Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.6 - Long duration session recording

[leoaudio13]

Would anyone please confirm that PT Ultimate support long duration multitracks recording ?

I plan to bring my PT rig to video taping session ( around 8 hours straight) and would like to confirm that PT Ultimate support wav 64.

Leo

[Wolfgang Eller]

Originally Posted by leoaudio13

Would anyone please confirm that PT Ultimate support long duration multitracks recording ?

It depends.

I had 2 absolutely identical Macs (trashcan) with identical installation.
The same HDX2 system recorded 24h several times without any problems on the first Mac.
On the second I got a freece within 10 minutes up to 5-6h.

PT can do this, if your Mac/PC let you do this...

[Darryl Ramm]

You are a way braver person than me. I'd be looking at a field recorder (and I have SoundDevices MixPre units, but I'd test them as well continuously for as many hours as needed) or a digital rack recorder (like a ProCo).

[dominicperry]

I'd rather trust a field recorder or JoeCo style box first.

If I had to use a DAW, I'd use Reaper. As well as being more stable than PT, it will write to two disks simultaneously and it's not complicated to do so.

Dominic

[dominicperry]

Avid include the following, unreassuring section in the release notes of 2023.6.........(https://resources.avid.com/SupportFi...ead_Me-Mac.pdf) (advice has been consistent for over a year).

"Enable Spotlight for best performance when relinking files and indexing in the Workspace (PTSW-183818)
For best performance with relinking and Workspace indexing, enable Spotlight. While enabling Spotlight is not required, it will improve performance in this area with Pro Tools.
When Spotlight is enabled, long record passes (over 50 minutes) may stop recordings after 50+ minutes. Consider disabling Spotlight for long recording sessions and then re-enable it when you are done recording".

So, Spotlight on, but Spotlight off. Might ruin your recording......

Dominic

[its2loud]

As far as I know, Pro Tools does not record in Wav64 or RF64

[dominicperry]

Reaper supports WAV64, RF64 and BW64.

It will either auto change format if the file gets too big, or you can force the format for the session from the outset, in the Project Settings dialog, under "Large Files".

Dominic

[smurfyou]

+1 for a dedicated field recorder like JoeCo. You'll need to run a backup recorder anyway. Right? Never do this kind of gig without a backup.

[alexthemusicbloke]

Personally, as someone who uses Pro Tools every day (currently on a session with a stripped back HDX rig which still occasionally drops out of record), I would very strongly suggest you look at another DAW like Reaper.

I've never had Reaper drop out of record even on some janky computers. Absurdly stable.

Pro Tools is great but in no way would I consider it the most stable 'tape machine', if anything it's the least reliable of the major DAWs.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by leoaudio13

... I plan to bring my PT rig to video taping session ...

I agree with above comments. Using PT for on-location gigs is a bit risky. (Having said that, I've been doing it for years. In my case however, I only need a basic rig for easy/basic/low-track-count remotes.)

for long PT recordings:

AC power conditioner
PT rig fully optimized, incl all plugs compatible
Disk cache
(If possible for your session) use a large buffer
(If possible for your session) don't touch PT while recording
Thoroughly test the rig before the session, power down, test again