Can You Copy a Scene From one Preset to Another Preset?

A preset is a collection of blocks creating a virtual rig (amp and pedals or just pedals). Scenes are the bypass states and channels selected of the the blocks within the preset. Scenes do not contain any blocks on their own, they are a tool within a preset and function as an elaborate switcher.

Page 15 in the manual:

"Intro to Scenes and Channels

Imagine a rack system like those used by many guitar players over the past decades. In this system, various
amps, pedals, and rack units are connected through a central switching system, which places components in or
out of the signal path at will. Some componenets in a rig like this have their own settings that the switcher can
control remotely—like the channels on an amp, or the different settings of a delay. Using the switcher, you set up
different combinations gear and settings and then save a preset: Clean, Rhythm, Lead, etc. (Yes, this old rig does
all this and weighs just a few hundred pounds!)

A single Axe-Fx III preset: is comparable to an entire rig. Axe-Fx Scenes, are an innovation something like a
switching system. A Scene: stores whether each block is engaged or bypassed, and which of up to four “channels”
it should be on. A Channel is like a preset within a block; each block has up to four channels, and every channel
its own fully independent settings. For example, Channel A of a Drive block might be a “clean boost”, B could be a
“screamer” , C a distortion, and D a fuzz. So, with channels, you get four different sounds from just one block! By
switching blocks and channels for you, Scenes offer a way to select different sounds without changing presets.
Scenes offer many advantages. First, they eliminate “tap dancing” and make complex sound changes easy. Also,
scene changes are fast and can even be perfectly seamless. Scenes also make it easy to set up delay and reverb
for “spillover” so tails can ring out across changes. Scenes even have their own names, which is especially helpful
as you step through them."
 
JoKeR III said:
A preset is a collection of blocks creating a virtual rig (amp and pedals or just pedals). Scenes are the bypass states and channels selected of the the blocks within the preset. Scenes do not contain any blocks on their own, they are a tool within a preset and function as an elaborate switcher.

Page 15 in the manual:

"Intro to Scenes and Channels

Imagine a rack system like those used by many guitar players over the past decades. In this system, various
amps, pedals, and rack units are connected through a central switching system, which places components in or
out of the signal path at will. Some componenets in a rig like this have their own settings that the switcher can
control remotely—like the channels on an amp, or the different settings of a delay. Using the switcher, you set up
different combinations gear and settings and then save a preset: Clean, Rhythm, Lead, etc. (Yes, this old rig does
all this and weighs just a few hundred pounds!)

A single Axe-Fx III preset: is comparable to an entire rig. Axe-Fx Scenes, are an innovation something like a
switching system. A Scene: stores whether each block is engaged or bypassed, and which of up to four “channels”
it should be on. A Channel is like a preset within a block; each block has up to four channels, and every channel
its own fully independent settings. For example, Channel A of a Drive block might be a “clean boost”, B could be a
“screamer” , C a distortion, and D a fuzz. So, with channels, you get four different sounds from just one block! By
switching blocks and channels for you, Scenes offer a way to select different sounds without changing presets.
Scenes offer many advantages. First, they eliminate “tap dancing” and make complex sound changes easy. Also,
scene changes are fast and can even be perfectly seamless. Scenes also make it easy to set up delay and reverb
for “spillover” so tails can ring out across changes. Scenes even have their own names, which is especially helpful
as you step through them."
Click to expand...
354 words to just say..... "no". lol
 
This question comes up a lot. The question itself proves that the OP doesn't really understand what a Scene is. The answer is a bit complex. If you say 'no', then there are a bunch of follow up questions about why. So more context can help.

Having said that... Depending on how similar the layouts are and available CPU, it is possible to manually copy and paste the needed blocks/channels into another preset. But there are a lot of variables to consider.

I have done this for clients before, when possible. Post the presets/scenes with instructions of what you would like accomplished, and maybe someone can put in the time to fully check it out.
 
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Moke said:
This question comes up a lot. The question itself proves that the OP doesn't really understand what a Scene is. The answer is a bit complex. If you say 'no', then there a bunch of follow up questions about why. So more context can help.
Click to expand...
Exactly!
 
Merging two presets is a frequent wish. It’s something we’ve all wished the AxeFX was capable of doing, but at this time the only option is to laboriously copy one block at a time. On a device with limited cpu like the AxeFX it would not be easy to implement such a feature in a comprehensive manner, but given two presets of sufficient simplicity, there’s no reason it couldn’t be done.

PS: Another way this wish has been worded is: copy/paste multiple blocks.
 
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A kind of "copy from another preset" option in Axe Edit would be handy. While editing a preset, you could select another preset to copy from and it would pop up that preset's grid below the current one and you could drag and drop blocks from it. Maybe something like hold down the A,B,C, and/or D keys while dragging to copy specific channels.
 
mr_fender said:
A kind of "copy from another preset" option in Axe Edit would be handy. While editing a preset, you could select another preset to copy from and it would pop up that preset's grid below the current one and you could drag and drop blocks from it.
Click to expand...
That’s a really good idea for how to solve this common dilemma. It would save you from the tedium of gong back and forth between the two presets, with a save in between, for each block to be copied. It’s better than the “copy multiple blocks” approach since it’s clear when a block can or cannot be copied.
 
my.2.cents=If you invest a lot of time in your scenes for a preset I'll just copy the entire preset to a new preset location and all of the scenes will carry over then all you need to do is change your blocks to accommodate your new preset.
 
