Tempo View problems in CW ver. 2021.04

[EdStauff]

I've been using CW for well over a year now (Windows 10), and I just updated it to version 2021.04. 

When the Tempo View is a separate window, it has the size and shape of a Console view vertical strip, and I can't resize it horizontally.  It shows only the list of tempo changes; no timeline.  It appears to be sharing a window with the Inspector:  whenever I select <main menu> → "Views"  → "Tempo", the contents of that window alternates between the Inspector and the list of tempo changes.

The new Tempo Track in the Track View is a nice addition, but it has no vertical or horizontal grid lines, which I've come to depend on in the Tempo View.  Is there a way to turn on grid lines in the Tempo Track?  If not, then I no longer have a way to efficiently edit my tempo changes. 

Thanks,

-- Ed

 

[Colin Nicholls]

3 hours ago, EdStauff said:

The new Tempo Track has no vertical or horizontal grid lines, which I've come to depend on in the Tempo View.  Is there a way to turn on grid lines in the Tempo Track?

 

Nope. Have you tried toggling View > Display > Values on Envelopes ?

[EdStauff]

18 hours ago, Colin Nicholls said:

Nope. Have you tried toggling View > Display > Values on Envelopes ?

Thanks for the suggestion.  It was already on, but it doesn't help me.  I can't easily visualize patterns from a list of numbers, I need to see them graphed spatially.  I create and edit my ritards as a stair-step, and depend on the grid lines to properly align them, both horizontally and vertically.   

I just now created my first ritard using the new Tempo Track UI, as part of a real project (with deadline), and I have some additional complaints observations:

The tempo scale on the left doesn't show any digits to the right of the decimal point – there isn't room, and there's apparently no way to make it wider.  So if I zoom in (vertically) far enough, I get repeated numbers in the scale.

I really hate that I can't independently set the tempo scale and position.  When I create a ritard, I want the scale to start at zero at the bottom, and have my starting tempo line near the top, not in the middle.

I hate even more that the vertical scale changes when I add or remove envelope points.  Every time it happens, I think something has changed my main tempo.  What's even worse is that it doesn't seem to do it in a consistent way:  let's say my tempo scale is in state S1, and then I make an edit that changes the scale to a new state S2.  If I then undo the edit,  instead of returning to S1, the scale changes to a different new state S3.
Developers, please, please give me a way to turn off the automatic changes to the tempo scale.

The Draw Freehand tool doesn't work like it does in other envelopes:  when I click, it doesn't create a point.  I have to drag, and then I get multiple points unless I'm very careful to only move the mouse a tiny bit.

I really liked being able to use the Move tool to tweak each tempo step – until it started randomly converting my stairsteps into diagonal lines.  It took me a while to figure out that the way to prevent this is to make sure I have a point at every corner.  However, I haven't found a quick way to do this reliably, without ending up with extra points that I have to delete.  I tried Draw Freehand, Draw Line, and Draw Square.  And oops, it turns out that having a point in every corner doesn't prevent conversion to diagonals after all.

I expected to be able to use the Move tool to move vertical lines to the left or right, but not vertically.  Instead, it works exactly the opposite, which find both counter-intuitive and not useful.

The Draw Line tool doesn't respect my snap setting.

The new Tempo Track tool has great potential, but right now it's costing me a lot of extra time.

Thanks for your help!

-- Ed

 

 

[Colin Nicholls]

Well... it's a new feature and I expect that, just like Arranger and the PRV re-vamp before it, that it may take a few updates to iron out the wrinkles. I think it is important to describe your use case (as you have done) and suggest ways that the new UI can be improved incrementally to mitigate the issues you're having.

[scook]

It will be more visible as a feature request in the feedback section of this forum.

[sjoens]

I think having the Grid Lines extend into the Tempo Track and adding Vertical Snap would be nice.

Currently with Grid Lines and Snap turned on, you can zoom in a little and locate/relocate horizontal Tempo points fairly easily as-is.

Setting Vertical points is another story requiring the right-click/Properties window or using the Inspector to set accurately.

[msmcleod]

On 5/10/2021 at 2:48 PM, EdStauff said:

I've been using CW for well over a year now (Windows 10), and I just updated it to version 2021.04. 

When the Tempo View is a separate window, it has the size and shape of a Console view vertical strip, and I can't resize it horizontally.  It shows only the list of tempo changes; no timeline.  It appears to be sharing a window with the Inspector:  whenever I select <main menu> → "Views"  → "Tempo", the contents of that window alternates between the Inspector and the list of tempo changes.

The new Tempo Track in the Track View is a nice addition, but it has no vertical or horizontal grid lines, which I've come to depend on in the Tempo View.  Is there a way to turn on grid lines in the Tempo Track?  If not, then I no longer have a way to efficiently edit my tempo changes. 

Thanks,

-- Ed

 

Grid lines will be available in the Tempo Track in the next release.

[David Baay]

On 5/11/2021 at 7:01 AM, EdStauff said:

I have some additional complaints observations:

+1 for for all of your suggestions, especially an option to turn off auto-scaling (with a context menu option to 'fit' the scale one time), and an option to use only jump-type tempo changes.