Announcing Playtime, a Session View for REAPER

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by PitchSlap

This sounds great! I'm happy to do some manual set up work, since I usually get things the way I want it and don't need to mess with it much again. As long is there's a basic example provided it should be easy for lay-people to figure out...

I've got 10 banks of 10 foot-switches so the possibilities would only be limited by my imagination.

Combining the best aspects of Reaper, Live and hardware loopers would truly be a dream come true!

Got another idea, more simple. What if selecting a slot would automatically select the corresponding item? I could provide an option for that. Then you could simply use REAPER's action window itself to assign each foot switch to a REAPER action. Playtime would just take care of providing the correct context for those actions.

Analogously, I would select the corresponding track when a Playtime group is selected.

What do you think? Should be easy to implement.

[gwok]

thanks for all the great updates!

[helgoboss]

Released Playtime 1.9.0

Changes:
#154 Added auto-select mode for automatically selecting REAPER clips/tracks when selecting Playtime slots/groups (e.g. nice for quickly applying REAPER actions to the selected clip)
#93 Added automation parameters 'Selected cell horizontal' and 'Selected cell vertical' for left/right/up/down navigation
#52 Improved track list dropdown by adding track numbers and using indentation for tracks in folders
#153 Fixed possible crashes and memory leaks when resizing Playtime

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Concerning the lines you crossed out: You probably have "Exclusive mode" switched on so only one clip in the column can be playing at a time. In that case, pressing the MIDI key of the playing slot again will retrigger it, not stop it. By intention. Rationale: Making the clip stop would be a waste of buttons because we can achieve exactly the same by stopping the group. Instead we give the button a new function, the retriggering.

I think the only situation in which this leaves something to be desired is if "record-if-slot-empty mode" is on and your MIDI controller doesn't have a button for stopping a group ... such as the Launchpad. With a Launchpad, you usually stop a group by pressing an empty pad in that group. But if "record-if-slot-empty mode" is on, that will record instead, so this possibility is gone. Now I could program a special treatment for that but that would make things pretty confusing I guess. My suggested solution: Just use Playtime to MIDI-learn one of the Launchpad rows for untriggering groups.

Yes, this is the issue with Record-if-slot-empty (RISE) mode. Unfortunately I'm not very fashionable when it comes to controllers and my Axiom 49 only has 8 pads (and some buttons, but it's a bit wrong using them to trigger stuff). I wouldn't want to use 50% of them as stop buttons and I think there could be many users with a similarly limited number of spare triggers because the small keyboard + a few pads is quite a common design.

[sinkmusic]

Hi
Thank you for the Playtime updates, it's getting better and better.

Sorry if that has been asked before -or it is already implemented, but if not consider it as a FR :P-, but can Playtime do "Region Sequencing" ?
I mean : instead of triggering audio & Midi clip, it would launch Regions on the fly.
It could be great for projects which are already quite well arranged, but for which you want to change the structure.

EnergyXT2 features this, and it is very enjoyable (I think also that some SWS actions allows for quite similar things, but i never tried it yet).
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewto...257152&start=0

[Frappa]

Thanks for the constant development, Benjamin.

Could you please publish (on site, thread and forum) a sha512 hash for the downloads on availability.

Would it be possible to upload your releases on a https-site or a mega/onedrive/whatever service?

Much appreciated (and IMHO essential nowadays), thank you.

[PitchSlap]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Released Playtime 1.9.0

Changes:
#93 Added automation parameters 'Selected cell horizontal' and 'Selected cell vertical' for left/right/up/down navigation

Nice, almost there. This is great for knobs or sliders, but still no good for foot controller users.

We need basic navigation functions that can be activated by a button press. Left, right, up, down.

With Mobius I was just using left and right to select tracks 1-8, but I think using 4 of 10 buttons just for navigation would be less than ideal.

Being able to assign different actions for double-presses and long-presses is the best way to make the most of limited buttons so hopefully PlayTime can support this (3x the potential with the same number of controls).

That way I could still do all navigation with 2 footswitches.

For example:
Button 1 short-press: Move Left
Button 2 short-press: Move Right

Button 1 long-press: Move Up
Button 2 long-press: Move Down

Another example, with Mobius I was using the same button for record and also clear. Short-press was record start/stop, and a long press cleared the slot (good for when I mess up a take). The best thing about loopers designed for live use by people playing real instruments is that they are made to be as easy to use as possible (with no hands as those are playing). I think that's something worth striving for. Thankfully these things were perfected long ago so there's no need to reinvent the wheel...

