Netorking multiple computers for more CPU power?

[jaminjamesp]

I'm pretty sure this has been covered plenty before, but because I'm not really familiar with this concept, I can't come up with keywords that are returning good search results.

Essentially I want to be able to network something like a mac mini (or two or three) and share the CPU load. I'm aware Vienna Ensemble Pro, but after watching videos of using it, it's not something I feel like rebuilding my work flow around.

I use some fairly large libraries in Kontakt and a lot of soft synths, but I eat up a lot of CPU with just plugins too. I can't really afford to buy a new 12 core mac pro, but could afford some used i7 mac minis and hoped maybe I could network them in a way that would let me offload some processing.

Thanks!!

[musicman691]

Sorry but VEPro is the only reasonable way to go. Any other way would end up using a bunch of audio interfaces along with the latency added by all the conversions. AND also add in the clocking that would need to be taken care of. You're just going to have to change your workflow to accomodate what you want to do. Having been through the VEPro deal it's a bit of a learning curve at first but worth it once you get going with it. I'd say spend some time on the Vienna forums and look at what people are working with.

One thing that greatly helped when when I started with VEPro was to actually read the manual and plot things out on a sheet (or 2 or 3) of paper.

[jaminjamesp]

Hey thanks for the reply!

Glad to know you're using VEPro successfully.

I'm not someone who really enjoys working from templates, which is how I see most guys utilizing the software.

A lot of my "workflow" is stumbling around in (what feels like) the dark until I get inspired by a sound, or a part, or something sparks my creativity. Often times this means creating an instrument track going through lots of different soft synths and Kontakt libraries until I have that light bulb moment.

Without having everything set up in templates ready to go, would working like this require a ton of flipping back and forth between screens? I've watched several of the tutorials online, but honestly I don't have a ton of time to sift through videos looking for the answer to just a few questions, so I hope you don't mind me asking you something so basic!

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by jaminjamesp

Hey thanks for the reply!

Glad to know you're using VEPro successfully.

I'm not someone who really enjoys working from templates, which is how I see most guys utilizing the software.

A lot of my "workflow" is stumbling around in (what feels like) the dark until I get inspired by a sound, or a part, or something sparks my creativity. Often times this means creating an instrument track going through lots of different soft synths and Kontakt libraries until I have that light bulb moment.

Without having everything set up in templates ready to go, would working like this require a ton of flipping back and forth between screens? I've watched several of the tutorials online, but honestly I don't have a ton of time to sift through videos looking for the answer to just a few questions, so I hope you don't mind me asking you something so basic!

I don't use templates in any of my work - I create everything as I go because I often would spend more time reworking a template than is worth creating it.

You will spend a good deal of time switching back and forth between screens. On a Mac you can do screen sharing across the network which is how I did it when I had my late iMac as server and my cheesegrater as client (aka the main machine).

Like I wrote earlier this biggest thing to come to terms with VEPro is getting the ports & routing & MIDI channels setup as needed between PT and VEPro. That's where charting things out on paper will help you. And reading the VEPro manual. There's no way around it - you will have to make friends with the VEPro manual. That and don't be afraid to ask over at the VEPro forum. The videos can help with things you may not even think about - you may see something that fixes or helps you with an issue in a video you would otherwise pass up. You get one of those 'aha' moments.

Something to be aware of some videos deal with earlier versions of VEPro and a couple of terms have changed between them and VEPro 6. Some of this is explained in the manual.

This is not a program you're going to pickup on in a couple of days. But the slog will be worth it.

[jaminjamesp]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I don't use templates in any of my work - I create everything as I go because I often would spend more time reworking a template than is worth creating it.

You will spend a good deal of time switching back and forth between screens. On a Mac you can do screen sharing across the network which is how I did it when I had my late iMac as server and my cheesegrater as client (aka the main machine).

Like I wrote earlier this biggest thing to come to terms with VEPro is getting the ports & routing & MIDI channels setup as needed between PT and VEPro. That's where charting things out on paper will help you. And reading the VEPro manual. There's no way around it - you will have to make friends with the VEPro manual. That and don't be afraid to ask over at the VEPro forum. The videos can help with things you may not even think about - you may see something that fixes or helps you with an issue in a video you would otherwise pass up. You get one of those 'aha' moments.

Something to be aware of some videos deal with earlier versions of VEPro and a couple of terms have changed between them and VEPro 6. Some of this is explained in the manual.

This is not a program you're going to pickup on in a couple of days. But the slog will be worth it.

Your reason for not working with templates is the same as mine. A few years ago when I was asked to score my first feature (just producing records until then) I got on YouTube and watched hours of tutorials on scoring. Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) has so many great videos, was hugely informative. All the composers I really respected were using templates so I figured I should as well. So I spent another full day watching tutorials on template building (not as intuitive in Pro Tools as other programs in regards to composing) and then another 2 days building and perfecting a pretty massive template. Finally when I actually started working, I realized in about 2 hours the whole template thing was absolutely not going to fit in to the way I like to work, and just created a session from scratch.

I'll spend some more time watching tutorials. It would be really nice to have some extra power in my rig. I've been looking for a reason to add a 3rd display (27" and 42" for mix window/scoring work) so this might be it. I've got a thing displays. Go figure.

[musicman691]

Was watching the extras for Deadpool last week and I mentioned it before the voiceover did - 'Junky XL'. The first time I ever saw him without his hat on I'd seen videos of him and that massive synth setup he has and owuld just sit and drool. Good guy.