Avid Media Composer ® User’s Guide Release 8.
© 1990-1996, 1998-1999 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid Media Composer User’s Guide • Part 0130-04015-01 Rev.
Contents Chapter 1 Desktop Basics About the Media Composer Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Managing Avid Project and Avid User Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Changing Project and User Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Deleting Projects and User Profiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder . . . . . . . . . .
Turning Off Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Ejecting Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Mounting All Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Using Context Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Using Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Contents in the Trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Emptying the Trash in the Bins List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Managing Folders and Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Saving Bins Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Saving Bins Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Using the Settings Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a New Workspace Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Linking User Settings and Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Switching Between Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Deleting a Workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Assigning a Workspace Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Chapter 4 Using Basic Tools Using the Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Drag-and-Drop Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Creating Avid Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Importing Shot Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Logging Directly into a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Logging with an Avid-Controlled Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Logging with Non-Avid-Controlled Decks . . . . . . . . . .
Digitizing Across Timecode Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 General Digitize Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Preparing for Audio Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Choosing the Audio File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Checking for a Valid Digital Sync Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting Both Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Setting Only One Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Digitizing On-the-Fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Autodigitizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Digitizing from a Non-Avid-Controlled Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Digitizing with Time-of-Day Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 9 Organizing with Bins Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Using Audio Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Adjusting Pan Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Adjusting Default Pan Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Using the Center Pan Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Setting the Bin Display . . . . . .
Saving a Custom Bin View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Managing Clip Information in Text View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Moving Within Column Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Modifying Clip Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Copying Information Between Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Copying Information from Another Cell in a Custom Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Consolidating Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 About the Consolidate Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 Using the Consolidate Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Loading the Media Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Backing Up Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Finding a Related Media File. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing a Page or Scene Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Deleting a Page or Scene Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Searching for a Page or Scene Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Conducting a Text Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Linking Clips to the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 Interpolating Position for Script Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Editing with the Script Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 Assembling a Rough Cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Splicing a Script Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 Revising the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 Interactive Screenings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Play Reverse, Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, and Fast Forward Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Play Standby Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Step Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Using Single-Field Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finding a Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433 Chapter 13 Editing in Source/Record Mode Entering Source/Record Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Setting Up a New Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Changing the Sequence Name and Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Setting Up Tracks for the New Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Playing a Sequence Using the Play Length Toggle Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460 How to Fine-Tune the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461 Chapter 14 Using the Timeline Customizing Timeline Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463 Using the Timeline Fast Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465 Additional Procedures for Customizing the Timeline . . . . . .
Segment Mode Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486 Selecting and Deselecting Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486 Selecting Segments with the Segment Mode Pointer. . . . 487 Lassoing One or More Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487 Deselecting Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Performing Segment Mode Edits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 About Four-Frame Display . . . . . .
Removing Match-Frame Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 Backtiming Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Additional Offline Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 Detecting Duplicate Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 Tracking Color-Frame Shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 Printing the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 16 Working with Audio About Audio Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 Accessing Audio Effect Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554 Audio Editing Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555 Using Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555 Smooth Scrub Versus Digital Scrub. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Position Indicator Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583 Automation Gain Tool Fast Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584 Recording Audio Gain Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585 Using the Automation Gain Tool Window Sliders to Record Gain Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585 Using a Keyboard Shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AudioSuite Plug-In Fast Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614 Rendering Plug-In Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615 Creating New Master Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615 Serial Versus Parallel Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616 AudioSuite Controls for Creating New Master Clips . . . 616 Using the AudioSuite Plug-Ins to Create New Master Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fixing Sync in Segment Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641 Managing Sync with Multiple Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641 Using Sync Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642 Syncing with Tail Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 Syncing with Locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644 Using Add Edit When Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Full-Monitor Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666 Quad Split. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668 MultiCamera Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 Multicamera Editing Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671 Switching Shots with the Arrow Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672 Cutting On-the-Fly with Quad Keys . . . . . . .
Selecting a Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702 Previewing a Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703 Creating a Custom Countdown Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704 Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Remote Mode). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706 Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Local Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708 Accessing EDL Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Compatibility Requirements for Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759 Transferring a Project and Associated Media Files . . . . . . . . . 759 Transferring Projects, User Profiles, and Site Settings . . . . . . 761 Appendix A Using AudioSuite Plug-Ins Supported AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763 Core AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764 Additional Supported Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Video Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795 Compression Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795 Mixing Ratios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797 Storage Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 Estimating Drive Space Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 Maximizing Drive Space. . . . . . . . . .
Figures Figure 3-1 Sample Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Figure 3-2 Sample Spreadsheet Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Figure 6-1 Digitize Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Figure 8-1 Batch Import Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Figure 14-1 Timeline Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 Figure 14-2 Track Selector Panel. . . .
Tables Table 2-1 Help Topic Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Table 3-2 Bin Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Table 3-3 General Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Table 3-4 User Interface Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . 83 Table 3-5 Displaying Groups of Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table 12-4 Miscellaneous Composer Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 Table 12-5 Fast Forward and Rewind Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Table 14-1 Timeline Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 Table 15-1 Trim Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525 Table 19-1 Video Format Output Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 Table 19-2 Luminance Settings for Video Output . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER 1 Desktop Basics For information on the System Folder and other Macintosh® features, such as the desktop and icons, see your Macintosh documentation. The Avid drive—the computer’s internal hard drive—contains a number of files and utilities you can use to organize and optimize your work. The desktop elements directly related to the Media Composer system (also referred to at times as the Avid system) are stored in the Avid Projects, Avid Users, Utilities, and Media Composer folders.
