Logic has some shortcomings

[the sinner]

Ok i just switched to logic and somethings are really getting me down on an otherwise great program.

 

 

 

-Negative Measure support is absolutely horrible and when using sync to a quick time this is something one must have. Can't have less then -8? What is that garbage?

 

- No "chuck" support. IN dp for example you can have one file with many little files built in, which share common resources regarding plug ins and movies etc...

 

 

- In general compared to pro tools and DP I find it awkward to move regions and soundbites through "spot" mode and "nudge"

 

- No "comments" column. DP has this handy dandy feature right on the tracks window.

 

- I find that locking the movie to logic is very awkward, especially when needing to move the starting points of a cue to an earlier point. And of course, not being able to assign an output in the arrange window for the movie is absurd.

 

- I have a brand new decked out computer and sometimes the send buttons in the lower left hand corner just simply dissapear. WTF?? I have to imagine where they are and then click them, and the turn the imaginary send knob.

 

Logic is so A+ on system resources compared to DP and really has a nice look to it but its quite hard to use as an all in one resource for both midi and audio.

 

My own opinions.

 

However you guys are the most helpful of any forums on the net and I thank you very much for your answers to my neewb problems.

[Dubnick]

Love the quality of the plug-ins and incredible DSP-efficiency but the lack of a Beat Detective equivalent and means for internal routing without the use of Soundflower, make it hard to take Logic Pro seriously as "pro audio" app - pro-composition/scoring/midi tool, yes, pro-audio - close but no cigar. The ease with which one can edit audio in Pro Tools seems to be overlooked by the developers of most DAW makers, including Apple/Emagic (aside from DP, who at least seem to make an effort to compete in that area) and this becomes especially clear with live multi-tracked drums. As it stands now, without takes/playlists and without beat detective, I can't imagine anyone choosing to track basics into Logic Pro over Pro Tools (taking multiple takes of drums would be a nightmare to deal with in the arrange window). The lack of internal routing from audio track to audio track is really bizarre too - most engineers I know will only use Antares autotune in graphic mode, which can't be done without using a third-party workaround like Soundflower. One more thing - there are things like the Environment, that do add a level of flexability that is interesting, but the cost-benefit-analysis of such features needs to be re-thought soon if there is any ambition for Logic Pro to become the standard DAW in the big rooms - such features make the learning curve way steeper than it needs to be, add steps to some basic tasks with little benefit, and often hide some very important basic features from the first time user. Logic Pro is a very innovative program, and for mixing on a native system (it's my primary DAW when it comes to mixing), it's hard to beat, but I still have to use Pro Tools LE (with MPT) to get of my work done, and if the next version of Pro Tools adds a very small number of features, including automatic delay compensation, it would be a lot closer to a complete native DAW solution than anything else. For the record, DP5 actually has a very well thought out feature set and would be a contender, but it also has some very long term bugs in very, very basic features (merge, BTD, midi in some editor windows), the included plug ins are mediocre to bad (with the Masterworks EQ being an exception to the rule - great plug) and the tech support is astonishingly bad. Hope I don't get to bashed here - I like a lot about Logic Pro (some of the best sounding and most useful stock plug-ins ever), but there are just a lot of things that make it's very name more than a tad ironic.

[Ashermusic]

Ok i just switched to logic and somethings are really getting me down on an otherwise great program.

 

 

 

-Negative Measure support is absolutely horrible and when using sync to a quick time this is something one must have. Can't have less then -8? What is that garbage?

 

- No "chuck" support. IN dp for example you can have one file with many little files built in, which share common resources regarding plug ins and movies etc...

 

 

- In general compared to pro tools and DP I find it awkward to move regions and soundbites through "spot" mode and "nudge"

 

- No "comments" column. DP has this handy dandy feature right on the tracks window.

 

- I find that locking the movie to logic is very awkward, especially when needing to move the starting points of a cue to an earlier point. And of course, not being able to assign an output in the arrange window for the movie is absurd.

 

- I have a brand new decked out computer and sometimes the send buttons in the lower left hand corner just simply dissapear. WTF?? I have to imagine where they are and then click them, and the turn the imaginary send knob.

 

Logic is so A+ on system resources compared to DP and really has a nice look to it but its quite hard to use as an all in one resource for both midi and audio.

 

My own opinions.

 

However you guys are the most helpful of any forums on the net and I thank you very much for your answers to my neewb problems.

 

First of all your topic name is correct. Substiute the words DP, Cubase, or PT and it would still be correct however. No DAW is prefect.

