Yesterday we wrapped recording and…
DAY 3 was a little more fraught!
Significant problems today getting a decent signal into VST Connect Pro.
Upon first connection, connection bar on Studio side was at about half… then red lights, full signal loss… then the connection seemed to reset itself (for lack of a better explanation, and then full bars on both Studio and Performer side. Which worked great for about 45 minutes until…
Experienced glitching with both status bars full. As always, tested the connection on both sides and they were performing at speed. Upon restarting Nuendo and Performer Connect effective connection was restored.
Ran Onyx on my side, but same thing happened after about an hour of connectivity— became glitchy and restart was necessary.
OBSERVATION
Download of HD files maxes at 1.48 mb/sec, which seems strange considering 200 mb/sec download on my side and 400 on the client end, with 100 mb/sec upload for both.
And so ended this particular project’s VST Connect Pro phase.
Conclusions:
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First and foremost: the project got done. Not as elegantly and smoothly as one may have hoped (that “one” being me), but the recording part of this 30+ hours’ worth of recording was completed in a manner that would have otherwise involved a remote studio, Zoom, additional engineer, etc. All in all absolutely worth the trouble.
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There are continuing problems with VST Connect/Performer Connect that ought to be examined and dealt with. Even if it’s a matter of implementing a testing function within the plugin and app to identify the source of these issues. As previously noted, I have used VST Connect Pro since the first available version over a variety of platforms, computer installations, software versions and ISP sources. The problems I’ve identified are common to all of them. Again, this is in the context of recording long stretches of narration, sometimes over the course of more than an hour at a time.
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The VST Connect documentation is basic, at best. When I’m working with other people I typically refer them to VST Connect In-Depth Information & Troubleshooting to help them understand how this all works. I think it would be great if more of the article’s info were included in the documentation.
Also-- and this may well be user error, and if there’s anybody out there who can correct me if I’m wrong, please do-- but the user guide suggests that there’s an Autosave feature in VST Connect (see excerpt). I have not been able to locate it. Is the guide suggesting that VST Connect settings are saved as part of Nuendo’s autosave feature? Considering that it’s listed in the “settings” section, I assume not. The feature, if it exists, would have been very handy after some of these restarts when the ordering and assignment of inputs got “reorganized” (Mic, Inst and other inputs reordered; they all worked after input reassignment, regardless…then mysteriously returned to their expected positions upon further restarts… no idea why).
And so ends the VST Connect portion of this project.
Again, I have a feeling that there aren’t a lot of us working VST Connect the way I do-- over long sessions, etc. I want very much for this software to be as reliable as it can possibly be. I am available for test-driving this stuff, and my crew of editors, both here in California and overseas are enthusiastic about pitching in as well.
It is true that some of the issues I consistently experience with VST Connect have me pulling my hair out at times-- especially when in the middle of a session with a not necessarily tech-savvy narrator-- but ultimately the software’s allowing me to do things that would otherwise be much more difficult-- and expensive. Let’s fix it! Or… if it’s identifiably user error, let’s find a way of explaining it more clearly.
Any thoughts from anyone on this?
Chewy