About the Media Composer Folder The Media Composer folder contains essential operational files and supporting files. You should not touch any of these files, except where noted in the following descriptions. • Help folder: This folder contains the online help files. For information on using the Help, see “Using Help” on page 54. • Media Composer application: The application icon resides here. Procedures for starting the application are described in “Starting the Media Composer Application” on page 37.
About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders The Avid Projects and Avid Users folders allow you to move entire projects or selected project and user settings between systems by copying and moving files on your desktop. When you copy or move a project, the bins for that project are also moved or copied. For more information on transferring projects, see “Transferring a Project Between Media Composer (Macintosh) Systems” on page 757.
Changing Project and User Names You cannot change project or user names from within the Media Composer application. You must change the name from your desktop before starting the application. c When you change a user name or project name, make sure you change the name of the folder and all the files in the folder that have the old name. The system does not automatically change the names of corresponding files in the folder. To change a project or user name: 1. Double-click the Avid drive to open it. 2.
Deleting Projects and User Profiles Digitized media related to a deleted project is not eliminated with the project folder. For more information on deleting media files, see “Deleting Clips and Sequences” on page 275 and“Deleting Media Files with the Media Tool” on page 324. c You cannot delete projects and user profiles from within the Media Composer application. You must make the change from your desktop before starting the application. To delete a project or user profile: 1.
the latest copy of the bin file. When you view a project folder in the Attic folder in List view, you can also identify the most recent backup file based on the name and timestamp of creation displayed in the Date Modified column. n The oldest backup file is overwritten only if the second oldest backup file is more than 2 hours old. To retrieve a file from the Attic folder: 1. Quit the Media Composer application. See “Quitting the Avid Application” on page 50. 2.
9. Choose Open Bin from the File menu. Select one of the backup bin files you copied to the desktop and click Open. When you open the backup bin, a link to the backup bin on the desktop is created in the Other Bins folder. 10. Create a new bin if you do not plan to overwrite existing files. 11. Open the new bin and open the backup bin in the Other Bins folder. 12. Select the material you want to keep from the backup bin, and drag the files to the new bin.
For more information on making an alias and using the Apple menu, see your Macintosh documentation. To start the application, do one of the following: • Double-click the application icon. • Double-click the alias icon. • Choose the application from the Apple menu. After the application starts, the Open Project dialog box appears, as described in “Opening a Project” on page 40.
CHAPTER 2 Starting a Work Session Your work in Media Composer begins when you turn on the system, start the application, and open an existing project or create a new project. This chapter describes these and other procedures for starting a work session. There are also several techniques you can use to safeguard and restore your work if necessary.
Opening a Project Each time you start the Media Composer application, the Open Project dialog box appears. Projects scroll list Users scroll list Use the procedures described in the following sections to establish your identity as a user with the system and to select or create a project to open. You can also create additional folders within which to store projects, or you can quit the application from the Open Project dialog box.
customize the user settings in the Avid application, these customized settings are associated with the user name. The Avid Users folder, at the top level of the Avid drive, is the default location for user profile files. Setting Up a New User To create a new user profile: 1. Click the New User button. The New User dialog box appears. 2. Type your name and click OK. n If you plan to move bins and projects from one platform to another, do not use the following characters / \ : * ? “ < > |when naming proje
Selecting an Existing User To select from the list of existing users, click the user name to highlight it in the user scroll list on the left side of the Open Project dialog box. This user profile is used when you open a project. The Avid Users folder is the default location for user profile files. Directory pop-up menu User name Parent folder Parent folders containing collections of users appear with a dot preceding them.
To search for another user profile folder: 1. Click the Directory pop-up menu to display a list of other locations on the system. 2. Select a drive from the Volumes submenu if necessary, and locate the folder. 3. Double-click the selected folder to open it. Continue to open any additional folders until the user scroll list displays the appropriate user file name. 4. Click the user name to select it. You are ready to select a project. See “Selecting a Project” on page 43.
The New Project dialog box appears. 2. Type the name of your new project in the highlighted text box. n If you plan to move bins and projects from one platform to another, do not use the following characters / \ : * ? “ < > |when naming projects, bins, and users. You can set the Use Windows® compatible File Names option in the General Settings dialog box to prevent the system from accepting these restricted characters in a bin, project, or user name. 3.
lighted in the projects scroll list. You are ready to open the project. See “Opening the Project” on page 47. Selecting an Existing Project Existing projects appear in the projects scroll list in the Open Project dialog box. The Avid Projects folder is the default location for project files. Directory pop-up menu Projects scroll list To select an existing project, do one of the following: • Click an existing project name to highlight it.
If the project is nested in a folder: 1. Double-click the folder name to open it and display the contents in the project scroll list. 2. Click the project name to select it. If the project is stored outside the Avid Projects folder (in another folder or on a network, for example), you can locate it by using the Directory pop-up menu. To locate a project in another folder: 1. Click the Directory pop-up menu and choose a drive from the Volumes submenu.
