MACKIE Digital Mixers User Manual

USER’S GUIDE

™

Time Pak

The ultimate in Time Modulated Effects: Chorus, Flange, AutoPan, Tremolo, Extreme

Plug-in for Mackie Digital Mixers

™

Iconography

FLYING

SAUCER

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“Mackie” and the “Running Man” figure are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mackie Designs Inc. All other brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders, and are hereby acknowledged.

Part No. 820-251-00 Rev. A 02/2001

Acuma Time Pak

Contents

Introduction ----------------------------------------4

About Acuma Labs---------------------------------------------- 4

About the D8B UFX Card -------------------------------------- 5

About Time Pak ------------------------------------------------- 5

Let’s Get Started ---------------------------------- 6

Requirements----------------------------------------------------6

Authorizing the Plug-in----------------------------------------6

Unlock Procedure -----------------------------------------------7

Configuring the Plug-in --------------------------------------- 8

Using the Time Pak Plug-in -------------------- 10

Front Panel Overview ---------------------------------------- 10

Status Block----------------------------------------------------- 11

Screen Block ---------------------------------------------------- 13

Controls Block-------------------------------------------------- 15

Global Controls Block --------------------------------------- 20

Saving, Loading, and Resetting a Preset ----------------- 23

Automation and Snapshot Control ---------- 26 FX Routing ---------------------------------------- 27 Factory Presets----------------------------------- 33

Note: Any future revisions of this guide will be available for viewing and downloading from our website: www.mackie.com. Further plug-in details and preset downloads can be obtained from www.acumalabs.com.

User’s Guide

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing Time Pak, the ultimate in Time Modulated Effects from Acuma Labs. It is one of the exciting new family of 24-bit plug-ins for the D8B, specifically designed for the new Mackie Universal Effects (UFX) card.

Time Pak is a highly creative tool that enables you to produce classic Chorus, Flange, Auto Pan, Tremolo and new Extreme sounds that are guaranteed to change the way that you think of effect processing forever. The first time that you use the visual and easy-to-use graphic user interface (GUI), you will quickly understand the power of this package. After experiencing the drag and drop functions, which let you move/edit nodes in real time, you will soon realize that Time Pak is destined to become an integral part of the way you produce sessions from now on.

About Acuma Labs (www.acumalabs.com)

One of the newly aquired companies in the growing Mackie family, Acuma Labs develops real-time embedded systems for professional audio applications to create high quality products for the music and pro audio industries. Acuma specializes in digital audio effects using DSP, real-time operating systems, graphical user interfaces, and digital hardware design.

Acuma Time Pak

About the D8B UFX Card

The UFX card provides robust processing power for computationheavy plug-ins. The UFX card is a 4-in/4-out architecture, which means it can support four mono, two mono and one stereo, or two stereo sends simultaneously. Up to four UFX cards can be installed in the D8B, allowing up to sixteen simultaneous singlechannel effects, eight stereo plug-ins, or combinations thereof.

Note:Note:

Note: It is recommended that you increase the D8B’s memory if you install

Note:Note: more than one UFX card. Memory upgrade instructions are supplied with each card.

About Time Pak

Each Time Pak plug-in module uses one half of a UFX card (i.e. two audio inputs and two audio outputs). It can be routed as an “insert” or “auxiliary” connection, which affects the final audio output (see FX Routing on page 27) in mono, stereo or surround panning applications (using surround bus assignments). Each of the two input signals can have up to 8 effects working on it at a time. The main Time Pak display uses a series of red and green colored balls (8 left effects and 8 right effects) to represent a total of sixteen mono or 8 fully functional stereo nodes.

You can drag and drop each node in real time to adjust the time (vertical movement) and pan (horizontal movement), or link nodes together in stereo as one moveable group. Each node offers individual control of volume, regen, pan modulation, time modulation, and high and low pass filtering, that can be added to the mix for a vast array of sounds. Apply Phase Invert to the Level and Regen of selected effects to create just the right feel. Use the global controls including Tempo, Effect Input level, Dry, Memory A and B, and Attack, as comparative editing references. Time Pak will let you save your edits as presets and toggle between them.

As with all of the D8B plug-ins, Time Pak lets you automate every parameter and save it all as part of your D8B session.

User’s Guide

Let’s Get Started

Requirements

• One or more Mackie UFX cards

• Mackie Real Time OS 3.0 Software

• Plug-in Software

We will assume you have successfully installed a Mackie UFX card and Mackie Real Time OS 3.0 software upgrade. If you have encountered problems with the installation of hardware or software please see their associated user guides or contact Mackie support (www.mackie.com).

Authorizing the Plug-in

If you have D8B v 3.0 b186 or greater, the plug-in is already installed on the D8B hard drive, however an authorized unlock code must be entered to unlock the plug-in for normal operation.