While it may not be possible to copy "scenes," you can copy presets as templates and store them in your Fractal Audio folder (mine resides with my Documents). You can do the same for "current channel" or "entire block" by highlighting a block and right-clicking on Library below Type.

Retrieving a library channel or block is useful if you happen to like one particular channel or block with its settings, and wish to utilize it in a separate preset.

Also, although this won't serve the same purpose as copying a "scene", you can copy a preset as a template and paste it into an empty user slot. Then, tweak scenes as needed.

Or, if you happen to find a factory preset with scenes that you like, you can select "Save to a New Preset Number" and click on an empty user slot to copy a factory preset into a user slot. Doing so will not delete the old preset; it will merely copy it into a new slot.

It's strongly suggested that the new slot be empty...otherwise that would be like you moving into a new house that's already occupied.
 
I got some of what I wanted to get accomplished by using blocks I had saved and by pasting the most intricate preset into to the new one. The reason I thought it might have been a possibility in the first place is because you can copy and paste a scene with in a preset. So if a scene gets copied into the cache, why not paste it where you need. I understand that all the blocks are not going to translate because you may have different ones in different places etc. I was just looking for a short cut. Thank you for those you that gave helpful suggestions. It's all good. :)
 
mr_fender said:
A kind of "copy from another preset" option in Axe Edit would be handy. While editing a preset, you could select another preset to copy from and it would pop up that preset's grid below the current one and you could drag and drop blocks from it. Maybe something like hold down the A,B,C, and/or D keys while dragging to copy specific channels.
Click to expand...
I think this'd be a good wish-list item for the editor.
 
Piing said:
A graphical reply

Copy:
View attachment 93485
Paste into:
View attachment 93483
Result:
View attachment 93484
:p
Click to expand...

We're always eager to help.
w2ZsxZt.jpg
 
DaveO said:
my.2.cents=If you invest a lot of time in your scenes for a preset I'll just copy the entire preset to a new preset location and all of the scenes will carry over then all you need to do is change your blocks to accommodate your new preset.
Click to expand...
Second this. Just save the preset and import it (change the name) and make your edits from there.
 
Jipps0525 said:
Second this. Just save the preset and import it (change the name) and make your edits from there.
Click to expand...
Copying scenes between presets is a non-starter for many reasons. It might be a long-term goal, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Copying blocks between presets is a different issue. While I think we save presets and/or import them after having used the system for a short while, along with writing blocks to the library and then retrieving them, I also think there's a good use-case for being able to drag and drop.
  • Drag and drop is much more intuitive for anyone who's used a windowing GUI for their OS that supports that action, which would be everyone who uses the editor on Windows or MacOS.
  • Drag and drop is the paradigm we use for creating and editing layouts currently.
  • One of the reoccurring questions on the forum is "How do I copy scenes/blocks from one preset to another?" or "Can You Copy a Scene From one Preset to Another Preset?", so it's pretty apparent the current methods of doing it aren't intuitive or obvious.
  • Using the block library, which is really better suited for longer-term storage of blocks to make them convenient repeatedly, requires multiple steps:
    1. Save and possibly rename the block.
    2. Switch presets.
    3. Create the new block in the second preset with its attending housekeeping steps.
    4. Select the just-saved block from the library.
    5. Rinse and repeat.
    6. Cuss when we realize we forgot a block.
    7. Switch back to the first preset.
    8. Cuss again when we realize we forgot to save the second preset before switching.
    9. Start over again.
    And, I know I'm not the only one who's been down that path, which is annoyingly error-prone. Finally, if we only wanted the block stored temporarily, we get to do housekeeping for something the editor would do automatically if we're dragging and dropping.
  • We can save a preset somewhere, then edit it, but we still need to dance back and forth to retrieve blocks, or go through the "save the block to the library and retrieve it step", or copy them to the clipboard and paste them, etc., all while hoping to avoid the urge to cuss repeatedly.
There's a big gotcha when dragging from one preset to another, that's evident when moving blocks inside a preset using the row and column handles. It's hard for the software to know exactly what connections need to open/close during the drag action, and we've probably all seen that the editor gets it wrong if parallel paths are involved or crossed. So that part of the editor would need to be fixed and become much more robust. I'd be happy if we achieved perfect and bullet-proof. :)

Fractal has already said something along the lines that there's expected to be a big effort working on adding new features to the editor once we're through these beta-cycles. (No doubting-Thomas' comments need to reply regarding that, I prefer to remain positive and trust that Fractal is well aware of our wishes.) I think it was @Admin M@ that said recently that there are major improvements in test that are expected to wow us so we might be surprised with new gizmos and flashing lights.

Software is written to speed up tasks and reduce the need to make repetitious manual steps, so I think this'd qualify. Again, scenes… unh-uh, there's some gymnastics involved and I think it'd be error-prone for a while, but dragging blocks across two panes should be more doable.
 
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