In WL6 and earlier there was a Waveform Display preference called “Favour Speed”. Due to the elevated levels found in contemporary mastering, this option was our default setting.
WL8 seems to only offer the “accurate, peak detection” display mode. This makes navigating clips very difficult because the waveform looks like a solid brick. Is this option buried somewhere? If not, can it be reinstated?
Hi WYCA …
Is this discussion what you are referring to?
This old display mode had a major problem: it was ignoring certain peaks (it was called “fast”, because it did not do a rigorous sample scan; but in fact the new system is as fast). This resulted in a less “block-like display” for overviews, as all peaks are considered. But more far from “truth”. You can’t miss a peak, eg. a click, with the newer system.
I am ready to consider new display waveform modes, but not to come back to the old one.
Hi PG. Thanks for your consideration.
At our studio, we never used FAVOUR SPEED for the purposes of quicker overview generation. It seemed to us that either method was equally as fast. The reason we used FAVOUR SPEED was because, ironically, this inaccurate method displayed a more accurate depiction of the audio’s structure! 99% of the time we remained in the FAVOUR SPEED mode. We understood perfectly that the overview was inaccurate. In practice, this was never a problem. If we did need to find a click or glitch, we would temporarily changed to “Accurate” mode.
So, for 15 years, the fact that FAVOUR SPEED was ignoring certain peaks was no issue. Besides, there is an army of other metering in WL to indicate peaks and overs. More important is the daily editing duties which requires constant identification of music sections. In a glance our engineers could tell exactly where a verse started or the middle eight ended, outros, etc… But now, with the WL8 brick, we are flying blind.
Whatever it takes to have the FAVOUR SPEED overview styling back: Yes PLEASE.
I like the current display mode and really don’t see the need to change it. Of course I do a lot of restoration with WL so being able to see clicks and other “small problems” is very good for what I do.
FWIW
Just to be clear, I am not advocating that the current display mode be replaced. I would just like an alternate display mode added (restored) as in WL6 and earlier.
I agree that WL8’s display mode is fine for audio which is recorded at sensible levels (classical, acoustic music, etc.). But modern commercial album levels are not sensible. If you were working in our world, you would agree with our 15 staff engineers: FAVOUR SPEED resulted in a more intuitive overview; visually mapping the structure and apparent level of the audio better. This facilitates more efficient editing, song/section identification, etc…
I would welcome a new alternate waveform display mode that can somehow make a file with a loud average level look like something other than a big blob.
I never had WL6 so I can’t imagine the old way.
Ha! A fellow traveler. I agree and in fact … FWIW … I no longer bother to have the overview display.