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Yes, this is the issue with Record-if-slot-empty (RISE) mode. Unfortunately I'm not very fashionable when it comes to controllers and my Axiom 49 only has 8 pads (and some buttons, but it's a bit wrong using them to trigger stuff). I wouldn't want to use 50% of them as stop buttons and I think there could be many users with a similarly limited number of spare triggers because the small keyboard + a few pads is quite a common design.

I see. Do you have any suggestion? The thing is, I don't want to confuse users with too many options that influence the way Playtime handles a button press. Have to think about it further.

Oh, maybe it can be done like this: Let's assume record-if-slot-empty mode and exclusive mode are enabled and the user presses a MIDI pad of a playing slot. Now, if the slot's group has a MIDI trigger assigned (for stopping it), Playtime will retrigger the clip - as it does now. But *if not*, it will stop the clip, because it knows the user probably wants to have a way to stop clips. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by sinkmusic

Hi
Thank you for the Playtime updates, it's getting better and better.

Sorry if that has been asked before -or it is already implemented, but if not consider it as a FR :P-, but can Playtime do "Region Sequencing" ?
I mean : instead of triggering audio & Midi clip, it would launch Regions on the fly.
It could be great for projects which are already quite well arranged, but for which you want to change the structure.

EnergyXT2 features this, and it is very enjoyable (I think also that some SWS actions allows for quite similar things, but i never tried it yet).
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewto...257152&start=0

Region sequencing is not implemented in Playtime. Seems to be quite a different concept. It would essentially mean repositioning the play cursor to the start of the triggered region. Doesn't sound difficult but as I see it now it's not really Playtime's scope. I'd like to keep Playtime focused on being a session view. I suggest you give the SWS extension a try.

[sinkmusic]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Region sequencing is not implemented in Playtime. Seems to be quite a different concept. It would essentially mean repositioning the play cursor to the start of the triggered region. Doesn't sound difficult but as I see it now it's not really Playtime's scope. I'd like to keep Playtime focused on being a session view. I suggest you give the SWS extension a try.

Hi, HelgoBoss.
Thank you for your reply.
I understand that it is a little bit different, but in the end it's a bit the same : jamming in real time (a Reaper region would then be like a Live "scene"), and being able to record what we did (as a new arrangement, not as an audio file).
I don't think that SWS allows to record the result of the new arrangement played in real time ?

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by PitchSlap

Nice, almost there. This is great for knobs or sliders, but still no good for foot controller users.

We need basic navigation functions that can be activated by a button press. Left, right, up, down.

With Mobius I was just using left and right to select tracks 1-8, but I think using 4 of 10 buttons just for navigation would be less than ideal.

Being able to assign different actions for double-presses and long-presses is the best way to make the most of limited buttons so hopefully PlayTime can support this (3x the potential with the same number of controls).

That way I could still do all navigation with 2 footswitches.

For example:
Button 1 short-press: Move Left
Button 2 short-press: Move Right

Button 1 long-press: Move Up
Button 2 long-press: Move Down

Another example, with Mobius I was using the same button for record and also clear. Short-press was record start/stop, and a long press cleared the slot (good for when I mess up a take). The best thing about loopers designed for live use by people playing real instruments is that they are made to be as easy to use as possible (with no hands as those are playing). I think that's something worth striving for. Thankfully these things were perfected long ago so there's no need to reinvent the wheel...

In theory, the 2 automation parameters "Selected slot horizontal" and "Selected slot vertical" are enough to satisfy all of your left/right/up/down navigation needs. Even for foot switches.

So much for the theory In practice, you can't easily map left/right/up/down to foot switches yet - not to mention distinction between short and long press. It's possible now with Playtime 1.9.0 but it needs some MIDI preprocessing. The problem here is actually a lack of relative CC modes in REAPER. It offers various relative modes for dials, but none for typical buttons that send MIDI value 127 when pressed. And also nothing that allows distinction between short and long press.

Note that you have relative modes for buttons in Playtime's controller configuration files: "relative-up" and "relative-down". So you can map left/right/up/down to 4 foot switches already using controller configuration files. Have a look at "launchpad.json" for an example. I'm thinking about adding additional possibilities later to distinguish between short and long presses. But I really wish this would also be possible in REAPER's Learn window one day.

[PitchSlap]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

...I'm thinking about adding additional possibilities later to distinguish between short and long presses. But I really wish this would also be possible in REAPER's Learn window one day.

