Attention Fader (??)

[KeyplayerG]

I'm not sure I understand the "Purpose" of the Attention Fader.

I get how it's used. I just don't get WHY it's used. You dedicate a fader as the attention fader and now you've got 2 linked faders doing the same function. If you've only got a MC Control, maybe then it makes sense. The second channel fader would, more than likely, be off the range of the controller. But if you've got a Mix or a Mix/MC Control combo, it doesn't make sense. You've got ONE selected channel but 2 faders lit up on the hardware, but they're not part of a group or VCA link or even a linked pair of channels. So, that seems like it would cause some unnecessary confusion.

How, exactly, is this supposed to make things more efficient?

[robertg]

Originally Posted by KeyplayerG

I'm not sure I understand the "Purpose" of the Attention Fader.

I get how it's used. I just don't get WHY it's used. You dedicate a fader as the attention fader and now you've got 2 linked faders doing the same function. If you've only got a MC Control, maybe then it makes sense. The second channel fader would, more than likely, be off the range of the controller. But if you've got a Mix or a Mix/MC Control combo, it doesn't make sense. You've got ONE selected channel but 2 faders lit up on the hardware, but they're not part of a group or VCA link or even a linked pair of channels. So, that seems like it would cause some unnecessary confusion.

How, exactly, is this supposed to make things more efficient?

It makes sense when you have a giant mix and not enough faders, or you have so many faders that you don't want to reach all the way across the desk to do simple things.

[Leverson]

My average film mixes are around 200 tracks (and bigger movies go way up from there). I definitely don't have that many faders, nor would I want to wheel down a huge desk that does. Attention faders on the Artist series, and things like fader spill on larger boards are hugely important in my workflow.

[KeyplayerG]

Okay, got it. My track counts seldom go above 96. So a 20 fader rigg seems plenty capable for that amount. I forgot about those insane 600 to 1,000 track count sessions. I've only seen them in tutorial videoso.