Why AAX?

[huzzam]

Can anyone explain to me why Avid needed to create ANOTHER plug in format?

If RTAS & TDM are the things forcing us to stay 32 bit (seems plausible) & preventing us from offline rendering, couldn't you guys have switched to, say, Audio Units & VST, which work in 64-bit & can do faster than realtime, and ALREADY EXIST? Pretty much all of my plugins (except Massey) already include AU & VST versions, even, so transitioning would be completely painless.

With this move, you're making developers code for YET ANOTHER format (thereby raising prices they have to sell for, and increasing the odds of bugs, given limited debugging time)! For the foreseeable future, devs will have to develop AAX *alongside* RTAS at least, and probably TDM as well, to keep selling to the PT9 & 8 markets, plus AU & VST if they're cross-platform devs.

I think I see the reason: you want to keep selling HD systems, so you need a plug in format that works on your DSP chips.

cynically & somewhat discouraged,
~peter in oakland

[Dism]

Avid will never adopt AU or VST. Never. Ever. AU is Apple, VST is Steinberg.

AAX makes sense because it borrows from both and it can be hosted on both native and DSP platforms.

PT10 will be the last Pro Tools to support RTAS and TDM (which means it will therefore be the last 32 bit Pro Tools). It's really a transition that allows you to still use your old setup, but also allows for the new format to take place. All it will take is cooperation from 3rd party plugin devs, which sounds like is already happened/ing.

As I've said...

The sooner we adopt AAX, the sooner Pro Tools will be 64 bit.

[huzzam]

Originally Posted by Dism

As I've said...

The sooner we adopt AAX, the sooner Pro Tools will be 64 bit.

Of course you realize that this means upgrading every plug in I (and you) care about. If they'd gone with AU, I wouldn't have to upgrade anything, except the McDSP stuff I haven't yet upgraded to v5.

Just sayin.

If they're going to go to such lengths as obsoleting RTAS & TDM (which, I acknowledge, probably have to go for forward evolution), they could have just gone with what we already have, which already works in 64-bit & faster than real-time. If they gave a [bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep] about their users.

~peter in oakland

[Dism]

Well, AU is Apple proprietary... so that alienates the entire Windows userbase... and VST is Steinberg.

Switching to either means feeding the competitors directly.

Upgrading plugins always comes with upgrading to new versions of Pro Tools, especially if you like a stable system. AAX is also intended to be backwards compatible, so a session with an RTAS that now has an AAX, will open normally. If you switched to VST or AU, that would not be possible, and you would never be able to regain settings from RTAS/TDM plugs.

[audiorivers]

The great thing about Pro Tools 10 is that it supports both the AAX plug-in format as well as all of the older plug-in formats, such as an RTAS and TDM. However, AAX plug-ins feature major advantages, including updated code and an architecture that supports 64-bit processing — paving the road for truly impressive developments to come.

Designed to integrate with the new HDX DSP-acceleration hardware, Avid's AAX (Avid Audio Extension) plug-in format brings previously TDM-only plug-ins (e.g., Impact and Reverb One) into all versions of Pro Tools 10. This 64-bit-ready plug-in format lets you choose native or DSP processing, and though RTAS and TDM plug-ins continue to work in Pro Tools 10 and Pro Tools|HD 10, AAX introduces a new standard in Pro Tools plug-in development. And since Pro Tools 10 now supports up to 16,383 samples of delay compensation, you can pile on the plug-ins.

[Emcha_audio]

Originally Posted by audiorivers

The great thing about Pro Tools 10 is that it supports both the AAX plug-in format as well as all of the older plug-in formats, such as an RTAS and TDM.

Just to clarify. You Can't use a tdm or rtas plugin in PT 10. What PT 10 will do is that it will check in the plugin list that you have under the aax format, if the equivalent (ie same plugin as the rtas or tdm version) is present. If it is, it will open the aax version of the plugin and import the same settings as you had in the rtas or tdm format.

You will not be able to install a TDM or RTAS plugin under PT 10.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Emcha_audio

Just to clarify. You Can't use a tdm or rtas plugin in PT 10.

Of course you can. RTAS works fine in any native version. TDM still works on TDM cards.

You cannot use RTAS or TDM however, on a TDX card.

This is the whole point of PT10. To provide a transition platform between plugin types. It's also why PT10 is 32 bit.

[Emcha_audio]

Originally Posted by Dism

Of course you can. RTAS works fine in any native version. TDM still works on TDM cards.

You cannot use RTAS or TDM however, on a TDX card.

This is the whole point of PT10. To provide a transition platform between plugin types. It's also why PT10 is 32 bit.

You sure? I thought in the web cast they said that the rtas or tdm were not supported but that if the plugin in the aax format was present, that it would be used with the original parameters? And vice versa when you saved the session under an ulterior pt format file.

From the pt 10 ( non hd) faq

Q: If I create a Pro Tools 10 session with AAX plug-ins, will it be backwards compatible with earlier versions of Pro Tools?
A: You'll need to save a copy of your Pro Tools session as one that's compatible with Pro Tools 9 and earlier. If you have RTAS versions installed of the AAX plug-ins used in the session, those plug-ins and settings will open.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Emcha_audio

You sure? I thought in the web cast they said that the rtas or tdm were not supported but that if the plugin in the aax format was present, that it would be used with the original parameters?

I am 100% sure.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for PT10 to be 32 bit. When Pro Tools goes 64 bit, is when it no longer supports TDM or RTAS.

[Emcha_audio]

Originally Posted by Dism

I am 100% sure.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for PT10 to be 32 bit. When Pro Tools goes 64 bit, is when it no longer supports TDM or RTAS.

Ah well must have misunderstood that one.

Well that, and beside not killing all together in one update the accel users.