Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools M-Powered - 7.4, Pro Tools LE - 7.4, Pro Tools HD - 7.4, Pro Tools - 7.4 Reference Guide

Pro Tools
®
Reference Guide
Version 7.4
Legal Notices
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.
003, 003 Rack, 96 I/O, 96i I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 192 I/O, 888|24 I/O, 882|20 I/O, 1622 I/O, 24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/O, AudioSuite, Avid, Avid DNA, Avid Mojo, Avid Unity, Avid Unity ISIS, Avid Unity MediaNetwork, Avid Xpress, AVoption, AVoption|V10, Beat Detective, Bruno, Command|8, Control|24, D-Command, D-Control, D-Fi, D-fx, D-Show, DAE, Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack, DigiBase, DigiDelivery, Digidesign, Digidesign Audio Engine, Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction, Digidesign TDM Bus, DigiDrive, DigiRack, DigiTest, DigiTranslator, DINR, DV Toolkit, EditPack, Impact, Interplay, M-Audio, MachineControl, Maxim, Mbox, MediaComposer, MIDI I/O, MIX, MultiShell, OMF, OMF Interchange, PRE, ProControl, Pro Tools M-Powered, Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, QuickPunch, Reel Tape, Reso, Reverb One, ReVibe, RTAS, Smack!, SoundReplacer, Sound Designer II, Strike, Structure, SYNC HD, SYNC I/O, Synchronic, TL Space, Velvet, and X-Form 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 9106-56837-00 REV A 08/07
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Contents

