Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools - 7.0 Reference Guide

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Pro Tools

Reference Guide

Version 7.0

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This guide is copyrighted ©2005 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, M-Audio, 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 9106-17743-00 REV A 011/05

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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|HD Systems Pro Tools LE Systems Pro Tools M-Powered

Chapter 3. Pro Tools Concepts

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

Chapter 4. Pro Tools Windows

The Mix Window The Edit Window The Transport Window Menus and Windows Tool Tips

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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 Engine) Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings Creating a New Session Session Files and Folders Opening a Session Saving a Session Creating Custom Session Templates Closing a Session Quitting Pro Tools System Usage 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 Channel Strips Track Controls and Indicators Adjusting Track Width Creating Tracks The Track List Assigning Inputs and Outputs to Tracks Track Priority and Voice Assignment Setting MIDI Input and Output Soloing and Muting Tracks Making Tracks Inactive 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 Tracks and Track Attributes

Pro Tools Reference Guide

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Exporting Audio Exporting Pro Tools Tracks as OMFI or AAF Sequences Exporting Sessions as Text Send via DigiDelivery Importing MIDI Files Exporting MIDI Files Importing and Exporting Region Group Files

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Chapter 10. File and Session Management and Compatibility

Audio File Management WAV File Compatibility Sharing Sessions Created on Different Computer Platforms Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Software Versions Multilingual Application Support for Pro Tools|HD Systems

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Part III Recording

Chapter 11. Record Setup

Input Connections and Audio Levels Record Enabling Tracks Record Monitoring Modes Monitor Levels for Record and Playback Monitoring Latency Low Latency Monitoring with Delay Compensation Default Track Names Disk Allocation Allocating Hard Drive Space for Recording Monitoring Drive Space 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

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Contents

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Auditioning Different Record Takes in the Timeline Setting Punch/Loop Points Recording from a Digital Source Half-Speed Recording and Playback

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Chapter 13. MIDI Recording

Recording from MIDI Devices

Enabling Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

MIDI Thru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

MIDI Input Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

MIDI Merge/Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Configuring MIDI or Instrument Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Recording to MIDI and Instrument Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Punch Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

MIDI Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Recording System Exclusive Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

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Chapter 14. Advanced Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

QuickPunch Audio Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

TrackPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Part IV Editing

Chapter 15. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Displaying Region Names, Region Times, and Other Data in Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Audio Regions and Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Timebase Rulers and Conductor Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

The Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Trimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Using the Selector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Pro Tools Reference Guide

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Grabbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Using the Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Scrubbing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Using the Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

The Universe Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Chapter 16. Playing and Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Linking or Unlinking Timeline and Edit Selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Linking or Unlinking Track and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Playing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

TCE (Time Compression and Expansion) Edit To Timeline Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Playing Timeline and Edit Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Chapter 17. Working with Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Creating New Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Trimming Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Healing Separated Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Sync Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Nudging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Shift Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Quantizing Regions to Grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Locking Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Replacing Audio Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Edit Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Duplicate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Repeat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Waveform Repair with the Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Region Looping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Chapter 18. Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Using Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Contents vii

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Chapter 19. Managing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Stripping Silence from Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Consolidate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Naming and Displaying Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Chapter 20. Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Song Start Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Graphic Tempo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Changing the Linearity Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Tempo Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Time Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Memory Locations and Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Chapter 21. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

The Beat Detective Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Beat Detective Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Defining a Beat Detective Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Calculating Tempo with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Generating Beat Triggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

DigiGroove Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Separating Regions with Beat Detective (Audio Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Conforming Regions with Beat Detective (Audio Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Edit Smoothing (Audio Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Part V MIDI Editing

Chapter 22. MIDI Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Mirrored MIDI Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

The Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Custom Note Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Setting the Grid Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Inserting MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Manually Editing MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

Pro Tools Reference Guideviii

Page 9

Time Compression/Expansion Trim Tool Functionality on MIDI Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Patch Select (Program and Bank Changes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Note and Controller Chasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Remove Duplicate Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Chapter 23. MIDI Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

MIDI Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Grid/Groove Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Restore Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Flatten Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

Select/Split Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

MIDI Real-Time Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

Chapter 24. MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

The MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Editing in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

MIDI Event List Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Part VI Mixing

Chapter 25. Basic Mixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Metering and Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Signal Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Views in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Audio Input and Output Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Contents ix

Page 10

Sends and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Submixing for Signal Routing and Effects Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Delay Compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Using a Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Chapter 26. Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

Inserting Plug-Ins on Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Plug-In Menu Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Moving and Duplicating Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

The Plug-In Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520

Using the Librarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523

Editing Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

Using Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Connecting and Integrating External Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Chapter 27. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Automation Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

Trimming Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Writing Automation to the Selection, Selection Start, or Selection End. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

Writing Automation to the Next Breakpoint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Mute Automation Overwrite/Extend Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Chapter 28. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Recording to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Bounce to Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

Bounce Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575

Recording a Submix (with Bounce to Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Final Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Pro Tools Reference Guidex

Page 11

Part VII Surround

Chapter 29. Surround Concepts (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Mixing Formats and Surround Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Pro Tools Mixing Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Speaker Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Surround Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592

Formats and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

Surround Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

Chapter 30. Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Default I/O Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Chapter 31. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Multichannel Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Chapter 32. Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Output Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

Standard Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Panning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627

LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Pan Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

SurroundScope Metering Plug-In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Contents xi

Page 12

Part VIII Synchronization

Chapter 33. Synchronization Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Synchronization Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Aspects of Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Synchronizing Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634

SMPTE Frame Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Working with Film-Originated Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

Chapter 34. Working with Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

Pull Up and Pull Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

Putting Pro Tools Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Setting Minimum Sync Delay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660

Remote Track Arming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660

MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664

Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

Troubleshooting Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667

Chapter 35. Working with QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

About QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

QuickTime Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

QuickTime Movie Playback Performance Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

Importing a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

FireWire Playback of QuickTime DV Movies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

Setting the Movie Start Time (Movie Offset) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676

Spotting Audio to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

Importing QuickTime Audio (and Other Compressed Video Files). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

Bouncing to a New Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691

Pro Tools Reference Guidexii

Page 13

Part I: Introduction

Page 14

Page 15

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 (Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered 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 or Digidesign-qualiﬁed M-Audio 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 and M-Powered systems only include an electronic PDF version of the Reference Guide.)

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

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

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

system with optional Digidesign cards or an expansion chassis.

MachineControl™ Guide (Pro Tools|HD Systems Only) Electronic PDF guide for MachineControl

option. This guide includes installation and operation instructions for using the MachineControl option for Pro Tools to enable serial communication with remote audio and video transports.

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

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 3

Page 16

Digidesign also provides guides with audio interfaces, dedicated worksurfaces (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 Choose Save 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.

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.

Registration Register your purchase online. See the registration form included with your system for instructions.

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.

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.

Cross References point to related sections in Digidesign guides.

Pro Tools Reference Guide4

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.

Page 17

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations

There are three types of Pro Tools systems:

Pro Tools|HD® These systems include Pro Tools HD software for Pro Tools|HD system hardware.

Pro Tools LE™ These systems include Pro Tools LE software for Digi 002 Digi 002 Rack™, Mbox 2™, or Mbox™ hardware.

Pro Tools M-Powered™ These systems include Pro Tools M-Powered software for Digidesignqualified M-Audio

interfaces.

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools|HD systems are available in the conﬁgurations shown on page 6. Each system requires at least one Digidesign audio interface (sold separately). Pro Tools|HD systems can be expanded by adding Pro Tools|HD system 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

Page 18

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools|HD 1

Includes:

• HD Core card

• Pro Tools HD software

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel

Includes:

• HD Core card

• HD Accel card

• Pro Tools HD software

Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel

Includes:

• HD Core card

•Two HD Accel cards

• Pro Tools HD software

Pro Tools|HD 2

Supported Audio Interfaces

(Pro Tools|HD Systems Only)

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

• 192 I/O™

• 192 Digital I/O™

• 96 I/O™

• 96i I/O™

Pro Tools|HD 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 systems:

• 888|24 I/O™ and 882|20 I/O™

• 1622 I/O™

• 24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O™

Includes:

• HD Core card

• HD Process card

• Pro Tools HD software

Pro Tools|HD 3

Includes:

• HD Core card

•Two HD Process cards

• Pro Tools HD software

HD Accel and HD Process cards can be used in the same system. Refer to the Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide.

Pro Tools Reference Guide6

Page 19

Pro Tools|HD System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits

The following table lists the audio playback, recording, and voiceable track limits of each type of Pro Tools|HD 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|HD 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.

Table 3. Pro Tools|HD 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 96 120

176.4/192 36 36 36

44.1/48 128 128 224

88.2/96 64 64 80

176.4/192 24 24 24

Playback Voices (Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback)

Recording Voices (Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Recording)

Total Voiceable Tracks

Pro Tools|HD systems provide up to 160 Auxiliary Input tracks and a total of 128 internal mix busses. These systems also provide up to 5 inserts and 10 sends per track (depending on the DSP capacity of your system). In addition, Pro Tools|HD systems support up to 128 Instrument tracks and 256 MIDI tracks.

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 7

Page 20

Audio Interfaces for Pro Tools|HD Systems

Table 4 lists the input and output capabilities of the various audio interfaces for Pro Tools|HD systems.

Table 4. Pro Tools|HD 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

Number of I/O Channels

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

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

You can expand your Pro Tools|HD system by adding Pro Tools|HD cards to your computer, either directly in the computer or using an expansion chassis. Expanding your Pro Tools system will provide an increased track count, add to the amount of possible plug-in and mixer processing, and let you connect additional audio interfaces. For more information, see the Expanded Systems Guide.

Pro Tools Reference Guide8

Page 21

Pro Tools LE Systems

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

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

Mbox 2™

An Mbox 2 system includes:

• Mbox 2 audio interface

• Pro Tools LE software

Processing Capacity

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

Mbox™

An Mbox system includes:

• Mbox audio interface

• Pro Tools LE software

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 9

Page 22

Pro Tools LE System Capabilities

Table 5 lists the playback, recording, and input and output capabilities of each Pro Tools LE system. Mono tracks of simultaneous playback refers 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 a single audio track, while stereo tracks take up two tracks.) If you open a Pro Tools session created on a Pro Tools|HD 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.

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

System Type

Digi 002 or Digi 002 Rack

Mbox 2 or Mbox

Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback

32 128 up to 18 in/18 out

32 128 up to 2 in/2 out 24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

Total Voiceable Tracks

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

Pro Tools LE systems provide up to 128 Auxiliary Input tracks, a total of 32 internal mix busses, and up to 5 inserts and 10 sends per track (depending on your computer’s processing capacity). In addition, Pro Tools LE systems support up to 32 Instrument tracks and 256 MIDI tracks.

For details on transferring session material between Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools LE systems, see “Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems” on page 146.

Pro Tools M-Powered

A Pro Tools M-Powered system includes:

• Pro Tools M-Powered software

• Digidesign-qualiﬁed M-Audio interface (not supplied with M-Powered software)

References to Pro Tools LE in this guide are usually interchangeable with Pro Tools M-Powered, except as noted in this guide and the Pro Tools M-Powered Getting Started Guide.

For a list of Digidesign-qualified M-Audio interfaces, refer to the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com/compato)

Pro Tools Reference Guide10

Page 23

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

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.

The Digidesign Audio Engine

DAE (or Digidesign Audio Engine) is Digidesign’s real-time operating system for digital audio recording, playback, and processing. 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 the foundation for much of the hard disk recording, digital signal processing, and mix automation required by Pro Tools and other products from Digidesign and its Development Partners.

The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory DAE allocates to manage disk buffers.

For more information, see “DAE Playback Buffer Size” on page 41. The DAE Playback Buffer Size can be changed in the Playback Engine dialog, discussed below.

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

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 11

Page 24

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 HD can also use host processing to run RTAS plug-ins for effects processing. Performance is determined by your system and its Playback Engine settings.

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

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

A session ﬁle is the document that Pro Tools cre- ates when you choose File > New Session and configure a new session. Pro Tools can open only one session file at a time. The session file is named with a .ptf (Pro Tools file) extension. Session files contain maps of all elements associated with a project, including audio files, MIDI data, and all your edit and mix information. It is important to realize that a Pro Tools session file does not contain any media files (audio or video), but rather it references audio, video, MIDI, and other files. You can make changes to a session and save those changes in a new session file. This lets you create multiple versions of a session or back up your editing and mixing work.

Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools HD

On Pro Tools|HD systems, you can select the number of voices and voiceable tracks for your system and its sessions. Voice count choices 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 Engine)” on page 37.

See also “System Resources” on page 16.

On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Playback Engine dialog is also where you dedicate DSP resources for Delay Compensation.

Pro Tools Reference Guide12

Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools LE, and Pro Tools MPowered have different session file icons.

Pro Tools HD

Session ﬁle icons

Although there are different session file icons, the session files may be opened by all three applications (with certain restrictions). See “Opening a Session” on page 47.

Pro Tools LE

Pro Tools M-Powered

When a session is transferred to a different Pro Tools system, its session file icon will change to the icon type of the destination system.

Page 25

Tracks

Audio File

Pro Tools tracks are where audio, MIDI, and automation data are recorded and edited. Pro Tools tracks also provide audio channels for routing internal busses, and physical inputs and outputs for audio and MIDI.

Pro Tools provides five types of tracks: audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, Master Faders, Instruments tracks, and MIDI tracks.

Audio track in the Edit window (stereo track shown)

MIDI track in the Edit window

Audio, MIDI, and Instrument track data 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.

Auxiliary Input tracks can route internal audio busses or physical inputs to internal busses or physical outputs. Auxiliary Inputs are typically used for audio effects busses, audio throughput, and submixing.

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

Audio ﬁle icon

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

Regions

Audio region

A region is a segment of audio or MIDI data. A re- gion could be a drum loop, a guitar riff, a verse of a song, a recording take, a sound effect, a piece of dialog, or an entire sound file. A region can also have associated automation data. In Pro Tools, regions are created from audio or MIDI files, and can be arranged in audio and MIDI track playlists. Regions can also be grouped and looped.

Master Fader tracks provide controls for physical audio output channels, including the volume level of your mix, panning, and plug-in inserts.

Audio, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, and Master Fader tracks can be mono, stereo, or multichannel (Pro Tools HD only). When creating a new track, you can choose from a list of formats supported by your system.

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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.

You can create any number of alternate edit playlists for a track. This lets you assemble different versions of performances or edits on a single track and choose between them with a popup menu on the track.

Playlist selector pop-up menu

A playlist is a sequence 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 regions to play 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. On MIDI and Instrument tracks, edit playlists can store multiple MIDI sequences (or performances) on a track.

INPUTS 1-4

SW CTRL GAIN

2456

INPUTS 5-16

+4dBu/–12dBV

8910111213141516

OUTPUT

+4dBu/–10dBV

Each track also 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.

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, while an Mbox 2 audio interface provides up to 4 inputs and 2 outputs

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

Pro Tools Reference Guide14

Page 27

The second use of the term channel refers to a channel strip in the Pro Tools Mix window. Each track in a Pro Tools session has a corresponding channel strip in the Mix window.

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. Instrument track channel strips combine a MIDI track and Auxiliary Input into a single channel strip.

Signal Routing

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

Figure 2. Channel strip in the Mix window (audio track)

The term channel also describes a separate aspect of MIDI operation. See “MIDI Concepts” on page 19.

Audio tracks

Submixing to an Auxiliary Input

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 15

Auxiliary

Inputs

Page 28

Signal Routing Options

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.

Instrument Tracks Instrument tracks let you route sound from a plug-in instrument to outputs, sends and busses, or other inserts.

Sends Sends route audio from tracks to hardware outputs, or to internal busses that are in turn routed to other tracks within Pro Tools. Master Faders do not have sends.

Plug-In and Hardware Inserts 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.

Paths Paths are any routing option in Pro Tools, including internal or external inputs, outputs, busses, and inserts. Pro Tools lets you name these paths, and these path names appear in the Audio Input and Output Path selectors and other menus. See Chapter 7, “I/O Setup” for more information.

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

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 that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording capabilities. See “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback Engine)” on page 37.

◆ In order to free up needed DSP resources,

Pro Tools allows for certain items (such as tracks and inserts) to be manually made inactive. Inactive elements are viewable, editable, and retained within the session. See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 17.

◆ All Pro Tools systems 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 104.

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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, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, and Master Fader tracks

•Track Inputs and Outputs

• Sends

• Side-chain inputs

• Plug-ins

• Hardware inserts

• Paths (session-wide)

MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.

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 18).

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, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, or Master Fader track 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.

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 18).

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.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 17

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Active Inactive plug-in

Inactive track

Automatically Inactive Items

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

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

Manual Inactive Switching

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

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

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.

Pro Tools Reference Guide18

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.

Page 31

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, MIDI control surfaces, and sequencers.

MIDI devices are equipped with 5-pin DIN connectors, labeled as either IN, OUT, or THRU. The MIDI OUT port transmits messages. The MIDI IN port receives messages. The 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

channel 10. Similar to a multitrack tape recorder, a MIDI sequencer can record complex arrangements—even using a single multi-timbral keyboard.

MIDI Terms

The following are some basic MIDI terms:

MIDI Instrument (or Virtual Instrument) An instrument plug-in. In this guide, “instrument” refers to soft synths and plug-in inserts.

MIDI Interface Hardware that lets computers connect to and communicate with MIDI devices.

MIDI Device Any keyboard, sound module, effects device or other equipment that can send or receive MIDI information.

MIDI Controller Any MIDI device that transmits MIDI performance data. These include keyboards, MIDI guitar controllers, MIDI wind instruments, and others. Controllers transmit MIDI from their MIDI OUT ports.

MIDI signal ﬂow

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

The MIDI protocol provides 16-channels of MIDI per port. 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-tim- bral). Each channel can control a different instrument sound. For example, bass on channel 1, piano on channel 2, and drums on

MIDI Control Surface Any device (such as the Digidesign Command|8), which uses a MIDI connection to send control messages to a software program, but is not generally used to record MIDI information.

