Beatmapper Hangs -ACID Product Family - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Beatmapper Hangs Posted by: AJinTheMix Date:2/20/2006 6:41:30 PM I'm having a problem using the Beatmapper Wizard on a few, seemingly random, mp3 files. After selecting the downbeat and then calculating the loop size, the wizard starts its "Extrapolating Loop Accuracy" phase and just before the progress bar gets to the end of the file, it just hangs and will not complete the analysis. Then, in order to try and make some sense of why this happens, I cancel the wizard at this point and paint the file as a one-shot to take a look at it. The weird thing here is that when I pick any point along the timeline and start to play the file, the waveform doesn't seem to match with the sound that's playing. Sometimes I can even go to the end of the file and try to play the last few seconds and get no sound at all. The waveform shows that there should still be sound, but nothing plays. It's like the waveform doesn't jive with the actual sound that plays. I'm assuming this may have something to do with the id3 tag?? Would that be a good guess? Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how do you fix it? It's not every mp3 file.....it only happens once in a great while. Thanks for any help!
Subject:RE: Beatmapper Hangs Reply by: JohnnyRoy Date:2/21/2006 12:21:01 PM I have not seen this but perhaps it’s because these MP3 files are VBR (variable bit rate) and this is throwing ACID off somehow. (just a wild guess) What I would do is render the files as WAVE files and then beatmap them in ACID. This will probably work fine. ~jr
Subject:RE: Beatmapper Hangs Reply by: AJinTheMix Date:2/21/2006 1:33:35 PM You're right.....these particular mp3's I have the problem with are VBR. I kinda thought that might be it, but was really hoping it wasn't. I've been ripping my cd's as VBR mp3's thinking this would give me the best possible quality while taking up the least amount of space. I guess I may need to re-think that if I want to be able to use any of them in ACID. The only thing that still puzzles me, if the problem is indeed a result of them being VBR, is that most all of my mp3's are VBR, so I'm wondering why it only gives me a problem on a few of them and on others, I have no problems at all. --?? Kinda strange.
Subject:RE: Beatmapper Hangs Reply by: JohnnyRoy Date:2/22/2006 8:34:59 AM I would imagine that the reason it only happens to some songs is because VBR is “variable”. That means it’s not the same from song to song. Perhaps the songs that don’t have this problem require a fairly high bitrate throughout and so the VBR is really looking more like CBR (i.e., constantly keeping the bitrate high). On the piece of music that is affected, does it have a wide dynamic range? Perhaps there are sections that really don’t require a high bitrate and it’s these passages that are throwing the beatmapper off (because the rate drops so low in relation to the rest of the song). Just a guess. FYI in my early work with MP3, I found lots of applications (including some early hardware MP3 players) that had a problem with VBR. In my measurements, it didn’t really save that much disk space and so I got into the habit of coding all my MP3’s as CBR. Much less headaches. ~jr

Subject:Beatmapper Hangs

Posted by: AJinTheMix

Date:2/20/2006 6:41:30 PM

I'm having a problem using the Beatmapper Wizard on a few, seemingly random, mp3 files. After selecting the downbeat and then calculating the loop size, the wizard starts its "Extrapolating Loop Accuracy" phase and just before the progress bar gets to the end of the file, it just hangs and will not complete the analysis. Then, in order to try and make some sense of why this happens, I cancel the wizard at this point and paint the file as a one-shot to take a look at it. The weird thing here is that when I pick any point along the timeline and start to play the file, the waveform doesn't seem to match with the sound that's playing. Sometimes I can even go to the end of the file and try to play the last few seconds and get no sound at all. The waveform shows that there should still be sound, but nothing plays. It's like the waveform doesn't jive with the actual sound that plays.

I'm assuming this may have something to do with the id3 tag?? Would that be a good guess? Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how do you fix it? It's not every mp3 file.....it only happens once in a great while.

Thanks for any help!

Subject:RE: Beatmapper Hangs

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:2/21/2006 12:21:01 PM

I have not seen this but perhaps it’s because these MP3 files are VBR (variable bit rate) and this is throwing ACID off somehow. (just a wild guess)

What I would do is render the files as WAVE files and then beatmap them in ACID. This will probably work fine.

~jr

Subject:RE: Beatmapper Hangs

Reply by: AJinTheMix

Date:2/21/2006 1:33:35 PM

You're right.....these particular mp3's I have the problem with are VBR. I kinda thought that might be it, but was really hoping it wasn't. I've been ripping my cd's as VBR mp3's thinking this would give me the best possible quality while taking up the least amount of space. I guess I may need to re-think that if I want to be able to use any of them in ACID.

The only thing that still puzzles me, if the problem is indeed a result of them being VBR, is that most all of my mp3's are VBR, so I'm wondering why it only gives me a problem on a few of them and on others, I have no problems at all. --?? Kinda strange.

Subject:RE: Beatmapper Hangs

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:2/22/2006 8:34:59 AM

I would imagine that the reason it only happens to some songs is because VBR is “variable”. That means it’s not the same from song to song. Perhaps the songs that don’t have this problem require a fairly high bitrate throughout and so the VBR is really looking more like CBR (i.e., constantly keeping the bitrate high). On the piece of music that is affected, does it have a wide dynamic range? Perhaps there are sections that really don’t require a high bitrate and it’s these passages that are throwing the beatmapper off (because the rate drops so low in relation to the rest of the song). Just a guess.

FYI in my early work with MP3, I found lots of applications (including some early hardware MP3 players) that had a problem with VBR. In my measurements, it didn’t really save that much disk space and so I got into the habit of coding all my MP3’s as CBR. Much less headaches.

~jr