Subject:How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Posted by: Grazie

Date:3/6/2005 11:37:25 PM

What IS the approach you use? Do you seek and sort loops into the Tree Tags? Or is there another way? Once I've got Loops into Tags will this "library" then be available to other projects? Do you add and sort and as you develop a project? Update and change libraries? Is it a bit like MediaPool and Sub Folders?

I'm really giving myself a hard time with this, and would truly appreciate some "hints" and tips on how to use this very VERY powerful media managing facility. I feel once I've "cracked" this, it will be a very crucial aid to my Acid5 Project development.

Loop management is what I've wanted .. . now it is here, I need to be able to use it?

Thanks Guys!

Grazie

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: MyST

Date:3/7/2005 3:02:26 AM

Grazie,

I'm in a hurry but check these sample tutorials from Sony.
I'll be getting this DVD set myself.

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=957&FeatureID=8013

Mario

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: jwf

Date:3/7/2005 9:23:18 AM

A few thoughts.

1. Don't be afraid that you aren't tagging "correctly." The whole point of tagging is that they make sense to you, your music, your creative thought process. Grow the tag tree only as you need it (you may even want to initially prune it down some). e.g. Maybe just start with "Brass" and then when that gets too large, subdivide it as needed. You can always use tags to help you build other tags (i.e. search on the brass tag and then use those results to create new subtags when the time comes).

2. Backup your library regularly (in the media manager actions menu). Changes to the library do not have undo support so your only "oops" safety net is a backup.

3. Don't be afraid to create temporary tags that may only be useful for a short period of time. I create "audition" tags all the time as I'm searching around. Then when I want to screen the "top 20" or so that I've narrowed the search to I use the audition tag. The tag might only live for 10 minutes or a few hours.

4. Try to avoid using tags for attribute values (column values). e.g. Creating a tag for MP3 files. The reason is that it creates a maintenance issue - the tag will not automatically be applied to new MP3 files you add to your library. In contrast, if you use the advanced search panel criteria to find MP3 files, it will always be accurate.

5. Each of us has our own level of comfort with organization (the scale from neat freaks to slobs). How organized is your hard disk? Your studio? Some people will want lots and lots of very fine grained tags. Others, not so much. Some folks may go wild on instrument tagging, others maybe more like moods or feelings. I've seen some people really like tagging, others like the keyword and comment fields and do a lot more text searching.

6. Save tags back to files for portability across PCs. Then when you add the files to a media library on another PC (or the same PC after you end up paving over the hard disk someday with a fresh Windows install), the files are already tagged.

Play with it some and definitely let us know what you think. It is a brand new feature so it has a few rough edges, but we are working on smoothing them down to get a great workflow for you.

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: Grazie

Date:3/7/2005 9:42:09 AM

Well hello jwr.

Thank you for a truly comprehensive view as to what you can creativly do with MMA5.

But what I'm asking about is do I "move" loops to the tags? Do I allow searches to move stuff to tags? Do I use loops that appear in the right pane and then move them to their respective tags? I know I can "create" new tags . . but at what point do I move them their . .before during or post project development? Do I save libaries for a project or use a a global library that I've built? - tagging correctly? No, not tagging corectly but rather in what sequence and with what planning do I tag?

Look, I honestly see this as a tremendous leap forward .. but at present there is something in my logic learning that is holding me back from "understanding" the way I "should" or need to go about it. - I see the Gary Rebnoltz "short" tute and I can understand the value of the Boolean and various on the fly SQL searches, reports and abilites to change searches and filters etc . .. brilliant! . . . but I'm looking at the right pane of the tag tree and thinking, "Well, what do I do now? Pull loops into the tags/folders? Make new ones? Save this library as Graize's Funky 70s Library? Or what? . .I do se on the bar above the right pane a lot of (((((((((((( brackets and then the "theme" name?

I wish you or Gary was sitting here! I'm sure I would get it in a twinkling! - I'm most likely much more than I need too!

Sorry for being a total numbnutz on this one . . . I'm feeling real stupid!

TIA

Grazie . . . . .

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/7/2005 10:13:01 AM

Hi Grazie,

You can apply tags to loops by clicking and dragging a tag (or tags) to a selected group of media. They don't even have to be together.

For example, in the Search Results pane of the Media Manager, you can use the conventional methods of selecting sequential or nonsequential media. From that point, you can select multiple tags in the same manner, then click and drag them over to the selected media. (You'll see the selected media become highlighted as you hover over them before releasing the mouse button.)

How you look for media to tag is all up to you. You can have the Media Manager scan specific folders to add to a specific library. (Just make sure you open the preferred library you want to add media to first before scanning for media.)

If you have a large amount of media, you might want to consider breaking it up into smaller libraries; ACID will likely perform better with small libraries rather than one big huge library.

How you use those libraries, whether if be on a global or a specific project basis, is also up to you. I'd personally categorize media on a global basis. Any media I'd record would most likely stay out of the library as I rarely use any recorded custom material for a specific project elsewhere. (I keep any such media with the project itself too.)

The yellow bar at the top of the Search Results pane is basically there for reference purposes; it's telling you what's being used when searching for specific media.

Try not to take everything in all at once. The Media Manager can be overwhelming for some users due to its flexibility and functions. What you can do is start off very small and work your way up from there. Practice and futz with a dummy library until you get familiar with it, then get your hands dirty with a real library.

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
Buy Instant ACID by JohnnyRoy and mD!
mD at ACIDplanet

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: jwf

Date:3/7/2005 11:32:35 AM

In the search results pane you can right click and bring up a context menu for a loop. From there you can also Add or Remove Tags. Not as handy as tag dragging, but more discoverable hopefully.

I guess I think of the tagging operation as "applying" or associating a tag to the loop rather than "moving" a tag to the loop. We're changing the terminology a bit for a future update to try to be more intuitive here.

Applying tags to loops by itself doesn't buy you much. It really is meant to be useful later on as a way to recall loops that have a certain set of characteristics.

At a high level, I think of folders and file names as a single way (facet) of organizing your loops (e.g. the loop file either lives in that folder or this folder and the folder name means something to you - probably instrument family).

Tags let you organize your loops by multiple facets without having to make copies of the loop file in tons of different folders. So you can have tags that represent instruments, but also moods, genres, styles, occasions, whatever you want. e.g. In our soon to be released update to the reference library, I think the average number of tags per loop is somewhere near 7 or 8.

As a start you could snag a few hundred loops and just try previewing them and tagging them with what you hear or like. Then use the tags later for easy recall when you are hunting and auditioning loops for that 5 bar section you need something special in.

If your loop library contains some of our Sony Sound Series / Loops for ACID collections, then you get the advantage of having us tag the loop files for you by installing and activating the reference library before you scan them in. It is our time travel vehicle for going back and tagging all the loop files that are already "out there" in the world, but without tags.

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: Grazie

Date:3/9/2005 3:10:39 AM

Excellent feedback chaps!

Does any of this get updated with the new ACID5a? Do you want to add or amend or append?

Great stuff! - Seems like Jay and I are at the same Media Managment learning curve . . . HAH!

Grazie

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: Jay Gladwell

Date:3/9/2005 8:46:30 AM

Grazie, you're right... I'm right there with ya! I can see that the Media Manager is a wonderful tool, but just a matter of learning how to use it effectively!

Subject:RE: How do YOU use ACID5 Media Manager?

Reply by: jlafferty

Date:4/21/2005 2:38:18 PM

Thanks for the great advice!