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DigiDesign Pro Tools Reference Manual

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Pro Tools

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Version 7.3

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Page 1 ® Pro Tools Reference Guide Version 7.3...
Page 2 Copyright This guide is copyrighted ©2007 by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Digidesign.
Page 3: Table Of Contents
About www.digidesign.com ........
Page 4 Tool Tips ............115 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 5 Digidesign Databases ........
Page 6 Setting the Default Meter and Tempo........274 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 7 Chapter 15. Audio Recording ..........277 Recording an Audio Track .
Page 8 Dynamic Transport Mode ..........413 viii Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 9 Chapter 20. Working with Regions and Selections ....... . 417 Creating New Regions .
Page 10 Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode........554 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 11 Part VI MIDI Editing Chapter 25. MIDI Editing ........... . . 559 Mirrored MIDI Editing.
Page 12 Overwriting or Extending Mute Automation ........730 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 13 Creating Snapshot Automation ..........732 Previewing Automation .
Page 14 Index ..............843 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 15: Part I Introduction
Part I: Introduction...
Page 17: Chapter 1. Welcome To Pro Tools
Control option for Pro Tools to enable serial session). communication with remote audio and video transports. Pro Tools Reference Guide Full details on all Pro Tools functionality and operations. Additional Guides (Pro Tools LE and M-Powered systems only in- Additional PDF guides (such as a Glossary) are clude an electronic PDF version of the Reference installed with Pro Tools.
Page 18: Compatibility Information
Convention Action For a list of Digidesign-qualified computers, op- erating systems, hard drives, and third-party de- File > Save Choose Save from the File menu vices, visit the Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com).
Page 19: Chapter 2. Pro Tools Concepts
This chapter explains the principles and con- The Digidesign Audio Engine cepts that form the foundation of Pro Tools op- eration and functionality. DAE (or Digidesign Audio Engine) is Digi- design’s real-time operating system for digital audio recording, playback, and processing. Hard Disk Audio Recording When you install Pro Tools, DAE is automati- cally installed on your system.
Page 20: Pro Tools Sessions
Engine)” on page 32. See also “System Re- sources” on page 10. On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Playback Engine dialog is also where you assign dedicated DSP re- sources for Delay Compensation. Pro Tools M-Powered Pro Tools Academic Session ﬁle icons Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 21 Although there are different session file icons, Master Fader tracks provide controls for physical the session files may be opened by all three ap- audio output channels, including the volume plications (with certain restrictions). See “Open- level of your mix, panning, and plug-in inserts. ing a Session”...
Page 22 For example, audio, Auxiliary Input, at different locations and not use additional disk and Instrument track channel strip faders con- space. Different versions of the same original au- Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 23: Signal Routing
trol the output gain to the mix bus for that Signal Routing channel, while MIDI channel strip faders send Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and MIDI volume data (MIDI controller 7) to the signal routing controls, which are located in the MIDI instrument.
Page 24: System Resources
Audio Input and Output Path selectors and see “Voice Borrowing” on page 139. other menus. See Chapter 6, “I/O Setup” for more information. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 25 Tracks When a track is made inactive, its voices Active and Inactive Items become available for another track. Mono inac- Pro Tools lets you make certain items (such as tive tracks free up one voice; stereo and multi- tracks and inserts) inactive, in order to free up channel tracks free up one voice per channel.
Page 26: Midi
The following are basic instructions for manu- ally making items inactive. Throughout the Pro Tools Reference Guide, instructions are pro- vided whenever an item can be made inactive. MIDI signal ﬂow To toggle an item active or inactive: Control-Start-click (Windows) or Command- ■...
Page 27 Pro Tools, “local control” should usually be dis- MIDI Control Surface Any device (such as the abled. When “local control” is off, your key- Digidesign Command|8), which uses a MIDI board still transmits data to its MIDI OUT port. connection to send control messages to a soft-...
Page 28: Digibase
Mbox 2) or some other MIDI interface (such drive connected to the system. as a Digidesign MIDI I/O). A database is a way of organizing data such that it can easily be searched, sorted, managed, and utilized.
Page 29: Chapter 3. Keyboard And Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts
Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts This chapter provides an overview of Pro Tools Global Key Commands keyboard and mouse shortcuts. This section shows keyboard shortcuts that ap- A PDF listing of all shortcuts is available in ply to many functions in Pro Tools. Pro Tools.
Page 30: Keyboard Focus
Region List, enable or dis- able groups, or perform an edit or play com- mand. You can only enable one of the three Keyboard Focus modes at a time. Enabling a Keyboard Fo- cus will disable the one previously enabled. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 31: Numeric Keypad Modes
To set the Keyboard Focus, do one of the following: Shuttle Lock Modes Click the a–z button for the focus you want to ■ With either Shuttle Lock mode (Classic or Trans- enable. port) you can use the numeric keypad to shuttle –...
Page 32 (.) again. • Recall Memory Locations by typing Period (.), the Memory Location number, and Period (.) again. Shuttle Lock modes are not available when the Numeric Keypad mode is set to Shuttle. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 33: Part Ii System Configuration
Part II: System Configuration...
Page 35: Chapter 4. Pro Tools Systems
Pro Tools HD software for Pro Tools|HD sys- ﬁgurations shown on page 22. Each system re- tem hardware. quires at least one Digidesign audio interface Pro Tools LE These systems include Pro Tools LE (sold separately). Pro Tools|HD systems can be ®...
Page 36 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O. Includes: • HD Core card The following “Legacy” Digidesign audio inter- faces are supported with Pro Tools|HD systems: • HD Process card • 888|24 I/O™ and 882|20 I/O™...
Page 37 Pro Tools|HD System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits The following table lists the audio playback, recording, and voiceable track limits of each type of Pro Tools|HD system. Playback and recording voices refer to the number of unique simultaneous playback and record tracks on your system. Total voiceable tracks refers to the maximum number of audio tracks that can share the available voices on your system.
Page 38 For more information, see the Expanded Systems Guide. “Legacy” I/Os (such as 888|24 I/O) require the use of at least one 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 39: Pro Tools Le Systems
Pro Tools LE system depends on the pro- • Digi 002 audio and MIDI interface, with con- cessing power of your computer. Contact trol surface your Digidesign dealer or visit Digidesign’s website (www.digidesign.com) for the latest Digi 002 Rack system requirements and compatibility in- A Digi 002 Rack system includes: formation.
Page 40 Pro Tools LE systems support up to 32 Instrument tracks and 256 MIDI tracks. Pro Tools LE also supports a single QuickTime video track. For details on transferring session material between Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools LE systems, see “Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems” on page 248. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 41: Pro Tools M-Powered
Guide. Tracks Pro Tools LE systems with the DV Toolkit 2 op- For the most current list of Digidesign-qual- tion and Pro Tools LE or M-Powered systems ified M-Audio interfaces, visit the Digide- with the Music Production Toolkit option let sign website (www.digidesign.com) .
Page 42 Pro Tools LE: • Import Session Data options (Destination DINR™ (Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction™) Track Names, Time Code Mapping, Find LE Plug-in For reducing noise in audio. Matching Tracks, Session Data to Import, Track Playlist) ™...
Page 43 Pro Tools LE and M-Powered: ™ DINR (Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction™) LE Plug-in For reducing noise in audio. Hybrid RTAS Synthesizer Plug-in For use as a vir- tual instrument in your Pro Tools sessions.
Page 44 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 45: Chapter 5. System Setup
Chapter 5: System Setup Launch Pro Tools or any third-party audio or Starting Up or Shutting Down MIDI applications. Your System Shut down your Pro Tools system in this order: To ensure that the components of your Quit Pro Tools and any other running applica- Pro Tools system communicate properly with tions.
Page 46: Configuring Pro Tools System Settings (In The Playback Engine)
From the H/W Buffer Size pop-up menu, select ing the number of RTAS plug-ins, but keep the the audio buffer size, in samples. CPU Usage Limit set to the maximum (99%) Click OK. on a single processor system. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 47 that you are at the limit of available resources, To set the number of RTAS Processors: increase the number of RTAS processors and ad- Choose Setup > Playback Engine. just the CPU Usage Limit setting. (For more in- formation, see “System Usage” on page 42.) CPU Usage Limit The CPU Usage Limit controls the percentage of CPU resources allocated to Pro Tools host pro-...
Page 48 If available, you can also select Minimize Ad- when working with instrument plug-ins. Be sure ditional I/O Latency. to disable RTAS error suppression when you Click OK. need to ensure the highest possible audio qual- ity, such as for a final mix. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 49 RTAS error suppression, as allocate for voicing: follows: Choose Setup > Playback Engine. • Windows XP: • Mbox 2 Pro • Digidesign-qualiﬁed M-Audio interfaces with Pro Tools M-Powered or Academic • Mac OS X: • Mbox • Mbox 2 • Mbox 2 Mini •...
Page 50 Compensation for each channel. This is the most efficient setting for Pro Tools|HD Accel systems. Long Allocates maximum DSP resources for De- lay Compensation for each channel. Long Delay Compensation uses the SRAM contained on DSPs needed by DSP-intensive plug-ins. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 51 To conﬁgure the Delay Compensation Engine: To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size: Choose Setup > Playback Engine. Choose Setup > Playback Engine. From the Delay Compensation Engine pop-up menu, select a Delay compensation setting. Click OK. The Delay Compensation setting is saved as a session and system preference.
Page 52: Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings
The 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, and 96 I/O can have additional interfaces attached (including older Digidesign audio interfaces— Legacy I/Os—such as the 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O or 1622 I/O). For more information, see Chapter 4, “Pro Tools Systems.”...
Page 53 From the Input and Output pop-up menus, se- Choose Setup > Hardware. lect the physical ports (such as Analog 1–2 or From the Peripherals list, select the Digidesign Optical 1–2), that will be routed to the corre- audio interface connected to the ﬁrst card in sponding Pro Tools input and output channels your system.
Page 54 Legacy audio interface, refer to the connected to the Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces guide for that interface. in your system. Before you can conﬁgure a Leg- acy I/O, it must ﬁrst be initialized in Hardware Setup. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 55 Conﬁguring I/O Setup To select multiple output ports for a Pro Tools output channel pair: The I/O Setup dialog provides a graphical repre- Choose Setup > Hardware. sentation of the signal routing for each con- nected audio interface, with controls to route From the Peripherals list, select an interface.
Page 56: System Usage
Choose View > System Usage, and one of the ■ System Usage View formats (such as Small). For information on using different views to monitor DSP usage, see the Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide. System Usage window (Pro Tools HD shown) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 57: Chapter 6. I/O Setup
Chapter 6: I/O Setup The I/O Setup dialog provides tools to label, for- Each Pro Tools session retains its path configu- mat, and map Pro Tools input, output, insert, or rations as I/O Settings. The I/O Settings saved bus signal paths for each session. with the session are loaded automatically when the session is opened.
Page 58 Output Path selector and paths Paths and I/O Setup The signal routing choices available in a session are defined in the I/O Setup dialog. Input Path selector and paths I/O Setup dialog Output paths (Pro Tools HD) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 59 Main Paths and Sub-Paths Default Settings Files The default Stereo settings file is available on all Paths in the I/O Setup dialog include main paths and sub-paths. Pro Tools systems, and provides stereo main paths, each with its own mono sub-paths. Stereo main path Multichannel settings files are available on Pro Tools|HD systems.
Page 60: The I/O Setup Dialog
“Setting the I/O Setup” on Preamps (Pro Tools HD only), or H/W Insert Delay page 54. page (Pro Tools HD only) in the I/O Setup dialog: Click the corresponding tab at the top of the ■ I/O Setup dialog. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 61 This section provides an overview of the con- sation for input and output delays caused by trols in the I/O Setup dialog. Digidesign analog-to-digital and digital-to-ana- log hardware. Path Type Tabs Select the type of I/O control to configure. Choices are Input, Output, Insert,...
Page 62: Routing Hardware I/O To Pro Tools I/O
Setup dialog. For information, see “Rout- Click the Input or Output selector for the ﬁrst ing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destina- interface channel pair, located below the ﬁrst tions” on page 41. audio interface icon. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 63: Creating And Editing Paths
To route a Pro Tools output channel pair to Creating and Editing Paths multiple audio interface output ports: Choose Setup > I/O. The I/O Setup dialog lets you create and custom- ize signal path deﬁnitions. Click the Output tab. Paths can be: Click the Output selector for an interface channel pair, just below an audio interface icon.
Page 64: Creating New Paths
DSP resources, it is best to create mono sub- paths for Outputs and Busses, rather than mono main paths. Path Format selector Repeat the previous steps to conﬁgure other path types (Input, Output, Insert, or Bus). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 65 Click OK to close the I/O Setup dialog. If there Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac). are any overlapping or identically named paths, you will be instructed to correct them before the Interface name I/O Setup dialog will close. For more informa- tion, see “Setting the I/O Setup”...
Page 66 Pro Tools|HD system, you can use the Default switch to update your I/O Setup deﬁnitions with the new hardware conﬁguration. Interface names can be customized. See “Changing Interface Names” on page 51. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 67 For example, when mapping a new stereo path, Deleting Paths clicking in the path row under output channel 1 Path definitions can be deleted from the current ﬁlls both channel 1 and 2 (left to 1, right to 2). session to reflect changes to your hardware setup, or to clean up track selector menus by re- To remap channels in a path, see “Remap- moving unwanted or unnecessary path defini-...
Page 68 I/O Setup dialog. Use this to turn off a signal name, be of a specific format, and have a valid path on any and all tracks currently assigned to I/O mapping. it. Pro Tools also sets unavailable paths to inac- Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 69 tive. Paths can be unavailable when hardware or Session-Wide Path Assignments other system resources are unavailable, such as (I/O Setup Dialog) when opening a session saved on a different sys- tem. Paths can be globally configured for Active or Inactive status in the I/O Setup Dialog. Track Path Assignments To globally activate or deactivate a path: (Mix and Edit Windows)
Page 70 16-channel inter- faces. The session is taken to a second Pro Tools system that has a 96 I/O audio interface (a 16- channel I/O unit) and a 1622 I/O (with its 16 an- Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 71: I/O Settings Files
Importing and Exporting I/O Settings I/O Settings Files Files I/O Settings can be managed when transferring You can export and import I/O Setup configura- sessions, and when developing I/O Setup con- tions as I/O Settings files. This lets you save set- ﬁgurations over the course of multiple sessions tings for different projects, import settings for and projects.
Page 72 The Last Used settings are available as a choice put assignments to equivalent mono sub-paths when creating or opening sessions, in addition (as available). See “Hardware Setup and Session to the factory presets described below. Transfer” on page 56 for more information on remapping. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 73: I/O Setup Options
To convert a session so that it emulates Direct Audition Paths Outputs mode, use the Auto Assign Ascending You can specify the output path through which Outputs feature, as follows: files and regions are auditioned in the Region List or in DigiBase browsers. To auto assign track outputs for Direct Outputs: Make sure that all tracks you want to assign Using the Default Audition Path...
Page 74 Select a path from the AFL/PFL Path selector. Selecting None as the AFL/PFL Path disables AFL and PFL Solo modes. When None is se- lected, AFL and PFL cannot be used. Click OK to close the I/O Setup dialog. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 75 Setting AFL or PFL Path Levels To set which output path is muted when tracks are soloed in AFL or PFL Solo mode: You can set a separate master AFL/PFL Path level Choose Setup > I/O. for all AFL solos and all PFL solos. Click the Output tab to display the Output Tracks do not need to be soloed to have the page.
Page 76: H/W Insert Delay Compensation
To set an insert delay offset: Enter a value, in milliseconds, in the ﬁeld cor- ■ responding with the input where the hardware insert is connected. Insert delay offsets only have an effect when the I/O is used for hardware inserts. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 77: Chapter 7. Preferences
Chapter 7: Preferences The Preferences dialog has several tabbed pages Display Preferences in which you can specify your preferred settings for various session parameters. Each new session uses these preferences. To change Pro Tools preferences: Choose Setup > Preferences. Click the tab for the page that has preferences you want to change.
Page 78 The bottom Edit Window Default Length menus display plug-ins by manufacturer (such as Digidesign, Eventide, Line 6, or McDSP), with This preference sets a default length for the Edit individual plug-ins listed in the manufacturer window in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames submenus.
Page 79 Meters Section Color Coding Always Display Marker Colors Lets you choose to Peak Hold Options view Marker colors in the Markers ruler, regard- These options determine how long the peak in- less of the settings you choose for Default Re- dicators on track meters stay lit after a peak is gion Color Coding.
Page 80: Operation Preferences
Timeline Selection Start Marker when you move the Timeline Selection, draw a new Timeline Selection, or adjust the Timeline Selection Start. When disabled, the Play Start Marker doesn’t move with the Timeline selec- tion. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 81 Custom Shuttle Lock Speed Sets the highest fast- Transport Selects a Shuttle Lock mode that lets forward Shuttle Lock speed (key 9) for Shuttle you set a number of record and play functions, Lock modes (Classic or Transport). The range for and also operate the Transport from the nu- this setting is 50–800%.
Page 82 Pro Tools does not remember separate fader lev- playback of audio and video if a single frame of els for tracks when they are record-enabled, al- video is dropped. lowing you to maintain the same monitoring level for tracks during recording and playback. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 83 put monitoring) or a typical music tracking Audio Track RecordLock (Pro Tools HD Only) This option configures Pro Tools tracks to workflow (in which leaving a track in Input either emulate a digital dubber, or to maintain Only monitoring mode after recording can re- legacy behavior for track record status.
Page 84 DestructivePunch File Length (Pro Tools HD Only) This preference sets the duration of consoli- dated audio files when preparing tracks for De- structivePunch mode. The default value for this setting is 25 minutes. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 85: Editing Preferences
ternates pop-up menu) whose time stamp Editing Preferences matches the current Cursor location. The fol- lowing preferences determine which regions, or takes, appear in this list: Includes Take Region Names That Match Track Names When selected, only regions that share the same root name with the track and playlist appear in the Matches Right-click submenu or the Alternates pop-up menu.
Page 86 Pro Tools supports up to 32 Levels of Undo. plies fades between regions (“slices”) within im- ported REX and ACID files to minimize clicks or pops during playback. If there is overlap be- tween slices, a crossfade is applied. If there is a Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 87: Mixing Preferences
Use Absolute Pan Linking (Pro Tools HD Mixing Preferences Only) This option affects behavior of grouped pan controls. • When selected, grouped pan controls do not maintain relative offsets when any of the grouped pan controls is adjusted. All grouped pan controls snap to the absolute value of the adjusted control.
Page 88 Write Automation To Start, Selec- are using an ICON work surface (Pro Tools HD tion, End, or Punch commands and then stop- only), or other supported Digidesign control ping the transport. surface, you can select this option to maximize...
Page 89 Allow Latch Prime in Stop (Pro Tools HD Include Sends in Trim Mode (Pro Tools HD Only) When selected and any tracks are in Latch Only) This option determines the Trim status of mode, any automation-enabled controls on Send faders when a track is put in Trim mode. those tracks can be set to new values while the •...
Page 90: Processing Preferences
(24-bit, 20-bit, 18-bit, or 16-bit). TC/E (Time Compression/Expansion) Section TC/E Plug-in Lets you choose the plug-in used for Time Compression and Expansion when you edit audio with the Time Compression/Expan- sion Trim tool. This Trim tool works by using Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 91: Midi Preferences
Time Compression/Expansion to match an au- MIDI Preferences dio region to the length of another region, a tempo grid, a video scene, or other reference point. Default Settings Specifies the default settings used by the chosen Time Compression/Expan- sion plug-in. Import Section Convert Imported “WAV”...
Page 92: Synchronization Preferences
Compensation Engine is chosen in the Playback speed up tape cueing with certain video trans- Engine dialog and Delay Compensation is en- ports. abled in Pro Tools. These options are distinct from the hardware offsets available for hardware inserts (in I/O Setup). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 93 This is useful if you are using a master the Minimum Sync Delay. On systems utilizing controller to arm tracks on other machines, but Digidesign MachineControl, enabling the Use you do not want to arm tracks in Pro Tools. Serial Time Code setting will make machines Set Servo Lock Bit at Play (Tamura Support) En- lock up much faster.
Page 94 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 95: Part Iii Sessions & Tracks
Part III: Sessions & Tracks...
Page 97: Chapter 8. Sessions
Chapter 8: Sessions This chapter covers the basics of starting a Select the audio ﬁle format for the session. project in Pro Tools, including how to create For optimum compatibility between Win- and save a Pro Tools session. dows and Mac, set the file type to BWF (.WAV).
Page 98: Session Files And Folders
Pro Tools 7.x sys- tem. Typical session folder contents Pro Tools also maintains a distinct WaveCache file inside the local Digidesign Databases folder Session File (C:\\Digidesign Databases), which retains The session file is the document that Pro Tools waveform data for all files used on the system.
Page 99: Opening A Session
Session File Backups Folder To open an existing session: Choose File > Open Session. The Session File Backups folder contains auto- matically-generated backups of your Pro Tools Locate the session you want to open and click sessions. These files are created when working Open.
Page 100 7.x session to a lower version of Pro Tools that supports +6 dB and +12 dB fader gain, the new session can be saved with either a +6 dB or a +12 dB maximum fader gain. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 101: Opening Recent Sessions
When saving a +12 dB session as a +6 dB ses- Saving the Session File sion, Pro Tools alerts you that any automation The Save command saves the changes you have settings over +6 dB will be lowered to +6 dB. See made to your session and writes them over the “Saving a Copy of the Session”...
Page 102 16-bit to 24-bit 24-bit to 16-bit 16-bit to 16-bit The Dither setting used for any conversion is the Digidesign Dither plug-in with Noise Shaping enabled. For more information about using Dither, see “Dither” on page 660. Save Copy In dialog...
Page 103 Mac: To save a session copy in a new location: • Latest; supports Pro Tools 7.x Choose File > Save Copy In. • Pro Tools 5.1 -> 6.9 Session In the Save Copy In dialog, choose a destina- • Pro Tools 5.0 Session tion and enter a name for the new session ﬁle.
Page 104 Regenerate Missing Fades to ex- forms. clude fade ﬁles from the relink process and re- generate them instead. For more information, see “Saving Copies of Mac Sessions to be Compatible with Win- dows” on page 246. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 105: Creating Custom Session Templates
Session Plug-in Settings Folder Creating Custom Session When this option is selected, the session’s Plug- Templates in Settings folder is copied to the new location. The references to these plug-in settings in the You can create custom session documents that session are redirected to the copied settings files.
Page 106 Save the session and quit Pro Tools. If necessary, click the General expand/collapse In Windows Explorer, reopen its Properties, triangle to display the General information and and change it back to a Read Only ﬁle. options. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 107: Closing A Session
Select the Stationery Pad option. Exiting or Quitting Pro Tools Select the Locked option. When you exit (Windows) or quit (Mac) the Close the information window. Pro Tools application, Pro Tools prompts you to save any open session before exiting or closing To use a session template, do one of the following: the application.
Page 108 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 109: Chapter 9. Pro Tools Main Windows
Chapter 9: Pro Tools Main Windows Pro Tools provides two complementary ways of To display all Mix window view options: viewing a session: the Mix window and the Edit Select View > Mix Window > All. ■ window. Pro Tools lets you control the trans- port and transport-related functions using the For information on selecting individual view Transport window.
Page 110 (page 121) (page 120) Track List/Group List (page 118) View Auxiliary MIDI Mix Window Stereo (page 130) Input Track View selector Audio Track (page 12 (page 119 (page 634) (page 118) Figure 2. Pro Tools Mix window Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 111 Commands Keyboard Focus (page 16) Timeline Selections (page 410) Zoom buttons (page 367) Edit Selection indicators Transport controls (page 98) (page 99) Edit Window bar Tab to Transients (page 407) Grid and Edit tools (page 99) Event Edit Area Nudge values (page 98) Graphic Tempo Editor (page 98)
Page 112 Note Attributes (page 568) Pitch Zoom Toggle Custom Note Attack Smart Tool Duration button (page 561) (page 367) Velocity (page 381) Edit tools in Edit window Release Velocity Event Edit Area showing MIDI track information Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 113: Transport Window
Edit Window Bar Cursor Location Indicators The Edit Window bar contain various selectors, commands, indicators, and pop-up menus for working in the Pro Tools Edit window. Cursor Location indicator (page 389) View Selectors Cursor Location Value indicator (page 389) Cursor Location indicators in the Edit Window bar Ruler View selector (page 634) Transport Window Edit window View selector (page 634)
Page 114 Sample 1 second For more information on loop playback and Dynamic Transport mode, see “Looping With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Playback” on page 409. Transport, you can rewind by pressing 1. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 115 Fast Forward Fast forwards from the Timeline in- Right-clicking the Record button lets you select sertion point. You can also click repeatedly to the record mode from a pop-up menu: fast forward incrementally (by an amount based • Normal on the Main Time Scale). •...
Page 116 “Working with Synchronization.” You can set the end point by entering a location in this field, or by dragging the corresponding If you are using the Digidesign Machine- Timeline Selection Marker in the Main Time- Control option, see the MachineControl base ruler.
Page 117 Metronome Click When selected, Pro Tools gen- MIDI Controls erates a metronome pulse that can be set to trig- ger built-in sounds or MIDI instruments during playback and recording. Countoff MIDI Merge Metronome Click The Pro Tools metronome is configured in the Click/Countoff Options dialog.
Page 118: Digibase Browsers
These files are dis- played in browsers and can be dragged directly into the current Pro Tools session. When offline items are needed, Pro Tools lets you find the correct matching files, then relink to online media. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 119 TItle bar Toolbar Column headers Items List Fixed pane Scrolling pane Show/Hide Pane split Figure 4. Main elements of a DigiBase browser (Volume browser shown). There are three types of Pro Tools browsers Using the Workspace browser, you can: available on all supported systems: •...
Page 120 Use Relink tools to search and reacquire missing files for use in the current session. For detailed information about the Relink window, see “Relink Window” on page 191. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 121: Window Configurations
• All ﬂoating windows listed in the Window Window Conﬁgurations menu: • Task Manager window Pro Tools provides a powerful means of manag- • Transport window ing the configuration of windows in your ses- sion, as well as the internal window configura- •...
