Pro Tools 201 Discussion Questions

Front 1

What does TDM stand for?

Back 1

Time Division Multiplexing

Front 2

What are the main components of a Pro Tools HD system?

Back 2

Computer
Hard Drives
Speakers
PCI / PCIe Cards (Core, Process / Accel)
Audio Interface (96 I/O / 192 I/O)
Pro Tools Software

Front 3

What are some of the differences between HD and LE systems?

Back 3

Higher track count and sample rate (192 voices over 256 channels compared to 48 for LE with Music Production Toolkit).
Not tied to host CPU for processing.
TDM processing occurs on dedicated DSP hardware.
Stability
Expandability
Lower latency.
48-bit mixing precision.

Front 4

Maximum channels of I/O on HD system?

Back 4

160

Front 5

How many additional channels of I/O are added to the system by each HD Process or HD Accel card?

Back 5

32

Front 6

Maximum number of tracks in HD?

Back 6

256

Front 7

Maximum number of voices in HD with HD Accel cards?

Back 7

192 at 44.1/48kHz

Front 8

What are the 5 main playback engine options?

Back 8

Hardware Buffer Size
Number of RTAS Processors
Processor Usage Limit
DSP Voice Allocation
Sample Rate

Front 9

What does DAE stand for?

Back 9

Digidesign Audio Engine

Front 10

Why is Disk Allocation important?

Back 10

Useful for load balancing and disk spanning. Can assign tracks to drives, or use a round-robin recording method.

Front 11

What is a 'path' in the I/O setup dialogue? What routing options are available?

Back 11

A 'path' is a route down which audio can travel.

Input, output, insert, bus, mic preamp, hardware delay.

Front 12

What is the difference between main paths and sub paths?

Back 12

Main paths are aggregations of sub paths, ie. 5.1 = L,C,R,rL,rR,Sub

Front 13

How many scroll options are available on a HD system?

Back 13

Five.

None
Page
After playback
Continuous
Centre Playhead

Front 14

What are the display options in the Mix Window?

Back 14

Instrument
Insert
Send
Track Colour
Track Comments
Delay Compensation

Front 15

What are the display options in the Edit Window?

Back 15

Instrument
Insert
Send
Track Colour
Track Comments
Real Time Properties
I/O

Front 16

How would you save a Pro Tools 7 so it could be opened in a previous version?

Back 16

Save copy in...

Front 17

What is altered when saving in a previous session version?

Back 17

Filenames truncated to 31 characters.
Region groups and loops dropped
Sample-based MIDI tracks and regions dropped.
Memory locations 201-999 dropped.
Sends F-J dropped.
Instrument tracks converted to MIDI tracks with Aux Inputs.

Front 18

Name the four Pro Tools browsers.

Back 18

Workspace Browser
Project Browser
Volume Browser
Catalogs Browser

Front 19

Where can you access the Volume Browser?

Back 19

By double-clicking a volume in the Workspace Browser.

Front 20

What items can be colour coded?

Back 20

Tracks
Regions
Groups
Markers

Front 21

What options are available in the Duplicate Tracks dialogue box?

Back 21

Number of duplicates!

Active Playlists
Alternate Playlists
Automation
Inserts
Sends
Groups

Insert after last selected track.

Front 22

What modifier key do you use to make the same selection on another track?

Back 22

Shift

Front 23

How do you quickly select everything to the right of the cursor?

Back 23

Option-Shift-Return

Front 24

How do you quickly select everything to the left of the cursor?

Back 24

Shift-Return

Front 25

What keys do you press to nudge by the nudge value?

Back 25

[+] / [-]

[,] / [.]
(in command focus)

Front 26

What keys do you press to nudge by the next nudge value?

Back 26

[M] / [/]

Front 27

What keys do you press to increment / decrement the nudge value?

Back 27

Command-Option-[+] / [-]

Front 28

What keys do you press to change the Track View on the current track?

Back 28

Command-Ctrl-[Left Arrow] / [Right Arrow]

Front 29

What keys do you press to change the Track Height on the current track?

Back 29

Ctrl-[Up Arrow] / [Down Arrow]

Front 30

Does nudge mode work in all edit modes?

Back 30

Yes

Front 31

Audition the beginning of a selection by the amount of post roll.

Back 31

Command-[Left Arrow]

Front 32

Audition the end of a selection by the amount of post roll.

Back 32

Command-[Right Arrow]

Front 33

Audition the beginning of a selection by the amount of pre-roll.

Back 33

Option-[Left Arrow]

Front 34

Audition the end of a selection by the amount of pre roll.

Back 34

Option-[Right Arrow]

Front 35

Audition across a selection start by the amount of pre and post roll.

Back 35

Command-Option-[Left Arrow]

Front 36

Audition across a selection end by the amount of pre and post roll.

Back 36

Command-Option-[Right Arrow]

Front 37

How many tracks can be scrubbed at the same time?

Back 37

2

Front 38

What two Time Properties can be stored in a memory location?

Back 38

Marker and Selection

Front 39

What six General Properties can be stored in a memory location?

Back 39

Zoom
Pre/Post Roll Times
Track Show/Hide
Track Heights
Group Enables
Window Configuration

Front 40

What key would you press to store a memory location?

