ZynewaveYou can drag objects around and into folders using the project browser. Holding the control key while dragging an object will move it into any object you drop it on. Dropping an object on one of the top tabs will allow you to move an object to a parent folder.
Once the ‘Devices’ folder has been created by the wizard, you can rename it or move it to another folder location. Should you later choose to import more devices, then Podium will search for the location of the devices folder.
You should be careful of moving things around that are placed below a Device Definition object though, as this folder structure is required for presets and parameters to be accessible in the arrangement panels.
ZynewaveAre all updates free with the full purchase?
Yes, all updates are free. I think I better go add that info to the purchase page.
In the future I plan to offer major new features as add-on licenses, but this probably won’t happen until a release 1.5 or 2.0. Read the license discussion in this topic.
Frits
ZynewaveThis could lead to some confusion. If e.g. you’re inside an arrangement editor, then the current viewed folder is the arrangement object (any object can act as a folder for other objects). Opening the wizard in the arrangement editor to import a new plugin, would then misleadingly place the imported objects inside the arrangement object.
ZynewaveBy adding the feaure that the contextual menu reflects the tools in the toolbar I get the X(only) and Y(only) zoom function in the contextual menu (they are in my toolbar) >> but they are not selectable in the contextual menu.
Thanks. Fix will be available in 1.04.
ZynewaveZynewaveZynewaveTraditionally most hardware (and software) mixer faders will allow you to boost the level of a track with up to +6, +10, +12 or +18 dB. This is necessary because on many mixers the faders are the only means to boost a signal on a track. I chose a different approach in Podium by implementing a gain setting for the track and let level automation be an attenuation of this gain setting.
I am pleased with how this split into a gain setting and level automation has turned out. You can adjust the gain setting on audio tracks and avoid creating a level track if you don’t want to automate the level. And for tracks with level automation, you can adjust the gain setting to ‘offset’ the entire level automation on the track.
So if you want to boost an audio track with +6dB at some point, you need to set the gain of the track to +6dB, and then start the level automation at -6dB. I’m going to improve the curve editor soon, so that it will be possible to see dB values for the curve points.
If it turns out to be a huge demand that level automation tracks should be offset with +6dB, one way of supporting this would be to define a new ‘+6dBFS Level’ parameter type in the Parameter properties dialog. Existing projects would then not be affected.
Also, I have been in the habit of making most tracks have audio mixing, so I can adjust the levels all the way through the signal chain. Is there much of a processing leap in doing this, or is the only code added in the form of signal==signal*gain;? (I realise that it increases the graphical overhead too..)
Every track that you audio enable will get an extra sub-mixer at that track. Meaning that there will be a buffer used for collecting the audio of subtracks, to calculate the meter values and to apply pan and level changes (if set differently from defaults). Tracks that have e.g. plugins assigned will already have the sub-mixer created, so audio enabling those tracks to get the gain setting will not add overhead to the audio processing.
Finally… If a track overloads, does Podium clip, or just pass the overloaded signal down the chain to be attenuated later? I’ve noticed that if (for example) I have a snare hit that goes red in it’s channel, the parent track goes less red, and the master channel stays green; and all of them have 0dB gain…
Podium does not apply clipping, until it has to output the floating point audio to fixed point buffers in audio interfaces or recording to fixed point sound files. Some plugins can handle that you put an overloaded signal through them, others will create digital garbage. So generally you should keep the meters out of the red zone before applying effects.
If your track gains are all set to 0dB the signal is routed unaltered up the track hierarchy, unless your audio source is mono and thus is applied the chosen panning law.
That was some tough questions considering you were just strolling around in town 😉
Frits
ZynewaveAnd to repeat a suggestion I gave elsewhere in the forum:
The simplest way to make sound in Podium:
Select ‘New Project’ from the file menu. Import or drag&drop a wave file into Podium. Enter the sound editor for the sound object. Press play. The sound file should be playing on the first pair of audio output channels that you enabled in the interfaces dialog.
