chapter 7

o select a contiguous range of clips in the Clip List:

1.Click the name of the first clip you wish to select in the Clip List. 2.Shift-click the name of the last clip you wish to select. All clips in the range between the first selected clip and the second clip will be selected. image.png You can also select a range of clips by moving the cursor to the left of the clip names until the pointer becomes a Marquee cursor (crosshairs); then click and drag the Marquee around the clips you want to select.

o export clip definitions:

1.Complete all required editing. 2.In the Clip List, select the subset clips whose definitions you want to export. 3.Choose Export Clip Definitions from the Clip List pop-up menu. The Clip definitions will be written into the parent audio file in the session's Audio Files folder.

To create an external file using the Consolidate Clip command:

1.Make a selection encompassing the target audio. 2.Choose Edit > Consolidate Clip. A new whole-file clip will be created from your selection, and the new clip will be selected in the Clip List. image-2.png You can also press Option+Shift+3 (Mac) or Alt+Shift+3 (Windows) to consolidate a selection with the Consolidate Clip command. 3.Right-click on the clip in the Clip List and choose Reveal in Finder (Mac) or Reveal in Explorer (Windows). The Audio Files folder for the session will open with the newly created audio file selected. 4.Copy the file to the desired library or other directory location.

To unloop and ungroup a clip loop with nested material down to its individual clips:

1.Select a looped clip that contains one or more clip groups. 2.Choose Clip > Ungroup All. All loop iterations will be flattened and all clip groups will be ungrouped, down to the lowest nested level. After ungrouping, you can edit the underlying clips and then choose Clip > Regroup to re-create the underlying clip groups.

To export clips as files:

1.Select one or more audio clips in the Clip List. 2.From the Clip List pop-up menu, choose Export Clips as Files. The Export Selected dialog box will display. (See Figure 7.38.) 3.Set the export parameters for the file(s) as desired. (Optional) Click the Choose button to select a destination for the exported file(s). •In the resulting dialog box, navigate to the desired library or other directory location. •Click Open to select the current location and dismiss the dialog box. Click the Export button to complete the file export. New audio files will be created at the selected destination.

selecting loops

A looped section behaves as a single clip, so clicking in it with the Grabber tool selects the whole looped clip. However, positioning the Grabber or Selector tools at the bottom right of the clip (over the Loop icon) will change the tool mode so that individual loops can be selected. With the Grabber tool, you can select a single loop; with the Selector tool, you can select a group of whole loop iterations by clicking and dragging.

Cleaning Up the Clip List

As the Clip List grows in your session, you may find that you want to remove the clips that you no longer need, in order to make the Clip List less cluttered. From the Clip List, you can select and remove any unneeded and/or unused clips in your session.

Groups.

Assigns a color to each track according to its Group ID. If groups are suspended using the Suspend Groups command, the track color bars are not shown.

Track Type.

Assigns a color to each track according to its type (Audio, MIDI, Instrument, Video, Aux Input, or Master Fader). This is the default track color setting.

Tracks and MIDI Channels.

Assigns a color to each track in the Mix or Edit window according to its voice assignment or the MIDI channel assignment made with the MIDI Output selector.

Tracks and MIDI Devices.

Assigns a color to each track in the Mix or Edit window according to its voice assignment or the MIDI device assignment made with the MIDI Output selector.

Removing or Deleting files with the Clear command cannot be undone.

Click Remove to remove the unused clips from the session while leaving parent files in the Audio Files folder (or their current location), Move To Trash to remove unused clips and move selected parent files to the trash, or Delete to remove unused clips and permanently delete selected parent files from your hard drive.

When you remove clips using the Clear Clips dialog box, Pro Tools checks whether the clip is used in the session or is referenced in the computer's RAM. If the clip is currently on a track, stored in the Clipboard, or referenced in the undo queue, a confirmation dialog box will appear.

Click Yes to clear the clip from the Clip List and the corresponding track, undo queue, or Clipboard. ■Click No to cancel the Clear command.

to access grid modes

Click and hold on the Grid button in the toolbar area of the Edit window. The Grid Mode pop-up menu will appear.

