ProRemote - iPhone and ProTools

[Animus]

One thing to keep in mind is that Apple takes a 30% cut from App developers. So the coder of ProRemote is only getting 105 bucks essentially. Basically Apple gets 45 bucks for doing absolutely nothing but putting it on there store. That's a good commision.

[Rokus666]

There ya go, that makes more people motivated to write applications !

[Lorddiagram]

Originally Posted by elambo

Under Settings, at the top, turn Airplane Mode to ON.

sorry - i should have been clear.

How do you turn off the phone "GSM" while still having WiFI on so as to be able to use this in a studio without having cell phone interference noise?

Thanks

lD

[thermos]

Originally Posted by Lorddiagram

sorry - i should have been clear.

How do you turn off the phone "GSM" while still having WiFI on so as to be able to use this in a studio without having cell phone interference noise?

Thanks

lD

Under firmware 2.0 or above, you can put the phone in airplane mode, (turning off gsm) and still get airport signal. Just turn the airplane mode on, and then turn airport on. For those flights that have wifi.

[Lorddiagram]

Originally Posted by thermos

Under firmware 2.0 or above, you can put the phone in airplane mode, (turning off gsm) and still get airport signal. Just turn the airplane mode on, and then turn airport on. For those flights that have wifi.

thankyou sir

good to know


lD

[Schmeckitup]

Originally Posted by JonesH

I believe - in fact, I'm sure - that you can turn on WiFi even while having it in flight mode. WiFi does not interfere audibly, from what I've experienced.

Cool! I didn't know that.
Also - there's already some competition - Your iPhone is not a toy ! iTouchMidi turns it into a hi tech midi controller has released a couple midi control apps (xy pad, trigger pads for live, and a keyboard). Latency is suprisingly low, and they have a clever app on the host computer so you can just fire up and start playing (no network config).
He's supposedly submitted an MCU simulator this week. Should be available very soon for purchase. Cheaply.

[thebri]

Grrr, I ponied up the 39.99 for the silly little app. I'm on set on a low-budget movie using PT as the primary recorder. I will have to be running boom sometimes as well so I figured this would be the best way to remotely control PT without having extra gear to lug around (the whole bloody point of the iPhone IMO).

My tests went OK. You really want to launch things in the specified order after a fresh boot, but then it didn't fail.

I will report back after a few days on set if it was usable at all.

[littledoodler]

For 140 buck this is a joke. Yes you can get a tranzport for that much with actually buttons.

[Rokus666]

that software is too expensive. People will make controller softwares for much less as you can see there is couple right now.
It will just get better and better...

[elambo]

Originally Posted by thebri

I will report back after a few days on set if it was usable at all.

Please do.

[JonesH]

Originally Posted by thebri

I will report back after a few days on set if it was usable at all.

I'm also considering the 40$ version, mostly to use as a remote level meter when setting levels on external pre:s. Does this work well with the cheaper version?

[Savernake]

I posted about an iPhone mackie control emulator - maybe not as comprehensive as pro remote but at $5.99 it's worth checking out - itouchmidi.com i think

[Lipps]

I got mocha VNC! I can record vocals fine from anywhere. That's all I need. $5.99 as well

[mattrixx]

I bought the MCU emulator for iPhone and have not been able to get it working... it's really not ready to be operating reliably and the feature set is more geared toward Ableton LIVE users..
Another vote here for using any VNC prog.

[alexfoinc]

Originally Posted by JonesH

I'm also considering the 40$ version, mostly to use as a remote level meter when setting levels on external pre:s. Does this work well with the cheaper version?

yup- however the full version has a 32 channel meter bridge mode.

[alexfoinc]

Originally Posted by Rokus666

that software is too expensive. People will make controller softwares for much less as you can see there is couple right now.
It will just get better and better...

I highly doubt that as I've been writing software for 20 years now and it was hard for me. If it was easy it would have taken me a few weeks and it would cost a dollar.

You do the math.
alex

[alexfoinc]

Originally Posted by littledoodler

For 140 buck this is a joke. Yes you can get a tranzport for that much with actually buttons.

The Tranzport is actually more expensive than this and even more expensive if you include the cost of shipping and taxes.

ProRemote does more than Tranzport and actually works reliably further than 5 feet away from the Tranzport USB receiver. With an 802.11n rig, ProRemote blows the doors off Tranzport in terms of latency and distance. You can finally hit record from the outhouse that your guitar sounds awesome in while your fancy ProTools HD3 rig sits inside away from the stench. ;-) Tranzport also doesn't have virtual touch sensitive faders or a color display.

