55 lines
1.9 KiB
HTML
55 lines
1.9 KiB
HTML
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<h2>Working With Regions</h2>
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<p>
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<dfn>Regions</dfn> are the basic elements of editing and composing in
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Ardour. In most cases, a region represents a single contiguous section of one or
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more media files. Regions are defined by a fixed set of attributes:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>the audio or <abbr title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr>
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<dfn>source file(s)</dfn> they represent,</li>
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<li>an <dfn>offset</dfn> (the "start point") in the audio or MIDI file(s), and</li>
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<li>a <dfn>length</dfn>.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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When placed into a playlist, they gain additional attributes:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>a <dfn>position</dfn> along the timeline, and</li>
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<li>a <dfn>layer</dfn>.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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There are other attributes as well, but they do not <em>define</em> the
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region. Things to know about regions:
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</p>
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<h3>Regions Are Cheap</h3>
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<p>
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By themselves, regions consume very little in terms of computer's resources.
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Each region requires a small amount of memory, and represents a rather small
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amount of CPU work if placed into an active track. So, multiplying regions creation
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whenever needed should not be much of an issue CPU wise.
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</p>
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<h3>Regions Are Not Files</h3>
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<p>
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Although a region can represent an entire audio file, they are never
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equivalent to an audio file. Most regions represent just parts of an audio
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file(s) on disk, and removing a region from a track has nothing to do with
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removing the audio file(s) from the disk (the <kbd class="menu">Destroy</kbd>
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operation, one of Ardour's few destructive operations, can affect this).
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Changing the length of a region has no effect on the audio file(s) on disk.
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Splitting and copying regions does not alter the audio file in any way, nor does
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it create new audio files (only <dfn>recording</dfn>, and the <kbd
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class="menu">Export</kbd>, <kbd class="menu">Bounce</kbd> and <kbd
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class="menu">Reverse</kbd> operations create new audio files).
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</p>
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