Native RTAS Question?

[woodrow886]

Ah thanks everyone

I think I get it now. I'm going to re-read what you all wrote several times in the next few days to make sure I get it.

It sure is complicated.


Thanks again

Stewart

[CME]

It's really not that bad. I'll try and explain a bit more. Back before even Pro Tools LE there were two types of Plug-ins Pro Tools used.

TDM

AS (audiosuite)

TDM was what was used for live recording and mixing. It processed the audio live through the use of the TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) chips.

AS (audiosuite) was, and still is, a way of running the plug-ins offline. Essentially you run the audio through the plug-in and then the new version takes place of the old version with whatever processing that plug applied (EQ, Gate, Comp, ect). Essentially it is what is called "freezing" in other DAWs but not quite as elegant. Possibly well before anyone else thought of it, but not sure about that. Was a great way to take some load off your TDM chips if you were running out of power.

Then came Pro Tools LE. They didn't have TDM chips to run the TDM plug-ins, and AS isn't gonna work either as you're bouncing audio. You can't use them in real time.

So RTAS was born. (Real-Time Audio Suite) They function like TDM plugs in that they are real-time. But they run on the host CPU since there are no TDM cards. In fact I believe they didn't work on TDM systems at first. Not sure about that either but seems like I remember that being in one of the updates.

And as mentioned if you move a session back and forth between a TDM and "Native" system the plug-ins can switch between versions on the TDM/HD system. Obviously you will only have the RTAS option on any Native system.

So there you have it. The 3 types of Pro Tools Plug-Ins.

TDM- For systems with TDM cards.
RTAS- Will run on any systems Native CPU
AS- A way of bouncing a file through a plug-in to save TDM/CPU power. There are also some Plug-Ins that are AS only. Most of them are pitch-shifting type plug ins that would take a lot of processing power to run "Real-Time".

[woodrow886]

Thanks CME

That totally nailed it.

It took care of the last bit I was struggling to understand after the other brilliant posts. You're reply is much appreciated. Thanks to everyone.


Stewart