chapter 10
To change the Global group attributes:
1.Create or modify a group. 2.Click on the Globals tab in the Group dialog box. 3.Check or uncheck attributes to define the Global set. 4.Click OK to apply the change.
Isolating Grouped Parameters
The process of suspending and re-enabling groups can quickly become tedious when you need to make small, incremental changes in the course of finalizing your mix. A better solution is to isolate a single parameter, temporarily removing it from group control.
Trim Automation
VCA tracks can have their own volume automation. This is referred to as VCA Trim automation, as the VCA Master acts to trim underling members, without overwriting their automation.
To add tracks from additional groups to the currently displayed tracks, do one of the following:
■Right-click on a group name in the Group List and select Show Tracks in Group from the pop-up menu. ■Control+Shift-click (Mac) or Start+Shift-Click (Windows) on a group name in the Group List.
To store group attributes as a preset:
1.Choose the attributes that you want to use for your preset template. 2.Click on the Save button in the Settings section at the bottom of the dialog box. In the subsequent prompt, choose the preset location you wish to use from the Location drop-down menu.
The second part of the process it to perform a bit-depth reduction on the 44.1 kHz bounce, converting it to a 16-bit file. To reduce the bit-depth for the files, do the following:
1.Create a new 44.1 kHz session and import the 44.1 kHz bounce file(s) you created onto a new track. 2.Create a Master Fader and place the POW-r Dither plug-in on it, followed by a peak limiting plug-in, such as Avid's Maxim (with Dithering turned off), McDSP's ML1/4000, or Waves L1/L2/L3. image-172.png The Waves L1, L2, and L3 plug-ins include their own high-quality dithering process called IDR. If you plan to use IDR, do not place a POW-r dither plug-in on the track. 3.Select File > Bounce to > Disk. Choose a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, interleaved file as your final file format. 4.Specify a file name and click Bounce. image-172.png Once a file has been processed with Dither, the file should never be processed again.
o assign an existing VCA Master fader to a new group:
1.Create a new Mix group or Mix/Edit group. 2.In the Create Groups dialog box, click on the VCA selector and choose an existing VCA Master track to assign to the group. (See Figure 10.8.)
3.Click Save; the current group attributes will be stored as a preset.
1.Create or modify a Mix/Edit group. 2.Click on the group preset you wish to use in the Settings section at the bottom of the Group dialog box. The preset attributes will be applied. 3.Click OK in the Group dialog box to accept the changes.
To use Global Attributes, do the following:
1.Create or modify a group. 2.Select the Follow Globals checkbox. The check boxes under the Attributes tab will gray out, indicating the group is following the global settings (as specified under the Globals tab).
To assign a VCA Master fader to an existing group:
1.If needed, create a Mix group or Mix/Edit group for the target tracks. 2.Create a new VCA Master track using the New Tracks dialog box. 3.Assign the VCA Master track to the group that you want to control by clicking on the Group Assignment selector of the VCA track (where the Output selector would normally be); available groups will be listed in the resulting dropdown menu.
To render stems with Commit Tracks:
1.Make a timeline selection representing the portion of the session or duration that you wish to render. 2.Select each of the submix Aux Input tracks in your session, such as the drums sub, guitars sub, bass sub, keyboards sub, and vocals sub. 3.Choose Track > Commit or press Option+Shift+C (Mac) or Alt+Shift+C (Windows) to display the Commit Tracks dialog box. 4.In the Commit Tracks dialog box, set the parameters as follows (see Figure 10.14): •Commit: Edit Selection •Consolidate Clips: Enabled (checked) •Render Automation: Volume and Mute: Enabled (checked) •Render Automation: Pan: Enabled (checked) •Copy: Sends: Disabled (unchecked)
RENDER STEMS TO DISK``
1.Make a timeline selection, if needed, representing the portion of the session or duration that you wish to render. 2.Select each of the submix Aux Input tracks in your session, such as the drums sub, guitars sub, bass sub, keyboards sub, and vocals sub. 3.Choose Track > Bounce or press Option+Command+Shift+B (Mac) or Alt+Ctrl+Shift+B (Windows) to display the Track Bounce dialog box. 4.In the Track Bounce dialog box, set the render parameters as follows (see Figure 10.15): •Render Automation: Volume: Enabled (checked) •Render Automation: Pan: Enabled (checked) 5.Set the file type, format, and other parameter settings as desired. For stereo stems, you will probably want to set the format to Interleaved. 6.Specify a file name prefix and bounce location as desired.
To modify group attributes:
1.Modify a group by choosing Modify Groups from the Group List pop-up menu or by pressing Control+Command+G (Mac) or Ctrl+Start+G (Windows). The Modify Groups dialog box will open. 2.Select the desired group from the ID pop-up menu. 3.Uncheck the Follow Globals checkbox, if checked. 4.Click on the Attributes tab and select the desired attributes for the group. 5.Click OK when finished to apply the changes.
