Hang when Freezing audio track

[ToriTait]

Pro Tools hangs 1 time out of 5 when doing a Freeze on a track or multiple selected tracks.
This only happens on certain tracks - but has has been happening so frequently that Pro Tools has been hanging every 20 minutes or so.
I have tried
-- trashing preferences etc.
-- repeating the Freeze from a new Save Copy In session
I notice that after a hang/restart there are a series of 1KB files in the Rendered Files folder (see attached) as if Pro Tools started the Freeze but then got stuck rendering the file.
-------------------------------
Windows 11 build 22621.1105, Pro Tools 2022.12
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 8700 @ 3.20GHz 42 °C
Coffee Lake 14nm Technology
RAM
64.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1070MHz (15-15-15-36)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME Z370-A II (LGA1151) 28 °C
Graphics
HP w2408 (1920x1200@59Hz)
RAVEN MTi2 (1920x1080@59Hz)
Intel UHD Graphics 630 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
Storage
465GB Samsung SSD 860 EVO M.2 500GB (SATA (SSD)) 33 °C
1863GB Seagate ST2000DM006-2DM164 (SATA ) 29 °C
1863GB Seagate ST2000DM006-2DM164 (SATA ) 31 °C
1863GB Western Digital WD Blue SN570 2TB (Unknown (SSD))
3725GB Western Digital WD Elements 25A3 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD)) 33 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSC0
Audio
Universal Audio Thunderbolt WDM

[Darryl Ramm]

How can anybody else guess what you mean by "All the obvious things". Read "Help us help you" up the top of each DUC web page. Do what is described in the troubleshooting guide, if you have done them say so clearly and what you saw. Anything unclear there, ask.

This problems is most likely a corrupted session or plugin related so make sure you try from a Save In Session and do all the standard plugin related tests (moving .aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder)

[albee1952]

Indeed, I also suspect a rogue plugin as the cause, so that would be the first thing to look at(do you have the same plugin on any track that hangs?). Next thing to check; what happens if you commit those tracks(instead of freeze)? If commit works, I would simply stop using the freeze option, and not just for this reason. Freeze is a great idea on paper, but in the real world, maybe not so great. I rarely use freeze, and if I do, I only use it "for the moment" and un-freeze just as soon as I can(and always before closing the session).

[ToriTait]

The track that has been causing the most problems does not have any plugins on it - so I doubt that is the issue.
But I did try a 2nd Save Copy In... to a 3rd copy of the session. And the issue went away - at least so far. So perhaps it was a corrupt session.
So my issue is fixed for now... But I am interested in your thinking about Freeze and Commit?
-- Why do you say that Freeze is not a great idea in the real world? In theory, it appears to be the ideal solution to conserve resources in larger sessions - Unfreezing tracks to work on them then Freezing them again before moving on to other tracks - across multiple editing sessions. Is it that you find it too unreliable - especially across Session Closes?
-- In contrast Commit requires that you manage 2 tracks for every Commit - keeping the pre-Commit track inactive until you need to make it active again?
-- And I have noticed that Commit Offline (which is very similar to Freeze) can also be flaky?

[Darryl Ramm]

Until Dave comes back you can search for his past posts on this, he's described his thoughts on this clearly before.

e.g. Google search:

freeze commit "albee1952" site:duc.avid.com

[albee1952]

The track that has been causing the most problems does not have any plugins on it - so I doubt that is the issue.
But I did try a 2nd Save Copy In... to a 3rd copy of the session. And the issue went away - at least so far. So perhaps it was a corrupt session.
So my issue is fixed for nowHmmm,very interesting... But I am interested in your thinking about Freeze and Commit?
-- Why do you say that Freeze is not a great idea in the real world? In theory, it appears to be the ideal solution to conserve resources in larger sessions - Unfreezing tracks to work on them then Freezing them again before moving on to other tracks - across multiple editing sessions. Is it that you find it too unreliable - especially across Session Closes? Yes, In theory, its a great idea, but I have read too many reports of problems to trust freeze
-- In contrast Commit requires that you manage 2 tracks for every Commit - keeping the pre-Commit track inactive until you need to make it active again?
I just don't see this as a problem-- And I have noticed that Commit Offline (which is very similar to Freeze) can also be flaky? Hmmm, I have never had an issue with track commit(though I almost always use the "Commit up to this insert") and I always use off-line commit

[ToriTait]

OK. That gives me something to work with... I am going to look at using "Commit up to this insert" and off-line commit more...

[coffeeman]

I know this is supposed to be for windows users but I am having exactly the same issue with my MACBOOK PRO 16" M1 16 GB RAM MAC OS Monterey with Pro Tools running on Rosetta. Every time I freeze and no matter which plugin I use it hangs and I have to Force Quit and restart. I believe this is a bug in PT 2022.12 and has nothing to do with plugins or the OS being used.

I will try and use your option of 'Save Copy In' to see if it works.

Originally Posted by ToriTait

The track that has been causing the most problems does not have any plugins on it - so I doubt that is the issue.
But I did try a 2nd Save Copy In... to a 3rd copy of the session. And the issue went away - at least so far. So perhaps it was a corrupt session.
So my issue is fixed for now... But I am interested in your thinking about Freeze and Commit?
-- Why do you say that Freeze is not a great idea in the real world? In theory, it appears to be the ideal solution to conserve resources in larger sessions - Unfreezing tracks to work on them then Freezing them again before moving on to other tracks - across multiple editing sessions. Is it that you find it too unreliable - especially across Session Closes?
-- In contrast Commit requires that you manage 2 tracks for every Commit - keeping the pre-Commit track inactive until you need to make it active again?
-- And I have noticed that Commit Offline (which is very similar to Freeze) can also be flaky?

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by coffeeman

I know this is supposed to be for windows users but I am having exactly the same issue with my MACBOOK PRO 16" M1 16 GB RAM MAC OS Monterey with Pro Tools running on Rosetta. Every time I freeze and no matter which plugin I use it hangs and I have to Force Quit and restart. I believe this is a bug in PT 2022.12 and has nothing to do with plugins or the OS being used.

I will try and use your option of 'Save Copy In' to see if it works.

This post lives in the section for Windows users so you are not likely to get much help here. Go to the Mac section and start a new thread, describing everything in the greatest detail you can(its not possible to give too much information)

To the OP, you said the track has no plugins? Then why would you freeze it? That accomplishes nothing

[ToriTait]

I think coffeeman's point is that they are seeing the same Freeze issue(s) on Mac - so it is very likely to be a cross-platform Pro Tools issue.
Also it sounds like they tried changing plugins around (as I did) and found that a particualr mix of plugins enable or not didn't change things.

Freeze really suited my workflow, but (as per albee1952's advice) I have now given up on it. And instead use Commit Offline - which is reliable but slow.
I was using Commit _not_ Offline for a while, but that appears to be as buggy as Freeze.
So... I do have a work round.

I did raise a case (#04567922 - raised 1/17) for the Freeze issue with Pro Tools Support - but (as usual) they have been less than pro-active. After 3 weeks, I am fed up of unhelpful stock suggestions (eg re-install Pro Tools - when everything else is working fine).