 

I agree with most of your comments. Except if you go to my website you will see that somehow I have managed to work a lot to picture without starting before measure -8. Two film/tv writers I know who have done a lot of work recently switched form DP to Logic and somehow they too are managing to work a lot to picture without starting before measure -8.

 

Also I have not experienced that disappearing send issue.

 

But you raise legitimate issues and let us hope that they are addressed in Logic 8.

[Ashermusic]

Love the quality of the plug-ins and incredible DSP-efficiency but the lack of a Beat Detective equivalent and means for internal routing without the use of Soundflower, make it hard to take Logic Pro seriously as "pro audio" app - pro-composition/scoring/midi tool, yes, pro-audio - close but no cigar. The ease with which one can edit audio in Pro Tools seems to be overlooked by the developers of most DAW makers, including Apple/Emagic (aside from DP, who at least seem to make an effort to compete in that area) and this becomes especially clear with live multi-tracked drums. As it stands now, without takes/playlists and without beat detective, I can't imagine anyone choosing to track basics into Logic Pro over Pro Tools (taking multiple takes of drums would be a nightmare to deal with in the arrange window). The lack of internal routing from audio track to audio track is really bizarre too - most engineers I know will only use Antares autotune in graphic mode, which can't be done without using a third-party workaround like Soundflower. One more thing - there are things like the Environment, that do add a level of flexability that is interesting, but the cost-benefit-analysis of such features needs to be re-thought soon if there is any ambition for Logic Pro to become the standard DAW in the big rooms - such features make the learning curve way steeper than it needs to be, add steps to some basic tasks with little benefit, and often hide some very important basic features from the first time user. Logic Pro is a very innovative program, and for mixing on a native system (it's my primary DAW when it comes to mixing), it's hard to beat, but I still have to use Pro Tools LE (with MPT) to get of my work done, and if the next version of Pro Tools adds a very small number of features, including automatic delay compensation, it would be a lot closer to a complete native DAW solution than anything else. For the record, DP5 actually has a very well thought out feature set and would be a contender, but it also has some very long term bugs in very, very basic features (merge, BTD, midi in some editor windows), the included plug ins are mediocre to bad (with the Masterworks EQ being an exception to the rule - great plug) and the tech support is astonishingly bad. Hope I don't get to bashed here - I like a lot about Logic Pro (some of the best sounding and most useful stock plug-ins ever), but there are just a lot of things that make it's very name more than a tad ironic.

 

Your criticims are fair and measured but your conclusions are not. A "pro" daw is simply one that many pros use and many pros, including myself, work in Logic. Worldwide, far more than work in DP. If it were not a "pro" app pros would not be using it.

 

Ax you say DP 5 has some great features but two high profile composers recently switched to Logic and are happy. I am sure some others have gone the other waty, Same with Cubase, PT, and Sonar.

 

When you use a DAW for a ong time it trains you to think the way it thinks so when you go to perform a task in another that does it differently it feels awkward and you instinctively think, "Well that's wrong!"

 

But it isn't necessarily it's just different.

 

An engineer and I have mixed a number of my films in PT HD. It is indeed a great program for editing/tracking/mixing. it is not a good compostional program although it is getting better.

 

PT LE is another story and I would never use it. Its limitattions, crummy over-priced compatible hardware and plug-in CPU inefficienct render it uselss to me.

 

As a Digi rep said to me, "Well Jay, we don't want to make it TOO good. We want you to buy a TDM system."

 

I hope Logic 8 addresses some of are concerns.

[camillo jr]

(taking multiple takes of drums would be a nightmare to deal with in the arrange window).

 

I don't know what it's like to have to do this on a regular basis but occasionally I have bands where I have to do multiple takes of the band playing live and I just pack each take in a folder. Even with the band playing free (off click), I find it pretty straightforward to hack sections from different folders and comp a performance together.

 

One thing I've discovered recently that makes that task easier is when it comes time to do the comp, I have a second yellow-linked arrange window tiled under the first one so that any folder I select opens up automatically in the second arrange, I do my edits and I don't have to be backing out of folders all the time. Make sure you label your folder regions different names (for speed I just number them 1,2,3 etc) then the second arrange will take on the name of the folder.

 

If I want to quickly compare sections in different folders I set up a cycle and engage solo so that any folder I click on is the one I hear. Otherwise, I'm muting and unmuting folders while hopping around to do the editing.

 

My take on takes.

