I can’t use linux on the G5 just because the motu interface, but i have also 2 pc’s that could use with LINUX, i’m thinking very serious on moving into ARDOUR software, can i save a project on the OS X ardour and open the same files on LINUX? thanks.
I have both a desktop linux machine, and a macbook which I use for portable recording. I use ardour on both of them, and frequently swap projects accross. This works fantastically. There are a couple of slight issues however:
if you’re using a different soundcard on the machines (or the same on under different drivers as I do: edirol FA-101 on freebob under linux and coreaudio under OSX), you’ll have to reassign inputs and outputs from scratch when you copy over the project. This doesn’t normally take too long though.
Also, if you use WINEd VST plugins under a linux install, you obviously won’t get them under mac. If you use “VST-enabler” plugins on mac, they won’t translate over to the linux install. However, if you use mainly LADSPA plugins, and you have the same ones installed under mac and linux, all the plugins and settings migrate transparently between the two systems.
I have worked with cubase, Pro Tools, ableton, and ardour. I have to say, of them all, ardour and live are the best for project sharing between computers. Cubase often complains if the two versions are even slightly different (like 2.2.2.0 and 2.2.2.2 or something stupid like that) and can refuse to load plugin settings even if the same plugin is installed on both computers. Pro tools, don’t even get me started on that. The best way to share a pro tools project is to export and then re - import at the other end, in my experience, it always breaks if you just try to open the project on another computer that isn’t identical. Ableton live and ardour will just work, or have done every time I’ve tried it (which is quite a lot), they’ll just pop up a little error message with anything you don’t have on the second computer and get on with it. Also, if you have plugins not on the second computer which it complains about, then you move back to the first comp, it’ll use them again, they won’t be lost in the transfer back and forth.
Stick to LADSPA plugins, though, and you won’t even notice you’ve moved computers!
Also, at the mixing stage, once all your audio is recorded, if you make a copy of the “interchange” directory on both computers, from then on you can just transfer the ardour XML project file (a couple of hundred KB, normally), between the comps and it’ll still work. In short, it works fantastically