® What’s New in Pro Tools Version 9.
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. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 New Features in Pro Tools 9.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 System Requirements and Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chapter 2. Pro Tools Application and System Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 5. I/O Setup Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 System Settings vs. Session Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Importing I/O Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 10. PRE Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Mic Preamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Mic Preamps in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Mic Preamps in Pro Tools Edit and Mix Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
vi What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
chapter 1 Introduction New Features in Pro Tools 9.0 This chapter provides an overview of new features in Pro Tools® 9.0 for Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, and Pro Tools|HD Native systems on qualified versions of Mac OS X and Windows. What’s New for all Pro Tools 9.0 Users Pro Tools 9.0 provides a single, unified installer for all versions of Pro Tools: If you install Pro Tools 9.0 on your Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools|HD Native system, launching Pro Tools 9.
Mixing and Recording • Increased number of audio and MIDI tracks • Increased number of internal mix busses • New Track and Send Output selector commands for faster, simplified signal routing and mixer configuration • Multiple Stereo Pan Depth options • 7.1 and 7.
Delay Compensation • Delay Compensation option • Delay Compensation Engine • Delay Compensation view System Requirements and Compatibility Pro Tools can be used with an Avid-qualified Mac or Windows computer.
4 What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
chapter 2 Pro Tools Application and System Changes Unified Pro Tools Installer Pro Tools 9.0 provides a single, unified installer for Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD. Pro Tools 9.0 is supported on the following types of systems: Pro Tools Core Audio/ASIO Pro Tools Core Audio/ASIO systems include Pro Tools 9.0 software with third-party audio interfaces with compatible Core Audio (Mac) or ASIO (Windows) drivers, including the built-in audio available on Mac computers (Core Audio).
An iLok can hold hundreds of authorizations for all of your iLok-enabled software. Once an iLok is authorized for a given piece of software, you can use the iLok to authorize that software on any computer. Pro Tools HD Authorization A Pro Tools HD 9.0 authorization lets you run Pro Tools HD 9.0 on a supported Mac or Windows computer with Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools|HD Native hardware. A Pro Tools HD 9.
New Pro Tools System Settings New Playback Engine Settings Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording. These system settings are available in the Playback Engine (Setup > Playback Engine).
On Pro Tools|HD systems, changing engines requires that you quit and relaunch Pro Tools for the new setting to take effect. When changing engines on any Pro Tools system, you may need to reset the default I/O settings to match the selected audio interface.
For Pro Tools audio interfaces (such as 003 or Mbox) you can configure the signal routing, digital I/O format, default sample rate, clock source, and other hardware-based settings depending on your system configuration. For M-Audio audio interfaces and third-party Core Audio (Mac) and ASIO (Windows) compatible audio interfaces, use the Launch Setup App button to launch the control panel for configuring your specific audio interface.
4 In the Audio Devices window of the Mac Au- dio Setup, configure the corresponding Built-in audio options or the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O option as desired. Configuring Pro Tools Aggregate I/O in the Audio Devices window of the Mac Audio Setup (Mac only) 5 Quit the Mac Audio Setup. 10 What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
chapter 3 Mixing and Recording Features and Enhancements Increased Number of Audio and MIDI Tracks, and Internal Mix Busses Pro Tools HD 9.0 and Pro Tools with Complete Production Toolkit 2 increase the number of available voiceable audio tracks to 512. Any audio tracks beyond that system’s voiceable track limit will be automatically set to Voice Off. Pro Tools 9.0 increases the number of available voiceable audio tracks to 128.
Table 4. Pro Tools system audio playback, recording and voice limits Total Voiceable Tracks Core System Type Maximum I/O Pro Tools|HD Native 64 channels 44.1/48 192 512 88.2/96 96 512 176.4/192 48 512 44.1/48 96 (mono or stereo) 128 88.2/96 48 (mono or stereo) 128 176.4/192 24 (mono or stereo) 128 44.1/48 192 512 88.2/96 96 512 176.
New Track and Send Output Selector Commands Pro Tools 9.0 offers two new commands to the Output selector for assigning tracks and sends to new tracks or existing tracks. The name entered is used for both the new track and the new mix bus. (For example, if you entered the name “Drum Sub,” Pro Tools creates a new Auxiliary Input track named “Drum Sub” and also creates an internal mix bus named “Drum Sub.
