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VCA-Style Groups
Last week I shared some of my personal favorite new features
included in the Pro
Tools HD 7.2 update. Hopefully, I left you chomping at the bit to learn
more about VCA-Style groups, which is where we pickup this
week. If you have used a large-format console with automation,
you may already be familiar with VCA-Style groups. If not,
I would call this article one of our more intermediate/advanced
discussions (have to get those in from time to time), and
it may seem a bit confusing at first, but it isn’t
that tricky to wrap your head around.
What Are VCA Master Tracks?
VCA Master tracks emulate voltage controlled amplifier
channels on analog consoles. VCA Master tracks do not pass
audio,
and therefore do to not feature insert, send, input and output
assignments. The only assignment selector a VCA Master track
has is the Group Assignment selector, which can be used to
specify which group the VCA Master Track is used to control.
What Can VCA Master Tracks Be Used For?
You can use VCA Master tracks to control or offset the volume
level as well as control the solo, mute and record enable
state of the slave tracks grouped and assigned to the VCA
Master track, regardless of the assigned output of those
slave tracks.
- Controlling Volume with VCA Master Tracks: The Volume fader
on a VCA Master track controls the volume level of
any audio, aux input, instrument, other VCA master and master tracks
assigned to the VCA group. Volume faders move on the
slave tracks to show the composite level, which is the level output
as it is being affected by the VCA Master track. For
example, if Track A is -12 dB and Track B is -16 dB, moving the VCA
Master track down to -10 dB will make Track A -22 dB
and track B -26 dB, as a result slave tracks always show what
the actual volume level of what the track is.
- Controlling Mute and Solo with VCA Master Tracks: The
Mute and Solo button on a VCA Master track control the
mute/solo
state of any audio, aux input, instrument, MIDI other
VCA master and master tracks assigned to the VCA group.
- Muting a VCA Master track will mute all of the slave
tracks that were not previously muted, and implicitly
mute those
tracks that were.
- Soloing a VCA Master track will implicitly mute
all tracks except the slave tracks, and clear the any
explicit solos
of those slave tracks.
- Controlling Record Enable with VCA Master Tracks: The Record
Enable button on a VCA Master track toggles the
record enable state of any audio, aux input, instrument, MIDI other VCA
master and master tracks assigned to the VCA group
which have been record enabled individually.
How Are VCA Master Tracks Set Up?
By default, when a group is assigned to a VCA Master track,
the controls on the slave tracks no longer follow
the attributes of the group, as the VCA Master track is now in charge.
Tip: If you would like slave tracks to follow grouped
attributes, Choose > Setup > Preferences > Mixing
and make sure that Standard VCA Group Logic for
Attributes is not selected.
In addition, the Level meters of VCA Master tracks
indicate the highest level from any of the slave
tracks, not the
combined output of the slave tracks as in a subgroup/stem.
To create a VCA Master track:
1. Choose Track > New, or press Command + Shift
+ N (Macintosh) or Control + Shift + N (PC).
2. Select VCA Master from the Track Type pop-up
menu.
To assign an existing group to a VCA Master track:
- Click the Group Assignment selector on the VCA Master track
as choose the group that contains the slave
tracks you want to control with the VCA Master track.
To create a new group and assign it to a VCA Master track:
1. Select the tracks you want to group and serve as the
slave tracks to the VCA Master track.
2. Click on the Edit/Mix Group pop-up menu
and choose New Group, or press Command +
G (Macintosh)
or Control
+ G
(PC).
3. Name the group and select the VCA Master
track from the VCA pop-up menu, and uncheck
Follow
Globals.
So What’s the Point?
If you have kept up this far, you might be
asking yourself why would you use a VCA Master
track
instead of a subgroup/stem
of related tracks? If you are mixing inside
the box, you can set up a VCA Master track
to trim
all the
slave tracks
by the same level. If you are mixing outside
the box (mixing down through an external
mixer or summing
device)
then
you can set up a VCA Master track to volume
level, mute and solo
of tracks that are assigned to different
outputs – remember,
they affect/control the individual track
volume level, not the level of the (summed)
group.
In addition, if you create a VCA Master track
for all your related tracks (e.g. Drums,
Guitars, Keyboard,
Vocals,
etc.), you can use them to make any final
overall adjustments
to
the volume levels while still preserving
the relative individual automation of each
group.
As you work more with VCA Master tracks,
more possibilities will become apparent.
There are
some details worth
studying up on when it comes to automating
with VCA Master tracks,
but we will leave that for another discussion
and work our way up to such topics. If you
are jonesing
for
more information
on VCA-Style groups beyond what is in the
manual, check out the DUC,
as there is a really good string posted there.
Pro Tools Tidbits
· IK
Multimedia is now shipping 3 new bundles: Total Workstation, Total
Effects and Total Studio from their current product line.
(RTAS)
If you have a Pro Tools related question that you would
like me to take a shot at answering or have any feedback,
please send it to scott@audioMIDI.com. I will do my best
to select the questions that seem to stump the most people.
As always, stay tuned to the audioMIDI.com eNews for the latest reviews and new product info.
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