I understand that people think the software is too expensive but I cannot lower the price of the software for many reasons, one of them now being in respect for the hundreds of people who can afford ProTools and ProRemote and purchased my software.

To those folks around the world who actually see the value and the engineering difficultly in ProRemote, I thank you for being a customer- lots more is coming.

best,
a

[alexfoinc]

Originally Posted by Schmeckitup

Cool! I didn't know that.
Also - there's already some competition - Your iPhone is not a toy ! iTouchMidi turns it into a hi tech midi controller has released a couple midi control apps (xy pad, trigger pads for live, and a keyboard). Latency is suprisingly low, and they have a clever app on the host computer so you can just fire up and start playing (no network config).
He's supposedly submitted an MCU simulator this week. Should be available very soon for purchase. Cheaply.

I finally got a chance to use this software and I think it's great! For those folks complaining about ProRemote being way too expensive and crappy, I highly recommend you use this software instead!

alex (the author of ProRemote)

[alexfoinc]

Originally Posted by thebri

Grrr, I ponied up the 39.99 for the silly little app. I'm on set on a low-budget movie using PT as the primary recorder. I will have to be running boom sometimes as well so I figured this would be the best way to remotely control PT without having extra gear to lug around (the whole bloody point of the iPhone IMO).

My tests went OK. You really want to launch things in the specified order after a fresh boot, but then it didn't fail.

I will report back after a few days on set if it was usable at all.

Currently my installer is retarded and doesn't check to see if the MIDIServer is running on your system before installing. It would be running say if ProTools was running at the time you installed ProRemoteServer.

The issue is that the MIDI server doesn't know our device has been installed unless you restart ProTools. you should only have to do this once. I will address this in a future version of the installer/control app.

a

[CDS]

I have a friend that video chatted me when he bought this application and he was excited about the possibilities of PT remote controlling. He mentioned that the price point was high for home recording, but then I told him "Why should anyone worry about that, use it as a tax write off".

If Digidesign would have made this iPhone app themselves and charged $249 for it, I feel everyone would gladly buy it and not complain one bit.

As an indie developer, their price point should have been low at first, get the buzz going, then raise the price to suit their business model.

[elambo]

Originally Posted by CDS

If Digidesign would have made this iPhone app themselves and charged $249 for it, I feel everyone would gladly buy it and not complain one bit.

GS members tend to support the little guy. The upstarts. That's one good thing about GS that's relatively unarguable. On the other hand, people love to bash Digi. If this software was penned by Digi then the noise about the price would be much louder. I'm certain of that.

In school, very early on we learned about the "consumer vote." The buyers and non-buyers will decide whether or not it's priced right. The rest is merely opinion.

By the way, about your signature line -- can you go without food as you wait for the apple trees to grow? Certainly after 1st harvest there would be no more problems, but in the meanwhile...? Why not teach the guy to fish? ;)

[elambo]

Originally Posted by alexfoinc

I highly doubt that as I've been writing software for 20 years now and it was hard for me. If it was easy it would have taken me a few weeks and it would cost a dollar.

You do the math.
alex

For your sake I hope you're right. For my sake I hope you're wrong.

[alexfoinc]

Originally Posted by elambo

For your sake I hope you're right. For my sake I hope you're wrong.

I hear ya- I wish I was wrong too- I wish there were more hours in the day so this wouldn't matter so much. ProRemote is expensive and I will explain (but only this once).

I just released Oblique Strategies for the AppStore. It should be in there any day now and that's free. Why do I mention this?

The point I'm making is that I wish I didn't have to charge any money for the software. I'm just happy knowing that it helps other people and that I wasn't alone thinking I needed something like this. It's nice to feel included!

The truth is that the cost of the software is mostly for tech support- i.e. my dedicated time to sort out any problems people are having. I don't want you paying top dollar for a piece of unsupported crap software. I think ProRemote is the opposite of that but I'm biased. People have come to expect answers from me in minutes, not days.

On the other hand I also need to keep the price high to weed out folks that just like to play with gadgets and don't "actually need" ProRemote.

As you know, DAWs are notoriously complex and no two systems seem to be setup the same way- which requires an enormous amount of my time to help people resolve any setup issues, etc... About 1% of my customers have trouble which is completely manageable but I had to be cautious anyway. Tech support takes me away from my "real" fulltime job and from adding features to ProRemote in my spare time and fixing bugs. There is no other way that I can think of handling this predicament. I have a few hundred customers which also prevents me from lowering the price. When I have a few thousand customers I will quit my full time job, lower the price of ProRemote and add a buttload of features. I wish that were today.

