-<figure class="right">
- <img src="/images/preferences.png" alt="The Preferences window">
- <figcaption>
- The Preferences window
- </figcaption>
-</figure>
<p>
Global <dfn>preferences</dfn> control general workflow and system
configuration file</dfn> in the user's home directory.
</p>
+<figure class="right">
+ <img src="/images/preferences.png" alt="The Preferences window">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Preferences window
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<p>
Preferences are conveniently grouped by category:
</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="#preferences-general">General</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance">Appearance</a></li>
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-recorder">Recorder</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-editor">Editor</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-mixer">Mixer</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-toolbar">Toolbar</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-size-and-scale">Size and Scale</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-colors">Colors</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-quirks">Quirks</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-appearance-translation">Translation</a></li>
+ </ul>
<li><a href="#preferences-editor">Editor</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-mixer">Mixer</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-signal_flow">Signal Flow</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-audio">Audio</a></li>
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-editor-snap">Snap</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-editor-modifiers">Modifiers</a></li>
+ </ul>
<li><a href="#preferences-midi">MIDI</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-metronome">Metronome</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-metering">Metering</a></li>
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-midi-port-config">MIDI Port Config</a></li>
+ </ul>
+
<li><a href="#preferences-transport">Transport</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-control_surfaces">Control Surfaces</a></li>
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-transport-chase">Chase</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-transport-generate">Generate</a></li>
+ </ul>
<li><a href="#preferences-plugins">Plugins</a></li>
- <li><a href="#preferences-appearance">Appearance</a></li>
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-plugins-vst">VST</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-plugins-audio_unit">Audio Unit</a></li>
+ </ul>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-monitoring">Monitoring</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-signal_flow">Signal Flow</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-metronome">Metronome</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-control_surfaces">Control Surfaces</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-metering">Metering</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#preferences-performance">Performance</a></li>
<li><a href="#preferences-video">Video</a></li>
</ul>
-<h2 id="preferences-general">General</h2>
+<h2 class="clear" id="preferences-general">General</h2>
-<ul>
+<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>DSP CPU Utilization</dfn>
+ <dfn>Audio/MIDI Setup</dfn>
<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Show Audio/MIDI Setup window</dfn> Shows the
+ <a href="@@audio-midi-setup">Audio/MIDI Setup</a> dialog.
+ </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Signal processing uses:</dfn> sets how many cpu processors can be
- used to do signal processing. It can be set to use one up to all
- processors.
+ <dfn>Try to auto-launch audio/midi engine</dfn> allows Ardour to try to
+ automatically launch the audio and MIDI system, driver and device, thus not
+ showing the <a href="@@audio-midi-setup">Audio/MIDI Setup</a> dialog. This
+ can save a little time if the system is always used the same way.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Memory Usage</dfn>
+ <dfn>Editor Undo</dfn> defines the behaviour of the Undo operations:
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Waveform image cache (megabytes):</dfn> sets the maximum amount of ram that
- can be used to store the images representing the waveforms in the editor. Past
- this amount, the images will be regenerated when needed, which can significantly
- decrease the system's performance.
+ <strong>Limit undo history</strong> sets how many commands can be
+ undone using <kbd class="mod1">Z</kbd> or <kbd class="menu">Edit > Undo</kbd>.
+ Unchecking will keep an endless memory of operations to undo, at the
+ expense of memory.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <strong>Save undo history</strong> sets how many commands are saved so
+ they are available to be undone after reopening the session. This can
+ also be unchecked to keep all actions undoable, at the cost of bigger
+ session files.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <strong>Verify removal of last capture</strong> when enabled prompts to
+ verify removal the last recording capture when
+ <kbd class="menu">Edit > Remove Last Capture</kbd> is executed.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Engine</dfn>
+ <dfn>Session Management</dfn>:
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Try to auto-launch audio/midi engine</dfn> allows Ardour to try to
- automatically launch the audio and MIDI system, driver and device, thus not
- showing the <a href="@@newopen-session-dialog">Audio/MIDI Setup</a> dialog. This
- can save a little time if the system is always used the same way.
+ <strong>Make periodic backups of the session file</strong> will create
+ a backup session file after changes to the timeline. The backup file is
+ the session name followed by <em>.ardour.bak</em>. The backup can be
+ used to recover from crashes when the session had not been explicitly
+ saved.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <strong>Default folder for new sessions:</strong> defaults the folder
+ where Ardour will create new session folders. This is used in the
+ <em>Session Setup</em> dialog displayed by
+ <kbd class="menu">Session > New</kbd>.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <strong>Maximum number of recent sessions:</strong> determines how
+ many of the last opened sessions shows in the <em>Recent Sessions</em>
+ dialog displayed by <kbd class="menu">Session > Recent</kbd>.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Automation</dfn>
+ <dfn>Import</dfn>:
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <strong>Drag and drop import always copies files to session</strong>
+ selects, and then disables changes to, the <em>Copy files to session</em>
+ option in the <a href="@@import-dialog">Add Existing Media</a> dialog.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Export</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <strong>Thinning factor</strong> ranges from 0 to 1000 with larger
- values sending fewer automation changes. Thinning is like lossy
- audio compression, removing data that is less likely to be noticed,
- although the more is removed, the more likely the loss will be noticed.
- The advantage to thinning is reduced CPU usage.
- </li>
+ <dfn>Save loudness analysis as image file after export</dfn> allows, when the
+ <kbd class="option">Analyze Exported Audio</kbd> is checked in the
+ <a href="@@export-dialog">Export dialog</a>, to save the analysis graph
+ as a file named <code>session.png</code> alongside the exported audio
+ file(s) (in the same folder).
+ </li>
<li>
- <strong>Automation sampling interval</strong> ranges from 1 to
- 1000 ms. Determines how frequently the automation input is
- sampled. The shorter the interval the higher the accuracy but also
- the higher the CPU requirements.
+ <dfn>Save Mixer screenshot after export</dfn> creates and exports
+ a graphical image of the Mixer window as a file named
+ <code>session-mixer.png</code> alongside the exported audio file(s)
+ (in the same folder).
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Tempo</dfn>
+ <dfn>New Version Check</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Allow non quarter-note pulse</dfn>: by default, Ardour understands the <a
- href="@@tempo-and-meter">tempo</a> as the number of quarter notes in a minute.
- Checking this option allows to set the tempo based on any division of the note,
- from whole to 1/128th. This is reflected in the <kbd class="menu">Edit
- Tempo</kbd> window (accessed by double clicking a tempo marker) that shows a
- "Pulse" menu when this option is checked.
+ <dfn>Check for announcements at application start</dfn> sends an
+ anonymous request to Ardour's server to check for a new version.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
+</ul>
+
+<h2 id="preferences-appearance">Appearance</h2>
+
+<ul>
<li>
<dfn>GUI Lock</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Lock timeout (seconds)
:</dfn>locks the <abbr title="Graphical User
+ <dfn>Lock timeout (seconds)
</dfn>: locks the <abbr title="Graphical User
Interface">GUI</abbr> after this many idle seconds (zero being 'never lock').
The GUI can also be locked with <kbd class="menu">Session > Lock</kbd>. When
locked, a dialog will display a "Click to unlock" button.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>System Screensaver Mode:</dfn>can be used to prevent the
+ <dfn>System Screensaver Mode</dfn>: can be used to prevent the
screensaver to be launched by the system, either while recording
(e.g. for long and unattended recording session), when Ardour is
simply started, or never (the screensaver is then able to start).
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-</ul>
-
-<h3 id="session">Session</h3>
-
-<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Undo</dfn> defines the behaviour of the Undo operations:
+ <dfn>Theme</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <strong>Limit undo history</strong> sets how many commands can be
- undone using <kbd class="mod1">Z</kbd> or <kbd class="menu">Edit > Undo</kbd>.
- Unchecking will keep an endless memory of operations to undo, at the
- expense of memory.
+ <dfn>Draw "flat" buttons</dfn>: when enabled, button controls
+ in the user interface will be drawn with a flat look. When disabled button
+ controls will have a slight 3D appearance.
</li>
<li>
- <strong>Save undo history</strong> sets how many commands are saved so
- they are available to be undone after reopening the session. This can
- also be unchecked to keep all actions undoable, at the cost of bigger
- session files.
+ <dfn>Draw "boxy" buttons</dfn>: when enabled, button controls
+ in the user interface will have square corners instead of being slightly
+ rounded.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>LED meter style</dfn> if checked, the bar meters in the editor and
+ mixer will be styled to look like if they were made of LEDs, with a dotted
+ bar. Unchecking this option makes the bars flat and continuous.
</li>
<li>
- <strong>Verify removal of last capture</strong> when enabled prompts to
- verify removal the last recording capture when
- <kbd class="menu">Edit > Remove Last Capture</kbd> is executed.
+ <dfn>Icon Set:</dfn> Changes the mouse cursor icons used to indicate
+ different tool modes in the editor. An example would be the icons used to
+ indicate whether the cursor will select a region or change the length of a
+ region.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Session Management</dfn>:
+ <dfn>Graphical User Interface</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <strong>Make periodic backups of the session file</strong> will create
- a backup session file after changes to the timeline. The backup file is
- the session name followed by <em>.ardour.bak</em>. The backup can be
- used to recover from crashes when the session had not been explicitly
- saved.
+ <dfn>Highlight widgets on mouseover</dfn>, when checked, makes Ardour's
+ widgets (buttons, sliders, …) slightly change color when the mouse
+ hovers them, visually indicating what a mouse action would interact with.
</li>
<li>
- <strong>Drag and drop import always copies files to session</strong>
- selects, and then disables changes to, the <em>Copy files to session</em>
- option in the <a href="@@import-dialog">Add Existing Media</a> dialog.