Page 122 Comments Lets you type comments for the Win- call the Window Configuration stored in that dow Configuration. slot. Name Is the name of the stored Window Config- uration. Window Layout When enabled, stores the size and location of all open windows. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 123 Window Conﬁguration Commands and Window Conﬁguration List Pop-Up Menu Options You can select viewing and sorting options, along with commands for creating and remov- View Filter Icons ing Window Configurations, from the pop-up Using the View Filter icons, the Window Con- menu in the Window Configuration List.
Page 124 – or – Active Window Conﬁguration • Select a Window Display Settings option from the pop-up menu (Edit Window Dis- play Settings, Mix Window Display Set- tings, or Transport Window Display Settings) Name the Window Conﬁguration. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 125 You can type a different number for the new Undoing a Window Conﬁguration Window Conﬁguration (if the number you type Pro Tools lets you revert to the previous Win- is already used by another Window Conﬁgura- dow Layout and Window Settings with a single tion, you are prompted to replace it or Cancel), level of undo.
Page 126 Delete All. and Window Display Settings. Window Conﬁgurations that do not include Window Layout and only store Window Display Settings cannot be made active and thus won't automatically update. If you want to update a Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 127: Menus
Importing Window Conﬁgurations Menus You can import Window Configurations from Pro Tools menus provide commands and op- another session using Import Session Data. tions for configuring and working with Pro Tools, sessions, and session material. To import Window Conﬁgurations: Choose File > Import > Session Data. For detailed information on Pro Tools main menus and Region List pop-up menus, see Select the Window Conﬁgurations option.
Page 128 Help Provides access to PDF documentation for Track Name and Region Name Right- Keyboard Shortcuts, Digidesign FAQ, the DigiRack Click Pop-Up Menus Plug-ins Guide, the Pro Tools Menus Guide, and Track and region names provide pop-up menus the Pro Tools Reference Guide.
Page 129: Tool Tips
Tool Tips Pro Tools provides Tool Tips in all main win- dows. Holding the cursor for a few seconds over an abbreviated name, or unlabeled icon or tool, displays either the function or details of the item (depending on the Tool Tips preferences settings).
Page 130 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 131: Chapter 10. Tracks
Chapter 10: Tracks This chapter covers basic track management Auxiliary Input Tracks tasks such as creating and deleting tracks, as- Auxiliary Input tracks can be used as effects signing voices and output channels, and group- sends, destinations for submixes, as a bounce ing tracks.
Page 132 • Chapter 33, “Multichannel Tracks and single channel strip. Instrument tracks simplify Signal Routing (Pro Tools HD Only)” using software and hardware instruments to • Chapter 34, “Surround Panning and Mixing record and monitor MIDI instruments. (Pro Tools HD Only)” Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 133: Track Channel Strips
Auxiliary Input Track Channel Strips Track Channel Strips Each Auxiliary Input track has its own set of channel strip controls, including volume, pan, Audio Track Channel Strips automation mode, solo, and mute. Auxiliary In- Each audio track has its own set of channel strip put tracks also have a Comments View to enter controls, including volume, pan, record enable, and display comments.
Page 134 Level meters VCA Track Type indicators Group ID VCA Master track Track Type indicator Volume/Peak/Delay indicator Delay Compensation View (Pro Tools HD only) Track Name button Track Color Coding Track Comments Stereo Master Fader track channel strip Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 135 for MIDI input, output, mute, volume, and pan MIDI Track Channel Strips (like on a MIDI track). Instrument tracks also Each MIDI track has its own set of channel strip have a Comments View to enter and display controls, including MIDI volume, pan, record comments.
Page 136: Track Controls And Indicators
Volume, Peak, and Chan- nel Delay. To toggle the Volume indicator display: Control-click (Windows) or Command-click Edit window I/O View, Pan pop-up slider (audio track) ■ (Mac) the indicator to toggle it between the fol- lowing modes: Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 137 levels; Yellow indicates pre-clipping (–6 dB be- Pan Slider low full scale); and Red indicates clipping. The Pan slider controls the balance of a track be- When an audio track is record-enabled, these tween the assigned output pair. It only appears meters indicate record levels.
Page 138: Adjusting Track Width
Wide Meters View are also available Nar- Deselect View > Narrow Mix. ■ row Mix View. You can toggle track width by pressing Con- trol+Alt+M (Windows) or Command+Op- tion+M (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 139: Creating Tracks
Select the track format (mono, stereo, or one Creating Tracks of the multichannel surround formats) from the Track Format pop-up menu. Surround formats On all systems, you can create mono and stereo are available on Pro Tools|HD systems only. tracks. With Pro Tools HD, you can also create multichannel tracks (LCR to 7.1 tracks).
Page 140 Choose View > Track Number. ■ To move to the previous or next track in the Track Name/Comments dialog, you can press Control (Windows) or Command (Mac) and use the Up/Down or Left/Right Arrows. Click OK. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 141 All tracks between the first track selected and To navigate directly to any track number: the additional track will also be selected. Do one of the following: • Choose Track > Scroll to Track. To select or deselect noncontiguous tracks, do –...
Page 142 • Choose Track > Delete. – or – • In the Track List, or Mix or Edit window, Duplicate Tracks dialog Right-click the track name and select Du- plicate. Click OK to remove the selected tracks from the session. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 143: The Track List
In the Duplicate Tracks dialog, conﬁgure the Duplicating VCA Slave Tracks following options as needed: (Pro Tools HD Only) • Enter how many copies you want to create Duplicating a VCA slave track without duplicat- by typing into the Number of Duplicates ing its group assignments will coalesce any auto- ﬁeld.
Page 144 Input, Master Fader, MIDI, or Instrument). With Pro Tools HD, even if a track is hid- den from view, its position relative to other tracks still affects its voiceable track play- back priority (see “Voice Borrowing” on page 139 for details). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 145 To hide a track, do one of the following: To show a range of tracks: Click the highlighted name of the track in the Click the name of an unhighlighted track ■ Track List. name in the Track List. – or – Shift-click an additional track name.
Page 146: Track Name Right-Click Pop-Up Menus
(when Track Position Clear Trim Automation (Pro Tools HD Numbers Stay With Hidden Tracks is enabled Only) Clears Trim automation on the track (or in the Display Preferences page). selected tracks if any). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 147: Assigning Inputs And Outputs To Tracks
Locked (Video Track Only) Toggles the For stereo and multichannel surround tracks, in- locked/unlocked status of the video track (or se- puts and outputs appear as stereo pairs and mul- lected video tracks if any). tichannel groups. The available inputs, outputs, and busses are defined as paths in the I/O Setup Rename Opens the Track Name dialog.
Page 148 The Output Path selector lets you route a track to any configured audio output or internal bus. The choices available in this pop-up menu are determined by the I/O Setup configuration. Outputs in use by another track appear as bold in the selector. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 149 In the Rename I/O dialog, enter a name for the To auto-assign all visible tracks to unique mono sub-path outputs in ascending order: I/O Path, and click OK. Make sure you have enough mono sub-paths ‘ deﬁned in I/O Setup (see Chapter 6, “I/O Setup”).
Page 150: Track Priority And Voice Assignment
Pro Tools provides multiple ways of adjusting the play- back priority of audio tracks. See “Changing a Track’s Playback Priority” on page 136 and “Freeing up Voices on a Track” on page 137. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 151 With Pro Tools HD, tracks assigned to a specific Freeing up Voices on a Track voice number take priority over dynamically al- You can also adjust the relative priority of tracks located tracks and support voice borrowing (see by freeing up the voices of individual tracks, “Voice Borrowing”...
Page 152 If the original track 49 (or higher) had its voice successive voices assigned to currently selected assignment set to Off, it automatically resets to tracks (with the same format) of lower priority. DYN when you do any of the above steps. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 153: Setting Midi Input And Output
Voice Borrowing Setting MIDI Input and Output (Pro Tools HD Only) MIDI recording and playback is supported with Pro Tools HD features voice borrowing, which lets MIDI tracks and Instrument tracks. you assign more than one track to the same voice.
Page 154 Select View > Edit Window > Instruments. ■ In the Edit window, select View > Edit Win- dow > I/O to access any track’s Output se- MIDI Input selector lector. MIDI Output selector Instrument View MIDI Output selector (MIDI track shown) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 155: Soloing And Muting Tracks
Instrument Track MIDI Output Pro Tools lets you assign specific MIDI ports and channels to an Instrument tracks’ MIDI output. Instrument track with an instrument plug-in (Digidesign The default selection of none sends MIDI data to Synchronic shown) no device, port, or node on any channel. Use...
Page 156 AFL and PFL Solo modes require the Sur- can be auditioned alone. round Mixer plug-in. – or – • Route a chosen track to a separate output. If Mutes Frees Assigned Voice is enabled, muted tracks will not be audible in PFL mode. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 157 To select a Solo mode: Using AFL/PFL on Pro Tools Systems without D-Control or D-Command Choose Options > Solo Mode. If you are not using a D-Control or D-Command Select SIP, AFL, or PFL. control surface, your regular Pro Tools output path is not necessarily muted when you send a The Solo mode for all soloed tracks can be signal to the AFL/PFL Path.
Page 158 It is also use- ful to solo safe MIDI tracks so that their play- With a Digidesign-qualified control surface, ad- back is not affected when you solo audio tracks. ditional tracks can be soloed by pressing their...
Page 159: Making Tracks Inactive
Mute Button Making Tracks Inactive The Mute button silences a chosen track. More Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Mas- than one track can be muted at one time. If Op- ter (Pro Tools HD only), and Instrument tracks tions > Mute Frees Assigned Voice (Pro Tools HD can be made inactive.
Page 160: Color Coding For Tracks, Regions, Markers And Groups
Default Region Color Coding options None Turns off default color assignment for tracks. Tracks and MIDI Channels Assigns a color to each track in the Mix or Edit window according to its voice assignment or MIDI channel assign- ment. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 161: Color Palette
Tracks and MIDI Devices Assigns a color to each Track Color Assigns a region color based on the track in the Mix or Edit window according to its color assigned to the track. (See “Color Palette” voice assignment or MIDI device assignment. on page 147.) Groups Assigns a color to each track according to Marker Locations Assigns a color to data across...
Page 162 Affected tracks which selected elements are affected. and groups no longer show their color bars. To turn off Hold and return the Color Palette to its default mode, click the Hold button until it turns off. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 163: Grouping Tracks
Mix Groups in Pro Tools HD Grouping Tracks Mix Groups in Pro Tools HD can be set to affect Pro Tools provides a relative grouping function the following items: for linking tracks and their controls. • Main Mute • Solo Groups are useful for editing several tracks in ex- actly the same way, or for mixing several tracks •...
Page 164: Group Controls
This would allow you to work with different tains the names of all the groups in your session, groups in the two windows. as well as a pop-up menu for accessing grouping commands. From this menu, you can select and enable groups. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 165 By default, every session has a group named All, Group Symbols which includes every track in the session. The To the left of each Group ID (“a” through “z”) is All group cannot be edited or deleted. a symbol indicating whether that group is se- lected in the current window (either the Mix or Click to Group List pop-up menu...
Page 166 Show/Hide Tracks in Group Shows or hides tracks in the current group Show Only Tracks in Group Shows only the tracks in the group and hides all other tracks Show All Tracks Shows all tracks in the session Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 167 Group Dialog in Pro Tools HD Group Dialog in Pro Tools LE In Pro Tools HD, the Group dialog has three In Pro Tools LE, the Group dialog has only a sin- pages: gle page. Tracks Lets you add and remove tracks from the current group Attributes Lets you select which parameters are linked for the current Mix or Mix/Edit Group...
Page 168: Working With Groups
• To replace all tracks in the group with the tracks that are currently selected in the ses- sion, click the Replace button at the bot- tom of the Group dialog. Selecting a Group Type Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 169 Creating Groups in Pro Tools LE To create a group in Pro Tools LE: Select the tracks you want to include in the group. (If you do not select tracks at this time, you can add tracks later.) Do one of the following: •...
Page 170 ID pop-up menu. Selecting track names to add to a group In either list, Shift-click to select a range of track names. Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) to select discontigu- ous track names. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 171 Change any of the following for the current group: • Group name • Group type (Edit, Mix or Mix/Edit) • VCA status (Pro Tools HD only) • Follows Global status (Pro Tools HD only) • Track membership • Attributes (Pro Tools HD only) •...
Page 172 • Linked within Group items (Pro Tools LE only) To delete all currently active groups Click OK. Choose Delete Active Groups from the Group ■ List pop-up menu. Group List pop-up menu The ALL group cannot be deleted. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 173: Setting Group Attributes
Click OK to save the group and the new Glo- Setting Group Attributes bals settings. (Pro Tools HD Only) For information on selecting attributes, see “Selecting Group Attributes” on page 160. When creating a Mix Group or a Mix/Edit Group, you can select the Mix window parame- To select attributes for an individual group: ters that will be linked for that group.
Page 174 Groups dialog. (Follow Globals must be un- Send or Insert (across a row), Start-click (Win- checked to recall a setting in the Attributes dows) or Control-click (Mac) any attribute in page.) that row. Recalling a Group preset Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 175: Enabling Groups
Keyboard Selection of Groups Enabling Groups The Group List Keyboard Focus allows you to Editing operations are not applied to members type a Group ID letter to automatically toggle of a group that are hidden with the Track List. that group’s enable status. Mix operations (with the exception of record- In the Mix window, the Group List Keyboard ◆...
Page 176: Grouped Control Offsets
To set grouped pan controls to ignore offsets: Choose Setup > Preferences and click Mixing. Select “Use Absolute Pan Linking.” When this option is enabled, grouped pan con- trols will snap to the absolute value of the pan control that is being adjusted. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 177: Chapter 11. Digibase
Chapter 11: DigiBase DigiBase and DigiBase Pro (Pro Tools HD and DigiBase Elements Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 only) combine an intuitive, browser-style interface with an in- Figure 5 shows the various elements of DigiBase. tegrated databasing engine, optimized for Arrows show how files can be moved between Pro Tools data and media management.
Page 178 Column headers. When offline items are needed, Pro Tools lets • Columns can be dragged to either of two you find the correct matching files, then relink available panes, the Fixed or Scrolling to online media. panes. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 179 TItle bar Toolbar Column headers Items List Fixed pane Scrolling pane Show/Hide Pane split Figure 6. Main elements of a DigiBase browser (Volume browser shown). There are three types of Pro Tools browsers Using the Workspace browser, you can: available on all supported systems: •...
Page 180 Use Relink tools to search and reacquire missing files for use in the current session. For detailed information about the Relink window, see “Relink Window” on page 191. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 181: Performance And Transfer Volumes
For each volume, a database file is created in a different Pro Tools systems. folder named Digidesign Databases, on the root level of the volume. The database is stored with For more information on volume designa- the volume it describes so that if the volume is tions, see “Audio and Video Volume Desig-...
Page 182: Browser Windows And Tools
For example, in Windows, DigiBase brows- Library/Application Support/Digidesign/ ers do not display the Program Files, Windows, Databases/Volumes folder. Digidesign Databases, WU Temp, or System Vol- ume Information folders; and on Mac, DigiBase Sharing Database Files browsers do not display the System, Applica- Database files can be shared among users.
Page 183 The main elements of a DigiBase browser (see Columns Display metadata (such as file name Figure 6 on page 165) include the following: and format) for volumes, folders, and files in the Items List. Title Bar Shows the browser type (Workspace, Volume, or Project), and the name of its associ- Each row of data in a browser represents an Item ated volume or Catalog.
Page 184 (Mac) the Volume or Cata- log. To send all browsers to the background: Choose Window > Browsers > Send to Back. ■ To send all browsers to the background, press Alt+Shift+J (Windows) or Option+Shift+J (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 185 All open browsers are moved to the background, To open an AAF or OMF sequence from a DigiBase browser: bringing the other windows to the foreground. Browsers remain open and accessible. Do one of the following: • With no Pro Tools session currently open, To bring an open browser to the foreground: double-click the AAF or OMF sequence in a Choose Window >...
Page 186: Indexing Digibase Databases
Many text fields can be edited to replace or up- to index. For this reason, you may want to man- date data for an item. ually index specific volumes or files prior to starting a project to help expedite workflow. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 187 Indexing while Browsing Manual Indexing The first time you open a Volume browser for a Manual indexing fills in all missing data, and volume or folder that has never been indexed, updates changed data for selected folders and all Pro Tools automatically begins to fill the data- of their sub-folders.
Page 188: The Browser Menu
Reveal in Browser Opens the parent browser for unchanged) or delete the files referenced by the Catalog items. the selected item. The selected item is high- lighted in its parent browser. Select Ofﬂine Files Selects all files that are cur- rently offline. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 189: Browser Panes And Display
Unmount Lets you unmount any online volume. Copy File Comments to Clip Names (Mac Only) Available in the Workspace browser only. Copies an item’s File Comments to its Clip Name. While Pro Tools is running, always use the Unmount command in the Workspace browser menu to unmount the volume, or quit Pro Tools and then unmount the vol- Browser Panes and Display...
Page 190 Right-click a column header and choose DE- To sort by columns: FAULT from the pop-up menu. Click the column title header. ■ It is often helpful to perform a secondary sort (for example, to sort by tape and timestamp). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 191: Column Data
V Designates volumes as video R (Record and To add a secondary sort: Playback), P (Playback only), or T (Transfer). Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the ■ Available in the Workspace browser only. column title for the secondary sort criteria. For more information, see “Audio and Video Volume Designators”...
Page 192 Tape column). This field cannot be ed- if any, of audio files only. ited. Path Displays the directory path to the item. Sound Roll TC Displays the starting time code of audio files. This field cannot be edited. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 193 Sound Roll TC Rate Displays the frame rate in- Comments Fields formation embedded in audio files: 24, 25, Comments about individual files can be stored 29.97, 30, drop or non-drop. This field cannot in the database, and embedded with the file’s be edited.
Page 194: Waveforms And Auditioning
When auditioned from DigiBase, interleaved au- The waveform overview is stored in the file, or dio files with more than two channels are in the appropriate Digidesign Databases folder. summed to mono for auditioning. Multi-mono For more information, see “WaveCache” on files must be auditioned one file at a time.
Page 195 Select an audio ﬁle in a browser Items List. only volumes, and interleaved files. The global Make sure the browser is the foreground (active) WaveCache is stored in the Digidesign Data- window. bases folder on your Pro Tools startup volume.
Page 196: Selecting Items
Choose Invert Selected from the Browser ■ menu. To duplicate one or more items: Select one or more items. Choose Duplicate Selected from the Browser menu. To Duplicate selected items in the Browser, press Control-D (Windows) or Command-D (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 197: Searching Items
When prompted, do one of the following: Deleting Items and Folders • To remove the aliases for the selected items You can select and delete files and folders in all from the Catalog, click Aliases. browsers. If a selected item resides on a read- –...
Page 198 Search button changing to Stop. The Results List (at the bot- tom of the browser) fills with items that match the search criteria. Items can be selected and au- ditioned as they are found. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 199 To stop a search: Search Modiﬁers During a search, click the Stop button. ■ Certain fields have small pull-down menus con- taining modiﬁers, which limit the search criteria This stops the search routine, and the Stop but- entered in the field. ton changes back to Search.
Page 200 Quotations Marks for Text Strings Text enclosed in quotation marks is searched as one text string. For example, if you type “Dog Bark” (with quotes), only items with Dog Bark anywhere in the File Name are considered a match. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 201: Linking And Relinking Files
About the Searching Process Linking and Relinking Files Searches are conducted in two passes, each indi- A Pro Tools session is made up of references, or cated by Search Status displayed in the Search links, to audio files and other session media. Au- pane (and the Task window).
Page 202 The Copy and Relink command is a file manage- ment option in the Project browser and in DigiBase Pro Catalogs. Copy and Relink provides a convenient way to copy files and relink the session or Catalog to the copies rather than to the originals. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 203 To copy items to a new location and Relink to the Opening a Session with Missing Files copies: To open a session with missing ﬁles: Do one of the following: • Choose Window > Project. When you open a session, Pro Tools opens the session with all available media, then shows you –...
Page 204 “Relink Window” on page 191 for more infor- dow opens and a failed task appears in the mation. Paused Tasks pane. Double-click the Task icon to open the Relink window and manually ﬁnd and relink ﬁles. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 205: Relink Window
The Relink window controls each phase of the Relink Window relinking process. The Relink window provides tools for all relink- The following sections explain how to: ing tasks (see Figure 8 on page 191). • Open the Relink window. The Relink window includes the following: •...
Page 206 A check OMF video clips can only be relinked to a next to an item indicates it will be included in session if they have matching Unique IDs. the search. All folders within items are also checked. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 207 Conﬁgure criteria for relinking, if necessary, in QuickTime video clips can only be relinked the Linking Options dialog: to a session by file name and file format • By default, Find by Name and ID is en- (QuickTime). abled. • To add additional matching criteria, select To control matching and linking criteria an option from the Linking Options dialog.
Page 208 • Click Yes to commit links. Relink window. – or – Click the Link icon next to the ﬁle you • Click No to stop without affecting ﬁles. dragged to the Candidates pane. Click the Commit Links button. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 209: Workspace Browser
Only the Workspace browser lets you do the fol- Relinking and Aliases in Catalogs lowing: DigiBase Pro Catalogs are collections of “aliases” • Designate volumes as Performance vol- or “shortcuts” to actual files. If the files are umes (Playback or Record volumes) or as moved, an item in a Catalog can become un- Transfer volumes.
Page 210 Pro Tools is run- ning. To change a volume designator: Open the Workspace browser. Click and select the appropriate Audio and/or Video designator for the volume. Designating a volume in the Workspace Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 211 Catalogs in the Workspace Browser Search (DigiBase Pro Only) pane Areas to With DigiBase Pro, the Workspace browser pro- search vides special tools for creating and accessing Catalogs. Once Catalogs have been created, they appear in the Workspace browser in the Cata- logs folder.
Page 212: Project Browser
The folders displayed in the Project browser are session-specific groupings of files, not physical folders on disk. Browser menu and toolbar Folders and ﬁles Figure 10. Project browser Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 213: Digibase Pro Catalogs
Locating Parent FIles of Regions Copy and Relink Restrictions The Project Browser can be set to automatically In the Project Browser, the Copy and Relink highlight the parent file of any region selected command (in the Browser menu) cannot be in the Pro Tools Region List.
Page 214 Click the Catalogs Expand/Collapse icon. For most files, the Clip name is the same as the file name. For OMF Files, the Clip Name is the name that appears in the Avid bin. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 215 Clip names can only be edited in a Catalog. Ed- Creating Catalogs iting the Clip name does not affect the actual Catalogs can be added to the Workspace as new, file; however, if you add the same file to a new empty Catalogs, or you can select items first and Catalog, it retains its original Clip Name.
Page 216 Catalog and updates the following information: Metadata Metadata for all files found online, in- cluding File comments, are updated. Database Comments Database Comments are not updated, because they are unique to each Catalog and are not part of the file’s metadata. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 217 Relinking Catalog Items Importing Catalog Items If files are ever missing from a Catalog, use the You can import online and offline items from Relink window to locate, copy, and relink files. Catalogs into the current session. For more information, see “Linking and Relink- ing Files”...
Page 218: Task Window
Paused Tasks pane of the Task win- dow. Because the Task window is a floating window, it does not interrupt current work. This allows you to continue recording and editing, and postpone file management until a more conve- nient time. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 219 View Toggle (Minimize) Status Active Tasks Paused Tasks View Toggle (Maximize) Status Figure 12. Task window, maximum view (upper) and minimized view (lower) Status Action being taken (for example, Copy- Task Window Views ing, Processing, Indexing and so on). The Task window provides a maximized and Progress Indicates the progress of the task or its minimized view.
Page 220 All tasks in the Paused Tasks pane (except quit, some tasks are cancelled. Tasks that in- failed tasks) are moved to the Active Tasks pane. volve file copies are remembered and restarted when you relaunch Pro Tools. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 221 About Failed Tasks Stored Tasks The Paused Tasks pane shows any tasks that Any task that imports files into a session is could not be completed. The reason for the fail- stored with a session when it is closed, and re- ure is shown in the Status column.
Page 222: Workflow Example
Create a Catalog (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit Only): From the Browser menu select New Catalog. Browser menu Selecting New Catalog from the browser menu Name the Catalog Aviary. Search results in the Workspace browser Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 223 Select all the ﬁles found on that volume and Select the three best ﬁles, and drag them to drag them onto the Aviary Catalog icon (listed the Aviary Catalog browser. They now appear in the Workspace browser). there next to the footsteps we found in the pre- vious step.
Page 224 (ofﬂine) car crash ef- fects, mount the CD-ROM with the car crashes. Because the CD-ROM is not a qual- iﬁed playback drive, the ﬁle still appears in the Timeline as ofﬂine. Spotting audio from a Catalog into the session Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 225: Chapter 12. Importing And Exporting Session Data
Chapter 12: Importing and Exporting Session Data Pro Tools lets you import a variety of data into a Importing Audio session, including audio and MIDI ﬁles, region groups, video ﬁles, track playlists, I/O conﬁgura- Audio files and regions can be imported to new tions, and signal routing conﬁgurations.
Page 226 ﬁle and places it in a “Automatic Fades for Imported REX and ACID folder you choose. When you copy an audio ﬁle, Files” on page 213). the session references the copied ﬁle in its new location. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 227: Sample Rate Conversion Quality
Use Copy to move audio from an unsupported Automatic Fades for Imported REX and or removable drive to an audio drive, or to ar- ACID Files chive audio files for a session to a specific loca- Pro Tools can automatically apply real-time tion.
Page 228: Importing Audio Files And Regions
“Importing Tracks and Track At- tributes” on page 218. File and Region icons in the Import Audio dialog On the Mac, Sound Resource files must have the “.SFIL” extension to be imported by Pro Tools. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 229 To audition a selected ﬁle or region before you In the Audio Import Options dialog, choose import it, click the Play and Stop buttons in the where the imported ﬁles will go in the session: Import Audio dialog. New Track Each audio file is imported into its Adjust playback volume with the vertical slider.
Page 230 Drag the ﬁles onto the Region List of the cur- (Window > Task Manager) works in the rent session. background (importing and converting the audio until the import is completed). For more information on the Task Manager, see “Task Window” on page 204. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 231 Since the transfer is made in the digital domain, Importing Multichannel Audio there is no signal loss. Files from a Field Recorder The sample rate for audio CDs is 44.1 kHz. Pro Tools lets you use any of the import meth- Therefore, if your session’s sample rate is set to ods to import monophonic and polyphonic au- 48 kHz or higher, Pro Tools will convert the...
