Macros Revisited

@getdunne, @pluginguru

Now that we have 32 Macro knobs, I started thinking of other features that might make it more flexible.

1) I have several macro definition preset files that map the macro knobs within a particular VST instrument to a corresponding set of Unify macros. Most VSTs have 4, 6 or 8 macros (although Analog Lab has 20!) so frequently these get assigned to Unify's macros 1-8. (I suspect most people's presets only use Page 1 (Macros 1-8) and most other pages go unused.

It would be convenient to allow the user to select where to load a macro definition preset. This could be implemented by adding an 'Alt' function to the "Load Macro Definitions Preset..." in the Macros Ops button. If the user holds down Alt while choosing this menu item then, after picking the preset file, a dialog would let them choose which page (1-4) to load the presets into.

Or it could be a little more sophisticated and let the user choose the starting number (1-32) and have Unify assign the macros incrementally from there.

Append/Overwrite radio buttons on the dialog box would allow the choice of adding to or replacing any linked parameters that may already exist for a macro knob.

2) The ability to float (undock) the macros and transport controls into separate windows as suggested before would be very helpful. Letting us customize the layout of the knobs would be even better. For example, one of my controller has a 4x4 grid of knobs while the other has 1x8.

3) Being able to change the macro's graphic from a knob to a slider might be nice for those, like John, who use a Maschine Jam or Korg nano that use faders instead of knobs.

4) Allow us to change the macro knob behavior from "Jump" to "Pickup" or "Scale" so mapped values don't change drastically as soon as we touch a knob on the controller.

5) Send MIDI feedback from Unify back to the controller so that its LEDs dynamically change to reflect what the value is in Unify. Many controllers allow setting the LEDs by sending the same MIDI CC# and value but on a different channel. 

Cheers,

Karl-Franz 🙂