Audacity Forum

A common feature in graphic programs (Gimp, Photoshop, Inkscape, etc.) is to have a selection of tools, and some sort of panel that has settings/options for that tool. Thus the number of tools required is reduced, while at the same time increasing the versatility of the tools.

A similar approach could be applied to Audacity.
Some possible examples:

Example 1:
Rather than having 4 zoom tools (or possibly more), there could be just one "magnifying glass" button to access all of the zoom functions. The "tools option panel" would then display all of the options for the zoom tool.
Pros:

• There could be many more zoom options, including zoom to sample level, Zoom normal, custom zoom factor, ...
• Because the tools option panel is shared by all standard tools, there is an overall saving of screen space.
• Keyboard shortcuts could be displayed (improved discoverability)

Cons:

• If the required zoom tool is not the one last used, one extra click is required when using mouse selection (click on the zoom tool, then click on the required option)

Example 2:
Options for Envelope tool, which could include:

• automatically adding control points at start and end of the selection
• Choice of linear or logarithmic envelopes
• non-destructive fade or silence
• ....

Example 3:
Options for the "(Time) Shift" tool:

• Lock dragging clips to vertical drag (without requiring 2 hands)
• Allow dragging single channels of stereo pair
• Drag to new track (drag a clip into empty track panel space creates a new track
• Auto delete empty track (dragging the final clip out of a track automatically deletes the empty track)
• Drag selection only (moves the selected region but not the audio
• Drag labels (maintaining label length).

-1 on the basis of the extra clicks

See also: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Propo ... om_Toolbar

Peter

waxcylinder wrote:-1 on the basis of the extra clicks

"click" (singular), and then only if you happen to be using a different option from the last usage, weighed against much enhanced functionality.

Let me ponder this ...

But if we did this then the existing proposal for creating a zoom toolbar and adding commands would be redundant. I can see the benefit of your proposal here if we were to add more than the one or two extra zoom command buttons to the toolbar.

Would you propose leaving the single zoom button in the Edit Toolbar?

Peter.

waxcylinder wrote:But if we did this then the existing proposal for creating a zoom toolbar and adding commands would be redundant.

I don't see this idea (tools settings) being implemented soon. I'm just floating the idea at the moment for a bit of consideration and discussion as a way to simultaneously simplify the interface (at least make it "look" simpler / less intimidating, because there are less buttons to worry about) and at the same time extend functionality (bring in requested features that would otherwise complicate the interface). It is an approach that has been widely (and successfully) used in graphic applications for years. Adapting the idea to suit Audacity would need to be planned as it would have far reaching impact on many aspects of the Audacity interface.

On the other hand, phase 1 and 2 of the Zoom Toolbar proposal are relatively straightforward and could be implemented in the next release.
"Tools settings", if implemented at all, may take over from "phase 3".

steve wrote:A common feature in graphic programs (Gimp, Photoshop, Inkscape, etc.) is to have a selection of tools, and some sort of panel that has settings/options for that tool. Thus the number of tools required is reduced, while at the same time increasing the versatility of the tools.

A similar approach could be applied to Audacity.
Some possible examples:

Example 1:
Rather than having 4 zoom tools (or possibly more), there could be just one "magnifying glass" button to access all of the zoom functions. The "tools option panel" would then display all of the options for the zoom tool.

I think this idea has potential in principle, so thanks for mentioning it, but just one magnifying glass is probably taking it too far. Aren't zoom in and zoom out as fundamental as Cut and Delete, which you did not like to be hidden in a submenu?

Also what about a zoom slider which takes space but is a single control? It could be an alternative to zoom in and out buttons. The zoom options could be a choice for which zoom buttons or controls to display, rather than a choice to decide what function a limited number of buttons take.

Another thing to bear in mind is the requests to zoom in while keeping a contextual (zoomed out) view at the same time.

Gale