To create a stereo bounce using an internal mix bus:
1.Verify that you are hearing all the tracks in the session from which you wish to create the bounce. 2.For each of the tracks routed to the main outputs, change the output assignment to a new stereo Aux Input submaster track. This track will combine the source track outputs for the final bounce. 3.Place any final processing plug-ins on the Aux Input submaster track. 4.Set the output of the Aux Input submaster track to an unused stereo bus. 5.To help clarify the routing, rename the bus. ou can rename input, output, and bus labels at any time by Right-clicking on them and choosing Rename. 6.Create a new stereo Audio track to serve as the print track. Set the input of the track to correspond to the bus you used for the submaster output; set the output of the track to your main session outputs.
If a Group name appears with a track name next to it, the Group is already assigned to another VCA Master track.
4.After the assignment is made, the track will display the same color as the group in the indicator above the Group Assignment selector.
Enabling and Disabling Groups
As discussed in the Pro Tools 110 course, the names of all active groups are highlighted in the Group List. You can enable (activate) or disable (deactivate) a group by clicking on its name in the Group List. When Group List Keyboard Focus mode is active, you can also enable or disable groups by typing the Group ID letter.
VCA Track Controls
As mentioned above, moving a VCA fader will move all underlying member tracks simultaneously. But a VCA track gives you additional controls over the member tracks, including the following:
Modifying Attributes
As the mix proceeds, you may want different attributes associated with different groups. This is easy to accomplish by modifying a group and setting group-specific attributes.
Selecting Members of a Group (Recap)
As you have already learned, track group membership is displayed for active groups using the Group ID indicators in the Mix window (above the Pan controls). Although this display can be helpful for identifying tracks that are members of a given group, it only applies for active groups.
To reduce the sample rate for your mix, do the following:
Choose File > Bounce to > Disk from your high-sample rate session to create a new stereo audio file. 2.In the Bounce dialog box, do the following: •Select WAV or AIFF for the File Type. •Select Multiple Mono or Interleaved for the Format. •Select 32 Bit Float for the Bit Depth. •Select 44.1 kHz for the Sample Rate. 3.Click Bounce to complete the bounce to disk. 4.Once the bounce is complete, close your session.
Group Attribute Presets
Once you become comfortable with group attributes, you may want to create templates of preset group attributes to quickly configure multiple group attributes. These group presets can be stored and recalled from the Create Group dialog box much like zoom presets are recalled in the Edit window.
Working with Groups
Once you have created several groups, you may find it useful to quickly select, show, or hide tracks based on their group membership. You may also want to suspend grouped behavior from time to time in order to make a change to a single member track.
All of the above pop-up menu commands can also be accessed by clicking a track's Group ID indicator in the Mix window (when the track is a member of an active group). The Group ID pop-up menu includes the following options:
■Select Tracks In Group ■Hide Tracks In Group ■Show Only Tracks In Group ■Show All Tracks
Routing Tracks to Multiple Outputs
For certain mixdown scenarios, it is necessary to route tracks from your session to two or more separate destinations. This can allow you to send your mix (or submix elements) to more than one device for recording, for example to a DAT and a CD recorder. It can also be useful to send submix elements out to a common analog pair for monitoring purposes while simultaneously sending them to individual output paths or mix busses for recording.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Selecting Group Attributes
Holding Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) while clicking a check box will toggle all checkboxes vertically in a Sends or Inserts column and all mix attributes in the Mix Attributes section. Holding Control (Mac) or Start (Windows) while clicking a check box will toggle all checkboxes in a horizontal row in the Main, Sends, and Inserts sections. Holding both modifiers—Control+Option (Mac) or Start+Alt (Windows)—while clicking a check box will toggle all checkboxes vertically and horizontally associated with that row/column. Holding Control+Option+Shift (Mac) or Start+Alt+Shift (Windows) will toggle all rows and columns.
Recording Stems to an External Device
If you are using a multi-track recording device, you can assign multiple track outputs from Pro Tools to the desired inputs of your multi-track recording device. Figure 10.13 shows multiple stereo film or commercial post submixes (stems) routed out through different AES/EBU pairs, along with a composite mix (final 2-trk mix) of the stems routed to outputs 1-2.
Rendering Stems as External Files
If you do not wish to have the stem files contained within your Pro Tools session, you can use the Track Bounce option instead of Commit Tracks to render the stems to disk. As above, this option is simple and straightforward once you have created submixes using Aux Input tracks.
