Searched the forum without luck, so have a question. I am using Sonar 4, just bought a Pro Tools HD2 rig. I will continue to use Sonar, but there are some projects that I want to import into Pro Tools. Pro Tools come with a 30 day demo of Digitranslator that reads OMF files. This has worked O.K. for importing audio and track names only, but I am having a couple of prolems. I have tried using the option where the .wav files are imbedded in the OMF file, but when imported into Pro Tools the .wav files all have a .OMF extension, and Pro Tools cannot seem to tell me if this will be a problem after the demo expires.

It was suggested that I use the Sonar option of having the audio files seperate as opposed to imbedded. This seemed to work O.K., except Pro Tools cannot import the .wav files because the file names are more than 31 characters (some kind of Pro Tools limitation, sigh). I looked, but did not see a way a could programatically shorten the .wav file names that Sonar creates. They did not know why in the embedded case the .wav files have a .omf extension (when imported like this, they work just fine, but so far no answer on whether these will continue to work after the expiration).

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks,
Tom

hey tom,
is this on a Mac you've got the 31 char limit? I've never hit that one...
jeff

ORIGINAL: jmarkham

hey tom,
is this on a Mac you've got the 31 char limit? I've never hit that one...
jeff

Nope, PC. This problem was verified by tech support and a user on the Pro Tools Windows forum.

I think you'll find another set of strangeness with the OMF embedded ...
which led me to conclude that the digitranslator has really limited value
as compared to exporting the individual tracks from Sonar (as an option to
File->Export), exporting a MIDI track and then importing the whole lot into
PT (starting with the MIDI file). Unlike AAF, OMF doesn't have a whole lot
of info other than the audio track files and the markers.
I've heard of people having 96+ tracks .. in which case, the OMF
translator probably makes sense .. but $500 for it ? you may not
really need it.

best wishes on the 192 rig .. it sounds good don't it? If they just
had WDM/KS drivers for the hardware ;-)
jeff

ps: my PT friend says you don't need the translator once you've converted
the files ...

ORIGINAL: jmarkham

I think you'll find another set of strangeness with the OMF embedded ...
which led me to conclude that the digitranslator has really limited value
as compared to exporting the individual tracks from Sonar (as an option to
File->Export), exporting a MIDI track and then importing the whole lot into
PT (starting with the MIDI file). Unlike AAF, OMF doesn't have a whole lot
of info other than the audio track files and the markers.
I've heard of people having 96+ tracks .. in which case, the OMF
translator probably makes sense .. but $500 for it ? you may not
really need it.

best wishes on the 192 rig .. it sounds good don't it? If they just
had WDM/KS drivers for the hardware ;-)
jeff

ps: my PT friend says you don't need the translator once you've converted
the files ...

Right now what I am looking for is exporting several projects so I can start climbing the learning curve on Pro Tools. I am in the middle of producing a CD and a few smaller projects, so I am not ready to make the switch yet. I am tryaing to avoid as much manual file name changes and individual track exporting and importing, but if I have to do it, I guess I will. Thanks for the info on not needing the translator. If that is the case, then I am good to go. In the future, the real need I see for importing is if I am doing a remote session with Sonar (rhythm tracks mainly since my two room studio is kind of small, I usually do drums elsewhere), and that seems manageable on a track by track basis.

Thanks for the best wishes. I ended up with an HD2 system with a 96 I/O interface. I am thinking about taking the 96 back for a 192, I have uncovered a couple of things that I like better than were not clearly spelled out in docs I read and by the salesperson. I think I need your best wishes though, because software installation has been a nightmare. While I am mostly a hobbyist, I have been running a pretty nice Sonar setup for quite about 8 months, this is my first venture into a real PC based system (used a 2480 previously), like I said, I have lots of projects approaching 30 tracks each, lots of plugins, running an RME Multiface interface with Presonus and Focusrite preamps, and I am really happy with the quality I am getting, and I have done a good job squeezing out pro performance from my rig. I guess the point is, I sort of know what I am doing, and I have been surprised by how difficult Pro Tools has been to get running. The version of the software that came with the rig just locked up my system. Installing their latest version, 6.9 was a complete nightmare, and their tech support was not helpful ("yes, we know about those problems, don't know how to fix them"). Right now I do have 6.9 installed, and everything appears quite stable, but it was more work than expected.

Thanks again,

Tom

ProTools has problems working with embedded OMFs. I dont know if stating this makes any difference to you though! It is quite widely documented on the net. I've had similar problems using embedded OMFs from PT on PC and PT on a Mac at work. Funnily enough, using the OMF in Sonar I've had no problems at all.