1 <?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
3 <!DOCTYPE section PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
7 <section id="sn-other-windows">
8 <title>Other Windows</title>
10 This page summarises various windows you will find in your travels
11 through Ardour that aren't available from the
12 <guimenuitem>windows</guimenuitem> menu in the editor. They aren't
13 available because they are specific to a particular object, like a mixer
14 strip, and are launched from the object itself.
17 <section id="input-output-connections-editor">
18 <title>Input/Output Connections Editor</title>
20 Selecting <guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> from the input drop-down
21 menu on a mixer strip will open this window, as will selecting
22 <guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> from the output button. The
23 Input/Output connections editor is one of the strangest interfaces
24 known to man. After a small amount of use, however, you will find it
25 quite natural to use. Because these two windows are identical except
26 for 'input' being transposed with 'output', we will cover the Input
27 Connections Editor here and leave it up to your imaginative self to
28 work out what it all means in the output window.
32 When the window opens, you will be see that it is divided into two
33 main areas marked <guilabel>Inputs</guilabel> and <guilabel>Available
34 Connections</guilabel> . A third area contains buttons marked
35 <guibutton>rescan</guibutton>, <guibutton>OK</guibutton> and
36 <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>.
40 The <guilabel>Inputs</guilabel> area has two buttons marked
41 <guibutton>add input</guibutton> and <guibutton>clear
42 connections</guibutton>. The <guibutton>add input</guibutton> button
43 adds an audio stream to the mixer strip.
47 In other words, if you currently have a two input channel, pressing
48 <guibutton>add input</guibutton> will make it a three input channel.
49 If you subsequently record on the corresponding track, each region
50 will comprise of three channels of audio taken from the inputs you
51 have set in the area below.
55 Pressing <guibutton>clear connections</guibutton> will remove all
56 connections you have assigned in the area below.
60 Speaking of "the area below", if you've used a template to create your
61 new session with, the input fields will aready be filled in with
62 default values that are determined by the number of channels your
63 hardware supports. It should be noted that by default, inputs are
64 initially set to hardware ports, as presumably you will be recording
65 from a hardware device initially. This doesn't indicate a preference
66 on Ardour's part, as software inputs are just as valid to Ardour as
71 Anyway, in "the area below", notice that one input (probably labelled
72 <literal>in 1</literal>) is a lighter colour than the other. If you
73 only have one input at the moment, press <guibutton>add
74 input</guibutton> just to see the difference. You can remove an input
75 by holding the control key while right-clicking on the input name.
79 The lighter coloured input is the one that will be added to when an
80 output in the <guilabel>Available connections</guilabel> area is
81 clicked. If the wrong input is highlighted, you can highlight the
82 correct one by left-clicking the text of the input name you desire.
86 Note that you can "mux" as many inputs together as you like when doing
87 this, they just pile up on top of the last one. Be warned, though,
88 that they are all summed at unity gain. You can reach some fairly
89 astonishing levels by doing this a lot.
93 If you click an output from the <guilabel>Available
94 connections</guilabel> area, the connection is added to that input's
95 list, the connection is made active, and the next input is made a
96 lighter colour, indicating that it is ready to accept your selection.
97 This makes it a simple matter to assign many connections rapidly. The
98 transport does not have to be stopped to change inputs or outputs (or
99 anything, really) in Ardour.
103 Removing assignments is achieved by left-clicking the relevant output
104 in the <guilabel>inputs</guilabel> area. As with most objects in
105 Ardour, you can also remove an assignment by holding the shift key
106 while right-clicking it.
110 The Available connections area lists all available connections, sorted
111 into tabs which represent their associated hardware or software ports.
112 The front tab is always <literal>alsa_pcm</literal>. this represents
113 the physical ports on your computer. It should contain as many ports
114 as hour hardware has inputs.
118 The next tab is Ardour. This tab lists all the connections that Ardour
119 has available, including inserts and sends. If you have some other
120 Jack aware programs running, they will be given tabs in this area
121 which will correspond to their Jack output ports.
