201: 02: Customizing Pro Tools

Question 0

What other pages are available in the hardware setup dialog box for the HD omni audio interface, in addition to the main page? What are some of the options available in these pages?

Answer 0

.analog in, analog out, monitor, mixer

Reference level, limiter, etc

Question 1

The Hardware Setup dialog box is used to assign physical connections on an HD series audio interface to digi link inputs and outputs for Pro Tools. What other parameters can you configure from the main page of the hardware setup dialog box?

Answer 1

Select clock output, input output formats, etc

Question 2

What does the current engine setting in the playback engine dialog box determine?

Answer 2

It determines which engine (interface) is used for playback.

Question 3

What impact does the hw buffer size have on pro tools hd system performance? How is this different for native vs HD and HDX systems?

Answer 3

Does not affect DSP plugins (TDM, AAX). Higher buffer results in greater latency.

Question 4

What impact does the host processors and CPU usage limit setting have on pro tools system performance?

Answer 4

It determines how many processors and how much CPU are available for use by pro tools. More = better performance however it is recommended that one fewer processors than the max be used.

Question 5

What playback engine setting would you use to change the number of voices per DSP chip on a pro tools hd system? Why would you need to change this setting?

Answer 5

Playback engine dialog box. Add chips or reduce the number of voices per chip to avoid PCI bus under run/overrun errors.

Question 6

What does the disk playback cache size determine? Why is this useful?

Answer 6

Determines the amount of RAM used by the DAE. Increases responsiveness by storing the timeline in RAM. Limited to 3gb less than the max (Mac) or 4gb less than the max (windows).

Question 7

What system parameters can be monitored from the system usage window?

Answer 7

Window>system usage pg 33

PCI meter
CPU meter (native, clip)
Disk meter
Disk cache
Timeline cached
Voices allocated meter
Time slots meter
PCI card DSP capacity meters
DSP caching

Question 8

What tabs (pages) are available in the I/O setup window?

Answer 8

Input, output, bus, insert, mic preamps, h/w insert delay

Question 9

What modifier key must be used to import all of the pages of an I/O setup file?

Answer 9

Hold option while clicking the import settings button.