Page 232: Importing Tracks And Track Attributes
To import the meter and tempo maps from Windows Explorer, or Mac Finder into the the source session, select the Import track playlist area in the current session’s Edit Tempo/Meter Map option. window or to the Track List. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 233 To import key signatures from the source ses- sion, select the Import Key Signature Map op- tion. To import Markers and Memory Locations from the source session, select the Import Marker/Memory Locations option. With Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2, select the Import Mix/Edit Groups option to import any Mix or Edit Groups from the source session.
Page 234 10:00:00:00, the earliest imported tracks can ap- dio ﬁle format, bit depth, and sample rate if nec- pear in your session is 9 hours and 59 minutes essary. after the start of the session. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 235 Maintain Relative Time Code Values This option sate for pull-up, pull-down, and NTSC or PAL places tracks at the same offset from session start frame rates. This setting allows you to choose as they had in the source session. For example, if the sample rate from which you want the sam- the source session starts at 01:00:00:00 and con- ple rate conversion process to start.
Page 236 Regions and Media Imports all of the audio files or regions in the source track, and places them Session Data options in the Import Session Data dialog in the Region List. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 237 Volume Automation and Setting Imports the Hardware Insert Assignments Imports the source source track’s Volume fader setting and any au- track’s hardware Insert assignments. Any Insert tomation data on the track’s Volume Automa- assignments in the destination track are re- tion playlist.
Page 238 Ses- sion Data to Import list are imported to the se- lected tracks. When selected, importing all of the source track’s input, output, send, insert and plug-in attributes is equivalent to importing a channel strip. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 239: Importing Items With Drag And Drop
Importing Media Files Importing Items with Drag and Drop Importing does not always convert or copy audio files. See “File Conversion on Import” Figure 14 illustrates some of the options avail- on page 227 and “Copying during Import” able to import media using DigiBase. on page 228 for details.
Page 240 Auto Spot mode is not supported when im- porting from DigiBase browsers. Import to the Region List first, then drag from there to utilize Auto Spot mode. See the Pro Tools Reference Guide for more information. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 241 Importing AAF and OMF To import tracks and other session data by drag and drop: Sequences Open a browser. (DigiTranslator 2.0 Required) Drag a Pro Tools session ﬁle, or an AAF or OMF You can import AAF and OMF sequences from sequence (requires DigiTranslator 2.0), into the browsers by doing the following.
Page 242: Exporting Audio
List and Project browser) and are off-line. If you do not remove or delete the files from the session manually, Pro Tools will report them as missing files the next time the session is opened. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 243 24-bit to 8-bit 16-bit to 8-bit The Dither setting used for any conversion is the Digidesign Dither plug-in (with or without Noise Shaping enabled, as noted in Table 13). For more information about using Dither, see “Dither” on page 660.
Page 244: Exporting Pro Tools Tracks As Aaf Or Omfi Sequences
The Export Region Definitions command does and information about crossfades. not export regions as audio files (unlike the Ex- port Regions as Files command). Instead, it stores pointers to the regions within the parent source file. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 245 Track EDLs are exported as tab-delimited text— Include Track EDLs (Playlists) that is, with tabs between each column heading, You can export track EDLs (playlists). Track and tabs between each event parameter. You EDLs can be used to spot-check region place- can use this data in a program for reading EDLs, ment and edits, or in a conforming program for or you can format the EDL data into tables using...
Page 246 When you have set your options, click OK. Select a location and enter a ﬁlename for the exported text ﬁle. In Windows, Pro Tools adds the correct 3-letter ﬁlename extension, while on the Mac, the ﬁle extension “.txt” is added. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 247: Send Via Digidelivery
Send via DigiDelivery which ﬁles to include. ® DigiDelivery is Digidesign’s system for effi- cient and reliable transfer of digital media files over the Internet. Send via DigiDelivery lets you send a Pro Tools session and all of its related files using DigiDelivery from within Pro Tools.
Page 248: Importing Midi Files
If you chose to create a new track, choose a lo- cation for the imported ﬁle in the track: Session Start Places the file or region at the start of the session. Song Start Aligns the beginning of the file to the Song Start point. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 249 Selection Aligns the beginning of the file to the In the Mix window, click the MIDI Output se- edit cursor or to the beginning of a selection in lector for each new track and assign a MIDI in- the timeline. strument and channel.
Page 250: Exporting Midi Files
If the Song Start time is different from the Ses- sion Start time, select Session Start or Song Start later re-import them, you will need to reassign the tracks to devices in your studio. from the Location Reference pop-up menu. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 251: Send To Sibelius
All playlist information for MIDI and Instru- To export all selected Pro Tools Instrument or MIDI tracks as a MIDI ﬁle: ment tracks is lost when exporting. For exam- ple, tracks that previously contained dozens of Select the tracks you want to export to a MIDI MIDI regions will be flattened and only contain ﬁle.
Page 252: Importing And Exporting Region Group Files
Right-click the Track name of one of the se- • Plug-ins lected tracks in the Edit or Mix window, or in • Track routing the Track List. • Tempo and Meter map • Region List information Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 253 Pro Tools provides several ways to import Re- Selection Aligns the beginning of the group to gion Groups into an open session: the edit cursor or to the beginning of a selection in the timeline. • “Importing Region Groups with Pro Tools Menu Commands”...
Page 254 Region Groups folder in the session folder. You can change the Destination Direc- tory by clicking the Choose button, navigating to the desired location, and clicking Choose. Click Reset to reset the Destination Directory to the default location. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 255: Chapter 13. File And Session Management And Compatibility
Pro Tools|HD systems. FireWire particular file even if its name or location has and ATA/IDE drives are also supported. See the changed. Digidesign website for details (www.digide- sign.com). Locating Audio Files On Pro Tools LE systems, data ﬁles (such as ◆...
Page 256 Choose Copy and Relink from the Browser menu. Click OK. Specify a location for the copied ﬁles on a For more information on relinking missing valid Performance volume. files, see “Linking and Relinking Files” on Click OK. page 187. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 257 Before the session opens, you are prompted to Renamed Audio Files and the Renamed save a detailed report of the renamed files and Audio Files Folder their original file names to a Notes text file. By Renamed audio files are located in the auto-cre- default, the Notes text file is saved to the Session ated Renamed Audio Files folder in the folder.
Page 258: Wav File Compatibility
Drives on Windows Computers dard audio WAV file type. The AES31 format contains SMPTE time stamps and other infor- Either the Digidesign HFS+ Disk Support option mation beyond the raw PCM audio data. or the MacDrive Utility is required to mount...
Page 259 To transfer Pro Tools Windows sessions from NTFS drives to HFS+ drives: When transferring Pro Tools sessions from Set the Digidesign HFS+ Disk Support Options HFS+ drives to NTFS drives, Pro Tools ses- or the MacDrive Options to Backup/File Trans- sions cannot relink to audio files and fades fer.
Page 260 – or – Windows XP systems using MacDrive. • Open the Mac session on the HFS+ drive, When using either the Digidesign HFS+ Disk and when prompted, choose Save Copy In Support option or MacDrive for recording and and save a copy of the session to the HFS+ playback on a Windows system, the session file drive.
Page 261 If you create a Pro Tools 6.9.x or lower session When importing files into a session, incompati- on a Mac system, the session is only compatible ble characters are converted to underscores (“_”) on Windows systems if the Enforce Mac/PC and the renamed files are placed in the Re- Compatibility option is selected during the Save named Files folder.
Page 262: Sharing Sessions Created On Different Pro Tools Systems
10 sends up to 10 sends up to 10 sends (Pro Tools 7.x) (Pro Tools 7.x) up to 5 sends up to 5 sends (Pro Tools 6.9.x (Pro Tools 6.9.x and lower) and lower) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 263 Opening Pro Tools HD Sessions in Groups Pro Tools LE • In Pro Tools LE 7.1 or lower only, all groups beyond the ﬁrst 26 (Bank 1, Groups a–z) are A Pro Tools HD 7.2 or higher session that does dropped.
Page 264: Sharing Sessions Created On Different Pro Tools Software Versions
• Video regions and video region groups are not 7.0, the following occurs: shown or saved. Tracks • VCA Master tracks are removed and any unco- alesced VCA automation is dropped. • Any uncoalesced Trim automation is dropped. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 265 Saving Pro Tools HD 7.2 or Higher Groups Sessions to Pro Tools 5.1 -> 6.9 Format • All groups beyond the ﬁrst 26 (Bank 1, Groups a–z) are dropped. A Pro Tools 7.2 or higher session cannot be opened with Pro Tools versions 6.9.x through •...
Page 266 Region List. • The Timeline displays and plays back only the video playlist that was last active. Alternate video playlists are not available. • Video regions and video region groups are not shown or saved. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 267 • Instrument tracks are split into separate Aux- Sharing Pro Tools LE 7.3 Sessions iliary Input and MIDI tracks. with Pro Tools LE 6.9 or Lower • The following attributes are dropped. A Pro Tools LE 7.3 format session cannot be •...
Page 268: Multilingual Application Support For Pro Tools Systems
An English and localized version of Pro Tools (such as Pro Tools Korean, simplified Chinese, or Japanese) can be opened on a Digidesign- qualified Mac that can run English and the lo- calized language versions of Mac OS X. Only one language version of Pro Tools can be open at a time.
Page 269: Part Iv Recording
Part IV: Recording...
Page 271: Chapter 14. Record Setup
On many analog tape decks, a little clipping adds a perceived warmth to the The Digidesign PRE can be used as a stand- sound due to tape compression. In digital re- alone preamp with all Pro Tools systems, or...
Page 272: Record Enabling Tracks
96i I/O, 882|20 I/O, 1622 I/O, and 24-bit ADAT When you feed a signal into any audio record- Bridge I/O. Some Digidesign I/Os that do not ing system, including Pro Tools, make sure to have output trims (such as the 96i I/O) offer...
Page 273 To record enable an audio, MIDI, or Instrument To record enable MIDI and Instrument tracks track: using the Up/Down Arrows: From either the Mix or Edit window, click the While pressing Control (Windows) or Com- ■ ■ track’s Record Enable button to toggle record en- mand (Mac), press the Up/Down Arrows to able on or off for the track.
Page 274 Record Safe mode. abled audio track. To enable the Latch Record Enable Buttons preference: Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Operations tab. Select Latch Record Enable Buttons. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 275: Record Monitoring Modes
For Pro Tools LE, the Input Monitor Enabled Record Monitoring Modes Status indicator (in the Transport window) lights green when Input Only mode is enabled. Pro Tools offers two modes of input monitoring: Auto Input and Input Only. These monitoring modes determine how input signals are moni- tored during playback, record, or while the transport is stopped.
Page 276: Monitor Levels For Record And Playback
This lets you maintain a consistent mix Tracks to Input Only. regardless of whether you're recording or just lis- tening. To toggle record-enabled tracks between Auto Input and Input Only monitoring, press Alt+K (Windows) or Option+K (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 277: Monitoring Latency
Zero Latency Monitoring Monitoring Latency (Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Mini, and Mbox Only) (Pro Tools LE) Mbox 2, Mbox Mini, and Mbox give you the Because Pro Tools LE uses the host processor in ability to monitor your analog input signals your computer for all audio processing, play- while recording, without hearing any latency.
Page 278: Low Latency Monitoring With Delay Compensation
For details, see “Region and Take Numbering with QuickPunch” on For information about defeating suspended page 316. Delay Compensation, see “Low Latency Monitoring During Recording” on page 659. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 279: Disk Allocation
When recording MIDI tracks, a similar naming Disk Allocation scheme is used, though with only one set of dig- its. For example, after recording to a track called By default, Pro Tools records audio files to the “Synth 1,” a region is created called “Synth 1- Audio Files folder inside the session folder.
Page 280 P (Playback only) or T (Transfer). For press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) while more information, see “Audio and Video selecting a drive name. Volume Designators” on page 196. When you are ﬁnished, click OK. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 281 Computer Platforms” on page 244. Record to system drives only when absolutely necessary, such as if your computer system has On Windows, with the Digidesign HFS+ only one hard drive, or if your other hard drives Disk Support option installed, you can are completely full.
Page 282: Allocating Hard Drive Space For Recording
You can also cycle through the Pro Tools record modes with the Transport stopped, by Start-clicking (Windows) or Control- Open Ended Record Allocation, Operation preference clicking (Mac) the Record button. The number of minutes specified is allocated for each record-enabled track. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 283 The Record button changes to indicate the se- In Normal Record mode, the record range can be lected Record mode as follows: defined by selecting a range in a ruler or in a track’s playlist, or by specifying start and end •...
Page 284 Record button in the Transport. Record- For more information on TrackPunch, see ing with QuickPunch is nondestructive. “TrackPunch Audio Recording” on page 316. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 285: Recording With A Click
Unless MIDI Merge is enabled, MIDI recording is DestructivePunch destructive (though you can undo a MIDI record (Pro Tools HD Only) pass), either overwriting or adding to region ma- terial. One exception to this rule is when Loop Destructive Punch is a destructive recording Record mode is enabled;...
Page 286 Output pop-up menu the accented and unaccented notes. (see “Click Options” on page 272). Enable Click (see “Enabling Click” on If one is connected, you can also play new note values on a MIDI controller keyboard. page 273). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 287 When listening to the click in your Pro Tools In the Transport, click the Metronome Click sessions, the accented note sounds on the first button so it is highlighted. beat of each measure and the unaccented note sounds on the remaining beats. Select whether the click is heard “During play Metronome Click button and record,”...
Page 288: Setting The Default Meter And Tempo
Tempo events, which can occur anywhere within a Pro Tools session, are stored in the Tempo track and appear in the Tempo Current Meter button ruler. For more information on inserting and editing tempo events, see “Tempo” on page 492. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 289 To insert a default tempo event: To set the Manual Tempo with the Tempo slider: Double-click the Song Start Marker in the Edit To view the MIDI controls in the Transport window (see “Song Start Marker” on page 491). window, select View > Transport > MIDI Con- trols.
Page 290 To lock in the new tempo: Take Pro Tools out of Manual Tempo mode by ■ clicking the Tempo Ruler Enable (Conductor) button, then set the default tempo for the Song Start Marker to the new tempo. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 291: Chapter 15. Audio Recording
Chapter 15: Audio Recording To conﬁgure an audio track for recording: Recording an Audio Track Connect mono or stereo sound sources to in- puts on your Pro Tools audio interface. In Pro Tools, you record audio to audio tracks. Audio tracks can be mono, stereo, or multichan- Choose Setup >...
Page 292 Track Record for monitoring (such as A 1–2) from the Enabled indicator in the Transport turns red (in- track’s Output Path selector. dicating at least one track is record-enabled). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 293 Compensation is deselected in the Options level controls. menu. If a record-enabled track is in Auto Input Digidesign recommends recording without Monitor mode, you will hear “through” the Delay Compensation in most cases. For input while the Transport is stopped. The more information, see “Delay Compensa-...
Page 294: Record Shortcuts
To cancel a record take while recording: Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows) or Command+Shift+Spacebar (Mac). For de- Press Control+Period (.) (Windows) or Com- ■ tails, see “Half-Speed Recording and Play- mand+Period (.) (Mac) before the Transport is back” on page 295. stopped. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 295: Record Pause Mode
To nondestructively record a new take on the Record Pause Mode same track: In the Options menu, ensure that the follow- When recording a large number of tracks or ing options are deselected: Destructive Record, channels, or playing back a large number of Loop Record, QuickPunch, TrackPunch, and De- tracks while recording, Pro Tools may take a lit- structivePunch.
Page 296 Also, since playlists follow the existing region and the region is not re- groups, duplicating or selecting alternate playl- named. ists for a track in an enabled group will affect all tracks in the group. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 297: Punch Recording Audio
To record to a new playlist for a track: Punch Recording Audio From the track’s Playlist selector, choose New. To deﬁne a record range in the playlist, or re- place a portion of a recorded track, you can punch in by specifying the record range before recording.
Page 298: Loop Recording Audio
Later, you can trim back the recorded stop recording first). If post-roll is enabled, play- takes to the proper length with the Trim tool back continues for the specified post-roll (see “Using the Trim Tools” on page 374). amount. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 299 When loop recording audio, Pro Tools creates a Click Play to start recording. single audio file that includes all takes. Takes ap- The Record button flashes during the pre-roll. pear as individual regions in the Region List and When the start point is reached, Pro Tools be- are numbered sequentially.
Page 300: Auditioning Different Record Takes In The Timeline
Right-click Matches sub- menu or the Alternate Takes pop-up menu— even during playback. Alternate Takes pop-up menu The selected take (region) replaces the previous take and snaps precisely to the correct location. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 301 One way to ensure that future takes have the Do one of the following: same User Time Stamp (and appear in the • Right-click any of the selected takes and se- Matches pop-up menu) is to store punch and lect a different take from the Matches sub- loop record selections as Memory Locations.
Page 302: Setting Punch/Loop Points
Separate Region command. Playlist selection – or – • If a region’s start and end points deﬁne the record range, select the entire region. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 303 To set the record range by dragging the Timeline You can also enter a start and end point Selection Markers: during playback. Press the Down Arrow to If you want the Timeline Selection Markers to set the start point, and press the Up Arrow snap to the current Grid value, set the Edit mode to set the end points.
Page 304 New Memory Location dialog tions, which can also include current pre- and Enter a name for the new Memory Location. post-roll values. Click OK. For more information on Memory Loca- tions, see “Memory Locations and Markers” on page 524. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 305 To recall an Edit selection with a Memory Setting Pre- and Post-Roll Location: Pre- and post-roll times appear as ﬂags in the Make sure to select Options > Link Timeline ruler that represents the Main Time Scale. When and Edit Selection. pre- and post-roll are enabled, the ﬂags are green, otherwise they are gray.
Page 306 Drag the Pre-Roll Flag to the Timeline Selec- lected flag. tion Start Marker. Drag the Post-Roll Flag to the Timeline Selec- tion End Marker. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 307: Recording From A Digital Source
The additional digital ports on the 192 I/O and Recording from a Digital 192 Digital I/O are TDIF, AES/EBU, and ADAT. Source Pro Tools can only receive digital audio from one of these ports at a time. If you plan to use a DAT player, digital-output CD recorder, or other digital device with your However, inputs on both the 192 I/O enclosure Pro Tools system, make sure it supports the cor-...
Page 308 (such as AES/EBU or S/PDIF). When the material from the source has ﬁn- ished, click Stop in the Transport. Some Digidesign I/O units only have two channels that can be set for analog or digi- Stop playback on the recording source.
Page 309: Half-Speed Recording And Playback
Half-Speed Recording and Playback Pro Tools lets you play and record at half-speed. This capability is similar to that of a tape deck where you can record material at half-speed and then play it back at normal speed (faster and up an octave), or record material at normal speed and play it back at half-speed (slower and down an octave), for special effects.
Page 310 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 311: Chapter 16. Midi Recording
MIDI control MIDI instruments or instrument plug-ins. surfaces (such as the Digidesign Command|8). It is not necessary to use QuickPunch, Track- ◆ To record and play MIDI, the device must be ◆...
Page 312: Enabling Input Devices
MIDI Control Surfaces In order to use any MIDI control surfaces (such as the Digidesign Com- mand|8), they must be enabled in the Input De- vices dialog. MIDI Input Enable dialog...
Page 313: Midi Thru
If the Default Thru Instrument is assigned to a MIDI Thru record-enabled MIDI track, Pro Tools only routes incoming MIDI to the record-enabled To monitor MIDI tracks while recording, enable track. MIDI Thru. When enabled, Pro Tools routes MIDI from your controllers to the device and To conﬁgure a default Thru instrument: channels assigned to the MIDI track currently Choose Setup >...
Page 314: Input Quantize
MIDI recordings. However, to pre- Transport window with MIDI Controls serve all of the original nuance of your recorded MIDI tracks (such as rubato phrasing), disable this option. For more information on Input Quantize, see “Input Quantize” on page 604. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 315: Midi Merge/Replace
In the Transport window, click the Wait for To enable MIDI Merge: Note button so it becomes highlighted. To view the MIDI controls in the Transport window, select View > Transport > MIDI Con- Wait for Note button trols. In the Transport window, click the MIDI Merge button so it becomes highlighted.
Page 316 MIDI Input selector MIDI track MIDI Output selector, Edit window MIDI track MIDI Input selector, Edit window MIDI Output selector MIDI Input selector Instrument track MIDI Output selector, Edit window Instrument track MIDI Input selector, Edit window Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 317: Recording Midi And Instrument Tracks
To assign multiple destinations to a single Select Options > MIDI Thru is selected, then MIDI or Instrument track, Start-click (Windows) play your MIDI controller. The MIDI device or or Control-click (Mac) the MIDI Output selector instrument plug-in assigned to the track’s MIDI and select additional channels from any device.
Page 318 Merge mode is disabled and recording MIDI on a track with existing regions, newly recorded Record button in Record Ready mode MIDI data overwrites existing MIDI data within existing regions, but the existing region bound- aries remain. New MIDI regions are only created Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 319: Punch Recording Midi
to fill the gaps between existing MIDI region Canceling a Record Take boundaries. Typically, new MIDI regions are al- It is also possible to discard the current record ways created on barlines. However, if existing take before the Transport is stopped. region boundaries are not on barlines, newly created regions are bound by the existing re- To cancel a take while recording:...
Page 320 • Click Record in the Transport. amount. – or – When you have ﬁnished recording, click • For Pro Tools systems using a Digidesign Stop in the Transport. control surface, or Digi 002 and Digi 002 Rack systems, with a connected footswitch, The newly recorded MIDI data appears in the press the footswitch at the punch-in point.
Page 321: Loop Recording Midi
MIDI Merge was enabled during recording). If Regions and Punch Recording an existing region contains material you want to Depending on the record range, new regions keep, use Duplicate to make a copy of the region may be created after punch recording. For exam- (“Duplicate Command”...
Page 322 In the Transport window, click the MIDI region in the track’s playlist, and in the Region Merge button so it is highlighted. List. Disable Wait for Note and Countoff in the Transport window. Select Options > Link Timeline and Edit Selec- tion. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 323 With the Selector tool, select the loop range in Loop Recording Multiple Takes the track’s playlist. When recording MIDI in Loop Record mode, new regions are created each time new material For other methods of setting the record is received during a record pass. This differs range, see “Setting Punch/Loop Points”...
Page 324: Midi Step Input
Record Takes in the Timeline” on page 286. In the MIDI Input Filter dialog, enable Only and System Exclusive. Conﬁgure a MIDI track for recording (see “Configuring MIDI or Instrument Tracks for Re- cording” on page 301). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 325: Recording Audio From A Midi Instrument
Ensure that Pro Tools is in Normal (Nonde- To send Sysex data from Pro Tools to an external MIDI device: structive) Record mode. If necessary, deselect the following in the Options menu: Destructive For the device receiving the System Exclusive Record, Loop Record, QuickPunch, TrackPunch data, make sure its MIDI IN is connected to the (Pro Tools HD only), and DestructivePunch...
Page 326 Click Play in the Transport to start recording. tency associated with bussing. However, be sure to mute the Instrument (or Auxiliary Input) track used for monitoring while recording the same audio path to the audio track. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 327: Chapter 17. Advanced Punch Recording
Record button in the Transport. Record button in the Transport. For Pro Tools systems with Digidesign con- TrackPunch (Pro Tools HD Only) A nondestruc- trol surfaces, and Digi 002 and Digi 002...
Page 328 • Tracks with Dynamically Allocated Voicing record mode. that are not record-enabled. QuickPunch crossfades can be edited in the • Tracks with Dynamically Allocated Voicing same manner as standard crossfades (see “Using that are record-enabled. Fades” on page 465). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 329 Compensation is deselected in the Options dles the distribution of voices between each set menu. of voices automatically. For example, for a 192- Digidesign recommends recording without voice configured Pro Tools|HD Accel system, Delay Compensation. For more informa- Dynamically Allocated Voicing distributes tion, see “Delay Compensation”...
Page 330: Trackpunch Audio Recording
Region List. This in- – or – cludes the whole-ﬁle audio region encompass- • For Pro Tools systems using a Digidesign ing all punches from the record pass, along with control surface, or Digi 002 or Digi 002 the regions derived for each punch.
Page 331 As necessary, voices in use by other tracks may TrackPunch Usage Guidelines be “stolen” while recording with TrackPunch TrackPunch and Dynamically Allocated Voicing (thus silencing some tracks). When using TrackPunch with a Pro Tools|HD TrackPunch voice playback priority follows the system configured for maximum voices, make same guidelines as QuickPunch, as follows sure to set the voice assignment for each audio...
Page 332 Editing Preferences page. For more informa- To punch tracks one at a time, click Record in tion, see “QuickPunch/TrackPunch Crossfade the Transport and then use each individual Length” on page 314. track’s Record Enable button to punch in and out on-the-ﬂy. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 333 Transport and Track Record Settings Destructive Recording and Transport RecordLock The TrackPunch preferences appear on the Op- As a precaution against accidentally recording eration Preferences page. These preferences over previous material, the Transport Record- specify how track and Transport record status re- Lock preference is automatically disabled and spond when the Transport is stopped (during greyed out when Destructive record mode is en-...
Page 334 • Select Options > TrackPunch. Choose Setup > Peripherals. Make sure the • Right-click the Record button in the Trans- Digidesign SYNC peripheral is the selected syn- port, and select TrackPunch from the pop- chronization peripheral, and that it is commu- up menu.
Page 335 When TrackPunch mode is enabled and the Create track groups for each stem or set of transport is armed for recording: tracks on which you plan to punch. Use the If no tracks are TrackPunch-enabled, the ◆ Group List to quickly select all tracks in the Record button in the Transport ﬂashes gray and group.
Page 336 Mixing with TrackPunch” on page 323) TrackPunch- and Record-enabled. The track’s • Loading dailies (see “Loading Dailies Using Record Enable button flashes blue and red. RecordLock” on page 324) Click Play in the Transport to begin playback. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 337 TrackPunch enable the ﬁrst eight while maintaining time code lock. (Requires tracks (or, the group for the ﬁrst pre-dub). Digidesign MachineControl.) • Toggle Pro Tools audio tracks between input Use the Group List to quickly select all and disk monitoring.
