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Subject:Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Posted by: Rednroll
Date:11/1/2004 9:51:06 PM

I've noticed this forum has been pretty quiet lately, so I figured I'ld post this message to get some talk about Sound Forge going. Afterall Acid 5.0 just finished up, so what's next in the Sony development cycle? CDA? Maybe Sound Forge? So let's post what you would like to see in a new version of Sound Forge. Give a precise description of a feature and how you would use this feature. Let's try to limit it to either new features or feature enhancements.

TIA,
Red

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:11/2/2004 7:39:20 AM

Hey - one feature that I could immediately make use of is the abililty to create regions, and then change the color of each region. Also the ability to have a note pad where individual notes could be associated with each region.

How would I use this? Well I do lot of live stereo two track recording, and it would be nice to create regions which could be easy to visually identify, and a note on what each segment represents.

Furthermore I would like cropping tools, such as what is shown in Vegas 5.0. How could I use this, well for one it would give the ability to cut and splice and patch parts together to make editing and repairing alot easier.

Thanks -



Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:11/2/2004 8:15:34 AM

I would like to see markers and regions displayed in the "Overview Bar". The current cursor position and window view are shown there. It would be nice to see where the markers for the entire file are at a glance and be able to click on them to jump to them.

I'd like to see "Vegas-style" pasting and crossfading in which a new sound clip could "float" on the track, be slid left and right in real time while listening to the playback, and adjusted for volume & mix parameters before the paste is finished and it becomes part of the current work file. This would save me from having to do so many "paste, listen, undo, guess again, paste...." cycles when assembling clips.

Native bidrectional support for MD recorders! Allow us to send data back and forth between Sound Forge and an MD disc digitally rather than having to do an analog transfer. This should work in both directions, not just outputting to MD.

I'm sure i'll think of more soon.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: R0cky
Date:11/2/2004 12:32:25 PM

Rewire.

Sort regions in region list by any column, e.g. start time especially.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: pwppch
Date:11/2/2004 5:56:52 PM

ReWire??!!!!

For what purpose?

Peter

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:11/2/2004 6:10:09 PM

Rewire strikes me as a rather odd request. Seems like anything you could do between Sound Forge and other application with rewire could be done a whole lot more easily by simply dumping the Sound Forge track into a track in the other application. No need for rewire to do that.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: drbam
Date:11/3/2004 7:43:19 AM

>>I'd like to see "Vegas-style" pasting and crossfading in which a new sound clip could "float" on the track, be slid left and right in real time while listening to the playback, and adjusted for volume & mix parameters before the paste is finished and it becomes part of the current work file. This would save me from having to do so many "paste, listen, undo, guess again, paste...." cycles when assembling clips.<<

YES, YES, YES!!!! This would be a dream come true for me!!

drbam

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: SHTUNOT
Date:11/3/2004 2:45:38 PM

1)Master+preview fader like in CDA. This way I can adjust it to be at a level similar to what I have vegas at.
2) Control surface support. With updated automation envelope drawing like in V5.
3)Priority files list...Like the recent files list...Being a priority means that I can dabble and still not have to search for those clients projects in the explorer. The recent list takes a project and shuffles it down if you work on other things. This will be user definable and will not dump any after 9.
3a)How about more than 9?

Right click>recent files>
>Priority files>
----------------
>recent .FRG>
>Priority .FRG>

Since SF7 has Project files now: .frg It would be cool to have a :recent frg project+priority project pulldown lists as well.
4) DAO w/CD text and DVD-A authoring.
5)Update the marker feature like in vegas 5:Ie:marker tool.
6)Pressing #126 on the keyboard moves the cursor to the corresponding marker...etc...
7)Update fader gui to match V5/etc...

THX...

Ed.


Subject:VST VST VST
Reply by: Dre_Duygulu
Date:11/3/2004 8:06:39 PM

VST Plugin SUPPORT!!!

I hate to use Wavelab for Only VST Plugins! DX-VST Adapter's are not working good , I must choose them from soundforge. Why do we need to use Wavelab for only VST?

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: musiclab
Date:11/4/2004 9:31:08 AM

Would like to have the ability to have more than one plug Ins opened and working at the same time , like in the master section of Wavelabs. I do a lot of Matering work and need to use other software like Nuendo to simulate the successive application of various plugs: ex: Imager , Compression, EQ and Noise Reduction etc...

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: mpd
Date:11/4/2004 1:35:50 PM

Regarding more than one plugin open at the same time...

How is this different than the plugin chainer? All of my processing work is done with chains, and I switch back and forth between them, bypass them, save the settings, etc, until I get the sound I want.


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: mpd
Date:11/4/2004 1:38:37 PM

Hmmm. Features?

1. Batch conversion.
2. Batch processing.
3. Batch conversion.
4. Batch processing.
5. Batch conversion.
6. Batch processing.
7. Batch conversion.
8. Batch processing.

I only have SF7, and can't use Batch Converter 5.

Oh yeah, I would like to see batch conversion and batch processing.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: ntrnetman
Date:11/4/2004 11:59:17 PM

There should be some way to link directly to DigiPie.com to sell the finished product. This could be accomplished by offering electronic activation with the purchase of Sound Forge. I think having a real time outlet for my creations is awesome as I create a lot. Now my family and friends can check it all out and support me too. This kind of thing would go overbig with users of Acid and Sound Forge I'm living proof! A creative being with an outlet.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Sonic
Date:11/5/2004 7:07:08 AM

Perhaps I'm being dense, but what's wrong with Vegas for this sort of task?

I'm just thinking this falls much more under the NLE/Vegas paradigm than the file-editor/Forge paradigm.

But I digress. How would you expose such a feature to make it palatable to the masses (and not just duplicate Vegas)?

J.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:11/5/2004 7:45:01 AM

J., (i'm guessing you're responding to the response to my suggestion ...)

I suppose if you're asking that, one could also ask why use Sound Forge for anything at all? Why not just discontinue it and migrate all Sound Forge users over to Vegas?

I like Sound Forge because it's easier for me to chop up recordings and do slice'n'dice style editing. The majority of my audio work is stereo recordings of live performances so i have no need for multitrack. I perform a lot of cuts to remove empty space between songs, coughs during pauses when someone is speaking, deleting redundant or unwanted bits here and there. A typical 90 minute concert might end up with 50 edits. A Sunday morning church service recording might have 500 edits. These are fast and simple in Sound Forge but somehow seem more tedious in Vegas, not to mention that in Vegas the timeline gets split up into hundreds of events by this process. Sound Forge is also easier for mastering processes like Wave Hammer and Noise Reduction. True, not much easier, but when individually processing 25 separate tracks of a recording, the difference is significant. So, yes, there are reasons why i will always keep Sound Forge as part of my daily toolkit.

However, one thing that bugs me is when i'm trying to paste a small clip into a larger file. Getting the timing right can be difficult. It's not even a matter of trimming the small clip right and positioning the cursor on the timeline accurately. Often it's a sense of feeling out the result as you go. When adding a sound effect to a recording precise timing it can make a huge difference in how effective it is. But, the precisely correct time for insertion often can't be determined until listening to the result. Hence i end up with long cycles of pasting, listening, undoing, pasting again, listening again, etc. This can be a time consuming process.

If instead, the clip being pasted could still be moveable, much like layers in a photo editing program, and the mixing parameters still adjustable while playing back from the timeline, it would be much easier to use the mouse to nudge the clip left or right, move the mix faders, basically being able to continuously fiddle with it, as you would with the positioning and transparency of an image layer. Then when the result is satisfactory the pasted clip could be combined with the entire file. As it is now, the result is unknown until after the paste is complete. Yes, there is a Preview button, but the positioning can't be changed while the dialog box is opened.

