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Pro Tools - 8.1
Reference Guide
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User Manual
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Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools - 8.1 Reference Guide

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Pro Tools Reference Guide
Version 8.1
Legal Notices
This guide is copyrighted ©2010 by Avid Technology, Inc., (hereafter “Avid”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Avid.
Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.
Guide Part Number 9329-62052-00 REV B 08/10
Documentation Feedback
At Avid, we are always looking for ways to improve our documentation. If you have comments, corrections, or suggestions regarding our documentation, email us at techpubs@avid.com.

Contents

Part I Introduction
Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Pro Tools Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
System Requirements and Compatibility Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About www.avid.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 2. Pro Tools Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Hard Disk Audio Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Pro Tools Nonlinear Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Digidesign Audio Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Surround Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pro Tools Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Tick-Based and Sample-Based Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
System Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
DigiBase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 3. Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Global Key Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Keyboard Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Toolbar Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Numeric Keypad Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Part II System Configuration
Chapter 4. Pro Tools Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Pro Tools|HD Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Pro Tools LE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Pro Tools M-Powered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Toolkit Software Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Checking For Software Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Contents iii
Chapter 5. System Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Checking an HD System with DigiTest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Configuring Pro Tools System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Configuring MIDI Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
System Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Chapter 6. I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Pro Tools Signal Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
I/O Setup Pages and Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Customizing I/O Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools Input and Output Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Creating New Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Creating New Sub-Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Recommended Output Path Naming Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Editing Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Channel Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Valid Paths and Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Output Busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Working with I/O Settings Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 7. Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Global and Local Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Display Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Operation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Editing Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Mixing Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Processing Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
MIDI Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Synchronization Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Chapter 8. Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Machine Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Ethernet Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Mic Preamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
VENUE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Pro Tools Reference Guideiv
Part III Sessions & Tracks
Chapter 9. Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Quick Start Session Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Creating a New Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Session Files and Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Opening a Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Opening Recent Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Opening a Session with Plug-Ins Deactivated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Saving a Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Session Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Closing a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Exiting or Quitting Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Chapter 10. Pro Tools Main Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Mix Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Edit Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Transport Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
MIDI Editor Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Score Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Eleven Rack Control Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
DigiBase Browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Managing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Tool Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Chapter 11. Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Track Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Track Channel Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Track Controls and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Edit Window Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Track Level Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Adjusting Track Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Creating Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Track Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Track Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
The Track List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Track Name Right-Click Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Assigning Audio Inputs and Outputs to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Track Priority and Voice Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Assigning MIDI Inputs and Outputs to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Soloing and Muting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Making Tracks Inactive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Color Coding for Tracks, Regions, Markers, and Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Contents v
Chapter 12. Grouping Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Grouping Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Group Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Working with Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Setting Group Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Enabling Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Grouped Control Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Chapter 13. The Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Region List Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Sorting and Searching in the Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Selecting Regions in the Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Previewing Regions in the Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Stereo and Multichannel Regions in the Region List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Naming and Displaying Regions in the Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Managing Regions in the Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Region Name Right-Click Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Chapter 14. DigiBase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
DigiBase Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Performance and Transfer Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Digidesign Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Browser Windows and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Indexing DigiBase Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
The Browser Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Browser Panes and Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Column Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Selecting Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Moving, Copying, Duplicating, and Deleting Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Searching Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Elastic Audio Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Previewing Audio in DigiBase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Linking and Relinking Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Relink Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Workspace Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Project Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
DigiBase Pro Catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Task Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Pro Tools Reference Guidevi
Chapter 15. Importing and Exporting Session Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Importing and Exporting to and from a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Audio Conversion on Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Import Options and Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Importing Files with Drag and Drop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Importing Audio Files and Regions Using the Import Audio Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Importing Audio from Audio CDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Importing ACID and REX Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Importing Multichannel Audio Files from a Field Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Exporting Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Importing Session Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Importing AAF and OMF Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Exporting Pro Tools Tracks as AAF or OMFI Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Exporting Sessions as Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Send via DigiDelivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Importing MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Exporting MIDI Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Exporting Sibelius Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Importing and Exporting Region Group Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Chapter 16. File and Session Management and Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Audio File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
WAV File Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Sharing Sessions Created on Different Computer Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Software Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Language Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Part IV Playback and Recording
Chapter 17. Playing Back Track Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Playback Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Setting the Playback Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Playing Selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Playing Timeline and Edit Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Playback Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Contents vii
Chapter 18. Record Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Record Setup Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Configuring Pro Tools Hardware I/O for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Connecting a Sound Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Recording with a Click . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Setting the Session Meter and Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Record Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Configuring Default Names for Audio Files and Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Assigning Hardware I/O on a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Record Enabling Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Working with Hard Drives for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Selecting a Record Input Monitoring Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Setting Monitor Levels for Record and Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
Reducing Monitoring Latency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Chapter 19. Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Recording an Audio Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Recording Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Prime for Record Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Setting Punch and Loop Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Audio Punch Recording Over a Specified Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Recording Additional Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Loop Recording Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Alternate Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Recording from a Digital Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Half-Speed Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Chapter 20. MIDI Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Recording from MIDI Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Enabling Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
MIDI Thru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
MIDI Input Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
MIDI Merge/Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Configuring MIDI or Instrument Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Recording MIDI and Instrument Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
MIDI Punch Recording Over a Specified Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
MIDI Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
Recording System Exclusive Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
Recording Audio from a MIDI Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Pro Tools Reference Guideviii
Chapter 21. Punch Recording Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
System, Session, and Track Guidelines for Punch Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
QuickPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
TrackPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
DestructivePunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Example TrackPunch and DestructivePunch Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Part V Editing
Chapter 22. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Track Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Audio Regions and Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
Naming Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Displaying Region Names, Region Times, and Other Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
Basic Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Editing Across Multiple Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Chapter 23. Edit Modes and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
Using the Zoomer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Using the Trimmer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Using the Selector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Using the Grabber Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
Using the Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
Using the Scrubber Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
Numeric Keypad Set to Shuttle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Using the Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Edit/Tool Mode Keyboard Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Chapter 24. Making Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Linking or Unlinking Timeline and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Linking or Unlinking Track and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
Universe View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
Navigating Your Pro Tools Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
Contents ix
Chapter 25. Editing Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Creating New Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Healing Separated Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
Trimming Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
Nudging Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Quantizing Regions to Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Consolidate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
TCE (Time Compression and Expansion) Edit To Timeline Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Rating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Chapter 26. Fades and Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Using Fades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Fades Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Moving and Nudging Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
Separating Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Trimming Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Fade Boundaries and Shapes in Displayed Automation View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Chapter 27. Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
Working with Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
Track Compositing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Playlists View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Matching Alternate Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Selecting Alternate Takes on Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
Automatically Create New Playlists when Loop Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Expanding Alternate Takes to New Playlists or Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Expanding Alternate Channels to New Playlists or Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Chapter 28. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
The Beat Detective Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
Beat Detective Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
Defining a Beat Detective Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Beat Detective Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
Calculating Tempo with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
Generating Beat Triggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
DigiGroove Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
Pro Tools Reference Guidex
Separating Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
Conforming Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
Edit Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Part VI MIDI
Chapter 29. MIDI Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
MIDI Editing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
Setting the Grid Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
The Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Inserting MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Manually Editing MIDI Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
Using the Grabber Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Time Compression/Expansion Trimmer Tool Functionality on MIDI Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Patch Select (Program and Bank Changes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
Note and Controller Chasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Remove Duplicate Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
MIDI Real-Time Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
Chapter 30. MIDI Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
MIDI Editor Window Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
MIDI Editor Zoom Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
Track List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
Group List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
Timebase and Conductor Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Superimposed Notes View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Notation View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Velocity, Controller, and Automation Lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Chapter 31. Score Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
Notation Display Track Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Score Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
Editing Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668
Score Editor Right-Click Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Key Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
Meter Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Chord Symbols and Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Exporting Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Printing Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Contents xi
Chapter 32. MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
Editing Events in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
MIDI Event List Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
Part VII Arranging
Chapter 33. Time, Tempo, Meter, Key, and Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
Timebase Rulers and Conductor Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691
Song Start Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
Graphic Tempo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
Changing the Linearity Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706
Tempo Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713
Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716
Time Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Key Signatures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Chord Symbols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727
Chapter 34. Memory Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
Memory Locations and Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 736
Chapter 35. Arranging Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Replacing Audio Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750
Sync Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 752
Shift Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754
Locking Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754
Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
Stripping Silence from Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759
Duplicating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760
Repeating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761
Chapter 36. Region Loops and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
Region Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
Pro Tools Reference Guidexii
Part VIII Processing
Chapter 37. AudioSuite Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
The AudioSuite Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
The AudioSuite Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778
Using AudioSuite Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784
Chapter 38. Elastic Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787
Example Elastic Audio Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788
Elastic Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793
Elastic Audio Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796
Real-Time and Rendered Elastic Audio Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797
Elastic Audio Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798
Editing in Warp View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
Editing in Analysis View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809
Elastic Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
Elastic Audio Region-Based Pitch Shifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814
AudioSuite Processing and Elastic Audio Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816
Moving Elastic Audio Between Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
Fades and MicroFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818
Elastic Audio Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Chapter 39. Event Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Event Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Quantize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822
Restore Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834
Flatten Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838
Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
Select/Split Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842
Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844
Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
Contents xiii
Part IX Mixing
Chapter 40. Basic Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
Mixing Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
Metering and Calibration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
Signal Flow by Track Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
Inserts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
HEAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861
Views in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861
Audio Input and Output Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865
Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874
Signal Routing for Monitoring and Submixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878
Delay Compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886
Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892
Using an Ethernet Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893
Using a MIDI Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894
Chapter 41. Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897
Inserting Plug-Ins on Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902
Plug-In Menu Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903
Moving and Duplicating Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906
The Plug-In Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906
Editing Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910
Plug-In Automation and Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
Side-Chain Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
Plug-In Presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912
Plug-In Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917
Bypassing Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
Linking and Unlinking Controls on Multi-Mono Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
Using Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924
Chapter 42. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
Automation QuickStart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930
Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936
Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938
Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941
Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 950
Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953
Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953
Drawing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954
Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955
Trimming Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 964
Pro Tools Reference Guidexiv
Writing Automation to the Start, End, or All of a Track or Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 966
Writing Automation to the Next Breakpoint or to the Punch Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 968
Guidelines for “Write To” Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 971
Overwriting or Extending Mute Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972
Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975
Previewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
Capturing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980
VCA Master Track Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983
Chapter 43. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987
Bus Recording to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989
Bounce to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990
Bounce Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
Recording a Submix (with Bounce to Disk). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
Final Mixdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 998
Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999
Part X Surround
Chapter 44. Pro Tools Setup for Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003
Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003
Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004
Default I/O Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009
5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010
Chapter 45. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011
Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011
Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014
Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016
Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1018
Chapter 46. Surround Panning and Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Output Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1024
Standard Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1025
Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1026
Panning Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1029
Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
Pan Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
Surround Scope Plug-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034
Contents xv
Part XI Sync and Video
Chapter 47. Working with Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037
Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037
Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038
Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1044
Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1044
Pull Up and Pull Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047
Putting Pro Tools Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050
Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051
Using MIDI Machine Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1052
Setting Minimum Sync Delay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056
Remote Track Arming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056
Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1057
Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1061
Troubleshooting SMPTE Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1061
Chapter 48. Working with Video in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063
QuickTime Movies Support in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1064
Windows Media Video (VC-1 AP Codec) Support in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1065
Before Starting Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1065
Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066
Main Video Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067
Video Track Controls and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1068
Locking Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069
Video Engine Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1070
Importing Video into Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1071
Extracting Audio from QuickTime and Windows Media Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1074
Video Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075
General Video Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076
Renaming Video Disk Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1078
Video Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1078
Using the Video Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1079
Browsing Video in the Video Universe Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1081
Playback of High-Definition QuickTime and Windows Media Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083
Playing QuickTime DV Video to an External Monitor Over FireWire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083
Playing Video to an External Monitor Using a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1085
Bouncing the Video Track to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087
Bouncing a Video Track with Windows Media Video to a WIndows Media Movie . . . . . . . . . 1088
Using Pro Tools LE to Import Video from Other Versions of Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1089
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1
Pro Tools Reference Guidexvi
Part I: Introduction
1
2

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools

Welcome to Pro Tools®, brought to you by
®
Avid
Technology. Pro Tools integrates powerful multitrack digital audio and MIDI sequencing features, giving you everything you need to record, arrange, compose, edit, mix, and master professional quality audio and MIDI for music, video, film, and multimedia.

The Pro Tools Guides

In addition to any printed guides or documenta­tion included with your system, PDF versions of the printed guides and many additional Pro Tools guides and Read Mes are installed au­tomatically during Pro Tools installation to the Pro Tools Documentation folder. To view or print PDF guides, you can use Adobe Reader or Apple Preview (Mac only).
Printed copies of the Pro Tools Reference Guide and some of the other guides in the Pro Tools guide set can be purchased separately from Avid (www.avid.com).
Introduction to Pro Tools Guides
For Pro Tools LE® and M-Powered™, see the Introduction to Pro Tools guide for your interface.
This guide has tutorials on using Pro Tools (such as recording in a Pro Tools session, importing audio from a CD, and creating an audio CD from a Pro Tools session).
Guides Accessible in Pro Tools
The main Pro Tools guides are accessible from the Pro Tools Help menu. These include:
• Pro Tools Shortcuts—Lists keyboard and Right­click shortcuts for Pro Tools including those shown in Pro Tools menus.
• Audio Plug-Ins Guide—Describes the plug-ins included free with Pro Tools, as well as addi­tional plug-ins available separately.
• Pro Tools Menus Guide—Covers all the Pro Tools on-screen menus.
• Pro Tools Reference Guide—Explains Pro Tools systems and software in detail.
User Guide
The printed User Guide for your system includes instructions for installing and configuring Pro Tools hardware and software, and for connecting your studio.
Expanded Systems Guide
(Pro Tools|HD Systems Only)
This PDF guide provides instructions for expanding Pro Tools|HD tional Pro Tools|HD cards and audio interfaces, with or without an expansion chassis.
®
systems with addi-
Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 3
Additional Printed Pro Tools Guides
Avid also provides guides with Pro Tools audio interfaces (such as HD I/O), dedicated worksur­faces (such as D-Control™) and control surfaces (such as C|24™), and other Pro Tools hardware peripherals (such as PRE™ and SYNC HD™). Refer to the separate guide provided with each Pro Tools product.
The following symbols are used to highlight important information:
User Tips are helpful hints for getting the most from your Pro Tools system.
Important Notices include information that could affect your Pro Tools session data or the performance of your Pro Tools system.
Conventions Used in These Guides
The Pro Tools guides use the following conven­tions to indicate menu choices, keyboard com­mands, and mouse commands:
:
Convention Action
File > Save Choose Save from the
File menu
Control+N Hold down the Control
Control-click Hold down the Control
Right-click Click with the right
The names of Commands, Options, and Settings that appear on-screen are in a different font.
key and press the N key
key and click the mouse button
mouse button
Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or mouse shortcuts.
Cross References point to related sections in this guide and other Pro Tools guides.
Pro Tools M-Powered
References to Pro Tools LE in this guide are usually interchangeable with Pro Tools M-Powered, except as noted in the Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide.

System Requirements and Compatibility Information

Avid can only assure compatibility and provide support for hardware and software it has tested and approved.
For complete system requirements and a list of qualified computers, operating systems, hard drives, and third-party devices, visit:
www.avid.com/compatibility
Pro Tools Reference Guide4

About www.avid.com

The Avid website (www.avid.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.
Product Registration Register your purchase online.
Support and Downloads Contact Avid Customer Success (technical support); download software updates and the latest online manuals; browse the Compatibility documents for system re­quirements; search the online Knowledge Base or join the worldwide Pro Tools community on the User Conference.
Training and Education Study on your own using courses available online or find out how you can learn in a classroom setting at a certified Pro Tools training center.
Products and Developers Learn about Avid products; download demo software or learn about our Development Partners and their plug­ins, applications, and hardware.
News and Events Get the latest news from Avid or sign up for a Pro Tools demo.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 5
Pro Tools Reference Guide6

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts

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

Hard Disk Audio Recording

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.
This differs from tape-based recording, which is a linear medium—where you need to rewind or fast forward to hear a particular spot in a record­ing. To rearrange or repeat material in a linear system, you need to re-record it, or cut and splice it.
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 nonde- structive, meaning that the original recorded ma­terial is not altered.

