Anyone using Sonar 4 to make their VD2 creations into Mp3s??? I'm really confused as to what to do in order to make the MIDI an Mp3...i checked out that tutorial posted a while ago for using Cubase...but i still dont get what to do...i think its alot different...any help would be great...

Well, it's not terribly hard. You need to export the audio as a RIFF wav. It's very likely that you don't have the mp3 plug-in for Sonar, so you'll likely need to make it any other way... iTunes will even do that; that's of little concern.

1. Make sure there's no track selected.
2. Make sure that it's playing back as you expect.
3. Export as RIFF wav

You'll get a progress meter at the bottom as it compiles the wav. If you're not sure, freeze the synth, and export (same thing, really).

If you have any questions after trying this, be sure to be very specific in your steps. I do it all the time, and while Sonar can be a little picky about what audio is selected, it does work, and very well.

This is what i did....i loaded the midi file into Sonar...set up the inputs and outputs so i heard the sounds i wanted to hear....then exported to WAV....but then when i listened to it, there was no sound....so i tried to mess around with the VST plugin...but still got nothing.....can you give me a detailed list of steps as to how you go about creating a WAV ...because from there i know how to make it an MP3....thanks alot.

MIDI into Sonar

Insert > DXi Synth > VST > VirtualDrumline2

Set Ch in each track to associated VDL:2 track

Play, assure the audio is acceptable

File > Export > Audio

(If it says that there's no audio, make sure nothing is selected/highlighted - click in the middle of a track so nothing is in focus)

From ";Export Audio";, select RIFF Wave, name the file, make sure that the correct sound source is selected. Remove ";Fast Bounce"; check. Choose Entire Mix, Stereo, 44100, 16 bit.

When you click Export, you should get a progress meter.

==
If you reach a deadlock, tell me which step. I just did it as I was writing, so I know this works. =)

i hear no sounds through the VST plugin...like when i click on the keyboard that i load the instruments on....i assume i should hear the sounds....how do i get them to play??? i think this could be my problem...also do i need to have the stand alone version of VD2 open in order for this to work or no?

Well, ya, that's the problem.

Check your input and output for each track in Sonar - pointing to the VDL player and your soundcard. Then make sure that each instrument loaded in VDL has a matching channel set. e.g. Snare is Channel 1, and Sonar has the Snare track set to Channel 1.

I = Omni
O = #VirtualDrumline2
Ch = 1: VirtualDrumline2
Bank = ---

Click on the keyboard notes in blue in the plugin - see if you get sound and/or levels on the meter.

You will not need the standalone in Sonar; you should be inserting the DXi or VSTi. Using the plug-in allows Sonar to do its magic.

Get the sound working, and once that is good, try the export. It'll only export what you're hearing.

I'm still not getting any sounds through the VSTi plugin....is there something i have to do to set it up to get sound from it???

When you insert the plugin, you have to do two of the same things as the standalone...

#1 - insert an instrument -- do that by clicking load.

#2 - click on a blue key.

If you don't hear sound then, do you get the meter to rise? I think there's something more fundamentally wrong if this isn't working.

Can you get the standalone to work, and do the same to a plug-in and it doesn't work? You're not giving any reproduction steps; you've just said it's not working. Please add more detail.

yeah..i did everything the same as the standalone...which works fine by the way...the only thing is i hear nothing when i hit the blue keys in the plugin version...i loaded the instruments like i would in standalone....but hear nothing...you are sayin i should hear something.....it even does nothin to the CPU usage or anyhting inside the plugin...its like im not doing anything at all...im just wondering if there is something i have to do to set up the plug in so i can hear sounds....

Well, to me this is a problem with your Sonar setup. How about one of the plug-ins that comes with Sonar - do they work?

Also, did the level meter move in the VDL:2 plugin when you click the keys?

i really have no idea how to work the plugins...i mean i would think the VD2 one would be self explainitory just like the standalone.. also the meter does not move when i hit the blue keys...one more thing....when i create the DXi track...what is it's use?? do you need to do anything with the actual track??? im confused becasue it asks what i would like to create... something like ";MIDI source track, first synth output(audio), all synth outputs (audio).."; what does all that mean?...

Drumhead - do you have the users manual for your Sonar software? DXi plugins are in very common usage within that program. Using plugins in a sequencing program is a little different than just running VDL2 in stand-alone mode, so it sounds like you may just be a little unfamiliar with using DX instruments within Sonar. Not to pass the buck, but with a little reading of your Sonar documentation, I think you'll find this is actually quite simple.

Ya - find any midi file, and render it in Sonar with the included TTS1 instrument. Master that process... [b]you can find everything you need on page 429 in the Sonar manual[/b]. When you get that handled, VDL:2 should be no different.

Good luck! :)

to be honest i do not have the manual...but i will look on the Sonar site to see if they have an online manual or a downloadable PDF or something....i mean i will also look in the Sonar help inside the program which i probably should have done in the first place but wasnt thinking..thanks for the help drumcat...

Is there anyone that would be able to help me with this?

I recently purchased Cakewalk Music Creator and it has a set up very similar to what I've seen in Sonar. I'm able to launch the VST Adapter based on all the help that given earlier in this discussion and when I load the sounds into the adapter, I'm not hearing anything. The manual that came with this program is not very in depth.

I do get and audio driver error when I launch the program saying the driver doesn't support the current audio format or are in use by another application. Would this be part of my issue?

Thanks,

Greg