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Author Topic: Studo Vision Pro 3.5 (Jan 1997) Requires Macos 7.01+  (Read 4481 times)

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Offline chrisNova777

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Studo Vision Pro 3.5 (Jan 1997) Requires Macos 7.01+
« on: January 01, 2016, 12:30:03 PM »

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power mac native -10x faster -complete pro tools support with increased audio i/o, full TDM bussing and SampleCell TDM - Adobe premiere plugin support -integrated quicktime window with import/export options

Digidesign Pro Tools III, Pro Tools 442, Pro Tools Project, Session 8, Sound Tools II, Audiomedia III/II/LC, Yamaha CBX D3, CBX D5, Power Macintosh 16 bit audio Sound Manager compatible with Level 10 Cache, SCSI Hard Disk, and Connectiv Speed Doubler
Released January 16th, 1997
http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=https://www.ishibashi.co.jp/report/namm/opcode/opcode.htm&prev=search

mac os 7.6 was newly released at the time of the v3.5 release
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_7)




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Studio Vision 3.5 Requirements:
68020 cpu or better
System 7.01 or later
8MB of RAM
HD (1.44mb) Floppy drive
Hard disk

Reccommended for Audio
Powermac and above
12MB of RAM partition (RAM Disk?)
Level 2 Cache (300k per DSP plugin)
Digidesign "Sound Manager Driver" Required for AudioMedia card
2 GB Hard disk
CDRom Drive
Speed Doubler
Defragmentation Utility



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READ ME
STUDIO VISION PRO 3.5.1



Thank you for purchasing Studio Vision Pro 3.5.1. The following sections discuss information that's not included in your printed manual supplement, so please read them carefully.

If you are using Sound Manager audio with Studio Vision Pro, please see the document "Sound Manager Sequencing Tips." It contains useful information on setting up, calibrating and maximizing Sound Manager performance with your computer.


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FEATURES NOT DISCUSSED IN YOUR PRINTED DOCUMENTS

IMPORT/EXPORT FEATURES

• You can now import audio into a track simply by selecting the track in the Tracks Window and choosing File>Import Audio. Previously, you needed to open an edit window for a Track before the Import Audio command became available. Imported audio is inserted at the current Edit In point.

• If you import audio into a new file, and the audio is of a different sample rate than the session sample rate, then the audio will be imported without sample rate conversion, and the session sample rate will be automatically changed to fit the imported audio.

• Double click on the small clock display in Studio Vision's Control Bar to open the Sync Options dialog box. This feature is a shortcut to choosing the Options>Sync Options command.

• When using File>Export Audio Events on multiple events, Studio Vision will automatically generate a name for each file. Each file name is generated by using the name of the corresponding audio event optionally followed by a unique number, to avoid collisions, then followed by a suffix. For each file format there is a different default suffix. For AIFF files it is ".aiff", for Sound Designer II it is ".sd2", for WAVE files it is ".wav", for Sun/Next files it is ".au".

WAVES PLUG-INS

When launching the Waves Plug-ins that are supplied on the Studio Vision CD, you must enter the serial numbers provided on the Waves Product Registration card supplied with Studio Vision.  If you do not do this, these plug-ins will default to being unregistered demos.  The serial number for AudioTrack has an "AT" in it, and the serial number for EZVerb has an "EZ" embedded in it.

ARBORETUM PLUG-INS REQUIRE POWER PC

The Arboretum Plug-ins that ship with the Studio Vision Pro CD are for Power PC computers only, and will not appear in the DSP>Premiere™ Plug-Ins submenu for 680x0 computers.

YAMAHA CBX CONSOLE FEATURE

When a Console is in Master Instrument mode and a channel is assigned to an Audio Instrument that cannot be panned, the horizontal 'Pan' fader will disappear.  This will occur whenever 1) you send a mono audio signal to a single output, or 2) you send a stereo audio signal to an output pair.

CLEAR CONSOLE COMMAND NOW CLEARS TDM PLUG-INS

Page 65 of your Studio Vision 3.5 Supplement states that the Clear Console command does not clear TDM plug-in assignments. This is no longer true -- choosing Clear Console from the Console Window Menu now clears everything from the console, including TDM Inserts and Audio Sends.

Specifically, Studio Vision performs the following actions when you choose the Clear Console command:

1. It clears all TDM Inserts and Audio Sends assigned to any Audio Instruments used in that console. If another console uses the same Audio Instruments, then their TDM Inserts and Audio Sends will also be cleared -- it's up to you to know whether you've assigned an Audio Instrument to more than one console.

