Macros

Gale 13Feb13: ToDo-2 Although clearly this is much better than before, equally clearly there are still debates about the manner of presentation of this landing page and how much complexity it should have. So it is hardly finished.

Peter 14Feb13:Implemented Strawman-4 - does this consolidated version flow better and avoid repetition? Previous version of this page (yesterday's) is archived in the Talk page to archive earlier discussions.

• Steve 13Feb13 via email: Looks pretty good to me.
• Ed 13Feb13 : I really like this! Again, I would point out that this is a good place for non-standard images - add more chains and shrink down the window to its bare minimum.
  • I am not sure about non-standard images on this page (meaning whatever the final version of this is). Wouldn't non-standard images be better on the split pages? Or are we still trying to make this page a tutorial?
• Gale 14Feb13: Thanks, Peter. Perhaps it is your best yet, but I still don't like it very much. The intro has become a sea of text again, and the sections give the same impression. You cannot see by skim read what the workflow is, and the direct comparison with mine (Apply Chain) shows that yours has twice the text, repeats itself, and doesn't highlight what matters (you have to close the project first if you are applying to files). We mention trivia that doesn't belong here like going up and down on the keyboard in Apply Chain, but say nothing about having to set export parameters outside the Chain.

  So I suppose I've still got to see if I can produce something "better", or tweak this, or accept everyone else likes this. It's not bad, I just think it should include the GOTCHAS that people trip over, and could be so much easier to follow (yes, like a workflow). If they are not good, why do we have them?

• Peter 14Feb13: What I have been trying to create with this page is the documentation of a compound command that just happens to be implemented as two commands and not a tutorial (curiously I think it would be easier to document if it were a single consolidated command), just as we document every other command in Audacity - and on those command documentation pages we explain how the command works but do not offer tutorial exposition of "how to do stuff". If this page were a tutorial it should be living in the Tutorials section on the Front Page rather than where it is now. And as I stated yesterday I am coming round to agreeing with Steve in that I think there may may well be room for a more detailed step-by-step tutorial on the usage of Chains (but my level of knowledge/experience of this stuff is probably not up to that.
  • Regarding Ed's request for trimmed images - I do not agree with that proposal, sorry Ed. The reason is precisely because imo this page is "command documentation" and not "tutorial" material as discussed above.
  • Regarding the intro - this is hardly a "sea of text" - it just explains what a chain is, what it contains and what it is used for, the basics. We have plenty of intros in the manual which are as long as this and some even longer.
  • There is a case, I think, for linking to this page from the File Menu page, where File Menu now drills down into the Edit Chains and the Apply Chain page, rather than locating this in the "Help with Advanced Topics" section.
    • Gale: I am unsure about that. The more basic users will be looking for batch processing and will find that from the front page, but not from the H2's in File Menu.
      • Peter 15Feb13: A fair point Gale, I agree.
  • Quite happy for you to continue to tweak this page Gale, or produce something "better" (I've run out of fresh ideas) - but I would caution against over-complicating the page with too many GOTCHAS and hand-holding explanations. The GOTCHAS probably belong in Edit Chains and Apply Chain - and workflow probably belongs in a tutorial (if we decide to write one) - and yes I do think workflows are useful, that's why I wrote them for LP/tape xfr, xfr to iPod and helped Koz edit his overdub workflows. Accordingly I have left your P2 as a marker for "room for improvement".
  • Gale 14Feb13: I got more involved in this because you suggested I should "greenlight" it (which I have) but as such I can only say what I feel about it. I am not suggesting it should be a tutorial as such (and I want to reduce the length rather than increase it) but I don't see the need to obfuscate what should be steps (or at least pointers) with lines of unbroken text. In that regard, this page is worse than what we had before.

    I think we agree this is a landing page, with enough provided here so that a savvy user can use the feature without going to Edit Chains and Apply Chain. Those pages (not this) are the command documentation for this feature, surely? My beef with this version is that we have made a potted version of the documentation pages which is too like those pages and which makes it hard to see the essential steps you need to take. I suspect a tutorial will be hard to make given the sheer quantity of actions in the Edit Chains dialogue. If so that is all the more reason for making this page more step-like.

    Generally I don't like the half-page-long intros with seas of text that you do. On a page like this that should be short, I think the intro should be short.

    Do I assume you don't want Ed's modified images on the documentation pages either? The problem I see is that at the very least, the Apply Chain image is nonsensical with one item in the list, coupled with text that describes how to navigate the list.

  • Peter 15Feb13: implemented Ed's suggested revision to the intro - and as Gale suggested added an H2 "How to use Chains"
• Peter 15Feb13: regarding the images what I don't want from Ed's suggestion is trimmed images of the dialog boxes, I would prefer the user to see the whole dialog. The other isssue is whether or not to show the default dialog image. Connie has a rule on this which is "default". Apart from here there are other places that would benefit from non-default images (I can remember times when I've thought "hmm different settings would be useful here" but stayed my hand because of Connie). One of the reasons for preferring defaults is that it is the easiest way of documenting the defaults (although I note from recent forum postings thst our readers don't realize this) this relates to the problem that Koz has raised in the past that there is no visual cue in the Effects, Generators and Analyzers to show what the default settings are nor is there a reset button to revert to defaults (both of which I would welcome). With particular regard to these three pages I am reasonably relaxed about showing more Chains in the list to make it look more realistic - but I do worry that we will get forum posts and [email protected] postings saying "where are all these extra Chains, I've only got the MP3 one". So if we do do this we will ned to clearly point out that thay are not default images and point out what the user should expect by way of default.
• Peter 15Feb13: Ok Gale I've a stab today at making the content of this page more steplike to avoid the "lines of unbroken text" that you don't like. Do you prefer it like this?
• Peter 15Feb13: Gale wrote "My beef with this version is that we have made a potted version ..." the problem is that Edit Chains and Apply Chain don't really make sense on their own, you can't really have one without the other, so you need a page like this to tie them together. And we agreed, I think, that the precursor to this page "Batch Processing" was too brief and uninformative/unhelpful in that task, hence the work we have done on this page.

