AudioSuite, Avid, Avid DNA, AVoption, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack,
DigiDelivery, Digidesign, DigiTranslator, DV Toolkit, M-Audio,
Mbox, Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, and Pro Tools
M-Powered 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.
This guide summarizes the Pro Tools menus,
windows, and their associated commands and
options.
References to Pro Tools LE™ in this guide
are usually interchangeable with Pro Tools
M-Powered™ and Pro Tools Academic™,
except as noted in the Pro Tools M-Powered
and Pro Tools Academic Getting Started
Guides.
For complete instructions, see the Pro Tools
Reference Guide.
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Pro Tools Menus Guide2
chapter 2
Pro Tools Menu (Mac Only)
The Pro Tools® Menu commands include links
to Pro Tools Preferences, access to Mac OS X application management, and the Quit command.
Pro Tools menu
About Pro Tools
The About Pro Tools command launches the
Pro Tools banner, which includes the version
number of your Pro Tools software.
Mac Application Management
Commands
(Services, Hide Pro Tools, Hide Others,
Show All)
The Pro Tools menu also provides access to the
following Mac OS X application management
commands: Services, Hide Pro Tools, Hide Others, and Show All. For more information about
these and other Mac OS X features, refer to your
Apple Mac documentation.
Quit Pro Tools
The Quit Pro Tools command ends your
Pro Tools session and closes the Pro Tools application.
Preferences
Pro Tools Preferences are available from both
the Pro Tools Menu and the Setup menu. For
more information, see “Preferences” on page 61.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Menu (Mac Only) 3
Pro Tools Menus Guide4
chapter 3
File Menu
File menu commands are used to create and
maintain Pro Tools sessions.
New Session
The New Session command creates a new
Pro Tools session. Before the session is created,
you must name the session and choose its Audio
File type, Sample Rate, Bit Depth, and I/O Settings in the New Session dialog.
File menu
New Session dialog
Chapter 3: File Menu 5
Open Session
Save Copy In
The Open command opens a session previously
created with Pro Tools. Only one session can be
open at a time.
Open Recent
The Open Recent command lets you open any
of the 10 most recently opened Pro Tools sessions
Close Session
The Close command closes the current session
without quitting Pro Tools. Pro Tools prompts
you to save changes before closing the session.
Save
The Save command saves changes made since
the last time the session was saved. You cannot
undo the Save command.
Save As
The Save As command lets you save a copy of
the current session under a different name, or in
a different location. Because the Save As command closes the current session and allows you
to keep working on the renamed copy, it is useful for saving successive stages of the session.
The Save Copy In command lets you save a copy
of the currently selected session under a different name or in a different location. Session media can be included in the copy that you save,
with options to save the media at a different bit
depth, sample rate, fader gain level, or file format type. Sessions can be saved in a variety of
session formats for compatibility with older systems. This command is useful for archiving sessions.
Save Copy In dialog
Unlike the Save As command, Save Copy In does
not close the original session, so subsequent edits are made to the original session. The saved
copy becomes a backup copy, and gives you the
option of returning to the earlier version.
When you Save Copy In with a lower bit rate,
Pro Tools Dither with Noise Shaping will be applied. The Dither setting used for any conversion is the Digidesign
Noise Shaping enabled.
®
Dither plug-in with
For information on sharing sessions between different platforms, Pro Tools systems, or Pro Tools software versions, see the
Pro Tools Reference Guide.
Pro Tools Menus Guide6
The Items To Copy section of this dialog provides several options for copying a session along
with its associated files.
All Audio Files When selected, all audio files are
copied to the new location. Selecting All Non“file type” Audio Files copies all audio files ex-cept audio files of the specified audio file type.
This option’s file type will always be the default
audio file type of the session; so if the session’s
default audio file type is WAV, the option will
read All Non-WAV Audio Files. Selecting Don’t
Copy Fade Files omits fade files from the copied
data.
Session Plug-in Settings Folder When selected,
the session’s Plug-in Settings Folder is copied to
the new location. The references to these plugin settings in the session are redirected to the
copied files.
Root Plug-in Settings Folder When selected, the
contents of the root-level Plug-in Settings Folder
are copied into a folder named Place in Root Set-tings Folder, indicating that these files will need
to be moved to the root level plug-in settings
folder on the destination system before you can
use them. The references to these settings files in
the session are not redirected to point to the copied files.
Preserve Folder Hierarchy When selected, the
relative arrangement of session audio files located across different drives or folders is maintained. The main folder for the session copy will
include subfolders for each drive or folder in the
original session and the destination subfolders
will use the same names as the source drives and
folders.
