Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide400
Recording and Playback from
HFS+ Drives on Windows
Windows supports recording and playback of ses-
sions directly from Mac-formatted (HFS+) drives
using the MacDrive software application.
When using MacDrive for recording and playback
on a Windows system, the session file and all audio
files must be stored on Mac-formatted (HFS+)
drives. Recording and playback of a session from a
mixture of Windows- and Mac-formatted drives is
not supported.
To record or play back from HFS+ drives with
Windows using MacDrive:
1 In Windows, go to the MacDrive Control Panel.
2 Choose Options > File Names and select the In-
ternational Use
option.
3 Delete all options listed under “File Name
Maps.”
4 In Pro Tools, choose Window > Workspace and
make sure that all Mac-formatted volumes are
set to R (record) or P (playback) in the A (Au-
dio) and V (Video) columns.
Saving Copies of Mac Sessions
to be Compatible with Windows
(Save Copy In to Pro Tools 6.9.x and Lower
Only)
Sessions created and saved as Pro Tools 7.x and
higher sessions are always compatible on both
Windows and Mac systems.
If you create a Pro Tools 6.9.x or lower session on
a Mac system, the session is only compatible on
Windows systems if the
Enforce Mac/PC Compat-
ibility
option is selected when using the Save Copy
In
command. In addition, there are cross-platform
limits to consider when completing the
Save Copy
In
command.
Cross-Platform Session Limits
When saving (or creating) a copy of a Pro Tools
session that you want to be compatible on both
Mac and Windows, keep in mind the following
limits and how Pro Tools deals with them:
Audio File Types
The recommended file format for cross-platform
interoperability is BWF (.WAV). To support opti-
mal session interchange, Pro Tools defaults to
BWF format for new sessions.
Pro Tools lets you save, bounce, and export in a
variety of audio file formats, including WAV,
AIFF, SD II, MP3, and QuickTime.
File Name Extensions
For cross-platform compatibility, all files in a ses-
sion must have a 3-letter file extension added to the
file name. Pro Tools 5.1 to 6.9.x session files have
the extension “.pts,” and Pro Tools 5 sessions have
the extension “.pt5.” Wave files have the “.wav”
file extension, and AIFF files have the “.aif” file
extension.
In older versions of Pro Tools, Mac-
formatted HFS+ drives could only be used
as Transfer volumes when connected to
Windows systems using MacDrive.