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[TRA]

I'd like to become better versed with Pro Tools as when I teach myself something I normally get comfortable doing things in a particular way and then stay in that rut.  

Has anyone here gone through Pro Tools certification?  Would it help my chances of getting an internship?  

At the very least I'd like to walk away knowing PT inside and out.  I'd also be able to walk into an HD room and start working without too much tinkering.  

Any thoughts on this?

[Thomas Lester]

It couldn't hurt.  It's a bit different landscape than when I was first entering the big studio market (1993).  When I got my first job in NYC as a GA, no one wanted to hear a word about my education (I graduated from Full Sail).  They ESPECIALLY didn't want to hear about coming from Full Sail.  My Advanced recording instructor hipped me to this bit of etiquette before graduating.  So, I told NO ONE of my education.  I kept my mouth shut (as any good intern or GA should), learned as much as I could, and waited for my opportunity.

However...  in those days, you didn't say you were an engineer unless you were an engineer.  The average home musician with a tascam 4 track cassette, couldn't come in and bluff their way through 24 Track 2" calibration.  They didn't know how to set transport locations using the SSL G computer.  They couldn't bluff through setting up a Lynx Timeline to print time code and then sync two A827's.

Now days...  anyone and their brother can throw down $400 for an Mbox and say they are an engineer.  And they can walk into a studio, and probably bluff their way past the studio manager with their PT skills.

So...  a lot of studios now days are looking for degrees and certificates.  Does a degree or certificate make  you a better engineer.  Maybe not... but for a lot of studio managers that are getting burned by these "hacks" with mboxes (no offense to the mbox), it's a little more reassurance than not....

If your goal is the paper on the wall...  don't bother.  If your goal is to really learn the system well so you can become an ace operator and an asset to any project.  Then, heck yes!  do it!

-Tom

[TRA]

This is my perspective as well, but I needed to hear it from someone else.  

There is a Digi Pro School right down the street from my house.  Now I just need to find out how much it costs.  

[greg bates]

Spend your money from school on  equipment instead .... and teach yourself PT. If you are not a self learner a ton of junior colleges teach PT.

[Version]

Classes sometimes teach you cool keyboard short cuts. I like keyboard short cuts.

[greg bates]

If you cant teach yourself keyboard shorcuts, They give you a Pdf of them, You have no business running a professional session.

[Thomas Lester]

greg bates wrote on Mon, 18 December 2006 14:31

Spend your money from school on  equipment instead .... and teach yourself PT. If you are not a self learner a ton of junior colleges teach PT.

I, too, am a big proponent of self learning.  However, most of PT guys that I've hired that have been self taught, they've learned wrong, or they are slow, or they are just flat out don't know how to do things.

NOT ALL OF THE TIME.  You have to judge your ability to learned self paced and on your own.  The PT operator on my last session, was an ace.  Mostly self taught (he hooked up with a good engineer and sponged 24/7).  Note that I called him my PT operator.  He was hired as my engineer (I was the producer for this particular gig and wanted an engineer for the tracking session).  He was the studios staff engineer for their "A" room.  Unfortunately, he couldn't engineer his way out of a paper bag.  So...   I ended up engineering everything and he became my PT operator.  I say this, because theres a lot more to engineering than running PT.  Although, there is a place for just operators, but that is getting less and less common.

He was stellar.  Fastest beat detective guy I've ever seen.  All self taught.

The only thing is...  he could never tell me why he did certain things.  It was just what he was shown.  

It is possible to be self taught and amazing.  It's up to you to have that level of discipline.

-Tom

[Thomas Lester]

greg bates wrote on Mon, 18 December 2006 14:43

If you cant teach yourself keyboard shorcuts, They give you a Pdf of them, You have no business running a professional session.

No doubt!

[J.J. Blair]

The way I became fast on PT was to have an asshole producer barking at me while I was trying to do edits.  However, I've noticed that there are people who are GODLY fast with shortcuts and all kinds of crazy shit in PT.  While some of us spent our spare time learning how to record, they spent their spare time becoming PT jockeys, I guess.  If you are one of these people, just like the secretary that can type 300 words per minute, I'm sure this will give you some type of advantage.

But the knowledge needs to be combined with experience.  You have to have lots of practice, and I don't know if the school you are talking about offers that.

[Extreme Mixing]

I'm with you on this one JJ.  I didn't get the gig because of my typing skills.  But I know what to do, and how to get it done without too much fuss and growning.

Steve

[wwittman]

outside of cut and paste and save, I don't use, or like, keyboard shortcuts.

But I know where to put the mic.
(note use of singular)




oh, i forgot, i also use Command-Q to quit.

[Version]

i use the save hot key alot.

honestly I turn the monitor off most of the time and just use the control|24.

[Thomas Lester]

J.J. Blair wrote on Mon, 18 December 2006 14:59

But the knowledge needs to be combined with experience.  You have to have lots of practice

This is true regardless of where or how you learn.  You have to continually practice.  If I spend a month working on a heavy PT project with MIDI sequencing, BD work, lots of editing, etc...  I'll end up with crazy fast PT chops.  But, if I then go and do an all tape session and mix on an SSL, I'll come back and be slow on PT again.

This goes the same for all computer things for me.  When I go from a month doing ITB sessions and then go mix on a 4000, I'd better be sure I remember my grey card, or I'll forget how to even set up my transport.

I think it's because my brain has limited storage space.  If something new needs to come in, something older has to go to make room  

-Tom

[CHANCE]

I'm the same way. I will do maybe 6 video projects a year, and I have to re-learn the process with "final cut" until I get going. Then some of it comes back to me and I'm OK.

[greg bates]

Print out the short cut PDF and put it in your restroom. Try to deticate one shorcut to grey matter every couple of days!  To the engineers that engineer well, it seems to usualy be a age thing. New kids reach for a plugin instead of trying a diferent mic, placment or instrument.  Time is experience and knowledge in the sound engineering world.