Pro Tools is the king with this: In the Project Window you can configure the channels to show almost everything on the channel itself (nested if needed, and fully customizable), negating the need to first click on the channel then navigate to the Inspector and possibly click yet again to get to the right page in order to do things like adjust volume or pan, inserts, auxes, etc. This is what most other modern streamlined DAWs’ GUIs have for a very smart and good reason. And Cubase needs it. Once you use a DAW that does this you will see how much repeated clicking/navigation in the Project Window is required in Cubase to do very simple things like adjust the pan or volume on a channel, or example. This feature is truly so much faster and efficient and is not just a “I want Cubase to be like (insert DAW name here)!”.
At the very minimum: volume and pan (Instrument tracks at least have volume adjustable there, so we see that it can be done!). But ideally more (configurable, like icons and other features already are on tracks in Cubase) like PT and many others in varying degrees (Reaper, Live, Logic, Studio One, etc.).
Less clicks and mouse navigation in order to achieve the same thing that you would do with more clicks and mouse navigation: Always the way to go, and very pro.
Please consider this strongly for the next update. Thank you for listening!
When switching between Cubase and Live, this is one of areas where Live’s UI allows to work more efficiently. Cubase demands much more navigation so there’s definitely room for streamlining.
Yes +1. The inspector section is clumsy and more of the same…click fest. Hidden tabs. Cubase GUI is such a mess I am really being temped to move to another DAW. I own S1v3 and really want to love it but I have not put in the time to learn it as well as I Know Cubase. There are things in that DAW I don’t liek as well as Cubase so I stick with what is familiar. Just can’t help but think this DAW could be so much better if they hired a better GUI team and got input from real Cubase users. What ever they are doing does not seem to be working…
I wish panning and volume was the reason I release one track per year ;D
To be more serious that’s the view I have 80% of time, and I never disable left zone so I don’t feel any need in aditional pan\vol controllers at the track.
And also if track width will be 1 line, where all that controls are going to go, huh?
For you, you wouldn’t need it. I never work with my tracks that thin and with that small amount of track header space because I need more info regularly visible and accessible for the work I do every day. But regardless, this feature is in most other DAWs for a very good reason (volume and pan at the minimum), and they have ways of dealing with it when you make the track size that tiny (maybe it just disappears, huh? )…so Steinberg should put it in to make life easier for many of us while making it all configurable and customizable like things already are in the Track Controls.
Like many features, there will always be some who don’t want it (there are more than a few features in Cubase that I don’t personally need or want right now, but many others do want or use them and that’s the compromise and I wouldn’t want to keep it from them if it’s optional and/or doesn’t get in my way). That’s the beauty of having this being fully configurable like PT and others have it, in this particular case.
Steinberg, you already have adjustable volume on Groups and Instrument tracks, so add pan to those and bring them both to audio tracks. The inspector would still be clumsy and very click-heavy for other things that you can adjust easily in these other DAWs, but this simple addition would be a great start.
Well, damn! I just was playing bass yesterday on a session at a studio here in L.A. that had Pro Tools, and for the first time I saw what a gigantic workflow enhancer and time-saver this would be if Cubase had it. The engineer was adjusting volumes, pans, moving around inserts, copying inserts to different channels, etc., all on the fly directly and instantly on tracks on the project page. Until you see it in action or use it you might not realize what an immense difference it makes in the speed and ease of work. Not once did the engineer have to navigate over to a separate inspector after first clicking on what track he wanted to adjust, nor did he have to go over to the mixer during the entire tracking session to adjust any of these parameters (I was in the control room the whole time). If this were in Cubase we wouldn’t even need to have the inspector panel any more if we didn’t want it, except for more detailed stuff or if for some reason someone wanted to click and move their mouse more. In Pro Tools and some others you have access to volume, pan, inserts, sends, inputs and outputs all directly in the track list…and you have the ability to select which you want to see, if you want to hide a few or all of them.
Sooooo yet another huge +1 for this! Cubase is an unnecessary click-fest in many ways, and this would help with that. Since volume is already on the Send and Instrument tracks (oddly not on audio tracks), let’s at least have volume and pan on every type of channel at the extreme minimum. As the OP said,the less clicks and fumbling with the mouse the better, always!
Yes, it’s that way in Pro Tools, which is part of what makes it so useful for any number of different workflows, from those who prefer the extra work of using the inspector to those who would rather do completely with_out_ the inspector.
)…so Steinberg should put it in to make life easier for many of us while making it all configurable and customizable like things already are in the Track Controls.