PT11 First Impressions

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging the last couple months. I recently moved and I'm very stoked to be back in Oregon.

So the big recent news is that Avid has released Pro Tools 11:

The first thing I did was dive into the system requirements and make sure that everything was compatible.

There are definitely some cool new features in this version (Of course some of which have been available for quite some time in other DAWs).  I particularly like the new video engine. Hopefully no more transcoding videos!

One concern for me and a lot of others is making sure that all plug-ins, interfaces and peripherals would be supported. Having to wait for plug-in developers to port their plug-ins to the 64-bit AAX format is a big inconvenience at the moment. But I'm confident that this issue will be corrected in time.

Perhaps the biggest thing for me in holding off from upgrading right away is the ongoing documented issues with the iLok License Manager software. I know that at some point I'll upgrade to PT11, but being deep in the middle of a project is simply not a good time to be updating. My setup does everything that I need at the moment for my workflow. For the time being I'm good with that!

Lastly, Ceri Thomas has a great blog post about what PT11 does for post. Recommended reading.

Command|8

Recently I was able to score a Command 8 from a friend of mine. Secondhand audio gear can always be a little scary, but it sure helps to know who you're getting it from as opposed to someone off the internet.

I've previously worked with the MC Pro and Nuendo, and I was eager to finally have a control surface to add to my Pro Tools workflow at home.

Having an interface and control surface together like a 003 is not a huge necessity for me at my home workstation. I very rarely if ever record anything directly into my DAW. Most of what I record I do with my Zoom, and I have the option to dust off my Mbox if I need to input directly into PT.

While I'm fine working with a mouse and keyboard, the capabilities you get with a control surface have definitely increased the speed and efficiency of how I edit. I love being able to do more detailed volume automation, and I also really enjoy having my plug-in controls on a surface. The thing is, I'm truly not even using the the Command 8 to it's full capabilities. Sound on Sound has a cool article with some functions and features I won't even begin to detail.

It can sometimes be an issue for me deciding what do I really need vs want. When it comes to a microphone, or plug-in and so forth, there is a lot of research that goes into getting what will benefit your own individual workflow. Overall, I'm so stoked with the Command 8.

That is until I eventually own the Artist Series!

Pro Tools Shortcuts

I've been diving back into using Pro Tools daily as opposed to Nuendo. If only there was one DAW to rule them all!

Wanted to quickly share a few links that I find to be really useful.

This is an awesome interactive site for PT10 shortcuts.

This Sound on Sound article from a few years back goes into some of the more obscure shortcuts and has a good step by step guide for creating your own Mac shortcuts for Pro Tools.

A shortcut that I've found to be good to create is one to open the I/O...

The second SOS article dives into setting up custom macros. If you use a ShuttlePRO, one of the many cool things about it is you can assign macro commands to a single button.

Please let me know if there are any other sites out there that you find helpful.

Creating Custom Track Presets in Pro Tools

If you haven't yet, take the time to check out this video showing how easy it is to set up your own custom track presets in Avid Pro Tools:

Although having templates is efficient, I like the ability to have a track specifically for each situation. Steinberg has had a similar feature for a while in their DAWs, and I'm stoked to have found a simple way to do this in Pro Tools as well.