Device Details

Device Overview

Name/Version: Futility 4.1
Author: Crampe  
Description: Futility v4 is a MaxForLive device that gives you very handy shortcuts that aren't natively implemented into Live.
It also provides a floating mixer window.

It works on the currently selected track:

- un/mute the selected track

- un/solo the selected track

- un/arm the selected track

- unmute, unsolo, unarm every tracks

- show/hide the envelope/modulation tab in the detail clip view

- un/fold the selected track

- un/zoom the selected track vertically and horizontally in Arrangement

- toggle play/stop the selected clip (in Session)

- automatic track arming option

- focus to the browser/arrangement/device view (useful for navigating with your keyboard's arrow keys).

- quickly move your selected clip to a new Lane (requires Live11)

- save your Live Set from a midi controller.

- close the device/clip view

- "Devices Switchers" are shortcuts to turn on/off the first 10 devices/plugins in the selected track's chain.

- "Track Control" is a floating mixer that opens up at your current mouse's location!




Release notes:

v4.1:
- floating window optimization
- general clean up that prevents unwanted entry in Live's Undo history.
- added shortcut button to close the device/clip view(s) (equivalent to cmd+alt+L /    Shift+F12 that has been removed in L12)
- GUI changes
- (kill)mute is not blocking the Undo history anymore
- muted tracks are not unmuted anymore when launching a set

v4.0.4:
- some users were getting unmuted tracks when loading a set

v4.0.3:
- now fully Apple silicon compatible
- tweaks to prevent unwanted tracks unmuting at set's launch that a few users sometimes still experience

v4.0.2:
- the Focus buttons would need to be pressed twice.

v4.0.1:
- muted tracks could get unmuted when opening sets.

v4.0:
- new Track Control floating window
- new "Devices Switcher"
- « kill mute » and « TakeDown » (and a few other bits) stability improvements.


Live 9/10/11 /Max 8 minimum requirements
 

Device Details

Tags utility, other
Live Version Used: 9
Max Version Used: 8
Date Added: Feb 06 2019 09:22:20
Date Last Updated: Dec 14 2023 01:49:24
Device Type: audio_device
Download URL (report link) https://gum.co/FKHsF
License (more info): Commercial


Comments

damn crampe you did it again :) always coming up with useful features that are missing in ableton. i will buy!

Great device, thank you for the fix on the relaunch!
I've noticed the horiz zoom is less responsive than in Futility II, is it for the different coding?

I purchased this and I have two issues with it.

One is that the automation for recording gets disarmed during playback, making recording automation useless.

- and I wanted to use this for automating recording for the track I have it placed on instead of switching to arm tracks I select.

Hey Orangeslice

This device is not meant to record e.g Mute automations but to add missing shortcuts to get a better mousiness workflow.
So what's happening here is that you're recording automation for the e.g Mute button of Futility, which creates a conflict when playing back afterward.
The buttons on the device have to be automatable to be key/midi mapped, that's just how M4L works, but that's not the point of this device.
I'm gonna edit the device's description to make this clear and warn about automations.


It's also not meant to be used on a single track, but globally. It just works on the currently selected track.

cheers

Hey BG23,
good catch! I'm fixing this, thanks for letting me know!

hi Crampe, big fan of your work here and I've already bought some of your devices.

but my macbook ssd harddrive just died and i've lost a bunch of files not being able to recover. if i wrote you my purchase email along with my paypal email (with which i've paid your devices) could you please re-send me my purchased devices?

i just need an email address from you to which i could send my "proof". or are you also active on e.g. muff wiggler where i could send you a pm?

Hey Rozze,

Yeah for sure. PM me from the ableton forum maybe? My username is Valiumdupeuple. or by email by adding tete-de-son.com after Valiumdupeuple and @, of course.

Helppppppp

every time i use futility to mute/unmute a track I lose my ability to undo before I did that. It just gets stuck in a infinite cycle of muting and unmuting every time I ctrl+z
meaning if I delete an audio clip on a track and then I use futility to unmute/mute the track I can't ctrl+z back to the point before I deleted that audio clip

(this also applies for when i use it to solo a track)

If im stupid or doing something wrong please let me know, If not, this is a huge deal breaker for me

I'm running Live 9.7.7 on windows 7 if that matters.

hey johnbootyful
I'll have a look at this issue and post an update. I think I know what's happening.

