AVoption|XL Requirements for Mac OS X

With Pro Tools 6.1, 6.2, and 6.2.3 for Pro Tools|HD & Pro Tools|HD Accel Systems

With Pro Tools 6.1 for Pro Tools|24 MIX Systems

Pro Tools 6.4 is Not Compatible with AVoption|XL

• AVoption|XL is not supported in Pro Tools 6.4. Do Not Install Pro Tools 6.4 on an AVoption|XL system.
• AVoption|XL users on Mac OS X 10.3 must use Pro Tools 6.2.3
  • Pro Tools 6.2.3 Downloads & Details
  • Pro Tools|HD with Pro Tools 6.2.3 Compatibility Documents
• AVoption|V10 is only compatible on Windows XP. AVoption|V10 is not compatible with Mac OS X

Please Note: AVoption|XL has unique compatibility requirements. If the information on this page appears to contradict information listed elsewhere in these Compatibility Documents, please adhere to the information listed on this page when configuring a system which includes AVoption|XL.

Important Information: For updated slot order information with the latest qualified configurations, refer to the AVoption|XL Guide in the Technical Document Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website. For further compatibility information when used with Expanded Systems, see the Supported Optional Expansion Chassis web pages for your system in the Compatibility Documents.

Digidesign PCI Card and Hardware Supplied with System

• Meridien Digital Media Board
• Break Out Box with Analog Video I/O board installed

Digidesign Software Compatibility

• Pro Tools 6.2.3 for Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools|HD Accel systems on Mac OS X 10.3.x"Panther"
• Pro Tools 6.2 for Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools|HD Accel systems on Mac OS X 10.2.x "Jaguar"
• Pro Tools 6.1 for Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools|24 MIX systems on Mac OS X 10.2.x "Jaguar"
• Pro Tools 5.3.1 for Pro Tools|HD systems on Mac OS 9
• Pro Tools 5.1.3 for Pro Tools|24 MIX systems on Mac OS 9
• AVoption|XL Software (provided on separate AVXL CD for Mac OS 9, included on Pro Tools 6.0.1 and higher installation CDs)
• DigiTranslator 2.0 Included [ more information on DigiTranslator ]

Required Hardware Components (not supplied)

• Pro Tools|24 MIX or Pro Tools|HD system
• SYNC I/O with Pro Tools|HD systems
• SYNC I/O or Universal Slave Driver (USD) with Pro Tools|24 MIX systems
• Digidesign Qualified SCSI Accelerator
• For Video Storage: Only one SCSI card (described above) is required for both audio and video storage when 3:1 is the highest desired video quality, although Digidesign recommends a second SCSI card for optimum performance. When 2:1 or 1:1 (uncompressed) video resolutions are required, a second SCSI interface dedicated to video storage is required — namely, the ATTO ExpressPCI Ultra-3 LVD SCSI HBA card (EPCI-UL3D).

Optional Hardware

• Serial Digital Interface - Optional interface that installs onto the Video I/O board installed in the Break Out Box. This interface gives AVoption|XL Serial Digital (SDI) input and output capabilities.

Optional Software

• FilmFrame™ — Combined with AVoption|XL, FilmFrame supports import, editing and playback of 24P and 25P video clips created on Avid workstations. FilmFrame for Pro Tools 5.1.3 and Pro Tools 5.3.1 is included with new AVoption|XL purchases. Pro Tools 6.1 and higher includes 24P/25P support in the application, and does not require a separate FilmFrame authorization.

AVoption|XL Requirements with Pro Tools 6.2.3 for Mac OS X 10.3.x ("Panther")

AVoption|XL with Pro Tools|HD & Accel on Power Mac G4 & G5 with Mac OS X 10.3.x Only

AVoption|XL (local only – No Unity support)

