The TelenatorI’ve tried Windows 8. Personally, I have to say I totally hate it. The thing makes your PC and screen into essentially a giant smart phone. It’s all graphics and touch screen, like it was made for illiterates or cell phone addicts. In fact, that was part of the deal — they wanted an OS that is pretty seemless from PC to phone. It looks like it was made for users whose whole lives are all about pics and videos and social networking. I’m just one of those who does like or need this sort of approach. I’ll be stopping with Windows 7. To me the W7 graphics and Aero is just about perfect. I also like a few of the “fixes,” as some refer to them, from previous Windows. Maybe my only complaint would be that it takes a few more CPU to run all of it. My rule of thumb these days is that 20 tracks or more, if heavy loaded, I switch to my other saved setup of the primitive Windows. I don’t like doing that, but it’s avoided several freezes.
I want to end, though, by saying that some of you may just love Windows 8 entirely. I have friends who won’t leave their XP behind, either.
The TelenatorThe TelenatorGreetings, Frits. I’m looking at a full edit of the Guide beginning mid-year 2012. I already know my workload for most of the year, and barring a win on American Idol this should work out well. This also allows enough time for everyone to use the recent Mackie/Control Surface upgrade, in case any more issues turn up. It also would allow for at least one more Podium release.
I did indeed see the relationship between the Wiki and the Guide and noted a few differences here and there. The best part is the Wiki provides the perfect portal for entry to do the editing, without having to pull out my Adobe software (which I dislike) or the need to send text back and forth via the Net.
The first task in the next couple of months would be to comb through the Wiki for purely mechanical issues; I’ve found a couple of spelling errors and one or two grammatical hangups. By mid-year the next step I believe would be to remove all defunct features from previous releases, such as the one I discovered the other day.
Meanwhile and also, just as the Wiki states, I would like to encourage any other licensed users with any writing experience and ideas to join in to prepare for this complete update of the Wiki/Guide. One nice feature of a full review is that only future improvements to Podium will need consideration down the road.
You had mentioned some possible changes to the file system. Those would be important to include after any are made, since they are sort of the backbone to the system.
One can usually tell rather quickly if a designer has written a manual. Although it is very common to have designers of plugins do this (and everybody seems to be offering some type of homebrewed plugin these days), it is unusual to find this situation with something as large and comprehensive as Podium is. Ideally, designers should only have to hand over their notes and the gadget to the writers, then later review drafts of the manual, make suggestions, and fine-tune the final copy.
We can return to the task of editing in a two or three months. I want to stress again that this will not be a very difficult project. Much of the Guide is fine as is. Another advantage is that it is not extremely lengthy unlike so many others, and I think one goal should be to attempt to keep it at or under 200 pages. I found it a lot more welcoming when I saw that it was not going to take me two months to read through. I think the most important task is explaining as simply as possible the unique features and approaches of this DAW. I think I noticed a couple of places in the Wiki where the text had been updated to achieve this. I’ve seen that this is where some users coming from other DAWs sometimes stumble. There was a moment or two that I had to pause and ask myself, What is going on here? when I first encountered the way Podium handles files and projects.
Thanks for your input, and I’ll be in touch eventually regarding the Guide.
The TelenatorFrits, adimatis just brought up a feature I thought would be a perfect addition. I thought of it the other day when I mentioned dithering in an FR. It would be so excellent to have a truly top-notch compressor limiter Zynewave plugin.
I’m thinking in terms of mix and mastering use even more than track work. I have loads of great compressors, but not many that are also suitable for mixdown/mastering. Wouldn’t it be great to have a compressor that could be adjusted for both uses! I’d love to see Zynewave head in the direction of a nice “Mixdown/Mastering Station.” That would include the dithering package too.
The whole goal being that one could do a full pro final product WITHOUT having to step away from Podium. Much of the buzz right now is these very pricey mastering effects. Can’t touch one for under $200. It’s really not that hard to master, even though people in the business act like it’s magic or voodoo. It’s just a matter of money really.
The TelenatorFrits, I recall for certain that it was not a per-plug option on Cubase. It was all or none. I hear you on plugin behavior. That might explain some of the very high frequency of freeze and crash that was going on with way too many users of Cubase.
The TelenatorAn interesting note: Most manufacturers are trying to get away from manuals/guides as well. Some are no longer available IN PRINT when you opt to buy the disk (even at the $400+ price tag). This was unheard of just a couple of years back. I clearly sense that most wish they could get away from it altogether. These things are all heading past 500 pages a pop these days!
Now, Podium could possibly survive on the strength of its popups and its wiki, which is rather good but needs some updating as well. I found some things last night but have only just signed on there. The wiki PLUS the popups (which are wonderful for beginners and seem to be quite on the mark) might be the way to go.
