manual/_manual/05_ardours-interface/03_transport-bar-and-times/02_times.html

---
title: Times
---



<p>

  <dfn>Clocks</dfn> in Ardour are used to display <dfn>time values</dfn> precisely.

  In many cases, they are also one way to edit (change) time values, and in a few

  cases, the only way. All clocks share the same basic appearance and functionality,

  which is described below, but a few clocks serve particularly important roles.

</p>



<h2>Transport Clocks</h2>



<p>

  In the transport bar of the editor window there are two clocks (unless you

  are on a very small screen), that display the current position of the playhead

  and additional information related to transport control and the timeline. These

  are called the <dfn>transport clocks</dfn>; the left one is the primary

  transport clock and the right one is the secondary transport clock.

  They look like this:

</p>



<img src="/images/a3_new_main_clocks.png" alt="An image of the transport clocks in Ardour 3" />



<p>

  Editing the time in the transport clocks will reposition the playhead in the same

  way that various other editing operations will.

</p>



<h3>The Big Clock</h3>

<p>

  To show the current playhead position in a big, resizable window, activate

  <kbd class="menu">Window &gt; Big Clock</kbd>. The big clock is very useful

  when you need to work away from the screen but still want to see the playhead

  position clearly (such as when working with a remote control device across

  a room). The big clock will change its visual appearance to indicate when active

  recording is taking place. Below on the left is a screenshot showing a fairly

  large big clock window filling a good part of the display, and on the right,

  the same clock during active recording.

</p>

<a href="/images/bigclock.png"><img src="/images/bigclock.png" height="100" alt="an image of the big clock filling a screen" /></a> <a href="/images/bigclock-recording.png"><img src="/images/bigclock-recording.png" height="100" alt="an image of the big clock while recording"

/></a>



<h3>The Special Role of the Secondary Transport Clock</h3>

<p>

  On a few occasions Ardour needs to display time values to the user, but there

  is no obvious way to specify what units to use. The most common case is the big

  cursor that appears when dragging regions. For this and other similar cases,

  Ardour will display time using the same units as the secondary clock.

</p>

<h4>Why are there two transport clocks?</h4>

<p>

  Having two transport clocks lets you see the playhead position in two different

  time units without having to change any settings. For example, you can see the

  playhead position in both timecode units and BBT time.

</p>



<h3>Selection and Punch Clocks</h3>

<p>

  The transport bar also contains a set of 5 clocks that show the current

  <dfn>selection range</dfn> and <dfn>punch ranges</dfn>. Clicking on the punch

  range clocks will locate to either the beginning or end of the punch range.

  Similarly, clicking on the range clocks will locate to either the beginning

  or end of the current selection. In this screen shot there is no current

  selection range, so the selection clocks show an "off" state.

</p>



<img src="/images/selectionpunchclocks.png" alt="An image of the the selection and punch clocks in Ardour 3" />



<h2>Clock Modes</h2>

<p>

  Every clock in Ardour has four different, selectable <dfn>clock

  modes</dfn>. Each mode displays time using different units.

  You can change the clock mode by <kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>-clicking

  on the clock and selecting the desired mode from the menu. Some clocks are

  entirely independent of any other clock's mode; others are linked so that

  changing one changes all clocks in that group. The different modes are:

</p>

<dl>

  <dt>Timecode</dt>

  <dd>Time is shown as <dfn><abbr title="Society of Motion Picture and Television

  Engineers">SMPTE</abbr> timecode</dfn> in Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames,

  measured from the timecode zero point on the timeline (which may not

  correspond to the session start and/or absolute zero on the timeline,

  depending on configurable timecode offsets).

  The frames value is dictated by either the session <abbr title="Frames Per

  Second">FPS</abbr> setting, or, if slaved to an external timecode master,

  the master's setting. In the transport clocks, the FPS value is shown below

  the time display, along with an indication of the current timecode source

  (<samp>INT</samp> means that Ardour is its own timecode source).</dd>

  <dt>BBT</dt>

  <dd>Time is shown as Bars:Beats:Ticks, indicating <dfn>musical time</dfn> measured

  from the start of the session. The transport clocks show the current tempo

  in <abbr title="Beats Per Minute">bpm</abbr> and meter below the time

  display.</dd>

  <dt>Minutes:Seconds</dt>

  <dd>Time is shown as Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds, measured from the

  absolute start of the timeline (ignoring the session start and any timecode

  offsets).</dd>

  <dt>Samples</dt>

  <dd>Time is shown as a <dfn>sample count</dfn> from the absolute start of the timeline

  (ignoring the session start and any timecode offsets). The number of

  samples per second is given by the current sample rate, and in the transport

  clocks, this rate is shown below the time display along with any

  pullup/pulldown adjustment.</dd>

</dl>



<h3>Special Modes for the Transport Clocks</h3>

<p>

  In addition to the time-unit modes mentioned above, each of the two transport

  clocks (if you work on a small screen, you may only have one) can be

  independently set to display <dfn>Delta to Edit Point</dfn> in whatever time

  units its current mode indicates. This setting means that the clock shows the

  distance between the playhead and the current edit point, and it may show a

  positive or negative value depending on the temporal order of these two points.