Clip Looping

Clip > Loop menu command When looping clips, you can specify the number of loop iterations to create, set a specific amount of time to fill with the loop, or allow the loop to repeat until the next clip or the end of the track.

clip loop dialog box

Command+Option+L (Mac) clip> loop

Create continuous file.

Create continuous file.

when Deselected.

Deselected. When Use in Playlist is deselected (gray), the newly processed audio will appear in the Clip List only and will not replace the selected audio in track playlists. This is useful if you want to create a processed copy of the clip for use elsewhere in your session.

Destructive processing and non-destructive processing

Destructive processing is processing that permanently alters or overwrites the original audio stored on the hard drive. Conversely, non-destructive processing does not alter original audio, but instead creates new, processed files on the hard drive. Not all AudioSuite plug-ins support destructive processing.

Audio suite AudioSuite Features

Floating plug-in window. Once an AudioSuite plug-in is selected, its processing window remains on the screen until you close it, allowing you to process other clips with the same settings. ■Destructive or non-destructive processing. You can choose to permanently change selected clips/files (destructive) or to create new files that reflect the chosen process (non-destructive). ■Playlist-based selection or Clip List-based selection processing. You can direct an AudioSuite render to affect an individual clip on a track or all occurrences of the clip in the session. ■Stereo and multitrack processing. Clips or selections on stereo or multichannel tracks are rendered in tandem, as are selections across multiple tracks. ■Preview with bypass. Many AudioSuite plug-ins support a preview mode, allowing you to audition the effect of the plug-in settings before rendering, and a Bypass button, allowing you to quickly compare the processed audio with the original while previewing.

find command

For precise searching, Pro Tools provides a powerful search function (the Find command) that allows you to display only clips that exactly match a character sequence you specify. This command is useful for displaying relevant clips while temporarily hiding the others.

grid mode

Grid mode can be applied in Absolute or Relative mode.

trimming loop

Hold Control (Mac) or Start (Windows) while trimming to trim in whole loop iterations.

Relative grid ode

In Relative Grid mode, clips and MIDI notes can be moved by Grid units. If a clip's start point falls between grid beats and the Grid is set to 1/4 notes, dragging the clip will move it in 1/4 note increments, preserving the clip's relative position to the nearest beat.

Deleting Audio Files

Moving audio files to the trash or deleting them from the hard drive can reduce the overall storage requirements of your session. This can be a useful technique when creating an archive, session deliverable, or backup copy. However, this process requires a specific sequence of steps to safeguard against data loss. (See Lesson 10 for details on creating an archive).

Clip List Processing.

New processed files are named using the original audio clip name, followed by a hyphen (), a four-letter abbreviation for the AudioSuite plug-in used, and a second hyphen (), and ending with a two-digit edit number (starting at 00). Using the previous example, the three clips named light wind, strong wind, and thunder would have the new file names light wind-PiSh-00, strong wind-PiSh-00, and thunder-PiSh-00 after applying the Pitch Shift AudioSuite plug-in with Clip List processing selected.

Playlist Processing. file naming

New processed files are named using the original audio clip name, followed by a hyphen (-), a four-letter abbreviation for the AudioSuite plug-in used, and an underscore (_), and ending with a two-digit edit number (starting at 01). As an example, the three clips named light wind, strong wind, and thunder would have the new file names light wind-PiSh_01, strong wind-PiSh_01, and thunder-PiSh_01 after applying the Pitch Shift AudioSuite plug-in with playlist processing.

options for track coloring

None. Turns off color assignment for tracks.

Capturing a Clip

One drawback of the Consolidate Clip command is that it replaces the original track selection with the new parent file. This can disturb an original, unedited clip by creating unwanted separations. Any subset clips or edit points in the original selection will be lost, and the replacement audio will have no handles for trimming, crossfading, or creating fade-ins and -outs.

Consolidating Clips

One of the most commonly used methods of rendering a clip or selection to disk as a parent file is the Consolidate Clip command. This command will render the Edit selection as a new audio file, including any included empty space (silence) and fade effects. The resulting file will be placed in your session's Audio Files folder. From there, you can use the Mac Finder or Windows Explorer to copy or move the file to the desired location.

