wish list update - gee, what's even left??

[TotalSonic]

Thought I'd start a thread here on what people would like to see in the upcoming versions of SAWStudio. Really for me the vast majority of all my desires have been already taken care of in the past year but the following things would definitely be very welcomed!

* automation of loading VSP & DXP presets - This for me is my #1 desire for a new feature at this point. Since VST and DX automation is such a bear to program it seems that the ability to have the loading of SAW's own VSP or DXP preset files as an automateable item in the multitrack timeline would streamline a huge amount of end users needs for effects automation. Currently you can still automate a DX or VST effects setting change by just loading multiple instances of the plugin to one track and bypassing them off and on - but this sometimes is not that elegant to actually work with. I think VSP & DXP automated loading would open a ton of possibilties without having to get as deeply involved with all the MS & Steinberg cludgy coding.

* I'm pretty sure you mentioned this was planned for an update already - but ability to build mix to seperate soundfiles for each track without having to have additional output devices loaded would be really fantastic.

* ability to load mono files to either L or R of a stereo track. Often I receive mono L & R tracks from PT workstations but wish to process them as stereo and not dual mono. While Rail's freeware "Interleaver" does a great job of batch conversions for this the ability to have these things changeable on the fly and without having to write more soundfiles is very appealing in terms of getting the quickest possible work flow. I think a couple commands in the file menu that would in effect "open mono sound file and add to left channel of multitrack" and "open mono sound file and add to right channel of multitrack" would take care of this need very well.

* Layers View - this had been mentioned before - but I think it would be awesome to have an additional view where you could expand a single track to display all of its layers in a similar way as the multitrack view allowing for quick visual referencing of all regions on all layers (and hopefully also use multitrack commands to copy/move the regions between each layer) . I think this would come in mighty handy for things like editing complex vocal comps quite a bit quicker.

* optional remapping of ctrl-< to ctrl-z and ctrl-> to ctrl-shift-z. Basically the ctrl-< gesture is awkward to me in that if I keep my right hand on my mouse I have to move my left hand to what is an awkward position for myself on the keyboard - whereas ctrl-z is a pretty easy gesture to make. I think the ctrl-< is also a very unintuitive key combo for new users as the vast vast majority of apps out there already use ctrl-z for undo. I think making this a menu option would allow users to either continue with the current way or set it up so that the undo command is where they kind of expect it to be.

* key commands for Open Soundfile and Open Soundfile and add to MT. With the Library view these aren't that important - still for some people (including myself) this would help to streamline workflow. I should note that I've set up this item and the one above using Perfect Keyboard Lite - but it'd be nicer to not have to have an app running in the background in order to effect these basic requests.

* Cue Sheet Import - the idea is to be able to open a .cue file and have it automatically place all the linked soundfiles at their proper timing points in the multitrack - in which would allow for a nice way to re-edit already existing cue images. This would be definitely useful for me in my mastering work - admittedly not as important to others - but I think it would help out all the users of the JMS CSG.

* Export to AIFF. I know there are a number of freeware apps that can convert wav to aiff (and have 2 of them on my box) but since we can do direct import of aiff without having to write new files I'd figure it'd be worth asking for the ability to write Built Mix files as aif as for those of us who often have to create files for Mac workstations this would save a little time and space.

* For MWS: For my own way of working both a Score and Loop/Pattern views are a must have in any midi sequencer so if these were added to MWS I would definitely hop on board with a lot of enthusiam. I think there are a lot of others working in film scoring or with loop oriented musics such as hip-hop or electronica who would agree.

* ReWire - yup - I know I'm beating a dead horse here and I'm aware that:
1) Propellarheads have done everything they could to make this a totally clumsy interface
2) that integrating it totally drags SAW's performance down -
but I would eventually love to still have it as a plugin option - and judging by requests I think others would still too. Based on recent remarks I know I'll probably never see this implemented - but figured it doesn't hurt to ask once again.

Now - if only I could find a midi controllable espresso machine I'd be able to have SAW handle making sure there was a nice steaming cup of java ready for me each morning too!

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[AudioAstronomer]

Cue sheet import would absolutely, positively ROCK. Wow. yes.

and layers view too

[MMP]

A few things I would like:

1. Realtime counter that could be triggered during record for timing VO takes. I think this made the master list already.

2. A way to stretch region automation at the same time that I am stretching region boundries...essentially tying a region boundry move to a marked automation boundry move equal to the region size.