  The clocks will use a different color when in this mode to avoid confusion.

</p>

<p>

  To switch either (or both!) of the transport clocks into this mode, use

  <kbd class="menu"> Edit &gt; Preferences &gt; Transport</kbd> and select

  the relevant checkboxes.

</p>

<p>

  Note that when in <samp>Delta to Edit Point</samp> mode, the transport clocks

  cannot be edited.

</p>



<h2>Changing clock values with the keyboard</h2>

<p>

  New values for the clock can be typed in after clicking on the relevant clock.

  Clicking on the clock will show a thin vertical cursor bar just to the right

  of the next character to be overwritten. Enter time in the same order as the

  current clock mode&mdash;if the clock is in Timecode mode, you need to enter

  hours, minutes, seconds, frames. So, to change to a time of 12:15:20:15 you

  would type <kbd class="input">1 2 1 5 2 0 1 5</kbd>. Each number you type will

  appear in a different color, from right to left, overwriting the existing value.

  Mid-edit, after typing <kbd class="input">3 2 2 2</kbd> the clock might look like this:

</p>

<img src="/images/clockedit.png" alt="An image of a clock being edited in Ardour 3" />

<p>

  To finish the edit, press <kbd>&crarr;</kbd> or <kbd>Tab</kbd>. To exit an

  edit without changing the clock press <kbd>ESC</kbd>. If you mis-type an entry

  so that the new value would be illegal (for example, resulting in more than 30

  frames when Timecode is set to 30 frames per second), the clock will reset at

  the end of the edit, and move the cursor back to the start so that you can

  start over.

</p>



<h3>Avoiding the mouse entirely</h3>

<p>

  There is a shortcut available for those who wish to be able to edit the transport

  clocks entirely without the mouse. It can be found in

  <kbd class="menu">Window &gt; Key Bindings &gt; Transport &gt; Focus On

  Clock</kbd>. If bound to a key (<kbd>&divide;</kbd> on the numerical

  keypad is the

  default), then pressing that key is equivalent to clicking on the primary (left)

  transport clock, and editing can begin immediately.

</p>



<h3>Entering Partial Times</h3>

<p>

  One detail of the editing design that is not immediately obvious is that it is

  possible to enter part of a full time value. Suppose that the clock is in BBT

  mode, displaying <samp>024|03|0029</samp>, and you want to alter the value to

  the first beat of the current bar. Click on the clock and type

  <kbd class="input">0 1 0 0 0 0</kbd>. Similarly, if it is in Minutes:Seconds

  mode, displaying <samp>02:03:04.456</samp>, and you want to get to exactly 2

  hours, click on the clock and type <kbd class="input">0 0 0 0 0 0 0</kbd> to

  reset the minutes, seconds and milliseconds fields.

</p>



<h3>Entering Delta Times</h3>

<p>

  You can also type values into the clock that are intended as a relative change,

  rather than a new absolute value. Simply end the edit by pressing

  <kbd>+</kbd> or <kbd>-</kbd> (the ones on any keypad will also work). The plus

  key will add the entered value to the current value of the clock, minus will

  subtract it. For example, if the clock is in Samples mode and displays

  <samp>2917839</samp>, you move it back 2000 samples by typing

  <kbd class="input">2 0 0 0</kbd> and <kbd>-</kbd>, rather than ending with

  Enter or Tab. </p>



<h2>Changing clock values with the mouse</h2>



<h3>Using a scroll wheel</h3>



<p>

  Position the mouse pointer over the clock, and move the scroll wheel. Moving

  the scroll wheel up (<kbd class="mouse">&uArr;</kbd>) increases the value

  shown on the clock, moving it down  (<kbd class="mouse">&uArr;</kbd>)

  decreases it. The step size is equal to the unit of the field

  you are hovering over (seconds, hours, etc.).

</p>



<h3>Dragging the mouse</h3>



<p>

  Position the mouse pointer over the clock, press the left mouse button and drag.

  Dragging upwards increases the value shown on the clock, dragging downwards

  decreases it, again with a step size equal to the unit of the field you

  began the drag on.

</p>