create time selection on the fly

[gruffalo]

i want to make a custom action which creates/starts a time selection (of, say, 1 second) at the current playback position. i played around with some custom action functions but i did not succeed (i managed to create one where the cursor is, but that is not the current playback position of course). any tips??

thanks so much

[solger]

Welcome to the Reaper forums!

Have a look at some time selection scripts available via ReaPack: https://reapack.com/

For instance, something like Lokasenna's Create time selection at edit cursor... script might be interesting in general.
Although this one is using the edit cursor as reference, you might try to combine it in a custom Action which moves the edit cursor to the play cursor position first:

View: Move edit cursor to play cursor
Script: Lokasenna_Create time selection 1 seconds long, right of the edit cursor.lua <-- created with the script mentioned above

There are also Actions like Time selection: Set start point and Time selection: Set end point for setting the start/end points manually.

[Lokasenna]

Hang on a minute, I'll upload a play cursor version of the script Solger mentioned.

Edit: Done. As Solger mentioned, you'll need the ReaPack extension. Install that, then in Extensions -> ReaPack -> Browse packages search for "create time selection at play cursor".

[Skorobagatko]

Originally Posted by Lokasenna

Hang on a minute, I'll upload a play cursor version of the script Solger mentioned.

Edit: Done. As Solger mentioned, you'll need the ReaPack extension. Install that, then in Extensions -> ReaPack -> Browse packages search for "create time selection at play cursor".

Nice script, but in my case it creates time selection not perfectly with the grid.

[Lokasenna]

Originally Posted by Skorobagatko

Nice script, but in my case it creates time selection not perfectly with the grid.

I'm a little surprised that Reaper doesn't have native actions for snapping the time selection. Oh well - I've just uploaded "Lokasenna_Snap time selection or loop points to grid" which will install a few different actions.

You should be able to make a custom action using a preset exported from "Create time selection at play cursor" followed by "snap time selection to grid".

[Skorobagatko]

Originally Posted by Lokasenna

I'm a little surprised that Reaper doesn't have native actions for snapping the time selection. Oh well - I've just uploaded "Lokasenna_Snap time selection or loop points to grid" which will install a few different actions.

You should be able to make a custom action using a preset exported from "Create time selection at play cursor" followed by "snap time selection to grid".

Thank you!

[gruffalo]

this is seriously amazing. did not anticipate such a fast response!!!
see if i understand the way the script operates: it always prompts the user for the desired length and so on, right? is there a way for me to modify it so that it always creates the time selection with a predefined length? ideally i would like to trigger it via MIDI cc and then, if possible, modify the end point as it plays/loops. would i need to modify the script? sorry if this is a silly question
thanks again!

[Lokasenna]

There's an "Export" button at the bottom specifically for that reason.

[gruffalo]

silly me. i tried that but did not work the first time for some reason. my bad!!! amazing, Lokasenna!