Just installed the first 5 VSL Instruments DVDs; registered; updated the Syncrosoft key; etc, etc. I'm using the very latest versions of Syncrosoft software + VSL software (latest as of April 12, 2006). The Syncrosoft software shows all my registered products and codes. But in Logic when I instantiate a VSL Instrument, and then click on the 'Display GUI' button, nothing appears (ie: no GUI window appears). I've tried this a few times, and always no GUI window. I've even waited one hour after clicking on 'Dispaly GUI', but still with no result. What is going wrong here? I'm running Mac OS X 10.4.5 on a PPC G5 Mac, running latest version of Logic and using VSL as AU plug-in.

BTW- I'd like to hear from the VSL team regarding updating/changing this 'Display GUI' nonsense. No other AU plug-in I own asks you to go through the extra step to display what should appear on its own without clicking on anything. Any updates in the near future to make this Display GUI button go away?

Thanks.

I am not having any display problems in Logic, but if you are, it's probably a Logic thing. I just switched over to Logic a week or so ago, and I find it to be one buggy piece of software. Instruments stop playing all by themselves, files that were saved no longer open. Amazingly nasty. I do enjoy the program and find it wonderfully powerful, but I can't imagine working on a deadline with it. Gotta go check out DP again I suppose...

Tom H

@tom@aerovons.com said:

I am not having any display problems in Logic, but if you are, it's probably a Logic thing. I just switched over to Logic a week or so ago, and I find it to be one buggy piece of software. Instruments stop playing all by themselves, files that were saved no longer open. Amazingly nasty. I do enjoy the program and find it wonderfully powerful, but I can't imagine working on a deadline with it. Gotta go check out DP again I suppose...

Tom H

There is something seriously wrong with your set up. Logic does not behave that way. It sounds as though you have something corrupt in you computer. Logic is the most stable sequencer I have.
You should trash your preferences and make sure you have the latest updates on all your 3rd party plug ins.
J

@tom@aerovons.com said:

I am not having any display problems in Logic, but if you are, it's probably a Logic thing. I just switched over to Logic a week or so ago, and I find it to be one buggy piece of software. Instruments stop playing all by themselves, files that were saved no longer open. Amazingly nasty. I do enjoy the program and find it wonderfully powerful, but I can't imagine working on a deadline with it. Gotta go check out DP again I suppose...

Tom H

There is something seriously wrong with your set up. Logic does not behave that way. It sounds as though you have something corrupt in you computer. Logic is the most stable sequencer I have.
You should trash your preferences and make sure you have the latest updates on all your 3rd party plug ins.
J

No, it isn't my setup, if you go to the Logic users group on Apple you will see other long time Logic users experiencing the same problems. Freeze tracks often stop playing back and have to be refrozen or Logic restarted, and when both my main and safety copy of TWO different songs would not open yesterday another Logic user told me out to get around it, and that it had happened to him as well.

So far using Logic has been like going on the Space Shuttle for me. Very powerful, very risky. [;)]

TH

Tom,
If you just switched to Logic, I assume you have v7.x on Mac. Did you also install all the required Pro-App updates? Many folks miss these and complain about instability.

Look here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301838">http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301838

Are you force-using any Audio Units that didn't pass validation? This can also be problematic.

Regards - Colin

@tom@aerovons.com said:

I am not having any display problems in Logic, but if you are, it's probably a Logic thing. I just switched over to Logic a week or so ago, and I find it to be one buggy piece of software. Instruments stop playing all by themselves, files that were saved no longer open. Amazingly nasty. I do enjoy the program and find it wonderfully powerful, but I can't imagine working on a deadline with it. Gotta go check out DP again I suppose...

Tom H

There is something seriously wrong with your set up. Logic does not behave that way. It sounds as though you have something corrupt in you computer. Logic is the most stable sequencer I have.
You should trash your preferences and make sure you have the latest updates on all your 3rd party plug ins.
J

No, it isn't my setup, if you go to the Logic users group on Apple you will see other long time Logic users experiencing the same problems. Freeze tracks often stop playing back and have to be refrozen or Logic restarted, and when both my main and safety copy of TWO different songs would not open yesterday another Logic user told me out to get around it, and that it had happened to him as well.

So far using Logic has been like going on the Space Shuttle for me. Very powerful, very risky. [;)]

TH


Aaah, Comrade Tom, a lesson in life. Perhaps it would have better to stick with the Sputnik!

I'm seriously considering changing from Logic as well. The freeze bug is just one of a few that spoil my compositional enjoyment on a fairly regular basis, and like you i've cruised the logic forums, searching for answers, only to find others have the same issues. I will miss the EXS MK11 though. A clever piece of Emagic development, and has proved useful.

Now, the new Nuendo looks interesting..........!

Regards,

Alex.

@musos said:

Tom,
If you just switched to Logic, I assume you have v7.x on Mac. Did you also install all the required Pro-App updates? Many folks miss these and complain about instability.

Look here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301838">http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301838

Are you force-using any Audio Units that didn't pass validation? This can also be problematic.

