Separators in the default 5.0 theme

[Buy One]

Attached herein are resources for a simple (not to say primitive) mod of the v5.0 default theme with separators and empty spaces, borrowed from:

Default 5.0 Nitpicky Edition by Lokasenna

Defaultwithmorelayout_4-sc2px by RenoMellow

LCS Default 4.0 by lucas_LCS

AND

Abhi Modded AM JANNE 2017 Ctho_Mod by Ctho2017




First make a backup copy of the default theme, just in case

Then simply drop the enclosed folders and the rtconfig.txt file into the default theme main folder Default_5.0_unpacked (accessed with WinZIP or WinRAR for those who're not in the know)

Tip: Muting a track before converting it into a separator or an empty space (or afterwards via Actions) creates a nice dark strip across the arrange canvas which aids visual separation of the arrangement blocks. Can be set up with a custom action, similar to the one referenced in the tutorial at the link below

A tutorial on how to create separators in both TCP and MCP in one go using layout slots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOH_m4tHGg

Alternatively, to spare layout slots, which might avail for other purposes, it can be done with SWS extensions Auto Color/Icon/Layout, a SWS ReaConsole command cycle action and a regular custom action whereby a newly added track is automatically assigned a name 'separator' (or any other as long as it's consistent) to be then assigned a separator or an empty space layout based on the rule set in the Auto Layout panel

Auto Color/Icon/Layout config



Color could be added as well

ReaConsole command cycle action



Custom action



The highlighted steps are optional, the last one is the ReaConsole command cycle action shown above. 'Lock track height' script is irrelevant for the latest build, in previous builds it forces the track to maintain height during vertical zoom-in while the cursor is over the arrange canvas which is achieved with the script "JamesHE_ReaVertical Zoom non locked mousewheel".

To turn an already created track into a separator the ReaConsole command cycle action alone will suffice.

The custom action doesn't affect regular track addition by double click or via regular menu option.

In the MCP label text orientation in separators which have it can be changed in the Reaper Preferences under Appearance by ticking the option "Draw vertical text bottom-up", a tip I came across at https://forum.cockos.com/showpost.ph...71&postcount=7

UPDATE

Managed to make the separators' labels centered regardless of the vertical zoom level.

A summary of separator types: empty space, blank track/channel/strip, with and without labels, MCP separators of various widths, including channel default width to be used in a track inspector setup as suggested by Hopi.

One point for improvement is the color of the label placeholder in an expanded separator as a visual aid to quickly locate it with a click for entering a text. At the moment it may take a few blind clicks around the center until you hit it.

If however it's created with a custom action described above, there's no problem as the text is entered automatically, then it's just a matter of changing it.

UPDATE

In two TCP separators made the label placeholder color differ from the background so it's immediately locatable for keying in text.

[hopi]

nice work....
I might suggest a little more which I have done in my own theme and which I find important.... others may not care, but I really do. Here's the story:

IF you use the MCP as a 'track inspector' at the left of the TCP, which I do and then also use the MCP free floating in another screenset, then the width of separators becomes an issue.

When the MCP is a 'track inspector' the separators in it need to be the same width as the other layouts in it. This is an impossible problem IF you use many different layouts in the MCP and if those all have different widths... BUT if you use one consistent MCP layout, say the default, then it needs the MCP separator to be the same width. Otherwise the track inspector view won't work nicely.

Not at the same time in the TCP you don't want the separators to be that big... you likely want them to be fairly small as compared with the other tracks in the TCP.

Futher, if you also use the MCP in a screenset where it is free floating, or even docked... in that view, you likely want the separators to be much more narrow than the other tracks...

OK so...

I made two separator layouts for both the TCP and MCP
one is wide and one is narrow
this lets me make separator track templates that use the narrow one in the TCP and the wider one in the MCP so that in the MCP the width matches the width of the other tracks. [i.e., the default track width]
That lets the MCP be a perfect track inspector which at the same time letting the TCP separators remain small.

Now I do one more trick...
I name the separators with a single character... I use * but it could be whatever... I do that before changing the layout to separator and then when it is a separator the name does not show... however the name is still recognized by reaper actions....
This lets me have a custom action to select all tracks with the name * in the MCP and change their layout to either the wide or narrow separator...
So that when in the screenset with the free floating MCP I can set all the separators to the narrow layout, but in the track inspector MCP they can still be the wide layout...

I hope this makes some sense to you... and maybe you'd like to implement it as an addition to what you have already done.

[Buy One]

Good suggestions there, I doubt i'd be able to pull that off at the moment due to being illiterate in terms of WALTER coding.

One drawback of the TCP separators with labels in the attachment is that the text field shrinks by about a 3d when they are fully vertically compressed, just like it does in the regular track layout, and that I can't fix because of the said illiteracy, neither can i center the text in them instead of it being left aligned.

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Spoke too soon. Added a few separators of "aa - Standard" mixer channel width. The rest is above my station.