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DigiDesign Pro Tools 8.0 Reference Manual
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DigiDesign Pro Tools 8.0 Reference Manual

DigiDesign Pro Tools 8.0 Reference Manual

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Reference Guide
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Summary of Contents for DigiDesign Digidesign Pro Tools 8.0

  • Page 1 Reference Guide Pro Tools ®...
  • Page 2 Intelligent Noise Reduction, Digidesign TDM Bus, DigiDrive, DigiRack, DigiTest, DigiTranslator, DINR, D-Show, DV Toolkit, EditPack, Eleven, HD Core, HD Process, Hybrid, Impact, Interplay, LoFi, M-Audio, MachineControl, Maxim, Mbox, MediaComposer, MIDI I/O, MIX, MultiShell, Nitris, OMF, OMF Interchange, PRE, ProControl, Pro Tools M-Powered,...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Part I Introduction Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools ..........3 The Pro Tools Guides .
  • Page 4 Chapter 5. System Setup ............41 Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System .
  • Page 5 Part III Sessions & Tracks Chapter 9. Sessions ............111 Quick Start Session Dialog .
  • Page 6 Chapter 12. Grouping Tracks ..........197 Grouping Tracks .
  • Page 7 Chapter 15. Importing and Exporting Session Data ....... . 275 Importing and Exporting to and from a Session .
  • Page 8 Part IV Playback and Recording Chapter 17. Playing Back Track Material ........327 Playing Tracks .
  • Page 9 Chapter 20. MIDI Recording ..........389 Recording from MIDI Devices .
  • Page 10 Chapter 23. Edit Modes and Tools ..........445 Edit Modes .
  • Page 11 Chapter 27. Playlists ............529 Working with Playlists .
  • Page 12 Chapter 30. MIDI Editors ........... . . 611 MIDI Editor Window Toolbar .
  • Page 13 Chapter 34. Memory Locations ..........705 Memory Locations and Markers .
  • Page 14 Chapter 39. Event Operations ..........797 Event Operations Window .
  • Page 15 Chapter 42. Automation ............901 Automation QuickStart .
  • Page 16 Part X Surround Chapter 44. Pro Tools Setup for Surround ........975 Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing .
  • Page 17 Part XI Sync and Video Chapter 47. Working with Synchronization ........1009 Pro Tools Synchronization Options .
  • Page 18 xviii Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 19: Part I Introduction

    Part I: Introduction...

  • Page 21: Chapter 1. Welcome To Pro Tools

    Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools ® ® Welcome to Pro Tools by Digidesign Getting Started with Pro Tools Guide Pro Tools integrates powerful multitrack digital ® For Pro Tools LE and M-Powered™, see the audio and MIDI sequencing features, giving you Getting Started with Pro Tools Guide for your everything you need to record, arrange, com- interface.
  • Page 22 Additional Plug-in Guides Conventions Used in These Guides For information on additional free plug-ins that The Pro Tools guides use the following conven- can be installed with Pro Tools, and for informa- tions to indicate menu choices, keyboard com- tion on additional plug-ins that you can pur- mands, and mouse commands: chase separately, see the following PDF guides: Convention...

  • Page 23: System Requirements And Compatibility Information

    System Requirements and About www.digidesign.com Compatibility Information The Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com) is your best online source for information to help Digidesign can only assure compatibility and you get the most out of your Pro Tools system. provide support for hardware and software it has The following are just a few of the services and tested and approved.
  • Page 24 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 25: Chapter 2. Pro Tools Concepts

    Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts This chapter explains some of the principles and Pro Tools Nonlinear Editing concepts that form the foundation of Pro Tools operation and functionality. Pro Tools is a nonlinear recording editing sys- tem that lets you rearrange and mix recorded material nondestructively.

  • Page 26: The Digidesign Audio Engine

    Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to pro- The Digidesign Audio Engine vide audio track recording, playback, mixing, and effects processing. Both Pro Tools LE and The Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) is Digide- ® Pro Tools HD use host processing to run RTAS sign’s real-time operating system for digital au- (Real-Time AudioSuite) plug-ins for effects pro- dio recording, playback, and processing.

  • Page 27: Midi

    IN port receives messages. The MIDI THRU out- connect to and communicate with MIDI devices puts whatever is received from the IN port. MIDI (such as the M-Audio MIDISPORT). devices are connected with MIDI cables that are MIDI Device Any physical MIDI keyboard, sound available at most music stores.
  • Page 28 MIDI Port A physical MIDI port on a MIDI inter- Virtual MIDI Nodes When using MIDI with in- face or a virtual MIDI port created in software. strument plug-ins in Pro Tools, virtual MIDI There are separate ports for MIDI In and Out. nodes are created.

  • Page 29: Synchronization

    Synchronization When you are working with multiple time- based systems, such as Pro Tools and an external deck, you want both systems to be synchro- nized. Synchronization is where one system out- puts time code or MIDI Beat Clock and another device synchronizes to or follows that time code Signal paths for external MIDI instruments or MIDI Beat Clock so that they work together...

  • Page 30: Pro Tools Sessions

    Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with the Com- There are different session file icons for each plete Production Toolkit option support mixing type of Pro Tools system software. in surround formats. In Pro Tools, each sur- round format is considered to be a Pro Tools greater-than-stereo multichannel format.
  • Page 31 Pro Tools provides multiple types of tracks: Video tracks support QuickTime movies (all audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Mas- Pro Tools systems) and VC-1 video files (Win- ter, MIDI, Instrument, and video. dows Vista only). Additionally, Avid video is supported on Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 software with an Avid video pe- ripheral.
  • Page 32 MIDI Files When you record or enter MIDI into a Pro Tools session, all MIDI data is stored in the Pro Tools session file. You can import and export MIDI files to and from Pro Tools sessions, but MIDI recorded or otherwise created in a Pro Tools ses- sion does not automatically create new MIDI files.
  • Page 33 Each audio, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, Master Playlist Fader, and VCA track also has a single set of au- tomation playlists. Automation playlists can in- clude volume, pan, mute, and each automation- enabled control for the insert and send assign- ments on that track. MIDI controller data on Instrument and MIDI tracks is always included as part of the track playlist.

  • Page 34: Signal Routing

    Signal Routing Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and signal routing controls for audio and MIDI. These controls are located in the Mix window. Some of these controls can also be accessed from the Edit window. A common audio signal routing task is to sub- mix multiple tracks to a single channel strip (such as an Auxiliary Input) for shared process- ing and level control.
  • Page 35 Plug-in and Hardware Inserts Plug-in processing Signal Routing Options occurs completely within the Pro Tools system. Signal routing options include the following: Hardware inserts use audio interface inputs and outputs for traditional insert routing to and Track Input and Output (I/O) Controls The most from external effects and other devices.

  • Page 36: Tick-Based And Sample-Based Time

    Tick-Based Audio and MIDI Tick-Based and Sample-Based Tick-based audio is fixed to a Bars|Beat location, Time and moves relative to the sample Timeline when Pro Tools lets you set any track timebase to tempo and meter changes occur. However, MIDI either sample-based or tick-based.

  • Page 37: System Resources

    With Elastic Audio, Pro Tools analyzes entire au- In order to free up needed DSP resources, dio files for transient “events.” For example, an Pro Tools allows for certain items (such as tracks event can be a drum hit, a sung note, or chord and inserts) to be manually made inactive.
  • Page 38 In addition to manually setting Active and Inac- Display of Inactive Items tive modes, Pro Tools automatically makes When items are inactive, their names appear in items inactive if there are insufficient or un- italics, and their background becomes dark gray. available resources.

  • Page 39: Digibase

    Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode DigiBase Active and Inactive modes are powerful options DigiBase is a database management tool for for session transfer and system resource manage- Pro Tools. DigiBase expands upon basic ment. Pro Tools provides automatic and manual Pro Tools search and import capabilities by pro- Inactive mode switching.
  • Page 40 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 41: Chapter 3. Keyboard And Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts

    Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts This chapter provides an overview of Pro Tools Track Functions mouse and keyboard shortcuts. Pro Tools provides keyboard shortcuts for the following track functions: A PDF listing of all shortcuts is available in Pro Tools.

  • Page 42: Keyboard Focus

    List and Parameter Selection There are three types of Keyboard Focus: Pro Tools provides keyboard shortcuts for the Commands Keyboard Focus When selected in following items: the Tracks pane in the Edit window or in the Notes pane of any MIDI Editor window, this •...

  • Page 43: 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 44 Transport Mode Shuttle Mode (Pro Tools HD Only) This mode allows you to set a number of record and play functions, and also operate the Trans- Pro Tools offers another form of shuttling, dif- port from the numeric keypad. ferent from that of the two Shuttle Lock modes. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Shuttle, Function playback of the current Edit selection is trig-...

  • Page 45: Part Ii System Configuration

    Part II: System Configuration...

  • Page 47: Chapter 4. Pro Tools Systems

    Pro Tools system performance depends on Pro Tools M-Powered software for Digidesign- factors such as computer processor speed, ® qualified M-Audio interfaces. amount of system memory, and hard drive performance. Contact your Digidesign dealer References to Pro Tools LE in this guide are...
  • Page 48 Pro Tools|HD Systems Expanded Pro Tools|HD Systems Any Pro Tools|HD system can be expanded by Pro Tools|HD 1 adding additional HD Process or HD Accel cards. For more information, see the Expanded Systems Includes: Guide. • Accel Core (for PCIe) card or HD Core (for PCI) card HD Accel and HD Process cards can be used •...
  • Page 49 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 50 Audio Interfaces for Pro Tools|HD Systems Table 6 lists the input and output capabilities of the various audio interfaces for Pro Tools|HD sys- tems. Table 6. Pro Tools|HD system audio interface channel capabilities Number of I/O Sample Rates Interface Type Digital I/O Channels (kHz)

  • Page 51: Pro Tools Le Systems

    Mbox 2 Pro Pro Tools LE Systems An Mbox 2 Pro system includes: Pro Tools LE-based systems are available in the • Pro Tools LE software following configurations: • Mbox 2 Pro audio and MIDI interface Mbox 2 A 003 system includes: An Mbox 2 system includes: •...
  • Page 52 Pro Tools LE System Capabilities Table 7 lists the playback, recording, and input and output capabilities of each Pro Tools LE system. Mono tracks of simultaneous playback refers 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 53: Pro Tools M-Powered

    • Ability to use QuickPunch on up to 64 tracks For the most current list of Digidesign-qual- • Up to 64 Instrument tracks ified M-Audio interfaces, visit the Digi- • 128 internal busses design website (www.digidesign.com) . • Display of up to 256 tracks •...
  • Page 54 • Editing features: Additional Software • Video Universe window Complete Production Toolkit includes addi- • Continuous Scroll tional software for working with Pro Tools: • Scrub Trim tool DINR™ (Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction™) • Replace Region command LE Plug-in For reducing noise in audio. •...
  • Page 55 • Mixing and Automation features: DV Toolkit 2 Capabilitites • Snapshot automation for writing or trim- (Pro Tools LE Only) ming automation data • Glide Automation commands Pro Tools Features • Time code and synchronization features: DV Toolkit 2 enables the following features for •...

  • Page 56: Checking For Software Updates

    Music Production Toolkit 2 Checking For Software (Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered Only) Updates Pro Tools Features Pro Tools can check for Pro Tools application and Digidesign plug-in updates, either automat- Music Production Toolkit 2 enables the follow- ically or manually.
  • Page 57 To disable checking for software updates automatically: In the Software Update dialog, select the Do Not Check For Updates Automatically option. To enable checking for software updates automatically: Check for updates manually (Help > Check For Updates). In the Software Update dialog, deselect the Do Not Check For Updates Automatically option.
  • Page 58 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 59: Chapter 5. System Setup

    Chapter 5: System Setup Do one of the following, depending on your Starting Up or Shutting Down Pro Tools system: Your System • For Pro Tools|HD systems, with the volume of all output devices lowered, turn on your To ensure that the components of your Pro Tools Legacy I/O (such as an 888|24 I/O Pro Tools system communicate properly with or 882|20 I/O) first, then your Pro Tools|HD...

  • Page 60: Checking An Hd System With Digitest

    Do one of the following depending on your In most cases, the default settings for your sys- Pro Tools system: tem provide optimum performance, but you may want to adjust them to accommodate large • For Pro Tools|HD systems, turn off your or processing-intensive Pro Tools sessions.
  • Page 61 For example: To change the Hardware Buffer Size: • For sessions with large numbers of RTAS plug- Choose Setup > Playback Engine. ins, you can allocate 2 or more processors to From the H/W Buffer Size pop-up menu, select RTAS processing and set a high CPU Usage the audio buffer size, in samples.
  • Page 62 To set the number of RTAS Processors: • Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate more processing power to Pro Tools, and are useful Choose Setup > Playback Engine. for playing back large sessions or using more From the RTAS Processing pop-up menu, select RTAS plug-ins.
  • Page 63 • Enable RTAS error suppression only if you are RTAS Error Suppression Options experiencing frequent RTAS errors that are in- Ignore Errors During Playback/Record When en- terrupting your creative workflow. When abled, Pro Tools continues to play and record RTAS error suppression is enabled, you can ex- even if the RTAS processing requirements ex- perience a degradation of audio quality.
  • Page 64 Number of Voices • Select medium voice numbers when your Digidesign cards are in an expansion chas- (Pro Tools HD Only) sis, or when you are using other PCI or PCIe cards along with Digidesign cards. These On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Number of Voices settings generally provide an optimum bal- setting lets you control the number of available ance between number of chips needed for...
  • Page 65 Default Sample Rate (Playback Engine Delay Compensation Engine Dialog) (Pro Tools HD Only) (Pro Tools HD Only) The Delay Compensation Engine setting deter- The Sample Rate setting in the Playback Engine mines how much DSP resources are dedicated to dialog determines the default sample rate when Pro Tools Delay Compensation, which manages you create a new session.
  • Page 66 DAE Playback Buffer Size To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size: Choose Setup > Playback Engine. The DAE Playback Buffer Size setting determines the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk From the DAE Playback Buffer pop-up menu, se- buffers. In addition to levels, the DAE Playback lect a buffer size.
  • Page 67 Large Improves performance when using Elastic You can set Pro Tools to reserve only the mini- Audio features, but it also decreases the amount mum amount of required memory, so that more of memory available for other system tasks, such system memory is available to other applica- as RTAS processing.

  • Page 68: Configuring Midi Setup

    • Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size settings higher ples from the same drive that contains audio for than 250 ms; Level 2 (Default) improve the re- the current session. When this option is se- liability of sample playback, but they also de- lected, Pro Tools automatically optimizes the crease the amount of memory available for size of the Plug-in Streaming Buffer to facilitate...
  • Page 69 External If you are transferring material into Configuring Default Sample Rate Pro Tools from an external digital device, or if Setting in Hardware Setup Dialog you utilize a common house clock signal, you The Sample Rate setting determines the default will synchronize Pro Tools to that digital device sample rate when you create a new session.
  • Page 70 Example: Configuring Additional pages are available to configure other controls for each audio interface (such as setting Pro Tools|HD Hardware Settings operating levels). For details, refer to the Setup On Pro Tools|HD systems, you configure Hard- Guide for your system, or to the guide for your ware settings for each audio interface connected audio interface.
  • Page 71 tion, then select the Legacy I/O (such as an Card, the additional AES/EBU I/O ports on the 882|20 I/O), in the Peripherals list, and select No optional card are listed as AES/EBU 9–10, Interface in the Interface pop-up menu. (The AES/EBU 11–12, AES/EBU 13–14, and AES/EBU 96i I/O does not support Legacy I/O.) 15–16.
  • Page 72 Repeat the above steps for each additional After you select the type of Legacy I/O, the Main Pro Tools|HD audio interface. page updates with controls that can be config- ured. If your Legacy interface does not appear, Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll check connections and repeat from step 1, though peripherals in the Peripherals list.
  • Page 73 Configuring I/O Setup To route a Pro Tools output channel pair to multiple audio interface output ports: 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 74: System Usage

    With Pro Tools HD, there are additional meters: System Usage TDM Voices Allocated Displays the total number of TDM voices that can be allocated and the Processing Bandwidth number of voices currently allocated. This in- Meters in the System Usage window indicate cludes all voices whether they are allocated ex- how much of your system’s processing power is plicitly or dynamically, as well as any voices...
  • Page 75 To monitor the usage of resources during a To enable (or disable) DSP Caching: Pro Tools session: Open the System Usage window (Windows > Choose Window > System Usage. System Usage). Click the DSP Cache pop-up menu and select To reduce processing load, do one of the following: (or deselect) Use DSP Cache.
  • Page 76 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 77: Chapter 6. I/O Setup

    Chapter 6: I/O Setup The I/O Setup dialog (or I/O Setup) provides The I/O Setup dialog includes a graphical repre- tools to label, format, and map Pro Tools input, sentation of the signal routing for internal bus- output, insert, or bus signal paths for each ses- sing, and for each connected audio interface.

  • Page 78: Pro Tools Signal Paths

    Opening the I/O Setup Dialog Navigating in the I/O Setup Dialog The I/O Setup dialog can be opened from the ap- To scroll left or right in the I/O Setup dialog: plication window (with a session closed), or Press Alt+Page Up/Down (Windows) or Op- from within a session (when a session is open).
  • Page 79 Paths in Session Tracks Path Configurations and I/O Settings In sessions, audio is routed using the track In- put, Output, Insert, Plug-in, and Send selectors. Each Pro Tools session retains its path configu- These selectors let you assign tracks to hardware rations as I/O Settings.

  • Page 80: I/O Setup Dialog Tabs And Controls

    Default Settings Files Bus Configure bus signal path names and formats. The default Stereo settings file is available on all Pro Tools systems, and provides stereo main Mic Preamps (Pro Tools HD Only) Map Digide- paths, each with its own mono sub-paths. sign PRE™...
  • Page 81 Path Name Column Shows paths that are avail- Import Settings Button Lets you import an I/O able for selection, including the name of each settings file to reconfigure I/O Setup. defined path. Path names can be renamed. Export Settings Button Lets you save I/O settings Expand/Collapse Triangle Shows or hides the as a file that can be imported into other sessions.

  • Page 82: Routing Hardware I/O To Pro Tools I/O

    fault Output, Default Path Order, AFL/PFL Path To configure I/O routing in I/O Setup: (Pro Tools HD only), and AFL/PFL Mutes Choose Setup > I/O. (Pro Tools HD only). See “I/O Setup Options” on Click the Input or Output tab to display the page 75.

  • Page 83: Creating New Paths

    Pro Tools outputs pairs can also be routed to Creating New Paths multiple audio interface outputs in the Hard- ware Setup dialog. For information, see “Rout- The I/O Setup dialog lets you create new main ing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destina- path and sub-paths with custom names, format, tions”...

  • Page 84: Editing Paths

    Map the path to a specific audio interface, or The following table lists the available path at- bus channel in the Grid column. See “Channel tributes for each path type. Mapping” on page 70 Path options by type Repeat the previous steps to configure all path Path Type Path Options (Attributes) types (Input, Output, Insert, or Bus).
  • Page 85 of busses supported on the original system are To restore default paths and path names: initially available. You can reset the number of Choose Setup > I/O. available busses to match your system’s full ca- Click the Input, Output, Insert, or Bus tab to pabilities.
  • Page 86 To rename an audio interface in the I/O Setup To select a range of paths: dialog: Click the path name. Double-click the label above an interface. Shift-click an additional path name. Interface Name label All paths between the first selected path name and the additional path name will also be selected.
  • Page 87 Tracks can also be made active or inactive. For Deleting Paths information, see “Making Track Inputs and Out- Path definitions can be deleted from the current puts Inactive from the Edit or Mix Window” on session to reflect changes to your hardware page 181.

  • Page 88: Channel Mapping

    Channel Mapping and Surround Mixer Channel Mapping (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit Only) Paths must be mapped to a specific audio inter- face, or to bus channels in the Grid. Paths can be When mapping multichannel paths, the left mapped when they are created, and remapped channel (L) is mapped first to the clicked Grid at any time.

  • Page 89: Valid Paths And Requirements

    Overlapping Channels and Valid Paths Channel Channel Shuffling mapping follows certain rules regarding overlap- Moving a signal from right to left results in a ping paths. shuffle of other signals after the new destination • There can be no partial or complete over- channel.
  • Page 90 Factory I/O Settings The Pro Tools Installer pro- Importing I/O Settings vides settings files for factory I/O setups for ste- I/O Settings can be imported before or after you reo and surround (Pro Tools HD only). See “Au- open a session. dio Interfaces and Session Transfer”...
  • Page 91 Last Used I/O Settings Surround Mix Settings File (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete If any changes are made to the I/O Setup dialog, Production Toolkit Only) these changes are saved to the Last Used settings file when the I/O Setup dialog is closed (by click- The Surround Mix provides additional, sur- ing OK).
  • Page 92 Systems of equivalent I/O capability are Opening Older Sessions Saved in remapped directly. For example, a session Direct Outputs Mode tracked to a Pro Tools|HD system through two Direct Outputs mode, as found in older versions 192 I/O audio interfaces would include 32 input of Pro Tools, has been replaced by the default paths spread across the two 16-channel inter- mono sub-paths available through all valid I/O...

  • Page 93: I/O Setup Options

    assigns a default Audition Path to the first avail- I/O Setup Options able main Output path of the corresponding for- mat. You can also select a different Audition Pro Tools systems have additional I/O Setup fea- Path in the I/O Setup dialog. tures.
  • Page 94 AFL/PFL Path To set the AFL/PFL Path level for AFL or PFL solos: Choose Options > Solo Mode, and select a Solo (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete mode, as follows: Production Toolkit Only) • If you want to set the level for AFL solos, Tracks soloed in AFL (After Fader Listen) or PFL select AFL.

  • Page 95: Mic Preamps

    To set which output path is muted when tracks are Mic Preamps soloed in AFL or PFL Solo mode: Choose Setup > I/O. (Digidesign PRE with Pro Tools HD Only) Click the Output tab to display the Output On the Mic Preamps page of the I/O Setup dia- page.
  • Page 96 To set an insert delay offset: Type a value, in milliseconds, in the field cor- responding with the input where the hardware insert is connected. If you do not know your hardware’s insert delay, see “Determining Your Hardware’s Insert Delay” on page 78.

  • Page 97: Chapter 7. Preferences

    Chapter 7: Preferences The settings in the Preferences dialog define To change Pro Tools preferences: how Pro Tools features work by default. The Choose Setup > Preferences. Preferences dialog has several tabbed pages in Click the tab for the page that has preferences which you can specify your preferred settings you want to change.

  • Page 98: Global And Local Preferences

    • Operation Preferences Global and Local Preferences • Custom Shuttle Lock Speed • Back/Forward Amount (Pro Tools HD only) Pro Tools preferences are either global (system- wide) or local (for the current session only). • QuickTime Playback Priority options • PEC/Direct Style Input Monitoring Global (System-Wide) Preferences (Pro Tools HD only) •...

  • Page 99: Display Preferences

    Edit Window Default Length Display Preferences This preference sets a default length for the Edit window in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 only). This is useful if you want to assemble a session of a par- ticular length or leave extra room to expand the Edit window’s work area in your session.
  • Page 100 Category and Manufacturer Organizes plug-ins 3 Second Clip Hold When selected, meters dis- in two levels of menus. The top menus display play the last clip indication for three seconds. plug-ins by process category (such as EQ, Dy- Infinite Clip Hold When selected, meters display namics, and Delay), with individual plug-ins the last clip indications until you click them to listed in the category submenus.

  • Page 101: Operation Preferences

    Groups Assigns a color to each track according to Operation Preferences its Group ID. If groups are suspended using the Suspend Groups command, the tracks color bars are not shown. Track Type Assigns a color to each track accord- ing to its type (audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Master, MIDI, Instrument, or Video).
  • Page 102 Latch Forward/Rewind When selected, fast for- Back/Forward Amount (Pro Tools HD Only) Sets ward and rewind latch and continue until you the default length of Back, Back and Play, Forward press Stop, Play, Return To Zero, or Go To End and Forward and Play.
  • Page 103 Shuttle (Pro Tools HD Only) Selects a type of Video Section shuttling different from that of Shuttle Lock QuickTime Playback Priority Options mode. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Shuttle, playback is triggered by pressing and Normal This is the default setting for QuickTime holding the keys on the numeric keypad—play- Playback Priority.
  • Page 104 Avid Video Errors Stop Playback • When not selected, record-enabled audio tracks are taken out of record enable when (Pro Tools HD with Avid Video Engine Only) Pro Tools is stopped. This prevents tracks When selected, Pro Tools automatically stops from remaining armed from pass to pass, playback of audio and video if a single frame of emulating track record behavior of a digital...
  • Page 105 • When selected, taking an audio track out of Online Options record enable (any mode) takes it out of In- Record Online at Time Code (or ADAT) put Only mode, regardless of the global Lock When selected, online recording begins as monitor mode, and switches it to monitor soon as Pro Tools receives and locks to incoming audio from disk only.

  • Page 106: Editing Preferences

    DestructivePunch File Length (Pro Tools HD Editing Preferences 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. Misc (Miscellaneous) Section Show Quick Start Dialog When Pro Tools Starts When selected, Pro Tools shows the Ses- sion Quick Start dialog on launch.
  • Page 107 Tracks Section Default Fade Settings Fade In Selects the default envelope shape for New Tracks Default To Tick Timebase When se- fade-ins when using the Smart Tool. lected, all new tracks default to ticks. When de- selected, audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, Fade Out Selects the default envelope shape for and VCA (Pro Tools HD only) tracks default to fade-outs when using the Smart Tool.

  • Page 108: Mixing Preferences

    Separate Grid Settings When Zoomed In When Setup Section selected, this option retains the same (current) Sends Default to –INF When selected, the initial grid setting when zoom toggling in or out. fader level of newly-created sends is set to –∞ (no When this option is deselected, the grid setting audible signal level).
  • Page 109 Touch Timeout If you are writing automation in Default Dynamics Touch mode and you stop moving a non-touch This preference lets you choose any installed sensitive fader or encoder, Pro Tools continues Dynamics plug-in as the default, which makes it to write automation for the Touch Timeout available for quick assignment, both on-screen value.
  • Page 110 Latching Behavior for Switch Controls in Standard VCA Logic for Group Attributes “Touch” This option determines the behavior of (Pro Tools HD Only) This option determines switch-type controls (such as mute or plug-in which Mix group attributes may be selected in bypass) when writing automation in Touch the Group dialog when the group is assigned to mode.

  • Page 111: Processing Preferences

    AutoMatch Time If you are writing automation On Exiting Trim Mode Sets Trim Automation to in Touch mode, when you release a fader or con- coalesce on a track when the track is taken out of trol, writing of automation stops and the auto- Trim mode.
  • Page 112 Import Section Drag and Drop From Desktop Conforms to Session Tempo Convert Imported “WAV” Files To AES31/Broad- The Drag and Drop From Desktop Conforms to Ses- castWave When selected, this option applies to sion Tempo options determine whether or not all newly imported WAV files, making them REX, ACID, and audio files are imported as tick- compliant with the AES31/EBU Broadcast stan-...

  • Page 113: Midi Preferences

    The Elastic Properties window inherits the De- TC/E (Time Compression/Expansion) fault Input Gain setting. To apply further region- Section based input gain attenuation for Elastic Audio TC/E Plug-in Lets you select the plug-in used for processing, select the region and adjust the Input Time Compression and Expansion when you Gain setting in the Elastic Properties window (see edit audio with the Time Compression/Expan-...
  • Page 114 Use MIDI to Tap Tempo When enabled, you can Global MIDI Playback Offset tap a MIDI keyboard to enter a new tempo value This option lets you set an offset in samples to into a tempo field. compensate for MIDI latency. Entering a value here has the same effect as setting an offset with Display Events as Modified by Real-Time Proper- ties When enabled, Pro Tools displays the ef-...

  • Page 115: Synchronization Preferences

    MIDI Time Code When selected, Pro Tools ap- Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub When se- plies Delay Compensation to Pro Tools-gener- lected, navigating to a specific location in a ses- ated MIDI Time Code (MTC). Enable this option sion by moving the selection point or by scrub- when synchronizing video to Pro Tools using bing a track will cause a connected transport to MTC.
  • Page 116 Synchronization Section Remote Mode Section (Pro Tools HD Only) Minimum Sync Delay Sets the initial amount of prime time (in frames) your system’s devices Ignore Track Arming Sets Pro Tools to ignore in- need to achieve synchronization “lock.” This coming track arming (record enable) com- amount varies for each device.
  • Page 117 Solo Independent of Linked State Causes a Satellite Link Section Pro Tools system to send the solo status of its (Pro Tools HD Only) tracks to other satellite systems even when it is unlinked. This allows control of solo status These preferences are available only with the across systems even when transport control is Satellite Link option.
  • Page 118 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 119: Chapter 8. Peripherals

    Chapter 8: Peripherals The settings in the Peripherals dialog define how Pro Tools works with various synchroniza- tion, machine control, MIDI control surface, Ethernet worksurface, Mic Preamp, and satellite peripherals and devices. To configure settings for Pro Tools peripherals: Choose Setup > Peripherals. Click the tab for the type of peripheral you want to configure.
  • Page 120 Digidesign Synchronization Device Idle MTC Enabled (Pro Tools HD Only) When this option is selected, MTC is continu- ously output. When not enabled, MTC output is The Digidesign Synchronization Device settings muted when playback is idle. let you configure a Digidesign synchronization peripheral, such as the Digidesign SYNC HD or LTC Output Level SYNC I/O .

  • Page 121: Machine Control

    numbers are displayed directly on top of the Reset Bi-Phase video signal, without a contrasting background This button lets you set the Bi-Phase/Tach start box.) The default setting is White on Black frame from Pro Tools. Clicking the button up- Bkgnd.
  • Page 122 MMC ID chineControl is connected using the Serial Deck Control cable. When connected for Serial Deck The MMC ID setting lets you specify the MMC Control mode, MachineControl enables all ID number for which MMC information will be Pro Tools track arming, synchronization, and sent.

  • Page 123: Midi Controllers

    • Surround Panner Pro Tools to the LTC source instead of slaving the machine to Pro Tools time code, you can • M-Audio Keyboard avoid the waiting (and tape wear) that occurs while a machine transport locates and bumps Receive From tape to the cue point.

  • Page 124: Ethernet Controllers

    Send To Number and Color The Send To setting lets you select the MIDI Out The number of the row indicates the order of the port to which your MIDI controller is con- selected controllers. The color corresponds to nected. the colored controller focus border around Pro Tools track and plug-in controls.

  • Page 125: Satellites

    The Video Satellite option lets you link a Type Pro Tools|HD system and a Media Composer The Type setting lets you select none or PRE. Se- system. The Video Satellite LE option lets you lect the PRE option to declare any connected link a Pro Tools|HD system and a Pro Tools LE Digidesign PRE.
  • Page 126 Satellite When enabled, the Satellite option sets the local system to be a satellite system on the network. When a system is in Satellite mode, it becomes available to be declared as a satellite from any administrator system on the network. Administrator When the local system is in Administrator mode, the Administrator settings let you declare...

  • Page 127: Part Iii Sessions & Tracks

    Part III: Sessions & Tracks...

  • Page 129: Chapter 9. Sessions

    Chapter 9: Sessions This chapter covers the basics of starting a Creating a New Session from a project in Pro Tools, including how to create Template and save a Pro Tools session. To create a new session from a template: Select Create Session from Template.
  • Page 130 Select the session template you want to use Creating a New Blank Session from the list (on the right). To create a new blank session: Select Create Blank Session. Quick Start dialog, Session Parameters revealed If you want to change any of the session pa- rameters, click the Session Parameters reveal Quick Start dialog, Create Blank Session button and do any of the following:...
  • Page 131 Opening a Recent Session Showing or Hiding the Quick Start Dialog on Launch The Open Recent Session option is not To prevent the Quick Start dialog from appearing available the first time you launch when Pro Tools launches: Pro Tools (or if you have cleared the Recent Sessions list by choosing File >...

  • Page 132: Creating A New Session

    Creating a New Session Sound Designer II (SD II) files are not sup- ported on Windows systems or at sample The New Session dialog lets you create a new ses- rates above 48 kHz. Also, sessions that use sion from a template or create a new blank ses- the SD II file format do not support Elastic sion (with no tracks or media).

  • Page 133: Session Files And Folders

    Click OK. Session File In the Save dialog, name the session, navigate The session file is the document that Pro Tools to the location where you want to save the new creates when you start a new project. Pro Tools session and click Save.

  • Page 134: Opening A Session

    WaveCache File Renamed Audio Files Folder The WaveCache.wfm file stores all of the wave- This folder includes file names that have been form display data for the session. If you delete renamed when you open a session that contains the WaveCache.wfm file, Pro Tools creates a audio file names with incompatible characters, new one the next time you open the session.
  • Page 135 Opening a Session from a Transfer With Pro Tools LE Only: Volume Any tracks beyond the maximum number of available voices on the current system are set to When opening a session from a Transfer volume voice off. (such as a CD or DVD disc), DigiBase prompts you to save the session on a Performance vol- Opening a Session with Audio File ume, and copy and convert any referenced me-...

  • Page 136: Opening Recent Sessions

    Opening a Session that Was Saved Opening Session with Plug-ins with +6 dB Fader Gain Deactivated All Pro Tools 7.x and higher sessions have a Pro Tools lets you open sessions with all of the +12 dB fader gain level. However, when saving a session’s plug-ins set to inactive.

  • Page 137: Saving A Session

    Saving the Session File with a New Saving a Session Name You should save regularly while working on To save a copy of the current session with a new your session to ensure that your work is pre- name or to a different hard drive location, use served on your hard drive.
  • Page 138 Saving a Copy of the Session Using the Save Copy In command is the only way to change the sample rate of a session. The sam- To save a copy of the current session with or ple rate of each of the session’s copied audio files without its audio files and fade files, use the is converted to the selected sample rate.
  • Page 139 If applicable, select Enforce Mac/PC Compatibil- Session Parameters ity to create session and audio files that can be Audio File Type used on both Windows and Mac Pro Tools sys- tems (see “Saving Copies of Mac Sessions to be You can save the session to reference BWF Compatible with Windows”...
  • Page 140 192 Digital I/O). If your session is at a different To choose the language encoding when saving a copy of a session: sample rate, audio files are converted to the new session sample rate, and copied to the specified Choose File > Save Copy In. location.