2. It clears all output assignments for any channels that are assigned to a bus, external input, or Sample Cell input. If another console uses the same bus or input, then its output assignment will also be cleared -- it's up to you to know whether you've assigned a bus or input to more than one console.

3. It sets the Instrument Selector for each channel to "none."

NOTE: If you wish to clear one or more channels without clearing any TDM assignments, Audio Sends, or output routings, then select "none" from each channel's Instrument Selector pop-up menu.

DIGIDESIGN PROJECT - DYNAMIC VOICE ALLOCATION SUPPORT

Digidesign Project owners can now use dynamic voice allocation, but it's important to keep the following restrictions in mind:

1. As discussed on Page 97 of your 3.5 Supplement, Project hardware groups its output assignments into two groups: Group #1 consists of Outputs 1-4. Group #2 consists of Outputs  5-8. You can route an Audio Instrument to any combination of outputs in a single group, but you cannot route an Audio Instrument to outputs contained in different groups. For example, you could route an Audio Instrument to Outputs 1, 3, and 4 (since they're all contained in Group #1), but you cannot route an Audio Instrument to Outputs 1, 3, and 5 (since Outputs 1&3 are in Group #1 but Output 5 is in Group #2).

2. If you use dynamic voice allocation and assign some Audio Instruments to Outputs 1-4 and others to Outputs 5-8, then Project splits its voice assignment among the two groups. It assigns four dynamic voices to share among Audio Instruments that are routed to Outputs 1-4 and it assigns the remaining four dynamic voices to share among Audio Instruments that are routed to Outputs 5-8. If you assign all Audio Instruments to one Output group (either 1-4 or 5-8), then Project dynamically allocates all 8 voices to the outputs within that group.

DIGIDESIGN AUDIOMEDIA III - 8 VOICES WITH DYNAMIC ALLOCATION

Audiomedia III users can now play 8 simultaneous voices using dynamic voice allocation. Previous versions required Audiomedia III users to employ fixed voice allocation in order to play 8 voices.

DAE 3.1 (or later) NOW USED FOR DIGIDESIGN PRODUCTS

Studio Vision now ships with and installs DAE/DSI version 3.1, which works with both NuBus and PCI Digidesign hardware, and is compatible with the new Pro Tools IV system.  You may encounter problems with DAE/DSI 3.1 in two areas:

• When appending a new audio take to an existing file, you may encounter errors where previously recorded audio is played back in place of audio you have just recorded.

• You may encounter problems with the "where-is" dialog, when DAE cannot locate an audio file required by Studio Vision.

Both of these bugs have been fixed in a new version of DAE (3.1.1) which is unfortunately not available from Digidesign for shipping at this time.  It should be available within a week or so of the date that Studio Vision 3.5 ships.  When it is available, it will be put on Opcode's World Wide Web site for downloading, and will also be available directly from Opcode's customer service and from Digidesign.


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KNOWN PROBLEMS

PREMIERE PLUG-IN CRASH POTENTIAL

Some third-party Adobe Premiere plug-ins consume extra memory each time they are invoked. This can result in a crash if you continuously launch these plug-ins in a single Studio Vision session. If Studio Vision crashes after informing you that memory is dangerously low, try allocating more RAM to Studio Vision. Also, you can reclaim the memory "stolen" by the plug-ins by quiting Studio Vision and restarting it. Most plug-in manufacturers are aware of the problem and are working on solutions.

"SYSTEM ERROR -7" (TDM Users Only)

In very rare instances, you may get a "System Error -7" message after launching Studio Vision and choosing File>Open to open a sequence file that has a large DSP resource requirement. In some cases, if the DSP resource requirement is too large, existing DSP resources may not be properly released when opening a file.  This can also happen if you have saved a Studio Vision Setup (File>Save as Setup) that has DSP resource requirements.  If you get a "System Error -7" error, quit Studio Vision, then double-click the sequence file's icon to launch Studio Vision (rather than opening the file from within Studio Vision).  Another alternative is to switch to Sound Manager audio (which clears all DSP resource requirements), open the file, then switch back to DAE.

If you have created a Studio Vision Setup with large DSP resource requirements, you should either 1) remove some of the TDM inserts from your setup file, then resave it, or 2) always launch Studio Vision by double-clicking the Studio Vision Setup file's icon.

