User guide

Tracktion 4 Reference Manual
69
Folder Tracks
In addition to standard tracks used for building arrangements, there is a special kind of track called
a folder track (Fig. 3.3.2). A folder track is a track that can contain one or more other tracks (including
other folder tracks). They are useful for grouping tracks together, and can greatly aid navigation when
there are a large number of tracks in an edit.
In addition to their ability to house other tracks, folder tracks differ from regular tracks in a number of
ways. Here are a few of the more immediate differences:
• You cannot place clips on a folder track, only on tracks held inside the folder.
• You cannot add lters to a folder track.
• Folder tracks have a special VCA lter that can be used to adjust the level of all tracks inside the
folder. This lter is xed, and cannot be removed.
• Folder tracks cannot have an input device assigned to them.
Figure 3.3.2 shows a folder track that contains ve sub-tracks. The top track is the folder track, and
the ve tracks beneath it are shown with an indented name to signify that they are contained in a folder.
Folder tracks show the contents of their sub-folders in a special thumbnail view called a collection
clip. If you look carefully at the rst track in Figure 3.3.2, you should be able to recognise the form of the
ve tracks beneath it. These collection clips can be manipulated just like any normal clip. This allows
you to to potentially edit a number of tracks at one time, just by editing the collection clips on the folder
track.
To the left of the folder track’s name is a small expand/collapse icon. When a folder track is col-
lapsed, only the folder track itself is shown. Child tracks are visible only through the collection clips.
When a folder track is expanded, the folder track itself, and all child tracks will be visible.
Folder tracks can be used in many different ways. You can use them to group instruments together;
for example, you could have a percussion folder in which all your percussive tracks are stored. Folders
can be used to temporarily tidy away tracks that are not being used, but which you are not yet ready
to delete. If you like to render tracks that require a large degree of processing power, you can keep
an original copy of the pre-rendered track in a folder with its rendered counterpart. In this way, the two
tracks would not take up any more screen space than a regular track.
As you can see, folder tracks provide an extremely powerful way of organizing and managing large
edits, and because they can be dragged, moved, and renamed just like regular tracks, they are ex-
tremely easy to work with. You can even copy and paste them, which will copy not just the folder track,
but all sub-tracks inside it!
To create a new folder track:
• Click the
tracks button in the control panel. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
• Select the
create new folder track option from the pop-up menu.
Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + SHIFT + T (CMD + SHIFT + T for Macs).
Figure 3.3.2