LBX Stripper - create custom channel strips

[RJHollins]

The offline button status not being 'proper' from the Backup makes sense the way you've explained.

I know what it is to have that last brain cell not carrying its weight for all the other slackers ... but actually, I did get an extra bit of sleep time ... very aware as I worked on Mastering this Big Band recording.

Since I knew of your warning regards to Save method ... that's why I mentioned how careful I was. Basically, I never Quit before Saving.

I did mention that at the very end, having just Saved the Project, I did check over things, and then Re-Saved [no actual changes made]. It was then I did NOT see the STRIPPER INFO window pop up showing a Strip SAVE ... like it just skipped it.

Maybe a clue ??

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

The offline button status not being 'proper' from the Backup makes sense the way you've explained.

I know what it is to have that last brain cell not carrying its weight for all the other slackers ... but actually, I did get an extra bit of sleep time ... very aware as I worked on Mastering this Big Band recording.

Since I knew of your warning regards to Save method ... that's why I mentioned how careful I was. Basically, I never Quit before Saving.

I did mention that at the very end, having just Saved the Project, I did check over things, and then Re-Saved [no actual changes made]. It was then I did NOT see the STRIPPER INFO window pop up showing a Strip SAVE ... like it just skipped it.

Maybe a clue ??

If you hit save multiple times when Reaper is not in 'modified' state - the Stripper won't resave any data as it monitors the state going from modified to unmodified - this is the way it can tell the project has been saved.

So it will only save the first time - then if nothing has changed - it won't save again (and shouldn't need to).

But the whole thing is quite complex as it also has to monitor for the save as new situation as well as possible tab changes - reloads etc - which all have to be handled in certain ways.

From your description of what you did - I really cannot think why it's producing a corrupt data file. But for these situations - this is why I have the backup system - which at least should ensure you can retrieve something.

I will look into it all again - but first need to get my current project finished - then I'll be back full (spare) time on Stripper.

for full reassurance when working on important projects - you could make manual backups of all the save files (both backup and normal) in Windows explorer. Also - using the SAVE button on the top bar (or hitting Ctrl+S whilst Stripper has keyboard focus) might be a more robust way of saving the data as it doesn't rely on detecting Reaper modified status changes.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by foxAsteria

Holy shit, this is tremendous!! How it took me this long to check it out? I have no idea...

Thanks lb0!

Glad you like it

[timbralzoom]

since the Save progress bar/window vanished in my system
this is my Save routine

-keep the Topbar always visible
-in the Reaper .. click Track area/empty space to switch Reaper to "modified" state
-in the Stripper .. click to subsetlist in Stripper or temporarily switch to EDIT mode
to reset the DATA SAVED message in the Topbar
-hit to save in Reaper.
-see the DATA SAVED message again
and if you want to quit just close the Reaper.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fh...rlJhgO73eqtr2s

i hope make sense.

[RJHollins]

Thanks Guys ...

Something else noticed.

When I have had to go for the BACKUP file, the Directory at first is empty. But as soon as I switch to SHOW All Files [no Extension filter], then I can see everything and hunt down the Strip Backup.

As for Save issue ... I'll watch [even more] closely. Thanks T for the Vid.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

Thanks Guys ...

Something else noticed.

When I have had to go for the BACKUP file, the Directory at first is empty. But as soon as I switch to SHOW All Files [no Extension filter], then I can see everything and hunt down the Strip Backup.

As for Save issue ... I'll watch [even more] closely. Thanks T for the Vid.

In Settings->Saving have you ticked the create backup when manually saving option? If not - then you're not actually loading the official backup file - but the temporary save file (a looong story to explain how all that works properly but it's to do with storing the data when you close stripper - but might not choose to save the project - in these cases the script needs to generate a save file - but one which might not be required later should the project be closed without saving).

The backup files should be .lbxbak files, the main save file is a .lbxstripper file and the temp save file is .lbxstripper__ file.

If it is set (the backup option) - then are you choosing Load Strip data file option - or load backup data option. Each uses a different filter to find the relevant types of file. Last I checked it was working ok.

[RJHollins]

Hi lb0.

Yes, I have both 'manual Backup' and 'Enable Temp Bkp of Data', checked.

This must have been DEFAULT settings ... or ones I selected long time back.