This problem is very rare, and will most likely not be experienced by the majority of users. Opcode is currently working on a fix.

ERROR -2807 and ERROR -2804

Some users have encountered these result codes when attempting to authorize version 3.5 of Vision.  Our research has shown that installing QuickTime 2.5 fixes this problem.  Note that you must install QT 2.5;  it is not sufficient to already have QT 2.5 installed.  We believe that the installation process replaces a system file that has been corrupted.  In all instances that have been encountered by Opcode's Quality Assurance group, installing QT 2.5 eliminates these error messages.


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KNOWN INCOMPATIBILITIES

• Now Utilities's Sound pop-up menu: Do not use this utility at the same time as Studio Vision. If you're using Sound Manager with Studio Vision and want to change the Sound parameters, use either Studio Vision's Audio>Hardware Setup command, or the Control Strip module supplied with Apple System software.

• Apple's QuickTime Musical Instruments extension: When enabled, the QuickTime Musical Instruments extension uses such a substantial portion of your Mac's CPU time that it may cause performance errors with digital audio systems other than Sound Manager. Opcode developers recommend that DAE, CBX, or Sonic users disable the QuickTime Musical Instruments extension when playing or recording digital audio. To do this:
1. Open your current OMS Studio Setup document.
2. Double click the "QuickTime Music" icon in your Studio Setup document.
3. In the resulting dialog box, click the Off radio button, then click OK.
4. A circle with a slash across it appears over the "QuickTime Music" icon indicating it is disabled.

• RAM Doubler and Virtual Memory: Opcode developers do not recommend using either of these with Studio Vision.


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TIPS

THE PREFERENCE FILE

If your computer crashes while running Studio Vision, Opcode developers recommend that you throw away your Studio Vision 3.5 Preferences file (found in System Folder: Preferences) before restarting. This preference file can get corrupted during a crash--which could cause other problems.

If you use a unique Studio Vision configuration, and would rather not spend time resetting your Studio Vision 3.5 Preferences after a crash, then you should save a good copy of your Studio Vision 3.5 Preferences in case problems occur. This is especially important for users who enjoy custom key equivalents. Key equivalents are stored in the Studio Vision 3.5 Preferences file and would be lost when throwing out corrupt preferences. Create a copy of your Studio Vision 3.5 Preferences file, and save it in another folder. If you need to replace it, simply drag it into your Preferences folder to replace what is there (or option-drag to retain a copy).

CHANGING EXPORTED DEFAULT AUDIO FILE SUFFIXES

You can change any default suffix that Studio Vision appends to a file by editing Studio Vision with a resource editor. While Studio Vision is not running, launch ResEdit (or Resourcerer or another resource editor), then open Studio Vision from within it. Open the resources of type 'STR#'. Open 'STR#' resource number 702, "audio file extensions". Edit any suffix you want. The first one is for AIFF files, the second for Sound Designer II files, the third is for WAVE files, while the fourth is for Sun/Next .au files.

Save and quit the resource editor, then relaunch Studio Vision. Now the new suffixes will be in effect. Any suffix you enter that is longer than 5 characters including the dot will be truncated to a maximum of 5 characters.

If you want to be able to completely specify the name of each file, set the suffix to an empty string (no spaces) with the resource editor. After relaunching Studio Vision, edit the name of the events you want to export in the List Window. If those names are unique, the name of each exported audio file will be exactly the name of the respective audio event.

BOUNCING TDM EFFECTS TO DISK

Although the Audio>Mix command does NOT apply TDM effects to the mixed audio, you can still bounce TDM-affected Audio Instruments to disk, creating a new audio file (a sub-mix) that DOES contain audio modified by the TDM effects.

This technique is similar to bouncing tracks on an analog tape machine, except the process occurs digitally -- resulting in no loss of audio quality. This example shows how to do this with an 882 I/O -- owners of other interfaces can apply a similar technique:

1. On an 882 I/O, connect a cable from its S/PDIF In jack to its S/PDIF Out jack.
2. In Studio Vision, choose Audio>Hardware Setup.
3. In the Hardware Setup dialog box, set the Ch 1-2 Input to "Digital" and click OK.
4. In the Audio Instruments Window, set the Outputs to "Out 1-2" for all of the Audio Instruments that contain data you wish to mix (on the 882, Outputs 1-2 always appear at the S/PDIF Out jack).
5. Mute any Tracks or Audio Instruments that contain data you DON'T want to include in the sub-mix.
6. In the Record Monitor Window, record-enable Input 1 and/or Input 2 and define a new record file.
7. Click Record in the Control Bar. Vision plays all the Audio Instruments assigned to Output 1-2 (complete with their TDM assignments). It sends this audio mix digitally out the 882's S/PDIF Out jack. Simultaneously, it records that data on Inputs 1-2 since it's being routed back into the 882's S/PDIF In jack.

