In VFEdit, the Edit Menu is what really makes the program like an audio word processor. VFEdit provides a visual display of the loudness of a sound versus time. This shows you exactly where a certain sound starts and stops. You can then use the Edit Menu to do the usual word processing stuff like Cut, Copy, and Paste, Delete, and Erase, plus some other commands specially designed for handling audio.

As an example, suppose that you are working on a new outgoing message for your voice mail system. You might want to change portions of the message from time to time, without totally re-recording it. Instead of completely starting over you can select just the noisy part, or record that itsy bitsy part that went wrong, over again, and if necessary, again and again, fine-tuning it until it sounds perfect. Having a sound file editor gives you whole new capabilities that you never had with plain old tape recorders. With VFEdit you even build up a collection of messages for different occasions.

If you are going to do something creative with sound, like putting together a radio news story, or a commercial, you can use the Edit Menu to Copy something from one sound file and Paste it into a different sound file. With an Indexed File, you can organize a scrapbook of audio segments, and then use Copy and Paste to insert them into another file.

Edit Cut removes the selected segment from the sound file you are editing, and places this segment into temporary storage. You can then Edit Paste this information back again using the Edit Paste command.

The clipboard only retains the most recently cut or copied audio segments. If you cut two objects in separate operations, the first is lost and only the second is stored for subsequent paste operations. You can perform multiple cut and copy operations by using the File Import and File Export commands. These commands allow you to specify a unique source and destination file.

When you select a "Cut" segment that extends past the end of the file, VFEdit automatically resets the segment end point to the total length of the file.

Edit Crop lets you select a portion of audio to be cropped or "isolated". Edit Crop is used to fix unwanted leading or trailing sound, either noise or those inevitable "uh's" or silences recorded while you collect our thoughts. Crop can make it sound like you have a voice-activated recording, except that everything sounds normal, without any funny noises from a tape machine starting and stopping. Edit Crop eliminates leading and trailing silence or unwanted beginning and ending sounds.

When you select a "Crop" segment that extends past the end of the file, VFEdit automatically resets the segment end point to the total length of the file.

Edit Copy places a copy of the selected segment into temporary storage, but it does not remove the segment from its original location. Unlike Edit Cut, your current audio file remains unchanged. You can then "Paste" this information using the Edit Paste command.

When you select a "Copy" segment that extends past the end of the file, VFEdit automatically resets the segment end point to the total length of the file.

The File Export menu command lets you copy audio data to another file. After selecting File Export you can select the name of the destination file.

After you have either "Copied" or "Cut" a sound segment into the temporary file, you can then Edit Paste that same sound segment into another place in the same file, or into a different file. Just select the new insertion point with the mouse, and select Edit Paste.

Edit Paste is useful for moving or copying audio segments from one spot to another. Select the segment, "Copy" or "Cut" it to the clipboard, scroll to the insertion point, and paste it in.

The triangular "At Position" specifies the position in the current file at which to insert the new audio data. When you select a "Paste" point past the end of the file, VFEdit automatically extend the file with silence if the Options Environment setting "Auto-extend file with silence" is turned on.

Note that Edit Paste is not available (i.e., shown in gray) until you execute at least one Edit Cut or Edit Copy command.

The File Import menu command lets you paste audio data from another file. After selecting File Import you can select the name of the file from which to retrieve sound.

Edit Delete actually removes the selected audio segment, and squeezes the empty space out-something that you could never do with magnetic tape-while Edit Erase overwrites the entire segment with silence, mimicking the normal magnetic tape recorder. Erase is better for when you really want to be able to re-record that sound or word. It saves a place for it.

The Edit Erase menu command lets you select a portion of the current file to be erased, or "silenced".

Edit Erase is useful for extending the length of a file in preparation for additional editing or enhancement. When you select an Edit Erase segment that extends past the end of the current edit file, VFEdit automatically extends the file to the specified length. When you select an Edit Erase segment that begins and ends beyond the end of the current edit file, VFEdit automatically extends the file to the specified length and back fills the file with additional silence.

Edit Trim Silence looks at the selected sound segment and squeezes out the quiet sections from the beginning and end, automatically, without accidentally erasing the last syllable of the good words.

Edit Insert Silence inserts a sound segment of silence. Use this command when you want something to sound more normal, or you want to add gaps to make it more understandable, or you want to add dramatic effect.

Edit Select All selects or highlights the whole sound file for editing. This is just a quicker way of doing it-a handy shortcut. Edit Select All is especially useful if you need to perform operations on your entire work area.

Edit Select Extents lets you select a specified audio segment. VFEdit displays a dialog box that lets you specify the beginning and ending portion of the file (in seconds) that you wish to edit. Time may be specified to 1/100^th of a second accuracy.

VFEdit remembers the condition of your audio file just before your last change. If you try something and it doesn't do what you expected, you can still return to the way it was before your changes. Feel free to use this often. VFEdit stores a series of fallback positions for you, so that you can go back and forth through multiple levels of Undo and ReDo. Since VFEdit stores an exact copy of the original data, the Undo and ReDo reproduce the file precisely. Note that the actual text displayed for "last action" will vary according to the previously requested command.

The Edit Configure menu lets you change edit parameters. After selecting Edit Configure, you will be presented with a dialog box that enables you to adjust these values for specific needs. The default settings should be appropriate for most editing tasks.