In this article

• Freezing Tracks
• How Track Freeze affects your tracks

Track Freeze allows you to freeze audio, instrument, and bus tracks as audio in their current state with all plug-ins and extensions applied, to reduce system processing requirements. Once frozen, tracks can be easily “unfrozen” so changes can be made to the source material, plug-ins, and extensions. 

Freezing tracks

Track Freeze quick start

• In Timeline view, click the F button in the track controls to freeze a track.

The track is frozen, indicated by the highlighted F on the track controls and the grayed out appearance of the track and any plug-ins or extensions.

The track now plays back as audio with all instruments recorded to audio, and all track processing applied. Audio and MIDI data on the track appears grayed out, and when you hover your mouse over the track, the text “Frozen” appears. You can work with your session as normal; however you cannot edit the track contents, plug-ins or extensions. 

• Click the F again to unfreeze the track.

Track Freeze notes

• You can only freeze or unfreeze a track when the transport is stopped.
• If a track has no content on the timeline, the Freeze option is not available.

A frozen instrument track in the timeline

A frozen instrument track in the mixer/focus channel

To freeze an audio, instrument, or bus track

• In Timeline view, click the F on the track controls to freeze the track, or
• In either Timeline or Mixer view, right-click or Control-click on the track name and choose Freeze Track.

To unfreeze a frozen track

• In the Timeline view, click the highlighted F on the track controls to unfreeze the track, or
• In either Timeline or Mixer view, right-click or Control-click on the track name and choose Unfreeze Track.

Partially freezing a track

You can freeze a track only up to a certain point in the track processing. The processing follows the flow in the Mixer channel strip. When you freeze up to a specific point, the audio is processed for those instruments, extensions, and plug-ins only. Any extensions or plug-ins that follow the freeze point remain active and continue to process the resulting audio track.

Note: You cannot freeze or partially freeze a main track.

Freeze points on an audio or instrument track

You can freeze at any of the following points on an audio or instrument track:

• An instrument plug-in and MIDI FX plug-in if inserted (instrument track only)
• A multitrack tape extension
• The API Vision Console extension (which can be ordered before standard insert plug-ins, or in any standard insert plug-in position)
• Any of the standard insert plug-ins 1-8

Freeze points on a bus track

You can freeze at any of the following points on a bus track:

• The master tape extension (if configured pre fader)
• The API Vision Console extension (which can be ordered before standard insert plug-ins, or in any standard insert plug-in position)
• Any of the standard insert plug-ins 1-8
• The master tape extension (if configured post fader)

To freeze up to a specific point on an audio, instrument, or bus track

1. In the Mixer view or in the Focus channel, find the point at which you want to freeze the track.
2. Click ••• to view the options menu for that item.
3. Choose Freeze Up To This Insert.

The track is frozen up to the selected insert point. Frozen audio clips appear on the timeline for all audio sections. All frozen plug-ins, instruments, and extensions are grayed out and uneditable. Plug-ins and extensions beyond the freeze point can still be edited.

Freezing multiple tracks with track groups or selection groups

When you apply a freeze or unfreeze operation with multiple tracks selected in a track group or with a selection group, all selected or grouped tracks are frozen or unfrozen. 

Note: Track Freeze is controlled by the Mixing attribute in track groups.

How Track Freeze affects your tracks

Frozen tracks are rendered as audio tracks and played back as audio by LUNA. If there are silences or spaces in a track, separate clips are rendered only for the audio portions of the track.

Time signature and tempo changes

You can change session time signatures and tempos and frozen tracks will follow those changes. Frozen instrument and bus tracks use the Polyphonic warp algorithm. On audio tracks that have been frozen, you can change the warp algorithm. You cannot change the warp algorithm on a frozen instrument or bus track. 

Frozen track appearance

In the Timeline view, frozen tracks appear as grayed out audio tracks. Instrument tracks show an overlay of the waveform and the MIDI data. When you hover your mouse over a frozen track in the timeline, “Frozen” appears.

Any silent or muted regions of a track are replaced with silence, and not included in the frozen audio clips. Reverb and delay tails are intelligently calculated and included in frozen tracks. 

Available functions on frozen tracks

In the Timeline and Mixer view, you can adjust the following settings for a frozen track.

• Volume
• Panning
• Solo
• Mute
• Sends, send volume, send mutes, send panning, and send pre/post routing (note that sends to a frozen bus are also frozen)
• Automation (for parameters that are not frozen)
• Track show/hide
• Track tempo/time signature changes
• Cues, cue volume, cue mutes, pre/post
• Insert plug-ins can be added after any frozen insert plug-ins
• Console and tape extensions can be added if none were on the track when it was frozen, or console/tape extensions were not frozen
• Sidechaining with a frozen track as an audio source, and sidechaining to a an insert-plug-in that is added after any frozen plug-ins

Unavailable functions on frozen tracks in Timeline view

In the Timeline view, the following functions are unavailable.

• Editing waveform or MIDI data on a track
• Moving, cutting, duplicating, copying, or pasting a clip
• Clip options (clip pitch, clip gain, renaming a clip)
• Trimming or fading a clip
• Record-enable and input-enable buttons
• Track versions
• Converting a track from stereo to mono or mono to stereo

Unavailable functions on frozen tracks in Mixer view

In the Mixer view, the following functions are disabled and grayed out for instruments, extensions, and plug-ins that are before or at the freeze point.

• Insert plug-ins that are on the track when frozen
• Instruments
• MIDI FX
• Tape extensions that are on track when frozen
• Summing extensions (note that you can still see metering for frozen summing extensions)
• Console extensions that are on on a track when frozen
• Track inputs
• Record-enable and input-enable buttons
• Trim control in the utility row
• Track conversion (stereo to mono or mono to stereo)

In both Mixer and Timeline views, any View items that cannot be edited or automated are shown in the View browser with an F, and you cannot edit or automate these items.