There is a bug in 'Level Envelope Releases' for S3.0.3, and earlier, making it not affect the Curve Slope of the envelope. I found that out thanks to this thread back in November, 3 months ago. After I read the first post here I tried to damp some drums in SD3 for the first time and found out that the results were far from what I expected. Once I fixed that bug the problems went away.
The method I used was pretty much what John is hinting at:
1. Solo the close mic/s of the drum and put in an EQ that reduces its longest ringing frequencies.
2. Put the drum in question on its own new AMB mic. (Route Instrument Microphones)
3. Move that EQ to this new AMB mic.
4. Enable the 'Envelop and Offset' for the drum and dial in a Release value below 2s.
5. Adjust the 'Curve Slope' until the drum is as damped as you want it.
6. Go back to the new AMB mic and extend the 'Level Envelope Releases' until the room is wet enough.
That last step doesn't work until you get an updated SD3 with that bugfix.
