Reference Guide

184 Controlling playback

The Now time and how to use it

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.

• 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” on page 88.

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 34. 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.

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.

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.