Demystifying Pro Tools Preference Settings part 3/3

OK today let's first go over the Editing tab. There's really only one item I want to make sure you know about. At the bottom of the page is 'Levels of Undo'.  This preference sets the maximum number of actions that can be undone. The maximum is 32 levels of undo! That's a lot! You can "back up" 32 times. Sometimes I use this to my advantage - I may try something knowing that I can go back and undo whatever it is I'm trying. For instance, in editing I might try to edit two different sections together a certain way not knowing if it's going to work or not. And then if it doesn't work I can just back up until I see my two sections as they were in the beginning before I did any editing at all.

NOTE: The one thing to keep in mind is that setting this to a lower number can speed up the performance of slower computers.

The next tab in the preferences setup is Mixing. Under the Setup section I like to use the Default EQ and Default Dynamics windows. Here I set the EQ and Dynamics processors that I use most often. After setting them, they will show up when you're in the mix window and you click on an insert. The plugin appears at the top of the insert selector pop-up menu.

Next under Automation be sure 'Smooth and Thin Data After Pass' is selected. Pro Tools will automatically smooth and thin the automation data created in an automation pass if this is set. Be sure to set the 'Degree of Thinning' also. I have mine set to "more". I would leave this higher - either 'more' or 'most'.

And finally, notice 'After Write Pass, Switch To'. This determines what happens after you write the first pass of automation. Touch mode writes automation only while a fader or switch is touched or clicked with a mouse. When the fader is released, the writing of automation stops and the fader returns to any previously automated position. Latch mode works in the same way but continues to write automation until you stop playback.

So that's it for the Preference settings in the Setup menu! I hoped this helps. I hope this lessens any intimidation you might have felt while looking through this particular menu item!

Until next time -

And HEY! make it a great day!

Tim

Demystifying Pro Tools Preference Settings part 2/3

In the last blog post I covered the first tab under pro tools preferences - Display. Today I will cover Operation Preferences. First section is Transport: The very first selection 'Timeline Insertion/Play Start Marker Follows Playback' is important and I use it all the time. When selected, the Timeline Insertion and the Play Start Marker both move to the point in the timeline where playback stops. When deselected, the Timeline Insertion and Play Start Marker do not follow playback, but return to the point in time where playback began. Many times I leave this deselected because I want to play a section of my song and I want playback to start from the same place every time. This way I can listen to the same section over and over for whatever reason. If you select it, then when you are in playback mode, wherever you stop and then restart, playback continues from wherever you stopped.
**This can also be selected/deselected from the Edit window - underneath the Edit Tools - the farthest right icon (looks like a rt. arrow with vertical line and play button).

The Numeric Keypad mode determines how the numeric keypad functions. The main thing I set this for is memory locations. Whether you have it set for Classic or Transport will determine how you recall different memory locations using the numeric keypad. This will be a personal preference for you. I use Transport setting, just because that is how I prefer to move to my memory locations when using the numeric keypad.

The really BIG ONE is Auto Backup. You DEFINITELY want to have this selected! This determines if pro tools automatically backs up your sessions! If hard drive space is limited you may only want to keep the last 3 backups and backup every hour. I think I normally keep the last 5 or 10 sessions and backup every 20 minutes. Ask yourself how much work and time you are ready to lose and have to re-do? Sometimes when I am working on an intense session or one with heavy work changes or with a client where a lot is happening, I will keep more back ups and back up at more frequent intervals. Other times it's not that critical so I decrease the number of backups and frequency. But every backup takes up hard drive space, so keep that in mind! As terabyte hard drives continue to come down in price, this becomes less of an issue!

On the right side is the Record preferences. The default settings here should be adequate for most people most of the time. I believe the default settings are Latch Record Enable Buttons (selected) and Link Record and Play Faders (selected). Also make sure Open-Ended Record Allocation is set to 'Use All Available Space'.

That's it for the Operation preference! We'll cover some others preference settings next time, so until then . . . .

HEY! Make it a Great Day!!

Tim

Stay organized by colorizing the tracks in Pro Tools

To help stay organized in Pro Tools, I colorize my tracks, MIDI channels, and sometimes regions.  My master fader is always one color, the aux tracks are always a certain color, all the drum tracks are the same color, vocal tracks are all one color, etc. Separate colors can be assigned to audio and MIDI regions, tracks, markers, and groups. Default colors are automatically assigned to tracks, but I always override the default and set my own color scheme.

[This is done on pro tools 8] First you have to go to preferences and change the color coding options.
To change color coding options choose Setup > Preferences. Click the Display tab. Under Default Track Color Coding I usually select Track Type. But I have also at times selected Tracks and MIDI Channels or Groups, depending on what I was working on and which was easier for my workflow. If you want to change the colors of Regions, you will also do it here. Under Default Region Color Coding choose one of the options listed, such as Track Color, Tracks and MIDI Channels, or Groups for instance.

At the top of this area there are two other Color Coding options which I always leave selected. The first one, Always Display Marker Colors divides the Markers ruler at the top of the edit screen into different colors per section. In other words, if you have gone through the trouble to label the sections of your song Intro, V1, Chorus1, V2, Chorus2, Bridge, etc., each of those sections has it's own color on the ruler bar. Very cool and it makes it really easy to see your different sections of the song at a quick glance.

The other option which I always have selected is MIDI Note Color Shows Velocity. So for those of us who use MIDI (and I use a lot), when you pull up the velocity window underneath a MIDI track, it shows you different colors which tell you how hard (velocity) the notes were struck (played). I can tell at a quick glance if notes are too soft or too hard just by looking at them.

**NOW - to change the color of the tracks - go to the mix window, at the very top or the very bottom of each track is a solid horizontal colored bar. Double click this bar and a palette window opens up. This is where you choose which color you want. Check out the drop down menu to select Tracks, Regions in Tracks, Regions in Region List (Very cool!), Groups, and Markers. Play with the Saturation and Brightness sliders and watch what they do!  **See pics below

Explaining all this sounds complicated, but it is really a very simple process. And in the end this will improve your workflow, and THAT my friends is what it's all about!!

Work smarter - Work better!

And as always - Make it a great day!!

**The top pic is showing track colors. The 2nd pic is showing region colors matching track colors.

Organizing sessions in your DAW

I don't like wasting time while working on a mix. Being organized in a session is critical. A lot of time can be wasted looking for tracks again and again and again! (Like I used to do in the early days!)

Because I use templates (see the post dated Feb. 23, 2015 'Creating and using templates in Pro Tools 8'), a lot of my tracks are already organized how I like them, before I ever start. Sweet!

It is important to set up all your sessions the same way. That way you always know where certain tracks are going to be and can get to them quicker. A lot of time can be wasted looking for the aux track that has the reverb for instance. Or trying to find the bass track. Or . . . you get the idea.

I always organize the mix window from left to right (top to bottom in the edit window). I always start with the click track. Next are the drums (kick, snare top/bottom, hh, toms, overheads, room), Bass gtr, keys, guitars (elec. then acoustic), lead vox, background vocals. I follow this with a group of Aux tracks (for reverbs and delays). And then last is the final master fader.

The click is always far left - the master fader is always far right. I always know they are there. Or in the edit window the click is always at the very top and the master fader is always at the very bottom.

What if you have a percussion part or a tambourine or something else? I worked out an order (for me) that puts these extra parts in their respective group. Basically I go low to high (in sound or timbre) or main instruments part and then auxiliary instruments.

In a later blog I will talk about sub mix groups.

And HEY! Make it a great day!

Tim