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Hi, i've been using FL since version 5 and have carried on using pattern blocks, not clips, since the clips were introduced. However, I just updated my FL to version 9 and now you can't invert panels so clips are below blocks so I ask:

How are clips better then blocks?

For people who use clips, does it improve workflow? Tidyness? Any other reason?

Just wanting to know because I really can't work with the blocks below the clips so im wondering whether to go back to v8 or get with the clips.

Thanks

You can shortern clips - so like just say you want your drums to stop half a bar before the drop - you don't have to make a new patten, just slice a little off the patten when its in as a clip and it won't effect patten other that at that point, plus clips are the one for audio... basically I break it down like this.



Blocks : For anything you don't have to change(pads, basslines etc..)
Clips : For drums and melodies you wanna slice at certain points and audio

I can't use clips or blocks - a mixture of both is the best for a tidy work space, after all - a screen full of blocks is messy and so is a screen full of clips

I went back to 7 because I prefer it to 8 and 9.
Blocks + automation clips at the bottom is how I use FL.
I've stopped editing events as well, and use automation clips for everything because its easier to see.

I starting using two different Playstation 2 pads as midi controllers for FL the other day

legendary wrote:plus clips are the one for audio...

This is true! People say FL is shit for audio but that's BLATANTLY not the case. Although a higher zoom level would be great.
I use FL for mixes all the time. It's peachy once you get your technique down!

£10 bag wrote:

legendary wrote:plus clips are the one for audio...

This is true! People say FL is shit for audio but that's BLATANTLY not the case. Although a higher zoom level would be great.
I use FL for mixes all the time. It's peachy once you get your technique down!

i REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY dislike the lack of attack, release, and fading control there is of audio in FL though - I love in cubase that you can just double click audio and do fades in and out WHERE EVER you like, this is not the case in FL and the amount of times ive had to load into edison and do it that way isn't cool.. Sort it out Image-Line, thats the only thing what bugs me about FL and I came |-| <- that close to upgrading my Cubase4 and selling my FL license instead of updating my FL8 to FL9 AND the upgrades are free.....

each clip can have its own volume automation, you can put fades right up ur arse if you want to. Couldn't be much easier, ttytt

clips every time for the same reason as legendary

Pattern blocks are old and obsolete.

clips are the shit

both

Clips for me! Just makes the track i'm working with alot more accessible and easier to structure in a more effective way.

i use blocks all the way. in fact im still on v6 so i dont even have the option for clips, although i tried the newer versions and they dont add anything that i would actually use tbh.

£10 bag wrote:

legendary wrote:plus clips are the one for audio...

This is true! People say FL is shit for audio but that's BLATANTLY not the case. Although a higher zoom level would be great.
I use FL for mixes all the time. It's peachy once you get your technique down!

fl is shit for audio, when you compare it to cubase or live or pro tools. its soo cumbersome and slow in comparison.

gravity wrote:i use blocks all the way. in fact im still on v6 so i dont even have the option for clips, although i tried the newer versions and they dont add anything that i would actually use tbh.

£10 bag wrote:

legendary wrote:plus clips are the one for audio...

This is true! People say FL is shit for audio but that's BLATANTLY not the case. Although a higher zoom level would be great.
I use FL for mixes all the time. It's peachy once you get your technique down!

fl is shit for audio, when you compare it to cubase or live or pro tools. its soo cumbersome and slow in comparison.

Yeah in comparison that's defintiely the case and why I still prefer Cubase. The audio in fl is a workaround.
If you want some more in depth audio editing in there, click the options button on the audio clip and edit it in edison which is a great editor, and now you can maximize the screen or even have it open in an editor of your choice.

there has been a conversation about this a while ago... I use blocks for drums, clips for everything else. When I upgraded from fl5 to 8 it took me a while to get used to them. But now, i don't know what I'd do without them.

1. You can non-destructively edit clips - like someone above said cut the clip in half before or drop or whatever, without having to make a new pattern.
2. You can line clips up side by side, so you don't have to make the 'stairs' any more, which can get out of control sometimes.
3. YOU CAN SEE THE GRAPHS OF 'EDIT EVENTS' IN THE CLIPS! this was a revolution. you can clearly see the progression of your edited events. great!

there are other things that I can't think of right now... basically once you get used to them they are fantastic.

I don't use blocks anymore, but there is something to be said for the simplicity of the blocks, I had an easier time arranging with blocks, kind of counter intuitive, I know, but thats how it is.

Audio has come a long way in fl. Its still cludged and will remain so, and I don't know the cube very well, but I bet you can do most of what you can do in fl as the cube.