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diff --git a/manual/xml/working_with_playlists.xml b/manual/xml/working_with_playlists.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..f9710cca98 --- /dev/null +++ b/manual/xml/working_with_playlists.xml @@ -0,0 +1,226 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?> + +<!DOCTYPE section PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [ + +]> + +<section id="sn-working-with-playlists"> + <title>Working with Playlists</title> + <para> + As described earlier <link linkend="gt-playlist">playlists</link> are one of + the central objects in a digital audio workstation. A playlist is a list of + <link linkend="gt-region">regions</link> ordered in time. It defines which + parts of which source files should be played and when. + </para> + + <para> + Each track in Ardour is really just a mechanism for taking a playlist and + generating the audio stream that it represents. As a result, editing a track + really means modifying its playlist in some way. Since a playlist is a list + of regions, most of the modifications involve manipulating regions: their + position, length and so forth. This is covered in + <xref linkend="sn-working-with-regions"/>. Here, we cover some of the things + you can do with playlists as objects in their own right. + </para> + + <section id="tracks-are-not-playlists"> + <title> Tracks are not Playlists </title> + <para> + It is important to understand that a track is <emphasis>not</emphasis> a + playlist. A track is a mechanism for generating the audio stream + represented by the playlist and passing it through a signal processing + pathway. At any point in time, a track has a single playlist associated + with it. When the track is used to record, that playlist will have one or + more new regions added to it. When the track is used for playback, the + contents of the playlist will be heard. Old tape operators will feel + comfortable thinking of the playlist as the tape, and the track as the tape + machine. + </para> + + <para> + However, you can change the playlist associated with a track at (almost) + any time, and even share playlists between tracks. There is more on this + <link linkend="playlist-operations">below</link>. + </para> + </section> + + <section id="playlists-are-cheap"> + <title> Playlists are cheap </title> + <para> + One thing you should be clear about is that playlists are cheap. They don't + cost anything in terms of CPU consumption, and they have very minimal + efforts on memory use. Don't be afraid of generating new playlists whenever + you want to. They are not equivalent to tracks, which require extra CPU + time and significant memory space, or audio files, which use disk space, or + to plugins that require extra CPU time. If a playlist is not in use, it + occupies a small amount of memory, and nothing more. + </para> + </section> + + <section id="playlists-as-takes"> + <title> Playlists as "Takes" or "Virtual Tracks" </title> + <para> + If you have a background in audio engineering, then it might be easiest for + you to think of playlists as "takes". This isn't a particularly useful + analogy by itself, and it can be misleading. But if you are working with + music where most tracks feature single-pass recordings of a single + instrument, then the idea of using one playlist per "take" can make life + very convenient. Each time you need to record another take, create a new + playlist list first. You will then end up with a simple way of switching + back and forth between each version, or even listening to several at the + same time. + </para> + + <para> + If you have some experience of other DAWs, then you might have come across + the term "virtual track", normally defined as a track that isn't actually + playing or doing anything, but can be mapped/assigned to a "real track". + This concept is functionally identical to Ardour's playlists. We just like + to be little more clear about what is actually happening rather than mixing + old and new terminology ("virtual" and "track") into confusing terminology. + </para> + </section> + + <section id="playlist-operations"> + <title> Playlist Operations </title> + <para> + At this point, all operations on playlists start by clicking on the + playlist button (labelled <guibutton>p</guibutton>) in the control area of a track in the + editor. Clicking the button will popup a menu with the following choices: + </para> + + <variablelist> + <title></title> + <varlistentry> + <term><guilabel>Current</guilabel></term> + <listitem> + <para> + shows the name of the current playlist used by this track + </para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term><guilabel>Rename</guilabel></term> + <listitem> + <para> + pops up a dialog that allows the current playlist to be renamed + </para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term><guilabel>New</guilabel></term> + <listitem> + <para> + creates a new <emphasis>empty</emphasis> playlist, and switches this + track to use it + </para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term><guilabel>New Copy</guilabel></term> + <listitem> + <para> + creates a new playlist that is a copy of the current playlist, and + switches this track to use it + </para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term><guilabel>Clear Current</guilabel></term> + <listitem> + <para> + removes all regions from the current playlist + </para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term><guilabel>Select</guilabel></term> + <listitem> + <para> + pops up a playlist browser to manually choose which playlist this track + should use + </para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + </variablelist> + + <section id="renaming-playlists"> + <title>Renaming Playlists</title> + <para> + Playlists are created with the name of the track of which they are + associated, plus a version number. So, the first playlist for a track + called "Cowbell" will be called "Cowbell.1". This name will be used to + define the names of any regions added to the playlist by recording. You + can change the name at any time, to anything you want. Ardour does not + require that your playlist names are all unique, but it will make your + life easier if they are. Suggested examples of user-assigned names for a + playlist might include "Lead Guitar, 2nd take", "vocals (quiet)", and + "downbeat cuica". Notice how these might be different from the associated + track names, which for these examples might be "Lead Guitar", "Vocals" and + "Cuica". The playlist name provides more information because it is about a + specific version of the material that may (or may not) end up in the final + version of the track. + </para> + + <para> + If you are going to rename your playlists, do so before recording new + material to them. + </para> + </section> + + <section id="selecting-playlists"> + <title>Selecting Playlists</title> + <para> + If you click on the "Select" choice of the playlist button menu, a dialog + will appear that displays all playlists in a tree-structure (many will be + hidden). Playlists will be grouped by the track for which they were + created, with all those created for the current track displayed. Other + tracks are hidden in a collapsed tree that can be expanded as you wish to + find other playlists. + </para> + </section> + + <section id="sharing-playlists"> + <title>Sharing Playlists</title> + <para> + It is entirely possible to share playlists between tracks. The only + slightly unusual thing you may notice when sharing is that edits to the + playlist made in one track will magically appear in the other. If you + think about this for a moment, its an obvious consequence of sharing. + </para> + + <para> + You might not want this kind of behaviour, even though you still want two + tracks to use the same (or substantially the same) playlist. To accomplish + this, select the chosen playlist in the second track, and then use + <guilabel>New Copy</guilabel> to generate an independent copy of it for + that track. You can then edit this playlist without affecting the + original. + </para> + </section> + + <section id="using-playlists-for-takes"> + <title>Using playlists for takes</title> + <para> + You have several choices here. You can obviously record new takes directly + over an existing one, because of the non-destructive nature of digital + audio editing. You can also use the <guilabel>Clear Current</guilabel> + operation each time you want to start a new take. This is a + non-destructive operation that removes all existing regions from the + current playlist. Although you won't lose any information doing this, its + probably not appropriate unless the last take was so awful that you want + to discard it (although without the finality of <emphasis>Remove Last + Capture</emphasis> ). Finally, and probably most useful, you can use the + <guilabel>New</guilabel> operation in the playlist button menu to create a + new empty playlist, ready for the next take. Later, you can + <guilabel>Select</guilabel> your way back to previous or later takes as + desired, either in this or some other track. + </para> + </section> + </section> +</section> |