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Sound Forge Pro 15 Manual

editor de audio sound forge maual

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

344 views

Sound Forge Pro 15 Manual

editor de audio sound forge maual

Uploaded by

nosisfm

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 512

VERSION 15 SOUND FORGE

SOUND FORGE PRO

Advanced audio editing, sound design and mastering

English language manual

This documentation is protected by copyright law.
All rights, especially the right of duplication, circulation, and translation are reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in form of copies, microfilms or other processes, or transmitted into a language used for
machines, especially data processing machines, without the express written consent of the publisher.
All rights of reproduction are reserved. Errors in and changes to the contents as well as program modifications reserved.
Copyright © MAGIX Software GmbH, 1994 – 2021. All rights reserved.
MAGIX, Vegas and all mentioned MAGIX product names are registered trademarks of MAGIX Software GmbH
Other mentioned product names may be registered trademarks of the respective manufacturer.
"ATRAC," "ATRAC3," "ATRAC3plus," "ATRAC Advanced Lossless," and the ATRAC logo are trademarks of Sony Corporation.
http://www.sony.net/Products/ATRAC3/
This program uses libsox in parts, which is licensed under the LPGL 2.
More license information can be found online at the MAGIX web sites .
MAGIX licensing conditions are included in the installation and also at www.magix.com under EULA.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Table of Contents 3
SOUND FORGE Pro 15 25
What's new in version 15? 25
Customer support 26
Interactive Tutorials 27
Optimizing SOUND FORGE Pro Software 27
Defragmenting your hard drive 27
Increasing playback buffer size 27
Meters 28
Passive updating for video and time displays 28
Audio and video synchronization 28
The SOUND FORGE Pro Window 29
SOUND FORGE Pro Toolbars 29
Show or hide toolbars 29
Customize a toolbar 30
Dock or float (undock) a toolbar 30
The Standard Toolbar 31
The Transport Toolbar 32
The Navigation Toolbar 33
The Status Toolbar 35
The Regions/Playlist Toolbar 37
The Insert Toolbar 37
The Process Toolbar 38
The Effects Toolbar 39
The Tools Toolbar 41
The Levels Toolbar 42
The Transport Toolbar 44
The Status Bar 45
Edit the sample rate, bit depth, or channels 46
Change the status display format 46

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Table of Contents

Data Windows 47
Title bar 47
Overview bar 48
Video strip 49
Time ruler 49
Next Edit Tool button 49
Minimize channel height 49
Level ruler 50
CD layout bar 50
Level zoom 50
Playbar 50
Scroll bar 52
Scrub control 53
Selection status bar 53
Time zoom 54
Time zoom resolution 54
Maximize width 54
Close data window 54
Choosing a Status Format 54
Editing Tempo 56
Vocal Activity Detection 57
Wave Coloring 58
Arranging Data Windows 58
Workspaces 59
Open a workspace 60
Save a workspace 60
The Views Toolbar 60
Save the current view 60
Recall a saved view 61
Saving and Recalling Window Layouts 61
Save a window layout 61
Load a saved layout 62

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Add a layout to the View > Window Layouts submenu 62

Remove a layout from the View > Window Layouts submenu 62
Delete a layout from your computer 63
The SOUND FORGE Pro Windows 63
Docking and Undocking Windows 63
The Explorer Window 64
File Properties 67
Time Display 69
Channel Meters 72
The Undo/Redo History Window 75
Instant Actions 75
Metadata Windows 78
How Do I. . . ? 90
Mixing Multiple Files 90
How Do I Create ACID Loops with SOUND FORGE Pro? 91
How Do I Create a New File Using Part of Another File? 93
How Do I Convert Markers to Regions That I Can Use In CD Architect? 93
How Do I Record from an External Source? 94
Connect an audio source to your sound card's input 94
Choose an input device and adjust levels 95
Adjust for DC offset 97
Working with Files 98
Creating a New Window 98
Opening a File 98
Open a file 99
Open a file as read-only 99
Preview files 99
Merge two mono files into a single stereo file 99
Open a file as a CD track 100
Append files to the current data window 100
Display more information about the selected file 100
Change file reader settings for VOX, IVC, and RAW files 100

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Table of Contents

Opening a Raw Data File 101

Closing a File 102
Saving a File 102
Save As/Render As 102
Export Dialog 104
Creating an Export Preset 105
Using Export Presets 107
The Batch Converter 108
Using SOUND FORGE Pro with the Windows Explorer Context Menu 112
Custom File Templates 114
Create or edit a template 114
Delete a template 115
Copy rendering templates between computers or user accounts 115
Working with Projects 116
Project References in Rendered Files 117
Save the project path in the rendered file 117
Edit a referenced project 117
Saving all Open Files 118
Extracting Audio from CDs 118
Creating Track-at-Once (TAO) CDs 120
Creating Disc-at-Once (DAO) CDs 121
Creating and Editing Tracks for a Disc-at-Once CD 122
Moving Tracks on the CD Layout Bar 127
Editing Pause Time for a Disc-at-Once CD 129
The Track List Window 130
Rearrange tracks 130
Edit track position and length 130
Edit track title and artist information 130
Adjust pause time 131
Toggle protection and emphasis flags 131
Edit ISRC codes 131
Create a track list (PQ list or cue sheet) 132

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Creating a Track List for a Disc-at-Once CD 132

Adding CD Text to a Disc-at-Once CD 134
Burning a Disc-at-Once CD 135
Exporting DDP 137
Viewing File Statistics 138
Crash Recovery 141
Working with Video Files 142
Attaching or Detaching a Video Stream 142
Attaching video to an audio file 142
Detaching video from a file 142
The Video Strip 142
Show or hide the video strip 143
Turn animation on or off 143
Display frame numbers 144
Video Preview 144
Copy the current frame to the clipboard 144
Preview on an external monitor 144
Change Video Preview window settings 144
Configuring an External Video Monitor 145
Set up an external monitor 146
Preview audio 146
Multichannel Audio - Overview 147
Routing Channels to Hardware Outputs 148
Opening and Editing Multichannel Audio Files 148
Stereo-to-Mono (or Mono-to-Stereo) Conversion 149
Convert a mono file to stereo 149
Convert a stereo file to mono 150
Customize the mix 150
Recording Multichannel Audio 150
Hardware Meters Window 153
Adjust output levels 153
Show or hide meters 153

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Previewing a File 155

Choosing a Playback Mode 155
Play Normal mode 155
Play as Sample mode 156
Play as Cutlist mode 156
Data Window Scrolling 156
Preview Cut/Cursor 156
Pre-Roll to Cursor 157
Scrubbing 157
Use the scrub control in the data window 157
Scrub using the keyboard 158
Scrub by dragging the cursor 158
Scrub with the audio event locator 158
Monitoring Levels in Digital Audio 159
Decibels 159
Digital versus analog levels 159
Setting digital audio levels 160
Channel Meters 160
Show or hide the Play Meters window 161
Show or hide meters 161
Reset clip indicators 161
Change the meters' display resolution 161
Change the meters' display options 162
Route channels to hardware outputs 163
VU and Peak Program Meters 163
Choose a VU or PPM scale 164
Adjust the VU meters' sensitivity 165
Change the Peak Meters' display resolution 165
Phase Scope 166
Mono-Compatibility Meter 169
Peak Meter V2 170
K-Metering 170

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Oscilloscope 171
Spectroscope 171
Detecting and Marking Clipping 172
Loudness Meters 173
Choose a metering mode 174
Choose a loudness scale 174
Configure peak meters 175
Generate a loudness log 175
Recording 177
Creating a New Recording 177
Create a recording 178
Set up pre- and post-roll 179
Set a prerecord buffer 179
Review recorded takes 180
Recording into an Existing Sound File 180
Record at the current cursor position or into a selection 181
Record multiple takes into a selection 182
Set up pre- and post-roll 183
Set a prerecord buffer 184
Review recorded takes 184
Recording Audio Automatically 184
Record audio over a set threshold 185
Record using MIDI timecode 186
Record using a timer 187
Record Options 188
Choose a recording method 188
Choose a recording mode 189
Set up input monitoring 189
Adjust for DC offset 190
How Do I Record from an External Source? 191
Connect an audio source to your sound card's input 191
Choose an input device and adjust levels 193

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Adjust for DC offset 194

Recording Multichannel Audio 194
Generating MTC/SMPTE Synchronization During Recording 197
Remote Record 197
Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor 199
Selecting Data Using the Mouse 199
Make a selection 199
Select channels 200
Lock selected channels 201
Adjust the length of a selection 201
Shift a selection left or right 201
The Set Selection Dialog 202
Select data 202
Specify an input format 202
Preview your selection 202
Snap selection ends to zero crossings 203
Snap selection ends to the time ruler 203
Mark In 203
Marking Out 203
Looped Playback 204
Quantize to Frames 204
Enable Snapping 204
Turn snapping on or off 205
Automatically snap to the grid 205
Automatically snap to markers 206
Automatically snap to events 206
Automatically snap to zero crossings 206
Turn off automatic snapping at high zoom levels 206
Snap an existing selection to the grid or zero crossings 207
Selection Snapping 207
Snap to Grid 207
Snap Edge to Grid 208

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Snap to Zero 208

Snap Edge to Zero 209
Extend to Next Zero 209
Extend Edge to Next Zero 209
Adjusting Selections 210
Halve Selection 210
Double Selection 210
Shift Selection Left 210
Shift Selection Right 210
Rotate Audio 211
Using Selection Grid Lines 211
Toggling and Cycling Selections 211
Select All 212
Go To 212
The Find Dialog 213
Centering the Cursor 214
Basic Editing 216
Editing Tools 216
The Edit Tool 216
The Magnify Tool 216
The Pencil Tool 217
The Envelope Tool 217
Adjusting an envelope 217
Adding envelope points 218
Flipping an envelope 218
Setting fade properties 218
Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points 219
Copying an envelope to another data window 219
Cut 220
Copy 220
Viewing Clipboard Contents 221
Playing Clipboard Contents 221

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Paste 221
Paste by dragging and dropping a selection 222
Paste audio from the clipboard 223
Paste Special 223
Mix 223
Mix by dragging and dropping a selection 224
Mix audio from the clipboard 226
Overwrite 227
Replicate 227
Example: 228
Paste to New 228
Delete (Clear) 228
Trim/Crop 229
Magnification and Zooming 229
Use the Magnify tool 230
Zoom horizontally 230
Zoom vertically 231
Zoom to a selection 231
Zoom to an event 232
Return to the default zoom ratio 232
Use custom zoom ratios 232
Undoing and Redoing Edits 233
Undo a single operation 233
Undo all edits 233
Redo a single operation 233
Repeat 233
The Event Tool 234
Creating Events 234
Create events by cutting, copying, or pasting sound data 234
Split events 234
Create events by dragging files from the Explorer 234
Create events by dragging selections 235

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Create events by processing a selection 235

Moving Events 236
Splitting Events 236
Split events at the cursor 237
Split events at region boundaries 237
Cutting, Copying, Pasting, Mixing, and Deleting Events 237
Cut events 237
Copy events 238
Paste events 238
Mix events 238
Delete events 238
Selecting Events 239
Selecting events with the mouse 239
Selecting events using menu commands 239
Selecting events using keyboard shortcuts 240
Crossfading Events 240
Create an automatic crossfade 240
Create a manual crossfade 240
Change the fade type 241
Event Envelopes (ASR) 241
Adjust an event's volume 241
Fade an event in or out 242
Change the fade type 242
Slipping and Trimming Events 242
Trim an event 242
Slip (shift the contents of) an event 243
Slip-trim an event 243
Auto Ripple Events 244
Applying Processes and Effects to Events 245
Using Markers, Regions and Commands 246
Using Markers 246
Insert a marker 246

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Name or rename a marker 246

Move a marker 246
Delete a marker 246
Delete all markers and regions 247
Delete all markers and regions within the selected area 247
Preview a marker 247
Trigger a marker using MIDI commands 247
Inserting Regions 248
Insert a region 248
Name or rename a region 248
Select a region 249
Move a region 249
Delete a region 249
Delete all markers and regions 249
Delete all markers and regions within the selected area 249
Preview a region 249
Trigger a region using MIDI commands 249
Converting Markers to Regions 250
Creating Regions Automatically 251
Creating regions based on fast attacks 251
Creating regions based on a musical time interval 252
Extracting Regions to New Files 252
Updating Marker or Region Positions 253
Replicating Markers or Regions 254
Deleting Markers or Regions 254
Splitting Regions 254
Importing a Regions/Playlist File 255
Copying Regions to the Clipboard 256
Locking Loop and Region Lengths 256
Clearing Markers and Regions 257
Inserting Commands 257
Insert a command marker 257

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Delete a command marker 258

Edit a command marker 258
Move the cursor to a command marker 259
Use command templates 259
Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist 260
Playlist/Cutlist 260
Add a region to the Playlist/Cutlist window 260
Specify a region's play count 261
Pre-roll playback 261
Set a playlist stop point 261
Trigger a playlist region using MIDI commands 262
Trigger playback with MIDI timecode 262
Adding, Arranging, Removing Playlist/Cutlist Regions 263
Adding a region 263
Moving regions 263
Replicating a playlist/cutlist region 264
Deleting a region 264
Clearing all playlist/cutlist regions 264
Playing a Playlist/Cutlist 264
Play a playlist 264
Play a cutlist 265
Pre-roll playlist entries 265
Creating a New File from a Playlist/Cutlist 265
Deleting Cutlist Regions 266
Saving a Regions/Playlist File 266
Copying the Playlist/Cutlist to the Clipboard 266
Applying Processes and Effects 268
The Process, Effects, and FX Favorites Menus 268
Applying an effect 269
Previewing a processing operation 270
Saving a preset 270
Changing the selection while previewing 270

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Adjusting previewing and processing settings 270

Applying Processes and Effects to Events 270
Using the Plug-In Manager 271
Use the Plug-In Manager to organize plug-ins and build the FX Favorites
menu 271
Rename a plug-in 271
Hide a plug-in 272
Using the Plug-In Chain 272
Create a plug-in chain 273
Add, remove, or arrange plug-ins on a chain 273
Set a plug-in's properties 275
Load an effects chain or plug-in preset 275
Preview the effects chain 277
Apply the effects chain 277
Save the plug-in chain as a preset 277
Save the settings from an individual plug-in as a preset 277
Plug-In Chain shortcuts 279
Applying a Plug-In Chain 279
Creating a plug-in chain 279
Adding, removing, or arranging plug-ins on a chain 280
Set a plug-in's properties 281
Load an effects chain or plug-in preset 281
Preview the effects chain 283
Apply the effects chain 283
Save the plug-in chain as a preset 283
Save the settings from an individual plug-in as a preset 283
Using Processing Dialogs 285
Preview audio 287
Preview with pre- or post-roll 287
Choose a processing mode for tail data 287
Create a preset 287
Delete a preset 288

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Use SOUND FORGE Pro controls 288

Change the data window selection 290
Change the wet/dry mix and fade in/out 291
Automating Effect Parameters 293
Adding a volume or panning envelope 294
Adjusting effect parameters with plug-in controls 295
Adjusting effect parameters with envelopes 295
Previewing effect automation 295
Applying effect automation 296
Showing or hiding effect automation envelopes 296
Enabling or bypassing effect automation envelopes 296
Integrated Editing with Melodyne and Spectralayers Pro 296
Preparation 297
Using Melodyne 297
Using SpectraLayers Pro 298
The Envelope Tool 298
Adjusting an envelope 298
Adding envelope points 299
Flipping an envelope 299
Flipping all points 299
Flipping selected points 299
Setting fade properties 299
Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points 300
Copying an envelope to another data window 300
Processes 301
Automatically Trimming/Cropping a File 301
Bit-Depth Converter 302
Change a file's bit depth 302
Set the bit depth for playback only 304
Channel Converter 304
Convert a stereo file to mono 305
Convert a mono file to stereo (or multichannel) 305

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Changing Volume 320

Effects 321
Acoustic Mirror 321
Amplitude Modulation 321
Chorus 321
Delay/Echo 322
Distortion 322
Dynamics 322
Envelope 322
Apply an amplitude envelope 322
Display the waveform 323
Flange/Wah-Wah 324
Gapper/Snipper 324
Noise Gate 324
Pitch 324
Bend 324
Shift 325
Resonant Filter 326
Reverb 326
Vibrato 326
Wave Hammer 326
Wave Hammer 2.0 326
DeClicker / DeCrackler 326
DeClipper 327
DeHisser 327
coreFX 327
wizardFX Suite 339
Repairing Glitches, Clicks, and Noise 340
Interpolating Sound Data 340
Replacing Sound Data with Previous Data 340
Replace a selection 340
Find and replace a glitch 341

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Creating or Editing Sample Information 357

Create a sustaining loop 357
Create a sustaining loop with a release loop 358
Trigger the sample with MIDI 358
Edit an existing loop 359
Processing Musical Instrument Files 359
Open a musical instrument file 360
Preview samples 361
Select samples 361
Process a selection 363
Edit samples 364
Save your changes 365
Loop Tuner 365
Learn more about looping techniques 365
Play from the Loop Tuner 366
Switch between sustaining and release loops 366
Fine-tune loop endpoints 366
Move the end points to a zero-crossing 366
Lock a loop length 367
Save loop points 367
Crossfading Loops 367
Using the MIDI Keyboard 368
Open the MIDI Keyboard 369
Resize the MIDI Keyboard 369
Configuring the output device and channel 369
Select instruments 369
Play the keyboard 370
Troubleshoot the MIDI Keyboard 370
MIDI Synchronization 371
Generating MIDI Timecode 371
Triggering from MIDI Timecode 371
Trigger playback with MIDI timecode 371

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Trigger recording with MIDI timecode 372

Pre-Queuing Data for Synchronization 372
Using MIDI Triggers 372
Configure an internal or external MIDI controller 373
Assign SOUND FORGE Pro events to MIDI triggers 373
Spectrum Analysis 375
Viewing a Spectrum Graph 375
Generate spectrum information 375
View amplitude, frequency, notes, and statistics 376
Change the graph type 376
Change the zoom level of the graph 377
Navigate the graph 377
Synchronize graphs in a multichannel file 377
Create and compare snapshots of the Spectrum Analysis window 378
Print the graph 379
Refresh the graph 379
Turn on real-time input/output monitoring 379
Viewing a Sonogram 379
Generate a sonogram 380
Adjust color and intensity 380
View frequency, amplitude, notes, and statistics 380
Synchronize graphs in a multichannel file 381
Use a sonogram to find the fundamental frequency of a sound 381
Print the graph 382
Refresh the graph 382
Turn on real-time input monitoring 382
Changing Spectrum Analysis Settings 382
Customizing Sound Forge 386
Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts 386
Edit or create new shortcuts 386
Save a keyboard map 386
Delete a keyboard map 386

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Import or rename a keyboard map 386

Reset the default keyboard map 387
General Preferences 387
Display Preferences 392
Wave Color Preferences 395
Editing Preferences 395
Labeling Preferences 400
File Type Preferences 401
MIDI/Sync Preferences 402
Preview Preferences 403
Status Preferences 404
Toolbar Preferences 406
Display or hide toolbars 406
Display or hide ToolTips 406
Customize a toolbar 406
CD Settings Preferences 407
Preferences - Audio Tab 408
Advanced Audio Configuration 410
Microsoft Sound Mapper or Windows Classic Wave Driver 411
ASIO 412
Video Preferences 412
Preferences - VST Effects 413
Shortcuts 415
Keyboard Shortcuts 415
Project File Shortcuts 415
Magnification and View Shortcuts 415
Data Window Shortcuts 417
Cursor Movement Shortcuts 418
Data Selection Shortcuts 419
Navigation and Playback Shortcuts 421
Event Tool Shortcuts 423
Plug-In Chain Shortcuts 423

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Regions List Shortcuts 424

Playlist/Cutlist Shortcuts 424
Script Editor Shortcuts 424
Drag-and-Drop Shortcuts 425
Mouse Shortcuts 426
Appendix 428
SOUND FORGE Pro and the Microsoft Audio Compression Manager 428
Audio data compression and decompression 428
Transparent playback and recording of non-hardware-supported audio files 429
Troubleshooting 430
Troubleshooting Playback or Recording Problems 430
Troubleshooting File Support Problems 433
Troubleshooting Effects Problems 434
Troubleshooting Sampling and Sequencing Problems 435
MIDI/SDS Troubleshooting 436
SCSI/MIDI Troubleshooting 436
Glossary 439
-A- 439
-B- 441
-C- 442
-D- 444
-E- 446
-F- 446
-H- 447
-I- 448
-L- 449
-M- 449
-O- 452
-R- 455
-U- 459
Index 462

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SOUND FORGE Pro 15

SOUND FORGE PRO 15

SOUND FORGE PRO software is the workhorse of countless audio professionals, and it
just keeps getting better. You'll find that the new features in this version will help
simplify your life by consolidating common tasks and allowing you to customize the
software to suit your needs.

What's new in version 15?

l New Instant Actions: In the new section Editing there are, among other things,
instant actions for the automatic creation of regions in audio files (Wordlist). With
Shorten silence the pauses between the regions can be shortened to a minimum
length. In the area Export there are new instant actions, among other things, for
ACX-compliant export or the export of all regions.
l Many of the new instant actions can also be accessed via the Windows Explorer
context menu, for quick conversion all available export formats can be selected.
l Completely redesigned Batch Processing tool. Organize your batch jobs in folders
and have all jobs at hand in a menu instantly. You can also save your custom batch
processing jobs as instant actions or add it to the Explorer context menu.
l New Export dialog. In the same new design as the Batch Processing dialog, you can
save frequently used export options like location, naming or file formats in an
Export Preset. Optionally Resampling, Bit Rate Conversion or Normalization is
available. You can also add a watermark to the audio file. There are also new menu
items to export with the last used preset and a sub-menu Export with preset
containing all export presets for quick access.
l Loudness Normalize: Loudness normalization to the EBU R128 and ITU BS.1770-4
standards are supported.
l ACX Format compliance check: With the new ACX Check action you can check, if
your audio file complies to the ACX standard.
l New wizardFX: 11 Professional VST effects with many presets and extremely easy
operation using just one fader.
l Remote Record window: For recordings, you can hide the interface of SOUND
FORGE PRO with a single click and display the Remote Record window, which only
shows the controls necessary for recording.
l The design of the peak meters was adapted to the rest of the surface.
l New versions of included mastering and audio restoration plug-ins by iZotope,

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SOUND FORGE Pro 15

Ozone Elements and RX

l Improved VST support with many bug fixes and a faster scan.

Customer support
Dear MAGIX customer,
Our aim is to provide convenient, fast and solution-focused support, which is why you
can get unlimited web support and help through our online community at
www.magix.info.
As a registered MAGIX customer, you have unlimited access to web support offered by
the MAGIX service portal in the Support area at www.magix.info. You have access to an
intelligent help wizard, high-quality FAQs, patches and user reports that are constantly
updated.
The Online Community is available for free to all registered MAGIX customers in the
Forum area. The community enables you to ask members questions concerning MAGIX
products as well as use the search function in order to search for specific topics or
answers. In addition to questions & answers, the knowledge pool includes a glossary,
video tutorials and a discussion forum. The multiple experts, who are on
www.magix.info everyday, guarantee quick answers, which sometimes come within
minutes of a question being posted.
Note: A free registration is required for a support request at www.magix.info.

MAGIX Sales Department

You can reach the MAGIX Sales Department workdays for help with the following
questions and problems:
l Orders
l Product consulting (pre-purchase)
l Upgrade requests
l Returns
Phone: +49 5741 3455-31, Monday to Friday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Email: infoservice@magix.net
Address: MAGIX Software GmbH, Borsigstrasse 24, 32312 Lübbecke

Particularities for purchases made through Steam™

Different conditions apply if you have purchased the program through Steam™. You can
find more information at https://support.steampowered.com.

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SOUND FORGE Pro 15

Interactive Tutorials
From the Help menu, choose Interactive Tutorials to start an interactive guide that
will show you each part of the SOUND FORGE PRO interface and teach you how to edit
audio.
Choose a topic from the Interactive Tutorials overview to start a tutorialyou'll be up and
running in no time!

Optimizing SOUND FORGE PRO Software

This topic contains information about configuring your system to maximize SOUND
FORGE PRO performance.

Defragmenting your hard drive

With time and usage, hard drives become fragmented, leading to discontiguous files and
slow access. This is particularly true for older hard drives. Since SOUND FORGE PRO
software is hard drive intensive, faster disk access equates better performance.
Therefore, the initial step in improving system performance is hard drive
defragmentation.
The Windows Disk Defragmenter should be run prior to using SOUND FORGE PRO
software.

Increasing playback buffer size

The playback buffer size determines the amount of RAM used for playing from the hard
drive. A buffer size of 0.10 seconds is recommended, but increased buffering may be
necessary if you detect gaps during playback.
Increasing the total buffer size requires additional memory. Combined with a large
preload size, this may result in a delay when starting and stopping playback.
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.
2. Click the Audio tab.
3. Use the Playback buffering slider to configure an appropriate buffer size value and
click OK. If you're using an ASIO device, click the Advanced button to display the
Advanced Audio Configuration dialog, and then click the Configure button to edit
your device settings.

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SOUND FORGE Pro 15

Meters
If you experience gapping during playback and the channel meters are displayed, turn
them off by choosing Channel Meters from the View menu.
If you experience gapping during recording and you have the Monitor check box selected
in the Record (⇗177) dialog, clear the check box to turn off the record meters.

Passive updating for video and time displays

If you experience gapping during playback or your computer just seems to be bogging
down during playback, try turning on Passive Update. This will force the video and time
displays to update only if there is time to do so. In most cases you won't be able to tell if
it is missing some updates.
l From the Options menu, choose Time Display, and choose Passive Update from
the submenu.
l From the Options menu, choose Video, and choose Passive Update from the
submenu.

Audio and video synchronization

If your video has been opened from a slow device, such as a CD-ROM or network
drive, SOUND FORGE PRO may have trouble accurately playing back the audio and
video in sync. You should always copy your video files to a fast hard drive.
Following are tips that can help when trying to synchronize the audio and video:
l After assembling or editing the audio you wish to use with your video, place
markers during video playback to correspond to any major synchronization points.
You can locate a particular frame by dragging the cursor along the audio if the
Video Preview window is open or the Animate Video Strip option is enabled. After
primary locations have been identified, drag your audio to these markers to mix,
paste, and crossfade audio.
l Features such as Insert Silence, Delete/Clear (⇗228), and Time Stretch are
commonly used to correct synchronization. Another useful trick is to create a
region representing the offset between a video frame and audio event. Then you
can enable Lock Loop/Region Length and drag the offset region to a preceding
silent section. Use the region as a template for adjusting the audio stream
lengtheither copying and pasting to insert time or deleting to remove time.

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The SOUND FORGE Pro Window

The SOUND FORGE PRO Window

The SOUND FORGE PRO window is divided into five main areas, and you can use views
to manage the appearance of the window.

SOUND FORGE PRO Toolbars

The SOUND FORGE PRO window provides toolbars to help you find and use commands
quickly. You can use the Toolbars (⇗406) tab in the Preferences dialog to specify which
toolbars you want to display on the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace.

Show or hide toolbars

1. From the View menu, choose Toolbars to display the Toolbars tab in the
Preferences dialog.
2. Specify which toolbars you want to see:
l Select the check box for the toolbars you want to see.
l Clear the check box for the toolbars you want to hide.
3. Click the OK button.

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Customize a toolbar
1. From the View menu, choose Toolbars to display the Toolbars tab in the
Preferences dialog.
2. Select the check box for the toolbars you want to customize. If the check box is
already selected, click the toolbar's name to select it.
3. Click the Customize button. The Customize Toolbar dialog is displayed.
4. Use the controls in the Customize Toolbar dialog to add, remove, or rearrange the
buttons on the selected toolbar:
l Select a button in the Available tools column and click Add to add the button
to the toolbar before the currently selected button.
l Select a button in the Current tools column and click Remove to remove the
button from the toolbar.
l Select a button in the Current tools column and click Move Up or Move
Down to rearrange the buttons.
5. Click Reset to restore the toolbar to its default setting.
6. Click the OK button.

Dock or float (undock) a toolbar

You can dock toolbars to the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace or allow them to float
freely over the SOUND FORGE PRO window.

Docking a floating toolbar

1. Click the toolbar's title bar and drag it to one of the borders of the workspace.
2. When the toolbar's outline changes, release the mouse button to dock it to the
mouse position.
You can click an empty area of a toolbar and drag it to move the toolbar to a new location.

Floating a docked toolbar

1. Click an empty area of the docked toolbar and drag it to the center of the
workspace.
2. When the toolbar's outline changes, release the mouse to dock it to the mouse
position.

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The Standard Toolbar

The Standard toolbar provides quick access to commonly used file and edit commands.
Button Description
New: click to create a new (⇗98) window.
Open: click to open (⇗98) a file.
Save: click to save the current file.
Save As: click to save (⇗102) the current file with a new name or format.
Render As: click to render your SOUND FORGE PRO project (⇗116) file as a
media file.
Cut: click to remove (⇗220) the selected sound data and move it to the
clipboard.
Copy: click to copy (⇗220) the selected sound data to the clipboard.
Paste: click to insert (⇗221) a copy of the clipboard contents at the current
insertion point.
Mix: click to mix (⇗223) a copy of the clipboard contents at the current
insertion point.
Play Clipboard: click to play the contents of the clipboard.
Trim/Crop: click to remove (⇗229) all data from the file except the current
selection.
Undo: click to reverse the last action performed.
Redo: click to reverse an undo operation.
Repeat: click to repeat (⇗233) the last performed operation.
Edit Tool: click to select the Edit tool (⇗216). Use the Edit tool to select data.
Magnify Tool: click to select the Magnify tool. Use the Magnify tool to zoom
in to a particular region without losing your selection.
Pencil Tool: click to select the Pencil tool. Use the Pencil tool to edit the
waveform by drawing on it.
Event Tool: click to select the Event tool. Use the Event tool to perform
event-based editing (⇗234).
Envelope Tool: click to select the Envelope tool. Use the Envelope tool to
edit effect automation envelopes.

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The Transport Toolbar

Use the Transport toolbar to perform playback and recording functions.
Button Description
Arm: When you click Arm, the wave device is opened and all recording
buffers are loaded in order to minimize the amount of time between clicking
the Record button and when recording starts.
When Create new window is selected in the Mode drop-down list in the
Record Options (⇗177) window, the Arm and Record buttons are
enabled even when no data windows are open. When Normal or Create
regions is selected, the Arm and Record buttons are not available
until you create a data window (⇗98) or open a file (⇗98).
Record: Starts/Stops the recording. For more information, please see one of
the following topics:
l Create a new recording (⇗177)
l Record into an existing sound file (⇗180)
l Recording Audio Automatically (⇗184)
Loop Playback: Plays the selected (⇗199) data in a continuous mode.
If there is no selection, the entire sound file is played in an endless loop.
Play All: click to play the entire file from beginning to end, regardless of
cursor position, selection, or playlist.
Playback for musical instrument files (⇗359) behaves slightly differently than
playback in a normal data window.
l If no samples are selected, click Play All to play all samples in the data
window.
l If you have samples selected, click Play Allto play all selected samples
in the data window.

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Play: click to play back the file in current playback mode (⇗155).
Playback for musical instrument files behaves slightly differently than
playback in a normal data window.
l If no samples are selected, click Play to play all samples from the
cursor position to the end of the data window.
l If you have samples selected, click Play to play all selected samples
from the cursor position to the end of the data window.
Select the Spacebar and F12 Play/Pause instead of Play/Stop check box in
the General Preferences (⇗ 387) tab if you want the F12 and spacebar
keyboard shortcuts to toggle between Play and Pause mode. In this mode, the
cursor will maintain its position.
Pause: click to pause playback and leave the cursor at its current position.
Stop: click to stop playback and return the cursor to its position prior to
playback.
Go to Start: click to move the cursor to the beginning of the current file.
Go to Previous Track: Moves the cursor to the previous disc-at-once track
or index (⇗122). Hold Ctrl while clicking to skip index markers, or hold Shift
to extend a selection.
This button is available only if disc-at-once tracks (⇗122) are present in your
data window.
Rewind: click to move the cursor backward through the current file.
Forward: click to move the cursor forward through the current file.
Go to Next Track: Moves the cursor to the next disc-at-once track or index.
Hold Ctrl while clicking to skip index markers, or hold Shift to extend a
selection.
This button is available only if disc-at-once tracks are present in your data
window.
Go to End: click to move the cursor to the end of the current file.
Remote Record: Click this button to display the Remote Record (⇗197)
window and hide the SOUND FORGE PRO main window from view.

The Navigation Toolbar

Use the Navigation toolbar to navigate the data window. Some of the operations
included are zooming, marking, moving the cursor, and moving to relevant points.

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Button Description
Zoom in Full: click to maximize the horizontal magnification to 24:1.
Zoom Normal: click to change the horizontal zoom ratio to the value specified
on the Display tab of the Preferences dialog.
Zoom Selection: click to maximize the selected area in the data window.
Custom Zoom 1: click to change the horizontal zoom ratio to the value
specified on the Display tab of the Preferences dialog.
Custom Zoom 2: click to change the horizontal zoom ratio to the value
specified on the Display tab of the Preferences dialog.
Mark In: click to set the beginning of the loop region at the current cursor
position.
Mark Out: click to set the end of the loop region at the current cursor position.
Go To: click to display the Go To dialog.
Center Cursor: click to adjust the display so that the cursor appears in the
center of the data window.
Cursor to Selection Start: click to move the cursor to the start of the current
selection.
Cursor to Selection End: click to move the cursor to the end of the current
selection.
Center Sustaining Start: click to center the beginning of a sustaining loop in
the data window.
Center Sustaining End: click to center the end of a sustaining loop in the data
window.
Center Release Start: click to center the beginning of a release loop in the data
window.
Center Release End: click to center the end of a release loop in the data
window.
Double Selection: click to double the current selection.
Halve Selection: click to reduce the current selection by half.
Shift Selection Left: click to move the current selection left by the length of
the selection.
Shift Selection Right: click to move the current selection right by the length of
the selection.

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Tempo: the box at the right edge of the toolbar displays the tempo of the
current selection as if the selection represents a complete measure.
An initial tempo setting has to be done first

The Status Toolbar

Use the Status toolbar to set the status format for display and to control selection
snapping.

Button Description
Samples: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and selection in
samples.
Time: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and selection in
hours:minutes:seconds.seconds.
Seconds: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and selection in
seconds.
Time and Frames: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and
selection in hours:minutes:seconds.frames.
Absolute Frames: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and
selection in absolute frames from the beginning of the file.
Measures and Beats: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and
selection in measures:beats.quarter-beats.
SMPTE Film Sync: click to display the time ruler, cursor position, and
selection in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of 24 frames
per second. This frame rate matches the standard crystal-sync 16/33 mm
film rate of 24 fps.
SMPTE EBU: click to display the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames
with a frame rate of 25 frames per second. This is known as SMPTE EBU
(European Broadcasting Union) because European television systems run at
25 fps.
Use SMPTE 25 EBU format for PAL DV/D1 projects.

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SMPTE Non-Drop: click to display the ruler in

hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of 29.97 frames per
second, which leads to a discrepancy between real ("wall clock") time and
the SMPTE time, because there is no compensation in the counting system
as there is in Drop Frame.
Use SMPTE Non-Drop format for NTSC D1 projects that will be recorded
on master tapes striped with Non-Drop timecode.
SMPTE Drop: click to display the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds;frames
with a frame rate of 29.97 fps to match the frame rate used by NTSC
television systems (North America, Japan).
Use SMPTE Drop Frame format for NTSC DV/D1 projects.
Both SMPTE Drop and SMPTE Non-Drop run at 29.97 fps. In both formats,
the actual frames are not discarded, but they are numbered differently.
SMPTE Drop removes certain frame numbers the counting system to keep
the SMPTE clock from drifting from real ("wall clock") time. The time is
adjusted forward by two frames on every minute boundary except 0, 10,
20, 30, 40, and 50. For example, when SMPTE Drop time increments from
00:00:59.29, the next value will be 00:01:00.02.
SMPTE 30: click to display the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a
frame rate of 30 frames per second.
This rate is exactly 30 fps and is commonly used when synchronizing audio
applications such as multitrack recorders or MIDI sequencers. This format
should not be used when working with video.
Audio CD Time: click to display the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames
with a frame rate of 75 frames per second for creating Red Book CDs.
If you want to display disc-at-once CD track numbers in the Time Display
window, right-click the Time Display window and choose CD Track
Position from the shortcut menu. In this mode, the Time Display will show
track numbers and the running time for each track. Negative values indicate
the pause time before a track:

Edit Tempo: click to display the Edit Tempo (⇗56) dialog.

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The Regions/Playlist Toolbar

Use the regions/playlist toolbar to display and hide the Regions List and Playlist/Cutlist
windows, control MIDI synchronization, and display synchronization status.
Button Description
Regions List: click to display and hide the Regions List window.
Playlist: click to display and hide the Playlist/Cutlist window.
Trigger from MIDI Timecode: click to enable or disable triggering from MIDI
commands received through the MIDI input port.
Generate MIDI Timecode: click to enable sending MIDI timecode through the
MIDI output port.
Pre-Queue for MIDI Timecode: click to open the wave device and pre-load
data from the next region to be played in the Playlist. Pre-queuing helps ensure
that audio will begin playing the moment the designated SMPTE time is
detected by SOUND FORGE PRO when synchronizing to MIDI timecode (MTC).

Playlist Position: displays the total playback time starting at 00:00:00:000 (not
the play cursor time) when playing from the Playlist.

Sync Status: displays incoming MIDI timecode and trigger signals.

The Insert Toolbar

Use the Insert toolbar for quick access to commands from the Insert menu.
Button Description
Insert Marker: click to add a marker at the cursor position.
Insert Region: click to add a region using the current time selection.
Insert Sample Loop: click to add a sample loop using the current time selection.
Insert Command: click to add a metadata command marker at the cursor
position.
Insert CD Track: click to add a disc-at-once CD track using the current time
selection.

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Insert CD Index: click to add a disc-at-once CD index marker at the cursor

position.
Insert Volume Envelope: click to add a volume envelope to the data window.
Insert Pan Envelope: click to add a pan envelope to the data window.
Insert Silence: click to display the Insert Silence dialog.
DTMF/MF Tone Synthesis: click to display the DTMF/MF Tones dialog.
FM Synthesis: click to display the FM Synthesis dialog.
Simple Synthesis: click to display the Simple Synthesis dialog.

The Process Toolbar

Use the Process toolbar to perform functions from the Process menu.
Button Description
Auto Trim/Crop: click to display the Auto Trim/Crop dialog.
Bit-Depth Converter: click to display the Bit Depth Converter dialog.
Channel Converter: click to display the Channel Converter dialog.
DC Offset: click to display the DC Offset dialog.
Graphic EQ: click to boost or attenuate selected frequency bands.
Paragraphic EQ: click to display the Paragraphic EQ dialog.
Parametric EQ: click to display the Parametric EQ dialog.
Graphic Fade: click to draw a fade envelope that will be applied across the
current data selection.
Fade In: click to perform a linear fade from -Inf. to 0 dB.
Fade Out: click to perform a linear fade from 0 dB to -Inf.
Invert/Flip: click to reverse the phase of the sound data.
Mute: click to set the volume of a selection to -Inf dB (silence).
Normalize: click to display the Normalize dialog.
Pan/Expand: click to display the Pan/Expand dialog.
Resample: click to display the Resample dialog.
Reverse: click to reverse the current selection.

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Rotate Audio: click to change the feel of a given loop by moving the
selection to the opposite end of the file. This command has no effect if the
selection does not touch the beginning or end of the file.
Smooth/Enhance: click to display the Smooth/Enhance dialog.
Time Stretch: click to display the Time Stretch dialog.
élastique Timestretch: click to display the élastique Timestretch
Volume: click to change the volume of a sound file selection.

The Effects Toolbar

Use the Effects toolbar to apply effects to a file.
Button Description
Acoustic Mirror: click to use the Acoustic Mirror plug-in.
Amplitude Modulation: click to apply a sinusoidal or square-shaped periodic
gain to the input signal. The frequency of the gain waveform can be adjusted to
create effects varying from a slow tremolo to unusual sound distortions.
Chorus: click to add a pitch-modulated and delayed version of the input signal
to the unprocessed input signal. The effect simulates the variances in pitch and
timing that occur naturally when two or more people try to play or sing the
same melody at the same time.
Multi-Tap Delay: click to simulate multiple echoes, reverberation, and other
delay-related effects.
Simple Delay: click to add a delayed copy of the sound signal to a selection. A
single delay or decaying multiple delays can be added before or after the sound
signal.
Distortion: click to tailor the gain at all input levels of a signal. You can create
effects ranging from dramatic to subtle distortion, simple compression,
expansion, and noise gates.
Graphic Dynamics: click to affect the dynamic range of the selection by
applying compression, expansion, and limiting.
Multi-Band Dynamics: click to apply compression and limiting to up to four
different frequency bands.
Envelope: click to modify the amplitude of a waveform to match a specified
envelope shape.

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Flange/Wah-Wah: click to apply flanging, phasing, and wah-wah effects to a

sound.
Gapper/Snipper: click to cut chunks from the sound file or insert silence in the
selection periodically at a set frequency.
Noise Gate: click to remove signals below a set threshold.
Pitch Bend: click to draw an envelope that increases or decreases the pitch of a
selection over time.
Pitch Shift: click to change the pitch of a sound with or without preserving the
duration of the selection.
Resonant Filter: click to restrict the range of a sound using low-pass, band-
pass, or high-pass filtering, and then boost and add oscillation to the resonant
frequency.
Reverb: click to simulate various acoustic spaces. Reverb consists of early
reflections which are the first reflections that arrive back to your ear and the
reverb itself.——
Vibrato: click to apply periodic pitch modulation to a selection.
Wave Hammer: click to use the Wave Hammer mastering plug-in.
Declicker / DeCrackler:click to use the Declicker/Decrackler audio restoration
plugin.
DeHisser: click to use the DeHisser audio restoration plugin.
Wave Hammer 2.0: click to use the Wave Hammer 2.0 advanced mastering
plug-in.
DeClipper: click to use the DeClipper audio restoration plugin.
coreFX Delay:
coreFX Chorus:
coreFX Flanger:
coreFX 2-Point Compressor:
coreFX Compressor:
coreFX Expander:
coreFX Gate:
coreFX Limiter:

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The Tools Toolbar

Use the Tools toolbar for quick access to the SOUND FORGE PRO editing tools.
Button Description
Extract Audio From CD: Click to display the Extract Audio from CD dialog.
Burn Track-at-Once CD: click to display the Burn Track-at-Once CD dialog.
Burn Disc-at-Once CD: click to display the Burn Disc-at-Once CD dialog.
Auto Region: click to display the Auto Region dialog.
Extract Regions: click to display the Extract Regions dialog.
Clip Detect: click to display the Detect Clipping dialog.
Find: click to display the Find dialog.
Repair: Interpolate: click to interpolate a region of sound based on the data
at the beginning and end of the region.
Repair: Replace: click to replace a region of sound with previous sound data.
Repair: Copy Other Channel: click to replace a selection with data from the
other channel in a stereo pair.
Noise Reduction: click to use the Noise Reduction plug-in to remove noise.
Click and Crackle Removal: click to use the Click and Crackle Removal plug-
in to remove clicks and sharp glitches.
Clipped Peak Restoration: click to use the Clipped Peak Restoration plug-in
to round the tops of clipped peaks and apply peak limiting to the area
immediately surrounding the audio clip. Nonclipped audio is not affected.
Audio Restoration: click to use the Audio Restoration plug-in to clean up
recordings.
Crossfade Loop: click to display the Crossfade Loop dialog.
Sampler: click to display the Sampler dialog.
Statistics: click to display the Statistics dialog.
Loudness Log click to generate a Loudness Log.
Batch Converter: click to start the Batch Converter.

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Edit in SpectraLayers Pro: click to open the active data window in

SpectraLayers Pro.
When you're done editing, close SpectraLayers Pro. You'll be prompted to
export your changes back to SOUND FORGE PRO. Click Yes, and the
SOUND FORGE PRO data window is updated to reflect any changes.
Send to SpectraLayers Pro: click to open the active data window as a layer
in SpectraLayers Pro.
When you're done editing, you can save your project in SpectraLayers Pro,
render the mixed output, or use Process > Send to SOUND FORGE PRO to
save your changes.
Activate WaveColor
Activate Vocal Activity detection.
Update Vocal Activity detection.

The Levels Toolbar

Use the Levels toolbar to display the left- and right-channel levels at the cursor in a
variety of different formats.

If you have a range of data selected, the toolbar will display the level at the active end of
the selection; press the Home key to move the cursor to the beginning of the selection or
press End to move to the end of the selection.
Right-click the toolbar and choose a format from the shortcut menu to specify a format.
Command Function
Sample Displays the right- and left-channel levels at the cursor position as an
Value integer. The range is from -8388608 to 8388607 in 24-bit audio, -32768 to
32767 in 16-bit audio and -128 and 127 in 8-bit audio.
Percent Displays the right- and left-channel levels at the cursor position as a
percentage. The range is from -100 to 100 percent.
Decibels Displays the right- and left-channel levels at the cursor position in decibels.
(dB) A value of 0 dB corresponds to maximum absolute amplitude and negative
infinity (-Inf.) corresponds to complete silence. In 16-bit audio, -90.3 dB is
the lowest possible dB value (sample value of 1).

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Peak Displays the peak sample value in the vicinity of the cursor as a dB value.
SOUND FORGE PRO software scans 50 milliseconds by default. To change
the scan time, choose Preferences from the Options menu. Next, choose
the Status tab and edit the value in the Peak level scan time box.
RMS Displays the Root Mean Square (RMS) of the sample values in the vicinity of
Level the cursor as a dB value. RMS is a more accurate measurement of loudness
than the peak value.
Notes:
l SOUND FORGE PRO software scans 50 milliseconds by default. To
change the scan time, choose Preferences from the Options menu.
Next, choose the Status tab and edit the value in the RMS level scan
time box.
l The maximum value of 0 dB is only achieved by a square wave (or DC
offset) of maximum amplitude. A maximum amplitude sine wave
reaches only -3 dB. Values below -96 dB can be achieved by
combination of silence and very low levels, and only complete silence
will register negative infinity.

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The Transport Toolbar

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The Status Bar

The Status Bar is displayed across the bottom of the SOUND FORGE PRO window.

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Notes:
l The CD Time Remaining box is displayed only when CD tracks exist in the active
data window. You can use the CD Settings tab in the Preferences dialog to specify
whether the software should automatically detect CD lengths or to set a default CD
length.
l If the active data window's sample rate is not supported by your audio hardware, the
output will be resampled to a supported rate for playback when you're using an ASIO
audio device (⇗ 408). During playback, the Sample Rate box in the Status Bar is
displayed in italics to indicate that the output has been resampled.

Edit the sample rate, bit depth, or channels

Right-click the Sample Rate, Bit Depth, or Channels box and choose a setting from the
shortcut menu, or double-click a box to display an edit box that you can use to type a
new value.

Change the status display format

Right click the Selection Length box and choose a format from the shortcut menu.

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Data Windows
Each sound file is opened in a data window. Each data window shows you a graphical
representation of the waveform and other information about the file.

You can quickly toggle the display of portions of a data window (decorations) by right-
clicking the Next Edit Tool button and choosing a command from the shortcut menu or
choosing Options > Data Window:

Title bar
Displays the sound file's title. If no title is specified on the Summary Information (⇗87)
window, the file name will be displayed.
Double-click to maximize and restore the window.

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Overview bar
Allows for quick navigation and playback of any part of the file:

l The full waveform is displayed in the overview bar.

l The unshaded portion of the waveform display represents the portion of the
waveform shown in the data window. You can drag this portion to navigate the
waveform.
l The current selection is also represented in the overview bar.
l Click in the overview bar to move the cursor.
l Double-click to center the cursor in the waveform display.
l Right-click in the overview bar to toggle playback of the file from the cursor
position in the data window.
l To navigate the waveform, you can drag the unshaded portion of the waveform
display:

Hold Ctrl and drag the unshaded portion of the waveform display to scrub (⇗ 157) with the
audio event locator.

l To zoom horizontally, you can drag the ends of the unshaded portion of the
waveform display:

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Video strip
When you open a file that contains a video stream, SOUND FORGE PRO displays a video
strip above the audio waveform to help you navigate the file. For more information
about the video strip, click here (⇗142).

Time ruler
Shows the current location in the data window as well as ruler tags.
l Right-click to display the time ruler shortcut menu.
l Drag to scroll the data window.

Next Edit Tool button

Click to toggle through the Edit (⇗216), Magnify (⇗216), Pencil (⇗217), Event (⇗234), and
Envelope (⇗298) tools.
The Pencil tool is available only at magnification levels below the Pencil tool maximum
zoom ratio setting on the Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog.

Minimize channel height

Click the Minimize button to reduce the height of individual channels, or click the
Restore button to restore their height.

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Hold Shift while clicking a Minimize button to minimize all channels except for the
one you clicked.

Level ruler
Shows the amplitude of the waveform.
l Right-click to display the level ruler shortcut menu, which allows you to change the
zoom level and labels.
l Drag to shift the view up or down when zoomed in vertically.

CD layout bar
The CD layout bar displays information about the tracks you've created for a disc-at-
once CD. Each CD track shows the track's number and length.
Red indicators are drawn at the right end of the CD layout bar to represent the end of
the disc (if the disc length is known).
You can use the CD layout bar to perform many of the track-editing functions from the
Track List window. (⇗130)
For more information about using the CD layout bar, please see The CD Layout Bar
(⇗127).

Level zoom
To zoom in and out vertically by small increments, click the Level Zoom In/Out buttons,
or click and drag the area between the buttons to zoom quickly.

For more information about magnification, please see Magnification and Zooming
(⇗229).

Playbar
Use the playbar transport buttons to control playback:

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Button Description
Arm: opens the wave device and loads all recording buffers in order to
minimize the amount of time between clicking the Record button and
when recording starts.
When Create new window is selected in the Mode drop-down list in the
Record Options window, the Arm and Record buttons are enabled
even when no data windows are open. When Normal or Create regions is
selected, the Arm and Record buttons are not available until you
create a data window (⇗98) or open a file (⇗98).
Record: starts and stops recording. For more information, please see one of
the following topics:
l Creating a New Recording
l Recording into an Existing Sound File
l Recording Audio Automatically
Go to Start: Moves the cursor to the start of the file.
Go to Previous Track: Moves the cursor to the previous disc-at-once track
or index. Hold Ctrl while clicking to skip index markers, or hold Shift to
extend a selection.
This button is displayed only if disc-at-once tracks are present in your data
window.
Go to Next Track: Moves the cursor to the next disc-at-once track or index.
Hold Ctrl while clicking to skip index markers, or hold Shift to extend a
selection.
This button is displayed only if disc-at-once tracks are present in your data
window.
Go to End: Moves the cursor to the end of the file.
Stop: Stops playback and returns the cursor to its position prior to playback.

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Play NormalPlays the file in Normal mode. —

l If there is no selection, playback occurs from the cursor to end of file.
l If there is a selection, playback occurs from the beginning of the
selection to the end of the selection.
l Effects from the Plug-In Chain (⇗272) are previewed in real time when
you play back the file.
l To bypass the plug-in chain, bypass the chain in the Plug-In Chain
window. For more information, please see "Preview the effects chain"
in Using the Plug-In Chain (⇗272).
Play as Sample Click to set playback to Sample mode. When you click the
Play button while in Sample mode, playback will adhere to the following
rules:—
l If the file contains loops, the loops will repeat as many times as
specified on the Edit Sample dialog. Use this to listen to a sound file as
it would sound when played by a sampler.
l If the file does not contain any loops, the file will be played once from
beginning to end.
This button is not displayed unless a sample loop (⇗357) has been defined in
your file.
Play as Cutlist Click to begin playback from the cursor position, skipping any
cutlist (⇗260) regions. —
The Play as Cutlist button is not displayed unless you have playlist/cutlist
regions (⇗263) defined and have set your playlist/cutlist to Cutlist mode. To
use Cutlist mode, choose Playlist/Cutlist from the Edit menu, and then
choose Treat as Cutlist from the submenu.
Toggle Wave Coloring Click to switch Wave Coloring (⇗58) on or off.
Vocal Activity Display: Click to activate the Vocal Activity Detection (⇗57)
display in the waveform.

Scroll bar
Within the scroll bar, the box represents the portion of the waveform shown in the
waveform display. Drag to scroll the sound file forward and backward in time to see
parts of the file not currently visible in the waveform display.

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You can drag the end of the scroll box to zoom in or out:

Scrub control
Drag the scrub control ( ) at the bottom of a data window to shuttle forward or
backward from the cursor position to find an edit point.

Hover over the scrub control and roll the mouse wheel forward or backward.

You can drag the Normal Rate indicator ( ) below the scrub control to adjust playback
speed (or double-click the label to type a playback rate).

Selection status bar

Shows the beginning, end, and length of a selection. If no selection has been made, only
the cursor position is displayed:

l Double-click the Selection Start box to edit the current value. Press Tab or Enter
to move the cursor to the new position.
l Double-click the Selection Start or Selection Length box to edit beginning or
ending of the selection. Press Tab or Enter to update the selection.
To update the Selection Start, Selection End, or Selection Length values quickly, you can
type + or - and a numeric value. For example, to extend the right end of a selection one
second, double-click the Selection End box and type +1. To move the left end of a
selection one minute to the left, type -1:00.

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l Right-click to display the Status Format shortcut menu, which allows you to
choose a time format (⇗54).

Time zoom
To zoom in and out horizontally by small increments, click the Time Zoom In/Out
buttons, or drag the area between the buttons to zoom quickly.

For more information about magnification, please see Magnification and Zooming
(⇗229).

Time zoom resolution

Indicates the number of samples of data represented by each point on the screen
horizontally. This determines the length of time shown in the waveform display. With a
small resolution value (1:1, 1:2, 1:4, ...), a shorter length of time is displayed.
For more information about magnification, please see Magnification and Zooming
(⇗229).

Maximize width
Click to stretch the width of the data window to fit within the SOUND FORGE PRO
workspace.
Press Ctrl+Enter.

Close data window

Click the Close button to close a data window.
If you have maximized your data windows, click the Close button in a data window tab to
close that data window.

Choosing a Status Format

From the Options menu, choose Status Format and choose a setting from the submenu
to specify the format that will be used to display the time ruler, cursor position, and
selection. A bullet is displayed next to the selected format.

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Right-click the time ruler and choose a format from the shortcut menu.

Format Description
Samples Displays the ruler in samples.
Time Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds.
Seconds Displays the ruler in seconds.
Time & Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds.frames.
Frames
Absolute Displays the ruler with all frames numbered sequentially from the
Frames beginning of your project.
Measures Displays the ruler in measures.beats.quarter beats. Use the Edit Tempo
and Beats (⇗56) dialog to specify the tempo of a file.
SMPTE Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of
Film Sync 24 frames per second. This frame rate matches the standard crystal-sync
(24 fps) 16/33 mm film rate of 24 fps.
SMPTE Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of
EBU (25 25 frames per second. This is known as SMPTE EBU (European
fps, Video) Broadcasting Union) because European television systems run at 25 fps.
Use SMPTE 25 EBU format for PAL DV/D1 projects.
SMPTE Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of
Non-Drop 29.97 frames per second, which leads to a discrepancy between real
(29.97 fps, ("wall clock") time and the SMPTE time, because there is no
Video) compensation in the counting system as there is in Drop Frame.
Use SMPTE Non-Drop format for NTSC D1 projects that will be recorded
on master tapes striped with Non-Drop timecode.
SMPTE Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds;frames with a frame rate of
Drop 29.97 fps to match the frame rate used by NTSC television systems
(29.97 fps, (North America, Japan).
Video) Use SMPTE Drop Frame format for NTSC DV/D1 projects.
Both SMPTE Drop and SMPTE Non-Drop run at 29.97 fps. In both
formats, the actual frames are not discarded, but they are numbered
differently. SMPTE Drop removes certain frame numbers the counting
system to keep the SMPTE clock from drifting from real ("wall clock")
time. The time is adjusted forward by two frames on every minute
boundary except 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. For example, when SMPTE
Drop time increments from 00:00:59.29, the next value will be
00:01:00.02.

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SMPTE 30 Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of

(30 fps, 30 frames per second.
Audio) This rate is exactly 30 fps and is commonly used when synchronizing
audio applications such as multitrack recorders or MIDI sequencers. This
format should not be used when working with video.
Audio CD Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of
Time 75 frames per second for creating disc-at-once (⇗121) CDs.
Edit If the timeline format is set to beats,SOUND FORGE PRO requires a
Tempo... tempo in order to know what the duration of a beat is. This dialog lets
you specify the tempo or obtain the tempo from the current selection.

You can also specify a beat type and manually enter the tempo in BPM.
PPQ specifies the number of ticks within a quarter note and also
specifies the precision of the beat display.
Get BMP from sel. range uses a selection and the specification Beats in
selected range to find the tempo. Snap/Grid sets grid resolution in
musical beats. Offset to project start sets an interval where the first bar
in the file should begin.

Editing Tempo
From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and then choose Edit Tempo from the
submenu to calculate the musical tempo (in beats per minute) of a file. This tempo is
used when you use the Measures & Beats status format.
Use Time Stretch (⇗320) to change the tempo of a sound.

Specify the tempo for a file with a known tempo

1. From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and then choose Edit Tempo from
the submenu. The Edit tempo dialog is displayed.
2. In the Tempo in beats per minute box, enter the tempo of the specified selection.
Changing this value will automatically change the Selection length in beats
control.
3. In the Number of beats in a measure, enter the number of beats in a measure.
4. Click the OK button.

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Calculate the tempo for a file based on a selection

1. Create a selection equal to one measure. If no selection is made, the entire file will
be used.
The easiest way to tune a selection to be exactly one measure long is to play the
selection looped and change the selection points until a constant downbeat is heard.

2. From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and then choose Edit Tempo from
the submenu. The Edit tempo dialog is displayed.
3. In the Selection length in beatsbox, enter the number of beats in the current
selection.
4. In the Number of beats in a measure, enter the number of beats in a measure.
SOUND FORGE PRO software calculates the tempo and updates the Tempo in
beats per minute control.
5. Click the OK button.

Vocal Activity Detection

You can display vocal activity in data windows to quickly locate spoken or sung voice.
The analysis is done by an AI algorithm that tries to detect the presence of human voice
in an audio signal. The result is a probability value, that an according segment contains
vocal activity.
This value is mapped on to shades of color, ranging from the original waveform color
(blue) which means "surely no voice" and the vocal activity color (red) which means
"definitely voice".

The Vocal activity display is inactive by default and has to be activated for each data
window separately. For this, click the Vocal Activity Display button in the transport
control of the data window.

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The analysis is quite CPU-intensive so it'll take some time until the display is visible after
switching it on.

To toggle the Vocal Activity Display globally in SOUND FORGE PRO, go to the Options
menu, and click Data Window. In the sub-menu you can activate the check box for Vocal
Activity Display in Data Window or Vocal Activity in Overview (on top of the Data
Window) separately.
After editing or processing the audio data in the window you might need to refresh the
analysis. You will recognize this by the fact that the Refresh Vocal Activity Detection
button becomes active.
This button is not visible as long as Vocal Activity Display was not switched on in a data
window.
You can change the wave form color for the Vocal Activity Display on the Display tab of
the Preferences dialog.

Wave Coloring
With WaveColor, two additional properties of the audio material are visualized in the
waveform display via the color.
l The pitch is represented by the hue: Low tones are red, mid tones are green, high
tones are blue.
l The sound characteristic of the audio material is represented by the color
saturation: The more tonal and harmonic the signal, the more saturated the color,
the more noise there is, the less saturated the color will be.
This allows you to quickly find important parts of a recording, such as the beginning of
the individual tracks of a live recording based on the applause. Problems in the audio
material can also be quickly identified, such as wind noise or the typical "rumble" in the
bass range of a vinyl recording.
Activate the WaveColor with the WaveColor button in the Data Window (⇗47).

Arranging Data Windows

You can use the commands on the Window menu to arrange data windows in the
SOUND FORGE PRO workspace.
Press Ctrl+Tab to switch forward through the open windows, or press Ctrl+Shift+Tab to
switch backward through the open windows.

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Command Description
New Window Creates a new data window. For more information, see Creating a
New Window (⇗98)
Cascade Arranges all open data windows so they overlap with the title bar of
each window remaining visible.
Tile Arranges all open data windows top to bottom with no overlapping.
Horizontally This command affects only nonminimized windows.

Tile Vertically Arranges all open data windows left to right with no overlapping.
This command affects only non-minimized windows.

Arrange Icons Arranges minimized data windows at the bottom of the workspace.
For example, if you had scads of minimized data windows littering
the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace, this command would arrange
them neatly at the bottom of the workspace. Mom would be so
pleased!
Maximize All Maximizes all open data windows. Tabs for each data window also
appear if the Tabs for maximized data windows setting on the
Preferences > Display tab is set to Top or Bottom. For more
information, see Display Preferences (⇗392)
Minimize All Minimizes all open data windows.
Restore All Restores all minimized windows to their previous window size and
position.
Close All Closes all open data windows.
Window List Displays a list of all open data windows. Choose a window from the
menu to switch focus to that data window.

Workspaces
Workspace files (.sfw) allow you to create a snapshot of your SOUND FORGE PRO
desktop so you can return to it at any time. A workspace saves the following
information:
l Open files with their magnification, selection, cursor position, data window size,
and screen location.

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l Plug-In Chain settings.

l Any views you have created for each data window.

Open a workspace
Opening a workspace opens all of the files in the workspace and restores their positions
on the screen.
1. From the File menu, choose Workspace, and then choose Open from the submenu
to display the Open Workspace dialog.
2. Choose a folder from the Look in drop-down list or browse to a folder. All of the
files available in the folder are displayed in the space below.
3. Select a file in the browse window or type a name in the File name box.
4. Click the Open button.

Save a workspace
Saving a workspace saves the names of all open files along with their position, size, and
any saved views.
1. From the File menu, choose Workspace, and choose Save As from the submenu to
display the Save Workspace dialog.
2. Choose a folder from the Save in drop-down list or browse to a folder. All of the
files available in the folder are displayed in the space below.
3. In the File Name box, type the name of the file that you want to save.
4. Click the Save button.

The Views Toolbar

Use the Views toolbar to store and retrieve data window views. A saved view maintains
selection, cursor position, magnification, and position scroll bar placement.
Views are maintained only as long as a data window is open. If you want to save a view
after closing a file, save a workspace file.

Save the current view

1. Click the Set button on the Views toolbar.
If the Views toolbar is not displayed, choose Toolbars from the View menu and
select the Views check box.
2. Click the numbered button where you want to store the current view.
Press Ctrl+Shift+ the number you want to store.

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Recall a saved view

Click a numbered button on the Views toolbar to recall a view.
Press Ctrl+ the number you want to store.

Saving and Recalling Window Layouts

A window layout stores the sizes and positions of all windows and floating window
docks in the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace.
You can store any number of window layouts on your computer, and up to ten window
layouts are available in the View menu (and via keyboard shortcuts) so you can quickly
recall frequently used layouts. For example, you could have a layout dedicated to disc-
at-once CD creation and another for ADR work.
Window layouts are saved in C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\SOUND
FORGE PRO\15.0\. You can transfer layouts between computers by copying the
.ForgeWindowLayout files.

Save a window layout

Press Ctrl+Alt+D, release the keys, and then press a number on your keyboard (not the
numeric keypad) to save the layout in that space.

1. Arrange the windows and docked windows as desired.

2. From the View menu, choose Window Layouts, and then choose Save Layout As
from the submenu. The Save Layout As dialog is displayed.
Choose Save Layout from the submenu if you want to update the current window
layout. A bullet ( ) is displayed next to the current layout.
3. In the Name box, type the name you want to use to identify the layout. This name
will be used in the Organize Layouts dialog.
4. Choose a setting from the Shortcut drop-down list to set the shortcut that will be
used to load the layout.
For example, if you choose 4, you could press Alt+Shift+D, release the keys, and
then press 4 on your keyboard to load the layout.
5. The Folder box displays the path to the folder where the layout will be saved.
Window layouts are saved to C:\Users\[user
name]\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE PRO\15.0\ by default.
You can click the Browse button to choose a different folder.

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6. Click OK to save the new layout.

Load a saved layout

From the View menu, choose Window Layouts, and then choose the window layout you
want to use from the submenu.
To load a layout quickly, press Alt+Shift+D, release the keys, and then press a number on
your keyboard (not the numeric keypad) to recall the layout saved in that in that space. If
no layout is saved in that space, nothing will happen when you press the shortcut.

If you've modified the current window layout, choose Window Layouts, and then choose
Reload Selected Layout from the submenu to reset the window layout to the last-saved
version.

Add a layout to the View > Window Layouts submenu

1. From the View menu, choose Window Layouts, and then choose Organize Layouts
from the submenu. The Organize Layouts dialog is displayed.
2. Select a layout in the Available layouts in current folder box.
This box lists the .ForgeWindowLayout files in the folder displayed in the Current
layout folder box. If the layout you want to use is saved in a different folder, you
can click the Browse button to choose a new folder.
3. Select a layout in the Current layouts in menu box.
4. Click the Assign (or Replace) buttonor double-click a layout in the Available
layouts in current folder box -to add the layout to the View > Window Layouts
submenu.
You can click the Move Up or Move Down buttons to change the order of the
layouts in the menu.
5. Click the Activate button -or double-click a layout in the Current layouts in menu
box -to apply the selected layout to the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace.
6. Click OK to close the Organize Layouts dialog and apply your changes.

Remove a layout from the View > Window Layouts submenu

1. From the View menu, choose Window Layouts, and then choose Organize Layouts
from the submenu. The Organize Layouts dialog is displayed.
2. Select a layout in the Current layouts in menu box.
3. Click the Clear button to remove the selected layout from the View > Window
Layouts submenu.
If you want to replace the selected layout, select a layout in the Available layouts
in current folder box and click the Replace button.

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4. Click OK to close the Organize Layouts dialog and apply your changes.
Removing a layout from the View > Window Layouts submenu does not remove the
.ForgeWindowLayout file from your computer.

Delete a layout from your computer

1. From the View menu, choose Window Layouts, and then choose Organize Layouts
from the submenu. The Organize Layouts dialog is displayed.
2. Select a layout in the Available layouts in current folder box.
3. Click the Delete Layout button to remove the selected layout from your computer.
You cannot delete a layout that is included in the Current layouts in menu list.
First, select the layout in the Current layouts in menu list and click the Clear
button. Next, select the layout in the Available layouts in current folder list and
click the Delete Layout button.
4. Click OK to close the Organize Layouts dialog and apply your changes.

The SOUND FORGE PRO Windows

Docking and Undocking Windows
Your workspace can become cluttered quickly if you have several windows and toolbars
visible.
You can create multiple window docks to organize your SOUND FORGE PRO windows.
These docks can be anchored to the perimeter of the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace, or
they can float over the workspace or on a secondary monitor.
Tips:
l To dock a window, drag it to a floating dock or to any edge of the SOUND FORGE
PRO workspace.
l To undock a window, click the handle and drag it out of the docking area or floating
dock.
l To prevent a window from docking when you drag it, hold the Ctrl key.
When the Allow floating windows to dock check box on the General (⇗387) tab of the
Preferences dialog is cleared, windows will not dock unless you hold the Ctrl key. When
the check box is selected, you can prevent a window from docking by holding the Ctrl
key.
l To expand a docked window so it fills the docking area, click the Maximize button
. Click again to restore the window to its previous size.

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l To close a window in the docking area or a floating dock, click the Close button .
You can dock several windows in the same area of the screen, and the windows will be
layered. Click a window’s tab to bring it to the top.

The Explorer Window

From the View menu, choose Explorer to toggle the display of the Explorer window.
You can use the Explorer window to find, preview, and open media files. You can also
drag files or regions from the Explorer window to an open data window to paste (⇗221)
or mix (⇗223) the data. Click the right mouse button while dragging to toggle mix and
paste drag-and-drop modes.
If the Always open dropped files in new window check box on the General (⇗ 387) page
of the Preferences dialog is cleared, you can also drag a file (or region) from the Explorer
window to a data window to paste (⇗ 221) or mix (⇗ 223) the data. Click the right mouse
button while dragging to toggle mix and paste drag-and-drop modes.

Learn more about the Explorer window

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Item Name Description

Address Displays the current folder. You may also specify a
Bar particular file type to display. To specify a file type, make
sure that All Files is not selected in the Views button menu
and click on the combo box. Type the wildcard followed by
the extension. For example, *.wav or ?intro?.avi
Tree View Displays all of the available files and folders where you can
find media files.

Contents Displays the folders and media files contained in the active
Pane folder.
Up Opens the folder one level above the active folder.

Refresh Refreshes the contents of the active folder.

If you insert a new CD (or other removable media), click to
refresh the Explorer.
New Creates a new folder within the active folder.
Folder
Delete Deletes the selected folder or file.
Add to My Adds the selected folder to the Favorites folder in the
Favorites address bar. The Favorites folder contains links to folders
that you use most often.
Start Plays the selected media file.
Preview
Stop Stops the playback of the selected media file.
Preview
Auto Automatically preview media files when you click them in
Preview the Explorer window.

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Views Allows you to change the way the files are viewed in the list
view.
Tree View: Displays all of the available drives and
folders that you may choose from to
find files.
Region Displays any regions that have been
View: defined in the selected media file.
Summary Displays a short description of the
View: selected media file at the bottom of the
Explorer window.
Details: Displays the file size, date and when the
filewas last created or last modified.
All Files: Displays all file types in the active
folder.

Preview a file
If the Auto Preview button is selected, you can click a file in the Explorer to audition
it. You can stop the preview by clicking the Stop Preview button in the Explorer, or
you can turn off the preview feature by deselecting the Auto Preview button.
When the Auto Preview button is not selected, click the Start Preview button to
start preview.

Open files
Double-click a file in the Explorer or drag it to the workspace.
Tips:
l To open multiple files, Ctrl+click (or Shift+click) to select the files and drag them to the
workspace.
l To add a track from an audio CD, browse to your CD drive and double-click a .cda file
(or drag it to the workspace). SOUND FORGE PRO will prompt you to enter a name
for the file and will extract the CD track.

Use the Favorites folder

Select the Favorites folder or choose Favorites from the Address Bar to view the
contents of the Favorites folder. This folder contains shortcuts to folders that you use
often.

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Favorites are saved in the following folder: C:\Users\[user

name]\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE PRO\15\ExplorerFavorites.txt. The
file is saved whenever you close the Explorer window or exit the application. You can copy
the file to different computers or user accounts to migrate Favorites settings. To see this
file, you must have the Show hidden files and folders radio button selected on the View
tab of the Folder Options Control Panel.

Adding a folder to the Favorites folder

1. Browse to the folder you want to add.
2. Right-click the folder and choose Add Folder to My Favorites from the shortcut
menu to create a shortcut to the folder.

Removing a folder from the Favorites folder

1. Select the Favorites folder.
2. Right-click the folder you want to delete and choose Delete from the shortcut
menu.
Deleting a folder from Favorites deletes only the shortcut to the folder; the target folder
is unaffected.

File Properties
From the View menu, choose File Properties to view or edit information saved in the
active file.
This information is saved with the file and can be displayed by media players when you
save your project in a different file format.
Tips:
l Double-click the Sample Rate, Bit Depth, Channels, or File Length box in the
status bar (⇗45) to edit properties quickly:

l If you want to sort the contents of a metadata window, you can click a column
heading to sort in ascending or descending order. Hold Ctrl and click a column
heading to return to the default sort order.
l If you want to copy metadata to the clipboard, right-click the window and choose
Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu.

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l If you want to customize the format for copying metadata to the clipboard, right-
click the window and choose Custom Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu.
The Copy Metadata dialog is displayed to let you choose whether you want to
copy the data as formatted text or delimited text, set a delimiter, and choose
whether you want to include a header row. Click OK to copy the metadata to the
clipboard, and you can then paste the information wherever you need it.

Item Description
File name The name of the file saved on disk.
Location The folder where the file is saved.
File size The size of the file on disk.

File Indicates whether file attributes (read-only, hidden, etc.) have

attributes been set.
Last saved The date and time the file was saved.
File type The file type for the file.
Audio The format used to save the audio stream.
format

Audio Click the down arrow and choose a sample rate from the drop-
sample rate down list, or choose Custom to type a value in the edit box to set
the number of samples per second used to represent the audio.
Notes:
l This setting will not resample (⇗ 318) the sound file. If the
playback rate is different from the originally recorded rate,
the pitch will vary unless the file is resampled.
l If the active data window's sample rate is not supported by
your audio hardware, the output will be resampled to a
supported rate for playback when you're using an ASIO audio
device (⇗ 408). During playback, the Sample Rate box in the
Status Bar is displayed in italics to indicate that the output
has been resampled.

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Audio bit Displays the bit rate of the audio file.

rate
Audio bit Click the down arrow and choose a bit depth from the drop-
depth down list to set the number of bits used to represent each sample.
Use the Bit-Depth Converter (⇗302) to perform advanced
conversion.
Audio Click the down arrow and choose a setting from the drop-down
channels list to set the number of channels stored in the file.
Use the Channel Converter (⇗304) to perform advanced channel
mixing.

Audio The duration (in time and samples) of the audio file.
length
Video Displays the format used to save the video stream.
format
Video Displays the frame size, color depth and frame rate of the video
attributes stream.
Video Displays the length (in time and frames) of the video stream.
length
Video field Displays the field order of the video stream. Click the down arrow
order and choose a setting from the drop-down list to change the field
order.
Video pixel Displays the pixel aspect ratio of the video stream. Click the down
aspect arrow and choose a setting from the drop-down list to change
ratio the pixel aspect ratio.
Computers display pixels as squares, or a ratio of 1.0. Televisions
display pixels as rectangles (ratios other than 1.0).
Using the incorrect setting can result in distortion or stretching.
Consult your capture/video output card's manual for the proper
settings.

