Dr. Varney
Pimp
To save your time: PROBLEM SOLVED. Read on if you think you can find a better solution though.
I feel the need to start a new thread for this question even though it originates here but I want to start again, so I can concentrate on the track routing problem it's thrown up.
So, from the top: I'm using FL Studio. With any normal song, lasting about 3-4 mins I only need to set up the mixer once, because it serves the whole song. No problem. It's what we all do, right? Write our song / mix our song / save our song. But what if you want to preserve those mixer settings and carry them over into the next song?
What I'm working on is no ordinary song... it's a play, lasting between 45mins-1hr. Speech, music, sound FX.
Therefore I must split the thing into scenes, to save CPU.
Now, onto the mixer. Yes, it saves with each project (scene) in it's entirety; no problem there. Yes, I can save individual inserts, FX, hell - even inserts with FX... still no problem... BUT...
I can find no way to preserve track routing.
What I cannot save are sends. Yes, I can save them with a project (all knob tweaks preserved) but no way can I record, as a draggable preset, any of the sending amounts - that I want to, not only set, but preserve - from project to project.
I came up with a solution (or so I thought).
I have a send VST, which saves as a preset, just like all the other effects. With this, I'm able to send a portion of signal from any mixer track to one of the four send slots I'm allowed and upon which I can mount some 'common' FX (which saves having to mount an instance of the same FX on each track; again - saving CPU).
Trouble is, I have deduced that the send VST is working pre-fader, thus rendering my overall strip vol. sliders useless as well as the native strip EQ (again, no need for a VST EQ if you only need basic alterations).
So, I found a solution to this as well...
Instead of inserting the send VST in the strip, I made a set of four inserts - Aux#1, Aux#2, Aux#3, Aux#4. All I have to do then, is route (with the default apportioning - always preserved!), the signal, from the strip to the VST send, on the appropriate Aux channel. Now all the send VSTs are working post-fader (which is what I want).
Great, phew! Then the stupid part of all this hit me...
This system can't send individual values! Well, if you think about it - one aux send per track/ per FX slot... means one value for all! Full circle; back to sqaure zero.
The only way I can think to make this work is, I would need one one Aux per strip, times the number of FX I want to send to! I might as well just stick a generator on each track!
Okay, so why make a mountain out of a molehill? All you're doing is wasting time when you could be routing your tracks the normal way and making note of the sends on your blackboard....?
Well, if I've achieved anything here, I've certainly delved deeper into track routing and gotten myself a much better understanding of the (non)possibilities. I don't regret this for a minute but... that doesn't solve my problem.
So how would you deal with this problem? Is there something I've missed (apart from a pen and paper) - some other method of routing to overcome this? Or should I just forget sends altogether and repeat all my FX generators, strip to strip, to strip...?
What's pissing me off here, is that an engineer should be able to walk away from his desk without having to reset everything the next day.
Thanks in anticipation
Dr. V
I feel the need to start a new thread for this question even though it originates here but I want to start again, so I can concentrate on the track routing problem it's thrown up.
So, from the top: I'm using FL Studio. With any normal song, lasting about 3-4 mins I only need to set up the mixer once, because it serves the whole song. No problem. It's what we all do, right? Write our song / mix our song / save our song. But what if you want to preserve those mixer settings and carry them over into the next song?
What I'm working on is no ordinary song... it's a play, lasting between 45mins-1hr. Speech, music, sound FX.
Therefore I must split the thing into scenes, to save CPU.
Now, onto the mixer. Yes, it saves with each project (scene) in it's entirety; no problem there. Yes, I can save individual inserts, FX, hell - even inserts with FX... still no problem... BUT...
I can find no way to preserve track routing.
What I cannot save are sends. Yes, I can save them with a project (all knob tweaks preserved) but no way can I record, as a draggable preset, any of the sending amounts - that I want to, not only set, but preserve - from project to project.
I came up with a solution (or so I thought).
I have a send VST, which saves as a preset, just like all the other effects. With this, I'm able to send a portion of signal from any mixer track to one of the four send slots I'm allowed and upon which I can mount some 'common' FX (which saves having to mount an instance of the same FX on each track; again - saving CPU).
Trouble is, I have deduced that the send VST is working pre-fader, thus rendering my overall strip vol. sliders useless as well as the native strip EQ (again, no need for a VST EQ if you only need basic alterations).
So, I found a solution to this as well...
Instead of inserting the send VST in the strip, I made a set of four inserts - Aux#1, Aux#2, Aux#3, Aux#4. All I have to do then, is route (with the default apportioning - always preserved!), the signal, from the strip to the VST send, on the appropriate Aux channel. Now all the send VSTs are working post-fader (which is what I want).
Great, phew! Then the stupid part of all this hit me...
This system can't send individual values! Well, if you think about it - one aux send per track/ per FX slot... means one value for all! Full circle; back to sqaure zero.
The only way I can think to make this work is, I would need one one Aux per strip, times the number of FX I want to send to! I might as well just stick a generator on each track!
Okay, so why make a mountain out of a molehill? All you're doing is wasting time when you could be routing your tracks the normal way and making note of the sends on your blackboard....?
Well, if I've achieved anything here, I've certainly delved deeper into track routing and gotten myself a much better understanding of the (non)possibilities. I don't regret this for a minute but... that doesn't solve my problem.
So how would you deal with this problem? Is there something I've missed (apart from a pen and paper) - some other method of routing to overcome this? Or should I just forget sends altogether and repeat all my FX generators, strip to strip, to strip...?
What's pissing me off here, is that an engineer should be able to walk away from his desk without having to reset everything the next day.
Thanks in anticipation
Dr. V
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