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Pro Tools 2021.3 Release Notes

Last Updated : June 24, 2021 Products Affected : Pro Tools, Pro Tools First, Pro Tools Ultimate

April 29, 2021

⚠️ Big Sur 11.3 resolves multiple critical bugs with Carbon ⚠️

Audio dropouts/artifacts in 10.15.7 and 11.2.3; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268800)
No Audio Output over AVB; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268662)
Unable to create Session at new Sample Rate; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-265729)
No Audio device in Audio Midi Setup; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268874)
"Cannot Communicate w PB Engine"; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268881)

⚠️ RESOLVED two critical bugs in Pro Tools 2021.3 ⚠️

Pro Tools 2021.3.1 resolves the following critical bugs:

The Parallel Task Optimizations preference is no longer missing from Pro Tools Software (PT-271772)
Knife-edge automation will once again follow the edge of the clip boundary (PT-271659)

Enhancements

Pro Tools | Sync X

Support for the initial release of Pro Tools | Sync X precision synchronizer. For product information, go to www.avid.com/syncx.

Virtual MIDI Keyboard

A new MIDI Keyboard window lets you play MIDI notes from your computer keyboard. It can be found in the Window menu or opened using the shortcut, Shift+K.

Dark Theme Improvements

Based on user feedback, numerous improvements were made to the Dark theme introduced in Pro Tools 2020.11. Changes were made to the various clip states and edit selection treatment so that they are easier to tell apart. Other changes were made to improve overall visibility and usability across the entire application.

Dolby Atmos™ Improvements

Easier Setup of Stereo Objects
- It’s now possible to automatically create stereo mapped objects based on the connected renderer input configuration. This can be done by selecting “Use Dolby Atmos Renderer (Stereo)” in the I/O Setup bus tab, and then clicking the default button. There is also an option for mono.
Bed/Object Fold Down
- Beds are now included in the fold down path making it easier to monitor a rough mix when a Dolby Atmos renderer is not available.
Always Fold Down
- You can now choose to always enable the channel-based fold down path for a Dolby Atmos mix. This is useful if you require a rough headphone mix for editorial while the main mix is fed through a renderer. It is also useful if a system does not have a renderer connected, and the mix needs to be monitored for non-mission critical tasks.
Faster ADM Bounces to Network Storage
- A new preference has been added, called “Use Local Cache When Bouncing to Network Volume.” This significantly increases the speed of the bounce process in certain circumstances. It works by automatically bouncing to a local cache location when pointing the Bounce Mix window to a network volume. When the bounce completes, the cached file is immediately copied to the network location, and then the cache is cleared. While this was primarily designed to help bouncing to WAV (ADM BWF), it also works with WAV (BWF) when using the Single File Delivery Format option with multi-stem bounces.

HD Device Improvements

In order to support Big Sur, Pro Tools and the HD Driver have been updated to use modern interrupts (MSI). This change may also prevent or minimize conflicts with other PCIe devices on any supported operating systems.

This requires a firmware update for both HDX and HD Native. This firmware is backward compatible with earlier versions of Pro Tools and HD drivers.

⚠️Pro Tools HDX and HD Native firmware update process ⚠️

Dynamic Transport Improvements

The ‘Dynamic Transport Follows Timeline Selection During Playback’ preference allows users to choose between two different Dynamic Transport behaviors:

Enabled:

When a timeline selection is changed, the playhead will immediately jump to new timeline selection and begin to loop within the new boundaries.

Disabled:

When a timeline selection is made outside the current timeline selection, the playhead will continue to play without interruption. Once the end of the selection is reached, the playhead loops within the new selected range.
If a timeline selection is made before the current playhead position, the playhead will not jump to the new selection.

Include Instrument/MIDI Output Assignments

A new option to save and recall MIDI Output assignments, on Instrument or MIDI tracks, has been added to Track Presets and Import Session Data.

Improved Zooming Performance on Network Storage

A new preference, ‘While loading waveforms, display in low resolution’ has been added to the Processing tab under the Misc section. When selected, Pro Tools will draw low resolution waveforms temporarily to maintain performance until all the needed data is read from the cache. This prevents performance issues and improves responsiveness when working with network storage devices or older non solid state drives. This preference is not selected by default.

Apple Lossless (ALAC)

Stereo M4A Apple Lossless (ALAC) files may now be imported and converted to the current session audio file format. This makes it easier to import files directly from your iTunes or Apple Music library.

