Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools - 5.0.1 Reference Guide

Pro Tools

Reference Guide

Version 5.0.1 for Macintosh and Windows

Digidesign Inc.

3401-A Hillview Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA

tel: 650·842·7900

fax: 650·842·7999

Technical Support (USA)

650·842·6699
650·856·4275

Product Information (USA)

650·842·6602
800·333·2137

Fax on Demand (USA)

1-888-USE-DIGI (873-3444)

World Wide Web

www.digidesign.com

Digidesign FTP Site

ftp.digidesign.com

Copyright

This User’s Guide is copyrighted ©1999 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 932708002-00 REV A 05/00

contents

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools

The Pro Tools Guides
Compatibility Information
Digidesign Registration

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Chapter 2. Pro Tools System Configurations

TDM-equipped systems
TDM System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits
Audio Interfaces for TDM Systems
Pro Tools LE Systems
Pro Tools LE System Capabilities

Chapter 3. Pro Tools Concepts

Hard Disk Recording
The Digidesign Audio Engine
Elements of a Session
MIDI Concepts
Virtual Tracks

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Chapter 4. Pro Tools Windows

The Mix Window
The Edit Window
The Transport Window
Keyboard Focus

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Part II Pro Tools Sessions

Chapter 5. Creating Sessions

Starting Up Your System
Configuring Your System
Changing the Pro Tools Playback Engine
Changing DAE Playback Buffer Size
Creating a New Session
Opening a Session
Saving a Session
Creating Custom Session Templates
Closing a Session
Quitting a Session
Sharing Sessions between Pro Tools TDM Systems and Pro Tools LE Systems

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Chapter 6. Working with Tracks

Creating Tracks
Hiding Tracks
Assigning Track Inputs
Assigning Track Outputs
Virtual Tracks, Voices, and Track Priority
Automatic Assignment of Ascending Voices
Assigning Voices and Track Priority
Setting MIDI Channels
Adjusting Track Volume and Pan
Soloing and Muting Tracks
Adjusting Track Width
Color Coding Tracks
Grouping Tracks
Using the Groups List
Enabling Grouping
Creating a Group

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Chapter 7. File Management and Compatibility

Locating Audio Files
WAV File Compatibility
Naming Files, Playlists and Regions

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Part III Recording

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Chapter 8. Record Setup

Input Connections and Audio Levels
Record Enabling Tracks
Monitoring Modes
Monitoring Latency
Low Latency Monitoring
Track Names
Recording to Multiple Hard Drives
Allocating Hard Drive Space for Recording
Record Modes
Recording with the Click

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Chapter 9. Basic Audio Recording

Recording a Single Audio Track
Stereo and Multiple-Track Recording
Recording Additional Takes
Punch Recording Audio
Loop Recording Audio
Auditioning Record Takes
Setting Punch/Loop Points

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Chapter 10. MIDI Recording

MIDI Controller Devices
Enabling Input Devices
MIDI Thru
MIDI Input Filter
Input Quantize
Wait for Note
MIDI Merge/Replace
Recording a MIDI Track
Punch Recording MIDI
Loop Recording MIDI
Recording System Exclusive Data

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Chapter 11. Advanced Recording

Using QuickPunch
Recording from a Digital Source
Half-Speed Recording and Playback

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Chapter 12. Importing/Exporting Audio and MIDI

Importing Audio
Importing Audio into a Session (Macintosh)
Importing Audio into a Session (Windows)
Recalculating Waveform Overviews
Loading Audio Files with Drag & Drop
Transferring Audio from CD
Conversion Quality
Exporting Audio
Importing MIDI Files
Exporting MIDI Files

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Part IV Editing

Chapter 13. Editing Basics

Pro Tools Editing
Track Material
Displaying Region Names and Times
Audio Regions and Waveforms
MIDI Regions and MIDI Data
Playlists
The Audio and MIDI Regions Lists
Edit Modes
Zooming
Rulers
Time Scale
Tick-Based Timing

