Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide114
Importing Audio from an
Audio CD
(Macintosh Only)
Pro Tools lets you import tracks from an audio
CD using the DigiBase drag and drop feature or
the Import Audio From Other Movie command.
Since the transfer is made in the digital domain,
there is no signal loss.
The sample rate for audio CDs is 44.1 kHz.
Therefore, if your session’s sample rate is set to
48 kHz or higher, Pro Tools will convert the
sample rate for the imported audio. Before im-
porting CD audio, set the Conversion Quality
Preference accordingly. See “Conversion Qual-
ity” on page 111 for details.
Before importing CD audio, make sure your
hard drive has enough space for both the im-
ported movie file and the converted audio files.
To import a CD audio track:
1 Insert the audio CD into your CD-ROM drive.
2 Select the audio track in a DigiBase browser.
3 Drag the file onto the Audio Regions List of
the current session.
Pro Tools converts the CD audio track to the ses-
sion’s audio file format, bit depth, and sample
rate, and saves it on your hard drive.
The imported audio file appears in the Audio Re-
gions List. From there you can drag the region to
a track in your session.
Importing Tracks and Track
Attributes
You can import entire tracks from other
Pro Tools sessions into the current Pro Tools ses-
sion using the Import Session Data command.
On TDM systems, you can choose which at-
tributes of those tracks you want to import.
For example, on TDM systems, you can choose
to import only the track’s audio into your cur-
rent Pro Tools mixer. This is analogous to
“changing the tape reel” in a traditional studio
setup with a tape machine and mixing console.
Or, you can choose to import all of a track’s
mixer settings without its audio, effectively im-
porting a channel strip and using it on a track in
your current session. By importing mixer set-
tings for all of the tracks in a session or session
template, you can reuse an entire Pro Tools
mixer on all the sessions in a project.
To import tracks or their attributes:
1 Open or create a new session.
2 Choose File > Import Session Data, select the
session to import data from, and click Open.
– or –
Drag the session file whose tracks or attributes
you want to import from a DigiBase browser
into the track playlist area in the current ses-
sion’s Edit window.
3 If the Fader Gain of the sessions are different,
you will be prompted to keep or change Fader
Gain before the Session Data dialog opens.
DigiBase offers additional ways to import
audio from CDs with drag and drop. See
“Importing Audio Files with Drag & Drop
from a DigiBase Browser” on page 113.
For details on using DigiBase to import
tracks, refer to the DigiBase Guide.