Some suggestions for acid 5 -ACID Product Family - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

ACID Product Family

Subject:Some suggestions for acid 5 Posted by: Twinstates Date:5/29/2003 7:43:48 AM hi there, Been thinking about acid and partiucularly the way that acid handles midi. it would be great to have either the option of saving midi data as it is right now (which frankly is a bit of a pain in the ass). Or perhaps having a oneshot midi file which isn't looped and is saved within the project file (a la Cubase / Logic etc). Also how about (kick me if this is already there cos I have never noticed it) Save all samples / tracks used in project function. I.e. an export function that will allow you to save all the samples (as they are used in the projecvt regardless of whether they are set as long-shot, loop etc from when you save in Soundforge). This would be cool as I ofter have to take projects over to someone elses studio and it would be a cool function. Also Acid needs to recognise sample types (loop, one shot etc) from the way that they are set in the project. If you move a sample when acid searches for it it doesn't necessarily remember that it was a one shot that the project was playing as a loop. It can take a while to manually go through and re-assign all the samples. Just a few suggestions that I think may work well for improving ACID's functionality. Cheers TS
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: pwppch Date:5/29/2003 8:51:03 AM - All MIDI data is saved as part of the acd project. The MIDI files associated to a track are never touched and treated non-destructively unless you tell ACID to save to them. - ACID zip files save the entire project into one big bundle Peter
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Iacobus Date:5/29/2003 9:08:54 AM Remember that MIDI has to fit within ACID paradigm; ACID was never meant to be a true MIDI sequencer. That being said, you can simply paint an entire MIDI file in "one shot" by holding down CTRL+ clicking with the Paint Tool active. Use the ACD-ZIP file format when you want to port projects over to, say, another system or want to collaborate. (That's if your colleagues also have ACID.) If they're using another app, you can use the "save each track as a separate file" option under File>Render As on the menu bar. (Remember that any MIDI routed externally rather than to a soft synth will not be included.) Using the latter option will usually produce a large file amount, depending on the length of your project and your project's bit-depth and sample rate. ACIDized properties, such as the exact file type, stay with the file itself, not your project. You can either access the track's properties, change the track type and then save under the same properties window, or duplicate/make a copy of the file and change its properties via the same dialog or through Sound Forge. Once you make changes, the ACIDized properties should remain with the file, regardless where you move the sample. HTH, Iacobus
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: bartchilders Date:5/29/2003 11:14:11 AM Here's a few of my wishes: - Multiple Loop Explorer Windows, the benefits of this being so obvious as to not need explanation (at least to me!) OK, I don't use the "One Big Acid Window". I have multiple monitors so I drag the exporer and mixer windows off to the other screen, I usually have the Track Properties window open all the time as well. I would LOVE to be able to have several explorer windows open, browsed to different LOOP subdirectorys while I'm working. Of course, I should be able to preview multiple loops from multiple explorer windows at the same time. - Tabbed groupings - Be able to create tabs to group logical groups of loops/tracks together i.e. Drums, Bass, Synths, etc. If this doesn't appeal to you, fine, just don't use the additional tabs. IMO, my projects get pretty big and it quickly becomes a pain scrolling around the bazillions of tracks I have..If I could group them visually and logically I would be a Very-Happy-Camper (tm). I should be able to MUTE/SOLO the entire tabbed group as well. - (This being the most divisive, I'm sure) The ability to set a track as a 'ONE SHOT' Track such that you can place multiple, different ONE SHOTS on a single track. This is so huge...ACID would become almost exponentially more useable to me if this were possible. I would want the ability to drag/drop ONE SHOTS or LOOPS onto these tracks of course. LOOPS placed into a ONE SHOT TRACK would switch to ONE SHOT MODE. Of course, this would effectively make ACID also a pretty damn decent STD multi-track audio application, so it may not fit in The Grand Plan. but I would really dig it. - The ability to drag/select across the timeline in the MIDI editor window, selecting every MIDI EVENT in the window then right-click to create a MIDI LOOP. This would make creating ACID'ed MIDI loops from the myriad exsiting MIDI files trivially easy. Shouldn't this already be possible? Am I missing something? - The ability to function as a REWIRE Instrument - nuff said.
Subject:MORE suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Lava Date:5/29/2003 12:17:07 PM 1) The ability to right-click any control for anything in ACID, including sends, volume, pan, and even all fx parameters, and assign a midi continuous controller to them, like in Fruity Loops. FL Studio allows you not only to assign which controller, but whether you want the CC input to be inverted, stepped, and much more. 2) VST fx plug-in capability.
