I've been considering VE, my hesitation is that for me, in Logic 8, it feels like a step backwards from my current process. Here's what I mean, and maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong:
Currently, just using Vienna Instruments, I add a new "Software Instrument" track, set the input to Vienna, and pick an instrument. For reverb, I simply route to a bus that has Altiverb on it. Very simple. So I can load up cellos on one track, basses on another, and route them to a bus called "bass strings" where I have the proper reverb.
If I switch to VE (which is a multi-instrument like Kontakt 2), then I have to route each instrument from within VE out to an aux bus first, with one aux bus per instrument (so I can control volume levels individually.. no sense in routing horns and trumpets to the same aux bus, then I can't control their volumes individually), THEN I have to route those to a bus for my reverb (I do lump in instrument groups for reverb if they're close enough together). This a real pain. Not to mention you lose the ability to automate when using a multi-instrument (drawback in Logic, not VE's fault--in Logic you can see several MIDI tracks but adjusting the volume slider on one adjusts the volume for the whole multi-instrument). All volume and panning must be done to the aux bus the instruments are routed to
If someone could explain a decent setup in Logic 8 that's NOT a hassle to manage, I'm open to it. I should be clear, this doesn't really have much to do with VE, it looks great. This is mostly about how Logic 8 deals with multi-instruments, which, although it's been greatly improved since Logic 7 (no more messing with the Environment), it's still not ideal, IMO.