Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools M-Powered - 7.3, Pro Tools - 7.3, Pro Tools LE - 7.3 Reference Guide

Pro Tools

Reference Guide

Version 7.3

This guide is copyrighted ©2007 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.

96 I/O, 96i I/O, 192 I/O, 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O, 1622 I/O, 24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/O, AudioSuite, Avid, AVoption, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, DigiDelivery, Digidesign, DigiTranslator, DINR, DV Toolkit, M-Audio, Mbox, Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Pro, Mbox 2 Mini, Pro Tools M-Powered, Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, RTAS, Smack!, SoundReplacer, and TL Space Native are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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

PN 9106-55991-00 REV A 1/07

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1. Welcome to Pro Tools

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

Chapter 2. Pro Tools Concepts

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

DigiBase

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 3. Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts

Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts Global Key Commands Keyboard Focus Numeric Keypad Modes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Part II System Configuration

Chapter 4. Pro Tools Systems

Pro Tools|HD Systems Pro Tools LE Systems Pro Tools M-Powered Pro Tools Academic DV Toolkit 2 and Music Production Toolkit

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Contents

iii

Chapter 5. System Setup

Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System Configuring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback Engine) Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings System Usage

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 6. I/O Setup

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

Chapter 7. Preferences

Display Preferences Operation Preferences Editing Preferences Mixing Preferences Processing Preferences MIDI Preferences Synchronization Preferences

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Part III Sessions & Tracks

Chapter 8. Sessions

Creating a New Session Session Files and Folders Opening a Session Opening Recent Sessions Saving a Session Creating Custom Session Templates Closing a Session Exiting or Quitting Pro Tools

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Chapter 9. Pro Tools Main Windows

Mix Window Edit Window Transport Window DigiBase Browsers Window Configurations Menus Tool Tips

Pro Tools Reference Guide

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter 10. Tracks

Track Types Track Channel Strips Track Controls and Indicators Adjusting Track Width Creating Tracks The Track List Track Name Right-Click Pop-Up Menus Assigning Inputs and Outputs to Tracks Track Priority and Voice Assignment Setting MIDI Input and Output Soloing and Muting Tracks Making Tracks Inactive Color Coding for Tracks, Regions, Markers and Groups Grouping Tracks Group Controls Working with Groups Setting Group Attributes Enabling Groups Grouped Control Offsets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Chapter 11. DigiBase

DigiBase Elements Performance and Transfer Volumes Digidesign Databases Browser Windows and Tools Indexing DigiBase Databases The Browser Menu Browser Panes and Display Column Data Waveforms and Auditioning Selecting Items Moving, Copying, Duplicating, and Deleting Items Searching Items Linking and Relinking Files Relink Window Workspace Browser Project Browser DigiBase Pro Catalogs Task Window Workflow Example

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

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

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Contents

Chapter 12. Importing and Exporting Session Data

Importing Audio Sample Rate Conversion Quality Importing Audio Files and Regions Importing Tracks and Track Attributes

Importing Items with Drag and Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Exporting Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Exporting Pro Tools Tracks as AAF or OMFI Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Exporting Sessions as Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Send via DigiDelivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Importing MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Exporting MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Send to Sibelius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Importing and Exporting Region Group Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Chapter 13. File and Session Management and Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Audio File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

WAV File Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Sharing Sessions Created on Different Computer Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Software Versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Multilingual Application Support for Pro Tools Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Part IV Recording

Chapter 14. Record Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Input Connections and Audio Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Record Enabling Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Record Monitoring Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Monitor Levels for Record and Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Monitoring Latency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Low Latency Monitoring with Delay Compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Default Track Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Disk Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Allocating Hard Drive Space for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Monitoring Drive Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Record Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Recording with a Click . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Setting the Default Meter and Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Pro Tools Reference Guide

Chapter 15. Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Recording an Audio Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Record Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Record Pause Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Recording Additional Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Punch Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Loop Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Auditioning Different Record Takes in the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Setting Punch/Loop Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Recording from a Digital Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Half-Speed Recording and Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Chapter 16. MIDI Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Recording from MIDI Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Enabling Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

MIDI Thru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

MIDI Input Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

MIDI Merge/Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Configuring MIDI or Instrument Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Recording MIDI and Instrument Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Punch Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

MIDI Step Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Recording System Exclusive Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Recording Audio from a MIDI Instrument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Chapter 17. Advanced Punch Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

QuickPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

TrackPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

DestructivePunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Contents vii

Part V Editing

Chapter 18. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Displaying Region Names, Region Times, and Other Data in Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Audio Regions and Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Timebase Rulers and Conductor Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

The Region List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Region Name Right-Click Pop-Up Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Using the Zoomer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Using the Trim Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Using the Selector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Using the Grabber Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Using the Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Using the Scrubber Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Using the Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

The Universe Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Chapter 19. Playing and Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Linking or Unlinking Timeline and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Linking or Unlinking Track and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Playing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

TCE (Time Compression and Expansion) Edit To Timeline Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Playing Timeline and Edit Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Dynamic Transport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Pro Tools Reference Guideviii

Chapter 20. Working with Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Creating New Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Trimming Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Healing Separated Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Sync Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Nudging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

Shift Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Quantizing Regions to Grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Locking Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Replacing Audio Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Audio Regions from Field Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Edit Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Duplicate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Repeat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Waveform Repair with the Pencil Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Region Looping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Chapter 21. Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Using Fades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Fades Dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

Moving and Nudging Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Separating Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

Trimming Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Fade Boundaries and Shapes in Displayed Automation View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Chapter 22. Managing Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Stripping Silence from Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Consolidate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Naming and Displaying Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Contents ix

Chapter 23. Conductor Tracks and Memory Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Song Start Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Graphic Tempo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Changing the Linearity Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Tempo Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

Time Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Key Signatures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Memory Locations and Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Chapter 24. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

The Beat Detective Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Beat Detective Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Defining a Beat Detective Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

Calculating Tempo with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

Generating Beat Triggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

DigiGroove Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

Separating Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548

Conforming Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

Edit Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552

Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Pro Tools Reference Guidex

Part VI MIDI Editing

Chapter 25. MIDI Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Mirrored MIDI Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

The Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Custom Note Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

Setting the Grid Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562

Inserting MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562

Manually Editing MIDI Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

Time Compression/Expansion Trim Tool Functionality on MIDI Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Patch Select (Program and Bank Changes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

Note and Controller Chasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Remove Duplicate Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

Chapter 26. MIDI Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

MIDI Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Grid/Groove Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Restore Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Flatten Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598

Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Select/Split Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601

Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

MIDI Real-Time Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

Chapter 27. MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

The MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618

Editing Events in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

MIDI Event List Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

Contents xi

Part VII Mixing

Chapter 28. Basic Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Mixing Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Metering and Calibration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Track Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

Inserts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Views in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634

Audio Input and Output Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Signal Routing for Monitoring and Submixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Delay Compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660

Using a Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662

Chapter 29. Plug-in and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663

Inserting Plug-ins on Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

Plug-in Menu Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

Moving and Duplicating Plug-in and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

The Plug-in Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

Using the Librarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

Editing Plug-in Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681

Instrument Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

Using Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

Connecting and Integrating External Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685

Chapter 30. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689

Automation QuickStart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689

Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690

Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692

Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696

Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698

Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700

Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712

Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713

Trimming Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

Writing Automation to the Start, End, or All of a Track or Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724

Writing Automation to the Next Breakpoint or to the Punch Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726

Guidelines for “Write To” Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

Overwriting or Extending Mute Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730

Pro Tools Reference Guidexii

Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732

Previewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735

Capturing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737

VCA Master Track Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740

Chapter 31. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743

Recording to Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

Bounce to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

Bounce Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

Recording a Submix (with Bounce to Disk). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

Final Mixdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754

Mastering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755

Part VIII Video, Sync, Surround

Chapter 32. Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759

Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759

Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760

Default I/O Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763

5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764

Chapter 33. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

Multichannel QuickStart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769

Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772

Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774

Chapter 34. Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

Output Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

Standard Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781

Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782

Panning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784

Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788

LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790

Pan Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790

Surround Scope Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791

Contents xiii

Chapter 35. Working with Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793

Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793

Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795

Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799

Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799

Pull Up and Pull Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802

Putting Pro Tools Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805

Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806

Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807

Setting Minimum Sync Delay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810

Setting Pro Tools LTC Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

Remote Track Arming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812

Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816

Troubleshooting Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817

Chapter 36. Working with Video in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

About QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820

Before Starting Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820

Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821

Video Track Controls and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822

Locking Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824

Setting the Video Engine Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825

Importing Video into Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 826

Extracting Audio from QuickTime-Compatible Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829

Video Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830

General Video Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831

Renaming Video Disk Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833

Video Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833

Using the Video Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834

Browsing Video in the Video Universe Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835

Playback of HD QuickTime Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837

FireWire Playback of QuickTime DV Movies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838

Bouncing the Video Track to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840

Using Pro Tools LE to Import Video from Other Versions of Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843

Pro Tools Reference Guidexiv

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, compose, edit, mix, and master professional quality MIDI and audio for music, video, ﬁlm, and multimedia.