Pro Tools Nonlinear Editing

Pro Tools is a nonlinear recording editing sys­tem that lets you rearrange and mix recorded material nondestructively. Nonlinear editing simply means that you can cut, copy, paste, move, delete, trim, and otherwise rearrange any audio, MIDI, or video in the Pro Tools Edit win­dow.
Nonlinear editing provides significant advan­tages over dubbing (re-recording), and cutting and splicing magnetic tape. It gives you the greatest possible flexibility for editing and ar­ranging, and it is all nondestructive and “undo­able.” Additionally, with nonlinear editing in Pro Tools, you will never introduce any degrada­tion of audio fidelity as you would with tape.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 7

The Digidesign Audio Engine

The Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) is a real­time 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 Avid and its Development Partners.
The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory DAE allocates to manage disk buffers. The DAE Playback Buffer Size can be changed in the Playback Engine.
For information on configuring the DAE Playback Buffer Size, see “DAE Playback Buffer Size” on page 56.
Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to pro­vide audio track recording, playback, mixing, and effects processing. Both Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools HD use host processing to run RTAS (Real-Time AudioSuite) plug-ins for effects pro­cessing. Performance is determined by your sys­tem and its Playback Engine settings.
The Playback Engine lets you set a hardware buffer size and allocate a percentage of CPU resources for these tasks.
®
Playback Engine
Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording. These system settings are available in the Playback Engine (Setup > Playback Engine).
Pro Tools takes advantage of your computer’s host processor for certain tasks and optional host-based DSP processing.
Pro Tools Reference Guide8
Playback Engine for Pro Tools|HD system
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.
On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Playback Engine is also where you assign dedicated resources for Delay Compensation.
For more information, see “Configuring Pro Tools System Settings” on page 50. See also “System Resources” on page 20.

MIDI

passes input
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, MIDI patch bays, effects processors, MIDI interfaces, MIDI control sur­faces, and MIDI sequencers.
MIDI devices are equipped with 5-pin DIN con­nec tors, label ed as ei ther I N, OUT , or THR U. The MIDI OUT port transmits messages. The MIDI IN port receives messages. The MIDI THRU out­puts whatever is received from the IN port. MIDI devices are connected with MIDI cables that are available at most music stores.
USB and FireWire-compatible MIDI devices send and receive MIDI messages to and from the computer over USB or FireWire.
strument sound. For example, bass on channel 1, piano on channel 2, and drums on channel 10. Similar to a multitrack tape re­corder, a MIDI sequencer can record complex ar­rangements—even using only a single multitim­bral keyboard.
MIDI Terms
The following are some basic MIDI terms:
MIDI Instrument A hardware MIDI device or software instrument (such as an instrument plug-in).
MIDI Interface Hardware that lets computers connect to and communicate with MIDI devices (such as the M-Audio MIDISPORT).
MIDI Device Any physical MIDI 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 MIDI keyboards, MIDI guitar controllers, MIDI wind controllers, 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 can correspond to separate MIDI devices or to multiple channels within a single device (if the device is multitim- bral). Each channel can control a different in-
MIDI Control Surface Any device (such as Com­mand|8), which uses a MIDI connection to send control messages to a software program, but is not generally used to record MIDI information.
Multitimbral The ability of one MIDI device to play several different instrument sounds (such as piano, bass, and drums) simultaneously on separate MIDI channels. This makes it possible for a single multitimbral MIDI instrument to play back entire arrangements.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 9
MIDI Port A physical MIDI port on a MIDI inter­face or a virtual MIDI port created in software. There are separate ports for MIDI In and Out. Physical MIDI ports connect to external MIDI devices using MIDI cables. Virtual MIDI ports connect software plug-ins and applications (see also “Virtual MIDI Nodes”).
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 correct messages.
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 (such as those sent from Pro Tools when MIDI in Pro Tools is routed to the MIDI keyboard). When using Pro Tools, “local control” should usually be dis­abled (for example, when using MIDI Thru). 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.
Virtual MIDI Nodes When using MIDI with in­strument plug-ins in Pro Tools, virtual MIDI nodes are created. These nodes act like MIDI ports and 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, the various MIDI inputs to Reason become available to Pro Tools MIDI and Instrument track MIDI outputs.
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, at what volume, and with what sound (instrument). For example, when you strike a key on a MIDI keyboard, it sends a mes­sage to a MIDI instrument to play that particular note at that particular velocity using the se­lected sound (instrument). This could be its in­ternal tone generator (like a synthesizer or sam­pler), another external MIDI instrument, or an instrument plug-in within Pro Tools. In order to play and hear a MIDI recording, you must have a MIDI instrument. Audio from an external MIDI instrument can be sent to an external mixer or monitored through your Pro Tools au­dio interface (using either an Instrument track or Auxiliary track).
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 an Mbox as an M-Audio MIDISPORT).
®
2) or some other MIDI interface (such
System Exclusive Data MIDI data commonly used for sending and retrieving patch parameter information for storage purposes.
Pro Tools Reference Guide10
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.

Synchronization

When you are working with multiple time­based systems, such as Pro Tools and an external deck, you want both systems to be synchro­nized. Synchronization is where one system out­puts time code or MIDI Beat Clock and another device synchronizes to or follows that time code or MIDI Beat Clock so that they work together according to the same clock source. Pro Tools can be synchronized to other devices (or other devices can be synchronized to Pro Tools) using SMPTE/EBU time code or MIDI Time Code.
Just as each Pro Tools system has unique hard­ware features, each MIDI device has its own fea­tures (and limitations) as to the number of voices and instruments it can play at one time. Refer to the device’s documentation for infor­mation on its capabilities.
MIDI In Pro Tools
Pro Tools provides powerful MIDI sequencing capabilities. You can record, enter, edit, and play back MIDI data on Pro Tools Instrument and MIDI tracks. These actions can be done in the Edit window, the MIDI Editor window, the Score Editor window, and the MIDI Event List.
MIDI data in Pro Tools can be anything from MIDI note data (note number, on/off, velocity) to System Exclusive (Sysex) messages. MIDI data can be recorded or played back from both exter­nal MIDI devices with a MIDI interface (like the M-Audio MIDISPORT or Mbox 2) and other MIDI software (such as instrument plug-ins and ReWire client applications).
For more information on different SMPTE/EBU formats, and other concepts related to time code, refer to the Pro Tools Sync & Surround Concepts Guide.

Surround Sound

Surround sound simply means having one or more speakers with discrete audio signals (chan­nels) placed behind the listener in addition to the typical stereo pair.
There are multiple types of surround formats in use (from three-channel LCR to 7.1, which has eight channels).
The most common surround format is 5.1, which refers to having 5 speakers and a sub­woofer (the “.1”). 5.1 is used in movie theaters and home entertainment systems. Additionally, most DVDs are mixed to 5.1. The standard speaker placement for 5.1 for surround monitor­ing is stereo left and right speakers, and an addi­tional center speaker in front, two more stereo left and right speakers in the rear, and the sub­woofer on the side.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 11
Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with the Com-
Pro Tools HD
Pro Tools M-Powered
Pro Tools LE
plete Production Toolkit option support mixing in surround formats. In Pro Tools, each sur­round format is considered to be a greater-than-
stereo multichannel format.
For information on fundamental surround concepts, see the Pro Tools Sync & Surround Concepts Guide.
There are different session file icons for each type of Pro Tools system software.
Session file icons

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 cre­ates 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). Instead, 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.
Although there are different session file icons, session files may be opened by the other types of Pro Tools system software (with certain restric­tions). See “Opening a Session” on page 138.
When a session is transferred to a different Pro Tools system, its session file icon changes to the icon type of the destination system.
Tracks
Pro Tools tracks are where audio, MIDI, video, 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 Reference Guide12
Pro Tools provides multiple types of tracks: audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Mas­ter, MIDI, Instrument, and video.
Video tracks support QuickTime movies (all Pro Tools systems) and VC-1 video files (Win­dows Vista only). Additionally, Avid video is supported on Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 software with an Avid video pe­ripheral. An individual video track can play back only one type of video at a time.
Audio track in the Edit window (stereo track shown)
MIDI track in the Edit window
Video track in Frames view
Audio, MIDI, Instrument, and video 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 (monitoring), and submixing.
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, Master Fader, and In­strument tracks can be mono, stereo, or multi­channel (Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with the Complete Production Toolkit option only). When creating a new track, select from the list of channel formats supported by your system.
Voices
In Pro Tools, voices are unique, discrete audio streams that can be routed to and from Pro Tools audio tracks physical audio outputs and inputs on your Pro Tools audio interfaces. The audio paths to and from Pro Tools software routed to Pro Tools hardware use voices. If you exceed the number of available voices in your system, you have effectively exceeded the avail­able number of audio paths.
Typically, each audio channel for each track in your Pro Tools session uses a single voice. So, for a mono audio track, a single voice is used; for a stereo audio track, two voices are used. When using Punch Recording, two voices are needed for every single audio channel (one for playback and one for recording on punch in and out). In some situations, with Pro Tools|HD systems, more than one voice may be necessary for a sin­gle channel (such as when using host processing on a TDM bus).
VCA Master tracks (Pro Tools HD only) provide control of tracks in a Mix Group that has been assigned to the VCA Master.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 13
Voices can be allocated dynamically (with all Pro Tools systems, any available voices are auto­matically assigned as they are needed) or explic- itly (with Pro Tools HD only, you can explicitly assign audio channels to specific available voices to ensure that audio on that channel is al­ways voiced).
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 15.
MIDI Files
On Pro Tools|HD systems, the number of avail­able voices is dependent on the amount of ded­icated DSP processing in your system (see “Pro Tools|HD System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits” on page 34).
On Pro Tools LE systems, the full number of available voices for your system may be limited by the host processing power of your computer (see “Pro Tools LE System Capabilities” on page 42).
For more information about voicing in Pro Tools, see “Track Priority and Voice As­signment” on page 206.
Media Files
Pro Tools sessions create, import, export, and reference media files. Media files are audio, MIDI, and video files. Audio and video media files are stored separately from the Pro Tools ses­sion file. MIDI data is stored in the session file.
Audio Files
When you record or enter MIDI into a Pro Tools session, all MIDI data is stored in the Pro Tools session file. You can import and export MIDI files to and from Pro Tools sessions, but MIDI recorded or otherwise created in a Pro Tools session does not automatically create new MIDI files.
Video Files
When you record or import video into a Pro Tools session, all video data is stored as the corresponding video file type (such as Quick­Time). Video files can be created in (or copied to) the Video Files folder in the session folder. However, in most cases, Pro Tools references video files that have been captured by another application, such as Avid Media Composer.
When you record audio into a Pro Tools session, audio files are created.
Audio file icons
Pro Tools Reference Guide14
Regions
and MIDI. A region can also have associated au­tomation data. In Pro Tools, regions are created from audio files or MIDI data, and can be ar­ranged in audio and MIDI track playlists. Re­gions can also be grouped (a region of regions) and looped (repeated).
Audio region
MIDI region
Video region (Frames view)
Region group (Mixed audio and MIDI multitrack region group)
A region is a segment of audio, MIDI, or video data. A region could be a drum loop, a guitar riff, a verse of a song, a recording take, a sound ef­fect, some dialog, or an entire sound file. Re­gions are especially useful for arranging audio
Playlist
Playlist selector pop-up menu
A playlist is a sequence of regions arranged on an audio, MIDI, or video 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 have separate audio re­gions for a song introduction, the first verse, the first chorus, and so on. You can also 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.
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.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 15
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 from the Play­lists menu on the track.
Each audio, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, Master Fader, and VCA track also has a single set of au­tomation playlists. Automation playlists can in­clude volume, pan, mute, and each automation­enabled control for the insert and send assign­ments on that track.
MIDI controller data on Instrument and MIDI tracks is always included as part of the track playlist.
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 provides up to 16 channels of audio input and output to a Pro Tools|HD system, while an Mbox 2 audio in­terface provides up to four inputs and two out­puts.
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, Auxiliary Input, and Instrument track 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 se­lected MIDI instrument.
The term ‘MIDI channel’ also describes a separate aspect of MIDI operation. See “MIDI” on page 9.
Pro Tools Reference Guide16
Input from stereo bus path
Outputs to stereo bus path
Audio tracks
Inserts
Sends
Auxiliary
Input
Track
Signal Routing
Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and signal routing controls for audio and MIDI. These controls are located in the Mix window. Some of these controls can also be accessed from the Edit window.
A common audio signal routing task is to sub­mix multiple tracks to a single channel strip (such as an Auxiliary Input) for shared process­ing and level control. The following example shows two audio tracks submixed to a stereo Auxiliary Input.
Channel strip in the Mix window (audio track)
Submixing to an Auxiliary Input
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 17
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 mapped 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 Input and Master Fader Tracks Auxil­iary Inputs can be used as returns, submixers, and bus masters. Master Fader tracks are used as bus and output master level controls. Both Aux­iliary Input and Master Fader tracks can have plug-in and hardware inserts.
MIDI Tracks MIDI tracks are generally used for routing MIDI from internal or external sources to external MIDI devices. MIDI data can also be routed to plug-ins on Auxiliary Inputs or Instru­ment tracks.
Instrument Tracks Instrument tracks are the pri­mary way to route MIDI to an instrument plug­in and then route the plug-in’s sound to out­puts, sends and busses, or other inserts. Instru­ment tracks can also be used to send MIDI to and monitor audio from external MIDI devices.
Sends Sends route audio from tracks to hard­ware outputs, or to internal busses that are in turn routed to other tracks within Pro Tools. MIDI, Master Fader, and VCA Master tracks do not have sends.
Plug-In and Hardware Inserts Plug-In processing occurs completely within the Pro Tools system. Hardware inserts use audio interface inputs and outputs for traditional insert routing to and from external effects and other devices. MIDI and VCA Master tracks do not have inserts.
Instrument Plug-Ins Instrument plug-ins are dif­ferent from processing plug-ins in that they gen­erate audio rather than process the audio signal from a track’s audio input or from hard disk. Instrument plug-ins are typically played by MIDI.
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. For more information, see Chapter 6, “I/O Setup.”
Mixing Formats Sessions can include combina­tions of mono, stereo, and greater-than-stereo multichannel format tracks, busses, inputs, out­puts, and inserts. Greater-than-stereo multi­channel formats are supported with Pro Tools HD, and Pro Tools LE with the Com­plete Production Toolkit option only.
Grouping and VCA Tracks Tracks can be grouped together for mixing so that their relative mix settings are maintained when changing a mix setting for any track in the group (for example, changing the volume of one track affects the volume of all the other tracks in the group). VCA Master tracks (Pro Tools HD only) control the relative mix settings for all tracks within the selected group.
Pro Tools Reference Guide18

