BBBlack Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I'm aware of all the dissatisfaction with the Bridge, but I'm having an issue of my own with it. I was trying to record a part yesterday for a long time on a project that is currently at about 110 tracks, but I simply could not get more than 20 seconds recorded without an overload occurring and halting playback, and thus cancelling the take, which of course was quite frustrating. This didn't seem right at all, because on my last project that was at 200 tracks with plugins all over the place, CPU use never got to the point of making work literally impossible. I still got overloads here and there, but it was never a big deal. I took a look at Activity Monitor, and saw that the Bridge was using up 50% of my CPU. This didn't seem right, so I quit it and tried playing back and recording in Logic. The CPU meter was 1/8 of the way filled the whole time, resulting in flawless performance. Though of course, I couldn't hear the tracks that used 64-bit plugins, so this isn't a fix. This project is half as big as that previous one, and the CPU meter is in the red during playback, constantly. And there are way more overloads. The only thing I've done in this project and not in the other is use a new plugin - the Relab LX480. I have yet to try disabling all instances of the plugin and see if things improve, but I will. I have also used quite a few of the Lexicon PCM reverbs, more than on the last project, in which I intentionally avoided using them because of how CPU-intensive I know they are. Is the 32-Bit Audio Unit Bridge responsive to the CPU use of certain plugins? (Like the Lexicon?) Or does it simply act as a bridge for 32 to 64 bit? Not sure if that made sense... Either way, I'd appreciate any advice on this matter. Will there ever be anything developed that will replace the 32-Bit Bridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6smith Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Will there ever be anything developed that will replace the 32-Bit Bridge? Yes.... It is called Plugin programmers getting off their butts and re-writing their old 32bit plugins for a 64bit system... Seriously though, the 32bit bridge is and was always intended to be, according to various comments i have read, just a stop gap temporary solution to enable users to use older plugins for a period of time until Programmers re-wrote their plugins. I've reached the point now where almost every plugin I generally use, is available as a 64bit plugin so I rarely see the 32bit bridge in action thank goodness. I always found it quite an unstable but necessary 'evil'. Thankfully, now I am using VE Pro with Logic... That allows me to run my remaining 32bit plugins (Mainly the Waves Collection) on Logic in 64bit mode without the use of the 32bit bridge at all. A true Godsend for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBlack Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I understand. My CPU wouldn't be struggling at all if it weren't for the thing. I'll go and see which of my list of plugins have been programmed to 64-bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBlack Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Just a moment - - How exactly do you use Vienna Ensemble Pro to run your 32-bit plugins? Does it bypass the need for the 32-Bit Audio Unit Bridge's way of doubling the I/O of each 32-bit plugin? If so, I might consider getting it just for this function... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6smith Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 How exactly do you use Vienna Ensemble Pro to run your 32-bit plugins? Yes, this is one of the neat 'side effects' that VE Pro allows... You open up an instance of VE Pro 32bit Server and load it up with whatever 32bit AU plugins you wish to use In Logic you then open up an instance(s) of VE Pro 64bit AU Plugin and connect to the VE Pro 32bit Server. Hey Presto.. No 32bit Bridge to crash or eat up your CPU cycles.. Running the 32bit Server does, of course... cause it's own overheads in cpu cycles but it is a lot less than the 32bit bridge and a lot more stable to say the least... plus, if you want to and have the hardware available.. you can run the 32bit server on another Mac (or PC) rather than on the same Mac as you are running Logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBlack Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Thanks! I may give this a try. Is VE Pro itself CPU intensive? Oh, and with this method, there wont be any 32-bit RAM limit, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6smith Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Like I said.. It does use up resources of course but it is aklot less intensive than running the bridge it seems... The 32bit Ram limit still applies within each 32bit plugin itself.. just as it would be using the bridge but the VE Pro 64bit AU plugin is, of course, not affected by this.. Remember you can run multiple instances of the VE Pro 32bit server if you wish... but I have never found a need to do so... The few 32bit AU plugins left, that I use on occasion such as Waves.. work fine within this framework... without any worries regarding the 32bit memory limit. Was there a particular 32bit plugin you use, that you are concerned about.. that might need more memory than the limit allows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBlack Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Pretty much all my plugins are still at 32-bit. Except of course Logic's stock plugs. Most used are: Soundtoys Sonnox Softube SPL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6smith Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Ok.. None of those should have any issues using VE Pro as i use all of them too... No issues with the 32bit limit either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBlack Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Thanks a lot for the help - may give this a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBlack Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 One other thing in regards to the use of VE Pro instead of the bridge - Will I have to replace the channel strip insert (in Logic) of every single 32-bit plugin currently in use in my project with an instance of VE Pro? Or do I just have to load up all my 32-bit plugins in VE and open it somewhere in Logic? If this makes sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6smith Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Yes, each 32bit track in Logic will require the use of the VE Pro AU Plugin but you can run up to 16 plugins in one instance of the VE Pro Server.. So.. you just load up your plugins in VE Pro Server. Change each track in Logic to use the VE Pro AU Plugin instead of your 32bit plugin... Connect each VE Pro AU Plugin to the VE Pro Server's name.. and then change the midi channel for each of your tracks in Logic to point to the correct AU plugin in VE Pro Server.. 16 Plugins = 16 Midi Channels.. Hope that makes sense? It sounds complicated to explain... but it is much simpler to do when you see how it all works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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