The Time ruler

The Time ruler appears in the Track view, Tempo view, Staff view and Piano Roll view. It has several functions, including:

Making a time selection. The Time ruler follows the Snap to Grid settings, if enabled. Tip: By default, making a time selection by dragging in the time ruler only selects tracks. To select both tracks and buses, hold down the ALT key while dragging in the time ruler.

Changing the Now time

Adding loop, punch, and pitch markers.  You can right-click in the Time ruler to add markers.

Zooming and scrolling. Point the mouse pointer at the top half of the Clips pane or Piano Roll view Time Ruler until the mouse pointer looks like , then drag up/down to zoom horizontally, or left/right to scroll. For details, see Zooming and scrolling in the Time Ruler.

In the Track view and Piano Roll view, the Time ruler has the following time display options or formats:

Measures, Beats and Ticks (M:B:T)

Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Frames (H:M:S:F—also called SMPTE)

Samples

Milliseconds

Figure 55. The Time ruler.

A. M:B:T B. H:M:S:F C. Samples D. Milliseconds E. Remove ruler F. Add ruler

The M:B:T setting follows your settings in the Meter/Key view. If you project is set to 4/4 time, you have four beats in the Time ruler for each measure. If your project is set to 6/8 time, you have six beats in the Time ruler for each measure.

Note: When Smart Grid is enabled in the Control Bar’s Snap module, the M:B:T Time Rulers in the Clips pane and Piano Roll view are optimized to show relevant snap locations.

If there is only one format displayed in the Time ruler, you can switch the format by right-clicking in the Time ruler and selecting the format you prefer.

To switch the Time ruler format to M:B:T

1.	Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2.	In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format > M:B:T.

To switch the Time ruler format to H:M:S:F (SMPTE)

1.	Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2.	In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format > H:M:S:F.

To switch the Time ruler format to samples

1.	Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2.	In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format > Samples.

To switch the Time ruler format to milliseconds

1.	Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2.	In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format > Milliseconds.

Additionally, you can add or remove Time ruler formats using the Plus/Minus buttons located just outside the right edge of the Time ruler.

Note: If only one Time ruler format is being used, only the Plus button is displayed.

To add or remove Time ruler formats using the Plus/Minus buttons

Click the Plus button and select a Time ruler format from the pop-up menu.

Click the Plus button and select a Time ruler format you would like to add from the pop-up menu.

Click the Minus button and select from the pop-up menu to remove an active Time ruler format.

Right-click in the Time ruler and move the cursor to Time ruler format in the pop-up menu. A list of all Time ruler formats appears. Active formats are checked, inactive formats are unchecked.

Click a checked format to move it down one row.

Click an unchecked format to replace the topmost displayed format.

Note: Selecting the Display All Times as SMPTE check box in Edit > Preferences > Customization - Display forces all times in the project to be displayed in SMPTE time, regardless of your setting in the Time ruler.

 

See:

Controlling the transport

Zooming and scrolling in the Time Ruler