Something's weird about the L8 manual...

[Dave Bourke]

Somewhat related, I think:

I've just finished the five-day Apple FCP 200 certification course (I'm now an Apple Certified Final Cut Pro Editor, woo-hoo!). Naturally, all the Macs at the training centre were Airport-networked. But with the way the volume licensing for FCP Studio works, only two machines on that network could access the internet while FCP was open.

Kind regards.

[zaster]

Naturally, all the Macs at the training centre were Airport-networked. But with the way the volume licensing for FCP Studio works, only two machines on that network could access the internet while FCP was open.

That's RETARDED! And at an Apple certified training center?!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Ah-- so when it says network, it means more than computers that are physically connected. This software has actually taken on some form of artificial intelligence if it's polling via airport for authorizations.

Hmm.. Hoodathunkit!

The only time a program has been able to check (phone home) for a duplicate copy running on any of my machines was via the local network, NEVER over the net to see if another machine somewhere in the world was running it. Local network in this case includes wireless routers (which are still considered "local". But once you are off the local, I don't think they can check (and certainly not instantaneously). That's a lot of firewalls to breach.

I think Frodo is right and folks are confusing the issue.

[zaster]

The only time a program has been able to check (phone home) for a duplicate copy running on any of my machines was via the local network, NEVER over the net to see if another machine somewhere in the world was running it. Local network in this case includes wireless routers (which are still considered "local". But once you are off the local, I don't think they can check (and certainly not instantaneously). That's a lot of firewalls to breach.

Some programs such as the Macromedia (now Adobe, I believe) web stuff- Dreamweaver, Flash- come to think of it- Photoshop now too- will phone home (whether periodically or just upon launch, I'm not sure) to a serialization database. That's not quite the same thing as trying to check all copies across the whole internet, of course.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Some programs such as the Macromedia (now Adobe, I believe) web stuff- Dreamweaver, Flash- come to think of it- Photoshop now too- will phone home (whether periodically or just upon launch, I'm not sure) to a serialization database. That's not quite the same thing as trying to check all copies across the whole internet, of course.

Bastards!

[Jim]

I was trying to express in the other thread how painfuly slow and oppressive I'm finding the L8 manual to be. I can't really put my finger on it, it's like some monotonous uncle coming over and holding you captive with stories that go nowhere. Before you realize what's happening, you've just read 12 pages of how to choose different fonts for your markers!
Anyway, for the hell of it, I came across this short paragraph and I thought I'd see if it's just me or it strikes anyone else as kind of weird:

Following the insertion of an instrument plug-in, the instrument channel can be driven
by a recorded MIDI region, or direct MIDI input••”playing your MIDI keyboard, in other
words!

Exclamation point! Playing my MIDI keyboard??!!! You mean I just press this key and the computer makes a sound?!! That's like MAGIC!!!

It's like- who is the intended audience?

Apple manuals are the second worst I've ever read. Very frustrating. The FCP manuals, for example, have you jumping back and forth and aren't laid out in a logical manner, IMO.

But, at least they supply them in PDF and you can search.

The worst manuals are the ones where the originals were in Japanese, and the translation to English is hilarious at best, kind of like the Engrish.com funnies.

[zaster]

Apple manuals are the second worst I've ever read. Very frustrating. The FCP manuals, for example, have you jumping back and forth and aren't laid out in a logical manner, IMO.

It's just like that- I keep feeling they've covered something already and then it's back in the next chapter as if you're learning about it for the first time. As opposed to progressing from less to more complexity. And then all of a sudden, 300 pages in, they're going over how to switch library views from Columns to List view! Stuff that if you'd had a Mac for a week you'd know already. But there'll be a "hot tip" hahazzardly snuck in there- tip? in reality some setting that would royally screw you if you didn't know about it- so I can't feel safe just skimming this or that section. I wish they'd written a version called- "L8 Pro User Manual For Anyone Who's Ever Used A Computer For Anything Besides The Internet Before.pdf". That would probably be like 600 pages instead of 1000. And then there could be a more advanced "L8 Pro User Manual For Anyone Who's Ever Used A DAW Before.pdf". That would be like 200 pages.

[FMiguelez]

.

Hmmmm. I thought the Logic manual was really thicker than DP's...

So, you're not in love with logic's manual, huh?

