Saitara AC-7 Pro , iPad control surface for Logic

http://www.saitarasoftware.com/Site/AC-7_Pro.html

 

Any experience with this ? Looks cool.

Been using it since yesterday. Setup is a little fussy, and there's a bit of a learning curve. But basically, it's incredible — does everything my Euphonix MC Mix did with more fun, and at about one-hundredth of the price. I've been mixing all day with it and having a blast. I'm a convert — touch screens are the future for control surfaces.

Just bought it too.

 

Still learning but it's pretty cool.

 

I couldn't pan and need to take a better look on having the session track names on it, but I liked it.

Since this uses the Mackie Control protocol, I'm wondering how much of that functionality it supports. If you hold your finger on the Cycle button, while spinning the shuttle wheel, does it paint a cycle range?

 

That's just my first question!

Since this uses the Mackie Control protocol, I'm wondering how much of that functionality it supports. If you hold your finger on the Cycle button, while spinning the shuttle wheel, does it paint a cycle range?

 

That's just my first question!

 

No. It didn't.

 

And now the Pan is working. When I use Flip the fader acts like a pan.

 

Keep the questions coming. This way you'll help me learn it.

 

Managed to get the track names.

Easy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3XwLSjsHCo

No. It didn't.

Typical. See, this happens a lot. A company comes out with a control surface and says it meets some protocol, eg Mackie. HUI, etc., but it doesn't actually implement all the features that make it really useful! Only just enough to get the eye-candy stuff.

 

OK, try this. Move the playhead to a location with the shuttle wheel. Hold Cycle and press Rewind . This should set the left locator. Move the playhead later, hold Cycle and press F-Fwd. This should set the right locator.

No. It didn't.

Typical. See, this happens a lot. A company comes out with a control surface and says it meets some protocol, eg Mackie. HUI, etc., but it doesn't actually implement all the features that make it really useful! Only just enough to get the eye-candy stuff.

 

OK, try this. Move the playhead to a location with the shuttle wheel. Hold Cycle and press Rewind . This should set the left locator. Move the playhead later, hold Cycle and press F-Fwd. This should set the right locator.

 

It didn't work either.

 

When I go to the Controller Assignments in Logic and select Cycle>Cycle Set Locators, now when I move the AC-7 Jog Wheel I can set cycle regions.

When I let go no more.

 

I think would be great to have a manual with the AC-7 Pro.

 

Do you think even with the use of Touch Screen technology these double commands should work on the AC-7 on the iPad?

Cause probably touching two spots on the AC-7 GUI on the iPad does not do anything.

Do you think even with the use of Touch Screen technology these double commands should work on the AC-7 on the iPad?

Cause probably touching two spots on the AC-7 GUI on the iPad does not do anything.

 

The iPad is multitouch, so these could work if they wrote the software correctly.

The iPad is multitouch, so these could work if they wrote the software correctly.

Exactly. Notably missing from the interface are the Zoom butoon surrounded by the 4 navigation buttons, which are essential to so many of the Mackie Control's feature set. I'm curious about the VPot functions too. If you press Flip, the VPot should now be the fader, but then how do you "push the VPot down" to get the switch function?

 

It's interesting that they didn't implement the display area as a solid bar across the faders. This tells me it probably doesn't display modal dialog text.

 

Let's try something simple. Press the Nudge button to enter nudge mode. Do the Rwd-FFwd buttons nudge anything?

Do you think even with the use of Touch Screen technology these double commands should work on the AC-7 on the iPad?

Cause probably touching two spots on the AC-7 GUI on the iPad does not do anything.

 

The iPad is multitouch, so these could work if they wrote the software correctly.

 

Sure. That's what i was trying to say. It can solved via software.

The iPad is multitouch, so these could work if they wrote the software correctly.

Exactly. Notably missing from the interface are the Zoom butoon surrounded by the 4 navigation buttons, which are essential to so many of the Mackie Control's feature set. I'm curious about the VPot functions too. If you press Flip, the VPot should now be the fader, but then how do you "push the VPot down" to get the switch function?

