Hi John.

The automation will not play back unless that button is active. If the automation is supposed to play back without the button on, then my copy of MEP is not doing that. If I save a project, surely it should save it as I left it? The mixer doesn't even re-appear to remind you how it was last set up. If the mixer was left showing when the project was re-opened after saving and closing that would also help.

To my mind, either the automation once recorded should play back without the need to activate that button or the mixer settings should be saved along with the rest of the settings. Even the Track automation doesn't show unless that button is active, so if I sent the complete project to someone else on a collaborative project, how could they be aware of settings I made if none of it shows on opening or to expect it to play back the way it was set up?

I'd guessed as much about the BAK file John :-)

The BAK file did not only not save the project, but look at the template it produced. There is nothing like it within the templates section (Well partially there is, at a guess I would say it's the 'Title Template / Captions Basic / News' template, but what has been added to the blue bar?) and it's nothing I've created. That is only a minor niggle though.

The mixer behaviour is much more problematic for me as I may be working on several projects at various stages at any one time. Without the edited automation tracks showing upon opening It's possible that I may forget what I've already worked on or forget it needs activating.

On a separate note.

Experimenting with making my own transitions is so quick and easy, I'm loving trying but can't find how to produce a folder that appears with my transitions in alongside those already in MEP. Short of adding the folder's location to the 'Create Link for Folder' option.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . The automation will not play back unless that button is active. . . . .

If you mean the volume control in the mixer does not move in step with the volume curve without turning on Auto then this is correct - the volume of the audio still obeys the volume and/or balance curves you created using the Autoamation feature

As soon as you turn on Automation it will start recording again and, depending on where the timeline cursor is within the audio object while playing, the curve will be wiped from that point on expecting you to move the controls to create a new or new part of the curve.

Did you watch this tutorial on creating, saving and accessing a transition - the last section has the info you need?

HTH

John EB

@johnebaker

Hi john.

I'm sorry to correct you on this issue but the recorded curves are not wiped if left in record unless you hold the appropriate control knob or slider in place with the left click of a mouse. In fact releasing any control automatically places the control back into read mode. All parameters of a mix can be controlled via this method whether it is panning, volume, or one of the effects within the mixer. These are MIDI commands as far as I'm aware hence the movable blocks that appear in the effects control track that appears when active and the different colours produced to show which command line is which. Taking the record off results in the mixer not replicating previously automated movements of controls. In fact this is useful during mixing as you can't control more than one control at a time so repeated cycling of the project (or sections thereof) allows mixing to be adjusted channel by channel, effect by effect.

Thank you for the video on transitions. I hadn't seen it.

I will have a close look at it as I'm really getting into trying to create a library of my own I can use with confidence.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray,

Turn on Track Curve (Alt+K) if not already on. You should see the track curve, even after saving and restarting the project. When you play back, it should work, and if the Mixer is open, the slider should follow the volume changes - only for track curve, not object curve - with or without Automation being on. I'm using MEP 2019. When you reopen, by default, no A's are on in the Mixer.

I can turn on at least 2 tracks for automation and they work at the same time, but you can only move 1 slider at a time. I tried moving 2 using my touch screen.

John CB

Hi John.

Thanks for that. It works for playback, but only for track one.

I can't get that to work on multiple tracks, wheres keeping the record (Blue Auto) button shows and responds to every recorded movement on all tracks.

Sometimes when I record a music track I can export each part as an individual sound file to play in another project on another program to mix there or I may be adding sound from the recordings and mix individually for ambience.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . I'm sorry to correct you on this issue but the recorded curves are not wiped if left in record unless you hold the appropriate control knob or slider in place with the left click of a mouse . . . .

You are correct - when I tested this before posting previously as soon as I clicked the Auto button the volume curves were wiped - wished I had recorded it happening - now it is behaving as you are finding.

John EB

@johnebaker

Hi John.

Thank you for confirming the mixer behaviour. At least I know now it is how MEP is set up and not a random bug.

I would like the option of having that button's position recorded with the project save though,or for the mixer to be present on re-opening if the project is saved with it open as a reminder to re-engage the button before exporting a video.

I did read the manual on this but there is little mentioned in detail about the audio mixer abilities. Another thing I noted under audio was that the manual listed MIDI as an acceptable audio file type. That is also very odd as MIDI does not contain audio.

@CubeAce @CubeAce

Hi Ray and John,

I don't have MEP2020 but I tested VPX11.

