DP5 pdf manual?

[cridarco]

...I can just use this one for occasional reference.

I use the embedded help for that.

[The Sinner]

Sorry I was just stirring up a bit of trouble. I love having everything PDF too. I have all my manuals, scores, session notes on a PDF drive for back up and reference. Finale really has a nice PDF embedded manual which I use all the time when I need to figure out the 12 steps needed to complete a simple task.

[James Steele]

This is certainly NOT the case with you and your inquiry. I totally understand. Many people would like to have a PDF for convenience. I can't speak to any official MOTU policy as this board is not affilliated with MOTU, but many of us suspect that MOTU prefers not to have a PDF manual because it would be easily distributed online amongst software pirates. This way a printed manual provides incentive to do the right thing and BUY Digital Performer.

DP is password driven though so not sure how the manual protects you - if you lose it does that make you seem like a pirate?

You require a serial number to authorize DP. It's easy for stolen serial numbers to be passed around on the internet. So as you acknowledge, Digital Performer is fairly complex application. So if I'm someone who downloaded a copy of DP installer and got my hands on a stolen DP serial number and I'm now starting a new DP project on my screen, at some point I'm going to find myself in a jam without a manual-- and I *deserve* to be.

That's the point at which many of these people come here asking questions about concepts that are quite obvious to those of us who actually purchased DP and have the manual. Sometimes when we suspect we're dealing with a pirate, we like to give them the page number in the manual where they can find the answer just to mess with them. I wholeheartedly condone this here. Then, if the pirate is persistent, he/she will come up with a reason for not having the manual in his/her possession. Although "my puppy ate it" doesn't come up, some excuses aren't so good. But we're not jerks here. If someone has a valid reason why they don't have a manual, often times someone will point them in the right direction. However, we'll also remind them that if they are a registered user they can and probably should purchase a new one from MOTU. I'm pretty sure MOTU is generally happy to sell manuals to registered users.

One guy on here as I recall, pretty much admitted that he owned no manual and in so many words said "Yeah, it's a kracked copy, so what?" The "so what" was that I immediately deleted him and blocked his IP address from ever darkening the UnicorNation door again. Software piracy is stealing. I know people at MOTU and they deserve to put food on the table for their families like the rest of us.

[wylie]

I really hope MOTU never stops creating the manual after spending 10 - 12 hours a day staring at a computer screen theres nothing like going somewhere quite kicking back a reading a good book and in my case that happens to be manuals. Everything is already there in one book you don't have to worry about printing off sections of a pdf.
I read the manual I don't think I would ever read a .pdf.

[James Steele]

Hey Wylie... is that a desktop picture for your profile icon? If so... sweet! Where would one find that?

[Frodo]

If someone has a valid reason why they don't have a manual, often times someone will point them in the right direction. However, we'll also remind them that if they are a registered user they can and probably should purchase a new one from MOTU. I'm pretty sure MOTU is generally happy to sell manuals to registered users.

Amen, James.

[wylie]

No man thats a picture of my T-shirt MOTU sent me in the mail back in the Performer v1 days.
Thats the back you see when I'm screamin down the hwy on my bike.
The front has something else on it.
I thought I'd better take a pic because a couple of more times through the wash and will probably be history.
If I had of known they would never make any more I would have bought one and put it away.

[James Steele]

No man thats a picture of my T-shirt MOTU sent me in the mail back in the Performer v1 days.
Thats the back you see when I'm screamin down the hwy on my bike.
The front has something else on it.
I thought I'd better take a pic because a couple of more times through the wash and will probably be history.
If I had of known they would never make any more I would have bought one and put it away.

Ahh... I thought it looked familiar... way cool. I actually I recevied my 24 I/O and noticed that the unicorn logo is not completely gone. The old style logo is carved in relief into the rack ears on this unit. That T-shirt design would make a great desktop pic.

[Wesley]

It's not that I don't understand why this forum would have a zero tolerance policy regarding piracy, it's that I would never have made a connection between that and my pdf question to begin with. As I said, that's a new one on me.

First of all, I wouldn't know where to get a pirated version of any software even if I wanted to. And second of all, I wouldn't want to in the first place.

What I don't appreciate is the fact that I do believe at least one person has already suggested that I was up to no good by simply asking this. I guess it's okay to do this to the uninitiated?

So I guess I'll give a little more detail. Reading something as long as this over 1000 page manual is obviously going to take a lot of time. And all such study for me is done in a recliner which puts my back in a less stressful position - because I have an injured back. And I have this stand that I place whatever book I'm reading on. And this stand has a lip on the bottom that's only about a half inch, so that makes it rather difficult to keep a book measuring nearly two inches on the stand, because it's at about a 70 degree angle. Plus which, spiral or coil bound books can be read hands free, which is obviously an advantage when I'm going to be reading for hours on end. I use my score binding machine to bind pdf's whenever they are available.

