Avid have released Pro Tools 2022.12, this last release of 2022 brings Ventura support, a public Beta of an Apple Silicon Native version of Pro Tools and a new scripting SDK. We have the details.

Ventura Support

Firstly Pro Tools 2022.12 is fully qualified for macOS Ventura running on Intel Macs and Apple silicon under Rosetta. Considering Ventura was only launched in October 2022 this is impressively quick, particularly for a DAW which has been criticised in the past for being slow to support new operating systems.

This will be welcome news, particularly for owners of new Macs.

Apple Silicon Public Beta

As was widely reported earlier this month, Avid have made significant progress on their much anticipated Apple Silicon Native release and unusually have made the beta version available to Pro Tools users, including Pro Tools Intro users.

It’s important to communicate what is and isn’t working in this version as it is a beta and particularly as it is public and therefore available to people who may be unfamiliar with using Beta versions of software.

Firstly, the Apple Silicon Native version doesn’t launch by default, it has to be deliberately invoked by the user. This isn’t the way these things usually work but Avid have chosen this route to make sure that anyone running it is aware that they are running an unqualified Beta.

To launch the beta users need to ‘Get Info’ on the Pro Tools App, Uncheck ‘Open Using Rosetta’ and launch.

A warning will be displayed informing the user that they are using a Beta and asking for analytics, which can be denied. This warning will show only once. Here’s a video showing how to switch modes.

What Doesn’t Work In The Pro Tools Apple Silicon Native Beta?

• AIR Plugins and Instruments

• ICON, C24, and Command 8 Control surfaces

• Mp3 Export

• AAC Import

• X-Form - AudioSuite and Elastic Audio

• Cloud Collaboration and Projects

• Score Editor

• Chord Extraction

• Rewire

A little further explanation is required for a couple of these. The ICON, C24 and Command 8 aren’t going to be supported in the qualified native Apple Silicon version when it is released. They are still supported in versions of Pro Tools running under Rosetta 2 and Avid aren’t going to do anything to change that but they are not going to be doing new work to bring native support for these legacy products. There is a possible workaround for C24 and Comannd 8 users. Both are supported by V-Control from Neyrinck and our Apple Silicon searchable database shows that v2.9 runs natively on Apple Silicon. It is not clear as to whether Neyrinck will add ICON support to V-Control.

Mp3 Export doesn’t work at present but should be reinstated in the fully qualified release, X-Form isn’t supported in this public Beta, but Avid have done a lot of work to make sure that workflows aren’t negatively affected, with sessions which use X-Form offering the option to Commit or use Polyphonic Elastic Audio instead. In all cases X-Form renders will remain in the folder for use with other session copies. AAC Import will be supported in the fully qualified release, it’s just not working for the public Beta.

MP3s can be imported in all cases but Export and Bounce are only available on Intel and Rosetta 2 versions. On Apple Silicon native Pro Tools the format is removed from menus and the Add MP3 option is missing from the Bounce dialog.

Although ICON, C24 and Command 8 surfaces aren’t supported in Apple Silicon, Eucon is available on all versions, and a new performance indicator in the Edit Window of 2022.12 monitors Eucon status and allows enabling/disabling of Eucon from the Pro Tools UI.

What Happens With Intel-Only Plugins In The Apple Silicon Beta?

Although much progress has been made by third party AAX plugin manufacturers on getting their products working natively, there is still a likelihood that an Intel-only plugin will be encountered. What happens then?

Nothing should be seen on launching Pro Tools but a session which is opened containing an Intel-only plugin will prompt a message which says “Missing AAX Plugins, The following Plugins were made inactive because they are either missing or are not a universal binary and require Pro Tools to be opened with Rosetta.”

Plugins which are Intel-only won’t be seen in menus but there are some third party plugins which contain a bug which results in them showing in menus and prompt a message “Could not load because not a valid 64 bit plugin-in”.

As well as using resources like the DUC For support beta users can access help form the Avid community team and other users via a new lounge in Avid Link.

Scripting SDK

As announced during our recent podcast with Avid, the new version of Pro Tools introduces a new Software Development Kit which allows developers and people with suitable software skills to access aspects of Pro Tools to automate tasks and create new workflows.

This is not a consumer feature, requiring suitable programming skills to use. It is open to any member of the Pro Tools Developer Community and while it starts with a small subset of controls, over time it is expected that Avid will open up more and more API calls into Pro Tools with which programmers can create Apps to control Pro Tools using any programming language.

The way this will work is that any developer who is signed up and validated can try out SDK workflows and to progress beyond this evaluation stage Avid individually certify SDK Apps allowing them to be distributed, either internally within large facilities, or distributed commercially. The SDK is starting modestly but it has the potential to be the most significant aspect of this release so watch this space!

Other New Features

In addition to these three headline items 2022.12 adds improved support for Media Composer Session Export. Markers will work in all version of Pro Tools but versions prior to 2022.12 will show the Media Composer Username as the Marker name. However Pro Tools 2022.12 will show marker colours and and comments, similar to AAF Import.

Finally Pro Tools 2022.12 includes a firmware update for the Pro Tools Sync X fixing bugs affecting LTC reading and generation and an issue with bi-phase.