Pro Tools Source Elements Announce Sourceconnect 3.8 For Mac

It runs over a robust, constant bitrate MPEG4 AAC codec up to 160kbps mono / 320kbps stereo. Source-Connect is able to interface directly and with predictable input and output gain with the recording system’s work station. It does not alter the amplitude domain nor the time domain of the stream when it encounters bandwidth issues. In doing so this allows for a seamless restoration and even PCM replacement of the recorded audio stream. It has many other features like RTS transport lock that make it work very well in strenuous professional situations.

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You can set the bit rate according to the available bandwidth of the Internet connections, from 32kbps mono to 320kbps stereo. As the latency with Source-Live is much higher than with Source-Connect, Source-Live is much more tolerant of Internet bandwidth issues and I was successfully broadcasting to New Zealand in a matter of moments even through peak UK Internet usage time. As you might expect, Source-Connect works best when both parties are working from the same Session, so you would usually want to send the host Session to the remote system via FTP or similar before you begin working (see 'Case Study' box). Source-Connect also needs a good Internet connection and good routing.

Source-Connect Now: high-quality, bi-directional streaming in your Chrome web browser. For musicians, radio stations, voice talent, studios, podcasters and more. Affordable, easy to use, and options for all levels. Source-Connect Pro 3.0 User Guide © 2004-2008 Source Elements 6 2.3: Downloading and Installing Source-Connect.

Source-Conne ct provides professional studio access to the encoding and decoding of high quality, real-time audio streaming from within your editing environment, along with Remote Transport Sync (RTS), for remote synchronization of recording sessions. To reduce the channel bandwidth requirements while maintaining low delay and high quality communications, Source-Connect uses a state-of-the-art AAC codec developed by Fraunhofer IIS. In addition to streaming and RTS capabilities, Source-Connect also provides Contacts management and Instant Messaging features. You can add or remove contacts and edit your personal settings and profile by logging in to your account on the Source-Connect website.

It cleverly uses a special version of a Rewire plug-in to achieve this. You control the remote system's timeline position, so when you press the Play button, it is like reaching out to locate the cursor and hit the space bar on the other person's system. Once the remote system is running it tells the host system to chase where it is through the special Rewire plug-in and then the two systems are in sync. Source Elements have included a range of special keyboard shortcuts for this function to keep the Session flowing. Another new plug-in from Source Elements allows you to broadcast your mixes live over the Internet in real time for instant client approval. No more FTP uploading and downloading: your clients only need a basic Internet connection, web browser and audio monitoring connected to their computers to be able to review your mixes in real time. It works like this: you put the Source-Live plug-in in your Master track to broadcast the complete mix.

For more details see the issue of Sound On Sound. Rocket Network is long gone, but now a different company called Source Elements have come up with a product that enables real-time working across the Internet, enabling you to sync up Pro Tools Sessions in real time across the world — or at least where you have a good broadband Internet connection!

Hit the Broadcast button and you will see a URL appear in the plug-in window. Click on the URL to copy it, and either email that URL to your client or click on the Invite Listener button, which will create an email in your default email application with the link already in the text. They put the URL into their browser and there you are, broadcasting directly to multiple clients anywhere in the world.

The template Session supplied by Source Elements illustrating how Source-Connect should be plumbed into a Pro Tools project.So how does it work? Source-Connect is an HTDM/RTAS plug-in which supports all Pro Tools configurations from v6.4 upwards — both TDM and LE, Mac and PC — and is authorised to an iLok key. You also need a broadband Internet connection of some flavour, and Source Elements advise that this needs to have download and upload speeds of at least 300kbps. To use Source-Connect you need to add an aux input track to your PT Session, add the Source-Connect plug-in as an insert on that track, then route the audio to and from that track so that, in effect, the aux track becomes your remote I/O interface. It is important to note that the Source-Connect plug-in does not act like other plug-ins, in that audio routed to the input of this channel no longer reaches its output when Source-Connect is inserted. Instead, audio routed to the input of the channel gets sent out over the Internet, and the audio received from the Internet shows up on the output of the channel.

You also need to route an output from your Session so that your remote user can hear audio from your Session. You will notice in this example that the output routing from the Playback track has a '+' in front of its routing. This indicates that there are further outputs set from this channel, in this case buss 2 as well as 'main out'. (To assign multiple outputs from a track in this way, hold down the Ctrl key as you select an extra output.) Finally, buss 2 should be selected as the input source on the Source-Connect I/O aux track to complete the two-way routing. The other track in the template is an aux track that is there to route the output of a talkback mic to the remote user to enable easy voice communication. Mike Aiton runs the Pro Tools audio suite at ESPN Classic in London, a newly launched sports channel on Sky.