Subject:More more suggestions Reply by: gunhed Date:6/3/2003 11:20:46 PM I don't know if these are of ovious use for the next version: - The ability to DELETE a selected chunk of an ENTIRE score, similar to the "Insert time" but call it "Delete time." I can't count the times I needed to erase 4 or 8 measures from the middle of a score, only to have to manually edit each track one by one and drag lots chunks leftward. - Follow cursor toggle button - It's nice to sit back and watch the window scroll along with thw curor during playback, but if any of the window scrolling gadgets are used, the window stops following the cursor. Why not be able to turn it back on to follow with a simple button (or turn it off)? Sometimes, while listening to playback, I might do a quick visual check of the score layout, but then wish I wouldn't have to manually click to keep up with the cursor. - MIDI event list editing - Sometimes, I'll want to edit out some MIDI events that are only visible from the List Editor (usually because of artifacts when recording). It would be nice to be able to delete a selected section in the List Editor and have the remaining events and notes "shift" back in time to fill in the gap instead of leaving a "dead space." This would be useful in trimming down recorded MIDI files that contain CC events / patch changes / whatnot, so they can be easily looped.
Subject:RE: More more suggestions Reply by: minipod Date:6/4/2003 12:21:50 AM - The possibility to record VST instruments as real audio, like in Cubase - not just as midi...
Subject:RE: More more suggestions Reply by: ATP Date:6/4/2003 4:04:19 AM the only thing i'd like to see is ACID as a VSTi.
Subject:RE: More more suggestions Reply by: pwppch Date:6/4/2003 8:30:31 AM >- The ability to DELETE a selected chunk of an ENTIRE score, similar to the "Insert time" but call it "Delete time." I can't count the times I needed to erase 4 or 8 measures from the middle of a score, only to have to manually edit each track one by one and drag lots chunks leftward. < Turn on "Ripple edits" from the Options menu (or type Ctrl - L) Select the "Time Selection" tool from the edit tool bar Make your selection Delete and everything on the right is "rippled" over to the left edit point. >>- Follow cursor toggle button - It's nice to sit back and watch the window scroll along with thw curor during playback, but if any of the window scrolling gadgets are used, the window stops following the cursor. Why not be able to turn it back on to follow with a simple button (or turn it off)? Sometimes, while listening to playback, I might do a quick visual check of the score layout, but then wish I wouldn't have to manually click to keep up with the cursor. << Hit the "\ " key and ACID's main time line will jump/center to the current cursor or playback position. >- MIDI event list editing - Sometimes, I'll want to edit out some MIDI events that are only visible from the List Editor (usually because of artifacts when recording). It would be nice to be able to delete a selected section in the List Editor and have the remaining events and notes "shift" back in time to fill in the gap instead of leaving a "dead space." This would be useful in trimming down recorded MIDI files that contain CC events / patch changes / whatnot, so they can be easily looped. < No ripple editing in the Piano Roll or List Editor. This one will have to wait for a future version of ACID. Peter
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: fhodshon Date:6/4/2003 9:32:36 AM here's an annoying wish i'm sure: SCORING! hehe. fred
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: spongebob Date:6/4/2003 10:40:53 AM Acid is behind the competition when it comes to FX. FX are VERY important in loop compositions because we are all afraid of using a loop that others will recognize. As a point of reference, check out the quality and ease of use of the FX in Ableton Live. Live has the edge in the "live performance" market. Don't let them seduce the studio musicians!!!
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Twinstates Date:6/4/2003 11:15:06 AM /Quote / (Sonic PCH) - All MIDI data is saved as part of the acd project. The MIDI files associated to a track are never touched and treated non-destructively unless you tell ACID to save to them. - ACID zip files save the entire project into one big bundle Peter Yes, but you still have to clutter up your hd. with new midi files each time you want to record some midi. Which is rubbish :-)
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Twinstates Date:6/4/2003 11:21:42 AM Quote Iacobus / ACIDized properties, such as the exact file type, stay with the file itself, not your project. You can either access the track's properties, change the track type and then save under the same properties window, or duplicate/make a copy of the file and change its properties via the same dialog or through Sound Forge. Once you make changes, the ACIDized properties should remain with the file, regardless where you move the sample. HTH, Iacobus Yeah, you are misinterpreting my point here. I think acid should remember what state the soundfiles are set to. You obviuolsy haven't moved your samples from one hd to another. I have it's a terrible pain in the ass. Especially if it's your whole drive that you are moving. Suddenly all your acid projects don't play back properly. It woudn't be hard for acid to remember the soundfile properties as it already does so. it just seems to change when you move the sample from one drive to another. Imo it's not logical to have the acidised properties set with the samples as sometimes you may be using one sample in one project as a loop and in another (say a remix) as a one shot. Cheers TS
Subject:RE: More more suggestions Reply by: gunhed Date:6/4/2003 11:53:06 AM Thank you for the info - I was wondering what the Ripple option was for. My monkeying around with it earlier was fruitless, but I'll check the docs and learn to use it. <<Hit the "\ " key and ACID's main time line will jump/center to the current cursor or playback position. >> Will the "\" key cause the playback to continually track the cursor position, or will I have to keep punching "\" each tine the cursor leaves the window? I'll have to try it out when I get home. It'd be nice if it would "stick" without having to "maintain" it. <<No ripple editing in the Piano Roll or List Editor. This one will have to wait for a future version of ACID. >> Isn't this thread ABOUT a future version of Acid? Do you mean "future" as in not this next major version (5.0) but some two or three versions from now, or do you mean "future" as in the next patch (4.0e)?
