When you launch Pro Tools it will present a dialog, asking how you want to proceed. Every Pro Tools project is considered a "session." If you're starting from scratch, you'll want to select "Create Blank Session." The key thing here is to select the I/O Setting template (I/O = input/output) that we have configured for you in the I/O Settings dropdown in the following dialog:
NEVER ADJUST THE AUDIO VOLUME ON THE INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS THEMSELVES!
The concept is that we are MONITORING our audio with our speaker system. These speakers are very expensive because they are designed to produce what is called "reference quality" audio. If you properly handle your audio in this environment, you can be sure it will sound proper elsewhere. Therefore, you want to adjust the MONITOR volume using the knob on the HD Omni interface. The volume knob is #1 in the image below, and you can monitor the decibel output value in the LED panel labelled MONITOR above the knob when you turn it:
Of course, there are many other buttons and elements on the face of the Omni. If you need to know more, you can download the Quick Guide below. One thing that I've seen trip students up, is they won't hear sound, tell me that "it doesn't work," and I'll look at the front panel of the Omni and the MUTE button has been pressed. Make sure MUTE is NOT red/enabled
Here's the manual with a basic instructions on the HD Omni interface, but you shouldn't need it:
Sometimes itsy bitsy meddling fingers will randomly poke buttons and mess up our Pro Tools configuration, then walk away, leaving you with a setup that does not work (i.e. no sound output)! If that happens to you, take a look at the settings below to determine how the machine should be configured to work properly in our environment. Most of these settings are defaults, but sometimes they get changed by elves.
Setup->Hardware Setup:
Setup->Playback Engine:
Setup->Peripherals (note Fader Port Config!):
Setup->I/O Setup:
Pro Tools HD Preferences:
FaderPort: Remote control of Pro Tools from inside the Sound Booth
You should be able to control Pro Tools using the Presonus Fader Port control panel inside the Sound Booth. It's this little USB device, usually resting on the stool:
Working with Final Cut Pro
It's an industry standard workflow to pass audio from the film world to the audio world, since video editing software typically only has basic audio tools. For Final Cut Pro, we have an application installed on the audio workstation called X2Pro Audio Convert. The general workflow is that you do your initial audio/video sequence in FCPX, then export an "EDL" (Edit Decision List) as an XML file from FCPX. You can then load the file into X2Pro Audio Convert and produce an AAF Audio File. This "audio file" can be loaded into Pro Tools and it will produce a session that replicates/syncs with your project in FCPX. You can even see the video simultaneous with the audio! There are a number of features you might want to investigate here.