-
-
<img class="left" src="/images/toolbar-grid.png" alt="Editor toolbar's grid">
-
-
<p>
-
- Ardour's editor utilizes a <dfn>grid</dfn> to assist in the placement
-
- of regions on the timeline, or with editing functions that need to happen
-
- at a specific point in time. You can choose if you want the cursor and
-
- various objects to snap to this grid, and how you want the snapping to
-
- behave. You can modify the grid units to fit your needs.
-
+ Ardour's editor utilizes a <dfn>grid</dfn> to assist in the placement of regions
+ on the timeline, or with editing functions that need to happen at a specific
+ point in time. This <dfn>snapping</dfn> of the cursor and various objects to the
+ grid can be toggled on or off, as does its behaviour, and grid units.
</p>
-
-
<h2>About Snapping</h2>
+<p>
+ There are two ways to think about aligning material to a grid. The first and
+ most obvious one is where an object's position is clamped to grid lines. In
+ Ardour, this is called <dfn>absolute snap</dfn> and is commonly used when
+ working with sampled material where audio begins exactly at the beginning of a
+ file, note or region.
+</p>
+<p>
+ The second, <dfn>relative snap</dfn>, is used when an object's position relative
+ to the grid lines is important. In music, this allows to move objects around
+ without changing the "feel" (or timing) of a performance.
+</p>
-<p>There are two ways to think about aligning material to a grid.
-
- The first and most obvious one is where an object's position is clamped
-
- to grid lines. In Ardour, this is called <dfn>absolute snap</dfn>
-
- and is commonly used when working with sampled material where audio
-
- begins exactly at the beginning of a file, note or region.</br>
-
- The second, <dfn>relative snap</dfn>, is used when an object's position
-
- relative to the grid lines is important. In music, this allows you to
-
- move objects around without changing the "feel" (or timing) of a performance.</br>
-
- Absolute snap is the default method of snapping in Ardour.</br>
-
- While dragging objects you may switch from absolute to relative snap by
+<p>
+ Absolute snap is the default method of snapping in Ardour.
+</p>
- pressing the absolute snap modifier key(s).</br>
+<p>
+ While dragging objects, pressing the absolute snap modifier key(s) switches
+ from absolute to relative snap.
+</p>
- You may also disable snap entirely by using the snap modifier (see below).</br>
+<p>
+ The snap can also be entirely disabled by using the snap modifier (see below).
+</p>
+<p>
Note that in relative snap mode the reference point is taken to be the distance
+ to the nearest grid line.
+</p>
- to the nearest grid line.</br>
-
- Note also that when an object lies exactly on a grid line, there will be no difference
-
- between relative and absolute snap modes.</br>
-
- The realtive snap and snap modifiers (along with other modifier keys) may be set in
-
- <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > User Interaction</kbd></br>
-
- For common use patterns, it is recommended that you assign a unique key for
-
- one snap modifier and two keys for the other in such a way that they share an otherwise unused key.
-
- For example, you may choose the snap modifier to be the <kbd class="mod2"> </kbd> key and the
+<p>
+ Note also that when an object lies exactly on a grid line, there will be no
+ difference between relative and absolute snap modes.
+</p>
- relative snap modifier to be the <kbd class="mod2"> </kbd> and <kbd class="mod4"> </kbd> keys.
+<p>
+ The realtive snap and snap modifiers (along with other modifier keys) may be set
+ in <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > User Interaction</kbd>
+</p>
+<p>
+ For common use patterns, it is recommended to assign a unique key for one
+ snap modifier and two keys for the other in such a way that they share an
+ otherwise unused key. For example, the snap modifier may be chosen to be the
+ <kbd class="mod2n"></kbd> key and the relative snap modifier to be the <kbd
+ class="mod2n"></kbd> and <kbd class="mod4n"></kbd> keys.
</p>.
-
-
<h2>Snap Modes</h2>
<p>
-
- Using the above modifications, Ardour supports three different modes of snapping to the grid:
-
+ Using the above modifications, Ardour supports three different modes of snapping
+ to the grid:
</p>
-
-
<dl class="wide-table">
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd></dt>
-
- <dd>disables the grid. All objects move freely in this mode.</br>
-
- In <kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd> mode, you may temporarily activate the grid by pressing the
-
- snap modifier (for absolute snap) or switch to relative snap by pressing the relative snap modifier.</dd>
-
+ <dd>disables the grid. All objects move freely in this mode.</br>
+ In <kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd> mode, the grid may be temporarily activated
+ by pressing the snap modifier (for absolute snap) or switch to relative snap
+ by pressing the relative snap modifier.</dd>
<dt><kbd class="menu">Grid</kbd></dt>
-
- <dd>activates normal snapping. All positions of objects snap to
-
- the grid. (See <a href="#gridunits">Grid Units</a> below
-
- to change the grid). If you try to move an object in "Grid"-mode, it
-
- does not change its position until you move the mouse far enough for the
-
- object to reach the next grid line.</br>
-
- Sometimes you may wish to maintain an objects' position relative to the grid line.
-
- In order to do this, use the "snap relative" modifier.
