User Manual

26
Basic methods
Units of time and level
For rulers
You can specify the time and level (amplitude) formats for
each ruler in each window, by right-clicking on the ruler and
selecting a format from the pop-up menu that appears.
Time formats
Level formats
Ö To make a ruler format the default (to be used in new
Wave windows), you need to save it as part of the default
window style.
See “Styling WaveLab Studio – Wave windows” on page 249.
Setting values
In dialog boxes, you will find yourself adjusting values. The
following techniques apply:
Typing values
As in most other Windows programs you can “tab to” or
click directly on a value and type in a new one.
Using the spin controls/value fields
Values can be set using either the regular Windows spin
controls, or any of the other methods described below.
• Clicking either arrow raises/lowers the value.
• Keeping the mouse button pressed over an arrow will “scroll”
the value.
• Holding down [Ctrl] makes the value change in larger steps.
• Holding down [Ctrl]+[Shift] changes the value to its minimum/
maximum.
• The last adjusted control can be changed using the [
↑ ] and [ ↓ ]
keys, also in combination with [Ctrl] or [Ctrl]+[Shift] as de-
scribed above.
• You can also click and hold in the value field and move the
pointer up or down to change values.
• Pointing in a value field will display the available parameter
range.
• The down arrow to the right of the spin controls brings up a
history pop-up where the last applied value change(s) in the
current dialog are shown and can be selected.
Menu name Description
Time Positions are shown as hours, minutes, seconds and
milliseconds. At large magnification factors, hundredths
of milliseconds are shown.
Samples Positions are shown as number of samples. How many
samples there are to a second depends on the sample
rate of the wave. For 44.1 kHz for example, there are
44100 samples for each second.
Time code Also called SMPTE. Positions are shown in the follow-
ing format:
hours:minutes:seconds:frames.
The number of frames per second is set on the Prefer-
ences–Sync tab.
Meter Positions are shown as bars, beats and ticks, as speci-
fied on the Preferences–Sync tab.
File size Positions are shown in file size units, MegaBytes, where
the decimals represent kiloBytes.
Menu name Description
% Amplitude (level) is shown as a percentage of full level.
dB Amplitude is shown in decibels, a logarithmic scale
used in audio engineering.
Decimal This is the actual value of the amplitude as stored in
computer memory (always displayed as 16 bits). Please
note that the range is from negative to positive with “0”
representing “no signal”.
The spin controls
The history pop-up