Control Surface Questions

[theGeek]

Hi,
I am a live sound engineer turned recording nerd... I have been playing with Pro Tools 6.4 (hopefully upgrading to a 003 soon) and I love recording... its just a fun experience.

But I really miss being able to work with real faders. I'm a very tactile person and not having knobs and faders is really kind of a buzz kill for me. What are my options? I've seen the Command|8 and I'm not terribly impressed with the idea of having just 8 faders. I typically work with 16+ tracks into multiple busses.

Any ideas?

[jmitchell1532]

I don't own the Command 8 but I'm pretty sure the 8 faders are simply there to take up less space, and that there's a button or setting to make them control the first 8 tracks (1-8) and then the next 8 tracks (9-16), etc. Like an up/down button or something.

[theGeek]

Does PT respond to non digi controllers... something the sent MIDI commands maybe? I know a lot of the non-digi ones are crap but I know some MIDI nerds that might be able to put something together for me.

[jmitchell1532]

Pretty sure PT only runs/can be controlled by certified Digi hardware.

[Third Eye Studios]

Pro Tools can work with midi controllers via HUI protocol. There are many controllers that can use HUI protocol. I still use an original Mackie HUI to control PTLE and PTHD.

[albee1952]

The Command8 is getting old so I have my fingers crossed for a new controller in the new year. I use the 003 mixer version and like it plenty(but would love more faders). Mostly I draw the automation with the mouse, but have been forcing myself to try to use the faders more often. Many of the 3rd party controllers work to varying degrees. As long as it has a LED scribble strip, any would likely be a nice addition(no scribble strip means you don't know what channel you are grabbing).