DROPBOX WORKFLOW & AVID PROTOOLS

 
 


Dropbox allows you to work “virtually” in a group with Protools, sharing sessions almost instantly.

However there are a few rules to follow during the workflow, to make this process smooth.


The following is assumed:

  1. -You’re working with Protools 9.x

  2. -You work with a library program like Soundminer / Netmix etc.

  3. -You work with other people in a group, and need to open up their sessions
    quickly from various locations.

  4. -Each editor / mixer has the necessary plugins to listen to the session (if needed)



Please adhere to this workflow:

 
by Charles Deenenhttp://www.cdeenen.com

  1. 3.Use a SoundMiner transfer folder

inside of the DropBox Folder. This

allows you to instantly use those files

in Protools.

  1. 4.Setup the Session Folder which will

contain your Protools session. The BACKUP

folder should contain previous versions of

your session, just in case something

goes wrong, or you want to revert.

  1. 2.Set your local

Dropbox Location in

the Prefence pane of

the Dropbox Program

  1. 1.Setup a folder structure similar to the one on the picture on the right
    on your main Protools Work-drive. This will be your main DROPBOX folder.
    Make sure to make room for the same amount as your Dropbox account is.
    for a Team Server account, this starts at 350gb, and goes up from there.

  1. 5.You can’t make changes to the session with 2 users simultanously.

To warn the other  “users” that the session is in use, we’re going to mark it. To do so,

make a duplicate of the file, move the “original” to the BACKUP folder.  Then rename

the copy with the current date, and your initials, and make it RED. If somebody else has the session in use, do NOT move it.

7. When opening up a session, check the main output routing (which might be different for you)

  1. 6.perform a manual relink of all files. Select only the DROPBOX folder as your search location.
    Relink using both Filename and ID.  This takes usually 4-5 seconds.

8. There might be times that you have to consolidate your files for one or another reason. Please use the “Project Workspace” in Protools for this. Select the files outside of your Dropbox folder, then perform a “copy and relink” function on these files.

More to come...      -cd

9. There will be times that the “wavecache.wfm” file (or others) will show a “conflicted copy”. All this means is that it wanted to write the file, but another user had it open. We’ve never had an issue with it and protools kept on working fine.