When this option is not selected, the Save Copy
In command copies all files of the same type, regardless of their location, into a single destination folder.
Revert to Saved
The Revert to Saved command restores the most
recently saved version of a session, discarding all
changes made since the last time you saved. Reverting to the last saved version of a session is
like closing the session without saving changes
and reopening it.
Movie/Video Files When selected, the session’s
video files are copied to the new location, and
the references in the session are redirected to the
copied movie or video file.
Chapter 3: File Menu 7
Send via DigiDelivery
Bounce to Commands
DigiDelivery® is Digidesign’s system for efficient and reliable transfer of digital media files
over the Internet. Send via DigiDelivery lets you
send a Pro Tools session and all of its related files
using DigiDelivery from within Pro Tools.
Anyone can send and receive files from a DigiDelivery system, even if they do not own a DigiDelivery network appliance, as follows:
◆ To send a delivery, senders must have an In-
ternet connection, an account on a DigiDelivery
network appliance, and the DigiDelivery client
application.
◆ To receive a delivery, recipients only need an
Internet connection and the DigiDelivery client
application. An account on the network appliance is not needed.
For more information about DigiDelivery,
see the DigiDelivery Guide.
Send to Sibelius
The Send To Sibelius command exports all MIDI
and Instrument tracks to Sibelius or G7 notation
software as a MIDI file. You can then further edit
the notation in Sibelius (or G7) and print the
score of your session.
The Bounce to commands let you mix tracks together into one file.
Bounce to Disk
The Bounce to Disk command allows you to mix
together the outputs of all currently audible
tracks routed to a common output path to create
a new audio file. You can use the Bounce to Disk
command to create a submix or to create a final
mix in any of several audio file formats.
Bounce to Disk dialog
Bounce Source Selects the audio output path to
bounce. Only audio routed to the selected path
will be included in the bounce.
Enforce Avid Compatibility Creates frame-accurate edits, wraps the files as OMFI (unless File
Type is MXF), and limits the sample rate options
to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. Dithering without noise
shaping will be applied to files being exported
from 24-bit to 16-bit.
Pro Tools Menus Guide8
File Type Selects the audio file type. Choices on
all systems are BWF (.WAV), AIFF, MPEG-1
Layer 3 (MP3), and QuickTime. Windows systems also include Windows Media (Windows).
Mac systems also include SD II and Sound Resource. Systems with the DigiTranslator™ option also support MXF audio files.
Certain file types are restricted in regards to format, resolution, and sample rate.
Format Selects the channel format (number of
channels). Choices are mono (summed), multiple mono, or interleaved.
Resolution Selects the bit depth. Choices are
24-bit, 16-bit, or 8-bit resolution.
Sample Rate Selects the sample rate.
Whenever a Bounce to Disk is configured to
a different file type, file format, resolution,
or sample rate, additional options become
available to convert during or after the
bounce. See “Additional Bounce Options”
on page 9 for more information.
Import After Bounce Automatically imports the
audio after it is bounced and adds it to the Region List so that it can be used in the session.
The Import After Bounce option is only
available if the target file type and sample
rate for the bounce are the same as the file
type and sample rate of the current session,
and the target resolution (bit rate) is the
same or lower than the resolution of the session. In addition, tracks bounced to a Stereo
Interleaved file cannot be imported after a
bounce.
Additional Bounce Options
The following Bounce options are only available
when bouncing to a different file type, format,
resolution, or sample rate.
Conversion Quality Selects the quality, with option ranging from Low to Tweak Head, when
bouncing to a new sample rate.
Use Squeezer Optimizes the dynamics of the
bounced audio before conversion to 8-bit resolution.
Convert During Bounce Automatically performs
file type, sample rate, and bit resolution conversion as the file is being bounced.
Convert After Bounce Automatically performs
file type, sample rate, and bit resolution conversion after the file has been bounced.
Bounce to QuickTime Movie
This command lets you bounce the main video
track (QuickTime or Avid video) and a mono or
stereo mixdown of your session to a new QuickTime movie. Pro Tools will convert the audio
tracks to the selected sample rate and bit resolution, then create a new flattened movie with the
bounced audio. As a QuickTime file, the new
movie is supported by all software applications
that support QuickTime video.
Chapter 3: File Menu 9
Import
Pro Tools provides several menu commands to
import files and regions into an open session.
Import Session Data
This command lets you import selected session
data from an existing session into the current
session. Options are provided for time code
mapping, track offset options, sample rate conversion, and copying, converting, and referenc-
ing audio and video source files. The Import Session Data command also lets you import the
Tempo Meter Map, and any Key Signature Maps,
Markers/Memory Locations, and Window Configurations.