Page 338 Enable Audio Track RecordLock. able TrackPunch mode and proceed with punch Conﬁgure synchronization and other settings recording. (See “TrackPunch Recording” on as required. page 317 for the complete steps.) Put Pro Tools online, and start the external source player. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 339: Destructivepunch Audio Recording
DestructivePunch and MachineControl Modern multitrack recording requires the flexi- bility to “capture the moment” by allowing on- When using Digidesign MachineControl soft- the-fly record enabling and punch recording, as ware in Remote 9-Pin Deck Emulation Mode, provided by TrackPunch. Features of Track-...
Page 340 To DestructivePunch-enable an audio track: for all record tracks: Start-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) ■ Control-Alt-Start-Shift-click (Windows) or ■ the track’s Record Enable button to toggle the Command-Option-Control-Shift-click (Mac) button to solid blue. the Track Compensation indicator on the track. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 341 To DestructivePunch-enable all audio tracks: To simultaneously DestructivePunch enable and record enable all selected audio tracks: Alt-Start-click (Windows) or Option-Control- ■ Alt-Shift-click (Windows) or Option-Shift- click (Mac) a track’s Record Enable button to ■ click (Mac) a track’s Record Enable button. The toggle all Record Enable buttons to solid blue.
Page 342 • When a track is record-enabled only, its ting (see “DestructivePunch File Length” Record Enable button ﬂashes red. on page 329). • While a track is recording (in any mode), its Record Enable button lights solid red. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 343 If a track does not contain a file that meets these Choose Options > Prepare DPE Tracks. requirements, you can do any of the following Pro Tools consolidates audio on all Destructive- to meet the requirements: Punch-enabled tracks from the beginning of the •...
Page 344 Record Enable buttons. Lock preference settings. Stop playback. When you are ﬁnished with the record pass, track Record Enable status and transport Record Arm status follow the current Audio Track RecordLock and Transport Record- Lock preference settings. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 345: Part V Editing
Part V: Editing...
Page 347: Chapter 18. Editing Basics
Chapter 18: Editing Basics While editing for MIDI tracks is in some in- Pro Tools Editing stances destructive, with a few precautions you can keep important MIDI tracks and regions safe The Edit window in Pro Tools provides a power- when performing edits (see “Nondestructive ful collection of tools for editing and assembling MIDI Editing”...
Page 348: Track Material
Whole-File Audio Regions These audio regions nels, which can be dragged independently to are created when recording or importing audio, tracks. consolidating existing regions, and when non- destructively processing with an AudioSuite plug-in. Whole-file audio regions reference an Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 349 Region Groups A region group is a collection of VCA Master Tracks (Pro Tools HD Only) Can be any combination of audio and MIDI regions set to Volume, Volume Trim, or Mute. that looks and acts like a single region. Region MIDI Tracks Can be set to Blocks, Regions, Notes, groups are essentially containers holding one or Volume, Pan, Mute, Velocity, Pitch Bend, After...
Page 350 The track displays the new format. If the track is part of an active Edit Group, all tracks in the group are set to the new format. Click for Track View pop-up menu MIDI Track View selector Audio Track View selector Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 351 To change to the previous or next Track View: Click for Track View pop-up menu Click in the track you want to change. To change views on multiple tracks, Shift-click or drag the Selector tool to select additional tracks, or select a group. Do one of the following: •...
Page 352 Right-click in the area just to the right of the ■ follows: track controls and choose the height from the • Audio tracks: Waveform and Blocks pop-up menu. • MIDI and Instrument tracks: Regions, Blocks, and Notes (when using the Selector tool) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 353 The track is resized to the new height. If the To turn on Expanded Track Display: track is part of an Edit Group, all tracks in the From the Track Height selector, click Ex- ■ group are set to the new height. panded Track Display.
Page 354: Displaying Region Names, Region Times, And Other Data In Playlists
In other instances, such as ar- ranging or spotting Foley, displaying region names and times is extremely useful. To enable or disable the display of region names in playlists: Select or deselect View > Region > Name. ■ Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 355: Audio Regions And Waveforms
To display region times: Audio Regions and Waveforms From View > Region, select one of the follow- ■ ing options: When the Track View for audio tracks is set to Waveform, Pro Tools draws a waveform dia- No Time Disables display of region times. gram of the audio.
Page 356 • Tab to Transients (see “Tabbing to Tran- sients” on page 407 . ) • Editing to a Grid (see “Grid” on page 365) • Beat Detective (see Chapter 24, “Beat De- tective”) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 357: Midi Regions And Midi Data
When trimming audio regions with any of the Avoiding Clicks and Pops Trim tools, or when editing the placement or or- If an edited region begins or ends at a point of der of regions within a track, use multiple play- high amplitude, you may hear a click when lists to easily return to a track’s previous state.
Page 358 (see Figure 17 above). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 359 Regions View for MIDI and Instrument Tracks MIDI and Instrument tracks can also be viewed as Regions, which is similar to Waveform View for audio tracks. While a track’s notes are visible in Regions View, individual note editing is not available in this view.
Page 360: Timebase Rulers And Conductor Rulers
To apply edits to all instances of a MIDI re- • Time Code 2 (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools gion, enable Mirrored MIDI Editing mode LE with DV Toolkit 2 only) (see “Mirrored MIDI Editing” on page 559). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 361 In addition to providing a timing reference for To display only the Main Time Scale in the Timebase ruler: track material, the Timebase rulers are also used to define Edit selections for track material, and Select View > Rulers > None (“Main Time ■...
Page 362: Main Time Scale
• Grid and Nudge values on the 35 millimeter film format. The Main Time Scale can be set to the following Samples Displays the Time Scale in samples. formats: This format is very useful for high-precision sample editing. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 363 Setting the Main Time Scale Navigating with the Main Counters The Main Counters (at the top of the Edit win- To set the Main Time Scale, do one of the dow and in the Transport window) provide a following: convenient way to navigate to a specific time lo- Click a Main Counter selector (located at the ■...
Page 364: Tick-Based Timing
MIDI events stay fixed to the sam- Note Value Normal Dotted Triplet ple time, regardless of where tempo or meter changes occur in a session. 1/2 note 1920 2880 1280 1/4 note 1440 1/8 note 1/16 note 1/32 note 1/64 note Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 365 Tick-Based Audio and MIDI To switch the timebase of a track, do one of the following: Tick-based audio is fixed to Bars|Beats, and If the track’s height is set to Small or larger, ■ moves relative to the sample timeline when click the Timebase selector for the track and se- tempo and meter changes occur.
Page 366: Playlists
Absolute (sample-based) or Bar|Beat (tick- track has its own set of dedicated automation based) reference. For more information, see playlists. “Bar|Beat and Absolute Reference” on page 525. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 367 Automation playlists for audio tracks store data Duplicating a Playlist for volume, pan, mute, and plug-in controls. When you edit a track, you can work with a Automation playlists for MIDI tracks, however, copy of the track's playlist and keep the original store only mute information;...
Page 368 This playlist. lets you revert back to an earlier take by switch- ing the playlist takes by group. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 369: Multiple Undo
Using this method, you can add new tracks to All tracks in the group have playlists numbered the existing group and the suffixes for their with .01 suffixes (even those tracks that were playlist names are synchronized with the origi- added to the original group after the earlier nal tracks.
Page 370 To undo operations in the Undo History window: • Selecting “Select > Unused,” or “Select > Click the operation (bold) in the list to undo. ■ Unused Audio Except Whole Files” in the Region List pop-up menu Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 371: The Region List
When the number of operations in the Undo The Region List History reaches the maximum level of Undo, performing another undoable operation re- The Edit Window displays all audio regions, moves the oldest operation at the top of the MIDI regions, and region groups in a single, Undo History queue.
Page 372 Regions with ﬁle information shown in the Region List favorite audio loops and MIDI clips. Save the session as a template and the regions are available for future sessions (see “Creating Custom Session Templates” on page 91). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 373 Pro Tools displays only the region name in the Click the Region List pop-up menu, choose Region List by default. Sort By, and select one of the following to apply additional sort criteria (in other words, to add a When editing, the Region List can become secondary sort criteria): cluttered with auto-created regions.
Page 374 ﬁeld in the Find dialog and choose Insert Entry from the pop-up menu. Region List while searching Type another entry and choose Insert Entry again to add additional search strings to the his- tory. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 375: Selecting Regions In The Region List
Click the name of a region in the Region List, To remove an entry from the history: ■ and Shift-click an additional region name. Select it from the Find History pop-up menu so it is displayed in the text ﬁeld. All regions that occur between the first region selected and the additional region will also be Choose Remove Entry from the Find History...
Page 376 Pro Tools, are displayed as single items in the Region List. For example, two mono source regions named “Main Pi- ano.L” and “Main Piano.R” are listed as “Main Piano (Stereo).” An expand/collapse triangle in- dicates stereo and multichannel regions. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 377: Region Name Right-Click Pop-Up Menus
Region Name Right-Click Edit Modes Pop-Up Menus Pro Tools has four Edit modes: Shufﬂe, Spot, Slip, and Grid. Grid mode provides two modes (Region List) of operation, Relative and Absolute, explained When you Right-click a region name in the Re- below.
Page 378 (or a location based on any of the other time formats), capture an incoming Time Code address, or use a region’s time stamps as refer- ence points for spotting. This can be particularly useful when performing post production tasks around SMPTE frame locations. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 379 When Spot mode is enabled, Pro Tools asks you Conﬁguring the Grid to specify a destination location when a region The actual Grid size, chosen from the Grid value is dragged from the Region List, a DigiBase pop-up menu can be based on a time value us- browser, Windows Explorer, or the Mac Finder.
Page 380: Edit Tools
Zoom Toggle Use the Zoom Toggle to switch be- Turning on Grid lines from a Timebase ruler tween the current zoom view and a defined zoom view. Trim Tools Use the Trim tools to trim regions and region groups. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 381: Using The Zoomer Tools
Selector Tool Use the Selector to make selections To zoom out horizontally for all tracks, do one of the following: on tracks. Click the Horizontal Zoom Out button. ■ Grabber Tools Use the Grabber tools to select, separate, or move regions on tracks. Press Control+[ (Windows) or Command+[ ■...
Page 382 (Mac). within the track. All tracks are zoomed in by one level and the Edit window is centered around To zoom in on a selection: the zoomed location. Press Alt+F (Windows) or Option+F (Mac). ■ Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 383 To zoom back to the previous level, Alt-click To use Single Zoom mode, do one of the following: (Window) or Option-click (Mac) with the Click the Zoomer tool pop-up menu and se- ■ Zoomer tool. lect Single Zoom mode. – or – To zoom into a particular track area: Press the F5 key to toggle to Single Zoom ■...
Page 384 Recall Zoom Preset from the Zoom Preset pop-up menu. Select the Zoomer tool. Press Start+Shift (Windows) or Control+Shift (Mac) and drag up or down. When you release the mouse, all shown audio tracks will zoom to the same zoom level. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 385 Zoom Toggle Vertical Zoom Selection When selected, zoom toggling in Zoom Toggle lets you define and toggle between zooms vertically to the current Edit Selection. zoom states directly from the Edit window. Last Used When selected, zoom toggling in Zoom Toggle Parameters zooms vertically to the last stored Zoom Toggle state for MIDI notes in Notes view only.
Page 386 Additionally, any changes made to the view while Zoom Tog- gle is enabled are also stored in the zoom state. When Zoom Toggle is disabled, the Edit window reverts to the last zoom state. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 387 To modify the stored Zoom Toggle state, do one of To use Zoom Toggle without changing playlist the following: views: Change the Zoom Toggle preferences. Make a selection on one or more tracks. ■ – or – Do one of the following: •...
Page 388: Using The Trim Tools
MIDI data (when working on regions). To return to the length of the original region, drag it from the Region List, or resize the edited region with the Trim tool to its original length. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 389 Use of the Trim tool is affected by the current When using Shuffle mode, subsequent regions Edit mode: Shuffle, Slip, Spot, or Grid (see “Edit are slid as necessary to make room for the edited Modes” on page 363). region. If using Grid mode, the dragged start/end times snap to the nearest Grid bound- The Trim tool can also be used to lengthen ary.
Page 390 Grid (for example, by quarter notes). The audio region is automatically processed using the Time Com- pression/Expansion AudioSuite plug-in. The new audio region appears in the playlist and in the Region List. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 391 Using the Time Compression/Expansion Tool in Scrub Trim Tool Slip Mode (Pro Tools HD Only) To use the Time Compression/Expansion tool in The Scrub Trim tool is a convenient tool for au- Slip mode: ditioning material (on up to two tracks) to ﬁnd a trim point.
Page 392 1 bar. The 4 bar looped re- gion remains constant, but the number of loop iterations changes from 2 to 4. Each loop iteration’s length changes, but how long the region is looped does not. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 393 To Loop Trim a looped region: To trim the source region (loop iteration) of a looped region: Select the Loop Trim tool. Select the Loop Trim tool. Move the cursor over the top half of the Move the cursor over a Loop icon in the looped region (not over a Loop icon).
Page 394: Using The Selector Tool
“Selecting Track Material” on Click and drag in a track, across multiple page 398. tracks, or on Timebase ruler (if Link Timeline and Edit Selection is enabled). Time Grabber tool Making a selection with the Selector tool Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 395: Using The Smart Tool
Separation Grabber Cuts and pastes an Edit se- Using the Smart Tool lection from one location to another by clicking and dragging. For more information, see “Sepa- With the Smart Tool you can instantly access ration Grabber Tool” on page 419. the Selector, Grabber, and Trim tools, and you can also perform fades and crossfades.
Page 396 To get the Marquee so you can select a group ◆ with fine control, press Control+Shift (Win- of notes, position the cursor so it does not cover dows) or Command+Shift (Mac). any notes and press Control (Windows) or Com- mand (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 397: Using The Scrubber Tool
Edit window around that point, and moves the The Smart Tool with Stereo and Playhead there. With these Scrolling Options, Multichannel Tracks scrubbed material moves past the Playhead, When using the Smart Tool on stereo and mul- which remains stationary and centered. tichannel tracks, individual channels cannot be independently edited.
Page 398 To stop playback, press Start+0 (Windows) or While pressing Alt (Windows) or Option Control+0 (Mac). (Mac), drag within the track—left for reverse, right for forward. The Fast Forward and Rewind buttons in the Transport window engage. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 399: Numeric Keypad Set To Shuttle
To exit Shuttle Lock mode, do one of the following: Numeric Keypad Set to Shuttle Press Stop in the Transport window. (Pro Tools HD Only) ■ – or – Pro Tools offers another form of shuttling, dif- ferent from that of Shuttle Lock mode. With the Press the Spacebar.
Page 400: Using The Pencil Tool
Uni- verse window. If the Universe window is resized so some of the session’s track are not displayed, a vertical scroll bar becomes available. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 401 Shaded Area in the Universe Window Video Universe Window The shaded area in the Universe window repre- The Universe window also provides a Right-click sents what is visible in the Edit window. If you pop-up menu for displaying the Video Universe change what is displayed in the Edit window—...
Page 402 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 403: Chapter 19. Playing And Selecting Track Material
Chapter 19: Playing and Selecting Track Material Playback Location Playing Tracks The playback location is displayed in the After recording or importing audio or MIDI to counters at the top of the Edit window and in tracks, you will want to listen to the material for the Transport window, and in the Big Counter editing and mixing.
Page 404 The edit cursor appears at the location lector tool at that point and click Play in the where playback stops. Transport window. – or – Click the desired location in a Timebase Ruler ■ during playback. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 405 You can also move the playback location in Locating and Auditioning with Fast multiple increments by repeating the command Forward/Rewind (See “Repeating Back/Forward Commands” on You can use the Fast Forward and Rewind but- page 392). tons in the Transport window to locate material on tracks.
Page 406 • To extend the selection backwards by the tal Back or Forward move. Back/Forward Amount and then begin playback, press Shift+Control+Alt (Win- dows) or Shift+Command+Option (Mac) and click Rewind in the Transport window. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 407 Type in the new location. Press Period (.) to cy- Edit Window Counters and cle through to the different time ﬁelds. Indicators Press Enter to accept the new value and auto- The counters and indicators at the top of the matically locate there.
Page 408: Auto-Scrolling Tracks In The Mix And Edit Windows
Edit window. The Playback Cursor locator will appear on the right edge of the Main Time- base ruler after the playback cursor moves be- yond the time visible in the Edit window. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 409: Scrolling Options
Navigating to Tracks Using Track Scrolling Options Position Numbers You can configure how contents of the Edit win- With Track Number View enabled, each track is dow scroll during playback and recording. assigned a number corresponding to its position in the Mix and Edit Windows. You can scroll di- To conﬁgure Scrolling options: rectly to any track by its positional number.
Page 410: Linking Or Unlinking Timeline And Edit Selections
Edit Selection indicators or one of the Counters. Moving the Playhead with these methods does not update the Timeline selection. However, up- dating the Timeline selection automatically moves the Playhead to the Timeline insertion point. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 411 lected for editing purposes. During playback, To link or unlink the Timeline and Edit selections, do one of the following: the Edit selection can be nudged, quantized, or transposed while the loop plays back com- Select or deselect Options > Link Timeline and ■...
Page 412: Linking Or Unlinking Track And Edit Selections
Link Track and Edit Selection button so it be- members of a group, make sure they are visible comes highlighted (selected) or un-highlighted by highlighting their names in the Track List. (not selected). Link Track and Edit Selection enabled Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 413 Selections in Multiple Tracks To select all regions in all tracks: Select the “All” Edit Group in the Group List To make a selection in multiple tracks: pop-up menu. With the Selector tool, click and drag horizon- ■ Do one of the following: tally to include adjacent tracks in a selection •...
Page 414 When playback reaches the point where you want the selection to begin, press the Down Ar- Object Grabber tool row key. Press the Up Arrow key at the point where you want the selection to end. The selected range be- comes highlighted. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 415 Shift-click each region you want to include in To change a Time selection to an Object selection: the selection. The regions can even reside on dif- Drag with the Selector tool in any track to de- ferent tracks. ﬁne a selection, or select in a Timebase ruler to select across all tracks.
Page 416 – or – row key to scroll to the end. • While pressing Control+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac), press Plus (+) or Minus (–) on the numeric keypad to move the selection’s end point by the Nudge value. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 417 Extending Selections To extend a selection to a Marker or Memory Location: You can extend selections to region start and Do one of the following: end points, to include an adjacent region, or to • Click in a track with the Selector tool at the Markers and Memory Locations.
Page 418 Shift while dragging to To subtract time values: change the range of the selection. In the Edit Selection indicator, highlight the time ﬁeld you want to change. Press Minus (–) on the numeric keypad. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 419 Do one of the following: To select across all tracks, do one of the following: • Press P on your computer keyboard to Enable the All Edit Group and make a selec- ■ move the selection to the previous track. tion in any track.
Page 420 Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) the Edit Markers instead. While pressing Shift, scrub to an appropriate end point for the selection, then release. The range between the initial and ﬁnal scrub be- comes selected. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 421 Right-Click Commands and Selection To set the start and end points of a selection with Tab to Transients: Preservation In the upper left of the Edit window, click the You can use Right-click commands with key Tab to Transients button so it becomes selected. combinations to perform operations on objects while maintaining selections in the Edit and If you will be setting the play range with this...
Page 422: Playing Selections
■ Command+Option+Left Arrow (Mac). To play from the pre-roll point to the start of a selection, or to the current Cursor location: Press Alt+Left Arrow (Windows) or Op- ■ tion+Left Arrow (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 423 Enable Loop Playback by doing one of the fol- To audition a selection end point: lowing: Press Alt+Right Arrow (Windows) or Op- ■ • Select Options > Loop Playback. tion+Right Arrow (Mac). • Right-click the Play button in the Transport When auditioning the end of a selection, play- window and select Loop from the pop-up back begins before the end point by the pre-roll...
Page 424: Timeline Selections
• In the Transport window, click in the start ﬁeld. – or – • Press Alt+Forward Slash (/) (Windows) or Option+Forward Slash (/) (Mac) on the nu- meric keypad to select the start ﬁeld in the Transport window. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 425: Tce (Time Compression And Expansion) Edit To Timeline Selection
Type in the new start location and press For- TCE (Time Compression and ward Slash (/) to enter the value and automati- Expansion) Edit To Timeline cally move to the end ﬁeld. Selection Type in the new end location and press Enter to accept the value.
Page 426: Playing Timeline And Edit Selections With The Playhead
Drag with the Selector tool in any Timebase ruler to set the play range. Choose Edit > Selection > Play Timeline. The Playhead jumps to the Timeline selection and plays it from beginning to end, and then stops. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 427: Dynamic Transport Mode
Moving the Playhead To enable or disable Dynamic Transport mode: Select or deselect Options > Dynamic Trans- ■ When the Scrolling option is set to Center Play- port. head, the Playhead can be moved forward or back to the next region boundary in the selected Press Control+Start+P (Windows) or Com- track.
Page 428 With any Edit tool selected, click and drag the ■ Click the Operation tab. selection on the Main Timeline ruler to another Select Play Start Marker Follows Timeline Se- location. lection. Click OK. Dynamic Transport mode, moving the Edit selection Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 429 Timeline Insertion/Play Start Marker To audition a loop transition: Follows Playback Enable Dynamic Transport mode (Options > Dynamic Transport). When enabled, the Play Start Marker moves to the point in the Timeline when playback stops. Ensure that Loop Playback mode is enabled When disabled, the Play Start Marker does not (Options >...
Page 430 Timeline se- lection. Recording punches in and out based on To move the Play Start Marker to the Timeline Selection Start: the Timeline selection. Press Period (.) on the numeric keypad and ■ then the Left Arrow. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 431: Chapter 20. Working With Regions And Selections
Chapter 20: Working with Regions and Selections Regions are the basic building blocks for arrang- Capture Region Command ing audio and MIDI in Pro Tools. Understanding The Capture Region command deﬁnes a selec- how regions are created, edited, and arranged is tion as a new region and adds it to the Region essential to taking full advantage of the editing List.
Page 432 • With an Edit selection, Right-click near the agement, click the Region List pop-up menu, cursor position or selection and choose deselect Show > Auto-Created to hide all Separate from the pop-up menu. auto-created regions in the Region List. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 433 Separating Multiple Tracks Separation Grabber Tool Figure 21 illustrates a separation across three You can use the Separation Grabber tool to auto- mono audio tracks and one stereo track. For matically separate an Edit selection and move it some tracks, the selection resides within a re- to another location or another track.
Page 434 Audio regions can be set to display a small “dog-ear” corner to indicate overlapping region boundaries. Overlap region Underlap region Region overlap and underlap Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 435: Trimming Regions
To trim from an end point to insertion: Trimming Regions With the Selector tool, click inside the region or note where you want the new end point. In addition to the Trim tools, Pro Tools provides several options for editing region and region Choose Edit >...
Page 436 – or – • While pressing Control (Windows) or Command (Mac), press Plus (+) or Minus (–) on the numeric keypad to trim the re- gion’s end point by the Nudge value. Region end trimmed to ﬁll gap Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 437: Healing Separated Regions
Healing Separated Regions Placing Regions in Tracks The Heal Separation command returns sepa- Once you have created a region, it appears in the rated regions to their original state—provided Region List. From the Region List you can drag it the regions are still next to each other and their to a track to add to an existing arrangement of relative start/end points haven’t changed since regions, or you can create a new track and start...
Page 438 When the cursor is over To set the Region List Drop Order: a compatible destination, the region outlines Choose Region List > Timeline Drop Order, ■ appear at the location. and then Top to Bottom or Left to Right. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 439 To drag and drop multiple items from the Region Placing Regions at the Edit List to a single track: Insertion Point From the Region List pop-up menu, choose You can drag a region from the same track, from Timeline Drop Order > Left to Right. another track, or from the Region List, and align Search and sort the Region List if desired to its start, end, or sync point to the Edit insertion...
Page 440 If the Scrolling option is set to Center Play- head (Pro Tools HD only), move the playhead to the start of the selected region (see “Moving the Playhead” on page 413). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 441 Do one of the following: Sliding Regions • Control-Start-drag (Windows) or Com- A region or group of selected regions (on the mand-Control-drag (Mac) a region from same track or on multiple tracks) can be slid the Region List to another track. with the Time Grabber tool to new locations or –...
Page 442 With of the Grabber tools (Time, Separation, for Shuffle mode. For more information, see or Object), click and drag the selection to the “Shuffle Lock” on page 364. new location. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 443 Time Grabber and Object Grabber Snapping to the Preceding or Next Region on a Track If you are moving audio data, the Time Grabber and Object Grabber tools overlay only the audio A region—or an Edit selection including one or data on the destination track.
Page 444 ﬁrst region. Play back the results. Snapping a region to the next region in a track You can also use the Snap To commands with an Edit selection that includes multi- ple regions on one or more tracks. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 445 Spotting Regions Spot mode is useful for sessions in which you want to spot regions to precise locations based on any of the Time Scales. This is useful when performing post production tasks. In Spot mode you can spot a region by specifying a SMPTE frame (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 only) or bar and beat location, by cap- turing an incoming time code address, or by us-...
Page 446 Region List pop-up menu (see “Time Stamping” on page 814). Time Stamps in DigiBase Columns are provided in DigiBase browsers for both the Original and User Time Stamps. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 447 Deﬁning the Grid Value Absolute and Relative Grid Mode In addition to affecting the placement of re- Grid mode can be applied in Absolute or Rela- gions, the Grid value also constrains Timeline tive mode. and Edit selections, and determines how the Re- In Absolute Grid mode, moving any region ◆...
Page 448: Sync Points
To enable the display of sync points in audio cation of the sync point. regions: Choose View > Region > Sync Point. ■ Sync points Sync Points Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 449: Nudging
Dragging Sync Points Nudging You can click and drag a sync point to another Pro Tools can nudge regions (or MIDI notes) by position in the audio region. precise increments with the Plus (+) and Minus (–) keys on the numeric keypad. The amount of To set the sync point by dragging: the nudge is determined by the value specified If you want the sync point to snap to the cur-...
Page 450 Commands Keyboard value. Focus. While pressing the Start key (Win- – or – dows) or Control (Mac), press Forward Slash (/) or M. • Press Minus (–) to move the selection back by the Nudge value. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 451: Shift Command
Nudging a Region’s Contents Shift Command Often a region’s start point will reside at the cor- Use the Shift command to move track material rect location, perhaps at a SMPTE frame or bar, forward or back in time by a specified amount. but the material within the region starts too late The Shift command can operate on selections, or early.
