Touchscreens

Introduction

MultitrackStudio features a touchscreen mode which makes the program easy to use with touchscreens. Touchscreen support has been designed to turn the computer in a recording and mixing device, while allowing some editing as well. You can interact with the knobs you see on the screen directly without having to find your mouse and move it to the right location first. In fact you're not even supposed to have a mouse or keyboard within reach.

The goal being a great experience also means that not every nifty feature is necessarily available in touchscreen mode. It's not possible to collapse mixer sections for example, because the buttons would get in the way and the collapsed sections would be too small.

Touch hardware and Windows versions

Monitor on stand

A convertible notebook (a notebook which lets you flip the lid, so the screen is outside when the lid is closed) would be a nice computer to use. Another interesting option would be a touchscreen mounted on a stand, connected to your computer. It's best to have the screen sloped towards you. The traditional monitor behind the keyboard on a desk setup isn't ideal because it's not very comfortable to keep your arms in that position for a long time.

The best touch experience is provided by Windows 7 combined with a multi-touch screen. Multi-touch means you can use multiple fingers simultaneously. The onscreen MIDI keyboard benefits from this. It also allows for two-finger zooming.

Note: early multi-touch notebooks came with Vista. We've found that the onscreen MIDI keyboard is pretty much useless on these systems because of the way multi-touch is converted to single touch. Upgrading to Windows 7 would solve this.

MultitrackStudio does a great job at making the most out of single-touch touchscreens and older Windows versions as well. The one thing that can make a great difference is the amount of force that's needed to make the touchscreen register you finger. Older monitors based on resistive technology can require a significant amount of pressure which makes it very hard to drag you finger over the screen. Controlling faders, knobs and editors etc. is hard using such a monitor. Such a monitor may still be usable if you mainly want to use it for recording.

Windows DPI setting

Touch screens are hard to use if the things you want to control are too small. Traditionally Windows runs at 96 DPI (DPI = dots per inch). Modern notebook screens can have 150 DPI or more, which makes everything significantly smaller unless you adjust the Windows DPI value accordingly. A MultitrackStudio track measures 9.5 mm in height if the Windows DPI value matches the screen's. It is highly recommended to make sure tracks aren't any smaller than this. You can increase the DPI value even more if you still can't use the touchscreen comfortably.

Switching to touchscreen mode

Input Device selector

To switch to touchscreen mode go to the Studio menu's Preferences window and select Touchscreen in the Input Device box. A 'Test Touchscreen...' button appears which lets you do a quick test. MultitrackStudio learns from this test whether it can distinguish between mouse movements and touch movements. Using the mouse in touchscreen mode will be a bit awkward if it can't.

In touchscreen mode some controls are bigger to make them easier to use. The transport buttons are an example of this. The controls that don't get bigger still respond to a larger area to make them easier to use with touch.

A small box reading 'T' appears at the bottom of the window to indicate touchscreen mode is active.

Full screen mode

Controlling user interface elements

Some user interface elements work a bit different with touch than with the mouse:

Mixer faders Fader with copy Put a finger on the fader and move it horizontally. A copy of the fader appears above the fader so you can see it even if your finger covers the fader itself. The fader thumb doesn't move as fast as your finger does, so you can control it accurately. Tapping the left half moves it down one step, tapping the right half moves it up one step.

Knob Rotary knobs Put a finger on the knob and make a rotating movement below the knob. A copy of the knob appears above the knob so you can see it even if your finger covers the knob itself. A few turns are required to turn the knob all the way, so you can control it accurately. Tapping the left half moves it down one step, tapping the right half moves it up one step.

Buttons/boxes with down arrows (like the transport's Play button and position indicator) Position indicator about to show dropdown menu You can't push the down arrow because it's too small. Instead you can put a finger on the button/box itself and move it down (approx. 2 centimeters). A white area becomes visible, this represents the menu which will appear when you take your finger off the screen. Note: this doesn't apply to the track file name boxes.

