Pro Tools 2023 Module 6 Test (PDF)

LESSON 6 Import, Export and Recording In this lesson, we’ll explore new ways of recording and importing audio, and take the discussion a few steps beyond, into session interoperability as well. The topics that you learn in this lesson will improve your efficiency i...

LESSON 6 Import, Export and Recording In this lesson, we’ll explore new ways of recording and importing audio, and take the discussion a few steps beyond, into session interoperability as well. The topics that you learn in this lesson will improve your efficiency in a wide range of workflow scenarios. Duration: 1 hr GOALS Learn new workflows for importing and exporting audio Search for clips using tags Utilize sound libraries Explore session Interop  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording More Ways to Import Audio In the PT101 course, we imported audio in a few traditional ways: from the Import Audio dialog box, the Workspace Browser window, or even your computer's file browser. Building on those frequently used workflows, let's take a look at a few variations: Creating New Tracks when Importing You've already learned how to create new tracks when importing audio into your session (by dragging into an empty area in the tracks area of the Edit window, or by dragging into the Tracks List). Here's a useful modifier: Holding the Shift key when dragging from a browser (either the Pro Tools Workspace Browser or your computer's file browser) into your tracks area will force Pro Tools to create new tracks (one per audio file) even if you drop the file in a non-empty area. Batch Importing All of the basic import methods support "batch" importing of audio (the importing of multiple audio files) into your Pro Tools session. A few aspects of this way of working to bear in mind: Any files with a different sample rate from the open session will be converted (re-created at the session's sample rate within the session's Audio Files subfolder). Any files of formats that are not directly supported by Pro Tools (MP3 files, for example) will also be converted. When importing multiple files to your session's Tracks List or an empty area in the tracks area, one new track will be created for each imported audio file, and each file will appear in the Clips List. When dragging multiple audio files into the Edit window's tracks area, you must have enough tracks of the right types and widths to accommodate the audio. For example, if you are dragging three stereo audio files onto tracks in a session that only has two stereo Audio tracks, you won't be able to import them (unless you're holding down the Shift key, which will create new tracks for your audio files). Exporting Clips In addition to importing audio files into your session and creating clips in your Clips List, you have the ability to reverse the process — to export clips from your session as new audio files. Bear in mind, however, is that when you are exporting clips, you are not including any plugin processing or mix automation that might be on the track where the clip resides (to export that, you could use track commit or bounce track, which you learned about in Lesson 5). With that said, the exporting of clips is a valuable tool, enabling you to render specific elements of your current session for use in other projects. Let's start with a basic workflow. | 172  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Basic Clip Export Any whole-file or subset clip can be exported from the Clips List: 1. In your session's Clips List, select the audio clip(s) that you want to export as audio files. 2. Click the Clips List pop-up menu button (the circular button in the upper right-hand corner of the list), 3. Do one of the following: From the Clips List pop-up menu, choose Export Clips as Files Right-click one of the selected clips and choose Export Clips as Files from the right-click pop-up menu. The Export Selected dialog box will appear: File Type: This pop-up menu will enable you to choose what file format you will be creating — Wave, AIFF, MP3, or MXF. MXF file export is only available when the Enforce Avid Compatibility check box is enabled. MP3 file export is only available when the Enforce Avid Compatibility check box is disabled. Format: Similar to bouncing, you can export your multichannel files either as (multiple) mono files or Interleaved files. Bit Depth: With regard to bit- depth, you have three options for your exported files: 16 bit 24 bit The Export Selected dialog box 32 bit Float Sample Rate: From this pop-up menu, you can choose the sample rate for your exported files, including Pull Up/Down formats used in post-production, or even custom sample rates. | 173  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Enforce Avid Compatibility: When this check box is enabled, files are created in formats that are broadly compatible with Avid's Media Composer software, including: MXF file support Sample rates limited to 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz Frame-accurate file boundaries Destination Directory: Knowing where your files will be created is important, and by clicking the Choose button (which will open a browser window) you can choose precisely where to find them. Just open the folder where you want the files to be created and click the Open button to confirm your choice. Your choice will be listed directly below (in this image, the location for new files will be Macintosh HD: Users: AVID DATA FOLDER) You can also create a new folder from the browser