After finding an incompatibility between Trasher 10 and Pro Tools 10.3.5 this week Steven Gilliland has worked very quickly to resolve it in this new version 10.5 of Trasher.
There are some other slight additions to this version such as a fully self contained installer that places the app’s files in the right place and gives the option to install v10.5 over the top of a current v10 install.
Along with the installer is a pdf ReadMe file with installation instructions.

Remember this version is for 10.3.5 only , for any version before 10.3.5 continue to use Trasher 10 available from our Support Tools Page.

Heres the new installer for Trasher 10.5 

Thanks Steven !

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Todd in the Massey user forum has posted the following;

“We are working on VST and AAX concurrently. A release date for AAX has yet to be determined, but we are actively working on it.”

Which is good news, Massey plug-ins have a lot of love in the Pro Tools community.

Read the whole conversation here

Another video showing how to use a third party app to get both VST and AU plug-ins working in Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD, versions 9, 10 and 11, for Mac and PC.

Russ shows how to get three tracks sounding like the band played together.

• Members watch it here
• Or watch it here for $1 using our video on demand service

A second video where Russ shows hosting VSTs in Pro Tools using a similar method as the audio units video but with some FREE software. Mac only.

Lev Perrey from Universal Audio speaks to the question of Pro Tools 11 AAX 64 bit compaitibilty and offline bounce.

Whilst at NAB 2013, Mike caught up with long-term friend of the blog, David Gould, to talk about David’s new job working for Dolby on their new object-orientated immersive experience - Dolby Atmos.

Listen on iTunes

Download MP3

If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here

Now the dust has settled after the announcement of Pro Tools 11, most people have had a chance to evaluate the pros and cons of this new version of Pro Tools. We always make it clear that upgrades are not compulsory, some users will not need Pro Tools 11. Here are what we see as the pros and cons cut down to the basics of what you get, NOT what features are called. 

Pros 

1. Access To More RAM
   A 64 bit application gives a user access to all RAM within their Mac or PC. Now that Pro Tools 11 is 64 bit user who need as much RAM access as possible for virtual instruments and other CPU intensive  task, can get to it.
2. Faster Workflows
   Offline bounce means you are able to get your bounces out fast, so rather than sitting through a track, or a 1 hour show waiting for a bounce, you can have it in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.
3. Do More With Less
   Pro Tools 11 offer better performance on the same machine, or indeed the same performance on smaller, less powerful machines. We have seen it running huge session on laptops and Mac Minis, this was never possible on earlier versions. The need to buy a new computer may be less necessary and therefore save you money.
4. Work With Native Video
   Pro Tools 11 now features the Avid Media Composer video engine which will be a welcome addition for those working with picture to sound. No more encoding proxy videos into Pro Tools compatible formats, simply import and then choose to watch in full screen or a low res version right from within the timeline. You can even do basic video editing tasks.
5. Get Better Visual Feedback - HD Only
   Legislation within the broadcast industry means that audio has to be delivered to more exacting loudness specifications, Pro Tools 11HD offers more extensive metering so that mix engineers can be sure that audio is within international specifications.

Cons

1. You May Lose Essential Plug-Ins
   Now that Pro Tools 11 is AAX only, that means some of your plug-ins may not work when it ships, they may never work. There may be some workarounds using VST hosts like Maschine or ReWire and then hosting them in a programme like REAPER, but that’s not ideal. 
2. It Has A Professional Price Tag
   Let’s face it, Pro Tools 11 is not cheap, there are other DAWs on the market that offer far more for less, in some cases at a fraction of the price. If you don’t need to buy into a Pro Tools workflow and don’t envisage having to take your sessions to Pro Tools studios then Pro Tools may not be the best DAW for your needs.
3. Updates Continue To Be Costly
   When Pro Tools was shipped as part of hardware packages, Digidesign and current owner Avid, were able to subsidize the cost of Pro Tools software. Since it was decoupled from the hardware at version 9, compared to other DAWs, both new versions and upgrades have been costly. If you get on the Pro Tools train then expect to pay a minimum of around $300 every time an upgrade ships.
4. To Get Some Features You Have To Buy HD
   Avid continue to lock out some features such as the new metering and multiple offline bounce to HD only purchases, so there is a kind of hardware dongle that continues to plague Pro Tools. Some professional users don’t want to use Avid hardware but are stuck with either buying hardware they don’t want or not getting HD only features.
5. It Still Has Limitations
   Despite being the industry standard DAW, used on most albums, TV shows and movies, Pro Tools 11 still lacks composition and other audio features found in competitor applications such as Logic, Studio One, Cubase or even the budget DAW REAPER. For example the MIDI features in most competitor applications are far better, as are the plug-ins and instruments that ship with many other DAWs.

As you would expect we are Pro Tools users at Pro Tools Expert, indeed we are huge fans of Pro Tools, we can’t imagine that changing. However, we also appreciate that Pro Tools may not be for everyone, especially those who can’t justify the cost v features compared with other DAWs. Pro Tools 11 is not about giving users lots of new features, simply a more powerful, up-to-date version of their go-to app. Pro Tools 11 addresses many of the features Pro Tools users have been asking to have for several years.

Our job at Pro Tools Expert is not to get users to buy Pro Tools, but to support those users who have chosen Pro Tools as their DAW of choice. We hope what we have outlined here will help you make that choice.

Now take our Pro Tools 11 buyer poll and tell us what you plan to do.

