Recording - June 2020 - 22

R&R

REVIEWED &
REVISITED

AVID Pro Tools 2020.3
Folder tracks-finally!

REVIEW BY ALEX HAWLEY

vid has released Pro Tools 2020.3, which fulfills a very high-ranking feature request-folder tracks. In addition, Avid has also updated its video engine for Catalina.
The last time we reviewed Pro Tools (version 2019.5) we took an indepth look at the various ways to subscribe, while highlighting the differences between the three editions (Pro Tools | First, Pro Tools, and
Pro Tools | Ultimate). Not much has changed in that regard, so for PT
2020.3, let's dive in straightaway and unpack some folder tracks!

Folder Tracks

The addition of folder tracks-the mostrequested Pro Tools feature for several years
running-was first announced at NAMM
2020; users can collectively exhale now!
Of course, many other DAWs already
have folder tracks, but those who work and
rely on the industry standard DAW, myself
included, can now be satisfied.
There are two types of folder tracks
available: Basic, and Routing. Basic folders are exactly what they sound like-
places to put tracks so as to fold up the
view and make projects more manageable. This is great for organization when
tracks don't need group processing or
additional routing, and especially great
for the post production studio workflow.
It's great for example, to be able to hand
off a neat and tidy package of sound effects to the re-recording mixer.
Routing folders provide the same visual
organization as basic folders, but with the
added capability of routing audio through

the folder just as you would an aux input.
This is great for adding processing to
submixes, or setting up complex routing
schemes when rendering stems.
Folder hierarchies can run up to nine
folders deep-useful for creating submixes
of various instruments that fall under one
umbrella. For example, within a guitar
folder track you can have subfolders for
rhythm, lead, acoustic, and so on. With
routing folders, making macro volume adjustments to a folder or subfolder becomes
much more efficient than writing discrete
automation passes for every track. I've
previously used a similar workflow with
VCAs, but the flexibility of routing folder
tracks makes the job a lot easier.
Another useful feature of folder tracks
is the capability to perform basic editing
commands at the folder level; you can cut,
copy, paste, create batch fades, and more.
This can be a useful feature for both music
production and post production. Before
folder tracks, I used to create clip groups

to accomplish these types of moves, but doing it on a folder track is much cleaner and
quicker. For music production, it's a time
saver for rearranging song structure, duplicating a section of a song, etc. In post, I've
found this feature to come in handy when
conforming a mix to a new picture edit, or
when conforming a longer form mix to a
cutdown-a smooth and quick way to handle these types of edits.

Avid Video Engine

The Avid Video Engine has been updated for Catalina users. Previously, Pro Tools
didn't work with QuickTime or .mov files
in Catalina, which of course held some users back from upgrading their OS. Good
news, QT is now supported (video only).
Avid has achieved compatibility with additional codecs including DNxHR, DNxHD, Apple ProRes, and H.264 (constant
frame rate only). While this isn't a flashy
upgrade, it's encouraging to see more
Catalina compatibility emerging.

Final Thoughts

The hero of this update is folder tracks-
and while it may seem long overdue,
these can (and will!) change the way we
all work in Pro Tools. After committing to
the PT folder tracks workflow, it didn't take
long before I realized that folder tracks
are going to be present in every session I
create moving forward! The concept appears to be integrated fluidly and without
issue in Pro Tools. An engineer that can
move quickly and efficiently is a happy
engineer, and this update will make for
some delighted users.

Download: Pro Tools | First is free. Pro Tools: $29.99 1-year sub. paid monthly; $299 1-year sub. paid upfront;
$34.99 monthly sub. paid monthly; $599.00 perpetual
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Recording - June 2020

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