Time, Tempo, and Meter : Tick-Based Timing
 
Tick-Based Timing
Pro Tools | First is a sample-based program with an internal MIDI resolution of 960,000 pulses per quarter note (ppq). However, when the Time Scale is set to Bars|Beats, the display resolution in Pro Tools is 960 ppq and the Timebase is tick-based.
*In the Bars|Beats Time Scale, Pro Tools | First is tick-based (960 ticks to a quarter note). Some amount of sample-rounding may occur when placing events at certain locations (see “Sample Rounding and Edit Operations” on page 440).
When working in Bars|Beats, you will often want to specify tick values for a number of operations, including:
• Placing and spotting clips
• Setting lengths for clips or MIDI notes
• Locating and setting play and record ranges (including pre- and post-roll)
• Specifying settings in the Quantize and Change Duration pages of the Event Operations window
• Setting the Grid and Nudge values
The following table lists the number of ticks for each of the main note sizes:
 
Note Value
Normal
Dotted
Triplet
1/2 note
1920
2880
1280
1/4 note
960
1440
640
1/8 note
480
720
320
1/16 note
240
360
160
1/32 note
120
180
80
1/64 note
60
90
40