Pro Tools® M-Powered™ User Guide Version 8.0.4 Legal Notices This guide is copyrighted ©2010 by Avid Technology, Inc., (hereafter “Avid”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Avid.
003, 96 I/O, 96i I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 192 I/O, 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O, 1622 I/O, 24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/O, AudioSuite, Avid, Avid DNA, Avid Mojo, Avid Unity, Avid Unity ISIS, Avid Xpress, AVoption, Axiom, Beat Detective, Bomb Factory, Bruno, C|24, Command|8, Control|24, D-Command, D-Control, D-Fi, D-fx, D-Show, D-Verb, DAE, Digi 002, DigiBase, DigiDelivery, Avid, Avid Audio Engine, Avid Intelligent Noise Reduction, Avid TDM Bus, DigiDrive, DigiRack, DigiTest, DigiTranslator, DINR, D-Show, DV Toolkit, EditPack, Eleven, HD Core, HD Process, Hybrid, Impact, Interplay, LoFi, M-Audio, MachineControl, Maxim, Mbox, MediaComposer, MIDI I/O, MIX, MultiShell, Nitris, OMF, OMF Interchange, PRE, ProControl, Pro Tools M-Powered, Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, QuickPunch, Recti-Fi, Reel Tape, Reso, Reverb One, ReVibe, RTAS, Sibelius, Smack!, SoundReplacer, Sound Designer II, Strike, Structure, SYNC HD, SYNC I/O, Synchronic, TL Aggro, TL AutoPan, TL Drum Rehab, TL Everyphase, TL Fauxlder, TL In Tune, TL MasterMeter, TL Metro, TL Space, TL Utilities, Transfuser, Trillium Lane Labs, Vari-Fi Velvet, X-Form, and XMON are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. Xpand! is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.
Guide Part Number 9329-62659-00 06/10
Documentation Feedback At Avid, we are always looking for ways to improve our documentation. If you have comments, corrections, or suggestions regarding our documentation, email us at [email protected]. contents
Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools M-Powered ...... 1 Pro Tools M-Powered Systems ...... 1 Pro Tools M-Powered Capabilities ...... 1 How Pro Tools M-Powered Differs from Pro Tools LE...... 2 System Requirements and Compatibility ...... 2 Conventions Used in This Guide ...... 4
Chapter 2. Installing Pro Tools on Mac ...... 5 Installation Overview ...... 5 Uninstalling Pre-Existing M-Audio Drivers ...... 5 Installing M-Audio Drivers...... 6 Connecting Your M-Audio Interface ...... 7 Installing Pro Tools M-Powered Software ...... 7 Launching Pro Tools M-Powered ...... 8 Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc ...... 9 Uninstalling Pro Tools ...... 10
Chapter 3. Installing Pro Tools on Windows ...... 11 Installation Overview ...... 11 Uninstalling Pre-Existing M-Audio Drivers ...... 11 Installing M-Audio Drivers...... 12 Connecting Your M-Audio Interface ...... 13 Installing Pro Tools M-Powered Software ...... 13 Launching Pro Tools M-Powered ...... 15 Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc ...... 16 Uninstalling Pro Tools ...... 17
Contents iii Chapter 4. Configuring Your Pro Tools System ...... 19 Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System ...... 19 Configuring Pro Tools M-Powered Software ...... 20 Optimizing a Mac System for Pro Tools...... 28 Optimizing a Windows System for Pro Tools ...... 30
Appendix A. Configuring AMS (Mac OS X Only) ...... 35 Audio MIDI Setup ...... 35 MIDI Patch Name Support...... 37
Appendix B. Configuring MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only)...... 39 MIDI Studio Setup ...... 39 MIDI Patch Name Support...... 41
Appendix C. Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance...... 43 Avoid Recording to the System Drive ...... 43 Supported Drive Formats and Drive Types...... 43 Formatting an Audio Drive...... 44 Partitioning Drives ...... 45 Hard Disk Storage Space ...... 48
Appendix D. Resources ...... 49 About the Pro Tools Guides ...... 49 About www.avid.com ...... 50
Index ...... 51
iv Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide chapter 1 Welcome to Pro Tools M-Powered
Welcome to Pro Tools® M-Powered™ from Avid. This guide documents how to install and config- Pro Tools M-Powered ure Pro Tools M-Powered software on M-Pow- Capabilities ered systems. Pro Tools M-Powered software provides the fol- lowing capabilities: • Playback of up to 48 mono or stereo digital Pro Tools M-Powered Systems audio tracks, or a combination of playing The basic components of an M-Powered system back and recording up to 48 mono or stereo are as follows: digital audio tracks, depending on your computer’s capabilities. • A qualified M-Audio interface (not included) • Up to 128 audio tracks (with up to 48 active tracks), 128 Auxiliary Input tracks, 64 Mas- • A qualified Mac or Windows computer ter Fader tracks, 256 MIDI tracks, and 32 In- (not included) strument tracks per session. • Pro Tools M-Powered software (included) • 16-bit or 24-bit audio resolution, at For a list of qualified M-Audio interfaces sample rates up to 96 kHz (depending on and computers, refer to the compatibility the M-Audio interface). information on our website: • Non-destructive, random-access editing www.avid.com/compatibility. and mix automation. • Audio processing with up to 10 inserts per track (RTAS® plug-ins or hardware inserts). • Up to 10 sends per track. • Up to 32 internal mix busses.
Pro Tools M-Powered uses your computer’s CPU to mix and process audio tracks. Com- puters with faster clock speeds yield higher track counts and more plug-in processing.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools M-Powered 1 How Pro Tools M-Powered System Requirements and Differs from Pro Tools LE Compatibility
Configuration Dialogs and Procedures Pro Tools M-Powered can be used with a quali- fied M-Audio interface, running on a qualified Some Pro Tools M-Powered configuration dia- Windows or Mac computer. logs differ from the Pro Tools LE configuration A DVD drive is required to use the Pro Tools In- dialogs that are presented in the Pro Tools Refer- staller disc. ence Guide. For specific Pro Tools M-Powered configuration dialogs, see Chapter 2, “Installing Avid can only assure compatibility and provide Pro Tools on Mac” or Chapter 3, “Installing support for hardware and software it has tested Pro Tools on Windows.” and approved.
Unsupported Options For complete system requirements and a list of qualified computers, operating systems, hard Pro Tools M-Powered does not support the fol- drives, and third-party devices, visit: lowing Pro Tools LE options: www.avid.com/compatibility • Complete Production Toolkit • DV Toolkit 2 • Avid Ethernet-based control surfaces (such as C|24™) • Avid video peripherals • HFS+ Disk Support
Pro Tools M-Powered does support the Music Production Toolkit 2 option.
2 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Pre-Authorized iLok Hard Drive Requirements
M-Powered software is authorized using the iLok For optimal audio recording and playback, all USB Smart Key (iLok) from PACE Anti-Piracy. Pro Tools systems require one or more qualified hard drives.
If you are using an ATA/IDE or FireWire hard drive, initialize your drive with the Disk Utility application included with Apple System soft- ware (Mac) or the Windows Disk Management (Windows). Pre-Authorized iLok
An iLok can hold over 100 authorizations for all For more information, see Appendix C, “Hard of your iLok-enabled software. Once an iLok is Drive Configuration and Maintenance.” authorized for a given piece of software, you can use the iLok to authorize that software on any Avoid Recording to the System Drive computer. Recording to your system drive is not recom- Pro Tools M-Powered includes one iLok, which mended. Recording and playback on a system is pre-authorized for ProTools M-Powered soft- drive may result in lower track and plug-in ware. counts.
The M-Powered pre-authorized iLok must be inserted in an available USB port on your computer to run Pro Tools M-Powered.
MIDI Requirements
USB, FireWire, and PCI MIDI interfaces work ef- fectively with Pro Tools systems on Mac or Win- dows. Serial MIDI interfaces are supported on Windows systems only.
Only USB MIDI interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools systems for Mac OS X. Modem-to-serial port adapters and serial MIDI devices are not supported.
For a list of supported MIDI interfaces and con- trollers, visit www.avid.com.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools M-Powered 3 Conventions Used in This Guide
All of our guides use the following conventions to indicate menu choices and key commands:
: Convention Action
File > Save Choose Save from the File menu
Control+N Hold down the Control key and press the N key
Control-click Hold down the Control key and click the mouse button
Right-click Click with the right mouse button
The names of Commands, Options, and Settings that appear on-screen are in a different font.
The following symbols are used to highlight im- portant information:
User Tips are helpful hints for getting the most from your Pro Tools system.
Important Notices include information that could affect your data or the performance of your system.
Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or mouse shortcuts.
Cross References point to related sections in this guide and other Avid guides.
4 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide chapter 2 Installing Pro Tools on Mac
This chapter contains information for Mac sys- 7 Making audio connections to the M-Audio in- tems only. If you are installing Pro Tools M-Pow- terface. (See your M-Audio documentation for ered on a Windows computer, see Chapter 3, details.) “Installing Pro Tools on Windows.” Before you begin the installation process, Before installing this version of Pro Tools, make sure you disconnect your M-Audio refer to the Read Me information included interface if it’s plugged into your computer. on the Pro Tools Installer disc.
Uninstalling Pre-Existing Installation Overview M-Audio Drivers
Installation of Pro Tools M-Powered on a Mac Before you install Pro Tools M-Powered, you includes the following steps: must first uninstall any pre-existing M-Audio 1 “Uninstalling Pre-Existing M-Audio Drivers” drivers. If your system does not have M-Audio on page 5. drivers on it, you can skip this section and con- tinue with “Installing M-Audio Drivers” on 2 “Installing M-Audio Drivers” on page 6. page 6. 3 “Connecting Your M-Audio Interface” on If you are using multiple interfaces, follow page 7. these same steps for uninstalling the drivers 4 “Installing Pro Tools M-Powered Software” on for all your interfaces. page 7. Using multiple M-Audio interfaces at the 5 “Launching Pro Tools M-Powered” on page 8. same time is not supported in Pro-Tools (This step includes inserting the pre-authorized M-Powered. iLok into an available USB port on your com- puter.)
