With Logic Studio, Apple has given a more user friendly user interface to Logic Pro. Basic recording and playback is a lot easier in Logic Pro 8 than with prior versions for most people. Yet, mostly all of Logic's powerful features from the previous versions are still there, along with the associated learning curve.
The Logic manuals and the Apple training manuals will take you quite a ways with Logic, enough to get you certified in its use. Yet, Logic is capable of more than what is covered in these manuals. Going Pro with Logic Pro 8 takes a step towards filling the gap.
The book is fairly short, and is an easy read. Yet it is packed with a lot of practical information and addresses many common situations an intermediate to advanced user is likely to face such as working effectively with 3rd party software instruments, syncing with audio, humanizing midi performances beyond simple quantizing, and more.
Going Pro with Logic Pro 8 consists of a series of "hands on", easy-to-follow and well illustrated tutorials. Within each chapter, the tutorials are arranged in a logical sequential order to accomplish a series of tasks, where each one builds on the results of the prior one.
I find these tutorials fairly easy and quite enjoyable to work through. Although they are in sequential order, I can still pick and choose which tutorials to do without a lot of setup.
The only rubs I have against the book is that for some of the tutorials, you have to provide your own audio. No audio or midi downloads are provided with the book, though the book does leverage the content of Logic Studio at times. there is plenty of that included with Logic. I also found a minor glitch with the rewire tutorial where the illustration provided doesn't quite line up with what is in the text.
Overall, this is one of the most approachable and practical guidebooks that I have seen for any music production software, along with David Nahmani's Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro 8 and Logic Express 8 book. The topics covered in the book are quite relevant for how I want to use Logic in the near future, and I find the book to be a great knowledge accelerator. This book has found a home next to my computer
I highly recommend this book as a next step for "advanced beginners" and intermediates who are looking to take that "next step" with Logic.