Topic: YOUR FEATURE REQUEST LISTS

Wow . . . you’ve really done it this time. First of all, I think you may have missed your calling. The video illustration you’ve given us is so clear and well done that perhaps you should be in the film and video editing field. In fact, your great illustration makes the process look easier and faster than it often is!

Second, this brings up some additional issues for me: I prefer not to think about this idiosyncrasy of Podium at all, unless I’m actually doing this job at that very moment. Further — and this betrays my age — I’m formerly a tape and scissors guy because that was all we had. And I still have that in my head when I’m putting clips together — which means also, as helpful as Podium is trying to be by automatically creating fades when you shove two segments together, splicing tape together (of course) doesn’t do that, and we relied on our ears to make things turn out right. The only editing tool I completely trust is my ears. The first time I encountered this using Podium I hadn’t read about it yet, but saw right away what it was trying to ‘do for me’. One of my personal quirks is that I don’t like anyone or anything helping me unless I’ve expressly asked for it. So I’m wishing there was a big red Kill Switch in the corner. Splicing is a job I never rush on in the first place, and I’ve always had the knack of splitting tracks without any pops or clicks resulting — I simply zoom in quickly and find a zero crossing or often just a tasty spot that I know will work.

All right, having got my personal issues vented, what can be said about this? This is just the way Podium does it, and I suppose I could build a defense for this method, though it is foreign to my ancient Tonemeister training and the way I’ve seen other DAWs do it. Being a reative cheap skate and usually stubborn enough to do everything the long and hard way, I sometimes think my life is just a series of endless workarounds. Are you saying here that you just want the volume edits to be ‘lockable’, able to be frozen when satisfied — whatever term we want to give it? I’m not sure, but that might not be too hard to implement. I probably waste more time than some from double checking results, because this process still spooks me a bit.

Mickael, just before you, mentioned as #1 on his list merging MIDI, but I have to assume this means throwing two separate tracks together, more of a side by side thing I think. Yet this could also include ‘splicing’ two separate ‘entries’, as they are referred to there. However, MIDI is a completely different animal in that regard. MIDI info is technically quanta, and each little package follows along in more of an analog fashion. If not limited by your editor, you should be able to pull each quantum apart from others and place them together also. I stated in my own list the broader desire to be able someday to do practically anything to a MIDI track and channel that you could do with Audio tracks.

I know I’m getting away from your prime concern but I wanted to briefly tie MIDI into this track editing discussion. With awesome sounding VSTi’s now and a healthy learning curve for MIDI, this is how I am going to add English horn and the coronet to my own Strawberry Fields this year. I’m rather excited. I’ve seen MIDI treated as a sort of second-class citizen all around. My other DAW, Reaper, has its MIDI shortcomings, too; it’s a hot button issue on their forum also.

So, again, would locking in your volume edits to the segments you are bringing together be the fix in your example? I don’t know if I was joking about having a kill switch or not. It is pretty clear, though, from your illustration that the process is a lengthy chore for merely sticking two chunks of audio together. As you know, when we are gluing a handful of short audio parts together then the job gets multiplied for each part included. It can become an assembly line.

This situation you brought up and the one or two other hobgoblins that have concerned me to some degree are nowhere near enough to make me want to look for some non-existent greener pastures and consider bailing. Frits has built in so much stability, customisations, and many features I like that I can’t get too worked up over something like this that concerns me. You know, right here on this thread we’ve got a few requests for more and better scrolling all around, but that worries me a bit ’cause its my biggest problem with Reaper — though for the opposite reason. Reaper tends to be terribly jumpy. It will practically scroll itself if you so much as breathe on it, horizontally, vertically, you name it. That, and it likes to open or close menus, editors, the keyboard, etc., way too easily, whether docked or not. Very limited ability to lock down or freeze things. Jus’ saying.

What you’ve brought up here is an issue for me as well, adimatis. If you slow down that video clip by 3X or so, you’d see about how slow I go at this! Any other thoughts on this process?