Subject:Help with importing files....

Posted by: AciDru

Date:3/5/2003 3:33:44 PM

I have Sound Forge and Acid Music. When I record something in sound forge, i record it the way i like it. Perfect tempo, length, everything. But when I save it and try to open it in Acid Music, it always changes. Either the tempo is faster, or with this one little wav i recorded, it was totally chopped up about twice as long..

does anyone know how i can import files into acid music from sound forge and keep them THE EXACT SAME? cause when i record a guitar part, i record it exactly how i'd want it... but when it gets to acid music, its different

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: AciDru

Date:3/5/2003 4:29:44 PM

Ok, now i just recorded another part in Sound Forge. I opened it in Acid Music and the tempo was PERFECT, but the sound quality is duller...

I haven't found a pattern to how the files change when i bring them from sound forge to acid music, but i do know that with EVERY file i record in sound forge and open in acid music, there is SOMETHING different.

Can anyone help?

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: AciDru

Date:3/5/2003 5:20:25 PM

Upon further investigation, i found that in sound forge, when i go to "special" then "edit tempo" it tells me the tempo is 120. in acid music, when i open the track and select it, and click on the "Track Properties" tab on the bottom of the program, it says "121.242bpm." So i guess when i import it, it changes tempo randomly? i guess thatd explain the track distortion, the more the tempo change, the more the distortion, but the question still remains: how do you get the file to stay the same in both acid and sound forge?

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: SonicJG

Date:3/6/2003 2:09:18 PM

I'm not sure where the distortion would be coming from, but I think you're misunderstanding how the Tempo in Forge and ACID work. Sorry if it's a bit confusing.

You can set the tempo in Forge to whatever you'd like (using Special/Edit Tempo...). But when you bring a loop into ACID, and it's, say, four beats long, and 2.2 seconds, the length of the file necessitates that the tempo be 4 x 60 / 2.2 = 109.09 bpm (or if you call it 8 beats, 218.18 bpm, etc).

If you save the file in Forge as a Beatmapped file (using Special/Edit ACID Properties...), and set the ACID tempo there to, say 85 bpm, and save the file, bringing the file into ACID will show the file as a beatmapped track, with 85bpm, since the length of the file for Beatmaps isn't essentially connected. Also, in the Edit ACID Properties... dialog, you'll see that there is no way to set the tempo for a Loop-based file.

BTW, which version of Sound Forge are you using? Older versions of Forge may not have the ability to create Beatmapped files, in which case it's best to just set the ACID properties within ACID itself.

Also, if you want your files from Sound Forge to sound EXACTLY the same in ACID as they did in Sound Forge, be sure to set the track properties to One-shot.

HTH,
Joel

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: AciDru

Date:3/6/2003 7:50:51 PM

Thanks for the help SonicJG.

Yea, the whole tempo thing SORTA makes sense. Again, im all new at this. First thing I did was go to track properties and make it a one shot. It saved the quality, and it sounded exactly like it did in SF. That was a plus. The minus, though, is how I have to do cutting and pasting instead of straight painting, like with loops.

So the second thing I did was save the file as beatmapped in the edit properties window. when i loaded it into ACID, again, it sounded exactly like in SF. And again, you cannot straight paint it like a loop. Out of curiousity, I then selected the file type (under the track properties tab in ACID) to loop, and it went back to the original problem of being a distorted sound file.

Oddly, i didnt notice any distortion, with the first loop i brought in that became my first track. There was a slight tempo change, but not enough for me to care. I liked it so i figured i'd add more tracks, and thats when the problems occured.

I have SF 6.0, made in 2002, so its not a problem to make it a beatmapped file.

I guess I can just toy with it as a one shot if that's the only way to save the quality of the file. In fact, thats what i've been doing with the drums. Although, I did like the ability to straight paint the guitar loops.

Thanks again for your help

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/6/2003 10:08:22 PM

One way is to actually record in ACID Pro itself, then set the Loop Region over the area you'd like to make a loop and do a bounce (CTRL+M). Can be messy, but if you're a neatnik it works great. I do this all the time for my custom guitar loops.

You can use Sound Forge to externally tweak this newly made Loop (like adding compression, EQ and the like), but be sure you do not alter the duration of the Loop (like adding or deleting from the Loop). That will force ACID to recalculate the tempo.

You might want to also go into the properties of the track and adjust the stretch markers under the Stretch tab. You should have a marker primarily on strong accents of the file. This will ensure your loop is tweaked for different tempos.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: AciDru

Date:3/9/2003 7:08:36 PM

thanks for the help again. I recorded several bits in ACID itself, but i wasnt thrilled about that because i used sound forge for all the effects. I only have acid MUSIC, so it has very FEW effects, whereas SF6.0 has more. You made it sound like if i take a recorded file from ACID, use it in SF, and as long as the duration doesnt change, put it back in ACID, it should sound great, as opposed it originating in SF then brought to ACID, which was where i was getting the problems.

The problems under STRETCH is that any alteration such as that, i notice a sacrifice in the quality of the sound. Since Sonic Foundry makes some pretty reputable programs, i didnt think i'd experience such simple trouble in working with files. maybe I'm doing something wrong or have something set up weird that's making it so, or maybe its something else... but with alterations on the file such as changing tempo or stretching, or even pitch shifting, im sacrificing too much sound quality.

Thanks again for your help. I have yet to try your ideas but i hope they work.

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: Spy

Date:3/10/2003 2:49:10 AM

'I recorded several bits in ACID itself, but i wasnt thrilled about that because i used sound forge for all the effects. I only have acid MUSIC, so it has very FEW effects, whereas SF6.0 has more.'

Greetings AciDru,

You can record in Acid Music to get the timing, etc. right as suggested then edit the loops in Sound Forge to add the FX.


HTH




One Love, Spy!

Subject:RE: Help with importing files....

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/10/2003 1:01:32 PM

As Spy said, you can externally edit your takes in Sound Forge. (Right click the track and select, "Edit in Sound Forge.") Once changes are made to the file and are saved, the changes will be reflected in ACID once you switch back to it. (This is also called round trip editing.)

A caveat: Once you save in Sound Forge, you cannot go back. Make sure an edit is the way you want it to be before committing to saving. You might want to backup your tracks as a precaution.

I forgot you had ACID Music. ACID Pro is the only version of ACID that has the ability to edit the stretching properties (i.e., markers) of a track. If you get the chance, upgrade. Being able to adjust stretching properties for custom loops is almost essential, not to mention makes the loops sound better when they're stretching to other tempos.

HTH,
Iacobus