---
-title: Times
+layout: default
+title: Editing Clocks
---
-
-
-
-<p>
-
- <dfn>Clocks</dfn> in Ardour are used to display <dfn>time values</dfn> precisely.
-
- In many cases, they are also one way to edit (change) time values, and in a few
-
- cases, the only way. All clocks share the same basic appearance and functionality,
-
- which is described below, but a few clocks serve particularly important roles.
-
-</p>
-
-
-
-<h2>Transport Clocks</h2>
-
-
-
-<p>
-
- In the transport bar of the editor window there are two clocks (unless you
-
- are on a very small screen), that display the current position of the playhead
-
- and additional information related to transport control and the timeline. These
-
- are called the <dfn>transport clocks</dfn>; the left one is the primary
-
- transport clock and the right one is the secondary transport clock.
-
- They look like this:
-
-</p>
-
-
-
-<img src="/images/new_main_clocks.png" alt="An image of the transport clocks in Ardour" />
-
-
-
-<p>
-
- Editing the time in the transport clocks will reposition the playhead in the same
-
- way that various other editing operations will.
-
-</p>
-
-
-
-<h3>The Big Clock</h3>
-
-<p>
-
- To show the current playhead position in a big, resizable window, activate
-
- <kbd class="menu">Window > Big Clock</kbd>. The big clock is very useful
-
- when you need to work away from the screen but still want to see the playhead
-
- position clearly (such as when working with a remote control device across
-
- a room). The big clock will change its visual appearance to indicate when active
-
- recording is taking place. Below on the left is a screenshot showing a fairly
-
- large big clock window filling a good part of the display, and on the right,
-
- the same clock during active recording.
-
-</p>
-
-<a href="/images/bigclock.png"><img src="/images/bigclock.png" height="100" alt="an image of the big clock filling a screen" /></a> <a href="/images/bigclock-recording.png"><img src="/images/bigclock-recording.png" height="100" alt="an image of the big clock while recording"
-
-/></a>
-
-
-
-<h3>The Special Role of the Secondary Transport Clock</h3>
-
-<p>
-
- On a few occasions Ardour needs to display time values to the user, but there
-
- is no obvious way to specify what units to use. The most common case is the big
-
- cursor that appears when dragging regions. For this and other similar cases,
-
- Ardour will display time using the same units as the secondary clock.
-
-</p>
-
-<h4>Why are there two transport clocks?</h4>
-
-<p>
-
- Having two transport clocks lets you see the playhead position in two different
-
- time units without having to change any settings. For example, you can see the
-
- playhead position in both timecode units and BBT time.
-
-</p>
-
-
-
-<h3>Selection and Punch Clocks</h3>
-
-<p>
-
- The transport bar also contains a set of 5 clocks that show the current
-
- <dfn>selection range</dfn> and <dfn>punch ranges</dfn>. Clicking on the punch
-
- range clocks will locate to either the beginning or end of the punch range.
-
- Similarly, clicking on the range clocks will locate to either the beginning
-
- or end of the current selection. In this screen shot there is no current
-
- selection range, so the selection clocks show an "off" state.
-
-</p>
-
-
-
-<img src="/images/selectionpunchclocks.png" alt="An image of the the selection and punch clocks in Ardour 3" />
-
-
-
<h2>Clock Modes</h2>
<p>
-
Every clock in Ardour has four different, selectable <dfn>clock
-
modes</dfn>. Each mode displays time using different units.
-
You can change the clock mode by <kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>-clicking
-
on the clock and selecting the desired mode from the menu. Some clocks are
-
entirely independent of any other clock's mode; others are linked so that
-
changing one changes all clocks in that group. The different modes are:
-
</p>
<dl>
-
- <dt>Timecode</dt>
-
- <dd>Time is shown as <dfn><abbr title="Society of Motion Picture and Television
-
+ <dt>Timecode</dt><dd>Time is shown as <dfn><abbr title="Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers">SMPTE</abbr> timecode</dfn> in Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames,
-
measured from the timecode zero point on the timeline (which may not
-
correspond to the session start and/or absolute zero on the timeline,
-
depending on configurable timecode offsets).
-
The frames value is dictated by either the session <abbr title="Frames Per
-
Second">FPS</abbr> setting, or, if slaved to an external timecode master,
-
the master's setting. In the transport clocks, the FPS value is shown below
-
the time display, along with an indication of the current timecode source
-
(<samp>INT</samp> means that Ardour is its own timecode source).</dd>
-
- <dt>BBT</dt>
-
- <dd>Time is shown as Bars:Beats:Ticks, indicating <dfn>musical time</dfn> measured
-
+ <dt>BBT</dt><dd>Time is shown as Bars:Beats:Ticks, indicating <dfn>musical time</dfn> measured
from the start of the session. The transport clocks show the current tempo
-
in <abbr title="Beats Per Minute">bpm</abbr> and meter below the time
-
display.</dd>
-
- <dt>Minutes:Seconds</dt>
-
- <dd>Time is shown as Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds, measured from the
-
+ <dt>Minutes:Seconds</dt><dd>Time is shown as Hours:Minutes:Seconds.Milliseconds, measured from the
absolute start of the timeline (ignoring the session start and any timecode
-
offsets).</dd>
-
- <dt>Samples</dt>
-
- <dd>Time is shown as a <dfn>sample count</dfn> from the absolute start of the timeline
-
+ <dt>Samples</dt><dd>Time is shown as a <dfn>sample count</dfn> from the absolute start of the timeline
(ignoring the session start and any timecode offsets). The number of
-
samples per second is given by the current sample rate, and in the transport
-
clocks, this rate is shown below the time display along with any
-
pullup/pulldown adjustment.</dd>
-
</dl>
-
-
-<h3>Special Modes for the Transport Clocks</h3>
-
-<p>
-
- In addition to the time-unit modes mentioned above, each of the two transport
-
- clocks (if you work on a small screen, you may only have one) can be
-
- independently set to display <dfn>Delta to Edit Point</dfn> in whatever time
-
- units its current mode indicates. This setting means that the clock shows the
-
- distance between the playhead and the current edit point, and it may show a
-
- positive or negative value depending on the temporal order of these two points.
