Old PT user with outspoken making the switch. HELP!
John Boral
point I have to make the switch. I just got a Mac Pro 12 core and PT
HD9. I see some of you on here have used PT with outspoken in the past
so my big question is should I continue on with this quest. I feel
very discouraged when I read about no softsynths and samplers. I have
SampleTank, SampleCell, Stylus and a host of other synths. What I'm
doing now is using Sonar for stuff that PT 5 can't do and I have both
machines locked so I can do everything in real time. I can't record in
Sonar and then bounce the mix over to PT because I need to mix the
synths and samplers in with the live stuff in real time and bouncing
doesn't cut it. So, since this has been working for me and editing is
so quick for flying stuff in and changing midi, will this new system
do me just as good as long as I continue to use Sonar with it? Is
there any talk of PT being able to do any softsynth or sampling stuff
soon? I've been playing with it for a few weeks and so far I'm 50%
slower on this new system between all of the VO stuff and editing. I
hate all of the interacting stuff but I did manage to do a 24 track
live recording within 3 weeks of getting everything. I still need new
racks for IO because I have the old 888 IO which won't work with the
new PT. Before I scrap everything I need some positive feedback in
some of you telling me that the new system will be better and making
me forge ahead. At this point it even takes me longer to simply select
tracks for editing. Can one of the old timer PT users let me know what
the future looks like and if they're making more or less progress than
with the old version? Of course since I'm new to VO I also hate it
compared to Outspoken and can't believe they couldn't just come up
with so many things that Outspoken already had. Did anyone else feel
that way at the beginning? Thanks guys and I appreciate you taking the
time for posting all of the great wisdom you all have. I've been
reading through for the past 3 weeks or so and learned a great deal.
Slau Halatyn
Welcome to the list. I'm sorry if your name doesn't sound familiar but, I don't recall you ever being a part of the relatively small community of outSPOKEN users using Pro Tools. where did you learn how to use Pro Tools with outSPOKEN? I'm also curious how you read your level meters in version 5?
Anyway, your question, perhaps you might appreciate, is very difficult to answer because everybody's situation is unique. Some folks get a system that works for them and, if it ain't broke, they're happy to stay on a such a system for years. This is true for sighted users of Pro Tools as well. I know people who are on version 7.4 and won't upgrade for a whole host of reasons.
I'm not sure what you mean by "no soft synths and samplers." Are you referring to accessibility specifically? How have you locked Sonar to Pro Tools or vice versa? You can certainly do the same with PT version.Most folks lock Logic and Pro Tools but, hey, whatever works. If your workflow involves a lot of MIDI, your current setup will probably be worth preserving, albeit with the current version of Pro Tools.
I understand you're new to VoiceOver and that might be slowing you down somewhat but editing in Pro Tools should be, if anything else, faster. It's true that, for certain things like reading across inserts and sends, outsPOKEN seems faster but it's way more efficient overall.
All that said, I still use version 5.3 on a daily basis along with version 9 whenever that makes more sense. Perhaps I'll migrate some more work this year. Hopefully, with some more progress from Avid, it'll make it easier.
Best,
Slau
John Boral
we don't have any old PT 5 blind users around. My level meters were
built by a tech
to beep off of the peak readings. Not completely accurate all of the
time do to transients but works great most of the time. In the real
world I'd like
to be current which is where the big change came from but I thought
there would be a lot more in the way of samplers and synths. I lock
Sonar digitally
through the 888 IO which I'm going to have to get rid of if I make
this big switch. I guess I should spell out for you what I was really
looking for. #1
I wanted more sampler and synth power with accessibility which I guess
is not coming very soon. #2 I want to remain current with a version of
PT that won't
get laughed at which I don't think will happen enough as long as PT
stays current with VO. #3 I'd like to experience some things that
couldn't be done
with PT 5 for blind users witchh I'm not sure of
yet as to the accessibility difference in PT with VO. #4 Everything I
do is editing, mixing and sampleing. The big thing here is live bands
with tons of
samples and a large amount of editing, so, time is important. I hate
to be watched by anybody who might be thinking I'm slower than them
because of being
blind. When I work with sighted engineers on huge projects there can
be up to 5 engineers at a time in a live situation and just about 100%
of the time
I'm faster. That's the reason I want to switch over because when I'm
working with others I want to have a system that's compatible
throughout the PT universe.
Christopher Wright
Slau Halatyn
OK, I think I have a better understanding where you're coming from. The sampling stuff is probably going to be an issue for you if that's a large part of what you do. Everything else would be fine. If keeping up appearances is part of it, then by all means, make that migration. If maintaining the same level of accessibility is more important on the soft synth side, perhaps you might want to consider keeping a legacy system around. Hope that helps and please feel free to post questions if you need to bounce off some ideas.
Best,
Slau
Slau Halatyn
> Why not have two machines with different versions of Pro Tools?
Since John is running a TDM system, Pro Tools 9 HD won't support his hardware. I happen to be able to run on both systems with a Magma chassis because I have the original HD system which is compatible with everything from PT 5 through PT 10.
Slau
John Boral
out of the way and you guys are the only people who will answer
anything which I must say, I'm super stoked that I found this group.
So, do you think I should stick with using Sonar linked to Protools
for the sampling and softsynths? Of course that requires 2 machines at
all times unless bootcamp would work for running Sonar and Protools
and somehow linking them up in real time. Has that been done on 1
machine? Also, is there anything accessible at all for Protools using
any sampling or synth type plugs? Can you tell me what the best
version of PT is for Lion as I'm trying all of this out with HD9. Are
there other tutorials out there, I did hear all of Kevin Reeves stuff
which I think was awesome. Side note, love all of his music as
well. :) I couldn't find much else in terms of learning the
differences between VO with Protools and Outspoken. Perhaps Slau or
another previous user of outspoken can shed some light on the
differences I'll be challenged with. One thing pretty obvious was the
quick mark and marker feature whereby you could literally mark any
position in an instant. I had hundreds of markers for sampler
browsers, folders that wouldn't be read and screen positions. Since
I'm very new to VO I'm assuming hotspots don't do exactly the same
thing or else we'd be able to mark and name everything. I read a post
about using Quick Keys which I also use frequently and can script it
very well. Has that ever been further looked at between Apple scripts,
Quick Keys etc? Lastly, the more I read on VO I become more confused.
One group has given up completely because of what they call the lack
of support and talks about how much more Jaws does for the PC users.
I'm writing this now on a PC because my Mac OS 9 system is just a
dedicated PT machine and I haven't yet mastered VO for the web since
I've been only using it for Protools. I would really love the day
where I can just turn on 1 machine and do everything without the use
of so many different computers for different tasks. Right now I have a
PC for Sonar, Mac for PT 5, Mac for PT HD9, Laptop for PT travel,
Laptop for Sonar travel and believe it or not, extra cloned machines
for everything in case of a breakdown. It would be so awesome to use a
12 core powerful Mac for everything and scrap the rest.
Brian Howerton
Sent from my iPhone
Karen Lewellen
But I am in Toronto and still use my setup pt and outspoken.
Reason why this may not help though is because I am in radio, and do not
produce my music via this structure.
In radio the wisdom is, regardless of if one experiences blindness or not.
If you can still make a living well work productively and do what you desire
with your gear, no need to change.
Such is the case for me, so I have not made the jump as of yet.
I realize though the standard of productivity differs for musicians and
filmmakers.
Karen