Tick-Based and Sample-Based Time

Pro Tools lets you set any track timebase to either sample-based or tick-based. You can also set the Timeline to be viewed as tick-based or sample-based.
Audio in Pro Tools is sample-based by default. This means that if an audio region is located at a particular sample location, it will not move from that location if the tempo changes in the session—though its Bar|Beat location will change.
MIDI data in Pro Tools is tick-based by default. This means that if a MIDI region is located at a particular Bar|Beat location, it will not move from that Bar|Beat location if the tempo changes in the session—though its sample location will change.
You can select whether a track is sample-based or tick-based when it is created, or change time­bases later.
Sample-Based Audio and MIDI
With a sample-based audio track, all regions in the track have an absolute location on the Time­line. Regions stay fixed to the sample time, re­gardless of where tempo or meter changes occur in a session.
If you make a MIDI track sample-based, all MIDI events in the track have an absolute location on the Timeline. MIDI events stay fixed to sample time, regardless of any tempo or meter changes in a session.
Tick-Based Audio and MIDI
Tick-based audio is fixed to a Bars|Beat location, and moves relative to the sample Timeline when tempo and meter changes occur. However, MIDI events and tick-based audio respond differently to tempo changes with respect to duration. MIDI note events change length when tempo or meter is adjusted, while audio regions do not (unless Elastic Audio is enabled). When Elastic Audio is not enabled on an audio track, meter and tempo changes affect only the start point (or sync point) for each audio region in a tick­based track. If Elastic Audio is enabled on an au­dio track, tempo changes apply Elastic Audio processing, which changes the duration of the audio region.
Elastic Audio
Elastic Audio provides real-time and non-real­time (rendered) Time Compression and Expan­sion (TCE) of audio. Tick-based Elastic Audio tracks actually change the location of samples according to changes in tempo. The audio stretches or compresses to match changes in tempo. Elastic Audio also provides high-quality non-real-time region-based pitch shifting.
Pro Tools Elastic Audio uses exceptionally high­quality transient detection algorithms, beat and tempo analysis, and real-time or rendered TCE processing algorithms. Elastic Audio lets you quickly and easily tempo conform and beat match audio to the session’s Tempo ruler. It also provides an unprecedented degree of control over transient detection and TCE processing on an event-by-event basis.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 19
With Elastic Audio, Pro Tools analyzes entire au­dio files for transient “events.” For example, an event can be a drum hit, a sung note, or chord played by a guitar. These detected events can then serve as control points for “warping” the audio. Pro Tools can warp (TCE) audio events automatically, such as when automatically con­forming audio to the session tempo or quantiz­ing audio events, or you can warp audio manu­ally using the standard editing tools with the audio track set to Warp view.
Elastic Audio is useful in several common work­flows: working with loops, correcting perfor­mances, remixing, beat and pitch matching, and sound design and special effects.
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 20.
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 209.
Active and Inactive Items
Pro Tools lets you make certain items (such as tracks and inserts) inactive, in order to free up DSP resources and mixer connections.

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. See “Configuring Pro Tools System Settings” on page 50.
Items in Pro Tools that can be made inactive include the following:
• Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Master, and Instrument tracks
• Track Inputs and Outputs
•Sends
• Side-chain inputs
•Plug-Ins
• Hardware inserts
• Paths (session-wide)
MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.
Side-chain inputs support direct active and inactive switching, but do not follow switching all or all selected side-chain inputs.
Pro Tools Reference Guide20
In addition to manually setting Active and Inac-
Active Inactive plug-in
Inactive track
tive modes, Pro Tools automatically makes 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 22).
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 22).
Display of Inactive Items
When items are inactive, their names appear in italics, and their background becomes dark gray. When a track is inactive, the entire channel strip is grayed out.
Tracks When a track is made inactive, its voices become available for another track. Inactive mono tracks free up one voice; inactive 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.
Active and inactive plug-ins, sends, and tracks
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 21
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.

DigiBase

DigiBase is a database management tool for Pro Tools. DigiBase expands upon basic Pro Tools search and import capabilities by pro­viding powerful tools to manage your data both inside and outside of your sessions, on any hard drive connected to the system.
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.
A database is a way of organizing data such that it can easily be searched, sorted, managed, and utilized. Your checkbook is an example of a da­tabase file. For every check you write, you enter a new record. That record contains information about the check, such as when you wrote it, to whom you wrote it, and for what amount. This information is written in specific columns, or fields. Everything you need to know (the check’s metadata) is there, even though the check itself is not.
DigiBase browsers let you search, sort, and mange these databases by volume or catalog (DigiBase Pro only). You can use DigiBase browsers not only to organize your Pro Tools sessions and media files (audio, MIDI, and video), but also to audition and import by drag and drop.
For more information about DigiBase, see “DigiBase” on page 247.
Pro Tools Reference Guide22

Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts

This chapter provides an overview of Pro Tools mouse and keyboard shortcuts.
A PDF listing of all shortcuts is available in Pro Tools. Choose Help > Shortcuts.

Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts

Pro Tools provides Right-click shortcuts for choosing various Pro Tools commands and menus with any Right-click capable mouse.
For a complete list of Right-click shortcuts, see the Shortcuts Guide.

Global Key Commands

This section covers keyboard shortcuts that apply to many functions in Pro Tools.
For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts, see the Shortcuts Guide.
Track Functions
Pro Tools provides keyboard shortcuts for the following 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
Command Windows Mac
Apply action to all channel strips/tracks
Apply action to selected channel strips/tracks
Alt+ action
Alt+ Shift+ action
Option+ action
Option+ Shift+ action
Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts 23
List and Parameter Selection
Region List

Keyboard Focus

Group List
Keyboard Focus
Commands Keyboard Focus
(Edit window)
There are three types of Keyboard Focus:
Pro Tools provides keyboard shortcuts for the following items:
• Selection of tracks in Track List
• Enabling of groups in Group List
• Automation Enable window parameters
• Setting Memory Location parameters
Command Windows Mac
Toggle item and set all others to same new state
Toggle item and set all others to opposite state
Alt-click item Option-click
item
Control-click item
Command­click item
Controls and Editing Tools
Pro Tools provides keyboard shortcuts for mov­ing plug-in controls, faders and sliders, the Scrubber, and automation data.
Command Windows Mac
Fine adjustment of sliders, knobs, and breakpoints
Hold Control while click­ing the item
Hold Command while clicking the item
Commands Keyboard Focus When selected in the Tracks pane in the Edit window or in the Notes pane of any MIDI Editor window, this provides a wide range of single key shortcuts from the computer keyboard for editing and playing. The frontmost Edit or MIDI Editor win­dow always receives Commands Keyboard Focus when it is enabled.
With Commands Keyboard Focus disabled, you can still access any of its key shortcuts by press­ing the Start key (Windows) or Control (Mac) along with the key.
For a complete list of Commands Keyboard Focus shortcuts, see the Shortcuts Guide.
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.
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).
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 computer (alpha) keyboard to select regions in the Region List, enable or dis­able groups, or perform an edit or play com­mand.
You can only enable one of the three Keyboard Focus modes at a time. Enabling a Keyboard Fo­cus will disable the one previously enabled.
Pro Tools Reference Guide24
Keyboard Focus buttons
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 (Mac), press one of the fol­lowing keys: 1 (Commands), 2 (Region List), or 3 (Group List).
To enable Toolbar focus for the MIDI Editor pane, do one of the following:
Click the Toolbar right above the MIDI Editor
pane.
– or –
Press Control+Alt+5 (Windows) or
Command+Option+5 (Mac).
Although multiple plug-in windows can have a keyboard focus enabled, only the front­most window receives any keyboard input.

Toolbar Focus

In the Edit window, the MIDI Editor pane can be displayed in addition to the Tracks pane (View > Other Displays > MIDI Editor). When the MIDI Ed­itor pane is displayed, there are two separate Toolbars and Timelines in the Edit window: one for the Tracks pane and one for the MIDI Editor pane. Only one Toolbar and Timeline can be fo­cused for Menu and Toolbar commands (includ­ing the corresponding keyboard shortcuts) at a time. The focused Toolbar displays a yellow out­line.
If Keyboard Focus for the Edit window is en­abled, it follows the selected Toolbar focus.
To enable Toolbar focus for the Tracks pane, do one of the following:
Click the Toolbar at the top of the Edit
window.
– or –

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 Oper-
ation tab.
2 In the Transport section, select a Numeric Key-
pad mode (Classic, Transport, or Shuttle).
3 Click OK.
For more information on each mode, see “Numeric Keypad Mode” on page 107.
Press Control+Alt+4 (Windows) or
Command+Option+4 (Mac).
Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts 25
Shuttle Lock Modes
Transport Mode
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
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 Only)
The highest fast-forward Shuttle Lock speed (key 9) can be customized.
For information, see “Custom Shuttle Lock Speed” on page 494.
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 (Mac), 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 (.).
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 (Mac), 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.
Pro Tools Reference Guide26
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.
Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts 27
Pro Tools Reference Guide28
Part II: System Configuration
29
30

Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems

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 003 Digi 002 Mbox Mbox 2 Micro hardware.
®
®
2, Mbox 2 Pro, Mbox 2 Mini, or
™
, 003 Rack, 003 Rack+,
, Digi 002 Rack™, Eleven® Rack,