window, by clicking the New Folder button in the lower right-hand corner. Resolve Duplicate File Names By: When your file exporting creates duplicate file names, you have three choices as to how to deal with them: Prompting For Each Duplicate will enable you to manually rename any exported file with a name that conflicts with a preexisting file in the destination directory. This is done on a per-file basis, with a browser window appearing for each file whose name presents a conflict. Auto Renaming will automatically append the file name with an underbar and number at the end of the file name. For example, if you were to export a file named vocal.wav into a file that already had a file by that name, the exported file would be named vocal_01.wav. Replacing With New Files will overwrite existing files with the same name as files being created during export. 4. After making your selections in the Export Selected dialog box, click the Export button, and your new files will be created. Elastic Audio and Clip Gain will not be exported when using this workflow — files will be created with their original timing and amplitude. Searching with Tags Tags are descriptive labels that are saved within the audio file itself (in the file's metadata). Searching for audio files by using tags is simple and straightforward, but there are a few things to be aware of during the process: The Avid Loopmasters Sample Pack gets you started with working with tags. This library of samples, phrases, and loops (nearly 2 Gigabytes worth) are tagged and ready for you to use. The sample pack is installed separately from Pro Tools and can be installed either from your Avid account or through the Avid Link application. 1. In the Workspace Browser window, make sure you're seeing your tags pane (by clicking the Tags button in the upper right-hand corner of the browser window. When the Tags pane is visible, this button will appear colored blue. | 174  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording 2. The Tags pane will be populated by any file tags within the area being shown, so the location that you choose is as important with this workflow as with any other search you do in the Workspace browser. Choose the location (in the Locations pane) that you want to search. TIP: If you want to search your entire system, choose Volumes in the Locations pane. TIP: The Tags pane can take some time to populate, depending upon the speed of your computer and the amount of storage that you're searching. A good rule of thumb is to limit your search locations as much as possible. 3. With the tags being shown, the rest is easy. Do one of the following: Click the button named for the tag that you want to search. Type a keyword that you want to search in the Search Tags field at the top of the Tags pane. Pro Tools will auto complete as you type, based upon the tags available. 4. As you click additional tags, the files shown in the browser will be correspondingly filtered. As you refine your search, the available tags will change, reflecting the filtered results in the Browser pane. Any results you see in the Browser pane will reflect any filtering present in the Advanced Search pane. For example, if you wanted to search by tags, but limit the results to a specific key, you would use a combination of tag-based searching but filter the results in the Advanced Search field. In order to remove a Tag from the Search Tags field, just click the X in the desired tag. TIP: You can clear any selected tags from the Search Tags field by clicking the Escape (esc) key. Let's change things a bit. Let's say that we still want to search for basses, but specifically don't want any distorted audio files. Here's what we do: 1. Click the Bass tag. This will show all files in the search location that have that tag. 2. Holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows), click on the Distorted tag. When you hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and add a tag to your search, it's acting in an opposite way from a normal tag search. These tags (which will appear grey in the Search Tags field) will filter results that are not tagged with that keyword. Changing the search TIP: Tags that you're searching with (tags already in the Search Tags field) can be inverted by holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and clicking the desired tag. | 175  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Addendum: Adding and Editing Tags Searching by tag keyword can speed up the process of finding files that you want to bring into your session. As you gain experience and collect files of your own that you frequently use, you may want to expand your collection of searchable tags. In this optional module, we take a look at how you can customize your files' tags. Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser to view this course addendum. http://tinyurl.com/PT110-23-Add6-1 Sound Libraries Sound libraries are collections of sounds for different purposes. For music producers, they might be a collection (either purchased or compiled by the user themselves, or both) of drum hits, bass loops, phrases, and more. For a Pro Tools user who is focused on audio for film, sound libraries would contain things like footstep sounds, sound effects, atmospheric sounds, and other commonly used audio segments. As you gain experience, you’ll build your own libraries and perhaps buy some from third parties — the Workspace and Soundbase windows make it easy to quickly search your ever-growing collection! Adding a Sound Library As mentioned before, Pro Tools includes its own sound library, and the folder that contains those files is automatically added to the Sound Libraries location upon installation. Your own tagged files will likely be saved in different folders. However, you’ll typically want to be able to search your custom tagged files and the Pro Tools stock sound library at the same time. That’s where adding a folder to the Sound Libraries location can come in handy. 