The track editor is the core of Hapticlabs Studio: Here you can view and edit tracks.
Tracks
Within track, feedback patterns are defined.
Creating tracks
Using the “Add Track” button on the top left of the Track Editor, you can create a new Single track. To create a new Stereo track, click the “v”-button to the right of the “Add Track” button and select “Stereo track”. An alternative way to create tracks is to use the “File” drop-down menu.
Single tracks
Single tracks consist of a sequence of blocks and can be played back on either a single channel, or both at the same time.
Stereo tracks
A Stereo tracks consist of two references to Single Tracks. Stereo tracks allow you to simultaneously playback different feedback on the two output channels of the satellite unit such as a fade from Actuator A to Actuator B.
Playing tracks
To play back a track on an actuator connected to the Satellite, press the yellow play button located on the bottom of the grey area on the left end of the track. An alternative way to play a track is to select a track and then pressing the space key or using the “Play” drop-down menu.
Stopping track playback
While a track is running, its yellow play button turns into a stop button. By pressing the stop button, you can stop the track playback. Alternatively, you can press the space key or use the “Play” drop-down menu.
Selecting tracks
By clicking anywhere on a track including a Block, it becomes selected. This is indicated with a yellow bar on its left end.
In order to duplicate, delete or copy a track, no blocks must be selected. To deselect all blocks, click inside the grey area on the left end of the track. If the track is marked with the yellow bar, but none of its blocks are marked with a line underneath, the track is selected.
Moving tracks
By pressing and holding the two horizontal bar at the top left corner of each track, the track can be moved to a different vertical position. By reordering tracks, you can keep related tracks close to each other to maintain a clean overview.
Duplicating tracks
In many cases, it could be useful to use an existing track as base to create a different track. In these instances, you can duplicate tracks by right-clicking inside the grey area on the left end of every track and selecting the corresponding option. An alternative is to select the track and then using the “Edit” drop-down menu or press CMD/CTRL+D.
Deleting tracks
Tracks can be deleted by right-clicking inside the grey area on the left end of every track and selecting the corresponding option. Alternatively, you can select the track and then click the trash bin icon on the top left of the Track Editor or use the “Edit” drop-down menu.
Copying tracks
By right-clicking the grey area on the left end of every track and selecting the corresponding option, you can copy a track. Alternatively, you can select the track and use the “Edit” drop-down menu.
Cutting tracks
By right-clicking the grey area on the left end of every track and selecting the corresponding option, you can cut a track (remove it from the view and save it to the clipboard so you can paste it later). Alternatively, you can select the track and use the “Edit” drop-down menu.
Pasting tracks
By right-clicking anywhere in the Track Editor, you can paste a previously copied track. Alternatively, you can use the “Edit” drop-down menu.
Naming and renaming tracks
All tracks can have a name to facilitate quickly identifying and differentiating them. It is displayed in the grey area on the left end of the track. To set or change this name, click the name to start editing it. Some special characters can not be entered into this field. Duplicate track names are possible, but not recommended.
Track duration
In the grey area on the left end of the track, to the left underneath the track name, the duration of the track in milliseconds is displayed. This is a read-only field. If you want to change the track length, see Block Duration or Track Playback menu: Duration.
Rating tracks
Every track has a rating, displayed by the three stars in the grey area on the left end of the track, to the right underneath the track name. The rating is represented by the number of yellow stars. By clicking a grey star, the star, as well as all stars to its left, turn yellow. By clicking a yellow star, the star, as well as all stars to its right, turn grey.
Stereo tracks
A Stereo tracks consist of two references to Single Tracks. Stereo tracks allow you to simultaneously playback different feedback on the two output channels of the satellite unit such as a fade from Actuator A to Actuator B.
Stereo tracks are linked: Whenever you make changes to one of the references Single Tracks, the stereo track will update to reflect those changes.
Populating stereo tracks
When you first create a stereo track, it will be empty, displaying two panels that read “Select track to add”. Add tracks to your stereo track by clicking these panels and selecting the tracks you would like to play back in stereo. You can abort the track selection by clicking in the white area of the stereo track or hit the ESC key.
Replacing stereo track references
When you wish to replace one of the Single track references in a Stereo track, click on the track inside the Stereo track that you aim to replace (the top half of the track for channel A, the bottom half for channel B). Then, you can select another Single track to replace that reference in the Stereo track. You can abort the track selection by clicking again into the Stereo track.
Saving tracks on the Satellite
Tracks can be played back without a connection to Hapticlabs Studio or a computer if they are saved on the satellite.
In the grey area on the left end of the track, the “Save to Slot” panel is located. Here, two buttons, labelled “1”, and “2”, can be found. These serve to upload a track onto the Satellite, so it can be played back later.
The track saved to slot “1” will be played back when the physical input switch “S1” is pulled to a logical HIGH value (3.3V) or when the touch sensor on top of the Satellite is touched.
The track saved to slot “2” will be played back when the physical input switch “S2” is pulled to a logical HIGH value (3.3V).
Only one track can be saved on each slot for each channel. Saving a track to a slot will overwrite what was previously saved on that slot for the selected channel(s).
Navigating the Track Editor
If there are more tracks in a project than can be displayed at once, they will be listed outside of the view underneath the displayed tracks. By scrolling down, you can access all tracks.
The timeline
On the top of the Track Editor, you can see the timeline. Sometimes, tracks are longer than can be displayed on the screen. In these cases, the timeline can be grabbed and pulled to the left or right to scroll through the entire length of the tracks. Alternatively, you can hold down the shift key while scrolling to scroll in time.
Adjusting Zoom settings
Some tracks require precise adjustments within a few hundreds of a second, others might span multiple seconds. To keep an overview in either case, you can use the zoom slider on the top right of the Track Editor. By pulling it to the right, you can magnify your view. Pulling it to the left, on the other hand, will increase the timespan displayed at once. An alternative method to adjust the scale is to hold down the CTRL key while scrolling to achieve this behaviour.
Zoom on Block
If the zoom setting is far out, very short blocks can't be directly selected or edited indicated by a decreased color saturation. Double click on such a block to zoom in and start editing.
The mode selector
On the top right of the Track Editor, you can see the mode selector. It consists of three panels, each representing an editing mode: Mix mode for a complete overview, Intensity mode to focus on signal intensities, and Frequency mode to focus on vibration frequencies.
Mix mode
In mix mode, the individual blocks’ intensities are displayed in a saturated color. On vibration blocks, a striped overlay indicates the vibration frequency. Both parameters can be changed in the Block Settings, and the intensity can also be changed by dragging the upper border of a block’s saturated area up or down.
Intensity mode
The intensity mode, allows for a quick comparison and overview of current intensity settings. Only the intensities of the blocks are displayed. and can be changed in the Block Settings, as well as by dragging the upper border of a block’s saturated area up and down.
If a change to the frequency of a vibration block is made, the editing mode automatically switches to Frequency mode.
Frequency mode
In frequency mode, only the frequencies within vibration blocks are shown. The frequencies can be changed in the Block Settings, or by dragging the upper border of a vibration block’ striped area up and down. If a change to the intensity of a vibration block is made, the editing mode automatically switches to Intensity mode.
