Exact advantages of a short open end record allocation?

[barismanco123]

I understand that a short open ended record allocation can improve performance in PTLE, for example in music situations set it to 10 to 20 mins.

My question is exactly what is going on under the bonnet/hood that makes for better performance this way?

Cheers

[BScout]

Well, we always shorten the allocation to about 15mins (max length a track could possibly be for our work) because it speeds up the lock-up time/going-into-record time.

That's really helpful to reduce drift on midi-slaved systems when you have to do multiple passes in layback. It also prevents waiting through lots of spinning beach balls when tracking live on lots of multiple takes. As far as we can tell, when you drop into record, Pro Tools checks to see if you have enough room on disk to accomplish the record. Short times means it only verifies a shorter amount of space; long times would be checking room for a larger space. Checking those drives takes time the larger it is.

I have been burned on this before, though (a walk-away session that was tracking down for an hour plus only to come back to find it dropped out of record after 15mins) but even with the occasional mistake of forgetting to increase the time when necessary, it's still worth it for the speed of it dropping into record for every day tracking/recording.

[barismanco123]

Thanks for that, it makes perfect sense like that. I guess it's just a good idea to put a note next to the monitor for those longer than normal passes.

One other question, does that include loop recording too or just timeline duration? I assume both.

Thanks a million!