Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools - 6.7 Reference Guide

Pro Tools

Reference Guide

Version 6.7 for HD or LE Systems on Windows or Macintosh

Digidesign

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This guide is copyrighted ©2004 by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide 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.

Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.

PN 910614023-00 REV A 09/04

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools

The Pro Tools Guides Compatibility Information About www.digidesign.com

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Chapter 2. Pro Tools System Configurations

Pro Tools TDM Systems Pro Tools LE Systems

Chapter 3. Pro Tools Concepts

Hard Disk Audio Recording The Digidesign Audio Engine Pro Tools Sessions System Resources MIDI Concepts

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Chapter 4. Pro Tools Windows

The Mix Window The Edit Window The Transport Window

Chapter 5. Keyboard Shortcuts

Global Key Commands Keyboard Focus Numeric Keypad Modes

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Contents

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Part II Sessions & Tracks

Chapter 6. Sessions

Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System Configuring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback System Engine) Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings Creating a New Session Opening a Session Saving a Session Creating Custom Session Templates Closing a Session Quitting Pro Tools Sharing Sessions Between Pro Tools TDM Systems and Pro Tools LE Systems Preferences

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Chapter 7. I/O Setup

The I/O Setup Dialog Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools I/O Creating and Editing Paths I/O Settings Files I/O Setup Options H/W Insert Delay Compensation

Chapter 8. Tracks

Track Types Track Controls Creating Tracks Hiding Tracks Assigning Inputs and Outputs to Tracks Track Priority and Voice Assignment Setting MIDI Input and Output Soloing and Muting Tracks Making Tracks Inactive Adjusting Track Width Color Coding for Tracks, Regions, Markers and Groups Grouping Tracks

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Chapter 9. Importing and Exporting Session Data

Importing Audio Conversion Quality Importing Audio Files and Regions Importing Audio Files with Drag & Drop from a DigiBase Browser Importing Audio from an Audio CD Importing Tracks and Track Attributes

Pro Tools Reference Guide

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Exporting Audio Exporting Pro Tools Tracks as OMFI or AAF Files Exporting Sessions as Text Importing MIDI Files Exporting MIDI Files

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Chapter 10. File Management and Compatibility

Audio File Management WAV File Compatibility Creating Macintosh and PC Compatible Sessions Moving Sessions Between Platforms with MacOpener (Using HFS/HFS+ Drives) Macintosh-to-PC Session File Conversion

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Part III Recording

Chapter 11. Record Setup

Input Connections and Audio Levels Record Enabling Tracks Record Monitoring Modes TrackInput Monitoring Monitor Levels for Record and Playback Monitoring Latency Low Latency Monitoring During Recording Default Track Names Disk Allocation Allocating Hard Drive Space for Recording Record Modes Recording with a Click Setting the Default Meter and Tempo

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Chapter 12. Basic Audio Recording

Recording an Audio Track Record Shortcuts Record Pause Mode Recording Additional Takes Punch Recording Audio Loop Recording Audio Auditioning Record Takes Setting Punch/Loop Points Recording from a Digital Source Half-Speed Recording and Playback

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Contents

Chapter 13. MIDI Recording

Recording from MIDI Devices

Enabling Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

MIDI Thru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

MIDI Input Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

MIDI Merge/Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Recording to MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Punch Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

MIDI Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Recording System Exclusive Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

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Chapter 14. Advanced Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

QuickPunch Audio Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

TrackPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Part IV Editing

Chapter 15. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Displaying Region Names and Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Audio Regions and Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

The Audio and MIDI Regions Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

The Universe Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Timebase Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Chapter 16. Playing and Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Edit and Mix Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

The Scrubber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Linking or Unlinking Edit and Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Pro Tools Reference Guide

Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Playing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Playing Edit and Timeline Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Chapter 17. Working with Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Creating New Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Trim Choices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Healing a Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

The Trimmer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Nudging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Shift Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Quantizing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Locking Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Edit Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Duplicate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Repeat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Merge Paste Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Waveform Repair with the Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

The Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Chapter 18. Advanced Editing (TDM Systems Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Replacing Audio Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Repeat Paste To Fill Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Compress/Expand Edit To Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Chapter 19. Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Using Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Chapter 20. Managing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Stripping Silence from Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Consolidate Selection Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Naming and Displaying Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Contents vii

