A few questions regarding ram, processing etc

[AURORA4DTH]

Ok first off forgive my ignorance and my being lazy for not thoroughly searching out these things before posting. You guys seem to answer things almost instantly which makes me even more lazy for looking up things.
Here are just a few questions.
I have a mac G5 dual 2.5 with 3.5 G ram

1. How much ram is enough for PT 8 or when does it just simply not matter anymore. Should I just max out my machine or does PT only recognize up to a certain point.

2. I was always under the impression that PT only used one processor, This may just be from way back as I have been using it forever and that is just what i remember. if i can use both is it recommended, and how do I make this happen.

3. When opening my maxed out older sessions from 7.2. PT 8 opens the sessions fine but some of my plug ins are grayed out (not from Incompatibility) just from not enough power. Why would PT 7.2 be able to run all of them and PT 8 cannot.

Thanx again for any info

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by AURORA4DTH

1. How much ram is enough for PT 8 or when does it just simply not matter anymore. Should I just max out my machine or does PT only recognize up to a certain point.

Pro Tools will only utilize up to 4GB of the available RAM in the CPU. The best way to determine if you need more RAM is to use Activity Monitor, located in Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities/. In the Activity Monitor window, click the tab labeled System Memory. If you find that the amount of Free memory is too low for your liking, then add more RAM to the CPU. If you want assurance of maximum track count, you will need at least 2.5GB of RAM, per http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...4&itemid=23954.

2. I was always under the impression that PT only used one processor, This may just be from way back as I have been using it forever and that is just what i remember. if i can use both is it recommended, and how do I make this happen.

Mac OS X manages the CPU resources that the Pro Tools application uses. What you can control is the number of CPUs used for RTAS plug-ins. This setting is in Setup-->Playback Engine. I usually set this to maximum, though there are some people that say it should be the number of CPU cores minus 1.

3. When opening my maxed out older sessions from 7.2. PT 8 opens the sessions fine but some of my plug ins are grayed out (not from Incompatibility) just from not enough power. Why would PT 7.2 be able to run all of them and PT 8 cannot.

What does the System Usage window indicate for DSP usage on your cards? Do you have v8 compatible plug-in versions installed?

[AURORA4DTH]

Thanx alot for the info. It is appreciated.

I am running 3.5 g ram right now if Pt only utilizes 4 gb ram
do you think the extra .5 is worth it??

I will set my cpu to max as well for the rtas.

My plug ins are compatible for sure, all my plugs have been upgraded, as I mentioned before they just simply don't open in maxed out sessions. Its usually just a couple that don't pull up but when I open the same session in 7.2 they open fine.
Does Pt 8 require more power to run? if so maybe this is why the plugs wont open?? Its happened on numerous sessions since the upgrade. On the ones that don't come up i make them rtas and not TDM. This is the only way they will work. Seems like I get less TDM plugs in PT 8 .

On another note i was running a big session and PT told me i was out of Voices. i counted and seems like i was running a total of 84 voices but PT told me i was out and my setting was 96 voices. Again the same sessions pulls up fine in pt 7.2 with no voicing issues.

any thoughts?

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by AURORA4DTH

Thanx alot for the info. It is appreciated.

I am running 3.5 g ram right now if Pt only utilizes 4 gb ram
do you think the extra .5 is worth it??

Yes. PT might only access 4GB maximum, but the OS and other applications will access other portions of your total installed RAM. So if you had 6GB of RAM, PT could use as much as 4GB, leaving 2GB for the OS and other apps.

My plug ins are compatible for sure, all my plugs have been upgraded, as I mentioned before they just simply don't open in maxed out sessions. Its usually just a couple that don't pull up but when I open the same session in 7.2 they open fine.
Does Pt 8 require more power to run? if so maybe this is why the plugs wont open?? Its happened on numerous sessions since the upgrade. On the ones that don't come up i make them rtas and not TDM. This is the only way they will work. Seems like I get less TDM plugs in PT 8 .

We really need to know what you see is the system usage window when opening these sessions that have plug-ins that are not activated. It would be the only way to determine if a plug-in uses more DSP, or if something else is going on.

[The Zone]

I am having very similar problems to what the original poster was alluding to. I will have to get to the Mac Pro I'm using and figure out if you've already solved my problem and I'll come back again.

The DUC saves my life so many times.