Poll: Add option to view Track/Lane selection in Edit area?

[joeyluck]

Another trade-off of the split view of the Sequencer, is that you can no longer view the Track/Lane selection from the Edit area. To select tracks you have to do that in the Arrangement area. This workflow can be a bit clunky if you prefer to work with the Edit area in full view of the Sequencer window.

Suggestion:

There could be buttons in the Edit area to toggle the left column to show the Tools or show the Track/Lane selection. Of course to have these buttons, it would take a little bit more room in the left column. In a perfect world, maybe these buttons only appear when the Edit area is in full view of the Sequencer.

Note Tools-Track Select.gif

Another solution would be that the Edit area could be detached as a separate window. That solution might be more useful to those on multi-display setups and less useful for those on single displays.

[Pepin]

I would rather see some type of track visibility inspector that spans the entire height of the window. It could be at the same location as the device palette (basically a different tab in that left panel).

I'm imagining a compact list of all sequencer tracks, with lanes nested under each one and check boxes to enable visibility and multi-lane editing. This would be more intuitive ui-wise than the current approach, give more information at a glance, and require less scrolling imo.

[PhillipOrdonez]

I like your suggestion joey. That would improve things so we would be able to select tracks while working with the edit view expanded.

[joeyluck]

I would rather see some type of track visibility inspector that spans the entire height of the window. It could be at the same location as the device palette (basically a different tab in that left panel).

I'm imagining a compact list of all sequencer tracks, with lanes nested under each one and check boxes to enable visibility and multi-lane editing. This would be more intuitive ui-wise than the current approach, give more information at a glance, and require less scrolling imo.

I like this concept as well. Although I think it would have occupy separate space from the Device palette? Because some people like to drag and drop devices from the palette into that area of the Sequencer to add devices and replace devices. And then I'm not sure how that would look and how much room it would leave with the Device palette, track selection, and inspector/tool column all open and next to each other. But I guess if you could hide/show all three of them individually, maybe then it's ok? Would love to see a mockup of this idea as well.

[EDIT] Something like this?

separate track select and inspector.png

[Pepin]

I would rather see some type of track visibility inspector that spans the entire height of the window. It could be at the same location as the device palette (basically a different tab in that left panel).

I'm imagining a compact list of all sequencer tracks, with lanes nested under each one and check boxes to enable visibility and multi-lane editing. This would be more intuitive ui-wise than the current approach, give more information at a glance, and require less scrolling imo.

I like this concept as well. Although I think it would have occupy separate space from the Device palette? Because some people like to drag and drop devices from the palette into that area of the Sequencer to add devices and replace devices. And then I'm not sure how that would look and how much room it would leave with the Device palette, track selection, and inspector/tool column all open and next to each other. But I guess if you could hide/show all three of them individually, maybe then it's ok? Would love to see a mockup of this idea as well.

I don't mean for it to actually replace the existing tracks list in the sequencer, so I think it would be okay to occupy the same area as the device palette. It would just be used to manage visibility in the tracks list as well as multi-lane editing. I'm really liking the multi-part editing in Cubase 13, which is the perspective I'm coming at this from:

Of course, the full feature set of Cubase's editing would be overkill, but a simplified Reason-tailored version would be nice.

I support your improvement too, in absence of a more significant reworking.

[joeyluck]

Ok gotcha. I'll have to watch the video later. I had edited my last post with a mockup suggestion which I guess wasn't what you were suggesting.

[Pepin]

Ok gotcha. I'll have to watch the video later. I had edited my last post with a mockup suggestion which I guess wasn't what you were suggesting.

Right, I'm imagining the tracks list remaining in the upper (arrangement) half of the sequencer. I don't think it would be necessary in the Edit Area if the visibility inspector I'm describing was added. You'd be able to toggle lanes for multi-lane editing from the inspector and select the primary track by clicking on it. You'd also be able to hide tracks entirely from the arrangement area, which would make it easier to use the split view on a smaller monitor (showing only the tracks you care about).

[Pepin]

Here's a quick mockup of what I mean:

Inspector1.png

Inspector2.png

[huggermugger]

I'm pretty ignorant of anything new in R13. Is that event inspector permanently in place?

