Chapter 15: Editing Basics. Avid Pro Tools HD 6.9, Pro Tools LE 6.9

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. Track material can be edited nondestructively and in real time during playback.

The Edit window also lets you graphically edit track automation. For more information on Au-

tomation in the Edit window, see Chapter 28,

“Automation.”

Nondestructive Editing

The vast majority of audio editing in Pro Tools is nondestructive. 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.

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 “Nondestructive

MIDI Editing” on page 223).

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 (including Groove

Quantize), and otherwise modify MIDI tracks

• Nudge audio or MIDI regions

• Audition different playlists

• Adjust or scale automation data

• Insert a real-time plug-in

• Process audio with an AudioSuite plug-in

• Automation breakpoint editing

There are a few things that cannot be changed while Pro Tools plays. These include routing to sends and assigning outputs.

Chapter 15: Editing Basics 213

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 .

In addition to audio and MIDI regions, tracks also provide automation playlists.

Automation can be recorded and edited in the Mix or Edit windows. For more informa-

tion, see Chapter 28, “Automation.”

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 228). Normal re-

gions 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 Re-

gions List (see “Naming and Displaying Regions” on page 323). 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.

214 Pro Tools Reference Guide

Track View

The Track View determines which data is displayed and edited in the track’s playlist area.

Track View data can be set to Blocks, Waveform,

Volume, Pan, Mute, or an automated control or continuous controller, based on the track type:

Audio Tracks These tracks can be set to Blocks ,

Waveform , Volume , Pan , Mute , or any plug-in controls that have been automated. Except when editing automation data, audio tracks are by default set to Waveform, where track material is graphically drawn with amplitude waveforms (a time-domain representation of sound).

This Track View provides the necessary detail for important region edits.

Track View set to Waveform for audio track

Auxiliary Input Tracks These tracks can be set to

Volume , Pan , Mute , or any plug-in control that has been automated.

Master Fader Tracks These tracks can be set to

Volume , or any plug-in control that has been automated.

MIDI Tracks These 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 Regions for MIDI track

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.

When an audio track is displayed as Volume,

Pan, or another automated control, 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 Pan for audio track

For details on editing automation data for audio

tracks, see Chapter 28, “Automation.” For de-

tails on inserting and editing controller data for

MIDI tracks, see “Continuous Controller

Events” on page 403.


To set the Track View:

■

Click the Track View Selector for the track and choose the format from the pop-up menu.

Click for Track View pop-up menu

Audio Track View Selector


MIDI Track View Selector


Auxiliary Track View Selector list

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.

Changing Track Views

For audio, Auxiliary Input, and MIDI tracks, you can change to the next or previous Track View

(Pro Tools 6.9 and higher), or toggle between pre-defined common views.

When changing to the next or previous Track

View, Track View list ordering is maintained as shown in the Track View Selector.


Track Views at the beginning of the list

(such as Blocks for audio or MIDI tracks) cannot be changed to the previous Track

View. Tracks Views at the end of the list

(such as a MIDI controllers option) cannot be changed to the next Track View.

To change to the previous or next Track View:

1 Click in the track you want to change. To change views on multiple tracks, Shift-click or drag the Selector to select additional tracks, or select a group.

2 Do one of the following:

• To change to the previous or next Track

View on all selected tracks, press Control+Start (Windows) or Control+Command (Macintosh) and the Left or Right

Arrow.

– or –

• To change to the previous or next Track

View on all tracks, press Control+Alt+Start

(Windows) or Control+Option+Command

(Macintosh) and the Left or Right Arrow.

Toggling Common Track Views

The most common editing view for audio tracks are Waveform and Volume View. The most common editing views for MIDI tracks are Notes and

Regions View. Pro Tools provides an easy way to toggle these views.

To toggle Track Views on selected tracks:

1 Click in the track you want to toggle. To toggle multiple tracks, Shift-click or drag the Selector to select additional tracks.

