Daw2 Pro Tools 9 201 Certification

Front 1

What are the components of an HD system?

Back 1

Computer, Pro Tools Software, hard drive(s), PCIe Core Card(s) [HD Core/Accel Core/HD Native Core], Audio Interface(s)

Front 2

What is the difference between an HD Accel card and an HD Process card?

Back 2

Accel card provides access to Accel-only plug-ins and more powerful DSP than Process card. Accel is the newer version of Process.

Front 3

What does TDM stand for?

Back 3

Time Division Multiplexing

Front 4

What does DAE stand for?

Back 4

Digidesign Audio Engine

Front 5

What does FPGA stand for?

Back 5

Field-Programmable Gate Array

Front 6

How many Bi-Directional timeslots are available in the TDM II architecture?

Back 6

512

Front 7

How much headroom is available in the 48 bit mixer?

Back 7

+54 dB

Front 8

QUICK KEY: How do you choose multiple destinations for outputs? (H/W Setup)

Back 8

Ctrl+click on output

Front 9

QUICK KEY: How do you open the session setup window?

Back 9

Cmd+NumKey[2]

Front 10

QUICK KEY: Create a new path. (I/O Setup)

Back 10

Either Cmd+N or Cmd+NumKey[+]

Front 11

Where is the Hardware Setup menu?

Back 11

Setup > Hardware

Front 12

How much “headroom” is available when you engage the soft clip function?

Back 12

4 dB

Front 13

How do you get to the Playback Engine menu?

Back 13

Setup > Playback Engine

Front 14

What are all of the Playback Engine options?

Back 14

Current Engine
H/W Buffer Size
RTAS Processors
CPU Usage Limit
Number of Voices
Delay Compensation
DAE Playback Buffer Size
System Memory Allocation

Front 15

Where do you activate Delay Compensation?

Back 15

Turn on/off in Options > Delay Compensation; configure in Setup > Playback Engine

Front 16

How and where do you purge the cache on a Core or Accel card?

Back 16

You should purge the cache to clear out the DSPs and start fresh; this is best done when there are DSP error conditions or you suspect something is wrong with the stored DSP settings. To purge: Window > System Usage; click the drop-down and select Purge DSP

Front 17

What are the parts of the I/O Setup window?

Back 17

Path Names: names of all paths/revealed sub-paths
Channel Grid: displays the paths to specifgic I/O units and channels
Active/Inactive Checkboxes: show and change the active/inactive status of each path
Path Format Selector: display the format (mono/stereo/5.1/etc.) of each defined path
Path Tools: New Path, New Sub-Path, Delete Path
Options: Controller Master Path, Audition Paths, New Track Default Output, AFL/PFL Path, AFL/PFL Mutes

Front 18

Main Path vs. Sub-Path

Back 18

A main path is a logical collection of sub-paths.

Front 19

What are the color codes for Channel and I/O Status Display?

Back 19

White: indicates channels available for the path
Light Gray: I/O that overlaps with other path definitions
Dark Gray: channel unavailable for sub-path assignment
Medium Gray: extra space beyond recognized audio interfaces

Front 20

Where are the Marker Color Coding Preferences?

Back 20

Setup > Preferences > Display > Always Display Marker Colors

Front 21

What does Timeline Insertion/Play Start Marker Follows Playback do?

Back 21

Causes the Timeline Insertion point and Play Start Marker to both move to the point in the Timeline where playback stops (emulates a tape machine)

Front 22

What does Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle do?

Back 22

Causes the Edit cursor to reposition itself to the point where scrubbing stops (useful for locating a precise editing point with the Scrubber tool)

Front 23

QUICK KEY: Make a track inactive.

Back 23

Ctrl+Cmd+Click on a Track Type Icon

Front 24

QUICK KEY: Scroll entire contents of Edit window.

Back 24

Ctrl+Option+Cmd+Drag in any Ruler

Front 25

QUICK KEY: Scroll the Mix and Edit windows to the left and top.

Back 25

Shift+Ctrl+Click a track in the active window or Track list of active window

Front 26

How many voices can an HD 2 Accel system have?

Back 26

192

Front 27

How many tracks can an HD 2 Accel system's voices be spread across?

Back 27

512

Front 28

How many total tracks can you have in a session?

Back 28

192

Front 29

What are three ways to increase voice priority of a track?

Back 29

Move higher in the Edit window
Move to the left in Mix window
Move higher in Track List

Front 30

What are four ways to free up a voice used by a track?