1. In the Locations pane, navigate to the folder containing the tagged files that you want to add to your Sound Libraries location. 2. Right-click the folder and choose Add Sound Library Location. The folder will be added to the Sound Libraries. Adding a folder to the Sound Libraries location | 176  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Viewing Sound Libraries: You can see which folders are part of your Sound Libraries by clicking the disclosure triangle to the left of the Sound Libraries item in the Locations pane. Removing Sound Libraries: To remove a folder from the Sound Libraries locations, just right-click the desired folder in the Sound Libraries location and choose Remove Sound Library Location from the drop-down menu, and the folder will be removed. Removing a Sound Library Location At no time during this process were any files copied, moved, or deleted. The Sound Libraries is simply a collection of folder aliases that you can add to as your sound libraries grow, enabling you quick access to frequently searched audio files. Session Interop So far, we've discussed ways to get aspects of a session — audio, clips, and so on — out of and into your session. Now let's think a bit bigger and look at a few ways to work with sessions themselves. Session Templates In the Pro Tools 101 course, you learned how to create a session from a session Template, as opposed to creating a blank session. This is a great way to save effort in creating new tracks and signal routing and get right to work. Of course, the templates included with Pro Tools' installation, while a good starting- off point, aren't the only templates you'll want to be able to work with. Let's say that you've created a session that you'd like to be able to use as a basis for future projects. Here's how you can create your own session templates: 1. Configure your session in the way that you want to be able to recall (including tracks, routing, and so on). 2. From the File menu, choose Save as Template. The Save Session Template dialog box will appear, with some options: | 177 Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Install template in system: Clicking the Install template in system radio button will save the template file in the default location on you computer. This will enable you to create a new session from the template in the Dashboard dialog box. Category: If you've clicked the Install template in system radio button, clicking the Category selector will reveal a list of categories for your template (these are subfolders in the default session template location on your system). Choose the category that you want to assign the new template to. At the bottom of the pop-up menu, you have two options: Add Category: This will open a dialog box that enables you to create and name a new category. Reveal Session Templates Folder: This will open the default session template location in your operating system's file browser. From here you can modify your categories. Name: If you've clicked the Install template in system radio button, you can type a descriptive name here. Clicking the Name pop-up menu (to the right of the Name field), you can select a name from a list of all the existing templates in the selected category. Choosing from this list will populate the Name field with the selected name, enabling you to update that template. Select location for template: Clicking the Select location for template radio button will enable you to save the template file in any location. Clicking the OK button will open a browser window where you can choose a name and location for the session template file. Include Media: Sometimes, you might want to create a session from a template, and have your new session stocked with media (test tones, frequently used sounds, and so on). Clicking the Include Media will include any audio, MIDI, or video clips in your session with the new template. 3. Click the OK button. The session template will be created on your system (if you've chosen the Install template in system radio button) or a file browser will open (if you've chosen the Select location for template radio button). | 178  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Importing Session Data Pro Tools' Import Session Data is a frequently used tool among many professionals. This workflow gives you the power of importing tracks and other aspects from another session into the currently open session. This can be used in a number of scenarios. Do you want to import a set of drum tracks from a collaborator's session? Are you recording a band that you've recorded before? These are just a few examples of situations where importing sessions can be a real time-saver. Here's a typical workflow: 1. From the File menu, move your cursor to the Import menu item. A submenu will appear. 2. Click Session Data. A browser window will appear. The default shortcut for Import Session Data is Shift+Option+I (Mac) or Shift+Alt+I (Windows). 