1. How do I make my Protools session as small as possible before I send it?

 

Depending on how elaborate and extensive your production is there may be a large number of tracks, referencing hundreds or thousands of audio files. Many of the files in your audio file folder may be unused takes or fragments of takes that the session doesn’t need. The following procedure will remove the files from the “Clips” or “Regions” bin, but will not remove the audio files from the sessions audio file folder.

This video covers all of the information for FAQ 1 & 2.  It demonstrates how to make your Protools session as streamline as possible and assure that all of the files are included in your upload.

1.     In the File pull-down at the top of the screen perform a “save as” and modify the name of your session.

2.     In the tracks window on the left side of the edit window, select the pull-down option “show only inactive tracks”.

3.     Select all inactive tracks that will not be needed in the mix and delete using the “delete” option in the “tracks” pull-down menu at the top of the screen. This does not delete them from your hard drive.  It only deletes these tracks from this session.

4.     In the tracks window select the pull down to “show all tracks”.  On any audio track in the edit window, click on the pull-down arrow to the right of the track name and select “delete unused…”.  A list of playlists will appear.

5.     Select the playlists that will not be needed in the mix and delete.

6.     In the Clips bin (or Regions bin for older versions of Pro tools) on the right of the edit window, select the downward arrow to open the Clips menu.

7.     Highlight “Select” and then click on “Unused.”  This will highlight all the clips that are in your session, but are not being used.  These clips are not needed for the mix, so it’s ok to exclude them.

8.     Open the Clips menu again, and click on “Clear…”

9.    In the window that opens, click on “Remove.”  (Do not click on Delete, because that will permanently delete these files from your hard drive).

       10. Perform the steps in the next section “How can I make sure there are no missing audio files...."