AudioSuite shortcuts in Pro Tools: rendering without the mouse

AudioSuite plug-ins process the selected clips and write the result as new audio, instead of running live on a track. It is the everyday tool for clean-up and fixes in dialogue, post and music editing — and it involves a lot of clicking. Here is what you can do from the keyboard, and what you can't.

Opening an AudioSuite plug-in from the keyboard

Press Control + Shift + S to open Pro Tools Search, type part of the plug-in's name, and press Return. Pro Tools Search finds AudioSuite plug-ins by name and opens them, so you don't have to dig through the AudioSuite menu.

The Render button has no shortcut

Pro Tools has no setting for putting the AudioSuite window's Render button on a key. In work like dialogue editing, where the same plug-in goes on clip after clip, that means clicking the same button dozens or hundreds of times a session.

The RX De-click AudioSuite window in Pro Tools, with the Render button at the bottom right — The Render button at the bottom right of the AudioSuite window. Pro Tools doesn't let you assign shortcuts to AudioSuite window buttons like Render, Learn or Send.

The usual way, without SlipTap: open the plug-in from the menu, click Render or Send with the mouse, then do it all again on the next clip.

Commands that are easy to mix up

These commands are easy to mistake for the AudioSuite window's Render button:

Render Clip Effects / Render Clip Gain — bake Clip Effects or clip gain into the audio
Render Track(s) with Elastic Audio — commit Elastic Audio changes
Render Clip(s) / Track(s) with Melodyne, RX Spectral Editor or Auto-Align Post — commit ARA plug-in edits
Consolidate (Option + Shift + 3) — joins the selection into one new clip, with no plug-in processing

They are all in the Keyboard Shortcuts window and can have keys, but none of them presses Render in an AudioSuite window.

How to put Render on a key

Pro Tools' own settings can't do it, so you need a separate app that clicks the button for you. SlipTap is a Pro Tools-only Mac app that does exactly that. Here is how it works:

In Pro Tools, open the AudioSuite plug-in you use often.
In SlipTap, use Assign Plug-in to link that plug-in to a button, then pick a hotkey (for example Q) and Render as the Run Mode.
Now select clips and press Q — the Render button in that window is pressed for you, with no trip to the plug-in window with the mouse.

SlipTap doesn't process audio itself — like a remote, it only presses the button for you. Learn and Send can go on keys the same way.

Put Render on a key

SlipTap is a Pro Tools-only Mac app. It runs Render, Learn or Send in your open AudioSuite window from a panel button or hotkey.

Download for macOS See SlipTap

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