ProTools & Starcraft :-)

 

Make a better use of

kk

with

 

 

A more detailed version of this article was published in June 2010 in the magazine Sound on Sound - read it now!

 

 

 

Summary : Professional video game players, also known as progamers, are highly skilled specialists who demonstrate a solid technical background to achieve a very high level of efficiency during the actual games - the best example being the Starcraft players from South Korea. We'll try to achieve better advanced ProTools editing skills by following their example. This method is also suited to any other audio editing software.

 

Question : how to be the fastest possible while editing ? In a working environment, a ProTools editor must be able to be extremely fast, otherwise he's likely to experience the notion of "desperate situation" more often than he'd like to. The question is : How is it possible, while editing, to be the fastest possible ? Let's find a different approach : is it possible to find categories of computer users that go really really fast, and if so, how do they do that ?

 

Overview Of all computer users, the fastest seem to be the Real Time Strategy game progamers. More specifically, the south korean Starcraft players, which train ten hours a day, and sometimes become actual stars, with sponsoring, fan clubs etc. Let's try to understand their techniques and methods, and see if it's possible to transpose those methods to the use of ProTools.

 

Macro / Micro First notions that those guys talk and write about : macro and micro. Macro stands for macromanagement, micro for micromanagement. Macro : game-scale management, and micro : event-scale management. In ProTools, we'll translate that as macro : session-scale management, and micro : edit-scale management.

 

Macro From a certain point of view, a ProTools session is much like a RTS game : countless variations on the same theme, a global approach that's to be adapted to each particular case or situation. RTS progamers are like chess players, in the way that they've got collections of openings at their disposal. The important point in this is that they begin each game with preconceptions. Thus, they can deal with crises before they actually happen, without losing time. In a ProTools project, preconception means : I'm organized even before I start the work, and I know many recipes. For instance : * I know which backup system I'm going to use - and I check that auto-backup is enabled * I know how I'm going to organize my samples and my sessions * before starting the actual edit, I clean up and sort my session carefully * I try to sort my session into recognizable patterns (patterns that I'm used to) * when importing audio files, I'm really careful about the difference between "copy" and "add" * I try to detect time consuming actions in advance, I try to guess what issues will arise during the project * I try to guess when I'm going to have to use batch edit strategies (in this perspective, I give special attention to my file's naming protocol) * if I work on the project in a studio I don't know, I'm extra careful about the speakers .. that pretty sums up the openings and problem foreseeing Once deep in the project, I keep on observing what's going on globally. I never get involved in a series of edits without having considered the action from a global point of view - this is indeed macro management.

 

Micro At one point, there is a series of edits I have to do. Those edits are already considered from a global point of view, now I can focus on them. ... all I have to do now is actually proceed. RTS progamers divide micromanagement into two distinct parts : short-term preparation, and tactile behavior during action. "Tactile" : everything that is done is done with the user's fingers, and it's important to know how to manage them, a bit like a pianist.

 

Micro : short term preparation Before launching an attack, a progamer will clearly and carefully position his units, otherwise he's sure to encounter a major disaster. Before starting a series of edits, a ProTools user should be in front of a clear session, with the objects to edit singled out and easily accessible - it's a good idea to create a separate session just for the edits at hand. A common mistake consists in performing complicated editing routines inside the complete session, which causes problems : on LE systems, plug-in related slowing-downs, confusions due to too many tracks around, useless solo management etc.

 

Micro : tactile behavior We're now dealing with the edit itself. In a RTS game, we would be dealing with the actual confrontation between the units from both sides. During such situations, the players / editor use keyboard shortcuts extensively. Fingers draw repetitive patterns. It's necessary to instinctively know those patterns, without having to think about them at all. A good Starcraft player knows perfectly well every shortcut sequence he uses routinely. It should be the same for a good ProTools editor. Professional players are also obsessed with what they call APM - Action Per Minute. The best Starcraft players exhibit an average 300-400APM, with peaks at 500-600APM. What exactly are those "Actions Per Minute" ? The total number of mouse clicks (right hand) and keyboard strokes (left hand) over a 60 second span. For a ProTools editor, 300APM is a lot : 5 actions / second is more than what's required. That being said, when editing a speech track, for instance, 150-200 APM is a reasonable value. Quite importantly, it means that there is no latency between intention and action. Besides being fast and efficient, the editor is also more satisfied : a situation in which the brain doesn't have to be inactive 5 seconds out of 10 is much more stimulating... ... this means that not only the work is done faster, but also that over time, it stays more efficient.