Assign Existing Track from Send or Track Output Pro Tools 9.0 lets you assign the output of a track or send directly to an active audio, Auxiliary Input, or Instrument track using any available internal mix bus. To assign the output of a track or send to an available input on an existing track: Variable Stereo Pan Depth Pro Tools 9.0 lets you select the pan depth for stereo output paths. You can set the Pan Depth in the Session Setup window.
The following Pan Depth options are available: –2.5 This is the standard stereo pan depth setting in Pro Tools 8.x and lower. When opening Pro Tools 8.x or lower session in Pro Tools 9.0 or higher, this is the default option. –3.0 This is the industry standard for surround mixers and many consoles. This is the default setting for new Pro Tools 9.0 sessions. –4.5 This is the standard for many British analog consoles. –6.0 This is the standard for full mono compatibility.
EUCON Support Pro Tools 9.0 supports “EUCON-aware” control surfaces. EUCON is a high-speed Ethernet protocol that enables control of software applications such as Pro Tools by EUCON-compatible controllers. To enable EUCON control in Pro Tools: 1 Choose Setup > Peripherals. 2 Select the Ethernet Controllers tab. 3 Select the Enable EUCON option. Enable EUCON option selected in the Ethernet Controllers page of the Peripherals dialog 4 Click OK.
chapter 4 Import and Export Options Advanced Import Session Data Options Pro Tools 9.0 provides advanced Import Session Data options that were previously only available with Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2, or Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit. The Import Session Data dialog lets you view the properties of a session, select which tracks to import, and choose which attributes of those tracks you want to import into the current session.
Importing RTAS Plug-in Data From AAF Sequences Avid Media Composer (version 5 and higher) lets you process audio tracks with RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) plug-ins. Pro Tools 9.0 lets you import RTAS plug-in data from audio tracks in Media Composer–generated AAF sequences. Pro Tools 9.0 does not export RTAS plug-in data when exporting an AAF for use with Media Composer.
Avid Interplay Support on Mac Avid Interplay now supports Mac clients. Pro Tools 9.0 lets you to access the Avid Interplay networked file management system on an Avid-qualified Mac system. For more information on using Avid Interplay with Pro Tools, see the Pro Tools Avid Interplay Guide. Check Data Into and Out of Avid Interplay with Interplay Access In previous versions, Pro Tools had a limitedfunctionality tool for accessing files on Interplay servers. Pro Tools 9.
Export MP3 Export Sessions as Text Pro Tools 9.0 lets you export MP3 files. Lower versions of Pro Tools require the MP3 Export option to be able to export MP3 files. Pro Tools 9.0 now provides the Export Session Info as Text command for all versions of Pro Tools. In lower versions of Pro Tools, the Export Session Info as Text command was only available in Pro Tools HD. Use the Export Session Info as Text command to create a text file that contains extensive information about your session.
chapter 5 I/O Setup Improvements Pro Tools 9.0 provides I/O Setup improvements for all Pro Tools systems that were first introduced in Pro Tools HD 8.1. These changes have been made in order to solve session interchange issues (such as maintaining studio settings when exchanging sessions between different Pro Tools systems) and to provide better overall workflows for session interchange.
Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened This option determines whether or not, when opening a session, Input, Output, and Insert I/O settings as currently configured on your system will be overwritten by any of these I/O Settings stored with a session. These settings are always stored with the session as well as with the system. Enable the Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened option for legacy Pro Tools behavior (versions lower than 9.0). This option is enabled by default.
Busses To better understand how output busses work in I/O Setup, consider how an analog console works. In Pro Tools, the output bus is equivalent to a console's bus system. The output bus as defined on the left side of the Bus page in the Pro Tools I/O Setup is analogous to the outputs on a console's patchbay. The Mapping to Output selector is like the patch cords used to patch into the studio’s various audio feeds, which in turn are like the physical output paths in Pro Tools. Pro Tools 9.
3 Click Create to create the new paths. To map all output busses of the same format to one output path: 1 Do one of the following: • Shift click to select contiguous Output busses. Unmapped “MAIN” output bus – or – 4 Enable Mapping To Output for the bus path. • Command-click (Mac) or Control-click (Windows) to select noncontiguous Output busses. 5 Select the desired output path from the Map- ping To Output selector.
Resetting Busses When you open a session that was created with Pro Tools any lower version of Pro Tools on a current version of Pro Tools, only the number of busses supported on the original system are initially available.You can reset the number of available internal mix busses in your session to match your system’s full capabilities by reverting to the default bus configuration. Pro Tools 9.0 creates 128 (out of 256) internal busses by default.
4 A dialog appears asking whether you want to delete existing paths. Do one of the following: • Click Yes to remove any unused paths and add the imported paths to the current I/O Setup configuration. Any I/O assignments and automation data associated with the unused paths are also deleted. output path that maps to output channels 1–6 (L, C, R, Ls, Rs, LFE) and also have a stereo output path that maps to output channels 1 and 3 (L, R).
Input and Output Signal Routing Signal Path Routing for Audio Output To better understand the routing of audio signals to and from physical I/O and the Pro Tools mixer, consider the following two examples.
1 3 2 Figure 1. Input signal path from an HD OMNI to the Pro Tools mixer as mapped in I/O Setup 28 What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
1 2 4 3 Figure 2.
Session Interchange When exchanging a session between Pro Tools systems, you may need to reconfigure the session’s I/O settings. This will depend on system ID, path names and/or path format, as well as on the Pro Tools versions of each system on which the session is transferred. Path Names and Automatic Output Bus Remapping A system ID is created and saved in a session for every computer the session is opened on (using the computer’s MAC address).
Pro Tools 8.1 and Higher When exchanging sessions among systems running Pro Tools 8.1 or higher, it is generally recommended that the Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened option be disabled. This maintains any system I/O settings when opening a session from another system (see “Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened” on page 22). Pro Tools 8.0.
32 What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
chapter 6 Advanced DigiBase Features Pro Tools 9.0 provides advanced search features and Catalogs that were previously only available with Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2, or Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit. For more information on DigiBase, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. Searching for Multiple Criteria Simultaneously in DigiBase Browsers Use DigiBase to find files by name, modification date, and kind. With Pro Tools 9.
Searching begins, indicated by the spinning arrows in the toolbar, and by the Search button changing to Stop. The Results List (at the bottom of the browser) fills with items that match the search criteria. Items can be selected and auditioned as they are found. 7 Click the Stop button at any time to stop the search, and keep the list of files already found (if any). For detailed information on DigiBase search functions, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide.
Clip Names in Catalogs Comments and Catalogs Clip Names are the names that appear in the Timeline and Region List when a file is imported into a session. Catalogs provide commands for managing Mac Finder comments, Database comments, and Clip Names. For most files, the Clip name is the same as the file name. For OMF Files, the Clip Name is the name that appears in the Avid bin. Database Comments in a Catalog are stored in the Catalog database.
Creating Catalogs Renaming a Catalog Catalogs can be added to the Workspace as new, empty Catalogs, or you can select items first and then save a Catalog of all selected items. Catalogs can be renamed at any time. To create a new, empty Catalog: 1 Open the Workspace browser. To rename a Catalog: 1 Click the Catalog item in the Workspace browser until its name highlights. 2 Enter a new name for the Catalog. 2 Choose New Catalog from the browser menu. 3 Enter a unique name and click OK.
Consolidating Files with Catalogs Relinking Catalog Items Catalogs are excellent tools for consolidating files from a variety of sources. If files are ever missing from a Catalog, use the Relink window to locate, copy, and relink files. For more information, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. For example, create a Catalog named “Thumps” and fill it with sound effects from three different volumes.
Importing Catalog Items You can import online and offline items from Catalogs into the current session. Importing Online Items from a Catalog Dragging and dropping audio files to the Pro Tools Region List and Timeline is identical to dragging and dropping from Volume browsers. For more information on importing files by dragging and dropping from DigiBase, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. Importing Offline Items from a Catalog With Catalogs, it is possible to search and import files that are offline.
chapter 7 Editing Features and Enhancements Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Mix and Edit Windows Pro Tools 9.0 supports auto-scrolling in the Mix and Edit windows. This feature was previously only available with Pro Tools HD. If you are working with more tracks than can be displayed at one time in the Mix or Edit windows, you can select a track in one window and Pro Tools will automatically scroll to that track in both windows.
The track is selected, and the windows scroll as follows: • The Edit window tracks scroll to bring the selected track as close to the top as possible. • The Mix window tracks scroll to bring the selected track as close to the left as possible. Extending the selection to the snare, hi-hat, and overhead microphones tracks, and then performing the separation, results in separated regions in each of the drum tracks at the same location, based on the beat triggers from the kick drum track.
Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode In some instances, it may be difficult for Beat Detective to successfully analyze multiple tracks with the same Detection settings. With Beat Detective’s Collection mode, you can collect a set of beat triggers from different tracks, each with different Detection settings, and use the collection of triggers to generate Bar|Beat Markers or DigiGroove templates, or separate new regions.
To use Collection mode: 1 In the Edit window, make an audio selection on a single track. Make sure the selection’s start and end points fall cleanly on the beat. 2 In the Beat Detective window, select one of the following modes: • Bar|Beat Marker Generation • Groove Template Extraction • Region Separation (audio only) 3 Define or capture the selection. For information on defining a Beat Detective selection, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide.
10 Do one of the following: • In the Detection (Collection Mode) section, click Add Unique Triggers to add only the unique triggers from the track to the collection. • Click Add All to add all triggers to the collection. • Click Clear All to clear all triggers from the collection. Each new set of triggers added to the collection appears in a different color.
44 What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
chapter 8 Delay Compensation Pro Tools 9.0 provides automatic Delay Compensation for managing DSP and host-based delays from plug-in inserts, and mixer routing (bussing and sends). Lower versions of Pro Tools only provided Automatic Delay Compensation with Pro Tools HD.
Configuring the Delay Compensation Engine To configure the Delay Compensation Engine: 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. 2 From the Delay Compensation Engine pop-up The amount of Delay Compensation available for your session is set in the Playback Engine. menu, select Short, Long, or None. 3 Click OK. Delay Compensation Engine Delay Compensation Settings Pro Tools 9.0 supports Automatic Delay Compensation for all Pro Tools systems.
Delay Compensation Limit The Delay Compensation limit is displayed in samples in the Delay Compensation Engine pop-up menu in the Playback Engine dialog. This is the maximum amount of Delay Compensation available for the session. This value is different depending on the session sample rate and which Delay Compensation Engine option is selected.
The Delay indicator’s report to Pro Tools Delay Compensation Engine can be bypassed when Delay Compensation is enabled. This is useful for manually time-aligning a track when the total delay on a track exceeds the Delay Compensation limit (for more information, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide). The display color indicates reported track delay, as follows: Green Indicates that track delay reporting is enabled and the track does not exceed the available amount of Delay Compensation.
Blue (Audio Tracks Only) Indicates that Delay Compensation is force-enabled on the track. When the track is record-enabled or TrackInputenabled, Delay Compensation is not suspended and remains enabled (see “Overriding Low Latency Monitoring During Recording” on page 49). Red Indicates that the track delay exceeds the available amount of Delay Compensation and no Delay Compensation is applied to the track (for more information, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide).
Delay Compensation on Auxiliary Inputs Delay Compensation on Auxiliary Inputs can be bypassed to let you monitor outside sources (such as the audio tracks of a slaved video deck) with minimal latency, while still reporting the track’s delay. To bypass an Auxiliary Input’s Delay Compensation: Start-Control-click (Windows) or CommandControl-click (Mac) the Track Compensation indicator. The reported track delay will be zero, and will appear grayed out.
To keep audio time-aligned when recording using a MIDI controlled plug-in on an Auxiliary Input: 1 Start-Control-click (Windows) or Command- 3 Type a value, in milliseconds, in the field cor- responding with the input where the hardware insert is connected. Control-click (Mac) the Track Compensation indicator for the Auxiliary Input to bypass Delay Compensation. Insert delay offsets only have an effect when the I/O is used for hardware inserts. 2 Enter the total system delay into the User Offset field.
52 What’s New in Pro Tools 9.
chapter 9 Time Code and Synchronization Features Pro Tools 9.0 provides various time code and synchronization features for working with audio, film, video, or digital video that were previously only available with Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2, or Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit. For more information on working in Pro Tools with time code and synchronization, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. Time Code Displays the Time Scale in SMPTE frames.
Feet+Frames Displays the Time Scale in feet and frames for referencing audio-for-film projects. The Feet+Frames time display is based on the 35 millimeter film format. The Feet+Frames Time Scale is absolute based on the frame rate. Half-Frame Nudge/Grid Pro Tools provides an additional grid resolution of 1/2 Frame to allow for easy alignment of material when referencing a high-definition (HD) frame rate on the secondary time code (Time Code 2) ruler.
