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08-26-2012, 09:43 PM
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#1
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Fx Compare A/B/C/D/E Toolbar
Since I still occasionally see peeps complain of no "Fx A/B comparison" functionality, I give you A/B/C/D&E...in the form of a...creepy creature. Works a bit like this:
New in version 2! (2/24/16):
Last loaded snapshot stays highlighted
Quick reset button
Full Mix Mode (toggle the button on and the entire mix will be saved in the slots, not just selected tracks)
New in 2.1 (2/23/16):
Save buttons should now work properly when re-using them (reset button or double-click save button). Please delete the old Cycle Actions and re-import them in the CA Editor.
How to Use:
Just select one or more tracks (make sure they're highlighted), open the plugin(s), tweak parameters and track settings and click one of the save slot buttons on the toolbar.
This tool is intended to store fx chain changes on the fly so you can better decide if you want to keep your adjustments. You then have to make a decision and move on as it currently supports storing only up to 5 individual snapshots concurrently. Reusing the tool will permanently overwrite the old snapshots.
Using the reset button only resets the button states (they are no longer highlighted). The snapshots themselves will remain until you save new ones over them.
There is also Cycle Action included that will allow you to load and close this toolbar along with the Fx chain window for your track as a toggle ("Cycle: Fx Open/Close"). Works best with the preferences>plugins options checked "only allow one fx chain open at a time" and the two options below that.
How to Install: (in this order)
0. Backup your config! (prefs/general/export)
1. Install latest SWS Extensions (But you already did that, didn't you? Cause you're smart)
2. Open Reaper Resources Folder (shortcut near bottom of the Options menu), then CLOSE REAPER. Download this file and put it in that folder, overwriting if asked. I simply added an extra exclusive toggle, which we will need.
3. Import these Cycle Actions in the SWS Cycle Action Editor (sections 'main'), click 'Apply.' If you had the old version of my toolbar installed, filter the list with "cycle:" (unless you renamed them) and delete those old actions first (don't forget to click Apply).
4. Open "Customize menus/toolbars" (Options Menu) and select Floating Toolbar 8 from the dropdown menu. Download and Import this file. If you're already using toolbar 8 for something, you'll have to manually move the actions to another toolbar first, one by one. ( Only toolbar 8 will import it, since apparently Reaper does not support importing toolbars from one slot to another!)
5. (Optional) If you want your toolbar to look like mine, you'll need to download, unzip and copy these icons to the Reaper Resources Folder/data/toolbar_icons (overwrite if asked). Then just resize the toolbar until it looks right.
Important Note: If you've already made some Cycle Actions of your own, the toolbar will not import the actions in the correct order, since Cycle Action ID's are arbitrarily based on the order in which they were added. My CA's must be the first 17 in the CA Editor for them to import to the toolbar correctly and automatically. Otherwise, you will need to re-associate any non-working actions in the toolbar manually:
- Right-click toolbar, click configure.
- Double click non-working actions, click "change action" and search "cycle: "; my Cycle Actions are all prefixed in this way.
- Choose the corresponding action and right click the button if you want to change the icon.
- Hit the Save button.
Feel free to use, improve and make suggestions! Credits go to SWS for making the Snapshot and Cycle Action tools; I merely toolbar-ized them.
Last edited by foxAsteria; 03-24-2016 at 08:00 PM.
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08-27-2012, 06:44 AM
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#2
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Polska, Komorów
Posts: 228
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Hi thanks for this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PooFox
Not sure how to export Cycle Actions for you...
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To export CA, just select actions that you want to export (with shift or ctrl) and right click it. There is export selected actions in context menu.
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08-27-2012, 12:27 PM
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#3
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Polska, Komorów
Posts: 228
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You have it in Cycle Action Editor (at least in Windows). See below:
I have to build them from scratch, but not big problem. Thanks again.
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08-28-2012, 12:53 AM
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#4
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mako55a
You have it in Cycle Action Editor (at least in Windows).
