DigiDesign ProTools Certification

[JeffGeb]

It seems that this program offers the following certificates;

- Digidesign Operator Certification in Music
- Digidesign Operator Certification in Post Production
- Digidesign Expert Certification in Music
- Digidesign Expert Certification in Post Production

Can anyone tell me if these certificates are really recognized in the industry? Also, is there a demand in the industry for ProTool's certified engineers?

I am seriously considering investing the time but I want to make sure it is worth the work.

 

[anonymous]

pardon my language but....certification doesnt mean $*^t
I went ahead and did em all because work was willing to pay for it. The certification in no way represents your skills or chops as a PT's operator. I dont think anyone is going to give you that job because your "PT's certified"

If you want it for personal "growth and satisfaction" then by all means go for it but other than that....I feel its simply a scam for digi to make $$$$

 

[Doc@BeefyTreats.com]

i am not hugely versed in what Digi is trying to do, but I wouldn't spend any money on it. Buy gear! Doc

 

[JeffGeb]

Well you guys pretty much summarized what I thought in the back of my mind. It's funny though, everyones answer to anything that cost money is, "don't do it, buy gear instead."

I agree gear makes a difference but gear can only take you so far. Skill and talent have to carry some of the weight.

 

[jdsdj98]

While I do not work in a high end music studio, I do work with Pro Tools professionally every day, and am in daily contact with other engineers, most of whom use PT. While I've known that there are various training courses out there for PT beginners, this is the first I've heard of any certification program offered by Digi. I'd say it's just another attempt at increasing their dominance in the market and, mostly, increasing their bottom line. My advice would be if you want to know PT, just buy a system and spend time with it. I'm pretty proud of my PT chops, and they've all been developed by sitting in front of a screen with a keyboard and mouse, NOT by being taught by anyone. Even if you just pick up a 001 system, the concepts remain exactly the same as with a high end TDM system from an operational standpoint. In all honesty, as someone else so eloquently put it above, the certification don't mean sh*t from the (potential) employer's standpoint. Your skills speak for themselves, not the piece of paper on the wall.

And to speak to demand, I would venture to say that there are far more folks out there with great PT skills that are in demand of a job than there are employers demanding skilled PT operators. That's just speculation.

To summarize, I'm in complete agreement with those that have said don't even consider this certification, especially if it means money out of your pocket. Spend that money on gear that can eventually MAKE money for you and get to know that gear intimately. If you want to learn Pro Tools and market yourself as a PT operator, then the gear that you buy should be a PT rig.

 

[anonymous]

OH and if you REALLY want to go that rout....I'll sell you my books for HALF the price and even give you a copy of my certificates

 

[JeffGeb]

Scenaria,

I think I'll pass considering the advise that was just given to me in this thread. Thanks everyone for the input. I am currently pretty familiar with Samplitude 7.11. Can anyone tell me how PT compares to Samplitude. Do they all work basically the same?

 

[knightsy]

Jeff, I've worked with Samplitude in a project studio quite a bit and I like it. Pro Tools is basically the same, but takes getting used to coming from Samplitude. Unfortunately my first PT experience was a bad one, I was working on a film and whoever had laid these tracks down had put them all over the place - parts weren't sync'ed to video, the drum tracks had piano on them, etc, it was a nightmare. Just learning how to move tracks around was hard enough. But I could see that if you were a regular user, you would probably have no problems.

 

[maxmex]

Originally posted by JeffGeb:
Scenaria,

I think I'll pass considering the advise that was just given to me in this thread. Thanks everyone for the input. I am currently pretty familiar with Samplitude 7.11. Can anyone tell me how PT compares to Samplitude. Do they all work basically the same?

Well I am an old samplitude user that recently discovered the protools world, just to find out that is just another multitrack.

Nothing new, nothing extraordinary....just another plain recorder with edit tools and plug ins support.

Yes, it has midi, but in that case I would use cubase or logic instead.

I would really recommend Samplitude, because of it's awesome "object based" unique style.

After years of working this way, I found stupid in a digi 002 (yeah it isn't an hd sys) setup, if you have a 1 second long object in the whole track, you already used "one voice" and since the digi 002 is limited to 32 voices, you can end up with a lot of tracks filled of "almost nothing".

It is incredible that with an investment of a new mac (around 4, 000 usd) and the digi 002 (around 2,200 usd), you just can have 32 shitty tracks and with no plug ins at all, but the crappy included audiosuite ones.

With the same money I could have at least 50 or 60 tracks in samplitude on a shiny brand new pc platform, and I still could save let's say around 1000 usd.

But hey, 7 of 10 pro studios use pro tools, it doesn't mean that it is better, it's just more popular.

The only thing that I think samplitude can't do and pro tools does, is automation of parameters, but hey....why would I want to automate the ratio of a compressor ? or the rate of a delay ? it sounds good in theory but in practical life is just blablablabla....

:s:

 

[pmolsonmus]

Hi,
While I don't disagree with getting great gear and having great chops there's one thing I find somewhat bothersome in these threads:

I'd say it's just another attempt at increasing their dominance in the market and, mostly, increasing their bottom line.

