Adjusting gain for a specific selection

[delore]

I'm testing Waveform 13.5 ATM for podcast editing. So far I really like it, but there's one thing I find frustratingly slow. When editing breaths to be a little lower, I want to simply make a selection and lower the db by about 6. In software like FCP, it's super easy and intuitive. You make a range selection and lower the volume bar. It automatically creates fades also at the start and end). In Waveform, it appears I either split the clip, or add volume automation. The volume automation makes sense to me but it's really slow... adding points, then adjusting volume. Is there something I am missing? Is there an easier way? Thanks very much.

[talby]

To my knowledge you found the ready to use options, which Waveform has to offer in this regard. Beyond this, Waveform offers to write code snippets in JavaScript yourself, which you could then call by a keyboard shortcut. If you would go this way, then the script would do something like:
keyboard shortcut triggered it, then it reads out which is the currently by the mouse selected range of time, split this, lower gain, glue it again. There is a pinned thread at the top of this forum where working macros are shared. If you are lucky then it is already in there.
Good luck!

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EDIT: This was bad advice, please apologize. I found time to test it and found that it is actually about as easy as you know it from your other software!

The volume automation makes sense to me but it's really slow... adding points, then adjusting volume. Is there something I am missing? Is there an easier way?

There is an easier way: you seem to have missed to see that the points are already in place: having with activated volume automation selected a region will already have placed the relevant volume handling points, and they are visible in a set of 3 points at the top and also at the bottom of the drawing of the selected part of the waveform; just move the horizontal line connecting such set of 3 points like a volume slider up or down; so, just draw your selection and adjust the volume for that region right in place, and then go on to select a next region and adjust it there; no further mouse clicks required, just select and adjust, exactly as you described to know it from your other software;

(in a separate post, see below, I provide some screenshots)

[talby]

In software like FCP, it's super easy and intuitive.

What does FCP reffer to? What is this?

[whyterabbyt]

In software like FCP, it's super easy and intuitive.

What does FCP reffer to? What is this?

Final Cut Pro, I'd assume. (its video editing software by Apple, if you havent heard of it.)

[delore]

Thanks very much for that - I'll give it a go. With volume automation, one thing I find strange is that it automatically makes my mono channel view as stereo. I can't find a way to revert back to viewing as mono with one automation line. Thought it would be a track appearance setting but there's no mention of it there.

And sorry - yes, 'FCP' is Final Cut pro. Whilst obviously a video editor, it seems more intuitive for podcast editing than either Waveform, Audition, Logic or Reaper that I have tried so far... but I'm persevering I like Waveform the most - certainly a nicer UI than Logic.

[pough]

Thanks very much for that - I'll give it a go. With volume automation, one thing I find strange is that it automatically makes my mono channel view as stereo. I can't find a way to revert back to viewing as mono with one automation line. Thought it would be a track appearance setting but there's no mention of it there.

Can you tell us what specifically you're looking at that you expect to view as mono and what you mean by that? I don't know if you're talking about some information regarding the track itself, the audio clip(s) displayed on the track lane, the plugin(s) on the track, the rendered file or...?

I'm guessing that Waveform tracks don't work the way you're thinking they do. They don't have those kinds of constraints. Every track is inherently stereo. You can put mono audio clips and stereo audio clips on the same track. (You can even put MIDI clips with audio clips, too.) The mono audio will just be center-panned, if I'm not mistaken. When you render, you can choose to save as a mono or stereo audio file.

There are a couple of built-in plugins that might be of help: Mono Switch and Patch Bay.

We can probably provide more help if we know a bit more about your process and what you need to do. I would assume that you just use a mono audio file, do your edits, then render out to a mono audio file and things will be fine, but I don't know.

[talby]

Note that I edited my first answer like this:

(...)

EDIT: This was bad advice, please apologize. I found time to test it and found that it is actually about as easy as you know it from your other software!

The volume automation makes sense to me but it's really slow... adding points, then adjusting volume. Is there something I am missing? Is there an easier way?