Chapter 21. Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Graphic Tempo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Changing the Timebase Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Tempo Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Song Start Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Time Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Memory Locations and Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Chapter 22. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

The Beat Detective Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Beat Detective Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Defining a Beat Detective Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Calculating Tempo with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Generating Beat Triggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

DigiGroove Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Separating Regions with Beat Detective (Audio Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Conforming Regions with Beat Detective (Audio Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Edit Smoothing (Audio Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode (Pro Tools TDM Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Part V MIDI Editing

Chapter 23. MIDI Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

The Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Custom Note Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Setting the Grid Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Inserting MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Manually Editing MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

TCE Trimmer Functionality on MIDI Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Patch Select (Program and Bank Changes). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Note and Controller Chasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Pro Tools Reference Guideviii

Chapter 24. MIDI Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

MIDI Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Quantize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Groove Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Restore Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Flatten Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Select Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Chapter 25. MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

The MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Editing in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

MIDI Event List Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

Part VI Mixing

Chapter 26. Basic Mixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Metering and Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Audio Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Views in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Track Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Track Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Submixing for Signal Routing and Effects Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Delay Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Using a Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Chapter 27. Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Inserting Plug-Ins on Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Moving and Duplicating Plug-In and Hardware Inserts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

The Plug-In Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Using the Librarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Editing Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Using Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Contents ix

Connecting and Integrating External Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Chapter 28. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Automation Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

Writing Automation to the Start, End or All of a Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Trimming Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Chapter 29. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Recording to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

Bounce to Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Bounce Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Recording a Submix (with Bounce To Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Final Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Part VII Surround

Chapter 30. Surround Concepts (Pro Tools TDM Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Mixing Formats and Surround Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Pro Tools Mixing Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Speaker Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Surround Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Formats and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Surround Mixing Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

Chapter 31. Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools TDM Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

Default I/O Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

Pro Tools Reference Guidex

Chapter 32. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing (Pro Tools TDM Only). . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Multichannel Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

Chapter 33. Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools TDM Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Output Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

Standard Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551

Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

Panning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

SurroundScope Metering Plug-In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Part VIII Synchronization

Chapter 34. Synchronization Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Synchronization Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Aspects of Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Synchronizing Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

SMPTE Frame Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

Working with Film-Originated Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Chapter 35. Working with Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575

Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Pull Up and Pull Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Putting Pro Tools Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

Synchronizing a Sequencer to Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Setting Minimum Sync Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Remote Track Arming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Troubleshooting Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

Contents xi

Chapter 36. Working with QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

About QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

QuickTime Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601

Movie Playback Quality Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601

Importing a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

Firewire Playback of QuickTime DV Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

Setting the Movie Start Time (Movie Offset) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Spotting Audio to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Importing QuickTime Audio (and Other Compressed Video Files). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

Bouncing to a New Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Appendix A. DSP-Induced Delays in Mixing (TDM Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611

Introduction to DSP-Induced Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611

Automatically Compensating for Delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

Manually Compensating for Delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Delay Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Appendix B. TDM Mixing and DSP Usage (TDM Systems Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

Benefits of TDM II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

DSP Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

DSP Usage with TDM Mixers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

DSP Usage with TDM Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

DSP Usage and I/O Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

Appendix C. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Backing Up Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Common Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Using DigiTest as a Diagnostic Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Performance Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

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 quality audio for music, video, ﬁlm, and multimedia.

The Pro Tools Guides

Pro Tools systems include the following guides:

Getting Started Guide Instructions for installing your Pro Tools system and connecting your studio.

Basics Guide (Mbox, Digi 002, and Digi 002Rack Systems Only) Designed for new users, these

guides provide speciﬁc methods for accomplishing common tasks (such as getting sound in and out of your Pro Tools LE hardware, connecting a mic or instrument, and recording a session).

Pro Tools Reference Guide Full details on all Pro Tools functionality and operations. (Pro Tools LE systems only include an electronic PDF version of the Reference Guide.)

To learn about basic Pro Tools concepts, refer to “Pro Tools Concepts” on page 11.

Pro Tools Menus Guide Electronic PDF guide to the Pro Tools on-screen menus.

DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide Instructions for using the DigiRack plug-ins (included with Pro Tools) for both real-time and file-based audio processing in Pro Tools. (Pro Tools LE systems only include an electronic PDF version of this guide.)

Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide Electronic PDF guide with instructions for using optional Digidesign plug-ins for both real-time and file-based audio processing in Pro Tools.

DigiBase Guide Full details on using Pro Tools DigiBase databasing and browsers for data and media management. (Pro Tools LE systems only include an electronic PDF version of this guide.)

Expanded Systems Guide (TDM Systems Only) Instructions for expanding a Pro Tools

TDM system with optional Digidesign cards, or an expansion chassis.

MachineControl Guide (TDM Systems Only) Electronic PDF guide for MachineControl option (available separately). This guide includes installation and operation instructions for using the MachineControl option for Pro Tools to enable serial communication with remote audio and video machines.

Pro Tools Keyboard Shortcuts Separate electronic PDFs for Windows and Macintosh that list keyboard shortcuts not shown in Pro Tools menus.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 3

Digidesign also provides guides with audio interfaces, optional dedicated consoles (such as D-Control) and controllers (such as Command|8), and other Digidesign options (such as MIDI I/O, PRE, and SYNC I/O). Refer to the separate guide provided with each Digidesign product.

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 N key

Control-click Hold down the Control

key and click the mouse button

Right-click (Windows) Click with the right

mouse button

The following symbols are used to highlight important information:

User Tips are helpful hints for getting the most from your Pro Tools system.

Important Notices include information that could affect your Pro Tools session data or the performance of your Pro Tools system.

Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or mouse shortcuts.

Compatibility Information

Digidesign can only assure compatibility and provide support for hardware and software it has tested and approved.

For a list of Digidesign-qualified computers, operating systems, hard drives, and third-party devices, refer to the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com/compato).

About www.digidesign.com

The Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com) is your best online source for information to help you get the most out of your Pro Tools system. The following are just a few of the services and features available.

Support Contact Digidesign Technical Support or Customer Service; download software updates and the latest online manuals; browse the Compatibility documents for system requirements; search the online Answerbase or join the worldwide Pro Tools community on the Digidesign User Conference.

Training and Education Study on your own using courses available online or find out how you can learn in a classroom setting at a certified Pro Tools training center.

Products and Developers Learn about Digidesign products; download demo software or learn about our Development Partners and their plugins, applications, and hardware.

News and Events Get the latest news from Digidesign or sign up for a Pro Tools demo.

Cross References point to related sections in Digidesign guides.

Pro Tools Reference Guide4

To learn more about these and other resources available from Digidesign, visit our Web site (www.digidesign.com).

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations

There are two types of Pro Tools systems: TDM and LE. These refer to both the Pro Tools software and its associated hardware, as follows:

•TDM = Pro Tools TDM software for Pro Tools|HD-series hardware.

• LE = Pro Tools LE software for Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, or Mbox hardware.

Pro Tools TDM Systems

Pro Tools TDM systems are available in the conﬁgurations shown below. Each system requires at least one Digidesign audio interface (sold separately). TDM systems can be expanded by adding Digidesign cards to increase track count, add to the amount of possible plug-in and mixer processing, and connect additional audio interfaces.

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

Pro Tools|HD-Series Systems

Pro Tools|HD 1

Includes:

• HD Core card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel

Includes:

• HD Core card

• HD Accel card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel

Includes:

• HD Core card

•Two HD Accel cards

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|HD 2

Supported Audio Interfaces

(Pro Tools|HD-Series Systems Only)

The following audio interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools|HD-series systems:

• 192 I/O

• 192 Digital I/O

• 96 I/O

• 96i I/O

Pro Tools|HD-series systems require the use of at least one 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O.

The following “Legacy” Digidesign audio interfaces are supported with Pro Tools|HD-series systems:

• 888|24 I/O and 882|20 I/O

• 1622 I/O

• 24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O or original ADAT Bridge I/O

Includes:

• HD Core card

• HD Process card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|HD 3

Includes:

• HD Core card

•Two HD Process cards

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools Reference Guide6

TDM System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits

The following table lists the audio playback, recording, and voiceable track limits of each type of Pro Tools TDM system. Playback and recording voices refer to the number of unique simultaneous playback and record tracks on your system. Total voiceable tracks refers to the maximum number of audio tracks that can share the available voices on your system. (Mono tracks take up one voice. Stereo and multichannel tracks take up one voice per channel.) Voice limits are dependent on the session sample rate and the number of DSP chips dedicated to the system’s Playback Engine. Pro Tools TDM systems can open sessions with up to 256 audio tracks, but any audio tracks beyond that system’s voiceable track limit will be automatically set to Voice Off.

