Subject:getting explorer to loop?

Posted by: butterball

Date:11/30/2003 4:49:34 AM

My samples won't loop when I listen to them in explorer.

Is there a way I can get them to repeat/loop over and over? I checked the acid help files but couldn't get any help.

Subject:RE: getting explorer to loop?

Reply by: Jessariah

Date:11/30/2003 9:13:07 AM

Are your files OneShots? If so, they won't loop in preview. Otherwise, maybe there's a setting in preferences that needs to be changed.

Subject:RE: getting explorer to loop?

Reply by: butterball

Date:11/30/2003 3:16:43 PM

I'm not getting something here...

What do I set to get them to loop? They are just WAV samples, when I click on them in EXPLORER, not defined as One-Shots or Loops.

I'll re-define the samples as loops from within a project, then see if they loop when I preview them in EXPLORER.

Thanks.

Subject:RE: getting explorer to loop?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:12/1/2003 11:35:18 AM

Beatmapped and One-shot tracks were not designed to loop.

You can change the properties of the track to a Loop track, but beware your mileage may vary here as Loop tracks are designed to be timestretched and key stretched. Long Loop tracks also eat RAM like it's candy.

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:still can't do it

Reply by: butterball

Date:12/2/2003 6:43:30 PM

Okay: I take a piece of a track. and before I render it to a WAV, I change it to a LOOP in properties.

But still, when I use EXPLORER to preivew that WAV (the new one) from within a project, it won't loop! It says BEATMAPPED at the bottom of the screen, and if I double-click on the new WAV (which should be "LOOPED"), it comes into the new project as BEATMAPPED.

***I just want these little snippets to repeats over and over when I preview 'em, soI can tell how they'll sound as loops in my final project.

Subject:RE: still can't do it

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:12/3/2003 12:51:42 PM

You're only changing the properties of the track on a project-by-project basis when you use that method. It does not permanently change the properties of the track itself.

To permanently make changes to the track, click the "Save" or "Save As" button in the upper right corner of the track properties. Then refresh the Explorer by focusing on it and pressing F5 on your keyboard. The track should then reflect the changes you've saved.

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:success!

Reply by: butterball

Date:12/4/2003 12:48:29 AM

A million thanks.

***--I have 192 Megs of RAM; is it safe for me to change all my smaller files to LOOPS or will I run out of memory do you think?

(I can keep them "permanently" as loops for previewing in explorer, then change them to beatmapped or 1-shots temporarily as needed per project.)

***--Can I defeat the keystretch/timestretch loop modes you mentioned?

I'd like to get these samples to play back in their original BPM. From what I've been readng here, that's out of the question... (Is everybody certain there's no setting to defeat this? I mean, I can defeat pitch changes...)

Subject:more troubles

Reply by: butterball

Date:12/4/2003 2:53:37 AM

In order to hear my samples as loops, I have to open each as tracks, change properties to loops and save them. this is quite a job, as I have over 9,500 samples. (Would sure be easier if there was simply a button I could click in Explorer to get 'em to play as loops.

Allright: I take a small sample I want to preview as a loop. But when I change it from beat-mapped (where it's 120 BPM and plays perfectly in my 120 BPM project), it changes from 120 BPM to 107.294 BPM!

Then, another 120 BPM beat-mapped changes to 117.896 when I turn it into a loop.

What's going on here? the only way to accurately preview these things in explorer is constantly re-set my project BPM. It's not so hard when most are 120 BPM, but it's going to be hell if I have to change the tempo for nearly each sample I want to hear.

Subject:RE: success!

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:12/4/2003 11:22:37 AM

Hi again butterball,

***What you get away with will most likely depend on what OS you're using. Windows XP (both Home and Professional) like at the very least 128 MB of RAM, which would leave about 64 MB to play with. However, that's the bare minimum for XP. To get XP running well, you'd need at least 256 MB—more is even better.

Just be careful. If you notice your system acting sluggish or strange, stop what you're doing and revert back if possible. Be sure that nothing else runs in the background that can take up RAM as well.

***The only surefire way to defeat ACID from timestretching and/or key stretching a sample is to change the track type to One-shot OR have the overall project tempo and key match that of the Loop.

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: more troubles

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:12/4/2003 1:01:30 PM

That's probably because ACID is analyzing the track's length based upon how many measures it can divide it into and adjusting tempo to match accordingly.

ACID tries to divvy up the track based upon multiples of beats, namely: 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and so on.

(Conversely, this would mean an even number of measures—2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.)

Let's say you have an 8.9 second sample that was divided into 16 beats. That would give us a total of four measures.

To get the tempo:

(number of measures x 240) / (length of sample in seconds) = tempo

so: (4 x 240) / 8.9 = 107.865 BPM

You're probably wondering how ACID would determine such a tempo for the sample. I believe ACID tries to get the sample as close to the average tempo of 120 BPM.

For example, if the sample were divided into 8 measures (32 beats), you'd get the following result:

(8 x 240) / 8.9 = 215.730 BPM

If the sample were divided into 2 measures (8 beats):

(2 x 240) / 8.9 = 53.933 BPM

Both results aren't as close to 120 BPM as if the sample were divided into 4 measures.

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: more troubles

Reply by: butterball

Date:12/4/2003 4:06:00 PM

[a loud screaming comes across the sky]

So, basically, there's no easy way for me to simply preview samples as accurate loops, from within a project?

I think what you're saying is that LOOP bases its BPM on the assumption my sample is a perfect measure (or several measures). So its tempo is off (119.935 BPM vs. 131.005 BPM) when compared to beatmapped.

Now, from within a project I can set a track to ONESHOT to hear something in its original, accurate, native form. But there's NOTHING in explorer that gives me the same ability?

This would make perfect sense if I choose a project Key and tempo at the start, and choose things to fit in. But I'm flexible about those, until I hear the loops and samples. This means that I have to change my project BPM for nearly each Loop I want to preview, to match that loop's original tempo.