2 Press Start+Minus (Windows) or Control+Minus (Macintosh) on the QWERTY keyboard.

To toggle Track Views for all tracks

(Pro Tools 6.9), Press Start+Alt+Minus

(Windows) or Control+Option+Minus

(Macintosh) on the QWERTY keyboard.

– or –

With the Commands Focus enabled, press Minus on the QWERTY keyboard.

To toggle Track Views for all tracks with

Command Focus enabled, press Alt+Minus

(Windows) or Option+Minus (Macintosh) on the QWERTY keyboard.

Audio tracks are toggled between Waveform and

Volume View. MIDI tracks are toggled between

Notes and Regions View.

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 Inputs and Master Fader tracks do not have a Master View. This means that any edits made to an Auxiliary Input or Master Fader track affect any automation data in that track

Track Height

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.

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 the small arrow next to the Track View

Selector to get the Track Height pop-up menu.

Click for Track Height pop-up menu

Track Height pop-up menu

– or –

■

Click in the area just to the right of the track controls and choose the height from the 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.

Press Start+Up/Down Arrow key (Windows) or Control+Up/Down Arrow key

(Macintosh) to increase/decrease track height of any track that contains a selection or in which the edit cursor is currently placed.


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.

To turn on Expanded Track Display for a stereo or multichannel track:

■

From the Track Height pop-up menu, select

Expanded Track Display.

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.

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.


Track Controls and Track Height

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.

When the Track Height is set to Mini, only controls for Record, Solo and Mute appear, and the menus for Playlist, Track Time Base, Track

Height, and Track View are accessed from the same pop-up menu.

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


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.

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.

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.

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.

Figure 8. Audio waveform of a drum track

In Figure 8, the “peaks” represent places in the

recording 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 (in the Display Preferences page), 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.


Audio displayed in Rectified mode

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.

Some important rules to keep in mind when defining regions:

◆ 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

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 235) to display

waveforms in greater detail.

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 waveform.

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 317 for details.

◆ Apply a crossfade between regions where a

click or pop occurs. See “Creating a Crossfade” on page 314

for details.


Nondestructive Audio Editing

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 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 224 for details.

Audio Regions and Automation

Data

Automation data for audio resides in tracks and not in the Regions List. 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.

For more information on setting Track View, see

“Track View” on page 215.

To toggle the track view, click in the track you want to toggle and press Start+Minus

(Windows) or Control+Minus (Macintosh) on the QWERTY keyboard.

Notes View for MIDI Tracks

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).

Up arrow

Track note above the current display

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.

keyboard reference

Down arrow

MIDI note

Figure 9. 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 Controlclick (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) 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 9).

To scroll the Notes display up or down for a MIDI track:

■

Click either the up or down arrow of the minikeyboard.

Scrolling notes with the Up arrow on mini-keyboard

– or –

■

With any of the Edit window tools (such as the Grabber tool) selected, press Control+Alt+Start (Windows) or Command+Option+Control (Macintosh) and drag up or down on the mini-keyboard.

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 397.

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use it to scroll a MIDI track’s Notes display. Place the mouse over a MIDI track in the Edit window, and Alt-Start-Controlscroll (Windows) or Command-Control-

Option-scroll (Macintosh) the scroll wheel to scroll the Notes display for that MIDI track.

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.

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 “Track View” on page 215.

To toggle the track view, click in the track you want to toggle and press Start+Minus

(Windows) or Control+Minus (Macintosh) on the QWERTY keyboard, or press Control+Alt (Windows) or Command+Option

(Macintosh) and use the Left and Right Arrow keys.


There are, however, a few things to keep in mind when selecting, copying and cutting, and trimming MIDI regions:

◆ 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.

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.

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.

Nondestructive MIDI Editing

While editing audio regions is usually nondestructive, 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 nondestructive 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 224).

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.

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.


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 playlist s.

Automation playlists for audio tracks store data for volume, pan, mute, and plug-in controls.

