Smartsound Quicktracks crashes Pro CS4?

[munickster]

I just today installed the free Smartsound Quicktracks. It seems to work fine with PE4, but every time (5 so far) I've used it with CS4, CS4 hangs and/or shuts down without any error. I did see a few posts on this in the Adobe Forums, but there didn't seem to be a resolution. I've got the latest CS4 update, and presumably have the latest Quicktracks version since it was downloaded today. Has anybody seen anything similar?

Thank you - Dick

[Bill Hunt]

I have not experienced similar with PE4 and the newer versions of QuickTracks. Going back about 2 years, there was a version, that had problems with the waveform display. It would kill P-Pro, in a similar fashion, if the Audio Track that one dragged the SmartSound Clip to was expanded, or was expanded once the Clip was in place - BOOM, P-Pro would just close, with no error message at all, and nothing in the Event Log. Within a few weeks, SmartSound issued a new plug-in, and that (have upgraded about twice since that) worked perfectly.

Did you just download the QuickTracks plug-in, or has it been sitting on your system for awhile? If it's new, I haven't a clue, though the behavior sounds just like the old "waveform" issue. If it's been awhile, download and install the newest version.

If it's the former, or if the new version does not work for you, please contact SmartSound T/S. They are good, quick and care. It does take a bit to find them in Support, and you'll first see some Knowledgebase articles. Unless these have changed, none will apply to you. List your hardware and software, plus the plug-in version/date, that is not working for you. Two weeks after I filed my first ticket on the old plug-in with P-Pro, they had a fix on their site. They will respond to you, and will offer all that they can to get it up and running.

My plug-ins are:
SmartSoundForPremiere.exe - 4/16/08
QuicktracksUpdate310.exe - 4/16/08

Have not checked for a newer version, but will.

Good luck, and please do contact SmartSound, 'cause they do care.

Hunt

[munickster]

The version I installed was 'Smartsound for Premiere, version 3.10 with QX3060'. I'll contact them to see what they have to say.

Thanks for the quick response, Bill. (Do you prefer Bill or Hunt?)

Dick

[Bill Hunt]

Either works. Typing "Bill" saves a keystroke, but whatever is most convenitent. I sign off with "Hunt," 'cause it just flows for me. Same for my wine and food articles.

Let me know what SmartSound has to say. I can also do any "second machine" testing for you, as I have both PE4 and QT 3.10. So far, it's worked fine. I do have to admit that 95% of my QT work is in Pro, but PE4 has never experienced an issue - yet! We both know that I just jinxed my machine, but I can live with that. If I can hit your exact error, we both might be able to get to the bottom of this. I'll bet that SmartSound has some good ideas for you. Please follow up.

Hunt

[Chuck Engels]

Typing "Bill" saves a keystroke.
Hunt

??

[Bill Hunt]

Well, I was counting the double "l" more as one - just a judder of the finger, really.

Hunt

[Chuck Engels]

[munickster]

Smartsound replied. "Quicktracks is currently not supported in Adobe Premiere CS3 or CS4. Some users are able to use the latest plugin and have it work properly, but it is not guaranteed. We are currently working on an installer that would allow Quicktracks to be fully compatible with Premiere CS3 and CS4, and are currently in the testing phases, but no release date has been set at this time. I have taken down your email address and will notify you when a CS4 installer is ready for distribution. In the meantime you may want to use Sonicfire Pro to continue to use your SmartSound library. You can download a free demo of Sonicfire Pro 5 from the link below...."

On the other hand the SmartSound Quicktracks web site states that "The Quicktracks plug-in for Adobe Premiere is a specially designed product that integrates directly with Adobe Premiere Pro and Premiere Elements." Not sure what to make of this, other than it's going to cost $$ to use the free tracks with CS4, or create them in PE and hope they import into CS4. Oh well.

Dick

[Bill Hunt]

Dick,

Interesting news. I see that I mis-read your initial post. All was working in PE4, but it was CS4, with which you were having problems. Usually, my reading comprehension is a bit better, than that. Sorry.

I had not heard of any problems on either the CS3, or CS4 fora. This is all news to me. I am surprised, given the time span, since CS3 came out, that a "fix" has not been forthcoming. When CS2 (PP2) had the waveform display issue, SmartSound got right on it, and had a fix in no time.

I do know that there is a project on the board at SmartSound, that will likely change how some things are done with QT's, and that there is rumored to be closer integration with P-Pro with this "in-progress" release. No dates, or details to report though. Maybe they are trying to do two things: fix some problems and add some new features. Mood Mapping from within PP would be great, from my standpoint.

