User guide

Tracktion 4 Reference Manual

Auto lock: When this option is active, moving, or copying a clip on a track will automatically move, or

copy, any automation points that exist within the clip’s boundaries. Note that the automation does not

follow the clip if it is moved to another track that does not contain the same lter. Automation and the

auto lock button are described in detail in Chapter 7.3.

Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + SHIFT + A (CMD + SHIFT + A for Mac users)

Snap: This option toggles whether snap-to-grid is active. When snap to grid is active editing operations

will snap to the nearest current grid line. Keyboard shortcut: Q.

E-to-E: This option toggles whether end-to-end mode is enabled. When enabled, Tracktion will send

data to the output devices even if playback is stopped. Conversely, when it is disabled, all lters and

inputs are effectively disabled.

A typical example of where e-to-to should be enabled is if you are trying to use Tracktion as an ef-

fects processor for a guitar, or hardware MIDI instrument. In this scenario, you may not want playback

or record modes active, and as such you would to enable end-to-end to keep Tracktion’s audio engine

running.

Because end-to-end mode leaves all lters active when playback is stopped, it also means that they

are using processor resources during that time. If you edit uses a large amount of CPU power, you may

nd that editing becomes sluggish at tines. This can happen because the lters are stealing all of the

available processing power, leaving little for Tracktion itself to work with. By disabling end-to-end in this

circumstance, all of your computer’s processing power but be available to Tracktion for editing opera-

tions when playback stops.

The keyboard shortcut SHIFT + E can be used to toggle e-to-e mode on and off.

Scroll: This option toggles whether the edit will scroll when the play-head cursor reaches the edge of

the visible area. Disabling this option can be useful when editing MIDI parts while playback is active.

Keyboard shortcut: SHIFT + S.

At the bottom of the transport section there is a CPU usage meter. Use this to monitor how much

of your available computing power is being used by the current edit. As CPU usage increases, audio

stability can be compromised, and pops and clicks may occur in recordings, and during playback. In ad-

dition, the user-interface may become sluggish and user interface updates may be noticeably slower.

You may sometimes see a small exclamation mark (“!”) appear on the usage bar. This noties you

that an edit required more data to be read from your hard-drive than could physically be achieved. If

you nd this happening in one of your edits, you can freeze a number of the audio tracks. Chapter 8.4

discusses rendering and freezing tracks, both of which can provide methods to play edits that are either

too computationally, or drive-throughput intensive.

The Master Filter Section

The nal part of the transport section is called the master lter section, and it is here that you can see

and edit the overall level of your edit. You can also add lters here to create a master insert section,

useful for mastering plug-ins such as limiters.

To add a lter to the master section, simply drag the lter, or new lter icon, into the area directly

above the master level control. A subtlety that is worth being aware of here is that if your edit sends

data to multiple outputs, each output will have its own copy of the master lters. This can have two ef-

fects that may not be immediately obvious:

• All audio outputs will be processed by the lters in the master lter chain. If you are using an out

put as a control room mix, or vocal mix, you may not want the master effects to be applied to that

track. This is particularly likely to be the case if you are using an audio output and input pair to

create an insert for a hardware effects processor.