  • Page 141: Session Templates

    When this option is not selected, the Save Copy Don’t Copy Elastic Audio Rendered Files In command copies all files of the same type, re- When this option is selected, Elastic Audio Ren- gardless of their location, into a single destina- dered files are not copied to the new session’s tion folder.
  • Page 142 Choose File > Save As Template. Save Session Template Dialog The Save Template dialog provides the follow- ing options: Install Template In System Select this option to save the template file in the system folder referenced by the Pro Tools Ses- sion Quick Start dialog (the Session Templates in the Pro Tools application folder).

  • Page 143: Closing A Session

    In the New Session From dialog, select the Au- Select Location For Template dio File Type, Sample Rate, and Bit Depth for the Select this option to save the template file to any new session that will be created from the tem- directory location on your system.
  • Page 144 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 145: Chapter 10. Pro Tools Main Windows

    Chapter 10: Pro Tools Main Windows Pro Tools provides two complementary ways of Edit Window Shows tracks and track material viewing tracks in a session: against the Timeline (see “Edit Window” on page 128). Mix Window Shows tracks as channel strips, like a mixing board (see “Mix Window”...

  • Page 146: Mix Window

    Pro Tools provides several other types of To display the Mix window: windows: Choose Window > Mix. Transport Window Lets you control the transport To display all Mix window view options: and transport-related functions (see “Transport Window” on page 134). Select View >...
  • Page 147 Channel strips (page 155) Instrument Track List View (page 175) (page 837) Inserts (A–E) View (page 838) Sends (A–E) View (page 838) Track Path selectors (page 179 and Group ID page 186) indicator Automation (page 200) Mode selector Input Monitoring / (page 904) Record Enable Pan knob...
  • Page 148 Universe view Grid and (page 489) Nudge values Zoom buttons (page 449) (page 132) Edit Window Toolbar and menu Counters and Edit Edit Mode Edit tools (page 131) Selection indicators buttons Transport controls (page 448) (page 486) (page 445) (page 134) Region Timebase and List...
  • Page 149 Edit Window Toolbar Counters and Edit Selection Indicators The Counters and Edit selection indicators pro- At the top of the Edit window is the Edit Win- vide information where selections are in the dow Toolbar and menu. This Toolbar provides Timeline.
  • Page 150 Timeline Data Online Status Indicator Is green when all files in use in track playlists are avail- Edit Window Toolbar menu able for playback. If files are offline, being pro- cessed, or otherwise unavailable for playback, this indicator is red. Session Data Online Status Indicator Is green when all audio and fade files referenced by the session are available for playback.
  • Page 151 Synchronization When selected, the Synchroni- Rearranging Controls and Displays zation controls are displayed in the Edit window toolbar. To rearrange controls and displays in the Edit, MIDI Editor, or Score Editor window toolbar: Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) the control or display you want to move and drag it to a new location in the toolbar.

  • Page 152: Transport Window

    Edit Window Default Length Pro Tools lets you set a default length for the Edit window in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Vertical Zoom Toolkit 2 or Complete Production Toolkit only). In and Out buttons This is useful if you want to assemble a session of...
  • Page 153 Basic Transport Controls and Rewind and Fast Forward Increments Counters Main Time Scale Format Increment Amount Transport Window menu Min:Sec 1 second Track Record Enable indicator Go to End Time Code 1 frame Fast Forward Stop Rewind Play (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE Return to Zero Record with Complete Production...
  • Page 154 Play Starts playback or (if the Record button was Right-clicking the Record button lets you select clicked first) recording from the Timeline inser- the record mode from a pop-up menu: tion point or the Play Start Marker location if • Normal Dynamic Transport mode is enabled.
  • Page 155 is particularly useful with punch recording since MIDI Controls it gives you time to “catch the beat” before reaching the punch-in point. To set the pre-roll Tempo Resolution (Beat Value) pop-up menu amount, type a new value in this field, or drag the Pre-Roll flag in the Main Timebase ruler.

  • Page 156: Midi Editor Windows

    Wait for Note When selected, recording does not MIDI Merge When selected (Merge mode), begin until a MIDI event is received. This en- recorded MIDI data is merged with existing sures that you begin recording when you’re track material. When deselected (Replace ready to play, and that the first note, or other mode), recorded MIDI data replaces existing MIDI data, is recorded precisely at the beginning...

  • Page 157: Score Editor Window

    view, or on separate tracks in Notation view, DigiBase Browsers and lets you view and edit MIDI controller data (such as velocity, pitch bend, and mod wheel) in DigiBase databases are accessed through Digi- controller lanes under the Notes pane. Base browsers.
  • Page 158 The main elements of a DigiBase browser (see Items List Displays the contents of a volume, Figure 6 on page 140) include the following: folder, session, or Catalog database. Each col- umn in the items list displays metadata (such as Title Bar Shows the browser type (Workspace, file name and format) for volumes, folders, and Volume, Project, or Catalog), and the name of...
  • Page 159 Workspace Browser Project Browser The Workspace browser provides access to all The Project browser provides powerful search your mounted volumes, as well as the folders and management tools for the files referenced in and files they contain. your current session, regardless of where they are stored.

  • Page 160: Managing Windows

    Task Window A Window Configuration can store the location and size of all open windows, including: The Task window is a utility for viewing and • Edit window managing all of the background tasks that you • Mix window initiate with Pro Tools. Use the Task window to •...
  • Page 161 A Window Configuration can also store the Window Display settings for the Edit, Mix, Tar- geted MIDI Editor, Score Editor, and Transport windows. Window Configuration List The Window Configuration List lets you recall and manage stored Window Configurations, as well as create new Window Configurations. Edit Window Configuration dialog Number Is the number of the slot in which the Window Configuration is stored (1–99).
  • Page 162 Window Display Settings Stores only the window Window Configuration Commands and display settings for the selected window (Edit, Options Mix, Targeted MIDI Editor, Score Editor, or View Filter Icons Transport): • Edit Window Display Settings Using the View Filter icons, the Window Config- •...
  • Page 163 Insert Slot Before <Name> Inserts a new slot be- Window Configuration List Pop-Up Menu fore the selected Window Configuration and, if You can select viewing and sorting options, necessary, increments the number of each fol- along with commands for creating and remov- lowing slot.
  • Page 164 Creating New Window Configurations You can type a different number for the new Window Configuration. If the number you type is already used by another Window Configura- To create a new Window Configuration: tion, you are prompted to replace it or Cancel. Open the windows you want to include in the Otherwise, Pro Tools automatically fills in the Window Configuration and position them...
  • Page 165 The Pro Tools session’s screen layout updates Updating Window Configurations with the stored Window Configuration. After you recall a stored Window Configuration, you can make changes to the window layout Undoing Window Configurations and window settings, and then update the stored Window Configuration with your Pro Tools lets you revert to the previous Win- changes.
  • Page 166 Window Configurations that do not include Importing Window Configurations Window Layout and only store Window Display You can import Window Configurations from Settings cannot be made active and thus won't another session using Import Session Data. automatically update. If you want to update a Window Configuration with changes to the To import Window Configurations: Window Display Settings (such as the width of...

  • Page 167: Menus

    Hiding All Floating Windows Menus The Hide All Floating Windows command hides or Pro Tools menus provide commands and op- shows all floating windows. This is useful for tions for configuring and working with quickly clearing the screen of all floating win- Pro Tools, sessions, and session material.
  • Page 168 Help Provides access to the following PDF docu- Track Name and Region Name mentation: Shortcuts, Digidesign FAQ, DigiRack Right-Click Menus Plug-ins Guide, Pro Tools Menus Guide, and Track and region names provide Right-click Pro Tools Reference Guide. The Help menu also menus for managing and working with tracks or provides access to the Check For Updates com- regions, as follows:...

  • Page 169: 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 170 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 171: Chapter 11. Tracks

    Chapter 11: Tracks This chapter covers the different types of tracks Auxiliary Input Tracks in a Pro Tools session and basic track manage- Auxiliary Input tracks can be used as effects ment tasks. sends, destinations for submixes, as a bounce destination, as inputs to monitor or process au- dio (such as audio from external MIDI instru- Track Types...
  • Page 172 VCA Master tracks do not pass audio, so they do Track Formats not have inputs, outputs, inserts, or sends. A Mix Group is assigned to a VCA Master track, Mono Tracks which appears in the VCA track’s Assignment A mono audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or selector.

  • Page 173: Track Channel Strips

    Auxiliary Input Track Channel Strips Track Channel Strips Each Auxiliary Input track has its own set of (Mix Window) channel strip controls, including volume, pan, automation mode, solo, and mute. Auxiliary In- Audio Track Channel Strips put tracks also have a Comments view to type and display comments.
  • Page 174 Master Fader Track Channel Strips VCA Master Track Channel Strips (Pro Tools HD Only) Each Master Fader track has its own set of chan- nel strip controls, including volume and auto- Each VCA Master track has its own set of chan- mation mode.
  • Page 175 MIDI Track Channel Strips MIDI Volume MIDI Input selector Each MIDI track has its own set of channel strip MIDI Mute button controls, including MIDI volume, pan, record MIDI Output selector enable, automation mode, solo, mute, patch as- MIDI meter (Velocity) signment, and channel assignment.

  • Page 176: Track Controls And Indicators

    Auxiliary Input Track Controls Track Controls and Indicators Each Auxiliary Input track has its own set of (Edit Window) track controls, including Track Name, Solo, Mute, Track View, Track Height, Timebase, and Audio Track Controls Automation mode. Each audio track has its own set of track con- Solo button trols, including Track Name, Playlist, Record En- Track Height selector...
  • Page 177 VCA Master Track Controls MIDI Track Controls (Pro Tools HD only) Each MIDI track has its own set of track controls, including Track Name, Playlist, Record Enable, Each VCA Master track has its own set of track Solo, Mute, Track View, Track Height, Patch, controls, including Track Name, Playlist, Record Timebase, and Automation mode.

  • Page 178: Edit Window Views

    Instrument Track Controls Edit Window Views Each Instrument track has its own set of track In addition to track controls and playlists (of re- controls, including Track Name, Playlist, Record gions of events on the Timeline), the Edit win- Enable, Solo, Mute, Track View, Track Height, dow provides the following views that corre- Patch, Timebase, and Automation mode.
  • Page 179 Instruments View To show the I/O View in the Edit window: Select View > Edit Window > I/O. Instruments view provides MIDI controls for In- strument tracks: MIDI Input selector, MIDI Out- Channel strips in the Mix window always put selector, MIDI Volume, MIDI Pan, and MIDI display Input and Output selectors as well Mute.
  • Page 180 Channel Delay Indicator (Pro Tools HD Volume Fader Only) Shows the total delay, in samples, incurred The Volume fader controls the playback level of on the track from the use of any TDM plug-ins a track when it is playing back, and the monitor or hardware inserts on that channel.

  • Page 181: Track Level Meter

    To clear a meter: Track Level Meter Click anywhere on the meter. On audio tracks, level meters indicate the level of the signal being recorded or played back from To clear all meters, do one of the following: the hard drive. On Auxiliary Input, Master Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) any Fader, and Instrument tracks, level meters indi- meter.

  • Page 182: Adjusting Track Width

    Wide Meters View Creating Tracks Wide Meters view expands the width of the level You can create mono and stereo tracks on all meters for tracks in both the Mix and Edit win- Pro Tools systems. With Pro Tools HD or dows, to make the track level meters easier to Pro Tools LE with the Complete Production read.
  • Page 183 Select the timebase (samples or ticks) from the To create new tracks: Track Timebase pop-up menu. Do one of the following to open the New Tracks dialog: To auto-scroll the Track Timebase pop-up • Choose Track > New. menu, press Control+Alt (Windows) or Command+Option (Mac) and use the –...
  • Page 184 Default Track Names Click Previous or Next to rename other dis- played tracks. When creating new audio, Auxiliary Input, Mas- ter Fader, VCA Master, MIDI, and Instrument To move to the previous or next track in the tracks, Pro Tools names them as “Audio,” Track Name/Comments dialog, you can “Aux,”...
  • Page 185 All tracks between the first track selected and the To navigate directly to any track number: additional track will also be selected. Choose Track > Scroll to Track. To select or deselect noncontiguous tracks, do Press Control+Alt+F (Windows) or Com- one of the following: mand+Option+F (Mac) to open the Scroll to Track dialog.
  • Page 186 The track is selected, and the windows scroll as Duplicating Tracks follows: The Duplicate Track command lets you dupli- • The Mix window tracks scroll to bring the cate one or more tracks, including their audio or selected track as close to the left as possible. MIDI data, playlists, automation, and other at- •...

  • Page 187: Track Views

    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- in the Number of Duplicates filed. ing its group assignments will coalesce any auto- •...
  • Page 188 MIDI Tracks Can be set to Blocks, Regions, Notes, Playlists Tracks View Velocity, Volume, Mute, Pan, Pitch Bend, Mono Af- (Audio Tracks Only) ter Touch, Program Change, Sysex, and any con- tinuous controller type. MIDI tracks are com- With the Track View set to Playlists, alternate monly set to Notes or Regions, each of which playlists for audio tracks are revealed in Playlist displays notes in a “piano roll”...
  • Page 189 Regions View For details on editing automation data for (MIDI Only) audio tracks, see Chapter 42, “Automa- tion.” With the Track View set to Regions, you can edit and arrange MIDI regions on MIDI and Instru- ment tracks. For details on inserting and editing control- ler data for MIDI tracks, see “Continuous Controller Events”...
  • Page 190 Changing Track Views For audio, Auxiliary Input, MIDI, and Instru- ment tracks, you can change to the next or pre- vious Track View, or toggle between pre-defined common views. Master Fader Track View selector Changing to Previous or Next Track View When changing to the next or previous Track View, Track View list ordering is maintained as shown in the Track View selector.

  • Page 191: Track Height

    Toggling Common Track Views Master Views for Tracks The most common editing view for audio tracks Audio, MIDI, and Instrument tracks have Track are Waveform and Volume view. The most com- Views that act as “master.” When a track is dis- mon editing views for MIDI and Instrument played in its Master view, any edits performed tracks are Notes and Regions view.
  • Page 192 To set the Track Height, do one of the following: Continuously Variable Track Height Click the small arrow to the left of the Track In the Edit window, you can continuously resize name to get the Track Height pop-up menu. the Track Height of any given track by simply clicking and dragging the lower boundary of the Track Controls column.

  • Page 193: The Track List

    Track Controls and Track Height The Track List The Track Height affects how the various track The Track List (at the left of both the Mix and controls appear in the Edit window. For in- Edit windows) shows all tracks in the session. It stance, when a track’s height is set to Small, allows you to show or hide a track in the Mix, most of the buttons are reduced in size.
  • Page 194 Sort Tracks By options Show/Hide Track List/Group List View When a track that is a member of an active Track List and Group List shown in Edit Window group is hidden from view, editing operations performed on other members of the group in Track List Menu the Edit window will not affect the hidden track.
  • Page 195 To hide a track, do one of the following: To reorder tracks on-screen, drag the track Click the Track Show/Hide icon in the Track names to new positions within the Track List. List or in the Mix or Edit window. –...

  • Page 196: Track Name Right-Click Menu

    About Mix/Edit Groups and Hidden Track Name Right-Click Menu Tracks (Mix Window, Edit Window, MIDI Editor In the Mix window, if a hidden track is part of Windows, or Track List) an enabled group, all Mix window operations performed on other members of the group also When you Right-click a track name in the Mix affect the hidden track—with the exception of au- window, Edit window, MIDI Editor windows, or...

  • Page 197: Assigning Audio Inputs And Outputs To Tracks

    New Opens the New Track dialog. Assigning Audio Inputs and Rename Opens the Track Name dialog. Outputs to Tracks Duplicate Duplicates the track (or selected tracks Inputs for audio, Auxiliary Input, and Instru- if any). ment tracks can be assigned to audio interface channels or busses.
  • Page 198 Assigning Audio Inputs ‘ (Audio, Auxiliary Input, and Instrument Tracks) To assign an audio input of an audio, Auxiliary Input, or Instrument track: In order to assign audio track inputs in the Edit window, select View > Edit Window > I/O. In the Mix or Edit window, click the track’s In- put Path selector and choose from the available audio interface channels and busses.
  • Page 199 To remove an output assignment: Select No Output from the Output Path selec- tor. Playlists become dimmed for tracks with no output assignment. Assigning an audio track, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or Instrument track to “No Output” will cause its automation data for pan and plug-in controls to be lost.

  • Page 200: Track Priority And Voice Assignment

    plug-ins on the track continue to use their re- To make all selected tracks’ Inputs or Outputs assigned to the same path inactive (or active), do quired DSP resources. For Pro Tools LE systems, one of the following: inactive Inputs and Outputs do not consume host-processing resources.
  • Page 201 Pro Tools LE systems let you play or record up to Changing a Track’s Playback Priority 48 simultaneous stereo or mono tracks. For de- Tracks with higher positions (leftmost in the tails on LE system capabilities, see Table 7 on Mix window or topmost in the Edit window) page 34.
  • Page 202 Setting Voice Assignment To set the voice assignment for a track: Click the Voice selector and set the track to A track’s voice assignment can be turned off or Dyn, Off, or select a voice number (Pro Tools HD set to be dynamically allocated, and with only).
  • Page 203 When working with more than the maximum Voice Assignment with Toolkit Options number of voiced audio tracks allowed by your Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit system, you can only play back audio from higher-numbered (lower priority) tracks by Pro Tools LE systems with the Complete Produc- changing the track priority by doing any of the tion Toolkit option let you simultaneously play...

  • Page 204: Assigning Midi Inputs And Outputs To Tracks

    The voice is assigned to the first track, with suc- The following example demonstrates the con- cessive voices assigned to tracks (with the same cept of voice borrowing: format) of lower priority. To assign all selected audio tracks to successive voices: Select the audio tracks by Control-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Mac) their...
  • Page 205 Assigning MIDI Track Input Assigning MIDI Track Output Pro Tools lets you assign specific MIDI ports and Pro Tools lets you assign specific MIDI ports and channels to a MIDI track input. The default se- channels to a MIDI track output. The default se- lection of All receives all incoming MIDI data lection of none sends MIDI data to no port on from all ports on all channels.
  • Page 206 To assign multiple destinations to a single MIDI Instrument Track MIDI Input track: Pro Tools lets you assign specific MIDI ports and Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) channels to an Instrument tracks’ MIDI input. the MIDI Output selector and select additional The default selection of All receives all incoming channels from any device.

  • Page 207: Soloing And Muting Tracks

    Solo Modes Soloing and Muting Tracks (Pro Tools HD Only) The Solo and Mute buttons can be engaged at With Pro Tools HD, the Solo button can be used any time during playback. The Solo and Mute buttons affect MIDI as well as audio tracks. It is •...
  • Page 208 With PFL, the fader level and pan are ignored, Using AFL/PFL on Pro Tools Systems with a D-Control or D-Command and the level you hear is dependent on the sig- nal’s recorded level. Additionally, there is a sep- AFL/PFL is optimized for Pro Tools systems us- arate master level setting for PFL that affects the ing a D-Control or D-Command control surface, output of any or all tracks you solo in PFL mode...

  • Page 209: Mute Button

    To select a Solo Latch mode: Solo Safe Mode Choose Options > Solo Mode and select from Pro Tools lets you solo safe a track. This prevents the following options: the track from being muted even if you solo other tracks. This feature is useful for tracks such Latch When selected, pressing subsequent Solo as Auxiliary Inputs that are being used as a sub- buttons adds them to the soloed mix of tracks.

  • Page 210: Making Tracks Inactive

    Mute Frees Assigned Voice Making Tracks Inactive (Pro Tools HD Only) Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Mas- Selecting Options > Mute Frees Assigned Voice ter (Pro Tools HD only), and Instrument tracks and muting a track disables playback of that can be made inactive.

  • Page 211: Color Coding For Tracks, Regions, Markers, And Groups

    Display Page Preferences for Color Coding for Tracks, Color Coding Regions, Markers, and Groups Color Coding options determine how colors are Separate colors can be assigned to audio and assigned to the display of tracks and regions. MIDI regions, tracks, markers, and groups. Re- gions shown in Waveform and Block Views in To change Color Coding options: the Edit window are drawn in color.
  • Page 212 Default Track Color Coding Groups Assigns a color to each region according to the Group ID of its track. If groups are sus- The Default Track Color Coding options determine pended (using the Suspend Groups command) how colors are assigned to the display of tracks. all regions display black waveforms or MIDI notes on a light gray background.

  • Page 213: Color Palette

    Default Removes any custom coloring and re- Color Palette stores the color to the default color orientation. The Color Palette lets you make color selections See “Display Page Preferences for Color Coding” for tracks, regions, groups and markers. on page 193 for more information. Apply to Selected None Turns off color assignment.
  • Page 214 Applying Track Color Coding to Channel Strips The Color Palette lets you apply the Track color coding to channel strips in the Mix and Edit windows. To apply track color coding to channel strips: Enable the Apply to Channel Strip button. If necessary, adjust the Saturation slider to get the color saturation you want.

  • Page 215: Chapter 12. Grouping Tracks

    Chapter 12: Grouping Tracks Edit Groups Grouping Tracks Edit Groups affect the following items in the Pro Tools provides a relative grouping function Edit and MIDI Editor windows: for linking tracks and their controls. • Track View • Track Height Groups are useful for editing several tracks in ex- actly the same way, or for mixing several tracks •...
  • Page 216 Linking Mix and Edit Groupings In Pro Tools HD, when the Main Pan The Link Mix and Edit Group Enables option links attribute is enabled for groups, grouped group enabling between the Mix and Edit win- behavior applies to the Link, Front inverse, dows.

  • Page 217: Group Controls

    Show/Hide Track List/Group List View Group Controls Button Menus and commands for creating and modify- To show the Group List (and Track List): ing groups are accessible in the following: Click the Show/Hide Track List/Group List • Group List View button in the Mix, Edit, or MIDI Editor •...
  • Page 218 Group List Menu Duplicate Opens Group dialog for duplicated group. The pop-up menu at the top of the Group List provides the following commands: Delete Deletes a single group. New Group Executes the Track > Group com- Select Tracks in Group Selects tracks in the mand.

  • Page 219: Working With Groups

    Group Dialog Group Dialog in Pro Tools LE In Pro Tools LE, the Group dialog has a single Whether you are creating or modifying groups page. with the Group List, a tracks’s Group ID indica- tor, or the Track > Group menu command, you use the Groups dialog.
  • Page 220 Do one of the following: Click Tracks in the Group dialog, and do any of the following: • Choose Track > Group. • To add the tracks that are currently selected – or – in the session to the group, click the Add •...
  • Page 221 If the group is a Mix Group or a Mix/Edit Do any of the following: Group, do the following: • To add the tracks that are currently selected • Set the Attributes for the Group (see “Set- in the session to the group, click the Add ting Group Attributes”...
  • Page 222 Modifying Groups To modify a group: Do one of the following: • Choose Modify Groups from the Group List menu. • In the Mix window, click the Group ID in- dicator on a track and choose Modify from the pop-up menu. •...

  • Page 223: Setting Group Attributes

    Duplicating Groups You can duplicate a group and modify its set- tings in order to quickly set up a mix. To duplicate a group: Do one of the following: • Click the Group ID indicator on a track and Modify ALL Group dialog choose Duplicate from the pop-up menu.
  • Page 224 To select attributes in the Global page: To select attributes for an individual group: While creating or modifying a group, click While creating or modifying a Mix Group or a Globals in the Group dialog. Mix/Edit Group, do one of the following: •...
  • Page 225 To select or deselect attributes for a single con- Selecting Group Attributes trol across all Sends, all Inserts, or for the four The following attributes can be selected for Glo- track controls (down a column), Alt-click (Win- bal settings and for individual groups. dows) or Option-click (Mac) any attribute in that column.

  • Page 226: Enabling Groups

    To recall a Group preset: Keyboard Selection of Groups Click the corresponding Preset button (1–6) in The Group List Keyboard Focus lets you type a the Groups dialog. (Follow Globals must be un- Group ID letter to automatically toggle that checked to recall a setting in the Attributes group’s enable status.

  • Page 227: Grouped Control Offsets

    Temporarily Isolating Control of an Grouped Control Offsets Item from Group Operation When the following controls are grouped with You can temporarily isolate control of a group offsets and moved to their extremes, relative off- item from group operation by Right-clicking on sets are preserved when the controls are moved the item.
  • Page 228 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 229: Chapter 13. The Region List

    Chapter 13: The Region List The Edit Window displays all audio regions, Use the Region List as a bin for storing your MIDI regions, and region groups in a single, favorite audio loops and MIDI clips. Save comprehensive Region List. the session as a template and the regions are All regions of all types that are recorded, im- available for future sessions (see “Session...
  • Page 230 Displaying Regions in the Region List In the Region List, whole-file audio regions are displayed in bold, and stereo and multichannel The Region List can show all region types (au- audio regions can be expanded to display indi- dio, MIDI, video, Groups, Auto-Created), or vidual channels.

  • Page 231: Sorting And Searching In The Region List

    Full Path Displays the full directory path of the Sorting Regions region’s parent file. To sort regions in the Region List: Channel Name Displays the channel name for Click the Region List menu (at the top of the audio files imported from field recorders. Region List) and choose Sort By.
  • Page 232 MIDI regions can be sorted by: In the Find Regions dialog, do any of the fol- lowing: • Name, Length • Select By Name and type the name, or any • Original Time Stamp portion of the name, for regions you want •...
  • Page 233 To repeat a previous search: Click the Region List menu, and choose Find. Click the small arrow to the right of the text field in the Find dialog and select a text string from the Find History pop-up menu. Region List while searching Type another entry and choose Insert Entry again to add additional search strings to the his- tory.

  • Page 234: Selecting Regions In The Region List

    To select or deselect a range of regions with the Selecting Regions in the Marquee: Region List Move the cursor to the left of the region name until the Marquee icon with a small “+” symbol In the Region List, you can select regions so they appears: can be dragged to tracks, processed with Audio- •...

  • Page 235: Previewing Regions In The Region List

    Unused Except Whole Files Selects regions that To enable and use the Region List Keyboard Focus: have not been placed in a track in the current Click the Keyboard Focus button in the upper session, but do not include Whole-file regions. right of the Region List.

  • Page 236: Stereo And Multichannel Regions In The Region List

    Sample-based regions play back at their native To audition through all channels of the main audition path: tempo. Tick-based MIDI and Elastic Audio pro- cessed regions play back at the session tempo Shift-Alt-click (Windows) or Shift-Option- (based on the location of the playback cursor). click (Mac) on the signal in the Region List.

  • Page 237: Naming And Displaying Regions In The Region List

    You can also rename a region in a track using Rules for Stereo and Multichannel the Rename command in the Region List menu Regions or the Right-click menu. For stereo and multichannel audio regions to be shown as collective regions, the component re- To rename one or more regions from the Region gions must be the same length.

  • Page 238: Managing Regions In The Region List

    Auto-Naming Options Managing Regions in the You can specify the auto-naming options for a Region List region when new regions are created from it in In the course of editing a session, the Region List the course of editing. can quickly fill up with many regions—with Auto-naming of regions does not affect the ones you have created intentionally and also names of parent audio files.
  • Page 239 When auto-created regions are hidden, In the Clear Audio dialog, do one of the fol- Pro Tools warns you if the number of auto-cre- lowing: ated regions exceeds a certain threshold, and • Click Remove to remove the unused regions gives you the option of deleting them.

  • Page 240: Region Name Right-Click Commands

    Region Name Right-Click Commands When you Right-click a region name in the Re- gion List, a pop-up menu provides access to the following commands: Clear Removes selected regions from the ses- sion. Rename Renames selected regions. Time Stamp Redefines the time stamp of se- lected regions.

  • Page 241: Chapter 14. Digibase

    Chapter 14: DigiBase DigiBase and DigiBase Pro (Pro Tools HD and DigiBase Elements Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 only) combine an intuitive, Figure 9 shows the various elements of DigiBase. browser-style interface with an integrated da- Arrows show how files can be moved between tabasing engine, optimized for Pro Tools data the elements.
  • Page 242 DigiBase Browsers The main elements of a DigiBase browser (see Figure 10) include the following. DigiBase databases are accessed through Digi- Title Bar Shows the browser type (Work-space, Base browsers (see Figure 10). Browsers provide Volume, Project or Catalog), and the name of its an intuitive user interface to DigiBase databases associated volume, session or catalog.
  • Page 243 There are three types of Pro Tools browsers Volume Browsers available on all supported systems: Volume browsers provide file management for • The Workspace browser local and network volumes. Volumes are format- • Volume browsers ted partitions on a physical drive (hard drive). •...

  • Page 244: Performance And Transfer Volumes

    DigiBase Pro Catalogs Relink Window (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete The Relink window provides tools and features Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 Only) for relinking sessions and catalogs to media files. Use Relink tools to search and reacquire missing Catalogs provide the highest level of Pro Tools files for use in the current session.

  • Page 245: Digidesign Databases

    Read-Only Volume Databases Digidesign Databases (CD/DVD-ROMs and Write-Protected Volumes) The information displayed in browsers is stored Since data cannot be written to read-only vol- in individual databases. Pro Tools creates these umes, databases for read-only volumes are databases automatically for all mounted vol- stored locally on your system drive.

  • Page 246: Browser Windows And Tools

    Sharing Database Files Browser Windows and Tools Database files can be shared among users. This is Browsers display all files in their database (see particularly useful for Transfer volumes, elimi- Figure 11 on page 229), including Pro Tools and nating duplicate processing (indexing) time. non-Pro Tools files.
  • Page 247 Browser Back arrow Title bar Browser menu Preview controls Search icon View Presets Columns Toolbar Column headers Items List Scrolling pane Fixed pane Show/Hide Pane split Figure 11. Basic browser tools, panes, and columns (Volume browser shown) Opening Browsers To open the Project browser: Open a Pro Tools session.
  • Page 248 To open another Volume or Catalog in a new All open browsers are moved to the background, browser window and leave the current Volume or bringing the other windows to the foreground. Catalog browser open: Browsers remain open and accessible. Control-double-click (Windows) or Com- To bring an open browser to the foreground: mand-double-click (Mac) the Volume or Cata-...
  • Page 249 To open an AAF or OMF sequence from a DigiBase To open a folder in the current browser: browser: Double-click the folder, or click the Ex- Do one of the following: pand/Collapse icon for the item. • With no Pro Tools session currently open, With the browser in the foreground and the double-click the AAF or OMF sequence in a folder selected, press Control+Down Arrow...

  • Page 250: Indexing Digibase Databases

    To enter an edit to a text field and exit, and return The next time you open that browser, metadata to the previous display state: for items that have already been indexed is visi- ble immediately. If the browser or folder was Press Enter.

  • Page 251: The Browser Menu

    New Folder Creates a new folder on the current Last Indexed Date Display volume, or within the current Catalog. In Vol- The Last Indexed column shows the date that ume browsers, a new folder is created on disk. the index for that folder and all of its sub-folders Available in Catalog and Volume browsers only.
  • Page 252 Delete Selected Deletes any selected item. In the Select Offline Files Selects all files that are cur- rently offline. Workspace, Project, and Volume browsers, de- leting an item deletes it from the disk. In Cata- Select Transfer Files Selects all files identified as logs, you are asked whether you want to clear Transfer files (files found on media that do not the items from the Catalog (leaving your disks...

  • Page 253: Browser Panes And Display

    Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo Con- Browser Panes and Display forms all tick-based audio files with Elastic Au- dio analysis, as well as REX and ACID files, to Browsers display an Items List consisting of var- the session tempo. This option lets you play ious columns (such as file name, size, creation back the session, and then simultaneously pre- date, and sample rate).
  • Page 254 Showing and Hiding Columns View Presets You can show or hide individual columns in Pro Tools lets you save up to five preset views for DigiBase browsers to fit your workflow. The de- each type of browser, and the Relink window. fault column display includes the items you Presets can be recalled by clicking a View Preset would use in most sessions.

  • Page 255: Column Data

    Name Displays the name of the file, folder, vol- To add a secondary sort: ume, catalog, or session. This text field is edit- Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the able in all browsers except Catalogs. column title for the secondary sort criteria. A Designates volumes for audio R (Record and Primary Sort Secondary Sort...
  • Page 256 Video Compression Displays the compression ra- File Comment Displays any embedded com- ments associated with the file. File comments tio of video files where applicable. are supported with BWF and SD II files, but are Frame Rate Displays the frame rate of video files not supported with AIFF files.
  • Page 257 Take Displays take number data embedded in Plug-in Manufacturer Name Displays the plug-in audio files. manufacturer’s name for Plug-in Settings files (.txf). Shoot Date Displays origination date and time information embedded in audio files. However, Link Path Displays the path to the file used for many field recorders do not populate the Shoot relinking.

  • Page 258: Selecting Items

    Database Comments To select multiple items: (Catalogs and Project Browsers Only) Marquee-select a group of items, or Shift-click additional items. Control-click (Windows) or Database Comments in a Catalog are stored in Command-click (Mac) to select multiple non- the Catalog database. Database comments in continuous items.
  • Page 259 Moving Items To delete one or more items: Select one or more items. To move items: Do one of the following: Select one or more items and drag them to a • Press Delete. new location. Moving to a new location on the –...

  • Page 260: Searching Items

    When prompted, do one of the following: Search Features for All Systems • To remove the aliases for the selected items All systems provide the following search capa- from the Catalog, click Aliases. bility: – or – • Search by item Name, Kind, and Date Modi- •...

  • Page 261: Starting A Search

    Searching begins, indicated by the spinning ar- Starting a Search rows in the toolbar, and by the Search button changing to Stop. The Results List (at the bot- To search the current browser: tom of the browser) fills with items that match Click the Search icon to display the Search the search criteria.
  • Page 262 Pull-Down Menus Provide options for certain A question mark (?) can be used for single-char- fields. For example, the Bit Depth pull-down acter wildcards. For example, a search on f?ee provides choices for Any, 16-bit, or 24-bit. finds free, and flee. A similar search on f*ee finds frendlee, flippee, flee, free, and so on.
  • Page 263 Quotations Marks for Text Strings To enable Advanced Search mode: Click to enable the Advanced Search mode Text enclosed in quotation marks is searched as option. one text string. For example, if you type “Dog Bark” (with quotes), only items with Dog Bark Advanced Search anywhere in the File Name are considered a match.

