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