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• http://premierepro.wikia.com/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
  • <<<
  • If you want to actively prevent Premiere Pro from using one or more VST plug-ins, create a text file called Blacklist.txt listing the filename of each plug-in one per line. Put the text file in the same folder as the plug-in files, one blacklist file per folder. The blacklist file is read only when Premiere Pro starts up.
    • You must restart your computer for the Blacklist.txt to work.
  • ….there is a limit to the number of VST effects that can appear in the list in the mixer panel, however all supported VST effects should appear in the list in the effects panel.
  • If some VST effects are not available in Premiere Pro when you expect them to be, search your hard drive for a file called Plugin Loading.log after configuring your search to find hidden files. The log may tell you why a plug-in is not being loaded.
  • >>>

• http://premierepro.wikia.com/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
  • <<<
  • If you don’t have any VST plug-ins there are a number of them at:
    • http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php
    • http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/classic-series.php
      • (Great Reverb, Compressor/Limiter, Delay, EQ and more… They sound good as well).
    • at http://www.elementalaudio.com you can download a free VST ‘effect’ called “Inspector” which will monitor your audio as you play your sequence, and, among other things, tell you by how much you have exceeded the 0dB maximum permitted level. You can then reduce the monitored fader by that amount and be confident there should be no clipping. It comes remarkably well documented (for freeware) and the help file is worth a quick check through. And another tip - if you export just the audio of your project with the “Inspector” vst window visible, it will provide the analysis of levels and clipping at high speed - on my PC, in about 4 mins for a 40 minute .avi - and the results it gives correlate with analysis in Audition, so it appears you can depend on it. In my test file, it showed that the level needed to be reduced by 0.4dB to avoid clipping - which was the amount by which I’d pushed the fader up before running the test. Using this method it would appear you don’t have to sit glued to the meters all the way through your project to avoid clipping.
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I am a novice user of Adobe Premiere.  Having installed iZotope Ozone 5 I expected it to just appear as one of the audio filters.  However I saw no sign of it.

Web-research:

• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/PremierePro/4.0/WS1c9bc5c2e465a58a91cf0b1038518aef7-7f0fa.html
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  • Premiere Pro supports the Steinberg VST (Virtual Studio Technology) audio plug-in format so that you can add VST audio effects from third-party vendors. Premiere Pro includes VST plug-in effects that are available in both the Audio Mixer and the Effect Controls panel. Track-based VST plug-ins may provide additional controls. Apply VST effects the same way you apply other audio effects to tracks or clips.
  • In the Effects And Sends panels of the Audio Mixer, VST effects appear in the Effect Selection menus. In the Effects panel, they appear in the Audio Effects bin so you can apply them to individual clips. In most cases, VST effects appear in the Audio Effects bin and track type that corresponds to the number of channels the effect supports. For example, stereo VST effects appear in the Audio Mixer track effect menus for stereo tracks only, and in the Stereo bin in the Audio Effects bin in the Effects panel. After you apply any VST effect, you can open a window with all of its controls. You can leave multiple VST editor windows open as long as you want, such as when automating effects, but Premiere Pro closes all VST editor windows when you close the project.
  • If you previously installed a VST-compatible application other tha Premiere Pro, Premiere Pro finds VST effects in the VST folder that already exists. Inside the Plug-ins folder of the Premiere Pro application folder, there is also a VSTPlugins folder with plug-ins that are used only by Premiere Pro.
  • Note: When you use a VST effect not provided by Adobe, the specific control layout and results of the plug-in are the responsibility of the plug-in manufacturer. Adobe Premiere Pro only displays the controls and processes the results.
  • >>>
• http://forums.adobe.com/thread/682375?start=0&tstart=0
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  • I use a set of VST plugins by Voxengo with 32-bit CS4. I recently upgraded to 64-bit CS5. So, I went and snagged the 64-bit versions of these Voxengo plugins. I put them in the C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro CS5\Plug-ins\en_US\VSTPlugins\.
  •  Here’s the info in the Plugin Loading.log file:
    •  Loading C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro CS5\Plug-ins\en_US\VSTPlugins\Elephant.dll
      Loading from the registry…
      The plugin was successfully loaded from the registry.
  •  Yet, the plugins do not show up in the mixer or in the effects list.
  •  I do not get any error messages. Also, I’m using Vista.  Any ideas?
  •  If you’d like to try the plugins yourself, there are free trials here:
    •  http://www.voxengo.com/product/elephant/
    •  http://www.voxengo.com/product/glisseq/
  •  Thanks! - Jamez
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  • I tried the 8 free Voxengo plugins in Premiere CS5, all of them 64bit and they did not show up.  Curiously enough, these 8 plugins are listed at ehe Adobe websiste  here: http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/premiere/.
  • I tried the 32bit versions with Soundbooth CS5 (which is a a 32bit app) and they did not show up there either.
  • >>>
• http://premierepro.wikia.com/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
  • <<<
  • If you want to actively prevent Premiere Pro from using one or more VST plug-ins, create a text file called Blacklist.txt listing the filename of each plug-in one per line. Put the text file in the same folder as the plug-in files, one blacklist file per folder. The blacklist file is read only when Premiere Pro starts up.
    • You must restart your computer for the Blacklist.txt to work
  • If some VST effects are not available in Premiere Pro when you expect them to be, search your hard drive for a file called Plugin Loading.log after configuring your search to find hidden files. The log may tell you why a plug-in is not being loaded.
  • >>>
• http://forums.adobe.com/thread/679366?start=0&tstart=0
• http://forum.recordingreview.com/f44/plz-help-me-abt-izotope-ozone-plugin-18721/
• http://forums.adobe.com/message/2970290#2970290