You can also nest projects by using the desktop to move existing projects into folders that display in the Open Project dialog box. For more information about moving existing projects, see “Transferring Projects, User Profiles, and Site Settings” on page 761.
Closing a Project To close the Project window and return to the Open Project dialog box, do one of the following: • Click the close box in the Project window. • With the Project window active, choose Close Project from the File menu. The Project window and all open bins close, and the Open Project dialog box appears.
a. Mount the storage drive or insert the floppy disk as appropriate. b. Double-click the icon for the destination storage drive or floppy drive to open it. Double-click any folders to target the appropriate storage location. 2. Open a window containing the folder you want to save. a. Double-click the Avid drive to open it. b. Double-click the appropriate folder to open it: Folder Contains Avid Projects Project folders Avid Users User folders Media Composer:Settings Site Settings file 3.
2. Open a window containing the folder where you want to restore the files. a. Double-click the Avid drive to open it. b. Double-click the appropriate folder to open it. • Project folders and settings files go in the Avid Projects folder. • User folders and settings files go in the Avid Users folder. • Site Settings files go in the Media Composer:Settings folder. 3. Drag the backup copies from the storage device to the appropriate folder on the Avid drive.
b. Click Leave to quit the application. Click Cancel to return to the Open Project dialog box and select another project. Turning Off Your Equipment When you finish using your system and want to turn it off completely, follow these steps to avoid damaging your system or media storage drives: 1. Choose Shut Down from the Special menu. This turns off your Macintosh system. The screens on the Bin and Edit monitors become dark. 2. Turn off your speakers and monitors. 3.
Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives You can eject one or several drive volumes mounted on the desktop at any time from within the Avid application. You can also remount all the drives and return them to the desktop. This is useful in several circumstances: • If you work with drives for the backup and retrieval of lowresolution material, you can eject these drives and mount them as needed to avoid cluttering the desktop during normal use.
A dialog box appears. The scroll list displays all drives and partitions currently mounted. 2. Select one or more drives to eject. Shift+click additional drives. 3. Click Eject. The system removes the drives from the desktop and can no longer access them. Mounting All Drives Because the system cannot interface with ejected drives individually, you cannot mount selected drives. You can mount all drives connected to the system, however, including those previously ejected.
Using Context Menus Your Avid system allows you to access frequently used commands by using the Ctrl+Shift keys and clicking an object. For example, Ctrl+Shift+click in a window to access a context menu that shows the most frequently used commands for that window. You can also Ctrl+Shift+click a screen object to access What’s This? Help for the object. Using Help You can get help and background information for tasks, windows, dialog boxes, and screen objects through the Media Composer Help system.
To get help for windows and dialog boxes: 1. Make sure the Avid application is active. 2. Position the mouse pointer in the window or dialog box for which you want help. 3. Press the Help key on the keyboard. If there is no information about a window or dialog box, the Help Topics dialog box appears. n For most dialog boxes that require an OK or Cancel response, you cannot move or click in a Help window until you close the dialog box.
Finding Information with the Help Topics Dialog Box You see the Help Topics dialog box when you open Help from the Help menu. A topic is a single page of the Help system. The Help Topics dialog box includes three different methods for finding topics: • Using the Contents Tab • Using the Index Tab • Using the Find Tab To keep the Help Topics dialog box open and retain your search category, make sure the option Close Window When Displaying Topics is not checked.
To find topics by using the Index tab: 1. Choose Media Composer Help from the Help menu and click the Index tab, or click the Index button in a Help topic. 2. In the text box at the top, type a keyword for the topic that you want to find (for example, type “audio” to jump to index entries listed under audio). 3. Open the topic in the list: • If the typed keyword brings you to the topic you are seeking, click the Display button, or double-click the index entry.
A list shows the topics that contain the words you searched for. n Do not type quotation marks or asterisks in the text box. 3. To change the way in which you search for a word or words, click the Options button and choose your preferences from the Find Options dialog box. n Deselect the Word Stemming check box if you want a more complete search. 4. Select a topic in the list and then click the Display button or double-click the topic.
displays the new information. You can cycle back through topics by clicking the Go Back button. Click on a hypertext link (marked by underlined text) to open a window with related information. • The Media Composer Illustration window opens on the left central part of your screen. It contains a graphic illustration of a feature that you can view while you read about it. Each time you click a new Illustration button, the window displays the new information. • The pop-up windows open from screen objects.
Printing Help Topics You can print a single Help topic or a group of topics listed in the Contents. To print a Help topic: 1. Open or click the topic to make it active. 2. Click the Print button in the topic window. 3. Select the print options. When you are ready to print the topic, click Print. To print a Help topic from the Contents tab, select the topic you want to print, and click the Print Topics button at the bottom of the tab. To print a book of related topics from the Contents tab: 1.
