Editing audio files with Audacity is as easy as it gets

The great deal of software related to multimedia files gives you more possibilities to perform the most varied activities. Most of us know how to play audio files or even rip music CDs, but certainly not everyone know how edit either voice recordings or audio tracks.

This task can be extremely rewarding if we find the right application that enables us to easily manipulate audio tracks. All of these can be found in Audacity, an application that contains hundreds of useful features for audio editing and recording. Audacity supports several digital audio formats with support for 24 bit and 32 bit sample formats as well as 16 bit. Next, we will provide a small tour covering basic features and options.

Once we launch Audacity, we can see the toolbar on the upper side of the screen, the toolbar shows the control options, measurement, mixing and editing. The center of the screen is empty since this is where we are going to edit the projects. To start using Audacity, Click on “file > open” and choose a file to start editing it. After the program has successfully loaded the file, it will display the sound pattern which will be used to editing.

With Audacity you can cut, copy, paste, crop, mix files together, adjust sampling rate and bit depth, and so much more. Use great sound effects like echo, EQ, chorus, flange, reverse, and more. Covering Audacity basic functions, there is a small player for playing, rewinding and fast-forwarding tracks. We can also start a new project and use the record function. Right next to it, there are six options together, control tools to work with the mouse over the tracks. Among them we find: selection, surround (to vary the volume), image, zoom and multitool (to use several of these simultaneously).

To the left of the screen there is a bar to measure audio input and output. If we continue analyzing, we will find other basic functions such as cutting, copying and pasting. In this way, we can cut off, move and copy pieces of tracks. To the left there is a series of functions to undo or redo operations, as well as new buttons to use zoom. Above these two functions we see the volume control.

To mix two files, just import both of them into Audacity. They will appear in separate tracks, and will be mixed together when you press the Play button. You can use the Time Shift tool to move them around so that they start at different times, or use the other editing commands to alter either of the tracks.

With Audacity, you can also remove the vocals from a recording to make a Karaoke track. This is possible only for certain stereo tracks. When the vocals are exactly the same on both stereo channels, you can remove them by “subtracting” one channel from the other. This works for many studio recordings, where the vocal track is mixed exactly in the center. To do this in Audacity: First, import your stereo file into Audacity. Open the track menu (click the arrow next to the track title), and choose “Split Stereo Track.”. Now, select the lower track (the right channel) by clicking it in the area around the mute/solo buttons. Next, Choose “Invert” from the Effects menu and finally using the track menus, change each track to “Mono.”

You can combine two files into one longer file. Import both files into Audacity. To do so, select the second one by clicking on its label (the area around the mute/solo buttons). Now, Choose “Find Zero Crossings” from the Edit menu and choose “Cut” from the Edit menu. Next, place the cursor by clicking in the first track, after the end of the audio and finally choose “Paste” from the Edit menu.

Those were some of the features and functions included in Audacity. Now, it´s up to you to discover other advanced features that will allow you to experience a new level of in-depth audio editing.

The organization has a special role as a main tool for those who want to work with multimedia contents. Audio edition software’s have been improved and simplified so that anyone can use them. Audacity is a good example of it.

Audacity

Internet gives us the possibility of accessing lots of software, between them stand out the ones that works with audio file. This way, there are no longer common software’s that only play songs, but those that enable the songs edition. These are very useful for example when trimming part of a song in order to set it as a ringtone in a mobile phone, or to cut and paste tracks for a presentation.

Classic software useful to edit audio is Audacity, a simple application that features all the basic functions of a sound editor like cutting, pasting, copying, undoing, etc. In addition to this, it offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies all its functions, since their components are functional organized so that users feel comfortable and able to manipulate the files easily.

At the top of Audacity we found the commands of the player with all the standard buttons that allow forward an audio track, rewind and stilling it. We can also locate the input and output volume, the reproduction speed, etc. In the middle of the window is where we will be able to edit the audio track we choose, and at the bottom we found the frequency and the position of the audio.

