Subject: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Posted by: coolout

Date:4/27/2010 1:25:28 AM

Let's put all the feature requests in here.

Here's my list (for now). Most of these are things that other DAWs have that I wish could be in Acid Pro.

1. drag and drop from the arrange page to plug ins. That way you could easily move drum hits or any type of slices of audio into a sampler vst for live triggering.

2. better midi support for plugins. currently Acid can not assign midi to vst plugs only vsti synths. this makes live performance vst effects like Artillery, Glitch, or vocoders a no go.

3. midi learn for everything.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: crumbcakes

Date:7/6/2010 9:37:47 AM

User Defined Scales for Scale Library - for the Snap to scale function.
If I could get this, Acid would finally replace Sonar, for me.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: SHTUNOT

Date:7/6/2010 2:55:52 PM

To have it actually work on my Vista 64 SP 2 system. [all updates]

A 64 bit version of acid 8 for me please.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:7/8/2010 9:56:48 PM

better midi support for plugins. currently Acid can not assign midi to vst plugs only vsti synths. this makes live performance vst effects like Artillery, Glitch, or vocoders a no go.....dont forget effectrix.

Audio to midi.....play an audio file,acid interputs it as a midi track.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:7/8/2010 10:29:52 PM

I'd like to see more comprehensive audio loop mangling tools like midi triggering of individual audio loop slices. I would like to trigger audio loop slices using a hardware controller in real time and record that into a midi or audio track in ACID.

It would be great to be able to highlight any section of an audio or midi loop or track and then drag that and drop it into a new track or into a user defined folder in Explorer.

Being able to stretch or shorten loops and alter pitch using handles in a track instead of opening a dialogue box or editing in another window would be amazing.

I know the simplicity of ACID's layout is really good but it would be interesting to be able to skin it and alter the layout in more comprehensive ways.

More user control over how ACID makes use of multi-core processes would be helpful.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pjrey

Date:7/10/2010 5:49:48 PM

sending or recieving MIDI to/from an Audio FX plug-ing

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Kappeesh

Date:7/10/2010 7:46:04 PM

I've been reading this forum for years, reading Peters comments to those who are still trying to understand AP's functionality - especially me - and realize that AP7 has very capable MIDI features. One of the things that I realized with my own project needs was that the developer for the plugins has the most responsibility to provide assignable outputs - not necessarily Sony. For example Kitcore and Kontakt (which I use exhaustively) have assignable outputs. That means fx can be assigned to the outputs. And obviously fx can be globally assigned to plugins that have assignable outputs or not.
So AP is very capable but still has lots of room to be improved and we all will welcome that!

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Kappeesh

Date:7/10/2010 7:52:46 PM

It would be great to be able to highlight any section of an audio or midi loop or track and then drag that and drop it into a new track...

AP7 is already capable of this; you split the track at in and out points and just drag it to a new track.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:7/12/2010 12:58:59 PM

What I would absolutely love is the ability to delete any unused digital audio (like recordings) in a particular project's folder.

As it stands, I have any digital audio recordings I do put into the same folder as the project I'm working on for neatness' sake. However, when all is said and done, I end up with a bunch of recordings and takes I don't end up using in the final project and have to painstakingly go through the project to find out which takes I kept and which I didn't.

An idea would be to have ACID compare what's in the project with what's in the project's folder and have ACID delete what's not being used.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: drbam

Date:7/12/2010 4:12:02 PM

"What I would absolutely love is the ability to delete any unused digital audio (like recordings) in a particular project's folder."

Didn't Vegas incorporate this feature (or something similar) MANY years ago? I used it on every single session - click to clean out the project folder of unused media and even a choice to delete permanently from the drive - very handy. I rarely use Vegas anymore but its really hard to understand why it is not currently included in Acid.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:7/12/2010 6:16:12 PM

I really like mD's request.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: jumbuk

Date:7/12/2010 9:37:14 PM

"AP7 is already capable of this; you split the track at in and out points and just drag it to a new track."

Then why are you asking for it in AP8?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:7/13/2010 4:44:59 AM

Whitestonestudios was responding to Spectralis' request.

I think what Spectralis wants is a "copy by dragging a selected section", without having to split. I would be nice to be able to accomplish this without slaughtering the original selection.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Kappeesh

Date:7/13/2010 5:23:41 AM

Jumbuk, sorry you misinterpreted my reply...I'll use quotes next time.

Chienworks, thanks for correctly interpreting my intent.

I reread spectralis' comment and it doesn't seem as if he was referring to a copy. But that's possible too. His request to save parts as files for later use is interesting. The clip pool would probably be the best interface for that. For me I don't feel that would be that useful as it's easy enough to export a smf to use in another project. And I hardly ever think about - much less use - clips from one project in another project. Each session stands on its own. In a pinch I would consider it though.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:7/13/2010 3:58:25 PM

Chienworks understood me correctly. I'd like to highlight a section of audio or midi and drag it to a new track without having to split it. As this is a wishlist it seems appropriate to wish for things that might not seem necessary to others. The reason I'd like this option is that having to split audio and midi is a long winded process that requires opening a menu each time. Considering that ACID is meant to be loop orientated this method doesn't seem very intuitive or fast.

