Avid Pro Tools MIX 5.1.1 Reference Guide

Pro Tools
Reference Guide
Version 5.3 for HD Systems on Macintosh or Windows
Version 5.1.1 for MIX or LE Systems on Macintosh or Windows
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Copyright
This guide is copyrighted ©2002 by Digidesign, a division of
Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights
reserved. Under copyright laws, this manual may not be
duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of
Digidesign.
DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology,
Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
All features and specifications subject to change without
notice.
PN 932709360-00 REV A 1/02
Contents
Part I
Introduction
Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Pro Tools Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Compatibility Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Digidesign Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 2. Pro Tools System Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
TDM-Equipped Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Pro Tools LE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 3. Pro Tools Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Hard Disk Audio Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Digidesign Audio Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pro Tools Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
System Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
MIDI Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 4. Pro Tools Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Mix Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Edit Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Transport Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 5. Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Global Key Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Keyboard Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Numeric Keypad Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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Part II
Sessions & Tracks
Chapter 6. Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Starting Up Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Configuring Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Configuring a Pro Tools|HD System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Configuring Other Pro Tools Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Creating a New Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Opening a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Saving a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Creating Custom Session Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Closing a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Quitting Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Sharing Sessions Between Pro Tools TDM Systems and Pro Tools LE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Chapter 7. I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The I/O Setup Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Creating and Editing Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
I/O Settings Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Default Output, Meter, Audition, and Default Path Order I/O Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 8. Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Track Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Creating Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Hiding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Assigning Inputs and Outputs to Audio Tracks (and Other Tracks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Assigning Voices and Track Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Setting MIDI Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Soloing and Muting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Making Tracks Inactive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Adjusting Track Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Color Coding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Grouping Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
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Chapter 9. Importing and Exporting Audio and MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Importing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Importing Tracks from Other Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Loading Audio Files with Drag & Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Exporting Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Transferring Audio from CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Conversion Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Exporting Session Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Importing MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Exporting MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Chapter 10. File Management and Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Locating Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
WAV File Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Avid File Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Creating Mac and PC Compatible Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Part III
Recording
Chapter 11. Record Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Input Connections and Audio Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Record Enabling Tracks (Using the Record Enable Button) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Monitoring Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Monitoring Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Track Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Disk Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Allocating Hard Drive Space for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Record Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Recording with the Click . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Setting the Default Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Chapter 12. Basic Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Recording a Mono Audio Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Recording a Stereo Audio Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
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Recording Multiple Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Record Pause Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Recording Additional Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Punch Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Loop Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Auditioning Record Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Setting Punch/Loop Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Chapter 13. MIDI Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Recording from MIDI Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Enabling Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
MIDI Thru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
MIDI Input Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
MIDI Merge/Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Recording to MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Punch Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Recording System Exclusive Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Chapter 14. Advanced Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
QuickPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Recording from a Digital Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Half-Speed Recording and Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Part IV
Editing
Chapter 15. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Displaying Region Names and Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Audio Regions and Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
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MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
The Audio and MIDI Regions Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
The Universe Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Timebase Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Chapter 16. Playing and Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
The Scrubber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Separate Edit and Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Playing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Playing Edit and Timeline Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Chapter 17. Working with Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Creating New Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Healing a Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
The Trimmer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Sliding Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Nudging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Shift Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Quantizing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Locking Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Edit Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Duplicate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Repeat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Merge Paste Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
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Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Waveform Repair with the Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
The Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Chapter 18. Advanced Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Replacing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Repeat Paste To Fill Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Compress/Expand Edit To Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
The Time Trimmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Chapter 19. Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Using Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Chapter 20. Managing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Stripping Silence from Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Consolidate Selection Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Managing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Chapter 21. Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Tempo Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Default Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Memory Locations and Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Chapter 22. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
About Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
The Beat Detective Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Defining the Selection for Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Detecting Transients with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Separating and Conforming Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Beat Detective and Collection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Part V
MIDI Editing
Chapter 23. MIDI Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Inserting MIDI Notes with the Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Manually Editing MIDI Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Program Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Note and Controller Chasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Chapter 24. MIDI Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
MIDI Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Select Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Quantize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Chapter 25. MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
The MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Editing in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
MIDI Event List Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
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Part VI
Mixing
Chapter 26. Basic Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Audio Signal Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Viewing I/O, Inserts, and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Track Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Track Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Submixing for Signal Routing and Effects Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Using a Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Chapter 27. Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Inserting Plug-Ins on Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
The Plug-In Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Hardware I/O Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Connecting and Integrating External Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Chapter 28. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Automation Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Writing Automation to the Start, End or All of a Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Trimming Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
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Chapter 29. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Recording to Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Bounce to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Bounce Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Recording a Submix (with Bounce To Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Final Mixdown (with Bounce To Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Part VII
Surround
Chapter 30. Surround Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Mixing Formats and Surround Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Pro Tools Mixing Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Speaker Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Surround Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Formats and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Surround Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Chapter 31. Pro Tools Setup for Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Default Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
Chapter 32. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Multichannel QuickStart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Chapter 33. Surround Panning and Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Output Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
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xi
Standard Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Panning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
SurroundScope Metering Plug-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Part VIII
Synchronization
Chapter 34. Synchronization Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Synchronization Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Aspects of Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Synchronizing Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
SMPTE Frame Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
Working with Film-Originated Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Chapter 35. Time Code Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Hardware Setup Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
Putting Pro Tools Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Synchronizing a Sequencer to Pro Tools on the Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Synchronizing a Sequencer to Pro Tools in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Remote Track Arming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Setting Minimum Sync Delay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Synchronizing Pro Tools to an OMS-Compatible Sequencer Using MMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Troubleshooting Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Chapter 36. Working with QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
About QuickTime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
QuickTime Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Movie Playback Quality Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Importing a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Setting the Movie Start Time (Movie Offset) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
Spotting Audio to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
Importing QuickTime Audio (and Other Compressed Video Files) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
Bouncing to a New Movie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
Appendix A. DSP-Induced Delays in Mixing (TDM Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Delay Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Compensating for Delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
Appendix B. TDM Mixing and DSP Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Understand the Benefits of TDM II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
DSP Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
DSP Usage with TDM Mixers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
DSP Usage with TDM Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
DSP Usage and I/O Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
Appendix C. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Backing Up Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Common Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Using DigiTest as a Diagnostic Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
Performance Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
Contents
xiii
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Part I: Introduction
1
2
Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools
Welcome to Pro Tools®. Pro Tools integrates
powerful multitrack digital audio and MIDI sequencing features, giving you everything you
need to record, arrange, edit, mix, and master
quality audio for music, video, film, and multimedia.
Pro Tools MIDI Control Surfaces Guide Electronic PDF guide that includes instructions for
operating Pro Tools with various MIDI control
surfaces.
Expanded Systems Guide (TDM Systems
Only) Instructions for expanding a Pro Tools
TDM system with optional Digidesign cards, or
an expansion chassis.
The Pro Tools Guides
Your Pro Tools System includes the following
guides:
Getting Started Guide Instructions for installing
your Pro Tools system and connecting your studio.
Pro Tools Reference Guide Provides full details
on all Pro Tools functionality and operations.
(Pro Tools LE systems only include an electronic
PDF file version of the Reference Guide.)
Pro Tools Menus Guide Electronic PDF guide to
the Pro Tools on-screen menus.
DigiRack™ Plug-Ins Guide Instructions for using
the DigiRack plug-ins (included with Pro Tools)
for both real-time and file-based audio processing in Pro Tools. (Pro Tools LE systems only include an electronic PDF version of this guide.)
Pro Tools MachineControl Guide (TDM Systems
Only) Instructions for using MachineControl
software for Pro Tools to enable serial communication with remote audio and video machines.
Keyboard Shortcut Cards Separate cards for Macintosh and Windows that list the many keyboard shortcuts not shown in the Pro Tools
menus. (Pro Tools LE systems only include an
electronic PDF version of the Keyboard Shortcut
cards.)
Digidesign also provides guides with TDM
audio interfaces, optional dedicated controllers (such as Control|24 and ProControl) and other Digidesign options, (such as
SYNC I/O). Refer to the package shipped
with your Digidesign product.
Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide Electronic PDF guide
with instructions for using optional Digidesign
plug-ins for both real-time and file-based audio
processing in Pro Tools.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools
3
Conventions Used in These Guides
Choose and Select
The Pro Tools guides use the following conventions to indicate menu choices and key commands:
The words “choose” and “select” are often interchangeable in conversational english. In this
guide, however, there is a distinction between
the two terms.
:
Convention
Action
File > Save Session
Choose Save Session
from the File menu
Control+N
Hold down the Control
key and press the N key
Option-click
Hold down the Option key
and click the mouse button
Right-click (Windows)
Click with the right
mouse button
The following symbols are used to highlight important information:
User Tips are helpful hints for getting the
most from your Pro Tools system.
Important Notices include information that
could affect your Pro Tools session data or
the performance of your Pro Tools system.
Select When the guide instructs you to select
something, it stays selected. This is the case with
dialog box options and menu items that enable
or disable an option.
Choose When the guide instructs you to choose
something, a one-time action is performed. This
is the case with most menu commands; they
perform their chosen action only once.
Compatibility Information
Digidesign can only assure compatibility and
provide support for hardware and software it
has tested and approved. For a list of Digidesignqualified computers, operating systems, and
third-party devices, refer to the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign Web site:
www.digidesign.com/compato/
Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or
mouse shortcuts.
Digidesign Registration
Cross References point to related sections in
the Pro Tools Guides.
Please make sure to register! Registered users are
entitled to up to one year of free technical support based on the product purchased. For more
information please refer to your registration
card, or visit the Digidesign Web site:
www.digidesign.com/support
4
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Chapter 2: Pro Tools System
Configurations
TDM-Equipped Systems
Pro Tools TDM-equipped systems are available
in the following configurations. Each system requires at least one Digidesign audio interface
(sold separately). TDM systems can be expanded
by adding Digidesign cards to increase track
count, add to the amount of possible plug-in
and mixer processing, and connect additional
audio interfaces.
HD-Series Systems
Pro Tools|HD 1
Includes:
• HD Core card
• Pro Tools software
Pro Tools|HD 2
Includes:
Pro Tools system performance depends on
factors such as computer processor speed,
amount of system memory, and hard drive
performance. Contact your Digidesign
dealer or visit Digidesign’s Web site for the
latest system requirements and compatibility information.
• HD Core card
• HD Process card
• Pro Tools software
Pro Tools|HD 3
Includes:
• HD Core card
• Two HD Process cards
• Pro Tools software
Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Configurations
5
MIX-Series Systems
Supported Audio Interfaces
Pro Tools|24 MIX
HD-Series Only
Includes:
The following audio interfaces are compatible
with Pro Tools HD-series systems:
• MIX Core card
• Pro Tools software
◆
192 I/O
◆
96 I/O
Pro Tools|24 MIXplus
HD-series systems require the use of at
least one 192 I/O or 96 I/O.
Includes:
• MIX Core card
• MIX Farm card
• Pro Tools software
HD-Series, MIX-Series and Pro Tools|24
The following audio interfaces work with different TDM systems, as noted.
Audio interfaces that work with HD-series systems require the use of at least one
192 I/O or 96 I/O.
Pro Tools|MIX3
Includes:
• MIX Core card
• Two Mix Farm cards
• Pro Tools software
Pro Tools|24
Includes:
• d24 Audio card
• DSP Farm card
• Pro Tools software
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
The following Digidesign audio interfaces are
supported with Pro Tools HD-series, Pro Tools
MIX-series and Pro Tools|24 systems:
◆
888|24 I/O and 882|20 I/O
◆
1622 I/O
◆ 24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O or original ADAT
Bridge I/O
The original 888 I/O and 882 I/O audio interfaces work with Pro Tools MIX-series and Pro
Tools|24 systems only.
TDM System Playback, Recording
and Voice Limits
The following table lists the audio playback, recording, and voiceable track limits of each type of
Pro Tools TDM system. Playback and recording voices refer to the number of unique simultaneous
playback and record tracks on your system. Total voiceable tracks (previously known as virtual voicing) refers to the maximum number of audio tracks that can share the available voices on your system. Voice limits are dependant on the session sample rate, and the number of DSP chips dedicated
to the system’s Playback Engine. Pro Tools HD-series systems can open sessions with up to 256 audio
tracks (and MIX-series systems can open sessions with up to 128 audio tracks), but any audio tracks
beyond that system’s voiceable track limit will be automatically set to Voice Off.
All TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems provide a total of 64 internal mix busses. All TDM systems also
provide 5 inserts and 5 sends per track, up to the DSP capacity of your system.
Table 1. Pro Tools HD-series, MIX-series and Pro Tools|24 system audio playback, recording and voice limits
Core System Type
Sample Rate
(kHz)
Voices (Mono Tracks of
Simultaneous Playback)
Mono Tracks of
Simultaneous
Recording
Total Voiceable
Tracks
Pro Tools|HD 1
44.1/48
96
96
112
88.2/96
48
48
48
176.4/192
12
12
12
44.1/48
128
128
224
88.2/96
64
64
80
176.4/192
24
24
24
Pro Tools|24 MIX
44.1/48
32, or 64
32, or 64
43, or 86
Pro Tools|24 MIXplus,
Pro Tools|24 MIX3
44.1/48
64
64
86
Pro Tools|24
44.1/48
32
32
43
Expanded Pro Tools|24
44.1/48
64
64
86
Expanded Pro Tools|HD 1,
Pro Tools|HD 2,
Pro Tools|HD 3
Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Configurations
7
Audio Interfaces for TDM Systems
The following table lists the input and output capabilities of the various audio interfaces for TDMequipped Pro Tools systems. In expanded HD systems, audio interfaces can be combined for up to 96
audio inputs and outputs. In expanded MIX systems, audio interfaces can be combined for up to 72
audio inputs and outputs.
Table 2. Pro Tools TDM system audio interface channel capabilities
Interface Type
Number of I/O
Channels
Sample Rates
(k Hz)
A/D
Conversion
D/A
Conversion
Digital I/O
192 I/O
16 in/16 out
44.1, 48, 88.2,
96, 176.4, 192
24-bit
24-bit
24-bit
96 I/O
16 in/16 out
44.1, 48, 88.2,
96
24-bit
24-bit
24-bit
888|24 I/O
8 in/8 out
44.1, 48
24-bit
24-bit (or
older 20-bit)
24-bit
882|20 I/O
8 in/8 out
44.1, 48
20-bit
20-bit
24-bit
1622 I/O
16 in/2 out
44.1, 48
20-bit
24-bit
24-bit
24-bit ADAT
Bridge I/O,
ADAT Bridge I/O
16 in/16 out
44.1, 48
24-bit
24-bit
24-bit
888 I/O
8 in/8 out
44.1, 48
18-bit (or
older 16-bit)
18-bit
24-bit
882 I/O
8 in/8 out
44.1, 48
16-bit
16-bit
24-bit
Pro Tools LE Systems
Digi ToolBox XP
A Digi ToolBox system includes:
Pro Tools LE-based systems are available in the
following configurations:
• Audiomedia III card
• Pro Tools LE software
Digi 001
A Digi 001 system includes:
• Digi 001 PCI card
• Digi 001 I/O box
• Pro Tools LE software
8
Pro Tools Reference Guide
The total processing capacity of a
Pro Tools LE-based system depends on the
processing power of your computer. Contact
your Digidesign dealer or visit Digidesign’s
Web site for the latest system requirements
and compatibility information.
Pro Tools LE System Capabilities
The following table lists the playback, recording, and input and output capabilities of each Pro Tools
LE-based system. All Pro Tools LE systems are limited to 24 mono audio tracks. If you open a
Pro Tools session created on a TDM system containing more than 24 mono audio tracks on an LEbased system, only the audio tracks assigned to the first 24 voices will open; if you save the session using Pro Tools LE, any audio tracks beyond the available 24 voices will be lost.
All Pro Tools LE systems provide a total of 16 internal mix busses. Pro Tools LE also provides up to 5
inserts and 5 sends per track, depending on your computer’s processing capacity.
Table 3. Pro Tools LE system audio playback, recording, and channel capabilities
System Type
Mono Tracks of
Simultaneous
Playback
Number of
Simultaneous
Recording Channels
A/D
Conversion
D/A
Conversion
Digital
I/O
Digi 001
24
up to 18 in/18 out
24-bit
24-bit
24-bit
Audiomedia III
24
up to 4 in/4 out
18-bit
18-bit
24-bit
For details on transferring session material between Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools TDM systems, see
“Sharing Sessions Between Pro Tools TDM Systems and Pro Tools LE Systems” on page 50.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Configurations
9
10
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts
Pro Tools is based on simple concepts which are
easy to grasp. Many of them you may already be
familiar with. This chapter explains the principals and concepts that form the foundation of
Pro Tools operation and functionality.
Hard Disk Audio Recording
Tape-based recording is a linear medium—you
need to rewind or fast forward a tape to hear a
particular spot in a recording. To rearrange or repeat material in a linear system, you need to rerecord it.
Hard disk recording is a non-linear (or random
access) medium—you can go immediately to
any spot in a recording without having to rewind or fast forward.
Non-linear systems have several advantages.
You can easily rearrange or repeat parts of a recording by making the hard disk read parts of
the recording in a different order and/or multiple times. In addition, this re-arrangement is
non-destructive, meaning that the original recorded material is not altered.
The Digidesign Audio Engine
When you start Pro Tools, the Digidesign Audio
Engine, called DAE, automatically launches in
the background. DAE is Digidesign’s real-time
operating system for digital recording systems.
When you install Pro Tools, DAE is automatically installed on your system (and can be accessed from within Pro Tools).
In the same way that a computer’s operating
system provides the foundation for programs
that run on the computer, DAE provides much
of the hard disk recording, digital signal processing, mix automation, and MIDI functionality required by Pro Tools and other products from
Digidesign and its Development Partners.
The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the
amount of memory allocated within DAE to
manage disk buffers, which affects system performance. For more information, see “DAE Playback Buffer Size” on page 37. The DAE Playback
Buffer Size can be changed in the Playback Engine Dialog, discussed below.
Pro Tools is a non-linear recording system that
lets you rearrange and mix recorded material
non-destructively.
Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts
11
Playback Engine Dialog
Pro Tools takes advantage of your computer’s
host processor for certain tasks and optional
host-based DSP processing.
Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to provide audio track recording, playback, mixing,
and effects processing. Pro Tools TDM can also
use host processing to run RTAS plug-ins for effects processing. Performance is determined by
your system and its Playback Engine settings.
The Playback Engine dialog lets you set a hardware buffer size and allocate a percentage of
CPU resources for these tasks. For more information, see “Configuring Your System” on page 35.
Pro Tools Sessions
When you start a project in Pro Tools, you create a session. Some basic elements of sessions are
explained in this section.
Session File
Pro Tools session file icon
A session file is the document that Pro Tools creates when you start a new project. The session
file contains maps of all elements associated
with a project, including audio files, MIDI data,
and all your edit and mix information. You can
make changes to a session and save those
changes in a new session file. This lets you create multiple versions of a project or back up
your editing and mixing work.
Audio File
Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools TDM system
The Playback Engine dialog is also where you select the number of voices (and voiceable tracks)
for your system and its sessions. Voice count
choices in the dialog are based on how much
DSP processing you wish to allocate for voicing.
For more information, see “Configuring Your
System” on page 35.
See also “System Resources” on page 16.
12
Pro Tools Reference Guide
When you record audio into a Pro Tools session,
audio files are created.
Audio file icon
Audio files for each session are stored in a folder
named “Audio Files.” Audio files are listed in the
Audio Regions List and can appear in a track. A
section of an audio file can be defined as a region. See “Regions (or Loops)” on page 13.
Tracks
Playlist
Pro Tools tracks are where audio, MIDI, and automation data are recorded and edited.
Playlist Selector pop-up menu
Audio tracks in the Edit window
MIDI track in the Edit window
Audio and MIDI tracks can be edited into regions or repeated in different locations, to create
loops, re-arrange sections or entire songs, or to
assemble tracks using material from multiple
takes.
Audio tracks can be mono, stereo, or any supported multichannel format (depending on
your type of Pro Tools system). When creating a
new audio track, you can choose from a list of
formats supported by your system.
Regions (or Loops)
Audio region
A playlist is a group of regions arranged on an
audio or MIDI track. Tracks have edit playlists
and automation playlists.
You can create any number of edit playlists for a
track. This lets you assemble different versions
of performances or edits on a single audio or
MIDI track and choose among them with a popup menu on the track.
On audio tracks, an edit playlist tells the hard
disk which audio files to read in what order. For
example, you can use the same audio region to
access the same piece of audio multiple times at
different locations and not use additional disk
space. If desired, different versions of the same
original audio can be created to modify the
length, fade-in, fade-out, and effects applied.
A playlist can be made up of a single region or
many separate regions. It can be made up of
similar elements, such as regions from several
different takes of a solo, or dissimilar elements,
such as several sound effects.
Each track has a single set of automation playlists, according to the type of track and any send
or plug-in assignments.
A region (or loop) is a piece of audio or MIDI data
that may have associated automation data. A region could be a loop, a guitar riff, a verse of a
song, a sound effect, a piece of dialog, or an entire sound file. In Pro Tools, regions are created
from audio or MIDI files, and can be arranged in
audio and MIDI track playlists.
Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts
13
Figure 1. Rear view of 192 I/O, 16 channels of input and output
Channel
The term channel is used to describe several related components of a Pro Tools system. The
first example of channel refers to a physical input or output of your Pro Tools system.
For example, a 192 I/O audio interface (Figure 1)
provides up to 16 channels of input and output
to an HD-series TDM-equipped system. An
888|24 I/O audio interface provides eight channels of analog input and output to a TDMequipped system.
The second use of the term channel refers to a
mixer strip in the Pro Tools Mix window. The
term channel strip refers to the mixer strip of any
track (audio or MIDI track, Auxiliary Input, or
Master Fader) in a session.
Channel strip in the Mix window
14
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Audio and MIDI channel strips have similar
controls, but those controls have slightly different effects. For example, audio and Auxiliary Input channel strip faders control the Pro Tools
mixer, while MIDI channel strip faders send
MIDI volume data (MIDI controller 7).
The term channel also describes a separate
aspect of MIDI operation. See “MIDI Concepts” on page 18.
Signal Routing
Signal routing options include the following:
Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and
signal routing controls. The Mix window is
where these controls are located. (Some of these
controls can also be accessed from the Edit window, if desired.)
Track I/O Controls The most basic type of signal
routing is track input and output. A track needs
to have an assigned input path to record audio,
and an assigned output path in order to be audible through a hardware output. Signals can also
be routed to or from other tracks in Pro Tools (or
hardware inputs and outputs) using internal
busses.
Signal Routing Example
A common signal routing task is to submix multiple tracks to a single channel strip for shared
processing and level control. The following example shows three audio tracks submixed to a
stereo Auxiliary Input.
Stereo
plug-in
Input from
Stereo
Bus path
Output to
Stereo Output
path
Outputs to
Stereo Bus
path
Audio Tracks
Submixing to an Auxiliary Input
Auxiliary Input
Auxiliary Inputs and Master Faders Auxiliary Inputs are tracks that can be used as returns, submixers and bus masters. Master Faders are used
as bus and output master level controls. Both
Auxiliary Inputs and Master Faders can have inserts or plug-ins.
Sends Sends route audio to internal busses to
send to other tracks in Pro Tools, or to hardware
outputs.
Plug-Ins and Inserts Software plug-ins and hardware inserts process the audio on their associated track. Plug-in processing occurs completely
within Pro Tools. Hardware inserts utilize audio
interface inputs and outputs, for traditional insert routing to (and from) external effects and
other devices.
Paths Pro Tools lets you define a group of multiple inputs, outputs, or busses that have a single
name and (channel) format. These groups comprise the lists of available routing choices in
track I/O Selectors and other menus. Paths can
be very useful for assigning stereo and multichannel I/O routing or sub-paths within a path.
See Chapter 7, “I/O Setup” for more information.
Mixing Formats Sessions can include combinations of mono, stereo, and multichannel format
tracks, busses, inputs, outputs, and inserts.
(Multichannel formats are supported on
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series only.)
Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts
15
System Resources
Track count, plug-in processing, signal path and
routing options, and voice availability are ultimately limited by the combined resources available from the host computer, and from your
Pro Tools hardware.
Pro Tools provides several ways to manage and
conserve resources to maximize the performance of your system. As you begin working
with Pro Tools sessions and tracks, you can take
advantage of the following features to extend
the effectiveness of your available DSP and
other resources:
System usage settings (such as CPU Usage and
H/W Buffer Size) let you balance the distribution of work between your computer and any
Digidesign audio hardware. See “Configuring
Your System” on page 35.
◆
Active and inactive switching lets you selectively toggle items (such as tracks and inserts)
between active (on) and inactive (off). This lets
you precisely allocate DSP and other resources
when developing playlists, tracks, and mixes.
See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 16.
◆
TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems provide
flexible voice options for disk tracks. For more
information on voice management and options,
see “Voiceable Tracks and Track Priority” on
page 87.
◆
Active and Inactive Items
Pro Tools lets you set certain items (such as audio tracks) as inactive, in order to free up DSP resources and mixer connections.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Items in Pro Tools that can be made inactive (or
active) include the following.
◆ Audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master
Faders (TDM systems only)
◆
Track Inputs and Outputs
◆
Sends
◆
Side-chain inputs
◆
Plug-ins
◆
Hardware Inserts
◆
Paths (session-wide)
MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.
In addition to manually setting Active and Inactive modes, Pro Tools will automatically make
items inactive if there are insufficient or unavailable resources.
When active, items are fully engaged and operational.
When inactive, items are silent and off. Different
inactive items affect available system resources
in specific ways, as follows:
Plug-Ins When a plug-in is inactive on a track, its
DSP is made available for other plug-ins and
processing. Plug-in assignments can be made inactive manually, or automatically (see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on page 17).
Paths and Path Assignments When a path or
path assignment is inactive, its mixer resources
are made available for other signal routing purposes in the session. Paths and assignments can
be made inactive manually, or automatically
(see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on
page 17).
Tracks (TDM systems only) When a track is inactive, its voice is made available for another
track. Additionally, when an audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader is made inactive, its
plug-ins, inserts, sends, and I/O assignments become inactive.
Display of Inactive Items
When items are inactive, their names appear in
italics, and their background becomes dark grey.
When a track is inactive (TDM systems only),
the entire channel strip darkens.
Active
Inactive plug-in
Inactive track
Automatically Inactive Items
When opening a session, it is possible that not
all signal paths, plug-ins, or audio interfaces
used in the session will be available as defined
on the current system. Whenever this occurs,
the session will open as it was last saved. All
items that are unavailable, or cannot be loaded
due to insufficient resources, are made inactive.
Manual Inactive Switching
You can manually apply Active or Inactive
modes to manage system resources. By making
an item inactive, its associated resources are
made available elsewhere in the session.
The following are basic instructions for manually making items inactive. Throughout the
Pro Tools Reference Guide, instructions are provided whenever an item can be made inactive.
To toggle an item active or inactive:
■ Command-Control-click (Macintosh) or Control-Start-click (Windows) the item.
Active and inactive items and tracks
You can apply Active or Inactive modes to all or
all selected tracks using standard Pro Tools modifiers (Option and Option+Shift on the Macintosh, Alt and Alt+Shift in Windows). Side-chain
inputs support direct active and inactive switching, but do not follow switching all or all selected.
Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode
Active and Inactive modes are powerful options
for session transfer, and system resource management. Pro Tools provides automatic and
manual Inactive mode switching. You can manually make items inactive (or active) to selectively manage system resources while editing
and mixing.
Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts
17
MIDI Concepts
MIDI Terms
The following are some basic MIDI terms:
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a
communication protocol for musical instruments. This industry standard enables connections between a variety of devices from different
manufacturers. Examples of MIDI-compatible
equipment include synthesizers, sound modules, drum machines, patch bays, effects processors, MIDI interfaces, and sequencers.
MIDI devices are equipped with 5-pin DIN connectors, labeled as either IN, OUT, or THRU.
The MIDI OUT port transmits messages; the
MIDI IN port receives messages; and, MIDI
THRU echoes whatever is received from the IN
port. MIDI devices are connected with MIDI cables that are available at most music stores.
echoed from IN
MIDI Interface Hardware that lets computers
connect to and communicate with MIDI devices.
MIDI Device Any keyboard, sound module, effects device or other equipment that can send or
receive MIDI information.
MIDI Controller Any MIDI device that transmits
MIDI performance data. These include keyboards, MIDI guitar controllers, MIDI wind instruments, and others. Controllers transmit
MIDI from their MIDI OUT ports.
MIDI Control Surface Any device, such as the
Mackie HUI, that uses a MIDI connection to
send control messages to a software program,
but is not generally used to record MIDI information.
MIDI Sound Source Any MIDI instrument capable of playing back MIDI-triggered sound.
Sound sources receive MIDI from their MIDI IN
ports.
MIDI signal flow
Not all devices will have all three MIDI
ports (IN, OUT and THRU).
A single MIDI cable can transmit a separate set
of messages for each of the 16 channels. These
16 channels correspond to separate MIDI devices or to multiple channels within a single device (if the device is multi-timbral). Each channel
represents a discreet instrument sound; for instance, bass on channel 1, piano on channel 2
and drums on channel 10. Similar to a multitrack tape recorder, a MIDI sequencer can record
complex arrangements—even using a single
multi-timbral keyboard.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Multi-Timbral The capability of playing several
different instrument sounds (such as piano,
bass, and drums) simultaneously on separate
channels. This makes it possible for a single
MIDI sound source to play back entire arrangements.
MIDI Channel Up to 16 channels of MIDI performance data can be transmitted on a single MIDI
cable. The channel number separates the different messages so your sound sources can receive
the right ones.
Program Change Event A MIDI command that
tells a sound source which of its sounds (or
sound patches) to use. The MIDI protocol lets
you choose from a range of 128 patches.
Bank Select Message Many devices have more
than 128 patches, which are arranged in banks.
The Bank Select Message is a MIDI command
that specifies the bank of patches from which to
choose.
However, to actually hear that second device
(sound source) you’ll need to connect its audio
outputs to a sound system. Your MIDI instruments have two signal paths, one for audio and
another for MIDI.
Local Control A controller setting found on most
MIDI keyboards that lets them play their own
sound source. Disabling “local control” ensures
that a device’s internal sound source is only
played by external MIDI messages.
MIDI does not allow you to use your devices beyond their capabilities. Particular instruments
have their own sound generation, polyphony,
and multi-timbral limitations.
When using Pro Tools, “local control” should
usually be disabled. When “local control” is off,
your keyboard still transmits data to its MIDI
OUT port.
Continuous Controller Events MIDI instructions
that allow real-time changes to notes that are
currently sounding. These include pitch bend,
modulation, volume, pan, and many others.
System Exclusive Data MIDI data commonly
used for sending and retrieving patch parameter
information for storage purposes.
Common Misconceptions about
MIDI
MIDI is not audio. The messages that travel
down a MIDI cable are only numbers that translate to specific instructions. For instance, when
you strike a key on your MIDI keyboard it sends
a message to its MIDI OUT port telling another
device (if connected and set to the same MIDI
channel) to play that particular note.
Signal paths for MIDI instruments
Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts
19
20
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows
Pro Tools provides two complementary ways of
viewing a session: the Mix window and the Edit
window. Pro Tools also allows you to control
the transport and transport-related function
from the Transport window.
For more information on the main elements of
the Mix window and Edit window, see the page
references provided in Figure 2 on page 22, and
Figure 3 on page 23.
The Mix Window
In the Mix window, tracks appear as mixer strips
(or channel strips), with controls for inserts,
sends, input and output assignments, volume,
panning, record-enable, automation mode, and
solo/mute. The following section explains each
of these track controls.
The Edit Window
The Edit window provides a timeline display of
audio, as well as MIDI data and mixer automation for recording, editing and arranging tracks.
As in the Mix window, each track has controls
for record enable, solo, mute and automation
mode.
Systems with the Pro Tools AVoption installed
also provide a timeline display of movie tracks.
To display the input/output controls, inserts,
sends, and comments in the Edit window, select
Display > Edit Window Shows > All. You can
choose to display all of these items, or some of
them.
To display the Pro Tools input/output controls,
inserts, sends, and comments, select Display >
Mix Window Shows > All.
To toggle between the Mix and Edit windows: On Macintosh, press Command, followed by Equal (=); on Windows, press
Control+Equal (=).
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows
21
MIDI Track Program
button (page 308)
Send with
Send Controls
(page 345)
Plug-In Insert
(page 361)
Inserts
View
(page 79)
Show/Hide
Tracks List
(page 82)
Sends
View
(page 346)
I/O View
(page 79)
Automation
(page 377)
Track
Controls
(page 24)
Output window
button
(page 344)
Channel Pan
(page 79)
Group ID
Indicator
Channel
Volume
(page 80)
Mix Groups
List
(page 92)
AutoMatch
Indicator
(page 382)
Level Meter
(page 80)
Track Name
(page 81)
Track
Comments
View
(page 80)
Mono
Audio Track
(page 77)
Stereo
Audio Track
(page 77)
Figure 2. Pro Tools Mix window
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Auxiliary
Input
(page 77)
MIDI
Track
(page 77)
Master
Fader
(page 77)
Zoom buttons
(page 186)
Link Selections
(page 199)
Edit Mode
buttons
(page 185)
Event Edit Area
(page 24)
Edit tools
(page 24)
Grid and
Nudge Values
(page 24)
Location Indicators
(page 24)
Commands
Focus
(page 30)
Tab to Transients
(page 207)
Audio
Regions
List
(page 181)
Rulers
(page 189)
Show/Hide
Tracks List
(page 82)
Audio
Waveform
View
(page 170)
Audio Track
(page 77)
Volume
Automation
View
(page 170)
MIDI Track
(page 77)
Edit Groups
List
(page 92)
Selected Region
(page 200)
MIDI Velocity View
(page 170)
MIDI Notes View
(page 170)
MIDI Regions List
(page 181)
Figure 3. Pro Tools Edit window
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows
23
Track Controls
Event Edit Area
Record Enable button (page 118)
Automation Mode Selector (page 377)
The Event Edit Area provides time, pitch, and
other information for the currently selected audio or MIDI data. It also lets you define selections via key entry.
Voice Selector (page 86)
Mute button (page 89)
Solo button (page 89)
Mix window, controls for audio and MIDI tracks
(wide view)
The Start, End, and Length display can be set for
a different Time Scale format (such as Bars:Beats,
or Minutes:Seconds, and so on). For more information, see “Main Time Scale” on page 190.
Selection
Indicators
(page 25)
Note
Attributes
(page 304)
Record Enable button
(page 118)
Pitch
Attack Velocity
Track Name (page 81)
Release Velocity
Playlist Selector (page 178)
Automation Mode Selector
(page 377)
Mute button (page 89)
Voice Selector (page 86)
Track Height Selector (page 172)
Event Edit Area showing MIDI track information
Location Indicators, Grid/Nudge
Values, Current Cursor Display
The Location Indicators, Grid and Nudge values,
and timeline Cursor Location display provide
navigation and editing options.
Track View Selector (page 170)
Solo button (page 89)
Edit window track controls (medium track height)
The Main and Sub display can be set for a different Time Scale format (such as Bars:Beats, or
Minutes:Seconds, and so on). For more information, see “Main Time Scale” on page 190.
Edit Tools
Location Indicators (page 194)
Nudge Value
(page 225)
Grid Value
(page 224)
Trimmer
Grabber
(page 218)
(page 201)
Selector
Scrubber (page 196)
(page 193)
Cursor Location
(page 193)
Zoomer
(page 186)
Smart Tool
(page 237)
Edit tools in Edit window
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Pencil
(page 236)
Cursor Value
(page 193)
Edit window display showing MIDI track information
The Transport Window
The Transport window can be set to show basic
transport controls, counters, and MIDI controls.
The counters in the Transport window mirror
the Location Indicators at the top of the Edit
window.
Basic Transport Controls and
Counters
Return to Zero
Rewind Increments
Main Time
Scale Format
Increment Amount
Min:Sec
1 second
Time code
1 frame
Bars:Beats
1 bar
Feet.Frame
1 foot
Sample
1 second
Fast Forward
Rewind
Online
Rewind Rewinds from the current play location.
You can also click repeatedly to rewind incrementally, by an amount based on the Main
Time Scale, as follows:
Stop
Play
Go to End
Record
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Transport, you can rewind by pressing 1.
Pre-Roll
Post-Roll
Stop Stops playback or recording.
Transport Master
Start, End, and Length
for Timeline Selection
Transport window showing basic transport controls and
counters
Online Puts Pro Tools online so that playback
and recording is triggered by an external time
code source.
Return to Zero Locates to the beginning of the
session.
You can press Return (Macintosh) or Enter
on the alpha keyboard (Windows) to locate
to the beginning of the session.
You can also stop the Transport with the following shortcuts:
• Press the Spacebar.
• With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport, press 0.
Play Starts playback or (if the Record button was
clicked first) recording from the Timeline insertion point.
With the Transport stopped, Control-click Play
(Macintosh) or Right-click Play (Windows) to
toggle Loop Playback mode. When enabled, a
loop symbol appears in the Play button.
You can also initiate playback with the following shortcuts:
• Press the Spacebar.
• With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport, press 0.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows
25
You can play at half-speed with the following
shortcuts:
You can also begin recording with the following
shortcuts:
• Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the Play button.
• Press F12.
• Press Shift+Spacebar.
Fast Forward Fast forwards from the Timeline insertion point. You can also click repeatedly to
fast forward incrementally (by an amount based
on the Main Time Scale).
Fast Forward Increments
Main Time
Scale Format
Increment Amount
Min:Sec
1 second
Time code
1 frame
Bars:Beats
1 bar
Feet.Frame
1 foot
Sample
1 second
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Transport, you can fast forward by pressing
2.
Go to End Locates to the end of the session.
You can press Option+Return (Macintosh)
or Control+Enter on the alpha keyboard
(Windows) to locate to the end of the session.
Record Arms Pro Tools for recording (the button
flashes). Clicking Play then initiates recording.
With the Transport stopped, Control-click
Record (Macintosh) or Right-click Record (Windows) to cycle through the four record modes.
The Record button changes to indicate the currently selected mode: blank for Non-destructive,
“D” for Destructive, a loop symbol for Loop
Record, and “P” for QuickPunch.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
• Press Command+Spacebar (Macintosh) or
Control+Spacebar (Windows).
• With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport, press 3.
To initiate recording at half-speed, press
Command+Shift+Spacebar (Macintosh) or
Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows).
Pre-Roll During playback or record, specifies the
amount that plays before the play (timeline)
cursor location or beginning of the timeline selection. Pre-roll is particularly useful in punch
recording since it provides you with time to
“catch the beat” before reaching the punch-in
point. To set the pre-roll amount, enter a new
value in this field, or drag the Pre-Roll flag in the
Main Timebase Ruler.
To enable pre-roll, click the Pre-Roll button to
the left of the pre-roll field so it becomes highlighted.
Post-Roll During playback or record, specifies
the amount that plays after the end of a timeline
selection. Post-roll is useful in punch recording
since playback continues after the punch-out
point so you can check for a smooth transition
to previously recorded material. To set the postroll amount, enter a new value in this field, or
drag the Post-Roll flag in the Main Timebase
Ruler.
To enable post-roll, click the Post-Roll button to
the left of the post-roll field so it becomes highlighted.
Start Specifies the beginning of the play or
record range. You can set the start point by entering a location in this field, or by dragging the
corresponding Playback Marker in the Main
Timebase Ruler. For more information, see
“Playback Markers” on page 144.
End Specifies the end of the play or record range.
You can set the end point by entering a location
in this field, or by dragging the corresponding
Playback Marker in the Main Timebase Ruler.
For more information, see “Playback Markers”
on page 144.
Length Specifies the length for the play or record
range. You can set the length by entering a location in this field, or by selecting a range in any
Timebase Ruler.
When the Edit and Timeline selections are
linked, you can drag in a track’s playlist to
set the play and record range.
Transport Master Specifies the “master” for
transport functions. Click this button and
choose from the pop-up menu to select the
Transport Master, which can be set to Pro Tools,
Machine, MMC, and Remote. For information,
see Chapter 35, “Time Code Synchronization.”
MIDI Controls
Wait for Note
Countoff
Click
MIDI Merge
Tempo
Wait for Note When selected, recording does not
begin until a MIDI event is received. This ensures that you begin recording when you’re
ready to play, and that the first note, or other
MIDI data, is recorded precisely at the beginning
of the record range.
You can press F11 to turn on Wait for Note,
unless the Operation Preference for “Disable F11 for Wait for Note” is selected.
Click When selected, a metronome sounds during playback and recording (as specified by the
settings in the Click/Countoff Options dialog).
Double-click the Click button to open the
Click/Countoff Options dialog.
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Transport, you can press 7 to enable the
Click.
Countoff When selected, Pro Tools counts off a
specified number of measures (indicated in the
button) before playback or recording begins.
Double-click the Countoff button, to open the
Click/Countoff Options dialog.
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Transport, you can press 8 to enable the
Countoff.
MIDI Merge When selected (Merge mode), recorded MIDI data is merged with existing track
material. When deselected (Replace mode), recorded MIDI data replaces existing track material.
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Transport, you can press 9 to enable MIDI
Merge.
Meter
Conductor
Transport window showing MIDI controls
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows
27
Conductor When selected, Pro Tools uses the
tempo map defined in the Tempo Ruler. When
deselected, Pro Tools switches to Manual Tempo
mode and ignores the Tempo Track.
In Manual Tempo mode, you can enter a BPM
value in the tempo field, or tap in the tempo by
clicking the Tap button.
Meter Displays the session’s current meter based
on the play location. Double-click the Meter
button to open the Change Meter window.
Tempo Displays the session’s current tempo
based on the play location. In Manual Tempo
mode, you can enter a BPM value into this field.
In addition, when the tempo field is selected,
you can tap in a tempo from a MIDI controller.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Chapter 5: Keyboard Shortcuts
List and Parameter Selection
Global Key Commands
• Selection of tracks in Show/Hide List
This section shows keyboard shortcuts that apply to many functions in Pro Tools.
• Enabling of groups in Groups List
Track Functions
• Setting memory location parameters
• Changing Automation mode
• Enabling playlists
• Adding plug-ins
• Record enabling, soloing, and muting tracks
• Record safing and solo safing tracks
• Assigning inputs, outputs, and sends
• Automation Enable window parameters
Command
Macintosh
Windows
Toggle item and set
all others to same
new state
Option-click
item
Alt-click item
Toggle item and set
all others to opposite state
Commandclick item
Control-click
item
• Toggling volume/peak/delay display
Controls and Editing Tools
• Clearing meters
◆ Use to move plug-in controls, faders and sliders, the Scrubber, and automation data
• Changing track heights
Command
Macintosh
Windows
Command
Macintosh
Windows
Apply action to all
channel
strips/tracks
Option+
action
Alt+
action
Fine adjustment of
sliders, knobs, and
breakpoints
Commandclick item
Controlclick item
Apply action to
selected channel
strips/tracks
Option+
Shift+
action
Alt+
Shift+
action
Chapter 5: Keyboard Shortcuts
29
Keyboard Focus
The Keyboard Focus in Pro Tools determines
how the alpha keys function. Depending on
which Keyboard Focus is enabled, you can use
the keys on your alpha keyboard to select regions in the Audio or MIDI Regions List, enable
or disable groups, or perform an edit or play
command (TDM systems only).
Audio Regions List
Key Focus
Commands Focus (TDM Systems Only) When selected, this provides a wide range of single key
shortcuts from the alpha keyboard for editing
and playing.
With the Commands Focus disabled, you can
still access any of its key shortcuts by pressing
Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows)
along with the key.
An electronic PDF listing of keyboard shortcuts is available in Pro Tools. Choose
Help > Keyboard Shortcuts.
Audio Regions Focus When selected, audio regions can be located and selected in the Audio
Regions List by typing the first few letters of the
region’s name.
Commands
Key Focus
Groups List
Key Focus
MIDI Regions Focus When selected, MIDI regions can be located and selected in the MIDI
Regions List by typing the first few letters of the
region’s name.
MIDI Regions List
Key Focus
Groups List Focus When selected, Edit and Mix
Groups can be enabled or disabled by typing the
Group ID letter.
Keyboard Focus buttons
You can only enable one Keyboard Focus at a
time. Enabling a Keyboard Focus will disable the
one previously selected.
To set the Keyboard Focus:
Click the a–z button for the focus you want to
enable.
■
– or –
While pressing Command+Option (Macintosh)
or Control+Alt (Windows), press one of the following keys: 1 (Commands), 2 (Audio Regions
List), 3 (MIDI Regions List), or 4 (Groups List).
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Refer to the Keyboard Shortcut Card that
came with your Pro Tools package (TDM
systems only) for a list of keyboard shortcuts. This card is also available in PDF format in Pro Tools by choosing Help > Keyboard Shortcuts.
Numeric Keypad Modes
The Operation preference for Numeric Keypad
Mode determines how the numeric keypad
functions for Transport.
Transport
This mode allows you to set a number of record
and play functions, and also operate the Transport from the numeric keypad.
:
Function
Key
Click on/off
7
Countoff on/off
8
MIDI Merge/Replace mode
9
Loop Playback mode on/off
4
Loop Record mode on/off
5
QuickPunch mode on/off
6
select a keypad mode (Classic, Transport, or
Shuttle), then click Done.
Rewind
1
Fast Forward
2
Classic
Record
3
Play/Stop
0
No matter which Numeric Keypad Mode is selected, you can always use the numeric keypad
to select and enter values in the Event Edit Area,
Location Indicators, and Transport fields.
To set the Numeric Keypad Mode:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Opera-
tion.
2 Under the option for Numeric Keypad Mode,
This mode emulates the way Pro Tools worked
in versions earlier than 5.0. With the Numeric
Keypad Mode set to Classic, you can:
• Play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock
mode. Press Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows), followed by 0–9 for different
play speeds. Press Plus or Minus to reverse direction.
• Recall Memory Locations by typing the Memory Location number, followed by a period.
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport, you can also:
• Play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock
mode. Press Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows), followed by 0–9 for different
play speeds. Press Plus or Minus to reverse direction.
• Recall Memory Locations by typing period,
the Memory Location number, and period
again.
Chapter 5: Keyboard Shortcuts
31
Shuttle
(TDM Systems Only)
Pro Tools offers another form of shuttling, different from that of Shuttle Lock mode. With the
Numeric Keypad Mode set to Shuttle, playback
of the current Edit selection is triggered by pressing and holding the keys on the numeric keypad—playback stops once the keys are released.
Various playback speeds are available in both
forward and reverse. In this mode, pre- and postroll are ignored.
:
Function
Key
1x Forward
6
1x Rewind
4
4x Forward
9
4x Rewind
7
1/4x Forward
3
1/4x Rewind
1
1/2x Forward
5+6
1/2x Rewind
5+4
2x Forward
8+9
2x Rewind
8+7
1/16x Forward
2+3
1/16x Rewind
2+1
Loop Selection (1x)
0
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Shuttle,
you can also:
• Recall Memory Locations by typing period,
the Memory Location number, and period
again.
Shuttle Lock mode is not available when the
Numeric Keypad Mode is set to Shuttle.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Part II: Sessions & Tracks
33
34
Chapter 6: Sessions
This chapter covers some of the basics of starting a project in Pro Tools, including how to set
up and save a Pro Tools session.
If you launch Pro Tools without turning on your
audio interfaces, you will be prompted to turn
them on. Allow fifteen seconds for audio interfaces to power-up and the status LEDs to stop
blinking and stay lit, before clicking OK.
Starting Up Your System
7 Turn on your computer.
In order for the components of your Pro Tools
system to communicate properly with each
other, you need to start them up in a specific order.
For LE systems on Macintosh, if the Digi
001 is configured as a MIDI interface, make
sure to launch Pro Tools before launching
other MIDI applications, such as OMS
Setup, and SampleCell Editor.
Start your Pro Tools system in this order:
1 Make sure all your equipment (including your
CPU) is off.
Once you have quit Pro Tools, shut down your
Pro Tools system in this order:
1 Turn off your computer.
2 For TDM systems with an expansion chassis,
turn on the expansion chassis.
2 For TDM systems, turn off audio interfaces.
3 Turn on external hard drives, if any. Wait ap-
3 For TDM systems with an expansion chassis,
turn off the expansion chassis.
proximately ten seconds for them to spin up to
speed.
4 Lower the volume of all output devices, then
turn on your Pro Tools audio interfaces.
5 Turn on any MIDI interfaces and devices, or
synchronization peripherals.
6 Turn on your Pro Tools audio interfaces (such
as 96 I/O). On power up, the status LEDs will
flash. Wait at least fifteen seconds for the audio
interface to initialize, and the status LEDs to
stop blinking and stay lit.
4 Turn off any MIDI interfaces and devices.
5 Turn off external hard drives.
Configuring Your System
When you first use Pro Tools (or when you
change your hardware), you should configure
the Playback Engine and the Hardware Setup.
The Playback Engine lets you customize various
System Usage parameters (such as buffers, CPU
Usage).
Chapter 6: Sessions
35
Additionally, it sets voice count (and voiceable
tracks) for your system and it’s sessions. Hardware Setup lets you set various parameters for
your interfaces (such as whether you will use analog or digital inputs).
Configuring requirements are system-dependent. The following table provides general configuration guidelines.
Configuration Guidelines
Pro Tools
System
Configuration Guidelines
When
Pro Tools Window
HD-series
Verify I/Os are present
first launch, or when you add
or remove HD I/Os
Hardware Setup
Change physical I/O routings
(unless you always use
default settings)
when you add or remove HD
I/Os
Hardware Setup
Make clock changes
first launch, or when you add
or remove HD I/Os
Hardware Setup
Change other default Hardware Setup settings
when you want to change your
defaults
Hardware Setup
Change default Playback
Engine (for example, CPU
Usage, Hardware Buffer Size,
and DAE Buffer Size)
when you want to change your
defaults
Playback Engine
Change any of the default settings (such as changing Channel 1–2 input to digital or
analog, and so on)
when you want to change your
defaults
Hardware Setup
Change default Playback
Engine (for example, the
default number of DSPs used
for the disk engine)
when you want to change your
defaults
Playback Engine
Change CPU Usage (for example, from 75% to 80%)
if you are not running other
applications simultaneously
with Pro Tools LE, or when you
want to increase plug-ins
Playback Engine, or Hardware
Setup
Increase H/W Buffer Size
when mixing, and you want to
increase plug-in and mixer
power
Playback Engine, or Hardware
Setup
MIX-series
and
Pro Tools|24
LE
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Host and RTAS Processing
RTAS on Pro Tools LE Systems
Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to provide audio track recording, playback, mixing,
and effects processing. Pro Tools TDM can also
use host processing to run RTAS plug-ins for effects processing.
On LE systems, it is recommended that you set
the H/W Buffer Size to 256 samples, and the
CPU Usage Limit to 70%. These settings are the
system minimums, and they should allow you
to get good processing power from your RTAS
plug-ins without slowing down the on-screen
response of Pro Tools. These settings will work
best on a fast computer (such as a Power Macintosh G4 or fast Pentium IV-based computer).
Pro Tools Playback Engine dialog allows you to
set a hardware buffer size and allocate a percentage of CPU resources for these tasks.
RTAS on Pro Tools TDM Systems
On TDM systems, it is recommended that you
set the H/W Buffer Size to 512 samples, and the
CPU Usage Limit to 40%. These settings are the
system defaults, and they should allow you to
get good processing power from your RTAS
plug-ins without slowing down the on-screen
response of Pro Tools. These settings will work
best on a fast computer (such as a G4 or Pentium
IV computer).
On a slower TDM system, you should increase
these settings. The H/W Buffer Size can be set as
high as 1024 samples, and the CPU Usage Limit
percentage can be set as high as 85%. This will
increase the amount of processing you can get
from RTAS plug-ins on slower systems.
When using RTAS plug-ins on TDM systems,
you may encounter DAE -6031 or -9123 errors.
In these instances, you can increase the H/W
Buffer Size and CPU Usage Limit percentage in
the Playback Engine dialog to get better system
performance. With slower CPUs, you may also
need to reduce the number of RTAS plug-ins
used in the session to get acceptable results.
In addition to slower screen redraws and
and responsiveness, larger hardware buffer
sizes can affect automation accuracy for
plug-in parameters and mute data, as well
as timing for MIDI tracks.
However, on a slower system, to get maximum
track count and processing power, you should
use a higher H/W Buffer Size and CPU Usage
Limit. At the maximum settings of 1024 samples
and 85%, on most qualified systems, you should
be able to get 24 audio tracks with plug-ins.
Higher H/W Buffer Sizes lead to increased
latency. For more information on H/W
Buffer Sizes and latency, see the Getting
Started Guide.
DAE Playback Buffer Size
The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the
amount of memory allocated within DAE to
manage disk buffers, which affects system performance.
DAE Playback Buffer in Playback Engine dialog
The default DAE Playback Buffer Size of “2” is
recommended for 24-track, 24-bit sessions, and
provides relatively fast record and playback
while allowing most edits to be accommodated
with reasonably fast hard disks. You may want
to adjust this parameter to modify your system’s
performance, as follows:
Chapter 6: Sessions
37
Allocating a larger buffer size can sometimes
allow for a higher density of edits. This can be
useful if you experience system performance
problems in sessions with a large number of edits in rapid succession. However, choosing a
larger buffer size can cause a time lag to occur
before playback or recording begins. It can also
cause a time lag to occur when you are editing
during playback.
◆
Allocating a smaller buffer size can sometimes
improve playback/recording initiation speed.
This can be useful if you are experiencing a time
lag when you initiate playback/recording. However, choosing a smaller buffer size can make it
difficult for slower hard drives to play or record
tracks reliably.
◆
2 From the H/W Buffer Size pop-up, select the
audio buffer size, in samples, for host processing
tasks such as Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) plugin processing. The default setting is 512 samples. Select a higher setting if you need more
buffer time for RTAS, HTDM, and Direct Connect applications.
3 From the CPU Usage Limit pop-up, select the
maximum percentage of CPU resources to allocate to host processing tasks. The default setting
is 40%. Select a higher setting if you need more
buffer time for RTAS, HTDM, and Direct Connect applications.
Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow
down screen responses.
4 From the Number of Voices pop-up, select the
Configuring a Pro Tools|HD
System
Pro Tools Playback Engine
To configure the Playback Engine
1 Choose Setups > Playback Engine.
amount of voices (and voiceable tracks), for
your sessions. The default number of voices on a
Pro Tools|HD 1 system is 48 voices (at the default 48 kHz sample rate).
Changing the number of voices, along with
sample rate, affects DSP usage and your
system performance. Please read the following carefully.
Depending on the current sample rate, and the
number of HD Core and Process cards in your
system, you will have different choices available. For example, each HD card allows you to
use one or two of its DSPs per card for voicing.
Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools|HD system
38
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Most DSP amounts support three levels of voice
numbers:
• Select higher voice numbers when your
cards are in your machine, and you aren’t
running extra PCI cards which may conflict with Digidesign cards. You should also
select higher voice numbers when using a
chassis to run higher track counts at higher
sample rates (such as 64 tracks at 96 kHz)
and you want more voices (such as 16
voices per DSP at 96 kHz).
• Select medium voice numbers when running cards in an expansion chassis, or
when using other PCI cards along with
Digidesign cards.
Hardware Setup
Pro Tools lets you configure many parameters of
your audio interface. Choose Setups > Hardware
Setup to open the Hardware Setup dialog. The
Hardware Setup determines which Pro Tools audio interfaces are used for Pro Tools recording
and playback. For example, HD-series systems
can have HD Core and HD Process cards, connected directly to 192 I/O or 96 I/O audio interfaces. In turn, the audio interfaces can have additional I/Os attached (including older
Digidesign audio interfaces, such as the 1622
I/O). For more information, see Chapter 2,
“Pro Tools System Configurations.”
• Select minimum voice numbers if you are
running high bandwidth PCI cards (such as
video capture).
For voice limits on different HD systems, refer to
Table 1 on page 7.
5 From the Sample Rate pop-up, select the session sample rate. This choice will not be available if a session is open.
Session sample rate can always be set in the
New Session dialog. See “Creating a New
Session” on page 43.
6 Set DAE Playback Buffer Size.
The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the
amount of memory allocated within DAE to
manage disk buffers, which affects system performance. For details, see “DAE Playback Buffer
Size” on page 37.
7 Click OK, when finished.
Hardware Setup dialog for 192 I/O, Main page
Main Page
The Main tab page of the Hardware Setup dialog
is where you define which physical ports on
your I/O audio interface are routed to Pro Tools
inputs and outputs. The channel input and output pop-ups in Hardware Setup serve as a patchbay that allows you to route any of the physical
inputs or outputs to your Pro Tools Mixer.
You must select the peripheral, then set the parameters for that interface—repeating this for
each interface in your system.
The Main page also provides controls for Sample
Rate, Clock Source, and expansion input and
output.
Chapter 6: Sessions
39
You can validate audio interfaces at any
time with the Identify button. Select the
Digidesign audio interface in the Peripherals list, then click on the Identify button. All
the LEDs on the interface’s front panel will
illuminate.
Additional pages are available to configure other
parameters on each I/O (such as setting operating levels). Refer to the Getting Started Guide for
your system, or the guide for your audio interface.
4 From the Clock Source pop-up, select the appropriate clock source for the system. In most
cases, you will use Internal. The other choices
are for resolving Pro Tools to external clock
sources. Depending on your audio interface,
Clock Source options can include: AES/EBU
[Encl], S/PDIF, Optical [Encl], AES/EBU 1–8,
TDIF, ADAT, and Word Clock (optional word
clock rates are available at higher frequencies).
5 From the Ext. Clock Output, select the appropriate clock source to feed to devices attached to
your I/O.
6 To select a different digital I/O on your audio
interface (enclosure), click on one of the format
buttons, under Digital Format. Choices include:
AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and Optical (S/PDIF). Selecting Optical (S/PDIF) resets the physical Optical
I/O port (which is, by default, eight channels of
ADAT I/O) to two channels of S/PDIF I/O.
Hardware Setup dialog for 192 I/O, Analog In page
7 For S/PDIF compatibility with Tascam DA30
DAT recorders, click on the Tascam button, under S/PDIF Format.
To configure audio interfaces in Hardware Setup:
The following steps are for configuring an HD
system with one or more HD interfaces (with
one or more MIX-series interfaces attached).
These steps can be applied to other system setups (such as a MIX system).
1 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup in Pro Tools.
2 From the Peripherals list, select the Digidesign
audio interface connected to the first card in
your HD system. This will be the interface at the
top of the list.
3 Make sure Main page tab is chosen.
8 For the 96 I/O, click on the Meters pop-up
menu and select whether to meter input or output meters.
9 From the Input and Output Channel Selectors, select the physical ports (such as Analog
1–2, Optical 1–2. and so on), that will be routed
to the Pro Tools input and output ports (such as
(Ch 1–2, 3–4, and so on).
Refer to your peripheral’s guide for sample rate,
and other restrictions. For example, the Optical
1–8 channels will not be available for session
sample rates of 88.2 or higher.
To differentiate inputs and outputs of the same
format, they are labeled differently in the Input
and Output Channel Selectors. For example, the
AES/EBU inputs and outputs that come standard
in the 192 I/O enclosure are identified as
40
Pro Tools Reference Guide
AES/EBU (Encl); the AES/EBU inputs and outputs that come on the factory-installed Digital
port are listed (in pairs) as AES/EBU 1–2,
AES/EBU 3–4, and so on. For 192 I/Os equipped
with the optional D/A Card (Digidesign 192
DA), the additional AES/EBU I/O ports on the
optional card are labelled AES/EBU 9–10,
AES/EBU 11–12, and so on.
The I/O Setup dialog provides a graphical representation of the Hardware Setup. Each I/O attached to your system is displayed, with controls to route physical ports to Pro Tools inputs
and outputs. These controls mirror the routing
controls found in Hardware Setup. Changes
made to physical routing in one dialog, are always reflected in the other. I/O Setup also lets
you label and map Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus signal paths. For more information
on paths, path mapping, and other I/O Setup
features, see “I/O Setup” on page 59.
10 Click on other tabs (such as Analog In and
Analog Out) for additional configuration options specific to the audio interface. These include:
• On the 96 I/O, configuring the operating
levels of analog inputs and outputs (+4 dBu
or –10 dB).
• On the 192 I/O analog input, setting the
input connector, input trim (A or B), and
Soft Limit.
If you install another A/D or D/A, or Digital
I/O card, you will see another tab with Analog 9–16, or Digital 9–16.
11 Repeat the above steps for additional HD-se-
ries audio interface.
Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll
though each peripheral.
12 Repeat the above steps for any Legacy I/Os
(such 888|24 I/O) connected to the first I/O,
then second, and so on. Before you can configure a Legacy I/O, it must first be initialized in
Hardware Setup (see below).
13 Click Ok.
For more information on Hardware Setup
parameters for each Legacy I/O, refer to the
guide that shipped with your Legacy audio
interface.
Initializing MIX-Series Peripherals
Before you can configure a Legacy I/O, it must
first be initialized in Hardware Setup, by completing the following:
1 Start your Pro Tools system. For startup steps,
refer to See “Starting Up Your System” on
page 35.
2 Make sure you turn down the volume of your
• On the 192 I/O configuring two sets of
trims for inputs and outputs.
speakers and amps. Very loud digital noise may
be emitted before the Legacy I/O is initialized.
• On the 192 I/O, configuring the optional
D/A Card: Input Format, input sample rate
converter (SR Conversion), and output
channels to send AES/EBU Non-Audio
Data.
3 Turn on your Legacy I/O.
For more information on Hardware Setup
parameters for each HD I/O, refer to the
Getting Started with HD Guide or the guide
for your audio interface.
4 From the Peripheral list, choose the primary
I/O (the audio interface to which your Legacy
I/O is connected).
5 From the Main page, select the Legacy I/O button in the Port Settings.
Chapter 6: Sessions
41
6 In the Peripheral list, “> <No Interface>” is
listed twice, directly below its primary I/O. Click
on the first “> <No Interface>” and a pop-menu
will be presented with supported I/O choices.
To select multiple output ports for a Pro Tools
output channel pair:
1 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup in Pro Tools.
2 From the Peripherals list, select the desired in-
7 From the Interface pop-up, select the type of
Legacy audio interface being configured (such as
888|24, 882|20, and so on). After selecting an audio interface, the Main page updates with controls that can be configured. Refer to the guide
for your audio interface for details on each control.
8 Repeat the above steps for additional Legacy
I/Os.
Routing a Pro Tools Output Pair to
Multiple Audio Interface Output Ports
terface.
3 Make sure Main page tab is chosen.
4 Select an output pair.
5 Ctrl+Shift an additional output destination.
The output name updates with a plus sign (“+”)
before it.
To verify which output ports have been routed,
select the original output: In the pop-up menu,
each output assigned to the Pro Tools output
channel pair will have a check mark next to it.
Pro Tools channel pairs can be routed to multiple outputs on your Digidesign audio interface
through Hardware Setup.
This provides you with the ability to have the
same signal (such as a stereo pair, a stem mix, or
a multichannel mix) sent to multiple destinations (such as multiple mastering devices). Instead of doing multiple bounces or mix passes,
each to a discreet device or output, or daisychaining devices, Hardware Setup allows you to
“mirror” the Pro Tools output and provide multiple channels of the same signal to different I/O
ports. For example, if you assign Analog 1–2 and
Digital [Encl] (AES/EBU, S/SPDIF) in Hardware
Setup to Pro Tools Output pair 1–2, when you
select Pro Tools Output 1–2 (as defined in I/O
Setup), the audio will be routed to all four outputs with a single dual channel assignment.
Pro Tools outputs pairs can also be routed to
multiple audio interface outputs in I/O Setup.
For more information, see “Routing Hardware
I/O to Pro Tools I/O” on page 63.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Hardware Setup dialog for 192 I/O, Main page›
6 Select additional output destinations, as desired. The only limit to output choices is the
number of outputs available in your system.
Configuring Other Pro Tools
Systems
To configure a Pro Tools MIX-series,
Pro Tools|24, or Pro Tools LE system, refer to the
guides that came with your system.
Older Pro Tools software releases have different
Playback Engine and Hardware Setup dialogs, as
described in their guides.
Creating a New Session
To create a new session:
1 Choose File > New Session.
The first step in beginning a Pro Tools project is
creating a new session. When you do this,
Pro Tools automatically creates a new folder
named for your session. Within this folder is the
session file and two other folders, an Audio Files
folder, and a Fade Files folder.
The Audio Files folder contains all audio recorded or converted during the session. The
Fade Files folder contains any crossfaded audio
data generated by the session.
When you record a new audio track, the track is
saved as a new audio file to the Audio Files
folder. You can also import other audio files into
the session, and work with them as well.
New Session dialog
2 Choose the drive where you want to save the
session. The session should be created on a dedicated audio drive.
3 Select “Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” (Mac-
Typical session folder
For details on allocating audio tracks to different
hard drive locations, including shared media
volumes, see “Disk Allocation” on page 123.
intosh) or “Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility”
(Windows) if you want to create session and audio files that can be used in either Macintosh or
Windows versions of Pro Tools. See “Creating
Mac and PC Compatible Sessions” on page 111
for more information.
To use Japanese or non-ASCII characters in
track and region names, or track comments,
disable the option for “Enforce Mac/PC
Compatibility” or “Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility” when creating a new session.
Similarly, if you attempt to save a session
copy with the “Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” or “Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility” option enabled, all Japanese and non-ASCII
characters will be lost.
Chapter 6: Sessions
43
4 Select the audio file format for the session.
For optimum compatibility between Windows
and Macintosh sessions, set the file type to
WAV. SDII files are not supported on Windows
systems, and Pro Tools prevents you from
choosing SDII as the file type if Enforce Mac/PC
Compatibility is selected (or the session is on a
PC).
Opening a Session
When you open a session, Pro Tools looks in the
session folder for associated audio and fade files.
To open an existing session:
1 Choose File > Open Session.
5 Select the bit depth (16 bit or 24 bit) and the
sample rate.
6 Select the I/O Settings to use for the session.
Several pre-configured I/O Settings are included
with your system, or you can select a custom I/O
Setting that you have created. See Chapter 7,
“I/O Setup” for more information.
7 Name the Session.
Open Session dialog
8 Click Save.
2 Locate the session you want to open and click
Open.
Choosing Bit Depth and Sample Rate
When choosing a bit depth or sample rate for
your session, consider the disk space and DSP
mixing power your selection will require. 24-bit
sessions occupy about 50% more disk space
than 16-bit sessions. 192 kHz files occupy four
times the space as 44.1 kHz files. Fewer mixer
channels are available with higher samples rates
or 24-bit sessions on TDM systems (see
Appendix B, “TDM Mixing and DSP Usage”).
On LE systems, 24-bit sessions require more processing power as well. It is not possible to combine different bit depths within a single session.
Opening a Session that Contains
Unavailable Items
Pro Tools prompts you when opening a session
that contains unavailable I/O, DSP resources,
plug-ins, or unsupported tracks. This is common
when transferring sessions to systems with different Digidesign hardware.
Opening a session with unavailable items
44
Pro Tools Reference Guide
The dialog contains a summary of the missing
session components. To save a text file containing a more detailed report, along with the resulting action, click OK in the dialog.
Following are some actions that may occur
when opening a session with unavailable items:
Unsupported tracks for the current system are
discarded. For example, trying to open a 64track session on an LE system (which only supports 24 tracks) would result in the loss of 40
tracks. Furthermore, if you save this opened file,
you will loose those tracks forever!
◆
Inserts assigned to unavailable plug-ins are
made inactive.
◆
Inputs, outputs, and sends that are assigned to
unavailable paths, are dropped.
◆
Saving a Session
You should save regularly while working on
your session to ensure that your work is preserved on your hard drive.
Speeding up Saves by Reducing the
Disk Cache Size
(Macintosh Only)
To speed up session saves and disk bounces, it is
recommended that you reduce the Cache Size
for your Macintosh to 512k (in the Control
Panel > Memory dialog).
Saving the Session File
The Save Session command saves the changes
you have made to your session and writes them
over the previously saved version of the file. The
Save Session command cannot be undone.
To save a session:
■
Choose File > Save Session.
Revert to Saved Command
If you have made changes to a session since you
last saved it, you can discard the changes and revert to its previously saved state.
To revert to the last saved version of a session:
■
Choose File > Revert to Saved.
Save Session As Command
The Save Session As command is useful for saving a copy of the current session under a different name, or to a different hard drive location.
Because the Save Session As command closes the
current session and lets you keep working on
the renamed copy, it is particularly useful if you
are experimenting and want to save successive
stages of the session.
By working this way, you can quickly retrace
your steps should you want to go back to an earlier version of your session. By using the Save
Session As command you are saving a new version of the session file only—not duplicate versions of the audio or fade files.
To save a session under another name:
1 Choose File > Save Session As.
2 Enter a new name for your session and click
Save to save the session.
The renamed session document is saved in the
session folder along with the original session.
Any new audio files that you record in your renamed session will be placed into the same Audio Files folder that was created for your original
session.
Chapter 6: Sessions
45
Saving a Copy of the Session
You can use the Save Session Copy In command
to save a copy of the current session, along with
its audio files and fade files, to a different file
and hard drive location. In addition, you can
specify a session file format, audio file format,
bit depth, and sample rate for the session copy.
Using the Save Session Copy In command is the
only way to switch sample rates of a session.
When you Save Session Copy with a lower
bit rate, Dither (and Noise Shaping) may be
applied. See the following table:
Dither and Noise Shaping with Save Session Copy In:
Bit Rate Conversion
Save
Session
Copy
24-bit to 16-bit
(Dither and Noise
Shape)
Yes
24-bit to 8-bit
(Noise Shape Only)
No
16-bit to 8-bit
(Noise Shape Only)
No
For more information about using Dither with
Save, see “Dither” on page 359.
Session Format
You can save the session copy in the following
formats:
Save Session Copy In dialog
• Latest (Pro Tools 5.1 or later)
Unlike the Save Session As command, Save Session Copy In does not close the original session,
so subsequent edits are made to the original session. Session copies can be used to archive important sessions, or as a means to prepare sessions for transfer to another Pro Tools system.
• Pro Tools 5 Session
Save Session Copy In only saves audio being
used in the session. Any audio that was recorded
or imported and then later removed from the
session, will not be copied to the new session
copy.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
• Pro Tools 4, 16-Bit Session
• Pro Tools 4, 24-Bit Session
• Pro Tools 3.2 Session
Use Latest if you are working with Pro Tools
software v5.1 or higher.
When saving 5.3 sessions to earlier versions,
multichannel tracks and multi-mono plug-ins
are lost. In this case, make sure to first separate
the tracks and plug-ins to individual mono
tracks.
Session Parameters
Audio File Type
You can save the session as a WAV or AIFF session. You can also save a session as SDII format
on the Macintosh.
SDII sessions are not supported for
Pro Tools in Windows. For this reason, you
cannot set the session audio file type to SDII
on the Macintosh if Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility is selected.
Using Mixed File Types
A session can use mixed audio file types. If your
original session has mixed file types, they are
not converted to a different file type unless you
specify that they be converted. However, when
using mixed file types, audio performance will
be reduced (due to additional file handling required for some file formats).
Bit Depth
You can save the new session at 16-bit or 24-bit
depth. If your session is in a different bit depth,
audio files are converted to the new session bit
depth, and copied to the location you specify.
Sample Rate
You can save the new session at 44.1 kHz or
48 kHz sample rate (or higher for HD-series systems). If your session is at a different sample
rate, audio files are converted to the new session
sample rate, and copied to the location you
specify.
The higher the quality of sample rate conversion you choose, the longer Pro Tools will take
to process the audio file.
Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility (Macintosh)
Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility (Windows)
This setting forces Macintosh or Windows versions of Pro Tools to create sessions and audio
files that are usable on both platforms. For more
information, see “Creating Mac and PC Compatible Sessions” on page 111.
Items to Copy
All Audio Files and Session Plug-In Settings
Folder
When this option is selected, all audio files and
the session’s Plug-In Settings folder are copied to
the new location. The references to these plugin settings in the session are redirected to point
to the copied files.
This setting is automatically selected if you are
changing bit depth or sample rate, or copying a
session on the Macintosh from SDII format to
AIFF or WAV format with Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility selected.
All Non-SDII Audio Files
(Force Audio Files to Native Session Type)
This option ensures that all files in the new session are in the session file type you select, by
converting files of different types to the session’s
file format. Use this setting to avoid the reduced
performance of a session with mixed file types.
This setting is automatically selected if you are
changing bit depth or sample rate, or copying a
session on the Macintosh from SDII format to
AIFF or WAV format with Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility selected.
Chapter 6: Sessions
47
Don’t Copy Fade Files
With this option selected, Fade Files are not copied to the new session Fade Files folder. When
the session is launched, the Find Files dialog will
prompt you to locate Fade Files. You can either
locate the existing fades using the find file dialog, or Skip All to let Pro Tools recreate the fades
from the session document.
Root Plug-In Settings Folder
When this option is selected, the contents of the
root-level Plug-In Settings Folder are copied into
a folder named Place in Root Settings Folder, indicating that these files will need to be moved to
the root level plug-in settings folder on the destination system before you can use them. The
references to these settings files in the session
are not redirected to point to the copied files.
Movie/Video Files (Macintosh Only)
When this option is selected, session movie files
(QuickTime video files or AVoption or
AVoption XL video files) are copied to the new
location, and session references are updated to
point to the copied movie files.
To save a session copy in a new location:
1 Choose File > Save Session Copy In.
2 In the Save Session Copy dialog, choose a des-
tination and enter a name for the new session
file.
3 Set the Audio File Type to AIFF, WAV, or SDII.
If the audio files need to be compatible on either
Macintosh or Windows platform, select AIFF or
WAV.
4 Set the Sample Rate and Bit Depth for the ses-
sion.
5 Select “Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” (Mac-
intosh) or “Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility”
(Windows) if you want to create session and audio files that can be used in either Macintosh or
Windows versions of Pro Tools. See “Creating
Mac and PC Compatible Sessions” on page 111
for more information.
6 Select the Items to Copy to the new session.
7 Click Save.
Creating Custom Session
Templates
You can create custom session documents that
are pre-configured to the track setups, mixer setups, window arrangements, and zoom level
memory locations that you use most frequently.
Doing this will save you the trouble of having to
create your studio setup from scratch every time
you start a new session.
Creating Macintosh Templates
You can create a session template on the Macintosh by saving a session file as a Stationery Pad
document. Once a session is saved as stationery,
it acts as a template that you can open and then
resave as a normal session.
To create a custom session template on the
Macintosh:
1 Create a session and arrange Pro Tools as desired. You can also define the parameters within
these windows, such as signal routings, insert
and send configurations, track views, Ruler settings, and Preference settings.
2 Choose File > Save Session As.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
3 Name the session and click Save.
Creating Windows Templates
4 Close the session.
5 Locate the session file that you just saved.
In Windows, you can create a session template
by making a session file a Read Only document.
6 Click once on the file to select it.
To create a custom session template in Windows:
7 Choose File > Get Info > General Information.
1 Create a session and arrange Pro Tools as desired. You can also define the parameters within
these windows, such as signal routings, insert
and send configurations, track views, Ruler settings, and Preference settings.
A file information window appears.
2 Choose File > Save Session As.
3 Name the session and click Save.
4 Close the session.
5 Locate the session file that you just saved.
6 Right-click the file and choose Properties.
Saving a session as a Stationery Pad (Macintosh)
7 Under Attributes, deselect Archive and select
Read Only.
8 Click the Stationery Pad check box to save the
file as a template, then close the information
window.
To use this template, double-click it or open it
with the Open Session command if you are already running Pro Tools. You can create several
custom templates for studio setups that you frequently use.
When you open a session saved as a Stationery
Pad, Pro Tools gives you the option of editing
the template or starting a new session using the
template settings. If you choose New Session,
Pro Tools will create a new folder containing a
copy of your session template and Audio and
Fades folders.
Making a session a Read Only file (Windows)
8 Click OK.
Chapter 6: Sessions
49
To use this template, double-click it or open it
with the Open Session command. When you
first save the session, Pro Tools will ask you to
give the session a new name. Your original session template will remain unchanged.
To modify the session template, you will need to
reopen its Properties, deselect the Read Only option and select the Archive option, make your
modifications, then change it back to a Read
Only file.
Sharing Sessions Between
Pro Tools TDM Systems and
Pro Tools LE Systems
Pro Tools makes it easy to share sessions between Pro Tools LE and TDM-equipped systems.
There are some important differences between
the two types of systems that can affect how session material is transferred.
Differences between TDM and LE systems
Closing a Session
Because Pro Tools allows you to work on just
one session at a time, you must close the current
session if you want to work on another. The
Close Session command closes your current
Pro Tools session but leaves the Pro Tools application open. You can save your work using the
Save Session or Save Session As command before
closing the current session.
To close a session:
■
Choose File > Close Session.
Feature
TDM Systems
LE Systems
Number of
Tracks
up to 256 (HDseries),
up to 128 (MIXseries)
limited to 24
Number of
mix busses
64 busses
16 busses
Inserts per
Track
up to 5 inserts
up to 5 inserts
Sends per
Track
up to 5 sends
up to 5 sends
When opening a TDM session in Pro Tools LE,
the following rules apply:
◆ Any tracks beyond the first 24, as well any inactive tracks, are discarded.
Quitting Pro Tools
Although Pro Tools will warn you before allowing you to quit without saving changes, you
should generally save your work before quitting.
To quit Pro Tools on the Macintosh:
■
Choose File > Quit.
To exit Pro Tools in Windows:
■
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Choose File > Exit.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
◆
Multichannel surround tracks are discarded.
◆ Any assignments to busses beyond 16 are
made inactive.
◆ Input and output paths not available are discarded.
◆ TDM plug-ins with RTAS equivalents are retained; those without equivalents are made inactive.
Preferences
The Preferences dialog has several tabbed pages
in which you can specify your preferred settings
for various session parameters. Each new session
will use these preferences.
Display Preferences
(the portions that fall above and below the center line) are summed together and viewed as a
single positive-value signal. This view allows
more waveform detail to be seen in either normal or reduced track height views. It can be particularly useful when editing volume automation data, since it depicts waveform levels as
starting at the bottom of the track.
Draw Grids in Edit Window This option adds grid
lines to the Edit window. Grid line resolution is
based on the zoom level of the Edit window.
Mix Window Follows Bank Selection This option,
which is only available if you are using a supported external MIDI controller, causes
Pro Tools to scroll the Mix window to display
the selected bank of tracks when you switch
banks on the MIDI controller, ensuring that the
current bank is viewable on-screen.
Recompute Invalid Overviews This option
prompts Pro Tools to look for missing or corrupted overview data (the data used to create
waveform displays) when it opens sessions. If
Pro Tools finds that overview data is missing or
corrupted, it will recreate one or more overviews
for the session. This may take some time if there
are many tracks in the session. If you suspect
that overview data for a session has become corrupted, or if you import audio files which have
no overview data into a session, make sure this
preference is enabled for the session, save and
close the session, then reopen it. Pro Tools will
recreate any overviews for the session when it
opens.
Draw Waveforms Rectified This option displays
audio waveform data in rectified view. In this
view, audio waveforms are displayed so that
their positive and negative waveform excursions
Edit Window Follows Bank Selection This option, which is only available if you are using a
supported external MIDI controller, causes
Pro Tools to scroll the Edit window to display
the selected bank of tracks when you switch
banks on the MIDI controller, ensuring that the
current selection of tracks in the current bank is
viewable on-screen.
Edit Window Default Length This option allows
you to set a default length for the Edit window
in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. This capability is useful if you wish to assemble a session of a particular length or leave extra room to
expand the Edit window’s work area in your session. There is a 13 hour maximum limit for the
length of a Pro Tools session.
Show Meters in Sends View When the Sends
View is displaying individual send controls, you
can enable this option to show send level
meters. If you are using a slower computer, you
can disable this option to reduce the processing
load on your CPU.
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51
Edit Window Color Coding
Operation Preferences
Edit Window Color Coding determines how colors are assigned to the waveform display in the
Edit window. Choices are:
None This option turns off color assignment to
the waveform display of tracks in the Edit window.
Tracks and MIDI Channels Assigns a color to the
waveform display of each track in the Edit window according to its voice number and MIDI
channel assignment.
Tracks and MIDI Devices Assigns a color to the
waveform display of each track in the Edit window according to its voice number and MIDI device type.
Groups Assigns a color to the waveform display
of each track in the Edit window according to its
group ID. If groups are suspended using the Suspend Groups command, all waveforms will be
displayed in black.
Peak Hold Options
These options determine how long the peak indicators on track meters stay lit after a peak is
detected. Choices are:
3-Second Peak Hold When selected, track meters
display the last peak level for three seconds.
Infinite Peak Hold When selected, track meters
display the last peak level until you click them
to clear them.
No Peak Hold When selected, track meters do
not hold the peak level.
Timeline Insertion Follows Playback This option
causes the screen’s play cursor to update its location to the point where playback stops.
Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle When selected, the edit cursor automatically locates to
the point where scrubbing stops.
Support Background Record Applications Allows
other audio recording applications to run in the
background concurrently with Pro Tools. Files
recorded in the background can be imported
into Pro Tools, and then trimmed and viewed
while recording continues.
Sends Default to –INF Sets the initial fader level
of newly-created Sends to –∞ (no audible signal
level).
Audio During Fast Forward/Rewind When selected, audio is audible during fast-forward or rewind.
Latch Record Enable Buttons When deselected,
prevents multiple tracks from being record-enabled: Record-enabling a track takes any other
track out of record-enabled mode.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Latch Solo Buttons When deselected, prevents
multiple tracks from being soloed. Soloing a
track mutes any track that is soloed.
Link Mix and Edit Group Enables When selected,
links enabling and disabling of Mix and Edit
groups: Enabling Group A in the Edit Window
automatically enables Group A in the Mix window.
Use F11 Key for Wait for Note When selected,
pressing the F11 Function key puts MIDI recording in Wait for Note mode.
Shuttle Selects a type of shuttling different from
that of Shuttle Lock mode. With the Numeric
Keypad Mode set to Shuttle, playback is triggered by pressing and holding the keys on the
numeric keypad—playback stops once the keys
are released. Various playback speeds are available in both forward and reverse. You can also
recall Memory Locations by typing period (.),
the Memory Location number, and period (.)
again.
Autosave
Numeric Keypad Mode
This preference determines how the Autosave
feature functions.
Numeric Keypad Mode determines how the numeric keypad functions. You can always use the
numeric keypad to select and enter values in the
Event Edit Area, Location Indicators, and Transport fields.
Enable Autosave When selected, Pro Tools automatically saves sessions while you work. Use the
Keep and Save Every fields to specify the total
number of incremental backups that are kept
and how often the session is saved.
Classic Emulates the way Pro Tools worked in
versions earlier than 5.0. With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Classic, you can play up to two
tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock mode. Press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows), followed by 0–9 for different play speeds. Press Plus
(+) or Minus (–) to reverse direction. Recall
Memory Locations by typing the Memory Location number, followed by period (.).
Transport Allows you to set a number of record
and play functions, and also operate the Transport from the numeric keypad. With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport, you can
play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock
mode. Press Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows), followed by 0–9 for different
play speeds. Press Plus (+) or Minus (–) to reverse
direction. Recall Memory Locations by typing
period (.), the Memory Location number, and
period (.) again.
Online Options
Record Online at Time Code (or ADAT)
Lock When selected, online recording begins as
soon as Pro Tools receives and locks to time
code or ADAT sync.
Record Online at Insertion/Selection When selected, online recording begins at the Edit cursor
location. Recording continues until Pro Tools
stops receiving time code. If you make a selection, Pro Tools records online for the length of
the selection.
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53
Open Ended Record Allocation
Remote Mode
This preference determines how much of your
available hard drive space is allocated for recording. Choices are:
Punch In Frame Offset Sets an offset in frames to
compensate for punch in timing advances or delays.
Use All Available Space When selected, the
drive’s entire available space is allocated. This
can sometimes slow down the recording process
for hard drives that use certain file systems, including HFS+ and NTFS.
Punch Out Frame Offset Sets an offset in frames
to compensate for punch out timing advances
or delays.
Limit To Sets the maximum allowable recording
duration. This can help reduce the time it takes
to begin recording by allocating only a portion
of your hard drive. The number of minutes specified is allocated for each record-enabled track.
You may find it necessary to experiment with
this number to achieve the desired performance
for recording.
Machine Control
These preferences determine how a connected
transport responds to Pro Tools. Choices are:
Machine Chases Memory Location When selected, navigating to a specific location in a session with a Memory Location causes a connected transport to chase to that location.
Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub When selected, navigating to a specific location in a session by moving the selection point or by scrubbing a track will cause a connected transport to
chase to that location.
Machine Cues Intelligently When selected, if you
navigate to a cue point that is more than 10 seconds from the current location, Pro Tools will
command a connected transport to shuttle to
the desired location at full speed to within 10
seconds of the cue point. Cueing will then slow
to normal speed until the point is reached. This
significantly speeds up tape cueing.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Auto Regions Fade In/Out Length Sets a default
length for fade-ins and fade-outs automatically
applied to region boundaries. Using automatic
fade-ins and fade-outs saves you the trouble of
editing to zero-crossings or creating numerous
rendered fades in order to eliminate clicks or
pops in playback. Autofades are not written to
disk. Value range is from 0–10 ms for the Auto
Region Fade In/Out Length. A value of zero (the
default) means that no auto-fading will occur.
The Auto Fade value is saved with the session,
and is automatically applied to all free-standing
region boundaries until you change it.
Calibration Reference Level Sets a default calibration reference level in dB when Pro Tools is
in Calibration mode.
Editing Preferences
Track Selection Follows Regions List
Selection When selected, selecting a region in
the Regions List causes Pro Tools to highlight
that region’s occurrence in a track.
Region List Selection Follows Track
Selection When selected, selecting a region in a
track also selects it in the Regions List.
Auto-Name Separated Regions When selected,
Pro Tools automatically names newly separated
regions by appending a number to the region’s
name.
Auto-Name Memory Locations When
Playing When selected, Pro Tools gives new
memory locations default names based on their
time location in the session. The time units currently chosen in the Display menu determine
the units for the names.
Recall Original Track Selections When selected,
Memory Locations that recall a selection also recall the track in which the selection was made.
Crossfade Preview Pre-Roll This option specifies
the amount of pre-roll to be added when you are
auditioning crossfades in the Fades dialog.
Crossfade Preview Post-Roll This option specifies the amount of post-roll to be added when
you are auditioning crossfades in the Fades dialog.
Default Fade Settings
Fade In Selects the default envelope shape for
fade-ins.
Crossfade Selects the default envelope shape for
crossfades.
Fade Out Selects the default envelope shape for
fade-outs.
Conversion Quality Selects the sample rate conversion quality. Sample rate conversion is used
in a variety of Pro Tools processes including
converting and importing audio files of different formats into a session, and bouncing and
saving tracks to a different sample rate or bit
depth. The higher the quality of sample rate
conversion you choose, the longer Pro Tools
will take to process the audio file.
“Matching Start Time” Takes List
Command-clicking (Macintosh) or Controlclicking (Windows) in a track, will display a list
of regions whose time stamp matches the current cursor location. The preferences that follow
determine which takes appear in this list:
Take Region Names That Match Track
Names When selected, only regions that share
the same root name with the track and playlist
appear in the Takes List pop-up menu.
Take Region Lengths That Match When selected,
only regions that match the length of the current selection appear in the Takes List pop-up
menu.
“Separate Region” Operates On All Related
Takes When selected, editing a region with the
Separate Region command also affects all other
related takes with the same User Time Stamp.
This option helps you compare different sections from a group of related takes.
QuickPunch Crossfade Length Specifies a default
length for crossfades created by QuickPunch recording. Crossfades occur before the punch in
and after the punch out.
Levels Of Undo Sets the maximum number of actions (up to 16) that can be undone with the
multiple undo feature.
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55
Automation Preferences
Send Mutes Follow Groups When selected, muting a Send that belongs to a group mutes all
other members of the group. When deselected,
Sends must be muted individually.
Send Levels Follow Groups When selected, adjusting the level of a Send that belongs to a
group adjusts the Send levels of all other members of the group. When deselected, Send levels
must be adjusted individually.
LFEs Follow Groups When selected, adjusting or
editing an LFE control that belongs to a group
adjusts the LFE controls of all other members of
the group. When deselected, LFE controls must
be adjusted individually.
Faders Move During Playback When selected,
faders move on-screen when automated. When
deselected, faders do not move, but automation
is still functioning.
Degree of Thinning Specifies the amount of automation data thinning applied when automation
is recorded. Avoid over thinning automation
data or it may no longer accurately reflect the
original pass.
Smooth and Thin Data After Pass When selected, automation is automatically smoothed
and thinned by the amount specified with the
Degree of Thinning option.
Touch Timeout Specifies how quickly automation recording stops or “times out” after you
stop moving a MIDI controller in Touch mode.
Write Switches To Touch After Pass After an automation pass in Auto Write mode, Pro Tools
automatically switches to Auto Touch mode. On
TDM systems you can choose to stay in Auto
Write mode by deselecting this option.
Mutes Follow Groups When selected, muting a
track that belongs to a Mix group mutes all
other members of the group. When deselected,
tracks must be muted individually.
Solos Follow Groups When selected, soloing a
track that belongs to a Mix group solos all other
members of the group. When deselected, tracks
must be soloed individually.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
AutoMatch Time Specifies how quickly Pro Tools
returns a fader or other control to its previously
automated level after automation recording
stops.
Amount of Memory for Automation Recording Allows you to reserve additional memory for recording automation. If you have dense automation data or a large number of automated tracks,
increase this amount. Relaunch Pro Tools for
this setting to take effect.
Processing Preferences
tions. Set the buffer according to your current
task. Before auditioning an AudioSuite plug-in,
set the buffer to Mini or Small. When you process a file, set it to Large or Jumbo.
TC/E
TC/E Plug-In Allows you to choose the plug-in
used for Time Compression and Expansion
when you edit audio with the Time Trimmer
tool. The Time Trimmer works by using Time
Compression/Expansion to match an audio region to the length of another region, a tempo
grid, a video scene, or other reference point.
Default Settings Specifies the default settings
used by the chosen Time Compression/Expansion plug-in.
AudioSuite Dither
Use AudioSuite Dither When selected, applies
dither to specific audio processing tasks.
Compatibility Preferences
Dither Plug-In Specifies the plug-in used for
dither processing when the Use AudioSuite
Dither option is selected.
Edit Settings When a Digidesign dithering plugin is used, allows you to apply either normal or
noise-shaping dither.
Bit Depth
16-, 18-, 20-, and 24-Bit allows you to select a bit
depth for the dithered audio.
AudioSuite Buffer Size
Audio Suite Buffer Size sets the size of the memory buffer used for audio processing and previewing with AudioSuite plug-ins. Generally,
choosing a smaller buffer speeds up AudioSuite
audio previewing functions. Choosing a larger
buffer speeds up AudioSuite processing func-
Convert All Imported “WAV” Files To
AES31/BroadcastWave When selected, this option applies to all newly imported .WAV files,
making them compliant with the AES31/EBU
Broadcast standard.
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57
Avid Compatibility Mode When selected, ensures
that all imported OMF media files are treated as
Read-Only and prevents destructive editing processes such as those used by the Pencil and Time
Trimmer tools and AudioSuite processing.
MIDI Preferences
Play MIDI Notes When Editing When selected,
causes MIDI notes to sound when you insert
them with the Pencil or drag them with the
Grabber.
Default Note On Velocity Sets the default Note On
velocity for MIDI notes inserted in the Edit window and the MIDI Event List.
Pencil Tool Resolution Sets the default resolution
for MIDI controller data created with the Pencil.
Setting this to a lower resolution helps avoid
creating controller data that is unnecessarily
dense. The value range is from 1 to 100 milliseconds.
Global MIDI Playback Offset Sets an offset in samples to compensate for MIDI latency. Entering a
value here has the same effect as setting an offset with the MIDI Track Offset command (Windows > MIDI Track Offset). Offset values can be
positive (later) or negative (earlier).
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
MIDI Note Display Sets the reference for middle
C as C3, C4, or MIDI note number 60.
Default Thru Instrument Sets the default MIDI
Thru instrument from your available MIDI instruments.
Chapter 7: I/O Setup
The I/O Setup dialog provides tools to label, format, and map Pro Tools input, output, insert,
bus, and SampleCell signal paths for each session. I/O Setup also lets you route the I/O ports
on your Digidesign audio interface to Pro Tools
inputs and outputs. On HD systems, the I/O
Setup Dialog provides a graphical representation of the Hardware Setup, displaying your system’s audio interfaces and allowing you to mirror Hardware Setup routing. (SampleCell paths
are available on MIX-series and Pro Tools|24 systems only.)
A signal path is a logical grouping of multiple
inputs, outputs or busses that has a single name
and (channel) format. In Pro Tools, paths are
similar to stems, known to the film and video industries (see “Stems and Stem Mixes” on
page 61 for more information).
The I/O Setup dialog lets you name and define
these paths so that Pro Tools best suits the needs
of your projects. For example, renaming Input 1
to Kick In.
Each Pro Tools system can have a different
I/O Setup configuration, determined by:
• Whether it is a Pro Tools LE system, or a TDMequipped Pro Tools system
• Whether it is an HD-series, MIX-series, or
Pro Tools|24 system
• The number and types of audio interfaces
(TDM systems only)
• The Mixer plug-in currently installed
Each Pro Tools session retains its path configurations as I/O Settings. The I/O Settings saved
with the session are loaded into Pro Tools automatically when the session is opened. Unavailable items (including hardware, paths, or required resources) remain in the session as
inactive items (see “Active and Inactive Paths”
on page 69).
When you create new sessions you can specify a
default I/O Setup configuration, including presets for stereo or multichannel mixing formats
(multichannel mixing requires a Pro Tools|HD
system, or Pro Tools|24 MIX system).
The I/O Setup dialog lets you customize signal
path, as well as save and load I/O Settings files.
Chapter 7: I/O Setup
59
Number of Busses (TDM Only)
Paths and I/O Setup
Pro Tools 5.3 supports up to 64 busses for TDM
systems. However, when opening 5.0.1 (or earlier) sessions, only 32 busses are initially available.
The signal routing choices available in track I/O
Selectors are defined in the I/O Setup dialog.
To make 64 busses available in 5.0.1 (or earlier)
sessions:
1 Open the I/O Setup dialog.
2 Click the Bus tab in the upper left.
3 Click the Default button.
Paths in Sessions
During sessions, audio is routed using the track
Input, Output, Insert, Plug-in, and Send Selectors. The selectors let you assign tracks to hardware outputs and inputs, internal busses, and
other Pro Tools signal paths.
I/O Setup dialog, Output paths, on a Digi 001 system
Paths comprise the lists of available choices in
track I/O Selectors and other menus.
Track Input and Output Selectors, Digi 001
I/O Setup dialog, Output paths, on a TDM system with
two interfaces
Track Input and Output Selectors, TDM
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Main Paths and Sub-Paths
Paths in the I/O Setup dialog include main paths
and sub-paths.
Stereo main path
mono sub-path
mono sub-path
Main and sub-paths in the I/O Setup Channel Grid
Main Paths
Main paths are logical groupings of inputs, inserts, busses, or outputs. For example, Main Out
is often the name of a master stereo output.
Sometimes appended with “L/R” for left/right,
this is an example of a signal path named by its
content (the main stereo mix).
Sub-Paths
A sub-path represents a signal path within a
main path. For example, a default stereo output
path consists of two mono sub-paths, left and
right. Mono tracks and sends can be routed to
either mono sub-path.
Naming and defining sub-paths (of main
paths) is especially useful for complex mixing, such as 5.1 Surround.
Default I/O Settings
Default path definitions are installed automatically by Pro Tools, so you can begin recording
and mixing without requiring any configuration of the I/O Setup dialog. Default I/O Settings
files configure the I/O Setup dialog with a combination of mono and stereo path definitions of
all types, depending on your system and hard-
ware configuration. As mixing and signal routing needs require, you can customize the
I/O Setup configuration in numerous ways (see
“The I/O Setup Dialog” on page 62).
Multichannel settings files are available for
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems.
These settings provide specialized path definitions for surround mixing. See “Configuring
Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions” on
page 432.
Defaults
Default names for input, output, and insert
paths are based on your audio interface’s name
and its available channels.
Stems and Stem Mixes
The use of stems and stem mixes originated in
the post production industry as a method to organize and manage elements of a mix by type or
content.
For example, a film mix often requires a stem
mix for Foley, a stem mix for sound effects, a
stem mix for dialog, another for music, and so
on. The dialog stem (for just one example) contains all the dialog elements, mixed relative to
each other. Dialog can then be mixed with the
other stems during the final mix of the scene or
reel. The final mix is simplified (somewhat) by
the ability to control the level of each stem,
rather than the multitude of individual tracks
that comprise a typical film mix.
In Pro Tools, you can work with main and subpaths as you would stem mixes. These can be assigned as needed, including the ability to assign
multiple outputs to tracks and sends. For more
information, see “Multiple Output Assignments” on page 344.
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61
The I/O Setup Dialog
The I/O Setup dialog defines Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus paths. Routing I/O ports to
Pro Tools inputs and outputs can also be done here.
Path Type Tabs
Path Name column
Path Format Selector
Channel Grid
Active/Inactive
Output Selector
Expand/Collapse
Main and Sub-Paths
Options
Path Tools
Figure 4. I/O Setup dialog on a Pro Tools|HD system with a 96 I/O
To open the I/O Setup dialog:
Closing the I/O Setup Dialog
1 Make sure your audio interfaces are enabled
and configured properly in the Hardware Setup.
You can click Cancel at any time to close the
I/O Setup dialog. However, when you click OK
Pro Tools must check several settings for routing
validity (to prevent feedback loops and other
possible dangers). If there are any overlapping
or otherwise invalid settings, you will be required to correct them before the I/O Setup dialog will close. For more information, see “Initializing I/O Setup” on page 68.
2 Choose Setups > I/O Setup.
To open the Input, Output, Insert, Bus or
SampleCell window in I/O Setup:
Click the appropriate tab at the top of the I/O
Setup dialog.
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Controls in I/O Setup
This section provides an overview of the following I/O Setup controls.
Path Type Tabs Select the type of I/O to configure. Choices are Inputs, Outputs, Inserts, Busses,
or SampleCell. (SampleCell paths are available
on MIX-series systems only.)
Input and Output Selectors Selects physical
ports on your I/O peripheral to route to
Pro Tools inputs and outputs. Selections are
made in channel pairs. Available ports for each
displayed interface are based on Hardware Setup
settings; for example, if the AES/EBU inputs and
outputs of an interface are enabled in Hardware
Setup, they are available for routing in I/O
Setup. The functionality provided with the Input and Output Selector is the same as that provided on the Main page of the Hardware Setup
dialog.
Show Original Setup Displays in the I/O Setup
dialog in certain session transfer situations. For
details on this feature, see “Show Original Setup
and Show Current Setup” on page 71.
Options Provide pop-up menus to set paths or
orders for Meter, Audition (Regions List previewing), Default Output (for new tracks), and
Default Path Order. See “Default Output, Meter,
Audition, and Default Path Order I/O Setup Options” on page 73.
Routing Hardware I/O to
Pro Tools I/O
The I/O Setup dialog lets you define which
physical ports on your I/O peripheral are routed
to Pro Tools inputs and outputs. The Input and
Output Selectors in I/O Setup serve as a patchbay that allows you to route any of the physical
inputs or outputs to your Pro Tools Mixer.
Path Name Column Shows paths that are available for selection, including the user-defined
name of each defined path.
Expand/Collapse Shows/hides the sub-paths associated with a main path.
Active/Inactive Shows and changes the active/inactive status of each path.
Path Format Selector Shows and selects the
type/format (mono, stereo, 5.1, and so on) of
each defined path.
I/O Channel Selector pop-up menu
Channel Grid Maps paths to specific I/O units
and channels.
Path Tools Customize the I/O Setup configuration. Buttons include: New Path, New Sub-Path,
Delete Path, and Default.
To configure I/O routing in I/O Setup:
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setups in Pro Tools.
2 Click the Input, or Output tab to display the
appropriate window.
3 Click on the Selector for the first channel pair,
located below the first audio interface display.
Chapter 7: I/O Setup
63
4 From the pop-up menu, select a physical port
pair (such as Analog 1–2), that will be routed to
a Pro Tools input or output channel pair (such as
(Ch 1–2).
Pro Tools outputs pairs can also be routed to
multiple audio interface outputs in Hardware
Setup. For more information, see “Hardware
Setup” on page 39.
5 Repeat the above step for other channel pairs,
and other audio interfaces.
6 When finished, click Ok.
Refer to the guide for your audio interface for
sample rate, and other restrictions. For example,
the Optical 1–8 channels will not be available
for session rates of 88.4 or higher.
To route a Pro Tools output pair to multiple audio
interface output ports:
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setups in Pro Tools.
2 Click the Output tab.
3 Click on the Output Selector for the output
pair from which you will be routing signal.
4 From the pop-up menu, select a physical port
pair (such as Analog 1–2).
In order to create a new path, the output assignments cannot overlap. See “Valid Paths
and Requirements” on page 68 for details.
Creating and Editing Paths
The I/O Setup dialog lets you create and customize signal path definitions.
Paths can be:
• Renamed, for easier identification after
changing or renaming audio interfaces
• Remapped, to or from different sources or destinations
• De-activated (or re-activated) to manage unavailable or unnecessary I/O resources
• Deleted
In addition, you can import and export your
I/O Setup configurations as I/O Settings files, as
well as set numerous default path parameters.
The following table lists the available path attributes for each path type.
Path Options by Type
5 Ctrl+Shift an additional output destination.
Path Type
Path Options (Attributes)
The output name updates with a plus sign (“+”)
before it.
Input
Names, formats, and source
channel (analog or digital audio
interface, or CPU input)
Output
Names, formats, and destination
(audio interface output channel or
internal send bus)
Insert
Names, formats and destination
(audio interface channels)
Bus
Names and formats
SampleCell
(MIX-series
only)
Input names
To verify which output ports have been routed,
select the original output: In the pop-up menu,
each output assigned to the Pro Tools output
channel pair will have a check mark next to it.
6 Select additional output destinations, as de-
sired. The only limit to output choices is the
number of outputs available in your system.
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Creating a Default Main or Sub-Path
You can add (or reset) default paths to your current I/O Setup path (such as Input, Output, and
so on) at any time.
To add default mono or stereo paths:
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setup.
2 Click the Input, Output, Insert, Bus, or Sam-
pleCell tab to display the appropriate path window. (SampleCell paths are available on MIXseries systems only.)
3 Click Default.
Pro Tools creates all possible stereo main paths.
Mono sub-paths are also auto-created for every
stereo main path. The path names are appended
with their associated format—mono or stereo—
in parentheses (when viewed with track Input or
Output Selectors).
2 Click the Input, Output, Insert, Bus, or SampleCell tab to display the appropriate path window. (SampleCell paths are available on MIXseries systems only.)
3 Click New Path, or press Command+N (Macintosh) or Control+N (Windows). Or, select a
main path and click New Sub-Path.
4 Double-click in the Name field and enter a
name for the path. (The path name is what is
listed in Pro Tools track routing selectors.) Press
Tab to move to the next editable field, or press
Enter to set the new path name (pressing Return
will close the I/O Setup dialog).
5 Choose a format from the Path Format Selector. (Path Format controls whether the path is
mono, stereo, or multichannel.)
Default stereo output paths
To optimize mixer and DSP resources, it’s
best to create mono sub-paths for Outputs
and Busses, rather than create mono main
paths.
Path Format Selector
6 Configure other path types (Input, Output, Insert, Bus, or SampleCell) and configure them using the same techniques described in the
previous steps.
Creating New Paths
You can create new main path and sub-paths
with custom names, format, and mapping.
To create a new path:
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setup.
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65
7 Click OK (or press Return) to close the
I/O Setup dialog. If there are any overlapping or
identically named paths, you will be instructed
to correct them before the I/O Setup dialog will
close. For more information, see “Initializing
I/O Setup” on page 68.
Multichannel paths and mixing are explained in Chapter 31, “Pro Tools Setup for
Surround.”
Selecting and Editing Paths
Individual and multiple paths can be selected in
the I/O Setup dialog Path Name column. Once
selected, paths and sub-paths can be moved
higher or lower to sort their listing in track Path
Format Selectors, renamed, remapped, or reformatted. Paths can also be deleted. Sub-paths follow their main paths when editing in the
I/O Setup dialog.
To select a main path or sub-path:
■
Click the path name.
To select multiple main paths and/or sub-paths:
■
Shift-click the desired path names.
To rearrange path names:
■
Drag one or more path names up or down.
Resetting Paths
The Default button in the I/O Setup dialog provides two primary functions:
• Creates new, default paths up to the capacity
of your system’s available audio interfaces and
resources. See “Creating a Default Main or
Sub-Path” on page 65.
