Warping as a case of Live´s work flow/interface difficulties

I´ve used Live for a couple of years but still I´m
not quite a sure about the basic logig of the Warping
from the USER WORK FLOW  point of view.

Of course I´ve used warping several times and  know basicly all technical points mentioned in the user manual.

But what the developer in their interfaces and manuals often
misses, is the very pragmatic user work flow point of view,
manuals are based on the chapters and separate index words
and often don´t give enough information HOW and WHY, or all
this is anyway very hard to find, if you don´t have to time search different sources,
send mails and notes and view tutorials (or try and make errors ),
In the case of Warping, lets take the very basic workflow case:
I open an audio file and bring it to the Live´s audiotrack. The very moment
the Lives Clip View shows me Warp-button active (yellow).
Why?  I haven´t warped the file (or intented to do so), as a
user I´m now uncertain if the Live has something to my file
when I brought it inside the Live, because the Warp is active
(or does the activated Warp button mean that it is active at all?).
Why the Warp is active as default - or has anything done to my file yet
(although the Warp is active in the clip view)?

Can someone in very detailed way to clarify what is the logic from the work flow
point of view in the Warping: 1) what happens automatically (with the basic Live defaults) when I bring an audiofile to the Live, if anything? 2) why is the Warp button active as a default? - or how the "active" is shown in the Live, 3) when is the Warping really executed?

BTW, same kind of (in my mind) inconsistencies/difficulties to be sure what happens and why, which generates the uncorfotable feeling that the user is not quite sure about the Live´s work flow, is the Live full of: let´s take an other example, namely rendering the audio file.
If I want to render (or Export accrding to Lives terminology) the MONO audiofile, Live gives me the Audio rendering options window where one parameter is: Convert to Mono, the Live´s factory default in this field is "No".  Well, according to the intuitive and logical user workflow the user most likely thinks "I don´t want to convert my mono file to mono, because there´s no sense to conver somehing to one it already is".  But after the operation the user is surprised: the exported mono file IS CONVERTED TO STEREO.  Why?  What is the Ableton logic here?  I think Ableton should change the user interface/labels here that the work flow would be logical. (Of course the user after a couple of trials and errors learn the Lives "originalities" very soon and here always convert the mono file to mono file is he want´s to keep it in mono, but the risk in this kind of inconsistencies is that in a new situation the user can´t be sure if the interface is intuitive and logical or what he really should do to get the desired result.



Harry_ 3 years ago | 0 comments

3 answers

  • [stm] Ableton staff
    103 answers
    105 votes received
    3 votes



    What happens automatically when you import an audio file into your Set depends on the preferences. The default preference is to auto-warp long files - this is why you see your audio warped already and is something you can change under:

    Preferences --> Record / Warp / Launch --> Auto-Warp Long Samples.


    Similarly, you can change the default Warp mode from Beats (the default) to any one of the others.


    As long as the segment BPM of a warped audio file matches the project BPM exactly, warping in all but the Complex modes is a neutral operation - meaning that nothing actually happens on playback. However, as soon as the segment BPM differs even by a tiny amount, you are playing back a warped audio file. If you would not like to have your files warped, the best idea is to turn Warping off altogether.

    3 years ago | 0 comments
  • Near Earth Object
    583 answers
    607 votes received
    2 votes

    Every single program has default settings. And if you work with a program and want to know what works best, then you should know what the default settings are. Honestly, I think more than 90% of serious Live users know this. How can you work with software if you have no idea what the settings are? Just a simple matter of going to the preferences, and have a good look at the settings. Don't like 'em: change it! I really fail to see the point of your questions.
    Warp settings set to 'on' is the most logical thing since it is one of Live's strongest features. Let's say you work on a project and load some audio. The project already has a main tempo, so Live automatically tries to change that audio's timing to that of the project. Don't want that after all? Turn it off, and never have the problem again.

    About the mono thing: also quite logical:
    You export audio, and want it to be stereo most of the time (most users do, i think). So you have to do nothing else. Want something irregular like a mono rendering? Change it in the preferences/rendering settings.

    Just because you want it to behave different, that doesn't mean the logic behind it is wrong. Just a matter of choices.

    3 years ago | 0 comments
  • Harry_
    2 answers
    1 vote received
    0 votes

    Thank you for the reply.

    But this didn´t answer me to the fundamental Live work flow challenge.
    E.g. here: why is the factory default preference "auto-warp long files"?
    Isn´t this warping that fatal operation that every time the system is going to
    do, the user gets a warning "Live will not auto-warp the file, ok?" You get warning even from the less fatal operations.  This what I suggest would be
    user-oriented work flow.  How many of the Live user check what are the factory
    default preferencies for all the parameters? - my guess is less than 50 per cent.

    The user oriented approach in the interface means that if most of the user intuitively behave in some way ignorant or in the wrong way, you shouldn´t blame the user (although they may have not read the manual through) but change the interface work flow/details.  This is the very basic in any interface development.

    BTW, does this "yellow lighted button" I referred in my question mean in the Live that some operation has already executed, or that it´s ready for the execution, or what?


    And please comment also my other example (the audio mono file export).  H.



    3 years ago | 0 comments