I realize this whole process is trivial in Vegas by simply using a second track. However, the point is that lots of us still like working in Sound Forge for these projects. I think SONY must agree, or we wouldn't have had new versions of Sound Forge come out.

Hopefully this makes my request a little clearer.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: JTelles
Date:11/5/2004 8:32:36 AM

Why not "group waveform normalize", like the one Adobe Audition has? You could load a batch of files for a complete CD and it would scan each and edit to reach the same RMS (mid frequency weighted) volume in all tracks. I have asked this many times...
JTelles

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/5/2004 3:45:03 PM

Here's my list with explanation of use:

1. A DX I/O plugin with in/out volume adjustment sliders. I want to be able to insert external hardware into the plugin chainer, so that I can use hardware and software processing and be able to monitor them all together.

2. A DX VU/Peak meter. The VU and Peak meters are great in Sound Forge, but I would also love to be able to use them within a plugin chain and also be able to use them within Vegas and Acid. Having access to a VU meter in Vegas would be awesome.

3. VST plugin support- Why not? some plugins are only available in VST versions.

4. CD Architect style Editor Window with Vegas editing functionality. It would be great to be able to split a waveform and slip edit and crossfade the audio in event style editing. If it was dual layer like CDA then I could overlap other audio parts and control there levels individually, intead of the messy drop on top and the mix function window pops up.

5. DAO CD recording. Basically I'm looking to have most of the functionality of CDA put into Sound Forge, so I could master and edit in Sound Forge, then assemble tracks and place CD ID's along a timeline.

6. Enhanced Spectral Analyzer functionality
a. import/export of individual snap shots so they can be saved and later recalled.
b. A true infinite "Peak Hold" function
c. An Averaging function adjustment directly put on the front of the SA.
d. Dual channel spectral processing options, like "Left Only", "Right Only", "Left and Right", "Average Left and Right"
e. Spectral waveform/graph color chooser options within the Spectral Analyzer UI.
f. Export graph as .Jpeg/.BMP options.

7. Input Monitoring/recording through plugins.

8. ASIO driver support

9. Copy Statistics data to Clipboard. So I can take this data and copy it into Microsoft Excel and then perform math functions on that data to do file comparison analysis.

10. Multi channel Wave support. I Haven't done any surround mastering yet, just would like to start doing some since the introduction of Microsofts multichannel wave format.

11. Multichannel plugin support- needed for above feature.

12. MP3 ID3 tag import. This currently drives me crazy where I previously save a file and enter in all the ID3 information, then if I reopen it and edit it or save the file at a different bitrate then all the ID3 tag information is gone. It would be nice to be able to open an MP3 file, do your edits and then save it and all the ID3 tag information remains the same with that file.

13. Volume "monitor" adjustment slider.

14. Batch Normalize function, so I could take the 1000+ MP3 files that I have, and let it run an RMS Normalization on each of the files and let it run overnight.

15. Trim/Gain adjustment of the UI of the VU meter

16. The ability to open ALBUM WRAP .Mp3 files.



Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/6/2004 6:16:56 PM

Here are my suggestions:

-When turning on selection grid lines for the ACID Loop Creation Tools, I'd like to be able to set the number of grid lines besides the default three (which divides a selection up into 4 parts or 4 beats).

-When automating, enable a way of keeping the envelopes visible when you close the Plug-In Chainer window.

-Mulitple floating docking windows.

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
Pre-order Instant ACID
Guitars 4 Kids

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:11/6/2004 7:19:14 PM

Hey -- Red that is a extensive list --

I often wish to have a nice spectral analysis tool, with some interactive features, where I can actually see an average and apply aprofile, to the average.

Well -- we can get in that more later on. For now, off the topic, could you please locate your "formula" for building cd burner tower using nero, I need to consider this as a low cost stand alone burner tower.

When it is conevient for you of course -- Thanks.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/7/2004 7:02:23 AM

"-When automating, enable a way of keeping the envelopes visible when you close the Plug-In Chainer window."

I agree, this functions backwards as how to Acid and Vegas work. I would like to close the plugin Chainer Window out and have the "Play Normal" and "Play Plugin Chainer" buttons to remain and also have the automatable parameters remain visible on the Wave view editor window.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Geoff_Wood
Date:11/7/2004 2:00:23 PM

DAO CD writing.

And given that CD Architect appears to have benn abandoned, this function really needs to be re-incorpated into SF, and enchanced to incorporate 'necessities' such as CD-TEXT and other audio/data CD formats that are commonly needed.

geoff

Subject:RE: Update 7.0a not updating...<sigh>
Reply by: sirshambling
Date:11/7/2004 3:02:03 PM

If you try uninstalling and reinstalling the new version you still get build 214!

And no vinyl restoration in the DX plugins so I guess it's just not working....

Sad!

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: sirshambling
Date:11/7/2004 3:04:55 PM

I'd like to see the Noise Reduction plug-in given a thorough overhaul and update.

It's clunky, counter intuitive (ever tried using the Noiseprint facility) and lagging way behind programs like DC6 in terms of functionality and presets.

Agree with the request for a decent batch processor.

John

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: jumbuk
Date:11/7/2004 4:53:15 PM

Totally agree! I edit loops with odd time sigs quite often, and really need this feature.

Also, the ability to set Acid properties for a loop with a time sig that is not based on a qurter note (eg 6/8, 15/16 etc).


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: jumbuk
Date:11/7/2004 4:54:43 PM

err .. my last post was commenting on Iacobus' suggestion:

"-When turning on selection grid lines for the ACID Loop Creation Tools, I'd like to be able to set the number of grid lines besides the default three (which divides a selection up into 4 parts or 4 beats)."

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: mpd
Date:11/9/2004 11:31:59 AM

Another feature I would like to see is the preservation of markers when extracting regions.

I generally record with the option "Multiple Takes Creating Regions", and then extract the regions when I am done.

It would be really handy to be able to drop markes when recording using this method, and still be able to extract regions.


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: RickZ
Date:11/9/2004 1:59:35 PM

Have the File Open and File Save As boxes default to details, and a wide enough window to see date. Or allow a customized display format be saved, to allow each of us to see it the files the way we find most convenient.

Thks for asking, Red.

Glad to see Peter making a response, it was so sad when all the vitriol caused him to sign off a few months ago.

RZ

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/9/2004 2:35:21 PM

"Glad to see Peter making a response, it was so sad when all the vitriol caused him to sign off a few months ago."

Yep, always good to see Peter hanging out with us. The funny part is that I got fed up with some of the Vegas Audio forum crowd, and decided to follow his lead and stop posting there. I continued to post in the other Sony forums and I think Peter turned around and followed my lead because, he's been posting in the Acid and now the Sound Forge forum for awhile now and seems to be avoiding the headaches over at the Vegas Audio forum too. I can't blame him.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: pwppch
Date:11/9/2004 3:13:29 PM

ACIDPlanet is our destination site for users to get there music/work out there.

Peter

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: pwppch
Date:11/9/2004 3:17:20 PM

I am merely avoiding the subjective threads. I am here to help, not debate the relative merits of one opinion over another.

Saves my sanity.

