Solo Play

[Nunz]

I have asked about this in the general forum..and i have played with the system for a while to try and find it...but it doesn't appear to exist.

I want to be able to 'quickly' play ONLY the audio on the currently selected track....without having to 'press' a solo button with the mouse...or select specific clips.

My suggestion is to replace the 'play backwards' command (cntrl spacebar...does anyone USE this?) with 'solo play'. This would engage the 'solo' button on the selected track and then play back the edl. When the playback stopped the solo button would disengage...so kind of a momentary solo?

Please someone tell me if this function already exists...because I can't find it...otherwise.....how about sneaking it into 4.1 (final candidate)!!

thanks guys...great product

cheers

nunz

[benoit]

Hey Nunz,

Two things:
- you might assign any shortcut to a specific "solo track xxx"- function in the shortcut editor. But I think that it is not enough for you!
- you want to be able to solo any audio on the selected track with a simple shortcut. This would mean that you'll have to select this track at some point = one mouseclick anyway.
Soloing the track you need in the usual way = one mouseclick too!
So what would be the ergonomic advantage of doing it the way you describe it? It would only make sense if you edit very intensively for a while on a single track and want to listen back & forth in the context of the whole project with an absolute minimalistic handling (when I do this, I use the "play selection" function, wich allows me to work very fast in a very precise way). Is it what you want to do?

Benoit

[Nunz]

Hi Benoit...

Ok here are some examples of where this is VERY useful.

Say you are working on a TV commercial (we do a lot of that here)..and you have 15 tracks of audio in your project. You wish to listen to the music and edit it.

You select the music tracks (say trk 9&10).

Now in order to hear them in solo, you will need to make a third selection to press the solo button on either each track or on the mixer. Initially this is fine....but as you fine tune your edits and wish to hear the audio in the 'mix' (ie with all the other audio)...you need to unselect the solo mode for each track and then play.

In your method of using the 'play selected' mode (numeric + 3) this kind of works...however if you have some audio selected that you wish to edit....but wish to hear the track either side of it, you need to select more audio than you wish to edit, to simply audition the track....or use the solo buttons..more clicking!!

My philosophy has always been that using the mouse is like having one arm tied behind your back. We try to use 'on screen' buttons as little as possible.
We have been using our Sonic Systems with multi-button track balls...and they have over 30 specific commands mapped to them....so our engineers can quickly access the 30 most used commands WITHOUT lifting their hands off the keyboard or track ball.

This is a VERY efficient way to work.

Relying on the mouse as your sole 'pointer' means needlessly 're-selecting' elements of your edl and re-selecting elements for editing.

For example, say you have a track with 30 sfx (say footsteps) on them..and you wish to change the position of 1 of them....

This is how it works CURRENTLY in Pyramix.

Firstly, select the track and then solo it. You then play the edl to watch the sync issue. You determine that the 3rd footstep is out of sync, you then select the offending SFX and nudge it a frame or 2...you then play the edl...all is well.....so now to hear it in the mix again, you move the mouse to the 'solo' button and unsolo the track.

Listening to it in the mix you realise that there is another footstep that now looks out of sync (happens all the time!)...so you have to re-solo the channel again etc.

If we use the numeric +3 shortcut, we would then be constantly selecting the SFX we want to edit and then the SFX we wish to hear in solo....lots of mouse moving and VERY innefficient.....again, like having one hand behind your back.

With my proposed alternative it would go like this....

You select the track with the SFX and then simply hold the control key (or any other key really!) down while hitting the spacebar. This would play that track in solo.....you then select the clip you wish to edit...make your edit....then hit cntrl spacebar again to audition it in solo (keeping your clip selected if you need to make any further adjustments)....once you are happy with it, simply press the spacebar to hear it all together again.

The advantage of this is that you can keep ONLY the clip you are editing selected while auditioning the track in solo (not possible with numeric+3) and allows you to switch between hearing your total mix and the single track....without having to move the mouse AT ALL!! Wohooooo!!

Ok...so maybe I'm an efficiency freak...but I think this is a great way to work and I can't think of a better way...so please if there is a better way (using markers perhaps?) let me know!

Cheers and much thanks for your great input!

ciao

nunz

[benoit]

Hey Nunz,

I understand - makes a lot of sense.

Did you already mail this to Dominique Brulhard?

Benoit

[Jakob Händel]

Hi Nunz!
I just created a macro which does (if I got you right) exactly what you want.

This is my appraoch:
open macros window
name new macro (eg sonic solo)
fill macro with:
Selection: Select clip(s) under cursor
Internal Machine: play selection
open keyboard shortcut window
hit ctrl+space
assign Macro: sonic solo
That's all

Tell me if you're happy.

Regards,
Jakob

[Nunz]

Nice try Jacob...but no..it's not what i'm after!! And no Benoit..i haven't sent ot to Dominique...but i will today!

From what I understand, the macro you have made does the same as the numeric + 3 command....ie play selected clips?

Is this right?

What I am trying to do is have a keyboard command that accesses the 'solo button' on the 'track'...this is so i can keep whatever selections and cursor/mouse positions EXACTLY as they are (so i can quickly re-edit the selected clip if necescary) and 'solo play' the whole 'track'....not just the selected clip(s).

Your method would mean (if i understand it correctly) would mean i would 'select all the clips' i want to solo...and then play them?

Close, but no cigar!!...but thanks for trying!!

I will email Dominique with this suggestion (although, isn't that what this part of the forum for?) and we'll see what happens!

cheers

nunz

[phaseboy]

I too wish there was a keyboard track solo and play feature as you're describing - just don't take the play backwards feature away! I do actually use it...I do a lot of finnicky classical editing, and find that certain things are easy to hear when I play across an edit backwards.

I'm also a former sonic veteran, and as much as I love sonic...am thrilled with my new pyramix set-up.

Cheers

[Nunz]

Hey Phaseboy!

No...don't take AWAY the playbackwards thing....it just seems to me that the 'cntrl-play' combination should be assigned to something that is used REALLY regularly! Perhaps map the play backwards to somewhere else?

I agree, Pyramix is a great new bit of kit...i can't wait to be doing all of my work on it!

lets hope the 'powers that be' are listening.... : )

ciao

nunz

[Fred FINAND]

Hey guys, I found the solution :

Make a shortcut for "Internal machine, Play selection" or Active machine, play selection"
Till few betas, it plays the selection in solo !

It works where ever the cursor is and don't change its position.

[Nunz]

Hi Fred

This does just what it says...play SELECTION. I am trying to find a way to solo play a 'track'.

For example, if i am editing a single bar of music, and i want to play the previous 2 bars in solo, i need to zoom out, select what i wish to play and then play it!

It is a minor inconvenience....but it would be sooo nice to be able to simply solo the 'track' with a key stroke and not have to use the mouse.

It seems to me a 'relatively simple' addition....the code already exists to solo the track using the button on the track....all i want is the ability to map this to a keystroke.

thanks for the info though!

ciao

nunzio