GreenLight

On 1/14/2023 at 2:09 PM, Lord Tim said:

I have to say I was one of the biggest Stamp My Little Princess Feet Angrily guys when it came to wanting a Ripple Edit and Crossfade indicator on visible buttons - those little things can really add up to a lot of saved time if they're in front of your face, rather than hidden in a menu where you'll accidentally destroy a project because you didn't double check them. So I'm totally on board with the visual indicators thing!

Hahaha, I guess we're all princesses at times. 👸 I'm glad you appreciate the duality of buttons, not enough people think about that. Well, maybe they have better things to do... 😂

On 1/14/2023 at 2:09 PM, Lord Tim said:

Keyboard shortcuts are definitely my go-to otherwise, although I have made a bunch of buttons in the Custom Module to save me menu diving or just being out of habit. I have Save and Save As on there just because if I'm using the mouse, sometimes it feels easier (mentally easier?) to click a button than CTRL+S it. I also have Cut Special, Copy Special and Paste Special in there, in case I'm deliberately wanting dialogue boxes, and for no menu diving, I have Reverse Clip, Open Meter/Key view, Insert Meter/Key, and Tile Projects in Columns  (I have a 5120x1440 monitor so opening up multiple projects side by side to copy over tracks or settings is easy at the click of a button).

Nice, I did not know about this module, could be very useful, thanks! But I agree, a selection of proper icons - with visual indication feedback - would be even more useful. I really, really miss that in the Browser... 👸

I also had the same experience as Lord Tim and msmcleod with the X1 transition: it was hard, but worth it in the end. Give it a try.

But unlike Lord Tim, even to this day miss many of the buttons that were "cleaned out" in X1 GUI overhaul. I always strive for as few clicks as possible to do any given operation – I'm one of the most vocal proponents of keyboard shortcuts on here, I always nag the Bakers about them... 😁 I still miss having direct buttons (that at the same time act as visual indicators) in the Browser for Enable previewing/looping and selecting output bus.

On 12/18/2022 at 4:40 PM, GreenLight said:

Thanks for a brilliant update!

The new "Delete all" effects option is very useful, but I find it very unfortunate UX design and counter-intuitive that it's the new top option in the FX bin.

What is the most common reason a user right clicks in an FX bin? The answer to that rhetorical question is arguably: to add an effect. Hence ought "Insert audio effect" be reinstated to its previous top position.

Update: There is a dedicated thread about this very subject.

Suggested new UX design for FX bin right click:

I just humbly want to bring this piece of 2022.11 UX feedback back to attention again. As the post above seems to gather a lot more reactions than usual, it seems many people agree.

How do you Bakers feel about it? Is it something you feel strongly about or is it a "darling" we can kill? 😉

7 hours ago, msmcleod said:

Personally, I never noticed it because I always have the dialog set to show.  I almost always either use Simple Instrument Tracks, or more often Per Output Instrument tracks, but since I normally want to set the number of tracks for per-output instrument tracks, I have the dialog showing.  The extra "click OK" step never bothers me.

Ah, I understand. I've always thought it seems messy with midi & audio automation on the same track, but the upside is of course less track clutter... I will give it another chance.

Btw, I was really impressed with your quick work on this bugfix! How many staffers are you who actively work with Cakewalk development, and do you all have specific areas that you work with?

2 minutes ago, murat k. said:

Yes when the cursor turned into the Drag mode, press Ctrl, you'll get snapshots at selection begin-end.

Nice, I have never used that, I need to try it. Thanks! 👍

35 minutes ago, sjoens said:

I'm always confused!

I typed the question knowing others would also have it, then answered it with the link after googling.

 I never use Simple Instrument tracks but do use cc's and automation, sometime together.

Ah, that explains it. Who isn't confused? 😁

About Simple Instrument Tracks - good to hear I'm not alone. 👍

2 minutes ago, murat k. said:

You don't need to drag with the Ctrl. I'm sure that we are talking about the same thing. 🙂

Cool. 👍 But are you saying that you can somehow add nodes by pressing Ctrl? 😀

Just to clarify: you don't need to press Ctrl to add nodes - you can just drag with the mouse (see description in the manual). But I'm not sure we were talking about the same thing, though... ☺️

On 1/7/2023 at 12:41 AM, sjoens said:

... as per my link. 

Just one more feature that requires a google search to figure out.

Heh, I'm sorry, I reacted to the words "How do I get it back... please! 😠" in your post... and thought you needed a little pointer. But you did post a link to the solution on the row below... which confused me, but I thought you were confused. 😵

Anyway. 😊

By the way, how do you guys do your VST instrument automation? Are you all using Simple Instrument Tracks and were unaffected by this bug? Or do constantly just live with the Insert Synth popup dialog? Or do you always go to the Synth Rack and manually configure the automation track? Or do you just use MIDI CCs?

I always support more bindable keyboard functions. Cakewalk needs to be THE DAW for keyboard shortcuts!

(Interesting to note that this has been requested way back in 2007.)

It's not a replacement but it's a bit related: I'm sure you know that it's possible to use the Smart tool  to select a range and then drag the automation up/down?

Brilliant request, I totally agree! 🏆

Along similar lines, I've often thought it would be useful to be able to generate a "Plugin report" when working on a project, which would list all plugins and their versions that are in use.

