Question

[Please not that to replicate this issue you have to check 'automatically add envelopes for all touched parameters' in the settings menu.]

Main Request: When you activate 'write', 'touch' or 'latch' record modes on any insert fx on an audio channel and record automation manually, a new and separate track will be created where the automation lanes / envelopes are placed. These envelopes should just be added to the audio track itself automatically, without having to drag the hand icon onto the track first to prevent the new track from being created.

This behavior used to be exactly as how I describe above before a couple of updates ago and all of a sudden in changed for the worse. Go ahead and try it. I record automation 200+ times a day and on audio tracks it used to be a breeze. No need to drag the hand icon. Just record it and the lane would appear neatly under that very audio track. But not anymore... Can we get that back please? :)

Additional Request: And while we're looking into this issue, I do understand how the need to drag the hand icon makes sense on an instrument track. After all, multiple tracks can be connected to one instrument (not with audio though, underlining the point made above) and it would not be clear under which the recorded automation should go and thus a new and separate track is created for this.

But can't this also be made easier? I mean, I think that 95% of the people ever only use one track per instrument. Can't it be made so that as long as there is only one track connected to an instrument, they are 'linked' so that any automation that is recorded manually doesn't require the hand icon to be dragged first? Then, once you connect more than one track, the first one that was created stays the 'parent' track under which the automation is located, or a new and separate automation track can be created at that point in time.

Final Thoughts: It may not seem like such a big deal to some users, but if you are like me and you have these big songs with over 80 tracks that you're polishing and automating and making perfect, (meaning A LOT of automation recording will be done) that 'every' time you want to make an automation recording you have to first drag the hand icon if you want the envelopes / lanes to be connected to that track and not a separate one.

Not only that, but to actually drag the hand icon onto the track, you have to 'touch' the desired parameter in order for it to become the hand icon. A simple example is the Fabfilter Simplon. This always has 2 parameters (the filter and the peak) that will be recorded on one knob. Now you imagine having 30 of these in a song and every time you want to record it you have to touch that knob in a way that the hand icon becomes the filter parameter, then drag onto track, then touch it so that the hand icon becomes the peak parameter, then drag onto track, etc. 

Only a couple of months ago on any audio track I would just press 'latch', do the recording of the filter and peak with the Fabfilter Simplon and viola: both automation envelopes neatly connected to that audio track.

Thanks for reading this long post and I hope we can get some supporters for this issue / workflow improvement. Because that is always the key: the better, easier and faster the workflow, the more time and energy can go into making great music.

Answer 1

Thanks for the feedback. The way in which you would like this to work is found in the last version of Studio One 2.6.5. One of the advantages of the NEW scheme is that automation is more organized in your timeline. In the old version ALL automation on particular track no matter what Insert or Track parameter was automated, was grouped under the track. Kinda gets confusing as you don't have any information about what is automated except for the parameter name. So you could have multiple parameters of the same name but different Insert instances. With the new scheme, new Automation tracks are created for each instance of an Insert including that Inserts name and parameter name. To me this is easy to manage when you want to overwrite or edit automation. You could very well pack all of the automation for a particular Track/Channel into a folder, thereby grouping them for more organization. This is all without having to use the automation "Hand" to drag anything anywhere.

You can also drag the newly created automation tracks onto the original Track/Channel it's associated with to add it to it's list of automation lanes. Currently right now it seems you can do this one at a time.

You may be able to increase your workflow, by first creating all of your automation, and then organizing them the way you want. This takes far less clicks of the mouse and dragging then using the automation "Hand" method.

Something to consider. Try it out.

Answer 2

I Can certainly relate to what is stated above, it is very irritating for the workflow to think first about creating lanes specialized for track automation. I'm kinda old fashioned and like to simply assign my faders to whatever track or plugin I want and start recording automation in real time. I gives more "feel' to the music if you ask me.

So yes I vote for going back to the old fashioned way.

Answer 3

This one is completed in 3.5.1