![]() |
Manual
vs. Automatic
|
Manual vs. Automatic measurements
Manual
(mouse clicking) acoustic analysis of natural sounds can easily take a lot of
time. In addition, measurements require the categorization of continuous
change in amplitude (call duration, number of pulses, number of harmonics).
The decision rules that one uses for determining start and end points should
be objective, consistent and explicitly published, but that is rarely the case.
Automatic measurement can be very fast
and objective, with explicit measurement algorithms and parameters. There
is usually a risk, however, of an unexpected acoustic situation causing the
automated system to proceed in an inadequate way and produce distorted results.
Sound Ruler tries to bring you the best of both
options with interactive analysis. The program shows you graphically
the results of each procedure, and you decide to accept, skip or adjust each
measurement. This way, you keep most of the speed and objectivity
of an automatic analysis, but you can detect and eliminate unexpected
situations that your algorithms cannot process appropriately. You can use an
iterative process to decide on the algorithms and parameters that are best suited
for analyzing your sounds. You do that before the analysis, without saving results.
Once you are satisfied with the parameters, do the analysis without changing
them.
Sound Ruler can be used to analyze a same signal
at various levels of automation and complexity. It is the responsibility
of the user to decide on the most appropriate methods for each analysis.