Topic: Creating new tracks….

This topic has 10 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 3 months ago by frollo9386.

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August 23, 2011 at 00:58 #2622

electricmuffin11
Participant

I’m currently trying to use Podium as a MIDI sequencer (I already use a different VST host, Cantabile), and so far it works pretty well. More specifically, I create most of the sequences in Finale PrintMusic; export them to a MIDI file; import them into Podium; set the MIDI outputs; do any final edits to the sequences and add parameter automation; preview it through a MIDI loopback port that goes to Cantabile, where my VSTs are; export it to a MIDI file; and then load that MIDI file into Cantabile, where I do an offline render. (The reason is kind of complicated–I like Cantabile’s VST preset system better than Podium’s, I have a lot of existing presets I don’t want to spend time importing to Podium, and I already shelled out 50 bucks for Cantabile which lets me use multi-core rendering, etc….)

Anyways, the problem with Podium is that the only way I’m able to get it to let me make a new sequence is by importing an existing .MID file as an arrangement–it works fine when I do that and it correctly outputs to my MIDI loopback port when I hit “Play”, but I get the feeling it’s the wrong way to do it, and either way there’s times when I don’t have an existing .MID file to import. I tried just creating a new arrangement and making a new track, but then it won’t let me set its MIDI output, and without an output I can’t create a sequence. Any idea why?

EDIT:
Screenshots!
Editing a .MID file…
In a new arrangement…

(Also, how come sometimes you can delete a track and sometimes you can’t? Sometimes it’s on the Track menu, sometimes it’s not there but I can still use the Delete key on my keyboard, and sometimes not even the Delete key works.)

Sorry for the complexity of my problem. I hope there’s something that can be done to fix this, since I really like Podium’s sequence editor, and it’s the only decent free one I can find.

August 23, 2011 at 17:18 #20942

thcilnnahoj
Participant

It looks like both your arrangements are missing the master track. The only reason I can think of why it wouldn’t be created automatically is if your project doesn’t have any audio output mappings at all – did you configure your audio interface correctly? If not, select “MIDI/Audio Interfaces…” from the setup menu.

The audio outputs should show up in the right-most column (where it says “Devices”) on the project page along your MIDI outputs and any plug-ins you imported. With the master track in place, you’ll be able to create tracks and assign things to them as expected.

I guess you might not actually need an audio output if the MIDI outs you’ve set up work fine on their own, but I don’t think it’s the way Podium was designed to work.
Maybe Frits can shed some more light on this…?

I suspect your trouble with deleting tracks also stems from this, since the tracks you created (like in your second screenshot) are “outside” of the normal track hierarchy, as they’re directly on the “master” level instead of belonging to (or feeding into) a single master output track… Podium probably assumes they’re master tracks. This is just for your information – it’s of course possible to have multiple master tracks, for example to create different monitor mixes.
Once you have a ‘normal’ master track set up, you’ll be able to delete tracks perfectly fine. 😉

Let me know if you need any more help!

August 23, 2011 at 23:23 #20943

Zynewave
Keymaster

Thanks for the detailed screenshots. This is a bug. It should of course be possible to manually create a new arrangement from scratch, using only MIDI tracks, to replicate the way a MIDI file is imported. The inspector and track menus expect to have a “master” audio track in the arrangement. I’ll fix this so that it skips the master track requirements, if there are no audio outputs defined in the project.

August 23, 2011 at 23:25 #20944

electricmuffin11
Participant

It looks like both your arrangements are missing the master track. The only reason I can think of why it wouldn’t be created automatically is if your project doesn’t have any audio output mappings at all – did you configure your audio interface correctly? If not, select “MIDI/Audio Interfaces…” from the setup menu.

I tried enabling an audio interface (ASIO4ALL), even though I don’t need it, but it didn’t help.

I suspect your trouble with deleting tracks also stems from this, since the tracks you created (like in your second screenshot) are “outside” of the normal track hierarchy, as they’re directly on the “master” level instead of belonging to (or feeding into) a single master output track… Podium probably assumes they’re master tracks. This is just for your information – it’s of course possible to have multiple master tracks, for example to create different monitor mixes.

Shouldn’t I still be able to delete masters?

Once you have a ‘normal’ master track set up, you’ll be able to delete tracks perfectly fine. 😉

Ok, I tried making a master track and then another track inside the master, but then the master track’s name disappeared and I still couldn’t delete either track, assign a MIDI output, or create a sequence.

(And something I forgot to mention earlier: when I’m editing an imported MIDI file, there’s an “Insert New Track” option on the Track menu, whereas when I’m making an arrangement from scratch, there’s no such option, and the menu won’t even open until I make a new track (with the “+” button). Is that significant? Maybe there’s something wrong with my installation–I’ll try re-installing Podium.)

August 23, 2011 at 23:30 #20945

electricmuffin11
Participant

It should of course be possible to manually create a new arrangement from scratch, using only MIDI tracks, to replicate the way a MIDI file is imported.

To clarify, do you mean that it ought to be possible but isn’t at the moment, or that it is possible and I’m doing it wrong? 😕

Oh, and sorry about the size of the images–I would have made thumbnails and linked to the full images, but I don’t know how. 😆

August 23, 2011 at 23:40 #20946

Zynewave
Keymaster

@electricmuffin11 wrote:

It should of course be possible to manually create a new arrangement from scratch, using only MIDI tracks, to replicate the way a MIDI file is imported.

To clarify, do you mean that it ought to be possible but isn’t at the moment, or that it is possible and I’m doing it wrong? 😕

It ought to be possible. Until I get this fixed, you’ll have to import a MIDI file, and modify the imported tracks.

August 24, 2011 at 00:09 #20947

electricmuffin11
Participant

Thanks for the help, everyone! And I figured out a workaround until the bug gets fixed: just set the audio output to some device, create the arrangement, and then set the audio output to “NONE” again (and hit “Update Audio and MIDI Mappings”). I guess the audio out enables the creation of the master, but after the master is created, the audio out can be safely disabled.

August 24, 2011 at 01:03 #20948

frollo9386
Participant

a little off topic but how you can create multiple master track?

August 24, 2011 at 05:58 #20949

Zynewave
Keymaster

@frollo9386 wrote:

a little off topic but how you can create multiple master track?

Drag audio output mapping(s) onto the blank area below the last track.

August 24, 2011 at 06:04 #20950

thcilnnahoj
Participant

@frollo9386 wrote:

a little off topic but how you can create multiple master track?

Drag and drop an audio output from the inspector (device panel) to the tracklist.
Just drop it so it doesn’t become a child track of the already existing master track.

If you want to create monitor mixes,
you’ll probably want to create a bus return feeding into the new master track,
and control the mix with sends, like in this example:

August 24, 2011 at 11:06 #20951

frollo9386
Participant

That was very easy and intuive… Me noob 😀

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