Specifications

Chapter 3: Pro Tools Concepts 17
Active and Inactive Items
Pro Tools lets you set certain items (such as
tracks and inserts) as inactive, in order to free up
DSP resources and mixer connections.
Items in Pro Tools that can be made inactive (or
active) include the following:
• Audio tracks, Auxiliary Inputs, and Master
Faders
•Track Inputs and Outputs
• Sends
• Side-chain inputs
• Plug-ins
• Hardware inserts
• Paths (session-wide)
In addition to manually setting Active and Inac-
tive modes, Pro Tools will automatically make
items inactive if there are insufficient or un-
available resources.
When active, items are fully engaged and opera-
tional.
When inactive, items are silent and off, although
most associated controls can still be adjusted.
Different inactive items affect available system
resources in specific ways, as follows:
Plug-Ins When a plug-in is inactive on a track, its
DSP is made available for other plug-ins and
processing. Plug-in assignments can be made in-
active manually, or automatically (see “Auto-
matic and Manual Inactive Mode” on page 18).
Paths and Path Assignments When a path or
path assignment is inactive, its mixer resources
are made available for other signal routing pur-
poses in the session. Paths and assignments can
be made inactive manually, or automatically
(see “Automatic and Manual Inactive Mode” on
page 18).
Tracks For TDM systems (Pro Tools 5.1 and
higher) and LE systems (Pro Tools 6.x), when a
track is made inactive, its voices become avail-
able for another track. Mono inactive tracks free
up one voice, and stereo and multichannel
tracks free up one voice per channel. Addition-
ally, when an audio track, Auxiliary Input, or
Master Fader is made inactive, its plug-ins, in-
serts, sends, and I/O assignments become inac-
tive, and the associated DSP used is freed up for
use elsewhere in the session.
MIDI tracks cannot be made inactive.