MIDI Tone Generator (MIDI Sound Source) Any MIDI instrument capable of playing back MIDItriggered sound. Sound sources receive MIDI from their MIDI IN ports.

Multi-Timbral The ability of one MIDI device to play several different instrument sounds (such as piano, bass, and drums) simultaneously on separate channels. This makes it possible for a single MIDI sound source to play back entire arrangements.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 19

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MIDI Channel Up to 16 channels of MIDI performance data can be transmitted on a single MIDI cable. The channel number separates the different messages so your sound sources can receive the right ones.

Program Change Event A MIDI command that tells a sound source which of its sounds (or sound patches) to use. The MIDI protocol lets you choose from a range of 128 patches.

Bank Select Message Many devices have more than 128 patches, which are arranged in banks. The Bank Select Message is a MIDI command that specifies the bank of patches from which to choose.

Local Control A controller setting found on most MIDI keyboards that lets them play their own sound source. Disabling “local control” ensures that a device’s internal sound source is only played by external MIDI messages. When using Pro Tools, “local control” should usually be disabled. When “local control” is off, your keyboard still transmits data to its MIDI OUT port.

Continuous Controller Events MIDI instructions that allow real-time changes to notes that are currently sounding. These include pitch bend, modulation, volume, pan, and many others.

System Exclusive Data MIDI data commonly used for sending and retrieving patch parameter information for storage purposes.

particular velocity. This could be its internal tone generator, an external MIDI instrument, or an instrument plug-in, which can be contained completely within Pro Tools. In order to create or play a MIDI recording, you must have a MIDI instrument. Audio from your instrument can be sent to an external mixer or monitored through your Pro Tools audio interface.

If you are using an external MIDI instrument, it must be connected to MIDI ports that are recognized by your computer. These ports can be on a Pro Tools interface that has MIDI ports (such as MIDI I/O, Mbox 2, or a Digidesign-qualified MAudio interface) or some other MIDI interface.

Signal paths for external MIDI instruments

To actually hear an external MIDI instrument, you need to connect its audio outputs to a mixing console or connect it to one of the audio inputs of your Pro Tools audio interface.

Just as each Pro Tools system has hardware limitations, each MIDI device has its own limitations as to the number of voices and instruments it can play at one time. Consult the device’s documentation for its limitations.

Common MIDI Misconceptions

MIDI is not audio, and by itself makes no sound. MIDI is control information only. It is like the piano roll for a player piano; it provides control information for what note to play when, for how long, and at what volume. For example, when you strike a key on a MIDI keyboard, it sends a message to a MIDI instrument or tone generator to play that particular note at that

Pro Tools Reference Guide20

When using MIDI with instrument plug-ins in Pro Tools, virtual MIDI nodes are created. These nodes provide software MIDI connections between Pro Tools and other MIDI software, such as instrument plug-ins. For example, when you insert Propellerhead’s Reason as a ReWire client on a track, its various MIDI inputs become available to Pro Tools MIDI and Instrument track MIDI outputs.

Page 33

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows

Pro Tools provides two complementary ways of viewing a session: the Mix window and the Edit window. Pro Tools also lets you control the transport and transport-related functions in the Transport window.

To toggle between the Mix and Edit windows, press Control+Equals (=) (Windows), or press Command+Equals (=) (Macintosh).

For information on the main elements of the Mix window and Edit window, see the page references provided in Figure 3 on page 22, and Figure 4 on page 23.

Pro Tools also includes DigiBase browsers for searching, sorting, and importing data.

For more information on DigiBase, see the DigiBase Guide.

The Mix Window

In the Mix window, tracks appear as channel strips, with controls for inserts, sends, input and output assignments, volume, panning, record enable, automation mode, and solo/mute.

To display all Mix window view options:

■ Select View > Mix Window > All.

For information on selecting individual view options, see “Views in the Mix and Edit Windows” on page 483.

The Edit Window

The Edit window provides a timeline display of audio, as well as MIDI data and mixer automation for recording, editing and arranging tracks. As in the Mix window, each track has controls for record enable, solo, mute and automation mode. Pro Tools also provides a video track.

To display the Edit window:

■ Choose Window > Edit.

To display all Edit window view options:

■ Select View > Edit Window > All.

For information on selecting individual view options, see “Views in the Mix and Edit Windows” on page 483.

To display the Mix window:

■ Choose Window > Mix.

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows 21

Page 34

Track List (page 98)

Automation

Mode selector

(page 536)

Pan slider

(page 91)

Output Window

button

(page 494)

Group ID indicator

Voice selector

(page 103)

Mix Group List

(page 114)

AutoMatch

indicator

(page 541)

Delay

Compensation

View (page 485)

Session name

Mix Window

View selector

(page 483)

Send selector

(page 488)

Stereo

audio track

(page 88)

Mono

audio track

(page 88)

Plug-In Insert

(page 482)

Auxiliary

Input

(page 89)

Instrument

track

(page 90)

Track Color

Coding

(page 111)

Instrument

View

(page 484)

Inserts

View

(page 484)

Sends

View

(page 484)

Track

controls

(page 24)

Volume

fader

(page 92)

Level meter

(page 92)

MIDI Track

Patch Select

button

(page 429)

Track Name

button

(page 94)

Track

Comments

View

(page 484)

Master Fader (page 89)

MIDI track (page 90)

Figure 3. Pro Tools Mix window

Pro Tools Reference Guide22

Page 35

Commands Keyboard Focus

(page 32)

Graphic Tempo Editor

(page 358)

Edit Mode

buttons

(page 246)

Tab to

Transients

(page 283)

Track List (page 98)

Timebase

rulers

(page 231)

Track View

selector

(page 221)

Timebase

selector

(page 235)

Edit Group

List

(page 235)

Timeline selections

(page 285)

Zoom buttons

(page 249)

Edit tools (page 24)

Edit Selection indicators

(page 24)

Grid and

Nudge values

(page 25)

Event Edit Area

(page 24)

Transport controls (page 25)

Timeline

Region List (page 240)

Region Group

(page 321)

Volume

Automation

View

(page 542)

Audio

Waveform

View

(page 226)

MIDI track

(page 87)

Audio track

(page 87)

Figure 4. Pro Tools Edit window

MIDI Velocity View

(page 422)

Selected region

MIDI Notes View

(page 228)

(page 275)

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows 23

Page 36

Track Controls

Edit Window Counters and Selection Indicators

Automation Mode selector (page 536)

Record Enable button (page 152)

TrackInput Monitor button (page 155)

Mute Button (page 110)

Solo button (page 107)

Mix window track controls for mono audio track (Wide View)

Record Enable button (page 152)

TrackInput Monitor button (page 155)

Track View selector (page 221)

Timebase selector (page 235)

Track Name button (page 94)

Playlist selector (page 236)

Solo button (page 107)

Mute button (page 110)

Track Height selector (page 224)

Voice selector (page 103)

Automation Mode selector (page 536)

Edit window track controls for stereo audio track (medium track height)

Edit Tools

Main and Sub Counters

Main and Sub Counters (page 269)

Edit window display showing counters

The Main and Sub Counters can be set for different Time Scale formats (such as Samples, Bars:Beats, or Minutes:Seconds). For more information, see “Main Time Scale” on page 232. These counters are also displayed in the Transport window.

Edit Selection Indicators

Edit Selection indicators

Edit Selection indicators in the Edit window

The Edit Selection Start, End, and Length indicators display can be set for different Time Scale formats (such as Samples, Bars:Beats, or Minutes:Seconds). For more information, see “Main Time Scale” on page 232.

Trim tools

(page 254)

Zoomer tool

(page 249)

Zoom Toggle

(page 249)

Selector

tool

(page 265)

Smart Tool (page 259)

Edit tools in Edit window

Pro Tools Reference Guide24

Grabber

tools

(page 276)

Custom Note Duration

button (page 417)

Scrubber tool

(page 260)

Pencil tool

(page 416)

Event Edit Area

The Event Edit Area provides time, pitch, and other information for the currently selected audio or MIDI data. It also lets you deﬁne selections using the keyboard.

Note Attributes (page 424)

Release Velocity

Event Edit Area showing MIDI track information

Pitch

Attack Velocity

Page 37

Edit Window Bar

The Edit Window bar contain various selectors, commands, indicators, and pop-up menus for working in the Pro Tools Edit window.

Cursor Location Indicators

View Selectors

Ruler View selector (page 483)

Edit window View selector (page 483)

View selectors in the Edit Window bar

Commands

Linearity Display

Mode (page 363)

Tab to Transients

(page 283)

Commands Keyboard Focus

(page 32)

Link Track and Edit Selection

Commands in the Edit Window bar

Mirrored MIDI

Editing

(page 415)

Link Timeline and Edit

Selection (page 272)

(page 274)

Grid/Nudge Value Indicators and PopUp Menus

Cursor Location indicator (page 265)

Cursor Location Value indicator

(page 265)

Cursor Location indicators in the Edit Window bar

The Transport Window

The Transport window can be set to show basic transport controls, counters, MIDI controls, and expanded features. The counters in the Transport window mirror the controls and counters at the top of the Edit window.

To display the Transport window:

■ Choose Window > Transport.

Basic Transport Controls and Counters

Track Record Enable indicator

Stop

Fast Forward

Play

Go to End

Record

Enable

Return to Zero

Rewind

Online

Grid Value indicator

(page 302)

Grid Value pop-up menu

(page 302)

Nudge Value indicator

(page 305))

Nudge Value

pop-up menu

(page 305)

Grid/Nudge Value indicators and pop-up menus in the Edit Window bar

Pre-Roll

Post-Roll

Transport Master

Pre-Roll indicator

Post-Roll indicator

Start, End, and Length

Selection indicators

TrackInput Monitor

indicator

Transport window showing basic transport controls and counters (Main and Sub Counters and MIDI not shown)

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows 25

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Online Puts Pro Tools online so that playback and recording is triggered by an external time code source.

Play Starts playback or (if the Record Enable button was clicked first) recording from the Timeline insertion point.

Return to Zero Locates to the beginning of the session.

Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to Return to Zero.

Rewind Rewinds from the current play location. You can also click repeatedly to rewind incrementally, by an amount based on the Main Time Scale, as follows:

Rewind Increments

Main Time Scale Format Increment Amount

Min:Sec 1 second

Time Code

(Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit)

Bars:Beats 1 bar

Feet+Frame

(Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit)

Sample 1 second

1 frame

1 foot

With the Transport stopped, Right-click Play (Windows) or Control-click Play (Macintosh) to toggle Loop Playback mode. When enabled, a loop symbol appears in the Play button and Pro Tools plays continuously from the beginning of the selection to the end.

You can also initiate playback with the following shortcuts:

• Press the Spacebar.

•With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, press 0.

You can play at half-speed with the following shortcuts:

• Press Shift+Spacebar.

• Shift-click (Macintosh) the Play button.

Fast Forward Fast forwards from the Timeline insertion point. You can also click repeatedly to fast forward incrementally (by an amount based on the Main Time Scale).

Fast Forward Increments

Main Time Scale Format Increment Amount

Min:Sec 1 second

Time Code

1 frame

With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can rewind by pressing 1.

Stop Stops playback or recording.

You can also stop the Transport with the following shortcuts:

• Press the Spacebar.

•With Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, press 0.

Pro Tools Reference Guide26

(Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit)

Bars:Beats 1 bar

Feet+Frame

(Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit)

Sample 1 second

1 foot

Page 39

With Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can fast forward by pressing 2.

Go to End Locates to the end of the session.

You can press Control+Enter (Windows) or Option+Return (Macintosh) on the QWERTY keyboard to locate to the end of the session.

Record Enable Arms Pro Tools for recording (the button flashes). Clicking Play then initiates recording on record-enabled tracks only.

With the Transport stopped, Right-click Record Enable (Windows) or Control-click Record Enable (Macintosh) to cycle through the five record modes. The Record Enable button changes to indicate the currently selected mode: blank for Nondestructive, “D” for Destructive, a loop symbol for Loop Record, “P” for QuickPunch, and “T” for TrackPunch.

You can also begin recording with the following shortcuts:

• Press F12.

On Macintosh systems, the F12 key is initially used for the Mac OS X “Spotlight” menu keyboard shortcut. To use F12 in Pro Tools, remap the “Spotlight” menu keyboard shortcut in the Macintosh System Preferences. See your Getting Started Guide.

•Control+Spacebar (Windows) or press Command+Spacebar (Macintosh).

•With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, press 3.

To initiate recording at half-speed, press Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows) or Command+Shift+Spacebar (Macintosh).

Track Record Enable Indicator When lit (red), indicates that at least one audio track is currently record-enabled. When off (grey), no tracks are currently record-enabled.

TrackInput Monitor Indicator When lit (green), indicates that at least one audio track is currently set to Input Only monitoring (regardless of record enable status). When off (grey), all tracks are in Auto Input monitoring.

Pre-Roll During playback or record, specifies the amount that plays before the play (timeline) Cursor location or beginning of the Timeline selection. Pre-roll is particularly useful with punch recording since it provides you with time to “catch the beat” before reaching the punch-in point. To set the pre-roll amount, enter a new value in this field, or drag the Pre-Roll flag in the Main Timebase ruler.

To enable pre-roll, click the Pre-Roll button to the left of the pre-roll field so it becomes highlighted.

Post-Roll During playback or record, specifies the amount that plays after the end of a Timeline selection. Post-roll is useful in punch recording since playback continues after the punch-out point so you can check for a smooth transition to previously recorded material. To set the post-roll amount, enter a new value in this field, or drag the Post-Roll flag in the Main Timebase ruler.

To enable post-roll, click the Post-Roll button to the left of the post-roll field so it becomes highlighted.

Start Specifies the beginning of the play or record range. You can set the start point by entering a location in this field, or by dragging the corresponding Playback Marker in the Main Timebase ruler. For more information, see “Playback Markers” on page 181.

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End Specifies the end of the play or record range. You can set the end point by entering a location in this field, or by dragging the corresponding Playback Marker in the Main Timebase ruler. For more information, see “Playback Markers” on page 181.

Length Specifies the length for the play or record range. You can set the length by entering a location in this field, or by selecting a range in any Timebase ruler.

If you using an MMC device, see Chapter 34, “Working with Synchronization.”

If you are using the Digidesign MachineControl option, see the MachineControl Guide.

MIDI Controls

When the Timeline and Edit selections are linked, you can drag in a track’s playlist to set the play and record range. See “Linking or Unlinking Timeline and Edit Selections” on page 272

Transport Master Selector Specifies the “master” for transport functions and provides a control to take enabled devices offline.

To set a Transport Master:

■ Click the Transport Master selector, click the

Transport pop-up menu, and select a Transport Master: Pro Tools, Machine, MMC (MIDI Machine Control), or Remote.

To take a device ofﬂine:

■ Click the Transport Master selector, click the

Online pop-up menu, and uncheck the device (MIDI or Machine). Device choices depend on the current Transport Master, and which devices have been set up in Pro Tools.

To bring the device back online, recheck it in the Online pop-up menu.

Countoff

MIDI Merge

Current Meter

Current Tempo

Wait for Note

Tempo Ruler

Enable

Tempo Resolution (Beat Value) pop-up menu

Metronome Click

Tempo slider

Transport window showing MIDI controls

To view the MIDI controls in the Transport, do one of the following:

■ Select View > Transport > MIDI Controls.

– or –

■ Control-click (Windows) or Command-click

(Macintosh) the Expand/Collapse “+” button in the Transport window to display the MIDI controls.

Expand/Collapse “+” button

Transport Window with MIDI Controls

Pro Tools Reference Guide28

Page 41

Wait for Note When selected, recording does not begin until a MIDI event is received. This ensures that you begin recording when you’re ready to play, and that the ﬁrst note, or other MIDI data, is recorded precisely at the beginning of the record range.

You can press F11 to turn on Wait for Note, unless the Operation preference for “Disable F11 for Wait for Note” is selected.

Metronome Click When selected, Pro Tools will generate a metronome pulse that can be set to trigger built-in sounds or MIDI instruments during playback and recording.

Tempo Ruler Enable (Conductor) When selected, Pro Tools uses the tempo map defined in the Tempo ruler. When deselected, Pro Tools switches to Manual Tempo mode and ignores the Tempo ruler.

In Manual Tempo mode, you can enter a BPM value in the tempo field, or tap in the tempo by clicking the T key on your QWERTY keyboard.

Tempo Slider When the Tempo Ruler Enable (Conductor) is disabled, Pro Tools ignores the tempo events in the Tempo track and instead plays back a Manual Tempo. This tempo can be set with the Tempo slider.

The Pro Tools metronome is configured in the Click/Countoff Options dialog. Double-click the Metronome Click button to open the Click/Countoff Options dialog.

With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can press 7 to enable the Metronome Click.

Countoff When selected, Pro Tools counts off a specified number of measures (indicated in the button) before playback or recording begins.

Double-click the Countoff button, to open the Click/Countoff Options dialog.

With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can press 8 to enable the Countoff.

MIDI Merge When selected (Merge mode), recorded MIDI data is merged with existing track material. When deselected (Replace mode), recorded MIDI data replaces existing track material.

With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can press 9 to enable MIDI Merge.

Current Meter Displays the session’s current meter based on the play location. Double-click the Current Meter indicator to open the Change Meter window.

Current Tempo Displays the session’s current tempo based on the play location. In Manual Tempo mode, you can enter a BPM value into this field. In addition, when the tempo field is selected, you can tap in a tempo from a MIDI controller.

Menus and Windows

Pro Tools menus provide commands and options for configuring and working with Pro Tools, sessions, and session material.

For detailed information, see the Pro Tools Menus Guide.

Pro Tools includes the following main menus:

File Provides commands that read and write session data to and from disk.

