Automation exists to make mixer’s lives easier. If we consider the problem it was created to solve, before mix automation mixes had to be performed in real time by people’s fingers on faders, and to a lesser extent other mix parameters like effects sends, mutes (open channels created noise in those days) and more. When mixes got too big for a single person to manage, more and more hands came to the console and, while the sense of achievement of co-ordinating a complex mix across several people successfully might have brought a sense of achievement, when flying faders and SSL mix automation arrived it saved a lot of “close but not quite, go again” in the control room.

However, as mix automation became the norm, expectations rose. Listen back to mixes from the pre-automation era and you’ll come across examples in mixes of things which just wouldn’t happen today. The tools mean we can control mixes to a forensic level. Whether the music is any better is a moot point but the mixes are definitely as intended.

Virtually unlimited track counts and equally unlimited client expectations mean that automation inevitably is probably the most complex part of many mixes and managing all that control data can sometimes feel like automation isn’t making mixer’s lives easier at all!

Here are five things about Pro Tools automation which can definitely help make your life easier. If you don’t yet know any of these they will definitely have an impact on your mixing.

Automation Enable All Parameters

By default volume, pan, sends and mutes are enabled for automation. Just enter your write mode of choice and start automating. If you want to automate a plugin parameter you’ll need to automation-enable it first. You can click the ‘auto’ button in the plugin header and from here add the required parameters. If you want to quickly add a single parameter you can hold CMD+Opt+Ctrl (Control+Alt+Start on PC) and select “Enable Automation For…”.

A faster alternative is to use the same modifiers but instead click the Auto button itself which will automation-enable every parameter in the plugin. In most plugins you’ll see their automation status indicated by a change of colour around the plugin parameter, the precise colour depending on the automation mode on that track. Green for read, Red for any of the write modes.

The nuclear option if you’re all-in on plugin automation is just to set the preference “Plugin Controls Default To Auto-Enabled”. With this setting active you’ll be already set up by default. I prefer to enable on a per-plugin basis but each to their own. With a complex plugin like a reverb or multi band compressor you’ll find the drop down menu for changing the track view to automation playlists on the track header becomes unmanageably long if all parameters are enabled by default. However the next tip means that doesn’t have to be a problem.

CMD+Ctrl To View Automation Parameter

To use automation it really helps if you can view the automation on the track’s playlist. You can do this from the drop down menu in the track header. Click on Waveform in an audio track and you’ll see the alternatives views, including all currently enabled automation. Get to know the use of the minus key on the alphanumeric keyboard to toggle between Volume and Waveform views. If it doesn’t work you aren’t using Command Focus. You’ll need to add Control (Start on a PC).

You can use CMD+Ctrl+left/right for Next/Previous Track View (Start+Control on PC). This will cycle you through views like Warp view for Elastic Audio and Playlists view for comping but it you just want to go to a specific automation parameters playlist this can be a laborious way to get there. This is where one of the most useful shortcuts in Pro Tools can help. If you hold Control+Command (Start+Control on PC) and click on an automation-enabled parameter control in the UI it will take you straight to that parameter’s track view and playlist. To return to Waveform view Command+Control+Click the track name. If you have a suitable control surface this is even better. Use this technique to switch between volume views by tapping the fader cap and other parameters by tapping the relevant encoder or button. 

Allow Latch Prime In Stop

The name of this preference, tucked away in the Automation section of the Mixing tab of the Pro Tools Preferences isn’t self-explanatory and as a result might be overlooked but its a very useful preference for automation users. What it’s for is to make it easier to drop into automation write while simultaneously changing the state of several parameters at once. If you are just changing one parameter at a time it’s simple enough to roll transport from somewhere in the timeline and change that single parameter. But if you want to change quite a few at once you might be tempted to just draw in the automation, necessitating lots of checking.

Allow Latch Prime In Stop lets you set up all the automation parameters necessary while the transport is stopped. With the Write mode in Latch you can then start the transport and all the Primed parameters will write straight away. It doesn’t sound like much of a big deal but it solves a very real problem when your automation gets busier.

Clear Special To Delete All Automation

On the subject of busy automation. Tracking down active automation can be tedious. If you have inherited a session or even if you are just experimenting, being able to quickly trash all the automation on a track, whether you remember where it all is or not, can be a real issue unless you know this function.

Go to the Edit menu and under Clear Special you’ll find All Automation, Plugin Automation and Pan Automation. These commands will clear all of each type of automation in a single operation. All Automation is useful for levelling inherited sessions when you want to start over with a clean slate and the ability to clear pan automation is useful for immersive mixes where pan data can exist across many playlists. If you find you do this a lot there is a keyboard shortcut available, the default keystroke to clear all automation is Control+Delete (Start+Delete on a PC).

Command+Click To Toggle Preview Automation

When using plugins the importance of comparing your settings against the unprocessed version is well understood, the bypass button is the most important button in all plugins. Taking this further, being able to compare one setting against another is equally important, and plugins which don’t have their own A/B button can all use the Compare feature in AAX plugins to make sure what we’re doing is actually better! The point of Preview is to allow you to do the same thing with mix parameters. It does this by giving you an additional buffer to write automation into and if you like it you can punch that Preview automation to replace your existing automation.

The thing which catches new users out is that it isn’t immediately obvious how to do the most important part of this process - to compare your new automation in the Preview buffer with the underlying automation. I got terribly confused when started using Preview because I seemed to get stuck in a pointless loop of writing automation and then losing it. This is because I didn’t know this crucial step - how to compare Preview against existing automation.

The temptation is to click the big green Preview button to turn Preview off and to click it again to go back to hearing the contents of the Preview buffer. That’s not how you do it. Instead, Command+Click (Control+Click on PC) the Preview button. That will toggle in and out of Preview. If you want to keep your new automation then Punch it, if you want to try again click the Preview button to clear the buffer.

There is lots more to the automation system in Pro Tools but I really wish someone had told me all of these when I was learning Pro Tools…