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 Pro Tools Nonlinear Editing The Digidesign Audio Engine MIDI
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Synchronization Surround Pro Tools Sessions Tick-Based and Sample-Based Time System Resources DigiBase
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Chapter 3. Keyboard and Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts
Right-Click Mouse Shortcuts Global Key Commands Keyboard Focus Numeric Keypad Modes
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Part II System Configuration
Chapter 4. Pro Tools Systems
Pro Tools|HD Systems Pro Tools LE Systems Pro Tools M-Powered DV Toolkit 2 and Music Production Toolkit
Chapter 5. System Setup
Starting Up or Shutting Down Your System Checking an HD System with DigiTest Configuring Pro Tools System Settings Configuring MIDI Setup Configuring Pro Tools Hardware Settings System Usage
Chapter 6. I/O Setup
Pro Tools Signal Paths I/O Setup Dialog Tabs and Controls Routing Hardware I/O to Pro Tools I/O Creating New Paths Editing Paths Channel Mapping Valid Paths and Requirements Working with I/O Settings Files I/O Setup Options Mic Preamps H/W Insert Delay Compensation
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Chapter 7. Preferences
Global and Local Preferences Display Preferences Operation Preferences Editing Preferences Mixing Preferences Processing Preferences MIDI Preferences Synchronization Preferences
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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
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Chapter 9. Pro Tools Main Windows
Mix Window Edit Window Transport Window DigiBase Browsers Window Configurations Menus Tool Tips
Chapter 10. Tracks
Track Types Track Channel Strips Track Controls and Indicators Edit Window Views Track Level Meter Adjusting Track Width Creating Tracks Track Views Track Height The Track List Track Name Right-Click Pop-Up Menus Assigning Audio Inputs and Outputs to Tracks Track Priority and Voice Assignment Assigning MIDI Inputs and Outputs to Tracks Soloing and Muting Tracks Making Tracks Inactive Color Coding for Tracks, Regions, Markers, and Groups
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Chapter 11. Grouping Tracks
Grouping Tracks Group Controls Working with Groups Setting Group Attributes Enabling Groups Grouped Control Offsets
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Chapter 12. The Region List
Region List Pop-Up Menu Sorting and Searching in the Region List Selecting Regions in the Region List Previewing Regions in the Region List Stereo and Multichannel Regions in the Region List Naming and Displaying Regions in the Region List Managing Regions in the Region List Region Name Right-Click Pop-Up Menus
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Chapter 13. DigiBase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
DigiBase Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Performance and Transfer Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Digidesign Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Browser Windows and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Indexing DigiBase Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
The Browser Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Browser Panes and Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Column Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Selecting Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Moving, Copying, Duplicating, and Deleting Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Searching Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Elastic Audio Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Previewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Linking and Relinking Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Relink Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Workspace Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Project Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
DigiBase Pro Catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Task Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
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Chapter 14. Importing and Exporting Session Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Importing and Exporting to and from a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Audio Conversion on Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Import Options and Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Importing Files with Drag and Drop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Importing Audio Files and Regions Using the Import Audio Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Importing Audio from Audio CDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Importing ACID and REX Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Importing Multichannel Audio Files from a Field Recorder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Exporting Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Importing Session Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Importing AAF and OMF Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Exporting Pro Tools Tracks as AAF or OMFI Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Exporting Sessions as Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Send via DigiDelivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Importing MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Exporting MIDI Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Send to Sibelius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Importing and Exporting Region Group Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Chapter 15. File and Session Management and Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Audio File Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
WAV File Compatibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Sharing Sessions Created on Different Computer Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Sharing Sessions Created on Different Pro Tools Software Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Language Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Part IV Playback and Recording
Chapter 16. Playing Back Track Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Playing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Playback Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Setting the Playback Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Playing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Playing Timeline and Edit Selections with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Playback Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Contents vii
Chapter 17. Record Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Record Setup Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Configuring Pro Tools Hardware I/O for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Connecting a Sound Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Allocating Hard Drive Space for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Recording with a Click (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Setting the Default Meter and Tempo (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Record Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Configuring Default Names for Audio Files and Regions (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Assigning Hardware I/O on a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Record Enabling Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Recording with Multiple Hard Drives (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Selecting a Record Input Monitoring Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Setting Monitor Levels for Record and Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Reducing Monitoring Latency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Chapter 18. Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Recording an Audio Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Record Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Record Pause Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Recording Additional Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Audio Punch Recording Over a Specified Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Loop Recording Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Auditioning Different Record Takes in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Setting Punch and Loop Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Recording from a Digital Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Half-Speed Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Chapter 19. MIDI Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Recording from MIDI Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Enabling Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
MIDI Thru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
MIDI Input Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
MIDI Merge/Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Configuring MIDI or Instrument Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Recording MIDI and Instrument Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
MIDI Punch Recording Over a Specified Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Loop Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
MIDI Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Recording System Exclusive Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Recording Audio from a MIDI Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Pro Tools Reference Guideviii
Chapter 20. Advanced Punch Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
QuickPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
TrackPunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
DestructivePunch Audio Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
Part V Editing
Chapter 21. Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Pro Tools Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Track Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
Audio Regions and Waveforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
MIDI Regions and MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Naming Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Displaying Region Names, Region Times, and Other Data in Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Multiple Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
Basic Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Editing Across Multiple Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
Chapter 22. Editing Modes and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Using the Zoomer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Using the Trimmer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Using the Selector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Using the Grabber Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Using the Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Using the Scrubber Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Using the Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Chapter 23. Making Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Linking or Unlinking Timeline and Edit Selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Linking or Unlinking Track and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
Selecting Track Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Timeline Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Auto-Scrolling Tracks in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
The Universe Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
Contents ix
Chapter 24. Editing Regions and Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Creating New Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Healing Separated Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Trimming Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
Nudging Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
Quantizing Regions to Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Editing Stereo and Multichannel Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Consolidate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
Compacting an Audio File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
Processing Audio with AudioSuite Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
TCE (Time Compression and Expansion) Edit To Timeline Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Chapter 25. Fades and Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
Using Fades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
Fades Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Creating Fades at the Beginnings and Ends of Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Creating a Crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
Using AutoFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
Creating Fades and Crossfades in Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Moving and Nudging Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
Separating Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Trimming Regions That Include Fades or Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Fade Boundaries and Shapes in Displayed Automation View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Chapter 26. Elastic Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Example Elastic Audio Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
Elastic Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Elastic Audio Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
Real-Time and Rendered Elastic Audio Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
Elastic Audio Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
Editing in Warp View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Editing in Analysis View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
