lot easier to manage.

[kdoc]

Thank you very much.I'm in the biggest editing task I've ever been, and that will make it less formidable!
kdoc

[kdoc]

Oops: but it doesn't seem to work: when I use Ctl "i" I get a split, but when I then shift the right segment to the right with the time shift tool, the left segment moves to the right with it--the space between doesn't enlarge!!??

kdoc

[kdoc]

Oops squared: figured out my problem. You have to unlink audio and label tracks first, apparently. I had been warned about this track setting, but hadn't entirely understood. If I'm correct, that means I'll lose my correct label location when I use the time sliding tool?

kdoc

[steve]

I'm in the biggest editing task I've ever been

Keep plenty of backups (write them to CD if you are short of disk space).

Make sure that you have a backup copy of all tracks in WAV format.

Periodically, Save the project with a new name (myproject01.aup, myproject02.aup, myproject02.aup, ...)
Make sure that these backups contain the audio data (use "File menu > Check dependencies" to check)

If you need to move any of the backups onto a CD or external drive, make sure that you move both the AUP file and the data folder.
Do not move the current AUP file or Data folder

"Save a compressed copy of project" will create a compact copy of the project that contains all the audio data in Ogg format. These will be a lot smaller than the original project, but there will be a slight quality loss due to the compression.

[steve]

You have to unlink audio and label tracks first, apparently. I had been warned about this track setting, but hadn't entirely understood. If I'm correct, that means I'll lose my correct label location when I use the time sliding tool?

You should be able to leave "Linking" on and have labels move with the audio clips. To do this you must "select" part of the clip that you want to move.
If you select the entire clip, then there may be some uncertainty for Audacity about the first and last samples as to whether the selection includes the last sample of the previous clip, or the first sample of the following clip. If you just select part of the clip(s) that you want to move, it avoids this uncertainty.

There have been some very recent changes to exactly how Audacity deals with linking labels, so check it out thoroughly before you start. If it does anything weird you may need to update to the most recent "nightly" build.

[kdoc]

Right; well, on my build (1.3.9 alpha) it doesn't work. As long as I unlink, it will slide whether or not i select anything. And if I link, I can slide only if I select, but the label on the left and right of the split moves together. So, here's my question: The edit I'm doing has taken a lot of time, and I don't want to ____ it up. Being able to do what we've discussed is probably not essential (I can work without labels). How dangerous is it for me to transfer my work to the latest builds?

kdoc

[steve]

It should be safe, but I like "belt and braces" safe, so I would save the project with a new name, then use the new version in the latest nightly build of Audacity.
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... tly_Builds

[billw58]

Right; well, on my build (1.3.9 alpha) it doesn't work. As long as I unlink, it will slide whether or not i select anything. And if I link, I can slide only if I select, but the label on the left and right of the split moves together. So, here's my question: The edit I'm doing has taken a lot of time, and I don't want to ____ it up. Being able to do what we've discussed is probably not essential (I can work without labels). How dangerous is it for me to transfer my work to the latest builds?

The behaviour you see with linking on is correct. Linking on means that tracks stay in sync, so moving one clip necessarily move the rest. Unfortunately, as you've observed, with linking off you lose sync with the labels. If you can lose the labels, then do that. Transferring to the latest builds will not help - the label-linking behaviour is the same.

-- Bill