Copying from a Help Topic To copy information from a Help topic into another document: 1. In the topic window, select the text that you want to copy. To select discontinuous text, press and hold the k key while you drag the mouse pointer. To extend a selection that you have already highlighted, press and hold the Shift key while you drag the mouse pointer. 2. Choose Copy from the Edit menu. 3. Place the mouse pointer in another open application, such as a word processor. 4.
Media Composer system. To do this, you need 12 MB of hard disk space. n If colors on your monitor flash or look unusual while viewing Help, choose Use System Colors from the Options menu. The quality of some illustrations might be affected, however, when this option is turned on. To copy Help from the Media Composer system to another Macintosh system: 1. Create a new folder on the Macintosh system to which you are copying the Help.
Session Check List Turn on your equipment in the proper order: storage first, peripherals second, system last. For more information, see the Avid Media Composer Getting Started Guide. On your desktop, move any settings files, project folders, or user folders from another system into the Avid folders if necessary before starting the application. Start the application. Create new projects or user profiles or select existing ones in the Open Project dialog box.
CHAPTER 3 Working with the Project Window The Project window provides controls in three different display modes for structuring and viewing important information about your current project. These include a display of bins and folders associated with the project, a list of all settings, and basic information about the format of the project and use of system memory.
Opening and Closing the Project Window The Project window opens automatically when you select a project in the Open Project dialog box. Project window Close box To close the Project window and return to the Open Project dialog box, do one of the following: • Click the close box in the Project window. • With the Project window active, choose Close Project from the File menu.
Using the Bins Display Bins contain the master clips that are created when you digitize source material. (The master clips are linked to the media files.) Bins also contain the sequences, subclips, group clips, and effect clips that you create during a project. From the Project window, you can view a list of bins associated with the project, and open, close, and create bins. You can also open bins created for another project.
Displaying Bins You can add folders to the Bins list in the Project window to help organize your project. You can drag bins into folders, or drag folders into folders. See “Managing Folders and Bins” on page 72. Open/Close triangle New folders Trash icon Fast Menu button Click the triangle next to a folder icon to display the folder’s contents in the Bins list of the Project window. Click the triangle again to close the display.
Creating a New Bin To create a new bin in a project, with the Project window active, do one of the following: • Choose New Bin from the File menu. • Click the New Bin button in the Project window. Performing either of these procedures opens a new (empty) bin that is given the name of the project as displayed in the title bar of the Project window. The new bin appears in the Bins list of the Project window.
Opening and Closing a Bin To open a bin: 1. Click the Project window to make it active. 2. Click Bins in the Project window. 3. Double-click the Bin icon next to a bin name. The bin opens in a separate window. The Bin icon becomes dimmed, indicating the bin is open. Bin window Opening Selected Bins To open several bins at once: 1. Click the name of one of the bins in the Bins list. 2. Shift+click each additional bin you want to open. 3. Choose Open Selected Bins from the File menu.
2. Find and select the bin you want. c Never open a bin that is stored on a floppy disk; otherwise, the system will not be able to save your work. Always copy the bin to a project folder on the system drive before you open it. For information, see “Transferring a Project Between Media Composer (Macintosh) Systems” on page 757. 3. Click the Open button. The bin appears in the Bins list in the Project window in a folder called Other Bins. The name Other Bins appears in italics. You can rename this folder.
c Clips, subclips, and effects that are in a bin appear in the Trash after you delete the bin. However, if you select a clip, subclip, or effect directly and press the Delete key, the item does not appear in the Trash. Viewing Contents in the Trash If you need to view the contents in the Trash or decide you do not want to delete those items in the Trash, you must first move the bins and folders from the Trash. To view items in the Trash: 1.
An alert box appears. 2. Click Empty Trash to delete the bins or folders from the Trash and from your system disk. Managing Folders and Bins You can use the Project window to create hierarchies of folders and bins that reflect the specific workflow of the current project. This structure should provide both simplicity and backup security.
- Create a third set of bins for the editing stage, including: A current cut bin for storing each work in progress (sequence) An archive bin for keeping the original version of each cut (sequence) A selects or storyboard bin for screening selected clips or cuts gathered from the source bins A format cuts bin for storing the final cuts with added format elements such as segment breaks, color bars and tone, slate, or countdown n For information on creating Script windows using scripts for your projects, se
Two things happen when auto-save occurs: • Any open bins are updated with changes made since the last autosave. • Copies of these bins are placed in the Attic folder as backup. The system automatically places copies of all bins into the Attic folder at regular intervals for backup. The procedure for recovering bin files from the Attic folder is described in “Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder” on page 35. To adjust the frequency of automatic saves: 1.
• To save selected bins: a. Activate the Project window by choosing Project from the Tools menu or by clicking anywhere in the window. b. Click a Bin icon to select it. Shift+click any additional bins. c. Choose Save from the File menu. The system saves all the selected bins. • To save all the bins: a. Click the Project window to activate it but do not select any individual bins listed in the Bins list. b. Choose Save All from the File menu. The system saves all the bins for the project.
About Settings Three types of settings are displayed in the Settings scroll list: User, Project, and Site settings. • User settings are specific to a particular editor. User settings reflect individual preferences for adjusting the user interface in the Avid application. Individual User settings are stored in each user folder within the Avid Users folder at the top level of the Avid drive. • Project settings are directly related to individual projects.
Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List Setting Name Description For More Information Audio Sets the default audio pan; contains audio scrub options and audio setup parameters. Yes See Chapter 16 and “Adjusting Audio Settings” on page 181. AvidNet Sets preference for opening the AvidNet Transfer Tool on startup. See AvidNet Transfer Tool User’s Guide. Bin Sets the Auto-save and Double-click preferences for bins. See “Bin Settings” on Yes page 80.
Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued) Setting Name Description For More Information General Defines several default values such as See “General Setthe default starting timecode for your tings” on page 82. project. Yes Grid Defines the grid to use when you create effects. See Media Composer Effects Guide. Yes Import Sets parameters for file import. See “Import Settings Yes Options” on page 242. Interface Defines the appearance and function of certain interface elements.
Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued) Setting Name Description For More Information Access to Dialog Box? Timeline View If you save your Timeline settings, See “Customizing Timeline View appears in the Settings Timeline Views” on scroll list to facilitate copying settings. page 463. No; select saved setting files from within the Timeline. Title Style Sheet If you save a title style while you are See Media Composer using the Title tool, Title Style appears Effects Guide.
For example, you can establish: • User settings for the assistant editor: Facilitate logging, digitizing, and organizing projects. • User settings for the editor: Include editing interface preferences. • Project settings: Reflect the specific needs of the project. • Bin View settings: Display useful columns of information for each of the bins described in “Managing Folders and Bins” on page 72.
Table 3-2 Bin Settings Dialog Box Options Option Description Auto-save interval Specifies the length of time between attempts to auto-save project files. The default is 15 minutes. To avoid interrupting an edit, the Avid system waits until the system is inactive before auto-saving. Use the “Force auto-save at” option to specify an interval at which the system will interrupt an edit to autosave.
General Settings Table 3-3 describes the General Settings options. Table 3-3 General Settings Dialog Box Options Option Description Drive Filtering Based on Resolution Prevents digitizing high-resolution media to drives that do not have sufficient speed to play the resolution. If you select this option, the drives affected by drive filtering are unavailable when you try to access them with the Digitize tool.
Interface Settings The Interface settings determine the level of basic information displayed in the interface. Table 3-4 describes the User Interface Settings options. Table 3-4 User Interface Settings Dialog Box Options Option Description Show Labels in Tool Palette When this option is selected, the system displays text labels with the icons in tool palettes. To tear off the Tool palette, click anywhere on the palette, hold the mouse button, and drag the palette to the location you want.
Displaying Project Settings You can display the Settings scroll list of the Project window in different groups, depending on what you need to view. Table 3-5 describes the different settings display groups.
2. Choose a settings display group from the Fast menu or from the Settings menu. Settings menu Fast Menu button The Settings menu displays the settings group selected and the Settings scroll list displays only the settings in that group. Working with Settings You can view and modify most of your current settings by double-clicking them in the Settings scroll list of the Project window and by selecting new options. You can duplicate, rename, copy, and move settings among files or systems.
To select another user, choose another name from the User pop-up menu. User pop-up menu The previous user’s settings are saved, and the new user’s settings are loaded into the Avid system and the Project window. Modifying Settings You can alter the default options for various settings to reflect the specific needs of a project or to customize the system based on personal preferences. There are three types of settings you cannot modify.
Settings scroll list A dialog box or window opens. 2. Enter new values or select new options for the settings. 3. Click OK, Save, Apply, Cancel, or the close box. The system saves changes in the appropriate User, Project, or Site settings file. Working with Multiple Settings You can have multiple versions of settings in your Settings scroll list in the Project window that apply to several users at various stages of production.
• Multiple Keyboard and Composer settings to use for various activities such as digitizing, offline editing, or online effects editing • Multiple Deck Preferences settings for various types of digitizing or for output Duplicating Settings To create a new version of a setting: 1. Click the Settings button in the Project window to display a list of your current settings. 2. Click the setting you want to copy. Shift+click any additional settings you want to copy. 3. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu.
2. Type a new name and press Return. The new name appears in the list and is saved in the settings file. Selecting Among Multiple Settings With multiple settings, only one setting at a time is active. Settings that are currently active have a check mark to the left of the setting name. To change the active setting, click in the space to the left of the setting you want to select as the active setting. A check mark indicates that the setting is active.
Restoring Default Settings You can restore your settings to the default values at any time by doing the following: 1. Click a setting to highlight it. Shift+click each additional setting you want to select. 2. Choose Restore to Default from the Special menu. An alert box asks whether you want to save the settings. 3. Click Copy & Restore to copy the current settings before restoring the default settings, or click Restore to discard the current settings.
To copy settings between files: 1. With the Settings display active, open the destination settings file in one of the following ways: • Create and open a new settings file by choosing New Setting File from the File menu. An untitled settings window opens. • Open an existing settings file by choosing Open Setting File from the File menu. The Open dialog box appears. Locate and select a settings file in the Avid Projects or Avid Users folder and click Open. The settings file window opens. 2.
