In the Pro Tools Expert 10th Anniversary Competition we offered the chance of winning a copy of Avid Pro Tools 12 Perpetual License Courtesy Of RSPE Audio Solutions with 12-month Annual Upgrade Plan, 12 months of Avid Support, and 12 months of Bonus Plug-ins worth $599, as one of 18 great prizes on offer worth over $28,000 in total. We can announce that Gilad Leshem is the lucky winner.

Pro Tools 12 is the latest version of Pro Tools and has since it was launched it has gone through a number of updates. Each free update released by Avid adding more functionality, and for those not using Pro Tools HD, a lot of free extra features previously only available to Pro Tools HD owners. For those still unsure about what is included with Pro Tools 12 and pricing then here is everything you need to know about Pro Tools 12.

The Evolution Of Pro Tools 12

Pro Tools 12.0 – Launched March 2015

At launch, both Pro Tools 12 and Pro Tools 12HD saw improved I/O setups and monitoring including auto down-mixing, unlimited busses. Avid, the makers of Pro Tools also introduced in-app plug-in purchases and rentals. With each release, Avid also offers stability improvements.

Pro Tools 12.1 – Launched June 2015

For Pro Tools Native owners there was an increased track count to 128 Audio tracks and 512 Instrument tracks. Pro Tools 12.1 Native now had track input monitoring, AFL/PFL Solo Modes and well as Copy to Send. These features were previously only available to Pro Tools HD owners but became free. With Pro Tools 12.1 Avid also introduced Pro Tools | Control support, support for Pro Tools | S3 VCA Spill, and again other Pro Tools stability improvements.

Pro Tools 12.2 – Launched September 2015

Pro Tools 12.2 brought more goodies to owners of the standard version of Pro Tools: VCA Masters, Disk Cache, Advanced Metering, Gain Reduction Metering. Those using Pro Tools HD and Native on an Avid Access Plan also received free Avid Plug-ins.

Pro Tools 12.3 – Launched November 2015

Pro Tools 12.3 HD and Standard saw the arrival of Track Commit and Track Bounce workflows. For many, this was a welcome way to bounce-in-place the audio as well as create audio versions of instruments in Pro Tools. Pro Tools 12.3 also gave Clip Transparency which means that while editing audio or moving Pro Tools clips or fades the clips now display the waveform as well as the clip below too. There were also welcome improvements to fades with the new Batch Fade option and shortcuts.  

Pro Tools 12.4 – Launched December 2015

Perhaps the most requested feature from Pro Tools users, with the Pro Tools 12.4 release, Avid added Track Freeze for both Pro Tools HD and Standard. Track Freeze enables Pro Tools users to reclaim CPU power by 'freezing' instruments and plug-ins on the Pro Tools timeline as audio.

Pro Tools 12.5 - Launched March 2016

Pro Tools 12.5 brought cloud collaboration which started to make sense of the features that Avid had been adding like Track Freeze and Track Commit. It brought a new kind of Pro Tools session called a Pro Tools Project which is a session shared in the cloud. 

Avid Cloud Collaboration for Pro Tools Features

• Post projects to cloud storage space and invite others to collaborate.

• Work on projects with others in real time, or create offline and share updates directly.

• Share audio and MIDI tracks, edits, mix changes, automation, and more.

• Communicate with collaborators through text chat.

Pro Tools 12.6 - Launched September 2016

Pro Tools 12.6 was the 3rd major release in 9 months and with Pro Tools 12.6 it became possible to buy Pro Tools HD software standalone, without having to buy any hardware. Pro Tools 12.6 also brought and now 12.6 bringing Clip Effects, Layered editing and single system re-recorder workflows.

Pro Tools 12.6 was also the change to a new iLok authorisation license, it will be called Pro Tools Perpetual for new customers and existing customers on active upgrade plans. For those customers on a rental subscription plan the license will be called Pro Tools Subscription

Pro Tools 12.7 - Launched December 2016

Pro Tools 12.7 was the latest update of Pro Tools 12 and was the sixth quarterly update in a row that Avid released and was planned to be the first of a number of music creation centric updates and added revision history to Pro Tools projects in the cloud collaboration workflow, tagging in the Workspace browser and 2GBs of audio loops from Loopmasters. 

Pro Tools 12.8 - Launched June 2017

The big development with 12.8 HD is native support for Dolby Atmos with a new panner which now handles height as well as a brand new bus structure, new I/O management and new send & return plug-ins to be able to route audio in-the-box between Pro Tools and the Dolby Atmos Production Suite. In order to make this work with non-HDX systems, Dolby and Avid had to work together to find a way to internally route 128 channels of audio bi-directionally between Pro Tools and the Production Suite software. There is also a new automated routing system that allows you to dynamically assign an audio path to either a bus (known in Dolby terms as a "bed") or as an object, This is a very welcome new feature - a variant of the dynamically automated routing available on DSP consoles such as the AMS-Neve DFC. Although Pro Tools 12.8 was predominately a post release fro HD users there were a number of enhancements for non HD users including SoundBase and Workspace improvements.

• In August 2017 Avid released Pro Tools 12.8.1 which included integration of zplane élastiqueAAX, which can now be selected as the default time stretch algorithm in Pro Tools when using the MultiTool for those who own this superior time stretch plug-in.

• In October 2017 Avid released 12.8.2. Included in this update are a handful of new features for users of Pro Tools First, Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD. Pro Tools 12.8.2, and included new MIDI features, batch track/clip renaming and VR features (HD only),

• In December 2017 Avid released 12.8.3 which is fully qualified for use with macOS High Sierra (10.13.2) as well as adding video engine support for XAVC Long GOP files and 1080p50 project types to help you integrate with more post workflows.

Pro Tools Feature Comparison Chart

Avid have compiled a very useful comparison chart to give an overview of the differences between the different versions of Pro Tools, below is a chart showing supported track counts between Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools, Pro Tools Express and Pro Tools First.

Gilad Leshem Wins Avid Pro Tools 12 Perpetual License Courtesy Of RSPE Audio Solutions Worth $599

In the Pro Tools Expert 10th Anniversary Competition we offered the chance to win one of 18 great prizes worth over $28,000 in total. Gilad Leshem is the winner of the Avid Pro Tools 12 Perpetual License Courtesy Of RSPE Audio Solutions Worth $599.

In 1999 I started working as an assistant in a New York city studio recordings small Jazz and Classical ensembles. A couple of years later I started doing post-production in a midtown post house called HeadRoom and so came back to my first love - movies. In the years that followed, I've done editing and Sound Design for Feature films, documentaries, Reality shows, commercials, music mixes, and sound design for live shows. I enjoy the variety. I am a father of two boys and I am based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

When I started with post-production we were working on the Pro Tools 5.0 System. Since then I have been using Pro Tools and loving most of it, but it is with Pro Tools 12 that I was very excited. I thought it is a worthy jump forward with the likes of Clip Effects and the offline bounce option among many others things. This is why a Pro Tools Perpetual License is letting me upgrade MUCH sooner rather than later because there is no delaying this great software.

 If you would like to win a prize like the Avid Pro Tools 12 Perpetual License Courtesy Of RSPE Audio Solutions Worth $599 then go over to our Win Page and see what prizes we have on offer.