Chunks Question

[Todzilla]

I kind of get what "chunks" are, but for the life of me, I can't understand their value.

Can someone describe what kinds of workflow they are helpful with?

So far, it just seems like an easy way to repeat pieces of songs and still be able to alter those pieces and have them update throughout the song.

What am i missing?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Well for a song, they probably are useless. In film, TV, and theater & dance scoring they are great for having each cue as a chunk. Editing is faster and more efficient because you are not using a single linear sequence. If you change a cue to make it shorter or longer, or want more reverb, etc., on a specific track for the cue, but not the whole work, it's a simple matter of changing the chunk and not disturbing the rest of the project. This appears to be the way DP was actually designed to work.

Once I start compiling cues, I create a master track with just the bounces from the chunks and that becomes the master track.

I also find that chunks help keep me more organized in that I can see each cue in the chunk list and work on what needs to be done w/o having to navigate the entire film (or other project).

An added benefit in a film project with lots of dialogue, SFX, and music is that each chunk will only have the tracks you need for the section and you don't have to wade through several hundred tracks. Having all that in one chunk (which is the minimum in DP, of course) seems a bit (or is that a butt?) anal retentive to me.

But for single songs I'd only use a single chunk. For an album, I'd use a chunk for each song.

At least that's how I use 'em...

[williemyers]

to add to what MLC said, I would offer that Chunks are the (near) perfect solution for..."versions".
In a song that could be (a.) a Chunk "Song with the Hammond", (b.) copy that Chunk, remove the Hammond and replace it with a horn section, (c.)etc., etc. Versions...
Where it *really* comes in huge for me is ad music. It's not uncommon to do 5 - 6 - 7 or more demos. Each is a Chunk. Then, once they buy off on one, there will be a :60, a :30, a :15 and maybe a couple of :10's. Again, all Chunks. I'm finishing a McD project now that's up to 28 Chunks. Sure-as-hell, someone's going to ring up and say, "hey Willie...remember that demo you did about 3 weeks ago...?" And I'll just pull up that Chunk.

BTW, the reason that I referred to Chunks as a "Near" perfect solution, one major thing that MOTU could do (and I and others have requested) is to put dates on Chunks in the Chunks window. Same as Soundbites in their window. It would make a a bit easier to find that Chunk from 3 weeks ago!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

+1 ... which is why you can "COPY" a chunk. Make the copy and unless you're using a v-rack, changes to the VIs (including what is loaded) will be independent for each chunk, so changing an instrument for a different cue and even changing all the music will be saved as the new chunk, leaving the old one as it was originally. The only caveat is that every time you change which chunk is active, the VIs will reload - at least for most VIs.

[Todzilla]

Wow, this forum is great! Thanks, MLC and Willie!

That all makes sense. Yes, I am a songwriter/producer who doesn't do soundtracks or commercial music (nothing against it, I just do it as a serious hobby), so I've been oblivious of chunks for a long time. Since much functionality in DP refers to chunks, I thought I should at least groc it better.

Thanks, dudes!

[Guitar Gaz]

Some of us here used to call them sequences in other DAWs like Opcode Vision - you can do verse, chorus, verse2 etc. It's a natural way to work for most of us - I don't tend to compose in a linear fashion on just one chunk.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Yeah, sequences is what I think of them as.

[stubbsonic]

I use chunks as versions as well, and will add the date to the name if that is needed.

I can duplicate a chunk or track layout and work from there.

The other thing is that having a SONG chunk allows you to chain and layer different sequences (sequentially or simultaneously). This does allow things like having two meters going at one time, or using one chunk to run lights, while another chunk runs audio, etc. etc.

I don't use this functionality, but I am comforted that this function is available.

I also think the idea of using chunks to experiment with rearranging the form of a song is interesting. Though I haven't tried this.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

And you can "flatten" that multi chunk song into one sequence. If the tracks in different chunks have identical names the will be merged. Very cool!

[edwinh]

I'm just getting used to chunks. My only complaint at this point is the word itself. It's a little hard to take seriously and actually kept me from researching what they mean and what they can do.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'm just getting used to chunks. My only complaint at this point is the word itself. It's a little hard to take seriously and actually kept me from researching what they mean and what they can do.

Welcome to my world! I hate that term. It reminds of too many nights where I drank too much and blew chunks (which was not the name of my dog!)

[conleycd]

I'm just getting used to chunks. My only complaint at this point is the word itself. It's a little hard to take seriously and actually kept me from researching what they mean and what they can do.

Welcome to my world! I hate that term. It reminds of too many nights where I drank too much and blew chunks (which was not the name of my dog!)

Yes... I had a post about this a couple years ago. That and the name DP - but whatever... I still like the product a ton.

I noticed in MOTU's most recent "sell list" they said something along the lines of 'multiple sequences in the same file' to describe the functionality of "chunks." I thought that was more descriptive.

In terms of their functionality:

I am working on some live audio - where 'chunks' have come in handy. Basically a big long sequence that I copied into 5 chunks after get the majority of the mix likeable and loading VIs into a v-rack so they can be shared across the chunks/sequences. This gives me the ability to edit each recorded song (in the chunk) but still maintain the 'common' mix sound of a live recording throughout all the songs.

CC

[MIDI Life Crisis]

There used to be issues with BTD and V-Racks. Can you BTD with V-Racks now? I just stayed away from them and haven't revisited that. VRacks would be the way to go for a more efficient use of VIs for sure.

[conleycd]

There used to be issues with BTD and V-Racks. Can you BTD with V-Racks now? I just stayed away from them and haven't revisited that. VRacks would be the way to go for a more efficient use of VIs for sure.

What are BTDs? Edit: Never mind - 'Bounce to Disk' ---> Gotcha.

CC

[kgdrum]

Welcome to my world! I hate that term. It reminds of too many nights where I drank too much and blew chunks (which was not the name of my dog!)

Ummm.....

Thanks for the clarification as well as the visual(s).