With Pro Tools HD
Toolkit™ 2, you can select specific session data
(such as automation and routing) to import.
You can also import main playlist options—either replacing existing options or overlaying elements onto existing tracks.
®
or Pro Tools LE™ with DV
Figure 1. Import Session Data dialog (Pro Tools HD shown)
Pro Tools Menus Guide10
Import Audio
This command lets you import audio files into
the current session. Audio files can be imported
into a new track (and the Region List), or the Region List only.
Import MIDI
Export
Pro Tools provides several menu commands to
export session tracks or data as files.
Export Selected Tracks as AAF/OMF
(DigiTranslator Option Only)
The Import MIDI command imports all tracks
from a Standard MIDI file into Pro Tools. MIDI
files can be imported into a new track (and the
Region List) or the Region List only.
Options are provided for importing the Session
Start or Song Start Marker (if the marker is not
located at the session start), importing tempo
map data contained in the sequence, and removing existing Instrument or MIDI tracks.
Import Video
This command lets you import an Avid Video
(Pro Tools|HD systems with an Avid video peripheral only) or QuickTime into the main video
track (and the Region List), a new track (and the
Region List), or the Region List only.
The Import Video command can also be used to
extract (import) audio from a Quicktime Movie.
Import Region Groups
This command lets you import region groups
into the current session. Region groups can be
imported into a new track (and the Region List)
or the Region List only.
The Export Selected Tracks as AAF/OMF command exports selected tracks in AAF and OMFI
format. Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) and
Open Media Framework Interchange (OMFI) are
industry standard file formats that facilitate the
transfer of digital media between applications
(such as Pro Tools and Avid Video editing software). If the DigiTranslator option is not installed, the Export Selected Track as OMF command will be greyed out in the File menu.
For more information, see the DigiTranslator 2.0 Integrated Option Guide.
Export MIDI
This command lets you export your Pro Tools
session or individual MIDI or Instruments tracks
as a standard MIDI file. You can export the file
as a Type 1 (multitrack) or Type 0 (merged) Standard MIDI file. The exported MIDI file includes
meter and tempo information, and any key signatures in your Pro Tools session.
Muted MIDI tracks will not be exported.
This can be useful for storing libraries of your favorite MIDI sequences or SysEx data (such as
bulk or individual patch dumps for your external MIDI devices), or for importing MIDI into
notation applications other than Sibelius or G7.
Chapter 3: File Menu 11
Export Session Info as Text
(Pro Tools HD Only)
This command exports the current session as a
tab-delimited text file that can contain region
and file names, extended timestamp information, and information about crossfades.
You can export to any of several different text
file formats (including Microsoft Word and Excel).
Get Info
This command lets you enter and save information about the session.
Left-column text fields are topic fields. Text entered there is saved with your Pro Tools Preferences and will appear in all sessions, allowing
you to preset the field to topics that you commonly use.
Right-column text fields are information fields
and are session specific and will be saved with
the session.
Exit
(Windows Only)
The Exit command ends your Pro Tools session
and closes the Pro Tools application.
Export Session Info as Text dialog (Pro Tools LE shown)
Pro Tools Menus Guide12
chapter 4
Edit Menu
Edit menu commands are used to edit and manipulate the current selection and affect data in
the timeline or the clipboard.
Undo
The Undo command lets you sequentially undo
up to 32 of your previous actions. Certain commands and actions (such as saving) are not undoable. The last command in the undo queue
will appear in the menu (for example, “Undo
Paste”).
If no actions are available to undo, the menu
displays a grayed out Can’t Undo.
Redo
After undoing a command or action, you can
redo it by choosing the Redo command. This is
a good way to compare before and after states of
edits.
Edit menu
If no actions are available to redo, the menu displays a grayed out Can’t Redo.
Cut
This command cuts a selection out of its current
location and stores it in memory so that you can
paste it elsewhere.
Chapter 4: Edit Menu 13
Copy
Cut Special
This command copies a selection (leaving the
original intact) and stores it in memory so that
you can paste it elsewhere.
Paste
This command inserts cut or copied data into a
location specified with an Edit tool (such as the
Selector tool).
Clear
This command removes the contents within a
selection in the Edit window.
The Cut Special commands let you cut just automation data from the current selection (without
associated audio, video, or MIDI notes) and
place it in memory to paste elsewhere. Choices
include:
All Automation Cuts all automation or MIDI
controller data whether it is shown or not.
Pan Automation Cuts only pan automation or
MIDI pan data whether it is shown or not.
Plug-in Automation Cuts only plug-in automation that is shown.