Pro Tools TDM systems provide up to 128 Auxiliary Inputs (auxiliary tracks). All TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems also provide a total of 64 internal mix busses, and up to 5 inserts and 5 sends per track (depending on the DSP capacity of your system). In addition, Pro Tools TDM systems support up to 256 MIDI tracks.

Table 3. Pro Tools TDM system audio playback, recording and voice limits

Sample

Core System Type

Pro Tools|HD 1 44.1/48 96 96 112

Pro Tools|HD Accel 2, Pro Tools|HD Accel 3

Expanded Pro Tools|HD 1, Pro Tools|HD 2, Pro Tools|HD 3

Rate (kHz)

88.2/96 48 48 48

176.4/192 12 12 12

44.1/48 192 192 224

88.2/96 96 96 80

176.4/192 36 36 24

44.1/48 128 128 224

88.2/96 64 64 80

176.4/192 24 24 24

Voices (Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback)

Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Recording

Total Voiceable Tracks

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 7

Audio Interfaces for TDM Systems

Table 4 lists the input and output capabilities of the various audio interfaces for Pro Tools TDM systems. In expanded Pro Tools|HD systems, audio interfaces can be combined for up to 96 audio inputs and outputs (for example, with one HD Core card, two HD Accel or HD Process cards, and six I/Os).

Table 4. Pro Tools TDM system audio interface channel capabilities

Interface Type

192 I/O 16 in/16 out 44.1, 48, 88.2,

192 Digital I/O 16 in/16 out 44.1, 48, 88.2,

96 I/O 16 in/16 out 44.1, 48, 88.2, 9624-bit 24-bit 24-bit

96i I/O 16 in/2 out 44.1, 48, 88.2, 9624-bit 24-bit 24-bit

888|24 I/O 8 in/8 out 44.1, 48 24-bit 24-bit (or

882|20 I/O 8 in/8 out 44.1, 48 20-bit 20-bit 24-bit

1622 I/O 16 in/2 out 44.1, 48 20-bit 24-bit 24-bit

24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O

Original ADAT Bridge I/O

Number of I/O Channels

16 in/16 out 44.1, 48 None 24-bit 24-bit

16 in/16 out 44.1, 48 None 20-bit 24-bit (AES

Sample Rates (kHz)

96, 176.4, 192

A/D Conversion

24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

None None 24-bit

D/A Conversion

20-bit, on older I/O)

Digital I/O

24-bit

or S/PDIF), or 20-bit (Optical)

Pro Tools Reference Guide8

Pro Tools LE Systems

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

Mbox

An Mbox system includes:

• Mbox audio interface

• Pro Tools LE software

Digi 002

•A Digi 002 system includes:

• Digi 002 combined audio interface and controller

• Pro Tools LE software

Digi 002 Rack

A Digi 002 Rack system includes:

• Digi 002 audio interface

• Pro Tools LE software

The total processing capacity of a Pro Tools LE-based system depends on the processing power of your computer. Contact your Digidesign dealer or visit Digidesign’s Web site for the latest system requirements and compatibility information.

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 9

Pro Tools LE System Capabilities

Table 5 lists the playback, recording, and input and output capabilities of each Pro Tools LE system. All Pro Tools LE systems support up to 32 or 24 audio tracks, as noted in Table 5. (Mono tracks take up a single audio track, while stereo tracks take up two tracks.) If you open a Pro Tools session created on a TDM system containing more than the number of tracks supported on the LE-based system, audio tracks beyond the LE system’s voiceable track limit will be automatically set to inactive.

Pro Tools LE systems provide up to 128 Auxiliary tracks (Auxiliary Inputs), a total of 16 internal mix busses, and up to 5 inserts and 5 sends per track (depending on your computer’s processing capacity). In addition, Pro Tools LE systems support up to 256 MIDI tracks.