Page 452: Quantizing Regions To Grid
(such as notes) are moved equally, thereby re- moved. taining their rhythmic relationships. To quan- tize individual MIDI notes, choose Event > MIDI Grid/Groove Quantize (see “Grid/Groove Quan- tize” on page 584). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 453: Muting/Unmuting Regions
The Replace Region Dialog Muting/Unmuting Regions Choosing the Mute/Unmute Region command mutes playback of a selected region. Choosing the command a second time unmutes the re- gion. Regions that are muted become dimmed to indicate their status. Muted audio region (middle) To mute or unmute a region or regions: With the Time Grabber, select the region or re- gions you want to mute or unmute.
Page 454 (replacement) region If the replacement region is larger than the se- selected in the Region List. lection, it is placed in the playlist and trimmed to fit within the length of the original region. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 455: Audio Regions From Field Recorders
To Replace Regions using the Region List pop-up Replacing a Region with an menu: Alternate Channel Select a region in a track to be replaced. (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 Only) Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) the desired replacement region in the Re- Pro Tools provides region replacement tools spe- gion List.
Page 456 (such as multichan- nel recordings made by one or more field re- corders). For detailed criteria that alternate matching channels must meet, see the Field Recorder Workflow Guide. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 457: Edit Commands
To expand alternate channels to new tracks: In the Timeline, do one of the following: • To expand only a portion of the regions on the track, make a selection that includes or overlaps any number of regions on a track, and Right-click (Windows or Mac) or Con- trol-click (Mac) the selection.
Page 458 New regions are often auto-created when per- forming edits. For instance, when clearing a se- lection from a region, new regions are auto-cre- ated from the material residing outside of the selection. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 459 Cut and Copy Commands Deleting Underlying Region Data When removing a region or selection, you can Use the Cut command to remove the selection choose to remove or keep the underlying region from the track and place it on the Clipboard. data.
Page 460 All Automation Copies all automation or MIDI controller data whether it is shown or not. Pan Automation Copies only pan automation or MIDI pan data whether it is shown or not. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 461 Plug-in Automation Copies only the plug-in au- Clear Special tomation that it is shown. The Clear Special commands let you clear just automation data from the current region. Paste Special Choices are: The Paste Special commands let you paste auto- All Automation Clears all automation or MIDI mation data into another region (without affect- controller data whether it is shown or not.
Page 462 Cut command cuts only pan data from track 1, volume data from track 2, and mute data from track 3. For more information on selecting data on multiple tracks, see “Selecting Across Multi- ple Tracks” on page 404. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 463: Duplicate Command
Duplicating Audio Duplicate Command When using Duplicate (or Repeat) for audio that The Duplicate command copies a selection and must fall cleanly on the beat (such as rhythmic places it immediately after the end of the selec- loops), it is important that you select the audio tion.
Page 464: Editing Stereo And Multichannel Tracks
When regions in multichannel tracks are edited with any of the Trim tools or dragged with the Time Grabber tool, material on all channels is affected equally as a group. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 465: Processing Audio With Audiosuite Plug-Ins
Dragging Regions to and from Stereo Processing Audio with and Multichannel Tracks AudioSuite Plug-ins The AudioSuite plug-ins included with your Pro Tools system can be used to process and modify audio regions or even entire audio ﬁles. Do this in order to apply a speciﬁc AudioSuite process (such as Normalization or DC Offset Re- moval) any number of audio regions in your ses- sion.
Page 466: Region Groups
Trim. Each region group is saved with the session as a Region Group file (.rgrp). Region Group files can Repairing a “pop” with the Pencil tool be exported from and imported into different Pro Tools sessions. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 467 Region groups are especially useful for: The region group appears as one region with the region groups icon in the lower left corner. Re- • Grouping tick-based audio regions that have gion groups also appear in the Region List. been separated into many small regions, such as with individual hits of a drum pattern.
Page 468 MIDI, and Instrument tracks, and can in- clude either or both tick-based or sample-based tracks. Multitrack region groups work much like single- track region groups. Multitrack region groups appear as a single object across adjacent tracks. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 469 To create a multitrack region group: Select regions across multiple adjacent tracks. Mixed Region Group icon Mixed multitrack region group (sample- and tick-based audio, and tick-based MIDI) Multitrack region groups create nested re- Selecting regions to be grouped across multiple tracks gion groups of multiple regions by track be- Choose Region >...
Page 470 160 BPM • Change the tempo of a mixed sample-based and tick-based region group. • Record into a region group. • Change playlists on a track that is part of a multitrack region group. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 471 Changing Region Group Timebase Multitrack Region Groups with Sample- and Tick-Based Tracks The timebase format of a region group can be Multitrack region groups can include both sam- changed by: ple-based and tick-based tracks. However, • Changing the track’s timebase. changing the tempo separates the region group •...
Page 472 For more information, see “Tabbing to into a region group, first ungroup the region Transients” on page 407. group, then record, and then regroup the region group. The region group will be recreated intact with the newly recorded material. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 473 Fades and Crossfades on Region Importing and Exporting Region Groups Group Files Region groups can have fades and crossfades Pro Tools can export and import region groups just like regular regions. Fades only apply to au- as region group files (.rgrp) to do any of the fol- dio regions.
Page 474 Import all previously exported region groups by dragging and dropping them into the ses- sion. Export Region Groups dialog The audio files folder of the new session now contains all files referenced by the region groups. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 475: Region Looping
Looped regions (all iterations) display a Loop Region Looping icon in the lower, right corner or each loop iter- ation. Pro Tools lets you loop audio regions, MIDI re- gions, and region groups. Looping regions is an Looped region easy and powerful way to repeat a single region on a track or regions across tracks for composing Source region Loop iterations...
Page 476 To rename the looped region name only (or the region name and disk ﬁle name): Double-click the loop icon with the Grabber. Type in a new name. Choose to name region name only, or rename region name and disk ﬁle name. Click OK. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 477 To unloop a looped region: Editing Looped Regions Select the looped region. Looped regions can be edited as a group (all loop iterations together) or as individual regions Choose Region > Unloop. The Unloop Re- (each loop iteration). For example, selecting a gions dialog opens.
Page 478 Pan automation Special Paste to Fill Selection Choose Edit > Trim Region and one of the Trim Region commands (To Selection, To Fill Se- lection, Start to Fill Selection, End to Fill Selec- tion). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 479: Chapter 21. Fades And Crossfades
Chapter 21: Fades and Crossfades About Crossfades and Curves Using Fades To create a crossfade between two regions, use You can quickly and easily fade-ins or fade-outs the Selector tool to select across the end point of on a region, or crossfades between adjacent au- the first region and the start point of the second.
Page 480 When making selections for crossfades that occur on the border of two re- gions, you can use the Tab key to move the cur- sor to the exact beginning or end of a region. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 481: Fades Dialog
The controls in the Fades dialog include: Fades Dialog Audition When choosing the Edit > Fades command you can use the Fades dialog to select, view, and pre- view fades and crossfades, and to edit the curves Click this button to audition fades. Pro Tools used to perform fades and crossfades.
Page 482 Click this button to scale the view of the wave- form’s amplitude downwards. Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) for the de- Preset Curve 1 fault view scale. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 483 Preset Curve 2 fades out relatively slowly, ◆ Link Settings keeping the volume fairly high throughout the (Crossfades Only) duration of the fade. Preset Curve 2 Preset Curve 3 fades out slightly faster, keep- ◆ Fade Link ing the volume slightly lower during the fade. The Link setting links the selected fade-out and fade-in curves of a crossfade.
Page 484 “Link Settings” on the curve, and slower at the end. S-shaped page 469. curves are useful with material that is difﬁcult to fade effectively. S-curves can be edited by drag- ging the curve in the curve editor. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 485 Preset Curves Seven commonly used preset Preset Curve 7 silences any audio until the ◆ curves are provided for fast creation. These can end of the fade. be edited by dragging the end points of the curve in the curve editor portion of this dialog. The seven presets are as follows: Preset Curve 7 Preset Curve 1 fades in at full volume immedi-...
Page 486: Creating Fades At The Beginnings And Ends Of Regions
When changing tempo in a tick-based audio track, fade-ins and fade-outs remain with their parent regions. Fades maintain their absolute duration and are consequently recalculated after any tempo changes. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 487 Do one of the following: To create a fade-in: • Choose Edit > Fades > Create. Select the beginning of the region that you want to fade in. The selection must extend to – or – the exact beginning of the region or a blank area •...
Page 488: Creating A Crossfade
With any of the Trim tools, trim either side of crossfade. For long crossfades, it may take the crossfade. The crossfade is recalculated to re- Pro Tools a few moments to calculate and load ﬂect the newly trimmed length. the audio into playback RAM. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 489: Using Autofades
Do one of the following: Crossfades On Tick-Based Audio Tracks • Choose Edit > Fades > Create. Crossfades are re-rendered after changing tempo – or – in a tick-based audio track. The new crossfade is the same duration as the crossfade prior to the •...
Page 490: Creating Fades And Crossfades In Batches
Selected regions for Batch Fades free-standing region boundaries until you Do one of the following: change it. • Choose Edit > Fades > Create. – or – • Press Control+F (Windows) or Com- mand+F (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 491: Moving And Nudging Fades And Crossfades
In the Batch Fades dialog, select whether you Moving and Nudging Fades want to Create New Fades, Create New Fade-Ins and Crossfades & Outs, Adjust Existing Fades, or a combination of these options. Fades and crossfades can be moved or nudged in tracks, independently of their contributing re- If you select to create new fades and new fade- gions.
Page 492 • Click a region with the Time Grabber tool (or double-click with the Selector tool) to select the region along with the fade (in or out). – or – • Select multiple regions that include the fades and crossfades you want to move. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 493 Nudge the region by pressing Plus (+) or Mi- To separate crossfaded regions and remove the fade: nus (–) on the numeric keypad. Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Ed- iting tab. Deselect Preserve Fades when Editing. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. Use the Time Grabber or Separation Grabber Nudging a region without its fade tool to select one of the contributing regions to...
Page 494: Separating Regions That Include Fades Or Crossfades
Do one of the following: • Choose Edit > Separate Region > At Selec- Result of Separate Region command on crossfade tion – or – • Press Control+E (Windows) or Com- mand+E (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 495: Trimming Regions That Include Fades Or Crossfades
Trimming Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades Trimming a Region to a Fade Boundary You can trim regions that are adjacent to fade and crossfade boundaries. To trim a region on a fade boundary: With the Trim tool, click the region boundary ■...
Page 496 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 497: Chapter 22. Managing Regions
Chapter 22: Managing Regions Managing the regions in a session lets you keep The Strip Silence Window system and storage requirements to a minimum, The Strip Silence window contains the following and simplify archiving requirements. This chap- controls that let you set the parameters by ter describes several tools for managing files and which silence is defined when using the Strip Si- regions in Pro Tools sessions.
Page 498 Sufﬁx Speciﬁes text appended to the end of the name, after the auto numbering. For example, if you set these naming options to: • Name = SFX • Auto Number Start = 23 • Leading Zeros = 1 • Sufﬁx = .Reel1 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 499 The names generated for regions created by Strip To retain material before and after the new re- Silence would be: gions, adjust the sliders for Region Start Pad and Region End Pad. • SFX023.Reel1 • SFX024.Reel1 • SFX025.Reel1 • SFX026.Reel1 •...
Page 500: Inserting Silence
(Mac) while choosing the Insert Silence New regions are created based on the bound- command to inserts silence on all automation aries detected by Strip Silence. playlists for all selected tracks. Regions are not shufﬂed. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 501: Consolidate Command
Slip Mode When inserting silence on multiple Consolidate Command tracks in Slip mode, the following conditions apply: During the course of normal edit operations, If any track is displayed as audio or MIDI data, ◆ any track can accumulate many regions. How- the selected range is cleared of audio or MIDI ever, once a track or track range (such as a verse data and all underlying automation data on all...
Page 502: Compacting An Audio File
Region List. you want to compact. You can also rename a region in a track using From the Region List pop-up menu, choose the Rename command in the Region List pop- Compact Selected. up menu. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 503 To rename one or more regions: To set auto-naming options for a region: If you will be renaming an auto-created re- Select a region in the Region List. gion, select Show > Auto-Created in the Region Choose Auto Rename from the Region List List.
Page 504 Use this “power delete mode” with caution: The Clear command cannot be undone. Deletion of these files cannot be undone. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 505: Chapter 23. Conductor Tracks And Memory Locations
Chapter 23: Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations In Pro Tools, tempo, meter, and key changes re- Song Start Marker side in Conductor tracks. Tempo and meter events affect the timing of tick-based tracks, and The Song Start Marker defines the initial tempo also provide the tempo and meter map for the for Bar|Beat-based material.
Page 506: Tempo
Select View > Rulers > Tempo. ■ Current Tempo As tempo events are encountered during play- back, the session’s current tempo is displayed in the Transport window. Current Tempo indicator Current Tempo displayed in Transport window Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 507 Click Ok. The new tempo event is inserted Inserting Tempo Events and appears in the Tempo ruler. To insert a tempo event: Click in the Tempo ruler where you want to insert the tempo event. Inserted tempo event Click the Add Tempo Change button at the Each tempo event has a small green triangle left of the Tempo ruler.
Page 508 Grid value, set the Edit mode to Grid. Drag with the Selector tool in the Tempo ruler to select the tempo events you want to remove. Choose Edit > Clear to delete the selected tempo events. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 509 To set the Manual Tempo by tapping on an Tempo Changes and Automation external MIDI keyboard: Drift To view the MIDI controls in the Transport When a track is sample-based, the track’s auto- window, select View > Transport > MIDI Con- mation playlist is unaffected by changes in trols.
Page 510: Graphic Tempo Editor
Select View > Rulers > Tempo, then View > ■ or based on the current grid resolution. For Rulers > Tempo > Tempo Editor. more information, see “Separate Region Commands” on page 418 – or – Click the Tempo Editor expand/collapse trian- ■ gle. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 511 Freehand The Freehand shape draws freely ac- Editing Tempo Events in the Tempo cording to the movement of the mouse. The Editor shape is reproduced as a series of steps according Tempo events in the Tempo Editor can be edited to the Tempo Edit Density setting.
Page 512 Pressing Start (Windows) or Control (Mac) Quarter note click Dotted quarter note click before drawing a pencil line conforms al- ready created tempo events to the drawn line rather than creating new tempo events. Tempo curve with different click values Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 513 Curve Adjustment Mode Grabbing Tempo Events Immediately after you draw new tempos using The Grabber tools let you create new tempo set- the Pencil tool, a tempo curve appears in blue, tings by dragging tempo events in the Tempo outlining the newly created tempo graph. Blue Editor.
Page 514 Select the Trim tool. Click within the selected area, and drag up or down. Dragging up increases the tempo values of the selection; dragging down decreases them. Changing selected tempos with the Trim tool Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 515 To change the rate of tempo change with the Trim Moving, Cutting, Pasting and Nudging in the tool: Tempo Editor Open the Tempo Editor. To move a selected group of tempo events in the Using the Selector tool, select the area you Tempo Editor: wish to edit.
Page 516: Changing The Linearity Display Mode
Nudge value. Drawing tempo events using the Linear Sample Display can cause Bar|Beat based material to move in non-intuitive ways. Digidesign recommends that you use Linear Changing the Linearity Tick Display when you draw tempo Display Mode changes.
Page 517: Tempo Operations Window
To open a speciﬁc Tempo Operations window Tempo Operations Window page: Choose Event > Tempo, followed by one of ■ The Tempo Operations window lets you define the Tempo Operations page commands (such as tempo events over a range of time (or measures). Constant).
Page 518 Advanced When the Advanced checkbox is se- lected, the selection range changes to the Main Tempo Specifies the tempo, in beats per minute Time Scale format, and additional and modified (BPM), to apply to the selected range. options become available. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 519 Calculate (Advanced Option) Calculates either Parabolic the selection end time, the start tempo, or the The Parabolic page lets you create tempos that end tempo. accelerate or decelerate by following a tempo Selection Start and End Displays the start and curve, which changes the tempo more rapidly or end points for the tempo change in the cur- less rapidly over the selection time.
Page 520 Main timebase. When an Edit se- lection is made, the Start and End fields will dis- play the selection boundaries. Changing start or end values changes the selection range. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 521 Start and End Time (Advanced Option) Displays Preserve Tempo after Selection If selected, the the absolute time for the selection end. When previous tempo setting that was in effect at the the Main Time Scale is set to Bars|Beats, the end selection end point is preserved after the selec- time is displayed in the Sub Time Scale.
Page 522 When an beats per minute (BPM), across the selected Edit selection is made, the Start and End fields range. Changing the Average Tempo changes will display the selection boundaries. the Scale percentage. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 523: Identify Beat Command
Stretch To End Specifies a new end point for the Bar|Beat Markers region to which you want to apply the selected Bar|Beat Markers look similar to tempo events, tempo events. Changing the end point causes but instead have small blue triangles to indicate the Stretch percentage to change.
Page 524 When identifying beats, select as large an area as possible. For example, if you have a four bar long audio file you want to identify, select the entire four bars instead of just one bar, in order to minimize rounding errors. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 525 Dragging Bar|Beat Markers When dragging a Bar|Beat Marker: • Its BPM value is recalculated along with the Bar|Beat Markers can be dragged to new loca- Bar|Beat Marker to its immediate left. Bar|Beat tions so they can align with audio regions that Markers to the right of the dragged marker re- have been moved, or so that they can align to a main unchanged.
Page 526: Meter Events
Figure 23. Bar|Beat Markers on each beat After the Bar|Beat Markers are inserted, further adjustments in the tempo map are possible by dragging each of the Markers, as necessary, to align with the associated beat within the audio. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 527 In the Meter Change window, do the follow- Inserting Meter Events ing: To insert a meter event: • Enter the Location and Meter for the meter change. Do one of the following: • Choose Event > Time > Change Meter. •...
Page 528 “–”) and click to remove it. Shift-click in the Meter ruler. Shift-click again in the Meter ruler to remove it from the selection. To select all meter events: Double-click with the Selector tool in the ■ Meter ruler. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 529: Time Operations
To clear a range of selected meter events: Time Operations If you want to constrain the selection to the current Grid value, set the Edit mode to Grid. The Time Operations window lets you: • Change Meter Drag in the Meter ruler to select the meter •...
Page 530 Change Meter page can only be made at the be- ginning of a bar. Apply Change To Lets you apply the meter change to the selected range, to the end of the session, or until the next bar. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 531 Select “Until the Next Bar” from the Apply Change Meter Examples Change To pop-up menu. To change the meter over a range of bars: Click Apply to enter the new meter and to Do one of the following: move the insertion point to the end of the new measure.
Page 532 If the time selection includes any audio regions on tick-based tracks, the audio regions are sepa- rated at the Start point, and the new region con- taining the previous selection is shifted to the end point. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 533 Meter Ruler Only If your Main Time Scale is Cut Time Bars|Beats, you have the option to remove time Cut Time lets you cut a specified amount of time from the Meter ruler only. Meter events within (both Timebase and track data) from Conductor the selection are removed, and meter events rulers, MIDI tracks, and audio tracks.
Page 534 Options for the Move Song Start command in- based markers and tracks or none of them. clude: Click Apply. Timebase Lets you precisely redefine the posi- tion of the Song Start Marker measured by any supported timebase. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 535: Renumbering Bars
Key Signature Ruler Renumbering Bars The Key Signature ruler lets you add, edit, and You can use the Renumber Bars command to re- delete key signatures. You can use key signatures number all bars in the session, effectively to indicate key and key changes in your changing the bar locations for all regions, meter Pro Tools session.
Page 536 To Lets you specify to where you want the key change to take effect: to the next Key Signature marker, to a selection, or to the end of the ses- sion. Snap To Bar Snaps the Key Signature marker to the bar line. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 537 Edit Pitched Tracks Enabling the Edit Pitched Pitched Tracks Tracks option lets you transpose existing MIDI Pitched tracks are MIDI or Instrument tracks notes on Pitched tracks up or down, either dia- that can be affected by transpositions due to key tonically or chromatically based on the key changes (including constrain to key).
Page 538: Memory Locations And Markers
Import MIDI dialog Import Session Data The Import Session Data dialog includes the Im- port Key Signature Map option. When selected, key signatures (if present) are imported into Pro Tools with the imported session data. Import Session Data Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 539 Markers appear in the Markers ruler with a thin Properties of Memory Locations yellow line extending down through all tracks When creating a new Memory Location (see in the Edit window (to assist in arranging and “Creating Memory Locations” on page 526) you aligning track material).
Page 540 Make sure to select Options > Link Timeline tasks, such as editing down to the sample level and Edit Selection. or trimming MIDI notes. If the Markers ruler is not displayed, select View > Rulers > Markers. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 541 Do one of the following: To create a Selection Memory Location: • Click with the Selector tool in any track or Conﬁgure any session settings you will save ruler at the location where you want to with the Selection Memory Location, such as place the Marker.
Page 542 From the pop-up menu in the Memory Loca- tions window, select Auto-Name Memory Loca- tions. For inserted Markers to have a Bar|Beat refer- ence, make sure to set the Main Time Scale to Bars:Beats. Click Play in the Transport window. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 543 Recalling Memory Locations Editing Memory Locations Memory Locations can be recalled from the Memory Locations can be renamed, edited, de- Memory Locations window and from the nu- leted, and copied and pasted. meric keypad. In addition, Marker Memory Se- lections can be recalled by clicking them in the To rename a Memory Location: Markers ruler.
Page 544 To move a Marker by dragging: In the Memory Locations window, Alt-click ■ (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the Memory In the Markers ruler, click and drag the Marker ■ Location. left or right. Dragging a Marker Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 545: Memory Locations Window
To delete all Memory Locations, do one of the To extend an Edit selection in a track to the following: Markers ruler: In the Memory Locations Window, choose Using the Selector or Time Grabber tool, select ■ Delete All from the pop-up menu. a track range.
Page 546 Show Comments When selected, a column ap- • Window Conﬁguration pears in the Memory Locations window that dis- plays the comments for each of the Markers. • Show Markers Only • All Comments in the Memory Locations window Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 547 Sort by Time When selected, Markers are sorted Auto-Name Memory Location When selected, by their order in the Timeline, followed by Se- Memory Locations are created automatically lection and General Properties Memory Loca- without encountering the New Memory Loca- tions, which are listed in the order in which tion dialog.
Page 548 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 549: Chapter 24. Beat Detective
Chapter 24: Beat Detective Beat Detective is a powerful tool for analyzing, Beat Detective and Source Material editing, and manipulating audio or MIDI tracks Beat Detective is most effective with audio or that have an inherent rhythmic character. MIDI that has clear attack transients or accent Beat Detective analyzes an audio or MIDI selec- patterns (including most instruments used in tion, identifies its peak transients or accented...
Page 550: Beat Detective Requirements
Only) Beat Detective’s Edit Smoothing can be used to automatically clean up foley tracks that contain many regions requiring trimming and crossfading, effectively removing the gaps of si- lence between the regions (thus retaining the room tone throughout the track). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 551: The Beat Detective Window
The Beat Detective Window The Beat Detective window appears as shown in Figure 24, below. Figure 24. Beat Detective (Pro Tools HD shown) To open the Beat Detective window, do one of the Beat Detective Modes following: Choose Event > Beat Detective. ■...
Page 552: Defining A Beat Detective Selection
• If the tempo and meter of the audio selec- tion do not match the session’s default tempo and meter, enter the Time Signa- ture, and Start Bar|Beat and End Bar|Beat locations. For a four-bar selection that starts on beat 1, enter 1|1 and 5|1. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 553: Calculating Tempo With Beat Detective
• If the tempo and meter of the audio selec- To improve Beat Detective’s accuracy in ana- tion do not match the session’s default lyzing swung notes, select the Contains option tempo and meter, and you are unsure of that indicates the smallest sub-division of the the length of the material, enter the Time beat contained in the selection.
Page 554: Generating Beat Triggers
538. pearing in the appropriate locations. If false trig- gers appear between the beats or sub-beats (representing non-rhythmic material) delete them (see “Deleting Beat Triggers” on page 543), or reduce the Sensitivity value. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 555 To display the metric locations for the trig- MIDI Chord Recognition gers, select the Show Trigger Time option. Since MIDI notes in a chord may be played at If you cannot get the beat triggers to appear slightly different moments, Beat Detective inter- at the right locations, repeat steps 5–10 trying prets notes that are close together (closer than the other Analysis algorithm (High or Low Em-...
Page 556 Detective in a session with tick-based tracks: tions (see “Editing Beat Triggers” on page 543). In the Edit window, make an audio or MIDI se- lection. In the Beat Detective window, select Bar|Beat Marker Generation mode. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 557 Consider whether lengthy selections should ◆ To delete a beat trigger: ﬁrst be broken down into smaller selections, With the Beat Detective window open, select which could be more easily managed. For exam- any Grabber tool in the Edit window. ple, working in 8- or 4-bar sections might yield Locate the false trigger you want to delete.
Page 558 In the Identify Trigger dialog, enter the correct Control-click (Windows) or Command-click location for the trigger, then click OK. (Mac) the beat trigger to promote it. If necessary, repeat steps 1–2 to promote addi- tional beat triggers. Identify Trigger dialog Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 559: Generating Bar|Beat Markers With Beat Detective
Navigating Consecutive Beat Triggers To generate Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective: Use the Scroll Next button to move from the In the Edit window, make an audio selection. currently selected beat trigger to the next beat trigger. To move to the previous beat trigger, In the Beat Detective window, select Bar|Beat Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the Marker Generation mode.
Page 560: Digigroove Templates
MIDI velocity data is saved from MIDI Click the Extract button. tracks, and accents and peak levels in audio data are incorporated into the groove template as ve- locity data, which can be applied to change the dynamics of MIDI tracks. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 561 For example, if a bar of kick drum de- they are always located in C:\ tected three beat triggers, all of which were 20 Program Files\Digidesign\Pro Tools\ ticks ahead of the beat, any extrapolated beat Grooves (Windows) or Applications/ triggers will also be mapped 20 ticks ahead of Digidesign/Pro Tools/Grooves (Mac).
Page 562: Separating Regions With Beat Detective
Click the Separate button. mines where the region is placed. Regions are separated based on the detected beat For more information on region sync points, triggers. see “Sync Points” on page 434. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 563 Extending the selection to the snare, hi-hat, and Separating Multiple Tracks overhead microphones tracks, and then per- (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Music forming the separation, results in separated re- Production Toolkit Only) gions in each of the drum tracks at the same lo- cation, based on the beat triggers from the kick You can use beat triggers from a single track, or drum track (see Figure 26).