3. Navigate to the session file (not an audio, video or MIDI file) that you want to import. The Import Session Data dialog box will appear. You can also drag a session file from a Workspace browser into your current session’s tracks area or Track List to open the Import Session Data dialog box. The Import Session Data dialog box can be daunting when you first open it, but if you break it down by section, it will make sense: Source Properties: In the Source Properties section, you'll see relevant information about the session you'll be importing from. Of particular note are the Audio sample rate(s), which will determine how audio media can be imported and the Start time, which determines where clips will be placed on the timeline. Timecode Mapping Options: Sometimes, the start time of the session you're importing from and the session that you're importing to will be different (this is more commonly found in post-production workflows but can naturally occur in music workflows as well). Clicking the pop-up menu will give you three options: | 179 Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Maintain absolute timecode values: Choosing this option will place clips according to their timecode positions. For example, if you imported from a session with a 60-minute start time to a session with a 0-minute start time, clips from the source settings will start at 60 minutes and later. Maintain relative timecode values: Choosing this option will place clips according to your min:secs timeline, regardless of any differences in session start times. For example, any clips that start at the beginning of your source session would start at the beginning of your current session when imported. Map start timecode to: This option enables you to choose the start time of clips. For example, if you choose a value of 10 minutes (which you would type in the field below the pop- up menu), it will cause any clips that start at the beginning of your source session's timeline to begin at the 10-minute mark in your current session. Adjust Session Start Time to Match Source Start Time: This check box will be available in different situations, where the start times of the source session and the current session are different. When checked, the start time of the current session will be changed to the value of the source session (which you can see in the Source Properties window). Track Offset Options: Any value typed into the Offset Incoming Tracks By field will shift clips in addition to any offset that you've entered in the Timecode Mapping Options section. You can enter a value in: Bars, Beats and Ticks (Bars|Beats) Feet+Frames Minutes and Seconds (Min:Secs) Samples SMPTE Timecode (Timecode) Audio Media Options: This pop-up menu will determine how audio will be imported into your session: Link to source media (where possible): Imported audio clips will refer to audio files in their original location. This does not apply to audio files of a different sample rate from the open session. Copy from source media: Audio files will be copied into your session's Audio Files subfolder. Consolidate from source media: Only the portions of audio files that are used in the imported tracks will be copied into your session. When this option is chosen, you can also type an amount of padding in the Handle Size field (padding is an extra amount of audio before and after the used portion, to enable further editing such as crossfading with other clips). | 180 Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Force to target session format: Audio files will be copied into your session's Audio Files folder, and any files that don't match the current session's format (audio file format, bit depth, and sample rate) will be converted upon import. Video Media Options: This pop-up menu will determine how video will be imported into your session: Link to source media: Imported video clips will refer to video files in their original location. Copy from source media: Video files will be copied into your session's Video Files subfolder. Import as offline Satellite media: Video clips will be imported into your session, but as offline video clips (referring to no media files). This is typically only chosen when working in a Video Satellite system (which is beyond the scope of this course but is discussed in other courses in the Avid Learning Series). Sample Rate Conversion Options: This section enables you to apply sample rate conversion (SRC), and to specify a Source Sample Rate (that typically will be set to the sample rate of the source session), a Destination Sample Rate (that will typically be set to the sample rate of the current session), and a Conversion Quality pop-up menu (which will enable you to determine the accuracy of the sample rate conversion). This box will automatically be checked whenever data from a session of a different sample rate is being imported. Tracks: In the Tracks section of the Import Session Data dialog box, you'll see a list of all tracks in your source session. On a track-by-track basis, you can choose to import the tracks in a few different ways: None: Leaving the pop-up menu for a track set to none will not import the track. New Track: Choosing New Track from a track's pop-up menu will import the track as an additional track, without disrupting any existing tracks in your session. Existing Track: In each track's pop-up menu, you'll additionally see any tracks in your current session that match the source track's format. For example, importing a mono Audio track will list all of the current session's mono Audio tracks. Choosing any preexisting track from