Time Display
From the View menu, choose Time Display to open or close the Time Display window.
The Time Display window displays the current cursor or play position.

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To change the display options (⇗70), right-click the Time Display window and choose a
command from the shortcut menu, or choose Time Display from the Options menu and
choose a command from the submenu.

Choosing Time Display Options

From the Options menu, choose Time Display and choose an option from the submenu
to adjust the Time Display (⇗69) window settings.
To display the Time Display window, choose Time Display from the View menu.
Right-click the Time Display window and choose an option from the shortcut menu.

Option Description
Position When selected, the Time Display window shows the position of the
edit or play cursor. The format of the display will depend on the
Status Format setting.
Sync/Trigger When selected, the Time Display window shows incoming MIDI
Status timecode and trigger signals.
The current MIDI Input port is set on the MIDI/Sync (⇗402) tab of the
Preferences dialog.
Playlist When selected, the Time Display window shows the position of the
Position cursor (relative to the beginning of the playlist) during playback from
the Playlist window (⇗260).
The format of the display will depend on the Status Format setting.
CD Track When selected, the Time Display window shows disc-at-once CD
Position track numbers. In this mode, the Time Display will show track
numbers and the running time for each track. Negative values indicate
the pause time before a track:

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Record Status When selected, the Time Display window shows status for recording
(⇗177).
The contents of the Time Display window vary depending on the
Method setting in the Record Options window.
Recording Time Display
Method
Manual Shows Armed when recording is armed
Shows pre-roll time if you're recording with pre-roll.
Shows the time recorded while recording.
Shows post-roll time if you're recording with post-
roll.
Automatic: Shows the input level (in dB) when recording is armed.
Threshold Displays the release time remaining during recording.
Automatic: Shows Waiting. . . when recording is armed and no
MIDI MIDI timecode is being received.
Timecode Shows Armed when recording is armed and MIDI
timecode has not started.
Shows Armed and counts down to the recording start
time when recording is armed and MIDI timecode is
being received.
Shows Recording and displays the time recorded
during recording when no record stop time has been
set.
Shows Recording and counts down to the recording
stop time during recording when a record stop time
has been set.
Automatic: Counts down to the recording start time when
Time recording is armed and counts down to the recording
stop time during recording.

You can customize the colors used to display the armed, pre- and post-
roll, and recording colors on the Display (⇗ 392) tab of the Preferences
dialog.
Passive When selected, the Time Display window will only be updated when
Update the processor is idle. Use this when using a slow computer to prevent
the audio from glitching. The smallest increments may not be exact,
but the major time increments will be accurate.
Selecting this option can prevent gapping during playback on slower
computers.

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Channel Meters
From the View menu, choose Channel meters to show or hide the channel meters. By
default peak level meters are provided in SOUND FORGE PRO to monitor audio levels.
You can also display VU/PPM (Peak Program) level meters, the Phase Scope, or the
Mono Compatibility meter.
You can also choose to display an oscilloscope or spectroscope instead of the peak meter.

The peak meters display instantaneous levels during playback to help you determine the
loudest level in your audio signal and whether the signal is clipping.
To prevent clipping, keep an eye on your peak meters. Peak levels should never exceed 0
dB. You can use the Status (⇗404) tab in the Preferences dialog to calibrate the VU/PPM
meters to their associated levels on the peak meters and adjust the VU meters'
sensitivity. You can also adjust the VU meters' sensitivity here.

Peak Meter V2 (⇗170) or Oscilloscope (⇗171) or Spectroscope (⇗171)

Peak Meter (⇗163)
VU Meter (⇗163)
Phase Scope (⇗166)
Mono Compatibility (⇗169)

Show or hide the Play Meters window

From the View menu, choose Channel Meters to open or close the channel meters. You
can dock (⇗63) the Channel Meters window on any edge of the SOUND FORGE PRO
workspace.

Show or hide meters

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l For more information about using VU/PPM meters, please see VU and Peak
Program Meters (⇗163).
l For more information about using the phase scope, please see Phase Scope (⇗166).
l For more information about using the mono-compatibility meter, please see Mono
Compatibility Meter (⇗169).

Reset clip indicators

When clipping is detected, the peak meter displays a red clipping indicator.

Do any of the following to reset the indicator:

l From the Options menu, choose Channel Meters, and then choose Reset Clip
from the submenu.
l Right-click the play meter and choose Reset Clip from the shortcut menu.
l Click the red Clip indicator.

Change the meters' display resolution

The peak meters display levels in dB FS. To change the resolution of the meters, do either
of the following:
l From the Options menu, choose Channel Meters, choose Peak Range from the
submenu, and then choose a display range. Next, choose a peak range.
l Right-click the channel meter, choose Peak Range from the submenu, and then
choose a display range.
Choosing a wide range allows you to see low-level signals at the expense of precision
display at high levels.

Change the meters' display options

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l Right-click the meters and choose a command from the shortcut menu.
Command Function
Show Toggles the meter level labels on and off.
Labels
Hold Peaks When selected, the highest peak levels are represented by a thin line on the
meter.
Hold When selected, the lowest peak levels are represented by a thin line on the
Valleys meter.

To change the layout of the meters in the Channel Meters window, right click the
meters, choose Layout from the shortcut menu, and then choose a command from the
submenu.
Command Function
Stretch to Fit When selected, the meters will stretch to fit the size of the
window.
Horizontal/Vertical/Auto Choose a command to change the orientation of the meters
in the Channel Meters window.
Narrow Width Toggles narrow- or normal-width meters. Using narrow
meters can conserve screen space.

Narrow meter
Normal Display

Interleave Peak/VU Toggles interleaved or stacked display of VU/PPM meters

(⇗163) with the corresponding channel meters.

Route channels to hardware outputs

You can change channel assignments from the Audio tab (⇗408) in the Preferences
dialog or the Channel Meters window. Changing the setting in either location updates
your preferences and affects all open data windows.
To change a channel's output device using the Channel Meters window, click the
channel number and choose a new output port from the menu:

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The Undo/Redo History Window

From the View menu, choose Undo/Redo History to open or close the Undo/Redo
History window. This window allows you to see all of your edit operations. The most
recently performed operations are displayed at the top of each list.
When you perform an edit operation on your sound file, such as cutting data, the
operation name appears at the top of the Undo list. When you undo the cut, the
operation disappears from the Undo list and appears in the Redo list.

Preview Undo and Redo operations

You can audition various versions of undos and redos by clicking the Play button next
to each entry. However, some Undo or Redo operations cannot be auditioned.

Undo or Redo operations

To undo or redo an operation, double-click the operation in the Undo or Redo list. If you
undo or redo an operation that is not at the top of the list, all operations that were
performed after that operation will also be undone (this can take some time when
working on large files).

Clear the Undo/Redo History for the current file

From the Edit menu, choose Clear Undo/Redo History (or right-click the Undo/Redo
History window and choose Clear from the shortcut menu) to erase the temporary undo
files for the active file.
These files take up disk space, so you might want to clear them periodically when you
are sure that you don’t want to undo any of your previous changes. This function affects
only the current sound file.

Instant Actions
In the Instant Actions window, various frequently used tasks are available as quick
shortcuts.

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It is split into several sections.

l Workspace: Here you can access frequently used program preference settings and
Window Layouts (⇗61).
l Default Layout: Minimal standard layout, only the data windows, instant
actions and the level display (⇗160) are open.
l Audio Editing Layout: In addition to the level meters, the time display (⇗69) is
opened.
l Mastering Layout: In addition, Explorer, Loudness Meter (⇗173), the File
Properties (⇗67) and the Overview Information (⇗87) are displayed.
l VST Settings and Audio Settings opens the corresponding tabs VST (⇗413)
and Audio (⇗408) in the Preferences dialog.
l With Level meters, Oscilloscope and Spectroscope you can switch the level
display.
l Import: Here you will find the most important tasks for loading audio into SOUND
FORGE PRO: creating new files and opening existing files, the most recently used
files list, the CD import and the recording function.
l Effects: Here you have access to effects processing by the wizardFX (⇗339),
Ozone Elements and Normalize (⇗1) .

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l Cleaning: Here you will find the cleaning functions of SOUND FORGE PRO, from
the included iZotope RX plugin as SOUND FORGE PRO's own
DeClicker/DeCracler, DeHisser and Denoiser plugin and Noise Gate (⇗324).
l Editing: Here you can find scripts for automatic editing of audio files.
Most functions are also accessible from the Explorer context menu. (⇗112).
Additionally there are the Instant Actions
l Shorten Silence: This option creates regions over all sections that contain
spoken word. A dialog asks for the maximum level of silence and the
maximum length of pauses within a region. You can also determine the level
of silence by selecting an area in the file that contains silence before
performing the action.
l Word Regions: This option creates regions over all sections that contain
spoken word. A dialog asks for the maximum level of silence in between and
the maximum length of the pauses within a region. Here, too, the maximum
level of silence can be determined by a prior range selection.
l Batch Converter: Apply effects processing to a number of multiple files
automatically. Read more under (⇗108)
l Mastering: Here you will find a number of presets for mastering audio material.
l The first 6 mastering presets (Modern Master, Smooth Limiting...) are presets
for the included iZotope Ozone mastering plugin.
l There are also presets for mastering to the specifications of the Youtube,
Spotify and Soundcloud publishing platforms.
l User Entries: All actions saved in the Batch Processing dialog in the Actions folder
appear here.
Choose Create new Entry to add a new entry. This brings you to the Batch
Processing dialog where you create these. For more information, see Creating or
Editing a Batch Job (⇗1)
In the Action Manager you can define for each Batch Processing preset whether
and with which icon it appears in the User Entries area of the Instant Actions or in
the Windows Explorer context menu.
l Export: The most important export functions are available here.
l Save and Save as...
l Burn CD
l Youtube, Spotify, SoundCloud: The file is saved in the format recommended
for the respective publishing platform.
SOUND FORGE PRO cannot upload audio files to these platforms, you have to
upload it on the web site of the platform!

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l ACX Check: Check, if you audio file complies to the ACX standard with this
action.
l ACX Export: Saves the file conforming to the ACX standard for audio books.
l Regions: The regions marked in the audio file are exported as individual files.
The result files receive the original file name, supplemented by the number
and the name of the region.
l Region list: A list of the regions contained in the file is exported as a text file.
l Statistics: The function Statistics (⇗138) is executed and the results are saved
in a text file.
The areas can be opened and closed individually with a simple mouse click on its name.
To show or hide the Instant Action window, use Menu View > Instant Actions or
keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + 6.

Metadata Windows
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose a command from the submenu
to display metadata windows, where you can view and edit information about the
current data window.
Tips:
l If you want to sort the contents of a metadata window, you can click a column
heading to sort in ascending or descending order.
l If you want to copy metadata to the clipboard, right-click the window and choose
Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu.
l If you want to customize the format for copying metadata to the clipboard, right-click
the window and choose Custom Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu. The
Copy Metadata dialog is displayed to let you choose whether you want to copy the
data as formatted text or delimited text, set a delimiter, and choose whether you want
to include a header row.
Click OK to copy the metadata to the clipboard, and you can then paste the
information wherever you need it.
l If you want to display all metadata windows docked together, choose View >
Metadata > Show All, and then choose a command from the submenu to indicate
where you'd like to display the docked window.

Regions List
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Regions List to open or close
the Regions List window. The Regions List contains all regions (⇗248) and markers

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(⇗246) that exist in the active data window.

Tips:
l To play a region, click the Play button to the left of each region.
l Selecting a marker or region (by clicking the leftmost numbered column) moves the
cursor or selection in the data window.
l Click a column heading to sort the results in ascending or descending
order based on the column's contents.
l You can edit a region by typing new values in the Name, Start, End, or Length boxes.

ACID Properties
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose ACID Properties from the
submenu to display the ACID Properties window, where you can view and edit ACID-
specific information in a sound file.
Tips:
l If you want to sort the contents of a metadata window, you can click a column
heading to sort in ascending or descending order.
l If you want to copy metadata to the clipboard, right-click the window and choose
Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu.
l If you want to customize the format for copying metadata to the clipboard, right-click
the window and choose Custom Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu. The
Copy Metadata dialog is displayed to let you choose whether you want to copy the
data as formatted text or delimited text, set a delimiter, and choose whether you want
to include a header row.
Click OK to copy the metadata to the clipboard, and you can then paste the
information wherever you need it.
l If you want to display all metadata windows docked together, choose View >
Metadata > Show All, and then choose a command from the submenu to indicate
where you'd like to display the docked window.

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Item Description
Time Displays the number of beats in your clip and the note that receives one
signature beat.
You can double-click the value to edit it

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ACID type Displays the clip's ACID type.

Click the down arrow and choose a setting from the drop-down list to
change the clip type:
One-Shot Choose One-Shot if you want ACID to treat your file
as a one-shot.
One-shots are RAM-based audio clips that do not
change tempo or pitch with an ACID project and are
not designed to loop. Sounds such as cymbal crashes
and sound bites could be considered one-shots.
Longer files can be treated as one-shots if your
computer has sufficient memory.
Loop Choose Loop and specify a Number of beats and Root
note for transposing if you want ACID to treat your
file as a loop.
Loops are small audio clips that are designed to create
a repeating beat or pattern. Loops are usually one to
four measures long and are stored completely in RAM
for playback. Loop files change tempo and can pitch
shift with an ACID project.
l Root note for transposing: Click the down
arrow and choose a note from the drop-down
list to set the base note for tracks that you want
to conform to the project key.
If you do not want a track transposed to the
project key (a track that contains a drum sample,
for example) choose Don’t transpose.
l Number of beats: Double-click to edit the
length of the file. Selecting a value that does not
match the actual file will cause ACID to play the
loop at a different speed than normal. For
example, specifying a length of 8 beats for a 4-
beat loop will cause the loop to play at half
speed at any given tempo.
ACID Choose ACID Beatmapped if you want to add key
Beatmapped and tempo information to a long audio file. By
default, ACID will start the Beatmapper Wizard for
files longer than 30 seconds.
l Root note for transposing: Click the down
arrow and choose a note from the drop-
down list to set the base note for tracks that
you want to conform to the project key.
If you do not want a track transposed to the
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sample, for example) choose Don’t transpose.
The SOUND FORGE Pro Window

Broadcast Wave Information

From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Broadcast Wave from the
submenu to display the Broadcast Wave Information window, where you can view and
edit information about a Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) file.
Tips:
l If you want to sort the contents of a metadata window, you can click a column
heading to sort in ascending or descending order.
l If you want to sort iXML and BEXT BWF metadata objects, click the Type column to
sort by metadata type. If you want to delete the iXML chunk select all iXML objects,
right-click a selected row, and choose Delete.
l For iXML and BEXT metadata objectsthat support multiline data, press Ctrl+Enter to
add a line break.
l If you copy data from a BWF file to a file that does not contain BWF metadata, the
source metadata is updated as necessary and added to the destination file.
l If you copy data from a BWF file to a file that contains BWF metadata, the metadata
in the destination file is not overwritten. The time stamp and date will be updated if
sound data is inserted or removed before other data in the file. You can use the
Autoupdate BWF Origination Time Reference setting on the General Preferences
tab to choose whether the OriginationTimeRef metadata is updated when adding or
deleting sound data at the beginning of a Broadcast Wave Format file.
l If you want to copy metadata to the clipboard, right-click the window and choose
Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu.
l If you want to customize the format for copying metadata to the clipboard, right-click
the window and choose Custom Copy to Clipboard from the shortcut menu. The
Copy Metadata dialog is displayed to let you choose whether you want to copy the
data as formatted text or delimited text, set a delimiter, and choose whether you want
to include a header row. Click OK to copy the metadata to the clipboard, and you can
then paste the information wherever you need it.

Edit metadata
You can double-click values in the Broadcast Wave Information window to edit them.

Autopopulate metadata values

If you want to populate metadata automatically, right-click the Broadcast Wave
Information window, choose Autopopulate from the shortcut menu, and then choose

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BEXT or iXML from the submenu.

SOUND FORGE PRO will create metadata values based on file properties where possible
and will create blank metadata entries for the Description, Originator, OriginatorRef,
and CodingHistory items.

Verify metadata
If an object's metadata is not valid, the Value column is displayed in blue in the
Broadcast Wave Information window, and a warning is displayed in the Description
column:

If you right-click the row in the Broadcast Wave Information window, you can choose a
command from the shortcut menu:
l Set to: if SOUND FORGE PRO can suggest a compliant metadata value, you can
choose Set to <suggested value> to correct the value.
l Hide Warnings: hides warnings for all objects. You can right-click again and
choose Show Warnings to restore warning messages.
l Hide This Object's Warnings: hides warnings for the current object. You can right-
click again and choose Show This Object's Warnings to restore warning messages
for the current object, or choose Stop Hiding of All Object-Specific Warnings to
restore warning messages.

Insert metadata objects

If the data you want to edit is not displayed in the window, you can right-click the
window, choose Insert from the submenu, and then choose a metadata object from the
submenus.
You can choose to add all BWF/BEXT/iXML objects at once, or you can choose
commands from the submenus to insert individual objects.

Delete metadata objects

Right-click the window, choose Delete from the submenu, and then choose a metadata
object from the submenu.
You can choose to delete selected objects, all BWF/BEXT/iXML objects, or you can
choose commands from the submenus to delete individual objects.

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Change the BWF version for saved metadata

If you want to change the version of BWF metadata that is saved in your file, click the
Value column in the BWF Version row and choose Version 0, Version 1, or Version 2
from the menu.
l Version 1 expands on the Version 0 metadata set by adding SMPTE UMID.
l Version 2 expands on the Version 1 metadata set by adding loudness metadata.

CD Information
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose CD Information from the
submenu to display the CD Information metadata window, where you can view and edit
information about a disc-at-once (⇗121) audio CD.
Item Description
Universal Universal product codes (UPC) or media catalog numbers (MCN) can
Product be written to a CD as a means of identification. However, not all CD-R
Code/Media drives support this feature. Check your CD-R drive documentation to
Catalog determine if your drive will write these codes.
Number Type the code in this box, and the codes will be written to the CD with
the rest of the project.
Universal product codes are administered by GS1 US. For more
information, click here.
First track Type a number in the box to specify the track number of the first track.
number on Specifying a value other than 1 will produce a valid Red Book CD, but
disc some audio CD players may be unable to play the disc
Name/Title Type a title for the project.
(CD Text) If you select the Write CD Text check box on the Burn Disc-at-Once
CD dialog (⇗135), this data will be written to your disc. In order to
display CD Text, your CD player must support CD Text.
Notes:
l In order to burn valid CD Text, you must specify a title for the disc
and for each track on the disc (artist information is optional). If the
Name/Title box in the CD Information or Track List window is
left blank, a warning will be displayed before burning so you can
choose to write the disc without CD Text or cancel burning and add
title information as needed.
l You can write a maximum of 5000 characters as CD Text.

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Artist (CD Type the name of the artist.

Text) If you select the Write CD Text check box on the Burn Disc-at-Once
CD dialog, this data will be written to your disc. In order to display CD
Text, your CD player must support CD Text.
Engineer Type the name of the person who mixed or edited the project.
Copyright Type copyright information for the project.
Comments Type any comments you want to associate with the project.

Sampler Loops
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Sampler Loops from the
submenu to display the Sampler Loops window, where you can view and edit
information about loops and sampler information saved in the active file.
Item Description
Sample type Displays the type of sample loop you're creating. Click the down
arrow to choose a new setting.
None Removes the loop from the file.
One shot Causes the sound file to play normally with no loops.
Sustaining Causes the file to repeat the sustaining loop region
the specified number of times.
Sustaining Causes the sound file to play the sustaining loop
with release region the number of times you specify, play the
region between the sustaining and release loops, and
then play the release loop region the number of times
you specify.
Sustain start Displays the beginning of the sustaining loop.
You can double-click the value to edit it.
Sustain end Displays the end of the sustaining loop.
You can double-click the value to edit it. Editing the end will
automatically update the Sustain length value.
Sustain length Displays the length of the sustaining loop.
You can double-click the value to edit it. Editing the length will
automatically update the Sustain end value.
Sustain count Indicates how many times the sustaining loop should be played.
Click the down arrow to choose a new setting. If you choose
Custom, you can type a new value.

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Release start Displays the start of the release loop.

You can double-click the value to edit it.
Release end Displays the end of the release loop.
You can double-click the value to edit it. Editing the end will
automatically update the Release length value.
Release length Displays the length of the release loop.
You can double-click the value to edit it. Editing the length will
automatically update the Release end value.
Release count Indicates how many times the release loop should be played.
Click the down arrow to choose a new setting. If you choose
Custom, you can type a new value.
For example, if you set the Sustain count to 3 and the Release count
to 2, the sustain loop would be played 3 times, and then the release
loop would be played twice.
Manufacturer The MMA manufacturer code for the target device. If the sample is
not intended for a specific manufacturer, set the value to 0.
Product The sampler that created the sample.
Sample period Click the down arrow and choose a sample period from the drop-
down list, or choose Custom to type a value in the edit box to set the
duration of each sample in nanoseconds.
Unity note Indicates the MIDI note that will cause a sampler to play the sound
file at the pitch (sample rate) it was originally recorded.
Click the down arrow to choose a new unity note and octave.
Fine tune Allows you to pitch shift the unity note up from 0 to 99.999 cents.
SOUND FORGE PRO software does not fine-tune the sound file
when fine tuning is used, and not all samplers support the setting.
This option is an informational setting that will be transmitted to a
sampler via a sample-transfer procedure.
A sampler such as the K2000 can use this information to play back
the sample. The K2000 should accurately display this information on
the Master/Sample/Misc. page as Pitch Adjust.
SMPTE format Indicates the time format if a SMPTE offset exists for the file.
Click the down arrow to choose a new time format, or choose (No
Offset) to remove a SMPTE offset..
SMPTE offset Indicates whether a SMPTE time offset has been set for the file.
SOUND FORGE PRO software ignores this offset value, and not all
samplers can store a SMPTE offset value in the sample.

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You can double-click the Start, End, Length or Play Count values to edit them. Editing
the Start or End value will recalculate the loop length. Editing the Length value will
recalculate the End value.
For more information about working with sample loops, please see Creating or Editing
Sample Information.

Summary Information
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Summary Information from the
submenu to display the Summary Information window, where you can view and edit
information saved in the active file.
If the data you want to edit is not displayed in the window, you can right-click the
window, choose Insert from the submenu, and then choose a metadata field from the
submenu.
FourCC Name Description
Code
IARL Archival Indicates where the subject of the file is archived.
Location
IART Artist (CD Text) The artist of the original subject of the file.
ICMS Commissioned The name of the person or organization that
commissioned the subject of the file.
ICMT Comments General comments about the file or the subject of the
file. If the comment is several sentences long, end each
sentence with a period. Do not include new-line
characters.
ICOP Copyright Copyright information for the file. For example, ©
Copyright 2021 MAGIX Software GmbH If there are
multiple copyrights, separate them with a semicolon
followed by a space.
ICRD Creation Date The date the subject of the file was created. List dates in
year-month-day format, padding one-digit months and
days with a zero on the left. For example, 1964-03-02 for
March 2, 1964.
ICRP Cropped Describes whether an image or sound has been cropped
and, if so, how it was cropped. For example, Third
movement, first through fourth bars.

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IDIM Dimensions The size of the original subject of the file. For example,
8.5 in h, 11 in w.
IDPI Dots Per Inch The dots-per-inch setting of the digitizer used to produce
the file.
IENG Engineer The name of the engineer who worked on the file. If there
are multiple engineers, separate the names by a
semicolon and a blank: Engineer, Joe; Mixer, Matt.
IGNR Genre Describes the classification of the original work.
IKEY Keywords Separate multiple keywords with a semicolon and a
blank: Madison; aerial view; scenery.
ILGT Lightness Describes the changes in lightness settings on the
digitizer required to produce the file. The format of this
information depends on hardware used.
IMED Medium Describes the format of the original subject of the file.
INAM Name/Title (CD The title of the subject of the file, such as Madison From
Text) Above.
IPLT Palette Setting The number of colors requested when digitizing an image.

IPRD Product The name of the title the file was originally intended for,
such as Encyclopedia of Midwest Geography.
ISBJ Subject Describes the contents of the file, such as Aerial view of
Madison.
ISFT Software The name of the software package used to create the file.

ISHP Sharpness Identifies the changes in sharpness for the digitizer

required to produce the file. The format of this
information depends on the hardware used.
ISRC Source The name of the person or organization who supplied the
original subject of the file.
ISRF Source Form The original form of the material that was digitized, such
as slide, paper, map, and so forth. This is not necessarily
the same as IMED.
ITCH Technician The technician who digitized the file.
DISP Sound Scheme Sets the title that is displayed for Microsoft Sound
Title Systems.

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TLEN Text Length The length of the file in milliseconds.

(ms)
TRCK Track Number The track number of the media from the original source
media.
TURL URL The Web address associated with the file.
TVER Version Sets the version of the file. You can use versioning
information to keep track of multiple mixes.
LOCA Location Identifies the location where the file was recorded.
TORG Organization Identifies the organization that produced the track.

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How Do I. . . ?

How Do I. . . ?
This section of the help file answers some commonly asked questions about SOUND
FORGE PRO software.
We also maintain forums on our Web site where you can share tips and tricks with other
SOUND FORGE PRO users.

Mixing Multiple Files

While SOUND FORGE PRO is not a multitrack editor check out our Vegas and ACID
family of products for full multitrack recording and editing you can perform basic mixing
from separate audio files.
1. Open (⇗98) the files you want to mix.
2. Click the New button on the toolbar to create a new data window.
This step is optional, but for this example, we're going to perform our mixing in a
new data window so we don't change our original sound files.
3. From the Window menu, choose Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically so you can see
all open data windows.
4. Copy the first file to your new (blank) data window:
1. Click the first data window to give it focus, and then press Ctrl+A to select all
sound data.
2. Click the Copy button on the toolbar to copy the data to the clipboard.
3. Click the blank data window to give it focus.
4. Click the Paste button on the toolbar to paste the data to the new data
window.
5. Mix the second file to the new data window:
1. Click the second data window to give it focus, and then press Ctrl+A to
select all sound data.
2. Click the Copy button on the toolbar to copy the data to the clipboard.
3. Click the blank data window to give it focus.
4. Click to position the cursor where you want to mix your audio.
6. Click the Mix button on the toolbar to mix the audio from the clipboard at the
cursor position. The Mix dialog is displayed.

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How Do I. . . ?

7. Use the faders in the Mix dialog to adjust your mix and fade in/out levels. You can
click the Preview button to audition your mix.
For more information about using the controls in the Mix dialog, please see the
Mix (⇗223) help topic.
8. Click the OK button when you're satisfied with your mix.

How Do I Create ACID Loops with SOUND FORGE

PRO?
SOUND FORGE PRO makes it easy to create ACID loops from other audio files. In this
example, we'll create a loop from a longer recording, and then we'll edit the loop's ACID
properties (⇗79) so it is properly detected when you add it to an ACID project.
1. Open (⇗98) the file you want to use to create your new loop.
2. Create a one-measure selection (⇗199).
From the Options menu, choose Selection Grid Lines. Grid lines are displayed over
your selection to divide the selection into equal parts.
You can use these grid lines to align your selection with beats:

To change the number of divisions that will be used, choose Options > Set Grid
Divisions, and then choose a setting from the submenu.

3. Select the Loop Playback button , and then click the Play button to preview
your selection. Drag the ends of the selection as necessary until you hear a steady
downbeat.
4. Now let's create a new window for our loop so we don't modify the original file:
1. Click the Copy button on the main toolbar to copy the selection to the
clipboard.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Paste to New. A
new data window is created from your selection.
5. Now we're ready to set the loop's tempo:
1. From the Options menu, choose Status Format, and then choose Edit Tempo
from the submenu. The Edit tempo dialog is displayed.

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2. Use the Selection length in beats control to indicate the number of beats in
the current selection. If you're creating a loop in 4/4 time, type 4 in this box.
3. Use the Number of beats in a measure control to indicate the number of
beats in a measure. Again, if you're creating a loop in 4/4 time, type 4 in this
box. SOUND FORGE PRO calculates the tempo of the selection and updates
the Tempo in beats per minute value.
If the tempo seems too high (200 BPM when you expected 100 BPM, for
example), the selection you created in step 2 may have been only half a
measure. Repeat from step 2 and use theDouble Selection button on the
Navigation toolbar or the Menu Edit > Selection > Double command to
extend your selection.
If the tempo seems too low (50 BPM when you expected 100 BPM, for
example), the selection you created in step 2 may have been two measures
long. Repeat from step 2 and use the Halve Selection button on the
Navigation toolbar or the Menu Edit > Selection > Double command to
reduce your selection.
6. Setting the loop's ACID properties will allow the loop to be time-stretched and
pitch-shifted correctly when you load it in an ACID project:
1. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose ACID Properties
from the submenu to display the ACID Properties window.
2. Click the down arrow next to the ACID type setting and choose a setting
from the drop-down list to indicate whether you want ACID to treat your
loop as a one-shot, loop, or an ACID Beatmapped track. For more
information about the controls in this dialog, please see ACID Properties
(⇗79).
In this example, imagine we'd created a 4/4 drum loop:
l Type 4/4 in the Time signature box.
l Choose Loop from the ACID type drop-down list.
l Choose Don't transpose from the Root note for transposing drop-
down list
l Type 4 in the Number of beats box.
7. Save (⇗102) your file, and be sure to select the Save metadata with file check box
to save the ACID information in the file.

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How Do I Create a New File Using Part of Another

File?
As you're editing audio, it's often useful to create a new file using part of a larger file. Do
you want to create a short preview of your next single? Do you need to extract the
perfect drum loop out of a two-hour recording? It's a breeze in SOUND FORGE PRO.
If you want to create new files from regions (⇗ 248) in a sound file, you can use the Extract
Regions (⇗ 252) command.
If you're editing with a playlist/cutlist, you can convert (⇗ 265) the playlist/cutlist to a new
file.
1. Start by selecting (⇗199) the part of the file you want to use to create a new file.
2. Now perform either of the following steps:
3. Drag the selection to an empty area of the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace to
create a new window using the selected data.
4. Copy (⇗220) the selection and then choose Edit > Paste Special > Paste to New. A
new data window is created from your selection.

How Do I Convert Markers to Regions That I Can

Use In CD Architect?
CD Architect can create tracks and indices using markers and regions in your audio file.
When you choose Create Tracks from Media Regions from the Tools menu in CD
Architect, tracks are created from regions in the file, and index markers are created from
markers in the media file.
If you have a single media file with markers at the positions where you want to create
tracks, you can convert those markers to regions before adding the file to your CD
Architect project.
1. Open the file you want to use to create your CD Architect project.
2. Insert a marker at the points where you want CD tracks to begin.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and then choose Markers to Regions
from the submenu. All existing markers will be converted to regions using the data
between each consecutive marker as the region boundary.
For example, if your file contains three markers, this command will create two
regions; the first region will span the area between the first and second markers,
and the second region will span the area between the second and third markers.

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4. Save your file, and be sure to select the Save metadata with file check box.

How Do I Record from an External Source?

This topic provides general guidelines to help you record sound from an external source
using SOUND FORGE PRO software. Your specific hardware may vary. Please refer to
your hardware documentation for more information.
If you're recording from a turntable, use a phono preamplifier between your turntable's
output and your sound card's line input. Most turntables' outputs are phono-level (rather
than line-level) outputs. Phono-level outputs are quieter than line-level outputs and have
special equalization applied. A phono preamplifier will convert the phono-level signal to a
line-level signal that you can record.

Connect an audio source to your sound card's input

Basic setup
In this setup, an audio source is connected to an input on your sound card, and your
powered speakers are connected to a Line Out output. You could connect a
computer microphone to your sound card's Mic In input, or you can connect line-
level outputs from a tape deck or other source to a Line In input.

Basic setup with mixer/preamplifier

In this setup, your speakers and audio source are connected to a mixer or preamplifier.
The mixer/preamplifier is then connected to Line In and Line Out connections on your
sound card.
If you're recording from a turntable, use a phono preamplifier between your turntable's
output and your sound card's line input. Most turntables' outputs are phono-level (rather
than line-level) outputs. Phono-level outputs are quieter then line-level outputs and have

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special equalization applied. A phono preamplifier will convert the phono-level signal to a
line-level signal that you can record.

Digital input/output with MIDI synchronization

In this setup, an audio source with digital input/output is connected to a sound card
with digital input and outputs. Dashed lines represent a sync connection from your
audio source to a MIDI timecode converter to a MIDI card.

Choose an input device and adjust levels

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The maximum number of channels recorded depends on the data window where you're
recording. For example, if you enabled six inputs on the Record tab in Audio Preferences
(⇗408), you need to record into a six-channel data window to record all six inputs. If you
record to a stereo data window, only two inputs will be recorded.
To choose your recording input, use the Audio (⇗408) tab in the Preferences dialog or
click a channel number in the Record Options window and choose a new input port from
the menu.

1. Ensure all cables are connected and that your audio source is generating a signal.
2. Adjust your recording levels:
l If your audio device provides a console application to adjust levels, open the
application and adjust its gain controls while monitoring the peak meters on
the Meters tab in the recording dialog. Adjust the gain controls in the console
application so SOUND FORGE PRO receives a strong signal with no clipping.
For more information about using your sound card and its console
application, please refer to the manufacturer's documentation.
l If you're using your Windows sound card, perform the following steps to
open the recording controls:
1. Double-click the speaker icon in your system tray to open the
Volume Control window.
2. From the Options menu, choose Properties.
3. Click the Recording radio button and click OK.
4. Select (or unmute) the device from which you want to record.
5. Adjust the Volume faders for the selected device and for the Master
Record level while monitoring the recording meters in the SOUND

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FORGE PRO Record dialog.

For example, if you want to record from an audio CD in your CD-ROM
drive, the CD Mute check box should not be selected, and the CD and
Master Record Volume faders must be adjusted so SOUND FORGE
PRO receives a strong signal with no clipping.

Adjust for DC offset

SOUND FORGE PRO software can automatically adjust for any DC offset (⇗444)
produced by your audio hardware during the recording process.
1. Set up your hardware. For more information see Recording Setup (⇗94).
2. From the View menu, choose Record Options to open the Record Options
window.
3. Click the Arm button on the main toolbar.
4. Ensure your recording input is quiet.
5. Select the DC adjust check box.
6. Click the Calibrate button.
If you change sound cards or are recording from different digital sources or at different
sample rates, you should recalibrate the DC offset before recording.

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Working with Files

For your editing enjoyment, SOUND FORGE PRO software can open and save a wide
range of audio and video file formats.

Creating a New Window

Each sound file is opened in a separate data window. You can have multiple windows
open at once; click anywhere in a data window to make it active.
Press Ctrl+E to quickly create a new data window using the contents of the clipboard.
1. From the File menu, choose New to open a new window.
Shortcuts:

l Click the New button on the toolbar (or hold the Shift key while choosing
New from the menu) to skip the New Window dialog and use the previously
selected window settings.
l Click and drag a selection box on a blank area of the SOUND FORGE PRO
workspace to create a new window using the previously selected window
settings.
l Drag a selection from a data window to an empty area of the SOUND
FORGE PRO workspace to create a new window using the selected data.
2. Use the New Window dialog to specify the parameters for the new window:
l Choose a sample rate from the Sample rate drop-down list, or type a custom
value in the edit box.
l Choose a setting from the Bit depth drop-down list to specify the number of
bits that should be used to store each sample.
l Choose a setting from the Channels drop-down list (or type a value in the
box) to specify the number of channels (⇗147) that will be used in the
window.
Maximum editing time displays the maximum time currently available on the hard drive
for editing a file of the specified type.

Opening a File
Use the Open command to open a media file in a new SOUND FORGE PRO window. You
may quickly reopen one of the previously opened files by selecting it from the bottom of
the File menu.

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Open a file
1. From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog is displayed.
2. Choose the folder where the file you want to open is stored:
l Choose a drive and folder from the Look in drop-down list.
or
l Choose a folder from the Recent drop-down list to quickly select a folder
from which you have previously opened files.
3. Select a file in the browse window or type a name in the File name box. Detailed
information about the selected file appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
If you know that the file format is unsupported, choose Raw File and click the
Open button to display the Raw File Type (⇗101) dialog, where you can specify
format parameters.
To limit the files displayed in the dialog, choose a file type from the Files of Type
drop-down list or enter *. and an extension in the File name box. For example, enter
*.wav to display all wave files in the current folder, or enter *guitar*.wav to display
all wave files that have the word guitar in the file name.

4. Click the Open button.

Open a file as read-only

On the Open dialog, select the Open as read-only check box if you want to open a
sound file but do not want to alter the data in the file.
This feature is useful if you only need to play the file or copy sections from the file.

Preview files
On the Open dialog, select the Auto play check box if you want to automatically begin
playback when a file is selected.
When the Auto play check box is not selected, you can click the Play button to audition
the selected sound file without opening it. During playback, the button changes to a
Stop button; click again to stop playback.
If playing a file from a slow network or CD-ROM, some skipping might occur.

Merge two mono files into a single stereo file

In the Open dialog, select the Merge L/R to stereo check box and hold the Ctrl button
while selecting two mono files in the browse window. The two mono files will be merged
to the left and right channels of a new stereo file.

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The first file you select will be placed in the left channel, and the second file will be
placed in the right channel.
Compressed files are not supported for merging.

Open a file as a CD track

In the Open dialog, select the Open as CD tracks check box if you want to create a disc-
at-once CD track when opening a file.
If you have multiple files selected, you can select the Append to current data window
check box to add the selected files to the end of the current data window and create a
disc-at-once CD track for each file.
When the check box is not selected, multiple files will be opened to separate data
windows.
Disc-at-once CD tracks must be at least four seconds long. If you select a file that is less
than four seconds long, silence will be added as needed.

Append files to the current data window

If you have multiple files selected, you can select the Append to current data window
check box to add the selected files to the end of the current data window. If no data
windows are open, the selected files will be opened in a new window.
When appending files to a data window, be sure to use files with matching formats, or
perform any required sample rate or bit-depth (⇗302) conversion before appending the
files. If the formats of the selected files do not match, they will play back at the target
format without any conversion. If the sample rates do not match, for example, pitch will
not be preserved.
When the check box is not selected, multiple files will be opened to separate data
windows.

Display more information about the selected file

In the Open dialog, click the More button to display the File Properties window.

Change file reader settings for VOX, IVC, and RAW files
When you choose Dialogic VOX ADPCM (*.vox), Intervoice (*.ivc), or RAW File (*.raw)
from the Files of type drop-down list, you can click the Custom button to display the
Custom Template dialog, where you can set options for reading files of the selected type.
Select the Remember my preference and apply it in the future check box in the
Custom Template dialog if you want to use your settings each time you open a file of the
selected type.

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Opening a Raw Data File

The Raw File Type dialog is displayed when you select RawFilefrom Files of Type list in
the Open dialog to open a file. Use this function to open a file that is not stored in one of
the standard sound file formats supported by SOUND FORGE PRO software. The
options on this dialog are explained below.
1. From the File menu, choose Open or click the Open button on the toolbar. The
Open dialog is displayed.
Press Ctrl+O, Ctrl+F12, or Ctrl+Alt+F2.

2. Choose the folder where the file you want to open is stored:
Choose a drive and folder from the Look in drop-down list or
Choose a folder from the Recent drop-down list to quickly select a folder from
which you have previously opened files.
3. Select a file in the browse window or type a name in the File name box. Detailed
information about the selected file appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Choose Raw File from the Files of Type drop-down list.
5. Click the Open button. The Raw File Type dialog is displayed.
6. Specify format parameters for your file:
1. Choose the sample rate used in your file from the Sample Rate drop-down
list or enter a number in the edit box. This setting specifies the sample
playback rate that will be used when playing the file.
2. In the Sample Type box, click the radio button that corresponds to the
format used to store each sample value.
3. In the Format box, click the radio button that corresponds to the sample
format of data storage. Sound files on the PC are most often saved using the
Signed format.
4. Click the Little endian or Big endian radio button to specify the order in
which the high and low bytes of a 16-bit sample are stored. Little Endian is
used by Intel microprocessors, while Big Endian is used by Motorola
microprocessors.
5. Choose a setting from the Channels drop-down list to specify the number of
channels stored in the file.
6. In the Header box, specify the number of bytes stored in the file before the
sound data.

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7. In the Trailer box, specify the number of bytes stored in the file after the
sound data.
The settings you choose for opening the file with the exception of the sample rate
will be used when you click Save or save the file using the Default Template
setting in the Save As dialog as long as the number of channels in the source file
matches the number of channels in the file you're saving. The sample rate will be
determined from the source file.
If you do not always use the same settings for reading raw files, make sure the Keep
media files locked check box is selected on the General (⇗ 387) tab of the
Preferences dialog. Otherwise, the individual settings will be lost if you have multiple
raw files open and switch away from the SOUND FORGE PRO window.

7. Click the OK button.

Closing a File
From the File menu, choose Close to close the current sound file. If the data has been
modified, you will be prompted to save your changes:
l Click No if you want to close the file without saving it.
l Click Yes to save your changes.
l Click Cancel to return to your current project.

Saving a File
1. Click anywhere in the data window to select it.
2. From the File menu, choose Save to save the current sound data.
If the active window contains new data that was not retrieved from a previous file or
was loaded from a format that is not supported for saving, you will be prompted with
the Save As dialog (⇗102).

Save As/Render As
From the File menu, choose Save As to save the current sound data in a different file
and/or file format.
If you're working with a SOUND FORGE PRO project file, choose Render As from the
File menu to commit your edits to a media file.

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1. Click anywhere in the data window to select it.

2. From the File menu, choose Save As to display the Save As dialog. If you're
working with a SOUND FORGE PRO project file, you can use the Save As dialog to
save your project to a different name or location. Choose Render As to save your
project as a media file.
3. Select the folder where you want to save the file:
l Choose a drive and folder from the Save in drop-down list or
l Choose a folder from the Recent drop-down list to quickly select a folder
where you have previously saved files.
4. Type a name in the File name box, or select a file in the browse window to replace
an existing file.
5. Choose a file type from the Save as type drop-down list.
If you know that the file format is unsupported, choose Raw File and click the
Custom button to display the Custom Template (⇗114) dialog, where you’ll be able
to specify format parameters.
6. Choose a setting from the Template drop-down list to choose the attributes that
will be used to save your file, or click the Custom button to create a new template
(⇗114).
Notes:
l When you convert from mono to stereo, the data will be stored in both channels.
When converting from stereo to mono, the data from both channels will be
mixed to a single channel.
l When determining bit rates, 1K=1024.
7. Select the Save metadata with file check box if you want to preserve metadata
(⇗78) (such as embedded data from other applications, regions, markers, disc-at-
once CD tracks, commands, playlist, and sampler information (⇗357)) in your file. If
the check box is cleared, the data will be ignored.
If the selected file type doesn’t support all the metadata in your file, you will be
prompted to save the metadata to an external file with an .sfl extension (using the
same base name as your media file). Metadata can be saved internally for the
following file formats:
l MP3
l PCA
l SFA
l WAV

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l WAV64
l Windows Media Format (WMA and WMV)
8. Select the Stretch video to fill output frame (do not letterbox) check box if you
are saving to a format with a different aspect ratio than your source media
settings. When this check box is cleared, black bars may appear at the top and
bottom (letterboxing) or sides (pillarboxing) of the frame to preserve the aspect
ratio.
9. Clear the Fast video resizing check box if you see unacceptable video artifacts in
the rendered video (these artifacts are most obvious with MPEG and streaming
formats). Turning this option off can correct the artifacts, but your rendering times
will increase significantly.
10. Select the Save project as path reference in rendered media check box if you
want to save the path to your SOUND FORGE PRO project in the rendered file.
Saving the project path allows you to easily return to the source project if you use
your rendered file in another project.
The check box will be unavailable if you haven't saved your project or if you're
rendering using a third-party file-format plug-in
11. Select the Generate Loudness Log check box if you want SOUND FORGE PRO to
analyze the loudness of your file and create a log file that summarizes its loudness
values.
The loudness log is created using the same folder and base name as your sound file
with _loud.txt appended to the name. The log will record the file name, format,
loudness metering mode, and loudness values throughout the file.
Loudness logging is performed after the plug-in chain, but before any codec is
applied to your rendered file. Because audio compression may affect audio levels,
choose Tools > Generate Loudness Log to create a log after saving to a
compressed format.
12. Select the Enable surround processing for files with 6 channelscheck box on the
Status (⇗404) tab of the Preferences dialog if you want to treat audio with six
channels as surround audio when measuring loudness (a gain of ~1.5 dB is applied
to the left and right surround channels). When the check box is cleared, all
channels contribute equally to the loudness measurement.
13. Click the Save button.

Export Dialog
The Export dialog allows you to save all open files in one go. Also if you frequently save
audio files in specific folders or in specific files formats, you can use the Export Dialog to
define and use Export Presets.

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Creating an Export Preset

1. Open the Export Dialog with Menu File > Export...

2. Adjust the settings in at the left side of the dialog:

l Export Location: Select a radio button to indicate where you want to save
the files

Item Description
Same as Select this radio button if you want to save the original files.
source

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Save Select this radio button and type a path in the edit box (or click
files to Browse to select a folder with an explorer window) if you want
to save the files in a specific folder.
You can select the Preserve source subfolders check box if
you want to use the same folder structure in your source and
target files.
Ask With this option, you will be asked for the location to export
Later when actually exporting. Use this option, when you want to
save a preset with all the other options set but want to leave
open, where to save the files in an actual export.

l File Naming: Select a radio button to indicate the format you want to use for
exported files

Item Description
Same as Select this radio button if you want to save the file using the
source same name as the original file.
Append Select this radio button and type text in the box if you want to
to name add a descriptor to the file names of saved files.
The text you enter will be added to the original file name
during conversion For example, if your source file is
C:\Audio\DoorSlam.wav, the file could be saved as
C:\Audio\DoorSlam-processed.wav during conversion.

l Normalization/Conversions: These options allows you to normalize the files,

resample it or change the bit depth before exporting it. When activated, you
can choose a preset from the list box. Editopens the dialog window to adjust
the normalization settings. See Normalizing (⇗310), Resampling (⇗318) and
Bit Depth Converter (⇗302) for details.
l Metadata: Type values for any metadata (file information) you want to save
in the output files.
If a metadata type is not supported by the output format, it will be ignored.

l Watermark: Here you can select a watermarking file that is mixed with the
output file.
l Export Formats: Choose a file type from the Renderer drop-down list if you
want to convert your files to a new format.

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Choose a setting from the Template drop-down list to choose the

parameters that will be used for rendering your file, or click Edit to create a
custom template. For more information, see Custom File Templates (⇗114).
You can export the files to multiple output formats at once. After adding an
output format, another drop-down menu appears to add another output
format. Delete output renderers with the Delete button.
For any output format, choose Default Template to preserve the source file's
format (sample rate, bit-depth, and number of channels) in the output file.

3. When everything is set, click Add in the lower left corner of the dialog to add your
preset to the preset menu. The New Preset dialog window opens.

Give your preset a descriptive name and optionally choose a folder (see below)
where the preset should be stored.
4. The Preset is now available in the list on the left side of the dialog.
To delete a preset, right click it and choose Delete Preset.
You cannot edit an existing preset. To change a preset, load it by clicking on it, delete
it, make your changes and save it again

Folders: The preset list can contain folders where you can save presets together,
for instance for a specific purpose.
One folder Factory Presets is already there, containing the factory presets supplied
with the program.

l To create a folder, right click on the list and choose Create New Folder....
l To remove a folder, right click it and choose Remove Folder.

Using Export Presets

1. From the File menu, choose Export. The Export window is displayed.
2. The available Export Presets are listed on the left side of the Export dialog. To load
a preset, just click on it, the Export settings on the left side are immediately
updated with the contents of the preset.

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3. The Export files section on top of the settings shows all currently open audio files.
By default, all are checked for export. You can un-check specific files to exclude
them from the export.
4. Click on the Export button in the lower right corner to carry out the export.

The Batch Converter

If you routinely perform similar processing on multiple files, a batch job can combine
multiple, time-consuming steps into a single process.
You create as well as perform batch jobs in the Batch Converter dialog window.

Creating or Editing a Batch Job

1. From the Tools menu, choose Batch Converter. The Batch Converter window is
displayed.

2. Select the Processing settings you want to apply.

a. Choose a plug-in from the Effect drop-down list to add it to the end of the
list.

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b. Choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list.

c. Click Edit to open the the plug-in dialog to further adjust the effect. For more
information about an individual effect's settings, click the Help button in the
plug-in window.
d. Repeat these as needed to create your effects list.
e. If you need to change an effect's position in the list, select it and click the
Move Up or Move Down button .
3. Metadata: Type values for any metadata (file information) you want to save in the
output files.
If a metadata type is not supported by the output format, it will be ignored.

4. Watermark: Here you can select a watermarking file that is mixed with the output
file.
5. Export Formats: Choose a file type from the Renderer drop-down list if you want
to convert your files to a new format.
Choose a setting from the Template drop-down list to choose the parameters that
will be used for rendering your file, or click Edit to create a custom template. For
more information, see Custom File Templates (⇗114).
You can export the files to multiple output formats at once. After adding an output
format, another drop-down menu appears to add another output format. Delete
output renderers with the Delete button.
For any output format, choose Default Template to preserve the source file's format
(sample rate, bit-depth, and number of channels) in the output file.

Click Options to adjust file location and naming:

l Export Location: Select a radio button to indicate where you want to save
the files

Item Description
Same as Select this radio button if you want to save the original files.
source
Save Select this radio button and type a path in the edit box (or click
files to Browse to select a folder with an explorer window) if you want
to save the files in a specific folder.
You can select the Preserve source subfolders check box if
you want to use the same folder structure in your source and
target files.

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l File Naming: Select a radio button to indicate the format you want to use for
exported files

6. When everything is set, click Add in the lower left corner of the dialog to add your
preset to the preset menu. The New Preset dialog window opens.

Give your preset a descriptive name and optionally choose a folder (see below)
where the preset should be stored.
7. The Preset is now available in the list on the left side of the dialog.
To delete a preset, right click it and choose Delete Preset.
You cannot edit an existing preset. To change a preset, load it by clicking on it, delete
it, make your changes and save it again

l To create a folder, right click on the list and choose Create New Folder....
l To remove a folder, right click it and choose Remove Folder.

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Process files using the Batch Converter

1. From the Tools menu, choose Batch Converter. The Batch Converter window is
displayed.
2. The available Batch Converter Presets are listed on the left side of the Batch
Converter dialog. To load a preset, just click on it, the Settings on the left side are
immediately updated with the contents of the preset.
3. Add the files you want to process in the Files to Process section on top of the
settings. All data windows that were open in the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace
when you started the Batch Converter are automatically included in the list. You
can un-check specific files to exclude them from processing.
Click the Add button, browse to a file, and click the Open button to add individual
files. (Multiple selection of files with Ctrl or Shift + Click are supported).
Click the Add Folder button to add all files within a folder.
Only the contents of the folder you select are added; subfolders are not included.

4. Click the Run Job button to start processing. After you click the button, you can
monitor the progress of your batch job in the Status section.

Adding Batch Jobs to the Instant Action window or Windows Explorer

context menu
You can add any Batch preset as a button in the Instant Action (⇗75) window or as a
Windows Explorer context menuUsing SOUND FORGE Pro with the Windows Explorer
Context Menu (⇗112) entry.
Add to Instant Action: Check this option, when you want to have the batch job as an
Instant Action available. You can the choose an icon from the drop-down menu that is
shown in the Instant Action window for this job.
Add to Context Menu: Check this option to add the job to the context menu of any
audio file in the Windows Explorer. As with Instant actions, you can add an icon that is
used in the context menu. The custom context menu entries are available in the SOUND
FORGE PRO 15 Custom Actions context menu.

This button from the User Entries section of the Instant Actions
window opens the Action Manager, where you can set for each batch
job whether it is available in the Instant Actions window and/or in the
context menu.

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Using SOUND FORGE PRO with the Windows

Explorer Context Menu

For minor routine tasks, such as converting to other file formats, normalizing, or
removing silence at the beginning and end of a recording, there is no need to open
SOUND FORGE PRO.
Normally, for example, to convert you would first have to launch the program, browse
for the corresponding audio file in the Explorer window and open it, make your edits,
then click Save As..., set the desired format and click Save. And then the new file is still
in the default folder and not just next to the source file, so you might have to move it
around. This is much faster from the Windows Explorer context menu! Simply right-click
on the audio file and select the desired action from the context menu.
The conversion takes place in the background, without the program window being
opened or any output taking place. If user input is required, it is requested in a small
dialog box. The edited file will be saved in the same folder as the source file under the
same name, at the end of the name an abbreviation corresponding to the chosen action
will be added, in case of conversion to another file format with the new file extension,
e.g. file.wav will become file.wav.mp3.

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You can also find the actions from the context menu in the program itself, in the Instant
Actions (⇗75) in the areas Edit and Export.
Open with With this context menu option you can open the program and
SOUND load the file.
FORGE PRO
15.0
Convert Use this context menu item to convert audio files to other file
formats. After selecting this option, a prompt for the desired file
format and the corresponding template appears.
For more information on file format templates, visit Save
As/Render As (⇗102)
Normalize Use this option to normalize the audio file, i.e. increase the level
to a maximum value. To do this, select a template in the following
dialog. In addition to a pure level increase to 0dB or -0.3dB, there
are also templates for RMS normalization (Loudness
Normalization). The level is raised to a target value for the average
loudness. If the file has large level differences, the peak levels can
exceed 0dB, then a limiter is used. The result file gets the original
file name and "_N" is appended.
Trim silence This option removes silence at the beginning and end of the file.
from Start The result file gets the original file name and "_T" is appended.
and end
Fade in/out Use this option to fade in and fade out the file. A query is made
for the length of the fades. The result file gets the original file
name and "_F" is appended.
Split into The audio file is divided into a number of equal-sized parts. It asks
equidistant for the number. The resulting files will have the original file name,
parts with "_Part "+<Part number> added.
Clean region For an export of the regions into individual files (see below), the
names for region names are used as file names. This function ensures that
export the names do not contain any characters that are forbidden for
file names (e.g. : or ?).
Export A list of the regions contained in the file is exported as a text file.
region list
Export The regions marked in the audio file are exported as individual
Regions as files. The result files receive the original file name, supplemented
files by the number and the name of the region.

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Generate The function Statistics (⇗138) is executed and the results are
statistics saved in a text file.

The context menu entries are only available if you activated the corresponding option
when installing SOUND FORGE PRO.

If this was not the case, you must uninstall the program and reinstall it with the option
enabled to create the context menu entries.

Custom File Templates

If the selected file type supports it, the Save As/Render as (⇗102) dialog allows you to
enter custom settings and create templates for saving files, if the chosen file format
supports this.

Create or edit a template

1. Use the Save As (⇗102) dialog to specify a location and name for the file you want
to save.
2. Click the Custom button to open the Custom Template dialog.
3. Choose a template from the Template drop-down list, or enter a new name in the
edit box.
Notes:
l Built-in templates cannot be edited.
l When determining bit rates, 1K=1024.
4. Use the Custom Template dialog to set the template's properties.

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For information about specific controls in each file type's Custom Template settings,
click the Help button .

5. Click the Save Template button .

6. Click OK to return to the Save As dialog.

Delete a template
1. Use the Save As (⇗102) dialog to specify a location and name for the file you want
to save.
2. Click the Custom button to open the Custom Template dialog.
3. Choose a template from the Template drop-down list.
4. Click the Delete Template button .
Built-in templates cannot be deleted.

5. Click OK to return to the Save As dialog.

Copy rendering templates between computers or user accounts

You can make your customized rendering templates available on another computer or
user account by copying .sft2 files to the appropriate location in the new account or
computer.
Rendering templates are stored in the following folder:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\Render Templates\<plug-in name>.
The "AppData" folder is not visible unless the the option Hidden Items is selected on the
"View" tab of the Windows Explorer

You can find a plug-in's name by clicking the About button in the Save As/Render As
dialog.

To make a template available on another computer or user account, copy the .sft2 file to
the same location in another account.
For example, to make JSmith's custom wave template available for the AJones user
account, copy the appropriate .sft2 file from this folder:
C:\User\JSchmidt\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\Render Templates\wave\

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to this folder:
C:\User\AMueller\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\Render Templates\wave\.

Working with Projects

Projects are a relatively new concept to SOUND FORGE PRO software, but if you've
used ACID or VEGAS software, they'll be familiar territory to you. SOUND FORGE PRO
projects function somewhat differently than ACID and VEGAS projects.
When you save a project file (.frg), SOUND FORGE PRO software creates a .frg file and
creates a subfolder that contains your media file and all temporary files created by your
editing operations.
Deleting a project's [filename]_frg folder will break the project.
A project file is not a multimedia file. It contains pointers to the original source files, so
you can edit your project non-destructively you can be creative without worrying about
corrupting your source files. When you edit a SOUND FORGE PRO project, you can
undo (⇗233) edit operations even past your last save.
When you're ready to commit your edits to a media file, choose Render As from the File
menu.
1. Click anywhere in the data window to select it.
2. From the File menu, choose Save As to display the Save As dialog.
3. Select the folder where you want to save the file:
l Choose a drive and folder from the Save in drop-down list or
l Choose a folder from the Recent drop-down list to quickly select a folder
where you have previously saved files.
4. Type a name in the File name box, or select a file in the browse window to replace
an existing file.
5. From the Save as type drop-down list, choose SOUND FORGE PRO Project File
(*.frg).
SOUND FORGE PRO software creates an .frg file in the folder you specified and
creates a subfolder to store your sound and temporary files. For example, if you
saved My_Masterpiece.frg to your D:\ drive, the software will create D:\My_
Masterpiece.frg and a D:\My_Masterpiece_frg folder.
Because a SOUND FORGE PRO project contains your original sound data plus all
uncompressed PCM temporary files, they can take some time to create.

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Project References in Rendered Files

When a media file is rendered (⇗102) with an embedded project path reference, you can
easily open the source project in the associated application if you need to edit the media
later. ACID 5.0, SOUND FORGE PRO 8.0, and Vegas 6.0 or later allow you to save the
project path reference when you render files.
For example, imagine that you have an audio file open that was rendered from an ACID
project. In previewing your SOUND FORGE PRO data window, you discover that you'd
accidentally rendered your ACID project with a critical track muted. You could simply
right-click the waveform in the SOUND FORGE PRO data window, choose Edit Source
Project from the shortcut menu to reopen your ACID project, unmute the track, and
then re-render it.
The project information in the rendered file is a reference to a project file only. If you
modify the project file after rendering, the project data will no longer match the
rendered file. To edit a project using a path reference, the project file and all media must
be available on your computer.

Save the project path in the rendered file

1. Save (⇗116) your SOUND FORGE PRO project. The project must be saved before
you can embed the project reference in the rendered file.
2. Perform the procedure described in the Rendering Files topic to choose the file
type and location for rendering your files, and then select the Save project as path
reference in rendered media check box.
The check box will be unavailable if you haven't saved your project or if you're rendering
using a third-party file-format plug-in.

Edit a referenced project

1. Right-click the waveform in a data window or Right-click a media file in the
Explorer window.
2. From the shortcut menu, choose Edit Source Project. An ACID, Vegas, or SOUND
FORGE PRO window will open with the source project.
To edit a source project using a computer other than the computer where the
project was created, the editing computer must meet the following requirements:
l The software that was used to create the project must be installed and the
project file extension (.acd, .acd-zip, .veg, or .frg) must be registered on the
editing computer.

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l The editing computer must have the same version (or later) of the software
that was used to create the project.
l The project file must exist on the editing computer using the same file path as
on the computer where the project was created.
l The project's source media must exist on the editing computer. If the media
files do not use the same file path as on the computer where the project was
created, you will be prompted to choose a new folder or replacement files.
3. Edit the project as necessary.
4. Render the edited project using the same name as the original media file and close
the editing application.
Your project will automatically be updated to use the latest rendered media file.

Saving all Open Files

From the File menu, choose Save All to save all open files. You will be prompted for each
unsaved file.
l Click Yes to save your changes.
l Click No if you want to skip the file without saving changes.
l Click Cancel to return to the SOUND FORGE PRO window. All files remain open
without saving changes.
If you hold the Shift key when selecting this command, no prompts will be displayed.

Extracting Audio from CDs

From the File menu, choose Extract Audio from CD to extract tracks from a CD and
open them as tracks in the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace.
Double-click a .cda file in the Explorer window (or drag it to the workspace) to extract a CD
track without opening the Extract Audio from CD dialog. You can also extract audio from
the Open dialog (⇗ 98) by choosing CD Audio (*.cda) from the Files of type drop-down list
in the Open dialog.
SOUND FORGE PRO software is not intended, and should not be used for, illegal or infringing
purposes, such as the illegal copying or sharing of copyrighted materials. Using SOUND
FORGE PRO software for such purposes is, among other things, against United States and
international copyright laws and contrary to the terms and conditions of the End User
License Agreement. Such activity may be punishable by law and may also subject you to the
breach remedies set forth in the End User License Agreement.

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1. From the File menu, choose Extract Audio from CD.

2. Choose a setting from the Action drop-down list to indicate how you want to
extract audio:
Item Description
Read Choose to extract individual CD tracks. Select the tracks you want to
by extract in the Tracks to extract list. Each track is extracted to a new
track track in your project.
Read Choose to extract the current CD to a single file. The disc is extracted
entire to a new track in your project.
disc
Read Choose to extract a time range. You can specify a starting time and
by ending time (or a starting time and length). The time range is extracted
range to a new track in your project.

3. If you choose Read by track or Read by range from the Action drop-down list,
select the tracks or time range you want to extract.
Click Play to preview your selection. During playback, the button changes to a Stop
button.
4. Select the Create regions for each track check box if you want to create regions
in the extracted audio file to indicate each track.
5. Select the Create markers for each index change check box if you want to create
markers in the extracted audio file to indicate each index change.
6. Select the Create CD tracks from full subcode scan check box if you want to
create a disc-at-once CD track for each extracted track.
When you select the Create tracks from full subcode scan check box, the software
will create a disc-at-once track list (⇗ 132) based on the PQ data on the disc.
ISRC data is added to each track if the data exists on the disc. Universal product
code/media catalog number information is updated on the CD Information
window.

7. From the Drive drop-down list, choose the CD drive that contains the CD from
which you want to extract audio.
8. From the Speed drop-down list, choose the rate at which you want to extract
audio. If you experience gapping or glitching, decrease the speed or click Configure
and adjust the Audio extract optimization slider.
9. Click OK to start extracting audio.

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Creating Track-at-Once (TAO) CDs

From the Tools menu, choose Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD to save your project as a
track on an audio CD. Before you can use a TAO disc in an audio CD player, however,
you must close the session.
1. From the Tools menu, choose Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD. The Burn Track-at-
Once CD dialog is displayed.
2. Choose a setting from the Action drop-down list:
Item Description
Burn Begins recording audio to your CD when you click the Start button.
audio You will need to close the disc before it can be played in an audio CD
player.
Test, Performs a test to determine whether your files can be written to the
then CD recorder without encountering buffer underruns. Recording begins
burn after the test if it is successful.
audio
Test Performs a test to determine whether your files can be written to the
only CD without encountering buffer underruns. No audio is recorded to the
CD.
Close Closes your disc without adding any audio when you click the Start
disc button. Closing a disc allows your files to be played on an audio CD
player.
Erase If you're using a rewritable CD, the disc will be erased when you click
RW disc the Start button.

3. Select your burning options:

Item Description
Buffer Select this check box if your CD recorder supports buffer underrun
underrun protection. Buffer underrun protection allows a CD recorder to
protection stop and resume burning.
Erase RW If you're using a rewritable CD, select this check box to erase the
disc before CD before you begin burning.
burn

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Close disc Select this check box to close the CD after burning. Closing a disc
when done allows your files to be played on an audio CD player.
burning
Eject disc Select this check box to eject the CD automatically when burning
when done has completed.
Burn Select this check box to burn only the selected audio. When the
selection check box is cleared, the entire sound file is burned to CD.
only

4. From the Drive drop-down list, choose the CD drive that you want to use to burn
your CD.
5. From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to burn. Max
will use your drive's fastest possible speed; decrease the setting if you have
difficulty burning.
6. Click the Start button.
Clicking the Cancel button after the disc-writing process has begun will render your disc
unusable (though it will still make a fine coaster for your favorite beverage).

Creating Disc-at-Once (DAO) CDs

From the Tools menu, choose Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD to burn a disc-at-once CD
using the current CD layout.
Use DAO CDs when you need to create a master disc for mass replication.
When creating DAO CDs, right-click the ruler (⇗ 45) or Time Display (⇗ 69) window and
choose Audio CD Time from the shortcut menu. In Audio CD Time format, the ruler will
display hh:mm:ss:ff (hours:minutes:seconds:frames). Audio CD time uses a frame rate of 75
fps. Next, choose Quantize to Frames (⇗ 204) from the Options menu to ensure that any
edits you make will occur on frame boundaries.
If your first track region begins before 00:00:02:00, a timeline offset is automatically added
so the first track begins at exactly two seconds. This offset is added for burning only and is
not reflected in the data window.
If you want to display track numbers in the Time Display window, right-click the Time
Display window and choose CD Track Position from the shortcut menu. In this mode, the
Time Display will show track numbers and the running time for each track. Negative values

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indicate the pause time before a track:

Creating and Editing Tracks for a Disc-at-Once CD

A disc-at-once CD requires that you define a track list before burning.

From the Insert menu, choose CD Track to add a CD track using the current selection as
the track length.
Tips:
l To preserve events in a file after saving, use a SOUND FORGE PRO project file
(⇗ 116) for editing. You can then edit the tracks' events over multiple editing sessions.
l You can use event envelopes (⇗ 241) to adjust track volume.

Add CD tracks and indexes to a sound file

Creating CD tracks
1. Select (⇗199) the time range (or event (⇗239)) that you want to use to create a
track. A track must be at least four seconds long.
2. From the Insert menu, choose CD Track (or press N). A CD track is added to the
CD layout bar in the data window:

You can drag CD tracks to rearrange them, drag either end of a track to change its length,
or use the Track List window to edit the track's position or name.

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Creating CD index markers

You can use index markers to subdivide a track. For example, in a track that contains an
orchestral composition, index markers could allow navigation to each movement.
Each track on a Red Book audio CD can contain up to 99 index markers.
1. Click to position the cursor where you want to add an index marker.
2. From the Insert menu, choose CD Index (or press Shift+N). A CD index marker is
added to the CD layout bar in the data window:

Create CD tracks from events in a data window

If you're working with a data window that contains multiple events (⇗234), you can
create CD tracks automatically using the events.
1. Create events on the timeline to lay out your CD.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Create CD Tracks from
Events from the submenu. Each event is marked with a CD track.
Tracks are not created for events less than four seconds long.
You can drag CD tracks to rearrange them, drag either end of a track to change its
length, or use the Track List window to edit the track's position or name.
When space exists between events, SOUND FORGE PRO creates separate tracks for each
event. If you want to create a track that spans multiple events, you can abut or overlap the
events to create a single track.

Create CD tracks from regions in a file

If you have a live recording that uses regions to indicate the sections of the recording,
you can use this feature to create tracks without having to scan through the audio and
create tracks manually.
1. Add regions (⇗248) as necessary to indicate the tracks in your recording.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Create Tracks from
Regions. Each region is marked with a CD track.
You can drag CD tracks to rearrange them, drag either end of a track to change its
length, or use the Track List window to edit the track's position or name.

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Combine open data windows in a new CD layout

If you have multiple data windows open, you can easily combine them into a single CD
layout.
1. Open (⇗98) the sound file you want to use for each track.
2. Create a new (⇗98) data window. We'll use this new window to arrange tracks.
3. Copy your tracks to the new data window:
1. Switch to the data window that contains the audio you want to use for your
first track.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Select All.
3. Drag the selected data to the new data window. While you're dragging, click
the right mouse button toggle CD Track drag-and-drop editing mode. In this
mode, the cursor is displayed as a to show you where the track will be
added.
4. Repeat step 3 for each track.
When you drag a file to the CD layout bar at the bottom of a data window. An
indicator is displayed to show you where the track will be added when you release
the mouse. When you drop the file, a track is created, and pause time (⇗452) is
added before the new track.

If you want to add a CD track without pause time, drag the file to the waveform
display above the CD layout bar.

5. Save the new data window as a SOUND FORGE PRO project file (⇗116).
When you save a project file (.frg), SOUND FORGE PRO software creates a .frg file
and creates a subfolder that contains your media file and all temporary files
created by your editing operations.
6. When you're finished editing tracks, you can burn (⇗135) your disc-at-once CD.

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Add files to a data window and create tracks

When you create a track using a media file that includes title and artist metadata, this
information will be added to the Track List window as CD Text.

Dragging files to the CD layout bar

Drag a file to the CD layout bar at the bottom of a data window. An indicator is
displayed to show you where the track will be added when you release the mouse. When
you drop the file, a track is created, and pause time (⇗452) is added before the new
track.

If you want to add a CD track without pause time, drag the file to the waveform display
above the CD layout bar. If Options > Drag-and-Drop Editing > CD Track isn't selected,
click the right mouse button while dragging until the cursor is displayed as a to show
you where the track will be added.

Dragging files to the Track List window

Drag a file to the Track List window. An indicator is displayed to show you where the
track will be added when you release the mouse. When you drop the file, a track is
created, and pause time is added before the new track.

Dragging files from the Explorer window

From the Options menu, choose Drag-and-Drop Editing, and choose CD Track from the
submenu if you want to create disc-at-once tracks by dragging files from the Explorer
window (⇗64) or Windows Explorer to a data window. Choosing this command has the

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same effect as toggle-clicking the right mouse button while dragging until the cursor is
displayed as a to show you where the track will be added.
When you drop the file, the audio in the data window will be replaced, and no pause
time will be added.
You can use the Default time between CD tracks control on the CD Settings tab of the
Preferences dialog to adjust the default pause time.

Open multiple files as CD tracks

In the Open dialog, hold Ctrl or Shift to select the files you want to open as CD tracks
and then select the Open as CD tracks and Append to current data window check
boxes.
The files will be added to the end of the current data window and a CD track will be
created for each file.
You can use the Default time between CD tracks control on the CD Settings tab of the
Preferences dialog to adjust the default pause time.

Create a new data window using audio files on your computer

If no audio files are open in the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace, a new data window will
be created when you drop files on the Track List window.
1. Close all open data windows.
2. In the Windows Explorer or Explorer window, select the files that you want to
include in your CD. You can hold Shift or Ctrl to select multiple files.
3. Drag the files to the Track List window.
When you drop the files, a track is created for each file, and pause time (⇗452) is
added before each track.
Tips:
l When you create tracks using media files that include title and artist metadata, this
information will be added to the Track List window (⇗ 130) as CD Text.
l You can use the Default time between CD tracks control on the CD Settings tab of
the Preferences dialog to adjust the default pause time.

Use the Track List window to create tracks

The Track List window is essentially a text representation of the markers on the CD
layout bar.

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You can use the Track List window to view track and index markers, edit track position
and length, edit track names, adjust pause time, toggle protection and emphasis flags,
and edit ISRC data.
For more information about using the Track List window, please see The Track List
Window (⇗130).

Add a bonus track at the end of a CD

You can hide a track at the end of a CD by adding silence at the end of the last track and
adding the new track after the silence. Drag the end of the final track marker to the new
end of the CD.
Because both events exist within a single track, they will be treated as one track by an
audio CD player.
1. Lay out your audio and CD tracks.

2. Insert silence before the bonus track if desired.

3. Delete the last CD track from the CD layout bar (if necessary).

4. Drag the end of the final track marker to the new end of the CD.

Moving Tracks on the CD Layout Bar

The CD layout bar displays information about the tracks (⇗122) you've created for your
disc-at-once CD project. Each CD track shows the track's number, active take name, and
length.
A red indicator is drawn at the end of the CD layout bar to represent the end of the disc
(if the disc length is known). You can use the Automatically detect CD length

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andDefault CD length controls on the CD Settings (⇗407) tab of the Preferences dialog
to set CD length.

You can use the CD layout bar to perform many of the track-editing functions from the
Track List (⇗130) window.

Change a track's starting or ending point

Drag either end of the track to adjust the track's starting or ending position. The pause
time (⇗452) between tracks is displayed:

Reorder tracks
Drag a CD track to move the track, its associated media, and the pause time before the
track. An indicator is displayed to show you where the event will be moved:

If you drag a track in a project where a single event spans more than one track, SOUND
FORGE PRO will split the event as necessary.
Tips:

l Hold Shift while clicking CD tracks to select a range of tracks.

l From the Options menu, choose Lock to Selection, and then choose Audio and CD
Tracks if you want to drag CD tracks when moving audio in the data window.
l Regions, markers, and envelope points are moved with a CD track. To turn this
feature off, turn off the Lock to Selection > Markers/Regions and Envelope
Points commands on the Options menu.

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Editing Pause Time for a Disc-at-Once CD

Pause time is the space between CD tracks. This space may contain silence — as in a
standard commercially produced CD — or can contain audio — as in a live performance
captured on CD.
The Red Book standard calls for two seconds of pause time, but you can edit the default
pause time on the CD Settings tab of the Preferences dialog.
When you hover in the pause time between two tracks, SOUND FORGE PRO displays
the pause time.

You can edit the pause time in several ways:

l Hover your mouse between two tracks in the CD Layout bar. The pause time is
displayed in a ToolTip. Double-click the ToolTip, and the display changes to an edit
box where you can type a new value.
l Right-click between two tracks and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Command Description
Select Pause Creates a time selection equal to the pause time between
Time tracks.
Set to Default Moves all tracks upstream so the default pause time exists
Pause Time between the tracks where you clicked.
Edit Pause Time Changes the pause time display to an edit box where you can
type a new value.

l Drag either end of the track to adjust the track's starting or ending position. The
pause time between tracks is displayed in a ToolTip:

l The Pause column in the Track List window (⇗130) allows you to edit the pause
time between tracks. Type a new value in the box, and tracks will move accordingly
in the timeline.

