EuControl 3.3.1 Autobank Problems for Mouse Users
 

The "Auto-bank to selected track" option that was added (or fixed) in EuControl 3.3 (& 3.3.1) plus Pro Tools 11.3.2 HD is nice but ultimately problematic for editor / mixers who use their mouse or trackball a lot in addition to the Artist Series interface.

Ultimately I have decided to uncheck these boxes in Pro Tools Preferences / Mixing because it's too hard to work otherwise:

"Edit Window Follows Bank Selection"
"Mix Windows Follows Bank Selection"

When they are checked it's nice to bank and nudge on my Mix and Control and have the Pro Tools display follow the displayed tracks. However, if you have all of those options checked (Autobank in EuControl and the two Bank Selection boxes in Pro Tools) and start trying to edit sounds with a mouse or trackball in Pro Tools, you will quickly go crazy.

If you click in a track that is not currently displayed on your Mix or Control, the Pro Tools window will jump that track to the top. This is annoying but maybe you could get used to it. However, often you have a several sounds grouped together on a few tracks that all work together. If you need to edit the collection of sounds and you click on say the second track of sounds, that track scrolls so the top and the first track scrolls off screen. Even worse if you try to click a drag a selection box around the sounds you want to work on, perhaps so that you can press "E" to Zoom Toogle in and increase the track size of those sounds, you will often find that Pro Tools runs away from you and you'll end up with a selection all the way to the end of the session.

Yesterday I was on the dub stage with for a Temp Dub of our film and the FX mixer was cursing the strange behavior of his S6 and Pro Tools 12.2 HD. He was seeing the exact same run-away behavior. And I had to show him that he needed to uncheck the two boxes in Pro Tools. He is a mixer who is comfortable on both the console surface and mousing around in the software.

It seems to me that the Auto-bank function needs have an option to ignore input from the mouse or trackball. Making a track selection on a touch screen like the Artist Control or the Pro Tools Control App or (god forbid) a $60K+ 6S and having that track scroll into view on Pro Tools is extremely helpful for moving around in a session. But it's completely useless once you start using a mouse as well.

Jon

Pro Tools 11.3.2 HD
EuControl 3.3.1
Late 2013 Mac Pro
OS X 10.10.4
Avid Artist Mix, Control & Transport

Re: EuControl 3.3.1 Autobank Problems for Mouse Users
 

Add me to the list:o

Re: EuControl 3.3.1 Autobank Problems for Mouse Users
 

And what happens if you just disable Edit window follows Bank Selection?

Re: EuControl 3.3.1 Autobank Problems for Mouse Users
 

That's a good question.

Disabling "Edit Window Follows Bank Selection" is the critical thing for people approaching Pro Tools from what I would consider an "editor" position. Those people are very used to directly interacting with the sounds in tracks on their screen. They are interesting in using a combination of mouse (or trackball) clicks, keyboard commands, and the Artist Series interface to accomplish their work in the most efficient manner possible. There's a good chance that they started with the keyboard and mouse and added the mixer later.

Someone coming at it from a "mixer" position might not care as much about the edit window and might be more interested in the Mix window banking only. They might only be interested in all the meters that can be displayed on in the mix window.

My point is that people will customize Pro Tools to work in the way that's best for them. And the banking option is really cool and I would love to be able to use it. But's completely broken if you make use of the Edit window a lot with a mouse or trackball.