The Pro Tools Guides

Pro Tools systems include the following guides:

Getting Started Guide Instructions for installing your Pro Tools system and connecting your studio. For Pro Tools LE™ and M-Powered™, these guides also contain speciﬁc methods for accomplishing common tasks (such as recording in a Pro Tools session, importing audio from a CD, and creating an audio CD from a Pro Tools session).

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

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

Pro Tools Shortcuts Guides Separate electronic PDF guides for Windows and Mac that list keyboard and Right-click shortcuts, including those shown in Pro Tools menus.

DigiRack Plug-ins Guide Electronic PDF guide with instructions for using the DigiRack™ plugins (included with Pro Tools) for both real-time and file-based audio processing in Pro Tools.

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.

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

Pro Tools|HD cards or an expansion chassis.

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

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

system with optional Digidesign

Additional Guides

Additional PDF guides (such as a Glossary) are installed with Pro Tools. Refer to your Pro Tool documentation folder.

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

Chapter 1: Welcome to Pro Tools 3

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

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 Digidesign-qualified computers, operating systems, hard drives, and third-party devices, visit the Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com).

Control-click Hold down the Control

key and click the mouse button

Right-click 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 this guide and other Digidesign guides.

Pro Tools M-Powered and Academic

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

About www.digidesign.com

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

Registration Register your purchase online. See the Digidesign Registration Information Card included with your system for instructions.

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

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

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

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

Pro Tools Reference Guide4

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts

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

Hard Disk Audio Recording

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

The Digidesign Audio Engine

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

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

The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory DAE allocates to manage disk buffers. The DAE Playback Buffer Size can be changed in the Playback Engine dialog.

For information on configuring the DAE Playback Buffer Size, see “DAE Playback Buffer Size” on page 37.

Playback Engine Dialog

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

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 5

Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to provide audio track recording, playback, mixing, and effects processing. Pro Tools HD also uses 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.

The Playback Engine dialog lets you set a hardware buffer size and allocate a percentage of CPU resources for these tasks.

Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools HD

On Pro Tools|HD systems, you can select the number of voices and voiceable tracks for your system and its sessions. Voice count choices are based on how much DSP processing you want to allocate for voicing.

Session File

A session ﬁle is the document that Pro Tools cre- ates when you choose File > New Session and configure a new session. Pro Tools can open only one session file at a time. The session file is named with a .ptf (Pro Tools file) extension. Session files contain maps of all elements associated with a project, including audio files, MIDI data, and all your edit and mix information. It is important to realize that a Pro Tools session file does not contain any media files (audio or video). 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.

Pro Tools HD, Pro Tools LE, and Pro Tools M-Powered have different session file icons.

For more information, see “Configuring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback Engine)” on page 32. See also “System Resources” on page 10.

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

Pro Tools Reference Guide6

Pro Tools HD

Pro Tools M-Powered Pro Tools Academic

Session ﬁle icons

Pro Tools LE

Although there are different session file icons, the session files may be opened by all three applications (with certain restrictions). See “Opening a Session” on page 85.

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 provides seven types of tracks: audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Master, MIDI, Instrument, and video.

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

VCA Master tracks (Pro Tools HD only) provide control of tracks in a Mix Group that has been assigned to the VCA Master.

Video tracks support both QuickTime movies and Avid video, but an individual video track can play back only one of these types of video at a time.

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

Audio File

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

Audio track in the Edit window (stereo track shown)

MIDI track in the Edit window

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

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

Audio ﬁle icon

Audio files for each session are stored in a folder named “Audio Files.” Audio files are listed in the Pro Tools Region List and can appear in an audio track. A section of an audio file can be defined as a region. See “Regions” on page 8.

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 7

Regions

Audio region

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 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 and looped.

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 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 au-

dio 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.

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 a popup menu on the track.

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

Channel

The term channel is used to describe several related components of a Pro Tools system. The first example of channel refers to a physical input or output of your Pro Tools system. For example, a 96 I/O audio interface provides up to 16 channels of 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 con-

Pro Tools Reference Guide8

trol 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.