Before they would have to send out a producer to Milan, with associate flights and overnight stays. Now they hook up with Milan using Source-Connect and the producer walks down to the dubbing suite, and it is all done in under an hour. 'It's like magic!' The plug-in initially offers a log-in window. All users need to be registered at the Source Elements web site, so the first thing to do is to log in to the Source-Connect server. Once you're logged in, the window expands to show the I/O or Connections section.

While the initial beta will not directly connect to Source-Connect standalone software, Source-Connect Now will eventually also directly connect to dedicated software versions of Source-Connect offering either side of the connection the ability to run with dedicated software, workstation plug-ins as well as the new Chrome browser based option. We also have an iOS version in development, and Android support is very close. How is the technology being utilized by consumers? Recently we have had radio shows run live on the air from London to San Francisco as well as countless VO records, ADR and mix monitoring sessions. Source-Connect is used every day.

What changes have you made to the technology or pricing over the past few years? Source-Connect 3.8 will have the ability to make connections regardless of firewall settings. Recently we have added a Surround Sound capable version called Source-Connect Pro X as well as several other new products.

Once you have logged on you will then show up as 'on-line' to other users whose contact lists you are in. By clicking on the Profile button you can see another user's details, and once registered you should also create your own Profile, which will help other users looking for someone to link up with. Instant Messaging To further assist two-way communication, there is an instant messaging option built into the plug-in window to enable text communication without interfering with the audio paths. Source Elements have added keyboard shortcuts to make it easy to switch between working in the Session and using the instant messaging without using the mouse.

Overview Remote recording for audio professionals. It's designed for you. Portable, high-quality, secure. Record and monitor from anywhere in the world, using your professional tools Source-Connect Pro is designed for studios and audio professionals. You'll need Pro if you have more than one studio in your facility, want to run remote mix approvals and review, connect with multiple locations at the same time or need any of the advanced features. Pro also supports full Auto-Restore and Replace features, so you'll never miss a take. Since version 3.5, Source-Connect is no longer a plug-in but a standalone application with Source-Connect Link.

Last week Source Elements that runs on any platform by simply utilizing a Google web browser, called Source Connect Now. Voice Over Herald chatted to Source-Connect’s Technical Director Rebekah Wilson this week about other updates on products. [hr] If someone was looking for an ISDN alternative, why would you recommend Source-Connect over other options out there at the moment? Source-Connect offers a connection that is the most like ISDN while still running over IP (Internet Protocol).

One of interest may be Source-Nexus which is an application audio router for Mac OSX. Specifically for your readers, Source-Nexus will allow any application to feed its audio to – and get its audio from – a Pro Tools AAX plugin (VST and AU soon to be released). Thus, other software or browser based codecs can effectively be deployed as plug-ins even if their makers don’t specifically make plug-ins them selves. This can be very useful with our new Chrome browser based version of Source-Connect Now that has just gone into private beta (February 13th). Source-Connect Now is operated via the latest in vogue platform, the Chrome-based browser. It will be offered as a very affordable subscription service providing excellent sound quality via the Opus audio codec at up to 128kbps. We will likely include guest accounts in the base subscription as well as many many other optional features to make the Chrome environment as professional and effective as possible without requiring dedicated software to run.

An innovative new plug-in allows Pro Tools users to record each other over the Internet, in real time. Those with a long memory might recall the Rocket Network system for long-distance collaboration. With the Rocket Network, you could have two or more users working on the same project from remote locations via a central server that handled the file management. However, there was no reliance on sending audio in real time over the Internet: when a user added new data to their Session, the Rocket Network would upload that to the other users. The down side was that the others had to wait whilst the system did this.

If you aren’t aware of then this video demonstrates how you can use Source-Connect to lock two Pro Tools systems together and they also have a feature where you can replace the AAC files with the original WAV files. For much more on Source-Connect. Arrange a Free Source-Connect Trial You can arrange to get you started courtesy of Source Elements.