In addition to these audio edition operations, Audacity also offers some extra functions so that we can enhance the tracks we are working with. For example, the software has a series of sound effects that we can add to any edition work. We can also import parts of the audio easily, choosing the output format to use them later in different devices.

The main disadvantage that Audacity has is that in order to edit using all its functions, it is necessary to have an advanced knowledge. For those who do not have it, it would be very useful that it offers a special tutorial or manual where the most difficult functions were explained, so that any user can take advantage of it. Another point to discuss is related to audio edition functions that are not enable, though is possible to solve this problem by downloading the respective plug-inn.

Despite its disadvantages, we must say that this software is very complete. Audacity combines the standard functions of an editor that can be manage by any user easily, with other advance options that in case you can take advantage of them, can be very useful when editing audio files.

Feel like trying new ways to enhance your digital images but image editing and photo retouching software like Photoshop is too complex for you? Do photos from your trips look dark? PhotoFiltre Studio provides the tools for all sorts of photographic retouching jobs. It’s the ideal application for experimenting with digital photos, easily and without issues.

Photofiltre

PhotoFiltre Studio adds the “Auto select layer” and “Display layer number” options to the Preferences menu. Together with the rest of the tools and features included in the program, such additions help make this application comparable to the very biggest names in the world of digital imaging. PhotoFiltre Studio features Red Eye correction which can be enabled with the Retouch Tool by selecting the part of the picture to soften. Red Eye removal is very easy to use.

Of course, it has all the traditional basic editing tools, such as: rotation and cropping, lighting changes, text or frames – and everything is clearly displayed in the tool bar at the top of the interface. With PhotoMasque you can create advanced effects of contour and transparency on your imagesby using preset masks.

These masks are greyscale images, where white is the transparency colour, while opacity increases as the shades of gray become darker. Black means complete opacity. PhotoMasque comes with several basic masks to inspire you to create your own masks.

It also features a tool bar on the right-hand side of the screen, where you can choose the range of colours, clone a portion of the photo, work with different geometric shapes, and use various different tools like the spray can, magic wand, etc. PhotoFiltre Studio uses two types of vectorial selections. The first type uses automatic shapes (rectangle, ellipse, triangle, rhombus, rounded rectangle). The second type corresponds to the lasso and polygon. They both allow a customized form by drawing a shape by hand or using a series of lines. Every selection can be saved into a separate file, to be used later on.

PhotoFiltre Studio features the more than 100 filters to discover and experience, arranged in various categories, are: artistic, visual, deformation, mosaic, puzzle, texture and blur-effect filters. PhotoFiltre Studio also offers the possibility to handle all of Photoshop’s 8BF-type filters.

Other highlights of the program include: the ability to process several images simultaneously, import images from a TWAIN device, and work with the majority of photographic image formats (BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, Targa, PNG, RLE).

Though PhotoFiltre Studio is only in English, we can find many downloadable translations from the program´s website.

PhotoFiltre Studio  is available in English and also has translations in several other languages, available from the developer’s web site. This versatile, well-laid out program is free of charge for private or educational use, so there’s no excuse not to give it a try right away. If you´re inexperienced in the field of image editing and photo retouch, PhotoFiltre Studio is the perfect alternative to start practice.

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If you want to have fun creating new images or retouch those favourite photos that mean so much to you, to a professional standard, you should take a look at GIMP. If you´re tired of complex image editing and photo retouching such as Photoshop, The Gimp is the perfect alternative for beginners and professionals alike.

The Gimp

The Gimp is an excellent application – used by graphic designers, photographers, and generally anyone who works with images – lets you carry out all sorts of tasks with graphics: manipulate them, retouch them, and even create multimedia presentations with them. Although it has less plug-ins and features compared to the market leading graphics editor, Photoshop, this new version of The The Gimp can be enhanced with more than 100 plug-ins. It also has support for working on an “unlimited” number of images simultaneously, it has a built-in database for calling internal The Gimp functions from other, external applications, and it comes with advanced scripting capabilities.

