ACID® 4.0f
Release Notes
November 2003
Copyright © 2003. Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
Sony Pictures Digital Inc. may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Sony Pictures Digital Inc., the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.
This document contains information on the following topics:
8.0 Contacting Sony Pictures Digital Inc.
|
|
Applicable to boxed products only. If you've purchased a downloadable product, Adobe Acrobat (PDF) versions of product documentation and product demos are available from our Web site. |
This document contains information about installing and using ACID 4.0f on your computer.
Plug-In effects automation using envelopes
VST instrument (VSTi) soft synth support
ASIO driver support
Alternate time signatures
5.1 surround mixing and surround pan automation
Bus tracks allow you to automate track effect parameters, volume, and panning using envelopes
MIDI piano roll editing
MIDI step recording
MIDI event list editing
Yamaha OPT (Open Plug-In Technology) support via the Track Properties window
Loop Cloning: create new loops in the Chopper
Optimized DLS and VSTi soft synth model
New audio panning types
Improved time stretching for Beatmapped tracks
New envelope fade types
Multiple-selection preview in the Explorer window
Autosave crash recovery
Hotkey commands for track muting and soloing: Press X to solo or Z to mute
Windows Media Audio and Video import
Customizable default track properties
Advanced video rendering options on the Render As dialog
Support for multiple pixel aspect ratios for video files, including automatic detection of pixel aspect ratios
High-quality video frame rate resampling
High-quality deinterlacing when rendering interlaced video formats to progressive scan.
A bug has been fixed that could cause glitches in your rendered output if you used the Graphic EQ plug-in on a chain that also included Waves plug-ins.
A bug has been fixed that caused volume envelopes on bus tracks to be ignored by the rear channels in a 5.1 surround project.
A bug has been fixed that could cause notes to disappear or not move when dragging multiple events to the left in the piano roll.
A bug has been fixed that caused ACID to crash after burning a project to CD while any MIDI input ports were enabled. .
A number of record latency offset issues exhibited with some soundcards have been fixed.
A bug has been fixed that prevented 24-bit playback when using classic wave drivers with some sound cards.
A bug that prevented the Digidesign wave drivers from working has been fixed.
A bug has been fixed that could cause a crash when rendering multiple mono files from a 5.1 surround project.
A new preference has been added to the MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog. Select the Auto MIDI input routing check box if you want ACID to automatically route MIDI input devices to the last-accessed soft synth (you access a soft synth by double-clicking the soft synth control in the Mixer window or by selecting a track that is routed to the soft synth). The Solo Listen to MIDI Input button in the Soft Synth Properties window is unavailable when this check box is selected.
You can now edit continuous controller information in the piano roll.
ACID is now a ReWire mixer (host) application. Use the ReWire Devices tab in the Preferences dialog to set up the ReWire panel applications you want to make available in ACID. When you add a Soft Synth control to the ACID mixer, you can route that control to a ReWire panel. During playback, ACID will send song position data to the ReWire panel, and the panel will send its audio data back to ACID for playback through the Soft Synth control. With ReWire 2.0 panels, you can also route MIDI tracks to synths in the ReWire panel.
MIDI
tracks can only be routed to the master output of a ReWire 2.0 panel application.
Check your ReWire panel application's documentation to determine which
version of ReWire it supports. To use the ReWire panel only as a soft
synth, remove (or mute) all sequencing from the ReWire panel application
and use ACID as your sequencer.
MIDI input assignments for soft synths are now saved properly with your project.
Editing and drawing in the piano roll have been improved.
You can now choose a default DLS voice set that will be used whenever you add a DLS soft synth. In the Soft Synth Properties window, select a voice set and click the Set as Default DLS Voice Set button.
The setting of the Enable Real-Time MIDI button now persists after it has been set.
Effect automation envelopes can now be edited using the plug-in controls in the Audio Plug-In window as long as the plug-in supports it.
You can now use smooth and sharp envelope fade types for effect automation envelopes.
Added support for DirectSound audio drivers. The Direct Sound Surround Mapper is now available as a choice in the Audio device type drop-down list for 5.1 surround projects.
You can now downmix 5.1 surround projects to stereo by choosing Render to New Track from the Tools menu and choosing a stereo rendering template.
Controls have been added to the Advanced Audio Configuration dialog to allow you to fine-tune buffer settings for wave drivers. With the Microsoft Sound Mapper or Windows Classic Wave Driver selected in the Audio device type drop-down on the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog, click the Advanced button. You can set the number of buffers, buffer size, and priority.
Additional support for ASIO and mLAN devices has been added.
