⌚ Playtime 2 ... it's coming

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by coqauvin

Anyone knows if there's a color theme to make Reaper look like playtime 2 so the look is consistent?

There's the opposite. Playtime 2 has an option to inherit REAPER's theme colors. It's an experimental feature that still needs more work, as the results are not very convincing yet.

[coqauvin]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

There's the opposite. Playtime 2 has an option to inherit REAPER's theme colors. It's an experimental feature that still needs more work, as the results are not very convincing yet.

thanks, looks much better now

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by coqauvin

thanks, looks much better now

You must be one of the alpha testers. Please give feedback by email! Playtime 2 is not meant for the public yet. It will soon.

[pluginram]

question about tempo sync,like ableton warp.

in this video https://imgur.com/LTW99Um you see my free copy of ableton lite.

created a few songs with AI (no tempo metadata)dragged the songs on a clip.
warped ,so they all sync in tempo with the jamstix midi.
will it be possible to warp like this in playtime 2?

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by pluginram

question about tempo sync,like ableton warp.

in this video https://imgur.com/LTW99Um you see my free copy of ableton lite.

created a few songs with AI (no tempo metadata)dragged the songs on a clip.
warped ,so they all sync in tempo with the jamstix midi.
will it be possible to warp like this in playtime 2?

Playtime 2 looks at the length of the imported audio file, calculates a tempo from that and then time-stretches that clip so it fits to the current tempo. So if the audio files that you drag inside are well-cut (= represent exactly the multiple of 1 bar), it will just work.

Ableton Warp is a bit more than that. It can also do audio quantization, which Playime does not (yet). Useful for correcting bad timing within an audio file. But looks like it's not needed in your example.

[Alex Philipp]

Tried today and found it very useful, and what is most important ARM compatible.
Waiting for my upgrade offer!

[mschnell]

Originally Posted by Alex Philipp

ARM compatible.

Mac, Linux or Windows ?

Anyways, it's great to see that Reaper and Reaper dedicated software always is among the first to support relevant archs.

[mequaz]

Never tried abelton so the concept of clips is new to me. And man event the fewer version this script is fire. Still lwarning... awesome work. Thx!

[helgoboss]

Hehe, looks like some of you already discovered it FYI, the official beta release announcement will be in about a week. I still need to sort out a few things with the reseller before it can be purchased. Plus, I want to announce it together with a basic demo video that shows how it works.

[h31k0]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Hehe, looks like some of you already discovered it FYI, the official beta release announcement will be in about a week. I still need to sort out a few things with the reseller before it can be purchased. Plus, I want to announce it together with a basic demo video that shows hot it works.

wow! so awesome! I'm so so so so excited for this! <3

[todd_r]

Looking forward to trying it, any idea when there might be a Linux version?

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by todd_r

Looking forward to trying it, any idea when there might be a Linux version?

I'm thinking about adding Linux support in 2 steps:

Step 1: Publish a standalone Helgobox App that runs in its own process and connects to REAPER via inter-process communication. This will make Playtime 2 work already, but the integration will probably not be optimal yet.

Step 2: Embed the Helgobox App into the REAPER process (as done already on macOS and Windows).

I suspect that step 1 will happen very soon (I hope within 2 to 4 weeks). Step 2 will need a bit of work and I can't give an ETA yet.

[mschnell]

Just curious: Why is this more difficult with Linux ?

Usually these things (and Rust) are more at home there !?!?!?

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by mschnell

Just curious: Why is this more difficult with Linux ?

Usually these things (and Rust) are more at home there !?!?!?

I don't think it's more difficult in general. It's just that this needs to be implemented in a different way for each OS, because windowing stuff is extremely platform-specific. And because macOS and Windows are much more popular, I started doing this window integration stuff there.

Plus, I'm more experienced in macOS Cocoa and Win32 API than in Linux X11/GDK/Wayland/..., so that makes things a bit harder on Linux for me personally. I'm much more familiar with server-side Linux.

I don't even use Rust for the window integration Code, but C++ (and Swift on macOS).

[dna598]

Just trying it out here. Great work on this, and the whole Helgobox thing. I immediately can get on with Playtime 2 as opposed to v1. I just need those start/end braces/looping. I'm quite sure a purchase will happen! Thanks!

[User41]

First, this is really cool. I never bonded with Playtime 1 but I think this could be really good if I can learn to use it better. I have a few questions:

1) how do you set the length of the pattern? For instance, the default MIDI pattern length is just four beats. How can you extend it beyond that?

2) when recording audio, is there a way you can record on loop and then select the best few bars? There is no way I can nail the first take!

TIA for any and all help.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by User41

First, this is really cool. I never bonded with Playtime 1 but I think this could be really good if I can learn to use it better. I have a few questions:

1) how do you set the length of the pattern? For instance, the default MIDI pattern length is just four beats. How can you extend it beyond that?

2) when recording audio, is there a way you can record on loop and then select the best few bars? There is no way I can nail the first take!

TIA for any and all help.

1) You mean when you double click a cell?