Trying to understand why Ozone 5 will/won’t show up in various Windows 7 applications,  I discovered that:

The folder on my system is:

• [C:\Program Files (x86)\Vstplugins]

The corresponding registry entry is:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Wow6432Node > VST > VSTPluginsPath
  • The name [Wow6432Node] sounds somewhat unprofessional, but I checked on my system and indeed that’s how it is.

In Registry Editor:

• In left-hand “explorer” pane, dial-down to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Wow6432Node > VST]
• At that location:
  • Name: (REG_SZ) = [VSTPluginsPath]
  • Value: (REG_SZ) = [C:\Program Files (x86)\Vstplugins]

Seems a little pricey, but worthwhile in my case because it addresses two requirements that have been nagging me (before I discovered that product):

• Has intelligent compressor, maximizing loudness and minimising dependence on manual tweaking (eqials time in post).
• Has good-quality reverb.

It’s a plugin (DirectX /DLL), no standalone application.  Hosts / plugin formats:

• The manual refers (Page 119) to <<Pro Tools, VST, AU and MAS versions of Ozone … (and) DirectX version>>
• The website
  • Plug-in formats:
    • Pro Tools 7.4+ (RTAS/AudioSuite), VST, MAS, Audio Unit, DirectX
  • Plug-in host compatibility:
    • Pro Tools, Cubase, Nuendo, WaveLab, GarageBand, Logic, Audition, SONAR, ACID, REAPER, Sound Forge, Peak, Ableton Live, and many more
    • Does not mention:
      • Sony Vegas (even though I found it works in this)
      • Adobe CS5.5 Production Suite e.g. Premiere.  Can it work with this and its siblings?
• c

FiRe not only records audio, in a much more powerful/flexible way than Voice Memo, but also allows you to add metadata such as location and a photo (e.g. taken live from the iPhone’s camera)…though I couldn’t see any way to export a format that could maintain that metadata (possibly my newbie-ness, like it mentions Broadcast Wave somewhere but I can’t see how to export that).

It can “multitask” the same way that Voice Memo can.  That is, it can be set going, then left running in the background even when say taking a photo.

When running, under its Settings, Input, has a range of presets, including for example “Dictation” and “Lecture”.   Under Effects there are such things as dynamic range compression and hiss filters.  Playback has sped-up (like tape - not pitch-corrected).

Its recordings can be exported from the device as follows.  When I tried it exporting a WAV file, that product was 16 bits, 48 kHz, mono.

Exporting-steps:

• On the iPhone, FiRe app, tap Share from the toolbar, then iTunes Sharing
• Multi-select the required export format(s)
• Connect iPhone to computer, iTunes comes up (else launch it manually)
• iTunes:
  • On left side menu, select the iPhone device
  • On top menu, select Apps
  • Look at the bottom of the interface (scroll if necessary) to find File Sharing section.
  • In the Apps column there, select FiRe
  • As required, drag files listed there to destinations

Additionally, recordings can be uploaded via FTP, DropBox or SoundCloud (whatever that is…).

I have never used Garage Band before, so had a play with it to see whether it could be useful as an audio editing/processing tool.  The answer is a resounding “yes” - despite its “domestic” looking interface.   Not only that, it can edit videos, leaving the video stream alone and affecting only the audio stream.  Just drag a file into it - I tried with a M4A audio file out of iPhone’s Voice Memo.  Some features I discovered were:

• Basic cutting
• Envelope shaping (on keyframes)
• Effects such as:
  • Dynamic range compression
  • Reverb etc.
  • An “Autotune” pitch-stabiliser

“Whatever gets the job done”…

Having extracted my iPhone’s VoiceMail recordings, I reviewed them and they sounded boomy - from room resonance.  The best audio enhancement app I know is iZotope RX2, which I have for Windows 7. Windows 7 was run within a virtual machine under Parallels within Mac OS.  I allowed this Windows to read, but not write, Mac OS files.

• The first enhancement was a parametric EQ
  • Settings: frequency 274Hz, gain -21dB and Q=1.
  • The result sounded better and looked more even in the spectrum analyzer, which prior to that “glowed” around 300Hz.
• The next enhancement was Denoiser
  • Settings: Advanced, Algorithm D (best, slowest), defaults (including -12dB reduction)
  • Not quick - not much faster than real-time as compared to the recording.
• Finally, following this “tonal & broadband attenuation” processing, some amplitude processing in terms of dynamic range compression and overall gain.

I audio-recorded some lectures by using the Voice Memo app in-built on my iPhone 4.  How does one get such recordings out of the phone and into an audio editing (or indeed audio/video editing) app on Mac or PC?  Here’s what I found, mainly by experiment:

• For a Mac:
  • The iTunes app allows you to transfer/sync an iPhone’s Voice Memo audio recordings onto the computer.  In iTunes, under the device representing the phone, there is a Voice Memos folder. Inside this there is a list of recordings (objects) e.g. as follows:
    • 1  ✓ 21/09/2011 09:33
    • 2  ✓ 21/09/2011 10:43
    • 3  ✓ 21/09/2011 11:01
  • These entries correspond to M4A (FourCC=”MP4A”) files.
    • These files can be transferred (moved/copied) as follows:
      • Copy a file by dragging it out of Voice Memos folder in iTunes’ interface.
      • Move a file by dragging it out of iTunes’ user-specific Voice Memos folder in file system.  That folder is described below.
    • Additionally iTunes can export MP3 equivalent copies of the files:
      • iTunes (Voice Memos): Recording >RtClk> Create MP3 Version
  • The files are stored at (in my case) at:
    • /Users/davidesp/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Voice Memos
      • 21_09_2011 09_33.m4a
      • 21_09_2011 10_43.m4a
      • 21_09_2011 11_01.m4a
  • The nature of the files:
    • These files are stated by Mac’s Finder to be of type “MPEG-4 audio”, and are about 30 MB per hour.
    • VideoSpec is able to analyse them, it reports:
      • Container: M4A - QuickTime
      • Encoding: MP4A (FourCC), constant bitrate of 64 kbps, 16 bits, 44.1 kHz, stereo
        • However it makes no sense to encode stereo from a one-microphone device and indeed when imported to an audio editor (Audacity 1.3.13 beta) it only produces a single mono track.
  • Audio Editing/Processing (cuts/envelopes/effects e.g. dynamic range compression) was subsequently achievable by any of these:
    • Audacity (1.3.13 beta) can import the M4A file.  My (multi-platform) old-familiar.
    • Garage Band (e.g. as explained at http://macmost.com/editing-audio-files-in-garageband.html).
    • SoundTrack Pro (but can’t simply drag the file in - instead have to use File>Open).  OK but a little clunky (in my “newbie-to-this-app” opinion)

Installed SmartSound Sonicfire (”The Music Score for Your Vision”). Wanted to install version 5.5.2, from Avid MC 5.0 install disk (it is unchanged in MC 5.5), but the installation hung (problem with disk or at least incompatible with my MBP’s reader?).  No download was available for this product on my Avid Download account, while on the SmartSound website, only the latest version (update), namely 5.7.0 (on Windows, else 5.7.1 for Mac) could be downloaded.  However that downloaded and installed fine.  The Sonicfire app also pulled in some additions to its sound library, initially from the web and subsequently from SmartSound’s Core Sessions disk (which was fully readable); spontaneously once I inserted it.

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