The DUC has changed

[Bender]

When I first started using Pro Tools I read the manual completely and everything on the net and all the posts on the DUC and I learned very much in a short time.

I notice more and more that the questions are really simple and the post count on some of these questions are very low.

The better you get at searching the site the more help you can get.

I will always help when I can but it is clear that many times the DUC is the first choice.


It really kills me when I read
"I am a engineer and producer, could someone tell me what the inputs and outputs mean"
or
"I just landed a job doing the backround music on a TV show and I was wondering if I should use a talk back mic" ?

It can be amusing at times.

Read, study, read some more, practice practice .

Peace

[msawitzke]

Haha...the laziness of the internet generation...

[b mcgibney]

Well yes you are going to get some stuff where even hyperbole does not do it justice. I'm likely one of the older DUC members here and sometimes I have a chuckle at some of the posts. As a parent of three 20 somethings I constantly gripe that they do not know how to rebuild a Rochester quadrajet , set points or align a mci 16 track machine. Every generation has its touch points. I spend many hours every week reading how to be better at my craft. The "gotta have it now " folks will learn, or move on to being passive consumers of Kulture.

[Darney]

Originally Posted by Bender

When I first started using Pro Tools I read the manual completely and everything on the net and all the posts on the DUC and I learned very much in a short time.

I notice more and more that the questions are really simple and the post count on some of these questions are very low.

The better you get at searching the site the more help you can get.

I will always help when I can but it is clear that many times the DUC is the first choice.


It really kills me when I read
"I am a engineer and producer, could someone tell me what the inputs and outputs mean"

Read, study, read some more, practice practice .

Peace

This has been a rant of mine for quite a while now. What I see happening is discouraging. The inability to actually solve problems, read, commit to learning, and the unwillingness to "pay your dues" is distressing. I have run into so many people in the last few years who call themselves recording "engineers" and have never used (or seen) an oscilloscope, soldered a mic cable, or could explain how a balanced line works - it drives me nuts.
While the advent of digital recording has opened the doors for a lot of music to be heard that otherwise would go off into oblivion, it also means that every hack who can afford a computer can now crank out MP3s and CD's.
I have a friend who has a kid who decided he'd open his own studio, and they would call me 2-3 times a session wanting to know how to do different things in Pro Tools... finally I just told him to come over for a few hours and I would teach him the fundamentals and he could answer his own questions and solve his own problems. Never showed up. So the next time he called, I said "RTFM" and hung up. Oh yeah, they also wanted to "borrow" my Pro Tools discs to upgrade their system... I explained that copyright laws and software piracy are something I was concerned about and that they needed to spend the $100 or so to get their own upgrade.

<sigh> Amateurs.

[goga]

I have to agree only partially...

There is a new generation out there. Lazy or not, this people are buying Digi products. Most of them LE. If they get the support they need, they go to HD. If not, they go to Logic, Cubase, or others.

The fact that some of the experienced users are helping more or less, is something thay can do, but there is no obligation on doin' it. The same more the new generation: some read more, some read less.

At the end, is Didi that should support this. But of course, help from experienced users is always welcome:)

:) Just some thoughts.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Darney

This has been a rant of mine for quite a while now. What I see happening is discouraging. The inability to actually solve problems, read, commit to learning, and the unwillingness to "pay your dues" is distressing. I have run into so many people in the last few years who call themselves recording "engineers" and have never used (or seen) an oscilloscope, soldered a mic cable, or could explain how a balanced line works - it drives me nuts.
While the advent of digital recording has opened the doors for a lot of music to be heard that otherwise would go off into oblivion, it also means that every hack who can afford a computer can now crank out MP3s and CD's.
I have a friend who has a kid who decided he'd open his own studio, and they would call me 2-3 times a session wanting to know how to do different things in Pro Tools... finally I just told him to come over for a few hours and I would teach him the fundamentals and he could answer his own questions and solve his own problems. Never showed up. So the next time he called, I said "RTFM" and hung up. Oh yeah, they also wanted to "borrow" my Pro Tools discs to upgrade their system... I explained that copyright laws and software piracy are something I was concerned about and that they needed to spend the $100 or so to get their own upgrade.