Table 5. Pro Tools LE system audio playback, recording, and channel capabilities

System Type

Digi 002

Digi 002 Rack

Mbox 32 ( up to 2 in/2 out 24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback

32 up to 18 in/18 out

Number of I/O Channels

(48 kHz or lower)

up to 10 in/10 out (88.2 or 96 kHz)

A/D Conversion

24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

D/A Conversion

Digital I/O

For details on transferring session material between Pro Tools TDM and Pro Tools LE systems, see “Sharing Sessions Between Pro Tools TDM Systems and Pro Tools LE Systems” on page 53.

Pro Tools Reference Guide10

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts

This chapter explains the principles and concepts that form the foundation of Pro Tools operation and functionality.

Hard Disk Audio Recording

The Digidesign Audio Engine

DAE (or 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.

Tape-based recording is a linear medium—you need to rewind or fast forward a tape to hear a particular spot in a recording. To rearrange or repeat material in a linear system, you need to rerecord it.

Hard disk recording is a nonlinear (or random access) medium—you can go immediately to any spot in a recording without having to rewind or fast forward.

Nonlinear systems have several advantages. You can easily rearrange or repeat parts of a recording by making the hard disk read parts of the recording in a different order and/or multiple times. In addition, this re-arrangement is non- destructive, meaning that the original recorded material is not altered.

Pro Tools is a nonlinear recording system that lets you rearrange and mix recorded material nondestructively.

In the same way that a computer’s operating system provides the foundation for programs that run on the computer, DAE provides the foundation for much of the hard disk recording, digital signal processing, mix automation, and MIDI functionality required by Pro Tools and other products from Digidesign and its Development Partners.

The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory allocated within DAE to manage disk buffers, which affects system performance. For more information, see “DAE Playback Buffer Size” on page 40. The DAE Playback Buffer Size can be changed in the Playback Engine dialog, discussed below.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 11

Playback Engine Dialog

Pro Tools takes advantage of your computer’s host processor for certain tasks and optional host-based DSP processing.

Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to provide audio track recording, playback, mixing, and effects processing. Pro Tools TDM can also use host processing to run RTAS plug-ins for effects processing. Performance is determined by your system and its Playback Engine settings.

Pro Tools Sessions

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

Session File

The Playback Engine dialog lets you set a hardware buffer size and allocate a percentage of CPU resources for these tasks. For more information, see “Configuring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback System Engine)” on page 37.

Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools TDM system

In the Playback Engine dialog, you can also select the number of voices and voiceable tracks for your system and its sessions. Voice count choices in the dialog are based on how much DSP processing you want to allocate for voicing. For more information, see “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback System Engine)” on page 37.

See also “System Resources” on page 16.

Pro Tools session ﬁle icon

A session ﬁle is the document that Pro Tools cre- ates when you start a new project. The session file contains maps of all elements associated with a project, including audio files, MIDI data, and all your edit and mix information. You can make changes to a session and save those changes in a new session file. This lets you create multiple versions of a project or back up your editing and mixing work.

Audio File

When you record audio into a Pro Tools session, audio files are created.

Audio ﬁle icon

Audio files for each session are stored in a folder named “Audio Files.” Audio files are listed in Pro Tools’ Audio Regions List and can appear in a track. A section of an audio file can be defined as a region. See “Regions (or Loops)” on page 13.

The Playback Engine dialog is also where you dedicate DSP resources for Delay Compensation.

Pro Tools Reference Guide12

Tracks

Pro Tools tracks are where audio, MIDI, and automation data are recorded and edited.

Audio tracks in the Edit window

MIDI track in the Edit window

Audio and MIDI tracks can be edited into regions or repeated in different locations, to create loops, re-arrange sections or entire songs, or to assemble tracks using material from multiple takes.

Audio tracks can be mono, stereo, or any supported multichannel format (depending on your type of Pro Tools system). When creating a new audio track, you can choose from a list of formats supported by your system.

Regions (or Loops)

A region (or loop) is a piece of audio or MIDI data that may have associated automation data. A region could be a loop, a guitar riff, a verse of a song, a sound effect, a piece of dialog, or an entire sound file. In Pro Tools, regions are created from audio or MIDI files, and can be arranged in audio and MIDI track playlists.

Playlist

Playlist Selector pop-up menu

A playlist is a group of regions arranged on an audio or MIDI track. Tracks have edit playlists and automation playlists.

