Legal Notices This guide is copyright ©2013 Schapiro Audio, LLC, with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Schapiro Audio, LLC. Skillet is a registered trademark of Schapiro Audio, LLC. Pro Tools, Avid, Command|8, ICON, EuCon, and Euphonix are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology, Inc. Dolby Atmos is a trademark or registered trademark of Dolby Laborities, Inc.
Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Quick Start 3 Chapter 3: Using Skillet with Pro Tools 4 Chapter 4: Skillet as a MIDI controller 6 Chapter 5: In Depth 7 Chapter 6: Settings 11 Chapter 7: Troubleshooting 13
Chapter 1 Introduction Welcome to Skillet. Skillet is a flexible controller designed for use with Avid Pro Tools, and as a MIDI controller for other audio software. Skillet’s dual three-axis joysticks can be used for surround panning mono and stereo elements, and as customizable plugin automation controllers, allowing you to perform your plugins however you like. Skillet Features The major features of Skillet include: • Two touch-sensitive 3-axis joysticks.
What’s in the box? Included in the packaging you will find: • Skillet • Power adapter • USB cable with Ferrite core • Footswitch • This manual • Four slottable Skillet feet for raising the angle at which Skillet sits on your desk • 8 rubber non-slip pads • “Perform your plugins” placard 2
Chapter 2 Quick Start To begin, if you would like to use one of the slottable Skillet feet that are included, slot it into the bottom of Skillet now. Attach the USB cable to your computer. Next, attach the power adapter, footswitch, and then the included USB cable to Skillet. When you first start up your Skillet, you will be greeted by a one-time setup page on the touchscreen. Choose from “Pro Tools” or “MIDI” modes. If you are setting up Skillet as a generic MIDI controller, continue to Chapter 4.
Chapter 3 Using Skillet with Pro Tools Surround Panning To select a track to be panned, you may use either the ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ buttons on Skillet, or click on the small fader icon in a Pro Tools track: Once selected, you will see the output outlined in white: stereo track, it will always stay linked to the right channel. If you move to a mono track, the ‘right panned’ joystick will still control that track, but upon moving back to a stereo track that joystick will re-align to the right channel.
Next, you should notice a new zone in the toolbar above your plugin: Click the ‘Learn’ button, which will turn red. You’ll also notice that the two rotary knobs on Skillet will be given a red underlighting. This signifies that Skillet’s two faders are now in plugin-focus mode. In plugin-focus mode, the faders no longer control track volumes, and instead are mappable to plugin parameters. The joysticks do not automatically drop into plugin-focus mode.
Chapter 4 Skillet as a MIDI Controller As of this writing, Skillet has two modes for MIDI control, Low-res (7-bit) and High-res (14bit). High-res mode follows the MIDI spec, in that any CC# has it’s Least Significant Bit (LSB) 32 CC#’s ‘above’ the current setting. Using two CC#’s in this way will give you 14-bit resolution. However, not all software will recognize that this is occuring, and may act erratically. In this case, it’s recommended to use the Low-res mode for MIDI.
Chapter 5 In Depth Button functions Many of Skillet’s buttons serve multiple functions in Pro Tools mode. The Shift buttons underneath the joysticks will cause a button to use it’s secondary function, while a joystick in Plugin mode (with the “Skillet” button lit) will cause a button to use it’s tertiary function. The Shift button is unavailable if it’s respective joystick’s “Skillet” button is lit. 1: [Skillet] Pro Tools Mode: swaps the associated joystick from Panner to Plugin mode.
2: Up / Left / [Y-Axis] Pro Tools Mode: When the associated joystick is in Panner mode, moves the joystick’s focus up one track. If Shift is held, moves focus ‘left’ and on to a Send, if one is available. If the joystick is in Plugin mode, this button is used for linking the Y axis to a plugin parameter. MIDI mode: sends a vlue of the same controller as the Y axis, for MIDI learn.
8: Faders Two 100mm motorized touch sensitive faders. Pro Tools Mode: If either joystick is in Plugin mode, these will become two more plugin parameter controllers. If both joysticks are in Panner mode, but the rotary knobs (11) are underlit with red, the faders are still pluginfocused. Pressing the rotary in will cause the faders to go back to their default state, which is as track volume controllers - the first two associated tracks with a colored border.
MIDI Mode In MIDI mode, the Mute, Solo, Skillet, Right Pan, Window, rotary, and touchscreen buttons send MIDI Note messages from Skillet Port 1: Mute (left): Mute (right): Solo (left): Solo (right): Skillet (left): Skillet (right): Right Pan (left): Right Pan (right): Window (left): Window (right): Rotary (left): Rotary (right): Play: Stop: Record: RTZ: Rewind: FForward: note 7 (G -2) note 17 (F -1) note 8 (G# -2) note 18 (F# -1) note 4 (E -2) note 14 (D -1) note 5 (F -2) n
Chapter 6 Settings Settings for each mode are accessed by pressing the yellow right arrow button at the bottom of the transport screen. Some modes contain multiple settings pages. To return to the transport screen, press the yellow left arrow button. Pro Tools Mode Screen Dim Timer: This setting will determine how long the screen will wait to go into low-brightness mode. Touching the screen again will bring it back to full brightness.
Atmos Z Axis Center = 0 Similar in concept to the Surround Panner Z Mode setting on the previous page, this allows you to set the Z axis’ center point in Atmos plugins. Defaults to 0%, twist clockwise to raise the parameter. Factory Reset: Allows for reseting Skillet to factory conditions, removing all user-created settings and returning them to defaults. Vegas: Causes all lights and motors to randomly flash and move, useful for testing if an LED or motor has failed and requires repair.
Chapter 7 Troubleshooting General Skillet isn’t responding! • Use the “Restart Skillet” option in the Settings menu. • If that doesn’t work, try reloading the latest firmware. My faders won’t move! • Make sure that the power adapter was connected BEFORE you connected the USB cable. Alternatively, connect the power adapter and choose the “Recalibrate Faders” option in the Settings menu. Pro Tools Skillet isn’t controlling Pro Tools the way I expect/Pro Tools is telling me it’s not connected.
MIDI My DAW/VI/MIDI plugin is acting strangely, such as parameters quickly oscillating between full-on and full-off values. • Most likely, your software isn’t MIDI-learning the High Resolution MIDI information correctly. Set the MIDI CC# Offset setting to a ‘low-res’ mode, or manually set the controller for the parameter manually in your software.
Skillet contains software covered under the following licenses: Software License Agreement (BSD License) Copyright (c) 2012, Adafruit Industries. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2.