It's not the standard FCB1010 configuration, and I think Mobius can natively differentiate between short and long presses, but I have the controls mapped to MIDI notes. In that case Playtime could just use the note duration to determine short/long presses. I would just want to make sure that the MIDI is only being received by Playtime for control purposes and not any virtual instruments...

[Frappa]

sorry, for cutting in again, but since the installer file of playtime has no signing at all, I think it would be important to get at least a hash from the developer - and please upload your installer file on a https server.

Vielen Dank im voraus, Benjamin

Originally Posted by Frappa

Could you please publish (on site, thread and forum) a sha512 hash for the downloads on availability.

Would it be possible to upload your releases on a https-site or a mega/onedrive/whatever service?

Much appreciated (and IMHO essential nowadays), thank you.

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by Frappa

sorry, for cutting in again, but since the installer file of playtime has no signing at all, I think it would be important to get at least a hash from the developer - and please upload your installer file on a https server.

Vielen Dank im voraus, Benjamin

Hi Frappa. You're right, thanks for the hint. It's important that users can make sure nobody messed with the OS X installer (the Windows installer is signed). So I've added 2 things:

1. The website is also available via HTTPS now: https://www.helgoboss.org/projects/playtime/. I'm considering making this the default in future.
2. Users now have the option to download a SHA-512 checksum file for each download.

[helgoboss]

Just in case anyone is thinking that Playtime 2 might be around the corner (and possibly hesitating to buy a 1.x license for that reason): It is not.

Playtime 1.x doesn't stop at version 1.9. It will continue with 1.10, 1.11 and so on

[EpicSounds]

software version numbers always confuse me

1.1 and version 1.10 are the same number

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by EpicSounds

software version numbers always confuse me

1.1 and version 1.10 are the same number

Try not to think of the period (.) as a decimal point. In software versioning, the period is for separating the different segments of the version number. Each of those segments is an independent integer on its own. I use the scheme MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (where MAJOR stands for big new features, MINOR for small new features+improvements and PATCH for bug fixes). This results in version numbers like for example 1.15.2

If you look at it like that, 1.1 and 1.10 is not the same version number. It just means the MAJOR segment stayed the same and the MINOR segment was raised from 1 to 10.

[PitchSlap]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Just in case anyone is thinking that Playtime 2 might be around the corner (and possibly hesitating to buy a 1.x license for that reason): It is not.

Playtime 1.x doesn't stop at version 1.9. It will continue with 1.10, 1.11 and so on

Really good to know, thanks! I was a little worried I would need to upgrade before really even using it. I'm happy to support the development of this either way.

[Guod3]

There seems to be some basic Live/Bitwig functionality missing (please correct me).
Is it possible to overdub more material (midi)on the fly in an already playing clip?
Thanks

[Win Conway]

Anybody else getting a latency with untriggers using a launchpad ?
Fast playing is super super messy here, lots and lots of overlaps (no its not my playing haha)

[Win Conway]

Anybody ?
It is completely unusable here

[helgoboss]

Originally Posted by Guod3

There seems to be some basic Live/Bitwig functionality missing (please correct me).
Is it possible to overdub more material (midi)on the fly in an already playing clip?
Thanks

The Playtime approach for overdubbing is rather recording a new clip while the other one is playing and then let both of them play at the same time (I'm thinking to build in a possibility to merge those clips later so you effectively have one clip with everything overdubbed).

If you want to enrich the same item with more material, you have the possibilities REAPER itself gives you: Right click on track arm button, choose "Record: MIDI overdub/replace => Record: MIDI overdub" and record (possibly having repeat enabled).

Originally Posted by gpunk_w

Anybody else getting a latency with untriggers using a launchpad ?
Fast playing is super super messy here, lots and lots of overlaps (no its not my playing haha)

Do you want a playing clip to stop immediately as soon as you press the pad? If so, did you choose "Immediately" as untrigger mode? If it's not just that, you can send me your RPP file (info@helgoboss.org) and describe the issue a bit more in detail and I will have a look at it.

