So you’ve gotten the hang of working with Latch Prime and Write To Next Breakpoint.  So what else can you do to hurry things along during your mix?  One incredibly useful tool to get familiar with is AutoMatch.

AutoMatch is the process of telling a track that’s currently writing automation to return to the pre-existing automation value during play.  It’s the tool that allows you to ease back into your existing automation during an automation-writing pass.  It’s called AutoMatch because you “match” back into your existing mix.

You use AutoMatch when you’re playing along and you move a parameter in latch mode, then you want it to snap back as if it were in touch mode.  Just hit the “AutoMatch” button on the Automation Enables window (or on your ICON control surface) and watch as your automation matches back to the pre-existing values.  You can also invoke AutoMatch by command-clicking the track’s automation selector, or by pressing the automation button for the relevant track on your control surface.

This is awesome and speeds you up because it allows you to reap the benefits of both Touch mode and Latch mode at the same time.  You can get any number of parameters writing automation in latch mode, then AutoMatch out and make Pro Tools “let go” of them as if you were in Touch.

So how long does Pro Tools take to AutoMatch back in?  You decide!  In Preferences, on the Mixing tab, simply type a millisecond value into the “AutoMatch Time” field.  I personally like 750ms, but you can make it match in slower or faster depending on your taste and needs.  Be sure to wait for the duration of your match time before you hit stop; if you stop too soon you’ll either create a right-angle in your automation or you’ll invoke any “write to…” mode that you might have enabled like “write to next breakpoint.”

So between using Latch Prime and AutoMatch you are basically able to get the most useful capabilities of Write Mode, Latch Mode, and Touch Mode all from just Latch.  Clearly reducing the number of automation modes you need to keep track of from 3 to 1 is quite a time-saver.  Keep these in mind next time you’re mixing!