® What’s New in Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD Version 10.
Legal Notices This guide is copyrighted ©2011 by Avid Technology, Inc., (hereafter “Avid”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Avid.
Contents Chapter 1. What’s New. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 2. New and Enhanced System Capabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Comparison of System Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Increased Track Counts for Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools with Complete Production Toolkit . . .
Chapter 4. New Editing Features and Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Real-Time Fades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Overlapping Crossfades View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Clip-Based Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 1: What’s New Pro Tools ® and Pro Tools HD version 10.0 provide several new features and enhancements for qualified versions of Mac OS X and Windows 7.
New Editing Features and Enhancements • Real-time fades • Overlapping Crossfades view • Clip-based Gain • Clip List Reveal In Finder/Explorer Right-click command • 24-hour Timeline • Field Recorder workflow improvements (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools with Complete Production Toolkit only) New Mixing Features and Enhancements New Plug-Ins Format, Plug-Ins, and Plug-In Features and Enhancements • New AAX plug-in format • “Native” and “DSP” plug-in processing categories for plug-in inserts (Pro Tools|HD systems
Chapter 2: New and Enhanced System Capabilities Comparison of System Capabilities The following table provides a summary of system capabilities with Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools 10 software with different hardware configurations.
Increased Track Counts for Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools with Complete Production Toolkit Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools 10 with Complete Production Toolkit provide the following increased track counts: • Increased possible number of voiceable audio tracks to 768 • Increased possible number of Auxiliary Input tracks to 512 Low Latency Monitoring with Core Audio and ASIO Hardware With Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD 10.
When Low Latency Monitoring is enabled, Pro Tools disables software monitoring for record-enabled tracks routed to Outputs 1–2 only. This lets you use the built-in mixer function on your Core Audio or ASIO hardware for record monitoring with Outputs 1 and 2 on your Core Audio or ASIO audio interface. Also, any plugins and sends assigned to record-enabled tracks are automatically bypassed, and must remain bypassed. Additionally, these tracks do not register on meters for Master Fader tracks in Pro Tools.
For information on changing the Bit Depth while a session is open, see “Changing Session Settings in the Session Setup Window” on page 7. Support for Interleaved Audio Files Pro Tools 10 sessions support interleaved audio files for stereo and greater-than-stereo multichannel files. Lower versions of Pro Tools require that interleaved audio files be converted to multiple mono files on import into a Pro Tools session.
Support for RF64 Audio Files To change the Audio Format for the Pro Tools session: Pro Tools 10 supports RF64 audio files. RF64 is an extension to the WAV audio file format that addresses the 4 gigabyte size limitation of other WAV audio file formats.RF64 audio files are identified in DigiBase browsers with the designation “MBWF” in the Attributes field.
Changes to Pro Tools Nomenclature and Avid Rebranding To ensure optimal compatibility between Pro Tools and Media Composer, the following nomenclature changes have been made to Pro Tools software. Table 1. Changes to Pro Tools Nomenclature Additionally, “Digidesign” has been replaced with “Avid” for all file names and file path names. Table 2.
New In-Application Web Browsers Pro Tools provides easy access to the online Avid Store, as well as web-based Pro Tools Help, the Knowledge Base, and other online resources using two new in-application Web browsers. Avid Marketplace Provides a secure web connection to Avid’s online commerce web pages for Pro Tools. Pro Tools In-Application Web Browser Navigation Controls The Pro Tools in-application Web browser provides a few simple navigation controls in the Web Browser Tool Bar.
To launch the currently viewed page in the default web browser for your operating system: To access the Avid online store for plug-ins: Click the Launch in Default Web Browser icon in either the Avid Marketplace window or the Pro Tools Online window. Choose Marketplace > Plug-Ins. You can also access the Avid online store from the AudioSuite menu and from track Insert selectors for plug-ins by choosing the Avid Marketplace option.
