HELP :-/ Fixing crashes when I try to print my mix - ProTools 2018_12

[MixerGuy]

HELP Fixing crashes when I try to print my mix - ProTools 2018_12

Hi all.

-> * anything else I can / should do?

As I am using outboard hardware, i always record to audio tracks (not bounce)
Cheese grater - last model. Lots of Ram.
Native (host processing) meter about 20-50%
3 HDX cards
HDX is roughly 3/5ths full all together (all 3) with the mix playing.
printing to a combination of 5.1 and 7.1 and a few stereo audio tracks
complex mix & bussing.
no VI’s. Just audio.
working all off one 3.5” SATA drive, as usual. Playing back and recording to same drive. Never these issues before.
Playing back maybe 100 audio tracks.
48k 24 bit.
Sierra.

Disk cache at 6 GB. buffer 1024. 512 voices or 756 (or whatever that # is) voices.
video running - the avid codec - and when i took video offline it did not help at all. I know video is a trusted codec / source.

Rig is usually super stable, and i work on this caliber of complex mix a lot

Nothing really has changed on my rig, other than the new “Symphony” reverb plugin (I’ll update it - i see a note inside the plugin) plus I recently demoed a couple Plugin Alliance plugins. I’ll get rid of those)

-> * things I have already done * *

trashed PT preferences

tried in both PT 2018_12 and 2018_10

cold start.

-> * things I am about to do, in order:

Remove any unused plugins from plugin folder

Update my new reverb plugin “Symphony” (that unfortunately is used all thru out the mix session) However Exponential Audio reverbs (who make “Symphony”) are usually very, very solid.

Create a 100% new session, set start time, frame rate to identical. Import all session data. Just in case current PT session is corrupted.

Try printing mix in QuickPunch. (would this matter? Would it allocate out, before going into record? I know this is ancient PT9/TDM talk…. just wondering…)

Create a mix template (with no audio… have not done this yet) and see if it will go into record.

Install a blank SSD into an internal slot, in a 2.5” caddy, and see if mix will print onto it.

-> * anything else I can / should do? * *

last resort: move to my backup machine. (takes some time - maybe 90 mins - with web based plugin authorizations, moving HDX cards, etc) and my gut feeling on the way it crashes is that it is an ? easily? fixed problem on my main, current rig. It isn’t a hard crash… it is offering me a way to send a log to Avid. I have the last 2 crash logs. This kind of crash is new to me. (plus my rig is super stable)

Thanks!
MixerGuy

[jeam25]

Hi friend thats a very complex mix . Well you are in the right path with the steps mentioned to do next .

You can do before that a reset to default all your PT IO settings ( busses , in and outs )

[MixerGuy]

Originally Posted by jeam25

Hi friend thats a very complex mix . Well you are in the right path with the steps mentioned to do next .

You can do before that a reset to default all your PT IO settings ( busses , in and outs )

Thanks for the reply

I'm not familiar with the 'fix' try thing to do of "reset to default all your PT IO settings ( busses , in and outs )"

just in a test session? IE do save as, delete all busses, routing, Io, reset to default, and then try to print (silence) ?

thanks.

[jeam25]

Originally Posted by MixerGuy

Thanks for the reply



I'm not familiar with the 'fix' try thing to do of "reset to default all your PT IO settings ( busses , in and outs )"



just in a test session? IE do save as, delete all busses, routing, Io, reset to default, and then try to print (silence) ?



thanks.

Sorry to say but its gonna overwrite your current io setup for its default . BUT if the major goal is to find a culprit i think its worth it to make all truoubleshooting available . I think of the IO setting as a possibilty due to your complex routing . Its a *possibility* that the problem can be there . But its up to you at the end

[MixerGuy]

update:

problem solved by... right before i print a mix (real time) i deactivate 100% of all audio + aux tracks (including print tracks in same session) then reactivate them all.

[DetroitT]

Sounds like cache clearing. (Automatic in application)
Thanks for sharing your results.

[MixerGuy]

Originally Posted by DetroitT

Sounds like cache clearing. (Automatic in application)
Thanks for sharing your results.

Not sure what you mean by "Automatic in application" - can you clarify?

also....i'm pretty sure it is HDX DSP allocation issues..... perhaps not "cache clearing"

[s.d. finley]

ah, remember in ye olde TDM days one could manually clear the cache....