Copy Special
The Copy Special commands let you copy just
automation data from the current selection
(without associated audio, video, or MIDI notes)
and place a copy of it in memory to paste elsewhere.
All Automation Copies all automation or MIDI
controller data whether it is shown or not.
Pan Automation Copies only pan automation or
MIDI pan data whether it is shown or not.
Plug-in Automation Copies only plug-in automation that is shown.
Pro Tools Menus Guide14
Paste Special
Clear Special
The Paste Special commands let you paste automation data into another region (without affecting associated audio, video, or MIDI notes) in
the following ways:
Merge Pastes MIDI controller data from the clipboard to the selection and merges it with any
current MIDI controller data in the selection.
This can be useful for consolidating MIDI data
from several tracks into a single MIDI track.
Repeat to Fill Selection Pastes multiple iterations of audio, video, or MIDI data from the
Clipboard to fill the selection. If you select an
area that is not an exact multiple of the copied
region size, the remaining selection area is filled
with a trimmed version of the original selection.
This allows you to easily create drum loops and
other repetitive effects. Before the data is pasted,
Pro Tools prompts you to specify a crossfade to
smooth transitions between regions.
To Current Automation Type Pastes the automation or MIDI controller data from the clipboard
to the selection as the current type of automation or continuous MIDI data. This lets you
copy one type of automation data to another, or
one type of continuous MIDI date to another
type of contiguous MIDI data.
The Clear Special commands let you clear just
automation data from the current region.
Choices are:
All Automation Clears all automation or MIDI
controller data whether it is shown or not.
Pan Automation Clears only pan automation or
MIDI pan data whether it is shown or not.
Plug-in Automation Clears only plug-in automation that is shown.
Select All
This command selects all audio and MIDI data
in one or more tracks.
◆ To select all regions in a single track, select a
portion of the track, or click the Selector anywhere in a track and choose Select All.
◆ To select all regions on multiple tracks, Shift-
click a region on each track with the Selector or
Grabber and choose Select All.
◆ To select all regions on all tracks, Select the
“All” Edit Group in the Groups List, click the Selector anywhere in a track, and choose Select
All.
Chapter 4: Edit Menu 15
Selection
Shift
The Selection commands are for copying or
playing Edit or Timeline selections.
Change Timeline to Match Edit When the Edit
and Timeline selections are unlinked, this command copies the current Timeline selection to
the an Edit selection.
Change Edit to Match Timeline When the Edit
and Timeline selections are unlinked, this command copies the current Edit selection to the
Timeline.
Play Edit This command plays an Edit selection
Play Timeline This command plays a Timeline
selection.
Duplicate
This command copies a selection and places it
immediately after the end of that selection in a
track.
Repeat
This command is similar to Duplicate, but allows you to specify the number of times the selected material is duplicated. To use this command, select the material you want to repeat,
choose Repeat, then enter the number of repetitions.
This command moves track material earlier or
later in time by a specified amount. To use this
command, select the material you want to
move, choose Shift, then enter the direction and
time value.
Insert Silence
This command creates regions of silence. Make a
selection on one or more tracks, choose Insert
Silence, and precisely that amount of silence
.
will be inserted.
With Pro Tools 7.2, the Insert Silence command
inserts video black into a video track.
Snap To
This command provides two options for “butt
splicing” successive elements on a track.
Previous Snaps a region (or Edit selection containing whole regions) to the end of the preceding region
Next Snaps a region (or Edit selection containing whole regions) to the beginning of the next
region in a track.
Pro Tools Menus Guide16
Trim Region
Separate Region
This command provides several options for editing region boundaries (including looped regions).
To Selection This command removes data before and after a region or MIDI note selection,
leaving only the selection. This command lets
you quickly remove all data in a region (and in
some instances the entire track) except for the
current selection.
When trimming regions that include fades or
are adjacent to fade boundaries, the fades from
the source region are adjusted to the new region
boundaries.
Start to Inser tion This command lets you trim a
region or MIDI note by automatically removing
the material between the Edit insertion point
and the start point.
End to Insertion This command lets you trim a
region or MIDI note by automatically removing
the material between the Edit insertion point
and the end point.
These commands separate a region from adjacent data in the track where it was created. By
separating a region you will also create by-product regions from data on either side of the separation. The Separate Region commands automatically unloop and flatten looped regions
before separating.
Separate Region includes the following commands:
At Selection This command creates new region
boundaries at the selection start and end points.
When separating regions that include fades, the
status of the fade depends on the Preserve Fades
when Editing preference.
On Grid This command constrains newly created
regions to start and end on grid points.
