ProTools 7.4 - Bounce to Disk -"more" is not a playback level

[Grimnorthmedia]

Hello everyone,

I am currently trying to mix some audio for a short film, for tomorrow! on Pro Tools 7.4 m powerd..

When i go to Bounce to disk I keep getting this error -

"more" is not a playback level


and nothing happens, I cant find any information on this with searching the net...please can anyone help.


Thanks in Advance..

Lee Thompson

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by Grimnorthmedia

Hello everyone,

I am currently trying to mix some audio for a short film, for tomorrow! on Pro Tools 7.4 m powerd..

When i go to Bounce to disk I keep getting this error -

"more" is not a playback level


and nothing happens, I cant find any information on this with searching the net...please can anyone help.


Thanks in Advance..

Lee Thompson

Sounds like a bug...don't use BTD. Buss the output of your mix to a new audio track and monitor that track as you mix. Record in pieces, x-fade if necessary, head and tail, consolidate and export. Done.

[Grimnorthmedia]

Thank you very much, I ended up using another peice of software for this job, but I still need to get my pro-tools working. Will try a Reinstall also, but thanks for a workaround.

Much appreciated

Lee

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by Grimnorthmedia

Thank you very much, I ended up using another peice of software for this job, but I still need to get my pro-tools working. Will try a Reinstall also, but thanks for a workaround.

Much appreciated

Lee

ProTools works fine. BTD, on the other hand, has some well-known issues and most of the pros I know don't use it, especially for long-form film. You cannot trust what you hear while BTD is working; it may not be the same thing that gets recorded. The best way to work is to export and pull the export back in if you want to make sure the file is right.

[numberforty1]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

ProTools works fine. BTD, on the other hand, has some well-known issues and most of the pros I know don't use it, especially for long-form film. You cannot trust what you hear while BTD is working; it may not be the same thing that gets recorded.

I have bounced several things and compared them to exported mix-downs, and they are digitally identical bit-for-bit. Where did you get this info?

[TiagoJSilva]

Some versions ago, it was very usual of BTD to drop automation lanes partway through the mix.

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by numberforty1

I have bounced several things and compared them to exported mix-downs, and they are digitally identical bit-for-bit. Where did you get this info?

During the years I beta tested for Digidesign and Waves...common knowledge and proved many, many times with various versions on various setups. You may get slammed; you may not. Bouncing to disk when you're working on an hour-long TV show is not the most efficient way to work by a long shot, even if BTD were always perfect...which it isn't.

[numberforty1]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

During the years I beta tested for Digidesign and Waves...common knowledge and proved many, many times with various versions on various setups. You may get slammed; you may not. Bouncing to disk when you're working on an hour=long TV show is not the most efficient way to work by a long shot, even if BTD were always perfect...which it isn't.

Well, the longest thing I ever bounced was 8 minutes long, so I suppose this is possible...but is it not still the exact same internal process, whether you use BTD or buss the output of your mix to a new audio track? I have seen several threads preaching the fact that these processes are exactly the same, using the same "internal mix bus", which would make sense, since the two results that I have seen many, many times are always identical.

Are you saying that PT just has a tendency drop automation on very long sessions, no matter what you do, or do you think the BTD process is actually different than bussing to a mix track? It would be quite a flaw on Digi's part, and it sure doesn't seem like common knowledge if GS is any indication. Not saying you are wrong, just intrigued to hear this opinion for the first time. And you're not just talking about some old random version of PT?

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by numberforty1

Well, the longest thing I ever bounced was 8 minutes long, so I suppose this is possible...but is it not still the exact same internal process, whether you use BTD or buss the output of your mix to a new audio track? I have seen several threads preaching the fact that these processes are exactly the same, using the same "internal mix bus", which would make sense, since the two results that I have seen many, many times are always identical.

Are you saying that PT just has a tendency drop automation on very long sessions, no matter what you do, or do you think the BTD process is actually different than bussing to a mix track? It would be quite a flaw on Digi's part, and it sure doesn't seem like common knowledge if GS is any indication. Not saying you are wrong, just intrigued to hear this opinion for the first time. And you're not just talking about some old random version of PT?

I'm saying that there are several examples of BTD not matching recorded tracks. There are many reasons for this, which frankly, I don't have time to enumerate. You can, however, search here and on the DUC for threads which over the years have discussed the issue. Multiply the number of platforms by the number of versions of PT starting with the primordial Sound Designer; then multiply that by all versions of all plugins; then multiply that by the number of tracks, automated plug-in parameters and automated sends and returns and you have a very great matrix where things can (and do) go wrong. The platform is not simple. It is complex and fluid and constantly changing.