6 Configuring your system for improved perfor- mance (see Chapter 4, “Configuring Your Pro Tools System”).
Chapter 2: Installing Pro Tools on Mac 5 To uninstall a pre-existing M-Audio driver from your computer: Installing M-Audio Drivers
1 Disconnect your M-Audio device before pro- Follow these steps below to install the most cur- ceeding. rent drivers from the M-Audio website.
2 Visit the support page of the M-Audio website If you do not have access to the web, use your (http://www.m-audio.com/drivers). M-Audio Driver disc to install the driver for your 3 Go to Drivers and Software Search to locate interface. (Follow the instructions that came the latest driver for your M-Audio interface. with the device.)
4 Follow the on-screen instructions to down- Pro Tools will not see your M-Audio interface load the correct driver for your M-Audio device. if you do not install the M-Audio drivers.
5 Double-click the driver package to extract the To install the M-Audio driver for your M-Audio disk image and open the Drivers Installer/Unin- interface staller dialog.
1 Disconnect your M-Audio device before pro- ceeding.
2 Visit the support page of the M-Audio website (http://www.m-audio.com/drivers).
3 Go to Drivers and Software Search to locate the latest driver for your M-Audio interface.
4 Follow the on-screen procedures to download your driver.
Drivers Installer/Uninstaller for an M-Audio Transit interface 5 Double-click the driver package to extract the dmg and see the Drivers Installer/Uninstaller di- 6 Click Uninstaller. (Scissors icon) alog. 7 Following the remaining on-screen instruc- 6 Click the installer (the box and arrow icon) tions, then shut down your computer. 7 Follow the remaining on-screen instructions, then shut down your computer.
6 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide 2 Insert the Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc Connecting Your M-Audio in your DVD drive. Interface 3 On the Installer disc, locate and double-click Install Pro Tools MP.mpkg. To connect an M-Audio interface:
1 Connect your M-Audio interface (USB, PCI, or FireWire) according to the instructions that came with it.
If you are using an M-Audio FireWire Install Pro Tools MP.mpkg icon interface, do the following: 4 Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed Once your computer has shut down com- with installation. pletely, connect your FireWire interface and 5 Click Continue each time you are prompted. power it on. 6 At the Installation Type page, do one of the 2 Turn on your computer. following: In your M-Audio Control Panel, make sure • To install all Pro Tools application files and that output channels 1 and 2 are not set to free plug-in suites (and associated content), –Infinity (–∞). leave the default Installation options se- lected and click Continue. – or – Installing Pro Tools • Select (or deselect) a custom configuration M-Powered Software of Installation options (see “Installation Options” on page 8) and click Continue. After the Apple System software settings are configured and you have installed your 7 Click Install. M-Audio interface and drivers, you are ready to 8 If prompted, enter your Administrator pass- install Pro Tools M-Powered. word and click OK to authenticate the installa- tion. To install Pro Tools M-Powered: 9 Follow the remaining on-screen instructions. 1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra- tor for the account where you want to install 10 When installation is complete, click Restart. Pro Tools. The Pro Tools Installer disc includes addi- When the installation is complete, you will tional software for your system. For more in- need to reboot your computer. formation, see “Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc” on page 9. For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, see your Apple OS X documentation.
Chapter 2: Installing Pro Tools on Mac 7 Installation Options Additional Options
Pro Tools M-Powered Options The Pro Tools M-Powered installer provides the following additional option to install along with To install a subset of Pro Tools software and Pro Tools software and plug-ins. plug-ins (and associated content), click the re- ™ veal triangle for the Pro Tools M-Powered 8.0 op- MIDI I/O Driver The MIDI I/O Driver is re- tion in the installer, and deselect any of the fol- quired if you are using the MIDI I/O interface. lowing options that you do not want installed.
Application Files (Required for Pro Tools) Installs Launching Pro Tools the Pro Tools application and supporting library files needed to run Pro Tools. This option must M-Powered be selected to install Pro Tools. To use Pro Tools M-Powered with an M-Audio DigiRack Plug-Ins Installs free plug-ins including interface, you must have an iLok with a license DigiRack plug-ins, free Bomb Factory plug-ins, authorizing the version of M-Powered software Eleven Free, TL Utilities, D-Fi and Maxim that you have installed. One pre-authorized plug-ins. For more information, see the Audio iLok is included with the Pro Tools M-Powered Plug-Ins Guide. package.
Pro Tools Creative Collection Options To authorize Pro Tools M-Powered software: 1 Make sure your M-Audio interface is con- Select any of the Pro Tools Creative Collection nected to your computer and powered on. options you want installed. For more informa- tion, see the Audio Plug-Ins Guide. 2 Insert the pre-authorized iLok into any avail- able USB port on your computer. Effect Plug-Ins Installs six free virtual instrument plug-ins from Avid’s AIR group. 3 Click the Pro Tools M-Powered shortcut in your Dock, (or the application in Macintosh Virtual Instruments Installs 20 free effects plug- HD/Applications/Digidesign/Pro Tools). ins from Avid’s AIR group. Do not remove the iLok during Virtual Instrument Content Installs sample con- Pro Tools launch or use. tent for AIR virtual instruments. 4 Use the Quick Start dialog to do one of Virtual Instrument content is very large and the following: may take up to 20 minutes to install. During • Create a new session from template. this time, the progress bar may not appear to move but your software is still installing. Do • Create a new blank session. not terminate your installation. • Open any other session on your system.
8 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Pro Tools Demo Session
The Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc includes a demo session that you can use to verify that your system is working.
The demo session for Pro Tools M-Powered is named “Filtered Dream.”
Before installing the demo session to your audio drive, make sure the drive is configured as described in “Formatting an Audio Drive” on page 44. Quick Start dialog To install the demo session:
For more information on the Quick 1 Insert the Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc Start dialog and session templates, see the into your DVD drive. Pro Tools ReferenceGuide (Help > 2 On the Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc, lo- Pro Tools Reference Guide). cate and open the Additional Files/Pro Tools Demo Sessions Installer folder. Additional Software on the 3 Double-click Install demo session.pkg. Pro Tools Installer Disc 4 Follow the on-screen instructions.
The Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc provides 5 When prompted, select your audio drive as additional software for your system, including a the install location and click Next to begin the Pro Tools demo session. installation.
Check your Pro Tools Installer disc for addi- 6 When installation is complete, click Close. tional software and installers. The demo session can be opened by double- Third-Party Applications and clicking the Filtered Dream.ptf file (located in the Filtered Dream Demo Session folder). Plug-Ins
Your Pro Tools package also includes several free applications and plug-ins from selected Avid Third Party developers. Once you've completed your Pro Tools installation, you can install these separately.
Installers are located on your Pro Tools M-Pow- ered Installer disc in the Additional Files/3rd Party Content folder.
Chapter 2: Installing Pro Tools on Mac 9 Uninstalling Pro Tools
If you need to remove Pro Tools software from your computer, use the Uninstaller application.
To uninstall Pro Tools from your computer:
1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra- tor for the account where Pro Tools is installed.
For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, see your Apple OS X documentation.
2 Go to Applications/Digidesign/Pro Tools/ Pro Tools Utilities and double-click Uninstall Pro Tools.
3 Click Continue to proceed with the uninstall.
4 Choose the type of uninstall you want to per- form:
Safe Uninstall Leaves certain plug-ins and sys- tem files needed for compatibility with some Avid products. Use Safe Uninstall if you are us- ing an Avid application or preparing to update to a CS (customer support) release.
Clean Uninstall Removes all Pro Tools files, in- cluding system files, Avid plug-ins, and MIDI patch names. Use Clean Uninstall whenever you are preparing to upgrade, or to troubleshoot from a clean system.
5 Click Uninstall.
6 Enter your Administrator password and click OK.
7 Click Finish to close the Installer window.
10 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide chapter 3 Installing Pro Tools on Windows
This chapter contains information for Windows 7 Making audio connections to the M-Audio in- systems only. If you are installing Pro Tools terface. (See your M-Audio documentation for M-Powered on a Mac computer, see Chapter 2, details.) “Installing Pro Tools on Mac.” Before you begin the installation process, Before installing this version of Pro Tools, make sure you disconnect your M-Audio refer to the Read Me information included interface if it’s plugged into your computer. on the Pro Tools Installer disc.
Uninstalling Pre-Existing Installation Overview M-Audio Drivers
Installing Pro Tools M-Powered on a Windows Before you install Pro Tools M-Powered, you computer includes the following steps: must first uninstall any pre-existing M-Audio 1 “Uninstalling Pre-Existing M-Audio Drivers” drivers. If your system does not have M-Audio on page 11 drivers on it, you can skip this section and con- tinue with “Installing M-Audio Drivers” on 2 “Installing M-Audio Drivers” on page 12 page 12. 3 “Connecting Your M-Audio Interface” on If you are using multiple interfaces, follow page 13. these same steps for uninstalling the drivers 4 “Installing Pro Tools M-Powered Software” on for all your interfaces. page 13. Using multiple M-Audio interfaces at the 5 “Launching Pro Tools M-Powered” on same time is not supported with Pro Tools page 15. (This step includes inserting the pre-au- M-Powered. thorized iLok into an available USB port on your computer.)
6 Configuring your system for improved perfor- mance (see Chapter 4, “Configuring Your Pro Tools System”).
Chapter 3: Installing Pro Tools on Windows 11 To uninstall a pre-existing M-Audio driver from your computer: Installing M-Audio Drivers
1 Disconnect your M-Audio device before pro- Follow these steps below to install the most cur- ceeding. rent drivers from the M-Audio web site.
