Using a Mackie Control

If you're using Mackie Control Extenders. you'll need to set up your channel mapping.

For example, if your Mackie Control Universal is on the left of your Mackie Control Extender, you could configure the Mackie Control to adjust channels 1 through 8 and use the Mackie Control Extender to adjust channels 9 through 16.

If you have a Mackie Control Universal positioned between two Mackie Control Extenders, you could adjust channels 1 through 8 on the left Extender, adjust channels 9 through 16 on the Mackie Control Universal, and adjust channels 17 through 24 on the right Extender.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog.
Select the External Control & Automation tab.
Double-click your Mackie Control in the Active control devices list to display the Configure Mackie Control dialog.

The current channel mapping is displayed on each device's LCD.
Choose the channels you want to control with the Mackie Control Universal:

a. From the Device Type drop-down list, choose Mackie Control.

b. From the Channel Mapping drop-down list, choose the channels you want to adjust with the Mackie Control Universal.

Choose the channels you want to control with the Mackie Control Extender:

a. From the Device Type drop-down list, choose Mackie Control Extender.

b. From the Channel Mapping drop-down list, choose the channels you want to adjust with the Mackie Control Extender.

Repeat Step 5 for each Mackie Control Extender.
Click OK to apply your changes and close the Configure Mackie Control dialog.
Click OK to apply your changes and close the Preferences dialog.

Use the External Control & Automation tab in the Preferences dialog to select the control surfaces you want to use and adjust their configuration.

When you customize your control mappings, button functions may not match the labels on the overlay. You can click the Default All button in the Configure Mackie Control dialog to restore the default settings.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog.
Select the External Control & Automation tab.
Double-click your Mackie Control in the Active control devices list to display the Configure Mackie Control dialog.
To add or change a function do the following:

a. Select an item in the User defined surface control mappings list.

b. Select an item in the Available host functions list.

c. Click the Assign button.

To remove a function, select an item in the User defined surface control mappings list and click the Clear button.
To remove all functions, click the Clear All button.
To replace all custom functions with the default settings, click the Default All button.

The channel section includes V-Pots (knobs), buttons, and faders that you can use to edit your tracks and busses.

Area

Description

V-Pot

Adjusts values for panning, volume (when Flip button is selected), video track opacity (when Flip button is selected), video track fade-to-color, and effect parameter values.

Audio track volume	Adjusts track volume when the Pan or Sends button is selected and the Flip button is selected.
Audio track panning	Adjusts audio track panning when the Pan button is selected.
Bus send levels	Adjusts bus send levels when the Sends button is selected.
Video track opacity	Adjusts video track opacity when the Video and Flip buttons are selected.
Video track fade to color	Adjusts video track fade-to-color envelope when the Video button is selected, the Automation button in the Audio/Video section is selected, and the track is in Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode.
Compositing mode	Adjusts the track compositing mode when the Video button is selected and you press the Output/Compositing button twice to change the track assignment to CO.
Effect parameters	Adjusts effect parameters when the Inserts button is selected.

The V-Pot is velocity sensitive, so rotating quickly changes values quickly, and you can press the button to choose a selection.

When the Pan or Sends button is selected, press the V-Pot to edit the track or bus effects chain.

Rec/Rdy button

Arms audio tracks for recording.

Signal LED

Indicates whether an audio track or bus is outputting a signal.

Solo button

Press to solo a track or remove it from the solo group.

Mute button

Press to mute or unmute a track.

Select button

Press to select a track.

Fader

Adjusts the track or bus level (unless the Flip button is selected).

When the Automation button is selected, the fader adjusts the automation envelope if the track is in Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode.

The fader can also adjust settings for the following items when you select other buttons in the Channel section.

Audio track panning	Adjusts audio track panning when the Pan and Flip buttons are selected.
Bus send levels	Adjusts bus send levels when the Sends and Flip buttons are selected.
Video track opacity	Adjusts video track opacity when the Video button is selected.
Video track fade to color	Adjusts video track fade-to-color settings when the Automation, Video, and Pan/Fade to Color buttons are selected. Adjusts video track fade-to-color envelope when the following conditions are met: The Video button is selected. The Automation button in the Audio/Video section is selected The Pan/Fade to Color button is selected. The track is in Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode.

The fader is touch sensitive, so if you're recording automation parameters, recording will begin when you touch the fader and stop when you release it. The current setting is displayed in the Mackie Control display.