4. You can also drag settings from the Settings window into the Settings scroll list in the Project window. When you copy a setting into the Settings scroll list and the setting is active, an alert box appears. 5. Do one of the following: • Click Add to add the new settings to the project without affecting the project’s current settings. • Click Replace to replace the current version of each setting with the new settings. Additional versions of each setting are not affected.
To load settings into the SiteSettings file: 1. Open a project with the settings you would like to establish as site settings. If a project does not already exist with the settings you want, create a project and make adjustments to the default settings as needed. 2. Choose Site Settings from the Special menu. The Site Settings window opens. 3. Click a setting in the Settings scroll list of the Project window or Shift+click multiple settings and drag them into the Site Settings window.
To activate Info display, click the Info button in the Project window. Info button Fast Menu button The items listed in this view are for information only and cannot be changed from the Info list. The Fast Menu button at the bottom of the Info display in the Project window displays four menu items: Profile, Usage, Memory, and Hardware. Displaying a Project Profile The Profile displays basic project information, such as the video format (NTSC or PAL). To display the Profile information: 1.
Displaying Usage Information The statistics feature gathers and reports information on system usage. You can use this information to support business functions such as resource management. All statistics are gathered and reported by project. The file that contains this information is formatted so that you can use it as input to software programs such as analysis applications, spreadsheets, or report generators. c Do not rely on the statistics feature for billing or other financial purposes.
File Structure and Layout A new statistics file is created each time you open the project. The files are stored in a Statistics folder inside each project folder. The file name has the following format: Statistics.yymmdd.
Figure 3-1 Sample Data File Description of Data File Values The values in the first column indicate the content of the line.
105 106 110 111 113 114 115 116 117 Digitized Media bytes used Rendered Effects bytes used Effects rendering time Title tool open Title tool active Title tool rendering Digitize tool digitizing Digitize tool logging user comments The value in the second column indicates the type of data in the line.
3. Choose General for Column Data Format. 4. Click Finish. The statistics file appears in spreadsheet format. Spreadsheet Form of Statistics Data File Figure 3-2 is the same sample file as it appears when you import into a spreadsheet.
Displaying Disk Space Statistics To improve system performance, statistics for disk space (digitized media and rendered effects) are not calculated and are not displayed in the Usage window, unless you issue a Console command. To display disk space statistics in the Usage window: 1. Choose Console from the Tools menu. 2. In the command entry text box, type: toggleStatSpace 3. Press Return. 4. Choose Load Media Database from the File menu.
The Memory window displays the following information: n • Objects: The total number of memory handles currently used by Media Composer. Objects include memory requirements of the application, such as windows, as well as clips, sequences, and other items associated with a project. • Total Mem: The total number of bytes of RAM (random-access memory). • Free Mem: The amount of RAM available for allocation by the Macintosh system.
Customizing Your Workspace A workspace is the arrangement and size of tool windows displayed on your Avid system. If you are accustomed to working with a particular group of windows arranged and sized in a particular setup, you can assign them to a workspace setting that you can then recall with a workspace button. For example, during digitizing you might want to display the Digitize tool and Video Input tool in specific locations.
Creating a New Workspace Setting To create a new workspace setting: 1. Click Settings in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears in the Project window. 2. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings scroll list and select Workspace. Workspace is highlighted. 3. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu. A new workspace setting appears in the Settings scroll list. n If you are duplicating a previously named workspace setting, a .1 appears at the end of the new name. 4.
b. Type a name for the new custom workspace; for example, digitizing. c. Press Return. 6. Open the windows and tools that you want to associate the workspace with. Resize and move the windows to the location you want them to appear on the monitors. 7. Double-click the custom workspace setting. The Workspace Settings dialog box appears. 8.
Linking User Settings and Workspaces User settings can be linked to a workspace. You can create a customized workspace and set up specific options in any Settings dialog box, and link them together by name. For example, you can create an Audio workspace that opens the Audio Mix tool and Audio tool. This workspace can also open a customized Timeline (with enlarged audio tracks and rubberbanding displays). Then, you can link this workspace to a Settings dialog box with customized options selected.
6. Give this setting the same name you gave the workspace in step 2. Linked setting Linked setting Linked workspace 7. Double-click the workspace you just created. The Workspace dialog box appears. 8. Click Activate Settings Linked by Name. 9. Click OK. All the settings and the new workspace you created are activated.
Switching Between Workspaces To switch from one workspace to another: 1. Click the Settings button in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears in the Project window. 2. Click to the left of the workspace setting you want to use. A check mark appears next to the workspace. You can also switch between workspaces by using the Workspace buttons. To assign Workspace buttons, see “Assigning a Workspace Button” on page 108. Deleting a Workspace To delete a workspace: 1.
Assigning a Workspace Button To assign a Workspace button: 1. If you want to assign a Workspace button to a palette (for example, the Tool Palette from the Fast Menu), open the palette. 2. Choose Command Palette from the Tools menu. W1 button More tab Button-to-Button Reassignment 3. Click the More tab. 4. Select the Button to Button Reassignment radio button. 5. Click a Workspace button (W1 – W8) and drag the button to a location on another palette (for example, the Tool palette) or the keyboard.
