Topic: Samplitude V8 SE

[Carrera2]

OK, I bit the bullet and sprung for a copy of Samplitude V8 SE to supplement my long-term use of Audacity.

This is the first time in a very long time that I am having a hard time plunging into a program.  There must be 1,000 icons (ok, maybe 60) all about the desktop.  I don't see a pdf manual, just the help files. 

Any suggestions for how to get jump started?  Just as I wrote that, I could hear one of our comrades writing back "google is your friend."  So perhaps perusing the full version manual will light the way.

http://www.samplitude.com/eng/pdf/samplitude8_manual_eng.pdf

Still open to suggestions.  Thanks.

[boojum]

I just bought that version, too, and for the same reasons.  I had also been using CoolEdit.  Samplitude looks like the way to go, but there is going to be a steep learning curve.  On the other hand, we are all smart people here, right?, so we will be able to make this software sing.  I hope the software learns to sing pretty quickly.   

I did some post on a local group yesterday and would have used Samplitude but wanted to get it done quickly.  I may still restore the FLAC files to WAV and merge them into one file and play with them in S SE.  Gotta start somewhere.  I have a bluegrass group I like to record on Thursday so theirs might be the first start to finish post I do. 

Gotta stay challenged and learning.   

Cheers     

[live2496]

I did some post on a local group yesterday and would have used Samplitude but wanted to get it done quickly.

That's funny in that I would use Samplitude to get it done more quickly. 

The main strength of Samplitude is in doing things virtually. By that I mean using objects instead of the conventional way which is destructive processing for each step.

To get started, do everything in the context of a VIP project. So create a new project, and then import files into the project. Each file will become an object that you can perform processing on or have different settings for during playback or bouncing. Objects can be split, moved around, etc.

As far as I know, you can still drag files into a project from windows. So this is another way to get files into a project. However, the key to getting started is to create a project.

I will watch this thread for specific questions and maybe some other samplitude users will chime in as well.

[Brian Skalinder]

live2496 is spot on in that you should work within a Virtual Project (VIP).  Other than that...you may receive more assistance if you pose specific questions about what you're trying to accomplish.  In other words, I'm not going to take the time to spell out everything I know about Samplitude in the hopes it address your need, and I doubt others will, either.  So...what, exactly, are you trying to do?  FWIW, once I learned even a little bit of how to use SSE, I found it much faster than the other apps I'd used previously.

[Carrera2]

live2496 is spot on in that you should work within a Virtual Project (VIP).  Other than that...you may receive more assistance if you pose specific questions about what you're trying to accomplish.  In other words, I'm not going to take the time to spell out everything I know about Samplitude in the hopes it address your need, and I doubt others will, either.  So...what, exactly, are you trying to do?  FWIW, once I learned even a little bit of how to use SSE, I found it much faster than the other apps I'd used previously.

I apologize if I intimated that I was looking for a treatise.  I began writing my post out of frustration, and while composing it occured to me that I had read all of the posts here with the word "samplitude", but had failed to google at large.  I discovered the pdf guide, and probably should have deleted the post.

I took the pdf for the full version to the office today and printed it out.  Page 17 is the beginning of the Beginners Quick Start Guide.  I'm guessing that the full versions have at least the basics in common with the lite version, so this will probably be a good starting point, combined with the tips you have shared.  When I can figure out how to get grounded with the basics, I'll take your counsel and put up some specific questions.

+T to everyone for taking the time.

[boojum]

That's funny in that I would use Samplitude to get it done more quickly

I did some post on a local group yesterday and would have used Samplitude but wanted to get it done quickly.

I would have but, I know CoolEdit enough to get around for the few small mods I needed to make.  As I said, I may just decompress all the FLAC's into one WAV file and work on it in SSE.  The guitar player who lives across the street whom I recorded, and his band buddies, was thrilled to learn I can cut the file into tracks now, do fades and so on.  All of use get better through practice.  Also I have better mics and am learning where those mics hear best.

I will be hanging out here with questions and watching what is stumping other folks.  SSE really does seem the right way to go.

Cheers     

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I've had the link for a while and decided today to download it.

Does this program support a 4G wave file? 

Nevermind.  I found everything I needed to know in Brian Skalinder's workflow post.

