Acoustica Premium 7.0.41 - suggestions about zoom controls

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian,

I refer to Acoustica Premium 7.0.41, running on Windows 10 Professional 64-bit.

Two suggestions about the zoom controls:

1. Would it be possible to include in the Acoustica workspace some numerical information about the zoom level of the views (either waveform or spectrogram)? This could maybe be included just below the main waveform/spectrogram window as a small window "Zoom level", at the same horizontal line of the small window "Cursor position", but placed far to the right along that line, below the rightmost border of the waveform/spectrogram window (in the spectrogram view, a reduction in size of the Magnitude scale would maybe be necessary).

Zoom level equal to zero would be the complete view - possibly, two small windows would be needed, one for the horizontal zoom level and the other for the vertical one.

Sometimes, to perform some editing on an audio file, I have to zoom in quite a lot (to go up many zoom levels), and I would like to go back to the same view after editing. Currently, I don't see an easy way of returning to the exact previous view, without having information on the zoom levels - am I missing some way of getting that information?

2. This is but a detail: On the toolbar above the waveform view, the zoom tool that activates a drop-down menu is the rightmost tool on the toolbar.

But when we change to the spectrogram view, the rightmost tool is the retouch tool activator, which in fact, I think, belongs to the group of controls to the left of the zoom tool. I would like to suggest that the zoom tool be placed at the rightmost position, as it happens with the waveform view - in the spectrogram view, the zoom tool would be separated from the block of tools needed for spectrogram editing.

That way, we would have a uniform position for the zoom tool between the two views, which seems to me to be more natural when exchanging between the views.

Currently, in the spectrogram view, in analogy with the waveform view, many times I go to the retouch tool activator, when in fact I wanted the zoom tool - the lack of uniformity in the position of the zoom tool is somewhat confusing, I think.

Regards,

Paulo

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian, I presented the suggestions below more than two weeks ago, maybe they could have escaped your attention.

Paulo

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian,

On second thoughts, maybe what is needed in Acoustica is some quick and easy way of going directly to some zoom level of interest.

The zoom controls, both in the View menu and on the toolbar, and also the buttons on the windows' borders, only allow us to zoom either in or out one step at a time, which can be quite cumbersome when we often have to change zoom levels more than one step distant of each other.

At the moment, I am attempting to (relatively) clean up a piano recording made in a restaurant. For retouching some specific audio problem, I need a high level of zoom magnification, but while listening and going through the file I need a much smaller zoom magnification, so that the audio cursor doesn't go too fast and I can have a proper view of the file. So I have often to alternate between two (or more) zoom levels, something not so straigtforward at the moment.

One possibility: ideally, besides the zoom tool on the toolbar, we could have three or four buttons with specified (possibly user-specified at the Edit > Preferences) zoom levels, so that with just one click we could go directly to the zoom level of interest. The software Transcribe! allows the user to place on the toolbar a variable (user's choice) number of zoom buttons with pre-specified magnifications (here, in fact, zooming in time, ot time-stretching the audio).

Another possibility: in the drop-down menu of the zoom tool on the toolbar, choices for different levels of zooming could be included, additionally to the one-step-at-a-time zoom controls that now exist.

I think that a number (maybe, about four) of zoom buttons right on the toolbar, with user-chosen levels (at the Edit > Preferences) would possibly be the best and most agile option.

Thank you.

Paulo

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian, a further piece of information: the editor iZotope RX6 doesn't have any buttons with pre-specified zoom levels, but zooming is controlled by a slider, so by sliding a button we can easily change zoom levels. There is a slider for horizontal zooming and another one for vertical zooming.

In my suggestion above about zoom buttons on the toolbar, my main concern is the horizontal zooming, which is maybe the one more often used.

Thank you.

Paulo

[stian]

Hi Paulo,

I'm sorry, I did indeed overlook this post. I'm not really sure I fancy the idea of a numerical zoom factor in percent. The questions is then what 100% relates to and the numbers quickly get very odd (very large or very small depending on what 100% relates to).

Have you noticed the handles on the edges of the scrollbar view range indicator? You can drag them to quickly change the view port.

Best,
Stian

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian,

In relation to zooming, maybe we could think not in terms of percentages, but of levels. A complete horizontal view of the file, this would be level 0. One clck on the Zoom Tool > Zoom In Horizontally (cursor Up), this would take us to level 1, and so on. That way, we would have a numerical measure of the zoom level. No measure smaller than 0 would exist, because 0 would already mean the whole view. The meaning of this measure would be only this: how far, in "Up cursor" units, or Zoom Tool clicks, we are from the complete view of the file.

A specific level, say 3, would possibly represent different magnifications, depending on the total file size - but in fact I don't know (and I don't intend to reverse-engineer that) how the effect of one clck on the Zoom Tool > Zoom In Horizontally (one "cursor Up") relates to the file size.

