Moving and copying clips

You can copy or move clips using drag-and-drop editing or the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands. If you copy or move clips into tracks that contain existing material, you need to let Music Creator know how to combine the two.

You have these options:

Table 49.  

Option	How it works
Blend Old and New	Events in the copied or moved clip are placed into a new clip that overlaps with the existing clip. This is the same effect as sound-on-sound recording.
Replace Old with New	Events in the copied or moved clip are placed into a new clip, and any overlapping events in the existing clip are erased. This is the same effect as overwrite recording.
Slide Over to Make Room	The existing clips are shifted in time to make room for the new clips, so they will not overlap. If you select the Align to Measures option, shifted clips are always aligned to measure boundaries; otherwise, the clips are placed end to end.

When you use the Edit > Paste Special command to add information to a track that contains existing material, there is one final option you can choose.

Table 50.  

Option	What it means
Paste as New Clips	New clips are created containing the events on the Clipboard, exactly as described in the preceding table.
Paste into Existing Clips (MIDI clips only)	The events on the Clipboard are merged into any existing clips that occupy the same region of time. This means you will never end up with clips that overlap.

Note that if you copy or move clips to new, empty tracks, you don’t have to worry about these settings. In this case, the track properties that go with the clips are automatically applied to the new track.

When you use drag-and-drop editing:

You can set the above options every time you perform an edit, or you can set them once and have the same settings carry over automatically. Check or uncheck the Ask This Every Time box in the Drag and Drop Options dialog box to indicate your preference. To open the Drag and Drop Options dialog box, click the Track view Options menu and choose Drag and Drop Options.

If you drag to the edge of the Clips pane, it will scroll automatically in the direction you drag.

If you change your mind while dragging clips, press the ESC key to cancel the operation.

Music Creator also lets you move and copy clips between projects.

To move clips using drag and drop

1.	Select the clips you want to move.

2.	If you want to move the clips by an exact amount of time, enable the snap grid (see To change the snap options and Aim Assist line).

3.	Select the Smart tool or Move tool in the Control Bar.

4.	Position the mouse over one of the selected clips.

5.	Press and hold down the left mouse button. A rectangle is displayed around the selected clips.

6.	Drag the clips to their new location, and release the mouse button.

7.	If necessary, choose the options you want from the Drag and Drop Options dialog box (go to Edit > Preferences > Customization - Editing), and click OK.

Music Creator moves the clips to their new location.

Note: Moving an audio clip (other than a Groove clip) to a part of your project that has a different tempo changes the size of the clip.

To move clips using cut and paste

1.	Select the clips you want to move.

2.	Choose Edit > Cut Special to display the Cut dialog box.

Figure 106. The Cut dialog box.

3.	Choose the options you want and click OK. Music Creator cuts the clips from the project and places them on the Clipboard.

4.	Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips should be pasted.

5.	Set the Now time to be the time at which the clips should be pasted.

6.	Choose Edit > Paste Special to display the Paste dialog box.

Figure 107. The Paste dialog box.

7.	Choose the options you want and click OK.

Music Creator places the clips in their new location.

To choose a specific start time and/or length for a clip

1.	Select the clip you want to edit.

2.	Open the Clip Inspector and select the Properties section.

3.	In the Time Format field, choose the units you want to use for the new start time and/or length by clicking one of the radio buttons:

M:B:T. Click this if you want the clip to begin and end on a specific measure, beat, or tick.

Samples. Click this is you want the clip to begin and end on a specific sample.

H:M:S:F. Click this is you want the clip to begin and end on a specific hour, minute, second, or frame. This is also known as SMPTE time, and lets you start the clip at an absolute-time-based (as opposed to musical-time-based) point in your project.

Seconds. Click this is you want the clip to begin and end on a specific second.

4.	In the Start and Length fields, enter a new start time and/or length, or use the spinners or keyboard to change values.

5.	Choose a value in the Time Base field—choose one of the two options in this section to control what happens to the clip’s start time when you change the tempo:

Musical (M:B:T). If the clip is set to the Musical time base, the clip’s M:B:T position stays constant, and its Absolute (SMPTE) position shifts.

Absolute (SMPTE). If the clip is set to the Absolute (SMPTE) time base, its Absolute position stays constant, and its M:B:T position shifts.

Note: The length of a clip may also change when you change the tempo—audio clips maintain their absolute (SMPTE) length, while a MIDI clip will follow the value in the Time Base field.

Music Creator adjusts the clip to the values you chose.

Note: The Snap Offset field is for audio clips only. The value of this field is the snap offset of the selected clip, in samples. When you set a snap offset value for a clip, and then drag the clip, the left edge of the clip does not snap to the current snap resolution--the clip snaps to a point on the clip that is the distance from the left edge of the clip to the snap offset value. For example, if you set the snap resolution to move to a measure, and the snap offset of a clip to 1500 samples, when you drag the clip, instead of the left edge of the clip moving to a measure line, the spot on the clip that's 1500 samples right of the beginning of the clip moves to the measure line.

To copy clips using drag and drop

1.	Select the clips you want to copy.

2.	Enable the snap grid, if desired.

3.	Select the Smart tool in the Control Bar.

4.	Position the mouse over one of the selected clips.

5.	Press and hold the CTRL key and click and hold the left mouse button. A rectangle is displayed around the selected clips.

6.	Drag the clips to the new location, and release the mouse button.

7.	If necessary, choose the options you want from the Drag and Drop Options dialog box, and click OK.

Music Creator copies the clips to their new location.

To copy clips using copy and paste

1.	Select the clips you want to copy.

2.	Choose Edit > Copy Special to display the Copy dialog box.

3.	Choose the options you want and click OK. Music Creator copies the clips to the Clipboard.

4.	Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips should be pasted.

5.	Set the Now time to be the time the clips should be pasted.

6.	Choose Edit > Paste Special to display the Paste dialog box.

7.	Choose the options you want and click OK.

Music Creator copies the clips to their new location.

To delete clips

1.	Select the clips you want to delete.

2.	Do one of the following:

Choose Edit > Delete, which brings up a dialog box—choose options and click OK.

Press the DELETE key.

Music Creator deletes the selected clips.

 

See:

Splitting and combining clips

Working with partial clips

Working with linked clips

Aim Assist line