Following on from the Command Focus keyboard shortcuts here are some less well known keyboard shortcuts to get your fingers round.
Automation
I am sure many of us automate plug-in settings by clicking on the Auto button in the plug-in window, selecting the parameter, adding it to the list and clicking OK, then selecting the correct parameter on the audio track, missing it in the list by mistake and having to try again! For us, there is a really useful shortcut. It turns automation on for your chosen plug-in parameter and switches to the automation data display on the track in two very quick and easy steps…
To Turn Automation On
Ctrl+Option+Command-click (PC: Ctrl+Start+Alt-click) on the plug-in parameter.
To switch that track to display automation data for a given parameter, Ctrl+Command-click (Ctrl+Start-click) on the plug-in parameter.
That’s it! Now you are ready to edit the automation graphically.
Change Track View
To access graphical automation data more easily, you can use Ctrl+Command-click (PC: Ctrl+Start-click) in the Edit or Mix window to change the display as follows:
Ctrl+Command-click on the track name changes display to waveform.
Ctrl+Command-click on the text ‘vol’ in the I/O view changes display to volume automation.
Ctrl+Command-click on the text ‘pan’ changes display to pan automation.
Ctrl+Command-click on the mute button changes display to mute automation.
On the Mac, adding the Option key to any of the above will make the change to all tracks. These shortcuts work on both the Mix Window and the I/O section of the Edit window.
Using The Trim Tool To Fill
Have you ever wanted to trim out a region precisely to a preceding one? Well you can: by holding down the Ctrl (PC: Start) key whilst trimming, Pro Tools will stop at the preceding region’s edge. This works with the Trim tool in TC/E mode, too, thus enabling you to precisely fill or stretch to fit a gap. Neat!
Navigate Without Scroll Bars
Navigate quickly without having to dive down to the bottom of the edit window to click on the scroll bars. Using the Alt+Page Down key will scroll the edit or mix window one “screen” to the right and the Alt+Page Up key will scroll the edit or mix window one “screen” to the left. Thanks to community member 'MarkusLim' for this one. In case you do use a mouse (or equivalent input device) with a scroll wheel you can hold shift while scrolling up or down to horizontally roll your windows such as edit or mixer (on OS X this works in every program too); Furthermore you can hold opt (I believe alt on widows) while scrolling to horizontally zoom in an out, and holding opt + shift and scroll will allow you to zoom in the waveforms of your clips.
Track Height Resizing
To make a track size larger or smaller use Control+Up or Down Arrow keys. Adding the Alt key into this shortcut does it to all tracks. This works on the track selected with the cursor.
Nudge/Grid Adjust
To adjust the Nudge size hold down Command+Alt and use the + or – keys on the number pad to adjust the nudge size up or down. Similarly holding down Control+Alt and using the + or – keys will adjust the grid size up or down.
Viewing Selected Track In Other window (Edit & Mix)
By using Control+Shift+Click on any track in the Edit Window will force the Mix window to scroll along so that that track appears as first visible track on the far left of the Mix window (or as far left as possible). This also works the other way so Control+Shift+Click on a track name in the Mix window will put the selected track at the top of the Edit window (or as high as possible). This is great for large sessions on 2 screen systems where you have the Edit window on one screen and the Mix window on the other.
Clips and Editing
We all know how to duplicate a clip so it repeats after itself but here is a way of getting it to repeat a region before itself. To copy backwards Control+Alt+Command+Click the clip and hey presto a duplicate will appear butted up before the original.
Renaming Tracks
When naming multiple tracks use Command+Right Arrow to select the next track to be named. Alternatively having named the first track instead of hitting the Return key, which is the natural thing to do, use Command+Return and you get the next track ready to rename. This one falls very nicely under the fingers.
Creating New Tracks
When you create a new track use Shift+Command+N and the New Track window will open. Then you can use the Command+Left or Right Arrow to choose Stereo, Mono etc, and Command+Up or Down Arrow keys to select from Audio, Aux, Master or Midi tracks. Finally use Command+Alt+Up or Down Arrow keys to select Samples or Ticks.