I agree that being able to clean up unused audio and midi from a track would be very useful. I'd like to be able to retrieve information about FX and synths (including preset information) used in a project. This would really help those of us who work between various systems at home, at work and at college.

Last but not least I wish ACID had support for Novation's Automap. Then I would buy one of their controllers. According to Novations website virtually every other DAW supports Automap. I confirmed with Novation that ACID doesn't support it. Despite a few problems with Automap it's still a highly useful interface.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:7/13/2010 4:01:27 PM

"I agree that being able to clean up unused audio and midi from a track..."

That should be "project" not "track".

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:7/15/2010 2:51:26 AM

one more.....

Please fix the rewire problem.... propellerheads record looks really impresive and i want to be able to rewire record into acid pro with out acid crashing the rewire dll.

Thanks in advance.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:7/16/2010 4:51:24 AM

I've come across this DAW which appears to offer a lot of what we're requesting in ACID 8.

http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/index.htm

I'll test it out and report back.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: AnthonyTower

Date:7/18/2010 10:48:49 AM

Indeed Mixcraft is a nice little Looping DAW that reminds a lot of Magix Music Maker.
It even supports WaveRT.......WOW.
But, it it does NOT support ReWire!
'Can't really bitch though, since they are practically giving it away.
Cheers

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: jjbraunius

Date:7/18/2010 5:45:11 PM

Editing multiple tracks together when highlighted/selected: Acid apparently can't do that as I discovered. Piece of cake of a feature for Sonar, Cubase, etc...

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: runman

Date:7/28/2010 10:23:55 PM

As my main use for acid is cutting and pasting samples, I would love a seeker bar in the explorer window. Or some method of scanning long files, that would be just awesome.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: crumbcakes

Date:7/30/2010 11:59:18 AM

Give me user-defined scale option for the snap-to-scale piano roll editor and I'd be done.

Oh wait, I already said that . . .

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:8/2/2010 5:30:58 AM

I only have two feature requests for ACID Pro 8:

(1) The ability to have more than ONE plug-in window open at the same time!!! This is the most frustrating feature of ACID and Vegas not being able to open the plug-ins of two tracks to compare them. Or how about having two VSTi windows open at once. It also totally prohibits the use of a frequency analysis plug-in and an EQ plug-in at the same time to see how the EQ affects the audio. Right now this is impossible in ACID or Vegas and really needs to be corrected.

(2) The ability to pitch shift slices in the Chopper like SONAR does. I don't want to cut my loop into a million little pieces and then copy and paste them all over the place. I want to open the Chopper, pitch shift a note or two, and paint the loop as a whole. This is what Melodyne promised but didn't deliver for ACID users. ACID needs something similar for just changing one or two notes of a loop.

I'm sure I could think of more in the area of improving the recording workflow but those are two biggies for me.

~jr

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Alex_London

Date:8/9/2010 11:12:57 AM

hi guys, inice to meet you. just signed in the forum and staring to post for first time

1. i'd would personally love to have templates for FX placement in channels & busses. There are certain EQs, compressors, delays and revebrs which i always use in busses and channels. Because of that, every time i work in a new project i have to load them again and again, one by one. It would be nice instead to be able to make a template of these, save it and then load it as i start a new project or as i go.

2. i would love to have a very simple and easy to use Sony sidechain compressor, without the need to go via busses. just a SD compressor loaded in 2 channels, route it accordingly and work form there :)

3. lastly, it would be great to have a "jump/skip" feature available. so i would select a section of the track which i dont wanna hear, press play and when the bar comes to that section it wouldnt be played, it would continue after that. this way you can listen to possible arrangment changes without making the actuall change & thus saving time.

thanks for giving us the opportunity to suugest & hope to see some our ideas in Acid soon :)

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:8/9/2010 4:54:10 PM

1. ACID has fx template that you can create and reuse.

2. Has been requested, but I recommend that you submit a feature request here on the site.

3. You can create sections that you can rearrange very easiy. Let's you manipulate the arrangement.

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: peteodyssey

Date:8/10/2010 5:35:27 AM

I went to the shops and I bought Acid 8 - it had the ability to open multiple acid projects simultaneously and copy and paste data/audio/etc between projects freely. It was awesome. I told all my friends to buy the upgrade :)

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: kitekrazee

Date:9/3/2010 12:40:06 PM

I want a toolbar widget to access the piano roll like in Sonar.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:9/5/2010 2:19:05 PM

HEY JOHNNY ROY....

I know its not the perfect solution... but you could run a digital out of your interface into another computer running wavelab... thats how i have my studio setup.

hope this helps.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: GLYPTICminority

Date:10/3/2010 4:29:52 PM

MIDI envelope tools similar to Adobe Illustrator. Better control over the evnvelopes like they are vectors. Brushes to run across the envelopes such as smooth, roughen, randomize, simplify, punch, pinch, and easily duplicate them, copy them to other tracks.

