Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide202
•Toggle Pro Tools audio tracks between input
and disk monitoring. Track input switching
can be controlled remotely by supported syn-
chronizers to fully emulate PEC/direct switch-
ing (requires Digidesign MachineControl).
• Use TrackPunch when Pro Tools is the time
code master (generating) and when slaving.
• Use Pro Tools file management features to
consolidate and “clean up” sessions in a frac-
tion of the time required by tape-based dub-
bers.
• Because Pro Tools can be networked, Track-
Punch (and all other) audio files and whole
sessions can be available for secure transfer to
other systems for review, editing, and ar-
chiving.
A typical pre-dub session using TrackPunch
includes the following steps:
1 Configure synchronization between Pro Tools
and other devices as appropriate.
2 Choose Setups > Preferences, and click to
show the Operations pane, then do the follow-
ing:
• Check (enable) the preference Transport
RecordLock. This will keep the Transport
Record armed after the transport stops.
• Deselect the preference Audio Track Re-
cordLock. This will cause the audio track
record to disarm when the transport stops.
3 Choose Operations > TrackPunch to enable
TrackPunch mode.
4 Create 32 new tracks, then do the following:
• Assign their inputs
• Group them into eight-track groups.
5 Click the record enable buttons in the first
eight tracks to TrackPunch enable the first eight
tracks (or, the group for the first pre-dub).
6 Assign the console PEC/direct paddles to the
first eight-track group in the session.
7 Begin the pre-dub pass. Use the console pad-
dles to arm Pro Tools, and to punch in and out
on the first group.
8 When the first pre-dub is over and all tracks
are punched out, clear all TrackPunch enabled
tracks.
9 Select the next group of tracks and Track-
Punch-enable them.
10 Punch in and out on the second group of
tracks.
11 Repeat as needed.
Loading Dailies with RecordLock
In addition to its uses on dub and mix stages,
Pro Tools with TrackPunch makes it easy to load
dailies. Dailies and similar types of transfers are
comprised of multiple takes or scenes, each re-
corded while locked to unique time-of-day time
code. In between each take, time code does not
continue but stops completely. Because of this,
the time code on dailies and similar source ma-
terial is said to be “discontiguous” or discontin-
uous (also known as broken time code).
When a session is taken offline while recording
due to broken time code, Pro Tools remains
armed and waits for time code to resume.
Pro Tools begins recording again when lock is
re-established with the time code of the next
take. Each take is recorded to its own audio file.
Use the Groups list to quickly select all
tracks in the group, and Alt-Shift-click
(Windows) or Opt-Shift-click (Macintosh)
to record-enable all the tracks in the group.