Edit Provides actions that operate on the current selection and affect data in tracks or the clipboard.

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View Provides choices to customize what is shown in various windows.

Track Provides actions that affect all of the selected tracks.

Region Provides actions that affect all of the selected regions.

Group List Pop-Up Menus (Edit Groups and Mix Groups) Provides commands to create, display,

suspend, and delete Mix and Edit Groups. (See “Using the Group List” on page 115.)

Tool Tips

Event Provides actions that affect selected events, such as MIDI or tempo data.

AudioSuite Provides AudioSuite plug-ins.

Options Provides items that determine how

Pro Tools responds.

Setup Provides dialog boxes to configure application and hardware peripheral settings.

Window Lets you open specific Pro Tools windows.

Track, Region, and Group List Menus

The Track, Region, and Group Lists provide popup menus for managing and working with the contents of each list, as follows:

Track List Pop-Up Menu Provides commands to show and hide tracks in the Mix and Edit windows. The Track List pop-up menu also lets you sort the contents of the Track List. (See “The Track List” on page 98.)

Region List Pop-Up Menu (Edit Window Only) Provides commands to find, select, sort,

clear, rename, time stamp, compact, export, and recalculate waveform overviews of items in the Region List. The pop-up menu also lets you set the drop order for regions dragged from the Region List and dropped in the timeline. (See “The Region List” on page 240.)

Pro Tools provides Tool Tips in all main windows. Parking the cursor for a few seconds over an abbreviated name, or unlabeled icon or tool, will display either the function or details of the item (depending on the Tool Tips preferences settings).

To conﬁgure Tool Tips for Pro Tools:

1 Choose Setup > Preferences, and click the Dis-

play tab.

2 In the Tool Tips Display section, click the Tool

Tip options you want displayed.

Function Shows the functional name of different Pro Tools items (such as specific buttons, indicators, modes, selectors, and Edit tools).

Details Shows abbreviated or hidden Pro Tools names or values for different Pro Tools items (such as insert names, gain levels, settings, and routing assignments).

Leave both options unchecked to turn off Tool Tips.

3 Click Done.

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Chapter 5: Keyboard Shortcuts

This chapter provides an overview of Pro Tools keyboard shortcuts. For a complete list of shortcuts, refer to the electronic PDF versions of the Keyboard Shortcuts Guides.

Global Key Commands

This section shows keyboard shortcuts that apply to many functions in Pro Tools.

Track Functions

• Changing Automation mode

• Enabling playlists

• Adding plug-ins

• Record enabling, soloing, and muting tracks

• Record saﬁng and solo saﬁng tracks

• Assigning inputs, outputs, and sends

•Toggling volume/peak/delay display

• Clearing meters

• Changing track heights

List and Parameter Selection

• Selection of tracks in Track List

• Enabling of groups in Group List

• Automation Enable window parameters

• Setting memory location parameters

Command Windows Macintosh

Toggle item and set all others to same new state

Toggle item and set all others to opposite state

Alt-click item Option-click

Control-click item

item

Commandclick item

Controls and Editing Tools

◆ Use to move plug-in controls, faders and slid-

ers, the Scrubber, and automation data

Command Windows Macintosh

Fine adjustment of sliders, knobs, and breakpoints

Hold Control while clicking the item

Hold Command while clicking the item

Command Windows Macintosh

Apply action to all channel strips/tracks

Apply action to selected channel strips/tracks

Alt+ action

Alt+ Shift+ action

Option+ action

Option+ Shift+ action

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Keyboard Focus

The Keyboard Focus in Pro Tools determines how the alpha keys function. Depending on which Keyboard Focus is enabled, you can use the keys on your QWERTY (alpha) keyboard to select regions in the Region List, enable or disable groups, or perform an edit or play command.

Group List Keyboard Focus When selected, Mix and Edit Groups can be enabled or disabled by typing the Group ID letter (in either the Mix or Edit window).

An electronic PDF listing of keyboard shortcuts is available in Pro Tools. Choose Help > Keyboard Shortcuts.

You can only enable one Keyboard Focus at a time. Enabling a Keyboard Focus will disable the one previously enabled.

There are three types of Keyboard Focus:

Commands Keyboard Focus When selected, this provides a wide range of single key shortcuts from the QWERTY keyboard for editing and playing.

With Commands Keyboard Focus disabled, you can still access any of its key shortcuts by pressing the Start key (Windows) or Control (Macintosh) along with the key.

Region List Keyboard Focus When selected, audio regions, MIDI regions, and Region Groups can be located and selected in the Region List by typing the first few letters of the region’s name.

Commands Keyboard Focus

Group List

Keyboard Focus

Keyboard Focus buttons

Region List

Keyboard Focus

To set the Keyboard Focus, do one of the following:

■ Click the a–z button for the focus you want to

enable.

– or –

■ While pressing Control+Alt (Windows) or

Command+Option (Macintosh), press one of the following keys: 1 (Commands), 2 (Region List), or 3 (Group List).

Although multiple plug-in windows can have a keyboard focus enabled, only the front-most window will receive any keyboard input.

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Numeric Keypad Modes

The Operation preference for Numeric Keypad mode determines how the numeric keypad functions for Transport.

There are two Shuttle Lock modes (Classic and Transport), and one Shuttle mode.

No matter which Numeric Keypad mode is selected, you can always use the numeric keypad to select and enter values in the Event Edit Area, Edit Selection indicators, Main and Sub Counters, and Transport fields.

To set the Numeric Keypad Mode:

1 Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Op-

eration tab.

2 Under the option for Numeric Keypad mode,

select a keypad mode (Classic, Transport, or Shuttle), then click Done.

Shuttle Lock Modes

With either Shuttle Lock mode (Classic or Transport) you can use the numeric keypad to shuttle forward or backwards at speciﬁc speeds.

•5 is normal speed.

•6–9 provide increasingly faster fast-forward speeds.

•1–4 provide progressively faster rewind speeds (4 is the slowest rewind Shuttle Lock speed, 1 is the fastest).

• Press 0 to stop Shuttle Lock, then press the number to resume Shuttle Lock speed.

• Press Escape or Spacebar to exit Shuttle Lock mode.

Custom Shuttle Lock Speed

The highest fast-forward Shuttle Lock speed (key 9) can be customized (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit only). See “Custom Shuttle Lock Speed” on page 262.

Classic Mode

This mode emulates the way Pro Tools worked in versions lower than 5.0. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Classic, you can:

•Play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock mode. Press the Start key (Windows) or Control (Macintosh), followed by 1–9 for different play speeds.

• Press Plus or Minus to reverse direction.

• Press 0 to stop Shuttle Lock, then press the number to resume Shuttle Lock speed.

• Press Escape or Spacebar to exit Shuttle Lock mode.

• Recall Memory Locations by typing the Memory Location, followed by a Period (.).

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Transport Mode

This mode allows you to set a number of record and play functions, and also operate the Transport from the numeric keypad.

Function Key

Click on/off 7

Countoff on/off 8

MIDI Merge/Replace mode 9

Loop Playback mode on/off 4

Loop Record mode on/off 5

QuickPunch mode on/off 6

Rewind 1

Fast Forward 2

Record enable 3

Play/Stop 0

With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can also:

• Play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock mode. Press the Start key (Windows) or Control (Macintosh), followed by 1–9 for different play speeds.

• Press Plus or Minus to reverse direction.

• Press 0 to stop Shuttle Lock, then press the number to resume Shuttle Lock speed.

• Press Escape or Spacebar to exit Shuttle Lock mode.

• Recall Memory Locations by typing Period (.), the Memory Location number, and Period (.) again.

Shuttle Mode

(Pro Tools HD Only)

Pro Tools offers another form of shuttling, different from that of the two Shuttle Lock modes. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Shuttle, playback of the current Edit selection is triggered by pressing and holding the keys on the numeric keypad—playback stops once the keys are released. Various playback speeds are available in both forward and reverse. In this mode, pre- and post-roll are ignored.

Playback Speeds Key

1x Forward 6

1x Rewind 4

4x Forward 9

4x Rewind 7

1/4x Forward 3

1/4x Rewind 1

1/2x Forward 5+6

1/2x Rewind 5+4

2x Forward 8+9

2x Rewind 8+7

1/16x Forward 2+3

1/16x Rewind 2+1

Loop Selection (1x) 0

With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Shuttle, you can also:

• Recall Memory Locations by typing Period (.), the Memory Location number, and Period (.) again.

Shuttle Lock modes are not available when the Numeric Keypad mode is set to Shuttle.

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Part II: Sessions & Tracks

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Chapter 6: Sessions

This chapter covers the basics of starting a project in Pro Tools, including how to set up and save a Pro Tools session.

Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System

To ensure that the components of your Pro Tools system communicate properly with each other, you need to start them in a particular order.

Start up your Pro Tools system in this order:

1 For Pro Tools|HD systems with an expansion

chassis, turn on the chassis.

2 Turn on any external hard drives. Wait ap-

proximately ten seconds for them to spin up to speed.

3 Turn on any MIDI interfaces, MIDI devices, or

synchronization peripherals.

4 Lower the volume of all output devices in

your system.

5 For Pro Tools|HD systems, turn on your

Pro Tools audio interfaces. Wait at least ﬁfteen seconds for your system hardware to initialize.

6 Turn on your computer.

7 Launch Pro Tools or any third-party audio or

MIDI applications.

Shut down your Pro Tools system in this order:

1 Quit Pro Tools and any other running applica-

tions.

•To quit Pro Tools, choose File > Exit (Windows) or Pro Tools > Quit (Macintosh)

2 Turn off or lower the volume of all output de-

vices in your system.

3 Turn off your computer.

4 For Pro Tools|HD systems, turn off audio inter-

faces.

5 For Pro Tools|HD systems with an expansion

chassis, turn off the chassis.

6 Turn off any MIDI interfaces, MIDI devices, or

synchronization peripherals.

7 Turn off any external hard drives.

Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback Engine)

Pro Tools allows you to adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording.

These system settings are changed in the Playback Engine Dialog (Setup > Playback Engine).

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In most cases, the default settings for your system provide optimum performance, but you may want to adjust them to accommodate large or processing-intensive Pro Tools sessions.

Hardware Buffer Size

The Hardware Buffer Size (H/W Buffer Size) controls the size of the hardware cache used to handle host-based tasks such as Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) plug-in processing.

◆ Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings reduce

monitoring latency, and are useful when you are recording live input.

◆ Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings allow for

more audio processing and effects, and are useful when you are mixing and using more RTAS plug-ins.

In addition to causing slower screen response and monitoring latency, higher Hardware Buffer Size settings can affect the accuracy of plug-in automation, mute data, and timing for MIDI tracks.

To change the Hardware Buffer Size:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

2 From the H/W Buffer Size pop-up menu, select

the audio buffer size, in samples.

3 Click OK.

bination with the CPU Usage Limit setting, the RTAS Processors setting lets you control the way RTAS processing and other Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system.

For example:

• For sessions with large numbers of RTAS plugins you can allocate 2 or more processors to RTAS and set a high CPU Usage Limit.

• In sessions with few RTAS plug-ins, you can allocate fewer processors to RTAS and set a low CPU Usage Limit to leave more CPU resources available for automation accuracy, screen response, or video.

• Increase or decrease these settings to accommodate TDM/RTAS plug-in conversion. TDM/RTAS conversion can be desirable during recording, depending on the latencies, voicing needs, and record-monitoring capabilities of TDM and RTAS plug-ins.

•Depending on the importance of video and overall screen response, and on the density of automation being employed, different combinations of RTAS Processing and CPU Usage Limit settings may achieve the best results. For example, to improve screen response in a medium-sized session using a moderate number of RTAS plug-ins, try reducing the number of RTAS processors but keep the CPU Usage Limit set to the maximum (99%) on a single processor system.

RTAS Processors

The RTAS Processors setting determines the number of processors in your computer allocated for RTAS (real-time plug-ins) plug-in processing.

With computers that have multiple processors, or that feature multi-core processing or hyperthreading, this setting lets you enable multi-processor support for RTAS processes. Used in com-

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The System Usage window shows the combined amount of RTAS processing occurring on all enabled processors with a single indicator, regardless of how many CPUs are in the system. If the System Usage Window shows that you are at the limit of available resources, increase the number of RTAS processors and/or the CPU Usage Limit setting. (For more information, see “System Usage” on page 55.)

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To set the number of RTAS Processors:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

Playback Engine dialog

2 From the RTAS Processing pop-up menu, se-

lect the number of available processors you want to allocate. The number of processors available varies depending on how many processors are available on your computer:

• Choose 1 Processor to limit RTAS processing to one CPU in the system.

• Choose 2 Processors to enable load balancing across two available processors.

• On systems running four or more processors, choose the desired number of RTAS processors as needed.

◆ Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate

more processing power to Pro Tools, and are useful for playing back large sessions or using more real-time plug-ins.

The maximum CPU Usage Limit is 85 percent for single-processor computers (except for Digi 002, which has a limit of 99 percent), and 99 percent for multi-process computers. (The 99 percent setting dedicates one entire processor to Pro Tools.

On multi-processor computers, the maximum CPU Usage Limit is reduced when you use all your processors (as selected in the RTAS Processing pop-up menu). For example, on dual-processors, the limit will be 90%. On four-processor computers, the limit will be 95%.

Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow down screen responses on slower computers.

To change the CPU Usage Limit:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

2 From the CPU Usage Limit pop-up menu, se-

lect the percentage of CPU processing you want to allocate to Pro Tools.

3 Click OK.

CPU Usage Limit

The CPU Usage Limit controls the percentage of CPU resources allocated to Pro Tools host processing tasks. Used in combination with the RTAS Processors setting, the CPU Usage Limit setting lets you control the way Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system.

◆ Lower CPU Usage Limit settings limit the ef-

fect of Pro Tools processing on other CPU-intensive tasks, such as screen redraws, and are useful when you are experiencing slow system response, or when running other applications at the same time as Pro Tools.

3 Click OK.

Number of Voices

(Pro Tools HD Only)

On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Number of Voices setting lets you control the number of available voices and how those voices are allocated to DSPs in your system. For example, the default number of voices on a Pro Tools|HD 1 system is 48 voices, using one DSP (at sample rates of

44.1 kHz or 48 kHz).

Changing the number of voices affects DSP usage, the total number of voiceable tracks, and overall system performance.

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Depending on the current sample rate and the number of Pro Tools|HD cards in your system, you will have different choices for voice count. For voice limits on different Pro Tools|HD systems, see “Pro Tools|HD System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits” on page 7.

Default Sample Rate

The Sample Rate setting appears as the default sample rate when you create a new session. (This setting is available only when there is no session open.)

To change the number of voices and DSP to allocate for voicing:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

Playback Engine dialog

2 Select the number of voices and DSPs to allo-

cate for voicing by selecting a value from the Number of Voices pop-up menu.

• Select higher voice numbers when your Pro Tools|HD cards are the only PCI cards in your computer, or when you are using an expansion chassis to run higher track counts.

• Select medium voice numbers when your Pro Tools|HD cards are in an expansion chassis, or when you are using other PCI cards along with Pro Tools|HD cards.

• Select minimum voice numbers if you are using high-bandwidth PCI cards (such as video capture cards) along with your Pro Tools|HD cards. In addition, to free up DSP for plug-ins and processing, select the minimum number of voices and DSPs needed to play back the current session.

With Pro Tools HD, the Sample Rate setting can affect the number of available voices.

To change the default Sample Rate:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

2 Select the sample rate from the Sample Rate

pop-up menu.

3 Click OK.

You can change the sample rate when creating a new Pro Tools session by selecting a different sample rate in the New Session dialog. (

See “Creating a New Session” on

page 45.)

Delay Compensation Engine

(Pro Tools HD Only)

The Delay Compensation Engine lets you manage DSP delays in the Pro Tools mixer.

There are three settings in the Playback Engine dialog for dedicating DSP resources for Delay Compensation:

None Allocates no DSP resources for Delay Compensation.

Short Allocates minimal DSP resources for Delay Compensation for each channel. This is the most efficient setting for Pro Tools|HD Accel systems.

3 Click OK.

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Long Allocates maximum DSP resources for Delay Compensation for each channel. Long Delay Compensation uses the SRAM contained on DSPs used by higher-overhead plug-ins.

To conﬁgure the Delay Compensation Engine:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

2 From the Delay Compensation Engine pop-up

menu, select a Delay compensation setting.

3 Click OK.

The Delay Compensation setting is saved as a session and system preference.

For more information, see “Delay Compensation” on page 505.

DAE Playback Buffer Size

The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk buffers. The optimum DAE Playback Buffer Size for most disk operations is Level 2.

◆ DAE Playback Buffer Size settings lower than

Level 2 may improve playback and recording initiation speed, but may make it difﬁcult to play or record tracks reliably with sessions containing a large number of tracks or a high density of edits, or running on slower or heavily fragmented hard drives.

◆ DAE Playback Buffer Size settings higher than

Level 2 will allow for a higher density of edits in a session or a higher track count when using slower hard drives. However, a higher setting can also cause a time lag to occur when starting playback or recording, and result in a longer audible time lag while editing during playback.

Using a larger DAE Playback Buffer Size leaves less system memory for other tasks. The default setting of Level 2 is recommended unless you are encountering -9073 (“Disk too slow or fragmented”) errors.

To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

Playback Engine dialog

2 From the DAE Playback Buffer pop-up menu,

select a buffer size. Memory requirements for each setting are shown at the bottom of the Playback Engine dialog.

3 Click OK.

4 If Pro Tools needs more system memory for

the DAE Playback Buffer, it will prompt you to restart your computer.

System Memory Allocation

(Pro Tools HD Only)

When you start your computer, Pro Tools automatically reserves a portion of system memory for the DAE Playback Buffer. This reserved memory is unavailable to other applications, even if Pro Tools is not running.