If we had, say, three (maybe four) buttons on the toolbar, with user-defined levels (in the Edit > Preferences) of, say, 0, 4 and 9, this would allow us to quickly change the zoom level from a low magnification to a high one and back, which (for me at least) happens repeatedly when retouching a spectrogram.

For agile changes of zoom level, possibly a number of buttons on the toolbar would be more effective than iZotope RX6's sliders. WaveLab 9.5 has scrolling wheels instead of sliders. But it seems to me that buttons on the toolbar would be the most effective. Maybe, who knows, we could have both solutions, sliders and toolbar buttons.

Yes, I have noticed the handles on the edges of the "scrollbar view range indicator", as you said, which I understand is the "Waveform Overview" on the help file about the Acoustica workspace, the small file view above the main window. But there are two handles, which have to be individually adjusted, and through them it is not so easy to go to a high level of zooming, mainly when the file is large, and then go back to a smaller zoom level. I often use the handles, and also sometimes, to zoom through several levels, I mouse-click and maintain the click on the zoom buttons on the waveform/spectrogram window. But I feel it necessary to have a more agile way of zooming in and out repeatedly, and to known levels of magnification.

Please note that, in my original post, the second item is a suggestion about the position of the Zoom Tool on the toolbar.

Thank you.

Paulo

[stian]

Hi Paulo,

In relation to zooming, maybe we could think not in terms of percentages, but of levels. A complete horizontal view of the file, this would be level 0. One clck on the Zoom Tool > Zoom In Horizontally (cursor Up), this would take us to level 1, and so on. That way, we would have a numerical measure of the zoom level. No measure smaller than 0 would exist, because 0 would already mean the whole view. The meaning of this measure would be only this: how far, in "Up cursor" units, or Zoom Tool clicks, we are from the complete view of the file.

A specific level, say 3, would possibly represent different magnifications, depending on the total file size - but in fact I don't know (and I don't intend to reverse-engineer that) how the effect of one clck on the Zoom Tool > Zoom In Horizontally (one "cursor Up") relates to the file size.

If we had, say, three (maybe four) buttons on the toolbar, with user-defined levels (in the Edit > Preferences) of, say, 0, 4 and 9, this would allow us to quickly change the zoom level from a low magnification to a high one and back, which (for me at least) happens repeatedly when retouching a spectrogram.

For agile changes of zoom level, possibly a number of buttons on the toolbar would be more effective than iZotope RX6's sliders. WaveLab 9.5 has scrolling wheels instead of sliders. But it seems to me that buttons on the toolbar would be the most effective. Maybe, who knows, we could have both solutions, sliders and toolbar buttons.

Yes, I have noticed the handles on the edges of the "scrollbar view range indicator", as you said, which I understand is the "Waveform Overview" on the help file about the Acoustica workspace, the small file view above the main window. But there are two handles, which have to be individually adjusted, and through them it is not so easy to go to a high level of zooming, mainly when the file is large, and then go back to a smaller zoom level. I often use the handles, and also sometimes, to zoom through several levels, I mouse-click and maintain the click on the zoom buttons on the waveform/spectrogram window. But I feel it necessary to have a more agile way of zooming in and out repeatedly, and to known levels of magnification.

Thanks for the elaboration. I'm a bit concerned that it turns out counter-intuitive with such "zoom level presets". Personally, I use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out and it's very quick. I'll have to think about this. From what I understand, you're missing the ability to quickly change zoom factors between the complete overview and the zoomed in view you are working on? Maybe some kind of A/B view system would be good? Something like the A / B buttons in the processing tools, but for view ports. These two buttons could be placed on the right hand side of the overview waveform.

Please note that, in my original post, the second item is a suggestion about the position of the Zoom Tool on the toolbar.

Oh yes, I forgot to answer that. I think the placement already follows a nice logic. In the spectral view, the selection related tools come first, then zoom. For the waveform view, the non-relevant buttons are removed, but the order remains. I'm reluctant to change this now since it's spread all over the documentation and our users are accustomed to the current button order.

Best,
Stian

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian,

Many thanks for answering my questions.

You said: "Personally, I use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out and it's very quick."

Possibly, I am not a model user of Acoustica. I have some slight impairment in my hands, this is the reason why I never use the mouse scroll wheel. I operate the software mainly through mouse clicks. I use the mouse only to position the cursor at some point on the screen, and, to preserve my hands for my piano playing, to avoid even seemingly small impacts on the hands, the actual mouse clicks are executed through a programmed pedal (a foot switch). Whenever necessary, I can type in the value of some parameter through the computer keyboard, but my most common form of use of Acoustica is by means of the mouse. [This text is being written through a special software for writing, using the mouse, no use of the computer keyboard is being made, again to preserve my hands.]

You said: "From what I understand, you're missing the ability to quickly change zoom factors between the complete overview and the zoomed in view you are working on?"

