Problem Rendering NI Intakt w/VST

[Westwind]

Hey all,
I just purchased Storm Drum from Native Instruments, which uses Intakt to play beat loops that sync to the host sequencer's tempo. I loaded up several VST instances and they all work perfectly. However, when I tried to render them to audio, the beats were no longer in sync. I tried blending all instaces into one hot track, and doing them individually, but the same result. I eventually had to record them live. Of course the manual only has chapters on using it with Pro Tools , Logic, and Nuendo, and NI's forum has no topics, since 'Build Mix' is a SAW function. I was wondering if anyone has had similar problems with this or other VSTs, or has any thoughts on a solution. ???

[Bob L]

I just tried a similar concept using BFD and their 1 bar pattern loops and fills and it played and built a perfect mix file.

Not sure what may be going on with the Intakt VST plug.

BFD seems to be following the SAWStudio tempo perfectly.

Are you setting the timeline to Tempo Mode... not sure if that may be needed.

Bob L

[Westwind]

It's set to sync with MWS ,and it even follows the tempo changes during playback. It's only when I Build Mix that any problems occur. I think BFD is a different animal though. It uses MIDI files to create its loops. Intakt uses audio files, similar to Acid loops. Hmm.

[Naturally Digital]

It's set to sync with MWS ,and it even follows the tempo changes during playback. It's only when I Build Mix that any problems occur. I think BFD is a different animal though. It uses MIDI files to create its loops. Intakt uses audio files, similar to Acid loops. Hmm.Are the loops at the same samplerate as your session?

[Arco]

Is it just a nudge away from being in sync? Or are the results radomly out, not consistent. ..sometimes after a 'build mix' you only have to nudge the resulting region a little one way for the other to get the sync back. also make sure you're not playing back the new region AND driving the VSTi at the same time, as they may not line up and sound like a mess.

maybe experiment with different starting points ("B") for the build mix track. using tempo mode with a grid select 2 bars and see what the results look like/sound like.

select only one of the intakt tracks (turn the track number black) and try the build mix

...shots in the dark. hope you get it working.

[jfair]

I eventually had to record them live.

I thought that rendering audio live from VSTi was the recommended way to use softsynths with SAW? I am very new to SAW, so I could very well be wrong about this.

I always like to render vsti, because that way I know I have the audio no matter what happens to the soft synth.

I have SD, but haven't loaded it yet, I'm getting close to needing it, so I should be installing it this week at some point. I'll let you know how Intakt behaves for me.

I'm not sure, but isn't Intakt kinda like a rex file in that you have a scale of midi notes firing coresponding audio slices? If this is the case, I would think that Bob's experiment would be correct since BFD is just firing samples from MIDI.

I'll let you know how Intakt works for me later in the week.

jfair

[Westwind]

The results are not slightly off sync. The begin in sync, then drift, then get in sync again then drift -a totally random mess. During normal playback, with the VSTs running, everything works smoothly, and Intakt follows MWS perfectly, including programmed tempo changes. I'm not sure about the sample rate - I'm running at 44k, but that shouldn't matter if the loops are playing in sync during playback. It's weird. As far as the BFD comparison, I don't think it's the same. BFD is more like a sampler, with midi data triggering individual samples with no inherent tempo to them. Intakt is using midi notes to trigger prerecorded rhythmic loops, which are being stretched or shrunk to accommodate the host sequencer's tempo. Probably a bit more CPU intensive. But it seems that if it were not going to work, it wouldn't work during normal playback. The problem appears only after the Build Mix function. I suppose I'll try to get support from NI, but they'll probably say "SAWStudio? What's that?"
:(

[mako]

G'day Westwind - if everything plays back fine, you might like to use Silverspike's "Tape it". It's freeware and will record your performance to anywhere you desire.

cheers

mako

[MMP]

For the time being, instead of using Buildmix, set another track to record from the Intakt track(s) mixer channels in realtime. You do not need a third party solution to do that. Set the input on the record meter to the relevant mixer channel instead of a hardware device and use SRP. This is how I record Melodyne, which I have had issues with doing Buildmixes.

Regards,

MM

[bit]

Westwind
I know most sawers have have the real time sample rate conversion quality set to lowest and build mix sample rate conversion quality set to highest. Do you? Try using the same quality on bulidmix as you have successfully used in realtime. I remember I had a similar rendering problem solved this way once.

good luck to ya

Bjorn