Possible bug with Dynamic Focus Tracking with Logic Pro 11.2.1

[manzara]

I’ve already submitted a bug report using the web page, but I’m also posting here to see if anyone else has encountered this issue and has a solution:

There seems to be a bug with Dynamic Focus Tracking when working with Logic Pro 11.2.1 and Metagrid Pro 1.6.9 Build 30697. In MG Pro, I have set up scenes whose primary grid should be displayed when a corresponding track is selected in Logic Pro (when focus is on the Tracks part of Logic’s GUI). This used to work with Logic Pro 11.0 running on MacOS Ventura (13) ) and a previous version of Metagrid Pro and Metaserver.

Now, however, when I select a track in Logic, the scene (and its specified primary grid) is not displayed on my iPad, at least not immediately. I can manually cause it to be displayed in one of two ways:

1. Switch to another application on the computer so that another profile (such as Finder) is triggered on the iPad, and then switch back to Logic;
2. In Metagrid Pro, select its Settings by tapping the icon in the upper left-hand corner, and then “x” out of Settings.

It seems that Metagrid Pro doesn’t refresh its display of a scene even though it does record the desired scene that is triggered by a track selection in Logic. I’m not sure if this is a bug, or if this is “pilot error” on my part. If necessary, I can submit the logs from Metaserver and/or Metagrid Pro.

Thanks in advance,
Leonard

Here is a summary of my current hardware and software setup:

Computer: Mac Pro 2019 (Intel)
MacOS: Sequoia 15.5

Logic Pro: 11.2.1

I am NOT using the PlugSearch application to select articulations.

Metaserver: 5.2.4 BETA 1 Build 2840
TCP enabled.
IPv6 disabled.
Metasystem and Logic MIDI Ports (only) are enabled.

iPad Air (3rd Generation)
iPadOS Version: 18.5

Metagrid Pro: 1.6.9 Build 30697
Connection Type: WiFi Tcp
Dynamic Focus Tracking enabled.
AppleScript Support enabled.

[MetaGrid_Admin]

Can you record a short video demonstrating the issue - the devil is in the details - we have tested DFT on our Logic test systems and we can’t replicate the issue.

[manzara]

Download full resolution images
Available until Aug 13, 2025
https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAVKiogo-j_YVHjFr7FF9qvtQS81NAe2zD3I51acvAU53MVy7u7cuiq-w%2F%24{f}%3Fo%3DAjAIM9a1rHlnw0eqgu8LXG3kTQUMSQ31na4gIUf7swsz%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogW5ybfwTka1f7bz5foYOx1j9nwNU3PcXX3zs9EzH7T4gSdBCCmJrWgDMYgqiVqoozIgEAKgkC6AMA_3Kct5pSBFBLzU1aBC6Kr7BqJHu9vEW_FTR6Do0pPKNtUhdCAgW8fLheDTDZcoCMPDhvpGc473IkBFPOrPRZrEqSDYqPHRhkN-xpV7huURr56U4G-8UXCU2nj16o%26e%3D1755119440%26fl%3D%26r%3D5915A836-DD0F-40F5-B6B2-54CBDC35AB1E-1%26k%3D%24{uk}%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3D040D7106-7327-4E7F-A70A-9C82DF38439A%26p%3D130%26s%3DorsNjqququA6c_iptHBnrDNQJ9M&uk=O-Onwub9D1-r9h7lVmENuA&f=Images.zip&sz=22086181Hello,

I’ve attached a short video recorded on my iPad, as well as static
screenshots taken on my computer as I recorded the video. There are 6
screenshots, with the first one showing the initial setup, followed by
screenshots taken as I did the recording (they are all time stamped and
are in chronological order).

For some additional data points, you should note that I am also using a
Mackie Control Universal Pro and a Nektar Panorama CS12 (both connected
via USB) as I work on Logic Pro. I still have the same issues when
Nektar’s ControlCore background process is turned off, but perhaps there
is an interaction between ControlCore and MetaServer. I’ll try some more
experiments to see if the problems still persist with these control
surfaces turned off.