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Ah, excellent, thanks! Sorry, for the stoner fob. Didn't think to look there for it... I'll add those to the original post.
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08-28-2012, 05:15 AM
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#5
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near Cambridge UK and Near Questembert, France
Posts: 22,754
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Why the loony name, PF?
Are you one of those commie pinko linux perverts, or something?
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08-28-2012, 08:15 AM
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#6
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Polska, Komorów
Posts: 228
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Hi,
If i may, one suggestion/improvement:
In each save/clear cycle action add 'SWS: Toggle snapshot selected only on save', what allowes to snapshot only selected track (in current state you snap all tracks and it may work slow in big project).
thanks
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08-28-2012, 01:08 PM
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#7
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ivansc
Why the loony name, PF?
Are you one of those commie pinko linux perverts, or something?
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Well I suppose I'm a loon of sorts, anyway. What, it doesn't look like a bewildered bear to you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mako55a
Hi,
If i may, one suggestion/improvement:
In each save/clear cycle action add 'SWS: Toggle snapshot selected only on save', what allowes to snapshot only selected track (in current state you snap all tracks and it may work slow in big project).
thanks
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Thanks, that's partly why I posted this, to get some improvements! However, I already had that option ticked and since "clear snapshot filter options" doesn't untick it, including this action would actually ends up turning it off every other time you save to that slot, which is undesirable, right? You can see it for yourself if you keep the snapshots window open while you use the toolbar.
Last edited by foxAsteria; 08-28-2012 at 01:17 PM.
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10-05-2012, 01:10 PM
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#8
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Ok I re-exported it and updated the link. Thanks for letting me know, try it now and let me know how it works out.
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10-05-2012, 01:18 PM
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#9
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 147
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PooFox: Can you explain how to get this to work. I was able to import the keymap and the actions.
When I tried to import the menu I got an error `ReaperMenu File does not have menu ...`
I renamed the the toolbar from 8 to 1 and was able to get it to import. When I get F and goto toolbar 1 the toolbar is there.
But I'm unsure how to dock next to an fx window. I tried using it in the toobar with a fx but it did not save the settings.
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10-05-2012, 01:51 PM
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#10
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stretto
PooFox: Can you explain how to get this to work. I was able to import the keymap and the actions.
When I tried to import the menu I got an error `ReaperMenu File does not have menu ...`
I renamed the the toolbar from 8 to 1 and was able to get it to import. When I get F and goto toolbar 1 the toolbar is there.
But I'm unsure how to dock next to an fx window. I tried using it in the toobar with a fx but it did not save the settings.
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It works for whatever track(s) you have selected when you hit the "store" buttons. open up the sws snapshots dialog, make sure "save sel tracks only" is the only option selected. you can have that toolbar open when you open fx for a track (with a custom action), or while it's floating, you can drag it to a docking area (try holding ctrl when you do this). I have actually another toolbar just to launch the rest of my toolbars so i use it floating. You do have SWS extensions installed?
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10-05-2012, 01:54 PM
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#11
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Sorry, actually to dock the floating toolbar is tricky. RIght click it and position in floating docker. From there you can drag the tab to get it where you want (non-floating docker).
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10-05-2012, 03:05 PM
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#12
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 147
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Ok, it's not working then. The undo and redo work but nothing else.
I'm using reaper 4.261 and sws 2.3.0.4.
I've imported all 3 files. Is there any reason why the undo's would work and not the other buttons if I did something wrong?
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10-05-2012, 03:14 PM
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#13
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stretto
Ok, it's not working then. The undo and redo work but nothing else.
I'm using reaper 4.261 and sws 2.3.0.4.
I've imported all 3 files. Is there any reason why the undo's would work and not the other buttons if I did something wrong?
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hmm, that is annoying. sorry for the trouble.
all the other buttons rely on the custom actions, perhaps they need to be imported in a certain order? undo is a native action, so it should work. so should the preset switch (if there are any presets).