CHAPTER 4 Using Basic Tools The Tools menu on the Media Composer menu bar provides quick access to a collection of essential tools for use in your projects. This chapter provides information about several basic tools that you can use at any time during your project.
To open a tool, choose its name from the Tools menu. The Tools menu also allows you to activate or open windows that have been closed or are covered by other windows. These include any open tools, plus the Composer, Timeline, and Project windows. The following sections describe several basic tools that you can use at any time during a project. For information about each tool listed in the Tools menu, open the window, move the pointer to the window, and press the Help key.
Using the Deck Controller The deck controller provides direct serial or VLXi® V-LAN® control of an Avid-compatible tape deck at any time during editing. This allows you to cue and screen footage from source tapes in various edit modes or when recording a digital cut, without entering Capture mode. To open a deck controller, choose New Deck Controller from the Tools menu. The Avid Deck Manager program is initialized, and a new Deck Controller window opens.
For more information on logging with the Digitize tool, see “Digitizing and Logging at the Same Time” on page 214. - If you turn the deck power off with the deck controller already open, the indicator shows the message “Power Off.” - If you switch the deck control to Local on the VTR, the indicator shows the message “Local.” • The Timecode indicator flashes green during playback or digitizing to indicate that the system is receiving valid timecode from the source tape.
Using the Command Palette The Command palette provides a central location for all user-selectable buttons that you can map to various locations for ease of use. Userselectable buttons allow you to perform a wide range of commands with a single click of the mouse. The Command palette organizes buttons by editing function. Tabs are displayed for each editing function and the buttons that perform those functions are displayed within each tab.
About Button Mapping Mapping user-selectable buttons allows you to reconfigure Command palettes or the keyboard in various combinations to suit different editing needs. The following are a few examples: • Subcataloging clips: You can map the Make Subclip button and other clip management buttons.
The Avid application saves button configurations as follows: • Changes to the keyboard are saved in the Keyboard setting. • Changes to the pop-up monitor Command palettes, monitor Command palettes, and Tool palette in the Composer window are saved with the Composer settings. • Changes to Command palettes in Trim mode are saved with Trim settings. You can change the appearance of the buttons on the Tool palettes by using the Interface settings from the Settings scroll list in the Project window.
3. Select Button to Button Reassignment at the bottom of the Command palette. 4. Select the tab from which you want to choose a user-selectable button. 5. Drag the button from the Command palette to a button location on the other palette. Using the Blank Button The Blank button allows you to replace a defined button with an undefined button. If you do not need or use a specific button within the Source or Record monitor, a pop-up monitor, or Tool palette, you can replace these buttons with a blank button.
To map menu commands: 1. Open a window that has user-selectable buttons by doing one of the following: • Activate a monitor in the Composer window. • Tear off the Tool palette by clicking a Fast Menu button and dragging the palette. • Open a clip in a pop-up monitor. • Enter Trim mode in the Composer window. • Open the Keyboard palette from the Settings scroll list in the Project window. 2. Choose Command Palette from the Tools menu. The Command palette appears. 3.
5. Click a menu and choose the menu command you want to map to the target button. The initials for the menu command appear on the target button. Menu command mapped to a button Activating Commands from the Command Palette You can perform a command function directly from the Command palette; for example, click the Play button in the Command palette to play the material in the Source window. To activate a command from the Command palette: 1. Choose Command Palette from the Tools menu.
For example, you can: • Convert drop-frame to non-drop-frame timecode values • Convert timecode durations between 30-fps and 25-fps projects • Convert a duration in video to the corresponding length in footage and frames for measuring 35mm film To use the Avid Calculator: 1. Choose Calculator from the Tools menu. The Avid Calculator opens. Format pop-up menu 2. Choose a format from the Format pop-up menu. 3. Make calculations in the selected format.
Using the Console The Console window provides a number of features, including: c • Current system information, including your system ID number • A log of error messages • Detailed information about sequence segments in the Timeline or about objects in a bin • Information after you digitize or import Do not use the programming features of the Console without guidance from Avid professionals. Contact your local Avid Reseller (in North America, you may contact Avid Customer Support).
Getting Information with the Console This function provides quick access to bin information such as total duration of selected clips, or total items in a bin including hidden items. You can also use this procedure to display information about a shot, segment, or sequence in the Timeline. To get information with the Console window: 1. Choose Console from the Tools menu. 2.
Using the Hardware Tool The Hardware tool provides the following information about the system’s hardware configuration: • The Disks tab lists each online drive. The shaded portion of the bar next to each drive shows the total size of the drive and the amount of storage space currently filled. • The System tab lists the operating system, its version and build, and the physical memory. To check the hardware configuration of your Avid system, do one of the following: • Choose Hardware from the Tools menu.
• Each online drive is listed on the left side of the tool. The name of each drive and its total size are listed below each Drive icon. The shaded portion of the bar graph to the right of each drive shows the amount of storage space currently filled. The number in the bar graph indicates the amount of available drive storage space for each drive. • The name of the operating system and version number appear on the System tab. The total physical memory is also listed in the same location.
