Ok, so our mobile rig is up and rockin....We're on Da 78's (3) and are considering putting together a DAW for the truck that would allow us to do some comping, and MAYBE some sequecing (at least have it available) for those times where we move into a location to do and actual record, not just document a live gig.
My partner already owns a MOTU 2408 that is just sitting around and I thought that maybe this would be the time to learn DP3 and use it for some editing. I'm a little parnoid about putting the time in to a new program and wheather this will be confusing down the road....but mostly want to get a few opinions as to how it handles audio compared to PT. I rely on the key commands in PT quite a bit and am quite comfortable with it in general but not real interested in the 001 or mbox due to time code limitations (and would rather utilize what we already own) We don't need to ever mix in DP3 but would definately want to use some soft synths and Reason, so any suggestions as to what computer to shoot for would be cool too. No budget for a dual gig grudge . Anyone moving between platforms smoothly I'd love to talk to you. We'd be dumping simultaneously from the Tascam machines to Dp3 and then to PT Mix+(or whatever they want but probably PT) for mixing. How tough is the file transfer from DP 3 to PT? I get mixed reviews and often the advice comes from those that have "heard you can" but haven't "actually" done it. (The sales people I've dealt with are useless) Straight import of sdII files? Digi tranlator? Omf? I'm confused .....but the one thing I know is I can't lay out the 5g's + to get into another Mix system. Oh yeah , is there ANY equivelent of Beat Detective in the DP 3 world? ( or logic?) and, can you do the equivelent of a command m (mute region) in dp3(muting a region without invoking automation, this is very important to us) Thanks for any insight.. Craig

Have you considered PT Free?

/Mats

>Have you considered PT Free?<

No, I'd really like to have 24 tracks go across at once. The Idea would be to have the DAW be the "safety" as well. Craig

A DP/2408 combo would be a good fit between a mobile DA-78 rig and PT in the studio. If you're running 3 DTRS machines, transfers would be simple. Plug into the three TDIF jacks on the 2408, record all 24 tracks in one pass, and you'll get 24 SDII files of the exact same length. Plug the drive into your PT system and drag each file to the same start time on it's own track. Finito. Even the slowest G4 could handle these basic duties.
If you're running 32+ tracks, you'll have to do more than one pass, which creates extra steps. You could just add another 2408 expansion unit to the same PCI-324 card to maintain the easy one pass/ equal length files functionality. Otherwise, you could add a MOTU Digital Timepiece which gives you sample-accurate sync between the DA-78s and DP. Then each pass would be aligned, but the files would have slightly different start times, so you'd have to go through bouncing each track from zero to import them into PT easily. Pain in the butt. I've never tried it, but you might be able to intiate each record pass as an automated punch-in to assure each pass has the exact same start time. Damn, why didn't that occur to me before? I'll have to give it a try tonite! (I just re-read your post and saw you only use three machines, so that was useless info, ah well... )
So the file transfers are dead simple if you record all 24 tracks in one pass. Just set-up your DP machine to use the same format HD as your PT system and you can work directly from the same drives. I use an UW SCSI card with an external case that has an UW to ATA adapter in it. Then I just swap $80 80GB ATA drives in the external case for different projects. $1/GB is pretty decent for PT media isn't it?
I haven't used Beat Detective so can't help there. DP has something called find tempo which can be used with audio files for lining things up on beat, is that similar? It also supports Vocalign for Soundreplacer like tasks. As far as soft synths, the faster the G4 the better, but DP does do a faster than real-time bounce to disk, so rendering them as audio files isn't such a time-waster if you're short on processor. I don't think you can mute by region in the current version. HTH

Subspace, thanks so much for the detailed reply to my post. Actually we may ned to plug another 24 tracks into the primary system so the info you gave is helpful.
This would be a no brainer if i could afford even a stripped down version of PT but tha's not the case.
We're gona pull the trigger on the DP3 set up , i'll just have to crack the manual( I had Performer before it went "digital" so shouldn't be that tough)
As far as Beat Detective goes, I use that ALOT to tighten up drum tracks, I guess I'll have to d the DP> PT transfer if that is crucial to the project, which leaves out editing with beat detective onsite. Maybe some DP 3 power user has found a similar program /plugin / or style of editing that would help do the trick.
I've used Vocalign acouple times but use Sound Replacer ALOT.Is there some thing similar to Sound Replacer in DP3?

Also, the nice folks at tascam have told me they make a TDIF splitter....?? Actually a Y cable of the DA 78 That could feed the MOTU 2408 simultaneously. Thats the claim, but the guys at my olcal shop raised an eybrow when I passed that info along. Have you seen or heard of such a thing?
thanks again for the info ,craig

I'd heard they had something like that for folks that wanted to leave external A/Ds plugged into the digital ins while the digital outs were patched to a 2408 or such. TDIF = Truly Dumb InterFace. Is that the cable you're talking about, or do you need to split the TDIF outputs to two different locations?
To see what's available for DP go to motu.com and click on the "Extending Digital Performer" link at the lower left. It's a pretty comprehensive list of third party devices and software which work with DP. No Sound Replacer or Beat Detective listed I'm afraid. To find out the power-user work-arounds you should sign up for the MOTU-MAC mailing list on Yahoo groups here:
http://unicornation.com/
HTH