Page 564: Conforming Regions With Beat Detective
• Higher percentage values ensure that re- gions closer to the Grid, as well as those further away, are conformed. Beat Detective, Standard Conform options To “tighten up” the original feel, while re- taining it, set the Exclude Within option to 10–15%. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 565 To achieve a swing feel for the conformed re- Groove Conform gions, select the Swing option and whether the Instead of using a grid based on the session’s swing is based on eighth-notes or sixteenth- tempo map, Groove Conform uses a grid based notes, then specify a percentage value with the on a groove template, or DigiGroove.
Page 566: Edit Smoothing
When conforming an audio passage to a effects track). This automated process of heavily swung groove template, enabling smoothing region edits can save many hours of Pre-Process using Standard Conform will of- tedious editing. ten yield better results. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 567 To use Edit Smoothing on conformed regions: Edit Smoothing Creates Sync Points In the Beat Detective window, select Edit After smoothing edits with Beat Detective, sync Smoothing mode. points (corresponding to the material’s start point) are automatically created for the con- Select a Smoothing options: formed regions.
Page 568: Detection (Normal) And Collection Mode
Bar|Beat Markers or a DigiGroove template, or deleting, inserting, or adjusting incorrect or separate new regions. false triggers. Beat Detective LE does not support Collec- tion Mode without the Music Production Toolkit option. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 569 Click the Collection Mode button. Using Collection Mode In the Detection (Collection Mode) section, Collection mode is available in Bar|Beat Marker click Add to add all the current beat triggers to Generation, Groove Template Extraction, or Re- the collection. gion Separation mode (audio only), and is ac- cessed by clicking the Collection Mode button Click the Normal Mode button and move the in the Detection section.
Page 570 Hi-hat track added to collection Collected beat triggers applied to Overhead microphones track Figure 28. Overhead mic track displaying a collection of beat triggers containing unique triggers generated from the kick, snare, and hi-hat tracks Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 571 Part VI: MIDI Editing...
Page 573: Chapter 25. Midi Editing
Chapter 25: MIDI Editing Pro Tools provides powerful MIDI editing tools. Mirrored MIDI Editing You can create and edit individual MIDI notes and controller events with the Pencil, Trim, and Mirrored MIDI Editing lets you edit MIDI re- Grabber tools in the Edit window. You can use gions and have your edits apply to every MIDI the various MIDI operations (such as Quantize, region of the same name.
Page 574: The Pencil Tool
Events” on page 497. controller data, the Freehand shape draws freely according to the movement of the mouse. The shape is reproduced as a series of steps according to the Pencil Tool Resolution When Drawing Controller Data MIDI preference. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 575: Custom Note Duration
Line Random When in Notes View, the Line shape inserts a se- When in Notes View, the Random shape inserts ries of MIDI notes on a single pitch whose veloc- a series of MIDI notes on a single pitch whose ities are defined by the Default Note On Velocity velocities change randomly within the range be- MIDI preference.
Page 576: Setting The Grid Value
Verify the default session meter and tempo (see “Setting the Default Meter” on page 274 and “Setting the Default Tempo” on page 274). Cursor location and value For more information on Grid mode, see “Grid” on page 365. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 577 When you reach the pitch and time location The Pencil tool can be dragged after clicking you want, click to insert the note. (and before releasing) to adjust the note’s pitch or duration. Click and drag right to lengthen the note without changing its start point.
Page 578: Manually Editing Midi Notes
When a MIDI or Instrument track is in MIDI notes must be selected, before they can be Notes or Regions View, selections made with the edited. Selector tool include all underlying controller and automation data. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 579 To deselect one or more notes from a selection: To select and play a range of notes on a MIDI or Instrument track: With the Pencil tool or any Grabber tool, ■ With any Edit tool selected, click a key and Shift-click the notes so they become deselected.
Page 580 Do one of the following: As the note is dragged, the Cursor Location • Select the Trim tool. Value indicator (in the Edit window) displays the new start point. Trim tool – or – • Use the Pencil tool. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 581 Move the cursor near the beginning of any of Manually Editing Note Velocities the highlighted notes, so the Trim tool appears. When a MIDI or Instrument track is set to Veloc- Drag right to shorten the notes, or drag left to ity View, each note’s attack velocity is repre- lengthen them.
Page 582 You can also change attributes of MIDI notes in the MIDI Event List (see Chapter 27, “MIDI Event List”). Changing velocities with the Trim tool Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 583 Multiple Notes and Event Edit Area Deleting MIDI Notes When multiple notes are selected, you can enter In addition to deleting selected notes with the values in the Event Edit area fields to affect all Clear command in the Edit menu, individual selected notes.
Page 584: Time Compression/Expansion Trim Tool Functionality On Midi Regions
A new MIDI region is automat- ically created, and appears both in the playlist and in the Region List. After trimming Scaling a MIDI region with the Time Compression/Expansion Trim tool Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 585: Continuous Controller Events
With the Time Compression/Expansion Trim Using the Time Compression/ tool, drag the MIDI region’s start or end point to Expansion Trim Tool in Spot Mode compress or expand the region freely.A new In Spot mode, clicking with the TCE Trim tool MIDI region is automatically created, and ap- in a region opens the Spot Dialog.
Page 586 Edit Group. This is not the case, however, for other controller playlists (such as pan). To insert and edit other controller types across all tracks in an Edit Group, press the Start key (Windows) or Control (Mac) while performing the edits. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 587 Resolution for Inserted Controller To manually enable a continuous controller for automation: Events Click the Track View selector for the MIDI or When inserting controller events with the Pen- Instrument track you want to edit, and select cil tool, the density of the events is determined Add/Remove Controller from the controllers by the Pencil Tool Resolution When Drawing pop-up.
Page 588: Patch Select (Program And Bank Changes)
• If you are using patch name ﬁles, choose a sets the bank and the second sets the pro- bank from the pop-up menu in the upper gram. left of the Patch Select dialog and select a patch name. See “Patch Names” on page 575. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 589 Patch name files are sorted by manufacturer and are located: • On Windows, in Program Files\Common Files\Digidesign\MIDI Patch Names\ Digidesign • On Mac, in /Library/Audio/ MIDI Patch Names/Digidesign Choosing a bank in Patch Select dialog Click Done. To import MIDI patch names into Pro Tools: Once selected, the program number (or patch Choose Setup >...
Page 590 Pro Tools does not let you import a patch name file that does not match the model Program change event and manufacturer information selected in the MIDI Studio Setup window (Windows) or in the Audio MIDI Setup (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 591 Do one of the following: To edit a program change event: • Choose Edit > Clear to remove the selected With the Pencil tool or any Grabber tool, dou- events from the track. ble-click the program change event you want to edit.
Page 592: System Exclusive Events
1|1|000 as it continues to sustain until 9|1|000. Note Chasing is something that can turned on and off individually for each MIDI or Instru- ment track. By default, new MIDI and Instru- ment tracks have Note Chasing enabled. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 593 Chasing also occurs for a MIDI track’s default To enable Note Chasing for a MIDI track: program change, along with any program Click the track’s Playlist selector and select the ■ change events residing within the track. There- option for Note Chasing. fore, if you have chosen a default program change for a track, when playing from any point within the track, the program change event is...
Page 594: Offsetting Midi Tracks
You can measure the latency for a MIDI device assigned to a MIDI track by recording its audio output back into Pro Tools. Compare the sam- ple locations for the recorded audio events against the original MIDI notes to calculate the latency. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 595: Stuck Notes
To conﬁgure a MIDI or Instrument track offset for Stuck Notes a track: Choose Event > MIDI Track Offsets. If you encounter stuck notes with any of your MIDI devices, you can silence them with the All MIDI Notes Off command. To turn off all stuck notes: Choose Event >...
Page 596 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 597: Chapter 26. Midi Operations
Chapter 26: Operations MIDI To open a speciﬁc MIDI Operations window page: MIDI Operations Window Choose Event > MIDI, followed by one of the ■ MIDI Operations (such as Grid/Groove Quan- The MIDI Operations window provides com- tize). mands to transform groups of MIDI notes to af- fect pitch, timing, and phrasing.
Page 598: Grid/Groove Quantize
The Grid/Groove Quantize window provides slightly different options for Grid Quantize and Groove Quantize. You can also quantize MIDI input, see “In- put Quantize” on page 604. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 599 The Grid/Groove Quantize MIDI Operation is To open the Grid/Groove Quantize window: not the same as the Quantize to Grid command Choose Event > MIDI > Grid/Groove Quan- ■ (Region > Quantize to Grid). The Quantize to tize. Grid command adjusts the start point for a se- lected region, and its contents are moved along Press Alt+0 on Windows or Option+0 on with the region (with internal rhythmic rela-...
Page 600 Grid set to eighth notes and Randomize set to 50%, notes are placed up to a 32nd note before or after the beat boundary. The Randomize set- ting also affects note durations (if Releases is se- lected). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 601 Exclude Within When selected, attacks and re- Options leases are not quantized if located within the Additional Quantize options include: specified percentage of the Quantize Grid. Use this option to preserve the feel of notes close to Swing When selected, every other Grid bound- the beat, while correcting others that are drasti- ary is shifted by the specified percentage value cally away from the beat.
Page 602 Grid By, and Swing are not selected. Audition the change. If the desired effect is Select the Exclude Within option with a value not achieved, undo the edit and experiment of 10–15%. with different Swing percentages. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 603 Quantizing with Randomize Groove Quantize If quantized notes sound too mechanical or “on The Grid/Groove Quantize window can apply the beat,” use the Randomize option in the Groove Quantize when a groove template is se- Quantize window to make them sound more lected in the Quantize Grid pop-up menu.
Page 604 Additionally, DigiGroove templates are avail- tion. If the slider is set to 0%, there is no change able from Digidesign and third party manufac- in timing. A setting of 100% moves notes to the turers.
Page 605 Duration Enable to influence the durations of Slider Settings the selected MIDI notes. At a setting of 100%, durations are changed to match the current To Save the groove template with the current Options Slider Settings: groove template. Set to 200%, durations in- crease and decrease based on the ratio of the In the Grid/Groove Quantize window, select original duration of the selected notes and the...
Page 606 If desired, enable Pre-Process using Quantize. Click the Apply button. Figure 32. A DigiGroove template (derived from the audio shown) applied to a series of sixteenth-notes with Timing and Velocity both set to 100% Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 607 Mapping Groove Templates Template Mapping for Unequal Meters In cases where the Groove Templates and track Pro Tools applies groove templates relative to selections are based on different meters, the the song start. For example, a two-bar groove template will be repeated or truncated to match template repeats starting at every odd-num- the number of beats in the selection.
Page 608: Restore Performance
Velocity Restore the original velocities of the se- lected notes. Pitch Restores the original pitches of the se- lected notes. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 609: Flatten Performance
To restore the original time, duration, velocity, or Flatten Performance pitch for selected MIDI notes: Select the MIDI notes you want to restore. The Flatten Performance command “locks in” the current performance for selected notes, cre- Choose Event > MIDI > Restore Performance. ating a new “restore to”...
Page 610: Change Velocity
(such as filter cutoff, en- velopes, and modulations). The curve for this change can be adjusted (+/– 99) to affect how gradually the change oc- curs. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 611 Limit To When selected, restricts the Change Ve- Preserving Existing Velocity Relationships locity command to a minimum and maximum To partially preserve the existing velocity rela- range. tionships and still achieve velocity fades, use the option for Change Smoothly by Percentage. Randomize When selected, the Change Velocity Figure 33 illustrates the difference between the command is randomized by the specified per-...
Page 612: Change Duration
Properties” on page 607. simplify editing while maintaining the desired performance effect. For example, if a sustain pedal down event is deleted while editing, the subsequent MIDI performance looses its legato effect. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 613 Change Continuously Option Change Duration Examples The Change Continuously option lets you To make notes more staccato: change the duration of notes continuously in Select the range of MIDI notes to be edited. ticks or by percentage. Adjust the Curve slider to modify the shape of the change.
Page 614: Transpose
To, All Notes To, or In Key). MIDI Operations window, Transpose Set the corresponding pitch ﬁelds. With any pitch field selected, play a note on your MIDI controller to automatically enter it as the pitch value. Click Apply. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 615: Select/Split Notes
To transpose all notes on a track down by an Select/Split Notes octave: With the Selector tool, double-click in the The Select/Split Notes window provides a com- track to select all of its notes. plete set of tools to select and split notes based on a wide variety of criteria.
Page 616 Select/Split Notes. Include MIDI Controller Data Includes all contin- uous MIDI data, including pitchbend and after- touch, on the entire track, without any restric- tion on time selection. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 617 Selecting a Pitch Range of Notes Selecting Notes in a Chord A common use for Select/Split Notes is to select Another use for Select/Split Notes is to select a single note for the entire length of a region or only the upper or lower notes in a chord. Many track.
Page 618: Input Quantize
When Step Input is enabled, each previ- on page 584.) ously record-enabled MIDI or Instrument track is taken out of record enable, and if When ﬁnished, close the MIDI Operations the Default Thru Instrument preference is window. defined, it is disabled. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 619 Choose the MIDI or Instrument track for step Step Increment entry from the Destination pop-up menu. The options in the Step Increment section let Choose the note value you wish to enter from you set the spacing and duration of MIDI events the Step Increment section.
Page 620 While the note is being held, the Step Increment ment. value can be changed, allowing you to create notes of any musical length. Redo Step Reinserts the last note that was re- moved by the Undo Step operation. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 621: Midi Real-Time Properties
Numeric Keypad Shortcuts MIDI Real-Time Properties When Enable Numeric Keypad Shortcuts is se- MIDI Real-Time Properties let you change some lected, you can apply many of the controls in MIDI properties of MIDI and Instrument tracks the Step Input page, as well as several selection (or MIDI regions) during playback.
Page 622 To select a different Real-Time Property in Mini or Small track height view: Control-click (Windows) or Command-click ■ (Mac) on a real-time property element to select a different element from the pop-up menu. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 623 Expanded Real-Time Properties Window Enabling Real-Time Properties In the Real-Time Properties window, Quantize, To enable Real-Time Properties: Duration, and Velocity each provide an ex- Select a track, or make an Edit selection. pand/collapse triangle to show or hide addi- tional settings. When using Real-Time Properties, enable Link Track and Edit Selection mode to make a track selection from an Edit selection (see...
Page 624 (1–99), such as 3 to 2 or 5 to 4. Tu- plet is only available in the expanded Real-Time Properties window. Selecting a Duration mode Set Select to set notes to the specified duration. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 625 Add Select to add the specified duration to the Delay current duration of each note. Delay lets you delay or advance all MIDI data in Subtract Select to subtract the specified duration the selected region or track. Select “+” from the from the current duration of each note.
Page 626 (Event > MIDI Real-Time Properties). Real-Time desired. Properties can be applied to multiple regions. Once Real-Time Properties have been assigned to a region, the region can be moved or copied and pasted and retain its Real-Time Properties. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 627 Do one of the following: Real-Time Properties In the MIDI Event List • Click the Write to Track button in the Real- Time Properties window. In the MIDI Event List, the presence of track- – or – based Real-Time Properties are indicated by a •...
Page 628 Real-Time Properties. Display Events as Modiﬁed by Real-Time Properties option, MIDI Preferences page Click OK. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 629: Chapter 27. Midi Event List
Chapter 27: MIDI Event List Events in the MIDI Event List can be copied and The MIDI Event List pasted, selected, or deleted. Any MIDI event (ex- cept Sysex data) can be inserted and edited in The MIDI Event List displays a detailed list of all the list.
Page 630 The playback cursor appears as a blue arrow (red, when tracks are record-enabled) in the Start col- umn. Playback cursor double-click to edit simultaneous MIDI events MIDI Event List columns Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 631 Example: To ﬁlter the display of aftertouch and To move through the MIDI Event List, do any of the System Exclusive Messages in the MIDI Event following: List: • Double-click to edit a value. In the MIDI Event List, choose View Filter •...
Page 632: Inserting Events In The Midi Event List
To insert a note in the MIDI Event List: Do one of the following: • Click the Insert button and choose Note from the pop-up menu. – or – • Press Control+N (Windows) or Com- mand+N (Mac). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 633 Do one of the following: To insert a controller event in the MIDI Event List: • To insert the controller event and remain Do one of the following: in Event Entry mode, press Enter on the • Click the Insert button and choose Con- numeric keypad.
Page 634: Editing Events In The Midi Event List
• To enter the new value and exit Edit Entry mode, press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) on the QWERTY keypad. • To exit Edit Entry mode without entering the new value, press Escape on the QW- ERTY keyboard. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 635 Selecting Events in the MIDI Event To delete a selection of events in the MIDI Event List: List Select the events you want to delete, by either To select a range of events in the MIDI Event List, dragging in the Start column, or by Shift-click- do one of the following: ing each event.
Page 636: Midi Event List Options
MIDI Event List. Events that Show Sub Counter Displays event times in the are not displayed still play back. For more infor- mation, see “View Filter for MIDI Event List” on Sub Time Scale. page 616. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 637: Part Vii Mixing
Part VII: Mixing...
Page 639: Chapter 28. Basic Mixing
Chapter 28: Basic Mixing In addition to the final mixdown, mixing tasks Format Compatibility Monitoring Stereo mixes can occur any time during a recording session. must often be mono-compatible. When you are This chapter covers Pro Tools mixing, including mixing in multichannel surround, mixes may audio signal flow, output and bus paths, sends, also need to be compatible with stereo or mono and signal routing for submixing and mixdown.
Page 640: Track Types
Panner Track Type icons Output Main Output Additional Outputs Audio signal ﬂow, audio tracks Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Master, MIDI, and Instrument tracks For information on creating tracks, see “Creating Tracks” on page 125. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 641 • Play back audio from an instrument plug-in, Volume even though Instrument tracks are the recom- mended way to integrate instrument plug-ins (such as Digidesign’s Xpand!). To route an Auxiliary Input: Click the Input Path selector of the Auxiliary Input and choose an input or bus path.
Page 642 1–2 of your primary audio interface) and in, on your master mix. For more information set the panning for each track. about dithering, see “Dither” on page 660. Set the output of the Master Fader to the main output path. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 643 Master Fader Meters Instrument Tracks Meters on Master faders always show post-fader Instrument tracks provide the same audio signal levels, regardless of the Pre-Fader Metering set- routing options as Auxiliary Input tracks, except ting in the Options menu. that their input must come from an instrument plug-in inserted on that Instrument track, or Master Faders and Paths from a bus or hardware input.
Page 644 Instrument tracks, see “As- signing MIDI Input and Output for Instru- ment Tracks” on page 140. VCA Master track For information inserting Instrument plug- ins on Instrument tracks, see “Inserting In- strument Plug-ins on Instrument Tracks” on page 141. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 645 VCA Slave Track Controls and Group Behavior Solo When a group is assigned to a VCA Master, the The VCA Solo button controls the solo state of controls on its slave tracks, by default, do not audio, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, MIDI, and follow any grouped behavior that may be set in other VCA Master tracks in a VCA-controlled the Attributes page of the Groups dialog.
Page 646 When a slave track is record-enabled (the Record Enable button is lit) or set to Input Only mode (the TrackInput button is lit), its automation is temporarily turned off, and its Volume fader is no longer affected by the VCA Master. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 647: Inserts
Assigning Groups to VCA Masters Inserts An existing Mix group can be assigned to a VCA Pro Tools lets you insert up to five inserts on Master, or a new Mix group can be assigned to a each audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or In- VCA Master while it is being created.
Page 648: Views In The Mix And Edit Windows
(such as Comments). – or – Click the Mix Window View selector (or Edit ■ Window View selector), and select one of the view types (such as Comments). Edit Window View selector Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 649 Comments View in the Mix and Edit windows I/O View Mic Preamps View (Pro Tools HD Only) Shows controls in each track for the Digidesign PRE. Deselect to hide. For detailed information, see the PRE Guide. Views in the Mix window...
Page 650 Edit window. These controls are the same as those in the Transport window. For more information, see “Transport Window” on page 99. Real-Time Properties View (Edit window) Transport Controls (Edit window) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 651: Audio Input And Output Paths
Hiding Views in the Edit Window Output Audio Path You can quickly hide View columns in the Edit Track Output Path selectors route the post-fader window using a simple keyboard shortcut. signals to the assigned output or bus paths. The Output Path selector routes the main track out- put to the chosen main or sub-path.
Page 652 • A plus sign (+) indicates that the track has in inactive. multiple output assignments. See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 11, and “Making Inserts Inactive” on page 667 for more information. Indication of multiple output assignments Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 653: Sends
About the “No Output” Option Assigning Sends to Tracks Track outputs can be set to No Output. Assign- To add a send to a track: ing a track output to No Output loses any pan- Make sure Sends View is enabled in the Mix or ning automation associated with the track.
Page 654 • View > Mix Window > Sends F–J. To display sends in the Edit window: Select any of the following: ■ • View > Edit Window > Sends A–E. • View > Edit Window > Sends F–J. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 655 Sends View Options To show all send assignments: If sends are not currently visible on your Sends are displayed in the Mix and Edit window tracks, select View > Mix Window (or Edit Win- according to the Sends A–E View and Sends F–J dow) >...
Page 656 Send Assignment button their Output windows. See “Output Win- Send Send Pan sliders Level dows for Tracks and Sends” on page 645. Send Mute button fader Pre/Post Fader button Send meter Send A View, with stereo send shown Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 657 When opening sessions, sends will automati- Send Status Display cally be made inactive if the required hardware When displaying all controls for an individual or other resources are not available. sends, the Send status is visible directly in the Mix or Edit windows. Inactive send Active (italicized and...
Page 658 You can copy the current values or the entire au- tomation playlist from selected tracks to any of their sends. For more information, see “Copying Track Automation to Sends” on page 702. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 659: Output Windows For Tracks And Sends
Linking Send Pan and Main Pan Output Windows for Tracks Controls and Sends You can link pan controls of individual Sends to Track outputs and sends can be opened for dis- the Main pan controls of their corresponding play and editing in dedicated windows. tracks, allowing for fast setup of cue mixes or ef- fects processing.
Page 660 In the default Linked mode, all sides match Shift-click any Output Window button or ■ changes to any other side’s Pan control. This is Send Assignment button. Absolute Link mode. To mirror panning changes, see “Inverse Linked Panning” on page 647. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 661 When unlinked, Pan controls are completely in- To enable inverse linking: dependent of each other. Enable the Link icon. Select an Inverse mode. Standard Selector Controls in Output Windows All Output windows provide standard selectors Linked (left), unlinked (middle), front inverse linked for path, automation, and other controls in the (right) Output windows top area of the window (the Output Editor area).
Page 662 Track Fader, Pan Controls, and Solo, Mute, and Automation Controls Output windows provide the associated track’s Volume fader, Pan controls, Solo and Mute switches, and Automation Mode selector. Use these to adjust or automate the controls of the Output window. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 663 Targeted Windows To reassign output: Click the Output Path selector and select a ■ When lit (red), the Target indicates its window is path from the pop-up menu. “targeted,” and the next window opened of the same type replaces the current display (unless it is opened as an additional window with the Shift modifier).
Page 664: Signal Routing For Monitoring And Submixing
Assign the track output to the appropriate path or paths for monitoring. Adjust the Auxiliary Input fader to mix the au- Instrument track conﬁgured to control and monitor an dio input. instrument plug-in (Digidesign Synchronic) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 665 The virtual MIDI node (port) for the instru- In the Instrument track’s Instrument View, set ment plug-in should be automatically selected the MIDI output to the corresponding MIDI for the Instrument track’s MIDI Output. If not, port connected to the MIDI input of your exter- select the MIDI channel and corresponding port nal MIDI instrument.
Page 666 Submixing with Track Outputs or Sends You can use both track outputs and sends to route audio for submixing, depending on whether you want a discrete or send and return submix. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 667 You can also bounce a submix to disk to free up Discrete Submix Output the voices for use by other tracks. See Pro Tools lets you discretely route source audio Chapter 31, “Mixdown” for more information. through a submix. This is preferred for dither or other mastering processing, where you do not Send and Return Submixing for Effects want unprocessed audio heard in addition to...
Page 668 From the Auxiliary Input track’s Output Path selector, select an output path (main outputs). Controls level of dry signal Controls level of effect return Send/return setup for a plug-in or hardware insert Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 669 Adjust the individual track faders to balance To create a monitor submix: the dry (unprocessed) tracks. Assign each track’s main output to your main mix outputs. The amount of effect is controlled by the level of the Send Level fader or the Auxiliary Input Vol- Assign a send (mono or stereo) and set the ume fader.
Page 670: Delay Compensation
To solo an individual track that is part of a group: To enable Delay Compensation: Start-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) ■ Choose Options > Delay Compensation. ■ the Solo button. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 671 Delay Compensation Settings Delay Compensation View There are three settings in the Playback Engine The Delay Compensation View displays the to- dialog for dedicating DSP resources for Delay tal amount of plug-in delay on each track, lets Compensation: you apply a user offset of track delay, and dis- plays the total amount of delay that Pro Tools None Allocates no DSP resources for Delay Com- applies to each track.
Page 672 (Mac) in the User Offset ﬁeld to scroll the Plug-in Delay ﬁeld. to a new value. • Press the Up and Down Arrow keys to in- crease or decrease the numerical values. Press Enter. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 673 Low Latency Monitoring During Delay Compensation for MIDI Recording When Delay Compensation is active, a MIDI For recording, Pro Tools automatically suspends event that is recorded to sound “in time” with Delay Compensation to provide a low latency delay-compensated material actually is recorded monitor path through the main outputs of the late by the length of total delay in effect.
Page 674: Dither
Auxiliary Input to bypass Delay Dithering, on the other hand, preserves low- Compensation. level (quiet) fidelity in a surprising way—by Enter the total system delay into the User Off- adding a small amount of noise to a signal. set ﬁeld. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 675 Fades and Crossfades In the Fades dialog (Edit > dithering lets you use dither plug-ins from Fades > Create), the Use Dither option enables a Digidesign or third-party manufacturers. When preset, noise-shaped dither. using the Bounce to Disk, see “Dither and Bounce to Disk”...
Page 676: Using A Control Surface With Pro Tools
For more information about dither during section console layout. mixdown, see Chapter 31, “Mixdown.” Digidesign’s Control|24 (Pro Tools HD and LE Only) Dedicated controller that provides access to most Pro Tools recording, mixing, editing, signal routing, plug-in control, and automation features.
