In this article Julian Rodgers offers solutions to 7 common issues in Pro Tools which less experienced users can find frustrating.

Any new DAW can be confusing but Pro Tools does seem to bewilder new users a little more than others. It’s the little things which tend to frustrate and we’ve seen all the pitfalls. Here are 7 to be aware of:

Where Have My Pro Tools Grid Lines Gone?

This is easy to miss. Look for the word “Grid” over the Nudge field in the toolbar at the top of the Edit window. It doesn’t look like it but that is a button. Click Grid and your lines will return. Change the setting next to Grid to change the Grid value (Snap setting in many other DAWs) and if you need to switch on Snap To Grid, click GRID at the top left of the Edit window. 

Why Doesn’t The Screen Follow The Playback Cursor In Pro Tools?

You need Scrolling Options. There’s no button for it in the UI so don’t look for one. Instead go to the Options Menu and you’ll find it there. Under Edit Window Scrolling there are 3 or 4 options depending on whether you have Pro Tools Ultimate. You probably want Page Scroll which moves the timeline along a screen at a time when the playback cursor reaches the right hand edge. Continuous scrolling where the playhead stays in the centre and the audio scrolls past it is available in Pro Tools Ultimate. All those screen re-draws can make it juddery when zoomed in so it’s not a popular choice. If you find you have a half screen of grey blank space on your timeline when you’re at the beginning of the track this is the scrolling mode you’re in. To get rid of it change to a different scrolling option.

Why Doesn’t It Play Back From Where I Clicked In Pro Tools?

Something less experienced users find confusing is the way playback behaviour can mysteriously change so that playback starts from an unexpected place on the timeline. This is because there are two kinds of selections in Pro Tools: Timeline and Edit. People almost always want playback to start from where they last clicked. If this isn’t happening it’s because your timeline and edit selections are unlinked. There is a button underneath the zoom tool. If you can’t find it hold Shift and press forward slash repeatedly to toggle this button, You’ll see which one it is. Unless there is a good reason, most users want that button to be on.

For a more thorough explanation of this and the next point on ‘Insertion Follows Playback” read this Pro Tools Fundamentals article which cover both of these.

Why Does My Selection Disappear When I Hit Stop In Pro Tools?

This happens when you have “Insertion Follows Playback” switched on. The Insertion Point is that flashing line you see when you click on a track in the timeline. This setting tells Pro Tools whether or not you want that insertion point to move to where you got to when you stopped playback. Either start from the same place every time or updating like you were playing off a tape. Because an edit  selection is a “stretched out” insertion point it updates to a new insertion point at the point you got to when you hit stop.

To switch the setting on and off click the button under the Trim and Select tools. If you can’t see it hold Control on a Mac or Start on a PC and press N to toggle it. If you’ve lost your edit selection because of this you can’t restore it using a standard undo command but if you hit CMD+Shift+Z (Control+Shift+Z) on a PC you can get it back!

Why Doesn’t My MIDI Keyboard Trigger My Virtual Instruments Pro Tools?

Whether you’re using an external MIDI controller or the new onscreen MIDI keyboard which allows you to use the qwerty keyboard to trigger instruments unless you have set up your MIDI preferences you ‘ll find you have to record enable the instrument track you want to trigger to be able to play the instrument. If you want to avoid having to do this you should go the the MIDI Preferences and either set up a default MIDI thru, which can be useful but more likely you’ll want to set it to “First Selected MIDI Track”. With this set up whichever track you have selected will play back from your controller unless you have record enabled a different track. In this case MIDI track refers to MIDI or Instrument tracks.

Why Can I Only Have One Plugin Window Open At A Time In Pro Tools?

By default if you have a plugin window open and you click on another window, the previous window will close. This is useful for keeping screen clutter down but if you want two windows open just Shift-click when opening the second (or third, or fourth) and you can display as many as you like. 

What you’re doing by Shift-clicking to open a plugin window is you are opening it “untargeted”. At the top right of a plugin window (or a floating fader window like you have for sends) there is a red button. This is the Target button (it used to be round and looked like an archery target - hence the name). If this button is red then it is targeted and amongst other things, will be closed when another plugin window is opened. If you click on that target button it will remain open even if you didn’t Shift-click to open it.

Pro Tools Shortcuts Like R and T For Zoom Aren’t Working For Me

You’ve see that people use single key shortcuts like R and T for Zoom and B for Separate but they don’t work on your system? It sounds like you don’t have your Keyboard Focus set to Command Focus. Up in the top right of the Edit window there is a little square which has “a z” in it. If it is grey you need to click it and your Command Focus shortcuts will work. Keyboard focus can be set to do things like toggle Groups and if you want to use Command Focus shortcuts while keyboard focus is set to something else just add Control (Start on a PC) to the shortcut you want, for example Ctrl+A to trim a clip in point to the insertion point.

Do you have any Pro Tools pitfalls you’d like to share?