Opening PT Session in DP

[draudio2u]

I need to open PT Sessions in DP and the other engineer did not supply me with OMF Files. I never did this before and need for it to go smoothly. How should I explain to the other engineer how to do the "save as"? Also, anyone that has done this before - is there something I should watch for so I don't make a "newbie" type mistake? I read in the manual that I need to import into the Chunks window? Correct and why?

Thanks in advance.

[stephentayler]

The safest way is to ask the engineer to first name the tracks in PT, then consolidate all audio from the start of the session. Highlight these tracks and export from PT.

Then drag these files into the Tracks Overview in DP and it will create tracks for all these audio files, complete with names.

This method will not retain any levels or pans or plugs.

kind regards

Stephen

[draudio2u]

So by doing a consolodate in PT, will this create a single file for each track? Effectively giving me the same start point for each instrument?

Right now I am dealing with files that look like this:

cello_01.aif
cello_02.aif
cello_03.aif
perc_01.aif
perc_02.aif
perc_03.aif

...and so on. I figure this is what I am used to seeing when the session (in PT or DP) is edited together from all those files.

Thanks

[stephentayler]

So by doing a consolodate in PT, will this create a single file for each track? Effectively giving me the same start point for each instrument?

Indeed as long as the tracks are all highlighted (highlit?) from the start of the sequence prior to consolidation (called merging in DP). This is a well tried and tested method.

Cheers

Stephen

[rockitcity]

...Right now I am dealing with files that look like this:

cello_01.aif
cello_02.aif
cello_03.aif
perc_01.aif
perc_02.aif
perc_03.aif

...and so on. I figure this is what I am used to seeing when the session (in PT or DP) is edited together from all those files...

These are probably seperate takes from the same cello track. You could look at the file size to see if they are the same length, but most likely they will be different. As such, you have no way of knowing which take was used nor how it may have been edited. You could try importing the takes to a DP track and spotting them to their original timestamp, but you'll probably end up with garbage.

PT and DP sessions themselves are not compatible and don't communicate with each other, except for the common file type (and even that is suspect, since DP uses SDII files, and PT uses a variety of different file types).

In order to make the conversion you need to consolidate the files in Pro Tools before you receive the project. Then you can do as Stephen suggested and import all the tracks to a common start point.

The only other option would be to have the Pro Tools engineer do an OMF export and import that into DP. This may only work with 16 bit files (not sure about that one). This method has the advantage of retaining the original files with all concurrent edits. Plug-ins, pans, and other automation will not be included. I believe any stereo tracks will also appear as split mono.

You'll need to communicate with the originating studio to figure out the best way to work on this project.

Bob

[tripit@earthlink.net]

I need to open PT Sessions in DP and the other engineer did not supply me with OMF Files. I never did this before and need for it to go smoothly. How should I explain to the other engineer how to do the "save as"? Also, anyone that has done this before - is there something I should watch for so I don't make a "newbie" type mistake? I read in the manual that I need to import into the Chunks window? Correct and why?

Thanks in advance.

Another way to do it is if the PT session is in WAV files, then you will be able to lay them into DP according to the original time stamp. I just did this the other day and it worked great. I imported the files I needed from the PT session and used the time stamp to set their locations. You should know the start time of the session and time code format of the PT session before importing.

[pcm]

I use timestamps all the time to move individual tracks between DP and PT. Never an issue.

[davel6332]

I use wave files to go back and forth between different programs too, but I've never thought about time stamping being a part of the file. This may be a stoopid question, but where is it located?

[Tim]

where is it located?

In the file header.

[davel6332]

where is it located?

In the file header.

I'll go ahead and be more ignorant.....where's that?

[Tim]

where is it located?

In the file header.

I'll go ahead and be more ignorant.....where's that?

It's a part of an audio (or other) file that's reserved for storing identifying info: file type, sample rate, word length, # of chnls, time stamp, etc.