[ardour-users] Top Level Mode

[Renick Bell]

>     I'm not a big fan of the "million windows" school of thought (as in
> GIMP) but I can see possibilities in what Esben is proposing.  I use the
> Regions/chunks portion of Ardour quite a bit but it is usually something
> I do up front.  After I have used it, it just takes up space.  If not in
> a separate window, how about implementing it the same way that the
> editor mixer has been done - toggle it on and off.  I know you can
> minimize it by grabbing the handle and sliding it to the right but
> that's a bit awkward.  It would be much easier to just have a toggle
> button.

I agree with these two. I'm soon going to be doing all of my work on a
12.1" Thinkpad (with occassional access to an additional 15"monitor).
The resolution is 1024x768, but I still find there's less screen space
than I would like.

I understand your opposition to the GIMP; in that context the multiple
windows can be annoying (though it can also be quite useful if you are
using multiple monitors, image full screen on one monitor, palettes on
another). However, in Ardour, the bulk of the work doesn't involve
those four tabs in the screenshot you've provided (unlike the GIMP).

For me, it would be ideal for that panel, if not a separate window by
default, to be detachable or something I could toggle on and off just
like Esben and Jan have suggested. For maximum convenience, it would
have a keyboard shortcut to make it appear and disappear just like the
mixer (as Jan suggested). We can currently [alt+right click?] to
minimize the side panels, but a keyboard shortcut that doesn't require
the mouse would be best. If it were a separate window, I could place
it on the second monitor along with the mixer and what appears to be a
transport bar in your new screenshot, or I could get rid of it
altogether when I don't need it .

I do like the tabs in the new screenshot; the extra click is more than
compensated for by the space savings. However, I don't think this
alone solves the problem for those of us with less-than 17" monitors.

Also, working with Ardour this past week, I found that I missed a
global vertical aspect zoom. Is there a way to do this (make all of
the tracks vertically smaller or larger at the same time), rather than
adjusting each one individually?

Still enjoying the results of all the developers' hard work. Thanks so much!

Best,

Renick

--
Renick Bell
http://www.the3rd2nd.com