2 Visit the support page of the M-Audio website If you do not have access to the web, use your (http://www.m-audio.com/drivers). M-Audio Driver disc to install the driver for your 3 Go to Drivers and Software Search to locate interface. (Follow the instructions that came the latest driver for your M-Audio interface. with it.)
4 Follow the on-screen instructions to down- Pro Tools will not see your M-Audio interface load and run the correct driver for your M-Audio if you do not install the M-Audio drivers. device. To install the M-Audio driver for your M-Audio 5 When the installer detects a pre-existing interface M-Audio driver, an Installation dialog appears.
1 Disconnect your M-Audio device before pro- ceeding.
2 Visit the support page of the M-Audio website (http://www.m-audio.com/drivers).
3 Go to Drivers and Software Search to locate the latest driver for your M-Audio interface.
4 Follow the on-screen instructions to down- load and run the correct driver for your M-Audio
Install dialog to remove an M-Audio driver device.
6 Select Remove and then click Next and follow the remaining on-screen instructions.
7 When the process is complete, shut down your computer.
Installation Wizard for an M-Audio driver
5 When the installation is complete, shut down your computer.
12 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Connecting Your M-Audio Installing Pro Tools Interface M-Powered Software
To connect an M-Audio interface: After your M-Audio interface is installed and connected, and the driver for your interface is 1 Connect your M-Audio interface (USB, PCI, or installed, you are ready to install Pro Tools soft- FireWire) according to the instructions that ware. came with it. To install Pro Tools M-Powered: If you are using an M-Audio FireWire interface, do the following: 1 Start Windows, logging in with Administrator privileges. For details on Administrator privi- Once your computer has shut down com- leges, refer to your Windows documentation. pletely, connect your FireWire interface and power it on. When the installation is complete, you will need to reboot your computer. 2 Turn on your computer. 2 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc in your 3 When your system recognizes the new hard- DVD drive and do on of the following: ware, run the Found New Hardware Wizard. Fol- • If Windows AutoRun is enabled, a low the on-screen instructions. mini-browser appears. Select Install Pro Tools LE to begin your installation. If you are prompted to run the Found New Hardware Wizard a second time, run it – or – again. • If Windows AutoRun is disabled, locate and double-click Setup.exe. on the Installer disc. In your M-Audio Control Panel, make sure that output channels 1 and 2 are not set to –Infinity (–∞).
Setup.exe icon
In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, if the User Account Control dialog appears, click Allow.
3 Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed with installation and click Next when prompted.
4 To install the complete compliment of Pro Tools software and plug-ins, leave Pro Tools selected.
Chapter 3: Installing Pro Tools on Windows 13 5 At the Select Features page, do one of the fol- Installation Options lowing: • To install all Pro Tools application files and Pro Tools M-Powered Options free plug-in suites (and associated content), To install a subset of Pro Tools software and leave the default Installation options se- plug-ins (and associated content), click the plus Continue lected and click . (+) next to Pro Tools M-Powered option in the Se- – or – lect Features page of the installer, and deselect • Select (or deselect) a custom configuration any of the following options that you do not of Installation options (see “Installation want installed. Options” on page 14) and click Continue. Application Files (Required for Pro Tools) Installs 6 Click Next. the Pro Tools application and supporting library files needed to run Pro Tools. This option must 7 Click Install.
be selected to install Pro Tools. In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, a series DigiRack Plug-Ins Installs free plug-ins including of Windows Security dialogs may ap- DigiRack plug-ins, free Bomb Factory plug-ins, pear.Click “Install” on each one until they Eleven Free, TL Utilities, and D-Fi and Maxim go away. plug-ins. For more information, see the Audio Plug-Ins Guide. In Windows XP, a series of Software Instal- lation dialogs about the driver not passing Pro Tools Creative Collection Options Windows Logo testing may appear. Click Select any of the Pro Tools Creative Collection Continue Anyway on each one until they go options you want installed. For more informa- away. tion, see the Audio Plug-Ins Guide. If any other dialogs appear (such as the Effect Plug-Ins Installs 6 free virtual instrument “Found New Hardware” dialog), leave them plug-ins from Avid’s AIR group. open and do not click on them. These dialogs will close on their own. Virtual Instruments Installs 20 free effects plug-ins from Avid’s AIR group. 8 Wait for the installer to finish installing all software components, drivers, and PACE System Virtual Instrument Content Installs sample con- files before proceeding to the next step. tent for AIR virtual instruments.
9 When installation is complete, click Finish. Virtual Instrument content is very large and may take up to 20 minutes to install. During The Pro Tools Installer disc includes addi- this time, the progress bar may not appear to tional software for your system. For more in- move but your software is still installing. Do formation, see “Additional Software on the not terminate your installation. Pro Tools Installer Disc” on page 16.
14 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Additional Options Launching Pro Tools The Pro Tools installer provides the following M-Powered additional option to install along with Pro Tools software and plug-ins. To use Pro Tools M-Powered with an M-Audio interface, you must have an iLok with a license Command|8 Controller and Driver The Com- authorizing the version of M-Powered software ® mand|8 driver is required if you are using the that you have installed. One pre-authorized Avid Command|8 control surface. iLok is included with the Pro Tools M-Powered package. Installing QuickTime To authorize Pro Tools M-Powered software: QuickTime is required for Pro Tools if you plan to include movie files, or import MP3 or MP4 1 Make sure your M-Audio interface is con- (AAC) files in your sessions. QuickTime for Win- nected to your computer and powered on. dows XP is available as a free download from the 2 Insert the pre-authorized iLok into an avail- Apple website (www.apple.com). able USB port on your computer.
For information on which version of Quick- 3 Double-click the Pro Tools M-Powered short- Time is compatible with your version of cut on your desktop (or the application in Pro Tools, visit the compatibility pages of Program Files\Digidesign\Pro Tools). our website: (www.avid.com). Do not remove the iLok during To install QuickTime: Pro Tools launch or use. 1 Visit www.apple.com and go to the Quick- 4 Use the Quick Start dialog to do one of Time page. the following: 2 Download the QuickTime installer applica- • Create a new session from template. tion to your computer. • Create a new blank session. 3 Double-click the QuickTime installer applica- • Open any other session on your system. tion and follow the on-screen installation in- structions.
4 Restart your computer.
Chapter 3: Installing Pro Tools on Windows 15 Pro Tools Demo Session
The Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc includes a demo session that you can use to verify that your system is working.
The demo session for Pro Tools M-Powered is named “Filtered Dream.”
Before installing the demo session to your audio drive, make sure the drive is configured as described in “Formatting an Audio Drive” on page 44. Quick Start dialog To install the demo session: For more information on the Quick Start dialog and session templates, see the 1 Insert the Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc Pro Tools Reference Guide (Help > in your DVD drive. Pro Tools Reference Guide). 2 On the Pro Tools M-Powered Installer disc, lo- cate and open the Additional Files\Pro Tools Demo Sessions Installer folder. Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc 3 Double-click Demo Session Setup.exe. 4 Follow the on-screen instructions. The Pro Tools Installer disc provides additional software for your system, including a Pro Tools 5 When prompted, select your audio drive as demo session. the install location and click Next to begin the install. Check your Pro Tools Installer disc for 6 When installation is complete, click Finish. additional software and installers. The demo session can be opened by double- Third-Party Applications and clicking the Filtered Dream.ptf file (located Plug-Ins in the Filtered Dream Demo Session folder).
Your Pro Tools package also includes several free applications and plug-ins from selected Avid Third Party developers. Once you've completed your Pro Tools installation, you can install these separately.
Installers are located on your Pro Tools LE In- staller disc in the Additional Files\3rd Party Content folder.
16 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Uninstalling Pro Tools
If you need to remove Pro Tools software from your computer, use the Uninstaller application.
To uninstall Pro Tools from your computer:
1 Start Windows, logging in with Administrator privileges. For details on Administrator privi- leges, refer to your Windows documentation.
2 Go to C:\Program Files\Digidesign\ Pro Tools\Pro Tools Utilities and double-click Uninstall Pro Tools.exe.
3 Click Next.
4 Click Uninstall to proceed with the uninstall.
Chapter 3: Installing Pro Tools on Windows 17 18 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide chapter 4 Configuring Your Pro Tools System
After you have connected your system and in- Shut down your Pro Tools system in this order: stalled Pro Tools software, you are ready to start 1 Quit Pro Tools and any other running applica- up and configure your Pro Tools system. tions.
To quit Pro Tools, choose Pro Tools > Starting Up or Shutting Down Quit (Mac) or File > Exit (Windows). Your System 2 Turn off or lower the volume of all output devices in your system. To ensure that the components of your Pro Tools system communicate properly with 3 Turn off your computer. each other, you need to start them in a particu- 4 For M-Powered systems that use hardware re- lar order. quiring external power, turn off the hardware.
Start up your Pro Tools system in this order: 5 Turn off any MIDI interfaces, MIDI devices, or 1 Lower the volume of all output devices in your synchronization peripherals. system. 6 Turn off any control surfaces.
2 Turn on any external hard drives. Wait ap- 7 Turn off any external hard drives. proximately ten seconds for them to spin up to speed.
3 Turn on any control surfaces.
4 Turn on any MIDI interfaces, MIDI devices, or synchronization peripherals.
5 For M-Powered systems that use hardware re- quiring external power, turn on the hardware.
6 Turn on your computer.
7 Launch Pro Tools or any third-party audio or MIDI applications.
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 19 Hardware Buffer Size Configuring Pro Tools M-Powered Software The Hardware Buffer Size (H/W Buffer Size) con- trols the size of the buffer used to handle host processing tasks such as Real-Time AudioSuite Pro Tools System Settings (RTAS) plug-ins. The H/W Buffer setting can also In the Playback Engine dialog, Pro Tools lets you be used to manage monitoring latency. adjust the performance of your system by Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings reduce changing system settings that affect its capacity monitoring latency, and are useful when you are for processing, playback, and recording. recording live input.
