Cover me, boys, I'm goin' in (to Pro Tools, that is)

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:03 am

I finally grew tired of trying to explain to clients how to export audio and MIDI files from Pro Tools so I can open them in DP..I ordered
Pro Tools 9 from Sweetwater on Friday.

I'm only going to use PT9 to open the Pro Tools projects people send me,
do the exports myself and then load them to DP so I can mix there.
I have been continuously astounded at the number of Pro Tools users (including "experienced" engineers) who have no clue how to export audio and MIDI from PT. And even when I have explained to them "export the audio files from bar 1 beat 1 tick 1" I still get audio files that were not exported this way, with no time stamp, and I have no clue where they are actually supposed to begin. A number of PT engineers have told me they didn't even know what a Standard MIDI File Type 1 was.

I feel like a traitor, making this move, but with more PT projects coming
in for mixing I just had to do it. Please forgive me..

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 11:53 am

They won't learn how to because they of course are superior using PT and all-- thus it's your job to accommodate them. And you will. And I understand and don't blame you.

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:19 pm

cue deep reverbed voice from high up in the DP heavens, "I forgive you son as they know what not they use"......

I have a version of tools for such things, gets used very little without guilt as I know who my first and only love is.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:24 pm

kassonica wrote:cue deep reverbed voice from high up in the DP heavens, "I forgive you son as they know what not they use"......

... or how to properly use them!

AnthonyS · Post by **AnthonyS** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:34 pm

No...don't...must...resist.....the.....siren's....song......

rodger1811 · Post by **rodger1811** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 2:59 pm

I had to do the exact same thing....... It's a shame but it is what it is.

Phil O · Post by **Phil O** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 3:41 pm

Yeah, been thinking about going that route myself, as I'm seeing PT projects come in more often. The thing is though, people are coming to me to "fix" the mix. I tell them DP's the way to go for that.

Phil

fullertime · Post by **fullertime** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 3:44 pm

I did the exact same thing last year... Seriously amazed at the phenomenon myself too:) I guess MOTU users are just smarter:) I open Protools about 4 times a year:)

jlaudon · Post by **jlaudon** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:48 am

I do the same thing, and now when I finish a song in DP, I export all the audio tracks to Protools with the MIDI tempo map as well, so I can give the engineer a rough mix of what the song is supposed to be (worse than using PT is how it is used, or abused in some of the mixes I've heard of my songs...). We coddle them all... and they are so oblivious to it

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:02 am

I guess I'm lucky. Audio mostly goes OUT the door in my studio. Oh, I get the "you're using Pro Tools, right?" all the time in post and layback, but I never seem to have to import PT sessions.

Funny thing, last week I was in a layback session and the tech (a fine musician in his own right working for a major recording firm in LA) was laying back my tracks and mentioned how great the piano sound was and asked what I used (PC2/x from Kurzweil which sounds 'OK' to me but I'm usually on an acoustic grand). Anyway, that's what he uses and it has never sounded as good to him. He attributed it to my playing. I was thinking "yeah, well, maybe but it could also be DP?"

I didn't say that. We were sitting on one of them high end PT controller consoles. Very fancy and I was impressed, but watching him work, I realized I do the same thing as he does, in a studio that costs about 1% of the cost and with far fewer keystrokes and way fewer reaches for menus, lists, logs, and technical mind vaulting.

Oh, and BTW, PT did crash at least once in the session, requiring a restart of the Mac. Warmed my cockles, it did...

I believe this was the console he was using - or something at least that high end...

BobK · Post by **BobK** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:53 am

I saw one of them things last fall at a fancy studio in downtown SF - I think it's the ICON (Integrated Console). If you have a hundred grand (or whatever) burning a hole in your pocket, and the space for such a big thing, I can imagine how it'd be nice to have such extensive integrated hardware control of your DAW. (And there's a cool light-show demo too!)

As for PT: A few years ago I picked up a Digi 002R. A band I was co-leading had just cut basic tracks in a studio with Pro Tools, and I was going to engineer overdubs and edit at home. Without a copy of PT, we would've had to pay for hours of studio time to go through all the takes and export the keepers to DP (there was an entire CD worth of songs). I thought it made sense to instead put that money toward the OO2R (and I got a deal on an open-box special).

I never got as comfortable with PTLE as I am with DP, and as soon as PT9 was released I picked up a copy and sold the 002R. But I'm glad to have it around. I've even earned a few extra bucks converting PT projects for DP-using friends.

n2mpujack · Post by **n2mpujack** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:04 am

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I guess I'm lucky. Audio mostly goes OUT the door in my studio. Oh, I get the "you're using Pro Tools, right?" all the time in post and layback, but I never seem to have to import PT sessions.

Funny thing, last week I was in a layback session and the tech (a fine musician in his own right working for a major recording firm in LA) was laying back my tracks and mentioned how great the piano sound was and asked what I used (PC2/x from Kurzweil which sounds 'OK' to me but I'm usually on an acoustic grand). Anyway, that's what he uses and it has never sounded as good to him. He attributed it to my playing. I was thinking "yeah, well, maybe but it could also be DP?"

I didn't say that. We were sitting on one of them high end PT controller consoles. Very fancy and I was impressed, but watching him work, I realized I do the same thing as he does, in a studio that costs about 1% of the cost and with far fewer keystrokes and way fewer reaches for menus, lists, logs, and technical mind vaulting.

Oh, and BTW, PT did crash at least once in the session, requiring a restart of the Mac. Warmed my cockles, it did...

I believe this was the console he was using - or something at least that high end...

It's an Avid Icon D-Control which is nothing more than a mega-expensive mouse as no audio really goes through that thing. I've seen the videos on Avid's site and the gymnastics one has to go through like when one wants to make adjustments on a plugin is ridiculous. If you really want to have a console and impress clients better to spend the bucks on something that'll work across multiple daw platforms and do audio as well. The SSL Matrix, AWS 924/948 or the expandable Duality will do all that and more. Then again that depends on how much one mixes ITB or analog whether you have a console or not.

BobK · Post by **BobK** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:35 am

n2mpujack wrote:It's an Avid Icon D-Control which is nothing more than a mega-expensive mouse as no audio really goes through that thing. I've seen the videos on Avid's site and the gymnastics one has to go through like when one wants to make adjustments on a plugin is ridiculous.

Yeah, but the light show is cool! (for a few seconds, at least)

I vaguely recall the kid running the board had a heck of a time doing really simple stuff - like putting a little reverb on a monitor mix or adjusting EQ. I think it was partly due to inexperience, but I also recall him saying what you said, Jack - the thing is not easy to use.

n2mpujack · Post by **n2mpujack** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:20 am

BobK wrote:
n2mpujack wrote:It's an Avid Icon D-Control which is nothing more than a mega-expensive mouse as no audio really goes through that thing. I've seen the videos on Avid's site and the gymnastics one has to go through like when one wants to make adjustments on a plugin is ridiculous.
Yeah, but the light show is cool! (for a few seconds, at least)

I vaguely recall the kid running the board had a heck of a time doing really simple stuff - like putting a little reverb on a monitor mix or adjusting EQ. I think it was partly due to inexperience, but I also recall him saying what you said, Jack - the thing is not easy to use.

They actually have a name for the light show - Vegas mode. Don't know where you'd lose more money though - Vegas or PT.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:51 pm

effen bonehaded spammers!

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