Could you please bring back the "Add Track" button? I used it a lot in the app and making automations on the timeline is a nightmare without it.
-NJ
Could you please bring back the "Add Track" button? I used it a lot in the app and making automations on the timeline is a nightmare without it.
-NJ
Comments (13)
I think that most people might find it preferable to open the context menu of a parameter and create an automation from there.
However, now that you brought it up, it might be useful to others who grew accustomed to using the Add Track menu to have the option between the two.
I'd second this for that purpose.
This would be great ! I often find myself working with the timeline in fullscreen and it feels like im losing momentum if I have to go back to the device workplace just to add an automation track. Also, once a device is on the timeline, it would be helpful to be able to rightclic it to add other note/pattern/automation tracks from the same device, instead of going into the "add track" menu.
An optional "Add track" menu per the context menu of a particular device makes good sense.
As others have said, not if you're working with the time-line on full screen, which I like to do when the sound is already programmed and I'm just working with notes and chords. Sometimes I want to add an additional note track and mute the previous one to try new variations of a melody or chord progression in place. It's a very convenient way to work. It feels unnecessary then to have to go back to the device.
I second this. Adding tracks within the time-line without having to go to the desktop is very handy.
me too. I thought this was just hidden tbh
how else do you add a track?
Bumping this up again. There seems to be a recent surge of posts from people who are looking for this way to add tracks to their arrangement. The current method of using the device context-menu doesn't seem to be intuitive enough. And as stated below, the ability to add tracks from the timeline without using the desktop at all was very handy.
Personally I think that it would be better to give it its own (+) button, just before the track name and status dot, like it was in Flash. The desktop deals mainly with devices, their controls and connections, therefore it's right that adding a track should be accessed from a context menu. But the timeline deals mainly with tracks, therefore it's consistent with it that adding tracks should have its own button (like delete, assign groove, etc.)
On a related note, some users are commenting that it is a bit confusing that single-clicking a device's name in the timeline doesn't centre it on the desktop, only clicking its icon. They want the old behaviour back and I agree with it.
Just a comment on the new device icon context menu: Why the check mark right before the track type? It's very confusing. It makes you think that the menu item can be somehow unchecked (that's how check marks usually work in an GUI) which would probably mean that the corresponding track can be deleted? Which isn't the case for Note tracks (the item will add another one), but it is for Pattern tracks. I'd remove the check marks, I don't think it's the right place for them (I'd actually use a button for the reasons below). Also, Audiotrack devices can have more than one audio track, but there's no entry for audio tracks on the context menu, only for automation.
In my opinion it's confusing because the presence of a check mark indicates that something, for example an option, can be either active or inactive, not added or deleted. In the case of note tracks, choosing the menu item keeps adding more note tracks. In the case of automation or pattern tracks (which are always unique for each device), they get -removed-. I would at the very least use the method you have on the device context menu: just grey out the menu items that can't be used because their corresponding tracks already exist. Then both context menus (device and timeline) would be consistent with each other. And if you need to use the context menu method, I'd remove the functionality to delete tracks with it. There's the Delete Track button for that already. As it is now, it looks a bit messy and counter intuitive. I'd really prefer the Add button on the timeline.
"This has nothing to do with the rest of your argumentation, right?" :D My point was that my preferred option would definitely be the Add button (reasons for it are on my comment from 3 days ago). But "if you need to use the context menu method", I'd try to make it less confusing with the observations in my comment below.