VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

CarynClark

So, at Bob Souer's suggestion, I called my computer guy this morning (he's a neighbor who has his own computer consulting business, and wow, is he so good!!! We're lucky to have him around!!) and he analyzed my computer, how it was running, etc. Nothing major is running in the background. It's all good. My CPU usage is less than 1% most times.

Bob thought that since ProTools is such a resource hog, that maybe I was having a RAM issue. So, my guy Bill instructed me to go to CompUSA and told me exactly what to buy. Did that, came home, tried to plug it in, couldn't, called Bill, he came over, and voila... it's in. YAY!!! I'm glad to have done that... it's probably something I should've done a long time ago!!! Thanks Bob!!!!

But, ProTools still gave me that crazy buffer message after a while.

Know what Bill thinks it is? It's something I completely forgot about.

I have Panda Antivirus software running. Bill has determined that perhaps I need to shut off my anti-virus software when using ProTools. I'm going to try it and see how that goes. Now, I recall Sweetwater sending me the computer and then telling me, "No, you cannot install antivirus software b/c it doesn't play nice with ProTools." My response was, "Well, that's just ludicrous, b/c I have to use the Internet, and I'm not doing that without antivirus software!!" That's when I called handy dandy Bill and he installed Panda. He said it was an antivirus software that was least likely to give me issues with ProTools. When it runs, it's on the minimum of settings.

Anyone have any experiences they would like to share re: this type of thing?
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:11 pm Post subject:

I mentioned this before, Caryn. Pro Tools throws this error up when you have some incompatible hardware. What that would be is anyone's guess. Pro Tools is notoriously picky on Windows.

Seriously, is there a reason you need to use Pro Tools? It's tremendous overkill for voice actors. Have you tried Audacity?
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bobsouer · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:33 pm Post subject:

Caryn,

I think your computer buddy Bill is right. Try disabling Panda while you're running Pro Tools. If need be, maybe even unplug the cable so you're not connected to the Internet while you're using Pro Tools. Then plug back in when your session is finished.

That's a somewhat extreme solution I realize, but if you tried it for a few days with no error messages, you'd know.

Jeff is right about Pro Tools being picky; but if you bought the system from Sweetwater configured to run Pro Tools that's much less likely to be the problem in your case.
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TheVoiceOfBob · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject:

Another thing "users" often do is purchase a computer that has software preinstalled including antivirus and then because they think this will make them extra safe, they buy and install ANOTHER AV package on the system. Most AV applications do NOT play well together. Be sure you have only one version on your system.

I would do as suggested and disable your AV software during a session.
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CWToo · Guest

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject:

And if a client asks if Caryn has Pro Tools, she can proudly say yes she does!

That doesn't, however, mean she actually has to use it.

She can go onto tools that don't kill productivity or system resources. I mention Audacity only because it's free and I know she doesn't want to shell out a lot of money. I'm a big fan of Audition and it's as professional as any other tool out there, though not free. And since I don't have anyone asking me for Pro Tools session files, I should be OK.

Caryn's professionalism has nothing to do with the tools she uses. Her professionalism comes from the professional results she produces regardless of the software package.
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Frank F · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:14 pm Post subject:

CWToo,

I really hate to disagree with you, but MOST producers and agents and such do not know the difference between Pro Fools and ProTools, let alone the differences between Audition, Nuendo, Cubase, Vegas, and .mp3, .mp4, Real Audio, Quicktime, or iTunes.

ProTools is not the de facto standard. It is just the software audio product which has a lot of money spent on marketing in the MUSIC RECORDING INDUSTRY.

Now if you are talking the video production arena; you talk AVID and Sony Vegas, etc. IF and I stress the IF factor here. PT were the "industry standard", and as the company claims to have "more than 85% of the DAW's in the world" using PT - why would any other company try to compete... something is wrong with the picture DigiDesign attempts to draw.

I will not comment on the plus's or minus's of any Digital Audio Workstation, but consider this... how many people in the VO industry use PT? According to a recent survey only 28% of VO Artists use the program. (Studio Magazine, July 2007)

Mention Neuman to anyone outside the audio industry (and yes I include most agents, producers, advertising exec's, even most radio and television folk in the "outside the industry" category) and it's very likely they will look at you with a blank stare.

The only comment you made which I can agree with is: "...Professional quality tools for professionals". However, you need to further define the term "professional" before you go any further.

All right, before I get into a longer diatribe and get myself deeper into trouble with our lovely D.B - be careful not to spew the marketing propaganda of ANY company. Determine the facts before you make people think twice about your intelligence.

Toodles

F2
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bobsouer · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject:

CWToo · Guest

I loved SAW right up until the company folded up shop and reopened under another name. Great program. Great service, too. I was working on a big project (of course) when a big problem occurred on a Sunday evening. Called the help line on a lark and Bob Lentini, the head honcho, answered the phone and solved the problem. Try doing that with your favorite DAW nowadays.

Hart · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:56 pm Post subject:

I believe most if not all "experts" recommend not running anti virus on your digital audio workstation. And yes, that really only works if pro tools/audition/whatever is setup is on a dedicated machine without internet or perhaps even network access.
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Jowillie · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: EDITED

Brian is right, most "experts" do not run internet connections to their Audio or Video computer or DAW. The recommendation of companies that build DAW machines is for a "third" hard-drive. #One for applications, #Two for storage, and #Three for internet, Office and everthing else. And it is usually dual-bootable.
But that doesn't solve the problem originally posted.
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bobbinbeamo · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:59 pm Post subject:

There are a lot of strong opinions about which software is better, but it comes down to personal preference. I happen to really like working with Pro Tools. Digidesign's site is a wealth of information and tutorials on setting it up correctly to work with your system. I find the program fairly intuitive, and it's working for me.

Unfortunately I don't know anything about Panda, which could be a source of conflict. Could be some of those pesky shared .dll files....

http://buyprogear.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/index.php
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KaraEdwards · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 5:56 am Post subject:

I'm getting ready to upgrade to Pro tools 7.3....are any of the problems taken care of in this latest version? I know some bugs were fixed.

My goal is to have my MBox become my soundcard so I can hear everything on my computer- right now, it's only Pro Tools sessions that can be heard.

Interesting about the antivirus. I've had that buffer error also, but it hasn't become a major issue yet (yet!).
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Chuck Davis · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 6:01 am Post subject:

I'll pass on the PT vs. "other apps" debate. Been a Pro-Fool for a long time.

I can recommend an anti virus though. I'm running PT on my workstation and typically have that running along with IE, Outlook, Juicer and sometimes i-Tunes as well. No problems. AVG Free is the anti-virus. Very easy on resources, seems to catch every threat..I've had no problems since installing years ago...and best of all. Free.
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bobsouer · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:28 am Post subject: