Pro Tools set for cloud-based collaboration and audio marketplace

To enable music and audio professionals to pool resources, Avid announced plans to add track-based collaboration for Pro Tools.

Users will be able to post sessions to cloud storage and invite others to collaborate.

Different users can work on the same session at the same time or offline, and share updates directly within Pro Tools.

Audio professionals will be able to record, edit, and mix tracks that could be pushed to all other collaborators upon completion.

There will be automatic tracking of all contributions and changes, as files would be automatically tagged with rich metadata.

Users will be able to securely stream mixes to an iOS device for real-time review and approval.

They will also be able to sync collaborators’ Pro Tools sessions together to work on audio for video projects, such as remote ADR or voiceover sessions and stream audio across synched Pro Tools sessions.

To ensure that users can maintain access and provide collaborators with access to all parts of their projects, even on systems that don’t have the same plug-ins, Avid is developing the PXF archival format.

Avid said it will enable Pro Tools sessions to be exported with rich metadata and effects frozen into the media so that projects can be accessed and played further down the line, even if technologies change or are unavailable.

Going for a song

A public marketplace, enabling users to share media is to be rolled out, with all rights managed and delivery secured across the environment.

Additionally, studios and media companies will be able to set up private marketplaces.

The new marketplace will allow audio professionals to publish session files, multichannel stems, and stereo mixdowns directly from Pro Tools for license in the public marketplace.

It offers the ability for users to gain exposure and opportunities to make money by connecting with media professionals looking to license music and sound assets, as well as find professional-quality content as all files will contain searchable metadata.

Marketplace content and audio plug-ins will be available directly from within Pro Tools, with no application restart required after installation.

In addition, Avid previewed a new universal open metadata schema that will enable users to manage, protect, and track every media asset created and edited across the entire production and media value chain, from content creation through consumption.

The metadata schema will be integrated into Pro Tools, and document the roles of all creative contributors, as well as manage, protect, and track how the media performs in the marketplace.