Hey everyone, I’m trying to figure out if there’s a better way (or maybe I am missing something here) to sync Cubase and ProTools.

Both machines are PC with the Master being Cubase and the Slave being ProTools. The ProTools machine is hosting the video and Cubase is synced to it.

I’m currently using rtpMIDI (with Ethernet cable and fixed individual IPs for each machine as well as subnet masks) to sync them and coaxial cables to transfer audio (Cubase to ProTools, and from ProTools back to the Master machine for audio playback). Each machine has its own dedicated audio interface.

I don’t want to resort in using a separate diffferent video software due to the fact that I prefer using ProTools due to transfer and collaborative reasons.

I did try using MidiOverLan by MusicLab (for MUDI syncing reason) but I found it very confusing to get it to work.

Are there any better ways in doing this connection with the minimal latency or am I using the best option possible here? Also, any settings for which I should be aware of or missing something?

Many thanks in advance!

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 30, 2019

@Mousikanos You did not specify the versions of Cubase and Pro Tools you currently are using . One question: Are you using Pro Tools as the audio sync master and MTC slave? Or as slave for both?

 

wHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? sURELy THERE'S A Better 1-DAW method?

 

Cubase is 10.0.30 and ProTools is 12.5. The midi work happens in Cubase. ProTools is hosting the video and its audio. Master machine is connected with Slave machine via SPDIF, so I could record Cubase’s audio in ProTools.

Sample rates and FPS of the sessions are identical (they must otherwise they wouldn’t sync), thus when I press play in Cubase then ProTools syncs and starts too. This is is where the slight delay sometimes comes in. It seems that somehow ProTools doesn’t receive the message do so properly and sometimes it doesn’t start or there’s a delay in doing so. Here’s where my initial question was @The Pirate thank you in advance by the way!

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 30, 2019

For whatever reason there has been problems with Pro Tolls and Cubase keeping sync. I have Pro Tools and Cubase synced. There is a fix but you never mentioned your OS so I don't even know if it is a solution that would work for your system. Let us do this to save some back and forth. Tell me your OS. Are those DAW's from VR and AudioUtopia ? Send me here or by PM screenshots of your Sync set up on Cubase and Pro Tools.

 

PM Sent.

 

If there are problems with the DAWs staying in sync, seems like setting a third-party clock master would be the solution. For example one of your audio interfaces is the clock master source and both DAWs are clock slaves. I would do this for as limited an amount of time as possible and export/bounce stems over to PT ASAP so I could work from one DAW. All the while I'd make sure to utilize freezing as much as possible. Or just buy a Nuendo upgrade.

 

Thank you for the reply. Nuendo would have been a great option to sync the two via Optical / VSTLink connection. However, the Slave internface doesn't support optical IN/OUT (only OUT), and also Nuendo is pretty expensive just to be used an a video software.

 

Pro Tools with Cubase has and continues to be problematic. Without something like Avid Sync peripheral , on a PC the best way is to have Pro Tools as the Master. For those on a MAc, the best option is https://non-lethal-applications.com/products/video-slave-4

 

So in case of Windows, that way it would work? PT as the master? Could that combo work on one machine? I got two VEP slaves but without interfaces.

 

Of course. Best option is to use MTC with a program like ipMidi. https://nerds.de/en/ipmidi.html (free to try for 30 days) After 30 days you will buy it because it does work. One thing I would like to point out is this. The biggest problems seem to be when syncing Pro Tools and Cubase.

 

Well yeah, the syncing is my concern. I can't work without flawless sync. So, it's not perfect?

 

I can confirm that it DOES work BUT there's a slight latency when you have Cubase as MASTER and ProTools as SLAVE. It doesn't lose connection, it's just the connection being a bit finicky. An alternative to what @The Pirate mentioned could be the little brother of ipMIDI called rtpMIDI (https://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi.html) which is free.

 

...and more info on the topic : https://vi-control.net/community/threads/sync-protools-to-cubase.51518/

 

Thanks. And, if you don't mind me asking, what are the benefits of having Cubase as the Master?

My workflow is all in Cubase, but i would love if I could to send audio to Pro Tools, and do some "mixing as I go" in Pro Tools which would be non destructive for my mixing engineer, as in - he could open my session and drop/change the plugs.

As of now, i'm batch exporting everything, either with my preliminary processing baked in, or i have to turn off all of those, and then make adjustments to the levels so the raw mix sound approximately to what I intended. Both ways kind of suck :/

 

The reason (for the time being) is that you can't export audio to video in Cubase hence you need to resort to 3rd part software whereas in ProTools is simply select location > export to QuickTime done. Hopefully when the video engine arrives in Cubase things will change.

Also, the other reason is that I need to deliver AAF files to editors which are using Avid's Media Composer and makes it really easy for them to open the AAF files and be aligned in the project. The audio transfer though between Cubase and ProTools (in my cases) happens with a physical wired bidirectional connection between Master and Slave machine.

 

Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't clear with my question...you gave a vi-control link where they are discussing this... ubt there was no answer for what I wanted to know.

What I meant to ask is, in such arrangement where you use both DAWs ( I'm thinking to do the same , except on the same Master system), what did yoou mean by having Cubase as a Master and Pro Tools as a Slave? If that's some settings, do you have to run Cubase as a master - or it can be run as a slave, and PT as the Master? If one can choose between those settings, what are the benefits of one vs opposite?

 

Well in Cubase I work on the tracks using audio / midi etc. ProTools is used ONLY for these reasons:

- host video (and it's audio)
- easily export a selected region or whole to QuickTime video (because can't do it)
- export AAF files to send to user of Avid's Media Composer
- offloading main machine from hosting the video as well (additional to reason 1)

I don't use ProTools to write / compose simply because I am so used to using Cubase. I am sure other people will prefer to use ProTools to write though.