All about ACT

Hi - have been working on setting up act for my most used plugs on my 700C.
 
On some project I'm mixing on, a message like this appears after inserting for instance the Phanteon : "Lexicon Phanteon Page 1" , but thats all. The plugs' parameters does not show on the LCD, and does not respond to knob movements. This goes for all plugs in the project.
 (ACT is enabled alrigth)
 
Have gone through my settings many times, but havent figured out why act isn't always working.
On new projects it's ok.
 
Anyone been here before me?
 
Thanks.

I'm gonna make a full report to cake and Roland and Act is on the menu man !!!

Did the ACT Mappings install correctly? If you run the SONAR 8.5 installer and choose "Advanced" you can choose to install the ACT Mappings, Control Surface plugin, and Fantom/ ARX editors right there. Maybe this got skipped over somehow.

Hi Seth.
 
Yes I did insall the act mappings.  Since Act works great when I start up a new project (and in some of the old ones) I thougt that the installation was Ok. But if you recommend me to do the installation again, I will do so.

I've been trying to figure out where Act works and not, but haven't got the full picture yet.
 
Here is my only clues so far:

I don't get  Act to work with:
 
*Big projects (40-60 tracks) midi and audio.
* Lots if softsynts - some frozen or disconnected.
* Many hidden tracks.

That's all I've got for now, and I'm not shure if these have anything to do with it.
The problem is only related to plugins and the channel strip control.  The already inserted plugins won't respond, and if I delete them and insert new ones, they don't respond either.
I upgraded from Sonar 7 Studio to Sonar 8.5 Producer at the same time I got VS-700C. (Haven't upgraded the driver for the console. Another tread here said this upgrade was included in the PE 8.5 sofware.)
 
Thanks for helping out.
 
 

 

Have tested out more today:

I use a lot of trackfolders.  Opened all of them, included all synths and hidden tracks  (have set the console to follow track view) Now all the plugins worked with act.
When closing the folders, act fails.  Have tried this on one other project with actproblems, with the same result.

Bug?

Well you do know that ACT only works on 8 tracks at a time? The colored bar to the left of the tracks tells you which tracks ACT is active on at the moment. With the V700, act will usually move to the next 8 tracks when you select them. As for the soft synths, you need to select the soft synth to program or use the act parameters for that soft synth. It won't do 40 tracks and multiple softsynths at once. Without selection as a pointer ACT would not know which parameter -where you are trying to change.

Alright - maybe I didn't explain it to well, I'll give it another try with this example:
  
 
First: In the Controllers / Surfaces dialog, I have checked "Consol strips visible in: Track View." I like to have few tracks visible when I mix/track.
 
 
The project has 51 tracks, and right now all folders are open. The console now has 51 tracks to handle (8 at a time). I go to track 49, called "Trumpet5" with UAD Neve 1073 as a plug-in. I push Select,  then Command+Act and the Neve shows up and works flawlessly.
 
Drums are on track 11-18. (8 tracks) I now close the drum-folder. Due to closing  folder, the "Trumpet5" track has now moved on the console,
and I must use the Fader Bank 8- to find the track. I find it, push "Select" on "Trumpet5", then Command + Act, but  Neve 1073 doesn't appear.
 
Instead UAD Cambridge from track 41 pops up on the screen.
 
It seems to me that Act does not handle the folder changes.
 
Before I closed the drum folder, when all tracks were visible, that console strip would be track 41. When I close the drums (49-8=41) the Cambridge plug is still there in ACT, even if the rest of the console is updated.
 
I open the drum folder again, the console rearranges, I find the "Trumpet5"track, Neve 1073 is back.
 

I know my English is not fluent, but I hope this makes it easier to understand.
 
Maybe someone could try the same and see if they have the same experience?

Yes I've noticed that things "stick" in the ACT function. You have to select which thing you want ACT active on to do changes. I don't quite follow the drum folder sequence. What did you select in the drum folder? If you didn't select anything in the drum folder, act will still be on the last selection.

I understand how you have your project laid out in folders. That's how i organize my projects as well. I'll be working on a very large project over the coming days with 75 tracks in about 8 different folders, 20 soft synths, and 40 plugins.

I haven't noticed your issue yet but I'll let you know if I see it crop up in my project.

Great Seth.

Remember to check the Track View option in the Controllers/Surfaces dialog.

Crg:
I'll work more on this and will try to make a more simple and transperant example if the problem persists. Thanks for inputs.

Hi - here is an easier example - hope some of you care to try:
 
First: In Controller/Surfaces menu, set your console strips to be visible in Track View.
 
1. Open a new project.
2. Import 4 audio tracks.
3. Enable act mode and insert VX64 (or any plug-in) on track 4.
4. Move the three first tracks to a folder and close it.
5. Track 4 has now moved to the first control strip. Select it. (Now I can't control the plug-in anymore)
6. Open the folder again. (The track returns to console strip 4, and the plug-in is back)

Hi - no one else experiencing this? 
 
Anyone who can confirm the opposite - that ACT works all right, even with closed folders and hidden tracks?