[absmiths]

The title pretty much says it. Why did Apple need to release a 19.9 MB update to Garage Band which they say only clarifies the use of a couple of dialogs?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120320

[fizzlemynizzle]

It does more than that, the framework for ReWire support seems to also have been added. The dialog fix is the only -announced- change..

[Fothb]

Actually the 19meg size you quote is just the compressed size. I believe that update actually took up a total of around 45megs on the disk. I think what's happening here is that you are assuming that the update will simply add-on content to GarageBand. That's not the case. The update _replaces_ files already on your drive. It's just that they decided to replace entire files rather than make small patches to existing files. Once the update is installed, the actual size that GarageBand takes up on the disk should remain about the same.

Edit: Eh... I did not know about that ReWire support addition. Nevermind my response then! Sorry.

[fizzlemynizzle]

i think the contention is that if a dialog was the only modification that could have been done through a very small patch, not a complete replacement of the binary executable.. it appears though that more siginificant changes were made than just the dialog, hence the need for the patch to be so big.

[absmiths]

Originally posted by fizzlemynizzle:
i think the contention is that if a dialog was the only modification that could have been done through a very small patch, not a complete replacement of the binary executable.. it appears though that more siginificant changes were made than just the dialog, hence the need for the patch to be so big.

That was closer to what I meant. If Apple really wanted people to download the update, they should have actually announced more changes. What is ReWire? I also noticed that the main screen seems to behave slightly differently.

[Fothb]

Originally posted by absmiths:
That was closer to what I meant. If Apple really wanted people to download the update, they should have actually announced more changes. What is ReWire? I also noticed that the main screen seems to behave slightly differently.

ReWire is a technology that allows two music based apps to communicate with one another. Essentially you could have a virtual instrument or full audio app pipe its music through ReWire into GarageBand (if/whenever the support is there) as a track. This works far better than having to export to AIFF in one app and then import that AIFF in the other app. For me this would be fantastic, as I'm a Reason user. Reason doesn't allow me to record live audio (mic/guitar), but GarageBand does. This means I could pipe my music from Reason directly into GarageBand and then record vocals and guitars over it. I'll be very, very pleased if this rumor proves true. If GarageBand ends up handling ReWire and then maybe VSTis, it becomes a bit more serious contender to the "real" sequencer apps out there (Cubase, Logic) and this already great app will just be considered even greater.

ReWire Homepage (Propellerheads)

[absmiths]

Originally posted by Fothb:
ReWire is a technology that allows two music based apps to communicate with one another.

...

ReWire Homepage (Propellerheads)

I am still confused. Does that mean that Apple adopted ReWire as part of the system (Framework), or that Apple just added a plugin to GarageBand which allows it to talk to ReWire apps?

[Fothb]

Originally posted by absmiths:
I am still confused. Does that mean that Apple adopted ReWire as part of the system (Framework), or that Apple just added a plugin to GarageBand which allows it to talk to ReWire apps?

Well this thread is the first I've heard of GarageBand supporting ReWire, so hopefully fizzle can help us out a bit to that end. But if you look at GarageBand as being the little brother to Logic or Logic Express (also now owned by Apple) just like iDVD is seen as the little brother to Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express, then you can look at how Logic has implemented ReWire support for clues on how GarageBand will achieve the same results. I believe it's actually built into the framework.

Google should have some info (search: Logic + ReWire), as will the eMagic homepage. Also, here's a PDF from eMagic's support section that explains the process of using ReWire inside of Logic (I imagine the process will be roughly the same if ReWire support ever makes it to GarageBand):

PDF Document Covering ReWire and Logic

[Vader’s Pinch of Death]

8th wonder of the world?