With the release of PT8, DCommand users can now open plug ins on the channel strips, just like DControl owners. This cool not only for general work in the “Mix window” state, but gives enormous customisation power when you start to map things inside a custom group. Check out the video:

Custom Group Plugin Mapping with PT8 on DCommand

I’ve removed the assignment matrix video as due to Xmas gremlins it was pointed out to me that it stopped about half way through! I’ll repost that again shortly.

Meanwhile here’s a look at the new way to map plugins with PT8. Each plugin can have multiple maps now and this feature is not just for ICON users but anyone with any Digi surface!

PT8 Plug in Mapping from Brent Heber on Vimeo.

Introduction to Custom Faders from Brent Heber on Vimeo.

Last video I went into detail with Custom Fader “Plug in” mode and how to map your plugs onto the fader the way you like them. Due to a few client requests, this video goes back to the beginning and explains the other 3 Custom Fader Modes:
Custom Groups
Pro Tools Groups
Track type/Masters

Ive also started to upload an awful lot of material from last year’s Workflow tour with Scott, going into A LOT of detail about file based workflows and also looking at Field Recorder workflows. Having a fw technical difficulties currently, I suspect due to the durations, but hope to overcome that this week. Stay tuned!

OK, first, here’s a video explaining what Plug in maps is about….

Now you’ve watched the video, a few extra notes. The “maps” that you create of plug ins all get added into a file kept on your CPU. Thats a *.PIO file, and they can be imported and exported from your ICON from the soft key section.

Why would you want to do this? Well, there are alot of plugs out there that aren’t EQ or Dyn and consequently wont map to your centre section. As a result, all your other plugs will come up slightly differently when you focus them into the custom fader section. why not map them for some consistency?  Input and output levels always in the same spot? Reverbs mapped down similarly, so its only the character/timbre of them that changes, but you drive them the same…there are alot of options here.

SO, you have your pio file, and its how you access your plugs, put it on a thumb drive and take it with you to another ICON studio and there you go! You can import it and youre driving their system the way you like to!

If you dont move around alot, then I guess its not a big deal, apart from backing it up for redundancy – last thing you want is to have a fantastic detailed map file for hundreds of plugs lost because you had to reinstall your OS…

Last thought on the topic, when a pio file is made, it seems to take a snapshot of all the installed plugs on your system. Consequenty its not representative of your map of a single plug in, but rather of ALL plugs on your rig. Why is this important? Well, what if you want to find a map that you used to use…so you import that old pio file into your current rig, and you have your old map for that plug in…problem is, you may have created new maps since that file was backed up, and on those plug ins that previously had no map, the default state will have copied over on top of your maps, putting EVERY installed plugin back to its state…

So its NOT incremental, its a system state file – so beware if you intend to tinker with it! If you think of these files as system snapshots taken in series, getting more complex over time, then you should be fine.

To import and export the files, its in your preferences menu, 4 or 5 pages deep.

More “Custom Fader” goodness coming soon…