This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Resizing Your Tracks
We've already talked about how you can resize your tracks in the Track List area by using the Minimize and Maximize Track Height buttons. You can use several other techniques to adjust your Track List configuration. The following sections show you how to adjust the height and the width of your Track Headers.
Resizing Tracks by Dragging
Maximizing and minimizing Track Headers has limitations. The track ends up big, small, or the default size. Using other techniques, ACID lets you adjust the size of the Track Headers to whatever you desire.
To change the height of the Track Header, position the cursor directly over the Track Header's bottom edge, as shown in Figure 3.3. The cursor changes to a double line/double arrow. Click and drag the edge up or down to resize the Track Header. Taller tracks show complete controls and information in the Track Header and the events on the track grow to match the track height.
){kind=link}
Figure 3.3 Drag the bottom edge of a Track Header up or down to change the track's height.
TIP
This click-and-drag-the-edge method of resizing an area of the screen is available in many places in the ACID interface. If you feel the urge to resize an item on the ACID screen, point to its edges. If you see the double line/double arrow cursor, drag to resize the item.
If you've read the tip regarding resizing items in ACID, you might have already figured out that changing the width of the Track List works much the same way as changing the height of a Track Header. Point to the right edge, click, and drag to your heart's content.
NOTE
When you change the height of a Track Header, you affect only that track. But when you change the width of the Track List, you change the width of all the Track Headers.
Resizing Track Height with Zoom Control
The Vertical Zoom control enables you to change the height of all Track Headers simultaneously. At the bottom of the vertical scrollbar at the right side of the timeline, notice the two buttons and a spin control that make up the Vertical Zoom control.
Click the Zoom In Track Height button to increase track height. When the Track Height is large enough that one Track Header occupies the entire visible Track List, this button ceases to have any effect. Likewise, click the Zoom Out Track Height button to decrease track height. When the tracks reach their minimum size, the button ceases to have any effect. Notice that both buttons affect all tracks, and that all tracks assume the same size. Click and hold either button to steadily increase or decrease the size of all tracks.
A Zoom spin control is located between the two buttons. Click and drag this spin control for fine adjustments either up or down to your track height.
Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Change Track Height
Normally we don't devote an entire section to keyboard shortcuts, but you'll use these so often that we want to make sure that you know them early on in your work with ACID.
To increase the height of all Track Headers, press Shift+up arrow. To increase the height in finer increments, press Shift+Alt+up arrow.
To decrease the height of all Track Headers, press Shift+down arrow. To decrease the height in finer increments, press Shift+Alt+down arrow.
When you master these keyboard shortcuts, you'll use them frequently to change the height of your tracks.
Setting the Default Track Height
Now that you know how to adjust your track heights, you might have settled on a favorite. Sooner or later, you'll find a height that you find to be adequate for most of the work you do. When you find this magical height, you can make it the default for all tracks you add to this project and to any future projects.
To make a track's height the default for all new tracks, right-click the track icon and choose Set As Default Track Height from the shortcut menu.