I’ve been using WaveLab Elements for several years, starting with 7. I’m finding a lot to like in 9, but the changes to export really are quite odd. I hope I’m not complaining because it is different, but because these are real concerns.
In the past (7-8) when I exported a range, a dialog like save/save-as popped up. The new screen is fine. But on that screen, the default input focus is not the most frequently changed (the file name) as in the previous versions. And, using the [tab] key to switch between fields does not work (major pain, making me reach for the mouse!).
Next, the export now includes rendering, which is handy, but it was a non-intuitive change. After exporting a batch of files with clipping because I had a gain plugin inline I figured out that I needed to check “bypass master section.” That is sticky, so not too much of a pain long-term. But it took me a bit to figure out what was going on.
Most importantly, however, is the behavior on that screen if you press [return]/[enter]. In the previous versions the dialog box went away. Now the export starts but there is ZERO(!!!) visible indication that this takes place. I have to manually switch to the waveform view to see that the export has started. If I press the “start” button on the screen it switches to the waveform and behaves reasonably. This is inconsistent and confusing behavior. Make the [return] behave EXACTLY like clicking “start” for a consistent experience.
In sum, my requests are, on the export screen
default input focus to the “name” field
make tabbing between fields work
make pressing [return] and clicking “start” behave the same way (do what “start” does)
maybe have some visual cue that the plugins/sample-rate/dither are active (low priority)
Since submitting this, I’ve made a few adjustments to make my workflow better match the tool.
Instead of just adding generic markers to split my exports, I’ve changed to start/end region markers and naming those. Instead of exporting the selection, I am now exporting the regions, which auto-name the exported file based on the region name. Very nice. It would be fantastic if a single export command could get all named regions in one shot.
I’ve moved the dither out of my limit/gain plugin preset and into a preset of its own. I use that in the final export.
These changes don’t make my workflow faster or slower, just different. My fingers will have to relearn, but that won’t take long.
However, I’ve noticed another oddity.
I’ve tweaked the keyboard shortcut for markers. “m” drops a region start and “M” drops a region end. If I put the cursor in a place and press “M” then “m” it drops both markers, but usually the second marker gets put 1-5ms EARLIER than the “previous” end marker. The cursor did not move (that I can tell) between the two keystrokes. It seems very counter-intuitive for the later dropped marker to be located before the previously dropped one–especially given that they are end/start markers.
feature request:
make marker placement more predictable when using keystrokes
Most of what I do is transferring analog recordings. I have a multi-step process.
Record in WaveLab
Render declick & denoise (iZotope RX+ or Sonnox) & maybe others depending on the source
Split the large file into regions using markers.
Render limiting & gain (and historically I did dithering here)
Export (now with dither) each region
If I could do a render or “save as” and have each region come out separately, I wouldn’t need export.
