New user got some issues / questions!

mlprod · 08-09-2015, 02:32 PM

Hi there, been lurking this forum for a while now since I am testing reaper as an
option for my new DAW platform, at least for mixing.
Basically I have been working professionally with music production for about
14 years and my daw of choice since then has had its development discontinued recently by SSL (soundscape). I do love this daw for its speed, extreme fast editing and stable mix engine, low footprint, DSP plugins etc. But sooner or later I need to move on with 64bit, something that is being updated etc etc.

I have been trying out Reaper for a while now and what I love mostly about it is that its snappy, highly customizable (almost too much even) and the dedicated user base with themes, scripts etc.

So since I can customize Reaper so much I have been able to make it behave sort
of like soundscape, at least in terms of editing.

Never the less I have some issues that I would to have some feedback on, some I may be able to solve with some help maybe...

So, a few things in no particular order of importance:

- Unlike some people here I dont have a problem with the lack of mono tracks
since the Reaper workflow just split the signals at the media items instead of the
pan pots, but I do have a problem with the lack of Pre fader metering,
please make it an option at least devs...

- The way that input monitoring when track arming is a bit confusing. In my world
when you record arm a track, you should hear the input right away without having
to manipulate the input monitoring separately. Is this possible?

- I nice feature would be to be able to double click and type a fader or pan value in the mixer without having to open a separate window. And speaking of this...
whats up with the fader resolution, 0.01dB? Come on. Is there anyway to make it
0.1dB instead with a hack?

- I am wrong, or does the auto save feature make an unlimited number of autosave
backups, and if so can it be restricted?
EDIT: I see now that this has been reqested for years. Just do it devs!

- Not sure about this, but does the relative file paths exist yet?

- Snap! Why on earth isnt there an option to snap to millisec, seconds, minutes etc? (no, setting BPM to 120 or 60 doesnt count)
Also CD-frames would be a great thing also for us who produces DDP masters in a
separate program.

- Keeping your project folder clean: In soundscape when you delete a part (item)
and the file it refers to is no longer in the project you get the question if you
want to delete the actual file aswell. In reaper if I delete all items that refer
to a specific file and choose clean project directory it doesnt find any unused files if they are in subfolders of my project folder.
This isnt good at all I think, any way to change this?

- Finally, I am expericing a sort of "mouse edit delay". Example: If I want to move
an item with the mouse it doesnt move exactly when I start moving the mouse, but
rather after I have moved the mouse pointer a couple of millimeters on the screen.
This bothers me a lot since I do a lot of small timing edits in may projects.
Also, this happens regardless if I have snap activated or not.

Alright, looking forward to your feedback!

/m

mschnell · 08-09-2015, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

I do have a problem with the lack of Pre fader metering, please make it an option at least devs..

I feel that pre-fader metering is completely irrelevant, as the internal data flow is floating point and hence the 0 dB point is just a matter of definition. There is no problem when exceeding it.

-Michael

mlprod · 08-10-2015, 12:05 AM

For internal things yes, but as soon as you go out of the box its getting relevant. For example if I want to send something to a hardware unit pre fader. Also if you have something really really quiet in the mix it can be hard visually with a glance to see that this track is actually playing.
Again, make us able to choose.

planetnine · 08-10-2015, 01:59 AM

Agreed. It should be a user option.

Pre-fader metering is a basic expectation for many editing and mixing workflows. I don't understand its omission.

>

bladerunner · 08-10-2015, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

Finally, I am expericing a sort of "mouse edit delay". Example: If I want to move
an item with the mouse it doesnt move exactly when I start moving the mouse, but
rather after I have moved the mouse pointer a couple of millimeters on the screen.
This bothers me a lot since I do a lot of small timing edits in may projects.
Also, this happens regardless if I have snap activated or not.

I do feel your pain on this one. It seems like a small thing but, because of this (and I do 100% corroborate your finding), I sometimes get increased RSI when using Reaper all day. It's kind of a psychological thing - similar to lag in online gaming - but I tend to grip the mouse tighter and click the buttons heavier because of this tiny little lag that seems to be there. I'm used to it but when I go to another daw it feels 'lighter' because this lag isn't there.

Fergler · 08-10-2015, 05:22 AM

Most of these points were also my initial remarks when I first started using Reaper.

Especially the resolution of faders. It feels so messy to be sliding around on a 100th of an integer scale. And there is no snapping to large numbers using a modifier, even though two modifier combinations still exist unused in that instance.

I have autosave off for the reason that it builds up too much.

James HE · 08-10-2015, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

- The way that input monitoring when track arming is a bit confusing. In my world
when you record arm a track, you should hear the input right away without having
to manipulate the input monitoring separately. Is this possible?

I was going to write that you could set up the track default (in preferences) to have monitoring ON, but it actually seems that you cant.

You could save it as a track template - and just use that template when adding new tracks. I have several "recording" templates set up for me, works well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

- I nice feature would be to be able to double click and type a fader or pan value in the mixer without having to open a separate window. And speaking of this...
whats up with the fader resolution, 0.01dB? Come on. Is there anyway to make it
0.1dB instead with a hack?

maybe... I know I can hack the plugin knobs shown in the TCP / extended mixer to have steps, with a combination of a JS plug I wrote and parameter modulation. It might be possible to do something similar to the faders with Reascript.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

- I am wrong, or does the auto save feature make an unlimited number of autosave
backups, and if so can it be restricted?
EDIT: I see now that this has been reqested for years. Just do it devs!

