Avid has unveiled Pro Tools 2019 and this new version supports 4K and UHD playback. The company revealed it at AES in New York this week.
The new features should allow sound departments to use 4K and high-frame-rate files from editorial instead of transcoding and/or down-resing proxies for audio.
Pro Tools 2019 looks to match Media Composer
With this update, it seems like Pro Tools and Pro Tools Ultimate will have the same support for video rasters and frame rates as Media Composer. “It’s important to note that Pro Tools will now mirror Media Composer in its support for high-resolution video, allowing engineers to import media directly into Pro Tools without the additional step of transcoding the file format or resolution,” Avid says in a blog post
It will also come with the ability to set resolution and frame rate independently. Also, Avid’s Greg Stryke Chin wrote that it will offer more precise editing to picture.
“The latest Pro Tools 2019 update allows audio professionals to work on the same high-resolution video used in Media Composer within Pro Tools, eliminating the need for transcoding and file format or resolution conversion,” said director of product marketing for audio & video solutions Rob D’Amico.
More powerful Dolby Atmos
Additionally, it seems that Avid has increased the power of Dolby Atmos. Now, Pro Tools 2019 can send 130 CoreAudio channels to Dolby Atmos Renderer software. This should make it simpler to mix and playback.
Availability
So far we don’t have much information about Pro Tools 2019; Avid has yet to announce a release date.