Zoom Waveform

[pwoehl]

+1. Ableton is the only DAW I use that doesn’t have this!

[rdan76]

+1 Yes, I would like Ableton Live to have this feature. Live does have the ability to "vertically expand" any track (alt+scrollwheel), but that's not quite the same thing. Every other DAW I've ever used has had the ability to not only vertically expand a track, but also to vertically "magnify" the waveform within that track -- as if you're increasing its amplitude, but without actually increasing its amplitude. As others here have mentioned, that "vertical magnification" makes it much easier to find zero-points, among other things. Anytime I'm slicing a track up into phrases, for creating samples or for comping, I always prefer to see where my zero-points are. It's just harder to do this in Live without the ability to vertically magnify a waveform. Expanding a track gets me there, sort of, but at the expense of screen real-estate. If I could magnify a waveform without expanding the track containing it, I could still see all my tracks onscreen, as I can with other DAWs.

Live is a really, really great virtual-instrument host. I would "like" for it to be a fully-functional DAW, and it seems that Ableton would "like" for me to consider Live to be a fully-functional DAW. But man, every time I try to do a complete project in Live, I just run up against one little thing after another that makes the process un-necessarily difficult. Live has a lot of neat tricks (the Racks system is amazing), but it's just missing SO MANY of what I'd call the "bare essentials" that I take for granted in the other DAWs that I use. This feature is one of them.

[Bobbito147]

Wow, new user here. Its unbelievable, you cant do this.

Comment on this thread:
"I never understand why this and scroll wheel value editing are not implemented.
For dialogue editing I find this vital. Only people who have not had this, think it's not important.
It enables you to see audio on multiple tracks even if it's recorded at a low volume. It's also great for tuning fade outs and looking for clicks."

Its sad somebody has to explain this. For such an amazing program its unbelievable. Are we in the Twilight Zone here?

[Bobbito147]

+1 Yes, I would like Ableton Live to have this feature. Live does have the ability to "vertically expand" any track (alt+scrollwheel),..

This is not enough expansion to really see waveforms that are at a low level.

[Bobbito147]

When you question things in Live, you need to first ask yourself how it would affect live performance which is still the program's main focus. In this case, it might be more important for the performer to know the relative volume of something before they start playing it, and not make a mistake because the waveform is zoomed. I'd be shocked if they ever implemented it for the reason just stated.

You can simply put a really noticeable indicator on the track to indicate that the waveform is zoomed vertically.

Furthermore I can't really see a live performer using the waveform in arrangement view to determine the levels of his tracks.

[jonljacobi]

I can imagine it, as I sometimes do it. Albeit, not live. But I'd hardly consider it a catastrophe if Ableton implemented this. As long as it's out of the way. There's enough visual detritus as it is.

Much of my concern about all this feature bloat would go away if Ableton allowed greater customization.

[Hotz]

+1

[jonljacobi]

When you question things in Live, you need to first ask yourself how it would affect live performance which is still the program's main focus. In this case, it might be more important for the performer to know the relative volume of something before they start playing it, and not make a mistake because the waveform is zoomed. I'd be shocked if they ever implemented it for the reason just stated.

You can simply put a really noticeable indicator on the track to indicate that the waveform is zoomed vertically.

Furthermore I can't really see a live performer using the waveform in arrangement view to determine the levels of his tracks.

Fair enough. But I can imagine it. And those little indicators and icons add up to visual soup quickly. Note that I'm not dead set against this as long as there's a quick way to return everything back to normal zoom.

[Nicky G.dj]

I think it's a very simple thing for you to do.

I'm already using this feature! I mapped the zoom up and down to my mouse wheel and it works great. Now I have the same zoom on the waveform that I have in the audition and it's fast and very productive.

[melnikalex0]

+1 please implement this

[Nicky G.dj]

I think it's a very simple thing for you to do. I'm already using this feature!
I mapped the zoom up and down to my mouse wheel and it works great.
Now I have the same zoom on the waveform that I have in the Adobe Audition CC and it's fast and very productive.