There are two kinds of selection in the Pro Tools Edit window - Edit and Timeline - and these can be linked or separate. In this case, fortunately, some of the same functionality can be achieved with the basic alphanumeric keyboard. The numeric keypad plus and minus keys nudge the latter, while the comma and full stop keys on the main keyboard adjust the former. Here, as you can see, the timeline selection does not correspond to the selection made in the audio track. Most Pro Tools users work with Edit and Timeline selections permanently linked, but they don’t have to be. There are lots of useful variations and additions to this basic functionality, such as adding Alt to trim the ‘in’ point of a selected clip, or Ctrl (Start on Windows) to nudge the clip’s contents. Using the plus and minus keys on the numeric keypad, you can move the insertion point, clips or edit selections up and down the timeline by the grid value. When it comes to editing, nudging is another feature for which the extended keyboard is vital. Holding down Shift while you recall a marker selects the section of the song between the current edit position and that marker. This is done by entering a full stop, then the marker number, then another full stop, all on the numeric keypad. Once you have marked out your session, recalling markers is the most efficient method of navigating your session. In a lot of applications, the keypad Enter key does the same as the main Return key, but not this one! However, a little‑known fact is that if you press Fn+Return on an Apple laptop, you can momentarily turn your Return key into an Enter key and drop your marker. Returning to the examples above, pressing Enter on the numeric keypad creates a marker, either on the fly during playback or record, or at the current timeline location when stopped. What can you do with the numeric keypad in Pro Tools? In short, a lot, but I’ll explain my own most frequently used shortcuts first. The important message here is that extended keyboards are indispensable if you want to use Pro Tools efficiently, and for the rest of this article I’m going to illustrate just some of the ways getting to know the numeric keypad can make your Pro Tools experience faster and easier. Without a numeric keypad, neither of these approaches is possible a way around the second would be to open the Memory Locations window by hitting Command+5 on the numeric keypad, except, well, you probably see the problem. Next, I’ll audition points of interest for closer inspection by recalling the dropped markers using the numeric keypad. To do this, I’ll listen to the song and drop markers as I go using Enter on the numeric keypad. In a typical preparation session, when I’ve received a project and am preparing it for mixing, I’ll use markers to delineate the sections of the song this makes session navigation quicker and helps build a mental picture of the arrangement. I have come to rely on extended keyboard shortcuts throughout the editing and mixing process. USB or Bluetooth number pads are available, as are extended keyboards - but they represent one more thing that you have to remember to bring, charge and carry around with you. Using Pro Tools without an extended keyboard is like trying to type while wearing gloves: it’s possible, but it’s really frustrating.Ī small number of large PC laptops have numeric keypads, but these aren’t very common, while Apple have not only left them off their laptops, but have also started shipping desktop machines with laptop‑style compact keyboards as the default option. ![]() However, I find the experience of using it on such a machine frustratingly inefficient unless I’ve had the foresight to bring an extended keyboard with me. This is not because of performance issues: a well‑specified laptop is more than capable of running a large Pro Tools session. ![]() In 2018, it seems odd that it shouldn’t be possible to use the program efficiently on a portable computer, but that is definitely my experience. ![]() I had the misfortune of using Pro Tools on a laptop this week. To get the most from Pro Tools, you need an extended keyboard - and here’s why. ![]() The standard Return key on a Mac laptop can act as an Enter key if you hit Fn before pressing it, thus allowing you to drop markers on the fly.
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