You can set Pro Tools to reserve only the minimum amount of required memory, so that system memory is available to other applications.

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To minimize system memor y allocation:

1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.

2 Select the “Minimize System Memory Alloca-

tion” option.

3 Click OK.

4 Do one of the following:

• On Windows systems, restart your computer.

– or –

• On Macintosh systems, enter your password when prompted, then restart your computer.

Conﬁguring Pro Tools Hardware Settings

96 I/O can have additional interfaces attached (including older Digidesign audio interfaces, or Legacy I/Os, such as the 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O or 1622 I/O). For more information, see Chapter 2, “Pro Tools System Configurations.”

Conﬁguring Hardware Setup

The Main page of the Hardware Setup dialog is where you define which physical inputs and outputs on your audio interface are routed to available inputs and outputs in Pro Tools.

Pro Tools allows you to configure the signal routing, digital I/O format, default sample rate, clock source, and other hardware-based settings depending on your system configuration.

The following section outlines the configuration of a Pro Tools|HD system with one or more Pro Tools|HD interfaces (with one or more Legacy interfaces attached).

To configure a Pro Tools LE system, refer to the

Getting Started Guide that came with

that system.

Conﬁguring Pro Tools|HD Hardware

On Pro Tools|HD systems, you configure Hardware settings for each audio interface connected to your system. For example, Pro Tools|HD systems can have 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O audio interfaces connected to HD Core and HD Accel or HD Process cards in the system. The 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, and

Hardware Setup dialog for 96 I/O (Main page)

Additional pages are available to configure other controls for each audio interface (such as setting operating levels). For details, refer to the Getting Started Guide for your system, or to the guide for your audio interface.

You can identify audio interface connections at any time by selecting the interface name in the Peripherals list, then clicking Identify. All the LEDs on the interface front panel will illuminate.

To conﬁgure audio interfaces on a Pro Tools|HD system:

1 Choose Setup > Hardware.

2 From the Peripherals list, select the Digidesign

audio interface connected to the ﬁrst card in your system. This will be the interface at the top of the list.

3 Click the Main tab.

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4 From the Clock Source pop-up menu, select

the appropriate clock source for the system. In many cases, you will use Internal. The other choices are for resolving Pro Tools to external clock sources. Depending on your audio interface, Clock Source options can include: AES/EBU [Encl], S/PDIF, Optical [Encl], AES/EBU 1–8, TDIF, ADAT, and Word Clock (optional Word Clock rates are available when operating at higher sample rates).

5 From the Ext. Clock Output pop-up menu, se-

lect the appropriate clock output to send to devices attached to your audio interface.

6 Select which digital I/O port on your audio in-

terface enclosure is active under Digital Format. Choices include: AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and Optical (S/PDIF). Selecting Optical (S/PDIF) resets the Optical I/O port (which is, by default, eight channels of ADAT I/O) to two channels of S/PDIF Optical I/O.

7 For S/PDIF compatibility with Tascam DA-30

DAT recorders select the Tascam option under S/PDIF Format.

8 For the 96 I/O, click the Meters pop-up menu

and select whether to meter the input or output signal.

9 From the Input and Output pop-up menus, se-

lect the physical ports (such as Analog 1–2 or Optical 1–2), that will be routed to the corresponding Pro Tools input and output channels (such as Ch 1–2 or Ch 3–4), listed on the left side of the Main page.

Inputs and outputs of similar format are differentiated in the input and output channel popup menus. For example, the AES/EBU inputs and outputs in the 192 I/O enclosure are listed as AES/EBU [Encl], while the AES/EBU inputs and outputs on the factory-installed Digital I/O card are listed (in pairs) as AES/EBU 1–2, AES/EBU 3–4, AES/EBU 5–6, and AES/EBU 7–8.

For 192 I/Os equipped with the optional Digital I/O Card, the additional AES/EBU I/O ports on the optional card are listed as AES/EBU 9–10, AES/EBU 11–12, AES/EBU 13–14, and AES/EBU 15–16.

10 Click other tabs (such as Analog In and Ana-

log Out) for additional conﬁguration options speciﬁc to the audio interface. These include:

• On the 96 I/O, conﬁguring the operating levels of analog inputs and outputs (+4 dBu or –10 dBV).

• On the 96i I/O, conﬁguring the operating levels of analog inputs and outputs (+4 dBu or –10 dBV).

•On the 192 I/O analog input, setting the input connector and Soft Limit

• On the 192 I/O, conﬁguring the two sets of trims for analog inputs and outputs.

• On the 192 I/O and 192 Digital I/O, conﬁguring real-time Sample Rate Conversion for digital inputs.

• On the 192 I/O and 192 I/O Digital, conﬁguring inputs and outputs on any optional A/D card, D/A card, or Digital I/O cards installed in the unit.

For more information on Hardware Setup controls for each Pro Tools|HD audio interface, refer to the Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide or the guide for that audio interface.

11 Repeat the above steps for each additional

Pro Tools|HD audio interface.

Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll though peripherals in the Peripherals list.

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12 Repeat the above steps for any Legacy I/Os

connected to the Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces in your system. Before you can conﬁgure a Legacy I/O, it must ﬁrst be initialized in Hardware Setup (See “Initializing MIX-Series Legacy Peripherals (on a Pro Tools|HD System)” on page 44.)

13 Click OK.

The Main page updates with controls that can be configured.

9 Repeat the above steps for each additional

Legacy I/O.

For more information on Hardware Setup controls for each Legacy audio interface, refer to the guide that came with the interface.

Initializing MIX-Series Legacy Peripherals (on a Pro Tools|HD System)

Before you can configure a Legacy I/O, it must first be initialized in Hardware Setup.

To initialize a Legacy I/O on a Pro Tools|HD system:

1 Start up your Pro Tools system. See “Starting

Up or Shutting Down Your System” on page 37.

2 Make sure to lower the volume of your output

devices. Very loud digital noise may be emitted before the Legacy I/O is initialized.

3 Turn on your Legacy I/O.

4 From the Peripherals list, choose the primary

audio interface (the interface to which your Legacy I/O is connected).

5 In the Main page of the Hardware Setup dia-

log, select the Legacy I/O option under Port Settings.

6 In the Peripherals list, “No Interface” is listed

twice, directly below the primary audio interface. Click the ﬁrst “No Interface.” An Interface pop-up menu appears in the Hardware Setup dialog, listing supported I/O choices.

7 From the Interface pop-up menu, select the

type of Legacy I/O you connected.

8 Set the External Clock Output on the

Pro Tools|HD interface to 256x, which is the required clock speed for Legacy I/Os.

Conﬁguring I/O Setup

The I/O Setup dialog provides a graphical representation of the signal routing for each connected audio interface, with controls to route physical ports on the audio interface to Pro Tools inputs and outputs. These controls mirror the routing controls found in the Hardware Setup dialog—changes made to physical routing in one dialog are always reflected in the other.

The I/O Setup dialog lets you label and map Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus signal paths. The I/O Setup dialog also provides important audition, meter, and surround settings. For more information, see Chapter 7, “I/O Setup.”

Routing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destinations

Pro Tools channel pairs can be routed to multiple outputs on an audio interface through the Hardware Setup dialog. For example, if you assign both Analog 1–2 and Analog 3–4 interface outputs to Pro Tools Output pair 1–2, when you send a signal to Pro Tools Outputs 1–2, that signal will be routed simultaneously to both pairs of output ports on your audio interface.

This lets you send the same signal (such as a stereo pair, a stem mix, or a multichannel mix) to multiple destinations (such as multiple mastering devices).

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To select multiple output por ts for a Pro Tools output channel pair:

1 Choose Setup > Hardware.

2 From the Peripherals list, select an interface.

Creating a New Session

The first step in beginning a Pro Tools project is creating a new session.

3 Click the Main tab.

4 Select an output port pair from an Output

pop-up menu.

5 Start-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macin-

tosh) the same pop-up menu a second time to choose an additional output port pair.

The output name updates with a plus sign (“+”) before it to indicate that multiple output ports are selected. In the pop-up menu, each physical port pair assigned to that Pro Tools output pair is indicated by a check mark.

Hardware Setup dialog for 96 I/O (Main page)

6 Repeat the above steps to select additional

output destinations. The only limit to output choices is the number of outputs available in your system.

Pro Tools output pairs can also be routed to multiple audio interface outputs in the I/O Setup dialog. For more information, see “Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools I/O” on page 73.

To create a new session:

1 Choose File > New Session.

New Session dialog

2 Choose the drive where you want to save the

session. The session should be saved on a dedicated audio drive.

3 Select the audio ﬁle format for the session.

For optimum compatibility between Windows and Macintosh, set the file type to BWF (.WAV).

Sound Designer II (SD II) files are not supported on Windows systems or at sample rates above 48 kHz.

4 Select the bit depth (16 bit or 24 bit) and the

sample rate.

5 Select the I/O Settings to use for the session.

Several pre-conﬁgured I/O Settings are included with your system, or you can select a custom I/O Setting that you have created. See Chapter 7, “I/O Setup” for more information.

6 Name the Session.

7 Click Save.

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Selecting Bit Depth and Sample Rate

Audio Files Folder

When selecting a bit depth or sample rate for your session, consider fidelity, any compatibility issues with others systems, and storage space.

Bit depth and sample rate also have an effect on the amount of mixing power available in a session. Fewer mixer channels are available with 24-bit sessions and with sessions at higher sample rates. (For more information, see the Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide.)

It is not possible to combine different bit depths within a single Pro Tools session; files of different bit depths must be converted and imported into the session.

Session Files and Folders

When you create a new session, Pro Tools automatically creates a new folder named for your session. Within this folder is the session file, a WaveCache.wfm file, and several subfolders (an Audio Files folder, a Fade Files folder, a Region Group folder, and a Session File Backups folder).

The Audio Files folder contains all audio recorded or converted during the session.

When you record a new audio track, the track is saved as a new audio file to the Audio Files folder. You can also import other audio files into the session, and work with them as well.

For details on allocating audio tracks to different hard drive locations, including shared media volumes, see “Disk Allocation” on page 159.

Fade Files Folder

The Fade Files folder contains any crossfaded audio data generated by the session.

Region Groups Folder

The Region Groups folder is the default directory for any region groups that you export from your Pro Tools session.

WaveCache File

The WaveCache.wfm file stores all of the waveform display data for the session. If you delete the WaveCache.wfm file, Pro Tools will create a new one the next time you open the session.

Typical session folder contents

Session File

The session file is the document that Pro Tools creates when you start a new project. Pro Tools can open only one session file at a time. The session file is named with a .ptf (Pro Tools file) extension.

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By storing waveform data in the WaveCache file, sessions are able to open more quickly. The session WaveCache file can be included whenever a session is transferred to another Pro Tools 7.0 system.

Pro Tools also maintains a distinct WaveCache file inside the local Digidesign Databases folder (C:\\Digidesign Databases) which retains waveform data for all files used on the system. Additional WaveCache files are created on each external hard drive attached to your system, and stored in the Digidesign Databases folder on each drive.

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Deleting or trashing any of the WaveCache files will not harm the session or your system. Each session will merely need more time to open due to having to recalculate waveform data for associated audio (and store that data in a new WaveCache file).

Session File Backups Folder

The Session File Backups folder contains automatically-generated backups of your Pro Tools sessions. These files are created when working on a session and the Operations preference for Enable Session File Auto Backup is enabled. (See “Enable Session File Auto Backup” on page 61.)

To open an existing session:

1 Choose File > Open Session.

2 Locate the session you want to open and click

Open.

Renamed Audio Files Folder

This folder includes file names that have been renamed when you open a session that contains audio file names with incompatible characters, or, in certain situations, save a copy of a session to a Pro Tools version that does not support long file name characters.

For more information, see “Renamed Audio Files” on page 142.

Opening a Session

When you open a session, Pro Tools looks in the session folder for audio and fade files linked to the session.

For more information on sharing sessions created with different versions of Pro Tools, see “Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Software Versions” on page 147

Open Session dialog

Opening a Session that Contains Unavailable Files

The DigiBase feature will prompt you if files are located but reside on Transfer volumes (such as CD-ROMs), or if any required files cannot be found. See “Locating Audio Files” on page 141 for more details.

Opening a Session from a Transfer Volume

When opening a session from a Transfer volume (such as a CD-ROM), the DigiBase feature will prompt you to save the session on a Performance volume, and copy and convert any referenced media files. See “Locating Audio Files” on page 141 for more details.

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Opening a Session that Contains Unavailable Resources

Pro Tools prompts you when opening a session that contains unavailable voices, I/O paths, DSP resources, or plug-ins. This is common when transferring sessions to systems with different Digidesign hardware.

The Unavailable Resources dialog provides an initial report of the missing session components. To save a text (.txt) file containing a more detailed Notes report, along with the resulting action, click Yes. The Notes report will be named with the session name, followed by Notes.txt. You can choose to save this file in your Session folder, or in another location.

The following will occur when opening a session with unavailable items:

With all Pro Tools Systems:

◆ Inserts assigned to unavailable plug-ins are

made inactive.

◆ Inputs, outputs, and sends that are assigned to

unavailable paths are made inactive.

With Pro Tools HD Only:

◆ Any tracks beyond the maximum number of

available voices on the current system are made inactive.

With Pro Tools LE and M-Powered Only:

◆ Any tracks beyond the maximum number of

available voices on the current system are set to voice off.

Opening a Session with Audio File Names that Contain Illegal Characters

Pro Tools 7.0 does not support audio file names that contain certain ASCII characters (such as * and @).

When opening sessions that contain audio files with illegal characters, Pro Tools automatically creates a renamed copy of each file (replacing these characters with an underscore “_”). Renamed files are copied to the Renamed Audio Files folder. The original files are left intact in the Audio Files folder.

Before the session opens, you are prompted to save a detailed report of the renamed files and their original file names to a Notes text file. Follow the on-screen instructions. By default, the Notes text file is saved to the Session folder.

Opening a Session that Was Saved with +6 dB Fader Gain

All Pro Tools 7.0 sessions have a +12 dB fader gain level. However, when saving a Pro Tools

7.0 session to a lower version of Pro Tools that supports +6 dB and +12 dB fader gain, the new session can be saved with either a +6 dB or a +12 dB maximum fader gain.

When saving a +12 dB session as a +6 dB session, Pro Tools alerts you that any automation breakpoints over +6 dB will be lowered to +6 dB. See“Saving a Copy of the Session” on page 50.

In Pro Tools 7.0, when opening a session that was saved with a +6 dB maximum gain level, the session will update to a +12 dB range.

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Saving a Session

You should save regularly while working on your session to ensure that your work is preserved on your hard drive.

Saving the Session File

The Save command saves the changes you have made to your session and writes them over the previously saved version of the session file. The Save command cannot be undone.

To save a session:

■ Choose File > Save.

Saving the Session File with a New Name

To save a copy of the current session with a new name or to a different hard drive location, you can use the Save As command. Because the Save As command closes the current session and lets you keep working on the renamed copy, it is useful if you are experimenting and want to save successive versions of the session.

By working this way, you can quickly retrace your steps if you want to go back to an earlier version of your session. The Save As command saves a new version of the session ﬁle only—not duplicate versions of the audio or fade files.

Revert to Saved Command

If you have made changes to a session since you last saved it, you can discard the changes and revert to its previously saved state.

To revert to the last saved version of a session:

■ Choose File > Revert to Saved.

You can also open up a backup copy of your session, if you have enabled the Operation preference for AutoSave. This feature lets you specify the total number of incremental backups that are kept and how often the session is saved. See “AutoSave” on page 61.

To save a session with a new name:

1 Choose File > Save As.

2 Enter a new name for your session.

Pro Tools 7.0 lets you name files with as many characters as your operating system supports.

3 Click Save.

The renamed session file is saved in the session folder along with the original session (unless you specific a different destination). Any new audio files that you record in your renamed session will be placed into the same Audio Files folder that was created for your original session.

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Saving a Copy of the Session

To save a copy of the current session with or without its audio files and fade files, you can use the Save Copy In command. In addition, you can specify a session file format, audio file format, bit depth, and sample rate for the session copy.

For information on sharing sessions between different platforms, Pro Tools systems, or Pro Tools software versions, see Chapter 10, “File and Session Management and Compatibility.”

Using the Save Copy In command is the only way to change the sample rate of a session.

When you save a copy of the session to a lower bit rate, Dither (and Noise Shaping) are applied. See the following table:

Dither and Noise Shaping with Save Copy In

Bit Rate Dither

24-bit to 24-bit No No

16-bit to 24-bit No No

24-bit to 16-bit Yes Yes

16-bit to 16-bit No No

Noise Shaping

The Dither setting used for any conversion is the Digidesign Dither plug-in with Noise Shaping enabled.

For more information about using Dither, see “Dither” on page 509.

Session Format

You can save the session copy in the following formats, depending on your platform:

Save Copy In dialog

Unlike the Save As command, Save Copy In does not close the original session, so subsequent edits are made to the original session. Session copies can be used to archive important sessions, or as a means to prepare sessions for transfer to another Pro Tools system.

Save Copy In can save only the audio being used in the session. Any audio that was recorded or imported and then later removed from the session will not be included in the new session copy.

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Windows:

• Pro Tools Session (.ptf); supports Pro Tools

7.0

• Pro Tools 5.1 -> 6.9 Session (.pts);

• Pro Tools 5.0 Session (.pt5)

• Pro Tools 4 24-Bit Session (.p24)

• Pro Tools 4 16-Bit Session (.pt4)

Macintosh:

• Latest; supports Pro Tools 7.0

• Pro Tools 5.1 -> 6.9 Session

• Pro Tools 5.0 Session

• Pro Tools 4 24-Bit Session

• Pro Tools 4 16-Bit Session

• Pro Tools 3.2 Session

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When saving sessions to versions lower than

5.1, multichannel tracks (including stereo) and multi-mono plug-ins are lost. In this case, make sure to first separate the tracks and plug-ins to individual mono tracks.

