Can someone recommend me some software

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Hey guys!

I was wondering either what software is bundled with OSX or I should buy 3rd party that will help me with the things i do on a regular basis.

Photography - I dont do a lot of editing but using my FujiFilm S9500 and 2Gb card, i would like an easy way to manage all my photos in different catagories (searchable by date possibly?)
Batch conversion would also be nice, i use Deviant Art as my main area to showcase my work but they prefer to have submissions @ no larger then 1280x1024. Resizing a shoot of say 40 photos to that resoloution soon becomes annoying!

Music Development - I am currently studying Music (also photography and music tech) at A level and a fair percentage of the course is composition.
I Know OSX is bundled with Garageband but ive not used it properly so dont understand the full ideas behind it.
I know it can be used as your normal drag and drop samples into the order you want style software but does it have a decent midi side? I will be mostly working with my Midi Keyboard and so if Garageband doesnt have a good midi side, what else should i use? Sonar 5 Producers edition and Cubase 3 look good but do they come with Mac Varients?

Music Editing - Part of my music technology course is recording, Now most of the work (95%?) will be done in the studio, using the multi-track and rack effects etc for my work.
However i always like to export my work onto CD > PC so i can look at the sound in a different way, edit it one last time before, mastering and burning to CD ready for submission.
Will garageband be ok for this or is it lacking in music editing? DSP plug-in effects is a huge bonus.

Cheers guys!

~~ TS ~~
 
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Your photography requirements should be handled by iPhoto (bundled) with no problem at all. It can sort by date, film roll (or 'imported batch' for digital), keywords, or whatever you want, really. It can also export with image resizing.

GarageBand does indeed have a midi capable interface, and should work fine with your midi instruments straight out of the box. It's not the be all and end all of music development, but it is certainly a very powerful piece of software. Not sure about DSP effects, but if cost is an issue, then Audacity (open source multi-track sound editor) should do fine.
 
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TenderSurrender
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Cheers Cazabam!

Could you (or anyone else for that matter) show me a small step by step guide on how to do the batch export with image resizing etc and also adding the keywords etc? Im trying to learn as much as possible before my mac arrives since ill be starting the next part of my course very shortly after and with the bands tour starting a week later, id love to be able to know everything im doing without a steep learning curve =]

What are the midi sounds like on Mac? I know to a degree all midi sounds the same but they all have there little varients?

~~ TS ~~
 
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You're probably best looking at the tutorials on the Apple site under the Support section. For instance, the iPhoto tutorial is here. I can tell you that the batch export/resize is as easy as clicking file->export and typing the maximum size.

As for the quality of the midi sounds, I would guess that they're pretty good given how polished the rest of the iLife suite is. TBH I'm not a musician - the only experience I have with midi is setting it up for musicians who aren't geeks :)
 
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TenderSurrender
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Hey i hadnt seen those videos on their website before Great link Cazabam!

~~ TS ~~
 
T

TMelcher

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If GarageBand just isn't cutting it, you can also try Logic Express or Logic Pro, the other two programs in the line of Mac's music/audio editing software (representing consumer, prosumer, and professional needs). Be prepared to spend a pretty penny, though.
 
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TenderSurrender
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I might be able to get good discounts on software since im a student studying at A Level so i might be able to get a discount that way :)

Ive seen some reviews on Logic Pro and used it a little on my mates Mac and it seemed very good, however i found myself lost as im used to Sonar 5 Producers ed'.

Cheers TMelcher, I'll look into it all the same!

** Still waiting for my macbook though :( **

~~ TS ~~
 

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