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Now here...MOTU DP11

DP does have a web based help of sorts, but it's very basic at the moment and just covers the rudimentary features -- quite similar to Studio One's offering which leaves little to be desired.

Like others here, I prefer to have access to a detailed manual or reference guide, I find it helps to do a deep dive into any particular functionality where necessary.

I'm not a fan of most of the help systems, such as Steinberg's offerings -- they tend to require lots of browsing just to get access to information which could better be organised on a single web page with modern reponsive UX design: leaving me no further enlightened that when I started my search ...
 
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My comment was not about whether pdf is the right solution it was with regards to how to see the current user manual from a remote touch device. The current manual is in pdf form.

I agree with you that this is another area where it could be improved, better context sensitive help, particularly for new users.

However I think this is unlikely to be changed much in the foreseeable future. Motu has arguably the best and most detailed user manual of any of the big daws. It used to ship with the product as a very thick user manual that covers every detail. Decades of work have gone into that manual. I wish the other daws would add a more detailed and thorough user manual that is on par with DP’s. The others are typically missing many details that have to answered by searching user forums for answers.

Now if they could take their most likely frame maker sources and build a context sensitive help system? Maybe and it would be welcome perhaps but all I’m saying is that their big thick and detailed user manual in pdf form is very welcome to me. You can search pdf files too by the way.

Chm files are not how current help systems are handled by the way. Everything is web based now, but I am sure that there would be a very big effort involved to reasonably translate all the deep info contained in DP’s current user manual from its current form to a context sensitive help system and particularly if you expect to retain the same level of depth and detail that is in DP’s current manual that was authored over decades of effort.
Multiple software applications I own still ship offline context sensitive help - either in the form of CHM, or using their own Help Viewers for the application. This includes both macOS and Windows applications.

Studio One has Offline Help, and it's own Help Viewer. Logic Pro and GarageBand have Offline Help.

Logic, Cubase, and other DAWs all have really good documentation. I am not saying the quality of the PDF Documentation is bad, but when you're on your computer using the software and you need to know how to do something; pressing F1 and then searching for that function is a far superior option.

Otherwise, your entire use of the product is heavily throttled - no one wants to dela with that, especially when they have another DAW they can use more efficiently or productively.

Lots of products - back in the day - shipped great written user manuals. That was kind of the norm.

I don't expect a prouct like DP, which ported super late to the Windows OS - to use CHM documentation on that platform. That was just an example, not an expectation. As I stated (in that same sentence), they could use their own help viewer and that would be 100% fine. CHM is deprecated, anyways ;)
 
DP does have a web based help of sorts, but it's very basic at the moment and just covers the rudimentary features -- quite similar to Studio One's offering which leaves little to be desired.

Like others here, I prefer to have access to a detailed manual or reference guide, I find it helps to do a deep dive into any particular functionality where necessary.

I'm not a fan of most of the help systems, such as Steinberg's offerings -- they tend to require lots of browsing just to get access to information which could better be organised on a single web page with modern reponsive UX design: leaving me no further enlightened that when I started my search ...
The full Studio One 5 Pro documentation is available offline in their help viewer. It's context-sensitive and very well illustrated and hyperlinked.

Having a context-sensitive help system in the software is not mutually exclusive with well-written documentation. Cubase, Cakewalk, Studio One, etc. all deliver both.

I don't really care how good the PDF documentation is. It's a net loss to me if I have to literally stop doing what I'm doing to open a PDF, search it (ugh...) and find what I'm looking for - instead of pressing F1 and just having the help system bring me to the place where I want to be (much faster).

Good Reference Documentation has its place, but it is not a replacement for an application help system.

There's a reason why - even back in the 80s and 90s - when software shipped with several huge books worth of Physical Reference Manuals - they still had decent help systems in the application.

Literally nothing has changed since then, other than the latter disappearing for arbitrary reasons (in many cases).
 
Otherwise, your entire use of the product is heavily throttled - no one wants to dela with that, especially when they have another DAW they can use more efficiently or productively.

I think you mean to say “learn” more productively. I very rarely need to actually consult DP’s help or manual and this little to no impact on using DP productively.
 
DP 11.02 up. Note Rewire support removed.

Enhancements introduced in version 11.02

Enhancements and optimizations
• Added an MCU "single fader" plugin. Useful for iCON Platform Nano, Presonus Faderport, and any other single-channel MCU control surface.

Fixes
• Added an explanatory message when new users are asked to grant DP permission to access the microphone (audio inputs).
• Console 1 (VST3): Bound the values coming from the control surface to avoid wrap-around.
• Disabled invalid score arrangement commands in the QS contextual menu when the mini-menu disables them.
• Fixed a bug causing POLAR text labels to collide on Windows.
• Fixed a bug causing notes to be selectable by invisible velocity events in the CC editor while in line mode.
• Fixed a bug where notes can get selected via articulations in the midi continuous data pane even if no articulation map is selected for the track.
• Fixed a bug where retrospective midi record would not work with articulation maps.
• Fixed a bug with scene indexing on the Akai APC family of controllers causing the scene launch buttons not to scroll when the grid is moved.
• Fixed a graphical glitch when switching custom console pages.
• Fixed updating of newly recorded automation types when moving the counter after a record pass.
• Improved chasing of per note events.
• Improved the Eucon open/close plugin behavior.
• Removed ReWire support. ReWire has reached end-of-life and can no longer be supported reliably.
 
As far as context sensitive help docs are concerned, I rarely have a problem it helps with, as a long time user it's always difficult issues I'm dealing with, nothing a context sensitive Help will actually fix. I've been years away from Logic, but the same applies there, I generally have to google most of the questions I have, even with Logic's extensive in DAW help.
 