To share sessions between different platforms, Pro Tools systems, or Pro Tools software versions, see Chapter 10, “File and Session Management and Compatibility.”

Session Parameters

Sample Rate

You can save the new session at sample rates of

44.1 kHz or 48 kHz (on Mbox 2 and Mbox) and at sample rates up to 96 kHz (on Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack and Pro Tools|HD systems with a 96 I/O or 96i I/O) or up to 192 kHz (on Pro Tools|HD systems with a 192 I/O or 192 Digital I/O). If your session is at a different sample rate, audio ﬁles are converted to the new session sample rate, and copied to the location you specify.

Audio File Type

You can save the session to reference BWF (.WAV) or AIFF audio ﬁles. On the Macintosh, you can also save the session to reference SD II audio ﬁles (at sample rates up to 48 kHz).

SD II sessions are not supported with Pro Tools on Windows, or with sample rates higher than 48 kHz.

Using Mixed File Types

A session can use mixed audio file types. If your original session has mixed file types, they are not converted to a different file type unless you specify that they be converted. However, when using mixed file types, audio performance will be reduced (due to additional file handling required for some file formats).

Bit Depth

You can save the new session at 16-bit or 24-bit depth. If your session is in a different bit depth, audio ﬁles are converted to the new session bit depth, and copied to the location you specify.

The higher the quality of sample rate conversion you choose, the longer Pro Tools will take to process the audio file.

Fader Gain

When saving a Pro Tools 7.0 session to a lower version of Pro Tools that supports +6 dB and +12 dB fader gain, you can save the new session with either a +6 dB or a +12 dB maximum fader gain. When saving a +12 dB session as a +6 dB session, Pro Tools alerts you that any automation breakpoints over +6 dB will be lowered to +6 dB.

Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility

When saving a Pro Tools 7.0 session to a lower version of Pro Tools, this setting forces Windows or Macintosh versions of Pro Tools to create sessions and audio ﬁles that are usable on both platforms.

For more information, see “Saving Copies of Macintosh Sessions to be Compatible with Windows” on page 145.

For information on bouncing to disk and dither, see “Dither and Bounce to Disk” on page 572

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Items to Copy

Session Plug-In Settings Folder

All Audio Files

When this option is selected, all audio files are copied to the new location.

This setting is automatically selected if you are changing the bit depth or sample rate of the session.

All (Non-Native) Audio Files

The name of this option varies depending on the audio ﬁle type you select. If you are changing the audio ﬁle type of the session, this option ensures that all ﬁles in the copied session are converted to the selected ﬁle type. Use this option to avoid the reduced performance of a session with mixed ﬁle types.

This option is automatically selected if you are changing bit depth or sample rate, or copying a session on the Macintosh from SD II format to AIFF or BWF (.WAV) format with Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility selected.

Don’t Copy Fade Files

When this option is selected, Fade Files are not copied to the new session Fade Files folder.

Pro Tools opens the session with all available media, then shows you how many ﬁles are missing (if any) and asks how you want to proceed. You can choose to locate the existing fades, using Manually Find Relink or Automatically Find Relink, or choose to Skip All to let Pro Tools recreate the fades from the session document. You can also select Regenerate Missing Fades to exclude fade ﬁles from the relink process and regenerate them instead.

When this option is selected, the session’s PlugIn Settings folder is copied to the new location. The references to these plug-in settings in the session are redirected to the copied settings files.

Root Plug-In Settings Folder

When this option is selected, the contents of the root-level Plug-In Settings Folder are copied into a folder named Place in Root Settings Folder, indicating that these files will need to be moved to the root level plug-in settings folder on the destination system before you can use them. The references to these settings files in the session are not redirected to point to the copied files.

Movie/Video Files

When this option is selected, session movie files (such as Avid or QuickTime video files) are copied to the new location, and session references are updated to point to the copied movie files.

To save a session copy in a new location:

1 Choose File > Save Copy In.

2 In the Save Copy In dialog, choose a destina-

tion and enter a name for the new session ﬁle.

3 Set the Audio File Type to BWF (.WAV) or AIFF,

or SD II. If the audio ﬁles need to be compatible with either Windows or Macintosh, select or BWF (.WAV) or AIFF.

4 Set the session Sample Rate and Bit Depth.

5 Select “Enforce Mac/PC Compatibility” to cre-

ate session and audio ﬁles that can be used on both Windows and Macintosh Pro Tools systems. See “Saving Copies of Macintosh Sessions to be Compatible with Windows” on page 145.

6 Select the Items to Copy to the new session.

7 Click Save.

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Creating Custom Session Templates

You can create custom session documents that are pre-configured to the track setups, mixer setups, window arrangements, and zoom level memory locations that you use most frequently. Doing this will save you the trouble of having to create your studio setup from scratch every time you start a new session.

Creating Windows Templates

In Windows, you can create a session template by making a session file a Read Only document.

7 Under Attributes, select Read Only.

To create a custom session template in Windows:

1 Create a session and arrange its elements as

you want them to appear in the template. You can also deﬁne elements such as signal routings, insert and send conﬁgurations, Track Views, ruler settings, and Preference settings.

2 Choose File > Save As.

3 Name the session and click Save.

4 Close the session.

5 Locate the session ﬁle that you just saved.

6 Right-click the ﬁle and choose Properties.

Making a session a Read Only ﬁle (Windows)

8 Click OK.

To use this template, double-click it or open it with the Open Session command. When you first save the session, Pro Tools will ask you to give the session a new name. Your original session template will remain unchanged.

To modify the session template, you will need to reopen its Properties, deselect the Read Only option, make your modifications, then change it back to a Read Only file.

Creating Macintosh Templates

On the Macintosh, you can create a session template by saving a session ﬁle as a Stationery Pad document. Once a session is saved as a Stationery Pad, it acts as a template that you can open and then resave as a normal session.

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To create a custom session template on the Macintosh:

1 Create a session and arrange its elements as

you want them to appear in the template. In addition to track setup, you can also deﬁne elements such as signal routings, insert and send conﬁgurations, Mix and Edit window views, ruler settings, and Preference settings.

2 Choose File > Save As.

3 Name the session and click Save.

4 Close the session.

5 Locate the session ﬁle that you just saved.

To use this template, double-click it or open it with the Open Session command if you are already running Pro Tools. You can create several custom templates for studio setups that you frequently use.

When you open a session saved as a Stationery Pad, Pro Tools gives you the option of editing the template or starting a new session using the template settings. If you choose New Session, Pro Tools will create a new folder containing a copy of your session template and Audio and Fades folders.

6 Click once on the ﬁle to select it.

7 Choose File > Get Info.

Saving a session as a Stationery Pad (Macintosh)

8 If necessary, click the General expand/collapse

triangle to display the General information and options.

9 Select the Stationery Pad option to save the

ﬁle as a template, then close the information window.

Closing a Session

Because Pro Tools allows you to work on just one session at a time, you must close the current session if you want to work on another. The Close Session command closes your current Pro Tools session but leaves the Pro Tools application open. You can save your work using the Save or Save As command before closing the current session.

To close a session:

■ Choose File > Close Session.

Quitting Pro Tools

Although Pro Tools will warn you before allowing you to quit without saving changes, you should generally save your work before quitting.

To exit Pro Tools in Windows:

■ Choose File > Exit.

To quit Pro Tools on the Macintosh:

■ Choose Pro Tools > Quit Pro Tools.

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System Usage

About Processing Bandwidth

Meters in the System Usage window indicate how much of your system’s processing power is being used in processing audio, and when writing and playing back automation.

Pro Tools HD, LE, and M-Powered have three common meters, showing PCI bus activity, CPU processing activity, and Disk processing activity.

If CPU or PCI Activity are high, a system error may occur. If Disk Activity is high, Pro Tools may miss playback of some of your automation data during particularly dense periods of activity, such as while using the Bounce to Disk command.

To monitor the usage of resources during a Pro Tools session:

■ Choose Window > System Usage.

For more information, see “Bounce to Disk” on page 574.

System activity meters

System Usage window (Pro Tools LE shown)

With Pro Tools HD, there are addition meters, showing TDM Time Slot usage and DSP usage of each Pro Tools|HD system card.

System activity meters

TDM Time Slot usage

DSP usage

System Usage window (Pro Tools HD shown)

As these meters approach their limits, recording or playback of automation data may be affected.

To reduce processing load, try one of the following:

■ Deselect the Faders Move During Playback op-

tion in the Automation Preferences page.

■ Reduce the density of automation in places

where it shows the most activity. For details, see “Thinning Automation” on page 549.

■ Turn off Sends View meters, if enabled, in the

Display Preferences page. See “Individual Send Views and Meters” on page 491 for more information.

System Usage Views

(Pro Tools HD Only)

With Pro Tools HD, there are five different System Usage Views: Small, Large, Detailed, Gas Gauge, and Activity Only. The Detailed and Gas Gauge formats show the percentage of each DSP chip in use.

To change the System Usage View:

■ Choose View > System Usage, and one of the

System Usage View formats (such as Small).

For information on using different views to monitor DSP usage, see the Pro Tools|HD Getting Started Guide.

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Preferences

The Preferences dialog has several tabbed pages in which you can specify your preferred settings for various session parameters. Each new session will use these preferences.

Track Position Numbers Stay with Hidden Tracks When enabled, tracks keep their track

numbers even when hidden. When not enabled, numbers are only assigned to tracks that are shown. In this case, active tracks are then numbered sequentially, and hidden tracks are un-numbered.

Display Preferences

Basics Section

Edit Window Follows Bank Selection If you are

using a supported control surface with Pro Tools, this option scrolls the Edit window to display the selected bank of tracks when you switch banks on the control surface, ensuring that the current bank is viewable on-screen.

Mix Window Follows Bank Selection If you are using a supported control surface with Pro Tools, this option scrolls the Mix window to display the selected bank of tracks when you switch banks on the control surface, ensuring that the current bank is viewable on-screen.

“Scroll to Tracks” Banks Controllers When using a control surface (such as D-Control or Pro Control) you can select this option to bank control surface faders to a numbered track when using the Track > Scroll to Track command.

Show Meters in Sends View When the Sends View is displaying individual send controls, you can select this option to show send level meters. Deselecting this option can help speed up screen redraws and processing.

Draw Grids in Edit Window Adds grid lines to the Edit window. Grid line resolution is based on the zoom level of the Edit window.

Draw Waveforms Rectiﬁed Displays audio waveform data in rectified view. In this view, audio waveforms are displayed so that their positive and negative waveform excursions (the portions that fall above and below the center line) are summed together and viewed as a single positive-value signal. This view allows more waveform detail to be seen in either normal or reduced track height views. It can be particularly useful when editing volume automation data, since it depicts waveform levels as starting at the bottom of the track.

Recompute Invalid Overviews Prompts Pro Tools to look for missing or corrupted overview data (the data used to create waveform displays) when it opens sessions. If Pro Tools finds that overview data is missing or corrupted, it will recreate one or more overviews for the session. This may take some time if there are many tracks in the session. If you suspect that overview data for a session has become corrupted, or if you import audio files which have no overview data into a session, make sure this preference is enabled for the session, save and close the session, then reopen it. Pro Tools will recreate any overviews for the session when it opens.

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Always Display Marker Colors Lets you choose to view Marker colors in the Markers ruler, regardless of the settings you choose for Default Region Color Coding.

Tool Tips Display

Function Configures Tool Tips to show the basic

function of the item.

Details Configures Tool Tips to show the complete name of an abbreviated name or item. Details view can also show the hidden or abbreviated value of parameters, as well as input and output assignments.

Other Section

Edit Window Default Length Lets you set a de-

fault length for the Edit window in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit only). This is useful if you want to assemble a session of a particular length or leave extra room to expand the Edit window’s work area in your session. The maximum length is 13 hours at 48 kHz, and proportionally less at higher sampling rates.

Delay Compensation Mode This option lets you choose whether information in the Delay Manager is displayed in milliseconds or samples. This option is only available when Delay Compensation is enabled (Options > Delay Compensation).

“Organize Plug-In Menus By” Option

This preference customizes how plug-in lists (plug-in menus) are organized in the Insert selector or Plug-In selector.

Flat List Organizes plug-ins in a single list, in alphabetical order.

Category Organizes plug-ins by process category (such as EQ, Dynamics, and Delay), with individual plug-ins listed in the category submenus. Plug-ins that do not fit into a standard category (such as the DigiRack Signal Generator), or third-party plug-ins that have not had a category designated by their developers, appear in the Other category. Plug-ins can appear in more than one category.

Manufacturer Organizes plug-ins by their manufacturer (such as Digidesign, Eventide, Line 6, and McDSP), with individual plug-ins listed in the manufacturer submenus. Plug-Ins that do not have a Manufacturer defined will appear in the “Other” manufacturer folder.

Most Digidesign-distributed third party plug-ins will be grouped under Digidesign when view by Manufacturer is enabled.

Category and Manufacturer Organizes plug-ins in two levels of menus. The top menus display plug-ins by process category (such as EQ, Dynamics, and Delay), with individual plug-ins listed in the category submenus. The bottom menus display plug-ins by manufacturer (such as Digidesign, Eventide, Line 6, and McDSP), with individual plug-ins listed in the manufacturer submenus

Default Track Color Coding

These color coding options determine the default color coding assignment for tracks in the Edit and Mix windows. Choices are:

None Turns off color assignment for tracks.

Tracks and MIDI Channels Assigns a color to

each track in the Mix or Edit window according to its voice assignment or MIDI channel assignment.

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Tracks and MIDI Devices Assigns a color to each track in the Mix or Edit window according to its voice assignment or MIDI device assignment.

Groups Assigns a color to each track according to its Group ID. If groups are suspended using the Suspend Groups command, the tracks color bars are not shown.

Track Type Assigns a color to each track according to its type (audio, MIDI, Instrument, Auxiliary or Master Fader).

Default Region Color Coding

These color coding options determine the default color coding assignment for regions in the track playlist. Choices are:

None Turns off color assignment for regions. Regions are drawn with black waveform or MIDI notes on a light gray background.

Tracks and MIDI Channels Assigns a color to each region in the Edit window according to its voice or MIDI channel assignment.

Tracks and MIDI Devices Assigns a color to each region in the Edit window according to its voice assignment or MIDI device assignment.

Groups Assigns a color to each region according to the Group ID of its track. If groups are suspended using the Suspend Groups command, all regions display black waveforms or MIDI notes on a light gray background.

Peak Hold Options

These options determine how long the peak indicators on track meters stay lit after a peak is detected.

3 Second Peak Hold When selected, track meters display the last peak level for three seconds.

Inﬁnite Peak Hold When selected, track meters display the last peak level until you click them to clear them.

No Peak Hold When selected, track meters do not hold the peak level.

Clip Indication Options

These options determine how long the clip indicators on plug-in, send, and track meters stay lit after a clip is detected.

3 Second Clip Hold When selected, meters display the last clip indication for three seconds.

Inﬁnite Clip Hold When selected, meters display the last clip indications until you click them to clear them.

No Clip Hold When selected, meters do not hold the clip indication.

Track Color Assigns a region color based on the color assigned to the track.

Marker Locations Assigns a color to data across all tracks based on the nearest preceding marker.

Region List Color Assigns a color to each region based on its color in the Region List.

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Operation Preferences

Basics Section

Timeline Insertion Follows Playback This option

causes the screen’s play cursor to update its location to the point where playback stops.

Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle When selected, the edit cursor automatically locates to the point where scrubbing stops.

Sends Default to –INF When selected, the initial

fader level of newly-created sends is set to –∞

(no audible signal level). When not selected, the initial fader level of newly-created sends is set to 0 dB.

Audio During Fast Forward/Rewind When selected, audio is audible during fast forward or rewind.

Convert Imported “WAV” Files To AES31/BroadcastWave When selected, this option applies to

all newly imported WAV files, making them compliant with the AES31/EBU Broadcast standard.

Automatically Copy Files on Import When selected, Pro Tools copies all imported audio files to the current session’s Audio Files folder, regardless of whether they need to be converted to the current session’s file type, bit depth or sample rate.

Audio Track RecordLock This setting lets Pro Tools tracks be configured to either emulate a digital dubber, or to maintain legacy behavior for track record status.

• When the Audio RecordLock preference is enabled, the record-enabled audio tracks remain armed when playback or recording stops.

• When the Audio RecordLock preference is not enabled, record-enabled audio tracks are taken out of record enable when Pro Tools is stopped. This prevents tracks from remaining armed from pass to pass, emulating track record behavior of a digital dubber.

Transport RecordLock This setting lets the Transport Record (the Record Enable button in the Transport controls) be configured to either emulate a digital dubber, or to maintain legacy behavior for the Transport master Record.

• When not enabled, the Transport Record disarms when Pro Tools is manually stopped or stops due to a loss of time code. This replicates standard Pro Tools recording behavior.

• When enabled, the Transport Record remains armed when playback or recording stops. This saves having to re-arm the Transport between takes, emulating digital dubber behavior.

The Transport RecordLock preference is automatically disabled and greyed out when Destructive record mode is enabled.

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Latch Record Enable Buttons When this option is deselected, it prevents multiple audio tracks from being record-enabled. Record-enabling an audio track takes any other audio track out of record-enabled mode.

Link Mix and Edit Group Enables When selected, it links enabling and disabling of Mix and Edit groups. For example, enabling Group A in the Mix Window automatically enables Group A in the Edit window.

Use F11 Key for Wait for Note When selected, pressing the F11 Function key puts MIDI recording in Wait for Note mode.

Disable “Input” When Disarming Track (In “Stop”) For flexibility, TrackInput monitor-

ing can be customized to remain selected regardless of track record status, or to automatically switch to Auto Input monitoring after a recording pass. This lets you optimize monitoring for a typical dubbing workflow (in which you might want tracks to remain in Input Only mode until explicitly switched to Auto Input monitoring) or a typical music tracking workflow (in which leaving a track in Input Only monitoring mode after recording can result in accidental double-monitoring).