 

It's interesting that they didn't implement the display area as a solid bar across the faders. This tells me it probably doesn't display modal dialog text.

 

Let's try something simple. Press the Nudge button to enter nudge mode. Do the Rwd-FFwd buttons nudge anything?

 

No. There is this zoom button, you just need to toggle between this and the jog wheel.

 

When i'm back home will try what you asked.

 

I have never used a Mackie controller before, so it is great try this things.

Hi everyone!

As developer of the AC-7 Pro, I hope you don't mind if I jump into this thread.

 

You're right that the "hold one button then push another" extended functions are not possible in the current version. The reason is simply reliability. The app was mostly developed without access to a real iPad so we wanted to keep things simple until we could do some real testing.

We finally got an iPad a week or so ago (we're in the UK) and will be adding that functionality in an update.

 

The v-pot emulation works using the flip button to assign the faders to control whatever the v-pot rotaries would. There are 8 v-pot buttons in the multi-function area which act as if pushing the rotary controls down. It's not the most elegant solution but it means we can fit a lot of control into 1 screen. The same is true with the jog wheel/cursor switch.

 

If you have any more questions or requests, I'd love to hear them!

Cheers

Hi everyone!

As developer of the AC-7 Pro, I hope you don't mind if I jump into this thread.

 

You're right that the "hold one button then push another" extended functions are not possible in the current version. The reason is simply reliability. The app was mostly developed without access to a real iPad so we wanted to keep things simple until we could do some real testing.

We finally got an iPad a week or so ago (we're in the UK) and will be adding that functionality in an update.

 

The v-pot emulation works using the flip button to assign the faders to control whatever the v-pot rotaries would. There are 8 v-pot buttons in the multi-function area which act as if pushing the rotary controls down. It's not the most elegant solution but it means we can fit a lot of control into 1 screen. The same is true with the jog wheel/cursor switch.

 

If you have any more questions or requests, I'd love to hear them!

Cheers

 

Great to hear from you.

 

One question:

Is a manual in you plans?

Would be great.

 

And a suggestion/complain.

The Jog Wheel is very sensitive, extremely sensitive, and it is pretty hard to use it. It gets really difficult to put a fader to 0 db or to set a cycle range and even going to a specific bar without fighting with it.

 

I believe now that you guys have the iPad in hands the real development of this great app starts.

Here it is. The zoom button.

 

One question:

Is a manual in you plans?

Would be great.

 

And a suggestion/complain.

The Jog Wheel is very sensitive, extremely sensitive, and it is pretty hard to use it. It gets really difficult to put a fader to 0 db or to set a cycle range and even going to a specific bar without fighting with it.

 

A user guide is coming, though we're planning to implement most if not all of the features found in the MCU section of the Logic help file.

 

Agreed about the jog wheel, the code needs tweaking... It's on the list.

Cheers

Hi everyone!

As developer of the AC-7 Pro, I hope you don't mind if I jump into this thread.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you're here.

 

Couple suggestions for your consideration:

 

1. The Master fader is seldom used and could be hidden/swappable.

 

2. Unsegment the text displays. Needed for the "Two controls per parameter" preference. (plug-ins)

 

3. Really need the global track view selections and the F1 thru F8 screenset buttons.

 

I'll have more, but you're doing a great job so far! Looking good.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you're here.

 

Couple suggestions for your consideration:

 

1. The Master fader is seldom used and could be hidden/swappable.

 

2. Unsegment the text displays. Needed for the "Two controls per parameter" preference. (plug-ins)

 

3. Really need the global track view selections and the F1 thru F8 screenset buttons.

Thanks, good to be here!

 

1. Definitely possible, but it's good as a panic fader in case of feedback etc.

 

2. Hmm... Ok, but would it make much difference apart from maybe looking better? The scrolling system messages are still readable at the moment. I kinda like the track name being an integral part of the channel strip. But that's just me

 

3. Already there in the multi-function area. Accessed through GVIEW and SCRN.

 

Logic was always the primary focus for me, so I really appreciate the input from you guys!

