Select only some automation points within a range?

Hi all,

 

 

Please see the image attached - I've written a load of automation and just want to select the upper ranges of this data to bring down the peaks, while keeping the low nodes exactly as they are. Dragging a marquee solely around the top nodes while using the automation select tool still seems to select the nodes at the bottom of the troughs, which is no good as I want those to stay the same.

 

Is there a way to select only some automation within a range, e.g. the high points, and reduce them manually? Otherwise I'll have to go through and do them manually, which is a right pain. Cubase & Reaper (which I'm migrating from) allow you to lasso only the points you want to adjust, which seems kind of sensible, especially given there's a tool especially for selecting automation!

 

Any help gratefully received,

 

John

You can use the automation event list and a transformer window to select the nodes above a specific value.

Eric, I've never selected automation nodes from a Transformer window. Controllers, thousands of times, but not track-based automation events. What class in the Transformer > Status drop down menu do we use?

Eric, I've never selected automation nodes from a Transformer window. Controllers, thousands of times, but not track-based automation events. What class in the Transformer > Status drop down menu do we use?

Each event's status is listed in the Automation Event List (it's 'Fader' in Logic X but earlier versions of Logic also used 'Control' for Pan and Volume).

 

 

I tried but I was not successful in selecting automation events in the Automation Event List window as described by Eric. I was however successful in selecting them with the MIDI Transform window in the Automation main window.

Well, I'm baffled. It was clear that they're called Fader events in the Automation Event List. But that had no bearing or impact on my attempts to select or modify them setting status to Fader in the Transform window.

 

I've opened a fresh file with nothing but three control points of volume TBA on an empty track. Fader Ch 1, Num 7, Val various. No matter by what sequence of windows I get to Transform, setting status to Fader does not select anything.

 

In fact, I can go to Automation Event List > Functions > MIDI Transform, and set a New parameter Set to All Position / Status Fader / and the rest "All," and Select Only selects nothing.

 

"I was however successful in selecting them with the MIDI Transform window in the Automation main window." Do you mean Main with Automation enabled? If so, that did not work here. I'm not sure what else "Main automation window" can be, though I'd like to find it.

 

But, not to lose the forest for the educational tress -- the OP wanted to clip off high control points to lower them with a simple mouse selection, and I've wanted to do this many times too, It's like shift selecting a box of higher velocity notes in MIDI Draw, only to have all notes within the horizontal span of the lasso selected, even though no box was drawn around the lower velocity notes.

"I was however successful in selecting them with the MIDI Transform window in the Automation main window." Do you mean Main with Automation enabled? If so, that did not work here. I'm not sure what else "Main automation window" can be, though I'd like to find it.

Open the Automation Event List, then open a new main window: that's the automation main window. It contains track automation data as fader data inside MIDI regions, which is what the MIDI Transform window needs to find and select the events.

 

But, not to lose the forest for the educational tress -- the OP wanted to clip off high control points to lower them with a simple mouse selection

A simple mouse selection isn't possible in Logic, but Eric's idea is the closest workaround: use the MIDI Transform to make your selection, then use your mouse to scale the selected automation data.

So the default key command sequence for logic 10.2.2 would be:

 

a) control - command E -- automation event list

b) command 1 -- Main (automation) window

c) command 9 -- a MIDI Transform window that now can select and modify automation control points with "fader" as status

 

Getting to the automation event list alone and using Functions > MIDI Transform does not work. As David says, the Automation Main window must be opened before a new MIDI Transform window can see it.

 

Many thanks.

You're welcome.

Eric, I've never selected automation nodes from a Transformer window. Controllers, thousands of times, but not track-based automation events. What class in the Transformer > Status drop down menu do we use?

 

I see that David has covered the method.

The Main page needs to be on the same hierarchy level.

You can as you have found out just open a new Main window. You can also link the Main Page to same level and hit the Display level button on Event window to trigger the Main window down the rabbit hole.

Thanks for this, folks. I have to say I do find certain 'simple' things in Logic very frustrating and indicative of Apple's wider, prescriptive mentality. I don't understand why a tool specifically called 'automation select' can't even draw a marquee around some points and allow you to select them and not others. It's such a simple thing to be able to do. Oh well, I'll settle for this until then!

Agreed.

There should be an easier way to select independent automation points by lassoing an area.

I just came to look this up...

 

I'm SURE earlier versions of logic allowed this function. (selleccting graphically nodes in a certain repetitive position).

 

BTW, you CAN shift click (automation-select tool) to add nodes, but considering that might take AGES and a bounding box takes a second...

 

If this is omitted in LPX I'm going to have a fit.

 

The scenario in the top post must be very commonplace... They really need this functionality as part of a serious automation tool.

Edited November 17, 2017 by GeeMan

There is a simple way to tell Logic to select only the points that are in the dragging area? (Now, it select all above and below too...)

Hi all,

 

 

Please see the image attached - I've written a load of automation and just want to select the upper ranges of this data to bring down the peaks, while keeping the low nodes exactly as they are. Dragging a marquee solely around the top nodes while using the automation select tool still seems to select the nodes at the bottom of the troughs, which is no good as I want those to stay the same.

 

Is there a way to select only some automation within a range, e.g. the high points, and reduce them manually? Otherwise I'll have to go through and do them manually, which is a right pain. Cubase & Reaper (which I'm migrating from) allow you to lasso only the points you want to adjust, which seems kind of sensible, especially given there's a tool especially for selecting automation!

 

Any help gratefully received,

 

John

 

Hi John, this weekend I was fine tuning a string arrangent, and since there's some time that I do not needed to fine tune any nodes, in my case CC11 and CC1 for the midi regions that I am working on, I started to do some research and what was called some time agor of Hyper Draw for see midi data like automation on midi regions in arrange, now you have to open automation view and see automation in region mode. I don't understand why the company keep changing things that are working very well and you have to re learn the ways the things work beside you liked the ways they used to be.

 

But anyway. One of the things that I loved about Logic nodes was just the fact that you just needed to click anywhere and it create a node, you don't have to double click, this change alone pissed me off.

 

And you was used to, to just select the nodes you need to adjust, just as you was thinking of, I don't know why and when, they chenged that behavior.

 

I almost was thinking that was a bug now trying to select my low nodes to adjust the low parts and minimyze some dynamics, but found the workflow now, they just chenged and maybe doesn't tell anyone?

 

But now, you just heve to select the range and the nodes that you want to adjust using the OPTION key

This is how I select just a section of automation points and change the values in the Event list (although I also want to be able to scale them, not just add or subtract values in a linear fashion -- Transform is likely the way to go for scaling).

 

1) In the Main window, select your MIDI region, press a for automation mode, and zoom in to the area you want to edit.

 

2) Open the event pane and make sure you're viewing the midi note and automation events.

 

3) In the midi region, while holding down the Shift key, click and drag across the section of points you want. You can select multiple, discontinuous sections by highlighting one section, releasing the shift key and mouse, then repeat for the 2nd section, 3rd section, etc. These events all become highlighted in events list. Release the shift key and mouse after selecting your final section.

 

Have to get this next part right, otherwise the events you want will be de-selected.

 

4) Hold the shift key, and in events list, click ONE of the highlighted events -- the highlight for all selected events will now change color and turn blue. Release the shift key.

 

5) Click on the Val column for one event and drag up or down. ALL of the event values change.