2) There's a way: Set the static/fixed section start and length in the inspector. I'm planning to provide a more streamlined solution for your use case though.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by dna598

Just trying it out here. Great work on this, and the whole Helgobox thing. I immediately can get on with Playtime 2 as opposed to v1. I just need those start/end braces/looping. I'm quite sure a purchase will happen! Thanks!

Can you describe more what you mean by start/end braces/looping? I plan to develop Playtime 2 in a similar evolutionary fashion as ReaLearn 2, so if things go well, it's going to grow feature by feature after the final release.

[dna598]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Can you describe more what you mean by start/end braces/looping? I plan to develop Playtime 2 in a similar evolutionary fashion as ReaLearn 2, so if things go well, it's going to grow feature by feature after the final release.

I mean this section



But I also see i can drag a file to the arrangement, chop and import from there.

However I'm pretty used to moving loop braces within the clip to get different looped sections, while maintaining the start point (in ableton).

[electroviolence]

Hi, excellent job!

I'm wondering if it's going to be possible to change the rate of individual clips? I can see that you can double or halve the length of the clip via realearn, but then you just get silence at the end.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by dna598

I mean this section



But I also see i can drag a file to the arrangement, chop and import from there.

However I'm pretty used to moving loop braces within the clip to get different looped sections, while maintaining the start point (in ableton).

Ah yes. Planned.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by electroviolence

Hi, excellent job!

I'm wondering if it's going to be possible to change the rate of individual clips? I can see that you can double or halve the length of the clip via realearn, but then you just get silence at the end.

Changing clip tempo via a factor and changing pitch are some easy wins that I will introduce quite soon. For audio clips, you can now work around it by adjusting the "Original tempo" in the inspector.

[User41]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

1) how do you set the length of the pattern? For instance, the default MIDI pattern length is just four beats. How can you extend it beyond that?

--

1) You mean when you double click a cell?

Yes, when I double click a cell. I rarely play MIDI on a keyboard/controller. I almost always just enter the notes into the piano roll. So when using playtime 2, I was hoping to just enter in / compose different multi bar drum loops but I think the default is a short 4 beat bar.

[carbon]

I get this error after clicking the Playtime button on mac os 10.13.6:

[pluginram]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Playtime 2 looks at the length of the imported audio file, calculates a tempo from that and then time-stretches that clip so it fits to the current tempo. So if the audio files that you drag inside are well-cut (= represent exactly the multiple of 1 bar), it will just work.

Ableton Warp is a bit more than that. It can also do audio quantization, which Playime does not (yet). Useful for correcting bad timing within an audio file. But looks like it's not needed in your example.

is this the "playtime does not yet" thing? https://imgur.com/lH543T9

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by User41

Yes, when I double click a cell. I rarely play MIDI on a keyboard/controller. I almost always just enter the notes into the piano roll. So when using playtime 2, I was hoping to just enter in / compose different multi bar drum loops but I think the default is a short 4 beat bar.

Okay. I think it would make sense to let the length of the empty MIDI clip follow the "Global recording settings => Length" setting. Will add that.

For the moment, just know that you can extend the length of the MIDI clip manually, in the usual REAPER way (drag the "end" line to the right in the MIDI editor).

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by carbon

I get this error after clicking the Playtime button on mac os 10.13.6:

The first officially supported macOS version is 10.14.

In the Helgobox system requirements table, you will see the 10.13- is annotated with "Unsure". I guess I can make this a "Not supported" right now

Do you have a good reason to stick with 10.13? If there's a significant number of users who can't update from 10.13 for some reason, I could try to make it compatible.

[carbon]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

The first officially supported macOS version is 10.14.

In the Helgobox system requirements table, you will see the 10.13- is annotated with "Unsure". I guess I can make this a "Not supported" right now

Do you have a good reason to stick with 10.13? If there's a significant number of users who can't update from 10.13 for some reason, I could try to make it compatible.

Aah, that explains it. The reason I'm not updating, is that I'm not offered one on appstore. Perhaps the computer is too old.
But it's not crucial as the mac is not my main computer.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by pluginram

is this the "playtime does not yet" thing? https://imgur.com/lH543T9

Hmm, not really. The sample you have there has a completely constant tempo. That means it shouldn't require any pre-processing by using warp markers (Live) or stretch markers (REAPER). In other words, you can use it within Playtime 2 directly.

However, it looks like the sample is not a perfectly cut loop. It doesn't start perfectly on beat 1 and/or doesn't end perfectly at the end of beat 4. That means a software can't detect its tempo just by looking at its length. When you drag a sample into Playtime or import it via "Import file(s)...", Playtime looks at the length to detect the tempo, so naturally it will detect the wrong tempo in your case. You can fix the tempo by entering the correct "Original tempo" in the inspector. If the sample doesn't start exactly on beat 1, you will also need to adjust the static section's "Start position".

I just tried importing a non-perfectly-cut sample into Live and it also detected the tempo wrong, which indicates that it also looks at the length of the sample.

It looks like you did more than just importing the sample into Live. As far as I can see, you created warp markers at transients and changed start and end position, thereby creating a "perfect cut". What Live calls "warp markers", is called "stretch markers" in REAPER. So you can do something very similar in REAPER ("Dynamic Split Items" - "At transients" - "Add stretch markers to selected items").

