Avid has announced the latest version of Pro Tools, v12.4 will be available in late December, 2015. The new version adds Track Freeze, which joins Commit and Track Bounce as methods for reclaiming CPU power during sessions by rendering plug-ins and virtual instruments to audio files. Track Freeze differs from Commit and Bounce in that it renders the audio to the same track; the track cannot be edited, but you can “unfreeze” it, which returns it to its previous state and allows full editing, adding fades, etc. Note that volume and pan remain active on any frozen tracks. Track Freeze offers several options:
- Basic audio track freeze — a simple and fast way to render an entire track in place including its plug-in processing and automation.
- Freezing a track up to a selected insert — if you have a row of plug-ins processing a track, you can choose to freeze with just the plug-ins inserted up to a certain point. The plug-ins inserted after that track will not be frozen and remain active.
- Freeze aux track — aux tracks can be frozen in the same fashion as audio tracks. The audio passing through the aux, and any processing, will be rendered to the aux track as audio. This is great for freezing CPU-intensive processors, such as convolution reverbs.
- Freeze instrument track — instrument tracks may be frozen in the same fashion as audio and aux tracks. The output from the instrument and any selected processing will be rendered as audio to the track.
- Freeze multi-output instrument — if an instrument has multiple outputs that are being routed to aux tracks, these may all be frozen simultaneously. The instrument may be frozen with or without any processing that is being applied to the track.
With Track Freeze, Commit, and Track Bounce, there are now multiple options for managing system resources as well as for preparing sessions and tracks for delivery, collaboration, and archiving. While all three functions can be used in multiple workflow situations, they break down like this:
- Freeze — ideal for managing CPU resources with processor-intensive plug-ins and virtual instruments and large sessions, while still allowing for fast access to the original tracks for editing and mix and arrangement changes.
- Commit — allows flexibility for rendering on a per-track or per-clip basis, with a choice of what happens to the original track.
- Track Bounce — perfect for final output renders and stems for delivery, collaboration, and archiving.
Check out this video demonstrating the new Track Freeze function in Pro Tools 12.4.