In most cases, the default settings for your sys- Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings allow for tem provide optimum performance, but you more audio processing and effects, and are use- may want to adjust them to accommodate large ful when you are mixing and using more RTAS or processing-intensive Pro Tools sessions. plug-ins.
For some M-Audio interfaces, you can only In addition to causing slower screen response change the Hardware Buffer Size in the M-Audio and monitoring latency, higher Hardware interface’s control panel (while Pro Tools is Buffer Size settings can increase the latency closed). For more information, see “Pro Tools caused by RTAS plug-ins, and affect the Hardware Settings and M-Audio Control Panel” accuracy of plug-in automation, mute data, on page 25. and MIDI track timing.
To change the Hardware Buffer Size:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the H/W Buffer Size pop-up menu, select the audio buffer size, in samples.
3 Click OK.
Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools M-Powered, with Structure plug-in installed (Firewire 410 shown)
20 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Host Processors To set the number of Host Processors:
The Host Processors setting lets you manage 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. multi-processor support for RTAS (Real-Time 2 From the Host Processors pop-up menu, select AudioSuite) plug-in processing. the number of available processors you want to allocate. The number of processors varies de- Used in combination with the CPU Usage Limit pending on your computer: setting, the Host Processors setting lets you con- trol the way RTAS and other host-based process- • Select 1Processor to limit processing to ing tasks are carried out by the system. one CPU in the system. • Choose 2 Processors to enable load balanc- For example: ing across two available processors. • For sessions with large numbers of RTAS • On systems running four or more proces- plug-ins, you can allocate 2 or more proces- sors, choose the number of processors for sors to RTAS processing and set a high CPU processing. Usage Limit. 3 Click OK. • For sessions with few RTAS plug-ins, you can allocate fewer processors to host processing System Usage Window and Processing and set a low CPU Usage Limit to leave more CPU resources available for automation accu- The System Usage window (Window > System Us- racy, screen response, and video. age) displays the combined amount of process- ing occurring on all enabled processors with a • Depending on the importance of video and single indicator, regardless of how many proces- overall screen response, and on the density of sors are available in the system. If the System Us- automation being employed, try different age Window shows that you are at the limit of combinations of Host Processors and CPU available resources, increase the number of pro- Usage Limit settings to achieve the best results. cessors and adjust the CPU Usage Limit setting. For example, to improve screen response in a medium-sized session using a moderate num- ber of RTAS plug-ins, try reducing the number of RTAS plug-ins, but keep the CPU Usage Limit set to the maximum (up to 99% on a single processor system).
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 21 CPU Usage Limit Host Engine (Error Suppression)
The CPU Usage Limit setting controls the per- The Host Engine option determines error report- centage of CPU resources allocated to Pro Tools ing during playback and recording. This is espe- host processing tasks. Used in combination with cially useful when working with instrument the RTAS Processors setting, the CPU Usage Limit plug-ins. setting lets you control the way Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system. You should only enable error suppression if you are experiencing frequent RTAS errors that are CPU Usage Limit •Lower settings limit the effect interrupting your creative workflow. When er- of Pro Tools processing on other CPU-inten- ror suppression is enabled, you can experience a sive tasks, such as screen redraws, and are use- degradation of audio quality. However, this may ful when you are experiencing slow system be acceptable in order to avoid interrupting response, or when running other applications playback and recording when working with in- at the same time as Pro Tools. strument plug-ins. Be sure to disable error sup- •Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate more pression when you need to ensure the highest processing power to Pro Tools, and are useful possible audio quality, such as for a final mix. for playing back large sessions or using more RTAS plug-ins. To enable error suppression:
The maximum available CPU Usage Limit de- 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. pends on the number of processors in your com- 2 Select Host Engine: Ignore Errors During Play- puter and on the number of processors you spec- back/Record. ify for RTAS processing. This value can range from 85% for single-processor computers, and 3 You can also select Minimize Additional I/O 99% for multiprocessor computers (which dedi- Latency. cate one entire processor to Pro Tools). 4 Click OK.
On multiprocessor computers, the maximum Error Suppression Options CPU Usage Limit is reduced when you use all your processors (as selected in the Host Processors Ignore Errors During Playback/Record pop-up menu). For example, on dual-processors, the limit is 90%. On four-processor computers, When enabled, Pro Tools continues to play and the limit is 95%. record even if the RTAS processing requirements exceed the selected CPU Usage Limit. This can re- Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow sult in pops and clicks in the audio, but does not down screen responses on slower computers. stop the transport.
To change the CPU Usage Limit:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the CPU Usage Limit pop-up menu, select the percentage of CPU processing you want to allocate to Pro Tools.
3 Click OK.
22 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Minimize Additional I/O Latency • DAE Playback Buffer Size settings higher than 1500 msec; Level 2 (Default) allow higher track When enabled, any additional latency due to count, higher density of edits in a session, or suppressing errors during playback and record is the use of slower hard drives. However, a minimized to 128 samples. Suppressing errors higher setting may increase the time lag when requires at least 128 samples of additional buff- starting playback or recording, starting pre- ering on some systems. If this option is disabled, view in context from DigiBase browsers, or the buffer is half the H/W Buffer Size, or at least cause a longer audible time lag while editing 128 samples (whichever is greater). If you are on during playback. an older, slower computer, you may want to dis- able this option to avoid adverse performance. Using a larger DAE Playback Buffer Size leaves less system memory for other tasks. This option is only available if the Ignore Errors The default setting of 1500 msec (Level 2) is During Playback/Record option is enabled. recommended unless you are encountering –9073 (“Disk too slow or fragmented”) DAE Playback Buffer Size errors. The DAE Playback Buffer Size setting determines To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size: the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk buffers. In addition to levels, the DAE Playback 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. Buffer Size shows values in milliseconds, which 2 From the DAE Playback Buffer pop-up menu, se- indicate the amount of audio buffered when the lect a buffer size. Memory requirements for each system reads from disk. setting are shown at the bottom of the Playback The optimum DAE Playback Buffer Size for most Engine dialog. disk operations is 1500 msec; Level 2 (Default). 3 Click OK. • DAE Playback Buffer Size settings lower than If Pro Tools needs more system memory for the 1500 msec; Level 2 (Default) may improve DAE Playback Buffer, it will prompt you to re- playback and recording initiation speed, as start your computer. well as preview in context in DigiBase brows- ers. However, a lower setting may make it dif- ficult to play or record tracks reliably with sessions containing a large number of tracks or a high density of edits, or with systems that have slower or heavily-fragmented hard drives.
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 23 Cache Size Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size
The Cache Size setting determines the amount (Structure Plug-In Only) of memory DAE allocates to pre-buffer audio for This setting appears in the Playback Engine dia- playback and looping when using Elastic Audio. log only if Structure, Structure LE, or Minimum Reduces the amount of system mem- Structure Free is installed on your system. The ory used for disk operations and frees up mem- Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size determines the ory for other system tasks. However, perfor- amount of memory DAE allocates for streaming mance when using Elastic Audio features may playback from disk with the Structure plug-in. decrease. This setting only affects playback if disk stream- ing is activated in Structure’s plug-in controls Normal Is the optimum Cache Size for most ses- (see the Air Virtual Instruments Guide for more in- sions. formation).
Large Improves performance when using Elastic The optimum Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size for Audio features, but it also decreases the amount most sessions is 250 ms (Level 2). of memory available for other system tasks, such • Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size settings lower as RTAS processing. than 250 msec (Level 2) reduce the amount of Using a larger Cache Size leaves less system system memory used for sample playback and memory for other tasks. The default setting frees up memory for other system tasks. How- of Normal is recommended unless you are ever, audio quality of sample playback may encountering -9500 (“Cache too small”) decrease. errors. • Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size settings higher than 250 msec (Level 2) improve the audio To change the Cache Size: quality of sample playback, but they also de- 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. crease the amount of memory available for other system tasks, such as RTAS processing. 2 From the Cache Size pop-up menu, select a disk cache size. Using a larger Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size leaves less system memory for other tasks. 3 Click OK. The default setting of 250 ms (Level 2) is recommended unless you are experiencing problems with the audio quality of sample playback.
To change the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size pop-up menu, select a buffer size.
3 Click OK.
24 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Optimizing the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size You can set the sample rate when creating a new Pro Tools session by selecting a differ- (Structure Plug-In Only) ent sample rate in the New Session dialog. This option appears in the Playback Engine dia- (Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide for log only if one of the Structure sampler instru- details.) ment plug-in is installed on your system. This To change M-Audio Control Panel settings: option is useful when you are playing samples from the same drive that contains audio for the 1 If Pro Tools M-Powered is running, exit current session. When this option is selected, Pro Tools. Pro Tools automatically optimizes the size of the 2 Launch the M-Audio Control Panel as follows: Plug-In Streaming Buffer to facilitate disk access • For FireWire interfaces, launch M-Audio from both Pro Tools and Structure. The Plug-In FW Audio. Streaming Buffer Size pop-up menu is unavail- • For PCI interfaces, launch M-Audio Delta able when this option is selected. Audio. To set Pro Tools to optimize the Plug-In Streaming • For USB Interfaces, launch the M-Audio Buffer Size: control panel with the name of your inter- face. 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. 3 To change settings in the M-Audio Control 2 Select the Optimize for Streaming Content op- Panel, refer to the documentation that came tion. with your M-Audio interface. 3 Click OK. 4 When finished, close the M-Audio Control Panel. Pro Tools Hardware Settings and M-Audio Control Panel
The Hardware Setup dialog in Pro Tools (Setup > Hardware) displays the name of your M-Audio peripheral, and tells you that various hardware functions can be changed in the M-Audio Con- trol Panel.
