Switch from Opcode to MOTU

[vksolanki]

Hi All,

I currently use Opcode's Studio Vision Pro, and was wondering if anyone here used to use that also and switched to DP.

Thoughts??

TIA - Vijay

[shepherdgary]

Yes - I was a long time Vision user - I still think that for general MIDI and Audio operations it is better - but time and OSX moves on ! It has taken me quite a while to get used to DP - which despite being a good program is not so user friendly as Vision - there are a number of fiddly annoying things you have to do in DP that Vision did automatically. Anyway - persevere as DP is still better than Cubase and Logic. But there will never be anything to touch Vision - Opcode are sadly missed.

[tripit@earthlink.net]

I switched from SVP about 5 years ago when Opcode went out of biz. DP is the closest program to SVP. It's was a comfortable and good choice for me. Logic on the other hand was not.

[stephentayler]

Yes I moved from Vision to DP, both share the same (dare I say US) musical slant, as opposed to Logic and Steinberg's more technical (dare I say European!!) slant........

and I am English and an engineer........ but I am also a musician and writer!!!!

[stephentayler]

and I should add, I find moving between DP and ProTools (both of which I use professionally) very easy........

[dix]

Hello Vijay. I recognize you from the opcode-users list. Welcome.

I agree w the posts above. Though still not as elegant as SVP, DP is by far the most Vision-like of the DAWs for OSX. Back in the day when DP and SV were kings and close competitors they evolved more or less along the same track-based paradigm while Cubase, Logic etc. followed their own object-based path. Since Gibson's killing of SVP DP has continued along the same trajectory and therefore should be far more familiar to SVP users. In fact when Opcode was taken out MOTU added several "Vision-like" features to DP to entice users into the DP fold. Using DP will be a huge adjustment, but not a complete do-over as Logic would be.

Good on ya for sticking with SVP as long as you did!

Boycott Gibson Forever!

[markwayne]

I think you will find a bunch of former StudioVision users here. I moved from Performer to Vision back before Performer went digital. At that time I missed Performer's MIDI editing. I grew, however, to love StudioVision. When Opcode was murdered by Gibson I hung on as long as I could before moving to Digital Performer. I must say that I like a lot of things about DP. It is a very deep tool. That depth is its strongest and weakest point. StudioVision was much more like a tape deck - limited, fast and intuitive. I have been working with DP now for several months now and still get lost at least once a day. I'm hoping that I can get back to the level of production I had reached with SVP one day. As someone with an extensive collection of MIDI gear I can tell you that OSX in general is still a mess with regards to correctly documenting instruments, configurations and patches. This is an area where SVP, Galaxy and OMS kicks DP, Unisyn and CoreMIDI's collective butt.

[mastermix]

Another nostalgic SVP/Vision user here.

I am still suprised that DP is still missing many SVP features
today. Players and Cues, Subsequences, Track Arrangments..etc were a breeze with SVP.

I used Vision and Sound Tools (remember that? on a Mac IIci...

Maybe we can start a petition drive to MOTU to include some
of the kool SVP features in DP.

Kris..

<small>[ May 10, 2005, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: mastermix ]</small>

[shepherdgary]

I agree with all of you - its great that so many others feel the same way about Vision/Opcode - and sad that it had to end the way it did. DP is the best alternative now.....

[Labonza]

Yes, DP is the easiest transition for a SVP user. I've tried the thing that laughingly calls itself Logic and I just get frustrated.

DP is a lot easier to wrap your head around. And while it's missing a few SVP features ,it has some pretty cool stuff that SVP didnt live long enough to get.

If you switch to Digital Performer, I really doubt you'll be disappointed.Once you wrap your head around Soundbites,Chunks and a few other things, youll be all set.

[pinky]

A WORD OF ADVICE: Before you jump ship, be sure to save any important MIDI files into StandardMIDI file format if you want to use them in DP. If you have a lot of them, then it will save you from trying to run SVP in an unfriendly enviornment. DP will NOT open SVP files.

Yet another "been there" with SVP. It was amazing it took DP YEARS before they figured out the "click on the left side of the note to extend it backwards" that SVP had. They got the right side OK, but not the left. But it's there now.

The DSP section of DP and the Core MIDI on Mac OS X are much easier than OMS was. I still have my Studio 4 (but no SCSI to plug into). It's worth about $10 on eBay...

[Kevin Kliesch]

I've been an SVP user from version 1.0. I begrudgingly made the switch to DP back in January of this year. I had a lot of questions and gripes, and still miss the intuitiveness of SVP. Although DP is very close to SVP, I don't think we'll ever see the level of user-friendliness that SVP had to offer. Not to mention that SVP hardly ever crashed on me!

One of the first things I did when I switched was to get MOTU's west coast rep over to my house and go through a list of questions I had written down for him. When he came over, I had DP up on one computer, and SVP on another. I proceeded to show him how certain features of SVP made working easier. He agreed with 90% of my suggestions, and then hinted that he would let MOTU know about some of these features so that they could possibly be incorporated into future versions of the program.

So, time will eventually tell if my suggestions were taken seriously!

[PFulton]

I'd have stayed with SVP, but it was so unstable, I was constantly rebooting. I moved to DP, but held onto OS9 as long as possible. That way, when it was time to grow up, I had to learn DP4, OSX, a new Mac (G5), and new interface all at once. It was not an effortless switch.

[Tritonemusic]

So, what ever happened to the Opcode people? Are they working for someone else? Are they developing new music software? Seems like a waste of good talent if they all just faded away.

[hardingray]

Another former SVP user here (starting with Vision 1.3 I think). I actually still keep a separate boot drive with my SVP setup to bring up old sequences if I need to.

You'd think with all these smart SVP-> DP users, someone might want to write a utility to open SVP files in DP and retain all sequences, MIDI data, controllers, audio chunk locations, etc. Anyone, anyone?

666:
I actually had heard that one of the big guys from Opcode and OMS was the one responsible for CoreMIDI in OSX, though I can't remember for sure.

Vijay:
Welcome to the (occasionally disgruntled) family.

-Hardin