Why does automap suck?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:02 pm

the reason automap sucks is the same reason lots of things seem to suck. some fuckwit doesn't know how to use his gear so he posts that something sucks, the problem gets resolved but fuckwit never changes his post.

that's not directed at this thread or anyone in particular, it's just a bit of fuckwittery I've seen time and again.

automap on the SL is not a totally straightforward thing, I can understand someone having problems. funny though, the automap on my BCR has never been even remotely wonky.

no clue about the values thing 'cause I don't care. I use my ear and I watch Live so see the parameter move. I don't see the big deal, is this really holding you back?

"my hammer's the wrong color, I can't build the house!"

Geezus · Post by **Geezus** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:27 pm

Alien Leg wrote:What if you want to control more than one plugin at a time via automap?

Cant really do it with automap, although its rpetty easy to switch between devices on the SL (there's a scroll option that cycles through all automapped plugins). If you want to control multiple things at once, you have to do what I did and create your own user MIDI templates and manually assign them like you would any other MIDI device. Automap 2.0 looks like it will make this easier. It is a tedious process making your own custom template from scratch, but I'm really glad I did. Once the work is done and you have a backup saved you never have to worry about it again.

pieter · Post by **pieter** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 8:15 am

Tone Deft wrote:
no clue about the values thing 'cause I don't care. I use my ear and I watch Live so see the parameter move. I don't see the big deal, is this really holding you back?

my problem with the values is that it switches from the minimum value to the maximum value, without the inbetween values. for exemple : a filter is either completely open, or completely closed. it's a big deal and it is really holding me back.

pat the dog · Post by **pat the dog** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:17 pm

with the release of automap 2.0 i thought it would be apt to revisit some of my grijpes about automap 1, so here goes...

pat the dog wrote:
OvertoneZero wrote:Does the keyboard Automap to control whatever the front active window is? For example, I click on a Sampler instrument, and then the keyboard automatically loads the map template and the little LCDs above the little knobs show the parameter for each?
sort of... if you're using the live template, then you just make sure that the device you want to control has the blue hand tool activated. this sometimes involves clicking it with the mouse for example when it's not the first device in the chain.

this hasn't changed with automap 2.0 - in fact the sequencer automap hasn't changed at all. but something i should have mentioned before is the "double arm button" method to activate the blue hand which might be useful for what OvertoneZero was trying to achieve. i think timur has posted about this in another thread.

pat the dog wrote:but note that with the live template you don't have any control over which parameters are mapped to which knobs except with macro's but then you're limited to 8 parameters. so for vsts and au instruments, it's better to use the "universal automap" template with the plugin in the automap wrapper.

however then the answer to your question "Does the keyboard Automap to control whatever the front active window is?" gets a little more complicated...

on my mac at least, AU plugins function as you describe - i.e. the focussed plugin window gets automapped. but for VST's you first need to click a purple "A" icon in the wrapper, which seems to be only possible using the mouse (which to some extent defeats my objective of using the mouse as little as possible).

this still seems to be a problem with automap 2.0 with live on mac os - "automap follows focus" simply doesn't work with VSTs. but the new control map browsing in 2.0 does help change between devices quickly and without needing the mouse.

pat the dog wrote:so in general it seems better to use AU plugins, but there's a catch - some plugins including Predator and Blue don't inform the host when you change presets, resulting in the SL not updating the parameters - the workaround is either to close/open the plugin window, or only change presets using live's hot-swap browser, or the preset up/down buttons on the SL.

still a problem with automap 2.0. try changing a preset using the preset browser within Predator's GUI and the automap HUD doesn't update.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:18 pm

does the X-Y touchpad still crash Live? I haven't tried 7.03 or the new automap, I like the way my system is now, don't want to tempt fate.

pat the dog · Post by **pat the dog** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:51 pm

Tone Deft wrote:does the X-Y touchpad still crash Live? I haven't tried 7.03 or the new automap, I like the way my system is now, don't want to tempt fate.

i don't really use the touchpad but i did have live crash on me with the old automap when my finger accidentally brushed across it. but i think disabling the usb>midi option in the global settings was what sorted that out. either way it seems to be okay in automap 2.0 <touches wood and prepares to tape over x-y pad!>

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:05 pm

So in other words, Automap version 2 fixes none of the major issues of before in regards to the above?

pat the dog · Post by **pat the dog** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:13 pm

Tarekith wrote:So in other words, Automap version 2 fixes none of the major issues of before in regards to the above?

well time will tell, but the control map browser looks like it should help work around the follow-focus problem, and there's also a new shortcut on sl itself to switch between automap devices. whether they're major issues or not depends on your workflow i guess. i've got used to living with automap's limitations so i find it less of a pita these days.

more of an issue for me is live's inability to record automation in session view now that i have all this controller goodness. so i'm finding myself working much more in arrangement view or just firing up logic which i still find more intuitive when it comes to automation.

MartinOM28V · Post by **MartinOM28V** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:10 am

GDlux wrote:A quick question I thought would relate to this...

Can the Novation automap any part of the clips, tracks, or scenes??

Also, can it show each clip name of a scene in the LCD?

Automap is set up to control volume and pan on the clips tracks and scenes. On my 37SL that all takes place on the right LCD. The left LCD controls the plug-in and it's wild. You can scroll through page after page of controls for some of the more complex plugins. Anything that doesn't automap is configurable so you can create your own templates to control other parameters just like with any other MIDI controller.

Yes it shows the clip name in the LCD. Very nice.

Timur · Post by **Timur** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:00 am

pat the dog wrote:well time will tell, but the control map browser looks like it should help work around the follow-focus problem, and there's also a new shortcut on sl itself to switch between automap devices. whether they're major issues or not depends on your workflow i guess. i've got used to living with automap's limitations so i find it less of a pita these days.

You could switch between automapped VST-controls via a combination of the lefthand scroll-buttons plus one of the buttons below (can't remember which right now, but I think the lowest) before Automap 2.0.

Why does automap suck?

Re: Why does automap suck?