select on launch via MIDI

[supster]

I know I'm ranting and maybe being a bit of a tool, but I did at least get a response from Dave Hill Jr. at Ableton, which is all I ever wanted, a simple "yes,we reconize the problem and are working on it":

good, this is what i figured. kinda knew it had to be a lot more involved than it looks on the surface or it would have been fixed by now.

trust me, nobody was ignoring you before, but when you started raving like a madman and practically foaming at the mouth about it i figured somebody ought to say something ... hahaha ....
.

[astar]

That's cool, at least someone got a response!

[quandry]

trust me, nobody was ignoring you before, but when you started raving like a madman and practically foaming at the mouth about it i figured somebody ought to say something ... hahaha ....
.

I wasn't quite foaming at the mouth, just a bit anxious after having had this in the betas along with all of the new features and resizable tracks which I really need...Also, since 4 didn't have this, and now 5 doesn't, it seemed like a trend or choice, not a bug or problem....glad to know it'll be back.

Ryan

[rab]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. The recent post about Kid Beyond using MIDI translator made me realize that perhaps a work-around is possible using keyboard mapping to trigger slots, instead of MIDI mapping. Set up a set so that different keys on the computer keyboard trigger clip slots. If the clip is selected when launched by the keyboard shortcut, then we have a viable workaround. We can use MIDI translator to turn MIDI messages into keystrokes, which will in turn trigger the slot. Result: select on MIDI launch (for all effective purposes).

We already have to use MIDI translator to set up the "Delete" key press anyhow, so this is just a bunch of extra setup needed one time (annoying yes, but if it works, it works).

So it all depends on whether select on launch works when using a keyboard shortcut.

[supster]

We can use MIDI translator to turn MIDI messages into keystrokes, which will in turn trigger the slot. Result: select on MIDI launch (for all effective purposes).
).

So it all depends on whether select on launch works when using a keyboard shortcut.

no:

i use Bome currently to remap m-audio trigger finger pads (which are midi notes) to keyboard keys, which in turn trigger the slots in session view using keyboard mapping.

i can have a clip playing in Track 1 - then use trigger finger to fire a clip in Track 2.

the clip in Track 2 will fire, but the clip will not be 'selected': ie., the clipview still shows the clip waveform and controls for Track 1, not Track 2.

to do addtional operations on the currently selected clip, i need to reach for my trackball and manually select it ... only then will i be able to work with that clip or any other controls i have mapped to clip parameters.

this is the problem.
.

[borg]

glad to read the abe's seem to be working on this small yet important feature.

(reply just to add some pressure )

[quandry]

Word, select on launch ONLY works with a mouse click--no midi, no keystroke mappings, ONLY the mouse. Kid apparently is using 5 (see harmony-central thread on 5), but doesn't mind not being able to delete flubbed clips--thats ballsy, but I guess a bit less gets lost in translation when beat-boxing versus siending signals from your brain to your hands to play a bass, guitar, drums, or keys. Looking forward to getting this back...

Ryan

[astar]

Actually, there is ONE way to select clips using the qwerty keyboard

If you have the clips grid in focus you can navigate on clips using the arrow keys on your keyboard and this will select the clips as well.. this way you can actually use bomes to translate from midi command to the arrow keys so you can navigate and select clips on the grid.

Also Alt + UP/DOWN (for PC) will switch focus between different views.

Still VERY tedious but at least it takes the mouse out of the equation!

cheers
Astar

[subdrum47]

NEED IT!!!

[rab]

Damn, there really is NO viable workaround. Navigating through clips using the arrow keys (or MID I controllers mapped to arrow keys) just isn't going to cut it.

I am glad to hear that they are working on it, but:

- My inquiries directly to Ableton about this have gone unanswered (I am a paying customer for live 3, 4, AND 5 - and I was an active 5 tester - but I don't count!?)

- We still have no ETA for when this will be available again (Live 6, over 1 year? Or a small update in a couple of months?)

[quandry]

Damn, there really is NO viable workaround. Navigating through clips using the arrow keys (or MID I controllers mapped to arrow keys) just isn't going to cut it.

I am glad to hear that they are working on it, but:

- My inquiries directly to Ableton about this have gone unanswered (I am a paying customer for live 3, 4, AND 5 - and I was an active 5 tester - but I don't count!?)

- We still have no ETA for when this will be available again (Live 6, over 1 year? Or a small update in a couple of months?)

It is true, no timetable, not many answers other than the one I got by emailing Dave Hill JR. at ableton directly pointing him to my concerns on the issue at the harmony-central thread. It is good to know they are working on it for sure at least. Best I can guess having been an avid user since the beginning of version 2--it was perfectly implemented up til 4, where "select on launch" via midi was completely disabled as it continues to be in 5.

As we know, 4 brought midi support, and a major shift in the paradigm. My best guess is that something about the code and the way 4 works made this seemingly simple feature much more complicated, and for the sake of the release schedule and stability, they had to leave it out. They caught some heat for this ommision when 4 came out, so the problem was laid clear by forum users. The fact that it was brought back during the 5 betas, then removed after a short time indicates that they recognized the need for it, tried to re-impliment it, and ran into problems great enough that they decided to scrap it yet again. I think this feature, which is apparently difficult for ableton to make work properly in Live since 4, has little chance of making it into 5, just my opinion, of course I would love it if it made it back sooner. But the fact that they had it in the betas and removed it seem to indicate that ableton gave up on this feature for 5, sadly.

I hope the lack of a response to our inquires is because they have their programmers slaving away to get it back in, because it is needed for MANY reasons. Near the top of that list of reasons is the midi control of the new clip transport, and the fact that one set of controls is used to control any and all clips--to implement this midi control that has so long been called for, but to then put the mouse back into the equation as a REQUIREMENT for selecting a clip is obviously not stage-friendly, and seems counter to the whole performanced-based concept of Live. They have to realize that this is a major shortcoming, I've got to give the benefit of the doubt that this is not an oversight, but a difficult programming problem that will eventually be overcome, hopefully soon.

Ryan

[mike holiday]

"select on launch" should be "select on launch"
and not "select on mouse click"

!

[quandry]

"select on launch" should be "select on launch"
and not "select on mouse click"

!

ZING!

[nyc_mark]

Just need to keep this topic in focus, but on a side note, say for instance, I like to turn my tempo down a notch then just hit ctrl z (quick undo) and I'm rocking at the original tempo again, same holds true for other knobs such as a send or pan change, then hit ctrl z to resume original position. Weird thing is this, and one which I would like to confirm as intended by abes or bug. Try changing a knob in the clip view, like I would like to transpose a bit then ctrl z(undo) back to original transposition, no dice, the undo function will undo the last thing you adjusted other then what you adjusted in the clip view. Could this be related or is this intended.

[Machinate]

nyc_mark, just a quick note OT to say that undo works for transpose on my pc.