automation question

Rusty K

New member
Hi,

Pretty new to PT so this is a newbie question. I can't get the automation function to work. After each try under Edit there is an "Undo Automation" so something is happening but the track controls aren't responding. I've read the manual and followed but it's not writing to the track. I got the automation to write once before but I must now be missing something.

I've highlighted the track, checked "Automation Enabled" and selected "write" in the tracks automation mode selector. I want to start the track muted so the mute button is on when I begin play. I'm trying to mute blank sections of a simple five track acoustic session to eliminate background noise.

Thanks,
Rusty K
 
Haha, you're an old school guy aren't you? ;) I love it. It's great to hear guys still mute sections like that. Most people today would just use a gate/strip silence or delete the portions manually.

Did you check to make sure in your automation enable window that "mute" automation was enabled?
 
You are right. My only excuse other than being "old school" is that there are only five tracks. I had thought of the "silence" method. I used to do that with Adobe Audition but honestly I don't know how to do that yet with PT. I'm anxious to learn though so if anyone would like to walk me through it I'll do it that way.

I have a couple of vox tracks in this session so cleaning it up by using "silence" would be the best way

Oh, the "mute" button in the automation window was selected.



Rusty
 
Well one positive thing is I'm learning how to get around in the reference guide. It's very imposing and cumbersome at first.

Playlists I'm still having trouble with. Mainly when and how to set them up. I failed to set up playlists at the beginning of recording. An engineering buddy told me that I should have at the beginning since I wasn't able to A/B tracks. But I'm just beginning to move from the recording phase of this session to editing so now is a good time. I duplicated the first track and applied "strip silence/extract" and cleaned the track to the desired starting point however now there is a blank space from the original starting point.

Question...To retain the extracted section of the track should I have inserted silence while the section was still highlighted? Or...can I leave it as is and lock the track/region in position?

Just a note...I'm very happy with how easy it is to record with PT. My main problem is with different or new terminology. It makes it hard to find what I'm looking for in the reference guide.

Thanks,
Rusty K
 
you just want to get rid of that blank area? Select the entire track, and then edit-->consolidate selection (Alt+Shift+3...Option+Shift+3). This will render a new file that is the entire length of the section but will include the silence before hand and the good stuff in the middle.
 
bennychico11,

Thanks for the help. I've got all the track cleaned up but I still don't know why I'm unable to automate the tracks. I'll give that another try.

One last question if I may. Since we're talking about removing background noise from quiet sections, I need not worry about crossfading right? Crossfading only comes into play when I'm cutting and pasting in regions with some amplitude?

Thanks again,
Rusty K
 
bennychico11,

Thanks for the help. I've got all the track cleaned up but I still don't know why I'm unable to automate the tracks. I'll give that another try.

One last question if I may. Since we're talking about removing background noise from quiet sections, I need not worry about crossfading right? Crossfading only comes into play when I'm cutting and pasting in regions with some amplitude?

Thanks again,
Rusty K

yeah, check that automation enable window. Should be in the Windows pulldown



but no, you shouldn't worry about crossfading unless you have two regions butted up against eachother. It's only needed when you are trying to make the transition from one region to another very smooth.
 
bennychico11,

Thanks again for your help.

I got automation to work. In my automation drop down window there is a "mute" button and a "snd mute" button. It seems the "snd mute" is the one that works.

Again the manual is confusing here unless I read it wrong. It's different for HD vs. LE (I have the Mbox Mini). My drop down automation window doesn't look the same as the one pictured.

Rusty K
 
yeah, they give HD users extra options. The manual should denote when it's for HD users only.

so are you able to use the mute automation now? Snd mute is to automate your send's so that they mute...not the audio track.
 
I had thought of the "silence" method. I used to do that with Adobe Audition but honestly I don't know how to do that yet with PT. I'm anxious to learn though so if anyone would like to walk me through it I'll do it that way.

I have a couple of vox tracks in this session so cleaning it up by using "silence" would be the best way

Sorry to jump in on the discussion but I'm new to Pro Tools too and I'm wondering the exact same thing. When I wanted parts of a track silenced in Audition, it was a simple highlight and "silence" job. Is there such a simple method in Pro Tools?

At the moment I'm highlighting sections of tracks that I don't want, then using the gain to bring them right down, but there must be something that I'm missing? It also creats lots of separate regions doing things this way, which I don't particularly want! Any help would be appreciated!
 
Sorry to jump in on the discussion but I'm new to Pro Tools too and I'm wondering the exact same thing. When I wanted parts of a track silenced in Audition, it was a simple highlight and "silence" job. Is there such a simple method in Pro Tools?

At the moment I'm highlighting sections of tracks that I don't want, then using the gain to bring them right down, but there must be something that I'm missing? It also creats lots of separate regions doing things this way, which I don't particularly want! Any help would be appreciated!

again, the best way is to either highlight and delete them manually or use the strip silence feature. Then just consolidate the regions once you're done (or do that region grouping thing if you have the latest version of PT)
 
Thanks for your help/reply!... I guess there isn't something obvious I'm missing. I'm enjoying working with Pro Tools, I know it's going to take me a while to get some speed with it. It's just a bit frustrating when things seem so obvious and fast in other systems, but I'll work it all out eventually!..

Thanks again!
 
Rock God,

Take it from another newbie....PT is worth the effort. I've been using Adobe Audition for some time but PT is much more intuitive and therefore easier to use. I'm still making the trasition myself so I have a lot to learn but so far I'm very impressed.

Rusty K
 
Thanks Rusty K. I felt the same when I made the transition between a standalone hard disk recorder and Audition. Before long everything became familiar. I know it'll be the same now I'm working with Pro Tools
 
Back
Top