The other problem might be the cycle actions id might change when you import them. If that's the case, you'll have to change the action associated with each toolbar button manually, like so:
right click to configure the toolbar double click on an entry and "change action." erase anything in the search field and try again if the correct action is not highlighted. see if those are actually pointing to any of the custom or cycle actions you imported (they should have the same name as the action). Thanks for testing this out! i had no idea it wasn't working correctly. Let me know if you at least have the cycle actions: search the action dialog for "Cycle: ". The all have that prefix.
Last edited by foxAsteria; 10-05-2012 at 03:39 PM.
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10-05-2012, 03:42 PM
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#14
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 147
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Ok, I was able to get the save load to work by assigning the correct action.
It was "Save/Clear FX Snapshot A" and I chose the action "Cycle: Save/Clear FX Snapshot A". The name changed in the toolbar window. All the cycle actions had to be updated but the custom actions were ok.
One thing I noticed, Is that when I click on save it, the button stays in the on state(highlighted button). Is there any way to make a button act as a toggle?
(Oh, and yes, I have SWS installed... not sure if there is an extension to the exension if that is what you are talking about)
I'm still having a problem docking the toolbar to the fx window ;/
Basically I'd like to have the toolbar attach to each fx window that is working and work on the fx window and not the selected track. I imagine I'll end up getting modifying a selected track with another track's fx window if I use the current behavior.
Last edited by Stretto; 10-05-2012 at 03:53 PM.
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10-05-2012, 04:01 PM
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#15
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stretto
I'm still having a problem docking the toolbar to the fx window ;/
Basically I'd like to have the toolbar attach to each fx window that is working and work on the fx window and not the selected track. I imagine I'll end up getting modifying a selected track with another track's fx window if I use the current behavior.
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Great. there is a cycle action included which will open the fx chain for a selected track as well as the toolbar (cycle: fx open/close). That's what I do, have it assigned to 'f' key. it works best with the option to only have one fx chain open at a time (prefs>plugins). Downside is it closes all open windows when you use its close function. This was the only way i could keep them moderately synced, since we have only toggle actions to work with. You could also just never open effects with the tcp button, and the toggles would stay synced (too hard for me). feel free to experiment with it. i would make a help video, but no one seems to be willing to try this out. I wish there was an easier way to install it...
Last edited by foxAsteria; 10-05-2012 at 04:08 PM.
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10-05-2012, 04:05 PM
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#16
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Also, did you have to rename the newly uploaded toolbar or the old one to get it to work. i had re-exported it. And did you rename the file itself or something in Reaper? Trying to simplify this process as much as possible...
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10-05-2012, 04:52 PM
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#17
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 147
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Well, the first issue was that I didn't have the right menu selected. I didn't realize you had to match up the toolbar that you had opened to the one in the file when you selected import.
So, if I had Main toolbar open in the menu editor and tried to import toolbar 3 it would complain that no Main toolbar exists in the file. It would be nice if there was a more natural way to import custom addon's like this since I would imagine it would be a very popular part of reaper. (combined with it's ability to run scripts should make it extremely powerful in customization)
The other problems were just naming mismatches between the cycle file and the toolbar. I'm not sure why it didn't work on my end up was ok on yours. Possibly a change in SWS.
I actually didn't mess with the files themselves. I was going to modify them but I wasn't sure if I had to match ID's or not so I just used the menu editor to assign the actions.
It's a bummer that you can't make the thing part of the fx window directly. I'd like to put some small buttons on the title bar of the fx window since it has plenty of room.
The biggest drawback is that it doesn't work well with multiple fx windows. Maybe one can write an extension similar to SWS that will get it to work?
I'll work on learning how reaper deals with all this stuff and maybe eventually I can come up with a better solution. I saw a lot of gui stuff in reascript so maybe there is a way...
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10-05-2012, 05:08 PM
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#18
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stretto
So, if I had Main toolbar open in the menu editor and tried to import toolbar 3 it would complain that no Main toolbar exists in the file.