Hey Crampe, did you ever figure the issue where I would lose my ability to undo after I used the mute/solo buttons?

Hey Johnbootyful
I had a quick look yeah, but the problem is not lying where I thought... which is totally weird. Might be a Max bug that happened during patching.
Anyway, I just need to have a deeper look at my patch... but I didn't really had time to do it, sorry. Will do asap.
(btw, this bug also personally annoys me...)

Hi Crampe, just discovered and bought this device! I've used Ableton for 8 or 9 years and I'm really looking forward to speeding up my workflow with this! Just wanted to follow up on the Undo issue brought up last month. Wondering if any progress has been made? Thank you!

Hey there,
Sorry about my lack of feedback about the mute/undo issue.
I tried to solve this, and it should have been easy... BUT, at the moment my conclusion is that we're facing a silly Live/M4L bug actually.
The issue doesn't make sense at all, and the reason why I think it's a bug is that, if muting is a problem then soloing and arming should too as all these 3 functions are patched the exact same way.
I need to get in touch with ableton about this.
sorry for the inconvenience.

Ok, the mute/undo issue is fixed. Thanks for your patience.

Hey,

I used the V2 frequently the last years. Thanks for the tool. One thing that bothered me a lot was that after reopening the project all my mute/unmute stats where gone. In other words all tracks where unmuted even if that wasn't saved in that state. In the composing stage I mute a lot of different ideas and leave the main groove working. Opening up you have to guess again what was muted as backup or different version.

Is it still the case with 3.2?

thanks

Hey mike8040,
Yeah it's fixed in v3 :-)

Thanks for the reply Crampe. Then it goes straight to the cart :)

Argh can't edit. I installed it now. The mute behavior is strange. I mapped it to the key M. One click to mute but I need 2 clicks to unmute the track.

Arm and solo doesn't have this issue. Whats wrong?

Hi Mike,

there was an issue with the Mute feature that used to block the undo history.
Honestly, I never understood what's the reason for this bug, and why it only affects muting and not soloing/arming... the patching is similar for all of them.
So I came up with a workaround fix... apparently this created a new bug, at least for you.
I'll have a look asap.
sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks for response. Yes unfortunately the plugin has a weird behavior. I found out the mapping browser/arrangement/device mapping doesn't work at all. I mapped a dozen different keys but nothing happens besides Live refreshing the interface. Nothing fancy running here and the latest Live GM release.
For now the plugin unfortunately not usable for me. Hope you can find a fix for it. Greetings

Hey Mike,
sorry to hear that.
You should try using Futility within an empty set containing just one track, no other plugins, remote script etc... And see how it works. There's probably something conflicting with Futility in your setup.

Hey Crampe, appreciate you dealing with the undo issue. Some of the key-mapping issues Mike mentioned are happening for me as well in an empty set with no other plug-ins or anything. The Solo and Record buttons toggle as expected, but the Mute button requires a double press to toggle either way. The same thing goes for the browser/arrangement/device switching.

Hey Solomonki, thanks for your feedback.
It seems like a very few people (not even 1%!) are experiencing this problem. That's really bugging me out.
I have to think of an other way of using buttons for key mapping.
Stay tuned, and sorry for the hassle.

Same goes for an empty Live set on my side too. Possible things that might help in a direction.
I'm speaking for sole key mappings in Futility here which I want to use.
I got Mackie protocol running (could interfere)
I run Studiomux (midi/audio connection for iOS - but not using this for the actual cases but its active)
NOB and Powermate controller that emulate mouse behavior (less likely)
I try to test the scenarios disabling those tools when I got time.

Ok, for anyone or those 1% that has this annoying Mute toggle bug I found a solution. Deactivating my midi/mackie services did not solve the issue so I opened up the plugin in max as last try. Having some degree in webdesign and php I was like, fuck it cant be rocket since.
This is a 5 minute fix so bear with me as I dont know the fuck about max coding basics. It just works and I can go on. The bug made me nuts..

