[linux-audio-user] Re: Commercial audio software on Linux

[Paul Davis]

On Sat, 2006-08-19 at 17:05 +0000, carmen wrote:

> all the while, Ardour and probably none of the others can play back
> 48khz files in a 44.1 project or use heterogenous source formats
> without arduous pre-import conversion tasks, can barely sequence MIDI
> and can't sequence OSC at all, offers no realtime
> timestretch/loop/tempo-warp facilities, edit-preserving instantaneous
> in-place bouncedown (aka "freeze"), run on windows, automatically
> restore state of all utilized standalone instruments, export project
> in a generic format which can be used in another DAW (say Qtractor if
> your GTKMM is giving you shit today), quick 'midi learn' and 'draw
> envelopes on anything' GUI features, workflow-improving metadata-
> enhanced patch/preset/project browsing, etc.

lets cover these one by one, in reverse order:

1) workflow issues with patch/preset/project browsing

    unclear what you mean here.

2) draw envelopes on anything

    not sure what this means either, but ardour will let you manually
draw envelopes for any plugin parameter, gain and panning. we do have
a design issue with how to draw panning for N>=2 in / N>= 2 out tracks.
you can also draw envelopes on individual regions. our envelope drawing
is not so hot, but i am not sure what other things you want to draw
envelopes for that you can't do so already.

3) quick "midi learn"

    ctrl-middle click on any knob or fader. operate MIDI controller
device. done.

4) session export facilities

   AES-31 support is on its way, as well as commercial support for
ProTools compatible session export via AAF. but there are no 100%
portable session formats - even digi managed to manipulate AAF so that
they cannot load many AAF sessions. the open source world has absolutely
zero leverage over this stuff - we either use existing "standards" or
its not worth doing at all.

meanwhile, ardour session files are human readable XML; it took one
programmer a day or two to figure how to translate it into AAF.

5) restore state of external instruments

this is where LASH fits in. the more s/w that supports LASH, the better
this will work. internal instruments, of course, are just plugins, and
handled already.

6) run on windows

the ardour project has no comment on this at this time. 

7) in-place instantaneous bounce ("freeze")

right click in a track, select "Freeze" from context menu. it can't
be instantaneous since by definition it has to write a new audio file.

8) realtime loop manipulation

guilty as charged

9) sequence MIDI and/or OSC

MIDI recording and playback is now operational in ardour2.0's MIDI
branch c/o dave robillard's SoC2006 project.

10) playback heterogenous source format

just use "embed" not "import" and ardour will playback any file that
libsndfile can handle, at any SR (no SRC though)

11) automatic realtime SRC

it was a design decision not to support this. contrast to digital
performer, which allows you to create regions from files at the wrong SR
but then simply doesn't play them at all (they are always silent). its
far from clear what the best solution is here - the right answer is
probably more choices and more choices are the hardest thing to offer
users properly and usefully.