1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
|
<?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-other-windows">
<title>Other Windows</title>
<para>
This page summarises various windows you will find in your travels through
Ardour that aren't available from the <guimenuitem>windows</guimenuitem>
menu in the editor. They aren't available because they are specific to a
particular object, like a mixer strip, and are launched from the object
itself.
</para>
<section id="input-output-connections-editor">
<title>Input/Output Connections Editor</title>
<para>
Selecting <guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> from the input drop-down menu on
a mixer strip will open this window, as will selecting
<guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> from the output button. The Input/Output
connections editor is one of the strangest interfaces known to man. After a
small amount of use, however, you will find it quite natural to use.
Because these two windows are identical except for 'input' being transposed
with 'output', we will cover the Input Connections Editor here and leave it
up to your imaginative self to work out what it all means in the output
window.
</para>
<para>
When the window opens, you will be see that it is divided into two main
areas marked <guilabel>Inputs</guilabel> and <guilabel>Available
Connections</guilabel> . A third area contains buttons marked
<guibutton>rescan</guibutton>, <guibutton>OK</guibutton> and
<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>.
</para>
<para>
The <guilabel>Inputs</guilabel> area has two buttons marked <guibutton>add
input</guibutton> and <guibutton>clear connections</guibutton>. The
<guibutton>add input</guibutton> button adds an audio stream to the mixer
strip.
</para>
<para>
In other words, if you currently have a two input channel, pressing
<guibutton>add input</guibutton> will make it a three input channel. If you
subsequently record on the corresponding track, each region will comprise
of three channels of audio taken from the inputs you have set in the area
below.
</para>
<para>
Pressing <guibutton>clear connections</guibutton> will remove all
connections you have assigned in the area below.
</para>
<para>
Speaking of "the area below", if you've used a template to create your new
session with, the input fields will aready be filled in with default values
that are determined by the number of channels your hardware supports. It
should be noted that by default, inputs are initially set to hardware
ports, as presumably you will be recording from a hardware device
initially. This doesn't indicate a preference on Ardour's part, as software
inputs are just as valid to Ardour as hardware ones.
</para>
<para>
Anyway, in "the area below", notice that one input (probably labelled
<literal>in 1</literal>) is a lighter colour than the other. If you only
have one input at the moment, press <guibutton>add input</guibutton> just
to see the difference. You can remove an input by holding the control key
while right-clicking on the input name.
</para>
<para>
The lighter coloured input is the one that will be added to when an output
in the <guilabel>Available connections</guilabel> area is clicked. If the
wrong input is highlighted, you can highlight the correct one by
left-clicking the text of the input name you desire.
</para>
<para>
Note that you can "mux" as many inputs together as you like when doing
this, they just pile up on top of the last one. Be warned, though, that
they are all summed at unity gain. You can reach some fairly astonishing
levels by doing this a lot.
</para>
<para>
If you click an output from the <guilabel>Available connections</guilabel>
area, the connection is added to that input's list, the connection is made
active, and the next input is made a lighter colour, indicating that it is
ready to accept your selection. This makes it a simple matter to assign
many connections rapidly. The transport does not have to be stopped to
change inputs or outputs (or anything, really) in Ardour.
</para>
<para>
Removing assignments is achieved by left-clicking the relevant output in
the <guilabel>inputs</guilabel> area. As with most objects in Ardour, you
can also remove an assignment by holding the shift key while right-clicking
it.
</para>
<para>
The Available connections area lists all available connections, sorted into
tabs which represent their associated hardware or software ports. The front
tab is always <literal>alsa_pcm</literal>. this represents the physical
ports on your computer. It should contain as many ports as hour hardware
has inputs.
</para>
<para>
The next tab is Ardour. This tab lists all the connections that Ardour has
available, including inserts and sends. If you have some other Jack aware
programs running, they will be given tabs in this area which will
correspond to their Jack output ports.
</para>
<para>
The <guibutton>rescan</guibutton> button searches for any new available
outputs. It may be necessary to use it if you have started a Jack
application after you open the window.
