PG Music Home Forums User-to-User Post your own Tips and Tricks here Sending Projects over the Internet

Transferring files across the internet can seem problematic, but there are some tools that can make it easier.

Using a site like Yousendit.com (among others) is easy and free if not used too often. This way you can upload a whole seq file and the other person can download it. The problem becomes the amount of time it takes, especially if the file will be transferred back and forth between contributors.

MIDI is no problem, because it is small, so the issue really only remains for audio.

One option is to keep it simple by sending an mp3 file (preferably with a click for an intro, explained later).
The other participant adds their track and then sends their track back to you so you can add it to the master seq file of the song. The person adding the extra parts should also save their seq file (created when they added their tracks) and before saving adjust the tempo to match the original senders tempo.
The reason for the click always being included is to help line up the tracks whenever needed, so the added track should also contain the click on the intro, right in time from the original file. This can save a lot of hassles.

To save filesize, the sender should try to send the added part with as good a quality as possible, yet take into consideration the file size. Making an mp3 of the audio is one way to go, but be forewarned there will be loss in quality relative to the size saved. The more you compress it, the more you lose. Some tracks can be sent this way without a lot of noticable loss, once the track is mixed into the rest of the song, but there is a loss in audio quality. Other comression schemes claim less loss, but again the more you compress, the more you lose theoreticlly.

Then there is monkeysaudio. This compression scheme will save as much room as possible (over 50% on a mix and more on sparser parts). However there will be no loss in audio quality. The resulting wav at the other end will be the same one you sent. So for sending single tracks I highly recommend monkeysaudio. It is very fast, free, and one of the tools musicians on the internet should know about. http://monkeysaudio.com


To get your new track out of RB or PT so you can make it an mp3 or ape file (monkeysaudio format) you can highlight the track and use 'Track - Save Track to File' to save it as its own wav file. When doing it this way you should Copy/Paste a couple clicks (being careful to make sure you paste them exactly where you copied them from) before exporting to a wave file. If the program says there is silence at the beginning of the track, and asks to include it, say yes. Then open the resulting file in monkeysaudio and compress it. Send it to the other participant, and have them decompress it back to the wav file. Note that using 'Track - Save Track to File' does NOT include the effects, so it will result in dry raw wav audio.

Another way is to use the Solo button. This an 'S' icon and will cause the program to rebnder only the highlighted tracks. Use the Solo button and then highlite the track you want to send, along with the track that has only a few clicks at the beginning (to help with alignment). You can create this track by copying the intro clicks to blank track, again making sure that where you paste it is exactly where you copied it from. Use the 'From-Thru' settings for reference. This will tell you exactly where you copied it, and the paste windoww allows you to set it exactly to that spot. Use the 'From' value for the paste location. The program will default to wherever the cursor is, and this is often NOT where the part is copied from as a start point.
Once you have these two tracks ready (including effects because they will be included this way unless bypassed), and the Solo button activated, you can use 'Audio - Merge Audio and DXi Tracks to Stereo File' or Audio - Merge Audio and DXi Tracks to Compressed File'. The compressed option will offer your various compression options once the merge is complete.
If you go with the stereo wave file option, you can still open that file in monkeys audio and compress that to save space.

Now, what about FX? If you have found a setup of VST and DX effects that you like, you can easily send those settings over the internet. Realband and PowerTracks both use what is called trans group settings. These are small files with a .tgs filename extension. WHen you are in the effects window of Realband and PT, there are four slots for effects. Beside those slots is a save group function. Set up your effects, and use 'Save Group' and save it as a descriptive name. Leave it in the default folder so the program can find it. Now go to any exporer window and navigate to the programs folder (Realband or PT) and then look for DX Settings folder. In this folder will be your tgs file. Send this file to the other person and they can open it using 'Load Group' and it will load the effects and the exact settings you used. This works for track effects, as well as AUX and MasterOut slots.
Note that the other person will need to have access to the same effects you have. This will not magically give your buddy your favorite plugin, but if he has it installed, it will set it up exactly as you had it. No preset needed, as the tgs file contains the settings for all four slots. If a plugin is missing on the other system, the program will just skip it, and act like it was never there. So it is important to make sure the other person has the effects you used.


Let me know what I didn't cover, I'm tired of typing for a while.

Thank you!

thanks Rharv Ive never seen this before and will be a great help Cheers Frankie