64 bit is a must, with up-sampling like the new Sonar.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: mpek

Date:10/6/2010 9:39:44 AM

better integration of third-party controllers, like the Akai MPD32, with ready made templates and easy to choose by the user from a list in the MIDI and/or Controller setups.
What I dream about is, having all my controllers present in Acid (M-Audio Axiom 61 and Akai MPD32), are automatically mapped to VST/VSTi's.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:10/18/2010 5:30:08 AM

JR, some interesting feature requests there!

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: The Farm-Assist

Date:10/30/2010 11:31:16 PM

This is my first post! I know, newbie right? I've owned every version of Acid Pro since 4 back when Sonic Foundry still gave it a name to be proud of, I honestly never even realized Sony had a forum for Acid until the other day...

Earlier today, I went out and "got" Sonar, specifically to be able to route MIDI to Auto-tune and other vocoders. I typically don't use the plug in, but the vocalists who record here like the effect, and it's all over mainstream radio. If Sony has any intent to remain competitive in the market, being able to route MIDI to VST FX is a must. Not in the normal way, but in the Acid way, just simple. In sonar, (even tho I've only had it half a day) I can't figure it out yet. Make it simple enough to use, just like everything else.

Number two... this really isn't a suggestion, but a pat on the back. Acid is simple, it's easy to understand, etc. I saw somebody else mention something about the GUI and skins and all that. While I don't hate the idea, if the GUI were to change, I'd like to have the option of using the "classic" current version.

Third... Including some decent FX and a soft synth or two would be nice. I know, you guys include low level bundles with your products, but it would be nice to see Sony itself develop a software synth, or at least get a third party synth that ISN'T just a player version of a synthesizer. AP5 came with the NI express keys, but I never got a serial number that would even allow me to install them, and after 7 calls to support, I gave up. ARIA with 7 is extremely limited in its selection, as all players are. I'd like to see either Sony develop a seriously powerful synth (with all your resources, I know it's possible, up to you to decide whether or not it's profitable), or give us something that we can actually use. I don't know ANYONE personally (out of 11 people who own it) who actually use ANY of the original included bundle for 7. And the same goes for FX. I'd love to have the mastering suite that comes with Sound Forge included.

Fourth, and probably most importantly... and this doesn't even have to do with the software itself, but is a general request... From a business standpoint, we all realize that the ACID brand is fading. This thread is what you guys really need to pay attention to. Go look at any DAW comparison, and you know what place acid finishes? None, it isn't even included in the comparisons... But the major flaw, in my opinion, is that ACID has always been marketed as a "toy to play with loops in" (as someone else once said). Back in the old days, this was revolutionary, but it's time for ACID to reclaim its place at the top. In the modern age, Sony could have a serious advantage (with it manufacturing electronics of ALL types and etc). If you guys would simply tie the pieces together, you'd have a complete competitive product. Example: When ACID first allowed us to use MIDI, the next version should have been the one to allow us to route it to a VST plug. We shouldn't have to ask for that, the MIDI capabilities are there, as well as the VST capabilities. ACID is no longer a "Professional Loop" thingamajig, it's a digital audio workstation (as seen on the splash screen). So advertise it as such, and do so in a manner that allows you to reach the customers you've lost. I noticed music studio 8 allows a lot of the PRO features. That's a start. But include it on your laptops, do things like let people on PS3 listen to chart-topping songs on acidplanet.com, run promotions, whatever you've got to do to get your reputation back as a serious DAW.

But none of that will matter if you don't listen to the advice the users are giving you here. Implement them, even add stuff that we aren't asking for. Release half-versions (Acid Pro 8.5 for example) instead of another bug-fix update, showcasing the newer technologies, stuff like that.

In all honesty, as much as I've written here, we shouldn't have to ask for anything, especially with how far ACID is behind its competitors. Just look at the other DAWs on the market. That's what we want. Just with the usability and simplicity that ACID offers.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:10/31/2010 7:26:48 AM

I was a long term user of ACID (that sounds wrong somehow...) Anyway I tried Sonar and couldn't get on with it. I have the latest version but seldom use it apart from the vocal editing tools. ACID once met all my needs but it ended up only being able to do about 2/3rds of what I needed it to do. It was the 1/3rd that it couldn't do in ACID that made me look for an alternative.

I've found Reaper to be much more versatile. It uses less cpu and is very stable but the most important factor is that it receives regular updates and the support is excellent.

Perhaps Sony will eventually update ACID so that all my needs are meet and perhaps I'll go back to it but then again perhaps pigs might one day fly. Between the reality of ACID and it's potential is a huge chasm that Sony must bridge if it's going to attract those of us who need the various feature requests in this thread. Alternatively, Sony could incorporate ACID Pro into Vegas and concentrate on that product line. At least Vegas is updated regularly and third party support is growing.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ClipMan

Date:10/31/2010 7:43:49 AM

"The ability to pitch shift slices in the Chopper like SONAR does"

Yes. Absolutely. And a track lock.

Brian

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: kitekrazee

Date:11/3/2010 6:54:17 PM

Better customer service!