Cheers

1. Definitely possible, but it's good as a panic fader in case of feedback etc.

 

Seriously? How often (if ever) have you gotten feedback during mixing?!?!?!? I agree with fader8, the space could be much better used.

1. Definitely possible, but it's good as a panic fader in case of feedback etc.

 

Seriously? How often (if ever) have you gotten feedback during mixing?!?!?!? I agree with fader8, the space could be much better used.

 

Me too. I also agree with fader8. Don't see many uses for this fader and it just sits there all the time without being used.

 

And boy, his nickname here is fader for God's sake.

Yeah, I'll hit the monitor controls first if there's feedback coming. But I've never needed to do even that. Anyway, the control shouldn't be gone, just hidden in another view.

 

I'm at a disadvantage here as I don't have my IPad yet. Are there any screenshots of the v-pot, scrn and gview modes available? Or can someone make some?

 

2. Unsegment the text displays. Needed for the "Two controls per parameter" preference. (plug-ins)

 

2. Hmm... Ok, but would it make much difference apart from maybe looking better? The scrolling system messages are still readable at the moment. I kinda like the track name being an integral part of the channel strip. But that's just me

 

OK, here's an example. Space Designer. With Two Controls per Parameter, the most sensible setting btw, a parameter on the Logic/Mackie Control looks like this:

 

HighCutSlope

48dB/Oct

 

With the display split to 6 characters per channel as I see it on the screenshot, it would look like this:

 

HighCu tSlope

28dB/O ct

 

Some 3rd party plugs have very cryptic names for parameters and this could really get confusing. I think some kind of vague separation of the display would be OK, but having the rather large space in between probably isn't going to fly.

OK, try this. Move the playhead to a location with the shuttle wheel. Hold Cycle and press Rewind . This should set the left locator. Move the playhead later, hold Cycle and press F-Fwd. This should set the right locator.

 

 

Hey fader,

 

i set up two multifunction buttons for this, one for the left locator and one for the right locator. I've been using it on the iphone and it works great.

 

 

-SONiC

Hi everyone!

As developer of the AC-7 Pro, I hope you don't mind if I jump into this thread...

 

...If you have any more questions or requests, I'd love to hear them!

Cheers

 

 

I would love to be able to save the project with this app. i tried to assign a multifunction button but it does not work. Am i missing something?

 

I'm using AC-7 on an iPhone.

 

Thanks,

 

 

-SONiC

OK, try this. Move the playhead to a location with the shuttle wheel. Hold Cycle and press Rewind . This should set the left locator. Move the playhead later, hold Cycle and press F-Fwd. This should set the right locator.

 

 

Hey fader,

 

i set up two multifunction buttons for this, one for the left locator and one for the right locator. I've been using it on the iphone and it works great.

 

 

-SONiC

 

The point was AC-7 lit uses the term "MCU" a bit. So, the real question is this: is the developer shooting for MCU emulation or not? If they are, then that means for the cost of implementing the functionality correctly, they get a zero learning curve for alot of people which is certainly a bonus to adoption.

 

I for one would like to see full MCU emulations, not the ability to do the same things as the MCU but in a different way.

 

I look forward to future releases of this and hope it gets "all the way there".

Is there any latency ?

 

BTW. keep those mackie control tricks coming please. I did not know these things and i use a mackie control myself!

Cheers

Is there any latency ?

 

It is wifi, there can't not be latency!

 

The developer has claimed that OS X latency is "around" 15ms--Windows is higher (but who here cares about Windows latency!).

 

In 4/4 at 140 BPM, that would mean that the controller would lag a more than 1 one hundred twenty-eighth note (or one semihemidemisemiquaver) behind.

just playing with this on an ipod touch.

fun, but so much simpler to just be at the mac screen.

 

i imagine the ipad app would make more sense; but this thing works, and it's cool to show off.