Pro Tools|HD Systems

Pro Tools|HD systems are available in the con­figurations shown on page 32. Each system re­quires at least one Pro Tools|HD audio interface (sold separately). Pro Tools|HD systems can be expanded by adding Pro Tools|HD cards to in­crease track count and the amount of plug-in and mixer processing, and by adding additional audio interfaces.
Pro Tools M-Powered These systems include Pro Tools M-Powered software for qualified M-Audio
®
interfaces.
References to Pro Tools LE in this guide are usually interchangeable with Pro Tools M-Powered, except as noted in the Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide.
Pro Tools LE System Options
Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolk it Pro Tools LE systems that have been
upgraded with the Complete Production Toolkit software option.
Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 Pro Tools LE systems that have been upgraded with the DV Toolkit
Pro Tools LE or M-Powered with Music Production Toolk it 2 Pro Tools LE or M-Powered systems
that have been upgraded with the Music Production Toolkit 2 software option.
™
2 software option.
Pro Tools system performance depends on factors such as computer processor speed, amount of system memory, and hard drive performance. Visit the Avid website (www.avid.com) for the latest system requirements and compatibility information.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 31
Pro Tools|HD Systems
Pro Tools|HD 1
Includes:
• Accel Core (for PCIe) card or HD Core
• Pro Tools HD software
Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel
Includes:
• Accel Core (for PCIe) card or HD Core (for PCI) card
• HD Accel card
• Pro Tools HD software
™
(for PCI) card
Supported Pro Tools|HD Audio Interfaces
The following audio interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools|HD systems:
•HD I/O
•HD OMNI
• HD MADI
•192 I/O
•192 Digital I/O
•96 I/O
•96i I/O
™
™
™
™
Pro Tools|HD systems require at least one HD I/O, HD OMNI, HD MADI, 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O.
Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel
Includes:
• Accel Core (for PCIe) card or HD Core (for PCI) card
• Two HD Accel cards
• Pro Tools HD software
Pro Tools|HD 2
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
Pro Tools|HD PCI cards require a PCI to PCIe expansion chassis. For more informa­tion, see the Expanded Systems Guide.
Supported Legacy Pro Tools MIX Audio Interfaces
The following “Legacy” Pro Tools|24 MIX™ au­dio interfaces are supported with Pro Tools|HD systems:
•888|24I/O
•882|20I/O
• 1622 I/O
• 24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O
™
™
™
™
“Legacy” I/Os (such as 888|24 I/O) require the use of at least one 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or 96 I/O. Legacy I/O are only supported with session sample rates of
44.1 kHz and 48 kHz.
Pro Tools Reference Guide32
Expanded Pro Tools|HD Systems
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 provides increased track counts, adds to the amount of possible plug-in and mixer process­ing, and lets you connect additional audio inter­faces. With support for up to 7 Pro Tools|HD cards in a single system, a Pro Tools|HD system can support up to 160 channels of simultaneous input and output.
Maximum I/O Configuration
Pro Tools|HD supports up to a maximum com­bination of ten total of the following audio in­terfaces:
• HD OMNI (only one HD OMNI is sup­ported in a single Pro Tools|HD system)
• HD I/O (up to ten HD I/O can be used si­multaneously—requires five HD cards)
• HD MADI (up to three HD MADI can be used simultaneously—requires six HD cards)
• 192 I/O (up to ten 192 I/O can be used si­multaneously—requires five HD cards)
• 192 Digital I/Os (up to ten 192 Digital I/O can be used simultaneously—requires five HD cards)
• 96 I/Os (up to ten 96 I/O can be used simul­taneously—requires five HD cards)
• 96i I/Os (up to five 96i I/Os can be used si­multaneously)
For more information, see the Expanded
Systems Guide
.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 33
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 5. Pro Tools|HD system audio playback, recording and voice limits
Playback and Recording
Core System Type Sample Rate (kHz)
Pro Tools|HD 1 44.1/48 96 (2 or 3 DSPs) 256
88.2/96 48 (2 or 3 DSPs) 256
176.4/192 18 (for PCIe) (3 DSPs)
Pro Tools|HD Accel 2, Pro Tools|HD Accel 3
Pro Tools|HD 2, Pro Tools|HD 3, or any expanded Pro Tools|HD system
44.1/48 192 (6 DSPs) 256
88.2/96 96 (6 DSPs) 256
176.4/192 36 (6 DSPs) 256
44.1/48 128 (4 DSPs) 256
88.2/96 64 (4 DSPs) 256
176.4/192 24 (4 DSPs) 256
Voices (Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback and Recording)
12 (for PCI) (2 DSPs)
Total Available Voiceable Tracks (Max.)
256
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 10 inserts and 10 sends per track (depending on the DSP capacity of your system). Pro Tools|HD systems also support up to 128 Instrument tracks, 256 MIDI tracks, 128 VCA Master tracks, 64 Master Fader tracks, and multiple video tracks.
Pro Tools Reference Guide34
Pro Tools|HD Audio Interfaces
Table 6 lists the input and output capabilities of the various Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces for Pro Tools|HD systems. Pro Tools|HD cards support a maximum of 32 channels of I/O each. To record and play audio with Pro Tools HD, you must have at least one Pro Tools|HD audio interface con­nected to the Pro Tools|HD Core card in your system.
Table 6. Pro Tools|HD system audio interface channel capabilities
Interface Type
HD I/O 16 in/16 out 44.1, 48,
HD OMNI 8 in/8 out 44.1, 48,
HD MADI 64 in/64 out 44.1, 48,
192 I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
192 Digital I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
96 I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
96i I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
Number of I/O Channels
8 in/8 out 44.1, 48,
8 in/8 out 44.1, 48,
8 in/8 out 44.1, 48,
16 in/2 out 44.1, 48,
Sample Rates (kHz)
88.2, 96,
176.4, 192
88.2, 96,
176.4, 192
88.2, 96,
176.4, 192
88.2, 96,
176.4, 192
88.2, 96,
176.4, 192
88.2, 96
88.2, 96
A/D Conversion
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
None None 24-bit
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
None None 24-bit
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
D/A Conversion
Digital I/O
888|24 I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
882|20 I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
1622 I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O (Pro Tools|HD Only)
8 in/8 out 44.1, 48 24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
8 in/8 out 44.1, 48 20-bit 20-bit 24-bit
16 in/2 out 44.1, 48 20-bit 24-bit 24-bit
16 in/16 out 44.1, 48 None 24-bit 24-bit
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 35
HD OMNI Audio Interface
HD OMNI is a professional digital audio interface designed for use with Pro Tools|HD systems. HD OMNI provides a compact preamp, monitoring, and I/O solution for music produc­tion and recording, and post production studios.
HD OMNI Features
HD OMNI provides up to 8 discrete channels of Pro Tools input and output, with 4-segment LED meters for input or output (selectable).
Analog I/O
• 24-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to­analog (D/A) converters, with support for sample rates up to 192 kHz
• 2 high-quality Mic/DI preamps (Channels 1–2)
• 2 combined XLR and 1/4-inch TRS front panel inputs for microphone and instrument level input
• 2 XLR back panel microphone inputs
• 2 1/4-inch TRS Send and 2 1/4-inch TRS Re­turn back panel jacks for hardware inserts on channels 1 and 2
• 4 analog TRS line level back panel inputs (Channels 1–4)
HD OMNI provides multiple analog input connections, but only provides up to four channels of simultaneous analog input for Pro Tools.
• Soft Clip and Curv limiting circuits to protect against clipping on analog input.
• 8 channels of analog back panel output using a DB-25 breakout cable (sold separately) with variable output gain
• 2 channels of analog back panel output using TRS (Mirrors channels 1–2 or 7–8 on DB-25 connector)
• Front panel stereo 1/4” headphone jack
Digital I/O
• 8 channels of AES/EBU output (up to 192 kHz Single Wire) using a DB-25 breakout cable (sold separately)
• 2 channels of AES/EBU XLR input (up to 192 kHz Single Wire)
• 2 channels of S/PDIF RCA input and output (up to 192 kHz)
• 8 channels of ADAT TOSLINK input and output
• Support for ADAT S/MUX Optical for sample rates of 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, and 192 kHz.
• Support for two channels of S/PDIF Optical with sample rates of up to 96 kHz.
• Real-time sample rate conversion (SRC) on Digital Inputs 1–2 of either AES/EBU, S/PDIF, or Optical (S/PDIF)
SRC is not supported with ADAT S/MUX.
Monitoring
• An additional stereo “CUE” output path in Pro Tools for headphone monitoring from the front panel headphone jack
• Front panel Control Room (MAIN/ALT) and Headphone monitoring volume control
• Flexible monitoring with fold-down from all stereo and surround formats (up to 7.1 surround)
• Input mixer for low latency direct monitoring of a variety of incoming signals (configured in Pro Tools Hardware Setup)
Pro Tools Reference Guide36
Synchronization
• Loop Sync input and output for connecting additional Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals
• External Clock input and output for synchro­nizing HD OMNI with external Word Clock devices.
For more information about HD OMNI, see the HD OMNI Guide.
HD I/O Audio Interface
HD I/O is a multichannel digital audio interface designed for use with Pro Tools|HD systems. HD I/O features extremely high quality 24-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters, and supports sample rates of up to 192 kHz.
HD I/O comes in three standard configurations:
• 8 x 8 x 8 (8 analog in, 8 analog out, and 8 digital in and out)
• 16 x 16 analog in and out
• 16 x 16 digital in and out
You can also add or remove HD I/O Analog Ex­pansion cards (ADC and DAC) and HD I/O Dig­ital Expansion cards for custom configurations.
HD I/O Features
HD I/O provides up to 16 discrete channels of Pro Tools input and output, with 4-segment LED meters for input and output.
Analog I/O
• Up to sixteen channels of 24-bit D/A and A/D converters for superior analog input and out­put at sample rates of 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz,
88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, and 192 kHz with Analog In and Analog Out HD I/O cards
• Soft Clip and Curv limiting circuits to protect against clipping on analog input.
Digital I/O
• Up to sixteen channels of 24-bit digital I/O, using AES/EBU, TDIF DB-25, or Optical at sample rates of 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, and 192 kHz with a Digital HD I/O card
• Real-time sample rate conversion on digital inputs with a Digital I/O card (up to sixteen channels of AES/EBU, Optical, or TDIF)
• Support for S/MUX Optical for sample rates of
88.2 kHz and higher
• Support for 2 channels of S/PDIF Optical (enclosed) with sample rates of up to 96 kHz
• 2 channels of AES/EBU I/O (enclosed) with support for sample rates up to 192 kHz
• 2 channels of 24-bit-capable S/PDIF I/O (enclosed) with support for sample rates up to 192 kHz
Synchronization
• Loop Sync input and output for connecting additional Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals
• External Clock input and output for synchro­nizing HD I/O with external Word Clock devices
Expandability
• Optional addition of I/O cards to expand analog or digital I/O capacity
• Simultaneous use of multiple Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces to further expand system input and output (for more information, see the Expanded Systems Guide)
For more information about HD I/O, see the HD I/O Guide.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 37
HD MADI Digital Audio Interface
HD MADI is a 64-channel digital audio interface designed for use with Pro Tools|HD systems. HD MADI supports the Multichannel Audio Digital Interface (MADI) format and sample rates up to 192 kHz. HD MADI provides simpli­fied connectivity between your Pro Tools|HD system and MADI-compatible audio equipment, such as routers, digital mixing consoles, and converters.
HD MADI Features
• 2 MADI Optical and Coaxial inputs and 2 MADI Optical and Coaxial outputs for up to 64 discrete channels of digital input and output (32 channels per DigiLink Mini port)
• Supports sample rates of 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz,
88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, and 192 kHz
• 24- or 16-bit resolution
• Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) on input or output
• Front panel clock and SRC indicators
• Front panel signal present LEDs for input and output
• BNC Word Clock I/O for synchronizing HD MADI with external 1x Word Clock
• BNC Loop Sync I/O for synchronizing HD MADI with additional Pro Tools|HD audio in­terfaces and peripherals (such as HD I/O, HD OMNI, or SYNC HD)
• Dedicated BNC Word Clock input and XLR AES/EBU input (clock input only) for external MADI synchronization (when using SRC on output)
• Clock support for the following formats: In­ternal, Loop Sync, Word Clock, AES/EBU, and MADI
• Varispeed modes (supports both 64- and 56­channel standards)
`
For more information about HD MADI, see the HD MADI Guide.
192 I/O Audio Interface
192 I/O™ is a multichannel digital audio inter­face designed for use with Pro Tools|HD sys­tems. 192 I/O features high quality 24-bit ana­log-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters, and supports sample rates of up to 192 kHz.
You can also add or remove analog cards and digital cards (ADC and DAC) for custom config­urations.
192 I/O Features
• Supports sample rates up to 192 kHz.
• Supports both analog and digital connections, including AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TDIF, and ADAT Optical:
• Digital (Digital I/O Card): 8 channels, DB­25 (AES/EBU and TDIF), or one pair of Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors. Ex­pandable up to 16 of channels digital I/O with the addition of the 192 Digital expan­sion card.
• Analog: 8 channels, DB-25 (balanced) con­nectors, inputs selectable between +4 dBu or –10 dBV, outputs +4 dBu only. Expand­able up to 16 analog inputs or 16 outputs using an optional 192 AD or 192 DA ex­pansion card, respectively.
• Digital (Enclosure): 2 channels, XLR (AES/EBU) connectors; 2 channels RCA (S/PDIF) connectors.
• Optical (Enclosure): 8 channels, one pair of Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors (swit­chable to 2 channels, S/PDIF).
• Loop Sync In and Out for connecting Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals
Pro Tools Reference Guide38
• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x Word clock (configurable to 256x for Legacy support, see “Optional Legacy I/O Audio In­terfaces” on page 40).
For more information about the 192 I/O, see the 192 I/O Guide.
96 I/O Audio Interface
96 I/O™ is a multichannel digital audio interface designed for use with Pro Tools|HD systems. 96 I/O features high quality 24-bit analog-to­digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) con­verters, and supports sample rates up to 96 kHz.
192 Digital I/O Audio Interface
192 Digital I/O™ is a multichannel digital audio interface designed for use with Pro Tools|HD systems, and supports sample rates up to 192 kHz.
192 Digital I/O Features
• Supports sample rates up to 192 kHz.
• Supports digital connections, including AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TDIF, and ADAT Optical:
• Digital (2 Digital I/O Cards): 16 channels, DB-25 (AES/EBU and TDIF), or two pairs of Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors.
• Digital (Enclosure): 2 channels, XLR (AES/EBU) connectors; 2 channels RCA (S/PDIF) connectors.
• Optical (Enclosure): 8 channels, one pair of Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors (se­lectable to 2 channels, S/PDIF).
• Loop Sync In and Out for connecting Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals.
• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x Word clock (configurable to 256x for Legacy support, see “Optional Legacy I/O Audio In­terfaces” on page 40).
For more information about the 192 Digital I/O, see the 192 Digital I/O Guide.
96 I/O Features
• Supports sample rates up to 96 kHz.
• Supports analog and digital connections, in­cluding AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and ADAT optical:
• Analog: 8 channels, 1/4-inch TRS (balanced or unbalanced) connectors, +4 dBu or –10 dBV.
• Digital: 2 channels, XLR (AES/EBU) con­nectors; 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connec­tors.
• Optical: 8 channels, one pair of Lightpipe (ADAT Optical) connectors (switchable to 2 channels, S/PDIF).
• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x Word clock (configurable to 256x for Legacy support, see “Optional Legacy I/O Audio Interfaces” on page 40).
For more information about the 96 I/O, see the 96 I/O Guide.
96i I/O Audio Interface
96i I/O™ is a multichannel digital audio inter­face designed for use with Pro Tools|HD systems. 96i I/O features high quality 24-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters, and supports sample rates up to 96 kHz.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 39
96i I/O Features
• Supports sample rates up to 96 kHz.
• 16 discrete channels of input, and 2 channels of output, with 4-segment LED meters on each channel. Audio inputs and outputs in­clude:
• 16 channels of 24-bit, 96-kHz capable ana­log input, with adjustable input sensitivity.
• 2 channels of 24-bit, 96-kHz capable analog output, with selectable operating level.
• 2 channels of 24-bit, 96 kHz-capable digital S/PDIF RCA input and output.
• Loop Sync In and Out for connecting Pro Tools|HD interfaces and peripherals.
• External Clock In and Out receive or send 1x Wor d clo ck.
For more information about the 96i I/O, see the 96i I/O Guide.
Optional Legacy I/O Audio Interfaces
For additional input and output channels, older Pro Tools|24 MIX I/Os) can be connected to the 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or 96 I/O (HD OMNI, HD I/O, HD MADI, and 96i I/O do not support Pro Tools|24 MIX audio interfaces). The follow­ing supported legacy interfaces can only be used with 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz sessions:
888|24 I/O Audio Interface
• Analog: 8 channels, XLR (balanced or unbal­anced) connectors, selectable between +4 dBu or –10 dBV
• Digital: 8 channels, XLR (AES/EBU) connec­tors; 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connectors
™
audio interfaces (or Legacy
882|20 I/O Audio Interface
• Analog: 8 channels, 1/4-inch TRS (balanced or unbalanced) connectors, selectable between +4 dBu and –10 dBV
• Digital: 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connectors
1622 I/O Audio Interface
• Analog: 16 input channels and 2 output chan­nels, 1/4-inch TRS (balanced or unbalanced) connectors. Inputs are selectable from +4 dBu to –10 dBV line levels and higher in 2 dB gain steps; outputs are selectable between +4 dBu or –10 dBV.
• Digital: 2 channels, RCA (S/PDIF) connectors.
24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O
• Optical: 16 channels, a pair of Lightpipe (ADAT) connectors.
• Analog output: 2 channels, 1/4-inch TRS (bal­anced) connectors, selectable between +4 dBu and –10 dBV.
• Digital: 2 channels, XLR (AES/EBU); 2 chan­nels RCA (S/PDIF) connectors.
Additional Pro Tools|HD Hardware
Pro Tools HD also supports the following Pro Tools|HD hardware options.
• Synchronization peripherals:
•SYNC HD
•SYNC I/O
• PRE™ (Eight-channel microphone preamp)
• MIDI I/O
• Worksurfaces and control surfaces:
• D-Command
• D-Control
•C|24
• Command|8
™
™
™
(10 x 10 USB MIDI interface)
®
™
™
®
Pro Tools Reference Guide40

Pro Tools LE Systems

Pro Tools LE-based systems are available in the following configurations:
003
Eleven Rack
An Eleven Rack system includes:
• Pro Tools LE software
• Eleven Rack audio and MIDI interface, and guitar effects processor
A 003 system includes:
•ProToolsLE software
• 003 audio and MIDI interface (with control surface)
003 Rack+
A 003 Rack+ system includes:
•ProToolsLE software
• 003 Rack+ audio and MIDI interface
003 Rack
A 003 Rack system includes:
•ProToolsLE software
• 003 Rack audio and MIDI interface
Digi 002
A Digi 002 system includes:
•ProToolsLE software
• Digi 002 audio and MIDI interface (with control surface)
Mbox 2 Pro
An Mbox 2 Pro system includes:
• Pro Tools LE software
• Mbox 2 Pro audio and MIDI interface
Mbox 2
An Mbox 2 system includes:
• Pro Tools LE software
• Mbox 2 audio and MIDI interface
Mbox 2 Mini
An Mbox 2 Mini system includes:
• Pro Tools LE software
• Mbox 2 Mini audio interface
Mbox 2 Micro
An Mbox 2 Micro system includes:
• Pro Tools LE software
• Mbox 2 Micro audio interface
Digi 002 Rack
A Digi 002 Rack system includes:
•ProToolsLE software
• Digi 002 Rack audio and MIDI interface
Processing Capacity
The total processing capacity of a Pro Tools LE system depends on the processing power of your computer. Contact your dealer or visit www.avid.com for the latest system requirements and compatibility information.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 41
Pro Tools LE System Capabilities
Table 7 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 7. Pro Tools LE system audio playback, recording, and channel capabilities
Mono or Stereo
System Type
003, 003 Rack, 003 Rack+, Digi 002, or Digi 002 Rack
Eleven Rack 48 at 48 kHz
Mbox 2 Pro 48 at 48 kHz
Mbox 2 48 128 up to 2 in/2 out 24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
Mbox 2 Mini 48 128 up to 2 in/2 out 24-bit 24-bit N/A
Mbox 2 Micro 48 128 stereo out only N/A 24-bit N/A
Tracks of Simultaneous Playback
48 at 48 kHz
32 at 96 kHz
32 at 96 kHz
32 at 96 kHz
Total Voiceable Tracks
128 up to 18 in/18 out
128 up to 8 in/6 out
128 up to 6 in/8 out
Number of I/O Channels
(48 kHz or lower)
up to 10 in/10 out (88.2 or 96 kHz)
(44.1–96 kHz)
(48 kHz or lower)
up to 4 in/6 out (88.2 or 96 kHz)
A/D Conversion
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
24-bit 24-bit 24-bit
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 10 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. Pro Tools LE also supports a single QuickTime video track.
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 340.
Pro Tools Reference Guide42

Pro Tools M-Powered

A Pro Tools M-Powered system includes:
• Pro Tools M-Powered software
• A 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 the Pro Tools M-Powered User Guide.
For a current list of qualified M-Audio interfaces, visit the Avid website (www.avid.com)
.

