Controls

Deepfield has two kinds of controls that can look similar but belong to different layers: patch controls inside the graph/front panel and plugin-level controls such as Bypass, Mix and Kill DSP.

This distinction also determines where the control is saved.

Front-panel controls

A patch author chooses which graph modules appear on the front panel. Common control types include:

  • MacroKnob
  • PercentKnob
  • SwitchKnob
  • TextSelector
  • TempoSelector
  • input/output meters
  • text blocks
  • group dividers

The front panel is not a second copy of a parameter. A graph-linked control is a view onto a real module/control relationship in the graph; panel-native widgets such as text, group dividers and meters are presentation elements stored alongside those links.

[!NOTE] Saved in .p00tch: the front-panel layout and the portable Base/Variant values of graph controls. Saved in DAW/session state: the exact live values as the project was left, even if the patch was not explicitly saved to disk.

Adjusting knobs

Drag a knob to change its value. If Linear mouse movement for knobs is enabled in Settings, right/up increases the value and left/down decreases it.

Hold Shift while dragging for fine adjustment. The exact amount of fine movement is controlled by Fine tuning factor in Settings.

MacroKnobs also respond to the mouse wheel. Hold Shift for a finer wheel increment. Global wheel sensitivity is configurable in Settings.

Saved in: the resulting control value belongs to the patch/Variant model and is also captured by the live DAW state. Mouse mode, fine-tuning factor and wheel sensitivity are global preferences, not patch content.

Resetting a value

When a Variant is active, reset operations use the active Variant's stored value where that parameter belongs to the Variant; otherwise they fall back to the patch's Default/Base value. This makes reset useful while sound-designing a Variant instead of always jumping to a processor's factory constructor default.

The Edit menu also provides a reset-all operation for returning patch/Variant parameters to their applicable saved defaults.

Reset is an edit to the current live value. It does not change a .p00tch on disk until the patch is saved.

Selectors

TextSelector exposes a named choice and outputs its zero-based selection as a control value. It is useful when the user should see meaningful words rather than raw integers.

TempoSelector exposes musical time choices and produces a tempo-aware compound value for compatible time parameters. Use it when a delay/LFO control should follow host tempo but still read naturally on a front panel.

The selector's authored range/options and portable value are patch content; the current live value is also restored by the DAW instance snapshot.

Switches

SwitchKnob provides a two-state front-panel control and a 0/1 parameter output. It can be used to enable branches, select control authority, trigger compatible logic, or expose a simple host-automatable on/off choice.

Automation badge

Automation-capable front-panel controls show an A badge. Clicking it opens the compact Automation Slot popup for assigning the control to one of Deepfield's stable host automation slots.

The slot assignment is deliberately not patch content. It belongs to the DAW/plugin instance so loading somebody else's .p00tch cannot rewire your host automation layout.

See Automation and MIDI for the full Automation Manager and MIDI binding workflow.

Plugin Bypass, Mix and Kill DSP

Bypass, Mix and Kill DSP are fixed plugin-level host parameters, not modules that have to be added to every patch.

  • Bypass bypasses Deepfield at the host/plugin boundary.
  • Mix blends the graph output with the plugin input.
  • Kill DSP disables/resets graph processing through the plugin-level DSP control path.

A patch can still contain its own internal dry/wet structure. The global Mix control exists outside that design, which is useful for DAW automation and consistent host behaviour.

Saved in: DAW/session or host preset state, and exposed as stable host parameters for automation. They are not stored in .p00tch.

Panic Mute Output

Panic Mute Output is a reversible emergency output gate. It is intentionally a runtime safety action rather than authored patch state.

Saved in: nothing. Panic mute is runtime-only and is not restored as a persistent patch/DAW preference.

Kill DSP on Transport Stop

The optional Kill DSP on Transport Stop behaviour belongs to the current plugin instance. It is useful when a project should stop/reset graph processing automatically when the host transport stops.

Saved in: DAW/session state, not .p00tch and not global preferences.

Gesture and Undo behaviour

Deepfield treats a continuous drag as one control gesture rather than hundreds of separate edits. This keeps host automation and Undo practical. Changing Variant clears the incompatible parameter-undo context so Undo does not unexpectedly cross between separate Variant editing sessions.

The Undo history itself is an editing facility rather than portable patch content; do not expect an Undo stack to travel inside a .p00tch.