Appendix
B
Using Control Surfaces with ACID
A control surface is a hardware device that uses knobs, faders, and buttons to control user interface elements that are
normally controlled with a mouse. Using a control surface lends a tactile feel to your editing sessions.
Unlike keyboard shortcuts—which determine the shortcut's behavior based on the portion of the ACID window that has
focus—a control surface's mapped functions work no matter what part of the application has focus.
When your control surface is enabled, an indicator is displayed in the track list and the Mixing Console to indicate which
channels are under external control. Multiple bars are displayed if a channel is under the control of multiple devices.
In the track list, vertical
bars in tracks 1-4 indicate
that those tracks are
under external control.
In the Mixing Console,
horizontal bars at the top
of channels 1-4 indicate
which channels are under
external control
Connecting a control surface
You can use one Mackie® Control Universal with up to four Mackie Control Universal Extenders, one Frontier TranzPort, or
up to five generic control surfaces with ACID software. Perform the following steps for each device.
1.
Connect the MIDI Out port on your MIDI interface to the MIDI In port on your control surface.
2.
Connect the MIDI In port on your MIDI interface to the MIDI Out port on your control surface. For more information,
see Configuring ACID to use your control surface on page 268.
3.
Configure ACID software to use your control surface.
Note:
If you’re using a USB interface such as Frontier TranzPort, just plug in the USB cable. For information about your
specific device, please refer to the manufacturer's documentation.
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