Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington
Well, that defeats the whole purpose of CSI.
I read the Smart Knobs thread, looks great, but there are a number of reasons why I don't think it's a good idea to fold it into CSI, however, I do get your point.
What you really want is an easy to use UI -- I'm all for that, but please remember, this software is still at alpha stage...
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It's not really my intention to fold anything together, but rather to use CSI in a very "Reaper-ish" way that leaves just enough of an open door for creative applications that might allow users to extend it's use far beyond it's original design. As I mentioned earlier, this would allow users to bridge the gap between CSI's capabilities and other tools that can redistribute commands in their own way. It's not just FaderBox. There are numerous console emulators out now that have clusters of busses that con be controlled from a single fx window; would it not be useful to have the means of creating a specialized zone for that that only needs to be configured once in one's template? Or for headphone mixes in session studios, a zone could be configured as locked to specific group of tracks designed for personalized routing. As every studio I've been in always has it's own template set up for session work, having that locked into a customized .msi file guarantees it will work without the need for additional setup time or - worse yet - intern error.
I would, however, agree that it really is something that should be in some kind of user interface for on-the-fly configuration (maybe the surfaces page?), but that feels like something a long way off right now, so it would make little sense to put it off for that reason alone.
As for having an easy-to-use GUI - YES. I DO need that. I've already been down the road of mapping nearly every plugin in my arsenal (last I checked, there are over 500) to my Faderport 8 long ago in Studio One, and it took MONTHS. Not all at once, mind you; that's unrealistic of course. But rather, bit-by-bit, as I would work, taking 30 seconds to choose parameters and click the little arrow that links them to the desired fader or button - sometimes re-arranging old configurations in need of reassessment - then continuing on with work. After having wrestled with all the variables in an FX .zon file, I'd be happy to offer some (obvious) suggestions, but in the end, pausing to deal with all of what's required...
-open REAPER preferences
-select Control/OSC/web
-select CSI
-press Edit
-click "Show params when adding FX to track"
-click "OK"
-re-load un-mapped fx
-navigate to CSI/Zones/ZoneRawFXFiles folder
-copy FX .txt to controller Zone folder
-open .txt
-open controller list template
-copy desired parameter mapping to fx .txt
-double-triple check fx name, quotations, spaces, FXParameter numbers, NoActions, lack of actions, correct order, and ZoneEnd
-save file and rename to .zon
-go back to CSI in Preferences-Control/OSC/web
-press Edit
-click (unselect) "Show params when adding FX to track"
-click "OK"
-test
-if all is well (fingers crossed) click "OK" on REAPER Preferences
-back to work
...honestly, outside of a very small handful of the most used plugs, this is just too much to do in the midst of a job (and even in it's "alpha" state, CSI seems perfectly stable enough for use in real work to me!).
As far as configurations requiring a specific track to lock to, of course that would be specified in any description requirements, and any potential users can pass that up opting for different configurations better suited for their needs. And there WILL be different configurations. Earlier, I saw someone with a link to their XTouch Mini layout that appears to do a fine job of emulating the MCU functionality of how it works in other DAWs - very useful for those who need it. But I'm actually configuring mine to give me a list of sends with buttons below them that allow me to quickly execute fx "throw" automation as it would be much easier than having to hand-draw it with a mouse every time (I hate using mutes/much rather prefer volume automation). Different use - different configuration. Lots of folks on the Presonus Faderport forums have all kinds of features they've been begging for for years - some quite personalized - but nothing ever comes of it. Behringer's full sized XTouch is just a mess of unused potential across any platform.
And that can be said of all hardware manufacturers really. NONE of them want you using their hardware in a way they don't approve of for various reasons - usually to lock you into some kind of specialized product ecosystem.
So we're already breaking the "rules" here.
Just as a reminder, Reaper's "tracks" were never really meant to be audio tracks in the conventional sense. They also function as midi tracks, automation tracks, busses, folders, vca's, monitors, and even full blown miniaturized multitrack mixers in themselves.
Opening up the capability to tie any given zone directly to a Reaper "track" would be a BEAST of a feature! :-)