2 hours ago, sjoens said:

After reading this I unchecked the box to see for myself. Now the Synth dialog window doesn't even open. How do I get it back... please! 😠

To open the dialog box when the option is unchecked, click the Insert Soft Synth Options button in the Synth Rack view toolbar.

Hehe, open the Synth Rack and click this button:

🤗

1 hour ago, msmcleod said:

The issue is now fixed and will be available in the next release.

Wow, that was fast, thanks a lot!

I accidentally discovered this bug together with the entire instrument automation feature! This will be something of a game-changer for me.

31 minutes ago, msmcleod said:

@GreenLight - I can reproduce the issue.  We'll look into it.

Lovely, thank you! 👌

I can't believe I'm the first to report this... it must have been like this for ages. But I guess everyone else likes dialog boxes? Or as Kevin said, maybe most people use Simple Instrument Tracks nowadays? 🤔

Pinging 📶 @msmcleod with a reproducible bug.

Short story: in the Insert Synth dialog, the setting "Display Automation On" does not seem work if "Ask This Every Time" is unchecked (this presumes split instrument tracks). For more info, see above. Thanks! 😀

Thanks for the tip, @Kevin Perry. I haven't used simple instrument tracks that much to be honest, I think find that it gets too messy with all that mixed automation on a single track, plus some reduced flexibility. But maybe I should give them another try...

But first: let's fix the bug with classic split instrument tracks.

2 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

if i have the "ask each time" checked = ok, works as expected.

if i uncheck it, then add same synth, the options for the automation track are not showing up:

with it checked when adding synth:

Fantastic, thank you Glenn! 👍🎈This has been driving me mad.

Pinging @msmcleod for a reproducible bug, please see my first post (and the image in this post) and Glenn's a couple of posts up.

2 hours ago, 57Gregy said:

I have never touched that "Display Automation on" setting in 20 years of Cakewalking, and it still pops up in the Insert menu as the default. It may not have had it way back then. Music Creator Pro 24 doesn't. SONAR Home Studio 6 does.

Haha, same here, I have never touched "Display Automation On" before!

2 hours ago, 57Gregy said:

The "Ask This" box refers to the entire Insert box, not just the "Display Automation" setting.
If you have the settings the way you want, you can uncheck that and never see it again, unless you want to change things.

Exactly, it refers to (or should refer to!) the entire Insert box, including the "Display Automation On" setting.

But according to my tests, and kindly enough also test by @Glenn Stanton (see his post above) it actually seems to ignore the "Display Automation On" setting. I would assume it works that way on your system as well?

And that's the reason why I have missed this totally basic VSTi automation feature for 20+ years, and have instead been fiddling with MIDI CC in all my projects...  Ahh, I have to laugh instead of cry. 😂

(And that obliviousness is what made me wish for the ability to rename MIDI CC automation envelopes. It would still be useful at times, but it's no longer that urgent. )

Are you sure it hangs on the load of project #2 - and not just after quitting project #1?

I've had some buggy plugins cause Cakewalk to crash just after the project has been closed. I'm thinking it might be possible that there's a buggy VST in the first project... just an idea.

Are you able to reproduce it consistently? That's the key to fixing it, but it's not always easy...

Could anyone please confirm this bug on their system: if "Ask every time" is un-checked, then the setting to display automation on "First synth audio track" will not work?

Thank you so much! 👍

Brilliant, thanks.

AHA! 💡

Try un-checking "Ask This Every Time" and see what results you get... for me it works as in your video if I have it checked, but it stops working if it's unchecked.

24 minutes ago, scook said:

Yes, it has worked as expected for decades.

I just tested with Arturia CS-80 V3 VST3 format. and it worked too on CbB 2022.11 build 21 on Win 10 Pro 22H2.

Thanks for reporting in, @scook! I figured it's probably just my system...

So you automatically get the instrument automation set to the audio track for all synths you insert?

If I insert any synth, here Arturia CS-80 V (v3.10.1) VST3 in a blank project, I get the above.

What could be wrong, why doesn't it work here? I'm on latest CbB 2022 .11 build 021 on Win 10 Pro 21H2.

Happy new year everyone!

After using Cakewalk for 20+ years I found out I have been using synth (VSTi) automation all "wrong" these years!🙄 🤦‍♂️I've always just used MIDI CCs and the MIDI CC learning features of every VSTi synth... but it turns out, you can just select the parameters for a synth... IF some things are correctly configured.

It's the IF that threw me... 🥴 and maybe there's a bug? Read on...

1. If I manually select the synth track like below...

2. ...I get the synth parameter list in the Edit Filter (hooray! this is revolutionary... for me! 😆😞

3. THE WEIRD PART: But looking through the "Insert Soft Synth Options" in the synth rack, then the option "Display Automation On" has actually always been configured to "First Synth Audio Track". So, in theory, step #1 would always be performed automatically. But this has never worked for me (I would've found this long ago if it did), and still doesn't!

I don't think my expectations are wrong, as the PDF manual states: "Any automation data you create for this synth is displayed by default on the Synth track for this synth."

What gives? Does the above setting work automatically for you guys?

Thanks for any input!

This might actually be good, it keeps us on our toes when producing and mixing, it and forces us not to take things for granted all the time.

I vote for an updated right click menu for the Track View:

😅

...said with ❤️ (after I've nearly deleted all my effects).