How to scroll in the Arrange window without scrolling arrows?

OK, while snooping around on some other discussion groups I found something that worked for someone else (not in Logic), and for vertical scrolling. But the principle looked good, and I figured it might work for horizontal scrolling, which is where I really need the control. And, as it turns out, it DOES work for horizontal scrolling.

All you have to do is press the Option key and then grab the scroll button with the mouse cursor, and you can drag left to smoothly scroll left, or drag right to smoothly scroll right.

I actually like that better than the scroll arrows, because the response is instantaneous, and you're not limited to the fixed scrolling speed that you got with the arrows. As fast as you drag, that's how fast you'll scroll.

Best of all, the scrolling speed scales according to the level of magnification you're using. So, no matter whether you're zoomed in to full horizontal magnification, or zoomed way out, the scrolling rate will be appropriate for the zoom level.

The Art Of Sound wrote:

I gather you are using a mouse with the old style scroll wheel but...

Using a magic mouse or trackpad and swiping left/right or up/down (Single finger with MM and two fingers with trackpad i believe) allows for quick but reasonably precise movement i find..

Actually, I'm using neither a mouse with a scroll wheel nor a trackpad. Ergonomically, the device that works best for me is just a plain Apple Mouse, Model No. M5769. I have an ample supply of them. 😉

Holding down the option key and swiping up/down and left/right allows you to quickly zoom in/out in any direction too....

So.. Using these two features in combination allows you to quickly navigate around large projects... in a pretty accurate fashion.

Also you might want to think about the use of markers to quickly go from one part of a project to another.....

Control + K to create at playhead position and Control + , or . to step through them...

This is my prefered method of navigating to various preset parts or sections of large projects..

I'm assuming that the swiping action you're describing only works with a trackpad or a mouse (like the wireless mouse) that's sensitive to such actions. I do have one of those mice, but it kills my wrist.

As for markers, I use them all the time. They're very handy, but they wouldn't solve the scrolling problem. Nevertheless, I do appreciate your suggestions. If I were using a device that responds to such actions, I'm sure your suggestions would be very useful.

Thanks for your responses.

seeren wrote:

Isn't there something with a mouse/vertical only scroll wheel that you can hold down shift (or control, maybe) and it scrolls sideways? Not sure about that as I only have a magic mouse, or maybe it's been abandoned in LPX or Mtn Lion.

There is one more option: if you hold shift+control you get a four sided arrow as the pointer, you can then click and drag to scroll around. I seem to remember this one working differently in the past. Like it would 'surf' with the arrow instead of the click/drag way it works now.

Thanks seeren.

l'm not using a mouse with a scroll wheel. I had one of those (a Mighty Mouse) and I didn't like it so I gave it to my wife.

The Shift+Control thing is good. It would take some getting used to, but if I hadn't found the Option+drag action for the scroll button, I'd probably use that.