Introducing Pro Tools 8
Since the early days of digital audio workstations (DAW),
there’s been a healthy rivalry between the California-based Digidesign and
Apple. As you may have read in my previous article, Apple Logic Pro started
life as a MIDI sequencing package and slowly
expanded to incorporate digital audio editing and production. Digidesign ProTools, on the other hand,
started out as a sample-based audio editor and slowly incorporated MIDI and Virtual Instruments.
Users of these applications typically have well-reasoned and
justifiable arguments as to why their application of choice is the one to go
for; it’s true that Logic has always had the upper hand at MIDI and virtual
instruments – there’s no argument there – and it’s equally true that Pro Tools
has always had the upper hand when it comes to audio editing and production, as
Logic simply can’t compete with its sample-based accuracy (there’s no argument
there, either).
The thing to remember is that these programs started at
completely opposite ends of the audio spectrum and have steadily improved to
the point where each has become industry-leading in their own right. With Logic
making progress in live audio and Pro Tools making progress in MIDI and virtual
instruments, it was inevitable that at some point these two applications would
meet somewhere in the middle.
As we will see, Pro Tools 8 closes the gap even further…
The Interface
There are countless times that I’ve had to argue the case for
Pro Tools’ ever-so-slightly 1980s-looking veneer: “It’s designed like that so
the graphical interface doesn’t use any of the processing power that’s there
for audio work… and that’s exactly how it
should be!”
Who was I kidding? I love sleek looks, subtle fades on menus
and ‘Play’ buttons that look like translucent virtual boiled sweets. I’m a Pro
Tools fan through-and-through, but I’ve always secretly loved the way that
Logic looks… Most of all, I’ve often wished that ProTools didn’t look like it
fell out of the ugly tree.
When faced with youthful-looking competition, ProTools did
what many self-respecting Californians do: it got a facelift. I’m pleased to
report that the cosmetic surgery has been a resounding success for ProTools –
all of the functionality that we’ve come to rely on is still there, it’s just
been enhanced. There are now double inserts available for each channel, the
menu bar can be customised allowing easier access to your favourite tools, and
you can even change the hue of your channel strips, tracks, regions, groups and
markers (notice you can not only change the colour, but you can also change the
hue… hours of fun!)
Window management has also been improved with tile or
cascade options and the Universe view allows for easy access to just about
every aspect of the active session. Last but not least, there’s a new
QuickStart dialogue, which allows you to jump to an existing session, create a
new session, or start a new session from one of the new session templates.
Sound familiar? I’m sure I’ve seen that somewhere else…
Plug-Ins
For many years, the plethora of plug-ins that come with
Logic Pro Studio have been its greatest selling point. With ProTools 8,
Digidesign have gone some way to closing the gap and now have what they are
calling “a well-stocked studio right out of the box.”
Despite there not being quite as many plug-ins or loops as
can be found in Logic, the latest additions to the ProTools software are more
than welcome. For the first time, Digidesign can boast about the quality of the
groundbreaking virtual instruments that come as standard with ProTools 8 that,
amongst others, include the Mini Grand Piano, Boom drum machine, DB-33
tonewheel organ and Vacuum and Xpand!2 synths. For guitarists,
there’s a free version of the phenomenal Eleven amp-modelling plug-in and
user-friendly SansAmp. For DJs, there’s Torq LE and for music creators and
producers, there are 20 new AIR effects.
LE and M-Powered
Expansion
For consumers and prosumers using the ProTools LE and
M-Powered software and hardware, the Music Production Toolkit 2 (for musicians
and producers) or the DV Toolkit 2 (for post-production – LE only) allows you to
expand the normal 32-track limit of ProTools LE/M-Powered to up to 64 mono or
stereo audio tracks. Not only are you now able to create even larger mixes than
before, but Pro Tools LE users will also have the alternative option to add the
new Complete Production Toolkit (which combines both the Music Production
Toolkit 2 and the DV Toolkit 2), giving 7.1 surround sound mixing capabilities
and allowing you to unlock a massive 128 audio tracks.