Peter
PS: I save my wrath for the beta testers better this way<g>

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/9/2004 8:38:07 PM

"PS: I save my wrath for the beta testers better this way<g>"

Ahhhhhh....you're all talk, tell them how it really is :-) You know I've been kicking your a** from here to Brooklyn in those beta tester discussions<bg> I'm just glad you're so willing to step up and take your beatings like a man.
:-)~

Subject:RE: VST VST VST
Reply by: RikTheRik
Date:11/10/2004 8:28:00 AM

What is wrong with the existing adapters?
All my vst plugs are working *perfectly* in Sound Forge....
Also Directixer and the Cakewalk one are doing some complex stuff like delay compensation.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: RikTheRik
Date:11/10/2004 8:37:24 AM

My suggestions:
- integrate CDA with Sound Forge and add CD Text capabilities
- better tools for creating/editing acid loops (all the menus you have to go to set acid properties and a tempo are kinda akward...)
- fix the wma lossless bug with 24 bits
- add a master volume
- nicer display of the waveforms (I even find audity better...)
- batch capabilities (if there was a COM or any other external interface, I'll be fine with that)

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Tman
Date:11/11/2004 4:33:16 PM

Maybe it's of no consequence and maybe I didn't do something right but when I built a new computer and upgraded and installed 7.0 after using 5.0 I went to use the sweepable EQ and found it didn't work. I use that fairly often and thought it was part of the program but apparently it was part of Vegas and I had it functioning because of the Vegas LE (which I installed but never used) included with SF 5.0. This should be a part of Sound Forge in my opinion and can't understand why it wouldn't be. So, stick that in your SF 8.0 and I like the other suggestions too.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: rockyroad
Date:11/12/2004 11:44:15 AM

Hello, I have sound forge 4.5. I would like to know if i can change the key from a audio CD? Can i change the tempo with out changing the KEY?
I am new at this and need all the help i can get. If it can be done please send me step by step instructions how i can do this. Can the sound forge 4.5 take out scratches from a record? I see pitch but that only speeds up the song. There is no TEMPO that i can find.
Thank you!

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/12/2004 1:31:42 PM

Rockyroad,
Posting a question in a thread that has nothing to do with your question, is not only rude but it's also highly unlikely to get you an answer to your question. Please delete your message and make a new post.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:11/12/2004 2:59:33 PM

Why not create a new topic?
Why not download demo of SF 7.0b and try all the things you want?
Why not browse the web for key correction pluggins?
Why not browse the web for restoration pluggins?

You can easily inform yourself and avoid having to "rely" on forum member.

search for Antares Autotune, Bias Sound Soap Pro, Virtos Noise reduction, Noise Reduction, Waves Restoration.

GL
KAB

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: RadioMojo
Date:11/13/2004 10:20:38 AM

When "Save as" MP3 is selected, have the bitrate default to something that sounds decent. NOT 64 kb/s.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: BrianSzep
Date:11/15/2004 1:52:40 PM

[QUOTE]
2. A DX VU/Peak meter. The VU and Peak meters are great in Sound Forge, but I would also love to be able to use them within a plugin chain and also be able to use them within Vegas and Acid. Having access to a VU meter in Vegas would be awesome.
[/QUOTE]

I would like to see K-20 and K-14 metering adding to this

-Brian

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: dwhopson
Date:11/18/2004 9:56:47 PM

Hi All,

1. DOA burning with most (if not all) of CD architects features
2. Small count multitrack support (for recording simple surround/SACD projects/small mic
count projects) (8-10 tracks max)
3. Better options for "cut and splice" editing (cascade/off-set style--similar to Vegas) where
you can see and adjust what you are doing easier
4. Possibly some automation for repeated file processing steps ( I think this is called
scripting?)
5. ASIO support (not necessarily for monitoring, but for full compatability with 3rd party
hardware....but guess you would need it if you were going to go multitrack with SF8)
6. DVD-audio/SACD authoring and burning (appears to not be going away)

I know that all this can be accomplised the through various pieces of Sony software....but sometimes it's nice to be able to use one program for everything....if it fits your needs. Bouncing from program to program isn't difficult...but it does inhibit work-flow somewhat...
and that can be problematic when you are handling large amounts of audio and projects.

These features would make Sound Forge an even better tool for classical/live venue recording engineers.

I know that these changes would bascially turn SF into a product similar to Audition or WaveLab....but you know..that might not be a bad thing. I really really really like SF for my classical two-track recording/wave file processing and don't really want to use Audition (hate it) or WaveLab (scary looking).

Why not follow the trend being set and make SF an even better audio tool for processing, editing, recording, and burning?

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: DigiMusicDoc
Date:11/19/2004 12:32:19 AM

You would think that if anything serious were going on about a new release of Sound Forge there would be a lot more buzz going around. That certainly happened with Acid 5 months before it came out.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Sonic
Date:11/19/2004 6:38:14 AM

Realistically, by the time you hear about it, it is far too late to add significant new features.

If I happened to be a developer on Sound Forge, I'm sure forum threads like this one and webpage submissions are something I'd be keeping my eye on.

J.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: drbam
Date:11/19/2004 6:49:08 AM

>>You would think that if anything serious were going on about a new release of Sound Forge there would be a lot more buzz going around. That certainly happened with Acid 5 months before it came out.<<

LOL! My peception of the Acid forum is is that a great many of them (specifically the one's that are always clamoring for a new version) rely completely on the software to actually make "music" and have very little going in the way of innovation, creativity or the disciplined committment to get deeper into the Acid program itself. After they've made their way through the surface features of the latest version, they start hollering for a new one so they can stay "competitive." What a hoot!! From what I can gather, most of them couldn't get beyond creating/cutting a few loops in Sound Forge.

drbam

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:11/19/2004 7:23:36 AM

cropping / splicing and mixing tools -- PLEASE!!!!

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: DigiMusicDoc
Date:11/19/2004 12:22:49 PM

>>Realistically, by the time you hear about it, it is far too late to add significant new features.

If I happened to be a developer on Sound Forge, I'm sure forum threads like this one and webpage submissions are something I'd be keeping my eye on.<<

Sony is mainly going to keep their eye on the competition--Wavelab and Adobe Audition. Wavelab is not quite in the same league in terms of overall popularity. Audition is the wild card. The 1.5 release added a lot of features. However, it still continues to sink in popularity as the Cool Edit mystique fades. Take a look at the internet popularity index that I maintain on these products:

http://www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/popularity/popularity.htm

So if Audition is really not a threat, then there's not too much motivation for a new release of Sound Forge.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/19/2004 12:49:07 PM

Sonic Said:
"If I happened to be a developer on Sound Forge"

DigiMusicDoc Said:
"Sony is mainly going to keep their eye on the competition"

Lol!!! I'll go with "Sonic" on this one.....he might just happen to be a little closer than you may think to being a developer on Sound Forge.


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: porkjelly
Date:11/23/2004 1:51:10 PM

Here are mine...some major, some minor:

-- better time stretching capabilities, plus the ability to input the bpm of a song, and output to a new specified bpm

-- more convenient and customizable toolbars & buttons (drag & drop maybe?)

-- shorter, dockable meters...the current one takes up almost the entire length of the screen vertically or horizontally

-- batch processing & conversion

-- this cosmetic one might be a bit difficult to explain: wider grooves for the levers to slide along, especially vertical ones

-- a dockable taskbar similar to microsoft office products that lists (for example) recently opened files, common tasks, quick help, links to the sound forge site & forums, file search, along with a quirkly animated waveform with eyes and legs and arms (kidding on that last one)...

-- customizable keyboard shortcuts

-- ability to zoom to within a smaller dB range within Graphics Dynamic. i don't exactly know how this would work, but it would seem to allow a user to make more accurate settings for compression/expansion


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/23/2004 2:03:57 PM

Porkjelly,
Just a few comments on what you're looking for, let me know if this is what you're looking for.