[the sinner]

Well i know some other composers who struggle with the movie thing. I mean say the director is over and they want the cue to start a minute earlier, what do you do? You can just take everything and paste it minus 1 minute like in DP, which well then create the appropriate negative measures. You must either make a new file or do a new offset. What happens if the director is like, (THIS JUST HAPPENED TO ME) I want to see the few minutes before the music to see if it fits... another pain in the ass situation.

 

Another situation....

 

at the recording stage. Music cant really begin at measure 1, machines need time to sync up, sometimes 8 bars at a fast tempo are not enough safety for the sync and the slate. So you must make your scores bar 1 and your sequences bar 10? stupid.

[Ashermusic]

Well i know some other composers who struggle with the movie thing. I mean say the director is over and they want the cue to start a minute earlier, what do you do? You can just take everything and paste it minus 1 minute like in DP, which well then create the appropriate negative measures. You must either make a new file or do a new offset. What happens if the director is like, (THIS JUST HAPPENED TO ME) I want to see the few minutes before the music to see if it fits... another pain in the ass situation.

 

Another situation....

 

at the recording stage. Music cant really begin at measure 1, machines need time to sync up, sometimes 8 bars at a fast tempo are not enough safety for the sync and the slate. So you must make your scores bar 1 and your sequences bar 10? stupid.

 

It's simple. I go into the Tempo List and select all and simply drag the first one back the appropriate amount of time. Then I aet the movie start so it matches Logic song with the burn in.

 

It has been a LONG time since I had to sync to any machine that required any time for sync lock. This is the 21st Century:)

[jjigga3000]

Ok i just switched to logic and somethings are really getting me down on an otherwise great program.

 

 

 

-Negative Measure support is absolutely horrible and when using sync to a quick time this is something one must have. Can't have less then -8? What is that garbage?

 

- No "chuck" support. IN dp for example you can have one file with many little files built in, which share common resources regarding plug ins and movies etc...

 

 

- In general compared to pro tools and DP I find it awkward to move regions and soundbites through "spot" mode and "nudge"

 

- No "comments" column. DP has this handy dandy feature right on the tracks window.

 

- I find that locking the movie to logic is very awkward, especially when needing to move the starting points of a cue to an earlier point. And of course, not being able to assign an output in the arrange window for the movie is absurd.

 

- I have a brand new decked out computer and sometimes the send buttons in the lower left hand corner just simply dissapear. WTF?? I have to imagine where they are and then click them, and the turn the imaginary send knob.

 

Logic is so A+ on system resources compared to DP and really has a nice look to it but its quite hard to use as an all in one resource for both midi and audio.

 

My own opinions.

 

However you guys are the most helpful of any forums on the net and I thank you very much for your answers to my neewb problems.

 

I was about to say get a new program, until I read your post. Basically you're going to have to get used to using the program. I find that Logic is basically the best out of all programs using audio and Midi together.

[Dubnick]

Love the quality of the plug-ins and incredible DSP-efficiency but the lack of a Beat Detective equivalent and means for internal routing without the use of Soundflower, make it hard to take Logic Pro seriously as "pro audio" app - pro-composition/scoring/midi tool, yes, pro-audio - close but no cigar. The ease with which one can edit audio in Pro Tools seems to be overlooked by the developers of most DAW makers, including Apple/Emagic (aside from DP, who at least seem to make an effort to compete in that area) and this becomes especially clear with live multi-tracked drums. As it stands now, without takes/playlists and without beat detective, I can't imagine anyone choosing to track basics into Logic Pro over Pro Tools (taking multiple takes of drums would be a nightmare to deal with in the arrange window). The lack of internal routing from audio track to audio track is really bizarre too - most engineers I know will only use Antares autotune in graphic mode, which can't be done without using a third-party workaround like Soundflower. One more thing - there are things like the Environment, that do add a level of flexability that is interesting, but the cost-benefit-analysis of such features needs to be re-thought soon if there is any ambition for Logic Pro to become the standard DAW in the big rooms - such features make the learning curve way steeper than it needs to be, add steps to some basic tasks with little benefit, and often hide some very important basic features from the first time user. Logic Pro is a very innovative program, and for mixing on a native system (it's my primary DAW when it comes to mixing), it's hard to beat, but I still have to use Pro Tools LE (with MPT) to get of my work done, and if the next version of Pro Tools adds a very small number of features, including automatic delay compensation, it would be a lot closer to a complete native DAW solution than anything else. For the record, DP5 actually has a very well thought out feature set and would be a contender, but it also has some very long term bugs in very, very basic features (merge, BTD, midi in some editor windows), the included plug ins are mediocre to bad (with the Masterworks EQ being an exception to the rule - great plug) and the tech support is astonishingly bad. Hope I don't get to bashed here - I like a lot about Logic Pro (some of the best sounding and most useful stock plug-ins ever), but there are just a lot of things that make it's very name more than a tad ironic.

