S6 Workflow

[creativecontrol]

Originally Posted by lucienpalmer

16 Fader M10 here.

MTM : Producer Desk : Fader : Fader

I also have a second computer screen to the left of the MTM for plugin windows, an iPad Mini (running Duet) to the right above the Faders for master meters and loudness measurements, and a screen up on the wall for picture. I keep the producer desk in the middle because I edit as much as I mix, and I like my desktop and the keyboard centered.

For both TV and Film, I usually start with templates (they are sessions, not really templates) with S6 layouts saved in them. If it's a recurring show, I'll have multiple layouts saved, but mostly the blank sessions only have one layout saved which consist of all of my VCAs. The VCA spills let me jump to the needed track. To do this, all 16 faders are set as my 'left' spill zone (even though they are physically on the right) and VCAs spill across all 16 faders. There is no right fader spill assigned.

I have no knob expand zone assigned, because I only have two knob modules. I typically keep my knob modules on sends, ;channel strip stye', but I always press Expand an EQ. Same for dynamics. (That reminds me- it would be nice to have certain functions on the process module assigned to 'always expand' across the knob module, and some not. That would save many button pushes.)

For Soft Keys, I immediacy go to Shift+1 for the preconfigured automation layout I like. There are additional options the top right screen that I access, and I frequently access the 'Extras' menu on the bottom right screen for scrolling options and my own user presets. There are about 6 functions that I plan to add to those automation pages instead of having to access user presets. I can't think of what they are at the moment.

The only thing I rarely ever touch is the jog wheel. It would speed up my workflow a ton if it could raise and lower clip gain on selected clips. That is something the artist series could do with EuCon.

That's all that comes to mind. Is that the kind of info you are looking for Jeff?

Thanks Lucien. Good info. Regarding the Clip Gain... I was discussing this one with Pro Tools product management. This definitely requires extra work, but I agree would be very desirable. The original implementation of Clip Gain Wheel on EUControl was a bit of a hack. It was simply triggering keystrokes and wasn't all that stable which is the reason it is not currently in WSControl. I will make sure the wheel gets more use. I personally would love to see it able to scroll through any field within dialogs that pop up in Pro Tools.


best,



Jeff

[lucienpalmer]

Originally Posted by creativecontrol

The original implementation of Clip Gain Wheel on EUControl was a bit of a hack. It was simply triggering keystrokes and wasn't all that stable which is the reason it is not currently in WSControl. I will make sure the wheel gets more use. I personally would love to see it able to scroll through any field within dialogs that pop up in Pro Tools.

I don't mind the 'hack'. Firing off multiple keystrokes maybe not be the most elegant way of doing it, but I'm having to fire off multiple keystrokes by hand with the buttons on either side of the wheel. Lot's of keystrokes. If I have a line of really quiet dialog that needs a 10db boost, I'm hitting that button 20 times. It's painfully slow.

If it helps, I remember the jog wheel on the Artist Control was a little unreliable, but the wheel on the Transport was excellent at adjusting clip gain. It just because the wheel was better quality and easier to control.

[rus5]

Originally Posted by creativecontrol

Greetings. I will let Eddie address the feature requests. Most of these have also been requested by other operators.

Regarding the Softkey editor... There actually is a DONE button and it is necessary to press it after you have chosen the EUCON function for your specific buttons to map. Remember, when customizing a function on the S6, you need to set multiple fields including:

Icon for Activate and Inactive state
Text Description for Activate and Inactive state
EUCON, Key or Page function mapped to the switch

With v2.1 we added Load and Save for Softkeys which I would highly recommend checking out when you start customizing any of these. As you add, change and modify from the Factory set you can easily try different versions or for multiple operators on the same desk.



Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the response. You're right, I guess I wasn't making a distinction between just describing my standard workflow (nothing too interesting) and workflow feature requests to enhance it - sorry!

Re/ the "Done" button, I was aware of that but as you pointed out, I'm not necessarily "done" at that point, right? I still have to add the text description and so forth. Also, I am using the load and save features - big addition and very helpful. Thanks for passing on the feature requests!

[Marsdy]

Jeff

I personally would love to see it able to scroll through any field within dialogs that pop up in Pro Tools.

Alternatively, I'd love to see a switch, say one of the unused User switches on the fader module to tab through the fields and then use the jog wheel to change the value. For example, in the MIDI event editors like Quantise or Velocity.