Mike prepares a working Session with three stereo tracks, containing dialogue, sound effects and music. He also produces a guide video track using Avid's Media Station V10 for Pro Tools to digitise the video, from which he produces an MPEG 4 version of the video for the remote studio to view. Next he Zips up the Session and the video files and uploads them to an FTP site. Zerodibi then downloads these files, opens up the Session, adds the necessary Source-Connect tracks from a template Session and they are ready to go. From within the Source-Connect plug-in, Mike is able to control the transport of Zerodibi's system and the session then becomes just the same as if the talent were in Mike's own vocal booth. The person recording the voiceover is able to see the video and so isn't working 'blind', and both systems lock up in around half a second. Source-Connect has revolutionised the way ESPN handle their foreign-language dubs.

Choose your version based on the feature-set you need.

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The latest Unverse update also addresses some bugs, read belo.

RTAS FOR PRO TOOLS LE We continue our commitment to support Pro Tools from version 7 and up. RAMP UP YOUR SESSIONS 88.2 AND 96KHZ WITH PRO Use your high sample-rate sessions directly with Source-Connect Pro, whether you're using Link or digital I/O. Note: 88.2 and 98k sessions cannot be used for Remote Transport Sync NO MORE GUESSWORK INTEGRATED SUPPORT TOOLS Sometimes things go haywire and our Support team of experts is here to help.

The Source-Connect software has a good range of settings to cope with a wide range of Internet connections, and as a rule of thumb they suggest a factor of two, meaning that to get 320kbps stereo then you need a solid 640kbps connection. All of this doesn't consider contention ratio, which on domestic circuits is 50:1, so it is a good idea to check your actual upload and download speeds using a site like. Even with some business circuits the contention ratio is 5:1, so for it to work reliably, users need a very good pipe to the Internet.

This was confirmed by my various tests around the world. User experiences show that link-ups within Europe are better. It would be fair to say that the effectiveness of the software is very largely controlled by the quality of the Internet infrastructure, and in the UK it is still relatively poor unless you order a large dedicated connection to the Internet like EPSN Classic have done (see 'Case Study' box). With the right sort of Internet connection, however, the plug-in itself just works.

ESPN produce programming in four European languages for broadcast on their four separate networks throughout Europe. One of the applications Mike uses Source-Connect for is to get access to a much wider range of voiceover talent to add foreign-language audio to ESPN's programming. Mike has a 'ring-fenced' 1Mbps up- and download link on the company's 'pipe' to the internet. With this he is able to work at 320kbps both ways, and he says 'I can't tell the difference, it is like having the voiceover in my own studio.' One of his regular link-ups is with Zerodibi (pronounced ZeroDB) in Milan, Italy run by Clay Remini.

In fact, Source Elements' recommendation of a minimum of 300kbps up and down rules out nearly all domestic UK broadband Internet connections and most business ones, as the upload speed is usually 256kbps. The Settings window allows you to fine-tune the plug-in to work with your particular Internet connection.Users may still find these Internet services work within the UK and Europe, but you will most likely have problems when connecting further afield. However, 8Mbps and faster services are now starting to come on stream in some parts of the country, and these come with faster upload speeds — usually 750kbps, which easily exceeds the 300kbps recommended by Source Elements. Source Elements offer a 15-day free full-featured trial version so you can see if your Internet connection is up it before buying Source-Connect. There are two other bandwidth-related issues that can cause problems. The first is contention ratio. The system employed by broadband service providers means you are actually sharing your connection with as many as 50 other people on a domestic package, so although you might have access to a link that is nominally 8Mbps, your share could be as low as 160kbps, which is no longer fast enough to run Source-Connect.

This, of course, is a worst-case scenario as it assumes that all 50 people are on-line and up- or downloading large amounts of data at the same time, which rarely tends to be the case, and this 'diversity' is what the service providers depend on. However, with the increase in media-related services being delivered over the Internet, I believe the diversity issue is going to be an increasing problem until there is a major rebuild of the Internet infrastructure, especially here in the UK. It should be noted that with business packages contention ratios are reduced, often down to 5:1, and that probably explains the price difference between domestic and business broadband services. The other issue that can affect the performance of the Source-Connect plug-in, or any low-latency real-time Internet application, is 'bottlenecking' which results in packet losses or jitter. This is especially noticeable going across the Atlantic; UK to Europe seems to be fine, but links from the UK to the US and Canada can suffer from these bottlenecks in the Internet infrastructure. Top 6 rapper. Source-Connect is able to handle up to 10 percent packet loss, but above that, it understandably can't cope.