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  • How can I use VSL on more than one Computer?

    Hi everybody,
    our problem is, that we seem to break the limits of our computer.
    Our setup is: Mac G5, 2x2.0GHZ, 4,5 GB Ram, UAD 1 Card. Our platform is Logic 7.1 on Tiger.
    We are working with about 60-70 Ex24 instances to get the best results of Opus 1 and saxophones. We just ordered woodwind ens. and Opus 2.
    The work we do is very much on the orchestral side so that we need lots of Ex24s.
    Aware of the fact, that Ex24 is limitated to 3,7 GB Ram, we came to the conclusion that one Mac just isn't enough to work effectively with, say, for example the complete VSL Pro edition.
    Are there any solutions for working with two or more Macs?
    We don't want to use the Node concept, because it doesn't work with Ex24.
    We thought about ethernet or something like it, but we don't know anybody ( or any website) who can help us on that one.
    Can anybody help?

  • Have you tried freezing tracks? That can free up CPU power and RAM.

    Other than that, your only solution if you want to use EXS-24 is to buy a second copy of Logic for an additional machine. There's no stand-alone version of EXS-24. You could, however, set up a second Mac to run Kontakt, either stand-alone, or within a shell like V-Stack. Or, you could get additional PCs, and run VSL samples within GigaStudio.

    Lee Blaske

  • Lee,

    I have Cubase and the ability to "Freeze Tracks" but never used it. What exactly does this do? I read the manual but still don't really get it. Does this mean that It acts like a midi converted to wav?

    -B

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    @dunk187 said:

    I have Cubase and the ability to "Freeze Tracks" but never used it. What exactly does this do? I read the manual but still don't really get it. Does this mean that It acts like a midi converted to wav?


    I believe Cubase works the same as Logic. When you're satisfied with a virtual instrument track, you click the snowflake (in Logic), hit the space bar, and Logic does a very fast off-line bounce, rendering the track to an audio file. From that point on, you play back the audio file, and you save CPU resources. You can also unload RAM. If you need to get back to that track to change something, you just unclick the snowflake, and you're back to live. It works very well in Logic.

    Lee Blaske

  • Lee,

    I see!!!! When you "Freeze" the track, Does this also apply the midi data through the performance tool too? I think this was an issue for me.... Nevertheless, I'm going to do more research on that. That is a cool feature I must get aquainted with....

    -Ben

  • Hi Lee, thanks for your reply, we did our experiments with freezing tracks, but this seems to blow the harddisc, we freezed about 12 tracks and then the overflow messages came in.
    We considered the possibility of working with an additional pc and gigastudio, but we wondered if there's a more elegant solution like building a network.
    Regards, Holger

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    @Holger said:

    Hi Lee, thanks for your reply, we did our experiments with freezing tracks, but this seems to blow the harddisc, we freezed about 12 tracks and then the overflow messages came in.


    How many, and what type of hard drives are you using? If you're only using a single hard drive, you should try adding additional drives, and distributing your session between them.

    Lee Blaske

  • We use an extra hard disc in the second slot on the mac which is partioned into two drives, on one of them are the samples and on the other the song data like lso and audio files.
    Could it be useful to buy a firewire disc like LaCie or anything?
    Or is that too slow?

    Regards, Holger

  • For streaming that's very useful, almost as fast as internal HDs. But it won't help you if you need more RAM to load more instruments at once. Freezing will also help the HD load (as it streams only a single file instead of many little samples of a track).

    PolarBear

  • I'm in the same boat, and our solution is to buy another G5. I will actually run Logic on the new computer and go out 8 channels on a MIO 2882 through ADAT lightpipe to the 192 interface of ProTools (on the old computer). If you want to stay in Logic, then you can run VSL as a standalone in Kontakt (which probably requires a side license from VSL) or buy another copy of Logic. Cheaper than the 2882 is an M-Audio firewire interface (1814 I think) that is under 500. There is also a built-in two channel digital on a G5.

    Further, in Tiger there is a midi network feature so you can connect multiple computers. However, I'll probably end up buy a $100 M-Audio midisport and hardwire it so I don't have to log into a network.

    Good luck,
    JD

  • Thanks dackl, your post helped quite a bit.
    Our main problem is, that we got used during our work to the benefits of Offline bouncing, which means we don't need a proper running arrangement, despite of the fact that arranging with dropouts andsoforth really sucks.
    I understand that working with two synchronized macs requires an absolute steady running arrangement, you can't do offline bouncing, because you have to do the downmix out of two (or more) sources into a digital board to get a stereo sum at least.
    That means (for us) to spend loads of money to enter the next "level" in the big music producer game.
    The one computer concept is just so charming easy to use and I'm going to hate the days when I enter the studio in the morning and spend about half an hour to just turn on the machines and setting up the arrangements and the subarrangements.....
    Unfortunately we can't afford a personal technician.

    Greetings, Holger

  • I send a link to an interview with Harry Gregson-Williams. It's interesting in that you get to see his studio set-up -- multiple computers and a floor-to-ceiling rack of ProTools 192 interfaces. He says the ideal is hit play on the sequence and record into ProTools. That is the ideal - no offline bouncing, no freezing tracks and the like. Of course to do it the way he does it is incredibly expensive.

    http://www.steinbergusers.com/artists.php

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    @Holger said:

    We use an extra hard disc in the second slot on the mac which is partioned into two drives, on one of them are the samples and on the other the song data like lso and audio files.


    This is a very bad idea, and could be the source of some of your problems. Partitioning a drive is OK, but you should never use data from both partitions simultaneously in the same session. Your poor hard drive head needs to jump all over the place to access the audio data on one partition, and the samples on the other.

    If you want to segregate your sample data and audio file date, they need to be on different drives. Otherwise, you're better off having both the audio and the samples on the same partition.

    Lee Blaske

  • Thanks for the hint, I will try this out.
    Holger