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Pro Tools Tutorial - Timeline Selection Tips

When you work in Pro Tools, you're constantly going to be making selections of various elements in the session. It might be to select a few MIDI notes to quantize, or to select a drum groove to loop, or determine a recording range. Whatever the case may be - making selections is something that happens non-stop during your sessions. So in this Pro Tools tutorial article, you're going to learn about selection types (there's two of them) and a few tips on how to use them.

Timeline Selections and Edit Selections

When you make a selection in Pro Tools, it will either be an Edit selection, or a Timeline selection.

A Timeline selection enables you to determine a selection for playback or recording. Timeline selections are often made inside the timebase rulers.

An Edit selection enables you to determine what part of a track playlist, whether it's audio or MIDI, that you'd like to edit. Edit selections are made across regions in a playlist. Not along the rulers. (At least, not always...more on that in a moment).

Linking the Timeline and Edit Selection

For many new Pro Tools users, the fact that there are two different types of selections comes as a bit of a surprise because, by default - Pro Tools links both of them together using an optional setting called Link Timeline and Edit Selection.

By linking the two types of selections it's really as though they're on and the same. Making a timeline selection smultaneously creates and edit selection, and the other way around.

In my experience linking the Timeline and Edit Selection does make good sense and seems to be a more intuitive way to do things. So in the Pro Tools tutorials I provide to new users, I generally recommend keeping the Link Timeline and Edit Selection option enabled.

Eventually, you'll encounter an editing or recording scenario and all of a sudden you'll realize that unlinking the Timeline and Edit Selections will do the trick. But for now, I'd keep them linked until that happens.

Using the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option

Note - You'll want to be able to unlink and re-link the selections throughout this tutorial so you can see for yourself how the timeline selections work. Start with them linked and playback your selections. Then unlink them, and do play it back again.

You can activate and deactivate the Link option using these three methods:

1. Press the button directly below the Grabber Tool icon.When the button is grey, linking is disabled.
2. Press Shift+Forward Slash to toggle Link Timeline and Edit Selection on and off.
3. In the Options menu, select or deselect Link Timeline and Edit Selection

Making Selections in the Timeline

Here's three different techniques for making Timeline selections.

1. Click-dragging the Selector Tool over and across the Timebase rulers
2. Putting in a numeric Timeline selection in the Transport window
3. Using the blue up and down arrow markers (timeline selection markers) in the rulers

1. Dragging the Selector across the timebase rulers

First, notice that regardless of which tool you currently have selected, hovering over the rulers it will automatically become the Selector tool.

When the Selector tool icon appears all you have to do is click and drag it over the rulers to define your timeline selection. The Timeline selection indicator in the Transport window automatically update as you make your selection.

Note If you have the Timeline and Edit Selection linked, your timeline selection also becomes and edit selection. Play back the selection with Edit and Timeline Selections linked and then again, unlinked to see the difference.

2. Putting in a numeric Timeline selection in the Transport window

You can also create a Timeline selection by inputting your Start and End, or Length values into the timeline selection fields in the Transport Window.

Begin by clicking in the Start field and entering in your Start time numerically.
With the Start field highlighted you can also adjust the value using the Up and Down arrows on your keyboard.
You can also step between values in a row using the Left and Right arrows on your keyboard.

Press Enter or Return on your keyboard to confirm the Start time of your selection when you're done.

Now you should add either the End point of the selection. Or the Selection Length.

The steps are identical to inputting the Start time. Just click to select (either the End or the Length field, whichever you prefer), enter the numeric value and then press Return or Enter on your keyboard to finalize your selection. Once you do all three fields - Start , End and Length will display the values for the current timeline selection.

3. Using the blue up and down arrow markers (timeline selection markers) in the rulers

In the rulers you'll see two blue arrow markers. One pointing down and the other pointing up. These are the Timeline Selection markers and you can drag them left and right within the ruler to adjust the selection.

Click and drag the arrows along the ruler to make your timeline selection. Drag the Up arrow to adjust the End time and the Down arrow to adjust the Start time.

That's all there is to it!.

About the Author

Chris Bryant is a music producer, pro audio consultant, and educator in Vancouver, Canada.

Learn Pro Tools online at www.pttuts.com - a complete online training library of clear and detailed Pro Tools Video Tutorials and more.

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