3. Keyboard shortcut to turn video overlay on and off.

4. Automatic library view refresh after save mixfile and other non-playback data writing. I often use library views to quickly compare file volumes and EQ, often set to the directory I am writing mixes to.

5. When doing sound design, I often use the varispeed to marked end command. I would love a function that would do this across multiple regions.

6. Lock automation to region edge. Many times my only automation moves are at the beginning and ends of regions. I would love to be able to lock these setting so that if I alt drag, they stay at the beginning or end.

7. I use the marked region automation mode a lot. (the one where if you have a marked area, new automation is written to the beginning of the mark, and automation equal to the previous automation is written to the end of the mark). I would love this to work on plugins by being carried through to the API, for settings and plugin bypass buttons.

8. I would like the windows clipboard function to work in SawStudio for audio, as my sound effects databasing program could use it, and also VocAlign.

9. A command on the Control track menu that would convert Cue marks to "K" keep region commands. I use cue marks for numbering VO takes, and it would be nice to create seperate regions for each take automatically.

I only mention all of this seeming SS 4.0 is looming in the future.
Thanks for listening Bob. I know you will take just the best of our ideas and put them in your product.

Regards,

MM

[Jay Q]

2. A way to stretch region automation at the same time that I am stretching region boundries...essentially tying a region boundry move to a marked automation boundry move equal to the region size.

6. Lock automation to region edge. Many times my only automation moves are at the beginning and ends of regions. I would love to be able to lock these setting so that if I alt drag, they stay at the beginning or end.

Either/both would be great.

Jay

[Carl G.]

I echo MM:
1. Realtime counter
5. When doing sound design, I often use the varispeed to marked end command. I would love a function that would do this across multiple regions.
6. Lock automation to region edge. *option only
7. marked region automation....to work on plugins for settings and plugin bypass buttons.
9. A command on the Control track menu that would convert Cue marks to "K" keep region commands. (clever!)

However, I would vote against Steve's suggestion of Cntr Z for undo. I like the more practical 'lesser than/greater than current level'. Why MS chose Cntrl Z baffles me.

Gee... just when Yura thought that guys were finished with the suggestions... along comes this thread for Bob! They do such great work already!!
But that is so awesome that they listen to suggestions. My gratitude.

[TotalSonic]

However, I would vote against Steve's suggestion of Cntr Z for undo. I like the more practical 'lesser than/greater than current level'. Why MS chose Cntrl Z baffles me.

Hi Carl -
If you noticed in my first word in front of this suggestion was "optional"!! Similar to the menu option to either have mouse wheel scroll up and down the multitrack hot track or zoom in and out, the best solution to me would have the end user be able to choose which one they would like to use.

Anyway - a lot of people (including myself) have a 15+ year history of just automatically going for ctrl-z for undo since nearly every app adopted the MS (& Apple too!) "standard". Even though I have used SAW for 11 years now I still find I sometimes find myself reaching for the wrong key combo. I think the vast majority of brand new users do too.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Jesse Skeens]

Speaking of undos is it normal that undos in SAW seem to take a while? I know its essentialy loading up the song again right? Would be nice for smaller edits to not have to wait, if anything though it makes me more careful now when I do edits

[Bob L]

The undos, even on complex sessions, should be pretty much instantaneous. If yours take a long time, then something may be up with your disk access or you are using certain plugins that take a while to initialize.

Bob L

[Jesse Skeens]

The undos, even on complex sessions, should be pretty much instantaneous. If yours take a long time, then something may be up with your disk access or you are using certain plugins that take a while to initialize.

Bob L

It's probably some of the 3rd party plugins.

[conleec]

"However, I would vote against Steve's suggestion of Cntr Z for undo. I like the more practical 'lesser than/greater than current level'. Why MS chose Cntrl Z baffles me..."

Baffles me, too. But, as was already mentioned, EVERYBODY knows that if they hit CTRL-Z it will undo. Plus you can easily do it with your left hand, while leaving the right hand on the mouse. If you're a southpaw, well, tough luck

I'm all about the option of using CTRL-Z for undo.

I also like the idea of locking automations to region edges (if desired) so if the edges are dragged, the automation follows.

I'm still so new, I don't feel qualified to make feature requests, but if anything comes to me, I'll speak up, I guess. I'll be working this coming week for the first time exclusively on SAW doing some sound work for a very small feature I just locked picture on tonight. I'm very excited to finally be doing some "real" audio work, instead of just poking around in the software.