DP9 PREFERENCES SETUP TUTORIAL

Go to the Preferences window and

adjust your preferences to match
those shown here. If a category is
skipped, just leave it at its default
settings.

Why?
This sets the default audio file format
for anything you record in DP to the
industry standard Broadcast WAVE
format, and ensures compatibility with
the film scoring studios for future
projects.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

This window will allow you to manage

the plugins installed on your system,
and can be useful during
troubleshooting if a certain plugin is
making DP crash, for example.
You can save plugin sets which
allow you to have different plugins
enabled/disabled. For now, just set it
to Enable All.
REALLY IMPORTANT!
Why?
Real-time mode ensures proper, glitchfree operation of virtual instruments
like Vienna Instruments and Kontakt.
The alternative Pre-Gen mode
should never be used with third-party
software instruments.
If you ever experience glitches in
playback from a software instrument,
this setting is the first thing you want
to check.

What?
This determines how DP processes
audio files when you import them.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

Do I need this?
Autosaving can be a life saver if DP
crashes and corrupts your file(s), or
they are otherwise lost/corrupted.
Autosaving does not interfere with
playback/recording or system
performance, and should always be
left on. Choose whatever time interval
you feel comfortable with.
Make sure you limit the number of
autosaves, otherwise DP will keep
generating hundreds and hundreds of
them, making your project folder
unnecessarily big.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

This allows you to choose which window

shortcut buttons you see at the top of the
main DP window. Set this to whatever
suits your workflow.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

These settings allow you to change the behavior of the main

Consolidated Window. If you want to add more panels than the
default, you can do that here.
You can also choose whether you want certain windows to appear
always in Consolidated view, or as floating windows on top of the
main window instead.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

This allows you to change the layout

of the Control Panel. Its highly
recommended to always have it
float above other windows, so it
doesnt ever get hidden from view.

This is where you change the

appearance of DPs interface.
Set this to whatever suits you
best.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

Using color coding throughout all windows in a

DAW is essential for speeding up workflow and
being able to quickly locate things visually.
Having DP automatically color code different
track types is a great way to keep your
sequences organized and easy to work with.
Clicking on the Edit Color Schemes button
allows you to choose between a wide variety of
different color palettes.

There are multiple ways of viewing

the data on any given track. Among
other things, these settings
determine which window opens
when you double-click on a certain
track type. The settings shown will
open tracks in the most useful view
for the kind of work well be doing.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

This ensures that DP only opens one

common MIDI editor window,
regardless of how many tracks you
have selected, and is highly
recommended. The alternative is
having your screen fill with dozens
and dozens of separate windows,
and generally ends up being a total
mess.

This allows you to choose which

editing tools appear in the toolbar.
The ones selected here are the most
important and commonly used ones,
and the ones you will need for the
work we do in our class. Feel free to
add and experiment with the others
if you wish, but keep at least this
minimum selection.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

This determines which controls you see for

each track in the main Tracks window. The
selected controls are all essential, and you will
need to see these. The others are less useful,
or irrelevant to how we work.

Pruning?
The Undo History is an invaluable tool
in DP and allows you to see everything
you have done in a project, and undo
back to any point in time.
Pruning clears out the undo history
automatically, in an effort to reduce
the file/project size. However, this is
generally an issue with modern
computers, and it is far outweighed by
the benefit of keeping your full Undo
History intact. You should therefore
turn off all pruning.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

VERY IMPORTANT!
What does it mean?
PunchGuard is a buffer that
automatically adds on extra time at the
beginning of any recorded audio. In
other words, it starts the recording a
little bit before you actually hit record(!)
This can be very useful in a normal
studio situation, but cannot be used in
film scoring at all, as it causes critical
timing/sync problems when delivering
audio files to a studio or client.
It is therefore essential that you have it
set as shown, for ALL film scoring
projects and assignments, to ensure
that you dont have any problems in
future recording sessions.

These settings ensure proper

playback of the audio click in DP. If
your click is too loud or soft
compared to your music, you can
adjust that here.
You can also choose between a
variety of different click sounds. It is
recommended that you stick with the
UREI click, however, as it is known for
not bleeding through headphones
very much. That makes it useful in
recording sessions, and is the
standard click used for film scoring
sessions.

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DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

You are now done with the Preferences window. The following settings are found in other
areas of DP, and are only saved with the currently open file. It is therefore very important that
you have the correct new default file open when doing this, and that you then save that as a
template afterwards.
In the Studio menu...
This determines how nudging of
MIDI and audio events in the various
editor windows will work. Use Edit
Grid will make it follow whatever
grid note value you have set, and is
the most useful choice. Nudging,
grid and snap will all be discussed in
more detail in future tutorials

In the Setup menu...

What does this do?

Event Chasing is an essential function
in a MIDI sequencer. It allows for
correct playback of MIDI notes and
continuous controller data, and is
especially important when working
with orchestral sample libraries.
This will all be explained in class. For
now, just hit the Set All button to
turn chasing on for everything.

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DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

In the Setup menu...

This allows you to configure which
time formats are used/shown in
different parts of DP.
These settings are needed for
correct display of SMPTE time code
everywhere, which is essential when
working with video.

In the Commands
window, delete this key
command...

...and reassign it to this.

To assign it, click the
Key 1 box and hit the
desired key command, in
this case control-M.

Why?
This will allow you to add markers to
your sequence in a more useful and
efficient way later on. Working with
markers will be discussed in a future
tutorial/lesson.

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DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

In the Setup menu...

The Bundles window is an important place in DP where you among

other things configure your audio busses. This topic will be dealt with
extensively in future tutorials and in class. For now, just make sure it
looks like this.
IMPORTANT: The busses shown here should already be set up in the
default file you downloaded, and you just need to confirm that they
are there. If you do not see these busses, then you are using the
wrong file, and you need to start over from page 11 of this tutorial,
with the correct default file open.

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DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

Make sure you are seeing the same settings

that are shown here. The most critical ones
are 48kHz (sample rate) and 24 Bit
Integer (bit depth). They MUST be set to
these values in order to comply with FS
department protocols.

Sample rate?
Sample rate is a parameter that
describes and determines the quality
or resolution of digital audio files.
Different delivery formats and media
platforms require different sample
rates. The standard sample rate used
in the film- and TV-industry is 48,000
Hz (ie. 48kHz). This is also the sample
rate we use in the film scoring
department and studios, and is
required for all film scoring project
and assignment work.
If you are a dual major working at
other sample rates for other classes,
make sure you always switch this back
to 48kHz for any FS projects.

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If the sample rate setting is flashing red,

then you have another application open that
is forcing the sample rate to a different
value. In that case, close all other
applications and try setting it to 48kHz
again. If you are using an audio interface,
you may also have to switch the sample rate
in the control panel/driver software for that
interface.

Buffer size/latency

The number 256 in the panel above is

the buffer size of the audio driver, and
determines the amount of latency
between playing a MIDI note and hearing
audio playback. Lower values mean less
latency (ie. more responsive playback), but
comes at the cost of increased CPU
usage. 256 is a good starting point. If you
experience problems with CPU overloads
(clicks, dropouts, error messages) you can
try raising it to a higher value.

DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16

Your DP window should now look like this.

You can now save this as a default template
for any new files you create in DP. Go to
Save as template... as shown above, and
name your template something sensible.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you use this
template for all future assignments and
projects in any of your film scoring classes.

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DP9 Preferences Setup Tutorial - Andreas Bjorck, rev. 01/16