+ <dfn>Show tooltips if mouse hovers over a control</dfn> when checked,
+ displays a little help bubble about the control the mouse hovers. The mouse
+ pointer needs to stay idle for about 1 sec for the tooltip to appear.
</li>
<li>
- <strong>Default folder for new sessions:</strong> defaults the folder
- where Ardour will create new session folders. This is used in the
- <em>Session Setup</em> dialog displayed by
- <kbd class="menu">Session > New</kbd>.
+ <dfn>Update clocks at TC Frame rate</dfn>: Ardour updates its clocks every
+ 100 ms. Checking this will make the clock refresh at every TimeCode
+ frame which is more responsive, at the cost of a bit more system stress.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Blink Rec-Arm buttons</dfn>: when enabled, the record-armed
+ buttons on tracks will blink when they are armed but not currently recording.
+ When disabled, the record-armed buttons on tracks will be outlined in red
+ instead of blinking. The global record-arm button in the
+ <a href="@@transport-bar">Transport bar</a> is unaffected.
</li>
<li>
- <strong>Maximum number of recent sessions:</strong> determines how many
- of the last opened sessions shows in the
- <em>Recent Sessions</em> dialog displayed by
- <kbd class="menu">Session > Recent</kbd>.
+ <dfn>Blink Alert indicators</dfn>: when enabled, the Alert indicators (like
+ the <kbd class="menu">Error Log</kbd> or the <kbd class="menu">Feedback</kbd>
+ button) will blink when they are active (when an error or feedback
+ has been detected, respectively). When disabled, the indicators will turn red instead of
+ blinking.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-</ul>
-
-<h3 id="translation">Translation</h3>
-<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Internationalization</dfn>
+ <dfn>Graphics Acceleration</dfn>
<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Disable Graphics Hardware Acceleration (requires restart)</dfn>:
+ Ardour uses hardware accelerated UI rendering by default for speed.
+ Sometimes though, a buggy driver can cause this to make the system slow or
+ unstable. Checking this will make Ardour draw its UI without
+ hardware acceleration, in software, improving stability and responsiveness
+ on those buggy systems at the expense of speed.
+ </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Use translations</dfn> sets if Ardour should use a translated
- version of all the messages. The default (unchecked) is English (US). When
- checked, and if a language file exists for the system language, this file
- will be used to translate Ardour.
+ <dfn>Possibly improve slow graphical performance (requires restart)</dfn>:
+ Wherever gradients appear in the UI, Ardour uses hardware accelerated
+ gradients creation. Checking this will make Ardour draw its own gradients without
+ hardware acceleration for stability on systems with buggy drivers.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-recorder">Recorder</h2>
+
+<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Input Meter Layout</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Input Meter Layout</dfn>: in Recorder mode, determines if audio
+ inputs are displayed horizontally or vertically.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-editor">Editor</h2>
-<h2 id="preferences-editor">Editor</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<dfn>General</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Prompt for new marker names</dfn> when enabled, popup a dialog
- when a new <a href="@@working-with-markers">marker</a> is created. This allows
- markers to be named as they are created.
+ <dfn>Use name highlight bars in region displays (requires a restart)</dfn>:
+ when enabled, the region name is displayed, in the editor, in its own opaque bar
+ at the bottom of the region. When disabled, the region name is overlaid
+ at the top of the region, possibly over audio waveforms or MIDI notes.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Auto-scroll speed when dragging playhead:</dfn> chooses how fast the canvas
- scrolls when dragging the playhead outside of the visible canvas.
+ <dfn>Region color follows track color</dfn>: when enabled,
+ the background color of regions in the editor will be displayed using
+ the color assigned to the track. When disabled the default region
+ background color will be used.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Limit zooming & summary view to X minutes beyond session extents:</dfn>
- prevents the zoom out both in the editor and the summary, to show anything past
- the chosen time after the end marker, restraining the vision to only useful
- content.
+ <dfn>Show Region Names</dfn>: when enabled, overlays the name of
+ the region over its waveform representation, in the top-left.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Waveforms color gradient depth:</dfn> determines how much gradient
+ effect is applied to the inner of audio waveforms displayed in the editor.
+ Values range from 0.0, no gradient effect, to 1.0, maximum effect.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Zoom to mouse position when zooming with scroll wheel</dfn>: by default,
- Ardour zooms to the <a href="@@edit-point-control">edit point</a>. When this
- option is checked, and the zoom is done with <kbd class="mod1n"></kbd> + mousewheel,
- the zoom will happen at the mouse cursor position regardless of the edit point
- chosen.
+ <dfn>Timeline item gradient depth:</dfn> Determines how much
+ gradient effect is applied to the backgrounds of regions displayed in the
+ editor. Values range from 0.0, no gradient effect, to 1.0, maximum effect.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Zoom with vertical drag in rulers</dfn> allows, when checked, to click
- anywhere in an empty zone of the <a href="@@ruler">ruler</a> zone and drag
- up to zoom in or down to zoom out.
+ <dfn>Track name ellipsis mode:</dfn> when the track header is not
+ wide enough to display the track's name in full, selects how the
+ name will be shorten between:
+ <ul>
+ <li><em>Ellipsize start of name</em> will show only the end of the name</li>
+ <li><em>Ellipsize middle of name</em> will show only the start and end of the name</li>
+ <li><em>Ellipsize end of name</em> will show only the start of the name</li>
+ </ul>
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Double click zooms to selection</dfn> allows by double clicking, to zoom
- on the selection, both on the time and tracks axes. If the selection has been
- done with <kbd class="mod1n"></kbd> or <kbd class="mod3n"></kbd>, then this
- key should still be pressed when double clicking for this to work, otherwise
- the first click breaks the group selection.
+ <dfn>Add a visual gap below Audio Regions:</dfn> selects whether or
+ not the audio regions fit the height of the track or leave a gap at
+ the bottom, either small or large.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Waveforms</dfn>
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Update editor window during drags of the summary</dfn>: when
- enabled the contents of the editor window will redraw the tracks area
- as the selection rectangle in the <a href="@@summary">summary</a> area is
- moved or resized.
+ <dfn>Show waveforms in regions</dfn>: when enabled, shows a visual
+ representation of the region's audio waveform.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Auto-scroll editor window when dragging near its edges</dfn>
- when enabled will scroll the editor window automatically when dragging a
- region. This can make it easier to see where to position the region.
+ <dfn>Show waveforms while recording</dfn>: when enabled, will draw
+ the audio waveform in regions being recorded, in near real time.
+ When disabled, only a region block will be drawn while recording,
+ reducing CPU requirements.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Show gain envelopes in audio regions:</dfn> sets in which
- <a href="@@toolbox">modes</a> the gain envelope is displayed in audio regions.
- The gain envelope is superimposed over the region in the selected modes, and
- hidden otherwise for a better legibility.
+ <dfn>Show waveform clipping</dfn>: when enabled, the waveform
+ displayed will show peaks marked in red if they exceed the clip level.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Show xrun markers in regions</dfn> puts a marker on the region(s)
- while recording, when a buffer over/underflow happens.
+ <dfn>Waveform Clip Level (dBFS)</dfn>: sets the level at which the
+ waveform shown in an audio region will be drawn in red to indicate
+ clipping. Setting lower than 0.0 dBFS can be useful if any tool in
+ the audio chain has problems near 0.0 dBFS.
</li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
- <li>
- <dfn>Editor Behavior</dfn>
- <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Move relevant automation when audio regions are moved</dfn>,
- when enabled, causes automation data to stay with a region when the
- region is moved inside the playlist. When disabled, the automation is
- not affected by movement of regions.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Ignore Y-axis click position when adding new automation-points</dfn>
- allows to create new automation points at the x-position of the mouse, without
- using the Y-position as the value, hence creating a new automation point at
- its present value.
+ <dfn>Waveform scale</dfn>: when waveforms are shown in audio regions,
+ they can be displayed using a <em>linear</em> or a <em>logarithmic</em>
+ scale. See <a href="@@waveform-display">Waveform display</a>.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Default fade shape:</dfn> sets which <a href="@@create-region-fades-and-crossfades">
- fade shape</a> is the default.
+ <dfn>Waveform shape</dfn>: when waveforms are shown in audio regions,
+ they can be displayed using a <em>traditional</em> or a <em>rectified</em>
+ shape. See <a href="@@waveform-display">Waveform display</a>.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Editor Meters</dfn>
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Regions in active edit groups are edited together:</dfn> sets
- the criteria to see if editing actions apply to tracks grouped together
- in an group.
+ <dfn>Show meters in track headers</dfn>: when enabled, shows
+ a small meter in the Editor's <a href="@@audio-track-controls">track headers</a>.
+ The meter is shown on the right side area of the header and provides an
+ instant, if unprecise, view of the levels on this track/bus.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Layering model:</dfn> Ardour allows <a href="@@layering-display">layering</a>
- multiple regions in the same track. This selector defines how these layers are
- managed, either manually or by placing the latest on top.