The OGG Vorbis file format now allows you to choose a VBR Quality encoding mode and adjust the encoding quality.
RealMedia 9 support.
Windows Media 9 support (including support for rendering 5.1 surround projects).
A keyboard has been added to the Soft Synth Properties window so you can audition DLS soft synths when Enable Real-Time MIDI is turned on.
Keyboard modifiers have been added to allow fine adjustment of envelope points:
Hold Ctrl while dragging an envelope point or segment to adjust the value in fine increments without changing the envelope points' timeline positions.
Hold Ctrl+Alt while dragging an envelope point or segment to adjust the value in normal increments without changing the envelope points' timeline positions.
Hold Alt while dragging an envelope point to move the point's timeline position without changing its value.
A bug has been fixed that caused a crash when switching between 16- and 24-bit ASIO drivers with the Frontier Design Dakota card.
A bug has been fixed that could cause MIDI tracks that were routed to external MIDI ports to fall out of sync during looped playback.
A bug has been fixed that could cause ACID to advance the playback position of MIDI tracks that weren't within the loop region during looped playback.
A bug has been fixed that caused problems with displaying and selecting data in the Chopper and Track Properties windows if your project contained tempo/key change markers.
A bug has been fixed that could cause ACID to crash when quantizing notes in the piano roll.
A bug has been fixed that caused ACID to skip tracks routed to soft synths when rendering each track as a separate file.
A bug has been fixed that caused external MIDI controllers routed to soft synths to ignore volume settings in the Mixer window.
A bug has been fixed that could cause the General page in the MIDI Track Properties window to appear more than once on some Windows 98 installations.
You can now change patches for DLS synths in real-time using the Soft Synth Properties dialog.
ACID no longer scans for wide SCSI devices when you attempt to burn or extract audio from CDs. This change was made to prevent ACID from crashing due to faulty USB SmartMedia reader drivers when you access your CD drive for extracting audio or burning CDs.
For information about using use wide SCSI CD drives with ACID, click here.
A bug has been fixed that caused right and left panning envelopes to be reversed after switching a 5.1 surround project to stereo. If you convert an existing ACID 4.0 or 4.0a 5.1 surround project to stereo, left and right panning will be reversed. You can use the new Flip Envelope commands to correct your existing projects.
A bug has been fixed that caused ACID to lose sync and mute audio at each minute mark when triggering playback using SMTPE Non-Drop (29.97 fps) time. This problem did not occur when using other time formats.
A problem has been fixed that—after updating to Windows XP, Service Pack 1—caused ACID to produce an error when rendering to Windows Media formats.
You can now flip a volume or panning envelope around its center by right-clicking a track or track header, choosing Flip Envelope from the shortcut menu, and then choosing an envelope type from the submenu.
A bug that caused playback to stutter when previewing MIDI files in the Track Properties and Chopper windows has been fixed.
You can now change VSTi buffer size and buffer flushing settings to resolve VSTi sync problems in rendered output and problems with VSTi decay not being flushed when playback stops. Please see the Troubleshooting topic in the online help for more information.
The Set Default Track Properties dialog now allows you to set default OPT editors for MIDI tracks.
ACID 4.0b includes the RealMedia 9 video codec.
ACID 4.0b includes the QuickTime 5 file format plug-in.
A bug has been fixed that caused the Soft Synth Properties dialog to display the properties for synth 1 after undoing a soft synth change.
A bug has been resolved that caused crackling at each keyframe location when you added surround panning keyframes to a bus track.
A bug has been fixed that caused the output from other tracks to be mixed when rendering each track to a separate file with multiple tracks soloed.
A bug that has been fixed that caused stuttering and bursts of noise in third-party applications when attempting to sync to MIDI timecode from ACID.
General stability and performance enhancements.
A bug has been resolved that caused all busses routed to the master to play when you soloed individual busses.
The Ogg Vorbis plug-in has been updated using the Ogg Vorbis 1.0 release.
A bug has been fixed that caused ACID to crash when stopping playback in the Chopper, Beatmapper, or Track Properties window when the Explorer window was turned off.
A bug that caused ACID to crash when you pressed Enter in the Selection Start, Selection End, and Selection Length edit boxes has been fixed.
A bug has been fixed that caused ACID to crash when you canceled the List Editor's Edit MIDI Event dialog after switching focus away from and back to ACID.
A bug has been fixed that caused ACID to crash when opening MIDI files recorded in ACID 3.0.
A bug that caused ACID to crash when opening a project with a MIDI file containing multiple tracks has been fixed.
Issues with the Vibrato plug-in have been resolved.
