Pro Tools Shortcuts for Editing Voice Overs

Pro Tools is the industry standard in audio recording. Most top voice over studios use Pro Tools, so getting a handle on this powerful Digital Audio Work Station is a great idea. There are alternatives such as Reaper, which is much more affordable and relatively user friendly, and Adobe Audition, which is often preferred by those who are already used to film editing in programs like Premiere Pro. Logic as another option that is an easy to use DAW.

One of the great things about Pro Tools, and most modern DAWs, is shortcuts that make your work flow more efficient. Here are some of my favourites when working on a voice over session:

Note: all these are for MAC, so there may be some slight conversion when working on a windows computer.

Note: sometimes there are alternative ways of doing the same thing. I’m not listing all options here, this is simply a list of what I like to use. Hopefully this will keep the list uncluttered and easy to follow.

Pro Tools for Voice OverBest Pro Tools Keyboard Shortcuts for Voice Over

Zoom in/Zoom out

Zoom in: T

Zoom out: R

Zoom in to see full clip: Option F

Zoom out to see full session: Option A 

Zoom in/Zoom out on Waveform

Zoom in: Command + Option + ]

Zoom out: Command + Option + [

Note: zooming in makes the waveform bigger

Moving clip to location

Press Control on the location you wish to move start of clip to… Hold down Control and click the clip you wish to move. The clip should jump to where the cursor was placed.

Consolidate (Glue) Clips

If you’ve made edits to your clip, perhaps cutting out gaps in a voice over take I find it’s great to glue that clip altogether so you can move it around the session. All your fades will remain in tact.

Consolidate clip: Option + Shift + 3

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