My 2007-2008 PT Feature Wishlist -

[Stuart P.]

Hey everybody, just thought it was that time again.... In no particular order.


1) Stability. First and foremost. Stabilize the code before going nuts with bells and whistles (BTW, yes, I know I'm submitting even more feature requests). The initial release of 7.3 is an example of what not to do. That corruption bug really cost me.

2) Folders in the region bin .

3) Option for "Pan Window Follows Uppermost Track Selection" (Would potentially be nice for inserts too - since this is a wishlist).

4) "Export Session Data " (described in my other thread)

5) An option for us to view still frames from stacked quicktime movies that are not "online". In other words, please allow us to see the movie contents when nudging and when making a selection. I'm not talking about playing multiple movies at once, just the ability to see the frame contents when stopped / selecting. Would make conforming much easier, and would be minimally cpu intensive. This is probably already in the works...

6) SMPTE and Film frame values in the batch fades dialog. I know the millisecond equivalents. Not the same.

7) The ability to group the Markers Track with an track selection so that it follows shuffle edits and the like.

8) A flexible downmixing plug-in for multichannel audio. We need good presets for common stuff, but also the ability to customize the coefficients. Should have "sends" so that you can instantiate on a 5.1 track, and send the downmix elsewhere via available buses to a re-record track, extra monitoring outputs, or whatever else. Make it right, charge $1000, and people will buy it.

9) Of course, Audiosuite handles.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Hopefully these seem reasonable.

Thanks Digi!

S.

[Stuart P.]

Almost forgot - I believe that PT users need an option that allows us to lock out tool modes that they don't use. For instance, the Trim Tool is always going into loop, scrub, or TCE mode on me and it's really frustrating. It sucks actually, because I waste time and the annoyance constantly interrupts the creative flow. Same with the Grabber, but it's not nearly as frequent.

The way I think it should work is actually a very simple solution. How about utilizing toggle buttons in the prefs that disable the cycling aspect of the Tool modes (when using shortcut keys to select them)? Basically, the key command would simply activate the primary mode, as it used to in PT4 and before. The current functionality of repeated key presses to cycle tool modes is just too clunky (for some) when you like to zip around and constantly change tools on the fly. It's just too easy to find yourself in the incorrect mode! Since Digi has expanded the options available with these different modes, they've not addressed the speed and practicality aspects in a way that makes sense to fumble-fingered troglodytes such as myself. For me, this frustration definitely includes the Smart Tool, which I somehow manage to accidentally activate on a regular basis as well. I would like to be able to disable that little gem too, please.

Maybe I'm just sloppy, but I'm not the only one.

This way, if you want the TCE trimmer for example, you can activate it from the pull-down menu as normal, and then manually deacivate it when you're done. So, whenever you hit F6 to activate the trim tool, it's automatically in the mode you use most! People who like the software the way it is could be satisfied that their functionality won't change a bit.

This wouldn't horribly invasive, I imagine. One toggle box for the Trim Tool, one for the Grabber, and so on. If you wanted to get fancy, you could set it up as a matrix where you can decide which modes you want to cycle through, and which ones you would only like pull-down access to.

Anybody with me on this (or some of the others?)

Have a great weekend,
S.

[Richard Fairbanks]

I want to select tools from the keyboard, first and foremost. I do NOT want to have to mouse around every time I want to switch trimmers, for instance. I suppose that means I want the keyboard to continue to toggle, but I defninitely want to eliminate some tools from that toggle cycle. Select any tool from the pull-down menus, as we do now.

[Stuart P.]

I want to select tools from the keyboard, first and foremost. I do NOT want to have to mouse around every time I want to switch trimmers, for instance. I suppose that means I want the keyboard to continue to toggle, but I defninitely want to eliminate some tools from that toggle cycle. Select any tool from the pull-down menus, as we do now.

This is where the tool matrix idea would work. You (each user) could set up which tool modes it would cycle through, and eliminate the ones you never use. They would still be availiable for manual instantiation via the pull-down menus.

Obviously, I'm not advocating taking away any features that people like!

[Pirate Post]

8) A flexible downmixing plug-in for multichannel audio. We need good presets for common stuff, but also the ability to customize the coefficients. Should have "sends" so that you can instantiate on a 5.1 track, and send the downmix elsewhere via available buses to a re-record track, extra monitoring outputs, or whatever else. Make it right, charge $1000, and people will buy it.

S.

Fold down paths in the i/o page. - If I assign a 5.1 stem to one of the fold down busses then the fold down would just happen according to a fold down law that is user defined without actually inserting a plug-in. (Perhaps a second i/o page for the fold down definitions) I think this would be a lot cleaner than an actual fold down plug inserted in a bunch of auxs feeding other busses etc.

[Stuart P.]

Fold down paths in the i/o page. - If I assign a 5.1 stem to one of the fold down busses then the fold down would just happen according to a fold down law that is user defined without actually inserting a plug-in. (Perhaps a second i/o page for the fold down definitions) I think this would be a lot cleaner than an actual fold down plug inserted in a bunch of auxs feeding other busses etc.

I see your point. Incorporating downmixing into the I/O window would be a great solution in many respects. That way, we'd be able to access and assign buses (carrying the downmix) more directly and intuitively anyway. The only problem with that is, it would eliminate one of the nicer parts of the plug-in version (at least how I'm envisioning it). That is, the ability to hit a button and A/B the surround and downmix versions as if you had a Multimax or something similar in front of you. If there was a way to have that, I'd be all about your way of doing it. Maybe the answer is a more flexible "Master Fader"-style multichannel channel strip that would incorporate the assignments in your version of the I/O page, but also give you the ability to toggle the monitoring like a plug-in. Kind of like a Multimax in a Master Fader form factor, if that makes sense. We would, of course, need the ability to put inserts on the downmix!!!

What would be super-cool about something like that, would be the ability of this new "Monitor Strip" to be incorporated into LE systems. This would let you open surround sessions on an LE system (though you wouldn't have surround abilities), without having to re-bus all of the surround material in order to hear it. You'd just monitor the DigiMonitor Fader's downmix output. So, when one of those sessions goes back to the stage, the surround panning info is still there! It would be much more efficient in a lot of situations. Digi maintains it's market tier strategy between TDM and LE, but makes the program more flexible!

Might be cool!

S.

[Richard Fairbanks]

I was simply reacting to your first post that I read to suggest the keyboard shortcut should select only 1 tool. I want it to cycle through my favorites. Now that I think about it, you could specify only one of the tools as your only favorite, which would satisfy both of us.

[Stuart P.]

I was simply reacting to your first post that I read to suggest the keyboard shortcut should select only 1 tool. I want it to cycle through my favorites. Now that I think about it, you could specify only one of the tools as your only favorite, which would satisfy both of us.

Exactly. Sorry Richard, I didn't intend to sound defensive if you took it that way.

S.

[Stuart P.]

Here's a quick mockup of what the downmix strip could look like

Check it out

[dr sound]

Stuart,
I see by your post that you were here on the "DUC" at 9:30. I thought you were doing "Sound Design" for my Pilot this weekend. Does this mean that I'm paying you to post on the "DUC" ?