Protools questions

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Protools questions

Postby Kurt » Tue Apr 23, 2013 4:11 pm

I'm recording some stuff for a local band but they will be using drum tracks programmed by somebody else.

I need to make a click track and record a guitar scratch track to get sent over to the drum programmer to work with. He uses Protools, unfortunately, I do not. If I create midi clicks using sonar will Protools import the tempo information embedded in the midi? Do OMF files carry that sort of information?

Would it be less hassle to bite the bullet and get an MBox2 and whatever Protools version it comes with? If I create the tracks in V7 and he has VX (Where X=not 7) will he be able to open the project? I'm fairly nerdy so I can't imagine it would be too much of a drama to get going with Protools, I assume this stuff is it's bread and butter and should be fairly easy to work out.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Drumstruck » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:04 pm

I suppose you could just record stems (incl. click) and send him them...... he could use beat detective (or whatever it's called now( to align it.

Alternatively, there is an app to import/export from PT - a guy in Sydney writes it - sorry, don't remember his name or the app..... perhaps someone with younger brain cells remembers his name?
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Manning » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:07 pm

Way too hard.

Just create a SMF (standard MIDI file) for your click and send it along with your guitar audio file. SMFs contain tempo info. All DAWs can create SMFs, they've been around since the late 80s.

He'll presumably know what to do, but if not, tell him to create a new PT project, import the SMF and then import the audio. It should all sync up just fine.

I work at home on Cubase but the studio runs PT, so I do this all the time whenever I have complex tempos. If the tempo is constant, I just enter it manually into PT.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Chinagraf » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:12 pm

I'd just consolidate the guitar part into one file starting at beat1 bar 1, bounce it out and tell him the tempo. He sets it in his system and imports the guitar file to beat 1 bar 1.
I've gotten heaps of stems with just a tempo value for years to do remixes and never had a problem. Most come from Tools and I work on Cubase.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Kurt » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:27 pm

Thanks guys. It's a deathmetal album so undoubtedly there'll be tempo/metre changes galore... Midi will be the go I think, just had no idea if PT can use the embedded tempo information. I only question it because, from memory, Sonar doesn't use it as you'd expect, it fits the midi to the project tempo rather than the other way 'round.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Manning » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:41 pm

Yes, but when you create an SMF, it will export the project tempo into the MIDI info.

You can easily check before you send anything - create the SMF, then open a new Sonar project and import the SMF in - you should still have all your tempo info.

If you don't get the tempo info, dig around, as there will be an option somewhere to import the tempo info from the SMF. There is this option in Cubase and PT, so I can't imagine Sonar is any different.

EDIT - Google to the rescue:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation/d ... ng.37.html
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Kurt » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:47 pm

Cheers. I'm sure I'm creating difficulty where none lies, I just want to be confident that this is going to go smoothly!

Manning wrote:Yes, but when you create an SMF, it will export the project tempo into the MIDI info.

You can easily check before you send anything - create the SMF, then open a new Sonar project and import the SMF in - you should still have all your tempo info.

If you don't get the tempo info, dig around, as there will be an option somewhere to import the tempo info from the SMF. There is this option in Cubase and PT, so I can't imagine Sonar is any different.

EDIT - Google to the rescue:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation/d ... ng.37.html
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Re: Protools questions

Postby jkhuri44 » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:08 am

render an audio click whatever you do...last time i did a tempo change sort of project, changing from Cubase to Protools was a nightmare, due to the way the software was written, there would be timing inaccuracy over the length of the track...things were slighly out and impossible to align...if you have an audio click....just as backup...you can import audio, then put some section markers....

I would use Protools off the batn if i were in ur position.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Text_Edifice » Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:43 am

I'd second Jamil's suggestion.

Gives you a (hopefully) fool proof option just in case.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Kurt » Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:12 pm

I'm leaning toward buying an M-box or an Maudio interface with 'tools 7 or 8. They seem to go on eBay for around $150-$200 and I guess having 'tools will come in handy again. Who knows, I may like it and ditch Sonar altogether.
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Drumstruck » Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:15 pm

I'd suggest going for PT9 instead as it works with non-Avid interfaces. :-B
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Re: Protools questions

Postby Kurt » Wed May 08, 2013 9:53 am

Update...

I bought a secondhand mbox3 mini with PT9 off eBay. It can't hurt to have a copy of PT here, who knows, I may even like it!

Drumstruck wrote:I'd suggest going for PT9 instead as it works with non-Avid interfaces. :-B
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