+ <dfn>Limit track header meters to stereo</dfn>: if a track has more than
+ two outputs (e.g. with a drum plugin), limits the number of meters in the
+ track header to the first two ones. Only affects audio meters, not MIDI.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Split/Separate</dfn>
+ <dfn>MIDI Regions</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>After a Separate operation, in Range mode:</dfn> determines what
- should become of the Range selection after a Separate operations:
- <ul>
- <li>Clear the Range Selection: nothing is selected anymore</li>
- <li>Preserve the Range Selection: the range selection is kept</li>
- <li>Force-Select the regions under the range: the regions that
- were in the range selection are selected in Grab/Object mode</li>
- </ul>
+ <dfn>Display first MIDI bank/program as 0</dfn>: when patches and bank changes
+ are displayed in the editor, if this option is checked, the numbering will
+ be zero-based instead of one-based, i.e. banks/programs will be numbered
+ O, 1 ,2… instead of 1, 2, 3…
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>After a Split operation, in Object mode:</dfn> determines which,
- if any, regions are selected after a split operation. The options are:
- <ul>
- <li>Clear the Region Selection: nothing is selected anymore</li>
- <li>Select only the newly-created regions BEFORE the split point:
- </li>if regions have been affected by the split, then the regions
- created by the split before the split point is selected
- <li>Select only the newly-created regions BEFORE the split point:
- same as above, for the regions created after the split point</li>
- <li>Select the newly-created regions: sum of the two above, i.e. all
- the regions that are created as a result of the split are selected.</li>
- <li>Preserve the existing selection, AND select all newly-created regions:
- same as above (all the parts that have been created by the split) plus
- the unaffected regions that were selected before the split.</li>
- </ul>
+ <dfn>Don't display periodic (MTC, MMC) SysEx messages in MIDI Regions</dfn>:
+ if checked, will hide these control messages from the MIDI regions for better
+ legibility.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Show velocity horizontally inside notes</dfn>: when on, each note
+ of a MIDI region (in <em>Sustained</em> mode) displays its velocity
+ (0-127) with a darker fill proportional to its value.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Use colors to show note velocity</dfn>: if checked, makes the
+ saturation of the notes color proportional to its velocity, hence making
+ a more veloce note more intense in color.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
-
-<h3 id="modifiers">Modifiers</h3>
-<p>
- This page allows to choose how things are done in the editor. This is a very
- flexible way for Ardour to match an existing workflow, or speed up the editing
- process based on the user's most used actions.
-</p>
-<p>
- The <kbd class="menu">Reset to recommended defaults</kbd> button at the bottom
- provides a way to revert any user made change to its default value.
-</p>
-
-<h2 id="preferences-mixer">Mixer</h2>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-mixer">Mixer</h3>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Solo</dfn> contains settings that affect the use of
- <a href="@@muting-and-soloing">solo, muting</a>, and
- <a href="@@panning">panning</a>.
+ <dfn>Mixer Strip</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Solo controls are Listen controls</dfn>: when enabled, the
- soloed track is soloed only on the monitor bus, the master fader mix
- is not affected by the solo. This option can also be set by enabling
- pre-fader listen or after-fader listen in the <strong>Mixer</strong>
- monitor section.
+ This table enables (checked) or disables (unchecked) the display of controls
+ in the <a href="@@audiomidi-mixer-strips">mixer strip</a>. Controls whose
+ display can be toggled are:
+ <strong>Input</strong>, <strong>Phase Invert</strong>,
+ <strong>Record & Monitor</strong>, <strong>Solo Iso/Lock</strong>,
+ <strong>Output</strong>, <strong>Comments</strong> and VCA Assigns.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Exclusive solo</dfn> when enabled will only solo the last
- track selected for solo. Previously soloed tracks will be un-soloed.
- This setting is also available from the <strong>Mixer</strong> monitor
- section.
+ <dfn>Use narrow strips in the mixer for new strips by default</dfn> When
+ enabled, new mixer strips are created in narrow format. When disabled,
+ they are created in wide format. Existing mixer strips width can be toggled
+ with the width control at the top left of the mixer strip.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Show solo muting</dfn> when enabled outlines the mute
- button on tracks and busses when another track is soloed.
+ <dfn>Limit inline-mixer-strip controls per plugin :</dfn> Whether or
+ not, and how many, controls each plugin can show in the mixer strip.
+ These mixer-strip controls are added by checking <em>plugin context-menu
+ > Controls > □ control parameter</em>.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-toolbar">Toolbar</h3>
+
+<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Main Transport Toolbar Items</dfn>: this section allows to toggle the
+ visibility of some elements of the main toolbar:
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Soloing overrides muting</dfn> when enabled allows a track
- to be heard when it is soloed while muted. This setting is also
- available from the <strong>Mixer</strong> monitor section.
+ <dfn>Display Record/Punch Options</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ <a href="@@selection-and-punch-clocks#punch_controls">punch and record</a> slice of
+ the main toolbar.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Solo-in-place mute cut (dB):</dfn> sets the attenuation of
- the other tracks when another track is soloed in place. This setting
- is also available from the <strong>Mixer</strong> monitor section. The
- default is "−inf" for −∞, meaning the other tracks are
- totally muted.
+ <dfn>Display Latency Compensation Info</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ Latency Compensation slice of the main toolbar.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Listen Position:</dfn> determines what is listened to when
- the solo controls are used as listen controls. The options are
- after-fader or pre-fader.
+ <dfn>Display Secondary Clock</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ <a href="@@transport-clocks">secondary clocks</a> slice of
+ the main toolbar.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>PFL signals come from:</dfn> determines whether the
- pre-fader listen position is before or after the pre-fader processors.
+ <dfn>Display Selection Clock</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ <a href="@@selection-and-punch-clocks#selection_clocks">selection clocks</a> slice of
+ the main toolbar.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>AFL signals come from:</dfn> determines whether the
- after-fader listen position is before or after the after-fader
- processors.
+ <dfn>Display Monitor Section Info</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ Monitor Info slice of the main toolbar.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Display Navigation Timeline</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ <a href="@@mini-timeline">navigation/mini timeline</a> slice of
+ the main toolbar.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Display Master Level Meter</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
+ <a href="@@other-toolbar-items#mode_selector">selection clocks</a> slice of
+ the main toolbar.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Display Action-Buttons</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Column <em>n</em></dfn> enables or disables the visibility
+ of the six possible columns of <a href="@@other-toolbar-items#mode_selector">Lua script buttons</a>.
+ Each columns contains two user-assignable buttons.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-size-and-scale">Size and Scale</h3>
+<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Master</dfn>
+ <dfn>User Interface Size and Scale</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>GUI and Font scaling:</dfn> allows the display size of most of the
+ text and buttons in the user interface to be scaled up or down. May
+ require a restart to take effect.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-colors">Colors</h3>
+
+<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Colors</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Enable master-bus output gain control</dfn> adds a gain-stage to
- the master-bus and a Loudness Analyzer & Normalizer button that
- calculates the Loudness (LUFS) of the session (or a range selection),
- and normalizes the loudness according to various standards.
+ <dfn>Color Theme</dfn> allows to switch between some presets bundled with
+ Ardour, changing both the palette and items colors, hence styling Ardour
+ all at once.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ The table allows to change the color settings in Ardour by acting on three
+ parameters:
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Items</dfn> that allow to choose any color from the palette (see below)
+ to color a UI element. Clicking on a color sample in the <strong>Color</strong>
+ column bring up the Palette, to choose from.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Palette</dfn> that allows to create a set of colors that will be used
+ in the UI. Using a palette allows for better consistency, instead of
+ picking "free" colors for each UI element. Clicking on a color patch brings
+ up a full color selector, to assign this color to this patch of the palette.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Transparency</dfn> where possible, allows to select, with a slider,
+ the transparency of the UI element, with 0 (slider to the left) being
+ fully opaque.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Restore Defaults</dfn> turns all the palette, item colors and transparency
+ back to Ardour's default base setting, in case Ardour's appearance has turned
+ into a toddler's toy.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-quirks">Quirks</h3>
+
+<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Default Track / Bus Muting Options</dfn> sets the muting options
- for a newly created tracks or bus. The mute options for an existing track
- or bus are changed by the right-click context menu on a mute button.
+ <dfn>Various Workarounds for Windowing Systems</dfn>: As Ardour is available
+ on a number of platforms and windowing systems, some specific workarounds are
+ sometimes required to provide a smooth experience to the user.
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Mute affects pre-fader sends</dfn> when enabled pre-fader
- sends will be muted by default.
+ <dfn>Use visibility information provided by your Window Manager/Desktop</dfn>
+ allows the system window manager's rules for the windows visibility to
+ supersede Ardour's.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Mute affects post-fader sends</dfn> when enabled post-fader
- sends will be muted by default.
+ <dfn>Show/Hide splash screen instead of setting z-axis stack order</dfn>:
+ Hides the splash instead of re-layering it. This setting requires a restart
+ of Ardour to take effect.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Mute affects control outputs</dfn> when enabled control
- outputs are muted by default.
+ <dfn>All floating windows are dialogs</dfn>: when enabled, Ardour will
+ use type "Dialog" for all floating windows instead of using type
+ "Utility" for some of them. This may help usability with some
+ window managers. This setting requires a restart of Ardour to take effect.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Mute affects main outputs</dfn> when enabled main outputs
- are muted by default.
+ <dfn>Transient windows follow front window.</dfn>: when enabled,
+ transient windows will follow the front window when toggling between the
+ editor and mixer. This setting requires a restart of Ardour to take effect.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Float detached monitor-section window</dfn>: as the <a href="@@monitor-section">
+ monitor section</a> can be detached from the mixer, this option makes it a
+ floating window, which may be handled differently by the windowing system
+ and easier to access.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-appearance-translation">Translation</h3>
+<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Send Routing</dfn> affects <a href="@@aux-sends">aux and external sends</a>.
+ <dfn>Internationalization</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Link panners of Aux and External Sends with main panner by default</dfn>
- when enabled, sends follow the channel panner. When disabled, sends can panned
- independently of the channel panner and fader. Double clicking the send in the
- processor box toggles the main panner and fader between the aux send and the
- channel.
+ <dfn>Use translations</dfn> sets if Ardour should use a translated
+ version of all the messages. The default (unchecked) is English (US). When
+ checked, and if a language file exists for the system language, this file
+ will be used to translate Ardour.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
-</ul>
-
-<h2 id="preferences-signal_flow">Signal Flow</h2>
-
+</ul>
+
+<h2 id="preferences-editor">Editor</h2>
+
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Monitoring</dfn>
- <ul>
+ <dfn>Region Information</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Show xrun markers in regions</dfn> puts a marker on the region(s)
+ while recording, when a buffer over/underflow happens.
