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Automating Switched Controls
Some automation parameters are switched (i.e., they have only fixed states). Examples of this type of control are mutes (on or off). When adjusting switched automation, keyframes can only be at the bottom end of the Automation view or the top.
Mute automation showing on and off states
Recording Mix Automation
Recording mix automation uses many of the same techniques as drawing but allows you to capture a performance where you are moving the controls you want to automate. This can be flexible and creative as you “perform to picture” to get the results you want.
To get started, you’ll need to ensure that Automation recording is enabled (see “Enabling and Viewing Automation” above) and that one or more parameters are enabled for automation recording.
Clicking the Automation Controls button displays the Automation toolbar
Automation Controls
The Automation Controls button, to the right of the transport controls, lets you show and hide the Automation toolbar.
The Automation toolbar has buttons for each option that’s available for preparing to record automation in your mix.
Automation toolbar options
The Automation toolbar displays the following options:
— Automation Modes: Controls how automation data is recorded.
— Write: Records absolute changes to a control’s position, replacing any data that was there previously.
— Trim: Records relative changes to a control’s position, maintaining relative existing levels created over time, but increasing or reducing those levels overall. This can be very useful when incrementally refining a mix.
— Touch Modes: Defines what happens when an automatable control is moved during a mix.
— Off: No automation is recorded.
— Latch: Automation is recorded once a control is moved and continues recording after the control is released until the transport is stopped.
— Snap: Automation is recorded once a control is moved and then smoothly glides back to the pre-existing level at the point it was released, to create a seamless transition.
— At the point where the glide transition ends, automation is no longer recorded unless the control is moved once again while the transport is playing. You can continue to capture additional automation with Snap until the transport is stopped.
— The time for the glide transition can be set in milliseconds in Preferences > User > Fairlight > Automation. The default is 250 ms.
— Snap Latch: A combination of Snap and Latch modes, where faders operate in Snap and all other controls operate in Latch. This can be useful when dynamically changing fader levels through a mix pass are desired, while other controls “stick” when they’re moved. It is
particularly useful when working with Fairlight mix control surfaces where faders and rotary controls can be changed simultaneously during a mix pass.
— On Stop: Defines what happens when entering Stop at the end of an automation pass.
— Event: The last recorded automation value overwrites previous levels to the start of the next available recorded automation data (or event) in that track.
— Hold: Deletes all previously recorded mixing data after what you’ve just recorded, to hold the last recorded level for the rest of that track.
— Return: The last recorded automation value is interpolated to ramp back to the previously recorded automation values on that track.
— Enables: The following buttons let you enable or disable different controls for recording automation.
— Fader: Automates track and bus volume.
— Mute: Automates the mute button.
— Pan: Automates all pan controls.
— EQ: Automates all EQ controls.
— Comp: Automates just the Compressor controls in the Dynamics window.
— Gate: Automates just the Gate controls in the Dynamics window.
— Lim: Automates just the Limiter controls in the Dynamics window.
— Sends: Automates the Send controls in the Sends window.
— Plugins: Automates all Fairlight, VST, or Audio Unit (AU) plugins.
— Misc: Automates Buss on/off, Insert, and Direct Out controls. If a project is using the Fairlight legacy Fixed Bus configuration, it allows automation of fixed bus Main and Sub bus enables.