• Resets selected path names to matching or
corresponding paths in the current I/O Setup
configuration. For example, if you change
modes on Digi 001, or replace an audio interface on a Pro Tools HD-series or MIX-series
system, you can use the Default switch to update your I/O Setup definitions with the new
hardware configuration (for path naming).
On TDM systems, audio interface names
can be customized. See “TDM Audio Interface Names” on page 66.
To reset path names:
■
Click Default.
Assuming there are matching paths available
with the new system configuration, existing
paths will be updated to include new audio interfaces (TDM systems), or I/O mode selection
(Digi 001 only).
TDM Audio Interface Names
With TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems, audio
interfaces can be custom named in the
I/O Setup dialog. The I/O Setup dialog bases default path names on the name shown above the
graphic representation of each interface.
Selecting paths in the I/O Setup dialog
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To rename an audio interface in the I/O Setup
dialog:
Channel Mapping
Double-click the text above an interface, enter
a new interface name, and press Enter.
Once a path has been created and formatted, it
can be mapped to specific audio interface, bus,
or SampleCell channels in the Grid.
■
Interface name
To map channels:
1 Select a main or sub-path.
Interface name
2 In the row for the selected path, click in the
Grid column under the desired audio interface
and channel. Other channels, if any, fill to the
right.
Deleting Paths
Path definitions can be deleted from the current
session to reflect changes to your hardware
setup, or to clean up track selector menus by removing unwanted or unnecessary path definitions. After deleting a path, any tracks or send
assignments to it are reset to No Output.
To delete a main path or sub-path:
Mapping channels
For example, when mapping a new stereo path,
clicking in the path row under output channel 1
fills both channel 1 and 2 (left to 1, right to 2).
To remap channels in a path, refer to “Remapping Channels” on page 68.
1 In the I/O Setup dialog, select the path you
want to delete.
Channel and I/O Status Display
2 Click Delete Path.
The Channel Grid uses different shades of gray
to highlight different I/O status:
To delete all paths:
1 Option-click on any path name.
2 Click the Delete Path button or press the De-
lete key.
White Indicates channels available for the path.
Medium Gray Indicates I/O that overlaps with
other path definitions (possible with Output
and Bus path arrangements, though with limitations as described in “Overlapping Channels
and Valid Paths” on page 69).
Dark Gray Indicates channels that are unavailable for sub-path assignment.
Light Gray Indicates extra space beyond recognized audio interfaces.
See “Valid Paths and Requirements” on
page 68 for details.
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67
Note for Session Transfer
Channel Shuffling
Pro Tools shows paths for unavailable I/O until
they are explicitly re-assigned to valid paths, or
deleted. See “Active and Inactive Paths” on
page 69 for more information.
Moving a signal from right to left results in a
shuffle of other signals after the new destination
channel. Moving a signal from left to right shuffles any and all signals after the new destination
channel and leave the previous channel empty.
Channel Mapping and Surround Mixer
Changing a path’s format erases any current channel mapping.
(Pro Tools HD-Series and MIX-Series Systems
Only)
When mapping multichannel paths, L is
mapped first to the clicked Grid box, and remaining channels fill immediately to the right
according to the default path order. Because
some multichannel mixing formats use unique
track layouts, Pro Tools lets you set the default
format in the I/O Setup dialog (see “Default
Output, Meter, Audition, and Default Path Order I/O Setup Options” on page 73).
Sub-Paths Follow Main Paths
When a main path is remapped, its sub-paths (if
any) will remap automatically to maintain consistent routing. For example, remapping a stereo
path to different hardware outputs results in
any of its sub-paths moving with it.
Initializing I/O Setup
To set the current I/O Setup configuration:
■
Click OK in the I/O Setup dialog.
All paths must be valid before the I/O Setup configuration can be applied.
Valid Paths and Requirements
Customized Output paths for a 5.1 mix
Remapping Channels
You can move the individual assignments to different channels, to re-order the path’s definition
(for example, changing a multichannel map to
L-R-C-Sub-LS-RS).
To remap channels in a path:
Drag the channel to the new location in the
Grid. Other channel assignments will move
(shuffle) to accommodate dragged channels.
■
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While configuring the I/O Setup window, certain rules apply for path definition and channel
mapping.
Though it is possible to set up invalid mappings
in the Channel Grid, Pro Tools will not accept
(OK) an I/O Setup configuration unless all paths
meet the path definition and channel mapping
requirements described below.
Minimum Path Definitions
All paths must have a name, be of a specific format, and have a valid I/O mapping.
Overlapping Channels and Valid Paths
Channel mapping follows certain rules regarding overlapping paths.
There can be no partial or complete overlaps
between any two main Output paths, any two
Insert paths, or any two main Bus paths.
◆
A newly-created Output or Bus path must either be completely independent of other maps
(not mapped to any other available I/O interface/channels), or it must be a sub-path completely contained within a larger path (for
example, an LCR sub-path within a larger 5.1
path).
◆
Output and Insert paths can overlap in I/O
Setup, but only one or the other can be used at
any given time in a session. (Inputs and SampleCell paths, however, can be routed to multiple
tracks.)
◆
Session-Wide Path Assignments Paths can be
globally activated or de-activated in the
I/O Setup window. Use this to turn off a signal
path on any and all tracks currently assigned to
it. Pro Tools also sets unavailable paths to inactive. Paths can be unavailable when hardware or
other system resources are unavailable, such as
when opening a session last saved on a different
system.
Track Path Assignments
(Mix and Edit Windows)
To toggle a track path assignment to Active or
Inactive:
■ In the Mix (or Edit) window, Command-Control-click (Macintosh) or Control-Start-click
(Windows) the track’s Input, Output, Insert, or
Send Selector.
Inactive track path assignments are indicated
with an asterisk (*) in its track selector menu.
(Paths set to globally inactive in the I/O Setup
window are listed in italics.)
Active and Inactive Paths
Toggling All or All Selected
Pro Tools paths can be Active (on) or Inactive
(off, or unavailable). You can manually switch
paths between Active or Inactive on a per track
or session-wide basis. In addition, Pro Tools sets
paths to Inactive automatically when I/O is unavailable.
The Option (Macintosh) and Alt (Windows)
modifiers apply the path toggle to all tracks. The
Option+Shift (Macintosh) or Alt+Shift (Windows) modifiers apply the path toggle to all selected tracks. However, Pro Tools will only apply the change to identical path assignments, if
any, in the current track or tracks. In other
words, toggling multiple tracks only affects
tracks that have the same path assignment as
the one you are explicitly toggling.
Track Path Assignments Track input, output,
and bus path assignments can be switched to Inactive using the appropriate selector on the desired track. Doing so leaves track playlists intact,
while disconnecting that particular track from
the output or bus path. Use this to remove a
track from a signal path.
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69
Toggling Multiple Paths
To globally de-activate or activate a path:
If a track has only one main output assignment,
you can Command-Control-click (Macintosh)
or Control-start-click (Windows) the track’s
Output Selector to toggle the main output to inactive. When there are multiple assignments,
the track selector will be displayed for you to
specify the input, output, insert, or bus path.
1 Choose Setup > I/O Setup.
If a Send (A–E) has multiple output assignments
and one of those is toggled, then all of the output assignments for that Send (A –E) will be toggled.
2 Select the appropriate path type using the tabs
at the top of the window.
3 For the desired (or, undesired) path, set the Ac-
tive/Inactive control to the appropriate choice.
Any track path assignment can also be deactivated on a per-track basis. See “Active
and Inactive Paths” on page 69
Inactive paths are displayed in italics in the
track path selectors.
Session-Wide Path Assignments
(I/O Setup Dialog)
Paths can be globally configured for Active or
Inactive status in the I/O Setup Dialog.
Display of Active and Inactive Status
Unhighlighted (Italics) Indicates the path is inactive.
Highlighted (Non-Italics) Indicates the path is active.
Highlighted (Italics) Indicates the path is active,
but there are not enough system resources available.
Inactive
Active
Active and inactive path settings in I/O Setup
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Active and inactive paths in a track Output Selector
Hardware Setup and Session
Transfer
Sessions created in Pro Tools 5.1 and later store
the type and order of audio interfaces connected
and active when the session was last saved.
Unavailable I/O
When opening any session, Pro Tools checks to
see if the hardware configuration has changed
since the session was last saved. If the current
hardware configuration differs from that saved
in the session, paths associated with the unavailable I/O are made inactive.
Remapping
Remapping occurs when a session’s original
I/O Setup does not match that of the current
system and session paths are remapped to current hardware.
Systems of equivalent I/O capability are
remapped directly. For example, a session
tracked to a Pro Tools HD-series system through
two 192 I/O Audio Interfaces would include 32
Input paths spread across the two 16-channel
interfaces. Later, for additional editing, the session is taken to a different Pro Tools system that
has a 96 I/O Audio Interface (a 16-channel I/O
unit) with a 1622 Audio Interface (a 16-channel
I/O unit) connected to its Legacy Port. When
the session is first opened on the system with
the 96 I/O and 1622 Audio Interfaces, Pro Tools
maps those input paths to the most appropriate
inputs of the two interfaces, left-to-right. (Mapping will depend on mono and stereo track format and arrangement in the Mix and Edit windows.)
When hardware is unavailable to a session being
opened, assignments can either be replaced using the remap option, or opened as Inactive.
Any tracks left assigned to an unavailable path
will not be audible. This can be beneficial, however, when you want to re-assign tracks into
your system’s mix one at a time.
See “Active and Inactive Paths” on page 69
for more information.
Show Original Setup and Show Current Setup
When a session is opened that contains path
definitions for unavailable I/O modules, the
I/O Setup dialog lists those paths in italics.
The Show Original Setup button displays the audio interfaces used in the original session. This
temporary display lets you check the original
I/O configuration for reference while configuring the session for your system.
Once a session has been opened with unavailable I/O retained, you can then re-assign tracks
to available I/O paths.
To redefine the paths, see “Creating and
Editing Paths” on page 64.
I/O Settings Files
I/O Settings can be managed when transferring
sessions, and when developing I/O Setup configurations over the course of multiple sessions
and projects.
Defaults, Settings Files, and Last
Used Settings for New Sessions
When creating new sessions, you can select the
session’s I/O Setup configuration from among
numerous options:
Default I/O Setups The Pro Tools Installer provides factory presets for stereo and surround I/O
Setups (surround mixing is only supported on
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems).
See “Factory I/O Settings Files” on page 72 for
more information.
Custom Presets You can store and recall custom
presets using the export and import features of
the I/O Setup dialog.
Last Used The most recent (or, last used)
I/O Setup configuration is saved as a Last Used
settings file. See “Last Used” on page 72 for
more information.
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71
Default I/O Settings at First Launch
The first time you create a session, you can
choose default Stereo Mix or Surround Mix settings, depending on your system and installation choices. See “Factory I/O Settings Files” on
page 72.
Importing and Exporting I/O Settings
Files
You can export and import I/O Setup configurations as I/O Settings files. This lets you save settings for different projects, import settings for
quick reconfiguration, and manage path definitions and signal routing setups.
Exporting I/O Settings
To export and save an I/O Setup configuration:
Select Yes to remap the original session path definitions to your current hardware setup of audio
interfaces, left to right. The session will no
longer have any references to or record of the
original I/O assignments. When old path definitions are deleted, associated assignment and automation data is also deleted.
Select No to add session paths to the current system’s I/O Setup. If you cancel the remap option,
the original I/O assignments remain in the session. Unavailable I/O results in paths opening as
Inactive. In the session, you can then re-assign
tracks to available paths as needed, based on
their original (and inactive) I/O Setup and hardware configuration. See “Active and Inactive
Paths” on page 69 for more information on utilizing inactive paths.
Last Used
1 Click the Export Settings button.
2 Name and save the settings file.
To start sessions with a blank or empty
I/O Setup dialog, you must create and export a user setting file in which all definitions have been deleted.
Importing I/O Settings
I/O Settings can be imported into the current
session. When doing so, you can choose to delete your system’s existing (last used) path definitions and replace them with settings being imported. Or, you can retain both your current and
imported settings. Imported paths are added to
the current configuration.
To import an I/O Settings file:
1 Click Import Settings in the I/O Setup dialog.
2 Select the desired settings file in the dialog.
3 You will be asked whether you want to delete,
or retain, existing paths.
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If any changes are made to the I/O Setup dialog
during a session, these changes are saved to the
Last Used settings file when the I/O Setup dialog
is closed (by clicking OK).
Changes to I/O Setup are only saved in the current session, when the session is saved. User Presets files will not contain recent changes unless
you explicitly export an updated settings file.
The Last Used settings are available as a choice
(or default) when creating or opening sessions,
in addition to the factory presets described below.
Factory I/O Settings Files
Pro Tools provides I/O Settings files for Stereo
and Surround mixing. These files provide generic main and sub-path definitions for either
mixing format.
Stereo Mix Settings File
To auto assign track outputs for Direct Out:
The Stereo Mix preset consists of all possible stereo and mono paths for your session.
1 Make sure that all tracks are visible if desired
(because the hidden tracks will not be affected).
Using the “Stereo Mix” preset has the same
effect as hitting the Default button for every
individual tab in I/O Settings. See “Creating
and Editing Paths” on page 64 for details.
Specifically, the Stereo Mix preset will create the
maximum number paths of each type, as determined by the available system’s I/O Setup and
hardware configuration.
2 Select all desired tracks (Shift-click each track
name).
3 Command-Option-click (Macintosh) or Control-Alt-click (Windows) the Output Selector of
the left-most track and assign it to the sub-path
for Output #1. All visible tracks will be auto-assigned to unique mono sub-path outputs in ascending order.
Surround Mix Settings File (TDM Systems Only)
The Surround Mix provides additional, surround-specific Output and Bus presets. See “Surround Mix Settings Files” on page 433 for more
information.
About Direct Out Mode
Direct Outputs mode, as found in older versions
of Pro Tools, has been replaced by the default
mono sub-paths available through all valid I/O
in the I/O Setup dialog.
The Default switch creates main Output paths
with appropriate mono sub-paths. These subpaths provide discrete monophonic routing.
When a session is opened that was saved in Direct Outputs mode, Pro Tools maps all the output assignments to equivalent mono sub-paths
(as available). See “Hardware Setup and Session
Transfer” on page 70 for more information on
remapping.
To convert a session so that it emulates Direct
Outs mode, use the Auto Assign Ascending Outputs feature:
Default Output, Meter,
Audition, and Default Path
Order I/O Setup Options
Pro Tools systems have additional I/O Setup features. These include default signal routing for
metering and auditioning, and default track layout for multichannel mix formats.
Default Output Path
You can specify the default Output path assignment for new tracks, in each available format.
To specify a default Output in I/O Setup window:
■ Select a format and Output path from the default Output Selector.
Selecting default Output paths
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73
Audition Path
The Audition path is the output path through
which files and regions are previewed (listened
to) in the Regions List.
To configure Audition Paths:
■ Select the desired path from the Audition
path menu or submenus.
To audition regions in the Regions List:
Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the region in the list.
■
Using Default Audition Path
When you audition a file or region in the Regions List, Pro Tools routes the audition
through the Audition path. Pro Tools assigns a
default Audition path to the first main Output
path of the given format available. As an alternative, you can pre-configure Region List previewing using the Audition Path Selector in the
I/O Setup dialog.
In TDM systems with more than one audio
interface, you can only select the first audio
interface as an Audition path (output). Select the Audition path from the Audition
pop-up menu in I/O Setup.
Selecting default Audition paths
Auditioning Discrete Signals in Multichannel
Items
In the Audio Regions List, multichannel regions
are auditioned through the current Audition
path. Signals can be auditioned “in-place,” or
through all outputs, as described below.
Audition In-Place
When auditioning a mono component of a
multichannel region, that mono component
will by default be auditioned in-place. That is, it
will play out the corresponding speaker channel
of its parent multichannel region.
Configuring Audition Paths
To audition in-place:
You can specify the monitoring outputs for Regions List auditioning on a per-format basis using the Audition paths menu.
Audition Path Main Menu The main menu consists of all path format choices available on the
current system (Mono and Stereo on all systems,
LCR and greater on surround-capable systems).
Audition Path Submenus Each path format
choice has a submenu listing Output paths of
that given format. (The mono submenu lists
Output paths of any format.)
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1 In the Regions List, make sure the stereo or
multichannel region is in expanded view (showing .L,.R, and other component channels).
2 Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the region for the desired channel.
Audition to All Outputs
Mono regions can be routed equally to all outputs of the parent region’s Audition path.
To audition through all channels of the main
audition path:
Shift-Option-click (Macintosh) or Shift-Altclick (Windows) on the signal in the Regions
List.
■
Default Path Order
(TDM Systems Only)
The Default Path Order Selector lets you select
the default track layout you want Pro Tools to
follow when creating and mapping 5.1-format
main or sub-paths in the I/O Setup dialog.
This setting does not affect existing path definitions or metering—it only specifies channel
mapping in new 5.1-format paths.
To choose a Default Path Order:
Select the channel mapping from the Default
Path Order menu.
■
Default Path Order Selector
For more information about multichannel mixing, see Chapter 31, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround.”
Meter Path Selector
(ProControl Users Only)
The Meter Path Selector determines the path
displayed across the ProControl Output meters.
See the latest ProControl documentation for
more details.
Chapter 7: I/O Setup
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Chapter 8: Tracks
This chapter covers basic track management
tasks such as creating and deleting tracks, assigning voices and output channels, and grouping tracks.
Auxiliary Input Track
Auxiliary Input tracks can be used as effects
sends, destinations for an alternate mix, as a
bounce destination, as inputs to monitor or process audio (such as audio from MIDI sources),
and for many other audio routing tasks.
Track Types
In a Pro Tools session, you can have several different types of tracks. These can include audio
tracks, Auxiliary Input tracks, MIDI tracks, and
Master Fader tracks. On a Macintosh system, a
session can have a QuickTime, AVoption, or
AVoption XL Movie track.
QuickTime Movie track features are described in Chapter 36, “Working with
QuickTime Movies.”
Master Fader Track
Master Fader tracks control the overall level of
the audio tracks that are routed to the session’s
main output “paths.” For example, you could
have 24 tracks, with Pro Tools channels 1–8
routed to Analog Output 1–2, channels 9–16 to
Analog Output 3–4, and channels 17–24 to Analog Output 5–6. You could then create three
master faders to control each of these eightchannel groups.
Audio Tracks, Auxiliary Input Tracks,
and Master Fader Tracks
MIDI Tracks
Pro Tools provides mono, stereo, and multichannel format audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs,
and Master Faders.
MIDI tracks store MIDI note, instrument, and
controller data. There is no option for selecting
the track format when you create a MIDI track,
because audio does not pass through it.
Audio Track
Track Formats
Audio tracks contain arrangements of recorded
(or imported) audio files. Audio tracks can be
mono, stereo, or multichannel surround
(Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems
only).
Mono
A mono audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master
Fader track controls volume, and, in some cases,
panning, for a single channel of audio. A mono
track uses a single voice.
Chapter 8: Tracks
77
Stereo
A stereo audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master
Fader track is a single channel strip that plays
two channels of audio as a stereo pair. Stereo
tracks use two voices.
Audio tracks can be added to a session with the
New Track command.
Inserts
Multichannel Surround (Pro Tools HD-Series
and MIX-Series Systems Only)
Sends
A multichannel track is a single channel strip
that plays multiple channels of audio (from 3–8
channels at a time). This allows Pro Tools to
support multichannel mixing formats including
3+1, 5.1, 6.1, and others.
Automation
For more information on surround mixing with
Pro Tools, see the following chapters:
Record Enable/Solo/Mute/Voice
• Chapter 31, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround”
Open Output window
• Chapter 32, “Multichannel Tracks and
Signal Routing”
• Chapter 33, “Surround Panning and Mixing”
Audio Track/Channel Strip
Each audio track has its own set of controls for
volume, pan, panner window, record enable,
automation mode, solo, mute, comments, and
(on TDM systems) voice assignment.
With slight variations, audio track channel
strips in the Mix window look like the following
mono audio track. Stereo audio tracks have two
level meters and two pan controls; multichannel tracks (3–8 channels) have one level meter
for each audio channel.
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Pan Slider
Group ID
Volume (or monitor) Level fader
Level Meter
Track Type
Indicator
Track Name
Track Comment
Audio track channel strip
MIDI Track/Channel Strip
To show the I/O View:
■ Select Display > Mix Window Shows (or Edit
Window Shows) > I/O View.
MIDI Channel
Level/Peak/Channel Delay Indicator
Automation
Record Enable/Program/Solo/Mute
MIDI Pan
MIDI Volume Level Fader
MIDI Velocity Meter
Track Name
MIDI channel strip
Each MIDI track has its own set of controls for
volume, pan, record enable, automation mode,
solo, mute, MIDI patch assignment (program
change), and MIDI channel assignment. MIDI
tracks can be added to a session with the New
Track command.
Input/Output View
Input Selector
Output Selector
(or MIDI Device/Channel Selector)
The Indicator on an audio track has three
modes: Level Indicator, Peak Indicator, and
Channel Delay Indicator. Command-click
(Macintosh) or Control-Click (Windows) this
button to toggle between these modes.
Level Indicator Shows the current volume, or
input level of a track as set by the track Volume
Level fader.
Peak Indicator Functions as a headroom indicator based on the last peak playback level. To reset the peak counter, click anywhere in the
meter. Values range from +6 dB (highest level
signal), to ∞ (no signal).
Channel Delay Indicator Shows the total delay, in
samples, incurred on the track, specifically from
the use of any TDM plug-ins on that channel.
Pan Indicator
The Pan Indicator displays the current pan setting of a track. Pan values range from <100 (full
left) to 100> (full right). Pan controls are only
available for stereo tracks or mono tracks routed
to a stereo output.
Level/Peak/Channel Delay Indicator
Pan Slider
Pan Indicator
The Pan slider controls the balance of a track between the assigned output pair. It only appears
if you are using stereo tracks or mono tacks
routed to a stereo output.
Inputs/Outputs View in channel strip
The I/O View shows Input and Output Selectors
on audio and MIDI tracks. Both types of tracks
show volume and pan values in this view. For
details on Input and Output Selectors, see “Assigning Inputs and Outputs to Audio Tracks
(and Other Tracks)” on page 84.
The Pan slider on a MIDI track is only effective if
you are controlling a sound module that supports MIDI panning.
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Track Level Fader
The track level fader controls the volume of a
track when it is in playback, and the monitor
level of the track when it is in record. You can
link the record and monitor levels by enabling
the Operation Preference for “Link Record and
Play Faders.”
The level fader on a MIDI track is only effective
if you are controlling a sound module that supports MIDI volume.
Track Level Meter
On audio tracks, level meters indicate the level
of the signal being recorded or played back from
the hard drive. Green indicates nominal levels;
Yellow indicates pre-clipping (–6 dB below full
scale); and Red indicates clipping. When a track
is record-enabled, these meters indicate record
levels.
You can globally set level meters to indicate preor post-fader levels by selecting or de-selecting
Operations > Pre-Fader Metering. When prefader metering is selected, the level meters show
levels independent of fader position. With postfader metering, the level meters respond to fader
position.
If clipping occurs, the topmost LED will stay lit
(red). In addition, Pro Tools meters provide a
peak hold feature with three options:
To choose a peak hold setting:
Choose Setups > Preferences, click Display,
and select one of the Peak Hold options: 3 Second Peak Hold, Infinite Peak Hold, or No Peak
Hold.
■
Clearing a Meter
You can clear a meter’s clipping or peak hold indicator by clicking anywhere on the meter.
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To clear all meters:
■ Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) any meter.
On MIDI tracks, the level meter shows the MIDI
velocity of the most recent MIDI event.
Track Comments View
The Comments View shows any comments entered in the Track Name/Comments dialog. You
can also type directly in the Comments area for
each track when it is displayed.
To display the Comments View:
■ Select Display > Mix Window Shows (or Edit
Window Shows) > Comments.
Creating Tracks
On all systems, you can create mono and stereo
tracks with the New Tracks command. In addition, on Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems, you can create multichannel tracks.
When new tracks are created, they are given a
default name which can be changed at any time
by double-clicking the track name and typing in
a new name.
Before you create new tracks:
◆ For new tracks to appear next to a specific
track in a session, select that track by clicking its
name (in its track channel strip). The new tracks
are added immediately after the selected track.
◆ For new tracks to appear as the last tracks in a
session, make sure that no track names are selected on-screen.
Naming Tracks and Adding Track
Comments
To create a new track:
1 Choose File > New Track.
Track Format
number of new tracks
Track Type
Besides assigning a name to a track channel
strip, track names are used to auto-name recorded audio files and regions (see “Track
Names” on page 122).
New Track dialog (audio track)
2 Select from the Track Type pop-up menu the
type of track you want to add. For explanation
of track types, see “Track Types” on page 77.
To auto-scroll the Track Type pop-up in the
New Track dialog, press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) and use the
Up/Down Arrow keys.
3 Select Mono or Stereo (or one of the multichannel surround formats) from the Track Format pop-up menu. Surround formats only
appear for Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series
systems.
To auto-scroll the format selector, press
Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) and use the Left/Right Arrow keys.
4 Enter the number of new tracks, then click
Create.
5 To configure which track controls appear in
the Mix window or Edit window, select from
Display > Mix Window Shows and Display >
Edit Window Shows.
Track Name/Comments dialog
To rename a track or add comments:
1 In the Edit window or Mix window, doubleclick the Track Name button for the track you
want to rename.
2 In the Track Name/Comments dialog, type a
new track name.
– or –
Click Previous or Next to rename another displayed track.
To move to the previous or next track in the
Track Name/Comments dialog, you can
press Command (Macintosh) or Control
(Windows) and use the Up/Down Arrows.
3 If desired, type comments for the track in the
Comments text box.
To enter a carriage return in the Comments
text box, type Shift+Return (Macintosh) or
Shift+Enter (Windows) on the alpha keyboard.
4 When you are finished, click OK.
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Deleting Tracks
When you delete tracks, your audio or MIDI region data will remain in the Regions List, but
your arrangement of the regions on the deleted
track (the track’s playlist) will be lost.
The Delete Selected Tracks command cannot be undone.
To delete a track:
1 Click the name of the desired track (in its track
channel strip) to select it.
If you wish to select multiple tracks, hold
down the Shift key and click additional
track names to select them as well.
Hiding Tracks
The Show/Hide Tracks List (at the left of both
the Mix and Edit windows) lists all tracks in the
session. It allows you to show or hide a track in
the Mix and Edit windows, by selecting or deselecting its name. Even though a track is hidden,
the material on the track will still play as part of
the session. Inactive tracks appear in italics in
the Show/Hide Tracks List.
To show a track, click and highlight its name in
the Show/Hide List. To hide a track, deselect its
name.
2 Choose File > Delete Selected Tracks.
3 Click OK to remove the selected tracks from
the session.
Duplicating Tracks
The Duplicate Selected Tracks command allows
you to duplicate one or more tracks, including
their audio or MIDI data, playlists, automation,
and other attributes.
To duplicate a track:
Show/Hide Tracks List
The pop-up menu at the top of the Show/Hide
Tracks List provides commands that allow you
to show or hide all tracks, tracks currently selected on-screen, or specific types of tracks (audio, MIDI, Auxiliary Input or Master Fader).
1 Click the name of the desired track (in its track
channel strip) to select it.
If you wish to select multiple tracks, hold
down the Shift key and click additional
track names to select them as well.
Show Only option
2 Choose File > Duplicate Selected Tracks. Each
duplicate track is created to the right of its original track.
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The Sort Tracks By command allows you to set
the track order according to Name, Type, Edit
Group, Mix Group or Voice. The sort order will
be reflected in the Show/Hide Tracks List in the
Edit Window and the Mix Window.
To hide all tracks:
1 Click the Show/Hide button at the top of the
Show/Hide Tracks List.
2 From the pop-up menu, choose Hide All
Tracks.
To reorder tracks on-screen, drag the track
names to new positions within the
Show/Hide Tracks List.
About Groups and Show/Hide Tracks
Sort Tracks By option
When a track that is a member of an active
group is hidden from view, editing operations
performed on other members of the group in
the Edit window will not affect the hidden track.
In the Mix window, however, all operations
other than record-enable will affect a hidden
track that is a member of an active group.
On TDM systems, even if a track is hidden
from view, its position relative to other
tracks still affects voiceable track playback
priority. See “Making Tracks Inactive” on
page 90.
To hide a track:
Click the highlighted name of a track in the
Show/Hide Tracks List.
■
Even if a track is hidden, if it is a member of an
enabled group and active, all Mix window operations performed on other members of the
group will also affect the hidden track—with the
exception of audio or MIDI record-enabling. If
you solo, mute, or automation write-enable a
grouped track, any group members that are hidden will be soloed, muted, or automation writeenabled as well. These functions are not applied
to hidden tracks.
In the Edit window, however, editing operations
performed on members of an enabled group will
not affect hidden tracks that are also members of
the enabled group.
On TDM systems, even if a track is hidden from
view, its position relative to other tracks still affects its voiceable track playback priority (see
“Voiceable Tracks and Track Priority” on
page 87 for details).
To show a track that is currently hidden:
Click the unhighlighted name of a track in
the Show/Hide Tracks List.
■
To show all tracks:
1 Click the Show/Hide button at the top of the
Show/Hide Tracks List.
2 From the pop-up menu, choose Show All
Tracks.
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83
Assigning Inputs and Outputs
to Audio Tracks (and Other
Tracks)
Inputs for audio tracks and Auxiliary Input
tracks can be assigned to audio interface channels or busses. Outputs for audio tracks, Auxiliary Input tracks, and Master Fader tracks can be
assigned to audio interface channels or busses.
Track set to
Audio Input 2
Track set to
No Input
Track set to
Bus 2
Input/output assignments for three mono audio tracks
For stereo and multichannel surround tracks, inputs and outputs appear as stereo pairs and
multichannel groups. The available inputs, outputs, and busses are defined as paths in the
I/O Setup dialog (see Chapter 7, “I/O Setup”).
Assigning Audio Track Inputs
(Audio and Auxiliary Input Tracks)
To assign an audio track input:
1 In the Edit window, select Display > Edit Win-
dow Show > I/O View.
2 In the Mix or Edit window, click the track Input Selector and choose from the available audio interface channels and busses. Stereo and
multichannel surround tracks have inputs available as pairs and multichannel groups.
The Input Selector allows you to route any audio
input or any of the Pro Tools internal busses to
an audio track or an Auxiliary Input track. The
choices available in this pop-up menu are determined by the I/O Setup configuration. Inputs in
use by another track appear as bold in the Input
Selector.
‘
Automatic Input and Output
Assignments
Audio track Input Selector
When adding tracks to a new session, inputs are
automatically assigned in ascending order. For
example, if you have an audio interface with
eight inputs, creating four new mono audio
tracks will automatically add four audio tracks
with inputs assigned to the first four paths defined in the I/O Setup dialog. When creating stereo tracks, inputs are automatically assigned to
ascending input pairs.
The outputs automatically assigned to new
tracks are determined by the Default Output defined in the I/O Setup dialog.
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To remove an input assign:
■
Select No Input from the Input Selector.
Assigning Audio Track Outputs
(Audio Tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, Master
Faders)
To assign an audio track output:
Assigning an audio track, Auxiliary Input,
or Master Fader to “No Output” will cause
its automation data for pan and plug-in parameters to be lost.
1 To display inputs and outputs in the Edit win-
dow, select Display > Edit Window Show > I/O
View.
Assigning Voices and Track
Priority
2 In the Mix or Edit window, click the track Output Selector and choose from the available audio interface channels and busses. Stereo and
multichannel surround tracks have outputs
available as pairs and multichannel groups.
(TDM Systems Only)
Audio track Output Selector
The Output Selector allows you to route a track
to any configured audio output or internal bus.
The choices available in this pop-up menu are
determined by the I/O Setup configuration.
Outputs in use by another track appear as bold
in the Input Selector.
If you want to auto-assign all visible tracks to
unique mono sub-path outputs in ascending order, Command-Option-click (Macintosh) or
Control-Alt-click (Windows) the Output Selector of the left-most track and assign it to the subpath for Output #1. All visible tracks will be
auto-assigned to unique mono sub-path outputs
in ascending order.
To remove an output assign:
Select No Output from the Input Selector.
Playlists become dimmed for tracks with no output assignment.
Each TDM system provides a specific number of
voices (simultaneous voices of playback and
record). For example, a Pro Tools|HD 1 system
can provide up to 96 voices of playback and
record, at 44.1 kHz. (Refer to Table 1 on page 7.)
While your Pro Tools hardware allows a fixed
number of voices, Pro Tools software provides
additional tracks that can share these voices.
The combination of playback/record tracks and
shared voiced tracks is the total voiceable tracks
for a system. For example, a 44.1 kHz session on
a Pro Tools|HD 1 system can have 96 voices,
spread across up to 256 tracks. While all of these
tracks can be recorded or imported, arranged,
and cued for playback, not all of them can be
played back simultaneously.
When tracks exceed the number of available
voices, tracks with lower priority may not be
heard. For these situations, Pro Tools assigns
priorities for tracks that compete for the available voices. Because there can be more tracks
than available voices, Pro Tools provides multiple ways of adjusting playback priority to audio
tracks.
Tracks do not use up voices when:
• Their Voice Selector is set to Off.
• They are made inactive.
■
• They do not have an output and send assignment.
Chapter 8: Tracks
85
In addition, you can temporarily free a track’s
voice during playback by muting it (see “Mute
Frees Assigned Voice” on page 90).
Voice Assignment
Tracks can be assigned to a specific voice, or
they can be set to Auto. When tracks are autovoiced, Pro Tools automatically takes care of
voice management in the background—assigning voices not in use by other tracks.
Tracks assigned to a specific voice number take
priority over auto-voiced tracks. To ensure a
track is heard, or that it is available for QuickPunch recording, assign it a voice.
To set the voice assignment for a track:
Click the Voice Selector and select a voice
number, or set the track to Auto.
Automatic Assignment of Ascending
Voices
You can automatically assign all tracks or all selected tracks to successive voices. For example,
you may want to select eight audio tracks and
reassign them to voices 9–16.
To assign all audio tracks to successive voices:
■ While pressing Command+Option (Macintosh) or Control+Alt (Windows), select the starting voice number from the Voice Selector for the
track at the top of the Edit window, or at the far
left of the Mix window.
The voice is assigned to the clicked track, with
successive voices assigned to tracks (with the
same format) of lower priority.
■
To assign all selected audio tracks to successive
voices:
1 Select the desired audio tracks by Shift-clicking their names.
2 While pressing Command+Option (Macintosh) or Control+Shift (Windows), select the
starting voice number from the Voice Selector
for the top (Edit window) or left (Mix window)
selected track.
Voice Selector for stereo audio track
For stereo and multichannel tracks, voices appear in pairs and multichannel groups. Voices
already assigned to another track appear in bold
in the Voice Selector pop-up menu.
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The voice is assigned to the clicked track, with
successive voices assigned to currently selected
tracks (with the same format) of lower priority.
Changing a Track’s Playback
Priority
When more than one track is assigned to the
same voice, the track with the higher priority
(left-most in the Mix window or topmost in the
Edit window) has priority over others assigned
to that voice. Moving another track of the same
voice to a higher position will then give that
track priority.
This track priority scheme is also used for autovoiced tracks. When tracks in the session exceed
the number of available voices, tracks with
lower priority may not be heard.
To increase a track’s priority, do any of the
following:
In the Edit window, drag the Track Name button above other tracks in the session. Tracks at
the top of the Edit window have higher priority
than those below.
■
In the Mix window, drag the Track Name button to the left of other tracks in the session.
Tracks at the left of the Mix window have higher
priority than those to the right.
■
In the Show/Hide Tracks List, drag the track
name to a higher position in the list. Tracks at
the top of this list have higher priority than
those below.
through” and begins to play. When the original
track returns, the track that had popped
through relinquishes the voice to the higher priority track.
The following example demonstrates the concept of dynamic voice allocation:
The “Lead Guitar” region will pop through
In the above illustration, the two visible tracks
are assigned to the same voice. There is an open
area in the top track where no region appears. At
this point, the voice is free since it is not being
used, and the next highest priority track assigned to that voice (the bottom track) will pop
through the open area and play. In order for a
lower priority region to pop through, it must be
placed so that its beginning occurs after a higher
priority track’s region has ended.
■
By experimenting with track priority, voice assignment, and arranging regions so that they are
positioned to “pop through” holes in higher priority tracks, you will find many useful ways to
use voiceable tracks in your TDM system.
Voiceable Tracks and Track Priority
Pro Tools features dynamic voice allocation, so
that when a hole opens up in a higher-priority
track, its voice is temporarily available, and the
track with the next highest priority “pops
Setting MIDI Input and Output
Assigning MIDI Track Input
This MIDI Input Selector allows you to choose
which MIDI device and channel a MIDI track is
receiving input from. This allows you to set up
Pro Tools to record multiple MIDI tracks in the
same record pass. Channels in use by another
track input appear as bold in the MIDI Input Selector.
To assign a MIDI track input:
1 In the Edit window, select Display > Edit Win-
dow Show > I/O View.
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87
2 In the Mix window, click on the track’s MIDI
Input Selector and assign the device and channel that will be recorded.
To assign multiple destinations to a single MIDI
track:
■ Control-click (Macintosh) or Right-click
(Windows) the MIDI Device/Channel Selector
and select additional channels from any device.
For details on recording and importing MIDI
data, see Chapter 13, “MIDI Recording.”
Soloing and Muting Tracks
MIDI Input Selector
Assigning MIDI Track Output
MIDI tracks can be assigned to one or more
MIDI device channels with the Device/Channel
Selector. When assigned to multiple channels,
all material in the track is sent to all assigned
channels.
MIDI tracks in Pro Tools cannot contain multiple channels of MIDI data.
The Solo and Mute buttons can be engaged at
any time during playback. The Solo and Mute
buttons affect MIDI as well as audio tracks. It is
possible to have more than one track soloed or
muted at the same time in a session.
Grouping affects mute and solo behavior as
well. Normally, muting or soloing a track that is
a member of an active mix group will mute or
solo all other tracks that are a member of that
active mix group as well. However, by changing
the Mute and Solo settings in the Pro Tools Preferences dialog, you can disable this behavior.
To disable group muting of tracks:
To assign a MIDI track (and all its regions) to a
specific MIDI device channel:
Click on the track’s MIDI Device/Channel Selector and assign a device and channel from the
pop-up menu. Channels already assigned to another track appear bold in this menu.
1 Choose Setups > Preferences, and click Automation.
■
MIDI Device/Channel Selector
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2 Deselect the Mutes Follow Groups option, and
click Done.
With this option deselected, muting a track that
is a member of an active group does not affect
other members of the group.
You can also mute or solo individual members of a group, by holding down the Control key while selecting the track’s Mute or
Solo button.
To disable group soloing of tracks:
Solo Safe Mode
1 Choose Setups > Preferences, and click Automation.
Pro Tools also allows you to solo safe a track.
This prevents the track from being muted even
if you solo other tracks. This feature is useful for
tracks such as Auxiliary Inputs that are being
used as a submix of audio tracks, or effects returns, allowing the audio or effects track to remain in a mix even when other tracks are soloed. It is also useful to solo safe MIDI tracks so
that their playback is not affected when you
solo audio tracks.
2 Deselect the Solos Follow Mix option, and
click Done.
With this option deselected, soloing a track that
is a member of an active group does not affect
other members of the group.
Solo Button
The Solo button mutes other tracks so that the
chosen track can be auditioned alone. Normally
solos are “latched,” that is, pressing subsequent
solo buttons adds them to the soloed mix of
tracks. Pro Tools allows you to “unlatch” solos,
so that pressing a solo button will mute all
tracks except the track you have just soloed.
To solo safe a track:
■ Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the Solo button on the desired track.
This prevents the track from being muted even
if you solo other tracks. The Solo button
changes to a transparent color in Solo Safe
mode.
To solo tracks:
1 Click the Solo button on a track. The button is
highlighted and all other tracks are muted.
2 Click the Solo button on another track. The
buttons for both tracks are highlighted and all
other tracks are muted.
To turn off (or un-solo) tracks:
1 Click the Solo button on soloed tracks.
To unlatch solo buttons:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Operation.
2 Deselect the Latch Solo Buttons option and
click Done. With this option disabled, pressing a
Solo button mutes all tracks except the track you
have just soloed.
To return a solo safe track to normal:
■ Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the Solo button on the track again.
Mute Button
The Mute button silences a chosen track. More
than one track can be muted at one time. If Operations > Mute Frees Assigned Voice (TDM systems only) is enabled, muting a track will allocate its voice to the next highest priority
voiceable track (assigned to the same voice).
To mute a track:
■ Click the Mute button on the track. The track
will appear grayed-out and be muted.
To unmute a track:
■
Click the Mute button again.
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89
Mute Frees Assigned Voice
To toggle a track active/inactive:
(TDM Systems Only)
■ Command-Control-click (Macintosh) or Control-Start-click (Windows) the track type icon in
the Mix window.
Selecting Operations > Mute Frees Voice and
muting a track disables playback of that track,
and surrenders control of its voice to the next
highest priority track with the same voice assignment.
With this option enabled, there may be a delay
(ranging in length from one to several seconds
depending on the processing power of your system) between the time you mute or unmute a
track and when you hear the effect on playback.
To avoid this delay, make sure that the Mute
Frees Assigned Voice option is disabled. Another
factor than can cause delays is your DAE Playback Buffer Size setting. Playback Buffer Size is
set in the Playback Engine dialog. The larger the
playback buffer you choose, the longer the potential lag time between the time you click the
Mute button and the onset of muting.
Muting a track with Mute Frees Assigned
Voice enabled does not free up the voice for
QuickPunch recording.
Making Tracks Inactive
(TDM Systems Only)
Audio, Auxiliary Input, and Master Fader tracks
can be made inactive. Inactive tracks use no DSP
or voices. Plug-ins, sends, voices, and automation on inactive tracks are disabled. Tracks may
also be automatically made inactive if a session
is opened on a system with less DSP power than
the system it was created on.
MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.
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Click here to toggle
a track active or inactive
Toggling a track active/inactive
Playlists for inactive tracks are dimmed.
To make one or more tracks inactive:
1 Click the name of the desired track (in its track
channel strip) to select it.
If you wish to select multiple tracks, hold
down the Shift key and click additional
track names to select them as well.
2 Choose File > Make Selected Tracks Inactive.
Adjusting Track Width
Mix Window
The Narrow Mix Window command allows you
to view all tracks/channels in the Mix window
at a reduced width to conserve screen space in a
large session. (See “Track Height” on page 172,
to adjust track height in the Edit Window.)
To reduce the width of tracks in the Mix window:
■
Select Display > Narrow Mix Window.
To display tracks at normal width:
■
Deselect Display > Narrow Mix Window.
Color Coding Tracks
Grouping Tracks
The Display Preference for Edit Window Color
Coding determines how colors are assigned to
waveforms and MIDI data in the Edit window.
Colors can be based on groups, voice assignment for audio tracks, and channels or devices
for MIDi tracks.
Pro Tools provides a relative grouping function
for linking tracks and their controls. Groups can
be applied to either the Mix or Edit window, or
both.
Color coding of voices is especially useful when
working with tracks assigned to the same voice.
Since tracks assigned to the same voice share the
same color, you can easily identify and arrange
regions so that they do not overlap or conflict
with other regions on tracks assigned to the
same voice.
To configure the Edit Window color coding:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click the Display tab.
2 Select one of the following color coding options:
None Turns off color assignment for tracks in
the Edit window.
Tracks and MIDI Channels Assigns a color to
each track in the Edit window according to its
voice and MIDI channel assignment.
Tracks and MIDI Devices Assigns a color to the
track in the Edit window according to its voice
and MIDI device assignment.
Groups Assigns a color to each track in the Edit
window according to its group ID. If groups are
suspended using the Suspend Groups command, all waveforms are displayed in black.
3 Click Done to close the Preferences dialog.
Groups are useful for editing several tracks in exactly the same way, or for mixing several tracks
(such as a pair of stereo tracks or a submix) while
keeping them at the same relative volume level.
Pro Tools provides the following grouping features:
• Up to 26 different groups
• Nested groups (subgroups within groups)
• Grouped faders or controllers preserve their
levels relative to each other
Grouping can affect the following track parameters:
• Volume levels
• Solos
• Mutes
• Automation modes
• Send levels
• Send mutes
• Track view
• Track height
• Editing functions
Grouping does not affect these parameters:
• Record enables
• Panning
• Send panning
• Voice assignment
• Output assignment
• Creating Plug-Ins instances
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91
Using the Groups List
The Pro Tools grouping functions are located at
the left side of the Mix or Edit window in the
Groups List. This scrolling window contains the
names of all the groups in your session, as well
as a pop-up menu for accessing grouping commands. From this menu, you can select and enable groups.
Click to
select a
group by
typing its
letter
Group pop-up menu
Click to
select group
members
on-screen
Click to
activate a
group
The hollow circle symbol indicates that only
some members of the group are currently selected.
The circle with a dot symbol indicates that all
members of the group are currently selected,
plus additional members outside the group.
A pop-up menu allows you to show or hide
tracks in a group, or show only tracks in a group.
Click and hold on the group name to display the
pop-up menu, then select the option.
Click to
deactivate a
group
Group IDs
Click to hide
Groups List
Groups List
By default, every session has a group named All,
which includes every track and channel in the
session. The All group cannot be edited or deleted.
To the left of each name in the Groups List is a
letter denoting its Group ID (“a” through “z”),
and to the left of that, a symbol indicating
whether that group is selected in the current
window (either the Edit or Mix window). These
symbols indicate the following:
The filled-in circle symbol indicates that all
members of the group are currently selected,
and no members from outside the group are selected.
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Groups List
The Groups Pop-up Menu
The Groups pop-up menu contains commands
that allow you to create, delete and suspend
groups. These commands are as follows:
Groups pop-up menu
New Group This command allows you to create a
new group. You must first select two or more
tracks/channel strips on-screen to do this.
Display This command allows you to toggle the
Groups List display to either Mix Groups or Edit
Groups. If all of your groups apply to both Editing and Mixing, the Groups List will be the same
for both.
Suspend All Groups This command allows you
to temporarily toggle all active groups off.
Delete Selected Groups This command allows
you to permanently remove a group from the
Groups List. You must first select a Group Name
in the Groups List to do this.
6 Click OK to add the new group to the Groups
List.
Editing Groups
Changing the Members of a Group
You can add or remove members from a group
at any time.
To change the members of a group:
1 Hold down the Shift key and select the tracks
to include in the group.
Creating a Group
2 Choose File > Group Selected Tracks from the
Group pop-up menu.
To create a group:
1 Hold down the Shift key and select the tracks
you want to include in the group.
3 In the dialog that appears, select the Group ID
that you want to update.
4 Click OK. The new group definition overwrites the original definition.
Renaming a Group
You can rename a group at any time.
Selecting tracks to be grouped
2 Choose New Group from the Group pop-up
menu, or choose File > Group Selected Tracks.
3 Enter a name for the group.
To rename a group:
1 In the Groups List, double-click to the left of
the group’s name (in the area with the circular
symbols).
2 In the dialog that appears, enter a new name
for the group. (If you wish to change the group’s
type, you can also do so here.)
3 Click OK. The group is renamed in the Groups
List.
Deleting a Group
New Group dialog
4 Choose the type of group to create: Edit
Group, Mix Group, or Edit and Mix Group.
5 Choose a Group ID (“a”–“z”).
You can delete a group at any time.
To delete a group:
1 In the Groups List, select the name of the
group (or groups) you wish to delete.
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2 Click the Group pop-up menu and choose Delete Selected Groups. You cannot undo this action.
To enable a group:
■ In the Groups List, click the name of the
group you want to enable. The group name is
highlighted to indicate that it is enabled.
Linking Mix and Edit Groupings
The “Link Mix and Edit Group Enables” option
links group enabling between the Mix and Edit
windows.
Pro Tools allows you to create groups that are
both Mix and Edit groups, but in some cases you
may prefer not to link enabling of Mix and Edit
groups. For example, when you are using the
Mix window for mixing, you may prefer to work
with large, nested groups. However, in the Edit
window, you may want to perform editing tasks
within a smaller group. You could disable the
Link Mix and Edit Group Enables preference.
This would allow you to work with different
groups in the two windows.
To enable additional groups, click their names
in the Groups List. It is not necessary to Shiftclick to enable or disable multiple groups.
Moving a fader of a group member will cause all
other group members to move relative to it. If a
fader belongs to multiple groups, and the
groups conflict when faders are moved, the
fader will follow the topmost or “parent” group
that it belongs to.
To disable a group:
■ In the Groups List, click the name of the
group you want to disable. The group name is
unhighlighted to indicate that it is not enabled.
To unlink mix and edit groups:
Keyboard Selection of Groups
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Operation.
If the Groups List Key Focus is enabled, you can
type a Group ID letter and Pro Tools will automatically enable that group.
2 Deselect the “Link Mix and Edit Group Enables” option and click Done.
Enabling Groups
To enable and use the Groups List Key Focus:
1 Click the a–z button in upper right of the
Groups List.
Editing operations are not applied to members
of a group that are hidden with the Show/Hide
Tracks List. Mix operations (with the exception
of record-enable) are applied to hidden tracks.
Press Command+Option+4 (Macintosh) or Control+Alt+4 (Windows).
Pro Tools allows you to create separate groups
for editing and mixing. You set this option
when you use the New Group command.
Groups that apply to both editing and mixing
can be decoupled.
Groups List Key Focus enabled
– or –
2 Type the Group ID letter (a–z) to automatically enable it.
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Chapter 9: Importing and Exporting
Audio and MIDI
Importing Audio
In Pro Tools you can import previously recorded
audio files and regions from other sessions or
other applications. You can also import tracks
from other Pro Tools sessions (see “Importing
Tracks from Other Sessions” on page 98), and
convert the audio while importing.
Audio files and regions can be imported to new
tracks, or they can be imported into the Audio
Regions List, where they can be dragged to existing tracks.
Audio files in the following formats can be imported:
• AIFF
• WAV
• SDII
Supported files and regions can be auditioned
before importing.
If region definitions are present in an audio file,
you can convert and import selected regions
without importing the entire parent audio file.
When importing into a session, choose
File > Import Audio to Track to place the audio
into a new track. To import audio into the Audio
Regions List, choose Import Audio from the Audio Regions pop-up menu. Both commands
open the same Import Audio dialog (see Figure 5
on page 97).
Files that don’t match the session’s supported
files types, must be converted when importing.
If you import an audio file with a sample rate
that doesn’t match the current session’s sample
rate, and you do not convert it, the file will not
play back at the original pitch.
• SDI
• MP3 (with purchase of MP3 option)
• Sound Resource (AIFL—Macintosh only)
• WMA (Windows Media—Windows only)
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Copying, Adding, and Converting Audio
Depending on the properties of the audio files
you are importing, you can add, copy, or convert the files.
Add
Audio files that are of the same bit depth and file
type can be added directly to a session. Use this
option when you don’t want to use extra hard
drive space for audio files that are already of the
same bit depth and sample rate as your session.
Note that added files remain in their original
folder locations.
Pro Tools allows audio files that are not in the
native session type to be added to a session.
Macintosh sessions allow SDII, AIFF, or WAV
files to be added to any session, and Windows
sessions allow AIFF or WAV files to be added to
any session. However, sessions with mixed file
types will have reduced performance.
Audio files that are of a different bit depth must
be converted.
Pro Tools allows you to add files to a session that are at a different sample rate than
your session (such as 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz).
In the comments field of the Import Audio
dialog, a warning is posted that these files
will play back at the wrong speed if they are
not converted.
Copy
If a file can be added to your session, you will
also be given the option to copy it. This option
creates a copy of the audio file and places it in a
folder you choose.
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You can also use Copy when the file you are importing is of the correct bit depth and file type,
but it is at the wrong sample rate, and you want
it to play back correctly. Additionally, use Copy
to move audio from an unsupported or removable drive to an audio drive, or to consolidate
audio files for a session to a specific location.
Convert
Audio files that are not of the same bit depth or
sample rate, or audio files that are of an incompatible file type (SDII files in Windows or on the
Macintosh in a Mac/PC compatible session)
must be converted to be used with a session.
When audio files are converted, a new file with
the correct bit depth, file type, and sample rate
is created and placed in a folder you choose.
The quality of sample rate conversion used by
Pro Tools is determined by the Preference for
Conversion Quality. For details, see “Conversion Quality” on page 103.
Importing Stereo Files
When using the Import Audio to Tracks command, stereo files (“interleaved”) are automatically imported to stereo tracks.
Split stereo (dual mono) audio files can be automatically imported to stereo tracks. The files
must be named “filename.L” and filename.R”;
both files must be the same length. In Windows,
or in Mac/PC Compatibility mode, these files
will have a 3-letter file extension appended after
the “.L” or “.R” channel identifier.
Using the Import Audio Command
To import audio files or regions into a session:
1 Choose File > Import Audio to Track to import
audio files or regions to their own separate
tracks.
– or –
Choose Import Audio from the Audio Regions
List pop-up menu to import audio into the Audio Regions List without automatically creating
tracks.
To import tracks, refer to “Using the Import
Tracks Command” on page 100.
2 At the top of the Import Audio dialog, select
an audio file to display its properties and associated regions.
On the Macintosh, Sound Resource files
must have the “.SFIL” extension to be imported by Pro Tools.
3 To audition a selected file or region before you
import it, use the Play and Stop buttons.
Adjust playback volume with the vertical slider.
To navigate to a particular location in the file,
use the horizontal slider under the Play and Stop
buttons.
The audition output defaults to channel 1–2. On
TDM systems, the audition output can be
changed in I/O Setup or Hardware Setup.
4 To place a file or region in the import list (in
the lower right of the dialog on a Macintosh, or
on the right in Windows), select the file (Shiftclick to select multiple files) and click Add or
Convert. You can also click Add All or Convert
All to import all regions and files in the current
directory.
In the import list, audio files are distinguished
from regions by their icons.
Audio File icon
Audio Region icon
Figure 5. Import Audio dialog
File and Region icons in the Import Audio dialog
You can choose to display only a certain file
type (AIFF, for example) by selecting it from the
Show pop-up menu. To display all supported file
types, select All Documents from the Show popup menu.
5 To remove a file or region from the import list
on the right, select it and click Remove. To remove all regions or files, click Remove All.
6 Once the audio files and regions have been
added to the import list, click Done.
7 If you are copying or converting files, you are
prompted to choose a location for the new audio files. Choose a folder on a valid audio drive.
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We recommend you use the Audio Files folder
that your session created to keep track of the session’s audio files.
Import Tracks also lets you set time code location options, sample rate conversion options,
and audio and video media translation options.
If you chose File > Import Audio to Track, the
files and regions are imported to separate audio
tracks, and also appear as regions in the Audio
Regions List.
If you chose Import Audio from the Audio Regions List, the files and regions appear as regions
in the Audio Regions List.
Importing Tracks from Other
Sessions
You can import tracks from a different Pro Tools
session into a current Pro Tools session using
the Import Tracks command. On the Macintosh, you can Import tracks from Pro Tools 3.2
sessions and later. On Windows, you can Import
tracks from Pro Tools 4.2.5 sessions or later.
You can import audio tracks, MIDI tracks, Auxiliary Input tracks, and Master Fader tracks. During the import process, you can force the file
type of the imported files to the current session
file type, and you can change the bit depth and
sample rate.
Import Tracks dialog
Import Tracks Dialog
The Import Tracks dialog allows you to select
tracks to import, view source session properties,
and configure settings that affect the way tracks
are imported. The elements of this dialog are described below.
Source Properties
The Import Tracks dialog displays properties for
the source session. These properties include
source session name, session type, start time of
the session, audio bit depth, and sample rate.
For Pro Tools 5.1 or later sessions, the program
that created the session, and the session’s audio
file type are listed.
Source Tracks
You can select source tracks to Import in this
area of the dialog. To select multiple contiguous
tracks, Shift-click. To select multiple non-contiguous files, Command-click (Macintosh) or Altclick (Windows).
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Time Code Mapping Options
You can specify where Pro Tools places the imported tracks in your session using the Time
Code Mapping Options. Times are indicated in
time code for TDM systems, and minutes:seconds for Pro Tools LE systems.
Maintain Absolute Time Code Values This option
places tracks at the locations where they were located in the source session. This means that if
your session starts at 00:01:00:00, and the session from which you are importing starts at
10:00:00:00, the earliest imported tracks can appear in your session is 9 hours and 59 minutes
after the start of the session.
Maintain Relative Time Code Values This option
places tracks at the same offset from session start
as they had in the source session. For example. if
the session start was 01:00:00:00 in the source
session and a track started at 01:01:00:00, then if
the current session start is 02:00:00:00 the track
will be placed at 02:01:00:00.
Map Start Time Code to hh:mm:ss:ff This option
places tracks relative to their original session
start time. This means that if your session starts
at 00:01:00:00, and the session from which you
are importing tracks starts at 10:00:00:00, you
can set the start time code to 00:01:00:00, and
avoid placing files 9 hours and 59 minutes from
the start of your session.
Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) Options
This dialog allows you to set options for sample
rate conversion of imported audio files. If the
source session and your target session have the
same sample rate, this portion of the dialog is
dimmed.
Source Sample Rate For audio files created in
any session, no matter what the session sample
rate is, you can have the sample rate conversion
process treat the files in several ways to compensate for pull-up, pull-down, and NTSC or PAL
frame rates. This setting allows you to choose
the sample rate from which you want the sample rate conversion process to start.
Destination Sample Rate The destination sample rate is always set to the sample rate of your
session.
Conversion Quality With this setting you can
change the quality of the sample-rate conversion process. At lower quality settings, audio is
processed faster; at higher settings, audio processing is slower. “Best” runs at approximately
real time on a fast machine. See “Conversion
Quality” on page 103.
Audio Media Options
Format for New Audio
Choose whether you want new media files to be
SDII, WAV, or AIFF files.
Copy Options
Consolidate from Source Media This option lets
you copy audio while consolidating it. In this
way you can copy only the used portions of the
media, without copying unused audio in the
source files.
When you choose this option, you should also
choose an amount of handle (in milliseconds).
Handle is an amount of the original audio file
that is preserved before and after each region in
case you need to make any edits to the new regions.
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Copy from Source Media This option copies all
audio files related to the imported tracks from
the source media to a new specified location.
This is useful if you are importing tracks from a
source such as CD-ROM or shared storage, and
you want to place the audio files on a different
hard drive.
Refer to Source Media (Where Possible) This setting lets you avoid duplicating audio files by referring to the original files when possible. If the
source files do not reside on “playable” media
(such as a CD-ROM), or if they require bit depth
or file conversion, the files are instead copied.
Force Audio Media to New Format This forces all
imported audio files to the audio media format
you select.
Video Media Options
You can either choose to leave video media files
in their original locations or copy them to a new
location. This is useful if you are importing
tracks from a source such as CD-ROM or shared
storage, and you want to place video files on a
different drive.
If the current Pro Tools system does not support
surround mixing, surround tracks are not displayed in the Import Tracks dialog.
4 Select the tracks to import. Shift-click to select
multiple contiguous files. Command-click
(Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) to select
multiple non-contiguous files.
5 Choose the time code mapping option for im-
ported audio files.
6 If the sample rates of the sessions are different,
choose the sample rate for the source session.
7 If applicable, choose options for imported audio and video media files.
8 To import the meter and tempo tracks from
the source session, select that option.
9 Click OK when you are finished.
10 If you chose to copy or consolidate media,
choose a location to place the media files.
Imported tracks are made inactive if their
source media is unavailable, of if the current session does not contain an equivalent
output path.
Import Tempo/Meter Map
Select this option to import the meter and
tempo tracks from the source session.
Using the Import Tracks Command
Loading Audio Files with Drag
& Drop
Pro Tools provides you with a convenient
method of batch loading audio files into an
open session.
To import tracks:
1 Open or create a new session.
2 Choose File > Import Tracks.
3 Navigate to and select the session to import
tracks from and click Open. The Import Tracks
dialog opens and displays the tracks that can be
imported.
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To batch load audio files into a session:
1 Open or create a new session.
2 From the desktop, locate the audio files you
want to import. Make sure the files match the
session’s file type, bit depth, and sample rate.
Audio files must be in WAVE, SDII, or AIFF/AIFC
format in order to be dropped into Pro Tools.
Audio files will be converted if they are not of
the correct bit depth or number of channels.
They will be converted to mono files of the default audio file format, with the session’s bit
depth and sample rate.
3 Drag the audio files onto the Pro Tools icon or
alias.
Exporting Audio
Pro Tools supports exporting regions as audio
files, exporting left and right audio files as stereo
interleaved files, and exporting region information.
3 In the Export Selected dialog, set the file type,
format, bit resolution, and sample rate. In addition, specify the Conversion Quality, and
choose the destination directory.
4 Select an option for how Pro Tools should resolve duplicate file names. Prompting for Each
Duplicate will prompt you for a file name for
any file that has the same name as a file in your
destination directory.
Auto Renaming automatically changes the
name of any duplicate file by adding a number
at the end (such as file-01). Replacing with New
Files replaces files with the same name with the
new files.
You can also export audio from Pro Tools by
bouncing or consolidating audio tracks. For
more information, see “Bounce to Disk” on
page 406.
Exporting a Region as a New
Audio File
You can export regions as audio files with the
Export Selected As Files command. Use this
command if you intend to use a region in other
sessions (or other audio applications) without
using its parent source file.
This command also provides a way to convert
regions to a different audio format, sample rate,
or bit depth.
To export regions as new audio files:
Export Selected dialog
5 Once the Export Options are configured, click
Export to export the new audio files.
When you Export Selected (or Save Session
Copy) with a lower bit rate, Dither (and
Noise Shaping) may be applied. See the following table:
1 In the Audio Regions List, select the regions
you want to export.
2 From the Audio Regions List pop-up menu,
choose Export Selected As Files.
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Dither and Noise Shaping are applied as follows:
Bit Rate Conversion
Export
Selected
24-bit to 16-bit
(Dither and Noise
Shaping)
Yes
24-bit to 8-bit
(Dither Only)
Yes
16-bit to 8-bit
(Dither Only)
Yes
For more information about using Dither with
Save, see See “Dither” on page 359.
Exporting Stereo Interleaved Files
You can use the Export Selected As Files command to export audio regions to stereo interleaved files for use in other applications.
(Pro Tools sessions do not support stereo interleaved files.) For this to work, the selected regions must have identical names with “.L” and
“.R” suffixes (for instance, vocals-01.L and vocals-01.R). These regions appear as a stereo region in the Audio Regions List.
To export regions as a stereo interleaved file:
1 Select the stereo audio region in the Audio Re-
gions List or in the track playlist. If the regions
appear on mono tracks in the session, select the
two mono regions.
2 From the Audio Regions List pop-up menu,
choose Export Selected As Files.
3 In the Export Selected dialog, select “Interleaved” in the Format pop-up menu.
4 Configure any other output parameters, then
click Export to export the new stereo interleaved
file.
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Exporting Region Definitions
Pro Tools stores region definitions for audio files
within each session. If you want to use an audio
file’s regions in another session, or with another
application that supports them, you can export
the region information.
The Export Region Definitions command does
not export regions as audio files (unlike the Export Selected As Files command). Instead, it
stores pointers to the regions within the parent
source file.
To export region definitions for an audio file:
1 In the Audio Regions List, select any regions
for which you want to export definitions. You
do not have to select the parent file audio region.
2 Choose Export Region Definitions from the
Audio Regions List pop-up menu.
3 Click Export.
Transferring Audio from CD
(Macintosh Only)
Pro Tools allows you to transfer audio tracks
from an audio CD with the Import Audio From
Other Movie command. Since the transfer is
made in the digital domain, there is no signal
loss.
The sample rate for audio CDs is 44.1 kHz.
Therefore, if your session’s sample rate is set to
48 kHz or higher, Pro Tools will convert the
sample rate for the imported audio. Before importing CD audio, set the Conversion Quality
Preference accordingly. See “Conversion Quality” on page 103 for details.
When importing a CD audio track, Pro Tools
first imports it as QuickTime movie. The imported movie is then converted to audio files in
your session file format. Before importing CD
audio, make sure your hard drive has enough
space for both the imported movie file and the
converted audio files.
To import a CD audio track:
1 Insert the audio CD into your CD-ROM drive.
2 Choose Movie > Import Audio From Other
Movie.
3 Locate and select the audio track to be imported, then click Convert.
4 When the Save dialog appears, click the Options button.
5 In the Options dialog, select the sample rate,
bit resolution, and stereo format.
Adjust playback volume with the vertical slider.
To navigate to a particular location in the file,
use the horizontal slider under the Play and Stop
buttons.
8 Specify the destination for the imported audio
track and click Save. Pro Tools imports the CD
audio track as a QuickTime movie and writes it
to your hard drive.
9 When the Track Import window appears, click
OK.
Pro Tools converts the audio track to your session’s sample rate and bit resolution and imports the selected audio tracks into the Audio
Regions List. From there you can drag the regions to existing tracks.
Conversion Quality
The Conversion Quality Preference determines
the quality of sample rate conversion used when
converting and importing audio into a session,
and when importing CD audio tracks (Macintosh only). There are five possible settings, ranging from Low to Tweak Head. The higher the
quality, and the more extreme your conversion
(for example, 44.1 to 192 kHz) the longer it will
take.
To set the sample rate conversion quality:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences, and click Editing.
Audio CD Import Options dialog (Macintosh)
6 At the bottom of the Options dialog, set the
range of the audio track to be imported by adjusting the Start and End times, then click OK.
2 From the Conversion Quality pop-up menu,
select the desired quality.
7 To audition a selected file or region before you
import it, use the Play and Stop buttons.
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103
Export Session Text Options
Conversion Quality preference
For most applications, the Good or Better setting will yield very good results. Because the
Best and Tweak Head settings take significantly
longer, use them only when higher fidelity is absolutely essential.
3 Click Done.
Slower computers can take an extremely long
time to perform sample rate conversion, especially at higher-quality settings. The Tweak
Head setting, for instance, can take as long as
several hours to process an audio file of moderate length.
Exporting Session Text
Export Session Text dialog
Include File List/Region List
You can choose to export a list of the session’s
audio files and regions. The File List provides a
list of all the audio files and fades in the session,
and their hard drive locations. The Region List
displays all audio regions in the session, and the
source audio file for each region.
(TDM Systems Only)
You can use the Export Session As Text command to create a text file that contains extensive
information about your session.
This text file can contain a list of audio files, audio regions, audio track EDL (edit decision list)
information, extended timestamp information,
and information about crossfades.
Track EDLs are exported as tab-delimited text—
that is, with tabs between each column heading,
and tabs between each event parameter. You
can use this data in a program for reading EDLs,
or you can format the EDL data into tables using
a word processor or spreadsheet application.
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Include Track EDLs (Playlists)
You can export track EDLs (playlists). Track
EDLs can be used to spot-check region placement and edits, or in a conforming program for
post applications. In extreme circumstances the
EDL can be used to recreate the entire session.
MIDI track EDLs are not exported.
When exporting track EDLs, the following options are available:
Show Subframes
This option allows you to export subframe time
information with track EDLs, if used in your session.
Include User Timestamps
Session Information
You can include user timestamps with track
EDLs. User timestamps indicate a user-defined
session location for the region, or the original
location of the region when recorded.
SESSION NAME:
Ripleys II-092700
SAMPLE RATE:
48000.000000
BIT DEPTH:
24-bit
Fade Handling
TIME CODE FORMAT:
30 Frame
For track EDLs, you can choose whether to show
crossfades, not to show them, or to combine
crossfaded regions. When regions are combined,
their durations and locations are listed up to the
center of the crossfade (for the leading region)
and from the center of the crossfade (for the following region).
# OF AUDIO TRACKS:
19
# OF AUDIO REGIONS:
203
# OF AUDIO FILES:
54
File List and Region List
Next, if you choose to include them, are the lists
of audio files and regions.
Time Format
Track EDLs
You can select the appropriate time format that
exported EDL information is based on. For example, for post work, you might select SMPTE
time, but for music creation locked to a grid, you
might select Bars & Beats.
File Format
The final item, if exported, is the list of track
EDLs. A track EDL lists the track name, and all
edits, including the event number, the region
name, region start and end time, and region duration. The region timestamp is also exported, if
you select this option. Subframes are shown in
each time field if you select this option.
You can choose to export to any of several different text formats. These include standard text
formats, and Microsoft Word and Excel formats.
The Exported Session Text
Session Information
The session text file starts with basic information about the session. This information includes the session name, sample rate, bit depth,
time code format, and number of audio tracks,
audio regions, and audio files, as shown in the
following example.
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Exporting a session as text:
1 Choose File > Export Session As Text.
2 Select whether to include the File List, Region
List, and track EDLs.
3 If you choose to include track EDLs, select
whether to show subframes, and whether to include user timestamps. Also select an option for
crossfade handling.
4 If you choose to include track EDLs, select the
Time Format for the exported session text from
the pop-up menu.
5 Select the File Format for exported text using
the pop-up menu.
◆ Type 0 MIDI files store data for all MIDI channels in a single track. When importing these
files, Pro Tools separates the data by channel
and places each track’s data in separate regions
and tracks.
◆ Type 1 MIDI files, sometimes referred to as
multitrack MIDI files, contain multiple tracks of
MIDI data. When importing these files, each
track’s data is placed on its own new MIDI track
in the Pro Tools session.
To import a Standard MIDI File to new tracks:
1 Choose File > Import MIDI to Track.
2 Select the MIDI file you want to import.
6 When you have set your options, click OK.
7 Select a location and enter a filename for the
exported text file. In Windows, Pro Tools adds
the correct 3-letter filename extension, while on
the Macintosh, the file extension “.txt” is added.
Importing MIDI Files
You can import Standard MIDI Files into your
Pro Tools sessions. Use the Import MIDI to Track
command to place the imported MIDI onto new
tracks; or use the Import MIDI command in the
MIDI Regions List pop-up menu to place the
data in the MIDI Regions List, where it can be
dragged to existing tracks.
Pro Tools does not import proprietary sequence
files. To use sequences from other MIDI applications in a Pro Tools session, you’ll need to first
save them as Standard MIDI Files. Refer to the
manufacturer’s documentation for details on
saving Standard MIDI Files.
There are two types of Standard MIDI Files, both
of which are supported by Pro Tools:
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Import MIDI dialog
3 To import the MIDI file’s tempo and meter
tracks, select the option for Import Tempo From
MIDI File.
This option overwrites existing meter and
tempo events in the current session. If you don’t
want this, make sure to instead select Use Existing Tempo From Session.
4 Click Import (Macintosh) or Open (Windows). If prompted, specify whether you want
to Keep or Discard existing MIDI tracks and regions in the current session.
The MIDI data is imported to new MIDI tracks,
and also appears as regions in the MIDI Regions
List.
If the Standard MIDI File contains markers,
they are only imported if the current session
does not contain any markers.
5 In the Mix window, click on the MIDI De-
vice/Channel Selector for each new track and assign a MIDI instrument and channel, as desired.
To import a Standard MIDI File into the MIDI
Regions List:
1 Choose Import MIDI from the MIDI Regions
List pop-up menu.
Exporting MIDI Files
To export a session’s MIDI tracks for use in another MIDI application, or for playback with an
external (hardware) MIDI sequencer, you can
save the tracks as a Standard MIDI File.
When exporting, the session tracks can be
merged to a single, multichannel track (Type 0),
or they can be saved as multiple tracks (Type 1).
To export all MIDI tracks in the current session:
1 Make sure to unmute any MIDI tracks in the
session that you want to export.
2 Choose File > Export MIDI.
2 Select the MIDI file you want to import.
3 Specify a folder destination and name for the
3 To import the MIDI file’s tempo and meter
MIDI file.
tracks, select the option for Import Tempo From
MIDI File.
This option overwrites existing meter and
tempo events in the current session. If you don’t
want this, make sure to instead select Use Existing Tempo From Session.
4 Click Import (Macintosh) or Open (Windows). If prompted, specify whether you want
to Keep or Discard existing MIDI tracks and regions residing in the current session.
Export MIDI dialog
Pro Tools imports the MIDI data as regions and
places them in the MIDI Regions List.
If the Standard MIDI File contains markers,
they are only imported if the current session
does not contain any markers.
5 Drag the new MIDI regions, as desired, to existing MIDI tracks.
4 Select whether the Standard MIDI File will be
Type 0 (merged, single track) or Type 1 (multitrack).
5 Click Export. Pro Tools exports all MIDI tracks
in the current session to a Standard MIDI File
and writes it to your hard drive. Exported MIDI
information includes notes, controller events,
program changes, and System Exclusive data, as
well as events for tempo, meter, and markers.
Chapter 9: Importing and Exporting Audio and MIDI
107
The SMPTE start time for the session is also exported. This ensures that the exported tracks,
when played from another MIDI application,
will align with the correct SMPTE frames, and
also sync correctly to tape and video devices, or
Pro Tools.
Refer to your third-party MIDI sequencer documentation to determine whether it supports importing SMPTE start times from MIDI files.
Not Exported with MIDI Files
Mute automation and muted regions do not affect exported MIDI. As long as a track is not
muted by clicking its Mute button, all of its
MIDI data is exported.
When exporting MIDI files from Pro Tools, device assignments for tracks are not retained
(though channel assignments are). If you therefore export MIDI tracks from Pro Tools and later
re-import them, you’ll need to reassign the
tracks to the desired devices.
All playlist information for MIDI tracks is lost
when exporting. For example, tracks that previously contained dozens of MIDI regions will be
flattened and only contain single regions after
exporting and re-importing.
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Chapter 10: File Management and
Compatibility
The various Pro Tools systems require that you
keep certain files on specific hard drives in order
for these systems to function properly. Observe
the following file management rules:
On Macintosh Pro Tools Systems, Pro Tools
software should reside on your startup drive (the
drive that contains your System Folder and
other System-related files).
◆
On Pro Tools TDM systems, data files (such as
session files, audio files and fade files) can be located on any compatible drive connected to the
internal SCSI bus or the external SCSI bus of
your computer, or to a SCSI accelerator card in
your computer. Pro Tools TDM also supports
ATA/IDE busses.
◆
Unique File IDs
Pro Tools 5.1 tags each audio file in a session
with a unique identifier that allows it to distinguish a particular file even if its name or location has changed.
In cases where the unique identifier is not
present, Pro Tools can identify an audio file using other file attributes, such as sample rate, bit
depth, file length, and creation or modification
date. Pro Tools will search for files with similar
attributes, and list potential matches in the Candidates Files List.
On Pro Tools LE systems, data files can be located on any compatible hard drive connected
to your computer’s internal or external ATA/IDE
or SCSI busses.
◆
Locating Audio Files
When you open a session, if Pro Tools is unable
to locate audio files contained in the session, it
will post a Find File dialog. You can choose to
search for replacement files based either on file
name or on unique file ID.
Find File dialog (Macintosh)
Chapter 10: File Management and Compatibility
109
To locate an audio file:
1 In most cases, you can find files created or
modified by Pro Tools by selecting Current
Folder or Current Volume under “Search In.” To
search in all subfolders of the current folder, select Look in Subfolders. If this search does not
provide adequate results, you can select All Volumes to search all available drives and partitions.
2 Select whether you want to search for the file
by Matching Name or Matching Unique ID. It is
faster to search for a file by File Name; however,
this search could be less useful if you are searching for a common file name, for example, “Audio-01.”
3 Click Search.
4 If Pro Tools is unable to find the target file, it
will list a number of exact matches for the files,
as well as candidate files. These are files that
have the right file name but do not have the correct Unique File ID.
7 If checking Candidate Files, and you determine that a file in the Candidates Files List is not
the target file, click Skip. To eliminate all files in
the list, click Skip All.
8 When you have located the target file, click
Open.
If you do not locate the target file, the whole file
region and regions based on it appear as offline
media in the Audio Regions List and in tracks in
the Edit window.
WAV File Compatibility
Convert all imported WAV files to
AES31/BroadcastWave
Pro Tools always creates AES31/Broadcast compliant WAV files when the file originates in
Pro Tools. This option, accessed by choosing
Setups > Preferences > Compatibility, makes imported WAV files, compliant with the
AES31/EBU Broadcast standard.
AES31/Broadcast Wave is a variant of the standard audio WAV file type. The AES31 format
contains additional information beyond the
raw PCM audio data such as SMPTE time
stamps.
Candidates Files List (exact match)
Exact matches in the Find dialog are indicated
in the Candidates Files List with a “->” before
the file path.
5 If desired, select a candidate file to view its attributes in the File Info area.
6 To audition a selected audio file, click Play and
adjust the Play Position slider to choose the
playback location in the file.
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This variant complies with standards set by the
EBU (European Broadcasters Union), and the
AES (Audio Engineering Society). Choose this
option to ensure compatibility with other workstations that recognize this file type.
Avid File Compatibility
Enabling the Avid Compatibility mode preference in Pro Tools adds “metadata” when bouncing to disk, or when recording from a bus. This
metadata includes the name of session, and the
name of the source of the bounce (bus or track
output). When the bounced file is opened from
an Avid system, the metadata information will
help identify the source of the file components.
In addition, when Avid Compatibility mode is
enabled, it forces all OMF media to be treated as
Read Only within Pro Tools.
To enable Avid Compatibility mode:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences > Compatibility.
2 Select Avid Compatibility Mode.
3 Click Done.
Creating Mac and PC
Compatible Sessions
The Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility option
(Macintosh) and Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility
option (Windows) allow you to create and save
Pro Tools sessions that are compatible on both
Macintosh and Windows. These options are
available when creating a new 5.3 session, or
when saving a copy of a 5.3 session.
File Name Extensions
For cross-platform compatibility, all files in a
session must have a 3-letter file extension added
to the file name. Pro Tools 5.1 session files have
the extension “.pts,” and Pro Tools 5 sessions
have the extension “.pt5.” WAV files have the
“.wav” file extension, and AIFF files have the
“.aif” file extension.
Incompatible ASCII Characters
Region names, track names, file names, and
plug-in settings cannot use ASCII characters
that are incompatible with either system.
When creating a new name, if an incompatibility is detected when Mac/PC Compatibility or
PC/Mac Compatibility mode is enabled, a dialog
will appear that prompts you to type a new
name. When you import files into a session that
is set for Mac/PC or PC/Mac Compatibility, incompatible characters are converted to underscores (“_”).
The following characters cannot be used in PC or
Mac/PC compatible sessions:
/ (slash)
\ (backslash)
: (colon)
* (asterisk)
? (question mark)
Cross-Platform Session Limits
Audio File Types
Sound Designer II (SDII) files cannot be read by
Windows systems. Therefore, when creating
Mac and Windows compatible session files, the
audio file type for the session must be either
AIFF or WAV.
“ (quotation marks)
< (less-than symbol)
> (greater-than symbol)
| (vertical line or pipe)
Any character typed with the Command key
Chapter 10: File Management and Compatibility
111
To create a session that is compatible with
Macintosh and Windows:
5 Select “Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” (Mac-
Session.
intosh) or “Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility”
(Windows). This option must be selected to
make the session cross-platform compatible.
2 Choose the drive where you want to save the
6 Select the Items to Copy to the new session.
session. The session should be created on a dedicated audio drive.
7 Click Save.
3 Enter a name for the session.
If the session previously used SDII files, the files
are converted to the new audio file format.
1 After launching Pro Tools, choose File > New
4 In the New Session dialog, set the Audio File
Type to AIFF or WAV. These file formats are compatible with either platform.
5 Set the Sample Rate and Bit Depth for the ses-
sion.
6 Select the I/O Settings to use for the session.
Several pre-configured I/O Settings are included
with your system, or you can choose custom I/O
Settings that you have created. See Chapter 7,
“I/O Setup” for more information.
7 Select “Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” (Mac-
intosh) or “Enforce PC/Mac Compatibility”
(Windows). This option must be selected to
make the session cross-platform compatible.
8 Click Save.
To save an existing session that is compatible
with Macintosh and Windows:
1 Choose File > Save Session Copy In.
2 In the Save Session Copy dialog, choose a des-
tination and enter a name for the new session
file.
3 Set the Audio File Type to AIFF or WAV. These
file formats are compatible with either platform.
4 Set the Sample Rate and Bit Depth for the ses-
sion.
MacOpener and Cross-Platform
Sessions (Windows Only)
MacOpener is supported by Pro Tools 5.3 or
later on Windows. To share Pro Tools sessions
between Macintosh and Windows, select the
“Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” option when
creating the session, or when saving a session
copy.
Although it is not recommended, MacOpener
lets you record and play audio from HFS/HFS+
hard drives, as well as open Pro Tools sessions
created on a Macintosh. See “To create a session
that is compatible with Macintosh and Windows:” on page 112.
While SDII files can be exported, or converted on import, they cannot be used
within Pro Tools sessions on Windows.
To install and configure the MacOpener demo
included with Pro Tools:
1 Double-click the macopener5001.exe file in
MacOpener Demo folder (located in the
Pro Tools Utilities folder inside the Digidesign
folder) to launch the installer. Follow the onscreen instructions. After installation is complete, restart your computer.
2 After restarting, go to Start > Programs > MacOpener 5.0 > MacOpener Driver Preferences.
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3 Verify that the MacOpener Driver is enabled.
Under Driver Settings, select “Enable Macopener Driver.”
4 Under Extension Mapping, select “Do not add
the PC extension to the Mac file name.”
All formatting and drive maintenance for
HFS/HFS+ drives should occur on the Macintosh.
• On Pro Tools LE for Windows, when selecting
all files in the Import Audio dialog, and some
of these files have names with 13 or more
characters, none will be added to the import
list when clicking Convert All. The files can be
added to the list if they are selected individually by Shift-clicking.
MacOpener Performance Limitations
• To open a session from an HFS/HFS+ drive, the
session must be created with Pro Tools 5.3 orlater. In addition, the session must not be of
mixed file formats. To use mixed-format sessions in Pro Tools, first save a session copy in
the desired file format (make sure to select the
option for “All Audio Files” under What To
Copy).
• When using the Bounce To Disk command,
the bounce destination must be a FAT/FAT32
drive. TDM systems also support NTFS.
Bouncing to HFS/HFS+ drives is not supported.
• Operations such as opening sessions, initiating playback, drawing waveforms when
zoomed, and allocating record files are slower
on HFS/HFS+ drives than FAT/FAT32 or NTFS
drives.
• Because MacOpener must clear the disk cache
after copying between HFS/HFS+ drives and
FAT/FAT32 drives of NTFS drives (TDM only),
Pro Tools will launch very slowly after performing these disk copies.
• For SDII files to appear in the Import Audio dialog, you must set the File Of Type pop-up
menu to “All Files.”
Chapter 10: File Management and Compatibility
113
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Part III: Recording
115
116
Chapter 11: Record Setup
Before you start recording, make sure your
Pro Tools system is connected and configured
properly. For details on connecting Pro Tools to
your studio, refer to the Getting Started Guide
that came with your system.
While some of the information in this chapter is
relevant to recording MIDI, there are more specific setup details for MIDI recording in
Chapter 13, “MIDI Recording.”
Input Connections and Audio
Levels
Most Digidesign audio interfaces operate as linelevel devices and offer no pre-amplification.
You must therefore adjust the level of an input
signal to line level before it reaches Pro Tools.
Low-level sources like microphones and electric
guitars need to be pre-amplified. You can do this
with a quality mixing board or dedicated
preamp.
The Digi 001 is an exception to this rule. Its
I/O Box has two inputs with preamps, to
which you can connect low-level signals,
and six additional inputs with “input
gain.”
Volume and pan controls for tracks in Pro Tools
only affect monitoring levels—not the recording input gain. The LED meters on audio interfaces indicate both full-code (highest level before clipping) and true clipping of Pro Tools
output signals. The on-screen meters in
Pro Tools indicate only true clipping.
Digital Clipping
Clipping occurs when you feed a signal to a recorder or mixer that is louder or “hotter” than
the device allows. On many analog tape decks, a
little clipping adds a perceived warmth to the
sound due to tape compression. In digital recording, however, clipping causes digital distortion, which is undesirable and should always be
avoided.
Set Input Levels High But Don’t Clip
When you feed a signal into any audio recording system, including Pro Tools, you need to adjust the input level to optimize the dynamic
range. Adjust the input signal to register as high
as possible on your input meter without triggering the clipping indicator. If the input level is
too low, you will not take full advantage of the
dynamic range of your Pro Tools system. If the
input level is too high, however, it will be
clipped.
Chapter 11: Record Setup
117
Calibration Mode (TDM Systems Only)
You can use the Calibration mode in Pro Tools
to adjust the input and output levels for your
audio interface so they match those of your
mixing console and other audio devices in your
studio.
■ From either the Edit or Mix window, click the
track’s Record Enable button.
Click again to take the track out of record-enabled mode.
The 192 I/O has +4 dBu and –10 dBV inputs,
and +4 dBu outputs, each with their own trim
pots for proper calibration. The 888|24 I/O has
adjustable trim pots for its inputs and outputs.
To record enable all audio or MIDI tracks:
There are no input or output trims on the following TDM Audio Interfaces: 96 I/O,
882|20 I/O, 1622 I/O, and ADAT Bridge I/O.
Some Digidesign I/Os that do not have trim outputs offer software-controllable input level, adjustable from Setups > Hardware Setup (refer to
your Getting Started Guide).
Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) again to take all of those tracks out of
record-enabled mode.
For more information on calibrating your Audio
Interface, or using Calibration mode, see the
Getting Started Guide.
Record Enabling Tracks (Using
the Record Enable Button)
To record to a track you must first record-enable
it with the Record Enable button. To record simultaneously to multiple tracks, you can record
enable multiple audio or MIDI tracks.
When one or more tracks are record-enabled,
you can click the Record and Play buttons in the
Transport window to start recording.
Unlike audio tracks, MIDI tracks can be recordenabled on the fly while recording.
Record-enabled audio track
118
To record enable an audio or MIDI track:
Pro Tools Reference Guide
■ Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the Record Enable button for any audio or
MIDI track.
To record enable all selected tracks:
■ Shift-Option-click (Macintosh) or Shift-Altclick (Windows) the Record Enable button for
any track.
Shift-Option-click (Macintosh) or Shift-Alt-click
(Windows) any selected track to take all selected
tracks out of record-enabled mode.
While record enabling does not affect audio
tracks that are grouped, you can select all
tracks in a group by clicking directly to the
left of the group’s name in the Groups List.
Then you can Shift-Option-click (Macintosh) or Shift-Alt-click (Windows) to record
enable all selected tracks.
To record enable a MIDI track on the fly:
To put an audio or MIDI track in Record Safe mode:
Click the MIDI track’s Record Enable button
while stopped or while Pro Tools is playing or recording. During recording, when you enable a
new track, the previous record track is taken out
of record-enabled mode.
■ Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the track’s Record Enable button.
■
– or –
While pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows), press the Up/Down Arrows
to record enable the previous or next MIDI
track. The previous (or next) record track is
taken out of record-enabled mode.
■
To keep the previous track record-enabled,
press Shift+Command+Up/Down (Macintosh) or Shift+Control+Up/Down (Windows).
Latch Record Mode
When the option for Latch Record Enable Buttons is selected in the Operations Preferences,
you can record enable additional tracks by clicking their Record Enable buttons. Previously
record-enabled tracks remain record-enabled.
When Latch Record Enable Buttons is deselected, record enabling a subsequent track takes
the previously record-enabled track out of
record-enabled mode.
You can always Shift-click the Record Enable buttons on multiple tracks to record enable them.
Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) again to take the track out of Record
Safe mode.
To put all tracks in Record Safe mode:
■ Command-Option-click (Macintosh) or Control-Alt-click (Windows) the Record Enable button on any track.
Command-Option-click (Macintosh) or Control-Alt-click (Windows) again to take all tracks
out of Record Safe mode.
To put all currently selected tracks into Record
Safe mode:
■ Command-Option-Shift-click (Macintosh) or
Control-Alt-Shift-click (Windows) the Record
Enable button on any of the selected tracks to
toggle them in and out of Record Safe mode.
Monitoring Modes
Pro Tools offers two modes of input monitoring,
Auto Input Monitoring or Input Only Monitoring
(chosen from the Operations menu), which determine how input signals are monitored while
recording audio.
Record Safe Mode
Pro Tools provides a Record Safe mode that prevents tracks from being record-enabled. Use
Record Safe mode to protect important track recordings.
Chapter 11: Record Setup
119
Auto Input Monitoring
In this mode, when session playback is stopped,
Pro Tools monitors audio input. When playback
is started for a punch-in, Pro Tools monitors existing track material up until the punch point.
While punched in, the input signal is monitored. On punch-out, monitoring switches back
to the existing track material. This is similar to
the auto-switching logic found on digital and
analog multitrack tape machines.
When Auto Input Monitoring is enabled, the
Record button in the Transport window appears
gray.
When using Auto Input Monitoring, the
switch back to monitoring track material on
punch-out is not instantaneous. To get instantaneous monitor switching on punchout, use QuickPunch (see “QuickPunch Audio Recording” on page 161).
Input Only Monitoring
In this mode, when a track is record-enabled,
Pro Tools monitors audio input only, regardless
of any punch in/out selection.
When Input Only Monitoring is enabled, the
Record button in the Transport window appears
green.
Green Record button when
Input Only Monitoring is enabled
Transport window
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Monitor Levels for Record and
Playback
You may want to monitor a certain track much
louder when you are recording on it than when
you are simply listening back to it. Therefore,
Pro Tools remembers two different fader levels
for each audio track: one for when the track is
record-enabled, and one for when it is not
record-enabled.
Pro Tools remembers these two states for fader
levels automatically. If you adjust a fader when
a track is record-enabled and then take the track
out of record-enabled mode, the fader returns to
its playback level.
When audio tracks are record-enabled, their volume faders in the Mix window turn red, indicating that the record monitor level is active.
Link Record and Play Faders
When the Operation Preference for “Link
Record and Play Faders” is selected, Pro Tools
does not keep track of record and play levels for
audio tracks. In this case, record enabling an audio track has no effect on the fader level for the
track. This lets you maintain a consistent mix
regardless of whether you're recording or just listening.
Monitoring Latency
(Pro Tools LE Only)
Because Pro Tools LE uses the host processor in
your computer for audio processing, playback,
and recording, there is a small amount of audio
delay, or latency, in the system. This latency
amount is related to the H/W Buffer Size—the
larger the buffer size, the larger the latency.
The following table lists the amount of monitoring latency (in milliseconds) you can expect
from the four buffer sizes.
How H/W Buffer Size settings affect latency
Sample
rate
(kHz)
Buffer
Size
(samples)
Latency
Amount
(ms)
44.1
128
2.9
recording drums
and other timingcritical instruments
256
5.8
recording vocals
and instruments
with slower
attacks (bass,
guitar, etc.)
512
11.6
mixing with 24
tracks
1024
23.2
final mixdown or
many plug-ins
128
2.7
recording drums
and other timingcritical instruments
256
5.3
recording vocals
and instruments
with slower
attacks (bass,
guitar, etc.)
512
10.7
mixing with 24
tracks
1024
21.3
final mixdown or
many plug-ins
While there may be times when you want a
larger buffer size, for the sake of higher track
counts with more plug-ins, you’ll generally
want a smaller buffer size when recording audio
that is monitored through your Digi 001 or
Audiomedia III.
If you are monitoring the audio material you’re
recording with an external mixer, you will not
hear any latency.
To set the Hardware Buffer Size:
48
1 Choose Setups > Playback Engine.
2 Choose the number of samples from the H/W
Buffer Size pop-up.
3 Click OK.
Computers with slower CPUs may not be
able to use the 128 buffer size without encountering performance errors.
If you have a SampleCell II Plus card, a
buffer size of 128 should not be used when
running the SampleCell Editor at the same
time as Pro Tools LE. Use a larger buffer
setting to avoid performance errors.
Use for:
Chapter 11: Record Setup
121
Low Latency Monitoring
(Pro Tools LE Only)
You can reduce the amount of monitoring latency for Pro Tools LE systems by reducing the
H/W Buffer Size. However, even at the smallest
buffer size, there is still some latency. In addition, reducing the buffer size limits the number
of simultaneous audio tracks you can record
without encountering performance errors.
Digi 001 and Audiomedia III systems can use
the Low Latency Monitoring option to record
with an extremely small amount of monitoring
latency, to as many tracks as each system supports.
To use Low Latency Monitoring:
1 Record enable the desired audio tracks (or
Auxiliary Inputs) by clicking their Record Enable buttons. Only tracks with inputs set to an
audio interface (not a bus) use Low Latency
Monitoring.
2 From the Output Selector, assign each track to
To record Auxiliary Inputs with Low Latency
Monitoring enabled, you must record the material in real time.
Track Names
When creating new audio and MIDI tracks,
Pro Tools names them as either “Audio” or
“MIDI” and numbers them consecutively. For
example, when you create 2 new audio tracks,
their default names are “Audio 1” and
“Audio 2.” You can rename tracks and also log
comments for each track.
Track names define new file and region names
when recording to a track. See “Default Names
for Audio Files and Regions” on page 123.
To rename a track:
1 In the Edit or Mix window, double-click the
Track Name.
2 In the Track Name/Comments dialog, type a
new track name.
either Output 1 or Output 2. Only tracks assigned to these outputs use Low Latency Monitoring.
3 Select Operations > Low Latency Monitoring.
When Low Latency Monitoring is enabled, any
plug-ins and sends assigned to record-enabled
tracks (routed to Outputs 1–2) are automatically
bypassed, and must remain bypassed. Also,
these tracks will not register on meters for Master Faders.
Low Latency Monitoring and
Bounce To Disk
With Low Latency Monitoring Enabled, only
audio tracks are included with the Bounce To
Disk command—Auxiliary Input tracks are ignored.
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Track Name/Comments dialog
3 If desired, type comments for the track in the
Comments text box. Click Previous and Next to
rename another displayed track.
To switch tracks in the Track Name/Comments dialog, you can press Command
(Macintosh) or Control (Windows) and use
the Up/Down Arrows.
4 When you are finished, click OK.
Names for Surround Tracks
(HD-Series and MIX-Series Systems Only)
Default Names for Audio Files and
Regions
When recording to an audio track, the resulting
file and region names are based on the name of
the track. For example, after recording for the
first time on a track called “Electric Gtr,” an audio file is written to your hard drive with the
name “Electric Gtr-01.” In addition, a region appears in the Audio Regions List with the name
“Electric Gtr-01-00.”
Subsequent record takes on the same track are
named identically but with the first set of digits
(indicating the take number) incremented. The
second set of digits is only used for region naming and indicate a region auto-created from an
edit.
The QuickPunch record mode uses a
slightly different method for numbering regions. For details, see “Region and Take
Numbering with QuickPunch” on
page 164.
When recording MIDI tracks, a similar naming
scheme is used, though with only one set of digits. For example, after recording to a track called
“Synth 1,” a region is created called “Synth 101.” Subsequent regions for that track, generating either from additional record takes or region
edits, are numbered sequentially.
Names for Stereo Audio Tracks
When recording to stereo audio tracks, audio
file and region names for the left and right
channels are appended with a “.L” and “.R” suffix.
When recording to multichannel surround
tracks, audio file and region names for each
channel are appended with the following suffixes.
Multichannel
Format
File and Region Suffix
LCR
L, C, R
Quad
L, R, Ls, Rs
LCRS
L, C, R, S
5.0
L, C, R, Ls, Rs
5.1
L, C, R, Ls, Rs, LFE
6.0
L, C, R, Ls, Cs, Rs, LFE
6.1
L, C, R, Ls, Cs, Rs
7.0
L, Lc, C, R, Rc, Ls, Rs
7.1
L, Lc, C, R, Rc, Ls, Rs, LFE
Disk Allocation
By default, Pro Tools records audio files to the
Audio Files folder inside the session folder. You
can use the Disk Allocation dialog to specify
other locations for your audio files for each audio track.
Hard drives that are full do not appear in the
Disk Allocation dialog.
To increase system performance, Pro Tools can
record and play each track from a different hard
drive. You can also automatically distribute any
newly created tracks to multiple audio drives
with Round Robin Allocation.
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123
To allocate the audio drives in your system:
1 Choose Setups > Disk Allocation.
2 In the Disk Allocation dialog, assign a hard
drive for each track by clicking in the Record Location column. A folder with the session name
is created on each hard drive, containing subfolders for audio and fade files.
3 To automatically distribute any newly created
tracks among the drives connected to your system, select “Use Round Robin Allocation for
New Tracks.”
If you are using Round Robin Allocation and
want audio to be recorded to your system’s startup drive, select Include System Volume (see
“Recording to the System Volume” on page 125
for details).
Round Robin Allocation is not supported
with partitioned hard drives.
4 To save recorded audio files to an existing
folder (without creating another session folder),
select Customize Allocation Options, then click
the Change button and choose the folder. To
create subfolders in this folder, select “Create
Subfolders for audio, video, and fade files.”
5 When you are finished, click OK.
Customizing Allocation Options
Disk Allocation dialog
• To assign all tracks to the same hard drive,
press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows)
while selecting a drive name.
• To make a continuous selection, Shift-click
a track name (in the Track column) to extend the selection to include already-selected tracks and all tracks in between.
• To make a non-contiguous selection, Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) a track name in the Track column to extend the selection to include already-selected tracks without including
tracks in-between.
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To save Disk Allocation settings for use with future sessions, save the session as a template. For
details, see “Creating Custom Session Templates” on page 48.
Disk Allocation and Cross-Platform
Sessions
Pro Tools for Windows supports recording and
playback of audio from multiple hard drives, but
to ensure cross-platform operation, it also requires that Macintosh Pro Tools sessions and
their associated audio files be on Macintosh-formatted (HFS) drives.
Similarly, Windows sessions and their associated audio files must reside on Windows-formatted (FAT32) drives. If you want to share sessions between Windows and Macintosh
platforms, consider these restrictions when allocating tracks to drives.
Reallocating Tracks
When opening a session where some of the previously assigned hard drives are no longer available (or don’t match the current session platform), Pro Tools automatically reassigns tracks
to the volume where the session file is stored. In
such cases, use Disk Allocation if you need to reallocate tracks to other drives.
Reallocating tracks does not affect the audio
that has been previously recorded. Reallocating tracks only affects where new audio
recording will be saved.
Recording to the System Volume
Though Pro Tools will let you record to your system hard drive, this is generally not recommended. Performance for audio recording and
playback on system drives is worse than on nonsystem hard drives.
You should record to system drives only when
absolutely necessary—if your computer system
has just the one hard drive, or if your other hard
drives are completely out of space.
Allocating Hard Drive Space
for Recording
The Operation Preference for Open Ended
Record Allocation determines how much of
your available hard drive space is allocated
whenever you record into one or more tracks in
Pro Tools.
When this preference is set to Use All Available
Space, the drive’s entire available space is allocated. This can slow down the recording process
for hard drives that use certain file systems, including HFS+ and NTFS.
In such cases, you can reduce the time it takes to
begin recording by allocating only a portion of
your hard drive.
To allocate a portion of your hard drive for
recording:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Operation.
2 Under the Open Ended Record Allocation op-
tion, select Limit To and enter a number of minutes to be allocated.
Open Ended Record Allocation, Operation Preference
The number of minutes specified is allocated for
each record-enabled track. You may find it necessary to experiment with this number to
achieve the desired performance for recording.
3 When you are finished, click Done.
Record Modes
For recording audio, Pro Tools has four record
modes:
• Non-destructive Record (Default)
• Destructive Record
• Loop Record
• QuickPunch
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To enable Destructive Record, Loop Record, or
QuickPunch, select them from the Operations
menu. If none of these record modes are selected, Pro Tools is in normal Non-destructive
Record mode.
Destructive Record mode enabled
The record mode can also be switched by Control-clicking (Macintosh) or Right-clicking
(Windows) the Record button in the Transport
window. This cycles through the four modes
with the Record button changing to indicate the
currently selected mode: blank for Non-destructive, “D” for Destructive, a loop symbol for Loop
Record, and “P” for QuickPunch.
When recording, you can preserve disk
space by removing unwanted record takes
(see “Removing Unwanted Regions” on
page 262) and compacting audio files (see
“Compacting an Audio File” on page 263).
Non-destructive Record Mode
In normal Non-destructive Record mode,
Pro Tools records audio non-destructively,
which means that if you record over a track’s existing regions, the audio is not erased from your
hard drive. Both the new and old audio remain
on your hard drive, available as regions from the
Audio Regions List.
In Non-destructive Record mode, the record
range is defined by selecting a range in the Ruler
or in a track’s playlist, or by specifying start and
end points in the Transport window. If there is
no selection, recording begins from the current
cursor location and continues until the Transport’s Stop button is clicked.
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To set a record range by selecting within a
track’s playlist, the Edit and Timeline selections must be linked. See “Separate Edit and
Timeline Selections” on page 199.
The pre/post-roll settings allow material to be
heard up to and after the start and end points,
which is useful when punch recording (see
“Punch Recording Audio” on page 140).
Destructive Record Mode
In Destructive Record mode, recording over existing regions replaces the original audio permanently, which allows you to keep disk use to a
minimum. However, if you have sufficient drive
space, it is usually best to use Pro Tools in Nondestructive Record mode, to avoid losing any
previously recorded material.
When defining the record range and setting preand post-roll, Destructive Record mode works
the same as Non-destructive mode.
Unlike the other record modes, it is not possible
to cancel record takes when using Destructive
Record mode (see “Canceling a Record Take” on
page 135).
Loop Record Mode
Loop Record mode allows you to record take after take (non-destructively) while the same section of audio repeats. This is a convenient technique for quickly recording multiple takes of a
part without losing spontaneity.
The time range that is looped and recorded—
which must be at least one second in length—is
defined by selecting a range in the Ruler or in a
track’s playlist, or by specifying start and end
points in the Transport window. The pre-roll
setting, if enabled, is used during the first record
pass, but on each successive loop the pre/postroll times are ignored.
To set a record range by selecting within a
track’s playlist, the Edit and Timeline selections must be linked. See “Separate Edit and
Timeline Selections” on page 199.
When using Loop Record mode, each successive
take appears as a region in the Audio Regions
List and each is numbered sequentially. The various takes, which are identical in length and
start time, are easily auditioned and placed in
the track at the correct location with the Takes
List pop-up menu (see “Auditioning Record
Takes” on page 142).
QuickPunch
QuickPunch gives you the ability to manually
and instantaneously punch in (initiate recording) and punch out (stop recording) on recordenabled audio tracks during playback by clicking the Transport’s Record button. Recording
with QuickPunch is non-destructive.
When using QuickPunch, Pro Tools begins recording a new file when playback begins, automatically generating regions in that file at each
punch in/out point. Up to 100 of these “running punches” can be performed in a single
pass.
Though you can punch record in the other
record modes by manually specifying the record
range, only QuickPunch provides instantaneous
monitor switching on punch-out.
The Record Modes and MIDI
In addition to the four record modes, there is
also a MIDI Merge button in the Transport window that determines how MIDI is recorded.
When enabled (Merge mode), recording over existing MIDI regions results in the new data being
merged with the old. When the MIDI Merge
button is deselected (Replace mode), the new
material replaces the old.
MIDI Merge button
MIDI Merge enabled
MIDI recording works the same whether using
Non-destructive or Destructive Record mode. In
addition, QuickPunch does not need to be enabled to punch on the fly with MIDI—this capability is available in Non-destructive and Destructive Record modes.
Unlike audio, MIDI can be loop recorded when
Operations > Loop Playback is enabled. In this
mode, the state of the MIDI Merge toggle determines whether existing material is replaced or
merged.
In almost all instances, recording MIDI is destructive (though you can undo a MIDI record
pass), either overwriting or adding to region material. One exception to this rule is when Loop
Record mode is enabled; in this mode, existing
track regions are replaced with new regions
when new material is recorded. The old regions
remain intact and available from the MIDI Regions List, and from the Takes List pop-up. In
Loop Record mode, MIDI Merge has no effect, so
its button is dimmed.
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Recording with the Click
If you intend to work with MIDI tracks in your
session, or if the audio you’re working with is
bar- and beat-oriented, you can record your
tracks while listening to the click. This ensures
that recorded material, both MIDI and audio,
will align with the session’s bar and beat boundaries.
2 In the Click/Countoff Options dialog, choose
from the Output pop-up the port number (device) and channel that will play the click.
When your track material lines up with the
beats, you can take advantage of some useful editing functions in Pro Tools, such as quantizing
MIDI and audio regions, quantizing individual
MIDI notes, and copying and pasting measures
and song sections in Grid mode.
