Spongefork / ShadowTag

Spot to Timeline

Send files, or a selection of one, straight onto the timeline of Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Reaper, Cubase, Nuendo, Studio Pro, FMOD Studio, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere or Adobe After Effects.

Overview

Spot to Timeline places the selected files at the current position in another application, without dragging and without a trip through the Finder. Files are referenced where they are, so nothing is copied unless a file has to be rendered or converted first. Spotting requires ShadowTag Pro.

  • Choose a target in Tools > Spot Settings (⌘⌥⌃T), or from the Spot section of ShadowTag's Settings. The Spot submenu is then titled for that application, for example Spot to Pro Tools.
  • Stacked (⌘T) places every file at the same position, one per track. Sequentially (⇧⌘T) places them end to end. The submenu offers only what the target supports.
  • The Spot button in the transport, beside the … button, spots with the first command in the Spot submenu. ⌥-click it to spot sequentially when the target supports it. Its arrow, or a right-click, opens the Spot submenu and Spot Settings.
  • A selection in the editor is spotted when one file is selected and it is the one loaded in the editor. Handles in Spot Settings chooses how much of the file goes with it: Entire File or Trim Points sends the whole file, or its trim, with the selection as in and out points and the rest kept as handles you can extend later. On renders just the selection plus the number of seconds you set either side, keeping any normalize and fading each cut edge briefly.
  • Mode is set per target. Source Format sends files as they are, converting only to a sample rate the target requires. Convert turns them into the format, sample rate, bit depth, channels and metadata you choose, with the same options as Export Soundpack; a file already in that format is sent unchanged.
  • Pending edits are rendered first. Renders and converted copies are written to the Transfers Folder, which you can change in Spot Settings. They are never deleted automatically, since a session may be using them.
  • After Sending chooses whether the target application comes forward once the spot is done.

The target application must already be running with a session or project open. ShadowTag never launches it.

Pro Tools

Files land at the edit cursor, starting on the track that holds it. Pro Tools must be running with a session open; no other setup is needed.

  • Unless Occupied Tracks is on, a file never covers an existing clip. When its track is occupied, or its mono or stereo format doesn't match the track, a new track is created at the bottom and named for the file.
  • Pro Tools only imports files at the session's sample rate, so a file at another rate is converted to it, in either Mode.
  • Session shows the session Pro Tools has open. Write Files To: Transfers Folder, or Session Audio Files, which puts every spotted file in the session's Audio Files folder, copying files that would otherwise be sent as they are. When the session can't be read, files go to the Transfers Folder and the notification says why.
  • Cursor After Spot: Return to Spot Point puts the cursor and track selection back; Leave on Last Clip keeps the last spotted clip selected.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, each spotted clip takes the color in Pro Tools' clip palette nearest the file's color in ShadowTag, keeping it dark or bright: a red file arrives red, a dark red one a darker red. A file with no color, or a gray one, arrives orange. Colors follow Pro Tools' default clip palette. Off leaves the color Pro Tools gives them.
  • Occupied Tracks: with Place over existing clips on, a file lands on its track even where a clip is already there, and the clip underneath is cut around it. A locked clip is cut too, with no warning. A file whose format doesn't match the track still gets a new track.

Logic Pro

Files land at the playhead on the focused track. Several files overlap there, since Logic offers no way to place them on separate tracks, so the Spot submenu has a single At Playhead command (⌘T).

  • The first spot asks for permission to control Logic Pro. Allow it, or turn it on later in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation.
  • Logic converts files at another sample rate itself, following the project's asset settings.
  • Project Sample Rate: Detect Automatically reads it from the audio device Logic is using. If that can't be read, ShadowTag asks once and remembers your answer here.

Reaper

Files land in the active project at the edit cursor, starting on the selected track, or on the last track you touched. Reaper must be running with a project open; no other setup is needed.

  • Files are referenced in place, and files at any sample rate place and play correctly.
  • Unless Occupied Tracks is on, a file never covers an existing item; a new track is created instead, named for the file.
  • The spotted items are left selected, and a spot is a single step of Undo in Reaper.
  • Cursor After Spot: Return to Spot Point leaves the edit cursor where it was; Leave on Last Clip moves it to the end of what was spotted.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, each spotted item and its take are colored exactly as the file is in ShadowTag; a file with a Finder label takes that label's color. A file with no color arrives orange. Off leaves the color Reaper gives them.
  • Occupied Tracks: with Place over existing clips on, a file lands on its track on top of any item already there. Both items are kept whole.
  • With Set media items offline when application is not active turned on in Reaper's preferences, spotted items show as offline until you switch to Reaper.