The screenshot I made is pretty clear. Just open it up in max4live and save it afterwards. You can do it while you're running Live too, but save you project first maybe...

https://ibb.co/vc8jLMc

Thanks Crampe, hope you get to the bottom of it.
Mike ? I opened it up and tried your solution. Works, thank you! The only difference between the Mute button and the Solo/Arm buttons now is that a fairly quick double-press of the Mute button key will not register as it does with the others. You can see the behaviour is different when you mouse-lick the buttons on Futility as well. Weird, but not a huge drawback. Also, though I don't know about M4L routing, the bug seems particularly strange considering the routing of the three buttons was identical before this fix.

Ok, I just did a smoother fix! When you open up Futility 3.2 in M4L, there are red Xs over the cables going from the "0" boxes to the mute boxes. Just right click on those Xs and hit "Enable Patch Cord"! That's all it was.

As for the browser/arrangement/device issue, they are functioning as toggles instead of momentary buttons. I don't know enough to do anything about that, but Crampe, if you can switch that button mode it would solve it I think!

@solomonki

You're right. I never toggle mute that fast to be honest. More bar wise. But your solution is definitely working better in that regard. Just as simple as that. Thanks for the share! In the meantime I reduced the plugins interface as I have lots of stuff going on on my master channel and the space is tight.

https://ibb.co/6Bz7rjz

Hey fellas,

Well, nice to hear about your simple tweak. I'm now wondering why did I really need to put this "0" message here. I have ideas about why, but it doesn't seem necessary at all except for visual reasons (which don't really matter)... So what REALLY was in my mind??
Anyway, thanks for you help, I'm going to push an update of the device.
cheers
vdp

Hey Crampe (for of all, thank you for the devie)

I'm having the same Double-Tap Mute problem, just wanted to throw that out there. But that's not a deal-breaker.

What is though, is that every time I click a Group channel or master channel, the max for live error console pops up (and I have a lot of groups in my track) because these tracks don't have a mute option, so the device freaks out. The amount of times this error console pops up renders the device not worth it because it takes longer for me to close these consoles than it does for me to manually solo/mute etc.

Is there any way you can make it so the console doesn't pop up? Maybe mute all errors option or anything. I paid for 3.2 but I'm not using it because of this :(

O

Hey Orpheus,

Sorry to hear that. The poping Max console isn't due to Futility (the error message is, but it's not an issue in itself).
It pops-up because of another Max device in your set. Granulator use to do it. If you're using it please update to the latest version which fixes this.
If it's not Granuator then you need to find which device is involved.
Let me know...

every time i select a track and the auto record arm is on, i get "undo change" in my undo history. so just by selecting tracks im getting undo entries :(

Hey JordProd,
Yeah something's happening so it creates an undo step. I can't really do anything about this, it's on the M4L side unfortunately.

Jordprod,
That's actually weird because I just tested and I don't get any undo from the auto-arm feature...
There's probably a trick that I forgot :-)
Anyway, there's surely something else involved in your case.

I'm getting an error on the log.

I can solo, mute, and arm tracks but can't kill them.

Here's the error message from M4L.

Any workarounds?

https://imgur.com/W4VHDMH

hey Illimay,
sorry I'm only noticing your message now. Are you still having this issue?

Yes I am still having that issue.

I can solo just fine, but I can't kill solo at all.

https://i.imgur.com/Jo0HCJZ.png

What's the issue?

Hi, can you please address this issue I'm having?

Sorry illimay, this website unfortunately doesn't send notifications so it's not easy to track messages.
What are you mapping the kill buttons to? computer keyboard? Midi controller?
Does it work if you click one of the kill button with the mouse?

i'm using my computer keyboard
and it doesn't work when i click it with mouse either

illimay, can you reach me out by email by answering from the device's Gumroad receipt please? It's easier that communicationg here.

@Crampa to have this site send you emails when people comment on your devices just login and go here to and turn it on: https://maxforlive.com/profile/settings.php

Hey Synnack ;-)
The notification system from maxforlive.com has never worked for me, and it's still isn't.
I talked about this to someone (can't remember her name) from Cycling a year or so ago when they took over the site, and it was apparently a known issue.

I've downloaded the newest version, and whenever I open up my project, all the muted tracks get un-muted.

@illimay, argghhh, shit!!
This mute issue is driving me crazy. Thanks for the quick alert.

no probs man
keep up the good work :)

Hey there.

Could you at least tell us how to re-route Futility so it doesn't kill the muted tracks? I'm having to open multiple different projects just to correct all of them...

can you please give us an update on this?

hey illimay, sorry for the late reply
you need to use v3.2 to avoid the mutes killing when opening a saved set.

