Why I can't switch from Logic

[KimSira]

Hi
This is certainly not a 'Logic is better than ProTools' post, in fact it might be the opposite.
I am very tempted to move over to Protools as I haven't felt comfortable with Logic since v7 as there seems to be some major anoyances for me that they (apple) are aware of but have not responded to.
However, over the many years with Logic, it has set me up to work in certain ways that I don't think Protools can do. So I wanted to ask you guys and see if these things are possible.
Here we go
Logic has live input mixer page - I have all my synths and outboard fx returns coming straight through Logic via motu hardware and have a dedicated mixer page for this that does not appear as tracks on the arrange (edit) page. This keeps the song arrangement a lot cleaner but all outboard is still available.
From my experimenting protools has something similar to this by groups but I couldn't find key commands to trigger these.

monitoring mode.
I can record a take, leave that track rec armed, play the take back but still hear the input aswell. This is great for me and the performer as they can sing along with themselves and then when I press the rec button, the original take will stop playing and the input being recorded or dropped in is what everyone hears. To be fair, Logic is the only program I have seen do this.

Apple loops.
Only had these for a short time, but now they are indespensable. And not for quick wacky sounds, but for numerous production needs. They are extremely useful.

The ability to adjust the size or have a floating window of the range selection counter.
My eyes are bad and I find these numbers hard to see in Protools.

Again, this is not why I hate protools. I am very keen on buying one of the D-command packages they have going, but as a workflow and change over learning period, the things I mentioned are important to me.

I am eager to hear thoughts

Cheers
Kim

[crizdee]

Hi Kim,

Well, i worked on Logic for over 12 years and switched to PT about a year ago! and have never looked back. Most of my time with logic was with Motu interfaces and the change to pro tools HD was mind blowing! at first i tried Logic as a front end to TDM with the ESB (emagic system bus) but was plagued with problems and constant quits!! so after 3 months of hell i switched to PT and soon adapted a new way of working. The midi and arranging in PT is a little slower and the midi is a lot more basic in PT, but the audio advantages far out way the midi downfall.

PT does have the auto input mode for record enabled tracks!

There is no direct way to play apple loops, but you can import tham as audio and import them into samplers... Sampletank/Mach 5 etc

You can have a large clear display for your range selection counter... apple+3 to display big counter( large black background with green digits) then select bars or minutes or frames. infact i find PT to be far clearer to read and view than logic.

Chris

[AINSLIE]

in pt you can build a screenset that shows e.g. only your returns or everything except your returns, and trigger it just like you trigger a location marker. actually this is realized by building a "location marker" with no location stored but only the list of visible tracks.
i think that's what you looked for, and to me it's a very simple but powerful way to keep my arrangement window clean.

You can also use the groups feature to show and hide. cntrl+click on the group and you will show only the members of that group. Also the 'show / hide' tracks menu has a bunch of options. As pointed out - markers are good to show / hide also. The fact that you don't have window sets in PT is seen as a benefit in simplicity and consistency. Personaly I find it requires much less brain use managing the program than Logic .. more brain power for the creative process.

Ainslie

[KimSira]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replys.

'PT does have the auto input mode for record enabled tracks!'

This is interesting as I have never been able to achieve this similar to Logic.
So, if I record a take, I can keep that track armed, hit play, and hear the recorded take as well as the signal coming into the channel? If this is correct, this gets rid of one of my major hurdles.

If I import the apple loops into the samplers eg kontact, do they sync the loops to host tempo?

Again, thanks for the info

Cheers
Kim

[webby]

you hear both signals thru one single channel? pro tools doesn't do that. you can just toggle input and track signal.

duplicate track and hit mute

Quick punch will allow you to drop in where you want, before dropping in you can hear what is already on track..... I use it all the time. Hope that is what you mean. Of course you can also set up a pre and post roll for dropping in a specific points!!

[jeremyroberts]

no --- what Kim is discussing is:

track already recorded
track is in input/rec ready
Kim wants the talent to be able to speak to the CR (on input) WHILE track is playing (hearing repro while in playback)

the way we do this here, is that I always mult the voc mic to an aux in, ONLY routed to the control room (never goes anywhere near the talent) - and I mute this whenever I need to shut them up... like before a punch.

I'm not a fan of working this way - but certain singers demand this, so I reluctantly do it.

Remember, auto input is a tool that goes back to tape, and the young ones may not truly appreciate what auto input does, and why it's so important for session flow and punching accuracy...

Recording a vocal in Logic would be a nightmare for me, after working in PT.