Moving Elastic Audio Between Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
Elastic Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
AudioSuite Processing and Elastic Audio Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
Fades and MicroFades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
Elastic Audio Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Pro Tools Reference Guidex
Chapter 27. MIDI Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Mirrored MIDI Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
The Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
Custom Note Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Setting the Grid Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
Inserting MIDI Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
Manually Editing MIDI Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Time Compression/Expansion Trimmer Tool Functionality on MIDI Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
Continuous Controller Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Patch Select (Program and Bank Changes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
System Exclusive Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Note and Controller Chasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
Offsetting MIDI Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Remove Duplicate Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
MIDI Real-Time Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Chapter 28. Event Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Event Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Quantize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Restore Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
Flatten Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Change Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Change Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
Transpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Select/Split Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
Input Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
Step Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Chapter 29. MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
The MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
Inserting Events in the MIDI Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Editing Events in the MIDI Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
MIDI Event List Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
Contents xi
Part VI Arranging
Chapter 30. Time, Tempo, Meter, and Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Timebase Rulers and Conductor Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Tick-Based Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
Song Start Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
Graphic Tempo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Changing the Linearity Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Tempo Operations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Identify Beat Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Meter Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
Time Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
Renumbering Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
Key Signatures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
Chapter 31. Memory Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Memory Locations and Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
Chapter 32. Arranging Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
Placing Regions in Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
Replacing Audio Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Audio Regions from Field Recorders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
Sync Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
Shift Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
Locking Regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
Muting/Unmuting Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Stripping Silence from Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Inserting Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668
Duplicating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Repeating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Chapter 33. Region Loops and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Region Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Pro Tools Reference Guidexii
Chapter 34. Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
Beat Detective Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
The Beat Detective Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
Beat Detective Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
Defining a Beat Detective Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
Beat Detective Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
Calculating Tempo with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
Generating Beat Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
Generating Bar|Beat Markers with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693
DigiGroove Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
Separating Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696
Conforming Regions with Beat Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698
Edit Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Detection (Normal) and Collection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702
Part VII Mixing
Chapter 35. Basic Mixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Mixing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Metering and Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Signal Flow by Track Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
Views in the Mix and Edit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
Audio Input and Output Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721
Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Output Windows for Tracks and Sends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
Signal Routing for Monitoring and Submixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Delay Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746
Using an Ethernet Control Surface with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748
Using a MIDI Control Surface with Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749
Chapter 36. Plug-in and Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
Inserting Plug-ins on Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
Plug-in Menu Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757
Moving and Duplicating Plug-in and Hardware Inserts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760
The Plug-in Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760
Using the Librarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
Editing Plug-in Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771
Instrument Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773
Using Hardware Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
Connecting and Integrating External Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
Contents xiii
Chapter 37. Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
Automation QuickStart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
Automation Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778
Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780
Automation Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784
Viewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786
Writing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788
Enabling and Suspending Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797
Deleting Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799
Thinning Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800
Drawing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801
Editing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
Trimming Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
Writing Automation to the Start, End, or All of a Track or Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
Writing Automation to the Next Breakpoint or to the Punch Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815
Guidelines for “Write To” Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818
Overwriting or Extending Mute Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Creating Snapshot Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Previewing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824
Capturing Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 826
VCA Master Track Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829
Chapter 38. Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
Recording to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
Bounce to Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
Bounce Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837
Recording a Submix (with Bounce to Disk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843
Final Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844
Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
Pro Tools Reference Guidexiv
Part VIII Video, Sync, Surround
Chapter 39. Pro Tools Setup for Surround (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
Pro Tools Audio Connections for 5.1 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
Configuring Pro Tools for Multichannel Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850
Default I/O Selectors in I/O Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
5.1 Track Layouts, Routing, and Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854
Chapter 40. Multichannel Tracks and Signal Routing (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855
Multichannel Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855
Multichannel Signal Routing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858
Paths in Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861
Example Paths and Signal Routing for a Surround Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863
Chapter 41. Surround Panning and Mixing (Pro Tools HD Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Introduction to Pro Tools Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Output Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868
Standard Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
Surround Panner Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870
Panning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873
Divergence and Center Percentage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 876
LFE Faders in Multichannel Panners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878
Pan Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879
Surround Scope Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879
Chapter 42. Working with Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881
Pro Tools Synchronization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881
Session Setup Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
Preparing to Work with SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888
Configuring Pro Tools for SMPTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888
Pull Up and Pull Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 890
Putting Pro Tools Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894
Generating Time Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895
Using MIDI Machine Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896
Setting Minimum Sync Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899
Setting Pro Tools LTC Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900
Remote Track Arming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900
Spotting Regions to SMPTE Frame Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901
Time Stamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903
Identifying a Synchronization Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905
Troubleshooting SMPTE Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905
MIDI Beat Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
Contents xv
Chapter 43. Working with Video in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
QuickTime Movies Support in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910
Windows Media Video (VC-1 AP Codec) Support in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
Before Starting Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912
Main Video Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913
Video Track Controls and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914
Locking Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915
Video Engine Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916
Importing Video into Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917
Extracting Audio from QuickTime and Windows Media Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920
Video Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921
General Video Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922
Renaming Video Disk Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924
Video Region Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924
Using the Video Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925
Browsing Video in the Video Universe Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927
Playback of High-Definition QuickTime and Windows Media Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928
Playing QuickTime DV Video to an External Monitor Via FireWire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
Playing Video to an External Monitor Via a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931
Bouncing the Video Track to a QuickTime Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931
Bouncing a Video Track with Windows Media Video to a WIndows Media Movie . . . . . . . . . . 932
Using Pro Tools LE to Import Video from Other Versions of Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
Pro Tools Reference Guidexvi
Part I: Introduction
1
2

