MU-1000 MTC display question

[codabass]

Fantastic to see this new forum. Many thanks to those who made it happen . Here is my question. I have a DM-3200 with MU-1000, fire wire card to my PC running Pro Tools 9 on win7. It works great but when I click on the "GEN MTC" button in the PT transport window, the time code starts off fine in the MU-1000, keeping in sync with the pro tools time code but after about 15 seconds it starts skipping and then the recording starts skipping until it finally crashes. With no time code displayed on the MU-1000 it works fine (with the GEN MTC button turned off). In PT Peripherals tab under Synchronization the MTC Reader Port is set to ANY and the MTC Generator Port is set to MIDIOUT3 (tascam dm-3200). Not sure how to fix this if can. Would be nice to have the MU-1000 TC reading of time as opposed to just a black display. Thanks for your time and suggestions...

 

[Jarno]

Is DM's automation engine ON? If so, try to turn it OFF. If problem disappears, try to increase DM's timecode FREEWHEEL setting and turn automation engine back on.

 

[codabass]

I turned off the Automation and set the flywheel to 32 frames, works great! How the heck do you know all this stuff??? You sir always come to the rescue, many thanks...

 

[codabass]

Well almost, it runs a lot longer with no delays but is taxing the CPU 8 to 10 percent more ( as opposed to 1-2 percent when the MTC button is turned off). Then it finally stalls and says your CPU is maxed out etc. I have and older dual core dell 9100 dimension with 4 gigs of ram. I suspect an upgrade in the PC department would solve it. But it did make a difference changing the flywheel values.

 

[Jarno]

How the heck do you know all this stuff???

Well ... went through almost every possible problem when migrating to DM. Joe Average would have given up many times during the ordeal, but as a (former) software engineer and also having worked with not so perfect studio equipment for a decades, I have become quite experienced troubleshooter.

Well almost

Now, if you have an extra MIDI port in your DAW, try hooking up MIDI cable from this port to DM's MIDI in, send MTC from PT to this port and configure DM's MIDI port as DM's MTC source.

Uh ... BTW ... are your MTC framerate settings the same on DM and PT?

I have and older dual core dell 9100 dimension with 4 gigs of ram.

Shouldn't be a problem. My first succesfull DM<->DAW setup was with inferior Dell desktop PC (P4 single core).

 

[Muziekschuur]

If MTC is setup correctly this should work. I reckon the DM is set to something like 24 and Protools like 29 non drop. Whatever you set it to... It should match. Then your problem should go away.

timecode to picture is what is discribed. A big analog wide screen was/is 24 frames a second. NTC is... eh... (forgot) PAL is 29 frames p/s non drop... Etc. Since you are not syncronising to video/film it does not really matter. But both should be set the same or the system will act up. Allso MASTER SLAVE should be set correctly. The DM can be master and slave. Choose one and make the other the slave. There can be only one slave and only one master...(In a bigger setup there still can be only one master but... (obviously) many slaves)

 

[codabass]

thank you both for the infor. I don't have a midi port in my daw (computer) just on my outboard gear, keyboards, rack gear, etc. So am not using the midi port on the dm. I will check the master to slave status when I get home. This forum would not exist with you both. Thanks again

 

[captdan]

Protools 9/10 is very finnicky about how it interfaces with ASIO/ DM desks. If one setting is wrong, the session freezes temporarlily and you'll get nasty contentions such as "You're running out of memory!" Or: 'Elastic Audio can't keep up! Set Elastic Audio to Render Mode, or disable some native plug ins!" In fact, neither of those things is necessarily true, nor will addressing them affect anything. The issue lies elsewhere, and it's likely either in a USB link or in MTC/MMC/HUI.

USB hubs can cause all manner of disconnects; if you've been in an automated mix session, pushed a DM fader and suddenly had the session freeze while one of those annoying warnings pops up - it's likely because of a USB messup. The solution is to either remove the hub, or unplug all inputs and let your PC do the plug-play routine again. Occasionally, a cold boot of your PC does the trick.
Check your USB portals too; could be a conflict there. In my experience, it's not necessary to dedicate a MIDI cable to MTC; USB should be stable assuming there are no conflict issues. Finally, make sure your DM Midi settings are 'plumbed' the right way; this can get a little confusing, but if you want, I can try to upload a screenshot of how I have my DM set.

With PT, you need two separate HUI/Mackie settings in the DM: one for tracking, editing, and arranging; another for automated mixing The former configuration makes PT the timecode master; the latter is the reverse. Why is this necessary? Because you'll lose the RECord transport button from the DM's control surface if you allow PT to generate timecode. You don't need that capability in auto-mixing, so it's not an issue.

For tracking/editing, use the 'Mackie Emulate' option with USB 5/6. Set the PT transport to GENerate timecode (the blue button to the right), and be sure MTC/USB3 is chosen in the Peripherals menu. When using the DM for automated mixing, you'll need to choose 'Generate Internal' timecode on the DM and tick the EXTernal timecode option in the Automation Menu. In the HUI menu, enable the Generate Internal Transport 'button.' Then, in the PT menu, DISABLE generate timecode on the transport, Enable MMC in the Peripherals menu, and put the PT transport into ONLINE (the two blue buttons which flash).

Once all of this is set up, the configurations can be saved to a template or snapshot - making the switchover easy and painless.

I hope some of this helps, and you get your timecode issues ironed out.

CaptDan

 

[codabass]

Unbelievable...What a response, I am humbled you took the time to write this out for me. I would defently appreacaite a screen shot of your MIDI screen. It's a bit greek to me in there. You have helped me out a few times on other forums from time to time and can't thank you enough. I would also add anyone reading this thread and thinking about buying a DM board (48 or 32) this forum is priceless. The talented members on this site, freely give you fixes, advice trouble shoot the works for no compensation. This forum (and its former) has made learning this board a whole lot easier for a novice like me. I can't thank Jarno, Muziekscuur or CaptDan enough. You ALWAYS know one of these guys will come through and help...Cheers!!!

 

[captdan]

You're welcome. Believe me, the incredible members of this forum helped ME immensely when I first got my DM. Hey - they STILL do.

I've attached a .png file of my DM MIDI screen. Hope it helps you.

CaptDan