by Steve Cunningham
Yes, it’s that time again. Avid has release another major revision of the program that some of us love, and some of us love to hate -- Pro Tools. I’m actually feeling a bit guilty about this, since it is my perception that the percentage of Radio And Production readers who actually use Pro Tools has diminished over the last few years. For many, particularly voice talent, Pro Tools is still seen as too big and too complex to use for daily work. I get that, but I continue to believe that there are as many if not more positives than negatives to Pro Tools for voice over (although I’d prefer not to hash those out here and now). In any event, for those who are already using Pro Tools as well as those visiting it with an eye to becoming a first-time user, you should know that the new Pro Tools 11 contains some fundamental changes, which is what happens when you completely re-write your audio engine.
However, these improvements have come at a price which is not inconsequential. If you’re a Pro Tools user, you will likely need to upgrade your hardware. You will also likely have to upgrade your plug-ins, and in some cases re-buy them altogether. So “out with the old, in with the new” is not free. Should you take the plunge? Let’s have a look.
SYSTEM AND HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
Pro Tools 11 (hereafter PT 11) is now a full 64-bit software application. This of course means that you are probably going to have to upgrade your operating system. As has always been the case, it is also assumed that you are running an Avid approved computer platform for use with Windows.
On the Windows side, PT 11 runs on (64-bit) Windows 7 or 8 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate edition with Windows 7 Service Pack 1. Note that Pro Tools HD 11 (PT 11 HD) does not support Windows 8. For native use (PT 11) you’ll want at least 4GB of RAM, and 8GB or more is highly recommended. For PT 11 HD, 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum, with 16GB or more highly recommended.
On the Mac side, you’ll need to be running Mountain Lion (10.8.3), the 64-bit version of Mac OSX, and the same amount of RAM as on Windows. On both platforms, you’ll need a minimum of 15 GB free hard disk space for the installation, and a USB port for iLok authorization. Some things never change.
If you are an Mbox owner, the news is “less good.” PT 11 no longer supports any of the beige Mboxes, including the beige Mbox Pro. The newer, charcoal gray Mboxes sometimes known as version 3 are supported. Avid originally said that the Firewire-based 003 interface would not be supported, although recent news has them backing down from that particular position. Stay tuned for more information on the 003 front.
If you are an existing HD user, the news is even more “less good.” Avid have discontinued support for the “legacy” Pro Tools HD Accel systems. Originally they also included the silver HD interfaces introduced over a decade ago with the original Pro Tools HD system. This resulted in a whole lot of pissed off users, particularly those who have continued to happily run their Pro Tools 10 HD software on their HD rigs. More recently Avid have announced that most of the silver HD interfaces will still work, but will still require new processor cards. The previous HD cards have to be exchanged for HDX cards or for HD native cards. Again, this has resulted in some pissed off users, although users have known about this for at least two years. You will want to visit Avid’s site to see what you will need to replace to run PT 11 HD.
INSTALLATION
Even the installation process is a good news/bad news story. Rather than an installer that takes you through an interminable number of options, on the Mac all you need to do is drag the appropriate Pro Tools icon on to the Applications folder. Double-clicking the Pro Tools icon will initiate the installation process and allow you to choose from the various options. Windows users will see the same installer they’ve always seen. That’s the good news. The potential bad news is that Pro Tools 11 can only use the new version 2 iLoks from Pace. That’s right, you’ll end up buying a new iLok in order to use your new Pro Tools. Along with the new iLok comes a new website to register your authorizations. In fact, you don’t actually register them on the website; there’s now a new “iLok license manager” application that you run from your computer. This new workflow created quite a hair-pull when it was first introduced, although I can report that it’s working quite well now. Does it provide any significant benefit? Not really, since you still have to be online in order for the thing to work. But it’s all shiny and new; the one benefit is that it does make it easier to move authorizations between iLoks. Incidentally, this is something I have never had to do, at least not until I had to buy a new version iLok. Should you happen to remove your iLok accidentally while using Pro Tools, at least it now it gives you an option to save your session or quit, rather than simply locking up and forcing you to restart before you’d saved. A small thing, but I’ll take it.
SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
What about the aforementioned 64-bit business? What’s the big deal there? First and foremost, running in full 64-bit mode means that Pro Tools can access more than 4 GB of RAM. If one runs a lot of tracks, and particularly if one runs a great number of plug-ins, this means performance is greatly improved over the 32-bit version. It also means that more of the session data will be held in RAM, and the disk cache is actually part of Pro Tools itself. This does mean faster performance, and smoother performance, under more complex conditions. And yes, Pro Tools 11 is remarkably stable given the fact that it is a completely rewritten program in its early stages. And yes there have already been several updates issued to fix the inevitable bugs that appeared. But overall, it is by and large stable.
The downside of being a 64-bit application is that it can only run 64-bit plug-ins. Specifically, it can only run 64-bit AAX-format plug-ins. And that means that you will need to acquire 64 bit AAX versions for all of your third-party plug-ins. Audio Suite, RTAS, and TDM plug-ins are all out; 64-bit AAX is in. Fortunately, most companies who publish plug-ins for Pro Tools have caught up with the new 64-bit ANX standard [see sidebar].
Along with the new AAX format plug-ins comes a new AAX format architecture. That, along with a completely rewritten audio engine, provides what is for me the biggest benefit of all in Pro Tools 11. If you must keep your RTAS plugs but want to upgrade, you’ll be happy to know that Pro Tools version 10 is included and can run on the same computer as hosts version 11 (but not simultaneously).