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 audio and MIDI for music, video, film, and multimedia.

The Pro Tools Guides

In addition to any printed guides or documenta­tion included with your system, PDF versions of the printed guides and many additional Pro Tools guides and Read Mes are installed au­tomatically during Pro Tools installation to the Digidesign/Documentation folder.
To view or print PDF guides, you can use Adobe Reader or Apple Preview (Mac only).
Printed copies of the Pro Tools Reference Guide and some guides in the Pro Tools guide set can be purchased separately from the DigiStore (www.digidesign.com).
Getting Started Guide
The printed Getting Started Guide for your system includes instructions for installing Pro Tools 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).
Guides Accessible in Pro Tools
The main Pro Tools guides are accessible from the Pro Tools Help menu. These include:
Pro Tools Reference Guide, which explains Pro Tools software in detail.
Pro Tools Menus Guide, which covers all the Pro Tools on-screen menus.
DigiRack Plug-ins Guide, which explains how to use Digidesign Pro Tools for both real-time and file-based au­dio processing.
Pro Tools Shortcuts for your operating system, which lists keyboard and Right-click shortcuts for Pro Tools, including those shown in Pro Tools menus.
®
plug-ins included with
Expanded Systems Guide (Pro Tools|HD Systems Only)
This printed guide provides instructions for ex­panding a Pro Tools|HD tional Digidesign cards and audio interfaces, with or without an expansion chassis.
®
system with addi-
Additional Digidesign Printed Guides
Digidesign also provides guides with Pro Tools audio interfaces, dedicated worksurfaces (such as D-Control™) and control surfaces (such as Command|8 (such as MIDI I/O™, PRE, and SYNC HD™). Re­fer to the separate guide provided with each Digidesign product.
®
), and other Digidesign options
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

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.
Product Registration Register your purchase on­line. See the Digidesign Registration Informa­tion Card included with your system for instruc­tions.
Support and Downloads 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.
References to Pro Tools LE™ in this guide are usually interchangeable with Pro Tools M-Powered™, except as noted in the Pro Tools M-Powered Getting Started Guide.
Pro Tools Reference Guide4
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.

Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts

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

Hard Disk Audio Recording

Hard disk recording is a nonlinear (or random ac- cess) medium—you can go immediately to any spot in a recording without having to rewind or fast forward.
This differs from tape-based recording, which is a linear medium—where you need to rewind or fast forward a tape to hear a particular spot in a recording. To rearrange or repeat material in a linear system, you need to re-record it, or cut and splice it.
Nonlinear systems have several advantages. You can easily rearrange or repeat parts of a record­ing by making the hard disk read parts of the re­cording in a different order and/or multiple times. In addition, this re-arrangement is non- destructive, meaning that the original recorded material is not altered.