Would you say DP's is better written? I actually think it's pretty good (DP's).
To my taste, the best written manual for a software I've read is Finale's. At least way back then, when I was at College and they had printed manual versions.

The worst manuals are the ones where the originals were in Japanese, and the translation to English is hilarious at best, kind of like the Engrish.com funnies.

Man, you should try the ones that get translated from english into spanish...
They are a mockery. Ununderstandable!!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

It would seem they are writing to what they perceive as their target audience: amateurs who want to make the jump from Garageband. That is NOT to say you guys fit that description, but rather Apple is targeting those users. Hence the pros and semi-pros are left scratching their heads (or whatevers).

Now where did I put my "emotionally depressing scene with a bit of humor but with undertones of foreboding and a hint of sexual arousal" loop? Better search the L8 and GB PDFs fast before the director calls again...

[zaster]

It would seem they are writing to what they perceive as their target audience: amateurs who want to make the jump from Garageband. That is NOT to say you guys fit that description, but rather Apple is targeting those users. Hence the pros and semi-pros are left scratching their heads (or whatevers).

Now where did I put my "emotionally depressing scene with a bit of humor but with undertones of foreboding and a hint of sexual arousal" loop? Better search the L8 and GB PDFs fast before the director calls again...

I couldn't have said it better myself. It's that "teaching to the lowest common denominator" feeling.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I couldn't have said it better myself. It's that "teaching to the lowest common denominator" feeling.

And that is a tough call. I taught at university level for 14 years and sometimes I had brilliant students and planks of wood in the same class.

Do you "weight" the scoring? Do you leave the dunces in the dust? Or do you hold back the great minds?

Ultimately, as a teacher, you do your best to do all of the above simultaneously and hope the boneheads catch up. Some do, some doo doo... But with all the gushing over the "value for the price" of L8, somewhere, something is going to be lacking. Apparently the first thing that users are finding L8me is the manual. I also wonder about where the disks were printed, where the boxes were put together, etc. That may be more of a political discussion and has no place here based on the guidelines and constraints we work under at UN.

The point being that at SOME POINT, the price barrier has been broken by undercutting the competition. Whether it be by subcontracting to child sweatshops or using DVDs from China with a high lead content. Perhaps by no hiring good technical writers to do the manuals.

L8 sounds too good to be true and almost always, if it sounds like that it probably IS like that.

[zaster]

There's something else too- having these Apple Loops right here (I never really messed around with GBand, didn't even put it on my computer) gives me a really creepy feeling. When you can just pull up any imaginable kind of piano accompaniment or a bit of string writing. It's like- well, why not just write an algorhythm that makes the computer put it all together and compose its own songs. Very futurist-dystopian. Matrix films territory. I ran across some AI thing like that online somewhere. Like a professor or someone with a program where the computer would write the music based on some style and process rules. Taking into account influences. Talk about depressing...

[MIDI Life Crisis]

There's something else too- having these Apple Loops right here (I never really messed around with GBand, didn't even put it on my computer) gives me a really creepy feeling. When you can just pull up any imaginable kind of piano accompaniment or a bit of string writing. It's like- well, why not just write an algorhythm that makes the computer put it all together and compose its own songs. Very futurist-dystopian. Matrix films territory. I ran across some AI thing like that online somewhere. Like a professor or someone with a program where the computer would write the music based on some style and process rules. Taking into account influences. Talk about depressing...

No great strides in musical history are possible with such elements. Give me a human brain anytime.

Now where did I put that violin concerto in a quasi-12 tones environment with a strong emphasis on multi-rhythms in the lower brass loop. Better check the PDFs again before the conductor and soloist call again.

[zaster]

Now where did I put that violin concerto in a quasi-12 tones environment with a strong emphasis on multi-rhythms in the lower brass loop. Better check the PDFs again before the conductor and soloist call again.

No need to fret- just select the "atonal", "strings+brass" and "grooving" checkboxes and it should pop right up!

[blue]

For a bit of historical perspective, the Apple manual for Logic is a million times better than the original eMagic manual. That thing was ridiculously hard to comprehend, not just because Logic was so Byzantine in its workflow approach but because they hired lousy technical writers who were not much better at navigating the maze than were us newbies.

I don't know how different the L8 manual is compared to the one that preceded it, but I really doubt Apple is targeting amateurs looking to step up from GB. That's kind of like saying the target audience for Final Cut Pro is iLifers who have maxed out iMovie's potential.