Selecting audio during playback

You can create selections during playback using the Mark In and Mark Out commands. These commands place temporary markers in the data window, which are then used to create a loop region. While you can place these markers by choosing Mark In and Mark Out from the Selection submenu under the Edit menu, the keyboard equivalents are more useful.

1.Play the audio file in the current data window.

2.During playback, press I where the selection will begin.

3.Press O where the selection will end. A loop region is created using the in and out points you identified.

You can then right-click the bar at the top of the loop region to insert a region, toggle looped playback, or select the loop region.

Tip: Select the Update loop bar on Mark In/Out check box on the Editing tab of the Preferences dialog if you want the loop bar in a data window to be updated when you mark the beginning or end of a selection. When the check box is cleared, the loop bar isn’t updated until you’ve marked both ends of the selection.

Fine-tuning a selection

After creating a selection, you may discover that the start or end point has not been positioned properly. In cases like this, you can try to reselect the data, but it can be difficult to accurately create selection points. For this reason, you have a number of tools designed to help you fine-tune selections.

If you find that the selection jumps unexpectedly as you fine-tune it, snapping may be turned on. For more information, see Understanding snapping on page 95.

Adjusting a selection with the mouse

You can fine-tune selection start and end points by dragging the edge of the selection to a new location.

1.Open a file and create a selection in the waveform.

2.Position the mouse pointer over one of the selection edges. The pointer is displayed as a bi-directional arrow ().

3.Drag the selection edge to a new position.

Drag the edge of the selection to a new position.

4.Release the mouse button. The selection is updated.

Adjusting a selection with the keyboard

Using the keyboard, you can quickly and accurately select data or update a selection. For more information, see Data selection shortcuts on page 331.

Restoring a selection

If you lose a selection while editing, you can step backward through the previous five time selections. From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Cycle from the submenu, or press Backspace.

From the Edit menu, choose Selection, and then choose Toggle from the submenu (or press S or /) to switch between the last selection and the last cursor position.

NAVIGATING, ZOOMING, AND SELECTING 93