At Transients This command automatically creates region boundaries on detected transients
within a selection.
Start to Fill Selection This command lets you
automatically reveal underlying material in the
gaps between the region start and selection start
points.
End to Fill Selection This command lets you automatically reveal underlying material in the
gaps between the selection end and region end
points.
To Fill Selection This command lets you automatically reveal underlying material in the gaps
before and after the selection.
Heal Separation
This command repairs separated regions, provided that the regions are contiguous and their
relative start and end points haven’t changed
since they were originally separated. If you have
trimmed or changed the start and end points of
the two regions, or moved them away from each
other, they cannot be repaired with the Heal
Separation command.
Chapter 4: Edit Menu 17
Strip Silence
Thin Automation
This command opens the Strip Silence window.
Use this window to remove areas of silence from
a selection. Strip Silence automatically divides a
selection into regions, which can be useful for
quantizing audio to musical values or SMPTE locations.
Strip Silence window
Consolidate
This command consolidates multiple regions
into a single region. When an audio track is consolidated, a new audio file is written that encompasses the selection range, including any
blank space or fades.
TCE Edit to Timeline Selection
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with
DV Toolkit 2 Only)
(Pro Tools LE Only)
This command lets you selectively thin areas in
a track where automation data is too dense and
adversely affecting CPU performance. The
amount of thinning performed is determined by
the amount you have selected in the Automation page of the Preferences dialog. Avoid overthinning data or it may no longer accurately reflect the original automation.
Automation
Copy to Send
(Pro Tools HD Only)
This command lets you copy either the current
values or automation of a selected track’s volume, pan, mute, or LFE automation to the corresponding playlist for the send. This is useful
when you want a track’s send automation to
mirror automation on the track itself.
This command uses the Time Compression/Expansion plug-in to fit an audio selection to a
Timeline selection. This is only possible when
the Edit and Timeline selections are unlinked.
Pro Tools Menus Guide18
Copy to Send dialog
To copy a track’s current control settings to a
send on that track, select Current Value. To
copy the entire automation playlist for the track
to a send, select Automation.
Thin Automation
(Pro Tools HD Only)
This command lets you selectively thin areas in
a track where automation data is too dense and
adversely affecting CPU performance. The
amount of thinning performed is determined by
the amount you have selected in the Automation page of the Preferences dialog. Avoid overthinning data or it may no longer accurately reflect the original automation.
Trim to Current and Trim to All Enabled
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with
DV Toolkit 2 Only)
These commands let you use trim values as
snapshots and apply the relative changes or
delta values to the selected automation. This is
similar to the Write Automation command, except that it writes delta values instead of absolute values to automation data. You can use trim
values in writing snapshot automation to any
automatable parameter.
Trim to Current Parameter
This command trims the current value only to
the currently displayed automation parameter.
Write to Current and Write to All
Enabled
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with
DV Toolkit 2 Only)
These commands let you write automation
states for one or more parameters to specific session locations in a single step. This saves you the
trouble of performing multiple automation
passes for different parameters in real time, or
having to graphically draw automation state
changes on individual automation playlists.
Write to Current Parameters
This command writes the current value only to
the currently displayed automation parameter.
Write to All Enabled Parameters
This command writes the current settings for all
automation parameters enabled in the Automation Enable window.
Trim to All Enabled Parameters
This command trims the current settings for all
automation parameters enabled in the Automation Enable window.
Glide to Current and Glide to All
Enabled
(Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with
DV Toolkit 2 Only)
These commands let you manually create an automation transition (or glide) from an existing
automation value to a new one, over a selected
area.
Glide Automation can also be used for automating the Surround Panner.
Glide to Current Parameter
This command applies Glide Automation only
to the currently displayed automation parameter.
Chapter 4: Edit Menu 19
Glide to All Enabled Parameters
This command applies the Glide Automation
for all automation parameters enabled in the
Automation Enable window.
Fades
These commands let you create (or delete) a
crossfade between two adjacent audio regions,
or a fade-in or fade-out of a single region. Crossfade duration, position, and shape are all selectable. A selection that crosses multiple regions
will create crossfades for each of the region transitions. If a selection includes regions that already contain crossfades, the existing crossfades
will be modified.
Fade to Start The Fade to Start command creates
a fade-in from the current insertion point to a
region’s start point.
Fade to End The Fade to End command creates a
fade-out from the current insertion point to a region’s end point.
Fades dialog
Create The Create command produces a crossfade between adjacent regions according to parameters you specify with the Fades editor.
Delete The Delete command removes a crossfade between adjacent regions.
Pro Tools Menus Guide20
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