Just wondered ifi anyone here is using Cubase with dual-monitors alongide Metagrid ?
It all seems to work when Cubase is using a single-monitor but I’ve hit a problem with my regular dual-monitor setup. I have the project window on monitor 1 and the mixer on monitor 2. Using the default Cubase views that come with Metagrid, none of the mixer buttons work unless I first select/focus monitor 2 with my mouse. But then if I do that, none of the buttons that trigger things in the project window work !! So, Metagrid only seems to work on whichever window is in focus.
I wrote to Metagrid tech support and they said “We have investigated the issue and in fact it is the case - and it’s Cubase’s fault. We use standard Generic Remote implementations and it seems Cubase processes the MIDI messages assigned to commands in the Generic Remote devices only in the active window. We can’t do anything about it.”
Its the same for key commands too: only works on the focused window. AND same behaviour also in Wavelab
Surely someone else here is using dual monitors with Metagrid ? The only workaround I can think of - and this is what I’ve done in Wavelab - is for every Metagrid action queue to begin with an that will focus the correct monitor: so in Wavelab, I use ALT+F9 which displays the Master Section (if it isn’t already open) to focus windows 1, and then whatever other actions I want to perform in that window. It works most of the time … but I can’t think of a suitable key command in Cubase that would just focus the mixer window or main project window.
I don’t use metagrid, but I can say that the above is not true, quite the contrary, Remote devices, generic or otherwise control the assigned parameter directly without regard to focus, unlike keyboard shortcuts which do generally depend on which window is frontmost, or in focus.
You can test it yourself with a mod wheel or any midi device you can route to the GR. Route the controller and assign it to something in the mixer on that second screen, then click in the Project window on the first screen so the mixconsole is not frontmost (not e.g., not focused). It still works.
I tested the above with a reverb plugin on an insert slot on an audio channel, and the mod wheel of my midi keyboard.
Isn’t Metagrid able to send both MIDI and keyboard keystrokes? That behavior sounds like a keystroke is being sent. You can use a midi monitor to analyse.
I also just tested Steinberg’s own Cubase iC Pro and that has the same issue. If you execute a mixer-related button whilst not focused on the mixer, nothing happens. Time for a ticket to Steinberg I think …
I use metagrid with three monitors on a Mac with no issues.
Edit: I don’t think it’s helpful that it works for me because I almost exclusively use metagrid for track hiding/unhiding. So I think I must always be in an active project when snow when I’m using it. Honestly, I just never think about it. I would think that I’d have noticed it not working in mixer view.
I’m saying that what they said, “Cubase processes the MIDI messages assigned to commands in the Generic Remote devices only in the active window” is incorrect.
I used a the generic remote to control the object. I also tested pan and volume.
Did you test this without metagrid on your own? How have you concluded that metagrid is using midi commands?
I’m a relative newbie to Metagrid…about 8 months. I use 3 34-inch ultra-wides. Normally, Mix console 1 in monitor 1, Project page & Mix console 2 split in monitor 2, and mix console 3 in monitor 3. Monitor 3 is also where any audio/midi editing happens plus most of the VST GUI’s show up via Cubase workspaces.
I don’t believe the default views have worked for me, but I’m not positive since I don’t work that way.
I did message the developer about asking for a feature where Metagrid would chase or follow whatever you have focused in Cubase. For example if mix console 1 is focused, then Metagrid reflects all the KC’s you have set up for mix console 1. If the midi key editor is in focus, then all the shortcuts you have set up for the key editor etc… The reply was that he had considered this for the future. I think you are wanting it the other way…control what is focused in Cubase via Metagrid?
I too use Wavelab 9 the same way.
As far as a suitable KC in Cubase that would focus the mixer window or main project window, there is not any that I know of except the 3 KC’s that open and close mix consoles 1,2, and 3 which then give automatic focus. Navigation and focus issues are a huge sore spot for my workflow. And it gets worse when you consider the KC’s that are applicable only in one window and not another window. It’s really a huge mess for users of multiple screens…and even worse if you split a screen so you have 2 Cubase windows in 1 screen. Other than the above mix consoles, the only focus methods I know of for Cubase without a mouse is the Windows KC, ctr+tab which will cycle through most open windows…but that is Windows, so it won’t show up in Metagrid.
Maybe look through here to see if anyone has asked this before?
It seems to me that Metagrid behaves the same as Key Commands. If a Key Command only works when certain Windows are in focus, the same will occur for Metagrid buttons that trigger those commands.
Also this isn’t really related to the number of monitors in use - it is all about Window focus. If you took all the windows on a multi-monitor setup and moved them onto a single monitor the problem would not change at all.
Although you’d then end up with a new problem where all your windows are small, overlapping & generally in the way of each other.
greggybud is right that Cubase needs additional KCs to control focus. If it had these then it would be easy to config Metagrid to set the correct focus before doing the desired task.
-steve-, yes Metagrid uses MIDI to communicate with Cubase, but once there those get converted into Key Commands so all the limitations of KCs come into play.
I believe what the OP is asking for is control of focus using Metagrid instead of clicking on whatever Cubase window to obtain focus correct?
He is saying that using the default views that came with Metagrid, it does not work. I think he is right, but not positive. I have not found any tutorials that support what he desires either.
The only Metagrid tutorials for Cubase I have found is the set-up tutorial, then a Showcase tutorial (that is for a totally different use…selection of tracks for composers with hundreds of tracks) Under user tutorials is Jononotbono’s excellent tutorials integrating Logical Editor (Also with the latest update is dozens of very useful logical editor presets). Todd has the only other tutorial, but doesn’t appear to cover control of Cubase pages via Metagrid.
Hopefully the developer, who has been very responsive in the past will give a reply to the OP. I would like to know this as well as it’s not clear to me either.
I actually don’t care what is focused, as long as the actions in Metagrid work. And I have noticed that if you don’t use the mouse at all, sooner or later Cubase gets itself into a situation where no window is focused: and then all Metagrid actions work. But obviously sooner or later you have to use the mouse and then you’ll end up focusing on somethng by using the mouse click. It would be good if there was a key command that puts Cubase into this defocused state but I can’t see that there is.
Yeah that’s what I think the OP wants. But it is not a limitation that is exclusive to Metagrid. The only way to set the window focus in Cubase (ignoring F3/Mixer focus) is by clicking on it with a mouse. Our computer keyboards suffer from the same limitation. The limitation is on the Cubase end - there simply is no mechanism to automate the focus selection.
I don’t know about the default views because I’m building my own. But I don’t think being a “default view” really matters. I see it on my non-default views too.
You may not care about the focus, but it is really the only way this can get resolved. So it is important even if we prefer to ignore it. Metagrid behaves like this because Cubase behaves like this. It is not a limitation in how Metagrid interacts with Cubase, it is a limitation in how Cubase works. Metagrid can never make Cubase do something that Cubase is incapable of doing