Bounce Mix MOV Improvements

Several stem formats have been added to the Bounce Mix window for the MOV file type. The available stem formats now include all of the following:
- Mono
- Stereo
- 5.0
- 5.1
- 6.0
- 6.1
- 7.0
- 7.1
- 7.1 SDDS
Audio only MOV bounce is now available.
Bounce Mix to MOV is no longer considered a public beta.

Parallel Task Optimizations

The Parallel Task Optimizations is now available in Pro Tools Software. It was previously only available in Pro Tools Ultimate. The default value of the preference has also been changed from ‘Off’ to ‘High.’ This preference speeds up certain actions by allowing Pro Tools to multi-thread certain tasks that appear in the Task Manager, such as Workspace indexing, waveform calculation, and Elastic Audio rendering. See the Pro Tools Reference Guide for more details.

Bug Fixes

AAF

AAF's with multi-channel tracks and mixed frame rates will no longer result in some channels of audio importing out of sync (PT-270099)
Field recording channel names will now import from Media Composer subclips in an embedded AAF (PT-270062)
Fixed an issue where the wrong clips could be referenced if both new track and match tracks is used when importing an AAF with clips that reference the same file (PT-264681)
Fixed a case where importing an embedded AAF on network storage could hang or take a very long time (PT-264337)
Exporting an AAF with Media Composer compatibility will now only mute the track in the AAF if a single static breakpoint exists on the track (PT-270788)
Non-integer frame rate AAF's from sample accurate sources will now import at the correct frame rate with correctly aligned audio (PT-269088)
Markers that are imported through an AAF will now support a 255 character limit (PT-268231)

Audio to MIDI

Fixed a graphic defect when dragging audio to a MIDI track from the Workspace or operating system (PT-268260)
Fixed a bug that was causing Melodyne to crash after using the Extract MIDI to New Track command (PT-266382)

Automation

The auto-match indicator now illuminates when in trim mode (PT-270569)
Automation lanes on tracks inside folder tracks can now be re-ordered (PT-266980)

Crashes and Errors

Fixed a crash when importing certain files that contain AAC audio (PT-269090/PT-268525)
Fixed a crash when importing some OP1a MXF files (PT-271116)
DigiTest no longer crashes on launch when Pro Tools is launched (Mac, HDX/HD Native) (PT-269811)

Dolby Atmos Workflows

Pro Tools can once again properly read the input configuration from the Cinema RMU (PT-268537/PT-268744)
Fixed an issue where Object metadata is not recorded accurately until reaching an automation breakpoint change. Occurred when "Link Object and Audio Recording" is disabled and the audio track is not record-enabled. (PT-243543)
Fixed an issue where audio track metadata was not always captured accurately while punching in. (PT-251156)
Fixed an issue that would erroneously cause "The current session has an output bus mapped to this output and may not be remapped to an object" after importing session data from another session (PT-258602)
Clarified the dialog that informs users that the Dolby Atmos Renderer input configuration does not match the session (PT-270419)
Bounce to WAV (ADM BWF) will now abort mid bounce if an error is detected during the bounce process (PT-269852)
The I/O Setup window is now large enough to include the Bed/Object Group column by default (PT-265344)
Track Presets window now only lists "Bed/Object Assignment and Toggle Settings" once (PT-268290)
"Untitled" is no longer appended when creating a new Bed/Object Group name on Windows OS (PT-266460)

Editing

Markers are once again included when editing in Shuffle mode (PT-269679)
Fixed an issue where previously selected Playlist clip were deleted from timeline after making another Playlist clip selection (PT-266949)
Fixed an issue where edits on frozen tracks were being applied to the underlying clips (PT-265143)
Fixed an issue where fades would be deleted when a clip was partially dragged on top of them (PT-265270)
Fixed an issue where trimming clips with fades caused unpredictable results (PT-267501)
Fixed an issue where trimming a clip would clear automation where the clip was trimmed (PT-257832)
The selection in the time field in the Space Clips dialogs is now predictable when using keyboard shortcuts (PT-266186)
Changing a meter change event will now open the Time Operations dialog if there are other meter change events further down the timeline. This allows better user control over the results. (PT-258345)
Fixed a bug that caused the wrong plug-in to be selected after hitting Enter from the plug-in menu (PT-268335)
Fixed an issue that prevented creating clip groups across tracks with different timebases (PT-261364)
Fixed a crash when importing a mixed clip group from the Clips list to the Edit Window (PT-270267)
Fixed an issue by preventing file names not supported on Windows to be created during Track Commit (PT-270086)
Fixed an issue resulting from certain file names not being supported on Windows (PT-268424)

Elastic Audio

Fixed a crash that was caused by deactivating Elastic Audio tracks during playback (PT-268863)

