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Edit Integrate Review —
Apple Logic Pro 7

Jan 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Tom Patrick McAuliffe

Recently acquired and revamped audio software delivers a full slate of professional tools.

From iMovie and iDVD to Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, the Mac provides great applications for video editing, but until now was lacking a little in the professional audio department. Enter Logic Pro 7. Purchased from software maker eMagic and revamped, Logic Pro 7 is now available only for the Mac — the PC version has been discontinued.

With a streamlined interface and workflow, the new software supports audio at 16- and 24-bit resolutions with sample rates up to 192kHz for both audio recording and playback, with a maximum of 255 audio tracks, 128 audio instrument tracks, and a nearly unlimited number of MIDI tracks. Because the software is written withn 32-bit floating-point mathematics, there's lots of audio headroom for internal processing. So, unlike some other applications, it is almost impossible to overload the signal — even during mixdown to 16-bit audio for CD release. (The new WaveBurner CD-R application is also included.)

Logic Pro 7 is part of Apple's professional software product line with Final Cut Pro HD, Motion, DVD Studio Pro, and Shake for good reason. Having used Logic 6, I find the new version to be a whole new application. To call its audio toolset comprehensive is a bit of an understatement. Perhaps it's the single-platform focus that has helped Apple create a software package for audio production that truly breaks ground in terms of new features and has everything an audio engineer could need. Indeed, the feature set is so encompassing that I will have to focus on the highlights that will most interest video professionals.

But first, a bit about the new audio features that will interest everyone. From signal-processing tools to new software instruments for generating your own music backgrounds, this application will keep you busy for months. There are lots of new instruments, like Ultrabeat for drums and rhythmic tracks and Guitar Amp Pro for a wide variety of guitar sounds. Logic also has one of the best Hammond B3 virtual organs ever.

Logic Pro 7 now supports the Apple Loops format. These files are pre-built music, sound effect, and instrument clips that you can time-stretch without affecting pitch or tempo. Users can change pitch, instrumentation, and effects in realtime. The software includes about 2,000 loops, and Apple has just released three new Jam Packs (for a total of five) with lots more sound effects, instruments, and rhythms. You can search the loops by instrument, music genre, or scene mood.

Logic Pro 7 supports changing a loop's sound and even its notes in realtime. Those who have worked with Apple's other music creation packages, GarageBand and Soundtrack, will feel right at home. All GarageBand projects are compatible with Logic Pro 7. The included Apple Loops Utility lets you create your own Apple Loops out of a simple audio file that can be fully manipulated. Of course, you can also record your own music via MIDI.

But what about those tools for video pros? In addition to its significant background music-creation abilities, Logic Pro 7 has scene-change detection, precise audio-for-video processing, and EQ with over 75 plug-in effects. Video editors will feel right at home with the timeline interface. The Arrange window allows full graphic control over clips via sound waveforms and rubber-band volume control. To ensure that your video's sound signal is up to par, the Multimeter is capable of advanced analysis of the audio output.

With new support for XML and OMF files, Logic Pro 7 allows easy import and export of audio to other applications like Final Cut Pro or Soundtrack. Videomakers will appreciate the support for multiple surround formats, including 5.1 and 7.1. Logic Pro 7 supports more than 10 different surround standards.

Once I looked over the two large reference manuals, the installation documents, the tutorial/content DVD, and the Apple Pro Series Training book with headphones at the ready, I was anxious to get to work.

I tried the new version 7 software on my 1GHz PowerBook G4 running OS X 10.3. Once the install was done I had a powerful professional audio recording studio on my lap!

Apple has chosen to copy-protect Logic Pro 7. You'll need an available USB port for the included XSKey. For some reason, mine would work only in the second port. While I understand and support the need for developers to protect and be compensated for their hard work, I would much prefer a word-challenge approach, where the software asks for your serial number or a word on a particular page in the reference manual.

