Avid Pro Tools
Version 2021.7.0 · Avid Technology · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #233 in the library
The audio workstation that professional studios standardised on, where session files move between rooms without argument and the editing tools are built for people who cut dialogue all day.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
Pro Tools is the workstation the professional audio world settled on, and the reason is interchange as much as capability. A session opens in another studio and everything is where it should be. For post production, music recording and mixing houses that pass work between rooms and between facilities, that predictability is worth more than any individual feature.
The editing model is what distinguishes it in practice. Clip based editing with a set of edit modes covering shuffle, slip, spot and grid, tab to transient navigation, playlists for holding alternate takes on the same track, and comping tools for assembling a final performance from many passes. For dialogue editing, where a single scene may involve hundreds of small moves, this tooling is faster than anything else in the category.
The mixer follows a console layout with inserts, sends, groups, VCA style masters and full automation on every parameter, written in any of several modes and editable as curves on the timeline. Elastic Audio handles time and pitch manipulation on recorded material, the included plugin bundle covers dynamics, equalisation, reverb, delay, modulation and metering, and delivery covers stems, surround and immersive formats alongside ordinary stereo.
What it does
Feature breakdown
Professional session interchange
Sessions open cleanly in any other installation, with AAF and OMF exchange for moving between facilities and into picture editing applications.
Deep clip editing
Multiple edit modes, tab to transient, playlists for alternate takes, and comping tools designed for assembling performances and cutting dialogue quickly.
Full console style mixer
Inserts, sends, busses, groups and master faders with complete parameter automation, written live and editable as curves afterwards.
Elastic Audio
Time stretching and pitch manipulation on recorded material with several algorithms tuned for rhythmic, polyphonic and monophonic content.
Included plugin bundle
Dynamics, equalisation, reverb, delay, modulation, restoration and metering plugins installed alongside the application.
Surround and immersive delivery
Multichannel busses, panning and monitoring for surround and immersive formats, with stem export for delivery specifications.
Changed in this build
Version 2021.7.0
- Improved handling of very large sessions with several hundred tracks.
- Additional automation shape tools for faster fader move editing.
- Plugin scanning rewritten so a broken plugin no longer stalls start-up.
- Video engine updated with support for more picture reference formats.
- Reduced latency in the monitoring path on supported audio interfaces.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Disconnect from the network before installing.
- Extract the archive to a folder with several gigabytes free.
- Pause real time protection.
- Install the application first, then the plugin bundle, then any audio interface drivers.
- Apply the included activation before the first launch.
- Open the application, set your playback engine and buffer size, then restore protection.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- Do not install the licensing manager updates afterwards. They replace the component the activation modifies.
- Audio storage should be a separate physical drive from the system drive for anything above a small session.
- Buffer size is the trade between latency while recording and processing headroom while mixing. Change it between the two phases.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 21H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Processor | Six core or better, high single thread performance matters for low latency work |
| Memory | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB for large sessions with many virtual instruments |
| Graphics | Any GPU, this is not a graphically demanding application |
| Storage | 20 GB for the program and plugins, plus fast dedicated audio storage |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- Does it need specific hardware?
- No. Any interface with a working driver runs it, though the manufacturer's own hardware exposes some extra integration.
- Can it open sessions from newer releases?
- Not reliably. Session format changes between generations and newer sessions may refuse to open here.
- Are third party plugins supported?
- Yes, in the format the application uses. Other plugin formats need a wrapper.
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