 

Your criticims are fair and measured but your conclusions are not. A "pro" daw is simply one that many pros use and many pros, including myself, work in Logic. Worldwide, far more than work in DP. If it were not a "pro" app pros would not be using it.

 

Ax you say DP 5 has some great features but two high profile composers recently switched to Logic and are happy. I am sure some others have gone the other waty, Same with Cubase, PT, and Sonar.

 

When you use a DAW for a ong time it trains you to think the way it thinks so when you go to perform a task in another that does it differently it feels awkward and you instinctively think, "Well that's wrong!"

 

But it isn't necessarily it's just different.

 

An engineer and I have mixed a number of my films in PT HD. It is indeed a great program for editing/tracking/mixing. it is not a good compostional program although it is getting better.

 

PT LE is another story and I would never use it. Its limitattions, crummy over-priced compatible hardware and plug-in CPU inefficienct render it uselss to me.

 

As a Digi rep said to me, "Well Jay, we don't want to make it TOO good. We want you to buy a TDM system."

 

I hope Logic 8 addresses some of are concerns.

 

Just wanted to write a quick response here to clarify a couple things.

 

#1 - I'm not sure if this was a failure to communicate properly on my part, but I am not say Logic Pro doesn't fit the bill as a Pro Composition, Pro Midi, or Pro Film Scoring App, but that it does, in fact, lack some extremely basic editing, routing and user interface features that are essential in a Pro Audio App. To be exact, the first key feature that spring to my mind would be a Beat Detective equivalent. Beat Mapping, ReClocking and the Apple Loop features all lack the ability to edit real, live multi-tracked drums in anything close to an effecient or professional manner - I don't think anyone who does this regularly would argue this fact, and having had the privilage of working as the Studio Manager at a world class recording facility in my area, I can tell you without question that this a requirement for any pro engineer who regularly tracks bands. Granted, this issue is something that professional film composers and the like may not even consider, but please believe, it certainly is when it comes to any "professional" modern rock recording - especially at an expensive and busy studio where things need to be done quickly and well. Another problematic area for any engineer attempting to track into Logic is the lack or some sort of Take/Playlist impementation - while the Cycling method does have certain advantages, especially when comping single instruments (I love the ability to color code passages and a number of other features), the lack of at least the option to work in a playlist/takes format in the arrange window eats up an insane amount of real estate when tracking, say multi-track drums, and while packing into folders might be an option, it adds an extra step to the process which is entirely unneeded. I do not use Cubase at all, but in my research, I've noticed that it employs a "stacked" option for cycle recording, that might be a great way for Logic to have the best of both worlds. Lastly, tuning vocals is just a reality of modern pop/rock recording and I know of not one person who would trust the "Auto" mode of any tuning plug in - graphic mode is the only option for truly artifact free results and internal routing between audio tracks is essential to make this happen. Before I get flamed, I need to say that I love a lot about Logic and choose it above Pro Tools when it comes to mixing - not because of the automation, which I still believe is better implemented in Pro Tools, but because the stock-plug-ins, plug-in effeciency, and ability to freeze tracks in Logic make it far easier to work natively than the Pro Tools equivelent (unfortunately, I would have consider Pro Tools LE / M-Powered Pro Tools with either the Music Production or DV Toolkit to be closes native equivelent).

 

#2 - I did not mean in any way to imply that DP is somehow a more Pro app than Logic Pro or Pro Tools. To clarify, I would say that on paper, the feature set is more well rounded and better thought out than any other native based DAW, however, the reality is what keeps DP from being what I would consider a Pro app for anything, which is sort of tragic - DP is full of long-term bugs in extremely basic functions that, I personally see it as unusable for professionals, just based on the fact that it can't be counted with any degree of certainty and the Tech Support is virtually non-existent. You have to give credit to both Avid and Apple in this dept - Avid has an extremely pro-active tech support that actively takes part in it's own messageboard and goes after reported bugs, and, while Apple is not as visibly pro-active, they do seem to regularly update software and fix bugs - MOTU never even acknowledges bugs. DP is likely to remain in the "coulda-been-a-contender" category forever unless a better or better equiped company purchases the company, and plugs all the holes in the program. Oh yeah, and the stock plugs in DP are horrendous (aside from the Masterworks EQ). Had Apple purchased DP instead of Logic and fixed the programs issues, I do believe that it would make more of a dent in the Pro Tools market than Logic Pro has, but that didn't happen and I will most definately agree that Logic Pro, even with some important feature-sets missing, is head and shoulders above DP in terms of real life, everyday use.

