User tips for D command & D control

[Stig Eliassen]

Thanks again for doing this, Brent. I enjoy your videos a lot.

I have a question about creating custom groups. How do I add members to a CF group on an 8-fader D-Command ES? Do I have to reduce the number of channels allocated for CF groups mode, or is there another way?

[Drew Mazurek]

AFAIK, the only way is to make your CF 4 faders wide so you can access channels. There needs to be a way to make a CF from the currently selected tracks. It would speed it up immensely.

[Stig Eliassen]

There needs to be a way to make a CF from the currently selected tracks. It would speed it up immensely.

I agree. Or, a way to "hide" CF faders while selecting group members. For now I will use VCA's, and just spill the slaves out.

[Chris Lambrechts]

Time for some Pro Tools 8 Stuff :

In the plugin mapping category of 'did you know's .....'

Did you know that you can assign multiple parameters to a single encoder ?
There's 2 'layers' on each encoder, accessible through the select (SEL) switch under the encoder. The select switch will toggle between the layers, giving dual functionality possibilities to both the encoder itself and the b-m-p switch.


Now .... as a practical example of how this can actually be extremely useful.

D-Command .... 2 encoders - EQ band ..... 3 parameters (gain / freq / Q)

Through plugin mapping you can have access to all of them on just 2 encoders and while at it add the band 'in' switch and eq bypass switch to on of the bmp switches for example ... could look something like this :



encoder 2 : Freq / Q (toggle with sel switch)
bmp switch : plugin bypass
encoder 1 : gain
bmp switch : band IN / OUT


Particularly handy on a D command because of the 2 encoders but of course works as well on D Control.

Other examples ... you could set yourself up with a layout that allows to to access the most important parameters in a compressor for example :

Encoder 2 : attack / release (toggle with sel switch)

encoder 1 : make up gain / ratio (toggle with sel switch)


Etc etc etc ...


Chris

[colinweeks]

hey chris:

so is the custom plug-in mapping only active when in "Plug-in Custom Fader" mode?

i've always wanted to have all my MDW eq's mapped much like your example....but have that be the default state... i.e. when any channel's encoders are set to EQ mode they will show my custom mapping rather than MDWs (rather useless) implementation.

can this feature do that or is it limited to the CF mode?

[Brent_Sydney]

Hi Colin, no it's not... I'm sure Chris will chime in with details.
Meanwhile you may want to watch my video on the plug in mapping feature to see how it applies on the channel strips
http://brentheber.com/2008/12/27/pt8mapping/

[Chris Lambrechts]

Originally Posted by colinweeks

hey chris:

so is the custom plug-in mapping only active when in "Plug-in Custom Fader" mode?

i've always wanted to have all my MDW eq's mapped much like your example....but have that be the default state... i.e. when any channel's encoders are set to EQ mode they will show my custom mapping rather than MDWs (rather useless) implementation.

can this feature do that or is it limited to the CF mode?

As Brent already indicated ... absolutely NOT. Custom mapping is available for any plugin insert on any of your channel strips.

As for the default state : Yes indeed. You can select your custom plugin map as the default map on your encoders. Every single instance in any session you open will have your custom map assigned.

You can of course save your custom maps and take them to any system you like. even after a clean install of your system you'll be able to import them so you don't have to create them all over again.

Brent explains very well in his tutorial how to create a custom plugin map and which preferences to set on your controller (very important).

Chris

[Brent_Sydney]

Just popped up a video on my blog about using Snapshot automation. If you havent already explored this powerful part of the ICON soft keys section, check it out!

[thierryd]

Quick Question: I'm starting to use the plugin mapping on the D-Control and it seems that the mapping is stored seperately for mono and stereo versions of a plug-in. I also tried exporting the plugin map of a mono mapped EQ3 and then importing this map on a stereo EQ3, but this doesn't seem to work. Is there a way to use the mapping for a mono plug-in on a stereo version. I have a feeling I'm missing something obvious here.

Cheers,

Thierry

[Chris Lambrechts]

Hi Thierry,

You're not missing anything and I understand your confusion. The simple explanation is that in fact the stereo and mono versions are 2 different plugins altogether. You can't import custom maps from a different plugin.

Chris