The Mackie Control has two switched inputs (labeled User Switch A and User Switch B) that you can use to connect footswitches.

By default, footswitch A toggles playback, and footswitch B starts and stops recording.

You can customize the footswitches in the Configure Mackie Control dialog. Double-click Mackie Control in the Active control devices list on the External Control & Automation tab of the Preferences dialog to display the Configure Mackie Control dialog.

The buttons in the Control section determine the operation of the V-Pots and faders in the channel section of your Mackie Control. In every mode, the fader adjusts track volume, and the V-Pot adjusts the selected control mode. You can press the Flip button to reverse the V-Pot and fader function.

Button

Description

Output /
Compositing

Press the Output button to set the output device for each track or bus. Turn the V-Pot in the channel section to choose an output device and press the V-Pot to select it.

When the Video button is selected, you can set the compositing mode for each track using the V-Pot.

Input /
Motion Blur

Press to set the recording input device for each track. Turn the V-Pot in the channel section to choose an input device and press the V-Pot to select it.

When the Video button is selected, press the V-Pot to enable or bypass motion blur for each video track.

Pan /
Fade to Color

Press to adjust track panning using the V-Pot in the channel section.

In 5.1 surround projects, pressing the Pan button toggles left-to-right panning, front-to-rear panning, and center-channel level adjustment using the V-Pot.

When the Video button is selected, you can adjust the opacity of video tracks with the fader in the channel section and adjust fade-to-color settings with the V-Pot when the Automation button in the Audio/Video section is selected and the track is in Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode.

Sends

Press to adjust bus and assignable effects send levels. Press the Sends button to scroll through the available busses and assignable effects chains, and then turn the V-Pot to adjust the send level.

Inserts

Press to adjust effects settings.

Press the button once to display PL in the Mackie Control Assignment display. The Mackie Control LCD displays the effects that are assigned to each track or bus. The following example shows a three-track project:

Turn the V-Pot to scroll through the effects, and press the V-Pot to edit the current effect. In editing mode, PE is displayed in the Assignment display. The following example shows the settings for the Noise Gate plug-in on track one:

PE mode uses the following controls:

V-Pots 1 - 4	Turn to edit the effect's parameters. For switch parameters such as Bypass, press the V-Pot to change the setting.
V-Pot 5	Turn to scroll through an effect's property pages.
V-Pot 6	Turn to choose from a plug-in's available presets. Press the V-Pot to choose a preset.
V-Pot 7	Turn to edit the current effect for a different channel
V-Pot 8	Turn to choose other effects for the current channel.

Press the Inserts button again to view effects chains. PS is displayed in the Assignment display. The following example shows the effects chain on track one:

PS mode uses the following controls:

V-Pots 1, 3, and 5	Turn to choose other effects for the current channel. Press to edit the selected effect and enter PE mode.
V-Pots 2, 4, and 6	After choosing an effect with V-Pot 1, 3, or 5, press V-Pot 2, 4, or 6 to add it to the channel.
V-Pot 7	If a channel has multiple pages of effects in the chain, turn to display additional effects. In the previous example, Aud 1 1/2 means that track one has two pages of effects.
V-Pot 8	Turn to choose effects chains for other channels.

When <No Insert> is displayed above a V-Pot, you can turn the V-Pot to view effects that you can add to the chain. New effects are displayed with a *. Press the next V-Pot (to the right) to add the effect.

Settings

Press to adjust track or bus settings using the F1 through F6 buttons.

F1	Hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change the automation recording mode for each track and bus track.
F2	Hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change the current panning mode.
F3	Hold the button and press the V-Pot to change the track phase.
F4	Hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change record input monitoring settings when you're using an ASIO audio device.
F5	When the Pan button is selected, press the Settings button and then hold F5 while pressing the V-Pot to change the bus or assignable effects output fader to Pre FX or Post FX. When the Sends button is selected, press the Settings button and hold F5 while pressing the V-Pot to change a track's bus or assignable effects send level to Pre Volume or Post Volume. Press the Sends button to scroll through the available bus and effects sends.
F6	Press the Settings button and hold F6 while pressing the V-Pot on a channel to return the channel's settings to the track defaults.

The Fader Banks buttons control the behavior of the channel section controls.

