studio software programs

  • Thread starter Thread starter spacedye
  • Start date Start date
spacedye

spacedye

Vest
hello all,
anyone know of any not so highly priced studio software programs like studio suite 5? i really didnt want to spend that much $$ on a program like that and i dont need that much ability. i just wanted a program where i can insert a client/session/project info and not really have to scribble alot down manually .
anyone have any info? thanks...
 
I thought about developing something like that but as I don't really need it myself that badly I didn't.

If there are more people interested I could give it a go. But it might take some time as I can't work on it on a daily basis. No problem though to build something usefull that you guys can have for free. I might even use it (partly) myself :D

Peter.
 
I'd be into helping with a project like that. Let me know if you want to and we can work out the details.
 
unfortunately, i dont know a thing about writing programs. i only know how to make them stop working really well. LOL!!! but if you guys think you can come up with something, that would be great. the only thing i was able to do was create some sort of invoice for myself. after about 15 minutes of trying, i wasnt able to attach it because im terrible with computers. but let me know if you guys do come up with some sort of program. i guess if you guys can email me at "spacedye@optonline.net" id be eternally grateful.
heres a link to studio suite if you need something to look at while your making an attempt at it.
http://www.studiosuite.com/

good luck and thanks...
 
OK, first replies already gave me some drive to do it :D

So here's what I propose:

No need for helping with the actual making of the software. I own a software development company and have enough resources to tackle something like this. Compared to what I do on a daily basis this is simple (that's why I like to do it).

I need as much input on proposed functionality and options for the program, but before everyone starts burrying me under requests lets not forget I'm taking this on in my spare time. It's the only way to make it as FREE software.

Lets discus functionality here in this thread. We start with one module and take it from there. When a part is finished I'll put it up for download and you guys can start using it right away from that point on (the installer will take care of any database updates along the way).

I would say we start with the client information module. What do you guys think there should be in there besides the obvious stuff like address info, phone-numbers and contact-persons.

Besides this all, any suggestions for the name of this proggy :D

Btw, I took a peek at that commercial package. I think it's ugly ;)

@HangDawg: how can you help or with what. I need at least that some people test-drive the results.

Peter.
 
CrimsonWarlock - You are awsome to take this on!

For a datapoint - One thing I dislike about both StudioSuite and the Apogee suite is that you need to buy Filemaker to use them (an additional $200us)...

Is there anyway to get around using a commercial database to be functional? MySQL is free...

Thanks
Kevin.
 
crimson,
this is great of you to do. heres what i was looking for-
band name- invoice#
contact name- invoice date-
address-
phone #-

date of service- actions performed/taken-



start time- end time-

if you have microsoft excel, i could email you a copy of the invoice i set up for myself to work with and then you could see how i set this up on the page. i was unable to set it up as an attachment on this page. im pretty lousy with computers in that way....email me @spacedye@optonline.net or just give me your email.
thanks.
 
longsoughtfor said:
Is there anyway to get around using a commercial database to be functional? MySQL is free...
Click to expand...
Well, we (my company) have several licenses of a pro-database development tool as we develop all kinds of enterprise software (like logistics, planning, etc.).
So the software package I'm going to build for you all will not need any investments other then the machine to run it on. Only restriction is that it will only run on the windows platform, no mac (although I might be able to port it later on, but don't hold your breath on that one).

Just to give you guys an idea and to wet your appetite, here's what I have in mind so far:

- Client information
- Rooms management
- Equipment sheets
- Booking of rooms (facilities)
- Booking of additional equipment
- Recording projects
- Session management with track information
- Media inventory and stock
- Invoicing

The software will be network-aware from the start, but it will not have user-logins and such, maybe later on. But you will be able to login from several workstations at once (it's basic functionality of our development platform).

Of course it will take several months before we have all the above up and running, but client management should be ready to use within a week or so.
 
spacedye said:
if you have microsoft excel, i could email you a copy of the invoice i set up for myself to work with and then you could see how i set this up on the page.
Click to expand...
Great, mail it to peter@orion-central.com and I see what I can use ;)

Peter.
 