[Win Conway]

Yeah immediate was already set, i shall try to get a video recorded or something and the rpp

[helgoboss]

Released Playtime 1.9.1

Changes:
#161 Improved visual appearance of Playtime in docked mode by adapting its background colors to the currently activated REAPER theme (no white border anymore, looks more integrated into REAPER, especially with the REAPER 5 default theme)
#159 Improved layout of currently playing items on same track by realigning overlapping items when triggering clips and thereby making use of all the available vertical track space (no more ultra-thin items if track height permits it)
#164 Improved support for controllers without group stop button if MIDI toggle mode, record-if-slot-empty mode and exclusive mode is enabled (pressing a pad of a playing clip would retrigger the clip in previous versions, now it stops it - because otherwise there would be no way to stop an already playing clip)
#166 Improved usability by automatically clearing memorized slots when stopping REAPER transport while Write mode active if 'Play clips with arrangement' enabled (in order to prevent already written items and Playtime clips to be played simultaneously when playing the project again)
#170 Improved usability by scrolling to MIDI item when double clicking MIDI clip and positioning the cursor in fron of it (in addition to opening the MIDI editor)
#175 Fixed missing countdown GUI updates (and possibly other ones) of slots and scenes that are visible only after scrolling right or down
#174 Fixed incorrect display of slot area after project load if project was saved with scrolled slot area
#172 Fixed long delay before recording start
#173 Fixed too long clips when time selection was active while recording or filling the slot
#171 Fixed bug that caused Playtime not to pick up item after recording when MIDI overdub record mode was activated (now it automatically switches to normal record mode and after recording back to your original setting)

Here's how it looks docked now with the Reaper 5 default theme:

[unmixed]

Great update,thanks

[pipelineaudio]

This is mega uber awesome!

[memyselfandus]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

Released Playtime 1.9.1

Changes:
#161 Improved visual appearance of Playtime in docked mode by adapting its background colors to the currently activated REAPER theme (no white border anymore, looks more integrated into REAPER, especially with the REAPER 5 default theme)
#159 Improved layout of currently playing items on same track by realigning overlapping items when triggering clips and thereby making use of all the available vertical track space (no more ultra-thin items if track height permits it)
#164 Improved support for controllers without group stop button if MIDI toggle mode, record-if-slot-empty mode and exclusive mode is enabled (pressing a pad of a playing clip would retrigger the clip in previous versions, now it stops it - because otherwise there would be no way to stop an already playing clip)
#166 Improved usability by automatically clearing memorized slots when stopping REAPER transport while Write mode active if 'Play clips with arrangement' enabled (in order to prevent already written items and Playtime clips to be played simultaneously when playing the project again)
#170 Improved usability by scrolling to MIDI item when double clicking MIDI clip and positioning the cursor in fron of it (in addition to opening the MIDI editor)
#175 Fixed missing countdown GUI updates (and possibly other ones) of slots and scenes that are visible only after scrolling right or down
#174 Fixed incorrect display of slot area after project load if project was saved with scrolled slot area
#172 Fixed long delay before recording start
#173 Fixed too long clips when time selection was active while recording or filling the slot
#171 Fixed bug that caused Playtime not to pick up item after recording when MIDI overdub record mode was activated (now it automatically switches to normal record mode and after recording back to your original setting)

Here's how it looks docked now with the Reaper 5 default theme:

holy crap! this is looking awesome! I have to try this out. if each cell had it's own piano roll or audio cip that would be insane.

[RobU]

Originally Posted by helgoboss

The Playtime approach for overdubbing is rather recording a new clip while the other one is playing and then let both of them play at the same time (I'm thinking to build in a possibility to merge those clips later so you effectively have one clip with everything overdubbed).

If you want to enrich the same item with more material, you have the possibilities REAPER itself gives you: Right click on track arm button, choose "Record: MIDI overdub/replace => Record: MIDI overdub" and record (possibly having repeat enabled).

Midi overdub was the only function I searched for in the first few minutes of using Playtime, and remains the only thing that I really miss. ,

Reason for adding overdub mode :

If you have a drum machine vsti on a track, and you want to keep your drum clips within one Group in playtime, then building up the drum patterns using midi overdub recording is really the only way to do this. Create kick loop, copy to free slot, overdub open hat, copy to free slot, overdub clap - you get the idea - and it's very very quick.

The workaround you proposed above is fine, but, it takes you completely out of the creative bubble while putting grooves together.

Merging cells may be useful and should be added, but overdub is more useful (especially because I am not a good enough keyboard drummer to lay down the whole groove first time with two fingers )

+1 for Midi overdub recording mode

[RobU]

Originally Posted by memyselfandus

holy crap! this is looking awesome! I have to try this out. if each cell had it's own piano roll or audio cip that would be insane.