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: cowboyco

Date:11/5/2010 11:13:35 AM

I agree......I like to use the TC Helicon Harmony 4 plugin and with the Acid Pro DAW I am unable to assign a midi imput to the plugin so I use the midi part of the plugin.......does that make sense?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: brett215

Date:11/26/2010 8:33:26 AM

Re: What I would absolutely love is the ability to delete any unused digital audio (like recordings) in a particular project's folder.

As it stands, I have any digital audio recordings I do put into the same folder as the project I'm working on for neatness' sake. However, when all is said and done, I end up with a bunch of recordings and takes I don't end up using in the final project and have to painstakingly go through the project to find out which takes I kept and which I didn't.

An idea would be to have ACID compare what's in the project with what's in the project's folder and have ACID delete what's not being used.

Iacobus
===============================================================
There is a workaround for this, select "Save As", make a new folder (or sub- folder) for your project , on the "Save As" Splash screen you will see a check box "Copy All Media with Project" click this check box and save your project to your new folder, only your project media will be copied to the new folder. If you opted to make a sub- folder you will probably need to move it to a new location at some point and time, (before you archive, backup or delete your old files). DON''T delete your old media just yet, instead create a ZIP backup of all those unneeded files as you may find in the very near future that some of those files are not so unneeded. Never delete backups until your projects are clearly finished. I hope that's helps, best regards from Brett215 (aka Beyond Lite Speed).

As for my wish list for ACID PRO 8, For MIDI - "Chord Recognition Display" on the tool bar next to the time/ measure display. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, it just has to work!

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: GrupoJyT

Date:12/23/2010 2:02:57 PM

Excellent comments!

Yes, of course, Sony ACID team maybe is full of software / sound engineers but they need more "marketing people".

Apple includes his DAW in a short version in all his midrangfe new destop and laptops (similar to Acid Studio).

If sony merge Acid and Vegas, It will be a great hit.

Side chain signal, MIDI route to VST Fx, support for VST 3.0, notation editor (MIDI), articulation maps (like drum maps), accomplished with a massive marketing effort can restore the Acid position on the market.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: kbruff

Date:12/28/2010 4:49:00 AM

01) Cascade style drop down automation lanes.
02) Much better colors
03) Track icons
04) Locking options

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: luminae

Date:1/9/2011 11:05:12 AM

How about not crashing every five freaking minutes. This app can't even properly work with any of the native instruments VSTs. Crash crash crash. I have been actively looking for an alternative.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Zacchino

Date:2/7/2011 7:54:37 PM

My request : release an Acid Pro 8.that is stable against all odds

Yes, I really hope we'll have a rocksolid 8th version. Whatever new bells and whistles they drop in (beside 64bit support).

And IMO, even Reaper, which is one of the best DAW out there with Cubase and Logic, doesn't have this "simple layout with intricate features" feel.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: GrupoJyT

Date:2/10/2011 8:10:23 AM

I only want to say: good bye!

After several months of evaluating DAWs I have decided to change to Ableton Live 8 (testing: Reapper, Cubase, Pro Tools, FL).

I will remain using Acid Pro 7 for all my current projects and some specific tasks, but definitely Ableton is more:

stable, reliable, low CPU usage,side chaining, no crashes using VST Fx, track delay customization, shorter upgrade frequency, portable (Mac), and a lot of other functions.

This decision is a pain because i love Acid GUI, but I am tired to restart, restart and restart (specially during a session with my clients).

So, I have no functional request and nor reclamations, only... thank you!

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ZombieSlugs

Date:2/11/2011 9:50:53 AM

I'd just like to hear official word from Sony on Acid Pro 8.

Right now, I only have Acid installed for legacy projects and I've bitten the bullet and bought a Reaper license, climbed some of the learning mountain, and finished 3 songs so far.

Acid is way easier to use, but when projects get complex it tends to fall over for me. There are also several VSTi that work in every host BUT Acid, which is a serious issue for me.

Sigh.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:2/11/2011 7:17:42 PM

Which VSTis cause you problems?

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ZombieSlugs

Date:2/12/2011 10:06:29 AM

Primarily Synthmaster, from these folks:

http://www.kv331audio.com/synthmaster.aspx

Crackles, dropouts, sometimes failure to load. Works properly in Orion 7.6, Reaper 3.76 and Reaper 4 ALPHA.

There was one VST, but it was a freebie Synthedit job and I replaced it with a better plugin.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: AnthonyTower

Date:2/19/2011 5:21:42 PM

Resize-able Beatmapper window -> i.e. The ability to make that window much wider.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: tordAxel

Date:2/26/2011 9:17:00 AM

When looping audio, be able to record more-longer than the loop area,
this works fine in Acid 3 (4?)

Be able to write a short note on project and tracks.

tordA.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Matthias King

Date:2/28/2011 5:46:51 PM

1) Definitely want to see the Izotope bundled plugins make a return. They're good, useful plugins and they really help fill in the few gaps left by the bundled Sony plugins.

2) Official legit 64bit Windows 7 support. I mean a fully legit 64bit app. With ACID Pro 8 being fully 64bit, being able to take full advantage of 8 or 16gigs of RAM would really help when using PLAY and Kontakt 4.

