Moral support needed: relevance of PT today

[quark]

Hope it can be provided.
Am just on the brink of buying for my music college a G5dp2.5gHz 4gb ram 2x 20" apple lcd system
With HD2+ analog expansion
Logic 7 as optional front-end
Apple Production Suite
Mackie Control
(all inegrated with audient analog desk & m&k 5.1. monitors and outboard)

We have the budget but, on continuing research, I am getting more and more concerned about the stability/flexibility of Logic with TDM.
Our main applications around the studios are logic & maxmsp but I wanted to introduce ProTools to the studio experience.
Sessions are done on Radar incidentally.

The system specified above will be used for:

1.Electro-acoustic compostion in stereo, quad & 5.1

2. Mixing & mastering of classical & contemporary music in stereo & 5.1

3. Orchestral sequencing (using logic EXS24 & VSL)

4. Audio analysis/restoration

5. Film-scoring & Video editing

My question is, am I depriving my students by not giving them experience with PT, or should I replace the HD2 with e.g. 2408mkIII + 24i/o and divert funding elsewhere. I can always get a digi 002r for basic PT use.


I know this is a contentious/nebular issue but a simple "go for it" or "forget PT" or "go away" will suffice!

Thanks in advance , quark

[saintkev77]

Deffinetly expose your students to PT.

Yes, there are more affordible ways to do things. But I think the goal of institute is to give the students the tools that would give them the most success in the professional world. At whatever cost.

All arrgument aside as far as what programs can do what for whatever price... ProTools is a standard. And if you look at job applications for most Post Production facilities in any market, the requirements list usually includes the abilty to sync with several deck types, the ability to record and edit VO, edit music, and to be proficiant on ProTools and Mac... amongst other things.

The fact that your students have access to other softwares is deffinetly an added bonus.

Just my honest oppinion.

[quark]

And your honest opinion is appreciated!
Many thanks.

[surroundguy]

That sounds like a great setup to learn both mixing in PT and composition in Logic. I can't see how anyone could challenge your general decision to go with PT and Logic TDM.

Look at it this way:

Teach PT & Logic - students can get jobs in facilities that use PT - mostly large pro audio shops - and they can find their way around a native DAW if they need to.

Teach only a native DAW - students can get jobs in facilities that use native DAW's, but those facilities tend to be smaller sites and project studios on the whole. If they go up against someone from Full Sail or SAE trained on PT, they will come out second best in the race for intern.

My only suggestion is that I personally don't like the HUI surfaces like the Mackie Control and would prefer a real Digi command surface. Unfortunately at that price point I don't know how the Command/8 compares...

[quark]

Many thanks for that.

I chose the mackie as it can be configured (apparently) as a logic control or as a PT-optimized setup.

Thanks again, for the vote of confidence

[drBill]

You must definately teach them Pro Tools. As said before, it is the standard. Logic is nice, but in the audio world, Pro Tools is the standard and all other platforms added together take a distant second.

[Don Geppert]

Quark ....

We are also an audio program in a College instiitution. Truth is that ProTools is the standard and has the market penetration to keep them there. Nuff said. You have to give your students exposure to the arena where they are most likely to be employed. We also teach Logic (among other things) ... for similar reasons.

Best with your decisions.

Email direct if you want to chat about educational stuff anytime.

[O.G. Killa]

...If they go up against someone from Full Sail or SAE trained on PT, they will come out second best in the race for intern...

Sorry to get off topic, but I've had Full Sail interns just recently and their absolute LACK of Protools knowledge astounded me. Installing 6.4 upgrade, the intern had the guts to ask me "Do we have a Sync IO?" I'm like, "you tell me, you sitting right next to the freakin thing you moron!"

One thing I've noticed, Full Sail grads tend to try and boast that they know PT but then completely fall flat on their face. I'm friends with a couple of the teachers over there too and I've toured the school and looked at their curriculum...The school itself definitely isn't the problem I think it's the type of kids that usually go there. It just seems like a lot of them don't really pay attention or something.

Anyway...sorry to get off topic. But I just had to vent and to also say that the school someone comes from means something, but not a lot. It's really the individual's character, attention to detail, and work ethic that makes them a suitable candidate.

[Alécio Costa]

I don´t know your budget, but If I were you I would buy 3 or 4 used mix systems with 882/20 or Adat bridge interfaces. More people would be using the system at the same time.Hey, PT is PT, no matter if it is 5.1/6.1/7.1. Some experience with TDM would be a must, that is why I did not include digi 001/Mbox/002s.

[Evil Jack]

All I can add to the above is that if you're doing all that 5.1 mixing, you'll REALLY want to be teaching it on Tools. It really is the most elegant and easy to understand routing solution I've seen.