Let's continue by first setting up a few of the preferences which will determine the function views that get populated into the
Expand Knob Zone on attention. The image below is taken from the Home page Local Options (gear icon).
Knob View is currently set to
All Functions which says that all of the various functions will be represented as columns of virtual color-coded knobs in the center area of the Home page. As always, Dynamics are green, Pan is blue, EQ is magenta, Inserts are teal, Inputs/Pre are red, and so on... Alternatively, setting this preference to
Selected Function will filter the view so that only the virtual encoders from the selected (touched) function will be visible in the center area.
Next, as discussed in the previous entry,
Enable Attention Expand Knob Zone is one of 2 possibles ways to enable the zone that we defined for the knob module on the right side of the console. The dedicated Soft Keys located under the
Extras page is definitely a more efficient way to toggle these zones on and off.
The preference for
Open Plug-Ins on Workstation When Knobs Assigned is currently set to look to a channel attentioned to the
1st Expand Knob Module. This could alternatively be set to Expand Knob Zone 2, Expand Faders or the Master Module. This preference determines which section (on attention) is given precedence with regard to plug-in windows. Finally, and most importantly, the preference for
1st Expand Knob Function and Backup Function Selected on Attention Change determines which function views by default will be displayed in the Expand Knob Zone when attentioned. The backup function will be used if the primary function type is not available for the attentioned track.
And now on to the practical... Don't be too concerned about my prototype modules or the patch cables strewn across the floor. It's a working room! I also left in the internal chatter as I take you through the workflow, which I will now attempt to describe.
We start by looking at
VCA Masters in the Right Spill Zone and I'm going to press the Attention switch on vGuitars to
Auto-Spill into that group, replacing the contents of the Right Spill Zone. We will attention one of the Electric Guitar tracks and you can observe me tweaking all of the various effects sends that are presented vertically on the Guitar channels. We will make some function changes to a few of the guitars and access Dynamics, which contains Fabfilter Pro-C 2 compressors. As you can see, we can also reach up and tweak the primary Pan encoder (front parameter) which is indicated in blue and living on the Process Module encoder.
From the Automation Module Soft Keys, the bottom right switches on the
Extras page, we have a handy way to enable and disable the Expand Knob Zone we previously defined. When we enable the zone, you can instantly see the encoders light up magenta to indicate that we are viewing the parameters for an expanded EQ. Starting with the Guitar Loop track, on attention, DMG EQuality is brought up and accessed within the Expand Knob Zone. Attentioning the next Guitar track also brings up EQ - but this time for an Avid EQ III-7. The next attentioned guitar brings up a Fabfilter Pro-Q2 in the same manner. Finally, the GTR Out track doesn't apparently contain an EQ and so the backup function takes over and Dynamics is accessed instead.
We will jump back to attentioning the Guitar Loop track and show enabling and disabling of the Attention Expand Knob Zone once again.
Next, we are going to show how to swap out the default function populated into the zone for any other function. From the center section of the Home page, we can simply touch any color-coded virtual encoder, starting with green Dynamics, (brackets are presented) and then touch any physical encoder on the Expand Knobs to replace the zone with the new function. We can repeat the process for Sends, displaying all of our various effects sends for the attentioned track now within the Knob Zone. We could also choose Pan parameters, as in this session the attentioned track happens to be assigned to a 5.1 path.
Next, we swipe through all of the virtual encoders to get to the Insert Parameters - displayed in teal, to touch one of the encoders for SoundToys Decapitator, an example of a plug-in that is neither an EQ nor a Dynamics processor. Next, we dock Mic Preamp parameters (Input), then Dynamics again, and finally HEAT settings which include channel and global parameters. We end by returning back to EQ.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eu96sp31hq...1418a.mov?dl=0