[audacity4blind] Re: New User with an Editing Question

  • From: Gary Campbell <campg2003@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: audacity4blind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 28 May 2016 01:44:50 -0600

Hi Jim,


Yeah, it took me a long time to get used to that Stop (space) doesn't leave you where you were playing. I have thought of swapping those key assignments, but for some reason I decided not to. Space is a lot easier to hit if your hands are off the keyboard.


I often make fine adjustments with the selection bar. My usual method is that described by David Bailes in his JAWS Guide for Audacity <http://vip.chowo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/jaws/Audacity-2.1.2-Guide.html>, which is worth reading even if you don't use JAWS. So I play until I find the start point and press p to pause, then I press [ to set the left marker. You don't have to hit pause, but I find it easier to know if I have the right spot. Then I unpause and move to the end point and do the same but with the right bracket. Now, if you stop (space), you will be locked into that selection and not be able to play outside it, but if you don't stop, you can back up before the point you set as the start point and try again. You just can't go before where you started playing. While playing you can move with the right/left arrow keys, and in larger increments with the shifted arrow keys. When I'm trying to mark a start point, I often set the left marker several times as I approach so that if I do forget and hit space I'm closer. Then I may back up with the arrow keys and try again. On my desktop machine I redifined F6 to switch between track panel areas like CTRL+F6. On my laptop I have to press FN to use the function keys, so I use PGDN and PGUP to switch between areas. I frequently make fine adjustments with the selection toolbar.


I frequently use Save Region (ALT+e, g) and Restore Region (ALT+e,n) so I can get a region back if I accidentally unselect it, or if I want to go check something and come back.


If you are using JAWS, the scripts provide speech feedback when you move the cursor (when stopped) and set the selection markers. They also have a key to read the start and end points of the selection, and will move you to them if you press them twice quickly. The new scripts <https://github.com/campg2j003/JAWS-Script-for-Audacity/releases/download/rel2.1.0-rc.1/Jaws-Script-for-Audacity_2_1_0_rc1.exe> also try to speak the label you tab to, but that doesn't work all of the time.


Hope that helps.

Gary

On 5/27/2016 10:14 AM, Vitor Ferreira wrote:


Hello.

In the keyboard preferences, i defined the letter g for the beginning, or left boundary of a selection, and the letter h for the ending point, or right boundary of the selection.


When you press shift plus a to stop the cursor at a given point in the file, Audacity knows that the position of the cursor is the left boundary. At that point, you just need to play whatever you want to edit and use whatever key you have assigned for the right boundary of the selection. In my case, as i told, it's the letter h.


If you are totally familiar with the audio you are editing, you may press the key defined to the left boundary, just while the audio is playing. Then, when the audio arrives to the point where you want to stop editing, you just press the key defined to the right boundary.


With the space bar, you stop playing, and if you hit space again, the only thing that will play is the audio you want to edit.


This method works fine for me, and you may find it easyer than having to go into the selection bar of Audacity, or pressing shift plus a, every time you want to define the beginning of a selection. Best regards.



Às 14:43 de 27/05/2016, Jim Fettgather escreveu:
Hello to Andrew and others on the list.
I have been using Audio Recording programs for about 15 years, but something about this editing process in Audacity is allusive and non-intuitive, after pouring over the manual and all of the hotkeys.

So, I am just trying to edit out a short phrase in an audio file.
Just before the place I would like to edit out, I press Shift A.
Then, ressing the left Bracket key, the dialog comes up with what appears to be the correct position to set the left marker, the place where the selection should start.
Then, pressing Shift A again, the file plays, and pressing Shift A the second time, at what I would think would be the correct place to press the right bracket key to set the end of the selection.

Here is where everything seems to fall apart, as I seem to lose the most of the rest of the audio up to the end of the file.

Now, I have discovered that if I do not stop the file at all, and just press left bracket, and then right bracket a few seconds later, that method seems to always work for selecting and then pressing Control K or delete.
However, that is a difficult way to do precise editing.

What am I mmissing? There has to be a simple concept that I am not understanding about how to set two marks, presumably with the left and right bracket keys, to simply edit out a small piece of audio.

I have been obsessing about this, as I say, reading and re-reading manuals, so I am hopeing that a kind list member may offer just a clue as to what I am doing incorrectluy.
I really appreciated the tip about pressing Shift A, but please let me know if there is another step that I am missing.
Thanks.


-----Original Message----- From: Andrew Downie
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 5:22 PM
To: audacity4blind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [audacity4blind] Re: New User with an Editing Question

Hi Jim


On the general point of using Audacity with various screen readers, at a
fundamental level it makes little or no difference. I have used it with
NVDA, Window-Eyes and JAWS and, apart from a few idiosyncratic
situations there is no difference.  I haven't used the JAWS scripts and
assume they had embellishments but I can't say I feel the need for more
feedback than I get with NVDA.


You mentioned tutorials and the like.  All very useful and don't forget
the well-written manual that comes with Audacity.


Now to the issue of being returned to the start of the file when
pressing spacebar.  If you stop play with shift-a instead of the
spacebar your cursor will be at that position.  If you press left
bracket ([) when playing the cursor will be placed there while play
continues.  Pressing right bracket (]) when playing will set that point
as the end point of the section to be edited.  If you press left or
right bracket when not playing you will be presented with a dialog to
set the beginning and end respectively of the highlighted area. I have
found that most valuable.  Having set a highlighted region, pressing
spacebar will play it and only it. You can make fine adjustments with
those left and right brackets. There are also several other options for
extending or contracting the highlighted area.  When you have some time
on your hands, go into Preferences (ctrl-p) and check out under Keyboard
the keys already assigned to functions.



Andrew



On 25/05/2016 11:29 PM, Jim Fettgather wrote:
Regarding the suggestions below for editing in Audacity:

You've probably pressed pause instead of stop.
Ensure that:
- stop is pressed
- the track itself is selected (enter key)
- a selection region is defined (with the brackets, shift + j/K or the
selection controls)


I have ensured that the track is selected by pressing Enter.
It seems as if you press Space Bar to stop, in order to make an edit at the current location, you are returned to the beginning of the file.
If I understand correctly, you cannot press P to pause in order to edit, but must press space bar to stop.
If that is the case, is there something that needs to be done so that you are not returned to the beginning of the file?

Thanks for input on what I know to be very basic concepts for experienced users.


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--
Vitor Ferreira
Página pessoal:www.serramar.org
Skype: vitorvv10
Twitter: @vferre00
TLM: 916007791

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