You might find this article helpful. It describes a simplified way to use ACT.

ACT is ineffective for be because of the focus requirement.  What I'd like to see is something like this http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3176862

azslow3

swamptooth
trust me, a little patience goes a long way here...
i have 4 controllers set up and it took roughly 2 years to figure out an effective and natural way to map them to all the vsts that i use.  things as little as "do i always want this knob to control the filter frequency on every synth i use?" come into play -- not to mention situations like what if there is no filter to control?
 
you'll get it down!  the setup can take a while, but it's worth it in the end.

I wish someone like you could be convinced to be an alpha tester of my project
It is still alpha, but it opens more possibilities then ACT MIDI and Generic Surface together. I am advertizing my toy for long time already: arbitrary logic, feedback (able to provide indication for pads/buttons/endless encoders), device chaining, direct (not ACT, so can work in parallel) control of VST parameters, easy ACT mapping and FREE. But near no one has interest. For me the concussion is: CW and hardware producers was right, users do not really want seriously use control surfaces with SOMAR, so there is no reason to invest there.
 

Sad to see you feel that way.  the fact that these threads keep coming up is some evidence that users do want wha tyou are offering.  Everyone is just not cutout to be an alpha tester. Alpha testing in an area tha talready has you pulling your hair in frustration is even more intimidating for some. Also consider that X3 users who have a stable install are hesitant to screw with that with an alpha product and those upgrading to Platinum are probably even more gunshy about adding an alpha product as another variable to throw in the growing pains.  i have downloaded your alpha, but I can admnit i have been hesitant to use because I always find myself "waiting to finish one more work in progress" before doing something that could potentially muck up things.  i have a great interest in this product because ACT is suc ha PITA for me and Akai has one of the worst support teams ever.  It feels non-existant.  the Sonar setting on my MPD is useless and I pretty much stick to the basics.

swamptooth
ACT is ineffective for be because of the focus requirement.  What I'd like to see is something like this http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3176862

You want to see it from CW? I can not help then since I am not working for them. My plug-in can do this. It is a bit difficult to setup (parameter names are not shown, so the position should be calculated) but since you are patient...
 

dubdisciple
Sad to see you feel that way.  the fact that these threads keep coming up is some evidence that users do want wha tyou are offering.  Everyone is just not cutout to be an alpha tester. Alpha testing in an area tha talready has you pulling your hair in frustration is even more intimidating for some.

I am just direct person. I am calling it Alpha because it is Alpha:
* Alpha - not all planned features are inside, stability is UNKNOWN
* Beta - all planned features are inside, stability is UNKNOWN
* Release - all planned features are inside are they are working as expected, stability is confirmed to be good.
 
When I have started to use X1, I have found out it is Beta at most since I was able to crash it within one hour several times and the result from some operations was far away from expected. I have learned what I should avoid to use, what "workarounds" exists, etc. (thanks to this forum).
 
I had several crashes with my plug-in, but these crashes was in SONAR. So that is like I trigger some bugs in SONAR. As many VST producers reply and sometimes CW claim, I could just say "my program is fine". But I do not, since I think it is not true. My "Released" projects work for years without single failure, this plug-in is not yet at that level. And without at least one "tester", that is not going to happened. That does not mean the plug-in is crashing every minute, it is not. It is just not on the level of my own imagination for "Stable Release" (SONAR X1/2, Windows Vista, Ubuntu 14 was also NOT at that level!).

http://www.unrelatednotes.com/update-how-to-setup-the-akai-mpk88-with-sonar-x2/

This should work with the mpk49. I Believe this is the set up I'm using. It allows for transport control, fader and pan as well as mute, record arm, etc. follow the instructions and good luck

azslow3

swamptooth
ACT is ineffective for be because of the focus requirement.  What I'd like to see is something like this http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3176862

You want to see it from CW? I can not help then since I am not working for them. My plug-in can do this. It is a bit difficult to setup (parameter names are not shown, so the position should be calculated) but since you are patient...
 

dubdisciple
Sad to see you feel that way.  the fact that these threads keep coming up is some evidence that users do want wha tyou are offering.  Everyone is just not cutout to be an alpha tester. Alpha testing in an area tha talready has you pulling your hair in frustration is even more intimidating for some.

I am just direct person. I am calling it Alpha because it is Alpha:
* Alpha - not all planned features are inside, stability is UNKNOWN
* Beta - all planned features are inside, stability is UNKNOWN
* Release - all planned features are inside are they are working as expected, stability is confirmed to be good.
 
When I have started to use X1, I have found out it is Beta at most since I was able to crash it within one hour several times and the result from some operations was far away from expected. I have learned what I should avoid to use, what "workarounds" exists, etc. (thanks to this forum).
 
I had several crashes with my plug-in, but these crashes was in SONAR. So that is like I trigger some bugs in SONAR. As many VST producers reply and sometimes CW claim, I could just say "my program is fine". But I do not, since I think it is not true. My "Released" projects work for years without single failure, this plug-in is not yet at that level. And without at least one "tester", that is not going to happened. That does not mean the plug-in is crashing every minute, it is not. It is just not on the level of my own imagination for "Stable Release" (SONAR X1/2, Windows Vista, Ubuntu 14 was also NOT at that level!).

Btw, this thread prompted me to finally attempt to use the alpha version of your software. I wish i understood it more intuitively. So far so good. No crashes and I was able to get sliders and rotary controls working.  I'm  going to spend some time trying to figure it out.

dubdisciple
Btw, this thread prompted me to finally attempt to use the alpha version of your software. I wish i understood it more intuitively. So far so good. No crashes and I was able to get sliders and rotary controls working.  I'm  going to spend some time trying to figure it out.

Thanks!
Please do not give up in case you hit some problem. It is like switching from old cheap hardware "all in one" recorder to DAW, the learning curve can be comparably long. Do not be confused by the size, the price and the interface. It is 25k+ lines of C code written by programmer with 25 years experience

I will try to be patient. If I can get everything set up ideally it will be well worth it. I'm going to have a thorough read of manual today. If i can get quadcurve eq, transport and compressor all working seamlessly with cinsistency i will be a happy camper

dubdisciple
 If i can get quadcurve eq, transport and compressor all working seamlessly with cinsistency i will be a happy camper

Transport is not a problem (in any mode inclusive MMC). You can also control LEDs on transport buttons (or some other, I highlight PADS on MPK mini) which will stay in sync with SONAR (using Monitors).
ProChannel EQ is more tricky. With ACT it is like with everything else, but in "direct mode" there was some bugs in API, I have not checked either that is fixed in Platinum.
Compressors are even worse, since there are different types (and so different parameters). Direct mapping will work only in case they are recognized, there is yet another bug in the API which makes recognition hard.