Tempo Mapping in Pro-Tools (video) » « Shift+Option Shortcut

More Pro Tools Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcuts save me a ton of time and they’re no secret but it’s nice to have a list right in front of you to reference from time to time. Here are some I use on a daily basis…

The A...Z Key in Pro Tools

I use the A…Z feature a lot. If you’ve never used it, give it a try. Basically A…Z lets you perform functions with a single key…
E = Zoom to selection

R = Zoom Out

T = Zoom In

A = Trim in (everything in the region left of the cursor gets deleted)

S = Trim out (everything in the region right of the cursor gets deleted)

D = Fade in

F = Crossfade (handy if you have several regions you’d like to fade in and out. Just highlight all the regions you’d like to top and tail with a fade and press F. This will batch process your selection)

G = Fade Out

B = Separate region at cursor

Z = Undo

X = Cut

C = Copy

V = Paste

N = Toggles “insertion follows timeline” option. This key allows you to basically choose if your cursor is replaced at the stopping point after playback or if it remains at the starting point. At times this can be a really annoying feature.

P = moves your cursor to the next track up (or your selection, which is great for trimming two regions to the same exact size).

; = Moved your cursor to the next track down (ditto on the selection part).

Up in the number keys on the alpha keyboard if you press the hyphen/underscore key you can toggle your volume automation view on and off.

Need to get to a marker quickly? Press period marker number period on your number pad. For example, if you have dropped a few markers (drop a marker by pressing the enter key on your number pad) and you’d like to get to marker number 3 you would press .3. and the play head will jump to that marker.

The Option Key – adding this key to a shortcut combination usually performs reverse of the intended action. For example: Shift+Tab will select from the cursor forward (either to the next region or the next transient if you have tab-to-transient enabled). But just throw option into the mix.. Option+Shift+Tab the selection will move to the left of the cursor on your timeline. You’ll even notice, if you have your trim tool active over a region, pressing the option key will reverse the direction of the tool while the key is held down.

UNDO/REDO - Everyone knows Command Z is undo. In Pro-Tools (and a few other apps) pressing SHIFT+COMMAND+Z will REDO what you just undid. Haha… a little confusing to type. I use this a lot when I have applied an AudioSuite effect to something and I’m not sure I like it… I will listen to the effect in the mix and then undo it and listen again prior to the effect being added. If I decided I liked it better effected, rather than going to the plug-in and reprocessing the effect I will just redo it by pressing shift+command+Z. Makes it a very quick ‘love it/hate it’ tool.

There are many many shortcuts in Pro Tools; these are just a few I use frequently. I would be here all night if I typed them all out so feel free to post your favorites here for others to share.

This entry was posted on March 4th, 2009 in Site.

Tempo Mapping in Pro-Tools (video) » « Shift+Option Shortcut