+ </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Record monitoring handled by:</dfn> determines whether Ardour provides
- monitoring of incoming audio or whether monitoring is provided by hardware.
- See <a href="@@monitoring">Monitoring</a> for more information.
+ <dfn>Show cue markers in regions</dfn> determines if cue markers,
+ that are bounded to regions, are displayed or not.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Show gain envelopes in audio regions:</dfn> sets in which
+ <a href="@@toolbox">modes</a> the gain envelope is displayed in audio regions.
+ The gain envelope is superimposed over the region in the selected modes, and
+ hidden otherwise for a better legibility.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Scroll and Zoom Behaviors</dfn>
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Auto Input does 'Talkback'</dfn> when enabled, the
- <kbd class="option">Transport > Auto Input</kbd> option also sets
- the tracks to monitor its audio input when transport is not rolling.
+ <dfn>Zoom to mouse position when zooming with scroll wheel</dfn>: by default,
+ Ardour zooms to the <a href="@@edit-point-control">edit point</a>. When this
+ option is checked, and the zoom is done with <kbd class="mod1n"></kbd> + mousewheel,
+ the zoom will happen at the mouse cursor position regardless of the edit point
+ chosen.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Zoom with vertical drag in rulers</dfn> allows, when checked, to click
+ anywhere in an empty zone of the <a href="@@ruler">ruler</a> zone and drag
+ up to zoom in or down to zoom out.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Double click zooms to selection</dfn> allows by double clicking, to zoom
+ on the selection, both on the time and tracks axes. If the selection has been
+ done with <kbd class="mod1n"></kbd> or <kbd class="mod3n"></kbd>, then this
+ key should still be pressed when double clicking for this to work, otherwise
+ the first click breaks the group selection.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Update editor window during drags of the summary</dfn>: when
+ enabled the contents of the editor window will redraw the tracks area
+ as the selection rectangle in the <a href="@@summary">summary</a> area is
+ moved or resized.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Auto-scroll editor window when dragging near its edges</dfn>
+ when enabled will scroll the editor window automatically when dragging a
+ region. This can make it easier to see where to position the region.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Auto-scroll speed when dragging playhead:</dfn> chooses how fast the canvas
+ scrolls when dragging the playhead outside of the visible canvas.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Limit zoom & summary view beyond session extents to:</dfn>
+ prevents the zoom out both in the editor and the summary, to show anything past
+ the chosen time after the end marker, restraining the vision to only useful
+ content.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Track and Bus Connections</dfn>
- <ul>
+ <dfn>Editor Behaviour</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Move relevant automation when audio regions are moved</dfn>,
+ when enabled, causes automation data to stay with a region when the
+ region is moved inside the playlist. When disabled, the automation is
+ not affected by movement of regions.
+ </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Auto-connect main output (master or monitor) bus to physical ports</dfn>
- auto-connects the outputs to the first N physical ports. In a session without a
- <a href="@@monitor-section">monitor section</a>, the master-bus is
- connected to the system's playback ports, and if a monitor section exists,
- the monitor-bus' output are connected.
+ <dfn>Ignore Y-axis click position when adding new automation-points</dfn>
+ allows to create new automation points at the x-position of the mouse, without
+ using the Y-position as the value, hence creating a new automation point at
+ its present value.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Connect track inputs:</dfn> allows to choose when a new track is
- created whether its inputs will be automatically connected to the physical
- inputs of the system or not (hence the user has to manually connect it).
+ <dfn>Automation edit cancels auto hide</dfn> determines wether automation
+ lanes that have been automatically shown because of the
+ <kbd class="option">Edit > Show Automation Lane on Touch</kbd>
+ option should be kept visible if the automation has been touched.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Connect track and bus outputs:</dfn> allows to choose, for any new
- track or bus created, whether its output will automatically be connected
- to the master bus, directly to the physical outputs or to nothing (the
- user has to manually connect it).
+ <dfn>Default fade shape:</dfn> sets which <a href="@@create-region-fades-and-crossfades">
+ fade shape</a> is the default.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Use 'Strict-I/O' for new tracks or busses</dfn> determines the default
- choice for the <a href="@@trackbus-signal-flow">signal flow</a> of a newly created track or bus.
- This can be overridden in the <a href="@@adding-tracks-busses-and-vcas">
- Add Track/Bus/VCA</a> dialog
+ <dfn>Regions in edit groups are edited together:</dfn> sets
+ the criteria to see if editing actions apply to tracks grouped together
+ in an group.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Layering model:</dfn> Ardour allows <a href="@@layering-display">layering</a>
+ multiple regions in the same track. This selector defines how these layers are
+ managed, either manually or by placing the latest on top.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Split/Separate</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>After a Separate operation, in Range mode:</dfn> determines what
+ should become of the Range selection after a Separate operations:
+ <ul>
+ <li>Clear the Range Selection: nothing is selected anymore</li>
+ <li>Preserve the Range Selection: the range selection is kept</li>
+ <li>Force-Select the regions under the range: the regions that
+ were in the range selection are selected in Grab/Object mode</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>After a Split operation, in Object mode:</dfn> determines which,
+ if any, regions are selected after a split operation. The options are:
+ <ul>
+ <li>Clear the Region Selection: nothing is selected anymore</li>
+ <li>Select only the newly-created regions BEFORE the split point:
+ </li>if regions have been affected by the split, then the regions
+ created by the split before the split point is selected
+ <li>Select only the newly-created regions BEFORE the split point:
+ same as above, for the regions created after the split point</li>
+ <li>Select the newly-created regions: sum of the two above, i.e. all
+ the regions that are created as a result of the split are selected.</li>
+ <li>Preserve the existing selection, AND select all newly-created regions:
+ same as above (all the parts that have been created by the split) plus
+ the unaffected regions that were selected before the split.</li>
+ </ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h2 id="preferences-audio">Audio</h2>
+<h3 id="preferences-editor-snap">Snap</h3>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Buffering</dfn> settings determine how many seconds of audio off of disk
- will be buffered in memory. Longer settings reduce the risk of buffer
- under-runs but consume more memory.
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Preset:</dfn> will automatically choose the values for the playback
- and recording buffer based on the chosen size of the session. The
- <strong>Custom</strong> option allows to manually select the buffers with
- the two sliders below.
+ <dfn>General Snap options:</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Snap Threshold (pixels):</dfn> is the maximum distance between
+ a snap anchor and an object for Ardour to force the object to be
+ placed precisely at that anchor.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Approximate Grid/Ruler granularity (pixels):</dfn> Ardour tries
+ to show a reasonable number of grid lines at the current zoom level
+ and in the available screen estate. This value tells Ardour what the
+ approximate absolute distance between two closest grid lines should
+ be, so that it displays the most relevant grid scale to approximately
+ fit this distance.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Show "snapped cursor"</dfn> If the Edit point is not the playhead,
+ shows the currently selected Edit point as a blue line, to indicate
+ where the next editing operation will occur.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Playback (seconds of buffering):</dfn> sets how many seconds of
- audio Ardour will buffer during playback.
+ <dfn>Snap rubberband selection to grid</dfn> makes the highlighted
+ zone created by an area selection also snap to grid, i.e. the beginning
+ and end of the resulting selecting box will both be grid anchors.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Recording (seconds of buffering):</dfn> sets how many seconds of
- audio Ardour will buffer during recording.
+ <dfn>Grid switches to alternate selection for Internal Edit Tools</dfn>
+ Two levels of grid mode can coexist in Ardour, one for global regions
+ manipulations, and one for finer, in-region editing (e.g. for placing
+ MIDI events in a MIDI region). When this option is checked, entering
+ Internal Edit mode makes the grid mode switch from one mode to the other.
</li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
- <li>
- <dfn>Denormals</dfn> are a specific type of very small numbers that
- can cause issues with CPU consumption when using some plugins in some
- circumstances.
- Ardour provides two methods of handling the issue. Trying different
- combinations of these settings may minimize CPU consumption.
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Use DC bias to protect against denormals</dfn> adds a small
- constant value to numbers to move the numbers away from zero.
- </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Processor handling:</dfn>, if the computer's hardware
- supports it, offers two methods that can be used individually or
- combined. Flush to zero and denormals are zero.
+ <dfn>Rulers automatically change to follow the Grid mode selection</dfn>
+ If enabled, changing the Grid mode also makes the relevant
+ <a href="@@ruler">ruler</a> visible, while hiding the other ones.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Regions</dfn>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Enable automatic analysis of audio</dfn> generates the transient
- values (used in e.g. the <a href="@@rhythm-ferret">Rhythm Ferret</a>)
- automatically. When unchecked, the transient values will be generated
- on demand.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Replicate missing region channels</dfn>: if a track is N-channel,
- and the region has fewer channels, this option copies the existing
- channel's data for this non-existent one. If left unchecked, the missing
- channels will stay silent.
- </li>
- </ul>
+ <dfn>When "Snap" is enabled, snap to:</dfn>
+ Lists the different possible anchors to which an object should snap to, among:
+ <ul>
+ <li>Markers</li>
+ <li>Region Sync points</li>
+ <li>Region Starts</li>
+ <li>Region Ends</li>
+ <li>Grid</li>
+ </ul>
</li>
</ul>
+
+<h3 id="preferences-editor-modifiers">Modifiers</h3>
+<p>
+ This page allows to choose how things are done in the editor. This is a very
+ flexible way for Ardour to match an existing workflow, or speed up the editing
+ process based on the user's most used actions.
+</p>
+<p>
+ The <kbd class="menu">Reset to recommended defaults</kbd> button at the bottom
+ provides a way to revert any user made change to its default value.
