User`s guide

Pro Tools Reference Guide10
Elements of a Session
When you start a project in Pro Tools, you
create a session. Some basic elements of ses-
sions are explained in this section.
Session File
A session file is the document that Pro Tools
creates when you start a new project. The
session file contains maps of all elements
associated with a project, including audio
files, MIDI data, and all your edit and mix
information. You can make changes to a
session and save those changes in a new
session file. This allows you to create mul-
tiple versions of a project or back up your
editing and mixing work.
Audio File
When you record audio into a Pro Tools
session, audio files are created and stored in
a folder named “Audio Files.” Audio files
can appear in a session as regions, in a track
or in the Audio Regions List.
Region
A region is a piece of audio, MIDI, or auto-
mation data. An audio region could be a
guitar riff, a verse of a song, a sound effect,
a piece of dialog, or an entire sound file. In
Pro Tools, regions are created from audio
or MIDI files, and can be arranged in tracks.
Playlist
A playlist is a group of regions arranged on
an Audio or MIDI track. You can place mul-
tiple edit playlists on a single track. This al-
lows you to assemble different versions of a
track and choose among them with a pop-
up menu on the track.
On Audio tracks, a playlist tells the hard
disk which audio files to read in what or-
der. By using several copies of an audio re-
gion in a playlist, you can repeat a section
of a recording without using any addi-
tional disk space.
Pro Tools session file icon
Audio file icon
Audio region
Playlist selector pop-up menu