But just for those who like me might not read directions before jumping into the deep end:

I opened a 3.5GB file but there are no levels shown beyond the 1h mark even though the editing window shows 1h42m recording time.  Also, I just went to open the original file in CD wave editor and windows explorer shows that the original file has been resized to 2GB.  Luckily I still have the original on the 722 HD and with the V2 update the FW transfer takes less time. 

[Carrera2]

OK.

I spent several hours fiddling with a file last night.  I never got to square one with Samplitude even though reading the manual and searching for commands.  I managed to accomplish something reasonable and track my file in just a handful of minutes with Audacity/CDWave.

This is particularly frustrating because I am generally very good with software and many things computer.

So I have a wart on my recording, some e-noise. I am not sure how it happened, but thought I would try a partial fix to improve listenability. It can be seen in the Audacity screen print before editing.  My thought was to reduce the volume there rather than delete the offending moment, which would have caused a noticeable "skip."  A short sample of the blip is also attached.

The same spot is illustrated after I imported the wav file into a vip file.  I could not figure out for the life of me how to select that section and reduce its volume.  I went around and around and around.

Any direction would be appreciated.  Or a point to a section in the manual.  Thanks.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I'm just starting but I'm finding it much more intuitive than at first.

To select a region in the project, you do the selection point and drag on the time bar above the wave image.

The key macros are nice, up/down = zoom in/out and left right to position the cursor, space bar plays and pauses.

I am using split object to set track marks.  I guess I'll know if that works when I get this thing tracked out.  No sense in trying to read directions this far in 

[Brian Skalinder]

I managed to accomplish something reasonable and track my file in just a handful of minutes with Audacity/CDWave.

If you share what you mean by "something reasonable", I can probably provide some direction.

I am using split object to set track marks.

Try CD/DVD | Set Track, or CTRL-ALT-I.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Try CD/DVD | Set Track, or CTRL-ALT-I.

AH!  Thank you!

Now to redo those splits.

One thing I really like about this over using CDwave editor is the ability to zoom out, sweep acros the track, then zoom in and precisely position the index mark, zoom out and repeat. 

and the little fader tool in the display is sweet.  This is cutting my editing effort in half.

[Carrera2]

I managed to accomplish something reasonable and track my file in just a handful of minutes with Audacity/CDWave.

If you share what you mean by "something reasonable", I can probably provide some direction.

That "something reasonable" was to reduce the volume in the section of noise, graphically depicted in the screen shoots, and which is illustrated before and after in the attached sound files.   I selected the noise in Audacity, and applied the hard limiter.  There are undoubtedly many different, and likely better ways to improve that glitch. I would repeat that procedure in Samplitude, or use any other technique that would soften the offending glitch.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I have a similar situation in the file I'm trying to repair.  I am not happy with my skill level but I'm getting closer.

The way I approached the problem was to isolate the area I wanted to affect into a discrete object and then operate on that object.  I did it by placing the position cursor at the start of the target and splitting the current object (T), then positioning the cursor at the end of the target region and again splitting the object.  This results in a three objects: the one you want to edit and the ones preceeding and following.   

Then you can select that specific object and apply normalization (offline effects>amplitude normalize).  If you prefer to apply a unique setting to each channel, you can isolate either the left or right channel by enabling the controls at the very bottom of the offline effects menu and then apply the operation to each.

[dorrcoq]

Can't you just hi-light the section you want to work on, rather than doing actual splits?

[boojum]

Reminds me of the story of six blind men groping an elephant and all "seeing" something different.  I guess we are study cohorts on SSE.   

[live2496]

I have a similar situation in the file I'm trying to repair.  I am not happy with my skill level but I'm getting closer.

The way I approached the problem was to isolate the area I wanted to affect into a discrete object and then operate on that object.  I did it by placing the position cursor at the start of the target and splitting the current object (T), then positioning the cursor at the end of the target region and again splitting the object.  This results in a three objects: the one you want to edit and the ones preceeding and following.   

Then you can select that specific object and apply normalization (offline effects>amplitude normalize).  If you prefer to apply a unique setting to each channel, you can isolate either the left or right channel by enabling the controls at the very bottom of the offline effects menu and then apply the operation to each.

Yes, the key is turning the section of audio into a separate object. That's what I would do. Then you have total control over what happens to that segment. (You won't be altering the original file, but an object that represents it. Your changes won't be rendered until you bounce. So things are very easy to undo.)