Button	Description
Bank	Press the left or right arrow button to scroll the channels 8 units at a time. For example, if tracks 1-8 are currently displayed, pressing the right arrow will change to tracks 9-16.
Channel	Press the left or right arrow button to scroll the channels 1 unit at a time. For example, if tracks 1-8 are currently displayed, pressing the right arrow will change to tracks 2-9. Hold the Option button while pressing either Channel button to change track order. For example, if track two is selected and you press Option+ < Channel, track two becomes track one. Conversely, if track one is selected and you press Option + Channel >, track one becomes track two.
Flip	Press to exchange the behavior of the fader and V-Pot when allowed.
Video	Press to toggle audio and video modes. For example, you press the Pan/Fade button in audio mode, you can perform audio track panning with the V-Pot. If you press the button in video mode, you can adjust fade-to-color settings if the Automation button in the Audio/Video section is selected and the track is in Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode.

The Display buttons control the Mackie Control LCD display.

Button

Description

Meters/Values

When you're working with audio tracks or busses, press to display meters or numeric values. Even in Meters mode, numeric values are displayed when you edit a value.

In Audio mode, hold the Shift button in the Modifiers section while pressing the Meters/Values button to toggle control of tracks, busses, or tracks and busses.

Press once to show audio tracks.
Press again to show audio tracks.
Press again to show busses.
Press again to show tracks and busses.

Time Fmt
Zero

Press and hold to display the current time format. Turn V-Pot 8 while holding the button to change the format.

Hold the Shift button in the Modifiers section while pressing the Time Fmt/Zero button to set the current cursor position to zero.

The Markers buttons control additional track and channel settings.

Button	Description
Marker 1/9 Automation Mode	Press to place the cursor at marker 1, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 9. When the Settings button is selected, hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change the automation recording mode for each track and bus track.
Marker 2/10 Pan Mode	Press to place the cursor at marker 2, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 10. When the Settings button is selected, hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change the current panning mode.
Marker 3/11 Track Phase	Press to place the cursor at marker 3, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 11. When the Settings button is selected, hold the button and press the V-Pot to change the track phase.
Marker 4/12 Input Monitor	Press to place the cursor at marker 4, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 12. When the Settings button is selected, hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change record input monitoring settings when you're using an ASIO audio device.
Marker 5/13 Pre/Post	Press to place the cursor at marker 5, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 13. When the Pan button is selected, press the Settings button and then hold F5 while pressing the V-Pot to change the bus or assignable effects output fader to Pre FX or Post FX. When the Sends button is selected, press the Settings button and hold F5 while pressing the V-Pot to change a track's bus or assignable effects send level to Pre Volume or Post Volume. Press the Sends button to scroll through the available bus and effects sends.
Marker 6/14 Default	Press to place the cursor at marker 6, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 14. Press the Settings button and hold F6 while pressing the V-Pot on a channel to return the channel's settings to the track defaults.
Marker 7/15	Press to place the cursor at marker 7, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 15.
Marker 8/16	Press to place the cursor at marker 8, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 16.

The Add New buttons add busses or tracks to your project.

Button	Description
Track	Press to add a new audio track. When the Video button is selected, a new video track is added.
Bus	Press to add an audio bus to your project.

The Windows buttons control the display of various Vegas windows.

Button	Description
Mixer	Press to show the Mixer window. If the window is not docked, pressing the button shows/hides the window.
Video Preview	Press to show the Video Preview window. If the window is not docked, pressing the button shows/hides the window.
Plug-Ins	Press to show the Plug-In Manager window. If the window is not docked, pressing the button shows/hides the window.

The View buttons control the display of various sections of the Vegas window.

Button	Description
Bus Tracks	Press to show or hide audio bus tracks in the Vegas timeline. When the Video button is selected, press to show or hide the video bus track.
Dock Area	Press to show or hide the Window Docking Area at the bottom of the Vegas window.
Track List	Press to show or hide the track list in the timeline.

The Modifiers buttons extend the functionality of other buttons on the Mackie Control.

Button	Description
Shift	Hold the Shift button while pressing a button labeled with inverse text to perform the shift function. For example, hold Shift while pressing the Undo/Redo button to reverse an undo action.
Option/ Track Order	Hold the Option/Track Order button while pressing a button in the Settings, Add New, or Windows group for alternative functions. Hold the Option/Track Order button while pressing a the Channel < or Channel > button to change track order. Hold the Option/Track Order button while pressing F1 to F16 to perform custom functions you can define. See the Configure or customize your control mappings heading in this help topic for more information.
Ctrl	Hold the Ctrl button while using a control for alternative functions.
Alt	Hold the Alt button while using a control for alternative functions. Hold Alt while pressing F1 through F10 to run scripts 1-10 from the Tools > Scripting submenu.

