Pro Tools | Ultimate™ or Pro Tools | HD™ on a separate computer via Avid® Satellite Link

Introduction

This DAW Sync option provides the tightest & fastest sync with Pro Tools® on a separate computer - using Avid® Satellite Link. Any version of Pro Tools | Ultimate™ or Pro Tools | HD™ 11 or higher are required to serve as a Satellite Admin. This setup is as comparably fast & easy as setting up on the same machine. There are only some minor differences.

Avid® Satellite Link Setup in Video Sync

Setting up Satellite Link is quite simple and straight-forward & should only need to be done once to have Video Sync connected to the Satellite Link network. Many of these settings should already be correctly setup by default - it’s just a case of manually confirming they are correct.

The Satellite Link options in Video Sync can be found in the SYNC tab of the Preferences window.

Click on Satellite Link in the Sync Method field.

In the Pro Tools | Satellite Link settings box at the bottom of the window, set the Control Mode to Pro Tools on separate computer.

If not already, set the Port field to 28282.

Port 28282 is the default port used by Pro Tools. This port number can be changed if 28282 is not usable in your network or to create different Satellite “subnets”, e.g. one for each studio.

To give this computer’s Video Sync a unique Satellite name that would show up in Pro Tools®’ Satellite options, type it in the Satellite Name field. This is especially useful for identifying each instance of Video Sync, if running multiple Video Sync Satellites on the same network.

The Network Interface address selection allows for selecting the network interface to use. Make sure to select the interface corresponding configured with the IP address also used in the Pro Tools® on the other computer being connected connect to.

The steps up until this point in Video Sync should only need to be done once. After that - Video Sync should always be automatically connected to the Satellite network when it is available - unless the Satellite settings are changed.

Next go to the timeline tab on the top left & make a note of the timecode rate of the current timeline being used, so that can be matched in Pro Tools®.

Mis-matched Pro Tools® Session Timecode Rate & Video Sync TC Frame Rate will cause out-of-sync playback. This needs to be checked which each different session.

Enable the Sync State button to the left of the transport controls in the middle of the main Video Sync window.

Avid® Satellite Link Setup in Pro Tools® | Ultimate™ / Pro Tools | HD™

In Pro Tools®, go to the Session Setup window and confirm that the timecode rate & range match those set in Video Sync.

Then go to the Setup menu > Peripherals > Satellites tab:

Make sure that Administrator is selected under the Mode box.

In the Administrator box, make sure Administrator is selected as System 1.

Under the Advanced Network Settings, check that the Interface tab is set to the same network that was chosen in Video Sync. Check that the TCP/UDP Port: value is set to the same value also selected in Video Sync (28282 by default).

In the Administrator box, select the Video Sync instance with the name defined earlier from the dropdown menu for the next available System (2 by default if no other Satellites connected).

If for any reason Video Sync does not show up in the list, re-check all the settings & hit the Reset Network button.

Click OK.

Video Sync is now connected to the Satellite network, but will not yet start syncing until it is online in the Pro Tools® Transport window.

If looped playback does not work, and the settings have been double-checked are correct, please close the apps, make a backup copy of your Pro Tools preference files & then delete them. Please refer to the documentation supplied with your version of Pro Tools to confirm how to do that.

Enabling Synchronised playback

In Video Sync, the Source, Timecode Rate and the Incoming Timecode should now be seen in the SYNC tab of the Preferences window when hitting play or scrubbing within Pro Tools®.

Due to the method used to achieve sync across Satellite Link, the Incoming TC field will only update & show the correct timecode value when the transport is stationary.

In Pro Tools, check that the expanded Satellite Synchronisation box is showing in the Transport window by clicking on the downwards pointing arrow on the top right of the window, & making sure the Synchronization controls are enabled.

Enable the Satellite Devices that now appear in the Transport Bar in Pro Tools®. There should be one for Pro Tools® and one for Video Sync.

Enable the arrow keys to the right of the Satellite Devices- which provide positional sync information. There should be an orange arrow for Pro Tools®, and a green arrow for Video Sync.

This will also automatically enable the Sync button to the left of Video Sync’s Transport controls.

Video Sync Satellite Link is now online & ready to go. Hit play in Pro Tools® and Video Sync will play back in sync.