You can now have multiple Marker Rulers in Pro Tools. For example, you can use one to identify different song sections, and another for comments.
The new Markers and Memory Locations system makes session navigation easier than ever.
Pro Tools is a very mature product, and unlike some other DAWs it is very careful to maintain backwards compatibility, but sometimes that means it can lag behind its competitors when it comes to new features. That said, I’ve always been of the opinion that, while Avid aren’t always first, when they introduce new features they usually do a very thorough job.
One of the areas which has seen the most progress in the last 12 months is the system of Markers. Pro Tools 2023.6 introduced Track Markers, which I covered in this column in SOS August 2023. These are very useful, and the implementation is well thought through, but the marker‑related feature I have been wanting for years is additional Marker Rulers. That is exactly what was delivered in Pro Tools 2023.12, addressing a longstanding workflow issue for me: the inability to keep markers created for different purposes separate from each other.
From quickly showing and hiding groups of tracks through to saving edit selections and recalling Window Configurations, Memory Locations are very powerful.
Markers and Memory Locations are central to managing and navigating a Pro Tools session. From quickly showing and hiding groups of tracks through to saving edit selections and recalling Window Configurations, Memory Locations are very powerful. But navigating sections of a song is probably the most popular use for Memory Locations, and before the introduction of Track Markers I, like many people, used to resort to creating a track at the top of my session specifically to populate with empty Clip Groups which I could navigate through using the Tab key, as a way of getting Marker‑like functionality.
Ruler Them All
But the Marker Ruler is the most appropriate place for marking points on the timeline, and being restricted to only one ruler could be frustrating. For example, in a typical session I’ll mark out sections of a song and use the ‘period‑number‑period’ shortcut on the number pad to jump from Marker to Marker. However, I’ll also drop markers on the fly during playback to make notes of sections which need attention, for example minor mistakes that might need fixing. Already I’ll have two categories of Markers inhabiting the same ruler. The most obvious solution is to offer additional Marker Rulers, and that is what we finally have in Pro Tools 2023.12.
Up to five independent Marker Rulers can be displayed, and they can be renamed from their default Markers 1‑5 to something more indicative of their content, for example ‘Structure’ and ‘Comments’. Markers created using the Enter button can be directed to the desired ruler using the target button on each Marker Ruler. A handy tip here for users of Apple laptops is to use the Fn button to temporarily convert the Return key to an Enter key so that, instead of returning the playback cursor to the beginning of the session, hitting it creates a Marker on the fly. Clicking in a Ruler automatically targets it, and all subsequently created Markers will populate that ruler until a different one is targeted.
Some of the most immediate workflow benefits of these new Marker facilities are exploited by a couple of new shortcuts that have been introduced. You have always been able to navigate Markers either by clicking on them in the Markers window or by recalling them from the number pad using the aforementioned period‑number‑period shortcut. If you spend a lot of time in the Markers window you can navigate the list using the up and down arrows (very useful when used in combination with the new filtering options, which I’ll get to later). But the really useful new shortcuts that changed my Markers habits immediately were Go To Next/Previous, and the unexpectedly useful Refresh Current Memory Location. I’ll explain...
Shortcuts
First, the Previous/Next shortcuts. If you don’t use an extended keyboard with Pro Tools, all I’ll say is you’re missing out and slowing yourself down — get one! Using period+plus on the number pad you can advance to the next Memory Location, and using period+minus on the number pad you can go to the previous one. You might notice I said Memory Location, not Marker. The operation of this new shortcut might be confusing if you don’t open the Memory Locations window first (Command+Num 5, or Control+Num 5 on a PC). What these shortcuts do is step through the Memory Locations displayed in the Memory Locations window.
The thing to look at to clarify what is going on is the new column on the left of the Memory Locations window. It has no icon or text in the column header, and usually displays a single white square next to one of the Memory Locations. This is the Current Memory Location. It indicates the most recently used location, and the previous and next shortcuts move this up and down the list. By invoking this shortcut you enter Navigation Mode. Repeatedly pressing plus or minus will advance the current Memory Location up or down the list. Press any other key to exit Navigation Mode.
The most immediately useful new shortcut to me has been double‑pressing period to Refresh Current Memory Location. When the Current Memory Location is a Marker, the playback cursor will return to the most recently used Marker location. This is particularly useful for restarting playback from the beginning of a section, especially when Insertion Follows Playback is selected, meaning that playback starts from the point at which it was stopped, like a tape machine, rather than the alternative of starting from the same point every time. Double‑tapping period to restart from the last used Marker is already indispensable to me.
Filtering
The significance of exactly which Memory Locations are displayed in the Memory Locations window and how that affects the results of using the next/previous shortcuts in Navigation Mode brings us neatly to the subject of filtering. In previous versions of Pro Tools there were filtering options, but they were essentially ways of hiding Memory Locations with particular attributes. For example, it was possible to filter out any of the properties like Zoom settings, Selection or Track Visibility by clicking on the header of the relevant columns. They worked a little like mutes, in that they made Memory Locations with those properties go away, as a mute button does for audio. The new filtering system in the updated Memory Locations window works more like a solo button, in that it hides everything apart from the property you have filtered for. The effect is cumulative, allowing complex filters to be specified which show only Memory Locations which have all of the selected properties.
The Memory Locations window now lets you filter your markers, which in turn dictates which markers you jump to when using the Next/Previous Marker shortcuts.
There are many options including filtering by type, Marker Track, colour and by text. Filters can be stored as presets in one of the five newly added Quick Preset buttons common to other windows in Pro Tools, by Command‑clicking (Control‑clicking on a PC) one of the buttons. In what is a comprehensive overhaul of this window, additional functionality has been added to make managing Memory Locations easier. For example, its now possible to select multiple Memory Locations. This previously wasn’t possible with Markers, because it’s impossible for the playback cursor to be at more than one location. The addition of an Unlink button in the Memory Locations window means that it is possible to select a Memory Location in the list without invoking it.
Selections of multiple Memory Locations can be made by click‑dragging on the list, or using Shift for contiguous and Command (Control on a PC) for non‑contiguous selections. Option/Alt doesn’t select all because Option invokes an eraser tool for deleting Memory Locations as it always has done, and these new features also allow batch deletion of multiple Memory Locations. It’s worth knowing that Option, when paired with the up/down arrows, jumps the selection to the beginning or end of the list in the Memory Locations window.
Import/Export
Memory Locations now get their own section in the Import Session Data window.There is a huge amount more to say about these new features but something that should get a specific mention here is the attention that has been paid to handling the import of Memory Locations in the Import Session Data window. This is already a busy window, so it’s good to see the addition of a new tab to cater for Memory Locations. Pro Tools now automatically scans the import for identical Memory Locations and filters out any redundant and duplicate entries. Where previous version of Pro Tools had a tick box to import ‘Ruler Markers / Memory Locations’, we now have a box for ‘Memory Location (Non Markers)’ and a whole tab handling the import of Marker Rulers. This tab allows you to specify a destination for each ruler, or the option to import them as Track Markers to a new Basic Folder track. Or if you’re happy to let Pro Tools figure it out for you, there is a Match Rulers button.
This is a really useful addition to a really important part of Pro Tools. At the time of writing they are very new features and if there is an improved way to renumber Markers I haven’t yet found it, but because of the new Navigation Mode I don’t think I need it any more. Ideal!