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Iacobus Date:6/4/2003 2:18:53 PM If you happen to make your own loops, there's no way anybody will recognize it. ;o) Live, IMHO, is a different monster. ACID is mainly a production tool, not a live tool. (Though there are some who use it as such sucessfully.) Iacobus
Subject:Why didn't I think of that? Reply by: Lava Date:6/4/2003 4:51:41 PM Now THAT is one hell of a good idea... ACID as a VSTi... open it in Fruity Loops... yeah!
Subject:RE: More more suggestions Reply by: pwppch Date:6/5/2003 8:43:15 AM >Isn't this thread ABOUT a future version of Acid? Do you mean "future" as in not this next major version (5.0) but some two or three versions from now, or do you mean "future" as in the next patch (4.0e)? < Version not update is what I said. 5.0 will be a new Version. 4.0e is an update. I wont say as to when or even how, if ever. Peter
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: gunhed Date:6/16/2003 10:39:51 AM It would be nice to be able to specify the pause length in between songs when buring to CD. For example, the way it is now, if I burn song 1 and then song 2, there is a 2-second "silence" in between. I would like to be able to, instead, put in a 1-second gap or even "continuous" play from one CD track to the next. This would seem to be an easy thing to add in as an option on the "Burn Track to CD" panel. Does this seem like a valid suggestion?
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Chienworks Date:6/16/2003 10:52:24 AM gunhed, that would be very difficult to do with TAO (Track-at-once) burning. That can only be done accurately with DAO (Disk-at-one) burning, which ACID doesn't support.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: gunhed Date:6/16/2003 1:58:15 PM Does that mean the 2-second pause is "hard coded" into the TAO method? Is it a hardware / command-set level thing? Just curious.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: Chienworks Date:6/16/2003 2:58:27 PM I don't know the technical details, though i'm sure someone else can chime in. Here's a very watered down version of the explanation ... With TAO burning, you can add additional tracks later on. However, this means that the burning process can be completely stopped, and then restarted later with the CD spinning up again from a "cold" state. The read/write head has to seek the next available location and re-sync itself with what's already been written. In practice, this never works exactly. A silent gap is included to cover the spot in which the new track doesn't exactly line up with where the previous track finished. If the gap was eliminated then you'd probably get popping or clicking sounds and possibly even dropouts while playback had to sync to the next track. DAO burning gets around this by keeping the disc spinning and writing the entire surface in one continuous process. Of course, there's now the new burn-proof technology that lets a DAO burn continue even if it's interrupted. Perhaps this will eventually be extended to allow TAO burns to be more accurate with smaller gaps.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: gunhed Date:6/16/2003 3:41:23 PM Hey, thanks; I learned something new! :)
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: valiumart Date:6/30/2003 1:14:54 PM Agreed, but if there's one tool from Live that I would love to see in Acid, it's an enhanced Beatmapper that can cope more easily with varying tempos in the source material. The way it's been done in Live is so much more convenient than the multiple tempo workround in Acid. Steve.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: spesimen Date:6/30/2003 3:51:38 PM >>if there's one tool from Live that I would love to see in Acid, >>it's an enhanced Beatmapper that can cope more easily with >>varying tempos in the source material. The way it's been done >>in Live is so much more convenient than the multiple tempo >>workround in Acid. Allow me to 2nd that motion. My other wishlist items: 1. MUte/Solo scene save and recall. i press "control 1" and it stores, press "1" and it restores. ideally this would also hold the loop points. 2. allow solo to busses in mixdown (kind of like export as...lets you save each track individually, i'd also like an automated dump of each buss)
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: mmzz Date:7/2/2003 2:18:48 AM hehe dont get me started on the live issue iacobus!! as for spongebobs comment. i dont think its ever going to be possible but i would love to use my nice pro-tools rtas plugs with acid. (well while im at it aftereffects plugs with vegas would be KILLER!)
