merges wrote:(X-posted from
another thread)
Here is a very silly but straightforward example of the plugin-delay-automation issue. As others have indicated, it's truly insidious in that the "errors" accumulate and depending on how many tweaks you make/how much automation you have, can render your project fit only for the trash heap. Again, this will not happen to *everyone* but to many, especially those working with precision.
My analog is to Illustrator. Not everyone needs to tweak down to the millimeter, but it would be ludicrous for Adobe to say that alignment just kind of starts drifting when you use filters and brush strokes, and you'll just have to deal with it. Like graphics software, Live is built around digital precision.
In the following example, I was using the Mac standard audio on my newish MacBook Pro with Intel godknowswhat fast processors and blabity bla. 48Khz, 128 sample buffer. I used FabFilter plugins (regular offenders—but it *should not matter* whose plugins they are; Live should adjust) in this example.
This is a silly example. I have a reverse kick/bass sound with a high cut filter on top of it. I want the high cut to be at a low frequency for the duration of the sound, and to pop up to a high frequency after the sound stops. The result should be silence. I drew the automation to be precisely at the right time. The resulting resampled audio shows exactly what we'd expect: silence.
Then I threw in two more plugins and rendered the audio. The filter rise happens at the same precise time, but the rendered audio shows sound. What gives? The audio signal has drifted forward in time. The filter rise now happens BEFORE the reverse kick/bass sound "finishes" playing. What?! How far did it drift? I have no clue about how far, until I render the audio. (Or listen, and hear things out of whack.)
Edit: The plugins I added are EQs; they aren't verbs and delays adding residual echoes to the sound.
Again, this is a silly example and a simple one to demonstrate the problem. It can get a lot more hairy in a complex project. And in my mind, this just isn't professional grade handling of audio. Music and sound is about time, it's about a certain reliable precision. Just as Photoshop isn't paint, it's pixels.
Edit: if you're having trouble imagining a realistic situation whEre this might occur... say you've automated a filter cutoff on a synth. Then you decide to change the sound by throwing on a saturator and eq before the filter. Suddenly your automation is out of sync with the notes of the synth. Ouch.
(Edited for clarity.)
