DP 5: features, enhancements, issues

groove · Post by **groove** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:08 pm

Lots of fantastic stuff in DP5.
Thanx MOTU.

One of my favorite so far: Add Instrument Track. CTL-OPT-SHIFT-I
In just one keystroke you can create i.e. a Stylus RMX instrument track with 8 MIDI tracks assigned to 8 consecutives MIDI channels of that instrument nested in a Track Folder with the Instrument name and make the first MIDI track record-enable. What a time saver!

Also, in the SEQ W or MIX W, if you click on a Track Folder in the Track Selector Pane it highlites and show (or hide) all the tracks inside.

So far, so good.

Matcher · Post by **Matcher** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:19 pm

TechSupport wrote:
aplanchard wrote:I have been adding markers on the fly for a long time -- Control M. Is there enhanced capability in version 5?
There is a new command in DP 5, Add Marker & Edit Options. It doesn't have a key binding by default, but you can assign one in the Commands list. When invoked, this command brings up a dialog allowing you to name the marker you are creating, and also set its streamer & punch settings.

maybe my request of better support in dp5 has been answered too

Josh, I think that guy in my avatar has something to tell you

chrispick · Post by **chrispick** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:21 pm

groove wrote:One of my favorite so far: Add Instrument Track. CTL-OPT-SHIFT-I
In just one keystroke you can create i.e. a Stylus RMX instrument track with 8 MIDI tracks assigned to 8 consecutives MIDI channels of that instrument nested in a Track Folder with the Instrument name and make the first MIDI track record-enable. What a time saver!

I'm looking forward to this function for sure. Should get 5 tomorrow. Definitely ready for it.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:13 pm

First negative Issue:

I've been experimenting with the meter bridge. In an effort to get all my meters to fit on one row, I decided to delete some excess busses. Actually I changed my prefs, reducing the number of available busses. After doing so, DP reported some errors. I don't remember exactly what they were, but something about indexes being out of range. After that, the meter bridge would no longer open.

So, I opened a different file. Meter bridge opened just fine. But as soon as I clicked on the Bus selection (displays meters for busses) I got an error code. If the bus meters remained selected, and I closed the meter bridge, it would never open again--just getting the error: index out of range.

So, after it happened, it didn't matter what file I opened. Meter Bridge would no longer work. I tried deleting preferences, but that didn't help. Now I've uninstalled DP, and I'm about to reinstall it. We'll see if THAT fixes it. On the other hand, it may be as simple as rebooting the computer. Duh! Should have tried that first.

As I think it through, this appears to be a Core Audio problem. Busses would be routed through Core Audio. Maybe I either need to reboot the computer or find Core Audio prefs, if such things exist.

Will keep you posted. Otherwise, DP5 is great. I've gotten more instances of Virtual Instruments in it than I could get in DP 4.61, I think. Not totally sure, but it appears that I can now get more tracks and notes out of my VIs.

Shooshie

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:45 pm

The fix turned out to be simple. Just reset the number of busses as they were. Then, with Meter Bridge closed, set the "studio settings" however you want them.

The problem was that I changed the studio settings (chopped off a few stereo busses) while the meter bridge was opened. Apparently that screwed with the meter bridge's bus index, which was not fixable even by un-installing and re-installing. So, set it back to what it was expecting to see, and it worked fine. Then with the meter bridge closed, there was no problem in resetting it. If the meter bridge is opened while you reset your studio settings, then it cannot update or compensate for the missing or altered tracks. Something MOTU needs to have a look at.

Shooshie

Alan Craig · Post by **Alan Craig** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:51 pm

Shooshie wrote:Let me say something that is 128% cool:

-------METER BRIDGE--------

WHAT!!!

Only 128% cool? Surely we want something better than that!!

I'm told it will still be 2 weeks before DP5 arrives in the warehouse here in Australia, so keep posting guys ... by the time I get it, I should already be a veteran

matwell · Post by **matwell** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:09 pm

groove wrote:Lots of fantastic stuff in DP5...One of my favorite so far: Add Instrument Track. CTL-OPT-SHIFT-I
In just one keystroke you can create i.e. a Stylus RMX instrument track with 8 MIDI tracks assigned to 8 consecutives MIDI channels of that instrument nested in a Track Folder with the Instrument name and make the first MIDI track record-enable. What a time saver!...

This is close (but not exactly) what I was asking for in the "DP 5 Wish List" thread. The automatic MIDI track & name is awesome though! Can't wait to try it!

Now, they just need to update it to add audio tracks, auxes and master faders, all in one dialog window (similar to PT).

rikp · Post by **rikp** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:23 pm

DP5 arrived today

I am going to throw all caution to the wind and do the upgrade. I will let you know tomorrow how it goes!

Peace

rikp

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:27 pm

Just do it, rikp. There's nothing to it. It's just like all other MOTU upgrades: install, and it works.

I'm happy with it. I see no reason for anyone not to upgrade, other than maybe if you're in the middle of a project. But even then, I'd put my money on DP5; the upgrade won't slow down your project, and might even make it better! (I know, I know... upgrading in the middle of a project is just "not done.")

Shooshie

dix · Post by **dix** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:30 pm

Is the MIDI-note-curser-gui bug fixed? The one where the notes wouldn't play back at the same note they were were placed w the curser.

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:13 pm

dix wrote:Is the MIDI-note-curser-gui bug fixed? The one where the notes wouldn't play back at the same note they were were placed w the curser.

Yes! Dix is talking about the bug in which dragging MIDI note up or down would result in the note sounding a half-step off. There have been several threads about that. In DP5, the MIDI note bug is fixed, but it's conditional. At all practical resolutions it works. Some resolutions are so small, however, that moving the note by one pixel results in a leap of a 3rd or more. That's not a bug; it's just that the resolution is too small to be practical.

So, to reiterate, at all practical resolutions, the MIDI note bug appears to be fixed. I tried about 30 times to make it fail, and could not. I'll wait to hear if anyone else has the same success rate, and if so, we'll consider it fixed.

Shooshie

sstillwell · Post by **sstillwell** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:51 pm

Has anyone done any kind of quantitative measurement of the "mini-freeze" pre-rendering functionality? adding reverbs or something ad nauseam and see how many you can get with and without it?

I just ordered my upgrade today...I switched back over to the PC on SAW Studio (good grief, that software is rock-solid...), but I can work faster in DP. I can work even FASTER in Sony Vegas, but let's not go there...

Main reason for temporarily abandoning DP was that I just don't have enough "oomph" to get the plugin counts that I want (single G4 w/1.3GHz upgrade, 1.5GB RAM). Pre-rendering sounds like it's made for me...I just hope that the process of pre-rendering doesn't take away more than the end result of pre-rendering gives.

Scott

blue · Post by **blue** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:38 pm

sstillwell wrote:I just hope that the process of pre-rendering doesn't take away more than the end result of pre-rendering gives.

i wonder this too.

waxman · Post by **waxman** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:46 pm

Is there anytime you are not in a major project???

UPGRADE

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:05 am

Just for the record, if it hasn't been said elsewhere already, the new manual is 1074 pages, compared to, I think, 996 in the previous manual. But the new "Getting Started" guide is noticeably slimmer at 42 pages vs. 132 in the previous one. It all kind of balances out. In fact, DP5 ships with fewer manual pages at 1116 total, vs. 1128 for DP4.5.

Shooshie