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.

Working with Playlists

When you create a new track, it contains a single, empty playlist until you record, import, or drag material to it from the Regions Lists or a

DigiBase browser.

New playlists can be created that are empty or duplicates of the current playlist. Once created, you can recall, rename, and delete playlists as needed

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

“Kick.04.”


Creating a Playlist

You can also create a new playlist and record or drag regions to it.

To create a new (empty) playlist:


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.

Recalling a Playlist

By default, a playlist is available only to the track that it was created on. However, using the

“other playlist” feature, you may recall an unassigned playlist onto any track. When a playlist is reassigned to another track, it will no longer be available in its original location, unless it is deassigned from its new current track. Once it is de-assigned, it is available via the “other playlists” menu in the Playlist Selector.

An audio playlist’s timebase is saved with the playlist. When you recall an unassigned audio playlist and assign it to any audio track, the track will take on the saved timebase of the playlist.

To recall a track playlist:

■

Click the track’s Playlist Selector and do one of the following:

• Choose one of the track’s playlists.

– or –

• Choose a playlist from a different track by clicking the Other Playlist menu, and choosing a playlist name.

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.

To delete one or more playlists from a track:


Delete Unused from the pop-up menu.

2 Select the unassigned playlists you want to delete. Shift-click to select multiple playlists.

3 Click OK to delete the playlists. This operation cannot be undone.

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.


Alternate Playlist Timebases

When you change a track’s timebase, you can choose to apply the timebase change to that track only, or to that track and all the alternate playlists for that track.

To change the timebase for all audio playlists in a track:

■

Make certain that the “Selection Changes Alternate Playlists” option is selected in the Timebase Selector pop-up menu.

Timebase Selector pop-up menu

Playlists and Groups

Creating new playlists with grouped tracks automatically increments the suffixes of the playlist names for each track of the active group. This lets you revert back to an earlier take by switching the playlist takes by group.

Using this method, you can add new tracks to the existing group and the suffixes for their playlist names will be synchronized with the original tracks.

In Pro Tools 6.9, “empty” playlists will be automatically created to keep the playlist takes in sync when switching back to the earliest playlist takes in the group.

To keep your playlist names and performances synchronized (sample workflow):

1 Create new tracks and group them together.

2 Make sure the group is enabled.

3 Create a new playlist (by clicking the Playlist

Selector in one of the tracks in the group and choosing New). The default suffix will now be

“.01”—signifying take 1.

4 Record take 1, then create a new playlist. The playlists on all tracks in the group will be incremented to “.02.”

5 Create new tracks (for example, for an additional musician or microphones), then add these tracks to the group (or create a new group with all the tracks).

6 Increment all the playlists by clicking the

Playlist Selector in one of the tracks in the group and choosing New.

All the playlists will now have the same suffix appended to them. (Creating additional playlists in any of the group tracks will increment their playlists to keep them in sync.)

7 If you want to hear the .01 take on the first group of tracks, you can switch any playlist in the group back to playlist .01.

All tracks in the group have playlists numbered with .01 suffixes (even those tracks that were added to the original group after the earlier takes). Empty playlists are automatically created on these newly-added members so that playlist numbers match across all members of the group.


Multiple Undo

Pro Tools can keep track of up to 32 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.

When the number of operations in the Undo queue reaches the maximum Level of Undo, performing another undoable operation will remove the oldest operation at the top of the queue.

To undo the last operation:

■

Choose Edit > Undo.

– or –

■

Press Control+Z (Windows) or Command+Z

(Macintosh).

To redo the last undone operation:

■

Choose Edit > Redo.

– or –

■

Press Shift+Control+Z (Windows) or

Shift+Command+Z (Macintosh).

Undo History Window

(Pro Tools 6.7 and Higher Only)

You can use the Undo History window to view the queue of the undoable and redoable operations and return to any previous state. The

Undo History can show edit creation times, enabling you to revert to the state a session held at a particular time.

