Multiple Marker rulers?

[amathie]

Apologies if this has been discussed previously.

I want to divide a song up into sections (Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1...etc) and to have this reflected in the marker ruler with colour coded bars, a different colour for verses, choruses etc.

I understand that I can create "Markers" from the Memory Locations window and from the Preferences / Display tab I can select "Always display marker colours".

So far so good; I've got coloured bars along the marker ruler corresponding to Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, etc.

BUT there are two problems
1. If I notice a click on a track and want to mark it for future attention, creating a marker on the same ruler track splits the song section into two, each bit with different colours.

2. Not only do I want to identify clicks but I also want to be able to mark other types of categories at discrete points in the the timeline and be able to filter what is displayed OR be able to have a separate ruler for each.

I've seen posts going back to 2006 and more recently 2016 suggesting workarounds using empty clip groups on audio tracks but is there not a "proper" way to do this.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[its2loud]

If you want to mark the location of an audible click or other type without interrupting your colored markers for location, create a Selection marker

1. Make a selection on the track where the click is
2. Press Enter on Num Keypad
3. Choose "Selection" for time properties
4 Name the marker

This marker will now be created without interrupting your Location markers. Keep in mind, this selection marker will not show on the marker timeline but will show in the Memory Locations list where you can see it described and recall it by selecting. You can also recall markers using the softkeys in avid control or keyboard command Num Keypad .(marker number). With the new marker amount increase, I suggest you number these particular selections with a completely different set of marker numbers for easy recall. For example. Make all Selection Markers starting at 200. to recall type .200. on the Num Keypad

[BScout]

Originally Posted by amathie

but is there not a "proper" way to do this.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

There is not.

Avid has teased a future version of Pro Tools will have real improvements to the marker ruler. (No one knows what that will exactly mean.) But they are aware of the annoyance of customers that this hasn't been done so far.
And the extra marker count released in 2022.9 is a small appeasement until there is a bigger change/fix.

[amathie]

Thanks very much for the answers. I'm not experienced with Pro Tools but am wondering how peeps doing film and TV sound have managed without a better marking system. I did see a post where someone was using MIDI tracks to use notes to represent markers. As for dividing the song into sections, I'll try the Empty Clip Group technique. Fingers crossed!

[marsian]

Yes, please release multiple marker lanes!

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by amathie

Thanks very much for the answers. I'm not experienced with Pro Tools but am wondering how peeps doing film and TV sound have managed without a better marking system.

We use blank clip groups and selection markers

[daeron80]

As convenient as it can be to have PT auto-color regions by marker, I find it fiddly enough (due to what you mentioned and other considerations) that it's more convenient -- or less inconvenient -- to switch the mode to let me manually color the regions by section. Markers are still involved; marker at beginning and end of each section, and it doesn't matter if there are any between because, after selecting in the ruler, I recall the two markers by keyboard shortcut, command-E to split all regions at those points, and select the region color I want for that section. Now all I need is for Avid to let us make custom color spaces so I can use the one from original Doom.

[amathie]

Originally Posted by its2loud

We use blank clip groups and selection markers

Please could you expand on that.

How would you go about creating specific markers for say 1. Clicks that need editing out. 2. Hit points for music cues. 3. Markers for anything else.....

... so that if you are working just on editing the clicks, you can identify those from the others.

[its2loud]

I explained an alternative way to do this in Post #2 above.

[The Weed]

What about using Location Markers and Selection Markers and naming them starting with the action you want to do? For example: Click Edit 1, Hit Point 3, Click Remove 5, etc.

With the Memory Location List open you can go to any Location Marker or Selection Marker by clicking on it. And don't forget you can also have the zoom level and track height and other options activated. One issue you will have is when you edit out a portion of a Clip, if you're in Shuffle mode, your audio will move to the left, but the Markers will remain where they are.

There is a way to move the Location Markers at the same time. It involves highlighting the same area in the Marker Ruler as on the Track. In Shuffle Mode, this will move the Location Markers like the audio. When I'm editing like this, I have the Track I want to edit at the top below the Marker Ruler, although that's not necessary, then highlight the area on the Track, then Shift Click in the Marker Ruler to have the same area highlighted on the Marker Ruler. What I don't know is if the Selection Marker will also move the same as a Location Marker will. Anyone know? I'm not in front of Pro Tools right now.