Before Pro Tools 8 takes over, I felt it would be good to look over the elastic audio features in 7.4 and how they apply in post production. I see a lot of facilities upgrading to 7.4 for bug fixes or increased stability but still many engineers aren’t adopting elastic audio features into their everyday workflows.
The video below is an introduction into the 7.4 Elastic audio feature set, specifically how to use warp markers to clean up sync on dialogue.
The only shortcuts I used in the above video were fairly straight forward editing ones:
Region Loop = Option/alt + Command/Start + L
Using the trim tool at the bottom edge of a looped region to edit the selected content
Here is an excerpt of a short cut list I assembled for guys doing quick turnaround/churn and burn editing:
Grabber modifiers
Snap region “Head” to Cursor location Ctrl/Win + Grab
Snap region “Tail” to Cursor location Ctrl/Win + Command/Ctrl + Grab
Snap region Sync point to Cursor location Ctrl/Win + Shift + Grab
Insert Sync point Command/Win + Comma (,)
Copy region to Cursor Location As above + Option/Alt
Trims (with keyboard focus enabled)
Top trim to cursor location A
Tail trim to cursor location S
Top and tail (Trim to Selection) Command/Win + T
Fades
Fade from beginning of region to cursor location D
Fade from end of region to cursor location G
Create crossfade across selection without popup Ctrl/Win + Command/Ctrl + F
Nudging
Nudge left/right + or – on numeric keys
Nudge left/right , or . (in CF mode)
Nudge left/right by next higher nudge value M or / (in CF mode)
Nudge content of region left or right Ctrl/Win and +/- on numeric keys
Shift Selection Opt/Alt + H
Navigation
Go to and select next region Ctrl/Win + TAB
Go to and select previous region Ctrl/Win + Opt/Ctrl + TAB
Enter main counter * on numeric keys (in CF mode)
Enter Start/End/Length counters / on numeric keys (in CF mode)
Multiples
Duplicate at end of selection Command/Ctrl + D
Repeat selection Opt/Alt + R then enter quantity
Region Loop Opt/alt + Command/Win + L
Hope these are useful!
NEXT BLOG: Mapping plugs and sends using Custom Fader functions on ICON
The idea of stem mixing is as old as film sound, but in recent years its taken off in the music industry to the point where mastering engineers are often being supplied with stems (or requesting them) instead of the traditional 2-track.
If you adopt a stem based workflow, one of the most effective ways of saving time is setting up a mixing template.
In ProTools that may consist of two parts, both a *.ptf file (write protected/stationary pad) and an io Setup file – so your busses are labelled the way you like and your outputs are set up for either stereo or 5.1 mixing. Be sure to keep a backup of these files somewhere safe!
Going down the path of setting up your ptf file, if you adopt a template there are two killer features you should be using, markers and window configs…
Picture this: you are mixing the project, diving down, working on backing vox or ambience tracks or SFX or the drum kit and you want to change the overall balance of your stems. So what do you do? You simply hit “.”, “2″, “.” to recall memory locate 2 and what happens?
Potentially, all of this: in the edit window, the track list gets hidden, the region bin closes, the io view and inserts views disappear, all your tracks disappear except the buss masters, in volume view, which blow up to take up a quarter of the window each (red lines drawing as you mix in latch mode), on the right hand side, your favourite buss master compressor plug in window opens and maybe Signal tools, showing you the current level in Peak and RMS and you are now in the sweetest place to mix your stems – all the info you want, maximised on screen at the press of a memory locate.
So how? Well, create a memory locate, tied to no “Selection” but with track show hide/track height and a window config attached…
This is the point – combining windows configs and memory locates in your template gives you alot of power when it comes to everyday tasks, navigating your session as a power user who can anticipate the every day tasks of crafting your mix.
Ive seen some power users with templates that include windows configs that open/close a tonne of info in both their edit windows and mix windows saved to common sense buttons on their numeric keypad like 4 and 5 to open and close the edit window, 7 and 8 to do similar with the mix window, 1,2,3, 5 and 9 for project specific views – seeing it in action is definately a “penny drop” moment.
ICON Power feature:
Taking this idea a step further – dig into your ICON preferences to enable “Track Show/Hide: ShowHdn”
This means that tracks that are hidden in the edit window are still accessible on the control surface using your custom fader groups! So you can now mix on tracks on the console, independent of what is visible in the Pro Tools GUI.
Next Blog: An ICON automation feature called AutoJoin, how to mix effortlessly without reaching for the stop button and a mouse when you make a mistake!