Toolkit Software Options

In addition to all the regular capabilities pro­vided with Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Pow­ered, Pro Tools LE systems equipped with Com­plete Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 and Pro Tools LE and M-Powered systems equipped with Music Production Toolkit 2 provide ex­panded capabilities.
The Complete Production Toolkit option in­cludes all of the of the features and addi­tional software that is included with the DV Toolkit 2 option and the Music Production Toolkit 2 option.
Complete Production Toolkit Capabilities
(Pro Tools LE Only)
Pro Tools Features
Complete Production Toolkit enables the fol­lowing features in Pro Tools LE:
• Session and track features:
• Up to 128 mono or 64 stereo audio tracks of simultaneous playback or recording
• Ability to use QuickPunch on up to 64 tracks
• Up to 64 Instrument tracks
• 128 internal busses
• Display of up to 256 tracks
• Multiple video tracks, with multiple video playlists and multiple QuickTime movies per track.
• Import Session Data options (Destination Track Names, Time Code Mapping, Find Matching Tracks, Session Data to Import, Track Playlist)
• MP3 export option (for bounce recording or exporting a region as an MP3 file)
• DigiBase Pro (including support for Catalog browsers and the ability to search on mul­tiple criteria simultaneously in DigiBase browsers)
• Beat Detective features:
• Ability to apply Beat Detective across mul­tiple tracks
• Collection Mode
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 43
• Editing features:
• Video Universe window
• Continuous Scroll
•Scrub Trim tool
• Replace Region command
• TCE Edit to Timeline Selection command
• Selection of alternate field recorder audio channels in the Pro Tools Timeline
• Expanding alternate field recorder audio channels to new tracks
• Mixing and Automation features:
• Surround mixing up to 7.1 (003, 003 Rack, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, and Mbox 2 Pro only)
• Snapshot automation for writing or trim­ming automation data
• Glide Automation commands
• Time code and synchronization features:
• Timebase rulers (Time Code and Feet+Frames)
• Time Code Rate selector
• Feet+Frame Rate selector
• Current Time Code Position command
• Current Feet+Frames Position command
• Use Subframes option
• Audio Rate Pull Up and Pull Down
• Video Rate Pull Up and Pull Down
• Improved session interchange between Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE
Additional Software
Complete Production Toolkit includes addi­tional software for working with Pro Tools:
DINR™ LE Plug-In For reducing noise in audio.
DigiTranslator™ 2.0 Software Option For ex-
changing audio and video files, and sequences with other AAF and OMFI-compatible applica­tions.
Eleven LE Plug-In For use as a guitar amp and speaker emulation.
Hybrid Synthesizer Plug-In For use as a virtual in­strument in your Pro Tools sessions.
Neyrinck SoundCode Stereo™ Down Mixer Plug-In For monitoring 5.1 surround sessions
(down mixed to stereo) with all LE interfaces in­cluding 2 channel interfaces (such as the Mbox 2 Micro). This plug-in also lets you quickly and easily create stereo mixes from 5.1 surround sessions.
Smack!™ LE Compressor Plug-In For applying compression to your audio.
Structure® LE Plug-In For use as a virtual instru­ment in your Pro Tools sessions.
TL Space Native
applying convolution reverb to your audio.
X-Form Plug-In For high-quality time compres­sion and expansion, and formant corrected pitch-shifting (based on the Radius from iZotope).
™
Convolution Reverb Plug-In For
®
algorithm
Pro Tools Reference Guide44
DV Toolkit 2 Capabilitites
(Pro Tools LE Only)
Pro Tools Features
DV Toolkit 2 enables the following features for working with audio, film, video, or digital video in Pro Tools LE:
• Session and track features:
• Up to 64 audio tracks of simultaneous play­back or recording, mono or stereo
• Ability to use QuickPunch simultaneously on up to 32 tracks at 48 kHz and up to 24 tracks at 96 kHz
• Multiple video tracks, with multiple video playlists and multiple QuickTime movies per track.
• Import Session Data options (Destination Track Names, Time Code Mapping, Find Matching Tracks, Session Data to Import, Track Playlist)
• MP3 export option (for bounce recording or exporting a region as an MP3 file)
• DigiBase Pro (including support for Catalog browsers and the ability to search on mul­tiple criteria simultaneously in DigiBase browsers)
• Editing features:
• Video Universe window
• Continuous Scroll
•Scrub Trim tool
• Replace Region command
• TCE Edit to Timeline Selection command
• Selection of alternate field recorder audio channels in the Pro Tools Timeline
• Expanding alternate field recorder audio channels to new tracks
• Mixing and Automation features:
• Snapshot automation for writing or trim­ming automation data
• Glide Automation commands
• Time code and synchronization features:
• Timebase rulers (Time Code and Feet+Frames)
• Time Code Rate selector
• Feet+Frame Rate selector
• Current Time Code Position command
• Current Feet+Frames Position command
• Use Subframes option
• Audio Rate Pull Up and Pull Down
• Video Rate Pull Up and Pull Down
Additional Software
DV Toolkit 2 includes additional software for working with audio or digital video in Pro Tools:
DINR LE Plug-In For reducing noise in audio.
DigiTranslator 2.0 Software Option For exchang-
ing audio and video files, and sequences with other AAF and OMFI-compatible applications.
TL Space Native Convolution Reverb Plug-In For applying convolution reverb to your audio.
X-Form Plug-In For high-quality time compres­sion and expansion, and formant corrected pitch-shifting (based on the Radius from iZotope).
®
algorithm
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 45
Music Production Toolkit 2
(Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered Only)

Checking For Software Updates

Pro Tools Features
Music Production Toolkit 2 enables the follow­ing features in Pro Tools LE and M-Powered:
• Session and track features:
• Up to 64 audio tracks of simultaneous play­back or recording, mono or stereo
• Ability to use QuickPunch simultaneously on up to 32 tracks at 48 kHz and up to 24 tracks at 96 kHz
• MP3 export option (for bounce recording or exporting a region as an MP3 file)
• Beat Detective features:
• Ability to apply Beat Detective across mul­tiple tracks
• Collection Mode
Additional Software
Music Production Toolkit 2 includes additional software for working with Pro Tools:
Eleven LE Plug-In For use as a guitar amp and speaker emulation.
Hybrid Synthesizer Plug-In For use as a virtual in­strument in your Pro Tools sessions.
Smack! LE Compressor Plug-In For applying compression to your audio.
Structure LE Plug-In For use as a virtual instru­ment in your Pro Tools sessions.
TL Space Native Convolution Reverb Plug-In For applying convolution reverb to your audio.
Pro Tools can check for Pro Tools application and plug-in updates, either automatically or manually. An internet connection is required to be able to check for updates. Approximately ev­ery two weeks, Pro Tools checks online for any available application and plug-in updates.
If updates are available for Pro Tools or any plug-ins, Pro Tools reports what updates (if any) are available and how important the updates are for your system. You can visit the Avid website to locate, download, and install the appropriate updates for your Pro Tools system.
To manually check for updates:
1 Ensure that your internet connection is func-
tioning properly.
2 Launch Pro Tools.
3 Choose Help > Check For Updates, and a prog-
ress dialog appears.
4 Depending on whether or not any updates are
available, do one of the following:
• If no updates are available, click OK.
– or –
• If updates are available, do one of the follow­ing:
• Click Details to launch your web browser and see what updates are available for download.
• Click Not Now if you do not want to review or download updates until later.
Pro Tools Reference Guide46
To disable checking for software updates automatically:
In the Software Update dialog, select the
Do Not Check For Updates Automatically option.
To enable checking for software updates automatically:
1 Check for updates manually (Help > Check For
Updates).
2 In the Software Update dialog, deselect the
Do Not Check For Updates Automatically option.
Chapter 4: Pro Tools Systems 47
Pro Tools Reference Guide48

Chapter 5: System Setup

7 Do one of the following, depending on your

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 Make sure all your equipment (including your
computer) is off.
2 Lower the volume of all output devices in your
system.
3 For Pro Tools|HD systems with an expansion
chassis, turn on the chassis.
4 Turn on any external hard drives. Wait ap-
proximately ten seconds for them to spin up to speed.
5 Turn on any worksurfaces (such as
D-Command) or control surfaces (such as Command|8).
6 Turn on any MIDI interfaces, MIDI devices, or
synchronization peripherals.
Pro Tools system:
• For Pro Tools|HD systems, with the volume of all output devices lowered, turn on your Pro Tools Legacy I/O (such as an 888|24 I/O or 882|20 I/O) first, then your Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces (such as HD OMNI or 192 I/O). Wait at least fifteen seconds for your system hardware to initialize.
– or –
• For Pro Tools LE and M-Powered systems that use hardware requiring external power (such as 003), turn on the hardware.
8 Turn on your computer.
9 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 (Mac).
2 Turn off or lower the volume of all output de-
vices in your system.
3 Turn off your computer.
Chapter 5: System Setup 49
4 Do one of the following depending on your
Pro Tools system:
• For Pro Tools|HD systems, turn off your Pro Tools audio interfaces.
– or –
• For Pro Tools LE and M-Powered systems that use hardware requiring external power (such as 003), turn off the hardware.
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 worksurfaces (such as
D-Command) or control surfaces (such as Command|8).
8 Turn off any external hard drives.

Checking an HD System with DigiTest

Before you use Pro Tools, you may want to run the DigiTest diagnostic application to ensure that all Pro Tools|HD cards in the system are rec­ognized, installed in the proper order, and have valid TDM FlexCable connections. See the Digi- Test Gui de for more information.

