Community member Richard Louis has been in touch to tell us about some work he has done using AppleScript with Pro Tools creating shortcuts to speed up the workflow, add missing Shortcuts or just be helpful tools. So over to you Richard...
Since EuControl misses out on some features, I have decided to fill in some of the gaps by using AppleScript with a little help of Automator. (Since we are using AppleScript, this will only work on Mac).
In this article, I will show one detailed example with a complete walkthrough and some other examples.
This Script shown in the video above will open the “iZotope RX 5 De-crackle” AudioSuite window if not already open (this is represented by the if/else Routine), and hit the “Render”-Button.
Note: The AudioSuite Plugin will open with its default values. So make sure you set your go-to preset to the factory default setting.
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Pro Tools"
set frontmost to true
if exists (window "Audio Suite: iZotope RX 5 De-crackle") then click button "Render" of window "Audio Suite: iZotope RX 5 De-crackle"
else
click menu item "iZotope RX 5 De-crackle" of menu of menu item "iZotope, Inc." of menu "AudioSuite" of menu bar 1 click button "Render" of window "Audio Suite: iZotope RX 5 De-crackle"
end if
end tell
end tell
Automator
To run the AppleScript will be using the macOS/OS X built-in Automator App which is capable to create and run Services.
Creating a Service, open the Automator App, choose “Service” as your wanted type of document. Set the “Service receives” to “no input” in the drop-down menu (will be using a shortcut) and set the “in” to “Pro Tools” so the service will only be visible in the Pro Tools Applications.
Add the actions “Run AppleScript” and enter the Script to the Action. All should look now like this:
Save it and give it a name.
Accessibility Control
To let Automator and Pro Tools control other applications we have to go to the
System Preferences / Security & Privacy / Privacy / Accessibility /
and add the Automator App to the “Allow the apps below to control your computer.” and check the checkbox.
Shortcut
To use a keyboard shortcut to run the Script we will have to go to
System Preferences / Keyboard / Shortcuts / Services /
Here will be able to see our newly created service and give it a shortcut.
Note: Use only shortcuts that are not used by Pro Tools. I recommend using the F13 to F19 Keys.
Pro Tools | AppleScript
As you can see using AppleScript and Automator to create shortcuts and even macros for Pro Tools that are missing out is a helpful and powerful tool (especially for mouse only commands).
Some other examples...
The video is showing custom created shortcuts using AppleScript and Automator. In this case pushing the F18 key will open the RX Connect AudioSuite Plug-in (if not already open) an hit the Send Button.
The video is showing custom created shortcuts using AppleScript and Automator. In this case pushing the F16 key will open the Reverse AudioSuite Plugin (if not already open) an hit the Render Button.
The video is showing custom created shortcuts using AppleScript and Automator. In this case pushing the keyboard combo Command+Option+Control+P will enable the Automation Preview mode.
The video is showing custom created shortcuts using AppleScript and Automator. In this case the Track Name will be copied to the Comments filed. This script has to be run as an AppleScript application or in AppleScript it self, caused to the open Rename-Dialog window which is blocking the Mac OS services.
If you are looking out further into creating your own AppleScript the “Accessibility Inspector“ which comes with Xcode will be a helpful tool. It allows you to inspect UI elements.
Note: The shown examples are all for Pro Tools 11 and above and were created using Pro Tools 12.8.2. Pro Tools 10 is using Number instead of Names for the Buttons.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.