Pro Tools 11 goes 64-bit

Avid has unveiled the latest iteration of its digital audio workstation, Pro Tools 11. According to the manufacturer, this latest version enables audio professionals to take on the most demanding productions with new, high-powered audio and video engines, 64-bit architecture, expanded metering, and direct HD video workflows.

‘Pro Tools 11 represents a quantum leap in creative power,’ said Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of Products and Services at Avid. ‘The newly designed architecture turbo-charges production with more plug-in processing, the ability to run more virtual instruments – and a host of new features – letting users create ambitiously, without holding anything back.’

Key to the enhancements is the new 64-bit architecture. Pro Tools’ transition to 64-bit has been in development for some time. The resulting new architecture has given Avid the opportunity to move the performance and capabilities of the software forward.

The most obvious example of this is the new audio engine. In replacing DAE with the new Avid Audio Engine, the manufacturer believes it has an audio workstation that exceeds the performance of any other. It claims the new engine delivers multiple times the processing power of Pro Tools 10 on the same hardware configurations.

Other headline features of the new architecture and engine include an ‘exponential increase’ in the number of simultaneous virtual instruments and offline bounces, reportedly delivering mixes up to 150 times faster than real time. Added to this is a low-latency input buffer and dynamic host processing to maximise plug-in count by reallocating processing resources as needed.

The new built-in metering standards provide a variety of scale and ballistics options. Pro Tools 11 features a broad range of built-in metering standards, from peak and average to VU and PPM, to maintain adherence to regional broadcast requirements. The new release also shows gain reduction for all dynamics plug-ins on each channel.

Avid has also included direct HD video workflows in the software with a built-in Avid Video Engine. This allows users to play and edit a wide range of HD video formats – including Avid DNxHD – in the Pro Tools timeline without transcoding, using the same core engine as in Media Composer. Added to this, video interface support enables monitoring of DNxHD and QuickTime media through Avid Nitris DX, Avid Mojo DX, and other video interfaces.

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