Subject:Suggestions Discussion

Posted by: Klirrfaktor

Date:4/11/2005 1:59:57 PM

as it was already discussed and already existed before id like to start here with a suggestion thread. i have also submitted most of my suggestions with the form but im still interested to hear what other acid users think about them. a few of them i have seen already mentioned in the forum and so im sure im not alone with these wishes ;-) here we go:

1. save arragement view in project file
- the view of an arrangement is always beeing reset after reopening the project. if i for example have saved my work in a full window view, it gets opened just in some zoomed size (i guess track standards override this)

2. expand all folder tracks
- abillity to expand/minimize all folder tracks at once

3. volume slider on a folder track
. just a slider which controls every volume of each track in a folder track.

4. follow song feature
- when im working in a zoomed region during playback and for example press ctrl+z and the play-cursor is not in the region im viewing, the window is automaticly set to play-cursors position. this is totally annoying. so following the song should be a toggle button or something

5. toggle preview in original tempo
- even if i have selected to detect loops only if greater than 300 sec, acids preview will play short samples (mostly kicks) streched. so a toggle original tempo button would be cool!

6. automatic window resize fx/vsti window
- when a fx/vsti is opened i have to doubleclick the caption to size the window correctly. why does it not do that itself?

7. preview in replace/open file dialog
- when selecting replace on a track im not able to preview the samples.. same for opening files from right click menu.

8. media manager optional install
- its just to big and bloated (msde) and it should be optional (best if even download would be optional). i dont use it at all and i think im not the only one.

9. abillity to render track fx to the file directly
- something like a freeze function. i often put a lot of fx on a track. then im soon into performance troubles. what i do is then to open the file in an audio editor and render the fx into that file directly and reload it in acid. this is time consumimng and sometimes its not that easy to get the same fx parameters to the audio editor. very nice would it be, if acid could do that for me. just applying the fx and its parameters from a track and then mute/disables these fx automaticly.

10. behaviour of doubleclicking an event
- when i doubleclick an event, its properties are shown. actually these are pretty useless to me and id like to see for example a midi file in the piano roll editor when doubleclicking. audio files should be opened in soundforge or chopper. that should be configurable in preferences.

11. nice to have - a cpu meter :-)

i know its much.. but at the moment im just waiting for the next update since acid is almost unusable in its state now.. therefore im thinking about what would make acid even more kickin!!

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:4/11/2005 9:32:59 PM

Just so you know you’re not alone:

> 3. volume slider on a folder track
I think I’d rather be able to assign a Folder to a bus (which assigns all tracks in that folder to the same bus) but I agree some more control on Folder tracks would be nice.

> 5. toggle preview in original tempo
Yea, I’ve often wonder what an original loop sounded like and had to go out to the file system to find out. Should be able to do this right in ACID.

> 6. automatic window resize fx/vsti window
Oh, Please, please, please fix this. It is one of the MOST annoying things about ACID.

> 8. media manager optional install
At a minimum this would be nice for updates if there was a non-SQL Engine version of the update file. No need to download 63MB of the SQL Engine if you already have it installed.

> 9. abillity to render track fx to the file directly
A freeze function would be nice. Saves some steps (Solo, Ctrl+M, Mute original) Not high on my list since the workaround is only three steps but its a nice to have.

> 10. behaviour of doubleclicking an event
Agree this should be configurable. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve doubled clicked on and event, only to close that dialog because it wasn’t what I really wanted.

Here are some of mine:

1. When you record MIDI, I’d like region markers when the recording loops to the next Take just like when recording audio loops

2. In the MIDI Piano Roll Editor I’d like the loop marker to actually do something useful like make the MIDI part loop at that point when painted on the timeline (like Project 5 does)

3. The ability to change the pitch of slices of a loop without having to chop and render (or chop and paste forever). I just want to highlight a slice of the loop and change the pitch of a single note (like SONAR 4 does) and keep the loop as a single event.

