Pro Tools 9

In Pro Tools 10, this window looks a bit different:

Pro Tools 10

Notice that you now get dropdown menus to change bit depth and audio file format. You can even dynamically change whether the session works with stereo interleaved files, or deinterleaves them into .L and .R files. The one setting that remains unchangeable is the sample rate.

Keep in mind that running a Pro Tools 10 session with multiple file formats and bit depths (as well as interleaved files) will make backwards compatibility with Pro Tools 9 a bit of a chore. You’ll need to perform a Save Copy In to covert all the audio media to the consistent format expected in Pro Tools 9, not to mention saving a .ptf session file, as Pro Tools 10 defaults to saving in the new .ptx format that is not recognized by Pro Tools 9. More on the various new file formats in another post!

So, once upon a time (like, last week)  there were 3 Pro Tools plugin types: Audiosuite, RTAS (Real-time Audiosuite), and TDM (Time Division Multiplexing–exclusively for Pro Tools HD systems). With Pro Tools 10, we see a new plugin format: AAX (Avid Audio eXtension). While at first this may seem a bit unnecessary, the new AAX format could be a significant improvement in plugin efficiency, and also in the way we purchase and work with plugins in Pro Tools 10…or we could all  just get hit will big upgrade costs.

In earlier versions of Pro Tools HD, you could choose to insert TDM or RTAS  plugins on a track. Many plugins had both TDM and RTAS versions (though the TDM version was usually a bit more expensive). The main difference between the two was that TDM plugins ran off the processing cards that are part of an HD system. These cards have chips that expand the processing power of your computer, and can be used to handle processing for TDM plugins and the Pro Tools mix engine. RTAS plugins simply use your computer’s native processor to handle the DSP. This is fine, until your computer becomes overworked and can no longer keep up with routing/summing audio, processing via plugins, running virtual instruments etc.

RTAS and TDM are now becoming legacy formats–still supported, but for how long?Pro Tools 10 software will allow you to run TDM plugins, but only on the older (now legacy) Pro Tools HD Core and Accel cards. The newly unveiled Pro Tools HDX DSP cards (as they are now branded), are not compatible with TDM, and only support AAX DSP. What is this “AAX DSP” you say?

AAX plugins come in two different formats: AAX DSP and AAS Native. As mentioned, AAX DSP is compatible with Pro Tools HDX only (and conversely, TDM plugins will not work with HDX hardware!). AAX Native plugins will work with any version of Pro Tools 10. 

Here is where things get a little muddy. From what I understand, RTAS plugins are inefficient when it comes to processor usage, and are also a bit tweaky to code. Programmers would typically have to code an RTAS version, and then an entire other version for TDM. Given the smaller market for TDM plugins (you must own an Pro Tools HD system), this also made those versions more expensive. The new AAX format supposedly allows a programmer to code the plugin once, and then essentially compile a DSP version and a Native version.

The question is, will plugin developers bundle the two AAX versions together, or still stick Pro Tools HDX users who want DSP plugins with a higher cost? Ideally you would purchase a plugin in AAX format, install it, and get the option to run DSP or Native if you own Pro Tools HDX, or just Native if you run non-HD Pro Tools 10.  If that turns out to be the case, will the cost of the AAX format be more than the old RTAS format, if you are now getting the DSP version as well (which non-HD users don’t care about so much)? How will this affect compatibility as you move between HDX and non-HD Pro Tools 10 systems? This all remains to be seen…but I’ll be posting more on this in the near future.

I have a feeling that plugin manufacturers will still sell the AAX DSP and AAX Native plugins separately, just as was done in the days of TDM and RTAS. The real difference to the average Pro Tools user will be that the new AAX architecture will make more efficient use of computer resources, and that certain plugins will now be available to run natively, that previously were only available in the TDM/DSP format. For example, Channel Strip, Revibe, Reverb One, Impact, and Down Mixer are all AAX plugins that are included in Pro Tools 10, both in AAX DSP and AAX Native formats.

Audiosuite plugins have some great new features in Pro Tools 10.

First off, a little review! Audiosuite plugins are “offline” plugins in Pro Tools. Meaning, they don’t process audio in real-time like RTAS (Real-time Audiosuite) plugins. Instead of inserting Audiosuite plugins on a track, you highlight an audio region (now called a clip) in the timeline, open up the Audiosuite plugin, and either audition or process the audio region. The bottom portion of an Audiosuite plugin looked like this, with options to preview, bypass, changing preview level, and process:

Up until now, you could open no more than one Audiosuite plugin at a time, and you could not use or save “chains” of Audiosuite plugins for a specific task.