When the call came for me to do some music and Foley work for some scenes of an upcoming independent film, I was ready, willing, and able. (Foley involves adding sound effects to action on the screen — for example, footsteps, bird calls, heavy breathing, and short gasps.) I also used Logic Pro 7 for some audio sweetening work for a local cable TV show. Once I got over the learning curve, in both cases Logic Pro 7 was fast and effective to work with, even on my mid-level laptop.

One of my favorite new audio-for-video tools is the Detect Cuts utility, which automatically cuts your audio into separate clips when the video scene changes. With the Auto-Crossfade edit mode available in the Arrange window, I was able to change musical moods easily from scene to scene. Also, the large SMPTE-compatible timecode window was great to have in my dimly lit edit suite.

The familiar rubber-band-like volume control in the Arrange window was a godsend. In one of my projects the actor kept turning away from his lapel mic, and the overhead boom mic wasn't capturing enough sound to be helpful.

Mixdown from stereo to 5.1/7.1 surround sound is available with automated control of mastering parameters, making it a breeze to add this feature to your productions. When I was all done I could burn Red Book standard CDs with the included WaveBurner, a standalone mastering and CD-burning application. You can write your final mixes to disc using industry-standard formats such as SDII, WAV, AIFF, AAC, and MP3, including ID 3 tags. A good habit is to perform a CD backup of the processed soundtrack of your video … just in case.

My computer, with only one G4 CPU, was not optimal — Apple recommends a G5 or dual G4 processors. Still, I found the software's user response and general performance to be speedy. The limitation was in the number of tracks or plug-ins I could use. As audio-for-video post work does not require a whole lot of effects or a large number of tracks, I was fine. I'd like to see software manufacturers become more aware of legacy computers by allowing their products to be used on slower machines, but with necessary feature limitations. Apple has begun to address this with Logic's new distributed audio processing feature.

Logic Pro 7 provides the ability to tap into networked computers via Ethernet for more DSP processing power. Now you can string two or three Macs together and have them act as if they were one computer. This feature certainly benefits users with older Macs lying around the studio.

As I worked with videos to sweeten the audio or add created music tracks, synchronization of external VTRs and QuickTime clips was always available. I could watch my video in a floating window or on my large external NTSC monitor via a FireWire conversion interface (which is not included). I found both monitoring avenues to be frame-accurate, so I could easily match up sound effects, music, etc.

The new Global Tracks feature displays a series of large thumbnails, which I found very helpful. But I'd really like future versions to allow realtime playback of DV or Quicktime video directly on the timeline/arrange window. But once I worked with it all and was done I could output DV or DVCPRO over FireWire — as opposed to needing to transfer it all back to an editing application. Overall the new software provided a very satisfying user experience.

Having used Digidesign's Pro Tools software for years, I was skeptical about Logic Pro 7 at first. I must say, though, that after working with it for the last 30 days, I am convinced the program has everything one could ask for in an audio and music-creation application. As a semi-professional musician who creates his own royalty-free tracks and as a video producer who is fussy about the audio quality of his productions, I'm more productive with Logic Pro 7. I find new ways to use it in my studio all the time.

Perhaps it is the growing popularity and lower costs of surround-sound systems, but videomakers are no longer treating audio as an afterthought. One thing is sure — Apple is proceeding with its plan of making the Mac a complete, professional “digital hub” for media creation. Logic Pro 7 is professional music creation and audio postproduction at its finest. Any Mac user who is serious about sound should buy it.

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BOTTOM LINE

Company: Apple
Cupertino, Calif.; (408) 996-1010
www.apple.com

Product: Logic Pro 7

Assets: Revamped interface; new Detect Scene feature for video work; new virtual instruments; includes 2,000 loops.

Caveats: Software is copy-protected via a USB key.

Demographic: Professional audio producers and music creators.

Price: $999; $299 for upgrade

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Contributing writer and reviewer Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a writer, musician, and media creator living in Hawaii.

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