Improvements to the Pro Tools Help Menu With Pro Tools 10, the Help menu provides easy access to online resources in addition to the local resources that are installed with Pro Tools. Pro Tools Help The Pro Tools Help command provides access to web-based Pro Tools Help within the Pro Tools web browser. This means that you will always have access to the latest Pro Tools Help files as they become available (independently of major Pro Tools releases).
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Chapter 3: New and Enhanced Import and Export Features Export Selected Tracks As New Session Pro Tools 10 lets you export any selected tracks in a session as a new session. This feature is especially useful in collaborative situations. For example, you might be working on a large post-production session and you want your collaborator to work on only some dialog in the session while you continue working on other parts of the session. You can now select the dialog tracks and export them as a new session.
New Save Session Copy Options • Sessions with mixed file formats and bitdepths must convert all files to the same file format and bit depth. Pro Tools 10 provides new Save Session Copy options. • Sessions with files that have a bit depth of 32-bit floating point must be converted to 24-bit or 16-bit. • For sessions with RF64 files larger than 4 GB, these files will be unavailable to lower versions of Pro Tools.
Selected Tracks Only When this option is selected, only the selected tracks in the source session are saved with the session copy. This option is automatically enabled when choosing File > Export > Selected Tracks As New Session. When this option is not selected, all tracks in the source session are saved with the session copy. This option is automatically disabled when choosing File > Save Session Copy.
If the Add to iTunes Library option is enabled when bouncing to disk, the resultant audio file is automatically imported into iTunes the next time you launch the iTunes application. If iTunes is not installed on your computer, this option does not do anything. The Add to iTunes Library option is only available if the Format is set to Mono (Summed) or Interleaved. To export your mix to your iTunes library: 1 Choose File > Bounce to > Disk. 2 In the Bounce to Disk dialog, select the Bounce Source.
Share with SoundCloud 4 Enable the Share with SoundCloud option. SoundCloud is a social audio sharing site. Users create a public profile and fill it with audio they want to share. The audio can then be played by anyone, or by a select group of users. SoundCloud's easy sharing tools let you feature your tracks or playlists on any website, including social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Sharing with Sound Cloud Using Export Clips as Files To share your mix with SoundCloud using Export Clips as Files: 1 Do one of the following: • Select the clip you want to share in the Clip List and choose Export Clips as Files from the Clip List menu. 2 If you are not already logged in to your SoundCloud account, you are prompted to log in (see “Logging In To SoundCloud” on page 19).
Logging In To SoundCloud Share with SoundCloud Dialog To log in to (and, if necessary, set up) your SoundCloud account: The Share with SoundCloud dialog provides text entry fields, settings, and options that determine what information is included with the track you upload to SoundCloud. It also includes licensing and permissions settings for what your track can be used for and who can access it.
Type Select the Type of track you are uploading to SoundCloud. Downloadable Select the Downloadable option if you want your track to be downloadable from SoundCloud. If this option is not enabled, your track can only be streamed (listened to) online and cannot be downloaded. Genre Type a Genre for the track you are uploading to SoundCloud. Tags Type any Tags you want associated with the track you are uploading to SoundCloud. Separate multiple tags with spaces.
Chapter 4: New Editing Features and Enhancements Real-Time Fades Session Interchange with Pro Tools 10 and Lower Versions of Pro Tools With Pro Tools 10, all fades are calculated and played back in real time, eliminating the need for rendered fade files. This provides significant improvements in both disk (hard drive) performance, and file management and file exchange. Another benefit is that Pro Tools sessions open more quickly than in lower versions of Pro Tools.
Real-Time Fades are Rendered on Export to AAF and OMF Clip-Based Gain When exporting tracks to AAF or OMF sequences, all fades are rendered on export. This provides maximum compatibly with other applications (such as Avid Media Composer) when importing AAF or OMF sequences exported from Pro Tools 10. Pro Tools 10 provides clip-based gain for quick and easy gain matching of clips (formerly called regions in Pro Tools) from different sources in a Pro Tools session.
