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Old 08-29-2011, 10:55 AM   #1
newt
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Default Automation Envelope for Bypass TRACK FX

Hi there. I've been using Reaper for around a month now; bought it very shortly after giving it a couple days' test run (and just before the version 4 update, no less!), and I've been very pleased so far. However, there is a feature I believe is not present that I'm desperately wanting.

The problem is this: I record almost entirely in-the-box. The drawback here is that I use a LOT of VSTs. In the project I'm working on now I've got something like 100 VST plugins (and counting). As you can imagine, having all of them on at once causes more than a bit of strain on my CPU.

So what I'd like to do, ideally, is automate the BYPASS FX button on each track where there is no audio; there are large sections where an instrument isn't playing that I'd prefer to shut all FX off to save processing power. But when I look through the track automation list, I see no such option.

I realize that individual VSTs' bypass can be automated--but that's not what I'm looking for. I'd rather not create 100+ automation envelopes even WITH copy/paste, because it would take longer than it would simply to turn the effects on tracks X Y and Z off while I'm adjusting the mix for another section. I also realize I can render the tracks and THEN bypass FX on the original, but that's not ideal whilst in the process of mixing because I have do fine-tune the effects before I render the final mix--this would mean if I realize some change has to be made after the fact, I would have to go back and tweak the effect, then render again... and so on.

For someone like me, who can't afford nice analog equipment, mics, EQ/reverb, guitar amps, and so forth--or anyone making electronic music with nice VSTi's --this is a sorely missed feature. An envelope for automating the BYPASS FX button would streamline this process and save plenty of time and processing power, as I imagine it would cut CPU use for me anywhere from 50% and up when turning off the tracks not in use.

For my purposes, and for anyone who records in-the-box, I find this an essential feature; it's a shame that it's amiss. Any hope that it could be added would "seal the deal" for me--until then, I'll be clicking that BYPASS FX button quite a bit.

Last edited by newt; 08-29-2011 at 11:05 AM. Reason: elaboration
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Old 08-29-2011, 12:38 PM   #2
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You'll have to make do with the individual plugin bypass envelopes for now.

You could actually render those tracks to stems and bypass the originals. That's kind of the freeze of Reaper (so far).

Be sure to check out the manual on that render stem function. It might save you boatloads of CPU.
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Old 01-30-2013, 05:06 AM   #3
zep
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Default Any news on this one?

Hi there,

I was wondering if there is a more convenient way to toggle all FX on/off via enveloping/automation by now? If not I would love to see such a feature as CPU load is an issue on my mobile working station...

Thanks,
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Old 01-30-2013, 05:18 AM   #4
KevinW
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Simplest to me would be to automate track mute, then make sure the preference for "do not process muted tracks (muted tracks take no CPU time)" is checked.
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Old 01-30-2013, 01:35 PM   #5
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Unfortunately, automating track mute doesn't free up CPU. Only clicking the mute button does that. Try it and you'll see.

I definitely could use either a Track based FX bypass option (ie all fx) OR the Mute automation freeing up CPU.
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Old 05-11-2017, 10:00 AM   #6
Rumi
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Another vote for this pretty basic functionality - mute automation for the fx chain as a whole.

Since an online bounce sounds considerably better than an offline bounce, I need to be able to mute the fx on inactive tracks in a mastering session to lighten CPU load.
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Old 05-11-2017, 11:12 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumi View Post
Another vote for this pretty basic functionality - mute automation for the fx chain as a whole.

Since an online bounce sounds considerably better than an offline bounce, I need to be able to mute the fx on inactive tracks in a mastering session to lighten CPU load.
Upon further reflection, I have found a workaround for my case: FX in the individual take instead of in the arrangement.
But now I have the issue that the latency compensation of the plugins causes dropouts at the beginning of a take. Hmm. Still not solved.
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Old 05-19-2017, 12:31 PM   #8
Ulf3000
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you can send the audio from the vst instrument to an unused channel like 5/6 (or whatever) and send that one to a second track and just automate the volume of the wet track and the dry track, for an audio track you can use a dummyplugin (like a reapitch) at the beginning of the chain to achieve the same, just route its output to both 1-2 and 5-6.




...
another option is to just automate the "wet" parameter for each fx

Last edited by Ulf3000; 05-19-2017 at 12:51 PM.
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Old 12-20-2018, 01:47 PM   #9
djabthrash
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumi View Post
Another vote for this pretty basic functionality - mute automation for the fx chain as a whole.
I would love that too !

My need is that i record scratch guitar riffs in Reaper, and while most of them have a wet sound using my FX chain (that gives an ampsim tone), I'd like to be able via automation to disable this FX chain as a whole to have my guitar sound totally dry for some riffs or parts.
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Old 12-20-2018, 02:26 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djabthrash View Post
My need is that i record scratch guitar riffs in Reaper, and while most of them have a wet sound using my FX chain (that gives an ampsim tone), I'd like to be able via automation to disable this FX chain as a whole to have my guitar sound totally dry for some riffs or parts.
Now you can do this via linking all the bypass states and creating an envelope of any of bypass parameters.
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Old 05-03-2019, 04:33 AM   #11
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@vitalker : better late than never : thanks for your reply... For some reason i missed it until now...
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Old 05-03-2019, 04:40 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djabthrash View Post
@vitalker : better late than never : thanks for your reply... For some reason i missed it until now...
I'm glad it helped you.
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Old 12-01-2023, 10:27 AM   #13
SonicAxiom
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We absolutely need an automation envelope for the track fx bypass switch!

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Old 12-01-2023, 05:42 PM   #14
Loulou92
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And an alternative to this, more granular, even, is an automation to OFFLINE (not bypass) each and every plugins. Offline removes entirely the plugin load on the CPU. Bypassing a plugin is not enough. Actually it does very little or nothing to the CPU. What you want in an offline automation, and to use it only with well coded plugins (you don't want the plugin to crash your Reaper ; well you could run plugins in separate processes, but that's another topic).

If your goal is CPU efficiency, forget bypass, and consider OFFLINE instead. I'd LOVE to be able to offline plugins via an automation. But it needs to be a special automation, that does not disappear when the plugin is offline. When a plugin is offline, its automations are not visible. Only when the FX is put ONLINE again does the automations become visible in the arrange view. IF an ONLINE/OFFLINE automation is created, it's really a new type of automation ; one that survives the OFFLINE state it commands.

Very cool stuff. Would be killer. I asked for this many moons ago. One day...

+1

Last edited by Loulou92; 12-01-2023 at 05:47 PM.
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