VPS Avenger and automation

[itsjustmeee123]

I’m trying to figure out how to automate Avenger without jumping through a bunch of hoops. As I’m sure most know, it has a a ton of parameters and can be quite complicated at times. In Logic I can just put the instrument track in touch, move any parameter easily with my mouse and those moves are automated … nice and simple. There isn’t some Pro Tools equivalent to this procedure?

[noiseboyuk]

As you probably know, the standard way to do it is using the Auto button at the very top of the AAX plugin window, select the parameter you want and make it automatable by clicking ADD. You'll see a bewilderingly huge list of controls, so on complex plugins like Avenger, that's not a great approach.

In theory there is a better way - press and hold Control/Windows/Alt / Control/Option/Command (mac), then click the control you want and you get a pop up option to automate. Great, except I cannot make this work on Avenger running in Windows.

It's not just Avenger either. I notice I can't make it work for the vast majority of my VIs - Spectrasonics, U-He, Arturia, NI, Toontrack, IK and UVI are all no shows. The only plugin manufacturer I could find where it works was Waves.

I do all my VI work in Cubase, so this is a bizarre discovery for me. Would be interested to hear from others what the reason for this might be.

[itsjustmeee123]

Originally Posted by noiseboyuk

As you probably know, the standard way to do it is using the Auto button at the very top of the AAX plugin window, select the parameter you want and make it automatable by clicking ADD. You'll see a bewilderingly huge list of controls, so on complex plugins like Avenger, that's not a great approach.

In theory there is a better way - press and hold Control/Windows/Alt / Control/Option/Command (mac), then click the control you want and you get a pop up option to automate. Great, except I cannot make this work on Avenger running in Windows.

It's not just Avenger either. I notice I can't make it work for the vast majority of my VIs - Spectrasonics, U-He, Arturia, NI, Toontrack, IK and UVI are all no shows. The only plugin manufacturer I could find where it works was Waves.

I do all my VI work in Cubase, so this is a bizarre discovery for me. Would be interested to hear from others what the reason for this might be.

Thanks. Yeah, I was aware of this trick as well. It doesn't seem to work with Avenger on a Mac either. I've posted a few questions over the years about automation and plugins in general because it's SO much easier in Logic. It surprises me it's not a feature Pro Tools employs or seems to want to improve upon. It becomes much more problematic when dealing with a VI like Avenger.

[noiseboyuk]

Originally Posted by itsjustmeee123

Thanks. Yeah, I was aware of this trick as well. It doesn't seem to work with Avenger on a Mac either. I've posted a few questions over the years about automation and plugins in general because it's SO much easier in Logic. It surprises me it's not a feature Pro Tools employs or seems to want to improve upon. It becomes much more problematic when dealing with a VI like Avenger.

Indeed. I guess this is one of the reasons why people say “don’t use Pro Tools for midi”.

[Actionmusic]

Mac based here but my workaround for all these VI reporting hundreds of automation options that doesn't work with the Control/Option/Command click of the function is Control/Option/Command (Mac) the automation box at top of the plugin and that automates every available function.

go into automation write/touch etc and do your movement on your plugin control and then when you look at the automation lanes the one you've written will be yellow so quicker to identify the lane (might have got control keys wrong as not at studio)

[noiseboyuk]

Originally Posted by johnsimmons

Mac based here but my workaround for all these VI reporting hundreds of automation options that doesn't work with the Control/Option/Command click of the function is Control/Option/Command (Mac) the automation box at top of the plugin and that automates every available function.

go into automation write/touch etc and do your movement on your plugin control and then when you look at the automation lanes the one you've written will be yellow so quicker to identify the lane (might have got control keys wrong as not at studio)

Thanks John. I guess the main problem there is that then every time you touch any knob at all it gets automated forevermore, so what you really need after you've automated the one you need is a simple way to deselect everything except that one.

It's a bit of a mystery why the modifier method doesn't work on most VIs. It's a pretty good system, it's just... it usually doesn't work. Is it a bug? Some AAX implementation that the majority of developers ignore?

[itsjustmeee123]

VIs have come so far in the last few years and I'm disappointed that Pro Tools hasn't worked on making their midi automation better. It seems silly that I'm still scrolling through the same little box that I did over ten years ago looking for a some parameter like OSC_0_SupperVoices when it's so much easier in Logic. With a lot of VIs, automation is now a part of the performance. Pro Tools really should look into making this much more user friendly.