Bug? locking/unlocking affects the set position

[abda53]

I just started using this so I might be using this wrong.. but after syncing the music (which the sets also don't seem to sync properly), the timeline sets change whether it is locked or unlocked..

not sure what I am doing.. also when I sync the music and change the option to make set 1 at the beginnig of the song, set 1 is off the page

Thanks!

[William]

Hi abda53,

Thank you for the question. There are a couple things going on here, most of which are by design, so let's unpack the question.

Let me start by describing how sets interact with the music. When developing EnVision, we decided that the most natural way for a set to line up with the music was on the last count of the previous set. So if you have an 8 count move like you have in your examples then the drill that you write will be on count 8. That way you start moving towards the next set on count 1 of the next phrase. This conflicts with how we normally think of music which is to count phrases starting on the first beat so we decided to do both.

When you are dealing with music in EnVision then you are dealing with the downbeat on count 1. When syncing the music you should be pressing the spacebar on count 1 of every phrase that you want to be a set. Similarly, when you unlock the timeline, the sets move to be on count 1 of the phrase so you can drag the sets directly against the music the same way you synced them.

On the other hand, when the timeline is locked then the sets represent the drill and so we calculate where the set should land based on being 1 count previous than the music. This has some side effects such as if two adjacent sets have wildly different tempos, it will look as if the first count of a set is longer or shorter than the rest of the counts, and that is because it is. Another edge case is the very beginning of the song since there is no previous set we have to calculate the length of that first count by the tempo in the first set, so changing the number of counts in the first set (or otherwise changing the tempo) could wildly change where that first count is placed.

That leads us to the first real bug here, and that is that "count 0" of the first set could be off the left side of the timeline. This is a longstanding bug in EnVision that should be fixed. That being said if you zoom out of the timeline then you should be able to bring it into visibility, so the workaround is fairly straightforward here. You should always be able to see "count 1" of the set.

The last thing you mention is the sets don't seem to sync properly. Hopefully the explanation above helps with most issues you are having there. However it is a known issue that some bitrates don't playback consistently, regardless of where the sets are placed. We have found that using mp3s with a bitrate of 128 kbpm works the best in all situations. Using a higher bitrate can cause playback timing errors.

I hope that answered your questions. Let me know if you have any others.

Have a great day!

[abda53]

Thank you for the reply.. I did see another post about the bitrate after I posted this and already resampled mine just to make sure.

Regarding the first drill and how the syncing works as you described, will that have any effect once I put the drill out on the field?

[William]

No, these count adjustments are merely how EnVision handles the drill-music dichotomy. Once the drill is printed or saved to PDF to share with your students then it is the same as any printed drill.

[abda53]

Thanks. I think it more sense once I figured out how to add the step count for each set lol although I'm still unsure of the tempo since it keeps changing.. is the tempo more or less a guess based on the counts/step sizes or something?

Thanks for the feedback. Also, did you ever receive the mailed check payment for Moscow HS?

[William]

yes the tempo is calculated based on the number of counts in a set and the time between synced sets. You should expect to see some slight variation in there from set to set just based on small timing differences when syncing the music or timing differences in the music itself if you are using a live recording.

Yes we did receive the check this week and you will be getting an email about that today.