A bug that caused the undo buffer to become corrupted when bypassing all effects on a soft synth control has been fixed.
A bug that could cause ACID to freeze when unsoloing a bus has been fixed.
A bug that could cause ACID to crash when rerouting MIDI tracks during playback has been fixed.
A bug has been fixed that caused clicking during playback and in rendered output after increasing a project's sample rate.
A bug has been fixed that prevented automated effect parameters from being saved with your project when an automated effect followed a nonautomated effect in a bus, soft synth, or assignable effects chain.
A bug has been fixed that caused effect automation envelopes to be removed when attempting to undo a single envelope point.
A bug has been fixed that caused mixer controls to disappear when you used the Undo command to reverse an effect parameter change for the bus.
ACID now sends tempo, meter, and starting point information to VSTi plug-ins when you begin playback.
Soloing behavior for mixer controls has been revised for 4.0a: soloing a bus/soft synth/assignable effects chain now effectively mutes all signal paths not directly associated with hearing the soloed item's output. Soloing another bus/soft synth/assignable effects chain will also add that item's contribution to the output.
Presets for the Cutoff frequency for low-pass filter (Hz) have been labeled to indicate their intended applications.
If you save an ACID 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0 project in ACID 4.0, it will be unusable in earlier versions of ACID. Use the Save As dialog to save the project with a new name after editing it in ACID 4.0.
If you open an ACID 3.0 project that includes MIDI tracks that have track effects applied, you'll need to reapply the effects to the appropriate soft synth control in the mixer.
If you open an ACID 3.0 project that includes MIDI tracks that have DLS voice sets applied via Track Properties, the DLS association will be lost. Please create a soft synth control in the Mixer window and apply the appropriate DLS set to the soft synth control. You can then route your track to the soft synth.
Do not install ACID 4.0 to the root of your C:\ drive.
Uninstalling ACID 3.0 will reset your ACID 4.0 preferences. This is due to a bug in ACID 3.0. We apologize for any inconvenience.
When using ASIO drivers, many sound cards allow only specific sample rates for playback. ACID cannot play your project until you choose the appropriate sample rate on the Project Properties dialog. Please refer to your sound card's documentation to determine its required sample rate.
A known bug in the ASIO driver for M-Audio Delta series audio cards can cause problems (including crashes) in ACID. An updated driver is available from M-Audio.
If you experience playback problems or crashes while using ASIO devices (particularly when positioning the cursor, selecting data, or changing the loop region), try increasing the buffer latency. Click the Advanced button on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog to display your driver's configuration applet.
Selecting the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth check box on the MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog page may cause problems with ASIO devices. To prevent playback problems, choose a different driver model from the Audio device type drop-down on the Audio tab of the Preference dialog or clear the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth check box on the MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog.
If you're using a Creative Labs Audigy audio card, you may need to disable all other audio cards in your computer in order to install the Audigy driver. Please refer to your Audigy documentation for more information about installing and setting up your card.
Looped playback within 5.1 surround projects can stutter when using a Creative Labs Audigy card. Download the latest ASIO drivers from Creative Labs to resolve this problem.
The cursor can become stuck at the beginning of the loop region or fall out of sync with the display when using a Creative Labs Audigy card. Download the latest ASIO drivers from Creative Labs to resolve this problem.
When using sampler-based VSTi plug-ins, changing your project's sample rate can throw MIDI tracks out of sync with your project. Returning to the project's original sample rate will resolve the issue.
When using some VSTi plug-ins, the ACID interface will not redraw when the mouse button is held down on the plug-in's editing controls. This is due to a known bug in the Steinberg VSTi GUI library.
When using some VSTi plug-ins such as Steinberg's HALion, the plug-in's interface may be cut off or may not draw completely. Resizing the plug-in's window should redraw the interface.
The Native Instruments Battery Demo may cause ACID to crash during indexing under some Windows 98SE or Windows Me configurations. Uninstalling the demo or removing the file "Battery Demo.dll" from your VST plug-ins folder will resolve this issue.
The Native Instruments Dynamo VSTi is unsupported.
If you're using a VST instrument with multiple outputs, ACID supports only the first stereo pair because ACID routes VST instruments to a single stereo bus. This may affect the way you set up some of your VSTi plug-ins.
Tracks can fall out of sync during looped playback when routed to external MIDI devices.
When triggering ACID playback using MIDI timecode, playback can begin at the wrong time if you're using a time ruler offset in ACID.
Some Cakewalk plug-ins do not load properly in ACID. Please contact Cakewalk to resolve this issue.
