Avid goes dark with Pro Tools 2020.11 update

Since Avid released its latest Pro Tools revision earlier this year at NAMM 2020, users have anticipated something new. Now, the company has released a late-2020 update to its flagship daw. In Pro Tools 2020.11, quite a few things stand out. Including a new ‘dark mode’ feature, the ability to automatically convert audio-to-MIDI, and much more. Therefore, let’s take an in-depth look at what to expect in Pro Tools version 2020.11.

Avid Pro Tools 2020.11 Update Features

This November Pro Tools revision brings a lot of useful tools for engineers, enhancing overall workflow. Visually, the biggest feature comes in the software’s new “dark mode” look. As we’ve seen with many other apps on our phones and Mac systems, this replaces the “classic” look with a darker aesthetic. At the end of the day, this definitely comes down to user-preference, but it is easier on the eyes to those who choose to engage it.

Another big new feature with Pro Tools 2020.11, is an audio-to-MIDI processor/converter. This is something many have asked for from Avid for a long time. In practice, after selecting an audio track, users can drag it down to a nearby instrument track, where they will see a dialog box. After the proper conversion setting is selected, Pro Tools automatically scans the audio, and converts it into MIDI notes. Of course, the result will likely not be entirely perfect, as this is a very new feature. But after a bit of tweaking, the end result should be much easier to achieve.

The final major improvements in the latest update are fairly specific, and dependent on work preferences. There is a new ability to space clips specifically to bar/beat, min/sec, timecode, or samples. Therefore, when users select a succession of clips, and want to space them out evenly, the space clips function can be used to accomplish this task. Otherwise, we also see improvements to Pro Tools’s filing system, also introduced early this year, as well as the ability to export files in Dolby Atmos ADM.

As you can see, there’s some very interesting and exciting new features in the Pro Tools 2020.11 update. A couple of which, we’ve never seen before from Avid. We look forward to seeing how widely used “dark mode” becomes moving forward. Anyone looking for more details or specifications regarding Pro Tools 2020.11 can visit Avid’s website. And any current Pro Tools owner can upgrade to the latest version using their Avid account, where monthly users will see this happen automatically.