You have now bounced your audio with TDM effects to a new audio file, which you can use in your sequence--freeing your DSP resources for other TDM assignments.

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HOW TO GET THE MOST SEQUENCING POWER FROM SOUND MANAGER 3.2.1



This document outlines recommended configurations, setup options, calibrating offsets and general tips for maximizing your audio performance with Sound Manager audio with Vision 3.5.1 If you are not using audio with Vision, then you can disregard this document altogether.


RECOMMENDED CONFIGURATION FOR USING AUDIO WITH VISION

• Power Macintosh with 16 bit audio input and output
• System 7.5 or higher
• 8 MB minimum RAM allocation, more is better
• Fast (7200 rpm), large ( >1 GB), external SCSI hard drive
• Level II Cache—installing a Level II cache into your Macintosh (if it does not have one already) will increase the performance and synchronization of audio voices.
• Speed Doubler—using the Speed Access Extension on all Macs and the Speed Emulator Extension on PowerMacs will increase the number of well synchronized audio voices. The Speed Access and Speed Emulator Extensions are part of the Speed Doubler package made by Connectix Corporation.
• Sound Manager 3.2.1 (from Apple) or higher
• Defragmentation software to optimize the drive's performance regularly such as Norton's Speed Disk


OPTIONS AND SETTINGS

• To get the best results during audio playback keep your Macintosh's output volume at 7 while using Vision's Consoles to set Audio Instrument volumes individually. Any changes made to your Macintosh's output volume will remain during your recording session unless you relaunch Vision or switch in and out of Vision using the Finder. Vision will return your Macintosh's output volume to its original state upon Quitting.

• QuickTime Musical Instruments will sometimes cause problems while playing multiple voices of audio. If you are experiencing Performance Errors during the playback of audio, you should disable the QuickTime Music OMS Driver in OMS Setup. This is especially important if you don't have much memory.

• Setting the Buffer Size to Large will usually increase audio performance. Some users may not be able to set the Buffer Size to Large due to lack of memory and/or too many third-party Adobe Premiere plug-ins being installed. The Buffer Size setting is found in the Audio menu of Vision. Increase the RAM partition given to Vision by choosing Get Info from the File menu in the Finder while Vision is selected. To gain more memory if you do not have any more RAM available, pull any third-party Adobe Premiere plug-ins from System Folder: Extensions: Opcode Folder: Audio Plug-ins and relaunch Vision.

• When using audio files of varying formats within the same sequence, the number of voices set in Audio Preferences should equal (the number of tracks you intend to play) times (the number of different kinds of file formats in the sequence). The audio file formats are 8 bit Mono, 8 bit Stereo, 16 bit Mono, 16 bit Stereo, etc. Files of different sample rates are not considered to be files of different formats.

NOTE: Vision's Audio Preferences dialog allows for allocating up to 20 voices of mono, 44 kHz, 16 bit, digital audio. However, Apple does not recommend using Sound Manager for more than 10 voices of digital audio. You may find that you will get anywhere between 12 and 20 voices on a faster PowerMac (over 180 MHz). Experiment, and find the maximum number of playable audio voices on your Macintosh. If you experience any Performance Errors during playback or recording, decrease the number of voices in the Audio Preferences dialog and/or increase the Buffer Size using the menu items found in the Audio menu. Experimentation with your setup will tell you what is best.


RECORD AND PLAYBACK OFFSETS

When you manually enter the Record or Playback offsets of the Audio Preferences dialog, the numeric entries will be saved in Vision 3.5 Preferences. The manually entered offsets will remain set until the Vision 3.5 Preferences are thrown out. This enables you to conveniently switch between any number of voices in Audio Preferences without losing the offsets which were customized for your setup. If the Vision 3.5 Preferences are deleted, then Vision will go back to using the default offsets set in the Audio Preferences dialog.

