Freeze vs Commit

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Extreme Mixing

There is nothing worse than adjusting some clips only to realize that nothing is changing because PT is not really playing back the pretty pictures that you are looking at! But it all works. Timing changes are usually best done in Melodyne. For me...

Steve

Oh yeah, done that a few times! As much as I love Clip Gain, if I am doing Melodyne editing, I often adjust gains right in Melodyne, but I can't say that either method is better. Timing in Melodyne is a nice bonus and also gets plenty of use here.

[macmuse]

In terms of going back to revise the original track, is it easier to bounce it to another track versus using commit? That way you just revise the midi track and bounce again.

I wish they implemented what Studio one does with their “transform track” which allows you to transform the midi to audio; you can continue to edit and revise the resultant audio, and when you go back to the MIDI, all your subsequent audio edits are reflected in the updated MIDI.

[Stephen Bond]

Originally Posted by Mixmaster Rick

I'm running Pro Tools 2021.10.0 and haven't ever used the Track Commit or Freeze options. Can you explain the differences between them and give me real world examples of the benefits of each? Are there any Cons in using either?

It partly depends on what you care freezing/committing and why?

MIDI tracks I tend to leave uncommitted as I am working on the arrangement. You can edit MIDI notes/transpose far better with MIDI and of course change or layer the sound easily.

Same thinking for guitar tracks with virtual amps. You can pick up the same guitar, add extra parts and such months later and get the same tone if needed.

For audio, I use Elastic Audio quite a lot and I tend to leave this uncommitted for the same reason. There always seems an extra edit or tweak required along the way!

I used Freeze when it came out but didn't find it didn't work well for me. That said, I gave it a spin earlier this year and it seemed to work as advertised. The Commit function I use instead, but normally keep the original tracks inactive and hidden just in case.

For archiving, you'll want to consolidate and commit the audio for future retrevial. There's probably a good chance some plugins might not make it into the future so good to print it just in case.

Much of the need to freeze or commit for reasons of saving on the CPU will disappear as the CPUs get more and more powerful.

Stephen

[midnightrambler]

I have a memory of freezing a track on a session when the feature was first introduced, taking it to another studio, "unfreezing" and losing both the plug-in settings and the "frozen" audio. At least with "commit" the audio isn't going to just disappear in a puff of smoke.

[Mark Ziebarth]

In my personal use „commit“ is the better „freeze“…

[JFreak]

Two different purposes. When you are not yet one with your VI track, you freeze it while working for something else. Once it is done, you commit to your track. It is also making a mental note for you that it is done and not to be touched again, unless there is something serious to fix.