Pro Tools Nonlinear Editing

Pro Tools is a nonlinear recording editing sys­tem that lets you rearrange and mix recorded material nondestructively. Nonlinear editing simply means that you can cut, copy, paste, move, delete, trim, and otherwise rearrange any audio, MIDI, or video in the Pro Tools Edit win­dow.
Nonlinear editing provides significant advan­tages over dubbing (re-recording), and cutting and splicing magnetic tape. It gives you the greatest possible flexibility for editing and ar­ranging, and it is all nondestructive and “undo­able.” Additionally, with nonlinear editing in Pro Tools, you will never introduce any degra­dation of audio fidelity like you would with tape.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 5

The Digidesign Audio Engine

The Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) 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 40.
Pro Tools LE uses host (CPU) processing to pro­vide audio track recording, playback, mixing, and effects processing. Both Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools HD use host processing to run RTAS (Real-Time AudioSuite) plug-ins for effects pro­cessing. Performance is determined by your sys­tem and its Playback Engine settings.
The Playback Engine dialog lets you set a hard­ware buffer size and allocate a percentage of CPU resources for these tasks.
®

Playback Engine Dialog

Pro Tools lets you adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that af­fect its capacity for processing, playback, and re­cording. These system settings are available in the Playback Engine dialog (Setup > Playback Engine).
Pro Tools takes advantage of your computer’s host processor for certain tasks and optional host-based DSP processing.
Pro Tools Reference Guide6
Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools|HD system
On Pro Tools|HD systems, you can select the number of voices and voiceable tracks for your system and its sessions. Voice count choices are based on how much DSP processing you want to allocate for voicing.
On Pro Tools|HD systems, the Playback Engine dialog is also where you assign dedicated DSP re­sources for Delay Compensation.
For more information, see “Configuring Pro Tools System Settings” on page 34. See also “System Resources” on page 16.

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, MIDI patch bays, effects processors, MIDI interfaces, MIDI control sur­faces, and MIDI 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.
USB and FireWire-compatible MIDI devices send and receive MIDI messages to and from the computer over USB or FireWire.
passes input
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 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
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.
Multitimbral The ability of one MIDI device to play several different instrument sounds (such as piano, bass, and drums) simultaneously on separate MIDI channels. This makes it possible for a single multitimbral MIDI instrument to play back entire arrangements.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 7
MIDI Port A physical MIDI port on a MIDI inter­face or a virtual MIDI port created in software. There are separate ports for MIDI In and Out. Physical MIDI ports connect to external MIDI devices using MIDI cables. Virtual MIDI ports connect software (see also Virtual MIDI Nodes).
MIDI Channel Up to 16 channels of MIDI perfor­mance data can be transmitted on a single MIDI cable. The channel number separates the differ­ent messages so your sound sources can receive the 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.
System Exclusive Data MIDI data commonly used for sending and retrieving patch parameter information for storage purposes.
Virtual MIDI Nodes When using MIDI with in­strument plug-ins in Pro Tools, virtual MIDI nodes are created. These nodes act like MIDI ports and provide software MIDI connections between Pro Tools and other MIDI software, such as instrument plug-ins. For example, when you insert Propellerhead’s Reason as a ReWire client on a track, the various MIDI inputs to Rea­son become available to Pro Tools MIDI and In­strument track MIDI outputs.