Back 30

Set Voice Selector to Off
Deactivate track
Remove all outputs and send assignments
If Options > Mute Frees Assigned Voice is on, mute the track

Front 31

What are the four ways to deactivate a track?

Back 31

1. Right-click on track name and select Make Inactive
2. Select the track(s) and choose Track > Make Inactive
3. Ctrl+Cmd+Click on track type icon in Mix window
4. Click and hold track type icon in Mix window and select Make Inactive

Front 32

How do you change disk allocation?

Back 32

Setup > Disk Allocation

Front 33

What is the Custom Allocation option used for?

Back 33

Forces all new tracks to record to an existing folder without creating a new session folder. Create Subfolders for Audio, Video, and Fade Files can also be enabled.

Front 34

What is Round Robin Allocation For New Tracks used for?

Back 34

Pro Tools automatically distributes new tracks to drives (or volumes) that are enabled for recording. Useful for high-sample rate projects, but makes file management difficult.

Front 35

What are the scrolling options?

Back 35

No Scrolling / Page / After Playback / Continuous / Center Playhead

Front 36

What are the three ways to Auto Scroll?

Back 36

1.Right-Click on a track and choose Scroll Into View
2. Ctrl+Shift+Click on a track nameplate in the current window in order to scroll the track into view in other window
3. Ctrl+Shift+Click in Track List to scroll the track into view in both Edit and Mix windows

Front 37

What can be colored in Pro Tools?

Back 37

Tracks / Groups / Regions / Regions in the Region List / Markers

Front 38

QUICK KEY: Project Browser

Back 38

Option+O

Front 39

QUICK KEY: Task Manager

Back 39

Option+'

Front 40

QUICK KEY: Skip All in the Missing Files dialog box

Back 40

Cmd+S

Front 41

QUICK KEY: Manually Find And Relink in Missing Files dialog

Back 41

Cmd+M

Front 42

QUICK KEY: Automatically Find & Relink in Missing Files dialog

Back 42

Cmd+A

Front 43

QUICK KEY: Regenerate Fade Files in Missing Files dialog

Back 43

Cmd+R

Front 44

QUICK KEY: Regenerate Missing Render Files in Missing Files dialog

Back 44

Cmd+D

Front 45

QUICK KEY: Duplicate Track

Back 45

Option+Shift+D

Front 46

What are the different types of Digibase Browsers?

Back 46

1. Workspace
2. Volume: displays contents of a specific Volume
3. Project: displays contents of a Session
4. Catalogs

Front 47

What can you do in the Project Browser?

Back 47

1. View all media files associated with the session
2. Identify, select, and relink offline files
3. Identify, select, copy, and relink Transfer files
4. View, manage, audition, and spot individual items

Front 48

What are the preview preferences available in Browsers under the Browser Menu?

Back 48

1. Loop Preview
2. Auto-Preview
3. Spacebar Toggles File Preview
4. Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo

Front 49

What is the difference between Find All Candidates and Find All Links?

Back 49

Candidates: Searches for File Name and ID separately (format and length must still match); works on single files only
Links: Allows you to choose what parameters to search for including Name, ID, or Both; also available are Format, Duration, and Modification Date; can be used on multiple files

Front 50

QUICK KEY: Timeline selection by typing into Transport window

Back 50

Option+NumKey[/]

Front 51

QUICK KEY: Edit selection by typing in the edit selection indicators

Back 51

NumKey[/]

Front 52

QUICK KEY: Enter Calculator Mode

Back 52

When desired number field is selected, NumKey[+] or [-]

Front 53

QUICK KEY: Select everything to the left of the cursor

Back 53

Shift+Return

Front 54

QUICK KEY: Select everything to the right of the cursor

Back 54

Option+Shift+Return

Front 55

QUICK KEY: Change nudge value

Back 55

Cmd+Option+NumKey[+ or -]

Front 56

QUICK KEY: Nudge an Edit Selection

Back 56

Shift+NumKey[+ or -]

Front 57

QUICK KEY: Nudge start time of Edit Selection

Back 57

Option+Shift+NumKey[+ or -]

Front 58

QUICK KEY: Nudge end time of Edit Selection

Back 58

Cmd+Shift+NumKey[+ or -]

Front 59

QUICK KEY: Shift command

Back 59

Option+H

Front 60

QUICK KEY: Pre-Roll Audition up to a selection start point

Back 60

Option+Left Arrow

Front 61

QUICK KEY: Pre-Roll Audition up to a selection end point

Back 61

Option+Right Arrow

Front 62

QUICK KEY: Post-Roll Audition after a selection start point

Back 62

Cmd+Left Arrow

Front 63

QUICK KEY: Post-Roll Audition after a selection end point

Back 63

Cmd+Right Arrow

Front 64

QUICK KEY: Pre and Post Roll Audition on either side of selection start point

Back 64

Option+Cmd+Left Arrow

Front 65

QUICK KEY: Pre and Post Roll Audition on either side of a selection end point

Back 65

Option+Cmd+Right Arrow

Front 66

QUICK KEY: Link Timeline and Edit Selection

Back 66

Shift+NumKey[/]

Front 67

What is Link Timeline and Edit Selection?

