Pro Tools.. faster than real time bounce..

[SoundsFishy]

Let me start by saying, I love Pro Tools. I've used a lot of systems, and for me it's the one that works best. However, I get really frustrated when I need to do a lot of bouncing down... all in real time.

Is it just me ? I understand that if you're making music, with those lovely reverbs in the outboard racks, that you want them to 'render' out fully.. but at least there should be an option to toggle between real time or superfast bouncing...

I mention it now because I've just had to bounce out 7 travel beds.. all 4 minutes each.. with only the sponsor strapline at the very top changing...
So that's nearly half an hour .. just waiting for pro tools to finish bouncing.

On the pro tools forums, populated by mainly musicians and music producers, it seems it's not such a great issue .. but in the fast paced, deadline driven radio world.. I could do with one less thing slowing me down.. !

[Editor]

I was in an email exchange just the other day and this came up. My comment was that this seemed to be the most common complaint about Pro Tools I've heard from radio types over the years. I would find the real time render/bounce to be a bit frustrating myself. It's probably a big reason I haven't migrated to Pro Tools. I'm still a Vegas user, and it does all I need it to do, and lots more, and no waiting on the bounce.

jv..

[lakewoodsound]

[quote="SoundsFishy"]
I mention it now because I've just had to bounce out 7 travel beds.. all 4 minutes each.. with only the sponsor strapline at the very top changing...
So that's nearly half an hour .. just waiting for pro tools to finish bouncing.[/quote]

Well, I'm a little late to this party, but a couple of comments...

You are right that this is a big pain with Protools for us production types. (Actually, my bigger complaint is the wacky or nonexistent file & project management.)

A suggestion for a shortcut:

From your description, I assume the sponsor lines were all the same length? If so, do this:

1. Instead of mixing by "Bounce to Disk," mix the first version to another track via a "mix buss" you set up. It might help to set up this record track to record to a "finals" directory (via Track Allocation) - your finals will be easier to find.
2. After recording, rename the region you just recorded and its sound file something meaningful.
3. Next mix just the new open on top the existing record track, punching out at an appropriate spot, to leave the generic main body of the first mix intact. (Be sure you are not in Destructive record!) You should now have 2 regions on the record track: the original mix and the new open that covers up the original open.
4. Highlight both regions and click "Consolidate."
5. Rename the new region and sound file as appropriate.
6. Repeat steps 2-5.

With a 4 minute project, this should save you some time. If it were :30 spots, probably not so much.

Hope this helps.

-David.

[SoundsFishy]

Good tip David..I've tried that method.. and it does shave a few minutes off ! Anything more than 4 or 5 long bits of production and I use that method.

But still.. please can I have faster than real time bounce.. maybe for Christmas ?

[John Pellegrini]

I've contacted Pro Tools help service with this complaint and unfortunately they seem completely uninterested in doing anything about it. They think its a wonderful feature and can't understand why there would be complaints. Too bad because this is really the only complaint I have about the program as well.

My greatest frustration is that while I understand that doing real time bounces allows for better mix control when adding real time plug-ins, when I'm doing my surround effect mastering I don't add any plug-ins at all. So imagine how much fun I have with each one of my 12 channel surround effects that has to have 13 separate bounce mixes... 12 mono and 1 stereo mixdown. 13 individual bounces in real time for each sound effect. I actually have to spend more time bouncing the tracks than I do recording and editing them! Oh well, that's showbiz...