Common MIDI Misconceptions

MIDI is not audio, and by itself makes no sound. MIDI is control information only. It is like the piano roll for a player piano; it provides control information for what note to play when, for how long, at what volume, and what sound (in­strument). For example, when you strike a key on a MIDI keyboard, it sends a message to a MIDI instrument to play that particular note at that particular velocity using the selected sound (instrument). This could be its internal tone generator (like a synthesizer or sampler), an­other external MIDI instrument, or an instru­ment plug-in within Pro Tools. In order to play and hear a MIDI recording, you must have a MIDI instrument. Audio from an external MIDI instrument can be sent to an external mixer or monitored through your Pro Tools audio inter­face (using either an Instrument track or Auxil­iary track).
If you are using an external MIDI instrument, it must be connected to MIDI ports that are recog­nized by your computer. These ports can be on a Pro Tools interface that has MIDI ports (such as an Mbox 2) or some other MIDI interface (such as a Digidesign MIDI I/O).
Pro Tools Reference Guide8
Signal paths for external MIDI instruments
To actually hear an external MIDI instrument, you need to connect its audio outputs to a mix­ing console or connect it to one of the audio in­puts of your Pro Tools audio interface.
Just as each Pro Tools system has 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.
outputs time code or MIDI Beat Clock and an­other device synchronizes to or follows that time code or MIDI Beat Clock so that they work together according to the same clock source. Pro Tools can be synchronized to other devices (or other devices can be synchronized to Pro Tools) using SMPTE/EBU time code or MIDI Time Code.
For more information on different SMPTE/EBU formats, and other concepts related to time code, refer to the Pro Tools Sync & Surround Concepts Guide.

Surround

Surround sound simply means having one or more speakers with discrete audio signals (chan­nels) placed behind the listener in addition to the typical stereo pair.

MIDI In Pro Tools

Pro Tools provides MIDI sequencing capabili­ties. You can record, enter, edit, and playback MIDI data on Pro Tools tracks and in the MIDI Event List. MIDI data in Pro Tools can be any­thing from MIDI note data (note number, on/off, velocity) to System Exclusive (Sysex) messages. MIDI data can be recorded or played back from both external MIDI devices with a MIDI interface (like the Digidesign MIDI I/O or Mbox 2) and other MIDI software (such as in­strument plug-ins and ReWire client applica­tions).

Synchronization

When you are working with multiple time­based systems, such as Pro Tools and an external deck, you want both systems to be synchro­nized. Synchronization is where one system
There are multiple types of surround formats in use (from three-channel LCR to 7.1, which has 8 channels).
The most common surround format is 5.1, which refers to having 5 speakers and a sub­woofer (the “.1”). 5.1 is used in movie theaters and home entertainment systems. Additionally, most DVDs are mixed to 5.1. The standard speaker placement for 5.1 for surround monitor­ing is stereo left and right speakers, and an addi­tional center speaker in front, two more stereo left and right speakers in the rear, and the sub­woofer on the side.
Only Pro Tools HD supports mixing in surround formats. In Pro Tools, each surround format is considered to be a Pro Tools greater-than-stereo multichannel format.
For information on fundamental surround concepts, see the Pro Tools Sync & Surround Concepts Guide.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 9

Pro Tools Sessions

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

Session File

A session file is the document that Pro Tools cre- ates when you choose File > New Session and configure a new session. Pro Tools can open only one session file at a time. The session file is named with a .ptf (Pro Tools file) extension. Ses­sion files contain maps of all elements associ­ated with a project, including audio files, MIDI data, and all your edit and mix information. It is important to realize that a Pro Tools session file does not contain any media files (audio or video). Instead, it references audio, video, MIDI, and other files. You can make changes to a ses­sion and save those changes in a new session file. This lets you create multiple versions of a session or back up your editing and mixing work.
Although there are different session file icons, the session files may be opened by the other types of Pro Tools system software (with certain restrictions). See “Opening a Session” on page 97.
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 mulitple types of tracks: au­dio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, VCA Master, MIDI, Instrument, and video.
There are different session file icons for each type of Pro Tools system software.
Pro Tools HD
Session file icons
Pro Tools Reference Guide10
Pro Tools LE
Pro Tools M-Powered
Audio track in the Edit window (stereo track shown)
MIDI track in the Edit window
Video track in Frames View
Audio, MIDI, Instrument, and video track data can be edited into regions or repeated in differ­ent locations to create loops, re-arrange sections or entire songs, or to assemble tracks using ma­terial from multiple takes.
Auxiliary Input tracks can route internal audio busses or physical inputs to internal busses or physical outputs. Auxiliary Inputs are typically used for audio effects busses, audio throughput (monitoring), and submixing.
Master Fader tracks provide controls for physical audio output channels, including the volume level of your mix, panning, and plug-in inserts.
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 QuickTime movies (all Pro Tools systems) and VC-1 video files (Win­dows Vista only). Additionally, Avid video is supported on Pro Tools LE or Pro Tools HD with an Avid video peripheral, or Pro Tools LE with DV Toolkit 2 software. An individual video track can play back only one type 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.

