# Pro Tools for Editing: instructor pacing guide

## Delivery model

This is a 24-28 hours college-level intensive for students beginning with no application-specific experience. Students complete the 75-minute Professional Media Workflow Foundation first. Module checkpoints are formative; the completed portfolio is assessed with the 100-point rubric.

## Lab readiness

- Current institution-supported Pro Tools Studio or Ultimate installation.
- Closed-back headphones and an audio interface or approved lab monitoring path.
- At least 15 GB of working storage and permission to write to the lab project drive.
- No prior Pro Tools experience is required; basic computer file handling is expected.
- Create one clean student account and complete every guided build before release.
- Publish the exact tested application version, workspace/keymap assumptions, storage location, and support escalation route.
- Provide captions and transcripts for demonstrations, text alternatives for diagrams, and additional time or alternate input methods where required.

## Module 1: Build a session that can survive revision

**Student workload:** 3 hours

**Before class or release:** Verify the module diagram, application version, required source media, storage path, and checkpoint folder. Reproduce the guided build on a clean lab account.

**Suggested pacing:** 20 minutes retrieval and orientation; 30 minutes principle instruction; 30 minutes annotated demonstration; 90-120 minutes guided build; 45-60 minutes independent challenge; 15 minutes checkpoint packaging and reflection.

**Outcomes:**
- Create a session at the required sample rate and bit depth.
- Import audio without accidental conversion or duplication.
- Build a legible track, bus, marker, and folder structure.

**Checkpoint:** Submit a screenshot of the complete track layout, the Session Setup window, and a text export of the routing and version-name rationale.

**Common diagnostic prompts:**
- Audio plays at the wrong speed or pitch: Stop and compare source and session sample rates. Re-import from the untouched source using the correct conversion choice.
- Imported files are offline after moving computers: Use Copy on import or Save Copy In with all audio files; avoid references to Downloads or removable temporary locations.
- A track meters but cannot be heard: Trace input, inserts, sends, track output, aux input, aux output, monitor path, and hardware output in that order.

## Module 2: Navigate, select, and edit with intention

**Student workload:** 3 hours

**Before class or release:** Verify the module diagram, application version, required source media, storage path, and checkpoint folder. Reproduce the guided build on a clean lab account.

**Suggested pacing:** 20 minutes retrieval and orientation; 30 minutes principle instruction; 30 minutes annotated demonstration; 90-120 minutes guided build; 45-60 minutes independent challenge; 15 minutes checkpoint packaging and reflection.

**Outcomes:**
- Navigate a long session without losing context.
- Choose Shuffle, Slip, Spot, or Grid mode deliberately.
- Perform repeatable cut, copy, trim, separate, and heal operations.

**Checkpoint:** Submit the repaired sequence, a screenshot at phrase-level zoom, and a one-page shortcut practice log.

**Common diagnostic prompts:**
- Clips jump unexpectedly when moved: Check the active edit mode, grid value, and whether Shuffle affects adjacent clips.
- A command changes the wrong tracks: Inspect track selection, edit selection, link-track-and-edit-selection state, and group membership.
- The edit cursor and playback location disagree: Review insertion-follows-playback and timeline/edit-selection linking preferences.

## Module 3: Create invisible dialogue edits

**Student workload:** 3.5 hours

**Before class or release:** Verify the module diagram, application version, required source media, storage path, and checkpoint folder. Reproduce the guided build on a clean lab account.

**Suggested pacing:** 20 minutes retrieval and orientation; 30 minutes principle instruction; 30 minutes annotated demonstration; 90-120 minutes guided build; 45-60 minutes independent challenge; 15 minutes checkpoint packaging and reflection.

**Outcomes:**
- Choose edit points that preserve meaning and performance.
- Construct click-free boundaries and continuous backgrounds.
- Use clip gain before dynamics processing to control phrase-level variation.

**Checkpoint:** Submit story, continuity, and polish playlists plus a cut log identifying three difficult edits and the evidence used to resolve them.

**Common diagnostic prompts:**
- A click remains after adding a fade: Move the boundary away from a transient or DC offset, lengthen the fade slightly, and inspect both sides at sample level.
- Room tone sounds looped: Use longer varied sections, alternate sources, and crossfade boundaries outside prominent events.
- Words sound rushed after removing pauses: Restore cognitive and breath space; judge syntax and performance rather than optimizing duration alone.

