Sure, it's one thing to read about how Pro Tools works; it's another to see it. Here are several animated QuickTime demos, demonstrating how some of Pro Tools 5.0's cool MIDI editing features and tools operate.

(No, your ears aren't shot to hell, at least not yet. These animated files do not have sound, so they're very quick to download from any speed connection.)

Need QuickTime Player? Click here for a free download.

Animated Demo #1:

Duplicate & Fill Paste

Pro Tools 5.01 offers time-saving track building features: Duplicate does exactly that to the selected region(s), and Fill Paste lets you fill a selection with the content of the clipboard.

Click here for the Duplicate & Fill Paste animated demo

Animated Demo #2:

Note Trimming

Note how the Smart Tool option lets you select a group of note and then trim them without having to switch tools. Also, Pro Tools is the only program I've seen where you can trim the start point of notes.

Click here for the Note Trimming animated demo

Animated Demo #3:

The Pencil Tool

The Pencil tool lets you quickly create regular variations in velocity or automation data. Here, I've already created square-shaped variations in Pan data on the lower track, and I'm experimenting with other options for the velocity data in the upper track--including free-hand drawing, straight line (good for ramps) and triangle-shaped variations.

Click here for the The Pencil Tool animated demo

Animated Demo #4:

Song Building

Pro Tools' Shuffle editing mode is the key to global song rearrangements: Here, I've recalled a selection that extends across all tracks (you can store selections in memory locations). After switching to Shuffle mode, I applied the Duplicate command twice -- note how the song extends to the right as the selection is duplicated. Erasing the selection leaves no gap -- and the song is shortened.

Click here for the Song Building animated demo