Signal Routing

Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and signal routing controls, which are located in the Mix window. Some of these controls can also be accessed from the Edit window.

A common signal routing task is to submix multiple tracks to a single channel strip (such as an Auxiliary Input) 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

Channel strip in the Mix window (audio track)

The term MIDI channel also describes a separate aspect of MIDI operation. See “MIDI” on page 12.

Audio tracks

Submixing to an Auxiliary Input

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 9

Auxiliary

Input track

Signal Routing Options

Signal routing options include the following:

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

Auxiliary 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.

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

Sends Sends route audio from tracks to hardware outputs, or to internal busses that are in turn routed to other tracks within Pro Tools. Master 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.

Paths Paths are any routing option in Pro Tools, including internal or external inputs, outputs, busses, and inserts. Pro Tools lets you name these paths, and these path names appear in the Audio Input and Output Path selectors and other menus. See Chapter 6, “I/O Setup” for more information.

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 on Pro Tools|HD systems only.

System Resources

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

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

◆ Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of

your system by changing system settings that affect its capacity for processing, playback, and recording. See “Conﬁguring Pro Tools System Settings (in the Playback Engine)” on page 32.

◆ 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 11.

◆ 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 139.

Pro Tools Reference Guide10

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.

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

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

Tracks When a track is made inactive, its voices become available for another track. Mono inactive tracks free up one voice; 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.

Display of Inactive Items

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

Active Inactive plug-in

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 12).

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 12).

Inactive track

Active and inactive items and tracks

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 11

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.

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 Mac).

Side-chain inputs support direct active and inactive switching, but do not follow switching all or all selected side-chain inputs.

Automatically Inactive Items

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

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

Manual Inactive Switching

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

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

MIDI

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a communication protocol for musical instruments. This industry standard enables connections between a variety of devices from different manufacturers. Examples of MIDI-compatible equipment include synthesizers, sound modules, drum machines, patch bays, effects processors, MIDI interfaces, MIDI control surfaces, and sequencers.

MIDI devices are equipped with 5-pin DIN connectors, labeled as either IN, OUT, or THRU. The MIDI OUT port transmits messages. The MIDI IN port receives messages. The MIDI THRU outputs whatever is received from the IN port. MIDI devices are connected with MIDI cables that are available at most music stores.

passes input

To toggle an item active or inactive:

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

Control-click (Mac) the item.

Pro Tools Reference Guide12

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 multi- timbral). Each channel can control a different instrument 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 plugin).

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

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

MIDI Tone Generator (MIDI Sound Source) Any MIDI device capable of playing back MIDI-triggered sound. Sound sources receive MIDI from their MIDI IN ports and output audio from their audio outputs.

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 multi-timbral MIDI instrument to play back entire arrangements.

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

Program Change Event A MIDI command that tells a sound source which 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. 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.

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 13

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

Common MIDI Misconceptions

MIDI is not audio, and by itself makes no sound. MIDI is control information only. It is like the piano roll for a player piano; it provides control information for what note to play when, for how long, and at what volume. For example, when you strike a key on a MIDI keyboard, it sends a message to a MIDI instrument or tone generator to play that particular note at that particular velocity. This could be its internal tone generator, an external MIDI instrument, or an instrument plug-in, which can be contained completely within Pro Tools. In order to create or play a MIDI recording, you must have a MIDI instrument. Audio from your instrument can be sent to an external mixer or monitored through your Pro Tools audio interface.

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. Consult the device’s documentation for information on its capabilities.

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, its various MIDI inputs to Reason become available to Pro Tools MIDI and Instrument track MIDI outputs.

DigiBase

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 2) or some other MIDI interface (such as a Digidesign MIDI I/O).

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.

Pro Tools Reference Guide14

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.

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.

Chapter 3: Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts

This chapter provides an overview of Pro Tools keyboard and mouse shortcuts.

Global Key Commands

A PDF listing of all shortcuts is available in Pro Tools. Choose Help > Keyboard 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, refer to the PDF versions of the

Shortcuts Guides

Keyboard

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

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 15

List and Parameter Selection

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, this provides a wide range of single key shortcuts from the QWERTY keyboard for editing and playing.

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

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

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).

Commands Keyboard Focus

(in the Edit Window bar)

Group List

Keyboard Focus

Region List

Keyboard Focus

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

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 Guide16

Keyboard Focus buttons

+ 856 hidden pages