"-- more convenient and customizable toolbars & buttons (drag & drop maybe?)"
If you goto OPTIONS>PREFERENCES>TOOL BARS and check to display any of the tool bars, the "customize" button becomes available where you can add and remove any toolbar button available to make your own customizable toolbar.

-- shorter, dockable meters...the current one takes up almost the entire length of the screen vertically or horizontally.
Usually if you dock the meters at the top by themselves, then they will go across the entire length of the screen, because there is no other windows docked with them. I usually dock the Time display, along with the region list window and meters at the top. You can dock them next to one another so they all appear at once. You can then resize each to however large it want it to be in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: porkjelly
Date:11/23/2004 2:23:35 PM

Rednroll, thanks for the reply. I didn't realize you could resize the length of the meters. Well that's fixed. As far the the toolbars go, I probably worded my request wrong. I guess what I am asking for is the ability to drag and drog buttons onto the toolbars themselves from the Preferences menu and adding a separator between buttons by dragging a button away from the one you want it separated from, similar to microsoft office products' buttons. SF's current setup is a bit cumbersome, even though it is a small gripe. Hope this explains it a bit more clearly.

-- shorter, dockable meters...the current one takes up almost the entire length of the screen vertically or horizontally.
Usually if you dock the meters at the top by themselves, then they will go across the entire length of the screen, because there is no other windows docked with them. I usually dock the Time display, along with the region list window and meters at the top. You can dock them next to one another so they all appear at once. You can then resize each to however large it want it to be in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: RikTheRik
Date:11/23/2004 4:55:04 PM

Also a great addition would be Bob Katz's K-14 and K-20 metering...

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/24/2004 6:49:06 AM

"Also a great addition would be Bob Katz's K-14 and K-20 metering..."

How would you use this?

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/24/2004 8:55:05 AM

"I guess what I am asking for is the ability to drag and drog buttons onto the toolbars themselves from the Preferences menu and adding a separator between buttons by dragging a button away from the one you want it separated from"

That's what I'm saying, that's how it currently is. It doesn't allow drag and drop of the icons from the front UI, but that would seem like you could easily mess things up unintentionally. Do this and tell me if this doesn't work the way you're telling me.

1. Goto OPTIONS>PREFRENCES>TOOLBARS
2. Select the "Tools" toolbar.
3. Click on the Customize button.
Now for this toolbar You can add and remove buttons, and reorder them however you want them to appear. Then additionally there's a "seperator" button so you can space things out and group them in a more organized fashion.

Now this toolbar you just created can be docked, or floated and stretched like in Microsoft office programs.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: DaSoundGuy
Date:11/24/2004 11:18:27 AM


ACCURACY!!!

This is supposed to be a surgical audio tool. And yet all the built-in windows editing tools, like Pitch Bend, Amplitude, Envleope, have these really coarse envelopes and a inability to quickly zoom into the waveform (other than re-selecting a section)..

A large part of of my work is sound design, so I work with very short samples or very small sections of samples, and I've had to start using other tools than Sony's because they're (Forge and Vegas) inaccurate or work unpredictably when points are set in very small increments (sub 250 ms envelope control).

When I tried the new Waves Xform bundle, I remember thinking that their enveloped pitch manipulation plugin essentially does what Pitch Bend does in SoundForge, except that it allows for extreme accuracy and zooming in. It was unabashedly copied and improved.

I also think that some of the algorithms are overdue for an overhaul; I regularly use far better pitch shifting and time stretching than Forge provides.

And multichannel audio: like it or not, it's here to stay. 5:1 mastering will soon be commonplace. Stereo is only one of many formats now.

It could also be that as a professional I've outgrown Sound Forge. I wonder wether Sony is serious about offering professional audio tools, or if these tools are destinged for the semi-pro and amateur bins.

DSG

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: golli
Date:11/25/2004 7:12:48 PM

Just look at Wavelab 5.0

Incorporate the features of Wavelab 5.0 into SF8 and Sound Forge 8.0 will kill it !!!

I've been fiddling with Wavelab recently, and though I HATE the GUI of it, it does have a lot going for it. But to me it looks like it has the features that Sonic Foundry had going in a lot of separate programs: Batch Converter, Noise Reduction, CD-A etc....

Wavelab has this all, in one (Ugly) package + the new DVD-A capabillity's + the Apogee UV22/HR + CD TEXT!! + Noise Reduction.

I'm really happy about the simple and business like, user interface in SF7, as opposed to this busy and smeared like GUI of WL5.

I would be equally happy if SF8 would incorporate CD Architect and it's features + going into the multi track output route (surround).

One other thing. Sonic Foundry must have recouped the R&D of Batch Converter and Noise Reduction to have it thrown into the next uppgrade.




Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: BrianSzep
Date:11/30/2004 8:14:13 AM

Rednroll,

You can read up about it:

Here

and

Here


-Brian


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:11/30/2004 8:39:02 PM

"You can read up about it:"

I have read about it a couple times and that's why I'm asking, how you would use it? The 0dB point is set to 89 dBspl and one goes +14dB above this and the other +22dB. Sound Forge does not have a SPL because it does not actually reproduce the sound. So you would need to calibrate your monitoring system, so that 89dBspl would be the level in your listening enviroment when the VU meter reads 0dB.....ok...so now how would you use this in Sound Forge? Why couldn't you already do this with the Sound Forge VU, through the use of the meter settings under the options tab? My original post outlined a feature suggestion and describe how you would use this......thanks for pointing me to the reading literature, that I've already previiously read, but that still doesn't tell me how YOU would use this. I'm not trying to throw stones here, but I'm missing something and I'm assuming if you're asking for it, then you must know the use for it. So if you could outline how YOU would have a need for this, then I too might be asking for the same thing.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: bbrustad
Date:12/1/2004 5:10:21 PM

I would like to see the Spectrum Analyzer show a higher resolution than 1Hz. Often times I'm looking at notching out harmonics and would like .02 Hz resolution. Also provide peak detection on the SA and allow it to view only 1 channel of a stereo file.

I would also like the Q of the paragraphic notch filters to go down to 1/64 octave as a minimum. It would also be nice to have more than 4 filters available. There is a lot of wasted space with the fader bars. This would be nice either as a plug-in or feature.

Also, I would like to be able to time align a stereo audio file (move the left track in relation to the right track) down to the sample. At least allow you to insert silence as a sample value instead of a time value. This is very difficult to do in Vegas and Foundry.

I'd also like to have the option to keep all my sfk files in a separate folder from the actual wavs. Keeping them hidden helps but doesn't solve the file management issue.

It would also be nice if track-at-once could let you specify track breaks based on regions.

A debuzz harmonics suppression filter would be nice.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Sonic
Date:12/2/2004 2:48:50 PM

Spectrum Analyzer bin resolution is limited by FFT size. 1 Hz is just the label/grid/tip resolution. Bin resolution under 1 Hz would require a very large FFT size. If you wish to view separate channels, you can turn off Single Graph mode.

1/64 octave Q is way beyond the capabilities of the filters in the paragraphic EQ. This would have to be a new effect.

Most built-in tools pay attention to the current position format. If you want to insert silence as samples, change the window's position format to samples, then call up insert silence.

.sfk files must reside next to their file in order to be used by other Sony applications. If you don't mind waiting for them to rebuild, you might try the "Delete temporary files on close" pref, which will create new .sfk files in the temp folder and then delete them when they are no longer in use (by forge).

J.






Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: mpd
Date:12/8/2004 7:21:53 AM

While working on my last project, I thought of a few things that would be nice...

