Editing Clip Gain

Pro Tools lets you adjust the gain settings for a clip using the Clip Gain Fader for quick and easy adjustments, or using breakpoint editing on the Clip Gain Line for detailed clip gain control.

If a clip is Edit-locked and you attempt to edit clip gain, you are prompted to Cancel or Allow the edit.

Simple Clip Gain Adjustment

You can adjust clip gain using the Clip Gain Fader icon for quick and easy clip gain adjustments.

To boost or attenuate the current clip gain settings for a single clip:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Info option is enabled.

2 Click the Clip Gain Fader icon on the clip and drag the Clip Gain fader up or down to boost or attenuate the clip gain settings for the clip.

 

Clip Gain fader, adjusting static clip gain value

 

Clip Gain fader, adjusting all breakpoint clip gain values

Press Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) while adjusting the Clip Gain fader for fine control.

Graphically Editing Clip Gain

You can graphically edit clip gain using breakpoints on the Clip Gain Line for individual clips. When you drag a clip gain breakpoint up or down, the change in the gain setting value is numerically indicated. Dragging a clip gain breakpoint to the left or right adjusts its timing.

Using the Grabber Tool

Using the Grabber tool, you can add, adjust, and delete individual clip gain breakpoint settings.

To add a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled.

2 Select the Grabber tool.

3 Click at any point on the Clip Gain Line for the clip to add a breakpoint. The Grabber points and displays a Plus sign (“+”).

 

Adding a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool

Press Control+Shift+E (Mac) or Start+Shift+E (Windows) to add a Clip Gain breakpoint at the current Edit location.

To adjust a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled.

2 Select the Grabber tool.

3 Click any breakpoint on the Clip Gain Line and move it up or down to adjust the gain, or left to right to adjust the timing. The gain setting is displayed in dB over the selected breakpoint.

 

Adjusting a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool

To delete a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled.

2 Select the Grabber tool.

3 Option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) the breakpoint you want to delete. The Grabber points and displays a Minus sign (“–”).

 

Deleting a clip gain breakpoint with the Grabber tool

Using the Pencil Tool

The Pencil tool lets you create new breakpoints by clicking once on the graph line. Pro Tools lets you use the Free Hand, Line, Triangle, Square, and Random Pencil Tool shapes for drawing clip gain. The Parabolic and S-Curve Pencil Tool shapes are not available for editing clip gain.

 

Using the Pencil tool (Free Hand) to draw clip gain settings

When drawing clip gain settings with the Pencil tool, its effect is bounded by the Edit selection if the pencil gesture crosses into the selection. However, if the pencil gesture is entirely outside of a selection, it creates clip gain breakpoints outside of the selection.

 

Using the Pencil tool (Free Hand) to draw clip gain settings bound by the Edit selection

To add clip gain breakpoints with the Pencil tool:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled.

2 Select the Pencil tool.

3 Do one of the following:

Click once on the Clip Gain Line to add a single breakpoint.

– or – 

Drag on the Clip Gain Line to draw breakpoints.

To delete a clip gain breakpoint with the Pencil tool:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled.

2 Select the Pencil tool.

3 Option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) the breakpoint you want to delete.

Using the Trim Tools

The Trim tools let you adjust all selected breakpoints up or down by dragging anywhere within that selection. Unlike track-based Volume automation, which scales when trimming, clip gain provides true trimming (where clip gain settings maintain their fixed relations to one another when trimming).

 

Using the Trim tool to boost or attenuate clip gain breakpoints

To trim the selected clip gain settings up or down:

1 Ensure that the Clip Gain Line option is enabled.

2 Make an Edit selection that includes the clip gain settings that you want to adjust.

3 Select the Trim tool.

4 Drag up or down over the Clip Gain Line within the Edit selection.

Nudging Clip Gain

Pro Tools lets you nudge the selected clip gain settings up or down by the Nudge Clip Gain By amount specified in the Pro Tools Editing Preferences. You can also nudge the selected clip gain settings back or forward in the clip by the specified nudge amount.

You can also nudge Clip Gain up or down with EUCON. See the Artist Series and Pro Tools guide for more info.

