She was connected. We were online looking at and talking to each other through the VST Connect/Performer connection. I was using my unconnected Performer on MY side (with VST Connect Pro working and connected) to guide her through the process of finding the “Export for Get Local HD” on her side.
And it didn’t work. Her Performer has consistently displayed a popup saying that there was no project connected, despite that she and I have been online and connected each time we’ve tried it.
This is why I’m wondering if I might be missing a step… but it doesn’t seem like it.
I also wonder what’s making the studio-side files not transferrable by normal means on my side may have factors in common with Performer not being able to carry out the “Export for Get Local HD” problem we’re experiencing.
We’re taking the day off today, but tomorrow will be our Day 6 .
Did you save the Cubase/Nuendo project before having her apply the export function? Is there perhaps something “fishy” with the name of the project (as saved), like foreign characters or the like (shouldn’t matter, but who knows…)?
Sorry… I finished up day 7 and was lured away from my computer for a couple of days.
To address your questions:
Yes, I definitely saved before starting and again before attempting the export.
No, nothing strange about the project names, as far as I can tell. “Day 1”, “Day 2”, etc.
Now, moving on to Day 7-- I was able to transfer all of the HD files we did that day with no issue. I did, for the sake of experimentation, attempt a “Export for Local…” after I had the files securely in hand, and again, they did not work and we got the usual “No Project Connected” popup.
I’m going to do some more experimenting with a Nuendo-based friend in Los Angeles (I’m in New York at the moment), to see if it was any kind of identifiable user error on the part of my narrator last week.
Also, in regards to the HD downloading issues I was experiencing-- I had the most problems (ie, completely unable to transfer the files) while the narrator was recording from a wired connection from a hotel room in Los Angeles. I’d be willing to bet that there were sync issue-promoting problems with the hotel server (it was on their business line, and it was pretty fast, but who knows what issues can pop up under the hood?), and I’m primarily just relieved that I was able to get workable tracks from my local files.
This of course does not explain the issues I was having transferring her files when recording from her home in Denver; as reported above, Day 7 presented no hiccups, but there were definitely issues our first couple of days. There were no differences in the connection process or file setup. I can’t claim to have any technical knowledge of the factors that lead to a seamless connection, but I can say that even with everything standardized setup-wise we did have sporadic failures of the Download HD Files function.
But… bottom line: got the project recorded, and it sounds great, and that’s what really matters.
I’m hoping to set up another VST Connect project in the not-so-distant future; have two on deck that, depending on the enthusiasm level of the author/narrator, and their equipment, may be doable with our esteemed software.
In any case, I stand extremely motivated to keep knocking against these obstacles (even if they are of my own making ), and very much value and appreciate your contribution here, @musicullum .
We repeat this over and over, speed is not of concern, VST Connect can work with very low transmission rates. It is the quality of the connection that matters, which is determined by many factors. A hotel room connection can provide massive speed but poor quality - again, it is the latter that matters! Having said that, for your standard connection, make sure to remove all possible obstacles - neither you nor her should have any other application active, in particular not those connecting to internet, do not use WiFi but always cabled connection on both sides. Remove any app labeled “Internet Security” or “Network Protection” or the like on either end, you don’t need those. Then you should be able to record in Lossless bandwidth and never worry about anything else. See https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/360012899079-VST-Connect-In-depth-information-and-troubleshooting
We searched the entire code, there is no such message. Could you let us know the precise wording (and on which end it occurs)?
There is one related message in the Performer app we found “No Project loaded.”, which means exactly that. If this is the one, pls let us know the exact steps you take. Also you may try to apply said function without saving the Cubase/Nuendo project beforehand. You may also want to ask the talent to check if a folder with the same name as your Cubase/Nuendo project exists on her end (Documents/VSTConnectPerformer), it should, and that folder needs to be accessible to the VST Connect Performer application.
That was the wording of the message. Sorry for the semantic incongruity! I was working from memory, so got it wrong.
Exact steps:
Finish recording.
On MY side, attempt transfer of HD files. If this doesn’t work (the files don’t show up as available)…
Guide the Performer side person to the “Export for Local…” option.
We get the “No Project Loaded” message on the Performer side.
I’ve tried this at various times both before and after saving the project on my side.
We have gone to the VST Connect folder on her computer and found the HD files; they were all in appropriately named folders corresponding to project. I’ve had her manually send them over to me and had no trouble locating the files that way.
Maybe I’m missing something here, and there’s a step that MAKES the folder accessible? We were unable to identify such an option.
In regards to hotel connections: Absolutely understand everything about that (if not the tech underlying it!), and since there was really nothing I could do about it under the circumstances and the job had to get done… and the connection was generally good enough to provide me usable quality with my local files, I was just identifying what I thought was the issue in that case. Wasn’t a big surprise… in fact, I was bracing for it not working at all with dodgy hotel networks! But we got through it.
FWIW, I did ensure that no other apps were running on her side, and we were always using a wired connection.
So… the hotel connection situation is not so mysterious, but the two things I’d like to figure out, if possible, in order of personal pref:
The inconsistency I’ve experienced over multiple projects of HD file transfer-- meaning, I try to initiate a transfer of files after recording and they’re not available in the Manager. I have not been able to identify a common factor. For me, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. This has been my experience both here in New York where I have a 300mb/s up and down fiber connection, and back at my place in Los Angeles, where it’s 200 down and 100 up.
As I noted earlier, I’m going to set up sessions with a trusted Nuendo user with whom I’ve used VST Connect previously and see if I can identify anything in my approach that might be causing this.
The problem I’m having with getting that “Export for Local…” to work. I would not at all be surprised if I’m missing a step here, and if so, could very much use some help to identify what that step might be!
We’re done with principal recording at this point, but if I have to do pickups I’ll absolutely do that, and thank you.
In the meantime, I’ll probably be starting another VST Connect project within the next couple of weeks, so I’ll check that on the first day and report back.
Here’s a not-so-happy update on the project covered in this thread. Spoiler alert: there was a happy ending but it’s still definitely worth noting.
I’ve commented on the issues encountered while attempting to transfer files via the Performer/VST Connect Pro built-in methods. So…
Given my inability to connect to a project on the Performer side (and, @musicullum, I am definitely going to try the steps you identified), I went “old school” and had the talent dig up the HD files from the Performer folders on her recording MacBook, She found them, got them to me, and everything looked good… until I tried to put them in the project. Note I was only trying to use files where the local versions (The files on MY side-- the Nuendo side) contained glitches due to probable connectivity problems.
The (HD) files were unplayable. “unknown format” “Missing header information”-- the messages varied by the multiple ways I tried to repair them. Audacity’s “read raw data”, and a couple of other methods. I thought I was screwed, or at least was going to have to do pickups.
The situation described above was the case for EVERY HD file that had not transferred over by conventional means (via the Transfer HD Files function). As you will recall, there were several instances where I went to do such a transfer and the files were not available–a situation I’ve encountered in pretty much all of my VST Connect Pro projects at one time or another in the production process.
So… I did a little digging and found an app: 4DDiG File Repair, which fixed them all in seconds. I was so happy to have the files that I paid the $100 for a lifetime license. I’ve used it twice now on this project, which has already saved me a couple of days of waiting for the reader’s availability… and got the performances I wanted, glitch free.
That’s the happy ending. But it does not obviate the issues-- these files, by virtue of everything I’ve been told about the Connect/Performer relationship, should be fully intact on the recording side.
), and very much value and appreciate your contribution here, 