Redefining Time Code Position To set the Main Time Scale to SMPTE Time Code, do one of the following: Choose View > Rulers > Time Code. – or – Redefining a Time Code Position Use the Current Time Code Position command to redefine the current time code position and session start time. By creating an insertion point (or selection), and then entering the new time code position for that location, the session start time will be recalculated based on the new, relative Time Code location.
To set a relative frame position for a session (Feet+Frames): 1 With the Selector tool, click in a track (or make a selection) where you want to redefine the position. If your insertion or selection is not on a grid boundary, it will round to the closest boundary. 2 Choose Setup > Current Feet+Frames Position. 3 Enter a Feet+Frame position to correspond to the time code shown in the dialog. 4 Click OK.
Audio Pull Down Factors and QuickTime Movies Audio “pulls” are an industry standard method of adjusting the speed of audio playback to line up with off-speed picture. In normal industry standard workflows, when audio is pulled down, video and time code maintain their current speed, and only the audio and MIDI are pulled down, in relationship to the video and time code. For example, when 24 frame film to 29.
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chapter 10 PRE Support Pro Tools 9.0 provides support for PRE that was previously only available with Pro Tools HD. For information about PRE, see the PRE Guide. Type The Type setting lets you select none or PRE. Select the PRE option to declare any connected PRE. Receive From Mic Preamps In the Peripherals dialog, the Mic Preamps page lets you configure up to nine different Mic Preamps (PRE) for Pro Tools. The Receive From setting lets you specify the MIDI In port to which the PRE is connected.
Mic Preamps in I/O Setup On the Mic Preamps page of the I/O Setup, signal paths for one or more PRE multi-purpose microphone preamplifiers can be mapped to audio interfaces. For more information, see the PRE Guide. Mic Preamp Paths When audio tracks or Auxiliary Inputs are created, their mono, stereo, or multichannel format is defined. This format determines the Mic Preamp behavior. Mono tracks control a single channel, stereo tracks control two channels, and multichannel tracks control multiple channels.
Viewing Mic Preamp Controls in Pro Tools Source and Impedance Mic Pre window Phase HPF Pad Insert Phantom Power Gain Mic Preamps View, Mix window Both the Mix and Edit windows can be configured to show or hide PRE controls. Mic Preamp Controls The Mic Preamps view provides all the essential controls for a PRE channel in the Mix and Edit windows. Source and Input Impedance Selector Clicking the up/down arrows in the Mic Preamp window accesses two sets of controls.
Pad Button and LED This button applies an input pad to individual channels to reduce input sensitivity by 18 dB. Insert Button This button enables insert points on individual channels. PRE’s back panel has eight pairs of Send and Return jacks for inserting external processors (such as compressors or EQs) in the audio path. Inserts are post the output trims.
Mic Preamp Window Controls Mic Preamp windows provide standard selectors for PRE controls and other controls in the top area of the window. Input Target Source Phase Pad HPF Insert Phantom Power Gain Level Fader and Field Mic Preamp gain can be changed by clicking on the fader and moving the mouse, or by typing a valid gain value in the field and clicking Enter. Other values will snap to the closest permitted value (for example, entering 10 will snap to +9 dB).
Adjusting Controls on Multiple PREs When working with PRE controls on multiple channels in Pro Tools, you must select tracks from within Pro Tools. Pro Tools does not register selections from the PRE front panel. To adjust PRE controls on multiple channels: 1 Hold Shift and select the tracks whose PRE controls you want to adjust. 2 Hold Shift+Option (Mac) or Shift+Alt (Win- dows) and adjust PRE parameters on any selected track.
chapter 11 Complete Production Toolkit 2 The Complete Production Toolkit 2 software option for Pro Tools 9.0 provides additional features and plug-ins for music creation and post production. For detailed information about the Complete Production Toolkit 2 software option, see the Complete Production Toolkit 2 Guide. For information on standard Pro Tools features, refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide (Help > Pro Tools Reference Guide).
• Numeric Keypad set to Shuttle mode • AutoFades • Back/Forward Amount • Advanced editing features: • Shuttle • Continuous Scrolling • Auto Region Fade In/Out Length • Scrub Trim tool • Use Absolute Pan Linking • Replace Region command • Suppress Automation “Write To” Warning • TCE Edit to Timeline Selection command • Allow Latch Prime in Stop • Selection of alternate field recorder audio channels in the Pro Tools Timeline • Coalesce when Removing Slaves from VCA Group • Expanding alternate fi
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