How to learn short cuts on Protools LE 8.0

[kramnedrad]

I just went from many years of Sonar/PC's to Protools/MacPro. I can do all kinds of fast zooms and highlight/changes that I can't figure out on Protools.

Here are a few I would like to know how to do on Protools:

Zoom in with a box highlighter to an exact location on one or more tracks. Return to former zoom location(s) by hitting U.

Fit all tracks to the screen at once. I can do this on Sonar by hitting Shift F.

Program arrows to go to Start or End of song.

Highlight an area and then affect it with volume, reverb, moving, cutting, deleting, etc. I can do this on Sonar by hitting Alt and then using my mouse to create a shadow box around the area I want to affect. Then I tell it what to do.

Bounce clips together. I can do this on Sonar by doing the above and then hitting Edit/ Bounce to clips. This puts the clips of one track back together again.

Bounce tracks together. Same as above but hit Edit/ Bounce to track.

[matchoo0]

Read the manual.

Just kidding, but seriously take some time to check out the keyboard shortcuts doc, and get familiar with the shortcuts PT has. You definitely want the edit window to be in command focus mode. That opens up a whole slew of key commands that require one button. You turn on command focus by clicking the little az box in the upper right of the edit window.

Also check out these sites:
http://ptdudes.com/
http://brentheber.com/


Now to answer your specific questions.

Zoom in with a box highlighter to an exact location on one or more tracks. Return to former zoom location(s) by hitting U.

you can do this by hitting the "e" key in command focus mode. For it to work like you want it to you have to set the zoom toggle prefernce to fit to window.

Fit all tracks to the screen at once. I can do this on Sonar by hitting Shift F.

hit all three modifiers "ctrl+option+apple" and up or down arrow. If there are more tracks that can fit in the monitor at one time the tracks shrink to the smallest size.

Program arrows to go to Start or End of song.

hit return or shift return to go to the beginning or end of the session

Highlight an area and then affect it with volume, reverb, moving, cutting, deleting, etc. I can do this on Sonar by hitting Alt and then using my mouse to create a shadow box around the area I want to affect. Then I tell it what to do.

simply make a selection with the selector tool (click and drag) and adjust volume, reverb send level etc with the trimmer tool. To scroll through the different automation playlists on a selected track hold "control" + "apple" and use the left and right arrows. Adjustments will be confined to your selection.

to move a selection within a region highlight the area you want to move then hit "b" to separate a new region which you can move to wherever. Alternatively you can make a selection and move it with the selection grabber tool (the hand with the scissors)

cutting make a selection and hit "x"

delete make a selction and hit "delete"

Bounce clips together. I can do this on Sonar by doing the above and then hitting Edit/ Bounce to clips. This puts the clips of one track back together again.

I don't believe there is an equivalent feature for this in PT but you can probably get it done with bounce to disc.

Bounce tracks together. Same as above but hit Edit/ Bounce to track.

solo the tracks you want to bounce together and select the area in the timeline that you want to bounce. Hit Bounce to disc. In the dialog box make sure the bounce parameters match those of your current session, and select the import after bounce option. After the bounce is done PT will prompt you to see if you want the import to go to your region list or a new track. Most likely you want to set it to new track at selection.

Best
Matt

[kramnedrad]

Wow, thanks a lot. I will go through all these today and figure them out as you have stated. And I WILL read the manuals. I also ordered some training vids from this link http://www.secretsofthepros.com/

And I will go to the other forums too.

Thanks again for taking the time...

Mark Darden
Oxford, NC

[Andmoore1230]

http://archive.digidesign.com/suppor...ts_Mac_6.0.pdf

this is a list of PT hot keys

- Andrew

[Sparky1]

I read about this app in the latest Sound on Sound. I haven't tried it - but this might be what you are looking for.

Let us know if it works...

Thanks,

Sparky

[nainesh]

I bought a printed keyboard cover from KBcovers which has most of the shortcuts printed on it:

http://www.kbcovers.com/servlet/Cate...gory=Pro+Tools

works great for me

[pezking]

The best ways to learn the shortcuts are as follows:

Figure out which ones you need to know,
write them on a cue card and stick it next to/on your screen.
Then....

Use them,
use them,
Use them

You're nearly done, just repeat those last three lines a few thousand times

It'll become second nature in no time...

[musicalavtech]

This makes for a good learning desktop or screen saver: http://www.athirstforfaith.com/ptkeys.html