RiffWorks Version 2.2 Update Released

[scott]

If you clicked, "Save", you should have been given the choice of where to save it. Try doing a search of your hard drive for, "UpdateRiffWorksStandardV2_2_2914.exe"

If you clicked, "Run", it should have run the updater and installed the new version. Check the software by loading RiffWorks then clicking on the logo in the top right of the screen.

[RLW1967]

Where do you install the VST plug-ins in Riffworks?

[davenz]

Where do you install the VST plug-ins in Riffworks?

As far as I understand it, you should try to install all VST's into a common directory, usually c:program filesVST, which makes things eaiser further down the track.

Once your VST is installed, open RW and click the Hardware button to make the light go out, then click the Effects button underneath it, which should now be enabled, and which should open a bigger window with many cool effects on it. Click the down-arrow beside Amps, which drops down a menu; all your Amps and plugins are available here. If yours doesn't show up, try refreshing the list or setting the path to your VST folder (which is why having them all over the place can be a bother - if they are all in the one directory things are much tidier).

Thats how I do it anyway. Some VST's don't work and play well with RW though, so expect some not to work as intended. That said, those I have tried (not many) work pretty well.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[randy]

We've confirmed that the Mac OS update doesn't save songs correctly. If you're using Mac OS and have the latest update, it's highly advised that you downgrade to the last release until we can sort this out. Please see http://www.sonomawireworks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=5501 for details

[blue4u]

Thank You!!!

1. Remembering VST, input and effects settings when I close and reopen RiffWorks just plain rocks! This makes me very happy

2. Adding number markers to the play head for each corresponding beat has turned out to be a HUGE help! Who knew this small little feature would be so useful?! VERY cool and handy indeed!

3. RiffLink overall, is faster and when it does crash and I re-enter the song it loads MUCH more quickly. Must have added some caching feature to the server? Whatever it is, I can see an appreciable difference in load time.

4. Guitar Rig support....thank you for listening to those who've been asking for this! It doesn't go unnoticed that you guys are truly customer-centric.

5. Instant drummer streaming...again, this shows that you are paying attention to what we're interested in I know it took a lot of work to get this going and it really makes the RiffLink experience better. I also think it's a great way to promote different drummers.

6. The Instant Drummer panel is better. It's easier to read the names of the drummers and parts and the numbers surrounding the gain knob (where they there before?) are useful. I think you moved the gain knob over to the left too? Anyway, good adjustments.

Now, what's next??

Well, you guys have heard everything I'm gonna say before so this is just a friendly reminder of what are in my mind, the highest priorities going forward....

1. Real-time VST support and VST on outputs. This would mean we can record our parts dry (with no effects) and add in the effects after the fact. I don't know how hard this is but we've wanted it for soooo long that I'm hopeful it's at the top of your list? Also, the ability to put mastering effects like an EQ, compressor, and limiter on the outputs would be VERY useful. Yeah, I could use another program to master but why bother when I LOVE RiffWorks so much?! Then, I could go and buy this wonderful little gem: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/arc/

2. The ability to copy over a layer from one Riff to another. Of course, RiffWorks would have to test that the time signature, tempo and riff lengths are an exact match but I think this is doable, is it not? There are too many reasons to list why this feature is truly needed for workflow! When we duplicate parts we may want to copy over just a bass line or maybe a single guitar part, vocal or whatever.

3. An info layer on the Instant Drummer and Rex Player so that we can draw volume automation for our backups. Can you imagine the possibilities?

4. The ability to have more than one instant drummer session going on at once. Too cool!! With the feature above (#3) just imagine how creative we could be? Then we could add cymbal hits, fills, kicks, snare rolls, etc. from one drummer while keeping the basic beat from another drummer. Wicked fun

5. Basic MIDI support for commands like stop, play, pause, record, copy, delete, etc. OK midi support for VSTi would be next on the list but this would be a great step in the direction of MIDI and VERY useful for when you are trying to record yourself playing a mic'ed acoustic guitar from across the room or doing a vocal take from the other room.

6. True 24-bit support! I'm pretty sure that RiffWorks only records at 16-bit (correct me if I'm mistaken) and by today's audio standards that just doesn't get it done. The audio needs to be higher quality. I can hear a BIG difference in clarity and resolution when I switch to other DAWs like Reaper.

7. A pause button. Yeah, we can stop the play head by clicking on it but a dedicated button would be nice.

That's pretty much what is missing for me. The big stuff anyway. Your thoughts???

Thanks SWW
Rich

[parr]

Hi,

Note tested thoroughly, but it seems that delay saves ok now!
You have decreased the sensitivity to the mouse when setting the signature and number of bars, haven't you?

And I also agree with blue4 on the bar labelling and the rest of things.
Great job!
Thanks!!!

[dug]

Well, you guys have heard everything I'm gonna say before so this is just a friendly reminder of what are in my mind, the highest priorities going forward....

