I made the jump here at City Park Sound to Avid’s new All Access model for Pro Tools purchasing/licensing back in September (starting with version 12.2), and have just completed the newest and final upgrade for 2015, to Pro Tools | Software 12.4 on both the studio machine and laptop.
The new Avid Application Manager (very similar implementation to Adobe Creative Cloud), introduced as part of Pro Tools 12, has been working very well for me, managing the new, more frequent updates (which are full installs) very smoothly. The enhancements and new features rolled out this year for version 12 include:
12.0 – March:
HD and Standard: Improved I/O Setups and Monitoring/Auto Down-mixing, unlimited busses, in-app plug-in purchases and rentals, stability improvements.12.1 – June:
Standard: Increased track count – 128 Audio, 512 Instrument, Track Input Monitoring, AFL/PFL Solo Modes, Copy to Send.
HD and Standard: Pro Tools | Control support, support for Pro Tools | S3 VCA Spill, and stability improvements.12.2 – September:
Standard: VCA Masters, Disk Cache, Advanced Metering, Gain Reduction Metering.
HD and Standard: Avid Access Plan options including new plug-in bundles.12.3 – November:
HD and Standard: Track Commit and Track Bounce workflows, Clip Transparency while editing or moving clips or fades, Batch Fade enhancements and shortcuts, AudioSuite Pitch Legacy, Support for Avid DNxIO video interface12.4 – December:
HD and Standard: Track Freeze
…and the updates have included dozens of bug fixes, as well as the introduction of Pro Tools Release Notes on the Avid Knowledge Base with every new release. With the new EuControl 3.3.2, Pro Tools | Control for iOS, and the upcoming Pro Tools | Dock, 2016 in the studio looks to be shaping up quite nicely…
Link: Avid Pro Tools 12.4
Link: Pro Tools Release Notes
Link: Pro Tools | Control for iOS
Link: Pro Tools | Dock