One of the powerful features of Axia Audio mixing engines are their virtual mixers. The Element and Fusion mix engines include sixteen virtual mixers which can be used to create mixes of various audio streams. These virtual mixers can be controlled using Logic Flows to dynamically create mixes of audio content based on changes in the system. Additionally, there is a web page for managing these virtual mixers, in effect creating on-screen mixers. To access this user interface, click the Devices > Vmix Control link on the navigation bar.
When you first open this web page, the faders will be dimmed out and none of the buttons will function as you first need to define which engine and which Vmixer to control. Select the mix engine from the Engine drop down, and then select one of the 16 virtual mixers from the Virtual Mixer drop down.
The interface will update to display the state of the selected virtual mixer. You can use the drop-down lists to switch between different Vmixers.
New in 2.0, an input can take either an external Livewire source or one of the engine's own internal sources. The highlighted headers show the difference: EXTERNAL - Livewire above an external source, and a lock icon beside an internal one. The Select Source dialog (highlighted below) chooses between them.
The indicator at the top right shows the page's connection: Connected, Connecting or Disconnected, or Control offline / Metering offline if only one of the two connections to the system has dropped.
Each Vmixer has five input channels and a master fader. The master fader is labeled as Master. The page sizes the strips to fit the window; a taller window gives longer faders.
Each input strip has, from top to bottom:
Source name: the audio source assigned to the input, or — Select Source —. Above it, an external source is labeled EXTERNAL - Livewire; an internal source (one of the engine's own buses, such as an aux send or the record bus) shows a lock icon. Clicking on the source name will allow you to select a different audio source for the fader (see below).
FADE UP and FADE DOWN: turning a virtual mixer fader on or off is subject to the fade up and fade down time parameters. Times are entered in seconds (0 to 5). Type a value and press Enter; Esc or clicking away cancels the change.
Meter: the real-time metering of the source assigned to the fader. This metering is pre-fader, showing the level of incoming audio.
Fader: dragging a fader’s on-screen grip up or down will adjust the VMixer channel’s gain. Only the grip moves the fader. The gain is shown in dB below it. While the input uses an internal source, the fader is grayed out and locked, because the engine sets that level.
ON/OFF: clicking the On/Off buttons will turn a fader on (green) and off (red). So if you have a fade up time of 1.2 seconds, when you click the On button the audio will fade in to the level defined by the fader over the course of 1.2 seconds. Then the fader control will dynamically allow you to control the level. The same is true when turning the fader off. Clicking the off button will fade the audio out dependent on the fade down time.
The Master strip shows the virtual mixer's name, the master fader and a meter with a peak readout. The meter next to the Master fader displays the level at the output of the virtual mixer and is therefore post-Master fader. It has no ON button or fade times.
Choosing a Source
Clicking on the source name at the top of each fader will open the Select Source dialog. The External and Internal buttons at the top (highlighted) choose the kind of source:
External lists the Livewire sources on the network, with their channel numbers and the device each comes from:
Internal lists the engine's own sources: its programs, record and phone buses, aux sends and other internal signals:
Highlight the new source and click Take to select the new source for the fader. Click Clear to remove the input's source. Or, click Cancel to return to the mixer web page.
Vmixer Shortcuts
It is also possible to generate direct links to a particular Vmixer. This can be useful if you wish to create a shortcut on a user’s desktop that will present a specific Vmixer. In order to create such a shortcut in Windows, right click on the desktop and select new shortcut. For the location type:
http://172.16.1.221/vmixcontrol.php?engine=172.16.1.63&vmixer=1
Replace the 172.16.1.221 with the IP address of your Pathfinder Core PRO. Replace the 172.16.1.63 address with the address of the mix engine you wish to control. And replace the 1 at the end of the link with the virtual mixer number within the engine you wish to control. Then click next and provide a name to create the shortcut. And finally, click finish. Or, just enter the address into the address bar of the user’s browser and then add it to favorites.
When you create the link this way, the user will not see Pathfinder Core PRO’s navigation bar or the drop downs to select a different engine or Vmixer. The web page will only present the specified virtual mixer.