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Chapter 14. Playing/Selecting Track Material

Playing Tracks
Scrolling Options
The Scrubber
Separate Edit and Timeline Selections
Selecting Track Material
Playing Selections
Timeline Selections
Playing Edit and Timeline Selections with the Playhead

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Chapter 15. Working with Regions and Selections

Creating New Regions
Healing a Separation
Placing Regions in Tracks
The Trimmer Tool
Moving Regions
Nudging
Shift Command
Quantizing Regions
Locking Regions
Muting/Unmuting Regions
Edit Commands
Duplicate Command
Repeat Command
Merge Paste Command
Consolidate Selection Command
Managing Regions
Compacting an Audio File

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Chapter 16. MIDI Editing

Inserting MIDI Notes with the Pencil Tool
Manually Editing MIDI Notes

Continuous Controller Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Program Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

MIDI Operations Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Select Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Transpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Note/Controller Chasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

MIDI Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Pro Tools Reference Guide

viii

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Chapter 17. Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Tempo Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Default Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Memory Locations and Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Chapter 18. Advanced Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Using Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Stripping Silence From Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

The Time Trimmer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Compress/Expand Edit To Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Repeat Paste To Fill Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Replacing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Waveform Repair with the Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Part V Mixing

Chapter 19. Basic Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Creating Inserts and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Auxiliary Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Master Faders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Contents ix

Chapter 20. Advanced Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Hardware I/O Inserts and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Creating a Submix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Using an Auxiliary Input to Mix an External Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Creating a Master Send Level Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Printing Effects to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Recording a Submix to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

TDM Mixer Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Chapter 21. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Enabling or Suspending Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Writing Automation to the Start, End or All of a Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Trimming Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Setting the Automation Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Chapter 22. Mixdown and Mastering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Bouncing Tracks to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Bounce Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Output Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Using Dither on an Output Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Creating a Submix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Final Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Pro Tools Reference Guidex

Part VI Synchronization

Chapter 23. Synchronization Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Your Sync Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Aspects of Sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Syncing Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

SMPTE Frame Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Working with Film-Originated Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Chapter 24. Time Code Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Pro Tools Sync Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

The Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Preparing to Work with SMPTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Putting Pro Tools Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Syncing a Sequencer to Pro Tools on the Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Syncing a Sequencer to Pro Tools in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Remote Track Arming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Syncing Pro Tools to an OMS-Compatible Sequencer using MMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Identifying a Sync Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Troubleshooting Sync. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Contents xi

Chapter 25. Working with QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

About QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

QuickTime Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Movie Playback Quality Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Importing a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Setting the Movie Start Time: Movie Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Spotting Audio to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Importing QuickTime Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Bouncing to a new Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Appendix A. DSP-Induced Delays in Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Delay Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Compensating for Delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Typical Delay Scenarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Appendix B. TDM Mixing and DSP Usage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Pro Tools TDM Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

DSP Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

DSP Usage with TDM Mixers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

DSP Usage with TDM Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

DSP Usage and I/O Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Appendix C. Keyboard Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Global Key Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Commands Key Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Numeric Keypad Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Appendix D. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Backing up your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Common Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Using DigiTest As a Diagnostic Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Performance Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Pro Tools Reference Guidexii

Part I

Introduction

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 professional-quality
audio.

The Pro Tools Guides

Your Pro Tools System includes the follow­ing guides:

Pro Tools Installation Guides Instructions

for installing Pro Tools software and hard­ware, and connecting your studio.

Pro Tools Reference Guide Instructions for

creating sessions, recording, editing, and
mixing with Pro Tools.

DigiRack™ Plug-Ins Guide Instructions for

using the DigiRack Plug-Ins for both real­time and file-based audio processing in
Pro Tools.

Pro Tools MIDI Controllers Guide Instruc-

tions for operating Pro Tools with various
MIDI control surfaces.

Quick Reference Cards (TDM Systems only)

Separate cards for Macintosh and Windows
that list the many keyboard shortcuts not
shown in the Pro Tools menus.

✽ Online PDF versions of the Quick Reference

cards are included for Pro Tools LE systems.