The Gimp also features Script-Fu, the first The Gimp scripting extension.Extensions are separate processes that communicate with the The Gimp in the same way that plug-ins do. The distinction is that extensions don’t require an active image to operate on, instead extending The Gimp ’s functionality.

Its interface is divided into modules, which are arranged into blocks of features (channels and paths; tool options menu; etc.). If you can get used to this system handling the program can be an extremely dynamic and practical experience. But if you can’t, you may have problems. Among the tools on offer are ones to rotate images, change their size (and resample), crop, and make mirror effects, as well as convert the images between different formats (BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, PNG, PS, TIF, TGA and XPM).

Each task requires a different environment and The Gimp allows you to customize the view and behavior the way you like it. Starting from the widget theme, allowing you to change colors, widget spacing and icon sizes to custom tool sets in the toolbox. The interface is modulated into so called docks, allowing you to stack them into tabs or keep them open in their own window.

Among The Gimp features, you have the possibility of making your jpegs smaller without changing the pixel width of the images; you can actually change the weight of the image a lot. Let’s say you turned your brand new digital camera to get a vertical shot, now some of your images are on their sides, but fortunately you can rotate them quickly and easily. You can also use layers and masks, as in most professional design programs.

The file format support ranges from the common likes of JPEG (JFIF), GIF, PNG, TIFF to special use formats such as the multi-resolution and multi-color-depth Windows icon files. The architecture allows extending GIMP’s format capabilities with a plug-in.

In their own words, The Gimp is the answer to the current lack of free (or at least reasonably priced) image manipulation software for GNU/Linux and UNIX in general.

The The Gimp is open-source and free software, and is without a doubt a great choice when it comes to editing images for the web or for personal use, thanks to its ease-of-use and handy features. You’ll soon find yourself getting to grips with it. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.

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The best music deserves to be treated with respect, and what better way than to use VirtualDJ, the professional-standard DJ program that lets us make the best music mixes imaginable. Become a professional DJ now!

VirtualDj

It’s easy to see that this is a fantastic tool, right from the start: load whatever music tracks you want directly from files on your computer.

Using the menu that appears on the left of the screen, browse to the files on the computer that you want to listen to. Simply by selecting the folder that you want and dragging the music tracks into the program window, they’re loaded into the central screen, from where you can choose which of them to mix.

With its two highly-sensitive mouse-controlled decks, VirtualDJ gives the impression of being in front of a real music mixing deck and makes you feel like an authentic DJ. And for those who already are professional DJs, VirtualDJ is the perfect tool, largely thanks to its BeatLock system. The automatic seamless loop engine and the brand new synchronised sampler will let you perform astounding remixes live, with no preparation at all. The vinyl controls will let you scratch like on a real turntable, except that with the beatlock engine your scratches will never end out of the beat.

VirtualDJ is really impressive – it can mix not just MP3 files but also those in the ACC, WMA, AVI and MPEG formats, among others.
One very nice touch is the ability to instantly view, for both decks, the structure of the songs and therefore avoid any nasty surprises caused by gaps or empty sections in the middle of the tracks. Added to this is the pre-listening tool, which lets you listen ahead in the track being played in order to be ready for anything that’s coming.

This isn’t just a program for mixing different sounds; VirtualDJ also gives you the chance to record the resulting creations to CD or broadcast them over the Internet, even allowing you to create an internet radio station from which to transmit your sounds. These are just some of the most noteworthy features included in the new version of VirtualDJ, but it also lets you work with music videos, too.

Add also several interfaces to suit everybody from the beginner to the professional DJ, the possibility to record your mixes to burn them on CDs, to broadcast on the Internet and have your own radio station, to save your CDs directly in MP3, to use a headphone to preview the songs or an external mixtable to perform in a club.

Of course, the program also allows users to customize the interface with different skins, helping you to really feel at home whilst you work.

With this program you’ll be ready to provide the music for a family event, a clubbing event, or alternatively to start up your own radio station – VirtualDJ makes the whole process fun, offering variety and, of course, quality results. This is the definitive choice for mixing different tunes, helping you to achieve a first class performance every time.

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