It's a bummer that you can't make the thing part of the fx window directly. I'd like to put some small buttons on the title bar of the fx window since it has plenty of room.
The biggest drawback is that it doesn't work well with multiple fx windows. Maybe one can write an extension similar to SWS that will get it to work?
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I wish there was a way to write it so it would recall the saved snapshots available for each separate track when you select it. It's really only useful while you're tweaking an fx chain. You can always compare different states so you can make an informed decision on the fly and be assured you're actually improving the sound. It's "single use" in that way. Once you've closed it, it's hard to remember which tracks it was dealing with and i can find no way to reset the "save" buttons automatically. I'll make a note of the toolbar selection issue, thanks for pointing that out.
And yes, I agree, with so much of the usability refinement in Reaper left to the user, we really need better tools for customizing and sharing.
Asking for a docker in the fx chain window would be a great FR though. Another would be to request on/off actions for ALL the toggle actions, which is needed to make full use of the new SWS Cycle Action Editor.
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10-05-2012, 05:29 PM
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#19
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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I also made this FR :
http://forum.cockos.com/project.php?issueid=4292
To help deal with this issue as well. If there were no way to overwrite people system specific settings accidentally, I think we could just trade single configuration files and still decide not to import certain aspects.
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10-05-2012, 06:12 PM
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#20
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 147
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Well, the reason you have to select the track is because you can't dock the toolbar so there is no way for it to know which FX window it is associated with. It would be rather easy to code as the docked window could inherent it's parent which then would be the fx window it is docked to(which would also allow for multiple docked toolbars without issue).
So, I suppose, this has to be built into reaper as it is part of the docking mechanism(which doesn't exist) unless it somehow could be done using reascript(which I doubt since it is more of a core functionality).
As far as the settings go I think it is possible. One could write a utility to easily manage the specific issues like having to rename menu names and such(specially since it's just text files with a simple structure). The problem is to have it integrated in reaper so it is easy to do. One would need an SWS like library probably.
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10-06-2012, 04:22 PM
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#21
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 9
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I'm still not getting full functionality from this toolbar. I installed the latest SWS and followed the instructions. Must be doing something wrong. I really think this is a great tool. Everything works except the save/load buttons. Undo and redo work. Prev and next patch scroll through my already saved presets. I have it docked up top ala Merc's toolbars. Anyone else having this problem?
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10-06-2012, 04:41 PM
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#22
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NewStrings
I'm still not getting full functionality from this toolbar.
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Have you tried the solution from post #13? May have to manually reassign those cycle actions. They don't seem to import properly. I will link the full list of my cycle actions in case that is an easier solution. Perhaps only exporting the related ones has cause some problem with the ID's.
Last edited by foxAsteria; 10-06-2012 at 05:00 PM.
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10-06-2012, 04:56 PM
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#23
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 9
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Thanks PF. I will try that.
Edit: Works great now!
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10-06-2012, 05:03 PM
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#24
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NewStrings
Thanks PF. I will try that.
Edit: Works great now!
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Awesome news, and welcome to the Forums!
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10-06-2012, 07:11 PM
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#25
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: stuck in transition
Posts: 1,870
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PooFox
Despite the limited gif, this saves the entire Fx chain of the selected track, as well as volume, pan and sends.
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really? wow
i doubt this sort of thing is possible in any other daw
nice work!
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10-06-2012, 07:47 PM
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#26
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by politcat
really? wow
i doubt this sort of thing is possible in any other daw
nice work!
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Actually I got the idea from Samplitude (you can take snapshots of the entire mix) and SWS snapshots do all the work, but thanks!
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10-28-2012, 03:38 AM
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#27
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Cologne/Bangkok
Posts: 1,258
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Driving me nuts:
I would like to try this one but while importing the toolbar I get: ReaperMenu file does not have menu for 'Floating toolbar 1 (or 2, or 3, or 4, or any number)'.
What am I doing wrong?
