Faster Voiceover Audio Editing Workflow Trick – Tuesday Tech Tip

“V” Versus Command-V (and sometimes “Y”)

I’ve written before about the importance of using Keyboard Equivalents. It simply takes too long to reach for the mouse and then navigate menus to utilize key tools. Basic steps such as Cut, Copy, or Paste should require no conscious effort. If you find yourself using a menu option repeatedly, it’s helpful to learn or create the keyboard shortcut. A small change created a much faster audio editing workflow.

Twisted Wave’s Special Paste

I use Twisted Wave’s “Special Paste” function a lot when editing long form work. It’s a brilliant tool which allows me to have a long chunk of room tone in my clipboard but paste only what I need into a selected area. Unlike standard Paste, it “fills” the selected target area rather than replacing it and changing the timing. The keyboard shortcut is Command-Y. It seemed efficient. But changing it made me edit audio faster.

A trick for faster audio editing

While that seems quick, when editing eLearning projects I repeatedly shift between regular Paste (Command-V) and Special Paste (Command -Y). I do this frequently and in succession. Each time I made that little extra stretch on the keyboard to tap “Y” instead of “V” while pressing Command, it felt like it was knocking me off my task in both directions. Small inefficiencies compound over time to create large impediments. I felt like I could achieve a faster audio editing workflow.

Using Twisted Wave’s “Edit Keyboard Shortcuts” tool, I changed Special Paste to “V” (no option/command/control – just the “V” key). Of course my fingers rebelled at first, but soon began to behave. By the time I was halfway through the next edit, it had become second nature and made me smile each time I used it. It immediately felt quicker.

The results? Noticeable. I gained more than 15% time savings against similar sections already edited that day (granted, the Special Paste/Paste task is a main part of my editing workflow, so for me there’s significant impact in this specific change). Not having to shift back and forth between the two hand positions provided significant benefit. 

The Takeaway: Workflow refinement pays big dividends

The Takeaway:
Any time you regularly shift between two tasks, there’s an opportunity to find efficiency. Just shortening that reach kept my fingers in place, speeding up more than just the single step I changed. This reduced my total audio editing time significantly.

Further Resources:

In depth article for setting up faster editing and workflows – Tuning Twisted Wave (and others) with Keyboard Equivalents –
https://justaskjimvo.studio/tuning-twisted-wave-and-other-keyboard-equivalents/
Helpful Time Tracking app – Toggl free cross-platform timer
https://toggl.com/feature-list/

Audio Editing Workflows Workshop – via Zoom

I offer a specific editing workflow workshop via Zoom. This 2-hour live workshop will provide you with a clean plan for efficient editing and an understanding of actionable approaches to speed up your audio editing workflows. More information here.

Each week, I send a “Tuesday Tech Tip” to my email community. It includes technical tricks I’ve come across, refinements for voiceover workflow, and insights gained as a working voice actor and VO technical audio consultant. If you would like to receive these as soon as they come out, please take a moment to sign up here.