Talk:Quick Help

This is the "Getting Started" guide for Audacity.

Learn how to:
 * play an existing audio file
 * record your voice, LP or tape
 * edit sounds
 * save or open an Audacity project
 * export to an MP3 or other audio file
 * burn to a CD

This screen can be viewed at any time by clicking Audacity's Help menu, then Quick Help (in web browser).

For a detailed guide to all the Audacity menus and controls, click Audacity's Help menu then Manual (in web browser).

-- Ed 25 November 2009 Below is my first attempt at combining all the pages. Bill 26Nov09: I think this is a good idea. Clicking through all those pages was a pain, and with all of them combined on one page it's not too long.

Quick Help To Get You Started
'''Here are a few very important concepts for the new Audacity user to become familiar with. This page is not designed to teach you everything you need to know about a presented topic, just enough information to help eliminate the more common frustrations of the new user. Sections include links to more in-depth information but the reader is encouraged to read all of this page before exploring the manual further.'''

What is an Audacity Project?
Audacity projects consist of two part which must always remain together: a document (MyProject.aup) and an associated data folder (MyProject_data) full of hundreds or thousands of audio files. The AUP file is a roadmap of your project - it is not an audio file and cannot be played in a media player such as iTunes. The files in the _data folder are private to Audacity. Although they contain audio, they are not compatible with media players. The three rules for keeping your Audacity Project happy: Never rename the .aup file or the _data folder.  If you want to rename your project (for example, to save a snapshot at a particular point), use the File > Save Project As command. Always keep the .aup file and the _data folder together in the same directory (folder). If you import an audio file with the "Read uncompressed file directly from the original (faster)" option checked in Import / Export Preferences, never move, rename or delete that file, unless you first copy it into the Audacity project. See File > Check Dependencies for more information.

Save versus Export
When you save an Audacity project you are doing just that - saving an AUP file and its associated _data folder. Nothing you have created at this point can be played in a media player such as iTunes, uploaded to the web for others to hear or burned to an audio CD.

In order to hear the result of your work outside of Audacity you need to export your project. When you export your project Audacity creates a file that contains exactly what you hear when you play your project. Other audio editing software may call this "Bounce to Disc" or "Mix to Disc".

The format you need will depend on how you plan to use the audio. For an MP3 player you will want MP3 format. For burning to a CD you will want WAV format. See the File Export Dialog page for a complete list of the formats supported by Audacity.

Dealing with Audio CDs
Audacity cannot burn audio CDs directly, nor can it read files directly from an Audio CD. See FAQs for more information.

Opening audio files
You can drag the files into the current project window, click File > Import > Audio or drag and drop an audio file's icon on the Audacity program icon. Files can be opened into a new or empty project window with File > Open . The main formats Audacity plays are AIFF, AU, FLAC, M4A (only on a Mac), MP2/MP3, OGG Vorbis and WAV. Click here if your file is in some other format. -- Ed 25 November 2009 the above "formats" information needs to be verified -- I suspect it is stale.

Importing a CD
First, extract the tracks to WAV or AIFF using iTunes, Windows Media Player 11 or other appropriate program, then open them as described above. See the online guide: importing CDs.

Playing audio
After stopping, playback resumes from its last starting point. To change the starting point, click in the track at your desired starting point.
 * Press the [[image:Play.png|image of Play button]] Play button to start playback.
 * Press the [[image:Pause.png|image of Pause button]] Pause button once to pause playback, and again to resume.
 * Press the [[image:Stop.png|image of Stop button]] Stop button to stop playback.
 * The Spacebar can be used to play or stop as appropriate.
 * The [[image:Rewind.png|image of Skip to Start button]] Skip to Start and [[image:FFwd.png|image of Skip to End button]] Skip to End buttons can be used to skip to the start or end of the track respectively.

Recording
First set the recording device and input source, adjust the input level: Next press the Record button. Press the Stop button to stop recording.
 * 1)  Set Recording Device either in the Devices tab of Preferences or in Device Toolbar. Device Preferences lets you choose stereo recording if required.
 * 2)  Set input source for that device (for example, microphone or line-in) in the dropdown selector of the Mixer Toolbar, or (on some systems) at Recording in the Devices tab of Preferences or in Device Toolbar.
 * 3)  Adjust input level using the right-hand slider on the Mixer Toolbar. Correct adjustment of level before recording is essential to avoid noise or distortion.

For more help see the Your First Recording Tutorial manual page, our  Wiki Recording Tips and Troubleshooting Recordings pages.

Editing
The main commands for editing audio are under the Edit menu (such as cut, copy and paste) and the Effect menu (you can do things like boost the bass, change pitch or tempo, and remove noise).

Audacity applies edits to selected areas of the audio track. To select a specific area, click in the track and drag the shaded area with the mouse. If no audio is selected, Audacity selects all the audio in the project window.

When playing or recording the Edit and Effect menus will appear grayed out, because a moving track can't be edited. Commands can sometimes be unavailable for other reasons too. For example, you can't run effects until you have audio on the screen, and you can't paste audio until you've cut or copied it to Audacity's clipboard.

Saving
To return later to your unfinished work in Audacity with all tracks and edits as you left them, save an Audacity project. To play your current work in other media programs or send it to others, export an audio file such as WAV or MP3.

File > Save Project saves an AUP project file and a *_data folder (where the asterisk is replaced by the name of the project) containing the actual audio. To re-open a saved project, click File > Open and open the AUP file. If you save and exit more than once, a *.aup.bak backup file is created, but the *.aup file should always be opened if present. When your final exported file is exactly as you want, you may delete the project and backup files and the _data folder to save disc space.

File > Save Project As... is for saving a project which has never before been saved. It also lets you save an existing Project with a different name. This is the only safe way to rename a project. The AUP file and its _data folder should not be moved nor renamed manually.

Exporting
To play your work in other media programs export it to an audio file such as WAV or MP3 (some formats are unsupported). Saving an Audacity project creates a project file (and linked _data folder) containing all your edited tracks, so you can return to your work later; however, other programs can't read Audacity projects.

To export, click File > Export then choose the file format you want to export to in the "Save as type" drop-down. To burn a CD for standalone CD players, choose WAV or AIFF. To export as MP3, the Lame Encoder must be installed.

File > Export Selection exports only a selected area of audio.

Use File > Export Multiple to export multiple files at the same time, either one for each audio track, or one for each labeled area in a single track. Tracks > Add Label At Selection lets you split the tracks from an album for multiple export as separate files.

Burning a CD
To burn your work to an audio CD for standalone CD players, first export it as WAV or AIFF. The exported file should be stereo, 44100 Hz (set in the "Project Rate" tool at the bottom left of the project window) and 16 bit (set via the "Options" button in the file export dialog). These are Audacity's default settings, so normally you will not need to change these before exporting.

Burn the exported file to an "audio CD" - not a "data CD" or "MP3 CD" - with a CD burning program like iTunes or Windows Media Player. For more help, see How to burn CDs.