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    Create with SONAR 7—Active Controller Technology

    For years, MIDI controllers and control surfaces have promised to give you tactile control over your software. Unfortunately, the reality of making software and hardware work together has been a cumbersome and, worse yet, uninspiring process.

    Now imagine being able to call up any effect, instrument, or your mixing console, and having your favorite parameters automatically mapped to any MIDI controller. This is now a reality with SONAR 6’s new Active Controller Technology (ACT).

    ACT eliminates the common workflow bottleneck of constantly remapping parameters by providing a simple, intuitive way to control your mix, effects and virtual instruments from any MIDI controller or surface.

    Watch these videos originally recorded for SONAR 6 to learn more about what ACT can do for you:

     

    ACT Fig.1
     Fig 1. ACT automatically assigns
     your knobs and sliders to popular
     features when you load a plug-in
     or synth; and you can easily
     customize the mapping.

    ACT Fig. 2
     Fig 2. When you open a different
     plug-in, ACT automatically remaps
     controller mappings to whatever
     has the focus.

     

    ACT fig 3
     Fig 3. ACT works with any
     MIDI controller, any control surface,
     any effect, any virtual instrument,
     and SONAR mix parameters.

    "ACT brings the programming that would usually go into setting a hardware controller to SONAR itself. And, as it turns out, a DAW is the perfect place to coordinate controller info with software...I am sure the ACT idea is something that other sequencer manufacturers will be taking close note of."—Sound on Sound


    ACT Frequently Asked Questions


    I have a keyboard and I use it to control SONAR. How is ACT different?

    Today, you have to manually assign controls to the software and you are limited to one assignment per control. With ACT, SONAR reassigns your controls automatically based on what you are working on.

    Is ACT easy to use?

    Of course. The point of ACT is to eliminate the headache of manually assigning and reassigning controls to the software. ACT is quick to set up. And best of all it remembers all of your favorite control settings every time you add a plug-in or start a new project.

    Do I need an ACT-compatible MIDI controller to use ACT in SONAR?

    No. ACT is an open technology in SONAR that you can use it with just about any MIDI compatible keyboard, even the one you own today.

    Do I have to do anything special to make my keyboard work with ACT?

    Turn it on and set it to the factory default preset. SONAR comes with templates for the most popular MIDI controllers and plug-ins on the market to make it even easier to get started.

    When using ACT, can I designate some controls to follow ACT and others to remain linked to specific parameters?

    Yes. And it is easy to switch in/out of ACT mode at any time.

    Is ACT customizable?

    Yes.

    I want my some of my buttons to always control the transport. Does ACT support this?

    Yes. You can designate controls to follow ACT or to lock to certain functions.


    What if I want to use the same MIDI keyboard controller’s assignable knobs and sliders to control my mix, my effects and my virtual instruments?

    It’s simple. Just designate which ACT controls you want to use for your favorite plug-ins, and then simply navigate around SONAR. Select an instrument, and ACT automatically re-maps your controller to that instrument’s controls. Select an effect, and ACT adjusts your controls accordingly. Ready to mix? ACT has you covered there too.

    I have a mixing control surface, a keyboard controller and a pad controller. How can ACT help me use them effectively together?

    ACT lets you assign a virtually unlimited number of controllers to different tasks.

    What MIDI Controllers does ACT support out of the box?

    Out of the box, SONAR has ACT presets for some of the most popular MIDI controllers including:

    • Akai MPK49
    • Behringer BCF2000
    • Behringer BCR2000
    • Edirol PCR Series
    • Evolution UC-16
    • Evolution UC-33
    • JL Cooper FaderMaster
    • Kenton Control Freak
    • Korg microKONTROL
    • Korg padKONTROL
    • Line6 TonePort KB37
    • M-Audio Oxygen8
    • M-Audio Ozone
    • M-Audio Trigger Finger
    • Novation ReMOTE SL
    • Peavey PC 1600x

    And with SONAR's improved MIDI learn functionality, it's simple to create ACT configurations for any MIDI device.

     

    Back to: Create with SONAR 7 >>

     
         

     

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