Specifications
Glossary 621
post-roll Adjustable time for playback to con-
tinue beyond the current playback or recording
of a selection.
PRE Digidesign’s remote controllable 8-channel
microphone preamp. Features eight discrete,
matched transistor hybrid mic-preamp circuits
and offers a pristine signal path designed specif-
ically for the Pro Tools environment, but can
also be utilized as a stand-alone microphone
preamp.
preamp In recording studio terminology, a cir-
cuit designed to boost relatively low signal lev-
els, such as a microphone output, up to stan-
dard line levels of –10 dBV or +4 dBu. Digi 002
and Digi 002 Rack are equipped with four mi-
crophone preamps. Digi 001 and Mbox are
equipped with two microphone preamps. See
also PRE.
pre-fader Output from a track (typically a send)
that is independent of the channel’s fader set-
ting.
pre-roll Adjustable time that precedes the play-
back or recording of a selection.
ProControl Digidesign-dedicated controller that
communicates with Pro Tools by means of eth-
ernet. Features include touch-sensitive, motor-
ized faders, and a dedicated effects editing sec-
tion.
Pull Up/Pull Down Refers to the deliberate “mis-
calibration” of the audio or video sample rate
clock (the audio pitch) in order to compensate
for a speed change elsewhere in the production
chain. The usual situation in which these rates
are encountered is when film footage (at 24 fps)
is transferred to color NTSC-standard video tape
(at 29.97 fps). Video Pull Up/Pull Down is sup-
ported in Pro Tools 5.3.1 and higher.
quantize To adjust MIDI note locations or dura-
tions to the nearest unit or template structure so
that a particular rhythmic “feel” is achieved.
QuickTime Apple’s system extension for control
of time-based events, such as digitized video
movies and digitized sound.
RealAudio Audio compression scheme designed
for streaming over the internet.
record Element of a database. A database is a col-
lection of records. Each record represents a par-
ticular file (such as a media file or session file).
The record contains all of the metadata describ-
ing that file, but none of the media. Therefore a
record is much smaller than the actual file, and
much easier to parse for information.
region Within Pro Tools, a “pointer” to a partic-
ular track selection or file. Regions can be
dragged from the Regions List, or a DigiBase
browser, to a track.
Relative Grid mode An editing mode that con-
strains movement and alignment of regions to
precise increments on a user-defined grid while
allowing the region to maintain an offset rela-
tive to that grid point. See also Absolute Grid
mode.
resolving The process of synchronizing multiple
devices to a common clock reference.
RTAS (Real-Time Audio Suite) plug-ins Digide-
sign’s host-based, real-time effects plug-in for-
mat.
sample rate One of two main specifications that
describe digital audio quality (the other is bit
rate resolution). Sample rate refers to how fre-
quently incoming audio is sampled per second
during conversion from an analog to a digital
signal.