MIDI - Control Surfaces

 

Note: Control surface support is not available in SONAR LE.

Figure 504. The Control Surfaces section

The Control Surfaces section allows you to enable as many control surfaces as you want to control with SONAR, and configure the control surfaces’ interfaces. You can also configure the WAI display (Where Am I display) and ACT indicators.

The Control Surfaces section contains the following fields and buttons:

Import ACT Data

You can use ACT with any automatable plug-in. You can create your own mappings by using the ACT Learn button, but because ACT Learn mappings are stored in XML files, you can also import XML data that contains predefined parameter mappings for certain plug-ins. These predefined parameter mappings provide generic “best guess” assignments between the controls on your surface, and the parameters in the plug-in, which gives you a starting point that you can customize by using the ACT Learn process.

The import feature makes it easy for users to share data, and will also allow you to download incremental updates when new plug-in mappings become available.

If you import ACT data for a certain plug-in, and you have already mapped some of the parameters in that plug-in, for each already-mapped plug-in, a dialog box asks you if you want to overwrite that plug-in's mapping. This lets you protect any parameter mappings that you've already done.

To see if any new ACT XML files are currently available, check the support pages at www.cakewalk.com.

 

See:

Importing ACT data

Add Button

Clicking this button opens the Controller/Surface Settings dialog, which lets you to add another control surface to the list.

Delete Button

Clicking this button deletes and disables a selected control surface from the list. You can re-enable it by clicking the Add button and selecting it from the drop-down menu.

Connected Controllers/Surfaces List

This is a list of all the control surfaces that are currently active and enabled in your project. The list has the following columns:

Controller/Surface column. This column lists the names of all the control surfaces that are currently active and enabled in your project.

In Port and Out Port columns. These columns list MIDI input and MIDI output drivers that each control surface uses to communicate with SONAR. You can click the drop-down arrow next to the name of each one to select a different driver.

ACT column. This column contains a check box for each enabled control surface that allows you to use ACT with each controller/surface. The property page for each controller/surface also has a check box to enable ACT, and this check box must also be enabled in order to use ACT.

WAI column. This column contains a check box for each enabled control surface that allows you to show or hide the WAI markers for each individual surface.

WAI color column. This column contains a drop-down menu for each enabled control surface that allows you to change the color of the WAI markers for each individual surface.

Refresh Frequency (milliseconds)

If you are experiencing sluggish UI responsiveness when using a control surface and playing back high CPU projects, you may want to reduce the control surface refresh frequency (increase the number of milliseconds). The valid range is 50-5000 milliseconds and the default value is 75.

Also, if you are using a control surface that is not bi-directional, the surface does not need to be refreshed at all and you can safely increase the value.

Note: This is the same setting as the CtrlSurfaceRefreshMS variable in Cakewalk.ini.

WAI Display

These check boxes show or hide the WAI markers in the Track view and/or the Console view.

For more information, see:

External devices

Controller/Surface Settings dialog

Control Strips Visible in

SONAR allows control surfaces to display all channel strips in a project, or only the channel strips that are visible in the Track view or Console view. The options are as follows:

Track View. The controller/surface matches the channel strips that are visible in the Track view.

Console View. The controller/surface matches the channel strips that are visible in the Console view.

All Strips. The controller/surface shows all channel strips in the project.

 

See also:

Preferences dialog

MIDI - Devices

MIDI - Instruments

MIDI - Playback and Recording

MIDI - Drum Map Manager (Advanced)