3) I'd really like to see them update the Sony Track EQ to add a one/two pole high-pass filter and a one/two pole low-pass filter in addition to the existing four bands. This would be helpful for me in both ACID Pro and Vegas Pro.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: brothership

Date:3/4/2011 5:07:09 AM

3) I'd really like to see them update the Sony Track EQ to add a one/two pole high-pass filter and a one/two pole low-pass filter in addition to the existing four bands. This would be helpful for me in both ACID Pro and Vegas Pro.

I second this, however, I don't believe Sony's native plug-ins have been modified since their inception under Sonic Foundry, instead relying on third-party plug-ins for updated effects.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: WarmGlow

Date:3/4/2011 11:01:47 AM

Yes, no update to the Sony plug-ins will arrive.

What are the chances we will see more import/export options? import and export of BWF, EDL, NKI

item grouping: is there a DAW (other than Acid) that has released a version in the last 10 years that does not have the ability to group items? how about enabling items to snap to other items (and markers) while snap to grid is turned off? current workaround is by toggling snap on and off (lots of extra key pressing).

Before the release of every version of Acid (or Vegas) there is always feature request threads wherein users make an honest effort to communicate to Sony their software needs/wants. One can expect only the following:

1) a comment by a Sony staff person when a particular feature is already there.
2) a reminder by a Sony staff person that Sony doesn't give out dates (or info) regarding future releases.
3) a reminder by a Sony staff person that forum posts do not count as official feature requests. You should click on "support" then "product suggestions."
4) Lastly, (....drum roll please) "this will be considered for a future release"

There are a lot of good and interesting ideas in this thread. However, my personal (after examining <<over many years>> the long feature request thread before a product gets released to the product that eventually gets released) is that Sony is guided by a cost/benefit analysis...something along the lines of, which features are worth investing the time to develop that will raise a level of interest when said feature is listed as a bullet point on the next version's box.

The Sony staff members opinions differ from mine:

"A feature request has to be considered at many levels.
- Time to develope, test, and document.
- Is it important to a large user base or only a few
- Are there more important features that are needed first."

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Matthias King

Date:3/4/2011 9:46:39 PM

That's a shame if it's true. I've been using ACID Pro since it's inception and I've grown along with it. It's the most intuitive app I've used, along with Vegas which I also adopted at it's inception, and those two are what I'm most familiar with and most comfortable working with, so I'm highly invested in them continuing to grow and develop.

So to think that everything the userbase suggests is basically overlooked or ignored, even the genuinely good ideas that many people seem to want or need, or ideas that are inspired in full or in part by features of other successful DAW apps, is just discouraging.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:3/5/2011 3:33:12 PM

Well, you don't give me much room to discuss since you have dismissed the notion of being truthful or presenting facts.

The Sony staff members opinions differ from mine:
"A feature request has to be considered at many levels.
- Time to develope, test, and document.
- Is it important to a large user base or only a few
- Are there more important features that are needed first."

Not really an opinion on my part, just the honest and candid truth of the matter.

You don't consider these appropriate for development of a product?

What is your opinion?
How do you think we should handle it?

I am always interested in what users have to say, and alternatives are always a good thing to hear and consider.

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/7/2011 1:28:44 PM

"So to think that everything the userbase suggests is basically overlooked or ignored, even the genuinely good ideas that many people seem to want or need, or ideas that are inspired in full or in part by features of other successful DAW apps, is just discouraging."


Do not ever believe that SCS isn't listening. Trust me at least on this.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Phiktion

Date:3/8/2011 8:56:45 AM

Acid 7 is great, and was a big jump from 6.0. Sony even started calling it a DAW! I don’t think Sony needs to reinvent the wheel with Acid 8, but I hope they look at some of the features that make other DAW's so popular. Some have been mentioned, but here are a few wishes for my favorite DAW.

Revamp the explorer window -

I would like to see a more advanced implementation of previewing sounds. Make the preview controls more prominent, maybe at the bottom of the window. Include a scrubber with wave form preview so I can jump to a specific portion of the audio I'm previewing.

Switches for previewing sounds - For example, I would like to toggle between previewing a sound as a loop, and as a one shot, on the fly. I would also love the ability to preview in mono, or preview left or right channel only, ect.. Transpose the previewed sounds even..

I would also LOVE to be able to preview sounds with effects. Even the ability to route the Preview channel to a bus or effects input would be a wonderful workaround. If the new track could retain these preview options, these would be great features for me.

More customizationz for my organizationz -

Folder tracks are kinda wack. I'd like to see a better way of grouping tracks. Icons, more colors, ect.. I'd also like to be able to color Bus Tracks. I'd like the colors to be more prominent in the Mixing Console window. I'd like to be able to control the color of a new track and not have it just cycle through the 8 colors. Once I have grouped tracks, I'd like some routing options, like send all tracks in a “Folder Track" to a Bus, ect..

Routing window -

It would be cool if there were a new tab that displayed routing. For instance, if I click and highlight a Bus Track in the Mixing Console tab, a Routing tab would list all the tracks I have routed to it, levels, list of plug-ins in my chain, ect. Also would be cool to change the routing from that tab, access plug in tab, ect.. Possibilities are huge with this one...

ZOOOM -

A zoom option on the Plug In tab would be sweet!