125 The <guibutton>rescan</guibutton> button searches for any new
126 available outputs. It may be necessary to use it if you have started a
127 Jack application after you open the window.
131 The <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> button closes the window
132 <emphasis>XXX what really happens?</emphasis> , as does the
133 <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button.
137 <section id="ladspa-plugin-window">
138 <title>The LADSPA Plugin Window</title>
140 This window opens when you double-left-click or control right-click a
141 plugin on a mixer strip. It allows you to adjust, store and automate
142 the controls presented by any LADSPA plugin. Because LADSPA plugins do
143 not contain graphical interface information, this window adapts itself
144 to suit the various controls presented by the plugin. The advantage of
145 this system is that each plugin appears consistently within Ardour.
146 The disadvantage is that with a few plugins, the controls seem to be
147 laid out in a haphazard fashion. This is not usually the case,
152 Each plugin window will have a <guibutton>bypass</guibutton> switch in
153 the top left. Whenever you add a plugin, it's initial state will be
154 bypass. The button will be red and appear depressed. To activate the
155 plugin, press the <guibutton>bypass</guibutton> button. you should
156 immediately hear the plugin inserted in the signal path. All plugins
157 that report their latency are automatically time compensated
162 To the left of the bypass switch you will see the name of the plugin,
163 the author and the number of inputs and outputs that the plugin makes
164 use of. To the right will be a text entry area, a list selector and a
165 <guibutton>Save</guibutton> button. To save a combination of settings,
166 press the <guibutton>Save</guibutton> button. A window will appear
167 asking for the name of the preset. Enter a name, press
168 <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, and your new preset will appear on the list
173 To restore a saved preset, select it from the list. The settings
174 should immediately be restored as you release the mouse button.
178 The rest of the window consists of sliders and buttons which represent
179 the various controls available for the plugin. To move a slider, left
180 click it and slide the mouse horizontally over the range of the
181 control. You can see the numeric value and the bar change as you move
182 the mouse. You can also press the control key while moving for finer
187 Next to each control is an automation mode button. The default state
188 is <guimenuitem>off</guimenuitem>. To write automation information,
189 press the button and select <guimenuitem>write</guimenuitem> from the
190 drop-down list. After engaging the transport, movement of the control
191 will be recorded for playback when the <guimenuitem>play</guimenuitem>
192 automation mode is selected. <guimenuitem>Touch</guimenuitem> mode
193 automatically switches from <guimenuitem>play</guimenuitem> to
194 <guimenuitem>write</guimenuitem> as the control is first selected with
195 the mouse button and released, respectively. The automation data is
196 accessible from the editor window, along with the other automation
201 <section id="export-window">
202 <title>The Export Window</title>
204 The export window appears when either <guimenuitem>export session to
205 audiofile</guimenuitem> or <guimenuitem>export range to
206 audiofile</guimenuitem> have been selected from the session menu. This
207 window enables an audio file to be rendered from either the master bus
208 or individual tracks in freewheel mode. A large range of audio file
209 formats are supported, as is the ability to export a CUE or TOC file
210 representing any CD index or track markers you may have in the
211 session. Bit depth reduction can be performed with three types of
212 dither, or no dither.
216 <section id="crossfade-editor-window">
217 <title>The Crossfade Editor Window</title>
219 The crossfade editor will appear whenever you select <menuchoice>
220 <guimenu>crossfade</guimenu> <guisubmenu>edit</guisubmenu>
221 </menuchoice> from any active or inactive crossfade in the editor
222 window. This window allows you to customise the default crossfade that
223 is automatically applied when two regions overlap. Provision is made
224 for auditioning different elements of the crossfade, or the crossfade
229 <section id="locations-window">
230 <title>the Locations Window</title>
232 The locations window provides a means to locate to and define points
233 and ranges in your session. Points and ranges may also be 'promoted'
234 to be CD Index or CD Track markers, respectively. Once promoted, they
235 may be exported to a standard T.O.C. or CUE file along with the
236 exported audio using the export window. The locations window will
237 appear when <menuchoice> <guimenu>windows</guimenu>
238 <guisubmenu>locations</guisubmenu> </menuchoice> is selected from the
243 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
244 href="Some_Subsection.xml" />