Conventions Used in These Guides

The Pro Tools guides use the following
conventions to indicate menu choices and
key commands:

:

Convention Action

File > Save Session Choose Save Session

from the File menu

Control+N Hold down the Control

key and press the

Option-click Hold down the Option

key and click the mouse
button

Right-click (Windows) Click with the right

mouse button

N key

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 3

The following symbols are used to high­light important information:

Compatibility 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.

☞ Cross References point to related sections

in the Pro Tools Guides.

Choose and Select

The words “choose” and “select” are often
interchangeable in conversational english.
In this guide, however, there is a distinc­tion between the two terms.

Select When the guide instructs you to se-

lect 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.

Digidesign can only assure compatibility
and provide support for devices it has
tested and approved. For a list of Digide­sign-qualified computers, SCSI accelerator
cards, hard drives, diskette drives, and se­rial port adapters, refer to the latest com­patibility information on the Digidesign
Web site (www.digidesign.com).

Digidesign Registration

Make sure to complete and return the reg­istration card included with Product Name.
Registered users are entitled to one year of
free technical support, and will receive pe­riodic software updates and upgrade no­tices.

Pro Tools Reference Guide4

chapter 2

Pro Tools System Configurations

TDM-equipped systems

Pro Tools TDM-equipped systems are avail­able in the following configurations:

Pro Tools 24 MIXplus

A core system includes:

• MIX Core card

• MIX Farm card

• Pro Tools software

• Digidesign Audio Interface
(sold separately)

Pro Tools 24 MIX

A core system includes:

• a MIX Core card

• Pro Tools software

• Digidesign Audio Interface
(sold separately)

Pro Tools 24

Pro Tools III PCI (Macintosh only)

A core system includes:

• a Disk I/O Audio Card

• a DSP Farm Card

• Pro Tools software

• Digidesign Audio Interface
(sold separately)

Supported Audio Interfaces

You can use the following Audio Interfaces
with Pro Tools TDM systems:

◆ The 888/24 I/O and 882/20 I/O (as well

as 888 I/O and 882 I/O) Audio Interfaces
work with Pro Tools 24 MIX/MIXplus,
Pro Tools 24, or Pro Tools III PCI systems.

◆ The 1622 I/O Audio Interface works with

Pro Tools 24 MIX/MIXplus and
Pro Tools 24 systems only.

◆ The ADAT Bridge I/O Interface works

with Pro Tools 24 MIX/MIXplus,
Pro Tools 24, or Pro Tools III PCI systems.

A core system includes:

• d24 Audio card

• DSP Farm card

• Pro Tools software

• Digidesign Audio Interface
(sold separately)

▲ 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.

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Configurations 5

TDM System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits

The following table lists the audio playback, recording, and voice limits of each type of
Pro Tools TDM system. The term virtual voice refers to the maximum number of audio
tracks that can share the available voices on your system. TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems
can open sessions with up to 128 audio tracks, but any audio tracks beyond that system’s
virtual voice limit will be automatically set to Voice Off.

All TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems provide a total of 32 internal mix busses. TDM sys­tems also provide 5 Inserts and 5 Sends per track, up to the DSP capacity of your system.

Table 1. Pro Tools TDM System Audio Playback, Recording and Virtual Voice Limits

Voices

Core System Type

Pro Tools 24 MIX/MIXplus 32 or 64 32 or 64 86

Pro Tools 24 32 32 43

Pro Tools III (PCI) 16 16 53

(Tracks of
Simultaneous
Playback)

Tracks of
Simultaneous
Recording

Virtual Voices

Audio Interfaces for TDM Systems

The following table lists the input and output capabilities of the various Audio Interfaces
for TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems. In expanded TDM systems, Audio Interfaces can be
combined for up to 72 audio inputs and outputs.