Media Files

Pro Tools sessions create, import, export, and reference media files. Media files are audio, MIDI, and video files. Audio and video media files are stored separately from the Pro Tools ses­sion file. MIDI data is stored in the session file.
Audio Files
When you record audio into a Pro Tools session, audio files are created.
Audio file icons
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 12.
MIDI Files
When you record or enter MIDI into a Pro Tools session, all MIDI data is stored in the Pro Tools session file. You can import and export MIDI files to and from Pro Tools sessions, but MIDI re­corded or otherwise created in a Pro Tools ses­sion does not automatically create new MIDI files.
Video Files
When you record or import video into a Pro Tools session, all video data is stored as the corresponding video file type (such as Quick­Time). Video files can be created in (or copied to) the Video Files folder in the session folder. However, in most cases, Pro Tools references video files that have been captured by another application, such as Avid Media Composer.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 11

Regions

Audio region
MIDI region
Video region (Frames View)
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 (a region of regions) and looped (repeated).

Playlist

Playlist selector pop-up menu
Region group (Mixed audio and MIDI multitrack region group)
Pro Tools Reference Guide12
A playlist is a sequence of regions arranged on an audio, MIDI, or video track. Tracks have edit playlists and automation playlists.
On audio tracks, an edit playlist tells the hard disk which audio regions to play in what order. For example, you can have separate audio re­gions for a song introduction, the first verse, the first chorus, and so on. You can also use the same audio region to access the same piece of audio multiple times at different locations and not use additional disk space. Different versions of the same original audio can be used in differ­ent places and have different effects applied. On MIDI and Instrument tracks, edit playlists can store multiple MIDI sequences (or perfor­mances) on a track.
A playlist can be made up of a single region or many separate regions. It can be made up of similar elements, such as regions from several different takes of a solo, or dissimilar elements, such as several sound effects.
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 con­trol the output gain to the mix bus for that channel, while MIDI channel strip faders send MIDI volume data (MIDI controller 7) to the se­lected MIDI instrument.
Channel strip in the Mix window (audio track)
The term MIDI channel also describes a separate aspect of MIDI operation. See “MIDI” on page 7.
Chapter 2: Pro Tools Concepts 13

Signal Routing

Signal Routing Options
Pro Tools provides software-based mixing and signal routing controls for audio and MIDI. These controls are located in the Mix window. Some of these controls can also be accessed from the Edit window.
A common audio signal routing task is to sub­mix multiple tracks to a single channel strip (such as an Auxiliary Input) for shared process­ing and level control. The following example shows 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
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.
MIDI Tracks MIDI tracks are generally used for routing MIDI from internal or external sources to external MIDI devices. MIDI data can also be routed to plug-ins on Auxiliary Inputs or Instru­ment tracks.
Instrument Tracks Instrument tracks are the pri­mary way to route MIDI to an instrument plug­in and then route the plug-in’s sound to out­puts, sends and busses, or other inserts. Instru­ment tracks can also be used to route audio in­puts to other busses, sends, or outputs, as well as to send MIDI to external devices.
Audio tracks
Submixing to an Auxiliary Input
Pro Tools Reference Guide14
Auxiliary
Input track
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.
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