trouble loading samples

[apcut]

I tried numerous times, followed the instructions perfectly, but no luck so far: i always end up with default samples...

[Christopher Carlson]

Make sure the playlist is named Borderlands exactly. It searches for
that spelling and capitalization

Let me know if you still have problems!

[apcut]

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 20:28:27 UTC+2 schreef modulationindex het volgende:

Yes i know, i tried it like that alot of times again and again. I tried to reinstall the app, make a playlist with only mp3's or only wav's or mixed, or with samples around 1:00 lenght or shorter samples, ect ... I bought the app the day it was released but untill today i have not succeeded to load my own samples. I run IOS6 on an ipad2.

[janvn...@gmail.com]

One thing, the first time i tried to load samples i didn't realize the app would import these samples directly into the new session. So i made a playlist with around 70 samples. When i opened the app it said "low on cache" or something like that. Maybe the memory is messed up since then or something??

[Christopher Carlson]

How many samples are you trying to load? Is your iPad jailbroken?

[janvn...@gmail.com]

I tried to load from 1 to 10 samples. No my ipad is not jailbroken.

[Christopher Carlson]

Ah, man. Sorry it's not working! I'm not really sure where it would be breaking down since the app just looks for the playlist name using Apple's built in av library, but I'll do some research tonight and get back to you.

[janvn...@gmail.com]

I know it's strange because my friend and i use the same app and on his ipad it works just fine... thanks anyway to look at this ;)

[Neil Wiernik]

Just throwing this out there is your version of iTunes the most recent one?
If not try updating iTunes as that might be where things are breaking down.


_____________________
neilwiernik.net

[janvn...@gmail.com]

Thanks for thinking about that but i actually just upgraded last week...

[Neil Wiernik]

how strange. If you create a playlist in Itunes does it show up when you launch your music player on your ipad after you have synced it with itunes?

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 6:40 PM, <janvn...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for thinking about that but i actually just upgraded last week...

--

www.neilwiernik.net

[janvn...@gmail.com]

yes it does, the playlist is there on the ipad.

[cheese...@gmail.com]

I have the exact same problem and have gone over the checklist of possible causes listed here. No luck.

[cheese...@gmail.com]

Check this out; I counted the files as they loaded. 1,2,3,4,5,6,CRASH.

I removed the samples after that in the list. There were only 2.

Samples loaded fine upon restart.

Where can I send a a working wav file and one that crashed the app in for analysis?

[janvn...@gmail.com]

I still think that i messed up the apps cache memory or something like that when i tried to load a whole lot of samples the first time i used it. Is this something like the same scenario you had?
I got a message like "cache is low" And I never got any response to the things i tried to fix this afterwards. It just jammed after this. I don'tthink the .wav's i use are bad. Maybe anyone got an idea to clear it's cache memory...? I tried to re-install the app but no luck.

[cheese...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, October 30, 2012 7:28:55 AM UTC-4, janvn...@gmail.com wrote:
> I still think that i messed up the apps cache memory or something like that when i tried to load a whole lot of samples the first time i used it. Is this something like the same scenario you had?
> I got a message like "cache is low" And I never got any response to the things i tried to fix this afterwards. It just jammed after this. I don'tthink the .wav's i use are bad. Maybe anyone got an idea to clear it's cache memory...? I tried to re-install the app but no luck.

Never got a message. The crash-causing loops I removed were generated in a single session different from the ones that worked. I think I used the windows recorder to quick record something. It saved as WMA. Then converted to WAV. The files that worked were recorded with Soundforge and were WAV files through out.

[ellocoyugo]

hello to all borderlanders, as well to modulationindex,

i got the same problems , like the others.
can`t open my Borderlands i tunes playlist.
tried it with 250 wav files & with 9 wav´s, nothing
using i tunes 10.7
i OS 5.1.1
i made the borderlands folder accessable by lokal network. nothing.
by the way chris- really usable and creative app!!!great work~+~
1 wish-what u think about , having Modulations nodes or only1? with 3-5 parameter "subnodes" each with two parameters , connectable with a 2 finger gesture
i.e. 1 finger strips to grain node A lfo intensity, the other finger to
grain node2 lfo intensity,
so depending of the angle of the 2 targets and the source, it would be possible trigonometrically to modulate things ,etcetera , u got it?
salu2 de kreuzberg berlin

[janvn...@gmail.com]

Yeah the app looks great but i'm still waiting to actually use it...

[Christopher Carlson]

Hey everybody - 

Sorry for the delay in responding to this thread (and sorry for the long winded answer... just had my morning coffee)...

So here's what's going on - in the app, all sounds you load are read from the "hard disk" to RAM so that they may be accessed very quickly by the granular synthesis algorithm. The problem is that the iPad has a very limited amount of RAM - I don't know the exact amount, but it seems that once you load more than 20MB, it is very possible for the app to crash. This is especially likely if you have other memory intensive apps running in the background (or apps that haven't freed their resources). 

