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Old 02-07-2022, 10:32 PM   #1
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Default Restrict Horizontal Zoom-Out to End of Project

Gents, it would improve Horizontal Zoom-Out tremendously if we could "lock" the max zoom-out to the Length of the Project, or As Far As The Last Item + 4 bars or something meaningful/reasonable.

The default behaviour I think is not as desirable as what I'm proposing.



The only instance you'd want the current default behaviour is if you want to add a bunch of time/space at the end of your current project you need to zoom out to make space. Have this be different actions, assigned to secondary modifiers because they'll be used wayyyy leess, let alone the dominant default behaviour.

Otherwise that's it, 99% of the rest of the session you'll most definitely want this restricted zoom behaviour to be your norm. The zoom wildly squeezing itself to the left side of the screen really has no place in happening while actually deep into using Reaper doing stuff.


realistically when is this really that useful?

Would love if those use cases would be separated, as I'm sure lots of others would agree when you stop to think about it for half a second, after being so used to it for a decade.

<3 for what you guys do.

Last edited by ferropop; 02-08-2022 at 01:40 PM.
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Old 02-08-2022, 05:50 AM   #2
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i was just thinking about max zoom bounds yesterday. big +1 - but maybe using a special marker as an end-of-project designator, instead of referencing the items in the project -- that way, we could put junk items/alternate sections after the end-of-project marker without screwing up our zoom bounds ala ferropop's request.

on this topic, it would also be nice if horizontally zooming to the beginning of the project didn't make us turn our heads to follow the focus: if it stayed in the middle, we'd get a little less motion sick. this would mean some empty space to the left of the beginning of the project at certain zoomouts, but it's better than the way the project hurtles leftward currently.

in the past, i have dealt with this by including like 10 minutes of empty space before my project starts - try this and experiment with zooming in on the start of your project, it's much easier on the eyes and neck.

anyway hope this wasn't too off topic.
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Old 02-08-2022, 05:57 AM   #3
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before it gets mentioned, yes, there is "limit project length" which i've used before - but that affects more than just zooming, which is the subject of this FR
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Old 02-08-2022, 06:06 AM   #4
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+1

There is action "View: Zoom out project" which I use for exactly this purpose. But having the limited zooming for the mousewheel would be much better.
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Old 02-08-2022, 07:44 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mccrabney View Post
i was just thinking about max zoom bounds yesterday. big +1 - but maybe using a special marker as an end-of-project designator, instead of referencing the items in the project -- that way, we could put junk items/alternate sections after the end-of-project marker without screwing up our zoom bounds ala ferropop's request.

on this topic, it would also be nice if horizontally zooming to the beginning of the project didn't make us turn our heads to follow the focus: if it stayed in the middle, we'd get a little less motion sick. this would mean some empty space to the left of the beginning of the project at certain zoomouts, but it's better than the way the project hurtles leftward currently.

in the past, i have dealt with this by including like 10 minutes of empty space before my project starts - try this and experiment with zooming in on the start of your project, it's much easier on the eyes and neck.

anyway hope this wasn't too off topic.
100% on the special marker, just like "=START, =END" it would be so useful.

and +11111, I also add a bunch of empty space at the beginning (AND top and bottom with empty tracks!!!). This is actually a separate FR I have -- "Unlock project bounds when navigating" in certain situations ex: using the Hand Tool. Nothing worse than trying to Center the bottom track of a project, only for it to pop back down to the bottom erratically.

The whole feel of navigating around a project could use a once-over honestly. A focus group, where every time something weird or off-putting happens you make a note of it, would surely collect enough cases to squash a huge portion of qurkiness.
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Old 02-08-2022, 07:48 AM   #6
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I'm all in on that one. For Ultraschall, we made an ugly hack to prevent that from happening, so +1 on that one.

I would prefer a way to set a "trailing length" as well, so I could have maxProjectLength+x seconds as maximum.
That way, I could still retain some "editing working area", where I can temporarily place items easily, if needed.
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Old 02-08-2022, 12:21 PM   #7
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Totally agree with this FR.

Actually I remember, just to work around this annoying super-far zoom out I had the project length set to 1 hour as default project length as I thought that would give me enough room for any kind of project I do and prevent zooming out extremely far. It happened that I needed to record something longer than 1 hour and the recording got brutally cut off at the 1h mark with Reaper showing no mercy for my negligence.

I have since set the project length to 2 hours, which does zoom out a bit far but at least it is highly unlikely that I will ever need to record more than 2 hours (and if I will, I hope that I will remember to extend the project length beforehand).

An alternative solution to the same problem would be to allow auto-extending project length when recording past the set length or when moving an item past the current boundary. The user could set the default length to something like 5 minutes and if the user happens to create a 10 minute song Reaper will extend the boundaries accordingly without causing problems and adjust zoom accordingly.

But I agree, if possible, the OP's suggestion is the cleaner one. I think it could be implemented as a preference to "disable project length limit and set project length based on project media".
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Old 02-09-2022, 11:57 AM   #8
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Can this be scripted? Leveraging this:



Tying a special marker's time position and inserting that value above automatically?

