manual/_manual/04_ardours-interface/05_using-ardour-clock-displays.html

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layout: default
title: Using Ardour Clock Displays
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<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/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>