1. FLAC support. I am starting to archive stuff in FLAC format, and it would be nice not to have to use a seperate tool for this.

2. Render to multiple formats and/or settings at the same time from project files. For examples, have the ability to create three MP3s with different bitrates at the same time from a single WAV.

3. WIth project files, have a saved render profile associated with it, ideally with wish #2 above.

4. The ability to undo a single point in the edit history without undoing everything after it. I know this gets tricky, but since project files support non-destructive processing it should be possible.

5. Make the file open and save dialog windows behave in a predictable manner.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:12/9/2004 7:31:09 AM

Regarding Wavelab 5

For me after 5 mins -- i forget all about the gui, wl5, offers way more than sf7, the only issue is a lack of automation, which if you are using cubase, will not affect you at all, since the automation features are very impressive.

Basically SF7, is nice and clean, but from the functionality point of view it is not close to Wavelab.

CDTEXT, Audio Montage, Scripting, Real Time Spectral analyzer, Scope, Phase Meter, Dithering engine, Configurable user interface, mastering section, sliding dx and vst rack and so much more.

It has a lot to offer.

Please Sony -- just think more about your customers !?!

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/9/2004 7:40:52 PM

"Real Time Spectral analyzer"

Just thought I would mention this, just incase if you weren't aware of it, but Sound Forge already has this.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: tjburton
Date:12/9/2004 9:23:07 PM

I would like to see SF 8 be able to open AIFC files. I have been thrown by this several times, thinking I could convert AIFF files when they are actually AIFC. A real pain in the butt.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: MJhig
Date:12/11/2004 4:47:58 PM

CD Text

DOA

Automate/macro support similar to Photoshop where you record steps > save as preset for batch processing.

Make the Spectrum Analyzer the best in existence.

MJ

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Sonic
Date:12/13/2004 7:38:21 AM

Let's not talk bullet points, let's talk functionality:

CDTEXT/DAO - true enough, Sound Forge doesn't offer this

Audio Montage - again true, but IMO, not in the scope of a file editor, that's what Vegas and CD Architect are for

Scripting - I find their scripting support mediocre and non-standard. Also, you'd think if Sony added scripting to Vegas, then the others might follow, no?

Real Time Spectral analyzer - Sound Forge has it, including snapshots, etc. as Red mentioned.

Scope - What do you use this for?

Phase Meter - A reasonable request.

Dithering engine - The Bit-Depth Converter offers multple dither and noise shaping options. Would you pay more for some proprietary algorithm?

Configurable user interface - What doesn't Sound Forge offer here?

Mastering section, sliding dx and vst rack - How is this any better than the plug-in chainer in Sound Forge?

and so much more - Like what?

I'm not trying to slam your post, just trying to point out that there are some equivalent features in Sound Forge to the ones you mentioned.

J.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:12/13/2004 10:01:37 PM

okie dokie...

First Sound Forge does not have spectral meter which can be viewed during the playing of an audio. You must stop the file, and then enable the spectral analysis tool.

A scope can be viewed just as you would an analog, scope. During the recording of a file wavalab allows you to select how you wish to monitor the incoming audio. You can shoose from a simple meter, scope, and phase meter for monitoring stereo patten.

Why would you use a phase meter, well how does one visually see how the stereo audio file looks in a polar plot? You would use a phase meter. Just as you would in the analog measurement,

You can change the colors and fonts on the interface, you cannot do any of this in Sound Forge.

OK the DX/VST sliding rack is convenient because it is allows there floating on top of your session. you can minimize it, and expand it partially to view your DX / VST chain.

In Sound Forge, whence the plug-in chainer is enabled it can (perhaps not allows) use valuable screen space.

So much like what....

Here you are...(copied directly from their site)

Multi-channel surround audio support from input to output with up to eight audio channels for recording, editing, processing and mastering

Complete DVD Audio authoring toolset, including Playlist editing, on-screen video menu design, picture slide shows, and DVD text

User definable surround-to-stereo down-mixing

DVD Audio burning, including video data

DVD Audio extraction, conversion, and archiving

New "Smart" Video Thumbnail Track for editing audio for video

Track effects in Audio Montage

Multi-channel metering and analysis with up to eight channels

ASIO instant remapping for instant audio compare at the touch of a button

New file formats: WMA Pro 5.1 and 7.1 export, AVI audio import

hey if you want, but dont take my word for it...read....

http://www.steinberg.net/WebVideo/wavelab5/English(US)/doc/Brochure_WaveLab5_31001372_LoRes_EN.pdf

perhaps then you will see how much more is availabe, at a comparable price point.

Hey dont get me wrong, I use sound forge every single day, it does a fine job. But Wavelab is very strong in all categories.

Yeah there are some bugs (based on posts, at least) but SF is not glitch free.

There you a go....Hey if you wanna slam my post I really dont mind. After all there are more opinions than there are facts.

GL

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:12/13/2004 10:04:54 PM


MJ SAID....

"
CD Text

DOA

Automate/macro support similar to Photoshop where you record steps > save as preset for batch processing.

Make the Spectrum Analyzer the best in existence.
"

What a great idea, mentioned it many many times...

wouldnt it be cool to have little have little batch files that memorized you sequence and could then be applied to a group of files....

hey adobe audition supports this feature very nicely.

But Batch Converter kind of helps, but when it comes to unique editing and automation profiles.

Hopefully it will be considered.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:12/14/2004 5:25:19 AM

kbruff, i'm not sure what your problem is with the spectral analyzer, but i can watch a real-time display as the file plays. I can even watch a real-time display of audio coming into the sound card. Why aren't you able to do this with Sound Forge?

Also, just a curious question about the scope: is this more important to you than your ears are? I always use my ears for judging a stereo mix. Then again, there isn't much you can do about the stereo field in Sound Forge except diminish it. You can't expand it or move parts around in the field. So, i'm not sure what the big concern here is.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/14/2004 7:26:55 AM

In Reply to kbruff:

kbruff said:
"First Sound Forge does not have spectral meter which can be viewed during the playing of an audio."

Yes it does. Goto spectral Analyzer view, enable button which says "realtime monitoring" when you huver over it with the mouse. There are 2 selections to the right of this button which lets you choose "input" or "output". Input allows you to see SA of what you are recording. Output lets you see what you are playing back. I think the default for the SA should be set to "realtime/output", make a note of that one J.

kbruff said:
"A scope can be viewed just as you would an analog, scope. During the recording of a file wavalab allows you to select how you wish to monitor the incoming audio. You can shoose from a simple meter, scope, and phase meter for monitoring stereo patten."

The question to you was "what would you use a scope for?" I see no use for a scope, and I'm sure Sony has no intent of wasting time, developing features which have no use to the end user other than pretty blinking lights. So if you could answer the question of how you would use this, then we all might benefit. Please don't go into how a scope works and that they've been used for years, we already know all that, we just need to know the use for it within sound forge.

kbruff said:
"Why would you use a phase meter"
Sonic said:
"Phase Meter - A reasonable request."
Yes, again, nobody asked you about the phase meter, we know uses for this, and didn't ask how. We asked how you would use a scope?

kbruff said:
"You can change the colors and fonts on the interface, you cannot do any of this in Sound Forge."

Goto OPTIONS>PREFERENCES>DISPLAY. At the bottom is a selection of most everything in sound forge under "color preference for". Has been there since v4.0 when I started using sound forge. Adjust the color there of anything you chose with a combination of RGB blends.

kbruff said:
"OK the DX/VST sliding rack is convenient because it is allows there floating on top of your session. you can minimize it, and expand it partially to view your DX / VST chain."