To set the Nudge Clip Gain By amount:

1 Choose Setup > Preferences.

2 Click the Editing tab.

3 Enter a value for the Nudge Clip Gain By setting.

4 Click OK.

To nudge the selected clip gain up:

Press Control+Shift+Up Arrow (Mac) or Start+Shift+Up Arrow (Windows).

To nudge the selected clip gain down:

Press Control+Shift+Down Arrow (Mac) or Start+Shift+Down Arrow (Windows).

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use the scroll wheel to nudge the selected clip gain settings up or down. Press Control+Shift (Mac) or Start+Shift (Windows) and scroll the scroll wheel up or down.

To nudge the selected clip gain back, do one of the following:

Press Control+Shift+“–” (Minus) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“–” (Minus) (Windows).

Press Control+Shift+M (Mac) or Start+Shift+M (Windows).

Press Control+Shift+“,” (Comma) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“,” (Comma) (Windows).

To nudge the selected clip gain forward, do one of the following:

Press Control+Shift+“+” (Plus) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“+” (Plus) (Windows).

Press Control+Shift+“.” (Period) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“.” (Period) (Windows).

Press Control+Shift+“/” (Slash) (Mac) or Start+Shift+“/” (Slash) (Windows).

Clearing Clip Gain

Pro Tools lets you clear the clip gain settings for the current Edit selection. This resets the clip gain for the selection to 0 dB. For clips only partially included in the Edit selection, only the clip gain settings within the Edit selection are affected.

To clear clip gain, do one of the following:

Right-click a clip or Edit selection and choose Clip Gain > Clear Clip Gain.

Right-click the Clip Gain Fader icon for a single clip and choose Clear Clip Gain.

Select a clip or make an Edit selection and choose Edit > Clip Special > Clear Clip Gain.

Select a clip or make an Edit selection and press Control+Shift+B (Mac) or Start+Shift+B (Windows).

Press Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) and click Clip Gain Fader icon for a single clip.

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Clip Gain

Pro Tools lets you cut, copy, and paste clip gain settings, so that you can apply the clip gain settings from one clip to any other. Clip gain settings cannot be cut, copied, or pasted across clip boundaries.

To cut clip gain settings:

1 Select a single whole clip or make an Edit selection within a single whole clip.

2 Do one of the following:

Choose Edit > Cut Special > Cut Clip Gain.

– or – 

Press Control+Shift+X (Mac) or Start+Shift+X (Windows).

The selected clip gain settings are cut and copied to the clipboard. Clip gain breakpoints on the clipboard are time-stamped with the playback times in the timebase of the track being copied (which means you can cut and paste clip gain settings from clips on tick-based tracks and have the pasted clip gain settings match the corresponding bar:beat locations of clips on other tick-based tracks).

You can cut clip gain settings from any Edit selection. However, if you want to cut and paste clip gain settings, you can only paste the clip gain settings cut from a single clip.

To copy clip gain settings:

1 Select a single whole clip or make an Edit selection within a single whole clip.

2 Do one of the following:

Choose Edit > Copy Special > Copy Clip Gain.

Press Control+Shift+C (Mac) or Start+Shift+C (Windows).

Right-click any single whole clip selection and choose Clip Gain > Copy Clip Gain.

The selected clip gain settings are copied to the clipboard. Clip gain breakpoints on the clipboard are time-stamped with the playback times in the timebase of the track being copied (which means you can copy and paste clip gain settings from clips on tick-based tracks and have the pasted clip gain settings match the corresponding bar:beat locations of clips on other tick-based tracks).

To paste clip gain settings:

1 Cut or Copy the clip gain settings you want.

2 Do one of the following:

Select another clip.

Make an Edit selection within a single whole clip.

Place the Edit In Point where you want the cut or copied clip gain settings to be pasted.

3 Do one of the following:

Choose Edit > Paste Clip Gain.

– or – 

Press Command+V (Mac) or Control+V (Windows).

The clip gain settings on the clipboard are pasted into the clip starting at the Edit In Point. The clip gain settings are pasted in their entirety, but only apply to a single clip. If the pasted clip gain settings extend beyond the end of the clip, they are all still associated with the clip. This means that if you trim out the clip later, the pasted clip gain is revealed. When pasting clip gain within a clip (rather than to a single whole clip of the same duration), breakpoints are added before and after the pasted data so that any clip gain settings outside the paste do not change.