There is an easier way: you seem to have missed to see that the points are already in place: having with activated volume automation selected a region will already have placed the relevant volume handling points, and they are visible in a set of 3 points at the top and also at the bottom of the drawing of the selected part of the waveform; just move the horizontal line connecting such set of 3 points like a volume slider up or down; so, just draw your selection and adjust the volume for that region right in place, and then go on to select a next region and adjust it there; no further mouse clicks required, just select and adjust, exactly as you described to know it from your other software;

Screenshot_20250723_000326.png

Having placed the audio clip editor used for clip automation in front of the usual track view for track automation. In the track view it can be activated at the bottom right the button with the "wave" icon for a graphical zoom of the waveform, which is only for the eye to see things better but not itself changing anything for the audio. Right-click it to adjust the zoom factor.

"Show automation curves on this track", and then depending on what more you have activated you will see the one or the other view:

Screenshot_20250722_230349.png

Screenshot_20250722_230444.png

[delore]

Thank you @talby! Sorry for the late reply - been away for work. I really appreciate the detailed response! You've massively helped me understand Waveform. I can see how you've done the volume control - still way slower than FCP - but it's way more detailed and controllable. I'll do a screen record from FCP tomorrow to show you my usual workflow. I've attached screengrabs here to show what I mean about the waveform display after I add any automation. I understand what you are saying but would prefer top only see a mono waveform so I can easily see 'breaths' etc.

1.png

2.png

[talby]

If it is stereo, then it will graphically be shown as 2 channels. If you do not want or need it in stereo anyway, then you could first convert it to mono, of course.
Just to be sure, you are not adding classically a clip Fx to your clip, right? That would be as cumbersome to work with in your use-case as you initially described it. The comfortable option which I referred to would be to use of the Automation function as it was recently largely improved and extended with the release of WF13.5.
https://github.com/Tracktion/waveform_m ... automation
At least for me, on Linux, I found that it works to simply click the "A" button and in its menu right away select the first option: "Show automation curves on this track". It shows a first automation line spanning over the track which I found by default already having been connected to the Volume parameter. Just after this click on "A" followed by "Show automation curves on this track", I can immediately start drawing my selections and immediately slide up or down the center handle having appeared automatically for this selected region. I wouldn't know how it could be easier and faster.
Don't forget to have the "AutoLock" activated when working with the track automation!
I haven't tested how all this behaves for cutting out (ripple delete) sections of the clip, if, as long as AutoLock is activated also ripple deletes the automation section there. But that's a different question. The very fast Volume adjustments work well with track automation.

[delore]

Ah right! Got it. Works perfectly when clicking the A. Much appreciated. I'll spend some time learning now before I post silly questions again I really appreciate it because I didn't want to spend hours and hours before realising I couldn't get an appropriate workflow going. You've given the confidence to push ahead. Very grateful for your time. Thanks.

[talby]

Still,.., do some tests, for instance, how does it work when several clip are on the track, what will happen when moving the one or the other clip around, what happens when shifting a part or ripple deleting a part of a clip, ... how will the automation curve be treated in this cases, will parts of it be moved or ripple deleted, or will it only move around when there is only a single clip on the track, etc. ...?

This automation feature, as it is now, was released only recently, and I haven't tested all these details by now for myself! I am by now only aware that having the AutoLock active is important to keep the automation curve on the track in sync with the movement of one clip. I still need to test for myself how more sophisticated scenarios and action on them will be handled.
Besides the track automation, there is also such automation available for a clip, called for obvious reason clip automation. In the manual is a chapter about how to use both of them to more detail. I would assume that after learning to use the clip automation correctly, it will also be straight forward to use. Using clip automation instead of track automation will then avoid all headaches about what will happen if, ... see concerns about this having been commented on above. By now I saw one slight disadvantage in it: I didn't find the zoom icon with the "wave" drawn on it for the visualization in the MIDI/AUDIO editor - and zooming functions in this editor do currently not work for me on Linux, about which I will send a bug report to Tracktion.

Please drop later on a note about how you finally decided to make up your workflow. I am curious to hear what works best for others!
Meawhile, GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN!

[dysjoint]

Much appreciated. I'll spend some time learning now before I post silly questions again

They're not silly questions. Sometimes these posts are quite useful for discovering little things in Waveform that weren't immediately obvious.