When I have to LOAD the Backup file, I go MENU, SCRIPT DATA, Load Backup Data file.

Doing that, the DIR opens ... but is blank. The EXT filter says: *lbxbak

What I've BEEN loading is : [filename].lbxstripper File.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

Hi lb0.

Yes, I have both 'manual Backup' and 'Enable Temp Bkp of Data', checked.

This must have been DEFAULT settings ... or ones I selected long time back.

When I have to LOAD the Backup file, I go MENU, SCRIPT DATA, Load Backup Data file.

Doing that, the DIR opens ... but is blank. The EXT filter says: *lbxbak

What I've BEEN loading is : [filename].lbxstripper File.

ok - the .lbxstripper file is not the backup file - it's the main save file. It therefore sounds like the project file is saving with a link to .lbxstripper__ (temp save file) - and it is this temp save file which is corrupt.

The project file will link to the temp save file usually when you've closed the script window without doing any manual save within stripper. Do you close the Stripper script window before saving the project?

Perhaps - for the time being - I would suggest do a manual save (SAVE button on top bar or Ctrl+S whilst Stripper has focus) just before closing Reaper.

[RJHollins]

Originally Posted by lb0

Do you close the Stripper script window before saving the project?

No.

and now I'm watching STRIP's top status bar to see Save status too.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

No.

and now I'm watching STRIP's top status bar to see Save status too.

Ok - there are probably other situations where the temporary save file is also required - but it's been such a long time I cannot remember off the top of my head

[Pinknoise]

I find LBX Stripper tends to crash for me. I reinstalled everything from scratch. I imported only one small strip. Air Windows ADT. With only 2 instances of ADT and one small vocal clip I can eventually make Reaper crash by playing around with stripper.
I only have 3 png files imported and one strip did in previous install.

Is it possible one of my png makes striper crash ?

I made a sharestrip if someone wants to ckeck it out.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=143...jeS9lHF-UbcUSa

[lb0]

Originally Posted by Pinknoise

I find LBX Stripper tends to crash for me. I reinstalled everything from scratch. I imported only one small strip. Air Windows ADT. With only 2 instances of ADT and one small vocal clip I can eventually make Reaper crash by playing around with stripper.
I only have 3 png files imported and one strip did in previous install.

Is it possible one of my png makes striper crash ?

I made a sharestrip if someone wants to ckeck it out.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=143...jeS9lHF-UbcUSa

The only time I've ever caused Reaper itself to crash whilst using Stripper is when loading a strip file which loaded a plugin which didn't like the settings it was loaded with (via the chunk).

Never had a Reaper crash purely through twiddling parameters in Stripper.

I've just updated all the Airwindows plugs to latest versions (as I was missing the ADT).

I've tried out a single instance of your strip and so far working fine for me. Tweaking away happily so far and it all seems happy.

Is there anything other than twisting the knobs you're doing?

If it was a script crash you would normally get an error message reporting the line causing the crash. Was it a full Reaper crash or the script crashing?

If it was a Reaper crash - can you look at the crash logs (if any) to see what module is causing the crash?

What system are you on? You could also monitor the Performance meter to ensure nothing odd is going on there (RAM or CPU wise)?

Have you noticed this with any other plugins?

[Pinknoise]

it happened before. Infact I almost always expect a crash playing with stripper. It's a complete Reaper crash. Where do I find the crash logs ?

[lb0]

Originally Posted by Pinknoise

it happened before. Infact I almost always expect a crash playing with stripper. It's a complete Reaper crash. Where do I find the crash logs ?

Well you're one of the first (if not the first) to report such problems.

When you say it happened before - do you mean with plugins other than ADT?

I don't know if Reaper itself produces crash logs - although I've seen many posted in the bug reports section of this forum. I've never suffered any that I couldn't fix myself - so don't exactly know.

What system are you running?

[lb0]

This message suggests how to find crash logs:

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=36653

[Pinknoise]

Of course it does'nt crash now that I want it to! But I noticed I had a user preset loaded in ADT. Might have something to do whit it. I resaved the strip on default ADT. I'll experiment and try to take a pic of the crashlog if happens again.

I imported a track template and a wav file. And twist knobs in stripper. That's about it.

