About Audio/Waveforms
The sound visualization window displays a waveform, or a bitmap representation of the audio track for a given piece of video. We have found that this visual represenation can be extremely useful for precise navigation within a video, which simplifies the process of inserting time codes accurately.

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Creating a Waveform
When you first load a video from your computer in the Adding a Episode you will see the following prompt

Click Yes. Transana automatically creates a waveform of the video.

A waveform is a visual representation of the intensity of the video's sound. Once generated, Transana stores the waveform in a file. Every time you view the video, Transana displays the waveform in the Visualization window. The image below shows the Transana screen with the sample video in the Video window and the waveform in the Visualization window.

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Using the Waveform
Using the sound visualization window to work with the waveform is an easy method to manipulate the positioning of the video. The following explains what you can do with the waveform.

• Clicking on the visualization window will position the video.
• Right-clicking the visualization window causes the video to play or pause, starting from the selected position.
• Dragging with your mouse will select a segment of video that becomes the active segment.
• Checking the status bar will provide precise information about the position of the video with the media cursor.

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Zooming
You can zoom in and out on the waveform using the zoom buttons with the magnifying glass icons in the lower left-hand corner of the visualization window. To zoom in,

1. Highlight the portion of the waveform you would like to examine more closely
2. Press the zoom icon.
3. To zoom out, (if you zoom in several levels in this way) press the zoom icon to back you out in the same stages you zoomed in. You can also press the "100%" marker at any time to return the WaveForm to its original size.

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Creating multiple Waveforms
The Batch Waveform Generator utility allows you to create waveforms of many files based on a single selection process. Follow these steps below.

1. Select Batch Waveform Generator from the Tools Menu
2. At the prompt, select the video and audio files one at a time that you want Transan to make waveforms for. Select as many as you want.
3. Click the "OK" button.

While you cannot use Transana while the Batch Waveform Generator is running, you can use your computer for other programs.

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Enhansing Quality of Waveforms using Waveform Quick-load
If the Waveform drawings you are getting don't look very good, you can turn off Waveform Quick-load. This will cause Transana to rebuild the graphic portion of the Waveform each time a new waveform is called for rather than using a saved waveform diagram.

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