Borderlands has a check at startup to make sure that the amount of audio you are loading in doesn't exceed the amount of available RAM, but my theory is that the API call I am using to do this check may not work properly on later versions of iOS (thus leading to the crash). The correct app behavior is as follows:

1. App starts
2. Get available system RAM
3. If RAM available is less than 5 MB, notify user. (Low RAM message pops up on screen)
4. Otherwise:
5. User playlist found, starting to load sounds
6. Load sounds and check if memory limit is reached after each byte is read.
7. If memory limit reached - notify user and stop loading sounds. (Memory limit message is displayed and loading stops. Sounds  that were able to be loaded display on screen and app continues).

It seems like people are having breakdowns both in step 3 and step 7 where the app crashes instead of catching the low memory situation and continuing. I am going to do some research to find out why the app isn't catching the problem in some cases. It may just be the case that the threshold I set for the memory capacity isn't correct - or perhaps the way I am determining the available RAM isn't working on certain hardware/iOS mixes.

So here's the suggested fix for now: Don't try to load a huge number of audio files because they won't all fit into RAM. Start with 1 or 2 very short clips (i.e. 30 sec max) and see if you can get the app to load those sounds. If you get to the point where you are trying to load a single audio file that is 5 seconds long and the app is STILL crashing, please email me directly at my ccrma address (found here) with your iOS version, hardware setup, description of the app behavior, etc. 

If you use a small number of short samples, I think (hope?) you'll find the app more musical / easier to use - 

• You'll be able to zero in on transient events more easily. Longer files are heavily downsampled in the visual domain to reduce the amount of data that needs to be stored. This often erases the drawing of transients, although the app does make an attempt to increase resolution around them. If you use a shorter file, you will see what is happening in the audio more clearly. Because of the improved resolution for shorter files, you will be able to recognize different audio clips over time based on their transient locations, etc.
• It will be easier to manipulate and select the audio files if there aren't as many on the screen - less clutter.

I hope this helps. In the meantime, I'll be working to track down the problem areas and make the I/O process easier. Thanks for your patience!

Best,

Chris

[Christopher Carlson]

Specifically addressing this case: 

On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 4:28 AM, <janvn...@gmail.com> wrote:

I still think that i messed up the apps cache memory or something like that when i tried to load a whole lot of samples the first time i used it.  Is this something like the same scenario you had?
I got a message like "cache is low" And I never got any response to the things i tried to fix this afterwards. It just jammed after this.  I don'tthink the .wav's i use are bad. Maybe anyone got an idea to clear it's cache memory...? I tried to re-install the app but no luck.

If you got that message and no sound files showed up, it means that the app didn't have enough RAM available to load any audio. This means something else on your iPad is hogging it. If you double tap your home button, how many apps pop up? Are you using any of these apps before or while trying to use Borderlands? Try closing out Borderlands and relaunching it. What happens then?

Thanks!

Chris

[Neil Wiernik]

Regarding loading more then one app the other night I was running thumbjam running a single loop that was about 3 seconds long as background audio.

I then loaded borderlands at the splash screen audio kicked out of thumbjam and borderlands loaded but no audio would play.

I then tried to do the opposite after quitting both apps via the task bar the same thing happened all audio stopped for both apps and only a hard quit via the task bar of either app would fix audio play back for either app.

I am running a gen 3 iPad iOS 6.1 and no other apps are running.

Note when I quit borderlands thumbjam returns to playing background audio but only if I take it into foreground mode first. 

Also borderlands would behave the same way with or with out the loop playing in background audio for thumbjam. 

_____________________

neilwiernik.net

[jenn...@gmail.com]

On Monday, 22 October 2012 22:21:52 UTC+4, apcut wrote:
> I tried numerous times, followed the instructions perfectly, but no luck so far: i always end up with default samples...

I tried to load my own files, all the 4 samples are WAV and under a minute, it loads 3 samples and then crashes. tried to reload ipad and the app, no luck. would've been great if it could work with the playlist and also choosing different playlists of sounds for different tracks would be great

[iffcon...@gmail.com]

I build a Borderlands playlist with just one wav of 4 second, my ipad is new, and I am unable to have my little file in the app, always start with the default files.

That may be a scam.

[pslim...@gmail.com]

Great work. I'll be using this in gigs very soon.

Not withstanding possible issues with RAM and file size, there are some simpler things to check. Once the playlist Borderlands has been created left of the iTunes window, make sure the Borderlands playlist is activated to load into the iPad under the 'Music' heading- Sync Music- Playlist, so that it appears in the iPad's Music playlist. I've loaded 4 short loops and two 3 minute files without a hitch; no crashes and playing nicely on an iPad Air, Might help someone.

[kennyk...@gmail.com]

Weakest part of the app I think which is a shame ,it's so long winded to get samples into it , why no audio share compatibility .?

[modulationindex]

Very, very soon to be fixed. Special announcement coming on Sunday...

[Robaire Beckwith]

iTunes is now obsolete and no longer part of the Mac OSX operating system