On audio tracks, an edit playlist tells the hard disk which audio files to read in what order. For example, you can use the same audio region to access the same piece of audio multiple times at different locations and not use additional disk space. Different versions of the same original audio can be used in different places and have different effects applied.

A playlist can be made up of a single region or many separate regions. It can be made up of similar elements, such as regions from several different takes of a solo, or dissimilar elements, such as several sound effects. You can create any number of edit playlists for a track. This lets you assemble different versions of performances or edits on a single audio or MIDI track and choose between them with a pop-up menu on the track.

Audio region

Each track has a single set of automation playlists, for volume, pan, mute and each automation-enabled control for the insert and send assignments on that track.

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INPUTS 1-4

SW CTRL GAIN

INPUTS 5-16

+4dBu/–12dBV

OUTPUT

+4dBu/–10dBV

2456

8910111213141516

Figure 1. Back view of 96 I/O, with eight analog inputs, eight analog outputs, and eight digital input/output channels (using a lightpipe)

Channel

The term channel is used to describe several related components of a Pro Tools system. The first example of channel refers to a physical input or output of your Pro Tools system.

For example, a 96 I/O audio interface (Figure 1) provides up to 16 channels of input and output to a Pro Tools|HD system. An 888|24 I/O audio interface provides eight channels of analog input and output to a Pro Tools TDM system.

The second use of the term channel refers to a mixer strip in the Pro Tools Mix window. The term channel strip refers to the mixer strip of any track (audio or MIDI track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader) in a session.

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 output gain to the mix bus for that channel, while MIDI channel strip faders send MIDI volume data (MIDI controller 7) to the MIDI instrument.

Figure 2. Channel strip in the Mix window

The term channel also describes a separate aspect of MIDI operation. See “MIDI Concepts” on page 18.

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Signal Routing

Signal Routing Options

Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and signal routing controls. The Mix window is where these controls are located. (Some of these controls can also be accessed from the Edit window.)

A common signal routing task is to submix multiple tracks to a single channel strip (such as an Auxiliary Input or a Master Fader) for shared processing and level control. The following example shows three audio tracks submixed to a stereo Auxiliary Input.

Stereo

Inserts

Sends

Outputs to Stereo Bus path

plug-in

Input from Stereo Bus path

Output to Stereo Output path

Signal routing options include the following:

Track Input and Output (I/O) Controls The most basic type of signal routing is track input and output. A track needs to have an assigned input path to record audio, and an assigned output path in order to be audible through a hardware output. Signals can also be routed to or from other tracks in Pro Tools (or hardware inputs and outputs) using internal busses.

Auxiliary Inputs and Master Faders Auxiliary Inputs are tracks that can be used as returns, submixers and bus masters. Master Faders are used as bus and output master level controls. Both Auxiliary Inputs and Master Faders can have plug-in and/or hardware inserts.

Sends Sends route audio to internal busses to send to other tracks in Pro Tools, or to hardware outputs. Master Faders do not have sends.

Plug-In and Hardware Inserts Software plug-ins and hardware inserts process the audio on their associated track. Plug-in processing occurs completely within the Pro Tools system. Hardware inserts utilize audio interface inputs and outputs, for traditional insert routing to (and from) external effects and other devices.

Audio Tracks

Submixing to an Auxiliary Input

Auxiliary Input

Paths Pro Tools lets you define any internal or external input, output, bus, or insert with a single name and format (mono, stereo, or multichannel). Paths comprise the lists of available routing choices in track I/O Selectors and other menus. Paths are auto-named by default, but can be customized in the I/O Setup window. See Chapter 7, “I/O Setup” for more information.

Mixing Formats Sessions can include combinations of mono, stereo, and multichannel format tracks, busses, inputs, outputs, and inserts. (Multichannel formats are supported on TDM systems only.)

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System Resources

Track count, plug-in processing, signal path and routing options, and voice availability are ultimately limited by the combined resources available from the host computer, and from your Pro Tools hardware.

Pro Tools provides several ways to manage and conserve resources to maximize the performance of your system. As you begin working with Pro Tools sessions and tracks, you can take advantage of the following features to extend the effectiveness of your available DSP and other resources:

◆ Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of

your system by changing system settings (such as H/W Buffer Size and CPU Usage) that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording. See “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback System Engine)” on page 37.