That’s changed with Audiosuite plugins in Pro Tools 10. Now, by holding down the “Shift” key, you can click on and open multiple Audiosuite plugins. The keyboard shortcut also works for opening multiple RTAS plugin windows as well, by the way.

What this allows you to do is use multiple Audiosuite plugins, in series, to process a region. Used to be, you’d have to process the eq, then process with the compressor, without getting to audition them together at the same time as a chain. The old solution (for me at least) was to audition with an RTAS chain and then copy the settings in to Audiosuite plugins…which was a pain!

Ok, so we can have Audiosuite chains. The next new feature of Pro Tools 10 is the ability to save and recall these chains, as well as the settings of the plugins. This is a pretty useful addition, and it is implemented using an already familiar feature of Pro Tools–Window Configurations. A Window Configuration in Pro Tools simply allows you to save the layout (the configuration) of windows in the interface. This could be the size and position of the Mix and Edit windows, the transport, RTAS plugin windows, etc. The new addition is the ability of the Window Configuration to recall Audiosuite plugins and their settings. So, for instance, you could save a configuration for your vocal effects chain for the chorus of a track, and recall it easily. Simply open up the Audiosuite plugins, set them the way you want, and create a new configuration from under the Window menu, or by using the keycommand (on the numeric keypad): period(.) + the configuration number you’d like to use + plus(+).

Window configurations can be recalled in a similar way to Memory Locations–but from the Window Configurations List.

The keyboard shortcut for recalling configurations is (on the numeric keypad): period(.) + the number of the configuration + asterisk(*).

These configurations can be exported from one session into another, so you can migrate your favorite Audiosuite plugin chains between sessions. You’ve long been able to do this with RTAS chains using Import Session Data. It’s nice to see the functionality extend into the world of offline processing. I’m imagining this feature will get a great deal of use in post production.

The last new feature of Audiosuite plugins in Pro Tools 10 has to do with the way in which they render your audio clips. At the bottom right of each plugin is this dialogue box:

From here, you can choose to render the entire parent file for the clip (include the portions of the clip that you are not looking at), by pressing the “Whole File” button. Perhaps even more useful, is the ability to render “handles” to the clip. Meaning, you can process a defined range of audio on either side of the clip boundary, so if you decide to trim the clip later, you can actually reveal processed audio. In the old Audiosuite process, once you rendered a region with an Audiosuite plugin, you had a new region that’s boundaries were set–you could hide portions of the region, but you could never trim them out to reveal more audio than what you actually processed, if that makes sense. You can set the length of these Audiosuite handles from each individual plugin (the above picture has a 2 second handle), or by setting a default from the preferences in Pro Tools, under the Processing tab.

You may have seen the “handles” feature before, if you have ever used the Compact option in the Regions List.

In closing, keep in mind that this new Audiosuite processing is independent of both clip-based gain settings, and real-time fades. In previous versions of Pro Tools, rendering a region/clip with an Audiosuite plugin would also write your fades into the region. As fades are now real-time in Pro Tools 10, this is no longer an issue. That means no more Fades folder to keep track of!

Stay tuned for more Pro Tools 10 tutorials!

One of the best new features in Pro Tools 10 is real-time clip based gain. This affects the normal Pro Tools workflow in several ways. For one, Regions are now referred to as “Clips”.

Audio clips can have their individual gain adjusted separate from the track fader position and without using the standard solution of the Audiosuite gain plugin. Like many region (now clip!) properties, you must show this ” Clip Gain Info”  from the View menu.

Simply click on the lower left portion of the region and you’ll see a small fader for adjusting gain. The gain changes and waveform redraw happen in real-time–no waiting.

The new Pro Tools 10 keyboard shortcut Shift + Control + up/down arrow will nudge the clip gain up or down by an amount set in the Preferences for Editing–the default is .5 db.

Just as you can show the Clip Gain info on the bottom of each audio clip, you can show the Clip Gain Line–a volume envelope–on each region. This is also accessed in Pro Tools 10 from the View menu>Clip.

Again, this is separate from the track volume, and has breakpoints, just as other automation envelopes in Pro Tools.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hoping for this feature for a long time. Pro Tools is one of last of the major DAWs to incorporate clip-based gain. It really does make editing and mixing much easier, without having to write track automation or print Audiosuite effects. Stay tuned for more new feature of Pro Tools 10!

