Pro Tools has two sets of keyboard shortcuts, the standard set which combine a combination of modifier keys and standard keys to provide shortcuts to Pro Tools functions, and Command Focus which is the name of a second set of editing shortcuts which use single keystrokes. So there are (at least) two ways of doing most things in Pro Tools. For example if I want to cut a region at the cursor, or in Pro Tools speak ‘Separate a Clip At Selection’ I can use Command+E or the single keystroke alternative from the Command Focus shortcuts ‘B’. The same goes for actions like zooming in and out. I can use Command + square brackets or the Command Focus alternatives R and T.

These single keystrokes are very fast and very convenient. So why would you want to turn them off? Here are three reasons:

You Can Turn Them Back On So Easily

The first reason is that it isn’t an either/or choice. As we’ll discuss there are some useful reasons to change this setting and as it is very quick to change it back, why wouldn’t you? I see this as very similar to Tab to Transients - an extremely useful feature of Pro Tools. In the past I’ve been asked why you would want to turn Tab To Transients off. Usually by people who weren’t aware of what the Tab key does when it’s not tabbing to transients. If you didn’t know it tabs to the next clip boundary. If you want to toggle tab to transients on and off just hit CMD+Opt+Tab (Control+Alt+Tab on a PC).

For exactly the same reasons you are free to change between any of the three Keyboard Focus modes in the Edit window at any time. Command Focus is only one of those three uses single keystrokes can be put to. The others are Groups List Keyboard Focus and Clips List Keyboard Focus.

How Do You Change Keyboard Focus?

The slow way is to click on the little a-z symbols in the edit window but to change these settings from the keyboard use the following keystrokes:

• Command Focus - CMD+Opt+1 (Control+Alt+1 on a PC)

• Groups List Keyboard Focus - CMD+Opt+2 (Control+Alt+2 on a PC)

• Clips List Keyboard Focus - CMD+Opt+3 (Control+Alt+3 on a PC)

You’ll probably have noticed the reference to a Clips List Keyboard Focus. This allows the user to jump straight to a particular clip in the list by typing its name. This is useful and goes some way to mitigating my regular moans about Pro Tools not offering folders in the clips list.

Groups List Keyboard Focus

This is incredibly handy if you use a lot of Mix and Edit Groups. On creation each group has a unique ID letter. When Groups List Keyboard Focus is enabled you can toggle groups on and off by hitting their ID letter on the keyboard. This is very straightforward, an important thing to be aware of is how to toggle the ALL group, which is created by default. The ID letter for the ALL group is “!”, or in my mental map “Shift+1”.

Avoid Accidentally Hitting N

The second reason is that it is a useful way around one of the most common reasons why novice or occasional Pro Tools users get frustrated with it. The inappropriately positioned ’N’ keystroke.

In Command Focus N toggles ‘Playback Follows Insertion Point’. This setting controls what happens to Pro Tools when you stop and then restart playback. There are two behaviours. The first is that playback begins again from the same place every time you hit play unless you click somewhere else on the timeline and move the ‘insertion point’ in which case playback will start from there.

The alternative behaviour is for Playback not to follow the insertion point, in which case the behaviour is more like playing a linear medium like a tape. Playback starts for the point at which you last stopped it. Both of these behaviours are useful but since the button and its associated keyboard shortcut have existed innumerable people have found this playback behaviour mysteriously changing due to inadvertently hitting the N key by mistake when hitting the spacebar.

Command Focus Shortcuts Are Available Anywhere If You Add Control

This brings me neatly to the last reason why you might switch Command Focus off. If you are principally a user of Command Focus Keystrokes and don’t have the ‘modifier+keystroke’ alternatives at your fingertips, you don’t need to learn these alternative shortcuts as any Command Focus Keystroke is available while in Group or Clip Keyboard focus buy just adding Control on a Mac to Start on a PC. If your Keyboard Focus is in Groups, you hit ‘A’ to trim a clip and nothing happens, just add Control and you’re where you need to be without toggling Keyboard focus- Easy.

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