New Tool (3.1) Automation Single Slider

Ledger · October 15, 2015, 12:08am

Thanks to us scripters now being able to select the automation parameters in our scripts I have been upgrading a tool that I`ve had on the backburner:
Automation Single Slider:

On tools site:

http://www.renoise.com/tools/automation-single-slider

Menu Entries

Tools menu:
Ledger`s scripts: Automation Single Slider

Automation List:
Automation Single Slider

AutomationLane:
Automation Single Slider

MIDI Mapping

Large Rotary is MIDI mappable to a rotary/ slider with 0-127 range. Search "rotary" in midi assignments: (Ctrl + M in renoise will open the Mapping selector)

Renoise Shortcuts

Open the tool gui with:
~`AUS` Automation Single Slider"

Add a new automation device with:
~`AUS` Add Inst. Auto Device To Track"

Add a renoise Instrument Automation Device to the current track (same as [+] button on gui):

~`AUS` Add Inst. Auto Device To Track"

Cycle through already automated parameters with (same as lower popup):

They will open the automation lane if it isn’t already. Unlike the tools gui selection method, you don’t have to choose the next device manually, these shortcuts just take you up and down the renoise automations list.
~`AUS` Next Automated Parameter
~`AUS` Previous Automated Parameter

When in the automation editor, duplicate the selection with:
~`AUS` Duplicate Automation Selection"

It should be fairly straightforward to use. It syncs the selected automation parameter with the selected device in renoise. Both can be chosen from the GUI. You get a second parameter dropdown showing you your already automated parameters, selectable too.

Note:

Pattern Follow needs to be enabled in renoise for the tool to work as expected i.e. drawing the envelope as you go along, otherwise you will be just changing the value of the current line.

GUI OVERVIEW:

[+] button adds an Instrument Automation Device to the current track in renoise (or selects an already present one).

[Selected DSP Device] Choose DSP device to automate, it is synced with selected device in renoise.

En. Checkbox Enable/ bypass selected device.

EXT. Ed. Opens Gui of plugin if it has one.

[G] button to grab a moved slider of a vst effect or instrument (instruments need renoise`s native *Inst. Automation Device to be loaded first, this can be achieved simply via the [+] button)

Select a VSTfx and the G button appears along side the Ext. Editor button
Press it with the song not playing* and it will turn red. If the VST GUI is not already open it will open too.
Move the gui element in the vst that you want selected.
The parameter should now be selected in the “Selected Param:” popup of the tool, the G button will turn green for a short while to confirm it worked, then grey.

If you want to select a different parameter then repeat 2) and 3)

*If the song is playing the button is disabled, as the feature would not work properly if the device is already automated. When a plugin is already automated the parameters are moving when the song plays and the grab function would just select the first one of those moving parameters it comes across.

[~ parameter name ~] ~ symbols added in popup lists mean that a parameter is automated. These only appear in the Automated parameter list once more than one parameter is automated as visual freedback that there are more entries in that popup to select.

[X] button --shows green when parameter is automated (also pattern automation),
press to delete current pattern graph-automation for selected parameter,
press again to delete for whole track
if yellow, press to set parameter to its default value

Lock Button means slider will set whole pattern automation to single value --still controlled by the rotary

Checkbox (next to [view] button) means the view will change automatically to the automation lane when rotary is used, switch off if want to control the view manually (state only remembered per session but will be pref in future)

Large rotary starts recording automation as soon as used

When enabled the the Latch mode button has two colours; red and orange. When orange it means it is armed so the next time you use the large rotary the overdubbing will occur. When the overdubbing is occuring it remains red. It automatically goes back to orange (armed) when the transport stops or you change parameters. You can also toggle it off again by re-pressing the button.

Bottom Slider is just a readout, interacting with it will be fruitless!

– AVOID HAVING THE “ONLY” AUTOMATED BUTTON IN THE PARAMETER LIST ON while the tool is open, it will cause problems. Also using the search feature in that list can have a similar effect. The tool gui will go blank to warn you in these situations that no parameter could be selected.

note: thanks to danoise for a snippet pointing me in the direction of rawequal() function and to taktik for implementing the new selection stuff!

Updates:

Click to view contents

Latest Version 0.82

-Added a [+] button that adds an “Instrument Automation Device” if one is not present on the track. If one is already present will just select that one, ready for automating.

version 0.8

Shortcuts now prefixed with AUS so will need updating if already set

AUS Automation Single Slider",

(NEW shortcut) --adds an instrument automation device to the current track
AUS Add Inst. Auto Device To Track"

(NEW) Now the [G] (grab) button works on Plugin (VSTi etc.) instruments: (As with fx-grab renoise needs to be stopped to use this feature)

Simply add your Instr. automation device to your track and with it selected and **THE CORRECT TARGET INSTRUMENT SELECTED IN THE INSTRUMENT LIST, press the [g] button. It will turn red, and open the selected instrument gui. Move the parameter you want to grab and it will be selected in the automation list and shown as selected in the tool.

