Structure View

New in 1.6.0 (beta)

The Structure View is new in the 1.6.0 beta. Reading it is part of every edition; editing metadata on it is part of Orbit Pro.

The Structure View lays out how a file is built — its programmes, groups, folders and tracks — with every track's facts in one table. It works for ADM and IAMF files, and it's where Orbit Pro edits an ADM master's metadata.

Getting there

Click Structure in the Mode Bar, or right-click any row in the Inspect sidebar and choose Show in Structure.

Layout

• Format strip — across the top: the file's format and container, the version of the ADM specification the file says it follows (or that it declares none), and what can be edited on this file.
• Outline — on the left: All tracks, then the programme's groups and folders. Click one to show only its tracks in the table. Removed tracks have their own Removed entry, where you can restore them.
• Table — every track in the current scope, one row each: channel, name, type, groups, dialogue, gain, importance, listener controls and position, with solo and mute at the end. Click a column header to sort, or type in Filter tracks to narrow the list. Long names wrap rather than being cut off.
• Inspector — on the right: everything about the selected track or tracks. Position is drawn as a small plan of the room seen from above, with the object's path through it and a marker for where it is at the playhead.

Selecting rows in the table selects the same objects in the 3D scene and the timeline. Solo and mute work here just as they do in the sidebar.

For an IAMF file the table lists the file's audio elements — kind, layout, the mixes each one is in, mix gain and layers — read-only.

Editing ADM metadata (Pro)

Pro

Editing ADM metadata is an Orbit Pro feature. In Orbit Standard the page shows every fact, and the inspector as text.

In Orbit Pro you can change an ADM master's metadata from the table, the inspector, or a row's right-click menu:

• Names — rename a programme, group, folder or track. Double-click a name to rename it in place.
• Groups and folders — create a group (+ Group in the outline), move a track to another group or folder, add it to a second one, put selected tracks into a new folder, or delete an empty group or folder.
• Language and kind for a group, and dialogue for a track.
• Gain on object tracks, and importance.
• Listener controls — whether a listener may turn a track off, whether it starts off, and whether they may adjust its level.
• Alternatives — make a set of tracks alternatives of one another.
• Remove a track, or use Remove Silent Tracks… to remove every track that's silent throughout. Removed tracks are muted and listed under Removed, where you can restore them.

Select several rows to change them together — the edit applies to every row it can reach, as one step to undo. Where an edit can't be applied to a row, Orbit says which rows and why.

Every edit can be undone (⌘Z). Group presets — named sets of groups, kinds and languages you can apply to a programme — and the defaults for new groups live in Preferences ▸ ADM.

What can be edited on a file

Not every master allows every edit. The format strip says what this file allows — Everything can be edited, only names, language and dialogue, or nothing — and hovering over it gives the reason. Menu items that can't run on this file stay in place, disabled, with the reason as their title.

Keeping your edits

Edits never change the file on disk. In a Session they're saved with the session, and come back when you reopen it. To deliver an edited master, choose File → Export ADM with Edits… (also on the page itself): Orbit writes a new ADM file with your changes, leaves removed tracks out, checks the result, and shows a summary of every change it made.

The Inspect sidebar

In the 1.6.0 beta the Inspect sidebar is for monitoring: the file's groups, folders and tracks, with solo, mute and activity on every row. You can rename a row there (Pro), and every row's right-click menu has Show in Structure, which opens this page with that track selected — or, for a group or folder, scoped to it. Every other edit is made here on the Structure View.

See also

• Overview — the Inspect sidebar.
• ADM Basics — programmes, content and objects.
• Sessions — where your edits are kept.
• Mode Bar — switching between views.