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: backwoods

Date:3/9/2011 5:25:36 AM

64 Bit support so users can access more RAM.

Acid doesn't need to do much more, I feel that it's nearly "there" already. I know some people have problems running various VST's on the platform so that should be addressed.

I am a Wavelab user but am considering getting Sound Forge to run in conjunction with Acid. Maybe a bundle price for the two products at the shop would be cool.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Lavoll

Date:3/17/2011 4:50:49 AM

my wish: stability

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:3/26/2011 10:02:27 PM

Hi Peter, in reply to your comment and as a former devoted ACID 7 user who has jumped ship to Reaper you don't inspire much confidence.

What do you expect us owners of ACID 7 to think when the development of ACID is non-existent for two years? You claim to want to know what we really think? Well I think it's disgraceful that Sony has let this product stall. Compare ACID Pro 7 to Reaper, Sonar or Cubase and the notion that it compares to any of them now is laughable.

If Sony were charging £60 for ACID Pro 7 then I could accept this but it costs a lot of money for very out-dated features. Instead of telling us all about this mythical development behind the scene show us some proof in the form of a new improved version otherwise it is all hot air. I have invested a lot of money in ACID over the years and now it is gathering dust because of no development. How is that looking after your customers?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:3/27/2011 7:45:06 AM

I am an engineer. I ask for input based on my role as an engineer on the products. I am honestly interested in what the user base wants. I make sure at all product discussions what I hear from users is presented and discussed.

I ask questions here to make sure I understand. I present the approach taken so as to be clear.

I do not make the final decision as to what or when, but I assure you that I present the voice and needs of the user.

If anybody believes I am not acting in such a manner, please say so, and I will remain silent in these forums regarding features and stick to technical issues going forward.

I am here to help, in the only way I know how: to convey what the users are saying by understanding what they are saying.

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:3/27/2011 8:25:31 PM

Ok then Peter, please relay the numerous frustrated comments in this forum about the lack of ACID Pro development. On other forums like KVR ACID Pro is considered a has been. I don't know anyone who takes it seriously any longer because of its lack of development. How much clearer does this need to be made before Sony acts on our requests? Judging by the lack of development I don't hold out much hope.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Zacchino

Date:3/30/2011 5:24:40 PM

1. As far as I remember, Acid Pro 7 addressed about more than 70% of the requests made on this forum.

2. Acid Pro 8 will defeinitely be another leap forward, and even if it's a small one, we know that i'll be well done and very well thought out.

3. Many competitors tried to copy SCS Dev's inovations and failed. Like Cubase Mediabay vs Sony MediaManager. or SCS Dev's in-line Editing vs competition, or SCS Dev's Mousewheel Grid Zoom vs competition, and the list goes on...

4. In my experience, I can ensure you that 90% of the time Acid Pro hanged or crashed was because of bad coded plugins or VSTi. I never had any issues with the big boys like Waves, EWQL, Synthogy, or Spectrasonics. 5% of the time the issue was a memory overload problem (the unfamous 4gb limit of 32bit applications). The only unstable part of Acid Pro is the History module.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:3/31/2011 6:57:54 AM

I've had no stability problems with Acid 7 pro, so I don't know how to comment on that.

I can say that I'd really like to see an Acid 8 pro.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Rednroll2

Date:4/1/2011 11:41:54 AM

"I am an engineer. I ask for input based on my role as an engineer on the products. I am honestly interested in what the user base wants. I make sure at all product discussions what I hear from users is presented and discussed.

I ask questions here to make sure I understand. I present the approach taken so as to be clear.

I do not make the final decision as to what or when, but I assure you that I present the voice and needs of the user.

If anybody believes I am not acting in such a manner, please say so, and I will remain silent in these forums regarding features and stick to technical issues going forward.

I am here to help, in the only way I know how: to convey what the users are saying by understanding what they are saying.

Peter"

Peter, you always were the overly sensitive one. ;)

On a side note, I know I always asked for a lot of MIDI features in Acid that functioned similar to Opcode's Studio Vision in the past. I just never imagined that Acid Pro would become so similar to Studio Vision over the years.

Peace,
Red

P.S. To everyone else......just be patient.....good things come to those who wait.....and wait....and wait. ;)

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/1/2011 1:45:27 PM

I've seen this way too many times; users chasing developers and the like away because something about their product annoys them (for whatever reason). Unfortunate fact of a forum like this is that it can become a bitch magnet.

And there are apparently a lot of bitches.

Yeah! I went there! Har!

@Peter: Don't ever stop asking what the user base wants. We know your feedback is just as important. This is how a product gets better.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:4/1/2011 3:00:50 PM

Red,

Nice to see you again...too bad you will be leaving again so soon.

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:4/1/2011 8:46:30 PM

mD spare us the patronising lecture. You contradict yourself when you bitch at those of us who are actually telling Peter what we want and why we're frustrated. No one is attacking him personally and I'm sure he's capable of handling a little criticism about Sony's incredibly slow development of ACID.

