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Automation in Samplitude and Sequoia can be used for the following processes:
Track, Master and Surround Automation.
Object Automation and Wave Project Automation.
I'm going to begin by concentrating on Track Automation.
Although much of what I say will apply to the other types of automation as well.
You can use Track Automation to automate the following parameters:
Volume, Panorama,
Surround, Auxiliary Sends, EQ and Vst Plug-ins.
The Magix internal FX Insert plug-ins are not automatable at the time of making this tutorial.
You can input Track Automation either by drawing in the automation curve using the mouse tools.
Or by moving an on screen control with the mouse and recording the movement in real-time.
Or by using an external controller to record automation moves in real-time.
For this particular tutorial I'm going to input automation values by using the mouse tools.
I’m using the Record Workspace layout which I’ve rearranged slightly.
This gives me the relevant mouse tools I need.
First select the track you want automate.
I'm selecting track one.
There are two buttons below the Track Fader for toggling between Track Automation or Object Automation.
Make sure the button labelled "Track" is highlighted.
You can also do this from the Automation menu.
To activate the Volume Automation left click on the Volume button to the left of the horizontal volume fader.
This button will then turn yellow and a yellow automation curve will be overlaid on the track.
You can also activate Volume from the automation menu.
The initial position of this volume automation curve will be based on the fader setting for the track.
The current fader position is at 0db.
This equates to the curve position being centred horizontally on the object.
Moving the track fader will adjust the curve position.
Pushing the fader to the top gives you a volume increase of +6db.
At this point the volume curve will move to the top of the object.
To edit the curve select "Volume Curve Mouse Mode" which is the yellow pencil icon.
Position the pencil, left click and a volume automation point or node will be created.
Left clicking along the timeline will create a volume ramp between those two nodes based on the current position of the yellow pencil.
If you left click and drag you can draw in your own volume curves freehand.
Holding down Shift and left clicking creates a single node.
You can then make adjustments without creating extra automation points.
I'm hiding the volume curve for a moment.
To activate Pan Automation left click on the "Pan" button to the left of the horizontal fader.
Or select Pan from the Automation menu.
This time select the white automation curve pencil.
I’m hiding the waveforms to make things clearer.
You can then draw in your pan automation in a similar fashion to volume automation.
Either left click to create a single automation point.
Or left click and drag to draw in your own shape.
The Shift modifier will again let you create a single node .
You can then adjust the position without creating extra automation points.
All automation curves will be overlaid on the active track and there are no automation lanes.
Also it's not possible to create Bezier curves in this current version.
Now when I press play you can see the Volume and Pan controls being moved by the automation curves I created.
To turn off Volume or Pan just left click on the appropriate button and the curves will disappear.
This means that Automation will be disabled during playback.
As soon as you press the buttons again automation will be active once more.
You can also activate/deactivate Volume or Pan by clicking on the automation menu.
Or by using the hot keys.
You can also hide automation.
This will hide all automation curves but automation will still remain active.
If you click on the Automation menu again you will see three menu entries to do with curve selection.
These are :
"Show only selected curve".
"Show unselected curves (not selectable)".
And "Show unselected curves (selectable)" which is the default setting.
You can recognise the selected curve because it's showing the nodes.
"Show unselected curves (selectable)" is the current setting.
So if I click on the unselected curve it becomes active.
As I’m using "Draw Automation Curve Mode" a new point will be added when activating that curve.
"Curve Move and Grab Mode" will activate the curve without adding a new node.
"Object and Curve Mode" will do the same along with selecting the object.
I find you need to aim accurately when selecting curves this way.
Choosing “Show only selected curves” will hide all unselected curves.
This is useful if you want work on one curve without being distracted by the others.
"Show unselected curves (not selectable)".
Leaves the unselected curves faintly in the background for reference only.
But they will not be editable.
These menu items can also be found by right clicking on the Volume button.
This opens an extended automation menu.
You can also activate curves from this menu.
You can also access this extended menu by right clicking below the track fader.
This area has various buttons and horizontal fader.
These are all "hot spots" for right clicking to open this extended menu.
You can delete a single automation point by left clicking to highlight and then pressing "Delete".
Using the Shift modifier and selecting the first and last desired automation points will select all in between.
Press "Delete" to remove.
I'll undo that.
To delete the currently active automation curve completely, open the Automation menu again.
Then under "Edit curve", select "Delete".
To delete all automation curves for the active track select “Delete all curves”.
