Hi.
I am running Pro Tools 9.0.5 under Win 7 (64-bit) on a high spec PC with 12GB of memory. On the same PC, I am running VE Pro 5, a single instance of each of the 32-bit and 64-bit servers.
The configuration works perfectly some of the time. However, intermittently, the single instance of the 64-bit server stops playing and the VE Pro 5 engine freezes and VE Pro 5 has to be stopped using the Windows Task Manager. The only two active VSTis that are playing in the 64-bit instance are Cakewalk's z3ta+2 and Rapture.
I suspect some small tweak is required. However, I'm not sure where to start looking.
Other facts that may be relevant:
My DAW has 8 threads (Quad core + hyperthreading) and I'm using a Hardware Buffer size of 64 samples with a firewire MOTU 828. In Pro Tools, the playback engine has 4 host processors assigned (at 99% system usage limit) with the Delay Compensation Engine set to "Short". My preferences in VE Pro 5 has each of the two instances (i.e. a 32-bit and a 64-bit version) set to 2 threads.
In my Pro Tools session, each VE Pro 5 plug-in in each instance is configured into one stereo instrument track in Pro Tools. I am not using MIDI tracks and Aux tracks for the VE Pro 5 configuration.
Any helpful ideas will be very gratefully received.
Many thanks in advance.
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VE Pro 5 problem with Pro Tools 9.0.5
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Welcome alpha_123,
Which version of VE PRO 5 did you install? Here´s a link to the latest version.
I´d try to tweak the Thread settings a bit and see if that changes anything. See page 11 in the VE PRO 5 manual for more information.
Also, does it get better if you increase the latency?
Is there a reliable way to reproduce these crashes?
@alpha_123 said:
The only two active VSTis that are playing in the 64-bit instance are Cakewalk's z3ta+2 and Rapture.=> Do you get less crashes when using just one of your 2 plug-ins in your 64 bit instance?
=> Are you using other VST´s in the 32 bit instance?
Thanks for more details in advance,
Paul
Paul Kopf Head of Product Marketing, Social Media and Support -
Hi Paul, Thank you for your prompt reply. Firstly, just to confirm that I am running the latest version of VE PRO 5, build 11262. Since my post on the forum, I have also deleted Pro Tools Databases and Preferences just in case there was something from the Pro Tools end that was corrupting the configuration. It has not made a difference to the problem. A few further comments about my DAW: 1. The DPC Latency Checker has no spikes in it and the system's Current Latency is 5us and the Absolute Latency is 7us. 2. With the Pro Tools session in question, the Average System CPU usage is 17% and the System Memory usage is 29%. This is a powerful and well set up DAW. Perhaps one of the plug-ins in VE PRO 5 is causing a problem for VE PRO 5? In my 32-bit instance, I have Rapture32LE, SampleTank2.x and Kore Player loaded. In my 64-bit instance, in addition to z3ta+2 and Rapture, I have Dimension Pro, Epic Orchestra Instrument, z3ta+1, and two GPO4 plug-ins loaded. As stated earlier, only z3ta+2 and Rapture are playing MIDI clips. In addition to the two VE PRO 5 instances, I have 4 RTAS plug-ins loaded in the Pro Tools session. They are Strike, Transfuser, Structure and Xpand2. These are all Avid VIs. Only Strike is playing MIDI clips. I can try altering the thread assignments to see if it makes any difference. However, I would have thought that they were optimal, given the system I have and the setup that I've described. I can also increase the Hardware Buffer size to see if it makes a difference. However, given the description of my setup, I would not have thought that the system is in anyway overstretched. Do you happen to know if any of the listed VSTis is problematic with VE PRO 5? Many thanks in advance for your or anyone else's comments about VE PRO 5 freezing.
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Hi Paul. Thanks for your reply. Apologies for not being able to respond earlier. Activating "Decouple" has made a huge difference. Not only do I no longer have random engine freezes in VE Pro 5, but the average system CPU usage for the same session is now at 7%, down from 17%, and that's at 64 samples with VE Pro 5 latency in both server/instances set to "none". For good measure, I've also reduced the Pro Tools Auto Save frequency. Now I just have to get used to de-activating "Decouple" before I save the Pro Tools Session. I have a set of related questions for you: Is this setup a workable solution if I need to go back to one of the Pro Tools Auto Session File Backups? Surely with "Decouple" activated, none of the VE Pro 5 data has been saved with the Pro Tools Session File Backup. Should I therefore be also using Projects and/or metaframes? And if so, which is the better of the two in my setup? With a BIG THANKS for the "Decouple" advice 😊@Paul said:
Hi alpha_123,
Try to activate "Decouple" after reading up in the VE PRO 5 manual on page 32. That could actually make all the difference!
Best,
Paul
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[quote=alpha_123][quote=DG]Are you using Auto Save in Pro Tools? That is guaranteed to crash my system if I am opening a menu, or something even more menial.
Isn't instability what you were talking about with those freezes? Every time PT saves, it saves the state of each plug, including all of those loaded in VEP. You should try running de-coupled, and this should make a difference. Just remember to re-couple before you shut the project down for the night.
Edit: I see that Paul got there first. Rats. [:@]
DG
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@ DG: Makes me quite proud, it doesn´t happen so often [8-|]
@alpha_123 said: Is this setup a workable solution if I need to go back to one of the Pro Tools Auto Session File Backups? Surely with "Decouple" activated, none of the VE Pro 5 data has been saved with the Pro Tools Session File Backup. Should I therefore be also using Projects and/or metaframes? And if so, which is the better of the two in my setup?Yes I´d suggest to save your viframe and metaframe files regularily, this way you can load your templates anyway, then connect to your song.
I´d like to point you to the manual regarding the differences of the 2 formats.... page 21, a chapter called "File Formats and Information Display" [:)]
Best,
Paul
Paul Kopf Head of Product Marketing, Social Media and Support