The plugin chainer window in SF can be floating or docked. Goto OPTIONS>PREFERENCES>GENERAL. Ther is a check box under there that says "allow floating windows to dock". There is also a keyboard shortcut if you hold the Cntrl key while dragging that window, so you don't have to go into the menus to allow this. The pluggin chainer window can be resized and docked most anywhere on the screen, so we're still missing how this is any different other than it could be a little more beneficial to you if you explored the OPTIONS>PREFERENCES menu a little more so you can customize SF to your "preferences".

kbruff said:
"In Sound Forge, whence the plug-in chainer is enabled it can (perhaps not allows) use valuable screen space."

dock it at the bottom and minimize it and you have all the screen space you could ever want.

kbruff said:
"Complete DVD Audio authoring toolset, including Playlist editing, on-screen video menu design, picture slide shows, and DVD text"

Yes true, Sound Forge does not have this, but DVD architect does and Wavelab is not even close to DVD Architects capability, because DVD Architect is a specialized tool for the specialized task.

kbruff said:
"After all there are more opinions than there are facts."

No offense, but I just wanted to point out, that most of your facts are incorrect. It sounds like you've got the basics of Sound Forge pretty much under your wing. You need to dig a little deeper into the preferences menu and explore the capabilities of Sound Forge that aren't on the surface. Also look under the keyboard shortcuts in the help menu. These are all things that will put you closer to what you're asking for and are already in Sound Forge.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: kbruff
Date:12/14/2004 8:42:00 AM

No offense taken, and in practice of fairness, you are right I have not dug deeply into Sound Forge in the way you have.

Thanks --

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: krugerm1
Date:12/19/2004 9:32:19 AM

I have Soundeforge 5 and before I upgrade to 8 when it comes out I will wait on it to have REWIRE SUPPORT and FULL ASIO SUPPORT. I use Pro Tools and I prefer soundforge editing but it really messes up the flow of things when I have to close out of Pro Tools session to edit in Soundforge.

Acid 5 offers REWIRE support as well as many other software companies. Please offer this one adaptation.

btw: this is not an odd request. Pro Tools is the leader in digital audio recording. it is odd to have to close a pro tools session to edit and then re open a pro tools session.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/19/2004 12:42:23 PM

How does Rewire solve this problem? It seems like what you need in Protools is a way to open files in a wave editor. Vegas and Acid both have this ability to open files/tracks in a 3rd party app, be it Wavelab or Sound Forge. Can you further explain how your request for Rewire and ASIO solves your problem? It seems like what you should be asking for is a feature within Protools to be able to open in a 3rd party Wave editor.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: krugerm1
Date:12/19/2004 12:47:01 PM

REWIRE will allow me to open Soundforge in Pro Tools as an instrument/plug- in program much like the same way I can open Reason and Antares in Pro Tools. ACID has rewire so why shouldn't Soundforge?

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/19/2004 2:39:34 PM

Yes, I understand that part. But how would you then get the audio in Protools into Sound Forge? With it as an instrument this will allow you to port the audio already in Sound Forge into Protools.....but you still have the problem of getting it into Sound Forge in the first place before you can even get to that step.

"ACID has rewire so why shouldn't Soundforge?"

Acid is a tool for preproduction of songs by being a looping sequencer, therefore benefits by having rewire sync abilities to be able to sync it to a mulititrack app, where the multitrack app might not have the same looping power as acid, therefore making them mutually beneficial to have rewire and have them sync together through that workflow. Sound Forge is primarily a Stereo Wave editor, best used with other apps giving them more editing abililty on individual files. It's not a production tool, it's a file editing tool. To answer your question in simpliest terms, is that Acid and Sound Forge are 2 different tools used for different tasks, in the most part their functions may be unrelated.

Again, please explain how having Sound Forge with Rewire capabilities would solve your problem. This is currently mystifying me, and maybe there's something I"m over looking. From my current understanding adding Rewire to Sound Forge probably will not fix your situation you're describing. So if you could explain how this would fix it in a little more detail, we could all be enlightened.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: MJhig
Date:12/19/2004 3:10:35 PM

Also please explain why you can't open Sound Forge while ProTools is open. Since Sound Forge doesn't support ASIO drivers and ASIO are the drivers that don't like to share hosts it seems Sound Forge should open since it's using MME drivers unless I'm missing something.

I can even open Sound Forge during a Sonar session and Sonar is ridiculously stingy with drivers.

Pro Tools is the leader in digital audio recording.

Even if for the sake of argument, we assume that's true, isn't that the Mac version rather than the PC version?

If the leader doesn't allow me to launch other audio apps. while it's open...

MJ

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: krugerm1
Date:12/19/2004 8:24:03 PM

Lets say I have a session open in Pro Tools. I record lets say a vocal take into Pro Tools. The recording saves in the DIGI folder. Then I open the Soundforge through REWIRE(assuming I have it) and I open the vocal take edit it or do whatever and then save it in the same folder but rename it or save it as. Then back to Pro Tools I open the newly edited vocal take and import it into Pro Tools. There are a couple steps but this is easier than having to open and close sessions in Pro Tools.
If there is a better way then Sony should entertain this.


And in reply to another post. I cannot use Soundforge and Pro Tools LE at the same time with the DIGI 002. And DIGI - Pro Tools is the leader in MAC and PC. And... Pro Tools would have more competition on the MAC than on the PC. But that is another post. :)


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:12/20/2004 3:39:41 AM

Rewire is used to sync applications so they may record/playback simultaneously. You're not trying to do that, so rewire wouldn't be of any use in this situation. And, if you can't open Sound Forge while ProTools is running, then you can't rewire to Sound Forge anyway.

Rewire isn't the answer. You need to find out what is preventing Sound Forge from opening and fix that instead.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: krugerm1
Date:12/20/2004 4:13:53 AM

Rewire isn't just to sync applications. By default Rewire allows you to open applications. It would open Soundforge under instruments plug in. I don't need to sync it to anything. You can open up other plug ins such as TRacks plug ins and you don't the EQ to be synced to anything. Just because it can sync doesn't mean you cannot use something for a different purpose.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/20/2004 6:18:08 AM

If you can't open Protools with Sound Forge now, what makes you think that by adding Rewire, then that they will make it be able to open at the same time? The problems you are having will not be fixed by having rewire. What you are trying to do has been done by many users who have combinations of Sonar/Sound Forge, Cubase/SF, Nuendo/SF, Vegas/SF, Acid/SF, CoolEdit/SF. I'm pretty certain there's a few users here that use Protools/SF. Send a post to attn: "Macmoney", describing your problem and they will probably be able to help you out. Rewire is not the solution to your problem, you have something else wrong on your system and Yes, even being the top selling app does not make Protools immune to bugs.

I'll post auestion to Mac Money for you and maybe they can corfirm your problem or help you out with a solution.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: krugerm1
Date:12/20/2004 11:43:35 AM

I disagree.
If something is rewire compatible than DIGI will allow me to open in Pro Tools. Thanks for your help on this.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: hedge
Date:12/20/2004 9:50:32 PM

ASIO support. Long overdue, and a crime that it's not already there.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: mpd
Date:12/21/2004 5:53:44 AM

I thought of one more thing as I was working on my last session.

It would be nice to be able to either drop different color markers (or with different prefixes), or create markers and regions with keystrokes while recording..

I know you can record to regions, but this is a little different.

In my last session, I was recording a voiceover script that was divided up into cells, and I had to basically create one file per cell. I could have used record takes to regions, but to keep things moving along (there were about 50 pages of script), and also to keep a consistent pace and voice, the talent just read through and I recorded in 15-20 minute chunks and used markers at each cell boundary.