 

i may get an ipad, and then this, running the mixer, while my arrange window is on my mac screen...THAT would be nice...

The iPad is multitouch, so these could work if they wrote the software correctly.

Exactly. Notably missing from the interface are the Zoom butoon surrounded by the 4 navigation buttons, which are essential to so many of the Mackie Control's feature set.

 

Making a touch screen duplicate of the MCU doesn't really make a lot of sense. I just bought an MCU a few months ago (partly due to your recommendation) but a lot of the double button features are there because of a lack of real estate and well, the cost of buttons.

 

e.g. there are track and bank select buttons on the AC-7 - why on earth would you do that when you have the super slick finger swipe to scroll? Keep the "master controls" on the right side but scroll the faders left or right by swiping.

 

You could have a billion V-pots (like my c4) available by scrolling up and down. The v-pot itself could just be the parameter name - press it with your finger and you could have a fader appear under it for adjustment or do like the iElictribe where you can select either rotary control of a v-pot or linear (up-down).

 

To the AC-7 guys - great job in making an affordable MCU alternative but again, duplicating hardware on something like an iPad isn't thinking too much outside the box. Use the attributes of the iPad to make something that will kick the crap out of a hardware MCU.

 

p.s. I love my iPad!

Making a touch screen duplicate of the MCU doesn't really make a lot of sense. I just bought an MCU a few months ago (partly due to your recommendation) but a lot of the double button features are there because of a lack of real estate and well, the cost of buttons.

 

e.g. there are track and bank select buttons on the AC-7 - why on earth would you do that when you have the super slick finger swipe to scroll? Keep the "master controls" on the right side but scroll the faders left or right by swiping.

 

You could have a billion V-pots (like my c4) available by scrolling up and down. The v-pot itself could just be the parameter name - press it with your finger and you could have a fader appear under it for adjustment or do like the iElictribe where you can select either rotary control of a v-pot or linear (up-down).

 

To the AC-7 guys - great job in making an affordable MCU alternative but again, duplicating hardware on something like an iPad isn't thinking too much outside the box. Use the attributes of the iPad to make something that will kick the crap out of a hardware MCU.

 

p.s. I love my iPad!

 

Good points well made!

In developing the AC-7, we are slightly limited by sticking to the MCU protocol (8 faders/pots at a time etc).

This is great for compatibility and ease of install, but it does mean we're probably not making the best use of all the iPad's features.

I like the scrolling fader banks idea...

In the short-term, we'll be updating it to enable all the multi-button goodness you're used to on the hardware MCU (cursor and zoom control are already in the AC-7 by the way).

In the longer term though, we'd like to migrate to a custom protocol so that anything is possible.

This is just the beginning...

Cheers

 

Also to SONiC - There's a save button in the MORE screen if you hit MAIN (iPhone version)

Welcome to the forum! Glad you're here.

 

Couple suggestions for your consideration:

 

1. The Master fader is seldom used and could be hidden/swappable.

 

2. Unsegment the text displays. Needed for the "Two controls per parameter" preference. (plug-ins)

 

3. Really need the global track view selections and the F1 thru F8 screenset buttons.

Thanks, good to be here!

 

1. Definitely possible, but it's good as a panic fader in case of feedback etc.

 

2. Hmm... Ok, but would it make much difference apart from maybe looking better? The scrolling system messages are still readable at the moment. I kinda like the track name being an integral part of the channel strip. But that's just me

 

3. Already there in the multi-function area. Accessed through GVIEW and SCRN.

 

Logic was always the primary focus for me, so I really appreciate the input from you guys!

Cheers

 

If I may chip in here as a new AC-7 user. (not sure if this thread is even active, but it may be now)

 

I know this is a Logic forum, but I'm a Final Cut/ Soundtrack pro user.

 

Keep the master fader.

Some of us do use it for deaf clients, or just because our dailies have wacky levels.

 

Great piece of software BTW, I think you've opened up a winner here. We also need a control surface for Apple colour, if you're not too busy!