Yeah I was one of those requesting a change for this from very early on. I don't think about it now, I actually like the flexability. I have my autobackups all go to one folder. In case of a crash, and I need to recover, I can just open the most recent file in that folder. I Delete this folder when it gets a little swollen - you know, like replacing a failing capacitor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

- Keeping your project folder clean: In soundscape when you delete a part (item)
and the file it refers to is no longer in the project you get the question if you
want to delete the actual file aswell. In reaper if I delete all items that refer
to a specific file and choose clean project directory it doesnt find any unused files if they are in subfolders of my project folder.
This isnt good at all I think, any way to change this?

I wouldn't expect "Clean project directory" to delete files not in that directory.

If I want to delete an item, and it's source, I use an action from the SWS extension. search for "Delete source" in the action list.

We are in the age of Terabytes, why are we deleting things anyway?

mlprod · 08-10-2015, 11:51 AM

Thanks all for your input!

I guess what I feel is most important is the mouse edit delay and having snap options for AUDIO work, like seconds, millisec, CD-framer etc.

Personally I think way too many DAWs these days are tailored for song writing etc. If you do audio work there is not that many options that are really good. Reaper can definitely be one of them with some small tweaks from the devs.

/m

endorka · 08-10-2015, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

- Finally, I am expericing a sort of "mouse edit delay". Example: If I want to move
an item with the mouse it doesnt move exactly when I start moving the mouse, but
rather after I have moved the mouse pointer a couple of millimeters on the screen.
This bothers me a lot since I do a lot of small timing edits in may projects.
Also, this happens regardless if I have snap activated or not.

I had a notion to control the fine positioning of items using the mod wheel on my midi keyboard. The idea being that I could "rock" the item back and forward while looping to fine tune beat placement, etc. Maybe the pitch bend wheel would be better since it has a centre detent that could corresponding to "0" in relative position?

Anyway, I couldn't work out how to do it, or if it could be done. But I think it would be quite a useful alternative to dragging items with the mouse if it could.

Jennifer

mlprod · 08-12-2015, 02:25 PM

That would have been neat Jennifer.

Also it seems like the clean project dir. function is actually searching the sub folders now in Reaper 5rc14. A welcome thing for me.

bladerunner · 08-12-2015, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by endorka

I had a notion to control the fine positioning of items using the mod wheel on my midi keyboard. The idea being that I could "rock" the item back and forward while looping to fine tune beat placement, etc. Maybe the pitch bend wheel would be better since it has a centre detent that could corresponding to "0" in relative position?

Anyway, I couldn't work out how to do it, or if it could be done. But I think it would be quite a useful alternative to dragging items with the mouse if it could.

Jennifer

That does sound like a very interesting idea. Even something like a simple knob that, when you move it, automatically initiates a left click-hold and allows you to drag items/drag the edge of items.

endorka · 08-13-2015, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bladerunner

That does sound like a very interesting idea. Even something like a simple knob that, when you move it, automatically initiates a left click-hold and allows you to drag items/drag the edge of items.

All sounds good to me. Do you think this is possible with Reaper as it is, via building a custom action or similar?

mlprod · 08-30-2015, 01:18 PM

Continuing this thread with a little observation.

In the action list there are "glue items" and "glue items ignoring time selection".

In the menues, the same things are called "glue items within time selection" and "glue items".

Is this just a typo from the devs?

Tod · 08-30-2015, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

Continuing this thread with a little observation.

In the action list there are "glue items" and "glue items ignoring time selection".

In the menues, the same things are called "glue items within time selection" and "glue items".

Is this just a typo from the devs?

Yes, I think a friend of mine came across this a few days ago and pointed it out to me. He mentioned something about them being sort of backwards. Not sure myself, I haven't looked that close.

mlprod · 09-09-2015, 03:48 PM

Anyone got an idea on how to solve this?

I have setup a mouse mod. (Alt left click) so toggle mute items. Problem is when I to that the edit cursor moves to where I am clicking, which drives me crazy.
I have tried setting up a custom action storing and recalling the position of the edit cursor before and after the toggle mute, but it doesnt work.

mlprod · 09-10-2015, 01:38 PM

Btw, "undo edit cursor move" doesnt really work either...

Tod · 09-10-2015, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlprod

Anyone got an idea on how to solve this?

I have setup a mouse mod. (Alt left click) so toggle mute items. Problem is when I to that the edit cursor moves to where I am clicking, which drives me crazy.
I have tried setting up a custom action storing and recalling the position of the edit cursor before and after the toggle mute, but it doesnt work.

There are mouse mods that you can select so that the cursor doesn't move. I actually did that recently but I'm finding there are times that I do want the cursor to move.

Heh, heh, I don't know, I might switch it back. Actually I haven't experimented with it, so there might be a modifier that could be used just for this purpose.

It can be kind of confusing because there's more than one place in the mouse modifiers that will influence how things work. It takes a bit of experimenting.