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Tag: Control Panel Switching

Switching control panels

Using a drop down list to select between different control panels.

Using some simple logic , and SynthEdit’s ability to make the control panel of a container visible or hidden, we can easily switch between a variety of different control panels. Using this you could swap between say;
1) a standard oscillator,
2) A Supersaw oscillator,
3) A Casio CZ style phase distortion oscillator,
4) A Sample Oscillator.

The Selector logic.

The Popup Menu module should have the following entered into it’s Item List box in the poperties panel 1,2,3,4 (No full stop or comma at the end of the list.) This value is selected from the popup menu, and sent via the PatchMemory Int module to the Int to Bools module. If 1 is selected the Int to Bools module then makes the output I have labelled as Panel 1 Visibility switch to “True”, and if 2 is selected the Int to Bools module then makes the output I have labelled as Panel 2 Visibility switch to “True” and so on.
The Bools To Int is used to display the option you have selected in the Popup List.
Note: You must have the First Bool Val connected and set to “False” with the ED Fixed_Bool module, otherwise the numbering will go out of sequence.
The Int To Text is there to convert the numeric value back to a text string.

Panel selector logic

Inside the numbered containers I just put the following to test & demonstrate the sub control

As you select a number in the popup list on the panel, the number displayed will change to reflect your choice.

How the selecter is wired up

The panel selecter in operation.

SynthEdit Sub-Controls. Switching between control panels.

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.

Switching between control panels

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.

An example of using the prefab

Admin note: Updated 03/02/24 to reflect changes in the Elena Designs module pack (dsp-gui modules removed).