Load a session
Load the session that's open in Pro Tools, find your way around the rail and the session header, and see how your bounces travel with the session.
In short
Add it
Open your session in Pro Tools, then click its card in the rail to load it into Fast Bounce.
Ready to create bounces
Once your session is loaded, you can start creating the bounces you want for it.
A session in Fast Bounce is one Pro Tools session plus the list of bounces you've set up for it. The list is saved inside the session folder, so it follows the session wherever it goes. To load several sessions at once, see Load multiple sessions.
Add the open session
When a session is open in Pro Tools but not loaded yet, it waits in the rail as a dashed card with a green dot and Load under it (in the wider sidebar: "Open in Pro Tools · Click to load"). Click it to load the session into Fast Bounce. You can also press ⌃⌘L, which works while Pro Tools is in front, or click + and Add “Song A”.
Fast Bounce reads the session's:
- Tracks, with their type (audio, folder, VCA…) and whether they're active, for Solo, Mute, Batch and Clips.
- Memory locations, for the range chip.
- Mix sources (outputs and buses), for the mix source chip.
- Format: file type, bit depth and sample rate, which Setup starts with (or your Bounce Defaults).
It changes nothing in the session. Once it's loaded, the session becomes a numbered card in the rail, and you can start creating bounces for it.
What the rail tells you
Every loaded session is a numbered card; ⌘1 to ⌘9 switch between them, and ⌘\ widens the rail into a sidebar with names. Under each number, 6/12 means six of twelve bounces are queued.
To create bounces, the session needs to be open in Pro Tools, since the modes read your current selection there. For any other session the mode row says "Open this session in Pro Tools to add bounces". Running the queue doesn't: Fast Bounce switches sessions by itself. See Start Bouncing.
The session header
Above the bounce list: the session's name, its bounce count, and five buttons.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open in Pro Tools | Opens this session in Pro Tools (shown as a green chip when it's already open). |
| Reveal in Finder | Shows the session folder. |
| Session info | Name, path, dates, tracks, memory locations, mix sources and format. |
| Number bounces | Prefixes every bounce with its position: 01 - , 02 - … See Naming Rules. |
| Eject (⇧⌘E) | Removes the session from Fast Bounce. Its bounce list stays in the session folder. |
If you've added tracks or changed routing in Pro Tools since the session was added, the next bounce sheet picks it up. Session info shows what Fast Bounce currently knows.
Your bounces travel with the session
Each session's bounce list is saved in a .fastbounce/ folder next to the session file. That means:
- Copy the session folder to another computer, sync it through Dropbox or hand it to another engineer, and the bounces come with it.
- Save As a new version of the session and Fast Bounce recognizes it and carries the list over.
- If the list changes on another machine while the session is loaded here, Fast Bounce picks up the change instead of overwriting it.
Nothing about your computer, such as the path to the session, is stored in that folder. It's the only thing Fast Bounce writes next to your session.
Eject, or delete
- Eject (⇧⌘E) removes the session from the rail. The bounce list stays in the session folder; load the session again and it's back.
- Delete session, in Session info, removes the saved bounce list too. The Pro Tools session file is never deleted.