Back 67

Any Edit selections are reflected in the Timeline, and vice versa.

Front 68

How do you drag a selection back and forth in time and keep the selection length?

Back 68

Option+Drag

Front 69

How do you make a selection on a non-adjacent track?

Back 69

Shift+Click on each additional track

Front 70

How do you include all ruler data in a selection?

Back 70

Hold Option while selecting all tracks with Link Timeline and Edit Selection on.

Front 71

How do you link tracks and edit selections?

Back 71

Options > Link Track and Edit Selections
Click the Link Track and Edit Selections button

Front 72

What does the Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle do?

Back 72

It causes the cursor to update after scrubbing or shuttling.

Front 73

What are the icons in the memory locations window?

Back 73

Marker (looks like a marker)
Selection (Selector Tool)
Zoom Settings (Zoom Tool)
Pre/Post Roll Times (Pre/Post Roll Flags)
Track Show/Hide (Eyeball)
Track Heights (arrows between lines)
Group Enables (Mini Mixer)
Window Configurations (Box on top of another)

Front 74

QUICK KEY: Zoom Tool

Back 74

F5

Front 75

QUICK KEY: Single Zoom

Back 75

F5 twice

Front 76

QUICK KEY: Marquee Zoom

Back 76

Ctrl+Click+Drag with Zoomer

Front 77

QUICK KEY: Fill edit window with selection

Back 77

Option+F

Front 78

QUICK KEY: Trim / TCE Trim / Scrub Trim / Loop Trim tools

Back 78

F6

Front 79

QUICK KEY: Selector

Back 79

F7

Front 80

QUICK KEY: Time Grabber / Separation Grabber / Object Grabber tools

Back 80

F8

Front 81

QUICK KEY: Copy with Grabber tools

Back 81

Option+Drag

Front 82

QUICK KEY: Turn Selector tool into Scrubber

Back 82

Ctrl

Front 83

QUICK KEY: Scrubber

Back 83

F9

Front 84

QUICK KEY: Pencil

Back 84

F10

Front 85

QUICK KEY: Scrub with finer resolution

Back 85

Cmd

Front 86

QUICK KEY: Strip Silence

Back 86

Cmd+U

Front 87

QUICK KEY: Snap region start to insertion cursor

Back 87

Ctrl+Click

Front 88

QUICK KEY: Snap region's sync point to insertion cursor

Back 88

Ctrl+Shift+Click

Front 89

QUICK KEY: Snap region end to insertion cursor

Back 89

Ctrl+Cmd+Click

Front 90

QUICK KEY: Make and erase a sync point

Back 90

Cmd+,

Front 91

QUICK KEY: Trim a region's start by the nudge value

Back 91

Option+NumKey[+ or -]

Front 92

QUICK KEY: Trim a region's end by the nudge value

Back 92

Cmd+Numkey[+ or -]

Front 93

QUICK KEY: Nudge a region's contents

Back 93

Ctrl+NumKey[+ or -]

Front 94

QUICK KEY: Nudge by next value w/ keyboard focus

Back 94

M and /

Front 95

What are the different functions of the Smart tool, based on the cursor’s location on a Region?

Back 95

Upper Half: Selector
Near center and within 12 pixels of region boundary: Trim
Lower Half: Grabber
Region Start Boundary, close to top: Fade In
Region End Boundary, close to top: Fade Out
Region Boundary, close to bottom: Crossfade

Front 96

What are the Strip Silence functions?

