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Subject:Where da Experts at?
Posted by: Illogical
Date:4/8/2005 1:04:02 PM
I have a few questions I've been saving up, a gold star for the first plausible response on each: 1. Is there any way to convert a file from Stereo to Mono in acid without re-rendering or firing up the dreaded sound gorge? 2. Is there any adjustment that can be made so tempo changes don't break up an event fade? Just to clarify, I mean when you put a tempo change in the middle of an event with a fade-out, the fade is forced to stop (or start) at the tempo change point, regardless of where it was set before. Is there a way to tell acid to leave my fades along and just deal with it the best it can? 3. Is there any way to have the mixer's meters use different scales, ie have the drums and bass on 0 to -12db range, and at the same time have the reverb send on a 0 to -90db range? 4. Is there any documentation on the specifics of the various plug-ins Sony has bundled with Acid? I'm curious about a few things, eg the specific algorithm the compressor uses when you put it into auto-adjust levels mode, but really I'd just like to read about them a bit more and see if I can learn anything else. If this is in the new manual, forgive me, I haven't read it yet, but I did read the 4.0 manual cover to cover and didn't see anything about the plug-ins, other than how to add them to a project. Thanks in advance! |
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Subject:RE: Where da Experts at?
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:4/8/2005 1:39:48 PM
1) No. Then again, there isn't any way to do this in any software. Even Sound Forge will "render" a new version of the file when converting to mono. Why do you think you want to avoid rendering? 2a) Route that track to a bus track and put a volume envelope on the bus. 2b) Render the ouput without the fade, then bring the rendered file in to acid and add the fade. 3) Not that i know of. 4) Dunno. Sorry. |
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Subject:RE: Where da Experts at?
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:4/8/2005 2:54:43 PM
1. No, that's a Vegas feature, prey for the day when there's a combination of Vegas and Acid in a single program. 2. What Chienworks said 3. Don't know of a way to do that, and it would seem visually confusing to me to have multiple metering ranges displayed at the same time. Thus, on one meter the level could read 3/4(ie -90 to 0) of full scale, and on another meter it would read 1/4 of full scale (ie -12 to 0), but the -12 to 0 scale is actually higher in level. Best to just switch between meter settings if you're trying to focus in on a specific meter reading, or get a meter plugin, and then you could dock that plugin and see two different meters at the same time at different resolutions. I believe there's many free VST meter plugins available and some DX versions. You might want to try the KVR site and AnalogX.com 4. When you insert a plugin, there is a "?" in the top right of each plugin. This is like a mini manual for each plugin, and describes in detail what all the adjustments are for that particular plugin, or set of plugins. This is the case with most Sony plugins, there's usually a Help button or a "?" in the case of Acid, where you can get further details. Lots of useful stuff in there. Also, there's a help Icon located in the top right of Acid that allows you to click most anywhere in the program and it gives some further details as to what you are looking at. You will see the same function is activated by holding the Shift+F1 keys. So you can click the shift+F1 keys and then click on any slider of parameter in a plugin and it will give you a brief description of that particular parameter. Message last edited on4/8/2005 3:01:37 PM byRednroll. |
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Subject:RE: Where da Experts at?
Reply by: Illogical
Date:4/9/2005 8:49:23 AM
Thanks a bunch guys, couple of those were head slappers. I forgot about the help files on the plug-ins, it would be cool if that was in the manual as well though, so we could print it all in one go. The meters thing, in general I agree it could be confusing, mainly I just wish I had the option on soft synths or send FX. The problem is really having it at -12db to 0 or -24db to 0 and not seeing any activity at all on faders that don't go above that threshold, even though they could be steadily producing sound. So here's another idea: How bout just a flat red line at the bottom of the meter if it's receiving any signal at all, regardless of its scale. Once it passes the threshold, it acts normally, once it drops back, you still see one red line at the bottom, but it goes away if the source drops out completely. That way you can use the narrower scales and still tell when your reverb or light synth pad is still kicking out signal, despite it not being on the scale your currently monitoring. Does that make any sense? If I had that, I wouldn't mind the scale limitation. I hadn't thought of that rendering method to avoid the fade problem, makes total sense. I guess the frustrating thing is that our computers have so much power now that a lot of this stuff could and should be done on the fly, seems similar to the freeze option that we're also all missing. It's there, Acid just wants you to work for it, when it wold be really easy to automate this stuff. At a minimum, it would be nice if Acid would let you know when it's rearranging fades for you if you insert a tempo or key change...I forget it does it some time and then it takes me ages to sort out why things don't sound right anymore. Anyway, thanks for the tips, and I'll start praying (how do you do that, anyway?) as suggested. Edit: Whoops, I meant a green line, not a red one on my suggestion above about the faders, forgot the bars are green before they turn red. Message last edited on4/9/2005 10:22:07 AM byIllogical. |
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Subject:RE: Where da Experts at?
Reply by: Illogical
Date:4/12/2005 11:35:15 AM
Thanks again guys, I was at it this weekend and realized I don't know how to record a mono track either (all my vox are magically stereo-ized). How do you set Acid so that it will record in mono rather than stereo? |
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Subject:RE: Where da Experts at?
Reply by: JohnnyRoy
Date:4/12/2005 12:24:11 PM
In the record dialog, under Record Device, select the (Mono, Left Channel) input from your sound card (assuming your mic is plugged into the left input). ACID will now record in mono. ~jr Message last edited on4/12/2005 12:25:06 PM byJohnnyRoy. |
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Subject:RE: Where da Experts at?
Reply by: Illogical
Date:4/12/2005 4:33:03 PM
yikes, can I delete that question? Thanks JR, i don't know how i missed that... well, i do, but...i need it for my cataract. |