I've created my own custom keyboard shortcuts for these two menu items.
If you draw in automation curves by hand, some of the nodes may be unnecessary.
So if you open the Automation menu there is a command called "Thin Out".
This will thin out or remove any unnecessary automation points.
This is also useful for thinning out dense automation passages caused by external controllers.
A useful mouse mode for automation is "Curve Move and Grab Mode".
If you position the cursor directly over the curve in will turn into a small finger.
Then left click to add an automation point and adjust accordingly.
Positioning the cursor directly over an existing node changes the cursor to a cross.
You can then drag it to a new position or delete the selected node.
You can use this mode to "lasso select" automation points and then move them together.
Or you can delete the selected points if needed.
There is also "Object and Curve Mouse Mode".
This serves a dual purpose giving you the ordinary object selection.
Plus the ability to insert automation points.
Moving the cursor over an existing curve will turn the arrow into a finger.
Similar to "Curve Move and Grab Mode" without the grab.
Pressing the hyphen modifier will temporarily switch to Curve Move and Grab Mode.
Which allows you to lasso select automation points for moving or deleting.
It's worth pointing out that when "Universal Mouse Mode" is activated you can also insert automation points.
Place the mouse over the curve and double click to insert.
Double click again to delete.
Or you can adjust vertically or horizontally.
As normal you can Shift select multiple points.
When using Universal Mouse Mode.
Range Mode.
Or Object Mouse mode.
Pressing the hyphen modifier will temporarily switch to Curve Move and Grab mode.
You need to keep this modifier depressed while using this mode.
So this is a quick way to switch from your preferred mouse mode into automation editing mode.
When adding or moving automation points it’s useful to have "Tooltips" enabled.
They are usually turned on by default, although I’ve had them disabled for parts of this tutorial.
But if they are not enabled the press Y to open the System Options and go to the General Tab.
Make sure the Tooltip checkbox is ticked.
Now when I add or move an automation point the tooltip will show the dB level and time position.
To make finer adjustments press the Shift modifier.
This will allow you to adjust using finer values, the finest being 0.01db.
It's also worth noting that the Shift modifier constrains left/right horizontal movement when adjusting automation points.
If you press Y and click on the General tab.
There is a checkbox called “ Use snap for automation curve points”.
Enabling this setting affects movement of automation points.
This doesn’t affect newly created points.
But if you move a point using either Universal Mode,
Curve Move and Grab Mode or Object and Curve Mode.
The automation point will snap to the grid setting.
The grid is set to 1/4 at the moment.
Notice when I move an automation point, it snaps to this one quarter grid setting.
If I change the snap resolution you can see that the node snaps to this new resolution.
As usual you can use the Alt modifier to temporarily disable snapping.
Take note that "Draw Volume" and "Draw Automation" mouse modes are not affected by this setting.
You can copy an automation curve to another track by doing the following:
Make sure the curve you want a copy is active.
I'm activating Volume from the menu.
Then under "Edit curve" select "Copy".
Select the track you want a copy to.
Enable that automation parameter and select "Paste" from the automation edit menu.
I've added my own keyboard shortcuts to speed up this process.
You can also copy objects together with Track Automation.
To do this make sure you have "Link Curves to Objects" activated from the toolbar.
Select the object you want a copy.
Then Ctrl left click drag to the desired position.
The objects will then be copied along with the automation to the new location.
Copy & Pasting objects along with Automation Works is slightly different way.
Make sure you're using Range Mouse Mode or Universal Mouse Mode first.
Check you still have "Link curves to objects" enabled.
Now draw a range over the objects you want to copy.
Then either go to the "Edit" menu and select "Copy" or use one of the shortcuts.
Place the cursor at the desired position and "Paste".
The objects including automation will now be copied to this new location.
If you want to delete objects along with automation.
Draw a range over the objects and press delete.
If you want to remove a section of automation but keep the objects do the following:
Draw a range a over the section you want to delete.
Then go to the top Automation menu and under "Delete Curve Points".
Choose the type of curve you want to remove.
I'm choosing pan.
A dialogue box will then appear.
Press the "Range" button and the pan curve for that range will be deleted.
Take note that this method only works on a per-track basis.
To delete automation over multiple tracks you can always use "Curve Move and Grab Mode".
Make sure the curves are active for those tracks.
Volume this case.
It's probably also worth ticking “Show only selected curves” as well.
Now lasso select the curve points you want to delete.
Then press "Delete".