Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide276
Absolute and Relative Grid Mode
Grid mode can be applied in Absolute or Rela-
tive mode.
◆ In Absolute Grid mode, moving any region
snaps the region start to Grid boundaries. If a re-
gion’s start point falls between beats, and the
Grid is set to 1/4 notes, dragging the region will
snap its start time to the nearest 1/4 note (the
current absolute Grid value).
◆ In Relative Grid mode, regions can be moved
by Grid (or Nudge) units. If a region’s start point
falls between beats and the Grid is set to 1/4
notes, dragging the region will be constrained to
1/4 notes, preserving the region’s relative posi-
tion to the nearest beat.
To select Absolute or Relative Grid mode:
■ Click the Grid mode selector and choose Ab-
solute or Relative.
To place or move a region while in Grid mode:
1 Configure the Grid value. For details, see “De-
fining the Grid Value” on page 275.
2 Drag a region from the Regions List to an ex-
isting track.
– or –
With the Grabber, drag a region already in a
track to a new location.
The region’s start point snaps to the closest Grid
boundary. If the region has a sync point de-
fined, the sync point snaps to the Grid bound-
ary.
Nudging
Pro Tools can nudge regions (or MIDI notes) by
precise increments with the Plus (–) and Minus
(+) keys on the numeric keypad. The amount of
the nudge is determined by the value specified
in the Nudge pop-up menu. The Nudge func-
tion can be used in any of the Edit modes.
Nudging can be invaluable for adjusting the
“groove” of a musical phrase or a sound effect
relative to other elements in the session. Since
Pro Tools can nudge material during playback,
you can nudge continuously in real time to ad-
just the timing relationship between tracks.
Nudge can also be used to adjust the placement
of automation breakpoints. For more informa-
tion, see “Editing Automation” on page 467.
Defining the Nudge Value
The Nudge value determines how far regions
and selections are moved when nudging.
Start and end points for selections can also be
moved by the Nudge value (see “Nudging Selec-
tion Start/End Points” on page 250). In addi-
tion, regions can be trimmed by the Nudge
value (see “Trimming with Nudge” on
page 271).
To set the Nudge value:
1 From the Display menu, select the Time Scale
you will use for the Nudge value.
– or –
To keep the Main Time Scale and use a different
time format for the Nudge value, deselect Fol-
low Main Timebase in the Nudge pop-up menu
in the Edit window.
To temporarily suspend Grid mode and
switch to Slip mode while dragging a region,
hold down the Control key (Windows) or
Command key (Macintosh).