Clip Gain Info View When Clip Gain Info view is enabled ( View > Clip > Clip Gain Info), the Clip Gain Fader icon is shown at the beginning of the clip, in the lower left corner. If the clip uses static clip gain, the static Clip Gain value (–144 dB to +36.0 dB) for a clip is displayed to the right of the Clip Gain Fader icon. For a clip that has dynamic clip gain (using break-point gain settings), the Clip Gain value is not shown.
Clip Gain Line Clip Gain Line and Crossfades The Clip Gain Line lets you edit the clip gain settings for any given clip using breakpoint editing, much like with track-based volume automation. However, unlike track-based volume automation, the clip gain settings are always associated with the clip rather than with the track.The Clip Gain Line can be shown or hidden for all clips in the Edit window. Clip gain is applied on a clip-by-clip basis.
Editing Clip Gain If a clip is Edit-locked and you attempt to edit clip gain, you are prompted to Cancel or Allow the edit. Simple Clip Gain Adjustment To boost or attenuate the current clip gain settings for a single clip: Ensure that the Clip Gain Info option is enabled. 1 2 Click the Clip Gain Fader icon on the clip and drag the Clip Gain fader up or down to boost or attenuate the clip gain settings for the clip.
To adjust a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool: Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled. 1 2 Select the Grabber tool. Click any breakpoint on the Clip Gain Line and move it up or down to adjust the gain, or left to right to adjust the timing. The gain setting is displayed in dB over the selected breakpoint. 3 Using the Pencil Tool The Pencil tool lets you create new breakpoints by clicking once on the graph line.
To delete a clip gain breakpoint with the Pencil tool: Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled. 1 2 Select the Pencil tool. 3 Option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) the breakpoint you want to delete. Nudging Clip Gain Pro Tools 10 lets you nudge the selected clip gain settings up or down by the Nudge Clip Gain By amount specified in the Pro Tools Editing Preferences. You can also nudge the selected clip gain settings back or forward in the clip by the specified nudge amount.
To nudge the selected clip gain back, do one of the following: Press Control+Shift+“–” (Minus) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“–” (Minus) (Windows). Press Control+Shift+M (Mac) or Start+Shift+M (Windows). Press Control+Shift+“,” (Comma) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“,” (Comma) (Windows).
The selected clip gain settings are copied to the clipboard. Clip gain breakpoints on the clipboard are time-stamped with the playback times in the timebase of the track being copied (which means you can copy and paste clip gain settings from clips on tick-based tracks and have the pasted clip gain settings match the corresponding bar:beat locations of clips on other tickbased tracks). To paste clip gain settings: 1 Cut or Copy the clip gain settings you want.
Coalescing Clip Gain and Track Volume Automation (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools with Complete Production Toolkit Only) Pro Tools 10 lets you coalesce clip gain settings to track-based volume automation, as well as letting you coalesce track-based volume automation to clip gain settings. When coalescing clip gain settings to volume automation, the clip gain settings are cut from the clip and coalesced with track-based volume automation at the same timeline locations as the clip.
Rendering Clip Gain Importing Clip Gain Pro Tools 10 lets you render the current clip gain settings for any selected whole clip. Rendering clip gain applies the current clip gain settings to a new clip and sets the clip gain settings for the new clip to 0 dB. Pro Tools 10 lets you import clip gain settings from AAF sequences exported from Media Composer. When importing an AAF sequence, the Import Session Data dialog provides a new Import Clip Gain option.
Exporting Clip Gain with AAF Clip gain settings can be exported with an AAF sequence and can be imported (and preserved) in Media Composer. When exporting selected tracks as an AAF sequence, clip gain is either rendered or exported for each clip depending on the individual clip gain settings. For any clip with static clip gain that does not exceed +12 dB, the clip gain setting is exported with the clip.
Field Recorder Workflow Improvements (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools with Complete Production Toolkit Only) For more information on Pro Tools field recorder workflows and features, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. Field Recorder Guide Track With Pro Tools 10, to enable Field Recorder functionality on a track, you designate it as a Field Recorder Guide Track. This allows Pro Tools to optimize performance by only creating match lists for designated tracks.