Material that is recorded without listening
to the click can still be aligned to bar and
beat boundaries in Pro Tools with Beat Detective (see Chapter 22, “Beat Detective”).
To configure the click options:
1 Choose MIDI > Click Options.
Click/Countoff Options dialog
3 For the accented and unaccented notes, specify the note, velocity, and duration with the numeric keypad. If connected, you can also play
new note values on your MIDI controller keyboard.
– or –
Double-click the Click or Countoff button in the
Transport window.
When listening to the click in your Pro Tools
sessions, the accented note sounds on the first
beat of each measure and the unaccented note
sounds on the remaining beats. Make sure the
sound assigned to these notes has a sharp, percussive attack.
4 Select whether the click is heard “During play
and record,” or “Only during record,” or “Only
during countoff.”
5 If using a countoff, specify the number of Bars
to be counted off. To hear the countoff only
when recording, select that option.
6 Click OK.
To enable the click from the MIDI menu:
■
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Choose MIDI > Click.
To enable the click in the Transport:
1 To view the MIDI controls in the Transport
Setting the Default Meter
window, select Display > Transport Window
Shows > MIDI Controls.
When opening a new session in Pro Tools, the
meter defaults to 4/4. If you intend to record
with the click and are working with a different
meter, make sure to set the default meter accordingly.
Transport Window with MIDI Controls
If a session’s meter does not match the music
you’re recording, the accented clicks will not
line up with what you’re playing, and, as a result, the recorded material may not align with
the bars and beats in the Edit window.
2 In the Transport window, click the Click button so it becomes highlighted.
Click button
Click enabled
3 To use a countoff when recording or playing,
click the Countoff button in the Transport window so it too becomes highlighted.
Meter events, which can occur anywhere within
a Pro Tools session, are stored in the Meter Track
and appear in the Meter Ruler. Inserting and editing for meter events is discussed in “Meter
Events” on page 271.
To set the default meter for a session:
Countoff button
1 Choose Windows > Show Tempo/Meter.
– or –
Countoff enabled
Hearing the countoff before recording is helpful
in getting the feel for the tempo before you begin playing. The Countoff button in the Transport window displays the number of bars to be
counted off.
Double-click the Meter button in the Transport
window.
Meter button
The countoff is ignored when Pro Tools is
online and syncing to SMPTE time code.
Wait for Note and Countoff
Wait for Note and Countoff are mutually exclusive and cannot both be enabled at the same
time. If, for instance, Countoff is enabled and
you click the Wait for Note button, Countoff is
disabled.
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129
2 Enter the Meter you will use for the session
and set the Location to 1|1|000 (so the inserted
meter event replaces the default one).
To insert a default tempo event:
1 Choose Windows > Show Tempo/Meter.
– or –
Double-click the Meter button in the Transport
window.
2 At the top of the Tempo/Meter Change window, choose Tempo Change from the pop-up
menu.
Tempo/Meter Change window
3 Choose a note value for the number of clicks
to sound in each measure.
4 Click Apply to insert the new meter event.
Setting the Default Tempo
When opening a new session in Pro Tools, the
tempo defaults to 120 BPM. If you intend to
record with the click and are working with a different tempo, make sure to set the default tempo
accordingly. If you know the tempo you will use
for the session, you can insert a tempo event at
the beginning of the Tempo Track.
Tempo events, which can occur anywhere
within a Pro Tools session, are stored in the
Tempo Track and appear in the Tempo Ruler. Inserting and editing for tempo events is discussed
in greater detail in “Tempo Events” on
page 265.
Tempo/Meter Change window
3 Enter the BPM value you will use for the session and set the Location to 1|1|000 (so the inserted tempo event replaces the default tempo).
4 To base the BPM value on something other
than the default quarter-note, select the desired
note value.
5 Click Apply to insert the new tempo event.
See “Default Tempo” on page 268 for more information on the default tempo.
Using Manual Tempo Mode
In Manual Tempo mode, Pro Tools ignores the
tempo events in the Tempo Track and instead
plays back at the tempo displayed in the Transport window. The manual tempo can be set with
the Tempo slider, or, if you’re not sure of the actual tempo, by tapping in the tempo.
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While you can adjust the Manual Tempo during
playback, doing so will momentarily interrupt
playback.
To set the manual tempo with the Tap button:
1 To view the MIDI controls in the Transport
window, select Display > Transport Window
Shows > MIDI Controls.
To set the manual tempo with the Tempo slider:
1 To view the MIDI controls in the Transport
window, select Display > Transport Window
Shows > MIDI Controls.
2 In the Transport window, click the Conductor
button so it becomes unhighlighted.
2 In the Transport window, click the Conductor
button so it becomes unhighlighted. Pro Tools
switches to Manual Tempo mode. In this mode,
any tempo events in the Tempo Track are ignored.
3 Click the Tap button repeatedly at the desired
tempo.
Conductor button
Manual Tempo mode enabled
Pro Tools switches to Manual Tempo mode. In
this mode, any tempo events in the Tempo
Track are ignored.
3 To base the BPM value on something other
than the default quarter-note, change the note
value in the Beat Value pop-up menu (just to the
left of the Tap button).
4 To enter a new tempo, drag the horizontal
Tempo slider in the Transport window.
Tap button
– or –
Click in the Tempo field so it becomes highlighted and tap in the tempo by playing a note
on your MIDI keyboard controller.
To compute the new tempo, Pro Tools requires
at least four taps (each of which is displayed in
the Tap area when received). The computed
BPM value appears in the Transport’s Tempo
field.
BPM value
Tempo slider
For finer resolution with the Tempo slider, press
Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows)
while dragging.
To exit Manual Tempo mode and enable the Tempo
Track:
Click the Conductor button in the Transport
window so it becomes highlighted.
Tempo Taps as reflected in Transport
To lock in the new tempo:
■ Take Pro Tools out of Manual Tempo mode by
clicking the Conductor button, then insert a
tempo event (with the new tempo) at the beginning of the Tempo Track.
■
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Chapter 12: Basic Audio Recording
Recording a Mono Audio Track
When recording from a mono source, record to
a single, mono audio track in Pro Tools.
To configure a mono audio track for recording:
1 Connect a mono sound source to the appropriate input of your audio hardware.
2 If you want to start a new session with a different sample rate, choose File > New Session,
and select the sample rate. Press Save.
3 Make sure to specify the format (analog or dig-
ital) of the inputs of the audio interface you will
be using. Choose Setups > Hardware Setup,
choose the audio interface, and select the format for the channel pair.
To auto-scroll the Track Type pop-up in the
New Track dialog, press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) and use the
Up/Down Arrow keys.
5 If desired, rename the track. Track names are
used to auto-name recorded audio files and regions. For more information, see “Track Names”
on page 122.
6 In the Mix Window, click the audio track’s
Record Enable button to record enable the track.
Volume faders for record-enabled tracks turn
red.
7 In the Mix window, use the track’s Input Selector to assign a hardware input.
Some Digidesign I/O units, such as Digi 001,
only have two channels (Ch 1–2) that can be set
for analog or digital.
4 If a track doesn’t already exist, choose File >
New Track and specify 1 Mono Audio Track,
then click Create.
Input Selector
8 In the Mix window, click on the track’s Output Selector and assign a hardware output.
New Track dialog
9 Adjust the output level of your sound source
(instrument, mixer, or preamp). Monitor the
track’s meter levels in Pro Tools to ensure that
you get the highest possible signal without clipping.
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133
10 In the Mix window, adjust the track’s volume
and pan faders as desired. These settings are for
monitoring purposes only and do not affect the
recorded material.
To play back the mono audio track:
1 Click the Record Enable button for the audio
track to take it out of record-enabled mode. The
track’s volume fader now functions as a playback level control.
To record to a mono audio track:
1 Put Pro Tools in Non-destructive Record
mode. In the Operations menu, deselect Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
2 If desired, enable the click and countoff in the
Transport window. Also, make sure to specify
the session’s default meter and tempo. For details, see “Recording with the Click” on
page 128.
3 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero
so the start and end times are cleared. This ensures that you’ll start recording from the beginning of the track.
4 Click Record in the Transport window. The
2 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero.
3 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
playback. Adjust the track’s volume and pan faders as necessary.
Record Shortcuts
In addition to clicking the Record button in the
Transport window, you can also begin recording
with the following keyboard shortcuts:
• Press F12
• Press Command+Spacebar (Macintosh) or
Ctrl+Spacebar (Windows)
• Press 3 on the Numeric Keypad (when the Numeric Keypad Mode is set to Transport)
Record button flashes.
Record button
To initiate recording at half-speed, press
Command+Shift+Spacebar (Macintosh) or
Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows). For
details, see “Half-Speed Recording and
Playback” on page 166.
5 When you are ready to begin recording, click
Play. If using a countoff, Pro Tools counts off the
specified number of measures and then begins
recording.
6 When you have finished recording, click Stop
in the Transport window.
The newly recorded audio is written to disk and
appears as an audio region in the track’s playlist.
The new audio region also appears in the Audio
Regions List.
Undo and Audio Recording
Once you've recorded an audio track and the
transport is stopped, you can undo the previous
record take.
To undo an audio recording:
■ Once the Transport has been stopped, choose
Edit > Undo Audio Recording.
The track’s playlist is restored to its previous
state. However:
◆ If you punched in and out several times before stopping the Transport, only the last punch
is undone.
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When using Loop Record mode, all takes from
each record pass are discarded.
◆
Canceling a Record Take
While recording, it is possible to discard the current record take. This removes the audio (recorded up to that point) from your hard drive
and deletes the region from the track’s playlist.
This capability is not available in Destructive
Record mode.
To cancel a record take while recording:
3 If desired, rename the track. Track names are
used to auto-name recorded audio files and regions. For more information, see “Track Names”
on page 122.
4 In the Mix Window, click the audio track’s
Record Enable button to record enable the track.
Volume faders for record-enabled audio tracks
turn red.
5 In the Mix window, use the Input Selector to
assign the stereo input pair for the track’s left
and right channels.
Press Command+period (Macintosh) or Control+period (Windows) before the Transport is
stopped.
■
If using Loop Record mode, all takes from each
record pass are discarded.
Recording a Stereo Audio
Track
To record a stereo audio source in Pro Tools,
record to a single, stereo audio track.
To record audio in stereo:
1 Connect the left and right outputs from your
sound source to the appropriate inputs of your
audio hardware.
2 If a track doesn’t already exist, choose File >
New Track and specify 1 Stereo Audio Track,
then click Create.
Input Selector
6 In the Mix window, click on the track’s Output Selector and assign a stereo hardware output.
7 Adjust the output level of your sound source
(instrument, mixer, or preamp). Monitor the
track’s meter levels in Pro Tools to ensure that
you get the highest possible signal without clipping.
8 In the Mix window, adjust the track volume
and pan faders as desired. These settings are for
monitoring purposes only and do not affect the
recorded material.
9 Put Pro Tools in Non-destructive Record
mode. In the Operations menu, deselect Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
New track dialog
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135
10 If desired, enable the click and countoff in
the Transport window. Also, make sure to specify the session’s default meter and tempo. For
details, see “Recording with the Click” on
page 128.
11 In the Transport window, click Return to
Zero so the start and end times are cleared. This
ensures that you’ll start recording from the beginning of the track.
12 Click Record in the Transport window.
13 When you are ready to begin recording, click
Play. If using a countoff, Pro Tools counts off the
specified number of measures and then begins
recording.
14 When you have finished recording, click
Stop in the Transport window.
A single, mono audio file is written to disk for
each track; one for the left channel, and one for
the right channel; regions appear in the playlists
for both channels. In addition, a multichannel
(stereo) region appears in the Audio Regions
List.
To play back the stereo audio track:
Click the Record Enable button for the audio
track to take it out of record-enabled mode. The
track’s volume fader now functions as a playback level control. Then click Play.
2 Adjust the track’s volume and pan faders as
necessary.
Recording Multichannel Tracks
(Pro Tools HD-Series and MIX-Series Systems
Only)
Recording multichannel tracks is very similar to
recording stereo audio tracks. A single, mono
audio file is written for each channel in the
track, and regions appear in the playlists for
each channel. In addition, a multichannel region appears in the Audio Regions List.
Recording Multiple Audio
Tracks
Pro Tools can record multiple audio tracks simultaneously, up to the track recording limits of
your system. To record to multiple audio tracks,
record enable each track you want to record.
1 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero.
If Auto Input Monitoring is enabled, you can
simply click the Record button in the Transport
window to exit Record mode, then press Play,
leaving the track record-enabled. The track will
automatically switch to Playback mode when
you press play, then back to Input mode when
you stop. See “Auto Input Monitoring” on
page 120.
– or –
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To record multiple audio tracks:
1 Connect the outputs from your sound source
to the appropriate inputs of your audio hardware.
2 If you want to start a new session with a different sample rate, choose File > New Session,
and select the sample rate. Press Save.
3 Make sure to specify the format (analog or dig-
ital) of the inputs of the audio interface you will
be using. Choose Setups > Hardware Setup,
choose the audio interface, and select the format for the channel pair.
Some Digidesign I/O units, such as Digi 001,
only have two channels (Ch 1–2) that can be set
for analog or digital.
4 If you need to create any tracks, choose File >
New Track and specify the number of audio
tracks, then click Create.
To auto-scroll the Track Type pop-up in the
New Track dialog, press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) and use the
Up/Down Arrow keys.
5 Record enable the audio tracks you want to
record by clicking their Record Enable buttons.
As long as the preference for Latch Record Enable Buttons is enabled, you can record enable
subsequent tracks by clicking their Record Enable buttons. Other tracks already record-enabled will remain so.
6 In the Mix window, assign an audio input and
output for each record track.
7 Adjust the output level of your sound sources
(instruments, mixer, or preamp). Monitor the
tracks’ meter levels in Pro Tools to ensure that
you get the highest possible signal without clipping.
11 In the Transport window, click Return to
Zero so the start and end times are cleared. This
ensures that you’ll start recording from the beginning of the track.
12 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
13 When you have finished recording, click
Stop in the Transport window.
For each record-enabled track, a new audio file is
written to disk and a new region is created and
appears in the playlist. The new audio regions
appear in the Audio Regions List.
You can create an Edit and Mix Group for
the recorded tracks so that edits, fader
movements, and mutes are automatically
applied to the tracks.
Record Pause Mode
When recording a large number of tracks or
channels, or playing back a large number of
tracks while recording, Pro Tools may take a little longer to begin recording. To avoid this delay, put Pro Tools in Record Pause mode before
beginning to record.
8 In the Mix window, adjust the tracks’ volume
and pan faders as desired. These settings are for
monitoring purposes only and do not affect the
recorded material.
9 Put Pro Tools in Non-destructive Record
mode. In the Operations menu, deselect Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
10 If desired, enable the click and countoff in
the Transport window. Also, make sure to specify the session’s default meter and tempo. For
details, see “Recording with the Click” on
page 128.
To record from Record Pause mode:
1 Click Record in the Transport window. The
Record button flashes.
2 Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) Play in the Transport window to put
Pro Tools in Record Pause mode. The Play and
Record buttons flash.
3 To begin recording instantaneously, click Play.
When you have finished recording, click Stop in
the Transport window.
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137
You can also use Pause mode when recording or
playing large numbers of tracks to speed up
lock-up time when syncing to time code.
Recording Additional Takes
After recording to an audio track, you can record
additional takes to the same track. However, if
you record these additional takes in Destructive
Record mode, the audio residing on your hard
drive from the previous takes will be permanently lost.
To keep the audio from previous takes, record
the new takes non-destructively in Non-destructive Record mode.
For details on audio file and region names
for new takes, see “Track Names” on
page 122.
To non-destructively record a new take on the
same track:
1 Put Pro Tools in Non-destructive Record
mode. In the Operations menu, deselect Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
2 Make sure the track containing the previous
To record a specific track range, with precise
start and end points, see “Punch Recording
Audio” on page 140.
5 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
6 When you have finished recording, click Stop
in the Transport window.
An audio file for the new take is written to disk
and appears as an audio region in the track’s
playlist. The new audio region appears in the
Audio Regions List.
The audio from the original take remains on
your hard drive, and is still available as a region
in the Audio Regions List.
To destructively record over a previous take:
1 Select Operations > Destructive Record. When
using Destructive Record mode, a “D” appears in
the Record button.
Destructive Record mode enabled
2 Make sure the track containing the previous
take is still record-enabled.
take is still record-enabled.
3 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection. This lets you set the record
start time by clicking anywhere in the track’s
playlist.
4 To record from the beginning of the track,
click Return to Zero in the Transport window.
3 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection. This lets you set the record
start time by clicking anywhere in the track’s
playlist.
4 To record from the beginning of the track,
click Return to Zero in the Transport window.
– or –
– or –
Click anywhere in the track’s playlist to begin
recording from that point.
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Click anywhere in the track’s playlist to begin
recording from that point.
To record to a new playlist for a track:
To record a specific track range, with precise
start and end points, see “Punch Recording
Audio” on page 140.
1 From the track’s Playlist Selector pop-up,
choose New. Enter a name for the new playlist
and click OK.
5 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
6 When you have finished recording, click Stop
in the Transport window.
The audio for the new take is written to disk,
permanently overwriting the original. The new
material replaces the original material within
the existing region.
Appending New Material to the End of a
Track
You can also append new material to the end of
a track. To do this, locate to the end of the track
with the Go to End button in the Transport window. From there, simply begin recording and
Pro Tools will add the new material to the end
of the track. If using Destructive Record mode,
the new audio is appended to the audio file and
region from the first take. In Non-destructive
Record mode, a new file and region are created.
Recording to a New Playlist
Instead of recording over existing audio regions,
there is another way to non-destructively record
new takes to the same track. Do this by creating
a new playlist for the track, then record just as
before.
Tracks can have multiple edit playlists, each of
which stores a list of regions strung together in a
particular order.
Playlist Selector
When a new playlist is created, its name replaces
the track name. With this playlist active, names
for new audio files and regions are based on its
name.
2 Make sure the track is still record-enabled.
3 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero.
4 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
5 When you have finished recording, click Stop
in the Transport window.
An audio file for the new take is written to disk
and appears as an audio region in the track’s
playlist. The new audio region appears in the
Audio Regions List.
6 To audition the new take, click Play in the
Transport window.
7 To go back to a previous playlist to compare it
to the new take, select the playlist from the
track’s Playlist Selector.
Selecting a playlist recalls its regions as they previously appeared in the track. At any time, all regions from all playlists are available in the Regions List, and can be mixed and matched
between playlists and tracks.
For more information on playlists and playlist
editing, see “Playlists” on page 178.
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Punch Recording Audio
To replace a portion of a recorded track, you can
punch in by specifying the record range before
recording.
To manually punch in and out on recordenabled audio tracks during playback, refer
to “QuickPunch Audio Recording” on
page 161.
Though there are several ways to set record and
play ranges (see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on
page 144), perhaps the easiest is to select within
the track’s playlist the material to be replaced.
To set a record or play range by selecting
within a playlist, the Edit and Timeline selections must be linked (select Operations >
Link Edit and Timeline Selection).
You can listen to track material up to and after
the punch record range by enabling pre- and
post-roll.
During the recording process, playback begins
at the pre-roll time (if enabled) and proceeds to
the start time (the punch-in point), where recording begins. When the end time (the punchout point) is reached, Pro Tools automatically
switches out of Record mode and continues
playing through the specified amount of postroll. This automated punch-in/out feature is a
powerful and precise way of re-recording a portion of a track.
If you are recording in Non-destructive
Record mode, punches do not permanently
replace the source material. If you do want
to permanently record over the punched
record range (and keep only the last, or most
recent take), select Operations > Destructive
Record.
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Monitoring during Punch-Ins
When punch recording, you may want to enable Auto Input Monitoring (by selecting it in
the Operations menu). For details, see “Auto Input Monitoring” on page 120.
To punch record on an audio track:
1 To record non-destructively, make sure that
Operations > Destructive Record is not selected.
If you do want to permanently record over the
punched record range, select Operations > Destructive Record.
2 Make sure the track containing the previous
take is still record-enabled.
3 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
4 With the Selector, drag in the track’s playlist
until the selection encompasses the desired
punch range.
For other methods of setting the record range,
see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144.
5 To hear existing track material up to the start
point, or after the end point, enable and set
pre/post-roll times. For details, see “Setting
Pre/Post-Roll” on page 145.
6 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
When the start point is reached, Pro Tools begins recording. Recording continues until the
end point is reached, unless Stop is clicked in
the Transport window. If post-roll is enabled,
playback continues for the specified post-roll
amount.
If recording non-destructively, a new audio file
is written to your hard drive and a new audio region appears in the record track and Audio Regions List.
If recording in Destructive Record mode, the
new audio overwrites the previous material in
the existing audio file and region.
Loop Recording Audio
Pro Tools provides a loop recording feature that
allows you to record take after take while the
same section of audio repeats over and over.
This is a convenient technique for quickly recording multiple takes of a part without losing
spontaneity.
When loop recording, you must first specify the
start and end points for the loop. Though there
are several ways to set record and play ranges
(see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144),
perhaps the easiest is to select within the track’s
playlist the material to be looped.
To set a record or play range by selecting
within a playlist, the Edit and Timeline selections must be linked (select Operations >
Link Edit and Timeline Selection).
You can listen to track material up to and after
the loop record range by enabling pre- and postroll.
The pre-roll setting, if enabled, is used only during the first record pass, and the post-roll setting, if enabled, is used only on the last pass.
Pre- and post-roll times are ignored on each successive loop. To compensate for this, you may
want to make the loop range slightly longer.
Later, you can trim back the recorded takes to
the desired length with the Trimmer tool (see
“The Trimmer Tool” on page 218).
When loop recording audio, Pro Tools creates a
single audio file that comprises all takes. Takes
appear as individual regions in the Audio Regions List and are numbered sequentially. Once
you stop recording, you can audition any of the
recorded takes.
To loop record an audio track:
1 Select Operations > Loop Record. When Loop
Record mode is enabled, a loop symbol appears
in the Record button.
Loop Recording enabled
2 Record enable the audio track by clicking its
Record Enable button.
3 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
4 With the Selector, drag in the track’s playlist
until the selection encompasses the desired loop
range.
For other methods of setting the record range,
see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144.
5 To hear track material up to the start point of
the loop, enable and set the pre-roll time. For
details, see “Setting Pre/Post-Roll” on page 145.
6 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
The Record button flashes during the pre-roll.
When the start point is reached, Pro Tools begins recording. When the end point is reached,
Pro Tools loops back to the start time and continues playing and recording.
7 To cancel all recorded takes while loop recording, press Command+period (Macintosh) or
Control+period (Windows).
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8 When you have finished recording, click Stop
in the Transport window.
All takes are numbered sequentially.
If you stop recording before you reach the midpoint of the loop, Pro Tools discards that take. If
you record more than half of the looped take,
Pro Tools will leave the take in the track when
you stop recording.
Auditioning from the Takes List
Pop-up Menu
The recorded takes appear as regions in the Audio Regions List and are numbered sequentially.
The most recently recorded take is left in the
record track. For details on auditioning the various takes from the Takes List pop-up, see “Auditioning from the Takes List Pop-up Menu” on
page 142.
Loop Playback and Audio Recording
Pro Tools ignores “loop playback” when recording. The only way to loop while recording is to
enable Loop Record mode.
Each region resulting from a punch or loop
record pass has an identical start time (the User
Time Stamp). This allows you to easily select and
audition takes from the Takes List pop-up
menu—even while the session plays or loops.
To select a take from the Takes List pop-up:
1 Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) with the Selector at the precise beginning of the loop or punch range.
– or –
If the take currently residing in the track is selected, Command-click (Macintosh) or Controlclick (Windows) it with the Selector.
Auditioning Record Takes
After recording multiple takes with loop or
punch recording, you can replace the take currently residing in the track with previous takes
to audition them.
To place and audition previous takes:
1 In the Edit window, select the current take
with the Grabber.
2 Command-drag (Macintosh) or Control-drag
(Windows) another take from the Audio Regions List into the playlist.
The region replaces the previous take and snaps
precisely to the correct location.
3 Repeat the above steps as desired to audition
other takes.
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Takes List pop-up
A pop-up menu appears containing a list of regions that share the same User Time Stamp.
2 Choose a region from the Takes List pop-up
menu. The region replaces the previous take and
snaps precisely to the correct location.
3 Repeat the above steps as desired to audition
other takes.
One way to ensure that future takes have the
same User Time Stamp (and appear in the Takes
List pop-up) is to store punch and loop record
selections as Memory Locations. Then if you
later need to record additional takes, simply recall the Memory Location. For more information, see “Storing and Recalling Edit Selections
(with Pre- and Post-Roll Values)” on page 147.
To change the User Time Stamp of other regions
so that they appear in the Takes List pop-up for
a certain location, use the Time Stamp Selected
command in the Regions List pop-up menu. For
more information, see “Time Stamping” on
page 494.
Takes List and Multiple Tracks
If you have recorded a group of tracks and each
contains takes with identical User Time Stamps,
you can use the Takes List pop-up menu to replace all takes simultaneously.
To replace the takes for multiple tracks:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Editing
and enable the following options:
• Take Region Name(s) That Match Track
Names
• Take Regions Lengths That Match
2 Click Done to close the Preferences dialog.
3 With the Selector, select the take range for
each track you want to replace.
4 Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) any of the select takes with the Selector.
A pop-up menu appears containing a list of regions that share the same User Time Stamp for
that track.
5 Choose a region from the Takes List pop-up
menu. The region replaces the previous take and
snaps precisely to the correct location. The same
take numbers for the other selected tracks are
also automatically selected.
Editing Preferences and Take
Regions
In addition to having the same User Time
Stamp, regions that appear in the Takes List
pop-up are also restricted according to the following options in the Editing Preferences:
Take Region Names That Match Track Names
When selected, only regions that share the same
root name with the track/playlist appear in the
Takes List pop-up menu. For example, the Takes
List for a track named “Gtr.L” would show the
regions “Gtr.L-01” and “Gtr.L-02-01,” but not
“Guit.L-01.”
Take Region Lengths That Match
When selected, only regions that match the
length of the current selection (even if it is not an
entire region) appear in the Takes List pop-up
menu. If there is no selection, all takes with the
same User Time Stamp are displayed.
“Separate Region” Operates On All Related
Takes
When selected, editing a region with the Separate Region command also affects all other related takes with the same User Time Stamp.
This option helps you compare different sections from a group of related takes. For example,
you can quickly separate an entire group of related vocal takes into sections, then audition
and select the best material from each section
independently.
If this option is selected, make sure the “Take
Region Names That Match Track Name(s)” and
“Take Region Lengths that Match” options are
also selected. If they are not, all regions in the
session that have the same User Time Stamp will
be affected.
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In most instances, you’ll want to deselect the
“Separate Region Operates On All Related
Takes” option, to prevent a large number of regions from being created when you use the Separate Region command.
To set the record range in a Timebase Ruler:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid so the selection is constrained to the current Grid value.
2 Drag with the Selector in any Timebase Ruler
until the selection encompasses the desired
record range.
Setting Punch/Loop Points
The start and end points of a record range for
punch and loop recording can be set by the following means:
• Select a range in a track’s playlist
• Select a range in a Timebase Ruler
• Drag the Playback Markers in the Ruler
• Enter start and end times in the Transport
window
• Recall a Memory Location
To set the record range in a track’s playlist:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid so the selection is constrained to the current Grid value.
2 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
3 With the Selector, drag in a track’s playlist un-
til the selection encompasses the desired record
range.
Timeline selection
If the Selector is not active, you do not need
to manually select it. Other Edit tools (such
as the Grabber) automatically turn into the
Selector when used in the Timebase Ruler.
Playback Markers
When tracks are record-enabled, Playback Markers for start and end times appear as red
up/down arrows in the Ruler. If no tracks are
record-enabled, the Playback Markers are blue.
Playback Markers in Ruler
The Playback Markers can be moved, either separately or at the same time, to set record and
play ranges.
To set the record range by dragging the Playback
Markers:
Playlist selection
– or –
If a region’s start and end points define the
record range, click on the region with the Grabber.
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1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid so the
dragged Playback Markers snap to the current
Grid value.
2 Drag the first Playback Marker (down arrow)
to the start point of the range.
2 In the Transport window, click in the start
field.
– or –
Dragging a Playback Marker (start time) in Ruler
3 Drag the second Playback Marker (up arrow)
to the end point of the range.
If the current record range is already the
right length and the range needs only to be
moved, Option-drag (Macintosh) or Altdrag (Windows) either Playback Marker to
move both to a new location (while keeping
the same length).
Start and End Fields
The Transport window can be resized to display
start, end, and length times, and pre- and postroll settings (choose Display Transport Window
Shows > Expanded). When setting a record or
play range, it is reflected in these fields.
Press Option+slash (Macintosh) or Alt+slash
(Windows) to select the start field in the Transport window.
3 Type in the start location and press slash to
enter the value and automatically move to the
end field.
4 Type in the end location and press Enter to accept the value.
Use the period (.) or Left/Right Arrow keys
to move through the different time fields for
start/end. Use the Up/Down Arrow keys to
increase or decrease the numerical values.
Setting Pre/Post-Roll
Pre- and post-roll times appear as flags in the
Ruler. When pre- and post-roll are enabled, the
flags are green, otherwise they are gray.
Green Pre/Post-Roll Flags (enabled) in the Ruler
Transport window with start/end displayed
You can enter locations in the start and end
fields to set the record or play range. The Playback Markers in the Ruler are updated accordingly.
To set the record range by entering start and end
times in the Transport window:
Pre- and post-roll amounts can be entered in the
Transport window, set from a track’s playlist or
Timebase Ruler, or by recalling a Memory Location.
Pre- and post-roll add significant demand
on the system and should be disabled when
not strictly needed (especially when using
QuickPunch, which also adds load to the
system).
1 If necessary, resize the Transport window by
clicking in the upper right so the start and end
times are displayed.
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Setting Pre- and Post-Roll in the
Transport Window
Pre- and post-roll can be enabled and set from
the fields in the Transport window.
To set and enable the pre- and post-roll times in
the Transport window:
1 If necessary, resize the Transport window by
clicking in the upper right so the start and end
times are displayed.
2 In the Transport window, click in the pre-roll
field.
3 Type in the pre-roll amount and press slash to
enter the value and automatically move to the
post-roll field.
4 Type in the post-roll amount and press Enter
3 With the Selector, Option-click (Macintosh)
or Alt-click (Windows) in the track’s playlist before the selection to enable the pre-roll at that
location.
4 With the Selector, Option-click (Macintosh)
or Alt-click (Windows) in the track’s playlist after the selection to enable the post-roll at that
location.
To disable the pre- and post-roll by clicking in a
playlist:
1 With the Selector, Option-click (Macintosh)
or Alt-click (Windows) within a track selection
near the start to disable the pre-roll.
2 With the Selector, Option-click (Macintosh)
or Alt-click (Windows) within a track selection
near the end to disable the pre-roll.
to accept the new value.
In the timeline, you can reset the pre- and
post-roll to zero. First, drag the Pre-Roll Flag
to the Playback Marker at the start point of
the range, then drag the Post-Roll Flag to
the Playback Marker at the end point of the
range
5 To enable either pre- or post-roll, click the ap-
propriate button so it becomes highlighted.
Use the period (.) or Left/Right Arrow keys
to move through the different time fields for
pre/post. Use the Up/Down Arrow keys to
increase or decrease the numerical values.
3 Drag the Pre-Roll Flag to the Playback Marker
at the start point of the range.
Setting Pre- and Post-Roll in a Playlist
4 Drag the Post-Roll Flag to the Playback Marker
You can use the Selector to enable and disable
pre- and post-roll by clicking in a track’s playlist.
To set and enable the pre- and post-roll by clicking
in a playlist:
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
2 With the Selector, drag in the track’s playlist
until the selection encompasses the desired
record range.
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at the end point of the range.
Enabling Pre- and Post-Roll from the
Operations Menu
Pre- and post-roll (as a pair) can be enabled and
disabled from the Operations menu.
To enable both pre- and post-roll from the
Operations menu:
■
Select Operations > Pre/Post Roll Playback.
Dragging Pre- and Post-Roll Flags in the
Timebase Ruler
The Pre- and Post-Roll Flags can be moved in the
Ruler, either separately or at the same time, to
set their location.
To set the pre- and post-roll amounts by dragging
in the Ruler:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid so the
dragged flags snap to the current Grid value.
2 Drag the Pre-Roll Flag to the desired location
2 Set the record range by making a playlist or
Ruler selection, or by entering start and end
times in the Transport window.
3 If desired, enable and set the pre/post-roll
amounts in the Transport window, or by dragging the Pre- and Post-Roll Flags in the Ruler.
4 Press Enter on the numeric keypad.
5 In the New Memory Location dialog, set Time
Properties to Selection, and, if desired, under
General Properties, select the option for Pre/Post
Roll Times.
in the Ruler.
Dragging a Pre-Roll Flag in Ruler
3 Drag the Post-Roll Flag to the desired location
in the Ruler.
To set pre- and post-roll values to the same
amount, Option-drag (Macintosh) or Altdrag (Windows) either the Pre- or the PostRoll Flag in the Ruler. The deselected flag
will immediately reset to the same value,
and will adjust accordingly as you drag the
selected flag.
Storing and Recalling Edit Selections
(with Pre- and Post-Roll Values)
You can store Edit selections as Memory Locations, which can include current pre- and postroll values.
For more information on Memory Locations,
see “Memory Locations and Markers” on
page 274.
To save an Edit selection with a Memory Location:
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
New Memory Location dialog
6 Enter a name for the new Memory Location
and click OK to save it.
To recall an Edit selection with a Memory
Location:
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
2 Choose Windows > Show Memory Locations.
3 In the Memory Locations window, click the
name or number of the Memory Location.
The start and end times and pre/post-roll settings stored with the Memory Location are recalled.
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Chapter 13: MIDI Recording
Although recording MIDI in Pro Tools is similar
to recording audio, there are some important
differences.
Unlike audio, MIDI recording is almost always
destructive. See “The Record Modes and MIDI”
on page 127 for details.
◆
Unlike audio, a MIDI recording take can be
undone after stopping the Transport. For details,
see “Undo and MIDI Recording” on page 155.
◆
Unlike audio tracks, MIDI tracks can be record
enabled on the fly while recording.
◆
Similar to audio tracks, MIDI tracks have an
Input Selector that determines which channels
are routed and recorded to the track. If the Input
Selector is set to All, all channels for all devices
are routed to the track.
◆
It is not necessary to use QuickPunch to
punch in on the fly with MIDI tracks. This capability is available in normal Nondestructive
Record mode, and in Destructive Record mode.
◆
Recording from MIDI Devices
The MIDI Inputs for record-enabled MIDI tracks
determine which MIDI data is recorded in
Pro Tools. MIDI Inputs can be set to a specific
device and channel, or they can be set to “All,”
where all channels for all devices are merged to
the track.
MIDI tracks in Pro Tools do not contain multiple channels and always play back on the track’s
assigned (MIDI output) devices and channels.
Multiple MIDI channels can be simultaneously
recorded to multiple tracks.
The following Pro Tools options determine
whether you can record from a MIDI controller
device:
◆ Devices that are assigned as a MIDI Controller
in the Peripherals dialog are ignored when MIDI
tracks are recorded. This is to avoid recording
data from MIDI control surfaces like the Mackie
HUI.
◆ On the Macintosh, to record to a device, it
must be enabled in the Input Devices dialog. For
more information, see “Enabling Input Devices”
on page 150.
In addition, the following options affect how
MIDI data is recorded in Pro Tools.
◆ The MIDI Input Filter can filter out MIDI messages that you may not want to record, such as
Polyphonic Aftertouch or System Exclusive
data. For more information, see “MIDI Input Filter” on page 151.
◆ Input Quantize, when enabled, automatically
quantizes (time corrects) all MIDI notes that are
recorded. For more information, see “Input
Quantize” on page 151.
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Enabling Input Devices
MIDI Thru
(Macintosh Only)
To monitor MIDI tracks while recording, enable
MIDI Thru. When enabled, Pro Tools routes
MIDI from your controllers to the device and
channels assigned to the MIDI track currently
record-enabled.
To record from a MIDI controller in Pro Tools,
the device must be enabled in the Input Devices
dialog. You can also use this dialog to make sure
unwanted notes from certain devices, such as
drum machines or arpeggiators, are not recorded.
The MIDI Preference for Global MIDI Playback Offset and individual MIDI track offsets do not affect MIDI routed with MIDI
Thru.
MIDI Control Surfaces In order to use control surfaces, like the Mackie HUI, they must be enabled in
the Input Devices dialog.
When MIDI Thru is enabled, System Exclusive events are echoed to the MIDI device assigned to the record-enabled track—but only
if the sysex events are smaller than 256
bytes.
MMC In order for Pro Tools to sync to MMC, the
MMC source must be enabled in the Input Devices
dialog.
To enable input devices:
1 Choose MIDI > Input Devices.
To enable MIDI Thru:
2 In the Input Devices dialog, select the MIDI
■
Select MIDI > MIDI Thru.
devices you will record from. Also, make sure
any devices that will be used as a control surface
are also selected.
MIDI Thru enabled
Input Devices dialog
3 Deselect any devices you want to ignore while
recording MIDI.
4 When you are finished, click OK.
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When using MIDI Thru, you should disable Local Control on your MIDI keyboard controller.
Otherwise, your keyboard may receive double
MIDI notes, which can lead to stuck notes. If unsure how to disable Local Control for your instrument, refer to the manufacturer’s documentation.
The Default Thru Instrument
2 In the MIDI Input Filter dialog, select the All
Except option.
In addition to any MIDI tracks that are recordenabled, you can also route MIDI to the Default
Thru Instrument. This saves you the trouble of
creating a MIDI track and record enabling it to
hear a particular MIDI device and channel.
Unlike MIDI tracks, which only listen to the device and channel assigned to its Input Selector,
all incoming MIDI data is routed to the Default
Thru Instrument.
If the Default Thru Instrument is assigned to a
record-enabled MIDI track, Pro Tools only
routes to the record-enabled track.
To set the Default Thru Instrument:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click MIDI.
2 From the pop-up menu for Default Thru Instrument, select the MIDI device and channel to
which MIDI data will be routed. To disable the
Default Thru Instrument, select None.
MIDI Input Filter
Use the MIDI Input Filter to filter out certain
MIDI messages from your recordings. The MIDI
Input Filter can be set to record “All” messages,
“Only” the specified messages, or “All Except”
the specified messages.
For example, to filter out Polyphonic Aftertouch:
MIDI Input Filter
3 Select the option for Polyphonic Aftertouch.
Leave all other messages deselected.
4 Click OK.
When using the All Except option, the selected
MIDI messages will not be recorded. Conversely,
when using the Only option, only the MIDI
messages that are selected will be recorded.
Input Quantize
When Input Quantize is enabled, all recorded
MIDI notes are quantized automatically. To preserve the original “feel” of your recorded MIDI
tracks, make sure to disable this option.
1 Choose MIDI > Input Filter.
To enable Input Quantize:
1 Choose MIDI > Input Quantize.
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151
2 In the Input Quantize window, select the Enable Input Quantize option.
Wait for Note can be used when recording normally, when punching in, or when loop recording. If pre-roll is enabled, it occurs after the
MIDI event is received and before recording begins.
To enable Wait for Note:
1 To view the MIDI controls in the Transport
window, select Display > Transport Window
Shows > MIDI Controls.
Transport window with MIDI Controls
2 In the Transport window, click the Wait for
Note button so it becomes highlighted.
Wait for Note button
Input Quantize window
Configure the other options in the Input Quantize window as desired. For details on the various Quantize options, see “Quantize” on
page 318. When finished, close the Input Quantize window.
For drum machine style loop recording, use Input
Quantize while loop recording MIDI in Merge
mode (see “Loop Recording with Merge Mode”
on page 157).
Wait for Note
The Wait for Note button, located in the Transport window, determines how Pro Tools begins
recording. When enabled, Pro Tools will not begin recording until a MIDI event is received.
This ensures that you begin recording when
you’re ready to play, and that the first note, or
other MIDI data, is recorded precisely at the beginning of the record range (start time).
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Wait for Note enabled
With the Operation Preference for “Use F11
for Wait for Note” enabled, you can press
F11 to turn on Wait for Note.
MIDI Merge/Replace
The MIDI Merge button, located in the Transport window, determines how MIDI is recorded
when overdubbing or punching in. When MIDI
Merge is on (Merge mode), recorded MIDI is
merged with existing track material. When
MIDI Merge is off (Replace mode), existing data
within the punched region is replaced by the
newly recorded material.
The MIDI Merge button can be turned on and
off while playing or recording. In Loop Record
mode, MIDI Merge has no effect, so its button is
dimmed.
To enable MIDI Merge with a keyboard
shortcut, set the Numeric Keypad Mode to
Transport, and press the 9 key on the numeric keypad.
To configure one or more MIDI tracks for
recording:
1 If you do not have a MIDI track to record to,
choose File > New Track and specify 1 MIDI
Track, then click Create.
To enable MIDI Merge:
1 To view the MIDI controls in the Transport
New Track dialog
window, select Display > Transport Window
Shows > MIDI Controls.
2 Rename the MIDI track as desired. Track
names are used to auto-name recorded regions.
For more information, see “Track Names” on
page 122.
Transport Window with MIDI Controls
3 In the Mix window, click on the track’s MIDI
Input Selector and assign the device and channel that will be recorded.
2 In the Transport window, click the MIDI
Merge button so it becomes highlighted.
MIDI Merge button
MIDI Merge enabled
MIDI Input Selector
Configuring MIDI Tracks for
Recording
Macintosh Users: If the IAC bus is enabled
as a MIDI input and you attempt to record
to a MIDI track assigned to IAC MIDI
Channel 2 or higher, Pro Tools will freeze
due to a MIDI feedback loop. Disable the
IAC bus as an input source in MIDI > Input
Devices, or turn off MIDI Thru.
4 Click on the track’s MIDI Output Selector and
assign a device and channel from the pop-up
menu. Channels already assigned to other tracks
appear bold in this menu.
For more information on OMS setup, see the
Getting Started Guide.
Chapter 13: MIDI Recording
153
5 To assign multiple destinations to a single
MIDI track, Control-click the MIDI Output Selector and select additional channels from any
device.
13 In the Transport window, click Return to
Zero so the start and end times are cleared. This
ensures that you’ll start recording from the beginning of the track.
14 Click the MIDI track’s Record Enable button
to record enable the track.
You are now ready to record MIDI data to the
record-enabled MIDI tracks. See “Recording to
MIDI Tracks” on page 154.
MIDI Output Selector
6 If desired, assign a default program change to
the track. Click on the Program button (Prog)
and make the necessary selections for program
and bank select, then click Done.
Default program changes are sent whenever the
track is played. For more information, see “Program Changes” on page 306.
7 If recording to multiple MIDI tracks, repeat
the above steps for each track, then continue to
the next step.
8 If desired, enable and configure the click, and
set a default tempo and meter for the session.
For details, see “Recording with the Click” on
page 128.
9 If desired, enable Wait for Note or Countoff in
the Transport window.
10 To replace existing track material, disable
MIDI Merge in the Transport window.
154
Recording to MIDI Tracks
In Pro Tools, you can record to one or more
MIDI tracks. Recording simultaneously to multiple MIDI tracks allows you to:
• Record from multiple MIDI devices at the
same time, capturing material from several
performers
• Record multiple channels from the same device, capturing data from a split keyboard
• Transfer MIDI tracks from an external MIDI
sequencer
To take advantage of the editing capabilities in Pro Tools, make sure to record with
the click enabled. This ensures that recorded
data aligns with the session’s bar and beat
boundaries.
To record to one or more MIDI tracks:
11 If desired, enable Input Quantize to automatically quantize recorded material (see “Input
Quantize” on page 151).
1 Configure a MIDI track for recording. Refer to
12 Make sure MIDI > MIDI Thru is selected, then
play some notes on your MIDI controller. The
MIDI instrument assigned to the track should
sound, and the track’s meters should register
MIDI activity.
2 Record enable any MIDI tracks you want to
record by clicking their Record Enable buttons.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
“Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording” on
page 153.
If the preference for Latch Record Enable Buttons is enabled, you can record enable subsequent tracks by clicking their Record Enable buttons. Other tracks already record-enabled will
remain so.
3 Put Pro Tools in normal Nondestructive
Record mode. In the Operations menu, deselect
Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
4 Click Record in the Transport window.
Record button
If using Wait for Note, the Play, Record, and
Wait for Note buttons flash. Recording begins
when a MIDI event is received.
◆
If using Countoff, click Play to start counting
down. The Record and Play buttons flash during
the countoff, after which recording begins.
◆
5 When you have finished recording, click Stop.
For each record-enabled track, a new MIDI region is created and appears in the playlist. The
new MIDI regions also appear in the MIDI Regions List.
There are several keyboard shortcuts you
can use to begin recording. See “Record
Shortcuts” on page 134 for details.
To play back recorded MIDI tracks:
1 Click the Record Enable button on each MIDI
Undo and MIDI Recording
You can undo the previous record take.
To undo a MIDI recording:
■ Once the Transport has been stopped, choose
Edit > Undo MIDI Recording.
The track’s playlist is restored to its previous
state. However:
◆ If you punched in and out several times before stopping the Transport, only the last punch
is undone.
◆ When using Loop Record mode, all takes from
each record pass are discarded.
Canceling a Record Take
It is also possible to discard the current record
take before the Transport is stopped.
To cancel a record take while recording:
■ Press Command+period (Macintosh) or Control+period (Windows) before the Transport is
stopped.
If using Loop Record mode, all takes from each
record pass are discarded.
Punch Recording MIDI
To replace a portion of a MIDI track, you can
punch in by specifying the record range before
recording.
track that was in Record Enable mode.
2 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero.
3 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
playback.
To punch in on a MIDI track:
1 Configure a MIDI track for recording. Refer to
“Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording” on
page 153.
The recorded MIDI data plays back through
each track’s assigned channel.
Chapter 13: MIDI Recording
155
2 Put Pro Tools in normal Nondestructive
Record mode. In the Operations menu, deselect
Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
3 In the Transport window, disable Wait for
Note and Countoff.
4 Record enable the track containing the previous take by clicking its Record Enable button.
5 Select Operations > Link Edit and Timeline Se-
lection.
6 With the Selector, drag in the track’s playlist
until the selection encompasses the desired
punch range.
For other methods of setting the record range,
see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144.
7 To hear existing track material up to the start
You don’t have to set a record range to punch in
on a MIDI track. In fact, you can punch in and
out freely at any time during playback. Unlike
audio tracks, it is not necessary to enable QuickPunch to perform real-time punches.
To punch on the fly with MIDI:
1 Configure a MIDI track for recording. Refer to
“Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording” on
page 153.
2 Put Pro Tools in normal Nondestructive
Record mode. In the Operations menu, deselect
Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
3 Disable Wait for Note and Countoff in the
Transport window.
point, or after the end point, enable and set
pre/post-roll times. For details, see “Setting
Pre/Post-Roll” on page 145.
4 Record enable the track containing the previous take by clicking its Record Enable button.
8 Click Record in the Transport window.
5 Start playback by clicking Play in the Transport window.
9 When you are ready to begin recording, click
Play.
If pre-roll is enabled, the track material leading
up to the punch-in point plays. You can start
playing during the pre-roll to get the “feel.” Material is not recorded until the start point is
reached.
When the start point is reached, Pro Tools begins recording. Recording continues until the
end point is reached, unless Stop is clicked in
the Transport window. If post-roll is enabled,
playback continues for the specified post-roll
amount.
10 When you have finished recording, click
Stop in the Transport window.
The newly recorded MIDI data appears in the
track.
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Punching “on the fly” with MIDI
Pro Tools Reference Guide
6 When you reach the punch-in point, click
Record in the Transport window.
– or –
For Digi 001 systems (or Digidesign ProControl
and Control|24 dedicated controllers) with a
connected footswitch, press the footswitch at
the punch-in point.
The Record button stops flashing and stays lit
during recording.
7 To punch out, click Record again (or press the
footswitch).
Pro Tools exits Record mode and continues
playing. You can perform additional punches
during the same pass.
Regions and Punch Recording
Depending on the record range, new regions
may be created after punch recording. For example, Figure 6 shows two existing regions before
recording. Since the start and end times occur
within both of the existing regions, a new region is created to fill the space between them.
Loop Recording MIDI
Loop recording with MIDI is supported by two
methods:
• In normal Nondestructive Record mode, enable Loop Playback and MIDI Merge for drum
machine style loop recording.
– or –
before punch record
• Use Loop Record mode to record multiple
takes on each record pass. This is similar to
loop recording audio.
after punch record
newly recorded
material
new region
Figure 6. Region added after punch record
However, when selecting an entire region, or a
section within a region, before punching, no
new regions are created. In this instance, only
the material residing within the existing region
changes, with no new material recorded outside
the region.
Unlike audio recording, MIDI recording in this
scenario is destructive. If a region is altered because of a record take, the original material is
lost (unless you choose Edit > Undo MIDI Recording), or combined with new material (if
MIDI Merge was enabled during recording). If
an existing region contains important material,
use Duplicate to make a copy of the region (“Duplicate Command” on page 233) or the track’s
playlist (see “Working with Playlists” on
page 179).
Loop Recording with Merge Mode
For drum machine style loop recording, use normal Nondestructive Record mode with Loop
Playback and MIDI Merge enabled. With this
method, MIDI is recorded and merged to the
same region with each new record pass—
thereby allowing you to, for example, record hihats on the first pass and kick and snare on the
next.
Make sure that MIDI Merge is enabled in the
Transport window, otherwise (in Replace mode)
each subsequent take will destructively replace
the previous.
You can record enable a different MIDI
track on the fly while loop recording. While
pressing Command (Macintosh) or Control
(Windows), use the Up/Down Arrows to
record enable the previous or next MIDI
track.
To loop record with MIDI Merge:
1 Configure a MIDI track for recording. Refer to
“Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording” on
page 153.
Chapter 13: MIDI Recording
157
2 Put Pro Tools in normal Nondestructive
Record mode. In the Operations menu, deselect
Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
3 Select Operations > Loop Playback. When
Loop Playback is enabled, a loop symbol appears
in the Play button.
Loop Playback enabled
4 If you have not done so already, record enable
the MIDI track by clicking its Record Enable button. Make sure no audio tracks are record-enabled.
5 In the Transport window, click the MIDI
The Record button flashes during the pre-roll.
When the start point is reached, Pro Tools begins recording. When the end point is reached,
Pro Tools loops back to the start point and continues playing and recording.
11 Play some notes on your MIDI controller.
Newly recorded MIDI data appears as a region in
the record track. On each successive take, recorded material shows up in the region, without
replacing material from previous takes.
12 If desired, switch to a new record track.
While pressing Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows), use the Up/Down Arrows to
record enable the previous or next MIDI track.
13 When you have finished recording, click
Stop in the Transport window.
Merge button so it becomes highlighted.
MIDI Merge button
The newly recorded MIDI data appears as a MIDI
region in the track’s playlist, and in the MIDI
Regions List.
MIDI Merge enabled
6 Disable Wait for Note and Countoff in the
Transport window.
7 Select Operations > Link Edit and Timeline Se-
lection.
8 With the Selector, drag in the track’s playlist
until the selection encompasses the desired loop
range.
For other methods of setting the record range,
see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144.
9 To hear track material up to the start point of
the loop, enable and set the pre-roll time. For
details, see “Setting Pre/Post-Roll” on page 145.
10 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Loop Recording Multiple Takes
When recording MIDI in Loop Record mode,
new regions are created each time new material
is received during a record pass. This differs
somewhat from loop recording audio, where
separate audio files and regions are created with
each subsequent record pass.
You can use this method of MIDI loop recording
to record successive takes without stopping the
record process, thereby preserving your creative
spontaneity. Another advantage with this
method of recording MIDI, which is nondestructive, is that existing and newly recorded regions remain intact (and available in the MIDI
Regions List).
To record MIDI in Loop Record mode:
1 Configure a MIDI track for recording. Refer to
“Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording” on
page 153.
2 Select Operations > Loop Record. When Loop
Record mode is enabled, a loop symbol appears
in the Record button.
Loop Recording enabled
3 If you have not done so already, record enable
Regions are replaced (non-destructively) during
subsequent record passes when new MIDI material is received.
10 When you have finished recording, click
Stop in the Transport window. The most recently recorded take is left in the record track.
The recorded takes appear as regions in the
MIDI Regions List and are numbered sequentially. The takes, which are the same length and
easily interchangeable, can be auditioned from
the Takes List pop-up menu—even while the session plays or loops.
the MIDI track by clicking its Record Enable button. Make sure no audio tracks are record-enabled.
To audition the various record takes:
4 Disable Wait for Note and Countoff in the
(Windows) with the Selector at the precise beginning of the loop record range.
Transport window.
5 Select Operations > Link Edit and Timeline Se-
lection.
6 With the Selector, drag in the track’s playlist
until the selection encompasses the desired loop
range.
1 Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
– or –
◆ If the take currently residing in the track is selected, Command-click (Macintosh) or Controlclick (Windows) it with the Selector.
For other methods of setting the record range,
see “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144.
7 To hear track material up to the start point of
the loop, enable and set the pre-roll time. For
details, see “Setting Pre/Post-Roll” on page 145.
8 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
The Record button flashes during the pre-roll.
When the start point is reached, Pro Tools begins recording. When the end point is reached,
Pro Tools loops back to the start point and continues playing and recording.
Auditioning loop record takes
A pop-up menu appears containing a list of regions that share the same User Time Stamp.
2 Choose a region from the Takes List pop-up
menu. The region replaces the previous take and
snaps precisely to the correct location.
For more information on auditioning and managing takes, see “Auditioning Record Takes” on
page 142.
9 Play notes on your MIDI controller. A new
MIDI region containing the newly recorded material is automatically created and appears in the
track’s playlist, replacing the previous region.
Chapter 13: MIDI Recording
159
Recording System Exclusive
Data
Pro Tools supports recording and playing System Exclusive data (sysex) with MIDI tracks.
This allows you to use MIDI tracks in Pro Tools
to store patch and configuration data for your
MIDI devices, or to record real-time sysex
changes for a particular synth parameter (filter
cutoff, for instance).
9 Initiate the sysex transfer from the MIDI device, according to the instructions in the guide
for your MIDI device. When receiving the MIDI
data, Pro Tools automatically begins recording.
To record a sysex dump at the beginning of a MIDI
track:
The newly recorded MIDI data appears as a MIDI
region in the track’s playlist, and in the MIDI
Regions List. MIDI regions that contain System
Exclusive data appear blank when the track’s
Display Format is set to Regions.
1 Make sure that the MIDI OUT for the device
sending the sysex is connected to your MIDI interface’s MIDI IN.
2 Configure a MIDI track for recording. Refer to
“Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording” on
page 153.
3 Put Pro Tools in normal Nondestructive
Record mode. In the Operations menu, deselect
Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
4 In the MIDI Input Filter, enable recording of
System Exclusive data.
5 If you have not done so already, record enable
the MIDI track by clicking its Record Enable button.
6 Enable Wait for Note in the Transport win-
dow.
7 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero
so the start and end times are cleared. This ensures that you’ll start recording from the beginning of the track.
8 When you are ready to begin recording, click
Record in the Transport window.
160
The Record, Play, and Wait for Note buttons
flash, indicating that Pro Tools is waiting for
MIDI data.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
10 When the transfer is complete (as defined in
in the guide for your MIDI device), click Stop in
the Transport window.
To see the sysex event blocks, which indicate
the location of the data, set the MIDI Track View
to display Sysex (see “Regions View for MIDI
Tracks” on page 177). For details on moving and
copying of sysex data, see “System Exclusive
Events” on page 310.
To resend the sysex from Pro Tools:
1 For the device receiving the System Exclusive
data, make sure its MIDI IN is connected to your
MIDI interface’s MIDI OUT. Also, make sure the
device is set to receive sysex. Some devices require that memory protect be off.
2 For the previously recorded track, click its
Record button to take it out of record-enabled
mode.
3 Click on the track’s MIDI Device/Channel Selector and assign the device from the pop-up
menu.
4 In the Transport window, click Return to Zero.
5 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
playback. Pro Tools begins playing and transmits the previously recorded sysex to the assigned MIDI device.
Chapter 14: Advanced Recording
QuickPunch Audio Recording
Pro Tools features an intelligent on-the-fly
punch capability called QuickPunch. QuickPunch lets you instantaneously punch in and
out on record-enabled audio tracks during playback by merely clicking the Record button in
the Transport window.
For DIGI 001 systems, or some Digidesign
control surfaces, you can use a footswitch to
punch in and out when recording with
QuickPunch.
When using QuickPunch, Pro Tools starts recording a new audio file when you begin playback, automatically defining and naming regions in that file at each punch-in/out point. Up
to 100 of these “running punches” can be performed during a single pass. Unlike normal
punch recording (see “Punch Recording Audio”
on page 140), QuickPunch provides instantaneous monitor switching on punch-out. All
QuickPunch recording is nondestructive.
You don’t need to use QuickPunch to punch
on the fly with MIDI tracks. This capability
is available in normal Nondestructive
Record mode, and in Destructive Record
mode.
QuickPunch Crossfade Length
Pro Tools can automatically write a crossfade for
each punch point when using QuickPunch. The
length for these crossfades is set with the QuickPunch Crossfade Length option in the Editing
Preferences.
To set the QuickPunch Crossfade Length:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Editing.
2 Enter a value (in msec) for the QuickPunch
CrossFade Length.
A good general-purpose crossfade length for
punches is 4 milliseconds. If you set the preference to zero, Pro Tools will not create any crossfades at the punch-in/out points.
3 Click Done.
If a value other than zero is specified for the
QuickPunch Crossfade Length, QuickPunch
writes a pre-crossfade at the punch-in point
(which occurs up to but not into the punched
region boundary), and a post-crossfade at the
punch-out point (which occurs after the
punched region).
Even if the QuickPunch Crossfade Length is set
to zero, Pro Tools always executes a
4 millisecond “monitor only” crossfade (which
is not written to disk) to avoid distracting pops
or clicks that might occur as you enter and exit
record mode.
Chapter 14: Advanced Recording
161
QuickPunch crossfades can later be edited in the
same manner as standard crossfades. For details,
see “Using Crossfades” on page 245.
QuickPunch Guidelines for
TDM Systems
When using QuickPunch on TDM systems, two
voices are required for each record-enabled,
mono track. This means that you can record up
to half the total number of voices available on
your system. For example, a Pro Tools HD system with 64 voices can simultaneously record
on up to 32 mono tracks with QuickPunch.
QuickPunch with stereo tracks requires twice
the number of voices.
If the required number of voices for the recordenabled tracks is not available when switching
to QuickPunch mode, you’ll be prompted to free
up the necessary voices.
To free up voices on tracks that are not recordenabled, and do not need to be heard while
recording:
■
Set voice assignments for tracks to Off.
– or –
■
Make tracks inactive.
As necessary, voices in use by other tracks,
which are not record-enabled, may be stolen
while recording with QuickPunch. Priority for
tracks while recording with QuickPunch are as
follows:
• Tracks with assigned voices that are not
record-enabled
• Tracks with assigned voices that are record-enabled
• Auto-voiced tracks that are not record-enabled
• Auto-voiced tracks that are record-enabled
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
If the session has plenty of available voices, you
may have no trouble using QuickPunch with
auto-voiced tracks. However, if you are running
out of voices, and want to ensure that a track
will be heard when recording with QuickPunch,
assign it a voice.
QuickPunch and Auto Voice (TDM
Systems Only)
When using QuickPunch with a 128- or 64voice system, make sure to set the voice assignment for each audio track to Auto. This ensures
that Pro Tools will automatically handle the distribution of voices between each set of voices.
For example, for a 128-voice system, auto-voice
distributes voices evenly across four sets of
voices (1–32, 33–64, 65–96, and 96–128).
If you do not use auto-voicing, the voices must
be evenly distributed between all DSP engines.
For example, to use QuickPunch on 32 tracks
without auto-voicing, tracks 1–16 must be assigned to voices 1–16 and tracks 17–32 must be
assigned to voices 33–48.
QuickPunch Guidelines for
Pro Tools LE
5 Start playback by clicking Play in the Transport window.
Digi 001 and Audiomedia III
6 When you reach the punch-in point, click
Record in the Transport window.
For non-TDM systems, the maximum number
of mono tracks that can be simultaneously recorded with QuickPunch in a session with 24
audio tracks is 8.
To simultaneously record more tracks than this
with QuickPunch, you’ll need to reduce the
number of tracks in the session. For example, a
session with 20 audio tracks can record 10 mono
tracks with QuickPunch, and a session with 16
audio tracks can record 12.
With Pro Tools LE, QuickPunch uses CPU
processing power, and may reduce the number of tracks and plug-ins you can use.
Recording with QuickPunch
– or –
For Digi 001 systems with a connected footswitch, press the footswitch at the punch-in
point.
The Record button stops flashing and stays lit
during recording.
7 To punch out, click Record again (or press the
footswitch).
As Pro Tools continues playing, you can perform additional punches (up to 100). When recording multiple punches during a single pass, a
single audio file is recorded from which
Pro Tools creates the appropriate regions.
To punch on the fly with QuickPunch:
QuickPunch with an Edit Selection
1 Select Operations > QuickPunch. When
QuickPunch is enabled, a “P” appears in the
Record button.
If you make an Edit selection and use QuickPunch, the following rules apply:
QuickPunch enabled
2 If desired, configure the QuickPunch Crossfade Length option in the Editing Preferences
(see “QuickPunch Crossfade Length” on
page 161).
3 Record enable the tracks you want to punch in
on. Make sure there are enough available voices
on your system.
◆ If you are not online, recording begins and
stops whenever you click the Record button—
regardless of the selection’s start or end point.
◆ If you are online, punch-in/out behavior is
controlled by the Online Options setting in the
Operations Preferences. If you select Record Online at Insertion/Selection, QuickPunch
punches in and out only within the selection (or
in the case of an insertion point, only after the
insertion point). If you select Record Online at
Time Code Lock, QuickPunch disregards the selection and punches in and out whenever you
want (after Pro Tools has locked to time code).
4 Prepare to record by cueing Pro Tools to an appropriate location (if desired, enable a pre-roll
value in the Transport window).
Chapter 14: Advanced Recording
163
Region and Take Numbering with
QuickPunch
After recording with QuickPunch, the new audio regions appear in the Audio Regions List.
This includes the whole-file audio region encompassing all punches from the record pass,
along with the regions derived for each punch.
Names for the punched regions are numbered
consecutively starting with “01.” For example, if
QuickPunch is used to punch in twice on a track
called “Lead Gtr,” a region for the parent audio
file appears and is named “Lead Gtr-01,” and
two regions for the punches are named “Lead
Gtr-01-01” and “Lead Gtr-01-02.”
If you stop playback and record additional
punches with QuickPunch, subsequent regions
are named by incrementing the first two digits
in the name. For example, on the second pass,
the punched regions are named “Lead Gtr-0201,” “Lead Gtr-02-02,” and so forth.
Recording from a Digital
Source
If you plan to use a DAT player, digital-output
CD recorder, or other digital input and output
device with your Pro Tools system, make sure it
supports the correct digital format. For example,
your interface’s AES/EBU inputs and outputs
should only be connected to another AES/EBU
device.
The 192 I/O and 96 I/O include AES/EBU,
S/PDIF, and ADAT digital options. Additionally,
the 192 I/O includes TDIF digital I/O options.
All digital outputs are active at all times, so you
can actually send digital audio to different digital devices simultaneously at mix time.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
On a 96 I/O or 192 I/O, Pro Tools can receive
digital audio from the factory-installed Optical
(ADAT) I/O at any time (if it is not set to S/PDIF).
However, Pro Tools can only receive digital audio from one of its enclosure [Encl] digital
sources—AES, S/PDIF or Optical (S/PDIF).
Enclosure digital sources come standard with
HD I/Os and are labelled on-screen as [Encl] versions, to differentiate them from digital inputs
and outputs available on the 192’s Digital I/O
card. For example, the AES/EBU inputs and outputs that come standard in the 192 I/O enclosure are identified as AES/EBU [Encl].
The additional digital ports on the 192 I/O are
TDIF, AES/EBU, and ADAT. Pro Tools can only
receive digital audio from one of these ports at a
time.
However, both the 192 I/O’s enclosure I/O and
Digital card I/O can be used simultaneously. For
example, on a 192 I/O, it is possible to clock off
a source from one of the enclosure inputs and
have another digital input from the digital ports
doing a sample rate conversion, thus having
two digital sources.
Legacy Audio Interfaces and
Digital Sources
On the 888|24 I/O, 24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O, and
the original ADAT Bridge I/O, both AES/EBU
and S/PDIF outputs are active at all times, so you
can actually send digital audio to two different
digital devices simultaneously at mix time.
However, Pro Tools can only receive digital audio from one digital source (AES or S/PDIF) at a
time.
In addition, although the 888|24 I/O has four
stereo AES input pairs, only input pair 1–2 on
the master audio interface, (the first audio interface connected to your main DSP card), can accept an external digital clock source.
To record from a DAT recorder with Pro Tools:
1 Connect the digital output of the DAT recorder to the appropriate digital input of your
audio hardware.
2 If you want to start a new session with a dif-
ferent sample rate, choose File > New Session,
and select the sample rate. Press Save.
3 Make sure to specify the format (digital) of the
inputs of the audio interface you will be using.
Choose Setups > Hardware Setup, choose the audio interface, and select the format for the appropriate channel pair. Some Digidesign I/O
units, such as Digi 001, only have two channels
(Ch 1–2) that can be set for analog or digital.
Also, if your audio hardware supports different
digital formats (such as AES/EBU and S/PDIF),
select the digital format you will use.
4 For HD systems, choose Setups > Hardware
Setup and select the appropriate Clock Source
connected to the appropriate I/O audio interface.
5 Click OK to close the Hardware Setup dialog.
6 Choose File > New Track and specify 1 Stereo
Audio Track, then click Create.
7 In the Mix window, record enable the new au-
dio track by clicking its Record Enable button.
10 Put Pro Tools in normal Nondestructive
Record mode. In the Operations menu, deselect
Destructive Record, Loop Record, and QuickPunch.
11 In the Transport window, click Return to
Zero so the start and end times are cleared. This
ensures that you’ll start recording from the beginning of the track.
12 Click Record in the Transport window. When
you are ready to begin recording, click Play.
13 Initiate playback on the DAT recorder.
14 When the material from the DAT has finished, click Stop in the Transport window.
After a Digital Transfer
After you have finished recording digitally, set
the Sync Mode pop-up menu in the Session
Setup window back to Internal. Otherwise,
Pro Tools will not switch back to its own internal clock and will not record or play audio properly. Failure to switch back to Internal sync typically results in pitch problems (fast or slow
playback) or DAE errors, since a DAT recorder or
CD Recorder that is idle can default to a different sample rate or stop outputting a sample rate
clock altogether.
8 Assign the Input Selectors for the track to the
appropriate inputs. Since this is a digital-domain transfer, you don’t need to worry about input levels.
9 In the Mix window, click on the track’s Output Selector and assign a stereo hardware output.
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Half-Speed Recording and
Playback
Pro Tools lets you play and record at half-speed.
This capability is similar to that of a tape deck
where you can record material at half-speed and
then play it back at normal speed (up an octave)
for special effects.
To record at half-speed:
1 Press Command+Shift+Spacebar (Macintosh)
or Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows). Recording begins and all existing track material plays at
half-speed.
2 When you have finished recording, click Stop.
When played at normal speed, the material recorded at half-speed plays twice as fast (up an
octave).
Use half-speed recording to record difficult
to play MIDI tracks. This allows you to hear
audio tracks while recording. Half-speed recording and playback do not affect how
MIDI tracks sound when played.
To play at half-speed
1 Press Shift+Spacebar. Playback begins and
track material plays at half-speed. If any tracks
were recorded at half-speed, they play at normal
speed.
2 Click Stop in the Transport window to stop
playback.
Use half-speed playback to learn or transcribe difficult passages in recorded tracks.
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Part IV: Editing
167
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Chapter 15: Editing Basics
Pro Tools Editing
The Edit window in Pro Tools provides a powerful collection of tools for editing and assembling
audio and MIDI tracks. Track material can be edited non-destructively and in real time during
playback.
Non-destructive Editing
The vast majority of audio editing in Pro Tools is
non-destructive. Whether cutting, pasting,
trimming, separating, or clearing regions, you
are only performing these functions on a map of
the actual audio data. The source audio files remain untouched. If a particular process or tool
works destructively (that is, if it can permanently change audio files on your hard disk),
this guide alerts you.
Editing During Playback
Pro Tools lets you perform many editing tasks
while the session plays. This powerful capability
allows you to interactively modify and edit a
session, hearing the changes as you make them.
You’ll find many instances where you can use
this capability to increase your productivity
when working with a session.
Following are just a few examples of editing that
can be performed while your tracks loop or play:
• Capture, separate, and trim regions
• Place, spot, or rearrange regions
• Add fades or crossfades to audio regions
• Transpose, quantize, and otherwise modify
MIDI tracks
• Nudge audio or MIDI regions
• Audition different playlists
While editing for MIDI tracks is in some instances destructive, with a few precautions you
can keep important MIDI tracks and regions safe
when performing edits (see “Non-destructive
Audio Editing” on page 176).
• Adjust or scale automation data
• Process audio with an AudioSuite plug-in
There are a few things that cannot be changed
while Pro Tools plays. These include assigning
TDM plug-ins to audio tracks, routing to sends,
and assigning outputs.
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Track Material
Each time you record or import audio and MIDI,
Pro Tools creates regions for the new track data,
which not only indicate where the material begins and ends, but also provides good feedback
on its general shape and content. When you
record additional takes, or “punch in” on a specific location within a track, Pro Tools creates
additional regions.
Regions are also created by cutting and pasting,
resizing, separating, and re-capturing existing
regions. Regions in a session are listed in the Audio Regions List and MIDI Regions List, where
they can be dragged to existing tracks. A track
can contain any number of regions, in any arrangement. The order and location of regions in
a track define its playlist.
Region Types
There are different region types, based on how
they are created:
Whole-File Audio Regions These audio regions
are created when recording or importing audio,
consolidating existing regions, and when nondestructively processing with an AudioSuite
plug-in. Whole-file audio regions reference an
entire audio file that resides on your hard drive.
Whole-file audio regions are displayed in bold
in the Audio Regions List (see “The Audio and
MIDI Regions Lists” on page 181). Normal regions often reference only a portion of the parent audio file and are created in the course of editing and, in some instances, when punch
recording.
User-Defined Regions These are regions that are
explicitly defined, such as when you record or
import audio or MIDI; capture, separate, or consolidate a selection; trim a whole-file audio region; and rename an existing region.
Auto-Created Regions These regions are automatically created in the course of editing, and,
in some instances, when punch recording over
existing regions. Since these regions can accumulate rapidly in a session, you can hide them
so they don’t appear in the Audio and MIDI Regions List (see “Managing Regions” on
page 260). Auto-created regions can be turned
into user-defined regions by renaming them.
Offline Regions Regions are offline when their
parent audio files cannot be located, or are not
available, when opening a session or importing
a track. Offline regions appear in the Audio Regions List as italicized and dimmed; they appear
in playlists as light blue regions with italicized
names. Offline regions can be edited like other
regions, but they cannot be processed with AudioSuite plug-ins.
Multichannel Regions These regions, which are
displayed as a single region in the Audio Regions
List, reference multiple regions and audio files
for stereo and surround tracks. Multichannel regions can be expanded (by clicking the triangle
next to their name) to see the individual channels, which can be dragged independently to
tracks.
Track View
The Track View determines which data is displayed and edited in the track’s playlist area.
Audio tracks can be set to Blocks, Waveform, Volume, Pan, Mute, or any plug-in parameters that
have been automated. Except when editing automation data, audio tracks are by default set to
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Waveform, where track material is graphically
drawn with amplitude waveforms. This Track
View provides the necessary detail for important
region edits.
When an audio track is displayed as Volume,
Pan, or another automated parameter, or when
a MIDI track is set to one of the continuous controller types (Volume, Pitch Bend, After Touch),
the data for that track appears in the form of a
line graph with a series of editable breakpoints.
The breakpoints can be dragged to modify the
automation data, and new breakpoints can be
inserted with the Pencil or Grabber.
Track View set to Waveform for audio track
Auxiliary input tracks can be set to Volume, Pan,
Mute, or any plug-in parameter that has been automated. Master Fader tracks can be set to Volume, or any plug-in parameter that has been automated.
MIDI tracks can be set to Blocks, Regions, Notes,
Volume, Pan, Mute, Velocity, Pitch Bend, After
Touch, Program, Sysex, and any continuous controller type. Except when editing controller
data, program changes, or sysex events, MIDI
tracks are commonly set to Notes or Regions,
each of which displays notes in a “piano roll”
format. Use Notes View for inserting, editing,
and copying and pasting MIDI notes; use Regions View to arrange, capture, or consolidate
regions.
Track View set to Pan for audio track
For details on editing automation data for audio
tracks, see See “Automation” on page 375. For
details on inserting and editing controller data
for MIDI tracks, see “Continuous Controller
Events” on page 305.
To set the Track View:
■ Click the Track View Selector for the track and
choose the format from the pop-up menu.
Track View set to Regions for MIDI track
Track View Selector
With the Track View set to Blocks, audio and
MIDI regions are displayed as empty blocks
bearing the region’s name. This mode is most
useful once you have finished capturing and editing regions at the waveform or MIDI event
level and are moving and rearranging them.
Screen redraws are fastest with this format.
The track displays the new format. If the track is
part of an active Edit Group, all tracks in the
group are set to the new format.
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Toggling Track Views
Track Height
Most editing for audio tracks occurs in the
Waveform and Volume View. For MIDI tracks,
most editing occurs in the Notes and Regions
View. Pro Tools provides an easy way to toggle
these views for tracks containing an edit selection or the edit cursor.
Tracks can be viewed in the Edit window at any
of six heights: Mini, Small, Medium, Large, Jumbo,
and Extreme. Larger track heights are particularly
useful for precise editing. Smaller track heights
are useful for conserving screen space in a large
session.
To toggle Track Views:
1 Click in the track you want to toggle. To toggle multiple tracks, Shift-click in additional
tracks.
2 Press Control+Minus (Macintosh) or Start+Mi-
nus (Windows) on the alpha keyboard.
– or –
You can adjust track heights on an individual
track basis or set all tracks to the same height.
Track heights can be adjusted during playback.
To set the Track Height:
■ Click in the area just to the right of the track
controls and choose the height from the pop-up
menu.
On TDM systems, with the Commands Focus
enabled, press Minus on the alpha keyboard.
Audio tracks are toggled between Waveform and
Volume View. MIDI tracks are toggled between
Notes and Regions View.
Track Height pop-up menu
– or –
The “Master” View Format
Audio and MIDI tracks have Track Views that
act as “master.” When a track is displayed in its
master format, any edits performed apply to all
data in the track. For instance, when an audio
track is set to Waveform, copying and pasting
affects not just the waveform information, but
all of the automation data as well.
The Track Views that act as master for audio and
MIDI tracks are:
• Audio tracks: Waveform and Blocks
• MIDI tracks: Regions, Blocks, and Notes
(when using the Selector)
Auxiliary Input tracks and Master Fader tracks
do not have a Master View.
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■ Click the small arrow next to the Track View
Selector to get the Track Height pop-up menu.
Track Height pop-up menu
The track is resized to the new height. If the
track is part of an Edit Group, all tracks in the
group are set to the new height.
Expanded Track Display
Stereo and multichannel tracks share a single
playlist for volume and mute. This shared playlist normally occupies the entire height of the
track, extending across all channels.
Track Height pop-up menu
Track Controls and Track Height
Volume playlist for stereo track
With Expanded Track Display, you can display
playlists individually for each channel, thereby
allowing for more accurate breakpoint editing.
This is also useful for editing pan or multi-mono
plug-in data, both of which can be different for
each channel.
The Track Height affects how the various track
controls appear in the Edit window. For instance, when a track’s height is set to Small,
most of the buttons are reduced in size, and the
menus for Track Height and Track View are accessed from the same pop-up.
Track Height set to Small
When the Track Height is set to Mini, only controls for Mute and Solo appear, and the menus
for Playlist, Track Height, and Track View are accessed from the same pop-up.
Stereo track in Expanded Track Display
Expanded Track Display also provides for a
larger waveform display (equal to that of mono
audio tracks), as well as a separate Track View Selector and meter for each channel.
To turn on Expanded Track Display for a stereo or
multichannel track:
From the Track Height pop-up menu, select
Expanded Track Display.
Track Height set to Mini
When the Track Height is set to Large, Jumbo, or
Extreme, all track controls are displayed at their
full size.
■
Track Height set to Large
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Displaying Region Names and
Times
Region names can sometimes get in the way of
editing audio waveforms and MIDI data. In
these instances you may want to disable their
display.
Audio Regions and Waveforms
When the Track View for audio tracks is set to
Waveform, Pro Tools draws a waveform diagram
of the audio. Audio waveforms tell you several
things about the recorded sound.
To disable the display of region names in playlists:
■
Deselect Display > Display Name In Regions.
To enable the display of region names in playlists:
Choose Display > Display Name In Regions.
This is extremely useful when working with film
and video.
■
Display enabled for region names and times
To display region times:
From Display > Display Time In Regions, select one of the following options:
■
None Disables display of region times.
Current Time Displays start and end times for regions.
Original Time Stamp Displays the Original Time
Stamp for each region. The Original Time Stamp
is the original time code location for the region
when it was first recorded or created.
User Time Stamp Displays the User Time Stamp
for each region. The User Time Stamp, which
defaults to the Original Time Stamp, can be redefined with the Time Stamp Selected command.
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Figure 7. Audio waveform of drum loop
Figure 7 shows an audio waveform for a drum
loop. The “peaks” represent places in the recording (beats) where the attack of the sound causes
the volume to increase momentarily. These are
followed by “valleys,” where the volume decreases.
Different types of sounds produce different
types of waveforms. Drums, for example, generally produce waveforms with sharp transients
(peaks of short duration) that are clearly defined. A drum hit has a loud, sharp attack and a
rapid decay.
Other sounds, such as vocals or sustained keyboard sounds, produce very different waveforms, ones that have less pronounced peaks
and valleys. That’s because these sounds generally have softer attacks and longer decays.
Draw Waveforms Rectified Preference
When the Display Preference for Draw Waveforms Rectified is selected, audio waveforms are
displayed so that their positive and negative
waveform excursions are summed together and
viewed as a single positive-value signal. However, even when this preference is enabled,
zooming in beyond a certain point will cause
the waveforms to be displayed normally.
Some important rules to keep in mind when defining regions:
Audio displayed in Rectified mode
◆ Whenever possible, begin a region precisely
before a volume peak, and end it immediately
before another volume peak.
◆ Whenever possible, make sure a region starts
and ends on exactly the same part of a beat.
Avoiding Clicks and Pops
Audio displayed in Normal mode
Rectified mode displays more detailed waveforms when using track heights of Medium or
Small, and can be particularly useful when editing volume automation data, since it depicts
waveform “levels” as starting at the bottom of
the track.
Guidelines for Editing Waveforms
With the Selector tool in the Edit window, you
can select portions of audio waveforms and divide them into segments called regions, so that
you can rearrange and manipulate them in
tracks.
While editing, try to create regions that allow
you to maintain a consistent beat. If you always
define regions so that they contain a whole
number of beats, you’ll be able to string the regions together and maintain a smooth, steady
rhythm.
It’s sometimes useful to have a steady, well-defined waveform, such as a drum track, as a guide
when selecting and defining other regions. If
you’ve played in time with the beat, chances are
that you can create rhythmically accurate regions by referring to the drum’s waveform.
If an edited region begins or ends at a point of
high amplitude, you may hear an unpleasant
click when Pro Tools plays from one region to
another. In order to avoid clicks or pops do any
of the following:
◆ Make sure that the start and end points of
your selection are as close as possible to the
point where the amplitude of the waveform
tapers down to meet the zero-crossing line (the
center line of the track’s waveform display). If
necessary, use the zooming tools in the Edit
window (see “Zooming” on page 186) to display
waveforms in greater detail.
Selection that begins and ends at zero crossings
◆ On Pro Tools TDM systems, use the AutoFade
feature to apply real-time fade-ins/outs to all region boundaries that do not touch or overlap
other regions. See “Using AutoFades” on
page 254 for details.
◆ Apply a crossfade between regions where a
click or pop occurs. See “Creating a Crossfade” on
page 252 for details.
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Non-destructive Audio Editing
Notes View for MIDI Tracks
When editing an audio track’s playlist in
Pro Tools, you’re not actually cutting and moving pieces of sound as you would if you were
cutting and splicing analog tape. Instead,
Pro Tools creates a map of the audio file on your
hard disk, which describes the order in which to
play the track portions.
When a MIDI track’s Track View is set to Notes,
MIDI notes are displayed in a “piano roll” format. Each note is displayed as a small rectangle
with its vertical placement indicating pitch and
its horizontal placement indicating location
(and duration).
When trimming audio regions with the Trimmer tool, or when editing the placement or order of regions within a track, use multiple playlists to easily return to a track’s previous state.
See “Playlists” on page 178 for details.
Up arrow
Track note above the
current display
Audio Regions and Automation
Data
Automation data for audio resides in tracks and
not regions. This means that when you drag an
audio region from the Audio Regions List to a
new track, no automation data is placed in the
track. However, if you drag an audio region
from an existing track (that contains automation data) to another track, the automation
from the source track is placed in the destination track.
MIDI Regions and MIDI Data
The two most common Track Views you’ll use
for MIDI tracks are Notes and Regions. Use
Notes View for inserting and editing individual
MIDI notes, and for working with and affecting
groups of notes.
When you need to experiment with the arrangement of regions, or define new ones, use Regions View.
For more information on setting Track View, see
“Track View” on page 170.
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keyboard reference
MIDI notes
Down arrow
Figure 8. MIDI track displaying notes
To the left of the MIDI track’s playlist is a vertical mini-keyboard, complete with octave numbering, for pitch reference. You can Commandclick (Macintosh) or Control-click (Windows)
the mini-keyboard to audition pitches. Arrows
at the top and bottom of the mini-keyboard (not
available in the smaller track heights) are used
to scroll the Notes display up and down.
The pitch range of MIDI notes that can be displayed depends on the track height, and on the
current zoom value. Any time a track’s notes do
not fit within its current height, notes above or
below the viewed area are displayed as singlepixel lines at the very top and bottom of the
range (see Figure 8).
To scroll the Notes display up or down for a MIDI
track:
Click either the up or down arrow of the minikeyboard.
■
Use Regions View to define regions that represent song sections and clips, or to rearrange or
assemble track material.
For more information on setting the Track View,
see See “Track View” on page 170.
There are, however, a few things to keep in
mind when selecting, copying and cutting, and
trimming MIDI regions:
Scrolling notes with the Up arrow on mini-keyboard
– or –
With any of the Edit window tools (such as
the Pencil tool) selected, press Command+Option+Control (Macintosh) or Control+Alt+Start
(Windows) and drag up or down on the minikeyboard.
■
◆ When cutting or clearing a region selection
that includes a note’s start point, the entire note
is removed. This is even the case when only a
portion of the note (that includes its start point)
is selected.
◆ When copying or cutting a region selection
that includes a note’s end point (but not its start
point), the note remains and overlaps the edge
of the region.
Scrolling Notes display by dragging
Using the Edit window tools, notes can be inserted, transposed, trimmed, and moved. For
more information, see “Manually Editing MIDI
Notes” on page 301.
Regions View for MIDI Tracks
MIDI tracks can also be viewed as Regions,
which is similar to Waveform View for audio
tracks. While a track’s notes are visible in Regions View, individual note editing is not available in this view. Instead, all editing occurs
across a time range encompassing all track data,
including continuous controller events, program changes, and System Exclusive events.
Cutting a MIDI region with note overlap
◆ Similar rules also apply when MIDI regions
are trimmed with the Trimmer tool. If the MIDI
region’s start point is moved beyond a note’s
start point, the note is removed. If the region’s
end point is trimmed so that a note’s start point
is within the region but its end point is not, the
note remains and overlaps the edge of the region.
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When moving and placing MIDI regions with
overlapping notes, the notes always move with
the regions. When placing MIDI regions with
overlapping notes next to or near another region, the overlapping notes extend into the adjacent region.
Unlike continuous controller events, which represent nuances that are part of a MIDI performance, Mute in Pro Tools is an automation
playlist that actually mutes the MIDI engine.
Mute automation does not correspond to actual
MIDI events and is therefore not exported when
saving as a Standard MIDI File.
Non-destructive MIDI Editing
While editing audio regions is usually non-destructive, this is not always the case for MIDI regions. For instance, if a MIDI region resides in
just one track at a single location, editing for
that region is destructive. This means that altering the pitch, duration, or placement of notes in
Notes View permanently alters the region.
However, when editing a MIDI region that occurs elsewhere, in the same track (at another location or in a different playlist) or in another
track, the editing is non-destructive and occurs
to an auto-created region. To go back to the previous material, drag the original region from the
MIDI Regions List, or return to a previously
saved playlist.
One way to safely return to a track’s previous state is with playlists. Before you edit
notes, trim regions, or rearrange the order of
regions, make a duplicate of the track’s existing playlist and instead work with it (see
“Playlists” on page 178).
MIDI Regions and Continuous
Controller Events
Continuous controller events reside in MIDI regions and not in tracks. This means that when
dragging regions that contain controller data
from either a track or the MIDI Regions List, the
controller data is written to the destination
track.
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Playlists
The ability to create playlists is one of the most
powerful features of Pro Tools, and one reason
why it is infinitely more versatile than traditional multitrack recorders.
Edit playlists allow you to take a snapshot of a
track’s current arrangement of regions, thereby
freeing you to experiment with alternate arrangements, returning as necessary to previously saved playlists.
Playlist Selector pop-up
A playlist, which can consist of a single region or
many regions, can only be assigned to a track if
it is not in use by another track. While you can
create an almost unlimited number of edit playlists, which are shared among all tracks, each
track has its own set of dedicated automation
playlists.
Automation playlists for audio tracks store data
for volume, pan, mute, and plug-in parameters.
Automation playlists for MIDI tracks, however,
store only mute information; continuous controller events, program changes, and sysex
events are stored in MIDI regions and therefore
reside within edit playlists.
Playlists and Groups
Creating a Playlist
Playlist functions affect all tracks within an Edit
Group (if the group is active). This is useful
when you want to switch to new or existing
playlists among several tracks.
You can also create a new playlist and record or
drag regions to it.
Working with Playlists
When you add a new track to a session, its playlist is empty until you record or import material
to it, or drag a region to it from the Audio or
MIDI Regions List.
Duplicating a Playlist
When you edit a track, you can work with a
copy of the track's playlist and keep the original
playlist arrangement intact.
To duplicate a track’s current playlist:
1 Click the track’s Playlist Selector and choose
Duplicate from the pop-up menu.
2 Enter a name for the new playlist and click
OK.
The duplicated playlist appears in the track and
the track’s name is changed to the name of the
new playlist.
New and duplicated playlists are auto-named
with the track name, followed by a period and
the playlist number (such as the first playlist for
a “Kick” track being auto-named “Kick.01”). In
this example, subsequent playlists would be
auto-named “Kick.02,” “Kick.03,” and so on.
To create a new (empty) playlist:
1 Click the track’s Playlist Selector and choose
New from the pop-up menu.
2 Enter a name for the new playlist and click
OK. An empty playlist with the specified name
appears in the track.
As long as a playlist is unassigned, it can be recalled and assigned to any track. Only unassigned playlists appear in the Playlist Selector
pop-up.
To recall and assign a playlist:
■ Click the track’s Playlist Selector and choose
the playlist from the pop-up menu.
The selected playlist appears in the track and the
track’s name is updated to that of the selected
playlist.
Renaming a Playlist
You can rename a playlist by renaming the track
to which it is assigned.
To rename a track’s assigned playlist:
1 Double-click the track’s name.
2 Enter a new name and click OK. Both the track
and playlist names are updated.
Deleting a Playlist
You can delete a playlist from a session entirely.
However, since playlists take almost no disk
space, you don’t need to delete them for space
reasons.
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To delete one or more playlists from a track:
1 Click the track’s Playlist Selector and choose
Delete Unused from the pop-up menu.
In this example, to Undo the region shuffle, you
would have to choose Edit > Undo four times,
which would also Undo the first three operations in the queue.
2 Select the unassigned playlists you want to de-
lete. Shift-click to select multiple playlists.
3 Click OK to delete the playlists. This operation
If you then choose Edit > Redo, followed by another edit operation, such as a region trim, the
Undo queue would then be:
cannot be undone.
1 Region trimmed
When deleting a track from a session, you
have the option of deleting or keeping its
playlists, so they can be used on other
tracks.
Multiple Undo
2 Regions shuffled
3 MIDI note trimmed
4 MIDI note inserted with Pencil
To undo the last operation:
■
Pro Tools can keep track of up to 16 of the last
undoable operations, allowing you to return to
a previous editing state.
The Undo operations in Pro Tools are stored in a
queue, in the order in which they were invoked.
When choosing Edit > Undo, the most recent
operation is undone. If you choose Undo again,
the next operation in the queue is undone. You
can also choose Edit > Redo to redo an operation, which moves back through the Undo
queue by one step.
For example, suppose the following operations
have been performed, with item 1 being the
most recent (first in the queue):
1 Region cut from track
2 Region pasted to track
3 Region slid forward
4 Regions shuffled
5 MIDI note trimmed
6 MIDI note inserted with Pencil
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Choose Edit > Undo.
– or –
■ Press Command+Z (Macintosh) or Control+Z
(Windows).
To redo the last undone operation:
■
Choose Edit > Redo.
– or –
■ Press Shift+Command+Z (Macintosh) or
Shift+Control+Z (Windows).
Operations that Clear the Undo Queue
Pro Tools will not warn you of operations that
clear the Undo Queue. Operations that clear the
Undo Queue include:
• Deleting a track, or clearing a region from the
Audio or MIDI Regions List
• Selecting “Select Unused” in the MIDI Regions List pop-up
• Selecting “Select Unused Regions,” or “Select
Unused Regions Except Whole Files” in the
Audio Regions List pop-up
Levels of Undo and RAM
Since Pro Tools needs to keep track of the playlists for all tracks that are edited, the use of multiple Undos can be memory intensive. You can
lower the Levels of Undo in Pro Tools to reduce
the amount of RAM used by the Undo queue. If
on the other hand you have plenty of RAM allocated to Pro Tools, you can set the Levels Of
Undo to as high as 16.
To set the Levels of Undo in Pro Tools:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Editing.
2 Click in the Levels of Undo field and enter a
value of between 1–16.
Levels of Undo preference
The Audio and MIDI Regions
Lists
All regions that are recorded, imported, or created by editing appear in the Audio and MIDI
Regions Lists. Regions can be dragged from either list to tracks and arranged in any order. Regions can also be auditioned from the Regions
List by Option-clicking (Macintosh) or Alt-clicking (Windows) them.
In the Audio Regions List, whole-file audio regions are displayed in bold, and stereo and
multichannel regions can be expanded to display individual channels.
Because region names can become lengthy (up
to 31 characters), the Regions List can be
scrolled or resized as necessary (see Figure 9). In
addition, you can use the pop-up menu at the
top of either list to sort, search, rename, and
clear regions.
3 Click Done to close the Preferences dialog.
When the number of operations in the Undo
queue reaches this limit, performing another
undoable operation will remove the oldest operation at the bottom of the queue.
Drag to resize width of
Regions Lists
Click for pop-up menus
Drag to resize
height of Regions
Lists
Click to hide
Regions Lists
Figure 9. Audio and MIDI Regions Lists
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If the Editing Preference for “Region List Selection Follows Track Selection” is enabled, clicking a region in the Regions List highlights it in
the track that contains it.
Use the MIDI Regions List as a bin for storing your favorite MIDI clips. Save the session as a template and the regions are available for future sessions (see “Creating
Custom Session Templates” on page 48).
Since MIDI regions are tick-based (unlike
audio regions), they scale seamlessly for use
with any tempo.
Sorting and Searching the
Regions Lists
Most sessions will contain many regions, which
may make it difficult to locate a particular region in the Regions Lists. The ability to sort regions and search for them will help greatly in
keeping track of large numbers of regions.
To sort regions in a Regions List:
1 From the Regions List pop-up menu, choose
Sorting and select the basis for sorting from the
submenu.
Displaying File Info for Audio Regions
In addition to region names, the Audio Regions
List can also display information about the region’s parent audio file:
• Disk name, which represents the name of the
hard drive on which it resides
• File name, which represents the audio file
from which the region originated
• The full directory Pathname of the region’s location
Sort attributes for audio regions
MIDI regions can be sorted by name, length, or
timestamp. In addition to these, audio regions
can be sorted by region start and end times, various attributes of the source audio file, disk
name, and track format.
Audio Regions with file info
Pro Tools defaults to displaying just the region
portion of a region’s name. To display file info
for audio regions, choose Show File Names,
Show Disk Names, or Show Full Pathnames
from the pop-up menu at the top of the Audio
Regions List.
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2 From the Regions List pop-up menu, select Ascending or Descending to switch the order of
the displayed regions.
Finding Regions
Selecting in the Region Lists
Use the Find command to display all regions in
a list whose names contain a particular word or
phrase.
In the Regions Lists you can select multiple regions so they can be dragged to tracks, or processed with AudioSuite plug-ins.
To find and display regions that match a word or
phrase:
To select a range of regions in a Regions List:
1 Choose Find from the pop-up menu in the
Audio or MIDI Regions List.
■ Move the cursor to the left of the region
names, so the Marquee appears, and drag
around the regions you want to select.
2 Type the name, or any portion of the name,
for the regions you want to find, then click OK.
Pro Tools displays all regions whose names contain the name that was specified. Figure 10
shows regions found when searching on the
word “loop.” When displaying regions with the
Find command, a small diamond appears at the
top of the Audio and MIDI Regions List.
Regions selected with Marquee
– or –
■ Shift-click, to the left of the region names, the
first and last region you want to select. All regions between become selected.
To select discontiguous regions in the Regions
List:
Figure 10. Regions located with Find command
To return the Regions List to displaying all regions:
Choose Display All from the Regions List popup menu.
■
1 Move the cursor to the left of the region
names, so the Marquee appears.
2 Command-click each region you want to select.
– or –
1 Move the cursor over the region names.
2 Shift-click each region name you want to select.
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Keyboard Selection of Regions
If the Audio Regions Focus or MIDI Regions Focus is enabled, you can type the first few letters
of a region’s name and Pro Tools will automatically locate and select the region in the Regions
List.
Stereo and multichannel regions are displayed
in the Regions List by default in collapsed view.
The individual regions can be displayed by clicking the arrow to the left of the region to expand
the name.
Expand/Collapse
To enable and use the Audio Regions List Key
Focus or MIDI Regions List Key Focus:
1 Click the a-z button in upper right of the Audio Regions List or MIDI Regions List.
Stereo regions, collapsed (top) and expanded (bottom).
To expand or collapse all stereo and multichannel
regions:
■ Press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows)
while clicking the triangle.
Audio Regions List Key Focus enabled
2 Type the first few letters of the region to automatically locate and select it. Once a region is located and selected, it can be dragged to a track.
Keyboard selection of audio regions locates regions based on their region name, not on the
names for their parent audio files or the volumes on which they reside.
Stereo and Multichannel Tracks in
the Audio Regions List
Stereo and multichannel regions, whether imported or recorded into Pro Tools, are displayed
as single items in the Audio Regions List. For example, two mono source regions named “Main
Piano.L” and “Main Piano.R” are listed as “Main
Piano (Stereo).” A collapse/expand triangle indicates stereo and multichannel regions.
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Individual items of an expanded-view stereo or
multichannel region can be selected independently of the other associated regions in the Audio Regions List.
Rules for Stereo and Multichannel
Regions
For stereo and multichannel regions to be
shown as collective regions, the component regions must be the same length. If an existing stereo or multichannel region has been dragged
onto multiple mono tracks and edited such that
one or more components are no longer the same
length, the stereo display is removed and the regions are displayed as individual regions in the
Regions List.
Edit Modes
Pro Tools has four Edit modes: Shuffle, Spot,
Slip, and Grid. The Edit mode is selected by
clicking the desired button in the upper left of
the Edit window.
Edit mode buttons
You can also use F1 (Shuffle), F2 (Slip), F3
(Spot), and F4 (Grid) to set the Edit mode.
The Edit mode affects the movement and placement of audio and MIDI regions (and individual
MIDI notes), how commands like Copy and
Paste function, and also how the various edit
tools (Trimmer, Selector, Grabber, and Pencil)
work.
Shuffle
In Shuffle mode, you can move regions freely
within a track or to other tracks, but their movement is constrained by other regions. That is, if
you place several regions in a track, they automatically snap to each other. You can then
“shuffle” their order, but you cannot separate
them from each other and you cannot make
them overlap as in Slip mode. In Shuffle mode,
adding another region to the beginning of a
track moves all subsequent regions to the right
by the length of the region added.
Slip
In Slip mode, regions can be moved freely
within a track or to other tracks. In this mode it
is possible to place a region so that there is space
between it and other regions in a track. When
the track is played back, this space is silent. It is
also possible to move a region so that it overlaps
or completely covers another region.
Use Slip mode when you want the Trimmer, Selector, Grabber, and Pencil tools to work without any restrictions to placement in time.
Spot
Use Spot mode to place regions at precise locations. This can be particularly useful when performing post production tasks around SMPTE
frame locations. In this mode you can specify a
frame location (or a location based on any of the
other time formats), capture an incoming Time
Code address, or use a region’s time stamps as
reference points for spotting.
In Spot mode, when you move or trim regions,
the Spot dialog opens.
Grid
In Grid mode, regions and MIDI notes that are
moved or inserted “snap” to a user-definable
time grid. In addition to placing material
cleanly on the beat, Grid mode is also useful for
making precise Edit and Timeline selections.
When using the Trimmer in Shuffle mode,
changing a region’s start or end point automatically moves the adjacent regions as necessary.
The placement and insertion of MIDI notes is
not affected by Shuffle mode.
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The actual Grid size, chosen from the Grid Value
pop-up in the upper right of the Edit window,
can be based on a time value using the Main
Time Scale; or, if Follow Main Time Scale is deselected, another time format can be used for
the Grid size.
To display the Grid lines in the Edit window:
■ Enable the Display Preference for “Draw Grids
in Edit Window.”
Turning on Grid lines from Edit Window
– or –
Grid value set to 1 second
The current Grid value is also used for the
Quantize Regions Command. For information, see “Quantizing Regions” on
page 228.
Also available in the Grid Value pop-up is an option for Regions/Markers. When selected, events
can be placed freely (as in Slip mode) but will
snap to region locations (start, end, and sync
points), Markers, and Edit selections when
placed near them.
MIDI notes inserted with the Pencil tool ignore the Regions/Markers option, and instead snap to the time value selected in the
Grid Value pop-up.
■ Enable (and disable) Grid lines by Controlclicking (Macintosh) or Alt-clicking in any
Timebase Ruler.
Control-click (Macintosh) or
Alt-click (Windows) for Grid lines
Turning on Grid lines from Ruler
Zooming
Zooming options in Pro Tools include the Horizontal and Vertical Zoom buttons, the Zoomer
tool, and the Zoom Preset buttons.
Horizontal and Vertical Zoom
Buttons
Use the Horizontal and Vertical Zoom buttons
to zoom in and out on track data. Unlike the
horizontal zoom value, the vertical zoom value
for MIDI and audio tracks are independent, and
therefore have separate buttons.
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To zoom in horizontally for all tracks:
■ Click the (top) Vertical Zoom button with the
MIDI notes. To zoom out, click the bottom Vertical Zoom button.
– or –
Horizontal Zoom button
Click the right Horizontal Zoom button. To
zoom out, click the other (left) Horizontal Zoom
button.
■
■ Press Command+Shift+] (Macintosh) or Control+Shift+] (Windows). To zoom out, press
Command+Shift+[ (Macintosh) or Control+Shift+[ (Windows).
– or –
To return to the previous zoom level:
Press Command+] (Macintosh) or Control+]
(Windows). To zoom out, press Command+[
(Macintosh) or Control+[ (Windows).
■
– or –
Click and drag on the Horizontal Zoom button to zoom continuously.
■ Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) any of the Horizontal or Vertical Zoom
buttons.
– or –
■
■ Press Command+Option+E (Macintosh) or
Control+Alt+E (Windows).
To zoom in vertically for all audio tracks:
To zoom in on a selection:
■ Press Option+F (Macintosh) or Alt+F (Windows).
Vertical Zoom button (audio)
Click the (top) Vertical Zoom button with the
audio waveform. To zoom out, click the bottom
Vertical Zoom button.
■
– or –
Press Command+Option+] (Macintosh) or
Control+Alt+] (Windows). To zoom out, press
Command+Option+[ (Macintosh) or Control+Alt+[ (Windows).
To zoom so that all regions are visible in the Edit
window, do one of the following:
■
Double-click the Zoomer tool in the toolbar.
■ Press Option+A (Macintosh) or Alt+A (Windows).
■
– or –
Click and drag on the Vertical Zoom button to
zoom continuously.
■
To zoom in vertically for all MIDI tracks:
The Universe Window
(TDM Systems Only)
The Universe window displays an overview of
the entire session, representing audio and MIDI
material on all tracks that are not hidden (including tracks that are inactive, or that contain
offline regions). The order in which material is
displayed in the Universe window corresponds
to the track order in the Edit window.
Vertical Zoom button (MIDI)
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To open the Universe window:
■
Choose Windows > Show Universe.
Universe window
Audio material residing in audio tracks is represented by a single, horizontal line in the Universe window. Each channel in a stereo or multichannel track is represented individually.
Since Auxiliary Input and Master Fader tracks do
not contain audio, they are displayed as blank
areas in the Universe window.
Scrolling in the Universe Window
By clicking in the Universe window, you can automatically scroll, either horizontally or vertically, the material displayed in the Edit window.
This provides a convenient method of locating
anywhere in the session, or adjusting which
shown tracks are visible in the Edit window.
To move the highlighted area in the Universe
window:
1 Choose Windows > Show Universe.
2 To affect which tracks are displayed in the Edit
window, click lower or higher (vertically) in the
Universe window.
Similar to audio tracks, MIDI tracks containing
note material are represented by single, horizontal lines.
Resizing the Universe Window
Even though the Universe window can be resized horizontally and vertically, the length of
the entire session is always displayed in the Universe window. If the Universe window is resized
so some of the session’s track are not displayed,
a vertical scroll bar becomes available.
3 To scroll to a different session location, click
later or earlier (horizontally) in the Universe
window.
Highlighted Material in the
Universe Window
The highlighted, shaded area in the Universe
window represents the material displayed in the
Edit window. If you change what’s displayed in
the Edit window—by zooming, scrolling horizontally or vertically, hiding or unhiding tracks,
or changing track heights—the highlighted area
in the Universe window updates.
During playback, if the Edit window is set to
scroll, the highlighted area in the Universe window also scrolls.
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When all tracks are visible in the Edit window
and the session is zoomed all the way out, with
all regions visible, the entire Universe window is
shaded.
Timebase Rulers
To display all Rulers:
■
Select Display > Ruler View Shows > All.
To remove a Ruler from the display:
■ Option-click the Ruler’s name (to the left of
the Ruler display).
– or –
All Rulers displayed
Any or all of the following Timebase Rulers can
be displayed at the top of the Edit window:
• Bars:Beats
• Minutes:Seconds
■ Deselect the Ruler in Display > Ruler View
Shows.
To display only the Main Time Scale in the Ruler:
■ Select Display > Ruler View Shows > None.
(See See “Main Time Scale” on page 190.)
• Time Code (TDM systems only)
• Feet.Frames (TDM systems only)
• Samples
In addition to providing a timing reference for
track material, the Timebase Rulers are also used
to define Edit selections for track material, and
Timeline selections for record and play ranges.
With the Selector, drag in any Timebase
Ruler to select material across all tracks in
the Edit window. To include the Conductor
Tracks in the selection, press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows) while dragging.
To add a specific Ruler to the display, such as the
Markers Ruler, for instance:
■
Select Display > Ruler View Shows > Markers.
To change the display order for the Rulers:
■ Click a Ruler’s name and drag up or down to
the new location.
Ruler Options Pop-up Menu
The Ruler display options are also available from
a pop-up menu that is accessed by clicking just
to the right of the Ruler names.
Any or all of the following Conductor Rulers can
be displayed:
• Tempo
• Meter
• Markers
The Meter and Tempo Rulers indicate changes
in meter and tempo within the Session. The
Markers Ruler displays Markers to important
track locations.
