fader8 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 OK, the subject of pulling up or down multiple automation nodes came up at the recent New York Logic Users Group meeting. I wanted to follow up with clarifying a particular aspect of this that's well worth knowing about as it can change your settings in ways you probably don't want! If you want to change the level of a grouping of nodes, say a small section where you already have rides your happy with but the section is too loud for example, you can either hold shift and and drag a window around those nodes to select them, or you can swipe them with the Marquee tool. The Marquee tool has the advantage that it creates 4 nodes at the marquee selection boundary allowing you to reduce everything within the marquee range by the same amount once you start dragging the data. Shift windowing the nodes does not create these and just ramps the automation to the adjoining unselected nodes. In either case, when performing the operation of raising or lowering the values collectively, it's very important to realize that where you click and drag can make a huge difference in the result. Your first instinct may be to grab a node or the line between them and pull it up or down. However, this will destroy any decibel ratios on volume rides between nodes that were in your existing rides! To avoid this, don't grab the automation itself. Just grab in any space adjacent to the nodes and drag the data. This will maintain the actual dB ratio you achieved in your original automation. I'm showing this using the marquee selection, but it also applies when you shift-drag a window around nodes to select them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fader8 Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Just to add a note here, the described scaling error does not take place when you scale all the currently visible automation for the track using the command-drag feature of the automation fader in the track header. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
route-electrique Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Thanks for the tip. I'm a automation freak, and i spend hours in automation lanes, and when i'm done i protect the track . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidpye Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 This is good to know, well spotted F8. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillo jr Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I think I've been accidentally doing it the way that preserves the db ratios just because it's easier to grab adjacent to a line that then to get right on it. But I didn't know about the db difference between the two techniques. Thanks fader 8, this is good to know. The "wrong" way might come in handy sometime if I wanted to expand my rides to be more dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trompetenick Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Hello fader8, I'm a little bit in doubt about this. The first way of manipulating automation, wich you say "looses" 10dB ratio would be a logarithmical change in value : musically correct The second operation preserves the numerical distances between nodes: musically incorrect. Do you agree? The other part I don't get is, why don't you just grab the horizontal line ( at -10.2 ) and drag it down? Your way will result in audio zapping ( according to ramp time. Right? ) A little puzzled. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fader8 Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 Hello fader8,I'm a little bit in doubt about this. The first way of manipulating automation, wich you say "looses" 10dB ratio would be a logarithmical change in value : musically correct The second operation preserves the numerical distances between nodes: musically incorrect. No. The decibel is already a logarithmic ratio of power, so to stay correct, the numerical ratio in dB needs to stay the same. If this were a voltage scale, that would be different. Your way will result in audio zapping ( according to ramp time. Right? )I usually am using the marquee tool this way for a small passage, but you can get away with it if you select quieter parts for your marquee points. Use responsibly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebop Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 I'm not getting 4 nodes by using the marquee swipe method here? am i missing ticking a preference box somewhere? i typically manually enter nodes to do these automation dips i get only 2 nodes in fader8's marquee method any advice appreciated thanks s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rounik Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I'm not getting 4 nodes by using the marquee swipe method here? am i missing ticking a preference box somewhere? i typically manually enter nodes to do these automation dips i get only 2 nodes in fader8's marquee method any advice appreciated thanks s Hey! So, first make sure you create a marquee selection area. Then, drag up/down on the automation line within the selection area and 4 nodes are created... 2 on each edge of the marquee selection... perhaps you're not zoomed in close enough to see them? (They are very close together) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebop Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 hey rounik! that was it! brilliant technique, and now i understand thank you !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.