DSP Robotics Support

Switches from Flowstone don't show up as switches in my DAW, in the automation system. Is this something I can change in the preset manager? See the image below where the switch from FS on the second plugin shows up as a slider, and can't be linked to a button in the automation system.

Is there a way to fix this? Thanks in advance.

In Reaper, all automation parameters show up as sliders. For a switch, the "slider" will be at max or min for the switch, because the DAW only sees a float value from the plugin. The DAW doesn’t know what the float value represents.

As an aside, if you’re using an on/off switch I found it best to have a greater-than-0.5 Bool on the output of the preset parameter module. This is because when automating, zero on playback (read) may not be perfectly zero, and in FS any value even slightly above zero will be seen as a one in the Bool prims. If you set 0.5 as the threshold, the “slider” will change the switching to half way along its travel (which I think is nicer). tulamide solved that one for me ages ago!

S1User wrote:Switches from Flowstone don't show up as switches in my DAW, in the automation system. Is this something I can change in the preset manager? See the image below where the switch from FS on the second plugin shows up as a slider, and can't be linked to a button in the automation system.

Is there a way to fix this? Thanks in advance.

The attachment TinyTake07-10-2024-04-09-16.png is no longer available

This has nothing to do with Flowstone. As Spogg already explained, ALL parameters are always a 32-bit float number. This is a problem of not fully understanding your DAW. Unfortunately, you didn't mention it, but from the screenshot and your user name, I guess it's Studio One, in which case, I can help you.

You're confusing the micro view with automation. The screenshot shows the micro view of some of the insert effects. You can configure any of these by right-clicking on any parameter in the micro view and from the context pop-up choosing "configure micro view parameter" (I only have the German version, wording might vary).

A window opens that shows used parameters on the left and the pool of possible parameters to add on the right. In the left part you will see 2 columns, "parameter" and "type". Hover over the parameter's type you wish to change and right-click. This allows you to change the type to "switch". Then close the window. I made a screenshot of me turning the "tape" parameter of a plugin into a switch.

But careful: This change will also be used in the automation track. It sets the automation value to hard 0 and 1.

Thanks guys, I should have known that I could manually switch it.

It was more that other plugins showed their switches automatically as switches and I didn't realize I could edit that.

Thanks a lot, much appreciated.

S1User wrote: It was more that other plugins showed their switches automatically as switches and I didn't realize I could edit that.

As far as I know, only Presonus' own plugins come preconfigured for the micro view!
You're welcome, have fun with your plugin

I did some searching on Google and didn’t find a way to visualise a float automation as a switch in Reaper. I’m impressed that it’s possible in Studio One! Or maybe it’s a common feature in many DAWs but not Reaper. Dunno.

The thing that caught my eye was that S1User said other plugins showed their switches automatically. That implies that those plugins tell the DAW something. Could this be a feature of VST3?

There is a preset parameter called "Preset Bool" (not sure when that was added), and that will probably show up as a switch in some DAWs

Again, thanks for the help, much appreciated. I love FS but waiting for 64-bit support has been very frustrating.

Anyway, I'm little embarassed because I actually work tech support for Studio One and I completely misssed that feature, that you can right click and toggle those things in micro view between slider and switch. I learned something new, which is rare for me having used that app since it was in 1.0 beta.

adamszabo wrote:There is a preset parameter called "Preset Bool" (not sure when that was added), and that will probably show up as a switch in some DAWs

I can’t find in 3.06 so I guess it’s an alpha feature. Also, do you know if it complies with VST2?

Spogg wrote: I can’t find in 3.06 so I guess it’s an alpha feature. Also, do you know if it complies with VST2?

I havent tried it yet, but in theory it should, as it doesnt say its vst3 exclusive