New Mac Pro, iMacs, Magic Trackpad & Cinema Display

[David]

Today Apple announced several new products, including:

New Mac Pro with up to 12 cores

New iMac with Intel Core i3, i5 and i7, ATI Radeon Graphics

New Cinema Display 27" LED

New Magic Trackpad with multitouch technology

[duncanrs]

Hey David,

Any idea how the trackpad will integrate with Logic? Will it be able to perform extra functions over a regular apple mouse?

Cheers

[David]

Hey David,

Any idea how the trackpad will integrate with Logic? Will it be able to perform extra functions over a regular apple mouse?

Cheers

I suppose just the same way a trackpad on a laptop would. I haven't tried the Magic Trackpad yet.

[duncanrs]

OK thanks. I will research further and post my findings. Meanwhile, anyone out there using this device with LP9? I'd be interested to hear some feedback over simple tasks...riding faders...writing automation...any programmable gestures etc specific to Logic?

Cheers.

[adamgonsa]

The Magic Trackpad works fantastically with Logic. I’ve been using it all weekend and it’s a bluetooth dream come true.

Some background:
The magic trackpad was announced at the same time I came to a sad realization: no one will ever make a bluetooth trackball. I’ve been a trackball user for a decade and have long wanted the convenience of bluetooth. Unfortunately the cordless trackballs on the market have bulky receivers that occupy a usb slot, and suffer form intermittent reception problems since my computer is kind of far away from my desk. Bluetooth is the best solution for my needs. I've waited patiently, emailed design engineers, and signed a petition. No luck.

When I lived in NYC I was on a MBP exclusively and got accustomed to navigating Logic with the trackpad, so I decided to give the magic trackpad a shot. It’s almost exactly what I wanted.

(Please forgive the photo quality, just some quick snaps with my phone)

Form
As you can see it’s basically the same size as my trackball. Slightly wider but also slightly shorter. It is wafer-thin and practically weightless.






I love that I can position it anywhere and not have to manage cords. Having a clean work environment is important to me.



Function
It behaves exactly like the MBP trackpad with the added benefit of a slew of extra multi-touch functions. Some of these are irrelevant to my workflow with two notable exceptions: one finger right click (either the bottom left or bottom right corner of the pad) and application switching. Right clicking with two fingers was the one ergonomic quibble I had with the MBP trackpad. After several hours of calling up contextual menus in Logic your fingers could become a bit stiff. Being able to right click quickly is necessary. Also, I often have several apps open at once (Logic, Waveburner, Spectre, Max/MSP, etc), and being able to pull up the app switcher (Command+Tab) by placing four fingers on the pad is pretty cool.

There are no programmable gestures specific to Logic, but I’ve found that integrating the system gestures in my workflow makes some tasks easier and quicker. For example, the three finger dragging is great when you’re sequencing regions in the arrange window, moving midi notes in the piano roll, and pretty much everywhere else Logic requires dragging.

The one and only functional problem I have found with the trackpad is that it can’t move across my display rapidly. I have a 28” display and I use screensaver hotcorners so I don’t obsess over waveforms and Spectrograms. With the trackball I can spin the ball into the corner with no problem, but with the pad I have to move the cursor manually. This is a small problem, but I’m conscious of it since I activate the screensaver often.

I may never see a bluetooth trackball, but the Magic Trackpad meets almost all of my needs without cord clutter.

[ibt]

Sounds good... I wonder is there any way it could double as a wacom style tablet (with a bluetooth stylus)?

[adamgonsa]

Someone over at the macrumors forums tried that and it didn't work. Right now it's basically like the Bamboo touch pad, but with bluetooth & much more sensitivity/better tracking.

[duncanrs]

All great comments guys.

I decided to pick one up on wednesday and I think it's a fantastic tool so far. I particularly like the drag lock feature which is activated with three quarters of a double click; especially good for faders and VI knob/slider twiddling.

I too switch between apps a lot and like the general swiping gestures. I'll be giving it a go with Autocad and CS5 apps which are normally strictly mouse-only affairs but I'm optimistic for descent results.


MBP 2.16GHz 2Gb RAM, IMac i7, LP9.1.1, Magical Trackpad

[adamgonsa]

Still loving the magic trackpad, but I wanted to post an update regarding battery life.

From 8/02 until today 8/19 I have used it everyday for at least 6 hours a day minus a long weekend where I was out of town.

With all that use the battery is only down to 87%! I didn't run into the battery problems reported at iLounge, but maybe that's because I am not using Apple's rechargeable batteries? I got a rechargeable pack of eneloop batteries from Amazon.

I also realized, by accident, that pinching your fingers and turning them (like you are pretending to turn a knob) controls the fader or pan control of whatever channel is selected.

This thing is awesome.

[PRPS]

Quick question for anyone that could provide me some insight.

I have a Macbook Pro (2.4GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, running on Mac O X 10.6.5, Logic 9)

i have around 4-5GB left on my MCP and i am seriously considering either getting an iMac or Mac Pro.

My Budget is around $3,500 USD.

Like i stated before...and insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


This is my current setup...

[/img]

[redlogic]

PRPS,

OT but...nice couch!

I remember having "that" couch.

I think everyone at some point in their lives...has had "that" couch.

There may only be one of them...and now it's your turn to have it.

[PRPS]

PRPS,

OT but...nice couch!

I remember having "that" couch.

I think everyone at some point in their lives...has had "that" couch.

There may only be one of them...and now it's your turn to have it.

lmfaooooo


rise for an answer to my question

[PRPS]

blump for my question to be answered...

[PRPS]

Quick question for anyone that could provide me some insight.

I have a Macbook Pro (2.4GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, running on Mac O X 10.6.5, Logic 9)

i have around 4-5GB left on my MCP and i am seriously considering either getting an iMac or Mac Pro.

My Budget is around $3,500 USD.

Like i stated before...and insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


This is my current setup...

[/img]

[PRPS]

Quick question for anyone that could provide me some insight.

I have a Macbook Pro (2.4GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, running on Mac O X 10.6.5, Logic 9)

i have around 4-5GB left on my MCP and i am seriously considering either getting an iMac or Mac Pro.

My Budget is around $3,500 USD.

Like i stated before...and insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


This is my current setup...

[/img][/quote][/quote]

[Matchless]

Three words gentleman =Better Touch Tool
should be able to control any function you want on a track pad etc..
I've also seen a third party designer have customizable skins to work with whatever your DAW is. pretty interesting!

http://bettertouchtool.en.softonic.com/mac