However, this meant that I couldn't use markers to record where the flubs occured and where the pickups started, so when I started to edit the session, it was a little tedious to look at my notes and find the proper edit points.

What would be nice would be able to start a new region while recording, and maybe drop markers with different prefixes to signify different events.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: zendar
Date:12/24/2004 8:50:08 AM

totally agree with adding the "vegas-style" editing feature where you can have at least ONE extra stereo track that you can slip a join along and THEN confirm it...for a market leading audio editor sf is strangely archaic with its current system. not everyone owns vegas or wants to open it just for these rudimentary tasks.

also agree that wavelab has lots of hot features, but looks bloody awful visually, therefore i'm never going to use it. sony/sonic foundry apps were always "just right" visually and ultra-intuitive. i'm glad they've kept the balance right on the graphical side but in functionality they have made some very bizarre decisions. the extra track or tracks, asio support and fully fledge cd burning are 3 things that need to be in sf8 just to keep it competitive on a basic level.

speaking of cd burning, the whole cda/sf saga has been a right cock-up hasn't it? just like the vegas>vegas video>vegas debacle. i mean is it not obvious? vegas as a daw, albeit with extreme video features (i dont use em - yet, but dont begrudge em if they dont slow me down). acid as a looper with basic recording and midi (again dont use em but thats ok too) - even the media manager and crap like loop libraries i can handle as they are optional. but sound forge - come on sony - put the cda feature set back in, cd text already. leave dvda as the standalone, but please realise people want to edit master and burn all within the sf workflow.

we shouldn't have to "dig deep" for the advanced features either - leave all that confusing nonsense to steinberg - keep the simple GUI to the forefront but learn from these amazingly focused posts about your users histories of using this great app

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: pwppch
Date:12/27/2004 11:45:28 AM


It is a very odd request. This is not going to happen as this not the point of ReWire. The limitation is PTools and its closed hardware model, not a Sound Forge one. Since PTools does not permits sharing of its audio hardware, there is nothing that can be done.

I cannot envision a work flow where the connection/insertion of Forge to a PTools 'track' would be of any use what-so-ever. Forge is an editor, not a processor or even remotely a tool used to create content that is mixed live.

ReWire is to allow you to sync an app to a host. There is absolutely no point in sync'ing Sound Forge to a ReWire host.

By definition, a ReWire Client is slaved to the ReWire host at a 'nearly sample accurate" level. The transport of the client is slaved to the host. So, when you hit play in PTools, Forge would start to play or visa versa.

ReWire does not define a mechanism to share media or even project data between the host and the client.

Peter



Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: pwppch
Date:12/27/2004 11:56:26 AM

Rewire isn't just to sync applications.
Yes it is.

By default Rewire allows you to open applications. It would open Soundforge under instruments plug in. I don't need to sync it to anything. You can open up other plug ins such as TRacks plug ins and you don't the EQ to be synced to anything. Just because it can sync doesn't mean you cannot use something for a different purpose.

Sorry, this is NOT the point of ReWire - in any way, shape, or form.

ReWire and things like TRacks sever two very different purposes. ReWire is a TERRIBLE solution for what you want for many different reasons.

Forge is an editor, not an instrument or a plugin. The only thing a ReWire connection in Forge would get you is to stream audio into the PTools mixer. However, everytime you hit "play" in Forge (or PTools),.both apps would start to stream. ReWire does NOT define a mechanism to 'preview' the client through the host's engine. (ACID had to jump through many hoops to pull this off.)

As I stated in my ealier post, PTools does not permit the sharing of its audio hardware. This is why Forge and PTools cannot stream audio to the same hardware at the same time.

I can assure you that this will never happen. This is not the point of ReWire and it would be a terrible hack and a wasted effort for the couple of users that may possibily find this application useful.

To solve your problem of not having to close PTools to use Forge, there are a coupld of simple solutions:

1. Get a second sound card and route it into the 002 as an aux input. Set Forge to use this device.

2. Request Digi to open the DAE standard to third party vendors under Windows (good luck.)

Peter



Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: sonicUser
Date:12/27/2004 3:52:21 PM

As a big fan of version 6, I would be happy as hell if they would just release a stable product. One that doesn't just crash when I'm in the middle of a large project. (More extensive exception handling by the programmers would be just wonderful.) I am very disappointed with version 7.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/28/2004 6:54:43 AM

"One that doesn't just crash when I'm in the middle of a large project."

SF7 has been the most stable version I have ever run. I have been running it on 2 systems, one with WinXP and one with Win2k. NOT one crash and I have been using it almost daily since it's release. There where a few plugin bugs reported, but other than that v7.0 has been the best version for me. Sonicuser, look at system related problems.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:12/28/2004 7:22:43 AM

Thanks for the explanation Peter.

Krugerm1,
Just a few comments about Protools. If you're going to use Protools on a PC I would highly recommend you reconsider your choice of apps. Protools MAC support is way ahead of the PC version and PC support is always an after thought at best. Protools can not seem to write a WAVE driver to save their life. In their latest WAVE driver they don't even allow you to record, where you are forced to use the ASIO driver. Also as Peter mentioned they don't allow multi app sharing support. Vegas and Acid both have a feature to "close audio and midi ports when Vegas/Acid is not the active application. This type of feature in Protools would probably solve your problem. Or any of Peters suggestions would also. Protools is where your problem lies. This is the only instance you will ever hear me say this. If you're going to use Protools, then purchase a MAC. If you're going to work on a PC, then consider another multitrack option like Sony Vegas, Cakewalk's Sonar, or Steinberg's Nuendo. Run away from Profools on the PC.

Maybe another hack around would be if Sound Forge supported ASIO and the digidesign ASIO driver is a little more sharing friendly....sorry don't know for sure because ASIO in itself is not multi app friendly. Download the demo version of Wavelab use the Wave driver in Protools and the wave driver in Wavelab, and you can expect to see the same results as you are with Sound Forge. If you then switch to the ASIO driver, you can see if the ASIO driver is a little more sharing friendly. I mention this because, I would expect Sound Forge to support ASIO drivers, way before it ever supports rewire.

Wavelab Demo:
http://www.steinberg.net/displaydoc_sb.asp?Product_id=2181&Langue_ID=7&doctype=243&templ=10&division_id=&loc=doc243

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Ben 
Date:12/28/2004 12:14:11 PM

>>>
Subject: RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Posted by: sonicUser (Ignore This User)
Date: 12/27/2004 3:52:22 PM

As a big fan of version 6, I would be happy as hell if they would just release a stable product. One that doesn't just crash when I'm in the middle of a large project. (More extensive exception handling by the programmers would be just wonderful.) I am very disappointed with version 7.

<<<

I have to concur with this. I get relatively frequent crashing with SF 7, though it's difficult to reproduce. Specifically, it's when I'm opening or previewing a file from the 'open' dialog, although I think this also happens from the Explorer view occasionally. Forge throwsa up an exception error and are forced to close the program.

Another annoyance for me is that SF 7 seems to only sometimes remember what WAVs you had open in your last 'session' when you open it up a fresh (notwithstanding when it crashes in previous sessions). In other words, sometimes it will know I had aaa.wav and bbb.wav open before and open them up when I reopen Forge, sometimes it won't. I don't understand the inconsistency as previous versions of Forge always remembered which files you had left open from last time.

