Pro Tools Basic editing modes & tools
VO: Pro Tools main tools & edit modes.
In Pro Tools navigation is mainly done using keyboard shortcuts, however for editing you’ll be using the Trim, Selector and Grabber tool mostly. While there are many more tools for editing midi and audio, and countless shortcuts, these are the main ones.
It is useful to know that they can be combined into a super tool known as the Smart Tools, by clicking on the frame above them. More about that later on.
As the names depicts, the trimmer tool allows you to alter the length of the clip, the Selector tool, selects and the Grabber tool let’s you drag a clip to a different position.
The edit modes; slip & grid, sets how you can edit the clips in the timeline. In Slip mode you can edit the clip freely, and in Grid mode the editing is depended on the denomination set here.
You can also temporarily use the Slip mode by holding down the Command key, while in Grid mode...
When using the Smart Tool, all the devices are combined, and how you select them depends on where on the clip you’re hovering.
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At the bottom of the clip, you’ll see the Grabber tool.
At the top of the clip, the Selector tool becomes active and moving to each of the borders of the clip will engage the Trim tool.
In addition, when working with the Smart Tool you can also quickly add fades to the clip by moving the pointer to the part of the borders, like this.
Hold down the Command key to adjust the fade freely in time.