# Cubase/Pro Tools sync: Just need help with MTC please



## Bender-offender (Jul 14, 2018)

I’ve read many threads about Cubase/Pro Tools sync and there’s so much info that it’s making my brain melt. 

I _am_ working on a TV series so I do have Pro Tools slaving to Cubase. However, I am doing it a bit different than the norm which goes like this:

I have PT and Video Slave on a second Mac (Cubase is on a trash can Mac Pro - PT is on a MacBook Pro). PT _isn’t_ slaving to Cubase constantly but Video Slave is. PT is just monitoring all audio until I need to record down a demo or stems, while Video Slave is constantly being slaved to Cubase. 

My issue is when I’m ready to record into PT it does NOT want to slave via MTC. I have to close and reopen both PT and Cubase a couple times for Pro Tools to FINALLY read incoming MTC. I’ve tried different midi interfaces on both computers and it still has this problem. 

Is there some kind of software that can fix this translation — some scenario where Cubase sends MTC to it, then that app sends a translated version of MTC that Pro Tools likes? I get so dang frustrated when I need to keep messing with the syncing of these two programs. 

Btw, I’m running Cubase 9.5.21 and Pro Tools Ultimate 2018.4. 

Thanks for the help!


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## Bender-offender (Jul 14, 2018)

I forgot to mention that my series is new so I’m still piss-poor and transferring audio via ADAT from a Presonus Quantum (Cubase) to an RME Fireface 800 (Pro Tools). So I only have 8 stereo stems coming out of Cubase.


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## benmrx (Jul 15, 2018)

Do you have a master clock set up?


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## Bender-offender (Jul 15, 2018)

benmrx said:


> Do you have a master clock set up?


I have the PT as the master via wordclock (and I’ve tried ADAT as well) with Cubase as the slave. Maybe they need to be swapped: Cubase as the master?


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## benmrx (Jul 15, 2018)

Yeah, if your slaving PT to MTC try having Cubase as the master clock and see if that helps. Use ADAT as the clock (unless you have BNC cables connecting your interfaces, then maybe try word clock)


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## Bender-offender (Jul 15, 2018)

Thanks, benmrx  I do have BNC cables connected for wordclock. I’ll switch the master/slave either way. I hope that’s all it needs.


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## benmrx (Jul 15, 2018)

Bender-offender said:


> Thanks, benmrx  I do have BNC cables connected for wordclock. I’ll switch the master/slave either way. I hope that’s all it needs.


Nice. I’d love to know if that fixed it. I’m in the process of setting up a similar system with Cubase and PTHDX.


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## Bender-offender (Jul 15, 2018)

benmrx said:


> Nice. I’d love to know if that fixed it. I’m in the process of setting up a similar system with Cubase and PTHDX.


It seems a little bit more reliable now, so thanks for the help  (not sure why I completely forgot that I setup the master/slave this way)

However, if you’re planning on slaving PT to Cubase to host video, I do not recommend it. Yes, PT will slave via MTC, but you won’t have MMC control for frame by frame movements and such. This is the reason I have Video Slave running behind PT. In the past, I’d just record my stems and demos to Logic slaving to Cubase because MMC worked fine. I’m only using PT now because the dub stage requires a PT session from me, so it’s easier and quicker to just record all my stems via ADAT in PT in one go, then send off the PT session.


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## Bender-offender (Jul 17, 2018)

This is still happening. Pro Tools slaved just fine every time yesterday, now today it’s doing the same crap. For some reason it does not want to follow MTC sent from Cubase (no matter which midi interface I use). Cubase is still the master sync via wordclock (thanks again, benmrx ) Any other suggestions? What is it about Cubase’s MTC and Pro Tools’ MTC that isn’t compatible? 

What I don’t understand is Pro Tools slaves to Logic via MTC and MMC perfectly. Logic slaves to Cubase via MTC and MMC perfectly. But Pro Tools doesn’t do either with Cubase. :emoji_angry:


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## leggylangdon (Jul 17, 2018)

Make Pro Tools the master and you will have both MTC and MMC usability.


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## benmrx (Jul 17, 2018)

If I have time I'll experiment a bit at work tomorrow or Thursday with this. I did a quick test recently with Cubase as the master and PTHDX slaving, and it worked...., but it was just quick 'n dirty test. I think I had to turn off the Sync I/O. Also, I'm only using a single machine, so I was routing my MTC through a virtual bus. My setup would be different then yours, as I'm not planning on bouncing my stems directly into Pro Tools..., so certainly take any of my findings with a grain of salt.


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## leggylangdon (Jul 17, 2018)

Pics of my sync settings attatched if you wanna see...

Also use http://www.nerds.de/en/ipmidi_osx.html as your MTC connection.

With this set up I'm able to scrub frame to frame and stop/start playback from either PT or Cubase. Works for me on the daily.