+</p>
+
<h2 id="preferences-midi">MIDI</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<dfn>Session</dfn>
<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Allow non quarter-note pulse</dfn>: by default, Ardour understands the <a
+ href="@@tempo-and-meter">tempo</a> as the number of quarter notes in a minute.
+ Checking this option allows to set the tempo based on any division of the note,
+ from whole to 1/128th. This is reflected in the <kbd class="menu">Edit
+ Tempo</kbd> window (accessed by double clicking a tempo marker) that shows a
+ "Pulse" menu when this option is checked.
+ </li>
<li>
<dfn>Initial program change:</dfn> Ardour will send a MIDI program
change message on the <code>ardour:MMC out</code> MIDI port when a session
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Audition</dfn>
<ul>
note is sent as MIDI as if Ardour was playing it withe the session, so the
processors and signal routing will be applied.
</li>
-
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Virtual Keyboard</dfn>
<ul>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>MIDI Port Options</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-</ul>
-
-<h2 id="preferences-metronome">Metronome</h2>
-
-<ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Metronome</dfn> handles the way Ardour's metronome is played when
- enabled in the <a href="@@transport-bar">Transport Bar</a>.
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Emphasis on first beat</dfn> plays a different sound when the first
- beat is played (e.g. 1/4 in 4/4, 1/3 in 3/4,…). When unchecked, all
- the beats are indistinguishable.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Use built-in default sounds</dfn> when checked, uses Ardour's own
- sounds for the metronome click. Unchecking this allows to set some custom
- sounds below.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Audio file:</dfn> selects an audio file for the beats, in any
- <a href="@@supported-file-formats">format</a> Ardour supports.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Emphasis audio file:</dfn> in conjunction with
- <kbd class="option">Emphasis on first beat</kbd>, selects an audio file
- for the first beats of each bar.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Gain level:</dfn> allows the metronome's click sounds to be boosted
- or attenuated.
- </li>
- </ul>
- </li>
+</ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Options</dfn>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Enable Metronome only while recording</dfn>: when enabled, the
- metronome will remain silent unless Ardour is recording.
- </li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-</ul>
+<h3 id="preferences-midi-port-config">MIDI Port Config</h3>
-<h2 id="preferences-metering">Metering</h2>
+<p>
+ This page allows to set options for input and output MIDI devices, such as:
+</p>
<ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Metering</dfn>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Peak hold time:</dfn> allows the meter to keep displaying the highest
- signal level for a period of time before reverting to showing the actual
- instantaneous value (unless an even higher peak occurs). The longer this
- time is, the easier it is to spot peaks, at the expense of instantaneous
- accuracy.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>DPM fall-off:</dfn> describes how fast the Digital Peak Meters can
- go from a high value to a lower one. Faster values are more accurate but
- less readable.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Meter line-up level; 0 dBu:</dfn> chooses a standard for the
- conversion between dBFS (Full Scale) which represent the numeric signal
- level, and dBu which represents the analog signal level. This value is used
- to configure meter-marks and color knee-points, or set the reference levels
- for various meter-types.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>IEC1/DIN Meter line-up level; 0 dBu:</dfn> sets the reference
- level for the IEC1/DIN Meter
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>VU Meter standard:</dfn> selects which standard to use for the zero
- value of the vu-meters, i.e. the analog dBu value that will show as 0 on the
- VU-meter.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Peak indicator threshold [dBFS]:</dfn> at that value and over, the
- signal will make the peak meter to turn red, indicating a level too high.
- </li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
- <li>
- <dfn>Default Meter Types</dfn> sets the default meters when creating a session
- or track. These meters can be changed afterwards by
- <kbd class="mouse">right</kbd>-clicking a meter.
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Default Meter Type for Master Bus:</dfn> defines which kind of
- <a href="@@metering-in-ardour">meter</a> will be used when creating a new
- session (does not apply to the current session).
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Default Meter Type for busses:</dfn> defines which kind of
- meter will be used when creating a new bus (applies to the bus created
- after changing the value).
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Default Meter Type for tracks:</dfn> same as above, for tracks.
- </li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
- <li>
- <dfn>Post Export Analysis</dfn>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Save loudness analysis as image file after export</dfn> allows, when the
- <kbd class="option">Analyze Exported Audio</kbd> is checked in the
- <a href="@@export-dialog">Export dialog</a>, to save the analysis graph
- as a file named <code>session.png</code> alongside the exported audio
- file(s) (in the same folder).
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Save Mixer screenshot after export</dfn> creates and exports
- a graphical image of the Mixer window as a file named
- <code>session-mixer.png</code> alongside the exported audio file(s)
- (in the same folder).
- </li>
- </ul>
- </li>
+ <li><kbd class="menu">Music Data</kbd>: whether Ardour should accept/send note events from/to selected MIDI device</li>
+ <li><kbd class="menu">Control Data</kbd>: whether Ardour should accept/send control events (Control Change, or CC) from/to selected MIDI device</li>
+ <li><kbd class="menu">Follow Selection</kbd>: whether Ardour should connect this device only to a selected track (only applicable to input devices)</li>
</ul>
+<p>
+ You can also give a more meaningful name to any input and output MIDI device
+ here. Double-click the name of the device, enter a new name, then press
+ <kbd>Enter</kbd> to confirm.
+</p>
+
<h2 id="preferences-transport">Transport</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<dfn>General</dfn>
<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Prompt for new marker names</dfn> when enabled, popup a dialog
+ when a new <a href="@@working-with-markers">marker</a> is created. This allows
+ markers to be named as they are created.
+ </li>
<li>
<dfn>Stop at the end of the session</dfn> causes the transport to
stop during playback when it reaches the end marker. Behavior during
when enabled will reduce the unpleasant increase in perceived volume
that occurs when fast-forwarding or rewinding through some kinds of audio.
</li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Rewind/Fast-forward buttons change direction immediately</dfn>
+ sets wether Rewind and Fast-forward transport operations
+ (<kbd class="menu">Transport > Forward/Rewind</kbd>) changes the
+ playback direction and speed abruptly, or gradually.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Allow auto-return after rewind/ffwd operations</dfn>
+ if <a href="@@other-toolbar-items#playhead_options">Auto return</a>is engaged, sets wether
+ it applies to rewind and fast-forward operations.
+ </li>
<li>
<dfn>Preroll:</dfn> sets the duration of the preroll for playing and
recording when using a preroll. Can be a musical duration (in bars) or a
duration in seconds.
</li>
</ul>
- </li>
-
+ </li>
<li>
<dfn>Looping</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Dropout (xrun) Handling</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Plugins</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Silence plugins when the transport is stopped</dfn> when stopping
+ playback or recording, if this option is checked, the plugins that still
+ emit sound (reverbs, etc…) will be stopped. If unchecked, the plugins
+ will continue playing after the transport stop.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+</ul>
+<h3 id="preferences-transport-chase">Chase</h3>
+
+<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>MIDI Machine Control (MMC)</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Respond to MMC commands</dfn> when enabled Ardour will respond
+ to MIDI Machine Control commands received on the <code>ardour:MMC in</code>
+ MIDI port.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Inbound MMC device ID:</dfn> is the only device ID Ardour will
+ respond to when an MMC command is received on the <code>ardour:MMC in</code>
+ MIDI port.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
<li>
<dfn>Transport Masters</dfn>
- <p>
- This section defines which time source(s) Ardour should use (LTC, MTC, JACK or MIDI),
- and the options linked to this transport master.
- </p>
-
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Keep rolling if sync is lost</dfn>, when checked, forces Ardour to
- keep its transport speed even if a transport master signal is lost.
- Unchecking this option makes Ardour stop transport if it looses the
- signal.
+ <dfn>Show Transport Master Window</dfn> Opens the Transport masters
+ window, where all the timecode sources are shown to be selected
+ and/or synchronized; same as clicking <kbd class="menu">Window >
+ Transport Masters</kbd>
</li>
<li>
<dfn>Match session video frame rate to external timecode</dfn>
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="ltc">LTC</h3>
+<h3 id="preferences-transport-generate">Generate</h3>
<ul>
-
<li>
<dfn>Linear Timecode (LTC) Generator</dfn>
<ul>
If this option is checked, the two options below are active:
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Send LTC while stopped</dfn>, when enabled Ardour will
- continue to send LTC information even while the transport (playhead) is
- not moving.
+ <dfn>Send LTC while stopped</dfn>, (only available when the previous
+ <em>Enable LTC generator</em> is on) when enabled Ardour will
+ continue to send LTC information even while the transport (playhead)
+ is not moving.
</li>
<li>
<dfn>LTC generator level [dBFS]:</dfn> specifies the peak volume of
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-</ul>
-
-<h3 id="sync_midi">MIDI</h3>
-
-<ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>MIDI Beat Clock (Mclk) Generator</dfn>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Enable Mclk generator</dfn> when enabled Ardour will generate a
- (tempo dependant) beat clock at a rate of 24 pulses per quarter note on
- the <code>ardour:MIDI clock out</code> port.
- </li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
<li>
<dfn>MIDI Time Code (MTC) Generator</dfn>
<ul>
time code on the <code>ardour:MTC out</code> MIDI port.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Percentage either side of normal transport speed to transmit MTC:</dfn>
+ <dfn>Max MTC varispeed (%):</dfn>
MIDI time code generation will be disabled when the transport speed is
greater than normal speed plus this percentage or less than normal minus
this percentage.
</li>
- </ul>
- </li>
-
- <li>
- <dfn>MIDI Machine Control (MMC)</dfn>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Respond to MMC commands</dfn> when enabled Ardour will respond
- to MIDI Machine Control commands received on the <code>ardour:MMC in</code>
- MIDI port.
