TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- blocks vs clips

blocks vs clips

back when FL used blocks, i found it much more fun and intuitive to work with. now clips are the norm i find it a grind.

what are your thoughts on this? and why have blocks fallen by the wayside?

I was a bit intimidated first too when I realized they will be dropping the blocks completely, but I quickly started using clips and wouldn't go back to using blocks again, tbh. My workflow feels just a tad better now, as I can have automation clips with score in the same window, and even group them by relevant automation clips being "children" of the instrument they "belong to", like so:



Relevant automation clips to Mid pad are indented a bit. IIRC this kind of stuff wasn't possible with the blocks.

I'm not completely certain, but I could make a guess that this "block" system hasn't been possible in any other big DAWs.

Regarding FL in general.. It seems like they've done a few changes to the UI in 12, and I don't like it that much. The wires on the mixer are a very welcome helper though.

interesting.

automation is something i haven't even gotten into yet, but have thought about. it emulates turning a knob on a filter? i guess clips are something you need to embrace if you are serious about producing for automation purposes at least.

FL is the only DAW that i've tried that was intuitive right away. i didn't need to read a manual or anything. i tried ableton live and was like... wtf. didn't even know where to start.

quote:

Originally posted by rubez interesting. automation is something i haven't even gotten into yet, but have thought about. it emulates turning a knob on a filter? i guess clips are something you need to embrace if you are serious about producing for automation purposes at least. FL is the only DAW that i've tried that was intuitive right away. i didn't need to read a manual or anything. i tried ableton live and was like... wtf. didn't even know where to start.

Automation comes into its own when you start arranging a track, have you made a full track yet?

not really, just short tracks with intro/build/break etc.

the blocks offered more spontaneity i thought.

Clips are great, I can't ever go back to blocks. Seeing the automations is such a huge leap forward. I put off upgrading FL for so long, silly me, didn't know what I was missing. Ok, I'm still using an older version now, so I'm probably missing out on something.

blocks and clips kinda sound like the same thing ie containers that are linked. i'm guessing you mean a thrucomposed arrangement style vs dropping in containers that are mini arrangements

It seems to me like you're afraid of new things in general.

quote:

Originally posted by Looney4Clooney blocks and clips kinda sound like the same thing ie containers that are linked. i'm guessing you mean a thrucomposed arrangement style vs dropping in containers that are mini arrangements

The actual difference between the block and clip approaches in FL seems to be that with blocks, you'll end up having a separate row for each "mini arrangement" in the playlist. For example Drums 1, Drums 2, Drums 3, etc. would all lie on their own rows in the playlist. Now, with clips, you'll "easily" place every relevant thing on the same row if you so wish; Drums 1, 2, 3 are now on the same row, more easily accessible and "readable" � at least for me. So, with blocks, different arrangements for the same instrument will grow your playlist vertically, with clips not.

quote:

Originally posted by TranceElevation It seems to me like you're afraid of new things in general.

Not as much as we all are afraid of your judgment.

Perhaps he could try something new and quit trying to be a dick. terrible insults for people that should be somewhat creative.

I always found FL studio rather unintuitive. It really has potential if they would just add all the normal daw stuff as their automation is probably the most involved. Their patcher tool is quite cool as well although it is buggy.

quote:

Originally posted by JEO Not as much as we all are afraid of your judgment.

Thanks. Is good to know you perceive me as such authoritative figure.

Clooney, I've never been a dick with you nor I tried to. It's sad that someone so sensitive as you couldn't pick up my intensions.

a dick would make a comment that serves no purpose tother than to deride a discussion. That is what you did. Stop it. I never said who you were targeting because i don't think it really matters.

Anything in this world serves a purpose. Simply you weren't able to catch it.

But I still believe you when you say you're superman, don't worry.

quote:

Originally posted by rubez it emulates turning a knob on a filter?

I automates turning a knob. Right-click on practically any knob in FL, and press "Create Automation Clip", and there's a new clip (usually a coloured one) in your playlist. See the line inside the newly created clip? It indicates the value of that knob at any given time of the track. Right-click to create new points into the automation clip, hold left-click and drag to move a point. Just try it out, it's kind of a fundamental skill. More often than not, just pressing F1 in FL will help you on what you are currently trying to do.

I would actually help a lot if they managed to add something to indicate when a parameter has an automation clip, or when it's automated by some inner/outer source. Now you'll have to right click on the knob to actually find out. Coming to an old project it can be tiresome to try to get a hang of what you've done.

Same goes with the mixer.. You'll have to check each insert one by one to see where they're routed. The hanging cables that I've seen in some DAWs would help a lot.

fruitys 11 does both blocks and clips tho i like clips better

It seems like (and correct me if I'm wrong) but FL adopted the playlist feature that Protools has had for nearly 10 years;

whereby you can have "takes" (or I suppose arrangements) on a single given track. SO for instance if you're recording on an audio track, you record the instrument. You then decide to get another one for safety and that goes on the same track but you've opened up playlist 2. That one goes badly at the start so record another which is playlist 3. That one is fine but the end it a bit flat. So you end up comping the start of playlist 3, with the end of playlist 2 into the final "take".

Is that how it works in FL?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN It seems like (and correct me if I'm wrong) but FL adopted the playlist feature that Protools has had for nearly 10 years; whereby you can have "takes" (or I suppose arrangements) on a single given track. SO for instance if you're recording on an audio track, you record the instrument. You then decide to get another one for safety and that goes on the same track but you've opened up playlist 2. That one goes badly at the start so record another which is playlist 3. That one is fine but the end it a bit flat. So you end up comping the start of playlist 3, with the end of playlist 2 into the final "take". Is that how it works in FL?

Do you mean that there would be actual separate playlists for different takes? If so, I think no. I have never recorded audio on FL Studio yet, so I'm not really familiar on how it should even work, to be honest. Without even looking yet, I'm pretty sure Pro Tools does it better, what ever it is..

The online manual for FL Studio speaks of something like this, though:

quote:

Loop recording is the process of repeatedly laying down audio-takes while FL Studio loops a project. This technique is often preferred by instrumentalists or vocalists who want to repeat a phrase/section of a song until they get the perfect take, there are two loop recording methods available: ...

And then there's this, which I have very rarely used:

quote:

Blend recording (overdub) - When selected, recorded notes will blend with existing notes, otherwise recorded notes will overwrite the old ones. Recorded audio in the Playlist will be layered into new tracks (works in conjunction with 'Loop record' below).

Never heard of multiple playlists in one session, then again I've never used protools.

I often record electric guitar using FL, and they make it so easy to do. Yep, make sure the loop record and blend record boxes are checked, then every time you finish recording, the file is auto-named and added to the playlist as a clip, and you can do this as many times as you want. Therefore, you have multiple takes, and you can mute or delete the ones you don't want.

I personally don't like doing "takes". What I do is, I just record till I get it right. I'll hit record and if it ends up sloppy, I'll "undo recorded stuff" by hitting control + C. That way there's not a lot of clutter on the playlist.

Dunno how many people record guitar and vocals straight into FL, but I find it a breeze. After you record, you can chop up the clips, copy and paste them, combine them.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.