 

#3 - Yes, Avid handicaps it's Native systems in it's own financial interest, and in some areas they do so to an infuriating degree (I personally wouldn't own either DP or Logic Pro were it not for some of Avid's more brazenly, "let them eat cake" type moves in this dept) but to some degree, it's hard to blame them. I do believe they are aware as anyone that the non-native HD market will eventually dry up and they will have to shift a business model that focuses more on the native market, and they are making some obvious, if slow moves in this direction (including the MPT option and the M-Powered line) but I think that, in part, the reason they are able to put off including some of the features that some of thier competition makes standard in thier programs, is that they are more aware of both thier own shortcomings and the shortcomings of thier competition. A lot of Avid's competition seems to only give thought to what Avid does wrong and miss a lot of the features that a lot or Pro Tools users count on for very good reason, especially in the audio editing dept. I like both Pro Tools and Logic Pro, but I would challenge you to find one engineer recording "live" bands regularly (real drums, etc) into Logic Pro that doesn't need to bring the audio into Pro Tools at some stage for editing (I personally wouldn't count engineers that adhere to a strickly "as-it-was-played-keep-it-human" policy as they obviously would have no need for Beat Detective or Auto-tune anyhow). Also, to be fair about handicapping, I have to say that Pro Tools LE does get a bit of a bad rap, especially considering the degree to which Logic Express is handicapped when it comes to busses and aux tracks. It's far easier to mix a rock record using 32 audio tracks, 32 busses and an even higher number of aux tracks than it is to have 48 tracks, 8 busses and 12 aux tracks.

 

All that having been said, I'd love to see Logic Pro catch up to Pro Tools in the departments where it lacks since, as you rightly pointed out, the fact that Pro Tools and M-Powered Pro Tools ties users to often less than stellar interfaces does indeed suck. I'd also like to see some aspects of the UI of Logic be made more, well logical - I know I'm probably incurring the wrath of a lot of long term Logic users by saying that, and it might be too much to wish for, but it really does make the learning curve steeper for no good reason, and that alone is a sure fire way to lose potential customers. Anyhow, great forum and I've already learned a lot - for now, I'm an avid (no pun intended) user of both Pro Tools and Logic Pro - let the best DAW win!

[guavadude]

I was a long time DP user for sequencing, and I have a PT HD TDM rig at the studio where I write commercials.

I tried to switch to Logic several times over the past few years and was never able to get a handle on it, due to deadlines I usually have to deal with. (I had to give up on DP because of it's terrible use of cpu resources )

 

But I finally invested the time and effort and now I compose in Logic full time and only use PT occasionally when tracking. It depends on what you want to do. If you're recording live bands all day and not using much midi, then I'd stick with PT.

 

Logic is much better when composing with midi and audio, but there are some things that absolutely drive me crazy. I can only hope that eventually Apple sorts it out and Logic gets more "pro" with each update. At least I get the feeling that they're working on it.

 

MOTU just seems to be lagging behind in development (Mach 5 ver2??) and Digidesign has seemed to master planned obsolescence. It's almost $5k to swap your PCI digi cards to PCIe. That's crazy!!

 

I'd switch to Logic for no other reason than David has the best user forum and support!!!

[Ashermusic]

Just wanted to write a quick response here to clarify a couple things.

 

#1 - I'm not sure if this was a failure to communicate properly on my part, but I am not say Logic Pro doesn't fit the bill as a Pro Composition, Pro Midi, or Pro Film Scoring App, but that it does, in fact, lack some extremely basic editing, routing and user interface features that are essential in a Pro Audio App. !

 

Well, that is certainly not what you communicated to me. But even on this limited basis I still challenge your use of the word "essential". More efficient, better thought out, more intuitive, quicker, etc. are all fine. But they are by definition not essental if others are getting high level work without them.

 

As I said I agree that ProTools is a better audio tracking, editing and mixing environment and I would love to see Logic get better in these areas.