</para>
<para>
The <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> button closes the window <emphasis>XXX
what really happens?</emphasis> , as does the <guibutton>OK</guibutton>
button.
</para>
</section>
<section id="ladspa-plugin-window">
<title>The LADSPA Plugin Window</title>
<para>
This window opens when you double-left-click or control right-click a
plugin on a mixer strip. It allows you to adjust, store and automate the
controls presented by any LADSPA plugin. Because LADSPA plugins do not
contain graphical interface information, this window adapts itself to suit
the various controls presented by the plugin. The advantage of this system
is that each plugin appears consistently within Ardour. The disadvantage is
that with a few plugins, the controls seem to be laid out in a haphazard
fashion. This is not usually the case, however.
</para>
<para>
Each plugin window will have a <guibutton>bypass</guibutton> switch in the
top left. Whenever you add a plugin, it's initial state will be bypass. The
button will be red and appear depressed. To activate the plugin, press the
<guibutton>bypass</guibutton> button. you should immediately hear the
plugin inserted in the signal path. All plugins that report their latency
are automatically time compensated sample-accurately.
</para>
<para>
To the left of the bypass switch you will see the name of the plugin, the
author and the number of inputs and outputs that the plugin makes use of.
To the right will be a text entry area, a list selector and a
<guibutton>Save</guibutton> button. To save a combination of settings,
press the <guibutton>Save</guibutton> button. A window will appear asking
for the name of the preset. Enter a name, press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>,
and your new preset will appear on the list of saved settings.
</para>
<para>
To restore a saved preset, select it from the list. The settings should
immediately be restored as you release the mouse button.
</para>
<para>
The rest of the window consists of sliders and buttons which represent the
various controls available for the plugin. To move a slider, left click it
and slide the mouse horizontally over the range of the control. You can see
the numeric value and the bar change as you move the mouse. You can also
press the control key while moving for finer adjustments.
</para>
<para>
Next to each control is an automation mode button. The default state is
<guimenuitem>off</guimenuitem>. To write automation information, press the
button and select <guimenuitem>write</guimenuitem> from the drop-down list.
After engaging the transport, movement of the control will be recorded for
playback when the <guimenuitem>play</guimenuitem> automation mode is
selected. <guimenuitem>Touch</guimenuitem> mode automatically switches from
<guimenuitem>play</guimenuitem> to <guimenuitem>write</guimenuitem> as the
control is first selected with the mouse button and released, respectively.
The automation data is accessible from the editor window, along with the
other automation data for the track.
</para>
</section>
<section id="export-window">
<title>The Export Window</title>
<para>
The export window appears when either <guimenuitem>export session to
audiofile</guimenuitem> or <guimenuitem>export range to
audiofile</guimenuitem> have been selected from the session menu. This
window enables an audio file to be rendered from either the master bus or
individual tracks in freewheel mode. A large range of audio file formats
are supported, as is the ability to export a CUE or TOC file representing
any CD index or track markers you may have in the session. Bit depth
reduction can be performed with three types of dither, or no dither.
</para>
</section>
<section id="crossfade-editor-window">
<title>The Crossfade Editor Window</title>
<para>
The crossfade editor will appear whenever you select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>crossfade</guimenu> <guisubmenu>edit</guisubmenu> </menuchoice>
from any active or inactive crossfade in the editor window. This window
allows you to customise the default crossfade that is automatically applied
when two regions overlap. Provision is made for auditioning different
elements of the crossfade, or the crossfade as a whole.
</para>
</section>
<section id="locations-window">
<title>the Locations Window</title>
<para>
The locations window provides a means to locate to and define points and
ranges in your session. Points and ranges may also be 'promoted' to be CD
Index or CD Track markers, respectively. Once promoted, they may be
exported to a standard T.O.C. or CUE file along with the exported audio
using the export window. The locations window will appear when <menuchoice>
<guimenu>windows</guimenu> <guisubmenu>locations</guisubmenu> </menuchoice>
is selected from the editor window.
</para>
</section>
<!--
<xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
href="Some_Subsection.xml" />
-->
</section>
|
