FXpansion BFD Supplemental - Manual (Page 5)


Using BFD RTAS in Digidesign Pro Tools 6.4 or earlier
Firstly, it is necessary to have at least version 6.2 of Pro Tools installed, preferably
v6.4 for best performance. Any versions prior to 6.2 have severe problems with RTAS
instrument plugins.
Versions of Pro Tools up to 6.4 do not support multiple outputs from RTAS plugins. You
will be limited to using the stereo version of BFD when using RTAS. You can achieve
multiple output functionality using ReWire, however (see below).
1. Add a new Audio Track or Aux channel using the File/New Track menu item.
2. Create a new MIDI track.
3. On the mixer view, click an insert button on the Audio channel you just inserted, and
select BFD (Stereo) from the multi-channel RTAS plug-in/Other menu item.
4. The MIDI track you created will also appear on the mixer: select BFD as the output
port for this track.
Using BFD ReWire in Digidesign Pro Tools 6.4 or earlier
Please note that ReWire is only necessary because Pro Tools 6.4 and earlier to not
support multiple outputs from RTAS plugins. The major disadvantage with ReWire is that
BFD’s settings are not saved with the project: it runs as a separate application connected
to Pro Tools via the ReWire protocol. If you do not require multiple output functionality, or
if you use Pro Tools 6.7 or above, it is recommended to use the RTAS version.
1. Run the BFD ReWire Applet (located in your OSX Applications folder or in Programs/
FXpansion/BFD in your Windows Start menu).
2. Set the “Output setup” to BFD Groups, BFD All or BFD Ultra. If you want to use
BFD Stereo then it’s unnecessary to use ReWire mode, as RTAS provides the same
functionality, with the added ability to recall settings within a project.
3. Make sure the BFD ReWire device is enabled.
4. Create an Audio track (if you are using Pro Tools LE, you can create either an Audio
or an Aux track).
• If you create a stereo track, it will only be able to handle the stereo buses -
Overhead, Room and PZM, as well as the Direct Stereo bus in BFD (Group Outputs).
Mono tracks can only handle the mono direct outputs from BFD (All Outputs).
5. Repeat step 4 as many times as necessary, depending on whether you are using
BFD ReWire in Groups, All or Ultra mode.
6. Insert the BFD (ReWire) RTAS plugin on each of the Audio tracks used to monitor
the ReWire channels from BFD. BFD’s audio channels are routed into Pro Tools via
these ReWire RTAS plugins. You can find the BFD (ReWire) plugins in LOCATION
7. Set the Output selector of each ReWire plugin to the desired channel. Only stereo
outputs from BFD will be available to stereo Audio tracks with stereo BFD ReWire
inserts, while only mono outputs mono Audio tracks with mono BFD Rewire inserts.
• The Output selector channels are labelled 0-1, 2-3, 4-5 etc. They correspond to 1-2,
3-4, 5-6 etc. in the BFD channel layout (see the manual for the full listing).
BFD supplemental manual Chapter 2: Using BFD in your host