Play list vs clip list

Playlist. To process just one occurrence of a clip in a session, choose this setting. Also, to process a selection containing partial clips, you need to use this setting. •Clip List. To process all occurrences of a clip that is used multiple times in a session, choose this setting.

plug in selector

Plug-In Selector. Clicking the Plug-In Selector button opens a pop-up menu, which allows you to switch to a different AudioSuite plug-in while still retaining your audio selection.

To select or deselect non-contiguously (individual clips or ranges):

Press and hold the Command key (Mac) or the Ctrl key (Windows). 2.Click on individual items to select or deselect them non-contiguously. - Or - Move the cursor to the left of the clip name until the Marquee cursor appears (crosshairs); then click and drag. •To add clips, the Marquee should be to the left of an unhighlighted clip name. •To deselect clips, the Marquee should be to the left of a highlighted clip name.

separating clips on the grid

Pro Tools gives you the ability to use the Separate Clip command in conjunction with the timing grid to quickly create clips of a defined size. The Separate Clip > On Grid command separates clips based on the currently displayed Grid values and boundaries. You can also add 1 to 10 milliseconds of padding to the start of each clip, if desired, to preserve any note attacks that are ahead of the beat.

processing output mode

Processing Output Mode. This setting determines whether the AudioSuite plug-in outputs the processed file in destructive or non-destructive mode. One destructive mode and two non-destructive modes are available.

clip> unloop

Remove—Unloops and removes all loop iterations, returning the source clip (first full loop iteration) to its original state. •Flatten—Unloops the clip and creates individual clips from each loop iteration.

To display track color bars in the Mix or Edit window, do one of the following:

Select View > Mix Window Views > Track Color or View > Edit Window Views > Track Color. or Click the Mix Window View selector or Edit Window View selector and select Track Color from the pop-up menu.

Do one of the following: in clip loop dialog box

Select the Number of Loops option and enter the desired number of loop iterations. •Select the Loop Length option and enter the desired loop duration. •Select the Loop Until End of the Session or Next Clip option. The looped clip will repeat until it reaches the end of the session or the next clip on the track. If desired, select the Enable Crossfade option. This will create crossfades at the loop points. To edit the loop crossfade settings, click the Settings button. The Loop Crossfade dialog box will open.

when selected

Selected. When Use in Playlist is selected (highlighted in blue), the newly processed audio will appear in both the Clip List and in track playlists.

Selection Reference.

Selection Reference. The Selection Reference button specifies whether the AudioSuite plug-in processes audio in the track playlist or in the Clip List.

Finding a Clip in the Clip List

The Clip List displays all audio, MIDI, and video clips, auto-created clips, and clip groups in a single, comprehensive list. All clips that are recorded, imported, or created by editing appear in this list.

The Handle Length and Whole File

The Handle Length and Whole File options are not available when the Processing Input mode is set to Entire Selection or when the Processing Output mode is set to Overwrite Files.

Use in Playlist.

The Use in Playlist button controls whether the processed audio replaces your selection in the track playlist.

Create individual files.

This non-destructive option processes the selected audio and then adds the new files to the session, leaving the original audio files and clips unchanged. Any clips or partial clips in the original selection result in new processed clips.

over write files

This option provides destructive processing. If you choose this option, AudioSuite processing will overwrite the selected part of the original sound file, permanently changing it. The new audio will replace the original audio in the file, and all instances of the audio in the session will be changed, regardless of the plug-in's Selection Reference or Use in Playlist settings. Since the result is irreversible, a dialog box appears prior to processing, allowing you to cancel the operation or select non-destructive processing instead.

Entire Selection.

This setting analyzes an entire selection of clips, treating them as if they were one complete clip. This setting applies continuous processing to all of the clips that make up the selection, rather than affecting each individual clip separately.

Clip by Clip.

This setting analyzes each clip in a selection individually. This mode is helpful for processes like Normalization, where you want to maximize the effect for each individual clip, rather than process each clip relative to the entire selection.

Processing Input Mode.

