Extended & Global Part Automation (automation clips)

asked Dec 14, 2015 in Editing by niles (54,610 points)
recategorized Apr 18, 2018 by niles

Current Part Automation behavior
Currently you can add automation lanes within Instrument Parts pointing to automation parameters of the connected VST Instrument, called Part Automation. Part Automation is exclusively available for the VST Instrument connected to the Instrument Track. To automate a parameter of an insert residing on the audio channel of the VST Instrument you have to add an automation lane to the Instrument track or an automation track.

Part Automation can be found here:

Extended Part Automation (primary request)
I think it would be great if we could also add automation data for VST inserts residing on the audio channel of the VST Instrument as Part Automation. So extended automation and musical data are residing in one Instrument Part.

Global Part Automation (secondary request)
Since it often happens sounds triggered by an Instrument Part are modified further in the chain (e.g. by bus processing, FX channels etc.), it would be very convenient if an Instrument part can contain automation data of ANY VST automation parameter available in project. So you can keep all relevant automation data in one part. With global part automation you can basically create automation clips with Instrument parts.

Example:
A part on Instrument track #1 contains Part Automation to an insert residing on the audio channel of Instrument track #2.
To keep it simple for people who don't need this, it might be a good idea to create a tick box for the Part Automation dialogue where the user can choose to show Global Automation Parameters, to view all available automation parameters in the project (disabled by the default).

Audio Part Automation (tertiary request):
Additionally audio parts (so merged audio events) could also benefit from Part Automation. This way (global) Automation and audio data can reside in a single clip, just like it's done with Part Automation for Instrument Parts (primary request).

Audio part automation could be even stronger when it is combined with the possibility to automate Event FX parameters as requested here: Can we please have the abilty to automate event fx??

15 Answers

answered Dec 14, 2015 by Zirrex (9,850 points)

answered Dec 31, 2015 by dereckboatwright (210 points)

answered Feb 16, 2016 by Artem Reverse (1,380 points)

answered Apr 1, 2016 by scoredfilms (6,830 points)

answered May 9, 2016 by masterJoe (2,560 points)

answered Jun 21, 2016 by Scoox (16,930 points)
edited Apr 19, 2020 by Scoox

answered Jun 21, 2016 by niles (54,610 points)
edited Jun 21, 2016 by niles

@ Scoox answer I don't know FL very well indeed. So fair enough, I will remove my duplicate remarks since this request is also about keeping musical data (notes) and (several) automation/controller parameters together, which indeed is different from dedicated automation clips.

I don't agree about the linearity, since part automation can be treated like your examples, which is exactly what this request is about. If the VST plugin allows it, I already prefer to use part automation over regular automation tracks to control insert parameters for the exact reason I can create ghost copies, rename/color them and move them from song to song or VST to VST and of course keep the automation protected by the regions.

answered Oct 17, 2016 by Contrust (3,380 points)

answered Jul 31, 2017 by wltchris (1,450 points)

answered Mar 17, 2018 by robertgray3 (42,650 points)

answered Mar 18, 2018 by niles (54,610 points)

answer by robertgray3

You mentioned in another thread (MIDI Direct Input for Effects Inserts) that this request also covers sending musical data from a part to an effects insert on another track. Maybe it's my Studio One noob-ness showing but I don't get that impression from the request. How would this system cover that situation?

I was referring to keeping control data and musical data together.
Currently we can only record and send part automation to inserts that support MIDI when we set up a dedicated MIDI track for those inserts.
If we are able to select a part automation lane for any VST parameter in the song (Global part automation), regardless if the track is in direct relation with the insert (or instrument), we would be able to keep parameter modifications that do relate to the sound chain but not the data chain, together.
Of course one could also use parts then that (exclusively) hold part automation to control different devices within the song.

answered Aug 9, 2019 by Scoox (16,930 points)
edited Aug 10, 2019 by Scoox

Really hoping this feature will be added in v5, it's very important. Having used Ableton Live and Bitwig, where you can automate, besides instrument parameters, any FX and mixer parameters as long as it's on the same track, this severely limits creativity.

Re. global automation, it would be good if an automation envelope could be linked to several parameters in varying ratios. This one-to-many relationship is similar to modulators in Bitwig, except using automation. There would also need to be a 'link manager' where users could see what global automation envelopes are linked to, delete links and open the target plugin associated with each parameter.

answered Jan 15, 2020 by Michael1985 (12,910 points)

answered Apr 10, 2020 by Scoox (16,930 points)

answered Jan 8, 2022 by taylorscott2 (4,250 points)

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