billv.
PulseThere are a few plugin-related issues that I have come across so far.
1. An unpredictable plugin loading behaviour; For an example Synthmaker’s AnnA, Aciddose Xhip, Fuzzpillz Oatmeal among many others are very unpredictable, they can crash the whole program. (NOTE – Oatmeal and Xhip are coded, not made with SE or SM)
This way I have lost a ton of synthesizing work with them, not to mention musical work.
On the other hand while scanning the plugin directory sometimes Podium failes to load it (AnnA) and adds it to the quarantine list. The same goes to some of the Antress and Variety of Sound vst effects. After 2-3 tries eventually Podium scans them succesfully and no problems arise when working with them.
2. Ridiculous loading time. Especially the case with BVMusic’s plugins (Free)
http://users.tpg.com.au/billv/free_vst_plug-ins.htm
The loading time in the plugin scanning process takes up to 20 minutes. Then again when adding them in a project to a track, another 15-20 minutes. Yes, as far as I can tell, they are made with Synth Maker and the core of the issues may be in there in the first place, but so is Nucleum and AM plugins, and they seem to work smoothly for now. I have tried them in other DAWs in the past that I have demoed, and no problems arouse. (S1 & FL )
3. Almost with all the synths I have, when tweaking them the Play cursor acts strangely and laggy.
…And of course the CPU problem. But mentioning it just for the protocol. The reasons may be as many as in a differential diagnosis, yet just in case…
Vibe On
Peace
CC
druidI have no problems with the time it takes to load VSTs. I keep a template with all the plugins neatly ordered and named the way I like them, and I keep them up to date (or try to). I would recommend creating a template and from then on, creating new projects based on that template. This isn’t specific to Podium in itself; I prefer starting with templates for all hosts I’ve tried so far.
The plugin import feature is useful at first, when you haven’t added any plugins. However, I also found it crashed when it tried to load them all. I am not sure how, but I think Podium gets ahead of itself somewhere, when there are lots of VSTs to scan. Though it is laborious, I also recommend organising VSTs into folders. For instance, I have gen and fx, and under fx I keep folders of the type of effect. When I created my template, I imported one folder at a time, which had far less plugins for Podium to import at once, and that seemed to forestall any import issues I had.
Your mileage may vary. I’ve used Oatmeal with no problem, however I haven’t tried the others you mention. SM products tend to take a long time anyway (possibly not as long as you are experiencing though).
Anyway, hope this assists to make things a little smoother for you.
PulseA fast response, thanks.
First of all, I would rather consider my post as a small report, hopefully directed towards Frits to read, and eventually consider in terms of stability fixes.
As when it comes to the plugin management, I have organized my plugins long ago with great care and love. It was true pleasure dealing with them, as well as seeing them every time I launch Podium, for it is with great love and fun I work with them. So (just as you proposed druid) they are all already neatly and intuitively organized by as many factors as possible; synth type (Subtractive, Hybrid, Wavetable, FM…); FX ( Modulation, Mixing, Delays, reverbs, Dynamics and so on and so on), Drums…Samplers…etc.
The report was on some particular synths that no matteer if scanned together with the rest, or imported separately, take great amount of time, and then again the same amount of time to add them to a track, whilst others fail to load at all, eventually loading after several attempts and a few more ( in the original post)…
And making a template with pre-loaded synths is not the best idea, one can never know how many instances of which instruments will be needed for the project, especially if the genre is a “synth-hog”, for, after all, maybe another instance of one of those problematic synths will be needed, and then we’re back to square one.
All of this is not imperative and unacceptable, yet minor irritating issues, the very reason I pointed them out, with hopes of future improvement, for it is clearly not the case with other hosts.
Vibe on
Peace
CC
ZynewaveBefore I start to check out specific plugins, could you please check that the problems you are seeing are still present with the latest Podium Free 2.40 release.
PulseJust checked them earlier today…
There is a considerable improvement indeed. The Antress and Variety of Sound plugins no longer cause problems while scanning.
No issues encountered with Oatmeal and Xhip so far.
However –
The loading time of BV Music synths (both when imported separately or in group) is now reduced to around 1-2 minutes per synth, which can still be considered above the acceptable norm, and after launching some of them in a project, Podium crashes and closes almost instantly.
The play cursor still acts laggy when a VST or a VSTi is being tweaked while auditioning in playback.
And a new issue, that happened all the time in 2.37, and keeps on reccuring still with Podium 2.40 ( yet not so often as in 2.37 ) is roughly 6 out of 10 times when closing Podium, and naturally saving the changes in the project, it closes with a crash, followed by a Windows crash dialogue on a frozen Podium background.
This happens with all the projects I have started, naturally very diverse in terms of used plugins, (though most of which are TAL ones, known for their stability as well as amazing quality) and very different combinations, no matter how heavy-loaded with plugins the project is or not.
So when all these seemingly detached issues are linked, it seems there is a plugin-integration incompatability, the very reason why I point all this out.
Peace
CC
billvI only just found this post, and I’m not a regular Podium user, so
please forgive my lateness.
First of all-Thanks for the feedback!!. Negative feedback is better
for me as the developer, as there is more to gain/learn ect,ect…
Yes, all of the plug-ins on my site are made with SM, or as in the case
of the new XFL series, I’ve used (FL Studio) SM, to take advantage of
the accurate timing system on-board.
All plug-ins are tested in FL Studio/Abelton Live and Sonar.
Ok. 20 minutes to load a plug in is BEYOND RIDICULOUS.
Even the 1-2 minute time is PATHETIC.
If a plug-in ( by any developer) kept me waiting for more than 10-15 seconds- I’d either throw it away or start asking questions.
So anyway, I just downloaded Podium Free, 2.42.and started tests….
I did get trouble straight away with X series synths. I’ve got 13 of them,
and not one of them would load.
So untill futher notice, X series and Podium are not compatible.
Will post this on my website as well for new users .
However,
The BV 20 Series all load within 5 seconds, here on Podium 2.42 Free
(I’m running 2.33 Quad Core)
Hope this helps somehow.
Bill
BV Music Sydney Australia