Multiple Stem Output
If you have created submixes of your tracks by combining similar tracks together, these submixes can be rendered internally or recorded to a separate device as individual stereo of multi-channel stems. The stems can then be combined externally or mixed through other devices or DAWs.
All main track controls can be isolated from group behavior, including the following:
■Track volume fader ■Track pan controls ■Track solo, mute, record-enable, and InputMonitor buttons ■Send level and send pan controls
Nested VCA Control
It is not possible to assign more than one VCA Master to a group, but it is possible for VCA Masters to be assigned to nested groups. Therefore, you may end up with more than one VCA Master controlling a fader. In this case, the effects of the two VCA Masters are added together. For example, if one VCA Master is at +3dB and the other is at -2dB, the overall effect on the member tracks will be +1dB.
Mixdown Options
Mixdown is typically one of the last processes that you will complete for a project. At this point, you have several available options:
VCA Level Meter
On VCA Master tracks, level meters indicate the highest level occurring on any member track, not a summed level of all member tracks (a VCA Master is not a bus or a sum of its members).
utputting Stems as Stereo Mixes (Stem Layback)
Once you've configured your final mix as a composite of various submixes, it is easy to record or render the output of each submix as an individual stereo recording or stem. This can be done in a number of ways, including recording to an external multi-track device, rendering internally using Commit Tracks, and rendering to disk using Bounce Tracks. Printing each stem as a separate stereo mix provides a way for another facility to remix the project from the individual stems.
Input Enable
Pressing the Input button will clear any member tracks that are input-enabled. Holding Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) while clicking on the Input button on a VCA Master track will input monitor all member tracks.
Mute
Pressing the Mute button on a VCA Master will mute all member tracks. If some member tracks are already muted when the VCA Master track is muted, unmuting it will leave the previously muted member tracks in mute. It is important to note that Solos and Mutes work differently in this regard.
Record Enable
Pressing the Record button will clear any member tracks that are record-enabled. Pressing it again will enable only those tracks previously record-enabled. Holding Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) and clicking on the Record Enable button on a VCA Master track will record-enable all member tracks.
Solo
Pressing the Solo button on a VCA Master will solo all member tracks. If some member tracks are already soloed when the VCA Master track is then soloed, all member tracks will be placed in solo mode; unsoloing the VCA will clear any underlying solos.
Suspending Groups
The Group List pop-up menu provides access to a global command for temporarily suspending all groups in the session. As you've learned in the Pro Tools 110 course, you can apply this action by selecting Suspend All Groups from the pop-up menu or by pressing Command+Shift+G (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+G (Windows). Selecting the command or pressing the keyboard shortcut a second time will re-enable (unsuspend) all groups. To make a change to any grouped setting(s) on an individual track, you can suspend all groups, make the desired adjustment, and then re-enable (unsuspend) all groups.
Rendering Stems Internally
To create internal stem files, you could route the output of each submix to individual stereo print tracks and record all of the stem files simultaneously in one record pass. However, the introduction of the Commit Tracks function in Pro Tools 12.3 makes the process even simpler. Since you can use Commit functions on Aux Input tracks, you can render all of your stem files internally without any additional routing.
Recording to an External Stereo Device (External Layback)
To master your session directly to an analog or digital 2-track mastering deck, you need to route all of your submix tracks to the corresponding outputs feeding the inputs of the mastering deck. You will then play back your session (syncing to SMPTE timecode if desired) as the deck records. Figure 10.11 shows multiple tracks in the session routed to outputs A 1-2, which in turn are routed to the audio inputs of a digital video tape recorder. On some interfaces, the Pro Tools outputs A 1-2 route to both analog outputs and digital outputs by default (AES/EBU and S/PDIF). This allows you to monitor the Pro Tools analog output through your monitoring system while printing digitally to a mastering record device. This method also has the advantage of reducing bit-depth at the same time, when the digital recording device is set for 16-bit. In this case, be sure to use a dither plug-in (usually placed on a Master Fader) to help preserve the original dynamic range.
VCA Master tracks can also provide control of submixes, allowing you to re-balance the overall mix using only a few VCA Master faders. In addition, VCA Master faders can be automated in the same way as any other fader, offering another layer of automation control. If a VCA Master fader has no automation, it can be used to easily trim the overall level of faders that already have dynamic automation.
VCA Master faders are associated with Mix groups (or Mix/Edit groups). The normal workflow involves creating the group first, then creating a VCA Master track, and finally assigning the VCA Master to the group.
