DigiDesign Digidesign Pro Tools 8.0, Reference Manual

Page: 859 / 1112

Chapter 40: Basic Mixing 841
Display of Multiple Output Assignments
When a track is assigned to multiple output
paths, the Output Path selector denotes multi-
ple assignment status and active/inactive status
with the following indicators:
• A plus sign (+) indicates that the track has
multiple output assignments.
• In the Output Path selector menu, all cur-
rently assigned track outputs are checked to
indicate they are active for the current track.
• An asterisk (*) indicates that one or more cur-
rently assigned outputs is Inactive.
Inactive Outputs
An output path can be made inactive, either glo-
bally in the I/O Setup dialog (affecting all tracks
assigned to that path), or locally per assignment
(only affecting that output on that audio track
Auxiliary Input track, or Instrument track).
When opening sessions, outputs will be made
inactive automatically if the required hardware
or other resources are not available.
Inactive outputs retain all associated automa-
tion playlists. Edits made in the session also af-
fect the inactive track’s output automation play-
lists.
Inactive Outputs and DSP Resources
Making a track output inactive silences the out-
put, while retaining all automation and playlist
data. Inactive outputs do not consume resources
for TDM mixer connections, but any assigned
plug-ins on the track continue to use their re-
quired DSP resources. RTAS plug-ins require
CPU resources, and TDM plug-ins use the DSP
available on Pro Tools|HD cards.
You can free up DSP of an unused plug-in by
making its track inactive, or by making just the
plug-in inactive.
About the “No Output” Option
Track outputs can be set to
No Output
. Assigning
a track output to
No Output
causes any panning
automation associated with the track to be lost.
Tracks assigned to
No Output
will not be audible,
but they do not free their associated DSP re-
sources.
Indication of multiple output assignments
Indication of multiple output assignments with at least
one inactive output
See “Making Tracks Inactive” on page 192.
See “Active and Inactive Items” on page 19,
and “Making Inserts Inactive” on page 875
for more information.