• SCSI support (ATTO UL3D or Digidesign SCSI|128) with ATTO 3.02 drivers required. Included on the Pro Tools 6.2.3 installer CD or available from the Digidesign Downloads->Utilities Section of the website.
  • Dual SCSI card configurations (one in host, one in chassis) are qualified for all video resolutions, and are recommended for optimum performance with any resolution
  • Dual SCSI card configurations are required for HD 1 systems
    • HD 1 configuration qualified using 2 DSP/64 voice playback engine
  • Single SCSI card configurations are qualified for 3:1 video or higher ratio
  • 48 voices/tracks of playback (32 simultaneous tracks in record)
  • Single SCSI card configurations with Power Mac G5 must have the card in the expansion chassis, next to the Meridien card
  • Single SCSI card configurations with Power Mac G4 must have the card in the host
  • Single SCSI card configurations with HD 2 or more require that you set your playback engine to 3 DSP/48 voices
  • Set HW buffer size in Pro Tools to 256, DAE buffer to 4
• Chassis Support
  • Magma 64-bit 7 slot chassis added (G5 only, 3:1 video or higher ratio)
  • Digidesign 13 slot chassis (G4 or G5, all video ratios)
• Recording video to IDE/ATA, FireWire, or SATA drives is not supported. See Drive Compatibility at the bottom of this page.

Expansion Chassis Slot Order

Digidesign or Magma 64-bit 7 slot chassis (G5 only, 3:1 video or higher ratio)

Digidesign 13 slot chassis with S/N higher than NB0600100C (G4 or G5, all video ratios)

Supported CPUs for AVoption|XL with Pro Tools|HD & Accel Systems
With Pro Tools 6.2.3 for Mac OS X 10.3.2 "Panther"

Legend:
QS = "Quicksilver" models from 2001-2002
MDD = "Mirrored Drive Doors" models from 2002*
FW800 = FireWire 800 models from 2003
*The single and dual processor 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 dual boot models (Mac OS 9 & OS X) are currently available on the Apple store.

AVoption|XL Requirements with Pro Tools 6.1 & 6.2 for Mac OS X 10.2.x ("Jaguar")

• Mac OS X v 10.2.6 or 10.2.8 (Jaguar)
• Apple G4 867 MHz or faster
• Minimum System RAM 512 MB
• Buffer Size set to 1024 in Playback Engine
• Audio SCSI HBA installed in the CPU, not the chassis
• ATTO SCSI Driver v1.0.2f1

Supported CPUs for AVoption|XL with Pro Tools|HD & MIX Systems
With Pro Tools 6.1 & 6.2 for Mac OS X 10.2.x "Jaguar"

Legend:
QS = "Quicksilver" models from 2001-2002
MDD = "Mirrored Drive Doors" models from 2002
FW800 = FireWire 800 models from 2003
*The single and dual processor 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD dual boot models (Mac OS 9 & OS X) are currently available on the Apple store.

Notes:

• Installing the ATTO SCSI Driver for AVoption|XL: In order to successfully use AVoption|XL with Pro Tools 6.1 on an OS X system, you must install ATTO SCSI Driver v1.0.2f1. To install this driver, double-click on the installer located in the ATTO for AVXL folder on the Pro Tools TDM 6.1 installer CD.
• If frequent buffer underruns occur, install DAE 6.1cs1, found in the Beta folder of the Pro Tools installer CD, or check for the latest version on the Digidesign web site. When using this DAE, avoid using RTAS plug-ins.

Maximum track counts with Mac OS X:

• 48 tracks at 48 kHz (up to 24 record)
• 24 tracks at 96 kHz (up to 12 record)
• 12 tracks at 192 kHz (Up to 6 record)

AVoption|XL Requirements with Pro Tools 5.x for Mac OS 9

Supported CPUs — Pro Tools|HD Systems for Mac OS 9

• Power Macintosh G4 (AGP graphics)

Supported CPUs — Pro Tools|24 & MIX Systems for Mac OS 9

• Power Macintosh G4 (AGP graphics)
• Power Macintosh G4 (PCI graphics)
• Power Macintosh Blue & White G3 (Beige G3 is not officially qualified with AVoption|XL)

Each of the above Computers requires either the Digidesign 13-Slot Pro Tools Expansion Chassis or a qualified Magma Expansion Chassis.

