Vision and Studio Vision Pro Version 4.1 Manual ... - House of Synth

CHAPTER 11: Acadia: Optimizing for Digital Audio
• In Vision, uncheck Detailed Track
Overview in the Tracks Window
menu.
• In Vision, set Audio>Waveform Display
to either “Fast” or “Off.”
• In Vision, disable any unused hardware
inputs and outputs in the Audio
Instruments & Routings Window.
Graphics Card
While most Macs have built-in RGB ports,
you can achieve better screen resolution
and faster screen redraws by using an
internal graphics card with dedicated
video RAM.
Disk Resources
The green Disk bar in the Performance
Window indicates the percentage of disk
resources in use by Vision. There are a
number of factors that affect disk
resources.
Most importantly, make sure you have a
“fast” or “wide” SCSI hard disk. When
shopping for a hard disk, always look for
drives with the fastest speeds for the following
parameters:
• Average Seek Time
• Average Access Time
• Rotation Speed
• Sustained Data Transfer Rate
Your hard disk should have an “asynchronous”
driver. In addition, avoid hard disks
that use automatic “thermal calibration.”
If unsure, consult with your computer
dealer.
When purchasing a hard disk, get the
largest you can. Digital audio can take up
a lot of space (for each minute of stereo
audio at 44.1 kHz, you will use 10 MB of
disk space). It’s also smart to have an
external hard disk dedicated solely for
your Vision files and audio files, with
another hard disk reserved for your
system software and applications.
When your disk resources become low,
check the following:
• If your hard disk becomes defragmented,
as is often the case with
writing and deleting large amounts of
files, use “defragmenting” software to
make your disk more efficient (in
some cases, it may even be necessary
to reformat).
• You can ease the burden of disk
access for digital audio by adjusting
Vision’s Buffer Size dialog (see
page 85 for details).
Make sure your computer has lots of
memory—64 MB or more is not
unreasonable. The more memory you
have, the more you can allocate for
digital audio buffers.
NOTE: Some manufacturers sell hard disks
designed specifically for audio and video
applications. These hard disks are commonly
referred to as “AV” disks.
Vision & Studio Vision Pro — Version 4.1 Manual Supplement 83