Yes, this is right, I feel the need to quickly change between some wide view of the file and a zoomed in view (for actual retouching), both zoom levels known a priori.

You said: "Maybe some kind of A/B view system would be good? Something like the A / B buttons in the processing tools, but for view ports. These two buttons could be placed on the right hand side of the overview waveform."

Maybe A/B buttons could be a solution, but what level of zooming would be assigned to each button? I think that a problem to be considered is the file size. For a very small file, with relatively few zoom steps we can go from a wide view to a zoom magnification high enough for spectrogram retouching. But for a large file, many more zoom steps will likely be necessary to reach the high magnification necessary for retouching, and then back. This is why, possibly, the user will have to be allowed to decide what the two A/B levels would be. But maybe there could exist some other solution for that, I don't know.

[stian]

Hi Paulo,

Possibly, I am not a model user of Acoustica. I have some slight impairment in my hands, this is the reason why I never use the mouse scroll wheel. I operate the software mainly through mouse clicks. I use the mouse only to position the cursor at some point on the screen, and, to preserve my hands for my piano playing, to avoid even seemingly small impacts on the hands, the actual mouse clicks are executed through a programmed pedal (a foot switch). Whenever necessary, I can type in the value of some parameter through the computer keyboard, but my most common form of use of Acoustica is by means of the mouse. [This text is being written through a special software for writing, using the mouse, no use of the computer keyboard is being made, again to preserve my hands.]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that. At the time being, the quickest solution is probably Shift+A to zoom out completely and the "last view" button (arrow back button where the view port is indicated numerically below the waveform). Hopefully, we'll find a better solution in the future, then.

Maybe A/B buttons could be a solution, but what level of zooming would be assigned to each button? I think that a problem to be considered is the file size. For a very small file, with relatively few zoom steps we can go from a wide view to a zoom magnification high enough for spectrogram retouching. But for a large file, many more zoom steps will likely be necessary to reach the high magnification necessary for retouching, and then back. This is why, possibly, the user will have to be allowed to decide what the two A/B levels would be. But maybe there could exist some other solution for that, I don't know.

The idea is the ability to keep two different zoom factors and being able to switch quickly between them. The same mechanism is very convenient when adjusting processor parameters since you can quickly compare two settings. If e.g. "zoom A" would be set to the full view and "zoom B" to a ten second range initially. Acoustica would simply store the last view port length for A and B individually so that you can set them up as you like.

Best,
Stian

[Paulo-Brazil]

Mr. Stian,

This week, version 2.2.2 of the audio editor Audacity was released, with a new feature quite close to what I had suggested for Acoustica: a zoom toggle button.

From the new Audacity manual:

Zoom Toggle: Zooms between two preset levels. These can be set using Tracks preferences.

In the Audacity Preferences, for each preset level in the toggle button, the user is offered with nine options for zoom levels, starting with "Fit to Width", a view of the whole file - the other options have to do with certain time periods (as in WaveLab, please see below).

Unfortunately, there seems to be some issue with the options, which don't seem to work well. Anyway, someone in the Audacity team is thinking along the line that I had stated: there is a need for being able to alternate between zoom levels in a quick way - their solution was a zomm toggle button.

WaveLab, besides some buttons for certain levels of zooming, has an interesting drop-down menu, with options like "show 10 seconds", "show 2 seconds", "show 500 ms", "show 100 ms", etc. Whatever their choices are, they provide quick ways of changing the file view to pre-specified zoom levels.

Regards,

Paulo

[stian]

Hi Paulo,

This week, version 2.2.2 of the audio editor Audacity was released, with a new feature quite close to what I had suggested for Acoustica: a zoom toggle button.

From the new Audacity manual:

Zoom Toggle: Zooms between two preset levels. These can be set using Tracks preferences.

In the Audacity Preferences, for each preset level in the toggle button, the user is offered with nine options for zoom levels, starting with "Fit to Width", a view of the whole file - the other options have to do with certain time periods (as in WaveLab, please see below).

Unfortunately, there seems to be some issue with the options, which don't seem to work well. Anyway, someone in the Audacity team is thinking along the line that I had stated: there is a need for being able to alternate between zoom levels in a quick way - their solution was a zomm toggle button.

WaveLab, besides some buttons for certain levels of zooming, has an interesting drop-down menu, with options like "show 10 seconds", "show 2 seconds", "show 500 ms", "show 100 ms", etc. Whatever their choices are, they provide quick ways of changing the file view to pre-specified zoom levels.

Thanks for the info. That's what my suggestions with the "A" and "B" zoom level buttons were meant to address as well. I'm not too fond of the idea that users have to open a dialog box to adjust these settings. That seems way to convoluted for most users. Alternatively, we could possibly add a view all and something like a "view detailed" button with the latter being a drop-down menu buttons with some pre-defined view durations along with a "Custom..." menu entry.

Best,
Stian