1. Mixer automation on tracks 2 and 5
2. Saved, Closed, Reopened
3. Mixer closed, but track curves still on for 2 and 5
4. Opened Mixer, automation off
5. Turned on automation tracks 2 and 5, turned off and this turned off the track curves
6. Turned automation back on, track curves still there
7. Playback and played with automation, both curves, no problem
8. Saved, Closed, Reopened
9. Same as above.

Were the automation curves still there when you turned on automation in the Mixer?

Is MEP2020 doing something that VPX is not?

The only strange thing that I see is using Alt+K to turn track curves off and on. Select one track (object) Alt+K to turn off the curve, again to turn it on. Select the other track, Alt+K and it turns off the other track, not the track with the selected object. Right-click and selecting Display track curves gets the focus back to that track. Not a big problem.

John CB

@browj2

Hi John.

Yes that is the way MEP 2020 is working but try closing the project with neither of the tracks with curves selected and re-open. ALT +K then always opens the first track with curves written to it so other curves are on all other tracks with curves are ignored on playback. Only reactivating the Auto button on each track with curves works to reanimate tracks or show which tracks have been animated. That's potty.

The other down side is adding more audio tracks really slows down playback more than adding video tracks. I find that strange considering the relative file size of audio tracks. Enlarging audio buffers makes the problem of smooth playback even worse. I don't know if adding a separate audio card would fix that or not at this stage and if a card using a better latency interface would be selectable in the project's audio buffer selection section. I'm now trying to work on my first full on 4K project and I am finding the lack of a better graphics card now really effecting the smoothness of playback as it is constantly maxing out and I may have to resort to going back to using proxy files again.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . Only reactivating the Auto button on each track with curves works to reanimate tracks or show which tracks have been animated. That's potty. . . . .

Correct me if I am wrong, are you are expecting to see the same behaviour as a mixing desk automation when playing back recorded tracks and listening to the mix?

This would be a good feature to have the controls move during playback without turning on Automation again.

However, having Automation turned on automatically when you reload the project is not (IMO) desirable, in that it puts the mixer back into record mode again and, depending on where the timeline cursor is on the timeline, if any faders with Automation are moved they will overwrite any existing volume curve created in the previous session.

Are the Volume curve on tracks you have automated not turning on automatically so you can see what has been applied as shown in the image below?

Note: as you can see in the image above Automation can also be applied to an empty track

John EB

@johnebaker

Hi John.

Yes. everything you say is correct. I don't see that the saving the project as it's set up when closing down to be a problem but understand if I'm not seeing the automation curves when I re-open a project means that I would have to re-initialize the mixer settings. I don't have the same fear of touching mixer settings during this part of a project but I can understand others viewpoints and respect other views.

What I'm trying to get across is that if I shut down a project and then don't revisit it for some time I may forget what exactly I've done. Then if I have say 20 + tracks, I have to re-initialize each track to see if I have done anything in the mix. If either the control curves showed in the tracks of the timeline view or the mixer stayed in read, needing the auto button pressed to then get it to record when not active, and was the state I left the project in when I closed it, I wouldn't be mentioning any of this.

My workflow may well not be typical use, I acknowledge that coming from really only editing audio in DAW packages or working with stills and no audio, that has probably made my workflow a bit more unusual as my thinking processes may well be backwards compared to most peoples workflow.

From my viewpoint, the audio editing should be equal in flexibility as the video side and this problem has been an awkward kink in the process.

[Edit] I see now that MEP seems to have the same update as VPX. Will install later.

Ray.

@browj2, @CubeAce

Hi John,

Referring back one of your previous posts above:

. . . . I can turn on at least 2 tracks for automation and they work at the same time, but you can only move 1 slider at a time. I tried moving 2 using my touch screen. . . .

You can link the controls and adjust all at once - see this tutorial I have uploaded today.

BONUS - the method also works in Music Maker (Samplitude??)

Ray - that is good news, similarly linking controls is not mentioned in the manual.

John EB

@johnebaker

I'm beginning to realise there is a lot missing from the manual John.

That is good news and another thing to add to my MEP notebook.

I'm doing the same thing with Cubase as I've found I've forgotten a lot about how to get that to run smoothly as well. It took me ages to get MIDI and VST back working and get to hear an audio output from it with my M-Audio MIDI keyboard. I'm trying to build MIDI mixer maps as I go along to interact with parts of the program.

If there are common links between the MAGIX audio and video programs, it may be worth while reading the manual for the audio products. I would also be interested in the MIDI map within MEP and a way to communicate with it.

