160 lines
6.9 KiB
HTML
160 lines
6.9 KiB
HTML
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<img class="left" src="/images/toolbar-grid.png" alt="Editor toolbar's grid">
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<p>
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Ardour's editor utilizes a <dfn>grid</dfn> to assist in the placement of regions
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on the timeline, or with editing functions that need to happen at a specific
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point in time. This <dfn>snapping</dfn> of the cursor and various objects to the
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grid can be toggled on or off, as does its behaviour, and grid units.
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</p>
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<h2>About Snapping</h2>
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<p>
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There are two ways to think about aligning material to a grid. The first and
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most obvious one is where an object's position is clamped to grid lines. In
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Ardour, this is called <dfn>absolute snap</dfn> and is commonly used when
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working with sampled material where audio begins exactly at the beginning of a
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file, note or region.
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</p>
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<p>
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The second, <dfn>relative snap</dfn>, is used when an object's position relative
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to the grid lines is important. In music, this allows to move objects around
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without changing the "feel" (or timing) of a performance.
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</p>
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<p>
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Absolute snap is the default method of snapping in Ardour.
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</p>
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<p>
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While dragging objects, pressing the absolute snap modifier key(s) switches
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from absolute to relative snap.
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</p>
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<p>
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The snap can also be entirely disabled by using the snap modifier (see below).
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</p>
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<p>
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Note that in relative snap mode the reference point is taken to be the distance
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to the nearest grid line.
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</p>
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<p>
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Note also that when an object lies exactly on a grid line, there will be no
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difference between relative and absolute snap modes.
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</p>
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<p>
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The realtive snap and snap modifiers (along with other modifier keys) may be set
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in <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > User Interaction</kbd>
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</p>
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<p>
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For common use patterns, it is recommended to assign a unique key for one
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snap modifier and two keys for the other in such a way that they share an
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otherwise unused key. For example, the snap modifier may be chosen to be the
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<kbd class="mod2n"></kbd> key and the relative snap modifier to be the <kbd
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class="mod2n"></kbd> and <kbd class="mod4n"></kbd> keys.
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</p>
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<h2>Snap Modes</h2>
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<p>
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Using the above modifications, Ardour supports three different modes of snapping
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to the grid:
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</p>
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<table class="dl">
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd></th>
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<td>disables the grid. All objects move freely in this mode.</br>
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In <kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd> mode, the grid may be temporarily activated
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by pressing the snap modifier (for absolute snap) or switch to relative snap
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by pressing the relative snap modifier.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Grid</kbd></th>
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<td>activates normal snapping. All positions of objects snap to the grid. (See
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<a href="#gridunits">Grid Units</a> below to change the grid).
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Moving an object in "Grid"-mode, does not change its position until
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the mouse is far enough for the object to reach the next grid line.</br>
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To maintain an objects' position relative to the grid line, the "snap relative"
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modifier can be used. When holding down this
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modifier during a drag, the dragged object will jump while maintaining its
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original distance from the line.</br>
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New objects will always be created at grid
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points.</br>
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Holding down the snap modifier will disable the current grid
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setting and allow moving the object freely.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Magnetic</kbd></th>
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<td>is a less strict type of snapping. Objects can still be moved to any
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position, but positions close to the relative or absolute grid points will snap.
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In order to move an object very close to a snap point, it may be necessary to
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zoom in to prevent snapping to that point, or to use the snap modifier to
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disable snap completely.</br> As with Grid mode, the snap modifier will disable
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snap completely while the absolute snap modifier will move the "notch" of
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Magnetic snap to the grid lines.</td></tr>
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</table>
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<h2>Syncing Regions to the Grid</h2>
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<p>
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By default, a region's beginning will be used as the reference for both types of
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snapping, this behaviour can be changed by setting a <dfn>sync point</dfn>
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in the region, by selecting the region(s) and pressing <kbd>V</kbd>. This will set the
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sync point to the current <a href="@@edit-point-control">edit point</a>.
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</p>
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<h2 id="gridunits">Grid Units</h2>
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<p>
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The selector next to the grid mode selector defines the size of the grid
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elements. The grid can be set to several different units:
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</p>
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<table class="dl">
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">CD Frames</kbd></th>
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<td>A CD Frame is 1/75th of a second. Snapping to CD Frames (using absolute snap) can be used to avoid issues with CD track lengths.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Timecode Frames/Seconds/Minutes</kbd></th>
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<td>The duration of a frame depends on the timecode settings for the session.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Seconds/Minutes</kbd></th>
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<td>These are absolute time units, unaffected by sample rate or timecode settings</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Beats/N</kbd></th>
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<td>Set the grid to units of 1/N beats, where N can be 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Beats</kbd></th>
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<td>Set the grid to whole beats. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Bars</kbd></th>
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<td>Set the grid to whole bars. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Markers</kbd></th>
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<td>The grid lines are the markers.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Region Starts</kbd></th>
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<td>The grid lines are constructed from region start points (see below).</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Region Ends</kbd></th>
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<td>The grid lines are constructed from region end points (see below).</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Region Syncs</kbd></th>
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<td>The grid lines are constructed from region sync points.</td></tr>
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<tr><th><kbd class="menu">Region Bounds</kbd></th>
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<td>The grid lines are constructed from region start or end points.</td></tr>
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</table>
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<p>
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To use Region starts/ends/syncs/bounds as snap choices, it is necessary to have either:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li><em>No</em> tracks selected, which means that Ardour snaps to regions on any
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track, or </li>
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<li>Several tracks selected, which means that Ardour only snaps to regions on
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those selected tracks.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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If items are moved on a track, and only the current track is selected, then
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snapping will only happen with other regions on the same track. This means
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that enabling <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > Editor > Link
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Selections of Regions and Tracks</kbd> will make the "Region" grid unit
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unusable. This option should not be used in conjunction with the use any of the
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Region grid units.
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</p>
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