I run Reaper 5.963 Win7 Intel Core i7 3770 3.4 16G Ram DDR3.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by Pinknoise

Of course it does'nt crash now that I want it to! But I noticed I had a user preset loaded in ADT. Might have something to do whit it. I resaved the strip on default ADT. I'll experiment and try to take a pic of the crashlog if happens again.

I imported a track template and a wav file. And twist knobs in stripper. That's about it.

I run Reaper 5.963 Win7 Intel Core i7 3770 3.4 16G Ram DDR3.

And above I posted a link which shows how to check the crash logs if a crash does happen - this might help identify the problem.

[Pinknoise]

Originally Posted by lb0

And above I posted a link which shows how to check the crash logs if a crash does happen - this might help identify the problem.

Yes I checked I'll be ready next time.

[timbralzoom]

sorry to repeat myself..

if the Strip has Fixed Snapshots,
they doesn't work on the first load (Strip)
needs to re select the "Fixed" in the right click menu
(but also shows selected .. so have to click/select it again)

if this is not expected behavior,
then here is my new year wish


-motto-
as always!

[lb0]

Originally Posted by timbralzoom

sorry to repeat myself..

if the Strip has Fixed Snapshots,
they doesn't work on the first load (Strip)
needs to re select the "Fixed" in the right click menu
(but also shows selected .. so have to click/select it again)

if this is not expected behavior,
then here is my new year wish


-motto-
as always!

Doesn't sound like expected behaviour - but I'm also not quite understanding you fully. :|

[timbralzoom]

Originally Posted by lb0

Doesn't sound like expected behaviour - but I'm also not quite understanding you fully. :|

OK .. sounds like chance to make a short video!

EDIT:

tadaa!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZC...sJ67JTiMv1ZIHT

still -motto-

[lb0]

Originally Posted by timbralzoom

OK .. sounds like chance to make a short video!

EDIT:

tadaa!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZC...sJ67JTiMv1ZIHT

still -motto-

Definitely a bug. Will sort when I get a moment.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by timbralzoom

sorry to repeat myself..

if the Strip has Fixed Snapshots,
they doesn't work on the first load (Strip)
needs to re select the "Fixed" in the right click menu
(but also shows selected .. so have to click/select it again)

if this is not expected behavior,
then here is my new year wish


-motto-
as always!

Hopefully fixed. Can you please try the latest version.

[timbralzoom]

Originally Posted by lb0

Hopefully fixed. Can you please try the latest version.

only needs re save the Strip first which i was expecting it somehow..

short problem solved!
Thank you so much!

[lb0]

Originally Posted by timbralzoom

only needs re save the Strip first which i was expecting it somehow..

short problem solved!
Thank you so much!

Yes - you may need to do this if you've made subsequent changes to the strip and resaved at any point. As the bug caused the default snapshot number to change each time the strip was added.

[RJHollins]

GUI control question please.

I'm trying to recall if we have the ability to LINK 2 KNOBS together ?

I tried using a MACRO CONTROL ... it kinda worked a bit, not fully, then it stop working.

The situation. I've a Plugin that has separate LEFT/RIGHT EQ Bands. They can work UN-Linked to control Left/Right separately.
LINKED to control BOTH together [either one] as STEREO, and ...
can also be configured for MID/SIDE operation.

just an experiment. Thanks for any hints

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

GUI control question please.

I'm trying to recall if we have the ability to LINK 2 KNOBS together ?

I tried using a MACRO CONTROL ... it kinda worked a bit, not fully, then it stop working.

The situation. I've a Plugin that has separate LEFT/RIGHT EQ Bands. They can work UN-Linked to control Left/Right separately.
LINKED to control BOTH together [either one] as STEREO, and ...
can also be configured for MID/SIDE operation.

just an experiment. Thanks for any hints

Currently I think only a macro control would come close to this. If it's a straight link - L=R (or L=-R) - then it should work ok. There are also relative modes so you could keep the target L & R controls visible - use them to set the difference - and the macro control should move them relative to each other - keeping the difference (although this may get lost if you hit the floor or ceiling values - been a while since I tried them like this). EDIT - actually - they do retain the difference even if you hit the extreme settings (which is how it should be).

When you say it kinda worked and then stopped working - how do you mean?

I think a proper link between controls would be useful and possibly requested before - so will add it to the to do list.