Configuring Pro Tools System Settings

Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording. These system settings are available in the Playback Engine (Setup > Playback Engine).
Playback Engine for Pro Tools|HD system
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.
Pro Tools Reference Guide50
Hardware Buffer Size
The Hardware Buffer Size (H/W Buffer Size) con­trols the size of the buffer used to handle host processing tasks such as processing with Real­Time AudioSuite™ (RTAS) plug-ins.
• Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings are useful for improving latency issues in certain record­ing situations or for improving certain system performance problems:
• On all Pro Tools systems, lower settings re­duce RTAS MIDI-to-audio latency (such as when playing an RTAS virtual instrument live and monitoring the instrument’s out­put). Lower settings can also improve screen response or the accuracy of plug-in and mute automation data.
• On Pro Tools LE systems, lower settings re­duce all input-to-output monitoring la­tency on any record-armed tracks or Auxiliary Input tracks with live inputs.
• On Pro Tools|HD systems, lower settings re­duce monitoring latency that occurs on tracks that have one or more RTAS plug-ins. Lower settings can also improve the accu­racy of MIDI track timing on systems with­out a MIDI interface that supports time stamping. Lower settings also improve MIDI track timing on tracks using MIDI virtual instruments that do not support time stamping.
• Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings are use­ful for sessions that are using more RTAS plug­ins for playback. These settings allow for more audio processing. They can also be useful to reduce errors on machines that require a higher buffer size.
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.
Host Processors
The Host Processors setting determines the number of processors in your computer allo­cated for RTAS (Real-Time AudioSuite) plug-in processing and other host processing tasks.
With computers that have multiple processors, or that feature multi-core processing or hyper­threading, this setting lets you enable multipro­cessor support for host processing tasks. Used in combination with the CPU Usage Limit setting, the Host Processors setting lets you control the way host-processing tasks are handled by the system.
For example:
• For sessions with large numbers of RTAS plug­ins, you can allocate 2 or more processors to RTAS processing and set a high CPU Usage Limit.
• For sessions with few RTAS plug-ins, you can allocate fewer processors to RTAS processing and set a low CPU Usage Limit to leave more CPU resources available for automation accu­racy, screen response, and video.
• Increase these settings to accommodate TDM to RTAS plug-in conversion. Conversely, de­crease these settings if you are only using TDM plug-ins or are converting RTAS plug-ins to TDM. TDM/RTAS conversion can be desir­able during recording, depending on latency, voicing needs, and record-monitoring capa­bilities of the specific TDM and RTAS plug-ins.
Chapter 5: System Setup 51
• Depending on the importance of video and overall screen response, and on the density of automation being employed, try different combinations of Host Processors and CPU Us- age Limit settings to 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 plug-ins, but keep the CPU Usage Limit set to the maximum (up to 99% on a single processor system).
To set the number of Host Processors:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the Host Processors pop-up menu, select
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:
• Select 1Processor to limit host processing for Pro Tools to one CPU in the system.
• Choose 2 Processors to enable load balanc­ing across two available processors for Pro Tools host processing tasks.
• On systems running four or more proces­sors, choose the number of processors for Pro Tools host processing tasks.
3 Click OK.
System Usage Window and Host Processing
The System Usage window (Windows > System Usage) displays the combined amount of host
processing occurring on all enabled processors with a single indicator, regardless of how many processors are available in the system. If the Sys­tem Usage Window shows that you are at the limit of available resources, increase the number of Host Processors and adjust the CPU Usage Limit setting. (For more information, see “Sys­tem Usage” on page 68.)
CPU Usage Limit
The CPU Usage Limit setting controls the per­centage of CPU resources allocated to Pro Tools host processing tasks. Used in combination with the Host 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 effect 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.
•Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate more processing power to Pro Tools, and are useful for playing back large sessions or using more RTAS plug-ins.
The maximum available CPU Usage Limit de­pends on the number of processors in your com­puter and on the number of processors you spec­ify for host processing. This value can range from 85% for single-processor computers (ex­cept for 003, 003 Rack+, 003 Rack, Digi 002, and Digi 002 Rack, which have a limit of 99%), and 99% for multiprocessor computers (which dedi­cate one entire processor to Pro Tools).
On multiprocessor computers, the maximum CPU Usage Limit is reduced when you use all your processors (as selected in the Host Processing pop-up menu). For example, on dual-processors, the limit is 90%. On four-processor computers, the limit is 95%.
Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow down screen responses on slower computers.
Pro Tools Reference Guide52
To change the CPU Usage Limit:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the CPU Usage Limit pop-up menu, select
the percentage of CPU processing you want to allocate to Pro Tools.
3 Click OK.
Error Suppression Options
Ignore Errors During Playback/Record When en-
abled, Pro Tools continues to play and record even if the host processing requirements exceed the selected CPU Usage Limit. This can result in pops and clicks in the audio, but does not stop the transport.
Host Engine (Error Suppression)
The Host Engine options determine error report­ing during playback and recording. This is espe­cially useful when working with instrument plug-ins.
On Pro Tools|HD systems, there is a single Host Engine option. On Pro Tools LE systems, there are two Host Engine options.
• Enable error suppression only if you are expe­riencing frequent errors that are interrupting your creative workflow. When error suppres­sion is enabled, you can experience a degrada­tion of audio quality. However, this may be acceptable in order to avoid interrupting play­back and recording when working with in­strument plug-ins.
• Disable error suppression when you need to ensure the highest possible audio quality, such as for a final mix.
To enable error suppression:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 Select Ignore Errors During Playback/Record.
3 If available, you can also select Minimize Addi-
tional I/O Latency.
4 Click OK.
Minimize Additional I/O Latency (Pro Tools LE and M-Powered Only) When enabled, any additional
latency due to suppressing errors during play­back and record is minimized to 128 samples. Suppressing errors requires at least 128 samples of additional buffering on some systems. If this option is disabled, the buffer is half the H/W Buf- fer Size, or at least 128 samples (whichever is greater). If you are on an older, slower computer, you may want to disable this option to avoid ad­verse performance.
This option is only available if the Ignore Errors During Playback/Record option is enabled and the Pro Tools system you are using requires ad­ditional buffering for error suppression, as fol­lows:
•Windows:
•Mbox 2 Pro
• All Pro Tools M-Powered systems
•Mac:
• 003, 003 Rack+, and 003 Rack
•Eleven Rack
•Mbox 2
•Mbox 2 Pro
• Mbox 2 Mini
• Mbox 2 Micro
• Digi 002 and 002 Rack
• All Pro Tools M-Powered systems
Chapter 5: System Setup 53
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.
Depending on the session sample rate and the number of Pro Tools|HD cards in your system, there are 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 34.
To change the Number of Voices and DSP to allocate for voicing:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
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 as follows:
• Select minimum voice numbers if you are using high-bandwidth PCI or PCIe cards (such as video capture cards) along with your Pro Tools|HD cards. These settings place the lightest processing load on each allocated DSP chip, but generally require more DSP chips be dedicated to voicing and mixing (leaving fewer available for plug-ins).
• Select medium voice numbers when your Pro Tools|HD cards are in an expansion chassis, or when you are using other PCI or PCIe cards along with Pro Tools|HD cards. These settings generally provide an opti­mum balance between number of chips needed for voicing, and the processing load placed on each.
• Select higher voice numbers when your Pro Tools|HD cards are the only PCI or PCIe cards in your computer, or when you are using an expansion chassis to run higher track counts (such as 64 tracks at 96 kHz) and you want more voices per DSP (such as 16 voices per DSP at 96 kHz). These settings use fewer DSP chips for mixing (leaving more available for plug-ins) but place the highest processing load on each.
3 Click OK.
Pro Tools Reference Guide54
Sample Rate (Playback Engine)
(Pro Tools HD Only)
Delay Compensation Engine
(Pro Tools HD Only)
The Sample Rate setting in the Playback Engine determines the default sample rate when you create a new session. This setting is available only when there is no session open. Otherwise, the current session sample rate is displayed, but cannot be changed.
The Sample Rate setting can affect the number of available voices.
You can change the sample rate when creating a new Pro Tools session by selecting a different sample rate in the New Session dialog. (
page 136.)
See “Creating a New Session” on
You can also change the default Sample Rate in the Hardware Setup, as long as no session is open.
To make a copy of a session with a new sample rate, use Save Copy In.
To change the default Sample Rate in the Playback Engine:
1 With no session open, choose Setup > Playback
Engine.
2 Select the sample rate from the Sample Rate
pop-up menu.
3 Click OK.
The Delay Compensation Engine setting deter­mines how much DSP resources are dedicated to Pro Tools Delay Compensation, which manages DSP delays in the Pro Tools mixer.
Within a session, you can choose to enable or disable Delay Compensation (Options > Delay Compensation).
For more information, see “Delay Compen­sation” on page 886.
To configure the Delay Compensation Engine:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the Delay Compensation Engine pop-up
menu, select Short, Long, or None.
3 Click OK.
Delay Compensation Settings
There are three settings in the Playback Engine to dedicate DSP resources for Delay Compensa­tion:
None Allocates no DSP resources for Delay Com­pensation.
Short Allocates minimum DSP resources of De­lay Compensation for each channel. This is the most efficient setting. For sessions with only a few plug-ins that do not induce too much DSP­based delay, this setting should be sufficient.
Long Allocates maximum DSP resources for De­lay Compensation for each mixer channel. For sessions with a lot of plug-ins resulting in a large amount of DSP-induced delay, select this setting.
Chapter 5: System Setup 55
DAE Playback Buffer Size
The DAE Playback Buffer Size setting determines the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk buffers. In addition to levels, the DAE Playback Buffer Size shows values in milliseconds, which indicate the amount of audio buffered when the system reads from disk.
The optimum DAE Playback Buffer Size for most disk operations is 1500 msec; Level 2 (Default).
• DAE Playback Buffer Size settings lower than 1500 msec; Level 2 (Default) may improve playback and recording initiation speed, as well as preview in context in DigiBase brows­ers. However, a lower setting 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 with systems that have slower or heavily-fragmented hard drives.
• DAE Playback Buffer Size settings higher than 1500 msec; Level 2 (Default) allow higher track count, higher density of edits in a session, or the use of slower hard drives. However, a higher setting may increase the time lag when starting playback or recording, starting pre­view in context from DigiBase browsers, or cause 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 1500 msec (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.
2 From the DAE Playback Buffer pop-up menu, se-
lect 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.
Cache Size
The Cache Size setting determines the amount of memory DAE allocates to pre-buffer audio for playback and looping when using Elastic Audio.
Minimum Reduces the amount of system mem­ory used for disk operations and frees up mem­ory for other system tasks. However, perfor­mance when using Elastic Audio features may decrease.
Normal Is the optimum Cache Size for most ses­sions.
Large Improves performance when using Elastic Audio features, but it also decreases the amount of memory available for other system tasks, such as RTAS processing.
Using a larger Cache Size leaves less system memory for other tasks. The default setting of Normal is recommended unless you are encountering -9500 (“Cache too small”) errors.
To change the Cache Size:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the Cache Size pop-up menu, select a
disk cache size.
3 Click OK.
Pro Tools Reference Guide56
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 more system memory is available to other applica­tions.
To minimize system memory allocation:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 Select the Minimize System Memory Allocation
option.
3 Click OK.
4 Do one of the following:
• On Mac systems, if prompted, enter your password, then restart your computer.
– or –
• On Windows systems, restart your com­puter.
The optimum Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size for most sessions is 250 ms; Level 2 (Default).
• Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size settings lower than 250 ms; Level 2 (Default) reduce the amount of system memory used for sample playback and frees up memory for other sys­tem tasks. However, reliability of sample play­back may decrease.
• Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size settings higher than 250 ms; Level 2 (Default) improve the re­liability of sample playback, but they also de­crease the amount of memory available for other system tasks, such as RTAS processing.
Using a larger Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size leaves less system memory for other tasks. The default setting of 250 ms (Level 2) is recommended unless you are experiencing problems with the reliability of streaming playback from disk.
To change the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
2 From the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size pop-up
menu, select a buffer size.
3 Click OK.
Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size
(Structure Plug-In Only)
This setting appears in the Playback Engine only if the Structure sampler instrument plug-in is in­stalled on your system (this applies to Structure LE and Structure Free as well). The Plug-In Stream- ing Buffer Size determines the amount of mem­ory DAE allocates for streaming playback from disk with the Structure plug-in. This setting only affects playback if disk streaming is activated in Structure’s plug-in controls (see the AIR Virtual Instruments Guide for more information).
Optimizing the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size
(Structure Plug-In Only)
This option appears in the Playback Engine only if the Structure plug-in is installed on your sys­tem. This option is useful when you are playing samples from the same drive that contains audio for the current session. When this option is se­lected, Pro Tools automatically optimizes the size of the Plug-In Streaming Buffer to facilitate disk access from both Pro Tools and Structure. The Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size pop-up menu is unavailable when this option is selected.
Chapter 5: System Setup 57
To set Pro Tools to automatically optimize the Plug-In Streaming Buffer Size:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
On Pro Tools HD, you can change the default Sample Rate in the Hardware Setup, or in the Playback Engine.
2 Select the Optimize for Streaming Content on
Audio Drives option.
3 Click OK.

Configuring MIDI Setup

If you plan to use any MIDI devices with Pro Tools, you need to configure your MIDI setup using Audio MIDI Setup (Mac) or MIDI Studio Setup (Windows).
For information on configuring MIDI, see the User Guide that came with your system.

Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings

Pro Tools lets you configure the signal routing, digital I/O format, default sample rate, clock source, and other hardware-based settings de­pending on your system configuration.
These system settings are available in the Hard­ware Setup (Setup > Hardware).
On Pro Tools HD, the Sample Rate setting can affect the number of available voices.
On Pro Tools LE, you can only change the de­fault sample rate in the Hardware Setup.
You can change the sample rate when creating a new Pro Tools session by selecting a different sample rate in the New Session dialog.
To change the default Sample Rate in the Hardware Setup:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware Setup.
2 Select the sample rate from the Sample Rate
pop-up menu.
3 Click OK.
Configuring Clock Source
The Pro Tools Hardware Setup lets you select the Clock Source for the system.
Changes made to Clock Source in the Session Setup window will be reflected in the Hard­ware Setup window and vice versa.
Configuring Default Sample Rate Setting in Hardware Setup
The Sample Rate setting determines the default sample rate when you create a new session. This setting is available only when there is no session open. Otherwise, the current session sample rate is displayed, but cannot be changed.
Pro Tools Reference Guide58
Internal If you are recording an analog signal di­rectly into Pro Tools, you will usually use the Pro Tools Internal clock source.
External If you are transferring material into Pro Tools from an external digital device, or if you utilize a common house clock signal, you will synchronize Pro Tools to that digital device or common signal.
Depending on your audio interface, external op­tions can include AES/EBU [Encl], S/PDIF, Optical [Encl], AES/EBU 1–8, TDIF, ADAT, and Word Clock. For details, refer to the guide for your audio in­terface.
To select the Clock Source:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 Choose the clock source from the Clock Source
pop-up menu.
3 Click OK.
Your digital input device must be connected and powered on for Pro Tools to synchro­nize to it. If your input device is not powered on, leave the Clock Source set to Internal.
Configuring Digital Format and Hardware Routing
Configuring Pro Tools|HD Hardware Settings
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 HD I/O, HD OMNI, HD MADI, 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, or 96i I/O au­dio interfaces connected to Accel Core or HD Core and HD Accel or HD Process cards in the system. The HD I/O and HD OMNI can have additional interfaces attached. The 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, and 96 I/O can also have addi­tional interfaces attached (including older Pro Tools|24 MIX audio interfaces—Legacy I/Os—such as the 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O or 1622 I/O). For more information, see Chapter 4, “Pro Tools Systems.”
Configuring Audio Interfaces
The Hardware Setup includes additional settings for configuring the digital format and hardware routing for your system’s audio interfaces.
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 or M-Powered system, refer to the User Guide
that came
with your system.
HD OMNI, HD I/O, 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, and 96i I/O audio interfaces support six­teen channels of simultaneous I/O and multiple I/O formats (such as analog, AES/EBU, ADAT Optical, S/PDIF, and TDIF). HD MADI supports up to 64 channels of MADI I/O.
The Main page of the Hardware Setup is where you define which physical inputs and outputs on your audio interface are routed to available inputs and outputs in Pro Tools. You can think of this window as a patchbay that allows you to route any of the inputs or outputs on your Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces to channel as­signments in the Pro Tools mixer.
Chapter 5: System Setup 59
4 Select the Identify option, located in the lower
left corner of the Hardware Setup. This illumi­nates all the LEDs on the front panel of the se­lected audio interface.
5 Make a note of which interface in your studio
setup corresponds to the identified interface.
6 Repeat the above steps for each additional au-
dio interface in your setup.
Hardware Setup for HD I/O, Main page
The Main page also provides controls for defin­ing whether Expansion Port or Legacy Port pe­ripherals are active (with 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or 96 I/O primary audio interfaces only).
Additional pages are available to configure other controls for each audio interface (such as setting operating levels).
Identifying Audio Interfaces
If you have multiple audio interfaces of the same type connected to your system, before you make audio connections to them, you should confirm the identity of each interface. This en­sures that you choose the appropriate interface in the Peripherals list when you define its inputs and outputs in the Hardware Setup.
To identify audio interfaces in your system:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 From the Peripherals list, select an audio inter-
face connected to your system.
Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll though the Peripherals list in the Hardware Setup.
Legacy I/Os must be initialized in the Pe­ripherals list before they can be identified. See “Configuring Legacy I/Os” on page 66.
To configure Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 From the Peripherals list, select the
Pro Tools|HD 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.
Press Command+Left or Right Arrow keys (Mac) or Control+Left or Right Arrow keys (Windows) to move though the different pages of the Hardware Setup.
4 From the Clock Source pop-up menu, select
the appropriate clock source for the interface.
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).
3 Make sure the Main page is shown.
Pro Tools Reference Guide60
5 If you want to send clock output to other de-
vices attached to the audio interface, select the appropriate output from the Ext. Clock Output pop-up menu.
If the Legacy I/O Port is enabled (and not the Expansion I/O Port) then the Ext. Clock Output automatically switches to Slave Clock (256x sam­ple rate). To reset the Ext. Clock Output to Word
Clock, change the Port Settings back to Expansion I/O, then select the Legacy I/O in the
Peripherals list, and set it to No Interface in the Interface pop-up menu. (The HD OMNI, HD I/O, HD MADI, and 96i I/O do not support Legacy I/O.)
6 Select which digital I/O port on your audio in-
terface enclosure is active by selecting the corre­sponding option under Digital Format. Depending on the type of interfaces in your sys­tem, choices include AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and Opti- cal (S/PDIF). Selecting Optical (S/PDIF) resets the Optical I/O port (which is, by default, eight channels of ADAT Optical 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 From the Input and Output channel pop-up
menus, select 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, 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 HD 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 HD I/Os equipped with a second 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.
Refer to your peripheral’s guide for configu­ration details and restrictions.
9 Configure any specific controls for your audio
interface:
• “Configuring HD OMNI Controls” on page 62.
• “Configuring HD I/O Controls” on page 63.
• “Configuring HD MADI Controls” on page 64.
• “Configuring 192 I/O and 192 Digital I/O Controls” on page 64.
• “Configuring 96 I/O Controls” on page 65.
• “Configuring 96i I/O Controls” on page 66.
10 For additional Pro Tools|HD interfaces,
choose the interface in the Peripherals list, and repeat the above steps.
Refer to your peripheral’s guide for addi­tional configuration details and restrictions. For example, the Optical 1–8 channels (on the 192 I/O enclosure) will not be available at session sample rates of 88.2 kHz or higher, while the ports on the 192 I/O Digi­tal I/O card will still be available.
Chapter 5: System Setup 61
Configuring HD OMNI Controls
For detailed information about configuring HD OMNI, see the HD OMNI Guide.
To configure HD OMNI in Pro Tools:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 From the Peripherals list, select the HD OMNI
audio interface.
3 Click the Monitor tab and configure the op-
tions. When working with HD OMNI, you should always configure the Monitor page first.
HD OMNI Hardware Setup, Monitor page
5 Click the Analog In tab and configure the
options.
HD OMNI Hardware Setup, Analog In page
6 Click the Analog Out tab and configure the
options.
4 Click the Main tab and configure the options.
HD OMNI Hardware Setup, Main page
Pro Tools Reference Guide62
HD OMNI Hardware Setup, Analog Out page
7 Click the Mixer tab and configure the options.
HD OMNI Hardware Setup, Mixer page
8 When you are finished, click OK.
Configuring HD I/O Controls
For detailed information about configuring HD I/O, see the HD I/O Guide.
To configure controls for HD I/O:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 From the Peripherals list, select the HD I/O au-
dio interface.
3 Click the Main tab and configure the options.
HD I/O Hardware Setup, Main page
4 If you have at least one HD I/O AD card, click
the Analog In tab and configure the options. If you have two HD I/O AD cards, this tab is la­beled Analog In 1–8.
5 If you have two HD I/O AD cards, click the An-
alog In 9–16 tab and configure the options.
HD I/O Hardware Setup, Analog In 9–16 page
6 If you have at least one HD I/O Digital card,
click the Digital tab and configure the options.
HD I/O Hardware Setup, Digital page
7 If you have two HD I/O Digital cards, click the
second Digital tab and configure the options.
HD I/O Hardware Setup, Analog In page
8 When you are finished, click OK.
Chapter 5: System Setup 63
Configuring HD MADI Controls
For detailed information about configuring HD MADI, see the HD MADI Guide.
To configure controls for HD MADI:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 From the Peripherals list, select either
HD MADI Port 1 or HD MADI Port 2 and config­ure the options.
HD MADI Hardware Setup
The settings for HD MADI Port 1 and HD MADI Port 2 are linked, any changes are global regardless of which is selected in the Peripherals list.
3 When you are finished, click OK.
Configuring 192 I/O and 192 Digital I/O Controls
To configure controls for a 192 I/O:
1 With the 192 I/O selected in the Peripherals
list, click the Analog In tab for the following op­tions:
• You can set your operating level on a chan­nel-by-channel basis by selecting Reference Level +4 dBu or –10 dBV. These settings correspond to two different input connec­tors on the back of the 192 I/O. Refer to the 192 I/O Guide for more information on set­ting operating levels.
• Each of the analog channels in the 192 I/O has two Input Trims, labeled A and B, for precisely calibrating and switching levels. You c a n selec t Input Trim A or B on a chan­nel-by-channel basis. Refer to the 192 I/O Guide for information on setting the rear panel trims.
•You can select Soft Clip on a channel-by­channel basis. The Soft Clip limiter attenu­ates the incoming analog signal, providing extra protection from temporary clipping transients that can cause digital distortion when they exceed the maximum input of the unit. With Soft Clip enabled, 192 I/O supports an additional 4 dB of headroom by rounding off the top 4 dB to the clip point. This is useful for eliminating stray transients or for emulating analog tape sat­uration.
Hardware Setup for 192 I/O, Analog In page
Pro Tools Reference Guide64
2 Click the Analog Out tab for the following op-
tion:
• Each of the analog channels in the 192 I/O has two Output Trims, labeled A and B, re­spectively. You can select Output Trim A or B on a channel-by-channel basis.
Hardware Setup for 192 I/O, Analog Out page
To configure controls for a 192 Digital I/O or 192 I/O with an optional Digital I/O card:
On the 192 Digital I/O or a 192 I/O with an
optional Digital I/O card, click the Digital tab to set the Input Format (AES/EBU, TDIF, or ADAT Optical) and enable real-time sample rate con­version (in channel pairs, with the SR Conver­sion option).
At session sample rates above 48 kHz, sam­ple rate conversion for the TDIF and Optical (ADAT) inputs on the Digital I/O card is au­tomatically enabled on all eight inputs of the selected format.
Configuring 96 I/O Controls
To configure controls for a 96 I/O:
1 With the 96 I/O selected in the Peripherals
list, configure your I/O front panel meters for in­put or output metering from the Meters pop-up.
2 Click the Analog In tab for the following op-
tion:
• You can set your operating level on a chan­nel-by-channel basis by selecting Reference Level +4 dBu or –10 dBV. Refer to the 96 I/O Guide for more information on setting op­erating levels.
Hardware Setup for 96 I/O, Analog In page
3 Click the Analog Out tab for the following op-
tion:
• You can set your output level on a channel­by-channel basis by selecting Reference
Level +4 dBu or –10 dBV. Refer to the 96 I/O Guide for more information on setting op-
erating levels.
Hardware Setup for 192 I/O, Digital page
Hardware Setup for 96 I/O, Analog Out page
Chapter 5: System Setup 65
Configuring 96i I/O Controls
To configure controls for a 96i I/O:
1 With the 96i I/O selected in the Peripherals
list, configure your I/O front panel meters for in­put or output metering from the Meters pop-up.
2 Set input sensitivity by doing the following:
• For Inputs 1–4, set the input trim slider to match the output level of the connected in­strument. Choices range from –12 dBV to +4 dBu. If you do not know the output level of the device, use the default input trim level, then fine tune the input level sensitivity.
• For each input 5–16 being used, select –8 dBV or +4 dBu as appropriate to best match the output level of the connected in­strument.
3 Set Output levels (select –10 dBV or +4 dBu).
4 Click Done.
To select analog or digital input for channels 1-2:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware, and select 96i I/O in
the Peripherals list to display the 96i I/O win­dow.
2 Click to set Ch 1–2 Input to Analog or S/PDIF,
as appropriate.
The 96i I/O only supports analog and digi­tal switching for channels 1–2, and only from within the Hardware Setup and I/O Setup. The 96i I/O does not support path re­mapping within I/O Setup.
Configuring Legacy I/Os
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 Lower the volume of your output devices.
2 Start up your Pro Tools system (see “Starting
Up or Sh utting Down Your System ” on page 49).
Hardware Setup for 96i I/O
You can select analog or digital input as sources for 96i I/O channels 1–2. Only channels 1–2 can access the S/PDIF inputs.
Pro Tools Reference Guide66
Before turning on your Legacy I/O, 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 In Pro Tools, choose Setup > Hardware.
4 From the Peripherals list, choose the primary
audio interface (the interface to which your Leg­acy I/O is connected).
5 In t he Mai n page of the Hardwa re Set up, sel ect
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-menu appears in the Hardware Setup, list­ing supported I/O choices.
7 From the Interface pop-up, select the type of
Legacy I/O you connected.
After you select the type of Legacy I/O, the Main page updates with controls that can be config­ured. If your Legacy interface does not appear, check connections and repeat from step 1, above.
8 Repeat the above steps for each additional
Legacy I/O.
9 Click OK to close the Hardware Setup.
For information on Hardware Setup controls for each Legacy I/O, refer to the guide for that interface.
Offline Peripherals
When a Legacy I/O and Pro Tools|HD peripheral are connected to your primary Pro Tools|HD pe­ripheral, only one can be online at a time. An of­fline peripheral is indicated by brackets in the Peripherals list of the Hardware Setup. For exam­ple, if you have a 96 I/O and an 882|20 con­nected to a 192 I/O, and the 96 I/O is offline, it will appear in the Peripherals list as “[96 I/O].”
Peripherals will also go offline if the audio inter­face or card to which they are attached is made inactive.
Configuring I/O Setup
To remove a Legacy I/O:
1 Lower the volume of your output devices.
2 Tur n of f yo ur Lega cy I /O.
3 In Pro Tools, choose Setup > Hardware.
4 In the Peripherals list, select the name of a
Legacy interface.
5 From the Interface pop-up menu, choose No
Interface.
6 Repeat steps 4–5 for each additional Legacy
I/O.
7 In the Peripherals list, select the name of the
the Pro Tools|HD audio interface to which the Legacy I/O was connected.
8 Select the Expansion I/O option under Port Set-
tings.
9 Click OK to close the Hardware Setup.
The I/O Setup 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—changes made to physical routing in one is always re­flected in the other.
The I/O Setup lets you label and map Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus signal paths. The I/O Setup also provides important audition, me­ter, and surround settings. For more informa­tion, see Chapter 6, “I/O Setup.”
Routing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destinations
Pro Tools channel pairs can be routed to multi­ple physical outputs on an audio interface through the Hardware Setup.
For example, if you assign Channels 1–2 to both outputs Analog 1–2 and Analog 3–4, when you send a signal to Pro Tools Channels 1–2, that signal will be routed simultaneously to both pairs of output ports on your audio interface.
Chapter 5: System Setup 67
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).