Cubase and Nuendo

ShadowTag puts the files on the clipboard in a form Cubase and Nuendo can paste, brings the host forward, and the paste lands on the selected track at the project cursor. Select an audio track with the Object Selection tool before you spot; with no audio track selected, the paste does nothing. In and out points are kept, with the rest of each file available as handles. A spot is a single step of Undo in the host.

To finish a spot, press ⌘V in Cubase or Nuendo.

  • Stacked places the files at the cursor, one per track, from the selected track down. Sequentially places them end to end on the selected track. Both work whatever Import Files on One Track is set to in the host's preferences.
  • Automatic Paste: with Allow, ShadowTag presses ⌘V for you and then puts back what was on your clipboard. This needs ShadowTag turned on under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Device Control and Data Access; relaunch ShadowTag after turning it on. Without it, or with Deny, ShadowTag tells you to press ⌘V and brings the host forward. If you have moved Paste to another key in the host's Key Commands, use Deny and paste yourself.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, each spotted event is colored exactly as the file is in ShadowTag; a file with a Finder label takes that label's color. A file with no color arrives orange. Off leaves the color the host gives them.
  • What the host does with the files, such as copying or converting them, is set by its own import preferences, under Editing > Audio. To convert in ShadowTag instead, set Mode to Convert and choose a rate.

Studio Pro

ShadowTag puts the files on the clipboard in a form Studio Pro can paste, brings Studio Pro forward, and the paste lands on the selected track at the playhead. In and out points are kept, with the rest of each file available as handles.

To finish a spot, press ⌘V in Studio Pro.

  • Stacked places the files at the playhead, one per track, from the selected track down. Sequentially places them end to end on the selected track.
  • Automatic Paste: with Allow, ShadowTag presses ⌘V for you and then puts back what was on your clipboard. This needs ShadowTag turned on under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Device Control and Data Access; relaunch ShadowTag after turning it on. Without it, or with Deny, ShadowTag tells you to press ⌘V and brings Studio Pro forward.
  • Spotted events take their track's color, so Studio Pro has no Clip Color option.
  • To convert files before they are spotted, set Mode to Convert and choose a rate.

FMOD Studio

Files land in the event selected in the Events browser, at its timeline cursor, with in and out points kept and the rest of each file available as handles. FMOD Studio must be running with a project open and an event selected.

  • Setup, once: turn on Enable Script Server on the Interface tab of FMOD Studio's Preferences, then restart FMOD Studio. Nothing else needs installing.
  • Select a track's header to spot onto it; Stacked continues onto the tracks below. With no header selected, each file gets a new track named for it, and Sequentially places them end to end on one new track. FMOD Studio moves the selection off the header after a spot, so select it again before the next one.
  • Unless Occupied Tracks is on, a file never covers an existing instrument; a new track is created instead.
  • FMOD Studio copies each spotted file into the project's assets, in a folder named ShadowTag. A file spotted again reuses its asset, and an existing asset is never replaced: a different file with the same name is numbered, as in Door 2.wav. FMOD Studio can't undo its assets, so they stay in the project after an Undo.
  • Files at any sample rate and channel count, including surround, place and play correctly. FMOD Studio plays WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis and WMA; for any other format, set Mode to Convert.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, each spotted instrument takes the color nearest the file's color in ShadowTag: a blue file arrives Blue, a pale green one Green Light 2. FMOD Studio has no orange and no gray, so orange files arrive red, and a file with no color arrives Red Light 1. Off leaves the color FMOD Studio gives them.
  • Occupied Tracks: with Place over existing clips on, a file lands on the selected track even where an instrument is already there. FMOD Studio keeps both whole and shows them in separate lanes. With no header selected, files still go to new tracks.
  • A spot is a single step of Undo in FMOD Studio, shown as Undo Script Action.
  • Script Server Port: leave it at 3663 unless you start FMOD Studio on another port, for example to run two versions at once.

DaVinci Resolve

Files land on the current timeline at the playhead, starting on the track of the selected audio clip, or on A1.

  • Requires DaVinci Resolve Studio, with External scripting using set to Local in Preferences > System > General. The free edition can't be scripted from another application.
  • Files at any sample rate place and play correctly.
  • A file never covers an existing clip or lands on a locked track; a new track is created instead.
  • Playhead After Spot: return to the spot point, or leave the playhead at the end of the last clip. Page After Spot: stay on the Edit page, or return to the page you were on.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, each spotted clip takes the clip color nearest the file's color in ShadowTag: a light yellow file arrives Yellow, a dark blue one Navy. Resolve has no red, so red files arrive Violet. A file with no color, or a gray one, arrives Orange. Only the clips on the timeline are colored; their items in the media pool, and other clips of the same file, keep their colors.