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## charlieclouser (Jul 18, 2018)

ProTools > DAW > VideoSlave. That's always worked perfectly for me. 

ProTools can be.... errr.... finicky when it's a slave. It works just fine if you have the Avid Sync peripheral and are slaving via actual LTC, like when slaving to analog tape, but slaving it to pure MTC and / or working without a Sync peripheral has always given me some sort of hassle - especially if ProTools is the audio clock master *but* the MTC slave. If it's going to be a master, make it the master for *both* audio clock and timecode sync - or make it the slave for both (but this is less foolproof).

So, for digital audio clock - have ProTools on internal clock, send word clock via BNC (or ADAT or whatever) to your DAW. Set the audio interfaces on your DAW machine to slave to the word clock from ProTools.

For timecode sync - have ProTools be the master, send MTC (or LTC if you have a Sync peripheral) to your DAW machine, and from your DAW send MTC (and MMC if you want) to VideoSlave. That way, when you want to print stems from the DAW over to ProTools, PT is just running on internal clock for both audio clock *and* timecode. It likes this.

This configuration has worked flawlessly, with zero funny business, for me for about 20 years - from the days of black-face ProTools/24, through TDM/HD, to today's PT12hd with HDX or HD Native Thunderbolt... but I've always had an Avid Sync peripheral in the setup, even if it's overkill for this tapeless configuration. I still use the SyncHD because it has a dedicated 5-pin MTC output as well as LTC on XLR jacks, so I'm covered.


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## Bender-offender (Jul 18, 2018)

Thank you all for the replies. 

I know my original post was long, but I explained how I did have Pro Tools as the master and was still having issues. And like I said, some times Pro Tools slaves just fine to Cubase, other times it doesn’t, which is the whole reason for my post. 

@benmrx don’t worry about testing. If you’re running PT and Cubase on the same computer things might be different like you mentioned. 

@leggylangdon thanks for the ipmidi idea. I’ll test that out!

@charlieclouser Thank you for the lengthy reply. Like I mentioned above, I know my original post is too long to read. I am slaving Video Slave to Cubase and it works perfectly. I’m using Pro Tools just as a main monitoring station basically, but when it’s time to record stems or a demo, I need it to sync (obviously) and occasionally it does not want to no matter which computer is master or slave. I know you use Logic, and when I used to use Logic it always transmitted MTC and MMC perfectly with Pro tools. But for some reason Cubase has always been lame with Pro Tools.


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## eowyoung (Oct 12, 2018)

MTC DELAY IN SYNC

Hello everyone. I'm wondering if any of you are having a delay issue with MTC? My goal has been to be able to use both Pro Tools and Cubase simultaneously on the same computer synced. I don't care who is slaved to who, as long as I can hit play on either system and the other will follow.

I have been successful at doing this so far through MTC, however, there is a delay between the programs. Cubase tends to be earlier (enough to make it unusable). I tested this just by turning the click on in both programs, and they sound like galloping instead of a synced quarter note click. I'm have tried syncing using IAC and/or using midi ports in and out. Screen shots are here with my settings. Either way, they both sync, but there is a delay between the clicks. The good side is that I can hit play on either program and they both play. the other good side, is that there is a workaround by putting a delay on my cubase main output. However, this is a temporary workaround, not the workflow I'm trying to achieve.

Anyone had this delay sync issue? Any tips on a better way to sync?

System Specs:
Pro Tools 2018.3













Cubase 9.5
Mac OSX 10.12.6


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## boomboom88 (Apr 9, 2020)

This is an old thread, and very informative, but @eowyoung did you ever sort out a solution to your delay issue?

I'm testing Video Slave and ProTools as video hosts from Cubase (as well as Logic). In Logic you can delay the MTC transmission if you like, depending on your overall latency from plugins, and actually get to near-sample accurate sync. I haven't found a way to do this in Cubase, or a generally elegant way that DAWs handle MTC with plugin delay compensation.


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## A.G (Apr 9, 2020)

Hi Guys,

I noted that some of you show IAC connections in the images above.
You are adviced to stay away of IAC and use good hardware MIDI devices with good MIDI cables if you want to have a rock sync. For example, Cubase cannot be synced to Logic via IAC, however it can be synced via a good hardware MIDI loopback routing.


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## boomboom88 (Apr 16, 2020)

Thanks @A.G - I've tried that with better results. I've also found that compressed video formats are more problematic for creating sync. The ProRes files I used worked perfectly, testing both Video Slave and ProTools as video hosts while using Logic or Cubase as a DAW.


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## A.G (Apr 16, 2020)

boomboom88 said:


> Thanks @A.G - I've tried that with better results. I've also found that compressed video formats are more problematic for creating sync.


I agree that some compressed Video files mess the sync.


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