How altruistic are companies supposed to be to meet your standards? If you're responsible for the bottom line of a company, your JOB is to make every aspect of your production profitable. If you can find new venues to make money you do it. If there's a demand, provide it or you'll lose business to someone who is smart enough to make money off your product. "Mac/Windows for Dummies" anyone? I personally wouldn't waste my time on a Digi course or pretty much any software course for that matter. Time, energy, RTFM, and a willingness to learn are usually all that apps require, even ones with difficult learning curves.
Give your opinions, they're usually well reasoned especially on recording, but before you knock Digi, do you give away studio time? Do you buy lots of new equipment and keep your rates the same? Are you going to attract new customers by advertising your black face ADATS? If there's negative fallout from their attempts - GREAT - then they've crossed the line of customer trust and loyalty - let 'em hear it for how they provide their products/service etc... Don't knock them for trying to make money. That's the definition of business.
Sorry for sounding like a republican
Phil

 

[UncleBob58]

Hey scenaria,

Okay, so you took the course.

Did you pass the certification test? I'm not talking about the stupid certificate that you get at the end of the training session, I'm talking about the Digi certification itself.

:

 

[AudioGaff]

I think at best, all that the digi cert means is that not your lying through your teeth when you say you have protools exposure experience. If I was going to hire someone as the PT op, I would like to know that they at least had the cert along with at least a year of real experience. I sure hope the people taking these classes are not dumb enough to think or expect that this will justify better pay or any kind of raise?

 

[anonymous]

ya I went through and passed up to the 210M. As I said I only did it because it was being paid for by others. I would have never spent my own money on it

 

[white swan]

Certification in music in general gives no particular advantage in the field. No one hires a bass player because theyhave a masters degree, for example.

But the one area in which it could be potentially useful is in the educational arena. Educational institutions like to hire staffs with lots of credentials. So having that certificate might help you get a teaching job over someone with similar skills and experience who doesn't have one.

 

[sserendipity]

Actually, I'd be wary of hiring anyone with a degree like this - it implies that they didn't actually spend the time to learn to use the tools - they just took a class. Kind of like a degree from Devry College.

 

[white swan]

Originally posted by Jonathan El-Bizri:
Actually, I'd be wary of hiring anyone with a degree like this - it implies that they didn't actually spend the time to learn to use the tools - they just took a class. Kind of like a degree from Devry College.

You could say that about any formal degree. Unfortunately, if you've had any experience with the politics of academia, formal credentials are given weight grossly out of proportion to their real-world value. That's just recognizing a fact of life, not saying it's a good thing.

 

[sserendipity]

Originally posted by white swan:

Originally posted by Jonathan El-Bizri:
Actually, I'd be wary of hiring anyone with a degree like this - it implies that they didn't actually spend the time to learn to use the tools - they just took a class. Kind of like a degree from Devry College.

You could say that about any formal degree. Unfortunately, if you've had any experience with the politics of academia, formal credentials are given weight grossly out of proportion to their real-world value. That's just recognizing a fact of life, not saying it's a good thing.

I'd disagree - this is a vocational/production certification - similar to Microsoft IT Certification and other technical courses. In some industries, this is very useful for bolstering your resume and getting interviews. (Then, there are places like Devries which churn out certifications which might get you employed but only in the true dregs of the market.)

However a recording studio isn't an IT room - 'knowing what all the shortcut keys do' doesn't mean you have all the other skills you'll need to function in the studio. And, by taking a course, you are demonstrating an unwillingness to do this stuff on your own time - enthusiasm that is pretty much key to making a studio work. You have to be breathing this stuff to make it work right - I've seen too many indolent community college students who think that audio classes are a quick way to a 'cool' job.

I'm also highly suspect of anyone who couldn't teach themselves how to use a DAW in a couple of hours.

 

[UncleBob58]

Hey scenaria,

Don't mean to push but, if you did, did you get the operators certification or the expert certification? All I know is that the test is HARD! I have lots of experience and I couldn't pass. I will have to brush up on a lot of things to pass that expert certification. Again, I don't mean to get nasty but there were an awful lot of time servers in the 201, 210M & 210P courses. One of my classmates in 310M was an engineer from one of the biggest studios in NYC, Grammys and all, and he got a lot out of the class, and he still hasn't passed the expert certification yet either.

Uncle Bob

:

 

[white swan]

Originally posted by Jonathan El-Bizri:
I'd disagree - this is a vocational/production certification - similar to Microsoft IT Certification and other technical courses. In some industries, this is very useful for bolstering your resume and getting interviews. (Then, there are places like Devries which churn out certifications which might get you employed but only in the true dregs of the market.)

However a recording studio isn't an IT room - 'knowing what all the shortcut keys do' doesn't mean you have all the other skills you'll need to function in the studio. And, by taking a course, you are demonstrating an unwillingness to do this stuff on your own time - enthusiasm that is pretty much key to making a studio work. You have to be breathing this stuff to make it work right - I've seen too many indolent community college students who think that audio classes are a quick way to a 'cool' job.

I'm also highly suspect of anyone who couldn't teach themselves how to use a DAW in a couple of hours.

Perhaps I was a little unclear in making my point. I don't disagree with anything you said about the value of the certification in the studio world. I was only pointing out that it might help getting a job in the world of academia, where useless certificates are a way of life. That's just the way it is, not saying it's good. Ten people apply for a Pro Tools teaching position at Berklee, and they all have similar life experiences - but one has a certificate from Digidesign. Which one has the edge?