Logic for Pro Tools Users: Part 1 February 13, 2008
Posted by ConnorSmith in : Leopard, Logic Studio 8, Pro Tools , trackbackThe wait continues!
Yes, Pro Tools users are still waiting for Apple and Digidesign to get their ducks in a row. Supposedly Digidesign is going to update LE to be compatible with the 10.5.2 Leopard update soon. In the meantime, Pro Tools, although running on 10.5.1, is kind of buggy… NOTE: Do not upgrade to 10.5.2 if you are running Pro Tools in 10.5.1. I am definitely hearing that people are having problems.
So many Pro Tools LE users (including myself) went ahead and made the plunge into Logic Studio 8. Now, I love Pro Tools, and hope to always continue to use it, but Logic is an amazing deal. Tons of plug-ins and VIs, lots of extra applications (including WaveBurner, which is an absolutely excellent CD authoring program), and ready-to-go surround mixing and effects. However, some of the Pro Tools community is finding Logic very “illogical” in its user interface. Pro Tools is really known for its simplicity and intuitiveness, and when I switched over to Logic, I was initially disappointed to find that I felt lost.
But fear not! Logic is a great program; we Pro Tools users just need to NOT think of it from within the PT mindset. Its a whole ‘nother beast, with its own tricks and features…
The Windows:
Luckily, the new Logic’s window layout is fairly similar to the Pro Tools windows. The Arrange window is the new workhorse of Logic, as it displays waveforms, I/O, track assignments, channel strips, everything. You can also browse loops and other media by dragging the edge of the window from the right side of the screen (which is not unlike displaying the regions window in pro tools). For people using one monitor, this is a great feature. For people using two monitors (which I highly recommended) , I like placing the arrange window on one monitor and the Mix window on the other. Now, unlike the sometimes confusing and convoluted Environment window that was so critical to Logic 7, Logic studio 8′s Environment window operates much more in the background. Unless you are trying some really complicated routing/multi-timbrel instrument/etc, you won’t have to worry about it. The mix window is very similar to Pro Tools and other DAWs. It’s a little flashier looking, but no problems there. You will notice that Logic has Input monitoring (the little “I” button next to the solo and mute buttons), which pro tools doesn’t. Also, the plug-in inserts and sends begin with only two slots. However, when you insert a plug-in or send, Logic automatically creates a new slot.
There are some things in Logic that Pro Tools users can really appreciate:
- Automatic delay compensation (something PT LE users have wanted for years :P)
- Full support for surround mixing (including plug-ins)
- MIDI data can be viewed as normal (i.e. piano scroll graphics), as musical notation (score), or even as guitar tablature (and others)
- Unlimited track counts (only limited by your computer’s abilities)
- Many many included plug-ins and virtual instruments (most of which sound really great)
Again, Logic is setup a little differently than Pro Tools, but it is really a great piece of software. Whether you’ve switched to Logic temporarily while Digidesign gets everything tested and compatible or you jumped ship and are a full-fledged Logic user, you should be happy with this DAW.
The next post in this series will be about editing audio in Logic, so stay tuned. As always, please email me with questions about this post or about anything you’d like to have answered on the site.
C
The Studio Files
Comments»
Hi i hope this is in the right section?
Im running logic pro 8 on leopard 10.5.3, with an intel duo macbook pro. My 002 r is my interface, but for some funny reason the core audio stopped working! with logic. It connects, but no audio plays with no level metering showing in the mixer? The midi triggers though and the sample rate on the 002 led, corresponds to the logic session.
Please help!
Paul
Alright…. Logic Studio is now installed. Already I’ve found it awkward and frustrating but I’m gonna give it an honest try here! lol I’m sure once I get home tonight I’ll be referencing these posts heavily.
^^yeah… that was my problem when I first tried it (after being a “pro tools guy” for awhile). The interface just isn’t as logical (pun?) as other DAWs.
That being said, keep on trucking through it. Once you get your mind around the Logic paradigm, its pretty cool.
Well I’ve just got 1030 pages of the manual to go through and a few hundred hours of practice and I’ll be a pro. hahaha
I’m sure it’s just as frustrating for me as someone from Logic jumping right into Pro Tools. I was considering a training course but it’s twice as much as the friggin’ program just for the livel 1 course. I may invest in a Groovebox account.
Yeah, I would save the dough and just muscle through it.
Definitely a hill to climb at the beginning.
What helped me was to completely remove the “Pro Tools status quo” from my brain. Before even referencing (in my head) how to do something in Pro Tools, I would start from scratch and learn it all over again in Logic (even simple editing).
Then, I forced myself to do a small project in it (just a completely random song with a drum machine, a few virtual instruments, recorded guitar, bass, etc). That’s what really helped, because it presented it in a normal working situation, but without any pressure.
I will probably invest in a Groovebox subscription or something. I could also use the refresher on the Pro Tools updates since the last time I cracked open a Digi training manual was before 7.0 was released. It’d be nice to get trained on the major updates since then because despite my being competent in PT still (I was 210M certified) I’m sure there’s a lot of things I could learn in it too.