Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools LE - 6.1 Reference Guide

Pro Tools

Reference Guide

Version 6.1 for TDM or LE Systems on Windows or Macintosh

Version 5.3.x for TDM or LE Systems on Macintosh

Version 5.1.x for MIX or LE Systems on Macintosh

Digidesign

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Web Site

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This guide is copyrighted ©2003 by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Digidesign.

DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All features and specifications subject to change without notice.

PN 910611586-00 REV A 07/03

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools

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

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Chapter 2. Pro Tools System Configurations

Pro Tools TDM Systems Pro Tools LE Systems

Chapter 3. Pro Tools Concepts

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

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Chapter 4. Pro Tools Windows

The Mix Window The Edit Window The Transport Window

Chapter 5. Keyboard Shortcuts

Global Key Commands Keyboard Focus Numeric Keypad Modes

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Part II Sessions & Tracks

Chapter 6. Sessions

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

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Chapter 7. I/O Setup

The I/O Setup Dialog Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools I/O Creating and Editing Paths I/O Settings Files I/O Setup Options

Chapter 8. Tracks

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

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Chapter 9. Importing and Exporting Session Data

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

Pro Tools Reference Guide

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

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Chapter 10. File Management and Compatibility

Audio File Management WAV File Compatibility Avid File Compatibility Creating Macintosh and PC Compatible Sessions Moving Sessions Between Platforms with MacOpener

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Part III Recording

Chapter 11. Record Setup

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

Chapter 12. Basic Audio Recording

Recording an Audio Track Record Shortcuts Record Pause Mode Recording Additional Takes Punch Recording Audio Loop Recording Audio Auditioning Record Takes Setting Punch/Loop Points

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Contents

Chapter 13. MIDI Recording

Recording from MIDI Devices Enabling Input Devices MIDI Thru MIDI Input Filter Input Quantize

Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

MIDI Merge/Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Configuring MIDI Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Recording to MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Punch Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Recording System Exclusive Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

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Chapter 14. Advanced Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

QuickPunch Audio Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Recording from a Digital Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Half-Speed Recording and Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Part IV Editing

Chapter 15. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Displaying Region Names and Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Audio Regions and Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

The Audio and MIDI Regions Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

The Universe Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Timebase Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Chapter 16. Playing and Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

The Scrubber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Linking or Unlinking Edit and Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Pro Tools Reference Guide

Playing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Playing Edit and Timeline Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Chapter 17. Working with Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Creating New Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Healing a Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

The Trimmer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Sliding Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Nudging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Shift Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Quantizing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Locking Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Edit Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Duplicate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Repeat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Merge Paste Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Waveform Repair with the Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

The Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Chapter 18. Advanced Editing (TDM Systems Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Replacing Audio Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Repeat Paste To Fill Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Compress/Expand Edit To Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Chapter 19. Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Using Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Chapter 20. Managing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Stripping Silence from Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Consolidate Selection Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Naming and Displaying Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Contents vii

Chapter 21. Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Tempo Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Default Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Memory Locations and Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Chapter 22. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

The Beat Detective Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Beat Detective Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Defining a Beat Detective Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Calculating Tempo with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Generating Beat Triggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

DigiGroove Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Separating Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Conforming Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Edit Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Part V MIDI Editing

Chapter 23. MIDI Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

The Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Custom Note Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Setting the Grid Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Inserting MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Manually Editing MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Patch Select (Program and Bank Changes). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Note and Controller Chasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Chapter 24. MIDI Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

MIDI Operations Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Select Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Pro Tools Reference Guideviii

Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Quantize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Groove Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Restore Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Flatten Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Chapter 25. MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

The MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Editing in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

MIDI Event List Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Part VI Mixing

Chapter 26. Basic Mixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Metering and Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Audio Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Viewing I/O, Inserts, and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Track Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Track Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Submixing for Signal Routing and Effects Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Using a Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Chapter 27. Plug-In and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Inserting Plug-Ins on Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Moving and Duplicating Plug-In and Hardware Inserts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

The Plug-In Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Editing Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Using Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Connecting and Integrating External Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Contents ix

