Posted
I don't know why. But Studio One and Cubase synchronization are problem. When I play Synfire pro transport panel Studio One always first play 1800 measure. There is no synchronization problem, but the measurement never starts from the beginning. And also Cubase synchronization is a complete disaster. No matter what I do, it doesn't work. How to communicate with these DAWs is explained visually in the forum, but I guess it has not been tested. Or something is missing, I don't know. I did everything explained and all the steps, but Studio One and Cubase just don't sync. I think Logic is no problem for synchronization but other DAW users are victims of this issue. Please make a video explaining how it's done so we can understand where we made a mistake. Thanks. Have a nice holiday.
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 12:00 Permalink
Studio One always first play 1800 measure
Disable 'Allow Negative Locators'.
Studio One has been tested and should work. Cubase 12 has issues with running in slave mode. Pro version of Cubase should work though.
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 12:16 Permalink
Thanks a lot. Can you explain Cubase pro synchronization my friend ?
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 16:01 Permalink
Cubase 12 Pro should sync to MTC:
(https://steinberg.help/cubase_pro/v12/en/cubase_nuendo/topics/synchroni…)
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 20:02 Permalink
When I was dealing with this topic, I thought about this sentence from the Cubase manual quite a while:
"Cubase can be the machine control master, sending transport commands to an external device which in turn sends timecode and audio clock information back to Cubase. In that case, Cubase would also be the timecode slave."
This means that MTC in Cubase is primarily intended for synchronizing external devices such as a tape machine. The procedure is probably as follows: You press Start in Cubase, Cubase then sends the transport command to the tape machine, the tape machine starts running and sends MTC timecode back to Cubase and Cubase then synchronizes. Consequently, Cubase only listens to MTC timecode after Start has been pressed in Cubase.
With this insight, I gave it a try: First press Start in Cubase and then shortly afterwards (must be done within approx. one second) press Start in Synfire. And indeed, that worked, i.e. Cubase then did synchronize. But of course, in practice this would be a completely pointless procedure.
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 20:33 Permalink
Thank you for your answer. There is definitely a problem with the synchronization of Studio One and Cubase. I tried every way. The most important element for us is synchronization between Synfire pro and DAW. This is a basic need. Because synfire pro is a very nice program, but it does not make sense without a DAW. That's why I think it is necessary to ensure full integration with all DAWs before developing the program. Many new and beautiful applications have been added with the new version of Synfire, but I have not been able to see that this synchronization problem has been completely solved for about five years. Maybe it has been solved, but we cannot find the solution. For this reason, I ask the friends who created the program Synfire, especially Andre. This should be the first issue Synfire cares about. Synchronization problem with DAW. I would like to thank the friends who designed this beautiful program. I hope this problem will be fixed soon. Have a nice weekend.
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 21:32 Permalink
What you can do for now that I do is use your DAW ONLY to monitor. You do not need to sync them, who says the DAW needs to be running at the same time as Synfire to hear your sounds? Only reason you may need this is if you have some special automation in your DAW setup.
I do not sync BITWIG with Synfire. I only use the drones for MONITORING and sound design on the spot. The applications are side by side. Once I have good results from SYNFIRE, Ill drag the midi with automation to my DAW, mix it and then its done. This is working perfectly fine for me and I hope it could work for you as well.
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 22:13 Permalink
There is an update in the pipeline since a week or so, with some minor sync fixes. Not sure if it improves things. I didn't see any issues with sync here.
First press Start in Cubase and then shortly afterwards (must be done within approx. one second) press Start in Synfire.
That's indeed useless. Most other DAW respond to MTC and MMC properly. There must be a setting with Cubase that arms external sync (i.e. wait for MTC). Ableton has an "EXT" switch near the transport for this purpose. Any idea where to find it?
Studio One syncs perfectly to MTC or MMC, at least on macOS (I assume it's the same code on Windows). So much so that I contacted PreSonus to cheer them on. We'll have a video about the Drone workflow, albeit not one for every DAW.
Sat, 2023-11-04 - 22:46 Permalink
There must be a setting with Cubase that arms external sync (i.e. wait for MTC)
After activating external synchronisation, that "arming" to make Cubase actually react to MTC timecode is to press the start button, in my opinion. But it arms only for a second or so, i.e. the time at which it expects the tape machine to start up and begin sending timecode.
Wouldn't it be possible for Synfire to listen to the start command from Cubase and then start automatically and send back timecode? Just like a tape machine behaves.
Sun, 2023-11-05 - 09:06 Permalink
First of all, thank you to everyone who replied. I don't know if any of my friends have managed to use Synfire Pro as Studio One or Cubase DAW. But I tried all possibilities. Studio one synchronizes, but it also starts at 1800 meters. I tried adding and removing all the optional values to make it synchronized. But in the end it doesn't work. I hope friends can solve the problem of working at the same time. Thanks. Have a nice holiday.
Sun, 2023-11-05 - 10:00 Permalink
starts at 1800 meters
SMPTE offset in Synfire must be zero (all zeros), not 01:00:00:00
Sun, 2023-11-05 - 16:20 Permalink
Thanks my friend. I solved as you said and no problem for Studio One . But Cubase No matter what I do, the transport panel does not synchronize or even move. Maybe there is another point for Cubase, but I couldn't figure it out.
Sun, 2023-11-05 - 16:46 Permalink
Wouldn't it be possible for Synfire to listen to the start command from Cubase and then start automatically and send back timecode?
It's more complicated than that. MTC requires a few frames input before the DAW picks it up. Logic and Studio One do this and Synfire accommodates the needed pre-roll time. i.e. starts sending 8 or so MTC frames ahead before the actual start position. This requires Synfire to be in control of all timing.
We might need a serious hack. A Drone could push a spacebar key into Cubase's keybord buffer (if that is at all possible), or something. Not pretty but may work.