• When enabled, taking an audio track out of record enable (any mode) takes it out of Input Only mode, regardless of the global monitor mode, and switches it to monitor audio from disk only.

• When not enabled, audio tracks remain in Input Only monitoring mode until explicitly switched to Auto Input monitoring.

Mute Record-Armed Tracks While Stopped This setting determines monitor status of recordarmed tracks.

•When enabled, Pro Tools mutes tracks that are record-enabled when the Transport is stopped. Input can still be monitored while stopped using the TrackInput Monitor button.

• When not enabled, Pro Tools monitors audio input on tracks that are record-enabled.

Avid Video Errors Stop Playback If selected, Pro Tools automatically stop playback of audio and video if a single frame of video is dropped.

If unselected, Pro Tools continues playback of audio even if frames are dropped. In most cases, video playback will recover within a few frames and continue playing audio and video in sync.

Numeric Keypad Mode

Numeric Keypad mode determines how the numeric keypad functions. You can always use the numeric keypad to select and enter values in the Event Edit Area, Edit Selection indicators, Main and Sub Counters, and Transport fields.

Classic Selects a Shuttle Lock mode that emulates the way Pro Tools worked in versions lower than 5.0. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Classic, you can play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock mode. Press the Start key (Windows) or Control (Macintosh), followed by 0–9 for different play speeds. Press Plus (+) or Minus (–) to reverse direction. Recall Memory Locations by typing the Memory Location number, followed by Period (.). To customize the highest fast-forward Shuttle Lock speed, see “Custom Shuttle Lock Speed” on page 262.

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Transport Selects a Shuttle Lock mode that lets you set a number of record and play functions, and also operate the Transport from the numeric keypad. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Transport, you can play up to two tracks of audio in Shuttle Lock mode. Press the Start key (Windows) or Control (Macintosh), followed by 0–9 for different play speeds. Press Plus (+) or Minus (–) to reverse direction. Recall Memory Locations by typing Period (.), the Memory Location number, and Period (.) again. To customize the highest fast-forward Shuttle Lock speed, see “Custom Shuttle Lock Speed” on page 262.

Shuttle (Pro Tools HD Only) Selects a type of shuttling different from that of Shuttle Lock mode. With the Numeric Keypad mode set to Shuttle, playback is triggered by pressing and holding the keys on the numeric keypad—playback stops once the keys are released. Various playback speeds are available in both forward and reverse. You can also recall Memory Locations by typing Period (.), the Memory Location number, and Period (.) again.

AutoSave

This preference determines how the AutoSave feature functions.

Enable Session File Auto Backup When selected, Pro Tools automatically saves backups of your Pro Tools session file while you work. Backups are saved to in the Session Files Backup folder in your session folder. Use the Keep and Backup Every fields to specify the total number of incremental backups that are kept and how often the session is saved.

Online Options

Record Online at Time Code (or ADAT) Lock When selected, online recording begins as

soon as Pro Tools receives and locks to time code or ADAT sync.

Record Online at Insertion/Selection When selected, online recording begins at the edit cursor location. Recording continues until Pro Tools stops receiving time code. If you make a selection, Pro Tools records online for the length of the selection.

Open Ended Record Allocation

This preference determines how much of your available hard drive space is allocated for recording.

Use All Available Space When selected, the drive’s entire available space is allocated. This can sometimes slow down the recording process for hard drives that use certain file systems, including HFS+ and NTFS.

Limit To Sets the maximum allowable recording duration. This can help reduce the time it takes to begin recording by allocating only a portion of your hard drive. The number of minutes specified is allocated for each record-enabled track. You may want to experiment with this number to achieve the recording performance you want.

QuickTime Playback Priority Options

Normal This is the default setting for QuickTime

Movie Playback Priority. It gives no extra priority to movie playback over other screen update tasks such as metering, moving faders, and so on. In most cases you should use this setting. If, however, you are running QuickTime movies without a video capture card, you may need to use the Higher or Highest Playback Priority setting.

Higher This command gives QuickTime movie playback a higher priority relative to other Pro Tools screen update tasks. This yields better movie playback performance if you are running QuickTime movies without a video capture card.

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Highest This command gives QuickTime movie playback highest priority. In this mode, Pro Tools disables screen activity such as metering during movie playback. This yields the highest movie playback performance if you are running QuickTime movies without a video capture card.

Back/Forward Amount Sets the default length of Back, Back and Play, Forward and Forward and Play. The timebase of the Back/Forward Amount settings follows the Main Time Scale by default, or you can deselect Follow Main Time Scale and select another timebase format: Bars:Beats, Min:Sec, Time Code, Feet+Frames. or Samples

Additional Options

Custom Shuttle Lock Speed Sets the highest fast-

forward Shuttle Lock speed (key 9) for Shuttle Lock modes (Classic or Transport). The range for this setting is 50–800%. For more information, see “Custom Shuttle Lock Speed” on page 262.

Calibration Reference Level (Pro Tools HD Only)

Sets a default calibration reference level in dB when Pro Tools is in Calibration mode. For audio interfaces that have trims (such as the 192 I/O), see the interface’s guide for calibration instructions.

Auto Regions Fade In/Out Length Sets a default length for fade-ins and fade-outs automatically applied to region boundaries. Using automatic fade-ins and fade-outs saves you the trouble of editing to zero-crossings or creating numerous rendered fades in order to eliminate clicks or pops in playback. Autofades are not written to disk. Value range is from 0–10 ms for the Auto Region Fade In/Out Length. A value of zero means that no auto-fading will occur. The Auto Fade value is saved with the session, and is automatically applied to all free-standing region boundaries until you change it.

Solo Latch Options

This preference determines if solos are latched, unlatched, or added temporarily (Pro Tools HD only).

Latch When selected, pressing subsequent Solo buttons adds them to the soloed mix of tracks.

Momentary (Pro Tools HD with Digidesign-Qualiﬁed Control Surface Only) When selected, the

Solo button is not sticky. When the Solo button is held down, the track is soloed. Additional tracks can be soloed by touching their Solo buttons (as long as at least one Solo button is held down). When no Solo button is held down, all soloed tracks will unsolo.

X–OR (Cancels Previous Solos) When selected, pressing subsequent Solo buttons cancels previous solos.

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Editing Preferences

Crossfade Preview Pre-Roll This option specifies the amount of pre-roll to be added when you are auditioning crossfades in the Fades dialog.

Crossfade Preview Post-Roll This option specifies the amount of post-roll to be added when you are auditioning crossfades in the Fades dialog.

Default Fade Settings

Fade In Selects the default envelope shape for

fade-ins.

Crossfade Selects the default envelope shape for crossfades.

Recall Memory Location at Original Track When selected, Memory Locations that recall a selection also recall the track in which the selection was made.

Auto-Name Memory Locations When Playing When selected, Pro Tools gives new

memory locations default names based on their time location in the session. The time units currently chosen in the View menu determine the units for the names.

Auto-Name Separated Regions When selected, Pro Tools automatically names newly separated regions by appending a number to the region’s name. Disabling this option can be useful when importing region groups, REX files, or ACID files, because these file types can contain so many separate regions that it becomes difficult to read the Region List.

Region List Selection Follows Edit Selection When selected, selecting a region in a

track also selects it in the Region List.

Edit Selection Follows Region List Selection When selected, selecting a region in

the Region List causes Pro Tools to highlight that region’s occurrence in a track.

Fade Out Selects the default envelope shape for fade-outs.

Conversion Quality Selects the sample rate conversion quality. Sample rate conversion is used in a variety of Pro Tools processes including converting and importing audio files of different formats into a session, and bouncing and saving tracks to a different sample rate or bit depth. The higher the quality of sample rate conversion you choose, the longer Pro Tools will take to process the audio file.

“Matching Start Time” Takes List

When you Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) a region in a track, Pro Tools displays a list of regions whose time stamp matches the current Cursor location. The following preferences determine which regions, or takes, appear in this list:

Take Region Names That Match Track Names When selected, only regions that share

the same root name with the track and playlist appear in the Takes List pop-up menu.

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Take Region Lengths That Match When selected, only regions that match the length of the current selection appear in the Takes List pop-up menu.

“Separate Region” Operates On All Related Takes When selected, editing a region with the

Separate Region command also affects all other related takes (recording passes) with the same User Time Stamp. This option helps you compare different sections from a group of related takes.

QuickPunch/TrackPunch Crossfade Length Specifies a default length for crossfades created by QuickPunch or TrackPunch recordings. Crossfades occur before the punch in and after the punch out.

Levels Of Undo Sets the maximum number of actions that can be undone with the multiple undo feature. Setting this to a lower number can speed up the performance of slower computers. Pro Tools supports up to 32 Levels of Undo.

Automation Preferences

Faders Move During Playback When selected, on-screen faders move if automation has been written for them. When deselected, on-screen faders do not move, but automation still functions. Deselecting this option can help speed up screen redraws and processing.

Faders on controls surfaces are not affected by this option.

Smooth and Thin Data After Pass When selected, Pro Tools automatically smooths and then applies the specified amount of thinning to the automation data created in an automation pass. (See “Thinning Automation” on page 549.)

Mutes Follow Groups When selected, muting a track that belongs to a Mix group mutes all members of the group. When deselected, tracks are muted individually. You can also mute individual group members by Right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Macintosh) their Mute buttons.

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Solos Follow Groups When selected, soloing a track that belongs to a Mix group solos all members of the group. When deselected, tracks are soloed individually. You can also solo individual group members by Right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Macintosh) their Solo buttons.

Send Mutes Follow Groups When selected, muting a Send on a track that belongs to a Mix group mutes the corresponding Send (A–J) on all members of the group. When deselected, Sends are muted individually. You can also mute individual group members by Right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Macintosh) their Solo buttons.

Send Levels Follow Groups When selected, adjusting the level of a Send on a track that belongs to a Mix group adjusts the level of the corresponding Send (A–J) on all members of the group. When deselected, Send levels are adjusted individually. You can also adjust individual group members by Start-dragging (Windows) or Control-dragging (Macintosh) their Send Level faders.

LFEs Follow Groups When selected, adjusting an LFE (Low Frequency Effects) control of a track or send that belongs to a Mix group adjusts the LFE controls of all members of the group. When deselected, LFE controls must be adjusted individually. You can also adjust individual group members by Start-dragging (Windows) or Control-dragging (Macintosh) their LFE controls. With send-based LFEs, grouping affects only that Send (A–J) on other tracks.

After Write Pass, Switch To (Pro Tools HD Only)

Selects the Automation mode that Pro Tools tracks automatically switch to after an automation pass in Write mode. You can choose to switch to Touch or Latch mode, or stay in Write mode by selecting No Change.

This setting affects Write/Trim mode. After an automation pass in Write/Trim mode, tracks automatically switch to the Trim version of the specified setting (Latch/Trim, Touch/Trim, or Write/Trim).

Degree of Thinning Specifies the amount of thinning performed on automation data when you using the Thin Automation command, or if you have selected the Smooth and Thin Data After Pass option. (See “Thinning” on page 541.)

Touch Timeout If you are writing automation in Touch mode and you stop moving a non-touch sensitive control, Pro Tools continues to write automation for the Touch Timeout value.

After the Touch Timeout period, writing of automation stops and the automation data returns to its previous automation value at the rate specified in the AutoMatch Time setting.

AutoMatch Time If you are writing automation in Touch mode, when you release a fader or control, writing of automation stops and the automation data returns to its previous value. The rate of return to the previous value is the AutoMatch Time. See “AutoMatch Time” on page 541.

AutoGlide Time Specifies how quickly Pro Tools transitions (glides) from one automation value to another, when Automation Glide is used.

Amount of memory to reserve for automation recording Allocates memory for automation. See

“Setting the Automation Buffer Size” on page 541 for details.

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Processing Preferences

AudioSuite Dither

Use AudioSuite Dither When selected, applies a

selectable dither plug-in to specific AudioSuite processing tasks (such as Gain and Normalize).

Dither Plug-In Specifies the plug-in used for dither processing when the Use AudioSuite Dither option is selected.

Edit Settings When a Digidesign dither plug-in is used, lets you apply either normal or noiseshaping dither.

Bit Depth

16-, 18-, 20-, and 24-Bit Lets you select a bit

depth for the dithered audio.

AudioSuite Buffer Size

Audio Suite Buffer Size sets the size of the memory buffer used for audio processing and previewing with AudioSuite plug-ins. If AudioSuite preview stutters, set the buffer to Mini or Small. Processing is generally faster when the buffer is set to Larger or Jumbo.

TC/E

TC/E Plug-In Lets you choose the plug-in used

for Time Compression and Expansion when you edit audio with the Time Compression/Expansion Trim tool. This Trim tool works by using Time Compression/Expansion to match an audio region to the length of another region, a tempo grid, a video scene, or other reference point.

Default Settings Specifies the default settings used by the chosen Time Compression/Expansion plug-in.

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MIDI Preferences

General Section

Play MIDI Notes When Editing When selected,

causes MIDI notes to sound when you insert them with the Pencil tool or drag them with any of the Grabber tools.

Use MIDI to Tap Tempo When selected, you can tap a MIDI keyboard to enter a new tempo value into a tempo field.

Display Events as Modiﬁed by Real-Time Properties When selected, Pro Tools displays the ef-

fects of Real-Time Properties in both the Edit window and the MIDI Event List.

MIDI Note Display Options

Default Note On Velocity Sets the default Note

On velocity for MIDI notes inserted in the Edit window and the MIDI Event List.

Pencil Tool Resolution When Drawing Controller Data Sets the default resolution for MIDI con-

troller data created with the Pencil tool. Setting this to a lower resolution helps avoid creating controller data that is unnecessarily dense. The value range is from 1 to 100 milliseconds.

Global MIDI Playback Offset Sets an offset in samples to compensate for MIDI latency. Entering a value here has the same effect as setting an offset with the MIDI Track Offsets command (Event > MIDI Track Offsets). Offset values can be positive (later) or negative (earlier).

Default Thru Instrument Sets the default MIDI Thru instrument. You can select a predefined device from your available MIDI instruments, or select “Follows First Selected MIDI Track” to use the assigned MIDI output of the first selected MIDI or Instrument track. When multiple MIDI or Instrument tracks are selected, the instrument in the selected track that is closest to the top of the Edit window (or closest to the left edge of the Mix window) will be used.

These options set the reference for middle C as C3, C4, or MIDI note number 60.

Delay for External Devices Options (Pro Tools HD Only)

These options let you apply Delay Compensation to Pro Tools-generated MIDI Time Code or MIDI Beat Clock. Generally, this delay should be applied when the external MIDI instrument is mixed externally, and should not be applied when the external MIDI instrument is mixed through the Pro Tools mixer.

These options are only available when a Delay Compensation Engine is chosen in the Playback Engine dialog and Delay Compensation is enabled in Pro Tools.

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Machine Control Preferences

Stop at Shuttle Speed Zero Causes Pro Tools to send a Stop command whenever you stop shuttling. This is useful if you have a machine that requires an explicit stop command to park correctly.

Remote Mode (9-Pin Deck Emulation)

(Pro Tools HD Only)

Punch In Frame Offset Sets an offset (in frames)

to compensate for punch in timing advances or delays.

Punch Out Frame Offset Sets an offset (in frames) to compensate for punch out timing advances or delays.

These preferences determine how a connected transport responds to Pro Tools.

Machine Control

Machine Chases Memory Location When se-

lected, navigating to a specific location in a session with a Memory Location causes a connected transport to chase to that location.

Machine Follows Edit Insertion/Scrub When selected, navigating to a specific location in a session by moving the selection point or by scrubbing a track will cause a connected transport to chase to that location.

Machine Cues Intelligently When selected, if you navigate to a cue point that is more than 10 seconds from the current location, Pro Tools will command a connected transport to fast wind to the new location at full speed to within 10 seconds of the cue point. Cueing will then slow to normal speed until the point is reached. This can significantly speed up tape cueing with certain video transports.

Delay After Play Command Sets an offset (in frames) to compensate for lockup time of external machines.

Ignore Track Arming Sets Pro Tools to ignore incoming track arming (record enable) commands. This is useful if you are using a master controller to arm tracks on other machines, but you do not want to arm tracks in Pro Tools.

Set Servo Lock Bit at Play (Tamura Support) Enable this option when using a Tamura synchronizer to control Pro Tools in Remote mode to minimize lock-up times during recording.

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Chapter 7: I/O Setup

The I/O Setup dialog provides tools to label, format, and map Pro Tools input, output, insert, or bus signal paths for each session.

A signal path is a logical grouping of multiple inputs, outputs or busses that has a single name and (channel) format. In Pro Tools, paths are similar to stems, known to the film and video industries (see “Stems and Stem Mixes” on page 71). The I/O Setup dialog lets you define and name paths according to the needs of each project.

With Pro Tools HD, the I/O Setup dialog provides a graphical representation of the signal routing for each connected audio interface, with controls to route physical ports to Pro Tools inputs and outputs. These controls mirror the routing controls found in the Hardware Setup dialog—changes made to physical routing in one dialog are always reflected in the other.

Each Pro Tools system can have a different I/O Setup configuration, determined by:

• Whether it is a Pro Tools LE, Pro Tools MPowered, or Pro Tools|HD system

•On Pro Tools|HD systems, the number and types of audio interfaces

• On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Mixer plug-in currently installed (Stereo, or Surround)

Each Pro Tools session retains its path configurations as I/O Settings. The I/O Settings saved with the session are loaded automatically when the session is opened. Unavailable items (including hardware, paths, or required resources) remain in the session as inactive items (see “Active and Inactive Paths” on page 79).