Table 2. Pro Tools Audio Interface Channel Capabilities

Interface Type

888/24 I/O 8 in/8 out 24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

882/20 I/O 8 in/8 out 20-bit 20-bit 24-bit

Number of I/O
Channels

A/D
Conversion

D/A
Conversion

Digital I/O

888 I/O 8 in/8 out 18-bit 18-bit 24-bit

882 I/O 8 in/8 out 18-bit 18-bit 24-bit

1622 I/O 16 in/2 out 20-bit 20-bit 24-bit

ADAT Bridge I/O 16 in/16 out 20-bit 20-bit 24-bit

Pro Tools Reference Guide6

Pro Tools LE Systems

Pro Tools LE-based systems are available in
the following configurations.

Pro Tools with Audiomedia III

An Audiomedia III system includes:

• 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

▲ The total track count and processing capac-

ity of Pro Tools LE-based systems depend 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/output capabilities of each
Pro Tools LE-based system. All Pro Tools LE systems are limited to 24 audio tracks. If you
open a Pro Tools session containing more than 24 audio tracks on an LE-based system,
only the first 24 audio tracks will open; if you save the session using Pro Tools LE, any
audio tracks beyond the first 24 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

Tracks of
Simultaneous
Playback

Number of
Recording/Playback
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 7

Pro Tools Reference Guide8

chapter 3

Pro Tools Concepts

This chapter is an overview of some essen­tial concepts related to digital audio, MIDI,
and digital signal processing as they apply
to Pro Tools.

Hard Disk 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 re-record 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. 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, an application
called DAE automatically launches in the
background. DAE, or the Digidesign Audio
Engine, is Digidesign’s real-time operating
system for digital recording systems. When
you install Pro Tools, DAE is automatically
installed on your system.

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.

Pro Tools is a non-linear recording system
that allows you to rearrange and mix re­corded material non-destructively.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 9

Elements of a Session

When you start a project in Pro Tools, you
create a session. Some basic elements of ses­sions are explained in this section.

Region

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 allows you to create mul­tiple versions of a project or back up your
editing and mixing work.

Audio File

Audio region

A region is a piece of audio, MIDI, or auto­mation data. An audio region could be 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 tracks.

Playlist

Playlist selector pop-up menu

A playlist is a group of regions arranged on
an Audio or MIDI track. You can place mul­tiple edit playlists on a single track. This al­lows you to assemble different versions of a
track and choose among them with a pop­up menu on the track.

Audio file icon

When you record audio into a Pro Tools
session, audio files are created and stored in
a folder named “Audio Files.” Audio files
can appear in a session as regions, in a track
or in the Audio Regions List.

Pro Tools Reference Guide10

On Audio tracks, a playlist tells the hard
disk which audio files to read in what or­der. By using several copies of an audio re­gion in a playlist, you can repeat a section
of a recording without using any addi­tional disk space.

Track

Audio track in the Edit Window

A track is where audio or MIDI regions are
strung together in a playlist. 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.

Voice

(TDM Systems Only)

Channel

Computer 1

78563412785634125/6

ANALOG OUTPUT ANALOG INPUT AES/EBU OUTPUT AES/EBU INPUT

7/8

Rear view of 888/24 I/O Interface

The term channel is used to describe several
related components of a Pro Tools system.
The first refers to a physical input or output
of your Pro Tools system. For example, an
888/24 I/O Audio Interface provides 8
channels of analog input and output to a
TDM-equipped system, and a Digi 001 sys­tem provides up to 18 channels of input
and output to a Pro Tools LE system.

Computer 2

1/2

5/6

1/2

3/4

7/8

3/4

8 CH Mode
2 x 4 CH Mode

S/PDIFINS/PDIF

SLAVE CLOCKINSLAVE CLOCK

OUT

OUT

Choosing a voice for an Audio track

On TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems, voice
refers to the number of digital audio events
that Pro Tools can play back simulta­neously. For example, a Pro Tools 24 core
system is a 32-voice system and can there­fore playback 32 different audio events at
one time.

On TDM systems, you can have more
tracks in a session than your system has
voices; they just cannot all play back at the
same time. These tracks are referred to as
virtual tracks.