Spacedye, got your mail. Don't have time today but I'll check it out asap.

Peter.
 
I'd be glad to help out on some beta testing. Just let me know.

DD
 
OK guys, whe're on our way. HangDawg is going to check the datamodel that I'm going to build for additional thoughts on the matter at hand ;)

Everyone that want's to participate is welcome. As soon as a part is working I'll post a download link here.

So here's the first question for you all:

I think we need to center the program around projects. A project holds booking info for the room(s), equipment and related people. It also holds track-sheets and used media information. I'm just thinking out loud here :D
So the first thing I want to know is what people are linked to a project: for example a mixing-engineer, a producer, of course a client, etc.

What other persons should be linked to a project ?
 
It depends on the scope of the project. There can be other people attached... usually there's at least one assistant. There might be runners too. Also, there might be a recording engineer coupled with a producer, or multiple recording engineers. For a mix session, there can be several different people, including people editing on a DAW, and session players.

Safest way to go is to list the client, and include the producer, engineer(s), assistant(s), and then a category for "other," where you can add names and specialties.
 
charger said:
Safest way to go is to list the client, and include the producer, engineer(s), assistant(s), and then a category for "other," where you can add names and specialties.
Click to expand...
I agree, but there's a catch: we are not talking just a flat database here with fields to throw in whatever you think should be in there. This is going to be build on a full relational database, so we are talking about linked data from a persons database. That way you can directly view related information for any linked person like telephone numbers or e-mail addresses.

As you say that there might be more assistants, and more engineers, etc. involved in a project, we might have to go another (slightly more complex) way.

Anyone else has some ideas on this. Remeber, this program is not aimed at the big 5 recording rooms 2 mastering suites and a broadcast-montage room facility. They have enough money to BUY software for this :D

I'm going to make this program for the guys that hang around here on the forum, so I think most projects might not be bigger than 4-6 people maximum involved (besides the artist/band). Just tell me if I'm wrong ;)

Peter.
 
OK, how about this idea:

You can link as many people to a project as you like, all through the same interface. When you link someone to a project you designate the role of that person for that particular project.

This way you can link one person more than once if he/she has more roles in the project, someone can have different roles in different projects, etc. It also tackles another small problem in that the "artist" can be one person or more persons (a band). In the proposed scenario you can add as many people to the project as "artist" as you need.

It will also give you quick access to information like what roles a certain person has filled in previous projects, or which persons filled a particular role in previous projects.

What do you guys think about it ;)

Peter.
 
How about for a given project a field to indicate what tape/disk/dat etc.. (some sort of number) that the project was recorded to as well as where on the hard disk(s) DAW files are stored.

Kevin.
 
I don't want to slow down the custom stuff but don't you guys know you can do all of that in Microsoft Outlook?
 
TexRoadkill said:
I don't want to slow down the custom stuff but don't you guys know you can do all of that in Microsoft Outlook?
Click to expand...
I don't agree :D

You see any businesses lately doing their accounting in Outlook ??

Well, if anyone want to use Outlook for this kind of stuff, I'd say go ahead ;) But my own company's main activity is building database applications for other companies that have hit the wall with Outlook (or MS Access for that matter). Those applications are meant for PERSONAL use (this is the official designation as stated by MS).

@longsoughtfor: I think we get to that when I start working on the media-management. I would like to be able to add as many media to a project as needed (in the same way as the persons). It would also be nice if later on we could add label-printing for media to the program ;)

Just to keep it to the persons for now, what functional designators do we need ? This is what I have so far:

- Producer
- Engineer (do we need to diversify this ?)
- Assistant
- Artist/Musician (as in "client")
- Hired artist (for session work)
- Equipment programmer

Any additions. It's even possible to make this into a list that you can edit, but it might make the program to complex. Of course it would make it possible for everyone to set the program to your own liking :D

Peter.
 
see, this program is going to be way too complex for my personal use i guess.... LOL!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top