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Subject:Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Posted by: blacker
Date:12/4/2003 4:49:06 PM
Hello: I feel bad that I'm bringing this up again, but I haven't had any sort of revelation or advice as to why this is happening... I write music for TV/film, and I use Acid, Vegas and Logic Audio. I tend to do all my audio/loop based sequencing in Acid, MIDI stuff in Logic and all the master cues go into Vegas in 2 stems (my "master" project, as it were) So... I have a Vegas file called "EpisodeX_Master" or whatever. This file is the one I save all completed cues into - it contains the original QT movie file too, along with it's audio, and all my music gets added as I go along. In Acid, I always open the last file I worked on and delete the tracks, (except for the video and it's audio track) so as to start a new cue. My problem? Every time (well, almost, but I'll get to that...) I open either the Vegas master file or my previous Acid cue file, both apps will *rebuild* the .sfk files. This is driving me nuts! It's really an interruption in workflow having to wait while a 1.3 GB video file and it's accompanying audio peaks are rebuilt. I switch between apps a lot, so I really notice it - thing is, it's rebuilding the same files over and over, even during a single writing session. Now here's the other weird thing - very occasionally (randomly?)Acid/Vegas will see the .sfk file and load the whole thing up in a couple of seconds. There doesn't seem to be any consistency. Anyhow - sorry to waffle on, just trying to give a clear picture of what I'm doing... My system is: Pentium 4 2.6GHz 800MHz FSB HT 512 MB DDR-400 PC3200 RAM Western Digital 80 GB 7200rpm system / sample library drive (partitioned 30/50) Western Digital 120 GB S-ATA 7200rpm audio drive Maxtor 20 GB 7200rpm drive for video files. MOTU 2408MKII / PCI-324 audio interface Windows XP Professional - SP1 Thanks for *any* ideas, insights... Cheers! |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/5/2003 1:09:04 PM
Hello Steve, That does sound weird, especially since it doesn't happen consistently. When you switch from, say, ACID to Vegas, do you save any changes done to the file before switching? Do you also move these files around? The SFK rebuilds if there isn't one present in the actual file's same location. I can't confirm, but isn't the way either app deals with compressed formats a little different from that of uncompressed formats? Do you notice a difference, for example, between working with QuickTime and working with AVI? Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: blacker
Date:12/6/2003 6:19:46 AM
Hi: Yeah - it is weird... When I switch from Acid to Vegas I save and close before opening the other app. In my Vegas "master", nothing gets moved, just new cues added on the timeline as I go along. So, in theory at least, whenever I open that Vegas file, the only thing that should have to build peaks is the last cue I added, as all the other pieces of audio are the same and in the same place on the timeline... In Acid, when I open a previously worked on cue, it's the same thing. I would have saved the file (with the video file and all my tracks), closed it - then when I go to open it again, everything rebuilds. Even though nothing was moved or changed at all since I saved and closed the file. And very occasionally it seems that Acid/Vegas *will* find the .sfk and load up quickly, but this only seems to happen perhaps 1 out of 10 times. As for a difference between AVI and QT, I'm not sure, as I have only really been working with QT files lately. Haven't worked with any AVIs on my new system yet. The Quicktime files given to me by the producers are 360x243x24 Cinepak QuickTime files. I confess to not knowing a great deal about QT compression... I don't know if using such a file would be the cause of this problem. Cheers! Steve |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/8/2003 12:32:07 PM
Hi again Steve, When you close the project in either app, do the SFK files disappear? I'd also try experimenting with uncompressed and compressed formats to see whether I could reproduce the problem. (I'm wondering if it's QuickTime-specific?) In any case, I'd also email customer support and let them know of the issue. (You can also call, but it's a toll call.) HTH, Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: blacker
Date:12/8/2003 4:08:10 PM
Hey: No - the .sfk files don't disappear, but I have noticed that the file generated is called "super servant.mov.sfk" (with Super Servant being the name of the video file). I've looked at previous episodes and it's the same format, like "Hellespont.mov.sfk" and "RoyalClipper.mov.sfk" Maybe it's the naming convention? Shouldn't the "mov" extension be dropped in favour of the .sfk extension? I guess I should write to tech support - perhaps they'll know... In the meantime, maybe I'll try renaming the .sfk - although as it's an automatically generated filename, Acid and Vegas probably won't recognise it... Aaaargh! Thanks again for your replies! :-) Steve |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: blacker
Date:12/8/2003 4:44:30 PM
OK - I think I've figured it out - and I have to say I feel like a bit of a dumbass for not figuring it out sooner... I was saving my Vegas master project .veg in the same directory as all my Acid files. I decided to put the vegas file in it's own directory (and moved the .sfk over too). I then opened Acid and let it rebuild another .sfk. Now, both apps build the peaks for the video file *quickly* (as they should), no matter how much I switch between them. So - my theory is that Acid and Vegas were not seeing the .sfk for the movie file that the other app created, if that makes sense... i.e. Vegas couldn't read Acid's .sfk for the movie file and vice versa. Seems pretty obvious in hindsight, but it was a real headache. I wonder what the differences are between the .sfk files, if this is indeed the cause of the problem? Cheers, Steve |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: blacker
Date:12/8/2003 4:52:39 PM
It seems that if Vegas can't read an Acid .sfk, and Acid can't read a Vegas .sfk, then each app should build a peak file that is recognisable to itself... that way you could have two .sfk files for the same movie in one folder, one for Acid and one for Vegas... Does that constitute a bug, or just a stupid user?... ;-) |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/9/2003 10:40:36 AM
A stupid user. just kidding! Seriously, SFK files are basically intended to help draw the representative waveform on the screen. This helps out especially if the file is large. I can't exactly say why Vegas and ACID see them differently. It may have to do with ACID's ability to stretch material (which it would then have to redraw the waveform differently). This is just a theory on my part. Very happy to hear you've got it all sorted out. Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: Acid rebuilding .sfk files...
Reply by: blacker
Date:12/9/2003 11:44:56 AM
Argh. It's not working. It's still doing it. You make a good point about Acid's ability to stretch, etc., but this is the audio for an unchanging video file - the same file used in both apps, that never moves, is never edited in anyway, nothing... I thought I had it sussed, but no, it's still rebuilding. This is driving me around the bend. Anyway, I've emailed Tech Support, so I wonder if they are able to help... Not holding my breath. Cheers again, Steve |