[User41]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Okay. I think it would make sense to let the length of the empty MIDI clip follow the "Global recording settings => Length" setting. Will add that.

For the moment, just know that you can extend the length of the MIDI clip manually, in the usual REAPER way (drag the "end" line to the right in the MIDI editor).

Thank you. This wasn't working for me previously, but once I turned 'loop item' OFF from my media item defaults, it started working as you described.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by User41

Thank you. This wasn't working for me previously, but once I turned 'loop item' OFF from my media item defaults, it started working as you described.

Oh, I wouldn't think that this preference has an influence on it. But maybe it does, I need to check.

[Mikado]

Is there possibility to make so that playtime 2 starts to record when played (or certain threshold is reached if audio) and record for lets say exactly 4 measures and then stops recording and starts playing that? This is the way i would like to work.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Is there possibility to make so that playtime 2 starts to record when played (or certain threshold is reached if audio) and record for lets say exactly 4 measures and then stops recording and starts playing that? This is the way i would like to work.

Automatic record stop after x bars is available already, but automatic record start not yet. Planned. If you want, you can create an FR on GitHub (Helgobox issue tracker). Then you can follow the progress, others can join the discussion and you get notified about updates.

[pluginram]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

It looks like you did more than just importing the sample into Live. As far as I can see, you created warp markers at transients and changed start and end position

didn't change start and end position.
made a better video where i hit record at the right beat.
and import into playtime ,did not pause the video,ableton is very fast in creating warp markers for sync to the bpm.
https://imgur.com/l3BUr8B

btw,paytime did not accept rearoute input.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by pluginram

didn't change start and end position.
made a better video where i hit record at the right beat.
and import into playtime ,did not pause the video,ableton is very fast in creating warp markers for sync to the bpm.
https://imgur.com/l3BUr8B

Okay, I see you added warp markers in Ableton Live.

What's your actual question from this point on:

a) How to add warp markers in REAPER/Playtime?

b) Or simply how to import your sample into Playtime so that it plays synchronized?

c) Something else (because I think I have already answered a and b)

Originally Posted by pluginram

btw,paytime did not accept rearoute input.

Playtime 2 records from hardware inputs only, at the moment. Recording from FX input is implemented but disabled since it still needs some work.

[sound warrior]

hi everyone hope your doing well and staying safe. I'm running the latest version of reaper on macOS Sonoma. i've tried to install the latest playtime alpha using reboot now my repack has completely disappeared. There is also no mention of anything to do with playtime in the action list or extension menu where I would expect to find such a thing. Does anybody know what's going on and how to fix this problem please? Very keen to test playtime :-)

[AudioBabble]

Quick question: what's the difference between the dynamic section and the static section in terms of start position?

I thought maybe it was to do with starting from a particular position of first play, then starting from another position on loop (so-called conditional looping) but it doesn't seem to work this way...

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by sound warrior

hi everyone hope your doing well and staying safe. I'm running the latest version of reaper on macOS Sonoma. i've tried to install the latest playtime alpha using reboot now my repack has completely disappeared. There is also no mention of anything to do with playtime in the action list or extension menu where I would expect to find such a thing. Does anybody know what's going on and how to fix this problem please? Very keen to test playtime :-)

Hi Trey. Sorry, I realize I haven't answered your mail yet.

It's very surprising to hear that ReaPack disappeared. Hard to say what went wrong. Can you start with a clean REAPER installation?

If not, you could check what files you have in your REAPER resource folder in the UserPlugins directory. Anything there?

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by AudioBabble

Quick question: what's the difference between the dynamic section and the static section in terms of start position?

I thought maybe it was to do with starting from a particular position of first play, then starting from another position on loop (so-called conditional looping) but it doesn't seem to work this way...

The dynamic section is basically a section within the static section. The static section is usually used for more permanent adjustments.

Playtime itself sets it when you record audio quantized: It starts recording at the moment you trigger the recording (too early actually) and then automatically sets the start position of the static section so it aligns with the actual first beat of the material. This is similar to how REAPER does take recording or punch-in.

The dynamic section is more for playing around, e.g. temporarily playing only half of the beats.

The portion outside of the static section is not even visible in Playtime's waveform view. The dynamic section is delimited by visible markers instead.

[AudioBabble]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

The dynamic section is basically a section within the static section. The static section is usually used for more permanent adjustments.

Playtime itself sets it when you record audio quantized: It starts recording at the moment you trigger the recording (too early actually) and then automatically sets the start position of the static section so it aligns with the actual first beat of the material. This is similar to how REAPER does take recording or punch-in.

The dynamic section is more for playing around, e.g. temporarily playing only half of the beats.

The portion outside of the static section is not even visible in Playtime's waveform view. The dynamic section is delimited by visible markers instead.

I see! actually it would have been much easier if i'd been looking at the waveform view -- i was just doing it blind.


anyway, is it then possible to do 'conditional looping'? By which I mean this sort of thing:



in my case, actually this is a pre-recorded loop I've pulled in from another project.