Slomo.
AshHi! =^_^=
I have been using Podium 1.77 CM since a few weeks ago (when I tried it for the second time after not understanding it the first time and giving up on it for a while). Of course, this time around, I actually get how it works, and I’m really enjoying the speed and logical nature, which mean that I can get a lot more done in less time!
I’ve always wanted speedy workflow, and I am now finding that with all the features they’re stuffing into it, SONAR (which I will be effectively switching from) is just getting slower and slower to do the crucial functions like MIDI editing in the Piano Roll, which I consider as something that is fundamental to my workflow since I’m primarily a VST/sample-based MIDI musician, rather than someone who records bands, or lots of audio. I do use audio too, but MIDI based plugins are at the core of my music.
Another reason I love Podium is the curve automation. I also own FL Studio and I consider its automation system as one of the best things I’ve ever used. I’m so glad to see something similar in Podium, but the thing that stops me from using FL Studio for serious work is the lack of a freeze function. (That’s a big reason why I’m buying Podium. The bounce feature is very similar to SONAR’s freeze feature, which I consider one of the best implementations of freeze I’ve ever seen. The ability to unload plugins from RAM is brilliant, and just like SONAR. I only have 2GB RAM in my machine, so the ability to bounce, free up RAM and then add more stuff is absolutely essential to me, since I use huge sample libraries like EastWest’s Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold XP and Symphonic Choirs.)
This leads me to my questions. I am a composer and I have done some work for short animated films. I can obviously use SONAR for video playback and use MTC sync from Podium to control SONAR (since I understand Podium does not have video player functionality yet), but I want to know whether Podium can display times in SMPTE HMSF format. I don’t need SMPTE sync, since MTC has now been implemented (which is a big reason I’m buying Podium), but I’d like to be able to use Musical timebase to compose music for video, and Linear mode for arranging my sound effects, so some sort of SMPTE time display in both modes (with configurable FPS in the project-specific settings) would be useful to me.
I know some people might consider it rude for a first-time poster to be requesting features, but I’m constantly on the lookout for things that will improve my workflow and enable me to work better. All the music programs I’ve used are either missing crucial bits of functionality (e.g. freeze with RAM unload), or have become so feature-stuffed that they’re slow and clunky. It seems like the more technology I have at my disposal, or the more features my music programs are packed with, the less I am able to get done. I’ve always wanted to have a program like Podium that just cuts all the extra crap away and lets me concentrate on the most fundamental areas of making music. (Ear-candy comes later, but Podium allows me to do that too!)
Ultimately, getting music ideas down quickly is my most important goal, and Podium, Renoise and FL Studio are the only programs I own that can do that. However, Renoise can’t save MIDI files, FL Studio doesn’t have freeze and neither does Renoise. So that leaves Podium, and that explains why I’m buying it.
One more question is: does Podium have the ability to “lock” MIDI notes or clips, and audio clips to an absolute point in time? This way, if I change tempo, a locked event will always occur at the absolute time I set it at. This would also be very useful to me, though perhaps not essential.
Apologies for the very long post, but half of it turned into a rant at my lack of finding one software that has all the features I’d like to have in a program. I know that can be construed as selfish, but I really don’t like having to switch programs back and forth to just get one piece of music done. Since speed is so important to me, program-hopping is kinda counter-productive. ^_^;;
Many thanks for taking the time to read this post. I really appreciate it.
Take care,
Ash
ZynewaveHi Ash,
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for the feedback.
can obviously use SONAR for video playback and use MTC sync from Podium to control SONAR (since I understand Podium does not have video player functionality yet)
If you intend to use Sonar only for the video playback, then you could consider using a video player VST plugin instead. There’s a couple of links here (I haven’t tried these myself):
http://www.zynewave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1397
I want to know whether Podium can display times in SMPTE HMSF format
I can’t remember if this was implemented after Podium 1.77, but it is possible to simultaneously display bars/beats and HMS in the timeline ruler. Is it important to have the frame numbers as well?
does Podium have the ability to “lock” MIDI notes or clips, and audio clips to an absolute point in time?
Not in a musical timebase arrangement. I can see this will be useful when arranging a musical piece to a movie where you want sound effect clips locked to absolute times in the movie. Maybe in a future update.
acousmodNot in a musical timebase arrangement.
Does that means that it is already possible in a linear timebase arrangement ? 😯 😯
Maybe in a future update.
Yep, I hope so…
Zynewave@acousmod wrote:
Not in a musical timebase arrangement.
Does that means that it is already possible in a linear timebase arrangement ? 😯 😯
You probably think about a lock option so that the event cannot be moved by the mouse. I was talking about an option to lock an event to its absolute time position, so that if you change the tempo of the arrangement, then the time locked events will move to a different bar/beat position.
AshIf you intend to use Sonar only for the video playback, then you could consider using a video player VST plugin instead. There’s a couple of links here (I haven’t tried these myself):
http://www.zynewave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1397
I am already familiar with video-playing VST plugins, as I have tried to use them with Renoise. All of them have one fatal flaw – the video doesn’t sync when moving forwards or backwards through a piece of music, so finding the exact moment when a spot effect has to happen takes orders of magnitude longer than it should. (The original poster of that thread acknowledges this issue also.)
The main reason I will use SONAR for video playback is precisely because it maintains perfect sync with the video while moving through a piece of music, even when acting as a slave to MTC sync, providing SPP is supported by the MTC master. In this case, Podium does the job!