And if it's any consolation I really love Vegas Pro 10 - I only wish ACID had been updated as frequently as Vegas.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/4/2011 12:54:36 PM

@Spectralis:
I have no problem with constructive criticism. I know ACID isn't perfect. (Is anything?) It's fairly obvious, however, that Peter is getting a little annoyed by the trolls, hence my response.

It would be a tragedy if Peter stopped by only to listen to and fix tech issues, no? (I'm not sure if he would, BTW, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't at this point.)

It's fairly apparent you still like ACID Pro, Spec, or you wouldn't be here. This fascinates me because now you're a Reaper convert. Would you be back if SCS announced ACID Pro 8 tomorrow?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:4/4/2011 8:45:03 PM

I'd come back to ACID if it had the half the features of Reaper or Cubase. I like the ACID interface and have used it over many versions but the lack of development has meant I've had to move on. I still sometimes check the forum but it's been a false hope so far.

I can't see Sony releasing a new version after all this time and if they do then it will need to be a big step forward if it's going to attract back former users like me. I doubt that plugin developers test their plugins with ACID any longer so an upgrade will need to be important enough to attract them back as well.

ACID seems like the 'Concorde' of DAWS - it was unique and ahead of its time at one point but now it's old tech - either it has a significant redevelopment or it's put into retirement.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Spectralis

Date:4/4/2011 8:49:14 PM

I mean just check out Cubase 6...

http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/cubase6_new_features.html

It's enough to make an ACID user weep :-(

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Rickms

Date:4/5/2011 10:59:23 AM

I remember people bitching when 6 was out and they were waiting for Sony to break a competitive record for the longest duration between release cycles. Looks like Sony is striving to exceed their record.

I, like so many others have abandoned ACID for more advanced and modern DAWS (just about all DAWS fit that description), perhaps stop here periodically out of nostalgia and curiosity to see if the innovative spirit that made ACID a great program in the past may return. I do fear they have lost too much ground to ever gain a greater share of the market.

I feel for Peter who is limited by Sony management in what he can say about future efforts and he does get beat up quite a bit here. Sometimes I think ACID will go the way of Tracktion. It took years before folks gave up on a new release of Tracktion. Mackie still promotes it on their Website although it is a dead product.

ACID, is a pin-prick if you compare it to the whole Sony product portfolio. I would guess they make much more on volume product sales such as ACID Music Studio 8 and their libraries. If Sony wanted to put weight behind the develop efforts for ACID they could do extraordinary things.

Should be interesting to look at this thread a year from now.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/5/2011 11:20:17 AM

One of the new features:
"Plenty of eye candy and snazziness"

Stop trying to dazzle me. It doesn't work. (In their defense, it doesn't look like Ableton Live. That's a plus.) lol

Impressive? Yeah. Would it make me switch? Probably not unless I didn't have a choice. In my case, who needs the VST Amp Rack when I have my hardware guitar effects processor, for example?

In all honesty, here's the thing: Vegas does video. (It can be argued that it can be used for mulitrack audio; that's fine. But in a musical context? Meh.) Sound Forge does audio editing. Where does that leave the aforementioned musical context?

People still like music, right? Anyone? xD

If anything, I'm pretty sure that if SCS is indeed working on ACID Pro 8, it's going to be a big step, not the least including the leap into 64-bit. That can't be exactly easy.

Personally, I never thought they would be able to put multiple loops/clips on the same track without breaking the paradigm but they did. That was huge in itself. (Anyone remember those days? Hell, anyone remember when you couldn't even use MIDI tracks?)

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: WarmGlow

Date:5/9/2011 9:16:19 AM

if Acid Pro 8 gave the user the ability to select (set the loop selection area) to the length of the fade this would help. Currently when I try to select the area of a fade Acid highlights the entire clip/media item. Thx.

Again, user feedback hopefully it's welcome :)

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: FTech

Date:5/24/2011 3:21:25 PM

Hi all,

I would like to second that feature request from AnthonyTower: "Resize-able Beatmapper window -> i.e. The ability to make that window much wider." This way we can see the waveform better in a larger window. Just plain annoying seeing a waveform in a small fixed window especially working in larger monitor resolutions.

Another request would be having an option to the beatmapping feature, especially where songs have varying tempos. Instead of manually adding beatmap markers, you tap tempo the markers in. Just assign a key, example the space bar, and just tap tempo away to the song. This will save TONS of time in my honest opinion compared to manually adding beatmap markers.

FTech
(System Specs in profile)

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: the_curtis_man

Date:8/4/2011 10:58:22 PM

Since I've started migrating from Windows to Mac, I'd like for there to be an Apple Mac version of Acid Pro. Most of the programs I use are compatible with Windows and Mac, but I'm still stuck with booting into Windows from time to time because Acid doesn't have a Mac version. I don't care if there are similar programs for the Mac, I like Acid Pro. That is the only feature request I have. If it can't be done by the time Acid Pro 8 is released, I'll patiently wait for this feature to be included some day. There are certain features I use in Acid that are hard to imitate in other programs. If a Mac install were an option, I'd finally be able to get rid of my Windows partition altogether.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:8/5/2011 5:51:02 AM

@Mac version

We have been asked for this before. It is not a feature, but a rewrite.