[Marsdy]

....it would be nice to have certain functions on the process module assigned to 'always expand' across the knob module, and some not. That would save many button pushes.

Would LOVE to see this... Hit EQ/DYN and have it automatically expand to a knob module, it's plug-in window open and then the expand zone collapse when selecting another function or select something on another channel/track, all without needing to hit the expand button. Auto Expand on any user selectable function would be even better, Groups, Inputs, whatever.

[Emcha_audio]

Originally Posted by Marsdy

Would LOVE to see this... Hit EQ/DYN and have it automatically expand to a knob module, it's plug-in window open and then the expand zone collapse when selecting another function or select something on another channel/track, all without needing to hit the expand button. Auto Expand on any user selectable function would be even better, Groups, Inputs, whatever.

Very nice idea.

[lucienpalmer]

Originally Posted by Marsdy

Would LOVE to see this... Hit EQ/DYN and have it automatically expand to a knob module, it's plug-in window open and then the expand zone collapse when selecting another function or select something on another channel/track, all without needing to hit the expand button. Auto Expand on any user selectable function would be even better, Groups, Inputs, whatever.

Glad you saw that and like the idea. Ive been noticing lately that I have to push the expand button way too often. Sounds like we should pass that along as a feature request.

[Marsdy]

Originally Posted by lucienpalmer

Glad you saw that and like the idea. Ive been noticing lately that I have to push the expand button way too often. Sounds like we should pass that along as a feature request.

Definitely! Great idea! Agreed you need to hit Expand more than seems necessary.

There could be a pref so you could Auto expand the last selected insert. Handy if you just had an aux with one reverb or delay on it.

Eddie, Jeff?

[lucienpalmer]

Originally Posted by Marsdy

There could be a pref so you could Auto expand the last selected insert. Handy if you just had an aux with one reverb or delay on it.

Interesting. I was thinking something different. I'm not sure I would want the last selected insert to automatically expand. In most cases, my last selected insert has already been adjusted, and if I go back to a track, then I'm probably going to adjust a new insert.

I was thinking more of a preference that lets you tell certain category of inserts to automatically expand. For example, every time I press EQ on the process module, it expands to the knob module. But if I press SENDS, I want sends to be collapsed so the first four sends only are shown for each channel in strips. For dynamics, it would expand like the EQ. Each category of plugin would have its own setting for 'auto expand view' or 'channel strip view'. Maybe give the option to 'groups' and 'bus' as well.

Technically the S6 already does a form of this. If I have a dedicated knob module, I could have my EQs expanded every time. But if I assign one of my existing modules to be a dedicated knob module, I loose it for other functions. It's not ideal for a configuration unless you have a dedicated module.

In my typical workflow, if I open an EQ to adjust it, I also want the plugin window to go away when I'm done. With having to press the expand button, it add a bunch of button pushes to the workflow. Example:

1. Press EQ on the process module
2. Press Exp on the process module
3. Adjust EQ
4. Press Exp again
5. Press Sends (mostly just to make the Channel Strip window close on the PT GUI)

That brings up another workflow issue: closing the plugin window. Maybe there is a softkey function for 'close currently targeted window' or something? Sometimes it doesn't close when I feel like it should. But I haven't payed close enough attention to know the circumstances where it does/doesn't.

[creativecontrol]

There is a Plug-In Window Close/Open Softkey as well as All Float Windows (think Big counter, session setup, etc) under the Session Management Softkeys 1 which defaults to the Master Module right quadrant.

I agree with the idea of minimizing the number of switches required to engage in expanded function views in which you are not leveraging the expand zones. There are several ideas circling that will make this more efficient. For now, here are the existing workflow possibilities just so everyone is aware:


Dedicate an attention zone in which you can specify the function view that populates when a channel is attentioned. To temporarily swap out one of he zones simply touch the MTM param you want then touch a knob in the zone. Discussions continue on simplifying the process of enabling and disabling this zone without needing to revisit the surface confit page.

Press ALL and put every channel into expand. Now pressing a function view on a channel is one button press and gets you to that expanded view for that channel. On a side, we are working on formatting pagetables for all other functions in a horizontally formatted expand fashion just like EQ and DYN for things like Sends, Inputs, etc.

Dedicate an On Attention behavior to populate parameters into the Master Module touch screen and adjacent 8 Knobs. We are working on an auto attention pref where pushing a channels function button automatically attentions it as well.


Keep the ideas coming!




Jeff