Ableton does expose the controls if the plugin window is expanded, but those sliders can be tedious to work with.
I've tried a few different methods to get around this:
Macro knobs in a group work well for small plugins with a few controls. I have a number of Airwindows and Kilohearts plugins I've done this for. I can also use the Macro Variations to store presets. I find this works better than the sliders that Ableton exposes because they're slightly larger and I can colour code them. The biggest downside, though, is that the values only represent a generic 1-127, whereas the slider controls show the native value. It's a bit odd that the macro knobs can't display the original data - am I missing something?
For plugins with more than 16 controls (or to space things out better), I've been using Mapr16x2, which is a free Max for Live device. It works okay. It has the same generic 1-127 issue that the macro knobs have. It also has the unfortunate disadvantage that I can't automate by the label I applied to the knob. So instead of seeing "Cutoff", I see "A2".
Someone recently published some custom Max for Live devices for Valhalla's reverbs. I don't use Valhalla, so I can't comment on them, but I thought that creating a custom Max device was a great way of getting around this issue. I attempted doing this myself and quickly learned how many knobs and sliders are not actually linear, which adds a large level of difficulty.
Of course, some plugins will never work well. Large, complex synths and EQ-type plugins usually demand a GUI of their own, and that's okay.
But for anything less than that, I'm wondering if anyone has other methods of strictly staying in Ableton's main window?