BOUNCE ME
One of the long-standing gripes about Pro Tools has been its inability to perform real-time bouncing, aka “offline bouncing.” On more than one occasion, I have personally delivered that well-worn gripe to the development staff, first at Digidesign, and now Avid. They’ve all heard that tune before, and there’s no doubt in my mind that they wanted to fix it but simply could not, given the old and well-patched audio engine. Well, now they have. The Bounce dialog box now comes with a checkbox to enable off-line bouncing. No more real-time bounces, waiting for a full 60 seconds to bounce a 60-second commercial. More importantly, no waiting 30 minutes to bounce a 30 minute radio show, or consolidating that 30 minute radio show into one file to avoid bouncing altogether while losing the ability to apply any real-time effects. No more applying off-line AudioSuite effects to specific segments of a file, one region at a time, and then consolidating.
No, off-line bouncing has finally brought Pro Tools into the second decade of the 21st century. (And it has given PT 11 a feature that most other software audio editors have had since the beginning of that century). All snark aside, this really is a big deal for Pro Tools users. So how much faster or we talking about? In most of the sessions I tried, off-line bounce appeared to be about 10 times faster than real-time. Users running very large sessions, using a large number of DSP-based AAX plug-ins, reported bounce times somewhat less than that. This appears to be due to the fact that all DSP-based AAX plug-ins are actually converted to their native counterparts at bounce time. The DSP-based versions won’t do real-time bounce, which is why avid and other plug-in manufacturers provide both versions (native and DSP-based) of their plugs, and the DSP versions have native code in them so both versions sound the same.
And there are other benefits. Delay compensation is built-in to both the native and the HD version. If you’re not aware, delay compensation compensates for the delay time that some plug-ins generate on playback and ensures that all tracks are playing back in sync even if they have differing types and numbers of effects processors on them. It’s not a big deal for a single voiceover track, but it is a big deal in a production situation.
The maximum sample rate for both HD and non-HD remains 32 bit, and 192 kHz (hardware dependent). Total track count remains about the same as with version 10. For an HD system, the maximum playback count is 256 tracks at 48 kHz; for a non-HD system, maximum playback is 96 tracks at that same sample rate. Maximum simultaneous recording track number is 256 for HD, and 32 for non-HD.
Pro Tools 11 also includes some improvements to the onscreen mixer. The level meters are now 30% larger than they were, making them easier to see from a distance, and they can be configured to show different types of metering ballistics and scales. In addition to the classic view, you can now set the meters to show you sample peak all the time (there are also two other new scales that are primarily designed for live sound use). In addition, you can now see all of the sends in expanded view simultaneously. And there are more, very specific improvements that apply only to the HD systems in the areas of metering, gain reduction metering, and advanced metering scales.
WE DON’T NEED NO STEENKIN’ HD
Given the processing power increase as a result of the rewrite of all the software, it’s difficult to see why even a big radio production studio would need a full-blown, DSP-based HD system. Computers are wicked fast, and Pro Tools HD native systems, which consist of an HD native card and an Omni interface are substantially less expensive than the smallest HD TDM system was just a few years back. But an HD system is still several thousand dollars, even if it is native. I do my work on a regular old Pro Tools native system, and the step up to version 11 feels better to me.
I could go on about being disappointed in the lack of changes in the software for version 11, but given the fact that the software has been completely rewritten I can understand why so few changes were made in features. Having said that, there is still some expense involved in upgrading even my vanilla rig. Between the software upgrade itself, which is $299 on Avid store, and the price of plug-in upgrades, it’s a fair chunk of change. If you make your money with Pro Tools as I do, and you work on long form programs as I do, you might indeed find it a worthwhile update. If not, then you may just be better off using what you have.
For more information worldwide, visit http://www.avid.com.
SIDEBAR: AAX -- Current Status
Given that Pro Tools 11 can only use 64-bit AAX plug-ins, one might be interested to know the current state of AAX compatibility for both Avid plugs and third-party plugin publishers. Well, there’s good news and bad news, yet again.
If you are a native Pro Tools user and only use the stock plug-ins, you’re golden; all Avid’s plug-ins have been converted and work. The exceptions include plug-ins which had been developed by or distributed based on agreements with third parties, and most of these are HD-oriented; Amp Farm and Echo Farm, TC Electronics plugs, and even TL Space and Click.
The situation for third-party plug-ins varies from developer to developer, but many companies were ready with 64-bit AAX variants of their plugs at release time, and most of the others have caught up as of this writing. The list has become long since PT 11 was released, and includes many of my personal favorites; Wave Arts’ AAX plugins are available, as are Blue Cats Audio’s and DMG Audio’s. Of particular interest to voice actors, Source Elements’ Source Connect is also compatible, as is iZotope’s entire range including RX3 noise reducer. And while it took them a bit longer than other companies, Waves’ full line of plugs are available for both HD and native systems, and in glorious 64-bits.
So where is the bad news? For the most part, the upgrades to AAX and/or 64-bit are not free. Most companies allow discounts for current users, but these range from acceptable to “I might as well buy another copy” pricing. I also understand the reasons why -- the fact is that the task of porting an RTAS-format plugin (or the format formerly known as TDM) to a 64-bit capable, AAX-format plug involves a lot of expensive DSP and User Interface programming. That stuff ain’t free, and doing it will not generate much in the way of incremental sales, and the bills must be paid. Having said that, it may well weigh heavily on an existing user’s decision whether or not to upgrade to PT 11. It can be a wickedly expensive proposition.
You can get information on the status of your favorite plug-ins by visiting http://www.avid.com/plugins.