Automation lanes improvements

I’ll keep this short and sweet. In Logic (and numerous other DAWs) when you adjust an automation point, the value of that point is shown either next to the point or as a tooltip during adjustment.

For native devices, for example an EQ, if you’re automating the frequency, it’ll show the value in Hz or kHz.

For a third party device, for example Fabfilter Pro Q 3, if you’re automating the frequency you’ll get a percentage value.

WHY?

The plugin is clearly reporting the value to the device view - one can see the exact Hz value - but on the automation lane you’re playing “guess the percentage” and it’s rubbish if you want to automate to very specific values.

Additionally, I’d love to be able to have (as a toggleable option) the ability to show the value next to the automation point for every point, or at the very least any points that are selected. Logic displays all the values if it can and it can look a bit messy, hence my suggestion for selected points only.

I wouldn’t mind being able to toggle off the shaded area of automation and just have the line (but also a more clear distinction of where the particular automation lane ends and the next one begins if more than one is being shown.)

Being able to highlight a time range and drag up or down to create four points would be seriously helpful and it’s criminal that such a feature does not exist yet.

Lastly, I’d really love it if one could re-colour automation lanes, using the same already-available colour pallete concept used for tracks, clips and events. Again, see Logic for how this could look. I’m personally a little OCD and when I have a half-dozen automation lanes, having them all be blue really doesn’t help make things clearer.

What problem(s) would this feature resolve?

Automation pain

How does this feature fit in Bitwig as a product?

Very well. Bitwig does automation, producers like automation.

Is there already an alternative way to achieve this on Bitwig?

Not really.

Could it be implemented using Bitwig components or APIs, without Bitwig team’s support?

Nope.

Could it be provided by a VST or something else reasonably integrated with Bitwig?

Nope.

Are there other products that offer this feature?

Most other DAWs in one way or another. I’ve referenced Logic because in this regard I think it’s very well designed. Not perfect, mind you… but an excellent start.

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