121 lines
3.7 KiB
HTML
121 lines
3.7 KiB
HTML
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<h2>What Regions Are</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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<h2>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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<h2>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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<h2>Selecting regions</h2>
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<p>
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Pointing at a region and single-clicking it with the Grab tool selects that
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region. Multiple regions can be selected at the same time:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>-<kbd class="mouse">left</kbd>-click adds individual
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regions to the selection.
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</li>
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<li>
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<kbd>Shift</kbd>-<kbd class="mouse">left</kbd>-click adds consecutive
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regions to the selection, Ardour considers all regions of the same track
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to the right from the currently selected track as consecutive regions.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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Selection of multiple regions is always temporary and is not preserved once
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you click elsewhere or press <kbd>Esc</kbd>. To make such a selection
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permanent, create a group of regions in one of the following ways:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>G</kbd></li>
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<li>
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Use <kbd class="menu">Region > Group Selected Regions</kbd> in the main
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menu
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</li>
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<li>
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Use <kbd class="menu">Selected Regions > Group Selected Regions</kbd>
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in the right-click menu.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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To break a group of regions back into individual regions, do one of the
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following things:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Press <kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>G</kbd></li>
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<li>
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Use <kbd class="menu">Region > Ungroup Selected Regions</kbd> in the main
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menu
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</li>
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<li>
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Use <kbd class="menu">Selected Regions > Ungroup Selected Regions</kbd>
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in the right-click menu.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Region Operations</h2>
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<p>
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Selecting a region with a single-click makes it possible to perform various
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operations on it. These operations are mostly accessible from the
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main <kbd class="menu">Region</kbd> menu on top or from the right-click menu.
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</p>
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<p>
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Some operations like editing fade in/out are accessible with just the mouse
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pointer.
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</p>
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