<sigh> Amateurs.

The deal with 'engineers' isn't new to this decade. Back in the early 80's when I worked in Aerospace (I'm a retired EE) we had an engineer who'd only been out of college a years or so come in the lab and wanted to check out a circuit he was designing and one of the techs was building for him. Said 'engineer' didn't even know how to turn on a scope (it was a plain old HP 1740A).

And kids today don't have the reading comprehension skills or patience to learn how to actually do things. The iPod generation just wants to buy it at the store, take it home, plug it in and it works without so much as reading the instructions. No bugs, no problems. The real world ain't like that. And they're not really interested in doing a quality job, either. If it can play games and iTunes, why can't I make a hit record with just Garage Band and onboard sound?

[nozzles]

Little pukes born after '89 .... no respect for anything. 'Just think that the world owes them a livin'. Freakin' little sheeites ... 'need a good whack upside the head ... that's why they are the way they are: parents didn't hit them enough ... a good beating brings respect. If they had that respect they'd have less ADHD and read the manual more ... word.

[tamasdragon]

Originally Posted by goga

I have to agree only partially...

There is a new generation out there. Lazy or not, this people are buying Digi products. Most of them LE. If they get the support they need, they go to HD. If not, they go to Logic, Cubase, or others.

The fact that some of the experienced users are helping more or less, is something thay can do, but there is no obligation on doin' it. The same more the new generation: some read more, some read less.

At the end, is Didi that should support this. But of course, help from experienced users is always welcome:)

:) Just some thoughts.

And digi supports this. We have the DUC!
Although Bender has a very valid point. Many engineer, serious pro tooler offer help here, for free, taking her/his precious time to help to someone. Now if we think this way, I think it is not a big thing to ask to learn something.
Lately, we really have so many questions that indicates that the person who asked have no idea about that a manual is even exists. And that is not a good thing.

If you want to drive, you need to learn the rules, and must learn to drive the car to get a driving license. Now many questions seems like this:

"hey, I crashed the car at the first tree on the street. I think the car company who made this car sucks! Now I want to drive, but don't know how, because the car doesn't move. What should I do?"

[Keybeeetsss]

It is annoying; I know I joke around only because thatz my personality which of course we all have; thatz me in person & in forum... But it really is just shear laziness with some of these new & even old users @ times... & the worst of it is when u answer to a certain extent but don't give them the whole way to the house, they get an attitude that u didn't tell them every detail... How u go & get upset when u don't know anything always gets me...

Guys here in my city that aren't on the DUC call me with every little nuthin there is as far as PT... Even ones I don't know, so I now have a PEST GROUP category in my phone

[jdutaillis]

I haven't posted on the DUC in a while (although I do still read it alot) but this thread definately resinated with me so thought I'd drop my 2cents in...

In the world of audio I'm still very much a new kid out there. I've studied audio for the last 4 years and now have a Masters for the University of Sydney in Audio and Accoustics. I worked damn hard to get this far! Now I definately don't have as much right to complain as all you old dogs out there that have been around since the birth of parametric EQ, but it really annoys me when some kid that has just bought PT (or any other software out there..) comes on here complaining that their mixes don't sound like their favourite band, or are too quiet, or they dont even know what an EQ or compressor does!

Now don't get me wrong.. I have no problem with someone asking for help when they are really stuck. Education is everything and something that is REALLY lacking in society today. But seriously, if you spend 1 minute on google you could find the answer to just about every audio question you have! There are countless articles, tutorials, videos etc. that can help you learn this great craft we all love so much! If you truely want to learn this stuff then educate yourself! Read, research, learn! Or do as I did and go to an audio school.

After studying audio for 4 years, and using Pro Tools for just less than that, there is still SO much that I have left to learn. I've asked the guys on the DUC for help a few times and they're amazing! But only after I've tried to find the solution myself. I've also given help to others when they really needed it. But posting a question like "I don't get what a compressor does. Do I put one on every channel?!" just says to me, you are dumb and shouldn't be using a computer let alone trying to mix a song on one! Educate yourselves people! This is entry level stuff!!!

Wow that turned into quite a rant... Sorry guys!