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dumb-ass Protools questions

Phill_MostPhill_Most 4,594 Posts
edited August 2005 in Strut Central
I know some of youse guys are old pros with Protools and computer setups for recording music and all that... me, I don't know sh*t about most of this sh*t, so please excuse me if my queries are slightly on the dumb-ass side of things. Now, I know you can run Protools on a pc, but if you're doing some professional level sh*t it's much preferred to use a Mac (and as powerful a Mac as possible), correct? So let me ask you this: just supposing a person did use Protools on a pc instead of a Mac, is there any way that the saved files from the pc could be used by somebody who's running Protools on a Mac? I'm hearing that you can exchange files between platforms nowadays pretty easily, but I really don't know all that much about it. Thanks for any knowledge y'all can drop on my barely computer literate ass.

  Comments

  • residentgiantresidentgiant 619 Posts
    Yeah, Protools sessions are cross-platform. In the save session window, there's a little checkbox that says something like "force Mac/PC compatibility", just make sure that's checked.
  • meshmesh 925 Posts
    hey phill, i just got done installing a professional protools HD rig on a pc. its the third one i have installed on a pc. in fact, a lot of people are saying that that will be the way to go in the future. personally, i just like macs, but there is nothing wrong with a pc. and you can swap files fine, just make sure when you start a session that you tell it to be mac/pc compatible. (its in the menu when you name your session, real easy).

    good luck and have fun.
  • neil_somethingneil_something 993 Posts
    yes, in the file menu choose "save session copy in..." and then tick the box that says "enforce pc / mac compatability"

    i've never actually has cause to use it however, but it seems straightforward enough...
  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts
    I know some of youse guys are old pros with Protools and computer setups for recording music and all that... me, I don't know sh*t about most of this sh*t, so please excuse me if my queries are slightly on the dumb-ass side of things.

    Now, I know you can run Protools on a pc, but if you're doing some professional level sh*t it's much preferred to use a Mac (and as powerful a Mac as possible), correct? So let me ask you this: just supposing a person did use Protools on a pc instead of a Mac, is there any way that the saved files from the pc could be used by somebody who's running Protools on a Mac? I'm hearing that you can exchange files between platforms nowadays pretty easily, but I really don't know all that much about it. Thanks for any knowledge y'all can drop on my barely computer literate ass.
    I had the same questions but I didn't want to get ::sonned::. Anyways, does anybody use a M-Box for Protools?
  • izm707izm707 1,107 Posts
    no shame in the game...people are not supposed to know Pro-Tools like that anyway. Myself, if the M-Box didn't exist, i would have left it to my recording engineer.lol.



    as far as the comp between Mac/PC for Pro-Tools, you don't have to worry unless you are using too many cracked/old versions. Make sure you get the latest updates. Of course, if you know digidesign a bit, do NOT use cracked stuffs except for plug-ins. Buy a real license or else make sure you got a tight buddy members of Digi community (specially for patches, updates and so on).



    Like others said, make sure you enforce the compatibility. Check all your rates. Use the same I/O set-up if you can (that's not always possible). Basically, don't fear none. I have mine on a Acer PC, stable as fuck, and fully working with the one i use at studio (a Mac).



    Now one little thing that people ALWAYS forget. Certain files that you name on your PC may not appear on your Mac when your open your session. Mac accept less character per line. Even the little "~" cannot save you. To avoid problems, i just got this little 1GB USB key where i store the problematic files and i import them into the Mac. USB keys are MS-DOS, so no problem...Other way to get around it is to keep file names under 9 characters.
  • Mike_BellMike_Bell 5,736 Posts
    no shame in the game...people are not supposed to know Pro-Tools like that anyway. Myself, if the M-Box didn't exist, i would have left it to my recording engineer.lol.

    as far as the comp between Mac/PC for Pro-Tools, you don't have to worry unless you are using too many cracked/old versions. Make sure you get the latest updates. Of course, if you know digidesign a bit, do NOT use cracked stuffs except for plug-ins. Buy a real license or else make sure you got a tight buddy members of Digi community (specially for pateches, updates and so on).

    Like others said, make sure you enforce the compatibility. Check all your rates. Use the same I/O set-up if you can (that's not always possible). Basically, don't fear none. I have mine on a Acer PC, stable as fuck, and fully working with the one i use at studio (a Mac).