[joeyluck]

I'm pretty ignorant of anything new in R13. Is that event inspector permanently in place?

Yes, in the Edit area you always see the inspector, the same as you always see the lane selection in the arrangement area.

[joeyluck]

Here's a quick mockup of what I mean:
Inspector1.png
Inspector2.png

Yeah I think this would be helpful with the added bonus of being able to hide/show tracks and lanes.

[selig]

Even with this feature you will still need to click on a clip before you can edit anything, one of the still frustrating and arbitrary additional steps that other DAWs don't require.

Honestly, right now it's 2-3 clicks to get from any track in Edit Mode (escape, double-click new clip on different track), so this solution (as I understand it) is also going to be at least 2-3 clicks to get from one track to the next: click on new track, double click on clip or direct click on a new event to select it. And this assumes you are giving up screen space to display the track list. If not, that means even more clicks required - or am I mix-counting clicks here?
From Edit View, click on "Track Select", click to select new track, double-click on a clip to go back into edit mode. This is 3-4 clicks total, depending on how you count a double-click, right?

For now one workaround is to leave one track in view from the main sequencer (at the top of the window), then click on it and use the arrow keys to navigate to new tracks. And this "solution" also still requires double-clicking on the clip first (or just directly on a note inside the clip).

Or I can just use the track buttons on my controller and not have to touch anything on screen (except for the pesky click to edit any clip), and that way I can keep the edit window "full screen"!

For my 'money' I just want a simpler approach were you zoom in on the track you want to edit and you edit. No clicking on a clip first, no special mode to enter/exit. That's how LUNA works and it's a DREAM. It reminds me of the old concept for a "zoomable interface" for computers where you zoom out and see an overview of files/folders/apps, then just zoom in to the area you want to work in. Same idea here, all data is on the timeline ready to edit whether you're zoomed out or zoomed in. Most of the time I just select the area I want to edit and "zoom to selection" - I can see the other tracks if I need to reference their timing (zoom out vertically a bit), I can still scroll up/down to other tracks, etc. So simple and so flexible it makes Reason's way look excessive and antiquated to me...

[selig]

Here's a quick mockup of what I mean:
Inspector1.png
Inspector2.png

YES!
This is how DAWs with Show/Hide work for the most part, with the "master list" of all elements on the left and some indication which ones are presently showing/hidden.
For this to work well you need a few things in place, such as a way to affect multiple tracks/lanes so you're not clicking each one when you want to show/hide a group of tracks. Hey, track groups, what an idea!
Also needed would be a "show/hide all" option, and possibly a way to save sets of which tracks are hidden/shown (Pro Tools actually used Markers for this, which was quite workable).
Finally, if you added a way to de-activate tracks you would also include a dual command to deactivate/hide a group of tracks, and also to re-activate/show any selection of tracks. Again, track/edit groups would be handy here, but probably asking too much for now…

[joeyluck]

Yeah this suggestion just looks to solve the issue of not being able to see tracks/lanes and be able to select them with the Edit area in full view. And this is just one idea.

Of course the work around of leaving the arrangement view open a bit doesn't work, because the point is being able to access and view the the list of tracks/lanes, not only without having the arrangement area in view, but seeing more than one or few lanes at a time so you can more easily find and select the one you need. And it is extra important for multi-lane selection.

I'm not worried about clicks because there could be shortcuts and it would already be a smoother flow then the current way of constantly adjusting the split view.

Also keeping in mind that the context menu tools are still an option as well. So somebody might prefer this workflow of keeping it on track/lane select and just using the menu for tools.

I also like Pepin's suggestion

[SynthGang]

I still don't understand why these things aren't implemented as options vs. forced workflow changes.

Personally, I like all the suggestions here, especially from Selig and Pepin, but I don't understand why they can't just make these new tool panels collapsible, and even allow you to break them out into a window if you so choose.

- If I prefer to edit MIDI or audio using the entirety of my monitor, then don't force me to go into a split view at all - period.
- If I don't need access to the tool panel, allow me to collapse/hide it to save me the screen real estate (I personally preferred it as a window as it used to be and as it is implemented almost identically in Pro Tools).

So yes to options but like... options for all the new workflow "improvements" lol