Page 677: Chapter 29. Plug-In And Hardware Inserts
Pro Tools provides up to five unity-gain inserts Additional real-time plug-ins are available from on each audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, Digidesign and from many third-party develop- and Instrument track. Audio, Auxiliary Input, ers. and Instrument track inserts are pre-fader, and For information about optional Digidesign Master Faders inserts are post-fader.
Page 678 Multi-Mono Plug-ins” on page 681 tem’s processing power. For examples of send and return busses and other submixing setups, see “Signal Routing for Monitoring and Submixing” on page 650. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 679 TDM and RTAS Plug-ins Voice Usage and Total Latency for RTAS Plug-ins There are three plug-in formats supported by (Pro Tools HD Only) Pro Tools (TDM, RTAS, and AudioSuite), two of which can be used as real-time inserts, as fol- With Pro Tools HD, the initial insert of an RTAS lows: plug-in may cause additional latency, and will...
Page 680 TDM plug-ins on any kind of track— will become inactive. Showing Inserts in the Mix Window – or – Select Inserts View from the Edit Window or ■ Mix Window View selector. View selector Showing Inserts using the View selector Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 681 Display of Plug-in Window Status Making Inserts Inactive In the Mix and Edit window, the plug-in button Plug-in and hardware inserts can be made inac- and selector display the currently inserted plug- tive to free up their resources for other uses. in, its bypass state (see “Bypassing Plug-ins”...
Page 682: Inserting Plug-Ins On Tracks
“Dragging and Dropping Plug-in Settings hardware insert. Files” on page 680. To remove an insert from a track: Click the Insert selector and choose No Insert. ■ Removing a plug-in Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 683: Plug-In Menu Organization
Ordering RTAS and TDM Plug-ins Plug-in Menu Organization on Audio Tracks You can customize how plug-in lists (plug-in (Pro Tools HD Only) menus) are organized in the Insert selector and With Pro Tools HD, when RTAS and TDM plug- Plug-in selector. ins are combined on an audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader, the order in which they Use the “Organize Plug-in Menus By”...
Page 684 “Other” manufacturer folder. gory designated by their developers, appear in Most Digidesign-distributed third party plug-ins the Other category. Plug-ins can appear in more will be grouped under Digidesign when this op- than one category. tion is enabled. Plug in categories include: If no plug-ins by a certain manufacturer are •...
Page 685 • Plug-in categories (such as EQ) and plug-in When a plug-in becomes a favorite, it is still manufacturers (such as Digidesign) are in- shown in its plug-in category and its name ap- dicated in green text.
Page 686: Moving And Duplicating Plug-In And Hardware Inserts
Plug-in Selector Lets you select any real-time plug-in installed in the Plug-ins folder (that is created when you install Pro Tools). Effect Bypass Button Disables the currently dis- played plug-in. This lets you compare the track with and without the effect. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 687 Convert Plug-in Selector Lets you convert the in- Target Button When multiple Plug-in windows sert from a TDM plug-in to an RTAS plug-in of are open, clicking this button selects that plug- the same type (or vice-versa). This feature can in as the target for any computer keyboard com- only be used on plug-ins that are available in mands.
Page 688 To disable LFE close box of any currently open plug-in window. processing, deselect this button. Tempo Sync Enables compatible plug-ins to au- tomatically synchronize to the session tempo, for rhythmic delay, echo, and similar effects. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 689: Using The Librarian
Plug-in Window Controls Using the Librarian All plug-ins provide standard Pro Tools controls The Settings Librarian makes it easy to create for track and insert selection, bypass, and other your own library of plug-in settings. Using the controls, in addition to the EQ, dynamics, and Librarian and Settings pop-up menus, you can other processor-specific controls.
Page 690 If you choose Root Settings folder, Pro Tools ting for that plug-in) or User Default (your cus- saves to the default Root Plug-in Settings folder tom setting). unless you have specified a different location for the Root Settings folder. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 691 To select a different Root Settings folder: To save a setting: From the Settings pop-up menu, choose Set- Choose Save Settings from the Settings pop- tings Preferences > Set Root Settings Folder. up menu. Select the folder you want to use as your Root Type a name and click OK.
Page 692 To apply an operation to all channels of an unlinked plug-in: Hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option ■ key (Mac) while performing the command. Plug-in Settings dialog Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 693 When you are ﬁnished auditioning settings, To change plug-in settings using the Plug-in Settings dialog: do one of the following: • Click Done to stop incrementing patches, Click the Settings Select button. and to close the Plug-in Settings dialog. Do one of the following: –...
Page 694 For more infor- Dragging and dropping a plug-in settings ﬁle to a plug-in mation on DigiBase Pro and Catalogs, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide. Bypassing Plug-ins Dragging and Dropping Plug-in Settings Files Plug-ins can be bypassed from their Plug-in win-...
Page 695: Editing Plug-In Controls
To bypass a plug-in, do one of the following: To link the controls of speciﬁc channels: Click the Plug-in window’s Effect Bypass but- Deselect the Master Link button if it is not al- ■ ton. ready deselected. – or – Click the Link Enable buttons for the chan- nels whose controls you want to link.
Page 696 Tab key. To move back- ward, press Shift+Tab. The Safe button engages Automation Safe mode. When enabled, existing plug-in automation is protected from being overwritten. (See “Record Safing Plug-in Automation” on page 704.) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 697 Using a Side-Chain Input Using a Key Input for External Side- Chain Processing The side-chain input is the split-off signal used by a plug-in's detector to trigger dynamics pro- To use a key input for external side-chain cessing, and is generally drawn internally from processing: the input signal.
Page 698: Instrument Plug-Ins
Select an insert path, or click New Path to cre- Level meters showing audio output ate a new Insert path. Double-click the Path Name to enter a custom path name for the insert. Instrument plug-in inserted on an Instrument track Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 699: Connecting And Integrating External Devices
Make sure the insert path is set to the correct Connecting and Integrating format (mono, stereo, or other). External Devices Map inserts in the Channel Grid as needed. Insert and Output paths have special rules re- Pro Tools can create dedicated connections to garding channel mapping (see “Overlapping external analog or digital devices.
Page 700 If you set the Optical Format to S/PDIF, necessary. Pro Tools will watch the Optical port for any audio input, and ignore any audio in- Click OK to close the Hardware Setup dialog. put on the S/PDIF RCA jacks. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 701 Digi 002 or Digi 002 Rack Systems Pro Tools can receive external clock from the Optical input or S/PDIF input. To select an external clock source for a Digi 002 or Digi 002 Rack system: Choose Setup > Hardware. Set the Clock Source to match the type of in- put.
Page 702 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 703: Chapter 30. Automation
(Write, Touch, or Latch, or a Command|8 control surfaces support the auto- Trim mode). mation features in Pro Tools. Digidesign control • If you are automating a plug-in, enable the in- surfaces provide 10-bit resolution, or 1,024 steps dividual plug-in controls to be automated.
Page 704: Automation Playlists
Each edit playlist on an audio track shares the same automation data. • Volume (MIDI) • Pan (MIDI) • Mute On Instrument tracks, these parameters include: • Volume (audio) • Volume Trim (audio) (Pro Tools|HD only) • Mute (audio) • Pan (audio) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 705 MIDI and Instrument Tracks Multiple Edit Playlists and Audio Track Automation On MIDI tracks and Instrument tracks, all con- troller automation data except for MIDI Mute All edit playlists on a single audio track share the data, or audio mute (Instrument tracks only), is same automation data.
Page 706: Automation Modes
In Touch mode, certain control surfaces start writing automation as soon as you touch them. Read Mode These include touch-sensitive fader controllers, such as Digidesign’s D-Control, D-Command, Read mode plays any automation that was pre- ProControl, Control|24, Digi 002, Command|8, viously written for a track.
Page 707 Join Lets you manually resume writing automa- tion pass. See “AutoMatch Time” on page 697. tion in Latch mode. Join is available only with Digidesign-supported control surfaces. Latch mode is particularly useful for automating Pan controls and plug-ins on non-touch sensi-...
Page 708 Automation modes, with the excep- In Touch/Latch mode, the Volume control fol- tion of Write/Trim mode, where non-trimmable lows Touch behavior, writing automation when controls operate as in Touch mode. touched and returning to previously written lev- els when released. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 709 If a track does not contain Trim automation, Trim Automation Modes you can move a Trim fader during playback to When a track is in a Trim automation mode (ex- audition new trim values, but no automation is cept for Trim Off) its main Volume faders and all written.
Page 710: Automation Preferences
Trim when a track is put into Trim automatically switch to the Trim mode ver- mode. This gives you more flexibility in setting sion of the setting specified by this prefer- Send levels while in Trim mode. ence. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 711 To exclude Send levels from Trim mode: AutoMatch Time Choose Setup > Preferences and click Mixing. AutoMatch Time is the amount of time it takes for a fader to return (by ramping up or down) to Under Automation, deselect Include Sends in the level of automation still on the track as the Trim Mode.
Page 712: Viewing Automation
You can also suspend automation recording and playback session- wide from the Automation window. See “En- abling and Suspending Automation” on Displaying a standard automation playlist page 708. Displaying Trim automation playlists Volume Trim data Trim automation playlist Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 713 Displaying Trim Automation Along Displaying the Composite with the Main Playlist Automation Playlist (Pro Tools HD Only) (Pro Tools HD Only) The appearance of Trim automation depends on If automation is not set to coalesce after every how it is set to be coalesced. See “Coalescing automation pass, you can display a composite Trim Automation”...
Page 714: Writing Automation
Setting the Automation mode of a track Click Play to begin writing automation. Move the controls you want to automate. When you have ﬁnished, click Stop. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 715 Storing an Initial Control Position To automate a switched control (such as the Mute button): When you create a new audio, Auxiliary Input, Perform another automation pass on the VCA Master, MIDI, or Instrument track, it is au- track. tomatically placed in Read mode. Even though the track is in Read mode, you can set the initial When you reach the location of the mute state position of any automatable control, and it is...
Page 716 Mode selector and set the Automation mode. For the initial automation pass, choose Write mode. If sends are not currently visible on your tracks, select View > Mix Window (or Edit Win- dow) > Sends A–E (or Sends F–J). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 717 To copy a track’s settings or automation to one of Automating Plug-ins its sends: You can automate changes to virtually all plug- Select the tracks you want to edit by clicking in controls. Automating a plug-in is slightly dif- on the track names to highlight them. ferent from other automation procedures, be- cause you must enable individual plug-in con- Choose Edit >...
Page 718 You can protect plug-in automation from being overwritten by using Automation Safe mode. To enable plug-in safe mode: Open a plug-in. Click the Safe button so that it is highlighted. Safe enabled Enabling plug-in automation for individual parameters Automation Safe enabled plug-in Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 719 AutoMatching Controls AutoMatching Individual Tracks (Pro Tools HD Only) You can invoke AutoMatch on individual tracks. All controls currently writing automa- tion on the track stop writing and return to ex- isting automation levels. To AutoMatch all controls on a track: AutoMatch button Control-click (Windows) or Command-click ■...
Page 720 (right) Choose Setup > Preferences and click Mixing. Start playback. All primed controls begin writ- ing automation at their primed values. Under Automation, select Allow Latch Prime in Stop. Click OK to close the Preferences window. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 721 Stop playback to ﬁnish the automation pass. To take all tracks out of Latch Prime, do one of the following: All tracks are taken out of their Latch Prime state. Alt-Control-click (Windows) or Option-Com- ■ mand-click (Mac) the Automation Mode selec- You can use the Write to Punch command tor on a track.
Page 722: Enabling And Suspending Automation
In the Automation window, click the AutoJoin button. In the Automation window, click the Capture button and then click the Punch Capture but- ton. The AutoJoin marker (a vertical red line) ap- pears on-screen at the punch point. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 723 Suspending Automation on All Tracks Suspending Automation for Individual Controls To suspend automation on all tracks: You can suspend automation for one or more Choose Window > Automation. controls. When a control is suspended, its con- trol name is italicized in the Track View selector. Do one of the following: •...
Page 724 If automation for a control is suspended in ◆ the Automation window, that control behaves as if it is in Read mode when the track is in a re- cordable Automation mode (Touch, Latch, or Write mode). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 725: Deleting Automation
All automation data within the selection is re- Deleting Automation moved for all automation playlists on that track, regardless of whether automation is write-en- Automation data takes the form of a line graph abled for those controls. with editable breakpoints. The easiest way to re- move automation in a track or selection is to Clearing Trim Automation manually delete breakpoints from the automa-...
Page 726: Drawing Automation
MIDI tracks, the controller value changes in the Selector tool in the track and choose the Se- steps according to the resolution setting in the lect All command. MIDI Preferences page. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 727: Editing Automation
Triangle Draws a sawtooth pattern that repeats To set the resolution for the Pencil tool: at a rate based on the current Grid value. In au- Choose Setup > Preferences and click MIDI. dio tracks, the pattern has a single breakpoint at Enter a value for “Pencil Tool Resolution each extreme.
Page 728 Drag a breakpoint down to pan right, and up to pan left. Drag a breakpoint to the left or right to adjust the timing of the panning moves. Using the Pencil tool to delete a breakpoint Track Pan automation Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 729 Editing Mute Automation To edit one breakpoint: Click an existing point on the line graph with ■ Drag the breakpoint down to mute a section. the any Grabber tool and drag it to a new posi- Drag a breakpoint up to unmute the section. tion.
Page 730 To write a new breakpoint to the previous automation value: Press and hold Control+Alt (Windows) or ■ Command+Option (Mac) while writing a break- point (by clicking with any Grabber tool in a track’s automation playlist). Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 731 To view and edit the individual playlists of a multi- mono plug-in: Unlink the plug-in. Select the required playlist from the Track View selector. Trimming automation on an active grouped track To individually edit a automation for a member of a group without affecting the other members, do one of the following: Press the Start key (Windows) or Control...
Page 732 Press Control while cutting or copying the au- ■ mation value and slope, as shown in Figure 37. tomation data. For additional flexibility, you can use play- lists or the Duplicate Track command to work nondestructively on a copy of the edit data. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 733 Tips for Cutting, Copying and Pasting Cut, Copy, Clear, and Paste Special Commands On audio tracks, when you are in Waveform ◆ View and cut or copy a section of the waveform, The four “special” commands (Cut Special, any automation data associated with the wave- Copy Special, Paste Special, and Clear Special) form is also cut or copied.
Page 734 MIDI controller. This lets you copy auto- mation from any type to any other type. For ex- ample, you can copy a Left Pan automation to Plug-in automation. Or, you can copy MIDI vol- ume data and paste it to MIDI pan. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 735 For this special paste mode to function, the fol- To apply a Glide Automation to the current automation parameter type: lowing must be true: In the Automation window, make sure the au- • Every track selected for pasting must be cur- tomation type is write-enabled.
Page 736: Trimming Automation
See “Trim Click the Automation Mode selector and Mode” on page 694 for more information. choose Trim. Start playback, and adjust the Volume or Send levels. Stop playback to ﬁnish the Trim pass. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 737 Under Coalesce Trim Automation, select one Coalescing Trim Automation of the following: You can set Pro Tools to commit, or coalesce, • After Every Pass Trim automation to the main automation play- • On Exiting Trim Mode list by the following methods: •...
Page 738: Writing Automation To The Start, End, Or All Of A Track Or Selection
When you reach a point in the track or selec- tion that contains the automation data you want to apply, click the Write Automation to Start, All, or End button in the Automation win- dow. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 739 Stop playback. Writing Automation to the Start, End or All of a Track or Selection The current values of all write-enabled automa- on Stop tion at that point are written to the correspond- ing area of the track/selection. The Automation window provides options for writing automation on any automation playlist Write to Start, End or All and Trim Mode (including Trim playlists) after a valid automa-...
Page 740: Writing Automation To The Next Breakpoint Or To The Punch Point
Next Breakpoint and Write Automation to Touch/Latch mode. Punch Point commands do not operate when the Pro Tools transport is stopped. They only af- fect automation for those parameters that are currently write-enabled and currently writing automation data. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 741 When you reach a point in the track where When you reach a point in the track where you want to apply the current settings, click the you want to apply the current settings, click the Write Automation to Next Breakpoint button. Write Automation to Punch Point button.
Page 742 Stop or Write Automation to Punch Point on Stop. Write Automation to Next Breakpoint re- mains enabled after a valid automation pass. Unlike standard Write Automation commands, it cannot be configured to dis- able after an automation pass. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 743: Guidelines For "Write To" Commands
Applying “Write To” Commands to Guidelines for “Write To” Selected Tracks Commands The “Write Automation To” commands nor- (Pro Tools HD Only) mally apply to all tracks currently writing auto- mation. It is possible to apply these commands to selected tracks only. Using “Write To”...
Page 744: Overwriting Or Extending Mute Automation
A mute event can be extended when the auto- mation pass begins before an on or off event and stops before the end of the second event. Mute automation enabled Mute enable button in the Automation window Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 745 In the Mix or Edit window, click the Automa- After the end of the second mute event, re- tion Mode selector of the track where you want lease the key and the Mute button. to overwrite the mute state, and set the Automa- With Touch mode, you have to hold the tion mode to Touch or Latch mode.
Page 746: Creating Snapshot Automation
For more information on cutting, copying, and Stopping automation before the end of a mute event pasting automation data within a session, see “Writing Automation to the Start, End, or All of a Track or Selection” on page 724. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 747 To write snapshot automation: Adding Snapshot Automation to Empty Automation Playlists In the Automation window, make sure that the parameters you want to edit are write-en- When you use a Write Automation command abled. Deselect any parameters whose automa- on an automation playlist with no previously tion you want to preserve.
Page 748 Automation Enable window, choose Write To All En- abled. Click the Automation Mode selector and se- lect Read mode for the tracks you want to play back with automation. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 749: Previewing Automation
Snapshot Automation and Previewing Automation Trimming of Automation Data (Pro Tools HD Only) Pro Tools lets you use trim values as snapshots and apply the relative changes (delta values) to Automation Preview mode lets you audition the selected automation by using the Trim Au- changes to a mix and compare them to existing tomation command.
Page 750 Automation window lights to indi- Alt-Shift-click (Windows) or Option-Shift ■ cate a preview value is available to punch. click (Mac) the Preview button. Start playback and adjust the isolated control to audition the changes. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 751: Capturing Automation
Suspending Preview Mode Capturing Automation You can temporarily suspend Preview mode, al- (Pro Tools HD Only) lowing you to toggle between preview values and existing automation. You can capture current automation values at one location in a session and quickly apply To suspend Preview mode: them in another location with the Capture and Punch Capture commands.
Page 752 Off are unaffected. All Controls You can capture the state of all automatable controls (except on tracks with their Automa- tion Mode set to Off) in a session, regardless of whether they are currently writing automation. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 753 Go to a location where you want to preview Capture and Trim Mode the captured automation states, and click the The Capture and Punch Capture commands Preview button in the Automation window. work with Trim automation in the same way as Click the Punch Capture button.
Page 754: Vca Master Track Automation
Do one of the following: • Choose Track > Coalesce VCA Master Auto- mation. – or – • Right-click the VCA Master track name and choose Coalesce VCA Master Automation from the pop-up menu. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 755 The composite Volume level and Mute state are Removing a Slave Track from a VCA coalesced to each of the slave tracks. The VCA Group Master Volume fader is reset to zero, the VCA You can remove an individual slave track from a Mute is set to unmuted, and any automation on VCA group, which commits the VCA automa- the VCA Master is cleared.
Page 756 Edit selection. The VCA Master Volume is set to zero, the VCA Mute state is set to unmuted, and any automation on the VCA Master is cleared for the selected area only. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 757: Chapter 31. Mixdown
Chapter 31: Mixdown Pro Tools lets you record and bounce tracks to Selecting Audio for Loops, Submixes, disk. The Bounce to Disk command lets you and Effects write a final mix to disk, create a new loop, print Both Bounce to Disk and recording to tracks op- effects, or consolidate any submix.
Page 758 Even though 16-bit sessions use 16-bit On the Master Fader, click an Insert button files, they are still being processed at a higher bit and choose one of the Digidesign Dither plug- rate: ins. • 24-bit audio input and output signal paths...
Page 759: Recording To Tracks
In contrast, the Bounce to Disk command lets you bounce all available voices to disk without holding any in reserve, but you cannot manu- For more information about the Digidesign ally change any controls during the bounce. See dithering plug-ins, refer to the DigiRack “Bounce to Disk”...
Page 760: Bounce To Disk
If there is no selection in any track, the bounce will be the length of the longest audible track in the session. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 761: Bounce Options
Time Stamp Information Bounced material is au- Bounce Options tomatically time stamped so that you can drag it into a track and place it at the same location as When you use the Bounce to Disk command, the original material. For more information you can configure several file options.
Page 762 Pro Tools systems. Select this to use the bounced mand. The SND format is useful if you plan to audio with any Digidesign application for Mac. use your audio with other Mac applications that do not support Sound Designer II or AIFF for- BWF (Broadcast .WAV Format)
Page 763 Pro Tools is a fully functional 30-day demo (Pro Tools with DigiTranslator Only) version. To purchase the full version of the MP3 encoder, visit Digidesign’s website (www.digide- MXF is a media file format that includes both sign.com). video and audio files, and is designed for the in-...
Page 764 This information is displayed by many MP3 when left and right signals exceed –3 dB below players. maximum, or full code (0 dBFS). Year Enter a year for the file. This information is displayed by many MP3 players. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 765 Multiple Mono Creates multiple mono files with Resolution the same number of channels as the source This option lets you select between three differ- path. ent bit resolutions for the bounce conversion. • If the source output or bus path is stereo, two mono ﬁles will be created, and appended with Bounce to Disk does not apply dither when con- “.L”...
Page 766 Choices are dependent on your by DA-88/98, DAT, and ADAT decks. Pro Tools system and Digidesign audio inter- 44100 This is the standard sample rate for com- faces. pact discs (CD), and is supported by DA-88/98, Sample Rate Conversion Quality DAT, and ADAT decks.
Page 767: Recording A Submix (With Bounce To Disk)
loudness in the signal, and improved intelligi- Help bility. If you are converting a more complex 16- The Help button opens a display-only dialog bit audio file to 8-bit resolution, test this option that describes the Bounce to Disk features. before converting all of your material.
Page 768: Final Mixdown
ﬁles from a DigiBase browser. • If you are placing multiple ﬁles, keep chan- nels time-aligned with each other by Shift- selecting them in the Region List, and drag- ging them simultaneously into existing tracks of the right format. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 769: Mastering
Do one of the following: Mastering • To bounce the entire session, click Return to Zero in the Transport window to go to In the final mastering process, you might record the beginning of the session. directly to disk, DAT, DVD, CD, stereo master- ing recorder, or a multitrack recorder (for sur- By default, the bounce will end at the last round mixes).
Page 770 You can avoid this loss by creating and main- taining masters on random-access digital media (such as a hard drive) and transferring them to sequential digital media (such as DAT tapes) only as needed. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 771: Part Viii Video, Sync, Surround
Part VIII: Video, Sync, Surround...
Page 773: Chapter 32. Pro Tools Setup For Surround (Pro Tools Hd Only)
In the following table, it is assumed that sur- signments listed in Table 33 on page 759. round channels are mapped to outputs 1–6 of a If you use a Digidesign control surface, see Pro Tools audio interface. Use channels 7–8 to its guide for more information.
Page 774: Configuring Pro Tools For Multichannel Sessions
I/O Setup dialog to configure main and sub- If needed, change other parameters in the Ses- paths for the requirements of the session. For sion Parameters section. more information, see Chapter 6, “I/O Setup.” Name the session. Click Save. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 775 The surround presets preconfigure the I/O Setup All three 5.1 format I/O Settings (Film, dialog for the new session with default 5.1 for- SMPTE/ITU, or DTS/ProControl Monitoring) mat main and sub-paths for outputs and busses. provide the following default output and bus paths for the new session: Default 5.1 Output Paths •...
Page 776 Example LCRS output main and sub-paths I/O Settings ﬁle, default layout for the corre- sponding multichannel format paths you create For additional I/O Setup information, see will match the selected format’s track layout. “Creating and Editing Paths” on page 49. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 777: Default I/O Selectors In I/O Setup
Pro Tools track layout of 5.1 format audio tracks To deﬁne an LCRS path: in the Edit window also conforms to the Film Choose Setup > I/O, and click the Output tab. layout (arranged top to bottom). See the illustra- Click New Path.
Page 778: 5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, And Metering
PFL (Pre Fader Listen) Solo mode is enabled, and a track is soloed. Controller Meter Path Selects the path that will be shown in Digidesign control surface output Default Path Order for 5.1 Tracks meters. See “5.1 Tracks, Formats, Mapping, and Metering”...
Page 779: Chapter 33. Multichannel Tracks And Signal Routing (Pro Tools Hd Only)
Chapter 33: Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing (Pro Tools HD Only) Surround sessions typically include a combina- Multichannel QuickStart tion of mono, stereo, and multichannel audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, and Instrument The following is an overview of how to get tracks, and inserts and busses.
Page 780: Multichannel Audio Tracks
Multichannel audio tracks are not required to mix in multichannel formats. Mono, stereo, and all supported track formats can be mixed using Pro Tools track outputs and sends. See “Multi- channel Signal Routing” on page 769. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 781 For discrete control of signals, multichannel Placing Audio in Multichannel tracks can be converted into individual mono Tracks tracks. For discrete level and phase adjustment, You can drag audio files and regions from Digi- you can insert and unlink a multi-mono Trim Base browsers, the Region List, Windows Ex- plug-in.
Page 782 Because changing the output format has these effects, a warning dialog appears whenever you change the output format of a track to a format of fewer channels. Specifically, this will occur whenever automation playlists will have to be deleted. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 783: Multichannel Signal Routing
Additional output assignments can be added by Multichannel Signal Routing Start-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Mac) the Selector tool and assigning another To mix in a multichannel format, tracks are as- path. signed to multichannel paths. Tracks can be mixed in surround using the fol- Multichannel Sends lowing two methods: All track formats, including mono and stereo, let...