4. Pre-roll/count-in for recording. NOBODY can press the record button and start playing simultaneously.

5. Support for time signatures where one beat DOES NOT equal a quarter note.

6. A Beatmapper that obeys the time signature. The metronome in the beatmapper is stuck at 4/4!

7. Copy and Paste key/tempo change markers. There is nothing more frustrating than copy and pasting a set of loops and then MANUALLY dropping all the key change markers again. (ok, maybe that vst/vsti window resize thingy is more frustrating) ;-)

8. Bus and FX NAMES on the dropdown for the multipurpose slider. Keeping track of what FX1, FX2, BUS A, BUS B, are is archaic. Please add FX1: Reverb, FX2: Chorus, BUS A: Drums, BUS B: Bass, etc. in the mode selector dropdown.

9. The ability to add an automation envelope for VSTi parameters (like Tracktion)

[edit] added one I forgot originally.

~jr

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: jumbuk

Date:4/11/2005 11:18:04 PM

Cool! Glad someone else wants fractional time sigs (7/8 etc).

I think it would be easy to add more functionality to folder tracks as suggested - this would enable mixdown like a more conventional DAW, where (eg) all the vocals are on one track. I'd also like the folder track to show all the sub-track events at once - hell, perhaps we could even drag them on the track, making it just like Cubase, Sonar etc.

A handy workflow addition would be a toolbar to select the function of the multifunction slder - with buttons for Volume, Pan, FX etc. This might seem trivial, but it is currently 2 clicks to change the function - it would be faster if it was one click away.

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: Klirrfaktor

Date:4/11/2005 11:44:26 PM

while we are at the midi editor.. i have forgotten something:

12. abillity to copy midi events with pressed ctrl+drag, like that works for audio events.

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/12/2005 10:15:24 AM

My biggest three are:

1. MIDI piano-roll editing in the project timeline window (a la Tracktion 2, etc).
2. A part sequencer so regions we've set up on the timeline can be used to quickly audition alternative arrangements.
3. The ability to record parameter automation manually (like Live, Tracktion, every other sequencer on the planet), rather than using envelope points, preferrably via a control surface, but even using the mouse would be a step in the right direction.

More bundled plug-ins would be cool too, maybe a sampler, a synth that isn't just a glorified preset player (don't get me wrong, i love that B4, but I want to design some sounds from scratch), and some better FX (with presets that are actually useful) to sweeten the deal.

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/12/2005 10:18:49 AM

My most wanted features are something akin to an "Event Pool" and a "Chopper Pool."

The "Event Pool" would be where you can take a "snapshot" of a group (or drag a group) of selected events. As it is, when I arrange a project, I have to copy and paste parts to the extreme right. I'd rather have a scratch pad where I can easily drag them.

The "Chopper Pool" could be a subwindow of the Chopper, where you can assemble/creatively mangle a selected track before you insert it onto the timeline.

Everything else is basically gravy. I'm finding the Media Manager to be increasingly useful as the days wear on. I'm using samples I haven't used before as a result.

I'd like ACID to recognize what kind of note gets a beat as well, but it's not like I can't work around it.

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

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/12/2005 11:31:00 AM

mD, I like both of those, very neat ideas.

Speaking of scratch pad, I want to append my big three to add a note pad. It would be very handy to have a quick pad to take notes about a project, especially changes you've made that might not be so readily apparent if the project is revisited a couple months later (or by someone else). The notepad file would save with your project and re-open whenever you open that project, and be dockable/hideable like the other windows (chopper, mixer, etc). That would be so simple it hurts, and immensely helpful.

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:4/12/2005 6:18:37 PM

Illogical,
Have you been to www.analogx.com? He has some very cool plugins out of the norm. One of them is a DX notepad. Thus you can insert this in any plugin chain, and write notes into it. So you could put notes on tracks, and your master bus. Also in Acid, if you goto FILE>Properties>Summary. There is a "comments" field that you can fill with notes on the project.

Subject:RE: Suggestions Discussion

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/13/2005 10:25:30 AM

hey Red,
I'll have to check that out, sounds like a decent work-around for the time being. Ideally I'd like a dedicated notepad that opens with each project, so that it could be docked (I don't think you can dock the project properties window, could be wrong though) and ideally searched with a simple Ctrl-F. To take it one further, it would be awesome if it was somewhat self-populating, where the user could select parameters that Acid would automatically take note of (eg plug-in added, track deleted, tempo changed, etc). I know better than to ask for too much though, just a dockable copy of wordpad would be quite fine.
Now, onto analogx.com!
w00t!