Create & Export Samples in Pro Tools
VO: Creating samples for your own productions or for commercial libraries is very useful, but can also be a laborious process. This video will show you a workflow in Pro Tools that is both quick and effective. To simplify the demonstration I’ll be using only a short drum loop in this example, but the process can be applied to most scenarios.
In this video I will show you how to: manually cut up samples, and how to apply the same functionality using Beatdetective .
How to batch apply fades to multiple clips.
How to convert multiple edited clips into new original files.
How to batch export multiple clips without using a bounce functionality.
Manually
The easiest way of cutting samples is to use the Tab to transient functionality and keyboard short cuts. Ensure that Tab is on and that Pro Tools is in Keyboard command focus mode.
Move the cursor to the beginning of the clips and use the apostropy sign to move forwards and the letter L to move backwards, alternatively you can use Tab forwards, and Alt Tab backwards.
Once the cursor is at the beginning of the transient, use the letter B to cut the clip at that point. Rinse and repeat.
Using Beatdetective
This tutorial will not cover beatdetective in depth, however, here are the basic steps for cutting samples.
Open Beatdetective using command 8, or from Event menu, select Beat detective . Set it to Clip Separation. Select the clip and press Capture selection followed by the analyse button. Use the sensitivity slider to find the correct transients. Then click the Separate button.
Batch Fade
Batch fading samples is not a bullet proof method to achive a good result, but it is quick. Please see the “Creating fades on complex samples” tutorial for when batch fading does not yield the required result.
Select all the clips and press Command F. As we don’t want to apply crossfades, uncheck the Create new crossfades box.
The default 10ms is proabably too long for what we want to achieve, so change this to 2ms and then press OK.
Select a newly applied fade point and press E to ensure the fades look ok. You should also have a quick listen to the individual clip to make sure the start and end sounds OK.
Creating new files
As all editing in Pro Tools is non-destructive we need to commit the fades to the clip before we can export them. Open the gain plugin from the Audio Suite menu. Select all the samples and set the following in the plugin. Create Individual Files, & Entire selection, then press Render. The files are now ready to be exported.
There is not enough scope in this tutorial to cover Normalisation when working with samples. However I might create a separate video covering this subject as this subject is slightly more complex than what it seems at first glance.
Exporting samples
To export the samples as individual clips, select all the samples and press Command Shift K. Set the desired formats and destination and press Export.