External Audio Mixer at DVinfo.net

Robin Davies-Rollinson · November 21st, 2010, 12:32 PM

Given that the audio tools within Sony Vegas Pro are so good (I'm using Pro 10) -
is it at all possible to use an external audio mixer with a Firewire connection to control the faders within Vegas?
Rather than use Automation on every track, I'd like to be able to do everything in real time externally like with ProTools...

Seth Bloombaum · November 21st, 2010, 01:24 PM

Yes.

Vegas will track faders from the "Mackie Control" surface, and perhaps some others. I have an inexpensive Behringer BCF2000 that emulates the MC, it works.

For me, it was a little finicky to set up the BCF, lots of unintuitive driver setups. Eventually, Vegas sees it as a MIDI device, perhaps the whole thing would go quicker for someone more familiar with MIDI.

Once setup, there is a preferences tab in Vegas for external control.

Once communication is established, you click a control in the individual track headers to initiate an automation mode. This allows you to write the volume envelope with the hardware fader, and, yes, the fader on the control surface will "fly" in response to the volume envelope. There is also an "envelope thinning" function, that turns out to be pretty important, because you can quickly write 50 or more points in a few seconds; this is difficult to deal with if you want to touch things up. Once thinned, you might have 5 points to deal with - much better.

It is also possible to control Pan, Solo, Mute, Arm Track, Record, Play, Loop, Stop, FF, REW, drop a Marker, etc. with various buttons on the control surface. I'd guess you could also do some custom mappings, but I never tried.

8 faders. I think there is a shift function to address tracks 9-16, but I never needed it. My sense was that if you devoted some time to it, it could really improve efficiency for audio overall, but especially in a tracking session.

EDIT: there's a bit more info in this thread, http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/what-hap...000-vegas.html , including links to a sony whitepaper on BCF control of Vegas.

Robin Davies-Rollinson · November 21st, 2010, 01:29 PM

Seth,
Thank you so very much. That is exactly the information I needed.

November 21st, 2010, 12:32 PM	#1
Robin Davies-Rollinson Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff, CYMRU/WALES Posts: 1,215	External Audio Mixer Given that the audio tools within Sony Vegas Pro are so good (I'm using Pro 10) - is it at all possible to use an external audio mixer with a Firewire connection to control the faders within Vegas? Rather than use Automation on every track, I'd like to be able to do everything in real time externally like with ProTools...

November 21st, 2010, 01:24 PM	#2
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Yes. Vegas will track faders from the "Mackie Control" surface, and perhaps some others. I have an inexpensive Behringer BCF2000 that emulates the MC, it works. For me, it was a little finicky to set up the BCF, lots of unintuitive driver setups. Eventually, Vegas sees it as a MIDI device, perhaps the whole thing would go quicker for someone more familiar with MIDI. Once setup, there is a preferences tab in Vegas for external control. Once communication is established, you click a control in the individual track headers to initiate an automation mode. This allows you to write the volume envelope with the hardware fader, and, yes, the fader on the control surface will "fly" in response to the volume envelope. There is also an "envelope thinning" function, that turns out to be pretty important, because you can quickly write 50 or more points in a few seconds; this is difficult to deal with if you want to touch things up. Once thinned, you might have 5 points to deal with - much better. It is also possible to control Pan, Solo, Mute, Arm Track, Record, Play, Loop, Stop, FF, REW, drop a Marker, etc. with various buttons on the control surface. I'd guess you could also do some custom mappings, but I never tried. 8 faders. I think there is a shift function to address tracks 9-16, but I never needed it. My sense was that if you devoted some time to it, it could really improve efficiency for audio overall, but especially in a tracking session. EDIT: there's a bit more info in this thread, http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/what-hap...000-vegas.html , including links to a sony whitepaper on BCF control of Vegas. __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

November 21st, 2010, 01:29 PM	#3
Robin Davies-Rollinson Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Gwaelod-y-garth, Cardiff, CYMRU/WALES Posts: 1,215	Seth, Thank you so very much. That is exactly the information I needed.