Thanks in advance,
Leonard

Click to Download
https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAdS2NcZbMylAyG34wVWNhbfCx0_3ARB7somiO0JRPGpbQMlkI0JYpGHo%2F%24{f}%3Fo%3DAjqMjfISVrnG_4GByINNawCRvSpmahPE1kuSOhhIxSje%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogqkzaBQb-8eXISm7xojgC_5PIGSjvOqVnSBcfeoQoIdsSdBCTm5rWgDMYk6uVqoozIgEAKgkC6AMA_2rE0ixSBMLHT_daBFikYehqJDX6FP8rgeHuDy_ziFudOMXnnaHHax2BdCv59yNqCCkg5iAZ3HIkZFlgCpn6NlvCvyCuHahg-_mPoo1I9okQ7h7l7WStPm6dD4m7%26e%3D1755119441%26fl%3D%26r%3D414DE748-989D-4E70-B019-66C34EAADE41-1%26k%3D%24{uk}%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3D040D7106-7327-4E7F-A70A-9C82DF38439A%26p%3D130%26s%3DPhErA4fRftz5-KvPSfFUXR23aUE&uk=XxgsS8pNOOO5U_Xdjn52Mg&f=RPReplay_Final1752524598.MP4&sz=29523828RPReplay_Final1752524598.MP4
29.5 MB

(attachments)

[MetaGrid_Admin]

Thanks Leonard - we are analyzing this now.

[manzara]

As promised above, I have done some experiments with both my Mackie Control Universal Pro and Nektar Panorama CS12 control surfaces turned off (I also terminated the Nektar ControlCore background process).

It turns out that turning these off has no effect on the problem I reported above, so it appears there is no interaction between the control surfaces and Metagrid Pro (and MetaServer). I thought this might be the case, since Nektar has had to release some fixes to their software/firmware since Logic Pro 11.2 introduced some new problems, problems which also introduced bugs that affected my Mackie MCU Pro control surface.

My guess is that there is some sort of logic error in Metagrid itself on the iPad, since it receives the change of track information but doesn’t immediately refresh to show the corresponding scene (and primary grid).

[manzara]

I’ve been doing some more experiments, and I’ve found that to get the procedure I described in my first post working (to force the display of a Scene and its primary grid), one must first do the following steps:

1. Restart Metaserver after Logic Pro has started.
2. Choose another application on the computer to trigger another profile in Metagrid Pro on the iPad (such as Finder).
3. Switch back to Logic Pro on the computer. This will trigger the Logic Pro profile on the iPad and display the scene that corresponds to the selected track in Logic.

Once these steps have been done, I can, as described in my original post, manually force the display of the corresponding scene when selecting a track in Logic Pro by tapping the icon in the upper left-hand corner to get into Settings, and then “x” out of Settings.

This suggests that Metaserver does not get the current state of Logic Pro if Logic Pro is launched after Metaserver has been started. Restarting Metaserver after Logic Pro is active seems to force it to get the current state of Logic Pro.

The fact that changes of scenes are not triggered until after one switches from Logic Pro to another application and then back to Logic Pro on the computer also suggests some further initialization of Metagrid is forced by this move.

Logic Pro version 11.2.2 was released today. After installing it, the problems described above still persist.

[MetaGrid_Admin]

Thank you for the detailed info. MGP 1.6.10 will have some fixes for this. Give us a week or two for the release.

[manzara]

Many thanks for your team’s efforts to fix these issues. I certainly appreciate the hard work you are putting into making an already great application even better!

[manzara]

There are still two bugs with Dynamic Focus Tracking when working with Logic Pro 11.2.2 and Metagrid Pro 1.6.11 Build 30697 and Metaserver 5.3 Build: 2858. In MG Pro, I have set up scenes whose primary grid should be displayed when a corresponding track is selected in Logic Pro (when focus is on the Tracks part of Logic’s GUI). This used to work perfectly with Logic Pro 11.0 running on MacOS Ventura (13) ) and a previous version of Metagrid Pro and Metaserver.

With the latest update, the corresponding selected Scene is underlined on the left-hand side, but its primary grid is not displayed. To force it to display, I have to manually touch the Scene’s (underlined) icon on the left-hand side of my iPad. In the previous working versions of Metagrid Pro, the primary grid would automatically be displayed, and this is obviously the desired behaviour. It seems there is still a coding error on Metagrid Pro on the iPad, since the display is not properly refreshed. The Metaserver console shows that the names of the tracks are properly picked up on the computer side, so it is the iPad application which is not responding properly.