[RJHollins]

Originally Posted by lb0

Currently I think only a macro control would come close to this. If it's a straight link - L=R (or L=-R) - then it should work ok. There are also relative modes so you could keep the target L & R controls visible - use them to set the difference - and the macro control should move them relative to each other - keeping the difference (although this may get lost if you hit the floor or ceiling values - been a while since I tried them like this). EDIT - actually - they do retain the difference even if you hit the extreme settings (which is how it should be).

When you say it kinda worked and then stopped working - how do you mean?

I think a proper link between controls would be useful and possibly requested before - so will add it to the to do list.

OK .. I'll try the MC again. Not sure how it got messed. The Knob just locked up, would not move. Was doing some stuff meanwhile ...

Related ?? Is there an option to easily switch the LINK On and OFF ? There would be several Bands that would need Knobs Linked/Un-linked.

Just trying to figure what options available. Not even sure I can pull this off [it is the AZURE-eq from Acustica. I'm thinking of a complete Mastering Chain under one GUI.

thanks for any info

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

OK .. I'll try the MC again. Not sure how it got messed. The Knob just locked up, would not move. Was doing some stuff meanwhile ...

Related ?? Is there an option to easily switch the LINK On and OFF ? There would be several Bands that would need Knobs Linked/Un-linked.

Just trying to figure what options available. Not even sure I can pull this off [it is the AZURE-eq from Acustica. I'm thinking of a complete Mastering Chain under one GUI.

thanks for any info

Well - as long as you don't touch the macro control - then the L & R controls it is 'linking' will always be able to be moved independently. As soon as you'd touch the macro control - the L & R controls would be set to the same value again. Currently - no way to actually disable the macro control.

[EpicSounds]

Is there a tweak I need to make to use this on a retina display? Seems normal on my second monitor but too small to read text on my main.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by EpicSounds

Is there a tweak I need to make to use this on a retina display? Seems normal on my second monitor but too small to read text on my main.

In Settings - you can adjust size of the sidebar and edit windows + font sizes. Strip controls can be enlarged in EDIT mode - but there's no zoom feature on the main strip window (yet).

Open settings using either ? shortcut (Shift+/) - or through top bar ... menu.

The main restriction on a display is that you cannot make the main page size larger than 2048x2048 due to bitmap size limits (bitmaps are used as graphics back buffers to speed up various drawing routines). If you do - there will be lots of dead space that cannot be used.

[dasdeck]

Hey! Thanks for all your efforts!

I'd like to use it to build a dashboard for my monitoring chain.
I'll try to get through the code and implement it myself (and make a pull request), but 70.000 + lines of LUA code seem structured very different from my usual code, to say the least .

Is this long big code a LUA thing? Or is this compiled/concatenated code?

Anyway, just wanted to give you the use case with the monitoring chain, I'll look into it more!

Cheers!

JM

[lb0]

Originally Posted by dasdeck

Hey! Thanks for all your efforts!

I'd like to use it to build a dashboard for my monitoring chain.
I'll try to get through the code and implement it myself (and make a pull request), but 70.000 + lines of LUA code seem structured very different from my usual code, to say the least .

Is this long big code a LUA thing? Or is this compiled/concatenated code?

Anyway, just wanted to give you the use case with the monitoring chain, I'll look into it more!

Cheers!

JM

I would say Lua is the reason it is so short! There's a lot of stuff going on inside. But yeah - apologies about the code structure - as it's been developed with ideas from lots of different users - it's kind of organically grown as opposed to have been carefully designed from the ground up. And I don't often get time to restructure things so they are neater - but then I don't really need to as I know it all pretty well.

Adjusting it to cope with the monitoring chain might be possible if you can get the TrackFX_GetParam etc API to talk to the monitoring fx chain. I'm not sure that it can though - but have not tried.

[dasdeck]

Originally Posted by lb0

I would say Lua is the reason it is so short! There's a lot of stuff going on inside. But yeah - apologies about the code structure - as it's been developed with ideas from lots of different users - it's kind of organically grown as opposed to have been carefully designed from the ground up. And I don't often get time to restructure things so they are neater - but then I don't really need to as I know it all pretty well.

Adjusting it to cope with the monitoring chain might be possible if you can get the TrackFX_GetParam etc API to talk to the monitoring fx chain. I'm not sure that it can though - but have not tried.