Final Cut Pro

ShadowTag puts the files on the clipboard in a form Final Cut Pro can paste, brings Final Cut Pro forward, and the paste lands at the playhead as a connected clip, with in and out points and handles kept. Files are referenced in place, not copied into the library. Final Cut Pro 12.3 or newer is required.

To finish a spot, press ⌥V (Edit > Paste as Connected Clip) in Final Cut Pro, which lands the clip at the playhead, connected below the primary storyline. ⌘V (Paste) lands it in the primary storyline instead, as an insert edit that moves every later clip to make room.

  • Sequentially pastes the files end to end. Stacked pastes them as one compound clip, named for the number of files, with each file on its own lane.
  • Automatic Paste: with Allow, ShadowTag presses ⌥V for you. This needs ShadowTag turned on under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Device Control and Data Access; macOS asks the first time you choose Allow. Relaunch ShadowTag after turning it on. Without it, or with Deny, ShadowTag tells you to press ⌥V and brings Final Cut Pro forward. Choosing Deny doesn't remove the permission; if you no longer want ShadowTag to have it, turn it off in System Settings and relaunch ShadowTag.
  • Final Cut Pro accepts files at any sample rate. To convert them first, set Mode to Convert and choose a rate.
  • FCPXML Version: Automatic lets Final Cut Pro use the newest version it reads. Choose a specific version only if a paste doesn't land.
  • The spot replaces what was on the clipboard. Copying something else before you paste replaces the spot in turn, and ⌥V then pastes that instead.

Adobe Premiere

Files land on the active sequence at the playhead, starting on the track of the selected audio clip, or on A1. Adobe Premiere 2026 (26.3 or newer) is required, with the Spongefork Spot plugin installed.

  • Installing the plugin: choose Adobe Premiere as the target in Spot Settings and click Install…. Creative Cloud installs it, warns that it doesn't come from the Adobe Marketplace, and asks for your administrator password. Adobe Premiere doesn't need to restart. ShadowTag and TorchTag share the plugin; it appears under Window > UXP Plugins. Unlike most Adobe Premiere extensions, it has no panel to keep open: it runs in the background whenever Adobe Premiere is open.
  • Files are added to a bin named ShadowTag and referenced in place. A file spotted again reuses its item in that bin.
  • Files at any sample rate, mono or stereo, place and play correctly on any audio track.
  • Unless Occupied Tracks is on, a file never covers an existing clip; a new track is created instead, named for the file. Adobe Premiere doesn't report locked tracks, so a spot aimed at one lands on the next track down. ShadowTag tells you when this happens; use Undo in Adobe Premiere.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, the file's item in the bin takes the label nearest its color in ShadowTag, and the clip placed from it takes the same label: a light yellow file arrives Yellow, a red one Rose. A file with no color, or a gray one, arrives Mango. Clips already on the timeline keep their labels. Labels follow Adobe Premiere's default label colors. This needs Spongefork Spot 1.1 or newer; update it from Spot Settings.
  • Occupied Tracks: with Place over existing clips on, a file lands on its track and overwrites the clip underneath. Spotting part of a file can also cut up to two frames of that clip just after the spotted one.
  • A spot takes up to three steps of Undo in Adobe Premiere: one sets the file's in and out points and label in the bin, which changes nothing on the timeline, one places the clip, and one trims it.
  • Playhead After Spot: return to the spot point, or leave the playhead at the end of the last clip.

Adobe After Effects

Files land in the active composition at the current time, each on a new layer at the top of the layer stack, with the first file topmost. Adobe After Effects must be running with a project open; no plugin or other setup is needed.

  • The first spot asks for permission to control Adobe After Effects. Allow it, or turn it on later in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation.
  • Every file gets a layer of its own, since a layer holds a single file. Sequentially places the layers end to end.
  • Files are added to a folder named ShadowTag in the Project panel and referenced in place. A file spotted again reuses its item in that folder.
  • The whole file stays behind each layer, so you can extend its in and out points later to reveal handles. Files at any sample rate place and play correctly.
  • Clip Color: with Match the file's color on, spotted layers and their items in the Project panel take the label nearest the file's color in ShadowTag: a light yellow file arrives Yellow, a pale green one Sea Foam. A file with no color, or a gray one, arrives Orange. Labels follow After Effects' default label colors. Off leaves the label Adobe After Effects gives them.
  • The spotted layers are left selected, along with their items in the Project panel, and a spot is a single step of Undo in Adobe After Effects.
  • The spot goes to the composition you're working in, even when an item is selected in the Project panel.
  • Playhead After Spot: return to the spot point, or leave the current time at the end of the last layer.
  • If ShadowTag reports that Adobe After Effects didn't return a result, turn on Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network in Settings > Scripting & Expressions.

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