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The power of DO!

December 16, 2011 in Apps, iPhone, Software, Technology with 0 Comments

This week I was looking for a new productivity app that was cloud-based that I could use for various projects.  I spent some time looking through the Google Apps Marketplace and stumbled past DO.  After just a few minutes of checking this product out, I was loving it.

Photo Courtesy of do.com

Here are a few things that I found very useful with DO:

  1. Cloud-based.  I frequently work with clients on web design/maintenance projects and having a product accessible anywhere is extremely useful.
  2. iPad web app.  Yes, having a dedicated app for the iPad would be great, but I find this web app very functional and works extremely well.
  3. iPhone app. This is a great start for this app.  One thing that I would like to see (and I believe it is coming in a future update) is the ability to create a project from the iPhone app but for a quick way to create, update and monitor activity, this is great.
  4. Google Apps Integration.  After a few hours of working with this product, I contacted the IT Administrator at our church about adding this to our domain. I also added it to a couple other Google Apps domains that I manage.  With Google Apps integration, you can easily attach Google Docs and integrate with your Gmail to create tasks etc.
  5. Ease of use.  As much as I love products like Omnifocus, Nozbe, etc., there are times when they can be downright cumbersome to either figure out or share information with others. DO makes it easy to share information, tasks and notes with coworkers.
  6. Price.  It’s FREE!  How cool is that?  Take 30 seconds and sign up for your account.

Alfred App

December 6, 2011 in All Things Apple, Software, Technology with 0 Comments

I am always looking for apps or utilities that can increase productivity or at least shorten the steps that it takes to do something.  A few months ago I came across the great utility, Alfred.  Alfred is a launcher for OSX and within a couple keystrokes you can launch your favorite app.  But it doesn’t stop with just launching apps…you can also search the web, amazon, wiki, maps & more.

If you want to check it out, you can find more information here.

ProTools 9.0.6 Released – Lion Support….finally

December 1, 2011 in Music, Recording, Software, Technology with 0 Comments

Well, it is here…the ProTools release for those who have already spent the money on upgrading to PT9 and don’t want to shell out another $300 for PT10.  Avid has released 9.0.6 that includes support for Lion.

You can read more about this update at http://pmatt.me/ukXktV

ProTools 9 error on launch

November 16, 2010 in Music, Recording, Software with 2 Comments

After installing ProTools 9 on my laptop, I was excited to launch the program without any interface connected…just my headphones.  I was quite frustrated when I got this error:

Not what I was hoping for…

After searching around for a solution, here is what I found.  Went through the steps and BINGO!  Everything worked.

For full instructions, click here.

Mac OS X and Windows 7
This has been resolved in some scenarios by picking a different Playback Engine:

  1. Launch Pro Tools 9
  2. When the splash screen appears on the screen, hold down the “n” key on your keyboard, which will eventually open the Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools.
  3. At the top of this window, you will see the ‘Current Engine’ drop-down menu.
  4. Choose a different Engine (such as Pro Tools Aggregate I/O)
  5. Click OK.

This should allow Pro Tools to launch.

Teambox

August 11, 2010 in Software, Technology with 0 Comments

I have been looking around at different options for project management and team collaboration.  Here is what I started looking at this week.  Check out their site and see if it might work for you.

The following information is from their website:

Five reasons why Teambox is a perfect fit

  1. 1-minute setup. Just like using GMail, you don’t need to install anything.
  2. Anywhere, anytime. Access your data from any computer.
  3. Secure. They use enterprise-class servers to host and backup your data for you.
  4. Evolving. Teambox is being constantly updated with new features.
  5. Inbox-driven. You can be notified by emails from activities in your projects

Propellerhead Reason 5 and Record 1.5: what’s new? | MusicRadar.com

August 10, 2010 in Music, Software, Technology with 0 Comments

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via Propellerhead Reason 5 and Record 1.5: what’s new? | MusicRadar.com.

OpenProj – Project Management Software

August 8, 2010 in Software, Technology with 0 Comments

I recently came across this open source software.  If you find yourself trying to remember details for productions, events, etc.; this might be something for you to check out.

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OpenProj is a free, open source project management solution. OpenProj is a replacement of Microsoft Project and other commercial project solutions. The OpenProj solution has been download more than 1,250,000 times in the few months since launch and is being used in over 142 countries. A free download of OpenProj is available here and is distributed under the CPAL license. OpenProj is ideal for desktop project management and is available on Linux, Unix, Mac or Windows. It even opens existing Microsoft or Primavera files. OpenProj shares the industry’s most advanced scheduling engine with Project-ON-Demand and provides Gantt Charts, Network Diagrams (PERT Charts), WBS and RBS charts, Earned Value costing and more. There is literally no time or effort involved in switching to OpenProj, and your teams can manage projects on any platform for free. Projity worked closely with leaders in the commercial and open source industries in preparation for the release of OpenProj. It is a welcome addition, not only for project management users, but also for users in all software segments. Microsoft Project retails for $999.99, is installed on 7% of all Office desktops and drives over $1 billion in revenue for Microsoft. OpenProj fills an important gap in the desktop market, as a key component in the Office family of products now has a replacement available on Linux, Unix, Mac or Windows.

iPad Control Surface

July 13, 2010 in Apps, Software with 0 Comments

AC-7 Pro Control Surface for iPad

Saitara Software
One of the tipping points for me in getting an iPad early on was “how will this help me in my weekly worship leading.  Granted, I am quite the Apple enthusiast but didn’t want to just get an iPad just to say I had one.  Once I saw the AC-7 Pro Control Surface app, I was hooked.  This control surface has modes for Logic, Digital Perfomer, Pro Tools as well as Mackie Universal Control.  I have used it in ProTools, however, it is very buggy and not as enjoyable of an experience.  Once I hooked it up to Ableton, I was stoked.  I ended up replacing my Axiom 61 on stage for the iPad!

One of the ways that I use AC-7 Pro is by setting my Click on Channel 1 and Loop/Perc on Channel 2.  This gives me a standard way of adjusting my fader levels without having to think too much. The only I really need to adjust anything is to boost the click level or fade the loop.  I then midi map the “Select” button at the bottom of each fader to a particular song.  This gives me the ability to jump to a particular song on the fly.  There are many more features that I could cover in a later post but here is a quick look at AC-7 Pro and how I use it on a weekly basis.

AC-7 Pro is available in the iTunes App Store and sells for $9.99.

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