Metro G4 getting stuck w audio plug ins

[hallhenry]

Hi Jerm and Scooter and the rest of ya'll:

I've been using the updated Metro G4 6.1.0.4 for about a month now. ( I realize that 6.1.0.6 is available and will soon get it!). But I've been having trouble with the edit menu getting stuck and nothing responding. What happens is when I open an audio plug-in, preview it, decide not to use it and close its window, the edit menu remains highlighted but I'm unable to open another audio plug in. Everything I then try to open does not respond. The mouse still can move around but everything I try and touch won't respond.

Any thoughts? By the way, I'm using OSX 10.2.8 on an I-Mac G4 1Gig processor and Sample Tank, along with a Tascam US-122 audio interface.
I just got the interface, USB powered, and works extremely well with many convenient features. There is a little latency issue, but very slightly. I Highly recommended this unit.

Over and out...hh

[Scoot]

I say the obvious - download 6.106 and see if it continues.


Just to confirm a little - are you hiliting an audio track or region and going into the edit menu to process the track (what's the word?) offline processing?

Any particular audio plug it's happening with?
I assume you're not talking sampletank as you're saying its happening on the audio side of things.

With the power of a Ghz machine, is there a reason you don't drag the plugin across to the track (or aux) to add the effect required?
I've never had a problem that way and it would be a temporary fix.


roger wilco scoot.

[hallhenry]

Hi Scoot:

i'm not sure what hilting is(...maybe something a kinky girl heir to a rich Hilton hotel family might do...., maybe not!!) Please explain for my audio editing techniques are in dire need of more technique!!

there is no particular plug-in that's affected, it seems randomly any of them. They could either be from SPARK XL or from Mac audio. What I do is highlight the section or the entire region of audio I wish to have enhanced, then start experimenting with shaping the sound from the plug-ins. Sometimes it gets stuck sometimes not.

"With the power of a Ghz machine, is there a reason you don't drag the plugin across to the track (or aux) to add the effect required? "

I've never tried it. Would you explain the steps?

thanks....roger dodger....hh

[Scoot]

(Instead of hiliting I should have written high-lighting.........I must have taken hiliting from the hi-lite pen brand. oops)

Now that I am back in OSX 10.2.6 - I think you've found a nasty bug - as I have just come across the same situation doing what you did........interesting that going out of metro and into safari to write this, and back into metro removes the highlighted menu but the problem remains. Quitting metro doesn't seem to get you out of metro although it did ask if I wanted to save changes. Force Quit does.


Explaining the steps.......or the guide for HH to avoid the bug he's found......

Adding reverb to an audio track.......

- place some audio on track 1 (or any other track number)

- do a command 9 & a command 0 (zero) to bring up the plugins and effects windows (or open them from the "windows" menu).

- make sure the track window has selected track 1 (or whatever the track number was in step one!)

- go to the plugins window and drag AUMatrixReverb across to the effects window

- play the track by hitting the space bar or play from the transport window and the default reverb will start playing along with the track. You can select a popup preset or turn the pan controls to adjust the effect in the effects window.

- if you want to remove the effect, highlight the name in the effects window and hit the delete key of the keyboard or clear from the menu.

you can also add more than one effect to a track......have reverb, flanger and EQ all at once.


Once you get used to doing this, you can do the same thing on an aux..... and this is where the real power and usefulness of effects and aux comes in.... because you can have one reverb and place it on multiple tracks at different strengths saving CPU power.

goto
http://www.sagantech.biz/downloads/downloads.shtml
and download the "Quick Aux Setup Tutorial" at the bottom of the page.

It is VERY step by step....so you shouldn't have any problem....(but it was written when the mixer window was the instruments window).

It is also written as a demo using the AUMatrixReverb so it shouldn't be too different to what I wrote above.


scoot.

[Jerm]

There is indeed a bug in Metro where if you switch applications while in the process of using the effects-plug-in-processor you get into a strange mode. You can get out of it by closing windows in Metro until the effects-plug-in-processor becomes front most again. This is completely fixed in 6.1.0.8.

The best workaround is not to switch out of Metro until you are finished previewing the effect.

[Scoot]

Hey Jerm.........

I did just go out of metro to see if I could get away from the problem.

The bug is there just by staying in metro and closing the preview of the plugin.

Personally I don't see the need to use plugins this way.......its better to drag them to the effects window....which was my suggestion to HH.


scoot

[Jerm]

Oops. For now just pretend there is no close button in the window!

[hallhenry]

Hi Scoot and Jerm:

Many thanks for the thorough and speedy response. I will try the hilite(good pens and markers!!) method and report back to you. I'll also read the info on putting plugins in aux to save processing power because I definitely need some economizing. Sometimes I have over 14 channels of Sampletank and two or three of audio going. The Sampletank effects take up a lot of processing power, but they sound great!!


Til next time....hh

[Scoot]

I will try the hilite(good pens and markers!!) method and report back to you. I'll also read the info on putting plugins in aux to save processing power because I definitely need some economizing. Sometimes I have over 14 channels of Sampletank and two or three of audio going. The Sampletank effects take up a lot of processing power, but they sound great!!

You were already using the hilite method and testing plugins with the preview window......and you probably started doing it this way cause metro told you that nothing was selected.
This method requires selection because once you clicked OK, metro would go and process the effect on the selected area.


-----------------------

I just opened sampletank 2 and threw about 10 instruments onto an aux and was going to snapshot a piccy and show you but my mac came to a grinding halt and I got the spinning rainbow ball cursor.
I think the mac ran out of memory and that's scary since I have 768MB.

Anyway here's 4 on one aux.
I don't know if it's an economical method for sampletank as you lose a lot of ram..........but maybe you always would anyway.

[Jerm]

Sampletank 2 has been updated to 2.0.3 and in the blurb they mention compatibility with Sagan Technology Metro.