Pro Tools Keyboard Shortcuts. There are just so many. Some are very well known, some really obscure but there is a middle ground of what I consider essential but in my experience aren’t as widely known as they should be. Here are six. You’ll probably know some of them. Do you know them all?

Trim Clip To Selection - CMD+T/Ctrl+T

I’ve always used this, make a selection, hit CMD+T and the audio before and after the selection disappear leaving just the selection as a new clip.

Repeat Clip - Option+R/Alt+R

So many people use Duplicate, others use the loop trim tool. If I just want to repeat a clip down the timeline I’ve always used the predictably named Repeat command. I think this might not be as well known as CMD+D for Duplicate because the modifier is different. If it was CMD+R then maybe more people would use it but CMD+R is already taken for Capture Clip (it used to be Capture Region, hence the R).

Nudge Clip Contents - Ctrl+(Num plus/minus)/Start+(Num plus/minus)

Nudging clips, nudging clip in and out points or nudging selections are all available with various combinations of modifiers along with the numeric plus and minus keys. My favourite of these is nudcing the clip contents so the clip retains its position on the timeline but the audio within slips backwards or forwards.

Create Clip Group - CMD+Opt+G/Ctrl+Alt+G

Clip Groups are so useful because they are so flexible. Want to move a collection of clips, create a clip group. The clips are on different tracks, not a problem. Can I create a clip group out of empty space on the timeline to mark out my session? Absolutely. Can Clip groups contain other clip groups? Yes. And of course they can be ungrouped and re-grouped quickly and easily. If you consolidate clips without needing the resulting file for something you should consider using a clip group instead.

Waveform Zoom - Opt+Shift+Scrollwheel/Alt+Shift+Scrollwheel

Simple but effective. If I can’t see what I’m doing I zoom my waveform height using the mouse scrollwheel rather than by going all the way up to the zoom controls in the toolbar.

Paste To Fill Selection - CMD+Opt+V/Ctrl+Alt+V

I’ve never needed this for use in a music session but I use it every time I edit dialogue. Copy a clean section of room tone to the clip board and paste it over edit selections to cover umms, mouth clicks and the like.