Yeah, not saying it is long for what it does, just the structure is a bit less than obvious to me. Anyways, yes, the monitor fx can be dealt with by the API, I've done it before. I'll see If I can make sense of the code. Would you be interested in a refactored pull request? for example, separating the ui parts form the com. parts?

Cheers!

JM

[RJHollins]

Hi lb0.

Was wondering if you saw this thread:
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=215125

It's about setting EFX to a 'default' setting.

Was wondering, is there a 'parameter' way of calling up an EFX's preset WITHOUT having to use the MIDI PRGCHG method we've been using ? [I'm thinking in regards to N4/Nebula].

just wondering ... Thanks

[EpicSounds]

I looked in the settings but I'm not able to make it look any better on my screen.

Here's a comparison

1 - this is on my dell monitor, I've resized the strip window to about the size of the strip UI.



2 - Moving the windows to my main monitor (15" macbook pro retina) everything shrinks.



settings page also has issues on either of my screens.

There's another bug with some colors being different in the UI than the color picker. I've seen this come up before in other scripts so I'm sure that's an easy thing to solve.
I have screenshots of everything but to save space I'll just link to the gallery page
https://imgur.com/a/QMOzzxk

[lb0]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

Hi lb0.

Was wondering if you saw this thread:
https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=215125

It's about setting EFX to a 'default' setting.

Was wondering, is there a 'parameter' way of calling up an EFX's preset WITHOUT having to use the MIDI PRGCHG method we've been using ? [I'm thinking in regards to N4/Nebula].

just wondering ... Thanks

I predict (without researching) that that API would only work for plugins that use Reaper's VST preset system. So as long as N4 adhere's to that (dunno TBH - doesn't look like it from the GUI) - then the mentioned API should work for changing the preset. You might know better than me how N4's presets are managed.

I'd need to test out before having any clue.

[lb0]

Originally Posted by dasdeck

Yeah, not saying it is long for what it does, just the structure is a bit less than obvious to me. Anyways, yes, the monitor fx can be dealt with by the API, I've done it before. I'll see If I can make sense of the code. Would you be interested in a refactored pull request? for example, separating the ui parts form the com. parts?

Cheers!

JM

Separating the code out simply as UI/COM is a mammoth task - it's pretty intermingled (both deliberately for running speed, and not deliberate for coding speed). I can give you general outline of the main structure and functional layout - but simply taking out a basic structure would be very time-consuming.

And happy to try and help point you in the right direction.

[RJHollins]

Originally Posted by lb0

I predict (without researching) that that API would only work for plugins that use Reaper's VST preset system. So as long as N4 adhere's to that (dunno TBH - doesn't look like it from the GUI) - then the mentioned API should work for changing the preset. You might know better than me how N4's presets are managed.

I'd need to test out before having any clue.

OK ... well, I could try posting AA Tech, as I don't know the how's of N4 Preset functioning.

If I could impose on you [as a Programmer] ... what would you write so as to get a definitive answer ? If you would, I'd be happy to play messenger.

oh ... it is the Holidaze ... there is much more important things going now. I'm thinking for some future time.

Thanks

[lb0]

Originally Posted by EpicSounds

I looked in the settings but I'm not able to make it look any better on my screen.

Here's a comparison

1 - this is on my dell monitor, I've resized the strip window to about the size of the strip UI.



2 - Moving the windows to my main monitor (15" macbook pro retina) everything shrinks.



settings page also has issues on either of my screens.

There's another bug with some colors being different in the UI than the color picker. I've seen this come up before in other scripts so I'm sure that's an easy thing to solve.
I have screenshots of everything but to save space I'll just link to the gallery page
https://imgur.com/a/QMOzzxk

Are you requesting that the script detects what kind of screen it is on and adjusts accordingly? Or that the fonts won't enlarge enough for the retina?

Is this because you plan to use the same strips across both screens?

I've thought about adding a zoom option - but as everything is bitmaps - enlargements may not look nice (although as the dot pitch is much smaller on the retina - it may look ok - if you just zoom enough to bring it up to previous size).

However - this isn't as straightforward as it sounds as all click detection algorithms will need to adjust for the different control positions and graphics redrawing will all require extra calculations - so it depends how cpu expensive it might end up.

Unless there's some switch in Reascript you can use to automatically make adjustments of draw size/click detection etc. (I may have read about this somewhere - not sure).