Earlier this year, in the Pro Tools 2023.3 release, Avid added a function which allows rulers to be optionally included with edit groups. This is a feature which is easy to overlook but it can actually be extremely useful. When a group is created with the Include Rulers checkbox selected, any edit selections made on member tracks of that group will automatically include rulers such as tempo, meter, key, chords and markers.

Including rulers in edit groups can be handy for a number of reasons including making changes to arrangements in music sessions and re-conforming in post. Deleting sections of audio when working in Shuffle Mode now means that any markers or ruler events will also be removed, meaning that subsequent ones maintain their relationship to the audio and move with the shuffled audio. This was possible previously but was notably more cumbersome because rulers had to be included with the selection either by shift clicking each one in turn or by making the section by holding down Option while dragging in a timebase ruler. In the screenshot below, markers have been included with the edit selection, making it easy to not only cut both the audio and markers together but also to paste them to other locations in the session. The same applies to tempo, meter, key and chords.

As someone who works in post where changes to sequences can often happen once I’ve already started working on the audio, the Include Rulers feature is a welcome addition as it makes the process of reconforming that bit easier by allowing me to more easily move the markers around with the audio as scenes get moved, shortened or extended.

To see this feature in action, check out the short video below.