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BUG: PT12 hangs when attempting to bounce a multichannel file to MP3
I am able to reproduce this behavior...see if you can as well.
Using OS X 10.10.5, Mac Pro (Late 2013), PT HD 12.5.0. I've seen variations on this issue all over the DUC, and I've had this problem myself since at least PT10: while trying to bounce a file, PT hangs, freezes or crashes, even when there's no plugins active in the session. After getting frustrated with this, especially with a client project due, I've occasionally tried bouncing to a different file format, and discovered that more times than not the issue has something to do with the MP3 encoder -- that I can bounce to .wav or .aif with no problems. From there, the workaround is usually just to load that intermediate file into iTunes and convert it to an MP3. I think I have discovered one source of this problem, at least for those of us who are set up to mix in multichannel formats when the opportunity presents itself. The standard MP3 format (that is, not "MP3 Surround") that the Pro Tools encoder uses only supports TWO CHANNEL interleaved files. Both WAV and AIFF support multichannel files, but PT is not handling this distinction cleanly. If you try (mistakenly or otherwise) to send a multi-channel output to PT's MP3 encoder, the program will hang with a blank progress bar. The same result occurs if you try to bounce a multichannel output to, say, WAV, and check the "Add MP3" option. The Bounce subroutine is not properly detecting that PT is set to feed it a file format that it will choke on, and the program hangs. So if you've set up any multichannel paths on your system (that is, anything more than stereo), try this on your system: 1. Open a session and select a short chunk of audio from the timeline. 2. Select "Bounce to Disk..." 3. Choose a multichannel path (e.g. 5.1, LCR, whatever) from the "Bounce Source" pulldown. 4. Select "MP3" as the file format. 16 bit, 44.1kHz, INTERLEAVED. Leave everything else unchecked (although for me the result is the same whether I choose "offline" or not) 5. Fill out the filename and click "Bounce". PT will dismiss that dialog, and show a blank progress bar. This is followed a few seconds later by a SWOD. You have to force-quit the program to recover. Now reopen PT and repeat the above steps using the EXACT same audio (just to prove the point). Under step 4, choose "MULTIPLE MONO." Continue from there. The bounce should succeed; if you sent it a 5.1 output, you should have 6 separate mono .MP3 files. Not really useful, but it proves the point. Now choose "Bounce to disk again. Choose MP3 again, but this time set it back to "INTERLEAVED" again. From the "Bounce Source" pulldown, choose a STEREO path instead of the multichannel path you did last time. Continue from there with the rest of the steps above. If your experience is the same as mine, the bounce should succeed without a hitch this time. I'm curious to hear other users' thoughts on this: I suspect more times than not I accidentally try to send the MP3 renderer the output from a multichannel bus and run into this bug, crashing my session. PT handles multichannel paths such that unless you have separate, discrete physical outputs for each mixing path (that is, a pair of physical outputs that goes to your stereo speakers, a separate set of outputs for your surrounds, and so on), all lesser channel paths are sub-paths of the highest multichannel path you've created. So if, like me, you're set up to mix in either 5.1 (using all my speakers in the room) or 2.0 (using the same L and R speakers -- a subset of the 5.1 set), PT will sometimes assume by default that your first choice when bouncing is the "main" source -- the 5.1 output. If you overlook this and forget to change the Bounce Source to the correct stereo path, at least on my system, PT will hang. Try this yourself -- what do you get? |
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