ProTools makes excellent use of the Control, Option & Command keys to modify the behavior of things while editing. Understanding what they do while in the arrange window will help speed up your work.
Control Key
The Control key snaps the beginning of a selected clip to the cursor location. This can be useful in two ways:
- Quickly move a clip to a specific location. Set the curser at the desired location, the hold down Control and click on the region you want to move & it will snap to the location of your cursor.
- Prevent a clip from accidentally sliding out of its position when moving it up or down to a different track. Simply highlight the clip, click Control and drag the clip up or down to the desired track. You’ll notice the clip won’t move sideways because it’s locked to your cursor position, which is the beginning of the highlighted selection.
Command Key
The Command key simply modifies the above Control key behavior so that things line up to the end of a clip or selection instead of the beginning.
Try the above two examples, but this time use Control + Command.
Option Key
The Option key copies clips.
Need to copy a clip to another track or location on the same track? Hold down Option and simply drag the clip to the desired location.
Want to copy a clip to the location of your cursor? Add the Control key: Hold down Control + Option and click on the desired clip. A copy of the clip will snap to the location of your cursor.
Want to make a copy of a clip that ends at the location of your cursor? Add the Command key: Hold down Control + Option + Command and click on the desired clip. A copy of the clip will appear ending at the location of your cursor. You can use this trick to copy loops backwards – click here for my quick tip about looping backwards.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, or add a comment.