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jacquesstar

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I am looking at a program to use for audio post production.

Currently: have Final Cut 7 with Soundtrack Pro (never figured out how to use it, and I don't think Apple will support this product very much longer with FCP X coming out)

I also have Adobe Audition, which came with Premiere Pro. I have no idea how to use this either and I don't know how good it is.

So, I'm seriously considering Pro Tools. Just a couple of questions. Can Pro Tools work with OMF files? Also, can I actually have video playing along with the OMF file in Pro Tools so that I can actually mix sound for picture and it will stay in sync?

Thanks!

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Pro Tools can only open OMFs if you have the right version. I believe PT9 and up give you the OMF option included while earlier versions required an additional software package.

And yes, video will run along side your audio tracks.

If you're going to invest in PT I'd suggest getting PT9. 10 is still buggy from what I've heard.

You'll also want to buy some sfx or try to download/torrent them for free.

All the best.

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Pro Tools can only open OMFs if you have the right version. I believe PT9 and up give you the OMF option included while earlier versions required an additional software package.

And yes, video will run along side your audio tracks.

If you're going to invest in PT I'd suggest getting PT9. 10 is still buggy from what I've heard.

You'll also want to buy some sfx or try to download/torrent them for free.

All the best.

I've heard nothing but positive things on PT10 stability. There has been some issues with HDX installations, but 10 is pretty similar to 9 otherwise.

We cannot condone software piracy in the context of professional work.

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I use ProTools 10 daily.(and previously, the 3 preceding versions)

I only ever had two or three issues with 10 that were not easily solved with the simple renaming of a file and/or a program restart.

You will be happy with PT or nuendo.

Yes both can translate OMF's to their own session formats.

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Long discussion recently on PT vs Nuendo for exactly what you're doing, in the LinkedIn post sound newsgroup.

Bottom line imho:

1) PT is the standard and will save some hassles if you're interfacing with a lot of other audio professionals (dialog cutters, foley recordists, mix stage, etc).

2) Nuendo is faster and more powerful for post - a lot of the new features PT 10 is bragging were introduced in Nuendo five years ago, though both programs keep updating. (Nuendo isn't for music production. It really does concentrate on audio post.)

3) Both are completely compatible with OMF and other industry standards, if you buy the full-bore program. ProTools has light and M-powered versions that are much cheaper, but they're music-oriented and you have to add a lot of software to make them video-friendly.

4) If you're buying a full rig - the complete software, plus i/o and sync hardware - both cost about the same.

As I said, this is imho. I've used both, and for a long time I kept both current in my studio. And ymmv. And anything else that'll keep this from turning into a Holy War.

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3) Both are completely compatible with OMF and other industry standards, if you buy the full-bore program. ProTools has light and M-powered versions that are much cheaper, but they're music-oriented and you have to add a lot of software to make them video-friendly.

Just a heads up, Jay... As of version 9, this is no longer the case with PT. PT now offers OMF support and TC support with no add-ons. You may still want an MTC to SMPTE LTC H/W adaptor. I like this one: http://www.rosendahl-studiotechnik.com/mif4.html

Avid has also ditched M-audio (and thus it's M-powered line). As of PT9, all versions of PT are capable of running natively or with choice of ASIO approved interface.

Basically, your options are now PTHD native (which really only offers hardware acceleration for plugs and greater delay compensation [and delay comp on H/W sends]), and PT9/10.

I havent had a need to switch over to 10 yet, but 9 has been a stellar improvement in capability and speed, and it finally feels like Avid is interested in advancing the software to benefit the end user (and not just their own profits)

As I see it

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Just to clarify, Wyatt, HD Native's only DSP in used for cue mix to provide a few zero latency monitoring lanes. Otherwise all plugin processing is done by the host. HDX is the replacement for the core cards (TDM) and provides a ton of DSP for the new AAX plugin format. It is not called HD Native, although when you purchase it, you are also licensed to use it as a native session if you wish.

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Guys, thanks for giving me heads-up on current PT capabilities. As I said, I'm not running current PT, just the latest version of Nuendo (there was an update last week). So I don't know what PT is capable of now.

In fact, as I said at dozens of NAB and AES conventions, years ago when I was the public face of the Orban DSE/Audicy workstation line and people would ask me about competing DAWs:

Don't trust anything anybody says about a competing product, unless they're running the current version. It's not that we're lying, it's just that everybody keeps on making their product better, so what I (or anybody else) know about the competition is out-of-date.

And you know, I love it. I started in this business when everything was big iron. Magnesync and Ampex products didn't change over their whole life, let alone a couple of times a year. Having software and computers that keep on getting smarter is wonderful!

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The best reason I can think of to invest in Pro Tools is that it's by far the standard used in NY, Miami, Chicago, LA, London, and most other major production centers. If you start a project on a small system and take a mix as far as you can go, you can copy the session, then bring it to a full-blown mixing stage, load it in, and keep going. Chances are, the big stages are going to have Pro Tools before they have anything else. And there are more opportunities for Pro Tools work for people pursuing dialog, sound effects, and music-editing work in big cities.

While I have paid for the vast amount of sound effects in my archives (or recorded them myself), there actually are legitimate free sound effects out there on the net. I don't advise stealing software, and I think the hard-working SFX companies like Sound Ideas, Hollywood Edge, Sound Dogs, and all the others should be paid when you use their work.

At the same time, I can remember very well in the early 1980s, when I worked on a lot of animated shows and I'd hear Warner Bros.' effects in a Hanna-Barbera show, MGM effects in a Ruby-Spears show, and Paramount Star Trek effects in a DIC cartoon show. So effects editors even back then had a habit of "borrowing" entire effects libraries on occasion, especially as they moved from studio to studio. Once DAT came out in the late 1980s/early 1990s, this became rampant, to the point where everybody had the same stock sound effects. It's the editors that have the really unique effects that made them stand out, especially one-of-a-kind effects you couldn't get anywhere else.

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One big advantage, and the main reason I use nuendo over pro tools, is the media management. Region list is evil. Nuendo has folders.

Hi Olle!

Pro Tools does have a powerful media management including folders. They are called catalogs and can be found in the workspace window.

Best,

Tom

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Just to clarify, Wyatt, HD Native's only DSP in used for cue mix to provide a few zero latency monitoring lanes. Otherwise all plugin processing is done by the host. HDX is the replacement for the core cards (TDM) and provides a ton of DSP for the new AAX plugin format. It is not called HD Native, although when you purchase it, you are also licensed to use it as a native session if you wish.

My mistake, Tom. You're absolutely right. My head was still stuck in TDM land, re:DSP (I went from 888 to 002 to PT9)

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Hi Olle!

Pro Tools does have a powerful media management including folders. They are called catalogs and can be found in the workspace window.

Best,

Tom

Thanks Tom, good to know!

I did know of workspaces, but can a catalog be specific to the files being used in a project? So for example I might wanna sort all of my dialog on the timeline in one folder, and so on...

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