the pop-up menu will overwrite that track, based on the settings made in the Session Data section at the bottom of the Import Session Data dialog box. | 181 Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Match Tracks: The Match Tracks button is a fantastic feature: When clicked, Pro Tools will compare track names in the source session with track names in the current session and assign similarly- named tracks in the destination field (if their track type and format also match). This can be a great tool when working with different sessions with consistently named tracks, but it's a good rule to double-check the assignments before clicking the OK button at the bottom of the Import Session Data dialog box! TIP: You can import all of the source session's tracks as new tracks by holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and choosing New Track in any track's pop-up menu in the tracks area. You can also reset all tracks to None by holding the same modifier and changing a single track to None. Import: In this section, you can choose to import various global session aspects, including: Tempo/Meter Map (This will overwrite the session's existing tempo and meter settings.) Key Signature/Chord Map (This will overwrite the session's existing key signature and chord rulers.) Markers/Memory Locations (This will add to your session's Markers and Memory Locations.) Window Configurations (This will add to your session's Window Configurations.) Mic PRE Settings (This will overwrite your session's existing Mic PRE settings.) HEAT Master Settings (This will overwrite your session's HEAT settings.) Main Playlist Options: When you're importing a track from the source session to an existing track in your current session, you have three options as to how the main Edit Playlist will be changed: Import - Replace Existing Playlists: This option will remove clips from the timeline of the existing track in favor of the main Edit Playlist of the imported track. Import - Overlay New On Existing Playlists: This option will keep the existing clips on the track, and add clips from the source track. Do Not Import: This will not import clips from the source track. Clips on the existing track will not be changed. | 182 Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording If you click the Track Data to Import/Choose button, you'll see another window, which determines which aspects of your source session's tracks will be imported. Presets: As with many windows in Pro Tools, you can store up to five of your most commonly used settings as user presets. To save a preset, hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) and click on the desired button. The button will flash briefly, indicating that the settings have been stored. To recall the settings of a preset, click the desired button. Librarian Menu: By clicking the Librarian Menu, you will reveal a list of option, including the ability to save your settings, recall saved settings, and import settings. (NOTE: The default to save settings is Shift+Command+S or Shift+Ctrl+S.) Track Data: In the Track Data section, you can choose which aspects of your source session's tracks will be imported. Items marked with a check will be imported in your session. 4. After making your choices in the Import Session Data dialog box, click the OK button to import the selected data from the source session. Clicking the Cancel button will close the dialog box without importing any data. | 183  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Summary of Key Concepts Lesson 6 looks at more ways to get media into and out of your session. In this lesson, you learned: New ways to import and export audio clips. How to use file tags: How to search with them, and how to customize them to suit your workflow. How sound libraries can be powerful tools when searching for audio files, and how to add (and remove) sound library locations. How to save your session as a session template for easy recall How to import data from one session to another Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson. Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will be used. To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state: 1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear. 2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog box will appear. 3. Click the Yes button. For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should always be enabled. Action Default Shortcut Force Pro Tools to create new tracks when importing Hold the Shift key when dragging from a browser (either the audio files Pro Tools Workspace Browser or your computer's file browser) Clear any selected tags from the Search Tags field Escape (esc) Filter results that are not tagged with that keyword Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and add a tag to your search | 184  Lesson 6 Import, Export and Recording Action Default Shortcut Show the Import Session Data dialog box Shift+Option+I (Mac) Shift+Alt+I (Windows) Import all of the source session's tracks as new tracks in Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and choose the Import Session Data dialog box New Track in any track's pop-up menu in the tracks area Save a preset in the Track Data to Import dialog box Hold the Command key (Mac) Ctrl key (Windows) and click on the desired button Knowledge Check Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge check with scored results. You can also type the URL below into your browser: https://tinyurl.com/PT110-23-KC6 | 185