Chapter 28. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Automation Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Writing Automation to the Start, End or All of a Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Trimming Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Chapter 29. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Recording to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Bounce to Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Bounce Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Recording a Submix (with Bounce To Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

Final Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Part VII Surround

Chapter 30. Surround Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Mixing Formats and Surround Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Pro Tools Mixing Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

Speaker Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

Surround Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Formats and Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Surround Mixing Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Chapter 31. Pro Tools Setup for Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

Default I/O Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Chapter 32. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Multichannel Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Pro Tools Reference Guidex

Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Chapter 33. Surround Panning and Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

Output Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Standard Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Panning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

SurroundScope Metering Plug-In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

Part VIII Synchronization

Chapter 34. Synchronization Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Synchronization Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Aspects of Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Synchronizing Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

SMPTE Frame Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Working with Film-Originated Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

Chapter 35. Working with Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Pull Up and Pull Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

Putting Pro Tools Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

Synchronizing a Sequencer to Pro Tools on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Synchronizing a Sequencer to Pro Tools on Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Setting Minimum Sync Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551

Remote Track Arming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

Synchronizing Pro Tools to an OMS-Compatible Sequencer Using MMC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Troubleshooting Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Contents xi

Chapter 36. Working with QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

About QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

QuickTime Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Movie Playback Quality Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Importing a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566

Firewire Playback of QuickTime DV Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

About the Movie Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Setting the Movie Start Time (Movie Offset) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Spotting Audio to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Importing QuickTime Audio (and Other Compressed Video Files). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572

Bouncing to a New Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

Appendix A. DSP-Induced Delays in Mixing (TDM Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Delay Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Compensating for Delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Appendix B. TDM Mixing and DSP Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Benefits of TDM II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

DSP Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

DSP Usage with TDM Mixers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585

DSP Usage with TDM Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

DSP Usage and I/O Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Appendix C. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Backing Up Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Common Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Using DigiTest as a Diagnostic Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

Performance Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

Pro Tools Reference Guidexii

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools

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

The Pro Tools Guides

Your Pro Tools system includes the following guides:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pro Tools MIDI Control Surfaces Guide Electronic PDF guide that includes instructions for operating Pro Tools with various MIDI control surfaces.

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

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

MachineControl Guide (TDM Systems Only) Electronic PDF guide that includes instructions for using MachineControl software for Pro Tools to enable serial communication with remote audio and video machines.

Keyboard Shortcut Cards Separate electronic PDFs for Windows and Macintosh that list the many keyboard shortcuts not shown in the Pro Tools menus.

Digidesign also provides guides with audio interfaces, optional dedicated controllers (such as Control|24 and ProControl) and other Digidesign options, (such as MIDI I/O, PRE, and SYNC I/O). Refer to the separate guide provided with each Digidesign product.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 3

Conventions Used in These Guides

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

Convention Action

File > Save Session Choose Save Session

from the File menu

Control+N Hold down the Control

key and press the N key

Compatibility Information

Digidesign can only assure compatibility and provide support for hardware and software it has tested and approved. For a list of Digidesignqualified computers, operating systems, and third-party devices, refer to the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com).

Control-click Hold down the Option key

and click the mouse button

Right-click (Windows) Click with the right

mouse button

The following symbols are used to highlight important information:

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

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

Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or mouse shortcuts.

Cross References point to related sections in Digidesign guides.

About www.digidesign.com

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

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

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

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

Digidesign Registration

Be sure to complete and return the registration card included with your Pro Tools system. Registered users will receive periodic software update and upgrade notices. Refer to the registration card for technical support and warranty information.

Pro Tools Reference Guide4

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

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

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations

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

• TDM = Pro Tools TDM software for Pro Tools|HD-series, Pro Tools|24 MIX-series, or Pro Tools|24 hardware.

• LE = Pro Tools LE software for Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, Digi 001, Mbox, or Toolbox hardware.

Pro Tools TDM Systems

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

Pro Tools system performance depends on factors such as computer processor speed, amount of system memory, and hard drive performance. Contact your Digidesign dealer or visit Digidesign’s Web site for the latest system requirements and compatibility information.

