Pro Tools 8 – Logic Killer?
Pro Tools 8 will be released sometime in December, and if the Digidesign site is anything to go by, Apple had better get their eye back on Logic and begin the upgrade very quickly.
New features include many which have been standard in Logic for a while, such as a suite of built in plugins and instruments, lots of loops, better MIDI implementation and finally, a score option. There’s also better comping, though Pro Tools has always been pretty well sorted in this regard, thanks to its playlist feature; one many wish Apple would implement in Logic, rather than Apple’s rather clunky (and maybe even buggy?) system.
The track count is upped in the LE version, which is only about time, and a new Complete Production Toolkit allows up to 128 tracks in LE. Of course, there are lots of other additions and you can read about them all here.
The arguments are mounting up for many to move over to Pro Tools with this upgrade. I for one, will give it more serious consideration on upcoming projects. However, Digidesign’s closed hardware/software system, their rather narrow compatibility windows (there is no word on compatibility with non-Intel, or with 10.4, or with the Digi 002), and the constant “holding out” on track count/insert count etc on LE, always makes me feel I am missing out unless I am using Pro Tools HD, which, let’s face it, is a lot of money to give to one company for something that still needs lots more money to really be a “studio”.
So I guess the war is hotting up again! Let’s just hope Apple will move some of the brains off the iPhone project onto their Pro products, rather than releasing another GarageBand upgrade first.
And here’s hoping they don’t think a Logic upgrade involves chucking a whole new bunch of loops at us and saying “there ya go!”
January 25th, 2009 at 00 0100100000031UTC44 ppm4431 9 001 3109UTC pm
I just wish they hadn’t taken so many features off of Logic 8, that someone considered redundant, that we use. Oh and it would be nice if they actually finished it before the released it. I can argue the pluses and minuses of either platform but I have to say that I have never been convinced by hardware companies owning the software. There are some fantastic new features in Tools and there are some fantastic new features in Logic but having used logic since its birth I find it hard to recommend a program to anyone that no longer has the ability to save as an older version like, tools , word, photoshop . . .etc.
Are now I’m ranting