I hope this explanation will suffice. If anyone is still not satisfied, you're more than welcome to ask me what's on any particular page of the manual.

Anyway, as I said, I'll deal with what I have for now and maybe someone will publish a more streamlined version soon. I do have a scanner, but I don't fancy scanning that many pages. Most of them probably wouldn't lie flat anyway. Sorry for the fuss. I'm gonna go RTFM.

[wylie]

No man thats a picture of my T-shirt MOTU sent me in the mail back in the Performer v1 days.
Thats the back you see when I'm screamin down the hwy on my bike.
The front has something else on it.
I thought I'd better take a pic because a couple of more times through the wash and will probably be history.
If I had of known they would never make any more I would have bought one and put it away.

Ahh... I thought it looked familiar... way cool. I actually I recevied my 24 I/O and noticed that the unicorn logo is not completely gone. The old style logo is carved in relief into the rack ears on this unit. That T-shirt design would make a great desktop pic.

'll post the pics for you.
Now I remember one of the reasons I took the pics was to prove to the guys a MOTU that they existed.
They didn't believe me when I ask for another one because this ones wearing out.

Actually it looks like it was just a while ago I sent them to them.
Quote:
Thanks for your reply (and the t-shirt pic!)
We expect to begin shipping DP5 upgrades by the end of next week.
Upgrade orders will be processed and shipped in the order in which they are received.
A UPS tracking number will be auto-emailed to you when your upgrade ships.


Regards,
Nicholas
MOTU Customer Service

[matwell]

With all the talk of security and cracked versions of DP, I just couldn't resist pointing a couple of things out.

On other audio forums, I regularly see Logic users complaining about the dongle needed to run Logic. Then, there are the Pro Tools users (myself included) who wish that Pro Tools didn't need Digidesign hardware to run.

It seems that maybe those companies were right in choosing to use hardware as copy protection.

Just a thought...

[Frodo]

What I don't appreciate is the fact that I do believe at least one person has already suggested that I was up to no good by simply asking this. I guess it's okay to do this to the uninitiated?

Wesley:

FWIW, I never got that impression. It's not you-- it's just that the question itself is in bad company. As a new user, that's not something you could have been expected to know. So, don't feel too put off or discouraged by all this. It's only a matter of responsibility to keep an eye out for those who stand to take more from here than they are willing to give-- whose intents are indeed questionable. While all members are subject to the "pirate test", all members deserve some benefit of the doubt at the same time.

You know, it is a funny thing, this PDF/paper manual issue. I fully understand the delicacy of the matter, but only the most arrogant pirates will get caught. I've often wondered sometimes when trying to help people with ultra basic issues whether they have the manual or not. I tend to shy away from those members who post an unusual abundance of overly simple questions. Whether they have the manual or not, some members in the past have left the impression that they are simply not doing their homework at all.

But for supplimental material, I'd highly recommend the MacAudioLabs DVD for DP5 until such time a third-party book is available. I would even dare recommend the Steve Thomas book on DP4 which will go far with setting up DP. The functions and setups are so close in DP4 and DP5 that the Steve Thomas book on DP4 plus the DP5.1 PDFs still make for an extremely helpful combo of reference material. The book is also a quick read and very well organized.

[The Sinner]

I had a problem once, being a registered reason 2.5 user. I moved and lost the CDs for orkester and the other one. Turned out to be a big problem when prompted for them.

I am sorry I accused you, its just there are so many pirated versions of things. And when we pay for the same things it makes me sour to hear people get them for free and they still work somehow.

[Newsles]

I think MOTU should be praised for continuing to produce hard copies.

I mean, I'm only on DP3 but it's comprehensive, easy to cross reference etc etc, and if you're new to DP, the "Getting Started" manual (I assume they still do this at DP5) is very handy.

I can understand people wanting a more "convenient" format, but as someone said, there's always a photocopier I suppose.

I DO have an issue with environmental impacts of such huge tomes though. Should we of like mind lobby MOTU in that respect? Think of the Planet maaaaaaaaaaan!

That seems flippant but I'm actually serious - it's a lot of paper, and I'd like to think they source it ethically so-to-speak.

I know it seems a bit extreme but I can imagine someone with very strong feelings on the subject NOT buying DP BECAUSE of that - seriously!
Les

[Wesley]

Thanks Frodo.

You know, part of my "problem" is that I always make it a point to study all relevant sections of a manual - particularly complex software such as this. I like to line all my ducks up in a row, so to speak. I even spent the better part of a week memorizing every single Sibelius shortcut some years ago, and I review them now and again just to keep them fresh. Point being that I tend to not just dive right in to the software right away until I can start doing tutorials. In fact, the only thing I do right off is just to get a sound out of it so I can at least see that it'll be ready to go when I am.

For this program, I'll probably memorize all relevant shortcuts and take screen shots of the menus and memorize them too. I've done this in the past and it helps quite a bit.