Musical Scoring
It’s no surprise that musical scoring has made its way into
Pro Tools – since Avid acquired the Sibelius range a few years ago, the musical
notation software has been perfectly suited to integration with the world’s
leading audio application. Bringing many of Sibelius’ best features to Pro
Tools, this is certain to be a welcome inclusion in what can only be described
as a Pro Tools suite.
The new Score Editor allows you to compose music using the
composition tools or transcribe recorded, imported, step-entered or drawn MIDI data into notation. The Score Editor allows you to
compose parts on a single staff or a grand staff, where you can place and edit
notes, edit the time signature and edit the key signature according to your
compositional and arrangement needs. MIDI
parts can also be transposed in real time to accommodate changes in key
signature in the arrangement.
Another useful feature of this MIDI
notation is the ability to insert chord symbols and chord diagrams for
guitarists into sessions. The score can then be printed in either its entirety
or as selected instrumental parts, or exported as a .sib file for more
feature-rich editing in Sibelius.
MIDI
MIDI editing and creation has long been
Logic’s main advantage over Pro Tools. Despite its best efforts, Digidesign has
never quite captured the needs of users when it comes to MIDI,
but this is all to change with Pro Tools 8. New MIDI Editor windows that can
display information for virtual instrument data, as well as MIDI
and Auxiliary Input tracks, provide extensive editing capabilities never before
seen in the industry-leading software. Indeed, the Digidesign pre-release
information promises some impressive control over MIDI: you can consolidate and
mute MIDI notes; scrub and shuttle through parts; view superimposed MIDI and
Instrument tracks for easier arrangement and editing; colour code MIDI notes by
track, type or velocity; audition velocity changes; play MIDI notes when
tabbing and edit MIDI automation and continuous controller (CC) data through
multiple Automation and Controller lanes.
Elastic Pitch
Elastic Time, which first made an appearance in Pro Tools 7.4,
was a revelatory way of editing waveforms non-destructively. The tool allowed a
producer to ‘bend’ audio along the timeline with regard to two fixed points.
Imagine cutting an elastic band and holding each end (the fixed points); if you
were then to choose a point along the length of that elastic band, you could
move it freely without moving the end points you previously defined.
To complement this powerful tempo and time manipulation
tool, Pro Tools 8 introduces Elastic Pitch. This new tool allows you to
manipulate and correct the pitch of any audio region in real time. The
manipulation of the audio is incremental and transposition is available for
four octaves above and below the original pitch without affecting the original
timing or tempo. The obvious implementation of this would be to correct stray
vocal parts, which can be altered in cent intervals or to create unique sound
effects using the Varispeed algorithm.
Editing
Pro Tools 8 includes new track-comping features making it
even easier to record multiple takes and view/audition them in the
Playlist view. Parts can be copied to the main Playlist with a single click and
can also be given ratings of 1 – 5 to help identify which takes were better or
worse. Whilst this latter feature seems like a novelty for the iTunes
generation, it could potentially save valuable production time if multiple
takes across multiple tracks are present in a session – even the best producer
can’t remember each and every performance without having to audition items in
the Playlist!
Furthermore, Pro Tools 8 adds other editing features such as
the ability to lock a region to the timeline to prevent it being moved or
edited, as well as new Automation and Controller lanes for quick access to
track automation and MIDI CC data without changing track views.
Pro Tools|HD
The most interesting new feature of Pro Tools 8 is to be
found in Pro Tools|HD systems. The new Satellite Link option allows a user to
control up to five |HD systems as one, bringing a new level of efficiency to
professional audio post-production. This functionality is coupled with Video
Satellite and Video Satellite LE options, which enables Avid and QuickTime
HD/SD video playback to Pro Tools in high definition without sacrificing audio
track counts or processing power.
For more information about Digidesign Pro Tools 8 and to
watch pre-release “dTV” videos demonstrating the software, visit www.digidesign.com
Page created on 15 October 2008 by Craig Finney.