Well, maybe not “better,” but at least “different.” I try to limit my “do it this way instead” replies until someone asks (even when implied) but here’s what I was thinking, based on my observation and your stated purpose in using the “white gain line” in your workflow. This will require that you think “differently” when you look at your project, and who knows, that may be a good thing.
First, my observation. Your N13 screenshot shows 67 clips, and 32 of them have gain adjustments. So, just under half of all the clips just in that screenshot would indicate some manner of action needed. That seems unmanageable to me; my guess is that your brain is actually doing a lot more than just using the gain line to make that decision. In fact, since half your visible clips indicate a “decision is needed,” I would guess that the gain line may not even be your primary source for that decision - but your brain has gotten used to seeing it. Something to consider, anyway - it just doesn’t seem efficient.
In your two screen shots (N13 and N14), I actually see different clip gains shown between the two screen shots. N14 shows us the gain adjustment in the clip itself next to the wee ramp icon. 4th from the bottom, Quartet MS-S+ _26 shows -1.67dB in N13, but there is no value at all in the N14 screenshot. It actually looks like none of the blue center clips have any gain adjustment at all.
So it would seem that the N13 project is different than the N14 project; however, in the N14 project I can literally scan the entire image and not only see which clips have gain adjustment, but where they are different. In less than a second my brain tells me that all pink events are -4.92dB without even having to click on something. In the N13 screenshot I actually have to look for lines and count tracks (you won’t because you know the piece) but that also tells me, when I look at it, that I don’t get all the info I need the old way.
You’ve already made extensive use of color here, and there’s a reason for that. I think the question you have to ask yourself is “do all 32 events shown REALLY need my attention, or am I making my brain do double-duty to identify a subset of events?” If the answer is “No, they don’t all need attention,” then I would submit that you may have already solved your problem and that you just need to extend your use of color to identify the clips that may need attentions - which would also work no matter what zoom you have.
As @MattiasNYC indicated, maybe spending some time in N14 and letting your brain get used to reading the gain numbers on each clip in conjunction with a color scheme change might be your Shangri-La. A “happy side effect” may also be that you’d be doing something your watching clients would immediately be able to understand, rather than presuming they know what the white line is. That may not even matter.
But I think you have an overall opportunity here to at least take a look as how efficient your old way even was, and potentially use the “forced adoption” as a primer to explore better ways.
Either way, it sounds like you’ve got a few things you can try from the rest of the forum members, so I hope you find something that works for you!