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: gunhed Date:7/3/2003 3:28:23 PM In 5.1 Surround projects, it'd be nice if I could copy surround keytones and paste them at other locations. This would be a nice feature for other markers as well, such as being able to select a range of volume markers or panning markers and paste them into another soft synth or on top of a wave file - useful if you're trying out a new synth and need to duplicate the volume/panning layout. It would also be nice to be able to visually see where the 5.1 panner is for a particular track during playback; the diamond would move arround on the panner panel to show you where in time the "focus" of the track is. Sometimes a visual representation is more useful than an auditory one. This would be nice in other aspects as well (volume, L-R panning, etc.).
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: ozzborn Date:7/3/2003 4:05:40 PM im very happy with 4.0c my 2 wishes would be having the piano roll editor scroll along with project. and that when you hit the mute button everythig mutes. thank you
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: mmzz Date:7/3/2003 7:22:24 PM just hit the master mute!
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: ozzborn Date:7/3/2003 9:25:31 PM what do you mean (master mute)
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: DJ_Don Date:7/4/2003 10:30:09 AM "my 2 wishes would be having the piano roll editor scroll along with project". I am REALLY with you on that one. I think they should even take it a couple steps farther. How about being able to expand the piano roll editor that is scrolling along, and be able to record MIDI into it right from there? You could record MIDI in real time, step record from your favorite MIDI device, or draw the notes in with the pencil. And you could see exactly where these MIDI notes are going into your track, because you are viewing the rest of your tracks while you are recording. In other words, instead of opening a seperate window to record MIDI (or audio for that matter), be able to do it the way Vegas does (for audio) and be able to see your recording right in the timeline as you are doing it. Want to add in a little arpegio pattern at the 3:35 mark of your song (for example)? Just go to the 3:35 point in the track, open a MIDI track, and start recording right from there in step time, real time, etc. (input quantizing would be REALLY nice here too). Also, the latest update allows you to draw in MIDI CC's from the piano roll editor. How about being able to do that from the main track view as well, and let us draw them in with the current crop of envelope-drawing options we now have (linear, fast, slow, etc)? Oh man, the possibilities with a setup like that in Acid boggles my mind. C'mon SoFo! You've taken Acid this far, keep going! And as always, my hat's off to the people of Sonic Foundry (or Sony). You make some AMAZING products. Enough rambling for now--gotta go! Peace.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: bartchilders Date:7/11/2003 10:57:28 AM As long as your talking about the Piano-Roll - the note the mouse is hovering over should be displayed somewhere.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: AnthonyJarrah Date:7/11/2003 1:08:50 PM Multitrack recording
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: SonyNateM Date:7/11/2003 1:58:45 PM As long as your talking about the Piano-Roll - the note the mouse is hovering over should be displayed somewhere. It is :) The note your mouse is hovering over is displayed in the bottom right corner of the status bar in the piano roll.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: bartchilders Date:7/11/2003 5:01:01 PM Doh! And here I've been cursing and lamenting this oh-so-obvious "missing" feature. How in the world did I not see that? Thanks!
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: AnthonyJarrah Date:7/16/2003 7:17:04 AM Also, a real mixer window with knobs and vertical faders and support for the rex2 file format.
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: gunhed Date:7/16/2003 9:00:28 AM Track Export / Import: I spend a lot of time developing variations on tracks and also collaborate projects with friends. I run into "synchronization issues" where I like what my friend has done on a track and must painstakenly paste it into the "current" project and reporduce a mountain of settings to get it just like my friend made it. It would be nice to export an entire track and everything that goes with it (the synth or WAV associated with it, all envelope settings, FX, patterns painted onto the track, everything needed to fully reproduce the track). Perhaps save it with an ".act" extension in a proprietary SOFO format. Then, when working in another project, that track could be imported and function exactly as it did before. It would, for example, create a new instance of a synth assigned to it, program the synth's preset and patch information, re-establish and FX assigned to it, volume and panning envelopes (and 5.1 keytones) in the "U" screen, insert a new track into the project, assign the synth to it, populate the piano roll, and finally, paint in the exact pattern into the track itself. (Obviously, some things would be different for a WAV track, but the idea is the same).
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: DONDIDIT Date:7/24/2003 2:37:00 AM i would be a happy camper if acid work with vst fx like t-racks and heres the big one "was just stable as hell"
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: buckaroo Date:7/24/2003 7:46:14 AM what about Acid 5.0 as a REwire slave? or as a VSTi itself? ie: using Acid for loops UNDERNEATH Cubase SL either as VSTi or in rewire, s im doing most of my project on Cubase....? Dunno if this has been mentioned before?
Subject:RE: Some suggestions for acid 5 Reply by: vicorex Date:7/28/2003 4:13:00 AM 1, it would be cool if the automations on the tracks could be recorded somehow, for example with MIDI CC-s from a MIDI IN device... it's so hard to draw a filter envelope... 2, the effects values are hard to set, it should be great to have the filter values in a 0...127 range for example just like in MIDI CC. and also for other plugin parameters... 3, more automation :) on other effects too :)

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