It would have been nice to know it in advance…on top of that, it would be nice to make it work with any controllor (but that’s a whole different story…)
Thanks, JHP for letting us know. Would it be possible as goyya76 mentioned to open the RC Editor to all MIDI controllers or is the editor’s current state it’s intended purpose?
I have tried it with my Mackie control.
It is not what I expected!
It is just an rearrangement of the parameters of the vst .
You get the parameters with the old knob inserts or instrument.
Then go to insert plugin and there are the new pages you set up in the remote control editor for that plugin.
I thought that the vpots responds to the parameters if the plugin editor comes into focus…but no way…
I am very disappointed about the remote control editor!
Hi all,
Just tested what was one of my main reasons to upgrade : the Remote Control Editor. I tried it with my Mr Ray 73 mkII electric piano VSTi. Here we go…
-
First, a serious misbehavior which made me think that, at some point, C7 just crashed : right ckicking on a parameter to display the ‘Control settings’ menu of it makes Remote Control Editor and all Cubase unresponsive : hitting Escape doesn’t work, as well as clicking or double-clicking on the menu or elsewhere and the whole Cubase UI is frozen (see the image below). Thankfully, I had the C7 Operation Manual opened so, as a last resort, I clicked on its Windows task bar button then on Cubase one : the ‘control settings’ menu has disappeared and Cubase was reacting normally again. So, beware of this ! I don’t know what is the point of it anyway, as all the parameters displayed in it are also available in the inspector…
-
Seems that this feature is only usable with only four layouts dedicated to standard controllers. I was exepecting, at least, that my two generic rmote controllers already defined in the ‘Device setup’ window would have been on the list. At this point, I am wondering : what is the use of the Remote Control Editor if the generic remote controllers already defined are of no use ?
-
I persisted, though, hoping to get a use of it, somehow. A good point : the quick control assignments are taken in account by the RCE, as expected. But what I wanted is to assign more parameters of the VSTi to my remote controllers, as there are still only eight of them. So, I tried the ‘Trmolo speed’ one which has no quick control affected to it. I carefully chacked that the ‘Learn’ button was active and choosed the ‘Tremolo speed’ one. Fine… Then what ? Moving any control of one or other of my two controllers leads to nothing : no indication about an eventual detection of the controller move. Clicking on ‘Apply’ and closing the remote Control Editor’ window is also without results.
So, end of the experience : Ther Remote Control editor is of no use at it present state on my setup. I decided to upgrade from 6.5.4 mainly for it and it seems that it’s another half-baked feature which could have been of great use if :
- It was usable, at least, with the generic remote already defined as, by definition, these are the real ones the user are working with.
- It clearly showed which control of which remote controller is involved for each of the parameters displayed.
- It had a more convenient and less buggy interface : as an example, beside what happened with the ‘Control settings’ menu, I tried the second of the (very short) list of the available remote controllers and, doing so, crashed Cubase with the ‘A serious problem occured…’ displayed several times. Had to close Cubase via the Windows task manager…
So, if Steiny could tell us in a clearer way than the manual does what is the ‘Remote Control Editor’ real usefulness ? Thanks…
Confirmed. I tried RCE for the first time last night & found bug number one straight away. Opening a pdf fixed it for me too, after a minute of clicking everywhere !!
I gave up at that point…
Dear all the passionate Cubase/Nuendo users,
Our sincere apology to all the confusions and misunderstandings appeared since the release. For that, I would try my best to clarify a bit here for a better understanding of the discussed feature.
Well, a number of common hardware controllers like Mackie Control, CM Motormix, Euphonix controllers and other Mackie-compatible devices have been integrated well with Cubase/Nuendo since the early days, which allow users to control many channel specific functions/parameters conveniently via the surface as if they were one single unit.
Likewise, users can manipulate the parameters of the inserted plugins conveniently. However, when accessing any plugin control from the surface, users would only get the default parameter ordering from the system. Often, this could be a cumbersome experience when the ordering of those parameters is not optimal, or when it comes to plugins with a large number of parameters that need to be mapped to the limited hardware knobs. Apart from that, different engineers might have different preferences over the order of some specific parameters and so on. Based on these reasons, there have been quite some wishes and requests since then.
Hence, the RC Editor (supposed to be a parameter layout editor) is designed to be a mini tool that enables users to be able to reorder, rename or redefine the parameters of their favorite plugins based on their own preference and taste, as well as their hardware setup. In other words, it is a tool for manipulating the sub-optimal parameter layout that users experienced on their surface when accessing the VST plugins.
