Pro Tools Rant

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digitaldrummer
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Pro Tools Rant

Post by digitaldrummer » Tue May 20, 2008 9:17 pm

I like Pro Tools. really. it usually does what I need.

However, tonight I spent about 3 hours trying to bounce 8 tracks for a 4 minute song. this should have only taken 30 minutes at most. I see this quite often:

Image

Maybe I will put this in my signature. I have seen this error occur since running PTLE 6.1 (at least 4 years ago). Digi always claims that its bad fades or something. All my tracks tonight were consolidated and I deleted all the unused tracks and segments-there were no fades and no automation. after jacking around with it for hours I finally found the magic start and end points that allowed me to get a good bounce. The freakin error message shows the line of source code (and presumably the name of the guy who coded it) where the error occurred--that should be a pretty good starting point for Digi you would think... :cry:

</rant>
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digitaldrummer
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Post by digitaldrummer » Tue May 20, 2008 9:23 pm

been awhile since I searched duc.digidesign.com but found a link to this article:

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?nav ... emid=20566

I will have to try reducing my DAE buffer to 4 (it is set to 8 )

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Post by RedCrownStudios » Tue May 20, 2008 10:10 pm

Did that fix the problem?

I use Pro Tools too and generally love it. But I have seen some weird errors too, usually only when I start maxing out my cpu though.
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Post by joel hamilton » Wed May 21, 2008 6:52 am

Whenever I get ANY problem with PT, I start by doing nothing. Then I restart the program. then I restart the computer... after that, toss the digi databases on EVERY mounted drive. then toss the prefs. That will usually handle like 59% of the problems that you are likely to experience.

Beyond that, it is case specific.

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Post by stinkpot » Wed May 21, 2008 8:22 am

joel hamilton wrote:Whenever I get ANY problem with PT, I start by doing nothing. Then I restart the program. then I restart the computer... after that, toss the digi databases on EVERY mounted drive. then toss the prefs. That will usually handle like 59% of the problems that you are likely to experience.

Beyond that, it is case specific.
+1

I'll ammend it by saying this fixes 85% of my problems. It's also critical that you have your buffer settings set correctly (as you found out). Especially if you're working on a slightly underpowered machine. I've also found that when working on my laptop, turning off the wireless connection and virus scan stuff has a serious effect on what I'm able to do.

All the same, my heart always sinks when I see the dreaded error box popping up. I feel your pain!

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Post by roscoenyc » Wed May 21, 2008 8:27 am

.....and Furthermore!!



(just wanted to add to pro tools rant:)

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Aquaman
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Post by Aquaman » Wed May 21, 2008 9:08 am

Instead of bouncing you could try bussing to a new audio track and recording the bus mix. This has the advantage of not using the bounce handler, and allowing you to stop, make a quick change, and continue recording from where you left off.

Bouncing and recording to a new audio track yield identical waveforms, there is no audio difference between the two methods.

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Nick Sevilla
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Re: Pro Tools Rant

Post by Nick Sevilla » Wed May 21, 2008 3:20 pm

digitaldrummer wrote:I like Pro Tools. really. it usually does what I need.

However, tonight I spent about 3 hours trying to bounce 8 tracks for a 4 minute song. this should have only taken 30 minutes at most. I see this quite often:

Image

Maybe I will put this in my signature. I have seen this error occur since running PTLE 6.1 (at least 4 years ago). Digi always claims that its bad fades or something. All my tracks tonight were consolidated and I deleted all the unused tracks and segments-there were no fades and no automation. after jacking around with it for hours I finally found the magic start and end points that allowed me to get a good bounce. The freakin error message shows the line of source code (and presumably the name of the guy who coded it) where the error occurred--that should be a pretty good starting point for Digi you would think... :cry:

</rant>
Try bussing the mix to a stereo buss, and feed thta to a new audio track.

Record onto new track. PRESTO. You'll NEVER EVER EVER EVER have the "bounce did not complete" popup again.

Plus, if it DOES stop for whatever reason, you can punch in a little before PT screwed up, and not lose a lot of time.

Cheers
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Post by Mark Legat » Tue May 27, 2008 4:54 am

Maybe audiosuite print all your plugins then import the tracks onto logic?
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Post by digitaldrummer » Tue May 27, 2008 6:16 pm

so I did the house cleaning and changed my buffer size and have not seen that error pop up again yet, however only time will tell.

I DID however have an instance (and I also see this all too frequently) where I was bouncing to MP3 (and I have it set to do conversion after the bounce) and it bounces then at the end just stops and... nothing. no mp3. no error message. Usually if I change the start or end point by a few ms, it works the next time.

So yeah, I could bus it or hold one leg in the air and count backward while chanting but I just hate workarounds...
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Post by Snarky » Fri May 30, 2008 5:00 pm

I remember having this problem also. I ditched all of my "unused tracks" and that seemed to help along with messing around with the DAE buffer and turning everything on and off again like Joel said.
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Sat May 31, 2008 3:52 am

digitaldrummer wrote:so I did the house cleaning and changed my buffer size and have not seen that error pop up again yet, however only time will tell.

I DID however have an instance (and I also see this all too frequently) where I was bouncing to MP3 (and I have it set to do conversion after the bounce) and it bounces then at the end just stops and... nothing. no mp3. no error message. Usually if I change the start or end point by a few ms, it works the next time.

So yeah, I could bus it or hold one leg in the air and count backward while chanting but I just hate workarounds...
Actually, recording onto a new track is not a workaround. It is BETTER than bouncing. I have used this method for years. I do not use the bounce feature. Ever.

Or you can keep crossing your fingers every time you press the bounce button... and hope it does not crash.

It's your time. Your call. Your frustration levels.
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Post by GooberNumber9 » Sat May 31, 2008 9:21 am

noeqplease wrote:Actually, recording onto a new track is not a workaround. It is BETTER than bouncing. I have used this method for years. I do not use the bounce feature. Ever.
How do you usually turn dual mono 24-bit wave files (left and right) into stereo interleaved 44.1/16 or MP3 or whatever?

That's why I bounce.

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Post by locosoundman » Sat May 31, 2008 9:32 am

How do you usually turn dual mono 24-bit wave files (left and right) into stereo interleaved 44.1/16 or MP3 or whatever?
Select the region in the edit window and press shift +apple (or ctrl on PC) + K to export as files. This gives you the same options as when you bounce.[/quote]
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Post by Bro Shark » Sat May 31, 2008 2:34 pm

I have the mbox and I have to set the DAE buffer to "0" whenever I bounce. That solved the problem you described permanently.

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