Since I have not gone to either CS3, or CS4, I was unaware, even though I follow those fora. Thanks for the update.

If I get any info from SmartSound, I'll be sure to share it with the Muvipix community. I do know that SmartSound reads this forum, but how often, and on what level, I cannot even guess.

Hunt

[munickster]

Thanks, Bill. I appreciate your input. I know that SmartSound is a reputable company, but I can't help but feel a little like they're taking advantage of people with this. Advertise a free application that supposedly works with CS3/CS4, and then when it doesn't offer an alternative that isn't free. Maybe they simply had a disconnect between the web gurus and the application gurus - it happens all the time and I don't suggest any deliberate misleading actions on their part. It's still free app that runs on PE4 and I'll content myself with that. (Can I do that - put a whiny smiley on my own post?)

Thanks again.

Dick

[munickster]

One other observation. It appears that tracks created in PE4, or even in CS4 if they get saved before it crashes, all work normally in the CS4 timeline once it's restarted. I haven't exhaustively tested this, but after a few different tests, it seems to be OK. It's apparently just the Quicktracks application that has the problem.

Dick

[Bill Hunt]

Dick,

I wonder if it's the old "waveform monster," rearing its ugly head again. Since I do not have CS4, I cannot check this out for myself, but maybe you can. Going back to PP2, one could turn off the waveform display of an Audio Track. This also seemed to work, if the Audio Track was "minimized." It was only when one had expanded the Track and had waveform display on, that the old QT's Clip crashed PP2. You could create it, in the Project Panel fine. The crash came, when you dragged it to the Timeline, and the Track was expanded.

Where/when does CS4 crash in the process? Can you alter the display of an Audio Track in CS4?

I'm trying to think of what has changed between PP2, CS3 and CS4. I know that in CS4,there is more necessary Track Targeting, but that was about all that I was aware of. Just curious here. I also know that upon the initial release of CS4, SmartSound support was not fully active. It was "supposed" to be, but had been missed, along with the SurCode Dolby Digital plug-in triral (3x, before you had to buy), and then, when bought, would not function correctly. It seems that the first update to CS4 handled the SurCode issue, but have not heard about the SmartSound fix. I just "assumed" that it was included, as Adobe mentioned that it had been missed in the push to release by deadline. What version of CS4 do you have? It seems that there are two updates, where one addressed some Encore & AME issues (the last one).

Since SmartSound makes their money by selling the music first, and SonicFire Pro Scoring Edition second, I can see it in their best interest to get their free QT's plug-in into as many hands, as is possible. If you can't use it, you are not likely to buy the music. Going way back, I paid US$99 for my first QT's plug-in. It was "free" about six months later - just bad timing on my part, but I had grown accustomed to using it from Pinnacle, so the price wasn't really an object. Way back then, it was included in Pinnacle. Now, it's included in several other NLE's, so that one does not even need to download and install QuickTracks. It's already there. Not sure if PE7 actually includes it in the install, or not.

Hunt

[munickster]

I will play around with the waveform idea tonight - thanks, Bill!

[Bob]

it's included in several other NLE's, so that one does not even need to download and install QuickTracks. It's already there. Not sure if PE7 actually includes it in the install, or not.

Premiere Elements 7 includes the SmartSound® Quicktracks® plug-in. There's even a SmartSound button in the timeline panel.

[munickster]

Here's what I've been able to figure out so far. I was able to create the track with the Smartsound plugin, save it, and have it appear in the project panel. I dragged it to track 2, which has no waveform display. CS4 tolerated that OK. I then moved it to track 1 with the waveform display turned off and that, too, was OK. I turned on the waveform display for track 1, but no waveform appeared in the track - it only shows clip volume. Clicking the waveform off and on again made no difference. I played the track in CS4, but there was no audio at all. I then double-clicked the track (after saving the project), and CS4 vanished. The clip plays in Media Player OK. Restarting CS4 with the clip still in the timeline as saved previously shows the same thing - no waveform and no sound. Deleting the clip from the timeline, importing it back in from the saved folder, and dragging it to the timeline now shows the clip with waveform display and audio. Finally, double-clicking the clip now shows it in the source panel. Nothing that I've tried doing after this point such as moving to different tracks, changing waveform display, shortening the clip, etc., has caused any problems.

I then shut CS4 down and opened up an empty project, created a smartsound track, saved it, and then deleted it from the project panel. I then double-clicked the project panel for the import window, selected the just-created clip, and imported it. I dragged it to the timeline, and it all seems to be OK.

Admittedly, I haven't tested this any more than what I describe here, but a possible workaround for this is to create the track, delete it from the project panel and then re-import it. If I hit any more snags I'll report back.

Dick