If Avid had stopped there, clip gain would already be pretty indispensable, but the company's developers have gone a few steps further. Not only is it possible to cut, copy, and paste clip gain settings between different clips, but Pro Tools HD and Complete Production Toolkit users can convert between clip gain settings and track volume automation. While competing applications have had the ability to apply per-clip gain settings for some time Nuendo had this feature on its release 10 years ago, for example , Avid's implementation is incredibly thorough, and should be welcomed by anyone who edits audio in Pro Tools.
To complement the new clip gain functionality and the new disk engine, clip fades in Pro Tools 10 are now calculated in real time, rather than having to be written and played back from disk. This is another welcome improvement, since it renders — no pun intended — the regeneration of fade files when you forget to copy the Fades folder a thing of the past. When Avid acquired Euphonix in , the company gained a great deal of expertise and technology relating to mixing consoles and control surfaces.
Although it had previously been possible to use Euphonix's products with Pro Tools, users had to resort to clunky workarounds involving Mackie's HUI protocol. So it was perhaps no surprise that Pro Tools 9, released towards the end of , incorporated native support for Euphonix's EUCON control surface protocol, making it much easier to control Pro Tools' mixer from Euphonix's Artist and Pro series products.
EUCON support has been further enhanced in Pro Tools 10, so that almost every Pro Tools command, such as those normally accessed via menus or keyboard shortcuts, can be assigned to the Soft Keys on your Euphonix surface. Over commands are exposed, so you can now create and manage groups, for example, or adjust the edit selection without having to touch a keyboard or mouse. Another Euphonix-related improvement in Pro Tools 10 is the new Avid Channel Strip plug-in, which is based on the EQ and dynamics algorithms from the System 5 console's channel strip.
For those unfamiliar with the System 5 console, it's a high-end, modular digital console now sold by Avid, but originally released by Euphonix in Although the System 5 is popular in a many different fields, it has become a particular favourite for post-production work, being used to mix both the music and the final dub for major Hollywood feature films. If you've watched a film in the last 10 years or listened to a film soundtrack , there's a good chance you'll have heard audio signals that have passed through a System 5 console.
This may well be the last channel strip plug-in you'll ever need. Channel Strip comprises four sections — EQ, Filter, Dynamics and Volume — which can be arranged in almost any order you like, except that the filter always follows the EQ. Each effect has its own section in the interface, which can be collapsed if you don't wish to see certain settings that might not be in use. The interface for the EQ and dynamics sections comprises tabs for each of the components of the given section, whether bands of EQ or specific dynamic processes.
However, the dynamic section also offers an 'All' tab, so you can see all dynamics parameters on one page numerically, which is really handy. One particularly neat aspect of the Channel Strip plug-in is the Listen mode, which is available for the side-chain component of the dynamics section and each component of the EQ section. Enabling Listen mode on the side-chain lets you hear the input signal, while clicking Listen on a given band or filter in the EQ section solos and inverts that band or filter so you only hear the affected frequencies.
This allows one to be incredibly surgical when trying to find the appropriate frequency and Q. In fact, that word pretty much sums up the System 5's channel strip.
It's perfect for shaping a sound without adding a great deal of extra and perhaps unwanted colour. In addition to the new Channel Strip plug-in, there's also Down Mixer, which simplifies the process of creating stereo fold-downs of surround material, and a new version of Mod Delay.
But, as well as new plug-ins, Avid have also made a number of other mix-related improvements that will be helpful to those who use Pro Tools for large-scale mixes.
There are now Solo and Mute indicators on the Edit window's toolbar, so if any track in your session has been soloed or muted, the appropriate indicator will light up to show that a solo or mute is active somewhere.
Clicking the Solo indicator will clear the solo status of any tracks, but, unfortunately, clicking the Mute indicator does nothing.
According to the Pro Tools manual, a 'clear mutes' function is impossible because Mute is an automatable mix parameter.
Even so, it would have been nice if clicking the Mute indicator would at least scroll you automatically to the first muted track in the list, just to make it easy to track down a rogue mute, if you'll excuse the pun. The Edit window now features Solo and Mute indicators bottom right.
Here you can see the Solo indicator lit up to show that there's at least one soloed track in the session. A particularly neat touch is that the Solo indicator works across multiple Pro Tools systems synchronised via Satellite Link. This means that if a session on any linked system has a soloed track, the Solo indicator will light up, which is pretty cool.
