Grid Pro Manual - Sequencer
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| Grid Pro Manual |
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| Getting Started |
The Basics
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| Advanced Features |
| Optimizing Grid Pro |
GRID Pro comes with a powerful sequencer for automating the playback and mixing of movies. Each sequence can have up to 16 steps and you can have as many sequences as you'd like. Like with transitions, you can edit sequences without making them active. When you save a book file all of your sequences are automatically saved with it.
Contents |
Making a new sequence
To switch into Sequencer mode, select Sequencer View from the Playback Settings menu, or use the keyboard short-cut cmd + h. You can return to the standard Mixer View at any time by selecting it from the top of the Playback Settings menu or pressing cmd + g on the keyboard.
Recording a new sequence
To begin recording a new sequence, either select Record New Sequence from the Playback Settings menu (cmd + J), or click the record button in the sequencer interface.
When recording a sequence, GRID Pro will automatically add movies as a new step in the Sequencer Timeline as they are triggered by the user. Settings such as playback speed, volume, and transition time are also recorded along with each step. The amount of time between triggering movies is recorded as the duration, or length of time to stay on each step, in terms of the current clock settings.
After the sequencer has recorded 16 steps, it will automatically stop recording and begin playing back the sequence you just recorded. You can also manually stop recording at any time by clicking the record button in the sequencer interface.
Creating a new empty sequence
It is also possible to make new sequences that can be put together step by step by adding movies from the Media GRID. To create a new empty sequence, click the New Seq. button in the Sequencer interface. To copy a movie from the Media GRID into an empty sequence, simply hold shift and option while dragging cells from the Media GRID into the sequencer timeline. Don't forget to hold down shift to select cells first.
Naming a sequence
To make managing sequences easier, each new sequence can be given a unique name to help identify it later on. To change the name of the current sequence, click in the text box under SEQUENCE NAME, type the name of the sequence, and press return. New sequences are automatically named NEW_SEQUENCE. It's a good idea to change the name of a new sequence to something more recognizable right away to avoid confusion later on.
Editing a sequence
Adding movies to a sequence== Movies can be added to a sequence at any time by dragging the cells from the Media GRID into the sequencer timeline while holding down the shift and option keys. When dragging from the Media GRID, movies can be placed in any step in the sequence timeline, either empty or full.
Copying, moving, deleting steps
Just as cells in the Media GRID can be copied, moved, and deleted, so can steps within a sequence. The currently selected cursor in the Tool Bar, as well as all of the keyboard shortcuts, function exactly the same as in the Media GRID. See Organizing your movies for more details.
Change step parameters
Beneath the thumbnail for each step in the sequence is a graphical view of the playback parameters for that particular step. Each parameter is drawn as a different layer in the display. To change a parameter, first select which layer you wish to edit using the layer controls to the left of the parameter display. The layer controls consist of two columns of circles. The left column is used to control which layers are visible and the right column is used to control which layer is currently being edited. The playback parameters that can be controled are as follows:
- Duration - Red squares - Sets how many 'counts' the step should be played for, ranging from 1 to 16. Setting a duration of zero will skip a step and a duration of 17 will cause sequence playback to hold on that step until otherwise specified by triggering another step in the sequence. The length of a count is determined by the Sequencer clock and each count will fill one duration square on the current step. When all of the squares are filled, the sequence will move to the next step in the sequence.
- Speed - Yellow bar - Sets the playback speed of the movie, ranging from -4x to 4x.
- In / Out - Gray bars - Set the loop points of the movie.
- Movie position - Green line - Sets the start point of the movie the first time it is triggered by the sequencer.
- Volume - Aqua bar - Sets the volume level of the movie audio.
- Balance - Blue line - Sets the position of the movie audio in a left / right stereo field.
- Fade Time - Purple bar - Sets the autofade time used by the sequencer when the step becomes active.
Playing back a sequence
Sequence Behavior
When the sequencer window is open, normal triggering of cells (by clicking, using the keyboard, or MIDI notes) is disabled. As the sequencer steps through it's timeline, cells are triggered into the target bus. The behaviors of the active mixer mode (auto-layer, auto-transition, or manual) are still followed when the sequencer is playing back.
The Sequencer Clock and Event Counting
The rate of sequence playback is dependent on counts, or beats. A count occurs when a user specified event occurs.
The Sequencer Clock has four modes, each with its own options:
- Movie Loop - A count occurs when the currently playing movies loop. Choose between Bus A, Bus B, or both Bus A and Bus B.
Analysis Threshold - A count occurs whenever the value of the provided Gesture Slider goes over a certain threshold. A new count can not occur until the value of the slider drops below the Reset point. The provided Gesture Slider can be synced to a controller such as audio analysis, making it possible to use live music to drive the sequencer.
- Clock - Sets length between counts to a specific amount of time, either in terms of clock divisions (Quantized) or in milliseconds (Unquantized).
- Manual - In this mode, a count is only made when the Next Count button in the Sequencer Clock is clicked.
Mixer controls
You can still change all the mixer and transition settings while sequences are playing back, for more information on these controls, see Customizing Transitions.
Switching sequences
A list of all the available sequences can be found in a panel in the lower right hand corner of the sequencer. If you have multiple sequences available, this panel can be used to change which sequence is being edited or switch the currently playing sequence.
To set a sequence as the playing sequence, simply click in the area to the left of the scroll bar in the Transitions Panel. An white circle will appear to the right of the transitions name, indicating that it is now the active transition.