System Usage

Processing Bandwidth
To route a Pro Tools output channel pair to multiple audio interface output ports:
1 Choose Setup > Hardware.
2 From the Peripherals list, select an interface.
3 Click the Main tab.
4 Select an output port pair from an Output pop-
up menu.
5 Control-click (Mac) or Start-click (Windows)
the same pop-up menu a second time to choose another available Output Port pair.
Only currently unassigned Output Port pairs are available.
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.
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. For more information, see “Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools Input and Output Channels” on page 83.
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 four common system activity meters:
PCI Displays the amount of PCI bus activity.
CPU (RTAS) Displays the amount of CPU pro-
cessing activity for RTAS processing.
CPU (Elastic) Displays the amount of processing activity for Real-Time Elastic Audio processing.
Disk Displays the amount of hard disk process­ing activity.
System Usage window (Pro Tools LE shown)
As these meters approach their limits, host pro­cessing and recording or playback of automa­tion data can be affected. If CPU or PCI Activity are high, a system error may occur. If Disk Activ­ity is high, Pro Tools may miss playback of some automation data during particularly dense peri­ods of activity, such as while using the Bounce to Disk command.
Pro Tools Reference Guide68
Pro Tools HD
System Activity
TDM Voices Allocated
TDM Time Slots Used
DSP Usage
With Pro Tools HD, there are additional meters:
TDM Voices Allocated Displays the total number of TDM voices that can be allocated and the number of voices currently allocated. This in­cludes all voices whether they are allocated ex­plicitly or dynamically, as well as any voices used for routing RTAS processing.
TDM Time Slots Used Displays the total number of TDM Time Slots available and the number of TDM Time Slots currently used.
DSP Usage (HD Core and HD Accel) Displays (in percent) how much of each DSP chip on each Pro Tools|HD card is currently being used for mixer configurations and TDM plug-ins.
To reduce processing load, do one of the following:
Reduce the density of automation in places
where it shows the most activity. For details, see “Thinning Automation” on page 953.
– or –
Turn off meters in Sends view, if enabled (by
deselecting Show Meters in Sends View in the Dis- play Preferences page). For details, see “Individ­ual Send Views and Meters” on page 871.
DSP Caching
(Pro Tools HD Only)
Pro Tools HD maintains a Plug-In and Mixer cache for allocated DSP when closing and open­ing sessions. While this has no effect on the time it takes to open the first session after you launch Pro Tools, it does result in being able to open and close all subsequent Pro Tools sessions much more quickly, especially when using the Revert To Saved command or when opening sim­ilarly configured sessions.
However, when using DSP caching, the System Usage window may not always accurately show the DSP resources your session is currently us­ing. For an accurate display of current DSP us­age, you can either disable DSP caching or purge the DSP cache.
System Usage window (Pro Tools HD 2 Accel shown)
To monitor the usage of resources during a Pro Tools session:
Choose Window > System Usage.
Chapter 5: System Setup 69
To enable (or disable) DSP Caching:
1 Open the System Usage window (Windows >
System Usage).
2 Click the DSP Cache pop-up menu and select
(or deselect) Use DSP Cache.
System Usage window, DSP Cache pop-up menu
To purge the DSP cache:
1 Open the System Usage window (Windows >
System Usage).
2 Click the DSP Cache pop-up menu and select
(or deselect) Purge Cache. This refreshes the Sys­tem Usage display.
Pro Tools Reference Guide70

Chapter 6: I/O Setup

Channel Grid
Path Type tabs
Active/Inactive Status
Options
Path Format selector
Path Name column
Path tools
Input and Output selectors
Interface Name label
Import/Export Settings
The I/O Setup provides tools to label, format, and map Pro Tools input, output, insert, and bus audio signal paths both for individual ses­sions as well as for your specific Pro Tools system.
With Pro Tools HD, PRE (Mic Preamp) signal paths are supported. You can also configure Delay Compensation for hardware inserts.
For information about I/O Setups with Pro Tools LE or M-Powered, refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide version 8.0. A printed copy is available for purchase from the Avid Store (www.avid.com).
Figure 1. I/O Setup on a Pro Tools|HD system with HD OMNI and HD I/O
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 71
The I/O Setup provides a graphical representa­tion (cross-point matrix) of the signal routing for physical input and output paths for each con­nected audio interface. Like a virtual patchbay, I/O Setup controls let you route physical inputs and outputs on the audio interface to Pro Tools input and output channels. Some of these con­trols mirror the routing controls found in the Hardware Setup—changes made to physical routing in one is always reflected in the other.
The I/O Setup also provides controls for creating internal mix busses, and for creating and map­ping output busses.
Opening the I/O Setup
The I/O Setup can be opened from the applica­tion window (with a session closed), or from within a session (when a session is open).
To open the I/O Setup:
1 Make sure your audio interfaces are enabled
and configured properly in the Hardware Setup. See “Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings” on page 58.
Resizing the I/O Setup Dialog
To resize the I/O Setup dialog, do one of the following:
On Mac, drag the lower-right corner of the
window.
– or –
On Windows, drag any corner of the window.
Navigating in the I/O Setup
To scroll left or right in the I/O Setup:
Press Option+Page Up/Down (Mac) or
Alt+Page Up/Down (Windows).

Pro Tools Signal Paths

A signal path is a logical grouping of multiple in­puts, outputs, or busses that has a single name and (channel) format. The I/O Setup lets you de­fine and name paths according to the configura­tion of your studio and the needs of each proj­ect.
2 Choose Setup > I/O.
Closing the I/O Setup
To close the I/O Setup and save changes:
Click OK.
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 will close. For more informa­tion, see “Valid Paths and Requirements” on page 93.
To close the I/O Setup without saving changes:
Click Cancel.
Pro Tools Reference Guide72
Main Paths and Sub-Paths
Paths in Pro Tools tracks and I/O Setup include main paths and sub-paths.
Main Paths Main paths are logical groupings of inputs, inserts, busses, or outputs. For example, a master stereo output path will include both its left and right channels.
Sub-Paths A sub-path represents a signal path
Stereo main path
Mono sub-paths
within a main path. For example, a default ste­reo output bus path consists of two mono sub­paths, left and right. Mono tracks and sends can be routed to either mono sub-path of the stereo output bus path.
It is especially useful to define and name sub-paths for complex mixing setups, such as a 5.1 Surround mix.
Paths in Session Tracks
In sessions, audio is routed using the track In­put, Output, Insert, and Send selectors. These se­lectors let you assign tracks to hardware inputs, output busses, 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 (see “As­signing Audio Inputs and Outputs to Tracks” on page 202).
Paths in the I/O Setup
The signal routing path choices available in a session are defined in the I/O Setup. For more information, see “I/O Setup Pages and Controls” on page 74.
Path Configurations and I/O Settings
Each Pro Tools session retains its path configu­rations as I/O Settings.
Each Pro Tools system can have a different path configuration, determined by:
• Whether it is a Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, or Pro Tools M-Powered system
• On Pro Tools|HD systems, the number and types of audio interfaces
• On Pro Tools|HD systems, and Pro Tools LE systems with Complete Production Toolkit, the installed Mixer plug-in (Stereo or Sur­round)
Certain aspects of the I/O Settings are saved with the session are loaded automatically when the session is opened. Other aspects of I/O Settings are saved with the system.
Unavailable items (including hardware, paths, or required resources) remain in the session as inactive items (see “Making Paths Active or In­active” on page 91).
When you create a new session, you can specify which I/O Settings to use (for example, the “Last Used” settings, or one of any custom I/O Set­tings files).
You can save and import I/O Settings files in the I/O Setup (see “Importing and Export­ing I/O Settings Files” on page 97).
Main and sub-paths in I/O Setup
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 73
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. These paths are avail­able in session tracks and are reflected in the I/O Setup. You can customize your I/O Setup config­uration at any time, according to the needs of each project (see “I/O Setup Pages and Controls” on page 74).
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.

