FL Studio Insert Freeze? Mastering View?

[FLMan]

Some DAWs have a feature that allows you to freeze lanes, effects channels, etc. I've been trying to work with a really intensive project--tons of VSTs, CPU-heavy synths here and there, amp modeling, master compression--on a laptop, but I've gotten to where I'm not changing anything about the song except the master effects. Maybe it would be worth everyone's time if there were an option to render individual mixer inserts and freeze them discretely (without recording in real time and inserting into the playlist), so that those of us with slow computers or laptops can get back to producing normally on battery power.

Or, we could take it a step further and make mastering itself a pleasure for everyone. Recently I acquired PreSonus Studio One 2, and the Project view they optimized for Mastering really does make mastering a breeze! The Project view enables the import, arranging (ordering, crossfading, splitting into tracks), and mastering of your tracks in a single application. You can apply effects to single tracks or the whole project, and the full version of Studio One comes with the 5-band Multiband Dynamics processor. Also, you can export a digital release (separate files per defined track, with metadata), create an image you'd use to send to a CD duplication service, or publish your set directly to SoundCloud. It's all in the box, and you don't have to go between programs to compare and fix problems in songs, because if you make a change in a song, the project shows you and will automatically render it and replace the old copy. Everything stays aligned and it's all in the box.
What if FL Studio had this capability? You wouldn't have to include it in the same program, but you could add a launcher that appears when you open FL Studio that asks whether you want to open a recent song/project or a view: Project (song) or Album. That way, the code stays the same for the current FL Studio and you can easily add the functionality of a Mastering View by creating a second application that is launched from the startup launcher. SoundCloud integration would be cool... but I don't know if that's a partnership thing or what. This addition would make FL Studio a HUGE productivity booster for producers and artists alike. I'd use it tons. Mostly because it would allow me to remove mastering plugins from the master track in my projects altogether and put them in a set to master them as a set. And mastering tracks in the set they are a part of eliminates the need to render, compare, and re-render projects until they have consistent masters. Big time saver. What do you say?

- Ben Reaves
https://www.youtube.com/user/excessivesmoke
www.soundcloud.com/benreaves
@reavesben

[L. Scott Knight]

I was recently thinking about this sort of thin...

[FLMan]

The main issue is that the current setup of FL ...

[spktkpkt]

+1 for a "freeze" option, this would save a lot...

[FLMan]

The "render all tracks" idea's kinda like rende...

[roms]

a real freeze/unfreeze function is only possibl...

[FLMan]

That's why I suggested a way to render only the...

[FLMan]

Honestly if generator freeze is the only featur...

[roms]

generators don't belong to inserts : you can ar...

[FLMan]

Technically a generator freeze would render the...

[bxtmusic]

+1000 for a freeze function... It's probably t...

[roms]

FLMan wrote:Technically a generator freeze woul...

[FLMan]

Yeah, I agree. Plus, linking automations to the...