When you create a new session, you can specify a default I/O Setup configuration, including presets for stereo or multichannel mixing formats. Multichannel mixing requires a Pro Tools|HD system.

The I/O Setup dialog also lets you save and import I/O Settings files.

Navigating in the I/O Setup Dialog

To resize the I/O Setup dialog:

■ Drag the lower-right corner of the window ac-

cording to standard convention for your operating system (Windows or Macintosh).

To scroll up or down in the Disk Allocation dialog:

■ Press Page Up or Page Down.

To scroll left or right in the I/O Setup dialog:

■ Press Alt+Page Up/Down (Windows) or Op-

tion+Page Up/Down (Macintosh).

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Paths in Sessions

Paths and I/O Setup

In sessions, audio is routed using the track Input, Output, Insert, Plug-in, and Send selectors. These selectors let you assign tracks to hardware inputs and outputs, internal busses, and other Pro Tools signal paths.

Paths comprise the lists of available signal routing choices in track Input, Output, Insert and Send selectors.

Input Path selector and paths

The signal routing choices available in a session are defined in the I/O Setup dialog.

I/O Setup dialog Output paths (Pro Tools HD)

Main Paths and Sub-Paths

Paths in the I/O Setup dialog include main paths and sub-paths.

Stereo main path

mono sub-path

Main and sub-paths in the I/O Setup Channel Grid

Output Path selector and paths

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Main Paths

Main paths are logical groupings of inputs, inserts, busses, or outputs. For example, a master stereo output path could be named Main Out. Path names in a stereo path are often appended with “.L” and “.R” for left and right.

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Sub-Paths

Stems and Stem Mixes

A sub-path represents a signal path within a main path. For example, a default stereo output path consists of two mono sub-paths, left and right. Mono tracks and sends can be routed to either mono sub-path of the stereo output path.

It is especially useful to define and name sub-paths for complex mixing setups, such as a 5.1 Surround mix.

Default I/O Settings

A default I/O Settings ﬁle is installed automatically by Pro Tools, so you have a set of default paths that will get you started, without the need to conﬁgure the I/O Setup dialog. You can then customize your I/O Setup conﬁguration at any time, according to the needs of each project (see “The I/O Setup Dialog” on page 72).

Default Settings Files

The default Stereo settings file is available on all Pro Tools systems, and provides stereo main paths, each with its own mono sub-paths.

The use of stems and stem mixes originated in the post production industry as a method to organize and manage elements of a mix by type or content.

For example, a film mix often requires a stem mix for Foley, a stem mix for sound effects, a stem mix for dialog, and another for music. In this scenario, the dialog stem would contain all the dialog elements mixed relative to each other. The dialog stem can then be mixed with the other stems during the final mix of the scene or reel. The final mix is simplified by the ability to control the level of each stem, rather than the multitude of individual tracks that comprise a typical film mix.

In Pro Tools, you can work with main and subpaths as you would stem mixes. These can be assigned as needed, including the ability to assign multiple outputs to individual tracks and sends. For more information, see “Multiple Output Assignments” on page 487.

Multichannel settings files are available on Pro Tools|HD systems. These settings provide specialized path definitions for surround mixing. See “Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions” on page 600.

Default Path Names

Default names for input, output, and insert paths are based on the type of system (Pro Tools LE systems) or type and number of interfaces (Pro Tools|HD systems) you are using.

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The I/O Setup Dialog

The I/O Setup dialog deﬁnes Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus paths. Routing I/O ports to Pro Tools inputs and outputs can also be done here.

Path Name column

Expand/collapse paths

Main and Sub-Paths

Active/Inactive Status

Path tools

Path Type tabs

Path Format selector

Figure 5. I/O Setup dialog on a Pro Tools|HD system with a 96 I/O

To open the I/O Setup dialog:

1 Make sure your audio interfaces are enabled

and conﬁgured properly in the Hardware Setup. See “Conﬁguring Pro Tools Hardware Settings” on page 42.

2 Choose Setup > I/O.

Closing the I/O Setup Dialog

You can click Cancel at any time to close the I/O Setup dialog. When you click OK, Pro Tools checks several settings for routing validity (to prevent feedback loops). If there are any overlapping or invalid settings, you will be required to correct them before the I/O Setup dialog will

To open the Input, Output, Insert, Bus, Mic Preamps, or H/W Insert Delay page in the I/O

close. For more information, see “Initializing I/O Setup” on page 79.

Setup dialog:

■ Click the corresponding tab at the top of the

I/O Setup dialog.

Interface label

Input and Output selectors

Channel Grid

Options

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I/O Setup Dialog Controls

This section provides an overview of the controls in the I/O Setup dialog.

Path Type Tabs Select the type of I/O control to configure. Choices are Input, Output, Insert, Bus, Mic Preamps, or H/W Insert Delay.

Input and Output Selectors Select the physical ports on your audio interface to route to Pro Tools inputs and outputs. Ports are selectable in channel pairs. Available ports for each displayed interface are based on Hardware Setup settings; for example, if the AES/EBU inputs and outputs of an interface are enabled in Hardware Setup, they are available for routing in I/O Setup. The functionality provided with the Input and Output selector is the same as that provided on the Main page of the Hardware Setup dialog.

Path Name Column Shows paths that are available for selection, including the name of each defined path.

Show Original Setup Appears in the I/O Setup dialog in certain session transfer situations. For details on this feature, see “Show Original Setup and Show Current Setup” on page 81.

Options Provide selectors with pop-up menus to set paths or orders for Controller Meter Path, Audition Paths (Region List previewing), New Track Default Output, and Default Path Order. See “I/O Setup Options” on page 83.

Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools I/O

The I/O Setup dialog lets you define which physical ports on your I/O peripheral are routed to available inputs and outputs in Pro Tools. Use the Input and Output selectors in the I/O Setup dialog to serve as a patchbay to route any of the physical inputs or outputs to your Pro Tools mixer.

Expand/Collapse Shows or hides the sub-paths associated with a main path.

Active/Inactive Status Shows and changes the active/inactive status of each path.

Path Format Selector Shows and selects the type/format (such as Mono, Stereo, Quad, or

5.1) of each defined path.

Channel Grid Maps paths to specific interfaces and channels.

Compensation for Input and Output Delays Allows automatic compensation for input and output delays caused by Digidesign analog-todigital and digital-to-analog hardware.

Path Tools Customize the I/O Setup configuration. Buttons include: New Path, New Sub-Path, Delete Path, and Default.

I/O Channel selector pop-up menu

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To conﬁgure I/O routing in I/O Setup:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Click the Input or Output tab to display the

corresponding path type.

3 Click the Input or Output selector for the ﬁrst

interface channel pair, located below the ﬁrst audio interface icon.

4 From the pop-up menu, select a physical port

pair (such as Analog 1–2), to route to a Pro Tools channel pair (such as A 1–2) in the Path Name column on the left.

5 Repeat the above step for additional channel

pairs.

6 Click OK.

Routing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destinations

Pro Tools channel pairs can be routed to multiple outputs on an audio interface through the I/O Setup dialog. For example, if you assign both Analog 1–2 and Analog 3–4 interface outputs to Pro Tools Output pair 1–2, when you send a signal to Pro Tools Outputs 1–2, that signal will be routed simultaneously to both pairs of output ports on your audio interface.

This lets you send the same signal (such as a stereo pair, a stem mix, or a multichannel mix) to multiple destinations (such as multiple mastering devices).

Pro Tools outputs pairs can also be routed to multiple audio interface outputs in the Hardware Setup dialog. For more information, see “Routing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destinations” on page 44.

To route a Pro Tools output channel pair to multiple audio interface output ports:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Click the Output tab.

3 Click the Output selector for an interface

channel pair, just below an audio interface icon.

4 From the pop-up menu, select a physical port

pair (such as Analog 1–2) to route to the corresponding Pro Tools channel pair (such as A 1–2) in the Path Name column on the left.

5 Start-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macin-

tosh) the same Output selector and select an additional output pair from the same pop-up menu.

6 Repeat the above steps to select additional

output destinations.

7 Click OK.

The only limit to output choices is the number of outputs available in your system.

0utput path assignments cannot overlap. See “Valid Paths and Requirements” on page 79 for details.

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Creating and Editing Paths

The I/O Setup dialog lets you create and customize signal path deﬁnitions.

Paths can be:

• Renamed, for easier identiﬁcation after changing or renaming audio interfaces

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• Remapped, to or from different sources or destinations

•Deactivated (or reactivated) to manage unavailable or unnecessary I/O resources

• Deleted

In addition, you can import and export your I/O Setup conﬁgurations as I/O Settings ﬁles, as well as set default path parameters.

The following table lists the available path attributes for each path type.

Path options by type

Path Type Path Options (Attributes)

Input Names, formats, and source

channel (analog or digital audio interface, or CPU input)

Output Names, formats, and destination

(audio interface output channel or internal send bus)

Insert Names, formats and destination

(audio interface channels)

Bus Names and formats

Creating a Default Main or Sub-Path

You can set an I/O Setup path type to its default path configuration at any time.

To restore default paths and pathnames:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Click the Input, Output, Insert, or Bus tab to

display the corresponding path type.

3 Click Default.

Pro Tools creates all possible stereo main paths. Mono sub-paths are also auto-created for every stereo main path. These default path names appear in a session’s track Audio Input and Output Path selectors.

Default stereo output paths

To optimize Pro Tools DSP resources, it is best to create mono sub-paths for Outputs and Busses, rather than mono main paths.

Creating New Paths

You can create new main path and sub-paths with custom names, format, and mapping. Custom path names appear in a session’s track Input, Output, Insert, and Bus selectors.

To create a new path:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Click the Input, Output, Insert, or Bus tab to

display the corresponding path type.

3 Click New Path, or press Control+N (Win-

dows) or Command+N (Macintosh).

– or –

Select a main path and click New Sub-Path.

4 Double-click in the Name ﬁeld and enter a

name for the path.

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5 Press Tab to set the new path name and move

to the next path’s Name Field, or press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to set the new path name.

6 Choose a format from the Path Format selec-

tor (mono, stereo, or multichannel).

Path Format selector

7 Repeat the previous steps to conﬁgure other

path types (Input, Output, Insert, or Bus).

8 Click OK to close the I/O Setup dialog. If there

are any overlapping or identically named paths, you will be instructed to correct them before the I/O Setup dialog will close. For more information, see “Initializing I/O Setup” on page 79.

Multichannel paths and mixing are explained in Chapter 30, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools HD Only).”

Selecting and Arranging Paths

Individual and multiple paths can be selected in the I/O Setup dialog Path Name column. Selected paths and sub-paths can be moved higher or lower in the Path Name column to change their menu order in track Input, Output, Insert, and Bus selectors. Paths can also be deleted. Subpaths follow their main paths when they are moved in the I/O Setup dialog.

To select a main path or sub-path:

■ Click the path name.

Selecting paths in the I/O Setup dialog

To select a range of paths:

1 Click the path name.

2 Shift-click an additional path name.

All paths that occur between the first path name selected and the additional path name will also be selected.

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

■ Control-click (Windows) or Command-click

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

– or –

■ Control-click (Windows) or Command-click

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

To select all paths and sub-paths:

■ Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macin-

tosh) any path name that is unhighlighted.

To deselect all paths and sub-paths:

■ Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macin-

tosh) any path name that is highlighted.

To rearrange paths:

■ Drag one or more path names up or down.

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Resetting Paths

The Default button in the I/O Setup dialog provides two primary functions:

• Creates new default paths up to the capacity of your system’s available audio interfaces and resources. See “Creating a Default Main or Sub-Path” on page 75.

• Resets selected path names to matching or corresponding paths in the current I/O Setup conﬁguration. For example, if you replace an audio interface on a Pro Tools|HD system, you can use the Default switch to update your I/O Setup deﬁnitions with the new hardware conﬁguration.

Interface names can be customized. See “Changing Interface Names” on page 77.

To reset path names:

■ Click Default.

If there are matching paths available with the new system configuration, existing paths will be updated to include new audio interfaces (Pro Tools|HD systems).

2 Click the Bus tab in the upper left.

3 Click Default.

Setting busses to the default setting will rename all busses to their default name.

Changing Interface Names

Audio interface names can be customized in the I/O Setup dialog. With Pro Tools HD only, the I/O Setup dialog then bases default Input and Output path names on the custom names.

To rename an audio interface in the I/O Setup dialog:

1 Double-click the label above an interface.

2 Enter a new interface name.

3 Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

Interface Name

Resetting Mix Busses

(Pro Tools HD Only)

Pro Tools supports up to 128 mix busses (Pro Tools HD 7.0 and Pro Tools TDM 6.9), 64 mix busses (Pro Tools TDM 6.7.x and lower), or 32 busses (Pro Tools 7.0 and 5.0.1 and lower). When you open a session created with a lower version of Pro Tools, only the number of busses supported on the lower system are initially available. You can reset the number of available busses to match your system’s capabilities.

To make all of your busses available in sessions created with a lower version of Pro Tools:

1 Open the I/O Setup dialog.

Interface Names

Deleting Paths

Path definitions can be deleted from the current session to reflect changes to your hardware setup, or to clean up track selector menus by removing unwanted or unnecessary path definitions. After deleting a path, any tracks or send assignments to that path are reset to No Output.

To delete a main path or sub-path:

1 In the I/O Setup dialog, select the path you

want to delete.

2 Click Delete Path.

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To delete all paths:

1 Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macin-

tosh) any path name.

2 Click Delete Path.

Channel Mapping

Once a path has been created and formatted, it can be mapped to specific audio interface, or bus channels in the Grid.

To map channels:

1 Select a main or sub-path.

2 In the row for the selected path, click in the

Grid column under an audio interface and channel. Other channels for the path type, if any, ﬁll to the right.

Mapping channels

For example, when mapping a new stereo path, clicking in the path row under output channel 1 ﬁlls both channel 1 and 2 (left to 1, right to 2).

To remap channels in a path, see “Remapping Channels” on page 78.

Channel Mapping and Surround Mixer

(Pro Tools HD Only)

When mapping multichannel paths, the left channel (L) is mapped first to the clicked Grid box, and remaining channels fill immediately to the right according to the default path order. Because some multichannel mixing formats use unique track layouts, Pro Tools lets you set the default format in the I/O Setup dialog (see “I/O Setup Options” on page 83).

Customized Output paths for a 5.1 mix

Remapping Channels

You can move the individual assignments to different channels, to reorder the path’s definition (for example, changing a multichannel map to L-R-C-LF-LS-RS).

To remap channels in a path:

■ Drag the channel to the new location in the

Grid. Other channel assignments will move (shufﬂe) to accommodate dragged channels.

Channel Shufﬂing

Moving a signal from right to left results in a shuffle of other signals after the new destination channel. Moving a signal from left to right shuffles any and all signals after the new destination channel and leaves the previous channel empty.

Changing a path’s format erases any current channel mapping.

Sub-Paths Follow Main Paths

When a main path is remapped, its sub-paths (if any) will remap automatically to maintain consistent routing. For example, remapping a stereo path to different hardware outputs results in any of its sub-paths moving with it.

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Initializing I/O Setup

Active and Inactive Paths

To set the current I/O Setup conﬁguration:

■ Click OK in the I/O Setup dialog.

All paths must be valid before the I/O Setup configuration can be applied.

Valid Paths and Requirements

While configuring the I/O Setup dialog, certain rules apply for path definition and channel mapping.

Though it is possible to set up invalid mappings in the Channel Grid, Pro Tools will not accept an I/O Setup configuration unless all paths meet the path definition and channel mapping requirements, as follows:

Minimum Path Deﬁnitions All paths must have a name, be of a specific format, and have a valid I/O mapping.

Overlapping Channels and Valid Paths Channel mapping follows certain rules regarding overlapping paths.

• There can be no partial or complete overlaps between any two main Output paths, any two Insert paths, or any two main Bus paths.

•A newly-created Output or Bus path must either be completely independent of other maps (not mapped to any other available I/O interface/channels), or it must be a subpath completely contained within a larger path (for example, an LCR sub-path within a larger 5.1 path).

• Output and Insert paths can overlap in I/O Setup, but only one or the other can be used at any given time in a session. (Inputs, however, can be routed to multiple tracks.)

Pro Tools paths can be Active (on) or Inactive (off, or unavailable). You can manually switch paths between Active or Inactive on a track-bytrack or session-wide basis. In addition, Pro Tools sets paths to Inactive automatically when I/O is unavailable.

Track Path Assignments Track input, output, and bus path assignments can be switched to Inactive using the corresponding selector on the track. This leaves track playlists intact, while disconnecting that particular track from the output or bus path. Use this to remove a track from a signal path.

Session-Wide Path Assignments Paths can be globally activated or deactivated in the I/O Setup dialog. Use this to turn off a signal path on any and all tracks currently assigned to it. Pro Tools also sets unavailable paths to inactive. Paths can be unavailable when hardware or other system resources are unavailable, such as when opening a session saved on a different system.

Track Path Assignments

(Mix and Edit Windows)

To toggle a track path assignment to be Active or Inactive:

■ In the Mix or Edit window, Control-Start-click

(Windows) or Command-Control-click (Macintosh) the track’s Input, Output, Insert, or Send selector.

Inactive track path assignments are listed in italics and are unhighlighted.

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Toggling All or All Selected

The Alt (Windows) and Option (Macintosh) modifiers apply the path toggle to all tracks. The Alt+Shift (Windows) and Option+Shift (Macintosh) modifiers apply the path toggle to all selected tracks. However, Pro Tools will only apply the change to identical path assignments, if any, in the current track or tracks. Toggling multiple tracks only affects tracks that have the same path assignment as the one you are explicitly toggling.

Toggling Multiple Paths

If a track has only one main output assignment, you can Control-start-click (Windows) or Command-Control-click (Macintosh) the track’s Output Path selector to toggle the main output to inactive. When there are multiple assignments, the track selector will be displayed for you to specify the input, output, insert, or bus path.