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The Track List Window

From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Track List to toggle the display
of the Track List window.
The Track List window is essentially a text representation of the events on the CD layout
bar (⇗127) for a disc-at-once CD. You can use the Track List window to view track and
index markers, edit track position and length, edit track names, adjust pause time, toggle
protection and emphasis flags, and edit ISRC data.
You can also copy, save, and print the contents of the Track List window if you need to
provide a track list to a CD duplicator.

Rearrange tracks
1. Click in the numbered column to select a row.
2. Drag the row to a new position.

The track is moved to the position where you drop it, and the timeline is updated.

Edit track position and length

Double-click the Start, End, and Length boxes and type a new value in the box to edit a
CD track's starting or ending point or length.
Typing a new value in the boxes has the same effect as moving or resizing the CD track
on the CD layout bar:
l Editing the Start or End value moves the track forward or backward in time while
preserving its length.
l Editing only the Length value changes the track's ending time while preserving its
start time.

Edit track title and artist information

Double-click the Title (CD Text) and Artist (CD Text) boxes to edit their contents.
Notes:

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l In order to burn valid CD Text, you must specify a title for the disc and for each track
on the disc (artist information is optional). If the Name/Title box on the CD
Information (⇗ 84) window or Track List window is left blank, a warning will be
displayed before burning so you can choose to write the disc without CD Text or
cancel burning and add title information as needed.
l You can write a maximum of 5000 characters as CD Text.
If you select the Write CD Text check box on the Burn Disc-at-Once CD dialog, this
data will be written to your disc. In order to display CD Text, your CD player must
support CD Text.

Adjust pause time

Double-click the Pause box to edit the pause time (⇗452) between tracks. Type a new
value in the box, and tracks will move accordingly in the timeline.

Toggle protection and emphasis flags

Select the Prot check box to add a flag to the Q subcode (⇗454) to prevent digital
copying of your CD.
In order to use copy protection, the CD player must support the copy-protection flag.
Select the Emph check box to add a pre-emphasis flag to the Q subcode.
Pre-emphasis is a basic noise-reduction process that is implemented by a CD player.
Emphasis involves boosting high frequencies during CD writing and cutting those
frequencies during playback. The emphasis process reduces high-frequency noise
without disrupting the natural frequency of the source material.
Selecting the Emph check box does not impart the pre-emphasis boost on a track; it can
only set the flag. In order for pre-emphasis to occur, the CD recorder and player must
support the flag. Check your CD drive documentation to determine whether your drive
supports pre-emphasis flags.

Edit ISRC codes

The Track List window allows you to specify an ISRC (International Standard Recording
Code) that will be used to identify the tracks on your disc.
For more information about ISRC codes, click here.
1. Double-click the ISRC box in a track row.
2. Type the appropriate code for the track.
3. Press Enter.

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Industry Standard Recording Codes (ISRC) were designed to identify CD tracks.

The ISRC code is a 12-character alphanumeric sequence in the following format:
Field A B C D E
Sample ISRC SE T38 86 302 12

Field Description
A Country — Represents the recording's country of origin.
B First Owner — Assigned ID for the producer of the project. Each country
has a board that assigns these codes.
C Year of Recording — Represents the year the recording was made.
D Recording — Represents the recording's serial number made by the same
producer in that year:
l This value will use three digits (300-999) when the CD has 10 or more
tracks.
l This value will use four digits (0001-2999) when the CD has 9 or
fewer tracks.
E Recording Item (1 or 2 digits) — Identifies tracks on a CD (each track can
have a different ISRC code).

Create a track list (PQ list or cue sheet)

You can right-click the Track List window and choose Copy Track List to Clipboard,
Export Track List, or Print Track List to share your track list information with another
application or with a CD-replication house.
For more information about creating track lists, click here (⇗132).

Creating a Track List for a Disc-at-Once CD

If you need to share your track list information with another application or with a CD
replication house, you can copy the track list information to the clipboard, save it to a
text file, or print a hard copy.

Copy the track list to the clipboard

1. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Copy Track List to
Clipboard from the submenu. The Copy Track List to Clipboard dialog is displayed.
Right-click the Track List window and choose Copy Track List to Clipboard from the
shortcut menu.

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2. Choose the format you want to apply to your track list information:
l Cue sheet for replication — the track list is formatted so track times are listed
relative to the beginning of the CD. This is the preferred format for CD replication
houses.
l CD liner notes — the track list is formatted so track times are listed relative to the
first track on the disc.
3. Select the Include summary information with track list output check box if you
want to include UPC/MCN, title, engineer, and comment information with the
track list.
4. Click OK to send the track list information to the clipboard. You can then paste the
information into a text editor or e-mail message.

Export the track list as a text file

1. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Export Track List from
the submenu. The Export Track List dialog is displayed.
Right-click the Track List window and choose Export Track List from the shortcut menu.

2. Choose the format you want to apply to your track list information:
l Cue sheet for replication — the track list is formatted so track times are
listed relative to the beginning of the CD. This is the preferred format for CD
replication houses.
l CD liner notes — the track list is formatted so track times are listed relative
to the first track on the disc.
3. Choose the format you want to apply to your track list information:
l Export as formatted text — track information is formatted in a table. Select
the Include summary information with track list output check box if you
want to include UPC/MCN, title, engineer, and comment information with
the track list.
l Export as delimited text — you can choose the character that will separate
columns of text and choose whether to include a header row to identify the
columns.
4. Click OK to save your file.

Print the track list

1. From the Edit menu, choose Track List, and then choose Print Track List from the
submenu. The Print Track List dialog is displayed.

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Right-click the Track List window and choose Print Track List from the shortcut menu.

Adding CD Text to a Disc-at-Once CD

When you add CD Text to your disc, title and artist information will be displayed when
your CD is played on a CD player that supports CD Text.
Notes:
l When you create a track using a media file that includes title and artist metadata, this
information will be added to the Track List window as CD Text.
l In order to burn valid CD Text, you must specify a title for the disc and for each track
on the disc (artist information is optional). If the Title box in the CD Information or
Track List window is left blank, a warning will be displayed before burning so you can
choose to write the disc without CD Text or cancel burning and add title information
as needed.
l You can write a maximum of 5000 characters as CD Text.
1. Add title and artist information for your CD:
a. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose CD Information
from the submenu to display the CD Information window.
b. In the Name/Title box, type the name of the CD.
c. In the Artist box, type the name of the artist who performed the material on
the disc.
2. Add title and artist information for each track on your CD:
a. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Track List to
display the Track List window (⇗130).
b. Double-click the Title (CD Text) box and type the name of the track.

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c. Double-click the Artist (CD Text) box and type the name of the artist who
performed the track.
3. Burn your disc. Select the Write CD Text check box in the Burn Disc-at-Once
Audio CD (⇗135) dialog to write CD Text while burning.
When the check box is cleared, CD Text entries from the CD Information and
Track List windows will be ignored.

Burning a Disc-at-Once CD
After you've created tracks (⇗122) in a disc-at-once CD project, you're ready to burn
your disc. If you want to burn multiple copies, the application will prompt you to burn
another copy after each disc is completed.
1. From the Tools menu, choose Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD. The Burn Disc-at-
Once Audio CD dialog is displayed.
2. From the Drive drop-down list, choose the CD drive that you want to use to burn
your CD.
3. From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to burn. Max
will use your drive's fastest possible speed; decrease the setting to prevent the
possibility of buffer underruns.
4. Select the Buffer underrun protection check box if your CD recorder supports
buffer underrun protection. Buffer underrun protection allows a CD recorder to
stop and resume burning.
Buffer underrun protection can create a disc that can be played in CD players but
may contain a bit error where burning stopped and restarted. Consider clearing
this check box when creating a premaster disc.
5. Choose a radio button in the Burn mode box:
Item Description
Burn Begins recording audio to your CD immediately.
CDs
Test Performs a test to determine whether your files can be written to the
first, CD recorder without encountering buffer underruns. No audio is
then recorded to the CD during the test, and recording begins after the test if
burn it is successful.
CDs

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Test Performs a test to determine whether your files can be written to the
only (do CD recorder without encountering buffer underruns. No audio is
not recorded to the CD.
burn
CDs)

6. Select the Render temporary image before burning check box if you want to
render your CD project to a temporary file before recording. Prerendering can
prevent buffer underruns if you have a complex project that cannot be rendered
and burned in real time.
The rendered temporary file will remain until you modify your project or exit the
application. If an image file exists when you open the Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD
dialog, the check box is displayed as Use existing rendered temporary image.
7. Select the Automatically erase rewritable discs check box if you're burning to
rewritable media and want to erase the disc before burning.
8. Select the Eject when done check box if you want to eject the CD automatically
when burning has completed.
9. Select the Write CD Text check box if you want to write CD Text data to your CD.
In order to display CD Text, your CD player must support CD Text. The following
information will be written:
Item Source
Disc Title Name/Title box in the CD Information (⇗84) window.
Disc Artist Artist box in the CD Information window.
Track Title Title column in the Track List (⇗130) window.
Track Artist Artist column in the Track List window.

Notes:
l In order to burn valid CD Text, you must specify a title for the disc and for each
track on the disc (artist information is optional). If the Name/Title box in the
CD Information (⇗ 84) or Track List window (⇗ 130) is left blank, a warning
will be displayed before burning so you can choose to write the disc without CD
Text or cancel burning and add title information as needed.
l You can write a maximum of 5000 characters as CD Text.
10. Click OK to start burning.

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Exporting DDP
This option lets you export CD projects that are compatible with DDP-CD mastering
standards.
The Disc Description Protocol, DDP for short, is a proprietary format from DCA, Inc.
widely used for delivering a CD image to a CD manufacturer in a digital form. A DDP
image has the advantage that it cannot be affected by read errors, that may occur when
a master CD is used. DDP files contain all parameters for the master CD, such as the
exact distance between songs, crossfades and other information. This way you can be
sure that the disc manufacturer receives consistent files.
To export a CD layout as DDP:
1. Choose DDP Export... from the Tools menu.
The menu entry is only available, if CD tracks are present in the file. Read more on
CD layout creation under Creating Disc-at-Once (DAO) CDs (⇗121)
2. In the following dialog window, specify an export folder where all necessary files
will be created.

3. Click OK to export the files.SOUND FORGE PRO shows a message when the
export was finished.

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During exporting, the following files are created: DDPID (DDP ID stream), DDPMS (DDP
map stream), Image DAT, and PQDESC (PQ description), CHECKSUM.TXT (CRC32), and
CHECKSUM.MD5. Zip these before you send them to a CD manufacturer via FTP. If the
manufacturer can unzip the files properly, you can be certain that the files are
consistent.
The DDP ID stream (DDPID), the DDP map stream (DDPMS), the audio data (Image
DAT), the PQ description (PQDESC), and the check sums CRC32 and MD5 can also be
burned to DVD for delivery to the manufacturer with the note "Replica: CD-DA".

Viewing File Statistics

The Statistics dialog displays information about the selected sound file region. To display
the dialog, choose Statistics from the Tools menu.
Item Description
Ruler Format Choose a setting from the drop-down list to choose the format
that will be used to display the Cursor position, Minimum
sample position, and Maximum sample position values.
Level Format Choose a setting from the drop-down list to choose the format
that will be used to display the Sample value at cursor,
Minimum sample value, Maximum sample value, RMS level,
and Average value values.
Sample Displays audio levels as integers.
value l In 32-bit (IEEE float) audio, these values range

from -1.0000000 to 1.0000000.

l In 24-bit audio, they range from -8388608 to
8388607.
l In 16-bit audio, they range from -32768 to
32767.
lIn 8-bit audio, they range from -128 to 127.
Percent Displays audio levels as percentages of the maximum
allowed sample value. The range is from -100 to 100
percent.
Decibels Displays audio levels in decibels. A value of 0 dB
(dB) corresponds to maximum absolute amplitude and
negative infinity (-Inf.) corresponds to complete
silence. In 16-bit audio, -90.3 dB is the lowest
possible dB value (sample value of 1).

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Cursor position The cursor position from the start of the sound file.
Sample value at The number stored by a single sample at the cursor position.
cursor
Minimum/Maximum The maximum and minimum sample values and the locations
sample position and where they occur.
sample value These values can help you determine if any clipping occurs in
the sound file. It can also be used to determine the noise level
of a signal for use with the Noise Gate effect. For example, to
find the noise amplitude, run the Statistics function on a region
of noisy silence.
RMS level The Root Mean Square of the sample values relative to the
RMS value of a maximum-amplitude square wave (the loudest
possible recording).
When used on short intervals, this value relates to the volume
level of the sound file. However, if used on a large selection
with large volume variation, this value becomes less
meaningful. For another way to measure loudness, use the
Scan Levels button in the Normalize (⇗310) dialog.
Average value The sum of all sample values in the selected region divided by
the number of samples.
An average value that does not equal zero (-inf dB) can indicate
a DC offset (⇗444).
Zero crossings The number of times per second that the waveform changes
from a negative value to a positive value.
This value can be used as a rough estimate of the frequency of
the sound data for very simple waveforms.
Maximum true peak The maximum true peak sample value and the location where it
sample value and occurs. This value displays the peak level in dB FS.
position Please note that true peaks are calculated using a higher
sample rate than the Maximum sample position and Maximum
sample value items for increased accuracy.
Maximum filtered The maximum filtered true peak sample value and the location
true peak sample where it occurs.
value and position This value displays the peak level in dB FS.
Peak levels may be miscalculated if audio signals are
asymmetrical or if a DC offset is present. Filtered true peaks
are calculated as the maximum of the filtered and unfiltered
signals.

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Loudness Displays loudness statistics about an audio file's momentary

loudness, short-term loudness, integrated (overall) loudness,
and loudness range. You can use these values when mastering
for broadcast to ensure compliance with loudness standards
(such as the CALM Act).
The following values are calculated:
l The Integrated value represents the integrated loudness
— in loudness units full scale (LUFS) — across all audio
channels over the duration of the program.
l The Loudness Range value represents the loudness range
— in loudness units (LU) — of the momentary and short-
term levels. The Loudness Range measurement provides a
standardized method of determining the dynamic range
of the signal.
l The Maximum Short-Term value represents the
maximum short-term loudness — in loudness units full
scale — across all audio channels based on 3-second
integration windows.
l The Maximum Momentary value represents the
maximum momentary loudness — in loudness units full
scale — across all audio channels based on 400-
millisecond integration windows.
Select the Enable surround processing for files with 6
channels check box on the Status (⇗ 404) tab of the
Preferences dialog if you want to treat audio with six channels
as surround audio when measuring loudness (a gain of ~1.5 dB
is applied to the left and right surround channels). When the
check box is cleared, all channels contribute equally to the
loudness measurement.
Copy to Clipboard Copies the contents of the window to the clipboardespecially
handy if you want to compare statistics from multiple files in a
spreadsheet.
If you want to copy only the data in the table (or specific data
cells), select the cells you want to copy and press Ctrl+C.

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Crash Recovery
When a file is modified, changes and undo information are saved in temporary files until
the file is saved (⇗102). If SOUND FORGE PRO software terminates improperly, these
temporary files remain on your hard drive. The software can use these temporary files to
restore the changes and the undo history for the file.
When you start the application after a crash, the Crash Recovery dialog is displayed if
temporary files are detected in the temporary file folder specified on the General (⇗387)
tab of the Preferences dialog:
l Click the Recover button to restore the changes and undo history for the files
listed in the Files that can be recovered list.
l Click the Cancel button to discard your edits and undo history. The original media
files will remain unchanged.

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Working with Video Files

Working with Video Files

Although SOUND FORGE PRO software is not a video editor, you can open (⇗98) and
save (⇗102) video files just as you would any other supported file type, allowing you to
edit the audio track with familiar SOUND FORGE PRO tools.

Attaching or Detaching a Video Stream

You can create new media files by attaching video to an existing audio file or removing
the video stream from a video file.

Attaching video to an audio file

1. Open the audio file you want to use. For more information, see Opening a File
(⇗98)
2. From the File menu, choose Attach Video. The Open dialog is displayed.
3. Browse to the file that contains the video stream you want to use and click Open.
4. Save your file in a video format. For more information, see Saving a File (⇗102)

Detaching video from a file

1. Open the video file you want to use. For more information, see Opening a File
(⇗98)
2. From the File menu, choose Detach Video to remove the video stream.
3. Save your file in an audio format. For more information, see Saving a File (⇗102)

The Video Strip

When you open a file that contains a video stream, a video strip is displayed above the
audio waveform to help you navigate the file.

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Show or hide the video strip

To toggle the display of the video strip, choose Options > Data Window > Video Strip or
right-click the edit tool selector and choose Video Strip from the shortcut menu:

You can adjust the height of the video strip by dragging the separator between the video
strip and time ruler.

Turn animation on or off

When you play back a video file, the video strip can display animated or still frames.
Right-click the video strip and choose Animate from the shortcut menu to toggle frame
animation. A check mark is displayed next to the command when the feature is turned
on. When the video strip is animated, the video strip always displays the frame that
corresponds to the cursor position. Press Alt+Right or Left Arrow to move the cursor
one frame.

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When frame animation is turned off, the video strip always shows the frame that
corresponds to the left edge of each image in the video strip.
If you experience slow or stuttering video preview, turn off animated video to reduce the
load on your CPU.

Display frame numbers

You can choose to number the frames in the video strip to help you navigate a file.
Turning on frame animation will ensure that the displayed frame number matches the
cursor position.
Right-click the video strip and choose Number Frames from the shortcut menu to toggle
frame numbering. As you zoom in, each thumbnail will eventually represent one frame.
To choose the numbering format, choose a setting from the Frame numbering on
thumbnails drop-down list on the Video (⇗ 412) tab of the Preferences dialog.

Video Preview
From the View menu, choose Video Preview to open or close the Video Preview
window. This window shows the video frame at the current cursor or play position.

Copy the current frame to the clipboard

Click the Copy Frame to Clipboard button to copy the current frame to the
Windows clipboard.
If the button is not visible, right-click the Video Preview window and choose Show Toolbar
from the shortcut menu.

Preview on an external monitor

Click the External Monitor button to send your video output to the OHCI-compliant,
IEEE-1394 device specified on the Video (⇗412) tab of the Preferences dialog.
If you have not specified a device, the Video tab will be displayed when you click the
External Monitor button.
For more information about using an external monitor, please see Configuring an
External Video Monitor.
If the button is not visible, right-click the Video Preview window and choose Show Toolbar
from the shortcut menu.

Change Video Preview window settings

Right-click within the Video Preview window to display a shortcut menu.

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Command Description
Copy Frame Copies the current frame to the clipboard.
Default Sets the background color of the Video Preview window to the default
Background texture.
White Sets the background color of the Video Preview window to white.
Background
Black Sets the background color of the Video Preview window to black.
Background
Integral When selected, the Video Preview frame will only be stretched by integral
Stretch amounts. Turning this setting on usually provides faster drawing.
Simulate Compensates for any spatial distortion due to nonsquare pixel aspect
Device ratios when viewed on a computer monitor.
Aspect Ratio
External Sends your video output to the IEEE-1394 interface specified on the
Monitor Video (⇗412) tab of the Preferences dialog.
Passive Reduces the overhead needed to update the Video Display window. The
Update Video Display is updated when the processor is idle.
Show Displays the Video Preview window toolbar. The toolbar includes buttons
Toolbar to copy the current frame to the clipboard and send your preview to an
external monitor.
Show Status Displays the Video Preview window status bar. The status bar provides
Bar you with information about media and preview frame size and frame rate,
as well as the Video Preview window frame number.

Configuring an External Video Monitor

You can feed video from the Video Preview window to a television monitor. With this
feature, you can make your final editing decisions on a broadcast monitor (which differs
significantly from a computer monitor). To use an external monitor, you must have the
following hardware:
l OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 DV interface
l DV camcorder or DV-to-analog converter
SOUND FORGE PRO software automatically adds pulldown when you preview 24p
video on an external monitor.

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Set up an external monitor

1. Connect your monitor:

2. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and then select the Video tab.
3. From the External monitor device drop-down list, choose the IEEE-1394 interface
to which your DV device is connected. You can click the Properties button to view
and adjust settings for the selected device.
4. When you click the External Monitor button on the Video Preview window,
SOUND FORGE PRO software conforms the video to DV format and feeds it
through the 1394 interface to the DV device (camcorder or DV-to-analog media
converter). The DV device then sends analog output to the television monitor.
The DV device must support pass-through connections in order to use an external
monitor.

Preview audio
When previewing on an external monitor, no audio is sent through the 1394 interface.
As shown in the illustration above, SOUND FORGE PRO routes the audio to the sound
card and then on to the mixer (if present) and speakers. This allows you to mix your
audio on better speakers than are typically found in television monitors.
Before printing your final project to tape, you may wish to preview the audio through
the television monitor speakers to ensure a good ”r;TV mix.”

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Multichannel Audio - Overview

Multichannel Audio - Overview

With SOUND FORGE PRO, you can edit multichannel audio files in the same way you've
always worked with mono or stereo files.
SOUND FORGE PRO supports multichannel files in the following formats:
l Wave (.wav) and Wave64 (.w64)
l Video For Windows (.avi) , specifically DV, SDI
l Material Exchange Format (.mxf)
MXF files require a video stream. If you want to save an audio-only file to MXF format,
you must first attach a video stream (⇗142).
When working with MXF files, the number of channels in your source media must match
the number of output channels specified by the rendering template. If necessary, use the
Channel Converter (⇗304) before rendering.

Render Number of channels

Format
DV MXF Always contains 4 audio channels.
You can use the Channels drop-down list on the Audio tab of the Custom
Template dialog to choose how many channels will be filled with audio.
For example, if you choose 2 from the Channels drop-down list, the
rendered file will contain 4 audio channels: two channels will contain
audio, and two channels will contain silence.
IMX Always contains 8 audio channels.
MXF You can use the Channels drop-down list on the Audio tab of the Custom
Template dialog to choose how many channels will be filled with audio.
For example, if you choose 2 from the Channels drop-down list, the
rendered file will contain 8 audio channels: two channels will contain
audio, and six channels will contain silence.
HD MXF Can contain 2 or 4 audio channels.
You can use the Channels drop-down list on the Audio tab of the Custom
Template dialog to choose how many channels will be rendered. For
example, if you choose 2 from the Channels drop-down list, the rendered
file will contain only 2 audio channels.

l Dolby AC-3 (.ac3) (AC-3 is available as a render format only)

l Windows Media Audio/Video (.wma or .wmv)

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l ATRAC (.oma)
l Sony AVC
l Raw Audio (.raw)

Routing Channels to Hardware Outputs

If you're working with multichannel files and have a sound card with multiple outputs,
SOUND FORGE PRO provides you with a great deal of flexibility in routing the channels
to the outputs on your sound card: you can route each channel to a separate output, or
you can route all the stereo pairs to a single set of outputs to simulate a stereo downmix.
The Hardware Meters window displays a meter and gain fader for each enabled output
port.
You can change channel assignments from the Audio tab (⇗408) in the Preferences
dialog or the Channel Meters window (⇗160). Changing the setting in either location
updates your preferences and affects all open data windows.
l For information about using the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog to enable and
map channels, please see the Preferences - Audio Tab help topic.
l To change a channel's output device using the Channel Meters window, click the
channel number and choose a new output port from the menu:

Opening and Editing Multichannel Audio Files

If you've used SOUND FORGE PRO to edit stereo files before, you already know
everything you need to know to edit multichannel files.
You can open (⇗98) multichannel audio files just like any other supported media type.
When you open the file, you'll notice that the data window displays the channels as
stereo pairs:

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You can then edit (⇗216) the file just as you would any mono or stereo file.
Click the Minimize button to reduce the height of individual channels, or click the
Restore button to restore a channel's height. Hold Shift while clicking a Minimize
button to minimize all channels except the one you clicked.
You can use the Display (⇗ 392) tab in the Preferences dialog to change the colors used to
represent each channel.

Stereo-to-Mono (or Mono-to-Stereo) Conversion

To perform quick channel conversion without specifying the mix, use the Audio channels
control on the Properties (⇗67) dialog or right-click the Stereo/Mono box in the status
bar (⇗45) and choose Stereo or Mono from the shortcut menu.
You can use mono files in the Pan/Expand dialog (⇗313) if you choose Pan (preserve
stereo separation) or Pan (mix channels before panning) from the Process mode drop-
down list. When you click OK to apply your changes, the file will be converted to stereo
and your panning settings will be applied.

Convert a mono file to stereo

1. Perform either of the following actions to display the Mono to Stereo dialog:
l Right-click the Mono box in the status bar (⇗45) and choose Stereo from the
shortcut menu.
l Click the down arrow for the Audio channels control on the Properties (⇗67)
dialog and choose Stereo from the menu.

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2. Specify the channel where you want to put the sound data:
l Click the Left Channel radio button to place the mono data in the left
channel and set the right channel to silence.
l Click the Right Channel radio button to place the mono data in the right
channel and set the left channel to silence.
l Click the Both Channels radio button to place the mono data in the right and
left channels.
3. Click the OK button.

Convert a stereo file to mono

1. Perform either of the following actions to display the Stereo to Mono dialog:
l Right-click the Stereo box in the status bar (⇗45) and choose Mono from the
shortcut menu.
l Click the down arrow for the Audio channels control on the Properties
(⇗67) dialog and choose Mono from the menu.
2. Specify which channel you want to use in the resulting mono file:
l Click the Left Channel radio button to preserve only the data in the left
channel.
l Click the Right Channel radio button to preserve only the data in the right
channel.
l Click the Mix Channels radio button to place the mono data in the right and
left channels.
3. Click the OK button.

Customize the mix

The Channel Converter (⇗304) allows independent level settings for each channel and
can be used to inter-mix the left and right channels of a stereo file to create interesting
pan effects. For simple conversions, use the included presets.

Recording Multichannel Audio

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Multichannel Audio - Overview

recording to create surround audio or capture field recordings.—

l If you experience gapping or glitching when recording multichannel audio, try
increasing your buffer size. You can increase the Record buffering setting on the
Audio (⇗ 408) tab of the Preferences dialog or click the Advanced button on the
Audio tab of the Preferences dialog to increase your device's buffers.
1. Connect your audio sources to your sound card's inputs. For more information,
please see Recording Setup.
2. Enable your recording inputs:
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the Audio tab.
2. Choose your recording device from the Audio device type drop-down list.
3. Click the Record tab.
4. Select the Enable check box for each input you want to enable for recording,
and then select a radio button to assign the input to an audio channel.
In the following example, the signal from Analog in 1 is recorded to channel
1, Analog In 2 is recorded to channel 2.

5. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog and save your changes.

3. Verify that your recording mode is set to Manual.
1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window
is displayed.
2. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.
3. If you want to set up pre-roll, post-roll, or a prerecord buffer, click the
Settings button. For more information about other recording modes and
methods, please see Recording Options (⇗188).
4. Create a data window for your recording:
1. From the File menu, choose New.
2. Choose a sample rate from the Sample rate drop-down list.
3. Choose a setting from the Bit depth drop-down list to specify the number of
bits that should be used to store each sample.
4. Choose a setting from the Channels drop-down list to specify the number of
channels that will be used in the window.
5. Click OK. A new, untitled sound file is created.

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The maximum number of channels recorded depends on the data window

where you're recording. For example, if you enabled six inputs on the Record
tab in Audio Preferences, you need to record into a six-channel data window
to record all six inputs. If you record to a stereo data window, only two inputs
will be recorded.

To choose your recording input, use the Audio (⇗408) tab in the Preferences dialog
or click a channel number in the Record Options window and choose a new input
port from the menu.

5. Select (⇗199) the sound data you want to replace, or click to position the cursor
where you want to begin recording.
If you want to check your input levels before or during recording, you can use the
meters. The peak meters represent the volume of the recording input. For best results,
the peak level should be somewhere in the yellow range with an occasional red
segment: you want your input to be as loud as possible without clipping.

6. Click the Arm button if you want to begin recording as soon as possible after
clicking the Record button . The Arm button is optional, but can allow for more
accurate takes. When you click Arm, the wave device is opened and all recording
buffers are loaded in order to minimize the amount of time between clicking the
Record button and when recording starts.
7. Click the Record button (or press Ctrl+R). Recording begins, and the Time
Display (⇗69) window and the data window's selection status bar will show the
current record position.
During recording, playback commands, the Preferences dialog, and commands that
affect the recording data window are unavailable.

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8. Recording will stop automatically at the end of the selection. If you're recording
without a selection, existing data is overwritten during recording, and you can click
the Record or Stop button to end recording.
Clicking Pause suspends recording, clearing the selection and moving the cursor
to the end of the recorded data. When you pause recording, the recording device
remains armed.

Hardware Meters Window

From the View menu, choose Hardware Meters to toggle the display of the Hardware
Meters window. You can use this window to adjust the levels of your audio device's
hardware outputs for monitoring and to view a peak meter, VU/PPM meter, phase
scope, and mono-compatibility meter.

Adjust output levels

The Hardware Meters window displays a gain fader for each output that is enabled on
the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog. You can use these faders to adjust preview
levels.
The faders in the Hardware Meters window are used to control preview volume only. If
you want to mix channel levels, use the Volume or Envelope plug-in.
Drag the fader to adjust the volume of the channel. Double-click the center of the thumb
to reset the fader to 0.0 dB.
If the right and left channels are set differently, you can double-click either thumb to
force the other channel to match it.
Click the Lock/Unlock Fader Channels button to lock (gang) the faders so the left and
right channels will always move together. Click again to unlock the faders.
Hold Shift while dragging a fader to temporarily override the current state of the
Lock/Unlock Fader Channels button: if the button is turned off, you can hold Shift to drag
the faders in locked mode; if the button is selected, hold Shift to drag the faders
independently.

Show or hide meters

You can display a peak meter, VU/PPM, a phase scope, and mono-compatibility meter
for each hardware output. To toggle the display of each meter, right-click the Hardware
Meters window and choose a command from the shortcut menu.
A check mark is displayed to indicate which meters are currently visible.

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Multichannel Audio - Overview

l For more information about using peak meters, please see Channel Meters.
l For more information about using VU/PPM meters, please see VU and Peak
Program Meters.
l For more information about using the phase scope, please see Phase Scope.
l For more information about using the mono-compatibility meter, please see Mono
Compatibility Meter.

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Previewing a File

Previewing a File
Previewing a file allows you to witness the results of your meticulous editing. You can
preview an audio file from the main SOUND FORGE PRO window or using the playbar in
each data window. Additionally the Video Preview window allows you to preview video
files natively or send them to an external monitor.

Choosing a Playback Mode

The Play button on the Transport toolbar behaves differently depending on the
current playback mode. You can change the current mode by performing any of the
following actions:
l Choosing Transport from the Options menu and then choosing a playback mode
from the submenu.
l Clicking a play mode button in a data window's playbar (the selected play mode
button is underlined).
l Pressing X to toggle through the available playback modes.
The current mode is indicated by a horizontal line under the active mode button in the
playbar.
When Options > Seek Cursor on Playback is selected, playback will restart when you
position the cursor. If you do not want to interrupt playback when positioning the cursor,
clear this command.

Play Normal mode

From the Options menu, choose Transport, and then choose Play Normal Mode from
the submenu to set playback to Normal mode.
When you click the Play button while in Normal mode, playback will adhere to the
following rules:
l If there is no selection, playback occurs from the cursor to end of file.
l If there is a selection, playback occurs from the beginning of the selection to the
end of the selection.
l Effects from the Plug-In Chain, are previewed in real time when you play back the
file.
l To bypass the plug-in chain, bypass the chain in the Plug-In Chain window. For
more information, please see "Preview the effects chain" in Using the Plug-In
Chain.

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Previewing a File

Play as Sample mode

From the Options menu, choose Transport and choose Play as Sample Mode from the
submenu to set playback to Sample mode.
This button is not displayed unless a sample loop has been defined in your file.
When you click the Play button while in Sample mode, playback will adhere to the
following rules:
l If the file contains loops, the loops will repeat as many times as specified on the
Edit Sample dialog. Use this to listen to a sound file as it would sound when played
by a sampler.
l If the file does not contain any loops, the file will be played once from beginning to
end.

Play as Cutlist mode

From the Options menu, choose Transport, and then choose Play as Cutlist Mode from
the submenu to begin playback from the cursor position, skipping any cutlist regions.
The Play as Cutlist button is not displayed unless you have playlist/cutlist regions
defined and have set your playlist/cutlist to Cutlist mode. To use Cutlist mode, choose
Playlist/Cutlist from the Edit menu, and then choose Treat as Cutlist from the submenu.

Data Window Scrolling

From the Options menu, choose Scroll Playback (or press F6) to enable automatic data
window scrolling during playback. When the cursor moves off of the current window, it
will quickly scroll to show another full window of data.
To enable smooth scrolling, choose Scroll Smoothly from the Options menu (or press
Shift+F6). When this option is selected, the cursor will slowly move back to the center of
the display, and the wave data will scroll past it. This allows you to view upcoming data
while the file is being played.

Preview Cut/Cursor
Press Ctrl+K to play the data before and after the current selection or cursor position.
This command lets you preview the result of a Cut (⇗220) or Clear (⇗228) operation
without altering the file.
Notes:

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Previewing a File

l To set the amount of pre- and post-roll that will be played when you preview a cut,
choose Preferences from the Options menu and choose the Previews (⇗ 403) tab.
Type values in the Pre-roll and Post-roll boxes in the Cut preview configuration
section of the dialog.
l If there is no selection, the playback will pre- and post-roll around the cursor position.
l Choose Preview Cut/Cursor from the Transport menu to preview a cut or the cursor
position.

Hold the Ctrl key and click the Play Normal button in the data window's playbar.

Pre-Roll to Cursor
Press Ctrl+Shift+K to play the data before the cursor position for the default pre-roll
length.
Notes:
l To set the amount of pre- and post-roll that will be played when you preview a cut,
choose Preferences from the Options menu and choose the Previews (⇗403) tab.
Type values in the Pre-roll and Post-roll boxes in the Cut preview configuration
section of the dialog.
l If a selection is made the pre-roll will occur for whichever end of the selection is
active. To toggle between ends of the selection, use the Home and End keys.
l Choose Pre-Roll to Cursor to play the data before the cursor position for the
default pre-roll length.

Hold the Shift and Ctrl keys and click the Play Normal button in the data window's
playbar..

Scrubbing
You can use scrubbing to scroll playback of your project at varying speeds.
Choose a setting from the JKL / shuttle speed drop-down list on the Editing (⇗395) tab
of the Preferences dialog to control the scrub speed and range when you scrub with the
JKL keys.

Use the scrub control in the data window

Drag the scrub control ( ) at the bottom of a data window to shuttle forward or
backward from the cursor position to find an edit point.

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Previewing a File

Hover over the scrub control and roll the mouse wheel forward or backward.

You can drag the Normal Rate indicator ( ) below the scrub control to adjust playback
speed (or double-click the label to type a playback rate).

Scrub using the keyboard

Press and hold K while pressing K or L to emulate a shuttle knob mode. Press K+J to turn
the knob to the left or K+L to turn the knob to the right.

Press the J, K, or L keys to use the keyboard as a scrub control. The scrub control at the
bottom of the active data window will reflect the current rate and direction of playback.
Item Description
J Scrub reverse mode. Press again to accelerate the playback rate.
K Pause.
L Scrub forward mode. Press again to accelerate the playback rate.

Scrub by dragging the cursor

1. Hover over the cursor and press Ctrl. The mouse pointer is displayed as a when
you click.
2. Drag left or right to scrub playback.
The Allow Ctrl+drag cursor style scrub in data windows check box on the General
(⇗387) tab of the Preferences dialog must be selected to scrub by dragging the cursor.

Scrub with the audio event locator

Holding Ctrl and dragging the mouse within the overview bar initiates playback of small
audio loops adjacent to the cursor position. This is not technically a scrub function, but
it serves a similar purpose. It allows you to audition brief audio segments and quickly
locate specific events within a file. Playback stops when the mouse button is released.
You can set the amount of pre-roll and the loop duration for the audio event locator on the
Previews (⇗ 403) tab of the Preferences dialog.

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Monitoring Levels in Digital Audio

Monitoring Levels in Digital Audio

The SOUND FORGE PROchannel meters (⇗160) display peak levels during playback. Use
the meters to monitor levels and ensure no clipping occurs in your file.

Decibels
The standard method for digital metering is to use the maximum possible sample value
(⇗457) as a reference point. This value is referred to as 0 dB. Decibels are used to
represent fractions logarithmically. In this case, the fraction is: sample amplitude divided
by the maximum possible amplitude. The actual equation used to convert to decibels is:
dB = 20 log (amplitude/32,768)
To illustrate this, consider a sine wave with a peak amplitude of 50% of full scale.
Inserting the values in the appropriate places yields 20 log (0.50) = -6.0 dB. Each time a
signal's amplitude is divided by two, its dB value is decreased by 6 dB. Likewise, doubling
the amplitude of a signal increases its dB value by 6 dB. Dividing the sine wave until its
peak amplitude is equal to 1 produces lowest peak dB possible, -90.3 dB.
Why are dBs used when talking about audio? Decibels are typically used when dealing
with sound pressure levels because of the vast range of sound (about 120 dB) that the
human ear can perceive. It's also easier to say -90 dB than 0.000030 (1/32,768).

Digital versus analog levels

When recording to an analog medium such as magnetic tape, recording engineers
typically try to keep VU (volume unit) meters as close to zero as possible. This ensures a
high signal-to-noise ratio while preserving adequate headroom to keep the tape from
saturating and distorting. In addition, occasional peaks above 0 do not cause problems
because the tape saturation point is not an absolute.
However, this is not true in the digital realm, where amplitudes are stored as discrete
numbers instead of continuous variables. The flexible recording ceiling of analog is
replaced by the absolute maximum sample values (⇗457) of digital audio. Stored signals
must never have a value above these maximums, as the wave peaks are literally clipped.
This clipping adds audible distortion and though it can go unnoticed, it can also ruin an
entire project. Therefore, sample with the understanding that digital audio has absolutely
no headroom. The following image shows a simple sine wave that has been clipped to 0
dB:

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Setting digital audio levels

Because digital audio has no headroom, setting the sampling level becomes critical. If the
loudest section of the audio is identified in advance, the recording level should be set so
that the peak is as close to 0 dB as possible to maximize the dynamic range of the digital
medium. If the loudest section of audio is unknown, allow 3 to 6 dB of headroom for
unexpected peaks.
From the Tools menu, choose Find and use the Find (⇗ 213) dialog to identify the largest
peak in your file.

Peak Meter V2 (⇗170) or Oscilloscope (⇗171) or Spectroscope (⇗171)

Peak Meter (⇗163)
VU Meter (⇗163)

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Monitoring Levels in Digital Audio

Phase Scope (⇗166)

Mono Compatibility (⇗169)

Show or hide the Play Meters window

From the View menu, choose Channel Meters to open or close the channel meters. You
can dock (⇗63) the Channel Meters window on any edge of the SOUND FORGE PRO
workspace.

Show or hide meters

You can display a peak meter, VU/PPM, a phase scope, and mono-compatibility meter
for each channel. To toggle the display of each meter, right-click the Channel Meters
window and choose a command from the shortcut menu.
A check mark is displayed to indicate which meters are currently visible.
l For more information about using VU/PPM meters, please see VU and Peak
Program Meters (⇗163).
l For more information about using the phase scope, please see Phase Scope (⇗166).
l For more information about using the mono-compatibility meter, please see Mono
Compatibility Meter (⇗169).

Reset clip indicators

When clipping is detected, the peak meter displays a red clipping indicator.

Do any of the following to reset the indicator:

l From the Options menu, choose Channel Meters, and then choose Reset Clip
from the submenu.
l Right-click the play meter and choose Reset Clip from the shortcut menu.
l Click the red Clip indicator.

Change the meters' display resolution

The peak meters display levels in dB FS. To change the resolution of the meters, do either
of the following:

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l From the Options menu, choose Channel Meters, choose Peak Range from the
submenu, and then choose a display range. Next, choose a peak range.
l Right-click the channel meter, choose Peak Range from the submenu, and then
choose a display range.
Choosing a wide range allows you to see low-level signals at the expense of precision
display at high levels.

Change the meters' display options

You can choose whether labels, peaks, and valleys are displayed in the meters and
whether the meters are displayed on top of other windows when they are not docked.
Do either of the following to change the meters' display options:
l From the Options menu, choose Channel Meters, and then choose a command
from the submenu.
l Right-click the meters and choose a command from the shortcut menu.
Command Function
Show Toggles the meter level labels on and off.
Labels
Hold Peaks When selected, the highest peak levels are represented by a thin line on the
meter.
Hold When selected, the lowest peak levels are represented by a thin line on the
Valleys meter.

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Narrow Width Toggles narrow- or normal-width meters. Using narrow

meters can conserve screen space.

Narrow meter
Normal Display

Interleave Peak/VU Toggles interleaved or stacked display of VU/PPM meters

(⇗163) with the corresponding channel meters.

Route channels to hardware outputs

VU and Peak Program Meters

You can display volume unit (VU) and peak program (PPM) meters in the Channel Meters
window, Hardware Meters window, and Record dialog to help you determine the
perceived loudness of your audio signal (peak program meters provide faster response
times to volume increases than VU meters).
VU/PPM meters are especially helpful when you're mastering: comparing two audio files'
VU/PPM readings will help take the guesswork out of matching levels
Right-click the Channel Meters or Hardware Meters window and choose Show VU/PPM
from the shortcut menu to toggle the display of the VU/PPM meters.
VU/PPM readings should fall near the 0 (or reference) mark. 0 VU is merely a reference
level, and your signal may exceed 0 VU. To prevent clipping, keep an eye on your peak
meters. Peak levels should never exceed 0 dB. You can use the Status tab in the
Preferences dialog to calibrate the VU/PPM meters to their associated levels on the
peak meters and adjust the VU meters' sensitivity.

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VU/PPM Meters Peak Meters

Choose a VU or PPM scale

To change the scale of the meter, choose Channel Meters from the Options menu,
choose VU/PPM Scale, and then choose a setting from the submenu (you can also right-
click the meter to set its options).
VU and PPM scales are most useful for displaying the average volume of the signal: the
meter represents the RMS average level during playback, and their attack and decay are
not as sensitive as the peak meter.
PPM scales are useful for monitoring peak levels. The meters use a fixed integration time
(5 or 10 ms) that is sensitive to increases in volume, but the meters are less sensitive to
decreases in volume than the VU scales, which produces less meter activity and
decreased eyestrain.
Item Description
Traditional The traditional VU meter is displayed with a scale of –10 dB to +2 dB. 0
VU dB on the VU meter equals 4 dBu.
Extended VU The extended VU meter is displayed with a scale of –30 dB to +8 dB. 0
dB on the VU meter equals 4 dBu.
Logarithmic Displays the meters in a logarithmic scale (like the SOUND FORGE PRO
VU peak meters) instead of the linear scales traditionally associated with
VU meters.
UK PPM The UK peak program meter (also known as a BBC meter) is a Type II
meter and is displayed with a scale of 1 to 7, which corresponds to a
range of -12 to 12 dBu:
UK Marks dBu
7 12
6 8
5 4
4 0
3 4
2 8
1 -12

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EBU PPM The EBU peak program meter is a Type II meter and is displayed with a
scale of –12 to +12, which corresponds to -12 dBu to 12 dBu. 0 on the
EBU PPM equals 0 dBu.
The EBU PPM and UK PPM respond identically to increases in volume,
but the EBU PPM decays more slowly.
DIN PPM The DIN peak program meter is a Type I meter and is displayed with a
scale of –50 dB to +5 dB, which corresponds to -44 dBu to 11 dBu. 0
dB on the DIN PPM equals 6 dBu.
Nordic PPM The Nordic peak program meter is a Type I meter and is displayed with a
scale of –42 dB to +12 dB, which corresponds to -42 dBu to 12 dBu. 0
dB on the Nordic PPM equals 0 dBu.

Adjust the VU meters' sensitivity

Unlike peak meters which read instantaneous changes in your audio signal the VU/PPM
meters read a portion of the signal and calculate the average level. The size of the signal
that the meters read is determined by the meters' integration time.——
To set the amount of data surrounding the cursor that will be used to calculate levels in
the VU meters, specify a value in the VU meter integration time box on the Status tab
of the Preferences dialog.
The PPM scales use a fixed integration time:
Scale Integration Time
UK PPM 10 ms
EBU PPM 10 ms
DIN PPM 5 ms
Nordic PPM 5 ms

Change the Peak Meters' display resolution

The Peak Meters display levels in dB VU. To change the resolution of the meters,
perform either of the following steps:
l From the Options menu, choose Channel Meters, choose Peak range from the
submenu, and then choose a display range.
l Right-click the meter, choose Peak range from the submenu, and then choose a
display range.
Choosing a wide range allows you to see low-level signals at the expense of precision
display at high levels.

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Phase Scope
You can display a phase scope in the Channel Meters window, Hardware Meters
window, and Record dialog to find phase cancellation among the channels in an audio
file.
Right-click the meters and choose Show Phase Scope from the shortcut menu to toggle
the display of the phase scope.
To change the display, right-click the meters, choose Phase Scope Style from the
shortcut menu, and then choose a setting from the submenu:
Style Description
Lissajous - Displays the right and left channels plotted along the X and Y axes of the
XY Plot graph.
For these sample images, a stereo file with simple sine waves was used to
provide a crisp line. When viewing typical audio, the lines will be more
diffused.

Right channel only.

Left channel only.

Right and left channels.

The "forward-slash" display indicates that no
phase cancellation exists.

Right and left channels after inverting the left

channel.
The "backslash" display indicates that phase
cancellation exists.

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Lissajous - Displays the right and left channels plotted along the X and Y axes of the
Rotated graph. This setting is identical to the Lissajous - XY Plot setting, but the
graph is rotated 45 degrees.
For these sample images, a stereo file with simple sine waves was used to
provide a crisp line. When viewing typical audio, the lines will be more
diffused.

Right channel only.

Left channel only.

Right and left channels.

The vertical line indicates that no phase
cancellation exists.

Right and left channels after inverting the left

channel.
The horizontal line indicates that phase
cancellation exists.

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Polar - Displays the right and left channels plotted vertically on the graph.
Linear For these sample images, a stereo file with simple sine waves was used to
Plot provide a crisp line. When viewing typical audio, the lines will be more
diffused.

Right channel only.

Left channel only.

Right and left channels.

The centered line indicates that no phase
cancellation exists.

Right and left channels after inverting the left

channel.
The separate left and right vertical lines indicate
that phase cancellation exists.

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Polar - Displays the right and left channels plotted on a circular graph.
Circular For these sample images, a stereo file with simple sine waves was used to
Plot provide a crisp line. When viewing typical audio, the lines will be more
diffused.

Right channel only.

Left channel only.

Right and left channels.

The centered line indicates that no phase
cancellation exists.

Right and left channels after inverting the left

channel.
The separate left and right horizontal lines
indicate that phase cancellation exists.

Mono-Compatibility Meter
You can display a mono-compatibility meter in the Channel Meters window, Hardware
Meters window, and Record dialog to detect correlations or differences between the
channels of a file that can cause phase cancellation when downmixing to mono.
Right-click the meters and choose Show Mono-Compatibility Meter from the shortcut
menu to toggle the display of the mono-compatibility meter.
l When the channels are similar, the right (or top) half of the meter is illuminated:

l When the channels exhibit phase cancellations, the left (or bottom) half of the
meter is illuminated:

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Peak Meter V2
The Peak Meter V2 is a new metering instrument that combines a PPM meter and VU
meter in one combined display. The thinner, outer bars show the Program Peak Meter
(PPM Meter) and the thicker, inner bars display the VU meter, which you might be
familiar with from analog equipment.
Both meter displays are based on a standardized peak meter with precisely defined
display characteristics. The PPM meter displays the peaks of an audio signal, whereas
the VU meter displays the metered values over a specific metering time period.

Open the Peak Meter V2 context menu by Shift+right-click and select from several
presets for PPM and VU meter scales. The Peak range for the Peak Meter is set by the
Peak Range option (⇗163) in the Channel Meters context menu.

K-Metering
The presets for the Peak meter V2 include a number of presets for the K-metering
system. These presets can be opened by Shift + right-clicking on the peak meter display.
Here you'll find the presets „K-12 Broadcast“, „K-14 Music“ and „K-20 Cinema“.
K-metering enables uniform reference volumes for different media especially when
mastering under normalized listening conditions. The peak hold display continues to
show signal peaks and can be used to avoid clipping.
The "K-system" refers to the metering system developed by Bob Katz, and it has become
the standard for monitoring audio signals during mastering. K-system metering enables
uniform calibration and monitoring. You can use it to easily exchange audio material
between different studios and have matching monitoring results. The K-metering system
focuses more on musical dynamics and less on loudness. Setting the level to 0 dB sets
the reference volume which no longer matches the maximum level, as often used to be
the case.
Depending on the application and audio material, three different meter scales can be
used:
l K-20 = 0 dB reference (83 dB SPL) at -20 dB FS
K-20 is recommended when using audio with large dynamics like classical music or
film sound.
l K-14 = 0 dB reference (83 dB SPL) at -14 dB FS
K-14 is recommended for rock and pop productions or for Surround sound.

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l K-12 = 0 dB reference (83 dB SPL) at -12 dB FS

K-12 is recommended for radio and television networks.
The corresponding scale for setting up the monitoring volume is calibrated with pink
noise. If you set pink noise to 0dB, you get a level of 83dB SPL, a volume reference that
originated in the film world.

Oscilloscope
The oscilloscope displays the signal amplitude over the time curve.

To display the Oscilloscope, right-click the Channel Meters and check the Show
Oscilloscope option in the context menu.
You can display either the Peakmeter V2 or the Oscilloscope in the Channel meters.
To change the look of the Oscilloscope you can choose from several presets: Right-click
the Channel meters and choose a preset from the Oscilloscope Presets sub-menu.

Spectroscope

In the Spectroscope the signal is divided up into individual frequency ranges. The level
amplitude of each frequency band displays volume of the relevant frequency range. This
is a way of telling whether certain frequency bands are being strained.
To change the appearance of the Spectroscope, right click on the graphic and chose from
various presets in the Spectroscope Presets sub-menu.

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Detecting and Marking Clipping

The clip indicators in the channel meters help you determine whether clipping occurs in
your file, and you can use the Find command to find audio that matches levels you
specify. For more control, however, you can use the detect clipping tool.

From the Tools menu, choose Detect Clipping to scan a selection of audio for clipping
and add markers where clipping occurs.
Markers can be quickly selected from the list in the Go To dialog. Also, markers are
displayed in the Regions List for quick playback.
1. Select the audio you want to scan.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Detect Clipping. The Detect Clipping dialog is
displayed.
3. Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the controls as
necessary.
1. Drag the Threshold fader to determine the sound level you want to find.
2. Set a value in the Clip Length box to specify how many sequential samples
must meet the Threshold setting to constitute clipping.
3. Select the Use True Peaks check box if you want to detect clipping of true
peaks in dB FS for loudness measurements.
Please note that true peaks are calculated using a higher sample rate than
peaks in the Channel Meters for increased accuracy.

4. When the Use True Peaks check box is selected, select the Enable DC Blocking
Filter check box if you want to filter the true peak sample value to compensate for
asymmetrical audio signals or DC offset. Filtered true peaks are calculated as the
maximum of the filtered and unfiltered signals.
5. Click the OK button.
The selection is scanned, and markers are added whenever the software finds a
number of sequential samples (determined by the Clip Length setting) with the
same value above the Threshold setting.

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Use the Detect all clip-related plateaus preset to detect clipped peaks that may exist in
your file after decreasing the levels in the file. You can then use the Pencil tool or the
DeClipper plug-in to restore the clipped peaks.

Loudness Meters
From the View menu, choose Loudness Meters to display the Loudness Meters window.
The Loudness Meters tool provides data about an audio file's momentary loudness,
short-term loudness, integrated (overall) loudness, and loudness range. You can use
these values when mastering for broadcast to ensure compliance with loudness
standards (such as the CALM Act).

The meters display real-time values for each of the following measurements:
l The M meter represents the momentary loudness — in loudness units (LU) — across
all audio channels based on 400-millisecond integration windows. The Momentary
box displays a numeric representation of the momentary loudness.
l The S meter represents the short-term loudness — in loudness units — across all
audio channels based on 3-second integration windows. The Short box displays a
numeric representation of the short-term loudness.
l The I meter represents the integrated loudness — in loudness units — across all
audio channels over the duration of the program. The Integrated box displays a
numeric representation of the integrated loudness and includes an over-target
indicator.
l The LRA meter represents the loudness range — in loudness units — of the
momentary and short-term levels. The Loudness Range measurement provides a
standardized method of determining the dynamic range of the signal.

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l The True peaks meter represents the peak levels in dB FS. True peaks are
calculated using a higher sample rate than peaks in the Channel Meters window for
increased accuracy.
The True Peaks indicator shows you whether the target loudness has been
exceeded. The indicator is reset when you restart playback, or you can right-click
the Loudness Meters window and choose Reset Clip from the shortcut menu.
The statistics on the left side of the window display the last-calculated values and are
reset when you restart playback. You can reset the values by right-clicking the Loudness
Meters window and choosing Reset Metering Engine from the shortcut menu.
Tips:
l Loudness is recalculated whenever you start, stop, seek, or change playback direction.
If you want to force a recalculation, right-click the window and choose Reset
Metering Engine from the shortcut menu.
l Select the Enable surround processing for files with 6 channelscheck box on the
Status (⇗ 404) tab of the Preferences dialog if you want to treat audio with six
channels as surround audio when measuring loudness (a gain of ~1.5 dB is applied to
the left and right surround channels). When the check box is cleared, all channels
contribute equally to the loudness measurement.

Choose a metering mode

To change the mode of the meters, choose Loudness Meters from the Options menu,
and then choose EBU R 128 Mode or ATSC A 85 Mode from the submenu (you can also
right-click the meter to set its options).
l When using EBU R 128 Mode, the target value of the Integrated meter is -23
LUFS, and the maximum True peak value is -1.0 dB FS. Use this mode when you're
mastering to European Broadcasting Union (EBU) standards.
l When using ATSC A 85 Mode, the target value of the Integrated meter is -24
LUFS, and the maximum True peak value is -2.0 dB FS. Use this mode when you're
mastering to North American Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)
standards.
The over-target indicators will be triggered if the target values for Integrated and True
peak meters are exceeded.

Choose a loudness scale

To change the scale of the meter, choose Loudness Meters from the Options menu,
choose Loudness Scale, and then choose EBU +9 or EBU +18 from the submenu (you
can also right-click the meter to set its options).

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l When using EBU +9, the meters are displayed with a range of -18 to +9 LU.
l When using EBU +18, the meters are displayed with a range of -36 to +18 LU.
Choosing a wide range allows you to see low-level signals at the expense of precision
display at high levels.
Select Absolute (-23 LUFS) if you want to display loudness values as Loudness Units Full
Scale (LUFS). When Absolute (-23 LUFS) is not selected, all values are expressed as
Loudness Units (LU) relative to the selected mode (EBU R 128 Mode or ATSC A 85
Mode).

Configure peak meters

To toggle the True Peaks meters in the Loudness Meters window, choose Loudness
Meters from the Options menu, and then choose Show True Peak Meter from the
submenu (you can also right-click the meter to set its options).
Please note that true peaks are calculated using a higher sample rate than peaks in the
Channel Meters (⇗ 160) for increased accuracy.

Peak levels may be miscalculated if audio signals are asymmetrical or if a DC offset is

present. To enable filtering, choose Loudness Meters from the Options menu, and then
choose True Peak Blocking Filter from the submenu (you can also right-click the meter
to set its options). When True Peak Blocking Filter is selected, peaks are calculated as
the maximum of the filtered and unfiltered signals.
The True Peaks meters display levels in dB FS. To change the resolution of the meters, do
either of the following:
l From the Options menu, choose Loudness Meters, choose True Peak Range from
the submenu, and then choose a display range.
l Right-click the Loudness meter, choose True Peak Range from the submenu, and
then choose a display range.
Choosing a wide range allows you to see low-level signals at the expense of precision
display at high levels.

Generate a loudness log

A loudness log is a report of the loudness of an audio file and it allows you to provide
documentation that your files adhere to loudness standards.

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Generating a loudness log when saving a file

1. Use the Save As dialog to save your file.
2. Select the Generate Loudness Log check box if you want SOUND FORGE PRO to
analyze the loudness of your file and create a log file that summarizes its loudness
values. The loudness log is created using the same folder and base name as your
sound file with _loud.txt appended to the name. The log will record the file name,
format, loudness metering mode, and loudness values throughout the file.
Loudness logging is performed after the plug-in chain, but before any codec is applied to
your rendered file. Because audio compression may affect audio levels, choose Tools >
Generate Loudness Log to create a log after saving to a compressed format.
Select the Enable surround processing for files with 6 channelscheck box on the Status
(⇗404) tab of the Preferences dialog if you want to treat audio with six channels as
surround audio when measuring loudness (a gain of ~1.5 dB is applied to the left and
right surround channels). When the check box is cleared, all channels contribute equally
to the loudness measurement.

Generating a loudness log for a data window

1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to analyze.
If no data is selected, the entire file is analyzed.
2. Choose Tools > Generate Loudness Log.
The loudness log is created using the same folder and base name as your sound file
with _loud.txt appended to the name. The log will record the file name, format,
loudness metering mode, and loudness values throughout the selection or file. If
the Open editor when new loudness log is generated check box is selected on the
Status (⇗404) tab in the Preferences dialog, the log will be automatically opened in
your default text editor.
Select the Enable surround processing for files with 6 channelscheck box on the Status
(⇗404) tab of the Preferences dialog if you want to treat audio with six channels as
surround audio when measuring loudness (a gain of ~1.5 dB is applied to the left and
right surround channels). When the check box is cleared, all channels contribute equally
to the loudness measurement.

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Recording

Recording
SOUND FORGE PRO can record audio into multiple audio channels while simultaneously
playing back existing audio tracks. You are limited only by the performance of your
computer system and audio hardware.
You can use the Stereo Recording window layout (⇗ 61) to optimize the SOUND FORGE
PRO interface for recording.

Creating a New Recording

After you've connected an audio source and verified your recording setup, you're ready
to start recording audio.
When you click the Arm or Record button when no data windows are open,
SOUND FORGE PRO creates a new window automatically using the last-used new
window settings. When Create new windows is selected in the Mode drop-down list in
the Record Options window (⇗188), a new window appears each time you start
recording.
If you want to record into an existing sound file, please see Recording into an Existing
Sound File.
You can use the Stereo Recording window layout (⇗ 61) to optimize the SOUND FORGE
PRO interface for recording.

The maximum number of channels recorded depends on the data window where you're
recording. For example, if you enabled six inputs on the Record tab in Audio Preferences,
you need to record into a six-channel data window to record all six inputs. If you record
to a stereo data window, only two inputs will be recorded.
To choose your recording input, use the Audio (⇗408) tab in the Preferences dialog or
click a channel number in the Record Options window and choose a new input port from
the menu.

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Create a recording
1. Verify that your recording method is set to Manual.
2. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
3. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.
4. If you want to set up pre-roll, post-roll, or a prerecord buffer, click the Settings
button. For more information, see "Set up pre- and post-roll" or "Set a prerecord
buffer" in this help topic.
5. Use one of the following methods to create a new window:
l Choose File > New.
l When you click the Arm or Record button when no data windows are
open, SOUND FORGE PRO creates a new window automatically using the
last-used new window settings.
l When Create new windows is selected in the Mode drop-down list in the
Record Options window (⇗188), a new window is each time you start
recording.
6. Click the Record or Stop button to start recording. During recording, the Time
Display window and the data window's selection status bar will show the current
record position.
During recording, playback commands, the Preferences dialog, and commands that
affect the recording data window are unavailable.
7. Click the Record or Stop button to end recording, or click the Pause button
to suspend recording and leave the recording device armed.

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Set up pre- and post-roll

Using pre- and post-roll can help you when recording voiceovers or overdubs:
l When you're performing punch-and-roll recording from the cursor, pre-roll allows
you to hear the material before the cursor position.
l When you're recording into a selection, pre- and post-roll allow you to hear the
material before and after the selection.
1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
2. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.
3. Click the Settings button in the Record Options window.
4. Select the Pre-roll check box and type a value in the edit box to set the amount of
time before the cursor (or selection) that you want to play when recording.
5. Select the Post-roll check box and type a value in the edit box to set the amount of
time after the selection that you want to play when recording into a selection.
6. Click the OK button.
When performing punch-in recording, recording occurs underneath the pre- and
post-roll. If your subject starts early, for example, you can adjust the event to
uncover the recording. You can use the Event Tool to slip or trim the edges of
the recorded event to expose the recorded pre- and post-roll. For more
information, please see Slipping and Trimming Events.
During recording, the Record status value in the Record Options window
indicates that recording is armed, in pre-roll, recording, or in post-roll. The meters
in the Record Options dialog monitor the level from your recording input.

Set a prerecord buffer

A prerecording buffer helps to ensure you won't miss a perfect take when you're
recording. When the prerecording buffer is enabled, sound data is written continuously
to the buffer after you click the Arm button . When you start recording, the sound
data in the buffer is committed to disk.
After you finish recording, the buffer is not displayed in the window, but you can use the
Event Tool to slip or trim the left edge of the recorded event to expose the buffer. For
more information, please see Slipping and Trimming Events.
1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
2. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.

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3. Click the Settings button in the Record Options window.

4. Select the Prerecord buffer check box and type a value in the edit box to set the
duration of the buffer.
5. Click the OK button.

Review recorded takes

Click the Play button to review your recording. Click the Stop button to end
playback.

Recording into an Existing Sound File

After you've connected an audio source and verified your recording setup, you're ready
to start recording audio.
Click the Record button (or choose Transport > Record) to record into an existing
sound file (also called punch-in recording).
If you want to record to a new file, please see Creating a New Recording.
You can use the Stereo Recording window layout (⇗ 61) to optimize the SOUND FORGE
PRO interface for recording.

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Record at the current cursor position or into a selection

1. Verify that your recording method is set to Manual.
1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window
is displayed.
2. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.
l If you want to set up pre-roll, post-roll, or a prerecord buffer, click the
Settings button. For more information, see "Set up pre- and post-roll" or "Set
a prerecord buffer" in this help topic.
l From the Mode drop-down list, ensure Normal or Create new regions is
selected.
2. Select (⇗199) the sound data you want to replace, or click to position the cursor
where you want to begin recording.
If you want to check your input levels before or during recording, you can use the
meters.
The peak meters represent the volume of the recording input. For best results, the
peak level should be somewhere in the yellow range with an occasional red segment:
you want your input to be as loud as possible without clipping.

3. Click the Arm button if you want to begin recording as soon as possible after
clicking the Record button . The Arm button is optional, but can allow for more
accurate takes. When you click Arm, the wave device is opened and all recording
buffers are loaded in order to minimize the amount of time between clicking the
Record button and when recording starts.

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Recording

4. Click the Record button (or press Ctrl+R). Recording begins, and the Time
Display (⇗69) window and the data window's selection status bar will show the
current record position.
During recording, playback commands, the Preferences dialog, and commands that
affect the recording data window are unavailable.
5. Recording will stop automatically at the end of the selection. If you're recording
without a selection, existing data is overwritten during recording, and you can click
the Record or Stop button to end recording. Clicking Pause suspends
recording, clearing the selection and moving the cursor to the end of the recorded
data. When you pause recording, the recording device remains armed.

Record multiple takes into a selection

1. Verify that your recording method is set to Manual.
1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window
is displayed.
2. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.
l If you want to set up pre-roll, post-roll, or a prerecord buffer, click the
Settings button. For more information, see "Set up pre- and post-roll" or "Set
a prerecord buffer" in this help topic.
l From the Mode drop-down list, ensure Normal or Create new regions is
selected.
2. Select (⇗199) the sound data you want to replace, or click to position the cursor
where you want to begin recording.
If you want to check your input levels before or during recording, you can use the
meters. The peak meters represent the volume of the recording input. For best results,
the peak level should be somewhere in the yellow range with an occasional red
segment: you want your input to be as loud as possible without clipping.

3. Select the Loop Playback button .

4. Click the Arm button if you want to begin recording as soon as possible after
clicking the Record button . The Arm button is optional, but can allow for more
accurate takes. When you click Arm, the wave device is opened and all recording
buffers are loaded in order to minimize the amount of time between clicking the
Record button and when recording starts.
5. Click the Record button (or press Ctrl+R). Recording begins, and the Time
Display (⇗69) window and the data window's selection status bar will show the
current record position. During recording, playback commands, the Preferences

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Recording

dialog, and commands that affect the recording data window are unavailable.
6. When recording reaches the end of the time selection, the cursor returns to the
beginning of the selection, and a new take is recorded. Each take is added to the
Undo/Redo History window (⇗75).
7. Click the Record or Stop button to end recording.
Clicking Pause suspends recording, clearing the selection and moving the cursor
to the end of the recorded data. When you pause recording, the recording device
remains armed.
8. You can click the Play button in the Undo/Redo History window to preview
individual takes, or you can use the Undo and Redo commands to cycle through
your recorded takes while previewing in the data window.

Set up pre- and post-roll

Using pre- and post-roll can help you when recording voiceovers or overdubs:
l When you're performing punch-and-roll recording from the cursor, pre-roll allows
you to hear the material before the cursor position.
l When you're recording into a selection, pre- and post-roll allow you to hear the
material before and after the selection.
1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
2. From the Method drop-down list, choose Manual.
3. Click the Settings button in the Record Options window.
4. Select the Pre-roll check box and type a value in the edit box to set the amount of
time before the cursor (or selection) that you want to play when recording.
5. Select the Post-roll check box and type a value in the edit box to set the amount of
time after the selection that you want to play when recording into a selection.
6. Click the OK button.
When performing punch-in recording, recording occurs underneath the pre- and
post-roll. If your subject starts early, for example, you can adjust the event to
uncover the recording. You can use the Event Tool to slip or trim the edges of
the recorded event to expose the recorded pre- and post-roll. For more
information, please see Slipping and Trimming Events.
During recording, the Record status value in the Record Options window indicates
that recording is armed, in pre-roll, recording, or in post-roll. The meters in the
Record Options dialog monitor the level from your recording input.

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Set a prerecord buffer

Review recorded takes

Click the Play button to review your recording. Click the Stop button to end
playback.
If you've recorded multiple takes, you can click the Play button in the Undo/Redo
History window to preview individual takes, or you can use the Undo and Redo
commands to cycle through your recorded takes while previewing in the data window.

Recording Audio Automatically

You can set up recording to begin automatically from the selected input device (⇗191)
using a timer,by detecting when audio exceeds a set threshold, or when MIDI timecode is
detected.
When you're using threshold-triggered recording, you can choose to record
continuously: set a buffer size, and the recorded audio will fill the buffer, discarding the
oldest data as new data is recorded. If you want to save data from the buffer, you can
save it to disk.
When recording automatically, you can use the Record button to manually begin
recording. Automatic recording settings will then be used to determine when recording
ends.

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Record audio over a set threshold

1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
2. Use the Record Options window to set the audio levels at which recording will
start and stop:
1. From the Method drop-down list, choose Automatic: Threshold.
2. Choose a setting from the Mode drop-down list to choose whether to create
regions or record to a new window when recording is suspended and
resumed. For more information, please see Recording Options.
3. Click the Settings button. The Threshold Settings tab in the Record Settings
dialog is displayed.
4. Drag the Threshold fader to set the audio level at which recording will begin.
5. Drag the Release slider to set the amount of time the audio level should be
below the Threshold setting before recording will stop.
6. Select the Automatically rearm after record check box if you want to
continue monitoring audio levels and recording until you click the Stop

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Recording

button .
7. Click OK to close the Record Settings dialog.
3. Click the Arm button in the data window where you want to record. The
Record status value in the Record Options window indicates that recording is
armed, and the meters in the Record Options window monitor the level from your
recording input.
Recording will begin when the audio signal meets the threshold level and will stop
after the level falls below the threshold for the specified release time. recording
begins at the cursor position, and the Time Display (⇗69) window and the data
window's selection status bar will show the current record position.
If the destination window contains a selection that is shorter than the timer
duration, recording will stop at the end of the selection. If the destination window
contains a selection that is longer than the timer duration, recording will stop at
the end of the timer duration.
During recording, playback commands, the Preferences dialog, and commands that
affect the recording data window are unavailable.

Record using MIDI timecode

1. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Trigger from MIDI
Timecode from the submenu.
2. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
3. Use the Record Options window to set the MIDI timecode interval you want to
record:
1. From the Method drop-down list, choose Automatic: MIDI Timecode.
2. Choose a setting from the Mode drop-down list to choose whether to create
regions or record to a new window when recording is suspended and
resumed. For more information, please see Recording Options (⇗188).
3. Click the Settings button. The MIDI Timecode Settings tab in the Record
Settings dialog is displayed.
4. From the Input drop-down list, choose the trigger device. Changing the
setting here will also update the Input setting on the MIDI/Sync (⇗402) tab in
the Preferences dialog.
5. Select the Timecode start check box and type a value in the edit box to
indicate the timecode location when recording will begin.
6. Select the Timecode stop check box and type a value in the edit box to
indicate the timecode location when recording will end. If you don't indicate

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a stop time, recording will continue until you click the Stop button .
7. Select the Bound record length on timecode loss check box if you want to
prevent recording beyond the specified end time. This ensures that your
record length is exact regardless of any inaccurate timecode.
8. Click OK to close the Record Settings dialog.
4. Click the Arm button in the data window where you want to record. The
Record status value in the Record Options window indicates the timecode when
recording will begin, and the meters in the Record Options window monitor the
level from your recording input.
Recording will begin when SOUND FORGE PRO detects the specified Timecode
start value and will stop at the specified Timecode stop value. Recording begins at
the cursor position, and the Time Display (⇗69) window and the data window's
selection status bar will show the current record position.
If the destination window contains a selection that is shorter than the specified
timecode range, recording will stop at the end of the selection. If the destination
window contains a selection that is longer than the timecode duration, recording
will stop at the Timecode stop value.
During recording, playback commands, the Preferences dialog, and commands that
affect the recording data window are unavailable.

Record using a timer

1. From the View menu, choose Record Options. The Record Options window is
displayed.
2. Use the Record Options window to specify when you want to record:
1. From the Method drop-down list, choose Automatic: Time.
2. Choose a setting from the Mode drop-down list to choose whether to create
regions or record to a new window when recording is suspended and
resumed. For more information, please see Recording Options (⇗188).
3. Click the Settings button. The Time Settings tab in the Record Settings dialog
is displayed.
4. Click the Add button to create a timer setting (or click the Edit button
to edit an existing setting). The Record Timer Event dialog is displayed.
Tips:
l If you want to remove a timer setting, select it and click the Delete button
.

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l If you want to remove all past timer settings, click the Remove All Past
Events from List button .
5. Type a name in the Name box to create a name to identify the preset.
6. Choose a setting from the Recurrence drop-down list to indicate whether
you want to record one time only or repeat the timed recording at a regular
interval.
7. Use the Start date, Start time, and Duration boxes to indicate when you
want to start and stop recording.
8. Click OK to close the Record Timer Event dialog.
9. Click OK to close the Record Options dialog.
3. Click the Arm button in the data window where you want to record. The
Record status value in the Record Options window will display a countdown to
show you when recording will begin.
When the timer is activated, recording begins at the cursor position, and the Time
Display (⇗69) window and the data window's selection status bar will show the
current record position.
If the destination window contains a selection that is shorter than the timer
duration, recording will stop at the end of the selection. If the destination window
contains a selection that is longer than the timer duration, recording will stop at
the end of the timer duration.
During recording, playback commands, the Preferences dialog, and commands that
affect the recording data window are unavailable.

Record Options
From the View menu, choose Record Options to open the Record Options window. You
can use this window to configure various options for recording in SOUND FORGE PRO.
The top of the Record Options window displays the current record status, attributes, time
recorded, and time left on your hard drive. You can also display the record status in the
Time Display window by right-clicking the Time Display window and choosing Record
Status from the shortcut menu.

Choose a recording method

Choose a setting from the Method drop-down list to choose what happens when you
start recording:
l Manual: Recording starts at the cursor position or selection. Use this mode for
general-purpose recording, punch-in recording, or voiceover work. For more

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information, please see Creating a New Recording or Recording into an Existing

Sound File.
l Automatic: Threshold: Recording starts when the audio reaches a specified level
and stops when the audio falls below that level for a specified duration. For more
information, please see Recording Audio Automatically.
l Automatic: MIDI Timecode: Recording starts when the specified timecode is
received from the MIDI input device and ends at the specified timecode. For more
information, please see Recording Audio Automatically.
l Automatic: Time: Recording starts at the date and time you specify and stops after
the specified duration. For more information, please see Recording Audio
Automatically.

Choose a recording mode

Choose a setting from the Mode drop-down list to choose what happens after you stop
(or pause) and restart recording:
l Normal: Click the Record or Stop button to end recording, or click the
Pause button to suspend recording and leave the recording device armed.
l Create regions: A new region is created each time you restart or resume recording.
If you're recording into a time selection with Loop Playback enabled, SOUND
FORGE PRO does not create a new region for each loop.
l Create new windows: A new window is created each time you restart or resume
recording.
Notes:
l When Create new window is selected, the Arm and Record buttons on the
main toolbar are enabled even when no data windows are open. When Normal or
Create regions is selected, the Arm and Record buttons are not available until
you create a data window (⇗ 98) or open a file.
l When Create new window is selected, punch-in recording is not available. For more
information, please see Recording into an Existing Sound File.

Set up input monitoring

Turning input monitoring on or off

Choose On,Off, or Auto from the Monitor drop-down list to toggle record input
monitoring.

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When Auto is selected, the input is monitored during pre/post-roll and during recording
only.

Monitoring your recording input through the Plug-In Chain

Select the Monitor input through Plug-In Chain check box if you want to monitor the
selected channels from your recording input through the Plug-In Chain.
Notes:
l On or Auto must be selected in the Monitor drop-down list to enable input
monitoring.
l This setting is used for monitoring only; the Plug-In Chain is not applied to the
recorded data.