 

Interestingly however our host here, David, is expert in both apps and told me that overall he prefers to record and mix in Logic as do several guys I know who are fluent on both. I am not so sure and if I could justify the expense of an HD rig for mixing I would probably buy one.

 

But there really is little logical grounds (pun intended) for arguing that Logic is not a better compositional tool with its Audio Instruments, included suite of plug-ins, cpu efficiency, score printout ability, etc.

 

So to me it comes down to this: Are you primarily a composer, as I am, who also records , edits audio and mixes, or are you primarily an engineer who also composes?

 

A composer is better off with Logic. An engineer is better off with PT HD. Nobody is better off with PT LE or M-powered.

[the sinner]

= Try importing a split L/R from pro tools in logic with a similar name and see where it gets you.........

 

 

toms.chris211.L.wav

toms.chris211.R.wav

 

Logic can't understand for some reason that these are two seperate files. unless you name them .left.wav etc... It is causing me alot of grief.

 

= While using the matrix editor, there should be a little menu so i can select the tracks I want to view. Is there also a way to view by track? rather then by region?

 

- Copying automation. Is there a way to do this? Similar to paste special in pro-tools?

 

- In the automation window there should be a tool to lower all points proportionally, similar in protools. In other words to lower all selected automations a selected amount with a single tool for a selection. I dont know what the name of that tool is in pro - tools.

 

- Group automation should work, i can never get it to do so. same for fades.

 

-is there a way to set what I have selected to snap to the left side of the screen? i find zooming in sometimes it is illogical.

[stevenson]

hmm interesting discussion.

 

- do not use negative measures in logic - they are extremely buggy. take ashers advice re moving SMPTE in tempo list or set up your template to start at 10 hours or 1 hour (or whereever your movies BITC starts) and set a slow tempo. then start your cue right the way into your song file.

 

- we often use a song file called a compiled song which has the masters setup in their correct position. use broadcast wav in conjunction with 'move audio files to their original position' and you can fling them in hit the KC and they'll ll flop into their correct positions.

 

- "chuck" support suonds like folders to me. a very very handy feature in logic especially for comping multitrack recordings. asher mentioned he new quite a few people fluent in both programes who actually prefer logic to PT for mixing despite some of its shortcomings in this regard. i too, know a few. but i also know a few that prefer PT for this - it seems evenly split (anecdotally).

 

- the work flow for movies is that you set the start movie start position to line up logic SMPTE with the BITC and leave it alone. work with TC locked markers and tempo. it's simple but fiddly and i am sure there are more elegant solutions.

 

 

= Try importing a split L/R from pro tools in logic with a similar name and see where it gets you.........

 

 

toms.chris211.L.wav

toms.chris211.R.wav

 

Logic can't understand for some reason that these are two seperate files. unless you name them .left.wav etc... It is causing me alot of grief.

 

= While using the matrix editor, there should be a little menu so i can select the tracks I want to view. Is there also a way to view by track? rather then by region?

 

- Copying automation. Is there a way to do this? Similar to paste special in pro-tools?

 

- In the automation window there should be a tool to lower all points proportionally, similar in protools. In other words to lower all selected automations a selected amount with a single tool for a selection. I dont know what the name of that tool is in pro - tools.

 

- Group automation should work, i can never get it to do so. same for fades.

 

-is there a way to set what I have selected to snap to the left side of the screen? i find zooming in sometimes it is illogical.

 

turn off universal track mode and you will have more control over split stereo regions. you can disconnect the split stereo pair of audio files to edit them seperately. frankly split stereo drives me nuts too - why can't PT do interleaved?

 

you can get the matrix editor to display only the regions you want by selecting them and then opening the editor. double-clicking the background will display everything. and no, it will only display region by region. but you could merge the regions in arrangte really easily.

 

copying automation is easy enough too. you will need to set a key command for open automation event editor. select the track you want to copy and hit KC. either select the type of event you want to copy and hit select similar, or sleect all, copy, open the automation event editor of the track you want to paste to and paste.

 

to lower all points together, hold down...is it control? or option?...on a node from the point you want subsequent nodes to be lowered raised. there are many very cool tricks you can pay in automation by holding down modifier keys. RTFM or just experiment.

 

yeah group automation should work.

 

zooming is the coolest thing about logic and something i miss every other program i use. just hold down control and drag enclose (you don't need to select a tool) and click the background when you want to zoom back up.

 

these key commands are handy;

- scroll to selected

- pickup clcok; move object or event to SPL

- goto object or event