-
- When holding down this modifier during a drag, the dragged object will jump
-
- while maintaining its original distance from the line.</br>
-
- New objects will always be created at grid points.</br>
-
- Holding down the snap modifier will disable the current grid setting and allow you to move the object freely.</br>
-
- </dd>
-
+ <dd>activates normal snapping. All positions of objects snap to the grid. (See
+ <a href="#gridunits">Grid Units</a> below to change the grid).
+ Moving an object in "Grid"-mode, does not change its position until
+ the mouse is far enough for the object to reach the next grid line.</br>
+ To maintain an objects' position relative to the grid line, the "snap relative"
+ modifier can be used. When holding down this
+ modifier during a drag, the dragged object will jump while maintaining its
+ original distance from the line.</br>
+ New objects will always be created at grid
+ points.</br>
+ Holding down the snap modifier will disable the current grid
+ setting and allow you to move the object freely.</dd>
<dt><kbd class="menu">Magnetic</kbd></dt>
-
- <dd>is a less strict type of snapping. Objects can still be moved to any
-
- position, but positions close to the relative or absolute grid points will snap.
-
- In order to move an object very close to a snap point, it may be necessary
-
- to zoom in to prevent snapping to that point, or to use the snap modifier to disable snap completely.</br>
-
- As with Grid mode, the snap modifier will disable snap completely while the
-
- absolute snap modifier will move the "notch" of Magnetic snap to the grid lines.</dd>
-
+ <dd>is a less strict type of snapping. Objects can still be moved to any
+ position, but positions close to the relative or absolute grid points will snap.
+ In order to move an object very close to a snap point, it may be necessary to
+ zoom in to prevent snapping to that point, or to use the snap modifier to
+ disable snap completely.</br> As with Grid mode, the snap modifier will disable
+ snap completely while the absolute snap modifier will move the "notch" of
+ Magnetic snap to the grid lines.</dd>
</dl>
-
-
<h2>Syncing Regions to the Grid</h2>
<p>
-
- By default, a region's beginning will be used as the reference for both types of snapping,
-
- but you can change this behaviour by setting a <dfn>sync point</dfn> in
-
- the region. Select the region(s) and press <kbd>V</kbd>. This will set
-
- the sync point to your edit point.</p>
-
-
+ By default, a region's beginning will be used as the reference for both types of
+ snapping, this behaviour can be changed by setting a <dfn>sync point</dfn>
+ in the region, by selecting the region(s) and pressing <kbd>V</kbd>. This will set the
+ sync point to the current <a href="@@edit-point-control">edit point</a>.
+</p>
<h2 id="gridunits">Grid Units</h2>
<p>
-
The selector next to the grid mode selector defines the size of the grid
-
- elements. You can set your grid to several different units:
-
+ elements. The grid can be set to several different units:
</p>
<dl class="wide-table">
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">CD Frames</kbd></dt>
-
- <dd>A CD Frame is 1/75th of a second. Snapping to CD Frames (using absolute snap) can be used to avoid issues with CD track
-
- lengths.</dd>
-
+ <dd>A CD Frame is 1/75th of a second. Snapping to CD Frames (using absolute snap) can be used to avoid issues with CD track lengths.</dd>
<dt><kbd class="menu">Timecode Frames/Seconds/Minutes</kbd></dt>
-
- <dd>The duration of a frame depends on the timecode settings for the
-
- session.</dd>
-
+ <dd>The duration of a frame depends on the timecode settings for the session.</dd>
<dt><kbd class="menu">Seconds/Minutes</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>These are absolute time units, unaffected by sample rate or timecode settings</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Beats/N</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>Set the grid to units of 1/N beats, where N can be 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Beats</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>Set the grid to whole beats. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Bars</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>Set the grid to whole bars. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Markers</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>The grid lines are the markers.</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Region Starts</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>The grid lines are constructed from region start points (see below).</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Region Ends</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>The grid lines are constructed from region end points (see below).</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Region Syncs</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>The grid lines are constructed from region sync points.</dd>
-
<dt><kbd class="menu">Region Bounds</kbd></dt>
-
<dd>The grid lines are constructed from region start or end points.</dd>
-
</dl>
-
-
<p>
-
- To use Region starts/ends/syncs/bounds as snap choices, you must have
-
-either
-
+ To use Region starts/ends/syncs/bounds as snap choices, it is necessary to have either:
</p>
-
-
<ul>
-
- <li><em>No</em> tracks selected, which means that Ardour snaps to regions on any track, or </li>
-
- <li>Several tracks selected, which means that Ardour only snaps to regions on those selected tracks.</li>
-
+ <li><em>No</em> tracks selected, which means that Ardour snaps to regions on any
+ track, or </li>
+ <li>Several tracks selected, which means that Ardour only snaps to regions on
+ those selected tracks.</li>
</ul>
-
-
<p>
-
- If you are moving items on a track, and only the current track is selected,
-
- then you will only be able to snap to other regions on the same track.
-
- This means that enabling
-
- <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > Editor > Link Selections of Regions and
-
- Tracks</kbd> will make the "Region" grid unit unusable. Avoid the use of this option if
-
- you are going to use any of the Region grid units.
-
+ If items are moved on a track, and only the current track is selected, then
+ snapping will only happen with other regions on the same track. This means
+ that enabling <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > Editor > Link
+ Selections of Regions and Tracks</kbd> will make the "Region" grid unit
+ unusable. This option should not be used in conjunction with the use any of the
+ Region grid units.
</p>
-
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff