Not Enough Memory: The Saga Continues

[deejaytrixx]

So yeah, Im not working with the best of computers right now..We had a real bad fire in our studio so now I am working off of back ups on my cheesy home computer. (XP Pro, 1.25 gigs installed, expandable to 3gigs) and a freakin Mbox..not even two, but one...on an LE system..(still got 7 at home)

So, Im working on a seemingly simple mix...suuuuure..The guy doesn't know how to record, and the producer had a little too much to drink at the session, so quality control just wasn't there. So of course I am adding the many various layers of shit be gone that is needed to make this track half way salvagable.

BUT...I have completely run out of processing power. I have consolidated all stemmed pieces, I have even recorded several tracks to one single stereo track in the futile hopes of trying to save DSP by eliminating plug-ins..Problem is if I do this anymor, I will lose the ability to change the individual voices that make a lot of the backing vocals..I fear to lose perception of how it will sound in the mix.,,.

By any measure of GOD, does anyone know another way to get that last bit of overclock to work on a ram deficient system

(Please, no disrespect, but I need an experience pro tools user answer, not conjecture, nor the obvious..The obvious I can do myself)

 

[MessianicDreams]

Ok, here's a few things:

a) have you totally optomised your XP system to work with audio? is a very good page about doing so..have a read through it. Very often a fresh install (on a wiped HD) is a good place to start!

b) Having used a very under-powered system before, I often find doing bounces of tracks (for example, bounce all drums to a stereo track) and then disabling the bounced tracks is a good way of focusing on other elements. Yes, it does mean you have to do a lot of bouncing/disabling/re-enabling/rebouncing but if you really are maxing out a healthy system, its the only solution!

c) make sure you have your playback engine optimised for mixing

d) what error message are you getting? make sure its not a problem of getting audio from the HD fast enough. Also have a look at your system resource window to make sure it is your CPU maxing out.

 

[deejaytrixx]

Ok, here's a few things:

a) have you totally optomised your XP system to work with audio? is a very good page about doing so..have a read through it. Very often a fresh install (on a wiped HD) is a good place to start!

b) Having used a very under-powered system before, I often find doing bounces of tracks (for example, bounce all drums to a stereo track) and then disabling the bounced tracks is a good way of focusing on other elements. Yes, it does mean you have to do a lot of bouncing/disabling/re-enabling/rebouncing but if you really are maxing out a healthy system, its the only solution!

c) make sure you have your playback engine optimised for mixing

d) what error message are you getting? make sure its not a problem of getting audio from the HD fast enough. Also have a look at your system resource window to make sure it is your CPU maxing out.

Thanks for the advice. There were 2 things in particular I never did in all of my "tweaking" and they were good to know.

Not that it solved my problem completely due to the size of the mix, but making sure that you only have your PT interface connected to the PCI card your using (whether it be USB or Firewire) greatly improved performance as well.

But alas, that didn't solve my problem. Even the lower track count isn't helping (which is REALLY weird)