Mac OSX, snow leopard, reaper 4.pre-whatever.
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10-28-2012, 04:10 AM
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#28
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Check post 17?
I think you need to import it from toolbar 8. I'll check it out and update the instructions.
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10-28-2012, 05:05 AM
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#29
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Cologne/Bangkok
Posts: 1,258
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Thx PooFox, ...Yes it was No. 8.
Thought I checked them all, but maybe I stopped at no. 7.
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10-28-2012, 05:22 AM
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#30
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kainer
Thx PooFox, ...Yes it was No. 8.
Thought I checked them all, but maybe I stopped at no. 7.
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haha, yea I thought so. enjoy.
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02-23-2016, 11:51 AM
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#31
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Posts: 704
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I had installed this a while back and after lots of customizing, loading of different configuration files, I think some of the functionality of this tool got lost.
In my mind, there was a somewhat automated opening of the tool when I also opened the FX chain...am I dreaming?
As it is now, the toolbar appears to be fully functional but it's just that I have to load the fx and toolbar separately.
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02-23-2016, 09:54 PM
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#32
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Yea I just built a cycle action to open and close them at the same time. I actually have a much improved version of this now that I will upload maybe tomorrow. It keeps track of which slot was last loaded, has a quick reset button and some other neat stuff as well. Thanks for your interest.
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02-24-2016, 12:46 AM
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#33
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Posts: 704
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Oh great! I can't wait :-)
It's a brilliant little tool you concocted there, congrats! And thanks for sharing.
BTW, I've since solved the problem. And for those who come to this thread in the future and might have the same problem I had, you need to use the action 'Cycle: Fx (Open/Close)' with a track selected (the specific action to use wasn't mentioned in the 1st post).
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02-24-2016, 02:29 PM
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#34
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Version 2
Updated in the OP...
Please let me know if things are not working correctly.
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02-25-2016, 06:16 AM
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#35
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Posts: 704
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Hi,
So, since I had the previous version installed, is there anything I should do different to install the new one?
I just want to avoid duplicates showing up either in the toolbars, cycle action or action menu...
Thanks!
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02-25-2016, 12:04 PM
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#36
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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I'm not sure but I think the only place you might end up with duplicates is the cycle actions. Just search "cycle: " in the cycle actions window and delete those first if you want. The old ones will just have lower ID numbers in the list if you didn't delete them first. The whole toolbar should get overwritten and I've set none of the actions to appear in the Actions menu. If you want to preserve the old version, you'll need to backup your config first. I didn't keep an earlier version around.
Last edited by foxAsteria; 02-25-2016 at 12:10 PM.
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03-18-2016, 11:12 PM
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#37
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Feedback Please?
So...people, any feedback whatsoever on this? I have almost no idea if anyone's using it at all, or able to install it, or if it works for anyone else, or if it's just too complicated, or pointless, or if I just shouldn't waste my time.
Thanks,
Poofox
Last edited by foxAsteria; 03-19-2016 at 06:12 PM.
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03-19-2016, 04:52 AM
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#38
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Posts: 704
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Hi Poo!
I'm loving it! That's all I can say, great job, much appreciated!! :-)
Cheers,
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03-19-2016, 06:12 PM
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#39
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oblivion
Posts: 10,252
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chumbo
Hi Poo!
I'm loving it! That's all I can say, great job, much appreciated!! :-)
Cheers,
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Thanks Chumbo. Good to hear.
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03-20-2016, 07:19 PM
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#40
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Hollyweird
Posts: 2,630
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Hi, I just installed this sweet toolbar for the very first time.
It didn't work at first.
I had to go through and assign all the buttons individually by hand in the toolbar customizer. Now it definitely works and RULEZ thank you! - Why isn't the install working correctly? Perhaps you have the install instructions out of order or not enough Reaper restarts in there.
- Is there a way to transform this toolbar to a single plugin comparer?
Last edited by MonkeyBars; 03-20-2016 at 07:25 PM.
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