KVR Audio

ronergeist · Post by **ronergeist** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:16 pm

I dont know why anybody havent commented on the new keystroke assignments feature of Automap3pro. This seems like a really cool and useful addition to me. Has anybody had a chance to check it out, or are people to busy being upset about the upgrade price?

akpop · Post by **akpop** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:45 am

Got a new 37SL this week and a Nocturn, too. As the manual instructed me, I downloaded the newest automap version which happened to be version 3.
Bad Luck: It didn't recognize my 37SL.
I tried the Nocturn. This one was recognized immediately. Bad luck here also: I had a lot of issues with sreen refresh, Speed Dial didn't work properly, the learn function seemed awkward.
On the acompanying CDs was only automap 1.1 and automap 2 seems nowhere to be found on the Novation web site. Their support form kept rejecting my mails and most of the links on their viedeo tutorial page are broken.

Sorry for my bad vibes. Looks like I have to regain my positive attitude towards that company.

PaulSC · Post by **PaulSC** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:50 am

ronergeist wrote:I dont know why anybody havent commented on the new keystroke assignments feature of Automap3pro. This seems like a really cool and useful addition to me. Has anybody had a chance to check it out, or are people to busy being upset about the upgrade price?

Does seem cool. The new M-Audio Axiom Pro series has a similar feature built in. (But I like the look & feel of the novation keyboards better.)

taoyoyo · Post by **taoyoyo** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:05 am

thespecialistmonkey wrote:
I was not whining...i was voicing my opinion over a product which is nice in theory but in practice is a pile of pants. Releasing this new software is pure marketing just to get more people to buy into it. when in fact half the people i speak to who already have it don't bother to use automap cos it's rubbish...so they should address this issue b4 trying to get new customers with useless updates that they have the cheek to charge for.

Also...just for one example this link misleadingly shows a lady saying all logic instruments are automatically mapped out on the sl!

...there are many more misleading examples of this.
I just want to highlight that i think that anyone thinking of buying one of these controllers should think again if they use logic cos in my experience its a waste of time and it is much quicker and more efficient to map things out yourself with midi learn.

... Sorry, SMonkey... that wasn't aimed specifically at you, more the general tone of the thread.

I'm generally agreeing with you in the fact that the product is nice to a certain degree... I just think that for someone who is getting along alright with Automap that $30 is not a crazy price to pay for some improvements/features above a free software upgrade. For the rest of us, it's clearly not worth it... it's sad because I keep wanting to like it but there's too many workflow unfriendly quirks for me. Time to move on!

grymmjack · Post by **grymmjack** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:16 am

ronergeist wrote:I dont know why anybody havent commented on the new keystroke assignments feature of Automap3pro. This seems like a really cool and useful addition to me. Has anybody had a chance to check it out, or are people to busy being upset about the upgrade price?

i use the keystroke feature of pro

upgrade price didn't bother me.

i map sustain pedal to ENTER key for ableton live. this way i can press with my foot to start recording a clip and to stop recording a clip. i'm always late otherwise and have to slip edit after recording. with foot controller, this is not an issue

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 2:31 am

zerocrossing wrote:
dj ray wrote:Again, it's only $30. Is that a lot? Really? Are there are a lot of 13 year school kids with no allowance trying to get their hands on it?

As far as the ideological argument on Novation ripping people off, how is this any different than an upgrade to your favorite DAW? Also, would you rather Novation roll out new controllers with Automap 3, rendering the older hardware obsolete? $30 guys!

It's always funny to me when I hear the normal "rip off" chatter when a company actually tries to get some money for work they've done. Maybe you should buy a Soviet based Automap application. Oh wait, there isn't any because there's no motivation to make one.

So, for the price of dinner for 2 at Denny's you are telling me it's horribly unfair for Novation to ask for a little cash for some extra programming magic? Maybe you should get a paper route and start saving up.

To the poster who thinks they should have purchased another controller, Novation makes the best and you have it.