Setting this value actually works reasonably well in stopping the zoom black-hole.
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Old 02-12-2022, 10:31 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ferropop View Post
Can this be scripted? Leveraging this:



Tying a special marker's time position and inserting that value above automatically?

Setting this value actually works reasonably well in stopping the zoom black-hole.
If the above could be automatically set to the =END marker location we'd be rolling!
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Old 02-12-2022, 10:33 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ferropop View Post
If the above could be automatically set to the =END marker location we'd be rolling!
https://mespotin.uber.space/Ultrasch...tml#projmaxlen
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Old 02-12-2022, 02:16 PM   #11
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+1..I would like this feature
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Old 03-06-2022, 04:28 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bFooz View Post
I'm def not skilled enough to do this, hoping someone might take a stab!
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Old 03-07-2022, 06:31 AM   #13
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Ask in the script requests thread in the developer subforum.
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Old 03-07-2022, 06:54 AM   #14
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OK, here is the script.

Use "=START" marker to mark the project start.
Use "=END" marker to mark project end.
Open the script for some config at the top.

EDIT: A fix causing the script not to run properly when these specific markers were not preset.

EDIT: A fix for multiple tabs open.

Last edited by bFooz; 03-17-2022 at 09:08 AM.
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Old 03-07-2022, 11:10 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bFooz View Post
OK, here is the script.

Use "=START" marker to mark the project start.
Use "=END" marker to mark project end.
Open the script for some config at the top.

EDIT: A fix causing the script not to run properly when these specific markers were not preset.
I'm infinitely thankful and amazed by you guys. Legit thanks.
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Old 03-07-2022, 12:32 PM   #16
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Should ask - does this need to be enabled when opening Reaper each time? Any potential problems with leaving it running the entire time?
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Old 03-07-2022, 01:24 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ferropop View Post
Should ask - does this need to be enabled when opening Reaper each time? Any potential problems with leaving it running the entire time?
It runs in the background so yes, turn it on every time Reaper starts. You can put it into a SWS global startup action. Don't know though how it's gonna behave with multiple projects open.
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Old 03-13-2022, 06:42 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bFooz View Post
OK, here is the script.

Use "=START" marker to mark the project start.
Use "=END" marker to mark project end.
Open the script for some config at the top.

EDIT: A fix causing the script not to run properly when these specific markers were not preset.
What a handy script, thanks a lot for this, and to ferropop for the idea.

I'd turned off the project length setting previously because a few times I'd forget about it and then, on the occasion I would go over the limit while recording I'd wonder why REAPER stopped and I couldn't even press play any more. Having it visibly tied to an END marker on the ruler instead makes so much sense, hopefully this could be an additional option instead of fixed time in Project Settings.

I tested with subprojects, and it seems to work albeit wonkily, only kicks in after switching the tab back or manually moving the auto-generated END marker, but doesn't break anything, so all good.
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Old 03-17-2022, 09:10 AM   #19
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I tested with subprojects, and it seems to work albeit wonkily
I've fixed that hopefully. Download from the same post. https://forum.cockos.com/showpost.ph...0&postcount=14
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Old 03-17-2022, 08:17 PM   #20
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Awesome, thanks so much for this, works perfectly and intelligently adds =END markers to the end of sub-projects. Zooming out in REAPER is now a better experience.

Since this is still in a FR thread, I hope the devs will consider adopting bFooz's approach as a native behaviour, as this small change extends the utility of =END markers and makes the Limit Project Length setting usable without risking occasional surprises that kill a recording. Ideally it would just be an option in Limit Project Length to 'Limit to End Marker', in which case nobody's current zooming behaviour would have to change.

Last edited by pcp; 03-25-2022 at 06:32 PM.
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Old 03-24-2022, 12:01 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bFooz View Post
OK, here is the script.

Use "=START" marker to mark the project start.
Use "=END" marker to mark project end.
Open the script for some config at the top.

EDIT: A fix causing the script not to run properly when these specific markers were not preset.

EDIT: A fix for multiple tabs open.
Very cool script!

Do you think it would be possible to add an option to automatically extend project length by x seconds during recording when the cursor reaches the end of the project? This way we won't risk having our recording cut off when it goes on for longer than we predict.
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Old 03-25-2022, 08:27 AM   #22
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^ additionally, to temporarily disengage the script when the user moves the edit cursor either before the START or past the END bounds? that way we could continue to use those areas as scratch/misc workplaces.
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Old 03-25-2022, 09:17 AM   #23
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I can look at it both.

But this is a kind of feature that would benefint from being native and well designed.
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Old 03-25-2022, 10:11 AM   #24
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I can look at it both.

But this is a kind of feature that would benefint from being native and well designed.
agreed, but we sure do appreciate the work you've done
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Old 03-30-2022, 02:29 PM   #25
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Quote:
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100% on the special marker, just like "=START, =END" it would be so useful.

and +11111, I also add a bunch of empty space at the beginning (AND top and bottom with empty tracks!!!). This is actually a separate FR I have -- "Unlock project bounds when navigating" in certain situations ex: using the Hand Tool. Nothing worse than trying to Center the bottom track of a project, only for it to pop back down to the bottom erratically.