Options selector

Undoable operations

Redoable operations

Creation times

Undo History Window

To show (or hide) the Undo History window:

■

Choose Windows > Show Undo History.

To undo operations in the Undo History window:

■

Click the operation (bold) you wish to undo in the list.

All operations in the queue that were performed after the operation you select will also be undone. In the Undo History window, undoable operations are shown in bold and redoable operations (operations that have already been undone) are shown in italics.

To redo operations in the Undo History window:

■

Click the operation (italics) you wish to redo in the list.

The operation you choose, as well as all the operations in the queue before it, will be redone.


To toggle display of creation times in the Undo

History window:

■

Click the Options pop-up menu and choose

Show Creation Times.

To undo all the operations in the Undo Queue:

■


Undo All.

To redo all the operations in the Redo Queue:

■


Redo All.

To clear the Undo Queue

■


Clear Undo Queue.

Other operations that will 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 menu

• Selecting “Select Unused Regions,” or “Select

Unused Regions Except Whole Files” in the

Audio Regions List pop-up menu

• Importing tracks or session data

When the number of operations in the Undo

History reaches the maximum level of Undo, performing another undoable operation will remove the oldest operation at the top of the

Undo History queue. When the oldest operation is one operation away from being pushed out of the queue, it is shown in red.

Levels of Undo and Memory

Because Pro Tools needs to keep track of the playlists for all tracks that are edited, the use of multiple Levels of Undo can be memory intensive. You can lower the Levels of Undo in

Pro Tools to reduce the amount of system memory (RAM) used by the Undo queue. If you have plenty of memory allocated to Pro Tools, you can use higher Levels Of Undo.

Use the Undo History window to view a queue of undo operations and return to a previous state.

To set the Levels of Undo in Pro Tools:

1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click the

Editing tab.

2 Click in the Levels of Undo field and enter a value of between 1–32.

Levels of Undo preference

3 Click Done to close the Preferences dialog.

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 Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-clicking (Macintosh) 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, the

Regions List can be scrolled or resized as neces-

sary (see Figure 10). In addition, you can use the

pop-up menu at the top of either list to sort, search, rename, and clear regions.

Drag to resize width of

Regions Lists

Click for pop-up menus

Key Focus

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

Drag to resize height of Regions

Lists

Click to hide

Figure 10. Audio and MIDI Regions Lists

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 avail-

able for future sessions (see “Creating

Custom Session Templates” on page 51).

Since MIDI regions are tick-based, they scale seamlessly for use with any tempo.

Audio Regions with file info

Pro Tools defaults to displaying just the region portion of a region’s name. To display file information 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.

For details on displaying audio file information using DigiBase, see the

DigiBase Guide

.

Sorting and Searching a Regions

List

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.

Pro Tools displays all regions whose names con-

tain the name that was specified. Figure 11

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.

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.

2 From the Regions List pop-up menu, select Ascending or Descending to switch the order of the displayed regions.

Finding Regions

Use the Find command to display all regions in a list whose names contain a particular word or phrase.

To find and display regions that match a word or phrase:

1 Choose Find from the pop-up menu in the

Audio or MIDI Regions List.

2 Type the name, or any portion of the name, for the regions you want to find, then click OK.

Figure 11. Regions located with Find command

To return the Regions List to displaying all regions:

■

Choose Display All from the Regions List popup menu.

Selecting in a Regions List

In the Audio or MIDI Regions List, you can select multiple regions so they can be dragged to tracks, processed with AudioSuite plug-ins, or exported.

To select deselect a region, do the following:

■

Click a region name that is unhighlighted to select it.

– or –

■

Click a region name that is highlighted to deselect it.

In Pro Tools 6.8.x and lower, regions were selected or deselected using Shift-click.


To select a range of regions in a Regions List, do one of the following:

■

Move the cursor to the left of the region names, so the Marquee appears, and drag around the regions you want to select.

