Creating tracks inside a submix track via script

[toxonic]

Hey folks, i'm having an issue with scripting, which is driving me nuts. I want to create tracks inside a submix track via script. Creating a track or submix track via .insertTrack() method is no problem, but i still couldn't find a way to create tracks INSIDE a submix track, or move it into an existing submix track alternatively.
Any ideas?

[mikoatkvr]

It seems that 'Pack selected tracks to a Submix track' is not exposed to the API, so this will not be possible AFAIK

[toxonic]

Thanks for your reply! Yeah, i was afraid, this would be the case. I already read the API up and down but couldn't find a solution too.
I hope the API will be extended soon. It still lacks a lot of features, although it could be such a powerful tool.

[mikoatkvr]

Yeah I agree, the API needs updating. I found the Tracktion Engine source related to Submix tracks here :-

https://github.com/Tracktion/tracktion_ ... derTrack.h

https://github.com/Tracktion/tracktion_ ... rTrack.cpp

Not sure if it will be any help.

[toxonic]

Yeah, funny - i already checked that out too, hoping to find methods, that didn't find their way into the official API
But no luck on my side here!

[mikoatkvr]

I see from the 'compilation of working macros' section that you are proficient in javascript.

You might be the person to work out how to implement a request of mine to render out all the clips on a track sequentially.

I did have this somewhat working in the past , but it would always bug out when it came to the last clip in the track where the loop would get stuck as there were no more clips to the right.

I can go into more detail if it is something you would consider taking a look at ?

Thanks.

[toxonic]

Hmm, i'm not a skilled coder as well, but i'd give it a try maybe. Would you post the code you already have, so i could take a look at it?

[mikoatkvr]

Ok cool, thanks ..below is what I am trying to accomplish :-

(1) Set loop range over selected clip/s ( this is only needed as a visual to show the progress )

Tracktion.markAroundSelected();

.....................................

I manually select the 1st clip here , but there is probably a method to do this by just selecting the track ?

(2) Merge is really Flatten if done on a single audio clip. This renders the clip to the ->Project/Rendered folder.

Tracktion.mergeSelectedClips();

.....................................

(3) Select the next audio clip to the right of currently selected audio clip

Tracktion.selectItem ('right');

....................................

The 3 steps (1) (2) and (3) above need to repeat continuously until step (3) is no longer true

....................................

With the help of chatgpt I have been able to get it to run the loop, but the problem is the loop gets stuck when there are no more clips to the right of the last clip ...so it therefore iterates rendering the last clip until I hard kill Waveform.

Basically a reliable/working check is required that stops the loop when Tracktion.selectItem ('right'); is no longer available.



Here is 1 of the many scritps that I got to work until it goes into a forever loop on the last clip:-

while (true)
{
// Step 1: mark the loop range visually
Tracktion.markAroundSelected();

// Step 2: merge (flatten) the selected clip(s)
Tracktion.mergeSelectedClips();

// Step 3: remember currently selected clip(s)
var before = Tracktion.getSelectedEditElements('clip');

// move to the next clip on the right
Tracktion.selectItem('right');

// get newly selected clip(s)
var after = Tracktion.getSelectedEditElements('clip');

// if same clip (or nothing changed), stop looping
if (!before.length == after.length &&
before.every((v, i) => v === after))
break;
}

[toxonic]

I tried by iterating through all clips of a selected track and merge clip by clip, but actually it stops after flattening the first clip. Seems i will need some trial and error

Edit: Just to show, what I've tried...

Code: Select all

var selTracks = Tracktion.getSelectedEditElements('track')

if (selTracks !== null)
{
    var trackObject = selTracks[0]
    var clips = Tracktion.getClipsFromTracks (trackObject)
    for (i=0;i<clips.length;++i)
    {
        Tracktion.deselectAll()
        Tracktion.addObjectsToSelection(clips[i])
        Tracktion.mergeSelectedClips ()
    }
}
else Tracktion.showMessage('Please select a track, containing at least one clip')

[mikoatkvr]

This is very interesting and it's great that you are working on this too.

I notice in your script that the Tracktion.showMessage is only displayed if no tracks are selected and does not show when we select a track that contains no clips.

I wonder if there is a way to show using 'Tracktion.showMessage' the array of clips ( clip names ) that are being iterated ? This would at least be useful to show what is working perhaps ?

[mikoatkvr]

Code: Select all

(function() {
    var processedClipNames = new Set();

    // Get initial selected clip(s)
    var clip = Tracktion.getSelectedEditElements('clip');
    if (!clip || clip.length === 0) {
        Tracktion.showMessage("No clip selected to start.");
        return;
    }

    while (true) {
        var currentClip = clip[0];

        // Safely get the clip name
        var clipName = "[unknown]";
        try {
            if (typeof currentClip.getProperty === 'function') {
                var tmp = currentClip.getProperty('name');
                if (tmp) clipName = tmp;
            } else if (currentClip.name) {
                clipName = currentClip.name;
            }
        } catch(e){}

        // Skip if this clip name has already been processed
        if (processedClipNames.has(clipName)) {
            break; // stop loop
        }

        // Add to processed set
        processedClipNames.add(clipName);

        // Select only this clip
        try { Tracktion.deselectAllEditElements('clip'); } catch(e){}
        try { Tracktion.selectEditElement(currentClip); } catch(e){}

        // Mark loop range visually (optional)
        try { Tracktion.markAroundSelected(); } catch(e){}

        // Flatten/merge this clip
        try { Tracktion.mergeSelectedClips(); } catch(e){
            Tracktion.showMessage("Error flattening clip: " + clipName);
        }

        // Move to the next clip on the right
        try { Tracktion.selectItem('right'); } catch(e){}

        // Get newly selected clip(s)
        var nextClips = Tracktion.getSelectedEditElements('clip');
        if (!nextClips || nextClips.length === 0) {
            break; // no more clips
        }

        // Prepare for next iteration
        clip = nextClips;
    }

    Tracktion.showMessage("All clips flattened individually (by name).");
})();

OK I have found a working solution, all we do is select the 1st Clip on A track & run the script. All Clips are then flattened sequentially.

[toxonic]

Ok, I also found a solution, so just for the sake of completion...
To run the code, you need to select a track. The script flattens all the clips on the track.

Code: Select all

var selTrack = Tracktion.getSelectedEditElements('track')
var clips = Tracktion.getClipsFromTracks(selTrack)
Tracktion.deselectAll()
if (clips !== null)
{
    Tracktion.addObjectsToSelection(clips[0])
    for (i=0; i<clips.length; ++i)
    {
    Tracktion.mergeSelectedClips()
    Tracktion.selectItem('right')
    }
}
else Tracktion.showMessage('Please select a track, containing at least one clip to flatten')

I mostly try to avoid while-loops, they can freeze your machine, if there's no proper condition to stop it. I just didn' comment the code and saved a few lines, but I guess, the code is quite simple and should be obvious, what happens in each line.

[mikoatkvr]

wow this is a very clean solution, great work Yeah I have hard crashed Waveform a lot using while loops lol