Control Surface Integration (CSI) Technical Feature Discussion

[MT4U]

Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington

New build is up.

https://stash.reaper.fm/v/42044/CSI%20Exp.zip

Added

ClearFocusedFXParam
ClearFocusedFX   
ClearSelectedTrackFX

Please check them out, and, if they pass, they will be added to production.

ClearFocusedFX is our manual way to provoke that "FX_Window_has_been_closed" event that the Reaper API is not triggering within CSI.

This is a game changer, Geoff.

After the FX Window is closed, if we call ClearFocusedFX, the previous zone is restored, and opening the FX Window again maps the FX Zone back again to perfection, so now I can call a script to close the FocusedFXWindow followed by ClearFocusedFX and have my cake!
Just need to remember to always close the FX Windows with a button on the MCU.

Now with a little scripting I managed to make that infamous "EQ" button on the X-Touch map my favorite EQ, going back where I was before by pressing Cancel.

Thanks a lot, man!

Now I'm gonna have to rethink a lot of things

[Geoff Waddington]

Originally Posted by MT4U

ClearFocusedFX is our manual way to provoke that "FX_Window_has_been_closed" event that the Reaper API is not triggering within CSI.

This is a game changer, Geoff.

After the FX Window is closed, if we call ClearFocusedFX, the previous zone is restored, and opening the FX Window again maps the FX Zone back again to perfection, so now I can call a script to close the FocusedFXWindow followed by ClearFocusedFX and have my cake!
Just need to remember to always close the FX Windows with a button on the MCU.

Now with a little scripting I managed to make that infamous "EQ" button on the X-Touch map my favorite EQ, going back where I was before by pressing Cancel.

Thanks a lot, man!

Now I'm gonna have to rethink a lot of things

Great stuff !!

Could you or someone else please verify that ClearFocusedFXParam and ClearSelectedTrackFX both work so that I can release these changes to production.

[MT4U]

Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington

Great stuff !!

Could you or someone else please verify that ClearFocusedFXParam and ClearSelectedTrackFX both work so that I can release these changes to production.

Haven’t tested them yet, but with ClearFocusedFX, previous zone colors are not being restored. Similar to what was going on with ClearFXSlot.

[MixMonkey]

Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington

Could you or someone else please verify that ClearFocusedFXParam and ClearSelectedTrackFX both work so that I can release these changes to production.

ClearSelectedTrackFX works (and by implication, GoSelectedTrackFX also works- we were discussing earlier)

ClearFocusedFXParam doesn't seem to do anything. I have the focused fx parameter on the MCU master fader- it follows whatever fx control I touch on the C4. Pressing a button on the MCU for ClearFocusedFXParam doesn't clear the focused fx parameter, the master fader still controls the last touched fx parameter.

ClearFocusedFX doesn't seem to work for me. I turned off the C4 fx menu and enabled FocusedFXMapping. Assigned ClearFocusedFX to a button on the C4. When pressed, I see the displays refresh but it goes back to the fx that was focused, rather than Home.

[MT4U]

Originally Posted by MixMonkey

ClearSelectedTrackFX works (and by implication, GoSelectedTrackFX also works- we were discussing earlier)

ClearFocusedFX doesn't seem to work for me. I turned off the C4 fx menu and enabled FocusedFXMapping. Assigned ClearFocusedFX to a button on the C4. When pressed, I see the displays refresh but it goes back to the fx that was focused, rather than Home.

After you close an FX Window, either manually or by script, calling ClearFocusedFX will take you back to where you were before.
If you leave the FX Window open the FX will stay mapped, that's the refresh.

[MixMonkey]

Originally Posted by MT4U

After you close an FX Window, either manually or by script, calling ClearFocusedFX will take you back to where you were before.
If you leave the FX Window open the FX will stay mapped, that's the refresh.