I really do think these smaller & more frequent updates are a lot better for DP at its current state. Until most of the nasty bugs are fixed they need to be active and move quickly. Let's hope this trend continues. No need to approach Reaper levels of frequency but recently Studio One is a good example of a regularly updated DAW with a balance of big new features and minor optimizations.
 
As far as context sensitive help docs are concerned, I rarely have a problem it helps with, as a long time user it's always difficult issues I'm dealing with, nothing a context sensitive Help will actually fix. I've been years away from Logic, but the same applies there, I generally have to google most of the questions I have, even with Logic's extensive in DAW help.
Using a DAW is like riding a bike, outside of a fundamental redesign of the software, you don't unlearn everything simply because you took a few years off.

I haven't ridden a bike in over two decades, yet I know can hop on one and off I go. Just cause it's been a while doesn't mean I'll need Google to tell me how to pop the chain back on when it pops off.

The reason why you only encounter that situation is because you're already familiar with the software, its workflow and its nomenclature.

The documentation issue affects new users disproportionately more than those with prior, long term exposure to the software. You retain information from previous use of the software. We (I and people like myself) are coming to it with no prior exposure, in addition to workflows and nomenclature carried over from competing software.

Context sensitive help isn't just for solving problems. It's a more efficient way of learning the software and acclimating nomenclature that is different from other similar applications.

And no, I am not going to read the DP Manual like Anna Karenina.

At this price point, a functional context help system is a fairly basic expectation. That being said, I don't think my initial post re: it was so inflammatory that the worthless quip from that blocked poster upthread was necessary 😉
 
Using a DAW is like riding a bike, outside of a fundamental redesign of the software, you don't unlearn everything simply because you took a few years off.

I haven't ridden a bike in over two decades, yet I know can hop on one and off I go. Just cause it's been a while doesn't mean I'll need Google to tell me how to pop the chain back on when it pops off.

The reason why you only encounter that situation is because you're already familiar with the software, its workflow and its nomenclature.

The documentation issue affects new users disproportionately more than those with prior, long term exposure to the software. You retain information from previous use of the software. We (I and people like myself) are coming to it with no prior exposure, in addition to workflows and nomenclature carried over from competing software.

Context sensitive help isn't just for solving problems. It's a more efficient way of learning the software and acclimating nomenclature that is different from other similar applications.

And no, I am not going to read the DP Manual like Anna Karenina.
It looks like you're willing to write, but not willing to read. Is that right?
 
I read. Post disregards the situation im referring to. No one is saying long time users need help. If they're that fluent with the software, go them. Did you read my response? It kind of answers your question...

You could say the same about the post responding to me, BTW.

Whats your point?
It looks like you're willing to write, but not willing to read. Is that right?
 
Perhaps you are more of a jackass than you can perceive on your own, and this is how we inform you about that. ;)
You make literally no sense.

I'm not here to be nice. I don't care if you like me. My opinion has as much right to be here as anyone else's. Feel free to disagree, but don't troll - like you're doing atm.
 
Context sensitive help isn't just for solving problems. It's a more efficient way of learning the software and acclimating nomenclature that is different from other similar applications.

And no, I am not going to read the DP Manual like Anna Karenina.

At this price point, a functional context help system is a fairly basic expectation. That being said, I don't think my initial post re: it was so inflammatory that the worthless quip from that blocked poster upthread was necessary 😉
Another DAW is probably a better choice for you. DP is a deep program that requires and rewards thinking through what you want to do, and finding the best way to do it, if you want to get the most out of it. It isn't a hand-holding simplified audio editor. Context sensitive help wouldn't work the way you probably expect it to.

ProTools is very similar. If you don't take the time to learn key commands, and use them in context rather than expecting a help system to guide you, you won't get the most out of it. There is nothing wrong with reading a chapter in a manual when you want to learn how to do something. There are tips and features in the manual that you could never find in a context help system. You have to read to really learn a DAW. There is no way around it. Why argue about what one doesn't have when you could spend the time learning one that does what you want?
 
Another DAW is probably a better choice for you. DP is a deep program that requires and rewards thinking through what you want to do, and finding the best way to do it, if you want to get the most out of it. It isn't a hand-holding simplified audio editor. Context sensitive help wouldn't work the way you probably expect it to.

ProTools is very similar. If you don't take the time to learn key commands, and use them in context rather than expecting a help system to guide you, you won't get the most out of it. There is nothing wrong with reading a chapter in a manual when you want to learn how to do something. There are tips and features in the manual that you could never find in a context help system. You have to read to really learn a DAW. There is no way around it. Why argue about what one doesn't have when you could spend the time learning one that does what you want?
...
 
In addition to the great manual that MOTU has written for DP, the other best resource for DP is found at 'MotuNation' on the web.

Long time power users with 'real-world' use under their belts are there to help you out.

Thanks to 'MotuNation', I've solved countless problems over the years due to the great forum and the community of users.

The regular answer 'gurus' know their stuff. They have strong opinions and they all have a sense of humor and are able to laugh at themselves when they need to.

Plus....check out MOTU on YouTube. Excellent videos and tips.
 
It should be noted there's a basic Help menu that can be searched, that and the fact that everything in DP presents it's name when you hover the mouse over it, and there is a basic 'contextual' help in DP.
 
I assume Run Command (shift-space) has also been mentioned for quickly searching through key commands by key word - another great way to quickly figure out if there is a key command for what you want to do.
Run Command is fantastic, if people aren't familiar it's a Spotlight style search engine for DP Commands. You can fire them by hitting return, so if it's something you don't use often, you don't even have to learn the command.
 
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