VCV could use 8 macro knob modulators that are hardwired with every patch that can be linked to a controller permanently. then any preset we load could be mapped to those macros. The reason why it would be good to bake it into VCV is that it would be backwards compatible with patches we already made so we simply have to load the preset and assign the macro knobs. Trying to load other developer knob modules into our patches will not work as each module is recognized differently by controllers and DAWs. so it needs to be 8 fixed macro knobs that never change.
You don’t need it built into rack. Set up a selection for any knob module for random addition to a patch, and add it to your default patch template.
Having it taking up real estate for everything isn’t good for the many without such a controller, and at the same time not enough for folks whose controller(s) hae more than 8 knobs/sliders/buttons.
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I dont think it has to take up real estate. It could be hidden and not used for those who dont. But for those who use VCV in DAW then there is an advantage. Adding it in after the fact on patches doesnt work. For example I used strip to create a saved patch with 8 knobs and then saved a default vcv init patch state in the DAW. That patch works fine. However if I load the Strip preset with those same knobs into an existing preset, the DAW link to the knobs breaks. in fact the 8 macro knobs default to point to other modules altogether. the result is that for every preset loaded we will have to remap the added knobs over and over in the DAW.
As I understand your post, you need 8 macro knobs only in the VCV Pro VST version to have the first 8 automation knobs in your DAW (Bitwig Studio) readily assigned. It’s just more convenient.
In the VCV Free (and also Pro) Standalone version this 8 macro knobs would not make any sense, or am I wrong?
But what about making a template (saved by “overwrite template”) where you:
- delete all modules
- add the 8 knobs as your first module(s)
- save the template
- unload/delete the VCV VST in your DAW
- add the VCV VST - it will open with the new template and the knobs module(s) will be the first in the automation list in your DAW
Otherwise post a feature request to VCV support. Unfortunately the VCV VST is not open source, so the community can’t help. 
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yes this will work for new presets going forward but not old ones. So I did put in a request to VCV support.
for existing patches you can select all modules in the patch and copy them to the clipboard, then open the template (with file/new) and paste the clipboard in
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I did something like this when MindMeld PatchMaster first came out. I would make a “copy” of my midi controller with the customizable PatchMaster, connect it to the controller with MidiMap and then save it all with Strip and Strip++, then I could insert my midi controller as an onscreen interface I could then assign freely within a patch.
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Oh yeah there is that. So instead of using the DAWs midi routing wire it in vcv rack. However it still doesnt work in VCV rack vst. When I load up the strip preset into an existing preset the controller knobs dont do anything
Seems like your solution is in the DAW itself. Create this routed patch with DAW midi to patchmaster knobs inside your DAW and save all this within a template of the DAW. Would that work?
Yes that works, but he wants to load an old patch and then via selection import the 8 macros, and that does not work because the macro knobs don’t know that they are linked to the VCV knobs. So he has to make a template (like you said) then load an old patch, press ctrl+a press ctr+c open new patch (the template) and press ctrl+v.
So instead of loading the selection into the patch, we are loading the patch into the (working) 8 knob template.
I do not think VCV “needs” , but it would be a nice addition to have this without to depends of a third party plugging
in my previous experience with other software, macro knobs make a very comfortable experience especially for presets, where you have a patch with an arbitrary number of knobs but only you are interested in move some
maybe a dynamically added number of knobs would work better than the 8, but 8 could be fine too