Pro Tools_Modes and Editing Techniques

Modes

Pro Tools has 4 main "Modes" that determine how your regions can be placed and moved around in the Edit Window. They are:

Slip Mode - Lets everything move freely. This is probably the most common mode for general recording and mixing.

Grid Mode - Moves everything along the lines of a grid that you set up. This is very useful when working with a song that was made in a MIDI-based program (e.g. Reason) because it allows you to edit exactly to the tempo of your song.

Shuffle Mode - Allows you to easily put your regions end to end. It also automatically keeps them all together and lets you change the order they are in without adding any spaces between them.

Spot Mode - Allows you to place a region at a precise location by typing in exactly where you want it to go. When you drag a region from the Region Bin, a dialog box opens asking where to put it. This is used a lot in audio post-production.

Editing Techniques

Separating Regions

• To make edits, use the Separate Region command. Simply drop the cursor wherever you want to make the cut and hit Command-E.
• Use crossfades between your final edits to make your edits sound smooth.
• When you are finished with all your editing, Consolidate them together into one audio file.

Basically, just follow along with the text and put all the speech segments in the correct order. Don't forget to pay attention to the crowd noise; try to avoid making cuts that make the crowd noise sound weird/cut off/etc.

When you are finished, please show the instructor and then move on to the final step of this exercise: consolidating regions.

Consolidating allows you to recombine a bunch of separate regions into one single audio file. Why would you want to do this? Mainly because it allows you to work with all this audio as a single thing, rather than a bunch of different little clips. You can move it all at once, or do additional processing to the whole thing, rather than having to do it for each individual clip. This makes it easier to work with. Plus, it just looks cleaner!

To Consolidate:

• Use the Grabber Tool and click on the first region you want to include
• Hold down Shift and click on each of the other regions you want to include
• Now hit Shift-Option-3 on your keyboard