Digital Performer 5 manual

swiftness · Post by **swiftness** » Fri May 26, 2006 3:53 pm

You don't need to read the entire manual. DP is a very deep program, but it is also very functional. You can go over the getting started guide and then learn as you go. You can get by running it similarly to an analog tape machine. There is a nice help section in the app that will guide you past the bumps in the road. But if you want to become a power user, you are going to have to spend some time with the big book.

blue · Post by **blue** » Fri May 26, 2006 3:56 pm

electropoet wrote:Who in the hell wants to sit down and read a 1100 page manual cover to cover? Last time I read 1000+ page book it was Atlas Shrugged and it took me 2 months. As a new DP user...I am not a fan...

I realize a lot of people would rather not read a manual at all, let alone cover to cover. And I don't mean to suggest that one must read the book from start to finish to get a grasp on DP.

But, I do think taking a linear approach to the book, at least the most pertinent chapters, goes a long way towards giving you power over this beast. And the manual ain't no Ayn Rand novel. It doesn't take that long to read!

Also, think about it this way. How many times, upon hitting a roadblock, are you going to stop what you are doing, flip through the index, search Unicornation, post threads, wait for replys, contact tech support, etc? Is that time better spent than reading the manual?

We're all different. But to me, hunting and pecking an unfamiliar manual is painful. I get much better mileage when I know the road.

Guitar Gaz · Post by **Guitar Gaz** » Fri May 26, 2006 5:48 pm

You cannot set a default note value for the pencil tool. Why would there be an entry in the manual for something you can't do in the app? As for the behavior of the pencil tool in terms of defining note length, I think page 292 in the DP 4.5 manual makes it pretty clear.

Bizarre that you can't do this then - but still not clear from the manual. As per usual it sends you off to another page to something not terribly relevant. Many the times I have felt like I was going round in circles.

And as for reading it cover to cover - well done ! To me it just reflects the intuitiveness of the program i.e. the answer to how to do something is in there somewhere but by the time you find it the inspiration has gone. Long time DP users seem very touchy about people criticising DP - but if you have used a program like Opcode Vision you can't help but feel that DP is clunky on many basic issues of particularly MIDI recording and editing. I'm sure the deep complexity is great, and I'll use that for mixing and mastering. But after giving DP 3 years I have gone back to OS9 and Vision - and it is still a better program than DP for getting a song or piece of music together. The manual is a reflection of the program - and therefore divides opinion.

chrispick · Post by **chrispick** » Fri May 26, 2006 5:54 pm

electropoet wrote:Who in the hell wants to sit down and read a 1100 page manual cover to cover? Last time I read 1000+ page book it was Atlas Shrugged and it took me 2 months. As a new DP user...I am not a fan...

You should be able to nail down the basics with the Getting Started booklet. Then, if you run into a more specific problem, fish through the manual and learn that nitty gritty.

I have to say: I never referred to any written material when I jumped on to DP. It was all pretty intuitive. Mostly looks like a mixing board on a computer. Mostly works like one. Yeah, I had to look up some stuff ultimately. Still do, on occasion. But I mean, really: DP is a deep app, but is it really so byzantine and incomprehensible?

Mr_Clifford · Post by **Mr_Clifford** » Fri May 26, 2006 7:26 pm

Personally, I love having a 'hard-copy' manual, because when I need to read up about a new feature I haven't used before (or trouble-shooting a problem), I would much rather sit down on a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and have a read, rather than scrolling through a .pdf file at my computer - which I spend way too much quality time with as it is.

Even had the DP manual next to the bed when I first got it - maybe that's taking it too far! Still, probably more productive than reading the Da Vinci Code.

On the other hand it would be useful to have a pdf version of the manual for the capability of doing fast word searches etc. when you're in a hurry.

But the problem is that when the software company gives you the .pdf (a la Pro Tools, Cubase) they then immediately cease printing the hard-copy and if I had to choose between the two, give me the printed version every time!

blue · Post by **blue** » Fri May 26, 2006 8:50 pm

Guitar Gaz wrote:And as for reading it cover to cover - well done ! To me it just reflects the intuitiveness of the program i.e. the answer to how to do something is in there somewhere but by the time you find it the inspiration has gone.

