Marker System upgrade Feature Request [UPDATED 2016-09-16]

Firstly, let's outline just what we want the marker system to DO.

1. Location Markers (generic).  Currently this is what we're used to working with. 
   
   
   1. Pressing M or right-clicking on the Timeline integer bar above our timeline view pane will let us insert a marker on the grid (or in between if we're in slip mode/snap is not enabled).  The obvious purpose of these is for quickly labelling locations we want for jump-recall.  The marker numbers provide us immediate use of hot-key commands to jump to the marker # we want to move the playback position to.
   2. We can click the Plus sign on the right-hand side of the pane in the timeline window to view additional rulers.
      
      Currently, the rulers stack immediately on top of each other as seen below:
      
   3. An additional suggestion would be to improve the readability of rulers for higher resolution formats by possibly creating a separate "ruler text" font size we can edit in preferences.  Obviously this requires some forethought into how the graphics are displayed.  My first thought is that the larger measure #'s displayed when zoomed out sit above the marker points themselves as they enlarge.  They can remain offset to align with the start of that measure, but as the font size increases, cell padding or spacing above:
      
   4. Obviously we can view all ruler formats as seen below, but this can become cluttered to read, thus it likely doesn't get used much:
      
      -Being able to have deeper ruler format customization from inside of Sonar's Preferences Dialog to give a few simple controls over font size and spacing would definitely save users from having to open up the Theme editor and learn a deep editing tool that takes time away from production. 
      -Things can get even more complicated to read if we actually see the integration of the next suggestions such as Composition Blocks and Region Markers, so perhaps separating these into their own "panes" would increase readability.
      
      
2. Composition Blocks.  Being able to color-code segments of our arrangement or simply sections of the timeline, quickly enable loop segments within, and label with a different set of comments than the Location Markers (may seem redundant at first) can enhance workflows in both music and audio-for-video.
   
   1. A new ruler "row" as seen in the example concept image below with the ability to choose block colors with the color picker tool available for tracks, folders, and busses.
      
      The "Ribbon" in the ruler pane encapsulates the color and provides a quick and easy place to enter text that can be unique to the block, and separate from the Location Markers and/or region markers.  In the example image above I simply provided color overlay to see which clips and automation data resides inside the composition block.
   2. Other DAWs have column-wrapping UI overlays in the timeline, which allow you easily identify what clips are "encapsulated" inside of that block or segment of the timeline. 
      
      -My primary utility request for this specific version of the "Block" system be to enable entire section highlighting, cutting, copying, and pasting that is "context aware".  Let's say you've recorded multitrack drums, and want to simply take a segment (let's call in the hook for this example) and copy and paste the entire block again further down the timeline, replacing the original clips in the recorded performance JUST in that segment. 
      -Copying/cutting the block will automatically slice the original clips, and if you're pasting over pre-existing clips - it will auto-slice and mute them, forcing new take lanes for the copied material so that you can easily recall the original material if need be.
   3. If you are working with groove-clip enabled midi or audio clips and you resize the Block, it will automatically extend the clips that intersect whichever side of the block you are resizing from - the beginning or the end. 
      -In the first example above, using the ribbon handles (top corners of the colored blocks in the ruler pane), would be the only way to perform this specific "ripple edit". 
      -In the second example above, the column wrap UI overlays (the colored lines) could allow for easier manipulation directly from the timeline, thus speeding up workflow and efficiency instead of having to grab ONLY the ribbon from the ruler pane and manipulating it.
   4. The key here is being able to quickly perform "ripple-edit" like functions.  If a user drags out a block from one end and other blocks are already adjacent to it, it will nudge everything - other general location markers and region markers, automation data or clips (see my Clip Binning of Automation Lanes post here).   The less users have to use Edit> Special functions the better it is for workflow.
      