The Gapper/Snipper plug-in can cause problems with effect automation. Removing the Gapper/Snipper from the effects chain will resolve the issue.
T-Racks DirectX plug-ins do not load in ACID.
Bitheadz Unity DS-1 and Retro AS-1 are not supported by ACID as ReWire devices.
Cakewalk Project5 version 1.0 does not expose MIDI ports to ReWire mixer applications such as ACID.
Cakewalk Project5 version 1.0 does not permit playback outside the loop region. When using Project5 as a ReWire panel, turn off looped playback mode in ACID.
Do not use the ReWire and VSTi versions of Arturia Storm concurrently.
Hauppauge TV tuner cards can cause ACID to fail on startup. Check with Hauppauge for updated drivers or delete the extmondrv.dll from the \\Program Files\Sony\ACID 4.0\Video Hardware Drivers\ folder. Please note that this will eliminate the ability to preview video on an external monitor using ACID.
Some CD-RW drives fail when burning to high-speed rewritable discs. Using slower media can allow you to burn successfully.
Some CD burners are unable to update the amount of time available on disc after you perform a test burn. If your drive misreports the amount of time available, eject and reinsert the disc.
You may notice slight differences in how Beatmapped tracks are timestretched depending on whether the Preserve pitch when stretching check box is selected on the General tab of the Track Properties dialog.
When sending loop information to ReWire client applications, be advised that not all clients allow playback outside of the loop region. For some panels, it's best to set the loop region in ACID rather than in the ReWire client.
The following lists the minimum system requirements for using ACID:
300 MHz processor*
64 MB RAM
60 MB hard-disk space for program installation
Microsoft Windows 98se, Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows XP
Windows-compatible sound card
CD-ROM drive (for installation from a CD only)
Supported CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning only)
DirectX Media 8.0 Run Time (included on CD-ROM)
Internet Explorer 5.0 or later to view online help (version 5.0 included on CD-ROM)
* 400 MHz processor and Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, or XP required for video scoring.
The install utility setup.exe, located on the setup CD-ROM, creates any necessary folders and copies all files required by ACID to your computer.
Place the ACID CD-ROM in the drive. AutoPlay displays an installation menu.
If
you have disabled the CD-ROM AutoPlay feature, click the Start button
and choose Run. Type D:\setup.exe, where D is the drive letter of your
CD-ROM drive, and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
Click Install, and then follow the on-screen prompts to install the appropriate version of ACID for your computer.
The install utility that you can creates any necessary folders and copies all files required by ACID to your computer.
Download the installer sfxACID40_pro.exe and save it to a folder on your hard disk.
Double-click the installer, and then follow the on-screen prompts to install the appropriate version of ACID for your computer.
Included on the ACID CD is a complete ACID User Manual in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. The Acrobat format allows easy printing of the text, should you need a hard copy. The manual is located in the Manual folder on the CD.
In order to view the manual, you will need to install the Adobe Acrobat Reader. It has been included on the CD in the \Extras\Acrobat Reader 4.0 folder for your convenience. To install Acrobat Reader, follow these steps:
Place the ACID CD in the drive. AutoPlay launches an installation menu.
If
you have disabled the CD-ROM AutoPlay feature, click the Start button
and choose Run. Type D:\Extras\Acrobat Reader 4.0\English\ar405eng.exe,
where D is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, and follow the on-screen
prompts to complete the installation.
Choose Browse, and then browse to the D:\Extras\Acrobat Reader 4.0\English\ folder.
Double-click the ar40eng.exe icon and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
The ACID CD-ROM includes demo versions of other select products available from Sony. To install a demo, run the main setup program on the root of the CD and choose Product Information from the Install screen. Follow the links for the demo you want to install.
If you would like any more information or demos of other products from Sony, please visit our Web site. You will always find the latest technical information, demos, and product announcements from Sony there.
Commercial distribution of the Sony demos requires written permission from Sony Pictures Digital Inc.
Sony Pictures Digital can be contacted in the following ways:
Sony Pictures Digital Inc.
Media Software and Services
1617 Sherman Ave.
Madison, Wisconsin 53704
USA
For a detailed list of Customer Service options, we encourage you to visit http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/custserv.asp.
Telephone support during normal office hours:
1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) in US, Canada, and Virgin Islands.
+608-204-7703 for all other countries.
Fax: 1-608-250-1745.
For a detailed list of Technical Support options, we encourage you to visit http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/default.asp.
To listen to your support options please call 608-256-5555.
ACID Pro includes 60 days of complimentary phone support. To obtain support, please call 608-204-7704. Your complimentary support begins the date of your first call (registration is required).
Fax: 608-250-1745.