That makes me smile. I really enjoy it when others get bitten by the DP bug. Many people — maybe most — pick up an app and try to use it just for what they need, without ever trying any of the deeper features. I see that happening a lot with DP, and I understand the need to get the job done without the detour of learning an app. But then I see a lot of those same people complaining because DP doesn't do this or that, or Logic does it better, and all that stuff. That burns. If you're not going to learn the app, don't comment on what it does or doesn't do. That's why it makes me smile when I see someone like you getting into it, learning your own ways of working with it.nightwatch wrote:Actually, I'd like to publicly thank you Shoosie, for getting me to really investigate and access some of DPs more powerful features and for helping get into that workflow. It's made DP that much more fun to work with. For the past few months I’ve been skimming through DP's manual (long live the print and PDF versions!) looking for things I didn’t know about. It's so obvious how well everything has been thought out and how mature the app has become over the years.
People sometimes complain that my little tricks are work-arounds. They want the "real thing." That's like saying Boston is a work-around, and Las Vegas is the Real Thing. You see, Boston's streets started out as Indian paths, cow paths, and wagon routes, usually with food or water involved for man or beast. Then trains came along and twisted and turned their way into the existing paths, because buildings already existed. Later, when automobiles were invented, Boston's streets had to be widened and reconnected — work-arounds. That's a mature city. People say it's hard to get around in Boston, because of these narrow winding roads, but you can get from anywhere to anywhere if you know the tricks.
Las Vegas, on the other hand, was laid out as a grid. Every square mile there are major intersections with strip-mall shopping and restaurants. It's easy to know how to get from anywhere to anywhere, because everything is laid out by the compass, but there aren't many shortcuts. The traffic backs up horribly, and I'd say it's just as congested as Boston, yet it has the feel of deliberate planning for automobiles. Most cities in the West are new, and began with railroads, the town being built outward from the supply sources of train stations and highways. Older cities back east are more likely to have shortcuts.
Ok, I've labored the point a bit, but DP feels like Boston: it's an old DAW whose features have had to be repurposed for new developments and technologies. Occasionally you see remnants from 1990, but MOTU has provided us with ways to combine these features and connect them into new ways of doing things. Call it work-around if you want, but it's there, and it does work.
Finding these work-arounds has been like a game for me. Winning that game means my work-day gets easier, because I have new features to work with. Connecting the dots of these workarounds gives you paths you never considered before. So which is better? A DAW in which each feature was planned in its current form? Or one with old and new features which can be joined and repurposed to do things that many people never even thought of?
When I look at DP, I see Boston, ready to be explored. And I see the power and maturity of age, combined with some of the latest features. The trick is getting people excited about exploring the app, coming up with their own routes, finding their own destinations. As long as that's happening, you can be sure that DP will remain healthy and useful with a loyal user base.
Shooshie