      
3. Region Markers (Mastering and Exports).  Similar to the Composition Blocks feature, Region markers should let us specify start and end markers (always paired) for our song/track/project.  Additionally, each marker should be able to encapsulate or hold an entire set of metadata that is on par with ID3 and/or DDP creation.
   1. Simply placing a Region marker set on the timeline (start and end points are automatically injected together), the user can then drag the beginning and end points into their desired place to specify a song's start and end time.
   2. A Sonar project can also then be used for mastering functions.  Specifying up to 99 tracks (as per redbook CD Audio standard). The Region Marker view can be a separate overlay above or below the Composition Blocks pane, and instead of showing the grid integers, show a bar graph with color coding to identify the maximum run-time available for an Audio CD, and the current time used by the project.
   3. Double-clicking or right-clicking on a region and opening Properties should open a dialog window to allow the user to input ID3 and/or DDP tag information.  Everything from artist name, album artist, contributors, album title, song title, Track number should auto-populate based on the Region Marker #.  ISRC, and even copyright registration # if necessary.  Whatever data is capable of being embedded into traditional exports (waves, MP3, etc) will be properly embedded through the Region's information.
   4. As above, this can allow users to "Batch Export" of multiple regions in a given Sonar Project as other users have requested in posts such as this: Batch Export, Export Queue.  Obviously this requires a retooling of the export functionality of Sonar which I think the above thread link focuses more on.  I actually plan on launching my own version of the batch export feature request and I'll dive more into detail about how these marker system upgrades can enhance the Batch Export process.

Now, let's describe how we'd like to interact with the Marker System.

1. Creating separate "panes" would increase readability of the various ruler formats we'd like to use at once.  Include the option to let the user "swap" between which ruler/marker type is being displayed in the active ruler pane.
   1. Let the user Add a new row below the primary marker display, expanding the timeline ruler pane to show the new marker type in it's own row, similar to expanding Automation / Take lanes (also currently available, described above).
      
   2. Additionally, when viewing Composition Blocks, I'm curious as to which method users would prefer more:
      1. Shading the timeline background according to the color selection of the Composition Block's ribbon color (the region between the beginning and end of the block that also displays the Block's user-definable text),
      2. Composition Blocks' beginning and end points draw thin colored columns down through the timeline area so you can easily see what content is inside of that block. 
   3. The potential utility of this would be to create additional handle points for users to grab and manipulate the Blocks as described above.
      
      
2. The ability to create "offsets".  Creating a unified global offset so that all ruler formats being displayed remain accurate relative to each other will allows users to:
   1. Create pre-rolls when working in various conditions where musical grid measures become important for workflow, such as when preparing sheet music.
   2. Simplify "moving" the entire project down the timeline to create pre-roll space for mixing and mastering processors, hardware synthesizers and external inserts which might need pre-roll space to set up arpeggiation sequencing and/or prevent clicks and pops when starting on first measure.
   3. Can be done at any time while working on a project by right-clicking on the ruler pane to pop up the context menu:
      
      Users can click on "insert project Offset".  A dialog window like the conceptual image below can let the user specify what format they want, and then enter the offset amount:
      
   4. The offset can be performed either by performing a "ripple edit" that includes "Special" properties just as the other Edit Special commands do, such as: Any/all markers, automation data, clips, etc.. OR by performing a new action coded specifically to create "negative" timeline space in our project timeline view and simply shift the "workspace" over.
      -Currently, having to Edit > Cut & Paste special can be a pretty intensive operation especially late in the production workflow and result in lengthy wait times.  The idea is to make this resulting pre-roll space insertion as quick and painless as possible:
      
      while also conforming the rulers to reflect negative integers.
   5. Conversely, even just simply providing the option to specify a pre-roll amount the user can select upon project creation or immediately when opening the project that simply adjusts the ruler system to create pre-roll in the same fashion as my conceptual dialog window above can make it easier for both musical and non-musical applications (such as audio for video post work when receiving sequences with streamers and count-ins etc.).
      
