Cue Points

Menu Command: Tool | Cue Points

Use Cue Points to mark and describe specific positions within audio files.

Cue points can be set by using the Cue Points tool, by right-clicking on the cue point slot in a Sound window, by using the Edit | Cue Point menu, or by pressing Ctrl+Q when playing a sound. Cue points are saved automatically only in some files types, such as Wave (*.wav), Apple (*.aiff), and Extended (*.xac) files, but they can be exported manually to a separate cue file.

Click on a column header to sort cue points by number, position, or name.

Select a cue and use the F4 key start playback at that cue. Press F8 to stop playback.

There are several ways to create a new cue point:

Use the New button on the Cue Points tool window, then enter the name and position.
Right-click on the cue points slot in the Sound window and choose New Cue, then enter the name. The position is already set based on the mouse position.
Play the file and press Ctrl+Q or use Edit | Cue Point | Drop Cue to set a cue point at the current playback position. This also works while recording.

To edit an existing cue point, do one of the following:

Select the cue point from the list in the Cue Points tool window and choose the Edit button.
Right-click on the cue point in the Sound window and choose Edit Cue.
To change a cue point's position, drag-and-drop it to the new position in the Sound window.

To delete a cue point, do one of the following:

Select the cue point from the list in the Cue Points tool window and choose the Delete button.
Right-click on the cue point in the Sound window and choose Delete Cue.

The Delete All button removes all cue points in the file. Use this button before using the Auto Cue button if you want to remove all existing cue points before automatically generating new ones.

The Copy All button copies all the cue point information to the clipboard in text format. You can then paste it into a text editor, such as the Windows Notepad accessory.

The Split File button divides the file onto smaller files using the cue points as split points. If you've recorded one side of an album and need to divide it into individual songs, for example, you would set a cue point at the start of each song, then use this feature to automatically create separate files for each song. Each file can then be written to a CD-R disc as a separate audio track using CD Recorder software.

The Auto Cue button either searches the file for areas of silence and inserts a cue point or it sets a cue point at specific intervals. This is helpful for splitting a long recording into individual songs where there is silence between each song or for dividing a file into equal size section.

Import and Export buttons are located in the lower right corner of the Cue Points tool window. The Import button reads cue points from a CD cue file. The Export button saves all cues points to a CD cue file. The name of the current sound file is used to name the cue file by default. For example, if the file you are working on is music.wav, then the cue file is music.cue. See Options | Storage for a setting to use cue files automatically.

Note that when editing or applying effects to one channel of a stereo sound, cue points may not be adjusted to account for changes in the audio. Set cue points only after using effects when possible.