The Digital Production Partnership which is led the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 with representation from Channel 5, Sky and the Independent sector has released a delivery standard spec and a recomended work flow document.

It is interesting to what the delivery standards document has to say about loudness and levels.

So for now we can’t allow the peaks to go up beyond normal levels which is a shame because for some progrmmes especially LE shows with depend on significant compression to handle audience etc this will be a bit of a struggle but I suppose we are in a transition period. I do hope though that the peak level recommendations will go at some point soon.

Mike has just posted this as his Linked In status…

I am planning two new Pro Tools books for Focal Press, liaising with Acquisitions Editor Anais Wheeler, checking out all the competing titles, and researching the latest developments with AAX-compatible plug-ins and virtual instruments. These should be published around the end of this year or early next year and will feature Pro Tools 11 and related software and hardware

We all ‘know’ that Pro Tools 11 is on the horizon at some point, my guess is around the end of the year, based on what Avid are saying publically. But this is very interesting in terms of a more formal pointer, or has he let slip something by mistake.

The guys at Fab Filters are offering one lucky person a copy of their Creative Bundle.  With the Creative Bundle, you get FabFilter’s inspiring distortion/saturation, stereo delay, filter effect and synthesizer plug-ins.

• Saturn - Distortion and saturation play a very important role in music production. From subtle, clean and warm tube or tape saturation to the wildest multi-band guitar amp effects: FabFilter Saturn delivers!
• FabFilter Timeless 2 is not only a modelled classic tape delay. Its filters and many creative options turn it into a sound-mangling machine! Create echo, chorus, flanger, phaser, scratch effects and much more.
• FabFilter Volcano offers digital filtering with unique analog character. With tons of new features, modulation options and a new user interface,take a look at Volcano 2
• FabFilter Twin is equipped with an innovative interface that should make sound design simpler. But if you would rather use presets then Twin 2 comes with more than 1600 sounds that you can use right away.

If you want the chance to win a copy of Creative Bundle then fill out the form below.

Click to read more ...

Hard drive maker Seagate Technology today announced an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. In an all-cash transaction worth about $186 million, Seagate has offered to purchase 64.5% of LaCie’s shares.

Seagate Chairman Steve Luczo said LaCie’s products would compliment Seagate’s own drive products and allow it to expand its line by adding a “premium-branded” direct-attached storage (DAS) line. The move will also help Seagate develop better software. Seagate mechanisms frequently show up in LaCie-branded drives. Seagate does have an external hard drive business, but its product designs are more industrial (or perhaps “traditional”) than LaCie’s.

LaCie chairman and CEO Philippe Spruch will join Seagate as the leader of the company’s consumer storage products division. Seagate will be “adding LaCie’s line of premium branded consumer storage solutions” to Seagate’s current lineup—which would indicate that LaCie’s products won’t be going away, at least in the near future. It remains to be seen whether LaCie’s products will be rebranded with the Seagate name or the LaCie brand will continue.

Following on from my interview with Mike Wabro I thought it would be helpful to outline the differences between conforming and re-conforming and then list the key players in these areas with some of the key issues that folk have found.

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Russ takes a look at the new Native Instruments GIANT piano.

See what he thinks in the extended review.

There’s a lot of great tracks and a lot of amazing engineers and producers out there doing their stuff, so we thought we would help those looking for the 5 rules of a great recording.

Got em? Good. Any we missed?

A new screen has made its way into the latest version of Pro Tools 10.

As you can see above the screen requires the user to choose either more modern systems or TDM hardware.

We’re not sure what components are being added/left out of either install but it may be a sign, as indicated by Avid, that 10 is the last version that will support certain legacy product.

Avid announce the availability of Pro Tools 10.2 software and new AAX versions of Avid plug-ins for Mac and Windows. Pro Tools 10.2 is a complimentary update for all Pro Tools 10.x and Pro Tools HD 10.x customers that delivers both Windows 7 support for HDX hardware and over 400 stability and performance improvements.