RAM Requirements — Pro Tools|24 and MIX Systems:

• Total System RAM Minimum 256 MB
• Pro Tools v5.1.x Preferred Allocation 100 MB
• DAE Preferred Allocation 60 MB

RAM Requirements — Pro Tools|HD Systems:

• Total System RAM Minimum 256 MB
• Pro Tools v5.3.x application "Preferred Size" memory allocation set to 134 MB
• DAE is no longer an independent application, and therefore requires no additional RAM

Expansion Chassis

• Important Compatibility Documents: For updated slot order information with the latest qualified configurations, refer to the AVoption|XL Guide in the Technical Document Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website. For further compatibility information when used with Expanded Systems, see the Supported Optional Expansion Chassis web pages for your system in the Compatibility Documents.

• Important Cooling Issue: If you install the AVoption|XL PCI board (Meridien Digital Media Board) in either the Digidesign 13-slot or Magma chassis that is older than the rev G models, you must install the additional cooling fan (Digidesign part number MC201) in the chassis. The newer rev G Digidesign & Magma 13 slot chassis (identified by serial numbers that end in "00G") no longer require a fan kit with AVoption|XL.

• WARNING: SBS (Bit3) chassis are not supported in any configuration with AVoption|XL. If you install the AVoption|XL board (Meridien Digital Media Board) in an SBS (Bit3) chassis, you run the serious risk of damaging the board.

• AVoption|XL and Avid Unity MediaNetwork — Requirements & Slot Order

• Avid Unity MediaNetwork for Pro Tools currently does not support playing video from Avid Xpress DV clients.

Drive Compatibility

• Audio Drives: AVoption|XL can be configured with any audio drives qualified for use with Pro Tools in general. Refer to the following Pro Tools-qualified audio hard drive pages for details:
  Pro Tools TDM Hard Drive Minimum Requirements for Mac OS 9
  Pro Tools|HD Hard Drive Minimum Requirements for Mac OS X
  Pro Tools MIX Hard Drive Minimum Requirements for Mac OS X

• Video Drives: Avid rS drives, iS Pro drives, iS Plus drives, Avid or DigiDrive MediaDock removable SCSI LVD drives, and DigiDrive standalone SCSI LVD drives are fully qualified.

• Striped Drives that were initialized using Mac OS 9
  Users may encounter problems if recording to a Striped Driveset if the driveset was created in Mac OS 9. It is possible to use an OS 9 stripeset if you first update it with ExpressRaid 2.8x while booted in Mac OS 9.

• About Firewire Drives: The Avid MediaDrive rS80 & DigiDrive FireWire 80 (as well as other Firewire drives) are not qualified for use with AVoption or AVoption|XL. AVoption and AVoption|XL require SCSI storage for recording and playback. However, you can use Firewire drives to back-up your video storage SCSI drives.

Third Party Video Capture Cards

• QuickTime capture/playback cards are not qualified for use in AVoption|XL systems.

Maximum Performance Guidelines

Total System RAM

• Pro Tools 5.1.3 or 5.3.1 for Mac OS 9: Minimum 256 MB, 512 Recommended
• Pro Tools 6.1 or 6.2 for Mac OS X: Minimum 512 MB, 1 GB Recommended

SCSI Requirements

Compatible Dual-Channel SCSI HBA card (see above)

Use one SCSI Channel for Pro Tools audio storage and the second SCSI channel for video storage. If Compression levels of 2:1 or 1:1 (uncompressed) is desired then a 2nd Compatible Dual-Channel LVD SCSI HBA card is required and video storage should be connected to this controller.

Additional Notes

AVoption|XL supports "plug and play" compatibility with many Avid systems. 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.

Testing for AVoption|XL was done with a baseline of 48 tracks of 24- bit/48k audio, 24 tracks of 96 k audio and 12 tracks of 192 k audio and one stream of uncompressed video data (record and/or playback). These test configurations generally included one drive for every 16 tracks of audio. One way to achieve higher track counts is to dedicate more drives to the audio tracks.

On a supported configuration, you should be able to easily achieve this performance baseline, even with a high degree of edit density on each track. The higher the edit density, the more heavily taxed will be the storage subsystem.

You may find much better results than this baseline, since Digidesign's performance tests are designed to stress the storage subsystem more heavily than the average "real world" usage.

There are other possible steps that can be taken to maximize the performance of a Pro Tools system with AVoption|XL. For more information on Avoption|XL on G4 (Pro Tools 6.2 and earlier), refer to the AVoption|XL Guide in the Technical Document Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website.