manual/include/track-and-bus-groups.html

<p>
  Tracks and busses can be put into <dfn>groups</dfn>. Members of a group
  can share various settings&mdash;useful for managing tracks that are closely
  related to each other. Examples might include tracks that contain
  multiple-microphone recordings of a single source (an acoustic guitar,
  perhaps, or a drum kit).
</p>

<figure class="left">
    <img src="/images/track-in-group.png" alt="Track headers for a group">
    <figcaption>
      Track headers for a group
    </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  Tracks and busses can be grouped in various ways. In the editor window,
  a track's controls might look like the adjacent image.
</p>
<p>
  The green tab to the left of the track header indicates that this track
  is in a group called <samp>Fred</samp>. These tabs can be dragged to add
  adjacent tracks to a group.
</p>

<h2>Create New Groups</h2>
<p>
  There are several ways to <dfn>create groups</dfn> for tracks and busses:
</p>
<ul>
  <li><kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>-clicking on the group tab and using one of the <kbd
  class="menu">Create&hellip;</kbd> options there. A group can be created with
  no members, or one that starts with the currently selected tracks, or
  record-enabled tracks, or soloed tracks.</li>
  <li>Alternatively, clicking the <kbd class="menu">g</kbd> button on a track header to open the
  Group menu. The menu lists the available groups. Selecting one of these
  groups will add the track or bus to that group. The menu also allows creating
  a new group.</li>
  <li>Finally, the <a href="@@groups-list">Groups list</a>
  has a <kbd class="menu">plus (&plus;)</kbd> button at the
  bottom of the list that can be clicked on to create a new group.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Remove Groups</h2>
<p>
  Context-clicking on a <dfn>group tab</dfn> and selecting <kbd class="menu">Remove
  Group</kbd> from the menu removes it. Removing a group does <em>not</em> remove
  the members of a group.
</p>
<p>
  Groups can also be removed by selecting them in the <a href="@@groups-list">Groups list</a>
  and then pressing the <kbd class="menu">minus (&minus;)</kbd> button at the bottom of the list.
</p>

<h2>Add/Remove Tracks and Busses From a Group</h2>
<p>
  Clicking the <kbd class="menu">g</kbd> button displays a menu with a list
  of the available groups. Selecting one of these groups adds the track or bus
  to that group. Selecting <kbd class="menu">No Group</kbd> removes it.
</p>
<p>
  Alternatively, a group tab can be dragged to add or remove tracks from
  the group.
</p>

<h2>Activate/Deactivate Groups via the Group Tab</h2>
<p>
  Clicking on a group tab toggles the group between being active and inactive.
  An inactive group has no effect when editing its members. An active group
  will share its configured properties across its members. Tabs for disabled
  groups are coloured grey.
</p>

<h2>Modify Group Properties</h2>

<figure class="right">
  <img src="/images/route-group-dialogue.png" alt="The Track/bus Group dialog">
  <figcaption>
    The Track/bus Group dialog
  </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  Edit the properties of a group is done by <kbd class="mouse">right</kbd>-clicking
  on its tab and choosing <kbd class="menu">Edit Group&hellip;</kbd>. This opens
  the track/bus group dialog, which is also used when creating new groups.
</p>

<h3>Group Color</h3>
<p>
  Clicking on the color selector button changes a group's color. This affects
  the color of the group's tab in the editor and mixer windows. The color does
  <em>not</em> affect the color of the group members unless the shared
  <kbd class="menu">Color</kbd> property is enabled.
</p>

<h3>Shared Properties</h3>
<p>
  <kbd class="option">Gain</kbd> means that the track faders will be synced to
  always have the same value; <kbd class="option">Relative</kbd> means that the
  gain changes are applied relative to each member's current value. If, for
  example, there are two tracks in a group with relative gain sharing, and their
  faders are set to &minus;3&nbsp;dB and &minus;1&nbsp;dB, a change of the first track to a
  gain of &minus;6&nbsp;dB will result in the second track having a gain of
  &minus;4&nbsp;dB (the <em>difference</em> of the gains remains the same).
</p>
<p>
  <a href="@@bus-controls"><kbd class="option">Muting</kbd></a>,
  <a href="@@bus-controls"><kbd class="option">Soloing</kbd></a>,
  <a href="@@audio-track-controls#audiotrack-record"><kbd class="option">record enable</kbd></a>,
  <a href="@@the-tracks-and-busses-list"><kbd class="option">active state</kbd></a>,
  <a href="@@track-color"><kbd class="option">color</kbd></a> and
  <a href="@@monitoring"><kbd class="option">monitoring</kbd></a>
  are all straightforward. They simply mean that all member tracks or busses will
  share the same settings in these respects.
</p>
<p>
  <kbd class="option">Selection</kbd> means that if a region is selected or
  deselected on one member track, <a href="@@corresponding-regions-selection">corresponding
  regions</a> on other member tracks will be similarly selected. Since region
  editing operations are applied to all currently selected regions, this is the
  way to make edits apply across all tracks in the group.
</p>

<h3>Overriding grouped status</h3>
<p>
It's possible to override the shared status of any properties of a group.
Holding <kbd class="mod3"></kbd> while clicking on a grouped channel's
Mute, Record Enable, In &amp; Out monitoring controls, or fader, will invert
the sense of sharing of that control.

<p>
For example, if a channel is a member of an active group
with "Record Enable" shared, <kbd class="mod3"></kbd>+click on that
channel's Record Enable button will toggle only that channel's record enabled status.
If a channel is a member of an inactive group, or of an active
group that does not have "Record Enable" shared, <kbd class="mod3"></kbd>+click
on that channel's Record Enable button will enable or disable the record enable
status of all channels in the same group.

<h3>Group Tab Context Menu</h3>
<p>Context-clicking on the group tab offers a further menu of group-related actions. </p>
<table class="dl">
<tr><th>Create a New Group</th>
    <td>create a new group</td></tr>
<tr><th>Create New Group from&hellip;</th>
    <td> create a new group and automatically add &hellip;</td></tr>
<tr><th class="sub1">Selected</th>
    <td>all currently selected tracks and busses</td></tr>
<tr><th class="sub1">Rec-enabled</th>
    <td>all currently record-enabled tracks</td></tr>
<tr><th class="sub1">Soloed</th>
    <td>all currently soloed tracks and busses</td></tr>
<tr><th>Collect Group</th>
    <td>moves all the member tracks so that they are together in the editor window</td></tr>
<tr><th>Remove Group</th>
    <td>removes the group (and only the group, not its members).</td></tr>
<tr><th>Add New Subgroup Bus</th>
    <td>creates a bus (giving it the name of the group) and connects the output of each member to the new bus.</td></tr>
<tr><th>Add New Aux Bus</th>
    <td>adds a bus and gives each member a send to that bus. There are two options for this, specifying whether the sends should be placed pre- or post-fader.</td></tr>
<tr><th>Fit to Window</th>
    <td> will zoom the member tracks so that they fill the editor window.</td></tr>
<tr><th>Enable All Groups</th>
    <td>makes all group active, including any hidden groups.</td></tr>
<tr><th>Disable All Groups</th>
    <td>makes all groups inactive, including any hidden groups.</td></tr>
</table>