Signal Generators in DP

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:47 pm

How do you guys deal with generating sine waves in DP for reference tones (head pops, tail pops & 3-beeps)?

Pro Tools has a signal generator plug-in, but DP doesn't seem to have anything like that.

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:07 pm

You mean like the calibration plugin in DP?

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 5:02 pm

sdfalk wrote:You mean like the calibration plugin in DP?

No - from my understanding (and from pg 744 in the manual) the calibration plugin merely sets the monitor levels to match a defined reference. While nice, this is not what I'm looking for.

For instance:

[1] If I wanted to be able to place 500 ms of a -20dBFS 1k sine wave for line-up purposes on my stems, 2 frames before the start (a head pop) and 2 frames after the finish (a tail pop) - DP provides no signal generator to create that 1k tone.

[2] Or if I wanted a 3-beep for a voice over cue (3 1k tones 1 second apart) being 250ms, 250ms & 500ms respectively...again no way to do this in DP.

[3] Or what if I wanted a 50Hz tone that is gated from a sidechain of the kick track - to fatten the kick.

Anyone know if a plugin that can provide simple signal generating functions. I'm a bit surpised that MOTU has gone this long without providing one.

Thanks for the help.

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 6:22 pm

I see..
perfectly valid request.

How about..

http://nch.com.au/action/index.html#MAC

or Amadeus

http://www.hairersoft.com/

2 channel sound editor which can also generate tones

Either can (possibly) take care of 1+2 but not 3.

or Tone generator at

http://homepage.mac.com/okkibokki/Menu4.html

cycless · Post by **cycless** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:14 pm

Free bee from audioease does exactly what you want:

http://www.audioease.com/Pages/Free/MATTMain.html

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:39 pm

It's not free anymore

Tritonemusic · Post by **Tritonemusic** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:46 pm

cycless · Post by **cycless** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:55 pm

Sorry, I didn‘t notice that it‘s free no more.

Maybe this one ? Download "Inspector" NOT "Inspector XL"
At least it was free a couple of months ago.
Very sophisticated, love it:

http://www.elementalaudio.com/products/ ... index.html

willtompkins · Post by **willtompkins** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:49 pm

Do you mean 2 seconds before and after the first/last frame of picture?

As a workaround, if you have Pro Tools LE or something else with a signal generator, just export the audio files (i.e. -20dBFS 1kHz sine wave 1 frame long). Theoretically, it should still be -20dBFS in DP. I'd expect that you could also find the tones somewhere online.

Tritonemusic · Post by **Tritonemusic** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:40 pm

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:22 am

willtompkins wrote:Do you mean 2 seconds before and after the first/last frame of picture? As a workaround, if you have Pro Tools LE or something else with a signal generator, just export the audio files (i.e. -20dBFS 1kHz sine wave 1 frame long). Theoretically, it should still be -20dBFS in DP. I'd expect that you could also find the tones somewhere online.

Yes - 2-Pops & 3-beeps (3 tones 1 sec apart cueing the VO). Unfortunately, my #3 above is something that can only be accomplished with a plug...at least reasonably.

I did export a tone from PT and keep it in a clipping window, but #3 is still elusive.

Thanks for the info - I also posted in the "Post" forum to see what others are using to do this in the post world.

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:59 pm

For what it's worth - i just came across this:
http://mda.smartelectronix.com/effects.htm

Haven't tried them out yet, but one of the included plugs is a signal generator...and they're all free AU plugs.

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:12 pm

In my experience VERY unstable.