Using the M-Audio Control Panel, you can change settings in the following areas: • Mixer Settings • Output Settings • Hardware Settings (including sample rate, hardware buffer size, and sync source).
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 25 Sync Source (Pro Tools Clock Source) Low Latency Monitoring
If your M-Audio interface has digital I/O (such as Direct or low-latency monitoring is not avail- a S/PDIF I/O), use the M-Audio Control Panel to able from within Pro Tools M-Powered. select the Sync Source for the system. However, with M-Audio devices that have Con- With Pro Tools M-Powered, Sync Source trol Panel mixers with a direct monitoring fea- cannot be set in the Pro Tools Session Setup ture, it is possible to use this feature as a low-la- window. tency monitoring path while recording in Pro Tools M-Powered. To select the Sync Source:
1 If Pro Tools M-Powered is running, exit To use the M-Audio mixer direct monitoring feature while recording: Pro Tools. 1 In Pro Tools, record-enable the tracks you 2 Launch the M-Audio Control Panel as follows: want to record and mute their output. • For FireWire interfaces, launch M-Audio FW Audio. 2 Open the M-Audio Control Panel for your • For PCI interfaces, launch M-Audio Delta M-Audio interface. Audio. 3 In the Control Panel mixer for your interface, • For USB Interfaces, launch the M-Audio route the input channels you want to monitor control panel with the name of your inter- to the main outputs of the mixer (usually Out- face. puts 1–2) by clicking the corresponding output control. 3 Click the Hardware tab.
4 Select a Sync Source.
Your digital input device must be connected and turned on. If your input device is not turned on, leave the Sync Source set to Internal.
For more information on selecting the Sync Source for your M-Audio interface, refer to your M-Audio interface documentation.
5 Click OK.
Mixer output 1–2 control Control Panel mixer for M-Audio FireWire 410)
26 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide 4 Adjust the output level and balance with the To rename I/O paths in I/O Setup: Control Panel mixer volume and pan controls. 1 Choose Setup > I/O. 5 In Pro Tools, begin recording.
6 To listen back to the recorded tracks, unmute the tracks in Pro Tools and begin playback.
7 When you are finished recording, turn off the mixer output control in the Control Panel mixer.
For more information on direct monitoring with your M-Audio device, refer to its User Guide.
Configuring I/O Setup
Using the I/O Setup dialog, you can label Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus signal I/O Setup dialog for Pro Tools M-Powered paths. The I/O Setup dialog provides a graphical (M-Audio FireWire 1814 shown) representation of the inputs, outputs, and signal routing of the M-Audio interface. 2 Click the Input, Output, Insert, or Bus tab to dis- play the corresponding connections. Pro Tools M-Powered bypasses the M-Audio 3 To change the name of a path or subpath, dou- mixer that is displayed in the M-Audio Con- ble-click directly on the Path Name, type a new trol Panel. The interface’s hardware inputs name for the path, and press Enter. and outputs show up directly in Pro Tools I/O Setup. 4 Click OK.
Pro Tools M-Powered has default I/O Setup set- See the Pro Tools Reference Guide (Help tings that will get you started. Use the I/O Setup > Pro Tools Reference Guide) for more dialog only if you want to rename or remap the information on renaming I/O paths. default I/O paths.
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 27 Configuring MIDI Setup Optimizing a Mac System for If you plan to use any MIDI devices with Pro Tools, Pro Tools do one of the following: To ensure optimum performance with On Mac, configure your MIDI setup with Au- Pro Tools, configure your computer before using dio MIDI Setup. See Appendix A, “Configuring Pro Tools software. AMS (Mac OS X Only)” for details. Before configuring your computer, make sure – or – you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac- On Windows, configure your MIDI setup with count where you want to install Pro Tools. For MIDI Studio Setup. See Appendix B, “Configur- details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, ing MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only)” for de- see your Apple OS X documentation. tails. Do not use the Mac OS X automatic Software Update feature, as it may upgrade Backing Up Your System your system to a version of Mac OS that has Configuration not yet been qualified for Pro Tools. For After configuring your system and Pro Tools, details on qualified versions of Mac OS, visit you should save an image of your system drive www.avid.com/compatibility. using a backup utility such as Norton Ghost. By Turning Off Software Update doing this, you can quickly restore your system configuration and settings if you encounter any To turn off the Software Update feature: problems. 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Software Update.
2 Click the Scheduled Check tab.
3 Deselect “Check for Updates.”
Turning Off Energy Saver
To turn off the Energy Saver feature:
1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Energy Saver.
2 Do the following: • Set the computer sleep setting to Never. • Set the display sleep setting to Never. • Deselect the Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible option.
28 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Disable or Reassign Mac Keyboard Reassign Spaces Keyboard Shortcuts Shortcuts Used by Pro Tools If you want to use Spaces, you should reassign To have the full complement of Pro Tools key- the Spaces keyboard shortcuts to avoid conflicts board shortcuts, you need to disable or reassign with important Pro Tools keyboard shortcuts. any conflicting Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts in You can reassign Spaces keyboard shortcuts to the Apple System Preferences, including the fol- use a combination of modifier keys (Com- lowing: mand+Option+Control+Shift) in addition to the default Spaces keyboard shortcut assign- • “Show Help menu” ments to avoid these conflicts. • Under “Keyboard Navigation” • “Move focus to the window drawer” To reassign Spaces keyboard shortcuts to use modifier key combinations that do not conflict • Under “Dock, Exposé, and Dashboard” with Pro Tools keyboard shortcuts: • “Automatically hide and show the Dock” 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple •“All windows” menu and click Exposé & Spaces. • “Application windows” •“Desktop” 2 Click the Spaces tab. •“Dashboard” 3 Ensure that Enable Spaces is selected. •“Spaces” 4 Press and hold Command+Option+Con- • Under “Spotlight” trol+Shift and select “Control+Option+Shift+Com- • “Show Spotlight search field” mand+F8” from the “To activate Spaces” pop-up • “Show Spotlight window” menu. 5 Press and hold Command+Option+Con- For a complete list of Pro Tools keyboard trol+Shift and select “Control+Option+Shift+Com- shortcuts, see the Keyboard Shortcuts Guide mand+Arrow Keys” from the “To switch between (Help > Keyboard Shortcuts). spaces” pop-up menu.
To disable or reassign Mac OS X keyboard 6 Press and hold Command+Option+Con- shortcuts: trol+Shift and select “Control+Option+Shift+Com- 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple mand+Number Keys” from the “To switch directly menu and click Keyboard. to a space” pop-up menu.
2 Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
3 Do one of the following: • Deselect the Mac OS X options that conflict with Pro Tools keyboard shortcuts. – or – • Assign different, non-conflicting keyboard shortcuts to the corresponding Mac OS X options.
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 29 Disabling Spotlight Indexing Optimizing a Windows System The Mac OS X Spotlight feature automatically for Pro Tools indexes files and folders on local hard drives in the background. In most cases, this is not a con- To ensure optimum performance with cern for normal Pro Tools operation. However, Pro Tools M-Powered, configure your computer if Spotlight starts indexing drives while record- before using Pro Tools hardware and software. ing in a Pro Tools session with high track counts for an extended period of time, it can adversely For Mac System Optimization, see affect Pro Tools system performance. You may “Optimizing a Mac System for Pro want to disable Spotlight indexing for all local Tools” on page 28. drives before using Pro Tools for big recording Before configuring your computer, make sure projects. you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac- Disabling Spotlight indexing also disables count where you want to install Pro Tools. For the Find function in Mac OS X. details on Administrator privileges, see your Windows documentation. To disable Spotlight indexing:
1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple Required Optimizations menu and click Spotlight. To ensure optimum performance with 2 In the Spotlight window, click the Privacy tab. Pro Tools, configure the following settings be- fore using Pro Tools hardware and software. 3 To prevent indexing of a drive, drag its icon from the desktop into the list. When you are finished changing Windows system settings, restart your computer. Enabling Journaling for Audio Drives Enabling DMA To yield higher performance from audio drives, enable journaling. Enabling your computer's DMA (Direct Memory Access) frees up CPU bandwidth so your com- To enable journaling: puter can do other Pro Tools tasks.
1 Launch the Disk Utility application, located in In most cases the DMA option will already be set Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities. correctly, as Windows detects and activates 2 Select the volume in the left column of the DMA mode by default. Disk Utility window.
3 Select Enable Journaling in the toolbar.
30 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide To enable DMA for any IDE hard drives: To configure Windows Power Management Settings (Windows 7, Windows Vista): 1 Choose Start. 1 Choose Start > Control Panel. 2 Right-click Computer (Windows 7, Windows Vista) or My Computer (Windows XP) and choose 2 Click Hardware and Sound > Power Options. Manage. 3 In the Power Options control panel, click High 3 In the left pane of Computer Management un- Performance. der System Tools, click on Device Manager. 4 Click Change plan settings. 4 In the right pane, click the triangle 5 Click Change advanced power settings to (Windows 7) or the plus (+) sign (Windows change additional settings. Vista, Windows XP) next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers. 6 Click Hard disk > Turn off hard disk after = Never. You can make optional changes such as 5 Double-click on an IDE Channel. disabling sleep and disabling shutting down the 6 Click the Advanced Settings tab. monitor.
7 Under Device Properties, check the box Enable 7 Click OK or click Save changes to save the DMA (Windows 7, Windows Vista) or under each changes. listed Device, set the Transfer Mode to DMA if 8 Close the window. available (Windows XP).