The Instr. automation device only has about 35 parameters that can be active, so if the newly selected parameter is not already included, then the first unautomated parameter popup will be changed to accomodate it.

**As the API/ script cant see which is the target instrument in theInstr. automation device` you will need to make sure that the selected instrument in the renoise instrument list (above the renoise browser) is the correct one. If for some reason this goes wrong a warning will fire with some explaination to try again.

https://files.renoise.com/forum/uploads/6161-Auto%20SSL%200.72.PNG

v0.82
-Added a [+] button that selects the last Instrument Automation Device present on the track. If none are present then a new one is added

v0.8
-[G] grab button works for instruments aswell as fx
-New shortcut to load an *Inst. Automation device, to speed up workflow-
-bug fixes, code tidying

v0.78
–Bug gone on selecting mixer device error
–NEW parameter readout underneath minislider

v0.77 --gui more efficient when updating parameters, update timer more efficient, general small bugs squashed

v0.74 --bug gone where timer wouldn`t be released if top right [x] was used to exit the tool

v0.73 --left an active print in the tool so minor update removing it

v0.72
–menu entry for tool added
–large rotary midi mappable
–[G] Grab button added to select Plugin fx parameters via their gui

kytdkut · October 15, 2015, 2:01am

this is gold… thanks!

could we someday assign the slider to a midi CC controller? that would be neat

awesome work Ledger!

Jonas · October 15, 2015, 8:10am

this is gold… thanks!

yep, really cool!

Is there a way we could set the resolution of recording when turning the large rotary? So you can record finer adjustments, in between lines.

Jonas · October 15, 2015, 8:17am

Got this bug moving a track block in the matrix to another track. the automation made with your tool was lost, the gui was suddenly empty;

'C:\Users\pluge\AppData\Roaming\Renoise\V3.1.0\Scripts\Tools\ledger.scripts.AutomationSingleSlider.xrnx' failed to execute in one of its key binding functions.

Please contact the author (scripts) for assistance…

No matching overload found, candidates:

void (Popup*,int)

stack traceback:

C: in function ‘__newindex’

[string “do…”]:22: in function <[string “do…”]:9>

main.lua:1190: in function ‘main’

main.lua:4: in function main.lua:4

Ledger · October 15, 2015, 11:20am

this is gold… thanks!

could we someday assign the slider to a midi CC controller? that would be neat

This should be relatively, easy todo and on the list!

Is there a way we could set the resolution of recording when turning the large rotary? So you can record finer adjustments, in between lines.

This may be a bit more tricky to add, so will have to wait a while until I’ve got the tool running reliably and code tidied up etc. I`ll take a look though once all that’s done,

Got this bug moving a track block in the matrix to another track. the automation made with your tool was lost, the gui was suddenly empty;

Thanks, will see what I can do here. The GUI is purposefully empty when for some reason a parameter is not selected in renoise and hasn’t been selected currently by the tool, a sort of instant bug catch for now. This can happen when the ONLY button is selected in the automation list aswell. You should get the GUI back by selecting a parameter again. However if an error fires the tool may need restarting or worst case “Reload all Tools” in renoise.

Bug reports and their conditions are appreciated here. The aim is to get these occurances towards zero.

danoise · October 15, 2015, 5:16pm

This may be a bit more tricky to add, so will have to wait a while until Ive got the tool running reliably and code tidied up etc. Ill take a look though once all that`s done,

Actually, something that might be very interesting here is another additions to the APi - clear automation data on a line basis

renoise.song().patterns[].tracks[].automation[]:clear_range(from_time, to_time)

Perhaps not so obvious, but once you’ve gotten some data into the system down you will likely also need to overwrite them at a later stage (overdub, replace recording)

In Renoise 3, that meant either deleting the entire pattern-track envelope or iterating through each and every point - of which, there could be quite a few when recording high-res.

This little innocent method could make quite a difference in performance.

Ledger · October 16, 2015, 10:18pm

Got this bug moving a track block in the matrix to another track. the automation made with your tool was lost, the gui was suddenly empty;

I’ve tried to re-create this here but can’t yet:

If I copy a block in the same track the automation seems to be retained. If I copy into a separate track then the automation is kept if it is in the mixer device for example [vol][pan][width] but lost if on a DSP that doesn`t exist in the new track; as you would expect.

Have you run into this again at all?

Akiz · October 17, 2015, 7:24am

Very useful, thanks

Btw. It would be great if you can just target parameter of VST gui.
It can be done: https://www.renoise.com/tools/getpluginparams

Jonas · October 17, 2015, 9:52am

Have you run into this again at all?

Hopefully I find time this weekend to Renoise and check it out again.