The second bug has to do with how Metagrid Pro is parsing the track names sent to it from Metaserver. For example, in previous versions of the software the parsing would distinguish between the following track names:

-Flutes-
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Flute 3
Alto Flute
Bass Flute

-Flutes- is a subchannel, and I use the convention of a hyphen - as a delimiter around the name for these kinds of channels in Logic Pro. In previous versions of MG Pro, this naming convention was picked up and the proper Scene was selected. This no longer works in the latest version of MG Pro.

For the Flutes 1, 2, and 3, I use "Flute " in MG Pro as the track name (without the quotation marks). Notice the space immediately after the word Flute. In previous versions of MG Pro, this Scene would be selected whenever the track named “Flute 1”, “Flute 2”, or “Flute 3” was selected in my DAW. This still seems to work on the latest version of MG Pro.

For Alto Flute and Bass Flute, I use “Alto Flute” and “Bass Flute” as the names in the Scene editor (without the quotation marks, of course). The Bass flute is properly selected in Metagrid Pro when selecting that track in Logic Pro. However, when selecting Alto Flute in the DAW, Metagrid Pro responds by selecting the Flute Scene, which is obviously incorrect, since the corresponding Alto Flute Scene should be displayed. There is some sort of logic error in the MG Pro side of things in the latest update, since this definitely used to work perfectly on an older version of the software. It is rather strange that Bass Flute works, but Alto Flute does not!

Obviously the parsing of names has changed in the newest version of MG Pro, and this has caused problems with backwards compatibility with projects developed on earlier versions of the software. Perhaps the best long-term solution would be to have some sort of user-settable table that maps between a track name on the DAW and the desired Scene to be displayed on MG Pro, since relying on undocumented and changeable parsing conventions will probably not work well.

Here is a summary of my current hardware and software setup:

Computer: Mac Pro 2019 (Intel)
MacOS: Sequoia 15.6.1

Logic Pro: 11.2.2

I am NOT using the PlugSearch application to select articulations.

Metaserver: 5.3 Build: 2858
TCP enabled.
IPv6 disabled.
Metasystem and Logic MIDI Ports (only) are enabled.

iPad Air (3rd Generation)
iPadOS Version: 18.6.2

Metagrid Pro: 1.6.11 Build 34169
Connection Type: WiFi Tcp
Dynamic Focus Tracking enabled.
AppleScript Support enabled.

[MetaGrid_Admin]

@manzara Please install MGP 1.6.12 and MetaServer 5.3.1 and see if the DFT works as expected.

[manzara]

I am pleased to report that almost all of the bugs with Dynamic Focus Tracking have been resolved when using Logic Pro 11.2.2 and Metagrid Pro 1.6.12 Build 34340 and Metaserver 5.3.1 Build 2895. The primary grid associated with a specified Scene is now reliably displayed when selecting a track in Logic Pro. Many thanks to the Metagrid team for getting this working again!

There are still two somewhat minor bugs remaining in the latest version:

1. I have a track in Logic Pro named “Oboe d’Amore” (without the double quotation marks). Notice the use of the apostrophe ’ in the name (it’s actually a closing single quotation mark) indicating a contraction, a construction which is commonly used in written English and Italian. In previous versions of Metagrid Pro, I used to use “Oboe d’Amore” or even just “Amore” (without the quotation marks) for the name used for Dynamic Focus Tracking for a particular scene, and it worked flawlessly. Now, however, with the latest version of MG Pro this does not work. I suspect this is similar to the recently resolved issue with names containing a hyphen, where particular non-alphanumeric characters are ignored when parsing the track name sent from Metaserver. I can work around this bug by using the track name “Oboe dAmore”, but ideally this would be fixed so that the software recognizes apostrophes (and perhaps other non-alphanumeric characters that other people might want to use as part of a track name).
2. I have a default scene (called Unassigned) that is displayed if I select a track in Logic Pro that doesn’t yet have a corresponding Scene created for it. As you probably know, this is specified in Metagrid Pro by setting both “Enable Dynamic Focus Tracking” and “Set as Default Scene” to true. This does work, since this scene is displayed when I select a newly created track without a corresponding Scene. However, this scene is also displayed when I push Play in the transport section of Logic Pro, which is very weird behaviour! I suspect that a Play command in Logic Pro is somehow being interpreted as a track selection in MG Pro, and since there is no track name for this action, the default Scene is displayed. This strange behaviour goes away if I turn off “Set as Default Scene”, but then I don’t get the desired behaviour of displaying the Unassigned scene when selecting a track without an explicit corresponding Scene.