8 Click OK. To configure Windows Power Management Settings (Windows XP): 9 Repeat for each IDE Channel. 1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
Configuring Windows Power 2 Double-click Power Options. Management Settings 3 Click the Power Schemes tab. Pro Tools requires maximum CPU performance 4 From the Power Schemes pop-up menu, select for optimal RTAS processing and disk streaming. Always On. For best performance, use the following recom- mended Windows Power Management settings. 5 Verify that the following settings are set to Never: • Turn off hard disks • System standby •System hibernates
6 Click OK.
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 31 Disabling User Account Control • If your video display card supports it, en- able Bus Mastering in the manufacturer’s (Windows 7, Windows Vista) Control Panel. See the manufacturer’s in- Some third-party applications that interface structions for details. with Pro Tools may require UAC to be disabled for proper operation. Optional Optimizations
To disable User Account Control (UAC): The following system optimizations may help Pro Tools perform better on some systems. It is 1 Choose Start > Control Panel. recommended that you only try these optimiza- 2 Click User Accounts and Family Safety. tions if necessary, as they may disable or ad- versely affect the functionality of other pro- 3 In the User Accounts and Family Safety control grams on your system. panel, click User Accounts.
4 Click Change User Account Control settings Disabling Network Cards (Windows 7) or Turn User Account Control on or off (Windows Vista). If applicable, disable any networking cards (other than a FireWire card that you might use 5 Move the User Account Control slider to Never to connect an external drive to your system). Notify (Windows 7), or deselect the Use User Ac- count Control (UAC) to help protect your computer To disable a network card (Windows 7, Windows option (Windows Vista). Vista):
6 Click OK. 1 Choose Start > Computer.
7 Restart your computer. 2 Click System Properties.
3 In the left-hand pane under Control Panel Recommended Optimizations Home, click on Device Manager.
Pro Tools can also be affected by other software 4 In the Device Manager window, double-click and hardware drivers installed on your com- Network adapters. puter. For best possible performance, it is recom- 5 Right-click on the network adapter and select mended (but not required) that you do the fol- Disable. lowing: • Avoid running any unneeded programs at 6 Repeat as necessary for additional network the same time as Pro Tools. adapters • Turn off any software utilities that run in 7 Close the Device Manager window. the background, such as Windows Messen- ger, calendars, and disk maintenance pro- grams. • Turn off any non-essential USB devices while running Pro Tools.
32 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide To disable a network card (Windows XP): Disabling System Startup Items
1 Right-click My Computer and choose Manage. The fewer items in use by your computer, the 2 Under System Tools, select Device Manager. more resources are available for Pro Tools. Some startup applications may be consuming unnec- 3 In the right-hand pane, click “+” to reveal Net- essary CPU resources, and can be turned off. work adapters. If you disable any of the following startup items, 4 In the Device Manager window, double-click do so carefully: Network adapters. • Portable media serial number (required for 5 Right-click on the network adapter and select- some applications that utilize a copy pro- Disable. tection key) 6 Repeat as necessary for additional network- • The Plug and Play service adapters. •Event log • Cryptographic services 7 Close the Computer Management window.
To Disable System Startup Items: Adjusting Processor Scheduling 1 From the Start menu, type “msconfig” in Start To adjust Processor Scheduling performance: Search (Windows 7, Windows Vista) or in Run (Windows XP) and click OK to open the System 1 Right-click Computer (Windows 7, Windows Configuration Utility. Vista) or My Computer (Windows XP) and choose Properties. 2 Under the General tab, choose Selective Startup. 2 Click the Advanced system settings link in the left pane (Windows 7, Windows Vista) or the 3 Deselect Load Startup Items and click OK. Advanced tab (Windows XP). 4 Click Restart to restart the computer. 3 Under the Performance section, click the Set- 5 After restarting, the computer displays a Sys- tings button. tem Configuration message. Check to see if 4 In the Performance Options window, click the Pro Tools performance has increased before you Advanced tab. deselect the Don't show this message again op- tion. If performance has not changed, run 5 Under the Processor Scheduling section, select “msconfig” and return your computer Startup the Background Services option. Selection back to Normal Startup - load all device 6 Click OK to close the Performance Options drives and services. Alternatively, try disabling window. Startup items and non-essential processes indi- vidually. 7 Click OK to close the System Properties win- dow.
8 Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
Chapter 4: Configuring Your Pro Tools System 33 34 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide appendix a Configuring AMS (Mac OS X Only)
2 Click the MIDI Devices tab (or Window > Audio MIDI Setup Show MIDI Window). AMS scans your system for connected MIDI interfaces. If your MIDI in- Pro Tools recognizes the ports on your MIDI in- terface is properly connected, it appears in the terface as generic ports. With Mac OS X, you use window with each of its ports numbered. Apple’s Audio MIDI Setup (AMS) utility to iden- tify external MIDI devices connected to your MIDI interface and configure your MIDI studio for use with Pro Tools.
To ensure optimum performance, do not change the AMS configuration while Pro Tools is playing back. Stop the Pro Tools transport before launching AMS.
To configure your MIDI studio in AMS:
1 Do one of the following: • Launch Audio MIDI Setup (located in Ap- plications/Utilities). Audio MIDI Setup (MIDI Devices tab) – or – • In Pro Tools, choose Setup > MIDI > MIDI 3 For any MIDI devices connected to the MIDI Studio. interface, click Add Device. A new external de- vice icon with the default MIDI keyboard image will appear.
4 Drag the new device icon to a convenient lo- cation within the window.
Appendix A: Configuring AMS (Mac OS X Only) 35 5 Connect the MIDI device to the MIDI inter- To configure an external MIDI device: face by clicking the arrow for the appropriate 1 Select the external device icon and click Show output port of the device and dragging a con- Info (or double-click the new device icon). nection or “cable” to the input arrow of the cor- responding port of the MIDI interface.
External Device Icon
2 Select a manufacturer and model for the new device from the corresponding pop-up menus. (If the Manufacturer and Model pop-up menus do not provide a name for your particular de- vice, you can type a name.)
Making MIDI input and output connections
6 Click the arrow for the appropriate input port of the device and drag a cable to the output ar- row of the corresponding port of the MIDI inter- face. Naming a new MIDI device
To remove a connection, select the cable and For Manufacturer and Model names, AMS press Delete. refers to one or more files with the suffix “.middev” in the directory Root/Library/ 7 Repeat steps 3–6 for each MIDI device in your Audio/MIDI Devices. Pro Tools installs a MIDI setup. file that contains information for many commercially available MIDI devices, named “Digidesign Device List.middev.” If the Manufacturer or Model names for any of your external MIDI devices is not available in the AMS Manufacturer and Model pop-up menus, you can add them by editing the .middev file in any text editor (such as TextEdit).
36 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide 3 Click the More Information arrow to expand 5 Select a device image and click Apply. the dialog, then enable the appropriate MIDI 6 Close the AMS window to quit the AMS appli- channels (1–16) for the Transmits and Receives cation. options. (These determine which channels the device will use to send and receive MIDI.) The device names you enter appear as MIDI in- put and output choices in Pro Tools.
MIDI Patch Name Support
Pro Tools supports XML (Extensible Markup Language) for storing and importing patch names for you external MIDI devices. Pro Tools installs MIDI patch name files (.midnam) for the factory default patch names of many common MIDI devices. These files reside in directories, sorted by manufacturer, in /Library/Audio/MIDI Enabling MIDI channels Patch Names/Digidesign. 4 Click the device image. The window expands to show images for various MIDI devices (such To import MIDI patch names into Pro Tools: as keyboards, modules, interfaces, and mixers). 1 Verify the MIDI Device name in the Audio Select an icon for your device. MIDI Setup window (see “Audio MIDI Setup” on page 35).
2 Verify the Instrument or MIDI track output is correctly assigned to the MIDI device.
3 Click the Instrument or MIDI track Patch Se- lect button.
Selecting a device icon
To use your own custom icons, you can place TIFF image files in /Library/ Audio/MIDI Devices/Generic/Images, and Patch Select button Patch Select button they will appear as choices in the AMS (Edit window) (Mix window) device window. Patch Select button
Appendix A: Configuring AMS (Mac OS X Only) 37 4 In the Patch Select dialog, click Change.
Change button Patch Select dialog
5 In the Open dialog, navigate to /Library/Au- dio/MIDI Patch Names/Digidesign/
6 Click Open.
The Patch Select dialog is populated with patch names and the Patch Name Bank pop-up menu appears in the upper left hand corner of the win- dow.
Once patch names have been imported into Pro Tools, they are available for that MIDI de- vice in all sessions.
To clear patch names:
In the Patch Select dialog, click Clear, and the click Done.
MIDI patch name files (.midnam) can be edited in any text editor, or you can use third-party patch librarian and editor soft- ware to create your own custom patch names.
38 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide appendix b Configuring MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only)
MIDI Studio Setup Window MIDI Studio Setup The MIDI Studio Setup window is organized MIDI Studio Setup (MSS) lets you configure the into three sections. Interface controls are at the MIDI controllers and sound modules that are top of the window. All the currently defined in- connected to your system, and control the rout- struments are displayed in the Instrument Name ing of MIDI data between your MIDI equipment list on the left side of the window. A detailed and Pro Tools. view of MIDI parameters is shown in the Proper- ties section on the right. MSS automatically finds MIDI interfaces, and lets you specify a custom name for each of the MIDI ports within the MIDI Studio Setup docu- ment.
MSS also supports XML-based patch file names for storing and importing patch names for your external MIDI devices.
Entire MIDI Studio Setup configurations created within MSS can be imported and exported. MIDI Studio Setup window
Appendix B: Configuring MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only) 39 Interface Controls Properties Section
Create Adds a new instrument to the Instru- The Properties section lets you edit information ment Name list. for new instruments, or instrument currently se- lected in the Instrument list. Delete Deletes the instrument or instruments se- lected in the Instrument Name list.
Import Imports an existing MIDI Studio Setup file.
Export Exports the current MIDI Studio Setup file.
Show Duplicate Emulated Ports When this op- tion is selected and you are using a MIDI inter- face that supports timestamping (such as MIDI MIDI Studio Setup Properties section I/O), in addition to any MIDI ports on your in- terface, the MIDI Studio setup window shows When a previously defined instrument is se- both the DirectMusic time-stamped output lected in the Instrument list, the Properties sec- ports, and non-stamped duplicate emulated out- tion changes to reflect the properties of the se- put ports. lected instrument.
