I’ve noticed something unexpected when working with marker types that come in pairs, like correction markers (but I think this applies broadly to all paired types). I think that the problem I’m having is inevitable for some workflows, and thus I have a suggestion for improving the way markers work.
The issue is that, if I delete one marker in a pair, Wavelab deletes a second marker automatically and without asking. That would be great if it chose the right one. But it doesn’t always choose the correct marker to delete, and that results in chaos.
I had assumed that markers were paired internally, because they are made in pars and the length information does not change if a marker is inserted within a pair, but that’s not so. Here’s an example:
Except for marker #4, these were all created by highlighting audio and clicking Insert > and then the paired markers icon. Marker #4 was a solo insert of just the opening marker. Note that Pair Four overlaps part of Pair 3 and that the length of the Pair 2 region is the during between marker #3 and 5. Also, note that changing marker #4 to an end marker does not alter the 1s 308ms length show for marker #3.
If I were to delete the solo marker #4, I expect that it and only it would disappear, since it’s not tied to any other marker. That’s not what happens. Instead, it and the next closing marker, which happens to belong to Pair 2, are both removed, leaving Pair 2 with an opening marker only and no length):
That’s not what I was hoping for. I just wanted to remove that single opening marker.
I can already hear the explanation that Wavelab expects these markers to be paired, but the same thing happens if regions overlap: pulling out the opening marker for Pair 4 removes the closing marker for Pair 3 (because they overlap) instead of the closing marker of Pair 4.
The same sort of thing happens when removing closing markers, too. Here’s what happens when removing closing marker for Pair 3:
I think you can see how this turns into chaos when working with lots of marked regions, especially if the markers go down in approximate locations and then get adjusted later, or if audio is moved around, cross faded, etc.
I also think that this is hard to notice because most people don’t name marker pairs like this, and they all look alike. Also the pop-up window to delete or change the marker type can obscure the name and time information, so it’s harder to see what’s actually happening when deleting a marker.
I guess my suggestion is that markers that are generated in pairs should remain paired, and those generated individually should be treated that way, unless they are created individually as part of a pair. I can see how this wouldn’t always work or be obvious to the program. Perhaps it would be enough that, when highlighting a single marker of a type that comes in pairs, if it has a matching marker, it would be highlighted in some way to show that any action would affect both markers?
I hope that’s helpful?
(Also, if you are trying to clean up an odd # markers without removing two at a time, you can change the marker to a type that has no closing marker or that has no closing marker in the file, and then delete it. That will remove just the single marker.)
