Question

Hi.  I just received my RM16ai, and although I'm almost certain that I'll be buying a CS18ai almost immediately, I am attempting to give the touchscreen idea a fair before doing so.

I have an Acer 27" 10-point multitouch monitor.  My current dedicated audio PC is still running Win7 x64, and I'm running Win7's built-in touch driver as detected when I attached the monitor.  I've installed the latest versions of UC Surface and the RM firmware.

What I've found so far is that I really can't reliably grab more than one or two faders and make a move; my success rate is about 70% with 3, and drops to near zero above that.  It isn't 100% with even one or two faders.  This isn't going to cut it in a live setting.

What it looks like to me is that at least part of my problem is that even a tiny bit of sideways finger motion causes the move to be interpreted as a sideways swipe, and starts trying to pan the fader display instead of moving the fader(s).

So my main three questions are:

1) Is it even worth fiddling with multi-touch in Windows7, or should I just update this PC to Win10 (I haven't looked yet, but I'm hoping/assuming that StudioOne 3 is or soon will be Win10 compatible).

2) Is there a way to hide excess channels, and/or lock the fader display in UC Surface, so that only the scroll bar moves it?

3) What, if any, Windows 7 'touch control panel' setting would make it less 'touchy' to gestures in the x-direction, without making intentional left-right scroll motions (like the Fat channel settings sliders) unduly unresponsive?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Tony

Answer 1

To answer your questions:

1) Studio One 3 is optimized for Touch Screens on Windows 10. So yes, we recommend upgrading to Windows 10 rather than sticking with Windows 7 if you are looking for a touch based workflow.

2) You can create your own groups of faders in UC Surface so you don't need to see all the channels you don't need.

3) This has to do with the drivers provided by the touch screen product vendor.

Additionally you can review Microsoft's section on their site about Touch here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2670838

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Win 7 does not have native touch support. That started with win 8 and up. You may have better luck with 10, using the native drivers instead of 3rd party.

There is currently no way to hide existing channels, but you can accomplish similar by using DCA groups. You can create a custom DCA group to only show the faders you are using, or to break the mix surface into multiple parts, coinciding with how many faders you can see on a screen. In that instance, name the dca group faders 1-6, etc etc so you know where you are. Or use them in the more traditional sense by grouped instruments.

Answer 3

I apologize for piggy-backing on to this question, not sure if I can really do this but I know there are some folks monitoring and I hope they can guide me to the right spot or maybe carry on with what I have to present.

I had asked a question about multi-touch monitors and the answer I got back, although very good and accurate, was just too expensive.  I did some more research and some leg-work and found FOR A LIMITED TIME... on E-Bay:

Touch Screen Display - 3M Multitouch (10 point) C2254PW  22" LCD Monitor - CHASIS MOUNT.  $399. (plus shipping).  As of this moment there are 28 available.

I got one!  I had Windows 7 and upgraded to Windows 10 (a free upgrade) and this is a beautiful way to edit and mix in Studio One v3.  I will have to make a cabinet for the screen, but I will be able to get the correct angle for my work space.  I can imagine that many folks have purchased muti touch compatible screens and have paid a pretty penny for them.  Others have shunned away from multi touch technology because of that.  I'm not in cahoots with the person selling these screens it just is a good deal.

3M has stated that with a free download from their web sight these screen would be compatible with a Mac.  I was thinking to sell my Windows machine (which is just for audio anyway) but now I'll do the mobile recording with the Mac and edit and mix on the PC.  Studio One is a great format.