Why have separate control panels?
Sometimes when we are designing a Synthesizer, we can end up with a very complex, if not outright cluttered and confusing control panel (we have all seen examples of those!). Wouldn’t it be great if we could have separate control panels for different functions, such as a sequencer panel, an effects panel, etc. Well the good news is that we can, and it’s not over complicated either!
Not only this anyone who uses your plug-in will thank you for it too.
How to have separate panels-the push button route.
With a few sub controls we can switch between control panels using a stepper controlled by a single button. Each switch is connected to a Bools to Int module via an QTN_Volt2GUIBool. This module converts as DSP voltage to a GUI Bool signal. When a button is pressed it sends a momentary “True” to the Bools to Int module, which the outputs an integer which corresponds to the plug receiving the pulse. Bool Val 1 outputs a 1, Bool Val 2 outputs a 2 and so on…
This is then converted back into individual latched (that is it’s held at “True” until a new integer value is received on the Value plug) Boolean outputs to the integer value received.
Note: When designing this sort of panel switching we need to be disciplined, and give plugs appropriate names wherever possible (annoyingly you can’t rename the plugs on some modules!) otherwise things can rapidly become extremely confusing, and difficult to de-bug.
When this is connected up as shown below, we can switch between the individual panels by clicking on the appropriate button.
Each individual control, or panel must be inside a container of it’s own for this to work properly.
Note: switching these panels on and off is only visible in the panel view when the audio engine is on, and not in not the structure view, where all the panel containers will be visible.
Admin note: Updated 03/02/24 to reflect changes in the Elena Designs module pack (dsp-gui modules removed).
Leave a Reply