How to get my old Pro Tools Mac projects to work with my new Pro Tools for PC?
April 21, 2009 11:26 AM Subscribe
Pro Tools Mac to Pro Tools PC. How can I successfully transfer Pro Tools LE 5.1.1 sessions kept on Lacie Pocket HDs like this, formatted for use with old Macs (OS 9.2) for use with my Pro Tools Mbox2 Micro (which I think is running LE 7.4) on my laptop PC (Windows XP)?
I've looked at the digidesign pages but I'm not very technical at all, and I don't even know where to start. I suspect that the hard drives with FireWire are formatted to work with Macs not PCs (I've heard something called FAT 32 mentioned?).
I'd be equally happy if people could point me to where I could find someone who I could pay to do it for me, so long as it wasn't fiendishly expensive. I'm in Edinburgh Scotland, but also I'm often in London. What might really help is being able to find a Pro Tools specialist who could advise me on the best way forward, as the organisation I work for has developed an IT policy which is hostile to Pro Tools but I need to keep my archive projects viable and accessible and want to keep editing on it at home for some projects where it is the best answer. Thanks!
I've looked at the digidesign pages but I'm not very technical at all, and I don't even know where to start. I suspect that the hard drives with FireWire are formatted to work with Macs not PCs (I've heard something called FAT 32 mentioned?).
I'd be equally happy if people could point me to where I could find someone who I could pay to do it for me, so long as it wasn't fiendishly expensive. I'm in Edinburgh Scotland, but also I'm often in London. What might really help is being able to find a Pro Tools specialist who could advise me on the best way forward, as the organisation I work for has developed an IT policy which is hostile to Pro Tools but I need to keep my archive projects viable and accessible and want to keep editing on it at home for some projects where it is the best answer. Thanks!
Also, on original sessions, make sure you bounce tracks with plugins or RTAS instruments on them down to audio unless you have the same plug-ins on your PC system (doubtful 8-10 years later).
posted by Studiogeek at 12:11 PM on April 21, 2009
posted by Studiogeek at 12:11 PM on April 21, 2009
Your issue isn't so much ProTools, it's just Mac vs PC. Macdrive does work really well, but I'd also recommend you start backing up to DVD or some other form of universal media so you won't have any compatibility issues in the future.
I dream of a day where OS and harddrive formats no longer conflict.
posted by toekneebullard at 1:18 PM on April 21, 2009
I dream of a day where OS and harddrive formats no longer conflict.
posted by toekneebullard at 1:18 PM on April 21, 2009
Response by poster:
Thanks StUdIoGeEk! I like the sound of Macdrive, so I'm going to run that past my more technically-minded other half and see if he'll help me with it. It'll be about a week before he can come up, and we'll have a crack at making it all work then.
Myself and one of the engineers tried something very like your suggestion, The World Famous, but for some reason it didn't work, perhaps because we're running such an old version on old Macs. Many thanks though, and I'll let you know how it goes!
posted by Flitcraft at 7:39 PM on April 21, 2009
Thanks StUdIoGeEk! I like the sound of Macdrive, so I'm going to run that past my more technically-minded other half and see if he'll help me with it. It'll be about a week before he can come up, and we'll have a crack at making it all work then.
Myself and one of the engineers tried something very like your suggestion, The World Famous, but for some reason it didn't work, perhaps because we're running such an old version on old Macs. Many thanks though, and I'll let you know how it goes!
posted by Flitcraft at 7:39 PM on April 21, 2009
Response by poster: It turned out that the key to this was saving things on a FAT 32 drive and if I converted the audio files to Aiff format (rather than Wav or SDII) in 'save session as' then I could transfer sessions back and forward between Mac and PC, enforcing compatibility. I don't know why that last bit worked but it did. Many thanks!
posted by Flitcraft at 5:18 PM on August 1, 2009
posted by Flitcraft at 5:18 PM on August 1, 2009
Response by poster: Sorry that would be 'save a copy', as The World Famous was saying.
posted by Flitcraft at 5:21 PM on August 1, 2009
posted by Flitcraft at 5:21 PM on August 1, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
I don't use Pro Tools on PC but I can at least answer part of your question. Personally, I would take the LE 5.1.1 sessions to a place where the have a newer OS X version of PT LE running (7 or 8). Open the session there and save it in the newer OS X format. There used to be a checkbox that says insure Mac/PC compatibility, I believe it is automatic after PT 6.9 or so.
Copy the session to a jump drive that is formatted fat32 and move to your PC.
Option 2-
Download MACDRIVE and your PC will read mac volumes flawlessly.
Good luck,
Let me know how you make out and if I can help further.
posted by Studiogeek at 12:00 PM on April 21, 2009