Pseudo Freeze ability ???

Rahman wrote on 2/25/2004, 8:13 AM
hello vegas fam:

I need some help trying to figure out how to do sort of "pseudo Freeze" function in Vegas. I have migrated to a Laptop config and when on the
road I would like to mix & edit via headphones.

The problem is that when using 4 to 6 inserts per Track (especially the Waves plugs, or other CPU intensive plugs), the battery gets sucked
dry pretty quick. I can barely manage 40 min of work without shutdown.

So after thinking of what I can do (Including looking at the possibilities of Cubase SX) , I had a thought...

1) What about the "undo/redo history" features of Sound Forge 7?

2) I could click on a track in vegas. Open it in sound forge for editing.
process the effects and then re-insert the processed wav file in
vegas. Then disable the effects and lower the strain on the CPU.

3) I tested it and it works with the exception that after sound forge
closes, I cannot go back to re-edit or "undo/redo" edits because
this histroy is deleted when SF closes......right?

4) I tried to save in sound forge also as a ".frg " file. But Vegas
did not link the saved ".frg" file in SF7 with the processed wave file
now in the vegas project.

Anyone have any ideas how to accomplish this ? (Or is it even possible)?
Am I missing something? or going about this all wrong?

Also:

a) I know one alternate would be to purchase "FxFreeze" to go with CubaseSX. ( the problem is Vegas is better for mixinig and arranging.
and FxFreeze only works with VST plugs).

b) also I could try to render the tracks to mono or stereo busses but
it makes lots of big files and they also cannot be undone.

c) I hate "samplitude 7". UI is just not intuitive like Vegas.

I welcome any other ideas on how I can accomplish this.



thanks a bunch


Comments

drbam wrote on 2/25/2004, 8:24 AM
Right click on the track and choose the "open a copy" function. The edited copy comes back to Vegas as a new "take" - the original is left untouched. You can delete the copy later when you no longer need it.

HTH,

drbam
Rahman wrote on 2/25/2004, 8:35 AM
thanks drbam :

I know. I did that. However, how can you make adjustments to the new
"take" file?

are you saying that undo/redo history will be intact in SF7 for the new
"take" ? doesn't SF7 delete the undo/redo history when it closes and you
return to vegas?


thanks


drbam wrote on 2/25/2004, 2:21 PM
>>doesn't SF7 delete the undo/redo history when it closes and you
return to vegas?<<

Yes. I assumed you only wanted to make some intitial edits or processing to your tracks to free up cpu drain while recording and/or carving out the mix of other tracks, then return to the original files to finish up. After re-reading your original post, I think you will either need to use another app that has a freeze feature, or commit to some destructive edits/processing on some of the tracks, or use full AC power when mixing in Vegas on your laptop. Maybe someone else has other suggestions, but I don't see them right now. Personally I would commit to some destructive editing and/or even submix (render) some processed/edited tracks. I think its good for us to occasionally approach a project like we're working with an 8 trk recorder. Having unlimited tracks, undo's and editing is wonderful but it can also become an problem and drain the life out of a performance if we're not careful. Anyway, that's my $.02 ;-)

drbam
cosmo wrote on 2/25/2004, 3:02 PM
tricky tricky. You mentioned Cubase SX. I changed to that app from Vegas and I've been very satisfied. The interface sucked at first compared to Vegas, but after a few projects I got it set up nicely. And the gains are imeasurable. I run Cubase with Rewire to Reason and use half the CPU power I did with Vegas(with minimal tracks and plugs). Now I have twice as many tracks, twice as many plugs(Waves no less, very hard on CPU) and use half the power.

Usability is a big factor for many people. For me, the convience and reliability with the added power eventually got me. I'm still using Vegas for 5.1 and video constantly, but for intensive audio I bailed. Sorry guys!
Rednroll wrote on 2/25/2004, 4:38 PM
Actually, you don't even need to open sound forge to achieve what you're trying to do. Right click on the event and select "apply non realtime event FX". This will then come up directly in the Vegas undo menu. You could even save the Track plugins as a plugin chain, then select that chain for the non realtime FX processing, saving you a whole lot of time.
Rahman wrote on 2/25/2004, 6:52 PM
Thanks Red!!!

baby oh baby, that sounds like music to my ears.
so when you say " this will come up directly in the vegas undo menu", you mean just like undo-ing a regular edit like moving a clip or something?

also, does this method destroy the original wave file? (i.e. this is all done in
Vegas non-destructively, applies an efx chain to a trak, then mute the effects to free up the CPU???

well hell, that "is EFX Freeze" as far as i am concerned. why is this not promoted as such ? what is the difference between this and what is normally understood as an "efx freeze" function in other apps ???

just curious....

Because If this actually works for me, i don't reeeeaaaaly give a sh---t what
the difference is. I'm just a happy happy joy joy!!!

this Forum is so helpful sometimes it's scary.



I will test all proposed solutions to see which works best for how I'd ideally like to work.


thanks a bunch Red, drbam, and cosmo
Rednroll wrote on 2/25/2004, 7:01 PM
Well,
That feature has actually been in Vegas since v1.0. And it's primary use was to do what you're asking to free up CPU resourses. I'm not too familiar with the FX freeze features in other apps because honestly I've not found one I like as much as Vegas. When you do the apply FX's it creates a new file and your original file is kept intact. I'm thinking the major difference between this and the FX freeze is that that Vegas puts the process in the undo menu, so if you do a bunch of edits later those edits will follow the "apply non realtime fX", therefore if you go back to undo the fx, you will also undo everthing else proceeding it, in the undo menu. I could be wrong though, give it a shot and see how it works for you.
Rahman wrote on 2/25/2004, 7:32 PM
Hi Red (and Vegas fam):

I will try to test this out tonight. One question is that...

I thought the undo/redo history in vegas was also wiped when you close vegas. So that if you resume work on a project later, your undo history is gone. I could be wrong but I thought this undo/redo ability of Vegas was limited to a "per session" basis. It's been a while so I'll have to test it and see if that's true.

If this is the case, then maybe what i have to do is save the chain as you suggested, so that the settings could be called up and orig file could be dragged from the explorer folder and put back in the project to re-tweak the
mix if necessary.

(a little more file management than I would like. But it would still achieve the ultimate goal)


thanks again
Rednroll wrote on 2/25/2004, 8:05 PM
"I could be wrong but I thought this undo/redo ability of Vegas was limited to a "per session" basis."

No, you're right...forgot about that one.
cosmo wrote on 2/25/2004, 8:41 PM
...come to think of it, when I worked on a laptop before, I did a lot of destructive edting. I used to make a little spreadsheet template to reuse and I also saved chains like you guys were talking about, then logged the settings and applied the effects to the file in the next take. The original wasn't lost and if I needed to recreate I had a means to do so. It is extra management, but worth it in the end.