Transferring to Protools

Mark Wayne · Post by **Mark Wayne** » 29 Oct 2015 9:08 pm

After much thought and 'review reading' ..and circumstance, I've decided to change my platform from Adobe Audition to Protools. For over 10 years, I was originally a user of Cool Edit Pro, and then Audition.

As a full-time producer up here in Wisconsin, these platforms are what I consider "my office" and "workplace," so changing over is sometimes intimidating after using an existing platform for so long. I know it's a learning curve, but it had to happen sooner or later in my line of work. As the studio has progressed I'm seeing more clients bringing in sessions from ProTools. Hopefully it will pay off. I've heard many things pro and con in view of ProTools, but it is the industry standard for a reason, as well as it's associate.. the Mac.

Will have ProTools arriving next week. The Mac just came in. One of the good things I've noticed is the availability of help resources out there for PT with a Mac, a luxury that I didn't always have, even after searching the Adobe forums.

Fortunately I was able to get a Mac Mini, ProTools 11 and iLok, Thunderbolt Dock and cable adapters for about $1300, through eBay and Amazon.

Beginning with Roland 880's in 1996, it's been an interesting ride, and it's too late to back out now

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For those of you who have PT and a Mac, I would like to hear your beginning experiences with this setup.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 30 Oct 2015 1:18 am

I don't think PRO TOOLS knows it's on a PC or a MAC. You do, supposedly the efficiency is much better on the MAC but the software and workflow are exactly the same.

I run 8 and 12, both on Windows...

You stated you obtained 11 and the ILOK on EBAY , you didn't say if it was a virgin , new copy. The biggest issues , it seems, is that PT users are having difficulty getting the proper ILOK permissions configured, MAC or PC. The purpose of the ILOK is to allow the legal use of the registered software.

I believe 11 like 12 , is not actually hard copy CD disks but rather a S/N where you go up to the AVID website and download the appropriate version be it MAC or PC. Then you create an ILOK account and link both your ILOK account and the software s/n together. Hopefully that will all go smooth for you.

I recently acquired PT12 from Sweetwater, my download and installation went smooth as silk including the ILOK account. My license is Perpetual. Many people , even today are saying that AVID discontinued the Perpetual License..BUNK. Evidently they do not know how to read as it is right there on the AVID website as one of the purchase options. Retailers may very well be only offering subscription licenses. This needs to be confirmed before a purchase.

Regarding the PT software and workflow, I find the workflow to be common sense , intuitive , but then again I have been running PT 8 for 6 years . So for me , upgrading to 12 was a no brainer. I came from the worlds of Cubase and Sonar . Cubase I found ODD while Sonar was a nice package. I made my move to PT 8 when it was being discontinued, full package for $149 blow out price. Plus PT's was already being established as a standard DAW around the community.

Setting up the preferences for best performance may take a few moments as will setting up the interface for zero latency. As stated, one of the greatest things about Pro Tools is the amount of information available by users, YouTube , FB groups, Forums etc. But be warned, many of the users who post are not skilled and complain about AVID before they resolve their issue, which many times is configuration settings both PC/MAC related. They will blame the software first.

Right here on our SGF, people have commented to me that PT's is just too hard to use and requires way too many extra steps to get started with a simple session. BUNK. BIG bunch of BUNK. Yes, PT's has tons of production features but you DO NOT have to use them. Add them as required to a project. Build a simple template, 5 or 6 tracks with a Master Fader, be sure all of the track inputs and outputs are correct, save it, and use it as your starting point. OR, use one of the included templates, which by the way should be opened and viewed as a learning exercise, see how other sessions are built. Pro Tools doesn't make you do anything you do not want to do. You can set up a one track session if you like, with nuthin' extra added. But you do have to have the proper interface input selected and the proper output selected which is common to every DAW.

Here is a link to my recent PT 12 installation...maybe it will help..

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=290534

good luck, I am sure you will be well pleased.

Mark Wayne · Post by **Mark Wayne** » 31 Oct 2015 9:33 am

Thanks Tony, I appreciate the advice.

The version of ProTools that I purchased is virgin, and not subscription, but a full perpetual license. I learned from experience when it comes to software for best results: to not get previously owned material, or even products from an unauthorized dealer.

Will the upgrade to 12 and beyond require a subscription eventually?

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 31 Oct 2015 9:50 am

Mark, no, 12 can be either...with regard to beyond 12 , I doubt it, Avid had a lot of push back with regard to subscriptions and pricing. But who knows. I purchased 12 (PERP) which comes with a 1 year in family version upgrade. I doubt I will ever want or have the desire to go past 12 anyway. I may do the in family version upgrade but not before I read what the changes are.

I never would have gone to 12 if I could have run 8 on WIN 7, I needed a hardware upgrade not a software upgrade. XP machine to 7 machine. 8 won't run on WIN 7. I decided on WIN 7 as it is proven with Pro Tools, so we rebuilt a WIN 7 machine that I had sitting idle.

IF they do price the subscriptions at a very reasonable cost, it can be successful, but $29/month is way too steep. IF it was like Netflix or Rhapsody, $10/month, they could probably make that work.

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 1 Nov 2015 5:16 am

Mark. I am running PT 11 with an Avid Mbox Pro and a mini Mac (Mavericks os). It all works really great. Very simple to use. I hunted a bit to find a NOS miniMac that was that dual i5 model from 2012. I found one at B&H. Loaded it up with ram and a SSD (internal) and it runs nicely. I still use an external FW drive for the recording media. Many of my sessions have about 30 tracks.