Protect the position of events in Logic Pro

There are situations when you want to prevent certain events from being moved. For example, you might use several note events to trigger footstep samples that match an actor walking down a corridor in a movie soundtrack.

If the tempo of your soundtrack needs to be altered at a later stage, the absolute time location of events that have already been positioned will change. The Lock SMPTE Position function prevents this from happening. You can SMPTE-lock individual events in the Event List or entire regions. All events inside locked regions are SMPTE-locked. For more information, see Logic Pro soundtracks overview.

The protect and unprotect functions are available when Enable Complete Features is selected in Logic Pro > Settings > Advanced.

Protect the position of one or more selected events

In the Logic Pro Event List, do one of the following:

  • Select one or more events, then choose Functions > Lock SMPTE Position (or use the corresponding key command).

  • Control-click the event, then choose Lock SMPTE Position from the shortcut menu.

  • Click in the Lock column for the selected events.

    A small padlock icon appears in the Lock column of protected events.

This function ensures that events that fall at a particular absolute time position—1 hour, 3 minutes, 15 seconds, 12 frames, for example—remain at this position when tempo changes are made.

Unprotect the position of one or more events

In Logic Pro, do one of the following:

  • Select one or more locked events, then choose Functions > Unlock SMPTE Position (or use the corresponding key command).

  • Control-click the event, then choose Unlock SMPTE Position from the shortcut menu.

  • Click the small padlock icon in the Lock column for the selected events.

Download the guides:

Logic Pro User Guide: Apple Books | PDF

Logic Pro Instruments: Apple Books | PDF

Logic Pro Effects: Apple Books | PDF

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