Prior to Avid, Digidesign had (downloadable) free version of PTs some years ago. It was slow, clunkey and not worth the aggravation IMO. Just what the world needs, a slower version of Slo Tools

hehehehe yeah I'm not a fan of PT either. Actually BOUGHT a version to compare with the free/super cheap one I was using, and, comparitively, PT was dated junk. Industry Standard and all, but the industry has changed.

Absolutely no interest here whatsoever in such an application....

Why not get Reaper or any of the other free DAWS instead which offer a lot more than just a name? Limited tracks, FX and other antifeatures indicate that this all about marketing rather than opening up the ProTools system. Nevertheless, it's worth knowing that AVID are gradually realising that they're being undermined by other companies who offer a lot more for a lot less to an expanding entry level and mobile market.

[I]" Nevertheless, it's worth knowing that AVID are gradually realising that they're being undermined by other companies who offer a lot more for a lot less to an expanding entry level and mobile market. "[/I]

The high end is where all the action and money is and Avid do have a big slice of the pie there since they bought Euphonics.

Bob.

I remember installing the free ProTools years ago to look at it. It was clunky and slow, not so much in operation, but the UI just took forever to redraw. It was a 'nothing' compared to the Vegas 3 i was using at the time.

I've had a few occasions to be at an event recording on Vegas on my laptop while someone else was their with ProTools on their Macbook. All but one of those times they'd stare at my screen slackjawed in absolute amazement at how much simpler, faster, easier, and more powerful Vegas was. The one other time the guy stared for a while and finally said "That's really weird. It looks like you're running Windows, but you can't be. There are no audio editors for Windows so that must be some odd UI skin you have on your Mac." Funny thing is that he was completely serious. Or maybe that was really a very sad thing.

hahaha! Wow!

I just went back to using Tracktion for my music stuff. Tracktion 5 is the current version. I absolutely adore it! I used to use Tracktion before Mackie took it over, and stopped shortly afterwards because they really slowed development on it and weren't responsive to problems or feedback anymore. With version 5, Tracktion is back to it's old lean self, and it is just awesome. Something like $70 for the full version that you can install on up to three machines. It also comes with Melodyne Essentials, which otherwise costs more than Tracktion, so it's kind of a no-brainer.

As compared to Pro Tools (I haven't upgraded since version 9), there is at least one feature where Tracktion leaves Avid's product in the dust. That is in it's support of Melodyne's new ERA plugin format. This is a big deal when you are editing recorded music audio.

To understand ERA, you have to have worked with a program like previous versions Melodyne, Waves Tune, or iZotope Necktar 2 for editing pitch and timing on an instrumental or vocal track. The problem was that the VST plugin format was good for simple audio edits, but it had no way of keeping track of notes like you needed to do for pitch and timing editing. What you would have to do is run a rewire program in the background that would handle the note information that the plugin needed, then also run the plugin, then also run through the timeline so that the plugin software could learn the notes needed for the editing. Once you did the editing, you would have corrected pitch and timing on a monophonic part, but you couldn't do things like cut and paste the edited parts without rendering them out.

ERA changes all of this. You no longer need the rewire client. You still need to have the plugin learn the part, but when you edit you can do things like copy and past, half and double time, and have the recorded audio follow changes in the tempo track! Melodyne Edit 2 will even let you do this magic on polyphonic audio! This lets you do things like tune individual notes in a guitar chord! Pure magic IMHO! Right now there are three DAWs that have ERA: Presonus Pro One, Cakewalk Sonar, and Tracktion. ProTools doesn't currently have this.

If you are recording acoustic music, not having this feature feels like you are going back to the stone age. You are stuck with only the broadest edits on chunks of audio. None of the absolute perfecting of recorded acoustic audio that I am currently doing. Going back to ProTools would not only cost me a whole lot more, but it would be a HUGE step backwards, at least until they decide to add this absolutely essential feature.

A bit like the local pusher handing out free smack to school-kids ;-)

geoff

Pro Tools | First is anything but FREE. It's actually a cleaver ploy to sell their subscription based cloud services. It's more like a free trial where the first 3 projects are free. If you want to create more than 3 projects ever, you need to buy more projects. All of your projects live in their cloud and none of your existing audio plug-ins will work because all plug-ins must be purchased from their app store. It's a completely closed system that is subscription based and locks you into the Avid ecosystem.

I'm glad I'm using Apple Logic X now. It's a far better tool for music composition than Pro Tools and it doesn't require a subscription cloud membership.

~jr

I just posted this little tune today, all done with Tracktion 5. It took a fraction of the time in Tracktion that it would have in ProTools, especially considering how fast the acoustic track edits and harmony generation was thanks to the new ERA implementation:

http://laurencekingston.bandcamp.com/track/please-dont-you-come-crying-to-me-when-it-all-falls-through

I am still using Pro Tools 8.5 Mbox , but not as a music producer.
When I want to manipulate some. Sound effects for use in my Vegas sound track.. It is in my book still an awesome DAW to a certain degree. And also I learned how to use Pro Tools before Vegas Pro which basically has the same " mechanical nature" to me.