Use the External Control & Automation tab in the Preferences dialog to select the control surfaces you want to use and adjust their configuration.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog.
Select the External Control & Automation tab.
Double-click your Mackie Control in the Active devices list to display the Configure Mackie Control dialog.
To add or change a function do the following:

a. Select an item in the User defined surface control mappings list.

b. Select an item in the Available host functions list.

c. Click the Assign button.

To remove a function, select an item in the User defined surface control mappings list and click the Clear button.
To remove all functions, click the Clear All button.
To replace all custom functions with the default settings, click the Default All button.

The Audio/Video buttons control various audio and video settings for your project.

Button	Description
Automation	Press to place the controls on the Mackie Control in automation mode. The controls in the channel section of the Mackie Control will affect the automation parameters on the track or bus if Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode is selected. When the button is not selected, the buttons control trim (static) values.
Bypass FX	Press to bypass/enable all audio effects.
Metronome	Press to turn the metronome on or off.
Surround/ Ext Monitor	Press to toggle the project properties between stereo and 5.1 surround mode. When the Video button is selected, press the Surround/Ext Monitor button to send your video preview to an external monitor.
Downmix/ Split Screen	Press to toggle the state of the Downmix Output button in the Mixer window. When the Video button is selected, press the Downmix/Split Screen button to toggle split-screen video previews.
Dim/ Overlays	Press to toggle the state of the Dim Output button in the Mixer window. When the Video button is selected, press the Dim/Overlays button to toggle the display of overlays (grid, safe areas, and RGB channels) in the Video Preview window.

The Project buttons perform various project-level commands.

Button	Description
Save	Press to save your project.
Undo/ Redo	Press to reverse edit operations. Hold Shift while pressing the button to reverse an undo operation.
OK	Not used.
Cancel	Not used.

The Timeline buttons perform various commands for the project timeline.

Button	Description
Marker/ CD Index	Press to place a marker at the cursor position. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Marker/CD Index button to place a CD index marker at the cursor position. Hold the Ctrl button while pressing the Marker/CD Index button to remove a marker. Hold the Ctrl and Shift buttons while pressing the Marker/CD Index button to remove a CD index marker.
Region/ CD Track	Press to convert the current selection to a region. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Region/CD Track button to convert the current selection to a CD track region. Hold the Ctrl button while pressing the Region/CD Track button to remove a region. Hold the Ctrl and Shift buttons while pressing the Region/CD Track button to remove a CD track.
Loop/ Select	Press to toggle looped playback mode. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Loop/Select button to create a time selection from the loop region.
Mark In/ Go to In	Press to set the beginning of the loop region at the cursor position. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Mark In/Go to In button to move the cursor to the beginning of the loop region.
Mark Out/ Go to Out	Press to set the end of the loop region at the cursor position. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Mark Out/Go to Out button to move the cursor to the end of the loop region.
Event Trim/ Center Cursor	Press to toggle event edge-trimming mode. Press the right or left arrow button to select the next or previous event edge, and then turn the jog dial to trim the event edge. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Event Trim/Center Cursor button to center the cursor in the timeline view.
RTZ/ End	Press to move the cursor to the beginning of the project. Hold the Shift button while pressing the RTZ/End button to move the cursor to the end of the project.

The Transport buttons allow you to navigate the timeline and preview your project.

Button	Description
Rewind	Press and hold to move backward through the timeline at 20x speed.
Fast Forward	Press and hold to move forward through the timeline at 20x speed.
Stop	Press to stop playback and return the cursor to its position before playback started. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Stop button to create a dynamic RAM preview.
Play	Press to start playback. Press again to stop playback and leave the cursor at its current position. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Play button to preview the cursor position. To change the playback duration, use the Cursor preview duration control on the Editing tab of the Preferences dialog.
Record	Press to start recording. Press again to stop recording and leave the cursor at its current position. Hold the Shift button while pressing the Record button to render the current selection to a new track.

The arrow buttons allow you to navigate the timeline and preview your project.

Button

Description

Left/Right

When the Zoom button is not selected:

Press the left or right arrow button to move left or right by grid marks.