  • Page 264: Waveforms

    Saving Search Results as a The waveform overview is stored in the file, or in the appropriate Digidesign Databases folder. Catalog For more information, see “WaveCache” on (DigiBase Pro Only) page 246. To save the results of your search as a Catalog: Summed Waveforms for Multichannel Files Choose Edit >...

  • Page 265: Elastic Audio Analysis

    Analyzed files in which no tempo was detected Elastic Audio Analysis remain sample-based. These files typically con- tain only a single transient (such as a snare hit) You can both calculate and clear Elastic Audio or they are longer files without a readily identi- analysis for selected audio files in DigiBase fiable regular tempo (such as entire songs).

  • Page 266: Previewing Audio In Digibase

    File Timebase and Elastic Audio Previewing Audio in DigiBase Analysis Icons Audio files can be previewed in DigiBase brows- DigiBase browsers provide three icons to indi- ers. Previewing follows the master Audition cate whether a file has Elastic Audio analysis and path as selected in the Output pane of the the file’s timebase.
  • Page 267 To preview an audio file in a browser: Preview Controls and Indicators Select an audio file in a browser Items List. Every DigiBase browser provides the following Make sure the browser is the foreground (active) preview controls in the Toolbar: Preview, Vol- window.
  • Page 268 To change the volume for previewing in DigiBase When the Audio Files Conform to Session browsers: Tempo button is enabled, Pro Tools analyzes any un-analyzed files on preview or import. Click the Volume field to display the Volume Tick-based audio files conform to the session fader.
  • Page 269 Loop Preview To stop loop audition: Do one of the following: Loop Preview plays the selected file by looping • Click the Browser Preview button again. playback of the file. If multiple files are selected, only the first selected file previews. When Loop •...
  • Page 270 To preview files at the session tempo: The DAE Playback Buffer setting in the In the session, place the insertion point at the Playback Engine dialog affects the amount location where you want to preview the file in of time it takes before preview starts. Pre- DigiBase.

  • Page 271: Linking And Relinking Files

    Choosing When to Relink Linking and Relinking Files Pro Tools lets you relink files while opening a A Pro Tools session is made up of references, or session or after a session is already open, as fol- links, to audio files and other session media. Au- lows: dio and video files must be stored on suitable Relinking when opening a session ensures...
  • Page 272 To copy Transfer files found when opening a To copy items to a new location and Relink to the session, do one of the following: copies: Click Yes to open the Copy and Relink dialog. Do one of the following: •...
  • Page 273 Manually Find and Relink This option opens the Relink window. Use the Relink window to search, compare, verify, and relink missing files. Files can be relinked one at a time or in batches. See “Relink Window” on page 256 for more information. Automatically Find and Relink Missing files warning when opening a session Automatically Find and Relink is the simplest...

  • Page 274: Relink Window

    Regenerate Missing Fades Without Searching Relink Window Enable this option to exclude fades files from The Relink window provides tools for all relink- the relinking process (fades are recalculated in- ing tasks (see Figure 12 on page 257). stead). This option is available when Automati- cally Find and Relink or Manually Find and Relink is The Relink window includes the following: enabled.
  • Page 275 Menu and toolbar Areas to Search Files to Relink Candidates Figure 12. Main elements in the Relink window Opening the Relink Window search. In addition, excluding folders from a search for missing files also lets you redirect a When opening a session with missing files, use session or Catalog to a more appropriate copy of the Manually Find and Relink option to open the an item.
  • Page 276 Click each item’s Search column to toggle it to Pro Tools searches the selected volumes and dis- be included or excluded in the search. A check plays all files that match File Name and/or next to an item indicates it will be included in Unique ID in the Candidates list.
  • Page 277 To view the selected candidate for a particular To relink multiple missing files: missing file, select to highlight the missing file. Configure Areas to Search. (See “Selecting Ar- That file’s candidate appears in the Candidates eas to Search” on page 257.) pane, where you can view its file information Select one or more items in the Files to Relink and waveform.

  • Page 278: Workspace Browser

    Committing Links Workspace Browser There is no Undo for relinking. Once a file has The Workspace browser is your starting point been relinked and the session saved, the session for managing media (see Figure 13 on page 261). always remembers the new link (the original The Workspace browser is always available link is forgotten).
  • Page 279 Volume designators Browser name Menu and toolbar Search pane Items List Search Results Show/Hide Scrolling pane Fixed pane Pane split Figure 13. Workspace browser, with the Search pane displayed T (Transfer) Can only be used for storing, trans- Audio and Video Volume ferring, or auditioning files, and cannot be used Designators for recording or playback.
  • Page 280 To change a volume designator: Catalogs in the Workspace Browser Open the Workspace browser. (DigiBase Pro Only) Click and select the appropriate Audio and/or Video designator for the volume. With DigiBase Pro, the Workspace browser pro- vides special tools for creating and accessing Catalogs.

  • Page 281: Project Browser

    in the search, and which to exclude. The Work- Project Browser space also provides a separate Search Results pane to view, select and manage the results of The Project browser displays and manages all searches. the files related to the current session, regardless of what volume they reside on (see Figure 14 on page 264).
  • Page 282 Browser menu and toolbar Folders and files Figure 14. Project browser The Project browser displays the following: Locating Parent FIles of Regions Audio Files Folder Contains all of the audio files The Project Browser can be set to automatically currently referenced by the session, regardless of highlight the parent file of any region selected where they are located.

  • Page 283: Digibase Pro Catalogs

    About the Project Browser DigiBase Pro Catalogs No Drag and Drop to the Project (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Browser Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 Only) To import a file from another browser into the Catalogs are available with DigiBase Pro, which current session, you must drag files to the Time- is included with Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE...
  • Page 284 Catalog name Menu and toolbar Items List Show/Hide Fixed pane Scrolling pane Pane split Figure 15. Catalog browser Opening a Catalog Browser Do one of the following: • Click the Expand/Collapse icon for the Cat- Catalogs are displayed in the Workspace alog to view its contents in the Workspace.
  • Page 285 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 286 Renaming a Catalog Consolidating Files with Catalogs Catalogs are excellent tools for consolidating Catalogs can be renamed at any time. files from a variety of sources. To rename a Catalog: For example, create a Catalog named “Thumps” Click the Catalog item in the Workspace and fill it with sound effects from three different browser until its name highlights.
  • Page 287 The first step is to add files to a Catalog (files Deleting Catalogs must be online to be added to a Catalog). Once added to a Catalog, if the items are taken offline To delete a Catalog: they are listed in italicized text. Select one or more Catalogs in the Workspace browser.

  • Page 288: Task Window

    Opening the Task Window Task Window To open the Task Window: For maximum performance and flexibility with file management tasks, Pro Tools provides the In Pro Tools, choose Window > Task Manager. Task window (see Figure 16 on page 270). File Press Alt+’...
  • Page 289 Any task that fails to complete successfully is Task Window Views moved to the Paused Tasks pane (see below). The Task window provides a maximized and The Status column displays a description of the minimized view. failure. To toggle between maximized and minimized Paused Tasks Pane views: The Paused Tasks pane is displayed below the...
  • Page 290 To cancel a task: About Failed Tasks Highlight any task in either pane of the Task The Paused Tasks pane shows any tasks that window. could not be completed. The reason for the fail- ure is shown in the Status column. Press Delete to remove it from the Task win- dow.
  • Page 291 Stored Tasks Any task that imports files into a session is stored with a session when it is closed, and re- sumes when the session is re-opened. For example, if you Import Session Data with Copy From Source Media selected, then Save and Close the session before the copy completes, the copy tasks resume when the session is reopened.
  • Page 292 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 293: Chapter 15. Importing And Exporting Session Data

    Chapter 15: Importing and Exporting Session Data Pro Tools lets you import and export a variety of Importing and Exporting to data into and out of a session, including audio and from a Session and MIDI files, region groups, video files, track playlists, I/O configurations, and signal routing configurations.

  • Page 294: Audio Conversion On Import

    Exporting When files are converted into the session, the original files remain where ever they are on your Pro Tools lets you export audio, video, MIDI, re- system and are copied to the session’s Audio gion groups, and session data by: Files folder and converted to the session’s audio •...
  • Page 295 Rate Conversion Quality setting is local to that Supported Audio File Formats specific dialog. The Sample Rate Conversion Qual- Audio files of the following types can be im- ity preference only applies to conversion on im- ported into Pro Tools sessions: port by drag and drop.

  • Page 296: Import Options And Preferences

    Importing Interleaved Files Convert Imported “WAV” Files To AES31/Broad- castWave When selected, this option applies to When using the Import Audio command, inter- all newly imported WAV files, making them leaved stereo files are automatically imported to compliant with the AES31/EBU Broadcast stereo tracks.
  • Page 297 Drag and Drop From Desktop Conforms to Elastic Audio Options Session Tempo The Elastic Audio preferences determine which The Drag and Drop From Desktop Conforms to Ses- Elastic Audio plug-in is used for preview and im- sion Tempo options determine whether or not port, and whether or not new tracks are created REX, ACID, and all other audio file formats with Elastic Audio enabled using the selected de-...

  • Page 298: Importing Files With Drag And Drop

    The Elastic Properties window inherits the De- fault Input Gain preference. To apply further re- gion-based Input Gain for Elastic Audio process- ing, select the region and adjust the Input Gain setting in the Elastic Properties window (see “Elastic Properties Window” on page 787). Enable Elastic Audio on New Tracks When se- lected, new tracks are created with Elastic Audio enabled.
  • Page 299 To import files into the Region List: To import files as new tracks: Select audio, video, MIDI, region group, REX, Select the files you want to import in a Digi- or ACID files in a DigiBase browser, or Windows Base browser, or Windows Explorer, or Mac Explorer, or Mac Finder.
  • Page 300 To import and spot files into a track: To snap to head and copy the file to the session Audio files folder: Enable Spot mode. Alt-Start-drag (Windows) or Option-Control- Select the files you want to import in a Digi- drag (Mac) a file onto a track. Base browser, or Windows Explorer, or Mac Finder.

  • Page 301: Importing Audio Files And Regions Using The Import Audio Command

    tick-based Elastic Audio depending on the Drag Importing Audio Files and and Drop from Desktop Conforms to Session Regions Using the Import Tempo preference (see “Drag and Drop From Audio Command Desktop Conforms to Session Tempo” on page 279). The Import Audio command lets you import au- dio files or regions into your Pro Tools session.
  • Page 302 In the import list, audio files are distinguished Pro Tools lets you add files to a session that from regions by their icons. are at a different sample rate than your session. In the comments field of the Import Audio File icon Audio dialog, a warning is posted that these files will play back at the wrong speed and Audio Region icon...

  • Page 303: Importing Audio From Audio Cds

    New Track Each audio file is imported into its Importing CD audio with either drag and own individual track and into the Region List. drop method lets you continue working in When importing audio into a track, you can also the session foreground (such as in the Mix choose the location in the track where the audio or Edit window), while the Task Manager...
  • Page 304 To import ACID and REX flies as sample-based To import REX files as tick-based region groups: regions: Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Pro- Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Pro- cessing tab. cessing tab. Select the Import REX Files as Region Groups op- Disable the Import REX Files as Region Groups tion.

  • Page 305: Importing Multichannel Audio Files From A Field Recorder

    In the REX Auto-Crossfades dialog, select the playlist, and a multichannel region appears in shapes you want for crossfades, and click OK. the Region List with the channels expandable underneath. Any metadata is also imported with Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. the files.
  • Page 306 Table 16. Dither and Noise Shaping with Export Selected dialog Noise Bit Depth Dither Shaping 24-bit to 8-bit 16-bit to 8-bit The Dither used for any conversion is the Digidesign Dither plug-in (with or without Noise Shaping enabled, as noted in Table 16). For more information about using Dither, see “Dither”...

  • Page 307: Importing Session Data

    Exporting Stereo or Multichannel Exporting Region Definitions Interleaved Files Pro Tools stores region definitions for audio files You can use the Export Regions as Files com- within each session. If you want to use an audio mand to export audio regions to stereo or multi- file’s regions in another session, or with another channel interleaved files for use in other appli- application that supports them, you can export...
  • Page 308 With Pro Tools LE, you can import tracks and To select multiple tracks, Alt-click (Win- some general session data, but with Pro Tools dows) or Opt-click (Mac) on any track pop- HD, or Pro Tools LE with Complete Production up menu and select Import As New Track. Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2, you can select specific session data (such as automation and routing) to import.
  • Page 309 To import Markers and Memory Locations from the source session, select the Import Marker/Memory Locations option. To import Window Configurations, select the Import Window Configurations option. With Pro Tools HD, select the Import Mic Pre Settings option to import any Mic Pre settings from the source session.
  • Page 310 Source Properties Copy from Source Media This option copies all audio files related to the imported tracks from The Import Session Data dialog displays proper- the source media to a new specified location, ties for the source session. These properties in- and converts the files to the current session’s au- clude source session name, session type, start dio file format, bit depth, and sample rate if nec-...
  • Page 311 00:01:00:00, and the session from which you are Video Media Options importing starts at 10:00:00:00, you can reset You can either choose to leave video media files the start time code to 00:01:00:00, to avoid plac- in their original locations or copy them to a new ing files 9 hours and 59 minutes from the start location.
  • Page 312 Source Tracks Matching Tracks (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete This area of the dialog lists the tracks in the Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 Only) source session that can be imported, each with a corresponding pop-up menu. If you are importing playlists from source tracks with the same name as destination tracks in the Operation/Destination Track Pop-Up...
  • Page 313 Main Output Assignments Imports the source Selecting Track Data to Import track’s channel output assignments, including You can select All, None, or any combination of any multiple output assignments. The channel the listed track data to import. The following are output assignments in the destination track are available for import: replaced.
  • Page 314 Track Active State Imports the active/inactive Import Marker/Memory Locations Imports state of the source track from the source session. markers and Memory Locations as they appear in the Marker ruler, from the source session. Any I/O Labels (Path Names) Imports the source markers and Memory Locations in the destina- track’s path names.
  • Page 315 Import – Overlay New On Existing Playlists Im- To import tracks and other session data by drag and drop: ports the main playlist from the source track. When you import the playlist into an existing Open a browser. track, any existing playlist data that overlaps Drag a Pro Tools session file, or an AAF or OMF data imported from the source track is trimmed sequence (requires DigiTranslator 2.0), into the...

  • Page 316: Importing Aaf And Omf Sequences

    To automatically copy files on import: Exporting Pro Tools Tracks as Choose Setup > Preferences, and click the Op- AAF or OMFI Sequences erations tab. (DigiTranslator 2.0 Required) Select Automatically Copy Files on Import. With the DigiTranslator 2.0 option, Pro Tools Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.
  • Page 317 When exporting track EDLs, the following op- Export Session Info as Text tions are available: Options Show Subframes This option allows you to ex- port subframe time information with track EDLs, if used in your session. Include User Timestamps You can include user timestamps with track EDLs.

  • Page 318: Send Via Digidelivery

    Exported Session Text To export a session as text: Choose File > Export > Session Info as Text. Session Information Select whether to include the File List, Region The session text file starts with basic informa- List, and track EDLs. tion about the session.

  • Page 319: Importing Midi Files

    To receive a delivery, recipients only need an You have the option to include: Internet connection and the DigiDelivery client • Audio files application. An account on the network appli- • Fade files ance is not needed. • Video files •...
  • Page 320 There are two types of Standard MIDI Files, both of which are supported by Pro Tools: • Type 0 MIDI files store data for all MIDI chan- nels in a single track. When importing these files, Pro Tools separates the data by channel and places each track’s data in separate re- gions and tracks.

  • Page 321: Exporting Midi Files

    Remove Existing Instrument Tracks When se- To import MIDI into an existing track: lected, deletes any existing Instrument tracks. Select MIDI files in a DigiBase browser, Win- Selecting this option does not remove any cur- dows Explorer, or Mac Finder. rent MIDI tracks.
  • Page 322 To export all MIDI and Instrument tracks in the Pro Tools exports all unmuted MIDI and Instru- current session: ment tracks in the current session to a Standard MIDI File and writes it to your hard drive. Ex- Make sure to unmute any MIDI tracks in the ported MIDI information includes notes, con- session that you want included in the exported troller events, program changes, and System Ex-...

  • Page 323: Exporting Sibelius Files

    From the Right-click menu, select Export MIDI. Exporting Individual MIDI and Instrument Tracks Set the Export MIDI settings. You can also export individual MIDI and Instru- Click OK. ment tracks as MIDI files. This can be useful for In the Save dialog, type a name for the MIDI storing libraries of your favorite MIDI sequences file, specify where you want to save it, and click or Sysex data (such as bulk or individual patch...
  • Page 324 Region group files store the following metadata: In the Region Group Import Options dialog, choose where the region group will go: • References to all audio files within the re- gion group New Track Creates a new track where the region •...
  • Page 325 Importing Region Groups with Exporting Region Groups Drag & Drop To export a region group: You can drag and drop region groups from a Select one or more region groups in the Re- DigiBase browser or from Windows Explorer or gion List.
  • Page 326 Exporting Region Groups to Another Hard Drive Generally, if you are exporting region groups to another hard drive, you should copy any refer- enced audio files. This way you can move region groups not only from one session to another, but from one system to another.

  • Page 327: Chapter 16. File And Session Management And Compatibility

    Chapter 16: File and Session Management and Compatibility When you work with Pro Tools, you encounter To ensure optimal compatibility when ex- several different kinds of computer files. changing sessions between different Pro Tools systems require that you keep certain Pro Tools systems, be sure to use the default files in specific hard drive locations in order to I/O Settings whenever possible.
  • Page 328 When you open a session, if Pro Tools deter- Click OK. mines that audio files are not located on a Per- For complete information on relinking formance volume, or if it is unable to locate au- Transfer files, see “Linking and Relinking dio files contained in the session, you can locate Files”...
  • Page 329 To exclude any Rendered Elastic Audio files When opening sessions that contain audio file from the relink process and regenerate them in- names with illegal characters, Pro Tools auto- stead, select Regenerate Missing Rendered Files matically creates a renamed copy of each file that contains illegal characters (replacing these Without Searching.

  • Page 330: Wav File Compatibility

    • If the new session is saved to a different direc- Sharing Sessions Created on tory than the original and the All Audio Files Different Computer Platforms option is checked, a new Session folder is cre- ated, which includes an Audio Files folder. Re- This section includes the following: named audio files are included in the Audio •...
  • Page 331 Moving Sessions on Windows Systems When transferring Pro Tools sessions from to Mac-Based HFS+ Drives HFS+ drives to NTFS drives, Pro Tools ses- (From Window-Based NTFS Drives Only) sions cannot relink to audio files and fades that have Mac characters that are illegal in There are specific steps for transferring session Windows.
  • Page 332 Recording and Playback from HFS+ Saving Copies of Mac Sessions to Drives on Windows be Compatible with Windows (Save Copy In to Pro Tools 6.9.x and Lower Windows supports recording and playback of Only) sessions directly from Mac-formatted (HFS+) drives using either the Digidesign HFS+ Disk Sessions created and saved as Pro Tools 7.x and Support option or the MacDrive software appli- higher sessions are always compatible on both...
  • Page 333 File Name Extensions Saving Cross-Platform Sessions For cross-platform compatibility, all files in a To save an existing session to Pro Tools 6.9.x or session must have a 3-letter file extension added lower and maintain Mac and Windows to the file name. Pro Tools 5.1 to 6.9.x session compatibility: files have the extension “.pts,”...

  • Page 334: Sharing Sessions Created On Different Pro Tools Systems

    Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems Pro Tools makes it easy to share sessions between Pro Tools|HD systems and Pro Tools LE systems. There are some important differences between the three types of systems that can affect how session material is transferred.
  • Page 335 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 336: Sharing Sessions Created On Different Pro Tools Software Versions

    Opening Pro Tools HD 7.4 or Higher Sharing Sessions Created on Sessions with Pro Tools HD 7.3.x or 7.2 Different Pro Tools Software A Pro Tools HD 7.4 or higher session can be Versions opened with Pro Tools HD 7.3.x or 7.2, but cer- tain session components open differently or not Pro Tools makes it easy to share sessions be- at all.
  • Page 337 • The Timeline displays and plays back only the Pro Tools HD 7.2 or higher sessions that video playlist that was last active. Alternate contain video tracks or VCA Masters can video playlists are not available. only be opened with Pro Tools HD 7.1cs3 •...
  • Page 338 • Long names are shortened to 31 characters. Language Compatibility • The following attributes are dropped: • The Limit Character Set option must be en- abled and you must select a single language • Region groups and character set. • Region loops •...
  • Page 339 Sharing Pro Tools LE 8.0 Sessions Tracks with Lower Versions of • Any Elastic Audio-enabled tracks open with- Pro Tools LE out Elastic Audio and all audio regions on those tracks are at their original duration. All Opening Pro Tools LE 8.0 Sessions with warping is lost.
  • Page 340 Video Pro Tools 8.0 supports file sizes up to • Only the main video track is displayed. 3.4 GB. However Pro Tools 5.1 through 6.9 • Only the first QuickTime movie in the session on Mac only support file sizes up to 2 GB. is displayed or played back.

  • Page 341: Language Compatibility

    • Instrument tracks are split into separate Aux- • Tracks/sends assigned to stereo paths referring iliary Input and MIDI tracks. to even/odd channels (such as 2–3) are routed to Busses 31 and 32. • The following attributes are dropped: • Region groups •...
  • Page 342 Pro Tools Application Language To change to a different language version of Pro Tools: (Windows Only) Close Pro Tools if it is currently open. You can choose the language you want to use in Launch Apple System Preferences. the Pro Tools application, independently of what language version of Windows you are us- Click International (the “flag”...

  • Page 343: Part Iv Playback And Recording

    Part IV: Playback and Recording...

  • Page 345: Chapter 17. Playing Back Track Material

    Chapter 17: Playing Back Track Material To stop playback, do one of the following: Playing Tracks • Click Stop in the Transport. • Press the Spacebar. After importing or recording audio or MIDI to tracks, you will want to play back the material to •...

  • Page 346: Playback Location

    Example: Playing Back MIDI • Set the Auxiliary Input or Instrument track’s audio Output selector to the main monitoring path. To play back MIDI (and monitor the audio): • Set the MIDI track’s output selector to the Import, record, or enter MIDI to an Instru- Instrument plug-in, or MIDI device (port), ment or MIDI track.
  • Page 347 Pro Tools also provides a pre-roll control for set- Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) ting playback to begin before the playback loca- the Expand/Collapse button in the Trans- tion. See “Basic Transport Controls and port window to show or hide counters and Counters”...

  • Page 348: Setting The Playback Location

    The selected Scrolling Option determines how The Playback Cursor locator is red when a track the Edit window scrolls during playback, and is record-enabled and blue when no track is how the playback cursor functions. See “Scroll- record-enabled. ing Options” on page 334 for details. To locate the playback cursor when it is off-screen: Edit Cursor Click the Playback Cursor locator in the Main...
  • Page 349 To begin playing from a specific point within a Setting Playback Location with track: the Main Counter or Edit Selection Start Indicator Make sure that Options > Link Timeline and Edit Selection is enabled. To set the playback location using a Main Counter With the Selector tool, click in the track where (or the Edit Selection Start indicator): you want playback to begin.
  • Page 350 Time Code Moves back or forward in one-second To configure the Back/Forward Amount: steps (while adjusting for current SMPTE for- Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Op- mat). eration tab. Feet+Frames Moves back or forward in one-foot The timebase of the Back/Forward Amount set- steps.
  • Page 351 Do one of the following: To move the playback location forward by the Back/Forward Amount and then begin playback: • To extend the selection backwards by the Back/Forward Amount, press Shift+Control Press Control+Alt (Windows) or Com- (Windows) or Shift+Command (Mac) and mand+Option (Mac), and click Fast Forward in click Rewind in the Transport window.

  • Page 352: Scrolling Options

    Page Scrolling During Playback Scrolling Options You can set Pro Tools to scroll the track display You can configure how contents of the Edit win- while playing, and also have the edit cursor ap- dow scroll during playback and recording. pear wherever playback stops.

  • Page 353: Playing Selections

    Scrolling During Playback uses host processing Center Playhead Scrolling and Dynamic power, so use this option with Pro Tools LE with Transport mode cannot be used at the same Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 time. Selecting Center Playhead Scrolling only when absolutely necessary.
  • Page 354 Click Play in the Transport window, or press the Spacebar. plays start plays end (for post-roll amount) (for pre-roll amount) All tracks play for the range of the selection, in- cluding pre-roll and post-roll if enabled. To play an Edit selection with Link Timeline and Edit Selection disabled: Choose Edit >...

  • Page 355: Playing Timeline And Edit Selections With The Playhead

    Moving the Playhead Playing Timeline and Edit When the Scrolling option is set to Center Play- Selections with the Playhead head, the Playhead can be moved forward or (Pro Tools HD Only) back to the next region boundary in the selected track.
  • Page 356 Half-Speed Playback Mode When synchronizing to time code, use Use Half-Speed Playback mode to learn or tran- Prime for Playback mode to play back large scribe difficult passages in recorded tracks. numbers of tracks. This decreases the time it takes to lock to time code. To play at half-speed: Loop Playback Mode Do one of the following:...

  • Page 357: Dynamic Transport Mode

    When enabled, a loop symbol appears in the To enable or disable Dynamic Transport mode, do one of the following: Play button in the Transport window. Select or deselect Options > Dynamic Transport. Right-click the Play button in the Transport window and select Dynamic Transport from the pop-up menu.
  • Page 358 To reposition the Play Start Marker, do one of the To move the Timeline selection: following: With any Edit tool selected, drag the selection With any Edit tool selected, click in the Play on the Main Timeline ruler to another location. Start Marker strip in the Main Timebase ruler.
  • Page 359 Reposition the Play Start Marker before the Timeline Insertion/Play Start Marker Follows Playback Timeline Selection End Marker. When enabled, the Play Start Marker moves to the point in the Timeline when playback stops. When disabled, the Play Start Marker does not follow playback.

  • Page 360: Midi Beat Clock

    Click OK. To move the Play Start to a specific bar: With Bars|Beats selected as the Main Timebase The Enter key starts playback. The Zero key stops ruler, do the following on the numeric keypad: playback. Pressing Zero twice locates the Play •...
  • Page 361 Select the devices you want to receive MIDI Configure the IAC Driver ports and confirm Beat Clock. If your MIDI interface does not sup- that it is online. port transmitting MIDI Beat Clock to separate Choose Setup > MIDI > MIDI Beat Clock. ports, only the interface appears as a destina- tion.
  • Page 362 Set the Main Time Scale to Bars|Beats. Switch the Main Time Scale to Samples. The length of the selected region in samples is the Create a new audio track and select the audio MIDI Beat Clock latency for that device. input channels for your external MIDI device.

  • Page 363: Chapter 18. Record Setup

    Chapter 18: Record Setup Before you start recording in Pro Tools, you need Session Setup for Recording to set up your Pro Tools system, a session, and • Configuring a new or existing session for re- one or more tracks for recording. You will also cording: need to configure how Pro Tools monitors the •...

  • Page 364: Configuring Pro Tools Hardware I/O For Recording

    For input information on Digidesign-qualified M-Audio devices, refer to your M-Audio documentation. Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 365: Connecting A Sound Source

    You can display a track’s input levels in its Vol- Connecting a Sound Source ume/Peak/Delay indicator. Normally, this indi- cator is set to be a Volume indicator. When you Depending on your Pro Tools hardware I/O, you change it into a Peak indicator, it can function can connect different types of sound sources as a headroom indicator based on the last peak (such as musical instruments, mics, and mixer...

  • Page 366: Recording With A Click

    In general, the Use All Available Space preference To display available drive space in Text Only view only: makes hard drives work harder. In addition to record and punch lag times, many systems see From the Disk Usage menu, select Text Only. better overall recording performance when the Open Ended Record Allocation setting is limited.
  • Page 367 Do one of the following: You can record MIDI with or without a click • From the track’s Input selector, select the and manually add Bar|Beat markers or gen- path to which the MIDI device is con- erate a tempo and meter map from it by us- nected.
  • Page 368 To enable click in the Transport: Display the MIDI controls in the Transport by doing one of the following: • Select View > Transport > MIDI Controls. • From the Transport window menu, select MIDI Controls. Selecting MIDI Controls from the Transport window menu Click/Countoff Options dialog •...

  • Page 369: Setting The Session Meter And Tempo

    To hear the click count off when recording or To set the meter for a session: playing, click the Count Off button in the Trans- Double-click the Current Meter button in the port so it is highlighted. Transport window. Count Off button Meter button Count Off enabled Enter the Meter for the session and set the Lo-...
  • Page 370 To change the session tempo: In the Transport window, click the Tempo Ruler Enable button (Conductor) button so it Double-click the Song Start Marker in the Edit becomes unhighlighted. Pro Tools switches to window (see “Song Start Marker” on page 670). Manual Tempo mode.

  • Page 371: Record Modes

    Do one of the following: To select the Record mode, do one of the following: • Click in the Tempo field so it becomes highlighted and tap the “T” key on your Select the Record mode in the Options menu. computer keyboard repeatedly at the new If no Record mode is selected, Pro Tools is in tempo.
  • Page 372 Normal (Nondestructive) Record Mode Unlike the other record modes, it is not possible to cancel or undo record takes when using De- In Normal, Nondestructive Record mode, structive Record mode (see “Canceling a Record Pro Tools records audio nondestructively, which Take”...
  • Page 373 TrackPunch automatically creates regions in QuickPunch that file at each punch-in and punch-out point. QuickPunch gives you the ability to manually These regions appear in the track’s playlist, and and instantaneously punch in (initiate record- the complete audio file appears in the Region ing) and punch out (stop recording) on record- List along with the TrackPunch created regions.

  • Page 374: Configuring Default Names For Audio Files And Regions

    MIDI recording works the same whether using Subsequent record takes on the same track are Nondestructive or Destructive Record mode. In named identically, but the digits (indicating the addition, neither QuickPunch nor TrackPunch take number) are incremented (for example, need to be enabled to punch on-the-fly with “Electric Gtr_02.”) A second set of digits (such as MIDI—this capability is available in Nonde- used in “Electric Gtr_01-01”) indicates that the...

  • Page 375: Assigning Hardware I/O On A Track

    Names for Multichannel Tracks To assign I/O on a track: Assign a hardware input (recording source) by (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with Complete doing one of the following: Production Toolkit Only) • In the Mix window, select the correspond- When recording to multichannel surround ing hardware input for your source from tracks, audio file and region names for each...

  • Page 376: Record Enabling Tracks

    Assign a hardware output (for monitoring re- Record Enabling Tracks cording) by doing one of the following: • In the Mix window, select the correspond- To record audio or MIDI to a track you must first ing hardware output for monitoring (such enable the track’s Record Enable button.
  • Page 377 To record enable MIDI and Instrument tracks using the Up/Down Arrows: While pressing Control (Windows) or Com- mand (Mac), press the Up/Down Arrows to record enable the previous or next MIDI or In- strument track. The previous (or next) record Edit window track is no longer record-enabled.
  • Page 378 To record enable all selected audio tracks, or all Record Safe Mode selected MIDI and Instrument tracks: Pro Tools provides a Record Safe mode on a per Alt-Shift-click (Windows) or Option-Shift- track basis that prevents tracks from being click (Mac) the Record Enable button on any se- record-enabled by accident.

  • Page 379: Recording With Multiple Hard Drives

    Allocating Audio Drives in Your System Recording with Multiple Hard Drives To allocate the audio drives in your system: Choose Setup > Disk Allocation. (Optional) In the Disk Allocation window, assign a hard By default, Pro Tools records audio files to the drive for each track by clicking in the Root Me- Audio Files folder inside the session folder.
  • Page 380 A folder with the session name is created on If you want to exclude individual, valid, each hard drive, containing subfolders for audio mounted volumes from Round Robin Allo- and fade files. cation passes, open the Workspace browser • To assign a track to a different hard drive, and make the volume safe, by designating it click the track and select a drive name.

  • Page 381: Selecting A Record Input Monitoring Mode

    By default, the system volume is not included in Reallocating Tracks Round Robin Allocation (regardless of volume When opening a session where some of the pre- designation in the Workspace browser). To in- viously assigned hard drives are no longer avail- clude the System Volume in Round Robin Allo- able (or do not match the current session plat- cations, see “Allocating Audio Drives in Your...
  • Page 382 Input Only Monitoring Selecting Record Monitor Modes with TrackInput Monitoring In Input Only mode, when a track is record-en- (Pro Tools HD Only) abled, Pro Tools monitors audio input only, re- gardless of any punch-in/out selection or state. TrackInput monitoring lets you toggle individual audio tracks between Auto Input and Input For Pro Tools LE, the Input Monitor Enabled Sta- Only monitoring modes at any time, during...

  • Page 383: Setting Monitor Levels For Record And Playback

    To toggle all selected tracks in the session, Alt- Setting Monitor Levels for Shift-click (Windows) or Option-Shift-click Record and Playback (Mac) a selected track’s TrackInput Monitor but- ton. Pro Tools remembers two different fader levels for monitoring each audio track: one for when Press Shift+I to enable the TrackInput Mon- the track is record-enabled, and one for when it itor button for any track containing the Edit...