Monitoring unselected channels when recording

Select the Play unselected channels when recording check box to if you want to
monitor additional channels while recording.
l When the check box is selected, all unselected audio channels will play when
you're recording into the selected channels.
This setting is useful when you're recording to backing tracks. For example, if you
have a four-channel audio file, you could place backing tracks on channels 1 and 2
and record into channels 3 and 4. Select channels 3 and 4, and select the Play
unselected channels when recording check box. When you start recording, your
audio is recorded into channels 3 and 4, and you'll be able to monitor channels 1
and 2 while recording.
l When the check box is cleared, unselected audio channels will play only during
pre/post roll.

Adjust for DC offset

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5. Select the DC adjust check box.

6. Click the Calibrate button.
If you change sound cards or are recording from different digital sources or at different
sample rates, you should recalibrate the DC offset before recording.

How Do I Record from an External Source?

Connect an audio source to your sound card's input

Basic setup with mixer/preamplifier

In this setup, your speakers and audio source are connected to a mixer or preamplifier.
The mixer/preamplifier is then connected to Line In and Line Out connections on your
sound card.

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Recording

If you're recording from a turntable, use a phono preamplifier between your turntable's
output and your sound card's line input. Most turntables' outputs are phono-level (rather
than line-level) outputs. Phono-level outputs are quieter then line-level outputs and have
special equalization applied. A phono preamplifier will convert the phono-level signal to a
line-level signal that you can record.

Digital input/output with MIDI synchronization

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Recording

Choose an input device and adjust levels

The Record tab in the Audio Preferences page allows you to choose the audio inputs
from which you want to record. Before recording, you'll need to verify that your sound
card's recording inputs are active.
The maximum number of channels recorded depends on the data window where you're
recording. For example, if you enabled six inputs on the Record tab in Audio Preferences
(⇗408), you need to record into a six-channel data window to record all six inputs. If you
record to a stereo data window, only two inputs will be recorded.
To choose your recording input, use the Audio (⇗408) tab in the Preferences dialog or
click a channel number in the Record Options window and choose a new input port from
the menu.

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Recording

2. From the Options menu, choose Properties.

3. Click the Recording radio button and click OK.
4. Select (or unmute) the device from which you want to record.
5. Adjust the Volume faders for the selected device and for the Master
Record level while monitoring the recording meters in the SOUND
FORGE PRO Record dialog.
For example, if you want to record from an audio CD in your CD-ROM
drive, the CD Mute check box should not be selected, and the CD and
Master Record Volume faders must be adjusted so SOUND FORGE
PRO receives a strong signal with no clipping.

Adjust for DC offset

SOUND FORGE PRO software can automatically adjust for any DC offset (⇗444)
produced by your audio hardware during the recording process.
1. Set up your hardware. For more information see Recording Setup (⇗191).
2. From the View menu, choose Record Options to open the Record Options
window.
3. Click the Arm button on the main toolbar.
4. Ensure your recording input is quiet.
5. Select the DC adjust check box.
6. Click the Calibrate button.
If you change sound cards or are recording from different digital sources or at different
sample rates, you should recalibrate the DC offset before recording.

Recording Multichannel Audio

If you have an audio device that supports multiple inputs, you can use SOUND FORGE
PRO to perform multichannel recording.
Tips:
l SOUND FORGE PRO is not a multitrack editor check out our Vegas and ACID family
of products for full multitrack recording and editing. You can use multichannel
recording to create surround audio or capture field recordings.—
l If you experience gapping or glitching when recording multichannel audio, try
increasing your buffer size. You can increase the Record buffering setting on the
Audio (⇗ 408) tab of the Preferences dialog or click the Advanced button on the
Audio tab of the Preferences dialog to increase your device's buffers.

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Recording

1. Connect your audio sources to your sound card's inputs. For more information,
please see Recording Setup.
2. Enable your recording inputs:
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the Audio tab.
2. Choose your recording device from the Audio device type drop-down list.
3. Click the Record tab.
4. Select the Enable check box for each input you want to enable for recording,
and then select a radio button to assign the input to an audio channel.
In the following example, the signal from Analog in 1 is recorded to channel
1, Analog In 2 is recorded to channel 2.

5. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog and save your changes.

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Recording

To choose your recording input, use the Audio (⇗408) tab in the Preferences dialog
or click a channel number in the Record Options window and choose a new input
port from the menu.

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Recording

Clicking Pause suspends recording, clearing the selection and moving the cursor
to the end of the recorded data. When you pause recording, the recording device
remains armed.

Generating MTC/SMPTE Synchronization During

Recording
SOUND FORGE PRO software can generate MTC/SMPTE synchronization while
recording.
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the MIDI/Sync tab.
2. On the MIDI/Sync tab, choose the trigger device from the Input drop-down list.
3. On the MIDI/Sync tab, choose the MIDI output device from the Output drop-
down list and click the OK button.
4. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Generate MIDI
Timecode from the submenu to enable MIDI timecode output.
During recording, MIDI timecode is output from the selected output device. For
more information about recording, please see Recording.

Remote Record
The Remote Record window reduces the program interface of SOUND FORGE PRO to
the control elements that are necessary to perform recordings.
When you open this window with the button on the Transport toolbar, the main
window of SOUND FORGE PRO is hidden at the same time. This frees up the screen to
display text or sheet music, for example.

File: In the list box, you can select the file for recording among the open files. If no
file is open, a new file is created by clicking on Prepare recording or Recording.
Transport controls: Buttons to control recording and playback, For more
information, see The Transport Toolbar (⇗44)
Set markers: This button allows you to set markers, even while recording.

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Recording

Go to...: This button opens the dialog Go to... (⇗212) to quickly reach a position in
the file.
Monitoring: This sets the monitoring mode. For more information, see Record
Options (⇗188)
Peak meter: The peak meter for checking the recording level.
Status information: The recording status information is displayed here. This is the
same information as displayed in the Recording Options window.
Back: Click on Back to display the main window again. The remote recording
window remains open. The button label changes to Remote. With a click on it you
can hide the main window again.

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

Selecting data and positioning the cursor are the first steps in most editing processes.
After you have selected data, you can cut (⇗220), copy (⇗220), paste (⇗221), mix (⇗223),
add effects (⇗268), and more.
The selection status bar in each data window shows the beginning, end, and length of a
selection. If no selection has been made, the cursor position is displayed.

l Double-click the Selection Start box to type a value and move the cursor.
l Double-click the Selection End or Selection Length box to type values in the boxes
to specify or edit a selection.
l Right-click to display the Status Format shortcut menu, which allows you to
choose a time format (⇗54).

Selecting Data Using the Mouse

Using your mouse, you can select data simply by clicking and dragging in a data window.

Make a selection
1. Select the Edit tool .
2. Click to position the cursor, hold the mouse button, and drag over an area of the
data window to select data. As you drag past markers (⇗246) and regions (⇗248),
the selection edge will snap to the marker/region tag. For more information about
channel selection, please see "Select Channels" in this help topic.

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

Select channels
When you are working with stereo or multichannel files, you can select data from the
individual channels or all channels:
l Drag within a channel to select that channel only:

l Drag across channels to select multiple channels:

l Drag along the divider between channels (or the loop bar above the ruler) to select
all channels:

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

l Hold Ctrl and click a channel to add or remove it from the current selection:

Lock selected channels

Click the Lock Channel Selection button in the top-left corner of a data window to
lock or unlock the current channel selection.
l When the channel selection is locked, you can drag anywhere in the data window
to change the selection length or position without changing the currently selected
channels (you can still Ctrl+click to add or remove channels from the selection).
l When the channel selection is not locked, dragging over a non-selected channel
clears the current channel selection and selects the channels where you drag.

Adjust the length of a selection

1. Select the Edit tool .
2. Move the mouse over the edge of a selection. The cursor will be displayed as a .
3. Drag to change the length of the selected region.

You can also drag the ends of the loop region to adjust the selection length. Right-click the
loop bar above the time ruler to display a shortcut menu, where you can set the selection to
the visible portion of the waveform, select the entire file, or create a time selection from the
loop region.

Shift a selection left or right

1. Select the Edit tool .
2. Move the mouse over the edge of a selection. The cursor will be displayed as a .
3. Hold the Shift key.
4. Drag to move the selected region.

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

You can also drag the center of the loop region to move a selection without resizing
it:

The Set Selection Dialog

To display the Set Selection dialog, choose Selection from the Edit menu, and then
choose Set from the submenu.
This dialog allows you to select data by specifying starting and ending points or choosing
a region from the Selection drop-down list.

Select data
1. From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Set from the submenu.
2. Choose a selection type or region from the Selection drop-down list, or choose
Custom to specify a custom selection:
a. Type a value in the Start edit box or use the spin controls to specify a starting
point for your selection.
b. Type a value in the End edit box or use the spin controls to specify an ending
point for your selection.
Specifying a value in the End box will modify the value in the Lengthbox.
Specifying a value in the Length box will modify the value in the Endbox.
c. Type a value in the Length edit box or use the spin controls to specify the
length of your selection.
3. Choose Left, Right, or Both from the Channeldrop-down list to specify which
channels will be selected.
4. Click the OK button.

Specify an input format

Choose a setting from the Input format drop-down list. This setting specifies the units
for thedialog's Start, End, and Length boxes.

Preview your selection

Click the Play button to preview the selection. During playback, the button will change
to a Stop button. Click again to stop playback.
Select the Play Looped check box to enable looped playback of the current selection. You
can modify the selection during playback.

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Snap selection ends to zero crossings

Click the Snap Zero button to snap the beginning and end of the current selection to the
nearest zero-crossing (⇗461). (⇗461)

Snap selection ends to the time ruler

Click the Snap Time button to snap the beginning and end of the current selection to the
nearest division on the time ruler.

Mark In
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Mark In to set the beginning of
the loop region at the current cursor position.

You can then right-click bar at the top of the loop region to insert a region (⇗248), toggle
looped playback, or select (⇗199) the loop region.
Select the Update loop bar on Mark In/Out check box on the Editing (⇗ 395) tab of the
Preferences dialog if you want the loop bar in a data window to be updated when you mark
the beginning (⇗ 203) or end (⇗ 203) of a selection. When the check box is cleared, the
loop bar isn't updated until after you've marked both ends of the selection.

Marking Out
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Mark Out to set the end of the
loop region at the current cursor position.

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

Looped Playback
From the Options menu, choose Loop Playback to repeatedly play back a section of your
project.
When Options > Seek Cursor on Playback is selected, playback will restart when you
position the cursor. If you do not want to interrupt playback when positioning the cursor,
clear this command.

1. Drag the cursor to make a selection (or hold down the Shift key and use the arrow
keys to make the selection).
2. From the Options menu, choose Loop Playback.
3. Click the Play button to hear your selection looped.
If there is no selection, the entire sound file is played in an endless loop.

Quantize to Frames
From the Options menu, choose Quantize to Frames to force edits to occur on project
frame boundaries. This setting is independent of grid and marker snapping (⇗204) and is
useful when editing audio for video and creating disc-at-once (⇗121) CD projects.
When Quantize to Frames is turned on, the following actions will always occur on
frame boundaries:
l Positioning the cursor
l Making selections
l Placing markers and regions
If you drag to a snap point that does not occur on a frame boundary when Quantize to
Frames is enabled, the snap point will be quantized to the nearest frame boundary.

Enable Snapping
From the Options menu, choose Snapping and then choose Enable from the submenu to
turn automatic snapping on or off in data windows.

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

Snapping helps you position the cursor, make selections (⇗199) and align items along the
grid when you paste (⇗221), mix (⇗223), trim (⇗229), or work with markers (⇗246) and
regions (⇗248).
As you drag items in a data window, snap points are highlighted:

If you want to modify an existing selection, you can use the commands on the Edit >
Selection submenu to snap the selection to the grid and to zero crossings.
Hold the Shift key to temporarily override snapping.

In previous versions of SOUND FORGE PRO, both ends of a selection would snap to the
grid when you released the mouse. SOUND FORGE PRO now uses a softer snapping
mechanism that gives you more control: if you click near a grid line with snapping
enabled, the cursor will snap to that grid line. As you drag a selection along the timeline,
the cursor will stick to grid lines to allow you to snap to them. If you want to snap both
edges of a selection to the grid as in previous versions of SOUND FORGE PRO, you can
press T.

Turn snapping on or off

From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Enable from the submenu
(or press F8) to turn snapping on or off. When snapping is enabled, objects will snap to
the following points:
l The cursor
l Time selection edges
You can also choose to snap events to grid divisions, markers, or zero crossings.

Automatically snap to the grid

When snapping is enabled, you can also choose to have objects snap to whole time
divisions as designated by the marks on the time ruler above the data window.
From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Grid from the submenu (or
press Ctrl+F8) to toggle snapping to grid lines.

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To change the resolution of the grid, choose Status Format from the Options menu and
then choose a setting from the submenu (or right-click the time ruler and choose a format
from the shortcut menu).

Automatically snap to markers

When snapping is enabled, you can also choose to have elements in the data windows
snap to markers.
From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Markers from the submenu
(or press Shift+F8) to toggle snapping for the following marker types:
l Markers (⇗246)
l Regions (⇗248)
l Command (⇗257) markers
l Disc-at-once CD tracks and indexes
l Sample (⇗357) markers

Automatically snap to events

When snapping is enabled, you can also choose to have elements in the data windows
snap to event (⇗234) boundaries.
From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Events from the submenu
(or press Ctrl+Shift+F8) to toggle snapping to event edges.

Automatically snap to zero crossings

When snapping is enabled, you can also choose to have elements in the timeline snap to
zero-crossings (⇗461).
From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and then choose Crossings from the
submenu (or press Ctrl+B) to toggle snapping to zero crossings.

Turn off automatic snapping at high zoom levels

When you're zoomed (⇗229) in, you may wish to turn off snapping so you can position a
selection's start and end points exactly where you choose.
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and then click the Editing tab.
2. Select the Disable auto-snapping below 1:4 zoom ratios check box.
3. Click OK.

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Snap an existing selection to the grid or zero crossings

If you've created a selection (⇗199) without automatic snapping enabled or have
modified a selection so its edges no longer align with the grid/zero crossings, you can use
the commands on the Edit > Selection submenu to snap the selection to the grid and to
zero crossings.

Selection Snapping
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose a command from the submenu
to force the edges of the current selection to the points you choose. Snapping helps you
align your selection with items in the data window.
If you want to use automatic snapping when positioning the cursor and making
selections, use the commands on the Options menu to enable snapping and set snapping
options.

Snap to Grid
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Snap to Grid from the submenu
(or press T) to force both edges of a selection to a whole time division as designated by
the marks on the time ruler above the data window.

Before snapping.

After snapping, the edges of the

selection snap to the 2.000 and 3.000
divisions on the ruler.

To change the resolution of the grid, choose Status Format from the Options menu and
then choose a setting from the submenu (or right-click the time ruler and choose a format
from the shortcut menu).

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Selecting Data and Positioning the Cursor

Snap Edge to Grid

From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Snap Edge to Grid from the
submenu (or press Shift+T) to force the active edge of a selection to a whole time
division as designated by the marks on the time ruler above the data window.
The active edge of a selection is defined by the blinking cursor. Press Home or End to
change the active edge.

Before snapping.

After snapping, the active (right) edge of

the selection snaps to the 3.000 division
on the ruler.

To change the resolution of the grid, choose Status Format from the Options menu and
then choose a setting from the submenu (or right-click the time ruler and choose a format
from the shortcut menu).

Snap to Zero
Performing edits at zero-crossings (⇗461) reduces the possibility of introducing glitches
in your sound file.
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Snap to Zero from the submenu
(or press Z) to force both edges of a selection to the next zero-crossing of the waveform.

Before snapping.

After snapping, the edges of the

selection snap to the nearest
locations where the waveform
crosses the baseline.

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The Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog allows you to choose whether this is a
negative, positive or any zero-crossing.

Snap Edge to Zero

Performing edits at zero-crossings (⇗461) reduces the possibility of introducing glitches
in your sound file.
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Snap Edge to Zero from the
submenu (or press Shift+Z) to force the active edge of a selection to the next zero-
crossing of the waveform.
The active edge of a selection is defined by the blinking cursor. Press Home or End to
change the active edge.

Before snapping.

After snapping, the active (right)

edge of the selection snaps to the
nearest location where the
waveform crosses the baseline.

The Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog allows you to choose whether this is a
negative, positive or any zero-crossing.

Extend to Next Zero

Performing edits at zero-crossings (⇗461) reduces the possibility of introducing glitches
in your sound file.
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Extend to Next Zero from the
submenu (or press Z) to force both edges of a selection to the next zero-crossing of the
waveform.
The Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog allows you to choose whether this is a
negative, positive or any zero-crossing.

Extend Edge to Next Zero

Performing edits at zero-crossings (⇗461) reduces the possibility of introducing glitches
in your sound file.
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Extend Edge to Next Zero from
the submenu (or press Shift+Z) to force the active edge of a selection to the next zero-
crossing of the waveform.

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The active edge of a selection is defined by the blinking cursor. Press Home or End to
change the active edge.
The Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog allows you to choose whether this is a
negative, positive or any zero-crossing.

Adjusting Selections
SOUND FORGE PRO includes tools that are designed to help you create your own loops
for ACID software and other loop-based audio applications.
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose a command from the submenu
to quickly adjust your selection length and position.

Halve Selection
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Halve from the submenu (or
press the ; key) to reduce the current selection by half.

You can also click the button on the Navigation Toolbar.

For example, if you have four measures selected and choose halve the selection, only
measures one and two will be selected.

Double Selection
From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Double from the submenu (or
press the ' key) to double the current selection.

You can also click the button on the Navigation Toolbar.

For example, if you have four measures selected and double the selection, an additional
four measures will be selected.

Shift Selection Left

From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Shift Left from the submenu (or
press the < key) to move the current selection left by the length of the selection.

You can also click the button on the Navigation Toolbar (⇗ 33)

Because the exact length of the selection is maintained, this tool is perfect for moving
the selection a beat or measure at a time.

Shift Selection Right

From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Shift Right from the submenu
(or press the > key) to move the current selection left by the length of the selection.

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You can also click the button on the Navigation Toolbar.

Because the exact length of the selection is maintained, this tool is perfect for moving
the selection a beat or measure at a time.

Rotate Audio
From the Process menu, choose Rotate Audio (or press the : key) to change the feel of a
given loop by moving the selection to the opposite end of the file.

You can also click the button on the Process Toolbar (⇗ 38)

The function of this command depends on the current selection:

l If there is no selection, the first quarter of the file will be moved to the end.
l If a selection is made at the very beginning of the file, that audio will be cut and
pasted at the end of the file. If a selection is made at the very end of the file, that
audio will be cut and pasted at the beginning of the file.
This command has no effect if the selection does not touch the beginning or end of the
file.

Using Selection Grid Lines

From the Options menu, choose Selection Grid Lines to display grid lines that divide the
selection (⇗199) into four equal parts. These lines make creating loops from existing
material easier.

To change the number of divisions that will be used, choose Options > Set Grid
Divisions, and then choose a setting from the submenu.
For example, if you're trying to create a loop in 3/4 time, changing the grid divisions to 3
allows you to divide a selection into three beats.

Toggling and Cycling Selections

Whoops! You just adjusted your selection until it was perfect, and now you've lost it
with a stray click? No problem it's not lost at all.

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From the Edit menu, choose Selection and then choose Toggle (or press S or /) to switch
between the last selection and the last cursor position. For instance, you may be setting
the cursor in various places while navigating throughout a sound file. If you use the
Toggle command, the last selected region will immediately return to the display.
From the Edit menu, choose Selection and then choose Cycle(or press Backspace) to
step backward through the previous five time selections.

Select All
From the Edit menu, choose Select All to select all data in the current window.
Double-click in the waveform display to select all data.

l If a file contains regions, triple-click to select all data (if the Disable triple clicking
to select all sound file data check box on the Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences
dialog is cleared).
l If you're working with multichannel audio, only the channel you click is selected.
Hold Ctrl while clicking additional channels to add or remove them from the
selection.

Go To
From the Edit menu, choose Go Toto move the cursor to a specific location in a sound
file.
1. From the Edit menu, choose Go To. The Go To dialog is displayed.
2. Choose a preset from the Go To drop-down list, or choose Custom to specify a
cursor position using the Position and Input Format controls:
l Type a value in the Position box or use the up and down arrows to determine
where the cursor will be moved.
l Choose a setting from the Input Format drop-down list to determine the
format (⇗55) used by the Position box.
3. Click OK to close the dialog and move the cursor.
Press F5 and type a value in the Selection Start box in the data window to navigate to a
specific location quickly.

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The Find Dialog

The Find dialog searches for clicks and pops, volume levels, or silent breaks in an audio
file.
1. From the Tools menu, choose Find.
2. Chose a preset from the drop-down list or adjust the controls in the dialog box to
specify what you want to find.
3. Choose a setting from the Find drop-down list to specify the type of data you want
to find:
Item Description
Glitch Clicks and pops are unwanted sounds often found on worn records or
on audio tape as a result of poor splicing, and they are seen as sharp
glitches in the normal curve of a waveform.
The glitch search algorithm looks at a waveform, starting at the cursor
position, and determines when a glitch occurs based on the Threshold
slope and Sensitivity settings. The cursor is then moved to the
detected glitch to allow for further editing. You can use the Pencil
tool to draw a smooth curve over the glitch to remove it.
Level Finds the next point after the cursor position when the waveform
equal to reaches the level specified by the Threshold level fader.
or above
End of Moves the cursor to the end of the next silent break.
silent Adjust the Threshold level fader to determine the sound level that
region will be treated as silence.

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Largest Moves the cursor to the next largest peak amplitude.

peak Searches progress from the current cursor position forward. To find
the largest peak in a file, set the cursor to the beginning of the sound
file or select all data before processing.

4. Drag the Threshold slope/level slider to determine the sound level you want to
find:
l When Glitch is selected in the Find drop-down list, drag the slider to
determine the minimum slope (steepness) of the glitch. A high setting will
only detect glitches with a high slope, while a low setting will detect both
low and high-sloped glitches.
l When Level equal to or above is selected in the Find drop-down list, drag
the fader to determine the sound level you want to find.
l When End of silent region is selected in the Find drop-down list, drag the
fader to determine the sound level that will be treated as silence. The search
will move the cursor to the next position where the level goes below and
then back above the silence threshold level.
5. When Glitch is selected in the Find drop-down list, drag the Sensitivityslider to
determine how the algorithm looks for glitches:
l With a high Sensitivity setting, any part of the waveform with a slope above
the Threshold slope is detected as a glitch.
l Lower Sensitivity settings force the glitch finder to verify that the high-
sloped waveform is a glitch and not part of the original, smooth waveform.
If no glitches are detected, but you can hear clicks or pops, try decreasing the
Threshold slope and/or raising the Sensitivity. If the search is falsely detecting
glitches, decrease the Sensitivity and/or raise the Threshold slope.
6. Click OK. SOUND FORGE PRO software searches for the next audio data that
matches your parameters and positions the cursor there.

Centering the Cursor

From the Edit menu, choose Center Cursor to center the display so that the cursor
appears in the center of the data window.
Notes:
l This command does not actually move the cursor to a new position in the data
window; it simply redraws the display so that you will see the areas of the sound file
equally on either side of the cursor. If the cursor does not seem to center, the cursor

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may be very close to the beginning or end of the sound file (and therefore cannot be
centered), or you may be zoomed out so the entire waveform is already visible.
l If you have a range of data selected, you can switch the cursor between selection
points using the Home and End keys.

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Basic Editing

Basic Editing
The edit operations used most often include cut, copy, paste, clear/delete, mix, and
trim/crop. Most of these functions use the clipboard, which is a temporary storage area.
The clipboard can also be used to move data from one window to another.

Editing Tools
From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose a tool from the submenu to change
the active tool.
Click the edit tool selector in the data window (or press D or Shift+D) to toggle through the
Edit, Magnify, Pencil Event and Envelope tools.

The Edit Tool

From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Edit from the submenu to select the
Edit tool. Use the Edit tool to select data and position the cursor.
You can also perform basic envelope editing with the Edit tool.

The Magnify Tool

From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Magnify from the submenu to select
the Magnify tool.
Use the Magnify tool to zoom in to a region without losing your selection. Drag the
mouse over an area to zoom in. A dotted rectangle is drawn around the area, and the
area is magnified when you release the mouse button.
While holding the left mouse button, click the right mouse button to toggle through the
three magnification modes:
l Zoom Time only: magnifies horizontally without changing the vertical level of the
data window.
l Zoom Level only: magnifies vertically without changing horizontal zoom level of the
data window.
l Time/ Zoom Level: magnifies horizontally and vertically.

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For more information about zooming and magnification including using custom zoom
ratios please see Magnification and Zooming (⇗229).

The Pencil Tool

From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Pencil from the submenu to select
the Pencil tool.
Use the Pencil tool to edit the waveform by drawing on it. For example, if you have a
glitch in the sound data, zoom in to the glitch and smoothly redraw the waveform.
While holding down the left mouse button, you can also use the arrow keys to fine tune the
pencil position.

The Pencil tool is available only at magnification levels below the Pencil tool maximum
zoom ratio setting on the Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog.

The Envelope Tool

When the Envelope , tool is selected, you can add, remove, select or adjust envelope
points on effect automation envelopes.
The Edit tool allows you to add, remove, or adjust envelope points, but you cannot
select envelope points with the Edit tool.

Adjusting an envelope
By default, A new envelope will contain a single envelope point. If you want to adjust the
overall level of an envelope, drag the envelope up or down. A floating ToolTip will show
you the envelope's current setting:

If an envelope has multiple points, you can drag each point, or you can drag envelope
segments up or down.
Tips:
l Hold Ctrl while dragging an envelope point or segment to adjust the value in fine
increments without changing the envelope points' horizontal positions.
l Hold Ctrl+Alt while dragging an envelope point or segment to adjust the value in
normal increments without changing the envelope points' horizontal positions.

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l Hold Alt while dragging an envelope point to move the point's horizontal position
without changing its value.
l With the Envelope tool , you can drag horizontally to select multiple envelope
points in the selected data window.

Adding envelope points

To create more complex envelopes, you will need to add points. To add an envelope
point, double-click the envelope. You can then drag and position the point as necessary.
To delete a point, right-click it and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

Flipping an envelope
You can flip an envelope to invert the envelope around its center. Volume, panning, and
effect automation envelopes can be flipped.

Flipping all points

1. Right-click an envelope or a point. A shortcut menu is displayed.
2. Choose Flip All Points from the shortcut menu.

Flipping selected points

1. Create a time selection with the Envelope tool to select the points you want to
flip.
2. Right-click an envelope in the time selection. A shortcut menu is displayed.
3. Choose Flip Selected Points from the shortcut menu.

Setting fade properties

You can adjust the fade curve for each envelope segment individually. To change the
fade curve, right-click an envelope segment and choose a command from the shortcut
menu.
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

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Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points

1. Select the Envelope tool .
2. Click within a data window to select it.
3. Drag horizontally in a data window to select envelope points.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Cut or Copy.
5. Click to position the cursor where you want to paste envelope points.
Click within a different data window if you want to paste envelope points across data
windows.

6. From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

Copying an envelope to another data window

1. Select the Envelope tool .
2. Click within a data window to select it.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Select All.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Copy.
5. Click within a data window to select it.
You can paste envelope points to a different envelope type by selecting the envelope
where you want to paste.

6. Click Go to Start if you want the envelope to appear exactly as it was in the
original data window, or click to position the cursor where you want the envelope
to start.
7. From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

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Cut
From the Edit menu, choose Cut to remove the selected sound data and copy it to the
clipboard. Cutting sound data replaces the previous contents of the clipboard.
1. Choose the Edit tool .
2. Select (⇗199) the data that you want to cut.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Cut. The data is removed and copied to the clipboard.
If you cut data from individual channels of multichannel files, the waveform will contain
silence at the end of the cut channel. The channels in a multichannel file must always be
equal in length.
Before Cut

After Cut

Copy
From the Edit menu, choose Copy to copy the selected sound data to the clipboard.
Copying sound data replaces the previous contents of the clipboard.
1. Choose the Edit tool .
2. Select (⇗199) the data that you want to copy.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Copy. The data is copied to the clipboard.

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Viewing Clipboard Contents

From the View menu, choose Clipboard and choose Contents from the submenu to view
information about the sound data on the clipboard.
If no data is in the clipboard, this command is unavailable.

Playing Clipboard Contents

From the View menu, choose Clipboard and choose Play from the submenu to play the
contents of the clipboard.
If no data is in the clipboard, this command is unavailable.

Paste
From the Edit menu, choose Paste to insert a copy of the clipboard contents at the
current cursor position. If there is a selection, the Paste command deletes the selected
data before inserting.
Notes:
l From the Options menu, choose Drag-and-Drop Editing, and choose Paste from the
submenu if you want to use paste mode during drag-and-drop editing. Choosing this
command has the same effect as toggle-clicking the right mouse button while dragging
until the cursor is displayed as a .
You can click the right mouse button while dragging to toggle mix, and paste (⇗ 221),
and CD track drag-and-drop modes.
l Pasting into a multichannel file will insert data to all channels the channels in a
multichannel file must always be equal in length.—

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Before Paste
(clipboard contents are
highlighted)

After Paste
Silence is pasted to the
unselected channel.
If multiple channels
were selected, the same
data would be pasted to
all selected channels,
and silence would be
pasted to the unselected
channel
If no channels were
selected, the same data
would be pasted to all
channels.

l Pasting data of different sample rates will cause the data in the clipboard to play at
the same rate as the rate of the window in which the data is pasted.
l If any regions, markers, or loops are present in the original sound data, they will also
be pasted into the destination sound file. To turn this feature off, turn off the Lock to
Selection > Markers/Regions command on the Options menu.

Paste by dragging and dropping a selection

1. Choose the Edit tool .
2. Drag the mouse over an area of the data window to select (⇗199) the data you
want to paste.
If the Always open dropped files in new window check box on the General (⇗ 387) page
of the Preferences dialog is cleared, you can also hold Ctrl while dragging a file (or region)
from the Explorer window to a data window to paste sound data. When the check box is
selected, dropping a file on the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace always creates a new data
window.

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3. Drag the selection to the location where you want to paste the data and then press
and hold Ctrl. The cursor is displayed as a , and a vertical line is displayed to
show you where the paste will occur.
You can click the right mouse button while dragging to toggle mix, and paste
(⇗221), and CD track drag-and-drop modes.

4. When you release the mouse button to drop the selection, the selection is pasted.

Paste audio from the clipboard

1. Choose the Edit tool .
2. Drag the mouse over an area of the data window to select (⇗199) the data you
want to mix or crossfade, and then click Cut (⇗220) or Copy (⇗220) to place
the audio on the clipboard.
3. Click to position the cursor where you want to paste the contents of the clipboard.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

Paste Special
From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special and choose a command from the submenu to
specify how you want to paste the contents of the clipboard.

Mix
From the Edit menu, choose PasteSpecial, and then choose Mix from the submenu to
mix a copy of the clipboard contents at the current cursor position.
Notes:
l From the Options menu, choose Drag-and-Drop Editing, and choose Mix from the
submenu if you want to use mix mode during drag-and-drop editing. Choosing this
command has the same effect as toggle-clicking the right mouse button while dragging
until the cursor is displayed as a .
You can click the right mouse button while dragging to toggle mix, and paste (⇗ 221),
and CD track drag-and-drop modes.

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l If any regions, markers, or loops are present in with the original sound data, they will
also be pasted into the destination sound file. To turn this feature off, turn off the Lock
to Selection > Markers/Regions command on the Options menu.

Mix by dragging and dropping a selection

1. Choose the Edit tool .
2. Drag the mouse over an area of the data window to select (⇗199) the data you
want to mix.
If the Always open dropped files in new window check box on the General (⇗ 387)
page of the Preferences dialog is cleared, you can also drag a file (or region) from the
Explorer window to a data window to paste sound data. When the check box is
selected, dropping a file on the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace always creates a new
data window.

3. Drag the selection to the location where you want to mix the data. The cursor is
displayed as a , and a shaded selection box is displayed to show you where the
mix will occur. An envelope is drawn to show you the mix and fade levels (the last-
used settings from the Mix/Replace dialog are used by default).
You can click the right mouse button while dragging to toggle mix, and paste
(⇗221), and CD track drag-and-drop modes.

If you want the Fade In and Fade Out curves to pay attention to the destination
selection and file length when mixing between files, select the Auto-crossfade Mix
with selection check box on the Editing tab of the Preferences dialog.

4. When you release the mouse button to drop the selection, the Mix/Replace dialog
is displayed. If you want to bypass the Mix/Replace dialog, hold Shift when you
release the mouse button.
To customize your mix settings, choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list in
the Mix/Replace dialog, or adjust the controls as needed:

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Item Description
Source Drag the Source fader to adjust the volume of the selection you
want to mix. Changing this setting has the same effect as
dragging the sustain portion of the wet gain envelope in the data
window:

Select the Invert Data check box to invert (⇗448) the source
audio at the baseline (reverse the phase). Inverting data can help
match transitions and compare the phase relationship of the two
sound files.
Destination Drag the Destination fader to adjust the volume of the selection
you want to mix over. Changing this setting has the same effect
as dragging the sustain portion of the dry gain envelope in the
data window:

Select the Invert Data check box to invert (⇗448) the destination
audio at the baseline (reverse the phase). Inverting data can help
match transitions and compare the phase relationship of the two
sound files.

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Fade In Type a value in the Fade In box (or use the spinner) to set the
length of the fade in between the source and destination audio.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the attack
portion of the envelope in the data window:

Click the Fade Curves button and choose a curve type

from the menu to set the speed of the fade in.
Proportional Select the Proportional fade lengths check box if you want to
Fade Lengths specify fade lengths as a percentage of the selection.
Fade Out Type a value in the Fade Out box (or use the spinner) to set the
length of the fade out between the source and destination audio.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the attack
portion of the envelope in the data window:

Click the Fade Curves button and choose a curve type

from the menu to set the speed of the fade out.
More Click to display additional controls at the bottom of the dialog
that you can use to change the selection you want to process.

5. Click the OK button to apply the mix.

Mix audio from the clipboard

1. Choose the Edit tool .
2. Drag the mouse over an area of the data window to select (⇗199) the data you
want to mix or crossfade, and then click Cut (⇗220) or Copy (⇗220) to place
the audio on the clipboard.
3. Click to position the cursor where you want to mix or crossfade the contents of
the clipboard.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Mix from the
submenu. The Mix/Replace dialog is displayed.

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5. Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list, or adjust the controls as needed.
(see above (⇗225))
6. Click the OK button to apply the mix.

Overwrite
From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Overwrite to replace the
selected sound data with the contents of the clipboard.
The Overwrite command replaces data using the following rules:
l If the selected area is greater than the length of the clipboard, the data is
overwritten from the beginning of the selection for the length of the clipboard.
l If the selected area is less than or equal to the length of the clipboard, the data is
overwritten for the length of the selection only.
1. Copy (⇗220) the sound you want use to overwrite the current data.
2. Select (⇗199) the data you want to replace.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Overwrite.The
selected data is replaced with the contents of the clipboard.

Replicate
From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Replicate to paste multiple
copies of the clipboard contents to the current selection.
The Replicate command will paste as many copies of the clipboard as will fit in the
current selection. If no selection exists in the data window, the command is not
available.
1. Copy (⇗220) the sound you want to paste.
2. Select (⇗199) the area where you want to paste the contents of the clipboard.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Replicate. The
Replicate dialog is displayed.

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4. Use the Replicate dialog to specify how you want to paste data.
Item Description
Copy Click to fill the selected region completely, using a partial copy of the
partials clipboard if needed.
Whole Click to use only whole copies of the clipboard contents to fill the
copies selected region. The selected region will not be completely filled if its
length is not an exact multiple of the clipboard length.

5. Click the OK button.

Example:
1. Copy a 1-second section of sound data onto the clipboard.
2. Insert 5.5 seconds of silence in the data waveform.
3. Select the 5.5 second area and select Replicate:
l If you choose Whole copies, 5 copies of the clipboard will be placed in the area
the silence previously occupied and 0.5 seconds of silence will remain at the
end.
l If you choose Copy partials, 5.5 copies of the clipboard will be placed in the
data. No silence will remain.
The Replicate command is useful when you are trying to replace silent sections of audio
with background noise. It can also be used to introduce stuttering effects or echoes.

Paste to New
From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special, and then choose Paste to New to create a
new data window (⇗47) that contains the contents of the clipboard.

Delete (Clear)
From the Edit menu, choose Delete (Clear) to remove selected sound data without
copying it onto the clipboard.
If the Treat as Cutlist command is selected (Edit > Playlist/Cutlist > Treat as Cutlist),
deleting a selection creates a region in the Cutlist (⇗260) window, but does not remove
the selection.
1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to delete.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Delete (Clear).

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If you delete data from individual channels of multichannel files, the waveform will
contain silence at the end of the deleted channel. The channels in a multichannel file
must always be equal in length.
Before Delete

After Delete

Trim/Crop
From the Edit menu, choose Trim/Crop to remove all data outside the current selection
from the selected channel.
This command does not copy sound data to the clipboard.
1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to keep.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Trim/Crop.

Magnification and Zooming

Depending on the editing operations you want to perform, you may want to view the
entire file or only a small section. You can change the magnification of each data
window.
Tips:
l You can use the mouse wheel to zoom quickly: roll the wheel forward or back to zoom
horizontally, or hold Ctrl while rolling the wheel to zoom vertically.
l If the Allow Ctrl+drag style zoom in data windows check box is selected on the
General (⇗ 387) tab in the Preferences dialog, you can hold Ctrl while dragging in a
window to switch to the Magnify tool temporarily.

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If you're using the Pencil tool and zoom out past the Pencil tool maximum zoom ratio
setting on the Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog, the tool will automatically
revert to the Edit tool (⇗216).

Use the Magnify tool

From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Magnify from the submenu (or click
the Magnify Tool button on the toolbar) to select the Magnify tool.
Use the Magnify tool to zoom in to a region without losing your selection. Drag the
mouse over an area to zoom in. A dotted rectangle is drawn around the area and will
magnify the area when the mouse button is released.
While holding the left mouse button, click the right mouse button to toggle through the
three magnification modes:
l Zoom Time only: magnifies horizontally without changing the vertical level of the
data window.
l Zoom Level only: magnifies vertically without changing horizontal zoom level of the
data window.
l Time/Zoom Level: magnifies horizontally and vertically.

Zoom horizontally

Zooming incrementally
To zoom in and out in time by small increments, press the Up Arrow/Down Arrow keys
or use the Zoom buttons on the lower right-hand side of the data window:

Tips:
l Drag the splitter between the + and - buttons to zoom in large increments.
l You can also drag the end of the scroll box to zoom in or out:

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Zooming in fully
From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and then choose In Full from the submenu (or
press Ctrl+Up Arrow) to maximize the horizontal magnification to 24:1 (24 pixels per
sample).

Zooming out fully

From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and then choose Out Full from the submenu
(or press Ctrl+Down Arrow) to zoom out to the lowest magnification so that the entire
sound file will fit on the screen.

Zoom vertically

Zooming incrementally
To zoom in and out vertically by small increments, click the Level Zoom In/Out buttons,
or click and drag the area between the buttons to zoom quickly.

Zooming out fully

From the View menu, choose Zoom Level, and then choose Out Full from the submenu
to zoom out vertically to allow viewing of the entire amplitude range. This command also
centers the centerline.

Zooming to fit the waveform to the window

From the View menu, choose Zoom Level, and then choose Window from the submenu
to zoom in or out vertically to the maximum zoom ratio that allows you to view the
entire waveform. This command also moves the centerline if the maximum positive and
negative peaks are different.

Zoom to a selection
From the View menu, choose Zoom Time or Zoom Level, and then choose Selection
from the submenu to maximize the current selection vertically and horizontally.
The Selection command calculates the maximum zoom factor for the size of a selection
area, draws the data at this zoom factor, and centers the selection in the data window.

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Press Ctrl+Up Arrow (when a selection is active) or double-click the Level Ruler.

Zoom to an event
When using the Event tool (⇗234) , you can zoom to the selected event.
Right-click the event and choose Zoom Event from the shortcut menu (or press Ctrl+Up
Arrow). The event is zoomed to fit the width of the data window.

Return to the default zoom ratio

From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and then choose Normal from the submenu to
zoom out to the default zoom ratio. If the entire sound file can fit in the window at a
closer magnification, zoom normal will only zoom out to that ratio.
To change the default for the Normal zoom ratio, go to the Display (⇗392) tab in the
Preferences dialog.

Use custom zoom ratios

You can define two custom zoom ratios to quickly adjust your magnification to
frequently used settings.

Defining custom zoom ratios

1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences.
2. Select the Display tab.
3. Choose the zoom ratios you want to use from the Custom zoom ratio 1 and
Custom zoom ratio 2 drop-down lists.

Displaying custom zoom ratios

Perform any of the following actions to display your custom zoom ratios:
l Click the Custom Zoom 1 or Custom Zoom 2 button on the Navigation (⇗33)
toolbar.
l Press 1 or 2 on your numeric keypad.
l From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and then choose a Custom Zoom
command from the submenu.
l Right-click in a data window, choose Zoom from the shortcut menu, and then
choose a Custom Zoom command from the submenu.

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Undoing and Redoing Edits

When the Undo past Save check box is selected on the General (⇗387) tab in the
Preferences dialog, SOUND FORGE PRO software maintains your undo history until you
close the data window (or exit the application) so you can undo edit operations even if
you've saved your file.
If you want to be able to undo edit operations even after closing and reopening your file,
save a SOUND FORGE PRO project (⇗116).
From the View menu, choose Undo/Redo History to undo operations using the
Undo/Redo History window.

Undo a single operation

From the Edit menu, choose Undo to reverse the last action performed. For example, if
you deleted a section of data accidentally, use the Undo command to put the data back.

Undo all edits

From the Edit menu, choose Undo All to undo all operations performed on a file. Undo
All will return your file to its original state.

Redo a single operation

From the Edit menu, choose Redo to reverse an undo operation.

Repeat
From the Edit menu, choose Repeat to repeat the last-performed operation. This can be
used with most processing functions.
The last dialog settings will be used unless you hold the Shift key, which allows you to
change the operation's parameters.

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The Event Tool

The Event Tool

From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Event from the submenu to select
the Event tool.
Use the Event tool to edit multiple audio events in a single data window, which can be
an easier way to edit edges and fades and lay out tracks for disc-at-once CDs. (⇗121)
Notes:
l Events do not loop and cannot exceed the start, end, or channels of the underlying
media. For example, you cannot trim an event past its right edge to insert silence.
l To preserve events in a file after saving, use a SOUND FORGE PRO project file
(⇗ 116) for editing.

Creating Events
Events are created when you cut/copy/paste sound data, split events, drag sound data
to existing data windows, or process selections.

Create events by cutting, copying, or pasting sound data

Cutting (⇗220), copying (⇗220), pasting (⇗221), or mixing (⇗223) sound data will create
events in a data window.
After performing one of these edits, select the Event tool to work with the new event.

Split events
From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Split from the submenu (or press S)
to split one or more selected events at the current cursor position.
For more information about splitting events, please see Splitting Events (⇗236).

Create events by dragging files from the Explorer

You can create events in a data window by dragging files from the Explorer window
(⇗64) or Windows Explorer.
The Always open dropped files in new window check box on the General (⇗ 387) page of
the Preferences dialog must be cleared if you want to create events with drag-and-drop
operations. When the check box is selected, dropping a file on the SOUND FORGE PRO
workspace always creates a new data window.

1. Drag a file from the Explorer window to a data window. The cursor indicates
where the sound data will be added.

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The Event Tool

2. When you release the mouse button to drop the selection, the selection is pasted,
and an event is created.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Tool, and then choose Event from the submenu.
4. When you click in the data window with the Event tool, events are selected. You
can hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple events.
In the following example, the data window contains four events, and the second
event is highlighted to indicate that it is selected.

Create events by dragging selections

You can create events in a data window by dragging sound data within a data window or
to another data window.
The Always open dropped files in new window check box on the General (⇗ 387) page of
the Preferences dialog must be cleared if you want to create events with drag-and-drop
operations. When the check box is selected, dropping a file on the SOUND FORGE PRO
workspace always creates a new data window.

1. Select the Edit tool .

2. Create a time selection in a data window.
3. Drag the selection to the location where you want to mix or paste it.
4. When you release the mouse button to drop the selection, the selection is pasted
or mixed, and an event is created.
5. Select the Event tool . You can then use the Event tool to work with the new
event.

Create events by processing a selection

When you apply processes or effects to a portion of a sound file, SOUND FORGE PRO
creates an event from the selection.
1. Select the Edit tool .
2. Create a time selection in a data window.
3. Apply a process or effect to your time selection. SOUND FORGE PRO creates an
event from the selection.

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The Event Tool

4. Select the Event tool . You can then use the Event tool to work with the new
event.

Moving Events
You can move events horizontally along the timeline by dragging them with the Event
tool .
Moving an event past the end of the current file inserts time into the data window. You
must remove any unwanted silence when you are finished editing the file.
When dragging events vertically across channels, you are limited to the number of
channels in the current file. You cannot drag an event past the top or bottom channel in
a data window to create more channels in the file.
Events can cross channel boundaries, but overlapping events must lie on the same
channels. SOUND FORGE PRO automatically splits or merges channels as you move
events.

Crossfaded events before channel split. The channels in both events are split
when the first event is moved to
channels 2 and 3 because overlapping
events must lie on the same channels.
You can also Ctrl+drag events to other data windows or to the workspace to create new
data windows.
Regions, markers, and envelope points are moved with an event. To turn this feature off,
turn off the Lock to Selection > Markers/Regions and Envelope Points commands on the
Options menu.

Splitting Events
From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Split or Split Regions from the
submenu to split one or more selected events.
Splitting an event allows you to adjust a small part of an event or break a single event
into multiple sections that you can edit independently.

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The Event Tool

Split events at the cursor

1. Select the Event tool (⇗234) .
2. Position the cursor where you want to split the events.
3. Select (⇗239) the events you want to split.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Split from the submenu (or
press S):
l If no events are selected, the events located at the current cursor position will be
split throughout all of the channels.
l If events are selected, only the selected events will be split at the current cursor
position.

Split events at region boundaries

1. Add regions (⇗248) as needed.
2. Select the Event tool (⇗234) .
3. Select (⇗239) the events you want to split.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Split Regions from the
submenu (or press Ctrl+Alt+T):
5. If no events are selected, the events located at the current cursor position will be
split throughout all of the channels at region boundaries.
6. If events are selected, only the selected events will be split at region boundaries.

Cutting, Copying, Pasting, Mixing, and Deleting

Events
When working with the Event tool (⇗234) , you can easily cut, copy, paste, mix, and
delete events in a data window.

Cut events
1. Select the events you want to cut.
For more information about selecting events, please see Selecting Events.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Cut, or click the Cut button on the Standard
toolbar.
The selected events are removed from the data window and placed on the
clipboard.

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The Event Tool

Copy events
1. Select the events you want to copy.
For more information about selecting events, please see Selecting Events.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Copy, or click the Copy button on the Standard
toolbar.
The selected events are copied to the clipboard and the waveform is unchanged.

Paste events
After events are copied or cut to the clipboard, you can paste them to a different place
in the data window or to a different data window.
Notes:
l If any regions or markers are present in the original sound data, they will also be
pasted into the destination sound file. To turn this feature off, turn off the Lock to
Selection > Markers/Regions command on the Options menu.
l Envelope points from the original sound data are not pasted into the destination sound
file.
1. Move the cursor to the desired location on the timeline.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Paste, or click the Paste button on the Standard
toolbar.
The clipboard events are inserted into the data window, and existing events on the
selected channels are moved in the data window by the total length of the pasted
events. If no channels are selected, the clipboard events are pasted to all channels.

Mix events
You can mix files, events, and selections when using the Event tool by dragging audio
from the current data window, other data windows, the SOUND FORGE PRO Explorer
window, or Windows Explorer.
Mixed audio is inserted as new events over existing events in a data window. Crossfades
(⇗240) are created, but the Mix dialog is not displayed.

Delete events
1. Select the events you want to delete.
For more information about selecting events, please see Selecting Events.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Delete (Clear), or press Delete.
The selected events are removed from the data window, but they are not placed on
the clipboard.

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The Event Tool

Regions, markers, and envelope points are deleted with an event. To turn this feature off,
turn off the Lock to Selection > Markers/Regions command on the Options menu.

Selecting Events
When working with the Event tool (⇗234) , you can select one or more events, but
you cannot create time selections (⇗199).
If you want to zoom to an event, right-click the event and choose Zoom Event from the
shortcut menu (or press Ctrl+Up Arrow). The event is zoomed to fit the width of the data
window.

schow all

Selecting events with the mouse

To select an event, click it with the Event tool . To deselect an event, hold Ctrl while
clicking it.
To select multiple nonadjacent events, hold the Ctrl key and click each event you want
to select.
To select multiple adjacent events, hold the Shift key and click the first and last event
you want to select. All events between the first and last selected events are also
selected.
Double-click an event to select it and adjust the loop bar to the length of the event.
You can drag the top and bottom edges of events if you want to use only a subset of the
channels in a multichannel file. This method is also useful for duplicating or rearranging
channels without performing channel conversion, which always processes the entire file:

You can quickly restore contiguous channels by dragging the event edge back.

Selecting events using menu commands

From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Select Next Event or Select
Previous Event from the submenu to select the next or previous event in the data
window.
Choose Select First Event or Select Last Event to select the first or last event in the
data window.

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The Event Tool

Choose Extend to Next Event or Extend to Previous Event to extend the current
selection to the next or previous event in the data window.
Choose Extend to First Event or Extend to Last Event to extend the current selection to
the first or last event in the data window.

Selecting events using keyboard shortcuts

You can use keyboard shortcuts to select events while using the Event tool.

Crossfading Events
From the Options menu, choose Event, and then choose Automatic Crossfades from the
submenu if you want to automatically create crossfades (⇗443) when you overlap two
events on the same channel.
When Automatic Crossfades is turned off, overlapping events punch in and out with no
fades.
You can show or hide the crossfade length ToolTip by selecting Event and then Show
Crossfade Lengths from the Options menu or pressing Ctrl+Shift+T.

Create an automatic crossfade

You can easily create crossfades between audio or events by simply dragging an event.
1. From the Options menu, choose Event, and then choose Automatic Crossfades
from the submenu to turn on automatic crossfades.
2. Drag an event so that it overlaps another event on the same channel.
3. A crossfade is automatically added to transition between the two events.

Create a manual crossfade

An automatic crossfade is not inserted if a shorter event is placed on top of a longer
event (as in a punch-in). You can manually create a crossfade to fade in to or out of the
shorter event.
This is a fast and effective method of punching in to replace a bad section of audio.
1. Drag a shorter event so it overlaps a longer event.

2. Hover over upper-left or upper-right corner of an audio event until the cursor is
displayed as a .

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The Event Tool

3. Click the corner of the event and drag to create a fade.

4. Repeat step 3 for the other end of the event.

Change the fade type

You can change a crossfade to use one of many combinations of fast, slow, linear,
smooth, and sharp fade curves.
1. Right-click the crossfade region to display a shortcut menu.
2. Choose Fade Type from the shortcut menu and choose a fade curve from the
submenu.

Event Envelopes (ASR)

You can apply envelopes to individual events. Events, known as ASRs (attack sustain,
and release) give you the ability to control an event's fade-in, fade-out, and overall level.
When you create an event, handles are added that are used to set the envelope. As you
drag these handles, a volume envelope appears.

Adjust an event's volume

1. Hover over the top of an audio event.
2. When you see the envelope cursor ( ), drag the volume line to the desired level.
As you drag the envelope, the event’s gain is displayed in dB.

Tips:
l Hold Ctrl (or hold the right mouse button) while dragging the sustain portion of the
envelope to adjust the value in fine increments.
l When you have multiple events selected, the gain of all selected events is adjusted
simultaneously.

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The Event Tool

Fade an event in or out

1. Hover over upper-left or upper-right corner of an audio event until the cursor is
displayed as a .
2. Click the corner of the event and drag to create a fade.

To remove a fade, drag the end of the fade curve back to the edge of the event.

Change the fade type

1. Right-click the fade-in or fade-out region to display a shortcut menu.
2. Choose Fade Type from the shortcut menu and choose a fade curve from the
submenu.

Slipping and Trimming Events

You can use any of the following methods to adjust events.
You can drag the top and bottom edges of events if you want to use only a subset of the
channels in a multichannel file. This method is also useful for duplicating or rearranging
channels without performing channel conversion, which always processes the entire file:

You can quickly restore contiguous channels by dragging the event edge back.

Trim an event
1. With the Event tool selected, hover over the edge of an event. The cursor is
displayed as a .

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The Event Tool

2. Drag the edge of the event to trim it.

Events do not loop and cannot exceed the start, end, or channels of the underlying
media. For example, you cannot trim an event past its right edge to insert silence.

Slip (shift the contents of) an event

Hold Alt while dragging an event. The cursor is displayed as a .
As you drag the event, the contents of the event shift, but the event will not move. You
can use this technique when you want to maintain an event's length and position, but
have the event play a different section of the source media file.

Tips:
l Hold the Shift key to temporarily override snapping.
l Regions, markers, and envelope points are moved with the contents of the event. To
turn this feature off, turn off the Lock to Selection > Markers/Regions and Envelope
Points commands on the Options menu.

Slip-trim an event
Hold Alt while dragging the right or left edge of an event. The cursor is displayed as a .

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The Event Tool

As you drag the event edge, the opposite edge of the event will remain fixed, trimming
the media from the edge you drag.

Tips:
l Hold Alt+Shift while dragging any portion of an event to slip-trim the right edge. The
left edge of the event will remain fixed on the timeline, and the media is slipped past
the left edge of the event. This slip mode is useful when you want to slip an event
without changing its last frame.
l Holding the Shift key temporarily overrides snapping if it is enabled. Release the Shift
key while dragging to snap the event to available snap points.
l Regions, markers, and envelope points are moved with the contents of the event. To
turn this feature off, turn off the Lock to Selection > Markers/Regions and Envelope
Points commands on the Options menu.

Auto Ripple Events

You can ripple the contents of the data window following an edit after performing the
following tasks:
l Adjusting an event's length by trimming, slipping, or slip-trimming.
l Moving events.
l Cutting events.
l Pasting events.
l Mixing events.
l Deleting events.
1. Select Options > Event > Auto Ripple (or press Ctrl+Shift+R) to turn on auto ripple.
2. Perform one of the edits listed above. The contents of the data window are rippled
after the edit.
If no channels are selected, events are rippled across all channels. If channels are
selected, only events on the selected channels are rippled. For more information,
see Selecting Data Using the Mouse (⇗199)

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The Event Tool

Applying Processes and Effects to Events

When working with the Event tool (⇗234) , you can process multiple selected events
at once, but SOUND FORGE PRO processes each event individually. The processed
result is only the length and number of channels in the event at the time of processing,
not the entire length and number of channels of the underlying media.
Notes:
l You cannot use format-changing processes such as bit-depth conversion or resampling
when working with the Event tool.
l Effects are applied to events before any event envelope (⇗ 241), and event fades are
reapplied after processing.
l Processing multiple events creates a single undo operation.
For more information about applying processes and effects, click here (⇗268).

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Using Markers, Regions and Commands

Using Markers, Regions and Commands

Markers and regions serve as reference points along the timeline. You can use markers
for annotations, to insert metadata commands, or for MIDI triggers.

Using Markers
From the Insert menu, choose Marker to add a marker at the current cursor position.
Markers are reference points you can place throughout a file. You can use markers to
identify positions for editing or to seek forward and back within a streaming media file.
Markers can be quickly selected from the list in the Go To dialog. Also, markers are
displayed in the Regions List for quick playback.

Insert a marker
1. Position the cursor where you want to add a marker.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Marker. A marker will be added at the cursor
position.
3. If you want to name the marker, right-click the tag and choose Rename from the
shortcut menu. Type a name for the marker in the edit box and press Enter.
You can also insert markers during playback by pressing the M key.

Name or rename a marker

Right-click the marker tag and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. Type the
name of the marker in the edit box and press Enter when you're finished or double-click
to the right of the marker and type a name in the edit box.

Move a marker
Drag the marker tag to a new location.
Markers will snap to other markers, regions (⇗248), and command markers (⇗257). Hold
Shift while dragging to override snapping.

Delete a marker
Right-click the marker tag and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

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Delete all markers and regions

Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All from
the submenu. All markers and regions (⇗248) are removed.

Delete all markers and regions within the selected area

Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All in
Selection from the submenu. All markers and regions (⇗248) in the selected area
are removed.

Preview a marker
Click a marker's Play button in the Regions list (⇗78).

Trigger a marker using MIDI commands

1. Right-click the marker tag and choose Edit from the shortcut menu. The Regions
List window is displayed.
2. Click the down arrow in the marker's Trigger column to display a drop-down list.

Trigger Description
type

Note The marker will be played when the specified note on message is
On - received and will play for the full length of the file.
Play
Note The marker will be played when the specified note on message is
On - received and will stop when the full file is played or the specified
Play / Note Off message is received.
Off -
Stop
Note The marker will be queued for play when the specified note on
On - message is received and will play when the corresponding Note Off
Queue / message is received. This is used to reduce the time between
Off - receiving a trigger and playing a marker.
Play

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60.
Notes:
l If the Trigger from MIDI Timecode (⇗ 371) command is selected while using this
dialog, you can auto-complete the Chan and Note values by pressing a key on your
MIDI keyboard.
l Triggers in the Regions List function differently from triggers specified in the MIDI
Triggers (⇗ 372) dialog and the Playlist (⇗ 260). When using triggers in the Playlist,
Regions List, or MIDI Triggers dialog, be aware that they can interact to create
unexpected results. SOUND FORGE PRO software first looks at the MIDI Triggers,
then the Regions List, and then the Playlist when determining what to do when a MIDI
command is detected. If you only want to use the triggers in the Regions List, turn off
all the triggers in the MIDI Triggers dialog and the Playlist.

Inserting Regions
From the Insert menu, choose Region to add region markers at each end of the current
selection. Regions can be used to indicate sections of projects such as choruses or
verses, or they can be used to make notes in the project.
The Regions List (⇗78) window contains all of the regions and markers that exist in the
active data window.

Insert a region
1. Drag the cursor in the data window or marker bar to make a time selection.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Region. Numbered region markers are placed at
the start and end of the selected area.
3. If you want to name the region, right-click the tag and choose Rename from the
shortcut menu. Type a name for the region in the edit box and press Enter.
You can also insert regions by pressing the R key (or Ctrl+Alt+R when the Event tool
(⇗ 234) is selected).

Name or rename a region

Right-click the starting region marker and choose Rename from the shortcut menu.
Type the name of the region in the edit box and press Enter when you're finished.
or——
Double-click to the right of the region marker and type a name in the edit box.

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Select a region
Right-click the starting or ending region marker and choose Select Region from the
shortcut menu. The region is highlighted.
or——
Double-click the start or end region marker. The region is highlighted.

Move a region
Drag either region tag to move the tab and change the region's size.
Hold the Alt key while dragging either region tag to move a region and preserve its
length.
Regions will snap to other markers (⇗248), regions, and command markers (⇗257). Hold
Shift while dragging to override snapping.

Delete a region
Right-click the region marker and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

Delete all markers and regions

Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All from
the submenu. All markers and regions (⇗248) are removed.

Delete all markers and regions within the selected area

Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All in
Selection from the submenu. All markers and regions (⇗248) in the selected area
are removed.

Preview a region
Click a region's Play button in the Regions list (⇗78).

Trigger a region using MIDI commands

1. Right-click the marker tag and choose Edit from the shortcut menu. The Regions
List is displayed.
2. Click the down arrow in the region's Trigger column to display a drop-down list.

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Trigger Description
type
Note On The region will be played when the specified note on message is
- Play received and will play for the full length of the file.
Note On The region will be played when the specified note on message is
- Play / received and will stop when the full file is played or the specified Note
Off - Off message is received.
Stop
Note On The region will be queued for play when the specified note on
- Queue message is received and will play when the corresponding Note Off
/ Off - message is received. This is used to reduce the time between receiving
Play a trigger and playing a region.

3. In the Chan box, specify the MIDI input channel for triggering.
4. In the Note box, specify the MIDI note that will trigger region playback. This value
can be entered as a MIDI note value such as C4 or as a MIDI note number such as
60.
Notes:
l If the Trigger from MIDI Timecode (⇗ 371) command is selected while using this
dialog, you can auto-complete the Chan and Note values by pressing a key on your
MIDI keyboard.
l Triggers in the Regions List function differently from triggers specified in the MIDI
Triggers (⇗ 372) dialog and the Playlist (⇗ 260). When using triggers in the Playlist,
Regions List, or MIDI Triggers dialog, be aware that they can interact to create
unexpected results. SOUND FORGE PRO software first looks at the MIDI Triggers,
then the Regions List, and then the Playlist when determining what to do when a MIDI
command is detected. If you only want to use the triggers in the Regions List, turn off
all the triggers in the MIDI Triggers dialog and the Playlist.

Converting Markers to Regions

From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and then choose Markers to Regions from the
submenu. All existing markers will be converted to regions using the data between each
consecutive marker as the region boundary.
For example, if your file contains three markers, this command will create two regions;
the first region will span the area between the first and second markers, and the second
region will span the area between the second and third markers.
Right-click the Regions List and choose Markers to Regions from the shortcut menu.

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Creating Regions Automatically

The Auto Region dialog allows you to automatically create regions in a sound file for the
Regions List and Playlist. To display this dialog, choose Auto Region from the Tools
menu. For more information, see Inserting Regions (⇗248) , Regions List (⇗78) or
Playlist/Cutlist (⇗260)
Regions can be detected according to fast sound attacks (such as drum beats or words)
or according to the Selection tempo value specified in the File Properties window.

Creating regions based on fast attacks

1. From the Tools menu, choose Auto Region.
2. Drag the Attack sensitivity slider to determine how sensitive the attack-detection
algorithm is to fast increases in volume.
With a high setting, regions are created when the sound level increases by very
small amounts, and more regions are created. With a low setting, the sound level
must increase by a large amount before a new region is created, and fewer regions
are created.
3. Drag the Release sensitivity slider to determine the minimum decrease in sound
level that must occur before a region end is created.
With a high setting, regions are created when the sound level decreases by very
small amounts, and more regions are created. With a low setting, the sound level
must decrease by a large amount before a new region is created, and fewer regions
are created. A low setting is useful if you want regions to be created after quiet
breaks.
4. Drag the Minimum level fader to determine the threshold sound level that must be
found before a new region is created.
With a high setting, only high-level sounds will trigger the creation of a new region.
This is useful if you want loud instrument attacks in a song (such as the bass drum)
to mark the beginning of a region, since they often correspond to the beginning of
a measure or beat. Low threshold settings will also allow low-level sound attacks
to create new regions.
5. In the Minimum beat duration box, specify the minimum length that must elapse
before a new region can be created.
A low setting will allow very short regions to be created if sound attacks occur in
fast succession. This is useful for uptempo music. A higher setting will prevent
quick sound attacks from being separated into different regions.

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6. Select the Use release point for end of region check box to end a region when the
sound level drops by a factor determined by the Release sensitivity. This is useful
if you don’t want the silence between sounds or phrases to be included in the
regions.
When this check box is cleared, region ends are only created when attacks are
detected.
7. Click the OK button.

Creating regions based on a musical time interval

When you select the Build regions using the current tempo check box, regions are
created according to the file's current tempo.
1. Use the Edit Tempo dialog to edit or calculate the musical tempo of your file. For
more information, see Editing Tempo (⇗56)
2. From the Tools menu, choose Auto Region.
3. Select the Build regions using the current tempo check box.
4. Use the Measures and Beats boxes to specify the interval between regions.
5. For example, if you want a region to be created at every beat, set Beats to 1 and
Measures to 0. To create a region at every measure, set Measures to 1 and Beats
to 0.
For more information about using processing dialog controls, see Using Processing
Dialogs (⇗285)

Extracting Regions to New Files

From the Tools menu, choose Extract Regions to create new files from regions in the
Regions List.
1. From the Tools menu, choose Extract Regions. The Extract Regions dialog is
displayed.
2. In the Regions to extract box, select the regions you want to extract. You can hold
the Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple regions.
3. In the Destination folder box, specify the folder where the extracted regions will
be saved, or click the Browse button to choose a new folder.
4. Type a name in the File name prefix box if you want add a prefix to extracted
regions. For example, enter Test to extract the files Test Region 001.wav, Test
Region 002.wav, Test Region 003.wav, and so on.
Select the Use long file names for destination file names check box to allow file
names of up to 128 characters including spaces. The files names will consist of the

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value in the File name prefix box and the region name. When this check box is
cleared, file names will conform to the 8.3 naming convention. These names
consist of the first 5 characters from the File name prefix and a unique three-digit
number starting with the number specified in the Start file counter index box. For
example, if you have 4 regions selected for extraction, and your prefix is set to
PREFIX, the names used will be PREFI000.wav, PREFI001.wav, PREFI002.wav
PREFI003.wav.
5. Click the Extract button to extract the selected regions.

Updating Marker or Region Positions

From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and then choose Update from the submenu to
move a marker or region to match the current cursor position or selection.

To update a marker quickly, right-click the marker or region tag and choose Update
from the submenu.

1. If the Regions List isn't already visible, choose View > Metadata > Regions List.
2. In the Regions List window, select the marker (⇗246) or region (⇗248) you want to
update.
3. In the data window, indicate the new position of the marker or region:
l If you want to update a marker's position, place the cursor where you want
to move the marker.
l If you want to update a region's position, select a range of data in the data
window.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and then choose Update from the
submenu:
5. If you are updating a marker, the marker moves to the cursor position. If you have a
range of data selected, the cursor will blink at one end of a selection; press the
Home key to move the cursor to the beginning of the selection, or press End to
move to the end of the selection.
6. If you are updating a region, the beginning and ending points of the region are
moved to match the current selection, and the length of the region is modified if
the selection is a different length than the original region.
Hold Alt while dragging a region tag to move a region while preserving its length.

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Replicating Markers or Regions

Replicating a marker or region creates an exact copy of an existing marker or region in a
file. You can use the Regions List window to modify the properties of the replicated
entry.
1. Select an entry in the Regions List (⇗78).
If the Regions List is not visible, choose Regions List from the View menu.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List and choose Replicate from the submenu.
Right-click an entry in the Regions List and choose Replicate from the shortcut menu.

Deleting Markers or Regions

From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and then choose Delete from the submenu to
remove the selected marker or region from the Regions List window.
Tips:
l Select a region or marker in the Regions List window and press Delete.
l Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All or
Delete All in Selection from the submenu.

Splitting Regions
Splitting a region divides an existing region at the current cursor position, producing two
separate regions.
1. In the Regions List window, select the region you want to split.
2. In the data window, position the cursor where you want the split to occur.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List, and choose Split from the submenu (or
right-click a region in the Regions List window and choose Split from the shortcut
menu).

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Before If the cursor is placed within the region

split you're splitting, the region will be split at
the cursor position.

After
split

Before If the cursor is placed outside the region

split you're splitting, a new region will be
created from the closest edge of the
original region to the cursor position.

After
split

Importing a Regions/Playlist File

From the Edit menu, choose Regions ListorPlaylist/Cutlist, and then choose Open from
the submenu to import an existing regions/playlist file (.sfl) into the current sound file.
This command offers the flexibility of using multiple playlists for the same sound file.
1. From the Edit menu, choose Regions ListorPlaylist/Cutlist, and then choose Open
from the submenu.
Right-click the Regions List or Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Open from the
shortcut menu.

2. Use the Open Regions/Playlist dialog to locate an existing regions/playlist file.

3. Specify the type of regions you want to import from the Files of Type drop-down
list:
1. Choose Playlist File (.sfl) to import a SOUND FORGE PRO regions/playlist
file.

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2. Choose Session 8 File (.prm) to import a file that supports both Session 8
and SOUND FORGE PRO regions.
3. Choose Windows Media Script File (.txt) to import a file that includes
Windows Media script commands.
4. Choose Text File (Tab delimited) (.txt) to import markers and regions from a
plain text file.
5. Choose Wave File (.wav) to import markers and regions from another sound
file.
4. Click the Open button.
Opening a new regions/playlist file will clear the current regions and playlist entries.
Make sure you have saved the current regions/playlist before continuing.

Copying Regions to the Clipboard

From the Edit menu, choose Regions List and choose Copy onto Clipboard to copy the
text of the Regions List onto the clipboard for use with a text editor.
Editing a regions list in a text editor allows you to make an annotated list that you can
print for reference.
Right-click the Regions List and choose Copy onto Clipboard from the shortcut menu.

Locking Loop and Region Lengths

From the Options menu, choose Lock Loop/Region Length to force the length of a
region to remain constant when changing the start or end time of a region or loop.

When this option is not selected, you can hold the Alt key while dragging region markers
to lock the length of a region. To move a loop without changing its length, drag the bar
between the loop markers:

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Clearing Markers and Regions

From the Edit menu, choose Regions List and choose Clear All from the submenu to
remove all markers and regions from the current file. This command will also clear the
Playlist/Cutlist window.
Right-click above the loop region, choose Markers/Regions, and choose Delete All or
Delete All in Selection from the submenu.

Inserting Commands
From the Insert menu, choose Command to place a metadata command marker at the
current cursor position.
Command markers indicate when an instruction (function) will occur in a streaming
media file. You can use command markers to display headlines, captions, link to Web
sites, or any other function you define.
Windows Media Player 9 and later will ignore metadata commands unless the Run script
commands when present check box is selected on the Security tab of the player's
Preferences dialog. Be sure to instruct your audience to select this check box before
playing your file.

Insert a command marker

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert the command marker.
Commands snap to the nearest millisecond.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Command. The Command Properties dialog is
displayed.
3. From the Command drop-down list, choose the type of command you want to
insert, or type a custom command in the box.
4. In the Parameter box, enter the argument that should be passed to the command.
For example, if you're using an URL command, enter the address of the Web page
you want to display.

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Command Player Description

type
URL Windows Indicates when an instruction is sent to the user's
Media Internet browser to change the content being
displayed.
In the Parameter box, enter the URL that will
display at a specific time during the rendered
project's playback.
Text Windows Displays text in the captioning area of the
Media Windows Media Player located below the video
display area.
In the Parameter box, enter the text that will
display during playback.
To view captions during playback in Windows
Media Player 9, choose Captions and Subtitles
from the Windows Media Player Play menu, and
then choose On if Available from the submenu.
WMClosedCaption Windows Displays the text from the Parameter box in the
Media captioning window that is defined by an HTML
layout file.
WMTextBodyText Windows Displays the text from the Parameter box in the
Media text window that is defined by an HTML layout
file.
WMTextHeadline Windows Displays the text from the Parameter box in the
Media headline window that is defined by an HTML
layout file.

5. In the Position box, type the time you want the command to occur in your project.
The command is inserted at the cursor position by default.

Delete a command marker

Right-click the command marker tag and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

Edit a command marker

Right-click the command marker tag and choose Edit from the shortcut menu.
or
Double-click the command marker tag.

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Move the cursor to a command marker

Click the command marker tag .

Use command templates

If you frequently insert commands that use similar settings, you can create a template to
insert command settings automatically.

Creating a template
1. From the Insert menu, choose Command to display the Command Properties
dialog.
2. Enter the settings you want to use in the Command, Parameter, and Position
boxes.
3. In the Template box, enter the name you want to use to store the template.
4. Click the Save button .

Recalling a template
1. From the Insert menu, choose Command to display the Command Properties
dialog.
2. Choose the template you want to use from the Template drop-down list. The
Command, Parameter, and Position boxes are automatically filled in using the
information stored in the template.
3. Edit the settings in the Command, Parameter, and Position boxes as necessary.
4. Click OK.

Editing metadata commands

Your metadata command templates are saved in the following file: C:\Users\[user
name]\AppData\Local\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE PRO\15.0\cmdtemp.xml.
You can edit this file directly to modify your templates.

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist and choose a command from the submenu
to arrange regions in a playlist or cutlist.
A playlist/cutlist allows you to perform nondestructive editing by defining regions and
arranging them to determine a playback order without modifying your original file. When
you are done arranging the regions, SOUND FORGE PRO software can create a new file
containing your final arrangement.
From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Treat as Cutlist from the
submenu to toggle between Playlist and Cutlist mode.
You can open the first playlist in a sound file by choosing Playlist/Cutlist from the View
menu.

Playlist/Cutlist
From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Playlist/Cutlist to open or
close the Playlist/Cutlist window. This window is used to arrange regions for playback.

Tips:
l To play a region, click the Play button to the left of each region. The selected region
and all subsequent playlist entries are played in succession.
l You can edit a Playlist/Cutlist region by typing new values in the Cnt, Trigger, Chan,
Note, and SMPTE Time boxes.
l You can rearrange regions by dragging rows within the Playlist/Cutlist window (drag
the leftmost numbered column).

Add a region to the Playlist/Cutlist window

Perform one of the following actions to add a region to the Playlist/Cutlist window:

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

l Drag the region from the Regions List window to the Playlist/Cutlist window.
l Right-click a region in the Regions List window and choose Add to Playlist from
the shortcut menu.
l To create a region and add it to a playlist/cutlist, select a range of data and drag it
to the Playlist/Cutlist window.
A region is automatically created in the data window, and the new region is added
to the playlist/cutlist.

Specify a region's play count

Type a value in the Cnt box in the Playlist window to specify the number of times the
playlist region will repeat before playing the next region.
Setting this value to 0 will cause the region to be skipped during playback.
In the following example, Region 1 will be played once, Region 2 will be played twice,
and then Region 3 will be played once.

Pre-roll playback
Select the Pre-roll playback check box in the Playlist window and specify a value to set
the amount of pre-roll that will be heard from the end of the previous region when
starting the playlist sequence from the current region.
Example: two regions are defined in the Playlist/Cutlist window, and the pre-roll time is
set to 0.5 seconds. When you start playback from region 2, the last 0.5 seconds of region
1 will be played before starting region 2. This allows you to hear the transition between
the two regions.
From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Pre-Roll Playback from the
submenu (or press /) when a playlist region is selected.

