Author Topic: Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause  (Read 5080 times)

Offline jdeacon

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Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause
« on: August 24, 2017, 06:39:09 PM »
I have an odd controller salvaged from an old Open Labs Neko. It has a knob marked Gain and it irritates me that I don't seem to be able to control gain using the Cakewalk Generic (like I can control volume and pan). I'm wondering if I have a go at using AZ Controller if it can access Sonar's track gain.

The other thing I'd like access to is Pause. Again Cakewalk Generic doesn't seem to have access to Pause; only Play, which always starts from the beginning. Currently I have something mapping the controller's pause button to a keystroke ctrl-space, which works fine as long as Sonar has focus, but if I am looking at a score in PDF or Sibelius then the ctrl-space doesn't get through like a MIDI event would.

Does AZ Controller have access to Sonar's Pause?

Perhaps there's a list somwhere of what AZ Controller can or can't access; please feel free to just point me at it.

Thanks for all the good work.

Offline azslow3

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Re: Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2017, 11:27:00 AM »
I am currently in vacation, so I am not fast in replies, sorry.

Yes, AZ Controller support track gain and pause. The complete list of supported functions is in the manual. The list is rather long and so the manual. In general, everything available from Sonar except surround is supported. In turn Sonar provides access to everything except Matrix view (not implemented) and sends to aux/side chain (Sonar bugs).

But you can also achieve the same result with "ACT MIDI" plug-in, it supports gain (called "Input trim" there) and Pause (called "Play/Pause" in the list). Some people claim AZ Controller is more strait forward to configure then ACT MIDI, but other find the last simpler and by definition more "standard". The documentation for ACT MIDI is relatively good (inside Sonar Reference Guide 2000+ pages PDF) and you can read "ACT MIDI Explained" on this forum for in details explanation (that tutorial also reproduce the functionality of ACT MIDI in AZ Controller and so recommended to read even in case you prefer AZ Controller for the job).

Offline jdeacon

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Re: Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2017, 05:37:51 PM »
Thanks. I did have a look through AZSlow » AZ Controller plug-in for Cakewalk SONAR » Documentation » User manual but I couldn't see Pause or Gain mentioned. I'll have another look.

While I just about understood the Cakewalk Generic, I found ACT MIDI difficult. I thought that if I was going to put the effort into learning a contol surface, something more capable, like AZ Controller would be a better investment.


Offline azslow3

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Re: Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2017, 08:56:27 AM »
You are right, it seems like I have removed concrete parameters list from the "Strip" Action documentation after I have implemented all possible parameters (at the beginning I have mentioned what was implemented).

"Play/Pause" is a "Command". The list is the same as available for Global keybindings in Sonar. As in ACT MIDI, the whole list of such commands is available.

Offline jdeacon

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Re: Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2017, 01:20:51 PM »
I've searched out the keybindings  list and I think I better understand what I am trying to do. When I talk about accessing "Sonar's pause", I am looking for the effect you get with the UI transport button that you would term "pause" in most other contexts (the one with the two vertical bars). But it seems that this effect isn't called Play/Pause.

In Sonar, Play/Pause is the command normally bound to the space bar, but that's the easy one, the one that goes back to the now marker; it's obvious in Cakewalk Generic.

It seems that the function I want to be able to map to my hardward controller's pause button is called Stop With Now Marker (normally bound to ctrl-space). As Stop With Now Marker is in the list of keybindings, I take it that AZ Controller can access it.

Thanks again.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2017, 04:12:25 PM by jdeacon »

Offline azslow3

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Re: Can AZ Controller access track gain or pause
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2017, 10:10:49 PM »
In Sonar, there is Now marker and Now time line. When transport is stopped, they both point to the same time. When transport is moving (f.e. in play), Now marker is not changed but Now time is moving. When pause is engaged, Now marker is still not changed but transport is stopped without Now time return to sync with Now marker.

When transport is stopped, Now marker and Now time are synced again. The option "On Stop, rewind to Now Marker" controls how. If that option is set, Now time returns to Now marker. When the option is not set, Now Marker is moved to Now time (so the option name is a bit misleading).

Commands:
"Play/Pause" does pause for me (when playing)
"Stop" (or "Play/Stop") stop transport according to "On Stop, rewind to Now Marker" option
"Stop With Now Marker" stop transport moving Now Marker to Now time, independent from the option.

All these commands can be used in AZ Controller, and there is yet another way (I must admit I have not used it so far, but it is there):
Action "Function" / Transport / Pause On/Off/Toggle.
My guess that is precisely what transport buttons in Sonar toolbar do, while key bindings use mentioned commands.