Pro Tools Files on the Web

[Moses Saxon]

Sending PT files via the net would be great if I could do it fairly quickly, while keeping the audio quality high and the time stamp intact. I have DSL, and tried having the post house in Canada pull the files off my drive via the net, but it took forever, even with 768 dwn/up load speed. My server verified my speed is correct, but said the internet is what's slowing us down. Do I need a 3rd party FTP site to upload to, then they pull it from there, does that make the difference versus having it on my computer for the upload? The FTP sites charge a lot, especially when I have 4 tracks of a 36 minute score to park on it (700 to 800 megs).

Then there's compression; file compression?
Can you use that and retain your quality and time stamp?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Moses Saxon

[ProTool1]

Yes, Upload Them to a 3rd party FTP, and make sure that you have a lot of bandwidth from the 3rd party servers (dont upload to servers that only allow limited bandwidth) and make sure they are online at high speeds as well.

But still...... if your up/downloading a mnultitrack session, thats huge!

[SPC]

I hear there are a few good FTP Servers out there ... FREE at that! I Gather Fetch is the popular client. What Servers are you guys using (successfully)?



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Thank you kindly,
SPC
[email protected]

[SPC]

BUMP

[rickyshand]

Who knows if anybody will see this but:

the *other* problem (besides taking ages) in x-fer of PT session via FTP is making sure the resource forks are intact on the other end. I had good results using compact pro to bundle the whole session up into a single file (not for compression, you can turn it off) and the using filemunger to restore the resource fork at the other end (seems to usually get stripped away somewhere along the line)

can also be handy for archiving when the only CD burner at your disposal is on a PC.

maybe this will help someone.

[jimlongo]

I've had no problems as long as the FTP transfer is done as a MacBinary. Otherwise stuffing it will preserve the resource fork information.

[ZA]

Go ahead and compress the files (stuffit). Not only will it make the transfer simpler (1 file vs. 5), but you can also squeeze the file size down without losing audio data. File compression formats like stuffit & zip are lossless.

Also, it helps if the person on the other end does their edits without changing the audio data (using realtime effects, mix levels & automation). That way they don't have to send back the audio files, just the session document. At the very least, remind them not to include the audio data files they haven't changed.

This might not apply to you, but it's something I've found handy.