## Module 4: Organize, route, and process a clear mix

**Student workload:** 3 hours

**Before class or release:** Verify the module diagram, application version, required source media, storage path, and checkpoint folder. Reproduce the guided build on a clean lab account.

**Suggested pacing:** 20 minutes retrieval and orientation; 30 minutes principle instruction; 30 minutes annotated demonstration; 90-120 minutes guided build; 45-60 minutes independent challenge; 15 minutes checkpoint packaging and reflection.

**Outcomes:**
- Build transparent dialogue, music, and effects submixes.
- Use automation to solve programme changes.
- Apply EQ and compression only after identifying a specific problem.

**Checkpoint:** Submit the session routing diagram, two 60-second comparison bounces, and a processor audit listing purpose, settings, and bypass result.

**Common diagnostic prompts:**
- The mix gets louder when stems are combined: Check duplicate routing, sends feeding the main bus, and whether printed stems are being monitored alongside live paths.
- Automation is ignored: Verify automation mode, parameter enable state, suspension controls, and whether clip gain is being confused with volume automation.
- Compression pumps on room noise: Return to clip gain and edit continuity, reduce the detector's workload, and use slower or gentler settings.

## Module 5: Control loudness, peaks, and translation

**Student workload:** 3 hours

**Before class or release:** Verify the module diagram, application version, required source media, storage path, and checkpoint folder. Reproduce the guided build on a clean lab account.

**Suggested pacing:** 20 minutes retrieval and orientation; 30 minutes principle instruction; 30 minutes annotated demonstration; 90-120 minutes guided build; 45-60 minutes independent challenge; 15 minutes checkpoint packaging and reflection.

**Outcomes:**
- Distinguish sample peak, true peak, momentary, short-term, and integrated loudness.
- Use meters as evidence after listening.
- Create a delivery-safe master that translates beyond the lab.

**Checkpoint:** Submit both measured masters, meter screenshots, and a translation table with observations from three playback systems.

**Common diagnostic prompts:**
- Integrated loudness changes between passes: Confirm identical start/end points, reset meter history, bypass monitoring-only processing, and check automation.
- True peak rises after export: Inspect codec and sample-rate conversion, leave more headroom, and measure the encoded deliverable rather than only the session bus.
- Dialogue meets the number but feels buried: Return to spectral masking, arrangement, automation, and intelligibility; loudness compliance does not guarantee clarity.

## Module 6: Deliver, verify, and archive the programme

**Student workload:** 3 hours plus capstone work

**Before class or release:** Verify the module diagram, application version, required source media, storage path, and checkpoint folder. Reproduce the guided build on a clean lab account.

**Suggested pacing:** 20 minutes retrieval and orientation; 30 minutes principle instruction; 30 minutes annotated demonstration; 90-120 minutes guided build; 45-60 minutes independent challenge; 15 minutes checkpoint packaging and reflection.

**Outcomes:**
- Create correctly named masters and reconstructable stems.
- Perform content and technical QC on exported files.
- Consolidate and archive a session without missing media.

**Checkpoint:** The capstone package is the checkpoint: native session copy, full mix, stems, manifest, QC report, decision log, and five-minute walkthrough.

**Common diagnostic prompts:**
- The archive opens with missing files: Use the relink window to identify original paths, then rebuild with Save Copy In and test from a renamed or disconnected source location.
- Stems do not reconstruct the mix: Check shared bus processing, sidechains, effects returns, mute automation, and whether the full mix contains paths excluded from stems.
- The exported file starts or ends incorrectly: Use an explicit timeline selection and verify tails, delay compensation, offline bounce behavior, and export duration.

## Assessment calibration

Before marking, score two sample portfolios independently. Discuss any criterion differing by more than five points, revise the local examples, and retain the common rubric language. Do not reward expensive equipment, preset choice, or speed where the stated outcome is judgment, organization, delivery, or evidence.

## Completion gate

A portfolio is not complete until the native project opens on a second lab system, required outputs meet the specification, the final master has been inspected outside the timeline, known limitations are documented, and the student can explain the workflow in five minutes.