Regions selected with Marquee

– or –

■

In Pro Tools 6.9, click the name of a region in a Regions List, and Shift-click an additional region name.

All regions that occur between the first region selected and the additional region will also be selected.

You can also select a range of regions by moving the cursor to the left of the region names, so the Marquee appears, and dragging around the regions you want to select.

To select or deselect a range of regions with the

Marquee (Pro Tools 6.9 only):

1 Press and hold Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh).

2 Move the cursor to the left of the region name until the Marquee icon with a small “+” symbol appears.

• To select regions, the Marquee should be to the left of an unhighlighted region name.

• To hide regions, the Marquee should be to the left of a highlighted region name.

3 Click on the region name and drag up or down (to select or deselect regions immediately above or below the region name).

To select or deselect non-contiguous regions, do the following:

■

Control-click (Windows) or Command-click

(Macintosh) region names that are unhighlighted to select them.

– or –

■

Control-click (Windows) or Command-click

(Macintosh) region names that are highlighted to deselect them.

In Pro Tools 6.8.x and lower, regions were selected or deselected using Shift-click.

Keyboard Selection of Regions

If the Audio Regions Key Focus or MIDI Regions

Key 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.

To enable and use the Audio Regions Key Focus or

MIDI Regions Key Focus:

1 Click the a-z button in upper right of the Audio Regions List or MIDI Regions List.

Click to enable Key Focus

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).” An Expand/Collapse triangle indicates stereo and multichannel regions.

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 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. Grid mode provides two modes of operation, Relative and Absolute, explained below. The Edit mode is selected by clicking the corresponding button in the upper left of the

Edit window.

Edit mode buttons

Stereo regions, collapsed (top) and expanded (bottom)

To expand or collapse all stereo and multichannel regions:

■

Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) while clicking the triangle.

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

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, trim, cut, or paste 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.

However, if there is silence between existing regions, and the regions are shuffled, the silence is maintained, and not removed.


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.

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.

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. In Spot 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. This can be particularly useful when performing post production tasks around SMPTE frame locations.

When Spot mode is enabled, Pro Tools asks you to specify a destination location when a region is dragged from either of the Regions Lists, or from a supported DigiBase browser.

Grid

In Grid mode, regions and MIDI notes that are moved, trimmed or inserted “snap” to the currently selected grid value, or to precise increments on a user-definable time grid.

Grid mode can be applied in Absolute or Relative mode.

◆ In Absolute Grid mode, moving any region snaps the region start to Grid boundaries . If a region’s start point falls between beats, and the

Grid is set to 1/4 notes, dragging the region will snap its start time to the nearest 1/4 note (the current absolute Grid value).

◆ In Relative Grid mode, regions can be moved by Grid (or Nudge) units . If a region’s start point falls between beats and the Grid is set to 1/4 notes, dragging the region will be constrained to

1/4 notes, preserving the region’s relative position to the nearest beat.

To select Absolute or Relative Grid mode:

■

Click the Grid mode selector and choose Absolute or Relative.

To temporarily suspend Grid mode and switch to Slip mode while dragging a region, hold down the Control key (Windows) or

Command key (Macintosh).

For more information on Relative Grid

mode, see “Sliding Regions in Grid Mode” on page 287.


Configuring the Grid

The actual Grid size, chosen from the Grid Value pop-up 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.

The Grid Value selector is located in the Edit window Options bar.

To display the Grid lines in the Edit window:

■

Choose Setups > Preferences and click the

Display tab, then Enable Draw Grids in Edit

Window.

Grid lines displayed in the Edit Window

– or –

■

Enable (and disable) Grid lines by clicking the currently selected Timebase Ruler name.

Click for Grid lines

Selecting the Grid Value

The current Grid value is also used for the

Quantize Regions Command. For informa-

tion, see “Quantizing Regions” on page 291.

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 menu.