If you are upgrading, you will probably need to use different Record and Playback offsets in Vision 3.5 than the offsets you were using in Vision 3.0.x. Vision 3.5's Sound Manager performance has improved a great deal since Vision 3.0.x, and thus the audio behaves differently in relation to the Record and Playback offsets. The default offsets given in Vision 3.5 are only close approximations of the offsets needed for your particular system. It is recommended that you either finish your current audio projects in Vision 3.0.x, and then start new projects in Vision 3.5. Or, you may wish to open your Vision 3.0.x sequences containing audio in Vision 3.5, but be prepared to reset the Record and Playback offsets in Audio Preferences so that your audio sounds correct in relation to the MIDI.


SETTING THE RECORD AND PLAYBACK OFFSETS

Through testing Opcode found its cannot adequately provide appropriate default Record and Playback offsets for every user. This is because offsets are determined by such factors as: your Macintosh model, hard drive speed and access, the amount of memory you're using, your System Software version, whether you're using a Level II Cache and/or Speed Doubler, and how many voices of audio you're intending to use. Because of the many variations among users' systems, Opcode decided that any default Record or Playback offset could not be as accurate as the offsets you, the user, can determine to be best for your system. Below are some guidelines and a specific recipe for determining the proper offsets for your setup.

• When using 8 voices of audio (or less) it is easiest to set the Playback offset based on how the audio & MIDI sound together, and leave the Record offset set to zero. Step record a MIDI percussion pattern, loop it, and then record it as a continuous track of audio. Then click on play and listen. Panning the MIDI to one side and the audio to the other is very helpful when listening for any flam between percussive hits. If you can hear the MIDI hitting slightly ahead of the audio, then set the Playback offset 100 higher. If you can hear the audio hitting slightly ahead of the MIDI, then set the Playback offset 100 lower.

• When using 10 voices of audio (or more) it is wiser to take the more scientific approach to finding the appropriate Playback and Record offsets for your system. (We apologize for the length, but thought more detailed information is best.)

1. Pick a MIDI device that shows up in Vision.
2. Route the MIDI device's audio output(s) into channel(s) 1 (& 2 if stereo) of a stereo mixer.
3. Route the stereo audio output of your Macintosh into channels 3 & 4 of a stereo mixer.
4. Route the stereo output of your mixer into the stereo input of your Macintosh.
5. Pan channels 1 & 2 of the mixer to the left, and pan channels 3 & 4 of the mixer to the right.
6. Launch Vision.
7. Make sure any Metronome Click is turned off.
8. Set both the Record and Playback offsets in Audio Preferences to zero.
9. Set the number of voices in Audio Preferences to the number of voices you plan to be using.
10. Set the Tempo to 275.63.
11. Step record a measure of quarter notes using a very percussive MIDI sound.
12. Loop the measure of MIDI percussion, and set the Sequence Length to infinity.
13. Open the Record Monitor.
14. In the Record Monitor, open a New Stereo File for recording.
15. Set the Record Monitor so that Thru is turned Off.
16. Record Enable a New Track.
17. Click on Play.
18. Make sure you have a good level of the percussive MIDI sound in the Record Monitor.
19. Click on Record.
20. After about 8 measures of recording, click on Stop. Observe: The MIDI should have gotten recorded into the left side of the stereo audio event.
21. Record Enable another New Track.
22. Click on Record.
23. After about 8 measures of recording, click on Stop. Observe: The MIDI should have gotten recorded into the left side of the stereo audio event while the audio got recorded into the right side of the stereo audio event.
24. Double click on the audio you just recorded thus opening it into the Graphic Editing window.
25. Zoom in as much as possible.
26. Set the Waveform Display in the Audio menu to High Resolution.
27. Turn off Cursor Quantize in the Graphic Editing window (if you had it turned on).
28. Use the cursor to measure the amount of units from a bar line to the percussive hit in the left channel of the audio event. Multiply this number by 20 and call it M.
29. Use the cursor to measure the amount of units from a bar line to the percussive hit in the right channel of the audio event. Multiply this number by 20 and call it A.
30. The Playback offset = A - 2M.
31. The Record offset = M - the Playback offset.
32. Enter the Record and Playback offsets you just calculated into the Audio Preferences dialog and begin recording some serious music. If you want to check your results before moving on, you can repeat steps 16 -26 and observe how close the percussive hits fall to the bar line.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2023, 03:36:00 AM by chrisNova777 »