I can’t remember if this was implemented after Podium 1.77, but it is possible to simultaneously display bars/beats and HMS in the timeline ruler. Is it important to have the frame numbers as well?
This is important, though I can see where you’re coming from.
Having frame numbers would mean that I can tie effects to a certain frame, and even though the resolution of Podium is greater (1/100 of a second compared to 1/24 or 1/30 of a second), I would then need to make a calculation for every sound effect, in order to convert the frame position of the effect into 1/100s of a second to fit them into Podium properly.
Since SMPTE resolution is less than the 1/100 of a second Podium uses, one frame can be the difference between a door almost closing, and actually being closed. Syncing an effect to a frame, rather than 1/100s of a second mean that there would be less margin for error in getting the timing of an effect right. If we have a three-frame movie (with an FPS of 24, for the sake of argument) and there’s a door slam in frame 2, that gives us only 1 frame where the effect has to take place. If we set the position of the effect by frame, that will mean that there’s only one place to put the effect, on frame 2. Timing by 1/100 of a second in this case would mean that we have (100/24) = 4.166666666… hundredths of a second per frame. That means that there’s four possible places to put the sound effect now, instead of just one. Having a time display with frames would greatly simplify the timing process in this instance.
A couple of years back, a customer who bought a film (whose title I forget) noticed that the soundtrack in the DVD master was three frames out of sync. It was really that noticeable. Millions of copies of the film had to be recalled in order for the soundtrack to be fixed.
Also, since SMPTE time is a standardised format, conversation about timing with others who are working on the film will be taking place purely in this standardised format. In order to communicate with others, I would need to make yet another calculation to turn 1/100 seconds back into frame numbers to be able to let others know what I’m doing.
All these calculations can end up being time-consuming, and there is also the possibility of mathematical errors (mainly associated with rounding numbers) that could potentially throw a soundtrack out of sync with a film.
I know Podium was not intended for film scoring in the first instance, but I really do think it would be nice to see Podium being used for this application more in future, as it grows and evolves. The speed of prototyping musical ideas with Podium is an essential requirement for composers who are hard-pushed for time! The arrangement feature is very nice for composers too, since in a lot of cases, several different versions of a cue may have to be created for different situations. With the arrangement feature, these can all be neatly contained in a single project folder, along with sound effects and anything else that’s required.
Obviously, things will be improved little by little, as Podium gradually becomes what its users always imagined its potential would be, but until then, I will keep working around any issues I find.
I hope you do not mind me issuing these kinds of feature requests that deviate from what might be intended for Podium. I know they stray from Podium’s original purpose, but I just want to do my part in seeing Podium eventually become a real audio power tool for all types of musician.
Ash
acousmodYou probably think about a lock option so that the event cannot be moved by the mouse.
Yes, sorry for the mistake (but I hope for this lock option nevertheless !).
PiginiHello Ash, good to see users with other, not so common, needs and uses for podium buying into it.
The implementation of MMC/MTC support into podium for me too helped alot in the way I prefer to work.
Extending podiums syncing capabilities might even attract more users with different backgrounds.
For that, I think, it might be a good idea to implement smpte(ltc) additionally, despite the fact that we have MTC(Master) already.
Here are a few reasons why I think that could be useful:
– many video professionals record a smpte track to audio, it’s the most reliable way and most compatible with other gear and soft.
– recording smpte as an audio track gives sample accurate timing
– since the smpte is an audio track you can build grids etc from it
– audio tracks can be im- and exported in many apps, which always works best, without having to pay attention to how well the realtime syncing between different apps or computers actually works.
– there are often more audio ins/outs left to spare than midi channels
– it might save some cpu cycles, compared to generating mtc on the fly with all the other things going on with midi (not so shure about thatone, depends on how it’s implemented, I guess)
– ..and last but not least: Reaper has it already 😉
Zynewave@Ash: Thanks for your insightful comments. Much appreciated.
@Ash wrote:
I know Podium was not intended for film scoring in the first instance, but I really do think it would be nice to see Podium being used for this application more in future, as it grows and evolves. The speed of prototyping musical ideas with Podium is an essential requirement for composers who are hard-pushed for time! The arrangement feature is very nice for composers too, since in a lot of cases, several different versions of a cue may have to be created for different situations. With the arrangement feature, these can all be neatly contained in a single project folder, along with sound effects and anything else that’s required.
Obviously, things will be improved little by little, as Podium gradually becomes what its users always imagined its potential would be, but until then, I will keep working around any issues I find.
I hope you do not mind me issuing these kinds of feature requests that deviate from what might be intended for Podium. I know they stray from Podium’s original purpose, but I just want to do my part in seeing Podium eventually become a real audio power tool for all types of musician.
Although Podium does not currently offer dedicated film-scoring features, it is an area that I plan to work on in the future. I think it will be possible to extend Podium into a capable film-scoring tool, within the curent UI framework.
acousmodWouaouh, a very nice prospect !
SlomoI think it will be possible to extend Podium into a capable film-scoring tool…
And so do I. Absolutly!
Scoring or general soundwork for film I think Podium will do really great…or more.
Äntligen!
I had to quote a swedish reporter who repeatedly shouted that at the announcement of the Nobel prize winner in litterature. He was banned from the event due to that. Hope I’m not. (Äntligen=finaly).