We often use parameters to tune instrument/effect gain and/or EQ frequency via the parent event (or an external editor that drives the parameter values). However, due to parameters being linear in nature, there isn’t an easy way to 1:1 map the logarithmic gain or frequency controls to the corresponding linear parameter values, outside of creating a lot of automation points or getting it “close enough” by shaping the curve a bit.
Example: Volume and “Gain” parameter both scale from -80 to +10, but due to one being linear and one being logarithmic, they don’t align (-40 = -18.9):
Internally we’ve built a linear gain plug-in to get around this, but having to instantiate extra DSP purely to map values isn’t ideal.
What I would love to see as new parameter types are “Logarithmic Gain” and “Logarithmic Frequency.” By choosing “Logarithmic Gain” the parameter would scale from -80 to +10 logarithmically which would match 1:1 with instrument and effect gain. Same for frequency, the parameter would scale from 20Hz-22kHz and scale logarithmically like the EQ effects do.
Conversely, (and now that I’m typing this, maybe it’s the more logical approach) it might be easier to be able to right click a gain or frequency control and select whether it functions linearly or logarithmically, negating the need for logarithmic parameter types.
Either way it would be an amazing addition to the FMOD toolset!
I just wanted to say I ran into the same issue, where I’m using a parameter to control volume and fade between two versions of a song over time. If I just make a linear curve from 0 to negative infinity or vice versa, when my “Mix” parameter is at 0.5, the volume will be -21.4 db, when really you want it to be -3 db or so. So even if I blend the same sound onto itself, if their is a huge dip in volume midway through the blend. I’m trying to adjust the curve so that it looks exponential but it’s not really precise enough and you hear volume fluctuations as the two sounds blend.
I used the online calculator to try and draw the curve myself, but it sucks to do this:
There’s a similar situation with the Reverb Time parameter from the reverb plugin.
I’d recommend automation parameter curves to have an option to access a non-linear parameter (often logarithmic dB/Hz, but also just multi-stage-linear like the ReverbTime parameter) as linear so that an automation range matching the parameter’s min and max values maps one to one to the parameter values.
