script to open protools with a pre-defined engine

Hi @Les_Cooper,

You can just adjust the playback engine after launching Pro Tools, instead of writing a function to hold down 'n' on launch.

try this:

function adjustPlaybackEngine() {
    if (!sf.ui.proTools.isRunning) {

        function waitForPtLaunch() {

            while (!sf.ui.proTools.invalidate().hasValidUI) {
                sf.wait({ intervalMs: 200 })
            }
            for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
                sf.ui.proTools.waitForNoModals();
            }
        }

        var playbackEngineArray = ['Universal Audio Thunderbolt', 'MacBook Pro Speakers'] ////Add any additional PLAYBACK ENGINE settings to here.
        var selectedPaybackEngine = sf.interaction.popupSearch({
            title: "Select Playback Engine",
            items: playbackEngineArray.map(p => ({
                name: p,
            })),
            columns: [
                { name: 'Please Select Playback Engine', key: 'name', width: 80 },
            ]
        }).item.name;

        sf.app.launch({
            path: "/Applications/Pro Tools.app",
        });

        sf.interaction.displayDialog({
            prompt: 'Please wait for Pro Tools to Load,\n\nThe Playback Engine "' + selectedPaybackEngine + '" will be selected after launching Pro Tools\n\nThis dialog will disappear after a few seconds.',
            title: 'PRO TOOLS IS LOADING',
            giveUpAfterSeconds: 10,
        }).button

        waitForPtLaunch();

        sf.ui.proTools.menuClick({
            menuPath: ['Setup', 'Playback Engine...']
        });

        let playbackEngineDlg = sf.ui.proTools.windows.whoseTitle.is("Playback Engine").first;

        playbackEngineDlg.elementWaitFor({
            waitType: 'Appear',
            timeout: 1000,
            pollingInterval: 50
        });

        if (playbackEngineDlg.popupButtons.first.value.value != selectedPaybackEngine)
            playbackEngineDlg.popupButtons.first.popupMenuSelect({
                menuPath: [selectedPaybackEngine],
            });

        playbackEngineDlg.buttons.whoseTitle.is("OK").first.elementClick();

        playbackEngineDlg.elementWaitFor({
            waitType: 'Disappear',
            timeout: 1000,
            pollingInterval: 50
        });

        alert('Your Playback Engine has been set to:\n\n' + selectedPaybackEngine + '.')

    };
};

adjustPlaybackEngine();

Cheers

Mitch

Hi! This script isn't working for me, running Pro Tools 2024.10 in MacOS sequoia. Pro Tools opens, a box pops up saying it will select the right engine, but once Pro Tools is open nothing happens. Any ideas?

edit: Okay now when I opened a project the prompt came up saying the playback engine had been set. Maybe the script is waiting for something that only gets triggered when a project is open?

Is it possible to expand this script to auto-close Pro Tools popups?

Hey all,

First off — big thanks to Mitch for the script above. You've already saved me a huge amount of time!

I'm wondering if this approach can be extended to automatically handle and dismiss common Pro Tools popup dialogs like:

“You can’t use your UAD plugin XYZ.”

“This plugin has been deactivated.”

“Would you like to submit a crash report?”

“The original MIDI device could not be located.”

Or those dreaded Kontakt instrument error messages…

Basically, any of the annoying interruptions that occur during session load or startup.

I've gotten so used to these interruptions that I've resigned myself to never leaving my desk during a session load. Sometimes I'm interrupted 5–10 times before a session even opens — more if I’ve forgotten to connect the UAD Satellite or I’m loading a large session.

What puzzles me is that a few of Avid’s competitors don’t seem to suffer from this same issue, at least not with the same level of frequency or friction.

To some extent, I understand the risk of baking auto-dismissals into session startup. But in practice, I’m confident I’d hear if anything was off during playback or when printing a mix — so for me, it’s a worthwhile trade-off.

Attached are a couple of screenshots of the types of dialogs I’m referring to:

Would love to know if anyone's had success creating a broader catch-all for these alerts — or if it's even advisable. It would seriously streamline session startup and reduce the number of restarts caused by these disruptions.

Appreciate the thoughts in this thread already — looking forward to hearing more.

Cheers!