Jeff Jacobs
Description:
Add a global action that clears the content of all clips that are currently
not playing
, while leaving any clips that are playing untouched. This action should be available wherever actions can be used (widgets, MIDI bindings, follow actions, etc.) and work across the whole project or within a defined scope.
Problem:
Right now, users have essentially two extremes:
  • Clear individual clips one by one, which is slow and error-prone in a live context.
  • Use “clear all clips”–style actions, which risk wiping out clips that are still playing and needed.
For many live and performance workflows, this creates friction:
  • Over the course of a song or set, many clips stop being used (take re-takes, alternate takes, old sections, experiments).
  • These non-playing clips clutter the project visually and can consume memory.
  • Cleaning them up manually is impractical while performing and increases the risk of accidentally clearing an important clip that is still playing.
  • Users want a fast, safe way to “reset the canvas” between songs or sections, without touching what is currently playing.
There is currently no built-in action that says, in effect: “Clear everything that is stopped, but keep whatever is still playing.”
Proposed Solution:
Introduce a dedicated action, for example:
“Clear All Non-Playing Clips”
, with a few options:
  • Scope options:
- Entire project
- Current canvas / page
- Selected group / track
- Clips with a specific tag
  • State filter:
- Only clear clips that are in a fully stopped state.
- Optionally include/exclude:
- Paused clips
- Queued clips
- Record-armed but empty clips
  • Safety options:
- Respect clip “locked/protected” status by default.
- Optional toggle: “Include locked clips” for users who explicitly want this.
  • Timing / quantization:
- Immediate
- Quantized (e.g. to bar, loop, master quantization), so the cleanup can be scheduled musically at the end of a section.
  • Integration:
- Exposed in the Actions list.
- Bindable via MIDI / keyboard.
- Usable in follow actions and project-level macros.
- Undoable via the existing undo system.
Benefits:
  • Fast cleanup between sections:
    At the end of a song or transition, one trigger can clear all the “dead” clips while the currently playing material continues seamlessly.
  • Reduced risk on stage:
    Performers are less likely to nuke an important loop by mistake when trying to tidy the project.
  • Less visual clutter:
    Non-playing leftovers disappear with a single action, keeping the canvas readable in complex sets.
  • Better resource usage:
    Regularly clearing unused clips can help keep long sets more efficient, especially on large projects with lots of recordings.
  • Fits existing workflows:
    The action naturally integrates with Loopy’s existing actions/MIDI system and can become part of project templates and macros.
Examples:
  • A live set project used for an entire gig:
- After finishing Song 1, the performer triggers “Clear All Non-Playing Clips”.
- All stopped clips (retakes, old phrases, experiments) vanish, while the ambient loop that is still playing continues as a bed for the next song.
  • Practice / rehearsal workflow:
- The user records multiple takes per section, auditioning different ideas.
- Once they settle on the current take and are playing it, they use the action to instantly clear all the unused stopped takes.
  • Scene-based setup:
- Each scene uses different clips, but some clips stay running across scenes.
- Triggering the action at a scene transition removes only the clips that have been stopped, keeping long-running global loops intact.
This summary was automatically generated by GPT-5.1 Thinking on 2025-11-19
.