Channel strip from the Mix window

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 Audio track, MIDI track, Auxil­iary Input track or Master Fader track in a
session.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 11

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 an aspect of
MIDI operation. See “MIDI Concepts” on
page 12.

MIDI Concepts

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.

Playback Engine

All Pro Tools systems allow you choose the
Playback Engine for a session at any time.

Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools TDM system

The Playback Engine allows you to recon­figure Pro Tools to use different Digidesign
hardware.

For details on choosing a Playback Engine,
see “Configuring Your System” on page 39.

MIDI devices are equipped with 5-pin DIN
connectors, labeled as either IN, OUT, or
THRU.

MIDI Connectors

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 signal flow

▲ Not all devices will have all three MIDI ports

(IN, OUT and THRU).

Pro Tools Reference Guide12

A single MIDI cable can transmit a separate
set of messages for each of 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.

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 sound
patch to use. The MIDI protocol lets you
choose from a range of 128 patches.

MIDI Terms

The following are some basic MIDI terms:

MIDI Interface Hardware that allows com-

puters to 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 trans-

mits 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

that plays back in your arrangements.
Sound sources receive MIDI from their
MIDI IN ports.

Multi-timbral The capability of playing sev-

eral different instrument sounds (such as
piano, bass, and drums) simultaneously on

Bank Select Message A MIDI command

that specifies the bank of patches from
which to choose. Many devices have more
than 128 patches and Bank Select messages
provide a means of accessing them.

Local Control A controller setting found on

most MIDI keyboards that allows them to
play their own sound source. Disabling “lo­cal control” ensures that a device’s internal
sound source is only played by external
MIDI messages.

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 instruc-

tions 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 com-

monly used for sending and retrieving
patch parameter information for storage
purposes.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 13

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

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.

MIDI does not allow you to use your de­vices beyond their capabilities. Particular
instruments have their own sound genera­tion, polyphony, and multi-timbral limita­tions.

Pro Tools TDM systems are not limited by
the number of physical inputs and outputs.
Pro Tools TDM systems provide up to 128
virtual audio tracks that can be recorded
upon and cued up for playback, but cannot
all be played back simultaneously.

Virtual tracks provide significant advan­tages: on Pro Tools TDM systems, you can
have many more tracks than voices in a ses­sion. You can then choose which of these
tracks you want to play, up to the total
number of available voices. You never need
to erase tracks to make room for other
tracks—provided that you have enough
space available on your hard disk to store
all of them. In addition, virtual tracks allow
you to create separate tracks for each audio
component of your mix, each with its own
volume, pan, EQ, effects sends, and auto­mation.

Pro Tools voices are dynamically allocated.
When a hole opens up in one track, its
voice becomes temporarily available and
another track can pop through and begin
to play. If the first track reaches a point
where audio occurs again, the voice reverts
to the original track. You can determine
the order in which your tracks use available
voices. See “Assigning Voices and Track Pri­ority” on page 56.

Virtual Tracks

(TDM Systems Only)

Tape decks record only physical tracks: they
are limited by the number of tracks on the
deck and on the tape itself. For example, a
16-track recorder can record and play back
a maximum of 16 tracks at a time.

Pro Tools Reference Guide14

Virtual tracks use the Digital Signal Process­ing (DSP) capacity of your system. (See
“DSP Allocation” on page 383 for more in­formation.) Another powerful Pro Tools
feature, multiple edit playlists, allows you to
create comps and alternate arrangements
of material, but does not use additional
DSP capacity. For details about multiple
edit playlists, see “Playlists” on page 141.

chapter 4

Pro Tools Windows

Pro Tools provides two complementary
ways of viewing a project: the Mix window
and the Edit window. Pro Tools also allows
you to control many functions from the
Transport window. The main elements of
these windows are explained in the follow­ing sections.

The Mix Window

In the Mix window, tracks appear as mixer
modules, with controls for inserts, sends,
input/output assignments, volume, pan­ning (in Stereo Mix mode), record-enable,
automation mode, and solo/mute. The fol­lowing section explains each of these track
controls.

