New Automation / Depreciation of Modifiers & Controllers

[sonigen]

Ok I'm pretty much finished adding MIDI and VST automation to the front panels, it's all up and running and I'm just tying up a few loose ends.



Basically what you do is toggle the automation display with the button on the tool bar. What this does is 2 things...

1. Shows what controls can be automated.
2. What is connected and what it is connected to.

IE. In the picture the Wavetable module is conncected thus...

Octave control to VST param 3
semitone control to MIDE CC 16
Fine control to VST param 19
Herz to MIDI CC 1 (modwheel)
Wavtable position to MIDI CC 18

To connect a control to a specific CC or VST you double click the right mouse button and select from the popup menu. This works whether the automation display is toggled or not.

VST hookups will transmit so they can be recorded, the MIDI CC are input only.

The MIDI CC and AutoParam Controllers are depreciated. The MIDI CC modifer is also depreciated. This wont stop patches from loading, the depreciated widgets just wont load.

I'm actually considering depreciating the whole Modifier and Controllers feature and replacing the functionality with dedicated modules. I think it will simplify the interface and it will also make it easier to make them more fully featured.

To give an example the Unison modifier is a bit of a PITA, a dedicated module would make it easier to have a better interface, one that more easily handles different situations.

Or a midi controller module could handle Velocity, Modwheel, Aftertouch or a specific CC, and then have curves for all.

The modules could work as sources when they have no input connected and modifiers when something is pluged in.

Here's the rub...

Old patches will still load fine but it would be complicated to translate old modifier / controller settings into the new modules. So it'd likely mean some editing of old patches since any controllers/modifiers will just be dropped from the patch.

Let me know what you think. Whether the dedicated modules sound good, or if you would rather stick with the exiting setup. I could investigate translating the modifers / controllers to new modules if people really want me to, but it might take some time, and might not be perfect.

If I'm gonna do this i'd like to do it now and get it all out of the way in one go.

[Gone soft]

Hm, I thought I wanted the "old" system - but once you presented the advantages of dedicated modules that seemed a pretty good and more flexible solution. How much space would those modules take up?
Is there any way one could chose different views with different ways of organizing the modules in each view? Or would that be confusing for users? The thought was that the automation modules wouldn't need to take up any space in the GUI unless you chose the "automation view" or some such. Then perhaps the automation modules could be kind of overlays on top of the "regular" modules (the "regular" modules could for instance get a paler hue in this view). I'd like a solution like that, but not sure what others would think (or if it can even be done)...
Anyway, looking forward to what the future will bring for Sonigen Modular.

[sonigen]

Then perhaps the automation modules could be kind of overlays on top of the "regular" modules (the "regular" modules could for instance get a paler hue in this view). I'd like a solution like that, but not sure what others would think (or if it can even be done)...

Thats kind of what I've done, there's no regular vs automation modules, just the regular modules which can now be automated. You toggle the "Auto" button and the controls that can be automated will show an overlay with what automation the are connected to.

Regards,

[SoulState]

One question about automation - in new concept amout of automation can't be controlled like before?
And why some knobs like glide on lfo or x-fade on delay can't be automated? (And starting phase on pulsaw, pitchbend amount, etc.)

[sonigen]

No the amount cant be controlled. To get the old functionality you would need to automate a constant module and use that as an input. The plus side of that is you can then record movements and see the actual automation value.

Some things cant currently be automated for technical reasons and some i didn't consider to be very important, at least for now.

[nineofkings]

I think that dedicated modules for automation would be less streamlined and less intuitive. I'd prefer automation built into the actual modules, in any event.