  • Page 384: Compensation

    Pro Tools LE uses the host processor in your To set the Hardware Buffer Size: computer for all audio processing, playback, and Choose Setup > Playback Engine. recording, so there is always a small amount of Choose the number of samples from the H/W latency in the system.
  • Page 385 Low Latency Monitoring Low Latency Monitoring and Bounce To Disk (003, 003 Rack, 003 Rack+, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, and Mbox 2 Pro Only) With Low Latency Monitoring enabled, only audio tracks are included with the Bounce to Disk com- 003, 003 Rack, 003 Rack+, Digi 002, Digi 002 mand—Auxiliary Input and Instrument tracks Rack, and Mbox 2 Pro systems can use the Low...
  • Page 386 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 387: Chapter 19. Audio Recording

    Chapter 19: Audio Recording Before Recording Recording an Audio Track Before you start recording in Pro Tools, you need In Pro Tools, you record audio to audio tracks. to set up your Pro Tools system, a session, and Audio tracks can be mono, stereo, or multichan- one or more tracks for recording.
  • Page 388 Adjust the output level of your sound source If using Countoff, Pro Tools counts off the spec- (instrument, mixer, or preamp). Monitor the ified number of measures and then begins re- track’s meter levels in Pro Tools to ensure that cording.
  • Page 389 Undo or Cancel Audio Recording To cancel a record take while recording: Press Control+Period (.) (Windows) or Com- Once you have recorded an audio track and the mand+Period (.) (Mac) before the Transport is transport is stopped, you can undo the record stopped.

  • Page 390: Recording Shortcuts

    To enable Prime for Record mode and start Recording Shortcuts recording: Click Record in the Transport. The Record but- In addition to clicking the Record button in the ton flashes. Transport or Edit window to arm Pro Tools re- cording, you can arm and start recording with Do one of the following: the following keyboard shortcuts: •...
  • Page 391 To set the record range in a track’s playlist: To set the record range in a Timebase ruler: If you want to constrain the selection to the If you want to constrain the selection to the current Grid value, set the Edit mode to Grid. current Grid value, set the Edit mode to Grid.
  • Page 392 To set the record range by dragging the Timeline You can enter locations in the start and end Selection Markers: fields to set the record or play range. The Time- line Selection Markers in the Main Timebase If you want the Timeline Selection Markers to ruler are updated accordingly.
  • Page 393 Memory Locations You can store Edit selections as Memory Loca- tions, which can also include current pre- and post-roll values. For more information on Memory Locations, see “Memory Locations and Markers” on page 705. To save an Edit selection with a Memory Location: Ensure that Options >...
  • Page 394 Do one of the following: To set and enable the pre- and post-roll times in the Transport window: • In the Memory Locations window, click the name or number of the Memory Location. Select View > Transport > Expanded. – or – In the Transport window, click in the pre-roll •...

  • Page 395: Audio Punch Recording Over A Specified Range

    With the Selector tool, Alt-click (Windows) or To set the pre- and post-roll amounts by dragging in the Main Timebase ruler: Option-click (Mac) in the track’s playlist after the selection to enable the post-roll at that loca- If you want the Pre- and Post-Roll flags to snap tion.
  • Page 396 Though there are several ways to set record and To punch record on an audio track: play ranges (see “Setting Punch and Loop Do one of the following: Points” on page 372), perhaps the easiest is to • To record nondestructively, make sure that select within the track’s playlist the range for re- Options >...

  • Page 397: Recording Additional Takes

    If recording nondestructively, a new audio file is Do one of the following: written to your hard drive and a new audio re- • To record from the beginning of the ses- gion appears both in the track and the Region sion, click Return to Zero in the Transport.
  • Page 398 Do one of the following: Pro Tools adds the new material to the end of the track. If using Destructive Record mode, the • To record from the beginning of the track, new audio is appended to the audio file and re- click Return to Zero in the Transport.

  • Page 399: Loop Recording Audio

    Click Record in the Transport to arm Pro Tools you may want to make the loop range slightly for recording. longer. Later, you can trim back the recorded takes to the proper length with the Trim tool Click Play to start recording. (see “Using the Trimmer Tools”...

  • Page 400: Alternate Takes

    To hear track material up to the start point of Automatically Create New the loop, enable pre-roll and set the pre-roll time Playlists When Loop Recording (see “Setting Pre- and Post-Roll” on page 376). When loop recording, Pro Tools creates a single Click Record in the Transport to arm Pro Tools file containing all recording passes where each for recording.
  • Page 401 Do one of the following: Selecting Alternate Takes • Right-click the region with the Selector or After recording multiple takes with loop or the Grabber tool, and select a matching al- punch recording, you can replace the current ternate take from the Matches submenu in take in the track’s active playlist with any of the the pop-up menu.
  • Page 402 One way to ensure that subsequent recording The selected take replaces the previous take and takes have the same User Time Stamp (and as snaps precisely to the correct location on each such can be available as matching alternate re- track.
  • Page 403 Region Rating Any regions that have the same Expanding Alternate Takes to New Rating are considered matching. Enable this op- Playlists tion if you have rated regions (see “Rating Re- Expanding alternate takes to new playlists gions” on page 509). readily facilitates track compositing.

  • Page 404: Recording From A Digital Source

    Expanding Alternate Takes to New Recording from a Digital Tracks Source Expanding alternate takes to new tracks readily If you plan to use a DAT player, digital-output facilitates auditioning, editing, and mixing al- CD recorder, or other digital device with your ternate takes, each on separate tracks.
  • Page 405 The additional digital ports on the 192 I/O and Specify the format (digital) of the inputs of the 192 Digital I/O are TDIF, AES/EBU, and ADAT. audio interface to which the digital recording Pro Tools can only receive digital audio from source is connected: one of these ports at a time.

  • Page 406: Half-Speed Recording

    When the material from the source has fin- Half-Speed Recording ished, click Stop in the Transport. Pro Tools lets you play and record at half-speed. Stop playback on the recording source. This capability is similar to that of a tape deck where you can record material at half-speed and After a Digital Transfer then play it back at normal speed (faster and up...

  • Page 407: Chapter 20. Midi Recording

    Chapter 20: MIDI Recording Although recording MIDI in Pro Tools is similar Recording from MIDI Devices to recording audio, there are some important differences: The MIDI Inputs for record-enabled MIDI and Unlike audio, MIDI recording is almost always Instrument tracks determine what MIDI data is destructive.

  • Page 408: Enabling Input Devices

    In addition, the following options affect how To enable input devices: MIDI data is recorded in Pro Tools: Choose Setup > MIDI > Input Devices. The MIDI Input Filter can filter out MIDI mes- In the MIDI Input Enable dialog, do the fol- sages that you may not want to record, such as lowing: Polyphonic Aftertouch or System Exclusive...

  • Page 409: 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 currently record-en- Choose Setup >...

  • Page 410: Input Quantize

    Select the option for Program Changes. Leave Wait for Note all other messages deselected. The Wait for Note button, located in the Trans- port window, determines how Pro Tools begins recording. When enabled, Pro Tools does not start recording until a MIDI event is received. This ensures that recording begins only when you start playing, and that the first note, or other MIDI data, is recorded precisely at the be-...

  • Page 411: 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 Controls. In the Transport window, click the MIDI Merge button so it becomes highlighted.
  • Page 412 To assign a default program change to the track, do the following: MIDI Input selector • Click the Patch Select button. • Make the necessary selections for program and bank select. • Click Done. Default program changes are sent whenever Instrument track MIDI Input selector the track is played.

  • Page 413: Recording Midi And Instrument Tracks

    You are now ready to record MIDI data to the To record to one or more MIDI or Instrument tracks: record-enabled MIDI and Instrument tracks. With Pro Tools HD, make sure that Options > To monitor audio from an external MIDI Delay Compensation is not selected.
  • Page 414 When you are finished playing, click Stop in It is possible to have the Note On of a MIDI the Transport to stop recording. note be in one MIDI region, and its Note Off For each record-enabled track, a new MIDI re- be in a subsequent MIDI region.

  • Page 415: Midi Punch Recording Over A Specified Range

    The track’s playlist is restored to its previous With the Selector tool, select the punch range state. However, the following conditions apply: in the track’s playlist. • If you punched in and out several times be- For other methods of setting the record fore stopping the Transport, only the last range, see “Setting Punch and Loop Points”...
  • Page 416 To punch record on-the-fly with MIDI: MIDI Regions and Punch Recording Configure a MIDI or Instrument track for re- cording (see “Configuring MIDI or Instrument Depending on the record range, new regions Tracks for Recording” on page 393). may be created after punch recording. For exam- ple, Figure 20 shows two existing regions before Ensure that Normal Record mode is selected recording.

  • Page 417: Loop Recording Midi

    Unlike audio recording, MIDI recording in this Make sure that MIDI Merge is enabled in the scenario is destructive. Newly recorded MIDI Transport window, otherwise (in Replace mode) data overwrites existing MIDI data while leaving each subsequent take destructively replaces the the existing region boundaries intact.
  • Page 418 To hear track material up to the start point of Loop Recording Multiple Takes the loop, enable and set the pre-roll time (see When recording MIDI in Loop Record mode, “Setting Pre- and Post-Roll” on page 376). new regions are created each time new material Click Record in the Transport to arm is received during a record pass.
  • Page 419 With the Selector tool, select the loop range in To select the various record takes: the track’s playlist. Ensure that the Matching Criteria window is correctly configured (see “Matching Criteria For other methods of setting the record Window” on page 384). range, see “Setting Punch and Loop Points”...

  • Page 420: Midi Step Input

    Enable Wait for Note in the Transport window. MIDI Step Input To start recording from the beginning of the Step Input lets you use a MIDI keyboard (or any session, click Return to Zero in the Transport. other MIDI controller that sends MIDI note When you are ready to begin recording, click data) to enter notes individually, one step at a Record in the Transport window.

  • Page 421: Recording Audio From A Midi Instrument

    Click the track’s MIDI Output selector and as- Recording Audio from an Instrument sign the device from the pop-up menu. Plug-in Configure the external MIDI device to receive To record audio from an instrument plug-in: Sysex data according to the manufacturer’s in- Create a new Instrument track.
  • Page 422 Click Play in the Transport to start recording. Recording Audio from an External MIDI Instrument You can record audio from an external MIDI in- strument in one of two ways: • By bussing audio from the output of the In- strument (or Auxiliary Input) track used to monitor the MIDI instrument to an audio track for recording.

  • Page 423: Chapter 21. Punch Recording Modes

    Chapter 21: Punch Recording Modes Punch recording is used in many areas of audio Pro Tools Punch Recording Modes production for film, video, and music. This Pro Tools provides three different manual chapter describes Pro Tools punch recording punch recording modes: features.

  • Page 424: System, Session, And Track Guidelines For Punch Recording

    Similarly, installing a Toolkit option expands System, Session, and Track your system’s voice capabilities; this can in- Guidelines for Punch crease the number of available voices, which Recording then increases the number of tracks which can be punched. This section lists the basic settings and guide- lines for Pro Tools punch recording, including For details on voice capabilities, see “Pro Tools LE System Capabilities”...
  • Page 425 voice configured Pro Tools|HD Accel system, To make more voices available for punch recording: Dynamically Allocated Voicing distributes voices evenly across four sets of voices (1–48, Identify tracks that are not record-enabled, 49–96, 97–144, and 145–192). and do not need to be heard while recording, and do any of the following: If you do not use Dynamically Allocated Voic- •...
  • Page 426 To apply Delay Compensation to all selected Names for the punched regions are numbered tracks where Delay Compensation was consecutively starting with “01.” For example, if suspended, do one of the following: QuickPunch is used to punch in twice on a track called “Lead Gtr,”...
  • Page 427 Regardless of the current QuickPunch/Track- Crossfades while Punch Recording Punch Crossfade Length setting, Pro Tools al- Pro Tools places crossfades at each in and out ways executes a 4 millisecond “monitor only” point, for smooth transitions between punch re- crossfade (which is not written to disk) to avoid gions.
  • Page 428 Transport RecordLock When the Audio Track RecordLock option is not enabled, record-enabled audio tracks are taken This setting lets the Transport Record be config- out of record enable when Pro Tools is stopped. ured to either emulate a digital dubber, or to This prevents tracks from remaining armed maintain legacy behavior for the Transport mas- from pass to pass, emulating track record behav-...

  • Page 429: Quickpunch Audio Recording

    Prepare to record by cueing Pro Tools to an ap- QuickPunch Audio Recording propriate location. To use pre-roll, enable a pre- roll value in the Transport window. QuickPunch is available on all systems and lets you instantaneously punch in and out all Start playback by clicking Play in the Trans- record-enabled audio tracks during playback by port window.

  • Page 430: Trackpunch Audio Recording

    QuickPunch with an Edit Selection TrackPunch Audio Recording If you make an Edit selection and use Quick- (Pro Tools HD Only) Punch, the following rules apply: TrackPunch mode lets you punch tracks in and If the Transport is not online, recording be- out individually (one at a time) or punch multi- gins and stops whenever you click the Record ple tracks in and out simultaneously.
  • Page 431 Enable TrackPunch Mode When TrackPunch mode is enabled and the transport is armed for recording: To enable TrackPunch mode: If no tracks are TrackPunch-enabled, the Record button in the Transport flashes gray and Do any of the following: red. • Select Options > TrackPunch. If at least one track is TrackPunch-enabled, the •...
  • Page 432 Track Record Status Display Monitoring and Levels Each track’s Record Enable button indicates its To complete the setup for TrackPunch: TrackPunch and record enable status as follows: Configure monitoring for record-enabled • When a track is TrackPunch-enabled but not tracks by selecting a mode from the Track menu, record-enabled, its Record Enable button or using the TrackInput button, as appropriate.
  • Page 433 Click Play in the Transport to begin playback. Do either of the following: • During playback, click Record in the Trans- During playback, punch in and out on indi- port to punch in and out on all Track- vidual TrackPunch-enabled tracks by clicking Punch-enabled tracks simultaneously.

  • Page 434: Destructivepunch Audio Recording

    Stop playback. When you are finished with DestructivePunch Setup the record pass, track Record Enable status and Before using DestructivePunch in a record pass transport Record Arm status follow the current you must configure Pro Tools, session, and track Audio Track RecordLock and Transport RecordLock settings as explained in the following sections.
  • Page 435 Transport Display of DestructivePunch Status Prepare Tracks for DestructivePunch Recording When DestructivePunch mode is enabled: In order for a track to be enabled for Destructive- The letters “dp” appears in the Record button Punch recording, the track must contain a con- in the Transport.
  • Page 436 DestructivePunch File Length Enabling Tracks for DestructivePunch Recording To use DestructivePunch on an audio track, the track must contain a contiguous audio file of a You can enable tracks for DestructivePunch minimum length, which is set in the Pro Tools without record enabling them.
  • Page 437 To DestructivePunch-enable all selected audio Track Record Status Display tracks: When Pro Tools is in DestructivePunch mode, Alt-Start-Shift-click (Windows) or Control- each track’s Record Enable button indicates its Option-Shift-click (Mac) a track’s Record Enable DestructivePunch and record enable status as button to toggle the Record Enable buttons for follows: the selected audio tracks solid blue.
  • Page 438 Using DestructivePunch Click Play in the Transport to begin playback. During playback, click Record in the Transport After you have configured Pro Tools, tracks, and to punch in and out on all DestructivePunch- levels, you can use DestructivePunch to record enabled tracks simultaneously.

  • Page 439: Example Trackpunch And Destructivepunch Workflows

    Film Dubbing and Mixing Example TrackPunch and Film dubbing and mixing features of Track- DestructivePunch Workflows Punch and DestructivePunch let you do the fol- TrackPunch and DestructivePunch let you use lowing: Pro Tools punch recording in many ways. For • Arm and punch Pro Tools audio tracks re- example, DestructivePunch lets Pro Tools be motely from a master synchronizer such as used as a digital dubber for film re-recording...
  • Page 440 Do either of the following: Loading Dailies Using RecordLock • Select Options > TrackPunch to enable Track- Dailies and similar types of transfers are com- Punch mode for non-destructive punch re- prised of multiple takes or scenes, each recorded cording. while locked to unique time-of-day time code.
  • Page 441 Foley Recording Tracking and Overdubbing Music Foley recording is one of the more specialized Modern multitrack recording requires the flexi- forms of recording in film production with bility to “capture the moment” by allowing on- unique monitoring requirements. Between the-fly record enabling and punch recording, as punches and takes, inputs must be muted while provided by TrackPunch.
  • Page 442 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 443: Part V Editing

    Part V: Editing...

  • Page 445: Chapter 22. Editing Basics

    Chapter 22: Editing Basics Nondestructive Editing Pro Tools Editing The vast majority of audio editing in Pro Tools is The Edit window in Pro Tools provides a power- nondestructive. Whether cutting, pasting, trim- ful collection of tools for editing and arranging ming, separating, or clearing regions, you are audio, video, and MIDI.

  • Page 446: Track Material

    Following are just a few examples of editing and Regions are also created by cutting and pasting, arranging tasks that can be performed while resizing, separating, and re-capturing existing playing back a Pro Tools session: regions. Regions in a session are listed in the Re- gion List, where they can be dragged to existing •...

  • Page 447: Audio Regions And Waveforms

    Auto-Created Regions These regions are auto- Warped Regions Regions on Real-Time Elastic matically created in the course of editing, and, Audio-enabled tracks can be warped. Warped re- in some instances, when punch recording over gions are identified with a Warp Indicator icon existing regions.
  • Page 448 Other sounds, such as vocals or sustained syn- Power When selected, the wave form display is thesizer pads, produce very different waveforms. calculated according to the Root Mean Square These sounds have less pronounced peaks and (RMS). Power view can be used for normal or valleys because they generally have softer at- rectified views.
  • Page 449 To show waveforms rectified (or normally): Select (or deselect) View > Waveforms > Recti- fied. Peak Waveform view without Outlines Rectified Peak Waveform view with Outlines Power Waveform view without Outlines Rectified Power Waveform view with Outlines When zoomed in to the sample level, Pro Tools always displays waveforms in Rectified Peak Waveform view without Outlines Normal Peak view.
  • Page 450 Guidelines for Editing Waveforms Avoiding Clicks and Pops With the Selector tool in the Edit window, you If an edited region begins or ends at a point of can select portions of audio waveforms and di- high amplitude, you may hear a click when vide them into segments called regions, so that Pro Tools plays from one region to another.

  • Page 451: Midi Regions And Midi Data

    Nondestructive Audio Editing MIDI Regions and MIDI Data When editing an audio track’s playlist in The two most common Track Views you will use Pro Tools, you are not actually cutting and mov- for MIDI and Instrument tracks are Notes and ing pieces of sound as you would if you were Regions: cutting and splicing analog tape.
  • Page 452 There are a few things to consider when select- When moving and placing MIDI regions with ing, copying and cutting, and trimming MIDI overlapping notes, the notes always move with regions: the regions. When placing MIDI regions with overlapping notes next to or near another re- When cutting or clearing a region or region gion, the overlapping notes extend into the group selection that includes a note’s start...
  • Page 453 MIDI Mute Automation Clicking the mini-keyboard clears the cur- Unlike continuous controller events, which rep- rent Edit selection. For more information, resent nuances that are part of a MIDI perfor- see “Selecting MIDI Notes” on page 582. mance, Mute in Pro Tools is an automation In Notes view, the pitch range of MIDI notes playlist that actually mutes the MIDI engine.

  • Page 454: Naming Regions

    Using the Edit tools, notes can be inserted, de- Naming Regions leted, transposed, trimmed, and moved. For more information, see “Manually Editing MIDI You can rename regions to give them more de- Notes” on page 582. scriptive names, or to simplify existing names. When renaming a region that was auto-created If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you during editing, the region becomes a user-de-...

  • Page 455: Displaying Region Names, Region Times, And Other Data

    Displaying Other Region Information Displaying Region Names, You can also choose to display the following in Region Times, and Other Data regions: Region names and times can sometimes get in Sync Points Can be displayed on regions in play- the way of editing audio waveforms and MIDI lists (see “Sync Points”...

  • Page 456: Multiple Undo

    Undo History Window Multiple Undo You can use the Undo History window to view Pro Tools can keep track of up to 32 of the last the queue of the undoable and redoable opera- undoable operations, allowing you to return to a tions and return to any previous state.
  • Page 457 To toggle display of creation times in the Undo Levels of Undo and Memory History window: Because Pro Tools needs to keep track of the Click the Options pop-up menu and choose playlists for all tracks that are edited, the use of Show Creation Times.

  • Page 458: Basic Editing Commands

    When selecting groups of MIDI notes in Notes Basic Editing Commands view with any of the Grabber tools (by drawing a rectangle around them), only the note data is Pro Tools provides many standard edit com- placed on the Clipboard. When selecting a time mands (such as Cut, Copy, and Paste).
  • Page 459 The Shuffle Regions option affects how material When displaying waveforms for audio tracks, or is cut and pasted: notes or regions for MIDI tracks, selections in- clude underlying automation and controller • When Shuffle Regions is enabled, the Cut data. If the track is displaying automation data, command leaves no empty space, since the re- only the automation data is affected by the ed- gions to the right of the cut slide over, closing...
  • Page 460 Paste Command Clear Command Use the Paste command to place the contents of Use the Clear command to remove a selection the Clipboard at the Edit insertion point, and from a track without placing it on the Clip- overwrite any material already there. board.

  • Page 461: Editing Across Multiple Tracks

    Special Cut, Copy, Paste, and To fill a selection with Repeat to Fill Selection: Clear Commands Select the region you want to copy. Use the four “special” Edit menu commands Choose Edit > Copy. (Cut Special, Copy Special, Paste Special, and Select the area you want to fill using the Selec- Clear Special) for cutting, copying, pasting, and tor tool and choose Edit >...
  • Page 462 To copy all types of automation on all selected tracks when copying only automation or controller data: Choose Edit > Copy Special > All Automation. To paste to multiple tracks: Do one of the following: • Place the insertion point in each of the des- tination tracks by Shift-clicking in them.

  • Page 463: Chapter 23. Edit Modes And Tools

    Chapter 23: Edit Modes and Tools you cannot make them overlap as in Slip mode. Edit Modes However, if there is silence between existing re- gions, and the regions are shuffled, the silence is Pro Tools has four Edit modes: Shuffle, Spot, maintained, and not removed.
  • Page 464 To lock out Shuffle Mode: Grid While in any Edit mode other than Shuffle In Grid mode, regions and MIDI notes that are mode, Control-click (Windows) or Command- moved, trimmed or inserted “snap” to the cur- click (Mac) the Shuffle button on-screen. A lock rently selected Grid value, or to precise incre- icon appears in the Shuffle button.
  • Page 465 For example, in Shuffle mode, with Snap To Absolute and Relative Grid Grid enabled, you can make a selection in a re- Grid mode can be applied in Absolute or Rela- gion based on the Grid, cut the selection, and tive mode: any regions to the right of the edit shuffle to the In Absolute Grid mode, moving any region...

  • Page 466: Edit Tools

    The Grid Value indicator and selector are lo- Edit Tools cated in the Edit window. Also, the Score Editor window and MIDI Editor windows each provide Pro Tools provides the following Edit tools: the an independent Grid Value indicator and selec- Zoomer, Trimmer, Selector, Grabber, Scrubber, tor.

  • Page 467: Using The Zoomer Tools

    Zoom Toggle Use the Zoom Toggle to switch be- Zoom Buttons tween the current zoom view and a defined Pro Tools includes different Zoom buttons for zoom view. zooming in and out on track data. Trimmer Tools Use the Trimmer tools to trim re- The Edit window, MIDI Editor windows, gions and region groups.
  • Page 468 Audio and MIDI Zoom In and Out Buttons To zoom in vertically for all MIDI and Instrument tracks, do one of the following: The Audio and MIDI Zoom buttons let you Click the MIDI Zoom In button. zoom in and out vertically on audio and MIDI data respectively.
  • Page 469 To zoom in horizontally on the Edit selection To set horizontal zoom to “overview scale” (256 without affecting vertical zoom: samples per pixel): Press Alt+F (Windows) or Option+F (Mac). Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) the Zoomer tool. If the selection contains MIDI notes, the se- lected MIDI notes are vertically scrolled to show Zoomer Tool in tracks as necessary.
  • Page 470 To zoom back to the previous level, Alt-click For example, when using the Smart Tool you (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) with the can click the Single Zoomer tool, and once the Zoomer tool. Zoom operation has been performed, Pro Tools automatically switches back to the Smart Tool.
  • Page 471 Do one of the following: To vertically zoom in or out of all MIDI and Instrument tracks that are set to Notes view using • Click once to zoom in one level around a continuous zoom: certain point. Drag up or down on the MIDI Zoom In or Out –...
  • Page 472 To set all MIDI and Instrument track note heights Zoom Toggle to match the note height of the topmost MIDI or Zoom Toggle lets you define and toggle between Instrument track in the Edit window: zoom states in the Edit window. Control-Shift-click (Windows) or Command- Shift-click (Mac) the MIDI Zoom button.
  • Page 473 Large When selected, zoom toggling in changes For audio editing, set the Zoom Toggle pref- all tracks containing an Edit Selection to the erences as follows: Vertical Zoom to Selec- Large Track Height. tion, Horizontal Zoom to Selection, Track Jumbo When selected, zoom toggling in changes Height to Fit to Window, and Track View to all tracks containing an Edit Selection to the No Change.
  • Page 474 Zoom Toggle Follows Edit Selection If Last Used is selected for any of the following, you can adjust the corresponding zoom, height, When selected, this option ensures that zoom or view in the Edit window to update the stored toggle automatically follows the current Edit se- zoom state: lection.
  • Page 475 To use Zoom Toggle without changing playlist Zooming with a Scroll Wheel views: If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can Make a selection on one or more tracks. use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out of tracks, both vertically and horizontally.

  • Page 476: Using The Trimmer Tools

    Use of the Trimmer tool is affected by the cur- Using the Trimmer Tools rent Edit mode: Shuffle, Slip, Spot, or Grid (see “Edit Modes” on page 445). Trimmer tools provide region, note, and data trimming functions. The following Trimmer The Trimmer tool can also be used to tools are available: lengthen and shorten MIDI notes (see...
  • Page 477 Do one of the following: With Pro Tools HD or LE with DV Toolkit • If trimming the end, drag left to shorten 2, you can match an Edit selection to the the region, right to lengthen. length of a Timeline selection by selecting –...
  • Page 478 From the TC/E Plug-in pop-up menu, select the To use the TCE Trimmer tool in Grid mode: AudioSuite plug-in to be used with the Time Set the Edit mode to Grid. Compression/Expansion Trimmer tool. Do one of the following: • Click the Trimmer tool pop-up menu and select TCE.
  • Page 479 To use the TCE Trimmer tool in Spot mode: To scrub trim a track: Set the Edit mode to Spot. Do one of the following: • Click the Trimmer tool pop-up menu and Click the Trimmer tool pop-up menu and se- select Scrub.
  • Page 480 Loop Trimmer Tool Do one of the following: • Click at the end of the region, and drag left Use the Loop Trimmer tool to create or trim or right to the point you want the loop to looped regions. stop.
  • Page 481 To Loop Trim a looped region: To trim the source region (loop iteration) of a looped region: Select the Loop Trimmer tool. Select the Loop Trimmer 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 482: Using The Selector Tool

    Using the Selector Tool Use the Selector tool to place the edit cursor in a track or Timebase ruler, or to make Timeline se- lections or Edit selections on tracks. For more in- formation on making selections, also see Chapter 24, “Making Selections.” Placing the Edit Cursor Making a selection with the Selector tool To place the edit cursor with the Selector tool:...

  • Page 483: Using The Grabber Tools

    To select one of the Grabber tools, do one of the Using the Grabber Tools following: Click the Grabber tool in the Edit window and Use the Grabber tools to select, move, separate, select the Grabber tool from the pop-up menu. and arrange regions on tracks.
  • Page 484 The Smart Tool in Waveform View For a crossfade, position the cursor between two adjacent audio regions, near the bottom of (Audio) or Regions View (MIDI) the region. Once the Crossfade cursor appears drag left or right to set the crossfade length. The Fade-In Selector tool Fade-Out...
  • Page 485 For the Trimmer tool, position the cursor near For the Velocity Trimmer tool, position the the region’s start or end point, in the upper half cursor over the note and press Control (Win- of the region. dows) or Command (Mac). To temporarily switch the Smart Tool to the Scrubber, place the cursor in the upper half of the region so that the Selector tool is en-...

  • Page 486: Using The Scrubber Tool

    To edit existing breakpoints, move the cursor While viewing an audio waveform in Pro Tools near a breakpoint for the Grabber tool. can be helpful in visually finding an edit point, sometimes a waveform display (because of its For fine control with the Grabber tool, press sonic characteristics) may not reveal the desired Control (Windows) or Command (Mac)—or spot in the audio material.
  • Page 487 The resolution for the Scrubber is dependent on To scrub in Shuttle mode (at several times normal speed): the zoom factor for the scrubbed track. Select the Scrubber tool. You can temporarily switch the Selector tool to the Scrubber tool by Start-clicking (Win- While pressing Alt (Windows) or Option dows) or Control-clicking (Mac).

  • Page 488: Numeric Keypad Set To Shuttle

    Press additional keys to change the playback Numeric Keypad Set to speed, or press Plus (+) or Minus (–) to switch the Shuttle playback direction (plus for forward, minus for backward). (Pro Tools HD Only) To stop playback, press Start+0 (Windows) or Pro Tools offers another form of shuttling, dif- Control+0 (Mac).

  • Page 489: Using The Pencil Tool

    To destructively edit an audio waveform with the Using the Pencil Tool Pencil tool: Locate the area you want to edit. The Pencil tool lets you draw audio waveforms (at the sample level), tempo changes, MIDI data, Using the Zoomer tool or the Zoom buttons, and automation.
  • Page 490 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 491: Chapter 24. Making Selections

    Chapter 24: Making Selections Linking or Unlinking Timeline and Edit Selections Pro Tools lets you link or unlink the Timeline and Edit selections. Link Timeline and Edit Selection Link Timeline and Edit Selection button enabled in the When the Timeline and Edit selections are Edit window linked, selecting in a track’s playlist (making an Edit selection) also defines the play and record...

  • Page 492: Linking Or Unlinking Track And Edit Selections

    lected for editing purposes. During playback, If the Timeline and Edit selections are linked, the Edit selection can be nudged, quantized, or Edit selections are represented by the blue Time- transposed while the loop plays back completely line Selection Markers. independent and uninterrupted.

  • Page 493: Selecting Track Material

    Selections and Edit Groups When making selections on tracks that are part of an Edit Group, all tracks within the group be- come selected. Link Track and Edit Selection Selections and Hidden Tracks Link Track and Edit Selection enabled When editing tracks that are part of an active Edit Group, any tracks within the group that are Selecting Track Material hidden are not affected by the edits.
  • Page 494 To select two regions and the time range between Region List Selection Follows Edit them: Selection With the Time Grabber, click the first region. When the Editing preference for Region List Se- lection Follows Edit Selection is enabled, selecting Shift-click the second region. Both regions are a region in a track also causes the region to be- selected, along with the time range between come selected in the Region List.
  • Page 495 Making Selections While Playing Object Selections Pro Tools lets you make on-the-fly selections Use the Object Grabber tool to select noncontig- with the Up and Down Arrow keys. uous regions on one or more tracks. Noncontig- uous selections must encompass entire regions. If you want a noncontiguous selection to in- To make a selection while playing: clude a portion of a region, first turn the portion...
  • Page 496 Object to Time Selection To select regions that were partially selected, press Start (Windows) or Control (Mac) while You can convert between Time- and Object- double-clicking the Grabber icon. based selections. Time selections are made with the Selector and Time Grabber tools. Object se- To change an Object selection to a Time selection: lections are made with the Object Grabber tool.
  • Page 497 Do one of the following: To make a long-length selection: • While pressing Alt+Shift (Windows) or Op- With the Selector tool, click at where you tion+Shift (Mac), press Plus (+) or Minus (–) want the selection to start. on the numeric keypad to move the selec- Scroll to the end point and Shift-click at the tion’s start point by the Nudge value.
  • Page 498 To extend a selection to include an adjacent Using the Edit Selection Indicators region: (Start, End, and Length) Select the first region with the Time Grabber The Edit Selection indicators at the top of the tool. Edit window can define precise Edit selections. Do one of the following: Time values for the Edit Selection indicators use the time format for the Main Time Scale.
  • Page 499 Numeric Entry Shortcuts for Selection To add time values: Indicators In the Edit Selection indicator, highlight the time field you want to change. You can use the following shortcuts for entering values in the Edit Selection indicators: Press Plus (+) on the numeric keypad. •...
  • Page 500 These selections include all tracks in the Edit In either instance, the original Edit selection be- window, but do not include the Conductor comes deselected. tracks (for Tempo, Meter, and Markers). With Commands Keyboard Focus disabled, press Start+P (Windows) or Control+P To select across all tracks, including the (Mac) to move the selection to the previous Conductor tracks (for Tempo, Meter, and...
  • Page 501 Other Useful Selection Techniques To move a selection to an adjacent region on the same track: Following are some additional selection tech- Select a region with the Time Grabber. niques. Do one of the following: To position the edit cursor precisely at a region •...
  • Page 502 Right-Click Commands and Selection For MIDI and Instrument tracks in Notes view, pressing Tab always tabs to the next note, re- Preservation gardless of whether or not Tab to Transients is You can use Right-click commands with key enabled. In Regions view, Tab to Transients tabs combinations to perform operations on objects to notes and Normal Tab tabs to region bound- while maintaining selections in the Edit and...

  • Page 503: Timeline Selections

    Once selected, the material can be looped for re- To make a Timeline selection with the Selector tool: cording or playback, or it can be turned into a new region with the Separate or Capture com- If you want to constrain the selection to the mand.
  • Page 504 To set the Timeline selection by typing into the Timeline Selections to/from Edit Transport window: Selections If necessary, resize the Transport window to When the Timeline and Edit selections are un- Expanded view so the start and end times are linked, you can copy selections between them.
  • Page 505 The Main Counter displays the playback loca- This method of scrolling is especially useful tion in the time format for the Main Time Scale. when using the Continuous Scrolling option The Sub Counter can be set to any of the other (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit Time Scale formats for another timing reference.

  • Page 506: Auto-Scrolling Tracks In The Mix And Edit Windows

    Navigating to Tracks Using Track Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Position Numbers Mix and Edit Windows With Track Number View enabled, each track is (Pro Tools HD Only) assigned a number corresponding to its position in the Mix and Edit Windows. You can scroll di- If you are working with more tracks than can be rectly to any track by its positional number.

