plonk2daw

Spot audio from Soundminer into Pro Tools over the official Pro Tools Scripting (PTSL) API with intelligent track placement capabilities.

plonk2daw watches for files Soundminer transfers and places them onto the Pro Tools timeline at your edit insertion: as one multichannel clip on the selected/matching track (creating a correctly-formatted track when needed), or split across mono lanes — decided by what you select in Pro Tools or force via hotkey.

Independent, unofficial tool. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Avid or Soundminer.

Why

Soundminer's native Spot to DAW on Windows places audio by driving the Pro Tools window. That works, but it (1) has no track intelligence by just dropping audio onto the selected track/streams, and (2) currently mishandles session paths containing characters like &, so the spot silently fails while the file transfers fine.

plonk2daw places audio via Pro Tools' PTSL ImportAudioToClipList → SpotClipsByID API instead — robust, version-stable, indifferent to path punctuation, and adds the track logic:

• poly (default; multichannel / SFX / HOA ambix / field recordings) — one multichannel clip. Placed on the selected track if the file fits it; otherwise a new track of the file's exact format (Mono … 7.1.6, 1st–7th-order Ambisonics) is created at the selection.
• spread (DX editting or split channels) — the file's N channels go onto N mono lanes, reusing the lanes you selected and creating any extras.
• auto — poly, unless you've selected ≥2 tracks → spread.

How it fits the workflow

Select a track + cursor in Pro Tools → switch to Soundminer → spot. Soundminer does the smart transfer (transcode, metadata, format/channel layout); plonk2daw does the smart placement. This also works if there is no track selected at the last timeline position.

How it works

Two halves with no glue between them: Soundminer transfers, plonk2daw places.

Start it once and leave it running:

watchdog.bat

While idle it touches nothing — ~0 % CPU and no Pro Tools connection — it only wakes to place a clip when one actually arrives.

It finds your session by itself by checking the %APPDATA%\Roaming\Soundminer\SoundminerLog.txt for the transfer path; there's nothing to point it at. Every time Soundminer transfers a file it writes a line to its log:

Generated FilePath: …\<your session>\Audio Files\<sound>.wav

plonk2daw tails that log and spots exactly that file. So the target always follows whatever session you're working in — switch Pro Tools sessions and Soundminer's transfer path moves with you, and plonk2daw follows along automatically. No per-session setup, no path to configure. (It only acts on files inside an Audio Files folder, so ordinary batch transfers elsewhere are ignored.) Idiot-proof by design.

The loop, from your chair:

1. In Pro Tools, click the destination track and park the cursor (or make a range / select several tracks — see the modes above).
2. Switch to Soundminer, find the sound, and press Bring Into DAW. This is a Soundminer hotkey — it only fires while Soundminer is focused, and it transfers the file into the session without placing it on the timeline, leaving the placement to plonk2daw.
3. plonk2daw sees the file land, reads Pro Tools' live cursor + selection, and drops the clip there.

You never break the Soundminer → Pro Tools rhythm you already have; plonk2daw just does the placing in the background.

Force-spread on the fly. Placement normally follows your selection (1 track → one clip; ≥2 tracks → spread). To force spread regardless — e.g. to split a multichannel file onto fresh mono lanes from a single selection — tap Alt+Shift+S. It's a sticky toggle (tap again for auto), and like the Soundminer key it only acts while Soundminer is focused — flip it right before you spot, and it won't toggle by accident while you're off in another app; the watcher prints the active mode each time.

Requirements

• Pro Tools 2026.x (last tested version) with Scripting (PTSL) enabled (server on localhost:31416).
• Avid Pro Tools Scripting SDK — for PTSL.proto. Not shipped here; obtain it under Avid's license with a developer account and generate the stubs (below).
• Python 3.10+, Windows (the watcher's hotkey uses Win32).
• Soundminer (for the transfer half).

Setup

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python generate_stubs.py --proto "C:\path\to\PTSL_SDK_CPP...\Source\PTSL.proto"

generate_stubs.py writes PTSL_pb2.py and PTSL_pb2_grpc.py next to the scripts (gitignored).

Usage

Seamless watcher:

python watch.py

• Alt+Shift+S — sticky toggle to force spread.

One-shot / manual:

python spotter.py --probe                      # check the PT connection; read cursor + selected track
python spotter.py --file "snd.wav"             # --mode auto|poly|spread ; --ambi for ambisonic new tracks

Notes

• Pro Tools reads a bare multichannel WAV (e.g. B-Format) as Quad — the file carries no ambisonic flag. plonk2daw decides by channel count and honors the track you select, so pick your Ambisonics track and it lands there correctly.
• PTSL header version defaults to 2026/4; pass --ptsl-version 1 if a host reports a version mismatch.

Author & License

By Stan van den Baar (Noordersound). Licensed under the MIT License — see LICENSE. © 2026 Stan van den Baar.

Avid's PTSL SDK remains Avid's and must be obtained under their license; this project ships none of it.