realearn
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When selecting target "By name", add an option to target the last match rather than the first
When using the "By name" option to target FX, I often find myself wanting to target the last matching instance of the FX on a track rather than the first matching instance on that track.
So, when using "By name" to select a target, I suggest that an option to target the last match rather than the first match present itself to the user. See below for a quick mockup of the idea.
Internally, I would think this would be an easy enhancement: Whenever a box is ticked, just search a reversed copy of the corresponding list that is currently searched to find a match.
Mockup:
I could rename "By name" to "First by name" and add "Last by name".
That would be great. Thanks!
Just out of curiosity, what's the use case for this? Why not the first only or adjusting the naming so you can address the object more explicitly?
It's for working quickly while mixing. Here are a few example use cases, all of which involve targeting multiple plugins simultaneously. In all cases I have ReaLearn in the monitoring chain and am targeting tracks by selection.
Use case 1: I have some faders set up that allow me to target 3 EQ bands (on ReaEQ, targeted by name) and the main controls of a compressor (ReaComp, targeted by name) on the selected track. I already have an instance of each set up on a track, and then I decide that the track needs more bands of EQ and some more compression. I select the track, hit my hotkey for adding another instance of ReaEQ and ReaComp, and away I go. This saves me from having to open the track FX and rename the earlier instances of ReaEQ and ReaComp before I can start adjusting the new instances.
Use case 2: For EQ separation purposes, I have some faders set up that allow me to target 3 EQ bands on ReaEQ (targeted by name) for the first selected track, and 3 EQ bands on ReaEQ (targeted by name) for the second selected track. (Thanks for giving us selected_track_indexes[n], by the way. That's a really powerful feature!) Both tracks already have an instance of ReaEQ on them, where I did some earlier EQ work. I select both tracks, hit my hotkey for adding another instance of ReaEQ to each track, and away I go. This saves me from having to open both track FX chains and rename all earlier ReaEQ instances before I can start adjusting the new instances.
Use case 3: I often have multiple stages of saturation on a track. You can use an EQ before and after a saturator to change the character of the saturation. I have faders set up that allow me to target the first EQ, the saturation amount, and the second EQ, all by name, on the selected track. The first EQ is named "EQ PRE SAT", the saturator is named "SAT", the second EQ is named "EQ POST SAT", and the three plugins are saved as a chain. When I want some more saturation on a track, I select the track, hit my hotkey for adding this FX chain to the track, and away I go. This saves me from having to open the track FX chain and rename all the plugins involved in the earlier saturation stages before I can start adjusting the new saturation chain.
I mix in a way where I hardly ever go back and change processing that I've done before. I just keep adding more processing. I don't second-guess my old EQ moves, for instance. If I decide that a track needs more EQ later, I'll just add some more EQ later rather than going back and trying to adjust the EQ moves that I did earlier. To be honest, for the way I work, when targeting FX by name, I cannot think of an example where I wouldn't want to target the last matching instance rather than the first. It would be my new default.
ReaLearn is very powerful already, so maybe there is already a way to accomplish the use cases above without renaming the earlier FX instances.