Hey all,

I just sent everyone the v3.4 update,
make sure to check your spams!

cheers
ValiumDuPeuple

Hey Crampe,

The mute killing problem still exists in Live 9.7. Should we wait for the fix or just use v3.2?

Thanks

Hey Barmutlu,
This was fixed in v3.4 that you should have recevied a couple weeks (or so) ago I think. Check your spams if you don't find the Gumraod email with the updated device (or drop me an email if needed).
I reckon I completely forgot to check it with L9, but it should be ok.

cheers!

hi! with last update of Futility 3.5 (in Live 10) everytime i drag it in master track the "Save live set" pop-up is shown on screen, is it normal/expected ?

Thanks

Hey dubengine,
no it's not expected. Is it also happening when re-opening a set?
Do you have Futlity saved in your template set so you don't need to drop it into every time you create a new set?

Hi,

I have a similar problem like dubengine. I've saved Futility to my template but now every time I open a new live set the 'save live set' pop up screen shows up. Is there something I can do about this?

Btw the save live set pop up also appears after launching live

Are you on Windows or OSX?
Which Live/Max version?
I have an idea where it's coming from, but I can't repro here on osx.

Btw, write me an email by answering the gumroad receipt so it'll be easier to communicate as maxforlive.com doesn't send my notification when you comment here.

works great thanks for the update! | mba+mbp m1+live11.1b7
waiting for the loader update (:

hey discoparadis
Regarding LoadeR, it's not entirely up to me to make it fully m1 compatible, but I'm doing my best to make it happen as fast as possible.

Thanks for this brilliant utility tool. When using the floating window, the volume indicator is always showing 0.0dB. Everything is working, but the displayed value is not changing. I'm on 11.0.12.

Hy Simonkang,
yes I'm aware. It's on my todo list for the next update ;-)

Awesome! Thanks.

It would be cool to have a switch that could enable finer control, without the need to hold shift.

Hi, I'm getting a pretty annoying bug. Projects with Futility will not recall the correct mute state of the tracks. Even if you have muted tracks, It will recall it as an unmuted track. Unfortunately, sometimes, the behavior can't be replicated. In some projects, it works as expected.

Awesome project. Thank you so much!

- "It would be cool to have a switch that could enable finer control, without the need to hold shift." I agree 100% with this.

- I would be awesome if you could do increments +/-.5db for the selected track. Similar to your ClipGain plugin.

Any progress on the "0.0dB" error?


My wishlist for this device:
- let us control the currently selected Tracks Fader (=Volume), with the option to set the Maximum value of the Fader, so the maximum position of the midi assigned controller Fader won't be forced to be +6db, but could also be +0. :)

- let us control the available Sends of the selected Track (or at least 3 Sends).

Thank you! :)

@nowlamone

"- let us control the currently selected Tracks Fader (=Volume), with the option to set the Maximum value of the Fader, so the maximum position of the midi assigned controller Fader won't be forced to be +6db, but could also be +0. :)"
>> Interesting idea, will think about it.

- "- let us control the available Sends of the selected Track (or at least 3 Sends)."
>> It's already possible via the floating window ;-)

great little utility, just purchased. any chance it could also record a clip - ie launch the selected slot - as well as play/stop existing clips? that would really help when I'm recording guitar as I don't have 3 arms, but do have a midi footswitch :)

Just bought this and loving it! I would like to report a bug I found in the floating window though. The floating window's "Output To" section tends to be quite glitchy when showing the correct routing. If I change the routing through Ableton's ("Audio To"), the floating window's "Output To" will rarely reflect the correct routing change. Its 50/50 but what is consistent is that if I close and reopen the floating window, the "Output To" section will always default back to "Ext. Out" regardless of Ableton's "Audio To" showing the correct routing. This bug seems consistent with tracks within groups. Not to big of a deal, but it would be nice a nice fix!


Live 11.3.1 / M1 Max 13.6.2

Any chance an open/close the first device on the selected track is possible in the future?

Ditto wilcofan's request - if you could allow users to map the open/close plugin button (spanner) of the first 10 3rd party plugins (those with a spanner button), this would be a game changer.

Keep up the good work!

@Fuzz77 and Wilcofan:
not possible, sorry.

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