The whole feel of navigating around a project could use a once-over honestly. A focus group, where every time something weird or off-putting happens you make a note of it, would surely collect enough cases to squash a huge portion of qurkiness.
I agree.

I feel there is no overarching well thought out method. Feels like one problem being solved after another piecemeal fashion.

A very very good example of this in texts: There is a list of things, then an explanation of them BUT the explanations are in a different order. etc etc.

Obviously a focus group would be the best way to document these things and then work out the best way forward. Possibly with suggestions etc. At the least a decent idea of how things work. Possibly with observations on how other programs do things.

5.
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Old 03-30-2022, 03:00 PM   #26
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Quote:
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Gents, it would improve Horizontal Zoom-Out tremendously if ...

<3 for what you guys do.
Frankly I would prefer that the zoom out went all the way to infinity without the project creeping to the left. Zooming out to the project "bounds" is a compromise I can live with .


I really think this is just a coding thing: the zoom centre has not been calculated. You make something smaller and it's origin is on the left side... well guess what? It's going to move LEFT. If the origin was centre screen it would not move. So to get the thing to stay centre when zooming out you have recalc where it should be if using a XY plane.


Possible problem.

What if you start zooming out at one end of the project ?

Frankly just stop the zoom when it gets to that point where the project creeps left. That's the easiest solution I can think of that does not cause any other problems and you don't need bounds etc.

Lets fix this!!!!!

5yn.

PS it's also doe this in the midi editor.
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Old 03-30-2022, 03:02 PM   #27
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+1.

A free scrolling mouse is a great tool for Reaper, for all the zooming we have to do.
The downside though, is the amount of time spent unwittingly looking over 5 hours of silence. :P
Would be nice to alleviate that a little.
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Old 04-08-2022, 03:37 AM   #28
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+1 I should count the hours I spent scrolling out and in again :P
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Old 04-08-2022, 03:50 AM   #29
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Yes, makes total sense.
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Old 04-08-2022, 06:01 AM   #30
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+1 important improvement
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Old 04-08-2022, 07:10 AM   #31
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Definitely useful feature for the mouse wheel (though with hotkeys we can have it via SWS or Action's list).

Then we could apply it for Areas of Arrangement (Regions) and switch between Regions manually (mouse) or with hotkey, then this 'zoom extent' to be for the Region with a right click option, otherwise 'whole project ±4 bars'
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Old 04-08-2022, 10:04 AM   #32
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going to try the script in the meantime but +1 for the original request
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Old 04-08-2022, 10:14 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andreya View Post
+1.

A free scrolling mouse is a great tool for Reaper, for all the zooming we have to do.
The downside though, is the amount of time spent unwittingly looking over 5 hours of silence. :P
Would be nice to alleviate that a little.
Did you mean a non-stepped mouse with a smooth scrollwheel? Mine is stepped and I get choppy zooms, but on a laptop with trackpad it's smooth as butter! Wasn't sure that an unstepped mouse would give that same effect?
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Old 04-13-2022, 05:50 AM   #34
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Yes ferropop, that's exactly what I mean.
With all the scrolling that we have to do this is a *big* quality of life improvement IMO.
I just went and got the cheapest mouse with a free-scrolling wheel that I could find. Super worth.
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Old 05-27-2023, 06:38 AM   #35
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A bump for this.

My preferred implementation would be:

- "Limit project length, stop playback/recording at" = ON:
Project end handle at the ruler (or a marker) appears and the user can adjust the project (and zoom) length without having to open project settings and type.

- "Limit project length, stop playback/recording at" = OFF:
Project end handle at the ruler (or a marker) disappears and zoom limits should start at a rather short default length for an empty project and then be handled smartly by Reaper as the project evolves (based on the last item + a few bars/seconds). The user should be able to just work, place items at project end, record however long he/she wants and always have zoom limits automatically updated without having to worry about how long the project is.
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Old 08-30-2023, 12:12 PM   #36
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Is there a way to set the horizontal zoom length in measures/beats/time, etc. and set unzoom . . . engaged by the mouse scroll? I often accidentally scroll out and then struggle to scroll into where I want to be. Or, is there a way to reset the zoom?
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Old 08-30-2023, 06:04 PM   #37
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Yes please!

An option to make the =END marker the zoom out limit would be fantastic as well as =END unless there are items beyond the marker.
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Old 08-31-2023, 03:41 PM   #38
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+1

Definitely the kind of stuff that makes life easier.
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Old 08-31-2023, 03:44 PM   #39
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Would it be possible to take the maximum width of all media items and just limit the horizontal zoom to that? That way we don't have to be adding markers and adjusting markers
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Old 08-31-2023, 04:34 PM   #40
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Quote:
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Would it be possible to take the maximum width of all media items and just limit the horizontal zoom to that? That way we don't have to be adding markers and adjusting markers
Yes, me too would prefer maximum zoom out to automatically adjust based on media items in the project (+ maybe a few extra bars at the end so additional media can be added there and the project expanded).
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