Pro Tools 101 Chapter 4

Question 1

How much disk space is consumed per minute by a mono track at a sample rate of 44.1 kHz and bit depth of 16-bit? What happens to disk space consumption if the sample rate is doubled to 88.2 kHz with the same bit depth?

Answer 1

Sample rate of 44.1kHz: Each track consumes approx. 5MB of disk space per minute for 16 bit audio (mono).

88.2 kHz (means doubling), therefore 10MB

7.5MB per minute for 24-bit audio (mono), and 10MB per minute for 32-bit floating point audio.
With increasing bit depth and sample rates, hard disk space consumption increases correspondingly: recording at a sample rate of 88.2 kHz, therefore consumes twice as much space as recording at 44.1 kHz. Similarly, recording in stereo consumes twice the space of recording in mono.

Question 2

How can you monitor the storage space available on your system to determine the amount of record time remaining for each mounted hard drive?

Answer 2

With a session running, you can monitor storage space and estimate the amount of available record time remaining for your project using the Disk Usage Window

WINDOW > DISK USAGE

Question 3

How can you create a click track for a session? What kind of track is used for a click track?

Answer 3

TRACK > CREATE CLICK TRACK

Auxiliary Track (input)

Question 4

What window(s) can you use to record-enable an Audio track?

Answer 4

• Edit Window

- Mix Window

Question 5

What selector can you use to route a signal from an input on your interface to a track for recording?

Answer 5

Audio Input Path Selector

I/O Section

Question 6

How can you adjust the input level going to a record-enabled track? Can you use the Volume Fader to achieve a strong signal going to disk?

Answer 6

Can be adjusted on the audio interface or the pre-I/O signal processing - Basically use the pre-amp gains

Although a track’s Volume Fader can be used to increase or decrease playback levels, the Volume Fader does NOT affect record levels. Therefore No.

Question 7

How can you place a session in Record Ready mode after record-enabling a track? What modifiers/shortcuts are available to initiate recording without first entering Record Ready mode?

Answer 7

WINDOW > TRANSPORT - Click the button

Command+Space Bar
Fn+F12

Question 8

Where are recorded audio files stored for Pro Tools sessions?

Answer 8

Clip List
Track Playlist

Also stored in the Audio Files Folder within the Session Folder

Question 9

What term is used to describe an unedited audio file in Pro Tools? What term is used to describe the smaller, edited pieces of the original sound file?

Answer 9

Whole-file Clip

Subset Clip

Question 10

What types of clips are represented by boldface text in the Clip List? What type is represented by normal (plain) text?

Answer 10

• Whole-file clip/Parent Clip

- Subset clip

Question 11

How do track names affect the default names of the audio files you record in Pro Tools?

Answer 11

Pro Tools names the resulting file (a whole-file clip) using the name of the Audio track followed by an underscore and the take number (a sequential number based on the number of times you’ve recorded on that track).

Question 12

Describe two ways to rename an audio file after recording into Pro Tools.

Answer 12

• Double click the file or clip in the edit window (with the grabber tool) or in the clip list
• Right click on the file or clip in the Edit Window or Clip List and select RENAME from the pop-up menu.

Question 13

How would you go about removing unwanted audio from the Clip List without deleting the files from disk?

Answer 13

1.

• To select multiple clips, COMMAND+CLICK on clips individually
• To select a continuous range, click on the first clip in the range and SHIFT+CLICK on the last clip

2. • Choose CLEAR from the Clip List pop-up menu

3.
- In the resulting Clear Clips dialogue box, click REMOVE to remove the clips from the session, while leaving all parent audio files on the hard drive.

Question 14

How would you go about deleting unused whole-file clips to erase them from your hard drive? Can this action be undone?

Answer 14

1.

• To select multiple clips, COMMAND+CLICK on clips individually
• To select a continuous range, click on the first clip in the range and SHIFT+CLICK on the last clip

2. • Choose CLEAR from the Clip List pop-up menu

3.
- In the resulting Clear Clips dialogue box, click MOVE TO TRASH or DELETE to remove the clips from the clip list AND remove or delete any selected parent audio files from your hard drive.