Sync between tempo-automated midi & multi-tempo audio clips

[craigslistscumbag]

I've been following a few threads about this issue, so I think the admins know what I'm referring to... but for the sake of example, imagine this workflow:

1) You program some drums and synth via MIDI, with an automation clip for tempo fluctuations
2) You record some guitar or whatever on top of it (therefore, the audio clip has a varying tempo cooked into it)
3) You want to tweak the drums/synth/whatever to match the recorded audio

You then encounter a problem, because when you click to the middle of the song, the audio clip will not play from the correct position. The only way to hear that section with the drums & audio in sync is to listen to the song from the beginning! So it becomes difficult to test new ideas, perfect MIDI note timings, etc.

I'm working on an album remotely with a guitarist, programming drums & synth to his guitars, and it becomes difficult to develop a song after our first back-and-forth file exchange. This is probably the only major snag I've run into with FL Studio that I couldn't find an acceptable workaround for-- hence, coming to the forums to pray for a solution. When we decided to start the album, I encouraged him to get the all plugins edition of FL Studio, so this would help us both out!

I know the issue is complicated, and I've seen an admin mention that you're all looking into a major overhaul instead of patching up an iffy tempo system. Regardless, I had an idea that MIGHT be relatively easy to program:

Currently, a song with tempo automation and variable-tempo audio clips can be rendered with everything in sync, no problem. It can also be played from the beginning without issue, due to FL Studio sequentially going through all of the logic. Therefore, perhaps the ability to "recalculate audio clip position" when you jump to a new time in the playlist could be implemented, via those same calculations. It would take a few seconds, surely, but the basic idea would be FL Studio saying to itself "okay, if I were going to render this: X happens, then Y, then Z... so at X:XX seconds, this is what should be happening". Essentially, using linear logic to "render" its way to the section of the playlist you jumped to. Then you could jump to the middle of the song and have everything synced up properly, allowing one to edit MIDI accompaniment much more easily.

To put it in different words: It would be like FL Studio "fast forwarding" its way through the events in the playlist in order to jump properly to the point that the user asks it to. If you jump to minute 9 of a 10-minute song, you no longer have to listen to the 9 minutes prior-- FL Studio uses its computer brain to "listen" to those 9 minutes for you, as fast as it possibly can, so that you can jump straight to the spot you want.

Thanks for considering. Would love to see a fix on this someday, or even a low-fuss workaround. We're not planning to use multiple DAWs or anything to achieve this, and this is one of the only things hampering our workflow. Proudly, we're making an entire metal album with only stock plugins in FL Studio (aside from the impulse responses), so it'll end up being a pretty fun success story.

[BinaryBorn]

Hi interestingusername! A "low-fuss" workaroun...

[craigslistscumbag]

Thanks, BinaryBorn. I've tried this method and,...