Back 40

Enter (keypad)

Front 41

How can you store memory locations rapidly during playback?

Back 41

Setup > Preferences > Editing

'Auto-Name Memory Locations when Playing'

Press [Enter] when playing.

Front 42

Play edit selection (command focus).

Back 42

[

Front 43

Play timeline selection (command focus).

Back 43

]

Front 44

Conform edit selection to timeline selection (command focus and menu).

Back 44

0 (zero)

Edit > Selection

Front 45

Conform timeline selection to edit selection (command focus and menu).

Back 45

O

Edit > Selection

Front 46

Link Timeline and Edit Selection
(three methods)

Back 46

Shift - [/]

Options menu

Click button in top-left of Edit window.

Front 47

What mode must you be in and what tool must you use to snap-align regions?

Back 47

Officially: Slip with Grabber

Unofficially: Slip or Grid with Grabber

Front 48

Consolidate

Back 48

Option-Shift-3

Front 49

What functions are available with the Smart Tool?

Back 49

Fade In
Fade Out
Trim
Selector
Grabber
Crossfade

Front 50

Four options of Strip Silence

Back 50

Threshold
Minimum Duration
Region start pad
Region end pad

Front 51

Timeline insertion follows playback (quick key)

Back 51

N

Front 52

Timeline insertion follows playback (menu)

Back 52

Options

Front 53

Nudge region contents.

Back 53

Ctrl-[+] / [-]

Front 54

Shortcut to Time Operations

Back 54

Option-1 (keypad)

Front 55

Shuffle

Back 55

F1

Front 56

Slip

Back 56

F2

Front 57

Spot

Back 57

F3

Front 58

Grid

Back 58

F4

Front 59

Zoomer

Back 59

F5

Front 60

Trim

Back 60

F6

Front 61

Selector

Back 61

F7

Front 62

Grabber

Back 62

F8

Front 63

Scrub

Back 63

F9

Front 64

Pencil

Back 64

F10

Front 65

Wait on note

Back 65

F11

Front 66

Record

Back 66

F12

3 (keypad)

Command-[Space]

Front 67

Automation Modes

Back 67

Off
Read
Write
Touch
Latch
Touch/Latch
Trim

Front 68

What is the AutoMatch Time preference?

Back 68

Time it takes for faders to return to pre-existing automation when in touch mode.

Front 69

Where is the AutoMatch Time preference?

Back 69

Setup > Preferences > Mixing

(Setup > Preferences > Automation in previous versions)

Front 70

What does trim write do that is different to other write modes?

Back 70

Writes a delta value with respect to the pre-existing automation.

Front 71

How can you move automation from one parameter to another?

Back 71

Edit >

Cut Special
Copy Special
Paste Special
Clear Special

Front 72

Automation quick key

Back 72

Command-4 (keypad)

Front 73

What are the Solo modes available?

Back 73

Solo In Place
Latch
X-OR
AFL
PFL
Momentary

Front 74

What types of audio tracks are available?

Back 74

Audio
Aux Input
Master Fader
Instrument

Front 75

What types of MIDI tracks are available?

Back 75

MIDI
Instrument

Front 76

Three main types of inserts?

Back 76

Hardware
Software
Instrument

Front 77

You must place hardware inserts on the same input / output pair?

Back 77

True

Front 78

What are the view options available for the System Usage window?

Back 78

Small
Large
Detailed
Gas Gauge
Activity

Front 79

Where can plug-in settings be stored?

Back 79

Root plug-in settings folder.

Session plug-in settings folder.

Front 80

Which plug-ins feature side-chain processing?

Back 80

Compressor / Limiter
Gate / Expander

Front 81

Under what circumstances will an RTAS plug-in use two voices?

Back 81

When inserted after a TDM plugin.
When inserted onto an Aux Input
When inserted onto a Master Fader
When inserted onto an Instrument track with no accompanying instrument.

Front 82

How can DSP-induced delays be compensated for?

Back 82

Automated Delay Compensation

TimeAdjuster Plugin

Front 83

How can you see the processing delay on a track?

Back 83

Command-Click the volume indicator.
Cycles Volume > Peak > Delay

View > Mix Window > Delay Compensation

Front 84

What colour is the highest delay value when shown in Delay Compensation view?

Back 84

Yellow

Front 85

What colour is the delay value when it cannot be automatically compensated for when shown in Delay Compensation view?

Back 85

Red

Front 86

What colour is the delay value when delay compensation is forced when shown in Delay Compensation view?

Back 86

Blue

Front 87

What colour is the delay value when delay compensation is disabled on an Aux Input when shown in Delay Compensation view?

Back 87

Grey

Front 88

What are the options for clip indication? Where can you change it?

Back 88

None
3 second
Infinite

Setup > Preferences > Display > Meters

Front 89

Two ways to make an internal stereo recording from Pro Tools

Back 89

Bounce to Disk

Bus to additional stereo Audio track.

Front 90

Bounce to disk quick key.

Back 90

Command-Option-B

Front 91

What keys do you press to increment / decrement the grid value?

Back 91

Control-Option-[+] / [-]