      
3. (UPDATED 2016-09-16) Working with Composition Blocks.  With the concept of Composition blocks fleshed out above, there are two options I illustrated being able to work with but I'm going to only reference the first one in the following descriptions below: simply banding columns of the background and shading it based on the color selection of the block's ribbon.
   1. 3 basic ways of placing, and manipulating blocks should be provided.  Firstly, being able to simply place beginning and end points where we want them.  Once we've inserted a Composition block, simply left-clicking and dragging them out on either side of the ruler will only affect their positions and not the content in the track or bus panes.
   2. If we want to manipulate the content in our blocks once we've set them, we can CTRL+Left-Click and drag.
   3. If one notices that currently in Sonar, when we are working with tracks and clips, the elements we've highlighted are also isolated to ONLY working within the track timeline pane.  When we make selections in the track pane we are not affecting the bus pane.  When working with the Composition blocks pane this should break that behavior.  Clicking on a composition block acts like an auto-highlight of BOTH the track and bus panes when we're about to perform a cut, copy, or click+drag to either end to extend the block out or trim into it. 
   4. Working with non-groove clip based content on the timeline that extends into or out of a block should not be affected by the trim/resize.  The trim/resizing of the block should only affect groove-clip elements that are touching that edge of the block.
      1. Let's say in the image below, my loop selection is my composition block.
         
         The blue clips are regular audio clips, and the black clips are groove-clip enabled.
      2. If I begin to trim the composition block forward from it's start point, only the two groove-clips touching the start point will be trimmed forward with it.
         
      3. To further elaborate, perhaps even providing the option for groove-clip elements to either be completely removed from the timeline when resizing the block beyond the length of that groove-clip as it lies on the timeline, or having an auto-aware feature that doesn't let you reduce a groove-clip to less than 1 cycle/loop length.
         In this case, I start with the block represented by my Loop Selection in the image below:
         
         And proceed to trim from the end of the block, reducing half it's length in measures, the result is the image below:
         
         In this example, the groove-clip in the bottom track was reduced to just a single loop cycle, while the other groove-clips were reduced by one whole cycle, but the clip tails that resided outside of the block remained the same length, they were simply "following" the reduction of the block in time.
      4. If I then trim the beginning of the composition block forward, the result is that it will modify the start position of the groove-clips touching the beginning of the block, the portion of the groove-clip that started before the beginning of the block will remain the same since it's cycle starts at the edge of the block.  But what happens if I perform an odd fractional move of my loop content?
         
         The result is something I'm curious about how to handle as obviously if I describe the features in this fashion you can end up with odd "leftovers" since the composition block became smaller than the length of the groove-clip' cycle.  The important factor here is that resizing "forward" respects the starting relationships with groove-clip content.
      5. This respecting clip start times should also behave similar for non-groove-clip content as well.
      6. If I  am trimming inward toward the beginning of the groove-clip and continue on passed the end of that groove-clip's originating loop-end, it will begin nudging it along the grid to keep at least 1 full loop length active on the timeline immediately adjacent to the edge of the block as illustrated in the image above.
   5. Working with non-groove-clip based content on the timeline that resides inside of the composition block however should be trimmed when performing a trim resize of a composition block, but obviously not extended beyond their end of audio-content since the clip is just a container of the audio and there is no audio beyond it's originating end or start points.
   6. Why should this not affect non-groove-enabled clips in the same way?  As mentioned above, the audio content does not extend in the same way groove-clip content can, so if we want to resize non-groove-enabled content as we manipulate a block, providing a quick option to highlight the block and right-click > "Slice all"  could actually provide a convenient solution to this, as well as to the groove-clip odd-fraction issue I pointed out above.
   7. Alternatively, if we simply want to extend a composition block without dragging clips out that touch, allowing us to ALT+left-click & drag should simply extend the block without pulling out groove-clips further.  Ripple edit respecting what's on the other side of the block should still be in play here however.

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