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 win-

dows, press Command + = (Macintosh) or
Control + = (Windows).

The Show/Hide Tracks List

Show/Hide Tracks List

This scrolling window lists all tracks in the
current session. It allows you to show or
hide a track by selecting or deselecting its
name in its list. You can also use this list to
reorder tracks on screen by dragging a track
name to a new position within the list. The
pop-up menu at the top of this list provides
commands that allow you to show or hide
all tracks, or only tracks currently selected
on screen.

About Groups and Show/Hide Tracks

Even if a track is hidden, if it is a member of
an enabled group, 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

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows 15

write-enable a grouped track, any group
members that are hidden will be soloed,
muted, or automation write-enabled as
well. The only exception to this rule is
record enabling of Audio or MIDI tracks.
These functions are not applied to hidden
tracks in the Mix window.

name. The pop-up menu at the top of this
list provides commands to create, delete or
suspend groups. You can link groups in the
Mix Groups and Edit Groups lists. For more
information on grouping, see “Grouping
Tracks” on page 62.

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 virtual track playback
priority (see “Virtual Tracks, Voices, and
Track Priority” on page 54 for details).

The Mix Groups List

Mix Groups List

An Audio Track/Channel Strip

Inserts

Sends

Input/Output

Automation Mode

Record Enable/Solo/Mute/Voice

Pan Slider

Group ID

Volume Fader

Level Meter

The Mix Groups list shows all groups in the
session. It allows you to activate a group by
selecting its name in the list. A group is
only enabled (meaning that its members are
linked for mixing purposes), when its
name is highlighted in this list.

You can also use this list to select grouped
tracks on-screen by clicking to the left of
the dotted vertical line next to a group

Pro Tools Reference Guide16

Track Name

Audio Channel Strip

Each Audio track has its own set of controls
for volume, pan, record-enable, automa­tion mode, solo, mute, and on TDM sys­tems, voice assignment.

Stereo Send

Real-Time Plug-In

Show/Hide

Tracks List

Send Pan

Send

Volume

Send

Level Meter

Automation

Mode

Selector

Channel Pan

Group ID
Indicator

Channel

Volume

Mix Groups

List

Track Name

Track

Comments

View

Inserts
View

Sends
View

I/O View

Record Enable,
Solo, Mute
buttons

Track Level
Meter

Audio
Channel Strip

Figure 1. Pro Tools Mix Window

AutoMatch
Indicator

Auxiliary Input
Channel Strip

Master Fader
Channel Strip

MIDI
Channel Strip

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows 17

A MIDI Track/Channel Strip

MIDI Channel

Automation Mode

Record Enable/Solo/Mute/Patch

MIDI Pan

MIDI Volume

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, and MIDI channel assignment. MIDI
tracks can be added to a session with the
New Track command. Tracks can be added
to a session with the New Track command.
You can display tracks in Narrow or Nor­mal width by selecting Display > Narrow
Mix Window.

Mix Window Track Controls

Record Enable button

Automation Mode Selector
Voice Selector

Mute button

Solo button

Mix window track controls in channel strip

Record Enable Button

The Record Enable button puts the track
into record-ready mode. Once a track is
record-enabled, click the Record and Play
buttons in the Transport window to start
audio or MIDI recording.

When the Latch Record Enable Buttons op­tion is selected, you can record enable
more than one track at the same time by
clicking the record enable button on each
track. If the Latch Record Enable Buttons
option is deselected, Shift-click to record
enable multiple tracks.

Record Safe Mode

Pro Tools provides a record safe mode
which allows you to disable recording ca­pability on any track in a session. This pre­vents you from inadvertently record-en­abling a track and then recording over
valuable material. To toggle Record Safe
mode, Command-click (Macintosh) or
Control-Click (Windows) the Record but­ton on the track.

Solo Button

The Solo button mutes all other tracks so a
track can be auditioned alone.

Pro Tools Reference Guide18