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Chapter 69: TL AutoPan
Introduction
TL AutoPan is a TDM and RTAS plug-in for
Pro Tools. TL AutoPan is an automatic panning plug-in that pans a mono input to a multichannel (stereo, LCR, quad, or 5.0) output based on a
LFO, envelope follower, MIDI Beat Clock, or manual automation. TL AutoPan is ideal for rhythmic panning effects based on your
Pro Tools session tempo. It also provides an easy and elegant way to automate panning to multichannel surround formats for post-production.
RTAS on Pro Tools host-based systems only supports mono-to-stereo.
TL AutoPan Controls
The TL AutoPan interface is divided into several sections, each of which is described below.
Output Meters
The Output meters display the amplitude of the outgoing audio. In mono-to-stereo mode, a two meter bar is shown. In mono-to-LCR, quad, or
5.0 mode, three, four, or five channels are shown respectively.
Output meters (L, C, R, Ls, Rs)
The Clip indicator lights red when the channel has clipped. The clip indicator for each channel can be cleared by clicking it.
Figure 31. TL AutoPan plug-in, TDM version
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Panner Section
The Panner section provides different controls for different output channel configurations.
TL AutoPan in mono-to-stereo and mono-to-
LCR formats provide controls common to all output configurations: Output, Width, and
Manual. TL AutoPan mono-to-quad and monoto-5.0 formats provide additional controls depending on the Path selection: Angle and Place, or Spread. Additionally, the Panning Source selector, Panning display, and Path selectors are common to all output channel configurations.
Output
The Output slider lets you cut or boost the output signal level from –24 dB to +12 dB.
Manual
The Manual slider directly controls the pan position, this lets you manually control the pan position from a control surface or by using automation. The amount of manual control is affected by the setting of the Width slider. For full manual control, set the Width slider to 0%.
When the Width slider is at 100%, the Manual slider has no effect on the pan position. When
Width is set to 50%, the LFO sweeps the position through 50% of its range and the Manual slider lets you move the position of that 50% range.
Angle
The Angle slider adjusts the orientation of the panning field from –90° to +90°. At 0°, the panning field is oriented strictly left/right. At –90° or +90°, the panning field is oriented strictly front/back.
Panner section, mono-to-stereo, left to right path selected
Width
The Width slider controls the width of the panning field. At 100%, the panning field is at its widest. At 0%, the panning field is centered and stationary. The Width slider effectively determines the amount of LFO or Envelope control on the pan position.
Panner section, mono-to-5.0, left to right path selected
The Angle slider is only available with mono-toquad and mono-to-5.0 formats, and a left to right or right to left path selected.
Place
The Place slider adjusts the front/back placement of the panning field. At 0%, the panning field is centered front/back. At +100%, it is placed all the way front. At –100%, it is placed all the way back.
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The Place slider is only available with mono-toquad and mono-to-5.0 formats, and a left to right or right to left path selected.
Spread
The Spread slider opens or constricts the field of panning. At 100%, the spread of the panning field is at its greatest. At 0%, the spread of the panning field is completely constricted, and the sound is centered and stationary (left/right and front/back).
Panning Source
Click LFO or ENV to select the source for panning. When the Source is set to LFO, panning is
controlled by the LFO and its controls (see “LFO
Section” on page 468). When the Source is set to
Envelope (ENV), panning is controlled by the
Envelope Detector and its controls (see “Envelope Section” on page 470). The Envelope De-
tector can be triggered by the panned audio sig-
nal, or by a side-chain input (see “Using the
Side-Chain Input” on page 472).
Panning Source buttons
Panning Display
The Panning display graphically represents the panning field and the location of the sound source within that field.
Panner section, mono-to-5.0, clockwise path selected
The Spread slider is only available with monoto-quad and mono-to-5.0 formats, and a circular path (clockwise or counterclockwise) selected.
Panning display, mono-to-5.0, left to right path selected
Sound Location Indicator This bright yellow light indicates the location of the sound source.
Panning Field Indicator This is the grey line on which the yellow Sound Location indicator travels and indicates the panning field.
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Path
The Path selectors determine whether the audio signal pans left to right, right to left, or in a circular motion clockwise, or counterclockwise.
The circular path selectors (clockwise and counterclockwise) are only available with mono-toquad and mono-to-5.0 formats.
Rate
The Rate slider adjusts the rate of the LFO in beats per minute. When Link to Tempo is activated, the slider is ignored and the Tempo LCD always displays the current session tempo (see
Waveform
The Waveform selector determines the wave shape used by the LFO. The waveform shape in use is graphically depicted by the movement of the Sound Location indicator in the Panning display.
Path selectors, left to right path selected
LFO Section
The LFO section provides controls for the Low
Frequency Oscillator that can be used to modulate panning. The controls in the LFO section only affect the panning if LFO is selected as the panning source in the panning section (see
“Panning Source” on page 467).
LFO section
When the Panner section is set to Envelope
(ENV), the controls in the LFO section have no effect on panning.
Selecting the LFO Waveform
LFO Triggers
By default, the LFO cycles continuously through the selected waveform. The LFO can be set to cycle through the selected waveform just once, or it can be triggered by MIDI Beat Clock, the Envelope, or manually.
LFO Triggers
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Single
When the Single trigger is selected, the LFO will cycle thru the waveform once only and then stop.
Beat Clock
When the Beat Clock trigger is selected, the LFO synchronizes to MIDI Beat Clock. TL AutoPan receives Beat Clock signal every 64th-note. The
Duration menu determines how often the Beat
Clock signal triggers TL AutoPan, ranging from every 16th-note to every 4 bars. When Beat
Clock signal is received, the Beat Clock trigger light blinks brightly. Using the Beat Clock function enables TL AutoPan to produce consistent panning results, ensuring that the LFO is always in the same state at each beat.