Turning on Grid lines from Ruler

For more information on Grid options, see

“Sliding Regions” on page 284.


To zoom in vertically for all audio tracks:

Zooming

Zooming options in Pro Tools include the Horizontal and Vertical Zoom buttons, the Zoomer tool, the Zoom Preset buttons, and the Zoom

Toggle command.

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 audio and MIDI tracks are independent, and therefore have separate buttons.

To zoom in horizontally for all tracks:

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 Control+Alt+] (Windows) or Command+Option+] (Macintosh). To zoom out,

Control+Alt+[ (Windows) or press Command+Option+[ (Macintosh).

– or –

■

Click and drag on the Vertical Zoom button to zoom continuously.

To zoom in vertically for all MIDI tracks:

Horizontal Zoom button

■

Click the right Horizontal Zoom button. To zoom out, click the other (left) Horizontal Zoom button.

– or –

■

Press Control+] (Windows) or Command+]

(Macintosh). To zoom out, press Control+[

(Windows) or Command+[ (Macintosh).

– or –

■

Click and drag on the Horizontal Zoom button to zoom continuously.

Vertical Zoom button (MIDI)

■

Click the (top) Vertical Zoom button with the

MIDI notes. To zoom out, click the bottom Vertical Zoom button.

– or –

■

Press Control+Shift+] (Windows) or Command+Shift+] (Macintosh). To zoom out, press

Control+Shift+[ (Windows) or Command+Shift+[ (Macintosh).


To return to the previous zoom level:

■

Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) any of the Horizontal or Vertical Zoom buttons.

– or –

■

Press Control+Alt+E (Windows) or Command+Option+E (Macintosh).

To zoom in on a selection:

■

Press Alt+F (Windows) or Option+F (Macintosh).

To zoom so that all regions are visible in the Edit window:

■

Double-click the Zoomer tool in the toolbar.

– or –

■

Press Alt+A (Windows) or Option+A (Macintosh).

Zoomer Tool

Use the Zoomer tool to zoom in and out around a particular area within a track. The Zoomer tool offers two modes: Normal, and Single Zoom mode.

◆ In Normal Zoom mode, the Zoomer tool remains selected after zooming.

◆ In Single Zoom mode, the previously selected tool is automatically reselected after zooming.

Normal Zoomer Tool

To zoom around a certain track point:

1 Click the Zoomer tool pop-up menu and select Normal Zoom mode.

– or –

Press the F5 key to toggle to Normal Zoom mode.

Zoomer tool

2 Click once with the Zoomer at the point within the track. All tracks are zoomed in by one level and the Edit window is centered around the zoomed point.

3 To zoom back to the previous level, Alt-click

(Window) or Option-click (Macintosh) with the

Zoomer.

To zoom into a particular track area:

1 Click the Zoomer tool pop-up menu and select Normal Zoom mode.

– or –

Press the F5 key to toggle to Normal Zoom mode.

2 To zoom horizontally, drag with the Zoomer in the track’s playlist.

– or –

To zoom horizontally and vertically, press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) while dragging in the track’s playlist.

Zooming horizontally with Zoomer tool

The zoomed area fills the entire Edit window.


Single Zoom Mode

Single Zoom mode returns you to the previously selected tool after a zoom has been performed.

For example, when using the Smart Tool you can click the Single Zoom tool, and once the

Zoom operation has been performed, Pro Tools automatically switches back to the Smart Tool.

To use Single Zoom mode:

■

Click the Zoomer tool pop-up menu and select Single Zoom mode.

– or –

■

Press the F5 key to toggle to Single Zoom mode.

Single Zoom is identified with an arrow to the right of the Zoomer icon.

2 Click once to zoom in one level around a certain point.

– or –

Drag to zoom in around a particular Ruler range.

Zoom Preset Buttons

Pro Tools lets you save up to 5 horizontal Edit window Zoom presets, which can be recalled by typing a number or by clicking a Zoom Preset button.