HD-Series Systems

Pro Tools|HD 1

Includes:

• HD Core card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|HD 2

Includes:

• HD Core card

• HD Process card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|HD 3

Includes:

• HD Core card

•Two HD Process cards

• Pro Tools TDM software

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 5

MIX-Series Systems

Supported Audio Interfaces

Pro Tools|24 MIX

Includes:

• MIX Core card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|24 MIXplus

Includes:

•MIX Core card

• MIX Farm card

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|24 MIX

Includes:

• MIX Core card

•Two MIX Farm cards

• Pro Tools TDM software

Pro Tools|24 System

Pro Tools|24

Includes:

• d24 Audio card

• DSP Farm card

• Pro Tools TDM software

HD-Series Only

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

• 192 I/O

• 192 Digital I/O

• 96 I/O

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

HD-Series, MIX-Series and Pro Tools|24

The following Digidesign audio interfaces are supported with Pro Tools|HD-series, Pro Tools|24 MIX-series and Pro Tools|24 systems:

• 888|24 I/O and 882|20 I/O

• 1622 I/O

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

Audio interfaces that work with HD-series systems require the use of at least one 192 I/O, 192 digital I/O, or 96 I/O.

The original 888 I/O and 882 I/O audio interfaces work with Pro Tools|24 MIX-series and Pro Tools|24 systems only.

Pro Tools Reference Guide6

TDM System Playback, Recording and Voice Limits

The following table lists the audio playback, recording, and voiceable track limits of each type of Pro Tools TDM system. Playback and recording voices refer to the number of unique simultaneous playback and record tracks on your system. Total voiceable tracks refers to the maximum number of audio tracks that can share the available voices on your system. (Mono tracks take up one voice. Stereo and multichannel tracks take up one voice per channel.) Voice limits are dependent on the session sample rate and the number of DSP chips dedicated to the system’s Playback Engine. Pro Tools HD-series systems can open sessions with up to 256 audio tracks (and Pro Tools|24 MIX-series or Pro Tools|24 systems can open sessions with up to 128 audio tracks), but any audio tracks beyond that system’s voiceable track limit will be automatically set to Voice Off.

Pro Tools|HD-series systems provide up to 128 Auxiliary tracks (Auxiliary Inputs); Pro Tools|24 MIXseries and Pro Tools|24 systems provide up to 64 Auxiliary Inputs. All TDM-equipped Pro Tools systems also provide a total of 64 internal mix busses, and up to 5 inserts and 5 sends per track (depending on the DSP capacity of your system).

In addition, Pro Tools TDM systems support up to 256 MIDI channels (Pro Tools 6.x) or up to 128 MIDI channels (Pro Tools 5.1 to 5.3.x).

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

Sample

Core System Type

Pro Tools|HD 1 44.1/48 96 96 112

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

Pro Tools|24 MIX, Expanded Pro Tools|24 MIX, Pro Tools|24 MIXplus, Pro Tools|24 MIX

Pro Tools|24 44.1/48 32 32 43

Expanded Pro Tools|24 44.1/48 64 64 86

Rate (kHz)

88.2/96 48 48 48

176.4/192 12 12 12

44.1/48 128 128 224

88.2/96 64 64 80

176.4/192 24 24 24

44.1/48 64 64 86

Voices (Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback)

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 7

Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Recording

Total Voiceable Tracks

Audio Interfaces for TDM Systems

The following table lists the input and output capabilities of the various audio interfaces for Pro Tools TDM systems. In expanded Pro Tools|HD systems, audio interfaces can be combined for up to 96 audio inputs and outputs (for example, with one HD Core card, two HD Process cards, and six I/Os). In expanded Pro Tools|24 MIX systems, audio interfaces can be combined for up to 72 audio inputs and outputs (for example, with one MIX Core card, five MIX Farm cards, and six ADAT Bridge I/Os).