I always listen to my customers which is why I released the light edition, however I can only do things within reason and unfortunately my resources are slim. Luckily because I have a large user base I will be able to devote a fair amount of time to the code without further losses. You see, ProRemote was developed by me at a loss. It has taken me over a year and month now to get this software in gear. ProRemote was ridiculously expensive to develop, no company would ever have paid my expenses for this. I work as a consultant so my hours are the only way I get paid.

There are also some personal reasons that no one would care about that forced me to charge $150/copy for my time. The thing that is weird is last year, when I did the public beta and announced the price, no one complained about it. It was only when it actually went for sale that I got crapped on by every bird out there! :-)

Hope this helps people be less angry and by all means, continue to vote with your wallets!!! (but please be mindful that bad reviews based on price help no one).

best,
alex

[Abel]

I respect what you've said, but ultimately it all comes down to making a good or bad business decision and I think you made a very bad one.
Those were very early days of the App Store, a once in a lifetime opportunity to reach a really big new market which had just emerged. Many developers learned their lessons and quickly stepped down with prices -- ratings went up, and sales followed.
You underestimated how many people would have been interested in your product, even though from the beginning it became clear that your customers were PT LE users -- a really large crowd. Had you adjusted the price early on, by now, you would have been able to hire a tech support person.
Instead you came through as arrogant and detached from reality. I'm not saying that you are, I just think this is the image you have created as a developer.

[elambo]

Originally Posted by alexfoinc

ProRemote is expensive and I will explain (but only this once).

I appreciate the explanation.

[macleodgrant]

Originally Posted by Abel

I respect what you've said, but ultimately it all comes down to making a good or bad business decision and I think you made a very bad one.
Those were very early days of the App Store, a once in a lifetime opportunity to reach a really big new market which had just emerged. Many developers learned their lessons and quickly stepped down with prices -- ratings went up, and sales followed.
You underestimated how many people would have been interested in your product, even though from the beginning it became clear that your customers were PT LE users -- a really large crowd. Had you adjusted the price early on, by now, you would have been able to hire a tech support person.
Instead you came through as arrogant and detached from reality. I'm not saying that you are, I just think this is the image you have created as a developer.

yo, no need to be harsh.

at the end of the day he has the right to charge what he wants and if people want it then they must pay it. the only true issue here is that he has priced himself out of the market; at least for the majority anyway.

what he has done is given other developers the idea and opportunity to come to the table with a similar product at a lower price point which is already happening.

i also remember that he had to reverse engineer the software to be able to write the software and only when the SDK came out was he able to make use of proper tools so i reckon there was a lot of time spent on that

[Rokus666]

he, the programmer claims that he has hundreds of cutomers. One hundred? Nine hundred? Times 150$ !
Very lucrative. I wouldn't pay that amount. For that money I could get used laptop equipped with remote desktop app that will do the job better than this.
It's a great idea to have this app n the iPhone but it is still way overpriced. Well good luck with daring price!

[25ghosts]

Originally Posted by Lorddiagram

It's up at the apple store...

ProRemote - Far Out Labs

Lite version is $39 and full version is $149 - seems too pricey.. but cool.


lD

The price is way too high. BASTA.

I am a perfect candidate for this thing. I got a 3G and I record myself a whole lot. Thus this way I dont have to open 2 doors each weighing about 1600 pounds to turn down the vocal on the track I am rapping on.

I dont mind paying silly amounts for stuff that is cool. But there is a limit to everything. This thing is more expensive than OS X native Remote Desktops and VPNS - and those guys are a hell of lot better than the iphone app. In addition they dont make funny sounds when searching for net. So I guess I'll continue to drag my MacBook Pro with my into the recording room and run PT via remote desktop..

If they were to sell this app for $20 they'd probably sell one piece to every PT user with an iPhone. And theres a whole lot. With this price I guess they'll sell about 100 but we'll see.

[lostinmusic]

It looks amazingly cool but it's not really a necessity is it? Even if it was free you'd probably use it once or twice then get annoyed with the sluggish response of the iPhone and carry on as before.

Good luck to them I say!

[syra]

I think the price is high but not CRAZY. Probably $79.99 would be more like it...I think it has benefits over tranzport...you can actually SEE what you're doing. Anyway...if I was recording myself a lot I'd buy it...