Page 784 You can unlink them for independent adjustment. See “Linking and Unlinking Con- trols on Multi-Mono Plug-ins” on page 771 for more information. Multi-mono plugs-ins can also be inserted on stereo tracks, to apply unlinked plug-ins on the left and right channels. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 785 Multichannel Plug-ins Are designed for use on Master Link Button When enabled, links the stereo and multichannel tracks that require cor- controls on all channels of a multi-mono plug- related processing, including stereo and multi- in so that they can be adjusted in tandem. channel limiting, compression, and similar ef- Link Enable Buttons Let you selectively link the fects.
Page 786: Paths In Surround Mixes
(Center) sub-path. sources. See “Extending Stereo Mixing Conventions to Surround Mixing” on page 773 for re- lated information. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 787 Auxiliary Input Tracks routed to sub-paths Tracks panned in 3D routed to main paths routing Main output to sub-paths Main outputs to 5.1 paths for surround panning Figure 40. Using signal routing and sub-paths to mix in surround Extending Stereo Mixing Conventions to Panning a sound back-and-forth between the Surround Mixing left and right speakers is best used as a special ef-...
Page 788: Example Paths And Signal Routing For A Surround Mix
LFE Path A custom LFE sub-path has been added to provide a discrete mono path for the LFE channel. Figure 41. I/O Setup, example output paths Sub-paths have been defined for Mix, Music, and FX main output paths. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 789 Signal Routing Examples Submix Stem Examples Figure 44 shows a routing configuration for an The following examples show how main and effects submix. Some tracks are routed to stereo sub-paths can be used, using an example session sub-paths, while others are assigned to mono, consisting of a 5.1 main mix, with music and ef- LCR, or other sub-paths.
Page 790 Most of the music tracks in this example are routed to the front left/right channels, using a stereo sub- path. A 5.1 Auxiliary Input controls the bus and stem output. Main Stems Example Figure 46 shows two Auxiliary Input channels assigned to additional 5.1 format paths for a main mix. Figure 46. Main stems Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 791 Multiple output assignments make it possible to Figure 48 shows how a “traditional” LFE track configure a number of multi-format mixes. For can be routed to only the LFE channel. This ex- example, you can assign an additional stereo ample uses a custom-defined LFE sub-path to output to tracks and create a stereo mix at the the FX main bus path.
Page 792 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 793: Chapter 34. Surround Panning And Mixing (Pro Tools Hd Only)
Chapter 34: Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools HD Only) This chapter explains how to pan and mix in Introduction to Pro Tools surround with Pro Tools. Surround Panning Multichannel mixing is supported on There are four different track panning methods Pro Tools|HD systems only.
Page 794: Output Windows
“grab” the Pan Location cursor, you do not need to limit your movements to the small Multiple panners can be opened simulta- Track Grid area. neously, or a single window can display the cur- rent panner. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 795: Standard Controls
To open an Output window: Standard Controls Click the Output Window button in the track ■ in the Mix or Edit window (I/O View). All Output windows provide standard Pro Tools controls for routing, path assignment and other track features. These controls are located at the top of all Output, Send, Insert, and Plug-in win- dows.
Page 796: Surround Panner Controls
Snap Pan to Speaker icons LFE fader Pan Location cursor X/Y Grid Track fader and meter Panning Mode button Position (knob panners) Center % Divergence Track Automation. Solo, and Mute Figure 49. Output window with a 5.1-format multichannel panner Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 797 The X/Y Grid and Pan Location Panning Mode Button Cursor This button, located below the X/Y Grid, pro- vides access to Surround panning modes (see The X/Y Grid is where multichannel panning “Panning Modes” on page 784). information is input and displayed. You can in- put pan information using X/Y mode, 3-Knob mode, or by entering numeric values in the Po- sition data fields.
Page 798: Panning Modes
Grid. See “X/Y Panning” on page 785 for more information. 3-Knob Mode Point-to-point panning, between pairs of speakers. See “3-Knob Panning” on page 786 for more information. Divergence Editing Divergence X/Y Grid can be LFE fader dragged to resize the divergence boundaries. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 799 AutoGlide Mode Point-to-point panning from the Pan Location cursor to a new destination over a specified AutoGlide Time. See “AutoGlide Mode” on page 787 for more information. To enable a Panning Mode: Click on the Panning Mode button in the Sur- ■...
Page 800 To pan in 3-Knob mode: Adjust the Front and Rear Position knobs to set the trajectory line. Rotate the Front/Rear Position knob to pan along the trajectory. The Pan Location cursor is constrained to the white trajectory line. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 801 To change the 3-Knob trajectory angles, do one of To do an AutoGlide automation pass: the following: Click the Panning Mode button until the Drag either endpoint (Front or Rear) of the ■ AutoGlide mode icon is displayed. trajectory line. –...
Page 802: Divergence And Center Percentage
Center % (Percentage) Determines whether there is a discrete center image, a completely meters phantom center image, or a variable amount in between. Full divergence for discrete panning to front, left (meters show signal only in front, left) Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 803 Lower divergence settings result in a progres- Center % (Percentage) sively wider source signal. When Divergence is Center Percentage controls whether there is a less than 100%, tracks will be routed to neigh- discrete center channel for the track or a phan- boring speakers to some degree, even when the tom center channel.
Page 804: Lfe Faders In Multichannel Panners
Create Groups or Modify Groups dialog. LFE faders can be as- signed to follow groups as a global attribute or on a group by group basis. See “Selecting Group Attributes” on page 160. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 805: Surround Scope Plug-In
> Sound Field > Surround Scope. Surround Scope plug-in Surround Scope displays output levels in both a 360° Grid, and in traditional LED meters. For details on Surround Scope, refer to the Digidesign Plug-ins Guide. Chapter 34: Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools HD Only)
Page 806 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 807: Chapter 35. Working With Synchronization
(Pro Tools HD Only) devices using SMPTE/EBU time code or MIDI Time Code. You can use an optional Digidesign SYNC pe- ripheral to resolve Pro Tools recording and play- For more information on different back speed with any of the following clock ref-...
Page 808 1x word clock, or 256x Slave in incoming time code. SYNC peripherals also Clock for Digidesign Legacy I/Os (such as 888|24 support VITC and Bi-phase/Tach positional ref- I/O). See the Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide erence.
Page 809: Session Setup Window
Pro Tools LE systems with DV Toolkit 2 The controls in this section configure settings of support various time code-related settings Digidesign SYNC Peripherals. Settings are pro- (such as Time Code and Feet+Frame Time- vided for Clock and Positional Reference, Video base rulers).
Page 810 Use this menu to configure the system Clock Source. You can choose between a SYNC periph- System Delay eral, an internal clock source from a Digidesign When Delay Compensation is enabled, this dis- peripheral, or an external clock source con- play indicates the total amount of delay (in sam- nected to a Pro Tools|HD audio interface.
Page 811 Timeline that Variable Speed Override (VSO) Variable Speed are different from the session time code rate. Override (VSO) requires a Digidesign SYNC pe- ripheral. SYNC Setup and Time Code When a SYNC peripheral is connected to a...
Page 812 1 to 120 frames. This value defaults to 8 • Synchronization peripherals (such as a frames, which is the recommended setting for Digidesign SYNC peripheral, or a MIDI in- most applications. terface that provides MIDI Time Code). Jam Sync Lets Pro Tools trigger synchronization...
Page 813: Preparing To Work With Smpte
Pull Up/Down Preparing to Work with SMPTE When Pro Tools is used in conjunction with a The ﬁrst step when preparing to work with SYNC peripheral, or a third party peripheral that SMPTE is to choose an appropriate SMPTE frame supports pulled sample rates, this option allows rate.
Page 814 To set a SMPTE Start Time for your session: time to maintain their relative position to the Choose Setup > Session. start frame. Enter a SMPTE frame number in the Session Start ﬁeld. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 815 Redeﬁning a Time Code Position To set a relative frame position for a session (Feet+Frames): (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with With the Selector tool, click in a track (or DV Toolkit 2 Only) make a selection) where you want to redeﬁne Use this command to redefine the current time the position.
Page 816: Pull Up And Pull Down
4.167%. See Table 36 on page 804. While a Digidesign SYNC peripheral is not re- 4% pull factors are not available in 176.4 quired in order to use the extended pull up and and 192 kHz sessions.
Page 817 If you then change the session Frame Rate to Extended Pull Up and Pull Down 24 fps, both the Audio and Video Rate Pull set- Preference and Session Setup Controls The Au- tings would change by –4.0% (the appropriate dio Rate Pull Up and Down menu offers all pos- pull setting required by the change in frame sible combinations of pull ups and pull downs rate).
Page 818 99900 and –0.1% +0.1% 44144 48048 88288 96096 176576 192192 –0.1% 44056 47952 88112 95904 176224 191808 –4.0% and 42378 46126 84757 92252 +0.1% –4.0% 42336 46080 84672 92160 –4.0% and 42294 46034 84587 92068 –0.1% Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 819: Putting Pro Tools Online
For proper operation at larger (4%) pull rates, plug-ins must utilize sample clock instead of an The Video Pull Up/Down selector lets you absolute time clock. All Digidesign plug-ins are change the frame rate of QuickTime movie play- based on sample clock.
Page 820: Generating Time Code
Pro Tools will record online only for the length In Pro Tools, choose Setup > Peripherals and of the selection. click Synchronization. In the Digidesign Synchronization Device sec- tion of the Synchronization page, select Enable SYNC Peripheral. Click OK to close the Peripherals dialog.
Page 821: Using Midi Machine Control
Digidesign’s MachineControl option sup- In the SYNC Setup section of the Session Setup ports remote track arming for Sony 9-pin window, choose a clock reference from the and V-LAN enabled devices.
Page 822 MIDI Out port to which the master de- vice is connected (this the destination of MTC In the Pro Tools Transport window, choose information from Pro Tools). Transport = MMC. Click the Machine Control tab in the Periph- erals dialog. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 823 In the MIDI Machine Control (Slave) section, To control external devices from the Pro Tools Transport: select Enable. Select either Pro Tools or MMC from the ■ Transport pop-up in the Pro Tools Transport window. The selected item will act as Transport Master.
Page 824: Setting Minimum Sync Delay
Minimum Sync Delay to be more than the time required for color frame lock. This is not a problem with a SYNC peripheral, which will drop out of lock until the color frame is locked. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 825: Setting Pro Tools Ltc Source
• For time code sources such as tape decks, deselect the Stable LTC Source option. Click OK. Remote Track Arming Digidesign’s MachineControl™ option for MIDI Beat Clock dialog Pro Tools allows you to remotely arm tracks on Select the devices you want to receive MIDI supported 9-pin (or V-LAN for transport only) Beat Clock.
Page 826: Spotting Regions To Smpte Frame Locations
A subframe is 1/100th of a frame. The Use Sub- frames option enables you to use these smaller units for greater accuracy. This command adds an additional time field in the SMPTE Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 827 Time Stamp in the same you will need an approved serial port. For a fashion. See “Time Stamping” on page 814 for complete list of currently approved ports, see more information. www.digidesign.com. Chapter 35: Working with Synchronization...
Page 828: Time Stamping
Auto-spotted regions are spotted by their start times, unless you have identified a Sync Point (see “Identifying a Synchroniza- tion Point” on page 816). If the region con- tains a Sync Point, the region is spotted to it. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 829 Show Original Time Code in To time stamp a region (or regions) with a new SMPTE frame number: Regions In a track, select the region that you want to This command displays the original “time time stamp. stamped” SMPTE times in all regions currently placed in tracks.
Page 830: Identifying A Synchronization Point
In this scenario, use the Iden- tify Sync Point command to create a point in Sync Points the region and synchronize that point to a SMPTE frame. For more information on Sync Points, see “Sync Points” on page 434. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 831: Troubleshooting Synchronization
The machines and Pro Tools will drift far- slightly different frame rates per second. ther and farther apart the longer they run. A Digidesign SYNC peripheral (and some third- The same problem occurs when audio is re- party products) can be used to help determine corded into Pro Tools without a resolved SMPTE frame rate.
Page 832 Feeding 29.97 Non- Drop to Pro Tools when it’s set for 30 fps Non- Drop will result in timing errors of about 1.8 frames per minute, causing audio playback to trigger out of sync. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 833: Chapter 36. Working With Video In Pro Tools
Chapter 36: Working with Video in Pro Tools This chapter covers video features in Pro Tools. Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 and Differences between QuickTime and Avid video Pro Tools HD let you do the following with support are noted throughout. video: •...
Page 834: About Quicktime
Windows XP is available as a free download For complete information on hard drive require- from the Apple website (www.apple.com). ments, visit the Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com). For information on which version of Quick- Time is compatible with your version of...
Page 835: Video Tracks
QuickTime Movie Time Code Burn-in Before re- In the New Tracks dialog, do the following: ceiving QuickTime movies, request the time • Select Video Track from the Track Type code display to be “burned in” (superimposed) if pop-up menu. possible. This ensures that Pro Tools places the –...
Page 836: Video Track Controls And Indicators
Video frame images are displayed only in Frames View. When switching from Blocks mode to Frames mode during playback, the video track will not update to displaying frames Playlist selector until playback is stopped. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 837 To set the view for the video track: Blocks View On the video track, select Frames or Blocks ■ In Blocks View, video frames are replaced by col- from the View Options pop-up menu. ored blocks. Frames View In Frames View, video data is displayed as pic- tures in the video track.
Page 838: Locking Video Tracks
However, unlocking a region in a locked track will not allow you to edit that region. It will behave as if the region were locked until you unlock the track. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 839: Setting The Video Engine Rate
time code rate manually with the Time Code To lock a video track: Rate pop-up menu in the Session Setup window. Select the video track or tracks you want to In order for the grids and rulers to align with the lock.
Page 840: Importing Video Into Pro Tools
When you use this method to import video into tailed instructions, see “Audio and Video Pro Tools, the Video Import Options dialog ap- Volume Designators” on page 196. pears. This dialog contains multiple options for customizing how files are imported. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 841 In any Edit mode, drag the selected video ﬁles To import video into Pro Tools using drag and drop: to a blank area in the Timeline (to create a new Drag and drop one or more video ﬁles from a video track) or an existing video track (to place DigiBase browser or from Windows Explorer or it within that track).
Page 842 Timeline following the current together by default. This option lets you indi- Pro Tools editing mode. cate the number of seconds by which each video clip will be separated when imported into the video track. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 843: Extracting Audio From Quicktime-Compatible Video
To bypass the Video Import Options dialog when To import audio from a QuickTime movie without importing video into Pro Tools: importing the video, do the following: Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) one Choose File > Import > Audio. ■ or more video ﬁles from a DigiBase browser, In the Import Audio dialog, navigate to the Windows Explorer, or Mac Finder into the Re-...
Page 844: Video Regions
Region List, see “The Region List” on page 357. Showing or Hiding Video Regions in the Region List The Region List pop-up menu provides com- mands that let you show or hide video regions in the Region List. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 845: General Video Editing
• Selecting and editing across multiple Video To show or hide video regions in the Region List: and audio tracks (see “Selecting and Editing In the Edit window, click the Region List pop- Across Multiple Audio and Video Tracks” on up menu, and choose Show.
Page 846 • AudioSuite plug-ins • If the selection includes less than half of a • Waveform Repair with the Pencil tool video frame, it is not included in a video se- • Strip silence lection. • Consolidate regions Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 847: Renaming Video Disk Files
• When you paste a selection containing video Renaming Video Disk Files to a video track, the insertion point automat- ically aligns with the closest video frame When renaming audio regions in either the boundary. Timeline or the Region List, you have the option of also renaming the audio files on disk.
Page 848: Using The Video Window
If you scrub directly on the video track, only the (Mac) the Video window, and select Online. video will scrub (no audio will play). If you scrub on an audio track, audio and video will scrub si- multaneously. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 849: Browsing Video In The Video Universe Window
Press the Start key (Windows) or Control To scrub a video track: (Mac) and a number on the numeric keypad: Ensure that scrubbing in the Video window is 0–9 (9 is fastest, 5 is normal speed, and 0 stops enabled by selecting Options > Scrub in Video shuttling).
Page 850 To use the Video Universe window to select ranges in video regions in the Edit window: Move the cursor over the bottom half of any video frame until it becomes a selector tool. Video frame with zoom tool Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 851: Playback Of Hd Quicktime Movies
Do one of the following: Playback of HD QuickTime • To place the cursor at the beginning of a Movies video region, click the video frame repre- senting the video region. Pro Tools lets you import and play back Quick- •...
Page 852: Firewire Playback Of Quicktime Dv Movies
Pro Tools” on page 826 for detailed informa- tion.) For the latest compatibility information on Choose Options > Video Out Firewire. Firewire transcoders, visit the Digidesign web- site (www.digidesign.com). When this item is enabled, Pro Tools will play DV movies (NTSC or PAL) out the FireWire port QuickTime DV25 performance may vary, de- to an external DV decoder.
Page 853 In the Set Video Sync Offset dialog, enter a Make sure Use Avid Codec is not enabled. value in the QuickTime Video Offset ﬁeld that is These export settings can be saved in appropriate to compensate for the delay caused Avid Xpress Pro as a default, simplifying by your video monitor chain.
Page 854: Bouncing The Video Track To A Quicktime Movie
Select a destination for the new QuickTime movie, enter a new name, and click Save. Bouncing video may take quite a bit longer than real-time, depending on the format of the source video, the format of the bounced video, and processing speed. Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 855: Using Pro Tools Le To Import Video From Other Versions Of Pro Tools
Using Pro Tools LE to Import Video from Other Versions of Pro Tools When you use Pro Tools LE to import video or open a session created by Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2, some compo- nents of the session may open differently or not open at all, as follows: •...
Page 856 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 857: Index
Index Symbols Add Marker/Memory Location button 527 Add Meter Change button 513 + and – (see Plus (+) and Minus (–)) Add Tempo Change button 493, 509 Add Unique Triggers 556 Numerics adding a new playlist 353 1622 I/O 22 sends 639 16-bit AES/EBU...
Page 858 488 Trim mode 694 auto-fades 475 trimming 722 AutoGlide mode 787 writing 700 AutoGlide Time preference 75, 787 writing to selection, selection start, or selection end 724 Automation Enable window 700 Automation Follows Edit option 697 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 859 Automation Mode selector 692 Beat Detective 535, 536 Automation modes beat triggers Latch 693 deleting 543 Latch Trim 695 generating 540 Off 692 inserting 544 Read 692 moving 543 Read Trim 695 promoting 544 Touch 692 Collection Mode 554 Touch Trim 695 conforming regions 550 Touch/Latch Trim 696 defining the selection 538...
Page 860 Clear Special commands 447, 720 Command|8 662 All Automation 447, 720 Control|24 662 Pan Automation 447, 720 D-Command 662 Plug-in Automation 447, 720 D-Control 662 Clear Trim Automation Track command 132, 711 click 272 configuring 272 enabling 273 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 861 controller events 13, 571 Current Time display 796 and MIDI regions 346 Cursor chasing 579 location 98 editing 572 value 98 editing with Smart Tool 382 custom session templates 91 inserting 572 Custom Shuttle Lock Speed 385 Controller Meter Path selector 59 Custom Shuttle Lock Speed preference 67 Conversion Quality option 213, 752, 829 Cut command 445...
Page 862 Name (file name) 177 preparing for 328 New Catalog 174 recording 329 New Folder 174 DestructivePunch File Length preference 70, 329 Number of Channels 178 Digi 002 25 Original Timestamp 178 punching with footswitch 313 Path 178 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 863 Sample Rate 178 search features 184 Scene 178 sharing catalog database files 168 Search Criteria DigiDelivery 233 AND 186 Digidesign Audio Engine 5 OR 186 DigiGroove templates 546 search modes 186 digital clipping 257 search modifiers 185 Digital Format 39...
Page 864 Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle option 66, 383 copied to Timeline selection 411 Edit insertion point sliding in the Ruler 406 placing regions at 425 edit smoothing, with Beat Detective 552 trimming regions to 421 Edit Markers 397 and selection length 402 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 865 Edit tools 98, 366 Effect Bypass button 672 Grabber 366, 400 effects, printing to disk 743 Pencil 366, 451 Enable Session File Auto Backup option 68 Scrubber 366, 383 enabling Selector 366, 389 Auto Backup option 68 Smart Tool 366 automation 708 Trim 366, 374 groups 161...
Page 866 Revert to Saved command 87 Groove Quantize 589 Save As command 88 groove templates 546, 590 Save command 87 applying 592 Save Copy In command 89, 247 mapping 593 Send via DigiDelivery 233 Group 152 Group Assignment selector 630 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 867 Group ID indicator Help menu 15, 114 pop-up menu 152 HFS+ Disk Support option 244 Group List 150 HFS+ drives hiding 151 and Windows systems 245 Keyboard Focus 16 hidden tracks pop-up menu 151 and group edits 132 showing 151 and groups 132 Group Name and selections 398...
Page 868 Group List 16 Insert Silence command 486 Region List 16, 361 and Shuffle mode 486 keyboard shortcuts 682 and Slip mode 487 global key commands 15 Insert Time command 515, 517 numeric entry 404 recording 280 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 869 Locked indicator 798 Locked Track command 133 labeling locking regions 438 inserts and sends 684 Loop Playback option 409 paths 50 and Touch mode 700 Last Used 58 loop points 288 Latch Mode Timeline Selection Markers 289 AutoJoin 693 Loop Record mode 270, 285 Join 693 loop recording Latch option 144...
Page 870 SurroundScope plug-in 791 moving 566 Meters options 65 quantizing 589 Metronome Click button 103, 273 scrolling 344 Mic Preamps View 635 selecting 564 selecting with the mini-keyboard 565 splitting 601 transposing 565, 600 trimming start/end points 566 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 871 MIDI Operations commands 583 MIDI Zoom In button 367 Change Duration command 598 MIDI Zoom Out button 367 Change Velocity command 596 mini-keyboard 565 Flatten Performance command 595 Minimize Additional I/O Latency option 35 Grid/Groove Quantize command 584 Minimum Sync Delay option 79 Input Quantize command 604 Minimum Sync Delay preference 79, 810 Restore Performance command 594...
Page 872 No Output option 639 opening multiple plug-in windows 674 No Peak Hold option 65, 123 no scrolling during playback 395 noncontiguous selections 400 nondestructive editing 333 for audio 343 for MIDI 346 Nondestructive Record mode 269 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 873 Operation Preferences 66 panning Audio During Fast Forward/Rewind option 391 3-knob 786 Auto Region Fade In/Out Length preference 476 automation and groups 717 Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle option 383 fine-adjust mode 785 Link Record and Play Faders option 262 grids 780 Machine Chases Memory Location option 809 guidelines 773 Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub option 809...
Page 874 Next Setting button 673 Plug-ins Settings Select button 673 Previous Setting button 673 removing from tracks 668 RTAS Processors setting 32 Plug-ins Settings Select button 673 pops 294 post crossfades 466, 475 Post-Roll button 102 pre crossfades 466, 475 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 875 Pre Fader Listen mode 142 program changes 13, 574 PRE settings and bank select 574 importing 224 auditioning 577 Pre/Post Fader button 648 chasing 579 Pre/Post Roll option 292 default, for MIDI tracks 574 pre/post-fader inserts 664 deleting 577 pre/post-roll editing 577 and loop recording 284 inserting 576...
Page 876 357 from a digital source 293 repeating a previous search 360 from Record Pause mode 281 selecting regions 361 indicator 101 sorting 359 keyboard shortcuts 280 Region List Keyboard Focus 361 Loop Record 285 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 877 Region List menu 815 muting 439 Auto Rename command 489 nudging 436 Clear command 490 nudging regions with fades 478 Compact Selected command 488 offline 334 Export Region Definitions command 230 Original Time Stamp 432 Find command 359 pasting 445 Rename command 488 placing at Edit insertion point 425 Selected Unused command 490...
Page 878 Save Settings command 676 Play Edit Selection 408 saving the session file with a new name 87 Play Timeline 408 Scale command (Tempo Operations) 507 Selection Memory Location 525 scaling note velocities 568, 597 moving stored selection 530 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 879 selections Separate Region commands 418 across multiple tracks 399, 404 and multiple tracks 419 and Bounce to Disk 746 and related takes 288 and Edit Groups 398 At Selection 418 and hidden tracks 398 At Transients 418 and Timeline Selection Markers 398 On Grid 418 auditioning start and end points 408 Separate Region Operates On All Related Takes option 288,...
Page 880 581 Solo Latch options 144 Sub Counter selectors 349 Solo modes 142 Sub Time Scale 349, 802 selecting 143 subfolders, creating for settings 677 Solo Safe mode 144 soloing tracks 142 tracks in a submix 656 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 881 subframes 812 submixes T (browsers) 196 applying an insert to 653 Tab to Transients button 407 bouncing to 753 take over (surround pan) 785 bouncing to disk 745 takes soloing tracks in 656 auditioning 286 sub-paths 45 auditioning from Matches List 286 examples for surround 772 default names 264 Suppress Automation “Write To”...
Page 882 102 TrackPunch 316 Timeline Selection Markers 410 TrackPunch mode 317 toggling TrackPunch preferences 318 track height 339 Track View 337 zoom level 373 Tool Tips 64, 115 Touch Timeout option 74 Track Compensation (cmp) indicator 658 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 883 tracks Transpose 5.1 format track layout 766 Real-Time Properties 611 adding comments 126 Transpose command 583, 600 adding to selection 404, 405 transposing 600 and surround 765 by octave 601 appending new material to end of 282 key 600 Color Coding options 146 MIDI notes 565 concepts 7 tracks 600...
Page 884 Write Automation to Next Breakpoint on Stop command 728 and RTAS 665 Write Automation to Selection/Selection Start/Selection End and track priority 137 buttons 724 auto-assignment of ascending 138 Write MIDI Real-Time Properties command 613 for TrackPunch 317 Pro Tools Reference Guide...
Page 885 writing automation 700 automation on stop 725 automation to next breakpoint 726 automation to selection, selection start, or selection end snapshot automation 733 XML (Extensible Markup Language) 575 X–OR (Cancels Previous Solos) Solo Latch option 144 zero-crossing 343 Zoom buttons 367 Zoom Presets 370 Zoom Toggle command 372, 373 Zoom Toggle preferences 72...
Page 886 DIGIDESIGN TECHNICAL SUPPORT (USA) PRODUCT INFORMATION (USA) INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Visit the Digidesign website 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Tel: 650.731.6100 Tel: 800.333.2137 for contact information Daly City, CA 94014-3886 USA Fax: 650.731.6384 Tel: 650.731.6300 Fax: 650.731.6399...

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Pro tools 7.3