Table 4. Pro Tools TDM system audio interface channel capabilities

Interface Type

192 I/O 16 in/16 out

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

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

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

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

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

24-bit ADAT Bridge I/O

Original ADAT Bridge I/O

Number of I/O Channels

(Expansion port supports up to 16 channels of additional I/O)

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

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

Sample Rates (kHz)

44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192

96, 176.4, 192

A/D Conversion

24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

None None 24-bit

D/A Conversion

20-bit, on older I/O)

Digital I/O

24-bit

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

888 I/O 8 in/8 out 44.1, 48 18-bit (or

16-bit, on older I/O)

882 I/O 8 in/8 out 44.1, 48 16-bit 16-bit 24-bit

Pro Tools Reference Guide8

18-bit 24-bit

Pro Tools LE Systems

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

Digi 002

A Digi 002 system includes:

• Digi 002 combined audio interface and controller

• Pro Tools LE software

Mbox

An Mbox system includes:

• Mbox audio interface

• Pro Tools LE software

Digi ToolBox XP

A Digi ToolBox system includes:

• Audiomedia III PCI card

• Pro Tools LE software

Digi 002 Rack

A Digi 002 Rack system includes:

• Digi 002 audio interface

• Pro Tools LE software

Digi 001

A Digi 001 system includes:

• Digi 001 PCI card

• Digi 001 I/O interface

• Pro Tools LE software

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

Chapter 2: Pro Tools System Conﬁgurations 9

Pro Tools LE System Capabilities

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

6.x), or will not open (Pro Tools 5.3.3 or lower). Additionally, with 5.3.3 or lower, if you save the session, the tracks beyond the voiceable track limit will be deleted from the session data.

All Pro Tools LE series systems provide up to 128 Auxiliary tracks (Auxiliary Inputs), a total of 16 internal mix busses, and up to 5 inserts and 5 sends per track (depending on your computer’s processing capacity). In addition, Pro Tools LE systems support up to 256 MIDI channels (Pro Tools 6.x) or up to 128 MIDI channels (Pro Tools 5.1 to 5.3.x).

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

System Type

Digi 002

Digi 002 Rack

Digi 001 32 (Pro Tools 6.x cross-

Mbox 32 (Pro Tools 6.x cross-

Audiomedia III 32 (Pro Tools 6.x cross-

Mono Tracks of Simultaneous Playback

32 up to 18 in/18 out

platform, and Pro Tools

5.3.1 to 6.x on Windows)

24 (Pro Tools 5.2 or lower)

platform, and Pro Tools

5.3.3 to 6.x on Windows)

24 (Pro Tools 5.2)

platform, and Pro Tools

5.3.1 to 6.x on Windows)

24 (Pro Tools 5.2 or lower)

Number of I/O Channels

(48 kHz or lower)

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

up to 18 in/18 out 24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

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

up to 4 in/4 out 18-bit 18-bit 24-bit

A/D Conversion

24-bit 24-bit 24-bit

D/A Conversion

Digital I/O

For details on transferring session material between Pro Tools TDM and Pro Tools LE systems, see “Sharing Sessions Between Pro Tools TDM Systems and Pro Tools LE Systems” on page 54.

Pro Tools Reference Guide10

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts

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

Hard Disk Audio Recording

The Digidesign Audio Engine

DAE (or Digidesign Audio Engine) is Digidesign’s real-time operating system for digital recording systems. When you install Pro Tools, DAE is automatically installed on your system.

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

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

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

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

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

The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory allocated within DAE to manage disk buffers, which affects system performance. For more information, see “DAE Playback Buffer Size” on page 42. The DAE Playback Buffer Size can be changed in the Playback Engine dialog, discussed below.

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 11

Playback Engine Dialog

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

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

Pro Tools Sessions

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

Session File

The Playback Engine dialog lets you set a hardware buffer size and allocate a percentage of CPU resources for these tasks. For more information, see “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings” on page 39.

Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools TDM system

The Playback Engine dialog is also where you select the number of voices and voiceable tracks for your system and its sessions. Voice count choices in the dialog are based on how much DSP processing you want to allocate for voicing. For more information, see “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings” on page 39.

Pro Tools session ﬁle icon, Pro Tools 6.x

Pro Tools session ﬁle icon, Pro Tools 5.3 or lower

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

See also “System Resources” on page 16.

Pro Tools Reference Guide12

Audio File

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

Audio ﬁle icon, Pro Tools 6.x

Audio ﬁle icon, Pro Tools 5.3 or lower

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

Tracks

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

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

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

Regions (or Loops)

Audio region

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

Audio tracks in the Edit window

MIDI track in the Edit window

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Playlist

Playlist Selector pop-up menu

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

On audio tracks, an edit playlist tells the hard disk which audio files to read in what order. For example, you can use the same audio region to access the same piece of audio multiple times at

different locations and not use additional disk space. Different versions of the same original audio can be created to modify the length, fade-in, fade-out, and effects applied.

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

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

Figure 1. Rear view of 192 I/O, 16 channels of input and output

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

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

Audio and MIDI channel strips have similar controls, but those controls have slightly different effects. For example, audio and Auxiliary Input channel strip faders control the output gain to the mix bus for that channel, while MIDI channel strip faders send MIDI volume data (MIDI controller 7) to the MIDI instrument.

Figure 2. Channel strip in the Mix window

Signal Routing

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

Signal Routing Example

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

Stereo

Inserts

Sends

Outputs to Stereo Bus path

plug-in

Input from Stereo Bus path

Output to Stereo Output path

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

Audio Tracks

Submixing to an Auxiliary Input

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Auxiliary Input

Signal routing options include the following:

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

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

Sends Sends route audio to internal busses to send to other tracks in Pro Tools, or to hardware outputs.

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

Paths Pro Tools lets you define a group of multiple inputs, outputs, or busses that have a single name and (channel) format. These groups comprise the lists of available routing choices in track I/O Selectors and other menus. Paths can be very useful for assigning stereo and multichannel I/O routing or sub-paths within a path. See Chapter 7, “I/O Setup” for more information.

System Resources

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

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

◆ Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of

your system by changing system settings (such as H/W Buffer Size and CPU Usage) that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording. See “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings” on page 39.

◆ Pro Tools allows for session items (such as

tracks and inserts) to be manually made inactive, to free up DSP resources. Inactive elements are viewable, editable, and retained within the session. See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 17.

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

tems (Pro Tools 6.x only), 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 “Voiceable Tracks and Track Priority” on page 96.

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

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Active and Inactive Items

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

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

◆ Audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master

Faders

◆ Track Inputs and Outputs

◆ Sends

◆ Side-chain inputs

◆ Plug-ins

◆ Hardware inserts

◆ Paths (session-wide)

MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.

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

Plug-Ins When a plug-in is inactive on a track, its DSP is made available for other plug-ins and processing. Plug-in assignments can be made inactive manually, or automatically (see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on page 18).

Paths and Path Assignments When a path or path assignment is inactive, its mixer resources are made available for other signal routing purposes in the session. Paths and assignments can be made inactive manually, or automatically (see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on page 18).

Tracks For TDM systems (Pro Tools 5.1 and higher) and LE systems (Pro Tools 6.x), when a track is made inactive, its voices become available for another track. Mono inactive tracks free up one voice, and stereo and multichannel tracks free up one voice per channel. Additionally, when an audio track, Auxiliary Input, or Master Fader is made inactive, its plug-ins, inserts, sends, and I/O assignments become inactive, and the associated DSP used is freed up for use elsewhere in the session.

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:

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Display of Inactive Items

Automatically Inactive Items

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

Active Inactive plug-in

Inactive track

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

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

Manual Inactive Switching

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

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

Active and inactive items and tracks

Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode

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

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To toggle an item active or inactive:

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

Control-click (Macintosh) the item.

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

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