3 The initial <dfn>Session</dfn> dialog, displayed at each start of Ardour, consists
4 of several consecutive pages:
7 <h2>Open Session Page</h2>
10 <img class="mini" src="/images/session_setup.png" alt="The Session Setup Dialog">
12 The Session Setup Dialog
17 On this page, an <dfn>existing session</dfn> can be opened. Any <a href="@@snapshots">snapshot</a>
18 of a particular session can also be accessed by clicking on the arrow next to
19 the session name to display all snapshots, and then selecting one.
23 If the session is not displayed in the Recent Sessions list, the <kbd
24 class="menu">Other Sessions</kbd> button will bring up a file selection dialog
25 to navigate the file system.
28 Alternatively, a <kbd class="menu">New Session</kbd> can be created.
31 <h2 class="clear">New Session page</h2>
34 <img class="mini" src="/images/session_new.png" alt="The New Session Dialog">
36 The New Session Dialog
40 <figure class="right">
41 <img class="mini" src="/images/template_setup.png" alt="One of the Template Setup Dialogs">
43 One of the Template Setup Dialogs
48 This page allows to type in the name of a session, select a folder to save it in, and
49 optionally use an existing <a href="@@session-templates">template</a>.
52 The different templates, both the "factory" ones and the ones created by the user,
53 are easily available on the left-side panel. Depending on the chosen template,
54 a specific Template Settings window may be shown, allowing the user to fine-tune
55 the details of the template and/or choose between the different options of the
60 Templates can be huge time savers when working on similar projects, or on
61 usual projects, as they allow to preset and tweak a lot of the <a
62 href="@@session-properties-dialog">session properties</a>, (like the
63 availability of a <a href="@@monitor-section">monitoring section</a>,
64 connection to a Master Bus, etc.), and handle the creation of <a
65 href="@@adding-tracks-busses-and-vcas">tracks</a> of any kind.
68 The <kbd class="menu">Empty Template</kbd> preset allows to create a session
69 "from scratch". Everything a session template does can be done manually
70 —albeit more tediously— and the resulting sessions will not differ
74 As of Ardour 5.12, which introduced the new template dialog, the factory templates are:
78 <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Empty Template</kbd></th>
79 <td>Creates an empty session with no tracks and no monitoring. A stereo Master Bus is created, and any track created defaults to output on this bus.</td></tr>
80 <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Advanced Session</kbd></th>
81 <td>Like the Empty Template, but adds the ability to easily manage the Master bus (channels, hardware connection, and track autoconnection), and the creation of a monitoring section.</td></tr>
82 <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Recording Session</kbd></th>
83 <td>Like the Empty Template, but allows the fast creation of a number of tracks, optionally ready to record.</td></tr>
84 <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Live Band</kbd></th>
85 <td>Fast tracks the creation of usual tracks for a band setup (vocals, guitars, piano, ...), and optionally adds usual effects on these tracks.</td></tr>
89 Selecting a template will display its description in the right-side panel, while
90 hovering over a template name will show a tooltip indicating if it is a factory
91 template, or, if it is a user-created one, which version of Ardour was used to
95 Whether or not a template is used, and before the "Template Setup" dialog, the
96 Audio/MIDI Setup will be shown.
99 <h2 class="clear">Audio/MIDI Setup</h2>
101 <figure class="left">
102 <img class="mini" src="/images/Audio-MIDI_Setup.png" alt="The Audio/MIDI Setup Dialog"/>
104 The Audio/MIDI Setup Dialog
109 This window exposes the different audio options to be used by Ardour for the
110 current work session, for hardware and software and is made of:
114 <tr><th>Audio System</th>
115 <td>Depending on the operating system, Ardour can possibly use different audio
116 systems, e.g. on Linux, both <abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound Architecture">
117 ALSA</abbr> and <abbr title="JACK Audio Connection Kit">JACK</abbr> are
122 On Mac OS X this will typically be <kbd class="menu">CoreAudio</kbd>. On Linux usually
123 this will be either <kbd class="menu"><abbr title="Free Firewire Audio Driver fOr
124 linux">FFADO</abbr></kbd>
125 or <kbd class="menu"><abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound
126 Architecture">ALSA</abbr></kbd>, depending on whether or not a firewire device
127 is used. Advanced users on all platforms may also
128 use <kbd class="menu">NetJack</kbd> which provides network audio I/O.
131 <td>The selector should show all available interfaces provided by the
132 driver above and which are capable of duplex operation.
134 When using an Intel Mac running OS X and the builtin audio
135 interface, its separate input and output devices must be <a href="@@using-more-than-one-audio-device">
136 merged</a> first into a single "aggregate device" before Ardour will be able
140 <tr><th>Sample Rate</th>
142 The selector will allow to select from any sample rate supported by the device
145 <tr><th>Buffer Size</th>
147 The size of the buffer used by the audio interface can be adjusted
148 to allow for either lower latency, or lower CPU usage and higher
151 <tr><th>Input/Output Channels</th>
153 Specifies the number of hardware channels to use. The
154 default is <kbd class="menu">all available channels</kbd>.</td></tr>
155 <tr><th>Hardware Input/Output Latency</th>
156 <td>Specify the hardware delay in samples for precise latency compensation.</td></tr>
157 <tr><th>Calibrate</th>
159 This button runs a semi-automated guided process to obtain
160 precise hardware latency measurements for the above option.</td></tr>
161 <tr><th>MIDI System</th>
163 Selects the MIDI driver to use. On Mac OS X, this will be <kbd
164 class="menu">CoreMIDI</kbd>. On Linux, it can be changed between two legacy
165 ALSA drivers or the (preferred) new JACK+ALSA implementation.</td></tr>