Difference between Consolidate and Flatten?

[ihate100bees]

Running 12.7.2 on PC with Win 10 Pro.

My end goal is to select all the edited (comped) pieces from midi or audio source clips that I have assembled, and to have them become 1 single clip. Afterwards I want to clean the project dispose of all the un-used source clips. Would I use Consolidate, or Flatten to accomplish this? What would be the difference?

Thanks

[albee1952]

Flatten, IIRC will revert midi back to its original, unedited state, so I would NOT do that. Consolidate is fine to combine a bunch of clips(midi OR audio) into single and continuous files(I would consolidate back to zero on the timeline). Since you are on a recent version, I would probably also use the COMMIT process on any midi instruments to create audio files from any virtual instruments(but I would keep the original midi tracks in the session, just in case you wish to make further edits in the future).

[ihate100bees]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I would probably also use the COMMIT process on any midi instruments to create audio files from any virtual instruments(but I would keep the original midi tracks in the session, just in case you wish to make further edits in the future).

Ok, I fully understand. Thanks so much for being so clear. Also, how can I commit to save an instrument to audio... but then return the trk back to midi? Doesn't commit alter the original (midi) file? Can I just hit undo?
Thanks.

[albee1952]

"Commit"(assuming PT 12.4 and later) creates a new audio file, according to how you desire. You can select any plugin on a track and select Commit up to this Insert(handy if you want to leave following plugins "live" for further adjustment). When you initiate the Commit function, you also have options of what happens to the source track. You can choose to do nothing, make the original inactive(handy to save processing power), Hide and Make Inactive(even in this case, you can bring the original back for further edits). As long as you don't choose to Delete the original, you always have the option to revisit

I suggest opening a session and choose File>Save Session Copy>check the box to include audio files and save to your recording drive(and maybe rename it "song_experiment"). Then open this copy and experiment with the various commit and freeze options. Learning by doing is a great teacher, and this allows you to mess up a session without worrying about ruining it(because you are working on a copy)

[ihate100bees]

Fantastic! Thank you so much. Extremely appreciated!
Thanks!

[ihate100bees]

Hey Dave! Just noticed you're a neighbor!
Thanks again!
Andy

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by ihate100bees

Hey Dave! Just noticed you're a neighbor!
Thanks again!
Andy

Hah! Small world....but I wouldn't want to paint it.....