Archive for the 'tip' Category

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Pro Tools Tech Support issue plea about incompatible plug-ins

Published on November 1, 2009 in News and tip. 0 Comments Tags: .
Digidesign Tech Support have issued this post on the Mac forum on DUC about Pro Tools instability problems and incompatible plug-ins…

Many issues are caused by incompatible plug-ins being installed. They don’t even have to be used in the session to cause problems – just having them in the plug-ins folder can cause bizarre problems. The reason is that, upon launch, Pro Tools caches all the installed plug-in data – that cache interacts with many aspects of Pro Tools, from thread scheduling to automation, etc.

I strongly recommend taking 30 minutes to carefully go through your plug-in list and compare it to our Compatiblity Grid. Remove or update any plug-ins that are not the minimum version listed. If you don’t see your plug-in on the list, remove it temporarily for testing purposes then, once your system is stable, verify with the manufacturer regarding it’s compatibility. If they indicate it’s compatible, put it back into your plug-ins folder and test again. Do this ony by one for any plug-ins in question, so you can narrow down which ones my be problematic.

FWIW I have never, ever seen a case where someone said ‘all my plug-ins are compatible’ and actually have that be the case so, please, double and triple check. You can’t be too careful in regards to this! A majority of instability reported on the DUC has been traced to plug-ins.

After removing/updating any plug-ins always trash preferences, then restart, so that all plug-in data can be reloaded and re-cached.

If you are still experiencing problems, please use the Tech Support Utility to generate and post a plug-in version list so we can double check. Given that our time here is limited, we expect you to carefully verify your plug-ins first.

Also, due to some plug-ins using code that cannot run on a processor dedicated to RTAS, you may need to reduce the number of processors in the playback engine to avoid errors. The processors are still being used – they just run the code that can’t run on a dedicated RTAS processor. Some code will interrupt real-time processes if they’re run on the same core.

__________________
Digidesign Tech Support

Pro Tools 8 and jerky video problems

Published on August 24, 2009 in bug and tip. 1 Comment Tags: , .

There seems to be a number of reports about poorer video playback in Pro Tools 8 as reported on the Digidesign User Conference.

  • There seems to be a number of issues.

  • Using movies encoded with H264 seem to be more jerky in PT 8 than PT7.

  • There is a sound preferences setting that helps that has been around for quite a while. In Pro Tools sessions with QuickTime video, playback start time is significantly increased. This is an issue with QuickTime on Mac OS X 10.5.3. To avoid this problem, do the following before launching Pro Tools…

  • Open the Mac System Preferences.
  • Click Sound.
  • Click Input.
  • Select any input device other than Digidesign HW.
  • Note: In some circumstances, it is also necessary to also change the output to something other than Digidesign HW to resolve this issue.”

  • If you move the video window on the monitor to the edge of the screen so it is just poking out the playback on the screen fed from a Canopus or equivalent can be much smoother.

  • Digidesign are aware of the problem and apparently are working on a fix with Apple.

Modifying Time Stamps for Pro Tools

Published on August 23, 2009 in tip. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Occasionally I have been asked to resolve a time stamping problem where fro one reason or another I have needed to modify the time stamp embedded in the wave file.

It is possible to modify the user time stamp in Pro Tools but Pro Tools doesn’t seem to enable you to modify the original time stamp.

So what are the solutions…

One is to spot the errant file at the time you would like it to have and then Consolidate it. This will create a new file with the correct original time stamp.

However if you want to simply modify the meta-data in the original file then you have to leave the cosy world of Pro Tools and set a free application called Wave Agent from Sound Devices who make portable audio flash card recorders.

They have produced a piece of free software that will enable you to edit the meta-data embedded in a BWF (Broadcast wave Format) wav file.

They have also produced this helpful video to show you some of the features of Sound Agent

Wave Agent Overview from Sound Devices on Vimeo.

A brief overview of Wave Agent

Pro Tools, Firewire 800 and Canopus boxes

Published on August 21, 2009 in tip. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

There has been a thread on the DUC about using a Canopus box on Macs that don’t have Firewire 400 ports.

Apparently the Canopus spec only supports 1394 and 1394 and not 1394b (FW800) so the news looked gloomy.

However a number of users have tried using a simple FW800 to 400 adaptor cable and it has worked fine.

Pro Tools 7.4.2 & 8 cannot record to a GUID partitioned drive on a Power PC.

Published on August 16, 2009 in problem and tip. 0 Comments Tags: .