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: PeterWright

Date:8/8/2011 3:29:59 AM

I know close to nothing about Macs, but I've read about several Vegas users who use something called Bootcamp to enable them to use Windows apps on those "other" computers.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Zacchino

Date:8/14/2011 4:33:33 AM

Peter, How does AP6 / AP7 behaves on Paralles ? I haven't got the chance to try it out on this virtualisation plateform... Maybe you did ? Anymone ?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:8/14/2011 10:42:01 AM

Parrells is slow for running 2 operating, better run bootcamp. I only have 2 gigs of ram in my mac mini but maybe 8 gigs would make a diff.

In bootcamp , its like running a p.c. , i use win xp service pack 2. it works good but the firewire port is not recognized on my macbook pro.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Zacchino

Date:8/17/2011 6:19:34 AM

I saw Parallels made great advance in using all the power of the Mac for its virtualization technology.

Of course 2Gig are not enough ! You need at least 4 Gig of Ram, 8 Gig would be the best so that you leave 2-3 Gig for both operating systems, and have 5-6 Gig for your virtual instruments / fx.

I have no doubt BootCamp works great, I already tested it, it's just a PC with good manufacturing (Macbook Pro are really the most realiable, durable Laptop PC ever).

How come FireWire port doesn't work on BootCamp ? What version of Macbook Pro do you have ? Bootcamp drivers didn't help ?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: pwppch

Date:8/17/2011 5:21:55 PM

@Zacchino

Biggest problem with VM/Parallels is audio and MIDI.

No ASIO. No MIDI.

A beefy Mac will run it ok.

Peter

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Zacchino

Date:8/18/2011 10:29:47 AM

Thanks Peter for your quick reply,

You mean there's no way I can install my ASIO drivers of my external soundcard and have it running just like on WinXP / 7 ?

Is it b/c VM/Parallels is would be "virtualizing" the Audio Soundcard aswell ?

I thought I could just plugin my external audio card via USB, and have parralells detect it for Windows, install the drivers and voila... Same thing for a Midi keyboard in USB.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: ozzborn

Date:8/18/2011 11:10:44 AM

I have a Macbook pro , uni body, 2009, i have done the research praying that i could get the firewire port to work, but so many other users experienced the same thing.

i tried 4 different usb 2.0 interfaces , all had pops and crackles for low latency, i had to get the rme babyface, but for that money i could have bought a dell p.c. laptop with an I7, and used my existing firewire interface.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/18/2011 1:15:13 PM

Maybe some of you folks with Macs would like to try VirtualBox to see if that works. I'm only using it to run XP on my Win7 laptop, but if it runs Windows on a Mac as well as it this it should help a lot of things.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

There are some hardware contention issues and sometimes you have to use the VirtualBox control panel to assign some devices exclusively to either the host OS or the virtualized OS, but my experience so far is that most everything is near automatic.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: Zacchino

Date:8/18/2011 1:51:20 PM

Ozz,

You mean that if I get a Mac, even if I'm running XP or 7 on Bootcamp, I'll have issues with my USB 2.0 Audio Interface - except if I use the Babyface ?

Or maybe that you're talking about using Mac OS X + Parelles loaded with WinXP / 7 ?

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: WarmGlow

Date:3/5/2012 8:02:17 PM

For Acid Pro 8 i really wish they include clip (media item) grouping. This would be helpful so that when I close an Acid project and open it at a later date certain items (media items/events) would still be grouped and thus easily moved.

secondly, better snap options would be helpful. Currently the snap options are sort of "all or nothing." It would be nice to be able to turn off snap to grid and then still have items (clips/media events) snap to markers and snap to other media items.

Lastly, the track color squares. There are colored squares (little icons) on the panel on the left of each Acid track. it would be nice to be able to selectively delete these so that the colored square was only visible on tracks of my choosing. Thus, when I have a very large project 80 or more tracks and I zoom all the way out I could more easily distinguish my tracks.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: WarmGlow

Date:10/19/2013 3:18:36 AM

For Acid Pro 8 i really, really wish they include clip (media item) grouping.

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: BigDuff

Date:10/24/2013 8:14:41 AM

I would like to see ACID PRO combined with Sound Forge.

You would have a great multitracker with great editing capabilities.
Much like the old Adobe Audition/Cool Edit Pro.
Combine these 2, make it 64 bit, make sure to have VST2 & 3 support.
Would also be nice to have ARA support for Celemonys' Melodyne.

Duff

Subject:RE: ACID PRO 8: FEATURE REQUESTS

Reply by: WarmGlow

Date:10/17/2015 1:45:34 PM

reply to BigDuff:

it looks like suites of applications are the current trend with Sony software. Here is what another user noted:

DrLumen wrote - "So Vegas is going to go the way of Acid? What a shame.

Is the Catalyst stuff supposed to be the next "version"? I never quite understood that type of reasoning... "Let's make people learn a new interface and way of doing things (and hope they don't jump ship to learn our competitors)!""

So, there are advantages and disadvantages. If combining Acid into a suite of application is one way to keep development of the product "alive," then I hope the new unannounced Sony application can open old Acid project files.