Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Running additional virtual instruments on a laptop and hoping to find a solution for feeding their audio over Ethernet, Thunderbolt or USB onto Pro Tools on a different computer.

Found Dante Via but not sure of whether it’ll be the best option, or there might be other solutions for this particular task.

Any suggestions?

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

What exactly are you trying to do? Why? What VI software?

Vienna Ensemble Pro is the go to for remote VI offload, but I'm still not sure what exactly you are trying to do.

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Not sure I know exactly you want to achieve but Vienna Ensemble Pro might be an option.

https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Vienna_Soft...a_Ensemble_Pro

EDIT: Darryl beat me to it by 2 minutes!

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Darryl and Mardsy, thanks for chiming in.

I run Omnisphere and SampleTank in Pro Tools on an iMac.

Having also a laptop with processing power to spare I thought of running some of these VIs there and stream their audio into Pro Tools without having to use an audio interface, but something like Ethernet.

I thought that thunderbolt or USB could be used for this too, but maybe it’s done over ethernet only.

Dante Via https://www.audinate.com/products/software/dante-via seems to do this over Ethernet (audio audio only, not MIDI), but I was hoping to look at other options.


Seems like Vienna Ensemble Pro can host third party VIs and not only Vienna Instruments (and it also handles MIDI transmission). However, not sure of whether Omnisphere and SampleTank could be hosted and work with it.

That Vienna Ensemble Pro page discusses audio networking over Ethernet, but not sure of how that would work with Pro Tools. Meaning, how would audio be brought into a Pro Tools audio or auxiliary tracks.

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Quick update:
Just found these 2 other options which seem to offer solutions for what I’m trying to do.

https://www.dawconnect.com

https://audiogridder.com/

Anybody familiar with any of these and their implementation for bringing audio from an external source over Ethernet into ProTools?

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

VE Pro can host any third party VST or AU plug-in. In Pro Tools you have a VE Pro plug-in that you instantiate on an instrument track. This pipes audio and MIDI to the VE Pro server hosting your VIs. It works great although there is a CPU and latency hit. Can’t help thinking it’s a bit over the top just for Omnisphere and SampleTank unless you’re using a lot of instances.

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

And the Winner is:
Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 – the fastest at loading BiiiiG Sessions!

Pro Tools on your main computer and connect a 2nd computer/laptop to host the VIs
Vienna Symphonic Library Ensemble Pro: Quick Start Guide
https://youtu.be/CCAB3sQ8-pU


Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 on one computer:
Even though this video doesn’t use Pro Tools, the set-up steps are a great help:

Composing Secrets - How to Setup Vienna Ensemble Pro for Music Production
https://youtu.be/-IYZFoc4hlU

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Thanks Mardsy, found a couple of videos on YouTube and VEP looks pretty amazing.

Also liked that for the price of the license they'll throw Epic Orchestra 2.0 (73 GB library).

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Thanks unkJe.

While I'm very impressed with VEP, I'm also willing to try Audiogridder. And not only because it's free, but because it allows you to open the GUI of the plugin you're working with remotely. Seems like VEP doesn't do this, unless I'm missing something.

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Re. “how to remotely control plug-in GUI in Vienna Ensemble Pro”

https://www.vsl.co.at/community/post...gin#post286418

“GUI editing always needs some access to the interface on the networked computer (separate monitor, VNC or similar).
You CAN automate all automatable parameters of any plug-in with VE PRO 7 (the plug-in developers decide what they offer), with any controllers you assign to the parameters.”

Another VE Pro benefit:

Preserve an ‘Instance’ of a big Session of many Multi-VIs in Vienna Ensemble Pro – this ‘Instance’ can reload Session in minimal time

“As soon as you connect a Vienna Ensemble Pro instance over network or as a localhost with your sequencer, the Preserve feature becomes available: Clicking on the Preserve icon will keep all samples loaded in this Vienna Ensemble Pro instance – and you can switch to another song or even to another sequencer without having to reload your samples!”

Preserve, Decouple, Connect and Disconnect – An Overview
https://www.vsl.info/en/manuals/vep7...and-disconnect

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

This old video shows how an ‘Omnisphere Multi’ can be set up in Pro Tools – with a very low CPU hit, compared with what you’re used to ...

Using Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 with Pro Tools 9, 10 and 11
(A most helpful and informative video, but I remove headphones for the first second – it’s just a bit too loud for me …)
https://youtu.be/jGP7-bxPJXU

Use a Desktop or Taskbar Shortcut to launch VSL’s 64-bit Server first – some also add VSL’s 32-bit Server for their favorite 32-bit VST & VSTi plugins – then launch Pro Tools

Vienna Ensemble Pro and Pro Tools Multi-Channel Multi-Output Setup
https://youtu.be/yd5ChozAys4

Setting up VE Pro on Mac:

How to Use Vep 7 with a Slave and Master Computer
https://youtu.be/BcwvPYbyICo
(Different DAW, but useful VE Pro info)

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Oh wow… this is very valuable info. Thanks a lot!

Quite interesting the setup for tweaking settings or anything on the slave computer using screenshare.

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 - Routing in Pro Tools
https://www.vsl.info/manuals/en/vep7...-for-pro-tools

Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 - #2 Setup & Routing
https://youtu.be/Ql9DvnmsXQA

Vienna Ensemble Pro and Pro Tools Multi-Channel Multi-Output Setup
https://youtu.be/yd5ChozAys4

VE Pro in Pro Tools Tutorial
https://youtu.be/yXEXf3GNNM0

We no longer need an extra USB port for an eLicenser dongle –
VSL have moved to iLok:

FAQ: Licenses & iLok
https://www.vsl.info/en/tutorials/faqs/licenses

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Damn, a great pile of info there, thanks unkJE.

Re: Audio from VIs on laptop to Pro Tools on another computer
 

Plus, Vienna Ensemble Pro helps with distributing the VI processing outside of Pro Tools. It takes some of the weight off of PT's shoulders. I use Omnisphere, Ivory, Trillian, Keyscape, Kontakt 6 based VI's with it. I ditched my slave machine (Mac 5.1) when I got the Mac Studio Ultra (MSU) - but I still use VEP in the MSU. Not sure if I need it for new sessions - but for all the pre MSU sessions it recalls all the old settings in the plugins hosted on VEP.
It's a very cool program
Last I heard (I think) you got the Big Bang Orchestra with it. Not sure if that's till available.