ProTools & linguistic topology

 

 

 

 

Summary : Using an analogy with linguistic topology, we find a basic structure that can be found in all editing routines in ProTools. Using this structure as a model, beginner students can have a better understanding of the editing routines they learn, and they can guess more easily the routines they don't know yet. This method is valid for ProTools, as well as for other software, including non-musical software, such as Photoshop and the Mac Finder.

 

The edit window : common teaching method We'll start with an example : the teaching of "copy&paste" in ProTools. Very often, the beginner student is taught "copy&paste" this way : "To copy, take the grabber, select the region you want to copy, then go to edit->copy" It's true that it works perfectly well, but the information given to the student is but a tiny piece of information. Often, if the student doesn't write that down, or if he doesn't find this routine in his notes, he's unable to remember it after the lesson.

 

Alternative method proposal Rather than giving tiny bits of information, we'll try to find a general approach, based on a global reasoning. For that purpose, we'll be making references to the way languages are basically structured. English and french are "Subject Verb Object" languages - as in "Tom drinks water" or "je vais à la plage". Latin, on the other hand, is a "Subject Verb Object" language : "servus puellam amat", "the slave the girl loves". In ProTools, most editing routines are "Subject Object Verb" actions. To copy a region to the clipboard, one begins by taking the grabber. The grabber (Subject of the action) designates the region (Object of the action), and then one does the action itself : copy (Verb). "with the grabber, I designate the region, and I copy it" "grabber, region, [edit copy]" "Subject, Object, Verb" Now, this information : "an edit routine is of the SOV type" is very useful when it comes to ProTools editing, for the simple reason that it can be applied to practically all editing routines. It's an information that greatly helps to understand how ProTools is structured.

 

Other examples Now the region is copied to the clipboard. To paste it to a given place : "selector place [edit paste]" "Subject Object Verb" Also : I want to crop a region : "selector, part to keep, crop" : SOV I want to trim a region : "trimmer, region, I trim" : SOV I want to make a group : "[any tool], to group, I group" : SOV And so on.

 

Why this method is very intuitive The editing routine's SOV structure is actually a reflection of the path of the eye of the user on the interface, in the right order. When cropping, "selector, part to keep, crop", that's exactly what's the user will spontaneously look at - the user's glance will follow this exact path.

 

Conclusion By giving the student not only the edit routine's detail, but also the edit routines' structure, we give him a solid guide that he can apply on other actions. Thus, he's got the problem's solution, plus a method that he can use to solve other problems.

 

Additional remark In ProTools, not all actions are editing routines, and not all of them follow a SOV structure. For example, the actions that are available from the Region List menu are not SOV actions If I want to import a file using the "Import File" Region List action - or "shift command I", I come across a VSO structure. "import, file, file list", "I import, the file, where I wish the file to be". That being said, ProTools being a well-designed piece of software, those VSO actions are not available from the same area ; the SOV actions are available from the Mac menus, the VSO actions from the Region List menu. And better still, the keyboard shortcuts associated to the VSO Region List actions all start with "shift command", whereas the SOV edit actions start with "command only". This analogy to linguistic is actually a pretty accurate reflection of ProTools structure and design.