I figured that, it just seems odd that they are shared. Would make much more sense if you could program fc6 independently.
Looks like i will have to sacrifice a layout to use on FC6.
I think that "global" is a better term than "shared". Each FC, the built-in nine switches in the FM9, and the FC6, have separate layouts, they don't join the switches in the FM9 to the ones in the FC6 into a pool of 15 switches, they remain separate.
We have nine layouts including the MLM, which you don't want to touch unless you really know what you're doing as it's the backdoor to getting back into familiar territory if you screw something up.
Because a layout contains twelve switches, the FC6 is split into two views of six switches each, so there's some economy being applied to the layouts. If you only need two views of six switches for how you want to use the FC6 then you'll only need to (re)allocate one layout. If you need three or four then you'll need two layouts, etc.
Remember that you can use FC Per-Preset overrides to temporarily override a switch's assignment based on each preset's needs. Also, you can define one layout, or view, to be Per-Preset Overrides, which dynamically fills the slots on the FC with your assigned overrides, like a smart, flexible, Effects layout as you switch presets, so a single view can have multiple uses.
A while back I helped someone with their FM3+FC12. It's not that hard to put together some combination, you just have to decide how you want to use the FC6 because the FM9 already has a lot of flexibility, and adding the additional six switches tends to put people into option paralysis. I suggest sitting down with a pencil and paper and putting your ideas down; While it's pretty easy to modify the layouts, it's also pretty easy to screw up previous work and there's no undo, so have a decent idea. You might ask how I learned that… I'm not going to say.
The "
FC-12 & FC-6 Owner's Manual" and "
Fractal Audio Footswitch Functions Guide" are necessary reading.
PS - While I have both an FC6 and FC12, I use neither with my FM9. I made a variation of the OFM9G layout that I find to be very intuitive and does exactly what I want. Using that, I don't feel the need to take an extra FC unit so it conserves weight and stage space. I use the FC6 with my FM3 with a similar variation of the OMG9 layout, and even have one that's similar for the FC12 that I use with the FX3. Once you settle on a comfortable set of layouts then it's pretty easy to move them between whichever devices you have.