172. How can I speed up RealTracks generation time?
  • Band-in-a-Box® 2010 and higher have an option in the RealTracks Settings dialog to "Speed up generation of RealTracks" (default=True). This uses more of your system resources, but makes RealTracks generate WAY faster (typically 3 times faster) than previous versions of Band-in-a-Box®.

  • RealTracks generation speed is a function of CPU speed, available RAM, and hard drive speed. In addition, the time to generate is a function of (# of RealTracks in song) times (# of bars in song). If you reduce the length of the song, they'll generate faster.

  • Some RealTracks generate faster than others. In general, "Background" and "Rhythm" RealTracks generate faster than "Soloist" RealTracks which have larger databases of riffs.

  • With a typical 32 bar x 3 chorus song, a RealTracks instrument should only take a few seconds to generate - this varies depending on the factors mentioned, but if it's *significantly* longer than this or if you're seeing error messages, you might want to investigate that further (perhaps you have too many programs open, your RealTracks aren't installed correctly, or you are using an external hard drive and there's a problem with your USB port).

  • Band-in-a-Box® 2010 and higher have an option to 'freeze' some or all of your tracks. This means that the next time you load your song and play it, it will generate and play almost instantly. Any frozen tracks will keep the same arrangement that you froze them with. You can 'unfreeze' tracks at any time if you want to re-generate them.

  • Band-in-a-Box® 2009 and higher have an option under the Play menu to 'render your song to the audio track' (called 'freeze' in version 2009). This essentially converts your entire song to a wave file that plays on the Audio track, allowing your song to load and play very quickly. This option is much less flexible than the previously mentioned freeze feature however, and requires your songs to have an associated wave file rather than just the *MGU.

  • Converting the compressed .WMA files to .WAV files (Install button in the RealTracks Settings dialog) can also improve the speed a little bit, however it is not recommended that you do this for the entire RealTracks folder due to the large amount of disk space this requires (about 10 times more space than the .WMA's) -- Also, the difference is not significant compared to items mentioned above. If you want, you could convert a few select RealTracks instruments that you use frequently, using the [...] button next to the Install button. When using waves, generating the same RealTracks a few times will usually speed it up due to the wave files being cached. (Note: There is no benefit in sound quality when using these 'decompressed' wma files.)



Alyssa - PG Music