I/O Setup Pages and Controls

Path Type Pages
The I/O Setup provides tabs to open pages for configuring the following I/O Settings.
To open any specific I/O Setup page:
Click the corresponding tab at the top of the
I/O Setup.
Press and hold the Command key (Mac) or the Control key (Windows) and use the Left or Right Arrow keys to cycle through the dif­ferent pages of the I/O Setup.
Multichannel settings files are available on Pro Tools|HD systems, and Pro Tools LE systems with Complete Production Toolkit. These set­tings provide specialized path definitions for surround mixing. For more information, see “Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Ses­sions” on page 1004.
Default Path Names
Default names for input, output, and insert paths are based on the type of system (such as specific Pro Tools LE systems) or type and num­ber of interfaces (such as Pro Tools|HD systems) you are using.
It is recommended that if you choose to cus­tomize your I/O Setup, configure the system­specific options first: Input, Output, Insert, Mic Preamps, and H/W Insert Delay. Then configure the Bus page as desired. Once you have configured your system, you should not need to change it unless you add or remove hardware (such as audio interfaces) from your system.
Pro Tools Reference Guide74
Input Page
Output Page
The Input page of the I/O Setup lets you create and map Pro Tools Input channels to receive au­dio from the physical inputs of your Pro Tools audio interfaces.
Configure input signal path names, formats, and source channel (analog or digital) on the In­put page. Multichannel input paths (stereo or greater) can have any number of sub-paths. In­put channels can have overlapping Input signal paths. Input names, channel widths, and physi­cal input mappings are saved with and recalled from the system.
The Output page of the I/O Setup lets you create and map Pro Tools Output channels to send au­dio to the physical outputs of your Pro Tools au­dio interfaces.
Configure output signal path names and for­mats on the Output page. Output channels can have overlapping Output paths. Output names, channel widths, and physical output mappings are saved with and recalled from the system.
I/O Setup, Input page
I/O Setup, Output page
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 75
Bus Page
Insert Page
The Bus page of the I/O Setup lets you create and edit internal mix busses and output busses. The Bus page also lets you map output busses to Out­put paths (as configured in the Output page of the I/O Setup).
Output bus paths are automatically mapped to output channels depending on the defined ses­sion output bus paths and the available system output channel paths. Output bus and internal mix bus names and channel widths are saved with and recalled from the session.
The Insert page of the I/O Setup lets you create and edit hardware insert signal paths for the Pro Tools mixer. Hardware inserts can route au­dio through an external device connected to parallel inputs and outputs of a Pro Tools audio interface. This lets you process audio on a track with a hardware insert in real time. Insert paths require audio interface inputs and outputs, and are determined by the configuration of the In­sert page in the I/O Setup for your system.
I/O Setup, Bus page
For information about configuring output busses, see “Output Busses” on page 94.
Pro Tools Reference Guide76
I/O Setup, Insert page
For information about using hardware inserts, see “Using Hardware Inserts” on page 924.
Mic Preamps
(PRE with Pro Tools HD Only)
On the Mic Preamps page of the I/O Setup, sig­nal paths for one or more PRE multi-purpose mi­crophone preamplifiers can be mapped to Pro Tools HD audio interfaces. For more informa­tion, see the PRE Guide.
Mic Preamps
H/W Insert Delay Compensation
(Pro Tools HD Only)
If you do not know your hardware’s insert delay, see “Determining Your Hardware’s Insert Delay” on page 77.
Insert delay offsets only have an effect when the I/O is used for hardware inserts.
Determining Your Hardware’s Insert Delay
Check the documentation for your external hardware to see if it identifies the hardware la­tency, or use the following procedure in Pro Tools to determine the latency for hardware inserts.
To determine your hardware’s insert delay:
1 Ensure that Automatic Delay Compensation is
enabled (Options > Delay Compensation).
To compensate for the delay (latency) of any ex­ternal hardware devices (such as an effects unit) used in your session, you can set the amount of Hardware Insert Delay Compensation (in milli­seconds) for each external device. These times will be used by the Delay Compensation Engine to time-align input paths when the hardware in­sert is in use and Delay Compensation is en­abled.
Insert offset delay field
To set an insert delay offset:
Type a value, in milliseconds, in the field cor-
responding with the input where the hardware insert is connected.
2 Change your session’s Main Time Scale to
Min:Sec.
3 Create two tracks.
4 Route the tracks as follows: Route the output
of track 1 to the device’s inputs, then route the input of track 2 to the device’s outputs.
5 Place a short tone (or other sound with a de-
finitive beginning) on track 1.
6 Record enable track 2 and press Record Enable
and Play in the Transport window to play back the audio in track 1 and record it to track 2.
7 After recording, zoom in and measure the
difference between where the audio starts in track 1 and track 2. The difference is the value you would enter as your hardware’s insert delay offset.
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 77
I/O Setup Signal Path Controls
Input selector
Expand/Collapse
Path For mat selector
Channel grid
triangle
Active/Inactive Status box
Path Name column
Depending on the I/O Setup page, the I/O Setup provides the following controls in its graphical section for configuring signal routing paths.
I
I/O Setup, Signal Path controls (Input page shown)
Input and Output Selectors Let you 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.
Path Name Column Shows paths that are avail­able for selection, including the name of each defined path. Path names can be renamed.
Expand/Collapse Triangle Shows or hides the sub-paths associated with a main path (Input and Bus paths only).
Active/Inactive Status Box 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 (greater-than-stereo multichannel formats are supported with Pro Tools|HD systems and Pro Tools LE systems with Complete Production Toolkit only).
Channel Grid Maps paths to specific interfaces and channels.
I/O Setup Buttons
Depending on the I/O Setup page, the I/O Setup can provide the following buttons for configur­ing signal routing.
I
I/O Setup, Signal Path buttons (Input page shown)
New Path Button Lets you create a new path on signal path pages for Input, Output, Insert, Bus, or Mic Preamp (Pro Tools HD only).
New Sub-Path Button Lets you create a new sub­path on signal path pages for Input, Output, In­sert, Bus, or Mic Preamp (Pro Tools HD only).
Delete Path Button Lets you delete any selected path or sub-path on signal path pages for Input, Output, Insert, Bus, or Mic Preamp (Pro Tools HD only).
Import Settings Button Lets you import an I/O settings file to reconfigure I/O Setup. Import Set- tings only imports the settings for the currently viewed page of the I/O Setup (such as the Input page).
Pro Tools Reference Guide78
Export Settings Button Lets you save I/O settings as a file that can be imported into other sessions or used on other Pro Tools systems. Export Set- tings exports the settings for all pages of the I/O Setup.
Default Button Resets a path type to its default path configuration, depending on which inter­face you are using and how your Hardware Setup is configured.
Show Last Saved Setup Appears in the I/O Setup in certain session transfer situations. For details on this feature, see “Show Last Saved Setup and Show Current Setup” on page 99.
Pop-Up Menu Selectors I/O Options Provide se­lectors with pop-up menus to set paths or or­ders. The Output and Bus pages provide a Con­troller Meter Path selector. The Output page also provides selectors for Audition Paths (Region List and DigiBase previewing), New Track De­fault Output, Default Path Order, AFL/PFL Path (Pro Tools HD only), and AFL/PFL Mutes (Pro Tools HD only). See “I/O Setup Options” on page 79.
Cancel Button Closes the I/O Setup without sav­ing changes.
OK Button Closes the I/O Setup and saves any changes.
I/O Setup Options
Pro Tools systems have several additional I/O Setup options depending on which page of the I/O Setup you are viewing. These include de­fault signal routing for metering and audition­ing, and default track layout for multichannel mix formats.
I
I/O Setup, Signal Path options (Output page shown)
Compensate for Delays After Record Pass
(Pro Tools HD Only)
Pro Tools provide two options for compensating for input and output latency (due to ADC and DAC) after recording.
Compensation for Input Delays After Record Pass
When enabled, this option provides automatic compensation for any analog or digital input de­lay with Pro Tools audio interfaces. Enable this option for all recording situations. When re­cording from a digital source, both the Compen-
sation for Input Delays After Record Pass and the Compensation for Output Delays After Record Pass
options must be enabled.
The Compensation for Input Delays After Record Pass option is only available in the Input page of the I/O Setup.
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 79
Compensation for Output Delays After Record Pass
The Audition Paths selector is available in the Output and Bus pages of the I/O Setup.
When enabled, this option provides automatic compensation for any analog or digital output delay with Pro Tools|HD audio interfaces. En­able this option when you are synchronized to an external clock source. When recording from a digital source, both the Compensation for Input
Delays After Record Pass and the Compensation for Output Delays After Record Pass options must
be enabled.
The Compensation for Output Delays After Record Pass option is only available in the Output page of the I/O Setup.
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 or D-Command worksurfaces. For more details, refer to your control surface docu­mentation.
The Controller Meter Path selector is available in the Output and Bus pages of the I/O Setup.
For information on previewing audio in the Region List, see “Previewing Regions in the Region List” on page 241.
For information on previewing audio in Di­giBase browsers, see “Previewing Audio in DigiBase” on page 272.
Using the Default Audition Path
When yo u preview a file or region in the Re gion List in a DigiBase browser, or when AudioSuite processing, Pro Tools routes the audio output through the specified 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.
Configuring Audition Paths
You can specify the monitoring outputs for au­ditioning audio in the Region List and DigiBase browsers, or for previewing AudioSuite process­ing, using the Audition Paths pop-up menu.
Audition Paths
You can specify the output path through which files and regions are previewed (auditioned) in the Region List or in DigiBase browsers, and when previewing AudioSuite processing.
Pro Tools Reference Guide80
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 or Pro Tools LE systems with Complete Production Toolkit).
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 pop-up
menu or submenus.
Default Output Bus
You can specify the default output bus path as­signment for new tracks, in each available for­mat.
The Default Output Bus selector is available in the Output and Bus pages of the I/O Setup.
To select the AFL/PFL Path output:
Select a path from the AFL/PFL Path pop-up
menu.
Selecting None as the AFL/PFL Path disables AFL and PFL Solo modes. When None is se­lected, AFL and PFL cannot be used.
The Default Output Bus can be set for inter­nal mix bus paths, as well as for output bus paths.
To specify a default output for new tracks in the I/O Setup:
Click the Default Output Bus pop-up menu and
select a format and output bus path.
AFL/PFL Path
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit 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.
The AFL/PFL Path selector is available in the Out­put and Bus pages of the I/O Setup.
See “Solo Modes” on page 213 for more in­formation on using AFL or PFL Solo modes.
If you do not see the AFL/PFL Path selector, confirm that you have installed the Sur­round Mixer in the Plug-Ins (Used) folder. For information on switching Mixer plug­ins, see the Pro Tools|HD User Guide.
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 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.
2 In the Mix or Edit window, Control-click
(Windows) or Command-click (Mac) 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.
To set the AFL/PFL Path level to 0 dB, Con­trol-Start-click (Windows) or Command­Control-click (Mac) any Solo button.
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 81
AFL/PFL Mutes (Output Path)
(Systems without a D-Control or D-Command Control Surface)
To choose a Default Monitor Format:
Select the channel mapping from the Default
Monitor Format pop-up menu.
If you are not using a D-Control or D-Command worksurface, 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.
The AFL/PFL Mutes selector is available in the Output and Bus pages of the I/O Setup.
See “Solo Modes” on page 213 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) pop-up menu.
4 Click OK to save your changes to the I/O Setup
and close the I/O Setup.
Default Monitor Format
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit Only)
The Default Monitor Format pop-up menu lets you select the default monitor format (Stereo, 5.1, or
7.1) for new Output paths and for when you click the Default button.
This setting does not affect existing path defini­tions or metering—it only specifies channel mapping in new 5.1-format paths.
The Default Monitor Format selector is only avail­able in the Output page of I/O Setup.
For more information about multichannel mixing, see Chapter 44, “Pro Tools Setup for Surround.”
5.1 Path Order
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with Complete Production Toolkit Only)
The 5.1 Path Order pop-up menu lets you specify the default track layout for all new 5.1 format paths you create.
The 5.1 Path Order selector is available in the In­put, Output, and Insert pages of the I/O Setup.
To choose a new default 5.1-format path order (track layout):
1 Choose Setup > I/O.
2 Click the Output tab.
3 Use the 5.1 Default Path Order setting to select
the track layout you want (C|24/Film, SMPTE/ITU, DTS/ProControl Monitoring, or D-Com­mand/D-Control).
Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened
This option lets you select whether or not to have the Input, Output, Insert, Mic Preamp, and H/W Insert Delay settings (as currently config­ured on your system) overwritten by any previ­ously saved system-based I/O Settings when you open the session. The Output Bus paths of the session remain mapped to the Output paths saved with the session. Note that any custom settings saved with the session that do not match your system may need to be reconfigured in the I/O Setup.
Pro Tools Reference Guide82
The Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened option is available in the Input, Output
Bus, and Insert pages of the I/O Setup.
Enable the Sessions Overwrite Current I/O Setup When Opened option for legacy Pro Tools behavior (versions lower than
8.1).

Customizing I/O Settings

When you first install and configure your Pro Tools system, observe the following proce­dure for customizing your I/O Setup.
If you are using an HD OMNI in your Pro Tools|HD system, be sure to configure the Monitor page of the Hardware Setup for HD OMNI before configuring the I/O Setup. For more information, see the HD OMNI Guide.
To customize I/O Settings:
1 Open the I/O Setup (Setup > I/O).
2 In the I/O Setup, click the Input tab.
3 Create input paths and sub-paths with appro-
priate widths and mapping to physical inputs that match your studio configuration (see “Cre­ating New Paths” on page 85).
4 Name input paths and sub-paths as desired
(use the default naming scheme if you can).
7 Name output paths using standard industry
terminology, such as “Main,” “Cue A,” “Cue B,” and so on. This will facilitate session exchange with other Pro Tools systems (see “Recom­mended Output Path Naming Schemes” on page 87).
8 If you plan on using hardware inserts, click
the Insert tab and create insert paths with appro­priate widths and mappings to physical inputs and outputs matching your studio configura­tion. Name insert paths using standard industry terminology if possible, such as “Compressor,” “Reverb,” “EQ,” and so on.
9 If you are using hardware inserts, click the
H/W Insert Delay tab. Enter the correct insert de­lay in milliseconds for each input/output pair that you are using for hardware inserts. (See “H/W Insert Delay Compensation” on page 77.)
10 If you are using one or more PRE peripherals,
click the Mic Preamps tab and configure it ac­cordingly (see the PRE Guide).
11 Click the Bus tab.
12 Create internal mix bus and output bus paths
and sub-paths as desired. Ensure that output busses are mapped to the correct output paths (see “Output Busses” on page 94).
13 Click OK. You should not have to open the
I/O Setup again unless you add or remove hard­ware to or from your system.
5 Click the Output tab.
6 Create output paths with appropriate widths
and mapping to physical outputs that match your studio configuration.

Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools Input and Output Channels

The I/O Setup lets you define which physical ports on your audio interface are routed to avail­able input and output channels in Pro Tools. Use the Input and Output selectors in the I/O Setup to serve as a patchbay to route any of the
Chapter 6: I/O Setup 83
physical inputs or outputs of your audio inter­faces to the Pro Tools mixer. This mirrors the In- put and Output controls in the Hardware Setup (see “Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings” on page 58).
The Monitor path for HD OMNI is fixed and cannot be changed in the I/O Setup. The Monitor path for HD OMNI can be config­ured in the Monitor page of the Hardware Setup.
HD MADI Inputs and Outputs are “hard­wired” and cannot be changed.
To configure I/O routing in I/O Setup:
1 Choose Setup > I/O.
2 Click the Input or Output tab to display the cor-
responding 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.
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. 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).
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 93 for details.
Pro Tools outputs pairs can also be routed to multiple audio interface outputs in the Hard­ware Setup. For information, see “Routing a Pro Tools Output Pair to Multiple Destinations” on page 67.
I/O Channel selector pop-up menu
5 Repeat the above step for additional channel
pairs.
6 Click OK to save changes and close the I/O
Setup.
Pro Tools Reference Guide84
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 (Mac)
the same Output selector and select an addi­tional output pair from the same pop-up menu.
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