Some MIDI Interfaces will not properly load To define an instrument with MIDI Studio Setup: or unload their drivers unless you quit and 1 Choose Setup > MIDI > MIDI Studio. re-launch Pro Tools. Check the documenta- tion that came with your MIDI interface for 2 Click Create. more information. 3 In the Instrument Name field, type the name Instrument List of your instrument, and press Enter.
The Instrument list contains all the currently If you do not enter an instrument name, the defined instruments. Selecting an instrument in Instrument Name field will automatically the list displays that instrument’s properties in inherit information from the Manufacturer the Properties section of the window. and Model pop-up menu.
4 Set a manufacturer and model for the new de- vice from the corresponding pop-up menus. If the Manufacturer and Model pop-up menus do not provide a name for your particular device, select None.
5 From the Input pop-up menu, select the input port on your MIDI interface that is connected to the MIDI Out of your instrument.
40 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide 6 From the Output pop-up menu, select the out- played here is the port through which MIDI data put port on your MIDI interface that is con- is sent from the external MIDI device specified nected to the MIDI In of your instrument. in the Instrument Name field into your MIDI in- terface. 7 Enable the appropriate MIDI channels (1–16) for the Send Channels and Receive Channels op- If you set the input port to None, the defined tions (These determine which channels send instrument will not appear as a choice in a and receive MIDI.) MIDI Input selector.
Instrument Name Output Port
The Instrument Name field shows the user-de- The Output Port pop-up menu displays a list of finable instrument name for the currently se- available MIDI interface output ports. The port lected instrument. set and displayed here is the port through which MIDI data is sent from your MIDI interface to Manufacturer the MIDI device specified in the Instrument Name field. The Manufacturer pop-up menu provides a list of MIDI equipment manufacturers. This list is If you set the output port to None, the de- derived from the XML-based MIDI device files. fined instrument will not appear as a choice in a MIDI Output selector. For more information, see “MIDI Patch Name Support” on page 41. Send Channels
Model The Send Channels grid sets the send channels for the MIDI device specified in the Instrument The Model pop-up menu provides a list of MIDI Name field. devices, filtered by the manufacturer name. This list is derived from the XML-based MIDI device Receive Channels files provided with your Pro Tools installation. The Receive Channels grid sets the receive chan- For more information, see “MIDI Patch nels for the MIDI device specified in the Instru- Name Support” on page 41. ment Name field. Input Port The Input Port pop-up menu displays a list of MIDI Patch Name Support available MIDI interface input ports. Inputs will include all MIDI interfaces enabled on your sys- Pro Tools supports XML (Extensible Markup tem. The MIDI interface port that is set and dis- Language) for storing and importing patch names for your external MIDI devices. Pro Tools installs MIDI patch name files (.midnam) for the factory default patch names of many common MIDI devices. These files reside in directories, sorted by manufacturer, in C:\Program Files\ Common Files\Digidesign\MIDI Patch Names\ Avid.
Appendix B: Configuring MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only) 41 To import MIDI patch names into Pro Tools: The Patch Select dialog is populated with patch names and the Patch Name Bank pop-up menu 1 Verify the MIDI Device name in the MIDI Stu- appears in the upper left hand corner of the win- dio Setup window (see “MIDI Studio Setup” on dow. page 39).
2 Verify the Instrument or MIDI track output is correctly assigned to the MIDI device.
3 Click the Instrument or MIDI track Patch Se- lect button.
Patch Select dialog with patch names
Once patch names have been imported into Patch Select button Patch Select button Pro Tools, they are available for that MIDI de- (Edit window) (Mix window) vice in all sessions. Patch Select button To clear patch names: 4 In the Patch Select dialog, click Change. In the Patch Select dialog, click Clear and then click Done.
MIDI patch name files (.midnam) can be edited in any text editor, or you can use third-party patch librarian and editor soft- ware to create your own custom patch names.
Change button
Patch Select dialog
5 In the Open dialog, navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Digidesign\MIDI Patch Names\Digidesign\
6 Click Open.
42 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide appendix c Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance
It is recommended that you start with a newly formatted external or secondary internal audio Supported Drive Formats and drive. You should also periodically defragment Drive Types your audio drive to ensure continued system performance. Drive Formats
Always back up any important data on your Mac Mac systems should use drives formatted drive before formatting it, as it will erase all with HFS+ or HFS file system only. data on the drive. HFS drives are supported as Transfer drives only.
Avoid Recording to the Windows Windows XP systems should use drives System Drive formatted as NTFS only.
Recording to your system drive is not recom- Windows systems can also support Mac mended. Recording and playback on a system drives formatted with HFS+ system (also drive may result in lower track counts or fewer commonly referred to as Mac OS Extended). plug-ins. Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide for more information (Help > Pro Tools Reference Guide).
Hard drive performance depends on factors in- cluding system configuration, number of tracks, session sample rate, density of edits, and the use of crossfades and other processes such as Beat Detective in a session.
For complete hard drive requirements, visit our website (www.avid.com).
Appendix C: Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 43 SCSI Hard Drives 2 Click the Erase tab.
Avid recommends qualified SCSI hard drives and a qualified SCSI host bus adapter (HBA) card or (on Windows systems) a qualified built-in SCSI HBA connector on the motherboard.
For complete information on track count and the supported number and configuration of SCSI drives, visit our website (www.avid.com).
FireWire Hard Drives
Avid recommends qualified FireWire drives and (on Windows systems) a qualified FireWire host adapter. Disk Utility (Mac OS X)
For complete information on track count and 3 Select the drive you want to initialize in the the supported number and configuration of column on the left side of the window. FireWire drives, visit our website 4 Choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for- (www.avid.com). mat.
IDE/ATA/SATA Hard Drives Do not choose the “Case-Sensitive” format option. Pro Tools will not operate properly A qualified internal IDE/ATA/SATA drive may be with case-sensitive formatted drives. used as a dedicated audio drive. 5 Type a name for the new volume. For complete information on track count with internal drives, visit our website 6 If you plan to connect the drive to a Mac OS 9 (www.avid.com). computer, select Install Mac OS 9 Drivers. (Mac OS 9 options only appear in 10.5 or lower).
7 Click Erase. Formatting an Audio Drive The drive appears on the Desktop with the new volume name. Formatting Mac Audio Drives
For optimum performance, audio drives should be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
To format an audio drive:
1 Launch the Disk Utility application, located in Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities.
44 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Formatting Windows Audio Drives 3 If the volume is “Healthy,” do the following:
For optimal performance, audio drives should Healthy volumes are volumes that have pre- be formatted as NTFS. viously been partitioned and formatted.
Pro Tools only supports Basic drive types. • In the Disk Management window, right- Do not convert the drive to a Dynamic type. click the hard drive you will use for audio and choose Format. To format an audio drive (Windows 7, • In the Format window, name the volume. Windows Vista, and Windows XP): • Choose a file system. For optimum perfor- 1 Computer Right-click (Windows 7, mance, audio drives should be formatted as My Computer Windows Vista) or (Windows XP) NTFS. and choose Manage. • Select Perform a quick format. 2 Under Storage, choose Disk Management. •Make sure Enable file and folder compression is not selected. • Set the Allocation unit size to Default. • Click OK.
4 If the volume is “Unallocated,” do the follow- ing: • In the Disk Management window, Right- click the hard drive you will use for audio and choose New Partition. • In the New Partition Wizard window, click Next. Disk Management window (Windows XP) • When prompted, select the partition type.
Avid recommends using Primary partitions, instead of Extended partitions.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to select a partition size and other partition settings. • When prompted, choose a file system. For optimum performance, audio drives should be formatted as NTFS. • Select Perform a quick format. •Make sure Enable file and folder compression is not selected. • Set the Allocation unit size to Default. • Click OK.
Appendix C: Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 45 Mac Systems Partitioning Drives When working with larger files (such as video), Partitioning creates a logical volume or volumes you can limit fragmentation by backing up your on a physical drive, almost as if you were creat- important files to another disk, erasing the files ing virtual hard drives. Partitions can then be from the original hard disk, then copying the formatted with the appropriate file system files back, instead of doing a defragmentation. (NTFS for Windows, HFS+ for Mac (also referred to as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)). Window Systems Mac OS allows drives larger than 4096 MB Periodically defragment audio drives to maintain to be seen as whole volumes. Drives must be system performance. initialized with a disk utility that recog- nizes the 2 terabyte limit. Single Pro Tools For maximum recording and playback effi- audio files cannot exceed 3.4 GB in size. ciency, data should be written to your hard drive in a contiguous fashion—minimizing the Windows XP allows drives formatted with seek requirements to play back the data. Unfor- the NTFS file system to be seen as whole tunately, your computer can’t always store the volumes. Single Pro Tools audio files can- sound files in this way and must write to disk not exceed 3.4 GB in size. wherever it can find space.
Seek Times on Partitioned Drives In multitrack recording, audio tracks are written in discrete files, spaced evenly across the disk. Seek times are actually faster on partitioned While fragmentation of individual files may be drives (assuming that reads and writes are per- zero, the tracks may be far enough apart that formed on a single partition), since the heads playback will still be very seek-intensive. Also, only have to seek within the partition boundar- the remaining free space on the disk will be dis- ies, rather than the whole capacity of the drive. contiguous, increasing the likelihood of file fragmentation on subsequent record passes. Smaller partitions perform faster than larger par- titions, but this comes at the expense of contig- Increased fragmentation increases the chance of uous storage space. When you partition a drive, disk errors, which can interfere with playback of you will need to find the compromise that best audio, and result in performance errors. suits your performance and storage require- ments. On Windows, to avoid fragmentation, for- mat drives with higher cluster sizes (such as Avoid distributing audio files within a ses- 32K). sion over different partitions on the same drive since this will adversely affect drive performance.