You are looking at all the complaints as if we were complaining about the money itself. If you read a bit closer, you'll see that it is a matter of principals. Novation is selling a premium controller product, which is premium mostly because of Automap. Now automap was buggy as hell during the first version and had some serious issues even in the second major version. Now suddenly we have the 3rd version, where they incorporate a few semi-cool features that have been requested by users since version 1 (which was like 4 years ago!) and they suddenly decide to charge 30$ for a "pro" (ridiculous tag) version. Come on! Do they really not make enough already on their hardware sales? Isn't it smarter to keep developing the drivers/software and gain more new users instead of cashing in on old users? Their strategy is IMHO flawed, unless they TRULY update Automap to be more useful, like giving us full control over the linearity of the controls, ranges/zones for fine-tune control etc.

I've sent several emails to Novation with questions and suggestions. Not once, not a single time, have I ever gotten an answer.. and now this. Like I said earlier.. time to dump the buggers and support somebody else.

Just my take on the whole thing..

Cheers!
bManic

xx JPRacer xx · Post by **xx JPRacer xx** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:04 am

akpop wrote:Got a new 37SL this week and a Nocturn, too. As the manual instructed me, I downloaded the newest automap version which happened to be version 3.
Bad Luck: It didn't recognize my 37SL.

The same thing happended with my 25SL. The problem is you need to update the firmware in the controller but to that you need an older version of automap, unfortunately I can't remember wich one.

You update the firmware and then you can install the new automap version.

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:26 am

grymmjack wrote:
ronergeist wrote:I dont know why anybody havent commented on the new keystroke assignments feature of Automap3pro. This seems like a really cool and useful addition to me. Has anybody had a chance to check it out, or are people to busy being upset about the upgrade price?
i use the keystroke feature of pro

upgrade price didn't bother me.

i map sustain pedal to ENTER key for ableton live. this way i can press with my foot to start recording a clip and to stop recording a clip. i'm always late otherwise and have to slip edit after recording. with foot controller, this is not an issue

Awesome. I think I might upgrade to Pro just for that! It's what I always wanted.

grymmjack · Post by **grymmjack** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:07 am

i was using midi yoke and bomes midi translator before automap 3 pro, but the nag screen on midi translator was annnoying and it sometimes just refused to pass midi thru to live through yoke.

no worries now.

also the X|Y pad assignment rocks. impossible to screw up x and y (very easy to screw it up doing the manual touch stuff - because it's inaccurate/ambiguous where to touch to map X or Y).

drag and drop also rules. saves sooo much time. highly recommend it!

ollybfocusritenovation · Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:35 am

Hello Everybody.

Olly from Novation here.

I've compiled the release notes for Automap 3.0 and 3.0 Pro so you are aware of all the changes and bug fixes.

Automap 3.0 Standard Changes and Bug Fixes

•Provided support for Sonar x64 editions
•Fixed instantiation issues with Waves plug-ins (VST)
•Improved control issues with Waves plug-ins (TDM/RTAS)
•Fixed some graphics issues with UAD plug-ins (VST Mac)
•Import/Export mappings feature removed - to use old exported .mappings file, rename to .zip and import manually
•Application "Automap Universal" now referenced as "Automap" (NB Windows Users may wish to uninstall previous versions of "Automap Universal")
•New browser start-up view with shortcuts including specific DAW client set-up guides
•Revised Plug-in Manager application
•Uniform Installer now integrates software and hardware installation for all Automap products
•Automatic software updater
•Added keyboard shortcuts to Automap HUD functions (Windows)
•Resolved some issues with re-drawing graphics in HUD
•Improved Midi Client can now Send/Receive MIDI CC and MIDI Note data
•Fixed issue with device search order (Windows)
•Fixed issue with character drawing on ReMOTE SL & Automap template
•Resolved some issues with caching wrapped plug-ins within plug-in manager
•Resolved some issues with Automap Midi Driver (Windows)
•Changed browser layout design
•Added auto-select client feature for browser groups containing only 1 client
•Added flashing status LED for latch learn mode (Nocturn)
•Added flashing status LED for groups when in browser view (Nocturn)
•New Automap HUI Client replaces hardware HUI templates with support for Logic, Pro Tools, Digital Performer 6, Reaper
•Updated default HUI client template - NB to edit the default template, load the HUI client offline (no DAW open), re-assign the parameters and save as default
•HUI client now has dedicated port "Automap HUI" to allow use with "Automap Midi" (Windows)
•Added Pan R and Sends A-E to HUI client - to assign these controls to rotary encoders - use Speed Dial (Nocturn & SL Compact) and P2 buttons (ReMOTE SL & SL ZeRO)
•Automap HUI and Automap Midi Client can now be used together (Windows)