It hasn’t been all that long since Propellerhead released their Record DAW to complement their flagship product, Reason. For those of you that don’t now, Reason is a virtual rack of synthesizers, effects, and signal routing processors, combined with a MIDI sequencer. It’s been around since 2000, following the products Recycle and Rebirth. One limitation of Reason is that it has never been able to record audio to tracks. As of Reason 5, sampling instruments could record and edit audio, but you couldn’t, for instance, create an audio track and record, edit, and comp vocals in it.

It’s been a long time since Propellerhead released any new pieces of software, outside of updates for Reason. Record changed that. Record was designed to emulate the signal flow of an analog console (loosely based around SSL architecture), along with the benefits of digital recording/editing, such as comping. It included Line 6 guitar and bass amp modeling capabilities, timestretching, and Neptune, a pitch correction/voice synth addon.

  ”SSL style mixer/bus compressor”

It was Propellerhead’s version of a DAW, marketed for “musicians” as opposed to “stuffy engineers”. Reason intergrated with Record (marketed as “Duo”) for a pretty robust audio, MIDI, and synthesis platform, that still managed to be simple to use.

With the release of Reason 5 (and its ability to record audio), I started wondering when they would just integrate the two programs into one. That is the case with Reason 6. Record is no more. Reason now has the power of both programs. It comes with a higher price tag, but is finally an “all-in-in” solution for home studios. There are also 3 new devices:

The Echo (stereo echo…that you can actually play!),

Pulveriser (parallel processing unit for compression/distortion)

and Alligator (pattern-based gate effect). You can upgrade for under $200, or buy the whole thing for under $400.

For more info on what’s new in Reason 6, click here.

You know it’s coming. Yes, Pro Tools 9 had a few cool features, but it was really more about unlocking previously withheld features that it was about giving us anything new and exciting. Support for Coreaudio was the big one, the rest being things like multitrack Beat Detective, delay compensation, increased voice count, mp3  bounce, etc. The other big thing about Pro Tools 9 was that is was the official rebranding of Pro Tools as an Avid product, as opposed to Digidesign.

So that brings us to Pro Tools 10. It’s no surprise that the turnaround between Pro Tools 9 and Pro Tools 10 is going to be fairly short. I’m wondering if this well be unveiled at AES New York at the end of October–though I have a feeling it may not be announced until early next year. The video below gives some interesting insights into new features. These include:

- Dynamic clip based gain (finally!)

- Loading sessions into RAM for faster performance

- Real-time fades

- Avid ISIS Support (streaming of shared storage)

In addition, there’s been plenty of speculation about other new features, from 64 bit support (undoubtedly), to a much needed freeze tracks feature, to offline bounce, to track folders, and more. 

As always, I’ll wait to get the update a few months after it actually comes out. I prefer to let others work out the bugs in .0 software, while I actually get stuff done.  

Now, that’s pretty cool, but ADC is just as important. Finally, Pro Tools comes with Automatic Delay Compensation. Be happy.

More tracks, OMF support, timecode, and more. I’m impressed…and for $249 your can crossgrade from Pro Tools LE. Buy it new for $599.

This is pretty cool. Now, I’m not sure why the hell most people would want to run Pro Tools HD, when there’s new Pro Tools (no longer called LE or Mpowered). For the seemingly small array of extra features that HD offers, you can upgrade Pro Tools to the full HD with the Complete Production Toolkit. Stay tuned for more! For live, interactive Pro Tools 9 classes, visit TheOnlineAudioSchool main page.

Check out Avid’s website for more info!

Take the Pro Tools HEAT Listening Challenge here.

Avid has been big on releasing their own post-Digidesign versions of hardware, and now (it would seem) software. Even if it seems a little premature. The big teaser here is that Pro Tools 9 may not be hardware dependent. Obviously that would be huge, but does it make sense? Didn’t Avid just release Pro Tools Native, Pro Tools HD hardware that allows users to run HD with less expensive cards (sans DSP chips)? But the HD software still needs the cards.

Ok, so maybe they plan on releasing some Pro Tools LE/Mpowered hybrid that doesn’t need hardware. But, the other buzz is that this Pro Tools 9 update will include the much requested ADC (automatic delay compensation), as well as an unlimited track count (among other things). So, long story short, why would anyone purchase an HD system if all this turns out to be true. Certainly loyal HD owners will raise hell.

My take on this is that Avid will release a less crippled version of Pro Tools LE, with some of the coveted features usually reserved for the HD platform. They may, in fact, release a crippled version that will work standalone (like the ole’ Pro Tools Free). However, I can’t see them breaking the hardware connection for a fully functioning version of Pro Tools. It just doesn’t make sense to me given the recent release of HD, and given the deluge of cracked versions that would come out.