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Chapter 5: New Mixing Features and Enhancements Solo and Mute Status Indicators in the Edit Window Pro Tools 10 provides two new visual indicators in the Edit window for quickly seeing whether or not any tracks in the session are soloed or muted. This is especially useful for sessions with a lot of tracks where tracks that are soloed or muted may be scrolled out of view. Track Mute Indicator Lights orange when any track in the session is muted.
Sync Status Indicators in the Edit Window (Pro Tools HD Software with a SYNC Peripheral Only) Pro Tools HD 10 now provides graphic indicators in the Edit window for Video Reference, Sync Lock, and Speed Calibration. In lower versions of Pro Tools, you have to view the Session Setup window (which takes up valuable screen space) or the front panel of the SYNC peripheral to view these indicators. • Yellow Solid: SYNC|HD is locked and the clock reference is within 0.025% of the expected rate.
Bus Interrogation Pro Tools 10 lets you select or show tracks based on the track input or output assignment, send assignment, or hardware insert assignment. This can be useful for quickly identifying all tracks that use a specific input, internal bus, output bus, or hardware insert. To select tracks based on the track Input or Output assignment, Send assignment, or Hardware Insert assignment: Right-click the assignment selector and choose Select Assignments To for the bus you want.
To restore all previously shown tracks: Right-click any assignment selector and choose Restore Previously Shown Tracks. Choosing the Restore Previously Shown Tracks option Support for 12 Systems with Satellite Link (Pro Tools HD or HD Native Only) With Pro Tools 10, the number of systems that can be linked with the Avid Satellite Link option increases to twelve. Lower versions of Pro Tools only supported up to five satellites.
Chapter 6: New Control Surface and Worksurface Features and Enhancements D-Command Multi-Mode Pro Tools 10 adds Multi-mode capability to D-Command consoles. D-Command Multi-mode lets you use a single D-Command console to access two Pro Tools systems on a network. In Multi-mode, you can quickly switch worksurface control from one system to the other by pressing a single switch on the console. When a D-Command unit is in Multi-mode, it is not possible to update its firmware.
Declaring D-Command Units when in Multi-Mode Using D-Command Multi-Mode When a D-Command unit is in Multi-mode, it appears in the Peripherals dialog twice, with the numbers “1” and “2” appended to its name. These two listings can then be declared on different Pro Tools systems on the network.
Enhanced EUCON Support (Pro Tools with EuControl Software and an Avid Artist or Pro Series Media Controller Only) In Pro Tools 10, over 500 Pro Tools commands, shortcuts, and other functions have been “EUCON-ized,” and are now available for Soft Key assignment using EuControl software. These include all main menu commands, keyboard shortcuts, Transport, automation, and other actions. Default Application Sets are provided by EuControl software (for Artist Series only).
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Chapter 7: New Plug-In Formats, Plug-Ins, and AudioSuite Improvements New AAX Plug-In Format The new Avid Audio Extension (AAX) plug-in format provides real-time plug-in processing using host-based (“Native”) processing. The AAX plug-in format also supports AudioSuite non-real-time, file-based rendered processing. AAX plug-in files use the “.aax” file suffix.
Avid Channel Strip Plug-In Avid Down Mixer Plug-In Pro Tools 10 includes the new Avid Channel Strip plug-in. Avid Channel Strip provides EQ, Dynamics, Filter, and Gain effects. The Avid Channel Strip processing algorithms are based on the award winning Euphonix System 5 console channel strip effects. Pro Tools 10 includes the new Avid Down Mixer plug-in that can be used to automatically mix greater-than-stereo multichannel tracks (such as 5.
Opening Multiple AudioSuite Plug-In Windows Mod Delay III Pro Tools 10 includes the new Avid Mod Delay III plug-in for multichannel and multi-mono modulating delay effects. Mod Delay III is available in AAX (Native) and AudioSuite formats, and supports 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz sample rates. Pro Tools 10 lets you view multiple AudioSuite Plug-In windows at the same time. As with realtime plug-ins, the AudioSuite plug-ins window now provides a Target button.
