Today Avid have released Pro Tools 2022.6. This update includes new features and workflow improvements for mixing and production with enhancements for video and users working in Dolby Atmos. These new features are:
Sends Default Level Preference
In previous versions of Pro Tools newly created sends were created at unity unless the preference “sends default to -INF” was checked in the Mixing tab of the Pro Tools Preferences. The new Sends Default Level Preference allows you to set any default value from -144dB to +12dB, the default setting is -INF, a useful timesaver as -INF is always going to be too quiet and unity is very often too loud. Now you can choose your own default.
Docked MIDI Editor Option
The Docked MIDI editor is overlooked by many, with the Floating MIDI editor being the more commonly used option. This is probably because the options presented in the MIDI Preferences for what happens when you double-click a MIDI clip offers a choice of (floating) MIDI editor, Score editor, MIDI event list or Name dialog but the Docked MIDI editor hasn’t been an option in this Prefs drop down or in the right-click contextual menu. The Docked MIDI editor is now listed in these options. When you are ready to close the docked MIDI editor use the shortcut Control+Opt+Shift+= (Start+Alt+Shift+= on PC).
Quantize Enhancements
The Audio/MIDI Quantize dialogue previously offered note values with dotted and triplet alternatives and various Groove presets. This has been updated with an option to follow the value selected in the Bars|Beats Grid. This is a timesaver as previously you had to open the Quantize window to change the quantize value. Since the grid can also be changed using the shortcuts Shift + -/+, you can change the quantize value and then quantize without using your mouse.
This is complemented by a workflow enhancement where MIDI quantise is applied to selected MIDI notes without necessarily having to open the Quantize Event Operations window. To Quantize without opening the Quantize dialogue hit CMD+Opt+0 on a Mac or Ctrl+Alt+0 on a PC.
Auto-expanding Grid/Nudge display
In previous Pro Tools versions, the MIDI Editors (docked and window) had a toolbar option to show the Grid/Nudge display as a single unit, either Grid or Nudge depending on which was selected, or both when Expanded Grid/Nudge Display was selected. In most cases, both values should be displayed because they are both important to most workflows and operations. In Pro Tools 2022.6, the display is expanded automatically if there is enough room to show both.
Video Timecode Overlay
Pro Tools Ultimate now lets you enable a real-time timecode overlay for both the Video window in Pro Tools as well as on any connected video hardware display.
To facilitate this a new Timecode Overlay button has been added to the Video Track Track header, Command clicking this button on a Mac, or Control clicking on a PC, will open the new Timecode Overlay Settings dialogue.
This Timecode Overlay can be burnt into bounced Mov files by checking the new ‘Include Timecode Overlay” in the video section of the Bounce Mix dialogue.
Dolby Atmos Improvements
Link to ADM
Rather than having to convert media from an ADM into multi-mono files, Pro Tools 2022.6 now allows you to link to the ADM as source media. This is faster than creating new media upon import and so is useful for when you might want to open a file quickly for inspection or to perform basic edits. However, because linking to ADM files places more load on the host computer in terms of processor and disk usage you should transcode where performance is likely to be degraded. Performance is significantly degraded if clips linked to an ADM are moved relative to each other.
Offline Bounce of Dolby Atmos Re-renders
Pro Tools lets you bounce re-renders of 7.1, 5.1, 2.0, and binaural Dolby Atmos mixes offline. The full mix can also be included, or it can be filtered by Bed, Object, and/or Group. Multiple renders can be included along with the master ADM file in a single bounce, without going through the process of generating an ADM, importing it into the Dolby Atmos renderer, and then doing a separate export of the re-renders from the renderer.
Re-Renders Bounce Options
Multiple new options exist in the Bounce Options including the option to choose between Multiple mono and interleaved files and the option to choose the source of program level metadata to be applied to both the ADM and the re-renders. This metadata can be applied from the connected renderer or the last imported ADM.
Composite Beds
Pro Tools lets you assign individual Dolby Atmos groups to different beds that share the same output. This means you can maintain a single bed in the renderer and also sub-divide the content by groups when creating re-renders.
To put it as simply as possible, if you have multiple submixes for different ‘food groups’ (dialog, music, FX, etc.), and those mixes ultimately combine to feed a single bed, it was previously impossible to generate re-renders that only included the individual members of the composite. This was because the submixes were already mixed together by the time the signal reached the renderer.
Pro Tools will now allow you to assign a Dolby Atmos group to different busses, as long as they are mapped to the same output and bed assignment. This way, Pro Tools can pick off the signal during export before it is merged at the output. It enables the beds to participate in different ‘food groups’, while still only utilising a single bed’s worth of input channels to the renderer.
This is very helpful when working with high channel counts (if channels are at a premium and need to be reserved for more objects). This lets you generate re-renders for different groups with unique content in each of the beds, but without using extra channels for each bed.
Pro Tools | Sync X Improvements
The Pro Tools Sync hardware peripheral now supports a standalone mode enabling its use when Pro Tools isn’t running. You can now use the device to generate or translate timecode or to use it as a master clock independently of Pro Tools. Sensibly, Standalone mode is operated entirely from the front panel of the unit. Sync X settings remain unchanged when Pro Tools is quit and Pro Tools can acquire and change settings next time it is launched if changes have been made in Standalone mode.
A firmware update is required to use Standalone mode.
Pro Tools 2022.6 is available for download from your Avid account.