Ruler Options pop-up menu
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Main Time Scale
While all Timebase Rulers can simultaneously
be displayed in the Edit window, there is only
one that represents the Main Time Scale. The
Main Time Scale determines the time format
used for:
• The Transport’s Main Counter
• Start, end, and length values
Feet.Frames (TDM systems only) Displays the
Time Scale in feet and frames for referencing audio-for-film projects. The Feet.Frames time display is based on the 35 millimeter film format.
With this Time Scale, you can enter a Start
Frame based on an appropriate frame location at
the beginning of your project tape. The
Feet.Frames Ruler will then use this value as its
start reference.
• Pre- and post-roll amounts
• Grid and Nudge values
The Main Time Scale can be set to the following
formats:
Feet.Frames dialog
Bars:Beats Displays the Time Scale in bars and
beats. Use this Time Scale if you are working
with musical material that must align with bars
and beats.
To ensure your tracks align with the bars and
beats in your session, make sure to record with
the click (see “Recording with the Click” on
page 128).
Material that is recorded without listening to
the click can still be aligned to bar and beat
boundaries in Pro Tools with the Identify Beat
command (see “Identify Beat Command” on
page 268).
Minutes:Seconds Displays the Time Scale in
minutes and seconds. As you zoom in farther
with the Zoomer, the Time Scale begins to display tenths, hundredths, and thousandths of a
second.
Time Code (TDM systems only) Displays the
Time Scale in SMPTE frames. The Frame Rate
and Session Start time are set from the Session
Setup window. Pro Tools supports the following
frame rates: 24, 25, 29.97 Non-Drop, 29.97
Drop, 30 Non-Drop, and 30 Drop frames per second.
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To set a start frame for a session:
■ Choose Setups > Feet.Frames and enter an appropriate start frame and click OK (negative offsets are not supported). This value will become
the “zero point” in the Feet.Frames Ruler.
Samples Displays the Time Scale in samples.
This format is very useful for high-precision
sample editing.
Setting the Main Time Scale
To set the Time Scale for the Sub Location
Indicator:
To set the Main Time Scale:
■ Select from the Sub Time Scale pop-up next to
the Location Indicator
Select the desired Time Scale at the bottom of
the Display menu.
■
– or –
– or –
■
■ Select from the Sub Time Scale pop-up in the
Transport Window.
Main Time Scale pop-up
Sub Time Scale pop-up (Transport window)
Select from the Main Time Scale pop-up next
to the Location Indicator (also available in the
Transport window).
– or –
If a Timebase Ruler is displayed, click its Indicator Dot so it becomes highlighted.
■
While you can click in the Main Counter and
type in a location to automatically locate there,
this is not supported for the Sub Counter.
Tick-Based Timing
Switching the Main Time Scale in the Ruler
Setting the Sub Time Scale
There is also a Sub Location Indicator displayed
below the Main Location Indicator, and below
the Transport’s Main Counter, which provides
an additional timing reference.
Pro Tools is a sample-based program with an internal MIDI resolution of 960,000 pulses per
quarter note (ppq). However, when the Time
Scale is set to Bars:Beats, the display resolution
in Pro Tools is 960 ppq.
In Bars:Beats, Pro Tools is tick-based (960 ticks
to a quarter note), which means that some
amount of sample-rounding may occur when
placing events at certain locations (see “Sample
Rounding and Edit Operations” on page 192).
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When working in Bars:Beats, you’ll often want
to specify tick values for a number of operations,
including:
• Placing and spotting regions
• Setting lengths for regions or MIDI notes
• Locating and setting play and record ranges
(including pre/post-roll)
• Specifying parameters in the Quantize and
Change Duration windows
• Setting the Grid and Nudge values
The following table lists the number of ticks for
each of the main note sizes:
Note Value
Normal
Dotted
Triplet
1/2 note
1920
2880
1280
1/4 note
960
1440
640
1/8 note
480
720
320
1/16 note
240
360
160
1/32 note
120
180
80
1/64 note
60
90
40
Ticks vs. Samples
Audio material in Pro Tools is sample-based.
This means that if an audio region is located at a
particular sample (or SMPTE) location, it will
not move from this location if the tempo
changes in the session (though the audio region’s bar and beat location will change).
MIDI data in Pro Tools is bar- and beat-based.
This means that if a MIDI region is located at a
particular bar and beat location, it will not move
from that location if the tempo changes in the
session—though its sample location will
change, thereby adjusting its relationship to audio.
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When creating Markers and Selection Memory
Locations, you can specify whether they have
an Absolute (sample-based) or Bar|Beat (tickbased) reference. For more information, see
“Bar|Beat and Absolute Reference” on page 275.
Sample Rounding and Edit Operations
Because audio material in Pro Tools is samplebased, some amount of sample-rounding may
occur with some edits when the Main Time
Scale is set to Bars:Beats. This is most evident
when you need audio regions to fall cleanly on
the beat (as when looping) and notice that the
material is sometimes a tick or two off. With a
few simple precautions, this can be avoided.
When selecting audio regions to be copied, duplicated, or repeated, make sure to select the material with the Selector (enable Grid mode for
precise selections), or set the selection range by
typing in the start and end points in the Event
Edit area. Do not select the material with the
Grabber (or by double-clicking with the Selector). This ensures that the selection will be precise in terms of bars and beats (and not based on
the length of the material in samples).
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting
Track Material
Playing Tracks
After recording or importing to tracks, you’ll
want to listen to the material to find track
ranges that require editing, or material that can
be turned into regions for use elsewhere.
To set where playback begins, you can click anywhere in a track with the Selector tool (as long as
the Edit and Timeline selections are linked, see
“Separate Edit and Timeline Selections” on
page 199).
The edit cursor, on the other hand, is a flashing
line that appears when you click with the Selector in a track’s playlist. The blinking edit cursor
indicates the start point for any editing tasks
performed. If you make a selection and perform
an edit, the selection is the target of the edit.
The selected Scrolling Option determines how
the Edit window scrolls during playback, and
how the playback cursor functions. See “Scrolling Options” on page 195 for details.
To begin playing from a specific point within a
track:
1 Select Operations > Scrolling Options > No
Auto Scrolling.
Setting a playback point with the Selector
Depending on the selected Scrolling Option, the
playback cursor, a solid unblinking line, moves
across the Edit window to indicate the current
playback position. The playback location is displayed in the Counters in the Transport window, in the Big Time window, and also in the
Location Indicators.
2 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
3 With the Selector, click in the track where you
want playback to begin.
4 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
playback.
5 Click Stop in the Transport window to stop
playback.
To jump to a different location and begin playing from there, click with the Selector at that
point and click Play in the Transport window.
Transport with Counters displayed
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193
With the Edit and Timeline selections linked,
you can click a region or MIDI note with the
Grabber to automatically update the Timeline
with the selection’s start time, allowing you to
easily play from that point.
Page Scroll During Playback
You can set Pro Tools to scroll the track display
while playing, and also have the edit cursor appear wherever playback stops.
To make the track display and the edit cursor
follow playback:
1 Select Operations > Scrolling Options > Page
Scroll During Playback.
2 Choose Setups > Preferences. In the Operation
page of the Preferences dialog, select the option
for “Timeline Insertion Follows Playback,” then
click Done.
3 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
4 With the Selector, click in the track where you
want playback to begin.
5 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
playback. The playback cursor scrolls across the
Edit window, indicating the current playback
position.
6 Click Stop in the Transport window to stop
playback. The edit cursor appears at the location
where playback stops.
Locating and Auditioning with Fast
Forward/Rewind
You can use the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons in the Transport window to locate material
in your tracks. If the Operation Preference for
“Audio During Fast Forward/Rewind” is selected, you’ll actually hear the scanned audio
(similar to a CD player) when clicking the Fast
Forward and Rewind buttons.
You can also fast forward or rewind incrementally by repeatedly clicking the appropriate button. The size of these increments is determined
by the Main Time Scale:
• Bars:Beats: moves to the beginning of the previous or next bar.
• Min:Sec: moves back or forward in one-second steps.
• Time Code: moves back or forward in one-second steps (while adjusting for current SMPTE
format).
• Feet.Frames: moves back or forward in onefoot steps.
• Samples: moves back or forward in one-second steps.
Location Indicators
The Location Indicators, in the upper right of
the Edit window, display the current playback
location, and also provide a convenient way to
navigate to a specific time location.
Location Indicators (Main and Sub)
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The Main Location Indicator displays the playback location in the time format for the Main
Time Scale. The Sub Location Indicator can be
set to any of the other Time Scale formats for another timing reference. Both the Main and Sub
indicators also appear in the Transport window
when it is set to display Counters.
To scroll the entire contents of the Edit window
from the Ruler:
■ While pressing Comand+Option+Control
(Macintosh) or Control+Alt+Start (Windows),
drag left or right in any of the Timebase Rulers.
To navigate with the Location Indicators:
1 Click in one of the Location Indicators.
Scrolling in the Ruler
– or –
Press Equal (=) on the numeric keypad to highlight the Main Location Indicator (or the Transport Counters or Big Time window, if either are
displayed).
2 Type in the new location. Press period (.) to
cycle through to the different time fields.
3 Press Enter to accept the new value and automatically locate there.
Choose from the pop-up menus next to the
Main and Sub indicators (in either the Edit
window or Transport window) to set their
time formats.
Scrolling in the Ruler
You can scroll the contents of the Edit window
by clicking and dragging in the Ruler. While this
doesn’t actually update the session’s Current Location, it does let you conveniently shift the display left or right for the sake of finding and editing material.
This method of scrolling is especially useful
when using Continuous Scroll With Playhead
(TDM systems only), which does not update or
follow Timeline selections.
Scrolling Options
Pro Tools offers the following options for how it
scrolls the contents of the Edit window during
playback and recording. Choose Operations >
Scroll Options and select one of the following
from the submenu:
No Auto-Scrolling With this scrolling option, the
Edit window does not scroll during or after playback. The playback cursor moves across the Edit
window, indicating the playback location.
Scroll After Playback Causes the Edit window to
scroll to the final playback location after playback has stopped. In this mode, the playback
cursor moves across the Edit window, indicating
the playback location.
Page Scroll During Playback Causes the Edit
window to scroll during playback. With this option, the playback cursor moves across the Edit
window, indicating the playback location.
When the right edge of the Edit window is
reached, its entire contents are scrolled, and the
playback cursor continues moving from the left
edge of the window.
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195
Continuous Scroll During Playback
(TDM Systems Only)
This scrolling option causes the Edit window’s
contents to scroll continuously past the playback cursor, which remains in the center of the
window. With this option, playback is always
based on the Timeline selection (unlike Continuous Scroll With Playhead).
With the Playhead enabled, you can jump to
and play an Edit or Timeline selection. For details, see “Playing Edit and Timeline Selections
with the Playhead” on page 211.
Half-Screen Edit Window
When either Continuous Scroll During Playback
or Continuous Scroll With Playhead is enabled,
a half-screen appears at the far left of the Edit
window (before the beginning of the session).
Continuous Scroll With Playhead
(TDM Systems Only)
This scrolling option causes the Edit window’s
contents to scroll continuously past the Playhead, which is a blue line in the center of the
window (red when recording).
The Playhead indicates where playback begins
when clicking Play in the Transport window.
Continuous Scroll With Playhead
To move the Playhead to a particular location
for playback, you can scroll there in the Ruler
(see “Scrolling in the Ruler” on page 195), use
the Edit window’s horizontal scroll bar, or type
the location into one of the Location Indicators
or one of the Counters.
Moving the Playhead with these methods does
not update the Timeline selection. However, updating the Timeline selection automatically
moves the Playhead to the Timeline insertion
point.
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Half-screen for Continuous Scroll With Playhead
The Scrubber
The Scrubber allows you to “scrub” up to two
tracks of audio in the Edit Window. Scrubbing is
a technique that originated in tape editing,
where the tape was rocked back and forth past
the playhead at slower than normal speeds to
find a particular location (usually for the sake of
performing splices).
While viewing an audio waveform in Pro Tools
can be helpful in visually finding an edit point,
sometimes a waveform display (because of its
sonic characteristics) may not reveal the desired
spot in the audio material. By scrubbing back
and forth over an edit point in Pro Tools, you
can listen and zero in on the exact edit point
you're looking for.
When the Operation Preference for “Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle” is enabled, the edit
cursor automatically locates to the point where
scrubbing stops.
When the Scrolling Option is set to Continuous
Scroll During Playback or Continuous Scroll
With Playhead, clicking with the Scrubber in a
track’s playlist centers the Edit window around
that point, and moves the Playhead there. With
these Scrolling Options, scrubbed material
moves past the Playhead, which remains stationary and centered.
Scrubbing is only supported for audio
tracks. MIDI tracks cannot be scrubbed.
To scrub a single audio track:
1 With the Scrubber selected, drag within the
track—left for reverse, right for forward.
To scrub up to two audio tracks:
■ With the Scrubber selected, drag between two
adjacent tracks.
Scrubbing between two audio tracks
– or –
■ Scrub within a selection that contains multiple tracks. Only the first two tracks are heard.
The maximum number of channels
scrubbed in Pro Tools is eight, which would
allow you to scrub two stereo tracks (four
channels), but not two 5.1 surround tracks
(12 channels).
Scrubbing an audio track with the Scrubber
The distance and speed with which you drag
(with either the mouse, or an external MIDI
controller wheel) determine the length and
speed of the scrubbed audio. Audio from the
scrubbed track is routed to its output, along with
any effects assigned to the track.
The resolution for the Scrubber is dependent
upon the zoom factor for the scrubbed track. For
finer resolutions without zooming, press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) while
scrubbing.
You can temporarily switch the Selector to
the Scrubber by Control-clicking (Macintosh) or Right-clicking (Windows). For finer
resolution, Command-Control-click (Macintosh) or Control-Right-click (Windows).
Scrub/Shuttle Mode
When scrubbing normally, you can scrub at normal playback speeds or slower. Scrub/Shuttle
mode, however, lets you scrub at several times
normal speed, which is helpful in playing
through large ranges and locating material.
To scrub in Shuttle mode (at several times normal
speed):
1 Select the Scrubber tool.
2 While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), drag within the track—left for reverse, right for forward. The Fast Forward and
Rewind buttons in the Transport window engage.
The distance and speed dragged determine the
speed for the scrubbed audio.
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197
Shuttle Lock Mode
Numeric Keypad Set to Shuttle
Shuttle Lock mode lets you trigger playback for
up to two tracks at varying speeds, forward and
reverse, from the numeric keypad. If multiple
tracks are selected, only the first two tracks are
shuttled.
(TDM Systems Only)
To play one or two tracks with the shuttle lock:
1 For TDM systems, make sure the Operation
Preference for Numeric Keypad Mode is not set
to Shuttle.
Pro Tools offers another form of shuttling, different from that of Shuttle Lock mode. With the
Numeric Keypad Mode set to Shuttle, playback
of the current Edit selection is triggered by pressing and holding the keys on the numeric keypad—playback stops once the keys are released.
Various playback speeds are available in both
forward and reverse. In this mode, pre/post-roll
are ignored.
2 With the Selector, click in the track where you
want playback to begin. To shuttle on two
tracks, Shift-click in a second track.
To shuttle with the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Shuttle:
3 Press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Operations.
(Windows) and a number on the numeric keypad: 0–9 (9 is fastest, 5 is normal speed, and 0
stops shuttling).
2 Set the Numeric Keypad Mode to Shuttle and
click Done.
Once Shuttle Lock mode is initiated, Fast Forward and Rewind become highlighted in the
Transport window.
4 Press additional keys to change the playback
speed, or press Plus (+) and Minus (–) to switch
the playback direction (plus for forward, minus
for backward).
5 To stop playback, press Control+0 (Macin-
tosh) or Start+0 (Windows).
To exit Shuttle Lock mode:
■
Press Stop in the Transport window.
3 With the Selector, click in the track where you
want playback to begin. To shuttle on two
tracks, Shift-click in a second track.
4 Press and hold any of the following keys (or
key combinations) on the numeric keypad to
trigger playback.
Shuttle Speed
Rewind Key
Forward Key
1 X Speed
4
6
4 X Speed
7
9
1/4 X Speed
1
3
1/2 X Speed
4+5
5+6
2 X Speed
7+8
8+9
– or –
■
Press the spacebar.
5 Press a different key to switch the playback direction or speed. Release to stop.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Separate Edit and Timeline
Selections
Pro Tools lets you unlink the Edit and Timeline
selections. In doing so, you can make a selection
within a track for editing purposes that is distinct from the selection in the Timeline (which
determines the playback and recording range).
Figure 11 illustrates another reason you’d want
to unlink the Edit and Timeline selections. In
this example, the Timeline selection sets a range
to be looped on playback, while a MIDI region
(residing within the loop) is selected for editing
purposes. During playback, the Edit selection
can be nudged, quantized, or transposed while
the loop plays back completely independent
and uninterrupted.
By default, the Edit and Timeline selections are
linked. In this mode, selecting in a track’s playlist (an Edit selection) also defines the play and
record range (the Timeline selection).
To unlink the Edit and Timeline selections:
Deselect Operations > Link Edit and Timeline
Selection.
■
– or –
In the upper left of the Edit window, click the
Link Selection button so it becomes unhighlighted.
■
Link Selection button, disabled
If you are working with a film or video scene,
you may want to unlink the Edit and Timeline
selections to work with material that is at a different location than the current play range. The
scene you’re working with (defined by the Timeline selection) may require some sound effects
and you can go to another location in the session to find and audition them. Edit selections
can be played (choose Operations > Play Edit Selection) without disrupting the current Timeline
selection. Once the desired material is found,
you can then go back to the Timeline selection
and place them within the context of the scene.
Figure 11. Edit and Timeline selections unlinked
While you could theoretically do this with the
Edit and Timeline selections linked, as soon as
playback is stopped, the playback range would
then be updated to that of the more recent edit
range.
Playback/Edit Markers
Timeline selections are displayed in the Ruler
with Playback Markers, which appear as blue arrows (red when recording). In addition, there
are Pre- and Post-Roll Flags (which are green
when enabled) indicating the location for
pre/post-roll.
Playback Markers with Pre/Post-Roll Flags
When the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked, Edit selections are displayed in the Ruler
with Edit Markers, which appear as black brackets.
Figure 12. Edit Markers
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
199
If the Edit and Timeline selections are linked,
Edit selections are represented by the blue Playback Markers.
See the following sections for details on working
with Edit and Timeline selections:
• “Selecting Track Material” on page 200
• “Timeline Selections” on page 209
• “Setting Punch/Loop Points” on page 144
Selections and Hidden Tracks
When editing tracks that are part of an active
Edit Group, any tracks within the group that are
hidden are not affected by the edits. To edit all
members of a group, make sure they are visible
by highlighting their names in the Show/Hide
Tracks List.
Selecting Regions
• “Setting Pre/Post-Roll” on page 145
To select a portion of a region:
Selecting Track Material
1 With the Selector, drag within the region (left
or right) to select the material.
Before audio and MIDI material can be edited, it
must first be selected. A track’s Display Format
determines how the material is viewed and selected.
Selecting a portion of a region
When you make a selection, it appears as a highlighted area of the track, and is also indicated by
blue start and end arrows (Playback Markers) in
the Ruler at the top of the Edit window. If any
track (audio or MIDI) in the session is record-enabled, even if it is hidden, these markers appear
red.
To select an entire region:
■
Click the region with the Grabber.
– or –
■
Double-click the region with the Selector.
To select two regions and the time range between
them:
1 With the Grabber, click the first region.
2 Shift-click the second region. Both regions be-
Playback Markers indicating Edit selection
If the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked,
the Edit selection range is indicated by Edit
Markers in the Ruler. See “Separate Edit and
Timeline Selections” on page 199 for details.
come selected, along with the time range between them (including any other regions).
To select an entire track:
■ Click in the track with the Selector and then
choose Edit > Select All.
– or –
Selections and Edit Groups
When making selections on tracks that are part
of an Edit Group, all tracks within the group become selected.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
■
Triple-click in the track with the Selector.
To select all regions in all tracks:
1 Select the “All” Edit Group in the Groups List.
2 Click in any track with the Selector and
choose Edit > Select All.
3 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
playback.
4 When playback reaches the point where you
want the selection to begin, press the Down Arrow key.
– or –
Triple-click with the Selector in any track.
Selecting All from Timebase Rulers
To select all material in all displayed audio and
MIDI tracks:
1 Make sure the Edit and Timeline selections are
linked.
2 Double-click in any Timebase Ruler. All regions in all displayed audio and MIDI tracks are
selected. Tracks that are hidden are not selected.
To select all material in all tracks, along with
Conductor events:
1 Make sure the Edit and Timeline selections are
linked.
2 While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Control (Windows), double-click in any Timebase
Ruler. All regions in all displayed audio and
MIDI tracks are selected, along with all events in
each of the Conductor tracks.
5 Press the Up Arrow key at the point where you
want the selection to end. The selected range becomes highlighted.
6 To stop playback, click Stop in the Transport
window.
To automatically scroll to the beginning of the
selection (or to the location of the on-screen
cursor), press the Left Arrow key. To scroll to the
end of the selection, press the Right Arrow key.
Object Selections (TDM Systems Only)
You can use the Object Grabber to select noncontiguous regions on one or more tracks. Noncontiguous selections must encompass entire regions. If you want a non-contiguous selection to
include a portion of a region, first turn the portion into a new region with the Separation
Grabber (see “Separation Grabber” on page 215)
or the Separate Region command (see “Separate
Region Command” on page 213).
The Object Grabber is not available when
the Edit mode is set to Shuffle or Spot.
Making Selections While Playing
To select non-contiguous regions:
Pro Tools lets you make on-the-fly selections
with the arrow keys.
1 Make sure the Edit mode is set to either Slip or
To make a selection while playing:
2 Choose the Object Grabber from the Grabber
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Grid.
tool pop-up menu.
Timeline selection.
2 With the Selector, click somewhere near the
beginning of the track in which you want to
make the selection.
Object Grabber
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
201
3 Shift-click each region you want to include in
the selection. The regions can even reside on different tracks.
Non-contiguous selection
Each clicked region becomes surrounded by a
dark rectangle, indicating it is selected.
2 With the Object Grabber selected, doubleclick the Grabber icon in the toolbar. The regions falling within the selection range become
selected as objects. Regions that were partially
selected become deselected.
The Object Grabber ignores Edit Groups when
making selections. For instance, selecting a region on a grouped track does not cause regions
in the other tracks in the group to become selected.
Object to Time Selection (TDM Systems Only)
You can convert between Time- and Objectbased selections. Time selections are made with
the Selector and Time Grabber. Object selections
are made with the Object Grabber.
Converting to an Object selection is useful
when you are working with large selections, especially across multiple tracks, and you want to
remove certain regions from the selection.
Converting to a Time selection is useful if you
want to select all regions between a non-contiguous Object selection.
To change a Time selection to an Object selection:
1 Drag with the Selector in any track to define a
selection. Select in a Timebase Ruler to select
across all tracks.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
To select regions that were partially selected,
press the Control key while double-clicking the
Grabber icon.
To change an Object selection to a Time selection:
1 Select any number of regions with the Object
Grabber.
2 Double-click the Selector icon in the toolbar.
The time range between the first and last region
becomes selected.
If using the Object Grabber (TDM systems only),
regions on the other tracks in the group are selected if they fall within the range of the selected region.
Changing a Selection Length
The selection range can be shortened or lengthened; this does not affect the material within
the selection.
To change the length of a selection:
With the Selector, position the cursor over
one end of the current selection and Shift-click
or Shift-drag left or right.
■
– or –
In the Ruler, drag the Playback Marker for the
selection’s start or end point.
■
3 While pressing Shift, press Plus (+) or
Minus (–) on the numeric keypad to move the
selection range by the Nudge value.
Nudging Selection Start/End Points
Start and end points for selections can be moved
by nudging them.
To move a selection start or end point by the
Nudge value:
Dragging a Playback Marker
– or –
If the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked, drag the Edit Markers (see Figure 12 on
page 199) to change the selection length.
■
To quickly make a long-length selection:
1 With the Selector, click at the beginning of the
selection.
2 Scroll to the end point of the selection and
Shift-click at that point.
To verify the start and end points of a long selection, press the Left Arrow key to scroll to the beginning of the selection, or press the Right Arrow key to scroll to the end.
1 Configure the Nudge value as desired. For details, see “Defining the Nudge Value” on
page 225.
2 Make the initial selection with the Selector.
3 While pressing Option+Shift (Macintosh) or
Alt+Shift (Windows), press Plus (+) or Minus (–)
on the numeric keypad to move the selection’s
start point by the Nudge value.
– or –
While pressing Command+Shift (Macintosh) or
Control+Shift (Windows), press Plus (+) or
Minus (–) on the numeric keypad to move the
selection’s end point by the Nudge value.
Extending Selections
Nudging a Selection Range
You can extend selections to region start and
end points, to include an adjacent region, or to
Markers and Memory Locations.
The selection range (not the material within the
selection) can be moved by the Nudge value.
To extend a selection to a region start or end
point:
To nudge a selection range:
1 With the Selector, select a portion of a region,
or click anywhere in the region.
1 Configure the Nudge value as desired. For details, see “Defining the Nudge Value” on
page 225.
2 Press Shift+Tab to extend the selection to the
2 Make the initial selection with the Selector.
region’s end point.
– or –
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
203
Press Shift+Option+Tab (Macintosh) or
Shift+Control+Tab (Windows) to extend the selection to the region’s start point.
To extend a selection to include an adjacent
region:
1 Select the first region with the Grabber.
2 Press Shift+Control+Tab (Macintosh) or
Shift+Start+Tab (Windows) to extend the selection to include the next region.
– or –
Press Shift+Control+Option+Tab (Macintosh) or
Shift+Start+Control+Tab (Windows) to extend
the selection to include the previous region.
To extend a selection to a Marker or Memory
Location:
1 Click in a track with the Selector at the selec-
Selection Indicators
To make a selection with the Selection Indicators:
1 Click with the Selector in the track you want
to select.
2 Click in the Start field at the top of the Edit
window.
– or –
Press the slash key to select the Start field.
3 Type in the start point for the selection and
press the slash key to enter the value and automatically move to the end field.
4 Type in the end point for the selection and
press Enter to accept the value.
tion’s start or end point.
– or –
Make a selection with the Selector or Grabber.
2 Shift-click a Marker in the Markers Ruler.
– or –
Shift-click a Memory Location in the Memory
Locations window.
The selection is extended from the original Insertion point to the Marker or Memory Location.
Using the Selection Indicators
(Start, End, and Length)
The Selection Indicators at the top of the Edit
window can define precise edit selections. Time
values for the Selection Indicators use the time
format for the Main Time Scale.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Numeric Entry Shortcuts for Selection
Indicators
You can use the following shortcuts for entering
values in the Selection Indicators:
■ Press the slash key to cycle through the three
Selection Indicators.
■ Use period (.) or the Left and Right Arrow keys
to move through the different time fields in
each Selection Indicator.
■ Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to increase
or decrease the numerical values.
■ Command-drag (Macintosh) or Control-drag
(Windows) a selected field to scroll to a new
value.
■ Press Plus (+) or Minus (–), along with an accompanying number, to add or subtract from
the current field value.
For example, to add 10 to a current field value,
cycle to the field, press the Plus (+) key, type
“10” and then press Enter.
If using Calculator Entry mode with the
Time Scale set to Bars:Beats, see “Calculator Entry Mode and Bars:Beats” on
page 205.
To shorten or lengthen the selection across each
of the tracks, press Shift while dragging to
change the range of the selection.
To select across all tracks:
Enable the All Edit Group and make a selection in any track.
■
– or –
Press Escape to exit the Selection Indicators
without entering any values.
■
These shortcuts can also be used to enter
start and end values in the Transport window.
Calculator Entry Mode and Bars:Beats
To use Minus (–) in Calculator mode with the Time
Scale set to Bars:Beats:
1 Highlight the time field you want to change.
2 While pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows), press Minus (–) on the numeric keypad.
3 Type the amount you want to subtract from
the current time value, then press Enter.
Selecting Across Multiple Tracks
■ Drag with the Selector in any Timebase Ruler
(make sure the Edit and Timeline Selections are
linked).
These selections include all tracks in the Edit
window, but do not include the Conductor
tracks (for Tempo, Meter, and Markers).
To select across all tracks, including the
Conductor tracks (for Tempo, Meter, and
Markers):
■ Option-drag (Macintosh) or Alt-drag (Windows) with the Selector in any Timebase Ruler.
Moving and Extending Selections
Between Tracks (TDM Systems Only)
With the Commands Focus enabled (TDM systems only), Edit selections can be moved or extended to adjacent tracks.
To perform edits across multiple tracks or all
tracks, you must first select the tracks. Do this by
making selections on tracks that are grouped
(see “Grouping Tracks” on page 91), by extending selections to other tracks, or by selecting in a
Timebase Ruler (for all tracks).
To extend a selection to another track:
1 Using the Selector or Grabber, make a selection in the first track.
2 Shift-click in additional tracks with the Selector. An identical range is selected for each additional track.
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
205
To move a selection to an adjacent track:
1 Enable the Commands Focus by clicking its
button in the upper left of the Edit window.
Other Useful Selection Techniques
Following are some additional selection techniques.
Commands Key button, enabled
To position the edit cursor precisely at a region
start, end, or sync point:
2 With the Selector or Grabber, make a track se-
1 Click with the Selector in the track.
lection.
3 Press P on your computer keyboard to move
the selection to the previous track.
– or –
Press semicolon to move the selection to the
next track.
In either instance, the original Edit selection becomes deselected.
2 Press Tab to move the cursor to the next region start, end, or sync point.
– or –
Press Option+Tab (Macintosh) or Control+Tab
(Windows) to move the cursor to the previous
region start, end, or sync point.
To make a selection with the Scrubber:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences. In the Operation
To extend a selection to an adjacent track:
1 Enable the Commands Focus.
2 With the Selector or Grabber, make a track se-
lection.
3 Press Shift+P to extend the selection to the
previous track.
– or –
Press Shift+semicolon to extend the selection to
the next track.
In either instance, the original Edit selection remains selected.
To remove the bottom track from a selection:
Press Control+Option+semicolon (Macintosh) or Start+Alt+semicolon (Windows) to remove the bottom track.
■
page of the Preferences dialog, select the option
for “Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle,” then
click Done.
2 Scrub with the Scrubber to find an appropriate
start point for the selection, then release.
3 While pressing Shift, scrub to an appropriate
end point for the selection, then release. The
range between the initial and final scrub becomes selected.
To move a selection to an adjacent region on the
same track:
1 Select a region with the Grabber.
2 Press Control+Tab (Macintosh) or Start+Tab
(Windows) to move the selection to the next region.
– or –
Press Control+Option+Tab (Macintosh) or
Start+Control+Tab (Windows) to move the selection to the previous region.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
In either instance, the original region becomes
deselected.
To set the start and end points of a selection with
Tab to Transients:
To slide an Edit selection in the Ruler:
1 In the upper left of the Edit window, click the
Tab to Transients button so it becomes selected.
1 With the Selector or Grabber, make a track se-
lection.
2 While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), move the cursor over either of the
Playback Markers in the Ruler (the Grabber appears).
2 If you will be setting the play range with this
selection, selection Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
3 Click in the audio track just before the beginning of the material you want to select.
4 Press Tab repeatedly until the cursor locates to
the transient at the start of the selection.
Sliding an Edit selection in the Ruler
3 Drag left or right to move the Edit selection
back or forward in time, while preserving its
length.
If the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked,
Option-drag (Macintosh) or Alt-drag (Windows)
the Edit Markers instead.
Tabbing to Transients
With the Tab to Transients option, you can automatically navigate to transients in audio
waveforms, placing the cursor just before the detected transient peak. This allows you to easily
define selections and play ranges, as well as start
and end points for new regions, without having
to zoom in on the waveform.
Tab to Transients button, enabled
When Tab to Transients is enabled, the Tabbing
function also locates the cursor to region start,
end, and sync points.
If necessary, you can move to the previous transient by pressing Option+Tab (Macintosh) or
Control+Tab (Windows).
5 Press Shift+Tab until the cursor locates to the
end of the selection.
To move the selection end point to the previous
transient, press Shift+Option+Tab (Macintosh)
or Shift+Control+Tab (Windows).
Once selected, the material can be looped for recording or playback, or it can be turned into a
new region with the Separate or Capture command.
Region List Selection Follows
Track Selection
When the Editing Preference for “Region List Selection Follows Track Selection” is enabled, selecting a region in a track also causes the region
to become selected in the Audio or MIDI Regions List.
Conversely, if the Editing Preference for “Track
Selection Follows Region List Selection” is enabled, selecting a region in the Audio or MIDI
Regions List causes the initial occurrence of that
region to become selected within the track.
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
207
Playing Selections
Once an Edit selection is made, you can audition the track range by clicking Play in the
Transport window. If enabled, the pre- and postroll amounts play as well.
Auditioning Start and End Points for
Selections
There may be times when you want to audition
the start or end of a selection without hearing
the entire selection. This allows you to check,
for instance, whether the beginning or end of a
selection includes any unwanted clicks or pops.
To play a selection:
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
2 With the Selector or Grabber, make a track se-
lection.
3 If desired, enable and set the pre- and post-roll
plays start
(for post amount)
plays end
(for pre amount)
amounts. For details, see “Setting Pre/Post-Roll”
on page 145.
plays pre-roll + start
4 Click Play in the Transport window.
All tracks play for the range of the selection, including pre/post-roll if enabled.
Auditioning Pre- and Post-Roll
plays end + post-roll
Playback ranges for auditioning start/end points
To audition a selection start point:
■ Press Command+Left Arrow (Macintosh) or
Control+Left Arrow (Windows).
You can audition and play just the pre-roll or
post-roll material for a selection.
When auditioning the beginning of a selection,
the selection plays from the start point for a duration equal to the post-roll amount.
To play from the pre-roll point to the start of a
selection, or to the current cursor location:
To audition a selection start point with pre-roll:
Press Option+Left Arrow (Macintosh) or
Alt+Left Arrow (Windows).
■ Press Command+Option+Left Arrow (Macintosh) or Control+Alt+Left Arrow (Windows).
To play to the post-roll point from the end of a
selection, or from the current cursor location:
To audition a selection end point:
■
Press Command+Right Arrow (Macintosh) or
Control+Right Arrow (Windows).
■
■ Press Option+Right Arrow (Macintosh) or
Alt+Right Arrow (Windows).
When auditioning the end of a selection, playback begins before the end point by the pre-roll
amount.
To audition a selection end point with post-roll:
■ Press Command+Option+Right Arrow (Macintosh) or Control+Alt+Right Arrow (Windows).
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Looping Playback
When Loop Playback is enabled, the selected
track range repeats on playback. If there is no selection, playback occurs normally from the current cursor location.
A selection must be at least 1 second in
length for it to loop on playback.
Looping playback is a useful way to check the
rhythmic continuity of a selection when working with musical material. If you’re working
with one-bar selections, you can loop playback
to see if the material loops cleanly. If it seems to
skip, you should then adjust the length of the
selection until it works “musically” within the
context of the playlist and the other tracks.
5 Click Stop in the Transport window to stop
playback.
Loop Playback and Audio Recording
When Loop Playback is enabled, Pro Tools will
not loop when attempting to record audio
tracks with QuickPunch, Destructive Record, or
Nondestructive Record mode.
To loop record audio tracks in Pro Tools, you
must enable Loop Record mode.
Timeline Selections
With the Edit and Timeline selections unlinked,
selections can be made in the Timeline that are
distinct and separate from Edit selections.
To loop playback of a selection:
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
2 With the Selector, select the track range you
want to loop.
3 Select Operations > Loop Playback. When en-
abled, a loop symbol appears in the Play button
in the Transport window.
Loop Playback enabled
With the Edit and Timeline selections linked,
any Edit selections that are made are mirrored in
the Timeline.
Whether the Edit and Timeline selections are
linked or not, the range indicated by the Playback Markers always determines the range for
playback and recording.
For TDM systems, when Continuous Scroll With
Playhead is enabled, it determines where playback begins. For details, see “Playing Edit and
Timeline Selections with the Playhead” on
page 211.
You can also enable Loop Playback by Controlclicking (Macintosh) or Right-clicking (Windows) the Play button in the Transport window.
Or, with the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport, press 4 on the numeric keypad.
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the selection to the current Grid value.
4 Click Play in the Transport window.
2 Drag with the Selector in any Timebase Ruler.
To make a Timeline selection with the Selector:
Playback begins from the pre-roll point (if enabled) and continues to the selection’s end
point, where it loops back to the start point.
Making a Timeline selection with the Selector
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
209
The Timeline selection is indicated in the Ruler
by the blue Playback Markers (red if a track is
record-enabled). The start, end, and length for
the Timeline selection is displayed in the corresponding fields in the Transport window.
To select all tracks, including Conductor
tracks, press Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows) while dragging in a Timebase
Ruler with the Selector.
To set the Timeline selection by dragging the
Playback Markers:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to con-
strain movement to the current Grid value.
2 With the Grabber, drag the first Playback
Marker (down arrow) to set the start point.
4 Type in the new end location and press Enter
to accept the value.
Shortcuts for entering start and end values
in the Transport window are listed in “Numeric Entry Shortcuts for Selection Indicators” on page 204.
Sliding a Timeline Selection
Like Edit selections, Timeline selections can be
slid in the Ruler.
To move a Timeline selection in the Ruler:
1 While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), move the cursor over either of the
Playback Markers (the Grabber appears).
2 Drag left or right to move the Timeline selection back or forward in time, while preserving
its length.
Dragging a Playback Marker
3 Drag the other Playback Marker (up arrow) to
set the end point.
To set the Timeline selection by typing into the
Transport window:
1 If necessary, resize the Transport window by
clicking in the upper right so the start and end
times are displayed.
2 In the Transport window, click in the start
field.
– or –
Press Option-slash (Macintosh) or Alt-slash
(Windows) to select the start field in the Transport window.
3 Type in the new start location and press slash
to enter the value and automatically move to
the end field.
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Timeline Selections to/from Edit
Selections
When the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked, you can copy selections between them.
To copy an Edit selection to the Timeline:
■ Choose Operations > Copy Edit Selection to
Timeline.
To copy a Timeline selection to an Edit selection:
■ Choose Operations > Copy Timeline Selection
to Edit.
Playing Edit and Timeline
Selections with the Playhead
(TDM Systems Only)
When Continuous Scroll With Playhead is enabled, selections in the Timeline do not determine when playback begins. The Playhead, itself, denotes where playback begins when
clicking Play in the Transport.
The Edit and Timeline selections, however, can
still be played when the Playhead is enabled.
Moving the Playhead
When Continuous Scroll With Playhead is enabled, the Playhead can be moved forward or
back to the next region boundary in the selected
track.
To move the Playhead through a track’s region
boundaries:
1 Click in the track with the Selector.
2 Press Tab to move the Playhead forward to the
next region boundary.
– or –
To play an Edit selection with the Playhead
enabled:
1 Deselect Operations > Linked Edit and Timeline Selections.
Press Option+Tab (Macintosh) or Control+Tab
(Windows) to move the Playhead back to the
previous region boundary.
2 Select Operations > Scroll Options > Continuous Scroll With Playhead.
3 With the Selector or Grabber, make a track se-
lection.
4 Choose Operations > Play Edit Selection.
The Playhead jumps to the Edit selection and
plays it from beginning to end, and then stops.
To play a Timeline selection with the Playhead
enabled:
1 Deselect Operations > Linked Edit and Timeline Selections.
2 Select Operations > Scroll Options > Continuous Scroll With Playhead.
3 Drag with the Selector in any Timebase Ruler
to set the play range.
4 Choose Operations > Play Timeline Selection.
The Playhead jumps to the Timeline selection
and plays it from beginning to end, and then
stops.
Chapter 16: Playing and Selecting Track Material
211
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and
Selections
Because regions are the basic building block of
audio and MIDI tracks, understanding how they
are created, edited, and arranged is essential to
taking full advantage of the editing capabilities
of Pro Tools.
This chapter covers basic editing functions as
they apply to regions and selections. The material, for the most part, applies to both MIDI and
audio data.
For editing procedures more specific to MIDI,
see Chapter 23, “MIDI Editing.” For more advanced editing procedures, see Chapter 18, “Advanced Editing.” You should, however, become
familiar with the information in this chapter before moving on to the others.
Capture Region Command
The Capture Region command defines a selection as a new region and adds it to the Regions
List. From there, the new region can be dragged
to any existing tracks.
To capture a new region:
1 With the Selector, drag within an existing region to select the material for the new region.
Selecting a region portion
2 Choose Edit > Capture Region.
3 Enter a name for the new region and click OK.
Creating New Regions
Pro Tools provides you with several commands
for creating regions, each of them having a
slightly different effect on the selection. When
you create a new region, it appears in the Regions List and in the track’s playlist. For details
on how these new regions are automatically
named, see “Auto-Naming Parameters” on
page 261.
When creating a new region from an existing region, the original region remains in the Regions
List.
The new region appears in the Regions List. The
selected region portion remains intact and unchanged.
Separate Region Command
The Separate Region command defines a selection within an existing region, or a partially selected region, as a new region and separates it
from adjacent material. If there is no selection
and the Edit cursor is placed within the region,
the region is split at the insertion point.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
213
Auto-Name Separated Regions
With the Auto-Name Separated Regions option
in the Editing Preferences selected, Pro Tools automatically names separated regions for you.
The name is a numbered variation of the original region’s name.
To separate one or more regions:
1 With the Selector, drag to select the material
for the new region or regions. The selection can
reside within a single region, across adjacent regions within the same track, or across multiple
tracks.
– or –
Click with the Selector at the point within a region, where you want to split the region in two.
If the Editing Preference for “Separate Region Operates On All Related Takes” is selected and you are editing a region that is
one of a number of related takes with the
same User Time Stamp (for example, as created with loop recording), the Separate Region command affects each take. For details
see, “Editing Preferences and Take Regions”
on page 143.
Separating Multiple Tracks
Figure 13 illustrates a a separation across three
mono audio tracks and one stereo track. For
some tracks, the selection resides within a region, while others reside at the start or end of a
region.
2 Choose Edit > Separate Region.
3 If the Editing Preference for Auto-Name Sepa-
rated Regions is disabled, enter a name for the
new region when prompted, then click OK.
The new regions appear in the tracks in which
they were created, separate from the data surrounding it. They also appear in the Regions
List. From there they can be dragged to other
tracks.
By separating a region, additional regions are
auto-created from data on either side of the separation, which have new numbers assigned to
their names. The original region remains intact
and unchanged on the Regions List.
Figure 13. Separating across multiple tracks
Once separated, this material can be easily
moved or copied to another location.
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Separation Grabber
To separate a selection without affecting the
original regions:
You can use the Separation Grabber to automatically separate an edit selection and move it to
another location or another track.
To separate a selection with the Separation
Grabber:
1 With the Selector, drag to select the material
for the new region or regions. The selection can
reside within a single region, across adjacent regions within the same track, or across multiple
tracks.
1 With the Selector, drag to select the material
for the new region or regions. The selection can
reside within a single region, across adjacent regions within the same track, or across multiple
tracks.
2 From the Grabber pop-up, choose the Separation Grabber.
3 While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), drag the selection to the new location, or to another track.
2 From the Grabber pop-up, choose the Separation Grabber.
Separation Grabber
3 Drag the selection to the new location, or to
another track.
Dragging to another track with Separation Grabber
New regions containing the previous selection
are created and placed at the new location. The
original selection and regions remain intact.
before
after
Dragging later in track with Separation Grabber
A new region (or regions) containing the previous selection is created, separate from the original selection. New regions are also created from
the material outside the original selection.
Trim To Selection Command
The Trim To Selection command removes data
before and after a region or MIDI note selection,
leaving only the selection. This command provides a handy means of quickly removing all
data in a region (and in some instances the entire track) except for the current selection.
To trim unwanted data from a region or note:
1 With the Selector, select a portion of a region
or note (or a range of notes).
2 Choose Edit > Trim > To Selection to remove
material outside of the selection.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
215
Healing a Separation
Placing Regions in Tracks
The Heal Separation command returns separated regions to their original state—provided
the regions are still next to each other and their
relative start/end points haven’t changed since
the separation.
Once you have created a region, it appears in the
Audio or MIDI Regions List. From there you can
drag it to a track to add to an existing arrangement of regions, or you can create a new track
and start adding regions from scratch. The exact
placement of regions in a track depends on
whether the Edit mode is set to Shuffle, Slip,
Spot, or Grid (see “Edit Modes” on page 185 for
details).
If you have trimmed or otherwise changed the
start or end points of the two regions, or moved
them further away from each other, you won’t
be able to repair them with the Heal Separation
command. It is not possible to heal two regions
created from different audio files.
To heal a separation between two regions:
1 With the Selector, make a selection that includes part of the first region, the entire separation between the regions, and part of the second
region.
2 Choose Edit > Heal Separation.
If the regions won’t heal, there are other ways to
return the separated regions to a single region.
Delete one of the two separated regions (make
sure you’re in Slip mode so the gap doesn’t
close) and use the Trimmer to expand the remaining region to its original length. For information on using the Trimmer, see “The Trimmer
Tool” on page 218.
◆
– or –
Delete both of the separated regions and drag
the original region from the Regions List to the
original location. For information on placing regions, see “Placing Regions in Tracks” on
page 216.
◆
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
For information on locating regions in the Regions List by typing the first few letters of their
name, see “Keyboard Selection of Regions” on
page 184.
To place a region in a track:
1 In the Audio or MIDI Regions List, select the
region or regions you want to place in a track.
2 Drag the selected regions from the Regions
List to a track at the desired point.
If dragging multiple regions, the regions are
placed on adjacent tracks. If dragging a stereo region, it must be placed in a stereo track or in two
mono tracks.
Regions are placed according to the current Edit
mode:
• In Shuffle mode, existing track regions are slid
as necessary to make room for the new region.
• In Spot mode, you are prompted by the Spot
dialog to enter a location for the dragged region (see “Spotting Regions” on page 223).
• In Grid mode, the dragged region snaps to the
nearest Grid boundary.
• In Slip mode, the regions are placed freely
anywhere in the destination track.
Use the Replace Region function to replace
all occurrences of a region (in all tracks)
with a different region from the Regions
List. See “Replacing Regions” on page 239.
Placing Regions at the Edit
Insertion Point
To place the end of a region at the Edit insertion
point:
1 Click with the Selector in the track at the desired time location.
2 While pressing Command+Control (Macintosh) or Control+Start key (Windows), drag the
region from the Regions List, or from another
track, to the destination track.
– or –
You can easily place and align a region’s start,
end, or sync point to the Edit insertion point.
This technique is useful in post production applications since it allows you to set a reference
point and quickly place sound effects while ensuring that their start point remains consistent.
If the region is already in the track, CommandControl-click (Macintosh) or Control-Start-click
(Windows) the region with the Grabber.
You can drag a region from the same track, from
another track, or from the Audio or MIDI Regions List.
1 Click with the Selector in the track at the desired time location.
For TDM systems, when Continuous Scroll
with Playhead is selected, regions snap to
the playhead, instead of the Edit insertion
point.
To place the start of a region at the Edit insertion
point:
1 Click with the Selector in the track at the desired time location.
2 While pressing Control (Macintosh) or the
Start key (Windows), drag the region from the
Regions List, or from another track, to the destination track.
– or –
If the region is already in the track, Controlclick (Macintosh) or Start-click (Windows) the
region with the Grabber.
To place the sync point of a region at the Edit
insertion point:
2 While pressing Shift+Control (Macintosh) or
Shift+Start key (Windows), drag the region from
the Regions List, or from another track, to the
destination track.
– or –
If the region is already in the track, Shift-Control-click (Macintosh) or Shift-Start-click (Windows) the region with the Grabber.
Aligning to Region Start Points
The start, end, and sync point of one region can
be aligned to the start of a different region on
another track.
For TDM systems, if Continuous Scroll with
Playhead is enabled, region start, end, and
sync points align to the playhead.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
217
To align the start points of regions on different
tracks:
To align the sync point of a region to the start of
another region (on a different track):
1 With the Grabber, select the region you want
to align to by clicking it.
1 With the Grabber, select the region you want
to align to by clicking it.
2 For TDM systems, if Continuous Scroll with
Playhead is enabled, move the playhead to the
start of the selected region. For details, see
“Moving the Playhead” on page 211.
2 For TDM systems, if Continuous Scroll with
Playhead is enabled, move the playhead to the
start of the selected region. For details, see
“Moving the Playhead” on page 211.
3 With the Grabber, Control-click (Macintosh)
or Start-click (Windows) the region you want to
move.
3 With the Grabber, Shift-Control-click (Macin-
– or –
– or –
Control-drag (Macintosh) or Start-drag (Windows) a region from the Regions List to another
track.
Shift-Control-drag (Macintosh) or Shift-Startdrag (Windows) a region from the Regions List
to another track.
The start point of the second region is aligned to
the start of the first region.
The sync point of the second region is aligned to
the start of the first region.
To align the end point of a region to the start of
another region (on a different track):
1 With the Grabber, select the region you want
to align to by clicking it.
2 For TDM systems, if Continuous Scroll with
Playhead is enabled, move the playhead to the
start of the selected region. For details, see
“Moving the Playhead” on page 211.
3 With the Grabber, Command-Control-click
(Macintosh) or Control-Start-click (Windows)
the region you want to move.
– or –
Command-Control-drag (Macintosh) or Control-Start-drag (Windows) a region from the Regions List to another track.
The end point of the second region is aligned to
the start of the first region.
218
tosh) or Shift-Start-click (Windows) the region
you want to move.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
The Trimmer Tool
Standard Trimmer
With the Trimmer tool, you can quickly shorten
or expand a region (up to the entire length of
the source audio file). The first time you trim a
region, Pro Tools automatically adds it to the
Regions List as a new region (with a name derived from the original) in order to differentiate
it from the original.
The Standard Trimmer is a nondestructive tool
and doesn’t actually modify the original audio
or MIDI data (when working on regions). To return to the length of the original region, drag it
from the Regions List, or resize the edited region
with the Trimmer to its original length.
Use of the Trimmer is affected by the current
Edit mode: Shuffle, Slip, Spot, or Grid. See “Edit
Modes” on page 185 for more information.
The Standard Trimmer can also be used to
lengthen and shorten MIDI notes (see
“Trimming Note Start and End Times” on
page 302), and also to scale automation
and controller data up or down “Drawing
Automation” on page 390.
For TDM systems, the Trimmer has three
modes: Standard Trimmer (discussed in
this section), Scrub Trimmer (see “The
Scrub Trimmer” on page 219), and Time
Trimmer (see “The Time Trimmer” on
page 242).
To trim a region with Standard Trimmer:
1 Select the Trimmer tool. For TDM systems,
make sure the Standard Trimmer is selected in
the Trimmer pop-up menu.
When trimming regions in a stereo or multichannel track, all channels are trimmed.
When using Shuffle mode, adjacent regions are
slid as necessary to make room for the edited region. If using Grid mode, the dragged start/end
times snap to the nearest Grid boundary. If using Spot mode, the Spot dialog opens, where
you can enter the new location for the region’s
start or end point.
The Scrub Trimmer
(TDM Systems Only)
The Scrub Trimmer is a convenient tool for auditioning material (on up to two tracks) to find a
trim point. You can drag in a track to hear the
audio information, then trim at a specific location by releasing the mouse button.
This action creates a new region. Note that the
cursor changes into a “right trim” or “left trim”
shape as it is placed over the right or left side of
a region. To reverse the direction of the Scrub
Trimmer, press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows) before you click the region.
Standard Trimmer
2 Move the cursor near the start or end of the re-
gion, so the Trim cursor appears.
Scrub Trimmer over a region
Trim cursor
To reverse the direction of the Trim cursor, press
Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows).
Scrub playback speed and direction vary with
controller movement. Scrubbed audio is routed
through the track signal path, so you hear any
effects in the signal path.
3 If trimming the end, drag left to shorten the
region, right to lengthen.
– or –
If trimming the start, drag right to shorten the
region, left to lengthen.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
219
To scrub trim a track:
1 Click the Scrub Trimmer tool. The cursor
changes to a speaker with a bracket.
2 Choose Edit > Trim > End To Insertion. The region’s end point is automatically trimmed to the
insertion point.
2 Drag within a track to the left or right. Audio
from a scrubbed track is routed through the
track signal path, including any TDM effects.
When you locate the desired trim point, release
the mouse button to trim the region.
To scrub trim two tracks, click with the Scrub
Trimmer between two adjacent tracks and drag.
To scrub with finer resolution (without having
to zoom in), press Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows) while scrubbing.
Trim To Insertion Command
You can trim a region or MIDI note by automatically removing the material between the Edit
insertion point and the start or end point.
To trim from a start point to insertion:
1 With the Selector, click inside the region or
note where you want the new start point to be.
2 Choose Edit > Trim > Start To Insertion. The
region’s start point is automatically trimmed to
the insertion point.
To trim from an end point to insertion:
1 With the Selector, click inside the region or
note where you want the new end point to be.
Region end trimmed to insertion
Trimming with Nudge
You can trim the start and end points of a region
by nudging them.
To trim a region’s start or end point by the Nudge
value:
1 Configure the Nudge value as desired. For details, see “Defining the Nudge Value” on
page 225.
2 With the Grabber, select the region you want
to trim.
3 While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), press Plus or Minus on the numeric
keypad to trim the region’s start point by the
Nudge value.
– or –
While pressing Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows), press Plus or Minus on the numeric keypad to trim the region’s end point by
the Nudge value.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Sliding Regions
A region or group of selected regions (on the
same track or on multiple tracks) can be slid
with the Grabber tool to new locations or to
other tracks. This feature is useful in music and
post production applications where the timing
of audio events such as sound effects and dialog
need to be spotted to music, film, or video.
2 With the Selector, click in the region at the
point, usually the peak of the waveform, where
you want to define the sync point.
3 Choose Edit > Identify Sync Point. A small
down arrow appears at the bottom of the region,
indicating the location of the sync point.
Sliding regions is affected by whether the current Edit mode is set to Shuffle, Slip, Spot, or
Grid. See “Edit Modes” on page 185 for details.
You can slide a copy of a region to another
location or track by pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows) while dragging.
To retain a region’s location when dragging
to another track, press Control (Macintosh)
or the Start key (Windows) while dragging.
Defining Region Sync Points
The placement of regions in Grid and Spot
mode can be based on the definition of a region
sync point. Sync points are used when a point
within a region must be aligned to the Grid or to
a particular SMPTE or bar/beat location. This capability is important in placing music and
sound effects for film and video work.
For example, suppose you had an audio region
for a door slam that included the creak of the
door closing, the actual slam, and the reverb of
the slam. You may want to align the “slam” to
other locations within the session.
Sync point defined
To remove a sync point, select the entire region
and choose Edit > Remove Sync Point.
Shuffling Regions
In Shuffle mode, you can move regions freely
within a track or onto another track, but their
movement is constrained by other regions. That
is, if you place several regions in a track, their
start and end points automatically snap to each
other. You can then “shuffle” their order, but
you cannot separate them from each other and
you cannot make them overlap as in Slip mode.
In Shuffle mode, adding another region to the
beginning of a track moves all subsequent regions to the right by the length of the region
added.
To shuffle regions:
1 Set the Edit mode to Shuffle by clicking its
button in the upper left of the Edit window.
To identify (define) a region sync point:
1 Set the Edit mode to Slip by clicking its button
in the upper left of the Edit window.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
221
2 Drag a mono region from the Regions List to
an empty track. The region snaps to the beginning of the track.
3 Drag a second region from the Regions List to
the same track, somewhere in the middle. The
start point for the second region snaps to the
end of the first region.
Shuffling this region this cuts
this channel
4 With the Grabber, drag the second region to
the beginning of the track.
Pro Tools “shuffles” the position of the two regions. The second region now occurs first, yet
the two still cling together.
5 Experiment more with Shuffle mode by dragging additional regions to the track and rearranging them.
Shuffling multichannel regions
Locked regions (see “Locking Regions” on
page 228), and all regions occurring after the
locked region, are not displaced when other
neighboring regions are moved in Shuffle mode.
If there is not enough room to place or duplicate
a region in front of a locked region, the insertion
area is disabled.
In Slip mode, regions can be moved with the
Grabber freely within a track, or onto other
tracks. In this mode, it is possible to place a region so that there is space between it and other
regions in a track. When the track is played
back, this space is silent. It is also possible to
move a region so that it overlaps or completely
covers another region.
If you place a region while in Slip mode and
switch to Shuffle mode, Pro Tools preserves the
relative timing and position of the slipped region, and any blank space between it and other
regions.
Shuffling Multiple Tracks and
Multichannel Regions
Selections across multiple tracks or on multichannel tracks can be shuffled. Unlike shuffling
regions on a single, mono track, any partially selected regions will be cut and moved along with
the dragged region. This lets you retain only the
material that corresponds to the dragged region,
similar to a tape splice and multitrack.
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Slipping Regions
To slip regions:
1 Set the Edit mode to Slip by clicking its button
in the upper left of the Edit window.
2 Drag a region from the Regions List to an
empty track.
3 Drag a second region from the Regions List to
the same track, somewhere in the middle. The
second region is placed wherever you release it.
It doesn’t snap to the first region as in Shuffle
mode.
4 Drag the regions to different locations within
the track to get a feel for moving them in Slip
mode. Try placing the second region so that it
slightly overlaps the first region. Play back the
results.
Spotting Regions
Each of the fields in the Spot dialog are displayed in the chosen Time Scale.
Spot mode is useful for sessions in which you
want to spot regions to precise locations based
on any of the Time Scales. This can be particularly useful when performing post production
tasks. In Spot mode you can spot a region by
specifying a SMPTE frame (TDM systems only)
or bar and beat location, by capturing an incoming time code address, or by using the region’s
time stamps.
For even quicker spotting, if you are using
VITC, use the Auto-Spot Regions command
to spot a region to the current SMPTE frame
location with the Grabber. For more information, see “Auto-Spotting Regions” on
page 493.
To spot a region:
1 Set the Edit mode to Spot by clicking its button in the upper left of the Edit window.
2 Drag a region from the Regions List to an ex-
isting track.
– or –
Click a region already in a track with the Grabber.
3 In the Spot dialog, select the desired time for-
mat from the Time Scale pop-up menu.
Spot dialog
4 For TDM systems, if the Time Scale is set to
Time Code, select the Use Subframes option to
display subframes in the fields for great accuracy.
5 Click in the field for Start, Sync Point, or End
and type in a new location. Changing one of
these locate points automatically updates the
other locate points.
– or –
Click one of the up arrows next to Original Time
Stamp or User Time Stamp to enter the associated values into the currently selected field.
– or –
If you are using an external SMPTE time code
source, click the down arrow next to the Current
Time Code display—or press Equal (=) on the
numeric keypad—to capture an incoming time
code address.
6 Click OK. The region is moved to the new location specified for its start or sync point.
If a region does not have a sync point defined,
the Sync Point field in the Spot dialog functions
the same as the Start field.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
223
To learn more about using SMPTE with
Pro Tools, refer to Chapter 35, “Time Code Synchronization.”
Region Time Stamps
When a region is created, it is time stamped relative to the SMPTE start time specified for the
session. This Original Time Stamp is permanently stored with the region and cannot be
changed. If a region is ever moved, it can easily
be placed at its original position from the Spot
dialog.
When the Original Time Stamp for a region is
initially set, this same location is also used to define the region’s User Time Stamp.
Unlike the Original Time Stamp, the User Time
Stamp can be redefined with the Time Stamp Selected command in the Regions List pop-up
menu. For more information, see “Time Stamping” on page 494.
Regions with identical User Time Stamps appear
together in the Takes List pop-up when auditioning takes. For more information, see “Auditioning from the Takes List Pop-up Menu” on
page 142.
Sliding Regions in Grid Mode
In Grid mode, the movement and placement of
regions is constrained to the current Grid value.
Grid boundaries, depending on the Main Time
Scale, can be based on frames, bar and beat values, minutes or seconds, or a number of samples.
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This mode is especially useful for lining up regions at precise intervals, as when working with
a session that is bar- and beat-based. For example, if the Grid value is set to quarter notes
(0|1|000), dragging a region to a new location
causes it to snap to the nearest quarter note
boundary.
When the Display Preference for “Draw Grid in
Edit Window” is enabled, vertical Grid lines appear in the Edit window.
Grid lines in the Edit window can also be enabled and disabled by Control-clicking (Macintosh) or Right-clicking (Windows) the Indicator
Dot for any Timebase Ruler.
Defining the Grid Value
In addition to affecting the placement of regions, the Grid value also constrains Edit and
Timeline selections, and determines how the
Quantize Regions command works.
To set the Grid value:
1 From the Display menu, select the Time Scale
you will use for the Grid value.
– or –
To keep the Main Time Scale and use a different
time format for the Grid, deselect Follow Main
Timebase in the Grid Value pop-up in the upper
right of the Edit window.
2 From the Grid Value pop-up in the upper right
of the Edit window, select the time value that
will define the Grid boundaries.
Nudging
Pro Tools can nudge regions (or MIDI notes) by
precise increments with the Plus (–) and Minus
(+) keys on the numeric keypad. The amount of
the nudge is determined by the value specified
in the Nudge pop-up menu. The Nudge function can be used in any of the Edit modes.
Nudging can be invaluable for adjusting the
“groove” of a musical phrase or a sound effect
relative to other elements in the session. Since
Pro Tools can nudge material during playback,
you can nudge continuously in real time to adjust the timing relationship between tracks.
Grid Value pop-up showing Bars:Beats
– or –
To define a Grid based on the session’s Markers,
selections, and region boundaries, select Regions/Markers from the Grid Value pop-up.
To place or move a region while in Grid mode:
1 Configure the Grid value as desired. For de-
tails, see “Defining the Grid Value” on page 224.
2 Drag a region from the Regions List to an existing track.
– or –
With the Grabber, drag a region already in a
track to a new location.
The region’s start point snaps to the closest Grid
boundary. If the region has a sync point defined, the sync point snaps to the Grid boundary.
Nudge can also be used to adjust the placement
of automation breakpoints. For more information, see “Editing Automation” on page 391.
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 Selection Start/End Points” on page 203). In addition, regions can be trimmed by the Nudge
value (see “Trimming with Nudge” on
page 220).
To set the Nudge value:
1 From the Display menu, select the Time Scale
you will use for the Nudge value.
– or –
To keep the Main Time Scale and use a different
time format for the Nudge value, deselect Follow Main Timebase in the Nudge pop-up in the
upper right of the Edit window.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
225
2 From the Nudge pop-up menu in the upper
right of the Edit window, select the Nudge value.
Nudging Regions on Multiple Tracks and
in Multichannel Tracks
When nudging a selection of multiple regions,
within a single track or across multiple tracks,
that also contains silence, any automation data
residing within the silence is also nudged.
Nudging by Next Nudge Value
(TDM Systems Only)
Nudge pop-up showing Time Code
To specify a Nudge value not listed in the Nudge
pop-up, click in the Nudge field and type in the
value.
Nudging Regions
To nudge one or more region:
For example, if the Nudge value is set to 1 frame
and you want to nudge by a larger valuer, you
can nudge by the next, larger Nudge value of 10
frames.
1 Configure the Nudge value as desired. For details, see “Defining the Nudge Value” on
page 225.
To nudge forward or back by the next, larger Nudge
value:
2 With the Grabber or Selector, select the region
the a-z button in the upper left of the Edit window.
or regions you want to nudge. The regions can
reside on multiple tracks. Only regions that are
entirely selected will be nudged.
3 On the numeric keypad, press Plus (+) to move
the selection forward by the Nudge value.
– or –
Press Minus (–) to move the selection back by
the Nudge value.
The Nudge command works the same regardless
of the Edit mode. Adjacent regions are overlapped in Shuffle mode, the Spot dialog does not
appear when in Spot mode, and shifted material
does not snap to the Grid when in Grid mode.
226
In addition to nudging by the current Nudge
value, you can also nudge by the next, larger
value in the Nudge pop-up.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
1 Enable the Key Commands Focus by clicking
2 With the Selector or Grabber, select the regions or notes you want to nudge.
3 Press slash (/) to nudge the selected material
forward by the next Nudge value. Press M to
nudge the selection back.
You can also nudge by the next Nudge value
without enabling the Commands Focus.
While pressing Control (Macintosh) or the
Start key (Windows), press slash (/) or M.
Nudging a Region’s Contents
Often a region’s start point will reside at the correct location, perhaps at a SMPTE frame or bar,
but the material within the region starts too late
or early. You can, in effect, nudge a region’s audio waveform or MIDI notes without displacing
the region’s start and end points.
before
Shift Command
Use the Shift command to move track material
forward or back in time by a specified amount.
The Shift command can operate on selections,
regions, MIDI notes, MIDI controller data, and
automation breakpoints.
To shift a selection or region:
1 Using either the Selector or Grabber, select the
track material you want to shift. The selected
material can reside on multiple tracks.
region contents are slid, moving waveform material into and out of the current region boundaries
2 Choose Edit > Shift. In the Shift dialog, select
whether the data will be moved Earlier or Later.
after
3 Click in one of the Timebase fields to specify
the amount the material will be shifted. Entering a value in one Timebase field automatically
updates the others.
Nudging region content
This “sliding” of region contents is only possible
if there is material residing outside the region’s
start and end points—from the region having
been trimmed, or perhaps captured from a larger
region.
To nudge the contents of a region without
changing the region start and end points:
1 Configure the Nudge value as desired. For details, see “Defining the Nudge Value” on
page 225.
Shift dialog
2 With the Grabber, select the region whose
greater accuracy.
contents you want to nudge.
3 While pressing Control (Macintosh) or the
Start key (Windows), press Plus (+) or Minus (–)
on the numeric keypad to move the material by
the Nudge value.
4 If desired, select the Use Subframes option for
5 Click OK. The material is shifted back or forward by the specified amount.
If a portion of a region was selected, new regions
are created from the selection and from any material outside of the selection.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
227
The Shift command works the same regardless
of the Edit mode. Adjacent regions are overlapped in Shuffle mode, the Spot dialog does not
appear when in Spot mode, and shifted material
does not snap to the Grid when in Grid mode.
Locking Regions
If you have a region or group of regions that you
want to permanently associate with a particular
location in a track (a beat, SMPTE frame, or sample location), you can lock it in place so it will
not be accidentally moved.
Quantizing Regions
The Quantize Regions command adjusts the
placement of selected audio and MIDI regions
so that their start points (or sync points, if they
contain one) precisely align to the nearest Grid
boundary, which can be based on frames, bar
and beat values, minutes or seconds, or a number of samples.
To lock a region:
1 With the Grabber, select the region or regions
to lock. The regions can even reside on multiple
tracks.
2 Choose Edit > Lock/Unlock Region.
To quantize one or more regions:
1 Configure the Grid value as desired. For de-
Locked audio region
tails, see “Defining the Grid Value” on page 224.
A small lock appears in the region, indicating it
has been locked and cannot be moved. If you attempt to perform edits that would move a
locked region, Pro Tools alerts you.
2 With the Grabber or Selector, select the region
or regions you want to quantize. The regions
can be on multiple tracks. Only regions that are
entirely selected will be quantized.
3 Choose Edit > Quantize Regions. Region start
times (or sync points) are aligned to the boundaries for the defined Grid.
For MIDI regions, all data contained within the
regions (such as notes) are moved equally,
thereby retaining their rhythmic relationships.
To quantize individual MIDI notes, use the
Quantize command in the MIDI menu (see
“Quantize” on page 318).
In Shuffle mode, locked regions, and all regions
occurring after the locked region, are not displaced when other neighboring regions are
moved. If there is not enough room to place or
duplicate a region in front of a locked region,
the insertion area is disabled.
Locking a region prevents it from being
moved only—operations such as recording
and automation editing still affect it.
Muting/Unmuting Regions
Choosing the Mute/Unmute Region command
mutes playback of a selected region. Choosing
the command a second time unmutes the region. Regions that are muted become dimmed
to indicate their status.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
mute, send, or plug-in automation that is also
on the track. This saves you from having to individually cut from each automation playlist on
the track.
Muted audio region (middle)
To mute a region or regions:
1 With the Grabber, select the region or regions
you want to mute. The regions can even reside
on multiple tracks.
Audio waveform data
2 Choose Edit > Mute/Unmute Region. The selected regions become dimmed, indicating they
are muted.
To unmute a region, select it and choose Edit >
Mute/Unmute Region.
Edit Commands
Cut, Copy, Clear, and Paste
Use the Cut, Copy and Paste commands to rearrange and edit track material. Edits can operate on entire regions selected with the Grabber,
or on track ranges selected with the Selector. Edits can also work across multiple tracks (see “Editing Across Multiple Tracks” on page 232).
For TDM systems, you can cut, copy, and
paste discontiguous regions selected with
the Object Grabber.
When cutting or copying track material, the
track’s Display Format determines the type of
data placed on the Clipboard. When displaying
waveforms for audio tracks, or notes or regions
for MIDI tracks, selections include all underlying automation and controller data. Thus, cutting an audio region also cuts any volume, pan,
Automation data (breakpoint-type data)
However, when selecting groups of MIDI notes
with the Grabber (by drawing a rectangle
around them), only the note data is placed on
the Clipboard. When selecting a time range of
MIDI notes with the Selector, all controller data
in the track is selected (similar to selecting with
the Selector for audio tracks in Waveform view).
When a track is displaying automation data or
controller data, only that data is placed on the
Clipboard. Also, whenever you cut or copy automation data, bounding breakpoints are created
at each end of the selected area, in order to preserve the slope of the automation both inside
and outside the selection.
If tracks are grouped, copying and pasting on
any of the tracks affects each of the other tracks
in the group. Tracks that are hidden—even if
they are part of a group being edited—are not affected by edits.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
229
The current Edit mode affects how material is selected, copied, and pasted:
• In Slip mode, the Cut command leaves an
empty space corresponding to the data removed from the track.
• In Shuffle mode, the Cut command leaves no
empty space, since the regions to the right of
the cut slide over, closing the gap.
• In Slip mode, pasted data can overlap an adjacent region.
• In Shuffle mode, pasted data causes all regions
to slide over to make room for the pasted material.
3 Drag with the Selector in the track to select
the material you want to clear.
– or –
Use the Grabber to select one or more regions
(or a group of MIDI notes).
4 Choose Edit > Clear to remove the selection.
If a portion of a region was cleared, new regions
are auto-created from the material residing outside of the selection. If working in Shuffle mode,
adjacent regions are slid over, as necessary, to
fill the blank space.
Cut and Copy Commands
New regions are often auto-created when performing edits. For instance, when clearing a selection from a region, new regions are auto-created from the material residing outside of the
selection.
Clear Command
Use the Clear command to remove a selection
from a track without placing it on the Clipboard.
Use the Copy command to place a selection on
the Clipboard so it can be pasted to another
track, or to the same track at a different location.
Use the Cut command to place the selection on
the Clipboard while also removing it from the
track.
To cut or copy a selection or region:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the selection to the current Grid value.
To clear a selection or region:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to con-
strain the selection to the current Grid value.
2 Set the Display Format for the tracks you want
to edit.
When displaying waveforms for audio tracks, or
notes or regions for MIDI tracks, selections include underlying automation and controller
data. If the track is displaying automation data,
only the automation data is affected by the edits.
2 Set the Display Format for the tracks you want
to edit.
When displaying waveforms for audio tracks, or
notes or regions for MIDI tracks, selections include underlying automation and controller
data. If the track is displaying automation data,
only the automation data is affected by the edits.
3 Drag with the Selector in the track to select
the material you want to cut or copy.
– or –
Use the Grabber to select one or more regions
(or a group of MIDI notes).
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4 Choose Edit > Cut to remove the selection and
2 With the Selector, click in a track at the point
place it on the Clipboard.
where you want to paste the material. Press Tab
to move the insertion point forward to region
start and end times; to move back, press Option+Tab (Macintosh) or Control+Tab (Windows).
– or –
Choose Edit > Copy to place the selection on the
Clipboard, without removing it.
If a portion of a region was cut or copied, the
material on the Clipboard appears as a new region in the Regions List. If a portion of a region
was cut, new regions are auto-created from the
material residing outside of the selection.
When working in Shuffle mode, adjacent regions are slid over, as necessary, to fill blank
spaces.
Deleting Underlying Region Data
In Slip mode, Regions can be placed so that they
overlap or completely cover other regions.
When removing a region or selection, you can
also remove the underlying region data.
To delete a region or selection along with the
underlying region data:
■
Choose Edit > Cut.
To delete a region or selection without removing
the underlying region data:
■
Choose Edit > Clear.
Paste Command
– or –
Use the Selector or Grabber to make a selection
where the material will be placed.
3 Choose Copy > Paste.
If pasting at an insertion point in Shuffle mode,
material to the right of the paste point is shifted
to the right. In Slip mode, the material is overwritten with the paste.
If pasting into a selection in Shuffle mode, the
selection is replaced by the Clipboard’s contents
with the adjacent material slid left or right as
necessary. In Slip mode, the selection is also replaced but with the surrounding material remaining unchanged.
When working with MIDI, you can merge
the contents of the Clipboard with material
in the destination track. For details, see
“Merge Paste Command” on page 234.
For TDM systems, the Fill Paste command
can be used to fill a selection with the contents of the Clipboard. For details, see “Repeat Paste To Fill Selection” on page 241.
Use the Paste command to place the Clipboard’s
contents at the Edit insertion point, overwriting
existing material already there.
To paste a selection or region:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the insertion point or selection to the current Grid value.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
231
Copying and Pasting Automation
The following are two special functions for
copying and pasting automation data.
To copy all automation playlists for a track,
press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows) when copying from any of the track’s automation playlists. This special function also
works across multiple tracks.
◆
To paste from one type of automation playlist
to another similar playlist (for instance, from a
volume playlist to a send level playlist), press
Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows)
when pasting.
◆
For more information on working with automation data, see Chapter 28, “Automation.”
Editing Across Multiple Tracks
When working with data from multiple tracks,
there are some important points to remember.
If all selected tracks are displayed as automation
data, edits only affect the type of automation
data displayed in each track. Furthermore, if
track 1 displays Pan automation, track 2 displays
Volume automation, and track 3 displays Mute
automation, the Cut command cuts only pan
data from track 1, volume data from track 2, and
mute data from track 3.
For details on selecting data on multiple
tracks, see “Selecting Across Multiple
Tracks” on page 205.
When copying only automation or controller
data for selected tracks, press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows) to copy all
types of automation on all selected tracks.
To paste to multiple tracks, place the insertion
point in each of the destination tracks by Shiftclicking in them—or to select all tracks, OptionShift-click (Macintosh) or Alt-Shift-click (Windows) in a track, or make a selection in one of
the Timebase Rulers.
When you paste multiple types of data, whatever data has been copied is pasted into the correct type of playlist. Automation data is pasted
into the appropriate automation playlist (pan,
volume, mute and so on). Audio/MIDI data is
pasted into the audio/MIDI playlist. You don’t
need to set target tracks to the specific type of
data being pasted for the paste to work correctly.
Tracks displayed in different data formats
For instance, if any of the selected tracks are set
to display audio or MIDI regions (or MIDI
notes), edits affect not only audio and MIDI for
the selected tracks, but all automation and controller data as well.
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If all destination tracks in a multitrack paste are
displayed as automation, the paste replaces any
previous data on the target track without shuffling—regardless of whether you are in Slip or
Shuffle mode.
Duplicate Command
The Duplicate command copies a selection and
places it immediately after the end of the selection. Though this is similar to using Copy and
Paste, Duplicate is more convenient and faster,
particularly when working with data on multiple tracks.
To make more than one copy of a selection, use
the Repeat command (see “Repeat Command”
on page 233).
As with the Copy and Paste commands, certain
rules apply when duplicating material on multiple tracks. For details, see “Editing Across Multiple Tracks” on page 232.
The Duplicate command does not operate
on conductor events.
To duplicate a selection or region:
1 If working with material that is bar- and beatbased, such as loops, set the Main Time Scale to
Bars:Beats.
2 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to con-
strain the selection to the current Grid value.
3 Drag with the Selector in the track to select
the material you want to duplicate.
– or –
Click in the track and enter the start and end
points for the selection in the Event Edit area.
4 Choose Edit > Duplicate. The material is
placed immediately after the selection’s end
point.
In Shuffle mode, the duplicated data is placed
directly after the end of the selection. Regions
occurring after it are slid to accommodate the
duplicated material. In Slip mode, the duplicated material overlaps any adjacent data.
When using Duplicate or Repeat with MIDI
notes that were selected with the Grabber, material is always duplicated one measure later, and
is merged with existing track material (instead
of replacing).
Duplicating Audio
When using Duplicate or Repeat for audio that
must fall cleanly on the beat (for loops), it is important that you select the audio material with
the Selector, or by typing in the start and end
points in the Event Edit area. If you select an audio region with the Grabber (or by double-clicking it with the Selector), the material may drift
by several ticks because of sample-rounding.
If, on the other hand, you want to Duplicate or
Repeat audio that is not bar- and beat-based, set
the Time Scale to any format except Bars:Beats.
This ensures that the duplicated audio material
will have the correct number of samples and will
be placed accordingly.
Repeat Command
The Repeat command is similar to Duplicate,
but allows you to specify the number of times
the selected material is duplicated.
As with the Copy and Paste commands, certain
rules apply when repeating material on multiple
tracks. For details, see “Editing Across Multiple
Tracks” on page 232.
To repeatedly paste copied data until it completely fills a selection (TDM systems only), see
“Repeat Paste To Fill Selection” on page 241.
The Repeat command does not operate on
conductor events.
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
233
To repeat a selection or region:
To merge MIDI data:
1 If working with material that is bar- and beatbased, such as loops, set the Main Time Scale to
Bars:Beats.
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the selection to the current Grid value.
2 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to con-
strain the selection to the current Grid value.
3 Drag with the Selector in the track to select
the material you want to repeat.
– or –
Click in the track and enter the start and end
points for the selection in the Event Edit area.
4 Choose Edit > Repeat. In the Repeat dialog,
enter the number of times you want the material to repeat, then click OK.
2 Drag with the Selector in the track to select
the MIDI notes you want to merge.
– or –
Use the Grabber to select one or more MIDI regions (or a group of MIDI notes).
3 Choose Edit > Cut to remove the selection and
place it on the Clipboard.
– or –
Choose Edit > Copy to place the selection on the
Clipboard without removing it.
4 With the Selector, click in a MIDI track at the
point where you want to merge the material.
5 Choose Edit > Merge Paste. The Clipboard’s
contents are pasted at the insertion point, without removing the existing material already residing there.
Repeat dialog
The material is placed immediately after the selection’s end point, and duplicated by the number of times specified.
In Shuffle mode, the repeated data is placed directly after the end of the selection. Regions occurring after it are slid to accommodate the repeated material. In Slip mode, the repeated
material overlaps any adjacent data.
Editing Stereo and
Multichannel Tracks
(MIDI Only)
Regions on individual channels within stereo
and multichannel tracks cannot be independently selected. All selections for these tracks are
time-based, which means that selections made
with the Selector and Grabber extend to each
channel in the track.
Use the Merge Paste command to merge MIDI
notes from the Clipboard with material already
residing in the paste destination. To replace
track material, use the Paste command instead.
When regions in multichannel tracks are edited
with the Trimmer or dragged with the Grabber,
material on all channels is affected equally as a
group.
Merge Paste Command
234
If any portion of the material is pasted outside
of existing regions, a new region is created for
the data.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Split Selected Tracks
To edit a specific channel within a stereo or
multichannel track without affecting the other
channels, you can split the track into separate
mono tracks. Once the desired edits have been
made to the separated material, you can then
drag or copy it back to the original multichannel track.
To split a stereo or multichannel track:
1 Select the track you want to split by clicking
its name in the Edit or Mix window. To split
multiple tracks, Shift-click additional tracks.
2 Choose File > Split Selected Tracks Into Mono.
Regions from the channels on the selected
tracks are placed on new, mono audio tracks.
Names for the new tracks are based on the
source track name and channel suffix. For example, if a stereo track called “Funkit” is split, two
new tracks called “Funkit.L” and “Funkit.R” are
created.
Output and send assignments and volume and
pan settings are retained in the new tracks.
Mono equivalents of stereo and multi-mono
plug-in assignments are assigned in the new
tracks; multichannel plug-in assignments are
not assigned in the new tracks.
When dragging regions to or from stereo or
multichannel tracks, the following rules apply:
◆ Provided the number of tracks and channels
are the same for the source and destination, you
can drag regions between multichannel tracks
and mono tracks.
◆ The source and destination for dragged regions can be mixed. For example, you can drag
regions from a 5.0 track (containing five channels) to a stereo track and three mono audio
tracks.
◆ When dragging multichannel regions to
mono tracks, the destination tracks must be adjacent.
◆ When dragging regions from mono tracks to a
multichannel track, the source tracks need not
be adjacent.
Multichannel regions can also be dragged from
the Audio Regions List, to multichannel tracks
of the same format, groups of mono audio
tracks, or a combination of both.
Conversely, a collection of single, mono regions
can be dragged from the Audio Regions List to
multichannel tracks—provided the dragged
number of regions matches the number of channels in the destination track.
Dragging Regions to and from Stereo
and Multichannel Tracks
Dragging a stereo region to two mono audio tracks
Chapter 17: Working with Regions and Selections
235
Processing Audio with
AudioSuite Plug-Ins
The AudioSuite plug-ins included with your
Pro Tools system can be used to process and
modify an audio region or entire audio file. You
may do this in order to apply a specific AudioSuite process, such as Normalization or DC Offset Removal, that you know you will always
want applied to the audio.
Refer to the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide for
more information about AudioSuite plugins.
Waveform Repair with the
Pencil Tool
The Pencil tool allows you to destructively “redraw” waveform data. This tool is most commonly used to repair a pop or click in an audio
file. A pop or click appears as a sudden sharp
spike in a waveform. This tool only becomes active when the Edit window is zoomed in to the
sample level.
The Pencil tool is a destructive editing tool
that permanently modifies the audio file on
disk and should be used with caution.
Although you can Undo a Pencil tool edit, it is
recommended that you create a backup copy of
the target audio, before using the Pencil tool.
You can do this by using the AudioSuite Duplicate plug-in.
To make a backup copy of an audio region:
3 In the AudioSuite dialog, make sure that
“Playlist” is the processing preference, and that
Use In Playlist is selected.
4 Click the Process button.
The AudioSuite Duplicate plug-in creates a new
audio file that is a duplicate of the original. The
duplicate replaces the original on the track, and
it is automatically named with the region name
and the suffix “DUPL.”
To destructively edit an audio waveform with the
Pencil tool:
1 Locate the area you want to edit. Adjust the
Track Height, as necessary, to edit the waveform
with greater precision.
2 Using the Zoomer tool or the Vertical Zoom
buttons, zoom down to the sample level so the
waveform appears as a continuous thin line.
You can recall zoom levels with the Zoom
Preset buttons (see “Zooming” on
page 186), or with Memory Locations (see
“Memory Locations and Markers” on
page 274).
3 Select the Pencil tool.
Pencil tool
4 Carefully draw with the Pencil by dragging
over the desired area of the waveform.
Don’t over-edit or the results may be undesirable. You can use the Undo command to undo
your previous edit.
1 Select the source region in the track’s playlist.
2 Choose AudioSuite > Duplicate.
Repairing a “pop” with the Pencil tool
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Try to limit editing to smoothing over a very
small problem area, and keep the “fixes” in
character with the shape of the surrounding
wave.
The Smart Tool
The Smart Tool lets you use the Selector, Grabber, and Trimmer, as well as create fades, without switching tools. Depending on where the
cursor is placed in relation to a region or note,
the Smart Tool automatically switches to the appropriate tool. For details, see “Using the Smart
Tool” on page 237.
To temporarily switch the Smart Tool to the
Scrubber, press Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows).
To select the Smart Tool, press F6+F7, or
press Command+7 (Macintosh) or Control+7 (Windows) on the alpha keypad.
Using the Smart Tool
With the Smart Tool you can instantly access
the Selector, Grabber, and Trimmer, and you
can also perform fades and crossfades. The position of the cursor in relation to a region or note,
or within an automation playlist, determines
how the Smart Tool functions.
The Smart Tool in Waveform View (or
MIDI Track Regions View)
Fade-In
Selector
Fade-Out
Trim
Start
Trim
End
Grabber
Crossfade
Smart Tool in Waveform View
The following capabilities are available with the
Smart Tool when working with audio tracks in
Waveform or Blocks View, or MIDI tracks in Regions View:
◆ For the Selector, position the cursor over the
middle of the region, in the upper half.
◆ For the Grabber, position the cursor over the
middle of a region, in the lower half.
◆ For the Trimmer, position the cursor near the
region’s start or end point.
◆ For a fade-in or fade-out, position the cursor
near an audio region’s start or end point, near
the top. Once the Fade cursor appears, drag into
the region to set the fade length. The fade is created automatically with the Default Fade Settings (in the Editing Preferences).
◆ For a crossfade, position the cursor between
two adjacent audio regions, near the bottom.
Once the Crossfade cursor appears drag left or
right to set the crossfade length. The crossfade is
created automatically with the Default Fade Settings (in the Editing Preferences).
Smart Tool in Edit window
To select the Smart Tool, click its icon in the upper left of the Edit window, or press F6+F7 (or
F7+F8).
To temporarily switch the Smart Tool to the
Scrubber, press Control (Macintosh) or the
Start key (Windows).
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237
◆ For the Selector, move the cursor so it is positioned anywhere in the bottom 75% of the playlist.
The Smart Tool in Notes View
Selector
Trim
End
Trim
Start
Grabber
◆ For the Grabber, press Command (Macintosh)
or Control (Windows) to insert breakpoints.
Continue pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows) after you begin editing for
fine control; otherwise, release for coarse control.
Smart Tool in Notes View
The following capabilities are available with the
Smart Tool when working with MIDI tracks in
Notes View:
For the Selector, position the cursor so it
doesn’t cover any notes.
◆
To get the Selector while positioning the cursor
over notes, press Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows).
For the Grabber, position the cursor over the
note, near its middle.
◆
To get the Marquee so you can select a group of
notes, position the cursor so it doesn’t cover any
notes and press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows).
For the Trimmer, position the cursor near the
note’s start or end point.
◆
To temporarily switch the Smart Tool to the
Pencil, press Control (Macintosh) or the
Start key (Windows); for the Eraser, press
Control+Option (Macintosh) or Start+Alt
(Windows).
The Smart Tool in Automation and
Controller Views
The following capabilities are available with the
Smart Tool when working in automation and
controller Views:
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Press Command+Shift (Macintosh) or Control+Shift (Windows) to vertically constrain
movement.
◆ To edit existing breakpoints, move the cursor
near a breakpoint and the Grabber will appear.
Press Shift to vertically constrain movement.
◆ For the Trimmer, position the cursor in the
top 25% of the playlist to trim breakpoints. Press
Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows)
after you begin trimming for fine control.
The Smart Tool with Stereo and
Multichannel Tracks
When using the Smart Tool on stereo and multichannel tracks, individual channels cannot be
independently edited. All edits affects all channels as a whole.
The tool switching for the Smart Tool in stereo
and multichannel tracks is determined by the
position within the entire track, and not within
individual channels.
Chapter 18: Advanced Editing
Replacing Regions
(TDM Systems Only)
You can use the Replace Region function to replace multiple instances of a region in a playlist
with another region that you Command-drag
(Macintosh) or Control-drag (Windows) from
the Regions List.
This is useful in post production 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 regions with a different region.
This is also useful in music production if you
want to replace a certain loop or sample (for example, a drum beat) with a new one. You can
use this compositionally, if you know the tempo
of a section or session, to create a scratch piece
with “rough” regions of the correct length, and
later replace them with “final” regions of the
same length.
Replace Region dialog
The following options are available in the Replace Region dialog:
Replace Original Region Replaces only the selected region with the replacement region
dragged from the Regions List.
Replace All Regions That Match Original Replaces all regions that fit the Match criteria and
the Find Match On criteria with the replacement region from the Regions List.
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239
Match: Start Position Replaces all regions that
have the same original start time as the selected
region. This includes regions that may have
been auto-created when trimming end points.
Match: End Position Replaces all regions that
have the same original end time as the selected
region. This includes regions that may have
been auto-created when trimming start points.
Match: Region Name Replaces all regions that
have the same name as the selected region.
Region matching uses all specified Match criteria. For example, if you select Start Position and
End Position, all regions from the same original
audio file as your selection with the same original start and end times will be replaced.
Find Match On: This Track Only Replaces regions
that fit the Match criteria and are on the same
track as the original region.
Find Match On: All Tracks Replaces regions that
fit the Match criteria for all tracks in the session.
Fit To: Original Region Length If the replacement
region is smaller than the original region, the region is placed in the playlist and any remaining
audio from the original region is removed.
If the replacement region is larger than the selection, it is placed in the playlist and trimmed
to fit within the length of the original region.
Fit To: Original Selection Length When the playlist selection extends beyond the original region, the replacement region (if larger than the
original region) is trimmed to fit within the selection.
Fit To: Replacement Region Length The replacement region is placed in its entirety, regardless
of the length of the original region or selection.
The Replace Region function only works on a selection that includes a single region on one
track. The function is not available when the
playlist selection includes the start points for
two or more regions. Also, if the selection is
across several tracks, only the selection in the
first (top) track is used.
To replace regions:
1 Select a region in a track’s playlist that you
want to replace. If desired, the selection can extend beyond the region’s end point, to include
material from the replacement region that is
longer than the original region.
2 Command-drag (Macintosh) or Control-drag
(Windows) the replacement region from the Regions List to the selected region. The Replace Region dialog opens.
3 If you want to replace only the original region,
select Replace Original Region.
– or –
If you want to replace multiple regions, select
Replace All Regions That Match Original, and
set the Match criteria.
4 Select whether to apply the replacement to all
tracks, or only to the track with the current selection.
5 Select whether to fit the replacement regions
to the current selection, the entire region, or the
entire replacement region regardless of the destination length.
6 When you have set all the options, click OK.
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Replace Region and Multichannel
Tracks
The Replace Region command supports dragging multichannel regions from the Audio Regions List to multichannel tracks, provided they
are the same format.
For example, you can replace a stereo region, selected in a stereo audio track, with another stereo region from the Audio Regions List. But you
cannot replace it with two mono audio regions.
In addition, replacing regions in multiple mono
tracks with multichannel regions is not supported.
Repeat Paste To Fill Selection
(TDM Systems Only)
To fill a selection with Paste to Fill:
1 Select the audio or MIDI region you want to
copy and choose Edit > Copy.
2 Select the area you want to fill using the Selec-
tor and choose Edit > Repeat Paste To Fill Selection.
3 If pasting audio regions to larger areas, the
Batch Fades dialog opens. Configure the dialog
as desired to insert crossfades between each
pasted region, then click OK.
– or –
If you do not want crossfades for the pasted audio, click Cancel in the Batch Fades dialog.
Compress/Expand Edit To
Play
The Repeat Paste To Fill Selection command allows you to automatically fill a selection with
audio or MIDI data without requiring you to duplicate the regions manually. To use Repeat
Paste, copy an audio or MIDI region, then make
a selection and use the command to fill the selection. When pasting audio regions, you are
prompted to specify a crossfade to be used for
the pasted regions.
(TDM Systems Only)
If you fill an area that is an exact multiple of the
copied region size (for example, filling 16 bars
with a 4-bar loop), the copied selection is pasted
in exactly as many times as it takes to fill the selection. If you fill an area that is not an exact
multiple of the copied region size (for example,
filling 15 seconds of a track with a 2-second atmosphere or room noise region), the remaining
selection area is filled with an automatically
trimmed version of the original selection.
1 Deselect Operations > Link Edit and Timeline
When the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked, you can compress or expand an audio selection to fit the Timeline selection. This feature
works by using the Time Compression/Expansion plug-in to expand or compress the selected
audio material.
To fit an Edit selection to the Timeline:
Selection.
2 With the Selector, select the audio material to
be compressed or expanded.
3 In any Timebase Ruler, select the time range
where you want to fit the audio material.
4 Choose Edit > Compress/Expand Edit To Play.
The Edit selection is compressed or expanded to
the length of the Timeline selection.
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241
Compress/Expand Edit to Play on
Multiple Tracks and Channels
The Compress/Expand Edit Play command can
be used on multichannel selections, and selections across multiple tracks.
However, all regions are compressed or expanded equally by the same percentage value,
based on Edit selection range. This ensures that
the rhythmic relationship between the different
channels or tracks is retained.
Fitting an Audio Region to an Edit
Selection
Regions can be dragged from the Audio Regions
List to fit within an Edit selection. The dragged
region is compressed or expanded to fit within
the selection. This feature uses the Time Compression/Expansion plug-in to expand or compress the audio region.
To fit an audio region to an Edit selection:
1 With the Selector, select the desired time
range in an audio track.
2 Command-Option-drag (Macintosh) or Control-Alt-drag (Windows) the region from the Audio Regions List to the track with the selection.
The start of the region is positioned at the selection start, and the region is compressed or expanded to match the length of the selection.
Fit to Selection on Multiple Tracks and
Channels
The Fit to Selection command supports dragging multiple regions from the Audio Regions
List to multiple tracks, or multichannel tracks.
However, all dragged regions are compressed or
expanded equally by the same percentage value,
based on length of the region last clicked before
dragging.
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The Time Trimmer
(TDM Systems Only)
The Time Trimmer is a convenient tool for
matching an audio region to the length of another region, a tempo grid, a video scene, or to
practically any other reference point you want.
Time Trimmer over a region
The Time Trimmer works by using the Time
Compression/Expansion AudioSuite plug-in to
create a new audio file. You use the Time Trimmer by dragging the region’s start or end point
to expand or compress the region.
Time Compression/Expansion Plug-In
Preferences
You can select settings for the Time Compression/Expansion AudioSuite plug-in by choosing
from the Default Settings pop-up list in the Processing Preferences, under “TC/E.” The settings
available are presets included with Pro Tools; in
addition, if you save your own presets for the
Time Compression/Expansion plug-in, they will
also appear here.
Refer to the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide for
more information about AudioSuite plugins.
Using the Time Trimmer in Grid Mode
Using the Time Trimmer in Spot Mode
The Time Trimmer can be used in Grid mode to
match a region to the tempo of a session or a
section of a session. For example, you might import a one-bar drum loop with a tempo of 90
BPM into a session with a tempo of 120 BPM. In
Grid mode, you can use the Time Trimmer to
simply and quickly “compress” the drum loop
to the length of one measure, with minimal loss
of audio fidelity.
In Spot mode, clicking with the Time trimmer in
a region opens the Spot Dialog. You can specify
the location you want the region to start or end
at, or the duration of the region, and the region
is automatically compressed or expanded as
specified.
To use the Time Trimmer in Grid mode:
2 Select “TCE Trimmer” from the Trimmer pop-
1 Set the Edit mode to Grid.
2 Select “TCE Trimmer” from the Trimmer pop-
up menu.
Trimmer set to TCE
3 With the Time Trimmer, drag the region’s start
To use the Time Trimmer in Spot mode:
1 Set the Edit mode to Spot.
up menu.
3 Click the region near its start or end point.
The Spot Dialog opens. Using any Time Scale,
enter a new start or end time (or duration) for
the region, then click OK. A new region is automatically processed using the Time Compression/Expansion AudioSuite plug-in. The new
region appears in the playlist and in the Regions
List.
or end point to compress or expand the region
to the Grid (for example, by quarter notes). The
region is automatically processed using the
Time Compression/Expansion AudioSuite plugin. The new region appears in the playlist and in
the Regions List.
Using the Time Trimmer in Slip Mode
To use the Time Trimmer in Slip mode:
1 Set the Edit mode to Slip.
2 Select “TCE Trimmer” from the Trimmer pop-
up menu.
3 With the Time Trimmer, drag the region’s start
or end point to compress or expand the region
freely. A new region is automatically processed
using the Time Compression/Expansion AudioSuite plug-in. The new region appears in the
playlist and in the Regions List.
Chapter 18: Advanced Editing
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Chapter 19: Fades and Crossfades
Using Crossfades
You can quickly and easily crossfade between
two adjacent audio regions. Crossfading is the
process of fading two regions of audio to prevent pops, clicks, or sudden changes in sound.
Crossfades have many applications, from
smoothing transitions between regions to creating special audio effects. The crossfade duration,
position, and shape are all user-definable.
Crossfades are computed and written to disk.
Crossfades that are written to disk are stored in a
folder named “Fade Files” within the session
folder. When you play back your track,
Pro Tools reads and plays back the crossfade file
from disk.
Pro Tools does not allow you to replace fade-ins
and fade-outs with crossfades. To add a crossfade between regions, any existing fade-ins and
fade-outs between the regions must first be deleted.
Pro Tools TDM systems include an Auto
Fade feature that provides real-time fades
without processing them to disk. See “Using
AutoFades” on page 254.
About Crossfades and Curves
To create a crossfade between two regions, use
the Selector to select across the end point of the
first region and the start point of the second.
The length of the selection determines the
length of the crossfade. Though fades may appear to be discrete regions, they cannot actually
be separated from the regions in which they
were created. You can, however, create fade-ins
and fade-outs for individual regions (see “Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions” on page 253).
You can use the Fades dialog to select, view, and
manipulate the curves used to perform the
crossfade. Different volume curves can be assigned to the fade-out and fade-in portions of
crossfades. The Fades dialog can also render a
preview of the fade.
The following examples illustrate common
crossfade types, and explain how the type of selection you make determines the character of
the crossfade.
Since crossfades are created by fading between overlapping audio material, a crossfade cannot be performed on regions that do
not contain audio material beyond their region boundaries.
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245
Standard Crossfade (“Centered”)
splice point
region 1
fade out
curve
fade in
curve
Post Crossfade
border of region 1 and 2
region 2
crossfade selection
region 1
region 2
selection range begins just after end of region 1
Centered crossfade
Post crossfade
This type of selection creates a crossfade on both
sides of the splice point, which affects the volume of region 1 and region 2. It is the most
common type of crossfade.
This type of selection creates a crossfade after
the splice point. It is useful if you want to maintain the amplitude of region 1 until its very end.
When making selections for crossfades that occur on the border of two regions, you can use
the Tab key to move the cursor to the exact beginning or end of a region.
This crossfade type requires that region 1 contain audio material beyond its end point, and
region 2 contain audio material before its start
point.
This crossfade type requires that region 1 contain audio material beyond its end point.
Pre Crossfade
The Fades Dialog
border of region 1 and 2
region 1
region 2
When choosing the Edit > Fades command you
can use the Fades dialog to select, view, and preview the crossfade, and to edit the curves used
to perform the crossfade.
selection range extends just up to beginning of region 2
Pre crossfade
This type of selection creates a crossfade before
the splice point. This lets you maintain the volume of the very beginning of region 2 instead of
fading across it, which is useful if there is a
strong attack at the beginning of region 2 that
you want to preserve. When making selections
for crossfades that occur on the border of two regions, you can use the Tab key to move the cursor to the exact beginning or end of a region.
This crossfade type requires that region 2 contain audio material before its start point.
Fades dialog
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The controls in the Fades dialog include:
Fade Curves Only
Audition
Click this button to audition your crossfade.
Pro Tools plays the audio in one of two ways,
depending on your system:
Pro Tools TDM and LE systems allow crossfade auditioning directly from your audio interface outputs.
Click this button to display the specified fade
curves without showing the actual audio waveforms. This is the default view when you open
the Fades dialog.
Fade Curves and Separate Waveforms
◆
Older Pro Tools systems such as Pro Tools III
on Macintosh use Apple’s Sound Manager to audition crossfades. Use the Digidesign Sound
Drivers (automatically installed with Pro Tools)
to audition via your audio interface outputs. Use
the Macintosh Sound Control Panel to set the
Output choice to Digidesign Sound Drivers. (If
you do not use the Sound Drivers, you will hear
crossfades through the Macintosh’s audio output.)
◆
View First Track
If you are fading between more than one track,
this button allows you to view and preview the
audio of the first pair of adjacent tracks.
Click this button to display the specified fade
curves along with separate views of the fade-in
and fade-out waveforms.
Fade Curves and Superimposed Waveforms
Click this button to display the specified fade
curves along with superimposed views of the
fade-in and fade-out waveforms.
Fade Curves and Summed Waveform
Click this button to display the specified fade
curves along with a single waveform representing the summation of the crossfaded audio.
Zoom In
View Second Track
If you are fading between more than one track
this button allows you to view and preview the
audio of the second pair of adjacent tracks.
Click this button to scale the view of the waveform’s amplitude upwards. Command-click
(Macintosh) or Control-click (Windows) for the
default view scale.
View Both Tracks
Click this button to display the waveforms of
the first two adjacent tracks in a multitrack fade.
Chapter 19: Fades and Crossfades
247
Zoom Out
Click this button to scale the view of the waveform’s amplitude downwards. Command-click
(Macintosh) or Control-click (Windows) for the
default view scale.
Fade Out Shape Parameter
◆ Preset Curve 1 keeps region 1 at full volume
throughout the crossfade, then immediately
drops the volume at the end of the crossfade.
Preset Curve 1
◆ Preset Curve 2 fades out region 1 relatively
slowly, keeping the volume fairly high throughout the duration of the fade.
Preset Curve 2
Fade Out Shape
◆ Preset Curve 3 fades out region 1 slightly
faster, keeping the volume slightly lower during
the fade.
The Out Shape parameter allows you to choose
the shape of the fade-out from region 1.
Standard Selects a single continuous fade curve.
This creates a general-purpose fade that can be
edited by dragging the curve itself.
S-Curve Selects an S-shaped curve, which inverts
its beginning and end characteristics. This
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 difficult to crossfade effectively. S-curves can be edited by dragging the curve in the curve editor.
Preset Curves Seven commonly used preset
curves are provided for fast crossfade creation.
These can be edited by dragging the end points
of the curve in the curve editor portion of this
dialog. The seven presets are as follows:
Preset Curve 3
◆ Preset Curve 4 fades out region 1 with a linear
fade. This is the default curve.
Preset Curve 4
◆ Preset Curve 5 fades out region 1 quickly at
the beginning of the crossfade.
Preset Curve 5
◆ Preset Curve 6 drops the volume of region 1
even more quickly at the beginning of the crossfade.
Preset Curve 6
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Preset Curve 7 silences region 1 at the beginning of the crossfade.
◆
Preset Curve 7
Link Parameters
None Disables linking between the fade-out and
fade-in curves, and lets you freely adjust them
separately, including start and end points. This
option also allows you to create custom crossfade shapes. To edit only the fade-in portion of
the curve, press Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows) while dragging. To edit only the
fade-out portion of the curve, press Command
(Macintosh) or Control (Windows) while dragging.
Fade Link
The Link parameter links the selected fade-out
and fade-in curves. If you adjust one curve, the
corresponding curve also adjusts. This ensures
that the resulting crossfade is an equal power or
equal gain crossfade, depending on which you
select.
Equal Power Recommended for material that is
not phase coherent, as in the case of a crossfade
between two completely different types of material. Use this option to avoid the volume drop
that can occur with an Equal Gain crossfade.
With this fade, you can Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the fade curve to
reset it to its default shape.
Equal Gain Recommended for material that is
phase-coherent or nearly phase-coherent, as in
the case of a crossfade between identical regions/instruments (for example, a repeated
drum loop). Use this option to avoid clipping
that can occur when using an Equal Power crossfade. With this fade, you can Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the fade curve to
reset it to its default shape.
Adjusting the end point of a fade curve
Use Dither
Dither option for Fade
The Use Dither option turns on a preset, noiseshaped dither function that improves audio performance when mixing or fading low-level audio signals. Use this option for fading in or fading out silence, and crossfading between low
amplitude regions. Dithering is usually not necessary when fading between two regions of high
amplitude. You can disable Dither while editing
your crossfades in the Fades dialog to speed up
previews and fade recalculation, then re-enable
Dither to create the final crossfade.
Chapter 19: Fades and Crossfades
249
Fade In Shape Parameters
◆ Preset Curve 2 fades in region 2 quickly in the
beginning, reaching full amplitude fairly early
in the crossfade.
Preset Curve 2
Fade In Shape
◆ Preset Curve 3 fades in region 2 moderately
fast.
The In Shape parameter allows you to choose
the shape of the fade-in to region 2.
Standard Selects a single continuous fade curve.
This creates a general-purpose fade that can be
edited by dragging the curve itself.
S-Curve Selects an S-shaped curve, which inverts
its beginning and end characteristics. This
makes it possible to fade in faster at the start of
the curve, and slower at the end. S-shaped
curves are useful with material that is difficult to
crossfade effectively. S-curves can be edited by
dragging the curve in the curve editor.
