PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

This is my opinion about the several manuals/tutorials I've read:

Pulsar:
pretty nice, it's a manual but has several examples (like routing) in it what makes it more teaching for me. I also think Pulsar doesn't really need a full tutorial because it's not that complex. Maybe for the devices a tutorial would be good.

Cubase:
in 1 worth: Bad. Only a 'list of facts' about the program's functions. Nothing more but also nothing less. When you're a newbie it's a hard to understand manual. A tutorial to get formilar with the basics would be very nice. (btw: I have a book about Cubase (written by Thierry Demougin & Eric Chautrand) and it's not better then the manual) (btw 2: is there a tutorial book about Cubase?)

Reason:
The best manual.tutorial I've ever had. Here also a (less boring...) 'list of facts' but also a very handy step by step guide to get formilar with the basics. Lot's of companies can learn from this.

Does anyone of you have an opinion about other manuals/tutorials (Logic, Cakewalk, Fuityloops, etc)?

I think your three points are perfectly true!

Couldn't tell, haven't read any of them yet

I hope nobody follows my example in this one

No, I'm not usually much of a manual reader. One of my first tests of music software in particular is how easy it is to use without referring to any documentation.

Intuitive software I believe deserves more of my attention than non-intuitive software.

In other words - bye bye "Logic" - I think the name of this product was meant to be a joke.

Of course, I find eventually that I have to refer to manuals for finer details and I do that with the help documentation in the Pulsar software etc.

But as a musician I'm looking for the software that actually makes sense to me as a musician. Maybe that's why I like the Pulsar set up so much. It's like I'm in the room and I have all this equipment lying around and I decide what I want to use and I start setting it all up on a big table.

"Do I want a Reverb?"
"Yep"
"OK put it over there between that synth and the mixer"

It just seemed to make sense to me right off - so I didn't really need the manual to start making the software productive for me.

And then, when someone explains to me some slightly more esoteric especially with the inputs and outputs I start giggling. I sometimes find it difficult to comprehend just how flexible this is. Suddenly I feel like I have a soundcard that just shapeshifts to whatever I want it to be and it's like I'm in the Twilight Zone or something.

Sorry - I completely hijacked this thread. Every once in a while I start to gush - and then it's like an irresistible flood.

I'll stop now.

i only have two applications: pulsar and cubase. and i must say that i have tried many times to go through both manuals.

the cubase manual: 'getting started' and 'getting into the details' alone contain together more than 1,000 pages!!! i got to page 93 of the 'getting started' book, and it just told me things i already discovered using the application. sometimes i try to find specific info, but somehow i can't always find what i really want. no, i don't find it a wonderful manual.
the pulsar manual: as caleb said, the platform is so easy and logical. i only looked into the manual to get cubase and pulsar to work together, and indeed, it was nice to see a specific chapter for my setup. but as i got deeper and discovered planetZ, i felt forced to get into the manual (why post a question if it is clearly covered in the manual?). i just started reading the easy stuff first (synths, fx,...) and giving coloured labels to the chapters i had read, made it quite easy, and to see the folder get more coloured works quite encouraging. now it's just the mixer chapter, the sampler and the modular tutorial that needs my attention. i like this manual better than cubase's, although the latter looks to go waaaay deeper than pulsar's.

if you aren't to stupid, you can get cubase and pulsar working with a minimum of reading, on a mac anyway

i feel i'm getting near to work in a creative way, rather than being a computer technician. the only things i need to know to get me really started, are knowledge of the STS, audio editor in cubase, and file handling (you know: where to place audio files, back ups, keep it all together,...)

oh, and yeah, i hardly understand 20% of what everyone is talking about here. pci overflow? i had it once while doing some variation of the sub test. crashes? maybe once a week, if i even get there. all this errors? i sometimes have it on my general partition (i just ignore them, all keeps on working there), never on my DAW.

_________________
andy
<FONT SIZE="-2"> the lunatics are in the hall </FONT>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: borg on 2002-05-10 04:31 ]</font>

If I'd read a bit more manuals, I might get to know Modular better. But what I do is to ake other examples, and analyses those. Modular is definitely worth a look in the book.

As Caleb says, most stuff is quite obvious (in the manuals as in the programs)and only now and then there's a hitch, then we jump in the manual and use "search" to get what I need quickly so I can close it again... books have never been my friend. Don't be afraid aircraft will start to fall on your head now, we do work according to the procedures, there's no other way or shortcuts in aviation

On 2002-05-10 01:32, caleb wrote:
In other words - bye bye "Logic" - I think the name of this product was meant to be a joke.

Doesn't this mean bye bye Cubase also? I'll not get far with 'only' logic thinking in Cubase...

Maybe that's why I like the Pulsar set up so much.

Agree. Pulsar does makes sense. Only in the beginning it was a bit difficult but that has more to do with the fact that I *never* did anything with audio/midi before on a pc.
Pulsar makes sense and I think we're all happy with that!

Sorry - I completely hijacked this thread. Every once in a while I start to gush - and then it's like an irresistible flood.

Thanks for your reply

On 2002-05-10 04:24, borg wrote:
i just started reading the easy stuff first (synths, fx,...)

Is that really the easy part? I did not read them so far (I use the presets for now) but they seems a bit short to me. Are all functiones described in those guides?

oh, and yeah, i hardly understand 20% of what everyone is talking about here.

Welcome on board . Sometimes I just stop reading because if I have to suffer all the problems mentioned here.....

On 2002-05-10 06:16, at0mic wrote:
If I'd read a bit more manuals, I might get to know Modular better.

Don't worry, I don't even know what Modular is...

As Caleb says, most stuff is quite obvious (in the manuals as in the programs)and only now and then there's a hitch, then we jump in the manual and use "search" to get what I need quickly so I can close it again...

And if that doesn't work there's always at0mic