What I can promise you, with a great degree of certainty, is that if you buss your tracks to the proper audio track target, whether mono, stereo or multichannel, AND you listen back and record in pieces, then consolidate the pieces when you have got it right and then export...you will have a reasonable expectation that what you have in that audio track that you have carefully monitored will be what is in the exported track.

If you simply bounce to disk and trust that what you heard in the monitors is what you will have in the bounced track, you are taking a chance that an error will occur in the bounced track. It has happened, whether you have noticed it, read it on GS, or believe in your heart of hearts that ProTools should be absolutely perfect...it has happened. But hey...it's your choice to do what you want.

Bailing out of a recording is as easy as cmd-".". Why would anyone want not to record with every pass since cmd-. is as easy as hitting the space bar to stop? It takes no more disk space if you bail out on something you don't like, but if you got it right, there you have it in the track. It's also really important if you are making several different mixes and stems at once. Capture in pieces, then go back and solo the various stems to see if things are progressing correctly. Imagine if you were to have to bounce to disc over and over and then have to go back and remix because you decided you didn't like the first five minutes. If you record as you go, it's very easy to make the fix, consolidate and re-export. Otherwise you're sitting through the whole mix again. That just makes no sense for TV and film. None at all. Even if BTD were always solid...which, I reiterate, it isn't.

[Jfriah]

I'm sorry, now THAT is a quote!

More is not a playback level?!?!?

Priceless.
Sorry to sidetrack the thread.

Yes, re-record as the saying goes... Record to PT tracks.




Jeff

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by Jfriah

I'm sorry, now THAT is a quote!

More is not a playback level?!?!?

Priceless.
Sorry to sidetrack the thread.

Yes, re-record as the saying goes... Record to PT tracks.




Jeff

Ya...I think it should be on a t-shirt.

It's really weird that PT spit out that comment...probably yet another example of debug stuff spilling out when things break.

[numberforty1]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

If you simply bounce to disk and trust that what you heard in the monitors is what you will have in the bounced track, you are taking a chance that an error will occur in the bounced track. It has happened, whether you have noticed it, read it on GS, or believe in your heart of hearts that ProTools should be absolutely perfect...it has happened. But hey...it's your choice to do what you want.

No need to get yourself into a tizzy, just interested in what you said. I don't work with TV or film, so of course I wouldn't be recording in pieces, since I always monitor every second of what is going on, and by the time I reach the mix down stage I have already monitored a song 50 times over. And I have always recorded to a stereo track anyway. I'd just never heard reports of what you are talking about, and I suppose I'll only be listening more closely from now on to see if I can pick out any of this behavior.

[loujudson]

Here's another perspective on the choices:

If you record to a new track in the session, as you listen along you can stop at any point and make a change and then continue recording (in destructive mode) and end up with a single whole file. No need to even consolidate!

If you hear something you want to change while BTD, you have to start over again from the beginning after tweaking. That alone is reason enough to not BTD! I do long form radio, lecture recordings, and tape restoration (sometimes over 90 minutes long!) so I abandoned BTD long ago except for 2 minute songs...

L

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by numberforty1

No need to get yourself into a tizzy, just interested in what you said. I don't work with TV or film, so of course I wouldn't be recording in pieces, since I always monitor every second of what is going on, and by the time I reach the mix down stage I have already monitored a song 50 times over. And I have always recorded to a stereo track anyway. I'd just never heard reports of what you are talking about, and I suppose I'll only be listening more closely from now on to see if I can pick out any of this behavior.

It's not a matter of listening more closely. It's a matter of what gets written to disk and the proper methods for safeguarding the data.

FWIW...I don't have time for tizzies, whatever they are...

[Brian B]

Easy fix: use Nuendo! Bounce that mix in 30 seconds

[apple-q]

Originally Posted by Brian B

Easy fix: use Nuendo! Bounce that mix in 30 seconds

And then listen through it in real-time to check the mix, find something to tweak then start over etc. I´d never hand out a master without having listened to it beginning to end. Never understood the point if non-realtime bounces.

Even if you can trust it 99 out of 100 times I wouldn´t risk a QC fail for a non-realtime bounce.

Countless times I had to remove clicks from music deliveries where it turned out the composer had bounced them out of logic in non-real-time and never checked the result. So in the end, what´s the point of a non-realtime bounce when you can´t listen while the bounce is done?