Clip Metadata Preserved with AudioSuite Render Pro Tools 10 preserves clip metadata for AudioSuite rendered clips under certain conditions (see “Conditions for AudioSuite Rendering with Handles, Fades, Clip Gain, and Metadata” on page 48). This is especially useful when working with clips imported from field recorders and from AAF sequences exported from Media Composer.
New AudioSuite Default Handle Length Preferences Pro Tools 10 provides two new preferences for setting the default Handle Length for AudioSuite and clip gain rendering. To set the default AudioSuite Handle Length: 1 Choose Setup > Preferences. 2 Click the Processing tab. 3 In the AudioSuite section, select one of the following options: • Whole File—by default, renders the whole file referenced by the selection.
Conditions for AudioSuite Rendering with Handles, Fades, Clip Gain, and Metadata Most AudioSuite plug-ins provide several options for rendering clips, but only certain settings let you apply AudioSuite handles. For example, AudioSuite Handles are not available with Entire Selection mode (since the point of this option is to render the whole selection only). Fades and crossfades, and clip gain settings are preserved or rendered depending on the File mode and AudioSuite Rendering mode settings.
Reverse Option for Delay and Reverb AudioSuite Plug-Ins Pro Tools 10 provides a new Reverse button in the AudioSuite plug-in window footer for Reverb and Delay plug-ins. This lets you easily render reverse delay and reverb effects with a single click. Clicking the Reverse button provides three processes in one: • First, it reverses the Edit selection. • Then, it processes the reversed Edit selection with the current plug-in settings. • Finally, it reverses the processed Edit selection.
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Chapter 8: Storage and Disk Performance Enhancements New Disk Engine Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools 10 use a completely new disk engine that greatly increases performance for audio recording and playback. As a consequence, the DAE Playback Buffer Size setting provided in the Playback Engine in lower versions of Pro Tools is no longer necessary and had been removed. Also, for Pro Tools software only, the Cache Size setting has been removed as well.
Cache Meters in the System Usage Window Pro Tools HD 10 provides two new meters in the System Usage window for monitoring the Disk Cache: Disk Cache and Timeline Cached. These meters are only present if a fixed Cache Size is selected in the Playback Engine dialog. Disk Cache Displays the percentage of how much of the allocated disk cache is filled. For example, if the Cache Size in the Playback Engine is set to 1 GB and a session uses 250 MB of audio files, the Disk Cache meter reads 25%.
RAID Pro Tools 10 supports hardware-based RAID (redundant array of independent disks) systems for opening, playing back, and recording Pro Tools sessions. However, performance is not guaranteed and is dependent on a variety of factors including network bandwidth. As with lower versions of Pro Tools, Pro Tools 10 also supports software-based RAID systems using ATTO RAID software, which makes several RAID volumes appear as a single volume to the operating system.
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Chapter 9: Avid Interoperability Enhancements New AAF and OMF Import and Export Features For more information on importing and exporting AAF sequences with Pro Tools, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. Real-Time Fades with AAF and OMF Sequences Pro Tools 10 provides real-time fades. When importing an AAF or OMF sequence into Pro Tools, any fades in the sequence are converted to real-time fades in the Pro Tools session.
Clip-Based Gain Automation With Pro Tools 10, you can now export and import clip-based gain automation, to and from AAF sequences. Imported clip-based gain data can be edited alongside (and used in lieu of) the normal volume automation used in Pro Tools (see “Importing Clip Gain” on page 15 and “Exporting Clip Gain with AAF” on page 15). Import Rendered Audio Effects In Pro Tools 10, the Ignore Rendered Audio Effects option has been renamed as the Import Rendered Audio Effects option.
Check Out of Standard Sequences With Pro Tools 10, you can check out normal sequences as well as sequences checked in specifically for Pro Tools. Previously, Pro Tools was only able to check out “forPT” sequences. Timecode Mapping Pro Tools 10 now provides the Match Timecode option when exporting, in cases where the session start does not match the start of the destination sequence on Interplay.
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