Protools/ Reason, info help new guy Options

[dj xxxtreme]

i have a g4 with 733 mhz and 640 ram. my problem is running reason 3.0 throgh protools 6.9.2, everything works but i get computer power error messages. im just using reason no other plugins. it seem like it used to work before i upgraded to tiger10.4.2, protools6.9.2, and reason3.0. do i need to get a g5? any info would help thanks

[banevt]

You should check all your buffer and computer usage settings in Pro Tools before you decide to go all out on a G5. If you are going to get a G5 anyway make sure you load up on RAM but you will still have to optimize your settings.

[dj xxxtreme]

i have tried to optimize my settings but had no luck. any hints on what my best settings would be? im just doing hiphop, and im manly using reason and the mpc, besides a couple of vocal tracks

[banevt]

You will definitely have some problems unless you up your RAM a bit. That is going to help you the most but depending on how much you are pushing it with Reason you might be able to get away with changing your buffer settings from 512 to 1024 and Pro Tools CPU usage to about 85% to start. If you are using more stuff from Reason than Pro Tools try lowering your CPU usage in steps to to see where it starts to work better. Another thing you can try is using Reason's bounce option to consolidate some audio that you can import into Pro Tools. You just solo the track in Reason you are done with and use Reason's export song as audio option. Make sure you either have the same tempo as your session in Pro Tools if you try to bounce the track without having it slave to Pro Tools through ReWire. You can then import that audio into Pro Tools and do a save as in Reason without the track you bounced in case you want to go back and change stuff later on the original Reason session. This is especially useful if you are finished with the music in Reason. Granted, you lose some of the options of changing the parts on the fly but most changes could probably be accomplished through editing or by changing the parts in your old Reason sessions and re-bouncing to audio then re-importing. When you do the save as with Reason be sure to name the files so you know exactly what's in each save as to help you go back easily. You don't have to bounce all your tracks in Reason to audio you can just do the ones you are more sure you won't change and leave the parts you aren't sure about or think might need changing in Reason so you have the option to do so. When you are satisfied with the music you should then bounce all the audio to import into Pro Tools. You can always go back to your Reason sessions if you have to. Plus once everything is bounced as audio it will be easier to give your stuff to people for collaboration or mixing. You won't have the headache of people getting your Reason files and not having the same Refills as you. If you don't want to do this then the only other option is to max out your RAM. That's a luxury only more RAM can deliver.

This post has been edited by banevt: Thu 29 Sep 2005, 00:39