Video summary

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts in Pro Tools are game changer!

Main summary

Key takeaways

Technology

Main idea (tutorial/guide)

The video shows how to create and manage custom keyboard shortcuts in Avid Pro Tools to avoid navigating menus and speed up common editing and mixing tasks. It also covers how to:

  • Resolve shortcut conflicts
  • Search/inspect shortcut assignments
  • Export/import shortcut profiles between systems

How to set up custom shortcuts in Pro Tools

  1. Open Setup → Keyboard Shortcuts.
    • A default command is mentioned as Ctrl+Shift+K (though the speaker uses their own mapping).
  2. Review the shortcut list, which includes:
    • Hundreds of assignable actions
    • Existing defaults
  3. Use a practical strategy:
    • Keep most defaults to preserve muscle memory
    • Customize actions that either:
      • weren’t shortcut-assignable before, or
      • are frequently used

Example: assigning “Copy Pan Automation”

The speaker assigns Copy Pan Automation to a convenient key (example: Ctrl+P). When assigning, Pro Tools may show a conflict because that key is already used by another command (e.g., “Move Edit Insertion Up”).

Options described:

  • Resolve: removes the key from the conflicting command and assigns it to the selected one.
  • Reset: restores the default assignment.

Note on focus behavior: The speaker mentions keeping edit window focus engaged, so they sometimes don’t mind removing a key if movement is still available via other keystrokes.

Useful features inside the Keyboard Shortcuts window

The window includes tools to help you find, verify, and manage mappings quickly:

  • Search by command name to quickly locate actions to assign
  • Search by key: type a keystroke to see what action it maps to
  • Conflict checking ahead of time so you can see what will be overridden
  • Filters for modifiers and modes, including:
    • shift/control modifier-based lists
    • command vs control
    • “focus”-related single-keystroke options for edit-window focus mode
  • Menu items reflect assigned keys, which can help you remember what’s mapped

Portability: save and transfer shortcut profiles

Pro Tools can save custom keyboard profiles via Save Settings As.

  • The profile is stored in a Pro Tools presets folder (under Documents)
  • You can copy it to a flash drive or share it so another studio/system can load the same shortcuts

“10 favorite” custom shortcut list (plus one excluded in the count)

The speaker excludes Copy Pan Automation / Copy All Automation from the final top 10 because those were already demonstrated earlier.

Highlighted shortcuts include:

  1. Delete Fades — Ctrl+F
    • Useful when many fades need to be removed quickly
  2. Duplicate Track (“claw” / multi-modifier style) — Claw + D
  3. Selected Tracks Make Active/Inactive (toggle) — Claw + A
    • Toggle active/inactive
  4. I/O Setup — Claw + I
    • Opens the IO window
  5. Preferences — Command + ,
  6. Color Palette — Command + 0 (numeric zero)
  7. Save Copy In — Claw + S
  8. Write Automation to Selection — Claw + W
    • Benefit: writes automation only to the selected region length, without needing to play through
  9. Automation Preview toggle — Ctrl+Shift+P
  10. Marker lanes visibility (F1–F5)
    • F1–F5 map to marker lanes 1–5 (via an edit-window show ruler/marker lanes command)

Product/UX takeaway emphasized by the speaker

Custom shortcuts reduce time spent digging through menus, keep hands on the keyboard, and help maintain creative flow through muscle memory rather than workflow interruption.

Main speakers / sources

  • Speaker: The video’s creator/instructor (no specific name provided in the subtitles)
  • Source product: Avid Pro Tools (feature walkthrough and settings UI)

Original video