46 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide Optimizing (Defragmenting) Drives 5 When defragmenting is complete, close the Disk Defragmenter window. To prevent fragmentation, you can optimize your drive, which rearranges your files into a In Windows 7 you can Ctrl-Click on the contiguous format. Most optimizing software drive names to select multiple drives to de- lets you run a check on a drive to find out the fragment, and once more than one drive is percentage of fragmentation. If your drive selected, the button changes to “Defrag- shows moderate to heavy fragmentation, you ment disks.” should consider optimizing it.
If you use your system for intensive editing, or if The “Defragment Now” (Vista only) com- you frequently delete audio or fade files from mand defragments all your hard drives. your hard drive, you may need to optimize your This can take a lot of time, especially on drives on a weekly basis, or even every few days, systems with multiple drives. since it doesn’t take long for even a large hard Advanced users can use the command line drive to become fragmented. tool Defrag.exe to defragment individual drives. See your Windows Vista documen- Backing Up Data Before Optimizing tation for more information.
Since your files will be rewritten by the optimi- To defragment an audio drive (Windows XP): zation process, always make a backup copy of 1 My Computer Manage the data on your hard drive before you optimize Right-click and choose . it. You should also use a hard drive utility to find 2 Under Storage, choose Disk Defragmenter. and repair any problems before optimizing data or re-initializing your drives. If there is any dam- 3 In the Disk Defragmenter window, choose the age to your hard drive's directories prior to opti- drive you want to defragment mizing, serious data loss may result. 4 Click the Defragment button and follow the on-screen instructions. Defragmenting Windows Audio Drives 5 When defragmenting is complete, close the Computer Management window. To defragment an audio drive (Windows 7 and Windows Vista):
1 Click Start.
2 Type “disk defragmenter” in the search field at the bottom. “Disk Defragmenter” should appear at the top of the search results.
3 Click the Disk Defragmenter.
4 Click the Defragment disk button (Windows 7) or the Defragment now button (Windows Vista). Follow the on-screen instructions.
Appendix C: Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 47 Hard Disk Storage Space
Mono audio tracks recorded with 16-bit resolution at 44.1 kHz (CD quality) require approximately 5 MB of hard disk space per minute. The same tracks recorded with 24-bit resolution require about 7.5 MB per minute.
Stereo audio tracks recorded with 16-bit resolution at 44.1 kHz (CD quality) require approximately 10 MB of hard disk space per minute. The same tracks recorded with 24-bit resolution require about 15 MB per minute.
Table 4 lists the required disk space for certain track numbers and track lengths, to help you estimate your hard disk usage.
Table 4. Required hard drive space for audio tracks (44.1 kHz and 48 kHz sessions shown) Number of Tracks and Length 16-bit at 16-bit at 24-bit at 24-bit at 44.1 kHz 48 kHz 44.1 kHz 48 kHz
1 mono track, 1 minute 5 MB 5.5 MB 7.5 MB 8.2 MB
1 stereo track (or two mono 50 MB 55 MB 75 MB 83 MB tracks), 5 minutes
1 stereo track (or two mono 600 MB 662 MB 900 MB 991 MB tracks), 60 minutes
24 mono tracks, 5 minutes 600 MB 662 MB 900 MB 991 MB
24 mono tracks, 60 minutes 7 GB 7.8 GB 10.5 GB 11.6 GB
32 mono tracks, 5 minutes 800 MB 883 MB 1.2 GB 1.3 GB
32 mono tracks, 60 minutes 9.4 GB 10.4 GB 14 GB 15.4 GB
48 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide appendix d Resources
Whether you are new to Pro Tools or just start- Printed Intro to Pro Tools Guide ing out with your new system, we encourage you to read and utilize the many guides that The printed Intro to Pro Tools has tutorials on us- Pro Tools provides. There are also useful online ing Pro Tools (such as recording in a Pro Tools resources available, giving you everything from session, importing audio from a CD, and creat- Pro Tools tips to Pro Tools answers. ing an audio CD from a Pro Tools session).
Guides Accessible in Pro Tools
About the Pro Tools Guides The main Pro Tools guides are accessible from Help In addition to any printed guides included with the Pro Tools Help menu. (Choose , then se- your system, PDF versions of the printed guides lect a guide.) and many additional Pro Tools guides and Read These include: Mes are installed automatically during Pro Tools installation (see “Documentation Installed Au- • Pro Tools Shortcuts, provides a complete list of tomatically with Pro Tools” on page 50). The keyboard and Right-click shortcuts for PDFs are located in the Digidesign/Documenta- Pro Tools. tion folder on your local drive. • Audio Plug-Ins Guide, describes the audio plug- ins included with Pro Tools for both real-time Printed copies of the Pro Tools Reference and file-based audio processing as well as Guide and other guides in the Pro Tools guide many other paid plug-in option offered from set can be purchased separately from the Avid. Avid Store (http://shop.avid.com). • Pro Tools Menus Guide, covers all the Pro Tools User Guide on-screen menus. • Pro Tools Reference Guide, explains Pro Tools The User Guide for your system gives you de- software in extensive detail. tailed instructions for setting up and configur- ing software and hardware for optimum perfor- mance.
Appendix D: Resources 49 Documentation Installed Automatically with Pro Tools About www.avid.com
When you install Pro Tools, you get useful PDF The Avid website (www.avid.com) is your best versions of many Pro Tools guides and online source for information to help you get Read Mes. This documentation can be found in the most out of your Pro Tools system. The fol- the following locations: lowing are just a few of the services and features available. Mac Applications/Digidesign/Documentation Product Registration Register your purchase Windows C:\Program Files\Digidesign\ online. Documentation Support and Downloads Contact Avid Customer To view or print PDF guides, you can use Success (technical support); download software Adobe Reader (recommended) or Apple updates and the latest online manuals; browse Preview (Mac only). the Compatibility documents for system re- quirements; search the online Knowledge Base Read Me Files or join the worldwide Pro Tools community on These contain late-breaking information and the User Conference. known issues pertaining to Pro Tools software Training and Education Study on your own using and hardware configurations. Read Me files are courses available online or find out how you can installed in the Documentation folder when you learn in a classroom setting at a certified install Pro Tools. Pro Tools training center.
Helpful Online Resources Products and Developers Learn about Avid products; download demo software or learn Once you get going, here are some helpful about our Development Partners and their online resources: plug-ins, applications, and hardware. • For questions about installation, visit Avid’s online Knowledge Base. Go to: News and Events Get the latest news from Avid http://www.avid.com/onlinesupport or sign up for a Pro Tools demo. • Get useful information, help, and tips from the worldwide community of Pro Tools users at the online User Conference. Go to: http://duc.avid.com • If you can’t find your answer on the User Con- ference or the Knowledge Base, contact Avid email support. Go to: http://www.avid.com/support
50 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide index
A optimizing 46 Audio MIDI Setup (AMS) (Mac) 35 partitioning 45 authorizing Pro Tools requirements 3 SCSI requirements 44 Mac 8 space requirements 48 Windows 15 Hardware Buffer Size 20 Avid customer success 50 Hardware Setup dialog 25
C I Cache Size 24 I/O Setup 27 Clean Uninstall (Mac) 10 IDE/ATA requirements 44 Clock Source 26 Ignore Errors During Playback/Record option 22 Connect your M-Audio interface 7, 13 install the driver 6, 12 CPU Usage Limit 21, 22 installing Pro Tools Mac 7 Windows 13 D installing QuickTime (Windows) 15 DAE Playback Buffer Size 23 drive formatting J Mac 44 Windows 45 journaling (Mac), enabling 30 drive maintenance 43 drive requirements 3 K key commands 4 E Energy Saver (Mac), turning off 28 M M-Audio Control Panel 25 F M-Audio Driver Disc 6, 12 FireWire requirements 44 MIDI setup (Mac) 35 setup (Windows) 39 H MIDI Studio Setup (MSS) (Windows) 39 hard drives Minimize Additional I/O Latency option 23 drive formats 43 FireWire requirements 44 formatting 44, 45 N formatting (Mac) 44 network cards (Windows), disabling 32 IDE/ATA requirements 44 maintenance 43, 46
Index 51 O S optimizing hard drives 46 Safe Uninstall (Mac) 10 SCSI requirements 44 P Software Update (Mac), turning off 28 partitioning hard drives 45 Spotlight indexing (Mac), disabling 30 Playback Engine Startup items (Windows), disabling 33 RTAS Processors setting 21 system Plug-in Streaming Buffer 25 optimization (Mac) 28 Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size 24 optional optimizations (Windows) 32 plug-ins recommended optimizations (Windows) 32 multiprocessors 21 required optimizations (Windows) 30 RTAS Processors setting 21 shutting down 19 starting up 19 pre-existing M-Audio drivers 5, 11 system optimization Pro Tools Mac 28 capabilities 1 Windows 32 configuration (Windows) 20 demo session (Windows) 9, 16 system settings installing (Mac) 7 Cache Size 24 installing (Windows) 13 Clock Source 26 removing (Mac) 10 CPU Usage Limit 22 removing (Windows) 17 Hardware Buffer Size 20 I/O Setup 27 Processor Scheduling performance (Windows) 33 Plug-in Streaming Buffer 25 Program Change dialog 38, 42 Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size 24
Q T QuickTime technical support 50 installing (Windows) 15 U R uninstalling Pro Tools removing Pro Tools Mac 10 Mac 10 Windows 17 Windows 17 User Account Control (UAC) RTAS Processors setting 21 disabling 32
W website 50
52 Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide
Avid Technical Support (USA) Product Information 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Visit the Online Support Center at For company and product information, Daly City, CA 94014-3886 USA www.avid.com/support visit us on the web at www.avid.com