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Edit points

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Draw a basic shape

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Shape the curve between points

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Generate the curve with an LFO

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Bake the LFO into points

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Step-record with number keys

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Good to know

  • Lanes, targets and recording live on Automation. This page is about the curve inside one open clip.
  • Points snap to the beat grid and a 32-step value grid. Hold ⌥ while dragging for no snap on both axes.
  • Selecting a point hands the arrows to it, as on the timeline and in the piano roll. With nothing selected they move the edit cursor; Escape hands the keys back to the cursor.
  • ⌘1 / ⌘2 change meaning in Focus Mode. With an automation clip in focus they switch Draw and LFO instead of the Tracks and Project tabs of the Inspector. MIDI and audio clips leave ⌘1 / ⌘2 alone. The tabs stay one Escape away, and the Command Palette (⌘K) reaches them without leaving Focus Mode.
  • LFO mode is non-destructive. Your drawn points stay underneath and come back when you switch to Draw; switching back to LFO restores the shape you last set. While the LFO drives the curve the points cannot be edited.
  • Focus Mode gives the clip a curve-editing band about 40% of the viewport height, with a value grid. The surrounding tracks compact to stay in view. Esc leaves Focus Mode.
  • The focus bar holds the Draw / LFO switch (⌘1 / ⌘2). In Draw it shows the six shape buttons; in LFO it adds Shape, Sym, Phase, the rate and Bake.
  • A shape button replaces the whole clip. The six are Ramp Up, Ramp Down, Triangle, Stairs, Ease In and Ease Out, in Draw mode. ⌘Z brings the old points back.
  • Tension up is a fast start, down a slow start. Hold (Step) keeps the value flat and jumps at the next point. Right-click a point for its curve-type menu.
  • The LFO generates the curve from a shape, rate, symmetry and phase. Scroll over the Rate chip to step through its list.
  • The LFO is a pure 0–1 shape. Depth and offset come from each target’s range and mode, so one generated curve can drive several parameters at different depths. A clip entering LFO mode for the first time starts as a centered sine, one bar per cycle.
  • Bake turns the LFO into points and drops you back into Draw mode, for fine-tuning.
  • Linked copies of a clip share one curve, so an edit in one shows in all of them.
  • ⌘→ / ⌘← step from point to point, across clip boundaries. At the last point in a clip, ⌘→ jumps to the first point of the next automation clip; ⌘← at the first point jumps to the previous clip.
  • Points within the marquee are selected automatically.
  • ⌃ is unbound here, in either direction. It is the “change the length” key, and an automation point has no length.
  • Number keys map to fixed values: 1 to 9 set 0.1 to 0.9, 0 sets 1.0. The cursor advances one grid division after each key. A point already at that position is replaced, and typing past the clip’s end lengthens the clip.
  • The 0–9 step keys cannot be rebound. They are handled directly, not as Command Palette commands.
  • The palette reaches the curve too, in the Clips group: Automation Curve… (Linear or Hold after the marked points), Set Automation Curve Bend (−100 to +100), Stretch Automation Points in Time and Scale Automation Point Values (in percent), Automation Shape…, Bake LFO into Points, and Draw Focused Automation by Hand / Shape Focused Automation with an LFO.
With nothing selected, the arrows move the edit cursor and ⇧⌘-arrows grow a selection box from it (⌥⇧⌘← / → for a fine step).
The complete curve-editing grid: Focus Mode Shortcuts.
Last modified on October 22, 2026