Double click on the object and it gives you the object editor. The settings here are not global; they are for this object only. You can choose to mute left/right, or grab the volume slider and set the volume level to zero. Or you could apply fades. Fades can be applied by going back to the object itself. On the object you will see a horizontal line with three transparent squares, one on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. The one in the middle is for the object volume. This acts like normalize. Drag it up or down to set the objects volume. This is also the same control as the slider in the object editor. The square on the left is for fade in. Drag it to the right to apply a fade-in. The square on the right is for fade-out. Drag it to the left.

Another option is to delete the object entirely. Select the object by pressing clicking on the lower part of the object with the mouse. Then select the delete key. Objects to the right can be moved over to the left now if you choose to do so. If you have set "snap" on, the object will snap into position as you move it to the left. (Snap is the icon on the toolbar with the magnet). Objects will snap to the cursor, or to the object as you move an object from right to left.

[live2496]

Can't you just hi-light the section you want to work on, rather than doing actual splits?

Yes, you can do that. But that is destructive normalization and alters the original.

Virtual processing is a different way of working. It uses objects and lets you visually make changes to the objects attributes. It makes it very easy to make a change and undo changes later.

You don't actually alter the original. It applies the processing realtime during playback so that you can preview the audio to listen to your changes in context. Once all of your changes are completed, you can commit those changes to a rendered (bounced) file.

 

[boojum]

Guys, thank for the tutorial.  I am going to get a bite to eat and rework the file I recorded Saturday as a practice exercise.  I have a live gig, bluegrass, to catch Thursday at 8:00 so I will have clean new files to play with.  Thuis just keeps getting funner and funner.   ;o)

Cheers

[Brian Skalinder]

That "something reasonable" was to reduce the volume in the section of noise, graphically depicted in the screen shoots, and which is illustrated before and after in the attached sound files.

Ahhhh...re-reading, now, it's quite obvious.  Sorry I missed it earlier!  First, a quick navigation tip:  moving the pointer over the top half fo the waveform allows one to place the cursor at a specific point in the waveform, select regions (start point + end point), etc.  Moving the pointer over the bottom half of the waveform allows one to select and de-select objects.  As for edits in your situation, you have at least a few options:

Apply Hard Limiting / Compression

• Isolate the problem area as it's own object (as LKIJ noted in a separate post; also remember to turn off the Auto Crossfade)
• CTRL-O or Right-Click to access the Object Editor
• In the Plugins section, select FX Inserts | Dynamics
• In the Mode section of the Compressor / Expander / Noise Gate / Limiter window, select Limiter and set the Attack, Release, Ratio, and Threshold accordingly
• Preview by pressing the Play/Stop button
• Once you have it the way you want it, simply click OK
• Note:  you can go back to this object and edit these settings at any time without undoing or changing any of your other edits
  
  

Apply a Volume Envelope

• First, to ensure you're seeing the same options as I am, confirm you're in VIP Display Mode 1:  View | VIP Display Mode | Mode 1
• Press the Vol button in the control panel to the left;  you'll see a yellow created along the top edge of the waveform display area
• Highlight (by selecting the region in the top half of the waveform view) the area you wish to edit and zoom in
• Set the cursor mode to Draw Volume or Object and Curve Mode
• On the yellow Volume line, drop a couple points by simply clicking once
• Move the Volume points by clicking and dragging (this will change the way the volume changes over time - for example, allowing one to drop volume swiftly and deelpy in one area, raise it up slowly afterwards, drop more slowly for a second dip, raise it back to full volume very quickly or over a longer curve, etc.)
• Adjust accordingly til you get it sounding the way you wish

Delete and Crossfade

• Not going to get into this one unless you're interested...I'm a bit wiped out at the moment, past my bedtime.

FWIW, I've reduced the icons in my default VIP template to those I use regularly;  see the attached image for details.  Simply open a new VIP, arrange the toolbar as you wish, save the session (File | Save Session) and name it startup.sam, and place it in the SSE home directory (c:\magix\Samplitude_V8_SE for me).  I've also attached my startup.sam as startup.zip - simply rename to startup.sam.