- </li>
- <li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>MIDI Machine Control (MMC)</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
<dfn>Send MMC commands</dfn> when enabled Ardour will send MIDI Machine
Control commands on the <code>ardour:MMC out</code>
MIDI port.
</li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Inbound MMC device ID:</dfn> is the only device ID Ardour will
- respond to when an MMC command is received on the <code>ardour:MMC in</code>
- MIDI port.
- </li>
- <li>
+ <li>
<dfn>Outbound MMC device ID:</dfn> is the MIDI device ID Ardour will
use when it sends MMC commands.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>MIDI Beat Clock (Mclk) Generator</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Enable Mclk generator</dfn> when enabled Ardour will generate a
+ (tempo dependant) beat clock at a rate of 24 pulses per quarter note on
+ the <code>ardour:MIDI clock out</code> port.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
</ul>
-<h2 id="preferences-control_surfaces">Control Surfaces</h2>
-
-<p>
- This tab contains settings for <a href="@@control-surfaces">control surfaces</a>.
-</p>
-<p>
- It lists all the Control Surface protocols Ardour knows. To enable a
- <dfn>Control Surface Protocol</dfn>, the <kbd class="option">Enable</kbd> checkbox
- next to its name should be ticked. Editing the settings related to this protocol
- can be done by double-clicking its name or clicking the <kbd class="menu">Show
- protocol settings</kbd> (only for Generic MIDI and Open Sound Control).
-</p>
-
-
<h2 id="preferences-plugins">Plugins</h2>
<p class="note">
for available plugins. Useful to get a newly installed plugin recognised
by Ardour.
</li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Scan Time Out</dfn> sets the time that Ardour will try to find
+ any plugins in known paths until it gives up.
+ </li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>General</dfn>
<ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Scan for [new] Plugins on Application Start</dfn> When
+ enabled new plugins are searched, tested and added to the cache
+ index on application start. When disabled new plugins will only be
+ available after triggering a 'Scan' manually.
+ </li>
<li>
<dfn>Always Display Plugin Scan Progress</dfn> When enabled a
popup window showing plugin scan progress is displayed for indexing
(cache load) and discovery (detect new plugins).
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Silence plugins when the transport is stopped</dfn> when stopping
- playback or recording, if this option is checked, the plugins that still
- emit sound (reverbs, etc…) will be stopped. If unchecked, the plugins
- will continue playing after the transport stop.
+ <dfn>Verbose Plugin Scan</dfn>: adds information about the plugin in the
+ <a href="@@status-bar">Log window</a>.
</li>
<li>
<dfn>Make new plugins active</dfn> when enabled, any plugin added to a track
will be in active mode. If unchecked, the plugins will be added in inactive
mode by default, hence have no processing effect on the track/bus.
</li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Limit automatable parameters per plugin</dfn>: as some plugins
- (synthesizers, …) have a lot of parameters, and those parameters
- can be automated by Ardour, checking this will limit the number of parameters
- that are listed as automatable, hence making the lists shorter and the GUI
- more responsive.
- </li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>LV1/LV2</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Plugin GUI</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Instrument</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Statistics</dfn>
<ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="vst">VST</h3>
+<h3 id="preferences-plugins-vst">VST</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<dfn>VST</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Enable Mac VST support (requires restart or re-scan)</dfn> makes a
+ <dfn>Enable Mac VST2 support (requires restart or re-scan)</dfn> makes a
MacOs system able to run VST-Mac plugins. As stated, a new scan for plugins
is required, be it manually or by restarting Ardour.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Scan for [new] VST Plugins on Application Start</dfn> When
- enabled new VST plugins are searched, tested and added to the cache
- index on application start. When disabled new plugins will only be
- available after triggering a 'Scan' manually.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Verbose Plugin Scan</dfn>: adds information about the plugin in the
- <a href="@@status-bar">Log window</a>.
+ <dfn>Enable Linux VST2 support (requires restart or re-scan)</dfn> makes a
+ Linux system able to run VST2 plugins.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Scan Time Out</dfn> Specifies the default timeout for plugin
- instantiation. Plugins that require more time to load will be
- blacklisted. A value of ∞ disables the timeout.
+ <dfn>Enable VST3 support (requires restart or re-scan)</dfn> makes any
+ system able to run VST3 plugins.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>VST 2.x</dfn>
<ul>
inserted into the processor box. A new VST plugin scan is then required.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>VST 2 Blacklist:</dfn> Clicking the <kbd class="menu">Clear</kbd>
- button makes blacklisted VST plugins available to be added to the processor
+ <dfn>VST 2 Ignorelist:</dfn> Clicking the <kbd class="menu">Clear</kbd>
+ button makes ignored VST plugins available to be added to the processor
box.
</li>
<li>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>VST 3</dfn>
<ul>
<dfn>VST 3 Cache:</dfn> Same as above, for VST 3
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>VST 3 Blacklist:</dfn> Same as above, for VST 3
+ <dfn>VST 3 Ignorelist:</dfn> Same as above, for VST 3
</li>
<li>
<dfn>Additional VST3 Path:</dfn> The VST 3 specs clearly define where
way to search other directories for plugin, it is out of spec and not
recommanded.
</li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Automatically show 'Micro Edit' tagged controls on the mixer-strip:</dfn>
+ displays the plugin's UI directly inside each mixer strip (inline), if the plugin
+ has a 'Micro Edit' <a hreg="@@plugin-selector">tag</a>.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>VST2/VST3</dfn>
+ <ul>
<li>
<dfn>Conceal VST2 Plugin if matching LV3 exists</dfn> When
enabled, gives precedence to the VST3 (more up-to-date) version of
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="audio_unit">Audio Unit</h3>
+<h3 id="preferences-plugins-audio_unit">Audio Unit</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<dfn>Audio Unit</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Scan for [new] AudioUnit Plugins on Application Start</dfn> When
+ <dfn>Enable Audio Unit support (requires restart or re-scan)</dfn> When
enabled, new AU plugins are searched, tested and added to the cache
index on application start. When disabled, new plugins will only be
available after triggering a 'Scan' manually.
inserted into the processor box. A new AU plugins scan is then required.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>AU Blacklist:</dfn> Clicking the <kbd class="menu">Clear</kbd>
- button makes blacklisted AU plugins available to be added to the processor
+ <dfn>AU Ignorelist:</dfn> Clicking the <kbd class="menu">Clear</kbd>
+ button makes ignored AU plugins available to be added to the processor
box.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h2 id="preferences-appearance">Appearance</h2>
+<h2 id="preferences-monitoring">Monitoring</h2>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Graphics Acceleration</dfn>
+ <dfn>Monitoring</dfn>
<ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Disable Graphics Hardware Acceleration (requires restart)</dfn>
- Ardour uses hardware accelerated UI rendering by default for speed.
- Sometimes though, a buggy driver can cause this to make the system slow or
- unstable. Checking this will make Ardour draw its UI without
- hardware acceleration, in software, improving stability and responsiveness
- on those buggy systems at the expense of speed.
- </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Possibly improve slow graphical performance (requires restart)</dfn>
- Wherever gradients appear in the UI, Ardour uses hardware accelerated
- gradients creation. Checking this will make Ardour draw its own gradients without
- hardware acceleration for stability on systems with buggy drivers.
+ <dfn>Record monitoring handled by:</dfn> determines whether Ardour provides
+ monitoring of incoming audio or whether monitoring is provided by hardware.
+ See <a href="@@monitoring">Monitoring</a> for more information.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Auto Input does 'Talkback'</dfn> when enabled, the
+ <kbd class="option">Transport > Auto Input</kbd> option also sets
+ the tracks to monitor its audio input when transport is not rolling.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Graphical User Interface</dfn>
+ <dfn>Solo</dfn> contains settings that affect the use of
+ <a href="@@muting-and-soloing">solo, muting</a>, and
+ <a href="@@panning">panning</a>.
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Highlight widgets on mouseover</dfn>, when checked, makes Ardour's
- widgets (buttons, sliders, …) slightly change color when the mouse
- hovers them, visually indicating what a mouse action would interact with.
+ <dfn>Solo controls are Listen controls</dfn>: when enabled, the
+ soloed track is soloed only on the monitor bus, the master fader mix
+ is not affected by the solo. This option can also be set by enabling
+ pre-fader listen or after-fader listen in the <strong>Mixer</strong>
+ monitor section.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Show tooltips if mouse hovers over a control</dfn> when checked,
- displays a little help bubble about the control the mouse hovers. The mouse
- pointer needs to stay idle for about 1 sec for the tooltip to appear.
+ <dfn>Exclusive solo</dfn> when enabled will only solo the last
+ track selected for solo. Previously soloed tracks will be un-soloed.
+ This setting is also available from the <strong>Mixer</strong> monitor
+ section.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Update clocks at TC Frame rate</dfn>: Ardour updates its clocks every
- 100 ms. Checking this will make the clock refresh at every TimeCode
- frame which is more responsive, at the cost of a bit more system stress.
+ <dfn>Show solo muting</dfn> when enabled outlines the mute
+ button on tracks and busses when another track is soloed.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Blink Rec-Arm buttons</dfn>: when enabled, the record-armed
- buttons on tracks will blink when they are armed but not currently recording.
- When disabled, the record-armed buttons on tracks will be outlined in red
- instead of blinking. The global record-arm button in the
- <a href="@@transport-bar">Transport bar</a> is unaffected.
+ <dfn>Soloing overrides muting</dfn> when enabled allows a track
+ to be heard when it is soloed while muted. This setting is also
+ available from the <strong>Mixer</strong> monitor section.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Blink Alert indicators</dfn>: when enabled, the Alert indicators (like
- the <kbd class="menu">Error Log</kbd> or the <kbd class="menu">Feedback</kbd>
- button) will blink when they are active (when an error or feedback
- has been detected, respectively). When disabled, the indicators will turn red instead of
- blinking.
