Xpress Pro and Pro Tools M-Powered

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KingsReign

Well-known member
I have a few questions regarding buying Pro Tools. Currently, I am running Avid 5.6.2 on my Mac Powerbook G4. For Audio, I currently have Soundtrack Pro and Logic Express, and am unhappy with both (the only Apple App I love is DVD Studio Pro). Anyway, lately I have been looking at my options, and I want to get Pro Tools. I am currently a student, and there are great deals with the Academic Pro Tool 7 MP. Here are my questions:

(1) What is the difference between Pro Tools MP and LE, and is LE even available for individual purchase?

(2) Regarding Pro Tools MP, is there a Send To Option inside of Avid Xpress Pro that I can send segments to and from the timeline?

Thanks in advance.
 
ive nothing but good things about pro tools thats why i want it im sorry i cant say more than that i know that doesnt help but while your doing research can you find if protools allows down loading the audio thru firewire while the video down loads via rca?
 
ProTools M-Powered CANNOT take advantage of the DVToolkit option. This means that you can't import OMF files from Avid into ProTools, and you can't use Timecode as a means of measurement. This is a deal-breaker for some.

That being said, DVToolkit is a $1,200 addition to ProTools LE and that is also a deal-breaker for some.

The advantage to being able to import OMF files is that 1. it's fast and 2. you retain the look of your Avid timeline which helps in audio post a great deal.

ProTools LE is available for purchase with any of the lower-end Digidesign hardware (Mbox 2, Digi002, Digi002r). The Mbox 2 is the cheapest and will run you about $450.

Now that I've said all of that, let me tell you my workflow. I have ProTools LE with an Mbox 1 and it's a champ of a little system. I have not dropped the extra money for the DVToolkit, and here is how I work around it:

1. Export each audio track in Avid as a WAV file.
2. Create seperate tracks in ProTools for each track in Avid. Then import track to track.
3. In ProTools I create regions (think of that as an "add edit" on Avid's timeline) for any sound that I need isolated. Dialog, particular sound effects, etc.
4. In Avid I apply a timecode window to the video track and export the video track as a QT Ref file.
5. Import the QT Ref file into ProTools (the timecode window is a rough way to work around not having the timecode option of DVToolkit).
6. Do my audio post, export the final mix, and import back into Avid for my final.

That takes a lot of time to set up in ProTools, but I haven't been able to justify the cost of DVToolkit and continue doing things this way for now.

Hope that help.
 
What is the DVToolkit?

The fact that you cannot import OMF into M-Powered is troubling. Your workaround for LE also works for MP, correct.
 
DVToolkit is a plug in package for ProTools LE systems which allows importing of OMF files and allows you to use Timecode in ProTools instead of min/sec or beats. It's a seperate piece of software that Digidesign makes and you install it after you've loaded ProTools LE.

My workaround will work for M-Powered. I just wanted to be clear that if you have LE and decide that DVToolkit is worth it, you can add it. With M-Powered if you decide later that you want DVToolkit then you'll also need to purchase ProTools LE because your M-Powered won't take it.

EDIT TO ADD: Now that I think about it, I'm not 100% sure that M-Powered can import a Quicktime movie. You might want to double check that before make a decision.
 
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I have always been a fan of Protools (trained in school on a very nice hd system) but when it came to the audio post software decision I personally ended up going with Nuendo. I got the student version for a grand and bought a Presonus Firepod for 500 bucks and I have a powerhouse audiopost system that imports OMF files and beleive it or not the firepod works GREAT as a sound card for Avid. Nuendo is a bit pricey compared to protools LE with an M-box But once you tak on the DV toolkit Nuendo beats it price/feature wise hands down.
 
I had heard reports that Nuendo's OMF import wasn't too great. Can you set me straight on that? Did they get it working? Ever have any problems with it?
 
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