Ability to group modules into 'macro' modules

[jhinden]

I love working in Magic, though I'm really missing the ability to create some logic using several modules and pack it into a 'macro' module that can be easily moved around, copy pasted and saved for later use. It would help to keep the structure from becoming messy and also to reuse them in different projects. I understand that I can achieve something similar with 'scenes' and 'scene inputs' though it's a bit of a hack this way. I'd prefer for example to take a few modules in a scene and tuck them away into a single module with ins and outs. This way you have quick access to them without leaving the scene and have them out of sight as well when not making adjustments.

[Eric]

You are describing Scene Modules: https://magicmusicvisuals.com/downloads/Magic_UsersGuide.html#SceneModules

Also keep in mind that individual scenes can be saved to their own project: https://magicmusicvisuals.com/downloads/Magic_UsersGuide.html#SavingScenes

And then later imported into another project: https://magicmusicvisuals.com/downloads/Magic_UsersGuide.html#ImportingProjects

[jhinden]

Thanks Eric. That's great. It seems I misunderstood that and will give the manual another look. Would be great if those 'project's' were somehow visible in the drop down insert menu. Would be nice to be able to double-click a scene module and go to it and also go back after edits. Perhaps I've missed that. I see the drop down menu item for 'goto' though it's a bit slow. Will check the docs and see if I've missed that as well. Thanks

[jhinden]

After reading and thinking about Scene modules a bit, I don't think it covers the use case I was after, though they're extremely useful. The issue with Scene modules is that they are global as far as I understand. This is an excellent feature for things that should be global. But, what I'm after is to be able to pack a group of modules into a folder if you will in order to organize them visually and also maintain independent control over them. Like a scene module but that's not global and is just for visual organization within a scene.

For example, if you are using four videos, each which uses Video > Translate > Rotate > Scale and some fx chain, it would be nice to pack those into a groups so that it's Video > XYZ [folder] > Fx [folder]. Then, double-click to jump in and edit and double click to jump out. As I understand it, scene modules won't work for this as you need the ability to control those modules individually in this case if you're using 3 videos with a similar 'chain', but unique settings. I suppose one could make Scenes for each Video (XYZa, XYZb, XYZc), but that seems like the wrong way about it.

I made a quick demo video for you (using Reaktor) which has this feature which helps to keep things tidy.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YgVN_7 ... sp=sharing

Thanks

[Eric]

I suppose one could make Scenes for each Video (XYZa, XYZb, XYZc), but that seems like the wrong way about it.

To me it seems like that’s what you would be doing anyway. The only difference is that you’re saying it shouldn’t be global. But whether it’s global or not has no effect on anything other than seeing it in the module menu in other scenes. That seems like a very minor point, but I understand that with lots of scenes it could get cluttered. So I think the solution is to somehow allow for better organization in the menu. But I would not consider this a feature of critical importance, especially because the folder panel allows you to organize things pretty well and would allow you to quickly reference the scene structure and the names of the ones associated with some particular group.

[jhinden]

Yep, logically it's similar and isn't a critical request. But it makes much more sense to me to have organization within a scene itself separate from global scenes.

Some ideas to explain a bit further in case it's something you wish to think more about.

Currently workflow would be:
1. Select some modules in patch to make into a scene module
2. Copy/paste into a new scene
3. Make in/out connections
4. Name accordingly in a way that makes it clear it's a 'non-global' scene module
5. Find/navigate to the previous scene you came from
6. Remove modules that are to be replaced with the Scene module.
7. Reconnect with Scene module

Vs:
1. Right click and choose either
- 'create module group'
2. Put items in it as you build.
3. Double click in/out (staying on scene).
4. Convert to global 'scene module' (if desired) to make a global reusable module

Alternative workflow might be something like:
1. Select some modules
2. Right click and choose either:
- Auto convert selection to 'scene module'
- Auto convert selection to 'module group' (non-global scene module with no 'scene' representation)
3. Your selection is replaced with the scene module or module group.

Lastly, just wondering if color coding might be helpful for scene management:
http://snipboard.io/MJkobB.jpg

Thanks for your time.