Hi Mark,

reViSiT problems tend to come under 3 categories: keyboard (common, but solvable), loading (rare, but usually solvable) and sync (rare, but rarely solvable). Nearly all these problems stem from omissions in the host implementation. I'm sorry to say that I reckon yours is in the latter category. reViSiT requires information on song position, tempo, etc. to properly playback. Some hosts don't implement this (ask your host developer for the implementation of VstTimeInfo, specifically sample_pos - they should know what it means, even if you don't!). Unfortunately, there is no way I can work around this omission.

Worse still, perhaps, is that Sonar might never be able to run reViSiT. Cakewalk Sonar (being of the American school of sound recording) seems less keen to subscribe to the European VST notion - favouring DirectX instead. Sonar's VST support is provided by a special piece of software called the "Cakewalk VST Adapter", which hosts the VST plug-in ,then 'wraps' the data round to the DirectX plug-in socket of the host. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, DirectX plug-ins do not support timeinfo, etc., so therefore neither does the adapter. Though I might be wrong on this - there's review on KVR that says it will sync to the host's tempo.

Does anybody else have any experience with the Cakewalk VST Adapter? I've downloaded the Cakewalk SONAR 3 demo, but the adapter is not included - so I can't test reViSiT in Sonar. Mark, you might also try Tonewise DirectiXer, another VST to DX adapter, which is available as a demo - I'm currently in the process of testing this one.

Good Luck!

All the best,
Chris

Ok, it seems DirectiXer doesn't work - the same problem. Running Kondor through DirectiXer seems to show that the sample position is always counting up, even when stopped - I don't know if this has something to do with the problem. There's another piece of software called FXpansion, which purports to allow VST plug-ins in programs without VST support, but there's no demo, so I can't test this. Anybody else?

Sorry I can't be of further assistance,
Chris

That's good news! What aspect of the tempo sync isn't working? Does reViSiT correctly recognise the tempo of the host? Does it correctly change tempo during playback? Both of the functions work in Cubase. Does reViSiT start playing when the host plays?

To be honest, I don't know if this problem is solvable. There is little in the way of practical methods of getting tempo info from the host - the best is to ask for it, and that is what reViSiT already does. It sounds like a problem with the VST adapter - but there is little I can do without getting my hands on one.

Best regards,
Chris

Well, that's good news about the VST Adapter, anyway. 006/120 sounds like the correct tempo (006 is an internal number, 120 is the bpm). When you say start/stop sync, can you start playback from part way through the song?

All the best,
Chris

I fear this is a bug in the VST hosting. Unfortunately I can't test this, as I don't have Sonar and the demo doesn't come with the VST adapter. It seems very unlikely that this would be a problem in reViSiT, as such a problem would be busy creating problems in other hosts too. I might be able to fiddle with DirectIxer, mind - but I think any more work on host compatibility  will have to wait until the Beta version.

Sorry I can't be of more assistance,
Chris

I am pleased to announce that the new version of reViSiT (v0.85.4) now supports both the Cakewalk VST Adapter (v4) and Tonewise DirectiXer (v2.5) - and, hence, Cakewalk Sonar 3 and 4.

Enjoy!

All the best,
Chris