Export/Bounce

The Export Mix window will now save and recall all location options with the session (PT-269153)
"Error 32" will no longer occur after canceling a bounce to MOV on Windows OS (PT-270364)
Fixed an occasional "FF_AudioProcessMixer.cpp", line 33" or "Cmn_ExportProgressTimeoutException" error that would occur when bouncing to QuickTime (PT-267474/PT-267456)
Export Mix will no longer adds a minute of silence when doing an open ended bounce to WAV or AIFF files (PT-268734)
The ability to bounce to 32-Bit audio in an MOV file has been removed from the Bounce Mix window because it does not function (PT-268554)
Removed a redundant question, asking it you'd like to replace the file in the bounce location because it already exists (PT-268350)
The cancel button in Track Bounce window no longer needs to be clicked 3 times if the window was opened via a key command (PT-267576)

Import

Selecting an SRC pull value in the Import Audio Window will once again use the correct value for sample rate conversion (PT-269035)
Choosing not to import volume automation, when overlaying the main playlist in Importing Session Data, will no longer remove existing volume automation (PT-257629)
Importing Session Data from a session with a later start time, and overlaying the main playlist, will no longer remove automation before the incoming start time (PT-267898)
Importing multiple videos to the timeline will once again place the videos consecutively on the timeline with the audio on the same track (PT-268071)
Drag and dropping an OP1a MXF will now import the video as well as audio (PT-269783)
OP1a MXF files will once again import the audio to the timeline with the video (PT-268914)
Fixed an issue where audio would not import from some XDCAM OP1a MXF files (PT-268064)
Fixed an import bug caused by having a tempo map included in a mixed Clip Group (PT-267913)

MIDI

Events in the MIDI Event List can once again be copy, pasted, and deleted (PT-256493)
Fixed an issue that caused the Trim Tool not to work when opening the MIDI Editor with notes selected (PT-267716)
Fixed and assertion when dragging and dropping looped MIDI clips between tracks with different timebases (PT-268173)

Performance

MIDI Editor window responsiveness when MIDI CC automation data is displayed, has been improved (PT-240439)
Track height switching speed has been improved (PT-254927)
Fixed a performance problem stemming from using the Mouse Wheel to scroll (PT-268061)
Fixed a performance issue zooming in and out while using MXF audio on a network storage device (PT-236414)
Fixed a performance issue caused by closing a Folder Track while in record (PT-268839)

Plug-ins

Fixed an issue where plug-ins could be momentarily bypassed while opening a session. (PT-267014)

Pro Tools | Carbon

Audio dropouts/artifacts in 10.15.7 and 11.2.3; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268800)
No Audio Output over AVB; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268662)
- Workaround: is to run the following Terminal command in, then reboot:
- $ sudo plutil -remove "Plug-In\.com\.apple\.audio\.AppleAVBAudio" /Library/Preferences/Audio/com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plis
Unable to create Session at new Sample Rate; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-265729)
- Workaround: Select different AVB configuration or After OS restart - de-acquire and acquire device in Network Device
No Audio device in Audio Midi Setup; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268874)
- Workaround: Toggle Carbon on/off in Audio Midi Setup's Network browser
"Cannot Communicate w PB Engine"; Resolved in Big Sur 11.3 release (PT-268881)
- Workaround: Toggle Carbon on/off in Audio Midi Setup's Network browser
Fixed an issue where Talkback Mic input could distort. (PTHW-218)
Delay compensation when using both hardware inserts and AAX Native plug-ins on the same track is now calculated correctly. (PT-268293)
Delay compensation for hardware inserts on DSP Mode-enabled tracks is now calculated correctly for bounced/committed audio. (PT-267502)
Fixed an issue where a hardware insert assignment could be deleted after restoring I/O settings from session. (PT-266606)
DSP Mode now works correctly for mix groups. (PT-268738)
The "DSP Mode has been automatically enabled..." dialog is no longer redundantly shown after freezing a track. (PT-268275)
Fixed a case where a dialog would incorrectly indicate that the clock source is not valid. (PT-267542)
The "Pro Tools can't communicate..." dialog now appears immediately after Pro Tools | Carbon is disconnected from the Mac. (PT-267393)
Fixed an issue where monitor output level would be louder when recording to DSP Mode-enabled tracks with count off enabled. (PT-270388)
Fixed an issue where line outputs 1-4 would be muted after disabling Alt 1 and Alt 2 monitors. (PT-269069)

Production Management / Interplay

All tracks are no longer muted when checking in a sequence to Production Management (PT-270788)

