Ubuntu Studio Users WANTED!!

[Zahne]

Hello all, I posted this a while back with no responses but I wanted to try it again. My film group is producing a web video that features someone's experience with Ubuntu Studio for a project(s). Whether you are a photographer, filmmaker, musician, graphic designer or other artist tell us how Ubuntu Studio has helped you succeed in your work. We'll bring our film grew to your creative environment and interview you for a we-exclusive mini-doc.

The Deatils:

-We'd be filming for up to but not more than one work day. 8 hours.
-Where and when is flexible but where, ought to be in your work environment (studio, on a set etc.)
-We'll cover the meals during the time we work
-Give you a copy of the final product on the format you prefer. (We will be shooting HD).
-We will show the world the usefulness of Ubuntu Studio through your story.

We operate just outside NYC. If you are in the tri-state area and are interested in the project please let me know via PM. A shoot in the tri-state are (CT, NJ, NY) would be preferable but if you are the New England area at least, then we can work something out.

We are paying for this production out of pocket as a contribution to the community and hopeful expansion of it.

PM me if you're interested in making it happen!

[sgx]

Are you drunk?! Why would you want to film someone else, when setting it
up for yourself is simple, and filming the attempts of your own people would be so much more efficient and revealing?

Which begs the question as to why someone actually using such software
for $work$ would allow competitors, let alone potentially lurking thieves, to observe the inner workings, and note the inventory :)

[Zahne]

Are you drunk?! Why would you want to film someone else, when setting it
up for yourself is simple, and filming the attempts of your own people would be so much more efficient and revealing?

Which begs the question as to why someone actually using such software
for $work$ would allow competitors, let alone potentially lurking thieves, to observe the inner workings, and note the inventory :)

I suppose that I'm not making myself clear. I want to make a featurette/short web video featuring a story of someone's success with Ubuntu Studio. They'll only reveal as much content of their work as they please. It wouldn't need to reveal their secrets or their craft but rather discussing why using Ubuntu Studio made that project a success. This is not a making of but essentially a video case study. Much like the ones featured on Ubuntu's main site. I don't think Canonical was "drunk" when they allowed those to officially appear on their site to prove the usefulness of the distro.

[sgx]

Sorry, saw some strange spelling errors (I'm a terrible typist, myself)
and thought maybe you'd enjoyed a few brewskies :)

I think you will make a better case for Ubuntu Studio if you do it yourself, in a KDE 3.5 environment, with at least 6 desktops, switching
between apps/screens with the scrollwheel. This is something that might
interest a windows DAW user used to crowded apps, and sick of minimizing/maximizing everything.

Film the making of a beat and fills in Hydrogen, then a pad and lead with zynaddsubfx, then a linuxsampler guitar run into rakarrack. Put a vkeybd on each desktop for easy auditioning of changes. Detail the easy connections in qjackctl. Each app of this setup would be on its own desktop. Make sure to avoid fully maximized windows, so you have space on each one to scrollwheel the mouse to change desktops. Record the track in timemachine, ardour, rosegarden, audacity to show there is some variety
available.

I would suggest a segment on Reaper in a wine environment, as that appears to be the strongest and most stable DAW available to us so far.

I would also consider video contributions from around the world, and compile the good parts, and to be honest, to get enough footage, you may
need to expand the theme to cover linux DAW production as a whole, and not
focus on a single distribution.

The problems circling around Ubuntu realtime kernels beyond 8.04 also
are a good case for widening the scope of the documentary.

Cheers

[Zahne]

Thanks for the pointers. However, I don't think you're getting the angle. It's not about making a guided tour or a promo outlining the specific software that's featured. Nor is it about those very technical details. That sounds like a great IT perspective.

We're looking for something more organic. The rawest part of the process when making art and how Ubuntu Studio takes part in it.

