Professonal Film Scoring???

[Canuck2112]

Hello,

I composer music for live theater, film and television, and have basically just used PT for sending the final sound cues in order to be compatible with editors. Sonar has been my go-to DAW for the past 20 years, but I'm retiring it as it lacks in terms of it's film features. My closest options are Cubase 7 and of course, Pro Tools. I wasn't a fan of PT9 or 10 for MIDI, but I'm willing to shell out for PT11 if it's improved (plus it's finally 64bit!).

So my question is.....is PT11 a professional choice for scoring to picture? I realize AAX is required, but Omnisphere is now beta, and Play 4 is about to be released. Kontakt will come eventually, but I can use VEPro in the meantime. Notation is not important to me, but MIDI, VI handling and video features are.

Also, are there any pro composers that actually use PT for all of their MIDI work?? I know Horner apparently used PT for Avatar. Does anyone on this board use it?

Thanks!!!

[groundcontrol]

A few local guys I know (some of which I work with) do everything in PT + VEP using a mixture of virtual and real instruments.

A lot of VI tracks get used in the final but sometimes they're just intended as mock-ups.

[Kris75]

Most guys I work with are like you, only they use Digital Performer and run a PT slave to make the sessions for the mixers or editors.

I think that with 11 we are almost there, but the lack of track freeze is still a MAJOR hurdle, especially when dealing with orchestral mock ups.

It can be done, but it is still far from being ideal when making final compositions for the mix stage.

I for one am hoping that we see track freeze sooner than later so that I don't have to deal with any other program ever again!!

[Canuck2112]

Originally Posted by Kris75

Most guys I work with are like you, only they use Digital Performer and run a PT slave to make the sessions for the mixers or editors.

I think that with 11 we are almost there, but the lack of track freeze is still a MAJOR hurdle, especially when dealing with orchestral mock ups.

It can be done, but it is still far from being ideal when making final compositions for the mix stage.

I for one am hoping that we see track freeze sooner than later so that I don't have to deal with any other program ever again!!

Thanks for the responses.

Funny enough, I saw the Avid blog about "freezing" tracks recently. It is not a simple task in PT, and it's very odd how Avid hasn't made this a feature considering the other major DAWS have had this for years.

[Kris75]

Originally Posted by Canuck2112

Thanks for the responses.

Funny enough, I saw the Avid blog about "freezing" tracks recently. It is not a simple task in PT, and it's very odd how Avid hasn't made this a feature considering the other major DAWS have had this for years.

I could not agree more!

[groundcontrol]

Originally Posted by Kris75

I could not agree more!

Me too !

Btw, around here a couple older guys still work solely in DP and Live is popular with the younger crowd heavy into programming and sound manipulation.

Still most use PT either as their main DAW or as an secondary tool. (More audio/mix oriented maybe.)

And usually about 99% of all projects will end up on PT for post/final mix.

[markyzno]

I'm Pro Sound Designer, I use Sonar X2a for my midi work and PT10 for delivery.

The thought of using PT10 or shelling out for 11 for all my creative work sends shivers down my spine, as others have mentioned above the lack of freeze is a nightmare....

I guess that unless you are on some kind of gorgeous Euphonix suite or something its still best to move across 2 x Daws.

I agree with you about the lack of video functionality and support in Sonar and PT is just a class above the rest in that respect...I have heard good things about DP but havent tried it yet.

[groundcontrol]

It's got cool scoring oriented functionalities.

It's let down by a cluttered interface in my opinion.

[Canuck2112]

Originally Posted by groundcontrol

It's got cool scoring oriented functionalities.

It's let down by a cluttered interface in my opinion.

You mean DP? I tried the 30 day trial on Windows.....it was a huge disappointment. Video features were good, but the rest of it was cluttery, unintuitive and confusing as hell.