Unfortunately, this would also mean that it is absolutely not a replacement for the existing generic control editor that is used for general MIDI devices, as these devices have never supported the plugin editing directly like the described ones (before the assignments are done in the device setup manually)
Tips: As General MIDI does not standardize the plugin manipulation in general, Mackie protocol has been the de-Facto standard in such an area. So, if your hardware device is compatible to Mackie protocol and you were able to control the inserted VST plugins since the early days, it is very likely that you will be able to use the editor to customize your own layout as described.
Here’s the list of the devices that have been tested. Note that your hardware controllers might work as the Mackie Control setup too if they support Mackie Control Protocol or Steinberg Hardware SDK out of the box 
Hope this info helps!
cheers
SMing
Software Research Developer
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
Check out Steinberg on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook!
Just noticed this posting from an SB employee… does it help…?
Sming,
I invite you to read my thread on the subject :
I am still wondering at what the RCE is useful for me who has 2 remote controllers not ‘Mackie’ compatible and would have liked to have, at least, my already two defined generic remote controllers as a starting point to use RCE. This without talking about the buggy interface…
Let us know what you think, in a less convoluted way, please. Thanks…
Would have liked to but, sadly, not really… The main question remains : as you already set your quick controls for your VSTis and defined your generic remote controllers in the dedicated ‘Device setup…’ page, at what RCE is useful if you can’t link more parameters of the VStis involved to the different buttons, sliders and switches of the latters ?
Again, all my frustration comes that we still have only 8 quick controls at disposal and I was expecting that the RCE could be a kind of extension of them, this while including and be able to manage in just one window all the remote controlled parameters of each VSTi, but I was probably expecting too much…
As it appears to be now, the RCE is useless and, yes, buggy…
At this point, I am considering a feature that I never used : the device panels. But i’m afraid that, beside the tedious work of defining each parameter for each VSTi (and somes have a lot !), they are only usable with external gear and am not sure that you can specify remote devices to control the parameters defined. Will have a further look…
I dont get it. I am upset and disappointed.
There were so many ideas and wishes posted here to control (focused) Plugins with any midi controller, like all the other major and minor daws do one way or the other.
Yet, sb came up with such a “mini tool”, useless to many users, advertised confusingly as if you’ve had listened to us.
You did not.
I appreciate SB’s response concerning the confusion surrounding the Remote Controll Editor, because it surely is confusing. I’ve got an MCU Pro. The MCU Pro will control inserts already. Just push the appropriate button and the active insert parameters appear on the scribble strip. I can then turn a VPot and change the parameter. However, the downside of this approach is that the parameter names are “bunched up” to fit the appropriate channel width and you have to scroll through pages to reach a needed parameter. WAY to slow. It’s MUCH faster to do this with a mouse.
So I was under the impression the RCE would allow me to assign (and rename) parameters to the VPots to my liking. Some insert effects may have 20 parameters but I only need to adjust a few of them each time. So how cool would it be to just see a usable parameter on the first few vPots with a readable name.
However it’s done, I just can’t figure this out. Or maybe it just doesn’t work. I REALLY wish SB (or someone who’s figured this out) would post a step-by-step tutorial on YouTube showing how to get this thing up and running (and I don’t mean the current video that provides little meaningful information).
-Rich
As TabSel wrote it is totally disapointing to me.
I am not using the Mackie Control to control Plugin Parameters because it is far to slow.
For example an insert plugin you have to select the insert slot first then turn the pages to search the parameter.
I am much more faster with a mouse to do the same.
Our wishes for Years was a Remote Control Editor with Focused Editor Window control.
That means if a VST Editor Window comes in focus the controls on the controller will follow.
You have to set up the parameters once for every plugin you want specific controls on your hardwarecontroller with the remote control editor.
Why not use the extra Digit of the Mackie Control Assignemt 9Segment Display to have an extra mode for pluginspecific controls you set up in the remote control editor??
Thanks for the pointer, cubic13 
Ok… I must have trying too hard in the clarification earlier. Please excuse my unintended “convolution”.
I will address your question in the mentioned thread later. Thanks.
cheers
SMing
Software Research Developer
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
Check out Steinberg on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook!
Hi, Sming and thanks for taking account of this.
