Drawing smooth Automation Curves...?

This is a re-post from the r/mpcusers reddit as I'm afraid it didn't get much of a response there. I'm hoping for some more information from here

Hi, I'm fairly clueless, trying to learn how my MPC Live works (standalone).

I'm fooling around with OPX-4. Trying to automate some parameters, filter sweeps etc. I'm drawing the automation in with my finger on the screen. I've tried using Timing Correct of 1/64, and disabling Timing Correct entirely, but I can't seem to get a smooth curve, there's always an audible granularity to the change in sound, like the change in the value of what I'm drawing in is "stepped" by small increments so sounds very staccato. Does that make sense?

Now I understand that we don't yet have the ability to draw in curves, lines or nodes like in Ableton (is this maybe coming at some point to MPC?) but if I can't get a smooth filter sweep, or smooth synth parameter change using my finger to draw the automation rather than using a Q-Link knob then WTF Akai?

I'm most likely missing something, any help appreciated please

Haven't tried any automation with the OPx4 yet. But you have to know that (classic) midi can only encode 128 steps in a cc message anyway (7bit). So there will be stepping if you want it or not. And even if you are able to draw a line as smooth as somebodies behind there will still be stepping nonetheless. Especially on digital synth that stepping sound is nothing unusual. Some have it more and some less. The more precise the sound gets the more noticeable the stepping will become. Some digital synth have some kind of smoothing algorithm for that. Maybe the OP does not have that. In the VST realm some synth like those from U-he use 14bit CC messages to smooth that out. 7 bit compared to 14 bit is not doubling the values but 7bits^2 (128 vs 16384)
Did you try drawing what you where doing with another synth? Is it the same? Stepping recorded with a q-link looks smoother yes. But that only helps if the OPx supports 14bit CCs or has a smoothing algorithm, too. That I don't know. So for now there's nothing really wrong with the way you can draw automation on an MPC other than finger resolution is slightly lower (looks like it's 7bit?) than q-link resolution (looks like its double that?)

Regarding releases: nobody knows if, what and when Akai will release. And even after a release the "what" usually stays kind of fuzzy if the features do not jump at you straight away

mrmarbury wrote:... Some digital synth have some kind of smoothing algorithm for that. Maybe the OP does not have that. ...

Smoothing is the essential part. With a smart algorithm even 7bit midi can become practically non stepped.
It‘s a part of the synth engine (preprocess screen and midi control data).

Stylus is key for doing anything with those curves. There are also some workarounds that might help. Envelopes are usually far more refined in most synths. You can use an envelope to modulate something far more smoothly. You can also route a mod wheel to say "envelope sustain", which could be a sort of smooth way to modulate something with the wheel then.

They need tool tips for the automation and two finger input for the shapes. classic sine, tiangle, square, and saw forms as well as a line tool tip. hold finger in a position and other finger in b position and done. (amplitude could be done by the position of the fingers top to bottom)