Multiple Automation Playlists...?

[knewbee]

Shouldn't you be able to create multiple automation playlists in Pro Tools? Just recently discovered that there's only one set of automation per track. They shouldn't even call it a Playlist, since there's only one.

DP has a nice feature where you can create brand new mixes for an entire song, essentially saving unique versions of the automation across all tracks.
Wouldn't you think PT should be able to do something like that?

[ralphonz]

This would be an absolute god-send. I agree this should be a feature.

So I can have different versions of the same automation parameter and decide which is the best. Would be so useful when doing fader rides.

Kind of baffled why this isn't a feature.

I tried to submit a feature request but Avid link seems totally broken and just keeps saying sorry this page can't be found then returning me to the website home page. Meh. No wonder people complain about Avid not implementing things people are asking for, they're probably not aware...

[smurfyou]

Simple answer is it's not what playlists were originally for. Great feature request but I wouldn't ever count on it.

[ralphonz]

Originally Posted by smurfyou

Simple answer is it's not what playlists were originally for. Great feature request but I wouldn't ever count on it.

In that case just forget the word "playlist" and lets' call it a brand new feature.

It would be infinitely more useful than sketch and they clearly put a lot in to that.

[albee1952]

Certainly an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how many folks would use it. If I want to try something different with a mix, I simply do a Save As and give it a new mix number(as in Song Name Mix 4). Some folks I know will save with the date in the session file name. You could also duplicate tracks and try different automation at will, and leave the earlier track inactive. Speaking for myself, I am thrilled to be able to do all the stuff we already can do in a modern DAW. My needs come down to finding better songs and getting the best performance. The mixing part is easy once those 2 things are in place. And if those 2 things are not in place, everything else is just chasing my tail

[Benny_Cha_Cha]

Been wanting this for a long time...

[ralphonz]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Certainly an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how many folks would use it. If I want to try something different with a mix, I simply do a Save As and give it a new mix number(as in Song Name Mix 4). Some folks I know will save with the date in the session file name. You could also duplicate tracks and try different automation at will, and leave the earlier track inactive. Speaking for myself, I am thrilled to be able to do all the stuff we already can do in a modern DAW. My needs come down to finding better songs and getting the best performance. The mixing part is easy once those 2 things are in place. And if those 2 things are not in place, everything else is just chasing my tail

So, with either of these methods A-B-ing or comparing two different passes of say some fader rides is not easy, that would be the main purpose of being able to have several versions of an automation lane. It's not like I'd use it on every single automation pass, constantly second-guessing, but sometimes it's good to compare ideas. Sometimes you have two ideas and you want to hear them both. It's a real pain loading a whole other session or bouncing out a file just to compare, then if you want to make adjustments to one it becomes a really convoluted process. Activating and deactivating tracks is a better solution but also becomes very tiresome as you can't switch between them quickly like you can with playlists. Put this across several tracks, say a whole drum kit and in a big mixing session you quickly get a big mess that becomes harder and harder to manage.

Of course, asking for the ability to compare several different automation passes or versions side by side in no way diminishes the importance of finding a good song or getting a good performance so I don't see whats that has to do with this particular feature request? From the sounds sounds of it you've got your workflow sorted, and your happy which is great! Myself, I find that I've thought it would be nice to be able to compare multiple different automation ideas enough times to make it worth writing these posts and I doubt I'm the only one!

[nednednerb]

Yes, this is a good idea, especially when mixing is part of the creative process, such as for music production work, which Avid clearly is also geared toward, not only recording, editing, and static mixing.

Being able to compare live automation passes done by an artist, comp the automation passes as easily as copy-pasting any automation envelope, pretty much, is only a win-win.

No feature is a compulsion, but it might turn out addictive.