It's about the experience of that artist or artists using Ubuntu Studio. Additionally the philosophies that artist(s) subscribes to that motivates the use of Ubuntu Studio over other digital art solutions (i.e. CS4, Final Cut Studio; essentially commercial software on commercial OSs).

Less along the lines of a walk-through and more of a narrative. Take this Final Cut In Action video for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42e-HFbt6Z4

This is more what we're aiming for.

There will be exposure of the actual software/OS in action but it will not be too in depth. Again, this would be a more organic approach.

[sgx]

I would ask yourself, 'What do I want to change in the minds and lives of
people who watch my productions?'

If you want experienced media hobbyists/professionals, to switch operating systems, or augment their systems in a dual-boot/dual-box arrangement, I would focus on the 3 biggest complaints PC
users have, which might be

security/virus
workflow/training personnel
cost vs % of measurable improvement after upgrades

One big problem you could address is the critical need for new users
to have, or purchase hardware known to work in linux sysytems. A lot
of people give up after a couple hours, when simply gettting a different
sound/graphics/coms device would have insured success. Such 'sticky'
information is often neglected by overzealous and un-realistic linux devotees.

Another consideration is competition the Studio faces in the
short run from other linux systems. The debian video/monitor detection
is pretty dire. The last few debian based variants I tried, all failed to properly detect standard components, with video resolution maxing out at 640 x 480, or 800 x 600, and a pitiful excuse of an xorg.conf file.

Is there some conflict of interest that prevents you and your crew from being 'the star of the show'? You apparently have the means, motivation, and firsthand experience to do a good film, the BBC youtube
clip was not really inspirational on any level. I didn't want to buy
a video camera or Final Cut, didn't consider a career change, or
want to join them around the BBC watercooler.

There is probably a lot of archival footage from linux conferences around the world that might hold some useful interviews already, have you posted in the Linux Format forum? They have their LUG listings in each issue, the ones in your territory might be a potential source of contributors.

[Stochastic]

Well I would have volunteered except I'm in Vancouver.

SGX, I think you're way off the mark when you suggest spotlighting reaper - Ardour is an open source powerhouse with surround capabilities (once paired with ladspa plugins) that dance around everything else on the market. Maybe it's best to just let Zahne do his project and not try to change his artistic vision, though I see value in some of your suggestions.

As for your issue with Ubuntu not recognizing your monitor properly, did you file a bug? Ubuntu is widely regarded as the most popular desktop linux distro so it's obviously working on the majority of desktop hardware. It'd be great to stamp out all these last bugs by having people who experience them report them on launchpad.net's tracker.

Zahne, I'll ask around on IRC to see if anyone in the NY area might be interested. You may also want to contact your LoCo team and ask them if they know any multimedia professionals using Ubuntu Studio.

[Zahne]

Stochastic, thank you for that. I've posted on craigslist as well. Hopefully we'll receive a response soon. I really appreciate your help.:)

Well I would have volunteered except I'm in Vancouver.

SGX, I think you're way off the mark when you suggest spotlighting reaper - Ardour is an open source powerhouse with surround capabilities (once paired with ladspa plugins) that dance around everything else on the market. Maybe it's best to just let Zahne do his project and not try to change his artistic vision, though I see value in some of your suggestions.

As for your issue with Ubuntu not recognizing your monitor properly, did you file a bug? Ubuntu is widely regarded as the most popular desktop linux distro so it's obviously working on the majority of desktop hardware. It'd be great to stamp out all these last bugs by having people who experience them report them on launchpad.net's tracker.

Zahne, I'll ask around on IRC to see if anyone in the NY area might be interested. You may also want to contact your LoCo team and ask them if they know any multimedia professionals using Ubuntu Studio.

[sgx]

The problem showing a movie about any linux audio setup is that the
market is torn between windows and macs, and convincing someone in either group that they will somehow improve their work-flow, or audio productions by using foss tools instead of their normal range of vst plugins and hosts, is akin to cleaning a root canal on your mother-in-laws
rear molar. When a native linux app can host plugins, process midi, and record output as easy and as well as Reaper does, it will be party time. :) But I'm not holding my breath.

