Mixing Station Tips: Limited-Scope Snapshots

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RexBeckett
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Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
Location: Bedford, UK

Mixing Station Tips: Limited-Scope Snapshots

Post by RexBeckett »

Mixing Station custom button actions typically provide on/off switching of mixer options and settings. They don't allow mixer parameters to be set to specific values. On the M/X32 family of consoles, this limitation can be overcome by loading Snippets with the required settings. It can also be achieved, to some extent, on MR12, XR12, XR16, MR18, X18 and XR18 consoles, by loading Snapshots with limited Recall Scope.

Snapshots, like Scenes, store all mixer settings (apart from a few global things like network parameters). They are stored in the mixer itself so load almost instantly. There are options to control the Recall Scope - the mixer settings that are affected when the Snapshot is loaded. This allows them to be used to recall some settings without disturbing other channel and mix parameters.

Each saved Snapshot has a set of Recall Scope options. They can be viewed and adjusted by selecting the Snapshot (single click) on the Snapshot list. The options are automatically saved with the Snapshot and can be updated as requirements change. By default, all options are on so all mixer settings will be affected when a Snapshot is loaded.

The Recall Scope options are divided into three lists:

Channel Selection determines which Channels, FX Returns, Bus Masters, FX Sends or Main LR will be loaded.

Parameter Selection determines which parameters of the selected channels will be loaded. Some of these are grouped (e.g. Source, Input, Config, EQ, Dyn, Fdr/Pan, Mute) which are mostly self-explanatory. There are individual options for sends to the six Buses and the four FX slots.

The final Global list is for settings that are not concerned with individual channels and buses. This includes options for the In/Out routing, Configuration, DCAs and the four FX slots.

The options make it possible to have Snapshots that load only (for example):
The send from channels 3 and 7 to FX 2.
The FX parameters for slot 1.
The EQ parameters for bus 4.
The dynamics settings for the Main LR mix.
and many other combinations.

There are limitations, of course. If you enable the options to load the EQ settings for channel 1 and the send to FX3 from channel 2 at the same time, channel 2's EQ and channel 1's FX3 send will also be loaded. I haven't found this to be a big problem in practice.

By saving two Snapshots with different mixer settings and the same Recall Scope options, custom button actions can be used to switch special settings in and out on the fly. By default, the button will be illuminated while its Snapshot remains loaded.
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