To store a zoom preset:

1 Using either the Horizontal Zoom buttons or the Zoomer tool, navigate to the zoom level you want to store.

2 While pressing Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh), click one of the five Zoom

Preset buttons.

Single Zoom mode

Normal Zoom mode doesn’t have the arrow.

Normal Zoom mode

Zooming in the Ruler

To zoom horizontally in the Ruler:

1 Press Control+Alt (Windows) or Command+Control (Macintosh) and move the cursor into the Ruler area, so the Zoomer appears.

Zooming in the Ruler

Storing a zoom preset

The button flashes, indicating it is being written to, and then becomes selected.

To recall a zoom preset, do one of the following:

■

Click the Zoom Preset button.

■

While pressing the Start key (Windows) or

Control (Macintosh), type the Zoom Preset’s number on the QWERTY keyboard.

■

With Commands Focus enabled, type the

Zoom Preset’s number on the QWERTY keyboard.

Zoom settings can also be stored with Mem-

ory Locations. For details, see “Naming and

Displaying Regions” on page 323.


Zoom Toggle

The Zoom Toggle command lets you zoom in and increase the current track's height and zoom level with one keystroke.

The selection zooms to fill the Edit window, and the tracks containing the selection are set to a

Track Height of Large. In addition, MIDI tracks automatically change to Notes View.

To use Zoom Toggle:

1 Make a selection on one or more tracks.

2 Press Start+E (Windows) or Control+E (Macintosh).

– or –

With Commands Focus enabled, press E.

To use Zoom Toggle without changing playlist views:

1 Make a selection on one or more tracks.

2 Press Alt+Start+E (Windows) or Option+Control+E (Macintosh).

– or –

With Commands Focus enabled, press Alt+E

(Windows) or Option+E (Macintosh).

Setting a Default Zoom Toggle Track Height

Zoom Toggle provides single-key toggling between the current track zoom setting and the default (Large) track height. You can change the default height for toggled tracks in the Display

Preferences page.

To set a default Zoom Toggle Track Height:

1 Choose Setups > Preferences and click the

Display tab.

2 Select a default from the Zoom Toggle Track

Height selector.

Zooming with a Scroll Wheel

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out of tracks, both vertically and horizontally.

To zoom in and out horizontally in the Edit window:

1 Place the mouse over the tracks in the Edit window.

2 Alt-scroll (Windows) or Option-scroll (Macintosh) the scroll wheel up or down to zoom in or out horizontally.

To zoom in and out vertically in the Edit window:

1 Place the mouse over the tracks in the Edit window.

2 Alt-Shift-scroll (Windows) or Option-Shiftscroll (Macintosh) the scroll wheel up or down to zoom tracks in or out vertically.

Using the Zoom Toggle


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.

To open the Universe window:

■

Choose Windows > Show Universe.

highlighted material

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.

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.

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.

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 Drag the highlighted area to a different position in the Universe window to affect which tracks are displayed in the Edit window.


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

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

• Time Code (All TDM systems and Pro Tools

LE systems with DV Toolkit only)

• Feet+Frames (All TDM systems and

Pro Tools LE systems with DV Toolkit 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 Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) while dragging.

Any or all of the following Conductor Rulers can be displayed:

• Tempo (and Tempo Editor)

• 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.

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 –

■

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 “Main Time Scale” on page 241.)

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.

Click for Ruler Options pop-up menu

Ruler Options pop-up menu

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

• Pre- and post-roll amounts

• Grid and Nudge values

The Main Time Scale can be set to the following formats:

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 a Click” on page 159).

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 348).

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 (All TDM Systems and Pro Tools Systems with DV Toolkit Only) Displays the Time

Scale in SMPTE frames. The Timecode Rate and

Session Start time are set from the Session Setup window.

Pro Tools supports the following frame rates:

23.976, 24, 25, 29.97 Non-Drop, 29.97 Drop, 30

Non-Drop, and 30 Drop frames per second.