On the fair and balanced side, I've spent the day/night with Hydrogen, zynaddsubfx, and rakarrack, and I would not want the job of replacing them with just three windows apps, nor enjoy the man-hours spent googling about for a 6-desktop xp/vista how-to page, (should such a thing exist)
that could keep everything separate and clutter free.

The nvidia 6100 issue is a royal and ancient debian tradition, not really
ubuntu specific in nature, and was very low on their to-do list, though a common issue. I think their goal is to dumb-down the whole of linux as part of the OLPC program, but thats just wild speculation, and the train already left the station hours ago.
Cheers

[VertexPusher]

When a native linux app can host plugins, process midi, and record output as easy and as well as Reaper does, it will be party time.
You seem to prefer the monolithic all-in-one bloatware approach which was first established by Cubase. The VST plugin interface was a huge benefit to Steinberg because it helped them lock customers into their flagship application. However, from the users' point of view this approach is misguided. I'd rather have a very good MIDI sequencer which does only MIDI, a very good multitrack recorder which does only multitrack recording, etc., and make them work together using Jack. I'd rather have my synthesizers and samplers running as processes separate from the sequencer and recording application, because it makes things more stable. It also helps distribute CPU load not only between cores but even between separate computers, if necessary.

The invention of MIDI and the subsequent modularization of electronic music gear was a huge step forward. The Linux model with Jack at its core extends that modularization into the software realm. Steinberg has stated multiple times that they are not going to enter the Linux market. This is because they can't control Jack and ALSA the same way they control VST and ASIO. For you and me, that's a good thing.

[sgx]

The ardour .rpm is 5.4 meg, the reaper .exe is 4.4 meg. I think you
need to re-define bloatware :)

[Stochastic]

SGX, we get it, you like reaper. You might want to take a look at these sample rate conversion tests: http://src.infinitewave.ca/ and compare Reaper against Secret Rabbit Code 0.1.3 (the library Ardour uses).

But now we're off topic.

[Junkieman]

Zahne this sounds great, and is definitly something I'd love to watch! Good luck with this :)

[sgx]

A man wants to create a film about using Ubuntu Studio, I'm suggesting things to include that might interest viewers, and help them accurately reconsider their media production options. Linux users can enjoy an exclusive club, pat each other on the back, but a documentary that is accurate and truthful needs teeth, and you won't be taken seriously in the music production community without solid vst support, and today, at 1:49 PM pacific time, linux does not have that.

We do have system tools and native apps that when properly assembled, and put in the hands of capable artists, can be used to great effect, and worthy of mainstream consideration, once the vst support is 'complete'. That support appears to be on the way here, with the vestige replacement vst headers,(assuming they get used) but in the meantime, wine/wineasio allows us the great option of using a few vst host applications, and a large majority of the vst plugins that don't utilize dongles, or pace/ilok copy protection. The host environments are just another i/o option in a jackd system, you can route a simple or complex vst production to whatever you want, rakarrack, ardour, audacity, mix it shoulder to shoulder with zynaddsubfx, linuxsampler, hydrogen, whatever else you like.

Producing artists want freedom of choice. Linux can be used to enhance that freedom, and a film documenting such enhancement honestly, will be well received. One that fails to chronicle the present limitations in a linux environment, might lead new linux users to unexpected disappointments, the last thing anyone wants to have happen.

Cheers

[VertexPusher]

The ardour .rpm is 5.4 meg, the reaper .exe is 4.4 meg. I think you
need to re-define bloatware :)
The Ardour .deb is smaller than the Reaper .exe.

But you are missing the point anyway. Bloatware is not about features per se, but about redundant features. If I have an application that outperforms Reaper in the MIDI department, and another application that outperforms Reaper's audio/mixing capabilities, and I can link these two via Jack, why would I need Reaper?