2 The <dfn>Clips</dfn> browser provides a way to easily reuse little pieces
3 of music across sessions. You can also drop audio and MIDI clips on a
4 timeline in the <a href="@@clips-in-the-editor">Editor window</a> or use
5 them in trigger slots in the <a href="@@clips-in-the-cue-window">Cue window</a>.
8 <h2>Clips Browser Interface</h2>
11 In the Editor window, the Clips browser is part of the Editor sidebar
12 and thus can be hidden from the main window. In the Cue window, the Clips
13 browser is an essential part of the workflow and is always visible.
16 <figure class="right">
17 <img src="/images/clips-browser.png" width="400px" alt="The Clips browser">
24 The Clips browser has three main parts:
28 <li>Selector of clip library locations</li>
29 <li>List of clips, with a treeview where necessary</li>
30 <li>Preview options</li>
33 <h2>Library Locations</h2>
36 The <dfn>Clips</dfn> browser is capable of handling multiple locations
37 of clips and loops. There are several types of locations suported by the
43 <dfn>Ardour Bundled Content</dfn>: these are all the audio and MIDI
44 files shipped along with an official Ardour build.
47 <dfn>Custom folder</dfn>: it's a single user-defined location
48 on a local or remote disk that you can write to. The folder is defined
49 on the <kbd class="menu">Triggering</kbd> page of the
50 <kbd class="menu">Preferences</kbd> dialog and is preserved across
54 <dfn>Additional locations</dfn>: typically those are locations where
55 you store existing clips/loops libraries acquired elsewhere. You can
56 have as many as you like, please see <a href="@@adding-3rd-party-clip-libraries">Adding 3rd Party Clip Libraries</a> chapter for more info. These locations
57 are also preserved across sessions.
60 <dfn>Other locations</dfn>: this is a one-off access to a location
61 where clips and loops are stored. This location is not preserved across
66 <h2>List of Clips</h2>
69 The Clips browser will provide access to all supported media file types
70 available in a selected location. Typically those would be, WAV, FLAC,
75 If there are subfolders in the clip library's folder, the Clips browser
76 will display them using as a tree view. The browser will also lazy-load
77 subfolders: instead of loading the entire list of all supported files
78 in the library location, it will only display top-level folders and load
79 their content when you start expanding subfolders you are interested in.
82 <h2>Preview Options</h2>
85 The preview section has simple playback controls as well as an option
86 to automatically play back a clip when you click it in the list.
87 For MIDI clips, you can also select a virtual instrument (Ardour defaults
88 to ACE Reasonable Synth).
92 When playing a clip, Ardour will automatically pause the transport
93 and resume playback when the clip playback is done. Ardour will also
94 use the audition channel for playback, so you can control the preview
95 volume using the monitor level control in the
96 <a href="@@monitor-section">Monitor</a> section of the <dfn>Mixer</dfn>.