OK, so I posted this in another area of the forum, but I came across this thread and thought I'd post it here too.
I'm very concerned - I am in the production business, and have been used to using studios with their own PT systems and operators, and have never needed to have a home system up to now. That being said, I've recently embarked on the quest to do more of my post production at home. I took the plunge and had a custom computer built (see my signature for basic specs), bought the latest PT I could afford (PT2018.4) and am in the process of getting it all set up. I've never had to do any of this before - I've always been in a situation with an operator running the studio and the software who could do what I asked him. I just wrote the arrangements, produced the sessions, coaxed the best performances out of the musicians, and make decisions on the mixing and editing processes etc etc. I am an old school guy who for the last 40 years has done all his producing with his ears and a pencil and manuscript! I left the computers to the engineers and assistants. But times change, and I need to evolve. The difficulty is that I'm a bit of a computer newbie...
So, now I'm preparing to take tracks home from the studios and do my editing on a computer at home, compiling tuning, etc etc... the thought process is that perhaps I can be more productive and have less issues dealing with busy high end studios who are tough to book.
My sessions are often very large. When dealing with orchestras and larger groups, one can EASILY approach and exceed 128 tracks - say you've got a 60 piece orchestra, with multiple room microphones as well as individual mics and such, plus overdubs, plus several takes, plus plus plus... projects with large track counts become very commonplace. Therefore, comments from those who feel that having track counts that high are unnecessary for music production have no idea what they're talking about, however high up in the biz they are. Comments like those are not helpful. You track what you track to realize one's vision, plain and simple - if there's a need for high track counts, there's a need. Our studios and software are evolving to permit that more than ever.
So, all that being said, as I get this system up and running, here's a link to my first post that shows what kind of things I'm dealing with...
http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=399563