Envelope
When the Envelope trigger is selected, the LFO is triggered directly by the Envelope Detector, which analyzes the amplitude of the audio signal. If the Side-Chain Input selector in the Envelope section is activated, then the side-chain audio signal is used instead. When activated, the
Envelope light blinks brighter when an audio signal is detected. The threshold level can be adjusted using the Threshold control in the Envelope section.
If the Envelope Detector is completely released due to previous portions of the audio signal going above threshold, a trigger occurs the next time the audio goes above the threshold level.
Another trigger will not happen until the Envelope Detector has completely released after the audio goes below the specified threshold. Increasing the release time reduces the rate at which triggers can occur and decreasing the release time increases the rate at which triggers can occur.
Manual
When the Manual trigger is selected, the LFO is triggered manually. This can be especially useful if you want to trigger the LFO using Pro Tools automation.
With control surfaces and automation, the Manual trigger acts like an on/off switch and triggers the LFO every time it changes state.
Tempo Controls
Link To Tempo
When the Link To Tempo option is enabled, the
LFO rate is set to the Pro Tools session tempo, and any tempo changes in the session are followed automatically. In addition, the LFO rate slider is ignored and the tempo displayed in the
LCD always displays the current session tempo.
Tempo controls
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Duration Selector
The Duration selector works in conjunction with the session tempo, LFO rate, and Beat
Clock trigger. By default, Duration is set to 1 bar.
At that setting, the LFO cycles once within one bar. When Duration is set to 1 beat, the LFO cycles within the duration of one beat. When Link to Tempo is enabled, the Duration menu allows the LFO rate to be set as a function of the tempo of the Pro Tools session. The Duration menu also controls how often the Beat Clock trigger is activated.
Envelope Section
When Envelope (ENV) is selected as the Panning source, Panning (as shown in the Panning display) is controlled by the audio signal and the
Envelope section controls.
Envelope section
When Envelope (ENV) is not selected as the
Panning Source, the controls in this section have no effect on the sound.
Side-Chain Input
When the Side-Chain Input selector (the key icon) is enabled, the audio for the Envelope Detector is taken from the side-chain input rather than the current track. Select the Side-Chain Input using the Pro Tools Key Input selector at the top of the plug-in window.
Selecting Duration
Tempo LCD
The Tempo LCD displays the tempo in BPM.
The value in the Tempo LCD can also be edited directly by clicking it and typing a new value.
Tempo LCD
Side-Chain Input selector enabled
Threshold
The Threshold slider sets the amplitude level required for the Envelope Detector. The LFO Envelope Detector light blinks brighter when audio is detected above the threshold.
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Attack
The Attack slider sets the attack rate of the Envelope Detector.
Release
The Release slider sets the release rate of the Envelope Detector.
8 Select the desired waveform for the LFO from the Waveform selector. For example, select 4
Step Triangle.
9 Enable Beat Clock for the LFO Trigger. This ensures that the LFO is synchronized to the beat.
10 Play back the session to hear the panning effect.
Using TL AutoPan
TL AutoPan can be used for dynamic panning effects based on a Low Frequency Oscillator
(LFO), an amplitude envelope (ENV), or manual control. TL AutoPan makes it easy to pan to the beat of a music track, as well as panning “flyaround” effects. The following section describes two possible scenarios for using TL AutoPan: panning to the beat for rhythmic panning effects and surround panning effects for post production.
Panning to the Beat
TL AutoPan lets you synchronize the LFO to
MIDI Beat Clock for rhythmic panning effects.
To synchronize TL AutoPan to MIDI Beat Clock:
4 Make sure that your session tempo matches the tempo of the music.
5 Insert a mono-to-stereo instance of
TL AutoPan on the mono audio track containing the audio you want to pan. The track’s channel width changes from mono-to-stereo.
6 In the TL AutoPan Plug-In window, enable
Link To Tempo. This sets the LFO rate to follow the session tempo.
7 Select the desired duration from the Duration selector. For example, select 2 Beats.
Post Production Panning
(Pro Tools|HD Systems Only)
TL AutoPan lets you pan a mono track to a greater than stereo (LCR, Quad, or 5.0) output in a surround path. This is especially useful for post-production applications. The following example describes how to use TL AutoPan to pan a
“mosquito” sound in 5.0 surround.
To pan a mono track to 5.0 with TL AutoPan:
1 Insert a mono-to-5.0 instance of TL AutoPan on the mono track containing the audio you want to pan. The track’s channel width changes from mono-to-5.0.
2 Select a 5.0 output path from the track’s Output selector.
3 In the TL AutoPan Plug-In window, select a clockwise or counter-clockwise Path as desired.
4 Adjust the Spread and Width sliders as desired.
Try automating Spread and Width to alter the positioning of the panned sound.
5 From the LFO Waveform selector, select Half
Sine.
Try automating the Manual control instead of using the LFO to create a more erratic panning of the “mosquito” sound.
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6 Adjust the Rate slider as desired.
Try automating Rate to alter the speed of the panned sound over time.
7 Play back the session to hear the “mosquito” flying around your head.
Using the Side-Chain Input
The Side-Chain Input option in TL AutoPan lets you direct audio from another track in your
Pro Tools session to the Envelope Detector. This is achieved by sending the audio from the desired channel to a bus and setting the side-chain input on TL AutoPan to the same bus.
For more information on using the Side-
Chain Input, see the Pro Tools Guide.
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