Opening Mac audio files on my pro tools pc.

[JOHN9]

What is the most efficient way to open a mac (audio file) on my pc.when i try to open an aiff (from mac) it will not recognize it as a compatable format,everyone tells me its possible but i'm starting to wonder if that's because they're all on mac's,and it will mac to pc,but does not work for my pc pulling in mac stuff,i'was told thatversion 7 software will address this issue but again will that be for only people who have purchased vers. 7? thanks john.

[s0nguy]

If you are running v6.7 or higher PT will automatically convert the files for you. You must make sure of the following:

1. Get macDrive 6 or higher...
2. The volume your mac session is on must be copied to a PC hard drive that uses NTFS file system.
3. From inside ProTools, manually open the session file once you copy the mac session to your PC hard drive. It should ask you if you want to convert it to a PC session... click yes.

If you dont have at least PT v6.7 you're SOL..

I had this same problem a while back... do search for my user name..

-S0nguy

[steve at Your Heaven]

Separate issues:

1 - getting the files onto a disk that a pc will read. At this point, the easiest way is to just copy the files across a LAN, perhaps onto an external usb or firewire drive that is formatted as FAT32 or NTFS (if a Mac format, you will need the MacDrive or similar program as referred to above). If the files are small enough, you can also burn them to a pc readable format CD or DVD.

2 - If you want/need to convert files to wav format (Protools should work with AIFF files even on a PC), many programs will do this. Protools (even older versions) does it by using the Import Audio command, properly configured.

3 - If you have a complex Protools session that needs to be completely transferred, use 'Save Session Copy In' with the 'Enforce Mac/Pc Compatibility' and other parameters set as you desire. You still need to get this to a readable disk format (#1 above).