When the Event Trim button is selected, pressing the left or right arrow button selects the previous or next event edge. You can then use the jog dial to trim the event edge.

Hold Shift while pressing the left or right arrow button to select left or right by grid marks.

Hold Ctrl while pressing the left or right arrow button to move left or right by edits on the focus track.

Hold Ctrl + Shift while pressing the left or right arrow button to select left or right by edits on the focus track.

When the Zoom button is selected:

Press the left or right arrow button to move left or right by pixels (when Quantize to Frames is turned off).

Hold Shift while pressing the left or right arrow button to select left or right by pixels.

Hold Ctrl while pressing the left or right arrow button to move to the previous or next marker.

Hold Ctrl + Shift while pressing the left or right arrow button to select to the previous or next marker.

Up/Down

When the Zoom button is not selected:

Press to change the focus track.

Hold Shift while pressing the up or down arrow button to select a range of tracks.

When the Zoom button is selected:

Press to zoom in or out.

Hold Shift while pressing the up or down arrow button to change the magnification of audio waveforms.

Hold Ctrl while pressing the up or down buttons to zoom to a selection or to the high in/max out.

Hold Ctrl+Shift while pressing the up or down buttons to change track heights.

The jog dial allows you to navigate the timeline and trim events.

Navigating the timeline

When playback is paused and the Scrub button is not selected, the jog dial performs the following functions:

When the Zoom button is not selected, turn the dial clockwise or counterclockwise to navigate the timeline by frames.
When the Zoom button is selected, turn the dial clockwise or counterclockwise to navigate the timeline by pixels.
Hold the Shift button and turn the dial to create a time selection or extend a selection.

Scrubbing the timeline

During playback, turning the jog dial increases or decreases the playback rate.

When playback is paused and the Scrub button is selected, turning the jog dial scrubs the timeline.

Trimming events

Press the Event Trim button to enter event trimming mode.
Press the left or right arrow button to select the event edge you want to trim. A red bracket is displayed to indicate which event edge will be trimmed.
Turn the jog dial to trim the event edge left or right in one-frame increments. Hold Ctrl while turning the dial to trim in one-pixel increments. Depending on the current zoom level, the trim duration will vary.

The Mackie Control is fully supported by Vegas software. An overlay is available from Mackie that you can use to label the Mackie Control buttons and controls with their mapped functions in Vegas software.

Click here to view the overlay in a new browser window, or click here to download a full-size, printable version.

The overlay identifies the default control mapping. You can also customize the buttons and controls on the Mackie control. When you use the default mapping, the Mackie Control is divided into several functional areas. All functionality described in this topic refers to the default control mapping.

For information about your Mackie Control, please refer to the manufacturer's documentation.

The Mackie Control Universal can control either trim or automation settings. In order to control automation settings, the Automation button in the Audio/Video section must be selected, and the track or bus you want to edit must be set to Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch). Hold the F1 button while turning the V-Pot (or use the Automation Settings button

) to change the automation recording mode for each track and bus track.

Using a Mackie Control

What do you want to do?

Configure channel mappings for Mackie Control Extenders

Configure or customize your control mappings

Channel section (not shown)

Footswitches (not shown)

Control buttons

Fader Banks buttons

Display buttons

Markers buttons

Add New buttons

Windows buttons

View buttons

Modifiers buttons

Audio/Video buttons

Project buttons

Timeline buttons

Transport buttons (not shown)

Arrow buttons (not shown)

Jog dial (not shown)

Navigating the timeline

Scrubbing the timeline

Trimming events

Using a Mackie Control

What do you want to do?

Configure channel mappings for Mackie Control Extenders

Configure or customize your control mappings

Channel section (not shown)

Footswitches (not shown)

Control buttons

Fader Banks buttons

Display buttons

Markers buttons

Add New buttons

Windows buttons

View buttons

Modifiers buttons

Audio/Video buttons

Project buttons

Timeline buttons

Transport buttons (not shown)

Arrow buttons (not shown)

Jog dial (not shown)

Configure channel mappings for Mackie Control Extenders

Configure or customize your control mappings

Channel section (not shown)

Footswitches (not shown)

Control buttons

Fader Banks buttons

Display buttons

Markers buttons

Add New buttons

Windows buttons

View buttons

Modifiers buttons

Audio/Video buttons

Project buttons

Timeline buttons

Transport buttons (not shown)

Arrow buttons (not shown)

Jog dial (not shown)