How do I burn an audio CD of my audio in Pro Tools?

In the UTSA Electronic Studio you can burn a CD from ProTools by using the external CD burner which has a direct digital connection to both computers. See ProTools Routing (http://music.utsa.edu/comp/ProToolsRouting.pdf) for details.

If, however, you wish to use the CD Burner in the computer, which gives you nice options like countdown silence time between tracks and lots of other stuff, keep reading…

Pro Tools does not have the capacity to burn audio CD's built into its software. You must use a CD burning application to burn the CD. (ie. EZ CD Creator or Nero for Windows. iTunes, Toast, or Jam for Mac). To burn an audio CD, you must first perform a "Bounce to Disk" within your Pro Tools session then launch the CD burning software, drag the "Bounce to Disk" file to the CD burning software application window and burn an audio CD.

How do I Bounce to Disk in Pro Tools?

1) In a Pro Tools session, use the Selector Tool to highlight a selection in the Edit window that encompasses the whole length of your song, from start to finish. By doing this, Pro Tools will only play back this selection, and only this selection will become your bounce file. Thus, there won't be any silence before your song starts or after your song finishes. Making this selection will also prevent the possibility of getting an error message when bouncing to disk.

2) File menu > Bounce to Disk.

3) The parameters for the "Bounce to Disk" must be set correctly for the CD burning application to be able to burn an audio CD.

Mac: Bounce Source: Leave at the default setting - Anlg12S/PDIFLR(str)

File Type: SDII (or WAV or AIFF)

Format: Stereo Interleaved

Resolution: 16

Sample Rate: 44100

"Convert After Bounce" is more accurate.

4) When you press "Bounce", the "Save" window will appear, direct the computer where to save your bounce file. (You might want to save the Bounce file on your Desktop). Name the bounce. When you click "Save", Pro Tools will play your song from start to finish in real time, then it will convert the song into a "Bounce to Disk" file.

5) Launch the CD burning software and drag the "Bounce to Disk" file to the CD burning application window and burn an audio CD. You can use Toast, for example, on our computer.