-
- The clocks will use a different color when in this mode to avoid confusion.
-
-</p>
-
-<p>
-
- To switch either (or both!) of the transport clocks into this mode, use
-
- <kbd class="menu"> Edit > Preferences > Transport</kbd> and select
-
- the relevant checkboxes.
-
-</p>
-
-<p>
-
- Note that when in <samp>Delta to Edit Point</samp> mode, the transport clocks
-
- cannot be edited.
-
-</p>
-
-
-
<h2>Changing clock values with the keyboard</h2>
<p>
-
New values for the clock can be typed in after clicking on the relevant clock.
-
Clicking on the clock will show a thin vertical cursor bar just to the right
-
of the next character to be overwritten. Enter time in the same order as the
-
current clock mode—if the clock is in Timecode mode, you need to enter
-
hours, minutes, seconds, frames. So, to change to a time of 12:15:20:15 you
-
would type <kbd class="input">1 2 1 5 2 0 1 5</kbd>. Each number you type will
-
appear in a different color, from right to left, overwriting the existing value.
-
Mid-edit, after typing <kbd class="input">3 2 2 2</kbd> the clock might look like this:
-
</p>
-<img src="/images/clockedit.png" alt="An image of a clock being edited in Ardour 3" />
+<img src="/images/clockedit.png" alt="An image of a clock being edited in Ardour">
<p>
-
To finish the edit, press <kbd>↵</kbd> or <kbd>Tab</kbd>. To exit an
-
edit without changing the clock press <kbd>ESC</kbd>. If you mis-type an entry
-
so that the new value would be illegal (for example, resulting in more than 30
-
frames when Timecode is set to 30 frames per second), the clock will reset at
-
the end of the edit, and move the cursor back to the start so that you can
-
start over.
-
</p>
-
-
-<h3>Avoiding the mouse entirely</h3>
+<h2>Avoiding the mouse entirely</h2>
<p>
-
There is a shortcut available for those who wish to be able to edit the transport
-
clocks entirely without the mouse. It can be found in
-
<kbd class="menu">Window > Key Bindings > Transport > Focus On
-
Clock</kbd>. If bound to a key (<kbd>÷</kbd> on the numerical
-
keypad is the
-
default), then pressing that key is equivalent to clicking on the primary (left)
-
transport clock, and editing can begin immediately.
-
</p>
-
-
-<h3>Entering Partial Times</h3>
+<h2>Entering Partial Times</h2>
<p>
-
One detail of the editing design that is not immediately obvious is that it is
-
possible to enter part of a full time value. Suppose that the clock is in BBT
-
mode, displaying <samp>024|03|0029</samp>, and you want to alter the value to
-
the first beat of the current bar. Click on the clock and type
-
<kbd class="input">0 1 0 0 0 0</kbd>. Similarly, if it is in Minutes:Seconds
-
mode, displaying <samp>02:03:04.456</samp>, and you want to get to exactly 2
-
hours, click on the clock and type <kbd class="input">0 0 0 0 0 0 0</kbd> to
-
reset the minutes, seconds and milliseconds fields.
-
</p>
-
-
-<h3>Entering Delta Times</h3>
+<h2>Entering Delta Times</h2>
<p>
-
You can also type values into the clock that are intended as a relative change,
-
rather than a new absolute value. Simply end the edit by pressing
-
<kbd>+</kbd> or <kbd>-</kbd> (the ones on any keypad will also work). The plus
-
key will add the entered value to the current value of the clock, minus will
-
subtract it. For example, if the clock is in Samples mode and displays
-
<samp>2917839</samp>, you move it back 2000 samples by typing
-
<kbd class="input">2 0 0 0</kbd> and <kbd>-</kbd>, rather than ending with
-
- Enter or Tab. </p>
-
-
+ Enter or Tab.
+</p>
<h2>Changing clock values with the mouse</h2>
-
-
<h3>Using a scroll wheel</h3>
-
-
<p>
-
Position the mouse pointer over the clock, and move the scroll wheel. Moving
-
the scroll wheel up (<kbd class="mouse">⇑</kbd>) increases the value
-
shown on the clock, moving it down (<kbd class="mouse">⇑</kbd>)
-
decreases it. The step size is equal to the unit of the field
-
you are hovering over (seconds, hours, etc.).
-
</p>
-
-
<h3>Dragging the mouse</h3>
-
-
<p>
-
Position the mouse pointer over the clock, press the left mouse button and drag.
-
Dragging upwards increases the value shown on the clock, dragging downwards
-
decreases it, again with a step size equal to the unit of the field you
-
began the drag on.
-
</p>
projects / ardour-manual-diverged / blobdiff