Its a really really cool plug-in. It saved me from purchasing Bitwig

Each cell can have either Midi or Audio clip - Double-clicking on a recorded clip either opens the Midi Editor or makes the Audio Item full screen for editing - If that is what you meant ?

[mccrabney]

still hoping to see Playtime play clips into tracks without playing Reaper's sequencer (by option)

[PitchSlap]

Originally Posted by mccrabney

still hoping to see Playtime play clips into tracks without playing Reaper's sequencer (by option)

That would be ideal in my opinion. Just like how Live/Bitwig does it. You don't see the "clips" until you want to actually record them unto the timeline.

Especially if you have an existing song and want to add Playtime to jam along and create new parts it's distracting to always have the items showing up and moving around constantly.

If Playtime needs to put things on the timeline to work, it would be better if it was in the middle of nowhere where it doesn't need to be seen in my opinion (at least as an option).

[vanhaze]

Totally agree, good one.

[unmixed]

It would need some wizardry for it not to play clips into the timeline,

What we really need is a second docker from reaper,then we could stack playtime on top of the mixer,plus all the others benefits of the second docker would give to non-playtime users

[artsun]

Hi,

Thanks a lot helgoboss for this great piece of work ! I just bought it and am starting to learn how to use it. So far so good but the docker GUI integration doesn't seem quite advanced here as it is supposed to be with the 1.9.1 version :



Any hint ? NB : I'm quite new to reaper too, so i might have missed something in the general preferences.

Thanks !

[EpicSounds]

It looks like everything is there. the white area is a bug that is fixed for next reaper version.

[Chris4943]

I want to trigger pre-recorded audio clips with an Akai APC Mini to a single dedicated ‘sound fx’ track in real time while recording my podcast. Ya know, sound fx like Homer Simpson saying “doh!” if one of the hosts talks about doing something dumb.
Will this program allow me to do that?

[RobU]

Hi Benjamin -

Working on a project with Playtime, I assembled a bunch of loops, assigned them to clips to work on later, saved the project. Loaded up the project later this evening and crash..

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: reaper.exe
Application Version: 5.0.1.0
Application Timestamp: 55de05aa
Fault Module Name: Playtime.dll
Fault Module Version: 1.9.1.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 5637c250
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00000000001b9d48
OS Version: 6.3.9600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: d8a0
Additional Information 2: d8a05c52bae7da23e8644d5410cf623f
Additional Information 3: 25c8
Additional Information 4: 25c840b1ef18f5693f78ade63eddfaa2

Interestingly, I can open the project.BAK file, however, after saving again to a new project, it crashes while loading with the same error.

I can send you the project file(s) if you want to take a look. Also opened an issue on Playtime bitbucket tracker.

Thanks
R

[mccrabney]

Originally Posted by PitchSlap

You don't see the "clips" until you want to actually record them unto the timeline.

[b]Especially if you have an existing song and want to add Playtime to jam along and create new parts[b/]

this exactly. it'd make playtime a one-of-a-kind sampler. it could also be loaded with preset midi files to send to external hardware or to plugins, and you could trigger such clips without putting anything on the timeline. very very few plugins do this -- and none with such a reaper-friendly interface.

figure this feature out and i promise to make some badass video tutorials, helgoboss.

[RobU]

Hello Benjamin,

Can we get an option in the preferences to change the default clip copy behavior to create an un-pooled item?

At the moment, making an un-pooled copy takes an additional 5 steps to navigate through the item properties

Press <F2> Open Item Properties
Click Open Take media source Properties
Click Un-pool this item
Click OK (close Take media source)
Click OK (close Media Item Properties)

Or, you have to locate the Item in the arrange view, zoom in, click the Un-pool icon - this is fiddly but OK unless there are many items on the same track (and frequently there are...) in which case it's very time-consuming..

It's a bit of a workflow killer


Many thanks

[jaaypeso]

+1 for all the people requesting midi overdub implementation. I tend to do a lot of overdubs in midi and definitely need this functionality to integrate playtime into my sessions regularly. Hope it gets added in some manner in the near future so I can purchase!

[RobU]

Originally Posted by jaaypeso

+1 for all the people requesting midi overdub implementation. I tend to do a lot of overdubs in midi and definitely need this functionality to integrate playtime into my sessions regularly. Hope it gets added in some manner in the near future so I can purchase!

Vote here for MIDI overdub mode - https://bitbucket.org/helgoboss/play...overdub-record

Vote here for Select Multiple Clips and Merge - https://bitbucket.org/helgoboss/play...-several-clips

Cheers
Rob