New features in this release

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Revision as of 12:01, 16 April 2019 by PeterSampson (talk | contribs) (Bug Fixes: Note Track bugs fixed: 1815, 2093 & 1820)
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This page is an overview of the key new functionality that has been introduced in Audacity 2.3.1

Contents

  1. LAME is now built-in in Audacity for Windows and Mac
  2. Select button in Track Control Panel
  3. Nyquist Plug-in Installer
  4. Macros - "cleaned" folder renamed to "macro-output"
  5. mod-script-pipe available with Audacity, for Windows and Mac
  6. Preference for "Type to create a label"
  7. Bug Fixes


Coming up soon (Paul):
  • Nyquist Effects now translatable.
  • Spectrogram and Wave of same audio shown in the same track.
    • It can already be done by scriptables, for mono, but is a hacky approach.


LAME is now built-in in Audacity for Windows and Mac

The LAME library, which is needed for exporting MP3 audio files, is now built-in to Audacity on Windows and macOS as a part of the application.

With previous releases it was necessary to download and locate the LAME library as an optional extra.

If you go to Libraries preferences you will see that the option to locate the library is no longer there and the dialog tells you what version of LAME is built-in.

LAME built-in.png
LAME is not built into Audacity on Linux - you will still need to acquire an locate the optional LAME library.


Select button in Track Control Panel

There is now a Select button in the Track Control Panel.

The whole of an individual track can be selected by clicking this Select button.

Holding Ctrl (or ⌘ + A on a Mac) and clicking on the Select button toggles the selectedness of the track.

Select button in TCP.png
Tip You can still select a whole track in the previous ways if that is what you are used to:
  • Click in the neutral gray area of the Track Control Panel (this is hard when the tracks are reduced size, as in this image)
  • Double-click in the track.


Nyquist Plug-in Installer

The new Nyquist Plug-in Installer is itself a Nyquist plug-in. It simplifies the installation of other Nyquist plug-ins. It is installed by default in Audacity and can be found in the Tools Menu.

This plug-in installer provides a file browser for selecting the plug-in '.NY' file (Nyquist plug-ins are plain text files that have the filename extension '.NY'), and then copies the file to the correct location.

Accessed by: Tools > Nyquist Plug-in Installer...
Nyquist Plug-in Installer.png

Once the plug-in has been installed, in order to use it it must be enabled using the Plug-in Manager.

For details please see this page.


Macros - "cleaned" folder renamed to "macro-output"

The folder that is created by Audacity when running a Macro on files, or when an Export command is used in a Macro that is run on the current project, has been renamed to "macro-output" to give it a more meaningful name.

The created folder used to be called "cleaned" (which was a hangover from functionality that used to be in Audacity, bit was removed many versions ago).

For details please see this page.


mod-script-pipe available with Audacity for Windows and Mac

The add-on module "mod-script-pipe" provides a programming interface that allows Audacity to be controlled by an external program or from the command line. When enabled, mod-script-pipe intercepts scripting commands that are sent to it from an external program (usually Python) via a named pipe.

The experimental mod-script-pipe is now available with Audacity for Windows and Mac. You need to enable it in Modules Preferences.

It's now going to be included by default in the mac dmg and the windows installer and zip. Users 'just' need to enable it in module preferences. The testing script will probably be available on the main fosshub page too



Preference for "Type to create a label"

The default setting for the "Type to create a label" in Tracks Behaviors Preferences has been changed from "on" to "off".

When enabled "on", if there is already a label track that has the yellow focus border, you do not need to use "Add Label at Selection" or its Ctrl + B shortcut to create a new label. Just type your required label text to create a new label at the position of the editing cursor or selection region.

The change was made as some users were confused by: a) shortcuts not working when the label track has focus b) labels not being created when the label track did not have focus.

This will not affect any previous setting that you have, or have made, for this Preference unless you chose to have your preferences reset as part of an upgrade installation.


Bug Fixes

Click on the bug number for full details in the bug thread.
  • P1 2078 - Append recording into a collapsed track causes a crash
  • P2 2068 - Mac: misleading error message when importing M4A without FFmpeg installed
  • P2 2082 - Expand function after Append Record to a collapsed track fails
  • P2 2086 - Incorrect Mixer Board behaviour
  • P3 1899 - Windows: previously deleted folders are unnecessarily re-created on next Save
  • P3 2007 - Windows: Empty folder created on Import if last used import folder does not exist
  • P3 1762 - Importing keystrokes can fail to import keystrokes that are not in standard set
  • P4 2080 - Windows: Using WASAPI, after recording, playback can fail with "opening sound device error"
  • P5 2050 - Misleading LAME version error message
  • P4 2084 - Enh: Auto-select behaviour changed from previous version and not documented.
  • P4 1248 - Windows: TAB does not navigate out of mouse-created focus in sliders.
  • P4 2087 - Mixer Board gain control dialog is ridiculously over-long vertically
  • P4 2064 - Linux: ESC key does not work to abort drags in the Timeline Ruler
  • P4 1965 - Enh: Track name overlay display for all track types
  • P4 2051 - Shortcut for Edit>Clip>Boundaries>Split (Ctrl+i) should be in the Standard shortcut set
  • P5 2053 - Splitting or joining collapsed stereo tracks causes broken scroll bar behavior

Note Track bugs fixed

  • P3 1815 - NoteTrack: Hidden notes on importing MIDI
  • P4 2093 - Note Track: Vertical Zoom Reset produces max. zoom out and not a reset
  • P4 1820 - Note tracks don't save the pitch height, which may lead to hidden notes



Peter 01Apr19: Not now in 2.3.2

Equalization effect split

The former Equalization effect has now been split into two separate effects:

Details (and images?) TBP


==Additional new features== This page New features in 2.3.2 - appendix gives an overview of further new functionality that has been introduced in this release of Audacity.

Links

> Audacity Release Notes 2.3.2 - detailed release notes for this release of Audacity