13
0
livetrax/manual/xml/other_windows.xml
Tim Mayberry b8a6f94325 Add a help target(the default target) and format target to the manual
Makefile

Reformat the docs, I explained in a prior commit why this modifies 
every file


git-svn-id: svn://localhost/ardour2/trunk@1463 d708f5d6-7413-0410-9779-e7cbd77b26cf
2007-02-15 03:49:43 +00:00

247 lines
11 KiB
XML

<?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>