2.10.3. Envelopes Manager

Envelopes Manager Section

What it is

The Envelopes Manager is a scrollable list of all the envelopes in the editor, augmented with convenience controls for editing them in isolation and/or protecting them from unwanted changes.

How does it look/behave

The manager occupies a fixed height rectangular area underneath the Envelopes Editor, with which is tightly connected.

The list maintains one entry for each envelope currently in the editor, of which at most five are permanently visible. To access the others, if any, you need to use the scrollbar to bring them into view.

List entries' UI is standardized, and made up of these components:

a header: displays the name of the parameter the envelope refers to. Clicking this header selects the corresponding envelope in the editor (provided that envelope was not locked, see below);
an interactive color probe: displays the related parameter's color. You can actually click in the coloured area to bring in a swatch panel containing 20 ready-to-use color shades for your envelopes. Clicking a swatch will recolor the envelope the list entry refers to, and will also recolor the related parameter's control widgets (its readonly envelope replica and square color probe: find more details on these in the Parameters Section article). Recoloring is transient tough, i.e., it will only last for the current editing session;
a visibility toggle: this eye-shaped button cycles related envelope's display within the editor (from visible to hidden and back). Both the button's graphics and its tooltip switch state to witness the change.

Note: if you cannot find an envelope in the editor although its related parameter's Animate checkbox is ticked, look for that envelope's entry in the manager and make sure it is not hidden.
a lock toggle: when clicked, this padlock-shaped button toggles the related envelope's state, the way that it either accepts or refutes changes. In other words, the button locks or unlocks an envelope for editing. Both the button's graphics and its tooltip switch state to witness the change. You would click the button when displayed as an outlined padlock to lock the envelope; and you would click it when displayed as a solid padlock to unlock th envelope.

Note: locked envelopes are drawn without nodes, and using a hairline stroke. The nodes of a locked envelope cannot be selected or moved, and the envelope itself cannot be selected, not even form within the manager.

If you click on an entry in the Envelopes Manager and see no corresponding envelope being selected in the editor, then look at that entry's padlock button: if it is solid (i.e., "drawn with a full core"), then the envelope is locked. Click the padlock, then click again on the list entry (e.g., click on its header): now you should see the related envelope being selected in the editor.

Beside the UI provided by the list entries themselves, the Envelopes Manager also features two global controls:

an invert visibility button: visits each list entry in turn and reverts its visibility state, i.e., hides envelopes that were visible and shows those that were hidden;
an invert lock button: similarly, but applied to locking envelopes, i.e., locks the envelopes that were available for editing and unlocks those that were previously locked.

Note: to quickly isolate an envelope, hide it, then click the Invert visibility button. Keep clicking this button to toggle between the isolated envelope and "the others".