Preset Curves Seven commonly used preset
curves are provided for fast crossfade creation.
These can be edited by dragging the end points
of the curve in the curve editor portion of this
dialog. The seven presets are as follows:
Preset Curve 1 fades in region 2 at full volume
immediately at the beginning of the crossfade
and keeps it there throughout the crossfade.
Preset Curve 3
◆ Preset Curve 4 fades in region 2 with a linear
fade curve. This is the default curve.
Preset Curve 4
◆ Preset Curve 5 fades in region 2 slowly at the
beginning of the crossfade.
Preset Curve 5
◆ Preset Curve 6 fades in region 2 even more
slowly than the previous curve.
◆
Preset Curve 6
◆ Preset Curve 7 silences region 2 until the end
of the crossfade.
Preset Curve 1
Preset Curve 7
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Typical Curve Combinations
Fade and Crossfade Preferences
Following are the available combinations of
fade-out and fade-in curves.
(TDM Systems Only)
Linear Crossfade This is a good general purpose
crossfade with a smooth, even transition between region 1 and region 2.
1-out
2-in
You can set default fade and crossfade settings.
These settings load as your “base” settings when
you use the Create Fades command, and the
Fade to Start and Fade to End commands.
To set the crossfade preferences:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Editing.
Linear Crossfade
2 Set the Pre-Roll and Post-Roll times for Fade
previews.
Equal Power Crossfade This is a good general
purpose crossfade useful in cases where a linear
crossfade seems to create a noticeable drop in
volume across the splice point.
Fade and Crossfade Preferences
1-out
2-in
Equal Power Crossfade
Overlap Fade This combination of curves keeps
both regions at full amplitude throughout the
crossfade: region 2 “jumps in” at the beginning
and region 1 “jumps out” at the end.
3 Click Fade In and set the default shape for
fade-ins, then click OK.
4 Click Fade Out and set the default shape for
fade-outs, then click OK.
5 Click Crossfade and set the default shape for
crossfades, then click OK.
6 Click Done.
1-out
2-in
Overlap Crossfade
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251
Creating a Crossfade
To create a crossfade between two regions:
1 With the Selector, click at the point where you
want the crossfade to begin in the first region
and drag to where you want it to end in the second region. Crossfade selections can begin and
end anywhere in their respective regions.
2 Choose Edit > Fades > Create Fades.
3 Use the view buttons to adjust the view of the
crossfade. It may take a few moments to calculate the waveform display for long selections.
4 Select an Out Shape and an In Shape.
5 Choose a Linking option.
6 Click the Audition button, or play the session,
to hear the crossfade. For long crossfades, it may
take Pro Tools a few moments to calculate and
load the audio into playback RAM.
7 Adjust the curves by choosing different preset
shapes with the Out Shape and In Shape pop-up
menus.
– or –
Drag the Fade In/Out curves to the desired
shape. By choosing None as the Linking option,
you can drag the beginning or end points of a
fade curve to adjust its beginning or end point.
8 Click the Audition button, or play the session,
to hear the crossfade again.
9 When the crossfade is right, click OK. The fade
is calculated and written to disk, but the audio
files and regions remain unchanged. Crossfades
are stored in the Fades Folder within the session
folder.
Crossfade lengths can later be resized with
the Trimmer.
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To remove a crossfade:
■ Select the area of the track containing the
crossfades you want to delete and choose Edit >
Fades > Delete Fades.
– or –
■ Select the crossfade with the Grabber and
press Delete (Macintosh) or Backspace (Windows).
To trim a crossfade:
1 Select the crossfade with the Grabber, or double-click it with the Selector.
2 With the Trimmer, trim either side of the
crossfade. The crossfade is recalculated to reflect
the newly trimmed length.
Pre/Post Crossfade Selections
By making a selection that begins or ends precisely on the border of two regions, you can create “pre” or “post” crossfades. Use the Tab key to
place the insertion point at the exact beginning
or end of a region.
To create a pre- or post-crossfade:
1 With the Selector, click in the track that contains the regions you want to crossfade.
2 Press Tab to move forward to the next region
boundary.
– or –
Press Option+Tab (Macintosh) or Control+Tab
(Windows) to move back to the previous region
boundary.
3 Shift-drag to adjust your selection, or press
Shift+Tab to extend the selection forward to the
next region boundary.
– or –
Press Option+Shift+Tab (Macintosh) or Control+Shift+Tab (Windows) to extend the selection back to the previous region boundary.
4 Choose Edit > Fades > Create Fades.
5 Choose a fade type and click OK.
Creating Fades at the
Beginnings and Ends of
Regions
In addition to crossfades between regions,
Pro Tools lets you create fade-ins and fade-outs
at the beginnings and ends of regions.
To create a fade-in:
1 Select the beginning of the region that you
want to fade in. The selection must extend to
the exact beginning of the region or a blank area
prior to the region in the track.
Selecting the beginning of a region for a fade-in
2 Choose Edit > Fades > Create Fades. Choose
your fade-in curve and other parameters.
3 Click the Audition button to hear the fade (or
press the Spacebar to start and stop playback).
On Pro Tools TDM systems, you can also use an
automatic fade-in/out option, which applies real
time fade-ins/outs to all regions during playback. These fades are not written to disk, but automatically applied during playback. See See
“Using AutoFades” on page 254.
4 You can adjust the curve by dragging it or by
choosing a different shape with the In Shape
pop-up menu.
5 When you are finished, click OK. Pro Tools
calculates the fade and writes it to disk. The chosen fade curve appears in the region.
To create a fade-out:
Region with a fade-in
Creating Fade-Ins and Fade-Outs
Depending on how you make the selection, you
can position a fade-in/out at the exact beginning or end of a region, or position it so it extends into a blank area of the track. The length
of the selection in the region determines the
length of the fade-in/out.
You can also fade to the beginning or end of a
region from an insertion point.
1 Select the end of the region that you want to
fade out. The selection must extend to the exact
end of the region or a blank area after the region
in the track.
Selecting the end of a region for a fade-out
2 Choose Edit > Fades > Create Fades. Choose
your fade-out curve and other parameters.
3 Click the Audition button to hear the fade (or
press the Spacebar to start and stop playback).
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253
4 You can adjust the curve by dragging it or by
choosing a different shape with the Out Shape
pop-up menu.
5 When you are finished, click OK. Pro Tools
calculates the fade and writes it to disk. The chosen fade curve appears in the region.
Fade lengths can later be resized with the
Trimmer.
To fade from the insertion point to a region start
point:
1 Place the cursor at the desired location in the
region.
2 Choose Edit > Fades > Fade To Start.
3 The fade is applied based on the Fade In Preferences.
To fade from the insertion point to a region end
point:
1 Place the cursor at the desired location in the
region.
2 Choose Edit > Fades > Fade To End.
3 The fade is applied based on the Fade Out Pref-
erences.
Using AutoFades
(Pro Tools TDM Only)
On Pro Tools TDM systems, you can choose to
have Pro Tools automatically apply real-time
fade-ins and fade-outs to all region boundaries
in the session. These fade-ins and fade-outs are
performed during playback and do not appear
in the Edit window, and are not written to disk.
This automatic fade-in/out option also has an
effect on virtual track switching in a session.
Whenever a lower-priority virtual track “pops
thru” a silence in a higher-priority track on the
same voice, a fade-in and fade-out is applied to
the transition.
This feature is especially useful in post production situations such as dialogue tracking. For example, you could assign both a dialogue track
and a “room tone” track with matching background to the same voice. You could then set
the Auto-Fade option to a moderate length
(4 ms or so) so that whenever a silence occurred
in the dialog, playback would switch smoothly
to and from the background track without clicks
or pops.
Using automatic fade-ins/outs saves you the
trouble of editing to zero-crossings or creating
numerous rendered fades in order to eliminate
clicks or pops in playback. However, since these
autofades are not written to disk, those clicks or
pops still exist in the underlying sound file.
Consequently, those anomalies still appear if
the Duplicate AudioSuite plug-in or the Export
Selected as Sound Files command (from the Audio Regions List) are used to duplicate multiple
regions as a continuous file. To render these
real-time auto fades to disk, choose File >
Bounce to Disk.
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To set the length of automatic fade-ins/outs:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Operation.
2 Enter a value between 0 and 10 ms for the
Auto Region Fade In/Out Length. A value of zero
(the default) means that no auto-fading will occur.
If you select to create new fades and new fadeins and outs, new crossfades are created at each
region boundary that is bordered by another selected region, a fade-in is created at the start of
the first region, and a fade-out is created at the
end of the last region.
3 Click Done. The Auto Fade value is saved with
the session, and is automatically applied to all
free-standing region boundaries until you
change it.
Creating Fades and
Crossfades in Batches
In “Batch Mode” you can create many fades at
once. You select across several regions and use
the Create Fades command to create crossfades
for each region transition. If your selection includes regions that already have crossfades, this
feature allows you to modify them.
To create crossfades between multiple regions at
once:
1 With the Selector, click in the first region in
which you want to create a crossfade.
2 Drag to extend the selection to the last region
Batch Fades dialog
5 Choose the placement of your Fades. You can
choose Pre-Splice, Centered, or Post-Splice.
6 Enter a crossfade length in milliseconds.
7 Click OK. Pro Tools creates the fades for the
selected regions.
Fade lengths can later be resized with the
Trimmer.
you want to crossfade. Make sure that the selection includes the entire region.
Selected regions for Batch Fades
3 Choose Edit > Fades > Create Fades.
4 Select whether you want to Create New Fades,
Create New Fade-Ins & Outs, Adjust Existing
Fades, or a combination of these options.
Chapter 19: Fades and Crossfades
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Chapter 20: Managing Regions
Stripping Silence from
Regions
The Strip Silence command analyzes audio selections—across multiple regions or multiple
tracks—and removes any areas of silence, dividing the selection into smaller regions and removing the silent areas.
You can use Strip Silence to automatically divide
a track into regions, which is useful if you want
to quantize audio to musical values, or locate
sound effects to SMPTE locations. It is also useful if you want to get rid of silent areas to prepare for compacting audio (see “Compacting an
Audio File” on page 263).
The Strip Silence Window
Strip Silence window
The Strip Silence window contains the following
four sliders that allow you to set the parameters
by which silence will be defined for this operation. Adjusting these sliders will cause rectangles to appear in the selection (see Figure 14 on
page 258), indicating areas of silence that will be
removed.
StripThreshold Sets the amplitude threshold
(from –48 dB to 0) for Strip Silence. Audio falling below this threshold is considered silence
and removed. Audio above the threshold is retained and defined as new regions.
Minimum Strip Duration Sets the minimum duration (from 0 to 10,000 ms) that the material below the threshold must last to be considered silence.
Use this parameter to avoid countless small regions that may occur within a selection.
Region Start Pad Specifies a time value to be
added to the beginning of each new region created with Strip Silence.
This is useful for preserving musical material
that falls below the threshold, such as the breath
before a vocal phrase, or the finger slide before a
guitar chord.
Region End Pad Specifies a time value to be appended to the end of each new region created
with Strip Silence, thereby preserving the nuances in the decay of the material.
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257
Auto-Naming for Strip Silence
The Rename button in the Strip Silence window
opens the following dialog, which determiners
how regions are named with the Strip Silence
command.
Using Strip Silence
To strip silence from an audio selection:
1 Select one or more audio regions.
2 To select across multiple tracks, Shift-click in
additional tracks.
3 Choose Windows > Show Strip Silence.
Strip Silence Renaming dialog
Name Specifies the base name for regions created with Strip Silence.
Number Specifies the number at which sequential auto-numbering starts.
4 To set the naming scheme for regions created
with Strip Silence, click Rename to open the Renaming dialog. For details, see “Auto-Naming
for Strip Silence” on page 258.
5 In the Strip Silence window, adjust the sliders
for Strip Threshold and Minimum Strip Duration until the Strip Silence rectangles appear in
the selection.
Zeros Specifies the number of zeroes that occur
before the appended auto numbers.
Suffix Specifies text appended to the end of the
name, after the auto numbering.
For example, if you set the naming parameters
to:
• Name = SFX
• Auto Number Start = 23
Figure 14. Strip Silence rectangles
For finer resolution on these sliders, press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) while
adjusting them.
6 To retain material before and after the new regions, adjust the sliders for Region Start Pad and
Region End Pad.
• Leading Zeros = 1
• Suffix = .Reel1
The names generated for regions created by Strip
Silence would be:
• SFX023.Reel1
Attack to be
padded
Decay to be
padded
• SFX024.Reel1
• SFX025.Reel1
• SFX026.Reel1
• SFX027.Reel1
• SFX028.Reel1
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Strip Silence, padding region start and end points
7 Once the Strip Silence rectangles encompass
the audio that you want to keep, press the Strip
button.
The material defined as silence is removed from
the selection and new regions are created, which
also appear in the Audio Regions List.
The Strip Silence command is nondestructive
and does not remove audio data from parent audio files. In addition to the Undo command,
you can use the Heal Separation command to restore stripped material.
Strip Silence works with stereo and multichannel tracks, and keeps their audio regions phase-coherent.
Inserting Silence
The Insert Silence command is a simple and
convenient way to insert silence in sessions.
This command allows you to make a selection
on a track (or tracks) and insert precisely that
amount of silence. In Shuffle mode, all data on
the track is shuffled later in the track by an
amount equal to the selection.
In Grid mode, the Insert Silence command
works just like the Clear command.
Shuffle Mode When inserting silence on multiple tracks in Shuffle mode, the following conditions apply:
If any track is displayed as audio or MIDI data,
the selected duration of silence is inserted into
the audio or MIDI data and all underlying automation data on all selected tracks. All subsequent regions are shuffled by the amount of
silence inserted. On MIDI tracks, only notes that
are selected from the beginning are affected, so
if you have selected the tail of a note and you Insert Silence, the note will remain unchanged.
◆
◆ If all selected tracks are displayed as automation data, the selected range is cleared of automation data only of the type visible on each
track. Regions are not shuffled. Instead, a blank
gap appears equal to the length of the selection.
◆ If all selected tracks are displayed as automation data, press Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows) while choosing the Insert Silence command to inserts silence on all automation playlists for all selected tracks. Regions are
not shuffled.
Slip Mode When inserting silence on multiple
tracks in Slip mode, the following conditions
apply:
◆ If any track is displayed as audio or MIDI data,
the selected range is cleared of audio or MIDI
data and all underlying automation data on all
selected tracks.
◆ If all selected tracks are displayed as automation data, silence is inserted only into the automation type visible on each track.
◆ If all selected tracks are displayed as automation data, press Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows) while choosing the Insert Silence command to insert silence on all automation playlists for all selected tracks.
To insert silence into a track:
1 Make a selection on the desired tracks. The
length of the selection determines the duration
of the silence inserted.
2 Choose Edit > Insert Silence.
For Shuffle mode, Pro Tools inserts the selected
amount of silence. In the process, it splits the regions at the beginning of the insertion point,
and moves the new regions later in the track by
an amount equal to the length of the selection.
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Consolidate Selection
Command
During the course of normal edit operations, a
track may eventually contain many regions.
However, once a track or track range (such as a
verse or chorus) reaches a satisfactory state, you
may want to consolidate its regions into a single
region—thus making the material much more
easy to work with.
Managing Regions
A typical session can become quite busy with
many tracks and dozens of regions. There are a
number of things you can do, however, to keep
track of and manage a session’s regions, which
include:
• Renaming existing regions
• Specifying how auto-created regions are
named
When consolidating an audio track, a new audio
file is written that encompasses the selection
range, including any blank space.
• Hiding auto-created regions
To consolidate regions within a track:
Renaming Regions
1 Using the Grabber or Selector, select the regions you want to consolidate.
In the course of a session you can rename regions to give them more descriptive names, or
merely to shorten or simplify an existing name.
When renaming a region that was auto-created
from an edit, the region becomes a user-defined
region and is displayed in the Regions List when
auto-created regions are hidden.
– or –
To select all regions in a track, triple-click in its
playlist with the Selector.
2 Choose Edit > Consolidate.
A new, single region is created that replaces the
previously selected regions, including any blank
space. If working with an audio track, a new audio file is written (with the Audio Suite Duplicate plug-in).
When consolidating audio regions with the
Consolidate Selection command, if the selection contains muted regions, the muted regions
are treated as silence. Whether or not a track is
muted, or contains Mute automation, does not
affect the Consolidate Selection command.
• Removing unused regions
Perhaps the easiest way to rename a region, if it
resides in a track, is to double-click it with the
Grabber. However, if the region does not yet reside in a track, or if you want to rename several
regions, use the Rename Selected command.
To rename one or more regions:
1 If you will be renaming an auto-created region, make sure to select Display > Auto-Created
Regions.
2 Select one or more region to be renamed in either the Audio or MIDI Regions List.
If the Editing Preference for “Regions List
Selection Follows Track Selection” is enabled, you can highlight a region in the Regions List by selecting it in a track.
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3 Choose Rename Selected from the Regions
List pop-up menu.
Name Determines the root name for the autocreated regions.
4 When prompted, enter a new name for the re-
Number Sets the start number for the sequentially numbered new regions.
gion. If a whole-file audio region was selected,
specify whether to rename just the region, or
both the region and the disk file.
Zeros Determines the number of zeros that occur before the auto numbers.
Suffix Specifies text to be appended to the end of
the name, following the auto numbering.
4 When you are finished, click OK to accept the
new naming parameters.
Rename Selected dialog
5 Click OK to rename the region. If renaming
multiple regions, you are prompted, successively, to rename each region.
Auto-Naming Parameters
You can specify the auto-naming parameters for
a region when new regions are created from it in
the course of editing.
Hiding and Removing Unwanted
Regions
In the course of editing a session, the Audio and
MIDI Regions Lists can fill up quickly with regions—ones you’ve created purposely and those
that are automatically created by cutting, pasting, and separating other regions. Pro Tools allows you to hide or remove regions in your session so you don’t have to scroll through
unnecessarily long Regions Lists.
To set auto-naming parameters for a region:
1 Select a region in the Audio or MIDI Regions
List.
2 Choose Auto Rename Selected from the Re-
Hiding Auto-Created Regions
You can hide regions that were automatically
created during the course of editing.
gions List pop-up menu.
3 In the Rename Regions dialog, enter the text
to be used when naming regions created from
the selected region.
To hide auto-created regions:
■ Deselect Display > Display Auto-Created Regions. With this option deselected, only usercreated regions appear in the Audio and MIDI
Regions List.
Rename Regions Selected dialog
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261
User-defined regions include:
• Whole-file regions
• Regions created during recording
• Imported regions
• Renamed regions
• Regions created as a result of AudioSuite processing
• New regions created with Capture Region and
Separate Region commands
• Regions created by trimming whole-file audio
regions
When auto-created regions are hidden,
Pro Tools warns you if the number of auto-created regions exceeds a certain threshold, and
gives you the option of deleting them. If you
choose to delete them, all auto-created regions
are deleted at the same time.
2 For audio regions, choose one of the following
from the Select Unused submenu in the Audio
Regions List pop-up menu:
• Unused Regions
• Unused Regions Except Whole Files
• Offline Regions
3 After all unused regions are selected, choose
Clear Selected from the Regions List pop-up
menu.
4 Click Remove to remove the unused regions
from the session.
– or –
If clearing a whole-file audio region and you
want to permanently remove the audio file from
your hard drive, click Delete.
To ensure that you keep a particular auto-created region, turn it into a user-created region by
renaming it. For details, see “Renaming Regions” on page 260.
Removing Unwanted Regions
Clear Selected dialog (audio regions)
You can locate and remove unused regions in a
session with the Clear Selected command.
When deleting audio files for multiple regions,
Pro Tools presents a warning dialog for each audio file. To bypass repeated warning dialogs:
The Clear Selected command cannot be undone.
To find and remove unused regions in a session:
1 For MIDI regions, choose Select Unused from
the MIDI Regions List pop-up menu.
■ Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the Delete button in the Clear Audio dialog. This permanently deletes each successive
audio file from your hard drive (for each of the
unused regions) without any further warnings.
Use this “power delete mode” with caution,
since deletion of these files cannot be undone.
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Compacting an Audio File
The Compact Selected command deletes unused
portions of audio files to conserve disk space,
and to prepare for cleaner hard drive back-ups.
The Compact Selected command deletes audio
if there are no regions referencing the data. For
this reason you should delete any unused regions before compacting.
Because it permanently deletes audio data, the
Compact Selected command should be used
only after you have completely finished your
editing and are sure that you have no further use
for the unused audio data.
The Compact Selected command can pad the regions of the compacted file by a user-selectable
amount. You may want to do this because
Pro Tools requires extra audio data before and
after audio regions to create crossfades. So, if
your regions have crossfades, or if you want to
pad the regions for the sake of any future trimming, you should enter an appropriate amount
of padding (in milliseconds) to allow for this.
To compact an audio file:
1 Choose Select Unused > Regions from the Audio Regions List pop-up menu. All regions that
have not been placed in a track in the current
session are highlighted in the Audio Regions
List.
2 To remove all of these unused audio regions,
choose Clear Selected from the Audio Regions
List pop-up menu. When the dialog appears,
choose Remove.
3 In the Audio Regions List, select the region or
regions you want to compact.
4 Choose Compact Selected from the Audio Re-
gions List menu.
5 Enter the amount of padding in milliseconds
that you want to leave around each region in
the file.
6 Click Compact to compact the file or Cancel
to cancel the command.
Once the Compact operation has been completed, the session is automatically saved.
The Compact Selected command is destructive and cannot be undone. It permanently
alters the original audio files. There is no
way to recover data deleted with this command.
Chapter 20: Managing Regions
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Chapter 21: Conductor Tracks and
Memory Locations
Inserting Tempo Events
Tempo Events
Tempo events, which are displayed in the
Tempo Ruler, can be inserted at the beginning of
a session to replace the default tempo (of 120
BPM), and they can be inserted anywhere
within the session for additional tempo
changes. Tempo events cannot be inserted in
Manual Tempo mode.
To display the Tempo Ruler:
■
To insert a tempo event:
1 Click in the Tempo Ruler where you want to
insert the tempo event and then choose MIDI >
Change Tempo.
– or –
Click in the Tempo Ruler where you want to insert the tempo event and then click the Change
Tempo button in the far left of the Tempo Ruler.
Select Display > Ruler View Shows > Tempo.
When in Manual Tempo mode, the Tempo
Track is ignored and the session plays at the
tempo defined in the Transport window.
For details, see “Using Manual Tempo
Mode” on page 130.
Current Tempo
As tempo events are encountered during playback, the session’s current tempo is displayed in
the Transport window.
current tempo
Change Tempo button
– or –
While pressing Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows), move the cursor into the
Tempo Ruler (where the cursor changes to the
Grabber with a “+”) and click at the desired location.
Manually inserting a tempo event
Current tempo displayed in Transport window
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265
2 In the Tempo Change window, enter the Location and BPM value for the tempo change.
Editing and Moving Tempo Events
Existing tempo events can be moved, edited, deleted, and copied and pasted.
To move a tempo event by dragging:
■ In the Tempo Ruler, drag the triangle for the
tempo event left or right.
Tempo Change window
Select the Snap To Bar option to place the inserted tempo event cleanly on the first beat of
the nearest measure.
3 To base the BPM value on something other
than the default quarter note, select a different
note value.
4 Click Apply. The new tempo event is inserted
and appears in the Tempo Ruler.
Dragging a tempo event
If the Edit mode is set to Grid, the dragged event
snaps to the current Grid value.
To edit a tempo event:
1 In the Tempo Ruler, double-click the tempo
event.
2 In the Change Tempo dialog, enter a new Location or BPM value for the tempo event.
3 Click OK.
Inserted tempo event
Each tempo event has a small green triangle
next to it that indicates its location. These triangles can be dragged to move the tempo event,
and they can be double-clicked to edit the
tempo event.
To delete a tempo event:
■ While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), move the cursor over the tempo
event (where the cursor changes to the Grabber
with a “–”) and click to remove it.
To copy and paste several tempo events:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the selection to the current Grid value.
2 Drag in the Tempo Ruler to select the range of
measures that includes the tempo events.
Tempo events selected
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If an existing tempo event is near the beginning
of the selection, press Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows) so the Selector appears.
Press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows)
while dragging to select across all Conductor tracks.
3 Choose Edit > Copy.
4 Click in the Tempo Ruler at the point where
you want to paste the tempo events.
5 Choose Edit > Paste. The contents of the Clip-
board are pasted from the insertion point, replacing any existing tempo events.
Tempo and MIDI and Audio
When editing or moving tempo events, the
Bars:Beats Ruler expands or shrinks, as necessary, to accurately reflect the placement of audio
regions (which remain constant in terms of
sample location). This, in turn, affects the relative placement of MIDI notes, and ensures that
the visual relationship between MIDI and audio
is accurate.
Figure 15 illustrates how MIDI notes shift and
expand in relation to audio after the tempo is reduced.
To extend an Edit selection in a track to the Tempo
Ruler:
1 Using either the Selector or Grabber, select a
track range.
Ruler and MIDI
events expand
after tempo
change
2 Shift-click in the Tempo Ruler.
Shift-click again in the Tempo Ruler to remove it
from the selection.
To select all tempo events:
Figure 15. Before and after change in tempo
Double-click with the Selector in the Tempo
Ruler.
After editing or moving a tempo event:
■
To clear a range of selected tempo events:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the selection to the current Grid value.
2 Drag with the Selector in the Tempo Ruler to
select the tempo events you want to remove.
3 Choose Edit > Clear to delete the selected
tempo events.
◆ Bar and beat locations for audio regions
(which are sample-based) are adjusted for the
new tempo. The audio region’s sample and
SMPTE locations remain unchanged.
◆ MIDI notes (which are tick-based) remain at
the same bar and beat location. In relation to audio, however, the notes shrink or expand based
on the new tempo, and result in new sample
and SMPTE locations for the note start and end
times.
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Default Tempo
New sessions open with a default tempo of 120
BPM. This tempo can be changed by inserting a
tempo event at 1|1|000. However, this is not the
same as inserting normal tempo events at other
locations. The tempo event that resides at
1|1|000 is actually a Bar|Beat Marker (notice that
it has a blue triangle).
The main distinction is that this Bar|Beat Marker
can be dragged to any location within the session (such as to align with a particular SMPTE
frame) to redefine where 1|1|000 is.
Identify Beat Command
Bar|Beat Markers
The Identify Beat command lets you establish a
tempo/meter map for audio that was recorded
without listening to the click, or for imported
audio with unknown tempos.
The Identify Beat command analyzes a selection
range (usually with a distinct number of beats or
measures) and calculates its tempo based on the
specified meter. In doing this, Bar|Beat Markers
for the calculated tempo are inserted and appear
in the Tempo Ruler at the beginning and end of
the selection; in addition, meter events are inserted into the Meter Ruler.
You can use Beat Detective to generate
Bar|Beat Markers within a selection that includes rhythmic changes on every beat and
sub-beat. For more information, see
Chapter 22, “Beat Detective.”
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Bar|Beat Markers
Bar|Beat Markers look similar to tempo events,
but instead have small blue triangles to indicate
their location.
Bar|Beat Marker
The key to accurately defining tempos for a
range of audio with the Identify Beat command
is to make sure that the initial selection represents an accurate length of beats or measures. In
fact, you may want to first loop the selection on
playback (see “Looping Playback” on page 209)
to see if it plays cleanly without skipping. To
avoid drift, and remain sample-accurate, select
the audio material with the Time Scale set to
Samples rather than Bars:Beats.
Tempo events and Bar|Beat Markers cannot
be mixed. If a session contains tempo
events and you attempt to insert Bar|Beat
Markers, existing tempo events are converted to Bar|Beat Markers (and vice versa).
Identifying Beats
To add Bar|Beat Markers for a one-bar drum loop:
1 Place a one-bar drum loop at the beginning of
an audio track.
2 Select Display > Samples. This ensures that the
selected audio material will be sample-accurate.
3 Select the audio region with the Grabber and
choose Edit > Identify Beat.
4 In the Bar|Beat Markers dialog, specify the
start and end locations for the inserted Bar|Beat
Markers. Since this example deals with a one-bar
loop, enter 1|1|000 and 2|1|000.
When working with a selection, the Identify
Beat command only calculates a single tempo
for the selected range. If the tempo varies from
measure to measure, or beat to beat, you’ll need
to use the Identify Beat command for each
tempo variance (making sure to accurately define a precise selection range or beat location for
the tempo change).
Inserting Bar|Beat Markers One at
a Time
Audio Material with Varying Tempos
Identify Beat dialog
5 If necessary, specify a time signature for the
start and end range.
6 Click OK to automatically calculate the new
tempo and insert the necessary Bar|Beat Markers
and meter events. Any existing tempo and
meter events residing within the selection are
deleted.
You can insert Bar|Beat Markers one at a time by
setting an Edit insertion point (instead of making a selection) before using the Identify Beat
command. The ability to identify each beat, one
at a time, is especially useful when working with
audio with varying tempos.
For instance, if you have a measure that accelerates slightly, you could insert a Bar|Beat Marker
on each beat (see Figure 16) so the tempo is accurately reflected.
Figure 16. Bar|Beat Markers on each beat
Bar|Beat Markers inserted
Once the tempo has been determined for the audio, you can duplicate the original audio region
with the Repeat command.
After the Bar|Beat Markers are inserted, further
adjustments in the tempo map are possible by
dragging each of the Markers, as necessary, to
align with the associated beat within the audio.
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269
Dragging Bar|Beat Markers
Bar|Beat Markers can be dragged to new locations so they can align with audio regions that
have been moved, or so that they can align to a
slightly different point within an audio region.
This results in neighboring MIDI data being adjusted to align with the new tempo map.
When dragging a Bar|Beat Marker:
• Its BPM value is recalculated along with the
Bar|Beat Marker to its immediate left. Bar|Beat
Markers to the right of the dragged marker remain unchanged.
• Its bar and beat location is dragged with the
Bar|Beat Marker. If the Bar|Beat Marker was
originally placed at 3|1|000, it remains there
(unless it is edited).
• Its sample and SMPTE locations change, as
calculated for by the new tempo for the
Bar|Beat Marker.
• Neighboring MIDI events, along with the
Bars:Beats Ruler, shrink or expand as necessary to adjust for the new tempo.
Dragging a Bar|Beat Marker
Editing Bar|Beat Markers
Tempo Events Versus Bar|Beat Markers
Bar|Beat markers and Tempo Events behave differently when you drag them in the Tempo
Ruler.
A Bar|Beat Marker can be edited to redefine its
bar and beat location, which also redefines the
start or end point of the range being analyzed
for tempo. This is different from dragging a
Bar|Beat Marker.
When dragging a tempo event:
• The tempo event is placed at a new bar and
beat location. The sample and SMPTE locations for the event are updated as well.
• The BPM value for the dragged tempo event
remains constant, as do any other tempo
events in the session.
• Neighboring MIDI events, along with the
Ruler, shrink or expand as necessary to adjust
for the new tempo location.
To edit a Bar|Beat Marker:
1 In the Tempo Ruler, double-click the Bar|Beat
Marker.
2 In the Identify Beat dialog, enter a new Location for the Bar|Beat Marker.
3 Click OK to recalculate the new tempo.
Like meter and tempo events, Bar|Beat Markers
can also be deleted.
To delete a Bar|Beat Marker:
■ While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), move the cursor over the Bar|Beat
Marker (where the cursor changes to the Grabber with a “-”) and click to remove it.
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Meter Events
Meter events can be inserted at the beginning of
a session to replace the default meter (of 4/4),
and they can be inserted anywhere within the
session for additional meter changes. Meter
events are displayed in the Meter Ruler.
While pressing Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows), move the cursor into the Meter
Ruler (where the cursor changes to the Grabber
with a “+”) and click at the desired location.
Manually inserting a meter event
To display the Meter Ruler:
■
Select Display > Ruler View Shows > Meter.
2 In the Meter Change window, enter the Loca-
tion and Meter for the meter change.
Current Meter
As meter events are encountered during playback, the session’s current meter is displayed in
the Transport window.
current meter
Current meter displayed in Transport window
Meter Change window
Inserting Meter Events
Select the Snap To Bar option if you want the inserted meter event to fall cleanly on the first
beat of the nearest measure.
To insert a meter event:
1 Choose MIDI > Change Meter.
– or –
Click the Change Meter button in the far left of
the Meter Ruler.
Change Meter button
3 Select a note value for the number of clicks to
sound in each measure. If desired, select the dot
(.) option for a dotted click value.
For some meters, it may be desirable to use
a dotted value for the click. For instance, if
using a meter of 6/8, a dotted eighth note
click (yielding two clicks per measure) is
more suitable than a straight eighth note
click (six clicks per measure).
– or –
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271
4 Click Apply to insert the new meter event. The
new meter event is inserted and appears in the
Meter Ruler.
To copy and paste several meter events:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to constrain the selection to the current Grid value.
2 Drag in the Meter Ruler to select the range
that includes the meter events.
Inserted meter event
Each meter event has a small yellow triangle
next to it that indicates its location. These triangles can be selected for copying and pasting, and
they can be double-clicked to edit the meter
event.
Editing Meter Events
Existing meter events can be edited, deleted,
and copied and pasted.
To edit a meter event:
1 In the Meter Ruler, double-click the meter
event.
2 In the Change Meter dialog, enter a new Loca-
tion or Meter for the event.
3 Click OK.
To delete a meter event:
While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), move the cursor over the meter
event (where the cursor changes to the Grabber
with a “–”) and click to remove it.
Meter events selected
If the beginning of the selection includes a
meter event, press Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows) so the Selector tool appears.
Press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows)
while dragging to select across all Conductor tracks.
3 Choose Edit > Copy.
4 Click in the Meter Ruler at the point where
you want to paste the meter events.
5 Choose Edit > Paste. The contents of the Clipboard are pasted from the insertion point, replacing any existing meter events.
To extend an Edit selection in a track to the Meter
Ruler:
■
1 Using either the Selector or Grabber, select a
track range.
2 Shift-click in the Meter Ruler.
Shift-click again in the Meter Ruler to remove it
from the selection.
To select all meter events:
■ Double-click with the Selector in the Meter
Ruler.
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To clear a range of selected meter events:
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to con-
strain the selection to the current Grid value.
2 Drag in the Meter Ruler to select the meter
events you want to remove.
3 Choose Edit > Clear to delete the selected
meter events.
Partial Measures
Renumbering Bars
You can use the Renumber Bars command to renumber all bars in the session, effectively
changing the bar locations for all regions, meter
and tempo events while leaving their position
intact. In doing so, however, the SMPTE and
sample locations of the session data are not
changed.
To renumber bars:
Aligning Beat 1 to a SMPTE Location
1 Choose MIDI > Renumber Bars.
When scoring to film or video, you will often
need to start a section of music at a precise
SMPTE time code location. Since this location
will usually not fall cleanly at the beginning of a
measure, you can insert a meter event at the
time code location where the music needs to
start.
2 Specify the bar you want to renumber, along
with the new bar number, then click Renumber.
As necessary, Pro Tools will create a partial measure to accommodate the inserted meter event.
When a meter event is preceded by a partial
measure, the meter event is displayed in italics
in the Meter Ruler.
Renumber Bars dialog
Partial measure of 4/4
Partial measures can also occur when pasting
meter events to locations other than beat one.
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273
Memory Locations and
Markers
Each session can save up to 200 Memory Locations that can be used to recall:
Properties of Memory Locations
When creating a new Memory Location (see
“Creating Memory Locations” on page 276) you
are prompted to define its Time Properties and
General Properties.
• Markers to important locations in the session
• Edit selections across one or more tracks
• Record and play ranges, along with pre/postroll times
• Track settings that include Show/Hide status,
Track Heights, and zoom values
• Edit and Mix Groups enables
Memory Locations are viewed and sorted in the
Memory Locations window, where they can be
recalled by clicking the Memory Location.
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Classic, Memory Locations can be recalled
from the numeric keypad by pressing the
Memory Location number followed by period (.).
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to
Transport or Shuttle, Memory Locations
can be recalled from the numeric keypad by
pressing period (.), the Memory Location
number, and period (.) again.
Memory Location dialog
Time Properties
Under Time Properties, a Memory Location can
be set to Marker, Selection, or None. This determines the type of Memory Location that is created. Each of these three Memory Location
types can also save any combination of General
Properties.
Marker Recalls a Timeline location whose reference can be either Bar|Beat (tick-based) or Absolute (sample-based). When recalling a Marker
Memory Location, the playback cursor moves to
the Marker’s location and the start and end
times in the Transport window are also updated.
If the Edit and Timeline Selections are linked,
the edit cursor also moves to the Marker location.
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When set to Absolute, the Memory Location is
sample-based and its bar and beat location shifts
if the tempo is changed—though its sample location remains constant, along with its relation
to audio material.
Markers in the Markers Ruler
Markers appear in the Markers Ruler with a thin
yellow line extending down through all tracks
in the Edit window (to assist in arranging and
aligning track material). You can click on a
Marker in the Markers Ruler to recall its location
along with its stored General Properties.
Selection Recalls an edit selection or edit cursor
location whose reference can be either Bar|Beat
(tick-based) or Absolute (sample-based). A Selection Memory Location lets you store edit selections, for one or more tracks, that you return to
often within a session. If the Edit and Timeline
Selections are linked, a Selection Memory Location can recall record and play ranges.
Only contiguous selections can be saved
with Memory Locations. Discontiguous selections, made with the Object Grabber, will
be recalled as if the selections were made
with the Time Grabber.
Bar|Beat Marker (left) and Absolute Marker (right)
In the Markers Ruler, Markers that are Bar|Beat
appear as yellow chevrons, and Markers that are
Absolute appear as yellow diamonds.
General Properties
Any of the three types of Memory Locations
(Marker, Selection, and None) can store and recall any combination of the following General
Properties:
Zoom Settings Recalls the horizontal and vertical zoom values for both audio and MIDI tracks.
Pre/Post Roll Times Recalls pre- and post-roll
times (but not whether they are enabled). This
property can be stored with a Selection Memory
Location to recall record and play ranges along
with pre/post-roll.
None Recalls no Time Properties and is therefore
referred to as a General Properties Memory Location.
Track Show/Hide Recalls which tracks are hidden. Use this property to display groups of
tracks for editing and mixing.
Bar|Beat and Absolute Reference
Track Heights Recalls all Track Heights. Use this
option along with the Zoom Settings option to
recall edit environments that are suited for particular tasks, such as editing down to the sample
level or trimming MIDI notes.
The Reference pop-up determines whether the
Marker or Selection Memory Location is
Bar|Beat or Absolute. When set to Bar|Beat, the
Memory Location is tick-based and its bar and
beat location remains constant if the tempo is
changed—though its relation to audio is scaled,
resulting in a new sample location.
Group Enables Recalls which Edit and Mix
Groups are enabled. This option is helpful in recalling groups for particular edit and mixing operations, such as muting all drum tracks or fading a stereo pair.
Chapter 21: Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations
275
Creating Memory Locations
Memory Locations can be created by pressing
Enter on the numeric keypad, by Control-clicking (Macintosh) or Start-clicking (Windows) in
the Markers Ruler, or by choosing the Add New
Memory Location command from the pop-up
menu in the Memory Locations window. The
method you use will likely depend on the type
of Memory Location you want to create.
When creating Memory Locations, the next
available number is assigned to it (1–200). This
number is used in recalling the Memory Location from the numeric keypad.
To create a Marker Memory Location:
1 Configure any session settings you will save
with the Marker Memory Location, such as
zoom settings, pre/post-roll times, Show/Hide
status for tracks, Track Heights, and Edit and
Mix Group enables.
2 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
3 If the Markers Ruler is not displayed, select
Display > Ruler View Shows > Markers.
4 Click with the Selector at the desired location
in any track or Ruler. To place a Marker at the beginning of a region, select the region with the
Grabber. Click the Marker Well button to the left
of the Markers Ruler (or press Enter on the numeric keypad).
Marker Well button
– or –
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
While pressing Control (Macintosh) or the Start
key (Windows), move the cursor into the Markers Ruler (where the cursor changes to the Grabber with a “+”) and click at the desired location.
Manually inserting a Marker
5 In the New Memory Location dialog, select
the Marker option and specify the Reference as
either Bar|Beat or Absolute.
6 If desired, enter a name for the new Marker
and select any General Properties you want to
save with the Marker.
7 Click OK. The Marker is created and appears in
the Markers Ruler, and in the Memory Locations
window.
To create a Selection Memory Location:
1 Configure any session settings you will save
with the Selection Memory Location, such as
zoom settings, pre/post-roll times, Show/Hide
status for tracks, Track Heights, and Edit and
Mix Group enables.
2 Select a range of material in one or more
tracks.
3 Press Enter on the numeric keypad.
– or –
From the pop-up menu in the Memory Locations window (click the Name button), choose
Add Memory Location.
4 In the New Memory Location dialog, select
the Selection option and specify the Reference
as either Bar|Beat or Absolute.
5 If desired, enter a name for the new Memory
Location and select any General Properties you
want to save with it.
6 Click OK. The Selection Memory Location is
created and appears in the Memory Locations
window.
To create a General Properties Memory Location:
1 Configure any session settings you will save
with the Selection Memory Location, such as
zoom settings, pre/post-roll times, Show/Hide
status for tracks, Track Heights, and Edit and
Mix Group enables.
2 Press Enter on the numeric keypad.
3 In the Memory Location dialog, select the
None option.
4 If desired, enter a name for the new Memory
Location and select any General Properties you
want to save with it.
5 Click OK. The General Properties Memory Location is created and appears in the Memory Locations window.
In the New Memory Location dialog, you
can Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click
(Windows) any General Property to enable
or disable all properties. You can also Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) any property to toggle its state
and the state of all other General Properties.
Creating Memory Locations on the Fly
When the Editing Preference for “Auto-Name
Memory Locations When Playing” is enabled,
Memory Locations can be created while playing
without encountering the New Memory Location dialog. This option can also be selected
from the pop-up menu in the Memory Locations window.
This capability is useful if you want to mark certain locations while listening during a record
pass, or if you want to mark frame locations
while viewing a video scene.
To create a Marker during playback:
1 From the pop-up menu in the Memory Locations window, select Default To Marker. This ensures that new Memory Locations default to
being Markers.
2 From the pop-up menu in the Memory Locations window, select Auto-Name Memory Locations.
3 For inserted Markers to have a Bar|Beat reference, make sure to set the Time Scale to
Bars:Beats.
4 Click Play in the Transport window.
5 When the location is reached, press Enter on
the numeric keypad. A Marker is automatically
created and appears in the Markers Ruler.
When auto-creating Markers, they are named
and numbered as “Marker 1,” “Marker 2,”
“Marker 3,” and so on.
When the option for Default To Marker is deselected, new Memory Locations default to whatever type was last created. Therefore, if a Selection Memory Location was created last, it will be
the type that is created on the fly. In this case,
the name for the created Memory Location is
based on the start of the Edit selection using the
time format for the Main Time Scale (such as
“2|2|305” or “0:02.658”).
Chapter 21: Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations
277
Recalling Memory Locations
Memory Locations can be recalled from the
Memory Locations window and from the numeric keypad. In addition, Marker Memory Selections can be recalled by clicking them in the
Markers Ruler.
To recall a Memory Location:
1 If the Memory Locations window is not already open, choose Windows > Show Memory
Locations to display it.
2 If recalling a Selection Memory Location that
will define a record or play range, make sure to
select Operations > Link Edit and Timeline Selection.
3 In the Memory Locations window, click the
Memory Location to recall it.
– or –
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Classic,
press the Memory Location number followed by
period (.).
– or –
With the Numeric Keypad Mode set to Transport or Shuttle, press period (.), the Memory Location number, and period (.) again.
When recalling a Memory Location from
the numeric keypad, the Memory Locations
window does not need to be open.
To recall a Marker from the Markers Ruler:
1 If the Markers Ruler is not displayed, select
Display > Ruler View Shows > Markers.
2 Click on the Marker. The playback cursor lo-
cates to the Marker and any General Properties
stored with the Marker are recalled.
Even if the Markers Ruler is not displayed,
Markers can be recalled from the Memory
Locations window, or from the numeric keypad.
Editing Memory Locations
Memory Locations can be renamed, edited, deleted, and copied and pasted.
To rename a Memory Location:
1 In the Memory Locations window, doubleclick the Memory Location you want to rename.
– or –
If renaming a Marker Memory Location, doubleclick the Marker in the Markers Ruler.
2 Enter the new name for the Memory Location,
and click OK.
To redefine the General Properties stored with a
Memory Location:
1 As desired, make changes to the session’s
zoom settings, pre/post-roll times, Show/Hide
status of tracks, Track Heights, and Group Enables.
2 In the Memory Locations window, Controlclick (Macintosh) or Right-click (Windows) the
Memory Location you want to redefine.
– or –
If changing a Marker Memory Location, Control-click (Macintosh) or Right-click (Windows)
the Marker in the Markers Ruler.
3 In the Memory Location dialog, select the
General Properties you want to save with the
Memory Location.
4 Enter a new name for the Memory Location, if
desired, and click OK.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
To change a Memory Location from one type to
another:
1 In the Memory Locations window, double-
click the Memory Location you want to change.
– or –
If changing a Marker Memory Location, doubleclick the Marker in the Markers Ruler.
2 In the Memory Location dialog, select either
Marker, Selection, or None as the Memory Location type.
3 Enter a new name for the Memory Location, if
desired, and click OK.
To change the Selection stored with a Memory
Location:
1 If the Memory Locations window is not already open, choose Windows > Show Memory
Locations to display it.
2 Select a range of material in one or more
tracks.
3 In the Memory Locations window, Control-
click (Macintosh) or Right-click (Windows) the
Memory Location that you want to redefine.
4 Enter a new name for the Memory Location, if
desired, and click OK.
To align a Marker to a different location:
1 Make sure to select Operations > Link Edit and
Timeline Selection.
2 In any of the Timebase Rulers, click with the
Selector at the new location.
– or –
Click in the playlist for any track. To align the
Marker to the start of a region, select the region
with the Grabber.
3 In the Memory Locations window or the
Markers Ruler, Control-click (Macintosh) or
Right-click (Windows) the Marker Memory Location that you want to redefine.
4 Enter a new name for the Marker, if desired,
and click OK.
Deleting Memory Locations
To delete a Memory Location:
■ In the Memory Locations window, select the
Memory Location and choose Delete Memory
Location from the pop-up menu.
– or –
■ In the Memory Locations window, Optionclick (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the
Memory Location.
To move a Marker by dragging:
1 In the Markers Ruler, drag the Marker left or
To delete all Memory Locations:
right.
■ In the Memory Locations Window, choose
Delete All from the pop-up menu.
– or –
Dragging a Marker
■ Option-Shift-click (Macintosh) or Alt-Shiftclick (Windows) any Memory Location in the
Memory Locations window.
If the Edit mode is set to Grid, the dragged event
snaps to the current Grid value. If using Spot
mode, the Spot dialog opens.
Chapter 21: Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations
279
To delete a Marker from the Markers Ruler:
While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), move the cursor over the Marker
(where the cursor changes to the Grabber with a
“–”) and click to remove it.
Memory Locations Window
■
Memory Locations are listed, with their name
and assigned number, in the Memory Locations
window. To recall a Memory Location from this
window, simply click it.
Copying Marker Memory Locations
To copy and paste a range of Markers:
Marker
Memory Location
1 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid to con-
strain the selection to the current Grid value.
Selection
Memory Location
2 Drag in the Tempo Ruler to select the range of
measures that includes the Markers.
If the beginning of the selection includes a
Marker, press Command (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) so the Selector tool appears.
Press Option (Macintosh) or Alt (Windows)
while dragging to select across all Conductor tracks.
3 Choose Edit > Copy.
General Properties
Memory Location
Memory Locations window
You can select viewing and sorting options,
along with commands for creating and removing Memory Locations, from the pop-up menu
in the Memory Locations window (obtained by
clicking the Name button in the upper left).
4 Click in the Markers Ruler at the point where
you want to paste the tempo events.
5 Choose Edit > Paste. The contents of the Clipboard are pasted from the insertion point, replacing any existing Markers.
To extend an Edit selection in a track to the
Markers Ruler:
Memory Locations window pop-up menu
1 Using either the Selector or Grabber, select a
track range.
2 Shift-click in the Markers Ruler.
Shift-click again in the Tempo Ruler to remove it
from the selection.
To select all Markers in the Markers Ruler:
Double-click with the Selector in the Tempo
Ruler.
■
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Memory Locations Commands and
Options
Show Markers Only When selected, only Marker
Memory Locations are displayed in the Memory
Locations window. However, even when Selection Memory Locations and General Property
Memory Locations are hidden, they can still be
recalled from the numeric keypad.
Show View Filter Icons When selected, the
Memory Locations window provides an iconbased “View Filter” that allows you to show or
hide Memory Locations based on the properties
they contain. To show or hide Memory Locations containing a specific property, click the
appropriate icon.
Show Main/Sub Counter When selected, a column appears in the Memory Locations window
that displays the locations for Markers, and the
start times for Selection Memory Locations.
General Property Memory Locations display
nothing in this column.
Main
Time Scale
Marker
Sub
Time Scale
Show/Hide
Zoom
Track Heights
Settings
Pre/Post-Roll
Selection
Memory Location
Active
Groups
Memory Locations View Filter
If an icon is disabled, all Memory Locations associated with that property are hidden. However, if a Memory Location contains other properties for an icon that is enabled, it is still
displayed. When a view icon is enabled, it appears in color. When it is disabled, it appears
gray.
Main/Sub Counters in Memory Locations window
You can click at the top of these columns for a
pop-up menu that will let you change the Main
and Sub Time Scale.
Sort by Time When selected, Markers are sorted
by their order in the Timeline, followed by Selection and General Properties Memory Locations, which are listed in the order in which
they were created.
When Sort by Time is deselected, all Memory
Locations are listed in the order of their assigned
numbers.
Add Memory Location Choose this command to
create a new Memory Location.
Remove Memory Location Deletes the currently
selected Memory Location in the Memory Locations window.
Memory Locations window with View Filter icons
In addition, the View Filter provides a handy
reference for which properties are stored in each
Memory Location (indicated by a row of icons
for each Memory Location).
Delete All Deletes all Memory Locations
(Marker, Selection, and General Property) in the
session.
Default To Marker When selected, new Memory
Locations default to Markers, though in the New
Memory Location dialog you can still define the
new Memory Location as one of the other types.
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281
Auto-Name Memory Location When selected,
Memory Locations are created automatically
without encountering the New Memory Location dialog. If the Default To Marker option is
selected, a Marker Memory Location is auto-created. Otherwise, the Memory Location type is
determined by whatever type (Marker, Selection, or None) was created last.
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Chapter 22: Beat Detective
Beat Detective Requirements
About Beat Detective
Beat Detective is only available with Pro Tools
TDM systems. It does not appear in
Pro Tools LE.
Beat Detective can automatically detect peak
transients in audio selections, so you can extract
tempo information from the audio material, or
so that you can conform the audio material to
the session’s existing tempo map.
RAM Requirements for Beat Detective
Beat Detective operations can require a large
amount of RAM, especially when working with
multiple tracks and lengthy selections.
To avoid low memory situations with Beat
Detective, do the following:
Macintosh users should substantially increase
the RAM allocated to Pro Tools. Under extreme
usage situations (eight or more tracks with selections of five minutes or longer), you should allocate 100 MB, or even more, to the Pro Tools
application.
■
Beat Detective involves the following steps:
1 Define a selection of audio material, on a single mono track, multichannel track, or across
multiple tracks.
2 Adjust the Detection parameters so that verti-
cal beat triggers appear in Edit window, based on
the peak transients detected in the selection.
3 Generate Bar|Beat Markers based on the beat
triggers, thereby extracting a tempo map from
the selection and using it for the session.
– or –
If your computer does not have the extra
RAM, work with shorter selections, or individual
tracks.
■
– or –
Set the Editing Preference for Levels of Undo
to a smaller value (see “Levels of Undo and
RAM” on page 181). Memory-intensive editing
operations, such as Edit Smoothing with Beat
Detective, can use up a large amount of memory
when in the Undo queue.
■
Separate and automatically create new regions,
representing beats or sub-beats, based on the
beat triggers. You can then conform the new regions to the session’s existing tempo map, followed by automatic edit smoothing, if necessary.
Chapter 22: Beat Detective
283
Beat Detective and the Source Material
“Tightening Up” an Audio Performance
Beat Detective is most effective with rhythmic
audio material that has strong percussive attacks. It should work well with most instruments used in pop music, such as drums, guitar,
and bass. Beat Detective will be less successful
with audio material that has soft attacks, or legato phrasing, such as strings and vocals.
Beat Detective can improve the timing of some
audio material by calculating and extracting its
average tempo, and then conforming its rhythmic components (regions separated with Beat
Detective) to the session’s tempo map. You can
even retain some of the original feel of the material.
While Beat Detective has intelligent analysis algorithms for detecting rhythmic material, some
material may be too far off the rhythmic grid, or
have tempo changes that are too varied, to be
useful with Beat Detective.
Loop Matching
Applications for Beat Detective
Following are some useful applications for Beat
Detective.
Extracting Tempo and Grooves from Audio
Remixes
Beat Detective can convert beat triggers to
Bar|Beat Markers, which makes it possible to extract tempo from audio that was recorded without listening to a click—even if the audio contains varying tempos, or material that is swung.
Beat Detective can be used for remixes. It can extract tempo from the original drum tracks, or in
some instances the original stereo mix. New
tracks, audio or MIDI, can then be conformed to
the original material, or the original material
can be conformed to new drum tracks, achieving an entirely new feel.
Once the Bar|Beat Markers have been generated
from the source audio, other audio regions and
MIDI tracks in the session can be quantized to it.
Smoothing Post Production Edits
Conforming Audio to an Existing Tempo Map
If your session already has the right tempo, you
can conform audio with a different tempo, or
with varying tempos, to the session’s tempo. If
desired, the conformed audio can retain a percentage of its original feel, and you can increase
or reduce the amount of swing in the conformed material.
284
Since Beat Detective can extract tempo and beat
information from audio, and conform audio to
an existing tempo, this makes it very useful for
aligning loops with different tempos or feels. If
one loop has a subtly different feel or groove,
you can potentially impose that groove on another loop.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Beat Detective’s Edit Smoothing can be used to
automatically clean up foley tracks that contain
many regions that need to be trimmed and
crossfaded, effectively removing the gaps of silence between the regions (so you can retain the
room tone throughout the track).
The Beat Detective Window
Figure 17. Beat Detective window
The Beat Detective window has four different
modes, accessed by the tabs in the upper left of
the window. Depending on the mode, the controls in the upper right of the window change.
The Selection options for Beat Detective, in the
center, are available in each of the modes.
The Beat Detective modes include:
Bar|Beat Marker Generation Automatically generates Bar|Beat Markers corresponding to transients detected in the audio selection.
Region Separation Automatically separates and
creates new regions based on transients detected
in the audio selection.
Region Conform Conforms all separated regions
within the selection to the current tempo map.
You can preserve some of the original feel of the
material with the Strength and Exclude Within
option, or impose an amount swing with the
Swing option.
Edit Smoothing After conforming regions, this
option is used to fill the gaps between the regions by automatically trimming them, and inserting crossfades if desired.
Collection Mode Accesses a sub-mode for collecting beat triggers for multiple tracks, each with
different Detection parameters.
Opening the Beat Detective Window
To open the Beat Detective window:
■
Choose Windows > Show Beat Detective.
– or –
■ Press Command+8 (Macintosh) or Control+8
(Windows) on the numeric keypad.
Beat Detective is a floating window that can be
left open while working, adjusting the parameters in real time during playback, while viewing
the beat triggers that appear in your selection in
the Edit window.
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285
Defining the Selection for
Beat Detective
Whether you will be generating Bar|Beat Markers, or separating regions to be conformed, the
first step in using Beat Detective is to define the
Selection parameters for the audio material you
want to analyze.
Make sure the selection’s start and end points
fall cleanly on the beat. To zero in on start and
end points, see “Tabbing to Transients” on
page 207.
You can easily recall an Edit selection by
saving it as a Memory Location. See “Memory Locations and Markers” on page 274.
2 To keep the Edit selection intact while playing
or looping from any location, deselect Operations > Link Edit and Timeline Selection.
3 Choose Windows > Show Beat Detective.
4 Enter a Time Signature for the material.
Beat Detective, Selection options
Beat Detective can work with selections on
multichannel tracks, or with selections across
multiple tracks. This is especially useful if you
have different drum parts on different tracks
and want the rhythmic events on each track detected, thereby generating a set of trigger points
from all of the material as a whole.
For Beat Detective to accurately generate beat
triggers that are metrically accurate, it’s very important that the length and meter of the selection be defined correctly. This is crucial whether
you intend to generate Bar|Beat Markers, or separate and conform regions. In addition, the selection cannot contain any meter changes.
To account for the timbrel subtleties and
rhythmic nuances of freely recorded material, you may want to work with smaller selections.
To define a selection for Beat Detective:
1 In the Edit window, select a range of audio
material. To work with multiple tracks, Shiftclick in each additional track, or use an Edit
Group.
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5 To set the selection range, do one of the following:
• Enter locations for the Start Bar|Beat and End
Bar|Beat. For a four-bar selection that starts on
beat 1, enter 1|1 and 5|1.
• If unsure of the length of the material, enter
the Start Bar|Beat and click the Tap button repeatedly to automatically calculate the End
Bar|Beat. When using Tap with long selections, continue to tap until the End Bar|Beat
stabilizes. Once stabilized, you may need to
manually adjust the number to the nearest
bar boundary.
• If the selection’s tempo matches the session
tempo (see “Calculating a Selection’s Tempo
with Beat Detective” on page 287), and it
aligns correctly with the sessions’s bars and
beats, click the Capture Selection button.
6 If the material contains 32nd notes or triplets,
select those options.
Calculating a Selection’s Tempo with
Beat Detective
If you know the start and end points of a selection, and its time signature, you can use Beat
Detective to calculate its average tempo. This allows you to automatically define the selection
range (with the Capture Selection button) when
using Beat Detective.
To calculate a selection’s tempo with Beat
Detective:
Detecting Transients with
Beat Detective
Once you’ve accurately defined the selection
range, Beat Detective can generate beat triggers
based on the peak transients detected in the material. The range and type of transients found
can be adjusted with the Detection settings, allowing you to zero in on the bars, beats, and
sub-beats in the material, while avoiding the
non-rhythmic content.
1 In the Edit window, select a range of audio
material. Make sure the selection’s start and end
points fall cleanly on the beat. To zero in on
start and end points, see “Tabbing to Transients”
on page 207.
2 Choose Windows > Show Beat Detective and
click the tab for Bar|Beat Generation.
Beat Detective, Detection options
3 Enter a Time Signature for the selection.
To detect beat triggers for the selection:
4 Enter the Start Bar|Beat and End Bar|Beat for
the selection.
5 With the Sensitivity slider set to 0%, click An-
alyze.
6 Click Generate to automatically insert
Bar|Beat Markers at the beginning and end of
the selection, representing the material’s average tempo.
1 In the Beat Detective window, click the tab for
Bar|Beat Generation.
2 From the Analysis pop-up menu, choose one
of the following detection algorithms:
• High Emphasis, works well with high frequency material, such as cymbals and hi-hats,
while avoiding low frequency material.
• Low Emphasis, works well with low frequency
material, such as bass guitar and kick drum, as
well as with most tonal material, such as piano or rhythm guitar.
3 Click the Analyze button.
4 Depending on the rhythmic content of the se-
lection, set the Resolution to Bars, Beats, or SubBeats.
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5 Adjust the Sensitivity slider until beat triggers
appear on the beats and sub-beats in the selection.
Beat triggers
Bar triggers are indicated with thick lines, beat
triggers with medium lines, and sub-beat triggers with thin lines.
6 Zoom in and scroll through the selection, if
necessary, to confirm that the beat triggers are
appearing in the appropriate locations. If false
triggers appear between the beats or sub-beats,
representing non-rhythmic material, reduce the
Sensitivity value.
7 To display the metric locations for the triggers,
select the Show Trigger Time option.
8 If you can’t get the beat triggers to appear at
the right locations, go back to step 2 and try the
other Analysis algorithm.
◆ Check the thickness of the beat triggers to see
if they align properly with the material. Thick
triggers fall on barlines, medium triggers fall on
beats, and thin triggers fall on sub-beats.
◆ Select the option for Show Trigger Time and
see if the (assumed) metric locations of the triggers align with the material. A false trigger could
cause other triggers downstream to have the
wrong locations.
◆ Consider whether lengthy selections should
first be broken down into smaller selections,
which could be more easily managed. For example, working in 16- or 8-bar sections might yield
much quicker and better results.
◆ For selections across multiple tracks, consider
whether it may be easier to work with them individually, or whether Collection mode may be
needed (see “Beat Detective and Collection
Mode” on page 294).
Editing Beat Triggers
Tips for Getting Useful Triggers
Even though Beat Detective offers a large
amount of flexibility in how transients are detected, there may be times when beat triggers
must be deleted, moved, or manually inserted.
Use the following tips to verify beat triggers:
Deleting Beat Triggers
To focus on a particular area in the selection,
unlink the Edit and Timeline selections and set
the playback range by clicking or dragging in
any Timebase Ruler.
◆
Set the Edit window to scroll during playback,
zoom in, and watch for the triggers as the window scrolls. If necessary, use half-speed playback
by Shift-clicking Play in the Transport window.
◆
False triggers, which do not represent an actual
beat or sub-beat in the source material, may appear when raising the Sensitivity slider to detect
low-level material. In these instances you can
locate and manually delete the false triggers.
To delete a beat trigger:
1 With the Beat Detective window still open,
choose the Grabber tool in the Edit window.
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2 Locate the false trigger you want to delete.
Transients for false triggers usually have smaller
peaks than the other trigger points, and typically fall between the sub-beats.
Promoting Beat Triggers
Deleting a beat trigger
To promote a beat trigger:
3 Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the trigger to delete it.
1 Raise the Sensitivity slider until the desired
transient is detected and a beat trigger appears.
Moving Beat Triggers
You can adjust the placement of triggers to allow for the attack of their transients, or to compensate for an individual transient that is
slightly ahead of or behind the beat.
To ensure that important beat triggers do not
disappear when lowering the Sensitivity value,
you can promote them. This is useful if a selection has many false triggers (too many to bother
deleting) at a Sensitivity level where crucial,
necessary triggers appear. If lowering the Sensitivity slider causes the needed triggers to disappear, simply promote them first.
2 Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the beat trigger to promote it.
3 Lower the Sensitivity slider to a value where
the false triggers disappear.
1 With the Beat Detective window still open,
choose the Grabber tool in the Edit window.
Once beat triggers are promoted, they will only
disappear if the Sensitivity value is set to 0%. To
demote all beat triggers in the selection—returning them to their original state—you can click
the Analyze button.
2 Locate the beat trigger you want to move and
Inserting Beat Triggers
To move a beat trigger:
drag it left or right.
If an important beat or sub-beat is not detected,
because of low level, you can manually insert a
beat trigger.
To insert a beat trigger:
1 With the Beat Detective window still open,
choose the Grabber tool in the Edit window.
2 Click in the selection where you want to insert
the new trigger. After clicking, you can drag left
or right to adjust its placement.
Moving a beat trigger
If you click too close to an existing trigger, the
existing trigger will be moved to the new location.
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Redefining a Beat Trigger’s Metric Location
It is important that beat triggers represent the
correct metric location, so that Bar|Beat Markers
are generated accurately, and so that regions are
conformed to the right locations.
If some material is slightly off the beat, Beat Detective may assign it, as well as other transients
in the selection, the wrong metric location.
For example, if you have a bass track where a
note was intended to be a downbeat, but was
played too early, Beat Detective may define its
location as occurring a 32nd note before the
downbeat. If you then separate and conform the
region containing this note, it will move to the
wrong place (subsequent regions may end up in
the wrong location as well).
If you find that a beat trigger is not assigned the
correct metric location, you can redefine it.
Generating Bar|Beat Markers
with Beat Detective
Once Beat Detective has accurately detected the
peak transients in the audio selection and accurately generated beat triggers, you can convert
them to Bar|Beat Markers. This allows you to extract a tempo map from the material and use it
for the session.
If beat triggers are accurately represented on the
sub-beats, the material’s groove can potentially
be imposed on other audio regions and MIDI
tracks.
If you want to match the audio material to the
session’s existing tempo map, you would not
want to generate Bar|Beat Markers from the material. You would instead use Beat Detective to
separate and conform the material (see “Separating and Conforming Regions with Beat Detective” on page 291).
To change the metric location of a beat trigger:
1 Double-click the beat trigger you want to edit.
To generate Bar|Beat Markers with Beat
Detective:
1 In the Beat Detective window, click the tab for
Bar|Beat Marker Generation.
2 Define the selection for the audio material (see
“Defining the Selection for Beat Detective” on
page 286).
Identify Trigger dialog
2 In the Identify Trigger dialog, enter the correct
location for the trigger, then click OK.
3 Configure the Detection options so the selection’s peak transients are accurately detected
(see “Detecting Transients with Beat Detective”
on page 287).
4 Click the Generate button. Bar|Beat Markers
are generated, based on the beat triggers, and
appear in the Tempo Ruler.
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Capturing a Groove with SubBeats
To extract the groove from a selection, set the
Resolution to Sub-Beats when detecting transients. This ensures that the inner rhythms
within each bar (if they indeed exist) are represented when generating Bar|Beat Markers. These
Bar|Beat Markers can then be used to quantize
other audio regions or MIDI tracks, thereby imposing the groove from the audio material.
When quantizing regions or MIDI notes to
Bar|Beat Markers on sub-beats that represent a swing feel, make sure to use a
straight quantize value (with the Swing option for Quantize disabled).
Separating and Conforming
Regions with Beat Detective
Once beat triggers appear in your selection, they
can be used to define start and end points for
new regions that can be separated automatically. The new regions can then be conformed
to the session’s existing tempo map.
To separate regions with Beat Detective:
1 In the Beat Detective window, click the tab for
Region Separation.
2 Define the selection for the audio material (see
“Defining the Selection for Beat Detective” on
page 286).
3 Configure the Detection options so the selection’s peak transients are accurately detected
(see “Detecting Transients with Beat Detective”
on page 287).
4 Click the Separate button. Regions are separated based on the detected beat triggers.
Trigger Pad
When separating regions, the Beat Detective
window displays an option called Trigger Pad.
You can enter a value in this field (between 0
and 50 ms) to pad region start points when the
separate point (the beat trigger) falls on the attack of the audio material. This results in an
amount of space between the region start point
and the region sync point, thereby ensuring
that the attack portion of the material remains
intact.
Sync Points
When separating regions with Beat Detective,
sync points are created that correspond to the
beat triggers. When conforming regions, the region sync point (not the region start point) determines where the region is placed.
Beat Detective, Region Separation options
If you instead want to clean up the timing for
the selection, and are basically happy with the
existing tempo, make sure to first extract the
tempo from the material by generating Bar|Beat
Markers (see “Generating Bar|Beat Markers with
Beat Detective” on page 290).
Separating Multiple Tracks
You can use beat triggers from a single track, or
subset of tracks, to separate a group of tracks. For
example, after analyzing a selection on a kick
drum track (with transients detected on beats 1
and 3), you can extend the selection to the hihat and snare tracks before performing the Separate.
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This results in regions separated from each of
the drum tracks at the same location, based on
the beat triggers from the kick drum track. The
separated regions can then be conformed as a
group.
To extend a selection to another track, Shiftclick in the desired track, or enable an Edit
Group
Conforming Regions with Beat
Detective
After regions have been separated with Beat Detective, the regions can then be conformed to
the session’s tempo map. This is similar to using
the Quantize Regions command, but with one
important difference. Beat Detective can adjust
the position of all regions, whether they have a
straight, or swing feel, with a single operation.
To conform regions with Beat Detective:
1 In the Beat Detective window, click the tab for
Region Conform.
2 To affect how strongly the regions are conformed, select the Strength option and specify a
percentage value with either the slider or by typing in a value:
• Lower percentage values preserve the original
feel of the regions.
• Higher percentage values align the regions
more tightly to the Grid, with 100% aligning
precisely to the Grid.
To “tighten up” the original feel, while retaining it, set the Strength option to
85–88%.
3 To affect which regions are conformed, select
the Exclude Within option and specify a percentage value with the slider or by typing in a
value:
• Lower percentage values ensure that regions
further away from the Grid are conformed,
while those closer to the Grid are not.
Beat Detective, Conform options
Beat Detective will conform any selected region,
whether or not it was separated with Beat Detective. However, in order to successfully conform
regions with Beat Detective, the region start
points must correspond to the start of the material that will align with the session’s bars and
beats. This should generally not be a problem if
the regions were separated with Beat Detective
(as opposed to manually separated or trimmed).
If Beat Detective has successfully captured
enough of the sub-beats from a selection before separating, you can conform with the
Swing option to change the groove from a
“straight” feel to one that is swung.
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• Higher percentage values ensure that regions
closer to the Grid, as well as those further
away, are conformed.
To “tighten up” the original feel, while retaining it, set the Exclude Within option to
10–15%.
4 To achieve a swing feel for the conformed regions, select the Swing option and whether the
swing is based on 8th or 16th notes, then specify
a percentage value with the slider or by typing
in a value:
• Smaller percentage values yield less swing,
with 0% yielding none.
• Larger percentage values yield more swing,
with 100% yielding a triplet, swing feel.
• Percentage values between 100–150 move the
regions beyond a triplet, swing feel, toward
the next 16th note boundary (provided the
Swing note value is set to 8th notes).
5 Click the Conform button to automatically
conform all regions in the selection.
To use Edit Smoothing on conformed regions:
1 Choose Windows > Beat Detective.
2 Make sure the conformed regions are selected
in the Edit window.
3 In the Beat Detective window, click the tab for
Edit Smoothing.
4 Select one of the following Smoothing options:
Regions conformed with Beat Detective
Audition the new conformed regions by clicking
Play in the Transport window. If necessary, select Edit > Undo and try a different set of Conform settings.
• Fill Gaps, trims region end points so that the
gaps between regions are filled.
• Fill And Crossfade, trims region end points
and automatically adds a pre-fade (in ms) directly before each region start point.
5 Click the Smooth button to smooth the edits
for the selected regions.
Edit Smoothing
After regions are conformed, there are gaps between the regions. These gaps can cause the material to sound unnatural on playback.
Regions before and after Edit Smoothing
Beat Detective, Smoothing options
Beat Detective can automatically fill the gaps between regions, and even add crossfades if desired. This Edit Smoothing option can be used
with regions that have been conformed, or with
a track that contains many regions (such as in a
sound effects track) that need to be trimmed
and crossfaded. This automated process of
smoothing region edits could potentially save
many hours of tedious editing.
Audition the new conformed regions by clicking
Play in the Transport window. If necessary, select Edit > Undo and adjust the Crossfade
Length.
Edit Smoothing Creates Sync Points
After smoothing edits with Beat Detective, sync
points (corresponding to the material’s start
point) are automatically created for the conformed regions. This allows you to later conform the regions to a different tempo map, or
with a different set of Conform settings.
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Consolidating Regions after Edit
Smoothing
The process of separating, conforming, and
smoothing with Beat Detective can leave tracks
with many regions and many crossfades. If you
are working with multiple tracks, the density of
these edits may lead to system performance
problems.
Once you are satisfied with the results from Beat
Detective, it is recommended that you “flatten”
the tracks with the Consolidate Selection command, thereby writing contiguous audio files
and regions, which are easier to play. See “Consolidate Selection Command” on page 260.
Before consolidating a large selection across
multiple tracks, make sure there is enough
RAM available. See “RAM Requirements for
Beat Detective” on page 283.
Beat Detective and Collection
Mode
In some instances, it may be difficult for Beat
Detective to successfully analyze multiple tracks
with the same Detection settings. With Beat Detective’s Collection mode, you can collect a set
of beat triggers from different tracks, each with
different Detection settings, and use the collection of triggers to generate Bar|Beat Markers or
separate new regions.
This method of selectively adding beat triggers
from separate analysis passes on different tracks,
until you get only the triggers you want, is potentially much more effective than manually
deleting, inserting, or adjusting incorrect of
false triggers.
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Drum Tracks and Collection Mode
Suppose you have drum tracks for kick, snare,
toms, and overhead mics. If you analyze a selection across all of the tracks, you may get many
false triggers when you raise the Sensitivity
slider high enough to capture the hi-hat material (coming mainly from the track for the overhead mics).
However, if you analyze only the track for the
overhead mics, the resulting beat triggers are
slightly later than the material on the other
tracks (since sound travels more slowly to the
overhead mics). If you then extend the selection
to the other drum tracks and separate, the regions from the kick, snare, and tom tracks will
be cut slightly late.
With Collection mode, you can analyze each
drum track separately, one at a time, optimizing
the Detection settings for each track until you
get the desired triggers. The triggers for each
track are added successively to the collection,
which can then be used to generate Bar|Beat
Markers or separate new regions.
Using Collection Mode
Collection mode is accessed by clicking the Collection Mode button from the Bar|Beat Marker
Generation or Region Separation page.
Beat Detective, Collection mode options
To use Beat Detective’s Collection mode:
1 Define the selection for the first audio track
you want to analyze (see “Defining the Selection
for Beat Detective” on page 286).
2 Adjust the Detection parameters so the desired beat triggers appear (see “Detecting Transients with Beat Detective” on page 287).
3 Click the Collection Mode button.
4 In the Collection Mode sub-pane, click Add to
add the current beat triggers to the collection.
5 Click the Normal Mode button and repeat the
previous steps for each track you want to analyze. Make sure to keep the selection range the
constant for each track. Each new set of triggers
added to the collection appears in a different
color.
If successive triggers in the collection are located
closely together (because of mic leakage), Beat
Detective keeps only the earlier triggers.
6 Once the desired beat triggers have been
added to the collection, you can use them to
generate Bar|Beat Markers, or separate new regions. This must be done from the Collection
Mode sub-pane (when the triggers are displayed
in multi-colors).
To separate regions across multiple tracks,
make sure to extend the selection to any additional tracks before separating.
The Beat Triggers stored in the Collection
mode are saved with sessions. Therefore,
when you later open a session, the previous
collection material is still there (until you
clear it).
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Part V: MIDI Editing
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Chapter 23: MIDI Editing
You can edit individual MIDI notes and controller events with the Pencil, Trimmer, and Grabber. You can also use the various MIDI Operations (Quantize, Transpose, Change Velocity,
and Change Duration) to transform groups of
MIDI notes to affect pitch, timing, and phrasing. For information on region-specific editing
for both MIDI and audio, see Chapter 17,
“Working with Regions and Selections.”
3 Set the Time Scale to Bars:Beats. In addition,
set the Edit mode to Grid and the Grid value to
quarter notes (0|1|000).
With these settings, quarter notes will be inserted on the beat.
4 Move the Pencil into the playlist area for the
MIDI track. Use the Edit window’s Ruler and the
track’s mini-keyboard to locate the desired pitch
and location.
Inserting MIDI Notes with the
Pencil Tool
When using the Pencil, the Current Cursor display in the upper right of the Edit window provides feedback on its location.
In addition to recording and importing MIDI
into Pro Tools, you can manually insert MIDI
notes with the Pencil tool.
Current Cursor display
To insert a MIDI note with the Pencil:
5 When the desired pitch and location are located, click to insert the note.
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Notes.
2 Select the Pencil tool and make sure it is set to
Freehand.
Pencil tool set to Freehand
MIDI note inserted with the Pencil
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The velocity for inserted notes is determined by
the “Default Note On Velocity” setting in the
MIDI Preferences. The duration of the note is
determined by the Edit window’s Grid value. If
the MIDI Preferences option for “Play MIDI
notes with Grabber and Pencil Tools” is enabled,
each inserted note will sound.
The Pencil can be dragged after clicking (and before releasing) to adjust the note’s pitch or duration.
To insert a series of notes with random velocities:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Notes.
2 Select the Pencil tool and make sure it is set to
Random.
Pencil tool set to Random
3 Set the Time Scale to Bars:Beats. In addition,
set the Edit mode to Grid and the Grid value to
quarter notes (0|1|000).
With these settings, the inserted notes will be
spaced one quarter note apart.
4 Click at the point where the first note will be
Adjusting the duration for an inserted note
inserted and drag to the right.
Click and drag right to lengthen the note without changing its start point, click and drag left
to lengthen the note without changing its end
point.
With Grid mode enabled, Command-drag
(Macintosh) or Control-drag (Windows)
with the Pencil to snap the note’s end point
to the nearest Grid boundary.
The Pencil tool shapes (Line, Triangle, Square,
and Random) can be used to enter a series of
identical pitches with varying velocities. The
length and spacing for the inserted notes is determined by the current Grid value. The note velocities are determined by the Pencil shape.
Use the Square shape for alternating velocities of
loud and soft. Use the Triangle shape for a ramp
up and down of velocities. The Line shape enters notes with identical velocities.
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Inserting a series of notes with the Pencil
5 When the desired number of notes are visible,
release.
Manually Editing MIDI Notes
All aspects of a MIDI note can be edited from the
Edit window, including start and end points,
duration, pitch, and velocity. The Grabber and
Selector can operate on individual notes or
groups of notes.
Selecting MIDI Notes
To select a group of MIDI notes:
■
With the Grabber, Shift-click each note.
When using the Selector, a note’s start point
must be included in order for it to become selected. When a MIDI track is displaying notes
(or regions), selections made with the Selector
include underlying controller and automation
data.
To select a single pitch for the entire length of a
track:
■ On the mini-keyboard, Command-Shift-click
(Macintosh) or Control-Shift-click (Windows)
the note.
– or –
With the Grabber, move the cursor to where
there are no notes (the Marquee appears) and
click and draw a rectangle around the group of
notes.
■
Selecting a pitch from the mini-keyboard
To remove one or more notes from a selection:
■ With the Grabber, Shift-click the notes so they
become deselected.
Selecting notes with the Grabber
When using the Grabber, if any portion of the
rectangle touches a note (either its start or end
point), the note is included in the selection. Selections made with the Grabber do not include
underlying controller and automation data for
the MIDI track.
– or –
■
With the Selector, drag across a range of notes.
Transposing Notes with the Grabber
MIDI notes can be transposed by dragging up or
down with the Grabber. If several notes are selected before dragging, each is transposed.
To transpose a MIDI note:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Notes.
2 Select the Grabber tool.
3 While pressing Shift, drag the note up or
down.
Selecting notes with the Selector
Transposing with the Grabber
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The Shift key ensures that the transposed note
retains its start point. While dragging, each new
note sounds and the Current Cursor display indicates the number of semitones and direction
(+/–) for the transpose.
To transpose a copy of the note, leaving the
original unchanged, press Option (Macintosh) or Control (Windows) while dragging.
Moving Notes with the Grabber
Like regions, MIDI notes can be dragged left or
right with the Grabber to change their start
point. If several notes are selected before dragging, each is moved.
Trimming Note Start and End Times
Like regions, start and end points for MIDI notes
can be adjusted with the Trimmer tool. If several
notes are selected when performing the trim,
each note is changed.
To change the end points for a group of MIDI
notes:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Notes.
2 Using the Grabber, Shift-click each note you
want to trim.
3 Select the Trimmer tool. For TDM systems,
make sure the Standard Trimmer is selected in
its pop-up menu.
To move a MIDI note:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Notes.
2 With the Grabber, drag the note left or right
(press Shift while dragging to preserve the note’s
pitch).
As the note is dragged, the Current Cursor display indicates the new start point.
Trimmer tool set to Standard
4 Move the cursor near the end of any of the
highlighted notes, so the Trim cursor appears.
Drag left to shorten the notes, drag right to
lengthen them.
If the Edit mode is set to Grid, the dragged note
snaps to the nearest Grid boundary. If the Edit
mode is set to Spot, the Spot dialog opens.
To copy the selected notes, leaving the originals intact, press Option (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows) while dragging.
Changing note end times with the Trimmer
The placement of MIDI notes can also be
adjusted with Shift (see “Shift Command”
on page 227) or Nudge (see “Nudging” on
page 225).
If using Grid mode, the dragged start/end point
snaps to the nearest Grid boundary. If using
Spot mode, the Spot dialog opens, where you
can enter the new location for the note’s start or
end point.
Notes can also be trimmed with the Trim To Selection command (see “Trim To Selection Command” on page 215) and the Trim To Insertion
command (see “Trim To Insertion Command”
on page 220).
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Manually Editing Note Velocities
To draw velocity values that fade in:
When a MIDI track’s Display Format is set to Velocity, each note’s attack velocity is represented
with a velocity stalk. The taller the velocity
stalk, the higher the velocity value (0-127).
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Velocity.
To edit a velocity stalk with the Grabber:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Velocity.
2 Select the Pencil tool with the shape set to
Line.
3 Click at the beginning of the note range, near
the bottom of the velocity range, and drag to
the right and up.
2 Select the Grabber tool.
3 Drag the top (diamond) of the velocity stalk
up or down.
Changing velocities with the Line shape
4 Once the line encompasses the desired range
of notes, along with the desired steepness of the
fade, release.
Dragging a velocity stalk
– or –
If two notes have the same start time (with velocity stalks on top of each other), Commanddrag (Macintosh) or Control-drag (Windows)
the actual note up or down.
Drag up to increase the velocity value, down to
decrease it. While dragging, the diamond turns
blue and the associated note becomes selected.
The dragged velocity values are reflected in the
Current Cursor display.
The velocities for a range of notes can be edited
with the Pencil tool, either by Freehand or with
any of the Pencil tool shapes.
You can also use the Trimmer tool to scale the
velocities for all selected notes. This is useful if
you like the velocity relationship between the
notes, but want them to be louder or softer.
To scale velocities with the Trimmer:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Velocity.
2 Using either the Selector or Grabber, select the
range of notes to be edited.
3 With the Trimmer, click near the range of selected notes and drag up or down. Dragging up
boosts the velocities for each note, dragging
down reduces them.
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Typing in Note Attributes
Multiple Notes and Event Edit Area
When an individual note is selected with the
Grabber, its attributes are displayed in the Event
Edit area.
When multiple notes are selected, you can enter
values in the Event Edit area fields to affect all
selected notes.
Selection
Indicators
A new value in the Start field moves the first
note in the selection to that location, with all
other notes moving with it.
Note
Attributes
Pitch
Attack Velocity
Release Velocity
Event Edit Area showing MIDI track information
Multiple notes in the Event Edit area
Pitch is listed by note name and octave number.
Attack and release velocities are listed with their
MIDI values (0-127). Times for Start, End, and
Length are displayed in the Main Time Scale.
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
notes. For example, to transpose all selected
notes down an octave, enter a value of –12 for
pitch.
1 In the MIDI track’s playlist area, select the
note with the Grabber.
Deleting MIDI Notes
2 Click in the Attribute’s text box and do one of
the following.
• Enter the new value on the numeric keypad.
• Press the Up or Down Arrow to scroll to the
new value.
To delete a group of MIDI notes with the Clear
command:
• While pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows), drag up or down to scroll
to the new value.
1 With the Grabber or Selector, select the notes
to be deleted. For details, see “Selecting MIDI
Notes” on page 301.
• Play the new note value on your MIDI controller keyboard.
2 Choose Edit > Clear to delete the selected
notes. The track’s underlying controller data remains intact.
Press the slash key to move between the fields in
the Event Edit area.
304
In addition to deleting selected notes with the
Clear command in the Edit menu, individual
notes can also be deleted with the Pencil tool.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
When deleting MIDI notes within a time
range selection, all underlying controller
and automation data is also deleted.
To delete a single MIDI note with the Pencil:
With the Pencil tool selected, press Option
(Macintosh) or Alt (Windows) so the tool
changes to an Eraser, then click the note to delete it.
■
Continuous controller events that can be inserted and edited in Pro Tools include:
• volume
• pan
• pitch bend
• aftertouch (mono)
• MIDI controllers, 0–127
Deleting a note with Pencil
Program change events and sysex events can
also be deleted by Option-clicking (Macintosh) or Alt-clicking (Windows) them with
the Pencil tool.
Continuous Controller Events
Continuous controller events for MIDI tracks
are displayed in the form of a line graph with a
series of editable breakpoints. Controller events
for MIDI tracks differ somewhat from automation data for audio tracks in that the breakpoints
are stepped (instead of vector-based), where
each breakpoint represents a single controller
event.
Polyphonic aftertouch cannot be viewed in
the Edit window. To view polyphonic aftertouch in Pro Tools, use the MIDI Event List
(see Chapter 25, “MIDI Event List”).
MIDI controller #7 (volume) and #10 (pan) are
treated by Pro Tools as automation data. This
means that these controller events (along with
Mutes) can be recorded and automated from the
Mix window; in addition, each MIDI track’s automation mode affects how these events are
played back and recorded.
While a MIDI track’s volume and pan (and
mute) events can be suspended, all other controller events in the track always play.
Continuous controller events (including volume and pan) can be recorded from an external
MIDI controller (such as a keyboard or control
surface), and they can be inserted in a MIDI
track’s playlist with the Grabber or Pencil.
MIDI track displaying volume events
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Inserting/Editing Controller
Events
Continuous controller events can be edited with
any of the following methods:
Individual breakpoints can be dragged with
the Grabber to adjust their location or value.
◆
A group of selected breakpoints can be scaled
up or down with the Trimmer.
◆
New controller events can be drawn in with
the Pencil tool to replace existing events. Events
can be drawn with the Pencil set to Freehand, or
using any of the shapes (Line, Triangle, Square,
or Random).
◆
Controller events can be copied and pasted,
nudged, and shifted.
◆
For details on these editing procedures, see
Chapter 28, “Automation.”
Edits to volume data affect all tracks within
an enabled Edit Group. This is not the case,
however, for other controller playlists (such
as pan). To insert and edit other controller
types across all tracks in an Edit Group,
press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key
(Windows) while performing the edits.
Resolution for Inserted Controller
Events
When inserting controller events with the Pencil, the density of the events is determined by
the MIDI Preference for “Pencil Tool Resolution
When Drawing Controller Data.”
To set the Pencil tool resolution:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click MIDI.
2 Enter a value for “Pencil Tool Resolution
When Drawing Controller Data.” The value
range is from 1 to 100 milliseconds.
3 Click OK.
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Program Changes
Each MIDI track can have a default program
change that is sent each time the track plays.
Additional program changes can be inserted at
any point within the track.
About Program and Bank Changes
The MIDI protocol lets you choose from a range
of 128 programs (0-127). Most MIDI instruments have several banks of 128 programs. To
specify which bank you’re selecting from, a bank
select message must be sent. Some instruments
use Controller 0 to switch the bank while others
use Controller 32; some use a combination of
the two. The Program Change window in
Pro Tools allows you to use either of these bank
select messages when inserting a program
change event. Check with the manufacturer’s
documentation to see which message your device uses.
Bank Changes for Older MIDI Devices
Some older MIDI devices (such as the Kurzweil
K1000) use a program change instead of a Bank
Select message to switch banks. For these devices you may find it necessary to send two program change messages to access a particular program, where the first sets the bank and the
second sets the program.
OMS Name Manager
(Macintosh Only)
If your MIDI devices are subscribed to OMS
patch names, these names will appear in the
Program Change window in Pro Tools, and also
in the inserted program change events. If not,
programs will be selected and viewed by number.
2 Click the Patch Name Document in the Patch
Name Document column for the desired OMS
device. If there is no document present yet, click
the empty space next to the OMS device.
If OMS has a factory names document for any of
the MIDI devices in your Studio Setup, these factory names are automatically subscribed and appear in Pro Tools.
You can also open the OMS Names window
from Pro Tools and subscribe to names from
patch editor/librarian software, or even enter
your own custom patch names.
To open the OMS Names window:
■
Choose Setups > OMS Names.
OMS Name dialog
3 Choose Names > View/Edit Patch Names to
open the Patch Name window. Note that the
Names menu item has changed to Patches.
4 Type your patch names for the corresponding
program numbers. If you are using a third party
librarian software, or if you have a list of patch
names in your word processor, you can quickly
copy and paste these names into this window.
See below for more information.
5 Click OK to confirm the changes.
OMS Names window
For details on using the OMS Names window,
refer to the online OMS Name Manager manual
included on the Pro Tools CD-ROM.
How to Customize OMS Names
6 Click Save in the Save Changes dialog. We recommend always saving patch name files to System Folder/OMS Folder/Factory Names so they
will be easier to find.
7 Click OK in the OMS Names dialog. Once the
MIDI track’s output has been set to the corresponding OMS device, you should see your
patch names instead of numbers for your device
in the Pro Tools patch dialog.
(Macintosh Only)
To enter your own list of customized names:
1 Choose Setups > OMS Names.
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307
To copy names from another application into OMS
Names:
Default Program Change
(Using the Program Button)
1 If you are using a word processor, make sure
the names in the list are separated by a carriagereturn (Return-key).
– or –
If you are using a third party patch name librarian software, make sure that it allows you to
copy from its list of patch names.
2 Select the desired names, then choose Copy in
your word processor or librarian software to
copy the list of names to the clipboard.
The default program change for each MIDI track
is specified by clicking on the Program button,
from either the Edit or Mix window. Once specified, the default program change message is
sent to your instrument when playing the track.
To set the default program change for a MIDI
track:
1 From the Edit or Mix window, click the Program button.
3 Launch Pro Tools and choose Setups > OMS
Names.
4 Click the Patch Name Document in the Patch
Name Document column for the desired OMS
device. If there is no document present yet, click
the empty space next to the OMS device.
5 Choose Names > View/Edit Patch Names to
open the Patch Name window. Note that the
Names menu item has changed to Patches.
6 Choose Patch > Paste Patch Names to paste
your patch names from the clipboard into the
Patch Name Document List.
7 Click OK to confirm the changes.
Program button
Program button, Edit window
The Program button in the Edit window (if the
Track Height is set to Medium or Larger) displays the name of the default program, or
“none” if one has not yet been specified. The
Program button in the Mix window (and in the
Edit window when the Track Height is set to
Small), is labeled as “P.”
2 In the Program Change window, select a program number.
8 Click Save in the Save Changes dialog. We recommend always saving patch name files to System Folder/OMS Folder/Factory Names so they
will be easier to find.
9 Click OK in the OMS Names dialog. Once the
MIDI track’s output has been set to the corresponding OMS device, you should see your
patch names instead of numbers for your device
in the Pro Tools patch dialog.
For more details on using the OMS Names window, please refer to OMS documentation.
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Program Change window
3 If subscribed to OMS names, choose a bank
from the pop-up menu in the upper right of the
Program Change window.
3 Click with the Pencil in the track’s playlist at
the point where you want to insert the program
change.
4 In the Program Change window, select a program number (or name) and, if necessary, specify a bank change value.
5 Click Done to insert the program change
event in the track’s playlist.
Choosing a bank in Program Change window
4 Click Done.
Once selected, the program number (or name)
appears in the Program button in the Edit window. To clear the default program change, select
None in the Program Change window.
Unlike recorded and inserted program change
events, the default program change does not appear in the track’s playlist.
Inserting/Editing Program
Changes
Program changes can be inserted into a track’s
playlist with the Pencil tool. Existing program
changes can be edited, moved, and copied and
pasted.
On some instruments, changing programs
during playback can interrupt playback. To
avoid this, place program change events in
the track where there are no notes sounding.
To insert a program change with the Pencil:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Program.
Program change event
To edit a program change event:
1 With the Grabber, double-click the program
change event you want to edit.
2 In the Program Change window, select the
new program number (or name) and, if necessary, specify a bank change value.
3 Click Done.
To move a program change event:
■ With the Grabber, drag the program change
event left or right.
If the Edit mode is set to Grid, the dragged event
snaps to the nearest Grid boundary. If the Edit
mode is set to Spot, the Spot dialog opens.
The placement of program changes can also
be adjusted with Shift (see “Shift Command” on page 227) or Nudge (see “Nudging” on page 225).
2 If desired, set the Edit mode to Grid so the inserted event snaps to the Grid.
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To delete a program change event:
1 With the track’s Display Format set to Notes,
click the program change event with the Grabber to select it.
After the specified number of seconds, Pro Tools
selects the next patch and transmits the program change to the track’s assigned MIDI device. As desired, play your MIDI controller to audition the new patches.
– or –
If the region contains other events you want to
delete, select the entire region with the Grabber
(when the track is displaying regions).
2 Choose Edit > Clear to remove the selected
events from the track.
Individual program change events can also
be deleted by Option-clicking (Macintosh)
or Alt-clicking (Windows) them with the
Pencil.
System Exclusive Events
System Exclusive (sysex) events can be recorded
to MIDI tracks in Pro Tools (see “Recording System Exclusive Data” on page 160). Once the
events are recorded, they appear in the track’s
playlist as blocks when the Display Format is set
to Sysex.
Auditioning Programs
When the Program Change window is open,
you can have Pro Tools automatically scroll
through the different patches for a track’s assigned MIDI device.
To audition patches from the Program Change
window:
1 To audition patches for a MIDI track while it
plays, click Play in the Transport window.
2 Open the Program Change window by click-
ing the Program button in the Mix window, or
by inserting or editing a program change event
in a MIDI track.
3 Click a program number—the starting point
from which you will scroll through the patches.
4 If desired, enter a value for the number of sec-
onds that will elapse between each program
change.
5 Select the option for Increment Patch.
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Sysex event block
While the contents of recorded System Exclusive events cannot be directly edited in
Pro Tools, the events can be moved or nudged,
copied and pasted, or deleted.
To move a sysex event:
1 Set the MIDI track’s Display Format to Sysex.
2 With the Grabber, drag the sysex event left or
right.
If the Edit mode is set to Grid, the dragged event
snaps to the nearest Grid boundary. If the Edit
mode is set to Spot, the Spot dialog opens.
The placement of sysex event blocks can
also be adjusted with Shift (see “Shift Command” on page 227) or Nudge (see “Nudging” on page 225).
To delete one or more sysex events:
1 With the track’s Display Format set to Sysex,
click the sysex event with the Grabber to select
it.
– or –
If the region contains other sysex events you
want to delete, select the entire region with the
Grabber (when the track is displaying regions).
2 Choose Edit > Clear to remove the selected
events from the track.
Individual sysex event blocks can also be
deleted by Option-clicking (Macintosh) or
Alt-clicking (Windows) them with the Pencil tool.
Note and Controller Chasing
Note Chasing allows long, sustained MIDI notes
to be heard when playing from a point after
their start time. For example, if a note’s start
time is at 1|1|000 and lasts for 8 measures (until
9|1|000), note chasing lets you begin playing
from bar 5 and still hear the note that started at
1|1|000 as it continues to sustain until 9|1|000.
Note Chasing is something that can turned on
and off individually for each MIDI track. By default, new MIDI tracks have Note Chasing enabled.
To enable Note Chasing for a MIDI track:
Click the track’s Playlist Selector and select
the option for Note Chasing.
■
Make sure to disable Note Chasing when working with samplers that are playing loops. If a
MIDI track, for example, is triggering a 4-bar
drum loop and you begin playing at bar 3, the
loop will begin playing at the wrong time and be
out of sync with the other tracks.
Controller and Program Chasing
Pro Tools always chases continuous controller
events and program changes for MIDI tracks.
This ensures that controller values and patches
for MIDI devices are always appropriately set.
For example, suppose a MIDI track lasting 32
measures starts with a volume of 127 and in the
last bar fades the volume down to 0. If after
playing the track in its entirety you attempt to
play from bar 8, the initial volume of 127 is
chased and sent to the track’s assigned device—
otherwise the track would not be heard since the
most recent volume event sent would have been
0.
Chasing also occurs for a MIDI track’s default
program change, along with any program
change events residing within the track. Therefore, if you have chosen a default program
change for a track, when playing from any point
within the track, the program change event is
sent to the track’s assigned device.
Default Controller Values and Chasing
Though new MIDI tracks appear to have default
values for continuous controller playlists, this is
actually not the case. For example, when viewing a MIDI track’s Mod Wheel playlist, you’ll see
that the breakpoint line is set to a default of
zero. However, since the modulation wheel on
your synth may purposely be set to a different
value, the default value in the track is not transmitted when playing.
Note Chasing enabled in Playlist Selector pop-up
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This can cause some confusion, however, if you
insert a fade (for example, from 0–90) in the
Mod Wheel playlist towards the end of the
track. If you then play from the beginning of the
track, or from anywhere before the fade, the
Mod Wheel value on your synth will be at 90
until the beginning of the fade data is reached—
which is likely not what you want.
By configuring the Global MIDI Playback Offset,
you can get your MIDI tracks to play back
slightly earlier (by a specified number of samples), thereby compensating for the latency in
monitoring audio within Pro Tools LE.
To ensure that the default controller value for a
playlist is sent (and chased), click the initial
breakpoint at the beginning of the track, move
it slightly, and set it back to the default value.
To configure the Global MIDI Playback Offset:
Offsetting MIDI Tracks
Pro Tools can offset MIDI tracks globally or individually.
Global MIDI Playback Offset
312
The metronome click is not affected by MIDI
Global Offset.
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click MIDI.
2 For the “Global MIDI Playback Offset” option,
enter the number of samples (–10,000 to
10,000) for the offset. A negative value causes
the MIDI tracks to play back earlier than the audio tracks, a positive value causes the MIDI
tracks to play back later.
To allow for monitoring latency in Pro Tools LE,
set the offset to a value that is roughly equivalent to the H/W Buffer Size.
Pro Tools offers a MIDI offset preference that allows MIDI tracks to play back earlier or later
(than audio tracks) by a specified number of
samples. The offset affects playback only and
does not alter in any way how MIDI data is displayed in the Edit window.
3 Click Done.
This capability is provided in large part to compensate for the audio monitoring latency in
Pro Tools LE. If you are monitoring the output
of your MIDI devices with an external mixer or
sound system (or headphones), there is no latency. If, however, you are monitoring the output of your MIDI devices through a Digi 001 (or
Audiomedia III), your MIDI tracks will appear to
play slightly later than your audio tracks. The
larger the setting for the H/W Buffer Size (128,
256, 512, or 1024 samples), the larger the latency.
You can offset individual MIDI track offsets in
Pro Tools to compensate for delays in MIDI devices (the time it takes to trigger events on a
sampler or synth).
Pro Tools Reference Guide
The Global MIDI Playback Offset can also
be set from the MIDI Track Offsets window.
Individual MIDI Track Offsets
For example, if you have some kick drums that
are being played by an audio track in Pro Tools
and want them to be perfectly “in sync” with
kick drums that are being played by a MIDI device, you may need to use a MIDI offset. In this
example, it will usually take at least 5 ms to trigger the MIDI notes, and it could take even
longer, depending on the MIDI device.
You can measure the latency for a MIDI device
assigned to a MIDI track by recording its audio
output back into Pro Tools. Compare the sample locations for the recorded audio events
against the original MIDI notes to calculate the
latency.
To configure a MIDI track offset for a track:
1 Choose Windows > Show MIDI Track Offsets.
Stuck Notes
If you encounter stuck notes with any of your
MIDI devices, you can silence them with the All
Notes Off command.
To turn off all stuck notes:
■
Choose MIDI > All Notes Off.
An All Notes Off message is sent to each channel
for all devices in your setup.
MIDI Track Offsets
2 Click in the Sample Offset column for the
MIDI track and enter the number of samples
(–10,000 to 10,000) for the offset. A negative
value causes the MIDI tracks to play back earlier
than the audio tracks, a positive value causes the
MIDI tracks to play back later.
The equivalent offset in milliseconds is displayed in the Msec Offset column. The value in
this column, indicated in italics, cannot be edited, and updates when a new value is entered in
the SMPTE Offset column.
3 Press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows)
to accept the entered offset value.
To reset all offsets for all MIDI tracks, click the
Reset button in upper left of the window.
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Chapter 24: MIDI Operations
MIDI Operations Window
The MIDI Operations window opens when
choosing any of the following commands from
the MIDI menu:
The MIDI Operations window can be left open
as desired, revisiting it as necessary to invoke a
command, or to try out different options for a
particular command.
To show or hide the MIDI Operations window:
• Quantize
■
• Change Velocity
• Change Duration
• Transpose
• Select Notes
• Split Notes
Choose Windows > Show MIDI Operations.
To invoke the command in the MIDI Operations
window:
■ Click Apply or press Enter on the numeric
keypad. This invokes the command and leaves
the window in the foreground.
• Input Quantize
– or –
■ Press Return (Macintosh) or Enter on the alpha keyboard (Windows). This invokes the command and moves the window to the
background.
To undo the command in the MIDI Operations
window:
■
Choose Edit > Undo.
Figure 18. MIDI Operations window
To reconfigure the MIDI Operations window for
a different command, select the command from
the MIDI menu or from the pop-up menu at the
top of the window (see Figure 18).
Chapter 24: MIDI Operations
315
Using the MIDI Operations Window
Use the following methods to easily configure
the various options, which vary from command
to command, in the MIDI Operations window:
To move forward and back through the various fields, press Tab or Shift+Tab.
◆
Increment or decrement selected fields with
the Up/Down Arrows. Press and hold these keys
to scroll quickly through the values.
◆
Select Notes
The Select Notes command allows you to further narrow a selection of MIDI notes based on
pitch. The command can be used to select a single note or note range for the entire length of a
region or track, or to select the upper or lower
voices within chords.
Command-drag (Macintosh) or Control-drag
(Windows) up or down in a selected field to
scroll to a new value.
◆
Press Command (Macintosh) or Control
(Windows) while adjusting sliders for finer resolution.
◆
For selected pitch and velocity fields, play a
note on your MIDI controller keyboard to automatically enter it.
◆
Changing a value for a particular parameter
(such as the Swing Percentage in the Quantize
window), automatically enables the parameter.
◆
Select Notes window
Options for the Select Notes command include:
All Notes All notes are selected.
Notes Between Selects a range of notes between
the specified upper and lower note. Values for
the notes can be entered in pitch (C1–G8) or
MIDI note numbers (0–127).
Top Selects the highest note or notes in each
chord.
Bottom Selects the lowest note or notes in each
chord.
Selecting a Pitch Range of Notes
A common use for Select Notes is to select a single note for the entire length of a region or track.
This is especially useful if you want to select a
note in a MIDI drum track (hi-hat, for instance),
and affect it over the selected time range with
the Quantize, Transpose, or Change Duration
command.
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To select only the hi-hats in a General MIDI drum
track:
1 Using the Grabber or Selector, select the range
of MIDI notes that contains the note.
2 Choose MIDI > Select Notes.
Split Notes
The Split Notes command has the same selection criteria as the Select Notes command, but
also lets you automatically cut or copy the selected notes when clicking Apply.
3 Select the Notes Between option with the note
range set to F#1 and F#1.
For a General MIDI drum kit, the closed hi-hat is
assigned to F#1 (MIDI note number 42). If the
hi-hat for your drumkit is assigned to a different
note, make sure to specify it.
4 Click Apply.
Selecting Notes in a Chord
Another use for Select Notes is to select only the
upper or lower notes in a chord. Many times
you’ll want to affect only the upper or lower
notes in a chord—to boost their velocities, or
transpose their pitch.
To select only the bass notes in a chord:
1 Using the Grabber or Selector, select the range
of MIDI notes that contains the chords.
2 Choose MIDI > Select Notes.
Split Notes window
One use for this command would be if you recorded a track with chords in the left hand and
melody in the right. With the Split Notes command, you could cut the melody notes and
paste them to another track so you could assign
them to play on a different device or channel.
Another use is to split the various notes (kick,
snare, toms etc.) from a single drum track to separate tracks.
3 Select the Bottom option and leave the number of notes set to 1.
To cut a specific pitch range of notes:
4 Click Apply.
1 Using the Grabber or Selector, select the range
of MIDI notes that contains the notes.
In order for notes to be considered a chord,
their start times must be within five ticks of
each other.
2 Choose MIDI > Split Notes.
3 In the Split Notes dialog, select the option for
Notes Between and enter the low and high notes
for the pitch range.
When either of the Pitch fields are selected, you
can play a pitch on your MIDI controller to automatically enter it.
4 Select Cut.
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317
5 Click Apply. Notes falling within the specified
pitch range are removed from the selection and
placed on the Clipboard. The notes can then be
pasted or merged to another a track.
To open the Quantize window, choose MIDI >
Quantize. Each of the Quantize options is discussed in the following sections.
Quantize
The Quantize command adjusts MIDI note locations and durations so that timing is improved,
or so that a particular rhythmic “feel” is
achieved. Quantize works by aligning notes to a
Quantize Grid, the size of which is defined in
the Quantize window by a standard note duration.
The Quantize command is not the same as the
Quantize Regions command (in the Edit menu).
