Pro Tools|HD for Mac OS X — Hard Drive Minimum Requirements

With Pro Tools 6.6 with Avid Mojo Video Playback

Storage Overview

When using Avid Mojo, the Power Mac G4 and Power Mac G5 computers listed as qualified on the Pro Tools 6.6 compatibility pages are qualified to provide 48 tracks of 48 kHz audio and one stream of uncompressed video. Your performance may vary based on number of audio tracks, edit density, automation, and plug-in usage.

Storage Requirements

• Due to the extra demands placed on the system by routing video to the Avid Mojo, FireWire storage is NOT supported for either audio or video with Pro Tools 6.6 and Macintosh OS 10.3.5. Using FireWire storage can result in system crashes and data loss. Please continue to check these compatibility pages for the latest compatibility updates
• Pro Tools with Avid Mojo requires separate SCSI drives for audio and video.
• The audio drives and the video drives should each be connected to separate SCSI channels. For more information, see "Setting Up Local Storage" on page 11 of the Pro Tools Avid Mojo Video Peripherals Guide:
  • Download Avid Mojo Video Peripheral Guide (351 k)
• Striped Drive Requirements (Video Storage Only): Striped drives are configured so that multiple hard drives behave as if they are one hard drive. This makes higher data throughput possible. Requirements will vary depending on the drives. For example, the 5th-Generation DigiDrives™ (released November 2001) require 2-way striped drive sets when capturing or playing uncompressed (1:1) video. For earlier generations of drives, 4- way striped drives or greater (4 or more drives acting as one) are required when capturing or playing uncompressed (1:1) video.
• When "inheriting" a drive containing audio and video data from an Avid system, we recommend you connect this drive to the SCSI channel dedicated to video storage. There is no need to copy the audio data from such a drive to your dedicated audio drives, however we recommend that you not record any additional audio tracks onto this drive.
• For creating a striped array of video drives, Pro Tools 6.6 has been tested with ATTO ExpressStripe 3.0. Avid Xpress Pro software ships with ATTO ExpressStripe 2.10. Though we have not tested this version with Pro Tools 6.6, we are not aware of any incompatibity.

SCSI Host Bus Adapter Requirements

• Digidesign SCSI|128 or ATTO UL3D qualified.
• Unlike AVoption|XL, Avid Mojo does not require audio and video drives to have separate HBAs in order to play uncompressed video. The Audio and Video can be on separate SCSI channels of a single HBA.
• See the Read Me contained in the ATTO Utilites folder installed in the Digidesign folder for important instructions on updating your drivers and firmware to the approved versions for these cards:
  • Ex PCI Config Tool 2.6.1
  • ExPCIOPlus driver 3.1.0
  • firmware 1.6.6

The ATTO Utilites with all of the above software, drivers and firmware can be downloaded from here:

• Digidesign Storage Downloads

Disk Performance and the Mac OS X 10.3 Journaled File System

Mac OS X 10.3 incorporates a journaled file system, which will automatically log any file modifications. If your computer crashes badly enough to require a restart (or a restart from a power failure), the OS will then use the journal to aid in fixing any disk problems caused by the crash. Because any write to the disk will also incur a journal update, this will slightly slow down disk performance.

Mac OS X 10.3 ships with journaling on by default. Digidesign recommends that customers format their media drives with journaling turned off. If you are using Apple's Disk Utility program to format drives, choose "Mac OS Extended" format, instead of "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".

If you wish to turn off journaling on your boot drive as well, perform the following steps:

1. Run the Apple Disk Utility
2. In the main window, select the boot volume
3. From the File menu, choose "Disable Journaling"

Note that this will slow recovery if your system has to be rebooted to recover from a kernel panic or power failure.

Optional Digidesign & Avid Storage

• Avid MediaDrive rS36/320 LVD
• Avid MediaDrive rS73/320 LVD
• Avid MediaDock iS36/320 LVD Shuttle
• Avid MediaDock iS73/320 LVD Shuttle
• Avid MediaDock Dual
• Avid MediaDock Dual+
• DigiDrive MediaDock
• DigiDrive SCSI Drives
• SCSI-128 Kit (ATTO Express PCI-UL3D)

SCSI Hard Drives

• SCSI interface: Wide single-ended or low-voltage differential (LVD or Ultra 160)
• Disk drive rotational speed: 10,000 RPM or faster
• Buffer Size: 512K or larger

Additional SCSI Requirements for Pro Tools Systems

Disk Formatting

• Mac OS file system: Mac OS Standard (HFS) or Mac OS Extended (HFS+)
• Mac OS Extended (HFS+) strongly recommended
• Supported formatting utility: Apple Disk Utility, included with Mac OS X
  1. Open from the following location: Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility, or in the Apple Menu when booted from the OS X installation CD.
  2. Select drive from the list on the left
  3. Choose either the Erase or Partition tab
  4. Choose Mac OS Extended*
  5. If you plan on using your drive on both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, check the box next to "Install Mac OS 9 Drivers".
  6. Note: partitioning is not an option using the Erase command. To increase performance and improve seek time Digidesign recommends that you allocate a portion of your hard drive for recording. In Pro Tools, Choose Setups/Preferences and click Operation. Under the Open Ended Record Allocation option, select Limit To and enter a number of minutes to be allocated.

*Also known as HFS+. Do not choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for record and playback drives. (see above)

ATTO Utilities

ATTO ExpressPCI Configuration Tool

You must install this if you are using a Digidesign SCSI|128 or ATTO EPCI-UL3D SCSI Host Bus Adapter card with a Mac OS X system.

The cards listed above control the flow of SCSI data to and from your computer, and they must have the proper firmware and be set correctly for maximum performance. If you are using one of these cards, you will need the ExpressPCI Configuration Tool. The ATTO Utilites can be downloaded from here:

• Digidesign Storage Downloads

Supported SCSI Cards and Settings

• See Qualified SCSI Host Bus Adapter Cards

Hard Drives

Hard drive families from the following manufacturers are recommended:

* First generation DigiDrives are not supported in LVD mode

Notes

• Pro Tools has a single audio file size limit of 2048MB. This equates to about 4.5 hours at 24-bit, 44.1 kHz.
• High Speed Drives require manufacturer-approved enclosure to ensure correct heat dissipation, required for sustained drive reliability.

Storage Stats

Approximate Storage Consumption (Megabytes per Minute per Track)

As with all Pro Tools systems, drive performance depends on a number of factors, including track count, edit density, and the use of crossfades or processing like Beat Detective. For sessions with high edit density, we recommend the following configurations. Testing has been conducted using Digidesign DigiDrives and Avid MediaDrives. Performance with other drives may vary.