Editing Pro Tools (section)

=== Switch to 64-bit architecture (2013) ===
Pro Tools 11, released in June 2013, switched from 32-bit to 64-bit software architecture with new audio and video engines, enabling the application and plug-ins to fully take advantage of system memory. The new audio engine (AAE) introduced support of offline bouncing and simultaneous mixdowns multiple sources; dynamic plug-in processing allowed to reduce CPU usage when active native plug-ins do not receive any input. Two separate buffers were used for playback and for monitoring of record-enabled or input-monitored tracks. The new video engine (AVE) improved performance and handling of multiple CPU cores.

Support for HD Accel systems, legacy HD interfaces, TDM and 32-bit AAX plug-ins was dropped due to their incompatibility with 64-bit architecture.<ref name=":19" /> A free starter edition providing the essential features of Pro Tools, called "First", was launched in 2015 and discontinued in December 2021 for being "unviable to continue on a technical level".<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-12-15|title=Pro Tools {{!}} First: Discontinued - Avid Pro Audio Community|url=https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=418226|access-date=2022-01-04|website=duc.avid.com}}</ref>