Making a template in Protools

Nick The Man

Nick The Man

New member
Hey guys,
Nice to see the weather starting to get nicer here! I've been doing some mixing for a band that I recently recorded. I have completely mixed one song so far and I really enjoy the way it came out. I was wondering if there is a way for me to save all the tracks and their corresponding plug-ins and then apply them to the next song, just for an easy starting point when mixing the rest of their stuff.

Any idears??? It seems like it's possible to save all the tracks and their names and possibly. But it would be really nice if it saved fader positions, panning and plug-ins!

Thanks
Nick!
:cool:
 
Create a session called "template" , set up all your plug-ins, faders, pans etc.
manually, and save the session. Then, when you're doing the next session,
create a new session, import session data (shift+alt+I), navigate to the "Template"
session, click on it, and import all of them as a new track. It will have all your
plug-ins, settings, fader/pan positions, and track names on it.

Although that's one way of doing it, I think that Pro Tools 8 has a way of setting
up a template so that when you open it (with the quick start dialog enabled), you
can just click "create session from template..." and you can navigate to your
template and open it, and create a new session in the process.

Hope this helps :)
 
Oh, and I'd just use this system as a starting point. The same formula rarely
applies for different songs. Especially when automation comes into play. You
don't want all the songs to sound samey. Bring something new to the table each
time.

The only things I'd template would be faders, pan, and eq. And even then I'll
probably change most of it throughout the mix process. Gain based FX will never
be as good on one song as they are on another if you use the same formula.

As for time-based FX like delay and reverb, I'd like to use different things for
different moods. Like if I'm doing a fast up-beat rock tune, I want short reverbs
and short delays (generally), and a good deal of compression to keep it all locked
in. But if I'm doing a slow ballad, I want longer hall/plate reverbs (usually), some
delays, and less compression to let the instruments breathe more. Slower tunes
generally benefit more from instrument dynamics (IMO).
 
I think (from memory) to create a template which appears in the quick start menu you just need to go File>Save As Template...

But if you want to apply settings from one session to another, the best way is with Import Session Data.

You can select which tracks to import - which aspects of those tracks etc. etc. It's a very powerful tool.

P.S. I just had to insert this emoticon - I have never seen it before and it's hilarious! :spank: (completely not applicable here)
 
haha, thanks guys. Yeah this approach is strictly a starting point. I usually wouldn't do it with anything but they did 3 songs and they have a similar sound so I'm basing it off of the first mix. I'm gonna try some of the methods you guys mentioned!

:spank:
 
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