Set a playlist stop point

Perform either of the following actions to set the stop point for a playlist:

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

l Right-click a region in the Playlist window and choose Stop Point from the
shortcut menu.
l Select a region in the Playlist window and press Ctrl+8.
A red indicator is displayed in the left column in the Playlist window to identify the
stop point.
When you play your playlist, it will continue to play through the regions until it
encounters a stop point. This is useful when triggering playback from incoming MIDI or
timecode and you only want certain sections of the playlist to be played at a time.

Trigger a playlist region using MIDI commands

1. In the Playlist window, select a method from the Trigger drop-down list to specify
how the playlist region will be invoked.
2. Specify trigger parameters in the Channel, Note, and SMPTE time boxes.
If the Trigger from MIDI Timecode command is selected, you can auto-complete
the Channel and Note values by pressing a key on your MIDI Keyboard.

Item Description
Channel If the playlist region will be triggered by a MIDI note, this is the receive
channel for that region.
Note If the playlist region will be triggered by a MIDI note, this is the MIDI note
number that will trigger this playlist region. This value can be entered as a
MIDI note value (such as C4) or as a MIDI note number (such as 60).
SMPTE If the playlist region will be triggered from a SMPTE time cue, this is the
time point in SMPTE time that will trigger the region.

When a region has a trigger associated with it, a musical note is displayed next to the
region's Play button:

Trigger playback with MIDI timecode

You can use MIDI timecode to trigger SOUND FORGE PRO playback from another
device.
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the MIDI/Sync tab.
2. On the MIDI/Sync tab, choose the trigger device from the Input drop-down list
and click the OK button.
3. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Trigger from MIDI
Timecode from the submenu to enable MIDI input.

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

4. From the View menu, choose Toolbars. Select the Regions/Playlist check box and
click the OK button. The timecode is displayed in the Regions/Playlist toolbar
when you start your MIDI device.
5. Create a region that includes the sound data you want to trigger.
6. Add the region to your playlist/cutlist.
7. In the Playlist window, choose SMPTE: Play at Time from the Trigger drop-down
list and enter the time at which you want to start playback in the SMPTE time box.

Adding, Arranging, Removing Playlist/Cutlist Regions

By adding regions to a playlist or cutlist, you can perform advanced arranging without
altering your source file.
These regions will be played back when you click the Play button in the
Playlist/Cutlist window, skipped when you click the Play as Cutlist button in a data
window, or saved when you save the playlist/cutlist as a new file.

Adding a region
1. Select a region in the Regions List. If the Regions List is not visible, choose View >
Metadata > Regions List
2. From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Add from the
submenu (or right-click the Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Add from the
shortcut menu).
Shortcuts:
l Drag the region from the Regions List window to the Playlist/Cutlist window.
l Right-click a region in the Regions List window and choose Add to Playlist from the
shortcut menu.
l To create a region and add it to a playlist/cutlist, select a range of data and drag it to
the Playlist/Cutlist window.
A region is automatically created in the data window, and the new region is added to
the playlist/cutlist.

Moving regions
To change the order of the regions in the Playlist/Cutlist window, drag a region to a new
position.

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

Replicating a playlist/cutlist region

Replicating a playlist/cutlist region creates an exact copy of an existing region in the
Playlist/Cutlist window. You can use the Playlist window to modify the properties of the
replicated region.
1. Select a region in the Playlist/Cutlist window.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Replicate from the
submenu.

Deleting a region
1. Select a region in the Playlist/Cutlist window. If the window is not visible, choose
View > Metadata > Playlist.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Delete from the
submenu (or press the Delete key).
Removing a region from the Playlist/Cutlist window will not remove regions from
the Regions List window or waveform.

Clearing all playlist/cutlist regions

From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Clear from the submenu
to remove all regions from the Playlist/Cutlist window.
This command will not remove regions from the Regions List window or waveform.

Playing a Playlist/Cutlist
Playing your playlist or cutlist allows you to audition your arrangement of regions in the
Playlist/Cutlist window.

Play a playlist
In the Playlist/Cutlist window, click the Play button for the first region you want to
hear.
Playback begins with the selected region and continues until SOUND FORGE PRO
software encounters a stop point. If no stop point exists, playback will continue through
the end of the playlist.
To change the number of times each region will be played or to set a stop point, type a new
value in the Cnt box or use the Play count box in the Playlist window.

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

Play a cutlist
1. From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Treat as Cutlist from
the submenu.
Right-click the Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Treat as Cutlist from the shortcut
menu.

2. Click the Play as Cutlist button in the data window's playbar.

Playback begins at the cursor position, skipping cutlist regions.
The Play as Cutlist button is not displayed until you select the Treat as Cutlist
command.

Pre-roll playlist entries

From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Pre-Roll Playback (or
right-click a region in the Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Pre-roll Playback from the
shortcut menu) to begin playback starting with the end of the previous region when
starting the playlist sequence.
You can specify the pre-roll time on the Playlist window or on the Previews tab in the
Preferences dialog.
Press / (forward slash) when a playlist region is selected.

Example: two regions are defined in the Playlist/Cutlist window, and the pre-roll time is
set to 0.5 seconds. When you start playback of the playlist from region 2, the last 0.5
seconds of region 1 will be played back before starting region 2. This allows you to hear
the transition between the two regions.

Creating a New File from a Playlist/Cutlist

From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Convert to New from the
submenu to create a new sound file that contains the regions arranged as specified in
the current playlist/cutlist. The new file will contain the exact sequence of regions you
hear when playing from the Playlist/Cutlist window.
Convert to New processes audio only; any video stream in your file will be ignored.
Right-click in the Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Convert to New from the shortcut
menu.

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

Deleting Cutlist Regions

From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Delete Cut Regions from
the submenu to remove cutlist regions from a file. This command is not available unless
Treat as Cutlist is selected.
Right-click the Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Delete Cut Regions from the shortcut
menu.

Saving a Regions/Playlist File

You can save a file's regions list and playlist/cutlist to an external file. This command
offers the flexibility of using multiple playlists for the same sound file.
1. From the Edit menu, choose Regions List or Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Save
As from the submenu.
Right-click the Regions List or Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Save As from the
shortcut menu.

2. Use the Save Regions/Playlist As dialog to specify a folder and filename.

3. Specify the type of regions list you want to save from the Save as type drop-down
list:
l Choose Playlist File (.sfl) to save a SOUND FORGE PRO regions/playlist file.
l Choose Session 8 File (.prm) to save a file that supports both Session 8 and
SOUND FORGE PRO regions.
l Choose Windows Media Script File (.txt) to save a file that includes
Windows Media script commands.
4. Choose Text File (Tab delimited) (.txt) to save markers and regions to a plain text
file.
5. Click the Save button.

Copying the Playlist/Cutlist to the Clipboard

From the Edit menu, choose Playlist/Cutlist, and then choose Copy onto Clipboard to
copy the text of the playlist/cutlist onto the clipboard for use with a text editor.
Editing a playlist/cutlist in a text editor allows you to make an annotated list that you
can print for reference.

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Editing with a Playlist/Cutlist

Right-click the Playlist/Cutlist window and choose Copy onto Clipboard from the shortcut
menu.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Applying Processes and Effects

SOUND FORGE PRO software includes many processes and effects that you can use to
manipulate the audio in your media files.
The included audio plug-ins can improve the quality of your audio or create unique
sounds. SOUND FORGE PRO software also supports additional DirectX and VST effects
from MAGIX or other third parties.
There are several ways to apply a plug-in to an audio file:
l You can choose a plug-in from the Process, Effects, or FX Favorites menu.
l You can apply a plug-in from the Plug-In Manager using simple drag-and-drop
operations. This adds the plug-in to the Plug-In-Chain of a data window for real-
time effects processing.
l You can use the Plug-In Chain to create chains of plug-ins that you can apply
simultaneously.
Use the VST Effects tab in the Preferences dialog to indicate where your VST plug-ins
are installed and which plug-ins you want to make available to SOUND FORGE PRO
software. For more information, see Preferences - VST Effects (⇗413)

The Process, Effects, and FX Favorites Menus

The Process, Effects, and FX Favorites menus allow you to apply audio plug-ins. Most of
the functions can be applied to single channels within multichannel files as well as areas
selected within the file.
The Process and Effects menus are reserved for the plug-ins that are included with
SOUND FORGE PRO software. You can use the Plug-In Manager to organize your
favorite effects and chains within the FX Favorites menu. For more information, see
Using the Plug-In Manager (⇗271)
After installing new DirectX or VST effects, you can use either of the following methods to
add them to the FX Favorites menu:

l From the FX Favorites menu, choose Recreate by Plug-In Name to clear the
current FX Favorites structure and create new folders based on the first word in
the plug-ins' names.
l From the FX Favorites menu, choose Organize. In the Organize Favorites dialog,
drag your new plug-ins from the Plug-Ins folder to the desired folder in the FX
Favorites portion of the tree view on the left side of the dialog.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Applying an effect
1. Select the data you want to process. If no data is selected, processing will be
applied to the entire file. For more information, see Selecting Data and Positioning
the Cursor (⇗199)
When using the Event tool , select the events you want to process.
When you're working with multichannel files, only the selected region in the
selected channel is processed. Most functions can be applied to the individual or
all channels. However, since the channels in a multichannel file must be equal in
length, functions that affect the length of the data cannot be performed on
individual channels. These functions include Insert Silence, Resample, Time Stretch,
Gapper/Snipper, Pitch Bend, and Pitch Shift (without preserving duration).
If you want to apply one of these processes in a single channel, convert the file into
separate mono files (you can select a channel and drag it to the SOUND FORGE
PRO workspace to create a new file quickly), apply the process, and merge the files
into a new multichannel file.
2. Choose a command from the Process, Effects, or FX Favorites menu.
3. Choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the dialog controls as
needed. For more information, see Using Processing Dialogs (⇗285)
4. Click the Preview button to hear the effects of your processing settings. Select the
Bypass check box to hear the unprocessed signal.
When using the Event tool , you can click the Go to Previous Event or Go to
Next Event button at the bottom of the processing dialog to navigate events
when multiple events are selected. For more information, see The Event Tool
(⇗234)
5. To change the portion of the sound file that will be processed, change the
selection:
1. Click and drag in the data window to create or change a selection. For more
information, please see Selecting Data Using the Mouse.
2. Click the More button in the processing dialog to display Start, End, Length,
and Channels controls at the bottom of the processing dialog.
6. Click the OK button to start processing.
During processing, a progress meter is displayed at the bottom of the data window.
You can cancel the operation at any time by clicking the Cancel button to the left
of the progress meter, or you can press the Escape key.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Previewing a processing operation

Click the Preview button in a processing dialog to audition the function. Select the
Bypass check box to hear the unprocessed sound.

Saving a preset
1. Type a name in the Preset box in the processing dialog.
2. Click the Save Preset button . The current dialog settings are saved in a new
preset.

Changing the selection while previewing

To change the portion of the sound file that will be processed, change the selection:
l Click and drag in the data window to create or change a selection. For more
information, see Selecting Data Using the Mouse (⇗199)
l Click the More button in the processing dialog to display Start, End, Length, and
Channels controls at the bottom of the processing dialog.
For more information, see Using Processing Dialogs (⇗285)
You can also change the selection by right-clicking the processing dialog and choosing
a command from the shortcut menu.

Adjusting previewing and processing settings

You can use the buttons and shortcut menus in processing dialogs to set parameters for
previewing and processing with plug-ins.
For more information, see Using Processing Dialogs (⇗285)

Applying Processes and Effects to Events

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Applying Processes and Effects

reapplied after processing.

l Processing multiple events creates a single undo operation.
For more information about applying processes and effects, click here (⇗268).

Using the Plug-In Manager

From the View menu, choose Plug-In Manager to open or close the Plug-In Manager.
The Plug-In Manager displays your plug-ins in an easy-to-use tree view much like the
Windows Explorer. You can use the Plug-In Manager to organize your plug-ins.
You can dock the Plug-In Manager within the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace so it's
always visible.

Use the Plug-In Manager to organize plug-ins and build the FX

Favorites menu
The Plug-In Manager includes a FX Favorites folder that you can use to organize your
audio plug-ins. Plug-ins from this folder will be available from the FX Favorites menu in
the SOUND FORGE PRO menu bar.
1. Open a folder in the Plug-In Manager.
2. Select the plug-ins you want to add.
3. Click the Create New Folder button if you want to create a subfolder under
the FX Favorites folder. Subfolders will be displayed as submenus in the FX
Favorites menu. For example, if you wanted to group all of your reverbs, you could
copy them to a folder named Reverb under the FX Favorites folder. You could then
choose a reverb by choosing Reverb from the FX Favorites menu and then
choosing a plug-in from submenu.
4. Drag the selected plug-ins to the FX Favorites folder. The plug ins are copied to the
DX Favorites folder and to the FX Favorites menu.
From the FX Favorites menu, choose Recreate by Plug-In Names to remove the current
favorites structure and create new folders based on the first word in the plug-ins' names.
For example, if you have Waves Renaissance Bass, Waves Renaissance DeEsser, and
Waves Renaissance Vox installed, a Waves folder will be created in your FX Favorites. You
can rename plug-ins to change the way the Plug-In Manager creates folders.

Rename a plug-in
You can use the Plug-In Manager to replace a plug-in's default name with a name that's
more user-friendly or meaningful.

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Applying Processes and Effects

1. Right-click a plug-in and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. The plug-in
name becomes editable.
2. Type a new name in the box and press Enter. The new name is used in the Plug-In
Manager and FX Favorites menu.

Hide a plug-in
If you want to prevent a plug-in from appearing in SOUND FORGE PRO without
uninstalling the plug-in, you can use the Plug-In Manager to hide it. For example, you
might hide a codec that is incorrectly identified as a plug-in.
1. Right-click a plug-in and choose Hide from the shortcut menu. You will be
prompted to confirm that you want to permanently hide the plug-in.
2. Click Yes.
To restore hidden plug-ins, you can force SOUND FORGE PRO to rescan your system for
plug-ins by deleting the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE
PRO\15.0\DXCache key in the Windows Registry.

Using the Plug-In Chain

The Plug-In Chain allows you to link up to 32 DirectX and VST plug-ins into a single
processing chain. All of the plug-ins in the chain can be previewed simultaneously in real
time (as long as your computer can process the preview information quickly enough).
The Plug-In chain window works somewhat different than the application of effects or
processes from the Process or Effects or FX Favorites menu and even the Plug-In-Chain
used in the "Apply Plug-In Chain..." option in this menu:
l All effects in the Plug-In chain window work in real-time on the audio playback of
a data window and don't actually change the data in the audio file. So there is no
"Apply" or "Process" button. The effects of the chain are applied instead when you
save the file.
This also means that you cannot use to the Plug-In-Chain to process just a
selection or an event from the data window. If you want to do this, use FX
Favorites > Apply Plug-In Chain. For more information, see Applying a Plug-In
Chain.
l Each Data Window has it's own independent Plug-In chain.
l The Plug-In Chain is mode-less, you can navigate your data windows and change
selections or show the Plug-in chain of a different data window without closing
the Plug-In Chain window.

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Applying Processes and Effects

This kind of FX processing is called non-destructive, as opposed to destructive FX

processing, where the effect is applied immediately after closing the dialog as with the
effects from the Processing, Effects an FX Favorites menus

Create a plug-in chain

1. From the View menu, choose Plug-In Chain.
2. Choose a preset from the Chain drop-down list to load an existing chain, or add
the desired plug-ins to the chain.
3. Choose which of the chain's plug-ins you want to apply:
l Select an effect’s Bypass button to prevent the audio signal from being
sent through the plug-in. This is useful for isolating certain plug-ins without
removing others from the chain.
l Deselect the Bypass button for each plug-in you want to apply to your signal.
4. Adjust each plug-in's properties as desired.

Add, remove, or arrange plug-ins on a chain

Adding a plug-in from the Plug-In Chooser

1. Click the Add Plug-Ins to Chain button in the Plug-In Chain window. The Plug-
In Chooser window appears.
2. Select each plug-in you want to add, and then click the Add button, or browse to
an effects package. The plug-ins appear at the bottom of the window in the order
you added them.
Tips:
l You can also double-click a plug-In in the Plug-In Chooser to add it to the chain.
l To reorder the plug-ins within the chain, simply drag a plug-in button to a new
location, or click the Shift Plug-In Left or Shift Plug-In Right buttons.
3. Once you have added all of the plug-ins and specified the plug-in chain order, click
the OK button.

Adding a plug-in from the Plug-In Manager

You can add a plug-in to a chain quickly by dragging it from the Plug-In Manager to the
Plug-In Chain window. Drop the plug-in at the position where you want to add it to the
chain:

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Applying Processes and Effects

Removing a plug-in
Click the Remove Plug-In button .

Editing a plug-in chain

1. From the View menu, choose Plug-In Chain.
2. Choose a preset from the Chain drop-down list.
3. To bypass a plug-in without removing it from the chain, select the effect's Bypass
button .
4. To reorder the plug-ins within the chain, simply drag a plug-in button to a new
location.

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Applying Processes and Effects

5. Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window. For more information about using specific plug-ins, click the
Plug-In Help button.

Set a plug-in's properties

Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window. For more information about using specific plug-ins, click the Plug-In
Help button.
You can have multiple plug-in windows open in the SOUND FORGE PRO workspace. To
quickly close all open plug-in windows, right-click a plug-in in the Plug-In Chain window
and choose Close All Plug-In Windows from the shortcut menu.

Load an effects chain or plug-in preset

Loading a plug-in chain preset

Choose a setting from the Chain drop-down list. The preset chain is loaded using the
saved settings for each DirectX and VST plug-in in the chain.

Loading a preset for an individual DirectX plug-in

Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list. The plug-in settings stored in the
preset are loaded.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Loading a preset for an individual VST plug-in

1. Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window.
2. Click the Open VST Preset button .

The Open VST Preset dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the .fxp file that you want to use.
4. Click the Open button.
The current VST preset is replaced with the settings stored in the .fxp file.

Loading a bank of VST plug-in presets

1. Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window.
2. Click the Open VST Bank button .

The Open VST Preset Bank dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the .fxb file that you want to use.

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Applying Processes and Effects

4. Click the Open button.

All presets for the current VST plug-in are replaced with the settings stored in the
.fxb file, and the first preset in the bank is loaded by default.

Preview the effects chain

Effects from the Plug-In Chain are previewed in real time when you play back a file.
To hear the results of your effects chain without applying it to the sound file, click the
Play Normal button in the data window's playbar.
You can select the Bypass button in the Plug-In Chain to bypass all effects in the
chain, or select the Bypass button for an effect to bypass individual effects.

Apply the effects chain

Effects from the Plug-In Chain are applied when you save the file.

Save the plug-in chain as a preset

When you save a plug-in chain, the order of the effects in the chain and the settings for
each plug-in are saved with the chain.
Effect automation envelope points are not saved with presets. If you are using effect
automation envelopes and save a preset during playback, the effect's settings at the
playback cursor position are saved.
1. Add plug-ins to the chain.
2. Adjust each plug-in's properties.
3. Type a name in the Chain box.
You cannot modify default presets.
4. Click the Save Chain Preset button .

Save the settings from an individual plug-in as a preset

Effect automation envelope points are not saved with presets. If you are using effect
automation envelopes and save a preset during playback, the effect's settings at the
playback cursor position are saved.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Saving a preset for an individual DirectX plug-in

1. Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window.
2. Type a name in the Preset box.
3. Click the Save Preset button :

Saving a preset for an individual VST plug-in

1. Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window.
2. Click the Save VST Preset As button .

The Save VST Preset dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the folder where you want to save the .fxp file and type a name in the
File name box.
4. Click the Save button. The current plug-in settings are saved in the .fxp file.

Saving a bank of VST plug-in presets

1. Click the Show Plug-In Window button to display the effect's parameters in a
separate window.
2. Click the Save VST Bank As button .

The Save VST Preset Bank dialog is displayed.

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Applying Processes and Effects

3. Browse to the folder where you want to save the .fxb file and type a name in the
File name box.
4. Click the Save button. All presets for the current plug-in are stored in the bank.

Plug-In Chain shortcuts

If you want to make your editing really fast, the Plug-In Chain can be controlled using
keyboard shortcuts.

Applying a Plug-In Chain

From the FX Favorites menu, choose Apply Plug-In Chain to apply a plug-in chain to a
selection or data window.
If you want to work with each data window's active plug-in chain or use effect automation,
choose View > Plug-In Chain. For more information, see Using the Plug-In Chain (⇗ 272)

Creating a plug-in chain

1. Select the data you want to process. For more information, see Selecting Data and
Positioning the Cursor (⇗199)
2. From the FX Favorites menu, choose Apply Plug-In Chain.
3. Choose a preset from the Chain drop-down list to load an existing chain, or add
the desired plug-ins to the chain.
4. Choose which of the chain's plug-ins you want to apply:
l Clear an effect's check box to prevent the audio signal from being
sent through the plug-in. This is useful for isolating certain plug-ins without
removing others from the chain
l Select the check box for each plug-in you want to apply to your signal.
5. If you want to choose a processing mode to determine how SOUND FORGE PRO
software handles the extra audio tail of plug-ins such as reverb or delay, right-click
the processing dialog and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
l Choose Ignore Tail Data to ignore the tail. The effect will end abruptly at the
end of the selection.
l Choose Mix Tail Data to mix the tail into the adjacent material. This is the
most natural-sounding option.
l Choose Insert Tail Data to insert the audio tail. All audio to the right of the
tail will be moved over to accommodate the extra audio.
6. Adjust each plug-in's properties as desired.

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Adding, removing, or arranging plug-ins on a chain

Adding a plug-in from the Plug-In Chooser

1. Click the Add Plug-Ins to Chain button in the Apply Plug-In Chain window. The
Plug-In Chooser window appears.
2. Select each plug-in you want to add, and then click the Add button, or browse to
an effects package. The plug-ins appear in the Apply Plug-In Chain window in the
order you added them.
Tips:
You can also double-click a plug-in in the Plug-In Chooser to add it to the chain.
To reorder the plug-ins within the chain, simply drag a plug-in button to a new
location, or click the Shift Plug-In Left or Shift Plug-In Right buttons.
3. Once you have added all of the plug-ins and specified the plug-in chain order, click
the OK button.

Removing a plug-in
Select a plug-in in the Apply Plug-In Chain window and click the Remove Selected Plug-
In button .

Editing a plug-in chain

1. From the FX Favorites menu, choose Apply Plug-In Chain.
2. Choose a preset from the Chain drop-down list.
3. To bypass a plug-in without removing it from the chain, clear an effect's check box
.
4. To reorder the plug-ins within the chain, simply drag a plug-in button to a new
location.
5. Click the plug-in's button to select it, and use the bottom half of the dialog box to
adjust the effect's parameters. For more information about using specific plug-ins,
click the Plug-In Help button.
To apply the effects chain to a data window, click the OK button in the Apply
Plug-In Chain window.
When you save a plug-in chain, the order of the effects in the chain and the
settings for each plug-in are saved with the chain.

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Set a plug-in's properties

Click the plug-in's button to select it, and use the bottom half of the dialog box to adjust
the effect's parameters. For more information about using specific plug-ins, click the
Plug-In Help button.

Load an effects chain or plug-in preset

Loading a plug-in chain preset

Choose a setting from the Chain drop-down list. The preset chain is loaded using the
saved settings for each DirectX and VST plug-in in the chain.

Loading a preset for an individual DirectX plug-in

Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list. The plug-in settings stored in the
preset are loaded.

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Loading a preset for an individual VST plug-in

1. Click the VST effect's button to display the effect's parameters in the Apply Plug-In
Chain window.
2. Click the Open VST Preset button .

The Open VST Preset dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the .fxp file that you want to use.
4. Click the Open button.
The current VST preset is replaced with the settings stored in the .fxp file.

Loading a bank of VST plug-in presets

1. Click the VST effect's button to display the effect's parameters in the Apply Plug-In
Chain window.
2. Click the Open VST Bank button .

The Open VST Preset Bank dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the .fxb file that you want to use.
4. Click the Open button.

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All presets for the current VST plug-in are replaced with the settings stored in the
.fxb file, and the first preset in the bank is loaded by default

Preview the effects chain

To hear the results of your effects chain without applying it to the sound file, click the
Preview button in the Apply Plug-In Chain window.
You can select the Bypass check box to bypass all effects in the chain, or clear an
effect's check box to bypass individual effects.
You can use the buttons and shortcut menus in processing dialogs to set parameters for
previewing and processing with plug-ins. Click the More button to display controls you
can use to adjust the selection, wet and dry gain, and fade in/out settings.
For more information, see Using Processing Dialogs (⇗285)

Apply the effects chain

To apply the effects chain to a data window, click the OK button in the Apply Plug-In
Chain window.

Save the plug-in chain as a preset

When you save a plug-in chain, the order of the effects in the chain and the settings for
each plug-in are saved with the chain.
1. Add plug-ins to the chain.
2. Adjust each plug-in's properties.
3. Type a name in the Chain box.
You cannot modify default presets.

4. Click the Save Chain Preset button .

Save the settings from an individual plug-in as a preset

Saving a preset for an individual DirectX plug-in

1. Click the effect's button to display the effect's parameters in the Apply Plug-In
Chain window.
2. Type a name in the Preset box.

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3. Click the Save Preset button :

Saving a preset for an individual VST plug-in

1. Click the VST effect's button to display the effect's parameters in the Apply Plug-In
Chain window.
2. Click the Save VST Preset As button .

The Save VST Preset dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the folder where you want to save the .fxp file and type a name in the
File name box.
4. Click the Save button. The current plug-in settings are saved in the .fxp file.

Saving a bank of VST plug-in presets

1. Click the VST effect's button to display the effect's parameters in the Apply Plug-In
Chain window.

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2. Click the Save VST Bank As button .

The Save VST Preset Bank dialog is displayed.

3. Browse to the folder where you want to save the .fxb file and type a name in the
File name box.
4. Click the Save button. All presets for the current plug-in are stored in the bank.

Using Processing Dialogs

In previous versions of SOUND FORGE PRO, processing dialogs were modal: after
opening a processing dialog, you couldn't adjust the selection in the data window. You
can move freely between processing dialogs and data windows to adjust your selection,
fade-in and -out, and gain levels.
All processing dialogs share common controls along the right-hand side of the dialog.
Use these controls to save and delete custom presets, preview your changes, and modify
the selection.

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Item Description
OK Closes the dialog and processes the dialog settings.
Cancel Closes the dialog without making changes.
Preview Click to begin previewing the processed sound file.
Bypass Select this check box and click Preview to hear the unprocessed audio.
This is a useful feature when comparing the affected and unprocessed
signal.
Real-time When this check box is selected, SOUND FORGE PRO will try to preview
the plug-in in real time. If your computer can not keep up, clear the check
box.
When the check box is cleared, the maximum preview length is determined
by the Limit non-realtime previews to setting on the Previews (⇗403) tab
of the Preferences dialog.
More Click to display additional controls at the bottom of the dialog that you
can use to change the selection you want to process or adjust dry and wet
gain and fades.

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Preview audio
Click the Preview button to hear the effect of the current dialog settings on the selected
audio.
During playback, you can select the Bypass check box to hear the unprocessed audio.
This is a useful feature when comparing the affected and unprocessed signal.

Preview with pre- or post-roll

If you want to listen to the unprocessed audio before or after the current selection,
right-click the processing dialog and choose Pre-Roll or Post-Roll from the shortcut
menu. A check box is displayed next to the commands when they're selected.
Pre- and post-roll allow you to hear the transition from unprocessed to processed data.
When the Pre-Roll and Post-Roll buttons are selected, the pre/post roll regions are
displayed next to the loop region in the data window:

You can use the Previews (⇗403) tab in the Preferences dialog to specify how many
seconds of unprocessed audio will be played before and after the processed selection.

Choose a processing mode for tail data

If you want to specify how SOUND FORGE PRO handles the extra audio tail of plug-ins
such as reverb or delay, right-click the processing dialog and choose a command from
the shortcut menu:
l Choose Ignore Tail Data to ignore the tail. The effect will end abruptly at the end
of the selection.
l Choose Mix Tail Data to mix the tail into the adjacent material. This is the most
natural-sounding option.
l Choose Insert Tail Data to insert the audio tail. All audio to the right of the tail will
be moved over to accommodate the extra audio.

Create a preset
1. Choose a command from the Process, Effects, or FX Favorites menu.
2. Adjust the dialog controls to create the desired effect.
3. Type a name in the Preset box.
4. Click the Save Preset button .

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Delete a preset
1. Choose a command from the Process, Effects, or FX Favorites menu.
2. Choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list.
3. Click the Delete Preset button .
The Delete Preset button is available only for custom presets.

Use SOUND FORGE PRO controls

Control Description
Slider/Fader Drag the handle to change the setting.
Tips:
l Hold the left and right mouse buttons (or
hold the Control key) to fine-tune a control's
value.
l You can use the Up, Down, Left and Right
arrow keys to change the value in small
increments or the Page Up and Page Down
keys to change the value in larger
increments. The Home and End keys change
the parameter value to its maximum or
minimum.
l Double-click a handle to return to the
default value (usually 0%, 50%, or 100%).
Left-clicking on the hash marks in a fader
also changes the value by very small
increments.

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Spin Control Use the up/down buttons or type a value in the

edit box to change the setting.
Tips:
l Click the button between the up/down
buttons and drag the mouse to change the
setting in large increments.
l Hold down both mouse buttons (or hold
down the Control key) to fine-tune a
control's value.
l You can use the Up/Down arrow and Page
Up/Page Down keys to alter the value.
Drop-Down Click the drop-down list and choose an item. If
List you have to scroll through a large list, click the
scroll buttons or use the arrow keys.
If you scroll down the drop-down list for a
preset, you can see all of the parameters change
for each preset. This is useful for getting a feel
for which parameters are used to create
different effects.
Button Click a button or press the spacebar while it is
selected.
Radio Button Radio buttons always come in groups of two or
more where you can select only one option.
When you select a radio button, the previously
selected button is turned off.
Check Box Click a check box to select it. You can click a
selected check box to clear it.

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Envelope An envelope allows you to change a sound over

Graph time.

l Drag the small boxes (envelope points) up or

down.
l To create a new envelope point, click the
envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, click it with the
right mouse button, or double-click it with
the left mouse button.
l To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A
and drag when the envelope has focus (the
cursor will be displayed as a ).
You can create up to 16 envelope points. Click
the Reset Envelope button to reset the graph.

Change the data window selection

You can adjust the selection to be processed by changing the selection in the data
window or using the controls at the bottom of the processing dialog.
Right-click the processing dialog and choose a command from the shortcut menu to change
the selection quickly. Choose Select Original to restore the selection that existed when you
first opened the processing dialog. Choose Select All to select all data in the current
window.

1. Click the More button in the processing dialog. Selection and gain controls are
displayed at the bottom of the dialog.
2. Type a value in the Start box (or use the spinner) if you want to change the
beginning of the selection.
Click the Lock Start button if you want to preserve the selection start when
adjusting the Length or End settings.
When using the Event tool (⇗234) , the Start box is automatically locked.

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Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the beginning of the selection
in the data window:

3. Type a value in the End box (or use the spinner) if you want to change the end of
the selection.
When using the Event tool , the End box is not available.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the end of the selection in
the data window:

4. Type a value in the Length box (or use the spinner) if you want to specify the length
of the selection. The beginning of the selection remains fixed. Click the Lock
Selection Length button if you want to preserve the selection length when
adjusting the Start or End settings.
When using the Event tool , the Length box is automatically locked.
5. Type a value in the Channels box to change the current channel selection. You can
separate individual channels with commas or use hyphens to indicate channel
ranges. Click the Lock Channels button if you want to lock the channel
selection. For example, type 1, 3, 6-8 to select channels 1, 3, 6, 7, and 8.
Changing this setting has the same effect as holding Ctrl while clicking channels in
the data window. When using the Event tool , the Channels box is automatically
locked.
6. When using the Event tool , you can click the Go to Previous Event or Go to
Next Event button at the bottom of the processing dialog to navigate events
when multiple events are selected.

Change the wet/dry mix and fade in/out

You can adjust the wet/dry mix and fade in/out by changing the envelopes in the data
window or using the controls at the bottom of the processing dialog.

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If you want to change the default fade values, you can use the Editing (⇗395) tab in the
Preferences dialog.
1. Click the More button in the processing dialog. Selection and gain controls are
displayed at the bottom of the dialog.
2. Type a value in the Wet Gain box (or use the spinner) to set the level of the
processed signal that will be mixed into the output.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the sustain portion of the
wet gain envelope in the data window:

3. Type a value in the Dry Gain box (or use the spinner) to set the level of the
unprocessed signal that will be mixed into the output. Changing this setting has the
same effect as dragging the sustain portion of the dry gain envelope in the data
window:

4. Type a value in the Fade In box (or use the spinner) to set the length of the fade in
between the unprocessed and processed signal. Changing this setting has the same
effect as dragging the attack portion of the envelope in the data window:

5. Click the Fade Curves button and choose a curve type from the menu to set
the speed of the fade in.
6. Type a value in the Fade Out box (or use the spinner) to set the length of the fade
out between the processed and unprocessed signal. Changing this setting has the
same effect as dragging the release portion of the envelope in the data window:

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7. Click the Fade Curves button and choose a curve type from the menu to set
the speed of the fade out.
Tips:
l To reset the fade in and out to the default values, right-click the processing dialog and
choose Reset Fade Values from the shortcut menu.
l To save default fade in and out values, adjust the Fade In and Fade Out controls, and
then right-click the processing dialog and choose Save Fade Values from the shortcut
menu.

Automating Effect Parameters

When you add an effect that supports automation to the Plug-In Chainer, you can click
the Show Parameters button to display the effect's automatable parameters. You can
use these controls to add, show/hide, and enable/bypass automation envelopes.

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Plug-in parameters can be edited using the plug-in's controls or the automation envelope
in the data window.
Choosing a new effect chain preset will clear the current effect automation settings.

Adding a volume or panning envelope

Panning envelopes will have no effect on mono source data. Convert mono sound data
to stereo before adding a panning envelope. For more information, see Channel
Converter (⇗304)
1. Click within a data window to give it focus.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Volume Envelope or Pan Envelope (you can also
press V to add a volume envelope, or press P to add a panning envelope).
An envelope is added to the data window, and the SOUND FORGE PRO Volume or
SOUND FORGE PRO Pan plug-in is added to the Audio Plug-In Chainer. If the Plug-
In Chainer is not visible, it will be opened automatically.
If a data window already has a volume or panning envelope, pressing V or P will
hide the envelope.
3. Adjust volume or panning with the envelope in the data window.

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Adjusting effect parameters with plug-in controls

1. Click to position the cursor in the data window and use the controls in the Plug-In
Chainer to adjust effect parameters at the cursor position. The envelope is updated
as you adjust the plug-in's controls.
2. You can also adjust the envelope to adjust parameters. For more information, see
The Envelope Tool (⇗298)
When you automate an effect’s frequency parameter such as the modulation frequency
parameter in the amplitude modulation effect you may notice that the frequency
changes are more apparent when moving through the lower frequencies. This is because
frequency scales plug-ins use a logarithmic scale, but effect automation uses linear
interpolation.
To make the automated frequency changes sound more natural, change the fade curve
types to change the interpolation rates between envelope points. For high-to-low
frequency sweeps, use a fast fade curve; for low-to-high frequency sweeps, use a slow
curve. For more information, see The Envelope Tool (⇗298)

Adjusting effect parameters with envelopes

An envelope is displayed in the data window for each effect parameter that you've
chosen to automate. Envelope points represent plug-in parameter settings at a specific
point in time.
You can add points, adjust their positions, and change the fade curves between points to
modify effect parameters and the transitions between them. For more information, see
The Envelope Tool (⇗298)
When you automate an effect’s frequency parameter such as the modulation frequency
parameter in the amplitude modulation effect you may notice that the frequency
changes are more apparent when moving through the lower frequencies. This is because
frequency scales plug-ins use a logarithmic scale, but effect automation uses linear
interpolation.
To make the automated frequency changes sound more natural, change the fade curve
types to change the interpolation rates between envelope points. For high-to-low
frequency sweeps, use a fast fade curve; for low-to-high frequency sweeps, use a slow
curve. For more information, see The Envelope Tool (⇗298)

Previewing effect automation

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You can select the Bypass button in the Plug-In Chain to bypass all effects in the
chain, or select the Bypass button for an effect to bypass individual effects.

Applying effect automation

Effects from the Plug-In Chain are applied when you save the file.

Showing or hiding effect automation envelopes

1. In the Plug-In Chainer, click the Show Parameters button to display the effect's
automatable parameters.
2. Select the Show Envelope button to display a parameter's envelope, or deselect
the button to hide the envelope. Hiding an envelope simply removes the line from
the data window while it retains the playback properties.

Enabling or bypassing effect automation envelopes

1. In the Plug-In Chainer, click the Show Parameters button to display the effect's
automatable parameters.
2. Select the Enable Envelopes button to apply an automation envelope to your
audio signal, or deselect the button to ignore the envelope. When the button is not
selected, an effect automation envelope is ignored and the effect's initial state is
used for the duration of the data window.
Bypassed envelopes are drawn with a dashed line in the data window.

Integrated Editing with Melodyne and Spectralayers

Pro
Melodyne from Celemony Software is a software that lets you make extremely detailed
edits of pitch, timing and spectrum of audio material, as well as change the melody of
individual instruments within a complete mixes.
It was possible to use Melodyne in older versions of SOUND FORGE PRO as a VST plug-
in. Starting from SOUND FORGE PRO 13, a special program interface from Melodyne
(ARA2 = Audio Random Access) had been implemented, letting Melodyne be seamlessly
integrated into SOUND FORGE PRO interface.
As Celemony opened the ARA2 program interface to use in other software than
Melodyne, it is also possible to edit your audio in SpectraLayers Pro. It comes also with a
VST3 plug-in version of the program (starting from version 6) that makes use of the
ARA2 interface.

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Preparation
To integrate Melodyne and SpectraLayers Pro in your SOUND FORGE PRO workflow,
make sure you installed the VST3 plug-in version of the software. The search path for
VST3 plug-ins (usually C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\) has to be set as
Alternate VST search folder in the Preferences, VST Effects tab.

Using Melodyne
To edit an audio file or a selection of an audio file with Melodyne, chose Edit in
Melodyne (ARA) from the Tools menu.
Do not load the Melodyne VST plug-in into the Plug-in-chain via the Plug-in Chooser.
Although it is listed there and will load into the chain, you will not have the integration
features. You can recognize this by the fact that there's a transfer button in the Melodyne
GUI then. But the aim of developing the ARA interface was to avoid the tedious process of
transferring the audio data to the plug-in and letting it have access to the audio data in the
host application directly.

Melodyne will be loaded, the audio data will be analyzed and the Melodyne screen will
be opened. There you will see the audio data as a typical Melodyne "blob".

The blob view is a mix of piano roll and waveform display.

You can copy, move, lengthen, shorten and play back all notes here. The scope of
possible edits depends on the Melodyne version and spans pitch and timing changes up
to detailed intonation control in polyphonic material and spectral editing of multiple
tracks.
Tip: To be able to use Melodyne to its full capacity, we recommend you watch the video
tutorials on the Celemony website!

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You can close the Melodyne plug-in window at any time, to show it again, click the
Show Plug-In Window button at the Melodyne entry in the Plug-in Chain window

Using SpectraLayers Pro

You are probably already familiar using SOUND FORGE PROSpectraLayers Pro together
because there's already a workflow for this. Read everything about it under Editing with
SpectraLayers Pro (⇗342)
The advantage of using SpectraLayers Pro with the ARA interface is that you don't have
to save your file, SpectraLayers can be used like a real-time effect.
To edit an audio file or a selection of an audio file with the SpectraLayers Pro plug-in,
chose Edit in Spectralayers (ARA) from the Tools menu.

The Envelope Tool

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Adding envelope points

Flipping an envelope
You can flip an envelope to invert the envelope around its center. Volume, panning, and
effect automation envelopes can be flipped.

Flipping all points

1. Right-click an envelope or a point. A shortcut menu is displayed.
2. Choose Flip All Points from the shortcut menu.

Flipping selected points

Setting fade properties

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Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

Cutting, copying, and pasting envelope points

6. From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

Copying an envelope to another data window

6. Click Go to Start if you want the envelope to appear exactly as it was in the
original data window, or click to position the cursor where you want the envelope
to start.

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7. From the Edit menu, choose Paste.

Processes
Automatically Trimming/Cropping a File
From the Process menu, choose Auto Trim/Crop to automatically remove unnecessary
silence in a sound file and automatically fade the end-points phrases in and out.
Item Description
Preset Choose a preset from the drop-down list, or click the Save As button to
create a new preset.
Function Choose a mode from the drop-down list:
l Keep edges outside of the selection: Silence between the selection
points and the sound material is deleted. Use this to remove silence
from the edges of a selection. Data outside of the selection is not
deleted.
l Remove edges outside of the selection: Silence between the
selection points and the sound material is deleted. Anything outside
of the selection is also deleted. Use this to trim a sound from a
larger file.
l Remove silence between phrases (creates regions): All silence
between phrases inside of the selection is deleted. Regions are
created between phrases. Use this to delete the silence between
sound effects and automatically create regions in the Regions List.
For more information, see Regions List (⇗78)
l Remove data beyond loop points: All data after the selected loop is
deleted. Since most samplers never play audio beyond a loop, data
beyond the loop is unnecessary.
l Remove data from start and limit file length: Allows you to specify
an amount of sound that should be deleted from the beginning of
each file and specify a maximum length for converted files. If a file is
longer than this length, it will be trimmed. This setting is useful for
creating sample clips.
Attack Drag the fader to set the threshold level used for the detection of the
threshold trim/crop start point. -Inf. is complete silence; 0 dB is the maximum
amplitude level.

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Release Drag the fader to set the threshold level used for the detection of the
threshold trim/crop end point. -Inf. is complete silence; 0 dB is a maximum
amplitude level.
Fade in Specify the length of fade-in applied to the sound file after the trim/crop
start point is detected. This is useful for preventing glitches at beginning
and ending points.
Fade out Specify the length of the fade-out applied to the sound file after the
detected trim/crop end point.
Minimum Specify the minimum amount of silence that must exist between phrases
inter- before a new region is created.
phrase
silence
Minimum When using the Remove data beyond loop points option, this number
length specifies the number of samples that must exist after the loop. This is
following used to ensure that a sampler can loop properly, since some samplers
loop end don’t use the exact loop points supplied.

Bit-Depth Converter
From the Process menu, choose Bit Depth, and then choose Bit-Depth Converter from
the submenu to convert sound files to different bit depths.
Because the signal-to-noise ratio decreases when you decrease the bit depth of a file, you
should maximize the volume of the sound file using the Volume (⇗ 320) or Normalize
(⇗ 310) functions before performing the conversion.

Change a file's bit depth

1. From the Process menu, choose Bit Depth, and then choose Bit-Depth Converter
from the submenu.
2. Choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the controls as desired:
1. Choose a bit depth from the drop-down list.
Increasing a file's bit depth cannot improve the quality of the existing audio,
but does allow higher resolution for processing.
2. Choose a setting from the Dither drop-down list if you're decreasing the file's
bit depth and want to add dither noise to mask quantization noise. (⇗454)
For example, if you want to burn a 24-bit audio file to an audio CD, dithering
will produce a cleaner signal than a simple bit-depth conversion.

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Setting Description
Half Eliminates distortion caused by conversion to a lower bit
Rectangular depth, but the noise level is dependent on the signal. This
setting uses a maximum dither noise amplitude of 0.5 LSB
(least significant bit).
Rectangular Identical to Half Rectangular, but with a maximum dither
noise amplitude of 1 LSB (least significant bit).
Triangular Eliminates distortion caused by conversion to a lower bit
depth and eliminates noise floor modulation by producing a
slightly higher noise level.
Highpass Eliminates distortion caused by conversion to a lower bit
Triangular depth and eliminates noise floor modulation by producing a
slightly higher noise level. Noise is shifted to higher
frequencies than standard triangular dithering.
Gaussian Does not perform as well as rectangular or triangular
dithering, but may be suitable for some material.
POW-r Uses the POW-r dithering algorithms for best dithering
quality.

In general, Highpass Triangular with noise shaping produces the most

favorable results.
1. Choose a setting from the Noise shaping drop-down list to apply noise
shaping to your signal. Noise shaping lowers the perceived noise floor of the
signal by shifting most of the noise into the upper frequencies of human
hearing.
Setting Description
Off Does not apply noise shaping.
High-Pass Moves noise into high frequencies.
Contour The frequencies to which the noise is shifted (shaped) are close
to the Nyquist frequency, so you should not apply noise shaping
to files with a sample rate below 44.1 kHz. For example, a 22 kHz
signal has a Nyquist frequency of 11 kHz. If you move most of
the noise into that range, you are putting it into a sensitive area
of human hearing and will produce a worse-sounding signal.
Equal Distributes noise equally into high and low frequencies.
Loudness
Contour

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When the POW-r dithering algorithm ist used, you can select from three
noise shaping modes. Which dithering mode sounds the best depends mainly
on the audio signal.
Setting Description
POW-r This function uses a special dithering curve to minimize
#1 quantization noise.
POW-r This function uses additional noise shaping across a wide frequency
#2 range to extend the dynamic range by 5-10 dB.
POW-r This function uses additional, optimized noise shaping to extend
#3 the dynamic range by up to 20 dB between 2 kHz and 4 kHz. The
human ear is most sensitive to this frequency range.

c. Click OK.

Set the bit depth for playback only

Right click the Bit Depth box on the status bar and choose a new bit depth from the
shortcut menu.

Channel Converter
From the Process menu, choose Channel Converter to change the number of channels
in an audio file. The Channel Converter dialog can also be used to reverse the channels
of a stereo file or intermix the channels of a multichannel file to create interesting
panning effects.
To perform quick channel conversion without specifying the mix, use the Audio channels
box on the File Properties window or right-click the Channels box in the status bar and
choose a setting from the shortcut menu.

Notes:
l If you want to apply a panning envelope to a mono file, use the Channel Converter to
convert the file to stereo first.
l You can use mono files in the Pan/Expand dialog if you choose Pan (preserve stereo
separation) or Pan (mix channels before panning) from the Process mode drop-
down list. When you click OK to apply your changes, the file will be converted to
stereo and your panning settings will be applied.

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Convert a stereo file to mono

1. From the Process menu, choose Channel Converter.
2. Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list, or adjust the controls as needed:
l Choose 1 from the Output channels drop-down list to create a mono file.
l Click in the Source 1 box and type a gain value (or drag the fader) to adjust
the amount of the original left channel that will be mixed to the new mono
file.
l Click in the Source 2 box and type a gain value (or drag the fader) to adjust
the amount of the original right channel that will be mixed to the new mono
file.
l Select the Invert Mix check box if you want to reverse the phase of the new
left-channel mix.

3. Click the OK button.

Convert a mono file to stereo (or multichannel)

1. From the Process menu, choose Channel Converter.
2. Choose a setting from the Preset drop-down list, or adjust the controls as needed:
l Choose a setting from the Output channels drop-down list to indicate the
number of channels in the converted file.
l Click in the Output box for each output channel and type a gain value (or
drag the fader) to adjust the amount of the original mono file that will be
mixed to the new channel.
l Select the Invert Mix check box if you want to reverse the phase of the new
channel's content.

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3. Click the OK button.

Intermix channels in a file

1. From the Process menu, choose Channel Converter.
2. Adjust the controls as needed:
l Choose a setting from the Output channels drop-down list to indicate the
number of channels in the converted file.
l Click in the Source box for each output channel and type a gain value (or
drag the fader) to adjust the amount of the original channel that will be mixed
to the new channel.
l Select the Invert Mix check box if you want to reverse the phase of the new
channel's content.
3. Click the OK button.

Swap stereo channels

1. From the Process menu, choose Channel Converter.
2. From the Preset drop-down list, choose the Stereo to Stereo - Swap Channels
preset.
3. Click the OK button.

Removing DC Offset
From the Process menu, DC Offset to change the baseline of a sound file to compensate
for electrical mismatches between your sound card and input device. Glitches and other
unexpected results can occur when sound effects are applied to files that contain DC
offsets (⇗444).
An easy way to spot DC offset is to zoom (⇗ 229) in to a silent section of your sound file. If
the silent waveform matches the centerline in the waveform display, your file does not
contain DC offset.

Automatically detect and remove DC offset

1. From the Process menu, choose DC offset.
2. Click the Automatically detect and remove radio button.
3. Click the OK button.
To speed processing, select the Compute DC offset from first 5 seconds only check box.
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The only time that five seconds is not sufficient is if a long fade-in or mute has been applied
at the beginning of the file.

Specify an offset value

1. Determine the amount of DC offset in your file:
1. From the Tools menu, choose Statistics.
2. Record the values displayed in the Average value (DC offset) columns.
3. Click the OK button.
2. Click the Adjust DC offset by radio button and enter a value in the edit box to
specify an offset value.
3. Click the OK button
To speed processing, select the Compute DC offset from first 5 seconds only check box.
Only the first five seconds of a sound file will be analyzed when measuring the DC offset.
The only time that five seconds is not sufficient is if a long fade-in or mute has been applied
at the beginning of the file.

Equalization
From the Process menu, choose EQ, and then choose an equalizer type from the
submenu to adjust the tonal characteristics of your data.
Graphic EQ: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.
Paragraphic EQ: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX
dialog.
Parametric EQ: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX
dialog.

Fading In and Out

From the Process menu, choose Fade, and then choose a command from the submenu to
vary the volume of a sound file over time.

Perform a graphic fade

1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to fade.
If no data is selected, the fade is applied to the entire file.
2. From the Process menu, choose Fade, and then choose Graphic from the
submenu.
3. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound:

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l Drag the small envelope points up or down.

l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

l To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has
focus (the cursor will be displayed as a ).
l Select a radio button in the Maximum Gain group to adjust the range of the
envelope graph.
You can create up to 16 envelope points. Click the Reset Envelope button to remove all
but the outer two envelope points.

Displaying the waveform

Choose a command from the Show wave drop-down list if you want to display the
waveform in the envelope graph.
If you're working with a multichannel file, you can choose to view individual
channels or the mixed waveform.
The waveform is unavailable when the selection is greater than 300,000 samples.

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Fade in
1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to fade.
If no data is selected, the fade is applied to the entire file.
2. Choose Fade In to perform a linear fade from -Inf. to 0 dB.

Fade out
1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to fade.
If no data is selected, the fade is applied to the entire file.
2. Choose Fade Out to perform a linear fade from 0 dB to -Inf.

Inserting Silence
The Insert Silence dialog allows you to insert a section of silence in a sound file.
1. From the Insert menu, choose Silence.
2. In the Insert box, specify the length of silence that you want to add.
3. Choose a setting from the at drop-down list to specify where the silence should be
inserted.
l Cursor:inserts silence at the current cursor position.
l Start of File:inserts silence at the beginning of the file.
l End of File: inserts silence at the end of the file.
4. Click the OK button.

Inverting Data
From the Process menu, choose Invert/Flip to reverse the phase (⇗448) of the sound
data. Although inverting data does not make an audible difference in a single file, it can
be useful for matching a sample transition when executing certain pastes, mixes, or
loops.
If no data is selected, the entire file will be inverted.

Muting Sound
From the Process menu, choose Mute to set the volume of a selection to -Inf dB
(silence).
If no data is selected, the entire file will be muted.

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Normalizing Audio
From the Process menu, choose Normalize to raise the volume of a selection so that the
highest sample level reaches a user-defined level. Use normalization to ensure you are
using all of the dynamic range available to you without clipping.
When normalizing multichannel data, normalization is computed on the loudest sample
value found in any selected channel and the same gain is applied to all selected channels.
If a single channel is selected, normalization will affect only that channel.
When you convert files to a compressed format such as MP3, peaks that are at or near 0
dB may be clipped by the compression process. Consider normalizing first to reduce the
possibility of clipped peaks (normalizing to a peak level of -0.9 dB is a good starting point).

Normalize using a peak value

When you normalize to a peak value, you can specify the level to which the maximum
detected sample value will be set. A constant gain is applied to the selection to raise the
peak to this level.
1. From the Process menu, choose Normalize.
2. Click the Peak level radio button.
3. Click the Scan Levels button.
When previewing, the entire file must be scanned even when previewing a small
selection. Clicking the Scan Levels button stores the current Peak and RMS values.
This allows you to preview different Normalize to level settings without
rescanning the entire file.—
4. Drag the Normalize to fader to specify the level to which the highest peak should
be set.
5. Click the OK button.

Normalize using average RMS level

When you normalize using average RMS level, the average RMS value of the sound file is
raised to a value you specify. This is helpful for matching the apparent loudness of
different recordings.
1. From the Process menu, choose Normalize.
2. Click the Average RMS level radio button.
3. Click the Scan Levels button.
When previewing, the entire file must be scanned even when previewing a small
selection. Clicking the Scan Levels button stores the current Peak and RMS values.

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This allows you to preview different Normalize to level settings without

rescanning the entire file.—
4. Drag the Normalize to fader to specify the new average RMS level for the
selection.
When using RMS levels, set the Normalize to fader to -6 dB or less. Normalizing to
0 dB boosts the signal so that it has the same apparent loudness as a 0 dB square
wave (which is incredibly loud). If you were to do so, all of the dynamic range of
the signal would be squashed and all the peaks would either be clipped or seriously
compressed. Normalizing a peak to 0 dB is OK, but normalizing RMS to anything
above -6 dB can compromise sound quality.
5. Adjust scan settings:
Item Description
Ignore Drag the fader to determine the level of material you want to include in
below the RMS calculation. Any sound material below the threshold will be
ignored in the calculation. This is useful to eliminate any silent sections
from the RMS calculation. You should set this parameter a few dB
above what you consider to be silence.
If you set this value to minus infinity, all sound data will be used. If the
value is set too high (above -10 dB), there is a good chance that the RMS
value is always below the threshold. In this case, no normalization will
occur. Therefore, it is good to test the threshold by using the Scan
Levels button.
Attack Specify how quickly the scan should respond to transient peaks in the
time sound file. A slower attack time will tend to ignore fast-peaking
material.
Release Specify how quickly the scan should stop using transient peak material
time after it has begun to drop in level. A slower release time will increase the
amount of material included in the RMS calculation.
Use Select this check box if you want the RMS calculation to compensate
equal for high- and low-frequency audio. Very low and high frequencies are
loudness less audible than mid-range frequencies.
contour

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6. Select an option from the If clipping occurs drop-down list:

Item Description
Apply Any peaks that would clip are limited to below 0 dB using
dynamic nonzero attack and release times to minimize distortion. In other
compression words, a time-varying gain is used to ensure that no hard clipping
occurs.
This option is useful for getting very loud, yet clear sound during
the mastering process.
Normalize The selection’s peak amplitude level is normalized to 0 dB. This
peak value to applies the maximum possible constant gain that doesn’t clip to
0 dB the selection. Less gain is applied than would be necessary to
achieve the Normalize to RMS level.
Ignore Sound data is allowed to clip. Use this option only if the clipping
(saturate) samples are very short and infrequent.
Stop Any sound data that would clip causes the Normalize function to
processing stop processing and display a notification.

7. Click the OK button.

Loudness Normalize

When you Select Loudness loudness normalization is performed. The audio is normalized
in a way that is conforming to an internationally standardized loudness norm.

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Target Settings
For the Loudness Norm you can choose either EBU R128 or ITU-R BS.1770/1771 in their
respective current versions. Here you can also set the target value in LUFS for the
program loudness and specify the tolerance range.

Dynamic limiting (Loudness range normalization)

Dynamic limiting is a part of the dialog for loudness normalization and enables the
limiting of object dynamics in order to even out loudness variation within the audio
material.
Activating the check box Limit dynamics to: turns the algorithm on.
Set the target value for the dynamic range. The target value for the loudness range
depends on the listening environment. For example, a loudness range of approximately 6
LU is good for a car whereas a setting of more than 20 LU can be used for a movie
theater.
For files shorter than 30 seconds, dynamic range adjustment is not available. Instead,
normalization internally ensures that the short term maximum of the output file is not
greater than the Integrated target value + 5 LU.

Normalize using levels from another selection or file

1. Select the data you want to use to normalize your data.
2. From the Process menu, choose Normalize.
3. Click the Scan Levels button.
4. Close the Normalize dialog.
5. Select the data you want to normalize.
6. From the Process menu, choose Normalize.
7. Select the Use current scan level check box.
8. Click the OK button. The selection is normalized to the level displayed in the Peak
or RMS fields without rescanning.

Pan/Expand
From the Process menu, choose Pan/Expand to change the stereo image of an audio file
by drawing an envelope that will be applied across the current data selection. You can
create up to 16 envelope points.

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Use the phase scope (⇗ 166) to watch for phase cancellation when using the Pan/Expand
dialog.

Pan/Expand can only be used on mono or stereo files.

Pan audio and preserve stereo separation

The Pan (preserve stereo separation) processing mode allows you to perform right- and
left-channel panning effects without mixing the channels together. This is used to
simulate left/right positioning of stereo recordings.
1. From the Process menu, choose Pan/Expand.
2. Choose Pan (preserve stereo separation) from the Process mode drop-down list.
3. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound:
l Drag the small envelope points up or down to pan the audio left or right at
that envelope point.
For example, panning a stereo file hard right will play only the right channel
through the right speaker.
l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

l To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has
focus (the cursor will be displayed as a ).

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4. Drag the Output gain fader if you want to apply a gain after processing.
5. Click the OK button.

Pan mixed channels

The Pan (mix channels before panning) processing mode allows you to perform right-
and left-channel panning effects by first mixing the two channels and then changing the
volume between channels.
1. From the Process menu, choose Pan/Expand.
2. Choose Pan (mix channels before panning) from the Process mode drop-down
list.
3. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound:
l Drag the small envelope points up or down to pan the audio left or right at
that envelope point.
For example, panning a stereo file hard right will play the mixed right and left
channels through the right speaker.
l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

l To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has
focus (the cursor will be displayed as a ).

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4. Drag the Output Gain fader if you want to apply a gain after processing.
5. Click the OK button.

Display the waveform

Choose a command from the Show wave drop-down list if you want to display the
waveform in the envelope graph.
If you're working with a stereo file, you can choose to view individual channels or the
mixed waveform.
The waveform is unavailable with very large selections.

Perform stereo expansion

The Stereo expandprocessing mode allows you to contract or expand the stereo image
of a stereo recording, from dead center (mono), to completely panned wide (no center
channel). For realistic effects, you should not venture too far from Normal.
Notes:
l This effect works best with true stereo recordings and will not work with mono
material.
l Panning a stereo recording toward the center can emphasize vocals; widening the
image can de-emphasize vocals.
1. From the Process menu, choose Pan/Expand.
2. Choose Stereo expand from the drop-down list.
3. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound:
l Drag the small envelope points up or down to expand or contract the stereo
image.
l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

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Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

l To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has
focus (the cursor will be displayed as a ).
4. Drag the Output Gain fader if you want to apply a gain after processing.
5. Click the OK button.

Mix a mid-side mix to right and left channels

The Mix Mid-Side (MS) recording to left and right channels processing mode allows you
to convert a mid-side (⇗449) recorded track to a left/right track and set the width of the
stereo image.
Before mixing, you must first ensure that the mid track is in the left channel and the side
track in the right.
1. From the Process menu, choose Pan/Expand.
2. Choose Mix Mid-Side (MS) recording to left and right channels from the Process
mode drop-down list.
3. Adjust the envelope to set the width of the stereo image:
l Drag the small envelope points up or down.
l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

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Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

Resampling
From the Process menu, choose Resample, and then choose Resample from the
submenu to change the sample rate of an existing sound file.
Resampling data changes the number of recorded samples per second. When changing
to a higher sample rate, extra samples are interpolated and the file size increases. When
changing to a lower sample rate, some samples are removed and the file size decreases.

Resample your data

1. From the Process menu, choose Resample.
2. In the New sample rate box, specify the sample rate to which the sound file will be
converted.
Increasing a file's sample rate cannot improve the quality of the existing audio, but does
allow higher resolution for processing.
3. Drag the Interpolation accuracy slider to determine the complexity of the method
used during the resampling process.
The audible difference between values can be subtle without the use of test tones
and is most apparent in high frequencies. In general, a setting of 1 is adequate for
general-purpose audio. Settings of 2 and 3 are good for high-end audio. Setting this
parameter to 4 results in slow processing, but produces near-perfect results for
audiophiles and audio researchers.

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When downsampling by an even multiple (such as when resampling from 44 kHz to 22

kHz), processing is always fast and perfectly accurate.
4. Select the Apply an anti-alias filter during resample check box to preserve high-
frequency content when downsampling.
Since the maximum frequency that can be represented by any sample rate is one-
half of the sampling rate (the Nyquist frequency (⇗451)), high frequencies in a
sound file cannot be represented if the sound file is downsampled. Therefore,
when downsampling a file with strong high-frequency content, anti-aliasing should
be used to prevent these high frequencies from becoming low-frequency
distortion.
5. Click the OK button.

Set the sample rate without resampling

When you convert between two very close sample rates and want to process the file
quickly, you can change the sample rate without resampling. However, the original
pitch of the file is not preserved.
1. From the Process menu, choose Resample.
2. In the New sample rate box, specify the sample rate to which the sound file will be
converted.
3. Select the Set the sample rate only check box to change the playback rate without
resampling the data. This means that the original pitch of the file is not preserved.
4. Click the OK button.
To set the sample rate quickly, right-click the Sample Rate box in the status bar and
choose a new rate from the shortcut menu.

Reversing Sound
From the Process menu, choose Reverse to reverse the current selection, creating a
backward-tape effect.
If no data is selected, the entire file will be reversed.

Smooth/Enhance
From the Process menu, choose Smooth/Enhance to add or remove high-frequency
content.

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1. From the Process menu, choose Smooth/Enhance.

2. Drag the Operation slider toward Smooth or Enhance:
3. The Smooth function will smooth fast-changing transients in a sound and is useful
for removing glitches.
4. The Enhance function boosts the very highest frequencies (close to the Nyquist
frequency (⇗451)) in the sound file, making the sound file sound more vivid. It is
useful for compensating for the effects of downsampling or for bringing out very
fast transients in a sound file.
Since the enhance function boosts frequencies near the Nyquist frequency, the current
sample rate will determine what frequencies will be affected. At 44,100 Hz, the effect can
be very subtle.

Time Stretch
From the Process menu, choose Time and then choose a command from the submenu
to change the duration of a sound file.

Time Stretch
1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to stretch.
If no data is selected, time stretching is applied to the entire file.
From the Process menu, choose Time, and then choose Time Stretch from the
submenu.
2. For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

élastique Time Stretch

1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to stretch.
If no data is selected, time stretching is applied to the entire file.
2. From the Process menu, choose Time, and then choose élastique Timestretch
from the submenu. For information about using the effect, click the ? button in
the FX dialog.

Changing Volume
The Volume dialog allows you to change the volume of a selection. To display this dialog,
choose Volume from the Process menu.
Excessive volume increases may cause distortion. You can also use the Normalize (⇗310)
dialog to maximize the volume of a sound file.

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1. Select (⇗199) the data you want to modify.

If no data is selected, the volume of the entire file will be modified.
2. From the Process menu, choose Volume.
3. Drag the Gain fader to adjust the volume of the selection:
l Positive values boost the volume.
l Negative values attenuate the volume.
l A value of negative infinity mutes the selection (0%).
4. Click the OK button.

Effects
Acoustic Mirror
You can use the Acoustic Mirror plug-in to add the acoustic coloration of real
environments and sound-altering devices to existing recordings. Depending on the
acoustic signature applied, the Acoustic Mirror plug-in can simulate responses varying
from large concert halls to the sound of vintage microphones.
SOUND FORGE PRO software includes an extensive library of extremely high-quality
acoustic signatures (impulse responses) that you can use to simulate the acoustics of
many different environments.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Amplitude Modulation
Use the Amplitude Modulation command to apply a sinusoidal or square-shaped periodic
gain to the input signal. The frequency of the gain waveform can be specified to create
effects varying from a slow tremolo to unusual sound distortions.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Chorus
From the Effects menu, choose Chorus to add a pitch-modulated and delayed version of
the input signal to the unprocessed input signal. The effect simulates the variances in
pitch and timing that occur naturally when two or more people try to play or sing the
same thing at the same time.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

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Delay/Echo
From the Effects menu, choose Delay/Echo, and then choose a command from the
submenu to apply an echo effect to a selection.
Multi-Tap Delay: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX
dialog.
Simple Delay: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Distortion
From the Effects menu, choose Distortion to tailor the gain at all input levels of a signal.
You can create effects ranging from dramatic to subtle distortion, simple compression,
expansion, and noise gates.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Dynamics
From the Effects menu, choose Dynamics, and then choose a command from the
submenu to modify the dynamic range of a selection.
Graphic Dynamics: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX
dialog.
Multi-Band Dynamics: For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the
FX dialog.

Envelope
From the Effects menu, choose Envelope to apply an envelope to vary the amplitude of a
waveform over time. Unlike the Graphic Fadecommand, which simply fades a waveform
by a specific amount over time, the gain at each point is dynamically calculated to
achieve the exact specified envelope.
For more information about using processing dialog controls, click here (⇗285).

Apply an amplitude envelope

1. From the Effects menu, choose Envelope.
2. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound:
1. Drag the small envelope points up or down.
2. To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.

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3. To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the

shortcut menu.
4. To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

3. To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has focus
(the cursor will be displayed as a ).
You can create up to 16 envelope points. Click the Reset Envelope button to reset
the graph to a simple ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) curve.
4. Select the Smooth gain to minimize distortion on steep slopes check box to
prevent the gain from changing too quickly, which might result in unwanted
distortion. Also, when this option is on, the gain will always begin at 0%.
5. Click the OK button.

Display the waveform

Choose a command from the Show wave drop-down list if you want to display the
waveform in the envelope graph.
If you're working with a multichannel file, you can choose to view individual channels or
the mixed waveform.
The waveform is unavailable when the selection is greater than 300,000 samples.

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Flange/Wah-Wah
From the Effects menu, choose Flange/Wah-Wah to apply flanging, phasing, and wah-
wah effects to a sound.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Gapper/Snipper
From the Effects menu, choose Gapper/Snipper to cut chunks from the sound file or
insert silence in the sound file periodically at a set frequency.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Noise Gate
From the Effects menu, choose Noise Gate to remove signals below a specified
threshold. This effect is used to remove noise from silent breaks in a sound file.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Pitch
From the Effects menu, choose Pitch, and then choose a command from the submenu to
change the pitch of a selection.

Bend
The Bend command allows you to draw an envelope that increases or decreases the
pitch of a sound file over time.
1. From the Effects menu, choose Pitch, and then choose Bend from the submenu.
2. Drag the Range slider to determine the maximum and minimum pitch change in
semitones (half-steps). Example: A range of twelve half-steps (one octave) allows
an increase or decrease of the pitch by an octave.
3. Adjust the envelope to achieve the desired sound:
l Drag the small envelope points up or down.
l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:

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Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope

Linear Fade

Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

l To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has
focus (the cursor will be displayed as a ).
l You can create up to 16 envelope points. Click the Reset Envelope button to
remove all but the outer two envelope points.
4. Select the Preserve original duration check box if you do not want pitch bending
to change the size of the sound file. This setting works best when performing small
pitch corrections (up to +/- 2 semitones).
5. Click the OK button.

Displaying the waveform

Choose a command from the Show wave drop-down list if you want to display the
waveform in the envelope graph.
If you're working with a multichannel file, you can choose to view individual channels or
the mixed waveform.
The waveform is unavailable when the selection is greater than 300,000 samples.

Shift
The Shift command allows you to change the pitch of a sound with or without
preserving the duration of the selection.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

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Resonant Filter
From the Effects menu, choose Resonant Filter to restrict the range of a sound using
low-pass, band-pass, or high-pass filtering, and then boost and add oscillation to the
resonant frequency.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Reverb
From the Effects menu, choose Reverb to simulate various acoustic spaces. Reverb
consists of early reflections, which are the first reflections that arrive back to your ear,
and the reverb itself.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Vibrato
From the Effects menu, choose Vibrato to apply periodic pitch modulation to a
selection.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Wave Hammer
The Wave Hammer DirectX plug-in is an audio mastering tool consisting of a classic
compressor and a volume maximizer. These components rival the most expensive and
world-renowned units in terms of audio quality and fidelity, yet are easy to use and
seamlessly integrate in one user interface.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

Wave Hammer 2.0

From the Effects menu, choose Wave Hammer 2.0 to edit the dynamics with up to four
independent frequency bands. The entire signal is split into individual frequency bands in
this case. The dynamics are then edited separately for each band.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

DeClicker / DeCrackler
From the Effects menu, choose DeClicker / DeCrackler to removes crackling and single
clicking noises that are typical of scratched records. The DeCrackler algorithm was

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developed specifically to remove crackling noises, making it easier to remove crackling

from old records.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

DeClipper
The DeClipper is a tool for removing overmodulation and distortions. Overmodulated
passages are recalculated, or interpolated, based on the material immediately
surrounding them.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

DeHisser
From the Effects menu, choose DeHisser for noise removal. The DeHisser eliminates
regular, low-level "white" noise that is typically produced by recordings, microphones,
pre-amplifiers, or transformers.
For information about using the effect, click the ? button in the FX dialog.

coreFX

Introduction
The coreFX are a collection of several effects plug-ins with a clear user interface that
ensures a uniform operation. There are 9 coreFX that can be categorized in two groups:
delay-based and dynamic effects, plus the Volume Former. Inside these groups the
effects differ just from the range of the parameter values which results in different
audible effects. The Volume Former is a special case, it cannot be assigned to either of
these two groups.
Each of the plug-ins contains several hands-on presets for daily use. Just try out the presets
to get an idea of how the plug-ins work!

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Delay based effects

The three effects coreFX Delay, Flanger and Chorus have the same working principle: A
delay line delays the audio signal for a certain amount of time and the delayed signal is
fed back to the delay input. Inside the feedback path there is a high pass and a low pass
filter that restricts the frequency spectrum of the feedback audio signal. The delay time
can be modulated (i. e. periodically changed) by an LFO (low frequency oscillator).
Depending on the delay time, the amount of modulation of this delay time and how
much feedback is given, the result is an Delay (Echo), Flanger or Chorus effect.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Delay
Delay Time: The delay time can be adjusted between 1ms and 3 seconds. With Freeze
on, the delay input is muted and the content of the delay buffer is repeatedly played
back. The playback speed can be changed with the Delay Time control, whereby the
value display now shows a multiplication factor of the original speed instead of the delay
time.
Try to automate the delay time for spacey pitch effects!
LFO: The LFO modulation is not essential to obtain a delay effect. It is just an additional
parameter to add small fluctuations of the delay time to simulate the behavior of old
tape-delay machines where the tape speed was not always constant. That's why you can
switch off the LFO with the ON/OFF button. You can chose from 3 different wave
forms for the LFO and set the frequency and depth of the modulation.
Feedback: Feedback controls the amount of signal that is sent back to the delay input.
The more feedback is given, the longer the echo effect will last.
High Pass/Low Pass/Resonance: Restrict the frequency spectrum of the wet signal with
the filters. For instance, move the Low Pass fader to the left to filter out the higher

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frequency parts from the delayed signal. As the filtering is applied before the feedback,
each echo repetition will be a bit more dull and less brilliant. If you move the High Pass
fader to the right, you will cut out the low frequencies from the echo. Resonance
amplifies the effect of the filters, so be careful with high values, too!
Mix: Controls the mix between the unprocessed (dry) and the processed (wet) audio
signal. At 0%, only the dry signal will be heard. For higher values more and more of the
processed signal is added in until at 50% both the wet and dry signals are at full volume.
Similarly, for values above 50% the dry signal level decreases until it reaches zero at
100%.

Flanger
Delay Time: The typical delay time for a flanger effect is between 1ms and 7ms. The
short delay times in combination with high feedback values result in the typical tonal
effects of the delay.
LFO: As with the delay, you can chose from 3 different wave forms for the LFO and set
the frequency and depth of the modulation. You will notice that there are deeper
modulations possible as the LFO modulation is crucial for a flanger effect.
Feedback: Feedback controls the amount of signal that is sent back to the delay input.
The more feedback is given, the stronger the "ringing" of the flanger is.
High Pass/Low Pass/Resonance: Although not essential for a flanger effect, the filter
can help to shape the overall sound of the flanger. Also be careful with the resonance
value!
Mix: Controls the ratio between the unprocessed and the processed audio signal. For an
audible flanger effect this has to be higher than a typical delay mix.

Chorus
Delay Time: The typical delay time for a chorus effect is between 3.5ms and 14ms. This
results in a perceived doubling of the audio signal.
LFO:There are also 3 different wave forms for the LFO with an high amount of
modulation possible. The modulation of the delay time causes a slightly different pitch of
the delayed signal which strengthens the doubling effect.
Feedback: Feedback controls the amount of signal that is sent back to the delay input.
For a chorus effect this is not really necessary (in fact, a flanger is just a chorus with
shorter delay times and feedback). But it is not forbidden to use feedback anyway.
High Pass/Low Pass/Resonance:Although not essential for a chorus effect, the filter can
help to shape the overall sound of the chorus. This is especially useful to keep the bass
unaltered and apply the effect to higher frequencies only.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Mix: As the chorus effect needs a mixture between the delayed and un-delayed signal,
you will achieve the best results at around 50%.

Dynamic effects
These five effects have a common working principle, they are all dynamic effects: There
is an amplifier with a variable amount of amplification that is controlled by the level of
the input signal. When the level goes over or under a certain point (the treshold) the
amplification changes to obtain the desired effect: So, for instance, you can realize
compression when the signal level is reduced above a threshold, or you get a noise gate
by suppressing audio below the threshold and so on.
A secondary stereo input channel pair can be used to side-chain the dynamic effects
(except the Limiter). The dynamic effect is controlled by another audio signal then to
realize classical "pumping" effects where a kick drum on one track controls compression
of another track to make that little extra headroom for the kick.
There are useful presets for each effect, giving you a great starting point for your
processing needs.