  • Page 507: Universe View

    From the Edit window pop-up menu, select or Universe View deselect Universe. The Universe view displays an overview of the entire Pro Tools session above the tracks pane in the Edit window. This overview represents audio and MIDI material on all tracks in the session that are not hidden (including tracks that are in- active, or that contain offline regions).
  • Page 508 Universe view Figure 26. Universe view at the top of the Edit window When all tracks are visible in the Edit window Framed Area in the Universe View and the session is zoomed all the way out, with The framed area in the Universe view represents all regions visible, the entire Universe window is what is visible in the Tracks pane in the Edit framed.
  • Page 509 Navigating with the Universe View By clicking in the Universe view, you can scroll the material displayed in the Edit window hori- zontally, vertically, or both. This provides a con- venient method of focusing the Edit window anywhere in the session. To navigate the session using the Universe view: Ensure that Universe view is shown (View >...

  • Page 510: Navigating Your Pro Tools Session

    To zoom to an Edit selection using Zoom Toggle: Navigating Your Pro Tools With the Selector or the Grabber tool, make an Session Edit selection. In addition the Universe view, Pro Tools let you Press F7 for the Selector tool or F8 for the quickly and easily navigate your session using Grabber tool.
  • Page 511 You can also do the following: Changing the Edit Selection • Press Control+Tab (Windows) or Op- Pro Tools provides several keyboard shortcuts tion+Tab (Mac) to move the Edit cursor to for moving and extending or decreasing the the previous transient. range of an Edit (or Timeline) selection.
  • Page 512 Moving the Insertion to the Beginning Changing Track Heights or End of the Selection To fit the Track heights of tracks containing he With the Transport stopped, you can use the Edit selection to the height of the Edit window: Down and Up Arrows on your alphanumeric Press Control+Start+Up Arrow (Windows) or keyboard to the beginning or end of the Edit (or...

  • Page 513: Chapter 25. Editing Regions And Selections

    Chapter 25: Editing Regions and Selections Regions are the basic building blocks for arrang- Creating New Regions ing audio and MIDI in Pro Tools. Understanding how regions are created, edited, and arranged is Pro Tools provides several commands for creat- essential to taking full advantage of the editing ing regions and region groups, each of them capabilities of Pro Tools.
  • Page 514 To capture a new region: On Grid Creates new regions according to the se- lected Grid value (see “Defining the Grid Value” With the Selector tool, drag in an existing re- on page 725). Likewise, MIDI notes can be sepa- gion to select the material for the new region.
  • Page 515 By separating a region, additional regions are To separate regions (or MIDI notes) according to the current grid resolution: auto-created from data on either side of the sep- aration, which have new numbers assigned to Make an Edit selection. their names. The original region remains intact Choose Edit >...
  • Page 516 Separating Multiple Tracks Separation Grabber Tool Figure 27 illustrates a separation across one You can use the Separation Grabber tool to auto- mono audio track and two stereo tracks. For matically separate an Edit selection and move it some tracks, the selection resides within a re- to another location or another track.
  • Page 517 To separate a selection without affecting the Region Overlap and Underlap original regions: When a tick-based audio track has multiple re- With the Selector tool, make an Edit selection. gions, an increase in tempo can cause neighbor- The selection can reside within a single region, ing regions to overlap.

  • Page 518: Healing Separated Regions

    Healing Separated Regions Trimming Regions The Heal Separation command returns sepa- In addition to the Trimmer tools, Pro Tools pro- rated regions to their original state—provided vides several options for editing region and re- the regions are still next to each other and their gion group boundaries.
  • Page 519 Trim to Insertion Commands Trim to Fill Selection Commands You can trim a region or MIDI note by automat- The Trim to Fill Selection commands let you au- ically removing the material between the Edit tomatically reveal underlying material in the insertion point and the start or end point of the gaps between regions, or before and after indi- region.

  • Page 520: Nudging Regions

    The end point of the region in front of the gap is Trimming with Nudge automatically trimmed (expanded) to the next You can trim the start and end points of a region region, or as far as possible if there is not enough by nudging them.
  • Page 521 Defining the Nudge Value The Nudge value determines how far regions and selections are moved when nudging. Start and end points for selections can also be moved by the Nudge value (see “Nudging Selec- tion Start/End Points” on page 479). In addi- tion, regions can be trimmed by the Nudge value (see “Trimming with Nudge”...
  • Page 522 Nudging Regions on Multiple Tracks and Nudging a Region’s Contents in Multichannel Tracks Often a region’s start point will reside at the cor- When nudging a selection of multiple regions rect location, perhaps at a SMPTE frame or bar- within a single track or across multiple tracks, line, but the material within the region starts that also contains silence, any automation data too late or early.

  • Page 523: Quantizing Regions To Grid

    Quantizing Regions to Grid To quantize individual MIDI notes or Elas- tic Audio Events, use the Quantize Event The Quantize to Grid command adjusts the place- Operations. You can also use the Quantize ment of selected audio and MIDI regions so that Event Operation to quantize audio regions.

  • Page 524: Consolidate Command

    Names for the new tracks are based on the When dragging multichannel regions to source track name and channel suffix. For exam- mono tracks, the destination tracks must be ple, if a stereo track called “Funkit” is split, two adjacent. new tracks called “Funkit.L”...

  • Page 525: Compacting An Audio File

    To consolidate regions within a track: To compact an audio file: Do one of the following: In the Region List, select the region or regions you want to compact. • Using the Time Grabber or Selector tool, se- lect the regions you want to consolidate. From the Region List menu, choose Compact.

  • Page 526: Tce (Time Compression And Expansion) Edit To Timeline Selection

    Fitting an Audio Region to an Edit TCE (Time Compression and Selection Expansion) Edit To Timeline Regions can be dragged from the Region List to Selection fit within an Edit selection. The dragged region (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with is compressed or expanded to fit within the se- DV Toolkit 2 or Complete Production lection.

  • Page 527: Rating Regions

    Rating Regions You can rate different regions on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest (or best) and 1 is the lowest (or worst). Region rating is useful for identifying which takes (regions) you like the most when compositing playlists.
  • Page 528 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 529: Chapter 26. Fades And Crossfades

    Chapter 26: Fades and Crossfades About Crossfades and Curves Using Fades To create a crossfade between two regions, use You can quickly and easily apply a fade-in or the Selector tool to select across the end point of fade-out on a audio region, as well as crossfades the first region and the start point of the second.
  • Page 530 This type of selection creates a crossfade before If a region references insufficient data to ex- the splice point. This lets you maintain the vol- ecute a selected fade or crossfade, you are ume of the very beginning of region 2 instead of prompted to either skip those fades or to ad- fading across it, which is useful if there is a just the bounds of the selection to be able to...

  • Page 531: 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 used to perform fades and crossfades. A fade-in shows the In Shape settings, but not the Out Click this button to audition fades.
  • Page 532 Fade Curves Only Zoom In Click this button to display the specified fade Click this button to scale the view of the wave- curves without showing the actual audio wave- form’s amplitude upwards. Control-click (Win- forms. This is the default view when you open dows) or Command-click (Mac) for the default the Fades dialog.
  • Page 533 S-Curve Selects an S-shaped curve, which inverts Preset Curve 4 fades out with a linear fade. its beginning and end characteristics. This This is the default curve. makes it possible to fade out faster at the curve’s start and slower at its end, for example. S-shaped curves can be useful with material that is diffi- cult to crossfade effectively.
  • Page 534 None Disables linking between the fade-out and Link Settings fade-in curves, and lets you freely adjust them (Crossfades Only) separately, including start and end points. This option also allows you to create custom cross- fade shapes. Fade Link The Link setting links the selected fade-out and fade-in curves of a crossfade.
  • Page 535 Preset Curves Seven commonly used preset Use Dither curves are provided for fast creation. These can be edited by dragging the end points of the curve in the curve editor portion of this dialog. Dither option for Fades The seven presets are as follows: The Use Dither option turns on a preset, noise- Preset Curve 1 fades in at full volume immedi- shaped dither function that improves audio per-...
  • Page 536 Preset Curve 5 fades in slowly at the begin- Equal Power Crossfade This is a good general ning of the fade. purpose crossfade useful in cases where a linear crossfade seems to create a noticeable drop in volume across the splice point. 1.

  • Page 537: Creating Fades At The Beginnings And Ends Of Regions

    Fade and Crossfade Preferences Creating Fades at the You can set default fade and crossfade settings. Beginnings and Ends of These settings load as your “base” settings when Regions you use the Create Fades command, and the Fade to Start and Fade to End commands. Pro Tools lets you create fade-ins and fade-outs at the beginnings and ends of regions.
  • Page 538 To create a fade-in: To create a fade-out: Select the beginning of the region that you Select the end of the region that you want to want to fade in. The selection must extend to fade out. The selection must extend to the exact the exact beginning of the region or a blank area end of the region or a blank area after the region prior to the region in the track.

  • Page 539: Creating A Crossfade

    Do one of the following: To fade from the insertion point to a region start point: • Choose Edit > Fades > Create. Place the cursor at a location in the region. – or – • Press Control+F (Windows) or Do one of the following: Command+F (Mac).
  • Page 540 When the crossfade sounds right, click OK. Pre and Post Crossfade Selections The fade is calculated and written to disk, but By making a selection that begins or ends pre- the audio files and regions remain unchanged. cisely on the border of two regions, you can cre- Crossfades are stored in the Fade Files folder in ate “pre”...

  • Page 541: Using Autofades

    Regions As Files command (from the Region Using AutoFades List) are used to duplicate multiple regions as a continuous file. To render these real-time auto (Pro Tools HD Only) fades to disk, choose File > Bounce to > Disk. Pro Tools HD can automatically apply real-time fade-ins and fade-outs to all region boundaries To set the length of automatic fade-ins/outs: in the session.

  • Page 542: Moving And Nudging Fades And Crossfades

    Do one of the following: Pro Tools creates the fades for all selected re- gions. • Choose Edit > Fades > Create. – or – Fade lengths can be resized with any of the • Press Control+F (Windows) or Trimmer tools, including Nudge Trim com- Command+F (Mac).
  • Page 543 Move the fade by doing one of the following: Move the region selection by doing one of the following: • Drag the fade with the Time Grabber tool to a new location on the track. • Drag the region selection with the Grabber tool to a new location on the track.
  • Page 544 Moving Regions Adjacent to Crossfades Use the Time Grabber or Separation Grabber tool to select one of the contributing regions to When you move either of the regions that con- a crossfade. tributes to a crossfade, the regions separate. The status of the fade depends on the Preserve Fades when Editing preference (in the Editing Prefer- ences page).

  • Page 545: Separating Regions That Include Fades Or Crossfades

    Nudge the region by pressing Plus (+) or Minus (–) on the numeric keypad. Result of Separate Region command on fade-in Where your selection overlaps a crossfade, the crossfade is separated into a fade-out and fade-in at the selection boundary. Stretching the crossfade by nudging Separating Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades...

  • Page 546: Trimming Regions That Include Fades Or Crossfades

    To trim a region to a selection that includes fades, Trimming Regions That do one of the following: Include Fades or Crossfades Make a selection in the track and choose Edit > Trim > To Selection. You can Trim across multiple Trimming a Region to a Fade Boundary regions and fades.

  • Page 547: Chapter 27. Playlists

    Chapter 27: Playlists The ability to create playlists is a powerful fea- Working with Playlists ture of Pro Tools. Each track maintains a “main” playlist and any number of “alternate” edit play- When you create a new track, it contains a sin- lists.
  • Page 548 Duplicating a Playlist Assigning a Playlist to Another Track When you edit a track, you can work with a copy of the track's playlist and keep the original By default, a playlist is typically available only playlist arrangement intact. for the track on which it was created. However, if the playlist is no longer in use on its original track or any other track, it can be reassigned in To duplicate a track’s current playlist:...
  • Page 549 Renaming a Playlist Playlists and Edit Groups You can rename a playlist by renaming the track Creating new playlists with grouped tracks auto- to which it is assigned. matically increments the suffixes of the playlist names for each track of the active edit group. This lets you revert back to an earlier take by To rename a track’s assigned playlist: switching the playlist takes by group.

  • Page 550: Track Compositing

    All the playlists will now have the same suffix Track Compositing Example appended to them. (Creating additional playl- In this workflow, you will be introduced to some ists in any of the group tracks will increment all common track compositing tasks: of their playlists to keep them synchronized.) •...
  • Page 551 To hear track material up to the start point of After you have stopped loop recording, notice the loop, enable pre-roll and set the pre-roll that all of the loop recording takes are revealed time. in Playlist lanes below the main playlist (includ- ing the whole audio file region of all of the loop Enable Loop Recording by doing one of the record passes).
  • Page 552 To hide the whole file region containing all takes Select and copy the best take to the main playlist: so that you only see the takes with the same start Once you have identified the best take, make and end times as the Edit selection, do one of the any changes to the Edit selection.

  • Page 553: Playlists View

    If the track does not contain any alternate play- Playlists View lists in addition to the main playlist, only a sin- gle, empty Playlist lane is shown under the main Playlists view lets you view the main playlist in playlist. You can drag and drop audio to this the track, and also any alternate playlists associ- lane from the Region List, DigiBase Browsers, or ated with the track.
  • Page 554 Auditioning Alternate Playlists Copying Alternate Playlists to the Main Playlist Only the main playlist plays back through the track audio output path. To hear an alternate Once you have found a selection in an alternate playlist, you need to solo the Playlist lane. The playlist that you want to use in the main playl- soloed lane then plays through the track audio ist, copy and paste the selection to the main...
  • Page 555 The selection from the alternate playlist is cop- To copy a selection in an alternate playlist to the main playlist: ied to the same time location in the main playl- ist. In Playlists view, make a selection in an alter- nate playlist.
  • Page 556 To copy a selection in an alternate playlist to a Reordering Playlist Lanes duplicate of the main playlist: You can reorder Playlist lanes the same way you In Playlists view, make a selection in an alter- reorder tracks. nate playlist. Choose Edit >...
  • Page 557 To resize a single Playlist lane, do one of the Renaming Alternate Playlists following: You can rename alternate playlists the same way Control-click the line in between lanes and you rename tracks. drag up or down. The upper lane resizes accord- ingly.

  • Page 558: Matching Alternate Regions

    Filtering Lanes There are several ways to create matching alter- nate regions in Pro Tools: You can filter Playlist lanes to show or hide • When punch recording (audio or MIDI), them based on different criteria. Pro Tools creates matching regions for the original region (if any) and the new punch re- To filter Playlist lanes: corded region.
  • Page 559 Select one of the following In Addition To op- Matching Criteria tions: The Matching Criteria window lets you select • All the criteria for matching alternate regions. This • Region Start lets you refine the list of available matching re- •...

  • Page 560: Selecting Alternate Takes On Tracks

    In Addition To Match Options Do one of the following: • Right-click the region with the Selector or The following In Addition To Match options are the Grabber tool, and select a matching al- mutually exclusive. ternate take from the Matches submenu in the pop-up menu.

  • Page 561: Automatically Create New Playlists When Loop Recording

    One way to ensure that subsequent recording Automatically Create New takes have the same User Time Stamp (and as Playlists when Loop such can be available as matching alternate re- Recording gions) is to store punch and loop record selec- tions as Memory Locations.
  • Page 562 Expanding Alternate Takes to New Expanding Alternate Takes to New Playlists Tracks Expanding alternate takes to new playlists Expanding alternate takes to new tracks readily readily facilitates track compositing. Once you facilitates auditioning, editing, and mixing al- have expanded alternate takes to new playlists ternate takes, each on separate tracks.

  • Page 563: Expanding Alternate Channels To New Playlists Or Tracks

    • Matching Tape name Expanding Alternate Channels • Matching Sound Roll name to New Playlists or Tracks • Alternate channel Sound Roll name matches current channel Tape name (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 Only) •...
  • Page 564 Expanding Channels to New Tracks Expanding Channels by Time Code Only To expand alternate channels to new tracks: The Expand To New Tracks By Time Code Only In the Timeline, do one of the following: command lets you expand an entire track or •...
  • Page 565 Relinking the Original Unedited Guide Track After importing the AAF (or OMF) sequence and original source audio files into the session, it is recommended that you relink the edited guide track to the original unedited source audio. To relink the original unedited guide track: Open the Project Browser for the session and open the Audio Files folder.
  • Page 566 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 567: Chapter 28. Beat Detective

    Chapter 28: Beat Detective Beat Detective is a powerful tool for analyzing, Beat Detective and Source Material editing, and manipulating audio or MIDI data Beat Detective is most effective with audio or that has 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 568: Beat Detective Requirements

    Conforming Audio Regions Beat Detective can Smoothing Post Production Edits (Audio Only) Beat Detective’s Edit Smoothing can be conform (“quantize”) audio with a different used to automatically clean up foley tracks that tempo, or with varying tempos, to the session’s contain many regions requiring trimming and current tempo map, or to a groove template.

  • Page 569: The Beat Detective Window

    The Beat Detective Window The Beat Detective window appears as shown in Figure 28, below. Figure 28. Beat Detective (Pro Tools HD shown) The Beat Detective modes include the following: To open the Beat Detective window, do one of the following: Operation Lets you choose to analyze either Choose Event >...

  • Page 570: Defining A Beat Detective Selection

    Defining a Beat Detective Selection Whether you will be generating Bar|Beat Mark- ers, extracting a DigiGroove template, or sepa- rating regions to be conformed, you must al- Making an audio selection for Beat Detective ways define the audio or MIDI selection to be Make sure the selection’s start and end points analyzed.

  • Page 571: Beat Detective Analysis

    • If the selection’s tempo and meter match Beat Detective Analysis the session tempo and meter (see “Calcu- lating Tempo with Beat Detective” on Beat Detective provides several analysis algo- page 554), and it aligns correctly with the rithms for beat detection appropriate to differ- session’s bars and beats, click the Capture ent types of audio material.

  • Page 572: Calculating Tempo With Beat Detective

    be recognized as being part of the same beat Click Generate. events (only a little bit late). For information on Bar|Beat Markers are automatically generated at individually analyzing multiple tracks, see “Us- the beginning and end of the selection, indicat- ing Collection Mode”...
  • Page 573 Depending on the rhythmic content of the se- To generate beat triggers from a MIDI selection: lection, set the Resolution to Bars, Beats, or Sub- In the Edit window, set the MIDI track you Beats. want to use to Notes view. Adjust the Sensitivity until beat triggers appear In the Edit window, or in a MIDI Editor win- on the beats and sub-beats in the selection.
  • Page 574 MIDI Chord Recognition Realign Session Since MIDI notes in a chord may be played at Beat Detective’s Realign Session function lets you slightly different moments, Beat Detective inter- generate Bar|Beat markers without tick-based prets notes that are close together (closer than material shifting.
  • Page 575 Check the thickness of the beat triggers to see To generate Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective in a session with tick-based tracks: if they align properly with the audio material. Thick triggers fall on barlines, medium triggers In the Edit window, make an audio or MIDI se- fall on beats, and thin triggers fall on sub-beats.
  • Page 576 Editing Beat Triggers Moving Beat Triggers You can adjust the placement of triggers to al- Even though Beat Detective offers a great deal of low for the attack of their transients, or to com- flexibility in how transients are detected, there pensate for an individual transient that is may be times when beat triggers must be de- slightly ahead of or behind the beat.
  • Page 577 Promoting Beat Triggers Redefining a Beat Trigger’s Metric Location To ensure that important beat triggers do not disappear when lowering the Sensitivity, you can It is vital that beat triggers are accurately placed promote them. This is useful if a selection has nu- at the correct metric location.

  • Page 578: Generating Bar|Beat Markers With Beat Detective

    Bar|Beat Markers are generated, based on the Generating Bar|Beat Markers beat triggers, and appear in the Tempo ruler. with Beat Detective Once Beat Detective has accurately detected the peak transients in the audio selection and accu- rately generated beat triggers, the triggers can be converted to Bar|Beat Markers.

  • Page 579: Digigroove Templates

    Capturing this information is very important to DigiGroove Templates preserving the feel of a performance, and can add life to MIDI tracks that lack dynamics. Beat Detective allows the fine timing nuances of a rhythmic performance to be extracted and Beat Detective only captures duration data saved as a groove template, called a DigiGroove from MIDI tracks, not from audio tracks.
  • Page 580 Swing Content for Generating Groove Templates When defining swing content of the selection, select the Contains eighth-note option if the au- dio selection has a heavily swung eighth-note groove. If the audio selection has relatively straight eighth-notes, use the Contains six- teenth-note option.

  • Page 581: Separating Regions With Beat Detective

    Trigger Pad Separating Regions with When separating regions, the Beat Detective Beat Detective window displays an option called Trigger Pad. (Audio Only) Once beat triggers appear in your selection, they can be used to define start and end points for new regions that can be separated automati- cally.
  • Page 582 Separating Multiple Tracks Extending the selection to the snare, hi-hat, and overhead microphones tracks, and then per- (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Music forming the separation, results in separated re- Production Toolkit 2 or Complete Production gions in each of the drum tracks at the same lo- Toolkit Only) cation, based on the beat triggers from the kick drum track (see Figure 30).

  • Page 583: Conforming Regions With Beat Detective

    To conform regions using Standard Conform: Conforming Regions with Beat In the Beat Detective window, select Region Detective Conform. (Audio Only) Make sure Standard is selected. After regions have been separated with Beat De- In the Edit window, if not already selected, se- tective, the regions can then be conformed us- lect the separated regions you want to conform.
  • Page 584 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 585: Edit Smoothing

    To see comments about the selected template, Click Conform to automatically conform all re- click Show Info. gions in the selection. To affect how strongly the regions are con- Audition the new conformed regions by formed to the groove template, select the Timing clicking Play in the Transport.
  • Page 586 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. points (corresponding to the material’s start point) are automatically created for the con- Select a Smoothing option: formed regions.

  • Page 587: Detection (Normal) And Collection Mode

    Once you are satisfied with the results from Beat Drum Tracks and Collection Mode Detective, it is recommended that you flatten Suppose you have drum tracks for kick, snare, the tracks with the Consolidate command. For all hi-hat, and overhead mics. If you analyze a se- regions selected, Consolidate creates a single, lection across all of the tracks, you may get contiguous audio file to reduce the session’s edit...
  • Page 588 Using Collection Mode From the Detection pop-up menu, select Nor- mal and move the selection to the next track you Collection mode is available in Bar|Beat Marker want to analyze. Make sure to keep the selection Generation, Groove Template Extraction, or Re- range constant for each track.
  • Page 589 Each new set of triggers added to the collection Once the beat triggers have been added to appears in a different color. If successive triggers the collection, you can use them to generate in the collection are located closely together (for Bar|Beat Markers or groove template, or separate example, because of microphone leakage), Beat regions.
  • Page 590 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 591: Part Vi Midi

    Part VI: MIDI...

  • Page 593: Chapter 29. Midi Editing

    Chapter 29: MIDI Editing Pro Tools provides powerful MIDI editing tools. MIDI Editing Options You can create and edit individual MIDI notes and controller events with the Pencil, Trim, and Pro Tools provides a few options for determin- Grabber tools in the Edit window, MIDI Editor ing MIDI editing behavior.
  • Page 594 Default Note Duration To define a dotted or triplet duration, do one of the following: The Default Note Duration setting lets you de- • To dot the selected Default Note Duration fine the default note duration for inserting notes value, click the Default Note Duration set- manually.

  • Page 595: Setting The Grid Value

    Mirrored MIDI Editing Setting the Grid Value Mirrored MIDI Editing lets you edit MIDI re- When inserting MIDI notes with the Pencil tool, gions and have your edits apply to every copy of the Grid value determines the Note On location the same MIDI region.

  • Page 596: The Pencil Tool

    To define a dotted or triplet value, do one of ferent types of MIDI control data—for example, the following: try using Line for volume, Triangle for pan, Free Hand for pitch bend, and Square or Random for • To dot the selected Grid value, click the velocity.
  • Page 597 When editing MIDI velocities or continuous When editing MIDI velocities or continuous controller data, the Free Hand shape draws controller data, the Triangle shape draws a trian- freely according to the movement of the mouse. gular pattern that changes direction according The shape is reproduced as a series of steps ac- to the current Grid value.

  • Page 598: Inserting Midi Notes

    When using the Pencil tool, the Cursor location Inserting MIDI Notes and value are displayed in the Window Toolbar. In addition to recording, step recording, and im- Cursor pitch location porting MIDI into Pro Tools, you can manually Pencil Cursor insert MIDI notes using the Pencil tool.
  • Page 599 The velocity for inserted notes is determined by The note velocities are determined by the Pencil the Default Note On Velocity setting. The dura- tool shape: tion is determined by the Default Note Duration • Use the Line shape to enter notes with value.

  • Page 600: Manually Editing Midi Notes

    With the Selector tool, drag across a range of Manually Editing MIDI Notes notes. All aspects of a MIDI note can be edited in the Edit window or in a MIDI Editor window, in- cluding start and end points, duration, pitch, and velocity.
  • Page 601 To play a note on a MIDI or Instrument track, and Selecting Only MIDI Notes Using the Note select all notes of that pitch on the track: Selector Tool With any Edit tool selected, click a key on the In Notes or Velocity view on MIDI and Instru- mini-keyboard.

  • Page 602: Using The Grabber Tools

    While dragging, each new note sounds and the Using the Grabber Tools Cursor Location Value indicator (in the Edit window) indicates the number of semitones and Use the Grabber tools to select, move, separate, direction (+/–) for the transposition. and arrange regions on tracks. There are three modes for the Grabber tool: Time Grabber, Sep- To transpose a copy of the note, leaving the aration Grabber, and Object Grabber.
  • Page 603 Move the cursor near the beginning of any of The placement of MIDI notes can also be the highlighted notes, so the Trimmer tool ap- adjusted with Shift (see “Shift Command” pears. Drag right to shorten the notes, or drag on page 730) or Nudge (see “Nudging Re- left to lengthen them.
  • Page 604 Separating MIDI Notes To separate MIDI notes on the grid: Set the Grid value. The Separate command lets you separate MIDI notes at the Edit cursor location or at the bound- Make an Edit selection or a marquee selection aries of the Edit selection. When in Notes view that includes the MIDI notes you want to sepa- in the Edit window and in MIDI Editor win- rate.
  • Page 605 To consolidate MIDI notes with the Consolidate Muting MIDI Notes tool: The Mute command lets you mute individual With the Grabber or Pencil tool, Start-Shift- MIDI notes. If entire regions are selected, the click (Windows) or Control-Shift-click (Mac) be- Mute command prompts you to either mute re- tween the separated MIDI notes.
  • Page 606 Manually Editing Note Velocities The velocities for a range of notes can be edited with any Pencil tool. When a MIDI or Instrument track is set to Veloc- ity view, or when the Velocity lane is revealed To draw velocity values for a crescendo: under a track, each note’s attack velocity is rep- Do one of the following: resented with a velocity stalk.
  • Page 607 Drag up to increase the velocity value, or down To scale velocities with the Trimmer tool: to decrease it. While dragging, the diamond Set the MIDI or Instrument track to Velocity turns blue and the associated note becomes se- view. lected.
  • Page 608 To change an attribute for a MIDI note: Values entered in the pitch and velocity fields add to or subtract from the values for all selected In the Edit window, with a MIDI or Instru- notes. For example, to transpose all selected ment track set to Notes View, select the note notes down an octave, enter a value of –12 for with the Pencil tool or any Grabber tool.

  • Page 609: Time Compression/Expansion Trimmer Tool Functionality On Midi Regions

    To delete a single MIDI note with the Pencil tool: before trimming With the Pencil tool selected, Alt-click (Win- dows) or Option-click (Mac) the note. The Pen- cil tool changes to an Eraser when Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) is pressed. after trimming Deleting a note with Pencil tool Scaling a MIDI region with the Time...

  • Page 610: Continuous Controller Events

    Using the Time Compression/ Using the Time Compression/ Expansion Trimmer Tool in Slip Mode Expansion Trimmer Tool in Shuffle Mode In Shuffle mode, the trimmed region will always To compress or expand MIDI regions in Slip mode: begin at the original region’s start point regard- Set the Edit mode to Slip.
  • Page 611 MIDI controller #7 (volume) and #10 (pan) are To show MIDI Controller data for a track, do one of the following: treated by Pro Tools as automation data. This means that these controller events (along with Select the corresponding Track View from the Mutes) can be recorded and automated from the Track View menu.
  • Page 612 To edit a continuous controller event with the To copy continuous MIDI controller events Pencil tool, the controller first has to be added and paste to a different MIDI controller, use to the Automated MIDI Controllers list. Special Paste (Edit > Paste Special > To Cur- rent Automation Type).
  • Page 613 Selecting Add/Remove Controllers from the Controller Automated MIDI Controllers dialog Type selector on a Controller lane Repeat steps 2 and 3 as necessary until you In the Automated MIDI Controllers dialog, se- have added all of the MIDI controllers you want lect the MIDI Controllers range for the control- for automation.

  • Page 614: Patch Select (Program And Bank Changes)

    Patch Select (Program and Some older MIDI devices (such as the Kurz- weil K1000) use a program change instead Bank Changes) of a Bank Select message to switch banks. Each MIDI and Instrument track can have a de- For these devices you may find it necessary fault program change that is sent each time the to send two program change messages to ac- track plays.
  • Page 615 Do one of the following: Unlike recorded and inserted program change events, the default program change does not ap- • In the Patch Select dialog, select a program pear in the track’s playlist. number. To clear the default program change, select None in the Patch Select dialog.
  • Page 616 In the Patch Select dialog, click the Change Pro Tools does not let you import a patch button. name file that does not match the model In the Open dialog, navigate to one of the fol- and manufacturer information selected in lowing: the MIDI Studio Setup window (Windows) •...
  • Page 617 Click Done to insert the program change event Do one of the following: in the track’s playlist. • Choose Edit > Clear to remove the selected events from the track. – or – • Press the Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Mac).

  • Page 618: System Exclusive Events

    To move a Sysex event: System Exclusive Events Do one of the following: System Exclusive (Sysex) events can be recorded • Set the MIDI or Instrument track to Sysex to MIDI or Instrument tracks in Pro Tools (see view. “MIDI Step Input” on page 402). Once the –...

  • Page 619: Note And Controller Chasing

    Controller and Program Chasing Note and Controller Chasing Pro Tools always chases continuous controller events and program changes for MIDI tracks. Note Chasing This ensures that controller values and patches Note Chasing allows long, sustained MIDI notes for MIDI devices are always set correctly. to be heard when playing from a point after For example, suppose a MIDI track lasting 32 their start time.

  • Page 620: Offsetting Midi Tracks

    To ensure that the default controller value for a To configure the Global MIDI Playback Offset: playlist is sent (and chased), click the initial Choose Setup > Preferences and click the MIDI breakpoint at the beginning of the track, move tab.

  • Page 621: Stuck Notes

    You can measure the latency for a MIDI device The equivalent offset in milliseconds is dis- assigned to a MIDI track by recording its audio played in the msec Offset column. This value output back into Pro Tools. Compare the sample cannot be edited, but updates when a new value locations for the recorded audio events against is entered in the Sample Offset column.

  • Page 622: Midi Real-Time Properties

    To enable Real-Time Properties view in the Edit MIDI Real-Time Properties window: Select View > Edit Window > Real-Time Proper- MIDI Real-Time Properties let you change some ties. MIDI properties of MIDI and Instrument tracks (or MIDI regions) during playback. There are five types of MIDI Real-Time Properties: Quan- tize, Duration, Delay, Velocity, and Transpose.
  • Page 623 Real-Time Properties Window Using the Real-Time Properties window, you can apply Real-Time Properties to selected tracks or regions. Expand/collapse triangles To open the Real-Time Properties window: Choose Event > MIDI Real-Time Properties. Real-Time Properties window, expanded view Enabling Real-Time Properties Real-Time Properties window with properties enabled The Real-Time Properties window can be used to To enable Real-Time Properties:...
  • Page 624 If you are using the Real-Time Properties win- dow and Link Track and Edit Selection mode is enabled, select the track or region to affect from the Apply To pop-up menu. Configure the Real-Time Properties settings (see “Real-Time Properties Settings” on page 606).
  • Page 625 Duration Duration Amount If the Ticks/Notes pop-up menu is set to ticks, Duration can be used to increase or decrease the enter a duration as a number of quarter-notes duration of MIDI notes by a fixed amount or by plus a number of ticks, such as 4|000. If the a percentage.
  • Page 626 To transpose to a specific pitch, enter the MIDI note name. To transpose in key by scale steps, enter the number of steps as a positive or negative num- Ticks/Milliseconds bers. For example, enter +2 to transpose up by pop-up menu thirds in key (a unison plus a second equals a third).
  • Page 627 Region-Based Real-Time Properties To write Real-Time Properties to tracks: Enable Link Track and Edit Selection. Region-based Real-Time Properties can only be applied using the Real-Time Properties window Select one or more tracks to which you want (Event > MIDI Real-Time Properties). Real-Time to apply Real-Time Properties.
  • Page 628 Real-Time Properties In the MIDI Real-Time Properties Effects Displayed in the MIDI Event List Event List The MIDI Event List takes into account the ef- In the MIDI Event List, the presence of track- fect of Real-Time Properties whenever the Dis- based Real-Time Properties are indicated by a play Events as Modified by Real-Time Properties op- “T”...

  • Page 629: Chapter 30. Midi Editors

    Chapter 30: MIDI Editors Pro Tools provides MIDI Editor windows for detailed MIDI editing. Track Edit selector Default Note Duration Solo Default Note Velocity Mute Notation View Notation View Key Focus Play MIDI Notes While Editing Mirrored MIDI Editing Edit Tools Link Timeline and Edit Selection MIDI Editor menu Edit modes...
  • Page 630 Superimposed MIDI and Instrument Opening a MIDI Editor Window Tracks To open a MIDI Editor window, do one of the MIDI Editor windows display and let you edit following: MIDI data (notes, velocities, and continuous Choose Window > MIDI Editor. controller data) for one or more MIDI or Instru- ment tracks.