Back 96

Strip: divide a track into regions, removing the spaces separating musical events
Extract: leave the “silent” portions of the track (inverse strip silence)
Separate: separate without removing
Rename: separate regions and rename each based on rules

Front 97

QUICK KEY: Show automation parameter currently being adjusted

Back 97

Ctrl+Cmd+Click on parameter

Front 98

QUICK KEY: Automatch an individual track

Back 98

Cmd+Click Automation Mode selector

Front 99

QUICK KEY: Automatch an individual parameter

Back 99

Cmd+Click Write Enable button in Automation window

Front 100

QUICK KEY: Enable a plug-in control for automation

Back 100

Ctrl+Option+Cmd+Click, enable from pop-up

Front 101

QUICK KEY: Trim automation data without creating more breakpoint

Back 101

Option

Front 102

QUICK KEY: Trim with finer resolution with Trim tool

Back 102

Cmd

Front 103

QUICK KEY: Write new breakpoint to a previous automation value

Back 103

Option+Cmd

Front 104

QUICK KEY: Write new breakpoint to next automation value

Back 104

Option+Shift

Front 105

QUICK KEY: Open Automation Enable window

Back 105

Cmd+NumKey[4]

Front 106

QUICK KEY: Suspend automation on an individual paramater

Back 106

Cmd+Click Track View Selector

Front 107

What are all of the automation modes?

Back 107

Off / Read / Touch / Latch / Touch/Latch / Write / Trim

Front 108

How do you show and hide automation lanes?

Back 108

Click the Show/Hide Lanes button at the bottom-left of a track
Click the (+) sign to show additional lanes

Front 109

How do you select what type of automation playlist you'd like to see?

Back 109

Right-click on Show/Hide Lanes icon

Front 110

What are all of the ways to automatch?

Back 110

Global AutoMatch: Auto Match button in Automation window
Channel AutoMatch: Cmd+Click Automation Mode selector on a channel to automatch all parameters on that track
Individual Parameter AutoMatch: Cmd+Click on a Write Enable button in the Automation window to automatch that parameter on any currently writing track

Front 111

How do you enable a plug-in parameter's automation without a quick key?

Back 111

Individual controls: Open the plug-in, click the Plug-In Automation Enable button, select the desired controls to automate and click Add to move them from the left column to the right.
All real-time parameters: Setup > Preferences > Mixing > enable Plug-In Parameters Default To Auto-Enabled

Front 112

What are the "Write To" commands?

Back 112

Selection Start/Start of Session: | ⇤ |
Selection/Entire Session: |⇤⇥|
Selection End/End of Session: | ⇥ |
Punch Point: | ·← |
Next Breakpoint: | →· |

Front 113

What are the preferences associated with the Write To commands?

Back 113

Suppress Auto Write To Warnings On Stop preferences in Preferences > Mixing

Front 114

What are the Latching preferences?

Back 114

Latching Behavior For Switch Controls In Touch: determines behavior for switch type controls while in Touch
Allow Latch Prime In Stop: allows you to touch or change an automatable control parameter so that Pro Tools will begin writing immediately when playback is initiated

Front 115

What are the "After Write Pass Switch To" options?

Back 115

Touch / Latch / No Change

Front 116

What and where is the "automation follows edit" feature?

Back 116

Options > Automation Follows Edit
determines whether or not edits in audio apply to automation playlists

Front 117

What are the Cut Special commands?

Back 117

All Automation: Cuts all automation/MIDI controller data
Pan Automation: Cuts only the pan automation/MIDI pan data
Plug-In Automation: Cuts only the currently displayed plug-in automation

Front 118

What are the Copy Special commands?

Back 118

All Automation: Copies all automation/MIDI controller data
Pan Automation: Copies only the pan automation/MIDI pan data
Plug-In Automation: Copies only the currently displayed plug-in automation

Front 119

What are the Paste Special commands?

Back 119

Repeat To FIll Selection: Repeatedly pastes the clipboard contents (automation data, audio, MIDI controller data) until the selection is filled
To Current Automation Type: Pastes the automation data from the clipboard to the selection as the current automation type
Merge: pastes MIDI data and merges it with any existing MIDI note data in the track

Front 120

What are the Clear Special commands?

Back 120

All Automation: Clears all automation/MIDI controller data
Pan Automation: Clears only pan automation/MIDI pan data
Plug-In Automation: Clears only the plug-in automation that is currently displayed on screen

Front 121

How do you globally suspend all automation?

Back 121

Open the Automation Window (Window > Automation or Command+NumKey(4)) and click Suspend, turning the button red

Front 122

QUICK KEY: Record enable members of a VCA group

Back 122

Option+Click Record on VCA

Front 123

QUICK KEY: Make a group

Back 123

Cmd+G

Front 124

QUICK KEY: Check vertical boxes in Group Attributes window

Back 124

Option+Click

Front 125

QUICK KEY: Check horizontal boxes in Group Attributes window

Back 125

Ctrl+Click

Front 126

QUICK KEY: Check both vertical and horizontal boxes in Group Attributes window

Back 126

Ctrl+Option+Click

Front 127

QUICK KEY: Save Plug-In settings

Back 127

Shift+Cmd+S

Front 128

QUICK KEY: Copy Plug-In settings

Back 128

Shift+Cmd+C

Front 129

QUICK KEY: Paste Plug-In settings

Back 129

Shift+Cmd+V

Front 130

QUICK KEY: Bypass plug-in reporting to delay compensation engine

Back 130

Ctrl+Cmd+Click plug-in delay indicator

Front 131

What is AFL/PFL and where do you set it up?