This also seems to happen with some of the tabs in the docking window - generally it knows I have, for example, Explorer, Video Preview and Plug-in chainer open from my last session. But from time to time I'll open Forge and the docked window will be empty without me having closed the tabs in the previous session. Again, I can't seem to figure out the circumstances that make this happen.

Ben

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: mpd
Date:12/28/2004 1:52:39 PM

I have to concur. My last project was pretty big, and I routinely had 500M worth of files open at the same time, and I don't recall any crashes.

What speed is your machine, and how much memory do you have? I have had crashes on my laptop (I use it for offsite recording), but that machine is really underpowered and I think the crashes have more to do with the USB interface rather than SF itself.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Ben 
Date:12/28/2004 2:08:06 PM

Optimised DAW. 2Ghz Pentium 4, 1GB Ram, XP Pro, Echo Mia Midi. Have been a Forge user since version 3(!) and it was always rock-solid.

Ben

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: sonicUser
Date:12/28/2004 2:41:40 PM

I agree; it could very well be something else that is causing my problems. My point is that Sound Forge should have more extensive exception handling capabilities. Instead of the program giving me an error message and then going down hard, it should be able to recover or at very least, let me save my work before shutting itself down. Please don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great program and have not found anything else that I would consider using instead.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: MJhig
Date:12/28/2004 7:06:02 PM

How can the program save once it crashes? SF has auto-save so you should be good to go back to the last auto-save. Occasionally Vegas crashes due to user (my) error (I create a MIDI loop, wayward plugin, etc) but the damage is minimal due to auto-save.

That said, no version of SF has ever crashed on me either and since XP at least if an app. does crash it doesn't take down half or the whole system.

MJ

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: sonicUser
Date:12/29/2004 11:52:26 AM

“How can the program save once it crashes?” Obviously the program has not completely crashed if it’s giving me a shutdown message with some hex nonsense. Most programming environments supply the programmer a “Try-Catch” structure which allows them to do much more FRIENDLY exception handling.


Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: rraud
Date:12/29/2004 9:05:46 PM

"Crashed" files are retained as Temp or Restore files are usually listed as "temp"or fmt. .002, 003 ect. which is confusing for a newbe or... pro, and found in the temp file destination folder setting under "Options> Preferences> Perform".

Aside from that...
Feature Suggestons:
Free upgrades for long time SF forum user/contributors like Red, Chien, and myself.
However I can live with DAO burning & VST support for v 8.0.

Wishing all a happy prosporus 2005.
Rick

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Greg_M
Date:1/1/2005 12:56:47 AM

krugerm1,

Pro Tools is a pretty good editor itself. Seems to me that what you might really be after is the use of SF DX plug-ins in Pro Tools. Right now, PT (LE) can only use RTAS and VST (via wrapper) plug-ins. Believe me, PT users have been requesting Digidesign to incorporate DX plug-in use in that app for a while now. Digi has not been very responsive to that request.

I agree with everyone else on the Rewire issue - it's not the right solution to your problem.

BTW, for those of you that think Pro Tools is a Mac app, things have change A LOT in the past year or so. PCs are outperforming Macs significantly with PT LE and even many former Mac TDM/HD users are switching to PC (with XP) due to the cost/performance and stability issues (the transition to OS X has not been a very smooth one for many users). Also, don't forget that Apple bought Logic - a significant PT competitor app. Another interesting point is that a lot of PT LE users still master with Sound Forge or Wavelab and a favored CD burning app by the PT group is CD Architect - PC applications.

It would be nice if Sound Forge supported the use of ASIO drivers. The Digi Wave driver is playback only and Digi is never going to change this. I guess they think if you are going to record anything, you should do it in PT or use an ASIO compliant app.. The Digi ASIO driver is record and playback. Digi 002 and MBox users have brought this up many times on the Digi User Conference (equivalent to this forum).

Thanks,
Greg

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: jorgensen
Date:1/2/2005 12:52:49 AM

I have had a couple of crashes, and as recalled, I was doing some editing, or mp3 saving, on one file with extensive background plugin processing on another file.
Was very surprised, there were no way to recover the one hour recording, as the recording is saved for the undo feature. Had to go to the temp directory, and try out the relevant temp files. Definitely has to be changed.

It is annoying not to be able to use SF while recording, so please add background recording with high priority setting.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Sonic
Date:1/3/2005 10:15:04 AM

Just because it traps an exception doesn't mean the application or system is in a recoverable state. Sound Forge does, in fact, handle a number of exceptions as gracefully as possible, particularly when third party software is involved.

That "hex-nonsense" is a stack dump and can be useful in tracking down why the crash occurred, which is generally more important than allowing the program to continue an unpredictable, unreliable, or otherwise highly unstable state.

In other words, I believe you have an overly simplified view of exception handling and crash recovery.

J.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: golli
Date:1/3/2005 6:31:23 PM

Red!! About your comments about PT and Mac/PC.

It matters if you are talking TDM or LE. It is true that TDM users favor the Mac but that landscape is shifting, even Digi themselfes are pushing their latest products, like the new ICON system on a PC!

PT LE however, has been PC dominant for the past 2 years. 2/3PC and 1/3Mac, and that is a fact.

And yes Pro Tools LE is Pro Tools.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: jorgensen
Date:1/4/2005 1:11:37 AM

Actually, I have done exception programming in Windows, and if done right, you know in which state the program is, when an exception is thrown.

I am not saying, you should be able to continue as nothing has happened, but the temp files should be logged, and when SF is opened again, it displays a list of the unsaved audio files, and you can select from that. Basically, you should be able to open the recording, or the original file, with all the editing temp files for the undo feature, and just continue.

For an advanced editng program like SF this is mandatory.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:1/4/2005 7:57:22 AM

Thanks golli for your comments, but basically you've proved my point. TDM is Protools flagship correct? The only version available for the PC was LE, thus I would expect there to be more LE users on the PC side, because it's their only choice, aside from Protools "Free", which doesn't run outside of Win98 and on top of that, alot of PC users including myself couldn't get PT free to work on their system, proving to me again Protools can't make a DAW without having their own dedicated hardware, which shows they don't have a lot of Windows/PC writing capability over there. Just recently PT HD supports WinXP, but doesn't work on Win2k.....huh? Why is that?

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: Sonic
Date:1/4/2005 8:05:41 AM

This type of crash recovery already works in most cases (and has nothing to do with the exception handling, btw).

In the current implementation, you may lose the topmost 'current' state (since no undo has been committed to file yet). But I get your point. That's not good enough if you are crashing during or immediately following a record. Potential workaround: once recording has stopped, drop a marker from the record dialog before continuing.

I will add a request to make recovery of recorded files more pleasant.

Also, it should go without saying that the real problem is the crash itself, so if you have relevent details regarding that, be sure to forward them to tech support here.

J.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: elmarphil
Date:1/4/2005 8:38:53 PM

I have lots of mp3s but they are of different volume levels.

I need a program (to normalize them, make them louder, increase their bass, save them in a certain format I wan) in one step.

So I think batch processing would be a great welcome in SF8.

Hope this becomes a reality. thanks.

Subject:RE: Sound Forge 8.0 Feature Suggestons
Reply by: MJhig
Date:1/4/2005 9:01:56 PM

Also, it should go without saying that the real problem is the crash itself,

Exactly, cure the disease, don't treat the symptom.

Yes, crash recovery works very well (in Vegas that is, SF has never crashed on me) for all but the very last generation of edits.

I'm one that can't stand to have issues that cause crashes, I'm of the notion that the cause must be chased down or I can't sleep. I do PC doctor work for a living (don't write much code but have a working knowledge of visual basic and HTML) and address all my clients PCs in the same manor.

MJ

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