Routing and I/O Setup

Defaulting stereo outputs with C24 or XMON will no longer cause gaps for assignments beyond the first output (PT-267431)
Fixed an issue where making a Send inactive during playback no longer mutes track outputs when track is Input Monitor enabled. (HDX) (PT-263123)

Satellite Link

Improved satellite stability if a if one of the systems in the satellite network encounters a crash (PT-261834)

Synchronization

Opening a session that was created on a system with SYNC HD, after it was opened on a system without SYNC HD/Sync X, now correctly preserves the Video Ref Format setting. (PT-235841)
Fixed a SYNC HD issue where LTC was not consistently generated if VSO value was greater than +1 semitones. (PT-256663)

Track Presets

Track Presets created in Pro Tools 202.11 and newer are now backwards compatible with older versions (PT-268882)
Recalling a Track Preset no longer changes the MIDI Output assignment if it was stored with the preset (PT-266217)
Fixed a bug preventing Track Presets from being imported on Mac (PT-269142)

UI

Fixed an issue where sliders in dialogs such as Strip Silence and Color Palette were becoming stuck to the ends, or disappearing (PT-268466)
Improved the progress bar feedback when opening a large session during the "Locating Audio Files" step (PT-244720)
Fixed an issue where the sends were not redrawn to show their actual fader level (PT-269341)
Fixed an issue on Windows where pasted text was not inserted at the correct cursor position (PT-268337)
Fixed an issue where Clip FX parameters were not being displayed (PT-267916)
The Pencil Tool on audio clips will once again show a line as you draw (PT-268274)
The text on inserts, sends, and I/O selectors have been toned down to match those on the Mac in Dark theme (PT-267980)
Fixed an issue where some items in pop-up menus were shown in black. Classic theme only. (PT-269520)
Fixed an issue where some graphic defects appeared on the Marker ruler. Dark theme only. (PT-268746)
The destination line is once again shown when dragging tracks in the New Tracks dialog and other windows. Dark theme only. (PT-267315)
Fixed an issue where the workspace would not draw completely when opened during playback (PT-252142)
Fixed a graphic defect when dragging audio from the Workspace or operating system to the timeline (PT-267399)
Corrected a problem that was truncating text in the Melodyne activation window (PT-268336)
Fixed an issue where toggling Dynamic Transport mode left graphic defects in the rulers (PT-271156)
Fixed a graphic defect that occured when closing certain dialogs on Windows (PT-268652)
Prevented a screen redraw that occured on a Folder Track's timeline when moving a marker (PT-268647)

Video

Video playback will no longer freeze if a "bad" frame is encountered in the file (UME-1531/UME-1466)
Audio is no longer placed in the Clip List if "Main Video Track" is chosen when importing a video (PT-269555)
Fixed a case where "The video engine reported an error…” would be seen when importing certain QuickTime files from Adobe After Effects (UME-1612)
Fixed an issue where the video engine would hang on launch if the "Manage auditing and security log" policy is defined on a system using Active Directory (UME-1538)
Fixed a case where video failed to import with the first attempt after launch (PT-263700)
MXF OP-Atom video, created with Nucoda, will once again import and play (PT-265780)
The video window is no longer closed after bouncing and relaunching Pro Tools (PT-261973)
Improved error messaging when the video engine can't play due to system instability (PT-265556)

Workspace

Fixed a case where the workspace could show a SMPTE ID in a file that doesn't exist (PT-260377)
The relink window will now remember its previous configuration while Pro Tools is still launched (PT-260294)
Fixed a crash that occurred when hovering over a column in the Workspace Browser (PT-268045)
Fixed an assert caused by clicking on tags in the Workspace Browser (PT-267936)

Miscellaneous

The Dashboard window is now in focus after launching Pro Tools with the video engine enabled (PT-257107)
The main timecode counter will now reflect the correct timecode when changing the hour value with the arrow key while using a drop frame rate for the session (PT-268558)
Fixed an issue where the Setup menu > Hardware doesn't open when the playback engine is an Eleven Rack. Windows only. (PT-270573)
Fixed an issue where the Setup menu > Hardware doesn't open the first time with Dark UI theme. Windows only. (PT-270564)
The reliability of the HDX firmware update process has been improved, particularly for configurations using external chassis (PT-267707)
Fixed an incompatibility issue between Ableton Link and synchronization peripherals (PT-270144)

Functional Removal

CD Ripping

Pro Tools no longer supports ripping audio from a CD when running on the Windows operating system. Other applications such as Windows Media Player can be used to rip the audio into a Pro Tools compatible format which can then be imported.

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