To be clear, I didn't read the manual cover to cover because I felt like I had to but because I wanted to know every little thing this app could do. I didn't want to miss anything. A large part of that desire stemmed from my sense that DP was very approachable and intuitive. There have only been a few other apps that have inspired me to do this.

stickwolf · Post by **stickwolf** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:38 am

I read it cover to cover (well the 4.5 version)! And if someone told me I had to read an 1100 page PDF in entireity *then* I'd freak out. That'd be insane.

a_real_mf · Post by **a_real_mf** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:39 am

i LOVE the manual.....it makes it less likely i will misplace my Key Code

npatton · Post by **npatton** » Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am

I'm not sure what the problem is. This is a pro app with pro depth. I came from Master-Tracks Pro and the original Cubasis that came free with an old synth, and DP sure seemed intuitive after all that crap. Maybe not a fair comparison, but I've never looked back. Are there problems? Yeah, but then having a deep manual I can jump to has helped most of the time. And, yes, mine has done time on the nightstand and by the toilet, too...

(Something I can't do with my tower and monitor)

I remember when Finale had three huge spiral bound manuals to sort through, depending on what you were looking for. (I had to walk to school every day, uphill both ways, too...) But in a masochistic sort of way, I prefered that to having to jump back and forth to the PDF they use now. Truth is, most of my non-hardware problems get solved with that massive book. I almost posted with a problem the other day, and then decided to dig a little deeper in the "brick" and solved my problem on my own. Someday I might not be able to do that, then I'll turn to all my friends here for help...

Oh, well. Not sure why I posted, but the "poor me" stuff was too good to pass up... Rant on!

martian · Post by **martian** » Sat May 27, 2006 8:37 am

must admit I wish there was a PDF version..

I haven't read it cover to cover - and if i am looking for stuff it would be nice to search index... somethings aren't in the index or the phrase isn't there..

How is it a security device anyway?

TGdevil · Post by **TGdevil** » Sat May 27, 2006 9:39 am

Hi

thanks for the replys to my question, im sorry for posting this topic i should have read the notice at the top of the forum about piracy and people asking for a pdf manual. Being new to Digital Performer i thought there might have been a pdf manual but it looks like i will have to stick to the paper back manual.

I also think it is a good idea that there isnt a pdf manual because that way (like you say) people who download the software illegally wont have clue how to use the software only by guessing ect.

But a pdf manual would be good aswell but make it so people who actually own the software legally download one.

The other good thing about is that it isnt as big as my EMU XL7 manual lol.

Thanks

billf · Post by **billf** » Sat May 27, 2006 10:20 am

TGdevil wrote:Hi

thanks for the replys to my question, im sorry for posting this topic i should have read the notice at the top of the forum about piracy and people asking for a pdf manual. Being new to Digital Performer i thought there might have been a pdf manual but it looks like i will have to stick to the paper back manual.

I also think it is a good idea that there isnt a pdf manual because that way (like you say) people who download the software illegally wont have clue how to use the software only by guessing ect.

But a pdf manual would be good aswell but make it so people who actually own the software legally download one.

The other good thing about is that it isnt as big as my EMU XL7 manual lol.

Thanks

You just went through the Unicornation Initiation Rites. It's a tough crowd here if one is a pirate, but that's indicative of the passion folks have for DP and for music. But this is the place to be for users of DP.

As for the manual, I've never felt hindered by not having a PDF, and actually now prefer it that way. As an example, Apple loves to ship their software with a tiny getting started print out and a massive PDF manual. It's no fun trying to learn Motion or Logic via that method.

buddhabelly · Post by **buddhabelly** » Sat May 27, 2006 11:37 am

Logic has complete printed manuals, 2 actually. Final Cut has 4 or 5. Motion doesn't. However, when I'm in the middle of something, I'd rather bring up a helpfile (which in Logic or FCP is a PDF replica of their manuals) and do a search. No I wouldn't like to just have a PDF to read, but I'd like one in addition.

I barely touched DP4.5 manual for a while, though I did have previous experience with a DAW, so I had a feel for the concept.

stickwolf · Post by **stickwolf** » Sat May 27, 2006 3:49 pm

Look, this would be obnoxious to have to create, but the ultimate solution is:

MOTU could create a program that lets you search for words or phrases and then spits out a result that says:

"Found 4 occurances of that word on manual pages [#], [#], and [#]"

Then the user goes and looks up the pages in the physical manual.

This is a total impossibility in the real world, but this is actually the best dream solution.

-The main thing is that this forum gets kinda close to this functionality.

emulatorloo · Post by **emulatorloo** » Sat May 27, 2006 4:23 pm

stickwolf wrote:Look, this would be obnoxious to have to create, but the ultimate solution is:

MOTU could create a program that lets you search for words or phrases and then spits out a result that says:

"Found 4 occurances of that word on manual pages [#], [#], and [#]"

Then the user goes and looks up the pages in the physical manual.

This is a total impossibility in the real world, but this is actually the best dream solution.

-The main thing is that this forum gets kinda close to this functionality.

or there's always the alphabetical INDEX - pages 1055 to 1074

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