Just Announced; Pro Tools 11

            As most people in the audio world know Pro Tools has just announced its next version of the software. There are many new improvements that are going to help the user create music. Today I would like to talk about a few of those new features.

            Some of the new or upgraded features that are available in this version of Pro Tools are the Avid Audio Engine, new bouncing features, metering, and post production features. All of these things are going to help the operator do what is most important which is to focus on the sound. With the information I provide, you should be able to make a decision on weather your personal workflow will benefit from these features.

            Avid audio engine gets much more processing power than the old Pro Tools 10. This will allow the operator to use many more virtual instruments and plug-ins. It has a new 64-bit architecture and with the more memory available the more headroom there is to use. It is also using a new technology called optimized intelligent audio engine, which takes all the unused processing and applying it to your session efficiently and intelligently.

            The upgraded bouncing feature will allow the user to bounce a mix without having to listen in real time and wait. This feature will automatically bounce an MP3 at the same time as the wave file. You can also select an option to send the bounced files directly to someone through gobbler. The real high light is that you can bounce multiple mixes at one time.

            The new metering options allow for a much quicker and easier workflow. This is actually a metering engine that has high-resolution features. It is a 30% increase in visual. There are a total of 17 meters scales, which include k metering and EBU for broadcast. You can also see the amount of gain reduction from compressors individually or the combination of all compressor on one channel. There is a new option window that will allow you to see all the send metering in one window as well.

            You no longer have to use transcoding when importing video into Pro Tools. The new video engine from media composer also allows many more formats to be used. So importing video directly from a red will work great in your session. AJA and Black magic and associated devices will work great as well. These will also work on both mac and pc, which was not previously supported.

            After hearing just a few things of these new features I am excited to test this out for myself. I have believed this is the best software in the business and I am now convinced it is truly over the top. Take my advise or not, test it out for yourself and decide if this is the right software for you.  

   Thanks,

          Jason A Phillips