I had a whole lot of pan automation on several different tracks that I then needed to bus so I could put the same effects on all of them... HOWEVER, the panning was all lost when I went through a bus!!!???
see my thread titled: "Any news on pan to buss problem?"
It seems when the developers added surround panning they didn't know how to handle this function so they made it essentially 'pre pan'
I have an ongoing tech support thread (3 weeks now) and I still can't get them to comprehend the issue we're dealing with. Response has been better on the forum but basically it doesn't work like it should or did.
Workarounds include:
1) adding the plugin called PAN to the track strip. Perhaps you can then automate the function of that plugin (maybe even copy the current pan envelope and paste to the 'effect' pan envelope.)
2) well, now that I think about it that's about your best shot. That and start your own email tech support thread...
I don't have a hardware controller or do high track-count 5.1 so forgive me...
It seems most of this functionality is there (you can control buss levels with the track level if it is set post fader, etc) perhaps not for the hardware and the surround.
You say you also want control over the buss levels - is this different than pressing "B" to display the busses in the track window? You can then add pan and volume envelopes to the buss. This has been great for me.
The thing that seems missing to me (other than the buss panning issue that is the subject of this and other threads) is a mult. A mult. I want to send one thing to two places. Maybe even three! I would love more of a patch bay routing interface with a mult. Maybe you could choose a mono, stereo, or surround "cable" to patch with defining the properties of the route.
Thanks for the reply. I'm still not sure if I've got the grasp of what you're trying to do that's different from how Vegas currently works, but I agree there is some room for improvement. Something to look forward to in future releases perhaps!
While we agree things could be improved, would it help your specific example to route the track's output away from the main buss, to another "dummy" buss and mute it? I'm talking about the routing output of the track as opposed to the slider send. Then the 'non grouped' output of each track never makes it to the master.