0008602: Weird imported MIDI behavior - MantisBT

ID	Project	Category	View Status	Date Submitted	Last Update

0008602	ardour	bugs	public	2021-03-03 23:50	2022-02-11 07:57

Reporter	felipeemos	Assigned To
Priority	normal	Severity	minor	Reproducibility	always
Status	new	Resolution	open
Platform	Arch	OS	Linux	OS Version	(any)

Summary	0008602: Weird imported MIDI behavior
Description	I recorded a small video of the bug so you can follow up. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/goPcgEXKW7E THE BUG It's impossible to modify attributes from the MIDI region without unlinking them from the original file. BUG WORKAROUND As soon as you import the region: "Unlink region from other copies" EXPECTED BEHAVIOR: Any modifications that WON'T take place without first unlinking the region should: 1. Ideally not be allowed 2. Warn the user to first unlink the region to see the effects taking place MY EXPLANATION Imported MIDI files are linked to the original file, ok, that's good. So Ardour "thinks", perfect, I don't even have to look at what is represented in the region, I'll just use the original file at "such" and "such" timestamp... Well, if I edit the MIDI region and Ardour keeps looking at the source file, then it simply doesn't care about my edits... and that's a BUG. That is perfectly acceptable behavior when dealing with sound waves, because in a non-destructive editor there won't be changes in the wave form and we won't be surprised by anything. I'm almost sure this approach comes from an optimization perspective and I'm not suggesting Imported MIDI files should be unlinked from the source by default. But the way Ardour behaves right now is just confusing. MIDI regions are expected to have this granular modification freedom, so we either allow it or explicitly tell it's not possible in the current configuration because of "Y" and "Z". SUGGESTED FIX Linked MIDI regions don't have any visual queue about the link ... I know it's not easy to come up with good stuff (especially about UI ), but this really could be a great start! I would be 70% less confused with this behavior if a "chain link" or something appeared in this region I had just imported. Although this situation is similar to 2 or more MIDI regions linked together inside the project, really I think there's something so different we should give it a different name. I'd say this is a HARD LINK, because in the previous everybody who's linked together change seamlessly on any change to any of the peers, but on this imported MIDI file, the situation is hard, static, because it's impossible to change the source file! Good, I like this concept! We just have to make editing such regions HARD too. My approach would be: 1. Every MIDI region that is linked will signal a small "linking chain" icon. Right-clicking on it maybe can even show useful information about all the regions linked together, the file they are sharing (similar to the already existing "Properties / Source" menu) and show if they are HARD or not (in other words: EDITABLE or not) 2. Every HARD LINKED MIDI region won't be editable and instead of having a default grey background will have a continuous "stripe like" texture. (Similar to those "black and yellow" stripes Police Officers use to close the bounds of a crime scene. But not "yellow", let's respect our eyes, just simple variations of the intensity of the tone of "grey" already present in the default background) The texture and the "chain link" are good ways of signalizing the user there's something different about the region. Once the user tries to make modifications and sees they are not allowed, then it should be enough for him/her to figure it out by himself/herself that the behavior is related to the property / visual queue of such MIDI files.
Steps To Reproduce	https://youtu.be/goPcgEXKW7E Import MIDI Edit notes or change instruments Changes are allowed and ignored by Ardour "Unlink region from other copies" and Ardour stops ignoring the changes and works as expected
Additional Information	This is my first bug report, I'm super opened to feedback :)
Tags	editing, Import, MIDI region, UX

Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
2021-03-03 23:50	felipeemos	New Issue
2021-03-03 23:50	felipeemos	Tag Attached: editing
2021-03-03 23:50	felipeemos	Tag Attached: Import
2021-03-03 23:50	felipeemos	Tag Attached: MIDI region
2021-03-03 23:50	felipeemos	Tag Attached: UX
2022-02-10 22:12	pjd	Note Added: 0026326