The Quantize Regions command adjusts the
start point for a selected region, and its contents
are moved along with the region (with rhythmic
relationships remaining intact).
The Quantize command, on the other hand, affects MIDI notes individually. Some notes may
be moved back in time, others forward; and,
some notes will be more drastically affected
than others.
The settings in the Quantize window are
saved with each session. To store your favorite settings as the default for use in future
sessions, save them as part of a session template (see “Creating Custom Session Templates” on page 48).
Quantize window
What to Quantize
The options under “What to Quantize” determine which aspects of the notes are quantized:
attacks, releases, or both.
Attacks When selected, note start points are
quantized.
Releases When selected, note end points are
quantized.
Don’t Change Durations When deselected with
the Attacks option selected, note end points are
not moved. When deselected with the Releases
option selected, note start points are not moved.
If the options for both Attacks and Releases are
selected, the Don’t Change Durations option is
ignored (and dimmed).
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Figure 19 shows how notes are adjusted by the
different What To Quantize options.
before quantize
Offset Grid By Offsets the Quantize Grid forward
or back in time by a specified number of ticks.
Use this option to achieve a pushed (positive
values) or laid back (negative values) feel.
To Quantize just the backbeats, set the
Quantize Grid to half-notes with an Offset
of 960 ticks.
Swing When selected, every other Grid boundary is shifted by the specified percentage value
(0-300) to achieve a “swing” feel. A Swing value
of 0% yields no swing, while 100% yields a triplet feel. With Swing set to 300%, every other
Grid boundary is moved to the next Grid point.
0% Swing
(480 ticks)
Every other Grid point
shifted by swing
100% Swing
Figure 19. What To Quantize examples
(640 ticks)
100% Swing, eighth note Grid
Quantize Grid
Quantize Options
The Quantize Grid determines the beat boundaries to which notes are aligned. Any size from
whole notes to thirty-second notes (including
dotted values) can be selected for the Grid size.
Tuplet Select the Tuplet option to quantize irregular note groupings like triplets or quintuplets.
The Quantize Grid for tuplets is calculated from
the note size selection and the Tuplet value. For
instance, if an eighth note equals 480 ticks, tuplet eighth notes with 3 in time of 2 would yield
a Grid size of 320 ticks (480 ticks / 3 * 2).
Additional Quantize options include:
Include Within When selected, attacks and releases are only quantized if located within the
specified percentage of the Quantize Grid. Use
this option to clean up downbeats without affecting notes that are “swung” or wildly off the
beat.
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319
Figure 20 shows the Quantize Grid set to quarter
notes with the Include Within option set to
50%. Only attacks and releases falling within
the shaded area (equivalent to an eight note
area around each beat) are quantized.
50%, notes are placed up to a 32nd note before
or after the beat boundary. The Randomize setting also affects note durations (if Releases is selected).
Quantize Examples
The following examples illustrate some of the
more common uses for the Quantize command.
Figure 20. Include Within option
Exclude Within When selected, attacks and releases are not quantized if located within the
specified percentage of the Quantize Grid. Use
this option to preserve the feel of notes close to
the beat, while correcting others that are drastically away from the beat.
Figure 21 shows the Quantize Grid set to quarter
notes with the Exclude Within option set to
25%. Attacks and releases falling within the
shaded area (equivalent to a sixteenth note area
around each beat) are not quantized.
If you intend to loop playback while quantizing,
you may want to deselect Operations > Link Edit
and Timeline Selection. This ensures that the
play range will not change when selected notes
are moved in the course of quantizing and undoing.
While you can undo a Quantize operation,
the Quantize command is destructive and
permanently affects selected data. To preserve existing data, duplicate the playlist
before quantizing.
Straight Quantize
To quantize to a straight sixteenth note feel:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be quantized.
2 Choose MIDI > Quantize.
Figure 21. Exclude Within option
Strength When selected, notes are moved a percentage toward the Quantize Grid. Lower percentages preserve the original feel of the notes,
higher percentages align the notes more tightly
to the Grid.
Randomize When selected, notes are moved randomly forward or back in time (after the Quantize occurs). For instance, with the Quantize
Grid set to eighth notes and Randomize set to
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3 Under What to Quantize, select the Attacks
option. To quantize note durations as well, select the Releases option.
4 Set the Quantize Grid to sixteenth notes.
Make sure that the other options for Tuplet, Offset Grid By, and Swing are not selected.
5 Leave the remaining Quantize options deselected and click Apply.
Quantizing While Preserving the
Original “Feel”
You can quantize less strictly, to preserve the
original feel of your recorded MIDI tracks:
3 Under What to Quantize, select the Attacks
option. To quantize note durations as well, select the Releases option.
4 Set the Quantize Grid to eighth notes.
To quantize while preserving the original feel:
5 Select the Swing option with the desired
Swing percentage:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be quantized.
• For a light swing, use 12%.
2 Choose MIDI > Quantize.
3 Under What to Quantize, select the Attacks
option. To quantize note durations as well, select the Releases option.
4 Set the Quantize Grid to the desired note size.
Make sure that the other options for Tuplet, Offset Grid By, and Swing are not selected.
5 Select the Exclude Within option with a value
• For a tighter swing-like groove, use 24%.
• For a true “triplet-like” swing feel, use
50–75%.
6 Make sure the options for Tuplet, Offset Grid
By, and Randomize are not selected. Click Apply.
Audition the change and if the desired effect is
not achieved, undo the edit and experiment
with a different Swing percentage.
of 10-15%.
6 Select the Strength option with a value of 7080%.
Quantizing with Randomize
7 Leave the remaining Quantize options deselected and click Apply.
You may find that after quantizing, notes sound
too mechanical, too “on the beat.” You can use
the Randomize option in the Quantize window
to make them sound more natural.
Audition the change and if the desired effect is
not achieved, undo the edit and experiment
with different values for Exclude Within and
Strength.
To humanize the rhythmic feel of notes:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be quantized.
Quantizing with Swing
2 Choose MIDI > Quantize.
If you’re working with hi-hats or bass lines, you
may want to apply more of a swing feel to the
track.
3 Under What to Quantize, select the Attacks
option. To quantize note durations as well, select the Releases option.
4 Set the Quantize Grid to the desired note size.
To quantize with an eighth note swing feel:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be quantized.
2 Choose MIDI > Quantize.
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321
5 Select the Randomize option with a value of
5%.
6 Click Apply.
Audition the change and if the desired effect is
not achieved, undo the edit and experiment
with a different Randomize percentage.
Experimenting with Quantize
When using the Quantize command, you’ll often have to experiment with many of the parameters. In fact, you won’t always get the results you’re expecting. You may have to try
different values for Include and Exclude Within,
and Strength; these parameters determine
which notes are affected and how drastically
they are changed. In addition, the Randomize
parameter, which adds a percentage of randomness to the quantize, can be used to make tracks
feel less mechanical—less perfect.
Although quantize is a wonderful tool for cleaning up tracks and playing with the feel of your
music, sometimes the recorded data may not be
salvageable. In these instances it is wise not to
spend too much time trying to fix something
that should probably just be rerecorded.
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Change Velocity
The Change Velocity command automatically
adjusts attack and release velocities for selected
MIDI notes. Use it to make notes louder or
softer, or to create crescendos or decrescendos.
Velocities can also be edited manually with the
Pencil and Grabber Tools (see “Manually Editing
MIDI Notes” on page 301).
Velocity values usually affect the loudness
of MIDI notes. They may also affect other
aspects of an instrument’s sound, such as
filter cutoff, envelopes, and modulations.
The settings in the Change Velocity window
are saved with each session. To store your
favorite settings as the default for use in future sessions, save them as part of a session
template (see “Creating Custom Session
Templates” on page 48).
To open the Change Velocity window, choose
MIDI > Change Velocity. Options for the
Change Velocity are discussed in the following
section.
While there are options for adjusting both the
attack and release velocities for notes, most
MIDI devices ignore release velocity information. To see if your instrument supports release
velocities, refer to the manufacturer’s documentation.
Change Smoothly by Percentage Allows velocities to change smoothly from one percentage
value to another over time.
The curve for this change can be adjusted (+/–
99) to affect how gradually the change occurs.
Limit To When selected, restricts the Change Velocity command to a minimum and maximum
range.
Randomize When selected, the Change Velocity
command is randomized by the specified percentage value. For instance, using “Set all to”
with a value of 64, along with a Randomize
value of 50%, yields velocities anywhere between 48 and 80 (+/– 25% of the velocity value).
Velocity Ranges
Change Velocity window
Set All To Sets all velocities to the specified value
(1–127).
Add Adds to existing velocity values by the specified amount (1–127).
Subtract Subtracts from existing velocity values
by the specified amount (1–127).
Scale By Scales all velocities by a percentage
amount (1–400%).
Change Smoothly Allows velocities to change
smoothly from one value to another over time.
The valid range for MIDI note velocities is
1–127. The Change Velocity command will
never result in moving velocities outside this
range; 1 will always be the lowest and 127 will
always be the highest. This means that you may
reach a state where the Change Velocity command has no effect on a particular note.
For instance, if a note with a velocity 64 is scaled
by 200%, the new velocity would be 127. Attempting to scale or increase the velocity any
further would yield no change.
Fading Velocities
An interesting musical effect is when velocities
get gradually louder or softer over time. This can
be used to make notes fade in or out, or to provide timbrel variations in the way that a MIDI
instrument sounds.
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323
To change velocities smoothly over time:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be edited.
2 Choose MIDI > Change Velocity.
3 Select the Change Smoothly option with the
range set from 127 to 0.
3 Select the Scale By option with the percentage
value set to 120.
4 Click Apply.
Change Duration
4 Click Apply.
To preserve (somewhat) the existing velocity relationships and still achieve velocity fades, use
the option for Change Smoothly by Percentage.
Figure 22 illustrates the difference between the
two Change Smoothly options.
The Change Duration command adjusts durations for selected MIDI notes. Use it to make
melodies and phrases more staccato or detached, or more legato.
The settings in the Change Duration window are saved with each session. To store
your favorite settings as the default for use
in future sessions, save them as part of a
session template (see “Creating Custom Session Templates” on page 48).
Original velocities
To open the Change Duration window, choose
MIDI > Change Duration. Each of the Change
Duration options is discussed in the following
section.
After Change Smoothly by Percentage, 100% to 20%
After Change Smoothly, from velocity of 100 to 10
Figure 22. Change Smoothly/by Percentage
Scaling Velocities
Many times existing note velocities will have
the desired relationship between each other, but
will either be too soft or too loud as a whole. In
these instances, use the Scale By option.
For instance, to make velocities 20% louder:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be edited.
2 Choose MIDI > Change Velocity.
Change Duration window
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Set All To Sets all durations to a length specified
in quarter notes and ticks.
Add Adds to the durations by a specified number
of quarter notes and ticks.
Subtract Subtracts from the durations by a specified number of quarter notes and ticks.
Scale by Shortens or lengthens durations based
on a percentage value (1–400%).
Move Releases to the Closest Attack Shortens
or lengthens durations so that end times are
moved to the closest attack.
Extend Releases to the Next Attack Lengthens
durations so that end times are extended to the
next attack. To limit the duration change, select
either of the Add No More Than options, using
either a percentage value or a number of quarter
note and ticks.
Change Smoothly Allows note lengths to change
smoothly from one duration to another over
time. Duration values are specified in quarter
notes and ticks.
Change Smoothly by Percentage Allows note
lengths to change smoothly from one percentage value to another over time.
The curve for this change can be adjusted (+/–
99) to affect how gradually the change occurs.
Change Duration Examples
To make notes more staccato:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be edited.
2 Choose MIDI > Change Duration.
3 Select the option for Scale By with a percentage value of 50.
4 Click Apply. The durations for the selected
notes are reduced by 50%.
With this option you may have to experiment
with the percentage value to achieve the desired
effect.
To make notes more legato:
1 Select the range of MIDI notes to be edited.
2 Choose MIDI > Change Duration.
3 Select the option “Extend Release to the Next
Attack.”
4 Click Apply. The end points for the selected
notes are extended to the start points of the next
note, thereby eliminating the space between
each note.
To vary this effect, making it more or less legato,
select the Add No More Than percentage option.
Percentage values larger than 100 extend note
end times so that the notes essentially overlap.
Limit Range When selected, restricts the Change
Duration command to a minimum and maximum range (in quarter notes and ticks).
Randomize When selected, the Change Duration
command is randomized by the specified percentage value. For instance, using “Set all to”
with a value of 480 ticks, along with a Randomize value of 50%, yields durations anywhere between 360 and 600 (+/– 25% of the duration
value).
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325
Transpose
While the Grabber Tool can be used to manually
transpose individual MIDI notes, or small
groups of notes, the Transpose command can be
used for entire MIDI tracks and regions.
To open the Transpose window, choose MIDI >
Transpose.
One of the more common uses for Transpose is
to change the key for your MIDI tracks. You can
define an Edit Group for MIDI tracks that you
want to transpose, making sure to exclude any
drum tracks from the group so they aren’t transposed.
To transpose MIDI notes to another key:
1 If you will be transposing a group of tracks,
make sure to enable the Edit Group.
2 With the Selector or Grabber, select the range
of MIDI notes to be transposed.
3 Choose MIDI > Transpose.
4 Select the option for Transpose (From, To).
5 Set the “From” and “To” values, for instance,
to C4 and E4 to transpose from C Major to
E Major.
Transpose window
The two options for the Transpose command
are:
With either of the pitch fields selected, you can
play a note on your MIDI controller to automatically enter it as the pitch value.
6 Click Apply.
Transpose By (Semitones) Transposes chromatically, up or down, by up to 60 semitones. To
transpose down by an octave, for instance, use
–12 semitones.
Transpose (From, To) Transposes by semitones,
as expressed by the difference between the
source and destination pitches. Transposing
from C4 to C#4, for instance, transposes the
notes up by one semitone.
It is also common to transpose MIDI tracks up or
down by an octave.
To transpose a MIDI track up by an octave:
1 With the Selector, double-click in the track to
select all of its notes.
2 Choose MIDI > Transpose.
3 Select the Transpose By option.
4 Enter a value of 12 semitones and then click
Apply.
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Chapter 25: MIDI Event List
The MIDI Event List
The MIDI Event List displays a detailed list of all
events in a single MIDI track. The events are displayed with text and numbers, allowing you to
precisely edit their location, length, and event
values.
Mute data for MIDI tracks is not displayed
in the MIDI Event List.
Opening the MIDI Event List
To open the MIDI Event List, do one of the
following:
■
Choose Windows > Show MIDI Event List.
■ Control-double-click (Macintosh) or Startdouble-click (Windows) a track name in the Edit
or Mix window.
■ Press Option+Equal (Macintosh) or Alt+Equal
(Windows).
You can also use Option+Equal (Macintosh) or Alt+Equal (Windows) to toggle between the MIDI Event List and the Edit
window.
MIDI Event List
Events in the MIDI Event List can be copied and
pasted, selected, or deleted. Any MIDI event (except sysex) can be inserted and edited in the list.
Certain MIDI event types can be hidden with
the View Filter.
Unlike playlists in the Edit window, you can
insert and display polyphonic aftertouch in
the MIDI Event List.
At the top of the MIDI Event List are three popup menus:
MIDI Track Selector Indicates the MIDI track
currently displayed, and can be used to choose a
different MIDI track to be displayed.
Options Menu Contains commands and options
for the MIDI Event List (see “MIDI Event List
Options” on page 334).
Insert Menu Contains a list of event types that
can be inserted.
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327
To the right of these pop-up menus, the number
of displayed events is indicated.
Columns in the MIDI Event List
Information for the events in the MIDI Event
List is displayed in the following three columns:
Navigating in the MIDI Event List
You can use the Tab and Arrow keys to move
through the MIDI Event List. You can also locate
to the Edit start point, or any other specified location.
To move through the MIDI Event List:
Start Column Displays the start location, using
the Main Time Scale, for each event. Locations
can also be displayed in the Sub Time Scale
when the Show Sub Counter option is selected
in the Options pop-up.
The Playback cursor appears as a blue arrow (red,
when tracks are record-enabled) in the Start column.
■ Press Tab or the Down Arrow to move to the
next event.
■ Press Option+Tab or the Up Arrow to move to
the previous event.
To keep the last event selected, press Shift while
moving to the next or previous event.
To go to the Edit start point:
■ In the MIDI Event List, choose Scroll To Edit
Selection from the Options pop-up menu.
Double-click dimmed locations to edit them
When several events reside at the same location,
the location is only indicated for the top event,
with the others dimmed. The dimmed locations
can be edited by double-clicking them.
Event Column Displays the event type, indicated
by an icon, and associated event values.
Info Column Depending on which option is selected in the Options pop-up, displays the end
point or length for notes. Also displayed are the
names for continuous controller events and program changes.
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To go to a specific location in the MIDI Event List:
1 In the MIDI Event List, choose Go To from the
Options pop-up menu.
2 In the Go To dialog, choose a format from the
Time Scale pop-up menu.
When inserting an event type that has been
filtered from the MIDI Event List, that event
type will no longer be filtered.
For example, to filter the display of aftertouch and
System Exclusive Messages in the MIDI Event
List:
1 In the MIDI Event List, choose View Filter
from the Options pop-up menu.
2 In the MIDI Event List View Filter dialog, select the All Except option.
Go To dialog
If using Time Code (TDM systems only), you
can select the Use Subframes option.
3 Enter the location you want to go to, then
click OK.
The following items from the Options menu affect navigating in the MIDI Event List:
When Page Scroll During Playback is selected,
the MIDI Event List scrolls during playback.
◆
When Scroll During Edit Selection is selected,
the MIDI Event List is scrolled automatically
when the Edit selection changes in the Edit window.
◆
View Filter for MIDI Event List
You can use the View Filter to specify which
event types are displayed in the MIDI Event List.
This can help you zero in on only the events you
want to affect; it also protects MIDI events from
being edited or deleted. Events not displayed in
the MIDI Event List still play back.
MIDI Input Filter
3 Select the options for Mono Aftertouch, Poly-
phonic Aftertouch, and System Exclusive. Leave
all other messages deselected.
4 Click OK.
When using the All Except option, the selected
events are not displayed. Conversely, when using the Only option, only the selected events are
displayed.
The View Filter can be set to display “all” messages, “only” the specified messages, or “all except” the specified messages.
Chapter 25: MIDI Event List
329
Inserting Events in the MIDI
Event List
When a field is selected, enter a value with any
of the following methods:
• Enter the value on the numeric keypad.
• Press the Up or Down Arrow to scroll to the
value.
• While pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows), drag up or down to scroll
to the value.
Insert menu, MIDI Event List
You can insert events in the MIDI Event List by
choosing an event type from the Insert menu.
Following are several examples of inserting
events in the MIDI Event List.
To insert a note in the MIDI Event List:
1 Click the Insert button and choose Note from
the pop-up menu.
• Play the note on your MIDI controller keyboard, then press Return (Macintosh) or Enter
(Windows) on the alpha keyboard to confirm
the value.
With the Start field selected, you can automatically enter the location of another event
already in the track by clicking that event.
3 To insert the note and remain in Event Entry
mode, press Enter on the numeric keypad.
– or –
– or –
Press Command+N (Macintosh) or Control+N
(Windows).
2 Enter the location, pitch, attack and release
velocities, and length for the new note. To move
between the Event Entry fields, use the Left and
Right Arrow keys.
To insert the note and exit Event Entry mode,
press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows)
on the alpha keyboard.
– or –
To exit Event Entry mode, without inserting the
note event, press Escape on the alpha keyboard.
To insert a controller event in the MIDI Event List:
1 Click the Insert button and choose Controller
from the pop-up menu.
Pitch
Release velocity
Attack velocity
Event Entry fields for note
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– or –
Press Command+L (Macintosh) or Control+L
(Windows).
2 Enter the location, controller “type” number,
and controller value for the new event. The controller name is displayed in the “length/info”
column, to the right of the controller value. To
move between the Event Entry fields, use the
Left and Right Arrow keys.
To exit Event Entry mode, without inserting the
controller event, press Escape on the alpha keyboard.
To insert a program change in the MIDI Event List:
1 Click the Insert button and choose Program
Change from the pop-up menu.
– or –
Controller number
Controller name
Controller value
Event Entry fields for controller event
When a field is selected, enter a value with any
of the following methods:
Press Command+P (Macintosh) or Control+P
(Windows).
2 Enter the location for the new event.
3 Enter a Program Change number and Bank Select value (if necessary). The program change
name is displayed in the Info column.
• Enter the value on the numeric keypad.
• Press the Up or Down Arrow to scroll to the
value.
• While pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows), drag up or down to scroll
to the value.
• Play the controller event on your MIDI controller keyboard, then press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows) on the alpha
keyboard to confirm the value.
With the Start field selected, you can automatically enter the location of another event
already in the track by clicking that event.
3 To insert the controller event and remain in
Event Entry mode, press Enter on the numeric
keypad.
– or –
To insert the controller event and exit Event Entry mode, press Return on the alpha keyboard.
– or –
Program number
Program name
Controller 32 value
Controller 0 value
Event Entry fields for program change
You can click in the Info column to open the
Program Change window (for details, see “Program Changes” on page 306).
With the Start field selected, you can automatically enter the location of another event
already in the track by clicking that event.
4 To insert the program change and remain in
Event Entry mode, press Enter on the numeric
keypad.
– or –
To insert the program change and exit Event Entry mode, press Return on the alpha keyboard.
– or –
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331
To exit Event Entry mode, without inserting the
program change, press Escape on the alpha keyboard.
Inserting Another Event
After inserting an event, you can easily insert
another event of the same type. The event type
to be inserted is indicated at the bottom of the
Insert menu.
For example, after inserting a note, to insert
another:
Click the Insert button and choose Another
Note from the pop-up menu.
■
– or –
Press Command+M (Macintosh) or Control+M (Windows).
■
When the option for Insert At Playback Location is enabled (see “MIDI Event List Options” on page 334), you can use the keyboard shortcuts for inserting “another”
event to insert events on the fly.
2 Enter a new value with any of the following
methods:
• Enter the new value on the numeric keypad.
• While pressing Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows), press the Up or Down Arrow to
scroll to a new value.
• While pressing Command (Macintosh) or
Control (Windows), drag up or down to scroll
to a new value.
• Play the new note or controller value on your
MIDI controller keyboard, then press Return
(Macintosh) or Enter (Windows) on the alpha
keyboard to confirm the value.
3 To accept the new value, do one of the follow-
ing:
• To enter the new event value and move to another field or event, use the arrow keys.
• To enter the new value and remain in Edit Entry mode, press Enter on the numeric keypad.
• To enter the new value and exit Edit Entry
mode, press Return (Macintosh) or Enter
(Windows) on the alpha keypad.
– or –
Editing in the MIDI Event List
4 To exit Edit Entry mode without entering the
new value, press Escape on the alpha keyboard.
Events in the MIDI Event List can be edited, selected, deleted, and copied and pasted.
To edit an event in the MIDI Event List:
1 Double-click the event field you want to edit.
– or –
To edit a selected event, press Command+Enter
(Macintosh) or Control+Enter (Windows).
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Selecting in the MIDI Event List
To select a range of events in the MIDI Event List:
■ Click the event at the beginning of the selection and drag to the ending event.
– or –
■ Shift-click the event at the beginning of the
selection, then Shift-click the ending event.
To select discontiguous events in the MIDI Event
List:
Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) each event.
Copy and Paste in the MIDI Event
List
■
To copy and paste in the MIDI Event List:
1 Select the range of events you want to copy by
To remove an event from the selection in the MIDI
Event List:
Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the selected event.
■
dragging in the MIDI Event List. To select discontiguous events, Shift-click each event you
want to copy.
Notes selected in the MIDI Event List can be
modified by any of the commands in the
MIDI Operations window. For details, see
Chapter 24, “MIDI Operations.”
Deleting in the MIDI Event List
To delete an event in the MIDI Event List:
Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the event you want to delete.
■
To delete a selection of events in the MIDI Event
List:
Selecting in the MIDI Event List
1 Select the events you want to delete, by either
2 Choose Edit > Copy.
dragging in the Start column, or by Shift-clicking each event.
2 To view only the events you want to delete,
use the View Filter (see “View Filter for MIDI
Event List” on page 329). Events not displayed
cannot be deleted.
3 Choose Edit > Clear to delete all selected
events.
– or –
Press Delete (Macintosh) or Backspace (Windows) on the alpha keyboard.
3 To paste the material at an existing event’s location, click the event in the MIDI Event List.
– or –
To paste the material at any location, choose Go
To from the Options menu in the MIDI Event
List, enter the location you want to paste to, and
click OK.
4 Choose Edit > Paste. The events from the Clipboard are pasted, replacing any existing events
already there.
To paste events without overwriting other
events, use the Merge Paste command.
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333
MIDI Event List Options
Options menu, MIDI Event List
Show Sub Counter When selected, event times
are also displayed in the Sub Time Scale.
Go To Opens the Go To dialog, where you can
specify a location, based on any of the supported Time Scales, to which the Edit insertion
point is moved.
Scroll To Edit Selection Scrolls the MIDI Event
List to the Edit start point or Edit insertion
point.
Page Scroll During Playback When selected, the
MIDI Event List scrolls during playback.
Scroll During Edit Selection When selected, the
MIDI Event List is scrolled automatically when
the Edit selection changes in the Edit window.
Show Note Length When selected, note lengths,
instead of note end times, are displayed in the
Info column of the MIDI Event List.
Show Note End Time When selected, note end
times, instead of note lengths, are displayed in
the Info column of the MIDI Event List.
Insert At Edit Location When selected, the location for inserted events defaults to the Edit start
point or Edit insertion point.
Insert At Playback Location When selected,
events can be inserted in the MIDI Event List in
real time while listening to the session playback.
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Insert At Playback Location With Grid When selected, the location for events inserted in real
time snap to the grid.
View Filter Opens the View Filter dialog, where
you can specify which events are displayed in
the MIDI Event List. Events that are not displayed are not affected by Cut, Copy, and Paste
operations in the MIDI Event List. Events that
are not displayed still play back. For more information, see “View Filter for MIDI Event List” on
page 329.
Part VI: Mixing
335
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Chapter 26: Basic Mixing
Although the final mixing process begins when
you finish recording and editing, many mixing
tasks can occur any time during a recording session. This chapter covers Pro Tools mixing, including audio signal flow, output and bus paths,
sends, and signal routing.
Tracks can be identified in the Mix window by
their Track Type icon:
Track Type
icons
Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, and MIDI tracks
Real-time plug-ins and hardware inserts provide
effects and signal processing. See Chapter 27,
“Plug-In and Hardware Inserts” for more information.
Audio Signal Flow
Pro Tools provides three different types of audio
tracks:
• audio tracks
• Auxiliary Inputs
• Master Faders
Mono and stereo audio tracks are available on
all Pro Tools systems.
Multichannel audio tracks and surround mixing
formats require Pro Tools HD-series or MIX-series systems.
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Audio Tracks
Auxiliary Inputs
Audio tracks play audio from disk, record audio
to disk, or monitor input signals when recordenabled. Audio signal flow is shown below.
Auxiliary Inputs provide the same signal routing
options as audio tracks, except that their input
must come from an internal bus or hardware input.
Source
or Input
Source: any mono, stereo or
multichannel audio file, playing
back from disk
Input: while record-monitoring
Input
bus or hardware input path
Inserts
Inserts
(plug-ins or
hardware
inserts
(plug-ins or
hardware
inserts)
Sends pre-fader
Sends pre-fader
Mute
Mute
Volume
Volume
Sends, post-fader
Sends, post-fader
Panner
Panner
Output
Main Output
Output
Main Output
+ Additional Outputs
Audio signal flow, audio tracks
+ Additional Outputs
Audio signal flow, Auxiliary Inputs
Auxiliary Inputs are used as inputs for audio
from MIDI devices and other sources, as well as
to submix internal bus and output paths. They
can be fully automated. When using Auxiliary
Inputs as inputs for external sources, adjust the
source output levels to achieve proper recording
levels.
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Common Uses for Auxiliary Inputs
Master Faders
By bussing tracks to the Auxiliary Input, you
can:
Master Faders control the master output levels
of output and bus paths. When assigned to an
active output or bus path, they provide postfader effects processing and master level control
for a main mix, headphone and cue mixes,
stems, effects sends, and other signal routing applications. Master Faders support all track formats supported on your Pro Tools system.
• Apply real-time plug-ins or an external processor to a submix, using the Auxiliary Input
as an effects return
• Input MIDI and other audio sources into the
mix, to monitor or route to audio tracks for recording to disk
• Consolidate control of any submix under a
single fader (see “Submixing for Signal Routing and Effects Processing” on page 353)
Input (source) determined by output assignment
(of other tracks)
Mute
Volume
To create an Auxiliary Input:
1 Choose File > New Track.
2 Choose the type of Auxiliary Input (mono or
stereo, or multichannel) from the pop-up menu.
3 Enter the number of tracks and click Create.
To route an Auxiliary Input:
1 Click the Input Selector of the Auxiliary Input
and choose an input.
2 Click the Output Selector of the Auxiliary Input and choose an output or bus path.
3 Adjust the Auxiliary Input fader to set the return volume (it defaults to 0 dB).
Inserts
post-fader
(plug-ins or
hardware)
Output
Main Output
Submix examples begin in “Submixing for
Signal Routing and Effects Processing” on
page 353.
+ Additional Outputs
Audio signal flow, Master Faders
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Unlike inserts on audio tracks and Auxiliary Inputs, Master Fader inserts are post-fader. This
lets you insert a dithering plug-in, or similar
plug-in, on your master mix.
See “Dither” on page 359 for more information about dithering.
To use Master Faders as a master volume control
for all tracks in a session:
1 Choose File > New Track.
2 Choose the type of Master Fader from the popup menu.
3 Click Create.
Because of their intended use, Master Faders
provide up to five post-fader inserts and no
sends.
4 Set the outputs of all audio tracks in the session to outputs 1–2 and set the panning of each
track.
Common Uses for Master Faders
5 Set the output of the Master Fader to your
main output path.
Master Faders can be used to:
• Control and process output mixes
Master Fader Meters
• Monitor and meter an output (such as a bus or
hardware output) to guard against clipping
• Control submix levels
Meters on Master faders always show post-fader
levels, regardless of the Pre-Fader Metering setting in the Operations menu.
• Control effects sends levels
Master Faders and Paths
• Control submaster (bussed tracks) levels
• Apply dither or other inserts to an entire mix
You can use Master Faders freely to control submix levels, send level masters and other outputs
because they do not consume any of your system’s audio processing power.
To create a Master Fader:
1 Choose File > New Track.
2 Choose the type of Master Fader (mono or ste-
reo, or multichannel) from the pop-up menu.
3 Enter the number of tracks and click Create.
4 In the Mix window, click the Master Fader’s
Output Selector and choose the output that you
want to control. You can choose either audio interface outputs or internal busses. If the Master
Fader is a stereo fader, you can control the level
of a pair of outputs.
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Master Faders can be assigned to main and subpaths. When more than one Master Fader is assigned to the same output or bus path, only one
can be active at the same time. If you try to assign a Master Fader to a main or sub-path that is
already actively assigned on another Master
Fader, the new assignment will be assigned, but
be inactive. Master Faders can be assigned to a
different sub-paths of the same main path, as
long as the sub-paths do not overlap.
Active and Inactive Master Faders
(TDM Systems Only)
When a Master Fader track is inactive, its associated plug-ins, I/O assignments, and their resources are released and available for other uses
in the session.
When a Master Fader output assignment (path
assignment) is made inactive, the Master Fader
no longer controls the master gain of that path.
When you duplicate a Master Fader track, the
duplicated track’s assignment will be inactive.
See “Master Faders and Paths” on page 340 for
more information.
Plug-Ins and Inserts
Five inserts are available on each audio channel.
Each insert can be either a hardware insert or a
software plug-in insert. Plug-ins and hardware inserts route the signal from the track through the
effect of your choice, and automatically return it
to the same track. Inserts on audio tracks and
Auxiliary Inputs are pre-fader. Inserts on Master
Faders are post-fader.
On TDM systems, RTAS plug-ins can be inserted
on audio tracks, but not on Auxiliary Inputs or
Master Faders.
Hardware inserts send and return the signal to
corresponding input and output channels of an
audio interface.
See Chapter 27, “Plug-In and Hardware Inserts” for details about using plug-ins and
inserts.
Track Output Format and Plug-Ins
Plug-ins provide mono, stereo, multi-mono and
multichannel versions (not all versions are supported by all plug-in manufacturers or on all systems).
All Systems The following three types of plugins are supported on all Pro Tools systems:
• mono-in/mono-out
• mono-in/stereo-out
• stereo-in/stereo-out
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series Pro Tools
TDM systems running the Surround mixer support 3–8 channel, multi-mono and multichannel plug-ins.
Viewing I/O, Inserts, and
Sends
Both the Mix and Edit windows can be configured to show or hide various mixing controls.
To show or hide I/O, inserts and sends in the Mix
and Edit windows:
1 Choose Display > Mix Window Shows, or Edit
Window Shows, or click the View Selector in the
Edit window, and choose any or all of the following:
◆ Select I/O View to show input and output,
volume, and pan controls in each track. Deselect
to hide.
◆ Select Inserts View to show inserts (software
plug-ins and hardware I/O inserts) in each track.
Deselect to hide.
Because inserts process in series, changing the
plug-in format can alter the channel format. For
example, inserting a mono-to-stereo plug-in on
a mono Auxiliary Input changes the signal path
from that plug-in through the rest of the track.
This restricts all hardware inserts or plug-ins after the stereo plug-in to be stereo-in/stereo-out
plug-ins (or supported multichannel format).
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Select Sends View to show send assignments
in each track. Deselect to hide. See “Configuring
Sends View in the Mix and Edit Windows” on
page 346 for more information.
◆
Viewing Comments
no assignments
Comments View shows any text entered as comments in the Track Name dialog. You can also
type directly in the Comments area for each
track when Comments View is displayed.
with assignments
Inserts View
Send A View
Sends View
I/O View
Comments
Comments View in the Mix and Edit windows
Mix window views
In the Edit window, you can select views from
the View Selector next to the Rulers.
To display Comments View:
1 Select Display > Mix Window Shows (or Edit
Window Shows) > Comments.
View Selector
Track Input
Selecting an Edit window view with the View Selector
Inserts
I/O
Sends
Input Selectors determine the source input for
audio tracks and Auxiliary Inputs. Track input
can be a hardware input, bus, or Soft SampleCell
input path. While recording, the Input Monitor
mode determines when live input will be monitored through a record-enabled audio track.
The following techniques simplify track input
assignment for tracks.
Edit window views
To assign track input:
■ Select an input path or sub-path from the
track Input Selector.
To assign multiple tracks to the same input:
■ Option-select (Macintosh), or Alt-select (Windows) to assign all tracks to the selected input.
■ Option-Shift-select (Macintosh), or Alt-Shiftselect (Windows) to assign all selected tracks to
the selected input.
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To assign multiple tracks to unique inputs
(ascending, incrementing):
Command-Shift-click (Macintosh), or Control-Shift-click (Windows) to assign the starting
track (top-most in the Edit window, left-most in
the Mix window).
■
This track will be assigned to the selected input
path, and each subsequent track will be auto-assigned the next available input path. Availability is determined by the path format, and the active/inactive state of the tracks.
To assign a track output:
■ Select the desired output path or sub-path
from the track Output Selector.
Assigning track output
To assign all tracks to the same output:
Track Output
Track Output Selectors route the post-fader signals to the assigned output or bus paths.
■ While pressing Option-select (Macintosh) or
Alt-select (Windows), assign any track output to
also assign all tracks to the same path.
To assign all selected tracks to the same output:
The Output Selector routes the main track output to the chosen main or sub-path. Tracks can
be routed directly to hardware outputs, or to internal bus paths for submixing (main or subpaths).
The track format (mono, stereo, or multichannel) determines the available main and sub-path
choices for track output.
When you create new tracks, their default Output assignment is determined by your selection
of Default Output Path in I/O Setup. You can
change the Default Output Path in I/O Setup to
any available path. For more information, see
“Default Output Path” on page 73.
Sends, and Send windows, provide another
way to route track audio. See “Sends” on
page 345 for more information.
■ While pressing Option+Shift (Macintosh), or
Alt+Shift (Windows), assign any track to also assign all selected tracks to the same path.
Output Paths
When audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master Faders are created, their mono, stereo, or
multichannel format is defined. This original
format determines the track’s minimum insert,
send, and output format.
• Mono tracks can be assigned to any available
mono, stereo, or other multichannel main
and sub-paths.
• Stereo tracks can be assigned to any available
stereo or multichannel main and sub-paths.
• Multichannel tracks can be assigned to any
equal, or higher, format.
For example, on any “stereo” audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader, the main track output can be assigned to any available stereo paths
or insert, or any multichannel paths of three or
more channels (on supported systems).
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343
Output Windows
Multiple Output Assignments
Output windows provide the essential track
mixing controls (such as track panning and volume), as an alternative to Mix and Edit window
views. Multichannel Send and Output windows
also provide expanded Panner views, and other
surround-specific controls. (See Chapter 33,
“Surround Panning and Mixing.”)
Pro Tools audio tracks and Auxiliary Inputs can
have multiple track and send assignments. Multiple outputs are limited only by the paths and
resources available on your system.
Output windows are useful in large sessions to
leave important tracks in an anchored location,
unaffected by Mix and Edit window (or control
surface) banking. See “Opening and Managing
Output Windows” on page 349.
These windows appear differently for mono, stereo, and multichannel tracks. For multichannel
mixing, there is also an X/Y panner Output window available. For more information on using
multichannel Output windows, see Chapter 33,
“Surround Panning and Mixing.”
Assigning to multiple paths is an efficient way
to route an identical mix to other discrete outputs, for simultaneous monitor feeds, headphone mixes, or other situations where a parallel mix is needed. Master Faders can only be
assigned to a single path.
You can also define what physical ports are
routed to Pro Tools input and output ports in
the “Main” page of the Hardware Setup dialog.
For more information, see “Hardware Setup” on
page 39.
To assign a track to multiple outputs:
1 Assign a main output path by selecting it from
the track’s Output Selector.
2 Control-click to select an additional output
path in the track’s Output Selector. The newly
selected output destination is added as an additional output.
Pan controls
Option-Control-click to add the assignment
to all tracks, or Option-Shift-Control-click
to add to all selected tracks.
Level Faders
Mono
Output windows (mono and stereo tracks)
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Stereo
Display of Multiple Output Assignments
When a track is assigned to multiple output
paths, the Output Selector denotes multiple assignment status and active/inactive status with
the following indicators:
A plus sign (+) indicates that the track has
multiple output assignments.
◆
Indication of multiple output assignments
In the Output Selector menu, all currently assigned track outputs are checked to indicate
they are active for the current track.
◆
You can free up DSP of unused plug-ins by setting its whole track inactive, or by setting just
the plug-in inactive.
See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 16,
and “Inactive Plug-Ins” on page 364 for
more information.
About the “No Output” Option
Track outputs can be set to No Output. Assigning a track output to No Output loses any panning playlists associated with the track.
◆
Tracks assigned to No Output will not be audible, but they do not free their associated DSP resources.
Inactive Outputs
Sends
An output path can be set to Inactive, either globally in the I/O Setup window (affecting all
tracks assigned to that path), or locally per assignment (only affecting that output on that audio track or Auxiliary Input).
Pro Tools lets you insert up to five sends on each
audio track or Auxiliary Input.
When opening sessions, outputs will be made
inactive automatically if the required hardware
or other resources are not available.
• Send level and mute can be configured to follow Groups.
An asterisk (*) indicates that one or more currently assigned outputs is Inactive.
Inactive outputs retain all associated automation playlists. Edits made in the session also affect the inactive track’s output automation playlists.
Inactive Outputs and DSP Resources
Setting a track output to Inactive silences the
output, while retaining all automation and
playlist data. Inactive outputs do not consume
resources for TDM mixer connections, but any
assigned plug-ins on the track continue to use
their required DSP resources. RTAS plug-ins require CPU resources, and TDM plug-ins use the
DSP available on Pro Tools audio cards.
Sends provide the following features:
• Sends can be set as pre- or post-fader.
• Send level, send mute, and send pan (for stereo and multichannel sends) are fully automatable. See “Automating Sends” on page 385.
• Send controls can be displayed and edited
from the Mix or Edit windows, or in their own
Output windows.
• Sends can be assigned to available output and
bus paths (main or sub-paths), in mono or stereo, or any supported multichannel format.
• Each Send can have multiple assignments (for
example, to available output and bus paths).
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Sends must be returned to the mix through an
Auxiliary Input or audio track. They can be
monitored and processed through an Auxiliary
Input, recorded to audio tracks, and bounced to
disk. (Bouncing and mixdown are explained in
Chapter 29, “Mixdown.”)
Send Formats
Assigning Sends to Tracks
Multichannel Sends Pro Tools HD-series and
MIX-series systems support mono, stereo, and
multichannel sends.
To add a send to a track:
1 Make sure Sends View is enabled in the Mix or
Edit window (see “Viewing I/O, Inserts, and
Sends” on page 341 for information).
2 Click the Sends button on the track and
choose a path from the pop-up menu.
Mono and Stereo Sends On all Pro Tools systems, sends can be either mono or stereo. When
you click the Sends button on a track, you can
choose from a list of mono or stereo output or
bus paths.
Sends and Path Choices
The choices available in track Send Selectors include bus and output paths.
Internal Mix Busses Pro Tools TDM systems provide 64 busses and Pro Tools LE systems provide
16 busses for routing signals internally. Internal
bus paths are useful for submixing and processing with plug-ins. Bus paths are defined in the
I/O Setup dialog, and are available in all supported channel formats (mono, stereo, or other
multichannel, as supported on your system).
Assigning a send to a mono bus path
The send can be mono or stereo (or any supported multichannel format), routing to an output or bus path.
3 Set the output level of the send. You can set
the send level to zero by Option-clicking (Macintosh) or Alt-clicking (Windows) the send
fader. When you create a new send, its output
level is automatically set to –∞.
You can configure the default level for new
sends to be off or at unity gain (0) in the
Preferences > Operation window.
To remove a send from a track:
Click the Sends button on the track and
choose No Send from the pop-up menu.
■
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Hardware Outputs Hardware sends are often
used for headphone cue mixes, or for sending
signals to external effects processors. Sends do
not automatically return audio as do inserts.
You can customize the names, format, and
channel mapping of busses and output
paths in the I/O Setup dialog. See “Creating
and Editing Paths” on page 64.
Configuring Sends View in the Mix
and Edit Windows
Sends are displayed in the Mix and Edit window
according to the Sends View Shows settings.
Choices include Assignments View, plus the five
Send A–E Views, explained below.
To display the controls for an individual send
across all tracks:
1 If sends are not currently visible on your
tracks, choose Display > Mix Window Shows >
Sends View (or Display > Edit Window Shows >
Sends View).
Send A–E Views
The Send A–E Views provide send level, pan,
and mute controls.
2 Choose Display > Sends View Shows and select the send (A–E).
To show send assignments:
stereo
multichannel
pre-fader
post-fader
Choose Display > Sends View Shows > Assignments.
Send A View, different types of send assignments
■
– or –
Command-click the Send Selector and select a
view, or send (A–E).
■
no assignment
Parameters for sends can be edited directly using
these controls. Sends can also be opened for editing or metering in Send windows. See “Opening and Managing Output Windows” on
page 349.
Send Selector
Editing Sends in the Mix and Edit
Windows (Send A–E Views)
Sends Views
Assignment View
This is the default Send Display mode, showing
the five available sends on all tracks displayed in
the Mix and Edit windows.
Send Selectors
Send A, Assignment View
Send A–E View options display all the parameters of an individual send in the sends area of
the Mix and Edit windows. These views provide
full access to all controls for that send on all
tracks.
send
assignment
path assignment
send
level
send pan
send mute
pre/post
send meter
Send A View, stereo shown
Assignments View, (left) and an assigned send (right)
In Assignment View, send parameters are edited
from their Output windows. See “Opening and
Managing Output Windows” on page 349.
Send level and mute can follow Mix groups, to
adjust multiple send parameters from a single
set of controls. (See “Sends and Groups” on
page 353.)
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347
Sends View Meters
When you display the controls for an individual
send, you also have the option of displaying
send level meters.
Send level meters show peak values and indicate
clipping that occurs while the meter is displayed
(if a send clips any time before its meter is displayed, this is not shown). If you are using a
slower computer, hiding send level meters can
improve screen redraw times.
To display send level meters when viewing
individual sends:
◆ The Send button is lit whenever a send’s window is open.
default
(unmuted,
window closed)
Muted
(lit Bypass indicator)
Window is open
(lit Send)
Indication of Send Mute and Window status
If you use ProControl, Control|24, or other control surface with Pro Tools, colored outlines
around sends, inserts, and Outputs indicate the
current controller focus.
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Display.
2 Select Show Meters in Sends View and click
OK.
To clear a send meter’s Clip indicator:
■
Click on it. Option-click to clear all.
In Assignment View, edit sends by opening
their Output windows. See “Opening and
Managing Output Windows” on page 349.
Send Mute and Window Status
Display
When displaying sends in a Send A–E View,
Send Mute switch is visible and editable directly
in the Mix or Edit windows.
Inactive Sends
Sends can be made inactive. Inactive sends free
their DSP and mixer resources, while retaining
their position in track Sends View, and retain all
related automation playlists. Inactive sends do
not output audio.
To make a send inactive:
■ Command-Control-click (Macintosh), or
Control-Start-click (Windows) on the send (its
assignment). Use the Option and Option+Shift
modifiers to affect that send (A–E, if present) on
all or all selected tracks, respectively.
In Assignment View, Send Mute and Output
window status are displayed as follows:
The Send Bypass indicator is lit when the send
is muted.
◆
Making a send inactive
– or –
■ Make the Track inactive. See “Making Tracks
Inactive” on page 90.
When opening sessions, sends will be made inactive automatically if the required hardware or
other resources are not available.
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Inactive sends retain all associated automation
playlists. In addition, any edits made in the session affect the sends automation playlists.
To open a Send window:
■
Click the send in the Mix or Edit window.
click here
inactive
send
(italicized)
active send
(plain text)
or here
inactive
track
(italicized, dark gray background)
Display of inactive sends
Output Windows for Tracks
and Sends
Track outputs and sends can be opened for display and editing in dedicated windows.
Track Output windows provide track fader,
pan, automation, solo, and mute controls.
◆
Send windows provide send level, mute, pan,
and automation controls.
◆
Standard Output and Send window controls
provide additional routing, assignment, and display settings.
◆
To open an Output window:
■
Click the Output icon in the channel strip.
Opening a Send window
Opening and Managing Output
Windows
Multiple track and Send windows can be displayed simultaneously.
To view a different Output window:
■ Click an output icon, or send, in the Mix or
Edit window.
If a similar Output window was already open
with a highlighted Target icon (red, unlit), the
newly selected send will open in its place.
Target enabled
Multiple Send windows
Opening an Output window
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349
Opening Multiple Output Windows
Multiple track and Send windows can be displayed simultaneously using either of the following methods.
When linked and set to Inverse mode, panning
moves are inverted, or reversed, in the other
channels. For example, panning the left side of a
stereo track from left-to-right results in the right
channel panning simultaneously, from right-toleft.
To open additional Output windows:
■
Shift-click any output icon or send.
To set a window to remain open:
Make sure the Target is deselected (gray, unlit).
■
Linked (left) and unlinked (right) Output windows
Arrange multiple windows as needed. For additional information, see “Using the Target” on
page 352.
To enable linking:
Track Fader, Solo, Mute, and Auto
To unlink an output for independent panning:
Output windows provide the associated track’s
volume fader, pan controls, solo and mute
switches, and Automation Mode Selector. Use
these to adjust or automate the parameters of
the Output window.
Panner Linking
Stereo outputs provide two panning controls,
one for each side of the left/right pair.
The Output window provides controls to unlink
(or link) channels for precise panning of stereo
and multichannel tracks.
In the default Linked mode, all sides match
changes to any other side’s pan control. This is
Absolute Link mode.
When unlinked, pan controls are completely independent of each other.
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■
■
Enable the Link icon.
Deselect the Link icon.
Inverse Linked Panning
Additional inverse linking options are also provided for stereo track panning.
Link
Front inverse
Front/Rear inverse
Rear inverse
Link, and Inverse Selectors
Inverse panning reflects one side’s location and
direction in the other side. For example, when
enabled for Front Inverse, if you pan one side of
a stereo track output from right to left, the other
side will exactly mirror that movement and pan
left to right.
Front inverse linking is available on all systems.
Rear Inverse, and Front/Rear Inverse linking are
available on Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series
systems.and only appear as options on multichannel plug-ins and panners/output windows.
1 Enable the Link icon.
2 Select an Inverse mode.
Standard Selector Controls in
Output Windows
All Output windows provide standard selectors
for path, automation, and other controls in the
top area of the window (the Output Editor area).
Path Meter View
Target
automation safe
Output window standard controls
Close
Track Selector
Send Selector
Path Selector
Bypass/Mute button Mutes the currently displayed send.
Link and Unlink Allows linking and unlinking of
left and right (or other) outputs in stereo (or
multichannel). Unlinked mode provides discrete adjustment of individual sides, or channels. When linked, all changes affect all channels. See “Panner Linking” on page 350.
To enable inverse linking:
Close
Track Selector
Output Selector
Path Selector
Path Selector Allows you to assign the Output
path for the current track or send.
Path Meter View
Target
pre/post fader
automation safe
Target Identifies the target of plug-in settings
commands. Also sets the current window for
display of Output windows. See “Using the Target” on page 352.
Safe Track and send level, pan, and other controls can be protected from automation overwrites by placing them in Automation Safe
mode. See Chapter 28, “Automation” for more
information.
Meter View The view box in the upper right corner opens the path Meter View. These meters
display levels of the selected path (not the output of the current window).
Meters View
Send window standard controls
Standard Controls
Close Closes the window.
Track Selector Provides access to any audio
track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader in the
session.
Output Selector Provides access to other outputs
(track and send) in the track, if any, displaying
the selected output in the current window.
track meter
path meters
Path Meter Selector
Meters View in an Output window
Send Selector Provides access to other sends on
the track.
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351
Using the Target
To reassign output:
When lit, the next window opened of the same
type dynamically replaces the current display
(unless it is opened as an additional window
with the Shift modifier). When unlit, the current window anchors to its current contents and
location on-screen. Opening additional windows does not affect anchored windows.
■ Click the Send Destination Selector button
and select a path from the pop-up menu.
To set an open Send window as the Target window:
Selecting a path from the Sends Editor
Click to enable the Target (it is red when enabled, gray when disabled).
■
Plug-ins have additional features related to the
Target.
Target Functionality in Windows, by Type
Window Type
When Target Enabled
Plug-Ins
Focus of Settings commands, and
Window setting
Track Outputs
Window setting
Sends
Window setting
Inserts
Window setting
Using Output Windows
To add an additional send to the same track:
■ Click the Send Selector button and choose the
desired Send from the pop-up menu, then click
the Send Selector and choose a destination from
the pop-up menu.
To add an additional output assignment to the
current track or send:
■ Control-select an additional output path from
the Send Selector.
To display the controls for a different send on the
same track:
■ Click the Send Selector button and select the
send.
Output windows provide standard Pro Tools
track, send, Target, and other controls.
To move to a different track:
Click the Track Selector button and choose a
track from the pop-up menu.
■
Selecting a track from the Sends Editor
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Accessing another send from the Sends Editor
Sends and Groups
Send level and mute can follow Mix groups in
each of the five available sends (A–E). Use this to
adjust multiple send parameters from a single
set of controls.
To configure sends and Mix groups:
1 Choose Setup > Preferences, and open the Au-
tomation window.
2 Enable Send Level Follows Groups, or Send
Mute Follows Groups, as appropriate.
3 Click OK to set the new Preferences.
Copying Settings to Sends
(TDM Systems Only)
Sometimes you need send settings to match the
settings in the track itself—for example, to provide a headphone mix based on the main mix.
You can do this in either of two ways:
• By assigning an additional (multiple) output
to all tracks, adding the headphone Output
path to the main mix output assignments.
(See “Multiple Output Assignments” on
page 344).
– or –
• By copying a track’s volume fader, pan slider,
or mute button position to the corresponding
controls for a send on that track. (See “Copying Track Automation to Sends” on page 386.)
Submixing for Signal Routing
and Effects Processing
The bussing and mixing features in Pro Tools
support a nearly infinite number of possibilities
for submixing and signal routing, including:
• Create inputs for MIDI devices and other audio sources, to monitor or record in Pro Tools.
• Control and automate any submix from a single fader and channel strip.
• Apply real-time plug-ins or an external processor to the submix, using the Auxiliary Input as an effects return.
Audio Input from MIDI Devices and
Other External Source
You can use an Auxiliary Input to bring external
audio sources such as MIDI devices, tape, microphone inputs, and instruments, into a Pro Tools
mix.
To use Auxiliary Inputs to bring external audio
sources into a mix:
1 Connect the audio outputs of your MIDI and
other external devices to available inputs on
your Pro Tools audio interfaces.
2 If necessary, configure the I/O Setup dialog for
the input paths you plan to utilize. The
I/O Setup dialog configuration determines the
choices available for track sends, inputs, busses,
and hardware inserts. (For more information,
see Chapter 7, “I/O Setup.”)
3 Choose File > New Track and select the type of
Auxiliary Input (mono, stereo, or multichannel
on supported systems) from the Track Format
Selector, then click Create.
4 Set the input of the Auxiliary Input track to
the appropriate input path.
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5 Assign the track output to the appropriate
path, or paths. (See “Multiple Output Assignments” on page 344 for more information.)
6 Adjust the Auxiliary Input fader to control the
track, and any assigned post-fader send levels.
Mixing Audio Input from MIDI Devices
and External Sources
By mixing MIDI and other audio sources
through Pro Tools, you can apply mix automation to the volume, pan, mute, send level, send
pan, send mute, and plug-in controls of the
Auxiliary Input.
Auxiliary Inputs can be routed to audio tracks
through internal send busses, or using their
track output, to record them to disk.
Using plug-ins, inserts, and sends on Auxiliary
Inputs, you can process instruments and other
inputs with real-time plug-ins, or external devices. See“Send and Return Submixing for Effects Processing” on page 355.
Creating a Submix
Audio is routed to a submix by assigning any
combination of sends and track outputs to available bus or output paths.
Auxiliary Inputs serve as effects returns by inserting plug-ins or external effects processors.
For example, if a stereo sampler was connected
to Inputs 1–2, a stereo Auxiliary Input assigned
to the Input 1–2 path could monitor the sampler through Pro Tools. You can process the
track with plug-ins, or send to a bus path for additional processing, or recording. Auxiliary Inputs and Master Faders provide consolidated
level control, processing, signal routing, and automation.
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Submixing with Track Outputs or Sends
You can use both track outputs and sends to
route audio for submixing, depending on
whether you want a discrete or send and return
submix.
Discrete Submix Output
Discrete submix output means source audio is
routed discretely through the submix. This is
preferred for dither or other mastering processing, where you do not want unprocessed audio
heard in addition to the processed signals. Use
track outputs (not sends) to assign tracks to a
bus path for discrete submixing. In this arrangement, the balance of processed and unprocessed
signal is controlled by plug-in wet/dry settings.
For another way to submix effects, see “To
create an effects return submix:” on
page 355.
To create a discrete submix:
1 Set the output of the tracks you want to include in the submix to a stereo bus path.
2 Pan each track.
3 Choose File > New Track and choose Auxiliary
Input (stereo) from the pop-up menu.
4 Set the input of the Auxiliary Input to the
same bus path to which you assigned all contributing tracks.
5 Set the output of the Auxiliary Input track to
your main stereo mix outputs (typically, outputs
1–2).
6 Set the Auxiliary Input Track level.
7 To process the submix, assign a plug-in or
hardware insert on the Auxiliary Input.
8 Set the parameters of the plug-in. The plug-in
Bypass and Wet/Dry controls (if available) determine the amount of effect heard.
The contributing track faders control the balance within the submix. The Auxiliary Input
track controls the output levels of all tracks
routed to it.
You can apply mix automation to the volume,
pan, mute, and send level, send pan, and send
mute controls of the Auxiliary Input.
You can also bounce a submix to disk to free up
the voices for use by other tracks. See
Chapter 29, “Mixdown” for information.
Send and Return Submixing for Effects
Processing
When you are submixing for reverb, delay, and
similar effects processing, use sends to achieve
traditional send/return bussing. You can use a
real-time plug-in or a hardware I/O insert as a
shared resource for all tracks included in a submix. The wet/dry balance in the mix can be controlled using the track faders (dry level) and
Auxiliary Input fader (effect return, or wet,
level).
7 Set the plug-in or external effect to “100%
wet,” and configure any other parameters as
needed.
8 Click the Input Selector of the Auxiliary Input
track and set it to the bus path you assigned to
the sends on the source tracks.
9 Click the Output Selector of the Auxiliary Input track and choose an output path (your main
mix, or other output).
Send to external device
Input set to device’s return
Output set to main mix outs 1-2
Controls level of dry signal
Controls level of effect
Send/return setup for an external device
To create an effects return submix:
1 Assign a send (mono or stereo) to each source
track.
2 Assign each track’s main output to your main
mix outputs.
3 Set the send destinations on the source tracks
to a mono or stereo bus path. Configure the
sends for pre- or post-fader, as needed.
4 Choose File > New Tracks.
5 Choose one Stereo (or other format) Auxiliary
Input, and click Create.
Adjust the individual track faders to balance the
dry (unprocessed) tracks. The amount of effect is
controlled by the level of the Auxiliary Input
fader.
For convenience, you can configure send levels and send mutes to follow Mix Groups.
This can simplify set up with large submixes. See “Sends and Groups” on page 353
for more information.
See Chapter 27, “Plug-In and Hardware Inserts” for more information.
6 Assign a real-time plug-in, or a hardware insert, on the Auxiliary Input.
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Creating a Master Send Level Control
Master Fader can control the overall level of bus
and output paths.
To create a Master send level control:
1 Choose File > New Track and create a Master
Fader in the appropriate mono, stereo, or multichannel format.
Generating Stereo Output from a Mono
Send/Return
You can use an Auxiliary Return arrangement to
generate a stereo output from a mono send. Set
the send destination to a mono Auxiliary Input
track and place a stereo plug-in on the Auxiliary
Input. The output of the Auxiliary Input becomes stereo.
2 Do one of the following:
Real-time plug-in applied to Insert A
Set the output of the Master Fader to the same
path that you are using to send to an Auxiliary
Input track.
Send to bus 1
Set the output of the Master Fader to match
the path that you have chosen for your effects
send.
Output set to main mix outs 1-2
◆
◆
You can then adjust send levels to balance the
source tracks, and use the Master Fader as a master level control for the entire submix.
Aux In input set to bus 1
Controls level of dry signal
Controls level of effect
Soloing Tracks in a Submix
When you want to solo any tracks in a submix,
you can solo safe the Auxiliary Input track. This
solos tracks that are bussed to the Auxiliary Input without having to solo the Auxiliary Input
as well.
To solo safe an Auxiliary Input:
Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the Solo button on the Auxiliary Input track.
■
To solo an individual track that is part of a group:
Control-click (Macintosh) the solo button.
Control = group (and automation) clutch.
■
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Send/return setup for an Internal Mix Bus
Mixing Concepts
Mixing involves much more than the Pro Tools
techniques for signal routing, level balancing,
and panning. Mixing is not just a matter of
knowing how to do something, it’s knowing
what you want, or need, to do.
Many mix decisions are purely aesthetic, meaning you decide how loud things are, where they
are panned, what effects are used, and so on.
You base your mix decisions on what you are
hearing. What you are hearing is determined by
the type and number of speakers in your studio,
their placement and condition, the size of the
room, and many other factors.
While you can control most of these variables in
your facility, you cannot control them in all the
listening environments in which the project
will be heard. This section provides a basic introduction to some of the ways to reduce the variables encountered while mixing.
Monitoring for Compatibility
While mixing, your monitoring system has a
very large influence on how your final mix will
sound. For example, if your monitors (or room)
are overly bright, you will tend to put less highend in your mixes. When your mix is played on
a different system that doesn’t favor the highend, it will likely sound muddy. Problems like
these can be avoided using alternate speakers
and reference monitors.
Alternate Speakers and Reference Monitoring
Mixers often listen to their mixes on a variety of
different speakers, to gauge how well the mix
will translate. Some speakers are designed to emulate the effects of TV broadcast, where others
attempt to be completely flat across all frequencies. By listening to a mix through different
playback systems, you are attempting to anticipate what the intended audience will hear. The
goal is to make sure your mix will sound as good
as possible to as many listeners as possible.
Studio monitors (top) and street monitors (bottom)
Reference Tapes and Discs
To become familiar with a studio and its monitors, engineers often bring along a collection of
recordings they are familiar hearing in a variety
of environments. In this way, they can get a
sense of how the room and monitors “sound”
before mixing.
While mixing, tapes and discs of rough mixes let
you audition mixes outside the studio in different listening environments.
Format Compatibility Monitoring
In addition, format compatibility is sometimes required. With stereo, mixes must often be monocompatible.
Mono-Stereo Mix Compatibility Example
An example of mix compatibility is mono-stereo
compatibility. Though stereo is the predominant consumer listening format, many televisions and older cars have a single speaker. How a
stereo mix sounds through a mono television or
radio (AM radio, for example, is mono) can only
be verified by checking how the mix sounds
when summed to mono.
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Most consoles let you fold the mix to mono in
order to check mono-compatibility and, if necessary, make adjustments. You can also simply
pan your output mix channels to center.
When you start mixing in multichannel surround, these techniques become even more important, See Chapter 30, “Surround Concepts”
for more information.
Metering and Calibration
Meters provide a visual display of signal levels.
They tell whether signal is getting to a channel,
and how loud or soft a signal is relative to
(above or below) “0.”
By calibrating all your equipment to standard
reference levels, a consistent level can be
achieved (and metered) among different recording devices in a studio, throughout a facility, or
throughout an entire production chain of a feature-length film. For example, a level of, say,
–18 dB coming out of a DAT deck should play
and meter at –18 dB in Pro Tools.
Reference Levels
Reference levels are often tones such as sine
waves, at specific frequencies (1k and 10k, for
example). By supplying the same tones to each
device, you can calibrate your systems for equal
input and output attenuation and metering. Beyond your own studio and equipment, reference
levels and calibration provide a standard by
which different studios, engineers, and systems
can achieve a consistent nominal operating
level.
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Calibrating your Pro Tools audio interface inputs and outputs to tape machines and other audio devices in your studio ensures consistency
in levels (and meters) when recording, transferring, overdubbing and mixing.
For audio interfaces that have trims (such
as the 192 I/O), see your peripheral’s guide
for calibration instructions. The 192 I/O
trims are software-adjustable, in the Hardware Setup dialog.
Using a Control Surface with
Pro Tools
There are several optional control surfaces for
Pro Tools:
◆ TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems can use
Digidesign ProControl or Control|24. These
control surfaces are dedicated controllers that
provide access to Pro Tools recording, mixing,
editing, signal routing, plug-in control, and automation features.
◆ ProControl-equipped Pro Tools systems can
use Digidesign ‘s EditPack. This control surface
option provides many mixing and panning features to enhance multichannel mixing for
surround sound, as well as providing direct access to many of the most frequently used
Pro Tools command and features.
◆ Pro Tools LE and TDM systems support MIDI
control surfaces, including the CM Labs MotorMix, Mackie HUI (Human User Interface),
JL Cooper CS-10, Peavey PC-1600, and others.
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems
running the Surround mixer can use the JL Cooper MCS3000 Joystick Panner. However, on ProControl systems with EditPack enabled, you
cannot use the MC3000 Joystick Panner.
◆
For more information on using MIDI control surfaces with Pro Tools, refer to the
Pro Tools MIDI Control Surfaces Guide.
Dither
Dither is a special form of randomized noise
used to mask quantization noise in digital audio
systems. Digital audio’s poorest distortion performance exists at the lowest end of the dynamic range, where quantization distortion can
occur. Dither reduces quantizing errors by introducing very low-level random noise, thereby
minimizing distortion artifacts as audio reaches
low level. With dither there is a trade-off between signal-to-noise performance and less-apparent distortion. Proper use of dither lets you
squeeze better subjective performance out of a
16-bit data format (such as Red Book compact
discs).
Pro Tools TDM systems process all audio internally at 24-bit, and Pro Tools LE processes internally at 32-bit, floating. Without Dither to process the 24-bit data to 16-bit, the extra 8 bits are
truncated (dropped entirely) when written to
media or a device with a 16-bit maximum (such
as CD recorders, many DAT machines, and others). Dithering, on the other hand, preserves
low-level (quiet) fidelity in a surprising way—by
adding a small amount of noise to a signal.
Dither in Pro Tools
There are several dither options provided in
Pro Tools. Each has a specific application within
the various operations that could benefit from
dithering.
In addition to the TDM, RTAS and AudioSuite
dithering plug-ins, Pro Tools has a built-in
dither capability.
Dither Mixer Plug-Ins Pro Tools|HD provides two
Mixer plug-ins that feature dither with noise
shaping: Stereo Dithered and Surround Dithered. For more information, see “Surround Dithered and Stereo Dithered Mixers” on page 526.
Standard Stereo and Surround Mixers do not
have dither and require use of dithering plugins.
Dither on Final Output for Mixdown You can insert a real-time dither plug-in on a Master Fader
to dither your final mix, post-fader, for CD or
other 16-bit media. Inserts on Master Fader process post-fader. During Bounce-to-Disk, this
form of dithering lets you use dither plug-ins
from Digidesign or third-party manufacturers.
For more information, see “Dither and Bounce
to Disk” on page 404.
AudioSuite Dither For AudioSuite plug-in processing, dither is based on the Dither plug-in.
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For most AudioSuite plug-ins, dither can be automatically applied in the Pro Tools Preferences
dialog, under Processing. The Use AudioSuite
Dither checkbox enables a preset, N-shaped
dither.
Fades and Crossfades In the Fades dialog (Edit >
Fades > Create Fades), the Use Dither checkbox
enables a preset, noise-shaped dither.
Create Fades dialog
Noise Shaping
Operation Preferences, for AudioSuite dither
The following AudioSuite plug-ins can automatically apply dither when processing:
• EQ II
• Compressor II
• Limiter II
• Gate II
• Expander/Gate II
Noise is an integral part of the dithering process.
Noise shaping can further improve audio performance and reduce perceived noise inherent in
dithering. Noise shaping utilizes digital filtering
to move noise from frequencies around 4 kHz.
Essentially, noise shaping lessens our perception
of the noise inherent in dithering by shifting audible noise components into a less audible
range.
Noise Shaping is available in the Dither plug-in.
• Normalize
• Gain
• DC Offset Removal
• Time Compression/Expansion
• Pitch Shift
For information about AudioSuite dither,
see the Digi-Rack Plug-Ins Guide.
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For more information about dither during
mixdown, see Chapter 29, “Mixdown.”
Chapter 27: Plug-In and Hardware
Inserts
Pro Tools provides up to five unity-gain inserts
on each audio track, Auxiliary Input track, or
Master Fader. Audio track and Auxiliary Input
inserts are pre-fader, and Master Faders inserts
are post-fader only.
An insert can be either a software DSP plug-in or
a hardware insert. A Pro Tools insert routes the
signal from the track to a plug-in or external
hardware effect of your choice and automatically returns it to the same track. Inserts do not
alter the original audio source files, but process
audio in real time, during playback. You can
permanently apply real-time effects to tracks by
recording or bouncing the effect to disk (see
Chapter 29, “Mixdown” for more information).
Additional real-time plug-ins are available from
Digidesign and from many third-party developers.
For more information, see the Digidesign
Plug-Ins Guide.
Hardware I/O Inserts
Hardware I/O inserts can route audio through
an external device connected to the inputs and
outputs of your audio interface. You can process
the audio material on a track with a hardware
insert in real time.
This chapter explains how to use plug-ins and
hardware inserts. Refer to the DigiRack Plug-Ins
Guide for details on using specific plug-ins.
Hardware I/O insert
Plug-In Inserts
Plug-in inserts are software inserts that process
audio material on a track in real time. The EQ,
Dynamics, and Mod Delay plug-ins supplied
with your Pro Tools system are real-time plug-in
inserts.
Insert paths require audio interface inputs and
outputs, and are determined by the I/O Setup
configuration of your system.
For more information, see the DigiRack
Plug-Ins Guide.
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361
General Information
Plug-In and Insert Formats
When more than one insert is used on a track,
they are processed in series. Each effect is added
to that of any previous plug-ins or inserts, (flog
from top to bottom in the Mix window Inserts
View, and left to right in the Edit window Inserts
View).
Mono Plug-Ins Are designed for use on mono
tracks. Some mono plug-ins (such as Mod Delay)
let you generate a stereo output from a mono
channel. Inserts that occur on a track after a stereo insert are used in stereo as well.
◆
Inserts on audio tracks and Auxiliary Inputs
are pre-fader. You can cause clipping if you boost
their gain to extremes, especially on tracks recorded at high amplitude. Watch on-screen metering for indication of clipping. (Inserts on
Master Faders are post-fader.)
◆
How to Use Plug-Ins and Inserts for
Effects Processing
Inserts can be used in two ways:
On Single Tracks An insert can be applied to an
individual audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader.
With in-line inserts, you control the amount of
effect by adjusting the balance (or, wet/dry)
controls of the plug-in or external device.
As Shared Resources An insert can be used as a
shared resource in a send-and-return arrangement, by bussing signals from several tracks to
an Auxiliary Input, and then applying the insert
to the Auxiliary Input track. You can then control the send level for each track, and the overall
level of the effect can be controlled from the
Auxiliary Input track. Using sends and other signal routing features helps maximize your system’s processing power.
For examples of send and return busses and
other submixing setups, see “Submixing for
Signal Routing and Effects Processing” on
page 353.
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Stereo Plug-Ins Stereo versions of plug-ins become available when you use them on a stereo
track. A stereo hardware I/O insert, that sends
the signal to an input/output path, can also be
created on a stereo track.
Mono In/Stereo Out Plug-Ins Are designed to return a stereo effect from a mono source. Certain
plug-ins (such as Mod Delay) let you generate
stereo output from a mono channel. A track
made into stereo in this way has pan controls
for each channel of the stereo signal. Any inserts
that occur on a track after a stereo insert are automatically used in stereo as well.
Multi-Mono Plug-Ins Are designed for use on stereo or greater multichannel tracks when a multichannel version of the plug-in is not available.
Parameters for all channels are linked by default
so that you can adjust them in tandem. You can
unlink parameter controls for independent adjustment using the Master Link button. See
“Linking and Unlinking Controls on MultiMono Plug-Ins” on page 369.
Multichannel Plug-Ins Are designed for use on
stereo and greater-than-stereo multichannel
tracks. On greater-than-stereo multichannel
tracks, the parameters for all channels are generally ganged together.
Relinking may cause automation to be lost.
See “Linking and Unlinking Controls on
Multi-Mono Plug-Ins” on page 369
TDM and RTAS Plug-Ins
To show or (hide) inserts in the Edit window:
Use the following guidelines for plug-ins supported on your system.
1 Select Inserts View from the View Selector (lo-
Pro Tools TDM Systems TDM plug-ins can be
used on all types of audio tracks. RTAS plug-ins
can be used on Auto Voiced audio tracks only.
When using RTAS and TDM plug-ins on the
same track, RTAS plug-ins must precede TDM
plug-ins in the insert signal path.
Pro Tools LE Systems RTAS plug-ins can be used
on audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master
Faders.
cated next to the Rulers View). See “Configuring
Sends View in the Mix and Edit Windows” on
page 346 for more information.
Display of Plug-In Bypass, Target, and
Window Status
In the Mix and Edit window, the Plug-In button
and Selector display bypass state, target status,
and window status as follows:
some channels bypassed (half blue)
bypassed (blue)
unbypassed (black)
For tips on maximizing RTAS performance,
see the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide.
Viewing Plug-Ins and Inserts
Both the Mix and Edit windows can be configured to show or hide inserts. Plug-In windows
provide complete access to plug-in parameters.
To show (or hide) inserts in the Mix or Edit
windows:
1 Choose Display > Mix Window Shows > Inserts View, or Edit Window Shows > Inserts
View.
no assignments
with assignments
Inserts View
Indication of bypassed plug-in state
lit plug-in name
Indication of window open
Hardware Inserts and Bypass
You cannot bypass hardware inserts from
Pro Tools. To monitor playback without a hardware insert, either set it to Inactive, remove it by
reassigning it to No Insert, or use a bypass
switch on the hardware device itself. See “Inactive Inserts” on page 371 for more information.
Mix Window Inserts Views
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Indicating the Controller Target
If you are using a control surface with Pro Tools,
only one plug-in can be targeted at a time. The
current controller target, if any, is indicated
with a color outline around its name:
target outline
The controller target
For more information on controller targets,
refer to the MIDI Control Surfaces Guide, or
the documentation for your Digidesign control surface.
When opening sessions, plug-ins will be inactive in any of the following situations:
• The plug-in is not installed.
• The plug-in type is not available (RTAS or
TDM). Or, opening the session results in plugin type substitutions. This can happen if, for
example, the type is available but substituting
would result in an unsupported condition,
such as an RTAS plug-in after TDM plug-ins in
a track.
Inactive plug-ins retain all associated automation playlists. In addition, any edits made in the
session affect the plug-in automation playlists.
You cannot record automation for an inactive
plug-in, or edit its controls on-screen.
Inactive Plug-Ins
Plug-ins and inserts can be made inactive to free
up their resources for other uses. When a plug-in
is inactive it retains its assignment, position, all
related automation playlists. However, it will
not pass audio and does not consume any DSP
or TDM resources.
To make a plug-in inactive:
Command-Control-click the Plug-In button.
(Use Option and Option+Shift modifiers to apply to all or all selected, respectively.)
■
– or –
Make the track inactive. See “Making Tracks
Inactive” on page 90.
■
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Inactive
plug-in
(italicized)
Inactive
active
track
(plain text) (italicized, dark gray background)
Display of inactive plug-ins
Inserting Plug-Ins on Tracks
To move an insert:
■
Drag the insert to the desired location.
To use a real-time plug-in in a Pro Tools session,
insert it on a track.
To insert a plug-in on a track:
1 Make sure the Inserts View is shown in the
Mix or Edit window.
2 Click the Insert Selector on the track and se-
lect the plug-in that you want to use. (See “TDM
and RTAS Plug-Ins” on page 363 for related information.)
Click here
Moving a plug-in
To duplicate an insert:
■ Option-drag (Macintosh) or Alt-drag (Windows) the insert to the desired location. The duplicated plug-in retains its original settings and
automation.
Inserting a TDM plug-in
To remove an insert from a track:
■
Click the Insert Selector and choose No Insert.
Moving and Duplicating Inserts
You can move or duplicate a plug-in insert by
dragging it to a different position on the same
track or a different track. Inserts that are moved
or duplicated retain their original settings and
automation. Dragging an insert on top of an existing insert will replace it (and its automation,
if any).
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365
The Plug-In Window
Phase Invert buttons
The Plug-In window appears whenever you click
the Insert button on a track. This floating window lets you edit the parameters of any realtime plug-in insert in use on a track.
Settings menu
Plug-In Selector
Insert button
Insert
Selector
Track Selector
Compare
Librarian menu
Automation Safe
Effect bypass
Convert plug-in
Enable
Automation
Insert Position
Selector
Target plug-in
Phase Invert
LFE Enable
Plug-In window (multichannel Compressor shown)
Settings Menu Lets you copy, paste, save, and
import plug-in settings.
Track Selector Accesses any non-MIDI track in
your session.
Librarian Menu Recalls settings files saved in the
plug-in’s root settings folder or in the current
session’s Settings folder.
Plug-In window (mono 1-band EQ shown)
Master Link button
Link Enable buttons
Channel Selector
Insert Position Selector Accesses any insert on
the current track.
Key Input Selector Lets you select audio on a
particular input or bus and route it to trigger the
plug-in. This menu only appears on plug-ins
that feature side-chain processing. Key inputs
are monophonic.
Plug-In Selector Lets you select any real-time
plug-in installed in the DAE Plug-Ins folder.
Compare Toggles between the original saved
plug-in setting and any changes you have made
to it so you can compare them.
Plug-In window (multi-mono 1-band EQ shown)
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Effect Bypass Disables the currently displayed
plug-in. This lets you compare the track with
and without the effect.
Enable Automation Parameters Lets you enable
individual plug-in parameters for automation
recording. See “Automating Plug-Ins” on
page 386.
LFE Enable Enables plug-in processing of the
LFE (low frequency effects) channel on a 5.1,
6.1, and 7.1 multichannel track. To disable LFE
processing, deselect this button.
Automation Safe When enabled, prevents existing plug-in automation from being overwritten.
Opening Plug-In Windows
Convert Plug-In Lets you convert the insert from
a TDM plug-in to an RTAS plug-in of the same
type (or vice-versa). This feature can only be
used on plug-ins that are available in both TDM
and RTAS formats.
Target Plug-In When multiple Plug-In windows
are open, clicking this button selects that plugin as the target for any computer keyboard commands.
Phase Invert Inverts the phase polarity of the input signal.
Channel Selector Accesses a specific channel
within a multichannel track for plug-in parameter editing. This menu appears only on multimono plug-ins inserted on tracks with more
than one channel. Shift-clicking this Selector
opens a separate Plug-In window for each channel of the multichannel track on which the
plug-in is inserted.
To open a Plug-In window:
■ Click the Plug-In button in the Mix or Edit
window channel strip.
By default, each plug-in you open will appear in
the same location as a currently open plug-in,
replacing it in the same window location.
Opening Multiple Plug-In Windows
To reduce screen clutter, Pro Tools normally displays a single Plug-In window from which you
can edit the parameters of any plug-in in a session. If you want, however, you can open additional Plug-In windows for specific plug-ins.
Once you begin working with multiple Plug-In
windows, you will need to click the Target button on the plug-in whose parameters you want
to edit using keyboard commands.
To open additional Plug-In windows:
Master Link Button When enabled, links the parameter controls on all channels of a multimono plug-in so that they can be adjusted in
tandem.
Link Enable Buttons Lets you selectively link
the parameter controls of specific channels of a
multi-mono plug-in. Each square represents a
speaker channel. The Master Link button must
be disabled to use the Link Enable buttons. See
“Linking and Unlinking Controls on MultiMono Plug-Ins” on page 369.
■ In the Mix window, Shift-click the Insert button of the desired plug-in.
To open Plug-In windows for each channel of a
multi-mono plug-in:
■ Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the Channel Selector in the Plug-In window of the desired plug-in.
To close all currently open Plug-In windows:
■ Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the close box of any currently open PlugIn window.
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Using the Plug-In Window
All plug-ins provide standard Pro Tools controls
for track and insert selection, bypass, and others, in addition to the EQ, dynamics, and other
processor-specific controls.
To select a different plug-in on the same track:
Click the Insert Selector and choose a plug-in
from the pop-up menu.
■
In addition, the Plug-In Target window is also
the focus of keyboard shortcuts for plug-in settings.
Bypassing Plug-Ins
Plug-ins can be bypassed from their Plug-In window, or from the Mix and Edit window Inserts
View.
To bypass a plug-in:
■
Click the Plug-In window’s Bypass button.
– or –
■ Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click
(Windows) the plug-in’s Insert button in the
Mix or Edit window.
Choosing a plug-in from the Plug-In window
To choose a different track:
Click the Track Selector and choose a track
from the pop-up menu.
■
When a plug-in insert is bypassed, the Insert Selector in the Mix window changes its
color to blue for easy visual reference. If
some, but not all channels of an unlinked
multi-mono plug-in are bypassed, the Insert
Selector appears half blue and half black.
some channels bypassed (half blue)
bypassed (blue)
unbypassed (black)
Bypass states indicated by color
Choosing a track from the Plug-In window
Target Window and Settings Shortcuts
When multiple Plug-In windows are open, a
highlighted target indicates the Target window.
By default, Pro Tools keeps a single Plug-In Target window. Opening a new plug-in opens it as
the new Target window, in the same location.
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Linking and Unlinking Controls on
Multi-Mono Plug-Ins
(TDM Systems Only)
When a multi-mono plug-in is used on a multichannel track of more than two channels, the
controls are normally linked. Adjusting the
Gain parameter on one channel, for example,
will adjust it for all channels.
If necessary, you can unlink plug-in controls on
specific channels of a track and edit them independently. You can also selectively link the controls of specific channels.
Master Link button
Editing Plug-In Parameters
You can edit plug-in parameters by dragging the
parameter’s slider or by typing a value into the
parameter’s text box. See the DigiRack Plug-Ins
Guide for complete instructions.
To edit a plug-in parameter:
1 Begin audio playback so that you can hear parameter changes in real time.
2 Adjust the parameters of the plug-in for the effect you want.
3 Closing the Plug-In will save the most recent
changes.
Link Enable buttons
Channel Selector
Keyboard Shortcuts
■ For finer adjustments, Command-drag (Macintosh) or Control-drag (Windows) the control.
Channel Selector and Link controls
To unlink controls on a multi-mono plug-in:
■
■ To return a control to its default value, Option-click (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows)
the control.
Deselect the Master Link button.
To access controls for a specific channel:
Select the desired channel from the Channel
Selector.
■
To link the controls of specific channels:
1 Deselect the Master Link button if it is not al-
ready deselected.
2 Click the Link Enable buttons for the channels whose controls you want to link. For example, to link all channels except the LFE,
highlight the icons representing the five fullrange speakers in a multi-mono plug-in.
Keyboard Input for Plug-In
Parameters
You can use your computer keyboard to edit
plug-in parameters.
If multiple Plug-In windows are open, Tab and
keyboard entry remain focussed on the plug-in
that is the Target window.
To edit parameters with a keyboard:
◆ Click in the parameter text field that you want
to edit to activate the field. Type the desired
value.
◆ In fields that support values in kilohertz, typing “k” after a number value will multiply the
value by 1000. For example, type “8k” to enter a
value of 8000.
All channels linked except the LFE
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To increase a value, press the Up Arrow on
your keyboard. To decrease a value, press the
Down Arrow on your keyboard.
◆
Press Enter on the numeric keyboard after typing a value to input the value (without leaving
the selected parameter field).
◆
Press Return (Macintosh) or Enter on the alpha keyboard (Windows) to enter the value and
leave keyboard editing mode.
◆
To move downward through the different parameter fields, press the Tab key. To move upwards, press Shift-Tab.
◆
Plug-In Automation and Safe
All real-time plug-ins can be fully automated,
and support all Pro Tools automation modes
(Write, Touch, and Latch, plus Trim).
The Auto button opens the Enable Automation
Parameters dialog, where you can enable individual plug-in parameters for automation recording. See Chapter 28, “Automation” for
more information on this feature and shortcuts
to enable plug-in parameters.
The Safe button engages Automation Safe mode.
When enabled, existing plug-in automation is
protected from being overwritten. (See “Automating Plug-Ins” on page 386 for more information.)
Hardware I/O Inserts
You can connect external devices, such as reverb
or effects processors, to your Pro Tools system
and use them as inserts or make them the destination for effects sends and returns.
Pro Tools inserts utilize hardware input and output channels to send and return the audio. Inserts can be defined, and their channels mapped
to audio interface channels, in the I/O Setup dialog.
If you plan to use a device as an insert, be sure to
connect the device to matching inputs and outputs on your system. For example, a stereo insert
could use outputs 7–8 and inputs 7–8 for the
sends and returns, respectively. Routing the
physical inputs and outputs of the interface to
Pro Tools inputs and outputs can be done in either the Hardware Setup dialog (or I/O Setup dialog). For more information, see “Hardware
Setup” on page 39, or “Routing Hardware I/O to
Pro Tools I/O” on page 63.
To define hardware inserts:
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setup, then click the Inserts tab.
2 Select an insert path, or click New Path to create a new Insert path.
3 Double-click the Path Name to enter a custom
path name for the insert.
4 Make sure the insert path is set to the correct
format (mono, stereo, or other).
5 Map inserts in the Channel Grid as needed.
Insert and Output paths have special rules regarding channel mapping (see “Overlapping
Channels and Valid Paths” on page 69).
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Assigning Inserts
To assign a hardware insert to a track:
■
Select an insert from the track Insert Selector.
Selecting a hardware I/O insert
Inactive Inserts
Hardware inserts can be made Inactive. An inactive insert retains its assignment, but does not
pass audio and does not consume any DSP resources. In addition, any mixer resources required for the insert are removed.
You can use the inactive feature whenever
you need to mute or bypass a hardware insert. Inserts do not provide a standard bypass control.
To make an insert inactive:
On Macintosh, Command-Control-click the
Insert button. On Windows, Ctrl-Windows
Logo-click the Insert button. Use the Option
and Option+Shift modifiers (Macintosh), or Alt
and Alt+Shift modifiers (Windows), to apply to
all or all selected tracks, respectively
■
Connecting and Integrating
External Devices
Pro Tools TDM and Digi 001 systems can create
dedicated connections to external analog or digital devices. The number and type of connections depends on what kind of system you have.
You can also use the inputs and outputs of an
Audiomedia III card to connect external devices.
You can send and return an analog signal using
the analog connectors on the card, and monitor
through a DAT machine connected to the digital output. You can also send and return a digital
signal to an external device that supports digital
I/O (such as a reverb unit), and monitor with the
analog outputs.
To connect an external device to a Pro Tools
system:
1 Connect an unused output (or pair of outputs
for a stereo device) of your Pro Tools system to
an input of the external signal processor.
2 Connect the output of the external signal pro-
cessor to an unused input (or pair of inputs for a
stereo device) of your Pro Tools system.
3 Define what physical ports are routed to Pro
Tools input and output ports, as appropriate, in
either the Hardware Setup dialog or I/O Setup
dialog.
4 Define output, input, or insert paths as appropriate in the I/O Setup dialog.
– or –
Make the track inactive (this sets all associated
inserts, sends, outputs, and plug-ins inactive).
■
When opening sessions on a system with insufficient DSP resources, unavailable inserts are automatically set to inactive.
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If you plan to use a device as an insert, be sure to
connect the device to matching inputs and outputs on your system. For example, a stereo insert
could use outputs 7–8 and inputs 7–8 for the
sends and returns, respectively.
To set up a digital send to an external device
from a Digi001 system:
1 Choose Setups > Playback Engine and choose
the peripheral.
2 Do one of the following:
For additional information on connecting
external devices, refer to the Pro Tools Getting Started Guide that came with your system.
Connecting Effects Units Digitally
If you want to use the digital inputs and outputs
on your Pro Tools system as effects sends and returns to a digital effects device, Pro Tools should
be the clock master in most cases. Set your digital effects device to accept an external digital
clock so that it synchronizes to Pro Tools.
◆ If the external device is connected to the
S/PDIF RCA jacks, deselect S/PDIF Mirroring.
(When S/PDIF Mirroring is on, digital output at
the S/PDIF RCA jacks exactly mirrors the output
of analog Channels 1–2.)
◆ If the external device is connected to the Optical ports, choose a format (most likely S/PDIF
for an effects device) from the Optical Format
pop-up menu.
3 Choose Internal from the Sync Mode pop-up
menu.
4 Click OK.
To set up a digital send to an external device from
a TDM system:
5 Optionally, configure the I/O Setup dialog
with new path names for effects routing.
1 Do one of the following:
On a 192 I/O of 96 I/O, choose Setups > Hardware Setup, choose the peripheral, and set the
channel pair to the digital input.
◆
If you set the Optical Format to S/PDIF,
Pro Tools will watch the Optical port for
any audio input on the S/PDIF RCA jacks.
On an 888/24 I/O Interface, choose Setups >
Hardware Setup, choose the peripheral, and set
the channel pair to Digital.
To set up a digital send to an external device
from an Audiomedia III system:
On an 882/20 I/O or 1622 I/O Interface,
choose Setups > Hardware Setup, choose the peripheral, and set Channel 1–2 input to Digital.
peripheral, and deselect S/PDIF Mirroring.
(When S/PDIF Mirroring is on, digital output at
the S/PDIF RCA jacks exactly mirrors the output
of analog Channels 1–2.)
◆
◆
2 Choose Internal from the Clock Source popup menu (formerly labeled Sync Mode).
3 Click OK.
1 Choose Setups > Playback Engine, choose the
2 Choose Internal from the Sync Mode pop up
menu.
3 Click OK.
4 Optionally, configure the I/O Setup dialog
with new path names for effects routing.
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Using External Clock Sources
Digi 001 Systems
Pro Tools|HD can use the digital inputs on any
HD-series interface enabled in the Loop Sync
chain as a source for digital master clock. To
synchronize to an external clock source, connect the device to an appropriate digital input
on any HD I/O.
Pro Tools can receive external clock from the
optical input (on the Digi 001 PCI card) or
S/PDIF input (on the Digi 001 I/O box).
To select an external clock source for a Digi 001
system:
1 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup.
TDM Systems
2 Set the Sync Mode to match the type of input.
Pro Tools can receive external clock through
any of the digital inputs on any HD-series I/0
(including AES/EBU, SPDIF, and Optical).
If your expanded HD system includes Legacy interfaces (such as the 888|24 I/O), connect to the
digital input on Channels 1–2 of the Legacy audio interface in order to clock from them. Legacy I/Os only support 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz.
Refer to the Pro Tools Getting Started Guide
to determine correct card order and audio
interface connections for TDM systems.
To select an external clock source for a TDM
system:
1 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup.
If you choose Optical, make sure the Optical
Format matches the type of optical input you
are sending to your Pro Tools system.
If you set the Optical Format to S/PDIF,
Pro Tools will watch the Optical port for external clock, and ignore any clock input on
the S/PDIF RCA jacks.
Audiomedia III Systems
Pro Tools can receive external clock from the
S/PDIF input on the Audiomedia III card.
To select an external clock source for an
Audiomedia III system:
1 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup.
2 Select the appropriate HD I/O in order to dis-
play its settings in the Main page.
2 Set the Sync Mode to match the type of input.
3 If necessary, enable the appropriate Digital
Format (if you have not already done so, according to instructions in the Getting Started Guide or
I/O Guide).
4 Choose the appropriate Clock Source.
5 Configure input routing of the digital source,
using the Input and Output pop-ups, if necessary.
6 Click OK to close Hardware Setup.
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Chapter 28: Automation
Pro Tools features dynamic automation of volume, pan, and mute controls for audio tracks
and sends, MIDI tracks, and real-time plug-in
parameters. In Pro Tools, you can write automation moves in real time during playback of your
session. You can also edit automation data with
the same techniques you use to edit audio and
MIDI data.
Automation Accuracy with
Control Surfaces
ProControl and Control|24 Digidesign’s ProControl and Control|24 control surfaces support all
automation features in Pro Tools.
For details on using a Digidesign control
surface to create mix automation, refer to
your Digidesign control surface guide.
MIDI Control Surfaces Most MIDI control surfaces have 8-bit resolution, or 128 steps; the
Mackie HUI has 9-bit resolution, or 512 steps.
Pro Tools interpolates this input to a much
higher resolution on playback, resulting in fader
automation that is smooth enough to satisfy
professional requirements.
Automation Quick Start
Pro Tools provides many options for recording,
replacing, and editing automation data.
The basic steps for automation recording are:
• Enable the automation type that you want to
record (volume, pan, mute, send level, send
pan, send mute, or plug-in automation).
• Put the appropriate tracks in an automation
writing mode (Write, Touch, or Latch, or a
Trim mode).
• If you are automating a plug-in, enable the individual plug-in parameters to be automated.
• Automation Safe any plug-ins, outputs, or
sends that have existing automation data that
you want to protect from being overwritten.
• Begin playback to begin automation recording, and adjust controls as needed. Pro Tools
remembers all moves performed on enabled
parameters.
To edit automation once it has been recorded,
you can:
• Repeat the above steps to write new automation over the previous data.
• Graphically edit the automation data in the
Edit window.
• Cut, copy, paste, or delete automation data
(certain restrictions apply).
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375
Automation Playlists
Each Pro Tools track contains a single automation playlist for each automatable control.
On audio tracks, these controls include:
• Volume
• Pan
• Mute
• Send volume, pan, and mute
• Plug-in parameters
On MIDI tracks, these controls include:
• Volume
• Pan
• Mute
You can display and edit each of these automatable parameters individually from Pro Tools,
even during playback.
In addition, you can display and edit other continuous MIDI controller data (such as mod
wheel, breath controller, foot controller, or sustain) in a similar manner. For more information
on editing MIDI data, see “Continuous Controller Events” on page 305.
Automation Playlists with Audio
and MIDI Regions
Pro Tools handles audio regions and automation playlists differently from MIDI regions and
automation playlists.
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Audio Tracks
On audio tracks, automation data resides on a
separate playlist from audio data and regions.
Each edit playlist on an audio track shares the
same automation data.
MIDI Tracks
On MIDI tracks, all controller automation data
except for Mute data is stored in the MIDI region
that contains it. Each edit playlist on a MIDI
track is separate, and represents a distinct performance, complete with controller automation.
Mute data is independent of the MIDI data
in a MIDI region. This lets you mute playback of individual MIDI tracks in Pro Tools
without altering the controller data.
Multiple Edit Playlists and Audio Track
Automation
All edit playlists on a single audio track share the
same automation data. When you record or edit
automation data in an audio track, the automation data is stored in the track automation playlist so it can be edited with, or independently
from, its associated audio regions. (MIDI automation data always follows region editing, with
the exception of mute. See “MIDI Tracks” on
page 376 for more information.)
◆ When you copy or cut audio data from a track
while it is in Waveform View, the underlying automation data is cut or copied with it.
◆ If you paste audio data from other locations or
tracks into an edit playlist, you may change the
underlying automation data on the track.
When you trim audio regions with the Trim
tool, or cut, copy, paste, or delete audio regions,
underlying automation data is also trimmed,
cut, copied, pasted, or deleted.
◆
When you use the Trim command, the underlying automation data remains, unchanged.
◆
For more information, see “Editing Automation” on page 391.
Duplicating Tracks for Playlist Editing
Automation Modes
Each track provides an Automation Mode Selector. Automation modes control how a track’s
automation data is written and played back.
Auto Off
Auto Off mode turns off automation for all automatable controls:
• Volume
The Duplicate Selected Track command provides a convenient way to make a working copy
of a track to experiment with routing, plug-ins,
and automation. This protects the original track
and its automation data from being edited or
overwritten.
• Pan
• Mute
• Send volume, pan, and mute
• Plug-in parameters
• MIDI volume, pan, and mute
To copy a track for automation:
1 Select the track and choose File > Duplicate
Track. Duplicate Track creates a complete copy
of the track, including all routing, plug-ins, and
automation.
In Auto Off mode, automation data for these parameters is ignored during playback. All other
MIDI controller data is sent.
Auto Read
2 Command-Control-click the Track Type icon,
or select that track and choose File > Make Selected Tracks Inactive.
Auto Read mode plays the automation that was
previously written for a track.
3 Begin editing automation and other parameters on the duplicated track.
Auto Write
Edit and assemble the track regions before applying automation to them.
Auto Write mode writes automation from the
time playback starts to the time it stops, erasing
any previously written automation for the duration of the automation pass.
After an automation pass, Pro Tools automatically switches from Auto Write mode to Auto
Touch mode. This prevents you from accidentally overwriting automation data on later playback. On TDM systems, you can turn off this behavior and remain in Auto Write mode. See
“Write Switches To Touch After Pass” on
page 380 for details.
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377
Auto Touch
Trim Mode
Auto Touch mode writes automation only while
a fader or switch is touched or clicked with the
mouse. When the fader is released, the writing
of automation stops and the fader returns to any
previously automated position, at a rate determined by the AutoMatch and Touch Timeout
settings. See “Automation Preferences” on
page 380.
(TDM Systems Only)
In Auto Touch mode, certain control surfaces
start writing automation as soon as you touch
them. These include:
• Touch-sensitive motorized fader controllers,
such as Digidesign ProControl or Control|24,
or the Mackie HUI.
• Continuous-belt controllers, such as the
Penny & Giles DC16/MM16.
With other control surfaces in Auto Touch
mode, writing of automation does not begin until the fader hits the pass-through point, or the
previously automated position. Once you reach
the pass-through point with the fader, writing
of automation begins and continues until you
stop moving the fader.
Auto Latch
Auto Latch mode works in the same way as Auto
Touch mode, writing automation only if you
touch or move a control. However, unlike Auto
Touch, writing of automation continues until
you stop playback. This mode is particularly useful for automating pan controls and plug-ins,
since it does not time out and revert to its previous position when you release a control.
See also “Writing Automation to the Start,
End or All of a Selection” on page 397.
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Pro Tools TDM systems can adjust (or trim) existing track volume and send level automation
data in real time. Pan and plug-in automation
cannot be trimmed in this manner. Trim mode
works in combination with the other Automation modes (Auto Read, Auto Touch, Auto
Latch, Auto Write) and is useful when you want
to preserve all of your volume automation
moves, but need to make levels a bit louder or
softer to balance a mix.
When editing automation in Trim mode, fader
moves write relative rather than absolute values.
The existing automation data is changed by the
amount of increase or decrease (or the delta
value) indicated by the faders. When trimming,
a track’s Volume indicator or Send Level indicator shows the delta values being written rather
than the absolute value.
When Trim mode is enabled, non-trimmable
controls behave in the same manner as in the
standard Automation modes, with the exception of Trim/Auto Write mode, where non-trimmable controls operate as in Auto Touch mode.
Trim/Auto Off
Trim/Auto Off mode turns off automation and
trimming for a track. All automation moves are
ignored during playback.
Trim/Auto Read
In Trim/Auto Read mode, volume and send faders follow the previously written automation.
When one of the faders is touched, the trim
moves (delta values) are played back, but are not
written into the automation data. This lets you
audition trim moves without affecting existing
automation.
When this mode is enabled, non-trimmable
controls (all controls other than track volume
and send level) behave as if they are in regular
Auto Read mode—no automation data is written.
Trim/Auto Touch
In Trim/Auto Touch mode, when playback begins, volume and send faders follow the previously written automation. When one of the faders is touched, real-time trimming begins. Fader
moves write delta values (an increase or decrease
in existing automation data).
When the fader is released, trimming stops and
the fader returns to a zero delta value and continues to follow the previously written automation. The rate of the fader’s return to a zero delta
value is determined by the AutoMatch Time
specified in the Automation Preferences. See
“Automation Preferences” on page 380 for more
information.
When this mode is enabled, non-trimmable
controls (all controls other than track volume
and send level) behave as if they are in regular
Auto Touch mode—they follow the previously
written automation until touched. When they
are touched, their absolute positions are written
until the control is released or until playback
stops.
Trim/Auto Latch
In Trim/Auto Latch mode, when playback begins, volume and send faders follow the previously written automation. When one of the faders is touched, real-time trimming begins. Any
fader moves after trimming begins increase or
decrease existing automation data accordingly.
Trimming of the touched control continues until playback stops.
When this mode is enabled, non-trimmable
controls (all controls other than track volume
and send level) behave as if they are in regular
Auto Latch mode—they follow the previously
written automation until touched. When they
are touched, their absolute positions are written
until playback is stopped.
Trim/Auto Write
In Trim/Auto Write mode, the volume and send
level faders are disengaged from displaying the
existing automation data, so you don’t have to
chase them during playback. Faders are automatically positioned at 0 dB, where no trimming occurs (they start with a delta value of
zero). From this reference point you can then set
the initial delta values before initiating playback.
In this mode, as soon as playback begins, delta
values are applied to the existing automation
data. Trimming continues until playback stops.
When Trim/Auto Write mode is enabled, nontrimmable controls (all controls other than
track volume and send level) are not in Write
mode, but behave as if they are in regular Auto
Touch mode (no automation is written unless a
control is touched). This is to prevent the controls from overwriting all of their automation
data on every pass in Trim mode.
In Trim mode, tracks do not automatically
change from Trim/Auto Write to
Trim/Auto Touch after an automation
pass. Be sure to switch out of Auto Write
when you leave Trim mode to avoid overwriting automation data.
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379
Automation Preferences
Pro Tools gives you several options for controlling the writing and playback of automation
data.
To display Automation Preferences:
Choose Setups > Preferences, and click Automation.
■
Write Switches To Touch After Pass (TDM Systems Only) After an automation pass in Auto
Write mode, Pro Tools automatically switches
to Auto Touch mode. On TDM systems, you can
choose to stay in Auto Write mode by deselecting this option.
Write Switches to Touch After Pass does not
affect Trim mode. In Trim mode, tracks do
not automatically change from Trim/Auto
Write to Trim/Auto Touch after an automation pass.
Mutes Follow Groups When selected, muting a
track that belongs to a group mutes all other
members of the group. When this option is deselected, tracks must be muted on an individual
basis. You can mute or unmute individual group
members by Control-clicking (Macintosh) or
Right-clicking (Windows) the Mute button of
the track you want to affect individually.
Automation Preferences dialog
Faders Move During Playback When selected,
on-screen faders move if automation has been
written for them. When this option is deselected, automation still operates, but on-screen
faders do not move. Turning this option off can
help speed up screen redraws and processing if
you are using a slower computer.
Smooth and Thin Data After Pass When selected, Pro Tools automatically smooths and
then applies the specified amount of thinning
to the automation data created in an automation pass. (See also “Degree of Thinning” on
page 381, and “About Smoothing” on
page 381.)
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Solos Follow Groups When selected, soloing a
track that belongs to a group solos all other
members of the group. When this option is deselected, tracks must be soloed on an individual
basis. You can solo individual group members
by Control-clicking (Macintosh) or Right-clicking (Windows) the Solo button of the track you
want to affect individually.
Send Mutes Follow Groups When selected, muting a send on a track that belongs to a group
mutes that send (A–E) on all tracks in the group.
Send Levels Follow Groups When selected, adjusting the level of a send on a track that belongs to a group adjusts that send (A–E) on all
members of the group.
LFEs Follow Groups When selected, adjusting
the level of an LFE slider, or editing LFE automation breakpoint data, on a track or send that belongs to a group adjusts the LFE on all tracks of
the group. With send-based LFEs, grouping affects only that send (A–E) on other tracks.
Degree of Thinning Specifies the amount of thinning performed on automation data when you
use the Thin Automation command, or if you
have selected the Smooth and Thin Data After
Pass option in this dialog. (See also “About Thinning” on page 381.)
Touch Timeout If you are writing automation in
Auto Touch mode and you stop moving a nontouch sensitive control, Pro Tools continues to
write automation for the Touch Timeout value.
After the Touch Timeout period, writing of automation stops and the automation data returns
to its previous automation value at the rate specified in the AutoMatch Time setting.
AutoMatch Time If you are writing automation
in Auto Touch mode, when you release a fader
or control, writing of automation stops and the
automation data returns to its previous automation value. The rate of return to the previous
value is the AutoMatch Time. See “About AutoMatch” on page 381.
Amount of memory to reserve for automation recording Allocates memory for automation. See
“Setting the Automation Buffer Size” on
page 382 for details.
About Smoothing
When you perform automation moves with a
continuous control, Pro Tools records the move
as a series of very small steps, resulting in a staircase pattern with many breakpoints. Smoothing
intelligently resolves this staircase pattern into a
single, smooth ramp from one breakpoint to the
next. (Smoothing does not apply to switched
controls such as mutes or plug-in bypasses.)
With smoothing enabled, the resulting automation is often a more accurate representation of
actual automation moves.
About Thinning
Thinning automatically reduces the overall
number of breakpoints in the automation playlist in order to improve system performance.
The amount of thinning applied is determined
by the Degree of Thinning setting in the Automation Preferences. When using high amounts
of thinning, the resulting automation may differ noticeably from the original automation
moves. Thinning only applies to audio tracks,
and does not affect MIDI tracks. For instructions, see “Thinning Automation” on page 389.
About AutoMatch
When you write automation in Auto Touch
mode, if you release a fader during playback,
Pro Tools returns to the level of any automation
still on the track by ramping up or down over a
certain amount of time, called the AutoMatch
Time. This time value is set in the Automation
Preferences.
The AutoMatch feature works with continuous
controls (such as Volume or Pan) by ramping
their values back to previously automated levels.
There are some stepped controls (for example,
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the EQ type in the 1-band EQ plug-in) that provide more than two discrete steps over their operational range. AutoMatch has no effect on
these controls.
AutoMatch Indicators
There are triangular AutoMatch indicators at the
bottom left of each channel strip in the Mix
window. These indicate the direction you need
to move a fader in order to match the original
automation level of that fader.