In conjunction with this release, all Avid AAX plug-ins previously available to Mac users with Pro Tools 10.1.2 are now available to Windows users running Pro Tools 10.2. In addition, AAX DSP and AAX Native versions of these plug-ins are now available:

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Avid have announced an update to their AAX plug-in portfolio.

The following AAX plug-ins and add-ons are now available for purchase on Mac and Windows operating systems:

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Avid have announced Pro Tools 10.2 For Pro Tools 10 and Pro Tools HD 10 on Mac OS X and Windows 7

The update available from this page requires an installation of Pro Tools/Pro Tools HD 10.x software. See below for more information.

Version 10.2 is an officially qualified and recommended update for:

• Pro Tools systems on Mac OS X 10.6.7 - 10.7.3 or Windows 7 SP1
• Pro Tools|HDX systems on Mac OS X 10.6.7 - 10.7.3 or Windows 7 SP1
• Pro Tools|HD Native systems on Mac OS X 10.6.7 - 10.7.3 or Windows 7 SP1
• Pro Tools|HD systems on Mac OS X 10.6.7 - 10.7.3 or Windows 7 SP1

More here

Mike Thornton discusses the issue of conforming with Mike Wabro

• What is an EDL
• The history of conforming
• How do OMFs and AAFs relate to the conform workflow
• What is the difference between conforming and re-conforming
• Conforming with Ediload from Sounds in Sync
• Conforming with Titan from SynchroArts
• Addition features in Ediload v2

Listen on Podbean

Eric, Russ, Mike and Neil are back with a bumper edition of the Pro Tools Expert Podcast.

Tonight our guest will be Mike Wabro and he’ll be talking about Conforming software from Sounds In Sync.

On this week’s show;

• Saturation plug-ins
• Audio and MIDI data going out of sync
• Choosing your first Pro Tools system
• Compressor or Eq - which comes first?
• Roland TD20 Drum issues
• Mastering audio and the K system
• The best way to get help

Links for this week’s episode

• Massey Plug-ins
• Softube Saturation plug-in
• Roland TD20 drum help 
• VDrums.com user forum

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Podbean

I saw this today and my eyes filled with tears.

It reminded me that when we make music it has the potential to bring healing.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, well you can guess we’ve been finding out some cool tricks in an effort to get our podcasts out in record time.

One thing that can hold things up is waiting for a 1 hour show or interview to export in real time.

Well, if that drives you mad then try this trick, you can even use effects.

1. Get you tracks all edited and ready.
2. Use any real-time plug-ins for compression etc. to treat the audio then save the presets.
3. Open up their Audiosuite counterparts and open up the preset you just created.
4. Process the track with the audiosuite plugin/s.
5. If it’s an interview with a guest then create a new stereo track below the two mono tracks.
6. Now drag those two mono tracks into the stereo track - you now have a stereo file.
7. Mark the new stereo track and export that track in the format you need.
8. It will export on a fast machine in about 30 seconds - an offline bounce.

Yes it’s a workaround, but if you are against the clock, it’s a handy trick until we get track freeze or offline bounce.

In this session Russ shows how easy it is to transfer a Pro Tools project our to another software package.

I know he won’t tell you himself, but our in-house post production guru and all round nice guy has produced his first Groove 3 title ‘Sonnox Pro-Codec ‘

Mike starts with the basics such as what the plug-in does, its workflow and modes, which codec to use, and a detailed GUI overview. He then shows you how to use the plug-in with multiple codecs running for different applications and the pros and cons of Offline and Online modes. Mike wraps up the series with important preset and session data management tips.

Click to read more ...

The archive of the recent Avid Tracking webinar is now online.

Creating great sounding tracks all starts before you hit Record for the first downbeat. Does your DAW rise above latency distractions and deliver the best sound quality possible? Avid’s Tom Graham, and Pro Tools Expert blog friends, Brian Carter, and Gil Gowing share their tips and insight into tracking and mixing a full rock trio—during the actual recording session—using a host-based Pro Tools|HD Native system and ICON D-Control.

Watch it here