Comments on: Using VST Plug-Ins in Digidesign Pro Tools

By: Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:13:59 +0000

Hi Kinley,

The only other option is to double-check and see it a particular plugin you own is also available as a native RTAS plugin, too. Most major plugin developers provide plugins in the most common formats (RTAS, VST, AU,).

There is no free way to get the VST-RTAS Wrapper. You can purchase from the developer (fxpansion) here.

By: Kinley Dorji

Kinley Dorji — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:18:33 +0000

Sir, I got M-Powerd Pro Tools 8 Essentials with M-Audio Fast Track Pro but when I install VST instruments and plugins it is not appearing in Pro Tools and found out that I need VST to RTAS converter. Is there easier way than this? How can I download that converter freely for Windows.

By: Anja

Anja — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:37:13 +0000

I got Protools 8 LE with my M-Audio MIDI keyboard and recently bought Fxpansion’s VST to RTAS for Windows so that I could work with VSTs at last. I used Fxpansion’s tool to detect and wrap *all* my VSTs plugins, rather than select ones. It seems to have succeeded.

However, when trying to insert them in Protools LE 8, I don’t get to see any submenu under “MultiChannel Plug-Ins” called “Wrapped Plug-ins”. I only see the normal RTAS plugins included with Protools LE.

Chris, do you (or anyone) happen to know if there is some special place that my VST Plugins folder should live in order for Pro Tools to detect the wrappers? Or should I put a shortcut to it inside the Protools folder that contains the .DPM files? Or is there a folder somewhere that Fxpansion creates containing the wrapped versions of my VSTs (except I can’t find such a thing)?

In both the very clear Fxpansion manual and this helpful tutorial, this final detail seems to be the only thing that I’m sadly missing. Any ideas?

Or is it that things work differently perhaps on Windows? When deciding on getting FXpansion’s VST to RTAS tool, I did check that it mentioned “Protools LE” as well, so I thought this wouldn’t be a problem. Any help would be much appreciated.

By: Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:11:17 +0000

Felix ~ That's because Pro Tools does not use VST plug-ins as it's native format. Pro Tools uses RTAS as it's native plug-in format. Unless you installed VST plug-ins intentionally into your VST folder, you should not expect to find any in there. Your Pro Tools RTAS plug-ins are located at /Application Support / Digidesign / Plug-Ins / {list of .dpm plug-in files}

By: Felix Echeverria

Felix Echeverria — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:15:14 +0000

I tried to find my Pro Tools plugins by going to Library → Audio → Plug-Ins → VST folder. but it was only an empty folder. Why is that?

By: Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:53:26 +0000

Frank ~ That is awesome! Thanks for sharing that!

By: Frank Shaw

Frank Shaw — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:53:09 +0000

Hey Chris,

Thanks for your very informative tutorial, I only just downloaded the Vst – Rtas wrapper and was trying to work it out, my partner did a Google search and found your site, came into my studio all glowing and said I know how it works, she has no idea how to use Protools, then again no knowledge can be a blessing.

Now I’ve got it working, awesome.

Take care

Frank

By: Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:10:05 +0000

Check out this one: Camel Crusher. It's a free 'colouring' multi-effect plugin. It offers two characteristically different distortion sounds which can be blended together to create a wide variety of tones and textures. Great for guitars, drums and plenty more!