MIDI is mentioned in the MEP Premium specs but I can't find any further mention of it anywhere. I have plenty of MIDI tracks and maps to try to import. I may try one to see what happens.

I have updated to the new version of MEP but had no problems as far as I can tell that seemed to be happening with VPX.

My C: drive is not showing any signs of having much more data on it than before the update.

All of my library appears to be intact each time I open MEP and MEP was ready almost immediately upon updating. I just needed to re-download a few of the bought items from the shop. I wonder if internet speeds play a part in the ability of MEP to organise itself? I still have to register MEP each time I open it but otherwise it seems fine.

I've also had to start using proxy files again with the amount of tracks I'm using within projects using 4K (UHD) material to get smooth playback along with the effects being used.

My NVIDIA card seems to be the main bottleneck and slowing parts of MEP in both playback and exporting but it's coping. I really must invest in that program to reduce noise in low light footage that you suggested. I seem to be constantly pushing the envelope on what I can do as the capabilities for me expand within the program. Subsequently I have an hours worth of lower light to night time footage that looks grainy and would like to see if it can be cleaned up a bit.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray,

The update today for VPX seems to have resolved the issues with the Store, as the Audio tab is now populated all of the time it seems.

As for MIDI, it is not supported in MEP. The comparison chart on the Magix.com site shows that there is MIDI support for VPX, however, this is a bit misleading. VPX supports MIDI timecode (MTC). This allows MAGIX Video Pro X to be synchronized from external sources and lets it synchronize external sources. An example is synchronizing VPX with Samplitude using LoopBe1, I suppose.

John CB

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

I would guess the program you're referring to re noise etc. is NeatVideo. If so I would heartily endorse its output quality. Not cheap, and you will need the Pro version to handle your UHD footage; just make sure you get the Magix version.

Jeff

@johnebaker

I have just looked at the updated video John and left a comment.

I find I'm slow at reading and digesting the information at the same time. I had to keep stopping the video for my brain to catch up with the information and place it as an action before I could continue reading.

Have you lost the ability to record audio when screen recording John? I ask because I may have a solution as I had a similar problem a few weeks back.

@emmrecs

Hi Jeff.

Yes that's the one. I did try the trail but lost it when I rebuilt my system. I didn't have much use for it at the time but is now on my 'must have at some point' shopping list. Unfortunately, that list is growing at a faster rate than my ability to afford it as other day to day priorities have precedence on my finances 😞.

Still, something to aim for.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . On the master channel make sure that the Mastering Button is active and the mastering section itself is activated if only by applying the limiter. MEP then plays back all applied automation without needing to put each channel in record. . . .

Can you check you get the same behaviour as I do - turn off the Mastering and save the project. Restart MEP then:

1. create a new project and apply Automation, do not apply any Mastering or turn it on, save it and then play it back
    
2. load the first project project again and play it

In both cases I get the faders moving without having to turn anything on - see below - the track volume/balance curves must be visible.

John EB

@CubeAce

. . . .Have you lost the ability to record audio when screen recording John? . . . .

No - laryngitis !

John EB

@browj2

Hi John.

I could have sworn originally that I saw the MIDI information on the MEP Premium page under audio with o explanation but looking across the Magix site now I can't find that page anywhere. I have however found a new page I didn't look at before, not previously having much interest in VPX and Premium differences and found this.

Which is under audio editing. So what you say makes much more sense.

Thank you for the clarification.

Ray.

@johnebaker

Hi John.

I did try to respond to your query at the same time as I answered John EB's but the site went down.

Surprisingly I had the same results as yourself. Now I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I know it's possible to right click a track and reset the curves and possibly I could undo individual tracks effects buttons to turn the automation off (not sure that will work, haven't tried that yet) but not sure which would be best to do if I wanted to listen back to an unmixed track. Maybe all of this is not in the manual to save confusion 😀.

I know sometimes I wonder why I bring these things up in the first place.

Sorry to hear about the voice. I was wondering if you had internal mixer problems when recording your tutorials as I found that Windows 10 by default had turned off the internal mix channel to the Realtek audio sound module of my motherboard. I had to initialise it myself to get any sound recorder within Windows to record a sound produced from another program. In my instance. Trying to use MEP to record a Cubase session so you could hear the mix-down.

As an aside. while looking at VPX specs and requirements it specifies a separate sound card. Yes? I assume because of an issue with latency or buffer problems using an inboard RealTek one?

Ray.