Common Controls
Waveform Display: (1) The display at the upper right corner of the FX shows the
waveform of the processed signal. The colored line shows the amount of the
amplification or attenuation of the signal. Move the mouse over the waveforms to see

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Applying Processes and Effects

the scaling of the display. You can change the scaling of the audio waveform and the
gain reduction graph independently by right clicking on the display.
Peak/RMS:(2) There are two modes of input detection, Peak or RMS. Peak uses the peak
level while RMS uses an average over a short period of time. Peak is therefore faster,
while RMS is more accurate. Which mode is better depends on the audio material.
Attack/Release:(3) These time values specify how quickly the effect kicks in (Attack) or
how long it takes to return to become inactive again (Release).
Soft:(4) The characteristic of a dynamic effect has a typical fold, the "knee" (or two, in
case of the 2-Point Compressor) at the theshold point(s). With the Soft value you can
make the fold more or less round to let the effect sound more natural (this is called "soft
knee").
Out Gain:(5) After the variable amplifier has processed the signal according the volume
of the input signal, it may be lower in volume. The Out Gain slider can be used to
compensate for this
This is also known as Makeup Gain.
Mix:(6) Adjusts the dry/wet mix between unprocessed and processed audio signal.
Peak meters:(7) The Peak meters show the input and output signals, the CLIP indicator
get red when clipping occurs. Click on it to reset these indicators.
Limiter: (8) To prevent the output signal of the effect from clipping, you can activate an
additional Limiter here. This is the same limiter used as Hard Limiter in the Limiter (⇗333)

Compressor
The Compressor is used to compress the audio to balance out the differences between
louder and softer signals. If the signal level goes over the treshold, the amplification is
reduced and so the dynamic range of the signal is reduced by this.
Threshold: This sets the response threshold for regulation. For example, -20 dB indicates
that the input signal is only compressed once it reaches -20 dB; below this level, no
change will take place (please note that this is only strictly true with the Soft control at
0).
Ratio: This parameter controls the compression ratio. A value of 10 means that, above
the threshold level, any additional 10dB of input level will result in a 1dB increase in the
output level.
Out Gain: As the reduced amplification of the signals over the threshold result in an
overall reduction of the audio level you can compensate it with the Out Gain fader.

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Applying Processes and Effects

Expander
This is the opposite effect to a compressor. If the signal level goes below the treshold,
the amplification is reduced, so low signal becomes even lower, increasing the dynamic
range of the signal. You could see this a softer form of a Gate (⇗333), where a signal
below the treshold is not cut out completely but faded out..
Treshold: Above the treshold the Expander does nothing, below the threshold the
Expander reduces the level according to the set ratio.
Ratio: Controls the expansion ratio. A value of 10 means that, below the threshold level,
decreasing the input level by 1dB will reduce the output level by 10dB.

Limiter
This is a special case of a compressor with a very high ratio to make sure that the signal
stays under a certain level. This is used to raise the overall loudness of a signal without
clipping it. While the use of compressors or expanders is to shape the sound the best
limiter is the one you don't notice at all, apart from the desired perceived loudness
increase.
In Gain: The In Gain slider can be used to increase the amplitude of the signal before it
hits the limiter.
Ceiling: The limiter prevents the signal from getting over the ceiling level, so this is
typically set just below 0dB, like -0.1 dB.
Hard Limiter: Due to the attack time, it takes a couple of milliseconds before the limiter
catches up with sudden changes in the input level. This can lead to short transients
exceeding the ceiling level. Activate the Hard Limiter to add a second limiter into the
signal chain that catches the remaining transients and makes sure that not a single
sample exceeds the ceiling level. This hard limiter uses a look-ahead time of 10ms to
observe incoming transients. Due to the look-ahead time, it can start lowering the gain
ahead of the transient, greatly reducing audible artifacts. However, this introduces an
additional delay of 10ms to the entire plug-in. This is usually automatically compensated
in the host software and is only relevant if the overall processing latency must be low,
e.g. when processing audio live.
There is no Mix control in the Limiter (plausible, when you think about it)!

Gate
A gate is the corresponding special case of the expander with a very high ratio, so
essentially the signal is entirely suppressed when it falls below the treshold. The
complete designation of the effect is "Noise gate" and this also indicates the most

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common application of this effect: To filter out unwanted background noises in the
pauses of a vocal or instrumental performance.
Level: The Level controls the threshold, below which the signal will be suppressed.
Attack/Release: The attack time can be used to control the transients of the output
signal: With long attack times, it takes a while before the gate opens - cutting away the
transient of a sound. Similarly, the release time can be used to control the sustain of a
sound, making it more or less percussive.

2-Point Compressor
This is a dual Compressor/Expander offering you an even bigger flexibility in dynamic
processing. Unlike the cFX Compressor, the ratios can also be smaller than 1, making it
an expander to increase the dynamic range of the signal. For instance, you can combine
the two sections to a Compressor/Expander combination to shape drum sounds: Expand
the sound at lower levels to remove background noises and compress the loud hits in
one go. Check out the presets!
Ratio: This parameter controls the compression ratio of the point. Values above 1 will
apply compression above the according threshold level, with values below 1 it works as
an expander for signal levels below the treshold level.
Since it is not determined at which point with which threshold compression or expansion is
applied, extreme levels can occur under certain value combinations. We strongly
recommend the use of the Limiter option!

Sidechain controls and filter

A side-chain is a secondary stereo input channel pair that can be used to control the
dynamic effect by a different signal as the one being processed. For instance, to realize
the classical "pumping" effects where a kick drum on one track controls compression of
another track to make that little extra headroom for the kick drum to be really in front.
Your host software has to support side-chaining, i.e. it has to be capable of routing audio
from one track (or bus) into the additional inputs (3/4) of the plug-in on another track.
Consult the manual of your host software if and how you can do this in your host
software!
If side-chaining is not possible, you can simulate this effect with the Volume Former
(⇗335)

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To use a mix between the internal and the side-chain signal, move the Int/Ext:(2) slider
towards Ext. With the High Pass/ Low Pass (3) filter you can use just certain frequency
components to control the effect, for instance lower the low pass filter value to let only
the bass components of the side-chain signal control the dynamic effect. For control
purposes you can click the Listen button (1) to listen to the side-chain signal.

Volume Former
The Volume Former is an automated volume envelope, that is controlled by a beat-
synched or free running LFO. For the volume control you can alternatively manipulate
the volume level (VCA) or use a low pass (LPG) or high pass gate (HPG). With the the
Volume Former you can apply a Tremolo effect, transform pads into pumping chords (for
hosts that doesn't support side-chaining) or accentuate rhythmical aspects of a drum
loop, like isolating the kick drum. Just try the presets to get the idea!

Trigger LFO
The Trigger LFO (low frequency oscillator) periodically triggers the envelope. So, for
instance, set the time to 1/4 to trigger the envelope every beat.

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When Sync
(1) is active
the trigger
frequency is
set
dependent
from the
host tempo
and you can
chose a
Time (2)
between 1/1
(whole note
or once a
measure
with a 4/4
beat) and
1/64 note (a
quite fast
stutter
effect). The
envelope
tempo and
phase
always
follows the
host tempo
and beat
position.
When Free
(3) is active,
you can set a
trigger
frequency
between 0.2
and 25 Hz.
This is
independent
from the
host tempo
and also
from the
playback
position, the 336 / 512
trigger
Applying Processes and Effects

Envelope

The envelope is a AHD envelope, thus consisting of three phases Attack, Hold and
Decay. The Envelope can be used in Gate or Pump mode (1). In Gate mode the Envelope
rises the volume over the attack time, keeps it at maximum level for the hold time and
lowers it over the decay time. In Pump mode the envelope is mirrored horizontally and
works vice versa: starting from maximum level, it fells to zero over the attack time, stays
there for the hold time and rises back to maximum over the decay time.
(2)Adjust the time spans and curve shapesby dragging the circular handles at the
envelope. Below the graphic there's also a numeric readout of the values (3). You set the
time spans in percent of the whole LFO cycle.
You'll notice, that the values don't have to add up to 100%. That means, you can set
envelopes that are longer or shorter than the LFO cycle. By this you can use only the
parts of the envelopes or open/close the gate for just a part of the LFO cycle.
(4) You can see the effect of the Volume Former on the volume directly in the waveform
display, that runs through behind the envelope.

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Gate

Choose between VCA, LPG

and HPG with the gate type
switch (1).
VCA: The envelope controls
the volume with a Voltage
Controlled Amplifier, so all
freqeuncies are affected
equally.
LPG: The envelope controls
the volume with a Low Pass
Gate. The low pass gate
comes from the "west coast
style" synthesizer design
and works differently: The
volume reduction is
accomplished by a 1-pole
low pass filter where the
envelope controls the
cutoff frequency (higher
envelope level = higher
cutoff frequency = more of
the whole signal coming
trough the gate). This
results in a more natural
sounding volume reduction,
where the higher
frequencies are reduced
earlier as the lower ones
when the level turns down.
(With a departing sound
source, the higher
frequencies also disappear
first.)
HPG: With the High Pass
Gate a high pass filter is
used for gating, here the
lower frequencies disappear
first.

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The Amount slider (2) controls the overall effect of the volume former: When set to 0%
it has no effect at all, at 100% it turns the volume to silence when the envelope level is 0.
You can check the input and output levels with the peak meters (3)
Bypass the whole effect with the Bypass check box (4).

wizardFX Suite
In the early years of electronic music, synthesizers were often characterized by the fact
that they could produce billions of different sounds through the combination of their
numerous sound parameters. The legendary Prophet-5 synthesizer was one of the first
synthesizers in the world to offer the ability to save a user's individual tone settings as
presets and load them again at any time. After years of receiving these synthesizers for
repair, service technicians were amazed to discover that the vast majority of them had
not been changed from any of the included factory sounds. The musicians weren't
interested in extensively searching for new sounds and were just satisfied with the
sounds provided.
Not everyone is an audio technology specialist, some musicians would rather work in a
goal-oriented manner than spend hours working on the perfect sound. If you don't have
the time or desire to bother with modulation frequencies, envelope filters or delay times,
then the wizardFX Suite is right for you.
Its radical approach: Provide sophisticated, state-of-the-art algorithms "under the hood",
but without tons of settings, but a reasonable number of presets, carefully designed for
their musical functionality.
With this in mind, we'd like to spare you virtually all the technical details in this manual,
scroll through the presets using the mouse wheel, use your ears, and, if you like what
you hear, concentrate on the most important thing – your music!

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Repairing Glitches, Clicks, and Noise

Repairing Glitches, Clicks, and Noise

You can use SOUND FORGE PRO software to repair glitches, clicks, and surface noise in
sound files.

Interpolating Sound Data

From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Interpolate from the submenu to
interpolate a region of sound based on the data at the beginning and end of the
selection. This function is useful for repairing small glitches or clicks.
1. From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and then choose In Full from the
submenu.
2. Select the glitch. The selection should be very small (less than 2 ms in most cases).
If no selection is made, a glitch of less than one millisecond is assumed, and the
cursor position is treated as the middle of the glitch.
3. From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Interpolate from the
submenu. The beginning and end of the selection are connected with a straight
line.

Use this method when a straight connect-the-dots technique is all that is required to
remove the glitch. Otherwise, you may create another glitch.

Replacing Sound Data with Previous Data

From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Replace from the submenu to
replace a region of sound with previous sound data. This function is useful for replacing
regions of sound such as record scratches.

Replace a selection
1. Select the corrupted audio. For most cases, the selection should be between 5
and 50 milliseconds. The maximum allowed replace time is 0.5 seconds.

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Repairing Glitches, Clicks, and Noise

2. From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Replace from the
submenu. The selected audio is replaced with the data preceding the selection,
and the edges of the replaced audio are crossfaded to prevent glitching.
Hold Ctrl while replacing data to replace the selected audio with the data following
the selection.

Find and replace a glitch

1. From the Tools menu, choose Find.
2. Use the Find dialog to specify the type of glitch you want to fix, and then click the
OK button.
3. From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Replace from the
submenu. A 15-millisecond range of data surrounding the cursor is replaced with
the preceding data, and the edges of the replaced audio are crossfaded to prevent
glitching.

Copying Sound Data from Another Channel

From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Copy Other Channel from the
submenu to repair a glitch or click in a single channel of a stereo pair. When a click or
glitch occurs in only one channel, you can use the undamaged channel's audio to replace
the data in the corrupted channel.
This function works only with stereo files when both channels contain similar audio
material and the unselected channel does not contain a glitch.

Copy data to replace a selection

1. Select the corrupted audio in a single channel of a stereo file. For most cases, the
selection should be between 1 and 50 milliseconds. The selected area should be
three or four times the length of the glitch.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Copy Other Channel from
the submenu. The audio in the unselected channel is used to replace the current
selection. A very short crossfade is applied to prevent glitching.
If the glitch still exists, apply the function to a bigger selection surrounding the glitch.
This ensures that the crossfade has ended by the time the glitch occurs.

Find and replace a glitch

1. From the Tools menu, choose Find.
2. Use the Find dialog to specify the type of glitch you want to find, and then click
the OK button.

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Repairing Glitches, Clicks, and Noise

3. Press Tab to select the channel containing the click.

4. From the Tools menu, choose Repair, and then choose Copy Other Channel from
the submenu. The audio in the unselected channel is used to replace five
milliseconds before and after the cursor position.

Editing with SpectraLayers Pro

From the Tools menu, choose Edit in SpectraLayers Pro to open the current sound file
in SpectraLayers Pro.
If SpectraLayers Pro is not installed, the command is not available. .

Edit a file in SpectraLayers Pro

1. Select a data window or drag the cursor in the data window or marker bar to make
a time selection.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Edit in SpectraLayers Pro. SpectraLayers Pro starts,
and the active data window is loaded as a layer in a new SpectraLayers project.
3. Edit your file as needed in SpectraLayers Pro. For information about using
SpectraLayers Pro, please refer to the application help.
4. When you're done editing, close SpectraLayers Pro. You'll be prompted to export
your changes back to SOUND FORGE PRO. Click Yes, and the SOUND FORGE
PRO data window is updated to reflect any changes.

Send a file to a layer in SpectraLayers Pro

1. Select a data window or drag the cursor in the data window or marker bar to make
a time selection.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Send to SpectraLayers Pro. If SpectraLayers Pro is
running, the selection is added to the current project as a new layer. If
SpectraLayers Pro is not running, the application starts, and the active data
window is loaded as a layer in a new project.
3. Repeat step 2 as needed to build layers in your SpectraLayers Pro project.
4. Edit your file as needed in SpectraLayers Pro. For information about using
SpectraLayers Pro, please refer to the application help.
5. When you're done editing, you can save your project in SpectraLayers Pro, render
the mixed output, or use Process > Send to SOUND FORGE PRO to save your
changes.

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Scripting

Scripting
From the View menu, choose Script Editor to toggle the display of the Script Editor
window. You can use the Script Editor window to open, create, edit, or run scripts.
Scripting helps you streamline repetitive tasks and implement customized features. Our
new Batch Converter, for example, was created using scripting.
SOUND FORGE PRO includes a number of scripts in the Tools > Scripting menu that you
can use or modify as needed.
You can also write your own scripts using JScript, VBScript, or C# as well as scripts that
have been compiled as DLLs.

Running Scripts
Use the Script Editor window or the Scripting submenu on the Tools menu to run
scripts.
Scripts can pose a security risk to your computer. A script has the power to delete files,
read files, write files, execute programs, access the Internet, access files on your network,
and so on. Always examine the contents of a script before running it. If you don't
understand the script, do not run it unless it comes from a trusted source. In general, take
the same precautions you would take for any program you download from the Internet or
receive in an e-mail attachment.

Run a script from the Script Editor window

1. Click in the data window where you want to apply the script to establish focus.
2. From the View menu, choose Script Editor to display the Script Editor window if it
isn't already displayed.
3. Click the Open button in the Script Editor toolbar. The Open Script window is
displayed.
4. Select the script file (.vb, .js, .cs, or .dll) you want to run. The contents of the script
are displayed at the bottom of the Script Editor window.
5. If you need to pass an argument to the script, type it in the Script Args box.
Arguments are specified as follows: ArgName=ArgValue&ArgName2=ArgValue2. .
.
For example, a script that uses an argument to indicate where files should be
saved could use the following argument to save files to a ScriptOutput folder on
your D:\ drive: dir=d:\ScriptOutput.
If your script can create a log file to record the results of a scripting operation, you

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Scripting

could append that argument as follows:

dir=d:\ScriptOutput&logFileName=myLog.txt.In this example, the ampersand (&)
separates the two arguments, the first argument set the save folder, and the
second argument sets the file name for the log file.
6. Click the Run Script button .

Run a script from the Scripting menu

1. Click in the data window where you want to apply the script to establish focus.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Scripting.
3. Choose a script from the submenu or choose Run Script from the submenu to
browse to the script file (.vb, .js, .cs, or .dll) you want to run.

Run a script from the command line

In addition to running scripts from the Script Editor and the Scripting menu, you can run
scripts directly from the command line using the following commands.
SCRIPT
Starts SOUND FORGE PRO and runs the specified script.
Example:"C:\Program Files\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE
PRO15.0\Forge150.exe" -SCRIPT: "C:\Scripts\MyScript.cs"
SCRIPTARGS
Starts SOUND FORGE PRO and passes the specified arguments to a script.
Example:"C:\Program Files\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE
PRO15.0\Forge150.exe" -SCRIPTARGS:
"in\C:\Test\input.dls&out=C:\Test\Output.dls&repeat=2" -
SCRIPT: "C:\Scripts\MyScript.cs"
EXIT
Exits SOUND FORGE PRO after running the specified script.
Example: "C:\Program Files\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE
PRO15.0\Forge150.exe" -SCRIPT: "C:\Scripts\MyScript.cs" -EXIT

Learn more about script arguments

A script can accept arguments to dynamically change the behavior of a script.
Arguments allow you to develop a single script that performs multiple functions
controlled by the arguments sent to the script.
Each argument is a key/value pair. The key is a string that identifies the argument’s value.
Multiple arguments are delimited by an ampersand (&).

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Example: key1=value1&key2=value2&key3=value3…
When you supply arguments to a script, the following static functions can be used to
extract and format the parameters:
public static string GETARG(string key, string str) {
string val = Script.Args.ValueOf(key); if (val == null)
val = str; return val; }
public static int GETARG(string key, int ii) { return
Script.Args.AsInt(key,ii); }
public static Int64 GETARG(string key, Int64 cc) { return
Script.Args.AsInt64(key,cc); }
public static bool GETARG(string key, bool ff) { return
Script.Args.AsBool(key,ff); }
public static double GETARG(string key, double dd) {
return Script.Args.AsDouble(key,dd); }
The first argument to the GETARG functions specifies a key name that is used to identify
the argument to be extracted. The second argument in the GETARG function is a default
value to be returned if the function cannot find the key name. The second argument also
determines which overloaded function the script will use and how the value will be
formatted.
For example, consider a script that accepts three input parameters. The syntax for the
arguments is as follows:
in=C:\Test\input.dls&out=C:\Test\output.dls&repeat=2
The script to handle the parameters would look as follows:
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;

using SoundForge;
using SoundForge.BatchConverter;

public class EntryPoint {

public string Begin(IScriptableApp app) {
string inFile = GETARG("in", "");
string outFile = GETARG("out", "" );
int count = GETARG("repeat", 0 );

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Scripting

Add scripts to the Scripting menu

When you start the program, SOUND FORGE PRO software looks at the Script Menu
folder in the SOUND FORGE PRO program folder to determine which scripts appear in
the Scripting submenu. This folder is c:\Program Files\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE
PRO15.0\Script Menu by default.
1. Add or delete scripts in the Script Menu folder to change the contents of the
submenu.
To prevent duplication of script files, you can use shortcuts in the Script Menu folder.

2. From the Tools menu, choose Scripting, and then choose Rescan Script Menu
Folder to update the menu.
If you want to display custom icons for scripts in the Scripting menu and toolbar, you can
create icons as .png files in your Script Menu folder. For more information, please see The
Scripting Toolbar.

Editing or Creating Scripts

Use the Script Editor window to open, create, edit, or run scripts.

Create a script
SOUND FORGE PRO scripting uses the Microsoft .NET framework for scripting. You can
write scripts in JScript, Visual Basic .NET, or C#.
1. From the View menu, choose Script Editor if the Script Editor window isn't already
visible.
2. Create a new script template:
1. Click the next to the New Script Template button .
2. Choose the type of script you want to create.
3. Click the New Script Template button .
A new script is displayed in the Script Editor window with everything you need to
get started.
3. Replace the /*begin here*/ text with your script.
In the following sample JScript script, the text in green was added to the script
template. When run, this script would add information to the Summary window
for the active data window. Red text represents information that you would want
to customize:

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Scripting

import System;
import System.Windows.Forms;
import SoundForge;
public class EntryPoint {
public function Begin(app : IScriptableApp) {
var file = app.CurrentFile;
if (null != file)
{
var sumy = file.Summary;
for (var fcc in sumy)
{
DPF("fcc=" + fcc + " '" + sumy.Item(fcc) + "'");
}
//MODIFY HERE - type your own information in the area
below
sumy.Title = "Title";
sumy.Subject = "Subject";
sumy.Engineer = "Engineer";
sumy.Copyright = "Copyright";
sumy.Comments = "Comments";
sumy.CreationDate = "2005-01-05";
sumy.Genre = "Genre";
sumy.TrackNo = "TrackNo";
sumy.Album = "Album";
sumy.Artist = "Artist";
}
}
public function FromSoundForge(app : IScriptableApp) {
ForgeApp = app;
app.SetStatusText(String.Format("Script '{0}' is
running.", Script.Name));
Begin(app);
app.SetStatusText(String.Format("Script '{0}' is
done.", Script.Name));
}
public var ForgeApp : IScriptableApp = null;
public function DPF(sz) { ForgeApp.OutputText(sz);}
public function DPF(sz,o) { ForgeApp.OutputText
(System.String.Format(sz,o)); }
public function DPF(sz,o,o2) { ForgeApp.OutputText
(System.String.Format(sz,o,o2)); }
public function DPF(sz,o,o2,o3) { ForgeApp.OutputText

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(System.String.Format(sz,o,o2,o3)); }
} // class EntryPoint
4. Click the Compile Script button to compile and test your script. Any errors are
displayed at the bottom of the window.
5. Click the Save button to choose the file name and location you want to use to
save the script.

Edit an existing script

All you need to edit a script is the Script Editor window (and, or course, a working
knowledge of JScript, Visual Basic .NET, or C# scripting). The scripts that are included
with SOUND FORGE PRO software are fully commented to help you find and edit the
parameters you need.
1. From the View menu, choose Script Editor if the Script Editor window isn't already
visible.
2. Click the Open button in the Script Editor window, choose the script you want to
edit, and then click Open.
The contents of the script are displayed in the Script Editor window.
You cannot edit scripts that have been compiled as DLLs.
3. Edit the script as needed. The comments in the script will help you find the
parameters you need to edit.
Comments are indicated with double forward slashes: //.
4. Click the Compile Script button to compile and test your edited script. Any
errors are displayed at the bottom of the window.
5. Click the Save button to replace the script you edited, or click the Save As
button if you want to save the edited script with a different name or in a
different location.

The Scripting Toolbar

The Scripting toolbar allows you to open the Script Editor window and run scripts with a
single click.

Run a script
1. Click in the data window where you want to apply the script to establish focus.
2. Click a button on the Scripting toolbar.

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Hover over a button to show a ToolTip that displays the name of the script associated with
a button.

Add or remove toolbar buttons

1. From the View menu, choose Toolbars. The Toolbars tab in the Preferences dialog
is displayed.
2. Select Scripting in the toolbar list, and then click the Customize button. The
Customize Toolbar dialog is displayed.
3. Use the controls in the Customize Toolbar dialog to add, remove, or rearrange the
buttons on the selected toolbar. All scripts from the Script Menu folder are listed
in the Available tools column.
l Select a script in the Available tools column and click Add to add the script
to the toolbar before the currently selected button.
l Select a script in the Current tools column and click Remove to remove it
from the toolbar.
l Select a script in the Current tools column and click Move Up or Move
Down to rearrange the buttons.
l Click Reset to restore the toolbar to its default setting.
4. Click the OK button.
For more information about adding scripts to the Script Menu, please see Running Scripts.

Create custom button images for scripts

If you want to display custom icons for scripts in the Scripting menu and toolbar, you
can add .png files to your Script Menu folder.
1. Create a PNG file with the icon you want to use. Icons should be 16x16 pixels, and
transparency is supported.
2. Save the PNG file in your Script Menu folder (typically C:\Program
Files\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE PRO15.0\Script Menu) using the same name as the
script the icon should represent.
For example, to assign a custom icon to the HelloWorld.js script, the icon should
be saved as HelloWorld.js.png.
3. The custom icons will be displayed in the Scripting menu and toolbar the next time
you start the application.

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Synthesis

Synthesis
From the Insert menu, choose Synthesis and then choose a command from the submenu
to generate tones and waveforms.

Generating DTMF/MF Tones

You can use DTMF/MF Tones dialog to generate the standard dial tones used by
telephone companies. To display this dialog, choose Synthesis from the Insert menu, and
choose DTMF/MF Tones from the submenu.
1. From the Insert menu, choose Synthesis, and choose DTMF/MF Tones from the
submenu.
2. In the Dial string box, type the phone number to be generated along with any
necessary pause characters. Unknown characters will be ignored.
3. Drag the Amplitude fader to set the peak level of the waveform.
4. Click the radio button that corresponds to the type of tones you want to generate:
l DTMF: Dual Tone Multi-Frequency signals are used by standard push-button
telephones. They are generated using combinations of 679-, 770-, 852-, 941-,
1209-, 1336-, 1477-, and 1633-Hz sine waves.
l MF: CCITT R1 signals are used internally by the telephone networks. They are
generated by a combination of 700-, 900-, 1100-, 1300-, 1500-, and 1700-Hz sine
waves.
5. In the Single tone lengthbox, specify the duration of each tone.
6. In the Break lengthbox, specify the duration of the silence between tones.
7. In the Pause lengthbox, specify the duration of the silence that will be inserted
when the Pause character is used.
Select the Fade the edges of each tonecheck box to fade each tone in and out to prevent
glitching.

8. In the Pause characterbox, specify the character that will cause a pause between
successive tones in the dial string.
9. Choose a position from the Insert new tone sequence at drop-down list to
determine where the generated waveform will be placed within the current data
window.
10. Click the OK button.
For more information about using processing dialog controls, click here (⇗285).

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Synthesis

FM Synthesis
From the Insert menu, choose Synthesis, and then choose FM from the submenu to
create complex sounds from simple waveforms using frequency modulation (FM).
In frequency modulation, the frequency of a waveform (the carrier) is modulated by the
output of another waveform (the modulator) to create a new waveform. If the frequency
of the modulator is low, the carrier will be slowly de-tuned over time. However, if the
frequency of the modulator is high, the carrier will be modulated so quickly that many
additional frequencies, or sidebands, are created.
In SOUND FORGE PRO software, up to four waveforms (operators) can be used in a
variety of configurations. Depending on the configuration, a waveform can be a carrier, a
modulator, or a simple, unmodulated waveform.

Generate a waveform
1. From the Insert menu, choose Synthesis, and choose FM from the submenu.
2. In the Total output waveform length box, specify the length (in seconds) of the
generated waveform.
3. Choose a position from the Insert waveform at drop-down list to specify where
the generated waveform will be placed within the current data window.
4. Drag the Configuration slider to determine the arrangement and number of
operators to be used.
5. Modify each operator as desired.
6. Click the OK button.

Specify the number and arrangement of operators

When you drag the Configuration slider, a graphical representation of the arrangement
and number of operators that will be used is displayed:

l The outputs of operators joined horizontally are simply mixed together. The
outputs of the bottom operators are mixed together to form the final output.
Mixing different simple waveforms is called additive synthesis.
l Operators joined vertically are FM carrier-modulator pairs. The bottom operator is
the carrier, and the top operator is the modulator.

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l Operators that have no other operator directly above are simple waveform
generators.
l When three or more operators are stacked, the top operator modulates the
operator below it, which modulates the following operator, and so on.

Modify an operator
1. Click a Current operator radio button to choose the operator that you want to
modify.
2. Adjust the envelope graph to modify the amplitude of the operator over time:
l Drag the small envelope points up or down.
l To create a new envelope point, double-click the envelope.
l To delete an envelope point, right-click it and choose Delete from the
shortcut menu.
l To change the fade curve between two points, right-click an envelope
segment and choose a command from the shortcut menu:
Fade Type Fade In/Out Envelope
Linear Fade

Fast Fade

Slow Fade

Smooth Fade

Sharp Fade

Hold

To move all envelope points, press Ctrl+A and drag when the envelope has focus (the
cursor will be displayed as a ).

3. Choose a waveform shape from the Operator shape drop-down list.

4. In the Frequency box, specify the frequency of the operator.
Notes:

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l If Frequency is set to 0.00, a DC (zero-frequency) waveform is produced

regardless of the waveform specified.
l When you choose Filtered Noise from the Operator shape drop-down list,
Frequency determines the high-frequency content of the noise.
5. Drag the Feedback slider to determine the amount of the operator's output that is
used to modulate itself. If the operator is also being modulated by another
waveform, the feedback path and the modulator output are mixed together to
modulate the carrier.
6. Drag the Amplitude fader to determine the output gain that will be applied to the
current operator after the amplitude envelope.
7. If the operator is a modulator, this control, along with the envelope, determines the
amount of frequency modulation applied to the carrier. If the amplitude of a
modulator is high, very harsh sounds can result.
For more information about using processing dialog controls, click here.

Simple Synthesis
From the Insert menu, choose Synthesis, and then choose Simple from the submenu to
generate a simple waveform of a given shape, pitch, and length.
1. From the Insert menu, choose Synthesis, and then choose Simple from the
submenu.
2. Choose a shape from the Waveform shape drop-down list to specify the shape of
a single period of the waveform.
3. In the Length box, specify the length (in seconds) of the generated waveform.
4. In the Start Frequency box, specify the frequency of the waveform you want to
generate or the starting frequency of the range you want to sweep.
Notes:
l Aliasing (⇗ 440) can occur with many of these waveforms when using high
frequencies because they are not band-limited.
l When you choose Filtered noise from the Waveform shape drop-down list,
Start Frequency determines the low-pass cut-off frequency.
5. If you want to sweep a range of frequencies, select the End Frequency check box
and specify an ending frequency in the box. Select the Log Sweep check box if you
want to sweep the range logarithmically; when the check box is cleared, the sweep
is linear.

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The available frequency range is limited by your current sampling rate (⇗ 318). The
highest frequency available will be the Nyquist frequency. (⇗ 451)

6. Drag the Amplitude fader to set the peak level of the waveform.
When Filtered Noise is selected in the Waveform shape drop-down list, the
amplitude is affected by the frequency.
7. Choose a position from the Insert new waveform at drop-down list to determine
where the generated waveform will be placed within the current data window.
8. Click the OK button.
For more information about using processing dialog controls, click here (⇗285).

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Sampling

Sampling
With the Sampler Tool, you can use the powerful and easy-to-use sample-editing
capabilities in SOUND FORGE PRO software to create and edit samples and then
transfer them to your external and internal samplers.

Using SOUND FORGE PRO Software with a Sampler

From the Tools menu, choose Sampler to send data to and receive data from a sampler.

Set up an external sampler

1. Choose Sampler from the Tools menu to display the Sampler dialog.
2. Click the Configure button to display the Sampler Configuration dialog.
3. From the Sampler drop-down list, choose the sampler to which you wish to send
and receive samples.
If your sampler is not listed here, choose SMDI or SDS capable sampler.

4. Specify input/output settings for the sampler:

l If your sampler uses MIDI/SDS transfer, click the MIDI radio button and
choose input and output ports in the MIDI Out and MIDI In boxes.
l If your sampler uses SCSI/SMDI transfer, click the SCSI radio button and
select your sampler in the Sampler box.
The Sampler box will list all devices connected to the selected SCSI host,
including devices that are not samplers.
5. In the Sample bias box, specify a numbering offset that allows you to add or
subtract a value to the Logical send/receive samplenumber to compensate for
differing sampler storage schemes.
It is often easiest to set the Sample bias so that a Logical send/receive sample
number of zero corresponds to the first available sample storage number in your
sampler.

Perform steps 6 through 9 only if you selected the MIDI radio button in Step 4.
6. In the MIDI channel box, specify the MIDI channel through which sample data will
be sent when using SDS.
7. Select the Open loop check box if you want to send SDS sample data immediately
upon clicking the Send Sample button. This is an unconditional transfer of sample
data (no handshake). For more information about open-loop transfer, click here.

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Sampling

When this check box is selected, the sampler's MIDI output does not have to be
connected to your computer’s MIDI input. However, Open loop decreases sample
dump speed and is more prone to transfer errors.
8. Select the Send request when retrieving samples check box if you want the
Sampler tool to send a request (handshake) to the sampler before beginning an SDS
sample transfer.
9. Select the Wait for request when sending samples check box if you want the
Sampler tool to wait for a request (handshake) from the sampler before beginning
an SDS sample transfer.
10. Click the Save As button and specify a preset name to save your settings.

Send or receive samples

Sending a sample will always send the entire contents of the active data window. Any
selection contained in the waveform display is ignored. When receiving a sample, the
entire contents of the active data window are replaced with the new sample data (a
warning will be displayed before any data is replaced).
1. From the Tools menu, choose Sampler.
2. Choose a sampler from the Configuration drop-down list.
3. In the Logical send/receive sample number box, specify the number your sampler
uses as its location reference for samples sent or received. This number can be
biased for specific samplers with the Sample bias setting in the Sampler
Configuration dialog.
The Actual send/receive sample number is displayed below the Logical
send/receive sample number. The actual value is the sum of the logical value and
the specified sample bias.
4. Click the Send sample or Get sample button to start the data transfer.
The MIDI unity note and Fine tune values are for display only. Use the Sampler Loops
window to modify the settings.

Determine sample bias

Sample bias is a numbering offset that allows you to add or subtract a value to the
logical sample number to compensate for differing sampler storage schemes. This way,
you can use sample numbers 0 through n for your samples no matter what sampler you
are using.
Samplers that have factory-defined samples burned into their ROMs usually define a
range of sample numbers for these samples. This range cannot be used to store and
retrieve your own samples. These samplers will define one or more sample number
ranges that are available for your own samples.

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Sampling

For example, the Akai S1000 uses sample numbers 0 through 3 to store its factory-
defined samples. Sample numbers above 3 are available for user-defined samples, so a
sample bias of 4 would allow you to use sample numbers 0 through n as the Logical
send/receive sample number and the Sampler Tool will convert it to the Actual
send/receive sample number automatically.
You can also use the sample bias to define different bases for multiple projects on which
you are working. For example, if you are composing two different pieces that use different
samples, you might want to create a sampler configuration for each of these projects.
Within each configuration, you can define a different sample bias to keep your samples
separated in the same sampler.

Creating or Editing Sample Information

From the Insert menu, choose Sample Loop to create a sample loop from the current
time selection:

Create a sustaining loop

1. Create a time selection in a data window.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Sample Loop (or press Alt+L). A sustaining loop
region is displayed in the data window, and the Play as Sample button appears
on the playbar.

3. Right-click the sustaining loop and choose Edit Sample Loop from the shortcut
menu (or press Alt+Shift+L). The Sampler Loops window appears.
4. Use the Sustain count box to indicate how many times the sustaining loop should
be played. Click the value and choose Custom to type a number, or choose Infinite
if you want the loop to repeat infinitely.

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Sampling

Create a sustaining loop with a release loop

1. Create a time selection in a data window.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Sample Loop. A sustaining loop region is displayed in
the data window, and the Play as Sample button appears on the playbar.

3. Right-click the sustaining loop and choose Edit Sample Loop from the shortcut
menu (or press Alt+Shift+L). The Sampler Loops window appears.
4. Click the Sustain count value, choose Custom from the drop-down list, and type a
number to indicate how many times the sustaining loop should be played.
5. In the Sample type box, choose Sustaining with Release. A release loop is created
for the same length as the sustaining loop.

6. Edit the length of the release loop as needed. You can drag the release loop
markers in the data window or edit the Start, End, or Length boxes in the Sampler
Loops window.
7. Type a value in the Release count box to indicate how many times the release loop
should be played.
8. Click the Play as Sample button in the playbar.
The sustaining loop plays the number of times specified by its Sustain count
setting, and then the release loop plays the number of times specified by its
Release count setting.

Trigger the sample with MIDI

1. From the View menu, choose Metadata, and then choose Sampler Loops from the
submenu to display the Sampler Loops window.
2. In the MIDI unity note box, click the down arrow and choose a note and octave.
This MIDI note will cause a sampler to play the sound file at the pitch (sample rate)
it was originally recorded.

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3. In the Fine tune box, type a value from 0 to 99.999 cents if you want to pitch shift
the unity note up from 0 to 99.999 cents. SOUND FORGE PRO software does not
fine-tune the sound file when fine tuning is used, and not all samplers support the
setting. This option is an informational setting that will be transmitted to a sampler
via a sample-transfer procedure.
A sampler such as the K2000 can use this information to play back the sample.
The K2000 should accurately display this information on Master/Sample/Misc.
page as Pitch Adjust.
4. If you want to add SMPTE offset information to your sample, double-click the
SMPTE offset box and type a new value.
If you want to choose a different time format, click the down arrow in the
SMPTE format column and choose a SMPTE format from the drop-down list.
SOUND FORGE PRO software ignores this offset value, and not all samplers can
store a SMPTE offset value in the sample.

Edit an existing loop

After you've created a loop, you can edit it by moving the loop tags in a data window.
l Drag the beginning or ending tag to a new position to change the start, end, or
length of a loop.
l To move a loop without changing its length, drag the bar between the loop
markers:

.
l Select a range of data, right-click a loop marker, and choose Update from
Selection from the shortcut menu to move the marker tags to the beginning and
end of your selection.
To edit the start, end, length, or play count for a loop, right-click the loop in the data
window and choose Edit Sample Loop from the shortcut menu (or press Alt+Shift+L).
The Sampler Loops window appears.

Processing Musical Instrument Files

SOUND FORGE PRO can open and save DLS, GigaStudio/GigaSampler, and SoundFont
2.0 musical instrument files, allowing you to add effects and processing to existing
samples and edit individual samples.

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Sampling

When you open a musical instrument file, you'll notice some additions to the data
window:

The left pane lists the banks, instruments, note ranges, and recorded samples in the
instrument file. Click a bank or sample to select it in the waveform display.
Markers represent each sample in the waveform display.
File Properties metadata cannot be edited for musical instrument files.

Open a musical instrument file

You can open musical instrument files just like any other file type:
l Drag a musical instrument file to the workspace.
l From the File menu, choose Open, and then use the Open dialog to browse to the
file you want to open.
l Double-click an instrument file in the SOUND FORGE PRO Explorer window.
The following musical instrument file formats are supported:
l .dls: DLS level 1.0 and 2.0
l .sf2: SoundFont version 2.0
l .gig: GigaSampler/GigaStudio version 1/2/3
Compressed and encrypted GigaSampler/GigaStudio samples are not supported.
If you want to open a sample's audio data, browse to an instrument file in the Explorer
window. Click the down arrow next to the Views button and choose Region View
from the menu.
Each wave is then displayed at the bottom of the Explorer window. You can double-click
a wave to open it as a wave file:

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Sampling

Preview samples
Playback for musical instrument files behaves slightly differently than playback in a
normal data window.
l If no samples are selected, click Play All to play all samples in the data window.
Click Play to play all samples from the cursor position to the end of the data
window.
l If you have samples selected, click Play All to play all selected samples in the
data window. Click Play to play all selected samples from the cursor position to
the end of the data window.

Select samples
Each sample in an instrument file is contained within an event in the data window. The
data window selection determines which parts of the waveform will be processed.
Event positions are locked; you cannot move events within the data window.
Effects and processes can be applied to individual events or multiple selected events.
You can select an individual sample by clicking the event in the data window (hold Ctrl
or Shift to select multiple samples):

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Sampling

You can select all samples in a bank by clicking the bank in the left pane:

You can select all of an instrument's samples by clicking the instrument in the left pane:

You can select all samples within a note range by clicking the note range in the left pane:

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Sampling

You can select individual samples by expanding a note range or the Sample Pool list and
clicking a sample in the left pane:

Process a selection
1. Select the samples you want to process. If no samples are selected, processing will
be applied to all samples.
2. Choose a command from the Process, Effects, or FX Favorites menu.
3. Choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the dialog controls as
needed.
For more information, please see Using Processing Dialogs.
Plug-ins that can change the length of audio data (such as reverb or delay) will use Insert
Tail Data mode. Tails will be added to the waveform, and audio to the right of the tail
will be moved to accommodate the extra audio.

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Sampling

4. Click the Preview button to hear the effects of your processing settings. Select the
Bypass check box to hear the unprocessed signal.
5. Click OK.
During processing, a progress meter is displayed at the bottom of the data window.
You can cancel the operation at any time by clicking the Cancel button to the left
of the progress meter, or you can press the Escape key.
Event selection is not exposed to scripts. When applying an effect to a file via scripting,
you can specify the current time/channel-selection (DoMenu) or a new time/channel-
selection (DoEffect).
When processing musical instrument files, all events in the time/channel selection will
be processed. If no selection exists or the entire file is selected, all events will be
processed.

Edit samples
In addition to applying processing and effects, you can also edit the samples in an
instrument file.
For example, if you need to remove a glitch or replace a sample in an instrument file, you
can open an individual sample in a new editing window.
1. Select the sample you want to edit.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Event, and then choose Edit from the submenu. The
selected sample is opened in a new window. If you selected multiple samples in
step 1, each sample is opened in a separate window.
Press E (or right-click a sample and choose Edit from the submenu) to open the edit
window quickly.

3. Perform edits as needed.

Notes:
l If you want to replace sample data, you can clear the data in the edit window and
paste data from another window.
l Changes to bit depth, sample rate, or number of channels cannot be saved back to the
original musical instrument file.
4. From the File menu, choose Save to close the edit window and save your changes
back to the musical instrument file. If you want to save the edited sample to a
different format (other than a musical instrument file), you can use Save As.

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Sampling

Save your changes

After you're finished processing a musical instrument file, you can use the Save or Save
As commands to save your changes to the original file or to a new file.
Musical instrument files must be saved to the original format.

Loop Tuner
From the View menu, choose Loop Tuner to open or close the Loop Tuner window. You
can use the Loop Tuner to adjust the starting and ending points of a loop (or selection) to
create smooth transitions.
The Loop Tuner allows you to view both loop endpoints at once. The left-hand side of
the Loop Tuner window shows the end of the loop, while the right-hand side shows the
start of the loop. A seamless loop will not have any discontinuities; the waveform should
look smooth as it goes from the end of the loop back to the start.

Learn more about looping techniques

Creating natural-sounding loops requires experimentation. Many factors can cause pops
and glitches, but the following guidelines will help you to create loops with less trial and
error.

Match endpoint amplitudes

It's most common for the endpoints of a loop to occur at zero-crossings.

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Match endpoint waveform slopes

If the slope of a waveform changes drastically, an audible pop will be produced.

Match endpoint sound levels

The overall loudness within ~100 ms of the endpoints should be equal.

Avoid very short loops

If the loop is shorter than ~50 ms (1/20 Hz), you will most likely create a loop with a
pitch not equal to the sample pitch.
You can experiment with pitch-tuning by creating short loops with a length of 1/frequency.
For example, if your had a sample pitch of 440 Hz (A5 on the MIDI keyboard), you can
make the loop 2.27 ms. Pitched loops, however, do not sound like the original sample.

Play from the Loop Tuner

Click the Play Pre-Loop button to play the sound data before the selected loop.
Click the Play Loop button to play the selected loop. You can use the Loop Tuner to
tune the loop during playback.
Click the Play Post-Loop button to play the sound data after the selected loop.

Switch between sustaining and release loops

When your Sample Type is Sustaining with Release, you can click the Loop Select
button to switch between the sustaining and release loops in the Loop Tuner.
When the sustaining loop is selected, the button is displayed as .

Fine-tune loop endpoints

The Loop End Position and Loop Start Position boxes display the current
positions (in samples) of the endpoints. Use the spin controls to adjust the end points.

Move the end points to a zero-crossing

Each loop end window includes buttons to move the loop endpoint to the next or
previous zero-crossing:
l Click the Zero Crossing Left button to move the endpoint to the previous
zero-crossing.

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Sampling

l Click the Zero Crossing Right button to move the endpoint to the next zero-
crossing.
To configure the zero-crossing finders, choose Preferences from the Options menu and
click the Editing tab. You can modify the Snap to zero-crossing slope, Zero-cross scan
time, and Zero-cross level threshold settings to determine how SOUND FORGE PRO
software locates zero crossings.

Lock a loop length

Click the Lock Loop Length button if you want to shift a loop’s position without
changing its length. When this button is selected, any operation you use to change a
loop point affects both the start and end of the loop, therefore keeping the loop length
constant.
This button also controls the Lock Loop/Region Length command on the Options menu.

Save loop points

If you want to save loop points in your file, select the Save metadata with file check box
in the Save As dialog.

Crossfading Loops
From the Tools menu, choose Crossfade Loop to create loops in material that otherwise
might not loop well. Mixing sound occurring before the loop start point into the end of
the loop can make the transition from the end to the beginning of the loop much
smoother.
Use the Loop Tuner before applying the Crossfade Loop command to match the loop ends
as well as possible.

Item Description
Loop to Click the appropriate radio button to select the sample loop that will be
crossfade: affected by the crossfade. Most samples only have one loop: the sustaining
loop. If a sample contains two loops, the second loop is called the release
Sustaining loop.
Release

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Sampling

Loop graph The graph shows you where the crossfade will occur. The three areas (from
left to right) represent the sound before, inside, and following the loop
points, and are displayed with different sloped lines.
For example, when performing a Sustaining loop crossfade with no Post-
Loop, you can see the loop data fade out as data from the Pre-Loop is
mixed in to form a crossfade.
Loop Select the check box and drag the slider to determine how much of the
selected sample loop will be crossfaded. The end of the sample loop is
crossfaded with the end of the region before the loop start to make the end
of the loop blend smoothly with the beginning of the loop.
Post-Loop Select the check box and drag the slider to determine how much of the
region following the loop end is crossfaded. The region following the
sample loop is blended with the beginning of the sample loop to make the
transition from the end of the loop to the rest of the sample following the
loop smoother.
Post-Loop crossfading is only necessary if the sampler will play beyond the
loop points.
Preview Choose a mode from the drop-down list to determine how the Preview
mode button will work:
Loop the Loop
Plays the loop area only.
Play Loop through Post-Loop
Plays the loop once and then the Post-Loop.
Play as One Shot
Plays from the beginning of the file and uses the loop settings to determine
how many times to loop each loop.

For more information about using processing dialog controls, click here.

Using the MIDI Keyboard

From the View menu, choose Keyboard to open or close the MIDI Keyboard window.
The keyboard allows you to send MIDI note on and MIDI note off commands to your
sound card or sampler.
With the SOUND FORGE PRO MIDI keyboard, you can control internal or external
synthesizers and samplers from SOUND FORGE PRO software. For example, you might
want to test a sound in a sampler after sending (downloading) it from SOUND FORGE
PRO software. You can also use the MIDI keyboard to listen to the different sounds on a
synthesizer or in the synthesis section of your sound card.

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Sampling

Open the MIDI Keyboard

From the View menu, choose Keyboard to open or close the MIDI Keyboard window.

Resize the MIDI Keyboard

Like any other toolbar or shortcut menu window in SOUND FORGE PRO, you can resize
the MIDI Keyboard window, move it, or dock it to any side of the SOUND FORGE PRO
window.
When the cursor is over any edge of the window, the cursor is displayed as a . Drag to
resize. Depending on how you resize the keyboard, the keys will be arranged horizontally
or vertically.

Configuring the output device and channel

1. To select a MIDI device, click the MIDI Out button and choose a device from the
menu:

2. Select the Send Program Changes command to select instruments in the device
from the keyboard. Program changes are sent only when a key on the MIDI
Keyboard is clicked.
3. Click the up and down arrows to select the MIDI channel you want to use
for the selected device. Most MIDI devices are configurable to accept MIDI
commands on any channel.

Select instruments
The Instrument drop-down list contains instrument patches listed in the General MIDI
standard. Choose an instrument from the drop-down list and click a key on the keyboard
to play the patch.
Notes:

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Sampling

l The Send Program Changes command must be selected if you want to be able to
select instruments. Program changes are sent only when a key on the MIDI
Keyboard is clicked.
l If your synthesizer does not use the General MIDI convention, choose a patch
number instead of an instrument name.

Play the keyboard

Click the keys to play them:
l Choose Note from the Chord structure drop-down list to play a single note, or
choose a chord structure or interval to play a chord (the key you click will be the
chord's root).
l Drag the Velocity slider to set the MIDI output velocity.
l Click the arrow buttons to change the range of the MIDI Keyboard to display
higher or lower octaves.

Troubleshoot the MIDI Keyboard

If, after selecting the correct device, you still can’t hear anything when you play on the
keyboard, check the following:
l Set the MIDI output velocity to a high value (above 100).
l Set the MIDI input channel in your sound module to the same channel as the
MIDI keyboard channel. Also, make sure the device is set to receive MIDI input.
l Check the device output volume level: is the mixer level for your sound card or
the output volume of the sampler and speakers at a high enough setting?
l For external devices, check your MIDI cables.

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MIDI Synchronization

MIDI Synchronization
The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a set of commands that allow music
software and hardware to communicate. MIDI is most often used for sending commands
such as Play Middle C Now, but can also be used to send information such as
Current Time is: 00:00:01:23 SMPTE, or even digital sound data (see
Sampling for more information).
The most common way to use MIDI is to have a master device (such as a MIDI sequencer)
to generate MIDI commands to a slave device (such as a synthesizer, which plays a note
when instructed). If both were in separate hardware devices, you would run a MIDI cable
from the sequencer’s MIDI out port to the synthesizer’s MIDI in port.

Generating MIDI Timecode

From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Generate MIDI
Timecode from the submenu if you want to generate MIDI timecode (MTC) when you
click Play .
MIDI timecode (MTC) is a standard timecode that most applications and some hardware
devices will use to synchronize themselves.
You can specify a MIDI output port on the MIDI/Sync tab in the Preferences dialog.

Triggering from MIDI Timecode

From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Trigger from MIDI
Timecode from the submenu if you want to trigger playback or recording by receiving
timecode from another device.
When this option is selected, dialogs that specify MIDI triggers will also accept input
from the MIDI input port, allowing easy entry of MIDI note and controller values. When
this option is not selected, the MIDI triggers, Regions List triggers, and Playlist triggers
specified will be ignored.
You can specify a MIDI Input port on the MIDI/Sync tab in the Preferences dialog.

Trigger playback with MIDI timecode

You can use MIDI timecode to trigger SOUND FORGE PRO playback from another
device.

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MIDI Synchronization

1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and click the MIDI/Sync tab.
2. On the MIDI/Sync tab, choose the trigger device from the Input drop-down list
and click the OK button.
3. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Trigger from MIDI
Timecode from the submenu to enable MIDI input.
4. From the View menu, choose Toolbars. Select the Regions/Playlist check box and
click the OK button. The timecode is displayed in the Regions/Playlist toolbar
when you start your MIDI device.
5. Create a region that includes the sound data that you want to trigger.
6. Add your region to the Playlist.
7. In the Playlist window, choose SMPTE: Play at Time from the Trigger drop-down
list and enter the time at which you want to start playback in the SMPTE time box.

Trigger recording with MIDI timecode

You can use MIDI timecode to trigger SOUND FORGE PRO recording to another device.
For more information, click here.
If Trigger from MIDI Timecode is not selected when you open the Record dialog,
SOUND FORGE PRO software will turn it on temporarily when you choose the
Automatic: MIDI Timecode recording mode to allow recording and turn it off again
when you close the Record dialog.

Pre-Queuing Data for Synchronization

From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Pre-Queue for MIDI
Timecode from the submenu if you want to open the wave device and preload data from
the next region to be played in the Playlist.
Pre-queuing helps ensure that audio will begin playing the moment the designated
SMPTE time is detected by SOUND FORGE PRO software when triggering from MIDI
timecode (MTC).
This option is suspended when any other audio command is used such as Play, Stop, or
Record.

Using MIDI Triggers

You can use MIDI triggers to control SOUND FORGE PRO functions using MIDI
commands from external devices such as a MIDI keyboard or sequencer.

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MIDI Synchronization

Configure an internal or external MIDI controller

1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and then click the MIDI/Sync tab.
2. On the MIDI/Sync tab, choose the trigger device from the Input drop-down list
and click the OK button.
3. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Trigger from MIDI
Timecode from the submenu to enable MIDI input.
4. Use the MIDI Triggers dialog to configure the triggers you want to use. For more
information, please see "Assign SOUND FORGE PRO events to MIDI triggers" in
this help topic.

Assign SOUND FORGE PRO events to MIDI triggers

1. From the Options menu, choose MIDI In/Out, and then choose Trigger from MIDI
Timecode from the submenu to enable MIDI input.
2. From the Options menu, choose MIDI Triggers to display the MIDI Triggers dialog.
3. Select the SOUND FORGE PRO function that you want to trigger in the list.
3. Click the radio button that corresponds to the type of trigger you want to use for
the selected event:
Item Description
None Click to assign no MIDI trigger to the selected event or to remove an existing
trigger.
Note Click if you want to trigger the selected event with a MIDI note.
Specify the MIDI channel to which the trigger is assigned in the Channel
box, and specify the musical note that will trigger the event in the Note box.

Controller Click if you want to trigger the selected event using a MIDI controller.
Specify the MIDI channel to which the controller is assigned in the Channel
box. Use the Controller box to specify which controller will trigger the
event and specify a value in the Value box.

You can automatically enter the values in the Channel, Note, Controller, and Value boxes.
Select the Enable MIDI Input Sync/Trigger check box and press a key or controller on
your MIDI device.

4. Click the OK button.

MIDI triggers are different from triggers in the Playlist and Regions List. When using
triggers in the Playlist, Regions List, or MIDI Triggers dialog, be aware that they can
interact with each other to create unexpected results. SOUND FORGE PRO software

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MIDI Synchronization

first looks at the MIDI Triggers, then the Regions List, and then the Playlist when
determining what to do when a MIDI command is detected.

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Spectrum Analysis

Spectrum Analysis
The Spectrum Analysis tool allows you to examine the fundamental frequency and
overtones present in a recording. To display the Spectrum Analysis window, choose
Spectrum Analysis from the View menu.
Unlike a SOUND FORGE PRO data window, which represents audio in the time domain
(amplitude vs. time), Spectrum Analysis allows you to examine sound by representing the
sound in the frequency domain (amplitude vs. frequency). Data displayed in the
frequency domain shows the amplitudes and frequencies of sine waves that, if mixed
together, would sound very much like the original sound. Since it’s relatively easy to
remember how a sine wave sounds at different frequencies, it’s possible to visualize how
simple waveforms sound by looking at the spectrum of the sound.
Spectrum Analysis allows you to perform precise Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis
and displays the resulting data in a spectrum graph or a sonogram display. Both formats
make it easy to navigate data and read audio frequency and position.

Viewing a Spectrum Graph

Click the Normal Display button in the Spectrum Analysis window to display
spectrum information as a normal spectrum graph.
The spectrum graph displays the amplitude (in dB) of each frequency component from 0
Hz to the Nyquist frequency. Frequency is displayed along the X (horizontal) axis, and
amplitude is displayed along the Y (vertical) axis.

Generate spectrum information

1. Select the portion of the waveform you want to analyze. The sound or note you
want to analyze should be in the center of the highlighted area.
Analyzing long sections of audio can take a long time and decreases the time resolution,
so your selection should be relatively short. Also, if the audio has a low amplitude level,
you can boost it by using the Volume or Normalize functions.
2. From the View menu, choose Spectrum Analysis to show the Spectrum Analysis
window if it isn't already visible.
3. Use the toolbar at the top of the window to set your display options.
You can also click the Settings button in the Spectrum Analysis window to set
additional options.
You can continue to make selections in the sound file with the Spectrum Analysis
window open (just move the cursor or make selections as you normally would). Click the

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Spectrum Analysis

Refresh button in the Spectrum Analysis toolbar to update the display. If no

selection is made, analysis is performed on the samples immediately following the cursor
position.

View amplitude, frequency, notes, and statistics

As you move the cursor through the spectrum graph, the amplitude and frequency
values at the current position are displayed in a ToolTip next to the cursor and in the
Statistics area at the bottom of the window:

Right-click the graph and choose Show Position from the shortcut menu to toggle the
display of ToolTips. The setting for each graph in a multichannel file is independent.
If you want to display the nearest musical note equivalent of the cursor position in a
ToolTip, right-click the graph and choose Show Notes from the shortcut menu:

Right-click the Spectrum Analysis window and choose Show Statistics from the shortcut
menu to toggle the display of the Statistics area at the bottom of the Spectrum Analysis
window.

Change the graph type

Click the down arrow next to the Normal Display button and choose Line Graph,
Filled Graph, or Bar Graph from the menu to change the type of graph displayed in the
Spectrum Analysis window. A check mark is displayed next to the selected graph type.

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Some video drivers have problems displaying Filled Graph and Bar Graph modes. If you
encounter problems such as incorrect shading or very slow drawing, use the Line Graph
option or change video drivers.
If you're analyzing a multichannel file, you can click the down arrow next to the Normal
Display button and choose Single Graph to see all channels in a single graph.
Right-click the graph and choose Logarithmic from the shortcut menu to toggle the x-
axis between logarithmic and linear mode. In logarithmic mode, more of the graph is
devoted to lower frequencies.

Change the zoom level of the graph

Zooming can be accomplished in several ways:
1. Drag on the graph to draw a box around the area you want to magnify. You can
toggle through mouse selection mode by right-clicking while holding the left mouse
button:
l The first type is a vertical zoom window. This will allow you to zoom to a
frequency range.
l The second type is horizontal zoom window. This will allow you to zoom to an
amplitude range.
l The third type is a combination of vertical and horizontal zoom. This will allow you
to zoom to a frequency and amplitude range.
2. Right-click the graph and choose Zoom Out Full to view the entire amplitude and
frequency range.
3. Right-click the graph and choose Normalize dB to set the Spectrum Graph
amplitude range equal to the maximum and minimum values in the graph.

Navigate the graph

Right-click the graph and choose Grab/Pan from the shortcut menu. The cursor will be
displayed as a , and you can drag horizontally or vertically to scroll through the graph.
When you are zoomed into a selection of the spectrum graph, you can drag the
horizontal and vertical sliders to scroll through the graph. The thumbnail image in the
lower-left corner of the Spectrum Analysis window will show you which part of the
graph is being displayed.

Synchronize graphs in a multichannel file

If you are analyzing a multichannel file, click the Sync button to synchronize the
displays so you can view the same region of the FFT in all channels.

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Spectrum Analysis

Create and compare snapshots of the Spectrum Analysis window

You can store up to four snapshots to compare multiple spectrum graphs. You can take
snapshots from a single data window or from different data windows.
Snapshots are not available in sonogram display or when the Slices displayed setting in
the Spectrum Settings dialog is greater than 1.

Taking a snapshot
1. Navigate to the portion of the graph you want to capture.

2. Click the Set button , and then click a snapshot button in the Spectrum Analysis
toolbar.
Available snapshots buttons are displayed in black, and buttons that are in use are
displayed in blue and underlined.

Showing and hiding snapshots

Select a numbered button in the Spectrum Analysis toolbar to display a stored snapshot.
All selected snapshots will be displayed in the Spectrum Analysis window at the same
time.
Click a selected snapshot button to exclude it from the display.
Select the Hide active plot button to hide the current spectrum so you can
concentrate on your snapshots.
In the following example, snapshots 1 and 3 will be shown in the graph; snapshot 2 is
hidden, and snapshot 4 is unused.

Erasing snapshots
You don't need to erase individual snapshots to update or replace them. Simply click the
Set button, and then click a snapshot button in the Spectrum Analysis toolbar to update
its image.
If you want to erase all snapshots, click the Clear all snapshots button .

Viewing snapshot statistics

Information about each snapshot is displayed at the bottom of the Spectrum Analysis
window:

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Spectrum Analysis

Print the graph

Click the Print button to print the contents of the Spectrum Analysis window,
including the graph and statistics data.

Refresh the graph

Select the Auto Refresh button if you want the Spectrum Analysis display to refresh
automatically updated when you change your selection in the data window.
When the button is not selected, the display is not updated until you click the Refresh
button . If you want the graph to refresh automatically during playback or input
monitoring, select the Real Time Monitoring button .

Turn on real-time input/output monitoring

Click the Real Time Monitoring button to turn real-time spectrum analysis on or off.
Click the down arrow next to the button and choose a command from the menu to
specify whether you want to monitor your sound card's input or output:
l When you choose Monitor Input, SOUND FORGE PRO will monitor the recording
devices selected on the Record page of the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog.
l When you choose Monitor Output, SOUND FORGE PRO will monitor the playback
devices selected on the Playback page of Audio tab in the Preferences dialog.
When Monitor Output is selected, the post-processing signal is monitored when you
start playback from the Plug-In Chain.
Real-time spectrum analysis can require significant processing power. If the spectrum
graph's refresh rate seems sluggish, set the display mode to Line Graph, decrease the FFT
size, or turn off snapshots.

Viewing a Sonogram
Click the Sonogram button in the Spectrum Analysis window to display spectrum
information as a sonogram.
The sonogram displays time along the X (horizontal) axis and frequency along the Y
(vertical) axis. The amplitude of each frequency is represented by the intensity of the
color.

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Spectrum Analysis

Generate a sonogram
1. Select the portion of the waveform you want to analyze. The sound or note you
want to analyze should be in the center of the highlighted area.
Analyzing long sections of audio can take a long time and decreases the time
resolution, so your selection should be relatively short. Also, if the audio has a low
amplitude level, you can boost it by using the Volume or Normalize functions.

2. From the View menu, choose Spectrum Analysis to show the Spectrum Analysis
window if it isn't already visible.
3. Click the Sonogram button in the Spectrum Analysis window to display
spectrum information as a sonogram.
4. Use the toolbar at the top of the window to set your display options.
You can also click the Settings button in the Spectrum Analysis window to set
additional options.
You will often have to experiment with different parameters in the Spectrum Settings
dialog to get the best graph possible. Try to narrow the frequency and amplitude ranges as
much as possible to achieve large contrasts. If the graph is too chunky, increase the Set
sonogram resolution setting to approximately 200. For more frequency resolution,
increase the FFT Size. To decrease processing times, decrease the number of samplings or
the FFT Size.

Adjust color and intensity

1. Click the down arrow next to the Sonogram button and choose Color or
Black and White from the menu to specify whether you want to view a color or
black-and-white sonogram.
A separate sonogram is displayed for each channel in the active data window.
2. Drag the slider below each sonogram to adjust the color intensity of the display.
The bottom-right corner of the window will show the color scale in dB.

View frequency, amplitude, notes, and statistics

As you move the cursor through the sonogram, the amplitude and frequency values at
the current position are displayed in a ToolTip next to the cursor and in the Statistics
area at the bottom of the window:

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Spectrum Analysis

If you want to display the nearest musical note equivalent of the cursor position in a
ToolTip, right-click the graph and choose Show Notes from the shortcut menu:

Right-click the Spectrum Analysis window and choose Show Statistics from the shortcut
menu to toggle the display of the Statistics area at the bottom of the Spectrum Analysis
window.

Synchronize graphs in a multichannel file

If you are analyzing a multichannel file, click the Sync button to synchronize the
displays so you can view the same region of the FFT in all channels.

Use a sonogram to find the fundamental frequency of a sound

1. Select the portion of the waveform you want to analyze. The sound or note you
want to analyze should be in the center of the highlighted area.
2. From the View menu, choose Spectrum Analysis to show the Spectrum Analysis
window if it isn't already visible.
3. Click the Sonogram button in the Spectrum Analysis window to display
spectrum information as a sonogram.

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Spectrum Analysis

4. Click the down arrow next to the Sonogram button and choose Color from the
menu.
The sound you want to analyze should be displayed in shades of red. Hover over
the center of the area to display the fundamental frequency.
If upper harmonics exist, they will be displayed as less intense red area above the
fundamental, and will usually be multiples of the fundamental (a note at 440 Hz
played on an instrument with fairly predictable or even harmonic content will have
strong upper harmonics at 880kHz and 1.76kHz).
After isolating a sound's fundamental frequency, you can use equalization to emphasize or
attenuate the sound.

Print the graph

Click the Print button to print the contents of the Spectrum Analysis window,
including the graph and summary data.

Refresh the graph

Select the Auto Refresh button if you want the Spectrum Analysis display to refresh
automatically when you change your selection in the data window.
When the button is not selected, the display is not updated until you click the Refresh
button .

Turn on real-time input monitoring

Changing Spectrum Analysis Settings

Click the Settings button in the Spectrum Analysis window to display the Spectrum
Settings dialog. This dialog contains controls to determine how spectral information is
calculated and displayed.

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Spectrum Analysis

Item Description
FFT size Choose a setting from the drop-down list to set the size in samples of
the analysis window and number of discrete frequencies analyzed.
Higher numbers produce increased frequency resolution at the expense
of lower time resolution and longer computational time. The following
example illustrates the results of 128-point and 2048-point FFT sizes on
a 44,100 Hz sound file:
FFT Time Analyzed Frequency Frequency
Size (seconds) Bands Bandwidth (Hz)
128 0.003 64 (128/2) 345 (44100/128)
(128/44100)
2048 0.046 1024 (2048/2) 22 (44100/2048)
(2048/44100)
FFT overlap Specify the percentage of overlap between FFT analysis windows.
Overlapping allows for more accurate analysis. Lower settings decrease
the number of distinct analysis functions performed, which decreases
processing time. High settings allow for more analysis, but can result in
slow processing.
Smoothing Choose a setting from the drop-down list to determine the window
window function applied to the input data before analysis. The window function
affects the sharpness of peaks in an FFT graph and the leakage into
neighboring frequencies. The effects of these windows can be easily
seen by analyzing a single sine wave:
Blackman- Using the Blackman-Harris window results in the
Harris least sideband leakage at the expense of rounded
graph peaks.
Hamming Hamming and Hanning windows are commonly used
Hanning in audio applications.
Rectangle No window is applied. Using a rectangular window
results in a very sharp peak but high leakage.
Triangle A triangle window (also called a Bartlett or Parzen
window) results in less leakage than the rectangle
window.

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Spectrum Analysis

Slices The Spectrum Analysis window can display up to 64 spectrum graphs,

displayed each representing a point in time.
Type a value in the Slices displayed box to specify the number of FFT
slices displayed. Each slice represents FFT size samples in time.
When displaying multiple slices, click the Forward or Backward radio
button to determine whether slices are layered in chronological order.
When Forward is selected, the first slice is displayed in the foreground;
when Backward is selected, the last slice is displayed in the foreground.
In the spectrum graph, drag the Slice slider to show or hide graphs from
the display.

Set Select the Set sonogram resolution check box and specify the number
sonogram of FFT samplings used in the sonogram. When this check box is not
resolution selected, the number of samplings is determined by the length of the
selection and the FFT overlap setting.
Increasing the samplings increases the horizontal graph resolution but
requires more processing time.

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Spectrum Analysis

Display The Display Range controls allow you to adjust the range of each graph.
Range Channel Choose a setting from the drop-down list to
choose which graph you want to edit, or choose
All Channels to edit all graphs.
Sync graphs If you are analyzing a multichannel file, select the
Sync graphs check box to synchronize the displays
so you can view the same region of the FFT in all
channels.
Logarithmic Select the check box to display the x-axis in
graphing logarithmic mode rather than linear mode. In
logarithmic mode, more of the graph is devoted to
lower frequencies.
Logarithmic graphing affects the display only when
Normal Display is selected.
Freq. Min Specify the lowest frequency displayed in the
graphs.
The Freq Min and Max settings affect the display
only when Normal Display is selected.
Max Specify the highest frequency displayed in the
graphs.
Ceiling Specify the highest amplitude displayed in the
graphs.
Floor In the box, specify the lowest amplitude displayed
in the graphs.
Hold peaks Select this check box if you want to mark the highest value of each
during frequency bin.
monitoring

Maintain Select this check box if you want to maintain the state of the spectrum
last graph when you stop playback. If this check box is not selected, the
monitored graph will revert to the cursor position.
view

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Customizing Sound Forge

Customizing Sound Forge

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
From the Options menu, choose Customize Keyboard to customize the keyboard
shortcuts available in the SOUND FORGE PRO interface.
The Keyboard map box displays the currently assigned shortcut keys. Click a tab in the
middle of the dialog to choose which shortcuts you want to see.

Edit or create new shortcuts

1. Click a tab in the middle of the dialog to indicate the type of command you want to
assign to a keyboard shortcut.
2. Select a command in the list.
You can type a word in the Show commands containing box to filter the list of
commands to display only commands that contain the word you typed.

3. Click the Shortcut keys box and press the key combination you want to assign to
the selected command.
4. Click the Add button to assign the key combination in the Shortcut keys box to
the selected command.

Save a keyboard map

Click the Save as button and type a name to save your current keyboard shortcuts to an
.ini file C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE PRO\15.0\.
The Application Data folder is not visible unless the Show hidden files and folders radio
button is selected on the View tab of the Windows Folder Options control panel.
You can use this file as a backup or to share your keyboard shortcuts with other SOUND
FORGE PRO users.

Delete a keyboard map

Choose a mapping from the Keyboard map drop-down list and click the Delete button
to remove the selected keyboard mapping.
You cannot delete the default SOUND FORGE PRO keyboard mapping.

Import or rename a keyboard map

Copy a SOUND FORGE PRO keyboard mapping .ini file to the following folder: C:\Users\
[user name]\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE PRO\15.0\.

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The AppData folder is not visible unless the Show hidden files and folders radio button
is selected on the View tab of the Windows Folder Options control panel.
The next time you start SOUND FORGE PRO, the new keyboard mapping will be
available from the Keyboard map drop-down list in the Customize Keyboard dialog.
If you want to edit the name used to identify a keyboard mapping in the Customize
Keyboard dialog, open the .ini file in a text editor and change the <Display Name>portion
of theName=<Display Name> entry. Save the .ini file and restart SOUND FORGE PRO to
use the new name.

Reset the default keyboard map

Choose [Default] from the Keyboard map drop-down list and click OK to restore the
default configuration.

General Preferences
Use the General tab in the Preferences dialog to set miscellaneous SOUND FORGE PRO
options. To display this tab, choose Preferences from the Options menu and click the
General tab.
Option Description
Open default If this check box is selected, files that were open when you last exited
Workspace on the program will be opened automatically.
startup
Use Newsfeed When this check box is selected, information from MAGIX will be
to stay displayed periodically at startup. Clear the check box to bypass the
informed about Newsfeed dialog.
Sound Forge
product
updates
Show logo When this check box is selected, the SOUND FORGE PRO splash
splash-screen screen will be displayed briefly upon startup.
on startup
Show a When this check box is selected, a stucco texture will be used for the
textured application background.
background on
the Workspace

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Keep media Select this check box if you want to lock media files after you've
files locked opened them.
Clear the check box if you want to unlock media files when you
switch to another application.
Confirm on Select this check box if you want the application to present a
close confirmation message box before exiting.
Always open When this check box is selected, files are opened in new data
dropped files windows when you drop files (or regions) on the SOUND FORGE PRO
in new window workspace.
When the check box is cleared, you can drag files from the Explorer
to an open data window to perform drag-and-drop mixing (⇗223) and
pasting (⇗221).
Always proxy Select this check box if you want to create an uncompressed proxy
compressed (.sfap0) file when you open a compressed file format.
formats Selecting this check box can improve performance on slower
computers or for formats that cannot be decompressed quickly for
real-time playback.
Ignore fact When this check box is selected, the software will ignore fact chunks
chunk when in compressed WAV files.
opening Compressed WAV files use fact chunks to specify how many actual
compressed samples are represented in the file. If a compressed file is improperly
Wave files authored, this may cause some of the compressed data to not be
loaded. If you suspect that not all sound data is being loaded from a
compressed file, try checking this option and reopening the file.
If you change the setting of this check box, please delete any proxy
(.sfap0) files associated with compressed WAV files.
Remember Select this check box if you want the software to remember the last-
last-used used sample rate when you open a .vox file. When the check box is
sample rate for cleared, you will be prompted to choose a sample rate each time you
.vox and .ivc open a .vox file.
files
Remember Select this check box if you want the software to remember the last-
last-used used settings when you open .raw files. When the check box is
settings for cleared, you will be prompted to choose a settings each time you
.raw files open a .raw file.

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Hide new Select this check box if you want to turn on the Hidden file attribute
temporary files when creating new peak (.sfk) and proxy (.sfap0) files.
In the Windows Control Panel, double-click Folder Options and
select the View tab. Select the Show hidden files and folders radio
button if you want to be able to see hidden files.
Delete new Select this check box if you want to delete the peak (.sfk) and proxy
temporary files (.sfap0) files associated with a media file when you close a data
on close window.
Remember Select this check box if you want to use the last folder where you
last-used Save saved a file when using Save As or Render As. The first time you save
As folder a file in SOUND FORGE PRO, the Documents folder is used.
When the check box is cleared, files are saved to their current folder.
Allow Wave Select this check box to enable support for WAV files up to 4 GB.
renders up to 4 Clear the check box for compatibility with other software
GB applications.
Warn when Select this check box if you want to be prompted to save metadata to
metadata a separate file if it cannot be saved within the media file.
cannot be When the check box is cleared, metadata will automatically be saved
saved in the to a separate file if necessary.
file

Automatically Select this check box if you want to automatically reopen files when
reopen file you save to a different format. Changes in bit depth, channels, or
after Save As compression format will result in reopening and will allow you to
listen to any changes in sound quality.
Clear the check box and select the Prompt to open new file after
Save As check box if you want to be prompted to open the saved file
in a new data window.
When both check boxes are cleared, SOUND FORGE PRO software
does nothing after saving to a different format. If you’re saving a file
to several compressed formats, clearing these check boxes prevents
you from having to reopen the file after saving each format.

