Issues with Audiosuite Gain

[Matt_Jones]

Hello. I've been using Pro-Tools Since 9, but this is the first time I've posted in a forum. I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed extreme inconsistency with the Gain plug-in in the Audiosuite menu. I use it quite a bit to set levels and help keep my compression even. It also helps to limit how much I have to automate and is great for VO work across multiple tracks where I need everyone talking about the same level but don't want heavy compression.

What I do is I select my clip and then in the Gain plugin in peak mode click analyze and then use the clip gain fader to get the peak level to read around -3 to -2 dB or so in the gain plugin. By using peak mode and setting clip gain manually instead of actually rendering through the plug-in my goal is to keep the dynamics alive, but compression and overall level fairly even.

My problem is in my latest session I can't get a good read in the Gain plug-in. It'll read at say -9 dB so I adjust the clip gain up 6 dB, but when I analyze again the Gain plug-in will still show -9 dB or a small change like -8.8. This has always been a bit of a problem, but before I could always adjust the clip gain by an extreme amount like + or - 30 dB and it seemed like it would reset the plug-in analysis and give me a good readout. Now with 2018 no matter what I do I can't get the darn plug-in to read my clips accurately and consistently. some clips work fine, but others not so much.

I tested with one clip that I pushed up 23 dB until the Gain plug-in read -3dB and it was way louder than the clips around it which also read -3dB and was uber distorted. I can use my trusty ole ears to get things where I need, but this was a super quick workflow that just isn't working anymore. Anyone else deal with this and have a solution or work around?

[Pete Gates]

Hi Matt,
Welcome to your first post!

I’ve not experienced the problem you’re having but please try out clip gain instead - it’s the ‘modern’ (ha ha) way and very quick and doesn’t involve rendering or committing anything so is very flexible.

Cheers,
Pete

[Rich Breen]

Originally Posted by Matt_Jones

... Anyone else deal with this and have a solution or work around?

Haven’t seen this particular behavior. But you might find this useful; http://quietart.co.nz/defaulter/

[Stephen Bond]

Originally Posted by Matt_Jones

I tested with one clip that I pushed up 23 dB until the Gain plug-in read -3dB and it was way louder than the clips around it which also read -3dB and was uber distorted. I can use my trusty ole ears to get things where I need, but this was a super quick workflow that just isn't working anymore. Anyone else deal with this and have a solution or work around?

Any chance you have it set to RMS, not peak?

I've found Gain pretty robust. Been using it for years. Had a bug with it not recalculating waveforms automatically back in 12 but that got sorted.

Stephen

[albee1952]

O also never had an issue with Audiosuite Gain, but if you are now on PT10 or newer, there's no reason to use that plugin as Clip Gain is way faster

[midnightrambler]

Originally Posted by Matt_Jones

Hello. I've been using Pro-Tools Since 9, but this is the first time I've posted in a forum. I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed extreme inconsistency with the Gain plug-in in the Audiosuite menu. I use it quite a bit to set levels and help keep my compression even. It also helps to limit how much I have to automate and is great for VO work across multiple tracks where I need everyone talking about the same level but don't want heavy compression.

What I do is I select my clip and then in the Gain plugin in peak mode click analyze and then use the clip gain fader to get the peak level to read around -3 to -2 dB or so in the gain plugin. By using peak mode and setting clip gain manually instead of actually rendering through the plug-in my goal is to keep the dynamics alive, but compression and overall level fairly even.

My problem is in my latest session I can't get a good read in the Gain plug-in. It'll read at say -9 dB so I adjust the clip gain up 6 dB, but when I analyze again the Gain plug-in will still show -9 dB or a small change like -8.8. This has always been a bit of a problem, but before I could always adjust the clip gain by an extreme amount like + or - 30 dB and it seemed like it would reset the plug-in analysis and give me a good readout. Now with 2018 no matter what I do I can't get the darn plug-in to read my clips accurately and consistently. some clips work fine, but others not so much.

I tested with one clip that I pushed up 23 dB until the Gain plug-in read -3dB and it was way louder than the clips around it which also read -3dB and was uber distorted. I can use my trusty ole ears to get things where I need, but this was a super quick workflow that just isn't working anymore. Anyone else deal with this and have a solution or work around?

Hey Matt

It’s not the time handle length is it? When they first introduced it it freaked me out as it was still analysing a couple of seconds before and after the clip boundary. Apologies if this is barking up the wrong tree.

https://ask.audio/articles/pro-tools...osuite-handles

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by Matt_Jones

What I do is I select my clip and then in the Gain plugin in peak mode click analyze and then use the clip gain fader to get the peak level to read around -3 to -2 dB or so in the gain plugin. By using peak mode and setting clip gain manually instead of actually rendering through the plug-in my goal is to keep the dynamics alive, but compression and overall level fairly even.

People, I think a few of you are not reading Matts post very carefully. He is using clip gain and he is using peak mode.

[Pete Gates]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

People, I think a few of you are not reading Matts post very carefully. He is using clip gain and he is using peak mode.

D’oh,
That’s probably my fault and everyone following my lead. Teaches me not to make posts whilst sitting on the bus to work!

Pete

[64GTOBOY]

In all fairness it does say "Audiosuite Gain" which my brain instantly went to Audiosuite offline processing too.

[martthie_08]

the Gain plug-in in the AudioSuite menu is definitely buggy in the 2018.3 Pro Tools release (I'm on HDX, Mac OS Sierra) with regards to reporting correct peak or rms levels.