If you want to get tight timing in your tracks there are a few things you can do to make sure your performance is on the money. Here are my top 5;

1. Get The Metronome Beat Right
   One trick drummers use, especially on slow tempos is to make sure you metronome is running at 8 clicks per bar rather than 4 clicks per bar. This helps to keep your playing super tight. 
2. Get the Metronome Sounding Right
   The sound of a click can make a lot of difference, thankfully Pro Tools 11 features Click II that will offer many more click sounds to chose from. Even if you don’t intend to upgrade then you can modify the click to trigger any MIDI sound, you can also simply create you own click drag by dragging clips onto the timeline and lining them up on the grid and then looping them.
3. Get Your Monitor Mix Right
   Spend time making sure you have both the mix and the metronome right in your ears. Too quiet and you won’t play in time, too loud and it will bleed into your recording. If you are working with clicks then make sure you have good quality enclosed headphones, especially around drums as there are multiple mics the click can bleed into.
4. Practice Makes Perfect
   I’ve worked with human metronomes who seem to be tight as a drum machine, but ask them and they will tell you they spent hours learning to play to a click. The good news is that you can improve your timing with practice, the bad news is you have to put in the work.
5. Cheat!
   Sometimes you get performances that were played live, without a click or you just have a someone who has sloppy timing. If you can’t get the performance you need then you may have to resort to using the excellent tools for getting stuff in to time such as Beat Detective, Elastic Time or good old fashion cut and nudge - but if you can use these as a last resort, a great performance is always more musical.

So there we are, 5 ways to get tight timing in Pro Tools. If you have any of your own, please comment.

Extra resources;

• Beat Detective Explained
• Elastic Audio In Action
• Pro Tools Videos On Pro Tools Expert

XILS-lab has to announced availability of Oxium 1.5, a Pro Tools 11 AAX format-ready major update to its popular performance soft synth plug-in, as of April 13… they say…

Oxium has gained a solid foothold in the competitive computer-centric music marketplace since successfully launching last year to critical acclaim.

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Neil and the guys over at Pro Tools PC have updated their site with more info on the Pro Tools PC project.

I have to say that I’m impressed with the features cited… enough to wonder what I’ll do if Apple fail to deliver me a new Mac Pro sometime in the next decade. Bearing in mind that these machines are ‘Hackintosh’ compatible it does make me consider my options. Now if only I could blag a free one…

More here

Russ shows you how to add interest in a bass sound by mastering the powerful automation features in Pro Tools.

• Members watch here
• Or watch it on demand for $1

EuControl is the application that runs Artist Control, Artist Mix, Artist Transport, and Artist Color media controllers and communicates with your software applications like Pro Tools.  This package installs EuControl and other necessary software.  EuControl supports one Artist Control, one Artist Transport, one Artist Color, and up to four Artist Mixes.

What’s New
EuControl 2.7.1 fixes an issue with “Auto Bank to Selected” on systems with only MC Mix surfaces that caused that feature to not function.  This now works as expected. 

Release History for v2.7

• Provides support for Mac OS 10.8
• Provides support for Windows 8
• Support for Apple Mac Book Pro hardware with HiDPI Retina displays. 
• Mackie Control and HUI now work with Mac OS 10.7 and 10.8
• EUCON System Preferences are now stored correctly on Mac OS 10.7 and 10.8
• Improved stability with Pro Tools 10.3
• Fixed an issue with USB mouse connection when device was disconnected causing loss of mouse control. This also affects KVM support which now functions correctly. 

Clearly this is a small bug fix update and I am looking forward to what is hopefully a completely rewritten EuControl software package to go with Pro Tools 11.

We reported that Pro Tools 11 would ship with a new improved click, Click II.

Some of you were asking about the sounds included, we’ve now got hold of a list of the sounds you can use with it. Of course Pro Tools 11 is yet to ship so this list may change.

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As part of the new Pro Tools 11 brochure, Avid have produced this chart that gives a comparison between Pro Tools 11 vanilla and Pro Tools 11 HD. We had also been told that the ability to chose bounce stems was also only in the HD version although this brochure does not seem to indicate this.

It seems our parody of the Pro Tools 11 advert has been getting a lot of love, both by the user community and also from Avid, who loved it - we even got an email from the producer who said “Just saw the “what were they looking at” Pro Tools 11 parody video…OMG dude, HILARIOUS!!!! Thanks for that.”

Whilst at Musikmesse we had a lot of people asking us to make some T-Shirts based on what are destined to be famous last words “Next level sh*t!” We’ve got both censored and uncensored designs, depending on your taste. You can order most sizes and colours, so go check them out.

So if you want to grab yourself a cool Pro Tools Expert T-Shirt, or hoodie then head over to RedBubble and grab one. Enjoy!

It may not be the most important thing in the world, but the Click plug-in in Pro Tools has long been due for an update.

Pro Tools 11 has a new version Click 2, that we got to see at Messe.

Click 2 features;

• Comprehensive timing and meter options.
• A menu of helpfully catalogued different click sounds.

As we say, it isn’t going to be the star of any product demo, but it’s a welcome update.

Russ spent some time with the great Avid demo team at Musikmesse 2013 to get up close and personal with Pro Tools 11, in this video are the new meters, offline bounce and 64 bit in action.

The winners of the Avid and Abbey Road song content winners have been announced. They are;

Judges Choice Winners

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