Ledger · October 17, 2015, 10:10am

Very useful, thanks

Btw. It would be great if you can just target parameter of VST gui.
It can be done: https://www.renoise.com/tools/getpluginparams

Yes, this is on the todo

Jonas · October 18, 2015, 6:38am

Was automating a parameter out of a instr macros meta device, playing the track, recording the tweaking realtime into the automation editor, than switched to another track through mouse clicking in the pattern editor which gave me the following notice;

‘C:\Users\pluge\AppData\Roaming\Renoise\V3.1.0\Scripts\Tools\ledger.scripts.AutomationSingleSlider.xrnx\main.lua’ failed in one of its notifiers.

The notifier will be disabled to prevent further errors.

Please contact the author (scripts) for assistance…

std::logic_error: ‘parameter is not automateable’

stack traceback:

C: in function ‘__newindex’

[string “do…”]:22: in function <[string “do…”]:9>

main.lua:371: in function main.lua:297

Ledger · October 18, 2015, 10:50am

Was automating a parameter out of a instr macros meta device, playing the track, recording the tweaking realtime into the automation editor, than switched to another track through mouse clicking in the pattern editor which gave me the following notice;

Thanks. This one should be gone in next alpha.

Next version will also have a couple of new features.

Ledger · October 18, 2015, 6:46pm

v0.72

– New menu entries:
tools menu:Ledger`s scripts / Automation List and Lane “Automation Single Slider”

– Large Rotary is now MIDI mappable to a rotary/ slider with 0-127 range. Search "rotary" in midi automations: Ctrl + M in renoise will open the Mapping selector

–New [G] button to grab a moved slider of a vst effect (not automated instruments currently).

Select a VSTfx and the G button appears along side the Ext. Editor button

2)Press it with the song not playing* and it will turn red. If the VST GUI is not already open it will open too.

3)Move the gui element in the vst that you want selected.

The parameter should now be selected in the automation list, the G button will turn green for a short while to confirm it worked, then grey.

If you want to select a different parameter then repeat 2) and 3)

*If the song is playing the button is disabled as it will not work properly if the device is already automated

https://forum.renoise.com/t/new-tool-3-1-automation-single-slider/44614

And if you’re wondering what the selected VST is here it`s the freeware Analogic Delay on windows. Great fun dubby type delay to automate!

http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/downloads.php/id/6818/software/Analogic-Delay/

Ledger · October 18, 2015, 9:14pm

v0.73 --left an active print in the tool so minor update removing it

On top of all new additions mentioned for 0.72

https://forum.renoise.com/t/new-tool-3-1-automation-single-slider/44614

Akiz · October 18, 2015, 9:49pm

I dont see or “g” or “ext ed”

linux 64bit, renoise 3.10 beta 3, automation single slider 0.73

everything else is fine but i had to expand it manually. i cant install this version via drag n drop to renoise window.

So i am not sure i have loaded right version but manifest.xml in script folder says 0.73

Ledger · October 18, 2015, 10:05pm

I dont see or “g” or “ext ed”

linux 64bit, renoise 3.10 beta 3, automation single slider 0.73

everything else is fine but i had to expand it manually. i cant install this version via drag n drop to renoise window.

So i am not sure i have loaded right version but manifest.xml in script folder says 0.73

re. “g” + “Ext. ed”

These buttons will only show up when a plugin (vst/au etc.) is selected. So this is not working for you?

With the D+D, it seems to be working fine here but I am on windows. I did a silent update on 0.73 with a line of code change, but the previous 0.73 had zero downloads on the counter. Maybe try and uninstall tool and drag again, but if it`s working fine from a manual extract I guess there is not much need, and hopefully any future updates will drag in fine for you.

Can any other Linux users confirm D+D working?

kytdkut · October 18, 2015, 11:06pm

working here

thanks for adding midi control

Jonas · October 19, 2015, 2:57am

About the grabbing of a moved vst slider, very nice addition! Saves having to trawl through plugins with major parameter lists. Now that the tool gui can detect vst gui tweakage, is it possible to record straight from the vst to automation?

Akiz · October 19, 2015, 6:23am

Thank you.
I tried it with VSTI + instr. aut. editor
but it works just with VST not VSTi

Ledger · October 19, 2015, 11:25am

About the grabbing of a moved vst slider, very nice addition! Saves having to trawl through plugins with major parameter lists. Now that the tool gui can detect vst gui tweakage, is it possible to record straight from the vst to automation?

This would be more involved to implement as mouse-clicks are not recognised in the tool/API. So you would still have to select a parameter first and have that as your locked target, then release it afterwards. It wouldn’t be a case of just grabbing what you wanted, and then that being automated. I’ll think about it more but not sure if it`s worth the work for not much extra benefit.

Thank you.
I tried it with VSTI + instr. aut. editor
but it works just with VST not VSTi

Good to hear its working! Yes VSTi / plugin instruments should be following soon.