The DP6 Countdown Thread

[billf]

Wataya think shipping to Alpha Centauri will cost ya?

Easy. Call Fedex or whatever you guys call it and ask what a billion mile delivery will cost.

I think the star is 5 light years away at approimately 200 million miles per LY.

just a couple of points:

I am located approximately 4.37 light years away from Alpha Centauri, which means somewhere on the planet earth most likely, though I have been accused of being from another planet once or twice IIRC.

That said, according to the might Wikipedia, are these related wikifacts:

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our Solar System at 4.37 light-years distant (about 41.5 trillion km, 25.8 trillion miles or 277,600 AU). Proxima Centauri, usually regarded as part of the system, is the closest star at 4.22 light-years distant.[2] Alpha Centauri's relative proximity makes it a logical choice as "first port of call" in speculative fiction about interstellar travel, which predicts eventual human exploration, and even the discovery and colonization of planetary systems. These themes are common to several works of science fiction and video games.

In May 2001, reports began to circulate in the Indian capital New Delhi of a strange monkey-like creature that was appearing at night and attacking people. Eyewitness accounts were often inconsistent, but tended to describe the creature as about four feet (120 cm) tall, covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, metal claws, glowing red eyes and three buttons on its chest.
Theories on the nature of the Monkey Man ranged from an avatar of a Hindu god, to an Indian version of Bigfoot, to a cyborg that could be deactivated by throwing water on the motherboard concealed under fur on its chest.

Many people reported being scratched, and two (by some reports, three) people even died when they leapt from the tops of buildings or fell down stairwells in a panic caused by what they thought was the attacker. At one point, exasperated police even issued artist's impression drawings in an attempt to catch the creature. Many people today still believe this "monkey man" continues to haunt the streets.

Digital Performer is a full-featured Digital Audio Workstation/Sequencer software package published by Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) of Cambridge, Massachusetts for the Apple Macintosh platform.

Version 3 of Digital Performer was the last to run on OS 9, the Classic Macintosh operating system. After a complete rewrite, MOTU released Digital Performer 4.0 in May of 2003, which ran exclusively on Mac OS X.

Beginning with version 4.5, MOTU introduced a number of important new features to Digital Performer. The two most important of these are built in pitch correction capability, and a Masterworks EQ plugin that rivals high end 3rd party EQ plugins in terms of quality. Beginning with version 5.0, MOTU also introduced a set of virtual instruments.
Updated to version 5.13 on 19th November 2007 to provide compatibility with Mac OS X v10.5, and available in Universal Binary, Digital Performer remains one of the more popular audio workstations on the Macintosh. Faster Apple CPUs continue to increase its capacity and performance. Chief among its competition on the Macintosh platform are Pro Tools and Apple's Logic.

A preview of Digital Performer 6 was given at the annual music NAMM trade show on January 17-20, 2008. It will include two new plugins and a new optional electric piano virtual instrument will be offered for purchase in addition to the other optional virtual instruments already available. Digital Performer 6 is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2008.

Some notable users include the composers John Adams [4], Don Davis [5], Danny Elfman [6], Michael Giacchino, Elliot Goldenthal[7], James Horner, David Lawrence [8] and Hans Zimmer, alongside Dream Theater[citation needed], David Bryan[9] Autechre, Matmos [10] and Trey Spruance of the Secret Chiefs 3[citation needed] and Monkey Man.

If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true.

[Timeline]

I think the star is 5 light years away at approimately 200 million miles per LY.

Actually one light year is about 5,880,000,000,000 (5 trillion, 880 billion) miles.

And remember, Fed Ex requires a zip code.

Gentlemen, grab your towels, beers n' peanuts...it's just a hitchhike away..
(if you get the reference)

/B

No Problem:

[bOing]

Some notable users include...Monkey Man.

See, another famous composer depends upon DP to keep those bananas coming in.

[WSVP]

Beginning with version 4.5, MOTU introduced a number of important new features to Digital Performer. The two most important of these are built in pitch correction capability, and a Masterworks EQ plugin that rivals high end 3rd party EQ plugins in terms of quality

If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true.

Perhaps not... the Pitch Correction was actually introduced in version 4.6 which was free to users of 4.5.

[Shooshie]

Beginning with version 4.5, MOTU introduced a number of important new features to Digital Performer. The two most important of these are built in pitch correction capability, and a Masterworks EQ plugin that rivals high end 3rd party EQ plugins in terms of quality

If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true.

Perhaps not... the Pitch Correction was actually introduced in version 4.6 which was free to users of 4.5.

The author didn't mean that Pitch Correction was added in version 4.5, though he admits that it's a bit ambiguous. It says "beginning with version 4.5" meaning that a long string of important new features were added, starting around that time. The author is speaking of the many improvements to DP overall which have made it more competitive.

