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Subject:How did you learn ACID?
Posted by: DKeenum
Date:12/11/2003 12:43:02 PM
I've been visiting here about a year. In that time I've noticed a lot of same questions and a lot of accusations about bugs, bad programing, etc. I think a lot of it might be due to just not understanding. I know there are computer and sound card issues that we touch on here, but, if I most concerns how to use ACID. OK, I'm getting to my point. Those of us that use ACID had to learn some way. So... How did you learn to use ACID? I got ACID back at version 3. I also got a book named something like "24 Hours to using ACID." That helped me more than all the poking around I could ever do. Could we start a thread on resourses for learning how to use ACID? |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: bgc
Date:12/11/2003 1:18:03 PM
I have found the Acid on-line help to be very useful. I think that quite a few questions I see posted here on how to use Acid could be answered by simply poking around the on-line help in the program ("Help>Contents and Index" menu). That and poking around has been all I've needed. Brett |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/11/2003 1:30:13 PM
Most of my experience has been by "learning by doing", reading the full ACID manual and the good folks both here in the community and at Sony. I've had ACID since ACID Pro 2.0. Back then it was a digital audio-only looping tool and had MIDI sync as the only MIDI feature. It's been quite a ride thus far. Like ACID, Sound Forge has also shared some misconceptions and not because of the app itself but because of the nature of digital audio. For instance, I see users ask the question of how to remove vocals from a stereo mix using Sound Forge a lot. (Short answer, for those that are wondering: You can't, at least not perfectly.) Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: ATP
Date:12/12/2003 5:53:27 AM
been using ACID since 1.0, and learned everything i know by experimenting myself. yes i have the manual, but i never really needed it. but, i discovered this board when i was using ACID 2.0 and i picked up some good tips here and there. but really the most i've learned by simply pushing buttons and seeing what happens. that's one of the big strengths of ACID, the GUI is so friendly and logical that it's almost impossible NOT to understand it. (except for the new midi functions which make no sense at all, but that's another discussion ;)). of course, you need to understand the concept of working with audio before you can use any audio application to its fullest. if you need to ask how you can remove vocals from a stereo wave file then you do need to read up a litte. but even so, ACID (and also Sound Forge) are by far the most user friendly app i've ever worked with. i hope they'll stay that way in future versions. |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: zendar
Date:12/12/2003 6:22:50 AM
>been using ACID since 1.0, and learned everything i know by experimenting myself. yes i have the manual, but i never really needed it. but, i discovered this board when i was using ACID 2.0 and i picked up some good tips here and there. >but really the most i've learned by simply pushing buttons and seeing what happens. that's one of the big strengths of ACID, the GUI is so friendly and logical that it's almost impossible NOT to understand it. (except for the new midi functions which make no sense at all, but that's another discussion ;)). >of course, you need to understand the concept of working with audio before you can use any audio application to its fullest. if you need to ask how you can remove vocals from a stereo wave file then you do need to read up a litte. but even so, ACID (and also Sound Forge) are by far the most user friendly app i've ever worked with. i hope they'll stay that way in future versions. yesterday i agreed with a post in the vegas forum 100%. today i'm going to agree with this post 200% as it is so on point it makes my balls ache |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/12/2003 12:19:40 PM
LOL Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Waltern1
Date:12/13/2003 11:27:00 AM
It's useful to remember, however, that those who have learned Acid -- over the years -- by moving through the Acid2-Acid3-Acid4 evolution have had a completely different experience than is possible for a new user confronting Acid4 for the first time. It's like any other developing product in which the design philosophy evolves and sophistication increases. Today's new feature makes perfect sense sometimes only in the context to the way that feature or problem was handled in yesterday's version. So what appears completely intuitive to a long time user, may not make any sense at all to a new user. The same situation exists if you learned recording in a tape-based, mixing board environment. Terminology such as a "send", "buss", "patch", "track", "multi-tap", "splice" etc hardly need explanation. But someone starting fresh with a digital studio application is frequently wondering "why this setup doesn't seem to make sense." until they catch on that it's emulating an older system, possibly no longer in use. It's the same in the Graphic Arts. In agencies and studios, terminology such as "camera-ready-art" or "mechanicals" or "keyline" or "paste-up" is still in use, when none of those things have been around for years. It's all fertile ground for misunderstandings and frustration. Waltern |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: DKeenum
Date:12/15/2003 5:47:25 AM
So what would be a good way for people to learn ACID? It seems to me that we have the same problems over and over. What if there was a FAQ type database? I don't know. But I do know that I don't have problems, and I use ACID on a 1 gHz machine. So something is missing somewhere. |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/15/2003 11:40:43 AM
I believe most most of the problems stem from misconceptions. (A user trying to remove vocals in Sound Forge as I stated before is a perfect example.) Since ACID is touted as a loop-based music production tool, there's no reason to think of it as otherwise. A lot of misconceptions are made that ACID can take just about any sample and work its magic by itself. That's not entirely true. ACID only works the way a user tells it to. In effect, it's a two way street. A user has to know what he/she wants. I would at least tell anyone that's even considering ACID to at least have some conceptions on not only basic music theory but also digital audio in general and how ACID actually works with digital audio. I would also suggest learning the difference between the three digital audio track types that ACID works with. (The fourth is MIDI.) I would also strongly suggest anything pertaining to the art of looping where ACID is concerned, especially if a user wants to create their own material. For example, if a user wanted to create an original four beat loop of their own in a tempo of 120 BPM in Sound Forge for use in ACID Pro, a user should know that in order for a four beat loop to fit within that tempo, the length of the loop in time should be exactly 2 seconds. There's a simple formula for this: 240 / (desired tempo) = (length of loop in seconds) Sound Forge is touted as a digital audio editor, but one might as well go further and educate oneself about the nature of digital audio before assuming you can remove vocals from a stereo mix using Sound Forge (or any another similar app for that matter). Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: DKeenum
Date:12/16/2003 8:53:41 AM
Can you think of resources for learning about digital audio? I agree that a lot of problems stem from not understanding aout digital audio. Maybe there is a way we can direct people in the right direction. |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/16/2003 11:36:04 AM
There are so many sources. If one did a Google search for "digital audio" tutorial, you'd find a gaggle just to start with. Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Jessariah
Date:12/17/2003 8:42:01 PM
Iacobus, GREAT FORMULA for timing of loops in Forge! Obviously 120bpm is a no-brainer, but we tend to prefer 90bpm as our loop tempo, and your equation is right on (4 beats=2.666; 8=5.333; 16=10.666) I didn't need the equation to figure that, mind you, because I've prepped thousands of loops at that tempo in Forge, but the equation works! That's really cool to have for timing other tempos ahead of time! Thanks. K |
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Subject:RE: How did you learn ACID?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:12/18/2003 12:52:04 PM
You're welcome, but don't thank me. I just pass the info along. :) I forgot to add that for odd time signatures use the same formula but instead of using 240, use the number that would correspond to how many beats there are per measure multiplied by 60. For example, for a 3/4 time signature: 180 / (desired tempo) = (length of loop in seconds) (60 x 3 beats per measure = 180) Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |