Request: Video support

[Taron]

I'm pretty sure, this request had been made before, but I'll just go ahead and throw it in there again:

The only thing that makes me look around for alternatives to MuLab these days is really just Video support. I can virtually live with any of the little flaws it has, because there's still nothing as light and as reliable and beautiful to use as MuLab, but as I'm finally returning to scoring video, I find myself really begging to have video and sync in it.

I mean, I've made myself click tracks, which kind of help, but just dreaming about having a video stream instead of an audio stream.... is a perfect dream!

I'm sure, this isn't easy, but- again- I felt like at least mentioning it. Along with mentioning that I still love MuLab above all else and I know many others: Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase/Nuendo, Cakewalk.
They all are heavyweights that just feel clunky and dangerous (walking on egg-shells and so on).

Yes, sure, I could imagine a few more brutal improvements for MuLab that would totally knock it over the edge of being undeniable, but even as it is: Pure Love!

[humanboeing]

Meanwhile you can try Reaper which is as affordable and lightweight as Mulab is, and doesn't feel like a cash grab

[Taron]

You do know that this reads a bit offensive against MuLab, right?
Unless you've meant to say: "...and ALSO doesn't feel like a cash grab".

[humanboeing]

Oh sorry, yes I meant to write "also" too, otherwise I wouldn't be on this forum :p
My cash grab statement was meant towards the software you aforementioned.

[AndreasD]

There is the mediavst.dll that can show videos and syncs to Mulab. (http://www.lofibucket.com/articles/videoplayer.html)
Win only!
It's old but still runs fine on Win10.

[Taron]

@humanboing:
Could not possibly agree more, honestly. Especially when it comes to Cubase. They are such giants, though, it feels almost unhealthy to complain against them. Somehow Ableton is probably the most gentle giants of them. Still... thing is, MuLab is literally like a dear friend, approachable, open, humble, but full of a unique kind of power. I can't feel that in those others, couldn't ever.

I have no real idea about Reaper, but it does feel light for sure. Yet, with a few more "tiny" things, MuLab could and should become a sneaky giant, too!

@AndreasD:
Awesome, I'll have a look for sure!

[Taron]

No way...
No frigging way!

Andreas, you are AWESOME! It totally works beautifully!

I'm almost freaked out. Just alone how this feels inside MuLab, hahaha, W O W !!!
Just fantastic!

Honestly, thank you so very much!

[mgiambro]

I have no real idea about Reaper, but it does feel light for sure.

Reaper is awesomely powerful. Very stable, light on CPU and efficiently coded. Boatloads of features and there's always a way to achieve what you need to do with it. However, as a creation environment (ITB) I find it a chore to use and never end up getting anything done with it, no matter how much I customise it. For mixing and mastering it's fantastic. MuLab on the other hand, while it doesn't have many of the features Reaper does, it's enjoyable to use and excels as a creation daw. They compliment each other very well. Both are incredibly good value compared to the rest of the market. I'm probably going off-topic a bit here, but thought I'd get that off of my chest .

[Taron]

This thread is as good a place as any to say it like it is!

I may also have a closer look at Reaper from time to time. Things to get used to, for sure, but they didn't take it far enough into a unique advantage, when it's about editing patterns and so on, I feel.

While MuLab still could use curves in the midi sequence editor's bottom portion and the ability to overlay notes of multiple tracks (which is really quite wonderful for more complex compositions!), editing in it just feels so much more crisp and clear. Anyway...

I find it enlightening and already this thread has provided a massive win for me personally. I still can't believe the coolness of mediavst! And I measure my love for MuLab by the immense happiness it gave me to see video running in it, knowing I'll be able to use it even better for scoring now.

[humanboeing]

You read my mind mgiambro, I too find Reaper non inspiring while creating, that's exactly why I expanded it with MUX which solves this problem nicely. And when I'm done with arrangement I then use Reaper to polish my sound, which it excels at.

[MuTools]

Interesting thread + good vibes

[mgiambro]

You read my mind mgiambro, I too find Reaper non inspiring while creating, that's exactly why I expanded it with MUX which solves this problem nicely. And when I'm done with arrangement I then use Reaper to polish my sound, which it excels at.

I have MUX too, but for me the Reaper environment even with MUX feels tedious and feels like work rather than enjoyment. It's frustrating because Reaper has features I'd like to see in MuLab such as ghost notes, a note painting tool, the keyboard highlighting the note you click on, more visual eq/compressor, time signature handling etc. But for some reason I don't enjoy working with it at the creation stage.

It's cool that you've nailed a workflow which gets the best of both worlds!

[Michael L]

Another video sync plugin is VidPlayVST, for Mac (notarized, including M1) and PC. Here is the kvr product page and a review:
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/vidpla ... layvst-com

It uses FFmpeg, an Open Source library of tools for video and audio so it supports many formats: https://vidplayvst.com/formats.htm

It's inexpensive ($22PC/$33Mac) and has a free companion product VidRenderVST to encode the soundtrack on a copy of the video.

It opens in MuLab, haven't used it yet.

[Taron]

Luckily the PVst is for free (and well maintained by the look of things), otherwise I would've probably shied away without knowing, if it really works or not.

I've downloaded the latest beta from the linked thread and it took me only a brief moment to figure out what to do:
• Unpack the zip into a folder.
• In MuLab browse for vst in the folder/Gear/Vst/mediavst_x64.dll
• Then you can drag and drop videos into its gui window

Super easy, super reliable thus far and it plays great!

[humanboeing]

You read my mind mgiambro, I too find Reaper non inspiring while creating, that's exactly why I expanded it with MUX which solves this problem nicely. And when I'm done with arrangement I then use Reaper to polish my sound, which it excels at.

I have MUX too, but for me the Reaper environment even with MUX feels tedious and feels like work rather than enjoyment. My bread and butter job is as a developer and some of the IDEs I use are more fun than Reaper. It's frustrating because Reaper has a load features I'd like to see in MuLab such as ghost notes, a note painting tool, the keyboard highlighting the note you click on, more visual eq/compressor, time signature handling etc.. . But for some reason I don't enjoy working with it at the creation stage.

It's cool that you've nailed a workflow which gets the best of both worlds!

Now it will be even bettter with M9 as one will be able to make an entire piece in a single Reaper track within Mulab, because of the composer addition. It's going to be like having 2 daws combined and having the ability to choose the appriopriate software for what has to be done.