Do I need an external hard drive?

[geo]

Hi guys, I'm running Logic7 on a MacBook with 2GB of memory...The other day I got a message that I was using up available space so I erased unused files and everything was OK....Now I just got Melodyne Uno and I don't want to load it cause I don't think I have room for it as is....Can you tell I'm not a techie?So my question is should I buy a 5GB external hard drive.... drag Logic into it and load plugins into it as well.... or no?My normal way with computers is go along blindly intil an error message appears but I'm trying to be proactive here....Thanks for stopping by....Peace, Geo

[crs7string]

Geo,It is usually not recommended that you install programs on an external if you have room on your system drive. Externals do work extremely well for sample libraries and audio.I don't know how your computer is configured in terms of hard drives, but adding an external drive is no big deal at all. With 40 gig libraries just for one instrument these days you eat up hard drive space very quickly.In addition to three internal drives, I've added two external firewire drives. All samples stream seemlessly from the drives.There are prices all over the board on externals. For music purposes Glyph drives come highly recommended.Here's an example:http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GT050Quad500/(I don't work for Sweetwater but I am customer)I am primarily putting my sample libraries on external drives. I am already thinking ahead to my next computer and I like the idea of not having to re-install DVD after DVD of samples. I'll just plug the external drives into the new computer and have the VI's pointed in that direction to find the samples.Hope this helps.Chuck

[mazz]

Geo,Like Chuck says, run your samples from an external drive. I'd also recommend that you use another drive for your audio work (Logic files). It's never a good idea to run your programs, your OS and your samples and audio tracks all from the same drive, particularly if it's your main internal drive. Get all your samples and audio projects off of your internal drive and just use it for your programs (Logic, Melodyne, etc.).500 Gig Firewire drives are cheap these days. Go with Firewire.Cheers!Mazz

[geo]

Thank you Chuck and Mazz!!That should fix me up...Peace, Geo

[kouly]

I can always count on good advice from our Logic experts here, only thing I would add is to try and get the fastest drive (7200 vs 5400) and you should get a firewire drive or you could consider an external SATA enclosure for even faster transfer rates. Also just a general Logic tip, after you have your drive situation set up, (I have a seperate drive for this) I do a "Save As Project" when starting a new project in Logic. This puts all the audio files and whatever resources you select and puts them into a project folder along with the Logic song file. This is one of those things where once you start doing it, you wonder how you got along without it. (Along with naming your audio tracks BEFORE your takes so Logic can name your files properly instead of "Audio 01"!) You don't want to know what kind of headaches just doing these two things can avoid.

[mojobone]

I'd actually like to hear about those headaches. When it comes to files and housekeeping, my DAW does okay, but I'd like to teach my software to get out of my way while keeping track of the stuff that I'm too lazy to take note of.

[geo]

Jul 19, 2008, 9:48pm, kouly wrote:I can always count on good advice from our Logic experts here, only thing I would add is to try and get the fastest drive (7200 vs 5400) and you should get a firewire drive or you could consider an external SATA enclosure for even faster transfer rates. Also just a general Logic tip, after you have your drive situation set up, (I have a seperate drive for this) I do a "Save As Project" when starting a new project in Logic. This puts all the audio files and whatever resources you select and puts them into a project folder along with the Logic song file. This is one of those things where once you start doing it, you wonder how you got along without it. (Along with naming your audio tracks BEFORE your takes so Logic can name your files properly instead of "Audio 01"!) You don't want to know what kind of headaches just doing these two things can avoid. Yeah I stumble onto the joys naming tracks before recording about a month ago.... very cool.... thanks, Geo

[kouly]

Jul 19, 2008, 10:14pm, mojobone wrote:I'd actually like to hear about those headaches. When it comes to files and housekeeping, my DAW does okay, but I'd like to teach my software to get out of my way while keeping track of the stuff that I'm too lazy to take note of.Lets just look at what "Save as a Project" does. 1. Presents a window to choose what resources you would like to save with the project. 2. Asks if you want to copy sampler instruments into the folder. This way the project would be self contained. 3. Creates all the subfolders, including Audio and others needed. 4. Allows you to Name and put this Project Folder anywhere you decide.Not bad for a single command

[Mark Kaufman]

Quote:Do I need an external hard drive?Yup.

[geo]

Jul 23, 2008, 5:25pm, lyle wrote:Quote:Do I need an external hard drive?Yup.Wise ass!!!