Meet the New Free Pro Tools Intro Software

The desire to create, record, edit, and produce music has never been greater. New musicians, producers, and creators scour the web, their preferred music shops, and wherever they can to discover, learn, and try different applications and music tools. For many users, Pro Tools inevitably rises to the top of wish lists, as creators aim to learn and use the same tools as their favorite artists. To help creators on their journey, Avid is pleased to welcome the all-new Pro Tools Intro to the Pro Tools family. Pro Tools Intro allows hobbyists or anyone who might be new to producing music with a DAW the ability to discover all that Pro Tools has to offer, free of charge. Users can create beats, record performances, and have fun making music, while learning and discovering what makes Pro Tools the tool of choice of music and audio professionals the world over. Let’s take a deeper look at Pro Tools Intro, see what’s included, and how to get it.

Pro Tools Intro provides all the essential audio and MIDI tools you need, along with a core set effect and virtual instrument plugins. This IS Pro Tools… its stellar audio engine, workflows, and many of its core features. While all subscriptions and trials for Pro Tools utilizes the PACE iLok copy protection system via a physical iLok or iLok Cloud, Pro Tools Intro leverages a disk-based authorization, making it easy to manage without the need for an iLok.

HOW TO GET PRO TOOLS INTRO

You can get Pro Tools Intro in two ways. Firstly, new users can download Pro Tools Intro, which gives you the application, 36 plugins and virtual instruments, loops, and more, free of charge. Upon installation, users will be guided through a simple Avid account setup and will be up and running in a short amount of time. And we have developed dozens of videos to help you learn how to create, edit, and mix your music using this powerful tool.

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But Intro is more than a free standalone app. With the release of Pro Tools 2022.9, Pro Tools Intro also becomes part of the Pro Tools installer and is automatically installed with every Pro Tools software installation (Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio, Pro Tools Ultimate and even the Pro Tools trial), and will be available to users if their paid subscription or trial expires. This means that anyone who has Pro Tools 2022.9 or later installed and doesn’t renew their subscription before it expires will have access to Pro Tools Intro, providing them with some base functionality regardless of subscription status. The same holds true for an expired Pro Tools trial. At the end of the trial, should the user choose not to convert to a paid subscription, the trial will convert to Pro Tools Intro. Note that this does not affect customers with perpetual licenses, as perpetual licenses never expire—they stay at the last software version entitled by their last upgrade and support plan.

Perpetual customers who are not on a current Updates + Support Plan should be aware that if they do choose to install Pro Tools Intro, it will replace their existing installed version of Pro Tools. They would need to reinstall the previous version of Pro Tools in order to restore their original level of functionality.

It is important to understand that sessions created in other tiered versions of Pro Tools will still open in Pro Tools Intro. Any tracks beyond the capability of Pro Tools Intro (for example, audio tracks 9 and higher) will be truncated and inactive in the session. If you are working with these larger, truncated sessions, it’s suggested that you “Save As” so that you don’t affect the original session, or that you create a new session and import the tracks you need. Additionally, any plugins used in the session that are not included with Pro Tools Intro will be bypassed and inactive. You can learn more about the how this works in this article.

WHAT’S INCLUDED WITH PRO TOOLS INTRO

Pro Tools Intro gives you the essential audio and MIDI tools to create any kind of music. To better understand its features and capabilities, here’s a quick overview of what’s included:

• 8 Audio Tracks (Stereo or Mono)
• 8 Instrument Tracks
• 8 MIDI Tracks
• 4 Aux Tracks (shares with Routing Folders)
• 1 Master Track
• 4 Routing Folders (shares with Aux Tracks)
• 4 Simultaneous Inputs and Outputs
• 32-bit floating point processing
• Up to 192 kHz sample rate recording and playback
• 35 Core Avid Plugins
• Xpand!2 Virtual Instrument (with over 2,500 presets)
• Avid Loopmasters Sample Pack
• EUCON Control Protocol Support
• Clip FX (playback only)
• Support for any Core Audio, ASIO, or WASAPI-compatible interface

Certain features, workflows, and plugins remain available only for paid licenses. For instance, features such as VCA Tracks and HEAT, virtual instruments such as GrooveCell, SynthCell, as well as Inner Circle Rewards, are not available with Pro Tools Intro. They remain solely with active Pro Tools subscriptions and active perpetual Software Updates + Support Plans.

A full list of what’s included, specifications, and a comparison chart can be found here.

The operating system requirements remain the same as any other Pro Tools tier. You can check your operating system compatibility here.

HOW DOES PRO TOOLS INTRO COMPARE TO THE DISCONTINUED PRO TOOLS | FIRST?

Pro Tools | First users who have been waiting for a new “free” option for Pro Tools will be happy to know that Pro Tools Intro will replace Pro Tools | First and offer several key improvements. Firstly, Pro Tools Intro is built on the main Pro Tools codebase, ensuring present and future compatibility with paid Pro Tools offerings as new features and enhancements are introduced. Secondly, Pro Tools Intro supports saving sessions locally and uses the standard Pro Tools .ptx session format. Thirdly, unlike Pro Tools | First, all qualified third-party AAX plugins will run in Pro Tools Intro, opening up a huge number of paid and free plugins that you can use from the community of Pro Tools plugin developers.

AVAILABILITY

Pro Tools Intro is available now. If you’re new to making music or creating audio in a DAW, there’s never been a better time to dive into Pro Tools and start making your mark. Visit avid.com/pro-tools-intro for more information.

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