Unfortunately I did this stuff on osx, BUT Im sure a similar thing can be achieved on windows with autohotkey and a script program following the same principles.
The 1st thing was enabling hotkeys for a couple valuable features - freeze, show/hide midi clip, insert/delete locator, show/hide midi note and 'save as copy'. (save as copy is important for autosave). Without the hotkeys (which abes didnt give :/ ) I felt like these features were really cumbersome, and not as used as they shouldve been. After trying it out initially, it seemed to be very inconsistent, which most old posts pointed out. I stumbled across a single old post on this forum after many nights of searching, (unfortunately I cant find the post - but credit where its due - it wasnt my idea. Think abes support helped out too.) which basically showed the correct way to enable hotkeys for the functions in ableton.
Basically, for these functions, you have to have a hotkey for every version of that functions name. So freeze, and unfreeze all have to be mapped separately to the same key. It was only mapping one of these that caused and inconsistency. Also - some hotkey arrangements seem safer/more consistent than others - so 'cmd + ctrl + key' worked the best. (on windows you'll have to just experiment).
Heres the list you can enter in sys prefs/keyboard/application shortcuts -
Deactivate/Activate Ctrl+Cmd+m
Deactivate Note(s) Ctrl+Cmd+m
Activate Note(s) Ctrl+Cmd+m
Deactivate/Activate Clip(s) Ctrl+Cmd+m
Activate Clip(s) Ctrl+Cmd+m
Deactivate Clip(s) Ctrl+Cmd+m
Freeze Track Ctrl+Cmd+f
Unfreeze Track Ctrl+Cm+f
Save a Copy... Ctrl+Cmd+s (Needed for autosave)
Add Locator Ctrl+Cmd+k
Delete Locator Ctrl+Cmd+k
Insert Locator Ctrl+Cmd+k
Now AUTOSAVE - I created a simple application in applescript which basically works the following way -
1) go to system prefs/accessibility and tick 'enable access for assisted devices'. (think accessibility is under 'universal access' on some osx versions.)
2) Open up applescript editor (just search in spotlight)
3) Paste the script below in applescript. (copy paste everything in white)
4) Click Save. It will ask you where your Live is located, just point it to Live in the applications folder.
5) Save file format as an application. Tick 'Stay open after run handler'. Leave show startup screen unticked.
6) Close applescipt.
7) Open up ableton. Create a new project and save it. Really important you save first before autosave is activated as otherwise itll save autosaves in the wrong folder.
Activate the app
9) Youll get a dialog saying "Autosave Activated'. Also it should almost immediately save a version of your project on run. (You can obviously test/debug quicker by using a shorter delay. So putting in 20secs instead of the default 180 for example)
The app works using simple text commands. Every 3mins (you can change the frequency in the code easily, its listed as 180 seconds) it will -
bring ableton to the foreground,
click 'cmd+ctrl+s'
delete the word 'copy' from the 'save a copy' name dialog
insert the date and time
click enter
And presto, youll have separate backup files named in your project folder. This has the added benefit of saving your project WITHOUT deleting your undo history. Which is pretty nifty. It does this pretty quickly/seemlessly. Its good enough for me anyways!
You are free to edit the autosave frequency - just change 'return 180' (its in seconds) to 'return 300' for 5mins etc.
Just paste the following -
Code: Select all
-- Here you can specify anything that needs to be done on startup
on run
tell application "Ableton Live 8 32bit"
activate
display alert "Autosave Activated"
end tell
end run
-- this is the main loop of the program. it runs every 180 seconds.
on idle
tell application "Ableton Live 8 32bit"
activate
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Ableton Live" to keystroke "s" using {control down, command down}
key code 124
key code 51
key code 51
key code 51
key code 51
key code 51
keystroke space
keystroke (current date) as string
keystroke space
keystroke "autosave"
delay 0.1
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
-- Ask the system to call again in 180 seconds time.
return 180
end idle
-- here you can tell the program what to do when you quit, such as cleaning up.
on quit
tell application "Ableton Live 8 32bit"
activate
display alert "Autosave Deactivated"
end tell
continue quit
end quit
If people would like me to upload the app I can, but honestly just open applescript, paste this in, and youll save yourself the hassle of having to edit it manually anyways.
EDIT: Forgot the step - go to system prefs/accessibility and tick 'enable access for assisted devices'. Added it to the steps.