About Processing Bandwidth
Meters in the System Usage window indicate
how much of your system’s processing power is
being used in processing audio, and when writing and playing back automation. In
Pro Tools LE, these meters show System Activity
and CPU Processing Activity; on Pro Tools TDM
systems, they show System Activity, PCI Bus Activity, CPU Processing Activity, and TDM Time
Slot usage.
Processing meters
AutoMatch indicator
Triangular AutoMatch indicators on a channel strip
Setting the Automation Buffer
Size
Pro Tools lets you specify the size of the memory buffer used to write automation. If you are
working on a large session or writing a very large
number of automation moves, you may want to
increase this value.
To set the Automation Buffer size:
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click Automation.
2 For the option “Amount of memory to reserve
for automation recording,” enter a value between 200 and 3000K (the default value for a
new session is 200K.)
3 Relaunch Pro Tools for this change to take effect.
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Meters in the System Usage window (TDM shown)
As these meters approach their limits, recording
or playback of automation data may be affected.
If CPU or PCI Activity are high, a System error
may occur. If System Activity is high, Pro Tools
may miss playback of some of your automation
data during particularly dense periods of activity, such as while using the Bounce to Disk command.
For more information, see “Bounce to Disk”
on page 406.
To reduce processing load, try the following:
Deselect the Faders Move During Playback option in the Automation Preferences.
Viewing Automation
■
– or –
Reduce the density of automation in places
where it shows the most activity. For details, see
“Thinning Automation” on page 389.
■
– or –
Turn off Sends View meters, if enabled, in the
Preferences > Display window. See “Sends View
Meters” on page 348 for more information.
■
Pro Tools creates a separate playlist for each type
of automation you write. This data can be
viewed and edited in the same way as audio and
MIDI data.
To show automation data:
■ Click the Track View Selector and select from
the pop-up menu the automation type you
want to view.
Automation Safe
Outputs, sends, and plug-ins can be placed in
Auto Safe mode. In Auto Safe mode, any automation associated with an Output window
(track or send level, panning, mute, and so on),
or plug-in on that track, is protected from being
overwritten while automating other items on
that track.
Safe enabled
Displaying automation data
You can easily toggle between Volume and
Waveform View for audio tracks. For more
information, see “Toggling Track Views” on
page 172.
Automation Safe enabled in a plug-in
Automation Safe mode suspends automation recording for the selected track output, send, or
plug-in in which it is enabled. You can also suspend automation recording and playback session-wide from the Automation Enable window.
See “Enabling and Suspending Automation” on
page 387.
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Writing Automation
You can write automation for all automatable
controls by moving those controls during playback.
To write automation on a track:
1 Choose Windows > Automation Enable.
2 Make sure the automation type is write-enabled.
5 When you have finished, click Stop.
◆ After the first automation pass, you can write
additional automation to the track without
completely erasing the previous pass by choosing Auto Touch mode or Auto Latch mode.
These modes add new automation only when
you actually move the control for that parameter. (See “Automation Modes” on page 377.)
To write additional automation to a previous pass:
1 Link the Edit and Timeline.
2 In the Edit window, make a selection or place
the cursor in a location where you want to write
automation.
3 Choose Auto Touch or Auto Latch mode on
the tracks you want to automate.
4 Click Play to begin writing automation. Move
the controls you want to automate.
5 When you have finished, click Stop.
Automation Enable window
3 Select an Automation mode for each track you
want to automate. For an initial automation
pass, select Auto Write.
If you write automation in Auto Touch
mode with Loop Playback enabled, writing
of automation will automatically stop at
the end of the looped selection. At the beginning of each successive loop, you can then
touch or move the control again to write
new data.
Storing an Initial Controller Position
Choosing an Automation mode
4 Click Play to begin writing automation. Move
the controls you want to automate.
When you create a new audio track, Auxiliary
Input, or MIDI track, it is automatically placed
into Auto Read mode. Even though the track is
in Auto Read mode, you can set the initial position of any automatable control, and it is saved
with your session.
In this initial state, only a single automation
breakpoint appears at the beginning of each automation playlist. If you move the control without writing automation, this breakpoint will
move to the new value.
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You can permanently store the initial position
of an automatable control by doing one of the
following:
Place the track in Auto Write mode and press
Play to write a few seconds of automation data
to the track
◆
Manually place a breakpoint on the automation playlist somewhere after the initial breakpoint. (See “Graphical Editing of Automation
Data” on page 391 for more information.)
Automating Sends
Pro Tools provides dynamic automation of send
level, send mute, and send pan (for stereo and
multichannel sends only). This makes it easy to
control effects levels and placement during mixdown with great precision.
◆
Send level and mute can also be configured to
follow groups.
To automate a send level, mute or pan:
Automating Switched Controls
Pro Tools treats switched controls (such as
mutes and plug-in bypasses) as touch sensitive
controls. Automation data is written for as long
as the switch or button for that control is
pressed or touched.
For example, if you have just written a series of
mute on/off states on a track in quick succession, the manual method for clearing this automation data would require you to move to the
Edit window, choose automation playlist for
Mute, select the mute automation data, and delete it.
In Pro Tools, you don't have to perform all of
these steps. Instead, you can perform another
automation pass on the track and hold down
the Mute button when it reaches the state you
want to remove. For example, when playback
gets to the first muted section, the Mute button
become highlighted. At this time, press and
hold down the Mute button. As long as you
hold down the button, Pro Tools overwrites the
underlying mute data on the track with the current state of the switch (on or off) until you stop
playback (use the Spacebar to stop playback).
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
the automation type is write-enabled (send
level, send mute, send pan).
2 Choose an Automation mode for each track
you want to automate. For an initial automation
pass, choose Auto Write.
3 To display send controls, do any of the following:
◆ Select Windows > Mix Window Shows > Sends
View, then click the send to open the Output
window for the send that you want to automate.
◆ Choose Display > Sends View Shows and select the individual send from the submenu.
4 Click Play to begin writing automation. Move
the controls you want to automate.
5 When you have finished, click Stop.
Send mutes and levels can also be configured to follow Mix Groups. See “Automation Preferences” on page 380 for information.
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Copying Track Automation to Sends
Automating Plug-Ins
(TDM Systems Only)
You can create dynamic automation for virtually all parameters of the plug-ins included with
your Pro Tools system. Automating a plug-in is
slightly different from other automation procedures in that you must enable automation parameters for the plug-in.
There may be times where you want a track’s
send automation to mirror automation in the
track itself, for example, when an effect level
needs to follow the levels in a main mix. To do
this, you can copy the entire automation playlist for the selected control to the corresponding
playlist for the send.
To copy a track’s automation to one of its sends:
1 Select the tracks you want to edit by clicking
on the track names to highlight them.
To enable plug-in parameters for automation:
1 Click the Automation Enable button in the
Plug-In window.
Automation Enable
2 Choose Edit > Copy To Send.
Accessing the Plug-In Automation dialog
2 Select the parameters to automate and click
Add. If there are multiple plug-ins on the same
track, you can select from among these by clicking their buttons in the Inserts section of this dialog.
Copy To Send dialog
3 In the Copy to Send dialog, select Automation
to copy the entire automation playlist for the
corresponding controls.
4 Choose the controls you want to copy.
5 Choose the sends to copy the automation to,
and click OK.
When overwriting automation, Pro Tools
presents a confirmation dialog. To suppress
this dialog, press Option (Macintosh) or Alt
(Windows) while choosing the command.
You can undo the results of the Copy to Send
command by choosing Edit > Undo.
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Enabling automation for plug-in parameters
As an alternative to using the Plug-In Automation dialog, you can enable individual
plug-in parameters directly from the Plug-In
window by Command-Control-clicking
(Macintosh), or Control-Start-clicking the
parameter. See the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide
or Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide for more information.
To automate a plug-in:
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
the Plug-In parameter is enabled.
2 Select an Automation mode for each track you
want to automate. For an initial automation
pass, choose Auto Write.
3 Click OK to close the Plug-In Automation di-
Enabling and Suspending
Automation
From the Automation Enable window, you can
enable or suspend writing for the following automation parameters across all tracks:
• Volume
alog.
• Pan
4 Click Play to begin writing automation. Ad-
• Mute
just the plug-in parameters.
• Plug-in
5 When you have finished, click Stop.
• Send level
• Send pan
Plug-In Safe
• Send mute
You can use Automation Safe mode to protect
plug-in automation from being overwritten.
To suspend writing of automation on all tracks:
1 Choose Windows > Show Automation Enable.
To enable Plug-In Safe mode:
2 Do one of the following:
1 Open a plug-in.
2 Click to enable the Safe button.
Safe enabled
■ To suspend writing of all automation on all
tracks, click the Auto Suspend button.
■ To suspend writing of a specific type of automation on all tracks, click the button for that
automation type (volume, mute, pan, plug-in,
send level, send mute, or send pan).
Plug-In Safe
Automation Enable window
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Suspending Automation Playback
Automation Enable Guidelines
You can suspend playback of automation parameters for tracks by clicking on the on the
track’s View Selector.
The following rules determine whether automation is written or played back for a track:
To suspend playback (and writing) of automation
on individual tracks:
1 In the Edit window, set the Track View Selector to show the automation parameter you want
to suspend.
2 Do one of the following:
To suspend writing and playback of only the
displayed automation parameter, Commandclick (Macintosh) or Control-click (Windows)
the parameter name in the Track View Selector.
◆
To suspend writing and playback of all automation parameters, Command-Shift-click (Macintosh) or Control-Shift-click (Windows) the
name of any automation parameter in the Track
View Selector.
◆
To suspend writing and playback of an automation parameter on all tracks, Command-Option-click (Macintosh) or Control-Alt-click
(Windows) the name of the automation parameter in the Track View Selector.
◆
Enabling and suspending automation from
the Edit window obeys Edit Groups (except
for Pan automation). This grouped behavior can be suppressed by Control-clicking
(Macintosh) or Start-clicking (WIndows)
the parameter name.
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◆ Although Pro Tools shows a single Automation mode for each track, all controls associated
with that track are not necessarily in the same
Automation mode.
◆ If automation is globally suspended in the Automation Enable window, all controls behave as
if they were in Auto Off mode, regardless of the
track’s current Automation mode.
◆ If an automation parameter is suspended by
Command-clicking (Macintosh) or Controlclicking its name in the Track View Selector, that
parameter behaves as if it were in Auto Off
mode, regardless of the track’s current Automation mode.
◆ If an automation parameter is suspended in
the Automation Enable window, that parameter
behaves as if it is in Auto Read mode when the
track is in a recordable Automation mode (Auto
Touch, Auto Latch, or Auto Write mode).
Deleting Automation
Automation data takes the form of a line graph
with editable breakpoints. The easiest way to remove automation in a track or selection is to
manually delete breakpoints from the automation playlist.
Removing data in this manner is different from
using the Cut command, which creates anchor
breakpoints at the boundaries of the remaining
data. For details, see “Cutting, Copying, and
Pasting Automation” on page 395.
To remove automation data, display the automation parameter you want to edit by selecting
it from the Track View Selector, and do one of
the following:
To remove a single breakpoint:
With the Grabber or the Pencil Tool, Optionclick (Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) the
breakpoint.
■
To remove several breakpoints at once:
Use the Selector to select a range that contains
the breakpoints, and press Delete (Macintosh)
or Backspace (Windows).
■
To remove all automation data of the displayed
type:
Click with the Selector in the track and
choose Edit > Select All, then press Delete (Macintosh) or Backspace (Windows).
■
To remove all automation for all automation
playlists on a track:
Thinning Automation
Pro Tools writes a maximum density of automation data during an automation pass, in the
form of breakpoints. Since Pro Tools creates
ramps between breakpoints, it may not need all
of the captured points to create a sonically accurate representation of the automation moves
that you have made. Each breakpoint takes up
space in memory allocated for automation, so
thinning data can maximize efficiency and CPU
performance.
Pro Tools provides two different ways to thin
automation data and remove unneeded breakpoints: the Smooth and Thin Data After Pass option and the Thin Automation command.
Using Smooth and Thin Data After Pass
When this option is selected in the Automation
Preferences, Pro Tools automatically thins the
automation breakpoint data after each automation pass.
1 Use the Selector to select a range of data to be
removed.
2 Press Control+Delete (Macintosh) or Control+Backspace (Windows).
All automation data within the selection is removed for all automation playlists on that track,
regardless of whether automation is write-enabled for those parameters.
The Smooth and Thin Data After Pass Option
In the default settings for new sessions, the
Smooth and Thin Data After Pass option is selected, with the “Some” setting chosen. In most
cases, this setting yields optimum performance
while providing an accurate reproduction of
your automation moves.
If you choose None, Pro Tools writes the maximum possible number of breakpoints. You can
still perform thinning at any time with the Thin
Automation command. For more information
on smoothing automation data, see “About
Smoothing” on page 381.
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389
Using the Thin Automation
Command
The Thin Automation command lets you selectively thin areas in a track where automation
data is too dense. You can use the Undo command to audition the results of thinning (comparing thinning and not thinning) before you
apply it permanently.
To use the Thin Automation command:
1 In the Edit window, click the Track View Selector to display the automation type you want to
thin.
2 With the Selector, highlight the automation
data you want to thin. To thin all automation of
the selected type in the track, click the Selector
in the track and choose the Select All command.
3 Choose Edit > Thin Automation to thin the selected automation by the amount you have selected in the Automation Preferences.
Drawing Automation
You can use the Pencil tool to create automation
events for audio and MIDI tracks by drawing
them directly in any automation or MIDI controller playlist.
The Pencil tool can be set to draw a series of automation events with the following shapes:
Choosing a Pencil Tool Shape
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Free Hand Draws any shape. In audio tracks, the
shape has the number of breakpoints needed to
smoothly interpolate and reproduce the automation shape. In MIDI tracks, the shape is reproduced as a series of steps, according to the
resolution setting in the MIDI preferences.
Line Draws a straight line. In audio tracks, the
line has a single breakpoint at either end. In
MIDI tracks, the controller value changes in
steps according to the resolution setting in the
MIDI preferences.
Triangle Draws a sawtooth pattern that repeats
at a rate based on the current Grid value. In audio tracks, the pattern has a single breakpoint at
each extreme. In MIDI tracks, the controller
value changes in steps according to the resolution setting in the MIDI preferences. Amplitude
is controlled by vertical movement of the Pencil
tool.
Square Draws a square pattern that repeats at a
rate based on the current Grid value. Amplitude
is controlled by vertical movement of the Pencil
tool.
Random Draws a random pattern of levels that
change at a rate based on the current Grid value.
Amplitude is controlled by vertical movement
of the Pencil tool.
Using Pencil Tool Shapes
You can draw automation for audio as well as
MIDI tracks. For example, you can use the Triangle pattern to control continuous functions, or
the Square pattern to control a switched function such as Mute or Bypass.
Since the pencil draws these shapes using the
current Grid value, you can use it to perform
panning in tempo with a music track, or on
frame scene changes when working in post production.
Resolution of MIDI Controller Data
When using the Pencil tool to draw MIDI automation, the data is drawn as a series of discrete
steps. You can control the resolution (or density) of these steps to help manage the amount
of MIDI data sent for a given MIDI controller
move.
To set the resolution for the Pencil tool:
Editing Automation
Pro Tools provides several ways to edit automation data for any track in your session. You can
edit automation data graphically, by adjusting
breakpoints on the automation playlist of a
track. You can also cut, copy, and paste automation data in the same manner as audio and MIDI
data.
1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click MIDI.
2 Enter a value for “Pencil Tool Resolution
When Drawing Controller Data.” The value can
range from 1 to 100 milliseconds.
The illustrations below show the same MIDI
controller automation drawn with different
Pencil Tools resolution settings.
Graphical Editing of Automation
Data
Automation data takes the form of a line graph
with editable breakpoints. By dragging these
breakpoints, you can modify the automation
data directly in the Edit window. When you
drag an automation breakpoint up or down, the
change in value is numerically or textually indicated. Dragging an automation breakpoint to
the left or right adjusts the timing of the automation event.
Using the Grabber
MIDI Data drawn with resolution of 10 ms
The Grabber lets you create new breakpoints by
clicking on the graph line, or adjust existing
breakpoints by dragging them. Option-click
(Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) breakpoints
with the Grabber to remove them.
MIDI Data drawn with resolution of 100 ms
You may want to choose a smaller value for
MIDI controls that need higher resolution (such
as MIDI volume), and a larger value for controls
that may not require such a high resolution
(such as Pan).
Using the Grabber to create a new breakpoint
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391
Using the Pencil Tool
Editing Pan Automation
The Pencil tool lets you create new breakpoints
by clicking once on the graph line. Option-click
(Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) breakpoints
with the Pencil tool to remove them.
Drag a breakpoint down to pan right, and up to
pan left. Drag a breakpoint to the left or right to
adjust the timing of the panning moves.
Track Pan automation
Using the Pencil to delete a breakpoint
Using the Trimmer
Editing Mute Automation
The Trimmer lets you adjust all selected breakpoints up or down by dragging anywhere within
that selection.
Drag the breakpoint down to mute a section.
Drag a breakpoint up to unmute the section.
Drag a breakpoint to the left or right to adjust
the timing of the mute.
Using the Trimmer to move breakpoints
Track mute automation
Editing Automation Types
Editing Stepped Control Automation
Each automatable control has its own automation playlist, that can be displayed by choosing
it from the Track View Selector. See “” on
page 383.
Automation for certain controls, such as MIDI
controllers values or plug-in settings, appears as
a stepped pattern on the breakpoint line. Drag a
breakpoint up or down to a different step to
change to a new control value. Drag a breakpoint to the left or right to adjust the timing of
the stepped control change.
Editing Volume Automation
Drag a breakpoint up or down to change the volume (dB value). Drag a breakpoint to the left or
right to adjust the timing of the volume change.
Stepped control automation
Track volume automation
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Editing Automation Breakpoints
To edit automation breakpoints, display the automation parameter you want to edit by selecting it from the Track View Selector, then do one
of the following:
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.
To create a new breakpoint:
Click with the Grabber (or the Pencil) on the
line graph.
■
Volume automation display of a stereo track
To edit a breakpoint:
Click an existing point on the line graph with
the Grabber and drag it to a new position.
■
To edit several breakpoints at once:
Use the Selector to select a range in the automation playlist that contains the breakpoints,
and do one of the following:
■
To move the breakpoints earlier or later in the
track, press the Plus key (+) to nudge them later
(to the right) or the Minus key (–) to move them
earlier (to the left). The breakpoints move by the
current Nudge value.
◆
To adjust the breakpoint values, click with the
Trimmer in the selection and drag the breakpoints up or down.
◆
When you use the Trimmer to edit a selection containing breakpoints, new anchor
breakpoints are created before and after the
selected area. To suppress creation of anchor breakpoints, press Option (Macintosh)
or Alt (Windows) while using the Trimmer.
To edit all breakpoint values in a region:
Click in the region with the Trimmer and drag
the breakpoints up or down.
■
Volume automation display of a 5.1 track
For multi-mono plug-ins, individual playlists
per channel can be displayed and edited when
the plug-in is unlinked, and the track is in Expanded Track Display.
Expanded Track View
By default, a single playlist is displayed on stereo
and multichannel tracks. The playlist occupies
the entire height of the track (similar to mono
automation playlists).
Optionally, you can display an expanded view
of the track whereby the same automation playlist is displayed across each channel.
Plug-In Automation Playlists on Stereo and
Multichannel Tracks
Multichannel plug-ins provide a single set of automatable controls. Multi-mono plug-ins provide similar control when linked, or discrete
controls when unlinked.
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To view and edit the individual playlists of a multimono plug-in:
1 Unlink the plug-in.
2 Select the required playlist from the Track
View Selector.
Examples
◆ If you create new automation breakpoints on
a grouped track (with the Grabber or Pencil),
other members of the group have breakpoints
placed relative to that track.
◆ If you move volume or send automation on a
grouped track (with the Trimmer), other members of the group have their volume or send
breakpoints trimmed relative to that track. This
lets you trim entire sections of a mix.
plug-in unlinked
Selecting a playlist for an unlinked, multi-mono plug-in
Editing Automation on Grouped
Tracks
When you edit automation on an audio track
that is a member of an active Edit Group, the
same type of automation (with the exception of
audio and MIDI Pan controls) is also edited on
all tracks that are part of that group. This occurs
even if that parameter is not currently displayed
on the other grouped tracks.
However, when you edit automation on a MIDI
track that is a member of an active Edit Group,
grouping is ignored; the same type (with the exception of audio and MIDI Pan controls) are not
edited on all tracks that are part of that group.
To edit all members of MIDI group, see the steps
below.
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Trimming automation on an active grouped track
To individually edit a member of a group without
affecting the other members:
■ For audio tracks, press Control (Macintosh) or
the Start key (Windows) while you perform the
edit.
■ For MIDI tracks, do not press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows) while you perform the edit.
To edit all members of a group:
For audio tracks, do not press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows) while you perform the edit.
■
For MIDI tracks, press Control (Macintosh) or
the Start key (Windows) while you perform the
edit.
■
When editing automation, audio and MIDI
Pan controls work opposite from the way all
other controls work.
For audio tracks, when you edit or trim Pan
breakpoints, Edit Groups are not obeyed.
For grouped behavior, press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows) while
trimming.
For MIDI tracks, when you edit or trim Pan
breakpoints, Edit Groups are obeyed. For individual behavior, press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key (Windows) while
trimming.
Cutting, Copying, and Pasting
Automation
Cutting automation data is different from deleting it, and yields different results. Copying automation leaves the original automation data intact.
(of continuous controls, such as Volume faders
or pans) or state (of switched or stepped controls, 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 23, a track is set to display volume automation, and a range of automation data is selected.
Figure 23. Selecting automation data
If the Cut command is chosen, anchor breakpoints are created at each end of the selection,
and the automation slope on either side of the
cut data is preserved, as shown in Figure 24.
Figure 24. After cutting the automation data
If the data is deleted by pressing Delete (Macintosh) or Backspace (Windows), the automation
data is removed, and automation values span
the gap between pre-existing breakpoints, as in
Figure 25.
You delete automation data by selecting a range
of breakpoints and pressing Delete (Macintosh)
or Backspace (Windows). See “Deleting Automation” on page 388 for details.
You cut automation data by selecting a range of
breakpoints from an automation playlist and selecting the Cut command.
Figure 25. After deleting the automation data
When you cut automation data and when you
paste it into a new location, anchor breakpoints
are added to the beginning and end points of
the data. This is done to preserve the true slope
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In addition, if cut or copied data is pasted elsewhere in a track, breakpoints are created at the
end points of the pasted data to preserve its
value and slope, as shown in Figure 26.
To edit all automation types on an Auxiliary Input
or Master Fader track, do one of the following:
◆ Make an edit selection that includes at least
one audio or MIDI track that is displayed in its
main format.
◆ Press Control while cutting or copying the automation data.
Figure 26. After pasting the automation data in
another location
Editing and Track Views
Audio and MIDI tracks each have a Track View
that acts as the main format for purposes of editing. When the main format is displayed, any
edits performed on the track apply to all data in
the track.
The main view formats are:
• Audio tracks: Waveform and Blocks
• MIDI tracks: Regions, Blocks, and Notes
For example, when an audio track is set to
Waveform or Blocks, cutting, copying and pasting affects the audio data and all types of automation data on that track. If the track is set to
show Pan automation, only the Pan data is affected.
For additional flexibility, you can use playlists or the Duplicate Track command to
work non-destructively on a copy of the edit
data.
Tips for Cutting, Copying and Pasting
◆ On audio tracks, when you are in Waveform
View and cut or copy a section of the waveform,
any automation data associated with the waveform is also cut or copied.
◆ On audio tracks, when you are in Waveform
View and cut audio data from a track also containing automation data, breakpoints are automatically created at the boundaries of the
remaining automation data.
◆ On audio tracks, pasting waveform data also
pastes any associated automation data.
◆ On Auxiliary Input or Master Fader tracks,
only the displayed automation data is cut or
copied. To cut or copy all automation data on
these types of tracks, press Control while cutting
or copying.
◆ In tracks where an automation playlist contains no data (when there is only a single breakpoint at the very beginning of the track), if you
cut data, no new breakpoints are created.
Expanded Track Display, Waveform View
When a selection includes multiple tracks, if
any of those tracks is in its main view format, all
data on all selected tracks is affected.
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◆ In cases where regions overlap (such as when
moving regions in Slip mode) and an overlapping region is removed, any overlapped automation breakpoints are lost.
If cut or copied data contains a type of automation not currently on the target track,
Pro Tools prompts you before allowing you to
paste the data.
◆
Cut or copied automation data for plug-ins or
sends that do not exist on the target track is ignored when pasted.
◆
Special Paste Function for Automation
Data
Writing Automation to the
Start, End or All of a
Selection
(TDM Systems Only)
Pro Tools lets you write current automation values from any insertion point forward (or backward) to the end (or beginning) of a selection or
track, or to an entire selection or track, while
performing an automation pass.
Normally, when you copy and paste automation data, it is pasted in an automation playlist
of the exact same type (for example, Left Pan
data is pasted into the Left Pan playlist).
However, there may be times when you want to
paste from one data type to another (for example, pasting Send 1 level data into the Send 2
level playlist, or track mute data into the send
mute playlist).
To paste data into a different automation playlist:
Press Control (Macintosh) or the Start key
(Windows) when choosing Edit > Paste.
■
For this special paste mode to function, the following must be true:
Every track selected for pasting must be currently displayed as automation data.
◆
There must be only one automation playlist
on the Clipboard for each target track. (The Special Paste function cannot copy multiple automation playlists for each track.)
◆
Write to Start, End, All
Write to Start, All, End buttons in the Automation
Enable window
The standard Write to Start/All/End commands
do not operate when the Pro Tools transport is
stopped. It only affects those automation parameters that are currently write-enabled and
currently writing automation data.
Optionally, Write to Start, End, and All can be
configured to always be applied automatically.
See “Write to Start, End, and All On Stop” on
page 399.
You cannot interchange automation data
between audio and MIDI tracks, or between
continuous controls (such as faders or pans)
and switched or stepped controls (such as
mute or MIDI controllers).
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Requirements for Write to Start, End,
and All
For an automation parameter to write automation data, the associated track must be in one of
the following Automation modes and meet the
following conditions:
Latch mode The automation parameter must be
changed (touched) during the automation pass.
Touch mode The automation parameter must be
changed (touched).
Trim Mode
Using Trim mode, it is also possible to write trim
delta values for track volume and send levels to
the start (beginning), end or all of a track.
To write current trim delta values to the start, end,
or all of a track or selection:
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
that the automation type (track volume or send
level) is write-enabled.
Write mode All automation parameters on that
track must be in Auto Write mode.
2 Click the Automation Mode Selector on the
track. Select Trim from the pop-up menu to enable Trim mode. The track volume and send
level faders turn yellow.
This command can be undone by choosing Edit
> Undo.
3 Click in a track at an insertion point.
– or –
To write current automation values to the start,
end, or all of a track or selection:
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
that the automation type is write-enabled.
2 Click in a track at an insertion point.
– or –
Drag with the Selector to select a portion of the
track.
3 Click Play to begin playback.
4 When you reach a point in the track that contains the automation data, click Write to Start,
Write to All, or Write to End in the Automation
Enable window.
The current values of all write-enabled automation at that point are written to the corresponding area of the track/selection.
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Drag with the Selector to select a portion of the
track.
4 Click Play to begin playback.
5 When you reach a point in the track/selection
that contains the trim setting (delta value) you
want to apply, click the Write to Start, Write to
All, or Write to End button in the Automation
Enable window.
The relative changes to the track volume and
send levels at that point are written to the corresponding area of the track/selection.
Write to Start, End, and All On
Stop
The Automation Enable window provides options for automatic Write to Start, End, and All
On Stop.
To enable Trim mode:
■ Click the Automation Mode Selector and
choose Trim from the pop-up menu.
Enabling Trim mode
Write on Stop
Write On Stop controls
To configure Write on Stop:
When Trim mode is enabled for a track, its volume and send level faders turn yellow, and its
Automation Mode button is outlined in yellow.
This outline flashes to indicate that the track is
trim-enabled, and appears solid whenever trimming is occurring on the track’s volume or send
levels.
1 Open the Automation Enable window.
To trim track volume or send levels in real time:
2 Click to enable one of the Write On Stop
modes (Start, End, or All).
When any of these options are enabled, automation writing will be performed automatically
after a valid automation pass has been performed. See “Requirements for Write to Start,
End, and All” on page 398.
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
the automation type (volume or send level) is
write-enabled.
2 Click the Automation Mode Selector on the
tracks you want to automate and select Trim
from the pop-up menu.
3 Click the Automation Mode Selector a second
time and choose an Automation mode:
Trimming Automation
(TDM Systems Only)
If you have already written automation, you can
modify automation data for track volume and
send levels in real time by using Trim mode.
When a track is trim-enabled, you are not recording absolute fader positions, but relative
changes in the existing automation. See “Trim
Mode” on page 378 for more information.
◆ Use Auto Touch or Auto Latch to have the faders follow existing automation, so you can
“chase” them during the automation pass.
◆ Use Auto Write if you want to disengage the
faders from existing automation.
4 Click Play to begin trimming automation, and
move the volume or send level faders.
5 When you have finished, click Stop.
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399
Creating Snapshot
Automation
(TDM Systems Only)
Pro Tools lets you write automation data values
for multiple parameters in a single step. You can
write snapshot automation in two ways:
To a selection Automation data is written to the
Timeline selection (as well as the Edit selection
if linked). Anchor breakpoints are placed just before and after the selection so that data outside
the selection is not affected.
To a cursor location Automation data is written
at the insertion point. After the insertion point,
the automation ramps to the next breakpoint
value, or if no breakpoints exist, remains at the
newly written value for the remainder of the session.
For more information on copying automation
data within a session, see “Writing Automation
to the Start, End or All of a Selection” on
page 397.
To write snapshot automation:
1 In the Edit window, click the Track View but-
ton to show the automation you want to edit.
2 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
that the automation parameters you want to
edit are write-enabled. Disable any parameters
you want to preserve.
• Select an area in the track’s playlist (or within
multiple tracks) where you want to apply the
automation.
– or –
• Place the cursor at an Edit insertion point.
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3 Adjust the controls for the parameters you
want to automate.
4 Choose Edit > Write Automation and do one
of the following:
◆ To write the current value to only the currently displayed automation parameter, choose
To Current Parameter.
◆ To write the current settings for all automation parameters enabled in the Automation Enable window, choose To All Enabled Parameters.
Adding Snapshot Automation to Empty
Automation Playlists
When you use the Write Automation command
on an automation playlist with no previously
written automation data, the selected value is
written to the entire playlist and not just the selected area.
This is because a playlist with no automation
data contains only a single automation breakpoint that corresponds to the current position
of the control. The position of the breakpoint is
updated whenever the parameter value is
changed.
If you do not want the Write Automation command to write the selected automation value to
the entire playlist, you can:
◆ Anchor the automation data by placing the
cursor at the end of the session (or any other
endpoint) and choosing Write Automation To
Current Parameter.
– or –
◆ Click with the Grabber on each side of the selection.
This lets the Write Automation command write
only to the selected area.
Writing Snapshot Automation over
Existing Automation Data
6 Choose Edit > Write Automation and select
one of the following from the submenu:
When you move the playback cursor, the automated controls in Pro Tools update on the
screen to reflect the automation data that is already on the track. To keep the settings you
have made for a snapshot, you can suspend the
desired automation parameters to prevent the
controls from updating.
• To write the current value to only the automation parameter currently displayed in the Edit
window, choose To Current Parameter.
To write snapshot automation over existing data:
Capturing Automation and Applying it
Elsewhere
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
that the automation parameters you want to
edit are write-enabled. Deselect any parameters
you want to preserve.
2 Adjust the controls for the parameters you
want to automate.
3 Suspend the automation parameters you want
to automate by doing any of the following:
• To suspend an automation parameter on a
single track, Command-click (Macintosh) or
Control-click (Windows) the name of the automation type in the track’s Track View Selector.
• To suspend an automation parameter on all
tracks, Command-Shift-click (Macintosh) or
Control-Alt-click (Windows) the name of the
automation type in the Track View Selector
for any track.
• To suspend all automation on a track, Command-Shift-click (Macintosh) or ControlShift-click (Windows) the name of the automation type in the track’s Track View Selector.
4 With the Selector, select the track range you
want to apply the automation.
5 Enable the automation parameters previously
• To write the current settings for all automation parameters enabled in the Automation
Enable window, choose To All Enabled Parameters.
The Write Automation command can also be
used to capture automation states at specific locations in a session and apply them to other locations. This differs from simply copying and
pasting automation data in that you can set any
selection length for the application of the captured automation data.
To capture and apply automation:
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
that the automation parameters you want to
edit are write-enabled. Disable any parameters
you want to preserve.
2 Click with the Selector in the track with the
automation you want to capture. All automated
controls update to reflect the automation at that
location. (If you make a selection, the controls
update to reflect the automation at the beginning of the selection.)
3 Suspend the automation parameters you want
to automate:
• For an automation parameter on a single
track, Command-click (Macintosh) or Control-click (Windows) the name of the automation type in that track’s Track View Selector.
suspended.
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401
• For an automation parameter on all tracks,
Command-Shift-click (Macintosh) or Control-Alt-click (Windows) the name of the automation type in the Track View Selector for
any track.
• To suspend all automation on a track, Command-Shift-click (Macintosh) or ControlShift-click (Windows) the name of the automation type in that track's Track View Selector.
4 With the Selector tool, select the location
where you want to apply the automation.
5 Enable the automation parameters previously
suspended.
6 Choose Edit > Write Automation and select
one of the following from the submenu:
• To write the current value to only the automation parameter currently displayed in the Edit
window, choose To Current Parameter.
• To write the current settings for all automation parameters enabled in the Automation
Enable window, choose To All Enabled Parameters.
Snapshot Automation and
Trimming of Automation Data
Pro Tools lets you use trim values as snapshots
and apply the relative changes (delta values) to
the selected automation by using the Trim Automation command. This works in much the
same way as the Write Automation command,
except that it writes delta values instead of absolute values to automation data.
You can use trim values in writing snapshot automation to any automatable parameter.
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To create a snapshot of relative changes in
automation data:
1 In the Automation Enable window, make sure
that the automation parameters you want to
edit are write-enabled. Disable any parameters
you want to preserve.
2 Select the area of the track you want to edit.
All automated controls update to reflect the automation at the beginning of the selection.
3 Move the controls for the parameter up or
down by the amount you want to change the
data.
4 Choose Edit > Trim Automation and do one of
the following:
◆ To write the current delta value to only the
currently displayed automation parameter,
choose To Current Parameter.
◆ To write the current delta value for all automation parameters enabled in the Automation
Enable window, choose To All Enabled Parameters.
Chapter 29: Mixdown
Pro Tools lets you record and bounce tracks to
disk. The Bounce to Disk command lets you
write a final mix to disk, create a new loop, print
effects, or bounce any submix. You can also submix, route, and record busses and inputs to new
tracks.
Bounce to Disk This command writes the current session (if no selection), Edit, or Timeline
selection as new audio files to disk. Any available output or bus path can be selected as the
bounce source. Use Bounce to Disk to write or
master any output or bus path directly to disk.
Sample rate, bit depth, and other conversion
processes can be applied during or after the
bounce. The Bounce to Disk command lets you
bounce all available voices to disk without holding any in reserve. Though you can hear the
bounce being created in real time, you cannot
adjust mixer or other controls during a Bounce
to Disk.
Recording to Tracks This is the process of submixing and recording to new audio tracks, as
you would any input signals. This method requires available tracks, voices, and bus paths to
accommodate the submix and the new tracks.
While recording to tracks, you can adjust mixer
or other controls.
Selecting Audio for Loops, Submixes,
and Effects
Both Bounce to Disk and recording to tracks operate on the current Timeline or Edit selection, if
any. This makes it easy to turn multitrack selections into mono, stereo, or multichannel loops.
Submixes, stems, and other specialized types of
mixes can also be printed to disk using either
method, or recorded out to a DAT, MDM, or
other recording, transfer, or archiving medium.
Printing effects to disk is the technique of permanently adding real-time effects, such as EQ or
reverb, to an audio track by bussing and recording it to new tracks with the effects added. The
original audio is preserved, so you can return to
the source track at any time. This can be useful
when you have a limited number of tracks or effects devices.
AudioSuite plug-ins provide another option
for printing a plug-in effect to disk. See the
DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide for details.
Use Bounce to Disk if you need to convert the
bounce files, or if you do not want or need to interact with mixer controls during the bounce.
Record to new tracks if you want to adjust parameters while the files are being written.
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Dither and Bounce to Disk
Using Dither on an Output Mix
Dithering can significantly improve audio quality. Generally, dithering is necessary when reducing the bit depth for digital audio.
Pro Tools includes real-time dithering plug-ins
that improve 16-, 18-, or 20-bit performance
and reduce quantization noise when mixing or
fading low-level signals.
If you use Bounce to Disk, it is important to understand that the Bounce to Disk process does
not apply dither.
To dither a bounce file, you should insert one of
the included Digidesign Dither plug-ins (such as
POW-r Dither), or another dithering plug-in, on
a Master Fader assigned to the bounce source
path. Master Faders are often preferable to Auxiliary Inputs because Master Fader inserts are
post-fader (better for dithering).
If you do not use a dithering plug-in on your
bounce source path, and you choose to convert
to a lower resolution during or after a Bounce to
Disk, the resultant file will be converted by truncation.
When to Use a Dithering Plug-In
You should use a dithering plug-in when mastering to a 16-bit file with the Bounce To Disk
command, or when mastering to an external device that records at 16-bit.
This is even necessary when using 16-bit sessions. Even though 16-bit sessions use 16-bit
files, they are still being processed internally at a
higher bit rate:
• 24-bit for Pro Tool TDM systems
• 32-bit floating for Pro Tools LE systems
For this reason, whether you are using a 16-bit
session or a 24-bit session, it is recommended
that you use a Dither plug-in when mastering to
16-bits.
When mastering to 24-bits, it is not necessary to
use a Dither plug-in.
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The dithering plug-ins have no user-selectable
parameters other than Bit Resolution and Noise
Shaping controls.
For more information about dither, see
“Dither” on page 359.
To use a dithering plug-in on a submix:
1 Choose File > New Track and choose Master
Fader (stereo) from the pop-up menu.
2 Set the output of the Master Fader to the output or bus path you want to bounce.
3 Assign the outputs of all audio tracks in the
session to the same path you chose in step 2.
The Master Fader now controls the output levels
of all tracks routed to it.
4 On the Master Fader, click an Insert button
and choose one of the Digidesign dithering
plug-ins (such as POW-r Dither).
5 In the dithering plug-in window, choose an
output Bit Resolution and Noise Shaping setting.
When you Bounce to Disk you can convert the
file to the appropriate resolution. Before being
converted by the Bounce to Disk command, the
signal will have been dithered to the resolution
and noise shaping settings in a dithering plugin.
For more information about the Digidesign
dithering plug-ins, refer to the DigiRack
Plug-Ins Guide.
Recording to Tracks
You can create a submix in your Pro Tools session and record it to available tracks in the same
session. This technique lets you add live input
to the mix, as well as adjust volume, pan, mute,
and other controls during the recording process.
Voice Requirements
Recording a submix to new tracks requires an
available voice for each track that you want to
record. Make sure you have enough voices available to play back all tracks that you want to
record and enough voices available to record the
destination tracks.
In contrast, the Bounce to Disk command lets
you bounce all available voices to disk without
holding any in reserve, but you cannot manually change any controls during the bounce. See
“Bounce to Disk” on page 406 for more information.
For information about voice management,
see “Assigning Voices and Track Priority”
on page 85.
To record a submix:
1 Apply any plug-ins or external processors you
want to add to your audio tracks or Auxiliary Inputs before you record.
2 Set the main channel output of the tracks you
want to include in the submix to a bus path. If
you are recording in stereo, set the panning of
each track.
3 Choose File > New Track and create one or
more mono, stereo, or multichannel audio
tracks.
4 If you are recording in stereo, set the panning
of the new tracks to full left and right.
5 Set the input of each destination track to
match the bus path to which you are recording.
6 Set the output of your new tracks to your main
output path.
7 Link the Edit and Timeline (Operation > Link
Edit/Timeline).
8 Select audio to record. The start, end, and
length of the recording can be based on cursor
location or Edit and Timeline selections.
◆ Selection-based recording automatically
punches in and out of recording at the selection
start and end. Be sure to include time at the end
of a selection for reverb tails, delays, and other
effects.
◆ If you don’t make a selection, recording will
begin from the location of the playback cursor.
Recording will continue until you press Stop.
9 Record enable the new tracks and click Record
in the Transport window.
10 Click Play in the Transport window to begin
recording the submix.
11 If recording a selection of audio, recording
will stop automatically. If performing an openended recording, click Stop, or punch out of recording.
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Bounce to Disk
The Bounce to Disk command lets you mix
down with all available voices on your system.
Since it records to separate audio files, you don’t
have to reserve any tracks for a bounce.
You can use the Bounce to Disk command to
create and automatically import loops, submixes, or any audio into your session. You can
use it to create a final mono, stereo, or multichannel master, in any of several audio file formats. Bounce to Disk provides conversion options for sample rate, bit resolution, and format.
When you bounce a track to disk, the bounced
mix includes the following:
Audible Tracks All audible tracks are included in
the bounce. Any muted tracks do not appear in
the bounce. If you solo a track or region, only
the soloed elements appear in the bounced mix.
Automation All read-enabled automation is
played back and incorporated in the bounced
mix.
Inserts and Sends All active inserts, including
real-time plug-ins and hardware inserts, are applied to the bounced mix.
Selection or Track Length If you make a selection in a track, the bounced mix will be the
length of the selection. If there is no selection in
any track, the bounce will be the length of the
longest audible track in the session.
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Time Stamp Information Bounced material is automatically time stamped so that you can drag it
into a track and place it at the same location as
the original material. For more information
about time stamping, see “Time Stamping” on
page 494.
Pro Tools bounces are done in real time, so you
hear audio playback of your mix during the
bounce process (though you can’t adjust it).
Bounced Files are “Delay-Compensated”
DAE compensates for any bus delays due to a
bounce. Meaning, if a bounce file is imported
back into a session, and placed directly in time
against the source mix, it is phase accurate with
the original source mix.
To Bounce to Disk:
1 Choose File > Bounce to Disk.
2 Configure bounce options as needed and perform the bounce (see “Bounce Options” on
page 407).
Bouncing with Mute Frees Assigned
Voice (TDM Systems Only)
When bouncing sessions that include muted
tracks, enabling “Mute Frees Assigned Voice”
can, in some instances, increase the number of
tracks that can be successfully bounced.
Bounce Options
When you use the Bounce to Disk command,
you can configure several file options.
Avid Compatibility Mode
When the Avid Compatibility mode is enabled,
its additional data is added to the bounced files
automatically. See “Avid File Compatibility” on
page 111.
Bounce Source
Select any mono, stereo, or multichannel output or bus path as the source for the bounce. All
currently active paths as defined in the
I/O Setup dialog are available as the Bounce
Source.
Bounce to Disk dialog, with conversion and options
enabled
Default Settings
Available options and their default settings are
listed in the following table.
Options and Default Settings
Bounce
Option
Default
Bounce
Source
current main output path
File Type
session default file type
Format
Auto Stereo Interleaved
Resolution
session default resolution
Sample Rate
session default sample rate
Conversion
Quality
Good
Select a bounce source
To set the bounce source:
■ Select an output or bus path from the Source
Selector.
File Type
Selects the (creator) type for the bounced files.
Selecting a file type
Use Squeezer
deselected
Convert During Bounce
deselected
Convert After
Bounce
selected
Import After
Bounce
deselected
Sound Designer II
This was the native format for older Macintoshbased Pro Tools systems. Select this to use the
bounced audio with any Digidesign application
for Macintosh.
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AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)
QuickTime (Macintosh Only)
Files in this format do not have to be converted
to be used in Pro Tools, but you must still import them into a session with the Import Audio
command or the Convert and Import Audio
command. AIFF waveform overview data cannot be stored in the file, so the overview is recalculated every time the session is opened. The
AIFF format is useful if you plan to use bounced
audio in applications that do not support the
Sound Designer II format.
This is Apple’s audio file format for QuickTimebased multimedia. Pro Tools does not directly
support this type of file in its sessions. To use a
QuickTime audio file within Pro Tools, use the
Convert and Import Audio command or Import
Audio from Other Movie command. The QuickTime format is popular for attaching to emails,
to simplify long-distance project review and approval. Many popular multimedia applications
also support QuickTime.
WAV (Windows Audio File Format)
Windows Media (Windows Only)
This is the native format for Windows-based
Pro Tools systems. The WAV format is supported by many Windows applications and
some Macintosh applications. To use a WAV file
on Macintosh-based Pro Tools systems, you
must use the Convert and Import Audio command.
Windows Media formatted files can contain audio, video, or script data stored in Windows Media Format. A Windows Media Format file may
have an .asf, .wma, or .wmv file name extension.
SND Resource (Macintosh Only)
This file type is supported by some Macintosh
software applications and also by Macintosh
System Software. Pro Tools does not directly
support this type of file in its sessions. To use a
SND file within Pro Tools, use the Convert and
Import Audio command. The SND format is useful if you plan to use your audio with other Macintosh applications that do not support Sound
Designer II or AIFF formats. To save a bounced
file as a System alert sound, save it in this format
and then drag it onto the Macintosh System
File.
RealAudio G2 (Macintosh Only)
RealAudio G2 is the latest version of the format
created by Real Networks for streaming audio
over the Internet. The RealAudio encoder file is
stored in a folder named Codecs inside the DAE
folder.
RealAudio G2 Output Options
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When you select this format, the Resolution and
Sample Rate pop-up menus in the Pro Tools
Output Options dialog are unavailable, because
resolution and sample rate are set by the encoder.
The RealAudio G2 format lets multiple streams
with different bit rates be encoded into a single
file. During playback, the RealAudio G2 server
and the RealPlayer G2 client continuously adjust the bit rate to make the best use of available
bandwidth. The RealPlayer G2 is available on
the Real Networks web site, www.real.com.
When you export or bounce to RealAudio G2
format, you can set the following options:
Media Clip Information Type the title, author,
and copyright information for your RealAudio
clip. This information is displayed on the RealPlayer G2 as the clip plays back.
Copy Protection These settings determine how
the clip is handled by the RealPlayer client.
To allow RealPlayer Plus users to save your clip
using the RealPlayer Plus recording feature, select Allow Recording.
File Type This option determines the compatibility of the output file with different RealAudio
servers and clients.
If you select SureStream, you can select more
than one connection speed under Target Audience. With this file type, multiple bit rate
streams are encoded into a single output file.
Files encoded with the SureStream option are
larger than Single Rate files, and can only be
played back from G2 servers.
Select the “Include RealPlayer 5.0 Compatible
Stream” option to include a backward compatible stream that can be played on older version
5.0 RealPlayers. (This backward compatibility is
only available for SureStream-encoded files.)
If you select Single Rate, you can only select one
connection speed under Target Audience. With
this file type, a single stream is encoded into the
output file. Files encoded with the Single Rate
option can be played back from either a standard web server or a G2 server.
■
To allow RealPlayer users to download your
clip to their hard drive, select Allow Download.
■
If you don’t want to allow RealPlayer users to
make copies of your clip, deselect both of these
options.
Auditioning RealAudio Clips
If you are using Digidesign Sound Drivers and
want to use a RealAudio player while running
Pro Tools, make sure that Operations > Active in
Background is not selected so the player can use
the Digidesign hardware.
Audio Format From the pop-up menu, select the
setting that best matches the type of audio you
are bouncing. A brief explanation of each format is displayed.
Target Audience Select the connection speed
that most users downloading your clip are likely
to have. This setting determines the bit rate at
which the audio will be encoded. Depending on
the file type you choose (see below), you can
choose more than one connection speed.
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MPEG Layer 3 (MP3)
The MPEG Layer 3 compression format (MP3) is
used for streaming and downloading audio over
the Internet, and for playback on portable devices.
if a base sample rate of 48000 Hz is chosen, the
MP3 Encoder Options dialog will allow output
streams in 48, 24, or 12 kHz, depending on encoding quality.
When you export or bounce to MP3 format, you
can set the following options:
Encoder Settings
Encoding Quality Determines the audio quality
of the bounced file. The higher the quality, the
longer it will take to process the audio. The three
options, in ascending order of quality, are Fastest Encoding, Medium Encoding, and Highest
Quality.
MP3 Output Options
The MP3 encoder file is stored in a folder named
Codecs inside the DAE folder. This version of
the encoder uses the latest technology from the
developer of the MP3 format, the Fraunhofer Institute. It features improved processing speed
and quality, and supports both constant and
variable bit rate encoding.
The MP3 encoder installed with Pro Tools is a
fully functional 30-day demo version. To purchase the full version of the MP3 encoder, visit
Digidesign’s website.
When you select this format, the Resolution
pop-up menu in the Pro Tools Output Options
dialog is unavailable. The resolution is set by the
encoder.
The sample rate chosen is given to the codec as
a “base” sample rate for operations. The actual
sample rate of the resulting file is determined in
the MP3 Encoder Options dialog. For example,
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The Highest Quality setting can take up to five
times longer to process audio than the Fastest
Encoding setting, so you should use it only
when the highest fidelity is essential and you
have a considerable amount of time to devote to
the encoding process. You should experiment
with the other encoding quality settings, since
they can provide acceptable quality with a significantly shorter encoding time.
Encoding Method Two encoding methods are
available:
◆ Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encodes the file at a
single bit rate that you choose from the CBR
pop-up menu. Because the bit rate is fixed, the
quality of the encoded audio will vary depending on the nature of the material being compressed. This option is best for streaming over
the Internet, since it has predictable bandwidth
requirements.
◆ Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encodes the file at a
varying bit rate to maintain the level of encoding quality you choose from the VBR pop-up
menu. The bit rate varies automatically depending on the nature of the material being compressed. This option is best for personal jukebox
applications.
ID3 Tag Info Settings
ID3 Tag Type The ID3 tag stores data about the
encoded audio file that is used by MP3 players to
display information about the file. Pro Tools
supports three versions of this tag, in order to
provide backward compatibility with older MP3
players:
ID3 v1.0: Appears at the end of a streaming
MP3 file, therefore tag information is only displayed after software streaming is finished.
◆
ID3 v1.1: Same as version 1.0 but adds track
number information to the tag.
◆
ID3 v2.3: Appears at the front of a streaming
MP3 file, therefore tag information is displayed
when streaming begins.
◆
While ID3 v2.3 is becoming the standard
MP3 format, not all MP3 players currently
support ID3 v2.3. Contact the developer of
your player software for compatibility information.
Title/Artist/Album/Comment Type the title, artist, and other information for the MP3 file. This
information is displayed by many MP3 players.
Genre Choose a genre for the file. This information is displayed by many MP3 players, and can
appear in searchable catalogs and databases.
Track Number If you select ID3 tag type v1.1 or
v2.3, you can enter a CD track number for the
file. This information is displayed by many MP3
players.
Year Enter a year for the file. This information is
displayed by many MP3 players.
Advanced Settings
The options listed under Advanced Settings, under normal situations, do not need to be
changed from their default values.
Pad To Match Bit Rate Exactly This option determines whether MP3 frames are padded to
maintain bit rate very precisely. You should
only select this option if you need a file with an
exact bit rate, for specific applications (such as
synchronous transmission over ISDN line).
Padding of MP3 frames can cause problems
with some versions of Internet streaming
software. If your files are destined for desktop or Internet delivery, do not select this
option.
Allow Intensity Stereo Coding This option determines whether the encoder takes into account
the frequency of a signal when encoding its
phase characteristics, allowing for more compression at low bit rates. In most cases, you
should leave this option selected. However, if
you are working with highly phase-dependent
material, such as Dolby Surround, you may
want to deselect this option.
Write CRC Checksums This option adds errordetection data to the MP3 file. This data is not
necessary for most computer and Internet applications, and also takes away from the space
available for audio data. Select this option only
if you are sure your delivery mode requires error
correction.
Copyrighted This option sets a bit in the MP3
data stream to indicate that the audio is copyrighted. Not all MP3 players use this information. Selecting this option does not guarantee
that the audio file will not be copied.
Original This option sets a bit in the MP3 data
stream to indicate that the audio is the original
media for the track, rather than a copy. This setting is not widely used.
Private This option sets a bit in the MP3 data
stream that is interpreted differently by various
applications. It is not normally used.
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411
Mac File Settings
Mac File Type and Creator If you expect your file
to be used on a Macintosh, you can enter the
Macintosh file type and creator. This will allow
users to double-click the file to open their MP3
player.
Default Button
To restore all settings in this dialog to their default values, click Defaults.
Auditioning MP3 Clips
If you are using Digidesign Sound Drivers and
want to use an MP3 player to audition an MP3
file while running Pro Tools, make sure that Operations > Active in Background is not selected.
This lets your MP3 player access the Digidesign
hardware.
Format
This is the format for the bounced result.
Choices are Mono (summed), Multiple mono,
and Interleaved.
To set the bounce file format:
■
Select a file format from the Format Selector.
Mono (Summed) Creates a single disk file that is
a summed mono mix of the current sources being monitored.
When bouncing to mono (summed) files, the
output may clip. Avoid clipping by monitoring
the meters of your bounce source Auxiliary Input or Master Fader. When bouncing stereo
tracks to mono (summed) files, clipping occurs
if left and right signals exceed –3 dB below maximum, or full code (0 dBFS).
Multiple mono Creates multiple mono files with
the same number of channels as the source
path.
◆ If the source output or bus path is stereo, two
mono files will be created, and appended with
“.L” and “.R” suffixes on bounce.
◆ If a multichannel format is used (for example,
six-channel, 5.1), individual mono files will be
created for each member of the path. Files will
be appended with path suffixes according to the
path definition in the I/O Setup dialog.
Interleaved Creates a single, interleaved file that
contains all of the bounced streams from the
chosen output path. In an interleaved stereo
bounce, tracks assigned to odd-numbered outputs are sent to the left channel, and tracks assigned to even-numbered outputs are sent to the
right channel.
Pro Tools also lets you create multichannel interleaved files of any supported file type. This
can simplify file management of mixes and
projects for backup and archiving.
Pro Tools does not support interleaved files natively. This means that they must be split into
multi-mono files on import (requiring additional disk space).
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Resolution
Sample Rate
This parameter lets you select between three different bit resolutions for the bounce conversion.
This option lets you save to any of several sample rates. Choices are dependent on your
Pro Tools system and Digidesign audio interfaces.
Bounce to Disk does not apply dither when converting during or after a bounce to a lower resolution (including when bouncing to 16-bit).
When you need to create a lower resolution
bounce file, use a Digidesign Dither plug-in, or
similar, on a Master Fader assigned to the
bounce source path. This dithers the bounce
file, before the Bounce to Disk conversion truncates bits into the final file resolution.
Sample Rate Conversion Quality
Resolution choices include the following:
If you choose a sample rate that differs from the
original sample rate of the session, the conversion options become available. You can configure the conversion quality, and schedule conversion to occur during, or after, the bounce. See
“Sample Rate Conversion Quality” on page 414
for more information.
8-bit This resolution is often used in multimedia
applications. If the material you are working
with is relatively simple, you can use the
Pro Tools “Squeezer” feature for optimal results.
See “Sample Rate Conversion Quality” on
page 414 for details.
The following are the more common sample
rates, and their application. Higher sampling
rates will provide better audio fidelity for recording and playback, and also for processing with
dynamics, dither (with noise shaping), and analog emulation plug-ins.
16-bit This is the Compact Disc standard bit resolution.
192000 This is a supported sample rate for some
audio DVDs, and provides the highest quality
audio fidelity with compatible audio interfaces
(such as the 192 I/O).
24-bit If you plan to use the bounced file with a
Pro Tools TDM system, you can take advantage
of the greater resolution and headroom afforded
by this higher bit rate. You can also archive a
master stereo mixdown or bounce audio material at this resolution for future use on a 24-bit
system.
To set the bounce file resolution:
Select a bit depth from the Resolution Selector.
■
176400 You may want to work at a sample rate
of 176.4 kHz if the final delivery will be at
44.1 kHz (such as compact disc). This will provide a slightly faster sample rate conversion to
44.1 kHz than from 192 kHz.
96000 This is a supported sample rate for DVD
audio and provides high-quality audio fidelity
with compatible audio interfaces (such as the
96 I/O).
88200 You may want to work at a sample rate of
88.2 kHz if the final delivery will be at 44.1 kHz
(such as compact disc). This will provide a
slightly faster sample rate conversion to
44.1 kHz than from 96 kHz.
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413
48000 This is the standard sample rate for DAT
and ADAT decks, and DVD video.
44100 This is the standard sample rate for compact discs (CD), and is supported by DAT and
ADAT decks.
Custom For a custom sample rate, click in the
sample rate window and manually enter in a
value.
Pull-up and Pull-down Rates All available sample
rates support pull-up and pull-down rates, or
other specialized rates.
Sample Rate Conversion Quality
The Conversion Quality option sets the quality
of sample rate conversion used to create the
converted file. The higher the quality of sample
rate conversion, the longer it takes to convert
the file after the bounce has taken place. There
are five possible settings, ranging from Low to
Tweak Head. For most applications, the Better
setting yields satisfactory results.
Processing Resources and Conversion Quality
Because the Best and Tweak Head settings take
longer than the others, you may want to use
them only in cases where the highest fidelity is
essential and you are not facing strict time limitations.
Use Squeezer
The Use Squeezer option uses a proprietary DSP
algorithm specifically designed for performing
8-bit conversion of simple source files such as
voice-overs. It optimizes the dynamics of the audio by preprocessing it using compression, limiting, and gating before conversion to 8-bit resolution. This results in greater apparent
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loudness in the signal, and improved intelligibility. If you are converting a more complex 16bit audio file to 8-bit resolution, test this option
before converting all of your material.
Convert During or After Bounce
The Bounce dialog can perform any conversion
options, including sample rate and bit depth
conversion, during a bounce or post-bounce.
Convert After Bounce This option automatically performs file type, sample rate and bit resolution conversion on the newly bounced files.
The Convert After Bounce option, though more
time and storage consuming, offers the highest
level of plug-in automation accuracy possible.
Convert During Bounce This option may take
less time than Convert After Bounce, but does so
at the expense of plug-in automation playback
accuracy.
Import Into Session After Bounce
The Import Into Session After Bounce option automatically imports the newly bounced files
into the Audio Regions List so you can place
them in tracks. If your newly bounced files are
split stereo files, they are listed together in the
Audio Regions List.
The Import Into Session After Bounce option is
only available if the target bit depth for the
bounce is the same or less as the bit depth of the
current session, and it is supported by the
Digidesign audio interface.
Help
The Help button opens a display-only dialog
box that describes the Bounce to Disk features.
Recording a Submix (with
Bounce To Disk)
You can create a submix with the Bounce to Disk
command by muting tracks or bypassing inserts
that are not part of the submix group, and selecting the part of the session you want to
bounce.
You can also create a submix by recording to
new tracks. For details, see “Recording to
Tracks” on page 405.
To bounce a submix to disk and bring it into the
session:
1 Configure your submix using sends, Auxiliary
Inputs, and Master Faders. (See “Submixing for
Signal Routing and Effects Processing” on
page 353.)
2 Do one of the following:
To bounce the entire session, click Return to
Zero in the Transport window to go to the beginning of the session.
◆
Pro Tools bounces are done in real time, so you
hear audio playback of your mix during the
bounce process. You cannot adjust controls during a Bounce to Disk.
To bring bounced files back into tracks:
1 Do one of the following:
◆ If the newly bounced audio was automatically
imported into the session, drag the new files
from the Audio Regions List to existing tracks in
your session.
◆ If the bounced files are not available in the
Audio Regions List, import them into the session by choosing File > Convert and Import Audio.
◆ If you are placing multiple files of a mutlichannel track or file, keep channels in phase
with each other by Shift-selecting them in the
Regions List, and dragging them simultaneously
into existing tracks of the right format.
2 When working with stereo tracks, set the pan
controls hard left and hard right.
To bounce a portion of the session, enable
Link Edit and Timeline, and make a selection in
the Edit window.
3 Mute or turn off the voices of original source
3 Choose File > Bounce to Disk.
4 Click Play in the Transport window to hear
the results of the bounce.
◆
tracks so that you don’t double monitor your
audio material.
4 Configure bounce options and parameters.
5 Make sure the bit resolution for the bounced
file matches the bit resolution of the session.
6 Make sure the sample rate for the bounced file
is supported by the session and the audio interface.
7 Select the Import into Session After Bounce
option.
8 Click Bounce.
9 Select a destination for the new audio file, en-
ter a name, and click Save.
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415
Final Mixdown (with Bounce
To Disk)
In final mixdown, you create a mix that includes all your edits, automation, and effects
processing.
To bounce a final mix to disk:
1 Adjust track output levels, finalize any mix automation, and choose an Automation mode for
each track in the session.
2 Adjust any real-time plug-in and effects settings and automation for each track in the session.
3 Make sure that all of the tracks you want to in-
clude in the bounce are audible (not muted or
inactive).
4 Assign the output of each of the tracks you
want to include in your bounce to the same output path.
Mastering
In the final mastering process, you might record
directly to disk, to a DVD or CD recorder, to a
stereo mastering recorder, or directly to a multitrack recorder for surround mixes.
Once you have created a master of your session,
you can transfer it to a portable medium for duplication. You can transfer the master file to CD,
DAT or 8 mm DDP tape to be used as a master
for pressing compact discs.
Mastering to a Digital Recorder
Although it is usually best to master sessions directly to hard disk, Pro Tools also lets you master digitally, direct to any AES/EBU-equipped or
S/PDIF-equipped digital recorder such as a DAT
deck.
24-Bit Input and Output with
Pro Tools TDM Systems
5 Do one of the following:
• To bounce the entire session, click Return to
Zero in the Transport window to go to the beginning of the session.
– or –
• To bounce a portion of the session, enable
Link Edit and Timeline and make a selection
in the Edit window.
6 Choose File > Bounce to Disk.
7 Choose the source path you want to bounce.
8 Configure other Bounce to Disk parameters as
appropriate. See “Bounce Options” on page 407.
9 Click Bounce.
10 Select a destination for the new audio file,
enter a name, and click Save.
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Pro Tools TDM systems are full 24-bit audio recording and mixing environments, supporting
record, playback, mixing, and processing of 24bit audio files. You can record to and from other
24-bit recording systems without any bit-depth
conversion.
Mastering and Audio Compression
Although audio compression is often an indispensable tool in analog recording, it can present
problems in the digital domain. If you compress
an input signal at a very high ratio, you create a
signal that contains a much higher overall
power level compared to its transients. By recording a number of such signals at the highest
possible level on multiple tracks, you create a
scenario that is more likely to clip the mixed
output signal.
High-power compressed signals, when mixed
together, create an extremely high-level output.
This output may rise above the full-code level,
resulting in clipping.
To avoid this problem, watch the overall level of
your program material—use a meter on a Master
Fader, or use an external mastering deck’s
meters to help avoid clipping. If you are mastering to hard disk, avoid mixing full-code audio
signals together at unity or “0” level, as this invariably causes clipping.
4 In Pro Tools, set all audio tracks you want to
your master outputs 1–2 path.
5 Click Return to Zero in the Transport window
to go to the beginning of the session.
6 Press Record on your digital recorder.
7 Start playback of your session.
8 When your session has finished playing, stop
the digital recorder.
Mastering and Error-Correcting Media
Random access media (such as hard disks, optical cartridges, Bernoulli cartridges or WORM
drives) can produce a true digital copy of your
data, because every bit value is maintained. Sequential media (such as DAT tapes) use error
correction schemes to fix the occasional bad
data that is received in a digital transfer. These
corrections are deviations from the actual data,
and with successive reproductions, represent a
subtle form of generation loss.
You can avoid this loss by creating and maintaining masters on random-access digital media
(such as a hard drive) and transferring them to
sequential digital media (such as DAT tapes)
only as needed.
To configure Pro Tools for direct digital stereo
mastering:
1 Connect your digital recorder to your system’s
digital outputs. If your system has multiple digital outputs, use channel 1 and 2 of the audio interface.
2 In Pro Tools set the appropriate digital format
and output from the Hardware Setup dialog or
I/O Setup dialog.
3 On your digital recorder, choose the appropri-
ate digital format for the connections.
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Part VII: Surround
419
420
Chapter 30: Surround Concepts
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems support multichannel mixing for surround sound.
How to Use These Chapters
This part of the guide describes multichannel
mixing for surround sound with Pro Tools.
These sections supplement the basic Pro Tools
information provided elsewhere in the
Pro Tools Reference Guide.
If you are new to surround mixing, read the remaining sections of this chapter for an introduction to surround terminology and concepts.
If you already have experience with surround
mixing, mastering, and monitoring, these chapter can be skipped. Operational instructions for
Pro Tools surround features begin in
Chapter 31, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround.”
Mixing Formats and Surround
Formats
When running Pro Tools version 5.1 or later
with the SurroundMixer plug-in, Pro Tools HDseries and MIX-series systems let you mix in 3to 8-channel formats, in addition to standard
mono and stereo.
Supported mixing formats include Mono, Stereo,
LCR, Quad, LCRS, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1, letting you
mix in any multichannel format needed for
most surround formats.
Surround formats include Dolby Surround (ProLogic) and Dolby Digital, DTS, and SDDS.
Pro Tools does not provide its own surround format processing, and requires appropriate plugins (such as Dolby SurroundTools™) or hardware to provide surround encoding and decoding.
Chapter 30: Surround Concepts
421
Pro Tools Mixing Formats
See also “5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering” on page 436.
Table 4. Multichannel Mixing and Surround Formats
Speaker Channels
Multichannel
Mixing Format
Surround Format
Channels and Track Layout
1
Mono
C
2
Stereo
LR
3
LCR
Cinema Stereo
LCR
4
Quad
Quadraphonic
L R Lr Rr
4
LCRS
Dolby Surround
ProLogic)
LCRS
6
5.1
Film (Pro Tools
default), for Dolby
Digital
L C R Ls Rs LFE
6
5.1
SMPTE/ITU
(Control|24)
L R C LFE Ls Rs
6
5.1
DTS (ProControl)
L R Ls Rs C LFE
7
6.1
Dolby EX
L C R Ls Cs Rs LFE
8
7.1
SDDS
L Lc C Rc R Ls Rs LFE
Legend: L = Left; R = Right; C = Center, S = surround (mono); Ls = Left Surround; Rs = Right Surround;
Lc = Left Center; Rc = Right Center; Cs = Center Surround; Lr = Left Rear; Rr = Right Rear
Speaker Layouts
Figure 27 on page 423 illustrates the speaker arrangements of each surround format. Speaker
placement in the diagrams is approximate. For
proper placement, alignment, and calibration of
surround monitoring systems, consult the documentation that came with your speakers and
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
other monitoring equipment. Placement of
speakers is crucial to accurate monitoring of any
mix, but this is especially true with multichannel mixing for surround sound.
Mono
Stereo
L
LCR
R
L
C
Quad
2+2
R
LCRS
3+1
Quadraphonic
for Dolby Surround
Lr
Rr
S
Often split to a
pair of speakers
L
C
5.1
C
Sub
for Dolby EX
Rs
L
R
6.1
Sub
for DTS, Dolby Digittal
Ls
L
R
Ls
Lc
C
Rc
Cs
Rs
R
Sub
7.1
for SDDS
Ls
Rs
Figure 27. Speaker arrangement of surround formats
Chapter 30: Surround Concepts
423
The Importance of Speaker
Placement
Surround Monitoring
In order to monitor your current multichannel
mix in a given surround format (DTS, Dolby
Digital, or other), encoding and decoding equipment for that format is required. Pro Tools does
not provide direct support for surround format
processing, but encoding/decoding hardware or
software is available from Digidesign and thirdparty manufacturers. Contact Digidesign or
your dealer for information.
It is very important that your surround monitor
system be installed and configured correctly.
Proper speaker placement, angling, and level
calibration are necessities for surround mixing,
so consult the manufacturer of your monitor
system. Several surround formats (especially all
of those from Dolby as well as DTS) have very
specific speaker and monitoring recommendations, so take the time to locate this information
and adhere to the suggestions they provide.
With proper speaker placement, and studio calibration, additional surround processors, monitors, and a properly calibrated system can lessen
the variables that your mix will be subjected to
when the audience eventually hears it in the
theater, in their home, or elsewhere.
L
For an example of one way to set up a 5.1 monitor system, see Figure 28 on page 424.
R
C
Sub
30°
30°
110°
110°
Mixing position
Ls
Rs
Figure 28. One suggested speaker arrangement for 5.1 mixing and monitoring (SMPTE specification). Sub placement
is variable, all others should be as close to the suggested angles as possible.
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Calibrated Surround Monitoring
In any professional applications, one of the
most important things you can do is to calibrate
not just Pro Tools but also your monitoring system and other equipment.
For example, many post production facilities
calibrate their Pro Tools audio interfaces for
–20 dB = 0 VU. Once Pro Tools hardware has
been calibrated to unity gain, the monitoring
system can be adjusted to account for anomalies
in the room acoustics, speaker placement, and
other variables.
Calibrating your Pro Tools system involves attenuating the input and output stages of your
system. Settings and reference level vary according to the applicable standards of the current
project.
Calibrating in Pro Tools is explained in the
guide for peripherals that support calibration (such as the 192 I/O).
Calibrating Your Studio The first task for surround mixing should be getting your monitor
speakers in proper position, alignment and calibration for accurate listening and mixing.
Speaker position and alignment will vary according to each installation, and is very specific
for different speakers, manufacturers, and for
each surround format. Instructions for optimal
speaker location should have been provided
with the speaker and monitor system, so consult
the documentation provided by its manufacturer.
Formats and Terminology
Some multichannel mixing formats are referred
to numerically (such as 5.1 and 7.1). These numbers describe the number and type of output
(speaker) channels required for that format.
Other formats are referred to by their track layout (such as LCRS, and LCR).
Surround formats are referred to by their developer and product name, such as Dolby Surround
(or ProLogic), Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Surround EX, and others. Each surround format requires you to mix in a compatible mixing format. For example, both Dolby Digital and DTS
are “5.1 surround formats.”
The standards for each format include more
than just the number of speakers. Formats also
may require specific track layout and filtering
for the various channels. For example, the surround channel in Dolby Surround is band limited from 100 Hz to 7 kHz.
Surround formats also increase the importance
of phase, balance, and sound placement due to
the various ways in which multichannel mixes
can be encoded, decoded, compressed, or matrixed. Many publications are available on these
subjects. For a listing of several sources of surround format information, see “Where to Get
More Information on Surround Technology” on
page 428.
Speaker calibration makes sure that your system
plays back at accurately balanced levels. This
lets you compensate for any variances in speaker
position, alignment or performance.
Chapter 30: Surround Concepts
425
LCRS for Dolby Surround
.1 Formats
Dolby Surround (ProLogic) is a four-channel format that is one of the most widely installed consumer surround formats.
The “.1” in any multichannel mix format indicates an LFE (Low Frequency Effects) track in the
mix. Whenever a decimal is part of a surround
format, it indicates a discrete Sub channel in the
surround playback system that is intended for
playback through a subwoofer speaker. For example, Dolby Digital is a 5.1 format intended for
playback through systems with five full-range
speakers and one subwoofer speaker. Dolby Surround EX is a 6.1 format, with six full-range
speakers and a sub. SDDS is a 7.1 format, with
seven full-range speakers and one sub.
This format, which requires Dolby encoding
and decoding technology, provides three fullrange front speakers left, center, and right, plus
a mono surround channel (often split and monitored through pairs of satellite speakers, but a
single “rear” channel nonetheless).
Surround Format Example
The goal of Dolby Surround encoding is to make
a four-channel mix (LCRS) more portable, by
transforming it into an encoded two-channel
mix referred to as Lt/Rt. Lt and Rt represent Left
Total and Right Total, respectively. Whenever
you see Lt/Rt, it refers specifically to material
that has been processed by a Dolby Surround
Encoder (such as the Dolby SEU4 or Dolby SurroundTools plug-in).
The Lt/Rt mix can then be transported, transmitted, or played as a stereo mix, making it
compatible with most home and theater systems. Alternately, the Lt/Rt pair can be decoded
back into an LCRS mix in movie theatres, or in
home theater systems where the required decoding hardware is available.
5.1 for Dolby Digital and DTS
Both Dolby Digital and DTS formats are sixchannel, 5.1 formats. Both provide five fullrange speakers and a sub. These two surround
formats use different track layouts, filtering, and
compression as part of their specifications.
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Sub content will include the LFE channel of a
“.1” format mix, as well as the effects of any bass
management in the playback system. See “LFE”
on page 426.
.0 Formats
The “.0” formats (5.0, 6.0, 7.0), while not associated with any specific surround formats, are useful in many mixes as sub-paths. For example,
not all tracks will have content that needs to be
routed to the LFE channel (the “.1” channel).
Assigning such tracks to a 5.0 path provides a
360° panner without LFE controls.
LFE
While mixing in a multichannel format, a decimal indicates an LFE channel. The LFE channel
(for Low Frequency Effects, and also known as
Low Frequency Enhancement) refers most often
to a specific track used in production (not during
playback or decoding). LFE is the “.1” component in mix formats such as 5.1 and 7.1.
The reason it's referred to as.1 is that unlike the
other five or seven speakers, LFE is not full bandwidth (or, full-range). The LFE signal provides a
direct path for low end to the subwoofer, unaffected by bass management (if any). Low frequency effects include such things as thunder,
explosions, and other bass effects.
Divergence
LFE is generally used to enhance sound effects in
films. There are no set rules about whether or
not you must employ an LFE channel.
With full (100%) Divergence, tracks can be
panned exclusively, or discretely, to a single
speaker. Sounds panned to a single speaker are
only audible in that speaker.
Sub Content
When Divergence is less than 100%, tracks will
be audible in neighboring speakers even when
panned directly to a single speaker in the grid.
Lower divergence settings result in a progressively wider source signal.
When surround mixes are played back on systems that include one or more subs, subwoofer
content comes from either or both of the following sources:
• All bass from all channels that is below the
threshold of the bass management filter cutoff (if any)
– and –
• Audio in the LFE channel (if any)
A surround format sub will play back all the lowest-frequency sounds from all of the other
speaker channels, below a fixed frequency
threshold. The threshold varies among different
surround formats. See “Where to Get More Information on Surround Technology” on
page 428 for a list of surround specification resources.
In addition to the frequency cutoffs and other
specifications of each surround format, playback system variables can affect sub content. See
“Surround Playback System Variables” on
page 429 for more information.
Divergence is a surround mixing parameter that
lets you control panning “width.” Full divergence results in discrete (or narrow) panning.
Lower divergence settings result in progressively
less discrete (or wider) panning.
Divergence Example
To understand divergence, it can be helpful to
imagine the inside of a large movie theater. This
is a good example because one of the most challenging playback variables one faces in multichannel mixing is the size of the intended listening environment.
Unlike the typical living room, movie theaters
are large spaces with speakers placed widely
apart. Due to distance, sounds panned discretely
to the front right speaker, for example, might be
inaudible in the opposite corner. To avoid this
problem, variable divergence lets you control
the panning width, in order to widen the sound
source. This results in signals spreading into adjacent speakers, even when panned 100% to an
individual speaker.
Divergence options in Pro Tools are explained in “Divergence” on page 457.
Chapter 30: Surround Concepts
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Where to Get More Information on
Surround Technology
The table below lists several sites that are good
starting points for your research into the constantly evolving world of surround sound production.
Resources for surround specifications and information
Surround Format
Web Site
Dolby Surround/ProLogic
www.dolby.com
Dolby Surround EX
www.dolby.com
DTS
www.dtsonline.com
SDDS
www.sony.com
THX
www.tmhlabs.com
Surround Mixing Concepts
As in stereo mixing and mastering, the goal in
surround mixing is to provide the best sounding
mix to the greatest number of potential listeners. Doing so for surround mixes requires many
of the same techniques used for professional stereo production, plus several unique factors that
are introduced in the following sections.
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Surround Format Compatibility
Pro Tools lets you mix in surround and create
multichannel masters, consisting of four, six, or
more tracks that comprise an LCR, 5.1, or other
format mix.
◆ Whenever necessary, multichannel mixes can
be transferred as discrete, multitrack masters.
Track layout requirements vary by format (see
“Multichannel Mapping” on page 435 for more
information).
◆ Consumer playback systems don't necessarily
support every format. Downmixing occurs when
a specific format mix has to be created from another.
To anticipate the effects of surround encode and
decode, as well as potential downmixing, professional surround mixes are monitored
through appropriate encoding and decoding
processors. Monitor controller systems let engineers hear their mix through different speakers
and configurations for reference.
Surround Formats and Delivery
Mediums
Surround mixes are tailored for their specific delivery medium. Most often, this requires formatspecific encode and decode processing.
Encoding and Decoding
Virtually all surround formats utilize some form
of encoding and decoding to make it practical to
deliver, broadcast, and transfer the multiple
channels of full-bandwidth audio they require.
Encoding is the process necessary to make
multichannel mixes portable and playable. In
many cases, this involves taking the four, five,
six, or more discrete channels resulting from a
multichannel mix and converting them into a
two-channel stream for broadcast (still a predominantly 2-channel medium).
◆
Decoding is the process needed to reproduce
(or unfold) the discrete surround channels from
a 2-channel delivery medium.
◆
Both encoding and decoding, no matter how refined, represent additional processing stages applied to your mix before it reaches its ultimate
destination, the audience.
For example, because the Dolby Surround algorithm depends heavily on phase relationships,
there is always a significant difference in the decoded LCRS output as compared to the original
LCRS mix. To account for these anomalies, engineers mixing for Dolby Surround listen through
encode and decode processors for reference.
Professional mixing and mastering engineers
use encoders and decoders to precisely audition
the effect of the encoding and decoding process,
and make any adjustments necessary.
Surround Processing and Pro Tools
SurroundTools and other surround processing
solutions are available from Digidesign and
third party manufacturers. Contact your Digidesign Dealer for more information.
Surround Playback System
Variables
Different playback systems for surround sound
introduce varying amounts and types of filtering, bass management, and other variables.
These include the specifications for certain surround formats, as well as options to fine-tune a
system for its particular installation.
In your own studio, you know what speakers
you’re listening to, what their qualities are, and
what your control room sounds like. What is
impossible to know, however, is what speakers
are in the living room, theater, or concert hall
where your mix will be heard by an audience.
Bass Management
Bass management is a function of the playback
system. Bass management refers to a number of
processes by which a playback system can control what will be heard through the Sub(woofer)
and other channels. The purpose of bass management is to optimize low frequency reproduction and overall frequency response for your
specific monitoring system. Bass management
provides a way to tune bass response for variables, including room size and shape, the presence (or absence) of a subwoofer, and the frequency range of each speaker.
Pro Tools requires additional software or hardware for surround encoding, decoding, and processing. For example, the Dolby SurroundTools™ plug-in lets you monitor and process
completely within the Pro Tools environment.
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Filtering
In its simplest form, bass management applies
high-pass filtering to the full-range speaker. Frequencies below the filter cutoff are summed
with the LFE channel (if any) and then routed to
the subwoofer. Different systems may offer additional bass management processes, including:
Bass Redirection Mutes or unmutes the low-frequency signals filtered out of the full-range
channels (that is, all signals that fall below the
bass management filter cutoff frequency). This
is useful when the full-range speakers are truly
full-range, capable of accurately reproducing
bass without distorting.
Bass Extension Lets the bass (however it is derived) be routed back through the full-range
speakers. Though this may seem like a contradiction, its main purpose is to let sub content
emanate from all around, rather than just from
the subwoofer.
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Chapter 31: Pro Tools Setup for
Surround
This chapter explains how to set up and configure Pro Tools sessions for multichannel mixing.
Multichannel mixing is supported on Pro Tools
HD-series and MIX-series systems only. In this
chapter, all references to Pro Tools refer to
Pro Tools HD-series and MIX-series systems.
Before you can use Pro Tools in Surround mode:
1 Make sure the Surround Mixer plug-in is installed in your Plug-Ins folder. If it is not, it can
be installed using your Pro Tools 5.3 Installer
CD-ROM.
2 Make sure your audio hardware is connected
to your monitor system and other equipment
correctly.
Pro Tools Audio Connections
for 5.1 Mixing
While all 5.1 mixing formats provide the same
speaker arrangement, there are three primary
standards in use for the track layout of the individual channels that comprise the 5.1 format
multichannel mix.
In the following table, it is assumed that surround channels are mapped to outputs 1–6 of a
Pro Tools audio interface. Use channels 7–8 to
monitor a stereo mix for a stereo version, or for
cue mixes and monitoring.
Table 5. Track Layouts for 5.1 Formats
Formats
Track Layout
3 Make sure you have configured the Pro Tools
1
2
3
4
5
6
Playback Engine and Hardware Setup dialog options correctly for your system as described in
your Getting Started Guide.
Film
(Pro Tools
default)
L
C
R
Ls
Rs
LFE
4 Continue reading this chapter to learn how to
SMPTE/ITU
for Dolby
Digital (AC3)
and Control|24
L
R
C
LFE
Ls
Rs
DTS
for ProControl
L
R
Ls
Rs
C
LFE
configure Pro Tools and your sessions for Surround mode.
Chapter 31: Pro Tools Setup for Surround
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To connect your audio interfaces for 5.1 format
mixing and monitoring:
1 Determine the 5.1 format and track layout
you want to use.
2 Connect the output channels of your audio
interface to the corresponding input channels
of your monitoring system according to the assignments listed in Table 5 on page 431.
If you use a Digidesign control surface, see
its guide for more information.
Configuring Pro Tools for
Multichannel Sessions
Configuring Pro Tools and sessions for multichannel mixing can be done in any or all of the
following ways:
Custom Paths
You can customize and redefine existing paths in
the I/O Setup dialog. For more information, see
“Custom Multichannel Paths” on page 434.
Importing Tracks
By importing tracks into a session, you can add
the tracks and media, plus the associated paths
and track assignments. Tracks retain their paths
and assignments, which are added to the current session. Active and inactive status is determined by available system resources. After importing tracks, you can use the I/O Setup dialog
to configure main and sub-paths for requirements of the session. For more information, see
“Importing Tracks from Other Sessions” on
page 98.
New Sessions and I/O Settings
New Sessions
You can create a new session and choose a surround mix I/O Settings file as the default
I/O Setup. (See “New Sessions and I/O Settings”
on page 432.)
Remixing Sessions in Surround
By importing a surround mix I/O Settings file
into the I/O Setup dialog, multichannel paths
can be made available in any stereo (or other
format) session. You can then reassign track
routing from the original stereo paths to multichannel paths. Inactive and active paths simplify reassignment. (See “Importing Multichannel I/O Setups” on page 434.)
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When you create a new session, you can specify
a surround format that you want to use as your
I/O Setup. Default path configurations are provided as I/O Settings files, for stereo and surround mixing.
Once you create the new session, you can create
and import tracks, import audio, and assign signal routing to set up your mix.
To create a new session for multichannel mixing:
Surround Mix Settings Files
1 Choose File > New Session.
The surround mix I/O Settings files provide output and bus paths for three specific track layout
standards. (See also “Default Input and Insert
Paths with 5.1 Settings” on page 433.)
2 Select one of the available 5.1 settings from
the Default I/O Settings menu.
Settings Files and Track Layouts
5.1 Settings
Track Layout
Film (Pro Tools Standard)
L C R Ls Rs LFE
SMPTE/ITU
(Control|24 Monitoring)
L R C LFE Ls Rs
DTS (ProControl Monitoring)
L R Ls Rs C LFE
All three 5.1 format settings files provide the following default output and bus paths:
Configuring a new session for a 5.1 mix
The surround presets preconfigure the I/O Setup
dialog with default 5.1 format main and subpaths for outputs and busses.
Default 5.1 Output Paths
• One 5.1 main output path, with sub-paths for
center, left/right, LCR, and 5.0 (no LFE).
• Also, one stereo main path with two mono
sub-paths.
Default 5.1 Bus Paths
• One 5.1 main bus path, with sub-paths for 5.0
(no LFE), left/right (stereo), LCR, and center
(mono).
• Also, one stereo main path with two mono
sub-paths.
Default Input and Insert Paths with 5.1 Settings
Standard 5.1 format (film) output paths
The 5.1 Mix settings files provide default stereo
main and sub-paths for inputs and inserts. If
you need multichannel input paths or inserts,
you can create them in the I/O Setup dialog (see
“Custom Multichannel Paths” on page 434).
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Importing Multichannel
I/O Setups
To export an I/O Setup settings file:
The I/O Setup dialog can import and export settings files. Importing I/O Setup settings files is
useful when you want to remix a stereo session
in surround. You can also use this feature to prepare a session for transfer to a different Pro Tools
system, or to simply save and exchange
I/O Settings.
2 Click Export.
To import a multichannel I/O Setup settings file:
2 Click Import, then select the settings file to
import.
The I/O Setup dialog and its Channel Grid also
let you remap channels. This is especially useful
to route channels within a multichannel path,
without having to repatch your audio interfaces.
If the current session has existing path definitions that don’t match those in the imported
settings file, Pro Tools asks whether you want to
delete the existing paths or retain them and add
the imported settings to your session.
In addition, the I/O Setup dialog, like the Main
page of the Hardware Setup dialog, provides
controls for routing the physical ports on your
I/O peripheral to Pro Tools input and output
ports.
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setup.
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setup.
Custom Multichannel Paths
The I/O Setup dialog lets you create and customize signal paths for any supported multichannel
mixing format.
For HD-series interfaces, multiple physical
outputs can be assigned to a single
Pro Tools output. In the Hardware Setup dialog (or I/O Setup dialog), choose one of the
outputs in the pop-up menu, and press Control on each desired output destination.
• Click No to add new paths to your current I/O
Setup configuration.
• Click Yes to replace your current I/O Setup
configuration with the imported settings.
Exporting I/O Settings
Exporting I/O Setup settings files lets you build a
library of multichannel setups for different
projects.
When creating 5.1 format paths, you can
specify the default track layout. See “Default Path Order for 5.1 Tracks” on
page 436.
Example LCRS Setup
The following example shows one possible way
to configure the I/O Setup dialog to mix in 4channel LCRS format.
For additional I/O Setup information, see
“Creating and Editing Paths” on page 64.
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To define an LCRS path:
Example Mapping for an LCRS Output Path
1 Choose Setups > I/O Setup > Output.
The following diagram shows the I/O Setup dialog configured for a LCRS-format output mix,
with a single, 16-channel audio interface.
2 Click New Path.
3 Select LCRS from the Path Format Selector.
4 Name the path LCRS.
5 In the Channel Grid, click in the box below
the first (left-most) audio interface channel for
the path. Pro Tools automatically fills up the adjacent units to the right. If you click in the LCRS
row under channel 1, the LCRS path will be
mapped across channels 1–4.
6 Select the new LCRS path, and click New Sub-
Path.
7 Name the new path LCR, and select LCR as the
Path format. Click in channel 1 in the LCR row
to map the path.
8 Create a stereo sub-path for front Left and
front Right.
9 Define mono sub-paths for the Center and
Surround channels.
Multichannel Mapping
Multichannel paths and sub-paths are mapped
to inputs, outputs or internal busses in the
Channel Grid. When you select a preset 5.1
I/O Settings file, default layout for the corresponding multichannel format paths you create
will match the selected format’s track layout.
Example LCRS output main and sub-paths
You can remap paths to any required configuration, limited only by your systems resources,
and the I/O Setup dialog requirements for channel overlapping and naming (see “Valid Paths
and Requirements” on page 68 for more information).
See also “Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix” on page 445.
5.1 Tracks, Formats, Mapping and
Metering
Path definitions in I/O Setup determine how audio is routed through, and metered on, your audio interfaces.
Pro Tools internal (on-screen) metering of 5.1
format paths always follows the Film track layout:
L C R Ls Rs LFE
Pro Tools track layout of 5.1 format audio tracks
in the Edit window also conforms to the Film
layout (arranged top to bottom). See the illustration “5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering”
on page 436.
In the I/O Setup dialog, you can route these signals out of your audio interfaces according to
any track layout (DTS, SMPTE/ITU, or other).
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435
To re-map channels in a path:
Click and drag a channel to a new valid location in the Grid. Other channel assignments
will move (shuffle) to accommodate dragged
channels.
■
Default Selectors in I/O
Setup
The I/O Setup dialog provides the following default settings for multichannel sessions:
Default Output Selects the default output path
for all new tracks, for each supported track format.
Default Path Order Selects the default track layout (or, path order) for new 5.1 format (sixchannel) paths.
Default Path Order for 5.1 Tracks
You can specify the default track layout for all
new 5.1 format paths you create.
To choose a new default Pro Tools 5.1-format path
order (track layout):
1 Choose Setup > I/O Setup.
Default Selectors
2 Use the Default Path Order menu and submenus to choose the track layout you want.
Default Selectors in the I/O Setup dialog
Meter Selects the path that will be shown in
Digidesign control surface output meters. See
“5.1 Tracks, Formats, Mapping and Metering”
on page 435 for more information.
Default Path Order Selector in I/O Setup
Audition Selects the monitoring path for previewing audio in the Regions List and Import
Audio dialogs. Only outputs on your primary interface can be used as your Audition path.
5.1 Track Layouts, Routing,
and Metering
5.1 Format
Tracks
Track Meters
Channel Map in I/O Setup
Film
(Pro Tools Standard)
L C R Ls Rs LFE
L C R Ls Rs LFE
SMPTE/ITU
(Control|24 Monitoring)
L R C LFE Ls Rs
same
L C R Ls Rs LFE
(top to bottom)
L C R Ls Rs LFE
same
L C R Ls Rs LFE
(left to right)
L R C LFE Ls Rs
DTS
(ProControl Monitoring)
L R Ls Rs C LFE
same
L C R Ls Rs LFE
same
L C R Ls Rs LFE
L R Ls Rs C LFE
Figure 29. Track layout of different 5.1 formats
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Chapter 32: Multichannel Tracks and
Signal Routing
Surround sessions typically include a combination of mono, stereo, and multichannel audio
tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master Faders, busses and inserts.
Once the appropriate I/O Setup has been imported or configured, any audio track can be
mixed in multichannel for surround using
Pro Tools mixing features.
Multichannel I/O and signal routing is determined by the paths defined in the I/O Setup dialog.
Multichannel QuickStart
The following is an overview of how to get
started mixing in multichannel for surround in
Pro Tools.
To mix in multichannel:
1 Open any stereo Pro Tools session to remix it
2 Configure the I/O Setup dialog with multichannel inputs, outputs, busses, and inserts, as
needed. (See “Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions” on page 432.)
For HD-series interfaces, multiple physical
outputs can be assigned to a single
Pro Tools output. In the Hardware Setup dialog (or I/O Setup dialog), choose one of the
outputs in the pop-up menu, and press Control on each desired output destination.
3 Create new tracks and assign track outputs
and sends to your multichannel paths. Configure signal routing as needed for submixing, bussing, processing, and monitoring. For tracks that
do not need to be panned in 360°, place them in
the mix using sub-paths and signal routing.(See
“Multichannel Signal Routing” on page 440.)
4 Pan in surround using the multichannel Track
and Send windows. (Mixing and panning for
surround is explained in Chapter 33, “Surround
Panning and Mixing.”)
in surround. (You can also create new, empty
surround sessions. See “New Sessions and I/O
Settings” on page 432.)
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437
Multichannel Audio Tracks
Placing Audio in Multichannel
Tracks
Multichannel audio tracks contain multiple individual signals for each signal in the track (one
for the left, one for the right, one for center, and
so on).
You can drag audio files and regions from the
Audio Regions List, or from other tracks, to
place them in multichannel audio tracks.
Multichannel audio tracks can be:
• Recorded directly into Pro Tools, using multiple microphones or microphone arrays, or
routed to appropriate multichannel Pro Tools
Input paths.
• Imported from other Pro Tools sessions.
• Edited, processed, and mixed in combination
with mono and stereo tracks.
To do so, the number of channels being dragged
must match the destination track format. For
example, you can only drag a stereo pair or two
mono regions onto a stereo audio track. Similarly, you can only place audio into an LCR track
when you have selected three regions. With 5.1
tracks, you must select six files or regions.
Solo, Mute, and Gain in Multichannel
Tracks and Paths
Stereo and multichannel tracks consist of multiple audio signals, linked together. By default,
multichannel tracks are linked and are controlled by a single channel fader, solo and mute
switch.
5.0 format multichannel audio track
5.1 format audio files and tracks conform to the
Film track layout standard. Regardless of path
mapping in the I/O Setup dialog, all 5.1 format
audio tracks and meters follow the Film standard track layout:
L C R Ls Rs LFE
Multichannel audio tracks are not required to
mix in multichannel formats. Mono, stereo, and
all supported track formats can be mixed using
Pro Tools track outputs and sends. See “Multichannel Signal Routing” on page 440.
For discrete control of signals, multichannel
tracks can be converted into individual mono
tracks. For discrete level and phase adjustment,
you can insert and unlink a multi-mono Trim
plug-in. Both of these techniques are explained
below.
Once converted to mono, multichannel
tracks cannot be relinked into their original
multichannel format. The only way to reassemble a multichannel track is by dragging the corresponding number of mono
files into a multichannel track, which can
result in loss of some automation data.
To convert a multichannel track into discrete
mono tracks:
1 Select the multichannel track.
2 Choose File > Convert Selected Tracks to
Mono.
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To have discrete control of gain on individual
channels of a multichannel track:
1 Insert a multi-mono Trim plug-in on the
multichannel track.
2 Unlink the Trim plug-in by clicking the Link
icon so that it is unlit.
3 Use the Channel Selector to display the controls you want to edit, and adjust the gain.
See “Linking and Unlinking Controls on
Multi-Mono Plug-Ins” on page 442 for
more information.
Track and Output Formats
When you create new tracks, you specify mono,
stereo, or a supported multichannel format for
the new tracks.
In the Mix and Edit windows, the track format is
always visible by the number of track meters
contained in its fader strip (a single meter for
mono tracks, a pair for stereo tracks, and so on).
Assigning track output determines the format of
that output. For example, a mono track always
has a single track meter, even when assigned to
a stereo output path. If that same mono track is
assigned to a 5.1 output path, it's output will be
split among those six output channels, depending on the position of its panner.
Changing Format
Changing the output format for a given track
has several effects:
Because changing the output format has these
effects, a warning dialog appears whenever you
change the output format of a track to a format
of fewer channels. Specifically, this will occur
whenever automation playlists will have to be
deleted.
Multiple Output Assignments and Track Format
When a track is assigned to more than one path
of differing formats, the main output for that
track will match the format of the assigned path
with the greatest number of channels.
Multiple Outputs and Automation Playlists
When a track has multiple output assignments
(as configured in the Hardware Setup dialog or
I/O Setup dialog), Pro Tools sorts panning data
appropriately for each assigned path. For example, if you assign a mono track to a stereo path
and a 5.1 path simultaneously, that track will
have a 5.1 panner in the Mix or Edit window.
When you pan the track, Pro Tools interprets
the 5.1 panning moves into stereo panning
moves (by ignoring any front-to-rear moves, in
this example).
This provides a type of parallel mixing. You can
create a variety of mixes of differing formats all
at the same time by routing your elements to
multiple paths.
Command-Control-click any control in an
Output window to show its automation
playlist.
• The panner that appears in the track will
change to reflect the new output format.
• It may be necessary for one or more pan related automation playlists to be created or deleted.
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439
Multichannel Signal Routing
To mix in a multichannel format, tracks are assigned to multichannel paths.
This channel’s main output
path is mono (“Center music”).
It has a multichannel send providing a multichannel panner
Multichannel Track Outputs
Tracks are routed to output and bus paths using
the track Output Selector. This assigns the main
track output. Additional output assignments
can be added by Control-clicking the Selector
and assigning another path. This provides a
multichannel panner and meter in the Mix and
Edit window I/O View. (See also “Multichannel
Sends” on page 440 for details.)
Multichannel Sends
This channel’s output path
is multichannel, so the
track provides a multichannel panner
Mono, stereo and all other track formats let you
assign one or more multichannel sends. This
provides a multichannel panner in the Sends
View. Sends are also useful to bus tracks for
multichannel plug-in processing.
The following figure shows a mono audio track
with a 6-channel send (Sends View Shows >
Send A View).
Two different ways to configure tracks for multichannel
mixing
Tracks can be mixed in surround using the following two methods:
Multi-channel send
panner
Mono output format
• By setting a track main output to a multichannel path.
• By assigning a multichannel send to route audio to a multichannel path.
See “Multichannel Sends” on page 440 for
more information.
Mono meter
A mono audio track with a mono output format, with a
multi-channel send
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Pro Tools bussing and submixing features are
available for all channel formats, from
mono/stereo through 8-channel. For examples
of multichannel monitoring, effects processing,
and bussing, see “Mixing with Paths and SubPaths” on page 443. For mono and stereo mix
examples, see Chapter 26, “Basic Mixing.”
Mono, Multi-Mono and
Multichannel Plug-Ins
Plug-ins can be used in mono, multi-mono, or
multichannel formats.
Multichannel Auxiliary Inputs and
Master Faders
A multichannel Auxiliary Input or Master Fader
is used as a return for the multichannel bus.
Sends are useful when you need to create an additional, independent mix simultaneously (perhaps of a distinct format), requiring dedicated
fader, mute, solo and automation controls.
You can assign Master Faders to main and subpaths. Main paths must match the format of the
Master Fader, and only one Master Fader can be
active and assigned to any single (active) main
or sub-path. A Master Fader cannot be assigned
to a sub-path if its associated main path is already assigned on another Master Fader. See
“Master Faders” on page 339.
Plug-in formats
For information about mono, stereo, and monoin/stereo-out plug-ins, see Chapter 27, “Plug-In
and Hardware Inserts.”
Multi-Mono Plug-Ins Are designed for use on
greater-than-stereo multichannel tracks. Multimono plug-ins are useful, or required, in the following situations:
• When a desired plug-in does not involve
multichannel correlated processing (for example, when applying EQ to select sides of a
multichannel signal).
• You need to adjust signals within the multichannel track independently.
• When a plug-in does not support multichannel formats.
When a multi-mono plug-in is first inserted on a
multichannel track, the plug-in controls are
linked. You can unlink them for independent
adjustment. See “Linking and Unlinking Controls on Multi-Mono Plug-Ins” on page 442 for
more information.
Multi-mono plugs-ins can also be inserted on
stereo tracks, to apply unlinked plug-ins on the
left and right channels.
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441
Multichannel Plug-Ins Are designed for use on
stereo and multichannel tracks that require correlated processing, including stereo and multichannel limiting, compression, and similar effects.
Linking and Unlinking Controls on MultiMono Plug-Ins
When a multi-mono plug-in is used on a multichannel track of more than two channels, the
controls are normally linked. Adjusting the
Gain parameter on one channel, for example,
will adjust it for all channels.
If necessary, you can unlink plug-in controls on
specific channels of a track and edit them independently. You can also selectively link the controls of specific channels.
For example, to apply equal filter cutoffs to the
Ls and Rs (surround) channels in a 5.1 mix, you
could link enable just those channels in an unlinked, multi-mono EQ plug-in. Adjusting the
controls in the Plug-In window for either channel (Ls or Rs) adjusts the other, linked channel
as well.
Master Link Button When enabled, links the parameter controls on all channels of a multimono plug-in so that they can be adjusted in
tandem.
Link Enable Buttons Let you selectively link the
parameter controls of specific channels of a
multi-mono plug-in. Each square represents a
speaker channel. The Master Link button must
be disabled to use the Link Enable buttons.
To unlink controls on a multi-mono plug-in:
■ Deselect the Master Link button. It is lit when
linked, unlit when unlinked.
To access controls for a specific channel:
■ Select the desired channel from the Channel
Selector.
To open a Plug-In window for all channels of a
multi-mono plug-in:
■
Option-click the Channel Selector.
To link the controls of specific channels:
1 Deselect the Master Link button if it is not al-
ready deselected.
Master Link button
Link Enable buttons
Channel Selector
2 Click the Link Enable buttons for the channels whose controls you want to link.
The Trim plug-in is explained in the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide.
Channel Selector and Link controls
Channel Selector Accesses a specific channel
within a multichannel track for plug-in parameter editing. This menu appears only on multimono plug-ins inserted on tracks with more
than two channels.
Option-click the Channel Selector to open
Plug-In windows for each channel of the
multi-mono plug-in.
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Paths in Surround Mixes
Because Pro Tools provides a flexible routing
and submixing environment, you can maximize
your system’s available resources by first identifying the elements that you want to pan dynamically and those that can be placed in certain
channels only. (See “Mixing with Paths and
Sub-Paths” on page 443 for an explanation of
this concept.)
Once you have identified these elements in your
session, you can use a combination of main and
sub-path assignments, and multichannel panning. Figure 30 on page 444 shows an example
session.
Mixing with Paths and Sub-Paths
It is rare that every track needs to be “flown” (actively panned in between more than a pair of
speakers). In most situations, certain elements
are placed in certain speakers and remain there,
providing the foundation for a mix.
Figure 30 on page 444 illustrates an example of
how panning and signal routing can be combined in a multichannel mix. The following sections show you how to organize your session
and signal routing to maximize the available resources.
See “Extending Stereo Mixing Conventions
to Surround Mixing” on page 444 for related information.
When to Assign Multichannel Outputs
■ Assign 5.1 paths only to those tracks that need
to be panned to all six channels.
For example, a sound effects track with a jet flyover should be assigned a 5.1 path to be able to
“fly” the sound from front-to-back. In a music
mix, fly a solo instrument or make a synth pad
swirl around the room as a special effect.
Elements that need to be heard in all speakers simultaneously can also be assigned to the multichannel output, whether or not they need active panning in the sound field.
When to Use Sub-Paths
■ To help simplify large sessions, try to use subpaths to route static (or, stationary) elements directly to the output channel or channels.
For example, film dialog is often mixed to the
center channel to anchor this essential sound element to the visual element (the picture). Instead of assigning a six-channel panner to dialog tracks and panning it to the center channel
only, you can route the dialog track’s main output to a mono (Center) sub-path. Doing so may
be unavoidable in some sessions, such as a scene
in which every sound needs to fly or move in
the 360° sound field. This is more likely to be
the exception, however, because many elements
of a mix will not need to be moving between
speakers.
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Tracks routed to sub-paths
Tracks panned in 3D
Auxiliary Inputs and Master Faders
routed to main paths
Bus
routing
Main
output to
sub-paths
Main outputs to 5.1 paths for surround panning
Figure 30. Using signal routing and sub-paths to mix in surround
Extending Stereo Mixing Conventions to
Surround Mixing
Stereo mixing sets the precedent for active and
static panning, and surround mixing can benefit from the same basic principles.
Panning a sound back-and-forth between the
left and right speakers is best used as a special effect. In a typical music mix, the basic tracks are
placed in the stereo sound field and remain
there.
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Surround mixes can become incoherent if too
many elements are continuously moving, For
special effects, some tracks can be panned dynamically, bouncing between speakers or sweeping from one side to the other.
Example Paths and Signal
Routing for a Surround Mix
These examples show how Auxiliary Inputs,
Master Faders, and other Pro Tools signal routing features can be used for stem mixes, submixes, and similar project needs.
Additional stereo output paths, with mono subpaths, have also been defined for the remaining
channels.
Example Bus Paths
The following diagram shows example bus
paths.
In these examples, music and effects are being
mixed for a trailer, in 5.1 surround. Separate
stem mixes (for music, and for effects) are to be
mastered to 8-track MDM.
Example Multichannel Paths
Signal routing is the key element in any
Pro Tools surround session. Signal routing is
configured and defined in the I/O Setup dialog.
Example Output Paths
The following diagram shows output paths defined in the I/O Setup dialog of an example session. This example session is shown on a
Pro Tools HD system with one 96 I/O.
I/O Setup, example bus paths
Two 5.1 format main paths have been defined
(“Music” and “FX”), each with several subpaths.
Example Sub-Paths
Sub-paths let you route to selective channels
within the multichannel (surround) output. In
the pictured example, the FX bus has several
sub-paths that show this.
I/O Setup, example sub-paths
5.0 Sub-Path The 5.0 FX bus is a 5-channel subpath. With tracks that you are sure you want to
keep out of the LFE channel, use this type of
sub-path routing to conserve mixing resources.
I/O Setup, example output paths
Sub-paths have been defined for Mix, Music,
and FX main output paths.
LFE Path A custom LFE sub-path has been added
to provide a discrete mono path to the LFE
channel.
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Signal Routing Examples
The following show a few possible ways that
main and sub-paths can be used, using an example session consisting of a 5.1 main mix, with
music and effects stems (or submixes).
