Sync the Tempo Map of Pro Tools & DP in real time

[Rockman413]

Hi there,
I wonder if there's a way to have the Tempo Map (not MTC or MMC) of Pro Tools HD and another DAW such as DP or Cubase synced?

So when DP bpm=130 then PT BPM= 130, when DP bpm goes to 50,then PT BPM =50?

[nigelpry]

The short answer is no.

The explanation is this ...

MIDI Beat Clock is the sync mode you would need to use, as unlike MTC and MMC it takes account of tempo. It uses 'pulses per quarter note', so naturally is tempo based.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, DAW developers have seen fit to only allow their DAWs to operate as MIDI Beat Clock Masters, they can't be set as slaves, unlike external hardware MIDI gear, which can usually be master or slave.

At least that's the case for Pro Tools, Cubase and Logic, which are the only DAWs I use. I assume they simply don't want us easily sync up bar/beat positions in two DAWS.

I do wish they would program in the ability to set the DAW to be master or slave, but I doubt that this will ever be on the developers' radar, as they just want/expect people to use their DAW exclusively. They never even imagine why people might want to sync two DAWs in this way.

I would LOVE to be able to sync Pro Tools and Cubase using MIDI Beat Clock. Cubase would handle all my MIDI data and host virtual instruments, while Pro Tools would handle all audio (including audio coming from Cubase Hosted VI) and mixing. This would resolve my issues with the inadequcies of Pro Tools MIDI functionality and tools.

As an extra step, my DREAM would be for Vienna to host the Virtual Instruments, and for it to receive the MIDI data from Cubase while returning its audio output directly to Pro Tools, so I didn't need to transmit or transfer audio from Cubase to Pro Tools. In this case Cubase would do exactly what it is best at (MIDI) and Pro Tools would do what it is best at (audio and mixing).

But that's another pipe dream I don't expect to see implemented.

MTC works as long as there are no tempo changes, or if you can live with the inconvenience and counter-intuitive display of bar/beat info becoming out of sync in the two DAWs when tempo does change.

If your 'master' DAW is set to bars/beats, and your 'slave' to mins/secs, you could put a timeline marker in the slave to indicate where the start of each section of the song is, to make navigate easier. If you are sure the tempo map in the 'master' is final, you could even put a timeline marker in the slave to mark each bar, but that would take some effort.

In this case, record the click in the master DAW to an audio track, import that into the slave, and use the clicks to work out where to place each marker. A lot of work, but it would help if you will have a lot of editing to do in the slave DAW, and can't use its bars/beats grid.