This setting determines how an AudioSuite plug-in analyzes selections that contain multiple clips. Depending on the particular process, you might want the plug-in to analyze your selection on either a clip-by-clip basis or an entire selection basis.

clip list

by default, selecting a clip on a track will also select it in the Clip List and vice versa (subject to Preferences settings under the Editing page). Once selected in the Clip List, a clip can be processed, added to a new track location by drag and drop, or removed from your session.

absolute grid mode

inAbsolute Grid mode, moving any clip (or MIDI note) snaps the clip start to the Grid boundaries. If a clip's start point falls between Grid boundaries, dragging the clip will snap its start time to the nearest grid boundary.

To separate clips according to the current grid resolution:

make the desired Edit selection. 2.Set the Grid interval using the Grid value pop-up menu. 3.Choose Edit > Separate Clip > On Grid. The Pre-Separate Amount dialog box will open. To separate clips precisely on the Grid, leave the Pre-Separate amount set to 0.

Removing Clips

since removing audio clips does not delete audio, it is the safer choice (although it has no effect on hard drive usage of the session). Select this option when you are cleaning up your Clip List. This will ensure that you do not accidentally delete parent audio files that are still in use (including for sessions from earlier stages, alternate arrangements, remixes, or shared files from a sound effects library or loop library).

f you don't wish to disturb your original audio playlist, a better option may be to use the Capture command. This command lets you create a new subset clip in the Clip List without making a separation on the track.

the Capture command is available only when the selection covers a continuous section of audio; you cannot capture selections that cross clip boundaries. To capture a clip from a selection that includes clip boundaries, fades, and/or areas of silence, you must first create a clip group from the source clips.

find search history

to add an entry to the Find History without performing a search:

select> unused

•Unused: Use this option to select all Audio, MIDI, and Video clips, including whole-file clips, that are not currently used on any track playlists. •Unused Audio Except Whole Files: Use this option to select all Audio clips, excluding whole file clips, that are not currently used on any track playlists. •Offline: Use this option to select all clips, including whole-file clips, that are referencing offline media (i.e., files that cannot be located on a mounted volume).

to clear the find history

■Choose Remove All Entries from the Find History pop-up menu.

clip loop exceptions

■Looping can be applied only to an entire source clip or clip group. To loop a selection that includes only a portion of a clip, you must trim the clip to the selection or separate the clip at the selection first. ■Looping cannot be applied to multiple clips on the same track. To loop a selection that includes multiple clips, first create a clip group from the selection. ■Creating a clip group to use for clip looping enables you to include areas outside of a clip within the loop, such as empty space (silence) at the beginning or ending of the clip. This can be useful to ensure that a clip used for looping begins and ends on the grid. ■Looping can be applied to multitrack clip groups and mixed clip groups in the same way that it is applied to a clip or clip group on a single track. ■When looping clips on multiple tracks, loops will be applied to the source clip on each track separately. If the source clips are different lengths, the loop locations will vary between tracks. To ensure that the loop point is identical between tracks, create a multitrack clip group from the selection before creating the clip loop. ■Looped clips can be combined with other clips into clip groups, which can then be looped again, effectively creating nested loops. However, you will only be able to edit the loop settings for the top level of loop iterations without unlooping.

audio suite advanced features

■Multiple plug-in windows. Multiple AudioSuite plug-in windows can be opened simultaneously, allowing you to process clips with multiple plug-ins in sequence. ■Preservation of fades and metadata. Depending on the processing mode selected, you can preserve any fades applied to clips as well as any metadata associated with the clips. ■AudioSuite handles. AudioSuite processing can be applied beyond the current Edit selection, up to the length of the entire underlying file referenced by the clip. This allows you to trim clips out past the rendered selection after processing. ■Reverse option for Delay and Reverb. A Reverse button in the AudioSuite plug-in window lets you render reverse delay and reverb effects with a single click.

Removing Clips Versus Deleting Files

■When you remove a clip from a session, the parent audio file remains on the hard drive and can be used elsewhere in the session (by subset clips) or in other sessions. ■In order to move an audio file to the trash or delete it, all clips referring to that file must also be removed from the session. Once completed, the file is no longer available for use in the current session, nor any other session that may reference the same file.