  • Page 631: Midi Editor Window Toolbar

    Mixed Mute and Solo States MIDI Editor Window Toolbar The Solo and Mute buttons are global controls The MIDI Editor window toolbar is similar to in that they affect all tracks shown in a MIDI Ed- the Edit window toolbar, but with a few excep- itor window.
  • Page 632 Edit Tools Play MIDI Notes When Editing, Link Time- The Edit tools in MIDI Editor windows can be line and Edit Selection, and Mirrored MIDI viewed as a single tool with a pop-up menu for Editing are all global settings that are avail- selecting other tools, or as an expanded, com- able in the Edit window, MIDI Editor plete row of Edit tool icons just like in the Edit...
  • Page 633 Mirrored MIDI Editing To show (or hide) the Edit Selection display in a MIDI Editor window, do one of the following: Mirrored MIDI Editing lets you edit MIDI re- Click the MIDI Editor Window Toolbar menu gions and have your edits apply to every copy of and select (or deselect) Selection Display.
  • Page 634 One or more untargeted MIDI Editor windows MIDI Editor Window Display Options can remain open and available at the same time, Expanded Edit Tools just like untargeted Plug-in windows. Targeting an untargeted MIDI Editor window disables any When selected, the Expanded Edit Tools option other targeted MIDI Editor window.
  • Page 635 Selection Display Continuous (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 When selected, the Selection Display option Only) The MIDI Editor window scrolls continu- shows the Edit Selection Display in the MIDI Ed- ously past the playback cursor, which remains itor window toolbar.

  • Page 636: Midi Editor Zoom Controls

    Rearranging Controls and Displays MIDI Zoom In and Out Buttons Pro Tools provides MIDI Zoom In and Out but- You can rearrange the controls and displays in tons in the upper-right corner of MIDI Editor the MIDI Editor window toolbar just like in the windows.
  • Page 637 Track List Columns To show only selected MIDI, Instrument, and Auxiliary Input tracks in a MIDI Editor window: In MIDI Editor windows there are four columns In the Track List, select the MIDI, Instrument, for the Track List: and Auxiliary Input tracks you want to show in the MIDI Editor window.

  • Page 638: Group List

    Sorting Tracks in the Track List New Opens the New Track dialog. You can sort tracks in the Track List by the fol- Rename Renames the selected track. lowing criteria: Duplicate Duplicates the selected track. Name Sorts the order of tracks in the Track List Split into Mono Splits the selected stereo Instru- by Track Name.

  • Page 639: Timebase And Conductor Rulers

    Timebase and Conductor Superimposed Notes View Rulers The Notes pane in MIDI Editor windows lets you view and edit MIDI notes superimposed from Timebase and Conductor rulers in MIDI Editor different MIDI and Instrument tracks such that windows function exactly the same as in the you can easily edit multitrack arrangements in a Edit window.
  • Page 640 Color Coding MIDI Notes You can color code MIDI notes by Track or by Velocity. Color Coding by Track When Color Coding by Track is enabled, tracks in the MIDI Editor are temporarily assigned one of sixteen fixed colors, in the order they appear in the track list. See Figure 35 on page 622. To Color Code MIDI notes by Track: Enable the Color Code MIDI Notes By Track button.
  • Page 641 Color Code MIDI Notes By Velocity enabled Figure 36. MIDI Editor window, notes color-coded by Note On velocity No Color Coding When neither Color Coding by Track nor Color Coding by Velocity are enabled, notes are drawn in the MIDI Editor in as the same color they are in the Edit window—using the color coding options as set in the Track Color Coding settings in the Display Preferences.
  • Page 642 Editing MIDI Notes • Click the Pencil column in the Track List to pencil-enable the track you want. You can edit any note on any track shown in the Notes pane. You edit MIDI notes in the Notes 2 MIDI tracks and 1 Instrument track shown pane the same way as in Notes view for MIDI pencil-enabled track and Instrument tracks in the Edit window, ex-...
  • Page 643 Notes Pane Right-Click Menu The Cut command cuts the current Edit selec- The Notes Pane Right-click menu provides sev- tion. eral useful commands for editing, exporting, and viewing MIDI data. Copy To access the MIDI Editor Right-click menu: The Copy command copies the current Edit se- lection.

  • Page 644: Notation View

    MIDI Real-Time Properties Notation View Selecting the MIDI Real-Time Properties option The Notes pane in MIDI Editor windows can opens the MIDI Real-Time Properties window. also display MIDI notes in standard music nota- tion. In Notation view, each MIDI and Instru- Event Operations ment track is displayed independently, with one The Event Operations submenu lets you select...
  • Page 645 Figure 38. MIDI Editor window, Notes pane in Notation view When the Double Bar option is disabled, there Double Bar will be a number of empty bars at the end of the The Double Bar button is only available in Nota- last event in the session.

  • Page 646: Velocity, Controller, And Automation Lanes

    Notation View Right-Click Menu Velocity, Controller, and When in Notation view, the Notes Pane Right- Automation Lanes click menu provides slightly different options MIDI Editor windows let you edit velocities, than when in Superimposed Notes view. MIDI controller data, and automation for all In both views, the following options are avail- shown MIDI, Instrument, and Auxiliary Input able:...
  • Page 647 Show/Hide lanes Velocity lane (2 tracks superimposed) Remove lane Add lane Controller/Automation Type selector Paired Automation lanes for separate tracks Figure 39. Velocity, Controller, and Automation lanes for two stereo Instrument tracks Chapter 30: MIDI Editors...
  • Page 648 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 649: Chapter 31. Score Editor

    Chapter 31: Score Editor The Score Editor window lets you view, edit, arrange, and print MIDI from your session as music notation. MIDI notes are transcribed in real-time whether you record, import, draw (with the Pencil tool), or Step Enter MIDI. Default Note Duration Default Note Velocity Play MIDI Notes While Editing...
  • Page 650 Opening the Score Editor Window Edit Tools The Edit tools in the Score Editor window func- To open the Score Editor window: tion much the same as in the Edit window, but Choose Window > Score Editor. with a few differences for editing music nota- tion.
  • Page 651 To marquee zoom to a particular area of the score: Trimmer Click the Zoomer tool pop-up menu and select The Trimmer tool lets you lengthen or shorten Normal Zoom mode. the duration of a note. Drag in the score, making a marquee selection Press the F6 key to select the Trimmer tool.
  • Page 652 To select a Pencil tool: Triangle Click the Pencil tool pop-up menu and select The Triangle Pencil tool lets you draw a series of the Pencil tool you want. MIDI notes on a single pitch whose velocities os- cillate between the defined Default Note Veloc- Press the F10 key to select the current Pencil ity and 127 in a triangle pattern.

  • Page 653: Mirrored Midi Editing

    Default Note Duration Link Timeline and Edit Selection The Default Note Duration selector lets you de- When this button is enabled, the Timeline and fine the default note duration for manually in- Edit selections are linked. When it is disabled, serted notes.
  • Page 654 To disable Mirrored MIDI Editing, do one of the Cursor Location following: The Cursor Location display provides informa- Deselect Options > Mirror MIDI Editing. tion about the current cursor location in – or – Bars|Beats|Ticks and pitch. Disable the Mirrored MIDI Editing button in Cursor Location the Edit window, MIDI Editor window, or Score Editor window.
  • Page 655 Inserting Notes on the Grid Score Editor Window Menu When inserting MIDI notes with the Pencil tool The Score Editor Window menu provides access (using the Line, Triangle, Square, or Random to the Expanded Edit Tools, Selection Display, shapes), the Grid value determines the Note On Track List, and Scrolling options.
  • Page 656 After Playback The playback cursor moves Toolbar Display Options across the Score Editor window, indicating the playback location. When playback has stopped, To change the toolbar display options in the Score Editor window toolbar: the Score Editor window scrolls to the final play- back location.
  • Page 657 Showing and Hiding Tracks To show only selected MIDI and Instrument tracks in the Score Editor: Use the Track List to show and hide MIDI and In the Track List, select the MIDI and Instru- Instrument tracks as staves in the score. ment tracks you want to show in the score.
  • Page 658 Page Controls Score Editor Zoom Controls The Score Editor window provides controls for In addition to the Zoomer tool, the Score Editor navigating forward and backward by page. The provides Zoom In and Out buttons in the lower current page number is displayed in the lower- right hand corner of the window.

  • Page 659: Notation Display Track Settings

    Notation Display Track Settings The Notation Display Track settings determine how individual MIDI and Instrument tracks ap- pear in the Score Editor. You can set the Clef, Display Quantization, and whether or not to display the track at “concert pitch” or as a trans- posing instrument (such as a B-flat tenor sax).
  • Page 660 Notation Display Track Settings Options Track From the Track pop-up menu, select the track you want to configure. Clef From the Clef pop-up menu, select the Clef you want for the selected track from the following Notation Display Track Settings window, Attributes tab options: Follow Globals •...

  • Page 661: Score Setup

    Split Point Score Setup Window Options When the Clef for the selected track is set to Grand Staff, the selected Split Point setting deter- mines at which pitch the notes are placed in ei- ther the upper or lower staff of the Grand Staff. Automatic When selected, Pro Tools splits notes between the upper and lower staves of the Grand Staff based on logical note groupings.

  • Page 662: Editing Notes

    Title and Composer Select to display the Title Layout and Composer on the score. Page Size Select the page size (Letter, Legal, Tab- Page Numbers Select to display Page Numbers at loid, or A4). the bottom of each page. Portrait Select to set the page orientation to Por- Bar Numbers Select to display Bar Numbers at trait.
  • Page 663 Selecting Notes To transpose a single note: Click the Grabber tool. You can use either the Note Selector tool or the Grabber tool to select notes on one or more Drag the note you want to transpose up or staves. down.
  • Page 664 Drag any of the selected notes to another time With the Free Hand Pencil tool, do any of the location on the same staff. following: • Single-click at the time location and pitch you want to enter a single note of the se- lected Default Note Duration.

  • Page 665: Score Editor Right-Click Menu

    Click the Pencil tool and select any of the fol- Tools lowing shapes: The Tools submenu lets you select any Edit tools • Line relevant to the Score Editor. • Triangle Zoomer Selects the Zoomer tool. • Square • Random Note Selector Selects the Note Selector tool.

  • Page 666: Key Changes

    Clear Key Changes The Clear command clears (deletes) the current You can add, edit, and delete Key Signatures in Edit selection. your score. Key Signatures affect the note spell- ing of MIDI notes in the score. For example, Event Operations MIDI note number 58 (“B-flat 3”) is B-flat in F The Event Operations submenu lets you select major, but it is A-sharp in B major.

  • Page 667: Meter Changes

    Select a note value for the number of clicks to Meter Changes sound in each measure. For a dotted-note click value, select the dot (.) option in addition to the You can add, edit, and delete Meters in your note value. score.
  • Page 668 To insert a chord symbol: The selected chord symbol is placed above the top staff in the system. With the Note Selector, Grabber, or Pencil tool, Right-click at the location in the score chord symbol where you want to add a chord symbol and se- lect Insert >...

  • Page 669: Exporting Scores

    Exporting Scores Printing Scores Pro Tools lets you export the score from your Pro Tools lets you print the score from your session as a Sibelius (.sib) file. You can then Pro Tools session. The score will be printed ex- open your score in Sibelius as transcribed by actly as it appears in the Score Editor window.
  • Page 670 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 671: Chapter 32. Midi Event List

    Chapter 32: MIDI Event List The MIDI Event List displays a detailed list of all Mute data for MIDI and Instrument tracks events in a single MIDI or Instrument track. The is not displayed in the MIDI Event List. events are displayed with text and numbers, al- lowing you to precisely edit their location, Opening the MIDI Event List length, and event values.
  • Page 672 Target The Target button for the MIDI Event List deter- Playback cursor mines whether or not the MIDI Event List fol- lows the Edit cursor and Edit selections in the Edit window and MIDI Editor windows. For ex- double-click to edit ample, when the Target is enabled, the Events simultaneous shown in the MIDI Event List update to show...
  • Page 673 Example: To filter the display of aftertouch and Navigating in the MIDI Event List System Exclusive Messages in the MIDI Event You can use the Tab and Arrow keys to move List: through the MIDI Event List. You can also locate In the MIDI Event List, choose View Filter from to the Edit start point, or any other specified lo- the MIDI Event List menu.

  • Page 674: Inserting Events In The Midi Event List

    In the Go To dialog, choose a format from the Inserting Events in the MIDI Time Scale pop-up menu. Event List You can insert events in the MIDI Event List by choosing an event type from the MIDI Event List menu. Following are several examples of in- serting events in the MIDI Event List.
  • Page 675 Do one of the following: When a field is selected, enter a value with any of the following methods: • To insert the note and remain in Event Entry mode, press Enter on the numeric • Enter the value on the numeric keypad. keypad.

  • Page 676: Editing Events In The Midi Event List

    Enter a Program Change number and Bank Se- Inserting Another Event lect value (if necessary). The program change After inserting an event, you can easily insert name is displayed in the Info column. another event of the same type. The event type to be inserted is indicated at the bottom of the Insert menu.
  • Page 677 Enter a new value with any of the following To select noncontiguous events in the MIDI Event List: methods: • Enter the new value on the numeric key- Control-click (Windows) or Command-click pad. (Mac) each event. • While pressing Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac), press the Up or Down Arrow to To deselect an event in the MIDI Event List: scroll to a new value.

  • Page 678: Midi Event List Options

    Copying and Pasting Events in the MIDI Event List Options MIDI Event List The MIDI Event List menu provides the follow- To copy and paste events in the MIDI Event List: ing options: Select the events you want to copy in the Show Sub Counter Displays event times in the MIDI Event List.

  • Page 679: Part Vii Arranging

    Part VII: Arranging...

  • Page 681: Chapter 33. Time, Tempo, Meter, Key, And Chords

    Chapter 33: Time, Tempo, Meter, Key, and Chords In Pro Tools, editing and arranging is typically Timebase Rulers and done on tracks against a fixed Timeline. Conductor Rulers Regions and events can be anchored to points in absolute time, or relative time, as measured on the session’s Timeline.
  • Page 682 Secondary Time Code Ruler (Pro Tools HD and To ensure your tracks align with the bars Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or and beats in your session, record with a click DV Toolkit 2 Only) A secondary time code ruler, (see “Recording with a Click”...
  • Page 683 Conductor Rulers To change the display order for the rulers: Click a ruler’s name and drag up or down to Any or all of the following Conductor rulers can the new location. be displayed: • Markers To copy the range selection from a Conductor ruler •...

  • Page 684: Main Time Scale

    Main Time Scale While all Timebase rulers can be displayed si- multaneously in the Edit and MIDI Editor win- dows, there is only one that represents the Main Time Scale. This ruler is also called the Main Timebase ruler. Main Counter selector (in the Edit window) The Main Time Scale determines the time for- mat used for: If a Timebase ruler is displayed, click its name...

  • Page 685: Tick-Based Timing

    The Sub Counter Tick-Based Timing Below each Main Counter is a Sub Counter that Pro Tools is a sample-based program with an in- can be shown or hidden. The Sub Counter pro- ternal MIDI resolution of 960,000 pulses per vides an additional timing reference. quarter note (ppq).
  • Page 686 The following table lists the number of ticks for On sample-based MIDI and Instrument tracks, each of the main note sizes: all MIDI events in the track have an absolute lo- cation on the absolute Timeline (for example, Note Value Normal Dotted Triplet...
  • Page 687 Switching Timebases Alternate Playlist Timebases When you change a track’s timebase, you can All Pro Tools tracks can be switched between be- choose to apply the timebase change to that ing sample-based or tick-based. track only, or to the active Playlist and all alter- Track height affects how various track controls nate playlists for that track.

  • Page 688: Song Start Marker

    Sample Rounding and Edit Operations The Song Start Marker can be moved, but it can- not be deleted. When audio material in Pro Tools is sample- based, some amount of sample-rounding may The position of the Song Start Marker can occur with some edits when the Main Time also be changed in the Time Operations Scale is set to Bars|Beats.

  • Page 689: Tempo

    Current Tempo Tempo As tempo events are encountered during play- The Tempo ruler lets you edit Tempo events one back, the session’s current tempo is displayed in at a time or according to tempo curves. You can the Transport window. edit tempo visually in the Tempo Editor, or make precise changes in tempo using the Tempo Operations window.
  • Page 690 To base the BPM value on something other To delete a tempo event: than the default quarter note, select a different Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the note value. tempo event (the cursor changes to a Grabber with a “–”). Click OK.
  • Page 691 To clear a range of selected tempo events: To set the Manual Tempo by tapping on an external MIDI keyboard: If you want to constrain the selection to the To view the MIDI controls in the Transport current Grid value, set the Edit mode to Grid. window, select View >...
  • Page 692 material equally. However, when working with Using many smaller regions... sample-based (non-Elastic) audio on tick-based tracks, tempo changes affect the start location of audio regions, but not their duration. Since the length of each sample-based audio re- gion in a track is unaffected by changes in tempo, existing automation data is not aligned ...keeps audio aligned with automation changes.
  • Page 693 gion has been warped to remain two-bars long Conform to Tempo at the slower tempo, it displays the Region Warp Pro Tools lets you conform regions on Elastic indicator in the upper right-hand corner of the Audio-enabled tracks (both sample- and tick- region.

  • Page 694: Graphic Tempo Editor

    Alternate Playlists Zooming and Scrolling in the Tempo Editor Alternate playlists on Elastic Audio-enabled, tick-based tracks are only affected by tempo To zoom in vertically in the Tempo Editor: changes. Otherwise, alternate playlists are not Click the Tempo Editor Zoom In button (“+”). affected by editing Warp or Event markers in the main playlist.
  • Page 695 Drawing Tempo Events Selecting Tempo Resolution (BPM Rate) The Tempo Editor lets you specify the beat note Tempo events can be drawn in the Tempo Editor value for tempo events by changing the Tempo using the Pencil tool. Resolution. The beat note value selected for the Tempo Resolution is usually based on the meter.
  • Page 696 Curve Adjustment Mode Quarter note click Dotted-quarter click Immediately after you draw new tempos using the Pencil tool, a tempo curve appears in blue, outlining the newly created tempo graph. Blue adjustment handles on the curve let you adjust the shape and size of the new tempo graph. Tempo curve with different click values Tempo Curve Adjustment Handles Selecting Tempo Edit Density...
  • Page 697 Grabbing Tempo Events The Grabber tools let you create new tempo set- tings by dragging tempo events in the Tempo Editor. Selecting a single tempo event To Select a tempo curve in the Tempo Editor: Using the Selector tool or any Grabber tool, triple-click on a horizontal tempo line in the curve that you want to select.
  • Page 698 Using the Trimmer Tool With the Trimmer tool, click within the se- lected area, and drag up or down. Dragging up The Trimmer tool lets you scale all the tempo increases the tempo values of the selection in events of the session, or within a Timeline selec- BPM;...
  • Page 699 To scale the duration of tempo changes with the To copy and Paste tempo events in the Tempo Trimmer tool: Editor: Open the Tempo Editor. Open the Tempo Editor. With the Selector tool, select the area you With the Selector tool, select the area you want to edit.

  • Page 700: Changing The Linearity Display Mode

    Linear Tick Display The display of tempo events Changing the Linearity Display is tick-based and tempo event Bar|Beat locations Mode remain constant after the tempo curve is drawn and all sample-based events move against bar The Timeline can be viewed in either a Linear beat locations in the Timeline.

  • Page 701: Tempo Operations Window

    To open a specific Tempo Operations window Tempo Operations Window page: Choose Event > Tempo Operations, followed by The Tempo Operations window lets you define one of the Tempo Operations page commands tempo events over a range of time (or measures). (such as Constant).
  • Page 702 Constant Resolution (Advanced Option) Lets you select the BPM note value for your tempo setting. The Constant page lets you create a constant tempo over a selected range of time. Selecting “Follow Metronome Click” will set the tempo BPM note value to mirror the click value set in the meter markers.
  • Page 703 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 704 End Time (Advanced Option) Displays the abso- S-Curve lute time for the selection end. When the Main The S-Curve page lets you create tempos that ac- Time Scale is set to Bars|Beats, the end time is celerate or decelerate by following a tempo displayed in the Sub Time Scale.
  • Page 705 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 706 Preserve Tempo after Selection If selected, the Scale (Advanced Option) In combination with settings chosen in the Calculate pop-up menu, previous tempo setting that was in effect at the the Scale pop-up menu lets you scale all tempos, selection end point is preserved after the selec- the start tempo, or the end tempo.

  • Page 707: Identify Beat Command

    Stretch To Start (Advanced Option) Specifies a Bar|Beat Markers new start point for the region to which you Bar|Beat Markers look similar to tempo events, want to apply the selected tempo events. but instead have small blue triangles to indicate Changing the end point causes the Stretch per- their location.
  • Page 708 Identifying Beats Identifying the beat of a one-bar drum loop and creating Bar|Beat Markers for it: Place a one-bar drum loop at the beginning of an audio track. Select View > Rulers > Samples. This ensures that the selected audio material will be sample- accurate.
  • Page 709 Dragging Bar|Beat Markers When dragging a tempo event: • The tempo event is placed at a new bar and Bar|Beat Markers can be dragged to new loca- beat location. The sample and SMPTE loca- tions so they can align with audio regions that tions for the event are updated as well.

  • Page 710: Meter Events

    Inserting Bar|Beat Markers One at Current Meter a Time As meter events are encountered during play- Sample-Based Material with Varying Tempos back, the session’s current meter is displayed in the Transport window. You can insert Bar|Beat Markers one at a time by setting an Edit insertion point (instead of mak- ing a selection) before using the Identify Beat current meter...
  • Page 711 • Double click the meter display in the Trans- Click OK to insert the new meter event. The port window. new meter event is inserted and appears in the Meter ruler. current meter Current meter displayed in Transport window Inserted meter event In the Meter Change window, do the follow- Each meter event has a small yellow triangle ing:...

  • Page 712: Time Operations

    To copy and paste several meter events: Partial Measures If you want to constrain the selection to the As necessary, Pro Tools will create a partial mea- current Grid value, set the Edit mode to Grid. sure to accommodate the inserted meter event. When a meter event is preceded by a partial Drag in the Meter ruler to select the range that measure, the meter event is displayed in italics...
  • Page 713 Starting at Bar Sets the bar where the meter To open the last active Time Operations window: change is added. Meter changes made in the Choose Event > Time Operations > Time Opera- Change Meter page can only be made at the be- tions Window.
  • Page 714 Change Meter Examples Select Until the Next Bar from the Apply 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 715 Using the pop-up menu, you can also choose to Realign insert time into All or No sample-based markers The Realign settings let you select which items and tracks. If All is selected and the selection in- shift (occur later) when time is inserted, as fol- cludes any audio regions on sample-based lows: tracks, the selected portions of the audio regions...
  • Page 716 Cut Time Meter Ruler Only If your Main Time Scale is 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 717 Move Song Start Move The Move controls let you choose which items Move Song Start lets you redefine the location of shift when the Song Start is moved, as follows: the Song Start Marker. Song Start Only Moves the Song Start Marker only.

  • Page 718: 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 chang- to indicate key and key changes in your ing the bar locations for all regions, meter and Pro Tools session.
  • Page 719 Changing Key Signatures Key Change Dialog You can add, edit, or delete key signatures. The Key Change dialog lets you specify the mode (major or minor), the key (from seven flats to seven sharps), the range affected (for ex- To add a key signature: ample, from Bar 1 to the next key change), and Place the cursor in the Timeline where you whether or not MIDI notes on pitched tracks are...
  • Page 720 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 721: Chord Symbols

    Importing Key Signatures Chord Symbols When importing MIDI (or session data with The Chord Symbols ruler lets you add chord MIDI), you can select whether or not to import symbols to Pro Tools sessions in the Edit win- any key signatures stored in MIDI files. dow and in MIDI Editor windows.
  • Page 722 To add a chord symbol: Chord Change Dialog Place the cursor in the Timeline where you The Chord Change dialog lets you specify a want to add a chord symbol. commercial chord symbol and chord diagram (guitar tab) to place in the Chords ruler or on the Do one of the following: score in the Score Editor.

  • Page 723: Chapter 34. Memory Locations

    Chapter 34: Memory Locations Properties of Memory Locations Memory Locations and When creating a new Memory Location (see Markers “Creating Memory Locations” on page 707) you Memory locations provide a powerful way to are prompted to define its Time Properties and navigate your session while editing and arrang- General Properties.
  • Page 724 Time Properties Selection Recalls an Edit selection or edit cursor location whose reference can be either Bar|Beat Under Time Properties, a Memory Location can (tick-based) or Absolute (sample-based). A Selec- be set to Marker, Selection, or None. This deter- tion Memory Location lets you store Edit selec- mines the type of Memory Location that is cre- tions, for one or more tracks, that you return to ated.
  • Page 725 General Properties Comments All three types of Memory Locations (Marker, All three types of Memory Locations (Marker, Selection, and None) can store and recall any Selection, and None) can store and recall com- combination of the following General Proper- ments. You can enter a maximum of 255 char- ties: acters to describe the Memory Location.
  • Page 726 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 727 Click OK. The General Properties Memory Lo- When the location is reached, press Enter on cation is created and appears in the Memory Lo- the numeric keypad. A Marker is automatically cations window. created and appears in the Markers ruler. Auto-created Markers are named with increasing In the New Memory Location dialog, you numbers, for example, “Marker 1,”...
  • Page 728 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. Additionally, Memory Location Markers can be recalled by clicking them in the To rename a Memory Location: Markers ruler.
  • Page 729 In the Memory Location dialog, select the To move a Marker by dragging: General Properties you want to save with the In the Markers ruler, drag the Marker left or Memory Location. right. Enter a name for the Memory Location and If the Edit mode is set to Grid, the dragged event click OK.

  • Page 730: 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: Choose Delete All from the Memory Locations Using the Selector or Grabber tool, select a Window menu. track range. –...
  • Page 731 Memory Locations Commands and Main Time Scale Options Sub Time Scale You can select viewing and sorting options, along with commands for creating and remov- ing Memory Locations, from the Memory Loca- tions Window menu. Main/Sub Counters in the Memory Locations window You can click at the top of the Main Time Scale column for a pop-up menu that lets you change the Main Time Scale.
  • Page 732 Auto-Name Memory Location When selected, Sort by Time When selected, Markers are sorted 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 733: Chapter 35. Arranging Regions

    Chapter 35: Arranging Regions Regions are placed according to the current Edit Placing Regions in Tracks mode: • In Shuffle mode, existing track regions are slid Once you have created a region, it appears in the as necessary to make room for the new region. Region List.
  • Page 734 Left to Right When enabled, regions are placed To place multiple items across multiple existing tracks: sequentially in a single destination (drop) track or on a new track (when dragging to the area be- From the Region List menu, choose Timeline low the last track or on to the Track List).
  • Page 735 If the selected items include mixed types of re- To place the end of a region at the Edit insertion point: gions (such as audio and MIDI, or region groups and MIDI) the appropriate track types will be With the Selector tool, click in the track at the created and each corresponding item will be time location where you want to place the end placed in them.
  • Page 736 Aligning Region Start Points Do one of the following: • Control-Start-drag (Windows) or Com- The start, end, and sync point of one region can mand-Control-drag (Mac) a region from be aligned to the start of a different region on the Region List to another track. another track.
  • Page 737 Sliding Regions To shuffle regions: Enable Shuffle mode (see “Edit Modes” on A region or group of selected regions (on the page 445). same track or on multiple tracks) can be slid with the Time Grabber tool to new locations or Drag a mono region from the Region List to an to other tracks.
  • Page 738 Shuffling Multiple Tracks and To move one or more regions, or the Edit selection, with one of the Grabber tools: Multichannel Regions Make a selection. Selections across multiple tracks or on multi- channel tracks can be shuffled. Unlike shuffling With one of the Grabber tools (Time, Separa- regions on a single track, any partially selected tion, or Object), drag the selection to the new lo- regions are cut and moved along with the...
  • Page 739 Separation Grabber To snap to the preceding region on a track: Do one of the following: The Separation Grabber replaces the entire se- • With the Time Grabber, select a region. lected range on the destination track Timeline. – or – •...
  • Page 740 The selected region snaps to the following re- To slip regions: gion on the track so that the two regions are Enable Slip mode (see “Edit Modes” on “butt-spliced.” page 445). Drag a region from the Region List to an empty track.
  • Page 741 • Click one of the up arrows next to Original To spot a region: Time Stamp or User Time Stamp to enter Enable Spot mode (see “Edit Modes” on the associated values into the currently se- page 445). lected field. Do one of the following: •...
  • Page 742 Region Time Stamps Sliding Regions in Grid Mode When a region is created, it is time stamped rel- Grid mode provides several useful capabilities ative to the SMPTE start time specified for the for sliding and moving regions in track playlists. session.
  • Page 743 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 gion >...

  • Page 744: Replacing Audio Regions

    Replace Region Dialog Replacing Audio Regions (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 Only) Use the Replace Region function to replace mul- tiple instances of an audio region in a playlist with another region. This is useful in post pro- duction if you use a sound effect, room noise, or atmosphere region many times in a session, and later decide to replace one or all of the original...
  • Page 745 Replace: All Instances of the Original Region Re- Region matching uses all specified Match crite- places all instances of the selected region that fit ria. For example, if you select Start Position and the On criteria with the replacement region End Position, all regions from the same original from the Region List.

  • Page 746: Sync Points

    To replace regions using the Region List menu: Sync Points Select a region in a track to be replaced. The placement of regions in Grid and Spot mode Do one of the following: can be based on the definition of a region sync •...
  • Page 747 To change the location of a sync point: Dragging Sync Points With the Selector tool, click at a point in a re- You can drag a sync point to another position in gion and choose Region > Identify Sync Point. The the audio region.

  • Page 748: Shift Command

    The Shift command works the same regardless of Shift Command the Edit mode. For example, adjacent regions are overlapped in Shuffle mode, the Spot dialog Use the Shift command to move track material does not appear when in Spot mode, and shifted forward or back in time by a specified amount.
  • Page 749 Choose Region > Edit Lock/Unlock. gion to another track). Time-locked regions can also be deleted. When separating a Time-locked Press Control+L (Windows) or Com- region, any new regions will also be locked to mand+L (Mac) to Edit lock or unlock the se- their time locations.

  • Page 750: Muting/Unmuting Regions

    Allowing Editing of Edit-Locked Stripping Silence from Regions Regions If you attempt to edit an Edit-locked region, Strip Silence analyzes audio selections—across Pro Tools warns you and prompts you to Cancel multiple tracks—and removes (or extracts) any or Allow the edit. If you allow an edit that keeps areas of silence, dividing the selection into any part of the region intact, the region remains smaller regions and removing the silent areas.
  • Page 751 Strip Threshold Sets the amplitude threshold Auto-Naming for Strip Silence (from –48 dB to 0 dB) for Strip Silence. Audio The Rename button in the Strip Silence window falling below this threshold is considered silence opens the Rename Selected Regions dialog, and removed.
  • Page 752 Using Strip Silence To retain material before and after the new re- gions, adjust the settings for Region Start Pad and Region End Pad. To strip silence from an audio selection: Select one or more audio regions. Choose Edit > Strip Silence. Press Control+U (Windows) or Com- mand+U (Mac) to open the Strip Silence Attack to be padded...

  • Page 753: Inserting Silence

    To extract audio from an audio selection using Inserting Silence Strip Silence: Make an Edit selection. The Insert Silence command is a simple and con- venient way to insert silence on audio, MIDI, Choose Edit > Strip Silence. and Instrument tracks. This command lets you To set the naming scheme for regions created make a selection on a track (or tracks) and insert with Strip Silence, click Rename to open the Re-...

  • Page 754: Duplicating Regions

    Slip Mode When inserting silence on multiple Duplicating Regions tracks in Slip mode, the following conditions apply: The Duplicate command copies a selection and If any track is displayed as audio or MIDI data, places it immediately after the end of the selec- the selected range is cleared of audio or MIDI tion.

  • Page 755: Repeating Regions

    When using Duplicate (or Repeat) with MIDI To repeat a selection or region: notes that were selected with the Time Grabber If working with material that is bar- and beat- tool, material is always duplicated one measure based, such as loops, set the Main Time Scale to later, and is merged with existing track material Bars|Beats.
  • Page 756 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 757: Chapter 36. Region Loops And Groups

    Chapter 36: Region Loops and Groups 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...
  • Page 758 Creating Looped Regions In the Region Looping dialog, do one of the following: You can create looped regions using the Loop • Select the Number of Loops option and enter command or using the Loop Trimmer tool. the number of times to loop the region. •...
  • Page 759 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 Do one of the following: (each loop iteration). For example, selecting a •...
  • Page 760 To select an individual source region or loop If the source region is extended to the left by us- iteration, do one of the following: ing the Trimmer tool to change the total length of the looped region, the source region is moved With the Grabber tool or Smart Tool, single- earlier in the Timeline and loop iterations fill in click the Loop icon of the source region or loop...

  • Page 761: Region Groups

    Region groups can be placed on tracks alongside To copy and paste automation from the source region to loop iterations: standard regions, and edited using many of the same editing techniques as regular regions. Cer- Select the source region. tain edits to a region group will apply to all re- Choose Edit >...
  • Page 762 Creating Region Groups To create a region group: Select one or more regions on one or more tracks. (For more information on multitrack re- gion groups, see “Multitrack Region Groups” on Region Group icon page 745). A region group on an audio track and in the Region List Region Group Timebase Format Region groups are created in the same timebase format (samples or ticks) as the tracks on which...
  • Page 763 Ungrouping Regions To regroup a region group: Select any region from the ungrouped region To ungroup a region group: group. Select a region group. Choose Region > Regroup. Do one of the following: Press Control+Alt+R (Windows) or • Choose Region > Ungroup. Command+Option+R (Mac) to regroup –...
  • Page 764 To create a multitrack region group: Multitrack region groups create nested Select regions across multiple adjacent tracks. region groups of multiple regions by track before grouping them across tracks. The Regroup command supports multitrack region groups. Separated Multitrack Region Groups You can insert, move, hide, or delete tracks in multitrack region groups, but it may break the region group.
  • Page 765 A region group is separated when you do any of Region Groups on Tick-Based the following: Tracks • Insert a track within a multitrack region When changing tempos, region groups on tick- group. based tracks adjust their length by adjusting the •...
  • Page 766 Converting Samples to Ticks Editing Region Groups When dragging a region group from a sample- Region groups are edited in much the same way based track to a tick-based track, the length of as regular regions: They can be named, moved, the region group does not change.
  • Page 767 Tabbing to Transients and Region Boundaries Recording With Tab to Transients enabled, the Tab key When recording audio or MIDI, new regions are moves the Location Cursor to transients and re- created over (in front) of region groups instead gion boundaries within a region group. of being included in the region group.
  • Page 768 Region group files do not store the following: When changing tempo with region groups • Automation on tick-based tracks, you may need to Un- • Plug-ins group, redo or create new fades, and then • Track routing Regroup in order to maintain the fades. •...