Interesting. I thought it was the act of focusing that caused the FX to map (ie opening an FX chain window, clicking on an open FX window) not the presence of the open window. If I close the window, the FX unmaps anyway. I haven’t managed to close an FX window without the FX unmapping, so I guess it’s difficult for me to tell

[MT4U]

Originally Posted by MixMonkey

Interesting. I thought it was the act of focusing that caused the FX to map (ie opening an FX chain window, clicking on an open FX window) not the presence of the open window. If I close the window, the FX unmaps anyway. I haven’t managed to close an FX window without the FX unmapping, so I guess it’s difficult for me to tell

Maybe you don't experience it in your workflow, I'll try to describe the situation.

If you have a surface with tracks (MCU, X-Touch) and use those very same tracks to map FX parameters and you have FocusedFXMapping enabled, when you close that FX Window, the track zone doesn't come back.

CSI doesn't know that the window has been closed. As a side effect, if you open that FX window again, CSI will not map it.

If on the other hand, after closing the FX Window you run the ClearFocusedFX CSI action, the track zone comes back properly and opening that FX window again maps it back to your tracks.

It may not seem like a big deal, but add some scripting to the equation and, for example, my EQ button checks the FX Chain and looks for any EQ from a list I have. If it finds any it opens the window, if it finds none, then adds my preferred EQ, and it gets mapped across my surface tracks.

Until now, closing that window would be a problem since CSI wouldn't return to the track zone and wouldn't map the EQ again to my tracks unless I focused a different plug-in and came back to the EQ.

I still can't have a toggle button, but I can press the EQ button and have my EQ shown or added and if I press the "Cancel" button (mapped to FX Window Close and ClearFocusedFX) all works properly and I can press the EQ button again.

That said, this means that Any button on my surface can map Any Plug-In at any given time.

I just hope I was clear enough

[MixMonkey]

Originally Posted by MT4U

Maybe you don't experience it in your workflow, I'll try to describe the situation.

If you have a surface with tracks (MCU, X-Touch) and use those very same tracks to map FX parameters and you have FocusedFXMapping enabled, when you close that FX Window, the track zone doesn't come back.

I see what you mean, and with a seperate surface to map FX to in my workflow, the issue you're describing won't arise. As long as ClearFocusedFX is doing what it's supposed to, it's all good

[Geoff Waddington]

Great testing guys !!

Ok, seems like the only unresolved one is ClearFocusedFXParam.

Is that one an issue, or is it a workflow thing ?

[Funkybot]

Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington

Great testing guys !!

Ok, seems like the only unresolved one is ClearFocusedFXParam.

Is that one an issue, or is it a workflow thing ?

I haven't had a chance to test yet - barely been in Reaper/CSI recently the last week or two - but do we need ClearFocusedFXParam? The "ToggleEnableFocusedFXParamMapping" action is a toggle already so if you want to clear, you'd just press again. Unless I'm just failing to grasp a given use-case.

[Geoff Waddington]

Originally Posted by Funkybot

I haven't had a chance to test yet - barely been in Reaper/CSI recently the last week or two - but do we need ClearFocusedFXParam? The "ToggleEnableFocusedFXParamMapping" action is a toggle already so if you want to clear, you'd just press again. Unless I'm just failing to grasp a given use-case.

That may be true, I'm not sure.

The reason I'm adding all of these is the change to eliminate the "slamming Faders".

That approach was very brute force, but it did ensure everything zeroed upon Zone deactivation.

Just want to make sure all the bases are covered if that is now not the case in certain scenarios.

[MixMonkey]

Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington

Great testing guys !!

Ok, seems like the only unresolved one is ClearFocusedFXParam.

Is that one an issue, or is it a workflow thing ?

I think ClearFocusedFXParam may not have worked for me because I don't have a FocusedFXParam Zone (!) If I haven't got the Zone, I can't leave it (I guess)

I've always had FocusedFXParameter on the MCU master fader (with a Control+ modifier)

[MixMonkey]

Originally Posted by Geoff Waddington

That approach was very brute force, but it did ensure everything zeroed upon Zone deactivation.

Any chance of losing the C4 reset between FX Zones? All my C4 FX Zones set any unused widgets to NoAction, so everything is being overwritten twice each time.