manual/include/cue-window-elements.html

<p>
	For cues, Ardour generally follows the design pattern of other applications
	that support a grid-based non-linear workflow.
</p>

<figure>
  <img style="width:75%;" src="/images/cue-window-elements.png" alt="The Cue window elements">
  <figcaption>
    The Cue window elements
  </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>The main elements of the <dfn>Cue</dfn> window are:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Grid of tracks and cues, playback indicators</li>
	<li>Mixer channel section</li>
	<li>Clip and trigger slot options</li>
	<li>Sidebar: Clips, Tracks, Sources, and Regions</li>
</ol>

<h2 id="cue_window_grid">Grid</h2>

<p>
	The trigger slots <dfn>grid</dfn> is comprised of tracks (stacked
	horizontally) and cues (stacked vertically). Tracks group clips played
	by roughly the same instrument (or set of instruments, in case of drums
	and percussion). Cues group clips that will be played simultaneously. 
</p>

<p>
	Every <dfn>trigger slot</dfn> with a clip inside contains three elements:
	launch button/indicator, clip title, and follow action selector/indicator.
</p>

<p>
	<dfn>Cue buttons</dfn> (A to H) to the left of the grid initiate the
	playback of an entire cue. Right-clicking on them opens a menu where it's
	possible to set the same options for all clips and trigger slots in that
	cue: 
</p>

<ul>
	<li>Follow action</li>
	<li>Launch style</li>
	<li>Quantization</li>
	<li>Color</li>
</ul>

<p>
	The <dfn>playback indication area</dfn> displays four pieces of data for
	each track:
</p>

<ul>
	<li>Clip playback progress</li>
	<li>Which cue the playing clip belongs to</li>
	<li>MIDI clip indication</li>
	<li>Follow count</li>
</ul>


<p>
	Similarly to cue playback buttons, the playback indication area has
	a right-click menu where it's possible to set the same options for all clips
	and trigger slots in a track of choice.
</p>

<p>
	<a href="@@playing-back-the-cues">This chapter</a> provides more information
	on playback in the <dfn>Cue</dfn> window.
</p>

<h2 id="cue_window_mixer_channels">Mixer channel section</h2>

<p>
	The mixer channel section is very similar to what's available in the
	<dfn>Mixer</dfn> window: there's the <a href="@@processor-box">processor
	box</a>, the same <a href="@@panning">panner</a>, as well as the
	<a href="@@muting-and-soloing">mute and the solo</a> buttons. Both the fader
	and the meter are horizontal, there is no choice for a type of meter.
</p>

<h2 id="cue_window_clip_options">Clip and trigger slot options</h2>

<p>
	The bottom section contains several groups of controls:
</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="@@clip-properties">Clip Properties</a>: full name of a clip
	in the selected trigger slot, loading a different clip, gain control</li>
	<li><a href="@@clip-launch-options">Launch Options</a>: how the clips' playback is triggered and within what musical time unit it is quantized</li>
	<li><a href="@@clip-follow-actions">Follow Actions</a>: how many times one
	clip is played and what other clip's playback is triggered next</li>
	<li><a href="@@clip-stretch-options">Stretch Options</a> (audio-only):
	stretching the original audio data to match current session tempo, adjusting
	assumed original tempo for creative purposes</li>
</ul>

<h2 id="cue_window_sidebar">Sidebar</h2>

<p>
	Ardour defaults to displaying the <a href="@@clips-overview">Clips</a> tab
	as the clips browser is commonly used for pulling reusable clips into
	the project.
</p>

<p>
	In the Cue context, the <dfn>Tracks</dfn> tab is mostly useful for marking
	a track as visible or not visible in the Cue window.
</p>

<p>
	Both the <dfn>Sources</dfn> and the <dfn>Regions</dfn> tabs can work as
	drag-and-drop sources for:
</p>

<ul>
	<li>Placing audio and MIDI data to trigger slots</li>
	<li>Creating new tracks</li>
	<li>Creating new reusable clips available from the Clips browser</li>
</ul>