The first example shows one possible routing
configuration for an effects submix.
Most of the music tracks in this example are
routed to the front left/right channels, using a
stereo sub-path. A 5.1 Auxiliary Input controls
the bus and stem output.
Main Stems Example
The two Auxiliary Input channels can be multiassigned to additional 5.1 format paths for a
main mix.
FX stem
Some tracks are routed to stereo sub-paths,
while others are assigned to mono, LCR, or
other sub-paths. Two tracks (one stereo, one
mono) are assigned to multichannel busses, for
surround panning. A 5.1 Auxiliary Input assigned to the FX main bus path serves as a submixer.
Music tracks might be routed similar to the following example.
Assigning multiple outputs
Multiple output assignments make it possible to
configure a number of multi-format mixes. For
example, you can assign an additional stereo
output to tracks and create a stereo mix at the
same time as a 5.1 mix. For more information,
see “Multiple Output Assignments” on
page 344.
LFE Examples
LFE tracks and other audio can contribute to the
LFE output (the “.1” channel in supporting formats) in two ways:
• Using the LFE slider in Output windows. This
LFE signal is post-fader.
– or –
• Using a custom sub-path to route channels
discretely.
Music stem
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The following shows a channel Output window,
sending and metering to the LFE channel.
LFE fader
LFE and Filtering
Pro Tools applies no filtering to LFE signals.
Some delivery requirements may specify filtering for the LFE track (such as the Dolby requirement of 120 Hz). See “Mixing Formats and Surround Formats” on page 421 for more
information.
LFE faders can follow Mix and Edit Groups.
See “Automation Preferences” on page 380
for more information.
Multichannel Plug-Ins
Aux LFE meter
LFE contribution from a stereo output
Using the LFE fader, you can add any amount of
any multichannel path to the overall LFE output. In the above example, the track’s Center
percentage has been turned off, and the LFE
fader has been raised to route it to the LFE channel.
The next diagram shows how a “traditional” LFE
track can be routed to only the LFE channel.
This example uses a custom-defined LFE subpath to the FX main bus path.
Audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master Faders let you assign multi-mono or multichannel
plug-ins. This lets you process multichannel
outputs as a single entity using multichannel, or
linked multi-mono, plug-ins. Unlinked multimono plug-ins let you process individual channels of a multichannel path, with linking and
unlinking. For more information on multichannel plug-ins, see Chapter 27, “Plug-In and Hardware Inserts.”
Discrete LFE routing
For instructions on how to create a sub-path, see
“Custom Multichannel Paths” on page 434.
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Chapter 33: Surround Panning and
Mixing
This chapter explains how to pan and mix in
surround with Pro Tools.
Before you can pan a track in surround, it must
be assigned to an appropriate multichannel output or bus path.
The I/O Setup dialog defines the bussing and
output architecture of the Pro Tools multichannel surround mixer. If you have not already
done so, it is recommended that you become familiar with main and sub-paths and the
I/O Setup dialog before starting multichannel
Pro Tools projects.
See Chapter 31, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround” for more information on multichannel configurations and I/O Setup options.
For multichannel signal routing, see
Chapter 32, “Multichannel Tracks and
Signal Routing.”
Introduction to Pro Tools
Surround Panning
There are four different track panning methods
available:
• In the Edit window, using the reduced-height
Panner Grid in the I/O View
• In the Mix window, using the reduced-height
Panner Grid
• In the Output window, using the full-size
Panner Grid
• Through pan automation editing
Control surfaces provide additional panning options. Refer to the documentation for your control surface for more information.
Mix and Edit Window Panner Grids
In the Mix and Edit window, multichannel Panner Grids are displayed on tracks that have
multichannel track or send output assignments.
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To pan from the Mix or Edit window:
1 Make sure I/O View is being shown for the
Mix or Edit windows (Display > Mix/Edit Window Shows > I/O View).
2 Begin playback.
3 Click and drag on the appropriate multichan-
nel track’s Panner Grid in the Mix or Edit windows.
Output Windows
Output windows provide panning controls for
tracks of all mix formats. Some of the features of
Output windows include:
• X/Y (joystick-style) panning
• 3-Knob panning
• Full Divergence and Center % control
• LFE feed
Click and drag to pan
• Multichannel meters
• Pro Tools Target window support
This section describes the basic techniques for
opening and arranging Output windows. Panning controls and instructions begin in “Surround Panner Controls” on page 452.
Multichannel Panners
Panning in the Track Grid
The green pan cursor follows your movements
as long as you hold down the mouse button.
Movements are scaled so that, once you click to
“grab” the pan cursor, you do not need to limit
your movements to the small Track Grid area.
Pan Cursor Color while Automating
The pan cursor is green when the track is in Automation Read mode, red in an Automation
Write mode, and yellow in Trim mode.
Output windows provide additional features
and controls (and a much larger Grid). For details, see “Output Windows” on page 450.
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Multichannel panners are provided for each
multichannel mixing format (from 3-channel
LCR thru 8-channel 7.1). See “Surround Panner
Controls” on page 452 for more information.
Multiple panners can be opened simultaneously, or a single window can be anchored to
always display the current panner.
To open an Output window:
Click the Output icon in the track in the Mix
or Edit window (I/O View).
Standard Controls
■
All Output windows provide standard Pro Tools
controls for routing, path assignment and other
track features. These controls are located at the
top of all Output, Send, Insert, and Plug-In windows. Some controls are specific to the type of
window.
Show meters
Target icon
Track Selector
Path Selector
Output Selector
Automation Safe
Panner Control Section
Opening a multichannel Output window
For instructions on managing multiple Output windows, see “Output Windows for
Tracks and Sends” on page 349.
For details on these standard features, see
“Standard Selector Controls in Output
Windows” on page 351.
Track Fader, Solo, Mute, and Auto
All Output windows provide track volume and
mute controls. You can adjust and automate
track volume, or mute, directly using these controls. The larger fader and mute button are
equivalent to those on the Pro Tools Mix window.
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Surround Panner Controls
On surround-capable Pro Tools systems, Output windows, when assigned to tracks or paths with four
or more channels, provide an X/Y Grid for surround panning. The speakers associated with the panner’s multichannel format are displayed in their relative positions outside the Panner Grid.
This section identifies all the controls and features found in Pro Tools multichannel panners.
Show meters
Panner Control Section
Speakers
X/Y Grid
Pan cursor
LFE fader
Track fader
meter
and
Panning modes
Position
(knob panners)
Center %
Divergence
Track Automation,
Solo, and Mute
Figure 31. A 5.1-format multichannel panner
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The X/Y Grid and Pan Cursor
Panning Mode Buttons
The X/Y Grid is where multichannel panning
information is input and displayed. You can
also input pan information using 3-Knob mode,
or by entering numeric values in the Position
data fields, as described below. (You can also
edit pan automation graphically in the Edit window.)
Directly below the X/Y Grid are the Panning
Mode buttons.
X/Y Mode, Divergence Editing, and 3-Knob Mode
buttons
These switches provide access to advanced surround mixing features, and are explained in
“Panning Modes” on page 454.
Position Controls
The Position controls include three rotary knobs
and their text fields.
Panning Grid and pan cursor
Multichannel panners default to X/Y mode. In
X/Y mode, the track’s current pan position is
represented by a green dot. This dot is the pan
cursor, and its color indicates track automation
status using standard Pro Tools colors:
Green The track is in Auto Read mode
Red The track is in Automation Write, Touch or
Latch mode
Yellow The track is in Automation Trim or Auto
Off mode.
Position controls
Front Displays and controls the current front Xaxis position of the panner.
Rear Displays and controls the current rear Xaxis position of the panner. In default X/Y Panning mode, Rear is linked to Front position and
cannot be controlled independently.
Front/Rear Displays and controls the current Yaxis position of the panner.
Center % Controls
This rotary knob lets you control how much of
the signal is routed to the center speaker. This
lets you mix a track to the front with a phantom
center (0% Center value) or to three-channel
(LCR) when panning front.
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Divergence Controls
Divergence determines the width of the panned
signal with respect to neighboring speakers. (See
“Divergence” on page 427 for more information.)
Panning Modes
Pro Tools supports X/Y and 3-Knob Panning
modes. Both can be automated.
X/Y Mode Joystick-style panning by dragging
the pan cursor within the X/Y Speaker Grid.
3-Knob Mode Point-to-point panning, between
pairs of speakers. See “3-Knob Panning” on
page 455 for more information.
Divergence controls
Front, Rear, and F/R Divergence Provide separate, automatable divergence control over front
speakers, rear speakers, and between front/rear,
respectively. See “Divergence” on page 457 for
more information.
For examples of how divergence settings affect output panning, see “Divergence and
Center Percentage” on page 457.
X/Y Panning
To pan in X/Y mode:
1 Click the X/Y mode icon.
X/Y mode
2 Drag the pan cursor, or click anywhere in the
LFE Fader
The LFE fader is only available in “.1” formats —
5.1, 6.1 and 7.1.
Grid and drag to pan the track. The location of
the pan cursor determines the pan position of
the signal. For example, to pan something to the
left rear speaker, move the pan cursor to the
lower-left corner of the Grid.
LFE fader
The LFE fader determines how much of the current track’s signal will be routed to the LFE
channel. LFE faders in Track and Send windows
can follow groups. The Pro Tools LFE channel is
always full-bandwidth. For more information
on how to use the LFE fader, see “LFE Faders in
Multichannel Panners” on page 456.
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X/Y Panning
Cursor Take-Over
3-Knob Panning
It is not necessary to click exactly on the pan
cursor. Clicking anywhere in the Grid will move
the pan cursor relative to where you click or take
over with a hardware panner. Panning does not
jump to the click position.
Pro Tools provides 3-Knob mode as an additional way to input pan moves.
To snap the pan cursor to a location in the Grid:
Hold down the Control key and click anywhere in the X/Y Grid.
■
3-Knob mode lets you:
• Pan in straight lines, moving the pan cursor
using the Position rotary knobs with full
movement of front, rear, and front-rear position.
– and –
• Pan discretely between pairs of speakers.
Grid Options and Shortcuts
Fine-adjust Mode The Command modifier enables Fine Adjustment mode of all variable Panner controls.
Constraining to X or Y Movement Holding the
Shift modifier key down when clicking in the
Grid will force the movement of the dot to be
constrained in either the X or Y direction, depending on which direction you move first.
3-Knob mode lets you pan discretely between
speakers. For example, when panning front-left
to rear-right in 3-Knob mode, audio will be
heard from just those two speakers (assuming
full divergence is in effect).
Show meters
3-Knob trajectory
Reset to Default The default position of all position parameters can be recalled by Option-clicking anywhere in the Panner Grid.
“Snap To” a Speaker in the Grid To force the
panner to the location of one of the valid speakers, click directly on the appropriate speaker
icon.
Display Automation in Edit Window CommandControl-click on a parameter to display that parameter’s playlist in the Edit window.
meters
3-Knob mode
Panning and metering in 3-Knob mode
All pan parameters can be automated, including pan position and divergence. See
Chapter 28, “Automation” for details.
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By comparison, in X/Y mode a diagonal pan
may result in audio being heard in some or all
channels.
To change the 3-Knob trajectory angles:
■ Drag either endpoint (Front, or Rear) of the
trajectory line.
– or –
Show meters
■
X/Y pan position
meters
X/Y mode
Adjust the Front or Rear Position controls.
To change the current trajectory position (left-toright) and retain its current angles:
1 Drag the trajectory line (not its endpoints) to
a new position.
LFE Faders in Multichannel
Panners
Panning and metering in X/Y mode
The difference is that 3-Knob mode pans discretely between the front and rear position of
the panning trajectory, while X/Y mode panning
takes place in the full 360° Panning Grid. Divergence and Center % are variable in both Panning modes.
To enable 3-Knob Panning mode:
■
Click the 3-Knob mode icon.
The LFE fader controls the track’s LFE contribution (or, how much of the track is sent to LFE).
LFE faders are only available when a track is assigned to a path whose format supports LFE (5.1,
6.1, or 7.1).
To mix to the LFE channel:
1 Adjust the LFE fader in any “.1” format Output window.
For general information about LFE, sub
channels, and related topics, see
Chapter 30, “Surround Concepts.”
3-Knob mode
The panner trajectory line appears across the
Grid, extending from the front (X-axis) to the
rear (Y-axis).
To pan in 3-Knob mode:
1 Adjust the Front and Rear Position knobs to
set the trajectory line.
2 Rotate the Front/Rear Position knob to pan
along the trajectory. The Pan Cursor is constrained to the white trajectory line.
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LFE and Groups
Track and send LFE faders can follow Mix and
Edit Groups by enabling this feature in the Automation window of the Preferences dialog. See
“Automation Preferences” on page 380 for more
information.
LFE Enable
Divergence
Some multichannel plug-ins, including the DigiRack multichannel Compressor, provide LFE
Enable. This lets you enable (or, bypass) phaseaccurate processing of the LFE channel, when
one is present.
In the Panner Grid, the current divergence values are displayed by a purple outline.
To process the LFE channel in a multichannel plugin:
1 Click to enable LFE Enable in supporting
multichannel plug-ins. LFE Enable is highlighted when LFE processing is enabled, and unhighlighted when LFE processing is bypassed.
Divergence display
Divergence controls
Divergence display and controls
Divergence and Center
Percentage
The Divergence and Center % controls range
from 0 to 100, and can be automated. They are
especially useful to ensure audibility and coverage in large venues, and to increase clarity of
voice.
By default, Pro Tools surround panners are
100% or fully divergent, meaning that a signal
that is panned completely to one speaker will
only be audible in that speaker.
Show meter
Pan position
Front Divergence Controls divergence between
front speakers (X-axis only).
Rear Divergence Controls divergence between
the rear speakers (X-axis only).
meters
Front/Rear Divergence Controls divergence between front and rear (the Y-axis).
Center % (Percentage) Center % determines
whether there is a discrete center image, a completely phantom center image, or some variable
amount in between.
Full divergence for discrete panning to front, left
(meters show signal only in front, left)
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457
Lower divergence settings result in a progressively wider source signal. When Divergence is
less than 100%, tracks will be routed to neighboring speakers to some degree, even when the
pan cursor is positioned next to a single speaker.
Show meters
Pan position
Center % Example
In film and video production, the center channel often contains dialog. To enhance clarity of
essential dialog, it is often beneficial to keep
other elements (such as music) out of the center
speaker. By reducing the Center % on music
tracks (in this example), music panned to the
front of the soundfield can be panned to just the
left and right speakers, forcing them to have a
(variable) phantom center image.
meters
Pan position
Front Divergence
Front Divergence at 0% for widest panning (note meters
showing signal in all three front speakers)
meters
Center %
To adjust divergence:
Adjust the Front, Rear, and Front/Rear Divergence controls as necessary.
■
Discrete center (Center % at 100)
To adjust divergence graphically:
1 Click the Divergence icon below the Grid.
Pan position
2 Drag to resize the divergence boundaries in
the Grid.
meters
Divergence
Center %
Center % (Percentage)
Center Percentage controls whether there is a
discrete center channel for the track, or a phantom center channel.
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Phantom center (Center % at 0)
To adjust Center Percentage:
■
Adjust the Center % knob as appropriate.
As you reduce the Center % value, the center
speaker icon at the top of the Grid becomes less
visible. At 0, the center speaker icon is completely invisible, reflecting the setting for fully
phantom center.
SurroundScope Metering
Plug-In
The SurroundScope Metering plug-in provides a
360° meter for multichannel mixing. It provides
a method of metering multichannel paths, and
is available in all multichannel formats.
5.1 Format Track Layouts
Pan Playlists and Automation
Multichannel panners have several automation
playlists associated with them (for each position
and divergence control it provides).
All on-screen, 5.1-format meters (including
those displayed in the SurroundScope meter, on
tracks, and in Output windows and their Meter
Views) are always arranged:
L C R Ls Rs LFE
Panning Does Not Follow Groups
Unlike mute and volume breakpoint editing,
pan automation by default does not follow Edit
Groups. To force pan automation editing to follow groups, you can hold down the Control key
while editing automation breakpoints on a
member track. This feature applies to all seven
types of pan controls (front, rear, and front/rear
pan position, front divergence, rear divergence,
front/rear divergence, and center percentage).
For a complete explanation of Pro Tools
metering, see “5.1 Tracks, Formats, Mapping and Metering” on page 435.
To use the SurroundScope Metering Plug-In:
■ On a multichannel Master Fader, click an Insert button and select the multichannel Meter
plug-in.
SurroundScope has no adjustable parameters,
but displays output levels in both a 360° Grid,
and in traditional LED meters.
Refer to the Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide, for
details on SurroundScope.
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Part VIII: Synchronization
461
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Chapter 34: Synchronization Concepts
Since time code and synchronization are complex topics, this section is designed to give you a
basic understanding of synchronization as it relates to Pro Tools.
If you are using a device that sends or receives
time code, such as a video tape recorder, refer to
that device’s documentation for information on
how it generates or receives time code and how
to configure its options.
Synchronization
Requirements
We strongly recommend that you research what
your synchronization requirements are. For example, if you are using Pro Tools to accomplish
audio post production work for video, consult
with your video engineer or editor to determine
what time code format will be used. Also, there
may be additional time code issues that affect
how you use synchronization. Your Digidesign
dealer may also be able to offer suggestions
about working with synchronization in your
studio.
Aspects of Synchronization
Synchronization in a digital audio workstation
has two concepts that need to be independently
considered:
◆ “Where are we?” This is called the positional
reference.
◆ “How fast are we going?” This is called the
clock reference.
To synchronize Pro Tools to another device
(such as a tape machine or VTR) accurately over
an extended period of time, Pro Tools needs to
know where the device is and at what speed it’s
running. Some peripherals can provide only one
of these references; for example, a black burst
generator provides only a clock reference. Some
peripherals, like Digidesign’s SYNC I/O, can provide both.
Synchronizing Pro Tools
Pro Tools requires a clock reference, in addition
to time code, to maintain synchronization over
time (for example, when slaving to another device).
You can resolve Pro Tools to an external clock
reference without locking it to a positional reference. For example, you can use any HD-series
audio interface (96 I/O or 192 I/O) that provides
external clock inputs, to resolve the Pro Tools
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sample clock to house sync, without synchronizing Pro Tools to external time code. You
should do this if you need all your work in
Pro Tools to match the speed of other machines
in your facility.
5 At this point, if the video tape is stopped, rewound, and started again, the entire process is
repeated, based upon a newly calculated trigger
point.
In the following example, Pro Tools uses time
code for positional information, and a clock reference to maintain synchronization. Pro Tools
is slaved, through the SYNC I/O, to a video tape
recorder, with both machines referenced to the
same house word clock or house video reference
source.
About Positional References
To slave Pro Tools to a video tape recorder:
Time code is timing information in the form of
a data stream that can be recorded on magnetic
tape as an audio or video signal. Time code can
be used as a positional reference, to synchronize
the playback and recording of your Pro Tools
system with another machine’s time code signal, such as an analog multitrack tape machine
or a video tape recorder (VTR).
1 When you start the video tape, time code (LTC
or VITC) is read off the tape and routed to the
SYNC I/O.
2 The SYNC I/O reads the time code position
and continuously forwards the positional information down the SYNC I/O serial connection to
the Pro Tools card. The SYNC I/O sends word
clock (1x) signal to the Pro Tools audio interface’s Word Clock In.
3 Pro Tools takes the first time code address it re-
ceives, and calculates the sample location in the
session that corresponds to the address. Though
you can work with Pro Tools using any standard
time code format, it calculates internally in sample numbers. This means that Pro Tools translates a time code frame address to an exact
sample number.
4 Assuming that the time code address corresponds to a sample number that is within the
Pro Tools session, Pro Tools converts the time
code address to a sample number within the session, and begins playing from that point. The
point from which playback starts is the trigger
point. The clock reference is used by both machines to keep them running at the same speed.
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SMPTE and ISO/EBU Time Code
The “Where are we?” question refers to relative
position. To describe position, many professional audio, video, and multimedia devices and
programs use SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture
& Television Engineers) time code. In Europe, a
standard called ISO (International Standards Organization) time code, formerly called EBU (European Broadcasters Union) time code, is generally used. These time code types are almost
exactly the same in terms of how they are represented electronically. However, ISO/EBU time
code works at a fixed rate of 25 fps (frames per
second) and SMPTE includes provisions for several different frame rates. For the purposes of explanation, this chapter will generally refer to
frame-measured timing information as “SMPTE
time code.” This description should be understood to include ISO/EBU and SMPTE time code.
SMPTE Time Code Methods
There are two basic techniques used to record
SMPTE time code onto magnetic tape: LTC (Linear Time Code) and VITC (Vertical Interval Time
Code). LTC is recorded or generated on an audio
channel or a dedicated time code track of the au-
dio or video device. VITC is recorded within the
video signal in the video “blanking area” of each
video frame. VITC cannot be recorded on audio
tracks, so it has no application when working
with audio tape recorders, but it does offer powerful features for post production professionals
who work with video.
LTC (Linear Time Code)
LTC is time code that is recorded and played
back, or generated, in the form of an analog audio signal. LTC is supported by many audio and
video tape recorders.
LTC Speed Usage
There is also a non-SMPTE form of time code
called MIDI Time Code (MTC) that some devices
use to send timing information.
SMPTE Time Code Units
Time code describes locations in terms of hours,
minutes, seconds, frames, and subframes
(1/100th of a frame). The frame is used as a unit
of time measurement due to SMPTE time code’s
origin in film and video applications. Depending on the SMPTE frame rate, one frame is equal
to 1/24th, 1/25th, 1/29.97th, or 1/30th of a second. For example, a video tape time code reading of “01:12:27:15” would tell us that we were
at a position of one hour, twelve minutes,
twenty-seven seconds, and fifteen frames. However, this time address alone does not tell us
frame rate information.
Because SMPTE stores an absolute time reference
on the tape in the form of time code, any location on that tape can be precisely located by devices that read time code. Once the time code
has been recorded or striped on a tape, it provides a permanent time reference that allows
Pro Tools to link the playback of an event to an
exact tape location. For example, with time code
synchronization, a gun shot sound effect can be
played at the precise instant that the gun’s flash
appears on-screen.
LTC can be read at high tape shuttle speeds, allowing a machine’s time code reader to communicate with synchronizers at rewind or fast forward speeds exceeding 50 times playback speed
(provided the tape recorder is able to reproduce
the time code at this speed). However, LTC cannot be read at very slow shuttle speeds (such as
when you are “crawling” the tape frame by
frame) or when the machine is paused. With
LTC, the VTR must be running (usually at a minimum speed of about 1/10th normal playback
speed) in order to capture a SMPTE time address.
VITC (Vertical Interval Time Code)
VITC is a type of time code that is recorded and
played as an invisible part of a video signal.
VITC is commonly used in professional video
editing and audio-for-picture applications. Because VITC is recorded as part of each video
frame, it must be recorded at the same time as
the video signal—it cannot be added later as
LTC can. Since VITC cannot be recorded on audio tracks, it is never used to synchronize audioonly recorders. Instead, LTC is most often used
in audio-only applications.
VITC Speed Usage
VITC’s ability to be read when moving a VTR
transport at slow speeds or when the VTR is
paused makes it more useful in audio post production environments than LTC.
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When VITC is used, Pro Tools can capture the
current SMPTE time from the VTR when it is
paused or in “crawl” mode. However, if you are
using additional external transport synchronizers in your setup, most synchronizers cannot
read VITC at speeds exceeding approximately 10
times playback speed, preventing slaved machines from maintaining synchronization during rewind and fast forward.
LTC/VITC Auto-Switching
Many synchronizers and devices support automatic switching between LTC and VITC, depending on the speed, to get the best of both
worlds. For example, VITC might be used when
a VTR is paused, or crawling frame-by-frame,
while the synchronizer might automatically
switch to LTC when fast-forwarding.
Bi-Phase/Tach
This electronic pulse stream is used by film mag
recorders, film editing stations, and film projectors. You can use this format to synchronize
Pro Tools if you have a SYNC I/O. Unlike time
code, Bi-Phase/Tach doesn’t actually contain absolute location information. It simply supplies
speed (based upon the frequency of the pulses)
and direction, and therefore, relative position.
Since the SYNC I/O can “count” both the speed
and direction of the stream of pulses, it can use
a Bi-Phase/Tach source to deduce positional information from a starting “address point.” The
difference between Bi-Phase and Tach formats is
that Bi-Phase encodes rate and direction on a
pair of signals using a format called phasequadrature, while Tach encodes rate on one signal and direction on the other. For more information on Bi-Phase/Tach, see the SYNC I/O
Guide.
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SMPTE Frame Formats
Six different formats of SMPTE time code exist,
and Pro Tools can synchronize to any format
with a compatible synchronization peripheral.
The supported SMPTE frame rates are:
• 30 fps (also called 30 Non-Drop)
• 30 fps Drop frame
• 29.97 fps (also called 29.97 Non-Drop)
• 29.97 fps Drop frame
• 25 fps (also called ISO or EBU)
• 24 fps
When you work with NTSC video (the standard in North America), you will generally
work with the NTSC color video standard:
either 29.97 fps Non-Drop or 29.97 fps
Drop frame. If you are working with PAL,
your frame rate is 25 fps.
30 fps Frame Format
This is the original SMPTE format developed for
monochrome (black & white) video, and is commonly used in audio-only applications. This format is often referred to as 30 Non-Drop frame
format.
30 fps Drop Frame Format
This format is used for sound recordings done
for film-originated programs that are destined
for NTSC broadcast.
29.97 Non-Drop Frame Format
This format is used with NTSC color video. It
runs at a rate of 29.97 fps.
29.97 Drop Frame Format
25 fps Frame Format
NTSC color video has an actual frame rate of
29.97 fps, so an hour’s worth of frames
(108,000) running at 29.97 fps Non-Drop will
take slightly longer than one hour of real time
to play. This makes calculating the actual length
of a program difficult when using 29.97 NonDrop time code. A program that spans one hour
of 29.97 Non-Drop time code addresses (for example, from 1:00:00:00 to 2:00:00:00) is actually
60 minutes, 3 seconds and 18 frames long.
This format is used with the European PAL video
standard, which runs at a 25 fps frame rate. This
format is also called the EBU (European Broadcast Union) format because it’s used by broadcasters throughout most of Europe.
To make working with 29.97 time code easier for
broadcasters, the SMPTE committee created
29.97 Drop Frame time code, which runs at exactly the same speed as 29.97 Non-Drop (nondrop frame) time code, but compensates for the
slower speed by “dropping” (omitting) two
frames at the top of each minute, with the exception of every 10th minute. For this reason,
the time code address of 1:01:00:00 does not exist in drop frame code because it has been
skipped.
Note that even though time code addresses
are skipped in drop frame format, actual
frames of video material are not dropped.
At the end of a program that spans precisely one
hour of drop frame time code (for example,
1:00:00;00 to 2:00:00;00), exactly one hour of
real time has elapsed.
Although it sounds complicated, drop frame
time code allows broadcasters to rely on time
code values when calculating the true length of
programs, facilitating accurate program scheduling.
24 fps Frame Format
This format is used exclusively for film applications. Film is typically photographed and projected at a 24 fps frame rate, so this SMPTE format is useful when one time code frame should
equal one film frame.
Working with Film-Originated
Material
When you do post production work in
Pro Tools, you will usually work with video material. However, it is possible that the video you
are working on was shot on film.
Film footage and production sound go through
separate conversion processes before they reach
video, and the audio post production stage. The
film is transferred to video using a process called
Telecine, using a method called 3:2 Pulldown.
Audio can also be pulled down during the transfer, or you might end up working with audio
that has not been adjusted (production sound).
Typically, during the Telecine process, a master
digital video tape is created, along with a work
copy on 3/4” analog video tape for the picture
editor to use. At the same time, a new audio
master may be created by slowing down, or
“pulling down” by 0.1%, the production sound
to compensate for the change in speed from film
to NTSC video.
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Guide Tracks
In the Video editing process, the audio track
produced by the video editor (the “guide track”)
is rough and needs to be enhanced and improved by the audio engineer. For this reason,
the audio engineer will need to re-assemble the
original sound elements in a process known as
conforming.
fields, creating what is called a 3:2 Pulldown.
The speed of the film is also “pulled down” to
23.976 fps in order to accommodate the slower
speed of NTSC color video compared to NTSC
black and white video (29.97 fps compared to
30 fps).
Film frames
Telecine machine
converts film frames
to video fields using
3:2 Transfer
11 22 23 34 44
Digital video
master
29.97 fps
Analog
audio
Production audio
30 fps Non-Drop
48 kHz
Video fields
How film frames translate to video fields in a Telecine
transfer
Analog video
“work tape”
29.97 fps
Sample rate conversion
or A-D-A (analog stage)
Telecine
“simo” DAT
29.97 fps
48 kHz
The Telecine stage of video post production
3:2 Pulldown
468
Film Speed Differs from NTSC
Video Speed
The new NTSC Telecine master tapes will always
run at 29.97 fps during post production, so the
original production sound rolls (at 30 fps) will
be too fast, and therefore out of sync with the
video. Some adjustment of this audio may be required.
A film clip that lasts 1000 seconds consists of
24,000 film frames (pictures). If you want to
transfer that film to 1000 seconds worth of
NTSC color video, you have to “fit” 24,000 film
frames into 29,970.02997 video frames.
When spotting audio to video that was transferred from film to NTSC video, there are two
important terms to keep in mind: film speed
and video speed.
If we use the black and white NTSC video standard (30 fps) instead of 29.97 fps, the process of
converting film frames to video frames is greatly
simplified. Now instead of any fractional
frames, we have 24,000 film frames going into
30,000 video frames (60,000 video fields). In the
Telecine process (for NTSC color video), each
odd film frame is copied to two video fields, and
each even film frame is copied to three video
Film Speed Film speed refers to audio that was
recorded and plays back in synchronization
with the original film material. This audio often
comes from production reels recorded on a Nagra® recorder or a field DAT recorder, and is usually striped with 30 Non-Drop time code. Film
must be pulled down .1% when being transferred to 29.97 NTSC. Film must be pulled up by
4.16667% when film is being transferred to PAL.
Pro Tools Reference Guide
Video Speed Video speed refers to audio that is
running at the NTSC color standard of
29.97 fps. Video speed is 0.1% slower than film
speed, so audio that is still at film speed will be
out of sync with the video. Usually, you will be
working at video speed, though Digidesign and
Avid do provide several options for film speed
(24 fps) support.
Pull Up and Pull Down
Pull Up and Pull Down are terms used to refer to
the deliberate recalibration of the audio sample
rate clock (speed, or musical pitch) in order to
compensate for a speed change. Pro Tools can be
used to pull down or pull up audio for use with
NTSC video. Currently, Pro Tools does not support 4% pulls required for NTSC/ PAL conversions.
Pull Down allows you to play back film-originated material at video speed (–0.1%). Pull Up
allows you to play back video speed material at
film speed (+0.1%).
Using Pro Tools in Pull Up or Pull Down modes
requires a SYNC I/O, or a third party synchronizer.
When to Pull Up or Pull Down
There are many ways to get audio into Pro Tools
for post production. Consider your source audio
and your final destination format carefully. In
some cases, audio will already be pulled down
for you. In other cases, audio will have to be
temporarily pulled down. In still other cases,
you may choose to pull down your audio
source, like a DAT deck, then use a a D-A-D (digital-to-analog-to-digital) process, or Digidesign’s
192 I/O Sample Rate Conversion option, to
record the audio into Pro Tools at the proper
sample rate. Or you may choose only to pull
Pro Tools up or down on delivery of the audio.
Refer to the online document FilmSync.pdf installed with your Pro Tools documentation, for
detailed Pull Up and Pull Down workflow information.
Final Audio Destination: Film
If your final destination is film, your source audio is at film speed, and your goal is to edit and
mix audio in Pro Tools and then lay back to a
device that runs at film speed (such as mag or
time code DAT), you can temporarily pull down
the audio in Pro Tools for NTSC video work,
then return the audio back to film speed when
you're finished (by disengaging pull down).
For example, film speed audio from a field audio
recorder that is referenced to 30 fps time code is
recorded into your Pro Tools system at a sample
rate of 44.1 or 48 kHz. Keeping in mind that
film speed is faster than video speed, select
30 fps in your Session Setup window in
Pro Tools, and record in your audio online and
referenced to the time code on the field audio
recorder.
Once all the audio has been recorded, and you
are locked to a video work print (at video speed),
enable Pull Down. If you are using a Digidesign
SYNC I/O, select Pull Down in the Session Setup
window. If your synchronizer is not a Digidesign product, select Pull Down on the front of
your synchronizer, then enable Pull Down in
the Pro Tools Session Setup window. At this
point, it is highly recommended that you verify
whether the video you’re working with is
striped with 29.97 Drop Frame or Non-Drop
Frame time code. While in Pull Down mode,
you can work with your reference video and everything will remain synchronized and run at
the proper speed (assuming your system is completely resolved).
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469
Once you are ready to lay back your completed
project to an audio device running at film speed,
deselect Pull Down in the Session Setup window, and from your synchronizer if it is not a
SYNC I/O. Then change your time code frame
rate in the Pro Tools session back to 30 fps.
Once Pull Down has been deselected, the audio
played back from Pro Tools will synchronize
perfectly with the edited film.
Alternatively, you can pull down the source audio deck while recording audio into Pro Tools,
work at 29.97 fps with no Pull-Down selected in
Pro Tools, and then switch to 30 Non-Drop
frame format, and select Pull Up during the delivery stage. You will have to perform a sample
rate conversion on the audio either digitally or
by using an analog stage (D-A-D).
Only the inputs on the Digital I/O of the card
(on the 192 I/O) feature real-time sample rate
conversion.
You will also need to select the Sample Rate
Pull Up/Down option in the Session Setup
window.
Final Audio Destination: Video
If you are working with video that was transferred from film, your audio source is at film
speed, and the final layback destination is NTSC
video (or television), and you would like to provide a digital transfer to your clients, you will
need to alter the above recipe slightly. Keep in
mind that when you are working in Pull Down
mode, your active sample rate is 44.056 kHz (if
the audio was recorded at 44.1 kHz) or 47.952
kHz (if the audio was recorded at 48 kHz).
Pull Down the Audio Source
Some professional DAT machines will let you
pull down the sample rate to 44.056 kHz (and
47.952 kHz). You can record this audio into
Pro Tools using a D-A-D (digital-to-analog-todigital) process, or Digidesign’s 192 I/O Sample
Rate Conversion option. Then your audio will
be at the correct speed for the remainder of the
project, since the final destination is video, and
no Pull Down or Pull Up is necessary.
Pull Up Pro Tools While Recording
If you cannot pull down your source, you can
accomplish the same thing by Pulling Up
Pro Tools, and setting your SMPTE frame format
to 30 fps, before recording in the production
sound. First select 30 fps as the frame format in
the Session Setup window. Then select Pull Up
in the Session Setup window (and on your synchronizer if it isn’t a SYNC I/O) before you
record in the production audio. In this case,
while the production audio is running at 44.1 or
48 kHz, Pro Tools is running (and recording) at
a rate of 44.144 or 48.048 kHz. After all the production audio has been recorded into Pro Tools,
deselect Pull Up in the Session Setup window,
and on your hardware synchronizer if it is not a
SYNC I/O. After you deselect Pull Up, the recorded audio will play back 0.1% slower, synchronized with the video, while achieving a true
playback sample rate of 44.1 or 48 kHz. Note
that this process is designed for a final destination of video; to bring this audio back up to film
speed you would have to pull up Pro Tools and
record to a destination that is not Pulled Up.
Note on Sample Rate Conversion
In many cases, you have to perform a sample
rate conversion at some point, either digitally,
or by recording in audio using an analog stage
(D-A-D). The only situation where sample rate
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conversion never has to be performed is when
you are working with film speed audio and your
final destination format is film. Then you can
simply pull down Pro Tools while you work with
the video, then deselect Pull Down to set the audio back to film speed.
Using Digital Input
If you are working with Pull Up or Pull Down,
do not synchronize to any digital inputs that are
used as audio sources in Pro Tools. This would
override the use of the SYNC I/O as the clock reference. Any equipment providing digital audio
sources to Pro Tools should be synchronized externally.
The right half of the back panels of 192 I/O and
the 96 I/O feature a set of non-removable connectors that are mounted permanently to the
enclosure ([Encl.]). These connectors cannot be
used for Sample Rate Conversion. Only the inputs on the Digital I/O card on the 192 I/O feature real-time sample rate conversion.
You will also need to select the Sample Rate
Pull Up/Down option in the Session Setup
window.
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Chapter 35: Time Code Synchronization
Synchronization allows one system to output
time code and the other device to follow that
time code. With synchronization, you can play
all devices in synchronization. Pro Tools is synchronized to other devices using SMPTE time
code or MIDI Time Code. For a discussion of different SMPTE formats, and other concepts related to time code, refer to Chapter 34, “Synchronization Concepts.”
Pro Tools Synchronization
Options
You have four choices for synchronizing
Pro Tools to an external source, plus options for
using Pro Tools as the master device.
SMPTE Trigger Only
(Pro Tools LE Only)
SMPTE Trigger with Digidesign
SYNC I/O
(TDM Systems Only)
This solution uses the SYNC I/O, and house distributed video reference, or house distributed
word clock reference, to control playback and
recording speed in Pro Tools. Accurate longterm synchronization can be achieved when all
transports within the system are resolved to a
common synchronization source.
SMPTE Trigger with an External
Peripheral Slaved to Time Code
SMPTE Trigger can be used with the optional
SYNC I/O, to resolve Pro Tools recording and
playback speed while slaving to LTC. This enables long-term, accurate synchronization by resolving to any variations in incoming time
code.
This solution is useful for short projects if both
systems are extremely close in speed, but even
the best systems will rarely stay synchronized
for longer than a couple of minutes.
Chapter 35: Time Code Synchronization
473
SMPTE Resolved with SYNC I/O
(TDM Systems Only)
You can use the optional SYNC I/O, or equivalent third-party device, to resolve Pro Tools recording and playback speed with any of the following clock reference sources while slaving
Pro Tools to time code:
• Video source
SMPTE In connector, it regenerates the time
code through the LTC or MTC output connector. This signal can be passed along to other
slave devices.
For instructions on connecting an external
synchronization peripheral to your
Pro Tools system, refer to the Getting
Started Guide. If you are using SYNC I/O,
refer to the SYNC I/O Guide.
• House video reference
• VITC
• 1x Word Clock
• AES/EBU “null” clock
• Pilot Tone
• Bi-Phase
Session Setup Window
The Session Setup window allows you to configure various time code-related parameters on
your system. The window also includes various
display-only areas.
This enables long-term, high-fidelity synchronization when all transports within the system are
resolved to this common synchronization
source, or by resolving to any variations in incoming time code while slaving to time code.
Other SYNC I/O Synchronization
Options
By adding SYNC I/O to your Pro Tools TDM system, you can use Pro Tools as the master device
in your synchronization setup. All other devices
are then slaved to Pro Tools.
Session Setup window
Sample Rate
This display-only areas indicates the sample rate
for the current session.
Bit Depth
You can use Pro Tools in conjunction with
SYNC I/O to generate SMPTE LTC, MIDI Time
Code, or MMC messages. When SYNC I/O is
reading incoming SMPTE time code from the
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This display-only area indicates the bit depth for
the current session.
Clock Source
This allows you to configure your hardware for
“Clock Source” by selecting the appropriate
clock source. You can choose from any digital
source, or external word clock, or other rate
clock sources.
Audio will be audible while you are making
changes to Clock Source in the Session Setup
window.
Clock Source on HD-Series
Internal Sync Mode In Internal Sync mode, your
system will reference your Digidesign card or peripheral’s quartz crystal oscillator and play back
at the session’s sample rate.
Changes made to Clock Source in the Session
Setup window will be reflected in the Hardware
Setup window and vise versa. For more information, see “Hardware Setup Window” on
page 477.
External Clock Sources: Depending on your
HD-series audio interface, external Clock Source
options can include AES/EBU [Encl.], S/PDIF,
Optical [Encl.], AES/EBU 1-8, TDIF, ADAT, and
Word Clock (optional word clock rates are available at higher frequencies). External sources can
be 1x any sample rate or the “base” rate. Base
rate equals 44.1 kHz for 88.2 and 174.4 kHz; 48
kHz for 96 and 192 kHz. If an external source is
chosen, and no valid sync clock is detected at
the External Clock In, the I/O will return to Internal Sync mode.
Once a SYNC I/O has been declared as the
synchronization device in the Synchronization tab of the Peripherals dialog, the SYNC
I/O will automatically start producing a 1X
word clock at the session’s sample rate. To resolve your HD I/Os to this word clock signal,
select Word Clock as the Clock Source on
your primary 96 I/O or 192 I/O.
For more information on external clock sources,
see the HD SYNC Guide.
Clock Source (Sync Mode) on Other Systems
On MIX-series, Pro Tools|24, and Digi 001 systems, Clock Source is labeled Sync Mode in the
Session Setup window.
Audio Format
This display-only area indicates the file format
for files recorded in the session.
Session Start
This allows you to specify a SMPTE start frame
location for your session. See “Setting a SMPTE
Session Start Time (Start Frame)” on page 479.
Current Time
This displays incoming time code.
Frame Rate
This allows you to set the SMPTE frame rate for
the current session.
Generate Time Code
This allows Pro Tools to output time code using
SYNC I/O (communicating directly through a
serial port). For more information, see “Generating Time Code” on page 481.
Using Peripheral This option outputs time code
from the Device type selected in the Synchronization page of the Peripherals dialog.
MTC to Port This option outputs MIDI Time
Code to the MIDI destination selected in the
pop-up menu.
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475
Time Code Freewheel
Sync Offset
This allows Pro Tools to “freewheel,” or continue playback if time code is interrupted or corrupted. Use this to protect against errors that
can occur if your SMPTE time code source has
“drop outs” or temporary lost signals.
This field allows you to set a “trigger offset” for
incoming MIDI Time Code (anywhere from
–100000 to +100000 samples). This allows you
to create a permanent offset to fine-tune the
point at which Pro Tools synchronizes relative
to incoming time code. For example, a value of
–50 makes an event in Pro Tools occur –50 samples before the same event in the incoming
MIDI Time Code. Use this to compensate for
timing differences between various SMPTE-toMIDI Time Code converters or analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters.
Frames This option allows you to freewheel
from 1 to 120 frames. This value defaults to 8
frames, which is the recommended setting for
most applications.
Jam Sync This option allows Pro Tools to trigger
synchronization to incoming time code, and
continue to play back even if time code input is
completely interrupted. It can be useful if time
code is damaged, or has been accidentally erased
from your source tape.
Sample Rate Pull Up/Down
When Pro Tools is used in conjunction with
SYNC I/O, or a third-party synchronizer that
supports Pull Down sample rates, this option allows you to “pull up” or “pull down” the current
sample rate. This is used with film-originated
material when working with NTSC-standard
SMPTE frame rates only. For a full explanation
of film-originated scenarios, see “Working with
Film-Originated Material” on page 467.
Pull Up This speeds up the current sample rate to
100.1%. A 48 kHz sample rate is sped up to
48.048 kHz. A 44.1 kHz sample rate is sped up to
44.144 kHz.
Pull Down This slows down the current sample
rate to 99.9%. A 48 kHz sample rate is slowed to
47.952 kHz. A 44.1 kHz sample rate is slowed to
44.056 kHz.
For specific information about pull up or pull
down for higher sample rates, see the SYNC I/O
Guide.
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Sync Offset Voice Usage
For TDM systems, recording with a Sync Offset
requires two voices for each record-enabled
track. In addition, to simultaneously record on
32 tracks with a Sync Offset on a Pro Tools MIXseries system (which allocates voices to either of
two DSP engines, 1–32 or 33–64), the tracks
must be evenly distributed between the two
DSPs, (for instance, tracks 1–16 assigned to
voices 1–16 and tracks 17–32 assigned to voices
33–48).
If you use Sync Offset concurrently with
other functions (such as QuickPunch or Preor Post-roll) that also require two voices for
each record-enabled track at the same time,
you will still only need two voices per
record-enabled track.
Variable Speed Override,
Clock Reference, and SYNC I/O
Reference
Variable Speed Override (VSO) requires a SYNC
I/O. When SYNC I/O is connected to Pro Tools,
the Session Setup window expands to display
additional controls for VSO, clock, and Positional Reference (see Figure 32).
Your choice depends on which device in your
setup you want to make the master clock device.
If you choose a clock source on another HD
clock source other than the Loop Master,
Pro Tools will automatically designate the
new interface the clock master, switch to the
digital sync source, and set all other HD I/Os
to slave. If you are using a 176.4 kHz or
192 kHz sample rate, the 192 I/O must be
the master.
Changes made to Clock Source in the Hardware
Setup window will be reflected in the Session
Setup window and vise versa. For more information, see “Session Setup Window” on page 474.
Ext. Clock Output
Figure 32. Session Setup window with SYNC I/O
Refer to the SYNC I/O Guide for instructions on
using VSO to varispeed Pro Tools playback.
Pro Tools can be used as the master device in
your synchronization setup, where all other devices are then slaved to Pro Tools.
To set Ext. Clock Output:
Hardware Setup Window
1 Launch Pro Tools.
2 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup in Pro Tools.
Clock Source
In order to record from external digital sources,
Pro Tools|HD and the 192 I/O must be configured for the appropriate digital clock format.
To choose a Clock Source:
1 Launch Pro Tools.
2 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup in Pro Tools.
3 Click the Clock Source pop-up menu and select a sync mode.
4 Click OK to close the Hardware Setup dialog
when you have finished.
3 Click the Ext. Clock Output pop-up menu and
select the appropriate clock source to feed to devices attached to your I/O.
4 Click OK to close the Hardware Setup dialog
when you have finished.
If the Legacy Port is enabled (as opposed to
the Expansion Port) then the Ext. Clock
Output automatically switches to
Slave256x. To reset the Ext. Clock Output,
the Port Settings button must be set back to
Expansion and the Legacy I/O must be set to
No Interface. (To set a Legacy I/O to No Interface, select its name in the Peripherals
list, then click on No Interface in the Interface pop-up menu.)
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Preparing to Work with SMPTE
The first step when preparing to work with
SMPTE is to choose an appropriate SMPTE frame
rate.
SMPTE Formats
Pro Tools supports all standard SMPTE frame
rates. For a full explanation of these SMPTE
frame rates, see “SMPTE Frame Formats” on
page 466.
Determining SMPTE Frame Rate
Of course, it’s always best to determine the
SMPTE frame rate through labeling procedures
or communication, but this is not always possible.
If you do not know the frame rate of a tape,
SYNC I/O shows incoming frame rate on its
front panel LED indicators. These devices cannot distinguish between 29.97 fps and 30 fps,
but they can determine whether the incoming
frame rate is drop frame or non-drop frame.
With NTSC video, the frame rate is most likely
29.97 fps Drop or 29.97 fps Non-Drop.
Configuring Pro Tools for
SMPTE
MachineControl is supported on TDM systems only.
Synchronization and MachineControl™ system
parameters are set in the Pro Tools Peripherals
dialog box. These parameters, such as synchronization peripheral setups, MIDI Machine Control, MachineControl, and machine pre-roll, are
system settings, and remain constant regardless
of the particular session you are working on.
Configure these setting before opening a session, if you want them to affect that session.
Other parameters, which are configured in the
Session Setup window, such as the session frame
rate, the session start frame, and time display
format, are session-specific parameters. These parameters can only be configured when a session
is open.
Selecting a SMPTE Format
To choose a SMPTE format:
1 From a Pro Tools session, choose Windows >
Show Session Setup.
2 In the pop-up Frame Rate menu, select the
SMPTE frame format appropriate to your session.
3 Enter the Time Code Freewheel frames (if any)
in the designated box. See “Time Code Freewheel” on page 476 for more information.
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Setting a SMPTE Session Start
Time (Start Frame)
The Session Setup window also allows you to set
a SMPTE Start Frame for your session. Video
work tapes are rarely striped beginning at a
SMPTE frame address of 00:00:00:00. You can
quickly enter a start time for your session based
on an appropriate frame number from your
project tape. The Pro Tools SMPTE-related functions (such as Spot mode) will then use this
value as their reference for the session’s start
point.
Start Time When Striping Tape
If you are generating time code, it is a good practice to stripe your time code beginning at
01:00:00:00 (subtracting time for initial black,
bars and tone, logos, and so on). This prevents
problems that can occur with some synchronizers when the striped time code crosses from
23:59:59:29 to 00:00:00:00 (commonly referred
to as the “midnight” boundary).
To set a SMPTE Start Time for your session:
1 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup.
2 Enable playback of your SMPTE time code
source. Any SMPTE-to-MTC converter device
you are using should indicate that it is properly
receiving time code through its indicators. If
Pro Tools is receiving MTC (or proprietary synchronization code via the SYNC I/O), the Current Time counter will update its display (in
bold numbers) to match the incoming code.
Current Time displayed in Session Setup window
This display is useful for troubleshooting time
code problems, and it should update regardless
of the current Pro Tools Session Start time.
3 Enter a SMPTE frame number in the Session
Start field.
– or –
To capture an incoming SMPTE address, press
the Equal key. You can then edit the captured
address. The session uses the frame number you
enter as its SMPTE start frame when online.
If there are existing regions on the tracks and
you are changing the original SMPTE start frame
to a later time (from 00:00:00:00 to 01:00:00:00,
for example), all existing regions on tracks will
remain in their relative positions, but will start
later by the time value added to the start frame.
4 If you are changing the session start time in an
open session in which tracks already exists, a
warning dialog appears after Session Setup window. Choose from one of two options:
■ Click Maintain Time Code to place the additional session time at the start of the session,
and keep existing regions in their original time
code locations.
– or –
■ Click Maintain Relative Position to place the
additional session time at the start of the session, and maintain the relative position of existing regions to the new start frame. For example,
if you change the session start frame from
01:00:00:00 to 00:59:00:00, Pro Tools adds one
minute of session time to accommodate the new
start frame, and moves all existing regions earlier in time to maintain their relative position to
the start frame.
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Displaying Time in SMPTE Frames
(TDM Systems Only)
In Pro Tools, you can set the Main Time Scale indicator to Time Code (SMPTE). Though
Pro Tools will still synchronize to incoming
SMPTE time code if the Time Scale is displayed
in Bars:Beats, Minutes:Seconds, or Feet.Frames,
it is usually more useful to use SMPTE time code
as your reference.
To work with a sample rate that was pulled up or
down:
1 Choose Setups > Peripherals and click Synchronization.
2 Make sure you have enabled your peripheral.
For more information on enabling SYNC I/O,
see the SYNC I/O Guide.
To set the Main Time Scale to SMPTE Time Code:
■
Choose Display > Time Code.
– or –
Click the Main Time Scale selector in the Edit
window, and select Time Code.
■
Peripherals dialog with peripheral enabled
Selecting a Time Scale format
Pro Tools will display time code values in the
currently selected SMPTE frame rate.
Sub Time Scale Display
You can also display a Sub Time Scale. For example, if the Main Time Scale is set to Time Code,
and you want to compare SMPTE time to “wall
clock,” when you are using 29.97 Non-Drop
frame rate, you can select Min:Secs as the Sub
Time Scale.
Configuring Pull Up and Pull Down
Using SYNC I/O
If you have a Digidesign SYNC I/O and are working with material that has been pulled up or
down, you will need to reconfigure your synchronization settings:
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3 Choose the frame rate for your session from
the pop-up menu. This frame rate might be
30 fps (Drop or Non-Drop) or 29.97 fps (Drop or
Non-Drop) depending on the requirements of
your material. See “When to Pull Up or Pull
Down” on page 469 for more information.
4 In the Sample Rate Pull Up and Pull Down
field, enable the Pull Up or Pull Down option as
appropriate.
This procedure will also work with a third-party
synchronizer that supports Pull Up/Pull Down,
with the following exceptions:
• You have to enable Pull Up or Pull Down in
the Session Setup window and on the front of
your synchronizer.
Putting Pro Tools Online
To trigger playback or recording from an external source, Pro Tools must be placed online. This
tells Pro Tools to listen for incoming time code.
To put Pro Tools online:
■
Choose Operations > Online.
– or –
Click the Online button at the far left of the
Transport.
■
The Online button blinks and Pro Tools waits
for a SMPTE frame to trigger playback. When
time code is received, playback begins and the
Online button becomes highlighted. The Location Indicators in the upper right of the Edit
window, and the Current Time field in the Session Setup window, display the incoming timecode.
To take Pro Tools offline:
■
Deselect Operations > Online.
– or –
Deselect the Online button in the Transport
window.
■
Recording Online
The Operation page of the Preferences dialog
(Setups > Preferences) contains two options that
affect how Pro Tools initiates recording when
online.
Record Online At Insertion/Selection Makes online recording begin wherever you have placed
the insertion point in a track. Recording then
continues until Pro Tools stops receiving time
code. If you make a selection in a track,
Pro Tools will record online only for the length
of the selection.
Record Online at Time Code (or ADAT)
Lock Makes online recording begin as soon as
Pro Tools receives and locks to time code or
ADAT sync. In this case, you don’t need to make
an insertion or selection in a track to designate a
start point.
Generating Time Code
Using SYNC I/O, Pro Tools can generate SMPTE
or MIDI Time Code (MTC). You can then make
Pro Tools a master synchronization source with
other devices slaved to it.
SYNC I/O cannot generate 24 fps time code
while locked to video
The SYNC I/O cannot generate 24 fps time code
while it is locked to a video clock signal. If you
set Pro Tools to generate 24 fps time code while
the SYNC I/O is locked to a video clock signal,
the SYNC I/O will actually generate at the NTSC
color standard 29.97 Non-Drop Frame rate.
Pro Tools can generate time code at non-NTSC
frame rates if you use the internal clock on the
SYNC I/O as a synchronization source.
Online recording options
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To generate time code using SYNC I/O:
1 Connect the out of the SYNC I/O to the
SMPTE in connector on the devices you are slaving. If you are slaving a device that recognizes
MTC, connect the MTC OUT connector of the
SYNC I/O to the MIDI IN connector of the
slaved device (MIDI Interface or other).
Synchronizing a Sequencer to
Pro Tools on the Macintosh
A common application for generating time code
with Pro Tools is slaving an OMS-compatible sequencer to a Pro Tools session.
2 Make sure your SYNC I/O is powered on.
Setting the Clock Master
3 Launch Pro Tools, and make sure you have already enabled the SYNC I/O in the Synchronization page of the Peripherals dialog. See the SYNC
I/O Guide for more information.
The exact synchronization setup your sequencer
requires will vary depending on the software
and your OMS setup, but Pro Tools must be the
clock master. Since Pro Tools provides the audio
sample clock for your system, synchronization
errors will occur over time if Pro Tools is not designated as the master.
4 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup, and
choose the appropriate frame rate.
5 In the Generate Time Code field, select the
“Using SYNC I/O” option.
6 Click on the Clock Reference pop-up menu to
show SYNC I/O modes. Select the desired clock
reference. (If the selected clock reference is not
available, Pro Tools will switch to Internal mode
and post a dialog box alerting you that the clock
source is unavailable or invalid. Not all clock
choices are available at all sample rates. See “External Clock Sources:” on page 475.)
The following instructions describe the general
procedure.
You can use Pro Tools MMC to synchronize
with an OMS/MMC-compatible sequencer
or an external MMC-compatible device
such as an ADAT or DA-88. See “Controlling External Devices Using MMC” on
page 485.
To slave an OMS-compatible MIDI sequencer to
Pro Tools:
Selecting the Clock Reference for a peripheral
7 Confirm that your chosen parameters have
been received by the SYNC I/O. If not, check
your connections and the settings in the Peripherals > Synchronization and Session Setup windows.
8 Click the Online button on the Transport,
then click Play. Pro Tools generates and outputs
time code from the SYNC I/O.
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■ Make sure the OMS IAC Driver is installed in
the OMS Folder inside your System Folder. If
necessary, run the Pro Tools Installer to install
OMS with the OMS IAC driver. Refer to the Getting Started Guide for details.
In OMS Setup:
1 Choose Edit > Preferences, and make sure the
“Use Apple Serial DMA driver when available”
option is not selected. Click OK.
Always make sure the Apple Serial DMA
driver is not being used by OMS. It can prevent proper communication with MIDI devices. You must restart your computer any
time you enable or disable the Apple Serial
DMA driver.
2 Choose Setups > OMS MIDI Setup, and select
the “Run MIDI in background” option.
3 Choose Studio > MIDI Cards & Interfaces,
then click Update Setup. If you are using a serial
MIDI interface, enable the appropriate port and
click Search.
4 Confirm that the OMS IAC driver appears in
the OMS Studio Setup window. If it does, save
the document and make it your current setup.
5 In the OMS Studio Setup window, define an
IAC Bus by double-clicking the IAC Driver icon,
and typing IAC1, for example, in the first field
(this provides a unique name for this particular
IAC bus).
In the Sequencer application:
Different sequencers require different setup
steps and different configurations. For information on the procedure suggested here,
refer to your sequencer documentation. Note
that this procedure may differ for your sequencer.
6 Enable IAC1 (the IAC bus you defined in OMS
setup). Different sequencers operate in different
ways, so refer to your sequencer’s documentation
7 Set the sequencer to receive MIDI Time Code
(MTC).
8 Set IAC1 as the device from which to receive
synchronization information.
9 Select the SMPTE Format (frame rate) that
matches Pro Tools (for example, 30 fps or 29.97
Non Drop fps).
10 Set the SMPTE start frame for your session.
11 Set your sequencer to wait for note input
from the synchronization device.
12 Start playback in the sequencer. It should indicate that it is waiting for sync.
In Pro Tools:
13 Select Operations > Active in Background.
14 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup.
15 In the Session Setup window, choose an appropriate frame rate.
16 Select the SMPTE Start Frame to match the
start frame in your sequencer. If the sequence
starts at 00:01:00:00, you could set the Pro Tools
Session to start earlier (for example, at
00:59:58:00) to allow some pre-roll.
IAC Driver icon in the OMS Studio Setup
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17 Enable the MTC to Port option in the Output
Time Code box. Select IAC1 as the MTC destination.
18 Click Play or press the Spacebar to start play-
back. Pro Tools will send MIDI Time Code to the
sequencer via the IAC port and trigger synchronized playback. Click Stop in the Transport or
press the Space bar again to stop playback.
Once synchronized playback is operating correctly, you can record new takes in Pro Tools
while listening to MIDI playback from your sequencer. Follow the procedure described above
for synchronized playback, then record new material in Pro Tools by following the recording
procedures in this guide (“Recording from MIDI
Devices” on page 149).
You should also be able to record new MIDI
tracks while the sequencer is slaved to
Pro Tools. See your sequencer documentation for details on recording while the sequencer is in an external synchronization
mode.
Synchronizing a Sequencer to
Pro Tools in Windows
These instructions require the use of a physical MIDI port. While several “virtual”
MIDI cable applications do exist for interapplication MIDI communication in Windows, such software devices have not been
qualified to work with Pro Tools.
To synchronize Pro Tools to a Windows sequencer:
1 Make sure your MIDI interface is correctly installed and configured. You must do this before
proceeding.
2 Choose one pair of input/output ports on
your MIDI interface to use as your synchronization “loop” for application-to-application MIDI
communication.
3 Connect a MIDI cable from that port’s output
to the same port’s input (for example, port 1 out
to port 1 in).
4 In Pro Tools, select the appropriate in and out
ports when making your selections for MIDI
source or destination ports.
• If you are slaving your sequencer to Pro Tools,
select the appropriate port in the Session
Setup window’s MTC to Port pop-up menu.
• If you are slaving Pro Tools to your sequencer,
select the appropriate port in the Pro Tools
Peripherals > Synchronization window.
5 In your sequencer, select the appropriate in
and out ports for MTC source/destination.
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Using MIDI Machine Control
Pro Tools provides the capability to transmit location information to external devices, and to
control their transports, using MIDI Machine
Control (MMC).
Controlling External Devices
Using MMC
Any device that supports MMC (such as an Alesis ADAT or Tascam DA-88) can be controlled directly from within Pro Tools, with either the device or Pro Tools acting as clock master.
Macintosh
Pro Tools on the Macintosh uses OMS to facilitate MIDI Machine Control. In order to use
MMC with Pro Tools you must configure your
MMC device to “Receive” and “Send” MIDI Machine Control in OMS. For details, see “Using
MMC to Synchronize an ADAT to Pro Tools on
the Macintosh” on page 487.
By using the OMS IAC bus, you can also
make a MIDI sequencer act as location
master. Refer to your OMS and MMC-compatible device documentation for details.
Windows
The external devices supported by Pro Tools implement “open loop” communications only. Because of this, while Pro Tools is the transport
master, any direct operation of the receiving device’s transport will not be communicated back
to Pro Tools. Instead, you can use the Transport
pop-up to select the external device (MMC in
the pop-up) and use the Pro Tools on-screen
transport controls to drive the device.
Pro Tools does not support remote track arming
of MMC-controlled external devices. You need
to manually arm tracks for recording on the external device.
Digidesign’s MachineControl option supports remote track arming for Sony 9-pin
and V-LAN enabled devices. See “Remote
Track Arming” on page 487.
Pro Tools in Windows uses your Multimedia
Setup to determine which MIDI devices are
available, and what their properties are. Refer to
your device’s installation and usage documentation to properly configure the device.
Enabling MIDI Machine Control in
Pro Tools
To enable MIDI Machine Control:
1 Choose Setups > Peripherals, then click Synchronization.
2 Select your synchronization peripheral from
the Synchronization/Device pop-up. If you are
using a MIDI interface, select “Generic MTC
Reader.” If using SYNC I/O, set the Port to DigiSerial.
3 Select the appropriate port for synchronization information. This is the port to which your
synchronization peripheral is attached.
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485
4 Click the Machine Control button at the top
of the window to open this page of the Peripherals dialog.
8 Click OK to close the Peripherals dialog.
Pro Tools will now be able to control the selected device’s transport.
Operating the Pro Tools Transport with
MMC
You use the Pro Tools Transport window as the
remote controller for all your enabled devices
(MMC units, ADAT, or a non-linear video deck).
To do so, set the enabled devices to listen to the
address you enter for MMC. The Transport window will then “drive” Pro Tools transport and
any slaved devices.
Machine Control page of the Peripherals dialog
5 In the MIDI Machine Control section, enable
MMC.
6 Select your external device from the Send To
pop-up. The list of available devices is determined by the OMS devices configured in your
OMS Studio Setup (Macintosh), or by your Windows Multimedia Setup.
The port on which this information will be
transmitted is set in the “ID” field. MMC commands contain an ID number to identify which
machine should respond to the MMC command. There are 128 MMC ID numbers, from
0–127. The default of ID #127 is a special setting
that broadcasts to all 128 MMC IDs. With this
setting, any device on the specified port will respond to MMC commands.
7 Set a pre-roll time for your MMC device. Preroll is needed to provide Pro Tools with sufficient time to lock to the incoming time code.
This value will vary depending on the external
device. If the pre-roll time is insufficient,
Pro Tools may not be ready to lock until after
the current time code position has passed.
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You can also configure a “Pro Tools master,”
which can “drive” other devices (as needed),
and to which Pro Tools will chase (slaving
Pro Tools).
To control external devices from the Pro Tools
Transport Master:
■ Select either Pro Tools or MMC from the
Transport pop-up in the Pro Tools Transport
window. The selected item will act as Transport
Master.
Choosing a Transport Master
When the Transport Master is set to Pro Tools,
the playback position is governed by the onscreen cursor in Pro Tools.
When the Transport Master is set to MMC, the
playback position is governed by the external
device’s play position.
For more information, see “Recording from
MIDI Devices” on page 149.
Machine Transport Settings
When using MMC, you can set the following
options for machine transport behavior in the
Operation page of the Preferences dialog.
Machine Chases Memory Location With this option enabled, navigating to a specific location in
a session with a Memory Location causes a connected transport to chase to that location.
Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub With this
option enabled, navigating to a specific location
in a session by moving the selection point or by
scrubbing a track causes a connected transport
to chase to that location.
Remote Track Arming
Digidesign’s MachineControl™ option for
Pro Tools allows you to remotely arm tracks on
supported 9-pin (or V-LAN for transport only)
decks. Without MachineControl, Pro Tools does
not support remote track arming of external devices. MachineControl is a DAE Extension that
allows Pro Tools to act as the master or slave to
external Sony 9-pin (or V-LAN for transport
only) machines, in addition to providing remote track arming from within Pro Tools. Contact your Digidesign Dealer for information
about the MachineControl option.
operate at consistently, and set this as the Minimum Sync Delay. On some machines, enabling
the Use Serial time code setting will make machines lock up much faster.
Configuring Minimum Sync Delay for External
MMC Devices Locked to House Sync
When controlling a house-synced device from
Pro Tools via MMC, the device will first lock to
the MMC location and then align the color
framing. Within house sync code are 4 frames
for ensuring color frame lock. If the minimum
synchronization setup time is less than the time
required to achieve both location and color
frame lock, playback will begin before the device has aligned the color frames. In this scenario, you should set the Minimum Sync Delay
to be more than the time required for color
frame lock. This is not a problem with the SYNC
I/O, which will drop out of lock until the color
frame is locked.
Using MMC to Synchronize an
ADAT to Pro Tools on the
Macintosh
The following section presents an example of
how you can use MMC to slave an ADAT to
Pro Tools Mix-series systems on a Macintosh using OMS.
Setup Description
Setting Minimum Sync Delay
Lock-up time delay is the amount of time your
system’s devices need to achieve synchronization “lock.” This amount varies for each device.
Pro Tools lock up delay is set by entering a value
for Minimum Sync Delay in the Synchronization window of the Peripherals dialog. The minimum delay is 15 frames. Find the shortest possible lock-up time that your equipment can
Hardware: Pro Tools system (Macintosh), Opcode Studio 64X MIDI Interface, JL Cooper
DataSync II, Alesis ADAT.
Software: Pro Tools, OMS
Cable Connections: The Studio 64X’s Mac/Serial
port is connected to one of the CPU serial ports
(Modem or Printer). MIDI In and MIDI OUT
connections are made between the appropriate
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487
ports of the 64X and the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT
ports of the JL Cooper DataMaster. Sync (9-pin)
In/Out connections are made between the JL
Cooper DataMaster and the ADAT.
9 Set the ID to 127 (this is the “broadcast to all”
setting, and the Pro Tools default setting for
MMC device ID).
In OMS Setup:
11 In the Session Setup Window, set the frame
rate and start frame as appropriate.
1 Make sure the OMS IAC Driver is installed and
configured. See “Synchronizing a Sequencer to
Pro Tools on the Macintosh” on page 482 for
more information.
2 Define a new device for the JL Cooper
DataSync II and the ADAT.
3 Configure the JL Cooper device by doubleclicking its icon in the OMS Studio Setup window. For the JL Cooper DataMaster, enable Is
Controller, then enable both Sends and Receives
MIDI Time Code. (Be sure to leave Is Multitimbral unchecked.) Select channel 1 as the Receive
Channel.
4 Configure the ADAT OMS device by double-
clicking its icon. Leave both Is Controller and Is
Multitimbral unchecked (disabled). Enable both
“Sends” and “Receives” MIDI Time Code and
MIDI Machine Control. You do not need to have
any Receive channels enabled.
5 Save/Make Current and then close the new
OMS Studio Setup.
In Pro Tools
6 Choose Setups > Peripherals and click Synchronization.
7 Select Generic MTC Reader as the Synchronization device (this represents the 64X), then select the port to which your MIDI Interface is
connected to (in this example, the port choice
would appear as “Studio64X / Printer”).
8 Open the Machine Control window of the Peripherals dialog. In the MIDI Machine Control
section, enable MMC, then select JLCooper
DataMaster as the Send To destination.
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10 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup.
12 Enable the MTC to Port option (click in the
box so that it is enabled), then select JLCooper
DataMaster in the pop-up next to MTC to Port.
This routes MIDI Time Code from Pro Tools to
the JLCooper device, which then sends the data
on to the ADAT.
13 Close the Session Setup window.
14 Click Play or press the Spacebar. The ADAT
will cue to the play point and begin playing
back in sync with Pro Tools. You do not need to
put Pro Tools online to control the ADAT.
15 To control the ADAT from the Pro Tools
Transport, select MMC from the Transport popup (in the Transport window). Pressing Play, Rewind, FFWD, RTZ (Return To Zero), or Go To
End will cause the ADAT to respond accordingly.
External Hardware Configuration
The above example uses the JL Cooper
DataSync II, which must be configured correctly
for the above to work. Configure the ADAT as a
slave (not master), enable MTC as the synchronization source, and enable MIDI Machine Control. The ADAT must be set to Internal mode.
Consult the documentation that came with
these devices for more details.
The above example could also be applied to
Pro Tools|HD, in that a MIDI interface and JLCooper DataSync II, or equivalent is required to
provide positional reference (time code). If you
are using a Digidesign ADAT Bridge I/O with
Pro Tools|HD, refer to the Pro Tools|HD Getting
Started Guide for additional information.
Synchronizing Pro Tools to an
OMS-Compatible Sequencer
Using MMC
(Macintosh Only)
You can “lock” a MIDI sequencer to Pro Tools
for synchronized operation, using the sequencer
as the transport and location master. In this
case, Pro Tools is still the system clock master,
while the sequencer is the transport/location
master.
MMC and OMS Synchronization
When using MIDI Machine Control, you must
have the OMS-compatible sequencer configured
to synchronize to Pro Tools using the OMS IAC
Driver (see “Synchronizing a Sequencer to
Pro Tools on the Macintosh” on page 482).
When controlled by a sequencer via MMC,
Pro Tools serves as clock master for the sequencer.
Pro Tools also serves as a transport and location
slave to the sequencer. When starting and stopping playback in the sequencer, the sequencer
sends out location information to Pro Tools via
MMC commands. Pro Tools then cues to the location, begins playback, and sends MIDI Time
Code back to the sequencer. The sequencer then
locks to the MIDI Time Code from Pro Tools for
synchronized playback.
The following instructions describe the general
steps that you should take. The exact synchronization setup your sequencer requires will vary
depending on the software and your specific
MIDI setup.
To slave the Pro Tools transport to an OMScompatible MIDI sequencer using MIDI Machine
Control:
1 Make sure the OMS IAC Driver is installed in
the OMS Folder inside your System Folder. If
necessary, run the OMS Installer and choose
Custom Install to install the OMS IAC driver.
2 In Pro Tools, choose Setups > OMS Studio
Setup to launch the OMS Setup application.
In OMS Setup:
3 Choose Edit > Preferences, make sure the “Use
Serial DMA driver when available” option is deselected, and click OK.
4 Choose Edit > OMS MIDI Setup, make sure the
“Run MIDI in background” option is selected,
and click OK.
5 Choose Studio > MIDI Cards & Interfaces,
then click Update Setup. If you are using a serial
MIDI interface, enable the appropriate port and
click Search.
6 Confirm that the OMS IAC driver appears in
the OMS Studio Setup window. Save the setup
document and make it your current setup.
7 In the OMS Studio Setup window, define two
IAC busses by double-clicking the IAC Driver,
then naming the first field “IAC1” and the second field “MMC.”
In your sequencer:
8 Enable IAC1 as a MIDI device.
9 Set your sequencer to receive MTC from IAC1,
and enable remote control of the application.
10 Configure the frame rate to match your
Pro Tools session. Click OK to close the Sync Options dialog.
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489
11 Set a sequence start time (for example,
01:00:00:00). The Offset at the top of the Sequence window should usually match the Offset
in Pro Tools.
12 Set the sequencer to wait for MIDI note information (“wait for note”).
13 Start playback in the sequencer. The sequencer should indicate that it is waiting for
note information.
In Pro Tools:
14 Choose MIDI > Enable Input Devices. Select
the IAC bus transmitting the MMC messages
and click OK.
15 Choose Operations > Active in Background.
16 Choose Windows > Show Session Setup, and
choose the appropriate frame rate and SMPTE
Start Frame to match the start time in your sequencer.
17 In the Output Time Code section of the Session Setup window, enable the MTC to Port option. In the pop-up menu just below the MTC to
Port option, choose IAC1. You can now close the
Session Setup window, or leave it open (settings
are active as soon as they are enabled in the Session Setup window).
18 Next, choose Setups > Peripherals, and open
the Synchronization page of the Peripherals dialog.
19 First, select Generic MTC Reader as the synchronization device, and select Any as the port.
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20 Next, click to Enable Control of Pro Tools via
MMC, and set the ID to 0.
If MMC is currently enabled in the
Pro Tools Peripherals > Machine Control
dialog, you must assign a unique ID number in both of the corresponding MMC ID#
fields. If not, an MMC feedback loop will
occur. This can also happen if you use the
default “broadcast to all” ID number of
127 in both places. If you are only slaving
Pro Tools to a sequencer via MMC, without
an external device requiring MMC from
Pro Tools, you should disable MMC entirely
in the Machine Control window.
In the Sequencer:
21 Engage any of the following Transport functions: Play, Stop, Fast Forward, Rewind, Record,
or Locate (Cue). The sequencer sends MIDI Machine Control commands to Pro Tools via the
IAC bus, and Pro Tools follows.
When starting and stopping playback in the sequencer, the sequencer sends location information to Pro Tools via MIDI Machine Control
commands. Pro Tools cues to the location, begins playback, and in turn sends MIDI Time
Code back to the sequencer. The sequencer then
locks to the MIDI Time Code from Pro Tools for
synchronized playback.
MIDI Beat Clock
Some MIDI devices such as drum machines,
hardware sequencers, and arpeggiators can only
synchronize to MIDI Beat Clock. To synchronize these devices to Pro Tools, you can transmit
MIDI Beat Clock to them. Many plug-ins now
support MIDI Beat Clock.
To transmit MIDI Beat Clock:
1 Choose MIDI > MIDI Beat Clock.
2 In the MIDI Beat Clock dialog, select the Enable MIDI Beat Clock option.
Spotting Regions to SMPTE
Frame Locations
(TDM Systems Only)
Spotting is the process of assigning music and
sound cues to specific SMPTE frame locations in
a film or video. This function can be used to
spot:
◆ Entire regions, selected with the Grabber.
Multiple regions can also be selected, and
Pro Tools will reference the first region in your
selection.
◆ A specific location within a region, by clicking
with the Selector at that location, and choosing
Edit > Identify Sync Point.
Spot Mode
In Spot mode, a region in a track can be quickly
spotted by simply clicking it with the Grabber.
You can also drag a region from the Regions List
to a track while in Spot mode.
Beat Clock dialog
3 Select the devices you want to receive MIDI
Beat Clock. If your MIDI interface does not support transmitting MIDI Beat Clock to separate
ports, only the interface appears as a destination.
4 Click OK.
The Spot Dialog
The Spot Dialog appears when you drag a region
to a track or click a region with the Grabber in
Spot mode. The numeric fields function as both
data displays and editing controls for the currently selected regions.
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Information in these fields is displayed in
SMPTE Time Code, Minutes:Seconds,
Feet.Frames, Samples, or Bars & Beats, depending on which Time Scale format is selected.
Use Subframes Option
A subframe is 1/100th of a frame. The Use Subframes option enables you to use these smaller
units for greater accuracy. This command adds
an additional time field in the SMPTE
hours:minutes:seconds:frames box, which appears as the far right time field when enabled.
Use a period to separate subframe values from
whole frames.
Additional time field appears with “Use Subframes”
enabled
Spot dialog
A highlighted numeric field indicates the current active field for numeric entry editing. Entering a value in a field allows you to move a selected parameter to the time location that you
enter. The Start, Sync Point and End fields are
accessible when the Grabber is active. Only the
Start or End (depending on where you click the
mouse) and Duration fields are active when the
Trimmer is active (see “Using the Trimmer in
Spot Mode” on page 494).
To increase or decrease SMPTE values in
the Spot dialog by a specific number of
frames, press plus or minus on the numeric
keypad, enter a number, and press the Enter
key.
Subframe measurements are not available
in the Current Time field.
Capturing Time Code
Pro Tools also allows you to easily capture frame
locations on the fly in this dialog by pressing the
Equal key, or by clicking the Current Time button while valid time code is being received by
Pro Tools. With VITC, you can accurately capture a paused or “crawling” VTR’s SMPTE location.
When Time Code is selected for the Time Scale,
pressing the Equal key captures the incoming
time code. When Bars:Beats is selected for the
Time Scale, pressing the Equal key will capture
to the nearest measure.
Although the Capture Time Code button works
with free-running Linear Time Code (LTC) or
VITC, frame numbers of a paused frame can
only be captured with VITC.
The SYNC I/O can read VITC. With MachineControl and SYNC I/O, you can read serial time
code.
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To use Remote mode with MachineControl,
you will need an approved serial port. For a
complete list of currently approved ports, see
www.Digidesign.com.
10 Click OK to close this dialog. The region
spots to the chosen SMPTE frame location.
When the session is online, this frame number
will trigger playback of the region.
To spot a region to a specific SMPTE frame:
Auto-Spotting Regions
1 Choose Display > Show Edit Window.
The Pro Tools Auto-Spot Regions option simplifies the task of spotting regions even further. If
you are using VITC with this option enabled, or
MachineControl software, you can pause your
video at an appropriate SMPTE frame location,
click on a region with the Grabber, and the region will be automatically spotted to the current
time code location.
2 Choose Display > Time Code.
3 Click the Spot button at the top left of the Edit
window to put Pro Tools into Spot mode.
Spot Mode button
4 Identify the SMPTE frame location where you
want to trigger playback of your region by pausing your video deck on that frame.
You can also use MachineControl’s serial time
code ability to auto-spot by enabling MachineControl and enabling serial time code in the peripheral.
5 With the Grabber, click a region in a track (or
drag a region from the Region’s List into a track).
The Spot dialog appears.
6 Enter the desired SMPTE frame location.
7 If you are using VITC, you can press the Equal
key on the numeric keypad, or click Current
Time Code to enter a paused VTR’s current
SMPTE location.
8 If you are using LTC, when Time Code is selected for the Time Scale, press the Equal key on
the numeric keypad to capture the incoming
time code. When Bars:Beats is selected for the
Time Scale, press the Equal key to capture the
nearest measure.
9 If you recorded the region while online, you
can use the Original Time Stamp button to recall
and enter the SMPTE frame location at which
the region was originally recorded. You can also
access a user-defined Time Stamp in the same
fashion. See “Time Stamping” on page 133 for
more information.
To Auto-Spot a region:
1 Choose Operations > Auto-Spot Regions.
2 If you are using VITC, identify the SMPTE
frame location where you want to trigger playback of your region by pausing your video deck
on that frame.
3 Click the desired region with the Grabber. The
region will be automatically spotted to the current time code location (or machine location).
Clicking a region with the Trimmer will allow you to trim the region to the current
time code location.
Auto-spotted regions are spotted by their
start times, unless you have identified a
Sync Point (see “Identifying a Synchronization Point” on page 495). If the region contains a Sync Point, the region is spotted to it.
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Using the Trimmer in Spot Mode
You can use the Spot dialog to trim your regions,
including start/end/duration times and referencing incoming time code addresses. If you
click a region with the Trimmer in Spot mode,
the Spot dialog will appear, allowing you to enter a value in the Start or End and Duration
fields to specify exactly where you want to trim
the region’s beginning or end. Use this to edit
the length of a region to correspond to a particular visual “hit point.”
Trimming a region that contains a sync point
(see “Identifying a Synchronization Point” on
page 495) will not affect the SMPTE location of
the sync point, unless the region is trimmed
past the sync point.
tional time field appears as the far right time
field when enabled, and allows you to enter subframe values in SMPTE dialogs. Use a period to
separate subframe values from whole frames.
Show Original Time Code in
Regions
This command displays the original “time
stamped” SMPTE times in all regions currently
placed in tracks. This SMPTE frame number represents the time at which the region was originally recorded online with Pro Tools, and does
not necessarily reflect the region’s current
SMPTE location in a track.
To display Original Time Stamps in regions:
■ Select Display > Display Time in Regions >
Original Time Stamp.
Time Stamping
Pro Tools time stamps every region recorded online with the original SMPTE time at which audio was recorded. You can recall this original
SMPTE time for a region by clicking the Original
Time Stamp button in the Spot dialog.
Original Time Stamp button in the Spot dialog
You can also spot a region to a separate user-defined SMPTE time stamp, defined using the
Time Stamp Selected command. Once the region is time stamped using this command, you
can click the User Time Stamp button to re-spot
a region to its user-defined SMPTE location.
The Use Subframes option in the Spot dialog enables you to work with subframe accuracy by
adding an additional time field in the SMPTE
hours:minutes:seconds:frames box. This addi-
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To hide Original Time Stamps:
■ Select Display > Display Time in Regions >
None.
Creating a User Time Stamp
If you want to create a separate user-defined
SMPTE time stamp, you can use the Time Stamp
Selected command in the Regions List pop-up
menu. This command allows you to select a region (or regions) and redefine its SMPTE time
stamp. The Original Time Stamp and the UserTime Stamp are then stored with your session.
When audio is first recorded, the User Time
Stamp will match the Original Time Stamp, but
you can change the User Time Stamp at any
time using the Time Stamp Selected command.
This feature is particularly useful in post production situations where the SMPTE time code on
video “work prints” often changes from one edit
revision to another.
To time stamp a region (or regions) with a new
SMPTE frame number:
1 In a track, select the region that you want to
To hide User Time Stamps:
■ Choose Display > Display Time in Regions >
None.
time stamp.
2 From the Regions List pop-up menu, choose
the Time Stamp Selected command.
Using a Region with its Time Stamp in
Another Session
Pro Tools saves time stamp information for each
region as part of a session—not as part of the audio file itself. If you want to use a time-stamped
audio file in another session, and keep its time
stamps intact, do the following:
1 Open the session that contains the original
time-stamped region.
Time Stamp Selected command
3 Enter a new SMPTE time. You can do this in
three ways: enter the numbers manually (with
the help of the arrow keys); click the Current
Time Code button (or press the Equal key), if
you want to capture the incoming time code address; or click the Current Selection button if
you want to enter the start time of the current
on-screen selection.
4 Click OK to close this dialog.
This command can be used in “batch mode” to
set new time stamps for several regions at a time.
To do this, simply select several regions and
choose the Time Stamp Selected command. One
after another, a dialog will open for each region,
allowing you to quickly enter new values.
Once entered, the user time stamps can be displayed in all regions currently placed in tracks.
To display User Time Stamps in regions:
Choose Display > Display Time in Regions >
User Time Stamp.
■
2 Select the desired region in the Audio Regions
List.
3 Choose Export Selected from the Regions List
pop-up menu. The region can now be used in
other sessions with its original time stamp references intact.
Identifying a Synchronization
Point
The Pro Tools Identify Sync Point command allows you to identify a specific point within a region for audio spotting purposes.
Imagine the following sound effects spotting
scenario: You have a single sound effect that
consists of a creaky door slamming shut, followed by a few seconds of ambient reverberation. The slam portion of the effect—which you
must precisely match to picture—occurs neither
at the very beginning of the audio file nor at the
very end. It is somewhere in the middle, making
it tough to spot.
In this scenario, use the Identify Sync Point
command to create a point in the region and
synchronize that point to a SMPTE frame.
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When you choose this command, the current
SMPTE time is automatically entered as the
SMPTE location for the sync point.
To create a sync point in a region:
1 Click with the Selector at the point in the region that you want to synchronize to a SMPTE
frame location.
2 Choose Edit > Identify Sync Point. An arrow
indicator appears in the audio region indicating
the location of this sync point.
Tips for Locating and Spotting to Sync
Points
■ To place a region’s start point at the current
edit cursor location, Control-drag (Macintosh)
or Start-drag (Windows) the region from the Region List.
■ To place a region’s sync point at the current
edit cursor location, Option-Control-drag (Macintosh) or Alt-Start-drag a region from the Region List.
■ To move to the next region boundary or sync
point, press Tab.
Removing a Sync Point
To remove a sync point from a region:
1 Select the entire region with the Grabber.
2 Choose Edit > Remove Sync Point.
Identifying a Sync Point in a region
Changing a Sync Point
Troubleshooting
Synchronization
To change the location of a Sync point in a region:
Click with the Selector in the region and
choose Edit > Identify Sync Point. The new location will then be identified as the Sync Point.
■
Getting SMPTE synchronization to work properly can seem like a formidable task at times.
The following suggestions may help you troubleshoot and solve common problems.
Use the Current Time Field in the
Session Setup Window as a Reference
The Current Time field in the Session Setup window indicates whether or not Pro Tools is receiving time code. If this field appears to be inactive
when inputting time code into your time code
reading device, check your hardware device settings, the device’s connection to your computer,
and your OMS Setup (Macintosh) or Multimedia
Setup (Windows).
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Stripe SMPTE Before You Record
All tapes in your setup (both audio and video)
must be striped with SMPTE Time Code before
any audio is recorded onto them or to Pro Tools.
If tapes aren’t striped, your system may seem to
work, but synchronization will never properly
occur. The machines and Pro Tools will drift farther and farther apart the longer they run.
The same problem occurs when audio is recorded into Pro Tools without a resolved SMPTE
source (for example, if it was recorded before the
current session). The audio cannot be accurately
synchronized with an analog tape recorder or
video tape deck, since the Pro Tools audio was
not recorded referenced to the SMPTE time code
from the analog tape deck or video tape deck.
Resolve All Components of Your
System
When striping time code, make sure that the
time code generator and the video record deck
are resolved to the same crystal reference. For
example, when striping 29.97 Drop Frame time
code onto a VTR, both the SMPTE generator and
the VTR should be resolved to the same “black
burst” or house sync generator. During playback, the master deck should be resolved to
“black burst” or house sync.
This convention provides compatibility for your
tape between the record and playback passes,
and when it’s played back in other facilities on
different equipment. This also means that when
playing back a tape striped with time code, the
playback deck should be resolved to the same
synchronization rate as the record deck was resolved to at the time of the striping. When you
stripe an audio transport with time code, it
should be “free-running” and unresolved, but
should be resolved with a house sync-referenced
synchronizer during playback.
Know the True Frame Rate on Your Work
Tape
If you get your video tapes from a production
company instead of recording them yourself, be
absolutely sure that they indicate the SMPTE
frame rate used on the tape correctly.
The Digidesign SYNC I/O (and some third-party
products) can be used to determine frame rate.
See “Determining SMPTE Frame Rate” on
page 478.
29.97 fps Non-Drop Rate Can Cause
Problems
29.97 fps Non-Drop is a slightly slower version
of 30 fps Non-Drop time code. When used with
color video, each video frame now matches up
with each SMPTE frame without having to use a
drop-frame coding. This makes any frame number mathematics much simpler, since no frame
numbers are dropped.
Unfortunately, some hardware and software devices do not recognize 29.97 Non-Drop as a separate frame rate. For example, any standard
SMPTE-to MTC-converter does not explicitly
recognize it. The user must tell the convertor to
expect 30 fps Non-Drop instead. In fact, many
devices that read SMPTE work acceptably by
reading 29.97 Non-Drop if they are set to expect
30 fps Non-Drop.
Any SMPTE reader that uses the time code numbers to make real-time calculations (as Pro Tools
does when it tries to trigger and synchronize to
SMPTE) also needs to know that the frame format is 29.97 and not 30 fps. Since Pro Tools allows this choice of frame rate this does not really pose a problem. The problem exists because
many users cannot readily distinguish 29.97
from 30 fps.
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More importantly, some production companies
will distribute video work prints striped with
29.97 fps but mark them as “30 fps NTSC,” by
which they actually mean 29.97 fps Non-Drop.
By the time you get the tape, you may have no
idea what’s actually on it. Feeding 29.97 NonDrop to Pro Tools when it’s set for 30 fps NonDrop will result in timing errors of about 1.8
frames per minute, causing audio playback to
trigger out of sync.
Be Careful When Changing Frame Rates
If you change time code rates in the middle of a
session, many SMPTE-to-MIDI Time Code converters need to be turned off and turned on
again to be able to recognize the new frame rate.
Use a Consistent Clock Source
When possible, sound files should be played
back using the same peripheral it was recorded
with, in addition to a house/black burst. This assures the closest match between record and
playback sample rates.
On a Macintosh, Disable AppleTalk,
Network Connections, Screen Savers,
and Power Saving Features
These types of software can cause the Macintosh
to ignore MIDI data (such as MIDI Time Code)
coming into its serial ports. Make sure AppleTalk
is inactive in the Chooser, disconnect AppleTalk
cables, and remove any network extensions
from your System Folder.
In Windows, Disable Screen Savers and
Power Management Features
These types of software can cause your computer to ignore MIDI data (such as MIDI Time
Code).
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Chapter 36: Working with QuickTime
Movies
You can use Pro Tools to import QuickTime
movies and audio (such as MP3s), perform audio
post production tasks, and export the finished
product as a new QuickTime movie.
QuickTime movie features in Pro Tools are
supported on Macintosh systems only.
Movie track displayed as picons
About QuickTime
QuickTime is digital video technology designed
to produce compact video files for multimedia
use.
Using QuickTime Movies in
Pro Tools
Pro Tools allows you to import QuickTime movies into your Pro Tools sessions.
Movie window
Pro Tools provides precise, frame-accurate audio
and video synchronization. This means you can
use your Pro Tools system as an off-line audio
editing system, leaving the video editing suite
free for video editing.
With Pro Tools, you can:
Once imported into Pro Tools, a QuickTime
movie is displayed in its own Movie track in the
Edit window, and in a floating Movie window.
This floating window can be viewed on a second
monitor with appropriate video hardware. With
a QuickTime movie in the session, Pro Tools
serves as a fast, random-access visual reference
for “sweetening” the movie by adding sound effects, music, foley, dialog, or other audio.
◆
Import a QuickTime movie into a session
◆ Import audio from a QuickTime movie (or audio from a CD or a CD-ROM)
◆ Synchronize audio events to a QuickTime
movie, using the Pro Tools editing features to
spot and nudge regions to video frames
◆ Scrub audio elements in tandem with a QuickTime movie
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Use the Pro Tools Bounce to Movie command
to compile a new “flattened” QuickTime movie
file that can be read by any QuickTime-compatible application
◆
Because Pro Tools has no video editing capabilities of its own, if you want to edit or in any other
way modify a movie, return to your video capture and assembly environment (for example,
Adobe Premiere) for editing, then import the edited movie into Pro Tools.
You can capture Avid-compatible video in
Pro Tools with AVoption or AVoption XL.
Video Capture/Playback Cards
For professional applications where full-screen,
25/30 frames-per-second playback is critical, we
recommend that you invest in a Digidesign-approved third-party video capture and playback
card. For the most up-to-date information about
such products, contact your Digidesign dealer or
visit Digidesign’s Web site.
If You Are New to Audio Post
Production
If you are new to digital video, time code, or audio-for-post production, the following suggestions will help you manage your session’s audio
and video requirements. Not all of these may
apply to every project.
Plan Ahead Think through your entire project
before you start capturing your video. For best
results when working with SMPTE time code,
make sure that time code is burned into a window in the movie. Try to anticipate compatibility and configuration issues that may arise.
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Conform Your Movie Be sure to conform your
captured QuickTime movie to the desired frame
rate. Consult your video capture software’s documentation for information on how to ensure
frame-accurate captures. We recommend that
you do this to all video captures to ensure accurate playback in Pro Tools.
If your destination is a pulled-down Pro Tools
session, this pull down affects QuickTime movie
playback speed. You should conform your
movie to a 30 fps frame rate for use in a pulleddown session.
Destined for Video or Film? What is the ultimate
destination of your work? Is it for DVD, HD, TV,
film, audio CD or CD-ROM? This will determine
such things as the best sample rate to use, the
correct frame rate, pull-down or pull-up rates,
and so on. Double-check the time code frame
rate. You must make sure that you know the correct frame rate of the video source.
Storage Make sure you have enough disk space
on your drive, and optimize your hard drives
regularly.
Video Compatibility If you are not digitizing the
video material yourself (if the material is already
on hard disk) check into the type of video capture and playback system that was used and
make sure you can accommodate that format’s
compression method. Check whether or not
time code is “burned into” or superimposed
over a small area of the video.
QuickTime Requirements
Pro Tools supports playback of QuickTime videos without additional hardware. However, performance will vary in terms of maximum movie
size, frame rate, and smoothness of playback.
Capture of 30/25 fps (frames per second), 60/50
fields-per-second video requires a video capture
card, and associated software and hardware.
About Frame Length and QuickTime
Movies
Not all video capture software can guarantee
consistent frame lengths. Consult your video
capture software documentation for information on ensuring frame-accurate captures, and
on conforming your video to proper frame
boundaries.
To take advantage of Pro Tools QuickTime
movie playback capabilities, you will need the
following:
The version of Apple’s QuickTime System Extension (included with Pro Tools). To install
QuickTime, run the installer included on the
Pro Tools Installer CD.
◆
QuickTime movie playback and editing software (such as Adobe Premiere, AVID VideoShop,
Macromedia Director, or Apple MoviePlayer) to
edit and compile QuickTime movies.
◆
Optionally, you may also need:
QuickTime movie capture hardware and software to digitize your own movies from a video
tape or video camera source.
◆
An Apple CD-ROM drive running at 2x speed
or faster to take advantage of commerciallyavailable QuickTime movies and sound clips.
◆
Movie Playback Quality
Options
Pro Tools supports three options for movie playback performance: Normal Priority Playback,
Medium Priority Playback, and Highest Priority
Playback. In most cases, you should leave the
priority choice set to Normal Priority Playback.
If you are running QuickTime Movies natively,
that is, without a capture card, you may need to
use one of the other playback priority options. If
this does not apply to you, leave movie playback
priority set to Normal Priority Playback. This is
the default setting.
Hard Drive Tips for Best Performance
For best movie playback performance, make
sure that the hard drive you are using for video
capture and playback is not on the same SCSI
bus as your audio files, if possible. This allows
the least amount of interference between drives
when Pro Tools requests audio and video data.
With most capture cards, and moderate data
capture rates (800 kilobytes per second or less),
this should provide good performance.
The G4 has an internal IDE system drive. For
best performance, audio and video should be
stored on SCSI drives, connected to the computer with a Digidesign-approved SCSI interface
card.
Some Macintosh computers have two SCSI busses, an internal SCSI bus, and a separate external
SCSI bus. The internal bus is often a SCSI Fastcompatible bus that can yield better disk performance. The external bus is a narrow SCSI bus,
which is slower. For best performance use an internal drive that connects to the internal, fast
SCSI bus. Contact your Digidesign dealer or visit
the Digidesign Web site for compatibility information.
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Importing a QuickTime Movie
Before you import a movie, you should digitize
your video material and know the correct frame
rate and sample rate when applicable.
If a video card with hardware video compression was used to create the QuickTime
movie, Pro Tools cannot play the movie
without the compression hardware. Make
sure the video card is installed and configured correctly before starting your session.
To import a QuickTime movie into Pro Tools:
5 Select the desired movie and click Open.
Pro Tools imports the movie and displays it in
its own Movie track in the Edit window as well
as in a floating Movie window. The first frame of
the movie is automatically synchronized to the
start time of your session.
Movie track “VideoSpot” appears above the “Rhythm
Guitar” track
About the Movie Track
1 Launch Pro Tools and create a new session, or
open an existing one.
2 Check the time code parameters of the session
to make sure they match those of the movie you
wish to import, and save the session.
3 Choose Movie > Import Movie.
Import Movie dialog
4 Locate the desired movie. When you select a
movie in the Import Movie dialog, you can view
a preview frame by enabling the Show Preview
check box. The preview corresponds to the first
frame of the movie. If you have not yet created
a preview, you can do so by selecting the desired
movie and clicking Update in this dialog.
Once a movie is imported into Pro Tools it appears in the Edit window in its own Movie track.
This picon (picture-icon) track displays a
“thumbnail” overview of the frames of the
movie it represents. The Movie track will show
greater or lesser detail depending on your current zoom level in the Edit window—the closer
in you zoom, the greater the number of individual frames that are displayed in the Movie track;
the farther out you zoom, the fewer the number
of individual frames that are visible.
The Movie track behaves much as a Pro Tools
audio or MIDI track in that you can move the
movie region with the Grabber or other editing
tools. This allows you to offset the movie to any
start point. However, you cannot edit the Movie
track by trimming it or capturing regions from
within it.
Only one QuickTime movie can be associated
with a session at a time. If you want to import a
different movie into a session, repeat the previous steps. The new movie will replace the original in the session.
A Movie track takes its name from its associated
movie file and cannot be independently renamed.
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Picon View Performance
When using Picon View to view movie content
in the Movie track, your computer may exhibit
reduced or sluggish performance. If this happens on your computer, switch the Movie track
view to Blocks mode.
Scrubbing the Movie Track
You can use the Scrubber tool to scrub the
Movie track with full frame accuracy. If you
scrub directly on the Movie track, only the
movie will scrub (no audio will play). If you
scrub on an audio track, audio and the movie
will scrub simultaneously.
Scrubbing a movie
To scrub the Movie track:
1 Select the Scrubber tool.
2 Click the Movie track at the desired point and
drag the Scrubber.
To scrub with finer precision, press the
Command key while scrubbing
About the Movie Window
The Movie window displays the movie playback
or the current frame if playback is paused or
stopped. You can drag the Movie window anywhere on your computer screen.
To display the Movie window:
■ Choose Window > Show Movie Window. If a
movie has already been imported, the Movie
window will appear.
Using a 14-inch Monitor for Playback
If you capture 320 x 240 (NTSC) movies and
have a second monitor with 640 x 480 resolution (a standard 14-inch monitor), clicking on
the Movie window will route movie playback to
that monitor. The Movie will “bounce” over to
the second monitor, and will be pixel-doubled
so that it takes up the whole screen.
Tips for Optimizing Movie Playback
Since Pro Tools uses QuickTime to play movies,
the quality of the playback is dependent on the
speed of your Macintosh CPU and hard drive,
the size (in pixels) of the movie, and the quality
of the video hardware used to capture and play
back the digitized video. While QuickTime
doesn’t produce broadcast-quality playback, it is
frame accurate when spotting to picture.
On PCI-based computers, Pro Tools continuously re-syncs the movie. The movie resolves to
the audio sample clock. This allows the movie to
smoothly track the audio even when your system is varispeeded.
For more consistently smooth movie playback,
here are some suggestions:
◆ Use a Digidesign-approved video capture and
playback card for 25/30 frames-per-second fullscreen movie playback.
◆ Display the movie on a separate monitor
driven by a video capture and playback card.
Movie window
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503
If you don’t have a video capture and playback card, set the movie playback priority to Medium Priority Playback or High Priority Playback
using one of these commands in Movie menu.
This gives priority to movie playback, rather
than other screen graphics tasks such as moving
faders.
◆
◆
Use the fastest CPU possible.
Capture and play QuickTime video from a
separate hard drive than your Pro Tools audio
drives.
◆
Remove unneeded System Extensions and
Control Panels.
◆
Disable AppleTalk and other background tasks
on the CPU, such as File Sharing, screen savers,
Calculate Folder Size and any fax or e-mail software.
Setting the Movie Start Time
(Movie Offset)
When you import a movie into your session, the
first frame of the movie defaults to the start time
of the session. In some cases, however, you may
need to offset the movie by some amount forwards or backwards so that you can accurately
spot audio to the movie.
Since a movie can be moved inside the Movie
track, it is fairly easy to match these two times.
In fact, you may not have to move the Movie
track at all.
◆
Disable the Automation Preference for Faders
Move During Playback.
◆
Set No Auto Scrolling in Operations > Scroll
Options.
◆
Reduce the size of the Edit window to the
smallest possible size.
◆
◆
Close unnecessary windows.
Reduce the overall length of the SCSI chain of
your computer system for improved throughput.
◆
Reduce the pixel size of the movie (for example, reduce it from 640 x 480 pixels to 320 x 240
pixels).
◆
For finer adjustment of a movie’s start time, you
can use the Set Movie Sync Offset command to
offset the movie in 1/4-frame increments. This
is more accurate than dragging the Movie track,
and is especially useful in cases where your
movie track happens to begin with a partial
frame.
To set the movie offset:
1 Double-check that the session’s SMPTE frame
rate matches that of the movie.
2 Choose Movie > Set Movie Sync Offset, enter
the desired offset value, and click OK.
The Movie Sync Offset is always defined in
Feet.Frames, regardless of the session time
display.
3 Lock the movie in place by choosing Edit >
Lock/Unlock Region.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
To spot the movie to a sync point:
1 Double-check that the session’s SMPTE frame
rate matches that of the movie.
2 In the Edit window, enable Grid mode.
3 Set the session time display to SMPTE.
4 Set the Grid Value to Feet.Frames.
5 With the Selector, click in the Movie track to
place the cursor where you want to create a Sync
Point. Often, the best spot will be the “2 beep”
two seconds before the first action frame (the
start of the video). You can use the plus and minus keys on the alpha keyboard to nudge the
cursor and the movie one frame at a time.
6 Choose Edit > Identify Sync Point to place a
Sync Point at the current cursor location.
7 Put Pro Tools into Spot mode by clicking the
Spot button in the Edit window.
8 Click the Movie track with the Grabber. The
Move Region To dialog appears.
9 Enter the time code number displayed in the
window-burn of the frame you are spotting to (if
the movie has a SMPTE time code window
burned into it) and click OK to close the Move
Region To dialog.
The movie’s sync point moves to the SMPTE location you entered.
Spotting Audio to a QuickTime
Movie
For accurate spotting, Grid mode provides you
with an effective tool for quick and accurate selection of waveforms, and alignment of regions
in tracks. When Grid mode is enabled, the Selector will snap to the current Grid Value, and regions selected with the Grabber and dragged to a
track will also align up with the Grid Value.
Conforming Your Movie
Before you spot audio to a movie, you should
conform the movie file so each frame starts and
ends at valid frame boundaries.
For example, Adobe Premiere contains a Conform Movie tool for destructively editing the
lengths of each frame to the grid of the current
frame rate. You should conform the movie to a
frame rate that Pro Tools can work with (30 fps
or 29.97 fps).
If your destination is a pulled-down
Pro Tools session, the pull down affects
QuickTime movie playback speed. Conform
your movie to a 30 fps frame rate for use in
a pulled-down session.
Consult your video capture software documentation for more information.
More Tips for Spotting Audio
◆ Specify your movie size up front. For purposes
of spotting audio, 320 x 240 is usually adequate.
If you are displaying the movie on a second
monitor with 640 x 480 resolution, with pixel
doubling, it will fill the screen.
◆ Try to work with a window burn in the movie,
since it will help you spot material. You can produce your own window burns for the capture using Digidesign's SYNC I/O.
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505
Use a continuous scrolling option. Pro Tools
includes two scrolling options that are particularly useful in post production: Continuous
Scroll During Playback, and Continuous Scroll
with Playhead. Enable either of these scrolling
options by selecting them from the
Operations > Scroll Options submenu.
◆
5 While pressing the Control key, drag the desired region from the Regions List to the appropriate track. Pro Tools will automatically spot
the region to the same time location as the cursor.
To spot elements directly to locations in the
movie, use the technique described above. In
this scenario, Auto Spot mode is not recommended, since it uses incoming MTC for location information.
Using Grid Mode to Spot and
Nudge Regions with Frame
Accuracy
(TDM Systems Only)
Grid mode allows you to constrain the movement of regions so that they snap to SMPTEbased measurements (minutes, seconds, frames,
or subframes).
To spot audio to a movie:
1 Click the Grid button at the upper left corner
of the Edit window. This ensures that the audio
will align to a frame boundary.
2 Set your Grid Value to Time Code using the
pop-up menu.
3 Choose a desirable Grid unit setting. Note that
you can set the grid units independently of the
Main Time Scale.
4 Using the Selector, place the insertion cursor
at the desired location in the movie. If you
want, use the Nudge Value pop-up to set the
nudge units to frames. You can then use the plus
and minus keys on the alpha keyboard to nudge
the insertion point frame by frame.
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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Importing QuickTime Audio
(and Other Compressed Video
Files)
Pro Tools allows you to import audio directly
from a QuickTime movie. You can import audio
from a movie currently loaded into a session, or
from a different movie. The procedure is the
same for both.
Pro Tools supports the following compressed
QuickTime file formats:
◆
MP3
◆
QDesign
◆
uLaw 2:1
◆
aLaw 2:1
◆
Intel ADPCM
◆
Microsoft ADPCM
◆
IMA 4:1
◆
32-bit floating point
◆
64-bit floating point
◆
16-bit Big Endian
◆
16-bit Little Endian
◆
MACE 6:1
◆
MACE 3:1
QuickTime files can be imported into sessions
using either Import Audio from Other Movie or
Import Audio from Current Movie menu commands.
Samp