How to customize the mix and edit windows in Pro Tools First

Whilst working on any session, it’s likely that you’ll need to customize what’s on display in the mix and edit windows in Pro Tools First.

This could be because you need to have access to more insert points. Or perhaps you’ll find that you don’t need your I/O info on display the whole time. Maybe you’ll need a spot to write comments. What ever the situation, you have complete control over what’s on display in the mix and edit windows in Pro Tools first.

This Pro Tools First tutorial will teach you just how to customize your mix and edit windows to display exactly what you need, and hide what you don’t.

How to customize the mix and edit windows in Pro Tools First – THE EDIT WINDOW:

To change whats on display in the edit window, click the ‘edit window view selector’:

Clicking the icon will reveal the option to display or hide the comments box, insert points, sends, I/O info and more:

By clicking on any one of these options, you can hide it, or display it. A tick represents that the option is displayed. Making each of these visible or hidden allows you to customize your edit window in just the way that you’d like, you could go for a totally minimal set up, like so:

Or you could choose to have everything on display:

What’s on display and what’s hidden is completely up to you. It all depends on how you like to work and what it is that you need to have access to in any particular session.

How to customize the mix and edit windows in Pro Tools First – THE MIX WINDOW:

You can customize your mix window in just the same way as the edit window. To customize what’s on display in your mix window, click this icon:

Just like the edit window, this will reveal the option to hide or display inserts, sends, comments, I/O etc:

You may like to have lots of different things available to you on the mix window, like so:

This gives you lots of options at your finger tips. But as you can see, it does take up a lot of screen space. So you may prefer to have a more streamlined view. It all depends on how you like to work:

Personally, I tend to keep the edit window pretty minimal. I hide everything that I don’t need quick access to. That way, I can see as much of the session’s regions as possible. Then I tend to keep everything that I need to have access to visible on the mix window. Usually, I keep at least one set of inserts visible for my plugins. I add a second if the session requires it. One set of sends visible so that I can send signals to things like effects buses is usually enough. Plus I keep the I/O on display for routing purposes. Depending on what point I’m at in the session, I may make the comments section visible in order to make some notes.

That said, none of these are hard and fast rules, I generally let the session dictate the way I customize the mix and edit windows in Pro Tools First. Sometimes the computer that I’m working on influences my choices. I’ll keep more on display on a large monitor screen than I will on a smaller laptop.

What are your preferences for the way you customize your mix and edit windows? Do you like everything on display? Or do you keep things minimal? Share your preferences in the comment section below.

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