And dat's de trufe.

--the author

[jlaudon]

There's a really positive 'pre' review of DP6 in Sound on sound - the writer even said it looks like DP6's 'Track comping that sounds as though it will trounce Logic 8's abilities in this area...'.

Can't wait - should be anytime in the first quarter 2008 - my prediction is anytime between March 32 and March 246

[monkey man]

I think the star is 5 light years away at approimately 200 million miles per LY.

Actually one light year is about 5,880,000,000,000 (5 trillion, 880 billion) miles.

Y'know, I think I may have been thinking "light minutes".
It's a ridiculous guess when you think about it.

And remember, Fed Ex requires a zip code.

This presents a problem. We'll have to wait 10 years if we request its zip code now; I can't see it listed anywhere.

]In May 2001, reports began to circulate in the Indian capital New Delhi of a strange monkey-like creature that was appearing at night and attacking people. Eyewitness accounts were often inconsistent, but tended to describe the creature as about four feet (120 cm) tall, covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, metal claws, glowing red eyes and three buttons on its chest.
Theories on the nature of the Monkey Man ranged from an avatar of a Hindu god, to an Indian version of Bigfoot, to a cyborg that could be deactivated by throwing water on the motherboard concealed under fur on its chest.

Many people reported being scratched, and two (by some reports, three) people even died when they leapt from the tops of buildings or fell down stairwells in a panic caused by what they thought was the attacker. At one point, exasperated police even issued artist's impression drawings in an attempt to catch the creature. Many people today still believe this "monkey man" continues to haunt the streets.

Your repooting skills have not frayed or waned with time, Billy.
How do you do it?

Some notable users include the composers John Adams [4], Don Davis [5], Danny Elfman [6], Michael Giacchino, Elliot Goldenthal[7], James Horner, David Lawrence [8] and Hans Zimmer, alongside Dream Theater[citation needed], David Bryan[9] Autechre, Matmos [10] and Trey Spruance of the Secret Chiefs 3[citation needed] and Monkey Man.

Looks like you're well on the way to receiving next year's Grand Poobah Award•„• as well, Billy.
My, oh my.

If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true.

Who could argue with logic like that?
No wonder you're a star star watcher.

The author didn't mean that Pitch Correction was added in version 4.5, though he admits that it's a bit ambiguous. It says "beginning with version 4.5" meaning that a long string of important new features were added, starting around that time. The author is speaking of the many improvements to DP overall which have made it more competitive.
And dat's de trufe.
--the author

Ha! Classic, Shoosh.

I remember your mentioning last year that you cooked... I mean, wrote that up.
It might be cool to slip in a reference to DP's being the oldest sequencer on the Mac (or any platform?) if you haven't already, methinks.

[Phil O]

March 24 and counting. My clock is ticking! Ain't anticipation fun?

Just curious. Anyone have any idea why on the MOTU site it still says "Digital Performer 5.12 now shipping." How long has 5.13 been out? Things that make you go hmm.

Phil

[monkey man]

Hey Phil.
5.13 was posted on November 11th last year.

Maybe 5.12's still up there to help create the sensation of movement when it suddenly jumps to 6.0 after we've all been lulled into a semi-apathetic state.

Yeah, the anticipation's great.
I always try to savour these MOTU release moments, especially because we spend so much time looking forward to them (over a year in this case for me).

[Killahurts]

Can't wait - should be anytime in the first quarter 2008 - my prediction is anytime between March 32 and March 246

[INMT]

Actually one light year is about 5,880,000,000,000 (5 trillion, 880 billion) miles.

And remember, Fed Ex requires a zip code.

Gentlemen, grab your towels, beers n' peanuts...it's just a hitchhike away..
(if you get the reference)

/B

No Problem:

Yep, the Stargate seems the way to go to me too.

[pcm]

What continues to bother me and I doubt I'll ever get used to it is the fact that in the last 10 years I have NEVER gotten one email asking me what features or satisfaction I have with DP nor what features I use and don't use. They appear like stuck up AH's for the most part with the few exceptions like Dave and some of the support staff. They tell us little and do their own thing and were out her as their sole support base. It infuriates me to no end.

If I had another option I would jump ship immediately as when I tried and spent 1500 bucks on Nuendo which was a bust.

I have found this kind of treatment to be the same sad story across all DAWs except two - Sonar and Reaper. People wonder why Sonar is so popular. One of the several reasons is because Cakewalk communicates with their users and then they incorporate features into new versions that came from the users. And to top it off they even say that the feature came from users.

Believe it or not, Digidesign is the same way. At the last AES show, I talked for a while with the oriental guy who did the demo. I told him a few of what I thought were good ideas, and he took out a Palm and wrote down everything I said. This was right after being at the motu booth, where I tried to explain to one of their guys (he said he was from the west coast) how much trouble I was having with noise on my two Travelers. His response was to tell me how many awards the unit had won. I didn't even stay for the demo...

