Video: Using Tools in Pro Tools March 13, 2008
Posted by ConnorSmith in : Editing, Pro Tools, Videos , trackbackThis video will show you how to use all the different editing tools in Pro Tools. This includes the zoom, edge, selector, grabber, scrubber, and pencil tools. (I also talk about the multiple types of zoom tools, the time compression/expansion and loop tools, and also the object and separation grabber tools). Stay tuned, because a video posted later today will discuss the edit modes of Pro Tools (shuffle, spot, slip, and grid/relative grid) and also the Smart Tool (also known as the Super Tool).
Transcript:
In this video from The Studio Files .com, I am going to talk about all the different editing tools that are available in Pro Tools LE. All of your editing tools are up here in the Edit window, and you can select them either by clicking on them, or hitting the hot key command (which I will try to mention for each tool). Let’s start with the zoom tool which is F5. Now, if you click and hold on the zoom tool, you will notice that there are two different modes: Normal Zoom and Single Zoom. Let’s start with normal zoom. With normal zoom, you just click and drag on the region you want to zoom in on, and the window will automatically resize for you. And, in normal zoom, notice that my tool stays on the zoom tool, no matter how many zooms I make. With single zoom, when I make a zoom, my tool will automatically revert to whatever tool I selected before, and in this case it is the selector tool. See, it went back. Personally, I find myself using single zoom a lot more than normal zoom mode. Let’s zoom out a little bit with the R key. Let’s talk about the next tool: the Trim tool (although some people call it the edge edit tool). There are three modes: Standard, TCE, and Loop. Let’s start with standard. Standard is your normal edge editing tool. When you drag an edge of a region, it edits the edge. Very useful tool, you will use it all the time. Let’s talk about TCE, which stands for time compression and expansion. When you move an edge with this tool, it actually shortens or lengthens the time of the audio region. Notice Pro Tools had to do a little processing there. That’s because its expanding/compressing the region. Be careful using this tool too much, because you can introduce some weird artifacts into the sound, but for little fixes, its great. Finally, there is the loop tool. And, if you are a Logic user,you will feel right at home. In Logic, the loop tool will appear automatically if you put your mouse in the upper right hand corner of the region. In Pro Tools, it works the same way, just click and drag, and you will notice that this kick drum is now looped. Let’s now talk about the selector tool. This is probably one of the most commonly used tools. It looks like the cursor of a word processor. You use it for selecting things, which can then delete, You can also select things (like we talked about in the keyboard focus video) and make fades. You can select across multiple tracks to delete or edit. Its also the tool you use to separate by clicking in an audio region and hitting the B key. Let’s move on to the grabber tool. There are a couple different modes, there’s Time, Separation, and Object. Time is the one you are going to use the most. So, click a region, and its selected via the timeline. You can delete that, you can move it, you can copy it by holding down the option key while dragging, or, if you double click it, you can rename it. Now, lets go to the separation tool. You won’t use this tool quite as much, but I will talk about it. Its actually a tool that you need to use another tool with. You have to use the selector tool first. Select a region that you want to separate. And now, if you use the separator grabber tool and move this region, it will automatically separate it. Personally, I prefer to hit B to separate and use the normal grabber, but, in certain situations, it may be very useful. The final grabber tool is the object grabber, and this is a cool tool. If you need to copy and paste (or move) things that are on different tracks, and you don’t want to grab everything in the middle when you hold shift to select them, this is the tool for you. Notice when you click things, they are outlined in black. I’m holding shift and clicking a few different regions here. Now, I am going to hold option and move these. That copies it. Notice how it just got the audio that I selected. Go to the normal grabber and see what happens when we do that. Notice how it highlights it. And when you go to copy it, it takes everything. So, the object grabber is a very useful tool. Let’s talk about the scrubber. This works like any scrubber, just click and hold and move your mouse to the left or right to scrub audio forwards or backwards. Its great for hearing small details or hearing things in slow motion, that sort of thing. Now we are on the final tool, which is the pencil tool. If you click on that, there are lots of options. Free hand, line, triangle, square, random, parabolic, s-curve. Let’s pick Triangle. This is normally for writing automation, so we need a parameter that is automatable. (Yes, I made that word up). Let’s choose volume. If I draw in with the pencil, notice that it makes the triangles for me. And if you choose the line tool, it will draw in a straight line. Now you know about the six tools in Pro Tools LE, and our next video will cover the edit modes and the smart tool.
C
The Studio Files
Comments»
Hi Connor,
I am running Pro Tools LE 7.3 on a PC. Currently I can’t use the pencil to create Parabolic curves or S-curves. Whenever I select these options, the pencil grays out.
I am currently tearing my hair out trying to find a solution – my project deadline is very close and I can’t find the answer anywhere!
Please help.
S
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