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  4. lil help? feedback my plan for an orchestral film scoring set-up based on VSL SE and VEP

  • lil help? feedback my plan for an orchestral film scoring set-up based on VSL SE and VEP

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    I'm planning to start an MFA in composition for the screen and trying to put together a decent, entry level orchestral scoring system - one that could make a reasonable pro mock-up or score a mid-level video game using a medium sized orchestra based on VSL SE. I have VSL SE vol 1, protools 8, logic pro 8, ableton live 8 all loaded on a 2 ghz macbook pro w 2 gigs of ram. Obviously, both protools and logic choke on more than 4 or 5 instances of the VI plug-in. I am an old hand at protools and would prefer to stay in that DAW. So after some exhaustive (though perhaps not exhaustive enough)sifting through the threads on the topic, here is my plan for an entry level, professional mock-up maker. Master: 2 ghz macbook pro running protools LE 8.03 and VEP5 Slave: mac mini i7 server w 16 gig third party memory running VEP5 and loaded w VSL SE vol 1 I haven't worked out how to control the mini with the macbook, so don't know if this is fully possible. Any pointers? Thanks all, in advance Blake
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    Is there room for more Ram in that MacBook Pro?

    In my humble opinion, you'll want SE 1 as well as SE 1 PLUS for its extra articulations.

    Add SE 2 and SE 2 PLUS and you're in business.
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    Thanks, Mike, and yes, I agree - it's just timing. I want to get something minimal working that let's me do some basic (but professional sounding) cues to stock up my reel and get my chops up to speed with VSL midi programming. The limited articulations will eventually be an issue, but for now having only a handful of options makes me more disciplined as a composer. I can't rely on glisses or scale runs to create a sense of reality. Just using legato strings, for example, might eventually become boring, but it also challenges you to really look for emotion and tension in your chord forms. Or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better that I can't afford it yet:) Anyone out there controlling an MMS, without a display, from a macbook pro using a LAN? Or is everyone just keeping them separate systems transferring only midi and audio? If anyone knows of any resources or tutorials, I will buy you a microbrew the next time you're in Albuquerque, NM
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    yes, I believe OWC has a 4 Gb upgrade. I have just had some bad luck with third party memory in a macbook and wanted to see if 2 Gb could handle the DAW and VE5 plug-ins if the slave is handling all the actual samples. If its still glitchy I guess I'd shell out for the upgrade
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    About the hardware only...

    @Another User said:

    both protools and logic choke on more than 4 or 5 instances of the VI plug-in
     

    Even if the Mac Mini VE Pro slave will help a lot, you should not neglect some minimal specifications for the master computer.

    Processor/RAM/Disk Speed...

    Is your Macbook Pro is a Core2Duo or a i5/i7? 

    Can you add more RAM? 2gb will probably be okay if you don't use too much audio plugins when programming midi. But you'll see the limit very soon.

    What is the speed of the drive in the MBP? 5400 or 7200rpm? Should not make any difference if you are  using the remote computer to process the sample based VI. 
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    There ya go, help has arrived.
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    Change the Mac Mini Server for a Win7 PC if you're using it for a slave - you'll get more bang for your buck and you'll barely have to interact with it so it's not like the OS matters beyond providing a stable environment for VEP. You can control it using Remote Desktop Connection which is free. I agree that the master machine looks on the weak side. Perhaps you could use the Mini Server as the main machine and not use a slave?

    My tuppence worth...
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    Thank you Martin, yes I have considered a PC for the slave. So I guess no ones having issues with VEP sending midi/audio via ethernet with mac master and PC slave? I had that set up a number of years ago with a home built PC running gigastudio, though I needed a separate midi/audio interface to do it of course. It was the most stable system I've had till the G4 master died. The macbook pro is a intel core duo 2.16 Ghz machine, an old aluminum. I know it's a little outgunned, but I am willing to live with 30 or so tracks and a maybe a couple of Dverbs and EQ7s for now. I imagine I could I will double the ram to 4 Gigs, which I know is still a little low, but hopefully gets me started. Any advice on a PC slave if I went that route? I've been in mac land for the last 10 yrs so I'm out of touch.
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    Look for a specialist PC builder who makes workstations for audio. In the UK I have had a good experience with Direct Resolutions and Carillon. One thing to consider is that you may need an extra network card for the PC slave rather than using the ethernet connection on the motherboard as I've found it provides a more reliable connection. These are only £30 or so though.

    Having made the case for a PC slave, I now think that the Mac Mini has the benefit of being a convenient replacement should you find that your MacBook Pro is not up to the task of being the master machine. The same cannot be said if you buy a PC slave. I was using the same MacBook Pro as you until the start of this year and it really was struggling with Logic when I was running 10 instances of VEP (not all full) and a few Altiverbs. Admittedly Altiverb is a bit hard on the CPU.