AUTOMATION & RECORDING
Event Editor 
The Event Editor holds automation data associated with patterns and is the destination for all recorded automation. Event data
can also be manually edited and drawn. Note: A single pattern may contain multiple Event data-sets, use the drop-down menu (6) to swap between Event data.
In the Playlist: Pattern Blocks do not show their associated Event data, to visualize Event data in the Playlist place the pattern in the Clip Track area. If you would like Event
Data to be independent of patterns, use the closely related Automation Clip. Event data can be converted to an Automation Clip using the Edit >
Turn into automation clip command in the Event Editor Menu (2).
Linking to Event data: Once Event data is created it will appear as an 'Internal controller' link option in the 'Link to controller' right-click
dialog on automatable controls.

- Toolbar:
Tools Menu;
Draw
(
P);
Paint
(
B);
Erase (
D);
Select (
E);
Zoom to selection
(
I);
Interpolate events
(
Z);
Snap Selector
- Event Editor Menu Button
- Horizontal Zoom
- Vertical Zoom
- Event Graph Area
- Target Control - Select between the Event Data in the currently selected Pattern.
Working with event data
The Event Editor looks like a graph in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents event values. The time segments
of the Playlist are set by the window's "snap" parameter (
).
Alternatively, selecting 'Main' will implement the global snap value as defined in the Recording panel. Events are displayed as vertical lines (height represents
the value of the event). The Event Editor window can display only one event data-set at a time. Use the header-bar menu (6) to change.
- Open an Event Editor - Right-click any automatable control in the menu that appears. Select Edit Events to
switch between displayed events in the currently opened Event Editor (or to open a new one if none are open). You can also select Edit Events in New Window, to open a new Event Editor window.
Remember, the Event data visible using menu (6) will depend on the Event data in the selected Pattern.
- Create an event - In the Event Editor, switch to Draw Mode (
) or Paint Mode
(
) and left-click in the Event Graph Area
(5). You can also create whole curves of events - just left-click and drag to create the desired shape. To
create straight lines of events instead, right-click in the grid and drag. Draw Mode and Paint Mode are identical, however Paint Mode ignores the
current snap settings, allowing you to draw smooth curves without changing your snap preferences.
- Interpolate between events - Use the Interpolate Mode (
). While in this mode, left-click and drag to select
the events to be interpolated. The events you select will be marked in blue. When you release the mouse button, all selected events will be refined
using linear interpolation. To use spline interpolation, drag using the right mouse button instead.
- Erase events - Use the Erase Mode (
).
While in this mode, left-click and drag to select events to be removed. Selected events will be marked in red and deleted when the button is released.
- Select events - In any mode (draw, erase, interpolate), double-click or (
Ctrl+click) the time ruler and drag to select a time range. You can also use Select Mode
(
) to select with a single left-click and drag. Selections are
used when cutting events and using the LFO tool (see the menu commands described below).
- Tools Menu (
) - This is a shortcut to the
window's tools submenu, containing various commands for operating on patterns in the Playlist.
Using the Event Editor with Effects
To open an Event Editor for a FL Studio effect plugin, right-click it to launch a popup menu, then open the Event Editor. Right-click a
control and select either Edit Events or Edit Events in New Window.
To open an Event Editor for a property in VST effects which have their own interface, open the FX popup menu
(see Mixer window) and select Open Event Editor. From the sub-menu that appears, select the
property for which you want to open an Event Editor. Be careful, as many third-party VST effects do not report their settings properly, and may
crash when an Event Editor is opened for some of their properties. It is highly recommended that you save your project before trying to use an Event
Editor for such effects.
Unfortunately, an Event Editor cannot be opened for DirectX effects due to limitations of DirectX specifications, rather than from FL Studio itself.
Event Editor Menu (2)
The Event Editor menu provides useful commands for editing events. You can access this menu by clicking the Event Editor menu button
(2).
1. File
- Open Automation - Imports automation data from a score file (*.FSC) into the current
Event Editor.
- Save Automation as - Saves automation data from the current Event Editor to a score file (*.FSC).
- Import MIDI (
Ctrl+M) -
Shows the Import MIDI Data dialog box where you can import controller data (cutoff, resonance, etc.) from a MIDI
file to the Event Editor.
- Paste from MIDI clipboard (
Shift+Ctrl+V) - Same as the Import MIDI command, but uses MIDI clipboard data rather than a MIDI file. You can paste
data from several different sequencers that can copy to MIDI clipboard format (e.g. Cakewalk Pro Audio (TM)).
Edit
- Cut (
Ctrl+X) -
Cuts all selected events to the clipboard. Select an area to cut, otherwise this command will be disabled.
- Copy (
Ctrl+C) -
Copies all selected events to the clipboard. Select an area to copy, ortherwise this command will be disabled.
- Paste (
Ctrl+V) -
Pastes events from the clipboard to the current Event Editor. If an area is not selected, the events will be pasted in the beginning of the pattern.
- Delete (
Del) -
Deletes all selected events in the Event Editor. Select an area to delete, otherwise this command will be disabled.
- Delete All(
Ctrl+Del) -
Deletes all events in the current Event Editor.
- Select All (
Ctrl+A) -
Selects all events in the Event Editor.
- Select Previous (
Ctrl+Left) -
Moves the selection backwards so that the start of the selection matches the new selection end. For example, if you select a bar, this command
selects the previous bar.
- Select Next (
Ctrl+Right) -
Moves the selection forward so that the end of the selection matches the new selection start. For example, if you select a bar, this command
selects the next bar.
- Insert Space (
Ctrl+Ins) -
Creates "empty" space that matches the current selection by shifting the following events forward.
- Delete Space (
Ctrl+Del) -
Erases all events in the current selection and shifts back the following events to close the gap.
- Insert Current Controller Value (
Ctrl+I) - Initializes the Event Editor with the current value of the corresponding automated control. If you
have selected a time slice in the graph, the current value will be inserted at the beginning of the selection.
- Turn into Automation Clip - Converts the current event pattern into a new Automation clip.
Tools
- Scale Levels - Multiplies/offsets/inverts the events in the event editor or maps the events to a logarithmic/exponential scale.
See Scale Levels for more info.
- LFO (
Ctrl+L) -
Shows the LFO dialog, where you can draw LFO shapes in the Event
Editor.
View
- Grid Color - Opens a standard Windows Color dialog box, where you can set a color for the Event Editor grid.
- Detached - When checked, the window is "detached" from the main environment of FL Studio and can be maximized
on a second monitor (in a dual monitor setup).
Zoom
Contains a sub-menu of quick zooming levels:
Far (
1);
Medium (
2);
Close (
3);
Best Fit (
4);
On Selection (
5).
On Selection zooms the timeline to fit the selection (the command will be disabled if no time region is selected in the timeline).
Target control
Each pattern can store a number of Event Data-sets, this menu item opens a list of the Event data-sets in the Pattern. Alternatively use the header-bar menu (6).
Relocate Events
When turned off, the Paste command will overwrite any existing events, and the Cut/Delete commands leave gaps in the area selected to cut/delete.
When turned on, the pasted events will be inserted and the Cut/Delete commands will shift back all events after the selected area to fill any gaps.
Auto Smoothing
When checked, the drawn events are automatically interpolated upon mouse button
release.
Center (
0 (zero))
Scrolls the timeline so that the playing position marker appears in the middle. This is a useful option if you want to see the playing position within
a long sequence.