ZynewaveYou could email me your project file (.pod). I can then verify that your project is configured correctly.
ZynewaveI have contacted one of the Podium beta testers who uses a Audiophile 2496 card, and asked if he is experiencing any problems. I’ll report back when I know more.
At a guess, “mixer mappings” might mean the Master Stereo and Master Mono device mappings
Yes, the two master outs and the Parameters folder with the level and pan parameters.
In fact, I can’t even explicitly select the Delta at all. The only two choices for audio interface are
and . I’d expect to see the Delta AP listed here
Podium only supports the use of one sound card, so the
I’d expect to see the Delta AP listed here, preferably split into a choice of outputs.
And I have no idea what the starting target channel number in the Audio Configuration box is supposed to represent.
The source and target channel numbers are indeed the channels on your audio interface. If you have selected
I’m intrigued by the “Output buffer skip count: 2” message. What on earth does that mean?
This is the result of the ‘ASIO sample position gaps’. This can happen with some drivers during initialization of the driver. What should be worrying is if these counts increase during normal operation. This could indicate that there is a conflict with digital clock source inputs. Some drivers also ‘jumps’ in the sample position if there is a buffer underrun.
ZynewaveHigh on my list is support for dragging wave files directly onto tracks. Judging from the feedback of several users, one of the biggest obstacles is how to put premade sound files onto tracks. It’s not obvious that you have to import wav files into Podium, open an object list window and drag the sound objects onto tracks. This browser would hopefully improve on the workflow of this.
ZynewaveAs I imagine it, the media browser window would include an embedded object list that shows only the sound objects imported into the project. Much like the panel lists in the track inspector. Next to this list would be a kind of traditional file explorer interface (in Podium style graphics of course).
Zynewave..I also wanted to comment and say that I produce using multiple computers (laptop for on the go) and would like to be able to export everything to one file and copy that to my laptop for further editing.
Good point, I’ve added the archive feature to the future list.
as an aside to this, in the short term could there be an option to output a file containing all the links to files, both those added by the user as sounds, and those maintained by Podium.
Spoken like a true developer :wink:. I would much rather do it the right way from the start; I had planned to make a simple media browser window that would enable you to preview wave files and drag them onto tracks.
This media browser could be made useful for many tasks; A way to mark all files referenced by a project. The media browser would have New Folder and Delete buttons, which you could use to delete files not referenced by your project. The media browser would probably be the right place to add functions for archive/restore projects to zip files, and renaming/moving sound files so that the new sound file names/locations automatically would be stored in the project file as well.
I was planning to work on the VST GUIless editor windows next, but if you think this media browser is important, then I could start on it as the next thing?
ZynewaveBut yeh, those MIDI CC objects are created from the MIDI I/O portion of the setup correct?
You probably refer to the MIDI Input Mappings panel. This is for creating mappings to your external MIDI controllers. The MIDI CC parameter objects will have to be created manually, if there is no device definition file for the plugin in the Podium Library.
ZynewaveI finally managed to download the latest Kontakt Demo (1.1). When importing it into Podium 1.01 (which supports native VST parameters), there are no VST parameters reported. Maybe it’s a demo limitation, but if not, then I guess you’re supposed to automate Kontakt using MIDI CC’s.
What probably is missing in your setup are MIDI CC parameter objects. When importing a Softsynth into Podium, only Pitch-Bend and Modulation (CC1) are created automatically. If you use the browser to locate the folder with the Kontakt parameters, you could copy and paste the Modulation object, and change the name and CC numbers in the properties dialog for the copied objects. I noticed that Kontakt allows to assign CC’s in the range of 0 to 121. I know it’s a tiresome job to create 120 parameter objects manually 😥 . In the future there will be a plugin definition file for Kontakt in the Podium library, with all these parameter objects preconfigured. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Frits