Memory Locations and Marker Shortcuts in Pro Tools: Never Get Lost in a Long Session
Scrolling with the mouse through a 90-minute film session costs you days. Dropping markers from the numpad, jumping anywhere in three keystrokes, marker lanes, and saving views with 'None'-type memory locations — a practical guide from post-production.
While cutting dialogue for a feature, my session had passed 400 clips and a timeline longer than 60 minutes. When the director said 'let's go back to that door scene at the top of reel 3', the room waited in silence while I scrolled the timeline with the mouse. What I learned that day: navigation in Pro Tools isn't about sight, it's about memory. With Memory Locations set up properly, every important point in the session is three keystrokes away. Here are the shortcuts I use and how I organise my marker system.
Dropping Markers: The Enter Key and Beyond
The most basic move: put the cursor or playhead where you want it and press Enter on the numeric keypad. The New Memory Location window opens; name it, assign a number, OK. You can do this during playback too — playback doesn't stop, the window opens, you type a name and the marker lands at the position where you pressed Enter. I do this on the first listening pass: while the film runs, Enter at every scene change, scene name, Enter. In twenty minutes the skeleton of the whole film is there. If you don't want to see the dialog at all, hold Control while pressing Enter: the memory location is created instantly with an auto-generated name. Much smoother for quick 'look at this later' notes.
Jumping to a Marker: Period, Number, Period
This is where the real speed lives. Press period (.) on the numeric keypad, type the memory location number, period again. Type '.12.' and you're at marker 12 instantly — wherever you are in the session, whatever your zoom level. That's why I don't leave marker numbers to chance: I put reel numbers in the tens digit. Reel 1's scenes are 11, 12, 13...; reel 3's scenes are 31, 32, 33. When the director says 'reel 3, second scene', it's '.32.' — one second. Period-plus and period-minus step to the next/previous marker; I use those two when checking scene by scene.
Five Marker Lanes: Separating by Type
Since Pro Tools 2023.6 there are five separate marker lanes instead of a single Markers ruler, and each marker can be assigned to one of them. In my post sessions the split is: Lane 1 scene starts (blue), Lane 2 dialogue notes — 'needs ADR', 'cut breath' (yellow), Lane 3 FX and Foley spots (green), Lane 4 music cue in/out (purple), Lane 5 technical — 'sync record', 'click in clip' (red). Because lanes can be shown or hidden, when I pull an ADR list I leave only Lane 2 visible; zero clutter. You can also drag markers to another lane. The Track Marker option pins a marker beneath a specific track — ideal for notes like 'problem on this track at 01:12:04'.
Time Property 'None': Markers That Save a View
The least-known power of memory locations is that they can remember things other than time. If you set Time Properties to 'None' in the New Memory Location window and tick Track Show/Hide, Track Heights and Zoom Settings under General Properties, that memory location doesn't go anywhere; it only restores a view. In my session, number 90 is 'Dialogue view' (DX tracks only, tall), 91 'FX view', 92 'Everything small' — for the overview during the mix. Typing '.90.' turns an 80-track session into a 12-track dialogue session in a second. You can attach Window Configurations to the same memory location too, so the Edit/Mix window layout comes along.
- ―Selection-type memory locations store a time range. Save your bounce range or a 'listen again' selection as a marker and you never drag to select it again.
- ―In music sessions, set markers to Bar|Beat reference; when the tempo changes, the chorus marker stays put. In post, keep Absolute.
- ―Use 'Export Markers as Text' from the Memory Locations window menu: an instant ADR list or Foley cue sheet.
- ―Markers can be moved to another session with Import Session Data. On a series with a fixed reel structure, start every episode from the same skeleton.
A Small Discipline, a Big Difference
None of this is complicated; the hard part is the habit. Force yourself for one week to drop markers on the first pass, to number them meaningfully, and to ban mouse-scrolling the timeline — and you won't go back. Not having silence in the room when the director says 'let's go back to that scene' reads as professionalism to the client. And the bigger the session, the more that three-key jump is worth.