I think that there indeed has been a misinterpretation from a lot of us concerning what the RCE was meant for. TBH, the manual is also rather cryptic about it as is the C7 adevertisement. Not a showstopper, but well… Please, take also account of the unstabilities noticed.
Any answer from you will be welcome.
Hello TabSel,
We deeply regret the mentioned confusion and the inconvenience we caused so far. And, we like you to know that we are standing by you and that you are not alone.
In any case, we hope to amend and improve the situation as soon as we can and are looking forward to a possibility in extending the functionality of the current “misnamed” feature.
Thanks for your understanding.
Hi Rich,
Please allow me to allocate some time to prepare a step-by-step text guide for your use case. Thanks!
cheers
SMing
Software Research Developer
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
Check out Steinberg on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook!
Hi Backbeat,
Thanks for your precious comments and constructive suggestions!
It is true that looking for a specific parameters thru the paging workflow could be a painful experience when that param lies at page N. This is exactly one of the purposes of this editor where you can “throw” all the important parameters into the first page (once during the assignment) where you can access them instantly whenever entering the plugin control layer on your Mackie device. This is especially useful when you want to automate those hot params simultaneously with two or more hands.
Yes, a universal quick controls section with a dynamic assignment based on the latest focused VST plugin is indeed a very appealing and convincing concept. We should definitely bring this forward and let’s hope that we get the chance to make it real soon. Appreciate that!
I’m sorry but I don’t quite understand the following statement:
Why not use the extra Digit of the Mackie Control Assignemt 9Segment Display to have an extra mode for pluginspecific controls you set up in the remote control editor??
Could you elaborate a bit more, please? Thanks.
cheers
SMing
Software Research Developer
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
Check out Steinberg on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook!
Thanks for reporting this, cubic13. Appreciate that.
We have confirmed that it is a bug introduced in 7.0.1 thru the maintenance update. (As there was no such problem in the original 7.0.0 release.) We have determined that it is a window focus related issue and a bug report has been filed for this, which shall be resolved soon in the upcoming maintenance updates.
Meanwhile, if applicable, you can use the window focus change trick (Alt + tab) to work-around the unpleasant focus lock problem. Simply focus to any other program and back to Cubase again, either thru the task bar or Alt+Tab. (This applies to any other similar circumstances too whenever this kind of secondary pop up lock takes place).
Thanks!
cheers
SMing
Software Research Developer
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
Check out Steinberg on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook!
Great ! I know now that a solution for it is on its way.
Now, as I already reported it, there is another issue more serious, after thinking of it, concerning the layout menu where we can choose one of the four controllers supported : choosing the second one made Cubase crash. I read (I don’t remember where, sadly) that the Eucon driver is involved for this one, but I think that, when I installed C7 after receiving the boxed version, I also installed it, just in case. So, I think it’s worth a check…
Hi cubic13,
Thanks for the suggestions.
Indeed, some of the discussed ideas of yours and Backbeat (from another thread) are very interesting and useful. IMHO, we should definitely look forward to extend this whenever possible.
As for RCE, it is admittedly an overstatement for what it actually does. Nonetheless, many of our users of the listed devices do benefit a lot from this tiny tool in their daily work, to be honest. We regret that we overlooked the possibility in covering the generic domain too when designing the mentioned feature. In any case, we do hope that we can allocate some resources soon to handle the shaded areas that we have been discussed so far. Thanks again for your constructive comments!
cheers
SMing
Software Research Developer
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
Check out Steinberg on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook!
Thanks for your answer.
As I already stated it, my main frustration comes that we don’t have enough quick controls, hence the desperate attempts to use RCE as a replacement. At this point, please let me make two suggestions :
-
As the RCE is here and the related code already written, I suggest that the generic remote controllers or any other ones already defined in the ‘Device setup’ window should be available in the ‘layout’ menu of the RCE.
-
In a more general way, I often blamed Steinberg for not providing us more quick controls, which are really useful and have been a great addition since Cubase 4, if I remember well. The problem is that we don’t have enough of them : consider all the parameters needed for a B3 emulation, as an example : drawbars, rotary settings, distorsion, and so on…
Now that RCE exists, why not making it able to create quick contols for all the parameters defined in it ? This would be a kind of integration that would exactly complement the Generic Remote already defined. This way, it would only be necessary to define in the latters only what is strictly Cubase related : all the parameters used for controlling more or less clumsily third party stuff (VSTis, external instruments) would then be defined in the RCE.
Just my two cents…
Thanks again for chiming in, anuway.