Cubase user coming to PT questions

[Suke]

Hey All, I'm a long time Cubase user (14+years) and I've made the plunge to PT and everythings been fine and figured most stuff out except I have a couple of super basic questions.

#1 Cursor. In cubase when I stop playback the cursor would stay there where I stopped it. In PT there is no visual cursor to look at when stopped (the "cursor" goes back to the start of the edit selection). For example if I'm listening back to a session and then hear a weird note in a midi part I usually just hit stop, and now I can search the different parts, find the odd note (becuase the cursor is sitting on top of it) and fix it. but in PT I hit stop, I can see the "timeline selection point" but as soon as I double click and open a MIDI part thats gone. I've been trying to make sure I see what bar and beat it is before I hit stop. anyways just wondering if there is a way to see the cursor upon hitting stop?

#2 Edit selection. Is there a way when I hit stop that the edit selection doesnt disappear? i.e, I set up a loop in a part of my song and practice a new guitar part for it. I want to adjust the tone of the amp so I hit stop, find my tone but when I hit play again the edit selection disappears. Now I have to go back and reselect the correct place to loop again. This whole thing happens again when I have to stop to put the track in rec mode. it kind of kills the workflow. Is there anyway to keep the edit selection when I hit stop?

I hope this makes sense, thanks Suke

[demodigi]

Hi,

1/ In fact, when you double clic on a clip/region (MIDI or Audio) it first selects the whole part of the clip. To use "double-clic to open MIDI Editor", you must use the grab tools (= "hand" tool). But it won't work neither because the grab tool will also select your entire clip.

You have 2 options to open MIDI Editor without cancelling your selection :
- either you click on the little "up" arrow in the bottom of the edit windows
-> it will open the MIDI Editor at the bottom of the Edit window

- or go to menu Windows / MIDI Editor
-> it will open the MIDI Editor in a new window
- or hit ctrl+' = ' (on mac) / Windows key + ' = ' (on PC, but not sure)
-> same as just above

You can also edit your MIDI inside your track without opening MIDI editor :
- hold "ctrl+windows key" and hit "right arrow"
-> this would select the "notes mode view" for the selected track (you can change track mode view with the mouse too)
- select the notes you want to edit with the grab tool (or with tab key)

(hold "ctrl+windows key" and hit "left/right arrow" helps switching quicky between the track mode views, including MIDI control change (CC) view and automation view).

2/ You must untick "Timeline insertion follows playback" in Preferences/Operation (should be the 1st available option)
or hit the last button under the tools selector (on the left of Time Display)
or hit 'n'
-> this will change the behavior of the transport/selection cursor.
When hitting stop, it comes back to the beginning of your selection (even if the selection is a simple cursor).
'n' key helps toggle between those 2 transport behaviors

3/ (there were no 3/ but anyway )
You can also separate your transport cursor and your edit selection (maybe it would have a closer "Cubase behavior" ?) :

- go to menu Options and untick Link Timeline and Edit Selection
or hit the 5th button under the tools selector (on the left of Time Display)
or hit Shift + ' / '

Then playback selection (= transport bar controlled with spacebar) is on the time ruler, Edit selection (to select loop, clips/parts to edit, etc) is in the playlist/tracks (selection made with the mouse, or, when playing back, with left/right/up/down arrows)

Up/Down arrows also help doing selection when playing back
Left/Right arrows help focusing (= center the view) at the beginning/end of the selection (edit cursor).

[Suke]

Hey Domodigi, thanks for the detailed reply. But I think I didnt explain myself effectively.

#1-Cursor, when I hit play I can see the cursor moving, when I hit stop the cursor disappears. Is there any way to change this?

ex. I have a 48 bar midi part, as I listen i notice a problem at bar 20 beat 4 and I hit stop. The only thing telling me my location is either the blinking time line selector at the top of the edit page or my transport control. BUT both change as soon as I open my MIDI editor. The transport resets to the begining of the MIDI part and no there is now visual cue as to where I stopped playback.

I know I can resize the track, change from blocks to notes, edit, change back to blocks, resize window. but thats a alot of little extra steps just to edit a note.

#2-Edit selection-I know I can untick insertion follows playback and that will keep the edit selection after I hit stop. I just dont like the fact that the cursor always restarts at the beginning of the selection again.

I guess I expected PT to act more like a "tapemachine" style where the cursor /playback head would stay put until you told it to move.

I'm sure I'm missing some things and I'll get used to the extra steps.
Thanks

[rafukyo]

You need to hit 'n' when you see the a...z (shortcut focus) on the right up corner of the edit window. It toggles insertion follows play or not. if you don't see the running line when playing, you are probably with scroll off. it the options menu you can find few scrolling methods. Try them to find which one you like.

[demodigi]

#1-Cursor, when I hit play I can see the cursor moving, when I hit stop the cursor disappears. Is there any way to change this?

See rafukyo answer above (scrolling options).

ex. I have a 48 bar midi part, as I listen i notice a problem at bar 20 beat 4 and I hit stop. The only thing telling me my location is either the blinking time line selector at the top of the edit page or my transport control. BUT both change as soon as I open my MIDI editor. The transport resets to the begining of the MIDI part and no there is now visual cue as to where I stopped playback.

Ok I begin to understand. If you always want a line from top to bottom, you may choose "Continuous" in the scrolling options. Otherwise you would only have a blinking cursor when you stop playback.
But then you'll get a stationary playhead, and all the clips will scroll instead (more CPU/GPU usage).

I know I can resize the track, change from blocks to notes, edit, change back to blocks, resize window. but thats a alot of little extra steps just to edit a note.

[Win key] + ' = ' opens directly the MIDI Editor without changing your selection/cursor.
Hit [Win key] + ' = ' again and it close the MIDI Editor window and get back to Edit window.
It is the fastest way I know.

And very easy to remind because [CTRL] + ' = ' is quite the same shortcut, it toggles Edit and Mix windows. And [ALT+CTRL] + ' = ' opens score editor.

#2-Edit selection-I know I can untick insertion follows playback and that will keep the edit selection after I hit stop. I just dont like the fact that the cursor always restarts at the beginning of the selection again.

I guess I expected PT to act more like a "tapemachine" style where the cursor /playback head would stay put until you told it to move.

The PT cursor is both a playhead and an edit tool.
That's why I added point 3/, which is an alternative way to work (than I do). It separates edit tool and playhead. Though I don't know if it will suit your needs (ex : you still need to hit 'n' to toggle between "insertion follows playback" ON and OFF if you want to keep selection or not).

I'm sure I'm missing some things and I'll get used to the extra steps.
Thanks

My previous post was bit dense but depending on the options you activate or not, it changes how to use both the cursor (on stop, during playback, etc) and how to use keyboard shortcuts.

Because, the key point with Pro Tools is really to use and learn shortcuts and leave your mouse alone .
There is a dedicated documentation for shortcuts only. The difficulty with shortcuts is you need to know the software very well before looking for a particular keystroke. Most shortcuts are in the menus, but lots of useful PT features aren't in the menus as well.

So sometimes, looking at this documentation is really helpful.

PS : It's like video games, you need the combos to win