Multiple Calendars on iPod touch/ iPhone

If you own an iPhone or iPod touch and you are using it as your primary PDA/ diary etc, you are probably aware of some of the limitations in regards to the calendar. One of the most frustrating limitations being that it can only sync up to one calendar. ie iCal or Outlook or Google Calendar. There is however a workaround... a bit of work to set up but a workaround none the less. The basic concept is to have all of your calendars to sync into iCal - and then this iCal calendar will be the calendar which will sync to your iPod/ iPhone.

If your office computer is a PC and you are using Outlook, the easiest way to get Outlook to sync with iCal is to go through Google Calendar. Firstly, you will need to download the Google Calendar Sync software. Once installed on your PC you will then need to sync Outlook with your primary google calendar. You can select whether to sync one way or 2-way and the time interval for sync updates. The great thing with Outlook/ Google Calendar is the fact that it is a 2 way sync, unlike iCal and Google! Once your google Calendar is in sync you then subscribe to it within iCal. The subscription address can be found under your Google Calendar settings.

Now when you connect you iPod/ iPhone your Outlook, Google and iCal calendars will be synchronised!!! Be aware though, that any changes made to your iPhone/ iPod calendar under your Google Calendar sub calendar will not be uploaded to Google as iCal is only 1 way.ie download only (you will need to manually make changes to the Google Calendar using your iPod/iPhone web browser to work around this) . This however is a method for you to keep track of any Outlook, Google and iCal appointments etc...at any one time

Pro Tools 8 Playlists for ADR

After having a bit more of a play on ProTools 8 I wanted to write about the new playlist features.

With PT8, playlists are far more functional than they were to this version. In particular is the ability to list all alternate playlist under the primary track as a collapsable group of tracks. This allows you to view all tracks at once, and not just simply cycle through the playlist tracks one by one. where this is particularly useful is when recording ADR takes. After going to your "preferences" and selecting "Automatically create new playlists when loop recording", Pro tools will create playlists for all of your takes. These takes can then be made visible, showing up lined up directly under the main playlist.
This is excellent for editing dialogues and ADR (and of course music). What you can do is solo through the alternate playlist (alternate takes) select the portion of the track you like and edit it into a "cut track" or "final edit track". Another great feature is that the main playlist will keep the track coloring from the original playlists so that you are always aware visualy where the edit selection came from. An example is below.



The green edits are original from the main playlist.
However as you can see I have taken edits from the other three alternate playlists and simply placed them on the main playlist. An easy method is by using the "separation grabber" This allows all automation to be tied to these tracks making it easier when shifting tracks (with alt playlists) to various sessions.

Pro Tools 8 - What I think so far

Now that I have started to use Pro Tools 8, I wanted to give my thoughts on this upgrade.

To start with, when opening Pro Tools now you are greeted by a splash screen asking if you wish to open from a list of templates or existing session. (This feature can be turned off)

The look of Pro Tools has changed. No longer is the edit window a nice clean bright screen with fine lines and easy to read details, it now has taken a more dark appearance akin to that of Logic 8, with fine lines and text now seeming to be more bold.
A positive to the new look interface though is the addition of a db level range on the mixer.

Once you get over the new look, the fun begins.


Pro tools now ships with many more plug ins. With new virtual instruments including:

Boom drum machine and sequencer
DB-33 tonewheel organ emulator with rotating speaker simulation
Mini Grand acoustic grand piano
Vacuum monophonic vacuum tube synthesizer
Xpand!2 multitimbral synth and sample workstation
Structure Free sample player (RTAS)
FXpansion BFD Lite acoustic drum module

Also included are new reverbs, eq's, delays, frequency shifter and a host of new AIR plugins which more closely resemble a palate of guitar stomp boxes. Some of these new plug ins include:

AIR Chorus
AIR Distortion
AIR Dynamic Delay
AIR Enhancer
AIR Ensemble
AIR Filter Gate
AIR Flanger
AIR Frequency Shifter
AIR FuzzWah
AIR KillEQ
AIR Lo-Fi
AIR MultiChorus
AIR Multi-Delay
AIR Nonlinear Reverb
AIR Phaser
AIR Reverb
AIR Spring Reverb
AIR StereoWidth
AIR Talkbox
AIR Vintage Filter
BF76 Compressor
BF Essential Clip Remover
BF Essential Correlation Meter
BF Essential Meter Bridge
BF Essential Noise Meter
Celemony Melodyne Essential
Eleven Free
Lo-Fi
Maxim
Recti-Fi
SansAmp
Sci-Fi
TL AutoPan
TL InTune
TL MasterMeter
TL Metro
Vari-Fi

A new midi editor now sits below the edit window. (By default this is collapsed) It is very similar the the sequencer to that in Reason, with the advantage to be able to toggle between the midi editor and a score editor.

The top of the screen now houses a new customizable tool bar. This allows you to configure which tools and counters appear at the top of the screen. One handy configuration includes the Universe window.

These new features are only a few hand picked features which exist within this new update. I have been working on music remixes, and thus this initial review is more music related. Over the next few months I hope to write what new features in Pro Tools 8 are more suited to those who work in audio post production.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all!

It has been a while since I have written on this blog due to work commitments and holiday time. I intend to now gear up the blog entries for the coming year. First up will be some initial thoughts on the new Pro Tools 8.

PT8 is here!!!

The wait os over... Digidesign has released Pro Tools 8.

For further information on the many new features click here.

New Rode microphone blimps

To compliment the Rode range of shotgun microphones, the release of the Rode Blimp is something to get quite excited about. Retailing for a fraction of the cost of other alternative blimps, this makes for a very handy addition to your recording kit.

Included with the blimp is:
- The windshield. (Including a quick release pistol grip and internal cable from the mounts to the pistol grip)
- Spare rubber shock bands for the mounts
- The "Dead Wombat" (The furry windsock)
- The "Dead Wombat" brush

New Mac Books

After much speculation and anticipation, Apple has finally released it's newest range of Mac Books. As a sound editor, one limitation on the new Mac Book models is the lack of a firewire port. This makes using additional interfaces and drives, USB dependent. The Mac Book Pro on the other hand, does have one Firewire 800 port.

For further information, visit the Apple website.