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  4. Suggestions for my workflow and templates, please.

  • Suggestions for my workflow and templates, please.

    F
    F

    Hello, everyone. 

    First off, I am DELIGHTED with VE Pro 5. What a stunning software accomplishment. We may be almost used to this by now, but looking not too far back it’s trully a miracle.

    GREAT JOB, VSL!

    I’m redoing my templates from scratch. In doing so, I’m wondering on the most effective way to do a couple of things I need.

    Because of my setup and my workflow, what I want is to basically have 2 different sets or "states" of outputs and power panning in the slaves' VE Pro 5 mixer. I would like to switch back and forth between these two sets. Each one corresponds to a set of Aux inputs in Digital Performer.

    The first set, the Composing stage, would be similar to this (notice the power panning and the output assignments):

    The second set, the Mixing stage,  would be similar to this (the panning and everyhing gets done in DP's Aux tracks):

    Everything should be the same on both sets at all times, except for the outputs and power panning.

    I have tried these things, but with limited success:

    - Tried creating Channel Sets. This works, but when I load a set it does it on top of what I currently have in that mixer. I then have to delete what I don't need. Also, EVERYTHING gets loaded (including the samples), so if I change something on the first set then the second one wouldn't be updated. I  just need to change the outputs and the power panning back and forth without it affecting or changing anyting else.

    It would work if I could make a channel set of ONLY the parameters I need. I would have to be able to choose what elements I want in the channel set (like I can choose with the Copy command).

    - I tried selective Copy/Paste. It almost works, but not quite... if I select ALL the channels, copy only the outputs, and then paste them over an equal number of channels, the latter will be set to only ONE of the copied outputs. So if on set one I have "ABCA", when I paste I will get something like "AAAA" or "BBBB". 

    WHY is this? If I copy 16 outputs, I expect to be able to paste all those 16 outputs, so they are identical after the paste.

    Can someone offer a suggestion that would work for what I need? Or a different approach? 

    Thank you in advance.
  • F
    F

    .

    Anybody?

    VSL?

    Sorry to insist, but any suggestion, or a different approach/technique would be most welcome.

    This is something I have to do 5-6 times during the course of any project. So far I've been reassigning everything manually, but it quickly becomes tedious and boring. 

    Thank you.
  • D
    D

    I would love to be able to offer some advice, but I really don't understand why you have two different VEP states, so I can't really be of any help. If you are able to elaborate on your reasoning it might make things clearer.

    DG
  • F
    F

    Hello, DG.

    Thank you for your reply.

    My reasoning behind this is actually quite simple:

    I just bought a MacMini Server, so I will be stuck with my old G5 (the master computer) until the new Mac Pros come out (hopefully by summer).

    As you can imagine, the G5 can get extremelly bugged down with the VE Pro instances + all the Aux tracks I need. There comes a moment when doing anything takes for ever (spinning beach balls, etc). I can't work like this!

    So my 2 output and panning sets are my attempt to improve this situation. 

    With the first set, which I call my Composition Stage, all outputs are routed to the Master Bus in the slaves, and the panning is only temporary (it will be done in DP later). So at this point I have all of DP's aux tracks disabled and only monitor through the actual single VI track in DP7. I use my Tascam mixer's reverb for monitoring too. This saves SO MUCH CPU!

    When I finish the composition and the orchestration, and I'm happy with this preliminar MIDI mix (with the temporary panning), THEN it's time for the second set, the Mixing Stage. At this point I enable all of DP's aux tracks. The inputs match the slaves' VE Pro instances mixer outputs of this second stage (usually one track per instrument).

    This is also where I would need to change the panning (make all the tracks the default settings - everything stereo and wide, so DP catches it this way and I can pan for real there).

    Then I can proceed and either, record all the instruments' audio tracks in DP, or, keep improving the mix with the aux tracks (automating volume and doing the "real" panning with DP's Stereo placement plug-in, etc.). I  may or may not print individual tracks and/or stems. Then, I disable VSL and anything I don't need anymore, and this allows me to recoup lots of CPU to be able to keep woking

    I wish I could bypass the first stage, but the computer would get so slow it would be impossible to work like this.

    It sounds more complicated than it is, but it actually could work if I figure a way to switch between these 2 sets of slave computer outputs. It would take no more than a few seconds to setup...

    If I'm working on a comissioned piece, the client usually wants some changes after hearing the first draft. That's when being able to switch the outputs comes into play... if a passage needs to be re-composed or re-orchestrated, I need to go back to set 1, make the changes, then go to stage 2 again and record/remix what is needed.

    This is especially important now, because at this point all of DP's aux tracks have plug-ins, so the machine can barely function now.

    Manually changing the outputs and panning every time I need to change something becomes very boring and time consuming.

    If I had a faster computer all this would be unnecessary, of course. But I will have to wait a few months for that...

    What do you think?  
  • F
    F

    I think you might need a magnifying glass to read my response. Sorry about that, but it comes out small and in white... [:S]
  • civilization 3C
    civilization 3C

    I don't know why you don't just have a composing vi frame/metaframes vs a mixing set of frames. once you have the channel sets, building the frames is easy. is loading partcularly slow on your system? The time you've spent seeking to make your way happen could have been spent arriving at a simpler way I think.

    Everything should be the same on both sets at all times, except for the outputs and power panning.

    I've noticed that once a project has been loaded, loading another version with the same instruments etc is VERY quick.
  • F
    F

    The reason 2 virframes or metaframes won"t work is quite simple...

    If I change anything in the composing virframe, say, add a matrix, changes instruments, or whatever, then the second set, the mixing stage would be all wrong. The instruments would not correspond anymore.

    To tell you guys the truth, I understand that this is a unique circumstance, mostly because of my dinosaur G5, so it's not like I'm whinining or anything. 

    My workflow has improved like a million times, especially when compared to the old VSL Pro, Performance tool and 20 MIDI tracks for each instrument days!

    I suppose I can live with this until I get my new MacPro. Then there won't be need for this. 

    In the mean time, if someone has an idea or other approach, I'm all ears [:)]
  • F
    F

    The reason 2 virframes or metaframes won"t work is quite simple...

    If I change anything in the composing virframe, say, add a matrix, changes instruments, or whatever, then the second set, the mixing stage would be all wrong. The instruments would not correspond anymore.

    To tell you guys the truth, I understand that this is a unique circumstance, mostly because of my dinosaur G5, so it's not like I'm whinining or anything. 

    My workflow has improved like a million times, especially when compared to the old VSL Pro, Performance tool and 20 MIDI tracks for each instrument days!

    I suppose I can live with this until I get my new MacPro. Then there won't be need for this. 

    In the mean time, if someone has an idea or other approach, I'm all ears [:)]
  • F
    F

    The reason 2 virframes or metaframes won"t work is quite simple...

    If I change anything in the composing virframe, say, add a matrix, changes instruments, or whatever, then the second set, the mixing stage would be all wrong. The instruments would not correspond anymore.

    To tell you guys the truth, I understand that this is a unique circumstance, mostly because of my dinosaur G5, so it's not like I'm whinining or anything. 

    My workflow has improved like a million times, especially when compared to the old VSL Pro, Performance tool and 20 MIDI tracks for each instrument days!

    I suppose I can live with this until I get my new MacPro. Then there won't be need for this. 

    In the mean time, if someone has an idea or other approach, I'm all ears [:)]