◆ Pro Tools allows for session items (such as

tracks and inserts) to be manually made inactive, to free up DSP resources. Inactive elements are viewable, editable, and retained within the session. See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 16.

◆ All Pro Tools TDM systems, as well as LE sys-

tems, provide ﬂexible voice options for audio tracks, to help maximize use of available voices in your system. For more information on voice management and options, see “Voice Borrowing” on page 97.

Active and Inactive Items

Pro Tools lets you set certain items (such as tracks and inserts) as inactive, in order to free up DSP resources and mixer connections.

Items in Pro Tools that can be made inactive (or active) include the following:

• Audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master Faders

•Track Inputs and Outputs

• Sends

• Side-chain inputs

• Plug-ins

• Hardware inserts

• Paths (session-wide)

MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.

In addition to manually setting Active and Inactive modes, Pro Tools will automatically make items inactive if there are insufficient or unavailable resources.

When active, items are fully engaged and operational.

When inactive, items are silent and off, although most associated controls can still be adjusted. Different inactive items affect available system resources in specific ways, as follows:

Plug-Ins When a plug-in is inactive on a track, its DSP is made available for other plug-ins and processing. Plug-in assignments can be made inactive manually, or automatically (see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on page 17).

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Paths and Path Assignments When a path or path assignment is inactive, its mixer resources are made available for other signal routing purposes in the session. Paths and assignments can be made inactive manually, or automatically (see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on page 17).

Tracks When a track is made inactive, its voices become available for another track. Mono inactive tracks free up one voice, and stereo and multichannel tracks free up one voice per channel. Additionally, when an audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader is made inactive, its plug-ins, inserts, sends, and I/O assignments become inactive, and the associated DSP used is freed up for use elsewhere in the session.

Display of Inactive Items

When items are inactive, their names appear in italics, and their background becomes dark grey. When a track is inactive, the entire channel strip is grayed out.

Active Inactive plug-in

Inactive track

Active and inactive items and tracks

Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode

Active and Inactive modes are powerful options for session transfer, and system resource management. Pro Tools provides automatic and manual Inactive mode switching. You can manually make items inactive (or active) to selectively manage system resources while editing and mixing.

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Automatically Inactive Items

When opening a session, it is possible that not all signal paths, plug-ins, or audio interfaces used in the session will be available as defined on the current system. When opening a session, sufficient voices may also be unavailable if the session was created on a different Pro Tools system type (for example, creating a session on a Pro Tools|24 MIX-series system, then opening it in on a Pro Tools|HD-series system).

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.

Whenever this occurs, the session will open as it was last saved. All items that are unavailable, or cannot be loaded due to insufficient resources, are made inactive.

Manual Inactive Switching

You can manually apply Active or Inactive modes to manage system resources. By making an item inactive, its associated resources are made available elsewhere in the session.

The following are basic instructions for manually making items inactive. Throughout the Pro Tools Reference Guide, instructions are provided whenever an item can be made inactive.

To toggle an item active or inactive:

■ Control-Start-click (Windows) or Command-

Control-click (Macintosh) the item.

You can apply Active or Inactive modes to all or all selected tracks using standard Pro Tools modifiers (Alt and Alt+Shift in Windows, Option and Option+Shift on the Macintosh). Side-chain inputs support direct active and inactive switching, but do not follow switching all or all selected side-chain inputs.

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

The MIDI OUT port transmits messages; the MIDI IN port receives messages; and, MIDI THRU echoes whatever is received from the IN port. MIDI devices are connected with MIDI cables that are available at most music stores.

echoed from IN

MIDI signal ﬂow

Not all devices will have all three MIDI ports (IN, OUT and THRU).

A single MIDI cable can transmit a separate set of messages for each of the 16 channels. These 16 channels correspond to separate MIDI devices or to multiple channels within a single device (if the device is multi-timbral). Each channel represents a discreet instrument sound; for instance, bass on channel 1, piano on channel 2, and drums on channel 10. Similar to a multitrack tape recorder, a MIDI sequencer can record complex arrangements—even using a single multi-timbral keyboard.

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