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rncbc / qtractor

Qtractor - An Audio/MIDI multi-track sequencer
https://qtractor.org
GNU General Public License v2.0
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A quicker way of switching between automation tracks #345

Open maxigaz opened 2 years ago

maxigaz commented 2 years ago

Right now, as far as I know, there are two ways one can change between automation tracks:

  1. Click on Automation (the 'A' button), then Select, and choose what you want to automate.
  2. In the general UI of a plugin (right click > Properties...), right click on the label or the slider of the control, then click on Automation (or, if Automation is already enabled, click somewhere else).

Supposing that automation is already enabled for some controls, I'd like to suggest three ways that could make switching between their automation tracks quicker (any of them would be welcome):

  1. In the Automation (A) menu, group the active ones together so that in addition to the regular list, they can also be found under a submenu.
  2. In the general plugin UI, a single left click on a label switches to its track (cf. the current behaviour, which involves at least two clicks).
  3. Clicking on a control in the native UI switches to its track. (This is similar to how Ardour does it.) I'm not sure how feasible it is to be implemented though.

Edit: The first idea would also solve another problem: out of all the available controls (there could be hundreds of them in a MIDI track) I could quickly find out which ones I have automated so far.

rncbc commented 2 years ago
  1. In the Automation (A) menu, group the active ones together so that in addition to the regular list, they can also be found under a submenu.

feasible, yes but, not an emergency or is it? you can always reckon the inactive ones shown with the grayed out fake-LED.

  1. In the general plugin UI, a single left click on a label switches to its track (cf. the current behaviour, which involves at least two clicks).

maybe, if I understand you correctly, you'll need to hit Automation for the track (and the automation curve) to become highlighted, right? are we nit-picking on click-count here? ;)

  1. Clicking on a control in the native UI switches to its track. (This is similar to how Ardour does it.) I'm not sure how feasible it is to be implemented though.

you mean, native as the custom GUI provided by the plugin itself? if that's the case, then, I am personally not very found of that trick anyhow, sorry, but PR's are always welcome for review ;)

cheers

maxigaz commented 2 years ago

feasible, yes but, not an emergency or is it? you can always reckon the inactive ones shown with the grayed out fake-LED.

The current implementation works, alright. It was just suggestion on how to make switching quicker. Also, see the edited part of my post for an additional advantage.

if I understand you correctly, you'll need to hit Automation for the track (and the automation curve) to become highlighted, right?

Correct.

are we nit-picking on click-count here? ;)

The difference between that -/+1 click may be nothing if you do it now and again, but if you do it very often, it adds up and it does become noticable. (Especially if you've worked with another application that does it with one click less involved.)