On the other hand, there are a small group of musicians, and will probably always be, who have no internet yet do much DAW work. I’ve met a few; they will go online to get the goods and get off.
In addition and like I said before, Podium is most likely going to remain my No.1 system from here on out. IF SO, editing and maintaining a guide might not be a that big a deal for me. The stuff you hate is the stuff I’ve done for years — I actually enjoy editing, and it used to be my daytime survival gig between bands and sessions. To do a tech manual well, one really ought to know the product inside and out. Editing out outdated features is one of the easier tasks. If you want a full edit and future updating, maybe I might be willing to trade you for a lifetime of upgrades and a nifty on-screen keyboard? Perhaps something to consider for now.
I want to say that I kept waiting for your English to mess up somewhere in your posts but just wasn’t finding it. You do much better than many, to the point I began wondering, Is this guy really Danish or is he some expatriate from the UK or the States.
Nice to hear from you and Happy New Year! Really enjoying Podium more and more as I’m using it regularly now.
The TelenatorFrits, thanks for your response. This is your area of specialty, but I should mention that certain other makers boast the feature of no processing on silence, and I have witnessed it on one of them. I know the coding is in your plugs in our case, but how would others handle this? I’d love to see it globally in Podium, but if it’s a massive fix or a No Go for other reasons I’m sure we’ll all understand.
The idea of having 20-30 major plugs loaded but quiet is a wonderful thought, though, is it not? I have Emu’s Proteus and, oh, is that a mother of an instrument! Just loading it I think makes the lights dim in my living room!
Curious . . . how are others doing it systemwide? It seems to be one of the hot features of the last few years. I’ve since burned my Cubase manual, but I seem to recall it might have been a check box option on mine.
The TelenatorFirst Importance: VoS plugs are fantastic in my opinion but are somewhat demanding on the host and I don’t know the full reason as I haven’t studied them on Podium. I haven’t tried a bounce with Density yet, either, but that VST is one of my faves and just went to the top of my To Do List. They are certainly not the worst in terms of CPU consumption. I do know for a fact that their GUIs are rather intense — one of the reasons they are so well received. I wonder if it would freeze if the generic UI was used on bounce. That needs trying ’cause that series is some of the nicest, usually subtle free effects out there.
The TelenatorFor anyone reading this thread, I’d like to point out that the Zynewave Podium WIKI is more accurate in most places and very user friendly. I have run into a couple of very tiny errors there as well, but those can be fixed in a flash when time allows and are nothing vital enough to throw a novice user off track or into confusion. I’m finding the WIKI to be a rather trustworthy source and fairly up to date.
Cheers!
The Telenatorkingtubby! I can’t thank you enough! I thought I was losing my freaking mind, ’cause I was doing to very closeup scan of the Guide. Sometimes, when I find a bit of software I like as much as Podium, I’ll go right into and through every little feature to learn all its tricks and treats. Like adimatis pointed out, there are always other means of going about accessing a feature. In this case, you can get all these another way, but it was making me question whether I had just had 20 million brain cells go offline, ’cause I’m just NOT finding a few things!
These “buttons” really are unneeded. I’m going to have to chat with Frits at some point before too long — although editing technical manuals was never my top favorite, once I’m more familiar I could do an edit on the whole thing. That was my whole straight job bag for years. It wouldn’t be that big a job. Maybe I could try to barter for a good on-screen keyboard I asked for or future upgrades or some other snappy little Feature Request!
Thanks again!
The TelenatorHey, thanks for your info about some of those actions, but I’ve already been doing things exactly as you describe.
I’m not sure yet — I’m taking today to work on this and other parts of the guide — but I think some of what I’ve run into are updates that weren’t changed in the guide or else they are just plain errors. I’ve got issues on pages 61 and 66 at the moment, so I’ll just annotate those and move along. Maybe “disaster” was a bit over the top. Some of the problem is the terminology, which I actually like but it takes some adjusting. Some of the terms compare rather well with my REAPER, which is helpful, but I think a little more definition, maybe a nice glossary, is in order.
Here’s one I know for certain: no matter whether my numberpad is locked or not, hitting the Zero key DOES NOT stop play as in the Guide. Numpad Enter does start play but Zero takes whatever track is highlighted and adds a repeat of whatever object (event) is on the track. Neat, aye? I’m using a nice, fairly new ASUS laptop with a very standard keyboard, so I doubt it’s anything funky to do with that.
I’m sure I’ll survive the Guide. After all, I survived two Cubase manuals and that wasn’t the cause for leaving Cubase behind at all.
Thanks adimatis and happy new year.
