livetrax/manual/xml/creating_a_new_session.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-creating-a-new-session">

	<title>Creating a new Session</title>

	<para>
		The first step in starting a new project with Ardour is to create a
		new session. When you do this, Ardour creates a new folder named after
		your session, and stores differents kinds of files and subfolders
		within it. The two most important subfolders are 
		<filename>sounds</filename> which contains all the audio recorded or 
		imported for the session and <filename>automation</filename> which 
		contains automation data for various parts of the session.
	</para>
	
	<para>
		When you start ardour without specifying an existing session, it
		automatically brings up the new session dialog. If you want to create a
		new session at other times, choose
		<menuchoice>
			<guimenu>Session</guimenu>
			<guisubmenu>New Session</guisubmenu>
		</menuchoice>.
	</para>
	
	<mediaobject>
		<imageobject>
			<imagedata fileref="images/session_control.png"/>
		</imageobject>
	</mediaobject>
	
	<para>
		Enter a name for the new session. You can use any characters you
		like as part of the name, but you should know that more or less
		anything other than alphabetic and numeric characters will be converted
		to underscores to form the name of the session folder.
	</para>
	
	<para>
		Next, choose where you want to store the new session folder. If its
		not in your current working folder, click on the browse button to
		expand the file selector, and then navigate to your desired location.
	</para>

	<mediaobject>
		<imageobject>
			<imagedata fileref="images/new_session_select_directory.png"/>
		</imageobject>
	</mediaobject>

	<section id="new-session-io">

		<title>Input and Output Configuration</title>
	
		<para>
			Next, configure the basic IO setup for the session. You have
			several choices here, and doing nothing is one of them. This will give
			you a session that includes:
		</para>

		<itemizedlist>

			<listitem>
				<para>
					a stereo master bus with its outputs connected to the first two outputs of 
					your audio interface
				</para>
			</listitem>
			<listitem>
				<para>
					all new track will have their outputs sent to the master bus
				</para>
			</listitem>
			<listitem>
				<para>
					all new track inputs will be connected to Ardour’s best guess at the relevant 
					input of your audio interface.
				</para>
			</listitem>

		</itemizedlist>
		
		<para>
			However, if you want more control over this, click on the expander next to 
			<guilabel>Advanced options</guilabel> label to show the full set of options:
		</para>
		
		<mediaobject>
			<imageobject>
				<imagedata fileref="images/new_session_advanced_tab.png"/>
			</imageobject>
		</mediaobject>

		<para>
			There are two options available for track input configuration:
			autoconnect or manual. If you select autoconnect (the default) then new
			tracks will be connected to an input of your audio interface. If you
			select manual, it will be up to you to configure the input for each
			track.
		</para>

		<para>
			For output, the first two choices are whether to have control and
			master outs. Most DAWs assume the presence of master outs, and few (if
			any) offer control outs.
		</para>
		
		<section id="new-session-master-outs">
			<title>Master Outputs</title>
			<para>
				A Master out is a bus to which all (or most) tracks and other
				busses send their output. It provides a convenient single point of
				control for the output of ardour, and is a typical location for global
				effects. Because of this, using master outs is enabled by default, and
				the master out bus is setup to be stereo (2 inputs, 2 outputs).
				However, if you are feeding Ardour’s output through a hardware mixing
				console, you may not want master outs. In such cases, disable them by
				clicking on the radio button next to “Use master outs”. Alternatively,
				you may want some other channel configuration for the master output
				(for example, 8 channel surround sound). Select this by using the
				clickbox (see clickboxes) next to the radio button.
			</para>
		</section>

		<section id="new-session-control-outs">
			<title>Control Outputs</title>
			<para>
				Control outs are unusual for DAWs, but because Ardour is designed
				to be as flexible as possible, and in particular is intended to be
				useful as a live mixer, they are included here. Using control outs
				provides you with a dedicated bus to which all tracks have an
				additional output connection. As well as feeding their regular outputs,
				they send data to the control outs as well. In an unadjusted session,
				this means that the control outs carry the same signal as the master
				outs. However, once you start soloing tracks, the control outs will
				carry only soloed tracks while the master outs continue to carry the
				entire mix. A typical use of control outs is when doing live stage
				work. The mix engineer will be listening to the control outs, and can
				therefore solo tracks without affecting the signal being sent to the
				master outs (the main speakers).
			</para>
		</section>
	</section>
</section>