[live2496]

I really like that volume envelope thing that they did. (I call it the yellow rubber band).
I have used that for lowering sections of applause by a few db, and then that allows me to raise the overall level. It's a less drastic measure than applying compression, but a bit of work to go through a whole concert.

[flipp]

Do any of the retail versions of Samplitude include video tutorials? I doubt the downloadable versions have any but an old version - 4.5 - that came with a SEK'D ProDIF24 soundcard I bought came bundled with Samplitude and it had a Tutorial folder with .avi files that have about 52 minutes of how to do things using Samplitude. I know there are newer options that the old version doesn't have but I find myself still referring to the tutorials on occassion and I still use version 4.5. One of these days I'll seriously consider upgrading.

[live2496]

Do any of the retail versions of Samplitude include video tutorials? I doubt the downloadable versions have any but an old version - 4.5 - that came with a SEK'D ProDIF24 soundcard I bought came bundled with Samplitude and it had a Tutorial folder with .avi files that have about 52 minutes of how to do things using Samplitude. I know there are newer options that the old version doesn't have but I find myself still referring to the tutorials on occassion and I still use version 4.5. One of these days I'll seriously consider upgrading.

I checked the version 7 and 8 product disks and they both have a couple of .wmv files. Getting Started and New Features. It's a good bet that SE has that also, but I don't have a way to confirm that.

[Carrera2]

Do any of the retail versions of Samplitude include video tutorials? I doubt the downloadable versions have any but an old version - 4.5 - that came with a SEK'D ProDIF24 soundcard I bought came bundled with Samplitude and it had a Tutorial folder with .avi files that have about 52 minutes of how to do things using Samplitude. I know there are newer options that the old version doesn't have but I find myself still referring to the tutorials on occassion and I still use version 4.5. One of these days I'll seriously consider upgrading.

I checked the version 7 and 8 product disks and they both have a couple of .wmv files. Getting Started and New Features. It's a good bet that SE has that also, but I don't have a way to confirm that.

I searched my hard drive for .wmv files and there are none.  When starting the program, there is a "button" to press to invoke the video tutorial, which prompts one/me to insert the CD/DVD, of which there is none for the downloaded SE version.

+T to all for such an elaborate tutorial.

[alienbobz]

So I am thinking about moving to this since Audition doesn't want to work for me at all, and I was curious if it can open avi files so I can look at the audio. That is the biggest thing for me right now since I just moved to doing videos. I did look at the tutorial, but the way that they worded made me unsure of whether or not it can do it.

[Brian Skalinder]

I was curious if it can open avi files so I can look at the audio

Not sure about broader feature options, but if I drag/drop an AVI file in Samplitude SE, it opens a WAV with the same filename as the AVI and I'm able to edit the audio as a normal WAV.  Don't know if it saves the edited WAV back to the AVI, etc.

[alienbobz]

You pretty much answered my question right there. Don't care about saving the wav for the avi, just want to be able to sync my audio with the audio from the video for post work. I can switch the audio in a different program. Thanks Brian.

[alienbobz]

Well I downloaded it and so far I haven't been able to open a wav from an avi. It keeps on crashing. Right now I am trying to do just audio, but I will try the avi,wav thing again. Anyone else had this happen?

[alienbobz]

Ok I tried it again last night and the same thing happened with the video. Decided that I just need a work around when I do video, so I decided to extract the WAV from the AVI using VirtualDub. Seems like the only option for now (unless I want to buy a new audio program, which I don't ). Thanks Brian for the help last night. I am starting to get this program, but it is definitely going to take a while.

[Brian Skalinder]

From what I've read in this thread, the corresponding workflow in samplitude could be more labor intensive?

I don't find it more labor intensive than AA/CEP or WaveLab.  In fact, while I found the learning curve a bit longer, I find it's object-oriented model less labor intensive and more powerful and flexible.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

From what I've read in this thread, the corresponding workflow in samplitude could be more labor intensive?

What Brian said,  I've used wavelab and the workflow is no more labor intesive. 

The thing about samplitude that is superior is the ability to store the original files and the project methods so that you can exactly recreate the previous work.  So if you listen to your edited version a few times and then decide to tweak a parameter, you can go back to exactly what you did before and tweak that one parameter wihtout having to recall the order in which different operations were applied.   

I havent' done it yet but i assume that you can save multiple copies of the vip file, each with unique editing parameters.