User Manual

CHAPTER
873
75 Audio Effects Processing
OVERVIEW
An audio effects plug-in is a piece of peripheral
software (developed by MOTU or another
company) that can be used from within Digital
Performer. Digital Performer serves as a host
program for the plug-in, allowing you to apply its
processing to your audio. Depending on the type of
plug-in, you can either use the plug-in as an offline
operation, selecting individual soundbites and
then choosing the plug-in from the Audio menu, or
you can apply it to an entire track as a real-time
insert for the track in the Mixing Board.
Native plug-in processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873
Real-time versus rendered effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874
File-based plug-in processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874
Working with MAS plug-ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875
Working with VST and Audio Unit plug-ins . . . . . . . . . 876
Organizing plug-ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
Audio plug-in preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
Using effect presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
Busing, master faders & aux tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
Monitoring system performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
Monitoring Effect Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
Copying and pasting effect settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Plug-ins from other companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Plug-in automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Attaching a MIDI controller to plug-in parameters. . 882
Tempo-locked effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Side chain inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
Channel configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
Multiple audio outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
Making a real-time plug-in effect permanent. . . . . . . 883
Digital Performer plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
Digital Performer virtual instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885
NATIVE PLUG-IN PROCESSING
Almost all MOTU Audio System plug-in effects can
be processed dynamically during playback. They
do not require extra hardware installed inside your
computer because their processing is handled by
the computer itself (referred to as native
processing). Digital Performer includes dozens of
MOTU Audio System plug-ins, from basics (such
as 8-band parametric EQ, reverb, and dynamics)
to vintage gear emulations to exotic forms of
processing that are unique to Digital Performer. DP
also includes virtual instruments. See “Digital
Performer plug-ins” on page 883 for a list, and
consult the separate Digital Performer plug-ins
guide PDF in the Help menu for complete
information about each plug-in.
Many third-party plug-ins are also available.
The amount of effects processing you can apply at
one time has no inherent limit in Digital Performer.
Instead, it depends on how fast your computer is:
the faster the computer, the more real time effects
you can use simultaneously.
Using effects plug-ins
Applying audio effects plug-ins to your audio
tracks is straightforward: just choose the desired
plug-in from one of the inserts for the track in the
Mixing Board as shown in Figure 75-1 on
page 874. Once you choose the effect (either from
the plug-in chooser window or the menu
provided), the Effects window appears with the
settings for the plug-in. If the Effects window is
already open, you can choose the effect from the
menu provided at the top of the window.