Bounce Factory from Andrew Scheps is an extension to Pro Tools which allows you to greatly speed up the process of bouncing different versions of mixes by automating all aspects of the process. It runs as part of Soundflow.

For an overview of exactly what Bounce Factory is and how it works, check out our article Andrew Scheps Bounce Factory Announced.

From a post-production standpoint Bounce Factory is interesting because numerous versions of mixes typically have to be created and, depending on your preferred workflow, this can sometimes mean enabling and disabling tracks, switching playlists, changing track routing and also potentially doing mix passes with certain tracks soloed or muted. You may also need to bring those bounces back into the session, drop them onto tracks and subsequently export them again in another format.

In practice, if you work in post you will probably have templates set up to facilitate this, meaning that you can either layback the multiple mix versions to tracks in the session in real time or, if you have Pro Tools Ultimate, bounce the various versions out simultaneously quicker than real time. This begs the question ‘Why would you need Bounce Factory if you work in post?’. There are multiple possible answers to this. Let’s consider some of them.

Automation Of Complex Tasks

Even with session templates you may still need to carry out a sequence of tasks in succession which require manual intervention. If, for example, you wanted to layback multiple mix versions and then import them all, put them on their own tracks and then export versions at a different sample rate or maybe even in a different format. With Bounce Factory this can all be done automatically. After an initial set up process of creating snapshots, the bounces can be done for you.

If you do use session templates, you can use the snapshots in every session which utilises that template. You may wish to modify the timeline selection to fit the project but all other tasks in terms of routing, muting, track visibility, plug-in enables, playlists etc can work from once session to another. It’s also worth noting that even though Pro Tools gives you the option of importing a mix after it’s bounced, you only get the option to put that mix onto a new track or just into the Clip List. Ordinarily, dropping it onto an existing track or creating playlists for the various bounces would be a manual process. Bounce Factory allows this to be automated.

Users Who Don’t Have Pro Tools Ultimate

Whilst it’s pretty easy to bounce up to 16 versions of a mix simultaneously with Pro Tools Ultimate, standard Pro Tools users are limited to one bounce source at a time. This of course means that you’d normally have to do several separate bounces if, for example, you wanted to bounce the main mix, a DME (Dialogue, Music & Effects), a mix minus dialogue and a dialogue and effects mix. With Bounce Factory these multiple bounces can be facilitated, even on standard Pro Tools, with the initiation of just one process.

Saving Snapshot Passes For Use In Other Sessions

If you work with session templates where the track names and bounce requirements are the same from one episode of a show to another, Bounce Factory provides the option to save snapshot passes as a file on your computer. These can then be loaded up in another session, meaning that you don’t have to go through the process of setting up the various versions of a mix each time. If you work on episodic shows, this feature can be a massive time saver. When loading previous snapshots you can also batch rename the files, so you can replace relevant parts of the files names all at once. You may want to do this with the episode numbers, for example.

Check out the walkthrough video below to see how Bounce Factory’s functionality can be taken advantage of from a Post Production perspective.

Time Saver

As with any software, the cost needs to be weighed against the amount of time you will save as a result of using it. There’s no doubt that Bounce Factory has the potential to be a big time saver, depending on the proportion of your week spent actually bouncing mixes. Scheps Audio Bounce Factory has a free 30 day trial available. For more information hit the button below.