Avid has updated Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD to version 12.8. The big news for this update is support for Dolby Atmos, but there are additional enhancements to collaboration, the Workspace, Projects, and miscellaneous enhancements, as well as bug fixes.
Dolby Atmos Support (Pro Tools 12.8 HD only)
- 7.1.2- and 7.0.2-channel surround track, plug-in, and bus support.
- 3D Panner with Height Controls for adjusting signal height manually as well as automatically with shaped pan guides.
- A New “Theater” view for the pan window provides a dimensional, rotating theater-perspective panner.
- Atmos Renderer Communication and Object panning lets you connect up to 128 inputs, with a total of 118 Objects from Pro Tools directly to a Dolby RMU or to the Dolby Atmos Renderer software.
- New “Atmos” tab in Setup > Peripherals to manage Renderer connections.
- Object mapping for buses via I/O Setup: any mono path or stereo pair of mono subpaths can be mapped to Objects found declared on the renderer.
- Automated Busing between a track’s Object output and Main output.
- Object Fold-down Bus.
- Prepare, repurpose, edit, and rough mix using all of the object-based workflows in Pro Tools but without needing to be actively connected to a renderer. Object routes are automatically folded down to an output of your choice for monitoring until a renderer is connected.
- Enhanced Object Re-recording Workflows.
- Link and unlink punching of audio and pan automation on recorder systems receiving mastered object audio and metadata.
- Input monitoring controls on the recorder toggle between sending source metadata or re-recorded metadata to the renderer to achieve true PEC/DIR film mixing workflows with object audio and metadata.
- Import ADM BWAV files generated from Dolby Atmos Printmaster files using Import Session Data to repurpose archived printmaster content. A complete session including object assignments, track names, and pan metadata can be generated from a single supported WAV file.
- Automatically duplicate automation from the Dolby Atmos Panner Plug-in to Track automation in Pro Tools.
- Send track automation from Pro Tools back to the Dolby panner plug-in with simple Edit Menu > Automation commands.
Collaboration
- You can now work with up to 10 collaborators in the cloud on a single project and get even more streamlined workflows.
- Support for collaboration with Pro Tools First 12.8 users
Workspace Enhancements
- Keep Window On Top option to determine whether or not Workspace browsers remain in the foreground while interacting with other windows.
- Editable ISRC metadata column.
- Set column metadata values for multiple selected files.
- Improved Show/Hide Column Shortcuts.
- Change to key modifier for sorting by multiple columns.
- Add Column Data as Search Criteria Shortcut.
- Loop indicator in Tags pop-up window lets you designate loop files when assigning tags.
- Updated Play and Stop icons in the Waveform column.
- Updated Advanced Search button.
Project Enhancements
- Updated session and project creation settings in the Create tab in the Dashboard.
- Backup to Cloud option lets you pull projects offline or put them online.
- Track Cloud Synchronization indicator in Tracks List.
Miscellaneous Enhancements
- Keep Window On Top option for the MIDI Event List, MIDI Editor, and Score Editor windows.
- Keyboard shortcut for showing and hiding the Universe display.
- Pro Tools support for SMPTE ID for audio files (AIFF and WAV only).
- Local Waveform Cache Versions preference to determine the number of most recent versions of the waveform cache to be stored locally (if at all) for online projects that are not cached locally and sessions on network storage systems (such as Avid NEXIS).
- Smart Tool Fade preference.
- Parallel Task Optimisation preference.
Pro Tools 12.8 requires a new iLok license, which is free for those with a valid Pro Tools Perpetual or Pro Tools Subscription.
