Avid Audio, Pro Tools and New Control Surfaces
Avid Audio, Pro Tools and New Control Surfaces
Avid at IBC is always exciting for any casual visitor who strolls close enough to get caught in the web of awesomeness. Avid announced a new range of Pro Tools control surfaces earlier this Summer and IBC may well have been the first chance many people had of seeing the new kit. Avid didn’t disappoint with the new Avid S4 and S1 surfaces which sat proudly on their stand.
Let’s start with the Avid S1. The brand new, 8 channel EUCON enabled control surface with optional tablet/mobile device application to act as a meter bridge. Avid had their system connected to a doc station for dedicated transport control via the IOS and Android control app. Users can connect up to 4 Avid S1 systems together to expand the fader count. You can easily see how powerful this surface can become. It looks great and I think these will fly off the shelf.
Where there is a little brother than is always a big brother. For Avid Audio it’s the Avid S4 which was also shown at IBC. Built upon the popular S6 module design, the S4 is a more compact system with 4 configurations for customers to choose from, which are based on fader count display needs. What’s key here and something people may overlook at first is the slight incline towards the back of the modules. This makes it easier for mixers to always see the controls they really need when they may not have time to look for them. Like I said a small detail but well thought out.
Moving away from the hardware, 2019 has also been a strong year for Pro Tools with the introduction of Pro Tools 2019 – catchy name I know. Pro Tools Ultimate, a flavour of Pro Tools 2019 offers increased voices/audio tracks for large complex projects, up to 768 with the Voice Pack options.
At IBC Avid were also showcasing support for higher video resolutions and frame rates to increase the efficiency between Media Composer and Pro Tools. As almost every project in Media Composer will hit a Pro Tools suite at some stage this will be well received. As it eliminates the need for transcoding and conversions between the two software applications.
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Johnny Reed