I want to put it out there again — does anyone know how to locate these “CSPL BUTTONS” the Guide says exist?!?!
The TelenatorI forgot to mention — Cubase 6 came with a full rewrite of the manual. Steinberg’s stuff is often a good standard with which to compare, and I’m very familiar with their products. Cubase 5’s manual was rather annoying and Cubase 4 was considered horrible by most users. I agree with the general assessment of that manual — it was a good deal worse than anything I’m talking about regarding the Podium Guide. The 4 manual came with an almost arrogant tone. They finally did fix it about a year ago in 6.
The TelenatorHaha, good one, adimatis! Good point, really, ’cause I’m not sure I truly do NEED the Guide. I’ve said it repeatedly before that, if this Podium was any more intuitive and “automatic” than it is already, it would actually play the darned instruments for me!
But, yes, seriously, people keep encouraging me to settle down and read the Guide, which I finally had time to do this week. My main reason is that Podium inspires me so much that I want to learn all the fine and tricky stuff, some of which I’m sure I must be missing at the moment. I’d really like to know Podium inside and out.
I consider your argument about the forum and particularly the video tutorials being better teachers and so on. It’s true, at least for the videos — there are indeed a lot of good ones, but don’t you think a guide or manual ought to be able to carry the full weight of explaining all of a DAW’s functions and features?
I have seen this before: You have a guy who is basically a near-genius designer/programmer who creates jaw-dropping stuff (and for extra examples, his Nucleum synth is a total gas, the Zverb is one of the best free reverbs I’ve ever used — only Ambience compares with it IMHO), but meanwhile he’s at somewhat of a loss to explain in plain, simple English how half of his gadget works!
You know, I was sort of hoping to avoid it, because “Side-tracked” seems to be my middle name when it comes to focusing on my main goals in music, but I just retired from 30 years of working as an editor and sometimes writer at the end of last year. It was a good day job to combine with playing music, especially when I could edit for music and arts publications.
The short of it is that I think I might be willing to do a complete overhaul of the Guide this year. Unfortunately, I can’t touch sections that I don’t fully comprehend yet, but once I get my arms around everything that’s currently included the editing is usually a breeze for me. My specialty was polishing up the work of a handful of brilliant writers, most recently a group of music journalists.
Whatever the case ends up being, in the meantime can you explain what’s going on around page 61? I’m just not seeing at all what’s being discussed. I’ve used plenty of editors in others DAWs, but this section has me stumped!
Thanks!
The TelenatorSorry to disappoint, Piganini, but that went down on New Year’s Eve day, all our gear was still in transit to gig, I can’t get to my music computer, got my acoustic guitar but feel if I run through the tunes one more time I’m gonna have to jump out the window.
So I was probably already on edge, anticipating the most likely gig of the year to have someone puke on our monitors or for a fight to break out in the last hour when, lo and behold, one of our chronic complainers here accuses me of “patronizing” him and then denies most of his comments in his last several posts.
Wasn’t what I’d call a “minor little micropoint.” Maybe you should have taken typing at the university or trade school, ’cause it only took about an hour to look that stuff up, paste it and reply.
I use the Zynewave forums as a needed diversion from an otherwise demanding schedule. I’m really loving this Podium audio workstation more each time I use it. Just finished recording one of my friends’ bands using Podium, and hoping he’ll let me post one on our SoundCloud group when mixed. You must have something more constructive you could offer here, don’t you? Got any tunes? We’ve been encouraging more folks to post on the Podium Poppets.
Overall, I’d sure like to see a little more positive activity on the forum. Surely, you have something creative or helpful you might post. I mean, certainly you didn’t sign in just to critique the interchange with michi, ’cause the whining and complaining gets old pretty fast.
Happy New Year
Cheers!
The TelenatorThe trick to a successful install of MidiYoke usually is that the user must turn down the User Account Control (UAC) from normal to the minimum setting and reboot. Then the install goes smoothly. Then return UAC to the suggested norm, reboot again and all is well.
I thought this worth pointing out, as I’ve found MidiYoke so very useful in many situations and places. It’s simply another one of those tiny bits of freeware that just about everyone ought to keep around. It will route just about any MIDI thing to any other MIDI-seeking gadget internally in a PC. It’s a handful of up to 16 virtual MIDI cables. Also, unlike any others, such as Maple Virtual Cable (only 4 “cables”), it doesn’t seem to get all hung up on the 32- vs. 64-bit issue; it will work exclusively in either. There is a separate version for earlier Windows as well, though not as sturdy, and consider acquiring MIDI-Ox also, so you have multi- to single-client routing capabilities.
http://www.midiox.com/myoke.htm
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