Specifications

Chapter 2: Working with Real-Time Plug-Ins 7
chapter 2
Working with Real-Time Plug-Ins
Real-time plug-ins process audio non-destruc-
tively in real time. They do not alter the original
source audio, but only apply their effect during
playback.
There are two formats of real-time plug-ins:
TDM Plug-Ins rely on the processing power of
Digidesign DSP cards. TDM plug-ins run only on
TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems.
RTAS Plug-Ins rely on the processing power of
your computer. RTAS plug-ins run on Pro Tools
TDM and LE systems.
Processing Power
Requirements of TDM and
RTAS Plug-Ins
TDM and RTAS plug-ins differ in their process-
ing power requirements.
TDM Plug-Ins
Each real-time TDM plug-in in a Pro Tools ses-
sion uses a portion of your system’s total avail-
able DSP resources. Since these DSP resources re-
side on the cards that make up your particular
Pro Tools hardware configuration, the amount
of DSP available depends entirely on the num-
ber and type of DSP cards in your system.
You can add more mixing and processing power
to your system by installing additional DSP
cards, provided you have unused PCI expansion
slots in your computer or use a Digidesign-ap-
proved Expansion Chassis.
The System Usage window (Windows > Show
System Usage) shows how much DSP is available
on your system and how it is currently being
used. For more information on the System Us-
age window, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide.
System Usage window
See Appendix A, “DSP Requirements for
TDM Plug-Ins” for the number of instances
of each Digidesign TDM plug-in that can be
powered by a single DSP chip. DSP usage
differs according to card type.