[pcm]

What continues to bother me and I doubt I'll ever get used to it is the fact that in the last 10 years I have NEVER gotten one email asking me what features or satisfaction I have with DP nor what features I use and don't use. They appear like stuck up AH's for the most part with the few exceptions like Dave and some of the support staff. They tell us little and do their own thing and were out her as their sole support base. It infuriates me to no end.

If I had another option I would jump ship immediately as when I tried and spent 1500 bucks on Nuendo which was a bust.

I recently went into a studio and watched the engineer switch portions of 10 tracks of drums and preview them on ProTools by simply highlighting the section and switching between 8 takes. It was so seamless I was floored. He used the nudge arrow u-down button for takes and one button to re-preview.

Wow. They must still be thinking workflow. On the other side if the coin I hated the sound.

That's not all. You can time-stretch groups. Also, if you hold down the control key, you can time-stretch a track (or group) right up to the next region boundary, with no overshoot or undershoot. No need to zoom in to the sample level to make sure you got it right. So there will never be a pop or click. Simple enough feature, right? Why can't DP do this? And we're not even talking Beat Detective or Elastic Audio. Edit drums in DP? Double my rate and I'll consider it.

Workflow, you hit the nail on the head. A guy came to me with a full albums worth of mixes to do, in DP. I was all set to do it in DP/DAE, until I realized that there were no sends set up in his sessions. In PT, holding down the option key while creating a send will create a send on every track in the session. Holding down shift-option will do it only for "selected" tracks. DP has neither of these features. It would have burnt a full-afternoon of this guy's budget just setting up sends in DP. Workflow....

More workflow: How about setting up cue sends for the musicians? In PT, you select the tracks you want to send by selecting them in the mixer, and then type cmd-option-H. A window pops up, you choose which send you want, and it copies your mix to the musicians mix, where you can then tweak it for them. HUGE time saver. In DP, you have to turn all these little knobs one at a time, with bus numbers you can't read (bus 1, bus 11, and bus 16 ALL look the same in narrow-view, because the send text field only displays the first digit - they broke this with DP4 and never fixed it), and all that is assuming a yellow help sticker isn't blocking your view to begin. And you can't turn those off. These are all workflow killers. I could name them until my fingers bleed.

And I'm not even trying to come up with a list here. Why is the workflow so poor, and so far behind the times? It's not like there isn't some pro software out there to show them the way, you know. It's already been done. One can only guess what the problem is. Maybe Gil Amelio works there now.

Okay, one more. Your client (or friend) takes your session, and adds some tracks. In PT, you open YOUR session, select Import Session Data, and you get something like an Open Dialog Box. You navigate to the session your friend took home, and double-click on it. Up pops a list of every track in the session, and you select ONLY the new tracks he worked on. You also get to choose whether you want to import the plugin settings used on that track, as well as send setups, inputs/outputs, as well as many other options pertaining to that track. Great workflow tool. Can you do this in DP? Not even close. All you can do is drag in audio files. No automation, no editing regions, no plugin settings, etc. Well, if you want to spend a lot of time and jump through a bunch of hoops, you can do some of this. But I'll already be on to the next task before you even get rolling. Workflow....

FWIW, I have many thousands of hours logged in each of these programs. I'm not making any of this up

As far as not liking the sound, that I think was the engineer. There is nothing wrong with the sound of either PT or DP. Sound quality is a skill thing.

[richardein]

PCM:

"In DP, you have to turn all these little knobs one at a time, with bus numbers you can't read (bus 1, bus 11, and bus 16 ALL look the same in narrow-view, because the send text field only displays the first digit - they broke this with DP4 and never fixed it),"

I think you can reassign continuous controller info to do this. Haven't tried it, tho.

In general, I agree with you about workflow; it could be much improved. But me, I'll be happy if they make it so that clicking hardware configuration doesn't cause all your samplers to reload, which I understand is coming in DP 6.

Now if they would only add record enable into Quickscribe. Or permit Sibelius to work as a plug-in...

[Timeline]

I have to admit for composing DP is better but I'm really tired of not being listened to. PCM, your right on the money here. How would they have even thought up those workflow ideas had it not come from pro users in the studios. I think MOTU is taking there tips not from us but from non studio experienced musicians who don't get how important these things are to us.

Back to an idea I have wished for from the SSL days in automation, "Update to end" of a mix. Any hard write or trim or mute can automatically update immediately at a level being written at any moment to the end of a mix.

I asked for this feature and a special button over 8 years ago. Not a word or reply. The features mentioned by PCM are but a few as he said but DP will apparently never have it.

If Protools would have allowed their software to run on third party IO's, I would have already bought it.