AV News 200- May 2015
Basic features- Adding audio files and tracks To start with let ' s add some sound to a project.
Create a new project, then select Project Options | Audio and click the ' Add audio file ' button. Find and select a file and click Open. A track called Track 1 is created and the name of the audio file appears below. Click OK to close Project Options. On the timeline you should see a waveform representing the audio clip. If not, make sure the timeline button at the bottom right is selected.
Double-click the waveform to return to the Audio tab in Project Options. Add another audio file. This will appear in the same track as the first one.
Click the ' Add track ' button and an additional track, Track 2, should appear. Leave Track 2 highlighted and add an audio file. This time it should be added to Track 2. Audio files are always added to the track that is selected.
Click OK to return to timeline view and see the result. There should be two audio clips back to back in Track 1 and one in Track 2 as shown below. To view these more clearly, use the techniques described in the next section.
Viewing To enlarge the timeline window, position the mouse cursor above the timeline itself( see Figure 5) until it changes to a double-headed arrow, then drag upwards. This makes more space to see the audio clips but there is a limit to how far it can be enlarged and the size of the other windows is reduced. A better option is to click the triangle to the left of the Slides button or use the shortcut key F4. This changes the timeline to full-screen mode where it is enlarged fully. This is the mode shown above. To change back click the triangle again.
To zoom in and out horizontally, hold the Ctrl key down and press F11 to zoom in and F12 to zoom out. Alternatively roll the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl key.
If you want to increase the height of the waveforms, roll the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl and Shift keys.
These techniques, together with the horizontal and possibly vertical scroll bars should allow you to see any part of the audio in sufficient detail.
Page 5