A Chain is a sequence of preconfigured commands in a set order (mainly effects) that can be applied automatically to projects or audio files. Any built-in or Nyquist effect shown in the Effect Menu and export commands can be added to a Chain.

How to use Chains

There are two related Chain commands in the File Menu called Edit Chains and Apply Chain. Look first at Edit Chains to determine if an existing Chain (Audacity only ships with one) will suit your needs or to create a new chain. Next, use Apply Chain to perform the action on your selected audio.

The two uses of Chains are for:

• Batch processing (where many audio files are processed unattended with one or more effects then saved to a new file)
• Effects automation (where the track or tracks in the current project are subjected to the same prescribed sequence of effects, and optionally, a file exported).

See the examples below.

Edit Chains

Use File > Edit Chains... if you need to create a new Chain or to edit an existing Chain.

• The Chain can include a number of common Audacity functions and effects to be executed in any order you specify.
• To create an audio file as part of the Chain process you must include an "Export" command (such as ExportWAV).
• In many cases the parameters for each command in the Chain can be specified within the Edit Chains dialog.

The left hand box in the dialog (labeled Chains) contains a list of already defined Chains. You can:

• Use left-click (or use the Up or Down arrow on the keyboard) to select the Chain you want to work on.
• Use the Add button to created a new Chain.
• Delete a Chain with the Remove button.
• Rename an existing Chain with the Rname button.

You cannot rename or delete the one chain that is provided as default MP3 Conversion, the buttons are grayed out for that Chain.

The right hand box (labeled Chain) lists the ordered sequence of commands for the Chain selected in the "Chains" box on the left. You can:

• Add or remove commands for the selected Chain
• Change the order in which the commands execute in the Chain
• Edit the parameters for some effects in the Chain

For further details see the Edit Chains page.

Apply Chain

Use File > Apply Chain... to select one of the existing chains and apply it to either:

• The project in the current window (this is essentially a method of effects automation)
  

or

• A selected list of external audio files in a single directory (this is essentially an unattended batch processing of many individual items)

The dialog contains the list of all your current chains.

• Use left-click (or use the Up or Down arrow on the keyboard) to select the Chain you want to apply.
• Then use the Apply to Current Project button for effects automation.
• Or use the Apply to Files button to apply the selected chain to a set of files which you select for batch processing.
  • The current Audacity Project window must be empty to use the Apply to Files option.

Ed 15Feb13: I am still unhappy about the above bulleted list; it is an either/or chain with a note and just does not look right as a single bulleted list which implies a rigid set of steps which must be followed completely and in order. How about something more like this (although I realize this sentence is a bit unwieldy):

The dialog contains the list of all your current chains. You may either left-click (or use the Up or Down arrow on the keyboard) to select the Chain you want to apply then use the Apply to Current Project button for effects automation or use the Apply to Files button to apply the selected chain to a set of files which you select for batch processing.

The current Audacity Project window must be empty to use the Apply to Files option.

Gale 16Feb13: I still prefer my more concise version of this section which avoids repetition. And I prefer to tell user to save and close (which is what the Audacity message box says) not just say "must be empty".

Use File > Apply Chain... to select one of the existing chains then either:

• choose Apply to Current Project to run the Chain on the entire project in the current window or
• choose Apply to Files to run the Chain on selected external audio files in a single directory

Accessed by: File > Apply Chain...

If you already have audio in the current project window, you must save and close that project using File > Close before applying a Chain to files.

Ed 16Feb13: Gale's version works for me with a few tiny exceptions.

1. I feel the first sentence is too concise; I believe that since this is a headed section the first sentence should go a little more toward "tell them what we are going to tell them". A judicious melding of my first sentence and his seems in order.
2. Since the picture has no referent and is really only there for its artistic merit it should go below the advice div.
3. I still believe that this is the place for a nonstandard set of pictures and offer two (see my post on Forum Crew) just as food for thought. The current Edit Chains image is just too wide; careful photoshopping can tighten up the spacing between the buttons; this is also a chance to add non-shipped chains. Note that I have intentionally chosen a non-standard color scheme as a visual clue that these are nonstandard images; we would also make a note of this in the text; I would propose an addition to Connie making this (or something similar) the consistent method for visually contrasting nonstandard images.

For more details see the Apply Chain page.

Examples:

• A batch processing Chain might use Compressor to reduce the dynamic range of multiple WAV files (also normalizing them to maximum amplitude of 0 dB), then convert them to MP3 format.

  

• An effects automation Chain for the current project might run:
  1. Normalize with settings of:
     • Remove any DC offset
     • -10 dB (to allow for boosting frequencies later in the Chain without clipping)
  2. Noise Removal
  3. Equalization (to perform the frequency adjustment)
  4. Normalize again at different settings (without offset removal, setting a final amplitude of -1 dB).