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Prompt to When the Automatically reopen files after Save As check box is
open new file cleared, select this check box if you want the application to prompt
after Save As you to open the destination file to a new data window after saving a
sound file to a different format.
Opening the file in a new data window will allow you to hear any
changes in quality between the original file and the result of the Save
As operation.
Allow Undo When this check box is selected, your undo history is maintained
past Save until you close the data window (or exit the application) so you can
undo edit operations even if you've saved your file.
When this check box is selected, quick file saving may not be
available.
If you want to be able to undo edit operations even after closing and
reopening your file, save a SOUND FORGE PRO project (⇗ 116).
Show shuttle When this check box is selected, Rewind and Forward buttons will
controls on appear on each data window's transport controls.
Data Window
transport
Show record When this check box is selected, Arm and Record buttons will
controls on appear on each data window's transport controls.
Data Window
transport
Show When this check box is selected, the waveform is drawn while you're
waveform recording audio.
while
recording
Show free When this check box is selected, the total amount of free disk space
storage space available on your specified temporary drive is displayed on the status
on Status Bar bar.
Use the Temporary files and record folder box at the bottom of the
General tab to set the folder that will be used for temporary files and
recorded data.
Spacebar and Select this check box if you want the F12 and spacebar keyboard
F12 Play/Pause shortcuts to toggle between Play and Pause mode. In this mode, the
instead of cursor will maintain its position.
Play/Stop

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Default to slow In some very fast computers, automatic scrolling while selecting is
scroll when too fast to use accurately. When this option is turned on, drag-
drag selecting selecting will cause a slow scroll.
Click the right mouse button while selecting to toggle slow scrolling.
Allow When this check box is selected, you can hold Ctrl while dragging the
Ctrl+drag style cursor to scrub (⇗157) in data windows.
cursor scrub in 1. Hover over the cursor and press Ctrl. The mouse pointer is
data windows displayed as a when you click.
2. Drag left or right to scrub playback.
Allow When this check box is selected, you can hold Ctrl and drag in a data
Ctrl+drag style window to zoom to a selection.
zoom in data When the check box is selected, you can still use Ctrl+drag to paste a
windows selection; press and hold the Ctrl key after you start dragging the
selection.
Prompt for When this check box is selected, an edit box is displayed so you can
marker and name markers and regions as you place them.
region names
Warn when Select this check box if you want to be warned before pasting or
Paste or Mix mixing data that has different sample rates or bit depths.
formats do not Pasting or mixing data of different formats may produce unintended
match results.
Autoupdate Select this check box if you want to update OriginationTimeRef
BWF metadata when adding or deleting sound data at the beginning of a
Origination Broadcast Wave Format file. When the check box is cleared,
Time OriginationTimeRef metadata is unaffected when you add or delete
Reference sound data at the beginning of the file.
For more information about Broadcast Wave Format metadata,
please see Broadcast Wave Information.
Auto-power Select this check box if you want to open the MIDI device assigned to
MIDI keyboard the MIDI keyboard (if it is not already open) when you click a key on
window the MIDI keyboard. You may want to turn off this option if you are
using the same MIDI output device for MIDI synchronization or for
your sequencer.
If this option is turned off, you need to click the On button on the
keyboard prior to using it to send notes.

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Allow floating When this check box is selected, windows will automatically be
windows to docked (⇗63) when you drag them to the edges of the SOUND
dock FORGE PRO workspace. You can hold the Ctrl key while dragging a
window to prevent it from docking.
When this check box is cleared, windows will not dock unless you
hold the Ctrl key.
Send analysis When this check box is selected, anonymous usage data is sent to
data to MAGIX MAGIX that allows us to further optimize the programs functionality.
If you don't ant this you can disable this here.
Recently used Select the check box if you want to display a list of recently used files
file list on the File menu. Use the edit box to specify the number of files you
want to display.
If you do not want to display recently used files on the File menu,
clear this check box.
Temporary Specify a folder for storing temporary files and recorded audio, or
files and click the Browse button to specify a new folder.
record folder Using temporary file space allows you to edit very large files and
keeps SOUND FORGE PRO from using large portions of RAM on your
computer. Your temporary directory must have enough space to
accommodate the total size of all files you plan to edit along with
space for any clipboard data and undo buffers.
If you change the temporary storage folder, you will have to restart
SOUND FORGE PRO for the change to take effect.

Display Preferences
Use the Display tab in the Preferences dialog to specify options for adjusting the
appearance of the SOUND FORGE PRO window. To display this tab, choose
Preferences from the Options menu and click the Display tab.
Item Description
Interface Select one of the Radio buttons below Interface Type to change the
Type look of the SOUND FORGE PRO interface. Click the Apply or OK
button to finish. You will then get an alert stating that the application
must be closed and restarted for the changes to take affect. Click OK
and restart SOUND FORGE PRO.

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Color The color preferences section allows you set a custom color for a
preference variety of graphics within the SOUND FORGE PRO interface.
for 1. Choose a screen element from the Color preference for drop-
down list.
2. Set the color of the selected item:
l Drag the Hue slider to change the color of the selected item.
l Drag the Saturation and Brightness sliders to adjust the
intensity of the selected color.
When adjusting the display color for channel waveforms,
the Saturation and Brightness sliders are not available. To
adjust saturation and brightness for all channels, choose
Wave: All Channels from the Color preference for drop-
down list and then adjust the controls.
l Click the Default button to restore a custom color to the
default setting.
3. Click the OK button.
Default Drag the slider to specify the default data window (⇗47) height for a
sound file sound file. This magnification level is used when you load a sound file or
window create a new window.
height
Default Drag the slider to specify the default height of the video strip (⇗142)
video strip when you open a video file.
height
Peak ratio Choose a ratio from the drop-down list to specify the zoom ratio above
default for which the application will use a peak file instead of the original file to
new files draw the waveform.
If you notice problems with waveform scrolling, try decreasing this
setting so it is less than your current zoom ratio.
To calculate the size of the resulting peak files, divide the size of the file
by the peak ratio. For example, a 100 MB sound file will need a 0.39 MB
(100/256) peak file when using 1:256.
Normal Choose a zoom ratio from the drop-down list to specify the default
zoom ratio horizontal magnification (⇗229). This magnification level is used when
you load a sound file, create a new window, or use the Zoom Normal
command.
High values show more data, and small values show more detail.

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Custom Choose a zoom ratio from the drop-down list to specify a custom level
zoom ratio 1 of horizontal magnification.
This zoom ratio will be use when you do any of the following:
l Click the Custom Zoom 1 or Custom Zoom 2 button on the
Navigation (⇗33) toolbar.
Custom l From the View menu, choose Zoom Time, and then choose a
zoom ratio 2 Custom Zoom command from the submenu.
l Right-click in a data window, choose Zoom from the shortcut
menu, and then choose a Custom Zoom command from the
submenu.
Tabs for Choose a setting from the drop-down list to choose whether you want
maximized to display tabs to help you browse maximized data windows:
data l Choose None if you do not want to display tabs. You can navigate
windows data windows by choosing a window from the Window menu or
by pressing Ctrl+Tab.
l Choose Top to display tabs above the waveform display.
l Choose Bottom to display tabs below the waveform display.
When tabs are displayed, you can click a data window's tab to bring it
to the foreground.
When you have multiple data windows open and maximized, you can
drag files to a specific data window: while dragging a file or selection
hover over a data window's tab to bring it to the foreground. You can
then drop the file or selection in the desired data window.
Icon color Drag the slider to adjust the color intensity of icons in the SOUND
saturation FORGE PRO window. Drag to the left to decrease the color saturation,
or drag to the right to increase it.

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Icon color Drag the slider to adjust the amount of tinting that is applied to the
tint icons in the SOUND FORGE PRO window. Drag the slider to the right to
add an average of the title bar colors to the icons. Drag to the left to
decrease the amount of tinting applied.
You can use the Display Properties control panel to change your active
window title bar colors.

l In Windows Vista, open the Personalization control panel and

then click Window Color and Appearance. Then click the
Advanced button and choose Active Title Bar from the Item
drop-down list.
l In Windows 7, open the Personalization control panel and then
choose Active Title Bar from the Item drop-down list.

Wave Color Preferences

Item Description
Wave Besides the colorful two-dimensional default setting you can chose from
Coloring two more presets in the drop-down menu: Black White - Noise Factor and
Black White - Pitch shows the wave form in black and white, where the
brightness indicates the according property, either the noisiness or the
pitch of the audio.
Color for Here you can change the alternative wave form color that is used to
Vocal indicate detected vocal activity (⇗57) in the data window.
Activity

Editing Preferences
Use the Editingtab in the Preferences dialog to specify preferences for editing and undo
operations. To display this tab, choose Preferences from the Options menu and click
the Editingtab.

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Item Description
Disable Select this check box if you don’t want to select all data when you triple-
triple- click in a data window. You might want to select this option if triple-
clicking to clicks are falsely detected when you make a selection and then try to
select all perform a drag operation. Otherwise, decrease Windows' double-click
sound file threshold time.
data When this check box is cleared, you can triple-click anywhere in a data
window to select all data.
Disable Select this check box if you do not want selections to snap to time or
auto- zero-crossings when the data window zoom ratio is less than 1:4.
snapping This is useful if you commonly zoom in fully to adjust selection points
below 1:4 manually yet still want to use automatic snapping when zoomed out.
zoom
ratios
Force loop Select this check box if you want the loop region to always match the
bar to current time selection. Clicking to position the cursor in a data window
match will clear the loop region. When no loop region exists and looped
selection playback is enabled, the entire data window will play looped. When the
check box is selected, the behavior is similar to SOUND FORGE PRO 8.0.
Clear the check box if you want to be able to position the cursor without
clearing the loop region.
Update Select this check box if you want the loop bar in a data window to be
loop bar on updated when you mark the beginning or end of a selection. When the
Mark check box is cleared, the loop bar isn't updated until after you've marked
In/Out both ends of the selection.
This check box is not available when Force loop bar to match selection is
selected.

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Auto- When this check box is selected, the Fade In and Fade Out settings for
crossfade the Mix tool will pay attention to the destination selection and file length
Mix with when mixing between files. In the following example, notice how the
selection Fade in and Fade Out curves are adjusted when we drag a selection from
one data window to another and move the selection through an existing
selection in the destination window:

This setting has no effect in the following situations:

l When the material you are mixing does not overlap either end of
the destination selection or the end of the destination file.
l When no selection exists in the destination.
l When you mix data within a single data window.
When the check box is cleared, Fade In and Fade Out setting are not
affected by the selection in the Mix destination.
Drag & Drag this slider to specify the time before a window underneath the
drop auto cursor becomes active during drag-and-drop operations.
rise delay
Snap to Use this drop-down list to specify how zero-crossings are detected when
zero- you choose Snap to Zero:
crossing Negative Zero-crossings are detected only on a negative slope.
slope Slope
Any Zero-crossings are detected on both positive and
Crossing negative slopes.
Positive Zero-crossings are detected only on a positive slope.
Slope

ont-size: 7.0pt;"> It is usually best to use either Positive Slope or Negative

Slope so that noticeable pops and clicks are not generated by cutting data.
Zero-cross Specify the maximum time (in samples) that will be used to search for the
scan time next zero-crossing.

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Zero-cross Specify the sample value below which data will be considered a zero-
level crossing.
threshold Setting this value above zero can compensate for DC offset. However, if
possible, you should remove DC offset first.
Pencil tool Choose a setting from the drop-down list to specify the maximum zoom
maximum ratio at which the Pencil tool will be available.
zoom ratio
JKL / Choose a setting from the drop-down list to set the speed that will be
shuttle used for scrubbing the timeline with the JKL keys or with a multimedia
speed controller.
Global Specify the amount of RAM you want SOUND FORGE PRO to reserve for
media media recently read from or written to disk. Reserving excessive amounts
cache of RAM may decrease overall performance.
To turn off the cache, choose 0.

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Default FX Sets the default wet/dry mix and fade in/out curves that will be used in
crossfade processing dialogs.
Wet Type a value in the box (or use the spinner) to set the level of
Gain the processed signal that will be mixed into the output.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the
sustain portion of the wet gain envelope in the data window:

Dry Type a value in the box (or use the spinner) to set the level of
Gain the unprocessed signal that will be mixed into the output.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the
sustain portion of the dry gain envelope in the data window:

Fade Type a value in the box (or use the spinner) to set the length of
In the fade in between the unprocessed and processed signal.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the attack
portion of the envelope in the data window:

Click the Fade Curves button and choose a curve type

from the menu to set the speed of the fade in.
Fade Type a value in the box (or use the spinner) to set the length of
Out the fade out between the processed and unprocessed signal.
Changing this setting has the same effect as dragging the
release portion of the envelope in the data window:

Click the Fade Curves button and choose a curve type

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Labeling Preferences
From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and then click the Labels tab to modify
the default names that are assigned to data windows, regions, and markers.
Item Description
Window labels
New Select this check box and type a prefix in the box if you want SOUND
window FORGE PRO to display a name in the title bar when you create a new data
prefix window or choose Create a new window for each take from the Mode
drop-down list in the Record dialog.
Clear the check box if you do not want to include a prefix (if you want to
number windows only, for example)
Use Select this check box check box and type a number in the box if you want
counter SOUND FORGE PRO to number new data windows when you create a
and start new data window or choose Create a new window for each take from the
at Mode drop-down list in the Record dialog.
Insert Select this check box and specify a field width if you want to use leading
leading zeros in window names.
zeros in For example, if you specify a field width of 3, windows numbered 1 to 99
field would be numbered 001 to 099.
width of

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Label Select this check box if you want to display text labels for regions in the
Regions data window when you insert regions or choose Multiple takes creating
regions from the Mode drop-down list in the Record dialog.

Prefix Type a name in the box to set the label that will be used for
regions.
Use Select this check box and type a number in the box if you
counter want to number new regions.
and start
at
Insert Select this check box and specify a field width if you want
leading to use leading zeros in region names. For example, if you
zeros in specify a field width of 3, regions numbered 1 to 99 would
field be numbered 001 to 099.
width of

Label Select this check box if you want to display text labels for markers in the
Markers data window when you insert markers.

Prefix Type a name in the box to set the label that will be used for
markers.
Use Select this check box and type a number in the box if you
counter want to number new markers.
and start
at
Insert Select this check box and specify a field width if you want
leading to use leading zeros in marker names. For example, if you
zeros in specify a field width of 3, markers numbered 1 to 99 would
field be numbered 001 to 099.
width of

File Type Preferences

From the Options menu, choose Preferences and click the File Types tab to indicate
which types of files you want to associate with SOUND FORGE PRO. When a file is
associated with SOUND FORGE PRO, you can double-click a sound file in the Windows
Explorer and it will open for editing.

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1. Select a file type from the list. The File association details box displays information
about the selected file type, as well as the current association.
2. Select the check box for each sound file format you want to associate with
SOUND FORGE PRO, or clear the check box to remove a file association.
3. Click the OK button.

MIDI/Sync Preferences
Use the MIDI/Sync tab in the Preferences dialog to specify preferences for MIDI and
synchronization. To display this tab, choose Preferences from the Options menu and
click the MIDI/Sync tab.
Item Description
Output Choose a MIDI device from the drop-down list to specify the MIDI
output device for synchronization when Generate MIDI Timecode is
enabled.
Input Choose a MIDI device from the drop-down list to specify the MIDI input
device for synchronization and triggering when Trigger from MIDI
Timecode is enabled.
This is the device through which SOUND FORGE PRO will receive all
MIDI triggering and synchronization input, including SMPTE/MTC, MIDI
triggers, and Regions/Playlist triggers.
Bound When this check box is selected, SOUND FORGE PRO software will not
record time allow recording beyond the specified end time. This ensures that your
on SMPTE record length is exact regardless of any inaccurate timecode.
record sync
Use internal Select this check box if you want to use the internal timer for SMPTE
timer for generation rather than position values reported by the sound card
SMPTE driver. Since many sound cards do not report their position accurately, it
generation is usually better to use the internal timer for SMPTE generation.
Choose a value from the Internal timer resolution drop-down list to
specify the internal timer accuracy used for generating SMPTE. Low
values produce more accurate SMPTE generation, but may also decrease
system performance.

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Use free- Select this check box to stop playback if the incoming MIDI timecode
wheel for signal stops. When this check box is not selected, SOUND FORGE PRO
SMPTE loss playback will continue until the user stops playback manually.
In the Free-wheel time box, specify the amount of time that SOUND
FORGE PRO playback will continue after the incoming MIDI timecode
signal stops. If timecode starts again during this time, playback will
continue.
In the Free-wheel slack box, specify how fast the software should
expect timecode updates before going into Free-wheel mode. If you
have a fast computer, this value can be set to a lower value if you want
to stop playback immediately when timecode is interrupted.
Apply offset Select this check box to specify an offset that will be added to the time
to displayed in the SOUND FORGE PRO play counter. For example, if you
generated want to generate MIDI timecode starting at 01:00:00:00, instead of
SMPTE inserting 1 hour of silence at the beginning of your sound file, you can
specify that amount in this box.
When using Record Sync, you’ll often want to set this value to the
Enable MTC/SMPTE Input Synchronization Start time. The SOUND
FORGE PRO ruler and play counter will not display this offset.

Preview Preferences
Use the Previews tab in the Preferences dialog to specify options for previewing files. To
display this tab, choose Preferences from the Options menu and click the Previews tab.
Item Description
Limit non- Select this check box and specify the length of audio that will be used
realtime when generating a preview. Low values decrease the amount of time
previews to needed to generate a preview when tuning effects or processing
values.
This value is used for non-realtime effects or when the Real-time
check box is cleared in a processing dialog.
Pre-roll Select this check box and specify how many seconds of unprocessed
audio will be played before the processed selection. Use this to listen
to the transition from unprocessed to processed data.
Post-roll Select this check box and specify how many seconds of unprocessed
audio will be played after the processed selection. Use this to listen to
the transition from processed to unprocessed data.

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Reactive Select this check box to automatically recalculate and play back the
Previewing preview buffer if the parameters of an effect change. This allows for
immediate feedback of the effects of a change.
This option is most useful when using a fast computer, limiting
preview times, and not using processor-intensive effects.
Audio event Use the Pre-roll and Loop time settings to control how the audio
locator event locator plays audio:
l In the Pre-roll box, specify the amount of data played prior to
the cursor position.
l In the Loop time box, specify the amount of time that will loop
when you stop the cursor while clicking and dragging in the
overview bar.
To use the audio event locator, hold Ctrl, click the overview bar, and
drag the mouse. Similar to a scrub control, playback follows mouse
movement and loops around the cursor position when the mouse is
still. Playback stops when the mouse button is released.
Cut preview Use the Pre-roll and Post-roll settings to control the amount of data
configuration that is played back when you choose Preview Cut/Cursor from the
Transport menu:
l In the Pre-roll box, specify the amount of data played prior to
the selection or cursor position.
l In the Post-roll box, specify the amount of data played after the
selection or cursor position.
Play Looped When Loop Playback mode is turned on and you make a selection
adjust pre-roll during playback, playback is pre-rolled from the end of the selection
to help you tune long loops.
Specify the number of seconds before the end of the selection that
you would like to pre-roll.
Playlist pre- Enter a value in the edit box or use the up and down arrows to specify
roll the amount of pre-roll that will be used when playing (⇗264) entries
in the Playlist/Cutlist window. This allows you to easily hear the
transition from one region to another without having to play all the
way through the first region.

Status Preferences
From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and then select the Status tab to specify
preferences for displaying information in the status bar.

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Item Description
Default The default frame rate used to calculate frame values.
frames per Frame values are useful when trying to synchronize sound with
second animation. Most animation players specify a playback frame rate at
which video frames are shown to the user. If you are using an animation
that has a frame rate of 15.0 frames per second, you would set the
frame rate to 15.0. When status values are displayed, they will be shown
in values of frames. This allows you to find the frame to which a given
point in the sound file corresponds.
Default The number of beats in each measure for displaying in measures and
beats per beats. For example, 2/4 time would have two beats per measure.
measure This setting will also be used in the Edit Tempo (⇗56) window.
Default The number of beats per minute, i.e. the tempo of a song for displaying
beats per lengths.
minute This setting will also be used in the Edit Tempo window.
RMS level The amount of sound data surrounding the cursor used to calculate the
scan time RMS level in the Levels (⇗42) toolbar.
Peak level The amount of sound data surrounding the cursor used when searching
scan time for a peak level to display in the Levels toolbar.
0 VU (+4 Choose a setting from the drop-down list or type a value in the box to
dBu) level calibrate the VU/PPM meters to their associated levels on the peak
meters.
VU meters display sound in dB VU, where 0 VU is a reference level, and
there is headroom above 0 VU. The SOUND FORGE PRO peak meters
display peaks in dB FS (decibels relative to full scale).
In digital audio, there is no headroom above 0 dB FS. Choosing a setting
from this drop-down list subtracts a nominal dB value from the VU
meters so that a signal displayed on the VU meters remains slightly
below 0 dB on the peak meters.
VU meter Type a value in the box to set the amount of data surrounding the cursor
integration that will be used to calculate levels in the VU meters.
time This setting has no effect on the PPM scales, which use fixed
integration times:
l UK PPM: 10 ms
l EBU PPM: 10 ms
l DIN PPM: 5 ms
l Nordic PPM: 5 ms

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Enable Select this check box if you want to treat audio with six channels as
surround surround audio when measuring loudness (a gain of ~1.5 dB is applied to
processing the left and right surround channels). When the check box is cleared, all
for files channels contribute equally to the loudness measurement.
with 6
channels
Open editor Select this check box of you want to automatically open loudness log
when new files (⇗173) in your default text editor when you choose Tools >
loudness log Generate Loudness Log.
is generated

Toolbar Preferences
Use the Toolbars tab in the Preferences dialog to specify which toolbars you want to
display.
Perform either of the following actions to display this tab:
l Choose Preferences from the Options menu and click the Toolbars tab.
l From the View menu, choose Toolbars.

Display or hide toolbars

Select the check box to display a toolbar; clear a check box to hide a toolbar.

Display or hide ToolTips

Select the Show ToolTips check box if you want to display pop-up descriptions when
the mouse is held over certain items:

Customize a toolbar
1. Select the check box for the toolbars you want to customize.
2. Click the Customize button. The Customize Toolbar dialog is displayed.
3. Use the controls in the Customize Toolbar dialog to add, remove, or rearrange the
buttons on the selected toolbar:
1. Select a button in the Available tools column and click Add to add the button
to the toolbar before the currently selected button.

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2. Select a button in the Current tools column and click Remove to remove the
button from the toolbar.
3. Select a button in the Current tools column and click Move Up or Move
Down to rearrange the buttons.
4. Click Reset to restore the toolbar to its default setting.
5. Click the OK button.

CD Settings Preferences
From the Options menu, choose Preferences and select the CD Settings tab to specify
settings for burning and extracting audio from CDs.
Item Description
Use strict Red Select this check box if you want to be notified prior to burning a
Book specification disc-at-once (⇗121) CD if anything about your CD project is
for DAO validation against strict Red Book standards.
These warnings are not critical, and in most cases you will not
write an unreadable disc if you proceed. Clearing this check box
will not suppress critical warnings that will result in an
unreadable disc.
Use SPTI direct Select this check box if you want to use SPTI (SCSI Pass-Through
for CD burning Interface) to communicate with your CD burning drive.
Overwrite CD If the software incorrectly detects that your CD recorder is not
Text able to write CD Text, select this check box to turn on CD Text
autodetection writing for your drive.
results Please check the documentation provided with your CD recorder
to determine whether the drive is able to write CD Text.
Include wide SCSI Select this check box if you want to scan for wide SCSI CD drives
devices when when you attempt to extract data from or burn CDs.
searching for When the check box is cleared, the application will not scan for
drives wide SCSI devices, which can increase compatibility with some
USB device drivers that incorrectly identify themselves as wide
SCSI.
Skip drive When the check box is cleared, an internal configuration file is
database; used to determine your drive's capabilities.
autodetect drive If you encounter problems burning CDs, select this check box,
capabilities on and your drive to determine its capabilities when the application
startup starts.

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Automatically Select this check box if you want to automatically detect the
detect CD length length of your blank CDs when you insert them in your drive.
When this check box is cleared, the Default CD length (minutes)
setting is used, and you can click the CD Time Remaining box in
the status bar to update the available time on a CD.
Prepend up to 2 When this check box is selected, the default pause time (⇗452) is
seconds of silence inserted when you create disc-at-once CD tracks.
for DAO burning
Default time Type a value in the edit box to specify the length of time that is
between CD inserted between disc-at-once (⇗121) CD tracks.
tracks (seconds)
Default CD length Type the default length for CD media. This length is used if the
(minutes) software has not yet scanned your CD drive or if no CD is in your
drive.
This length is used to calculate the amount of time remaining on
the disc that is displayed in the status bar.
Default All Restores all CD preferences to the default settings.

Preferences - Audio Tab

From the Options menu, choose Preferences and select the Audio tab to specify
playback and recording options. Click the Advanced button to access the advanced
audio preferences.

Item Description
Audio Choose a driver type from the drop-down list.
Device l Microsoft Sound Mapper: The default setting. Allows the Sound
Type Mapper to choose appropriate playback and recording devices.
l Windows Classic Wave Driver: Allows you to choose a specific
audio device using a classic Wave driver.
l ASIO: Allows you to choose a specific audio device using a low-
latency ASIO driver.
Playback Click the Playback tab to adjust playback routing and buffering settings.

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Playback The Channel and Device columns indicate which audio output will be
device used to play each channel in a multichannel file. To assign a channel to a
routing different output, click the Device entry and choose a new output from
the drop-down list.
To change a channel's output device using the Channel Meters window,
click the channel number and choose a new output port from the menu:

Playback Specifies the total amount of buffering that is used during playback.
buffering The larger the number, the more buffering is performed during playback.
(seconds) This value must be as low as possible without gapping. To set it, start at
.25 and play back a typical song. If the playback gaps, try increasing this
slider in small increments until the gapping goes away.
If you simply cannot get playback to be free of gapping, you need to
install more RAM in your computer so you can increase buffering, buy a
faster access hard drive, or minimize the number of audio plug-ins you
are trying to use simultaneously.
Recording Click the Record tab to adjust record input routing and buffering
settings.

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Recording The Channel and Device columns indicate which audio output will be
device used to record each channel in a multichannel file. To assign a channel to
routing a different input, click the Device entry and choose a new input from the
drop-down list.
To change a channel's input in the Record Options window, click the
channel number and choose a new input port from the menu.

Record Specifies the total amount of buffering that is used during recording.
buffering If you use your computer for other tasks while recording, increasing this
(seconds) setting can reduce the likelihood of those tasks interrupting recording.
Advanced Click this button to open the Advanced Audio Configuration dialog. For
more information, see Advanced Audio Configuration (⇗410)
Default All Click to restore the Audio tab to the default settings.

Advanced Audio Configuration

The Advanced Audio Configuration dialog allows you to view information about and
adjust settings for audio device selected in the Audio device type drop-down list on the
Audio (⇗408) tab of the Preferences dialog.
To display the dialog, select a device from the Audio device type drop-down list, click
Apply, and then click Advanced.

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Microsoft Sound Mapper or Windows Classic Wave Driver

Item Description
Audio This list contains all of the audio devices that are installed in your
devices computer. Select a device from the list to set the options below for that
device.
Interpolate When this check box is selected, the software will attempt to
position compensate for inaccurate devices by interpolating the playback or
recording position. If you notice that your playback cursor is offset from
what you are hearing, enable this option for the playback device.
Position bias If the position of playback or recording does not match what you hear
after you enable Interpolate position, you can attempt to compensate
using the Position bias slider.
Moving this slider will offset the position forward or backward to
compensate for the inaccuracies of the device.
Do not pre- When this check box is selected, the software will not create buffers
roll buffers prior to starting playback. Some devices do not behave properly if this
before check box is cleared.
starting If your audio stutters when you start playback try selecting this check
playback box.
Audio Drag the slider to set the number of audio buffers that will be used.
buffers Adjusting this setting can decrease gapping or help you synchronize the
input and output.
Buffer size Choose a setting from the drop-down list to indicate the buffer size you
want to use. Choose MMEto use the Playback buffering setting on the
Audio (⇗408) tab in the Preferences dialog.
For example, if you choose MME from the Buffer size drop-down, set
the Audio buffers slider to 5, and set Playback buffering to 0.35
seconds, five 0.07-second buffers are created.
If you choose 1024 from the Buffer size drop-down and set the Audio
buffers slider to 5, five 1024-byte buffers are created.
Priority Choose a setting from the drop-down list to set the priority that is
assigned to your audio buffers.
Increasing the buffers' priority can help you attain smoother playback,
but it can also adversely affect other processes.

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ASIO
When an ASIO driver is selected, the Advanced Audio Configuration dialog displays
information about the settings for the selected driver. Click the Configure button to
open the driver manufacturer's configuration applet and adjust settings.

Video Preferences
Use the Video tab in the Preferences dialog to specify preferences for displaying video.
To display this tab, choose Preferences from the Options menu and click the Video tab.
Item Description
Frame Determines how individual frame information, located in a box at the
numbering on lower left-hand corner of each frame, will be displayed in the video
thumbnails strip (⇗142) when frame numbering is turned on.
The frame information box can include Frame Numbers or Media
Timecode.
Allow pulldown Select this check box if you want to remove pulldown (⇗453) when
removal when you open 24 fps progressive-scan DV video files.
opening 24p When the check box is cleared, SOUND FORGE PRO software will
DV read 24p video as 29.97 fps interlaced video (60i).
Deinterlace Choose a setting from the drop-down list to determine how SOUND
method FORGE PRO software separates the two fields that make up a video
frame when you render to a progressive format:
Blend Fields: Maintains the data in the two fields by blending them
together. This method can produce a smooth, motion-blurred image.
Interpolate: Deletes one field and uses the remaining field to
interpolate the deleted lines. This produces sharper images than
Blend Fields but can introduce jagged motion or stair-stepping
artifacts.
Resample Select this check box if you want to interpolate video frames when
source video you render to a frame rate that is greater than the source file's frame
when rate.
rendering to a
higher frame
rate

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External Choose a device from the drop-down list to configure an IEEE-1394

monitor device device for use with an external monitor. SOUND FORGE PRO will
send your video output to this device when you click the Preview on
External Monitor button in the Video Preview window.
Audio is not output to the external monitor.

Preferences - VST Effects

From the Options menu, choose Preferences and select the VST Effects tab to indicate
where your VST plug-ins are installed and which plug-ins you want to make available to
SOUND FORGE PRO software.
After adding new VST effects, you can use either of the following methods to add them to the
FX Favorites menu:
l From the FX Favorites menu, choose Recreate by Plug-In Name to clear the current
FX Favorites structure and create new folders based on the first word in the plug-ins'
names.
l From the FX Favorites menu, choose Organize. In the Organize Favorites dialog, drag
your new plug-ins from the VST folder to the desired folder in the FX Favorites portion
of the tree view on the left side of the dialog.

Item Description
VST search The dialog displays a list of folders where SOUND FORGE PRO
folders looks for VST effects during startup.
Add path If you want to add a new folder, click the Add path button and
then browse to the folder where your plug-in is installed.
Edit path If you want to edit an existing folder path, select a folder in the
VST search folders column, click the Edit path button, and then
browse to the folder where your plug-in is installed.
Remove path If you want to remove an existing folder, select a folder in the VST
search folders column and click the Remove path button.
Select VST Select the check box for each VST plug-in that you want to make
effects to be available in SOUND FORGE PRO software. Clear a check box to
available as audio exclude the plug-in.
plug-ins

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Generic VST If there are problems with the graphical interface of a particular
editor plug-in, this option allows you to switch the interface to a generic
VST Editor.
Refresh If you have installed a new plugin, click Refresh to rescan the
plugins so that the new plugin appears in the list.

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Shortcuts

Shortcuts
The following sections contain information about the shortcuts you can use to make
editing in SOUND FORGE PRO software quicker and easier.

Keyboard Shortcuts
From the Help menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts to view the shortcut keys that are
available in SOUND FORGE PRO. The available shortcut keys are arranged in tables
according to function.
The following shortcuts represent the default configuration. Your system may differ if
you've used the Customize Keyboard dialog to customize your keyboard shortcuts.

Project File Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Create a new data window Ctrl+N
Create a new data window without displaying the New Ctrl+Shift+N
Window dialog
Open a sound file or project Ctrl+O
Save modified sound data back to the file Ctrl+S
Display File Properties window Alt+Enter
Close the active data window Ctrl+W
Exit SOUND FORGE PRO Alt+F4

Magnification and View Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Set input focus to the waveform display in the active Alt+0
window
Show/set input focus to the Explorer window Alt+1
Show/set input focus to the File Properties window Alt+2
Show/set input focus to the Video Preview window Alt+3
Show/set input focus to the Time Display window Alt+4
Show/set input focus to the Channel Meters window Alt+5

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Shortcuts

Show/set input focus to the Loudness Meters window Alt+6

Show/set input focus to the Hardware Meters window Alt+7
Show/set input focus to the Undo/Redo History window Alt+8

Show/set input focus to the Spectrum Analysis window Alt+9

Show/set input focus to the Plug-In Chain window Ctrl+Alt+0
Show/set input focus to the Plug-In Manager window Ctrl+Alt+1
Show/set input focus to the MIDI Keyboard window Ctrl+Alt+2
Show/set input focus to the Script Editor window Ctrl+Alt+3
Show/set input focus to the Loop Tuner window Ctrl+Alt+4
Show/set input focus to the Record Options window Ctrl+Alt+5
Show/set input focus to the Regions List Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 0
Show/set input focus to the Playlist/Cutlist window Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 1
Show/set input focus to the Track List window Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 2
Show/set input focus to the ACID Properties window Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 3
Show/set input focus to the Broadcast Wave window Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 4
Show/set input focus to the CD Information window Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 5
Show/set input focus to the Sampler Loops window Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 6
Show/set input focus to the Summary Information Ctrl+Alt+M, then press 7
window
Tile the data windows vertically Shift+F4
Restore the SOUND FORGE PRO application window Alt+F5
Recall window layout Alt+Shift+D, then press 0-9

Save window layout Ctrl+Alt+D, then press 0-9

Load default window layout Alt+Shift+D, then press D
Load Stereo Recording window layout Alt+Shift+D, then press R
Load Red Book authoring window layout Alt+Shift+D, then press B
Load 5.1-channel video window layout Alt+Shift+D, then press V
Cascade the data windows Shift+F5
Restore the active data window Ctrl+F5

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Shortcuts

Toggle playback scrolling on and off F6

Toggle smooth playback scrolling on and off Shift+F6
Go to the next data window Ctrl+F6
Go to the previous data window Ctrl+Shift+F6
Maximize all data windows Ctrl+F10
Maximize the SOUND FORGE PRO application window Alt+F10
Show/hide windows docked at the bottom of the F11
workspace
Show/hide windows docked at the sides of the Shift+F11
workspace
Show/hide all docked windows (excluding floating Ctrl+F11
window docks)
Maximize the width of the active data window Ctrl+Enter

Data Window Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Select previous/next editing tool D/Shift+D
Select normal edit tool Ctrl+D
Select all data in the active window Ctrl+A
Copy the selected data onto the clipboard Ctrl+C
Paste the clipboard contents into a new data window Ctrl+E
Mix data from the clipboard with the active window Ctrl+M
Trim (crop) to the current selection Ctrl+T
Paste data from the clipboard into the active window Ctrl+V
Enable locking markers, regions, and envelope points to Ctrl+L
selection
Move (cut) the selected data onto the clipboard Ctrl+X
Repeat last process, effect, or tool Ctrl+Y
Undo the last action Ctrl+Z
Redo the last undone action Ctrl+Shift+Z

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Shortcuts

Clear (delete) the selected data; nothing will be placed on Delete

the clipboard
If the Treat as Cutlist command (available in the Edit
menu, Playlist/Cutlist submenu) is selected, deleting a
selection creates a region in the Cutlist window, but does
not remove the selection.
Place a command marker at the current cursor position C
Place a marker at the current cursor position M
Place a region at the current cursor position R
Place a region at the current cursor position (when the Ctrl+Alt+R
Event tool is selected)
Enable snapping F8
Toggle auto snap to grid Ctrl+F8
Toggle auto snap to markers Shift+F8
Toggle auto snap to event edges Ctrl+Shift+F8
Toggle auto snap to zero crossings Ctrl+B
Insert/show/hide volume envelope V
Insert/remove volume envelope Shift+V
Insert/show/hide pan envelope P
Insert/remove pan envelope Shift+P
Create a loop from the current selection without Alt+L
displaying the Sampler Loops window
Create a loop from the current selection Alt+Shift+L
Stop or cancel the current action (including playback) Esc
Split event at cursor position (when the Event tool is S
selected)
Split selected events at region boundaries (when the Ctrl+Alt+T
Event tool is selected)

Cursor Movement Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Move one pixel right/left Right/Left Arrow

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Shortcuts

Go to end of file Ctrl+Right Arrow

Go to the next region, loop or marker boundary (if
regions, loops, or markers exist in the file)
Go to beginning of file Ctrl+Left Arrow
Go to the previous region, loop or marker boundary (if
regions, loops, or markers exist in the file)
Move one video frame right/left (available only if the data Alt+Right/Left Arrow
window contains a video file)
Move one sample right/left Ctrl+Alt+Right/Left Arrow
Show the Go To dialog Ctrl+G
Go to the first sample visible in the waveform display (or Home
beginning of selection)
Go to the first sample in the data window Ctrl+Home
Go to the last sample visible in the waveform display (or End
end of selection)
Go to the last sample in the data window Ctrl+End
Move 10% of the current view prior to the cursor Page Up
position
Move 100% of the current view prior to the cursor Ctrl+Page Up
position
Move 10% of the current view past the cursor position Page Down
Move 100% of the current view past the cursor position Ctrl+Page Down
Center the cursor in the waveform display \ or .
Go to the next sample + (numeric keypad)
Move 10 samples past the current cursor Ctrl+numeric keypad +
Go to the previous sample - (numeric keypad)
Move 10 samples prior to the current cursor Ctrl+numeric keypad -

Data Selection Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Show the Set Selection dialog Ctrl+Shift+D

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Shortcuts

Select from the cursor to the next/previous screen pixel Shift+Right/Left Arrow
Select next/previous event (when the Event tool is
selected)
Select from the cursor to the next/previous sample Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Right/Left
Arrow
Select from the cursor to the next/previous video frame Shift+Alt+Right/Left Arrow
(available only if the data window contains a video file)
Select from the cursor to the first sample visible in the Shift+Home
waveform display
Select from the cursor to the last sample visible in the Shift+End
waveform display
Select from the cursor to the first sample in the data Ctrl+Shift+Home
window
Select from the cursor to the last sample in the data Ctrl+Shift+End
window
Select from the cursor to 10% of the current view prior Shift+Page Up
to the cursor position
Select from the cursor to 10% of the current view past Shift+Page Down
the cursor position
Select 100% of the current view prior to the cursor Shift+Ctrl+Page Up
position
Select 100% of the current view past the cursor Shift+Ctrl+Page Down
position
Select from the cursor to the end of the file Select from Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow
the cursor to the next region, loop or marker boundary
(if regions, loops, or markers exist in the file) Extend
selection to the next/previous event (when the Event
tool is selected)
Select from the cursor to the beginning of the file Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow
Select from the cursor to the previous region, loop or
marker boundary (if regions, loops, or markers exist in
the file)
Select from the cursor to the next sample Shift+numeric keypad +
Select from the cursor to the previous sample Shift+numeric keypad -

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Shortcuts

Select 10 samples past the current cursor Shift+Ctrl+numeric keypad +

Select 10 samples prior to the current cursor Shift+Ctrl+numeric keypad -

Snap to grid T
Snap edge to grid Shift+T
Snap to next zero crossing Z
Snap edge to next zero crossing Shift+Z
Switch the selection through the channels in a Tab/Shift+Tab
multichannel file
Shift current selection to the left by the length of the <
selection
Shift current selection to the right by the length of the >
selection
Cut the current selection length in half ;
Double the current selection length '
Rotate audio :
Restore previous five time selections Backspace
Toggle last selection/cursor position S or /
Create a loop from the current selection Alt+L
Create a loop from the current selection Alt+Shift+L
without displaying the Sampler Loops window

Navigation and Playback Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Save a view in cell <Number> where <Number> ranges Ctrl+Shift+<Number>
from 1 to 8
Restore a view using cell <Number> where <Number> Ctrl+<Number>
ranges from 1 to 8
Move cursor to corresponding marker or select 0-9 keys (not numeric
corresponding region keypad)
Increase time magnification (zoom in) Up Arrow or mouse wheel
up

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Shortcuts

Decrease time magnification (zoom out) Down Arrow or mouse

wheel down
Increase level magnification Shift+Up Arrow
Decrease level magnification Shift+Down Arrow
Zoom to selection if a selection exists; otherwise Zoom In Ctrl+Up Arrow
Full Zoom event (when the Event tool is selected)
Zoom normal (zooms to default zoom ratio set in Ctrl+Down Arrow
Preferences)
Display custom zoom ratio 1 1 (numeric keypad)
Display custom zoom ratio 2 2 (numeric keypad)
Pan data window up/down if zoomed in vertically Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down
Arrow
Switch cursor to opposite end of selection 5 (numeric keypad)
Set Mark In at the current cursor position I
Set Mark Out at the current cursor position O
Arm for recording Ctrl+Shift+A
Start/stop recording Ctrl+R
Toggle looped playback Q
Play or Stop the contents of the data window in default Spacebar or
mode F12
Play All Shift+Spacebar or
Shift+F12
Play/Pause Enter or
Ctrl+F12
Switch play mode through Normal, Play as Sample, and X
Play as Cutlist playback modes
Stop playback Esc
Seek cursor on playback F
Preview cut (skip selection on playback with pre-roll) Ctrl+K
Play to cursor with pre-roll Ctrl+Shift+K
Scrub playback J, K, or L
Toggle playback scrolling on and off F6

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Shortcuts

Toggle smooth playback scrolling on and off Shift+F6

Generate MIDI timecode F7
Trigger from MIDI timecode Ctrl+F7

Event Tool Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Select the previous/next editing tool D or Shift+D
Split events at cursor S
Show/hide fade lengths between events Ctrl+Shift+T
Toggle automatic crossfades on/off Ctrl+Shift+X
Select the next event Shift+Right Arrow
Select the previous event Shift+Left Arrow
Select the first event Shift+Home
Select the last event Shift+End
Extend selection to the next event Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow
Extend selection to the previous event Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow
Extend the selection to the first event Shift+Ctrl+Home
Extend the selection to the last event Shift+Ctrl+End
Auto ripple events Ctrl+Shift+R

Plug-In Chain Shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts are available when the Plug-In Chain window has
focus.
Command Keyboard Shortcut
Bypass plug-in Ctrl+B
Bypass plug-in chain Ctrl+Shift+B
Save chain preset Ctrl+S
Toggle Ignore/Mix/Insert Tail Data options Ctrl+T
Add plug-ins to chain Ctrl+E
Remove selected plug-ins Ctrl+Delete
Select the next plug-in in the chain Down Arrow

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Shortcuts

Select the previous plug-in in the chain Up Arrow

Show the plug-in window Ctrl+D
Show or hide the effect automation parameters Ctrl+H
Show or hide envelope in data window Shift+D
Enable or disable envelope Shift+E
Select all plug-ins or effect automation parameters Ctrl+A

Regions List Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut
Play or stop the active marker or region Spacebar
Edit the active marker or region Enter
Delete the active marker or region Delete
Create region from the current selection Ctrl+I
Replicate selected region. Ctrl+D
Update region to match selection Ctrl+U

Playlist/Cutlist Shortcuts
Command Keyboard Shortcut
Play or stop the active playlist entry Space bar
Edit the active playlist entry Enter
Delete the active playlist entry Delete
Add one to the active playlist entry play count + (plus sign) (not numeric
keypad)
Subtract one from the active playlist entry play count - (minus sign) (not numeric
keypad)
Add or remove a stop point on the active playlist entry Ctrl+E Ctrl+8
Toggle pre-roll on and off for the playlist Ctrl+P / (forward slash)
(not numeric keypad)
Add selected Regions List item to Playlist Ctrl+I
Replicate selected playlist region. Ctrl+D

Script Editor Shortcuts

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Shortcuts

Command Keyboard Shortcut

Create a new script Ctrl+N
Open a script Ctrl+O
Run script Ctrl+R
Compile script Ctrl+Shift+R
Save script Ctrl+S
Find next instance of last-searched text F3
Find previous instance of last-searched text Shift+F3
Find next instance of the selected text Ctrl+F3
Find previous instance of the selected text Ctrl+Shift+F3

Drag-and-Drop Shortcuts
Drag-and-drop allows you to quickly perform operations crossing between open data
windows, the Playlist/Cutlist window, the Regions List, and the time ruler.
Command Function
Drag to To create a new file from the current selection, drag the selection to an
New open area of the SOUND FORGE PRO desktop.
You can also drag regions from the Regions List to the desktop.
Drag Mix To mix (⇗223) a selection, drag the selection from the source to the place
where you want to mix the selected data. You can drag the selection to
the same data window or another data window.
Drag Paste To paste (⇗221) a selection, hold Ctrl and drag the selection from the
source to the place where you want to paste the selected data. You can
drag the selection to the same data window or another data window.
Drag to To add the current selection to the Regions List, drag it to the Regions
Regions List. You can also drag regions from the Regions List to the Playlist.
List
Drag to To add a region from the Regions List to a playlist, drag it from the
Playlist waveform display or the Regions List to the Playlist/Cutlist window.You
can also drag regions within a playlist to rearrange the playback order.
Drag to To create a region, drag the current selection to the time ruler.
Time Ruler

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Shortcuts

Drag to To create a disc-at-once CD track, drag a selection to the Track List

Track List window.
Drag CD From the Options menu, choose Drag-and-Drop Editing, and choose CD
Track Track from the submenu if you want to create disc-at-once tracks during
drag-and-drop editing. Choosing this command has the same effect as
toggle-clicking the right mouse button while dragging until the cursor is
displayed as a .

Mouse Shortcuts
Command Function
Select All Double-click the waveform display to select the entire sound
file.
Triple-click when regions, loops or markers are present (if the
Disable triple-clicking to select all sound file data check box
on the Editing (⇗395) tab in the Preferences dialog is cleared) .
Zoom Time and Level Double-click the level ruler to zoom the current selection
vertically and horizontally. If no selection exists, the entire
waveform display data is zoomed.
Double-click again to zoom out to the full amplitude and to
the normal horizontal magnification.
Return Control Value Double-click a slider, fader, or spinner to reset it to its default
to Default value.
Fine Tune Control To fine tune a trackbar, fader, or spinner, hold the right and
Value left mouse buttons (or hold the Ctrl key) when dragging.
Preview Shift-click the Preview button to hear the original sound. This
is equivalent to enabling the Bypass check box.
Main Status Bar Double-click the Sample Rate, Sample Size, or Channels box
at the bottom of the SOUND FORGE PRO window to edit
their values.

Selection Status Bar Double-click the Selection Start (leftmost) box in a data
window to type a new value.
Double-click the Selection End or Selection Length box to
type a new value.

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Shortcuts

Go To Marker Click a marker tag to move the cursor to the marker's

position.
Set Selection to Double-click a region or loop tag in the ruler to change
Region/Loop the current selection to the region or loop end points.
Play Normal Button Ctrl+click the Play Normal button to Preview Cut (skip
(on playbar) selection) on playback. Ctrl+Shift+click to play to cursor with
pre-roll.
Slow and Fast When making a selection past the end or beginning of the
Selection Scroll waveform display, click the right mouse button (while holding
Toggle down the left mouse button) to toggle between fast scrolling
and slow scrolling.
Zoom in horizontally Rotate the mouse wheel forward.
Zoom out horizontally Rotate the mouse wheel back.
Zoom in/out vertically Ctrl + rotate the mouse wheel forward or back.
Scroll left/right 10% Shift + rotate the mouse wheel forward or back.
of the current view
prior
Move cursor left or Ctrl + Shift + rotate the mouse wheel forward or back.
right (move current
selection point if
selection exists)

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Appendix

Appendix
The following topics contain topics that. . .well. . . don't fit neatly into any category, but
we thought you'd want to know about them anyway.

SOUND FORGE PRO and the Microsoft Audio

Compression Manager
The Microsoft Audio Compression Manager (ACM) is a standard interface for audio
compression in Windows. This interface allows applications such as SOUND FORGE
PRO software to use compression algorithms provided by other companies.
SOUND FORGE PRO software fully supports audio compression through the ACM. This
enables you to use any ACM-compatible compression. The best part of this support is
you don’t have to learn anything new to use it! SOUND FORGE PRO software
transparently opens compressed .wav files and provides all available compression
formats for .wav files in the Save As dialog.

Audio data compression and decompression

The first piece of the ACM allows you to compress and decompress audio data. Audio
compression is used to decrease the amount of data required to represent a sound; this
ultimately results in smaller sound files. However, there are drawbacks to using audio
compression on your sound files:
l Most audio compression algorithms will degrade the quality of the sound. This is
referred to as lossy compression since information contained in the sound is lost
when it is compressed. The amount of sound degradation is dependent on the
compression algorithm.
l Audio compression requires more processing time than uncompressed data. The
amount of processing time is dependent on the algorithm, as well as your hardware
setup. As a result, opening and saving compressed files will usually take longer than
uncompressed files.
l Compressed files are not as portable as uncompressed files. If you are distributing
files in a compressed format, you must ensure the person receiving the files can
use them. Also, not all audio software can use compressed .wav files, which could
make using other programs with SOUND FORGE PRO software inconvenient.
In SOUND FORGE PRO software, any compressed .wav file can be opened as long as a
compatible ACM driver is installed and enabled. If there is no compatible ACM driver
available for a compressed .wav file, SOUND FORGE PRO software will inform you of
the problem when you try to open it.

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Appendix

Saving compressed .wav files is as simple as choosing the compression algorithm in the
Format drop-down list of the Save As dialog. Once a file has been saved as compressed,
SOUND FORGE PRO software will always save changes to the file using the selected
compression algorithm; you do not need to reselect the compression format each time
you save. However, you can change the compression format or revert to an
uncompressed format at any time with the Save As dialog.

Transparent playback and recording of non-hardware-supported audio

files
The Microsoft Sound Mapper allows audio data formats that are not directly supported
by your sound card to be played and recorded. SOUND FORGE PRO software lets you
use the Sound Mapper by selecting it for playback and recording on the Audio tab of the
Preferences dialog.

Using the Sound Mapper with uncompressed files

The primary use of the Sound Mapper for uncompressed sound files is for your
convenience. You don’t have to convert the sound to a supported format before you
listen to it:
l If, for example, you have a sound file that is recorded at a nonstandard sample rate
such as 22,257 Hz, and the closest sample rate that your sound card supports is
22,050 Hz, then the sound file normally cannot be played. You would have to
change the sample rate of the file to 22,050 Hz before you could play it. However,
changing the sample rate (without resampling) would cause the sound to play at a
lower pitch. Using the Sound Mapper, you can play this sound file correctly
without resampling the file first. The Sound Mapper will map the sound to the best
format possible and perform the resampling in real time.
l The Sound Mapper will allow you to play 16- or 24-bit sounds on an 8-bit sound
card, play stereo sounds on a mono sound card, and record stereo files on a mono-
only sound card. However, when you use the Sound Mapper to record in stereo
from a mono source, the mono input of your sound card is simply duplicated in
both channels--the Sound Mapper cannot create something that is better than
what the sound card can supply.

Using the Sound Mapper with compressed files

The Sound Mapper allows you to play (and sometimes record) compressed sound
fileseven on sound cards that do not directly support compressionso you can play a
sound file that is compressed with Microsoft ADPCM or the DSP Group’s TrueSpeech
without decompressing the file first.——

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Appendix

The Sound Mapper cannot always record compressed sound files because compressing
sound data can be very processor intensive: the amount of time required is dependent on
the compression algorithm and how it is implemented. Decompressing sound data is
almost always faster than compressing the same sound data.
SOUND FORGE PRO software does not play and record compressed sound files directly.
Rather, all compression and decompression is performed while opening and saving the
sound files. SOUND FORGE PRO software saves compressed sound files using the best
quality possiblesomething that cannot always be done in real time. Saving compressed
sound files with SOUND FORGE PRO software will usually sound better than those
recorded with audio compression.—
Notes:
l The Open dialog allows you to preview compressed .wav files if you have an
appropriate ACM driver is installed. However, you must have your Default
playback device set to the Sound Mapper for this to work.
l When saving uncompressed audio data to a compressed format with the Save As
dialog, it is a good idea to close the file and reopen it after saving. Since SOUND
FORGE PRO software performs the compression and decompression during saving
and loading you will not be able to hear what the file sounds like with compression
until after you’ve saved and reloaded the file.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting Playback or Recording Problems

When playing files from my SCSI drive, why does the sound have a
warbling effect?
When playing files from a SCSI drive that is connected to a SCSI controller that utilizes a
DMA channel (such as an older ISA controller) you may experience a warbling effect in
the sound playback. This can occur if your sound card uses DMA and its DMA channel is
set to a higher number than your SCSI controller.
To fix this problem, set the DMA channel used by your sound card to a lower number
than that used by your SCSI controller. For example, if your SCSI controller is set to
DMA channel 5 and your sound card is set to DMA channel 7, try reconfiguring them so
the sound card uses DMA channel 5 and your SCSI controller uses DMA channel 7.

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Appendix

When I start SOUND FORGE PRO software my Play and/or Record

buttons are unavailable. Why can't I play or record?
When SOUND FORGE PRO software starts, it checks to see if you have a wave playback
and record device installed in your system. If you don’t, it makes the appropriate
operations unavailable.
If you are sure that you have a sound card installed in your system, check the Audio tab
in the Preferences dialog. The setting in the Audio device type drop-down list
determines the playback and record device SOUND FORGE PRO software will use. By
default, SOUND FORGE PRO software uses the Wave Mapper (it may also be called the
Sound Mapper) device which should automatically pick an appropriate device for use by
SOUND FORGE PRO software. If the playback or recording device is set to (None),
SOUND FORGE PRO can not execute the corresponding operation.

I have sound files that won't play on my system. SOUND FORGE PRO
software loads the files; why won't it play them?
SOUND FORGE PRO software allows you to load many different types of sound files,
including those that your system may not be capable of playing. There are a variety of
reasons that your sound card may not be capable of playing a file:
l Some sound cards only allow playback and recording at specific sample rates.
Typically these rates are limited to 11,025, 22,050, and 44,100 Hz. If you try to play
a file that is 32,000 Hz, the sound card will not allow you to play it.
l If you have an older sound card that supports only mono playback, simply convert
any stereo files to mono and you will be able to play them.
l If you have an older sound card, it may only support 8-bit playback. If this is the
case simply change the bit depth of the file to 8 bits.

Why doesn't SOUND FORGE PRO software respond to levels from my

microphone or my CD Player?
Most sound cards come with multiple inputs from which you can record sound. These
may include microphone, CD, auxiliary, MIDI, and line inputs. Although some cards
record from all of these inputs at the same time, many cards require you to choose a
recording device (also known as the input source). These cards come with software that
allows you to pick which device is the input source. Please refer to your sound card
manual to determine how to set the input source.

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Appendix

Most sound cards also come with some kind of application that controls the input level
of the recording device. You may need to increase the level of your input sources in
order to record from them. Again, please refer to your sound card manual to learn how
to adjust these levels.

When I record or play files, I hear small clicks in the sound.

When SOUND FORGE PRO software is recording or playing audio data, it moves large
amounts of data between your hard drive and your sound card. If SOUND FORGE PRO
software can’t move the data fast enough, you will hear small gaps between blocks of
data that typically sound like clicks or puttering. Please see Optimizing SOUND FORGE
PRO for information about reducing the overhead during the time SOUND FORGE PRO
software is moving sound data.
If you experience gapping or glitching when recording multichannel audio, try increasing
your buffer size. You can increase the Record buffering setting on the Audio tab of the
Preferences dialog or click the Advanced button on the Audio tab of the Preferences
dialog to increase your device's buffers.

When I record (or play) data at high sample rates, I can't stop playback
by clicking the Stop button.
SOUND FORGE PRO software works to prevent gaps during recording and playback. As
a result, there may be delays between the time that you click the Stop button and the
time that playback actually stops. Note that you can always press and hold the Escape
key to stop record or playback no matter how bad the situation is. Just be a little patient
and wait a few seconds. These delays are usually only observed when one or more
components of your system can not keep up with the data rate. Typical faults are:
l Very slow (older) hard drives.
l Poorly written sound card drivers.
l Setting your storage directory to a slow device such as a network drive or a
compressed hard drive.
If at all possible, use the fastest uncompressed storage device available with SOUND
FORGE PRO software. For more information on configuring your system, please see
Optimizing SOUND FORGE PRO.

When playing sound files with sample rates above 44,100 Hz on my

Turtle Beach Multisound or Tahiti, my system crashes.
This is caused by a bug in the Turtle Beach Multisound and Tahiti sound card drivers.
Contact Turtle Beach for updated drivers.

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Appendix

When playing sound files at 8,000 Hz on my Turtle Beach Multisound,

the play pointer moves but I don't hear any output.
This is caused by a bug in the Turtle Beach Multisound driver. Contact Turtle Beach for
updated drivers.

When playing sound files at rates other than 11,025 Hz, 22,050 Hz, or
44,100 Hz, the pitch is wrong.
Some sound drivers incorrectly play sounds with sample rates that are not supported by
the sound card hardware. For example, a sound that is supposed to play at 13,000 Hz
might be played at 11,025 Hz instead. This will cause the pitch to be lower and the
playback time to be slower than it should be.
Contact your sound card manufacturer for updated drivers.

Troubleshooting File Support Problems

When saving files as Macintosh AIFF and transferring them to my

Macintosh, why doesn't the Macintosh recognize them as sound files?
The Macintosh uses special information within its operating system to keep track of the
types of files it can access. SOUND FORGE PRO software can save the audio data in the
correct file format, but it can’t tell the Macintosh what type it is.
To do this, you must use a program on the Macintosh (such as ResEdit) to change the
file’s type. You simply need to set the Type field to AIFF for the Macintosh to recognize
the file as a sound file.

Why won't SOUND FORGE PRO open my compressed files like

Microsoft ADPCM?
SOUND FORGE PRO software has built-in support for the Microsoft Audio Compression
Manager (ACM). This allows you to open files that are compressed with a variety of
algorithms including Microsoft ADPCM, IMA ADPCM, and other third-party
compression schemes such as the DSP Group’s TrueSpeech.
If you can’t open a Microsoft ADPCM file, you may not have the Microsoft ADPCM
driver installed and enabled for the ACM.

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Appendix

After converting .wav files to Redbook audio using the software that
came with my compact disc recorder, there are audible clicks at the
end of the track.
Not all software for converting .wav files to Redbook audio handles the file structure
correctly. Some software simply skips the first 44 bytes of data in the file and then
considers everything else in the file to be audio data. This means that if you have saved
Summary Information, Sampler Information, or Regions and Playlist data in the .wav file,
it will be interpreted as audio data.
If you are experiencing this problem, simply use the Save As command in SOUND
FORGE PRO to save a new .wav file with the Save metadata with file check box cleared.

My compact disc recorder uses a file type with an .rbk extension.

What is an .rbk file and can I open it with SOUND FORGE PRO?
You can open an existing RBK file as the file raw file type in SOUND FORGE PRO’s Open
dialog box. Remember that you will have to swap the channels if you want to maintain
the correct left/right channel settings.
RBK files are simply raw PCM sound data files. These files are used by some compact
disc recorders to store Redbook audio onto a compact disc. RBK files are data only and
contain no other information. They are stored as 16-bit, stereo data with a sample rate
of 44,100 Hz. There are a number of things that make them different than a normal 16-
bit raw file:
l The channels are stored in reverse order.
l The data is stored in Big Endian format (Motorola).
l The data length of the file has to be a multiple of 2,352 bytes (1 CD sector). The
size of a CD sector is calculated as follows:

1 second of 44.1k, 16 bit, stereo audio = 176,400 bytes

CD audio has 75 sectors of data for each 1 second of audio
Sector size = 176,400/75 = 2,352 bytes

Troubleshooting Effects Problems

After applying an effect to a file, why is there a loss in volume level?

Most effects that can alter the volume level of a file have two faders, Dry Out and
Effect Out (where Effect is the name of the specific effect).

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Appendix

In processing dialogs, you can click the More button to display Wet Gain and Dry Gain
controls at the bottom of the dialog.
These controls should be adjusted for the proper balance of processed and unprocessed
sound and also determine the combined volume level. For example, if you run an effect
with both controls set to 40% and the level after processing is too low, simply raise both
faders an equal amount to raise the final level. However, take care to keep the output
signal from clipping.

Why do some effects take so long to process?

Some processing functions used by SOUND FORGE PRO software are very math
intensive. Examples include EQ, Pitch Shift (without preserving duration), and Reverb.
This means that millions of integer and floating-point arithmetic operations must be
performed for each second of sampled data. The speed of processing these functions is
directly dependent upon your CPU's ability to perform floating-point operations.
We recommend that you break the files into smaller ones and then mix the smaller files
together after you are done processing.
One way to prevent disk-related editing delays is to use the Regions List and Playlist to
make all arrangements nondestructively and then use the Convert to New function on
your Playlist. Another useful feature in the full version of SOUND FORGE PRO software
is the Preview Cut command: you can use this function to verify your Cut and Clear
operations before actually changing the file.

Troubleshooting Sampling and Sequencing Problems

Depending on the performance of your system (and your sequencer) you may experience
SMPTE sync drop-out problems. This is typically due to too many processes occurring
than your computer is capable of maintaining. For example, if you have wave playback,
synchronization messages, sequencing, and more occurring at the same time, you may
experience sync drop-out.
To compensate for this, many sequencers allow you to set a freewheel time, and you can
adjust the freewheel time on the MIDI/Sync tab in the Preferences dialog. This is a slack
time between SMPTE messages during which the sequencer will continue to play even if
SMPTE/MTC messages are being missed. By increasing the freewheel time, you allow
SOUND FORGE PRO software and your sequencer to be less tightly dependent on
SMPTE messages, but this may also decrease your synchronization accuracy. Start with
a small freewheel time and, if you experience sync drop-out problems, increase the
freewheel time until the drop-outs go away.

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Appendix

MIDI/SDS Troubleshooting
When using MIDI/SDS to send or receive samples, you should usually leave the Open
loop check box on the Sampler Configuration dialog cleared. Open-loop transfer
decreases sample dump speed and is more prone to transfer errors.

When to use open-loop transfers

You may want to use open-loop transfer in the following situations:
l Your sampler does not support closed-loop transfers (handshaking).
l You don't have enough cables to connect both the MIDI in and MIDI out ports.

Troubleshooting hardware setup problems

You can use open-loop transfer to diagnose SDS hardware setup problems. If the
Sampler tool will not transfer data to (or from) your sampler, select on Open loop check
box on the Sampler Configuration dialog to see if single-cable transfers work. If open-
loop transfers work but closed-loop transfers do not, you may have one of the following
problems:
l Your sampler does not support closed-loop transfers (handshaking).
l Your MIDI cable or connection for MIDI input (send) or MIDI output (receive) to
your computer is faulty.
l Your MIDI card is not receiving MIDI input (send) or sending MIDI output (receive).
Interrupt conflicts are a common problem for MIDI input.

SCSI/MIDI Troubleshooting
Here are some of the common problems encountered with SCSI and samplers.

Conflicting SCSI IDs

When connecting devices on a SCSI chain, each device must have a unique device
identifier (ID). SCSI allows you to set up to eight unique ID values from 0 to 7. Device ID
7 is used for the internal SCSI controller card, which leaves IDs 0 through 6 available for
other devices. If you have a bootable SCSI hard drive, its ID must be set to 0.
Typical SCSI configuration:
ID Device
0 Hard drive

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Appendix

1 CD-ROM drive
2-6 Available for use by samplers
7 SCSI controller card

Occasional transfer failures

If you occasionally receive messages such as The SCSI device is not responding or A
problem was encountered while transferring the sample, reselect your host from the
SCSI host drop-down list on the Sampler Configuration dialog. Doing this causes a series
of SCSI commands to be executed that will resolve the problem in many cases. If this
fails to work, power down and restart all equipment.
If these error messages are displayed frequently, you may have a more serious problem.
The following sections discuss several possibilities.

The sampler is recognized but doesn't transfer reliably

The following is a list of causes for unreliable SCSI transfers.

Synchronous transfer mode

Some samplers (such as the Kurzweil K2000) do not operate properly if there is a SCSI
device set to synchronous transfer mode on the same SCSI chain. SCSI hard drives and
CD-ROMs often have the option of using a synchronous transfer mode. If there is a host
vs. device synchronous transfer option, make sure you select Host. Refer to your SCSI
device manuals for more information.

SCSI termination
If your SCSI chain is not properly terminated, you may experience unreliable SCSI
transfers. Refer to your SCSI card and SCSI device manuals for more information.

SCSI cables
SCSI cables that are very long or not properly shielded can cause unreliable operation.
Keep in mind that SCSI cables are not as forgiving as MIDI cables and very long cables
will not work reliably. Also beware of using cables that are not certified SCSI cables; the
extra money spent on a true shielded SCSI cable can save you endless hours of
frustration.

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Appendix

Adaptec 1540/1542CF doesn't recognize a sampler

If the Adaptec 1540/1542CF controller won’t recognize your sampler, you may need to
make a change in the controller's configuration.
Some samplers do not want to operate when the Reset SCSI Bus at Power-On option of
the Adaptec controller is enabled. This is the default operation for the 1540/1542CF and
you will have to disable this option to allow your system to work with your sampler.

My SCSI/SMDI-compatible menu isn't displayed

Check for correct SCSI termination, and ensure that multiple devices on the SCSI chain
do not use the same SCSI ID. If you’ve already done this and have an Adaptec SCSI card,
you may need to update the mini-port drivers in your system.
For updated mini-port drivers, please refer to the Adaptec Web site.

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Glossary

Glossary
A (⇗439)B (⇗441)C (⇗442)D (⇗444)E (⇗446)F (⇗446)H (⇗447)I (⇗448)L (⇗449)M (⇗449)N
(⇗451)O (⇗452)P (⇗452)Q (⇗454)R (⇗455)S (⇗456)T (⇗459)U (⇗459)W (⇗460)Z (⇗461)

-A-
A-Law
A-Law is a compounded compression algorithm for voice signals defined by the Geneva
Recommendations (G.711). The G.711 recommendation defines A-Law as a method of
encoding 16-bit PCM signals into a nonlinear 8-bit format. The algorithm is commonly
used in United States telecommunications. A-Law is very similar to µ-Law; however,
each uses a slightly different coder and decoder.
Acoustic Signature
The acoustic signature of a system is data containing all of the sound characteristics of a
system. This includes such things as reverb time, frequency response and other timbral
qualities. Impulse files used by Acoustic Mirror can be thought of as acoustic signatures.
Activation Number
This number is based on the Computer ID number of the computer on which SOUND
FORGE PRO software is installed. Each computer has a unique number, similar to a
license plate. An activation number is created based on that number. When you register
the software, MAGIX will generate an activation number for you. Once the activation
number is entered, the software will not time out. Since the activation number is based
on the Computer ID, it is important that you have SOUND FORGE PRO software
installed on the computer where you will be using it.
ActiveX
A Microsoft technology that enables different programs to share information. ActiveX
extends Microsoft Windows-based architecture to include Internet and corporate
intranet features and capabilities. Developers use it to build user interactivity into
programs and World Wide Web pages.
Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM)
A method of compressing audio data. Although the theory for compression using
ADPCM is standard, there are many different algorithms employed. For example,
Microsoft's ADPCM algorithm is not compatible with the International Multimedia
Association's (IMA) approved ADPCM.
Advanced Streaming Format (ASF)
See Windows Media Format (⇗460).

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Glossary

Aliasing
A type of distortion that occurs when digitally recording high frequencies with a low
sample rate. For example, in a motion picture, when a car's wheels appear to slowly spin
backward while the car is quickly moving forward, you are seeing the effects of aliasing.
Similarly, when you try to record a frequency greater than one half of the sampling rate
(the Nyquist Frequency (⇗451)), instead of hearing a high pitch, you may hear a low-
frequency rumble.
To prevent aliasing, an anti-aliasing filter is used to remove high frequencies before
recording. Once the sound has been recorded, aliasing distortion is impossible to remove
without also removing other frequencies from the sound. This same anti-aliasing filter
must be applied when resampling to a lower sample rate.
Amplitude Modulation
Amplitude Modulation (AM) is a process whereby the amplitude (loudness) of a sound is
varied over time. When varied slowly, a tremolo effect occurs. If the frequency of
modulation is high, many side frequencies are created that can strongly alter the timbre
of a sound.
Analog
When discussing audio, this term refers to a method of reproducing a sound wave with
voltage fluctuations that are analogous to the pressure fluctuations of the sound wave.
This is different from digital recording in that these fluctuations are infinitely varying
rather than discrete changes at sample time. See Quantization (⇗454).
Attack
The attack of a sound is the initial portion of the sound. Percussive sounds (drums,
piano, guitar plucks) are said to have a fast attack. This means that the sound reaches its
maximum amplitude in a very short time. Sounds that slowly swell up in volume (soft
strings and wind sounds) are said to have a slow attack.
Audio Compression Manager (ACM)
The Audio Compression Manager, from Microsoft, is a standard interface for audio
compression and signal processing for Windows. The ACM can be used by Windows
programs to compress and decompress .wav (⇗460) files.
Audio Event Locator
The Audio Event Locator is similar to a scrub function. However, rather than playing the
sound file at a slow speed, it loops playback around the cursor position. This position
can be selected by dragging the cursor around in the SOUND FORGE PRO Overview
window.
Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)
An audio file format developed by Apple Computer.

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Glossary

ASX File
ASF Stream Redirector file. See Redirector file.
Attenuation
A decrease in the level of a signal.

-B- (⇗439)
Bandwidth
When discussing audio equalization, each frequency band has a width associated with it
that determines the range of frequencies that are affected by the EQ. An EQ band with a
wide bandwidth will affect a wider range of frequencies than one with a narrow
bandwidth.
When discussing network connections, bandwidth refers to the rate of signals
transmitted or the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time
(stated in bits/second): a 56 Kbps network connection is capable of receiving 56,000 bits
of data per second.
Baseline
The baseline of a waveform is also referred to as the zero-amplitude axis or negative
infinity. In the following image, the red line represents the baseline.

Beats Per Minute (BPM)

The tempo of a piece of music can be written as a number of beats in one minute. If the
tempo is 60 BPM, a single beat will occur once every second.
Bit
The most elementary unit in digital systems. Its value can only be 1 or 0, corresponding
to a voltage in an electronic circuit. Bits are used to represent values in the binary
numbering system. As an example, the 8-bit binary number 10011010 represents the
unsigned value of 154 in the decimal system. In digital sampling, a binary number is used
to store individual sound levels, called samples.
Bit Depth

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Glossary

The number of bits used to represent a single sample. For example, 8- or 16-bit are
common sample sizes. While 8-bit samples take up less memory (and hard disk space),
they are inherently noisier than 16- or 24-bit samples.
Buffer
Memory used as an intermediate repository in which data is temporarily held while
waiting to be transferred between two locations. A buffer ensures that there is an
uninterrupted flow of data between computers. Media players may need to rebuffer
when there is network congestion.
Bus
A virtual pathway where signals from tracks and effects are mixed. A bus's output is a
physical audio device in the computer from which the signal will be heard.
Byte
Refers to a set of 8 bits. An 8-bit sample requires one byte of memory to store, while a
16-bit sample takes two bytes of memory to store

-C- (⇗439)
Channel Converter
The Channel Converter is a function that converts files from mono to stereo and stereo
to mono with independent level control of the new channels. This function can also
create interesting effects by converting stereo files to stereo with various levels and
inversion of channels.
Channel Meters
The Channel Meters in SOUND FORGE PRO software display the peak output levels of
the sound file currently playing. These meters have selectable resolution and options to
hold peaks and valleys.
Chorus
Chorusing is an effect created by combining a signal with a modulating, delayed copy of
itself. This effect creates the illusion of multiple sources creating the same sound.
Clipboard
The clipboard is where sample data is saved when you cut or copy it from a data
window. You can then paste, mix, or crossfade the sample data stored on the clipboard
with another data window. This sample data can also be used by other Windows
applications that support Sound data on the clipboard, such as Sound Recorder.
Clipping

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Glossary

Occurs when the amplitude of a sound is above the maximum allowed recording level. In
digital systems, clipping is seen as a clamping of the data to a maximum value, such as
32,767 in 16-bit data. Clipping causes sound to distort.
Codec
Coder/Decoder: refers to any technology for compressing and decompressing data. The
term codec can refer to software, hardware, or a combination of both technologies.
Compression Ratio (audio)
A compression ratio controls the ratio of input to output levels above a specific
threshold. This ratio determines how much a signal has to rise above the threshold for
every 1 dB of increase in the output. For example, with a ratio of 3:1, the input level
must increase by three decibels to produce a one-decibel output-level increase:
Threshold = -10 dBCompression Ratio = 3:1Input = -7 dBOutput = -9 dB
Because the input is 3 dB louder than the threshold and the compression ratio is 3:1, the
resulting signal is 1 dB louder than the threshold.
Compression Ratio (file size)
The ratio of the size of the original uncompressed file to the compressed contents. For
example, a 3:1 compression ratio means that the compressed file is one-third the size of
the original.
Computer ID
Each computer has a unique number, similar to a license plate. An activation number
(⇗439) is created based on that number. Since the activation number is based on the
Computer ID, it is important that you have SOUND FORGE PRO software installed on
the computer where you will be using it. The Computer ID is automatically detected and
provided to you when you install the software.
The Computer ID is used for registration purposes only. It doesn't give MAGIX access to
any personal information and can't be used for any purpose other than for generating a
unique activation number for you to use the software.

