Pro Tools 2023.9 Now Available—What’s New
The Pro Tools 2023.9 software update is now available and introduces the new Pro tools Sketch Window, Export Selected Range, Plugin Width Filtering, Plugin Reordering, dashboard updates, and much more.
For a detailed technical overview of the new features, be sure to check out the “What’s New in Pro Tools 2023.9” guide and release notes here. To get a summary of all recent releases and more, please visit the What's New in Pro Tools page.
PRO TOOLS SKETCH WINDOW AND IPAD APP (ALL PRO TOOLS VERSIONS)
Capture and play with ideas anywhere inspiration strikes with Pro Tools Sketch, a new window in all versions of Pro Tools (including the free Pro Tools Intro) and separately available as a free iPad app. Pro Tools Sketch is a significant expansion of the Pro Tools music creation workflow, adding a non-linear creation environment to Pro Tools’ world-class recording, editing and mixing capabilities.
New Pro Tools Sketch Window
You can now create clip-based sketches in which loops, MIDI, and recordings can be freely organized and played. Once you have an arrangement that you like, you can export as a .WAV or drag clips or even entire arrangements into the Pro Tools Edit timeline for further production. And because you can move sketches between computer and iPad at will, you can capture and experiment with musical ideas anywhere.
Check out the in-depth Pro Tools Sketch blog for more details.
EXPORT SELECTED RANGE (PRO TOOLS STUDIO & ULTIMATE ONLY)
You can now export portions of the timeline as a new session with a new “Save Copy In” option: “Selected Timeline Range Only.” This new option is useful for breaking up a large post “super-session”, separating a live recording into a session per song, or saving important elements of the session as bite size pieces. You can tailor this by exporting only selected tracks or just the main playlists.
Since the exported portions of the session might be imported into the middle of another session, an additional checkbox lets you add anchor breakpoints to all automation playlists for the selected export. This ensures that the material imports to the destination session with the correct levels, panning, etc. This prevents inadvertent level changes to controls that lack breakpoints in the destination session and eliminates accidental automation ramps.
PLUGIN WIDTH FILTERING (PRO TOOLS STUDIO & ULTIMATE ONLY)
The 2023.6 release introduced track and channel widths up to 9.1.6 and 7th order Ambisonics, and many plugin manufacturers are supporting these new formats. Since a single plugin can have over ten width-changing variations, we’ve reorganized the plugin lists to reduce clutter. If any plugin offers four or more widths, we now put those choices in a sub-folder. Plugin widths are filtered out of the insert list if you’ve chosen to hide the channel widths from the application. If you’re not interested in creating tracks of a certain format, we’ve also hidden the plugin widths from the insert and search menus.
PLUGIN REORDERING (ALL PRO TOOLS VERSIONS)
Does the EQ go before the compressor or after? Good news: you no longer need to make that decision when you setup your session, and you no longer need to leave one slot empty to shuffle plugins around in case you change your mind at a later point. Just click on a plugin and drag it up or down to its new position. Additionally, now that drag-and-drop between slots is supported, a safety layer is added in case a plugin is dropped on another plugin by mistake and is replaced as a result.OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
We always try to add small quality of life improvements along the way. In addition to the highlights above, 2023.9 also:
- Adds a key command to move an edit selection into the next marker lane, or ruler—enabling you to quickly navigate only between tracks that contain markers.
- Exposes an existing key command in the Paste Special menu that allows merging markers when pasting.
- Consolidates the list of paths in the Default Path Order list in I/O Setup.
- Adds New ‘Path Order’ listings to the Input Tab of I/O Setup to make it easier to create paths that align with re-render returns from the Dolby Atmos Renderer.
New Path Order Listings
- Expands the ability of the video slewing preference, introduced in 2023.6, to turn off video slewing only during loop playback. Slewing is a feature that allows video and audio to stay in sync when there isn’t a common clock reference between video and audio hardware. However, it can be problematic in certain circumstances, and loop playback is one of them. This new option lets you keep longer playback passes in sync, while maintaining performance during loop playback.
AVAILABILITY
Pro Tools 2023.9 is now available for all Pro Tools customers on an active subscription or perpetual license with current a Software Updates + Support Plan, as well as all Pro Tools Intro users. You can update through Avid Link or find it in your Avid Account. You can download the new Pro Tools Sketch iPad app free here. If you need to renew your Software Updates + Support Plan for Pro Tools or want to get current to the latest version, you can find options to do so here. And if you’re new to Pro Tools, you can try out the latest version with our free 30-day trial.
For more details about this release, please see the new documentation now available in your Avid Account.
Chris Winsor and Elpiniki Pappa
Chris has spent the last 14 years testing and designing solutions at Avid concentrating on audio post workflows, while Elpiniki has been involved professionally with audio software for almost a decade and made music under Eski Göten for even longer.