    Now one little thing that people ALWAYS forget. Certain files that you name on your PC may not appear on your Mac when your open your session. Mac accept less character per line. Even the little "~" cannot save you. To avoid problems, i just got this little 1GB USB key where i store the problematic files and i import them into the Mac. USB keys are MS-DOS, so no problem...Other way to get around it is to keep file names under 9 characters.
    Thanks.
  • Phill_MostPhill_Most 4,594 Posts
    A-ight, here's another one (I'm gonna probably have a lot of these before I actually get this Protools sh*t down pat)- is there still a problem using Protools with Windows XP, or has that been corrected? I remember having a version on my computer a few years ago and couldn't get it to work right, then I realized that the sh*t didn't work with XP.
  • izm707izm707 1,107 Posts
    Ha...i see that you are being serious about it. Because that's a main issue.



    The thing is, if you plan to use Pro-tools on a PC, you have to DEDICATE your pc to it. The less devices installed, the better your latency time will be. Needless to say, WinXP is the best platform at the moment. But you need to TWEAK it a lot. It took me 4 hours to tweak mine BEFORE i installed anything audio-related on it.



    I won't break it down here unless you want me too, and i may even send you a PM because i don't want to spread knwoledge like that when people are getting paid for the same job. I don't wanna knock anybody's hustle.

    Basically, it's about disabling a lot of things (services, DLL's, etc) under admin mode. Then you have to remove parts of the WinXP features. It's necessary. Do not use a regular WinXP version, you will be disappointed with crashes and error messages.



    You can pick any XP version.

    Prefer the Corp edition. Home versions are full of removable stuffs...

  • meshmesh 925 Posts
    This user is not accepting private messages.

    i tried to PM you...

    i would like for you to break down what you have to do to a PC before it runs smoothly with PT.
  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    This user is not accepting private messages.

    i tried to PM you...

    i would like for you to break down what you have to do to a PC before it runs smoothly with PT.

    http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php

    XP runs alot of stuff in the background that slows PT down.

    I've installed 2 HD systems on a P4 xp machine. The 1st was done w/out the tweaks on the above page. The 2nd system used all the tweaks. HUGE difference...Alot less DAE errors and just less(almost none, but working off a unity server is a pain in the ass) freezes/crashes in general.

    There are alot of resources for buliding a digi-approved pc. The Digidesign User Conference (www.digidesign.com_The LE for XP board) has a great thread on how to bulid a comp for under $800 that out performs a G5.


  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    this is what i do. i use digital performer but have many people that send me pro tool files. what you can do also is to convert them to aiff files. and make sure that you consolidate your files. on digital performer it's called merge soundbites. what this does is makes a starting ponit and ending point on every track. this way i can take those files and drag them or inport them to another system. i also save my files as an omf file but most people don't have the translator for pro tools. the best way is to save them as aiff files and save them like that to cd.


    carlos
  • Phill_MostPhill_Most 4,594 Posts
    Ha...i see that you are being serious about it. Because that's a main issue.

    The thing is, if you plan to use Pro-tools on a PC, you have to DEDICATE your pc to it. The less devices installed, the better your latency time will be. Needless to say, WinXP is the best platform at the moment. But you need to TWEAK it a lot. It took me 4 hours to tweak mine BEFORE i installed anything audio-related on it.

    I won't break it down here unless you want me too, and i may even send you a PM because i don't want to spread knwoledge like that when people are getting paid for the same job. I don't wanna knock anybody's hustle.

    If you could PM me when you get a chance I'd appreciate it, mayne. This is not really for me, more than likely- I'm still planning on getting probably a G4 powerbook just for Protools very soon, like any day now (and when I get it I'm sure I'll have a whole other line of dumb-ass questions for the soulstrut pros). But some of my associates need the info as well as me so that we can do some long distance collaborations. You taking notes, Stacks?
  • izm707izm707 1,107 Posts
    check PM phil...
  • meshmesh 925 Posts
    This user is not accepting private messages.

    i tried to PM you...

    i would like for you to break down what you have to do to a PC before it runs smoothly with PT.

    http://www.musicxp.net/tuning_tips.php

    XP runs alot of stuff in the background that slows PT down.

    I've installed 2 HD systems on a P4 xp machine. The 1st was done w/out the tweaks on the above page. The 2nd system used all the tweaks. HUGE difference...Alot less DAE errors and just less(almost none, but working off a unity server is a pain in the ass) freezes/crashes in general.

    There are alot of resources for buliding a digi-approved pc. The Digidesign User Conference (www.digidesign.com_The LE for XP board) has a great thread on how to bulid a comp for under $800 that out performs a G5.



    word. i go to the digi forum every now and then, but dont go into the windows forum that much since i am a mac dude. but i am trying to step my pc game up for obvious reasons. thanks for the website.

  • Phill_MostPhill_Most 4,594 Posts
    check PM phil...

    Got it... turn on your PM'z, hommie.
  • izm707izm707 1,107 Posts
    done...
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