manual/include/editing-clocks.html

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<h2 id="clock-modes">Clock Modes</h2>
<p>
Every clock in Ardour has multiple different, selectable <dfn>clock
modes</dfn>. Each mode displays time using different units.
The clock mode can be changed 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>
<table class="dl">
<tr>
<th>Timecode</th>
<td>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 Timecode frames-per-second <a
href="@@session-properties#properties-timecode">session
property</a>, or, if slaved to an external timecode master, the
master's setting. Under the transport clocks is an indication of
the current timecode source (<samp>INT</samp> means that Ardour
is its own timecode source).
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Bars:Beats</th>
<td>Time is shown as Bars:Beats:Ticks, indicating <dfn>musical
time</dfn>.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Minutes:Seconds</th>
<td>Time is shown as Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Seconds</th>
<td>Time is shown as Seconds.Deciseconds.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Samples</th>
<td>Time is shown as a <dfn>sample count</dfn>. The number of
samples per second is given by the current sample rate.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<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.
Time should be typed in the same order as the current clock
mode&mdash;if the clock is in Timecode mode, it should be hours,
minutes, seconds, frames. So, to change to a time of 12:15:20:15 one
would type <kbd>1</kbd><kbd>2</kbd><kbd>1</kbd><kbd>5</kbd><kbd>2</kbd>
<kbd>0</kbd><kbd>1</kbd><kbd>5</kbd>.
Freshly typed numbers will appear in a different color, from right to
left, overwriting the existing value. Mid-edit, after typing
<kbd>3</kbd><kbd>2</kbd><kbd>2</kbd><kbd>2</kbd> the clock might look
like this:
</p>
<figure>
<img src="/images/clockedit.png" alt="A clock being edited in Ardour">
<figcaption>
A clock being edited in Ardour
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Finishing the edit is done by pressing <kbd>ENTER</kbd> or
<kbd>Tab</kbd>. The <kbd>ESC</kbd> key allows to exit an edit without
changing the clock. If an entry is mis-typed 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 to allow for
another try.
</p>
<h2>Avoiding the mouse entirely</h2>
<p>
There is a shortcut available to edit the transport clocks entirely
without the mouse. It can be found in the <a
href="@@keyboard-shortcuts">Keyboard Shortcuts</a> window, <kbd
class="menu">Global &gt; Transport &gt; Focus On Clock</kbd>. If
bound to a key (<kbd>/</kbd> by default), then pressing that key is
equivalent to clicking on the primary (left) transport clock, and
editing can begin immediately.
</p>
<h2>Entering Partial Times</h2>
<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.
</p>
<p>
As an example, supposing that the clock is in Bars:Beat mode, displaying
<samp>024|03|0029</samp>, altering the value to the first beat of the current
bar can be done by clicking on the clock and typing
<kbd>0</kbd><kbd>1</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd>.
Similarly, if it is in Minutes:Seconds mode, displaying
<samp>02:03:04.456</samp>, getting to exactly 2 hours can be achieved by
clicking on the clock and typing
<kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd>
to reset the minutes, seconds and milliseconds fields.
</p>
<h2>Entering Delta Times</h2>
<p>
Values can also be typed into the clock that are intended as a relative change,
rather than a new absolute value, by <em>ending</em> 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>, moving it back 2000 samples is done by typing
<kbd>2</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd><kbd>0</kbd> and <kbd>-</kbd>, rather than
ending with <kbd>Enter</kbd> or <kbd>Tab</kbd>.
</p>
<h2>Changing clock values with the mouse</h2>
<h3>Using a scroll wheel</h3>
<p>
With the mouse pointer over the clock, moving the scroll wheel changes the
clock values. Moving the scroll wheel up (<kbd class="mouse">&uArr;</kbd>)
increases the value shown on the clock, moving it down (<kbd
class="mouse">&dArr;</kbd>) decreases it. The step size is equal to the unit
of the field hovered over (seconds, hours, etc.).
</p>
<h3>Dragging the mouse</h3>
<p>
With the mouse pointer over the clock, pressing the left mouse button and
dragging also affects the clocks: 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 where the drag began on.
</p>