Regards - Colin

No none of the above applies here. And all units pass validation. Again, there are some pretty experienced Logic users out there with the same problems, especially the "tracks suddenly won't play back" thing.

Do you know what the safest System version for Logic 7.2 is? I'm on 10.4.3 right now...

Thanks
Tom

I went to 7.2 and then went back to 7.1.1. It's much better. There are some problems in 7.2 that need worked out. 7.1.1 and OS 10.4.6 are great on my machine.
a Dual Core 2.3 GHz with 4.5 G Ram.
J

Tom@Aerovons.com wrote:

"I am not having any display problems in Logic, but if you are, it's probably a Logic thing. I just switched over to Logic a week or so ago, and I find it to be one buggy piece of software."

Hi Tom. No, it's not Logic's fault that the VSL V.I. won't display the GUI. I have been through my fair share of bugs with Logic over the years, but Logic has been running well since the last update, and ALL other AU plugs display and work well within Logic- just VSL V.I. won't display. VSL V.I. is also the only AU plug I know of that makes you click on a 'Display GUI' button.

Later today I will once again go through the motions: repair permissions, try any stand-alone V.I. version to see if it will display, etc.

Still hoping to hear from the VSL team on this problem.

@mdfmuse said:

Tom@Aerovons.com wrote:

"I am not having any display problems in Logic, but if you are, it's probably a Logic thing. I just switched over to Logic a week or so ago, and I find it to be one buggy piece of software."

Hi Tom. No, it's not Logic's fault that the VSL V.I. won't display the GUI. I have been through my fair share of bugs with Logic over the years, but Logic has been running well since the last update, and ALL other AU plugs display and work well within Logic- just VSL V.I. won't display. VSL V.I. is also the only AU plug I know of that makes you click on a 'Display GUI' button.

Later today I will once again go through the motions: repair permissions, try any stand-alone V.I. version to see if it will display, etc.

Still hoping to hear from the VSL team on this problem.

Regarding the "Display GUI" thing, yes, that's pretty silly. Of course you want to display it[;)]

TH

@Another User said:

again, we thought this being a treat rather than a bug:
1) When you close the GUI Window you actually hide it - clicking "Show GUI" makes it appear again
2) You can minimize standalone.
3) Staying on top: Consider if VI GUI won't be a floating window - it will disappear whenever you click another window - then you start searching for it.

I'm not sure who wrote this, but it's seems a little arrogant to say that the VSI window should float when none of the other virtual intruments by other manufacturers float. This means we continually have to keep moving VSI out of the way to get at other VIs, not to mention accessing the valuable screen real estate of our sequencer. Hey, we're all used to VIs not floating, why throw this monkey-wrench? In an ideal world, we would have an option to float or not float all our windows. But there are just SO MANY things about VSI which are truly annoying, while none of the other VIs I use interfere with my work flow as much as this one does.

@garylionelli said:

I'm not sure who wrote this, but it's seems a little arrogant to say that the VSI window should float when none of the other virtual intruments by other manufacturers float. This means we continually have to keep moving VSI out of the way to get at other VIs, not to mention accessing the valuable screen real estate of our sequencer. Hey, we're all used to VIs not floating, why throw this monkey-wrench? In an ideal world, we would have an option to float or not float all our windows. But there are just SO MANY things about VSI which are truly annoying, while none of the other VIs I use interfere with my work flow as much as this one does.

It was me who wrote this ...

1) Your statement is simply NOT true: every AU Instrument in Logic floats. And this is inherent to how Logic puts up the windows.
2) There is this extra button indeed. It seems to be redundant. It is. But we have devised some different architecture which has a bunch of benefits - tho not all are fully explored - and this extra button is the tradeoff at the moment.
I say at the moment. We investigate to get rid of this, however.

Nevertheless I can still consider this as a feature: Since AU always floats, you can arrange them on one side of the screen ( I will make this window much smaller, just to hold the Show Button) one below the other and thus you can quickly access the VI GUIs. Think of this as a handy chest of drawers.
The "normal" procedure would be - provided you work on sequence view (Arrange) - bringing up mixer window and clicking the corresponding button. Truly more impeding the flow.

Check it out.

christian teuscher
development

Christian,
In the DP world, nothing floats. To have VSI float, for me, is an inconvenience. I want VSI gone when I click elsewhere, and right now I have to close it and then deal with a slew of mini-windows to reopen. Of course everyone has different work prefs and I respect that, but VSI still floats even when you change to a background app like a web browser, and that is arrogant behavior by an application, in my book. Often times as a diversion, we all check our email, browse the net, etc., but there VSI remains, omnipresent, breaking the Mac's inter-application etiquette protocols.