If a Send (A–J) has multiple output assignments and one of those is toggled, then all of the output assignments for that Send (A–J) will be toggled.

Highlighted (Italics) Indicates the path is active, but there are not enough system resources available.

Active

Inactive

Active and inactive path settings in I/O Setup

To globally activate or deactivate a path:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Select a path type using the tabs at the top of

the window.

3 Set the Active/Inactive control for the path.

Any track path assignment can also be deactivated on a track-by-track basis. See “Track Path Assignments” on page 79.

Inactive paths are displayed in italics in the track path selectors.

Session-Wide Path Assignments

(I/O Setup Dialog)

Paths can be globally configured for Active or Inactive status in the I/O Setup Dialog.

Display of Active and Inactive Status

Unhighlighted (Italics) Indicates the path is inac-

tive.

Highlighted (Non-Italics) Indicates the path is active.

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Active and inactive paths in a track Output Path selector

Hardware Setup and Session Transfer

Pro Tools sessions store the type and order of au- dio interfaces connected and active when the session was last saved.

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Unavailable I/O

When opening a session, Pro Tools checks to see if the hardware conﬁguration has changed since the session was last saved. If the current hardware conﬁguration differs from that saved in the session, paths associated with the unavailable I/O are made inactive.

Remapping

Remapping occurs when a session’s original I/O Setup does not match that of the current system and session paths are remapped to current hardware.

Systems of equivalent I/O capability are remapped directly. For example, a session tracked to a Pro Tools|HD system through two 192 I/O audio interfaces would include 32 input paths spread across the two 16-channel interfaces. The session is taken to a second Pro Tools system that has a 96 I/O audio interface (a 16channel I/O unit) and a 1622 I/O (with its 16 analog inputs) connected to its Legacy Port. When the session is first opened on the second system, Pro Tools will map the 32 input paths to the inputs of the two interfaces.

When hardware is unavailable to a session being opened, assignments can either be replaced using the remap option, or opened as Inactive. Any tracks left assigned to an unavailable path will not be audible. This can be beneficial, however, when you want to reassign tracks into your system’s mix one at a time.

See “Active and Inactive Paths” on page 79 for more information.

Show Original Setup and Show Current Setup

When a session is opened that contains path definitions for unavailable I/O interfaces, the I/O Setup dialog lists those paths in italics.

The Show Original Setup button displays the audio interfaces used in the original session. This temporary display lets you check the original I/O configuration for reference while configuring the session for your system.

Once a session has been opened with unavailable I/O retained, you can then reassign tracks to available I/O paths.

To redefine the paths, see “Creating and Editing Paths” on page 74.

I/O Settings Files

I/O Settings can be managed when transferring sessions, and when developing I/O Setup conﬁgurations over the course of multiple sessions and projects.

Defaults, Settings Files, and Last Used Settings for New Sessions

When creating new sessions, you can set the session’s I/O Setup configuration using the following options:

Default I/O Setups The Pro Tools Installer provides factory presets for stereo and surround I/O Setups (surround mixing is only supported on Pro Tools|HD systems). See “Factory I/O Settings Files” on page 83 for more information.

Custom Presets You can store and recall custom presets using the export and import features of the I/O Setup dialog.

Last Used The most recent (or last used) I/O Setup configuration is saved as a Last Used settings file. See “Last Used I/O Settings” on page 82 for more information.

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Default I/O Settings at First Launch

The first time you create a session, you can choose default Stereo Mix or Surround Mix settings, depending on your system and installation choices. See “Factory I/O Settings Files” on page 83.

Importing and Exporting I/O Settings Files

You can export and import I/O Setup conﬁgurations as I/O Settings ﬁles. This lets you save settings for different projects, import settings for reconﬁguring I/O Setup, and manage path deﬁnitions and signal routing setups.

Exporting I/O Settings

To export and save an I/O Setup conﬁguration:

1 Click Export Settings.

2 Name and save the settings ﬁle.

To start sessions with a blank or empty I/O Setup dialog, you can create and export an I/O Settings file in which all definitions have been deleted.

To import I/O Settings:

1 Click Import Settings in the I/O Setup dialog.

2 Select an I/O settings ﬁle in the Import Set-

tings dialog and click Import.

3 A dialog appears asking whether you want to

delete existing paths. Do one of the following:

•Click Yes to remove any unused paths and add the imported paths to the current I/O Setup conﬁguration. Any I/O assignments and automation data associated with the unused paths are also deleted.

• Click No to add the imported paths to the current I/O Setup conﬁguration.

If the import results in overlapping paths, the new paths will appear in the I/O Setup dialog as Inactive. (See “Active and Inactive Paths” on page 79.)

After importing I/O Settings, you can then reassign path routing definitions in the I/O Setup dialog by remapping, renaming, and deleting paths. (See “Creating and Editing Paths” on page 74.)

Last Used I/O Settings

Importing I/O Settings

I/O Settings can be imported before you open a session, or you can import settings into a session that is already open (see “Default I/O Settings at First Launch” on page 82).

When you import I/O Settings in an existing session, you can choose to delete any unused path definitions before importing the new paths, or leave unused path definitions intact and add the new paths to the current I/O Setup configuration.

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If any changes are made to the I/O Setup dialog during a session, these changes are saved to the Last Used settings ﬁle when the I/O Setup dialog is closed (by clicking OK).

Changes to I/O Setup are saved along with the current session. User Presets files will not contain recent changes unless you export an updated settings file.

The Last Used settings are available as a choice when creating or opening sessions, in addition to the factory presets described below.

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Factory I/O Settings Files

Pro Tools provides I/O Settings files for Stereo and Surround mixing. These files provide generic main and sub-path definitions for either mixing format.

Stereo Mix Settings File

The Stereo Mix preset consists of all possible stereo and mono paths for your session.

Using the “Stereo Mix” preset has the same effect as clicking Default for every individual tab in I/O Settings. See “Creating and Editing Paths” on page 74 for details.

Specifically, the Stereo Mix preset will create the maximum number paths of each type, as determined by the available system’s I/O Setup and hardware configuration.

Surround Mix Settings File (Pro Tools Only)

The Surround Mix provides additional, surround-specific Output and Bus presets. See “Surround Mix Settings Files” on page 601 for more information.

About Direct Outputs Mode

Direct Outputs mode, as found in older versions of Pro Tools, has been replaced by the default mono sub-paths available through all valid I/O in the I/O Setup dialog.

To convert a session so that it emulates Direct Outs mode, use the Auto Assign Ascending Outputs feature, as follows:

To auto assign track outputs for Direct Out:

1 Make sure that all tracks you want to assign

are visible (hidden tracks will not be affected).

2 Select the tracks you want to assign.

3 Control-Alt-click (Windows) or Command-

Option-click (Macintosh) the Output selector of the left-most track and assign it to the sub-path for Output #1. All visible tracks will be auto-assigned to unique mono sub-path outputs in ascending order.

I/O Setup Options

Pro Tools systems have additional I/O Setup features. These include default signal routing for metering and auditioning, and default track layout for multichannel mix formats.

Controller Meter Path

(D-Control, D-Command, and ProControl Only)

The Controller Meter Path selector determines the path displayed across the Output meters of D-Control, D-Command, or ProControl control surfaces. For more details, refer to your control surface documentation.

The Default switch creates main Output paths with appropriate mono sub-paths. These subpaths provide discrete monophonic routing.

When a session is opened that was saved in Direct Outputs mode, Pro Tools maps all the output assignments to equivalent mono sub-paths (as available). See “Hardware Setup and Session Transfer” on page 80 for more information on remapping.

Audition Paths

You can specify the output path through which files and regions are auditioned in the Region List or in DigiBase browsers.

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Using the Default Audition Path

Audition In-Place

When you audition a file or region in the Region List, Pro Tools routes the audio output through the Audition Path. Pro Tools assigns a default Audition Path to the first available main Output path of the corresponding format. You can also select a different Audition Path in the I/O Setup dialog.

On Pro Tools|HD systems with more than one audio interface, you can only select the first audio interface as an audition path.

Conﬁguring Audition Paths

You can specify the monitoring outputs for Region List auditioning using the Audition Paths menu.

Audition Paths Main Menu The main menu consists of all path format choices available on the current system (Mono and Stereo on all systems, and LCR and greater on Pro Tools|HD systems).

Audition Paths Submenus Each path format choice has a submenu listing Output paths of that given format. (The mono submenu lists Output paths of any format.)

To conﬁgure an Audition Path:

■ Select a path from the Audition Paths menu or

submenus.

To audition regions in the Region List:

■ Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macin-

tosh) the region in the list.

Auditioning Discrete Signals in Multichannel Items

When auditioning a mono component of a multichannel region, that mono component will by default be auditioned in-place. That is, it will play from the corresponding speaker channel of its parent multichannel region.

To audition in-place:

1 In the Region List, make sure the stereo or

multichannel region is in expanded view (showing .L, .R, and other component channels).

2 Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macin-

tosh) the region for the channel you want to audition.

Audition to All Outputs

Mono regions can be routed equally to all outputs of the parent region’s Audition Path.

To audition through all channels of the main audition path:

■ Shift-Alt-click (Windows) or Shift-Option-

click (Macintosh) on the signal in the Region List.

New Track Default Output Path

You can specify the default output path assignment for new tracks, in each available format.

The New Track Default Output can be set to bus paths, as well as output paths.

To specify a default output for new tracks in the I/O Setup dialog:

■ Click the New Track Default Output selector

and select a format and Output.

In the Region List, multichannel regions are auditioned through the current Audition Path. Signals can be auditioned “in-place,” or through all outputs, as described below.

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AFL/PFL Path

(Pro Tools HD Only)

Tracks soloed in AFL (After Fader Listen) or PFL (Pre Fader Listen) Solo mode are routed to the current AFL/PFL Path, as set with the AFL/PFL Path selector.

2 In the Mix or Edit window, Control-click

(Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) a Solo button on any track.

3 Adjust the AFL/PFL Path fader.

4 Click on the new fader position (or press Esc)

to close the fader display.

See “Solo Modes” on page 108 for more information on using AFL or PFL Solo modes.

To select the AFL/PFL Path output:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Click the Output tab to display the Output

page.

If you do not see the AFL/PFL Path selector, check that you have installed the Surround Mixer.

3 Select a path from the AFL/PFL Path selector.

Selecting None as the AFL/PFL Path disables AFL and PFL Solo modes. When None is selected, AFL and PFL cannot be used.

4 Click OK to close the I/O Setup dialog.

Setting AFL or PFL Path Levels

You can set a separate master AFL/PFL Path level for all AFL solos and all PFL solos.

Tracks do not need to be soloed to have the master AFL/PFL Path level adjusted.

To set the AFL/PFL Path level to 0 dB, Control-Start-click (Windows) or Control-Command-click (Macintosh) any Solo button.

AFL/PFL Mutes (Output Path) Selector

(Systems without a D-Control or D-Command Control Surface)

If you are not using a D-Control or D-Command control surface, your regular Pro Tools output path can be muted when you send a signal to the AFL/PFL Path. The muted path is set with the AFL/PFL Mutes (Output Path) selector.

See “Solo Modes” on page 108 for more information on selecting and using AFL or PFL Solo modes.

To set which output path is muted when tracks are soloed in AFL or PFL Solo mode:

1 Choose Setup > I/O.

2 Click the Output tab to display the Output

page.

3 Select a path from the AFL/PFL Mutes (Output

Path) selector.

To set the AFL/PFL Path level for AFL or PFL solos:

1 Choose Options > Solo Mode, and select a

Solo mode, as follows:

• If you want to set the level for AFL solos, select AFL.

– or –

• If you want to set the level for PFL solos, select PFL.

4 Click OK to close the I/O Setup dialog.

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Default Path Order

(Pro Tools HD Only)

The Default Path Order selector lets you select the default track layout you want Pro Tools to follow when creating and mapping 5.1-format main or sub-paths in the I/O Setup dialog.

This setting does not affect existing path definitions or metering—it only specifies channel mapping in new 5.1-format paths.

To choose a Default Path Order:

■ Select the channel mapping from the Default

Path Order menu.

Default Path Order selector

For more information about multichannel mixing, see Chapter 30, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools HD Only).”

H/W Insert Delay Compensation

(Pro Tools HD Only)

You can specify the latency of outboard hardware (such as effects devices) in the H/W Insert Delay page of the I/O Setup dialog. You can enter hardware insert latency, in milliseconds, in a field that corresponds to every input/output pair. These times will be used by the Delay Compensation Engine to time align input paths when a hardware insert is used.

To set an insert delay offset:

■ Enter a value, in milliseconds, in the ﬁeld cor-

responding with the input where the hardware insert is connected.

Insert delay offsets only have an effect when the I/O is used for hardware inserts.

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Chapter 8: Tracks

This chapter covers basic track management tasks such as creating and deleting tracks, assigning voices and output channels, and grouping tracks.

Track Types

In a Pro Tools session, you can have several different types of tracks. These can include audio tracks, Auxiliary Input tracks, Master Fader tracks, MIDI tracks, Instrument tracks, and Avid or QuickTime Movie tracks.

QuickTime Movie track features are described in Chapter 35, “Working with QuickTime Movies.”

Audio Tracks, Auxiliary Input Tracks, and Master Fader Tracks

Pro Tools provides mono, stereo, and multichannel format audio tracks, Auxiliary Input tracks, and Master Fader tracks.

Audio Tracks

Audio tracks contain arrangements of recorded (or imported) audio files.

Auxiliary Input Tracks

Auxiliary Input tracks (or Auxiliary Inputs) can be used as effects sends, destinations for submixes, as a bounce destination, as inputs to monitor or process audio (such as audio from MIDI sources), and for many other audio routing tasks.

Master Fader Tracks

Master Fader tracks (or Master Faders) control the overall level of the audio tracks that are routed to the session’s main output paths. For example, you could have 24 tracks in a session with channels 1–8 routed to Analog Output 1–2, channels 9–16 to Analog Output 3–4, and channels 17–24 to Analog Output 5–6. You could then create three master faders, one to control each of these output pairs.

Master Fader tracks have additional uses (such as controlling submix levels). For more information, see “Master Fader Tracks” on page 480.

MIDI Tracks

MIDI tracks store MIDI note, instrument, and controller data. You cannot select a track format when you create a MIDI track, because audio does not pass through it.

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Instrument Tracks

Instrument tracks are a special type of track that provide MIDI and audio capabilities in a single channel strip. Instrument tracks simplify using software and hardware instruments to record MIDI and monitor audio from the instrument.

Track Formats

Mono Tracks

Track Channel Strips

Audio Track Channel Strips

Each audio track has its own set of controls for volume, pan, output window, record enable, automation mode, solo, mute, and voice assignment. Audio tracks also have a Comments View to enter and display comments.

A mono audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or Instrument track controls volume, and, in some cases, panning, for a single channel of audio. A mono track uses a single voice.

Stereo Tracks

A stereo audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or Instrument track is a single channel strip that plays two channels of audio as a stereo pair. Stereo tracks use two voices.

Multichannel Tracks (Pro Tools HD Only)

A multichannel track is a single channel strip that plays multiple channels of audio (from 3–8 channels at a time). This allows Pro Tools to support multichannel mixing formats including LCRS, 5.1, 6.1, and others. Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, and Instrument tracks can all use any supported multichannel format.

For more information on surround mixing with Pro Tools, see the following chapters:

• Chapter 30, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools HD Only)”

• Chapter 31, “Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing (Pro Tools HD Only)”

• Chapter 32, “Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools HD Only)”

Inserts

Sends

Audio Input/Output Path selectors

Automation Mode selector

Pan slider

Pan indicator Track Record Enable button

TrackInput Monitor button

Solo/Mute buttons

Output Window button

Volume fader

Level meter

Voice selector

Group ID

Track Type indicator

Volume/Peak/Delay indicator

Delay Compensation View

Track Name Track Color Coding

Track Comments

Track Position Number

Mono audio track channel strip

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Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools - 7.0 Reference Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools

The Pro Tools Guides

Conventions Used in These Guides

Compatibility Information

About www.digidesign.com

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Supported Audio Interfaces

Pro Tools|HD System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits

Audio Interfaces for Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools LE Systems

Processing Capacity

Pro Tools LE System Capabilities

Pro Tools M-Powered

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts

Hard Disk Audio Recording

The Digidesign Audio Engine

Playback Engine Dialog

Pro Tools Sessions

Session File

Tracks

Audio File

Regions

Playlist

Channel

Signal Routing

System Resources

Active and Inactive Items

MIDI Concepts

MIDI Terms

Common MIDI Misconceptions

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Windows

The Mix Window

The Edit Window

Track Controls

Edit Window Counters and Selection Indicators

Edit Tools

Event Edit Area

Edit Window Bar

The Transport Window

Basic Transport Controls and Counters

MIDI Controls

Menus and Windows

Tool Tips

Chapter 5: Keyboard Shortcuts

Global Key Commands

Keyboard Focus

Numeric Keypad Modes

Shuttle Lock Modes

Shuttle Mode

Chapter 6: Sessions

Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System

Hardware Buffer Size

RTAS Processors

CPU Usage Limit

Number of Voices

Default Sample Rate

Delay Compensation Engine

DAE Playback Buffer Size

System Memory Allocation

Creating a New Session

Session Files and Folders

Opening a Session

Opening a Session that Contains Unavailable Files

Opening a Session from a Transfer Volume

Opening a Session that Contains Unavailable Resources

Opening a Session with Audio File Names that Contain Illegal Characters

Opening a Session that Was Saved with +6 dB Fader Gain

Saving a Session

Saving the Session File

Saving the Session File with a New Name

Saving a Copy of the Session

Creating Custom Session Templates

Creating Windows Templates

Creating Macintosh Templates