Effect/Instrument slots Tapping a slot See "Buttons with down arrows". The whole slot area can be touched, ie. the little display also works, not just the button. If you want to move a slot and the white area is visible (meaning you're not dragging the slot but instead about to pop up the effect selector) you can move horizontally to get rid of that.

Position indicator Stepping through start history You can move your finger horizontally over the transport position indicator to walk through the history of recent start positions (the Alt + Left/Right arrow key keyboard shortcut). About 2 centimeters will do. Moving to the right once takes you back to where the transport last started.

Overview Bar Tapping a marker The markers appear at the bottom, but you can (and should) touch them as if they span the full height. Dragging markers in particular is difficult if you aim too low. The Transport Options menu can be used to add markers. You can use it to delete markers as well (click the marker before opening the menu). The easiest way to rename a marker is by double-tapping it. It's not possible to change the transport position while recording, in order to avoid doing that accidentally.

Scrolling a list Lists with a vertical scrollbar You can put a finger on the contents of these lists and move it, without using the scrollbar. Windows 7 with a multi-touch screen features inertia scrolling: the list moves on for a while after you've lifted your finger.

Text box: scrolling and selecting Text in Comments window and Chords/Lyrics editors. See "Lists with a vertical scrollbar". Text can be selected by moving your finger horizontally. Once it's clear you're selecting rather than panning you can move vertically as well.With a multi-touch screen you can use two-finger zoom in/out gestures to make the text larger/smaller. These windows have a 'Keybrd' button which shows an onscreen keyboard. It uses your computer's keyboard layout.

Editors Selecting and adding notes etc. work as expected. A copy of part of the editor appears above the editor so you can see it even if your finger covers the editor itself. Editors which can scroll vertically can be scrolled using the left hand part (the vertical piano in the pianoroll, the drum instrument names in the drum editor etc.). On a Windows 7 multi-touch machine the pianoroll and audio editors can be zoomed vertically using two fingers on the left-hand part. Left/right "flicks" (fast movements) move the transport by one page. Flicks need to be enabled in Windows for this to work. The needle, nor any other part of the time bars above editors can be used with touch. There's a transparent area on the editor itself which can be used to move the needle. Editors can be moved horizontally by moving a finger over the status bar (that's the bar at the bottom of the window containing the Help button etc.). Any part of the status bar can be used, even the buttons. On a Windows 7 multi-touch machine two finger zoom gestures can be used to zoom horizontally. The status bar tracks can be performed on the Master section's View area as well. Add modes (MIDI editors, automation editors etc.) switch to select mode after adding a note/dot, so you must press it again in order to add another note/dot. This is done to avoid adding notes/dots inadvertently. Tip: tilting a finger (in "finger vibrato direction") to move a small distance may be more accurate than moving the whole finger. Drum editor while touched Scrolling vertically Use status bar to move editors horizontally

Pianoroll showing resize grip on selected note and transparent needle thumb. Pianoroll See "Editors". Moving/resizing notes works a little different: A selected note has a grip on the right-hand side. Here you can move the right-hand side of the note. A note which isn't selected can only be moved, its duration cannot be changed. Hence a very short note which is selected can only be resized, not moved. Unselect the note first if you want to move it.

Up/down button Up/down buttons You can't push the up/down arrows because they're too small. Instead, put a finger on the button and move it approx. 2 centimeters up or down to increase/decrease the value. If you keep the finger on the screen the button will continue to increase/decrease automatically.

Position Indicator with Touch Keyboard Text boxes An onscreen keyboard appears if you tap a text box. Use the keyboard's Enter key to accept the new value, use Esc to cancel.

Use this area to drag sections Moving mixer sections Only the file name box can be used to drag-and-drop tracks. The corresponding area on Effect Returns etc. can be used.

A track's file history Track file history A message box pops up on tapping a file, and you can choose whether you want to open it in the current track or in a new one

Scrolling the mixer sections Main window If the main window shows scrollbars you can put a finger on a mixer section. Moving it moves all mixer sections. It's best to target the level meter or a large empty area, since the faders, effect slots and rotary knobs may respond to movements in a certain direction.