  • Page 769: Part Viii Processing

    Part VIII: Processing...

  • Page 771: Chapter 37. Audiosuite Processing

    Chapter 37: AudioSuite Processing This chapter explains the use of AudioSuite The AudioSuite Menu plug-ins in Pro Tools. AudioSuite plug-ins are used to process and modify audio files on disk. AudioSuite plug-ins are accessed through the AudioSuite processing applies non-real-time, or AudioSuite menu.

  • Page 772: The Audiosuite Window

    AudioSuite Plug-in Selector The AudioSuite Window From this menu you can select any AudioSuite When you select a plug-in from the AudioSuite plug-in installed in your Plug-ins folder. Plug- menu, the AudioSuite window appears. From ins are listed in the Plug-in selector pop-up this floating window you can access and edit the menu according to the Organize Plug-ins Menu By controls for the selected AudioSuite plug-in.
  • Page 773 Region List Applies AudioSuite processing only File Mode Selector to selected regions in the Region List. Processing This menu lets you select whether or not the Au- is not be applied to regions on the Timeline dioSuite plug-in will process the selected audio (playlists on audio tracks).
  • Page 774 Process Mode Selector Plug-in Settings Menu Lets you copy, paste, save, and import plug-in presets. If you have made a selection that includes mul- tiple regions, this pop-up menu lets you specify Plug-in Librarian Menu Recalls settings files (pre- whether AudioSuite processing is performed on sets) saved in the plug-in’s root settings folder or a region-by-region, or entire-selection basis.
  • Page 775 Peak On Each Chan/Track Analyzes and pro- Channel Mode Button cesses each selected track individually. If you ap- The Channel Mode button lets you process con- ply the Normalize plug-in to multiple tracks or a tiguous channels within a selected region as multichannel track in Peak On Each Chan/Track though they were mono or stereo tracks (and in mode, each channel or track will be normalized...
  • Page 776 AudioSuite Window Footer In Mono mode, only the first channel of any selected multichannel region will be previewed. The AudioSuite Window footer provides con- If you are processing using Region-by-Region trols for previewing and applying AudioSuite mode, the Preview function will preview only processing.
  • Page 777 Process Undoing AudioSuite Processing If you have processed an audio selection nonde- Clicking the Process button begins AudioSuite structively, the Undo and Redo commands let processing of the selected audio. Processing can you undo the selected AudioSuite process. You occur during playback (though it may take can undo or redo an AudioSuite process during slightly longer).

  • Page 778: Using Audiosuite Plug-Ins

    Selecting Tracks for Delay or Reverb Using AudioSuite Plug-ins Processing AudioSuite plug-ins can be applied to whole re- Because some AudioSuite effects such as delay gions, partial regions, or selections that are and reverb add additional material to the end of made up of whole and partial regions across one the selected audio, it is important that you make or more tracks.
  • Page 779 Follow these guidelines: The selected audio is processed according to the specified settings. Pro Tools appends an acro- • To process the selected region only in the nym to the region name indicating the Audio- track in which it appears, select Playlist for Suite process that has been applied.
  • Page 780 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 781: Chapter 38. Elastic Audio

    Chapter 38: Elastic Audio Elastic Audio provides track-based Real-Time Working with Loops and Rendered Time Compression and Expan- If you work with loops, Elastic Audio lets you sion (TCE) and region-based pitch shifting preview your loops in DigiBase browsers at their (transposition).

  • Page 782: Example Elastic Audio Workflow

    Sound Design and Special Effects Example Elastic Audio Use Elastic Audio to achieve special effects with Workflow extreme or widely variable TCE or pitch manip- ulation. Use the Varispeed algorithm to achieve In this workflow, you will be introduced to some tape-like effects for speed and pitch change.
  • Page 783 Notice that if the loop was sample-based to be- Locate and preview a loop in DigiBase at the session tempo: gin with, the column to the left of the file name initially indicates that DigiBase is analyzing the Open the Workspace (Window > Workspace). file.
  • Page 784 Drag and drop the loop from the browser to A new tick-based audio track is created with the Track List in the session’s Edit window. the Default Elastic Audio plug-in enabled (see Figure 1). If All Files is selected as the Drag and Drop Since you chose to not import the file’s origi- From Desktop Conforms to Session Tempo nal tempo, you will notice that the loop con-...
  • Page 785 Warp indicators Sample-based whole-file Tick-based Elastic Audio–processed region region Figure 2. Imported tick-based audio file with Elastic Audio processing Change the session tempo to change the tempo of Set any other options. the region: Click Apply. Change the tempo from the default 120 BPM In Figure 3 below, notice that the audio has to 110 BPM (see “Tempo”...
  • Page 786 Figure 3. Quantized audio events (Warp markers) in Warp view Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 787: Elastic Audio Tracks

    To enable Elastic Audio on a track: Elastic Audio Tracks Create a new audio track or choose an existing audio track. Any audio track in your Pro Tools session can be Elastic Audio enabled. Elastic Audio tracks can Click the track’s Elastic Audio Plug-in selector, be either sample- or tick-based.
  • Page 788 From the track’s Elastic Audio Plug-in pop-up Alternate Playlists menu, select Real-Time Processing or Rendered Disabling Elastic Audio on a track affects all Processing for Real-Time or Rendered Elastic Au- playlists on the track. All playlists on the track dio processing. are committed or reverted depending on which option you choose.
  • Page 789 Elastic Audio Track Controls Elastic Audio Track Views Audio tracks provide controls for enabling Elas- There are two special Track Views for Elastic Au- tic Audio, selecting the Elastic Audio plug-in, dio-enabled tracks: Warp and Analysis. and selecting whether Real-Time or Rendered Elastic Audio processing.

  • Page 790: Elastic Audio Analysis

    Analyzed files in which no tempo was detected Elastic Audio Analysis are treated as sample-based files. If there is only a single transient in the file (such as with a sin- When recording, pasting, moving, or importing gle snare hit), no tempo will be detected. Also, un-analyzed audio to an Elastic Audio-enabled longer files that contain tempo changes or ru- track, or when enabling Elastic Audio on an ex-...

  • Page 791: Real-Time And Rendered Elastic Audio Processing

    Pro Tools is very aggressive with its transient de- Real-Time and Rendered tection in order to detect every possible audio Elastic Audio Processing event. Consequently, it is possible to have erro- neously detected events. These events will be Real-Time Elastic Audio processing means that analyzed with a low degree of confidence and any changes to Elastic Audio processing—...

  • Page 792: Elastic Audio Plug-Ins

    Warp Elastic Audio Region indicators Clip indicators Elastic Audio Region Clip indicator Elastic Audio Plug-in selector and pop-up menu Elastic Audio Plug-ins To toggle between Real-Time and Rendered Pro Tools provides several algorithms for real- Elastic Audio processing, Control-Start-click time and rendered track-based Elastic Audio pro- (Windows) or Command-Control-click cessing.
  • Page 793 Plug-ins Settings Select Button Accesses the Elastic Audio Plug-in Window Controls Plug-in Settings dialog, which lists the presets The Elastic Audio Plug-in window provides a set for the current plug-in. From this list, you can of controls in the window header that are com- select a new preset, or audition a series of pre- mon to all Elastic Audio plug-ins.
  • Page 794 Polyphonic Recommended Type of Material The Polyphonic plug-in is a general, all-purpose Window Size algorithm that is effective with a wide range of General purpose 30–40 ms material. For complex loops and multi-instru- ment mixes, use the Polyphonic plug-in. The Percussive 20 ms or lower Polyphonic plug-in supports region-based pitch...
  • Page 795 Monophonic Varispeed The Monophonic plug-in is best suited to mono- Use the Varispeed plug-in to link time and pitch phonic material where you want to keep the for- changes for tape-like speed change effects, and mant relationships intact, such as with vocals. post production workflows.

  • Page 796: Editing In Warp View

    Quality Editing in Warp View Select either Maximum or Low (Faster) from the In Warp view, you can manually “time warp” Quality pop-up menu. Maximum is the slowest (TCE) audio to correct or adjust the timing of a processing algorithm, but provides the highest performance, or create special effects.
  • Page 797 In Warp view, you can add, relocate (without Event Markers warping), and delete Warp markers. You can Event markers indicate detected (or manually also move a Warp marker to apply Elastic Audio created) audio events. Event markers are only processing (see “Warping Audio” on page 780). displayed in Warp view and Analysis view.
  • Page 798 To relocate a Warp marker (without applying Tempo Event–Generated Warp Markers warping): Tempo Event–generated Warp markers are not With the Grabber or the Pencil tool, Start- editable and are only displayed to indicate click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) and drag where Elastic Audio processing has been applied a Warp marker to a new location.
  • Page 799 To apply Telescoping Warp to a region: Workflow Example In Warp view, do one of the following: Beat match a song to the session tempo and • With the Grabber tool, drag any Event Bar|Beat grid using Telescoping Warp: marker that is after the last Warp marker in Make sure the Main Timebase ruler is set to the region to the left or right to Telescope- Bars|Beats.
  • Page 800 Accordion Warp Range Warp Accordion Warp applies Elastic Audio process- Range Warp applies Elastic Audio processing be- ing on both sides of a singe Warp marker in a re- tween two fixed points in a region. To apply gion. This lets you expand or compress the au- Range Warp, there must be at least two Warp dio equally on both sides of a fixed point.
  • Page 801 Elastic Audio processing is only applied to the Range Warp with an Edit Selection audio between the bounding Warp markers and Pro Tools lets you apply Range Warp between the first and last Warp markers in the Edit Selec- bounding Warp markers, but keeps the timing tion.
  • Page 802 Warped Regions Out of Range Processing Regions that have been warped either manually Pro Tools lets you apply extreme amounts of or automatically by tempo change, quantiza- Elastic Audio processing. However, at such ex- tion, or pitch shifting display a Warp indicator tremes, it is possible to go out of the selected in the upper right-hand corner of the region.

  • Page 803: Editing In Analysis View

    Removing Region Warping Editing in Analysis View If you have applied any warping to a region, you In Analysis view, you can add, move, promote, can remove warping and revert the region to its and delete Event markers. Usually, Pro Tools ac- original duration.
  • Page 804 Adding Event Markers Promoting Event Markers Event markers are detected with relative degrees To add an Event marker: of confidence (between 1% and 100%). You can In Analysis view, do one of the following: filter out extraneous Event markers by adjusting •...

  • Page 805: Elastic Properties

    Deleting Event Markers Elastic Properties To delete an Event marker: Each region on an Elastic Audio-enabled track In Analysis view, do one of the following: has specific Elastic Audio properties (such as tempo, meter, TCE factor, Input Gain, and Pitch •...
  • Page 806 There are different Elastic Properties available in To change the Source Length of a region: the Elastic Properties window, depending on Open the Elastic Properties window for the re- whether the track is tick-based or sample-based. gion. If the track is sample-based, a reduced set of Elas- Do one of the following: tic Audio Properties are displayed.
  • Page 807 The Event Sensitivity acts like a threshold for Meter (Tick-Based Only) showing only the transient events that were de- Elastic Audio analysis does not calculate meter tected with a high degree of confidence. In and assumes all files are in 4/4. If you work with Warp or Analysis track views you will see the meters other than 4/4, use the Meter property to number of Event markers decrease or increase as...

  • Page 808: Elastic Audio Region-Based Pitch Shifting

    Reset Elastic Audio Region-Based Click the Reset button to reset event analysis Pitch Shifting data for the region to match the original file. (Polyphonic, Rhythmic, and X-Form Only) The Event Sensitivity property is reset to 100%. In addition to Pro Tools Elastic Audio time com- Input Gain pression and expansion capabilities, you can It is possible to encounter clipping when time...
  • Page 809 Do one of the following: • Adjust the Transpose By settings by an amount in semitones and cents. – or – • Adjust the Transpose From and To settings by an amount in Semitones and Cents. The Transpose All Notes To and the Trans- pose In Key settings can only be applied to MIDI notes.

  • Page 810: Audiosuite Processing And Elastic Audio Regions

    To remove region pitch shifting: Select the region for which you want to re- move warping. Do one of the following: • Choose Region > Remove Pitch Shift. – or – • With any Edit tool, Right-click the region and select Remove Pitch Shift. Remove Pitch Shift can only be applied to regions and cannot be applied to region groups.

  • Page 811: Moving Elastic Audio Between Tracks

    Moving Elastic Audio Between Tracks Pro Tools analyzes, conforms, and commits audio in different ways when moving audio regions be- tween tracks with Elastic Audio enabled and tracks without Elastic Audio enabled. Table 39 on page 793 shows the different results for moving regions between real-time Elastic Audio-enabled tracks, Rendered Elastic Audio-enabled tracks, and audio tracks without Elastic Audio.

  • Page 812: Fades And Microfades

    Microfades Fades and MicroFades Real-time Elastic Audio processing is not com- pletely deterministic. Consequently, depending Fades and Elastic Audio Processing on where you start playback, the part of a region When applying fades to warped regions (regions being played might actually be a few samples that have been processed by Elastic Audio), the longer or shorter.

  • Page 813: Elastic Audio Preferences

    Default Input Gain Lets you attenuate the signal Elastic Audio Preferences input to Elastic Audio plug-ins by 0 to –6 dB for preview and import. If you experience clipping The Elastic Audio settings in the Processing Pref- due to Elastic Audio processing during preview erences page determine which Elastic Audio or after import, you may want to set the Default plug-in is used for preview and import, and...
  • Page 814 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 815: Chapter 39. Event Operations

    Chapter 39: Event Operations To open a specific Event Operations window page: Event Operations Window Choose Event > Event Operations, followed by one of the Event Operations (such as Quantize). The Event Operations window provides com- mands to transform groups of MIDI notes to af- fect pitch, timing, and phrasing.

  • Page 816: Quantize

    Changing a value for a particular control If the Event Operations window is already (such as the Swing Percentage in the Quantize open, you can select any of the pages from window), automatically enables the control. the pop-up menu at the top of the window. To apply an Event Operations command, do one of Quantize the following:...
  • Page 817 To select Groove Quantize: You can also quantize MIDI input, see “In- From the Quantize Grid pop-up menu, select put Quantize” on page 820. a groove template. The settings in the Quantize window are Grid Quantize saved with each session. To store your fa- vorite settings for use in future sessions, The Quantize window can apply Grid Quantize save them as part of a session template (see...
  • Page 818 If the options for both Note On and Note Off are Elastic Audio Events When selected in the What selected, the Preserve Note Durations option is to Quantize pop-up menu, Quantize is applied unavailable. to detected transient events within the Edit se- lection on Elastic Audio-enabled tracks.
  • Page 819 Randomize When selected, MIDI notes, Elastic Figure 6 shows the Quantize Grid set to quarter Audio events, and audio regions are moved ran- notes with the Include Within option set to domly forward or back in time (after the Quan- 50%.
  • Page 820 Grid Quantize Examples Quantizing While Preserving the Original “Feel” The following examples illustrate some of the You can quantize less strictly, to preserve the more common uses for Grid Quantize. original feel of your recorded MIDI and audio If you intend to loop playback while quantizing, tracks.
  • Page 821 Quantizing with Swing Quantizing with Randomize If you are working with MIDI hi-hats or bass If quantized events sound too mechanical or lines or audio equivalents, you may want to ap- “on the beat,” use the Randomize option in the ply more of a swing feel when quantizing.
  • Page 822 Groove Quantize Groove Templates Groove templates (such as DigiGroove tem- In the Quantize window, you can apply Groove plates) are “quantization maps” derived from Quantize when a groove template is selected in real musical performances. The rhythmic char- the Quantize Grid pop-up menu. Groove quan- acter of each performance is analyzed and stored tize adjusts MIDI note locations and durations, as a groove template.
  • Page 823 For example, if an event was played at Bar Quantize Grid 1|1|060 (a 16th note), and the corresponding Quantize Grid Pop-Up Menu Determines which template event is at 1|1|073, a slider value of groove template to use for quantization. All 100% results in the event being shifted to groove template files in the Grooves folder are 1|1|073 (a slider value of 200% shifts the note to...
  • Page 824 Slider Settings Applying Groove Templates Groove templates can be of any length and can To Save the groove template with the current be applied to any number of bars. Typically, you Options Slider Settings: will apply groove templates to selections of the In the Quantize window, select Recall with same bar length and meter.
  • Page 825 Figure 8. A DigiGroove template (derived from the audio shown) applied to a series of sixteenth-notes with Timing and Velocity both set to 100% Mapping Groove Templates Template Mapping for Equal Meters And Odd Numbered Bars Pro Tools applies groove templates relative to If a two-bar groove template is applied to a selec- the song start.
  • Page 826 Template Mapping for Equal Meters And Even If the Groove Template contains more beats Bars than the selection on a track, such as a one-bar template in 6/4 being applied to a two-bar selec- If a selection starts on an even bar, only the ap- tion in 4/4, only uses the appropriate number of propriate portion of the groove template will be beats.
  • Page 827 audio regions without applying TCE, and is es- pecially useful when working with “one-shot” regions (single-event regions) such as sliced re- 3-bar selection of changing meters gions or region groups. Use Restore Performance to undo quantiza- (not used) tion of audio and MIDI. See “Restore Perfor- 4/4 bar 1 mance”...

  • Page 828: Restore Performance

    Quantizing Audio Regions Quantizing Mixed Selections Pro Tools lets you quantize audio region start You can apply Quantize to both MIDI notes and times (or sync points) using the Quantize opera- audio regions, or both MIDI notes and Elastic tion. Audio region start times (or sync points) Audio events at the same time.
  • Page 829 Duration Restores the original durations of the Any changes made through the Quantize, Change selected notes. If the Timing (Quantization) option Duration (MIDI only), Change Velocity (MIDI is not enabled, the start times of selected notes only), or Transpose commands are undone and are not restored and the end times are affected.

  • Page 830: Flatten Performance

    Velocities can also be edited manually with the Flatten Performance Pencil and Grabber tools (see “Manually Editing MIDI Notes” on page 582). The Flatten Performance command “locks in” the current performance for selected notes, creating a new “restore to” state for the specified note at- tributes when using Restore Performance.
  • Page 831 Note On Applies the Change Velocity options to value of 64, and with Randomize enabled and set the MIDI Note On. to a value of 50%, the resulting velocities will be anywhere between 48 and 80 (+/– 25% of the Note Off Applies the Change Velocity options to velocity value).

  • Page 832: Change Duration

    Preserving Existing Velocity Relationships Change Duration To partially preserve the existing velocity rela- The Change Duration command adjusts dura- tionships and still achieve velocity fades, use the tions for selected MIDI notes. Use it to affect the option for Change Smoothly by Percentage. articulation of the selected notes by making Figure 9 illustrates the difference between the them more staccato or legato.
  • Page 833 Set/Add/Subtract/Scale Option Change Continuously Option Set All To Sets all durations to a length specified The Change Continuously option lets you change in quarter notes and ticks. the duration of notes continuously in ticks or by percentage. Adjust the Curve slider to modify Add Adds to the durations by a specified number the shape of the change.

  • Page 834: Transpose

    Click Apply. The durations for the selected The Transpose command can also be applied to notes are reduced by 50%. whole regions on Elastic Audio-enabled tracks using the Polyphonic, Rhythmic, or X-Form With this option you may have to experiment plug-ins.
  • Page 835 Transpose (From and To) Transposes selected Select the Transpose By option. MIDI notes, or selected Elastic Audio regions, by Enter a value of –1 octave. semitones, as expressed by the difference be- tween the source and destination pitches. Trans- Click Apply. posing from C3 to F#3, for example, transposes the notes up by an augmented fourth (six semi- To transpose selected notes in key:...

  • Page 836: Select/Split Notes

    Other Criteria Select/Split Notes Velocity Enable the Velocity option to specify a The Select/Split Notes window provides a com- range of velocities for selecting or splitting plete set of tools to select and split MIDI notes notes. Enter minimum and maximum veloci- based on a wide variety of criteria.
  • Page 837 Selecting and Splitting Notes Selecting a Pitch Range of Notes A common use for Select/Split Notes is to select To select and split notes: a single note for the entire length of a region or Do one of the following: track.

  • Page 838: Input Quantize

    Selecting Notes in a Chord Input Quantize Another use for Select/Split Notes is to select When Input Quantize is enabled, all recorded only the upper or lower notes in a chord. Many MIDI notes are quantized automatically. times you may only want to affect the upper or lower notes in a chord—for example, to increase velocities or transpose pitches.

  • Page 839: Step Input

    Step Input When Step Input is enabled, each previ- ously record-enabled MIDI or Instrument Step Input lets you use a MIDI controller to en- track is taken out of record enable, and if ter notes individually, one step at a time. This the Default Thru Instrument preference is gives you precise control over note placement, defined, it is disabled.
  • Page 840 Destination Lets you select the destination track Enable Numeric Keypad Shortcuts When se- for the Step Input from a pop-up list of all the lected, Step Input options can be selected from MIDI tracks in your session. the numeric keypad. See “Numeric Keypad Shortcuts”...
  • Page 841 While the note is being held, the Step Increment Numeric Keypad Shortcuts value can be changed, allowing you to create When Enable Numeric Keypad Shortcuts is se- notes of any musical length. lected, you can apply many of the controls in Redo Step Reinserts the last note that was re- the Step Input page, as well as several selection moved by the Undo Step operation.
  • Page 842 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 843: Part Ix Mixing

    Part IX: Mixing...

  • Page 845: Chapter 40. Basic Mixing

    Chapter 40: Basic Mixing In addition to the final mixdown, mixing tasks Format Compatibility Monitoring Check stereo can occur any time during a session. This chap- mixes for compatibility with mono playback ter covers Pro Tools mixing, including audio sig- systems, and multichannel surround mixes for nal flow, output and bus paths, sends, and sig- compatibility with stereo playback systems.

  • Page 846: Signal Flow By Track Type

    Audio Tracks Signal Flow by Track Type Audio tracks play audio from disk, record audio Pro Tools provides the following track types: to disk, and monitor input signals when record- • Audio enabled or in TrackInput monitoring mode. In- serts on audio tracks are pre-fader. Sends on au- •...
  • Page 847 Auxiliary Input Tracks Common Uses for Auxiliary Inputs Auxiliary Inputs can be used to: Auxiliary Input tracks provide the same signal routing options as audio tracks, except that their • Apply real-time plug-ins or an external pro- input must come from an internal bus or hard- cessor to a submix, using the Auxiliary In- ware input.
  • Page 848 Master Fader Tracks Master Faders provide up to five post-fader in- serts and no sends. Also, Master Fader tracks do Master Fader tracks control the master output not have Pan sliders, or Mute and Solo buttons. levels of output and bus paths. When assigned to an active output or bus path, they provide If you absolutely must have a pre-fader in- post-fader effects processing and master level...
  • Page 849 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 850 Common Uses for Instrument Tracks VCA Master Tracks (Pro Tools HD Only) By playing back MIDI from or through an In- strument track you can control and monitor the VCA Master tracks emulate the operation of audio from: voltage-controlled amplifier channels on analog •...
  • Page 851 VCA Slave Track Control Indications VCA Master Track Controls Unlike VCAs on traditional analog consoles, The controls on a VCA Master track affect the VCA Master tracks in Pro Tools directly affect corresponding controls on the slave tracks in its their slave tracks, so that the controls on each assigned Mix group.
  • Page 852 Record Enable The channel format of level meters on the VCA Master is set according to the channel formats of The VCA Record Enable button toggles the its slave tracks, as follows: Record Enable status of only those audio, Instru- •...

  • Page 853: Inserts

    To assign a new group to a VCA Master: Inserts While creating a new group, select Mix or Mix/Edit as the Group type. Pro Tools lets you insert up to ten inserts (A–E and F–J) on each audio, Auxiliary Input, Master In the Group dialog, choose an available VCA Fader, or Instrument track.

  • Page 854: Views In The Mix And Edit Windows

    This restricts all hardware inserts or plug-ins af- Window View Selectors ter the stereo plug-in to be stereo-in/stereo-out Both the Edit window and Mix window provide plug-ins (or the supported multichannel for- Window View selectors to configure their views. mat). Plug-in Formats Pro Tools supports mono and stereo plug-ins, including the following three types of plug-in...
  • Page 855 Comments View Shows any text entered as com- Displaying Views ments in the Track Name/Comments dialog. For more information, see “Naming Tracks” on To display all views in the Mix or Edit window, do one of the following: page 166. Select View >...
  • Page 856 Inserts View (Inserts A–E and Inserts F–J) Shows Click on the volume or pan indicators in the inserts (software plug-ins and hardware I/O in- Edit window I/O View to adjust the volume or serts) in each track. For more information, see pan controls with a pop-up fader.

  • Page 857: Audio Input And Output Paths

    Delay Compensation View (Mix Window on Audio Input and Output Paths Pro Tools HD Only) The Delay Compensation View displays the total amount of plug-in (TDM Pro Tools lets you configure the physical input and RTAS) and hardware insert delay on each and outputs of your audio interfaces and also in- track, lets you apply a user offset of track delay, ternal bus paths and subpaths in the I/O Setup...
  • Page 858 Output Audio Path Output Windows Output windows provide the essential track Track Output Path selectors route the post-fader mixing controls (such as track panning and vol- signals to the assigned output or bus paths. The ume), as an alternative to Mix and Edit window Output Path selector routes the main track out- views.
  • Page 859 Display of Multiple Output Assignments Inactive Outputs and DSP Resources When a track is assigned to multiple output Making a track output inactive silences the out- paths, the Output Path selector denotes multi- put, while retaining all automation and playlist ple assignment status and active/inactive status data.

  • Page 860: Sends

    Assigning Sends to Tracks Sends To add a send to a track: Pro Tools lets you insert up to ten sends (A–E and F–J) on each audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Make sure Sends View is enabled in the Mix or Instrument track.
  • Page 861 The send can be a mono or stereo (or any of the To change the default setting for sends: supported multichannel formats for surround Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Mix- mixing) output or bus path. ing tab. Do one of the following: •...
  • Page 862 Internal Mix Busses Pro Tools HD provides 128 Configuring Sends View in the Mix busses and Pro Tools LE provides 32 busses for and Edit Windows routing signals internally. Internal bus paths are Audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Instrument useful for submixing and processing with plug- tracks include two sets of Sends Views: Sends ins.
  • Page 863 Assignments View Individual Send Views (A–J) This is the default Sends View, showing all five Individual Send Views (such as Send A) provide of the Sends A–E or Sends F–J sends on all tracks send level, pan, and mute controls for a single displayed in the Mix and Edit windows.
  • Page 864 To clear a send meter’s Clip indicator: Click the Clip indicator. To clear all meters, do one of the following: Send Assignment selectors Option-click any Clip indicator. Choose Track > Clear All Clip Indicators. Press Alt+C (Windows) or Option+C (Mac). In Assignment View, edit sends by opening Sends Views, A–E set to “A”...
  • Page 865 Inactive Sends To toggle sends in the same position (A–J) and assigned to the same path on all tracks active or Sends can be made inactive. Inactive sends free inactive: their DSP and mixer resources, while retaining Control-Start-Alt click (Windows) or Com- their position in track Sends View.
  • Page 866 Send Format and Track Compatibility Linking Send Pan and Main Pan Controls Sends can only be copied to other tracks with a compatible send output format (mono, stereo, You can link pan controls of individual Sends to or other). In addition, the following conditions the Main pan controls of their corresponding apply when moving or copying sends among tracks.

  • Page 867: Output Windows For Tracks And Sends

    To open a Send window: Output Windows for Tracks Click the Send Assignment button in the Mix and Sends or Edit window. Track outputs and sends can be opened for dis- play and editing in dedicated windows. • Track Output windows provide track fader, pan, automation, solo, and mute controls.
  • Page 868 Opening Multiple Output Windows Panner Linking Multiple track and Send windows can be dis- Stereo outputs provide two panning controls, played simultaneously using either of the fol- one for each side of the left/right pair. Multi- lowing methods. channel outputs provide a multichannel pan- ner.
  • Page 869 Inverse Linked Panning Standard Selector Controls in Output Windows When linked and set to Inverse mode, panning moves are inverted or reversed in the other All Output windows provide standard selectors channels. for path, automation, and other controls in the top area of the window (the Output Editor area).
  • Page 870 Inverse Pan Reflects one side’s panning location Track Fader, Pan Controls, and Solo, and direction in the other side (for example, Mute, and Automation Controls left- and right-channel Pan controls). Output windows provide the associated track’s Link and Unlink Lets you link and unlink left and Volume fader, Pan controls, Solo and Mute right (or other) outputs in stereo (or multichan- switches, and Automation Mode selector.

  • Page 871: Signal Routing For Monitoring And Submixing

    To display the controls for a different send on the To use an Auxiliary Input track to monitor and mix same track: external audio sources: Click the Send View selector and select the Connect the audio outputs of your audio send.
  • Page 872 Select an instrument plug-in from the first In- If you are controlling the Instrument plug-in sert selector on the Instrument track (such as from the Instrument track, you can also mix us- Digidesign’s Xpand ing the MIDI Volume and Pan controls in the In- strument View.
  • Page 873 Assign the track output to the appropriate To monitor and mix audio from an Instrument plug- in with multiple audio outputs: path or paths for monitoring. Use an existing or create a new Instrument track. MIDI Input selector MIDI Mute MIDI Output selector Choose View >...
  • Page 874 Adjust the Auxiliary Input faders to mix the Discrete Submix Output individual outputs of the plug-in. Pro Tools lets you discretely route source audio through a submix. This is preferred for dither or Instrument plug-in other mastering processing, where you do not want unprocessed audio heard in addition to the processed signals.
  • Page 875 You can also bounce a submix to disk to free up From the Auxiliary Input track’s Output Path the voices for use by other tracks. See selector, select an output path (main outputs). Chapter 43, “Mixdown” for more information. Adjust the individual track faders to balance the dry (unprocessed) tracks.
  • Page 876 Send and Return Submixes with The amount of effect is controlled by the level of the Send Level fader or the Auxiliary Input Vol- External Devices ume fader. To create an effects return submix with an external device: Assign each track’s main output to your main mix outputs.
  • Page 877 Adjust the Auxiliary Input track fader to control Creating Monitor Submixes the volume for the monitor mix. Route track sends to one or more Auxiliary Input tracks to monitor submixes in a studio environ- ment. You can monitor the main mix in the control room on one or more pairs of audio out- puts while you route a submix to another pair of audio outputs for a headphone or “cue”...

  • Page 878: Delay Compensation

    Do one of the following: Delay Compensation • Set the output of the Master Fader to the same path that you are using to send to an (Pro Tools HD Only) Auxiliary Input track. Pro Tools provides automatic Delay Compensa- •...
  • Page 879 Configuring Delay Compensation Delay Compensation Limit Engine The Delay Compensation limit is displayed in samples in the Delay Compensation Engine The amount of Delay Compensation available pop-up menu in the Playback Engine dialog. for your session is set in the Playback Engine. This is the maximum amount of Delay Compen- The total amount of delay due to inserts and sation available for the session.
  • Page 880 Delay Compensation View The display color indicates reported track delay, as follows: The Delay Compensation View displays the to- Green Indicates that track delay reporting is en- tal amount of plug-in (TDM and RTAS) and abled and the track does not exceed the avail- hardware insert delay on each track, lets you ap- able amount of Delay Compensation.
  • Page 881 Blue (Audio Tracks Only) Indicates that Delay To change track delay using the User Offset field: Compensation is force-enabled on the track. In the Delay Compensation View, click in the When the track is record-enabled or TrackInput- User Offset edit field. enabled, Delay Compensation is not suspended To set your delay value (in samples or millisec- and remains enabled (see “Overriding Sus-...
  • Page 882 To compensate for delay that exceeds the Overriding Suspended Delay Compensation compensation limit, do one of the following: You can override the automatic suspension of If the Delay Compensation Engine setting in Delay Compensation on record-enabled tracks, the Playback Engine is set to Short, change the but you may introduce latency in the signal setting to Long.
  • Page 883 the processed audio play early. The steps to pre- Delay Compensation for MIDI vent this and keep audio time-aligned depend When Delay Compensation is active, a MIDI on the type of track on which the plug-in re- event that is recorded to sound “in time” with sides.

  • Page 884: Dither

    mix monitoring. For example, when recording a Dither guitarist, they may want to hear themselves more in the cue mix than you will want to hear Dither is used to minimize quantization artifacts in the main mix. when reducing the bit depth of an audio signal, for example, from 24-bit to 16-bit.
  • Page 885 AudioSuite Dither Some AudioSuite plug-ins can Dithered Mixer Plug-ins (Pro Tools HD Only) automatically apply dither when processing. Digidesign has developed a mixer that provides You can select this option in the Processing Pref- all of the benefits of the standard Stereo Mixer erences page.

  • Page 886: Using An Ethernet Control Surface With Pro Tools

    Using an Ethernet Control Using a MIDI Control Surface Surface with Pro Tools with Pro Tools Digidesign offers several Ethernet-based control MIDI Control Surfaces add hands-on control to surface options for Pro Tools. many Pro Tools functions, allowing you to ad- just faders and knobs, activate transport con- Digidesign D-Control and D-Command trols, or edit plug-in parameters.
  • Page 887 Choose Setup > Peripherals and click the MIDI you will need to use a MIDI Interface, such as Controllers tab. the Digidesign MIDI I/O or M-Audio MIDISPORT). USB MIDI control surfaces (such Choose your MIDI control surface device as the Command|8) and FireWire control sur- name from the Type pop-up menu.
  • Page 888 Enabling the MIDI Control Surface as an Input Device You must ensure that the MIDI control surface is enable as an input device in Pro Tools. To enable a MIDI control surface as an input device: Choose Setup > MIDI > Input Devices. Select the source port that you selected in the Receive From pop-up menu in the MIDI Control- lers page of the Peripherals dialog.

