Sync-Locked Track Groups

Peter 22Feb13: WIP - working-title only - proper title to be decided later.

• ToDo-2 The position of the "misconceptions" alert note on page to be decided.
  • Gale 26Feb13: It was too early as worded - the intro did not clearly say what Sync-Lock did. Does my tweaked intro help? Your alert said "Sync-Lock Track Groups are defined by their position within the project and their relationship to label tracks", but the position is irrelevant if there are no label tracks, so I don't think that's clear.

    I have tried three advice (not alert) divs A, B and C any of which I think are an improvement, but the second sentence of each is where I think we need to decide what emphasis is most important. I think B (B1 being clearer than B2) is the best in that it shows that the level of operation is now not selected tracks but selected groups (if there is more than one group). C shows how exactly to define an extra group of audio tracks but is less clear how the "independence" works (and ignores the fact that two label tracks are two separate groups). Another sentence would be needed to combine the best of B and C.

The Sync-Locked Track Groups feature is enabled by the "Sync-Lock Tracks" menu item or button. This feature interlocks tracks so that length and position changes applied to any tracks in a defined Sync-Locked Track Group affect all audio or label tracks in that Group, without the need to first select them all.

This makes it easier to keep audio or labels synchronized when carrying out actions like inserting, deleting or changing speed or tempo.

A:

This command does not let you select particular tracks then interlock those selected tracks. All tracks in a Sync-Locked Track Group are affected by edits if at least one track in that Group is selected, and there is only one Group until a label track is added to define another Group, as described below.

B1:

This command does not let you select particular tracks then interlock those selected tracks. All tracks in a Sync-Locked Track Group are interlocked with each other even if unselected, but independent Groups can be created by inserting a label track as a Group separator, then one Group will not interact with anther Group unless at least one track in each Group is selected.

B2:

This command does not let you select particular tracks then interlock those selected tracks. All tracks in a Sync-Locked Track Group are interlocked with each other even if unselected, but independent Groups can be separated by inserting a label track, then one Group will not interact with another Group unless at least one track in each Group is selected.

C:

This command does not let you select particular tracks then interlock those selected tracks. All tracks in a Sync-Locked Track Group are interlocked with each other even if unselected, and a project only has one group unless you add at least one label track so that it separates the audio tracks above and below into two independent groups.

Sync-Lock Tracks

Sync-Lock Tracks can be turned on, or off, at Tracks > Sync-Lock Tracks or by using the Sync-Lock Tracks button () in Edit Toolbar ; Sync-Locking is off by default. Turning on Sync-Lock Tracks does nothing itself, rather it sets the future behavior of Audacity when working with selected Sync-Locked Track Groups.

The button is shown as recessed when Sync-Lock Tracks is set to "on".

The Sync-Lock Tracks setting that you choose is a global one that applies to all Audacity projects, not just the curent one,unless and until you subsequently change the setting.

Sync-Locked Track Groups

Any audio track in Audacity can be in a group of one or more adjacent tracks that can be Sync-Locked with other tracks in that group. To form a Sync-Locked Track Group the tracks must be adjacent to each other, they may be terminated with a Label Track. If you require multiple Sync-Locked Track groups in your project then only the last one may be without a terminating Label Track, all the preceding ones must terminate in a label track to delimit them from the next following Sync-Locked Track Group. A Sync-Locked Track Group may have multiple label tracks as long as the label tracks are together at the bottom of the group.

When Sync-Lock is on an icon () shows bottom right in the Track Control Panel of each track in a Sync-Locked Track Group provided at least one of those tracks is selected. The icon denotes all tracks that will be affected when a menu operation in a selected track inserts or deletes audio (or otherwise changes the audio's position on the Timeline). The unselected tracks that will be affected are denoted by a patterned "Sync-Lock" selection in the waveform (a wallpaper with clockfaces) instead of the dark gray of a normally selected track.

Selecting Groups for Sync-Locking

Selecting at least one track from within a Group will mark that particular group as Sync-Locked, the icon will appear in the Track Control Panel of all the tracks in that Group. If you have multiple Groups then clicking ao a track in a different groyp will cause the Sync-Lock selection to move to the new group.

Peter 22Feb13: probably a 3-group example image to go here

• Gale22Feb13: Sliding is an edge case that shows Sync-Locked Track Groups working even when no tracks are selected or Sync-Lock Selected. I don't think we should use that example. A much better example may be something like deleting audio in front of a label and moving the labels back in the affected tracks.
• Peter25Feb13:Does this image help - I'm thinking maybe not!
  • Gale 26Feb13: It's on the right lines if you show only the Track Panel (including background) and Timeline, and reduce the length of the clips so the image is less wide. I think it may be beneficial if you select in one of the three audio tracks below the second label track, then you can show that the third independent group exists and will be affected even though it does not have a label track below it.

File:Sync-Locked Track Groups example.jpg

Using Sync-Lock Tracks

The following links demonstrate in more detail the use of Sync-Locked Tracks in Audacity for common editing tasks:

• Using Sync-Locked Track Groups for Editing audio

• Using Sync-Locked Track Groups for Time Shifting audio

• Using Sync-Locked Track Groups for Time Stretching audio