Back 131

After Fader Listen/Pre Fader Listen: utilizes the AFL/PFL Bus instead for Solos of destructively soloing a track.
Can be setup in Setup > I/O > Output; create a new output path, assign the AFL/PFL Path to this output. Mutes can also be configured here.
Can switch between Solo In Place, AFL & PFL under Options > Solo Mode

Front 132

What are all the Solo button behaviors?

Back 132

Latch: accumulates solos, default
X-Or: Solo buttons follow an exclusive-or behavior; only one Solo at a time unless Shift is held
Momentary: only solos as long as the button is held down

Front 133

What are all the preferences associated with VCAs?

Back 133

Standard VCA Logic For Group Attributes: Tracks that are members of a VCA group are automatically clutched out of group control, while the VCA Master still controls all members of the group
Coalesce When Removing Slaves From A Group: Allows you to write current trim value of the VCA to a track when it’s removed from the group

Front 134

How do you assign a VCA to a group?

Back 134

Click on the Output Selector of the VCA, a list of available groups will appear.

Front 135

What are the parts of a VCA track?

Back 135

Group Assignment/Color Indicator: shows which group the VCA is the master of
VCA Automation Mode: automation mode of the VCA, does not affect member tracks
Mix/Edit Group Assignment: group assignment, allows VCA to be nested in a group
Input/Record/Solo/Mute control for the group
Group Volume Control

Front 136

How many groups can you have in Pro Tools HD?

Back 136

104

Front 137

When do RTAS plug-ins use extra voices?

Back 137

Mono track with a mono plug-in uses 2 voices
Stereo track with a stereo plug-in uses 4 voices
TDM plug-in between two RTAS plug-ins doubles the voice count
Using an active AFL/PFL Bus uses 1 voice
Using a side-chain in an RTAS plug-in uses 1 voice
Using multiple outputs for a track (1 extra voice per output)

Front 138

How do you do side chain processing?

Back 138

In a plug-in window, go to the Key Input menu and select the desired input or bus carrying the audio that will trigger the plug-in.
Click the External Key button to activate side-chain processing from the Key Input source.
Click the Key Listen button to temporarily listen to the audio source for the side-chain input.
To filter the Key Input and only allow specific frequencies to trigger the plug-in, use the Key filter controls to select the frequency range.

Front 139

Where do you enable Delay Compensation?

Back 139

Setup > Playback Engine > Delay Compensation Engine; change from None to either Short or Long

Front 140

Where do you turn Delay Compensation on and off?

Back 140

Options > Delay Compensation

Front 141

What is the Delay Compensation color coding in the Mix window?

Back 141

RED: any tracks that cannot be fully compensated (exceeds Delay Compensation limit)
ORANGE: any tracks that are fully compensated
GREEN: any tracks that fall under the limits, but not at the limits, of the Delay Compensation engine
BLUE: any track with continuously applied Delay Compensation (DC applied to automatically-bypassed tracks)

Front 142

What are the three rows of data in the Delay Compensation view in the Mix window?

Back 142

Track’s Plug-in Delay Indicator: total plug-in/HW insert delay for the track
User Offset: adjust track delays manually, in addition to the automatic delay
Track Compensation Indicator: amount of compensation that Pro Tools is applying to each track

Front 143

How do you perform an internal layback?

Back 143

Set the outputs of all tracks (going to the stereo output) to a new, unused stereo bus (right-click and rename the bus for clarification)
Create a new stereo audio track to serve as the destination track
Set the input of the new audio track to the bus path in step 1; the output to the main outputs
Record-enable and Input-enable the new track; press Play and ensure that you can hear the entire mix
Record and print your master pass

Front 144

What is the sample rate and bit depth for Red Book/CD audio?

Back 144

44.1 KHz/16-bit

Front 145

When do you convert sample rate vs. convert bit depth?

Back 145

Dithering should only be used during a bit-depth reduction process, which should occur AFTER the sample rate conversions.

Front 146

Where is the automation sub menu found?

Back 146

Edit menu