Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 7, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Pro Tools 8 adds numerous features and creative tools for composing, editing and mixing professional music and postproduction projects. Familiar Pro Tools functions remain but have been expanded and optimized, including modular editor windows and a configurable Edit-window toolbar.
For composers and musicians, Pro Tools 8 offers more powerful features and efficient workflows. More than 70 professional plug-ins and virtual instruments make it a versatile system.
New music-production features include:
- Integrated, modular MIDI and score editor windows
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A plug-in collection with 20 new AIR effects and five software instruments: Mini Grand Piano, Boom drum tool, DB-33 tonewheel organ, Vacuum tube-modelled synthesizer and Xpand!2 sample player
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Eleven Free guitar-amp simulation and Bomb Factory’s Tech21 SansAmp emulation
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Almost 8 GB of loops
Professional music and postproduction features include:
- Elastic Pitch for real-time transposition
Ten inserts per channel
Expanded Digidesign and M-Audio controller integration
Optimized ICON integration
HD QuickTime support under Mac OS X
Pro Tools|HD 8 uses HD hardware capacity more efficiently and supports Satellite Link, which controls up to five Pro Tools|HD workstations as one system. Video Satellite integrates Avid HD/SD material via Media Composer, while Video Satellite LE integrates QuickTime HD/SD and Avid SD video without restricting track count or performance.
Pro Tools LE 8 and M-Powered 8 provide 48 simultaneous audio tracks, expandable to 64 with Music Production Toolkit 2 or DV Toolkit 2. The Complete Production Toolkit for Pro Tools LE combines both toolkits, enabling up to 128 audio tracks and surround production up to 7.1.
Pro Tools 8 for Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered systems on 32-bit Windows Vista Business or Ultimate, Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard was expected by the end of 2008.