  • Page 889: Chapter 41. Plug-In And Hardware Inserts

    Chapter 41: Plug-in and Hardware Inserts Pro Tools provides up to ten unity-gain inserts Plug-in Inserts Plug-in inserts are software in- on each audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, serts that process audio material on a track in and Instrument track. Audio, Auxiliary Input, real time.
  • Page 890 Insert paths require audio interface inputs and can be controlled from the Auxiliary Input outputs, and are determined by the I/O Setup track. Using sends and other signal routing fea- configuration of your system. tures helps maximize your system’s processing power.
  • Page 891 Multichannel Plug-in Inserts Used on stereo and Depending on your Pro Tools software, plug-ins greater-than-stereo multichannel tracks. On real-time plug-ins can be used as follows: greater-than-stereo multichannel tracks, the Pro Tools HD controls for all channels are generally linked to- gether.
  • Page 892 Voice Usage and Total Latency for Furthermore, one additional voice is used for each occurrence of any of the following condi- RTAS Plug-ins tions when using voices for RTAS plug-ins on a (Pro Tools HD Only) track: With Pro Tools HD, the initial insert of an RTAS •...
  • Page 893 To show (or hide) inserts, do one of the following: Indicating the Controller Focus In the Mix window (or Edit window), select For most control surfaces, only one plug-in can View > Mix Window (or Edit Window) > Inserts A–E be focused at a time.

  • Page 894: Inserting Plug-Ins On Tracks

    To make an insert inactive, do one of the following: Inactive Hardware Inserts Control-Start-click (Windows) or Command- Inactive hardware inserts retain their assign- Control-click (Mac) the Insert button. ments, but do not pass audio and do not con- sume any DSP resources. Right-click the Insert button and select Make Inactive.

  • Page 895: Plug-In Menu Organization

    Ordering Recommendations You can insert a plug-in on a track by drag- When combining RTAS and TDM plug-ins on an ging one of its Plug-ins Settings (.txf) files audio track, use one of the following two strate- from a DigiBase browser onto an available gies based on your recording needs: track Insert position in the Mix window.
  • Page 896 Manufacturer Organizes plug-ins by their manu- facturer (such as Bomb Factory, Digidesign, and Trillium Lane Labs), with individual plug-ins listed in the manufacturer submenus. Plug-ins that do not have a Manufacturer defined will ap- pear in the “Other” manufacturer folder. Plug-ins organized by category (using the Insert selector) Plug in categories include:...
  • Page 897 Click the Organize Plug-in Menus By pop-up To set a default plug-in: menu, and select one of the view options. Choose Setup > Preferences and click Mixing. Click OK. Under Setup, choose a plug-in from the De- fault EQ or Default Dynamics pop-up menu. The Organize Plug-in Menus By setting is saved with Pro Tools preferences (it is not saved with Click OK to close the Preferences window.

  • Page 898: Moving And Duplicating Plug-In And Hardware Inserts

    Moving and Duplicating The Plug-in Window Plug-in and Hardware Inserts The Plug-in window appears whenever you click a plug-in’s Insert button on a track. This floating You can move or duplicate an insert by dragging window lets you edit the adjust the controls of it to a different position on the same track or a any real-time plug-in insert in use on a track.
  • Page 899 Track Selector Accesses any track in the session Preset Controls except MIDI, VCA, and Video tracks. Plug-in Settings menu Insert Position Selector Accesses any insert on the current track. Plug-in Librarian menu Plug-in Selector Lets you select any real-time Compare button plug-in installed in the Plug-ins folder (that is created when you install Pro Tools).
  • Page 900 Automation Controls Parameter Menu When in Learn mode, lets you select a parameter on the plug-in for mapping. If you click a parameter in the plug-in window Auto button while in Learn mode, this menu shows the name of the parameter. Additional Plug-in Controls Automation Safe button Plug-in Bypass button...
  • Page 901 Multi-Mono Controls Opening Multiple Plug-in Windows Pro Tools normally displays a single plug-in Link Enable buttons window from which you can adjust the controls of any session plug-in. You can also open addi- tional Plug-in windows for specific plug-ins. Master Link button Once you begin working with multiple plug-in Channel Selector windows, you will need to click the Target but-...

  • Page 902: Editing Plug-In Controls

    Target Window and Settings Shortcuts Editing Parameters Using a Mouse When multiple plug-in windows are open, a You can adjust rotary controls by dragging hori- highlighted target indicates the target window. zontally or vertically. Parameter values increase Pro Tools keeps a single plug-in target window. as you drag upward or to the right, and decrease Opening a new plug-in opens it as the new tar- as you drag downward or to the left.

  • Page 903: Plug-In Automation And Safe

    Change the value by doing one of the follow- Side-Chain Input ing. • To increase a value, press the Up Arrow on The side-chain input is the split-off signal used your keyboard. by a plug-in's detector to trigger dynamics pro- •...

  • Page 904: Plug-In Presets

    Using a Key Input for External Side- Plug-in Presets Chain Processing Pro Tools makes it easy to create your own li- To use a key input for external side-chain brary of plug-in settings, or presets. Using the processing: Plug-in Settings menu, you can copy, paste, Click the plug-in’s Key Input selector and se- save, and import these settings from plug-in to lect the input or bus carrying the audio you...
  • Page 905 Copy Settings Copies the current plug-in set- Set Root Settings Folder Selects a location or tings. You can then apply these settings to the root folder for saving and importing presets. This same type of plug-in on a different track by root settings folder must be named “Plug-in Set- choosing the track in the Plug-in window and tings.”...
  • Page 906 Creating Subfolders for Settings To import a preset: Choose Import Settings from the Plug-in Set- To make it easier to find specific types of set- tings menu. tings, you can subdivide settings files by creat- ing subfolders for them. Locate the settings file you want to import and click Open.
  • Page 907 The Plug-in Settings dialog includes the follow- To change plug-in presets using the +/– buttons: ing: Click the Plus (+) or Minus (–) buttons to se- lect the next or previous preset. The next (or pre- Folder This pop-up menu lets you switch be- vious) preset is enabled, and the Plug-in tween presets located in root or session folders Librarian menu changes to show the name of...
  • Page 908 Enter a value for the number of seconds that will elapse between each preset change. Select the Increment Setting option. After the specified number of seconds, Pro Tools selects the next preset. When you are finished auditioning presets, do one of the following: •...

  • Page 909: Plug-In Mapping

    Dragging and Dropping Plug-in Settings Files You can insert a plug-in with a specific plug-in settings file, as well as change plug-in settings of inserted plug-ins by dragging and dropping plug-in settings files from a DigiBase browser, Windows Explorer, or the Mac Finder. To insert a plug-in by drag and drop: Drag and drop a plug-in settings file from a DigiBase browser, Windows Explorer, or the Mac...
  • Page 910 • 003 Map Options menu • Digi 002 • Command|8 Map Presets menu • M-Audio Axiom Pro Learn button 24-Fader Surfaces The following have a page size of 24 mappable encoders/switches: Parameter menu Plug-in Map controls in the plug-in window •...
  • Page 911 Learn Button Puts the plug-in in Learn mode, To put a plug-in into Learn mode, do one of the following: where you can map plug-in parameters to a con- trol surface. Click the Learn button in the plug-in window. – or – Parameter Menu When in Learn mode, lets you select a parameter on the plug-in for mapping.
  • Page 912 On the control surface, do one of the follow- Put the plug-in into Learn mode. The plug-in ing: is focused on the control surface. • Turn the encoder or press the channel Se- Do the following for each parameter mapping lect switch where you want to map the pa- you want to remove: rameter.
  • Page 913 From the Map Options pop-up menu, choose To delete all plug-in maps from the system: Save Map As. Open any plug-in in the session. Enter a name for the plug-in map. From the Map Options pop-up menu, choose Delete All Maps. Click OK.
  • Page 914 To set a custom plug-in map as the default plug-in When exporting plug-in maps, you can choose map: to save individual map files for each plug-in, or a single map file containing all the plug-in maps Open the plug-in whose default plug-in map for the system.

  • Page 915: Bypassing Plug-Ins

    Bypassing Plug-ins Linking and Unlinking Controls on Multi-Mono Plug-ins Plug-ins can be bypassed from their Plug-in win- dow, or from the Mix and Edit window Inserts When a multi-mono plug-in is used on a stereo View. track or greater-than-stereo multichannel track (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete When a plug-in insert is bypassed, the In- Production Toolkit Only), the controls are...

  • Page 916: Using Hardware Inserts

    Click the Link Enable buttons for the channels Make sure the insert path is set to the correct whose controls you want to link. For example, format (mono, stereo, or other). on plug-ins that do provide discrete LFE controls Map inserts in the Channel Grid as needed. from the LFE Enable button, you can link all Insert and Output paths have special rules re- channels except the LFE by highlighting the...

  • Page 917: Connecting And Integrating External Devices

    Connecting and Integrating To set up a digital send to an external device from a Pro Tools|HD system: External Devices Do one of the following: Pro Tools can create dedicated connections to • On a 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, external analog or digital devices.
  • Page 918 Configure input routing of the digital source, If you set the Optical Format to S/PDIF, using the Input and Output pop-up menus, if Pro Tools will watch the Optical port for necessary. any audio input, and ignore any audio in- Click OK to close the Hardware Setup dialog.

  • Page 919: Chapter 42. Automation

    Chapter 42: Automation Pro Tools features dynamic automation of mix- Automation QuickStart ing controls on each of the track types. You can write automation moves and view them in real Pro Tools provides many options for recording, time during playback of your session. You can replacing, and editing automation data.

  • Page 920: Automation Playlists

    On VCA Master tracks (Pro Tools HD only), Automation Playlists these parameters include: • Volume Each Pro Tools track contains a single automa- • Volume Trim tion playlist for each automatable parameter. • Mute On audio tracks, these parameters include: You can display and edit each of these automat- •...
  • Page 921 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 922: Automation Modes

    “After Write Pass, Switch To” Option Automation Modes You can set Pro Tools to automatically change Automation modes control how a track’s auto- to Touch mode or Latch mode, or remain in mation data is written and played back. Each Write mode after the completion of an automa- track provides an Automation Mode selector for tion pass in Write mode.
  • Page 923 Latch Mode To enable AutoJoin from Pro Tools: Choose Window > Automation. Latch mode works in the same way as Touch mode, writing automation only if you touch or Click the AutoJoin button. move a control. However, unlike Touch, writing of automation continues until you stop play- back or “punch out”...
  • Page 924 AutoJoin Indicator Touch/Latch Mode (Pro Tools HD Only) After a Latch automation pass with AutoJoin en- abled, the AutoJoin indicator appears in the Touch/Latch Automation mode places a track’s Pro Tools Edit window. Volume control in Touch mode and all other au- tomatable controls in Latch mode.
  • Page 925 When writing automation in Trim mode, fader Read Trim moves write relative rather than absolute values. In Read Trim mode, Volume and Send level The existing automation data is changed by the Trim faders are disengaged from the main auto- amount of increase or decrease (or the delta mation playlist and follow any existing Trim au- value) indicated by the faders.

  • Page 926: Automation Preferences

    Latch Trim The “After Write Pass, Switch To” prefer- In Latch Trim mode, Volume and Send level ence affects Write Trim mode. After an au- Trim faders are disengaged from the main auto- tomation pass in Write/Trim mode, tracks mation playlist and follow any existing Trim au- automatically switch to the Trim mode ver- tomation.
  • Page 927 setting in the Automation Preferences page. Send Levels and Trim Mode When using high amounts of thinning, the re- (Pro Tools HD Only) sulting automation may differ noticeably from the original automation moves. Thinning only You can set Pro Tools to exclude Send levels applies to audio tracks, and does not affect MIDI from Trim mode, so that only the Main Volume tracks.

  • Page 928: Viewing Automation

    Automation Safe Track Views Outputs, sends, and plug-ins can be placed in You can view automation data by type by select- Automation Safe mode. In Automation Safe ing the corresponding Track View. mode, any automation associated with an Out- put window (such as track or send level, pan- To display an automation playlist in the Track View: ning, or mute), or plug-in on that track, is pro-...
  • Page 929 Automation and Controller Lanes To change the Automation or Controller type for a lane: In the Edit window, you can view automation Click the Automation/Controller Type selec- and controller data under a track (regardless of tor and select the Automation or Controller type the selected Track View).
  • Page 930 To resize the height of all Automation and To display the Trim automation playlist along with Controller lanes for a track, do one of the main automation playlist on tracks: following: Select View > Automation > Trim Playlist. Right-click on the vertical zoom scale just to the right of the track controls and select the Volume Trim...

  • Page 931: Writing Automation

    AutoMatch Indicators There are triangular AutoMatch indicators at the bottom left of each channel strip in the Mix window. When lit, these indicate the direction the fader will automatically move when Auto- Matching. AutoMatch indicator Automation window In the Mix or Edit window, click the Automa- tion Mode selector on each of the tracks you Triangular AutoMatch indicators on a channel strip want to automate, and set the Automation...
  • Page 932 After the first automation pass, you can write In this initial state, only a single automation additional automation to the track without breakpoint appears at the beginning of each au- completely erasing the previous pass by choos- tomation playlist. If you move the control with- ing Touch mode or Latch mode.
  • Page 933 To automate a switched control (such as the Mute Setting Switched Controls for button): Momentary Behavior Perform another automation pass on the In some cases, such as when overwriting or ex- track. tending Mute automation, you may want to momentarily write automation for a control by When you reach the location of the mute state holding it down, and not have the control latch.
  • Page 934 To display send controls, do one of the follow- ing: • Click the send to open the Output window for the send that you want to automate. – or – • Select View > Sends A–E (or Sends F–J) and select one of the individual views (such as Send A).
  • Page 935 To enable plug-in controls for automation: To automate a plug-in: Open the Plug-in window for the plug-in you In the Plug-in Automation Enable window, want to automate. make sure plug-in automation is enabled for the controls you want to automate. Do one of the following: In the Mix or Edit window, for each track con- •...
  • Page 936 Enabling Automation for All Plug-in Color coding for automated plug-in parameters Parameters Touch, Automation Read Latch, Mode: To enable all plug-in parameters: Write Make sure the plug-in window is open for the No Control none Green plug-in you want to automate. Surface Control+Alt+Start-click (Windows) or Com- Control...
  • Page 937 AutoMatching All Controls To AutoMatch all controls of one automation type: In the Automation window, Control-click You can AutoMatch all currently writing con- (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) the button trols to their existing automation levels. for the automation type (Volume, Pan, Mute, Plug-in, Send level, Send pan, or Send mute).
  • Page 938 To AutoMatch all controls for a plug-in displayed in While the transport is stopped, touch or move the Dynamics or EQ section: the controls you want to start writing at the be- ginning of the automation pass. When at least Hold Control (Windows) or Command (Mac) one control on a track is primed, the Automa- and press the Auto switch in the Dyn or EQ sec-...
  • Page 939 When you take a track or automation type out To take all selected tracks out of Latch Prime, do one of the following: of Latch Prime during an automation pass, the corresponding controls AutoMatch to their cur- Alt-Control-Shift-click (Windows) or Option- rently written values.

  • Page 940: Enabling And Suspending Automation

    Rolling Through Automation Punch Enabling and Suspending Points in Latch Prime Automation After you prime controls for writing automation From the Automation window, you can enable while the transport is stopped, you can set or suspend writing for the following types of au- Pro Tools to automatically punch in at that tomation across all tracks: point after issuing a back and play command, or...
  • Page 941 To suspend automation for individual controls on a track: Suspend button In the Edit window, set the Track View selector to show the automation playlist for the control you want to suspend. Do one of the following: • To suspend writing and playback of auto- mation for only the displayed control, Control-click (Windows) or Command- click (Mac) the control name in the Track...
  • Page 942 Viewing Automation Enable Automation Window Buttons Status When an automation type is writing automa- tion on any track in the session, the correspond- Track Automation Mode Selectors ing button in the Automation window displays When a track is enabled for automation but bold red text.

  • Page 943: 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 944: Drawing Automation

    Using Smooth and Thin Data After Pass Drawing Automation When this option is selected in the Mixing Pref- Use the Pencil tool to create automation events erences page, Pro Tools automatically thins the for audio and MIDI tracks by drawing in any au- automation breakpoint data after each automa- tomation or MIDI controller playlist, including tion pass.

  • Page 945: Editing Automation

    The illustrations below show the same MIDI Using Pencil Tool Shapes controller automation drawn with different You can draw automation for audio as well as Pencil tool resolution settings. MIDI tracks. For example, use the Triangle pat- tern to control continuous functions, or the Square pattern to control switched functions such as Mute or Bypass.
  • Page 946 Graphical Editing of Automation Using the Pencil Tool Data The Pencil tool lets you create new breakpoints by clicking once on the graph line. Alt-click Automation data takes the form of a line graph (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) breakpoints with editable breakpoints. By dragging these with the Pencil tool to remove them.
  • Page 947 Editing Pan Automation Editing Stepped Control Automation Drag a breakpoint down to pan right, and up to Automation for certain controls (such as MIDI pan left. Drag a breakpoint to the left or right to controller values or plug-in settings) appears as a adjust the timing of the panning moves.
  • Page 948 To edit several breakpoints at once: Constrain New Breakpoints to Next or Previous Automation Value Use the Selector tool to select a range in the automation playlist that contains the break- New automation breakpoints can be con- points, and do one of the following: strained and written to the same value as the •...
  • Page 949 Editing Automation on Stereo and Multichannel Tracks Stereo and multichannel tracks display a single automation playlist per track. Only one playlist for volume and mute is available for the stereo or multichannel track. Plug-in Automation Playlists on Stereo and Multichannel Tracks Some multichannel plug-ins provide a single set of automatable controls for all channels in a track.
  • Page 950 (of continuous controls, such as Volume faders or pans) or state (of switched or stepped con- trols, such as Mutes) of the automation data both inside and outside the selection. The following illustrations show the difference between cutting and deleting automation data. In Figure 10, a track is set to display volume au- tomation, and a range of automation data is se- lected.
  • Page 951 In addition, if cut or copied data is pasted else- To edit all automation types on an Auxiliary Input or Master Fader track, do one of the following: where in a track, breakpoints are created at the end points of the pasted data to preserve its Make an Edit selection that includes at least “neighboring”...
  • Page 952 If cut or copied data contains a type of auto- Plug-in Automation Cuts only the plug-in auto- mation not currently on the target track, mation that is shown. Pro Tools prompts you before allowing you to Copy Special paste the data. Cut or copied automation data for plug-ins or The Copy Special commands let you copy just sends that do not exist on the target track is ig-...
  • Page 953 To Current Automation Type Pastes the automa- For this special paste mode to function, the fol- tion data or MIDI controller data from the clip- lowing must be true: board to the selection as current automation • Every track selected for pasting must be cur- type or MIDI controller.

  • Page 954: Trimming Automation

    To apply a Glide Automation to the current Glide Automation Considerations automation parameter type: When Glide Automation is applied to automa- In the Automation window, make sure the au- tion data, it behaves as follows: tomation type is write-enabled. • When a selection is made, automation break- Click the Track View selector to choose the au- points are written at the start and end points tomation type you want to automate.
  • Page 955 Click the Automation Mode selector and se- To enable Trim mode: lect Trim. In the Mix or Edit window, click the Automa- tion Mode selector of the track where you want Start playback, and adjust the Volume or Send to trim automation, and select Trim. levels.

  • Page 956: Writing Automation To The Start, End, Or All Of A Track Or Selection

    To set the method by which Trim Automation is The Trim automation is applied to the main au- coalesced: tomation playlist, Trim automation playlists are cleared, and Trim faders are returned to zero. Choose Setup > Preferences and click Mixing. Under Coalesce Trim Automation, select one of the following: Writing Automation to the...
  • Page 957 Optionally, Write Automation to Start, All, and End Make sure you are actively writing on the ap- can be configured to always be applied automat- propriate track if you are in Latch or Touch ically. See “Writing Automation to the Start, mode.

  • Page 958: Writing Automation To The Next Breakpoint Or To The Punch Point

    When you reach a point in the track or selec- To configure Write on Stop modes to disable after an automation pass: tion that contains the trim setting (delta value) you want to apply, click the Write Automation to Choose Window > Automation. Start, All, or End button in the Automation win- Click to enable one of the Write On Stop dow.
  • Page 959 Like the standard Write Automation to Start, End, When you reach a point in the track where and All commands, the Write Automation to Next you want to apply the current settings, click the Breakpoint and Write Automation to Punch Point Write Automation to Next Breakpoint button.
  • Page 960 When you reach a point in the track where Start playback. you want to apply the current settings, click the When you reach a point in the track where Write Automation to Punch Point button. you want to apply the current trim values, click the Write Automation to Next Breakpoint but- ton in the Automation window.

  • Page 961: Guidelines For "Write To" Commands

    To configure Write Automation to Next Breakpoint Guidelines for “Write To” on Stop: Commands Choose Window > Automation. (Pro Tools HD Only) Click the Write Automation to Next Break- point on Stop button or the Write Automation to Punch Point button. Using “Write To”...

  • Page 962: Overwriting Or Extending Mute Automation

    Applying “Write To” Commands to Overwriting or Extending Selected Tracks Mute Automation The Write Automation To commands normally ap- (Pro Tools HD Only) ply to all tracks currently writing automation. It is possible to apply these commands to selected Pro Tools lets you overwrite or extend an exist- tracks only.
  • Page 963 A mute event can be extended when the auto- To overwrite a mute state on one or more tracks: mation pass begins before an on or off event and Choose Window > Automation. stops before the end of the second event. Make sure Mute is write-enabled.
  • Page 964 Press Control (Windows) or Command (Mac) In the Mix or Edit window, click the Automa- and the track Mute button before the start of the tion Mode selector of the track you want to au- mute event you want to overwrite. tomate, and select Touch or Latch mode.

  • Page 965: Creating Snapshot Automation

    For MIDI automation, the Write To, Trim To, and Glide To commands only apply to MIDI Volume, MIDI Pan, and MIDI Mute. MIDI parameters cannot use the Write To commands. Example: Stop automation pass here, before end of mute event For more information on cutting, copying, and Stopping automation before the end of a mute event pasting automation data within a session, see...
  • Page 966 Adjust the controls you want to automate. Writing Snapshot Automation over You can also change a plug-in preset. Existing Automation Data Choose Edit > Automation and do one of the When you move the playback cursor, the auto- following: mated controls in Pro Tools update to reflect the •...
  • Page 967 Choose Edit > Automation and select one of the Capturing Automation and Applying it following from the submenu: Elsewhere • To write the current value to only the auto- The Write Automation commands can also be mation parameter currently displayed in used to capture automation states at specific lo- the Edit window, choose Write To Current.

  • Page 968: Previewing Automation

    Choose Edit > Automation and do one of the It is not necessary for the Allow Latch Prime following: in Stop preference to be enabled for Preview • To write the current delta value to only the to put a control into Latch Prime. currently displayed automation parameter, choose Trim to Current.
  • Page 969 The Automation Mode indicator on the track To isolate all write-enabled controls on all selected tracks: lights green to indicate that at least one of its controls is isolated, and the Punch Preview but- Alt-Shift-click (Windows) or Option-Shift ton in the Automation window lights to indi- click (Mac) the Preview button.

  • Page 970: Capturing Automation

    Capturing Automation Values Capturing Automation You can capture the current automation values (Pro Tools HD Only) of actively writing controls. You can capture current automation values at To capture automation values: one location in a session and quickly apply them in another location with the Capture and Make sure all tracks whose automation values Punch Capture commands.
  • Page 971 To punch captured automation values: Punching Automation Values for All Controls Move to a location where you want to apply the captured automation states. You can do this You can punch all captured automation values during playback or while the transport is to another location on their corresponding stopped.
  • Page 972 Punch Capture and “Write To” The affected controls are isolated and updated to the captured values. The Punch Preview but- Commands ton in the Automation window lights to indi- After issuing a Punch Capture command, the af- cate the preview value is available to punch. fected controls are writing automation (in Latch Start playback and adjust the isolated control mode), so any of the Write Automation To com-...

  • Page 973: Vca Master Track Automation

    Excluding VCA Slave Tracks from VCA Master Track Automation VCA Master Automation (Pro Tools HD Only) When you are writing automation on a VCA Master track, the corresponding moves will ap- Displaying Automation on VCA pear on the composite automation playlist of Master Tracks each of its slave tracks.
  • Page 974 Coalescing VCA Automation To coalesce automation from a VCA Master to all of its slave tracks and delete the VCA Master There are several ways to commit, or coalesce, track: the contribution of a selected VCA Master Select the VCA Master track whose automa- track’s Volume and Mute automation to the au- tion you want to coalesce.
  • Page 975 Duplicating a Slave Track Coalescing Automation Across an Edit Selection When you duplicate a slave track without dupli- cating its group assignments, the VCA automa- You can commit VCA automation across an Edit tion is coalesced to the duplicate track. The coa- selection in a VCA Master track, without com- lesced duplicate plays back exactly as if it were mitting the automation on the entire length of...
  • Page 976 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 977: Chapter 43. Mixdown

    Chapter 43: Mixdown Pro Tools lets you mix down by recording a mix Selecting Audio for Loops, to new audio tracks or by bouncing a mix to disk. Submixes, and Effects Recording to Tracks This is the process of sub- Both Bounce to Disk and recording to tracks op- mixing and recording the submix to new audio erate on the current Timeline or Edit selection, if...
  • Page 978 Dithering Bounce to Disk Bouncing to disk does not apply dither when re- Dither can significantly improve audio quality ducing bit depth. To apply dither when bounc- when reducing the bit depth of digital audio. ing to disk, you should insert a dither plug-in as the last processor in the signal path on a Master When to Use a Dither Plug-in Fader assigned to the bounce source audio out-...

  • Page 979: Bus Recording To Tracks

    Do one of the following: Bus Recording to Tracks • Play back the session to record (or “lay- back”) Pro Tools output to lower bit-rate You can create a submix in your Pro Tools ses- media (such as a DAT). sion and bus record it to available tracks in the same session.

  • Page 980: Bounce To Disk

    Set the main channel output of the tracks you Bounce to Disk want to include in the submix to a bus path. If you are using stereo or multichannel tracks, set The Bounce to Disk command lets you mix down the panning of each track.

  • Page 981: 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 982 Enforce Avid Compatibility QuickTime QuickTime is Apple’s multimedia audio file for- Creates frame-accurate edits, wraps the files as mat. Pro Tools does not directly support this OMFI (unless File Type is MXF), and limits the type of file in its sessions. To use a QuickTime sample rate options to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz.
  • Page 983 When you export or bounce to MP3 format, you MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) can set the following options: The MPEG-1 Layer 3 compression format (MP3) is used for streaming and downloading audio Encoder Settings over the Internet, and for playback on portable Encoder Speed Determines the audio quality of devices.
  • Page 984 Mono (Summed) Creates a single disk file that is While ID3 v2.3 is the current standard a summed mono mix of the current sources be- MP3 format, not all MP3 players support ing monitored. ID3 v2.3. Contact the developer of your Before bouncing to disk, make sure your levels player software for compatibility informa- are below –3 dB to avoid clipping that occurs...
  • Page 985 Resolution Sample Rate This option lets you select between three differ- This option lets you save to any of several sam- ent bit resolutions for the bounce conversion. ple rates. Choices are dependent on your Pro Tools system and Digidesign audio inter- Bounce to Disk does not apply dither when con- faces.
  • Page 986 48000 This is a standard sample rate for Profes- loudness in the signal, and improved intelligi- sional and DVD video, as well as some broadcast bility. If you are converting a more complex 16- and recording label archiving, and is supported bit audio file to 8-bit resolution, test this option by DA-88/98, DAT, and ADAT decks.

  • Page 987: Recording A Submix (With Bounce To Disk)

    If you want to bring the bounced file into your Recording a Submix (with current session, select the Import After Bounce op- Bounce to Disk) tion. Click Bounce. You can create a submix with the Bounce to Disk command by muting tracks or bypassing inserts Select a destination for the new audio file, that are not part of the submix, and selecting enter a name, and click Save.

  • Page 988: Final Mixdown

    Do one of the following: Final Mixdown • To bounce the entire session, click Return to Zero in the Transport to go to the begin- In final mixdown, you create a mix that in- ning of the session. cludes all your edits, automation, and effects processing.

  • Page 989: Mastering

    Mastering and Audio Compression Mastering Although audio compression is often an indis- In the final mastering process, you might record pensable tool in analog recording, it can present directly to disk, DAT, DVD, CD, stereo master- problems in the digital domain. If you compress ing recorder, or a multitrack recorder (for sur- an input signal at a very high ratio, you create a round mixes).
  • Page 990 To configure Pro Tools for direct digital stereo mastering: Connect your digital recorder to your system’s digital outputs. If your system has multiple dig- ital outputs, use channel 1 and 2 of the audio in- terface. In Pro Tools, set the appropriate digital format and output from the Hardware Setup dialog or I/O Setup dialog.

  • Page 991: Part X Surround

    Part X: Surround...

  • Page 993: Chapter 44. Pro Tools Setup For Surround

    Chapter 44: Pro Tools Setup for Surround Surround mixing is provided with Pro Tools HD Pro Tools Audio Connections and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production for 5.1 Mixing Toolkit only. Pro Tools supports mixing in the following multichannel (greater than stereo) While all 5.1 mixing formats provide the same formats: LCR, Quad, LCRS, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 6.1 and speaker arrangement, there are three primary...

  • Page 994: Configuring Pro Tools For Multichannel Sessions

    To connect your audio interfaces for 5.1 format Custom Multichannel Paths mixing and monitoring: You can customize and redefine existing paths Determine the 5.1 format and track layout in the I/O Setup dialog. For more information, you want to use. see “Custom Multichannel Paths”...
  • Page 995 The surround presets preconfigure the I/O Setup To create a new session for multichannel mixing: dialog for the new session with default 5.1 for- Choose File > New Session. mat main and sub-paths for outputs and busses. Select the Create Blank Session option. Select the Audio File Type, Sample Rate, and Bit Depth.
  • Page 996 All three 5.1 format I/O Settings (Film, To import a multichannel I/O Setup settings file: SMPTE/ITU, or DTS) provide the following de- Choose Setup > I/O. fault output and bus paths for the new session: Click Import Settings. Default 5.1 Output Paths Select the settings file (.pio) to import and •...
  • Page 997 In addition, the I/O Setup dialog, like the Main To define an LCRS path: page of the Hardware Setup dialog, provides Choose Setup > I/O, and click the Output tab. controls for routing the physical inputs and out- Click New Path. puts on your audio interface to available inputs and outputs in Pro Tools.

  • Page 998: Default I/O Selectors In I/O Setup

    Pro Tools track layout of 5.1 format audio tracks Default Path Order Selects the default track lay- in the Edit window also conforms to the Film out (or, path order) for new 5.1 format (six- layout (arranged top to bottom). See the illustra- channel) paths.

  • Page 999: 5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, And Metering

    5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering 5.1 Format Tracks Track Meters Channel Map in I/O Setup Film (Pro Tools Standard, and C24) L C R Ls Rs LFE L C R Ls Rs LFE L C R Ls Rs LFE same same SMPTE/ITU...
  • Page 1000 Pro Tools Reference Guide...

  • Page 1001: Chapter 45. Multichannel Tracks And Signal Routing

    Chapter 45: Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing This chapter explains how to route audio in Multichannel Audio Tracks Pro Tools for surround mixing. Multichannel audio tracks contain an individ- Multichannel surround mixing is supported ual channel for each signal in the track (for ex- with Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with ample, a 5.1 track would have six channels for Complete Production Toolkit only.
  • Page 1002 Multichannel audio tracks are not required to Solo, Mute, and Gain in Multichannel mix in multichannel formats. Mono, stereo, and Tracks and Paths all supported track formats can be mixed using Stereo and multichannel tracks consist of multi- Pro Tools track outputs and sends (see “Multi- ple audio signals, linked together.
  • Page 1003 Use the Channel selector to display the con- Multiple Output Assignments and Track Format trols for a channel, and adjust the gain. When a track is assigned to more than one path of differing formats, the main output for that See “Linking and Unlinking Controls on track will match the format of the assigned path Multi-Mono Plug-ins”...

  • Page 1004: 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 1005 Pro Tools bussing and submixing features are Multi-Mono Plug-ins Are designed for use on ste- available for all channel formats, from reo or greater-than-stereo multichannel tracks. mono/stereo through 8-channel. For examples Multi-mono plug-ins are useful, or required, in of multichannel monitoring, effects processing, the following situations: and bussing, see “Mixing with Paths and Sub- •...

  • Page 1006: Paths In Surround Mixes

    For example, to apply equal filter cutoffs to the To link the controls of specific channels: Ls and Rs (surround) channels in a 5.1 mix, you Deselect the Master Link button if it is not al- could link enable just those channels in an un- ready deselected.
  • Page 1007 Auxiliary Input Tracks routed to subpaths Tracks routed to main routed to main 5.1 surround path 5.1 surround path Effect bus routing Outputs to sub-paths Outputs to main 5.1 path for surround panning Figure 16. Using signal routing and sub-paths to mix in surround fect.

  • Page 1008: Example Paths And Signal Routing For A Surround Mix

    When to Use Sub-Paths Example Paths and Signal To help simplify large sessions, use sub-paths Routing for a Surround Mix to route static (or, stationary) elements directly to the output channel or channels. The examples that follow show how Auxiliary Inputs, Master Faders, and other Pro Tools sig- For example, film dialog is often mixed to the nal routing features can be used for stem mixes,...
  • Page 1009 Sub-paths have been defined for Mix, Music, Example Sub-Paths and FX main output paths. Sub-paths let you route to selective channels Additional stereo output paths, with mono sub- within the multichannel surround output. In paths, have also been defined for the remaining Figure 19, the Mix 5.1 bus has several sub-paths channels.
  • Page 1010 Signal Routing Examples Extending Stereo Mixing Conventions to Surround Mixing The following examples show how main and Stereo mixing sets the precedent for active and sub-paths can be used, using an example session static panning, and surround mixing can bene- consisting of a 5.1 main mix, with music and ef- fit from the same basic principles.