An Unlocked Plug-in

LICENSING

1234-5167-89D1

D8B Electronic Serial Number (ESN)

Acuma Time Pak

AUTHORIZE

D8B SETUP screen’s LICENSING window

Unlock Procedure

1. Locate your D8B’s Electronic Serial Number (ESN). This is displayed at the bottom of the Licensing window which is accessed from the Setup screen. The 12 digit ESN is made from numbers 0–9 and letters A–F. It is unique to the D8B processor, and is not the serial number label on the rear of the control surface or CPU chassis.

2. You will also need your plug-in’s serial number which is printed on the floppy disk label.

3. To obtain the unlock code, have the ESN and plug-in serial number ready. Then you have two options:

• Log on to the Mackie plug-in authorization web page: (http://www.mackie.com/d8bauthorize.htm)

• Telephone Mackie Tech Support at 800-258-6883.

4. When you have obtained an unlock code, open the D8B Setup window, and click Licensing.

5. With your plug-in highlighted in the Licensing window, click Authorize, and enter your unlock code in the UNLOCK CODE box. Click Enter, and enjoy your newly expanded console.

User’s Guide

Configuring the Plug-in

After booting the D8B you must assign the Time Pak plug-in to a UFX card. See FX Routing on page 27 for more details.

Assign the Time Pak Plug-in to a UFX card

1. Click the Plugins menu and

select Plugins, (or Ctrl+P on the keyboard).

2. In the Plugins Configuration window, locate the card slot that contains the UFX card you wish to assign to.

3. In the Mode column, click the Mono/ Stereo toggle button and set it to Stereo.

4. In the Plugin column, select Time Pak from the stereo plug-in drop down menu.

Note:Note:

Note: A plug-in can also be loaded from the Setup section on the console.

Note:Note:

Acuma Time Pak

Assign an Input Source to the Plug-in

• Click the plug-in’s INPUT button to select an input source. In the example below, we have chosen the Aux 5 Bus as the input to the plug-in installed in slot 5.

When a plug-in is fed from an aux bus, its output appears on the FX Return channels (faders in the EFFECTS bank). The return channel is determined by the slot number and whether the effect output is mono or stereo. For example, a reverb with a mono input and stereo output that is installed in Slot 5 has its outputs on FX 5 and FX 6. Note: the default state for all FX channels is MUTE. You won’t hear the effect until you unmute its FX return channel(s).

A plug-in can also receive its input from a channel pre- or post-DSP insert or the main stereo left and right bus. When a plug-in is inserted “in line” in this manner, its output is routed directly back into the channel. See FX Routing on page 27 for more details.

Removing the Plug-in

1. Select none from the associated Plugin drop-down assignment menu.

2. Click OK in the Alert dialog box.

Note:Note:

Note: A plug-in can also be deleted

Note:Note: from the Setup section on the console.

User’s Guide

Using the Time Pak Plug-in

Front Panel Overview

You can think of Time Pak as being broken into four blocks, starting at the top of the GUI (Graphic User Interface) and then moving from left to the right:

Status

Global ControlsControlsScreen

Status Block (see page 11)

The Status block includes the Mode select, where you can choose between Chorus, Flange, Auto Pan, Tremolo, and Xtreme. Additional functions include Preset select, Input Assign, Menu button, Input and Output meters, and the Minimize button.

Screen Block (see page 13)

The Screen block includes: Node select buttons, the main Time Pak Screen, mutes, Left/Right Link button and Pan slider.

Controls Block (see page 15)

The Controls block includes the Main Time Slider, Level Slider, Pan Modulation, Time Modulation, Phase adjust, and Low Pass and High Pass Filtering.

Global Controls Block (see page 20)

The Global Controls are located at the far right-hand side of the GUI. These controls include the Enable select button, Dry select button, Memory A and Memory B select buttons, Input gain sliders, and finally the manual Tap Tempo button represented by the Acuma logo found at the bottom right hand corner.

Acuma Time Pak

Status Block

Preset Window

Input Meters

Output Meters

Simplify/ Minimize

Mode Select

Input Select

Menu Button

Mode Select

Using your mouse, click any of the effects listed in the Mode Select block in the upper left-hand corner of the GUI. Choose from Chorus, Flange, Auto Pan, Tremolo and

Mode Select

Xtreme. The selected effect will turn the typeface from white to yellow as well as bringing up the title. Each mode has a unique set of parameters that are associated with the selected effect.

Factory/User Presets

To open the Factory or User presets, click the Menu button and select Load Time Pak.

Selecting one of the presets will point the Preset Window to the preset folder, enabling you to use the up/down arrows to quickly select from an array of presets. Create and edit your own presets and save them to the User file by selecting Save as from the Menu button. See page 33 for a table describing some of the factory presets available. Please note that the factory presets do not make your music sound like it was recorded in a factory.

As there is no delay in loading presets, you might try building performances by stacking user presets and toggling between them using the up down arrows next to the Preset window.

User’s Guide

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