I've been unusally vocal about VSI's behavior because I'd like to see these things change, and we have received little feedback from VSL regarding their intentions. The issue of floating windows, however annoying they may be to me and others, pales in comparison to the problems of license recognition and slow loading time due to Syncrosoft. If I'd spent maybe $1000, I wouldn't be so bothered, but I had to sit and think about whether upgrading to the full VSI library coming from owning the full Pro Edition was warranted enough, given the high price for the upgrade. I finally decided to buy the full version only to be slammed by having it be barely working, and then when it did work, having to deal with all the user interface quirks. I might have been better off not being an early adopter, because trying to get work done with VSI has been an ordeal for me so far.
Thanks,
Gary

Well...

Tinkering with Logic, VSL V.I. AU, and V.I. standalone revealed the problem. I'm running Logic 7.2.0. I had not attempted to run the standalone V.I. prior to working in Logic. My Logic setup covers the *entire* monitor screen with Logic's arrange page and other associated stuff- the counter, plugs, etc. This is key. I would click on 'Display GUI' and again nothing would appear. As I quit Logic, I noticed for a brief second a window in the Mac's Finder asking me to 'Select a custom Matrix folder', and then the window disappeared. I then ran the V.I. standalone, and this time (because the standalone does not use the entire monitor screen as does Logic) I was able to see and respond to the window, which popped-up in the background of the standalone V.I. I was able to see it this time and chose a folder, then the instrument interface appeared. Back to Logic- I guess because I had already chosen a folder in the standalone, the window did not pop up again in Logic, and instead the correct interface displayed. Note to Mac developer: the dialogue window is popping UNDER all of my Logic Windows, so I didn't know it was there. Is there a way to make this window pop above all other windows (including Logic's) so that it does not become obscured?

Looking forward to jumping into the VSL V.I. now [:D]

I think I need a third monitor. Does IMAX make computer monitors? [:D]

well, if could afford, this would be my favorite ...

i'm with gary on this one.

in DP, the most annoying thing is having to click on a DP window after making any alterations, in order to be able to play a midi keyboard to hear any sounds. whenever the VSI window is on the top, the midi keyboard won't play any sounds. this means that any tweaks i make on cross-fades, keyswitches, patch changes, etc, i then have to click EVERY time on a dp window to find out how it's going to sounds. a massive waste of time, and very frustrating. similarly, having to drag the window out of the way, just to be able to access any of the other windows. i've got 2 23 inch monitors, and still this ruddy VSI sindow is clogging up way too much space - would like it to work like the spectrasonics stuff - the window's always there, but it's up to you where in the screen it is, and whether it's got other windows above or below it - it's not exactly THAT hard to find a window when you want to. F9 on the mac gets all the windows up there in a second so you can see where you are.

@cm said:

well, if could afford, this would be my favorite ...

OMG!! That monitor is incredible. I'd never seen that configuration before!

Yet, for the floating window issue, I would even settle for just being able to start and stop my DAW when the VI Console is on top. That, imho, is more awkward than opening and closing windows. At least we can whoosh any number of Consoles onto the dock in a pinch.

It may sound a little picky, but the clicks add up quickly. I currently have to:

-- click out of DP on the GUI Interface
-- do a Console edit
-- click back inside DP (which often highlights some other feature not needed at the time
-- re-click on the DP feature in question to recover the edit points made prior to editing the VI Console
-- hit play
-- hit stop
-- click out of DP on the GUI Interface....

... and on, and on. One can easily do a dozen or more refining edits with each pass, and that one little extra click can easily turn a 6-7 click process into 72 moves or more.

golem wrote:

@Another User said:

1) Your statement is simply NOT true: every AU Instrument in Logic floats. And this is inherent to how Logic puts up the windows.

Christian, it is true that by default, when you open any plugin window in Logic, it opens as a floating window. (You have an option to open as non-float by the way)

The big difference is this: ALL floating windows in Logic go to the back when you bring another app or the Finder to the front. This is also the case with all palette windows in most graphic apps and seems to be the default Mac behaviour. I just tried with Stylus RMX, FM7, Korg M1 and 10 native Logic plugins. When I bring the finder to the front, then the finder windows cover the Logic plugins, which is what one expects.

The only exception is the VI plugin GUI - it floats, but does NOT move to the back at all....ever. If I <hide> Logic, all the other floating windows disappear completely, along with Logic's other windows, but the VI GUI remains. This is not "normal" behaviour. If you can change this, I imagine we'd all be very happy.

Regards - Colin

i find that it is even worse than that.

say you're in Logic and change the patch on the VI. the VI actually takes over and sends Logic to the back so that you don't see the transport control floating pallette anymore and does this wierd dick dance every time you re-select logic. it's like the VI is actually in standalone mode while being opened from inside of Logic.

fortunately i only use Logic to house the VIs and trigger them with DP from another mac so i have dodged the frustration bullet and have to deal with it on a minimal basis. I do need to see that the transport is playing so that i know that DP is actually playing Logic though.

It's just not elegant. for the price that we all have paid we deserve something that is of high quality in both sound and in design.

It's like all standards are have been tossed out the window and replaced by lame excuses. i'm just glad that i don't have to use the VI in DP after hearing what all of these other dudes are dealing with.

..........patiently waiting for a version update........