1. Real-time VST support and VST on outputs. This would mean we can record our parts dry (with no effects) and add in the effects after the fact. I don't know how hard this is but we've wanted it for soooo long that I'm hopeful it's at the top of your list? Also, the ability to put mastering effects like an EQ, compressor, and limiter on the outputs would be VERY useful. Yeah, I could use another program to master but why bother when I LOVE RiffWorks so much?! Then, I could go and buy this wonderful little gem: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/arc/

VST on the outputs would be great. That's on our list. VST on the tracks is asking for trouble. Amp models use a LOT of cpu. If you load one on every track, it will bog your machine down real quick. So you'll also want to be able to mix it wet. That's what makes it harder. But yeah, we want this too:)

2. The ability to copy over a layer from one Riff to another. Of course, RiffWorks would have to test that the time signature, tempo and riff lengths are an exact match but I think this is doable, is it not? There are too many reasons to list why this feature is truly needed for workflow! When we duplicate parts we may want to copy over just a bass line or maybe a single guitar part, vocal or whatever.

This is doable sooner if we restrict it to only riffs that match length, and time sig, etc as you mentioned, but it would be so much cooler if it was more flexible than that. It's been on our list since day 1, but we want it to be right and that requires a lot of interface and audio engine code.

3. An info layer on the Instant Drummer and Rex Player so that we can draw volume automation for our backups. Can you imagine the possibilities?

This would be very cool. It's on the list.

4. The ability to have more than one instant drummer session going on at once. Too cool!! With the feature above (#3) just imagine how creative we could be? Then we could add cymbal hits, fills, kicks, snare rolls, etc. from one drummer while keeping the basic beat from another drummer. Wicked fun

This one will be more difficult. You can do some thing like this now using rex files, and it will be especially cool if you have number 3 above.

5. Basic MIDI support for commands like stop, play, pause, record, copy, delete, etc. OK midi support for VSTi would be next on the list but this would be a great step in the direction of MIDI and VERY useful for when you are trying to record yourself playing a mic'ed acoustic guitar from across the room or doing a vocal take from the other room.

Yes, this will be very cool and is on the list.

6. True 24-bit support! I'm pretty sure that RiffWorks only records at 16-bit (correct me if I'm mistaken) and by today's audio standards that just doesn't get it done. The audio needs to be higher quality. I can hear a BIG difference in clarity and resolution when I switch to other DAWs like Reaper.

We originally didn't want to have multiple session formats. But with RiffLink being the way that people share work, I think this is less of a concern. Recording in 24bit is really implemented by writing 32bit floating point to disk. So it actually doubles the size of the data. With the huge size and cheap size of hard drives now, that's also much less of a concern. And there is a performance benefit from not converting the 16 bit data off the disk to floats for processing, so you will actually get a little performance from it.

7. A pause button. Yeah, we can stop the play head by clicking on it but a dedicated button would be nice.

I hear ya.

Thanks SWW
Rich

You're very welcome!
dug

[blue4u]

Great responses Dug!! Thanks

[dug]

I open RWS and it tells me there is an update......I select yes and nothing happens past that.........there is no prompt to install. Is there a link to go and manually download the update?

Is your browser (IE or Firefox) already open? Sometimes, it doesn't get brought to the foreground when we tell Windows to open a webpage.

thanks,
dug

[aulaski1]

I could not find UpdateRiffWorksStandardV2_2_2914.exe anywhere. When it asks me if I want to update Thed hour glassw goes on and then nothing happens. I dont get the typical window to save or cancel. I turned off what firewalls trhatr I know of. I hace windows xp multimedia edition

[aulaski1]

I found a cool guitar amp vsti. I am wondering if there are drup and guitar vsti out there. is it possible to get a drum vsti that I can use and turn instand drummer off. and a guitar one where I can have various styles and riffs like I can when I use instant drummer addins

[ksslr]

My other suggestion to Sonoma guys is to have something more accurate like faders instead of knobs...this'd help to be more accurate during mixings.
And maybe it'll be cool if mac users could move and/or enlarge the window 'cos it's kinda difficult to read something soooo small

[Charvelguy]

I really need to have a toggle for the avatars leading me to Riffworld profiles. Namely I want the option to switch it off and leave it off until I want to use the feature. Why you may ask? It a major pain in the ass while shading. Somedays its hard enough to get accurate shading on a part or edit the eq and when you or if you get a bit of lag upon playback, you may inadvertantly scroll over the avatar image and now you have a page loading while you are trying to use an edit function and its using more resources ..therefore putting more drag on your system etc. I hate this feature myself just for composistional and mixing reasons....which, is why I'd like the ability to toggle it off. If I were out brousing in Riffliink and just looking at layers and who recorded what, thenm it may be a cool thing to have, otherwise, more of a pain than its worth imho.

[randy]

huh? I don't understand what this means, "you may inadvertantly scroll over the avatar image and now you have a page loading while you are trying to use an edit function and its using more resources"

What page loads? Sorry, maybe I'm missing something obvious.

Ksslr: The knobs in RiffWorks are pretty easy to use. Make sure you're clicking and dragging up and down and not around the circumference of the knob. I've never had a problem adjusting finely and I use both a mouse and touch pad. I could see it being an issue if you had your mouse set to move faster than most people have it set to. Sliders are also hard to fit into the UI and aren't as pretty.

[Wedgebill]

Tom is talking about avatar icons on the layers in Rifflink, if you click on one to, for instance, change it from default to your own the program opens up a web page which then says item not found (Error 404 ???). If you click on a user avatar, it takes you to their Riffworld page.