Most of the new features in Pro Tools 12.8 relate to Dolby Atmos and post workflows which are only for Pro Tools HD users but there are some new features for Pro Tools Vanilla owners.
New Collaboration Features
Along with Pro Tools First and Pro Tools users, Pro Tools HD users can now work with up to 10 collaborators in the cloud on a single project. You can also choose to save projects locally or in the cloud using Selective Project Sync, which Avid has designed to give you easy access to all of your cloud-based work from any Pro Tools-equipped computer—from anywhere you can log into your account. And if you need more storage, you can now expand your cloud space for as little as $4.99 a month for 10 GB.
Soundbase and Workspace Enhancements
- Advanced Search and Column criteria usability improvements
- List is now alphabetized
- When right-clicking on a column the Defaults now appear at top of list
- Hold Command (Mac) or Control (Win) to select multiple column criteria within that list
- Hold Option (Mac) or Alt (Win) and click a column name to hide it
- Hold Shift and click a column name to change the sort priority
- Ability to set column metadata values for multiple selected files
- Editable ISRC column
- Loop indicator in Tags pop-up window lets you designate loop files when assigning tags
- Updated Play and Stop buttons in Waveform column
- Updated Advanced Search button
Keep Window on Top Preference
- The MIDI Event List, MIDI Editor, Score Editor, and Workspace/Soundbase windows let you independently set them to remain in the foreground even when clicking on and focusing another window (such as the Edit or Mix windows).
Undownloaded Shared Tracks Appear in the Track List
- Shared tracks now appear in the Track List and may be downloaded individually
- Turn on and off the automatic pre-downloading of all track data to help control your bandwidth usage in Setup > Preferences > Collaboration or by right clicking on the AUTO mode enabler for the “Download All Shared Tracks” button
Enable and Disable Cloud Backup of Projects
- Turn on and off backup of projects to the cloud to help manage your storage and focus your shared projects to active collaborations
Functionality of Sessions and Projects has been more clearly differentiated in the Dashboard, and sessions are once again the default document type
Smart Tool Fade Adjustment Preference
- Added a preference to Setup > Preferences > Editing > Fades section to determine how the smart tool interacts with fade shapes. The new preference allows the Command key (Mac) or the Control key (Win) to be used as a clutch while hover over a fade to show the real-time fade adjustment tool
UNC Path Support
- Pro Tools now supports working from volumes mounted as UNC Paths, specifically tested for ISIS and NEXIS workspace mounted in such a way.
SMPTE ID Support for MXF Files
- Pro Tools now supports linking to MXF files containing an SMPTE ID.
- A new column in the workspace displays the ID if found
Project Enhancements
- Updated session and project creation settings in the Create tab in the Dashboard
- Backup to Cloud option lets you pull projects offline or put them online
- Track Cloud Synchronization indicator in Tracks List
Miscellaneous Enhancements
- Keep Window On Top option for the MIDI Event List, MIDI Editor, and Score Editor windows to determine whether or not each designated win- dow remains in the foreground when interacting with other windows
- Keyboard shortcut for showing and hiding the Universe display
- Pro Tools support for SMPTE ID for audio files (AIFF and WAV only)
- Local Waveform Cache Versions preference to determine the number of most recent versions of the waveform cache to be stored locally (if at all) for online projects that are not cached locally and sessions on network storage systems (such as Avid NEXIS)
- Smart Tool Fade preference
- Parallel Task Optimisation preference for optimising parallel processing tasks