A few prongs on this idea: 1. New Destination for BIP - 2. New Mode Options.
I've recently started experimenting in Logic with routing audio through external hardware. I've found the experience somewhat painful so far, and just generally speaking an unnecessarily large pain in the ass. Firstly via the I/O plugin, which makes it a pain to print, and secondly via direct bus routing, which is a pain due to latency issues. It's also unnecessarily complicated to record external synths via the external instrument plugin (i.e. my Moog Sub37 receiving MIDI from logic). Manually sending tracks to busses and then audio tracks for recording? That's so 2000-and-late
I came up with the following workflow improvements quite literally in my sleep last night so see what you make of them. Rough Mockups included to help explain.
- Logic Pro Idea 1.jpg (293.66 KiB) Viewed 4631 times
New Track alternative Destination: Logic will bounce the selected audio regions directly to a track alternative (or as a new take in a comp folder perhaps if you don't like the original idea).
There are a few details that would need to be worked out here. e.g. right now, if you create a new track alternative, it's an entirely new track for the entire length of the project. Ideally, Logic would create a new alternative *just* for the old selected region, move selected regions down, and then print the 'effected' regions in their place. This would be disabled in the case of a software instrument track.
New mode options
1. Realtime
Works just like File > Bounce > Project or Section with 'realtime' selected. Needed to use external hardware of course. e.g, Bouncing out content when using the external instrument plugin with a synth, or when running a track through an external rack unit *with the required latency compensation*. Just try bouncing a single track out through a latency-inducing hardware unit right now and see how many mouse-clicks you need. Just try.
2. Offline
Same as per. Boring.
3. Print I/O.
A variation on Realtime. Here, Logic will bounce-in-place only up until the active I/O plugins on the channel. Image of before/after included below. This avoids any duplication of processing when the bounce is finished, whilst allowing you to hear your full effect chain during recording for live moves. E.g. Feeding an external distortion unit with an EQed and Compressed signal, and then putting it through several other sound-changing software plugins on the hardware return. You want to hear how the distortion is playing with the plugins later-on in the chain, but you want to retain as much flexibility as possible. Therefore you bounce everything up to and including the I/O plugin.
- Logic Pro Idea 2.jpg (89.41 KiB) Viewed 4631 times
A huge potential benefit of this whole thing is that you can avoid these pesky latency pains. The latency ping is already built into the I/O plugin. No more will you have to manually line up audio from external hardware. No more will you only know what your 50/50 wet/dry hardware knob-performance is *really* going to sound like in the mix after you've corrected phase.
Record Audio Direct to Track Alternative
Basically what the 'bounce to track alternative' does, but built in as an actual record function. Tick the box, press the key combo, whatever, Logic will send the track's output directly to a temporary (fully hidden and internal) bus, which is written directly to the track alternative. This avoids feedback, keeps your project clean, and avoids making a whole bunch of mouse clicks on something that can be automated.
- Logic Pro Idea 3.jpg (196.21 KiB) Viewed 4631 times
If you like, leave a comment. Also feel free to send to Apple with a link to this forum page. I've done so myself.
Cheers,
Dave
