How to activate my old plugins in PT11?

[quoob]

Dear All,

I have finally upgraded from PT9 to PT11 on my MacBook Pro and I have just realised that now plugins have to be of a different format. Hence why I couldn't find any from the insert list...

I've been looking around the web and there is a lot said about AAX, 32-bit etc, but I couldn't really find any useful info on how to convert the old plugins I was used to use in PT9 to have them working in PT11...

Any help? is it something possible or I have just wasted money in the past?

Thanks for your help

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by quoob

Dear All,

I have finally upgraded from PT9 to PT11 on my MacBook Pro and I have just realised that now plugins have to be of a different format. Hence why I couldn't find any from the insert list...

I've been looking around the web and there is a lot said about AAX, 32-bit etc, but I couldn't really find any useful info on how to convert the old plugins I was used to use in PT9 to have them working in PT11...

Any help? is it something possible or I have just wasted money in the past?

Thanks for your help

Check with your plugin developers and see if they have aax64 versions of their plugins you can upgrade to. Or you can look at the list of third party aax64 plugins here (it's a sticky thread at the top of the aax plugins forum http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=340230 ). You can't convert your old plugins to run in PT11 but they can be made to run inside using a few different methods. If you have 64 bit vst versions of your plugins on your computer you could use Blue Cat Audio MB7-2 or Patchwork. If your plugins are 32 bit vst you could use jbridgeMac to bridge them to 64 bit and then run them in either of the two Blue Cat plugs but jrbridgeMac is still beta only and unstable with people having trouble making it work.

Another method is to use VEPro5 and host the AU version of your plugins in that and run VEPro 5 alongside PT. Google for how to do that or search here.

You haven't said what your computer setup is or what version of OSX you're running but when you got PT11 you also got a license asset (it's combined) for PT10 and that will allow you to run your existing RTAS plugins.

[Phil Ogden]

Your previous version of PT9 used RTAS plug-ins. To be compatible with PT11, plug-ins need to be 64 Bit AAX. Look for updates on the third party software vendors websites. Note, some upgrades may require a fee to be paid.

As a 'stop gap' Avid have supplied a composite license with PT11 which allows a co-install with PT10 (the last version which works with RTAS plug-ins). If you need to use any of your PT9 plug-ins which are not available as AAX64, use PT10 for now.

[quoob]

Apologies, I run Mountain Lion 10.8.5 on a mid 2010 with 500HD ana 4G Ram.

Not sure If I can do the PT10 thing cause I downloaded straight away the 11. I think the license n my iLock as well mentions only PT11...




Can I also ask a question, WHY Avid does this sort of twisted things leaving their users is so much pain, having to find windy ways around to make it work???

I don't mean to raise an argument but I find it so frustrating that at this point I would rather move to Logic...cheaper! better plugins! no twisted things!

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by quoob

Apologies, I run Mountain Lion 10.8.5 on a mid 2010 with 500HD ana 4G Ram.

Not sure If I can do the PT10 thing cause I downloaded straight away the 11. I think the license n my iLock as well mentions only PT11...

Can I also ask a question, WHY Avid does this sort of twisted things leaving their users is so much pain, having to find windy ways around to make it work???

I don't mean to raise an argument but I find it so frustrating that at this point I would rather move to Logic...cheaper! better plugins! no twisted things!

You can still download PT10 - it's in your Avid account. If you carefully look at your iLok in the ILM software you'll see it's a combined license for both PT10 and PT11. Avid did this so you can have both on the same machine at the same time in the same boot partition. Avid had to go to a new plugin format because the old one (RTAS) did not support 64 bit operation.

I'd uninstall PT11, download and install PT10 and THEN install PT11. There's something in the folder structure that screws up if you install PT11 first and then PT10. And don't forget there are separate instrument downloads for PT10 and PT11.

Looking at your hardware you're going to have issues with the current setup. First off you're going to need more ram - 4 gig is NOT enough and 8 gig is a minimum. The 13" screen model has a max of 16 gig and the 15" and 17" models have a max of 8 gig. NEVER buy ram from Apple - always go 3rd party like from OWC. Also you're going to need a second hard drive for PT to record to. Working off the system drive is a bad thing and will lead to problems.

[quoob]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Looking at your hardware you're going to have issues with the current setup. First off you're going to need more ram - 4 gig is NOT enough and 8 gig is a minimum. The 13" screen model has a max of 16 gig and the 15" and 17" models have a max of 8 gig. NEVER buy ram from Apple - always go 3rd party like from OWC. Also you're going to need a second hard drive for PT to record to. Working off the system drive is a bad thing and will lead to problems.

JEEEEZ!!!

I will need a winning lottery ticket here!!! So far it's all about spending and no one penny has ever come in...

musicman691, I much appreciated your help and time!
Although, by the look of things seems easier to drop PT forever and get to grip with a different DAW...

Regards

[mesaone]

Hardware ages, and it does so regardless of your DAW. I'm not sure you can put the blame on any company here, since this is just the nature of computing.

[sw rec]

Almost all of my old RTAS plugins that got "ported" to AAX-64 (finally, but that's another story) gave me a free upgrade to AAX 64. It just took some time.
In the interim, though, I used (and still do) Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork, which will host 64-bit VST plugins in an AAX-64 environment. $69 was very well-placed in this instance.
Recording to a dedicated hard drive is nothing new, it's been a requirement since day one. (Even Photoshop tells you it's a good idea to store PHOTOS on a separate drive from your system drive.) And you can get compatible for $75 in this instance, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than a reel of 2" tape.....

Most of the people having problems like this do their research AFTER plunking down cash, instead of before. Information is EVERYWHERE.

[nigelpry]

Also, Avid's announcement that PT10 was to be the final version supporting RTAS plugins was several years ago now, coming at the time Pro Tools 10 was announced.

Pro Tools 10 supports both RTAS and 32bit AAX format plugins, while Pro Tools 11 only supports 64bit AAX plugins.

If you were already a Pro Tools 9 user, you must have been living under a rock not to have known about this!p

I'm sure you can work with the stock plugins that come with Pro Tools 11, plus the free AAX64 upgrades that will be available for most plugins you used previously. Few have required an upgrade fee, few are still to be ported, and few have fallen by the wayside.

If there is something you can't live without that isn't yet ported to AAX64, then use Pro Tools 10 for that project. Or use Pro Tools 11, then open the project in Pro Tools 10, do the stuff you need to do with those unported plugins you need to use, remember to record any stuff using those plugins as audio onto new tracks, hide and make inactive the tracks using those unported plugins, then reopen in Pro Tools 11 and carry on working.

But if they are available as VST plugins, then as other people have said, you could do far worse than buying BlueCat's MB-7 or Patchwork plugins.

[PMF Media]

Also, you mention moving to Logic (cheaper) you will have the exact same issues with Logic Pro X as it supports only 64 bit plugs so you'll either have to "wrap" them using one of the 3rd party solutions already nmentioned or chase 64 updates.

It's a PITA I know, but this is the nature of computing