Week 128: My New BFF Shortcut This tip has a story behind it because it's a revision of the original, with info contributed by
scook. But before getting into the details, let's set the stage.
We all have our favorite shortcuts, like the magic
D shortcut to teleport you from track-land to console-land, and
N to turn snap on and off. I also have custom shortcuts that call up different snap values—very handy.
Lately, I’ve found another really useful shortcut. This is one of those “maybe everyone knows about it and I’m just late to the party” things, but if not, I think you’ll find this week’s tip extremely helpful.
In the Track View options menu, you can choose two different Now time rewind behaviors. If “On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker” is checked, when you stop the transport the Now time will return to where you started playback. When in Track View, it’s easy to know you’re in this mode because the Now time line moves, but the “play head” stays where the Now time started. Nice and obvious.
If “On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker” is unchecked, upon stopping the transport the Now time stays where you stopped. In this mode, the Now time head travels along with the Now time line, again making it easy to know which mode you’re in.
When editing a track, I’ll often want the rewind option checked so I can listen, make some edits, then go back to where playback started and audition the edits. But after making those edits, I then want to play through to the next section and upon encountering something that needs a fix, have the Now time stop there instead of rewinding. So I went to the Key Bindings in preferences, didn't see a shortcut assignment, and decided to create one.
Sub-tip: I keep forgetting that you have to choose the Key to see what it's assigned to, not on the function to see which key controls it. I set up a Key Binding where
Alt+Space Bar checks or unchecks this mode because of the convenience of having the Alt key next to the spacebar...
...and then I posted the tip. But after posting,
scook pointed out that a factory binding already existed (
Ctrl+W) and that another option was leaving Rewind to Now Time permanently enabled, and using Ctrl+spacebar to leave the Now time where you stopped. (If you want to find more fun stuff,
SquireBum added that these shortcuts are documented in the
Transport shortcuts section of the
Help>Keyboard Shortcuts menu.)
I figured that I should just delete the tip since it really didn't offer anything new, but realized maybe not everyone knows about this option, and what it does. So it was at least worth mentioning.
But then I tried the alternate methods, and liked the Alt+spacebar option better because of the ergonomics. Specifically, I find Ctrl+W to be a physically awkward keyboard shortcut. I suppose it's okay if you don't need to use it much, but when you're enabling/disabling often, it's distracting.
Spacebar with Ctrl+spacebar is much better. However, there were still a few aspects I didn't like. When editing I'm doing spacebar-intensive stuff, so having an Alt key on either side of the spacebar is super-convenient. Being left-handed I can toggle the Alt key to the left of the spacebar with my pinky (righties can toggle the Alt key to the right of the spacebar), and work the spacebar with my index finger. That way I don't have to move my hand from the space bar.
Also while it may seem like a small thing, I use the QWERTY keyboard and shortcuts a lot. With RSI issues the fewer keys I need to hit, and the more I can keep my hand from having to contort, the better. Also, I prefer doing as much as possible by feel instead of having to look at the keyboard so I can keep focused on the screen (which is why I'm getting more and more into a touchscreen laid out like a mixer panel, but that's another story).
And stopping at the desired new stop point with Ctrl+spacebar goes against 30 years of muscle memory with "press space bar to play, press again to stop" because the Ctrl key has to be pressed before the spacebar and held while you press the spacebar. Using the Alt key, my index finger has a big target in the middle of the spacebar; although I could re-train myself to anchor my pinky on the Ctrl key, then my index finger has to hit a smaller zone on the left side of the spacebar. Also unlike Ctrl+spacebar, Alt+spacebar allows changing the mode while the transport is running, so as soon as I get past my edits, I can hit Alt+Spacebar (the transport doesn't stop) and stop at any time after that just by hitting the spacebar.
I almost didn't write the next aspect I like because it seems silly, but when using Ctrl+spacebar, you don't see the play head move along with the now time when Rewind to Now Time is deselected. With Alt+spacebar, or using Ctrl+W, you do. To me, the visual confirmation that I've moved out of editing mode and am now playing forward to the next section underscores that I'm making progress. I know, I know...it's silly. But once you get used to seeing the play head move or not seeing the play head move, you kind of expect it.
So try the various options to determine which one you like best. Meanwhile, I'm sticking with Alt+Spacebar because it's kinder on my hands and more ergonomic. If that wasn't an option, I'd use Spacebar+Ctrl spacebar. I would not use Ctrl+W. And for those people who hate keyboard shortcuts, you can always choose from the Options menu.