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Utility Section and Layer Mixer
7
Utility Section and Layer Mixer
The utility section is located at the top of the
Ultra Analog VA-3
interface and it includes important
parameters and monitoring tools.
7.1
Sound Display
At the top of the utility section one finds the sound display with information on the currently loaded
sound and its associated sound pack. Information includes the name of the sound and sound pack,
the sound category, and sound quality.
Clicking on the ellipsis icon next on the right of the sound name opens a menu of commads
which can be applied to the sound. The
Compare
command allows one to compare the current
version of the sound with the original version saved on disk. This command is only active when
the sound has been modified. When in
Compare
mode, edition is blocked and it is therefore not
possible to modify any parameter. The
Compare
mode must then be switched
off
in order to
resume edition. Note that the
Compare
button in the lower right part of the utility section is a
shortcut for this command. The
Save
and
Save As
commands are used to save a new version of
a sound. Note that the
Save
command is only available when the sound is modified and is always
inactive for read-only AAS factory sounds and expansion packs. These two commands also have
shortcut buttons next to the
Compare
button. The
Reload
command is used to reload the original
version of a modified sound. This may be useful when a sound has been modified but one wants
to discard the changes. The
Back
and
Forward
commands are used to go through the history of
modifications applied to a sound backwards or forwards in time. The two rounded arrow buttons
next to the
Save
button, are shortcuts for these commands. The
Locate
command allows one to
locate the current sound in the sound library. Different options are available in order to locate the
sound (by pack, creator, category, or general list of sounds). The browser is automatically opened
at the corresponding location once an option has been chosen. Finally, the
Show Sound Details
command is used to open the
Sound Details
window which includes general information about the
sound including its name, category, quality, creator, and a general note field. This information can
be edited and saved in this pop-up window.
It is possible to change the currently loaded sound by clicking on the name of the current sound
which opens a drop-down menu with the list of sounds included in the currently loaded sound pack.
It is also possible to navigate through this list using the left and right-pointing arrows to the right
of the sound name. Note that when these arrows are surrounded by an orange line, it is possible to
change the sound using the arrows on the computer keyboard. This feature is de-activated by hitting
the
Escape
key on the computer keyboard or clicking outside the sound display on the interface.