This is a known issue in Pro Tools HD & LE 7.4.2 & 8 (Mac OS X PPC).

Workaround: Format the drive with Apple Partition Map partition scheme.

This little problem slipped in with the introduction of Intel Macs and Mac OS 10.4.6 when GUID Partition Table support was introduced. The default mode when formatting drives now on Intel Macs is GUID Partition Table. If you put this drive onto a Power PC Mac like a G4 or G5 then you are likely to get 9131 errors in Pro Tools.

You can check if your drive is partitioned with a GUID Partition Table using Disk Utility.

If you select the higher level icon in the drive list in Disk Utility, in the bottom section it will show what partition map has been used.

Any drive formatted on an Intel Mac will use a GUID Partition Table. You will need to use the Options menu in the Partition tab to force Disk Utility to select Apple Partition Map.

Alternatively just format the drive on a Power PC Mac and it will be formatted with an Apple Partition Map.

If you have an incorrectly formatted drive you will need to move all the material off it to reformat it with the correct partition map.

It is in the Pro Tools documentation but it has caught me out!

Pro Tools Pref & Database Helper updated

Published on June 28, 2009 in tip. 3 Comments Tags: , .


JC who is the creator of this stunning useful free Pro Tools helper application has just updated it to run much faster in OS X 10.5.

He has also added a button which will open the folder where the the app stores the backup preferences which is located in your home folder/Library/Application Support/ProTools Pref and Database Helper

When you download it you will find he has included a small AppleScript that will only delete the Digidesign Databases. Also included is a small video showing how to have this script automatically run at startup.

DUC post on AudioSuite Handles and bins

Published on June 14, 2009 in tip. 1 Comment Tags: , .

These are two features, I for one, and I am sure most of us working in a media context would want.

Handles
AudioSuite handles are where if you process a section with an AudioSuite plug-in and then want to extend it for a cross fade you can’t. I always try to remember to trim out the selection manually so I do have some overlap to pay with but just as we have handles on OMFs it would be great to have handles when AudioSuite processing regions.

Bins
Bins in the Region List is something any Avid uusers take for granted but in Pro Tools we have never had the option to organise our media in the Region List into folders. My work round for this is to use prefixes so similar items group together in the list. For example I use the prefix mus for music clips, fx for sound effects, wt for wildtrack but to be able to arrange the content into folders in the Region List would be so much more helpful.

Sign up please
Stef has started a post on the Digidesign User Conference and I would recommend that if these features appeal to you that you add a post to this thread on the DUC.

Another great video from Brent Heber

Published on June 11, 2009 in tip. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Preview Mode from Brent Heber on Vimeo.

This video demonstrates the Pro Tools HD automation feature called “Preview” which allows you to dynamically suspend automated parameters by simply touching them, rather than globally turning off/suspending an automation family (such as volume, inserts, sends etc)

I didn’t know anything about this feature and it looks like a great tool even if you can’t afford an Icon!

Thanks again Brent and enjoy.

Zoom tip – zooming with a Scroll Wheel

Published on May 7, 2009 in tip. 0 Comments Tags: .

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out of tracks, both vertically and horizontally.

To continuously zoom horizontally in the Edit window, hold down Alt while turning the mouse scroll wheel.
To continuously vertically zoom audio tracks in the Edit window, hold down Alt+Shift while turning the mouse scroll wheel.

To continuously vertically zoom MIDI tracks in the Edit window, hold down Alt+Start (Windows) or Alt+Control (Mac) while turning the mouse scroll wheel.

To scroll the contents of the Edit window or Mix window horizontally, focus the window you want to scroll by clicking in it or bringing it forward, and then hold down the Shift key while turning the mouse scroll wheel.

Generate music cue sheet from regions

Published on May 4, 2009 in tip. 0 Comments Tags: .

It is possible to export session data at Text. The best thing to do is to Save your session then Delete all your tracks except the music tracks and do a Save As so you have a version of the session with just the music tracks on it. Remember to trim the regions so they represent the music that was audible. Go to the File Menu and select – Export > Session info at Text In the Dialog box you have a few choices. I recommend you select:

  • Include File List
  • Include Region List
  • Include Track EDLs
  • Combine Crossfaded Regions
  • Time Format: -Timecode
  • File Format: It depends – see below.

If you want to process it in a spreadsheet then I would go for the MS Excel option. However in the Mac world there is an excellent little application called Agent Orange written by Jamie Hardt. If you are going to use this application then select the TextEdit txt option. There has been quite a bit of discussion about this on the DUC here.

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