Automap 3.0 Pro Features

•Added "Drag and Drop" feature - move any parameter within a mapping. Drag a client mapping within and between groups.
•Added "Keystroke Assign" feature - learn key combinations from your keyboard to your Automap hardware
•Added "Autoview" - touch or move any control and the HUD will temporarily appear on-screen
•Added XY, control pedal, expression pedal, trigger pads to Automap GUI. - map any parameter to these controls. (SL and SL Zero only)
•Added Instance saving - Automap now remembers the location of your clients in the browser for quick (no-look) selection of Plug-ins using touch sense
•Added multiple device support - connect multiple Novation controllers to Automap.

We have been through extensive beta testing, however if anyone does find any bugs then please let us know and we will look into it.

I've sent several emails to Novation with questions and suggestions. Not once, not a single time, have I ever gotten an answer.. and now this. Like I said earlier.. time to dump the buggers and support somebody else.

With regards to bmanic's lack of email response, please contact mickg 'at' focusrite 'dot' com. Mick is our Tech Support manager and will be able to search for your email address and find out whether we have received any mails from you and why they weren't responded to.

Leslie · Post by **Leslie** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:08 pm

Hello Olly,
Many thanks for Your post. I hope that it will resolve some of concerns raised here.
A3 is a fantastic update - even in It's basic/standard form It offers many improvements and enhancements, but where It really shines is in Pro...
Thanks heaps...

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:14 pm

ollybfocusritenovation wrote: With regards to bmanic's lack of email response, please contact mickg@focusrite.com Mick is our Tech Support manager and will be able to search for your email address and find out whether we have received any mails from you and why they weren't responded to.

Thanks for the contact. I'll send him an email and will include the information, again, that I've been trying to forward during the past few years.

Edit: while you are here, reading and answering in this thread, could you elaborate on the logic behind this decision:

ollybfocusritenovation wrote: •Added multiple device support - connect multiple Novation controllers to Automap.

Why on earth is this a "pro" version feature only? Surely you should be thankful to users who purchase multiple of your hardware controllers instead of having them pay extra to get them to work? I really cannot see the logic behind this decision. It's been asked on other forums as well (for instance Gearslutz) but never got an answer.

Cheers!
bManic

darem · Post by **darem** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:32 pm

bmanic wrote: Why on earth is this a "pro" version feature only? Surely you should be thankful to users who purchase multiple of your hardware controllers instead of having them pay extra to get them to work? I really cannot see the logic behind this decision. It's been asked on other forums as well (for instance Gearslutz) but never got an answer.

Cheers!
bManic

It seems pretty logical to me. Most users won't need it, those who do will be happy about it. They programmed a feature for a minority - this has to be paid in some way.

This is business, not friendship. You have to find some ways to make some money, else you are out of the game.

PS: Bought the pro version - being able to use theNocturn and ZeroSL together is very cool.

Echoes in the Attic · Post by **Echoes in the Attic** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:53 pm

Just wanted to note that I sent a support request and received an email the very next day. They've always been pretty quick I've found.

By the way, the question I asked was why can I no longer set the automap startup screen to not open when I load a host. I used to have it set to not open the window but now I have to shut it manually. The response was that it no longer has that option but it will be put back in a maintenance release, likely around april.

selthy · Post by **selthy** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:54 pm

The velocity sensitive 'drum' pads now appear in the gui. Can these be assigned CC's and notes just like the other buttons? If so, How?

automap 3, woot woot!!! [bumped from April 2009]