Crossfade
Mixing two pieces of audio by fading one out as the other fades in:

Crossfade Loop

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Sometimes a sample loop cannot be easily created from the given source material. In
these instances, a crossfade can be applied to the beginning and end of the loop to aid in
the smooth transition between the two. The Crossfade Loop function provides a method
of creating sampling loops in material that is otherwise difficult to loop.
Cutoff frequency
The cutoff frequency of a filter is the frequency at which the filter changes its response.
For example, in a low-pass filter, frequencies greater than the cutoff frequency are
attenuated, while frequencies less than the cutoff frequency are not affected.

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Data Window
Each opened sound file has its own data window. At the top of each data window is a
title bar displaying either the title of the sample or the name of the file. Also in each data
window are the waveform display, time and level rulers, playbar and other tools that give
you information and allow you to navigate throughout the entire sound file.
DC Offset
DC offset occurs when hardware, such as a sound card, adds DC current to a recorded
audio signal. This current results in a recorded waveform that is not centered around the
baseline (-infinity). Glitches and other unexpected results can occur when sound effects
are applied to files that contain DC offsets. SOUND FORGE PRO software can
compensate for this DC offset by adding a constant value to the samples in the sound
file.
In the following example, the red line represents the baseline. The lower waveform
exhibits DC offset; note that the waveform is centered approximately 2 dB above the
baseline.

Decibel (dB)
A unit used to represent a ratio between two numbers using a logarithmic scale. For
example, when comparing the numbers 14 and 7, you could say 14 is two times greater
than the number 7; or you could say 14 is 6 dB greater than the number 7. Where did we

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pull that 6 dB from? Engineers use the equation dB = 20 x log (V1/V2) when comparing
two instantaneous values. Decibels are commonly used when dealing with sound
because the ear perceives loudness in a logarithmic scale.
In SOUND FORGE PRO software, most measurements are given in decibels. For example,
if you want to double the amplitude of a sound, you apply a 6 dB gain. A sample value of
32,767 (maximum positive sample value for 16-bit sound) can be referred to as having a
value of 0 dB. Likewise, a sample value of 16,384 can be referred to having a value of -6
dB.
Device Driver
A program that enables Windows to connect different hardware and software. For
example, a sound card device driver is used by Windows software to control sound card
recording and playback.
Destructive Editing
Destructive editing is the type of editing whereby all cuts, deletes, mixes and other
processes are actually processed to the sound file. Any time you delete a section of a
sound file in SOUND FORGE PRO software, the sound file on disk is actually rewritten
without the deleted section. This is different than nondestructive editing.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
A system for delivering songs, videos, and other media over the Internet in a file format
that protects copyrighted material. Current proposals include some form of certificates
that validate copyright ownership and restrict unauthorized redistribution.
Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
A general term describing anything that alters digital data. Signal processors have existed
for a very long time (tone controls, distortion boxes, wah-wah pedals) in the analog
(electrical) domain. Digital Signal Processors alter the data after it has been digitized by
using a combination of programming and mathematical techniques. DSP techniques are
used to perform many effects such as equalization and reverb simulation.
Since most DSP is performed with simple arithmetic operations (additions and
multiplications), both your computer's processor and specialized DSP chips can be used
to perform any DSP operation. The difference is that DSP chips are optimized
specifically for mathematical functions while your computer's microprocessor is not.
This results in a difference in processing speed.
DirectX
A set of Application Program Interfaces designed by Microsoft for multimedia
development. A DirectX plug-in, such as the Vegas Noise Reduction DirectX Plug-In,
uses the DirectX Media Streaming Services (DMSS) API. Because DMSS is a standard
API, a DirectX plug-in can be used in any application that supports DMSS.

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Dithering
Dithering is the practice of adding noise to a signal to mask quantization noise (⇗454).
Drag and Drop
A quick way to perform certain operations using the mouse. To drag and drop, you click
and hold a highlighted selection, drag it (hold the left mouse button down and move the
mouse) and drop it (let go of the mouse button) at another position on the screen.
Dynamic Range
The difference between the maximum and minimum signal levels. It can refer to a
musical performance (high-volume vs. low-volume signals) or to electrical equipment
(peak level before distortion vs. noise floor).

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Endian (Little and Big)
Little and Big Endian describe the ordering of multi-byte data that is used by a
computers microprocessor. Little Endian specifies that data is stored in a low-to-high
byte format; this ordering is used by the Intel microprocessors. Big Endian specifies that
data is stored in a high-to-low byte format; this ordering is used by the Motorola
microprocessors.
Equalization (EQ)
Equalizing a sound file is a process by which certain frequency bands are raised or
lowered in level.

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Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Analysis
A Fourier Transform is the mathematical method used to convert a waveform from the
Time Domain to the Frequency Domain.
Since the Fourier Transform is computationally intensive, it is common to use a
technique called a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to perform spectral analysis. The FFT
uses mathematical shortcuts to lower the processing time at the expense of putting
limitations on the analysis size.
The analysis size, also referred to as the FFT size, indicates the number of samples from
the sound signal used in the analysis and also determines the number of discrete
frequency bands. When a high number of frequency bands are used, the bands have a
smaller bandwidth, which allows for more accurate frequency readings.
File Associations

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This dialog allows you to associate sound file extensions (such as .wav, .au, .snd, etc.)
with SOUND FORGE PRO software. This dialog is opened from the File tab of the
Preferences dialog.
File Format
A file format specifies the way in which data is stored. In Windows, the most common
audio file format is the Microsoft .wav format. For information on the different file
formats supported by SOUND FORGE PRO software, click here (⇗102).
Frame Rate
Audio uses frame rates only for the purposes of synchronizing to video or other audio.
To synchronize with audio, a rate of 30 non-drop is typically used. To synchronize with
video, 30 drop is usually used.
Frequency Modulation (FM)
Frequency Modulation (FM) is a process by which the frequency (pitch) of a sound is
varied over time. Subaudio frequency modulation results in pitch-bending effects
(vibrato). Frequency modulation within audio band frequencies (20 Hz - 20,000 Hz)
creates many different side-band frequencies that drastically alter the timbre of the
sound.
Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis
This type of synthesis relies on the principles of Frequency Modulation. The FM
Synthesis tool allows you to use frequency modulation (FM) and additive synthesis to
create complex sounds from simple waveforms.
In frequency modulation, the frequency of a waveform (the carrier) is modulated by the
output of another waveform (the modulator) to create a new waveform. If the frequency
of the modulator is low, the carrier will be slowly detuned over time. However, if the
frequency of the modulator is high, the carrier will be modulated so quickly that many
additional frequencies, or sidebands, are created.
In SOUND FORGE PRO software, up to four waveforms (operators) can be used in a
variety of configurations. Depending on the configuration, an operator can be a carrier, a
modulator, or a simple, unmodulated waveform.
Frequency Spectrum
The frequency spectrum of a signal refers to its range of frequencies. In audio, the
audible frequency range is between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. The frequency spectrum
sometimes refers to the distribution of these frequencies. For example, bass-heavy
sounds have a large frequency content in the low end (20 Hz - 200 Hz) of the spectrum.

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Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF)

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Sounds are perceived differently depending on the direction the sound comes from. This
occurs because of the echoes bouncing from your shoulders and nose and the shape of
your ears. A head-related transfer function contains the frequency and phase response
information required to make a sound appear to originate from a certain direction in 3-
dimensional space.
Hertz (Hz)
The unit of measurement for frequency or cycles per second (CPS).
High-Pass Filter
A high-pass filter attenuates all frequencies below a cutoff frequency. It is usually used
to remove low-frequency rumble from audio files.

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Insertion Point
The insertion point (also referred to as the cursor position) is analogous to the cursor in a
word processor. It is where markers or commands may be inserted depending on the
operation. The insertion point appears as a vertical flashing black line and can be moved
by clicking the left mouse button anywhere in the data window.
Inverse Telecine (IVTC)
Telecine (⇗459) is the process of converting 24 fps (cinema) source to 30 fps video
(television) by adding pulldown (⇗453) fields. Inverse telecine, then, is the process of
converting 30 fps (television) video to 24 fps (cinema) by removing pulldown.
InterVoice Sound File Support
The InterVoice sound file format (.IVC), commonly used in telephony applications, is now
supported and includes G.711 µ-Law and A-Law, G.721 ADPCM (32 kb/s) and G.723
ADPCM (24 kb/s) data formats.
Invert Data
Inverting sound data reverses the polarity of a waveform around its baseline. Inverting a
waveform does not change the sound of a file; however, when you mix different sound
files, phase cancellation can occur, producing a "hollow" sound. Inverting one of the files
can prevent phase cancellation.
In the following example, the red line represents the baseline, and the lower waveform is
the inverted image of the upper waveform.

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Limiting
Limiting is essentially a hard compressor (⇗443). Limiting is often used to keep signals
from going above a certain level, but can also be applied to create heavily compressed
effects. Limiting should only be performed on peaks; if the Threshold level is set too low,
heavy distortion will occur.
Loop
Loops are small audio clips that are designed to create a repeating beat or pattern. Loops
are usually one to four measures long.
Low-Pass Filter
A low-pass filter attenuates all frequencies above a cutoff frequency. Low-pass filters
can be used as anti-alias filters or for general tonal shaping.

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Marker
A marker is an anchored, accessible reference point in a file. Markers are stored in the
Regions List and can be used for quick navigation.
Media Control Interface (MCI)
A standard way for Windows programs to communicate with multimedia devices such
as sound cards and CD players. If a device has an MCI device driver, it can easily be
controlled by most multimedia Windows software.
Microsoft Sound Mapper
The Sound Mapper is a special device that attempts to select the most appropriate
sound card (map) on which to play a sound, or it will translate the sound into a format
that can be played on your sound card.
Mid-Side recording
Mid-side (MS) recording is a microphone technique in which one mic is pointed directly
towards the source to record the center (mid) channel, and the other mic is pointed 90

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degrees away from the source to record the stereo image. For proper playback on most
systems, MS recordings must be converted to your standard left/right (also called AB)
track.
MIDI (Musical Instrument Device Interface)
MIDI is a standard language of control messages that provides for communication
between any MIDI-compliant devices. Anything from synthesizers to lights to factory
equipment can be controlled via MIDI. SOUND FORGE PRO software uses MIDI to
trigger sound file playback, transfer audio data to samplers and synchronize to external
software or gear.
MIDI Channels
MIDI allows for 16 discrete channels for sending data. When dealing with MIDI triggers,
SOUND FORGE PRO software needs to know what MIDI channel to look at for receiving
the trigger. The channel this information is sent to in SOUND FORGE PRO software
depends on the device sending the MIDI messages.
MIDI Clock
A MIDI device-specific timing reference. It is not absolute time like MIDI Time Code
(MTC); instead it is a tempo-dependent number of "ticks" per quarter note. MIDI clock is
convenient for synchronizing devices that need to perform tempo changes mid-song.
MIDI Controllers
MIDI controllers are a specific type of MIDI message. SOUND FORGE PRO software can
use MIDI controllers to trigger events and playback of sound files. Consult your MIDI
sending device to see what controller messages it sends.
MIDI Notes
MIDI notes are a specific type of MIDI message. SOUND FORGE PRO software can use
MIDI notes to trigger events and playback of sound files. Any MIDI sequencer or
controller will send MIDI notes.
MIDI Port
A MIDI port is the physical MIDI connection on a piece of MIDI hardware. This port can
be a MIDI in, out or through. Your computer must have a MIDI-capable card to output
MIDI time code to an external device or to receive MIDI time code from an external
device.
MIDI Time Code (MTC)
MTC is an addendum to the MIDI 1.0 specification and provides a way to specify
absolute time for synchronizing MIDI-capable applications. MTC is essentially a MIDI
representation of SMPTE time code.
Mix

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Mixing allows multiple sound files to be blended into one file at user-defined relative
levels.
Multiple-Bit-Rate Encoding
Multiple-bit-rate encoding allows you to create a single file that contains streams for
several bit rates. A multiple-bit-rate file can accommodate users with different Internet
connection speeds, or these files can automatically change to a different bit rate to
compensate for network congestion without interrupting playback.
To take advantage of multiple-bit-rate encoding, you must publish your media files to a
Windows Media server or a RealServerG2.

Musical Instrument Device Interface (MIDI)

A standard language of control messages that provides for communication between any
MIDI-compliant devices. Anything from synthesizers to lights to factory equipment can
be controlled via MIDI. SOUND FORGE PRO software uses MIDI for synchronization
purposes.

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Noise-shaping
Noise-shaping is a technique which can minimize the audibility of quantization noise by
shifting its frequency spectrum. For example, in 44,100 Hz audio quantization noise is
shifted towards the Nyquist Frequency of 22,050 Hz.
Nondestructive Editing
This type of editing involves a pointer-based system of keeping track of edits. When you
delete a section of audio in a nondestructive system, the audio on disk is not actually
deleted. Instead, a set of pointers is established to tell the program to skip the deleted
section during playback.
Normalize
Refers to raising the volume so that the highest level sample in the file reaches a user-
defined level. Use normalization to make sure you are using all of the dynamic range
available to you.
Nyquist Frequency
The Nyquist Frequency (or Nyquist Rate) is one half of the sample rate and represents
the highest frequency that can be recorded using the sample rate without aliasing. For
example, the Nyquist Frequency of 44,100 Hz is 22,050 Hz. Any frequencies higher than
22,050 Hz will produce aliasing distortion in the sample if no anti-aliasing filter is used
while recording.

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Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
OLE is a technology developed by Microsoft to allow independent applications to
behave as though they are tightly integrated. This allows objects such as SOUND
FORGE PRO audio files to be integrated into other applications such as a Microsoft
Word document.
Overview
The Overview is the area on the data window directly under the title bar. The entire
length of the overview represents the entire sound file. Cursor, selection, and position
information is shown relative to the entire length of the sound file.
One-Shot
One-shots are RAM-based audio clips that are not designed to loop. Things such as
cymbal crashes and sound bites could be considered one-shots. Longer files can be
treated as one-shots if your computer has sufficient memory.

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Pan
To place a mono or stereo sound source perceptually between two or more speakers.
Pause Time
Pause time is the space between CD tracks. This space may contain silence -as in a
standard commercially produced CD -or can contain audio -as in a live performance
captured on CD.
The Red Book standard calls for two seconds of pause time, but you can edit the default
pause time on the CD Settings tab of the Preferences dialog.
Peak Data File
The file created by SOUND FORGE PRO software when a file is opened for the first time.
This file stores the information regarding the graphic display of the waveform so that
opening a file is almost instantaneous. This file is stored in the directory where the audio
file resides and has an .sfk extension. If this file is not in the same directory as the audio
file or is deleted, it will be recalculated the next time you open the file.
Pixel Aspect
The pixel aspect determines whether the pixels are square (1.0) which refers to
computers, or rectangular (settings other than 1.000) which typically refers to
televisions. The pixel aspect ratio is unrelated to the frame's aspect ratio.
Playlist

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The Playlist is a list of regions set to play in a specific order. The Playlist allows for
nondestructive editing and rearranging of a sound file quickly and easily. Multiple
versions of the playlist can be saved in an external playlist file for easy comparison.
Pre-roll/Post-roll
Pre-roll is the amount of time elapsed before an event occurs. Post-roll is the amount of
time after the event. Pre and post-roll have various uses in SOUND FORGE PRO
software. Pre-roll can be added to a crossfade preview to listen to the sound before the
crossfade begins to give context to it. Pre-roll can also be used in the Playlist to hear
previous regions when playback is initiated from the middle of the Playlist.
Preset
A preset calls up a bulk setting of a function in SOUND FORGE PRO software. If you like
the way you adjusted the EQ but do not want to have to spend the time getting it back
for later use, save it as a preset. All presets show up in the drop-down list on the top of
most function dialogs in SOUND FORGE PRO software.
Punch-In
Punching-in during recording means automatically starting and stopping recording at
user-specified times.
Pulldown
In telecine (⇗459) conversion, fields are added to convert 24 fps film to 30 fps video.
In 2-3 pulldown, for example, the first frame is scanned into two fields, the second frame
is scanned into three fields, and so on for the duration of the film. 2-3 pulldown is the
standard for NTSC broadcasts of 24p material. Use 2-3 pulldown when printing to tape,
but not when you intend to use the rendered video as source media. Removing 2-3
pulldown is inefficient because the pulldown fields that are created for frame 3 span
two frames:

24 fps film (top) and resulting NTSC video with 2-3 pulldown fields (bottom)
Use 2-3-3-2 pulldown when you plan to use your rendered video as source media. When
removing 2-3-3-2 pulldown, SOUND FORGE PRO software simply discards frame three
and merges the pulldown fields in the remaining frames:

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24 fps film (top) and resulting NTSC video with 2-3-3-2 pulldown fields (bottom)
Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
PCM is the most common representation of uncompressed audio signals. This method of
coding yields the highest fidelity possible when using digital storage. PCM is the
standard format for .wav and .aif files.

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Q Subcode
Compact disc players use the Q channel to display the music playing time. The Q channel
is broken down into three modes:
l Mode 1: Contains the running times from both the beginning of the disc (total disc
time) and the beginning of the track (track relative time).
l Mode 2: Identifies the track number, who recorded the track, where it was
recorded and in what year.
l Mode 3: Identifies UPC media catalog number for the disc.
A special mode of Q data is stored within the lead-in area. This Q data contains
information on two- or four- channel format, copy protection, and pre-emphasis.
Quantization
Quantization is the process by which measurements are rounded to discrete values.
Specifically with respect to audio, quantization is a function of the analog-to-digital
conversion process. The continuous variation of the voltages of a analog audio signal are
quantized to discrete amplitude values represented by digital, binary numbers. The
number of bits available to describe these values determines the resolution or accuracy
of quantization. For example, if you have 8-bit analog-to-digital converters, the varying
analog voltage must be quantized to 1 of 256 discrete values; a 16-bit converter has
65,536 values.
Quantization Noise
Quantization noise is a result of describing an analog signal in discrete digital terms (see
quantization). This noise is most easily heard in low-resolution digital sounds that have
low bit depths and sounds like a shhhhh-type sound while the audio is playing. It becomes
more apparent when the signal is at low levels, such as during a fade out.

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Reactive Preview
Reactive previews allow for the adjustment of parameters in a function dialog while the
preview is playing. When a parameter is changed, the preview will automatically rebuild
and continue playback.
Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)
A proposed standard for controlling broadcast of streaming media. RTSP was submitted
by a body of companies including RealNetworks and Netscape.
Redirector File
A metafile that provides information to a media player about streaming media files. To
start a streaming media presentation, a Web page will include a link to a redirector file.
Linking to a redirector file allows a file to stream; if you link to the media file, it will be
downloaded before playback begins.
Windows Media redirector files use the .asx or .wax extension.
Region
A region in SOUND FORGE PRO software is a subsection of a sound file. You can define
any number of regions in a sound file which are stored in the Regions List.
Regions List
The Regions List is simply the list containing all of the regions and markers defined
within the sound file. From this list you can preview and edit the regions as well as drag
them to the Playlist or to the desktop to create new files from them.
Resample
The act of recalculating samples in a sound file at a different rate than the file was
originally recorded. If a sample is resampled at a lower rate, sample points are removed
from the sound file, decreasing its size, but also decreasing its available frequency range.
Resampling to a higher sample rate, SOUND FORGE PRO software will interpolate extra
sample points in the sound file. This increases the size of the sound file, but does not
increase the quality. When downsampling, be aware of aliasing (⇗440).
Root Mean Square (RMS)
The Root Mean Square (RMS) of a sound is a measurement of the intensity of the sound
over a period of time. The RMS level of a sound corresponds to the loudness perceived
by a listener when measured over small intervals of time.
Ruler, Level

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The level ruler is the area on a data window to the left of the waveform display. It shows
the vertical axis units as a percentage or in decibels.
Ruler, Time
The time ruler is the area on a data window above the waveform display. It shows the
horizontal axis units as well as marker, region, and loop tags.
Ruler Tags
Ruler tags are the small tab-shaped controls on the time ruler that represent the location
of markers, regions, and loop points in the waveform display.

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Sample
The word sample is used in many different (and often confusing) ways when talking
about digital sound. Here are some of the different meanings:
l A discrete point in time which a sound signal is divided into when digitizing. For
example, an audio CD-ROM contains 44,100 samples per second. Each sample is
really only a number that contains the amplitude value of a waveform measured
over time.
l A sound that has been recorded in a digital format; used by musicians who make
short recordings of musical instruments to be used for composition and
performance of music or sound effects. These recordings are called samples. In this
Help system, we try to use sound file instead of sample whenever referring to a
digital recording.
l The act of recording sound digitally, i.e. to sample an instrument means to digitize
and store it.
Sample Dump
A sample dump is the process of transferring sample data between music equipment.
Because of the large amounts of data required to store digital sound, sample dumps may
take a very long time when using the MIDI Sample Dump Standard (SDS). However,
when using the faster SCSI MIDI Device Interface (SMDI) protocol, sample dumps can be
performed many times faster.
Sample Dump Standard (SDS)
The MIDI Sample Dump Standard is a way to transfer samples between music
equipment. Samples transferred with SDS are sent across MIDI cables at the MIDI data
rate of 31,250 Hz baud. SMDI is a much faster sample transfer method for musicians.
Sample Rate
The Sample Rate (also referred to as the Sampling Rate or Sampling Frequency) is the
number of samples per second used to store a sound. High sample rates, such as 44,100

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Hz provide higher fidelity than lower sample rates, such as 11,025 Hz. However, more
storage space is required when using higher sample rates.
In the following example, each red dot represents one sample. Because the lower
waveform is represented by twice as many samples as the top waveform, the samples
are able to better approximate the original waveform.

Sample Size
See Bit Depth.
Sample Value
The Sample Value (also referred to as sample amplitude) is the number stored by a single
sample. The number stored by a single sample:
l In 32-bit audio, these values range from -2147483648 to 2147483647.
l In 24-bit audio, they range from -8388608 to 8388607.
l In 16-bit audio, they range from -32768 to 32767.
l In 8-bit audio, they range from -128 to 127.
The maximum allowed sample value is often referred to as 100% or 0 dB.
Sampler
A sampler is a device that records sounds digitally. Although, in theory, your sound card
is a sampler, the term usually refers to a device used to trigger and play back samples
while changing the sample pitch.
Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)
The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) is a consortium of recording industry and
technology companies organized to develop standards for the secure distribution of
digital music. The SDMI specification will answer consumer demand for convenient
accessibility to quality digital music, enable copyright protection for artists' work, and
enable technology and music companies to build successful businesses.
SCSI MIDI Device Interface (SMDI)

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SMDI is a standardized protocol for music equipment communication. Instead of using

the slower standard MIDI serial protocol, it uses a SCSI bus for transferring information.
Because of its speed, SMDI is often used for sample dumps.
Shortcut Menu
A context-sensitive menu that appears when you click on certain areas of the screen.
The functions available in the shortcut menu depend on the object being clicked on as
well as the state of the program. As with any menu, you can select an item from the
shortcut menu to perform an operation. Shortcut menus are used frequently in SOUND
FORGE PRO software for quick access to many commands.
Sign-Bit
Data that has positive and negative values and uses zero to represent silence. Unlike the
signed format, twos complement is not used. Instead, negative values are represented by
setting the highest bit of the binary number to one without complementing all other bits.
This is a format option when opening and saving RAW sound files.
Signed
Data that has positive and negative twos complement values and uses zero to represent
silence. This is a format option when opening and saving raw sound files.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is a measurement of the difference between a recorded
signal and noise levels. A high SNR is always the goal.
The maximum signal-to-noise ratio of digital audio is determined by the number of bits
per sample. In 16-bit audio, the signal to noise ratio is 96 dB, while in 8-bit audio its 48
dB. However, in practice this SNR is never achieved, especially when using low-end
electronics.
Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)
SCSI is a standard interface protocol for connecting devices to your computer. The SCSI
bus can accept up to seven devices at a time including CD ROM drives, hard drives and
samplers.
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
SMPTE time code is used to synchronize time between devices. The time code is
calculated in hours:minutes:second:frames, where frames are fractions of a second
based on the frame rate. Frame rates for SMPTE time code are 24, 25, 29.97 and 30
frames per second.
Sound Card
The sound card is the audio interface between your computer and the outside world. It is
responsible for converting analog signals to digital and vice-versa. There are many sound

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cards available on the market today, covering the spectrum of quality and price. SOUND
FORGE PRO software will work with any Windows-compatible sound card.
Status Format
The status format is the format by which SOUND FORGE PRO software displays the
time ruler and selection times. These include: Time, Seconds, Frames, Audio CD Time,
and all Standard SMPTE frame rates. The status format is set for each sound file
individually.
Streaming
A method of data transfer in which a file is played while it is downloading. Streaming
technologies allow Internet users to receive data as a steady, continuous stream after a
brief buffering period. Without streaming, users would have to download files
completely before playback.

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Telecine
The process of creating 30 fps video (television) from 24 fps film (cinema). See inverse
telecine (⇗448) and pulldown (⇗453).
Tempo
Tempo is the rhythmic rate of a musical composition, usually specified in beats per
minute (BPM).
Threshold
A threshold determines the level at which the signal processor begins acting on the
signal. During normalization, levels above this threshold are attenuated.
Time Format
The format by which SOUND FORGE PRO software displays the time ruler and selection
times. These can include: Time, Seconds, Frames and all standard SMPTE frame rates.
Trim/Crop
Trim/Crop is a function that will delete all data in a sound file outside of the current
selection. This is a necessary function when dealing with samples to be played by a
sampler to get rid of blank time at the beginning and ending of samples.

-U- (⇗439)
µ-Law
µ-Law (mu-Law) is a companded compression algorithm for voice signals defined by the
Geneva Recommendations (G.711). The G.711 recommendation defines µ-Law as a
method of encoding 16-bit PCM signals into a nonlinear 8-bit format. The algorithm is

459 / 512
Glossary

commonly used in European and Asian telecommunications. µ-Law is very similar to A-

Law, however, each uses a slightly different coder and decoder.
Undo Buffer
This is the temporary file created before you do any processing to a sound file. This undo
buffer allows you to rewrite previous versions of the sound file if you decide you don't
like changes you've made to the sound file. This undo buffer is erased when the file is
closed or the Clear Undo History command is selected.
Undo/Redo
These commands allow you to change a project back to a previous state, when you don't
like the changes you have made, or reapply the changes after you have undone them.
Undo/Redo History
This is a list of all of the functions that have been done to a file that are available to be
undone or redone. Undo/Redo History gives you the ability to undo or redo multiple
functions as well as preview the functions for quick review of the processed and
unprocessed material. This list can be displayed from within the View menu.
Unsigned
Data that has only positive values and uses half the maximum value to represent silence.
This is a format option when opening and saving raw sound files.

-W- (⇗439)
Wave
An digital audio standard developed by Microsoft and IBM. One minute of
uncompressed audio requires 10 MB of storage.
Waveform
A waveform is the visual representation of wave-like phenomena, such as sound or light.
For example, when the amplitude of sound pressure is graphed over time, pressure
variations usually form a smooth waveform.
Waveform Display
Each event shows a graph of the sound data waveform. The vertical axis corresponds to
the amplitude of the wave. For 24-bit audio, they range from -8388608 to 8388607. For
16-bit sounds, the amplitude range is -32,768 to +32,767. For 8-bit sounds, the range is -
128 to +127. The horizontal axis corresponds to time, with the leftmost point being the
start of the waveform. In memory, the horizontal axis corresponds to the number of
samples from the start of the sound file.
Windows Media Format

460 / 512
Glossary

Microsoft's Windows Media file format that can handle audio and video presentations
and other data such as scripts, URL flips, images and HTML tags.

-Z- (⇗439)
Zero-Crossing
A zero-crossing is the point where a fluctuating signal crosses the baseline.

By making edits at zero-crossings with the same slope, the chance of creating glitches is
minimized.
Zipper Noise
Zipper noise occurs when you apply a changing gain to a signal, such as when fading out.
If the gain does not change in small enough increments, zipper noise can become very
noticeable. Fades are accomplished using 64-bit arithmetic, thereby creating no audible
zipper noise.

461 / 512
Index

Index
.

.frg 116
.sfap0 Files 387
.sfas 116
.sfw (Workspace) Files 59

0 VU (+4 dBu) Level 405

5.1-Surround-to-Stereo Conversion 304

About Acoustic Mirror 321

Absolute Frames 35, 55
Absolute Sine 353
Accessibility 415
ACID 98, 210
ACID Loops 91
ACID Properties 79
ACID Type 81
ACM 428
Acoustic Mirror 39, 321
Action 119-120
ACX Check 78
Add Buttons to Toolbars 29
Add Envelope Points 218, 299
Add Video to an Audio File 142
Adding and Removing Playlist Regions 263
Adding CD Text to a Disc-at-Once CD 134

462 / 512
Index

Additive Synthesis 351

Adjust DC Offset By 307
Adjust Selection Length 199
Adjusting Envelopes 217, 298
Adjusting Selections 365
ADSR 323
Advanced Audio Configuration 410
Allow Ctrl+Drag Style Cursor Scrub in Data Windows 387
Allow Ctrl+Drag Style Zoom in Data Windows 387
Allow Floating Windows to Dock 63, 387
Allow Pulldown Removal when Opening 24p DV 412
Allow Undo Past Save 390
Always Open Dropped Files in New Window 387
Always Proxy Compressed Formats 387
Amplitude Modulation 39, 321
Animate Video Frames 142
Anti-Alias 319
Append to Current Data Window 98
Application Scripting 343
Apply an Anti-Alias Filter During Resample 318
Apply Dynamic Compression 310
Apply Effect Automation 296
Apply FX Chain 279
Apply offset to generated SMPTE 402
Applying Effects 268
Applying Processes and Effects to Events 245, 270
ARA 296
Arguments for Scripts 343
Arrange Icons 59
Artist (CD Text) 85, 130
ASIO 408

463 / 512
Index

ASR 241
Associate Sound File Extensions 401
ATSC A 85 Mode (Loudness) 173
Attach Video 142
Attack Sensitivity 251
Attack Threshold 301
Attack Time 311
Audio 98
Audio Bit Depth 69
Audio Bit Rate 69
Audio Buffers 411
Audio Channels 69
Audio Device 410
Audio Device Type 408
Audio Event Locator 158, 404
Audio Extract Optimization 119
Audio Format 68
Audio Length 69
Audio Plug-In Chain (Alt+9) 272
Audio Preferences 408
Audio Restoration 41
Audio Sample Rate 68
Auto-Crossfade Mix with Selection 397
Auto-Power MIDI Keyboard Window 387
Auto Play 98
Auto Region 41, 251
Auto Ripple 244
Auto Snapping 395
Auto Trim/Crop 38, 301
Autodetect Drive Capabilities on Startup 407
Automatic Crossfades 240

464 / 512
Index

Automatic Labeling 400

Automatic Recording 184
Automatic Snapping 204
Automatically Detect and Remove DC Offset 306
Automatically detect CD length 395, 407
Automatically Reopen after Save As 387
Automation 277, 293
Autopopulate 82
Autoupdate BWF Origination Time Reference 387
Available Tools 29
Average RMS 310
Average RMS Level (Loudness) 310
Average Value 139

Background Audio 90
Backward Tape 319
Ballistics 163, 404
Banks 360
Banks of VST Effect Presets 272
Basic Editing 216
Batch Job 108
Batch Processing 343
Beatmapped 81
Bend 324
Big Endian 101
Bit-Depth Converter 38, 302
Bit Depth 67, 98
BJ (Batch Job) Files 108
Black Background 144
Blackman-Harris 383
Blending Files 90

465 / 512
Index

Bonus Tracks on DAO CDs 122

Bound Record Time on SMPTE Record Sync 402
Break Length 350
Brightness 393
Broadcast Wave Information Window 82
Brown Noise 353
Buffer Size 411
Buffer Underrun Protection 120
Buffering Audio for Playback and Recording 408
Buffers 411
Build Regions Using the Current Tempo 251
Burn Audio 120
Burn CD 41
Burn Selection Only 121
Burning CDs 120
Buttons, Creating Custom Images for Scripts 348
BWF Metadata 82
BWF Version 84
Bypass Effect Automation 296

C# Script 343
C# Scripting 346
CALM 173
Carrier 351
CD 118, 120
CD Architect Tracks from Markers 93
CD Index Marker 123
CD Information 84
CD Layout Bar 127
CD length 395
CD Liner Notes 132

466 / 512
Index

CD Preferences 408
CD Settings 407
CD Text 84, 130, 134
CD Track Marker 122
CD Track Position 36, 70
CDDB 64
Ceiling 385
Center 316
Center Cursor 33, 214
Center Release End 33
Center Release Start 33
Center Sustaining End 33
Center Sustaining Start 33
Chain 272
Channel 202
Channel Conversion 149, 304
Channel Converter 38
Channel Meters (Alt+6) 72, 160
Channel Routing 148
Channel Selection 199
Channels 67, 98, 291, 304
Chord Structure 370
Chorus 39, 321
Clear 228
Clearing Markers and Regions 257
Click and Crackle Removal 41
Click Removal 340-341
Clip Detect 41
Clip Length 172
Clipboard Contents 221
Clipboard, Copying Sound Data 220

467 / 512
Index

Clipboard, Cutting Sound Data 220

Clipboard, Pasting Sound Data From 221
Clipboard, Playing 221
Clipboard, Viewing 221
Clipped Peak Restoration 41
Clipping 172
Close All 59
Close Disc 120
Close Disc button 120
Close Disc when Done Burning 120
Closing a File 102
Cnt Heading in Playlist 260
Color for Vocal Activity 395
Color Preference 393
Command Line Options for Scripts 343
Command Markers 257
Comments 85, 98
Compatibility Meter 169
Compatible Draw Mode 387
Compatible Scroll Mode 387
Compile Script (Ctrl+Shift+R) 346
Compressed WAV Files 428
Compute DC Offset from First 5 Seconds Only 306
Configuration 351
Configure Drive for CD Extraction 118
Configuring an External Monitor 145
Confirm on Close 388
context menu entries 114
Convert 304
Convert Markers to Regions 93
Convert to New 265

468 / 512
Index

Converting Files to Multiple Formats 108

Converting Markers to Regions 250
Copy 31, 256
Copy (Ctrl+C) 220, 237
Copy File Properties 67
Copy Frame 144
Copy Onto Clipboard 256, 267
Copy Other Channel 41, 341
Copy Partials 227
Copy Saving/Rendering Templates 114
Copy Statistics to Clipboard 138
Copy Track List to Clipboard 132
Copying and Pasting BWF Metadata 82
Copying Markers or Regions 254
Copying the Playlist to the Clipboard 266
Copyright 85
Correlation Meter 169
Crash Recovery 141
Create CD Tracks from Events 123
Create CD Tracks from Regions 123
Create Loudness Log 102, 173
Create Markers for Each Index Change 118
Create Regions for Each Track 118
Create Tracks from Full Subcode Scan 118
Creating a New File from a Playlist/Cutlist 265
Creating a New Window 98, 228
Creating a Track List 132
Creating ACID Loops 91
Creating Batch Job (BJ) Files 108
Creating CDs 120
Creating Events 234

469 / 512
Index

Creating New Files 93

Creating Scripts 346
Cropping Sound Data 229, 301
Crossfade 224, 367
Crossfade Loop 41, 367
Crossfades 240
Crossfading when Pasting Sound Data 221
Cue Sheet for Replication 132
Current Operator 351
Current Tools 29
Cursor 199, 309
Cursor Position 138, 212
Cursor to Selection End 33
Cursor to Selection Start 33
Custom Icons for Scripts 349
Custom Label 400
Custom Templates 102
Custom Zoom 33, 232
Custom Zoom Ratio 394
Customize Keyboard 387
Customize Toolbar 30, 406
Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts 386
Cut 31, 220, 237
Cut Preview Configuration 404
Cut, Copy, and Paste Envelope Points 217, 298
Cutlist 263-264
Cutlist Regions 228
Cutlist Window (Alt+3) 260

DAO Pause Time 129

DAO Validation 407

470 / 512
Index

Data Window Height 392

Data Window Scrolling 156
Data Windows 47, 58, 228
DC Offset 38, 139, 177, 190, 306
DDP 137
Decibels 42
Decorations, Displaying 47
Default Background 144
Default Beats per Measure 404
Default Beats per Minute 404
Default CD length 395, 408
Default CD Pause Time 407
Default Data Window Height 392
Default Fade Values 292
Default Frames per Second 404
Default FX Crossfade 399
Default Names, Editing 400
Default Recording Device 408
Default time between CD tracks 395, 407
Default to Slow Scroll when Drag Selecting 387
Default Video Strip Height 393
Deinterlace Method 412
Delay 322
Delete 228, 237
Delete Command Marker 257
Delete Cut Regions 266
Delete Markers and Regions 257
Delete Region 248, 263
Delete Temporary Files 387
Delete Temporary Files on Close 387
Deleting Cutlist Regions 266

471 / 512
Index

Deleting Markers or Regions 254

Description 83, 102
Deselecting Channels 199
Destination Folder 252
Destination Volume 223
Detach Video 142
Detect All Clip-Related Plateaus 172
Detect Clipping 172
Dial String 350
Dial Tones 350
Digital Levels 159
DIN PPM 165
Disable Auto-Snapping Below 1:4 Zoom Ratios 204
Disable Auto Snapping Below 1:4 Zoom Ratios 395
Disable Triple-Clicking to Select All Sound File Data 395
Disable VST Effects 413
DISP 87
Display Preferences 392
Display Range (Spectrum Analysis) 382
Display Selection Grid Lines 211
Display Square Pixels 144
Distortion 39, 322
Dither 302
DLL Scripts 343
DLS Files 359
Do Not Pre-Roll Buffers Before Starting Playback 410
Docking and Undocking Windows 63
Docking Toolbars 29
Docking Windows 387
Double Selection 33, 210
Downbeat Offset 79

472 / 512
Index

Downmixing and Phase Cancellation 169

Downsampling 319
Drag-and-Drop 425
Drag & Drop Auto Rise Delay 395
Drawing Waveform Data 217
Drive 119, 121
Drop Marker 246
Dropping Markers 246
Dry Gain 292, 399
DTMF/MF Tone Synthesis 37
DTMF/MF Tones 350
Dual Tone Multi-Frequency 350
Duplicating Markers or Regions 254
DX Favorites 268
Dynamics 322

EBU PPM 165

EBU R 128 Mode (Loudness) 173
Edge Snapping 207
Edit ACID Properties 91
Edit Command Marker 257
Edit in Melodyne (ARA) 297
Edit in Spectralayers (ARA) 298
Edit in SpectraLayers Pro 342
Edit Pause Time 129
Edit Tempo 36, 56, 91
Edit Tool 31, 216
Edit Tool Selector 47
Editing 395
Editing a Playlist Region 260
Editing Batch Job (BJ) Files 108

473 / 512
Index

Editing Sample Information 357

Editing Samples 359
Editing Scripts 346
Editing Tools 216
Edits, Undoing 233
Effect Automation 295
Effects 268
Effects Banks 272
Eject 118
Eject Disc When Done 121
Elastique Timestretch 38, 320
Emphasis Flag for DAO CDs 130
Enable DC Blocking 172
Enable Effect Automation 293
Enable Snapping (F8) 204
End 202
End Frequency 353
End of File 309
End of Silent Region 213
Engineer 85
Enhance 39, 319
Envelope 39, 307, 322
Envelope Tool 31, 216
Envelope Type 285
Envelopes, Volume and Pan 293
EQ 307
Equal Loudness Contour 303
Equalization 307
Erase RW Disc Before Burn 120
Erasing Metadata 108
Event Envelopes 241

474 / 512
Index

Event Tool 234

Event Zoom 229
Events, Creating 234
Events, Splitting 236
Expand Meters 72, 160
Explorer Window (Alt+1) 64
Export
DDP 137
Export dialog 104
Export Keyboard Map 386
Export Location 105, 109
Export Presets 104
Export Track List 133
Extend Edge to Next Zero (Shift+Z) 207
Extend to Next Zero (Z) 207
Extended VU 164
External MIDI Controllers 372
External Monitor 144-145
External Monitor Device 412
Extract Audio from CD 41
Extract Regions 41, 252
Extracting Audio from Another File 93
Extracting Audio From CD 118

Fade 307
Graphic 307
In 307
Out 307
Fade In 38, 224, 291, 301, 397
Fade Out 38, 224, 292, 301, 397
Fade Properties 218, 299

475 / 512
Index

Fast Video Resizing 104

Favorites 268, 271
Favorites Menu 268
Feedback 353
FFT 377, 380
FFT Overlap 383
FFT Size 383
Field Recording and Multichannel Audio 150, 194
File 401
Properties 67
Statistics 138
File Association Details 401
File Attributes 68
File Name 68, 99, 104
File Name Prefix 252
File Properties 67
File Reader Settings 100
File Size 68
File Type 68, 99
File Types to Associate 401
Files of Type 98
Files That Can be Recovered 141
Filtered Noise 353
Find 41, 213
Fine Tune 86, 357
First Track Number on Disc 84
Flange 40, 324
Flip Envelope 217, 298
Floating Toolbars 29
Floating Windows 63
Floor 385

476 / 512
Index

FM Synthesis 37, 351

Force Loop Bar to Match Selection 396
Format 99
Forward 33, 45
FourCC 87
Frame Animation 143
Frame Numbering 144
Frame Numbering on Thumbnails 412
Frames, Copying to Clipboard 144
Free-Wheel Slack 402
Free-Wheel Time 402
Freq. Min 385
Frequency 351
Frequency Modulation Synthesis 351
FX 271-272
FX Automation 272, 293
FXB 276
FXP 276

Gain 321
Gain Fader 153
Gapper/Snipper 40, 324
Gapping 28, 151, 194, 432
Gaussian Dither 302
General Preferences 387
Generate Loudness Log 173
Generate MIDI Timecode 37, 371
Generic VST editor 413
Get Sample 355
GIG Files 359
GigaSampler Files 359

477 / 512
Index

GigaStudio Files 359

Glitches 27, 150, 194, 213, 217, 340, 430
Global Media Cache 398
Glyphs, Customizing for Scripts 348
Go To 33
Go To (Ctrl+G) 212
Go to End (Ctrl+End) 32, 44
Go to Next Track 32, 44
Go to Previous Track 32, 44
Go to Start (Ctrl+Home) 32, 44
Graphic Dynamics 39, 322
Graphic EQ 38, 307
Graphic Fade 38, 307, 322
Grid Lines 211
Grid, Snapping 204

Half Rectangular 303

Half Rectangular Dither 302
Halve Selection 33, 210
Hammer 326
Hamming 383
Hanning 383
Hardware Meters Window (Ctrl+Alt+3) 153
Hardware Outputs 74, 148, 163
Header Bytes 101
Headphone Jack, Recording From 94, 191
Headroom 159
Hidden Tracks on DAO CDs 122
Hide Effects Envelopes 293
Hide New Temporary Files 389
High-Pass Contour 303

478 / 512
Index

Highpass Triangular Dither 302

History, Undo/Redo 75
Hold Peaks 72, 160
Hold Peaks During Monitoring 385
Hold Valleys 72, 160
Horizontal Meters 72, 160
Hue 393

IARL 87
IART 87
ICMS 87
ICMT 87
Icon Color Saturation 394
Icon Color Tint 395
Icons, Customizing for Scripts 348
ICOP 87
ICRD 87
ICRP 87
IDIM 88
IDPI 88
IEEE-1394 145
IENG 88
If Clipping Occurs 310
Ignore (Saturate) 310
Ignore Fact Chunk when Opening Compressed WAV Files 387
Ignore Tail 272
Ignore Tail Data 285
IGNR 88
IKEY 88
ILGT 88
IMED 88

479 / 512
Index

Import Keyboard Map 386

In Full 231
INAM 88
Include Wide SCSI Devices when Searching for Drives 407
Index Marker for DAO CDs 122
Infinite Loop 357
Input (MIDI) 402
Input Format 202, 212
Input Monitoring 189
Input Monitoring with Spectrum Analysis 375, 379
Insert CD Index 37, 122
Insert CD Track 37, 122
Insert Command 37
Insert Command (C) 257
Insert Leading Zeros in Field Width of 400
Insert Marker 37
Insert New Tone Sequence At 350
Insert Pan Envelope 37
Insert Region 37, 248, 263
Insert Sample Loop 37, 357
Insert Silence 38, 309
Insert Tail Data 285
Insert Toolbar 37
Insert Volume Envelope 37
Insert Waveform At 351
Instant Actions 75
Instrument Files 359
Instruments 369
Integral Stretch 144
Integrated Loudness 173
Interface Type 392

480 / 512
Index

Interleave Peak/VU Meters 72, 160

Internal Timer Resolution 402
Interpolate 41
Interpolate Position 410
Interpolating Sound Data 340
Interpolation Accuracy 318
Invert Data 225
Invert Envelope 217, 298
Invert/Flip 38, 309
IPLT 88
IPRD 88
ISBJ 88
ISFT 88
ISHP 88
ISRC 88
ISRF 88
ITCH 88
ITU Loudness Metering 173
IVC File Reader Settings 98
iXML Broadcast Wave Metadata 82

Jellyfish Meter 166

JKL Scrubbing 157
JKL/Shuttle Speed 395
Jog Playback 157
JScript 343
JScript Scripting 346

K-Metering 170
Keep Edges Outside of the Selection 301

481 / 512
Index

Keep Media Files Locked 388

Keyboard Map 386
Keyboard Shortcuts, Customizing 386
Keyboard Window (Ctrl+Alt+1) 368

Label Markers 401

Label Regions 401
Labeling Preferences 400
Largest Peaks 213
Last Saved 68
Layout Settings for Meters 72, 160
Length 98, 202
Letterbox 104
Level Equal to or Above 213
Level Format 138
Level Ruler 50
Level Zoom 50
Levels Toolbar 42
Limit Non-Realtime Previews to 403
Limiter 326
Liner Notes 133
Lissajous - Rotated 167
Lissajous - XY Plot 166
Little Endian 101
LOCA 87
Location 68
Lock Audio and CD Tracks 127
Lock Channel Selection 199
Lock Loop/Region Length 256
Lock Selection Length 285
Log Sweep 353

482 / 512
Index

Logarithmic Graphing 385

Logarithmic VU 164
Loop 81
Loop Bar Matches Selection 395
Loop Count 357
Loop Creation 91
Loop Playback 32, 44
Loop Points 367
Loop Preview 403
Loop the Loop 368
Loop Tuner (Ctrl+Alt+4) 365
Loop(s) 98
Loops 67, 211
Loudness 113, 310
Loudness Log 104, 175
Loudness Meters 173
Loudness Normalization 113

Magnification 229
Magnify Tool 31, 216
Maintain Last Monitored View 385
Manual Crossfades 240
Manufacturer 86
Mapping Channels to Hardware Outputs 72, 148, 160
Mark In 33, 203
Mark Out 33, 203
Marker Labels 401
Marker Names 401
Marker Prefix 400
Markers 172, 177, 246, 250
Adding 246

483 / 512
Index

Clearing 257
Moving 246
Replicating 254
Triggering 247
Markers to Regions 93
Markers to Regions, Converting 250
Markers, Deleting 254
Markers, Snapping 204
Max 385
Maximize Width (Ctrl+Enter) 47
Maximum Editing Time 98
Maximum Gain 308
Maximum Sample Position 138
Maximum Sample Value 138
Measures and Beats 35, 55
Media Catalog Number 84
Melodyne 296
Merge L/R to Stereo 98
Metadata 85, 103
Metadata Commands 257
Metadata Windows 78
Meter Display Options 72, 160
Meter Preferences 404
Meters 72, 153, 160, 173
Method 188
Microsoft Audio Compression Manager 428
Mid-Side Mix 317
MIDI 371, 402, 436
Keyboard 368
MIDI Input 371
MIDI Input Sync/Trigger 371

484 / 512
Index

MIDI Output Sync 371

Output Device 368
SCSI/SMDI Troubleshooting 436
SDS Troubleshooting 436
Sync Preferences 402
Synchronization 371
Trigger Types 246, 248
Triggers 372
MIDI Unity Note of Sample 357
Minimize All 59
Minimize Channel Height 49, 148
Minimum Beat Duration 251
Minimum Inter-Phrase Silence 301
Minimum Length Following Loop End 301
Minimum Sample Position 138
Minimum Sample Value 139
Mirror 321
Mix 31, 223, 237
Mix Channels Before Panning 315
Mix Mid-Side 313
Mix Tail 272
Mix Tail Data 285
Mix/Replace 224
Mixing Files 90
Mixing when Pasting Sound Data 221
Modal Processing Dialogs 285
Mode 188
Modeless Processing Dialogs 285
Modulator 351
Momentary Loudness 173
Monitor input through Plug-In Chain 188

485 / 512
Index

Monitoring Levels 153, 159

Monitoring Phase 166
Mono-Compatibility Meter 169
Mono-to-Stereo Conversion 304
Mono to Stereo 149, 304
Mouse Shortcuts 426
Move Down 30
Move Marker 246
Move Region 248
Move Up 29
Moving a Selection 199
Moving Events 236
MP3 and Clipping 310
Multi-Band Dynamics 39, 322
Multi-Tap Delay 39
Multichannel Audio Files 147-148
Multichannel Paste 221
Multichannel Recording 150, 194
Multiple takes 177
Mute 38, 309

Name Region 248

Name/Title (CD Text) 84
Narrow Width 72, 160
Navigation Toolbar 33
New 31, 228
New File 265
New Marker Prefix 400
New Recording 177
New Region Prefix 400
New Sample Rate 318

486 / 512
Index

New Script Template 346

New Window 59
New Window Dialog 98
New Window Prefix 400
Noise Gate 39, 324
Noise Generators 353
Noise Reduction 41
Noise Shaping 303
Nordic PPM 165
Normal Zoom 232
Normal Zoom Ratio 393
Normalize 38
Normalize Peak Value to 0 dB 310
Normalize To 310
Normalizing 310
Note Ranges 360
Notes 380
Number Frames 142
Number of Beats 80
Number of Beats in a Measure 56, 91

Octave 370
OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 DV 145
One-Shot 81, 357
Open 31
Open as CD Track 98
Open as Read-Only 98
Open Default Workspace on Startup 387
Open editor when new loudness log is generated 404
Open Loop Sample Transfer 436
Open Multichannel Audio Files 148

487 / 512
Index

Open Playlist 255

Open Regions/Playlist dialog 255
Open Workspace 60
Opening 60, 98, 256
Opening and Editing Multichannel Audio Files 148
Opening Files 64
Opening Regions List 255
Operator 351
Operator Shape 352
Optimizing Sound Forge 27
OriginationDate 82
OriginationTime 82
OriginationTimeRef 82
Originator 83
OriginatorRef 83
Oscilloscope 171
Other Preferences 404
Out Full 231
Output (MIDI) 402
Output 1 304
Output Channels 305
Output Device 72, 148, 160
Output Fader 153
Output Monitoring with Spectrum Analysis 375, 379
Overview Bar 48
Overwrite 227

Pan 313
Pan Envelope 294
Pan/Expand 38, 313
Paragraphic EQ 38, 307

488 / 512
Index

Parameter 257
Parametric EQ 38, 307
Parzen window 383
Passing Arguments to a Script 343
Passive Update 69, 71, 144
Paste 31, 221, 237
Paste Specia 223
Paste Special
Mix 223
Overwrite 227
Paste to New 228
Replicate 227
Paste to New 93, 223, 228
Path References in Rendered Media 117
Pause (Enter) 32, 44
Pause Character 350
Pause Length 350
Pause Time 408
Pause Time for DAO CDs 129
Pause Time, Default 407
Peak 43
Peak Level 310
Peak Level Scan Time 404
Peak Meter V2 170
Peak Program Meters 163
Peak range 165
Peak Range 73, 162
Pencil Tool 31, 216-217
Pencil Tool Maximum Zoom Ratio 395
Percent 42
Phase 309

489 / 512
Index

Phase Cancellation 169

Phase Scope 166
Phase Scope Style 166
Phasing 324
Phonographs, Recording From 94, 191
Pillarbox 104
Pink Noise 353
Pitch 324, 326
Pitch Bend 39
Pitch Shift 39
Placing Markers 246
Plateaus (Clip Detection) 172
Play 155
Looped Mode 204
Play (Spacebar) 32, 44
Play All (Shift+Space) 32, 44
Play as Cutlist Mode 156
Play as One-Shot 367
Play as Sample Mode 156
Play Backward 319
Play Chain Mode 155
Play Clipboard 31, 221
Play Count 261
Play Loop through Post-Loop 367
Play Looped Adjust Pre-Roll 403
Play Meters 72, 160
Play Normal Mode 155
Play unselected channels when recording 188
Playback Buffering 408
Playback Device 408
Playback Device Routing 408

490 / 512
Index

Playback Mode 155

Playback Speed 158
Playbar 50
Playing a Playlist/Cutlist 264
Playlist 37, 67, 260, 263-266
Adding a Region 263
Copying to the Clipboard 266
Deleting a Region 263
Editing a Playlist Region 260
Opening a Regions/Playlist File 255
Playlist Position 37, 69-70
Playlist Pre-Roll 403
Playlist Window 261
Playlist, Opening 255
Playlist, Saving 266
Setting a Stop Point 260
Plug-In 272
Plug-In Chain Window 273
Plug-In Chain, Previewing 155
Plug-In Manager 268
Plug-In Manager Window 271
Plug-Ins 271
Polar - Circular Plot 169
Polar - Linear Plot 168
Position 212, 257
Position Bias 410
Position Scroll Bar 47
Positioning the Cursor 212
Post-Loop 368
Post-Roll 157, 287, 403
POW-r 303

491 / 512
Index

Pre-Loop 368
Pre-Queue for MIDI Timecode 37
Pre-Queuing Data 372
Pre-Roll 157, 261, 287, 403
Pre-Roll Playlist 265
Pre-Roll to Cursor (Ctrl+Shift+K) 157
Preferences 387, 392, 395, 401-404, 406, 408, 412-413
Audio Preferences 408
CD Settings 407
Display Preferences 392
Editing Preferences 395
File Preferences 401
General Preferences 387
Labeling Preferences 400
MIDI/Sync Preferences 402
Preview Preferences 403
Status Preferences 404
Toolbar Preferences 406
Video Preferences 412
VST Effects Preferences 413
Prefix 400
Preserve Metadata 102
Preserve Original Duration 325
Preserve Stereo Separation 314
Presets 276, 285
Editing 292
Saving 285
Preview Cut/Cursor (Ctrl+K) 156
Preview Levels 153
Preview Marker 246
Preview Modes 155

492 / 512
Index

Preview Preferences 403

Preview Region 248
Previewing a File 155
Previewing Files 64, 98
Print Track List 133
Priority 411
PRM Files 255
Process 268
Process Mode 317
Process Selection 293
Process Toolbar 38
Processing Events 245, 270
Product 86
Project 116
Project Files 116
Project Path 117
Project References in Rendered Files 117
Projects 116
Prompt for marker and region names 387
Prompt to Open New File after Save As 387
Properties 67
Proportional Fade Lengths 226
Protection Flag for DAO CDs 130
Proxy Compressed Formats 387
Pulldown Removal 412
Punch-In 177, 180
Punch-In Events 240

Quantization Depth 302

Quantize to Frames 204
Queuing Data for Synchronization 372

493 / 512
Index

Raw Data Files 98, 101-102

RAW File Reader Settings 98
Raw File Type 102
Reactive Previewing 403
Read by Range 119
Read by Track 119
Read Entire Disc 119
Real-Time Spectrum Analysis 379, 382
Recall Views 60
Recent 103
Recent Files 98
Record (Ctrl+R) 32, 44, 177
Record Buffering 408
Record Counter 387
Record Folder 390
Record New 177
Record Remote 177
Record Status 71
Recording 177, 184, 197
DC Offset 177
From CDs 177
Markers 177
Punch-In 177
Recording Modes 177
Recording Audio 177
Recording Audio Automatically 184
Recording Device 408
Recording Device Routing 410
Recording Method 188
Recording Mode 189

494 / 512
Index

Recording Multichannel Audio 150, 194

Recording Options 188
Recording Setup 97, 194
Recover Files 141
Rectangular Dither 302
Redo 31, 233
Reducing Noise 340
Referenced Projects 117
Refreshing the Sonogram 379
Refreshing the Spectrum Graph 375
region 77
Region 78, 113, 250, 252, 260, 263
Region Labels 401
Region Length, Locking 256
Region Names 401
Region Prefix 400
Regions 260
Adding 248
Adding to a Playlist or Cutlist 263
Auto Region 251
Clearing 257
Converting Markers to Regions 250
Copying Regions to the Clipboard 256
Create Region 248
Deleting Cutlist Regions 263
Deleting from a Playlist or Cutlist 263
Editing a Playlist Region 260
Region Positions 253
Removing 263
Removing a Region from a Playlist or Cutlist 263
Replicating 254

495 / 512
Index

Splitting Regions 254

Triggering Playback with MIDI 260
Regions List 37, 78, 255, 266
Regions List, Opening 255
Regions List, Saving 266
Regions to Extract 252
Regions, Deleting 254
Regions, Updating 253
Regions/Markers 67
Regions/Playlist File 255, 266
Regions/Playlist Toolbar 37
Release Count 86
Release End 86
Release Length 86
Release Loop 358, 367
Release Sensitivity 251
Release Start 86
Release Threshold 301
Release Time 311
Remember Last-Used Sample Rate for .VOX and .IVC Files 387
Remember Last-Used Settings for .RAW Files 387
Remote Recording 177
Remove Buttons from Toolbars 29
Remove Data Beyond Loop Points 301
Remove Data from Start and Limit File Length 301
Remove Edges Outside of the Selection 301
Remove Silence Between Phrases 301
Remove Video 142
Removing Effect Automation Envelopes 293
Removing Metadata 108
Removing Sound Data 229

496 / 512
Index

Rename Plug-In 271

Render As 31, 102
Rendering 104
Rendering Templates 115
Repair: Copy Other Channel 41
Repair: Interpolate 41
Repair: Replace 41
Repairing a Channel 341
Repairing Glitches, Clicks, and Noise 340
Repeat (Ctrl+Y) 31, 233
Replace 41, 224, 340
Replacing a Channel 341
Replacing Sound Data 340-341
Replicate 227
Replicate Region 263
Replicating Markers or Regions 254
Resample 38, 318
Resample Source Video when Rendering to a Higher Frame Rate 412
Rescan Script Menu Folder 343
Reset Clip 73, 161
Reset Envelope 307, 322
Reset Fade Values 285
Reset Keyboard Shortcuts 386
Reset Toolbar 29
Resizing 104
Resonant Filter 326
Restore All 59
Restore Channel Height 47, 148
Restore Selection 211
Restoring Clipped Peaks 340
Reverb 39, 326

497 / 512
Index

Reverse 38, 309, 319

Reverse Edit Operations 233
Rewind 33, 45
Rgns/Play/Cmds 98
Ripple Events 244
RMS 310
RMS Level 43, 138
RMS Level Scan Time 404
Root Note for Transposing 81, 91
Rotate Audio 38, 211
Routing Channels to Hardware Outputs 72, 148, 160
Ruler Format 138
Run Job 108, 111
Run Script (Ctrl+R) 346
Running Scripts 343
Running Scripts from the Command Line 343

Sample Bias 355

Sample Information 87
Sample Loop 357
Sample Period 86
Sample Rate 67, 98
Sample Type 85, 101
Sample Value 42, 67
Sample Value at Cursor 138
Sampler 41
Sampler Configuration 355
Sampler Tool 355
Samples 35, 55, 359
Saturation 393
Save 31, 102, 118, 120

498 / 512
Index

Save All 118

Save As 31, 102
Save as Type 102
Save Fade Values 293
Save Keyboard Map 386
Save Metadata with File 102
Save Options 102
Save Project as Path Reference in Rendered Media 117
Save Views 60
Save Workspace 60
Saving a File 102
Saving a File as a Different Name or Type 102
Saving a Regions/Playlist File 266
Saving Projects 116
Saving Templates 114
Saving Templates' 114
Saw 353
Scan Levels button 310
Scope, Phase 166
Script Args 343, 346
Script Arguments 344
Script Editor Window (Ctrl+Alt+2) 346
Scripting 343
Scripting Menu 344
Scripting Overview 343
Scripting Toolbar 348
Scroll Playback (F6) 156
Scroll Smoothly (Shift+F6) 156
Scrub 48, 157
SCSI/SMDI Troubleshooting 436
Seconds 35, 55

499 / 512
Index

Seek Cursor on Playback 155, 204

Select All 212, 290
Select Original 290
Select Pause Time 129
Select VST Effects to be Available as Audio Plug-Ins 413
Selecting Channels 199
Selecting Data 199
Selecting Regions 248
Selection 202, 211
Mark In 203
Mark Out 203
Select All 212
Selecting Data 199
Selecting Data Using the Mouse 199
Selection Status Bar 53
Selection (Zooming) 229
Selection End 285
Selection Grid Lines 211
Selection Length in Beats 56, 91
Selection Start 290
Selection, Modifying 210
Selections, Adjusting 365
Semitones 324
Send Program Changes command 368
Send Sample 355
Send to SpectraLayers Pro 342
Sensitivity 213
Session 8 Files 255
Set Grid Divisions 211
Set Selection Dialog 202
Set Sonogram Resolution 384

500 / 512
Index

Set the Sample Rate Only (Do Not Resample) 318

Set to Default Pause Time 129
SF2 Files 359
SFL 103
SFL Files 255, 266
SFW (Workspace) Files 59
Sharing Saving/Rendering Templates 114
Shift Selection Left 33
Shift Selection Right 33
Shifting 210, 324
Shifting a Selection Left or Right 199
Shifting the Contents of an Event 242
Short-Term Loudness 173
Shortcut Currently Assigned To 386
Shortcut Keys 386
Shortcuts 415
Drag-and-Drop 425
Keyboard Shortcuts 415
Mouse 426
Shortcuts, Customizing 386
Show a Textured Background on the Workspace 387
Show All Metadata Windows 78
Show Commands Containing 386
Show Effects Envelopes 293
Show Free Storage Space on Status Bar 387
Show Labels 72, 160
Show Logo Splash Screen on Startup 387
Show Mono-Compatibility Meter 169
Show Notes 376, 381
Show Peak Meter 72, 160
Show Shuttle Controls on Data Window Transport 387

501 / 512
Index

Show Status Bar 144

Show the Position of the Playback Cursor 387
Show the Record Counter while Recording 387
Show Toolbar 145
Show ToolTips 406
Show Transport Menu 387
Show Wave 308, 322
Shuttle Controls on Data Window Transport 387
Shuttle Playback 157
Shuttle Speed 398
Sign Bit Format 101
Signed Format 101
Silence 309
Simple Delay 39
Simple Synthesis 38, 353
Simulate Device Aspect Ratio 144
Sine 353
Single Tone Length 350
Skip Drive Database; Autodetect Drive Capabilities on Startup 407
Slices Displayed 384
Slip-Trim Events 242
Slipping Events 242
Slope 213
Smooth 156
Smooth Gain to Minimize Distortion on Steep Slopes 322
Smooth/Enhance 39, 319
Smoothing Window 383
SMPTE 67, 98
SMPTE 30 36, 56
SMPTE Drop 36, 55
SMPTE EBU 35, 55

502 / 512
Index

SMPTE Film Sync 35, 55

SMPTE Non-Drop 36, 55
SMPTE Offset 86
SMPTE Playback Offset 402
SMPTE UMID 84
Snapping 199, 204, 207
Snap Edge to Grid (Shift+T) 207
Snap Edge to Zero (Shift+Z) 207
Snap Time 202
Snap to Grid 204
Snap to Markers 206
Snap to Time (Ctrl+T) 207
Snap to Zero-Crossing Slope 395
Snap to Zero (Z) 207
Snap to Zero Crossings 204
Snap Zero 202
Snapshot 378
Snipper 40, 324
Sonogram 379, 384
Generate 380
Viewing 379
Sort Metadata Window 78
Sort Plug-Ins 271
Sound Data Size 67
Sound Forge and the Microsoft Audio Compression Manager 428
SoundFont 2.0 Files 359
Source 67
Source 1 304
Source Volume 223
Spacebar and F12 Play/Pause Instead of Play/Stop 387
Spectral Editing 342

503 / 512
Index

SpectraLayers Pro 298, 342

Spectrum Analysis 375
Spectrum Analysis Settings 382
Spectrum Analysis Window (Alt+8) 375
Spectrum Graph 375
Spectrum Settings dialog 380
Speed 119, 121
Split Region 236, 254
Splitting Events 236
SPTI Direct 407
Square 353
Stacked Meters 72, 160
Standard Toolbar 31
Start 202
Start Frequency 353
Start of File 309
Statistics 41, 138
Status
Choosing a Format 54
Status Bar 45
Status Format 70
Status Preferences 404
Status/Selection Toolbar 35
Stereo 313
Stereo Expand 313
Stereo to Mono 150, 304
Stop 32, 44
Stop (Spacebar) 32, 44
Stop Point 262, 264
Stop Processing 312
Strart File Counter Index 252

504 / 512
Index

Stretch 39, 320

Stretch Video to Fill Output Frame 102
Subcode Scan 119
Summary Information 87
Sustain Count 85
Sustain End 85
Sustain Length 85
Sustain Start 85
Sustaining Loop 357, 367
Sustaining with Release 357
Swap Channels 306
Sweeping a Frequency Range 353
Sync Graphs 375, 379, 385
Sync Status 37
Sync/Trigger Status 69-70
Synchronization 371-372, 402
Pre-Queuing Data 372
Synthesis 350, 353
FM 351

Tabbed Windows 392

Tabs for Maximized Data Windows 394
Tail 272
Takes 177
Telephone Tones 350
Template 103, 114, 259
Tempo 35, 56
Tempo in Beats per Minute 56, 92
Temporary Files 389
Test Only 120
Test, Then Burn Audio 120

505 / 512
Index

The Edit Tool (Ctrl+D) 216

The Effects Toolbar 39
The Event Tool 234
The Status Bar 45
Threshold 172
Threshold Level 214
Threshold Recording 184
Threshold Slope 213
Tile Horizontally 59
Tile Vertically 59
Time 35, 54
Time & Frames 55
Time and Frames 35
Time Compress/Expand 320
Time Display 70
Time Display Window 69
Time Ruler 49
Time Signature 80
Time Snapping 207
Time Stretch 38, 320
Time Zoom 54
Timecode 371
Timed Recording 188
Title 67
Title (CD Text) 130
Title Bar 47
TLEN 89
Toggle Selection (Backspace) 211
Toolbars 29
Customize 406
Docking and Undocking 29

506 / 512
Index

Effects 39
Levels 42
Navigation 33
Preferences 406
Process 38
Regions/Playlist 37
Standard 31
Status/Selection 35
Tools 41
Transport 32, 44
View 60
Tools 216
Edit 216
Magnify 216
Pencil 217
Tools Toolbar 41
TORG 89
Total Mix Length 223
Total Output Waveform Length 351
Track List Window 130
Track Marker for DAO CDs 122
Tracks to Extract 118
Traditional VU 164
Trailer Bytes 101
Transport 204
Transport and Status Bar 67
Transport Toolbar 32, 44
TRCK 89
Treat as Cutlist 228
Triangle 353
Triangular Dither 303

507 / 512
Index

Trigger from MIDI Timecode 37

Trigger Marker 246
Trigger Playlist Region with MIDI 260
Trigger Region 250
Triggering Recording with MIDI 197
Triggering Samples with MIDI 357
Trim/Crop 31, 229, 301
Trimming Events 242
Trimming Sound Data 229
True Peaks 174
Tuner 365
TURL 89
Turntables, Recording From 94, 191
TVER 89

UK PPM 164
Undo 31, 233
Undo All 233
Undo Past Save 390
Undo/Redo History (Alt+7) 75
Unity Note 67, 86, 98
Universal Product Code 84
Unsigned Format 101
Update from Selection 357
Update Loop Bar on Mark In/Out 396
Update Marker 253
Update Region 253
Updating the Sonogram 379
Updating the Spectrum Graph 375
URL Flip 257
Use Counter and Start At 400

508 / 512
Index

Use Current Scan Level 310

Use Equal Loudness Contour 310
Use Floating Point Temporary Files 387
Use Free-Wheel for SMPTE Loss 402
Use Internal Timer for SMPTE Generation 402
Use Long File Names for Destination File Names 252
Use Net Notify to Stay Informed About MAGIX Product Updates 387
Use Release Point for End of Region 251
Use SPTI Direct for CD Burning 407
Use Strict Red Book Specification for DAO Validation 407
Use True Peaks 172
User defined settings 114
Using MIDI Triggers 372
Using Processing Dialogs 285
Using Selection Grid Lines 211
Using Sound Forge with a Sampler 355
Using the Audio Plug-In Chain 272
Using the MIDI Keyboard 368
Using the Plug-In Manager 271

Validating Broadcast Wave Metadata 82

VB Script 343
VBScript 343
VBScript Scripting 346
Vectorscope 166
Velocity 370
Vertical Meters 72, 160
Vibrato 40, 326
Video 98, 142
Video Attributes 69
Video Format 69

509 / 512
Index

Video Interlace 67
Video Length 69
Video Pixel Aspect 69
Video Preferences 412
Video Preview 145
Video Preview Window 144
Video Stream 142
Video Strip 49, 142
Video Strip Height 393
Video Tab 412
View Channel Meters 72, 160
View Clipboard Contents 221
View Cutlist Window 260
View Explorer Window 64
View Hardware Meters Window 153
View Keyboard Window 368
View Playlist Window 260
View Plug-In Manager Window 271
View Regions List 78
View Script Editor Window 346
View Spectrum Analysis Window 375
View Time Display Window 69
View Undo/Redo History 75
View Video Preview Window 144
Views Toolbar 60
Virtual Instruments 359
Vocal Activity Detection 57
Vocal Cut 304, 313
Volume 38, 307, 309, 320
Volume Envelope 294
Volume Maximizer 326

510 / 512
Index

Volume, Event 241

VOX File Reader Settings 98
VST 272, 413
VST Effect Preferences 413
VST Effects 272
VST Search Folder 272
VST Search Folder 413
VU 159
VU Meter Integration Time 165, 404
VU Meter Scan Time (Ballistics) 404
VU Meters 163, 405
VU/PPM Scale 164

Wah-Wah 40, 324

Warn when Metadata Cannot be Saved in the File 387
Warn when Paste or Mix Formats Do Not Match 387
WAV Files and Compression 428
Wave Coloring 395
Wave Hammer 39, 326
Wave Pool 359
Waveform Display 48
Waveform Shape 353
Wet Gain 286, 399
White Background 144
White Noise 353
Whole Copies 228
Wide 316
Window Height 392
Window Labels 400
Working with Video Files 142

511 / 512
Index

Workspace 59
Opening 60
Saving 60

Zero-Cross Level Threshold 395

Zero-Cross Scan Time 397
Zero-Crossings 208
Zero Crossings 138, 367
Zero Crossings, Snapping 204
Zoom Custom 229
Zoom Event 229
Zoom In Full 33, 229
Zoom Level 216, 230
Zoom Normal (Ctrl+Down Arrow) 33, 229
Zoom Out Full 33, 229
Zoom Selection (Ctrl+Up Arrow) 33, 229
Zoom Time 216, 230
Zooming 229

512 / 512

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Sound Forge Pro 15 Manual

Uploaded by

Sound Forge Pro 15 Manual

Uploaded by

VERSION 15 SOUND FORGE

SOUND FORGE PRO

English language manual

Add a layout to the View > Window Layouts submenu 62

Opening a Raw Data File 101

Creating a Track List for a Disc-at-Once CD 132

Previewing a File 155

Adjust for DC offset 194

Snap to Zero 208

Create events by processing a selection 235

Name or rename a marker 246

Delete a command marker 258

Adjusting previewing and processing settings 270

Use SOUND FORGE Pro controls 288

Intermix channels in a file 306

Changing Volume 320

Copying Sound Data from Another Channel 341

Creating or Editing Sample Information 357

Trigger recording with MIDI timecode 372

Import or rename a keyboard map 386

Regions List Shortcuts 424

SOUND FORGE PRO 15

What's new in version 15?

Ozone Elements and RX

MAGIX Sales Department

Particularities for purchases made through Steam™

Optimizing SOUND FORGE PRO Software

Defragmenting your hard drive

Increasing playback buffer size

Passive updating for video and time displays

Audio and video synchronization

The SOUND FORGE PRO Window

SOUND FORGE PRO Toolbars

Show or hide toolbars

Dock or float (undock) a toolbar

Docking a floating toolbar

Floating a docked toolbar

The Standard Toolbar

The Transport Toolbar

The Navigation Toolbar

The Status Toolbar

SMPTE Non-Drop: click to display the ruler in

Edit Tempo: click to display the Edit Tempo (⇗56) dialog.

The Regions/Playlist Toolbar

Sync Status: displays incoming MIDI timecode and trigger signals.

The Insert Toolbar

Insert CD Index: click to add a disc-at-once CD index marker at the cursor

The Process Toolbar

The Effects Toolbar

Flange/Wah-Wah: click to apply flanging, phasing, and wah-wah effects to a

The Tools Toolbar

Edit in SpectraLayers Pro: click to open the active data window in

The Levels Toolbar

The Transport Toolbar

The Status Bar

Edit the sample rate, bit depth, or channels

Change the status display format

l The full waveform is displayed in the overview bar.

Next Edit Tool button

Minimize channel height

Play NormalPlays the file in Normal mode. —

Selection status bar

Time zoom resolution

Close data window

Choosing a Status Format

SMPTE 30 Displays the ruler in hours:minutes:seconds:frames with a frame rate of

Specify the tempo for a file with a known tempo

Calculate the tempo for a file based on a selection

Vocal Activity Detection

Arranging Data Windows

l Plug-In Chain settings.

The Views Toolbar

Save the current view

Recall a saved view

Saving and Recalling Window Layouts

Save a window layout