Subject:Sony Pitch Shift Render Issue

Posted by: drbam

Date:9/17/2009 6:52:15 AM

(I also posted this on the Vegas Audio forum but its pretty lonely over there)

The following happens with Vegas 7 & 8 and Acid Pro 6.

Tried to render a 24/44.1 stereo file (approx 12 min in length) with Sony pitch shift inserted as a track efx – no other efx used. Pitch shift is set to raise a full octave (+12) - preserve duration is unchecked. The results are random dropouts beginning at about 4:20 into the rendered track with a total of about 35 dropouts total. It does not matter whether “accuracy" is set to 2 or 3 (best) or whether “apply anti-alias filter” is checked or not. Results are the same.

However, if I insert the pitch shift in the master bus instead of the track, the render seems fine.

I create a lot of ambient, tribal music consisting of extremely long tracks (20 min is not at all unusual) and I often want to apply some radical pitch shifting (full octave up or down) as an effect but have not done so in the past because it pushed my old computer too hard. Previously I would simply apply the pitch shift destructively on a file in Sound Forge, which always worked fine. Now that I have a quad system, the power limitation does not exist and so I’ve just now encountered this issue.

Can somebody explain what is happening here? Obviously it appears that I can’t trust that Sony’s pitch shift is going to yield reliable renders when inserted as a track efx so to be safe my work flow will continue to be what it was when I was using a P4 computer – at least when it comes to pitch shifting. Obviously not a happy thought . . .

I would appreciate any insight or comments about this and would be most grateful to anyone who would be willing to try reproducing this behavior.

Thanks!

Subject:RE: Sony Pitch Shift Render Issue

Reply by: SonyMLogan

Date:9/17/2009 12:08:38 PM

I know it may not help you specifically, but I don’t seem to have a problem in Vegas 9.0 or Acid 7.0.

I may not have the proper project configuration to produce the problem – would you describe the simplest project that cause the problem?

Subject:RE: Sony Pitch Shift Render Issue

Reply by: drbam

Date:9/17/2009 8:38:33 PM

The simplest repro experiment would be to create a new session in Acid or Vegas at 24/44.1. Insert about a 12 min long 22/44.1 stereo file (mine was a percussion submix but the content shouldn't matter). Insert Sony pitch shift plug in on the track and set it to +12 (octave up). Uncheck "preserve duration". Render to new track @ 24/44.1 stereo. The render should be half a long as the original. Check to see if there are drop outs beginning about 4:20 into the rendered file.

Thanks for your help!!

Subject:RE: Sony Pitch Shift Render Issue

Reply by: pwppch

Date:9/17/2009 9:29:12 PM

I create a lot of ambient, tribal music consisting of extremely long tracks (20 min is not at all unusual) and I often want to apply some radical pitch shifting (full octave up or down) as an effect but have not done so in the past because it pushed my old computer too hard. Previously I would simply apply the pitch shift destructively on a file in Sound Forge, which always worked fine. Now that I have a quad system, the power limitation does not exist and so I’ve just now encountered this issue.

Not discounting the problem you are seeing, this is not a desirable way to work - using the plug-in.

Why? The time line will not reflect what you hear. Also, if you start playback at a time other than zero, the results will be different.

In Vegas you should use the event's time strech/pitch shift feature in Vegas. It allows you to "see" the affect.

In ACID you should use the clips time stretch, assuming you are using the take as a one shot.

Again these are desirable as they reflect on the screen what is happening to the audio.

Why do you want to do it this way - using a plug-in?

However, you should be able to render to new track with out issue. We are trying to reproduce, but so far have not had any luck.

Peter

Subject:RE: Sony Pitch Shift Render Issue

Reply by: drbam

Date:9/18/2009 6:52:16 AM

Thanks Peter. I will follow your workflow suggestions in the future.

FWIW, I use the plugin simply because the GUI is better and offers more adjustment options. Apparently I have been incorrect in thinking it would be a preferable approach. Thanks again for the clarification on this.

Edit-Update: I tried using the event/clip pitch shift in Vegas 7 and the render was fine. I assume it would be fine in Acid as well. That said, its strange that you can't repro what I was originally doing?