+ <dfn>Solo-in-place mute cut (dB):</dfn> sets the attenuation of
+ the other tracks when another track is soloed in place. This setting
+ is also available from the <strong>Mixer</strong> monitor section. The
+ default is "−inf" for −∞, meaning the other tracks are
+ totally muted.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Listen Position:</dfn> determines what is listened to when
+ the solo controls are used as listen controls. The options are
+ after-fader or pre-fader.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>PFL signals come from:</dfn> determines whether the
+ pre-fader listen position is before or after the pre-fader processors.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>GUI and Font scaling:</dfn> allows the display size of most of the
- text and buttons in the user interface to be scaled up or down. May
- require a restart to take effect.
+ <dfn>AFL signals come from:</dfn> determines whether the
+ after-fader listen position is before or after the after-fader
+ processors.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="appearance_editor">Editor</h3>
+<h2 id="preferences-signal_flow">Signal Flow</h2>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>General</dfn>
+ <dfn>Master</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Use name highlight bars in region displays (requires a restart)</dfn>:
- when enabled, the region name is displayed, in the editor, in its own opaque bar
- at the bottom of the region. When disabled, the region name is overlaid
- at the top of the region, possibly over audio waveforms or MIDI notes.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Region color follows track color</dfn>: when enabled,
- the background color of regions in the editor will be displayed using
- the color assigned to the track. When disabled the default region
- background color will be used.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Show Region Names</dfn>: when enabled, overlays the name of
- the region over its waveform representation, in the top-left.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Track name ellipsis mode:</dfn> when the track header is not
- wide enough to display the track's name in full, selects how the
- name will be shorten between:
- <ul>
- <li><em>Ellipsize start of name</em> will show only the end of the name</li>
- <li><em>Ellipsize middle of name</em> will show only the start and end of the name</li>
- <li><em>Ellipsize end of name</em> will show only the start of the name</li>
- </ul>
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Add a visual gap below Audio Regions:</dfn> selects whether or
- not the audio regions fit the height of the track or leave a gap at
- the bottom, either small or large.
+ <dfn>Enable master-bus output gain control</dfn> adds a gain-stage to
+ the master-bus and a Loudness Analyzer & Normalizer button that
+ calculates the Loudness (LUFS) of the session (or a range selection),
+ and normalizes the loudness according to various standards.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Waveforms</dfn>
+ <dfn>Default Track / Bus Muting Options</dfn> sets the muting options
+ for a newly created tracks or bus. The mute options for an existing track
+ or bus are changed by the right-click context menu on a mute button.
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Show waveforms in regions</dfn> when enabled shows a visual
- representation of the region's audio waveform.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Show waveform while recording</dfn> when
- enabled, will draw the audio waveform in regions being recorded, in near
- real time. When disabled, only a region block will be drawn while recording,
- reducing CPU requirements.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Show waveform clipping</dfn>: when enabled the waveform
- displayed will show peaks marked in red if they exceed the clip level.
+ <dfn>Mute affects pre-fader sends</dfn> when enabled pre-fader
+ sends will be muted by default.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Waveform Clip Level (dBFS):</dfn> sets the level at which the
- waveform shown in an audio region will be drawn in red to indicate
- clipping. Setting lower than 0.0 dBFS can be useful if any tool in
- the audio chain has problems near 0.0 dBFS.
+ <dfn>Mute affects post-fader sends</dfn> when enabled post-fader
+ sends will be muted by default.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Waveform scale:</dfn> when waveforms are shown in audio regions,
- they can be displayed using a <em>linear</em> or a <em>logarithmic</em>
- scale. See <a href="@@waveform-display">Waveform display</a>.
+ <dfn>Mute affects control outputs</dfn> when enabled control
+ outputs are muted by default.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Waveform shape:</dfn> when waveforms are shown in audio regions,
- they can be displayed using a <em>traditional</em> or a <em>rectified</em>
- shape. See <a href="@@waveform-display">Waveform display</a>.
+ <dfn>Mute affects main outputs</dfn> when enabled main outputs
+ are muted by default.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Editor Meters</dfn>
+ <dfn>Send Routing</dfn> affects <a href="@@aux-sends">aux and external sends</a>.
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Show meters in track headers</dfn>, when enabled, shows
- a small meter in the Editor's <a href="@@audio-track-controls">track headers</a>.
- The meter is shown on the right side area of the header and provides an
- instant, if unprecise, view of the levels on this track/bus.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Limit track header meters to stereo</dfn>: if a track has more than
- two outputs (e.g. with a drum plugin), limits the number of meters in the
- track header to the first two ones. Only affects audio meters, not MIDI.
+ <dfn>Link panners of Aux and External Sends with main panner by default</dfn>
+ when enabled, sends follow the channel panner. When disabled, sends can panned
+ independently of the channel panner and fader. Double clicking the send in the
+ processor box toggles the main panner and fader between the aux send and the
+ channel.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>MIDI Regions</dfn>
+ <dfn>Audio Regions</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Replicate missing region channels</dfn>: if a track is N-channel,
+ and the region has fewer channels, this option copies the existing
+ channel's data for this non-existent one. If left unchecked, the missing
+ channels will stay silent.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Track and Bus Connections</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Display first MIDI bank/program as 0</dfn>: when patches and bank changes
- are displayed in the editor, if this option is checked, the numbering will
- be zero-based instead of one-based, i.e. banks/programs will be numbered
- O, 1 ,2… instead of 1, 2, 3…
+ <dfn>Auto-connect main output (master or monitor) bus to physical ports</dfn>
+ auto-connects the outputs to the first N physical ports. In a session without a
+ <a href="@@monitor-section">monitor section</a>, the master-bus is
+ connected to the system's playback ports, and if a monitor section exists,
+ the monitor-bus' output are connected.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Don't display periodic (MTC, MMC) SysEx messages in MIDI Regions</dfn>:
- if checked, will hide these control messages from the MIDI regions for better
- legibility.
+ <dfn>Connect track inputs:</dfn> allows to choose when a new track is
+ created whether its inputs will be automatically connected to the physical
+ inputs of the system or not (hence the user has to manually connect it).
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Show velocity horizontally inside notes</dfn>: when on, each note
- of a MIDI region (in <em>Sustained</em> mode) displays its velocity
- (0-127) with a darker fill proportional to its value.
+ <dfn>Connect track and bus outputs:</dfn> allows to choose, for any new
+ track or bus created, whether its output will automatically be connected
+ to the master bus, directly to the physical outputs or to nothing (the
+ user has to manually connect it).
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Use colors to show note velocity</dfn>: if checked, makes the
- saturation of the notes color proportional to its velocity, hence making
- a more veloce note more intense in color.
+ <dfn>Use 'Strict-I/O' for new tracks or busses</dfn> determines the default
+ choice for the <a href="@@trackbus-signal-flow">signal flow</a> of a newly created track or bus.
+ This can be overridden in the <a href="@@adding-tracks-busses-and-vcas">
+ Add Track/Bus/VCA</a> dialog
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="appearance_mixer">Mixer</h3>
+<h2 id="preferences-metronome">Metronome</h2>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Mixer Strip</dfn>
+ <dfn>Metronome</dfn> handles the way Ardour's metronome is played when
+ enabled in the <a href="@@transport-bar">Transport Bar</a>.
<ul>
<li>
- This table enables (checked) or disables (unchecked) the display of controls
- in the <a href="@@audiomidi-mixer-strips">mixer strip</a>. Controls whose
- display can be toggled are:
- <strong>Input</strong>, <strong>Phase Invert</strong>,
- <strong>Record & Monitor</strong>, <strong>Solo Iso/Lock</strong>,
- <strong>Output</strong>, <strong>Comments</strong> and VCA Assigns.
+ <dfn>Emphasis on first beat</dfn> plays a different sound when the first
+ beat is played (e.g. 1/4 in 4/4, 1/3 in 3/4,…). When unchecked, all
+ the beats are indistinguishable.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Use narrow strips in the mixer for new strips by default</dfn> When
- enabled, new mixer strips are created in narrow format. When disabled,
- they are created in wide format. Existing mixer strips width can be toggled
- with the width control at the top left of the mixer strip.
+ <dfn>Use built-in default sounds</dfn> when checked, uses Ardour's own
+ sounds for the metronome click. Unchecking this allows to set some custom
+ sounds below.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Limit inline-mixer-strip controls per plugin :</dfn> Whether or
- not, and how many, controls each plugin can show in the mixer strip.
- These mixer-strip controls are added by checking <em>plugin context-menu
- > Controls > □ control parameter</em>.
+ <dfn>Audio file:</dfn> selects an audio file for the beats, in any
+ <a href="@@supported-file-formats">format</a> Ardour supports.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Emphasis audio file:</dfn> in conjunction with
+ <kbd class="option">Emphasis on first beat</kbd>, selects an audio file
+ for the first beats of each bar.
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Gain level:</dfn> allows the metronome's click sounds to be boosted
+ or attenuated.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Options</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Enable Metronome only while recording</dfn>: when enabled, the
+ metronome will remain silent unless Ardour is recording.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="toolbar">Toolbar</h3>
+
+<h2 id="preferences-control_surfaces">Control Surfaces</h2>
+
+<p>
+ This tab contains settings for <a href="@@control-surfaces">control surfaces</a>.
+</p>
+<p>
+ It lists all the Control Surface protocols Ardour knows. To enable a
+ <dfn>Control Surface Protocol</dfn>, the <kbd class="option">Enable</kbd> checkbox
+ next to its name should be ticked. Editing the settings related to this protocol
+ can be done by double-clicking its name or clicking the <kbd class="menu">Show
+ protocol settings</kbd> (only for Generic MIDI and Open Sound Control).