VCA Master Tracks
When working with traditional Mix groups in Pro Tools, all grouped members' faders typically move together (subject to the group attributes). In order to move a single fader without affecting the rest of the group, the group can be deactivated or the fader can be isolated, as described in the previous section. However, Pro Tools provides another type of group that functions differently, called a VCA group. In Pro Tools, VCA groups are an extension of Mix groups: you can assign a VCA Master fader to any existing Mix group. The advantage over a conventional Mix group is simple. The VCA Master fader can be used to affect all of the member tracks simultaneously, but individual member track attributes are not necessarily linked. This gives you the best of both worlds—a single fader can be used to adjust the overall level of the group (VCA Master), while each track remains independent from the rest of the group (no need for isolating parameters).
Suspending and Isolating Group Functions
When you are working with typical Mix groups that include various linked parameters, you may need to gain temporary access to settings on an individual track, independently from group membership. For example, you may need to adjust the volume fader for the kick drum track without affecting the faders on other tracks in the existing Drums group. Pro Tools provides two ways to do this without deactivating an individual group: suspending groups and isolating a grouped parameter.
Global Attributes
When you create a group, you may not know what attributes you want as part of the group; this may be something you discover later in the mixing process. Setting global attributes and using the Follow Globals option provides a quick way to set up the basic attributes that you know you will want under group control for all your groups. By default, the Global attributes link the main volume, mute, solo, and automation mode functions for member tracks. You can change the global attributes at any time to include or exclude desired attributes. However, the default settings represent typical Mix group behavior.
Internal Layback—
You can create a complete mix of your session using an internal mix bus, recording to an internal Audio track. You can then export the resulting file(s) for use outside of Pro Tools while retaining the high bit-depth master file(s) inside of the session.
Bounce to Disk
You can internally mix down all tracks in your session into a stereo or multi-channel file using your choice of file formats, sample rates, and bit depths. The mix can then be written to an audio CD, archived on a backup device, or delivered to another facility for mastering and duplication.
External Layback—
You can output any combination of tracks to an external mastering or recording device such as an Alesis MasterLink®, a professional Video Tape Recorder (VTR), a Tascam DA-88/98®, or an analog tape machine, using either analog or digital output formats on your audio interfaces. And, as is often the case with post-production work, you can include SMPTE timecode.
To make multiple output assignments for a track, do the following:
Z1.Assign a main output path by selecting it from the track's Output Path selector. 2.Control-click (Mac) or Start-click (Windows) on the track's Output Path selector and select an additional output path. The newly selected destination will be added as a secondary output. A plus sign will appear in the Output Path selector, indicating that the track is assigned to multiple output destinations.
Creating a Final Mix
fter you have finished editing and mixing all of your tracks—including adding any AudioSuite and real-time plug-ins; setting and automating the track volumes; and automating any other session parameters you choose—you are ready to create a final mix and/or submix stems. You can then create the mix and stems internally within your session, bounce them externally to a location on your hard drive, or route outputs for recording to some other device. If needed, you can route tracks to multiple outputs for monitoring purposes or for recording to more than one destination simultaneously.
Mixdown Techniques
he most common mixdown techniques in Pro Tools involve mixing down entirely within the Pro Tools environment, traditionally using either Bounce to Disk or bus recording techniques for internal layback. Other options include outputting a stereo mix for external recording, mixing down through an external console, and creating stems using Commit Tracks, Bounce Tracks, or external recording.
To enable or disable groups using the Group ID letter: 1.Enable Group List Keyboard Focus mode by doing one of the following:
•Click on the a-z button in the Group List. •Press Command+Option+3 (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+3 (Windows). •Activate the Mix window. (Group List Keyboard Focus is always active in the Mix window.) 2.Type the Group ID letter of the group you wish to enable or disable. The group will toggle its state with each successive key press.
To isolate a parameter from group control, do the following:
■Control-click (Mac) or Start-click (Windows) on the parameter. The parameter will be isolated from group control for the selected change only. Group control will immediately resume when the parameter is released.
The channel format of level meters on the VCA Master is based on the channel formats of its member tracks, as follows:
■If all member tracks are the same channel format (mono, stereo, or a multi-channel), the number of level meters on the VCA Master track will be identical to that of the member tracks. ■If the member tracks are different formats, the VCA Master track will have a single (mono) level meter.
hide members of SPECIFIC GROUP`
■Right-click on a group name in the Group List and select Hide Tracks In Group from the pop-up menu. ■Control+Shift-click (Mac) or Start+Shift-click (Windows) on the name of a currently displayed group in the Group List.
To return to showing all tracks in the session:
■Right-click on a group name in the Group List and select Show All Tracks from the pop-up menu. ■Control-click (Mac) or Start-click (Windows) on the <All> group in the Group List.
To show only members of a specific group, do one of the following:
■Right-click on a group name in the Group List and select Show Only Tracks In Group from the pop-up menu. ■Control-click (Mac) or Start-click (Windows) on a group name in the Group List.
