M-AUDIO Pro Tools Recording Studio - Manual (Page 30)

Pro Tools Reference Guide 12
Pro Tools HD and Pro Tools LE with the Com-
plete Production Toolkit option support mixing
in surround formats. In Pro Tools, each sur-
round format is considered to be a Pro Tools
greater-than-stereo multichannel format.
Pro Tools Sessions
When you start a project in Pro Tools, you create
a session. Some basic elements of sessions are ex-
plained in this section.
Session File
A session file is the document that Pro Tools cre-
ates when you choose File > New Session and
configure a new session. Pro Tools can open
only one session file at a time. The session file is
named with a .ptf (Pro Tools file) extension. Ses-
sion files contain maps of all elements associ-
ated with a project, including audio files, MIDI
data, and all your edit and mix information. It is
important to realize that a Pro Tools session file
does not contain any media files (audio or
video). Instead, it references audio, video, MIDI,
and other files. You can make changes to a ses-
sion and save those changes in a new session
file. This lets you create multiple versions of a
session or back up your editing and mixing
work.
There are different session file icons for each
type of Pro Tools system software.
Although there are different session file icons,
session files may be opened by the other types of
Pro Tools system software (with certain restric-
tions). See “Opening a Session” on page 116.
Tracks
Pro Tools tracks are where audio, MIDI, video,
and automation data are recorded and edited.
Pro Tools tracks also provide audio channels for
routing internal busses, and physical inputs and
outputs for audio and MIDI.
For information on fundamental surround
concepts, see the Pro Tools Sync & Surround
Concepts Guide.
Session file icons
When a session is transferred to a different
Pro Tools system, its session file icon
changes to the icon type of the destination
system.
Pro Tools HD Pro Tools M-Powered Pro Tools LE