+</p>
+
+<h2 id="preferences-metering">Metering</h2>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Main Transport Toolbar Items</dfn>: this section allows to toggle the
- visibility of some elements of the main toolbar:
+ <dfn>Metering</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Record/Punch Options</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- <a href="@@selection-and-punch-clocks#punch_controls">punch and record</a> slice of
- the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>Peak hold time:</dfn> allows the meter to keep displaying the highest
+ signal level for a period of time before reverting to showing the actual
+ instantaneous value (unless an even higher peak occurs). The longer this
+ time is, the easier it is to spot peaks, at the expense of instantaneous
+ accuracy.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Monitoring Options</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- <a href="@@other-toolbar-items#monitor-options">monitor options</a> slice of
- the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>DPM fall-off:</dfn> describes how fast the Digital Peak Meters can
+ go from a high value to a lower one. Faster values are more accurate but
+ less readable.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Latency Compensation Info</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- Latency Compensation slice of the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>Meter line-up level; 0 dBu:</dfn> chooses a standard for the
+ conversion between dBFS (Full Scale) which represent the numeric signal
+ level, and dBu which represents the analog signal level. This value is used
+ to configure meter-marks and color knee-points, or set the reference levels
+ for various meter-types.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Secondary Clock</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- <a href="@@transport-clocks">secondary clocks</a> slice of
- the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>IEC1/DIN Meter line-up level; 0 dBu:</dfn> sets the reference
+ level for the IEC1/DIN Meter
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Selection Clock</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- <a href="@@selection-and-punch-clocks#selection_clocks">selection clocks</a> slice of
- the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>VU Meter standard:</dfn> selects which standard to use for the zero
+ value of the vu-meters, i.e. the analog dBu value that will show as 0 on the
+ VU-meter.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Monitor Section Info</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- Monitor Info slice of the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>Peak indicator threshold [dBFS]:</dfn> at that value and over, the
+ signal will make the peak meter to turn red, indicating a level too high.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Default Meter Types</dfn> sets the default meters when creating a session
+ or track. These meters can be changed afterwards by
+ <kbd class="mouse">right</kbd>-clicking a meter.
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Navigation Timeline</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- <a href="@@mini-timeline">navigation/mini timeline</a> slice of
- the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>Default Meter Type for Master Bus:</dfn> defines which kind of
+ <a href="@@metering-in-ardour">meter</a> will be used when creating a new
+ session (does not apply to the current session).
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Display Master Level Meter</dfn> toggles the visibility of the
- <a href="@@other-toolbar-items#mode_selector">selection clocks</a> slice of
- the main toolbar.
+ <dfn>Default Meter Type for busses:</dfn> defines which kind of
+ meter will be used when creating a new bus (applies to the bus created
+ after changing the value).
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Default Meter Type for tracks:</dfn> same as above, for tracks.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
- <dfn>Display Action-Buttons</dfn> enables or disables the visibility
- of the six possible columns of <a href="@@other-toolbar-items#mode_selector">Lua script buttons</a>.
- Each columns contains two user-assignable buttons.
+ <dfn>Region Analysis</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Enable automatic analysis of audio</dfn> generates the transient
+ values (used in e.g. the <a href="@@rhythm-ferret">Rhythm Ferret</a>)
+ automatically. When unchecked, the transient values will be generated
+ on demand.
+ </li>
+ </ul>
</li>
</ul>
-<h3 id="theme">Theme</h3>
+<h2 id="preferences-performance">Performance</h2>
-<ul>
+<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Theme</dfn>
+ <dfn>DSP CPU Utilization</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Draw "flat" buttons</dfn>: when enabled, button controls
- in the user interface will be drawn with a flat look. When disabled button
- controls will have a slight 3D appearance.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Draw "boxy" buttons</dfn>: when enabled, button controls
- in the user interface will have square corners instead of being slightly
- rounded.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>LED meter style</dfn> if checked, the bar meters in the editor and
- mixer will be styled to look like if they were made of LEDs, with a dotted
- bar. Unchecking this option makes the bars flat and continuous.
+ <dfn>Signal processing uses:</dfn> sets how many cpu processors can be
+ used to do signal processing. It can be set to use one up to all
+ processors.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Waveforms color gradient depth:</dfn> determines how much gradient
- effect is applied to the inner of audio waveforms displayed in the editor.
- Values range from 0.0, no gradient effect, to 1.0, maximum effect.
+ <dfn>Power Management, CPU DMA latency: </dfn> modern processors try
+ to aggressively transition to power saving when idle, even for a few
+ microseconds, hurting realtime performance by needing to wake to a
+ more active state. This setting counters this behaviour by setting
+ a maximum response time while low latency operation is desired.
+ <kbd class="menu">0</em> is the fastest response time.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>CPU/FPU Denormals</dfn> are a specific type of very small numbers that
+ can cause issues with CPU consumption when using some plugins in some
+ circumstances. Ardour provides two methods of handling the issue.
+ Trying different combinations of these settings may minimize CPU consumption.
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Timeline item gradient depth:</dfn> Determines how much
- gradient effect is applied to the backgrounds of regions displayed in the
- editor. Values range from 0.0, no gradient effect, to 1.0, maximum effect.
- </li>
+ <dfn>Use DC bias to protect against denormals</dfn> adds a small
+ constant value to numbers to move the numbers away from zero.
+ </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Icon Set:</dfn> Changes the mouse cursor icons used to indicate
- different tool modes in the editor. An example would be the icons used to
- indicate whether the cursor will select a region or change the length of a
- region.
+ <dfn>Processor handling:</dfn>, if the computer's hardware
+ supports it, offers two methods that can be used individually or
+ combined. Flush to zero and denormals are zero.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-</ul>
-
-<h3 id="colors">Colors</h3>
-
-<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Colors</dfn>
+ <dfn>Disk I/O Buffering</dfn> settings determine how many seconds of
+ audio off of disk will be buffered in memory. Longer settings reduce
+ the risk of buffer under-runs but consume more memory.
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Color Theme</dfn> allows to switch between some presets bundled with
- Ardour, changing both the palette and items colors, hence styling Ardour
- all at once.
+ <dfn>Preset:</dfn> will automatically choose the values for the playback
+ and recording buffer based on the chosen size of the session. The
+ <strong>Custom</strong> option allows to manually select the buffers with
+ the two sliders below.
</li>
<li>
- The table allows to change the color settings in Ardour by acting on three
- parameters:
- <ul>
- <li>
- <dfn>Items</dfn> that allow to choose any color from the palette (see below)
- to color a UI element. Clicking on a color sample in the <strong>Color</strong>
- column bring up the Palette, to choose from.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Palette</dfn> that allows to create a set of colors that will be used
- in the UI. Using a palette allows for better consistency, instead of
- picking "free" colors for each UI element. Clicking on a color patch brings
- up a full color selector, to assign this color to this patch of the palette.
- </li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Transparency</dfn> where possible, allows to select, with a slider,
- the transparency of the UI element, with 0 (slider to the left) being
- fully opaque.
- </li>
- </ul>
+ <dfn>Playback (seconds of buffering):</dfn> sets how many seconds of
+ audio Ardour will buffer during playback.
</li>
<li>
- <dfn>Restore Defaults</dfn> turns all the palette, item colors and transparency
- back to Ardour's default base setting, in case Ardour's appearance has turned
- into a toddler's toy.
+ <dfn>Recording (seconds of buffering):</dfn> sets how many seconds of
+ audio Ardour will buffer during recording.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-</ul>
-
-<h3 id="quirks">Quirks</h3>
-
-<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Various Workarounds for Windowing Systems</dfn>: As Ardour is available
- on a number of platforms and windowing systems, some specific workarounds are
- sometimes required to provide a smooth experience to the user.
+ <dfn>Memory Usage</dfn>
<ul>
<li>
- <dfn>Use visibility information provided by your Window Manager/Desktop</dfn>
- allows the system window manager's rules for the windows visibility to
- supercede Ardour's.
+ <dfn>Waveform image cache (megabytes):</dfn> sets the maximum amount of ram that
+ can be used to store the images representing the waveforms in the editor. Past
+ this amount, the images will be regenerated when needed, which can significantly
+ decrease the system's performance.
</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Automation</dfn>
+ <ul>
<li>
- <dfn>All floating windows are dialogs</dfn>: when enabled, Ardour will
- use type "Dialog" for all floating windows instead of using type
- "Utility" for some of them. This may help usability with some
- window managers. This setting requires a restart of Ardour to take effect.
- </li>
+ <strong>Thinning factor</strong> ranges from 0 to 1000 with larger
+ values sending fewer automation changes. Thinning is like lossy
+ audio compression, removing data that is less likely to be noticed,
+ although the more is removed, the more likely the loss will be noticed.
+ The advantage to thinning is reduced CPU usage.
+ </li>
<li>
- <dfn>Transient windows follow front window.</dfn>: when enabled,
- transient windows will follow the front window when toggling between the
- editor and mixer. This setting requires a restart of Ardour to take effect.
+ <strong>Automation sampling interval</strong> ranges from 1 to
+ 1000 ms. Determines how frequently the automation input is
+ sampled. The shorter the interval the higher the accuracy but also
+ the higher the CPU requirements.
</li>
- <li>
- <dfn>Float detached monitor-section window</dfn>: as the <a href="@@monitor-section">
- monitor section</a> can be detached from the mixer, this option makes it a
- floating window, which may be handled differently by the windowing system
- and easier to access.
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Automatables</dfn>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <dfn>Limit automatable parameters per plugin</dfn>: as some plugins
+ (synthesizers, …) have a lot of parameters, and those parameters
+ can be automated by Ardour, checking this will limit the number of parameters
+ that are listed as automatable, hence making the lists shorter and the GUI
+ more responsive.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
-
<li>
<dfn>Video Monitor</dfn>
<ul>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
+
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff