A way to use your VST's in Pro Tools 11 [Legit, and Stable!]

[TheJamsh]

Afternoon...

In case you weren't already aware, Pro Tools Expert posted This amazing article, which listed several ways to bridge your VST's into Pro Tools using various (and legitimate, before avid's lawyers start flinching) workarounds. I decided to try Nomad Factory's Magma as a solution, because I desperately wanted my guitar amp sims (we all know the free ones are the best) running inside of tools. Especially being a primarily metal engineer, and non-guitarist without the funds or desire to spend thousands of pounds on hardware likes amps and cabs.

After some initial hitches with unstable VST's, and realising that Magma doesn't automatically bridge 32-bit VST's, I now have a huge list of additional plug-ins for Pro Tools 11, which is much more stable than any previous incarnation like the VST-RTAS adapter and suchlike. In fact, I wish I'd discovered this software earlier.

Below you can see both LePou Lecto and the 64-bit VST Version of MixIR2 running inside Magma, in two separate instances for each track. (MixIR2 is due to be ported to AAX 64 soon, but LePou has never supported Pro Tools).



The additional icing on the cake; if you can't find 64-bit versions of your plug-ins, a nifty bit of software called JBridge can bridge them all for you for a very reasonable fee, which I used on some of my favourite 32-bit plugs. I can also now use my Focusrite Liquid Mix again, seeing as support for this brilliant hardware has now been dropped

I can't see Avid dishing out a C&D to these guys like poor old SugarBytes (well, let's hope) so if you've got a little cash to spend but want to stay future-proofed, I'd grab Nomad Factory's Magma. I'm using the demo version right now until the funds magically appear in my account, but so long as you manage your plug-ins carefully, it's very stable indeed! It ONLY loads VST effects of course, not VSTi's, but you can always use those through ReWire or suchlike, or grab Vienna VePro5 if your money grows on trees and you want yet more stupid dongles hanging out of your tower.

No, this solution isn't free, but as users of PT we should all be used to spending unnecessary amounts of cash by now and I think that's just something we'll have to deal with. Much as I love the software, can't say I support the business model. Just sharing my personal solution in the hope that it helps others.

Bottom Line:
Consumer = 1
AAX Limitations = 0

[derFunkenstein]

I've been using REAPER as a ReWire slave to get what I want into PT. The only downside, if you think of it as one, is that you can't have, like, AAX -> VST -> AAX -> out, because REAPER, and all the plugins assigned to the voices you've wired to that instantiation, get processed in sequence.

For my use it's not a big deal. If I use REAPER on a track, I just do all my processing with the VST versions of my plug-ins and REAPER is the only insert. But if you have some AAX-only plugins (are there any?) then routing can be limited.

REAPER has a cost associated, and if you're using it in a professional setting, that cost is kind of high. But for me and the other "creative enthusiasts" and "aspiring home studio owners" out there, $60 is pretty cheap.

[mykhal c]

yep...VEPro5 via its' audio plugin to host any VSTs that are not yet AAX2 ready...a tad cumbersome but great to know that it's there

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by derFunkenstein

For my use it's not a big deal. If I use REAPER on a track, I just do all my processing with the VST versions of my plug-ins and REAPER is the only insert. But if you have some AAX-only plugins (are there any?) then routing can be limited.

Not quite as limited as you think. Remember, you've got Rewire there. So, here's what I do if I want to use a VSTi in Reaper, but want to use some of the PT processing on the output.

1)Set up an instrument track and instantiate Reaper as you normally would. Assign the Reaper to Tracks 1&2.
2)In Reaper, create your instrument track and assign the input to MIDI channel 1 (or whatever MIDI channel you want to use)
3)Set up a MIDI track in Pro Tools and point the MIDI out to whatever MIDI channel you just assigned to your Reaper instrument.
4)Then, set up an AUX (stereo or mono, depending on what you want) track in Pro Tools, and instantiate Reaper on that, only this time assign the output to 3&4 (for stereo) or just 3 or 4 for mono.
5)In Reaper go to the Matrix and have the output of the instrument assigned to the outputs you just assigned on the Aux track.
6)If you did this right, the audio from the Reaper VSTi will now be coming out of the AUX track in PT, and you can then use whatever PT plugins you wish to process further.
7) Now record your part on the MIDI track you created above.
8)Rinse and repeat for other Reaper instruments. If you don't want to use any PT processing on some of them, then skip the AUX track part, and just assign the Reaper instruments to the main Reaper out 1&2 and you can hear them through the PT Instrument track. Use the Reaper mixer as a sub-mix in your total PT mix.

Also, I'd suggest you solo safe both the MIDI track and the Main Reaper instrument track in PT. That way, all you have to do is solo the Aux track if you want to hear just that. Or, if your not using an AUX track on some VSTi, just solo the MIDI track.

This also works with Reason and rewire, by the way.

Have fun!

[TheJamsh]

Reaper's rewire is only useful for VST Instruments though, if you want VST EFFECTS, you need to get audio into Pro Tools somehow. VePro5 is the only external bit of software that does so, and even that has a limited number of return busses.

Magma is the best bet for VST Effects, providing you can get it stable. There are a few plugs that currently crash it completely.

[Touchwood Studios]

UAD version 7.1 (latest) does not work.

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by TheJamsh

Reaper's rewire is only useful for VST Instruments though, if you want VST EFFECTS, you need to get audio into Pro Tools somehow. VePro5 is the only external bit of software that does so, and even that has a limited number of return busses.

Magma is the best bet for VST Effects, providing you can get it stable. There are a few plugs that currently crash it completely.

That's not quite right. You can use VST fx with Reaper as well. You can set up an instrument track in Reaper (inside PT), and then add an VST effect to that instrument just like you normally would. If you want to use a VST effect on audio from Pro Tools, you need to import the audio track from PT to Reaper, make sure you place it on the right place in the timeline, and then add what ever effect you wish from your VST collection in Reaper. Then send the audio out of that track back to PT via Rewire to an Aux Track for mixing in PT. Just watch you gain stack!

Unfortunately, Rewire is only a 1 way street...though I'm not sure why. I've had the discussion over on the Propellerhead website re: Reason. There's a lot of users there who would love REwire to go both ways. But for whatever technical reason, it can't be done as of right now. So, the workaround is to import audio to Reaper or Reason, depending, and then add the fx you want from those, and send the audio back out to PT via Rewire to Aux track. Of course, you can add more fx to that audio in PT once its in the Aux track.

[soybalm]

I never thought of audio into Reaper. PITA but it could work. I know your midi tracks can live in Reaper although I prefer the data to be in PT only because I'm not used to editing midi in Reaper. I'm used to tools without configuring anything. Thanks about the audio option. It might be good to do a null test on that audio.

if you don't need any particular PT plugins....................?

[wonder6oy]

Originally Posted by TheJamsh

After some initial hitches with unstable VST's, and realising that Magma doesn't automatically bridge 32-bit VST's, I now have a huge list of additional plug-ins for Pro Tools 11, which is much more stable than any previous incarnation like the VST-RTAS adapter and suchlike. In fact, I wish I'd discovered this software earlier.

This is very interesting to me. Is it possible using Magma to set up a single instance per track and be able to load up a "channel strip" of saved vst plugins on each of those tracks? If so, that would be one heckuva feature that would justify the cost easily.

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by soybalm

I never thought of audio into Reaper. PITA but it could work. I know your midi tracks can live in Reaper although I prefer the data to be in PT only because I'm not used to editing midi in Reaper. I'm used to tools without configuring anything. Thanks about the audio option. It might be good to do a null test on that audio.

if you don't need any particular PT plugins....................?

I never import the MIDI to Reaper, I just point the MIDI track in PT to whatever I'm using in Reaper. Not sure what you mean by doing a null test on the audio?