Feet+Frames (All TDM Systems and LE Systems with DV Toolkit 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.

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 Main Time Scale:

■

Select a Time Scale at the bottom of the Display menu.

– or –

■

Select from the Main Time Scale pop-up (also available in the Transport window, when it is set to display Counters).

Main Time Scale pop-up

– or –

■

If a Timebase Ruler is displayed, click its name so it becomes highlighted.

Setting the Main Time Scale to the timebase currently displayed in the Sub Time Scale switches the timescales, setting the Sub

Time Scale to the timebase of the Main

Time Scale.

Navigating with the Main Counter.

The Main Counter (in the Main Time Scale popup or the Transport window) provides a convenient way to navigate to a specific time location.

To navigate with the Main Counter:

1 Click in the Main Counter.

2 Type in a location.

3 Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to automatically locate to a new location.

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.

To set the Time Scale for the Sub Location

Indicator:

■

Select from the Sub Time Scale pop-up next to the Location Indicator

– or –

■

Select from the Sub Time Scale pop-up in the

Transport Window.

Sub Time Scale pop-up

Switching the Main Time Scale


Tick-Based Timing

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 245).

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- and post-roll)

• Specifying settings 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

1/2 note

1/4 note

1/8 note

1/16 note

1/32 note

1/64 note

Normal Dotted Triplet

1920 2880 1280

960

480

1440

720

640

320

240

120

60

360

180

90

160

80

40

Ticks versus Samples

MIDI data in Pro Tools is tick-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.

You can choose to make audio tracks, Master tracks, and Auxiliary Inputs either sample-based or tick-based (Pro Tools 6.7 and higher only).

If you make an audio track sample-based, all audio regions in the track have an absolute location on the timeline. Audio stays fixed to the sample time, regardless of where tempo or meter changes occur in a session.

Like MIDI, tick-based audio is fixed to

Bars|Beats, and moves relative to the sample timeline when tempo and meter changes occur.

MIDI events and tick-based audio respond differently to tempo changes in respect to duration. MIDI note events change length when tempo or meter is adjusted, while audio regions do not. Meter and tempo changes affect only the start point (or sync point) for each audio region in a tick-based track.

You can select whether a track is sample-based or tick-based when you create it, or change timebases later.

Switching Timebases

Audio tracks, Master tracks, and Auxiliary Inputs can be switched between sample-based timing and tick-based timing (Pro Tools 6.7 and higher only). MIDI tracks are always tick-based.

Track height affects how various track controls appear in the Edit window.


To switch the timebase of an audio track:

.

■

If the track’s height is set to Small or larger, click the Timebase Selector for the track and select the desired timebase. The Timebase Selector icon changes to reflect your choice.

To change the timebase for all audio playlists in a track:

■

Make certain that the “Selection Changes Alternate Playlists” option is selected in the Timebase Selector pop-up menu.

Timebase selector

(ticks)

Timebase selector

(samples)

Track Timebase Selector on a Track with a Medium

Height

Timebase selector

(ticks)

Timebase selector

(samples)

Track Timebase Selector on a Track with a Small Height

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If the track’s height is set to Mini, click the small arrow next to the Track View Selector to get the Track Height pop-up menu, and select the desired timebase from the Track Time Base sub-menu.


Alternate Playlist Timebases

When you change a track’s timebase, you can choose to apply the timebase change to that track only, or to that track and all the alternate playlists for that track.

Timebase Selector pop-up menu

Groups

When you change the timebase for an audio track that is part of an active group, all the audio tracks in the group will change to the same timebase.

Audio Region Location

In tick-based audio tracks (Pro Tools 6.7 and higher only), the location of an audio region is determined by the region’s start point, unless the region contains a region sync point.

If the region contains a sync point, the sync point determines where the audio region is fixed to the Bar|Beat grid.

Marker Location

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 361.


Sample Rounding and Edit Operations

When 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).



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