Greetings,
Before I add a few TOD entries specific to window management and Attention workflows, let's discuss a few of the rules, limitations, constraints and behaviors when setting up your S6 Preferences. For this first discussion, we will be addressing preferences located in two different locations:
Settings >
User (the majority of the operational preferences are here)
Home >
Local (little gear icon, preferences specific to console modules & MTM)
Let's start by folding in the new workflows which arrived in S6 version 19.5.x. These are triggered by clicking in the DAW and can be enabled from this window which lives under
Settings >
User.
If I enable
Track Name, clicking on a track from Pro Tools will trigger an Attention action. Likewise, if
Plug-Ins is enabled, clicking on a Plug-In insert will trigger an Attention action.
Let's fold in another preference into the mix. These are located under
Home >
Local.
The first option -
Open Windows on Workstation When Knobs Assigned can be set to any physical section on the surface including
Master Module,
1st Expand Knob,
2nd Expand Knob,
Expand Faders, etc. If it is set to
Master Module for example, based on my current setting of the last option in this same window -
Function and Knob Page Selected on Attention Change, when an Attention is triggered, the Master Module will display
Pan parameters. This Attention can happen due to the above preference by clicking on a Track Name in Pro Tools, or by clicking a triangular Attention button on an S6 Channel Strip.
Let's add one last preference. This one is located back in the
Settings >
User preferences.
If
Open Windows on Workstation Attention is enabled, when I click on a Track Name (because that was ticked as a way to Attention from the DAW) in Pro Tools this will trigger an Attention - which will default to bring up the Pan function on the Master Module and also open the associated Pan Window in Pro Tools. If
Plug-Ins is ticked under the
Clicked DAW Area pref, both the Plug-In and the Pan window for the clicked track will open in Pro Tools. If I disable the
Open Windows on Workstation Attention preference, only the Plug-In window will open when I click on it.
A few details about windows in Pro Tools...
It is not possible currently to have S6 on Attention simultaneously display two different plug-in windows, for example dedicated EQ and DYN. It is certainly possible to jump back and forth between EQ and DYN using the
Open Windows When Editing Mode preference when touching knobs contained within Knob Zones.
On Attention behaviors can display a Plug-In plus a Pan Window or a Plug-In plus a Send Window. For example, we can click on a PhoenixII plug-in which triggers an Attention and based on the above settings, the Pan window for the associated track will also open. Likewise, it is possible to click on a Send in Pro Tools using the same Attention DAW prefs to display that Send and then automatically open the associated Pan window. If we change the preference
Open Windows on Workstation When Knobs Assigned to
1st Expand Knob Module, and set the option
1st Expand Knob Function and Backup Function on Attention Change to
EQ, if we click on a Send in Pro Tools triggering an Attention this will also automatically bring up the first dedicated EQ window on this track.
Since only a single Plug-In window is currently possible as noted above, if we click on a Plug-In in Pro Tools with this workflow, the clicked Plug-In will immediately be closed for the higher priority EQ, invoked on Attention. This dual window concern is a workflow we still need to address in my opinion.
All of the workflows described thus far have assumed that all of the UI windows have active targets enabled. This is a windowing priority button that has been in Pro Tools for quite some time. From the console, it is always possible to hold
SHIFT while touching parameters from any section on the console to turn off the target - which has the effect of keeping that window active until the user manually closes it.
Let's continue to discuss tweaking settings to get the best results based on your workflow as well as the possibility of future implementation to optimize these behaviors.
Jeff