Installing and authorizing Pro Tools

- After downloading Pro Tools, just launch the installer, and follow the onscreen instructions. If you're co-installing Pro Tools 10.3.6, install it normally, following the onscreen instructions. If you haven't already, you may want to watch the "Optimizing Your Computer for Pro Tools" video in this course. Install Pro Tools according to Avid's instructions, which you'll find with your installer, or on Avid's website. Once Pro Tools is installed on a Mac, it's a good idea to open the Disk Utility application. You can find this in the Utilities Folder in the Applications Folder, and use the Disk Utility to repair your disk permissions.

Doing this can help prevent problems. To authorize Pro Tools, you'll need your authorization an iLok 2 key and an account on iLok.com If you already have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, create one. Then you can download and install the iLok license manager application. Using this application, you can transfer your Pro Tools license to your iLok 2 key. Pro Tools will not run without a valid license on an iLok 2. A Pro Tools authorization allows you to run Pro Tools on a supported Mac or Windows computer with an Avid audio interface, or any third party audio interface with supported Core Audio drivers, on a Mac, or ASIO drivers in Windows.

On a Mac, you can also run Pro Tools on the computer's built in I/O, without any additional hardware, using the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O. We'll talk more about the I/O set up in this course. A Pro Tools HD authorization will allow you to run Pro Tools HD on a supported Mac or Windows computer with either Pro Tools HD Native, or HDX hardware. You can also use supported third party audio interfaces. On a Mac, you can also run Pro Tools HD using the Mac's built in I/O without any additional hardware, again, we'll talk about the I/O set up in this course.

Another thing to note is that Pro Tools includes both a Pro Tools 10, and Pro Tools 11 license, so you can co-install Pro Tools with Pro Tools 10.3.6 on OS 10.8.5. Though Pro Tools and Pro Tools 10 can't be run at the same time, the co-installation allows you to continue to use Pro Tools 10 for projects that require plug-ins that haven't yet been updated to the new 64 bit AAX format. To keep Pro Tools up to date, just open the Avid Application Manager from your Menu Bar.

You may be asked to log in, if you're not already logged in. If we switch back to Pro Tools, you can also find right from within the Marketplace Menu in Pro Tools, an option for purchasing and updating plug-ins.