Pro Tools Toolkit for Mac
Do you want Pro Tools to run as smoothly as possible on your Mac? Well, Pro Tools master Mike Thornton has produced another amazing set of tutorials, this time explaining how to properly troubleshoot and optimize your Mac based Pro Tools system. With over 10 years of experience providing support within the industry, Mike has most likely covered it, so if you're having a problem with Pro Tools on your Mac, there's probably a video here to help you fix it.
Videos
• Introduction (05:35) - In this video Mike will outline the key protocols and practices for troubleshooting in general, like change one thing at a time and for Pro Tools specifically, not to change, add, or delete files and plug-ins while Pro Tools is running. The series is based on Pro Tools 10 running on a Mac running 10.7.4. Where appropriate differences will be highlighted for other supported OS and Pro Tools versions.
• Media Drive Compatibility (14:53) - In this video Mike outlines the key compatibility issues, including following the Avid advice and not to use USB Drives for media files and sessions.
• Plug-In Compatibility & Management (10:00) - A lot of problems can be traced to out of date plug-ins. In this video we work through how to make sure all your plug-ins are up to date using the Avid Compatibility Chart or the Plugin Update application, and how to remove plug-ins and re-test.
• Session Compatibility (08:15) - How to open older sessions in a later version of Pro Tools and how to save a copy of a session that can be opened in an older version of Pro Tools.
• Mac Preferences Settings (08:27) - We work through all the Mac Preferences showing the optimum settings for Pro Tools including the Energy Saver, AirPort, Bluetooth, Firewire Networking, Login Items, StartupItems, FileVault, Spotlight Indexing.
• Delete Pro Tools Preferences (06:14) - In this video we work through how to delete the Pro Tools Preferences files both by hand and using The Pro Tools Prefs and Database Handler application.
• Delete Databases & Volumes (05:10) - In this video we work through how and why to delete the Pro Tools Databases and Volumes both by hand and using The Pro Tools Prefs and Database Handler application.
• Repair Permissions (07:08) - Mike shows you how to repair Permissions on a Mac computer using Apple’s Disk Utility and Cocktail from Maintain.
• New Admin Account (05:28) - In this video Mike shows another troubleshooting technique, setting up a new admin account. This video shows how and why to do this.
• Checking RAM (06:00) - Bad RAM can cause a variety of problems and this video shows how to test your RAM by either removing RAM sticks or using Memory test applications like Rember.
• Illegal Character Names (07:56) - Illegal characters in file names can cause Pro Tools and the OS problems. In this video Mike describes which characters are considered ‘illegal’ and what to do about them.
• Red Delay Compensation (02:34) - In this video Mike shows some tips of what to do if the Delay Compensation indicator goes red in your Pro Tools window.
• MIDI & Core Audio Problems (06:14) - Sometimes Pro Tools has problems routing MIDI and Audio data through the Audio & MIDI Setup application. In this video Mike shows what to do to resolve these problems.
• Cannot Initialize Playback Device (01:45) - Sometimes Pro Tools is unable to initialize the playback device or find the correct audio hardware. Mike shows what to do to get it all going again.
• Uninstall & Re-Install Pro Tools (06:46) - In this video Mike takes you though the steps to uninstall and re-install Pro Tools including backing up your plug-ins and plug-in settings folder so these key files are not lost.
• Setting Pro Tools Preferences Pt. 1 (09:41) - In this video Mike shows his suggested settings in the Display & Operation Tabs of the Pro tools Preferences window.
• Setting Pro Tools Preferences Pt. 2 (10:53) - Continuing looking at Preference settings, in this video Mike shows his suggested settings in the Editing, Mixing & Processing tabs of the Pro tools Preferences window.
• Get the Most from your System Pt. 1 (07:15) - There are times when your Pro Tools system is struggling under the load of what you are asking it to do. In this video Mike shows how to get the best from the Playback Engine window.
• Get the Most from your System Pt. 2 (12:19) - In this video Mike outlines some other strategies to keep your computer running when it is working hard.
• Latency (05:43) - This can be a problem, especially on non HD & HDX systems. In this video Mike shows a range of techniques to alleviate latency problems.
• Managing iLoks (10:11) - Especially since the release of Pro Tools 9 the humble iLok has become an integral part of our Pro Tools life, as all versions of Pro Tools now require an iLok. In this video Mike will take you through how to work with iLoks including using the ilok.com web site to manage your licenses.
• Drive Problems (04:41) - Sometimes when opening a session, Pro Tools reports the session cannot be opened as it is on a Transfer drive. In this video Mike explains the T, R & P settings in the Workspace Browser and what to do if the problem persists.
• Disk Allocation (03:54) - In this video Mike explains how to use the Disk Allocation window in Pro Tools.
• Missing Files Pt. 1 (08:11) - In this video Mike explains what missing files are and starts to explain how to help Pro tools find them again.
• Missing Files Pt. 2 (08:06) - In this video Mike continues to explain how to help Pro Tools find Missing Files, using the Automatic and the Manual modes and how to get the best out of them.
• Missing Files Pt. 3 (07:19) - In this video Mike explains how to use the Copy & Relink feature to bring all the audio files back into the session folder and what to do when Pro Tools won’t link to a file that is on your system.
• Missing Files Pt. 4 (10:48) - In this video Mike outlines some techniques and workflows to help avoid the dreaded Missing Files window.
• Session Auto Backups (07:13) - Keeping backups is an important part of preventative maintenance. In this video Mike shows how to set up and restore from Session File Backups.
• Project Backups (05:50) - In this video Mike shows how to backup onto local drives using Save Session Copy and semi-automatic strategies using a folder synchronizing application like Synchronize X Plus.
• Archiving & Off Site Backups (06:14) - In this video Mike video covers how to backup sessions and media onto off site storage using drives you move off site or Gobbler.