The only slight complaint is that the Solo and Mute indicators are only visible on the Edit window, and it might have been nice to find some way for them to be accommodated on the Mix window as well. Staying with the theme of making things easier to see when mixing, another neat feature in Pro Tools 10 is called Bus Interrogation. While the name sounds a bit like some kind of forceful public transport inquisition, it's actually a way of quickly seeing all tracks sharing a common assignment.
For example, say you have a number of tracks routed to a Drums bus and you want the Mix window to show only those tracks. Simply right-click on an assignment to the Drums bus from a track output, for example and choose 'Show Only Assignments to Drums'.
Any tracks not containing an assignment whether an input, output or send, and so on to the Drums bus will be hidden, clearing the Mix window of unnecessary clutter. When you want to return to the tracks that were visible before selecting this command, right-click on any assignment and choose 'Restore Previously Shown Tracks'. The only small quirk is that the Mix window always ends up scrolled all the way to the left after the restoration. It would be nice to have the option of the Mix window being restored to the exact place to which you were previously scrolled.
In addition to being able to show only the tracks sharing a common assignment, you can also choose to select the appropriate tracks, and there's also a Show Assignments command. This is similar to Show Only, except that it's intended to ensure all tracks that might share the given assignment are visible as opposed to hidden.
This time, all other visible tracks displayed in the Mix window remain that way. One of the most contentious aspects of Pro Tools 10 is likely to be its cost. But in addition to this plug-in, you also get most of the other features discussed in this article.
This HD version can still run without any additional hardware, and in this case it behaves like a copy of Pro Tools with the Complete Production Toolkit. Initially, it was possible to save money by purchasing Avid Standard Support: a month support package that, for a limited time, retroactively included the Pro Tools HD 10 upgrade. But with that offer now closed, HD users will have to pay the full amount to upgrade.
Pro Tools 10 is an incredibly useful update, and I don't want to seem completely negative about the cost. But it does point to a difficulty in evaluating the fiscal value of software. I guess it depends on the users at the end of the day, and what they need their systems for. Certainly, high-end mix facilities might be more than happy to pay the money for features like disk caching and being able to synchronise more systems via Satellite Link.
You should also have at least an Intel Core i5 Processor. Avid recommend the default setting of Normal as the optimum Cache Size for most sessions.
How many cores does Pro Tools use? And for total unadulterated brute power we now have multi-processor systems that allow for 12, 16, 20 and 24 physical cores for dealing with the most intense sessions and elaborate compositions without compromise. What is Disk Cache Pro Tools? Disk Cache enables Pro Tools to load media files from the session into RAM from whatever drive you have the session on.
This means that it becomes possible to run sessions on drives that otherwise would not be able to handle Pro Tools projects, including network attached storage. What computer is best for Pro Tools? Windows Intel PC running Windows 8. Intel i5 processor. A computer monitor which supports a resolution of at least x Internet connection for installation.
To further expand on these new abilities, Pro Tools takes it a step further and allows you to print mixes from several sources simultaneously as well as the ability to print.
In the past we would have to cycle through several windows to achieve this. This feature is complex enough that we will be looking at this by itself in a future article. This engine also allows Pro Tools to support a wide array of Video Interfaces, allowing you to view video playback on an external monitor. The also allows you to select between different playback resolutions to balance between image quality and system performance.
However, in my opinion, the most important change regarding video in Pro Tools is that you can no longer capture video to the Timeline in Pro Tools. Video has become very prevalent in the past few years allowing for more capabilities across a wide range of products.
Even the iPhone allows for basic video editing right on the phone, not to mention the many apps available for these devices. Bottom line, there are numerous ways to Capture video. The software engine enabling all of this goodness to happen is so radically different than any previous version of Pro Tools, and Avid has also taken into account the apprehension you might feel about jumping ship. For the first time in Pro Tools history, you get 2 licenses: Pro Tools 11 and 10 as well. The PT11 license includes an additional license for PT You can even have both versions installed on your computer at once!
One of the most professional-minded new features of Pro Tools 11 are the new Metering Scales and Ballistics. To accommodate the wide range of professionals utilizing Pro Tools such as Broadcast, Post Production, Music Mixing, we now have up to 17 different metering types. Yes, you read that right, 17! For the majority of us, we will probably never need to monitor our mixes in PPM Nordic, but in case you ever get work in Scandinavia, just know Pro Tools has you covered.
Lastly, the Pro Tools community saw the retirement of an old friend. Although production has stopped on the ICON, Avid will continue to support the system for many years to come as there will be many people like myself that will continue to use their ICON.
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