To access the Serial Ports tool: 1. Choose Serial Ports from the Tools menu. The Serial Ports tool opens. Close box Appear only after you add a deck using the Deck Configuration dialog box. 2. Assign ports for deck control and other devices, as necessary, by choosing a port or no port from any of the pop-up menus. 3. Close the Serial Ports tool.
CHAPTER 5 Logging When you log with a deck or import shot log files, you provide the Avid system with frame-accurate clip information used to digitize the source footage. The logs you create form the foundation for organizing, tracking, storing, retrieving, and generating lists of edit information throughout your project.
Logging Preroll Be sure to leave adequate preroll with continuous timecode prior to IN points when logging your tapes. The recommended minimum preroll is 2 seconds for Betacam playback, and 5 seconds for 3/4-inch U-matic playback. n You set the default preroll for tape playback by using Deck Settings. For more information, see Table 6-1 on page 157.
an EDL. Choose a case convention and maintain it throughout a project. n If you want your Avid system to consider master clips as coming from the exact same tape, you should try to choose that tape name from the Select Tape dialog box. If you do not see the tape you are looking for, but know you have online media from that tape, you should click the Scan for Tapes button. For more information, see “Logging with an Avid-Controlled Deck” on page 136.
Adding a Memory Mark You can add a memory mark to a particular location on a tape. The Mark Memory button on the Digitize tool allows you to add one mark per tape. The Go to Memory button allows you to move through the tape to the marked location. You can clear the memory mark by using the Clear Memory button. The memory mark is not stored on the tape. When you remove the tape from the deck and insert another tape into the decks, the mark is cleared.
Transferring Bins from MediaLog for Macintosh For information on specific MediaLog procedures, see the Avid MediaLog for Macintosh User’s Guide. n MediaLog for Macintosh systems is a standalone application that speeds the process of creating and importing log information from any Macintosh computer. MediaLog mirrors the Avid system interface for creating projects, bins, and clip information in the bin, and includes serial deck control for logging directly from tape.
8. Associate the imported bins with your project by doing the following: a. Choose Open Bin from the File menu. b. Locate the new bin by using the Open Bin dialog box. c. Double-click the bin to open it within your project. The new bin appears in the Bins scroll list in the Project window. The bins you have imported contain master clips only with no associated media files. Before you can view or manipulate these clips, you must create the associated media files by batch digitizing the source material.
The Avid Log Exchange dialog box appears. Files you can generate Files you can convert Clean option Track selection Quit button Convert button For specific information on the various file types shown here, see Appendix D. 3. Make selections for Input and Output. The default output selection is the Avid Log Exchange (.ALE) format. This is the required format for import into an Avid bin. 4. Select the tracks to include in the Tracks column of the log.
7. Open the drive and folder that contain the files you want to convert. Location of the files File to be converted 8. Double-click the input file name. Only one file is converted at a time. Avid Log Exchange stores the converted file in the same folder as the original input file. Input file Converted file The original file name extension is replaced by the extension for the new format. The .ALE files can be imported only into Avid products.
Drag-and-Drop Conversion Use this shortcut to convert any type of file into an .ALE file: 1. Insert the floppy disk in the floppy drive, if the files you want to convert are stored on a floppy disk. 2. Open the folder that contains the Avid Log Exchange icon. 3. Open the folder that contains the files you want to convert, positioning the folder so the Avid Log Exchange icon is visible. 4. Select files for conversion. 5. Drag the selected files to the Avid Log Exchange icon and release.
To create Avid Logs, using a word processor: 1. Enter shot log information according to the specifications described in Appendix D. 2. Save your file as a text file in the Save As dialog box. c The Avid system only accepts text files (ASCII format). When logging manually, you should document the following information: • Identify the source tape for each shot. • Document each clip’s name, start timecode, and end timecode. This is the minimum information required to digitize successfully.
The Select Files to Import dialog box appears. Directory pop-up menu Source file list File Type pop-up menu 4. Choose Shot Log from the File Type pop-up menu. 5. Click the Options button to open the Import Settings dialog box, if you want to select options for combining events on import. For information on Import settings, see Table 8-1 on page 242. 6. After selecting the appropriate options, click OK to close the Import Settings dialog box and return to the Select Files to Import dialog box. 7.
Logging Directly into a Bin You can log clips directly into a bin by using the Digitize tool in one of two ways described in this section: For complete information on working with bin columns and clip information, see “Using Text View” on page 287. • Log directly into a bin with an Avid-controlled deck for semiautomated data entry. • Log manually during or after viewing of footage offline with a non-Avid-controlled deck or other source.
Digitize/Log Mode button Log button Channel Selection Message bar Timecode display Deck controls Deck Selection pop-up menu Source Tape display n If you forgot to connect and turn on the power to the deck before opening the Digitize tool, you can reinitialize deck control after turning it on by choosing Check Decks from the Deck Selection pop-up menu. 4. If the Digitize tool is not currently in Log mode, click the Digitize/ Log Mode button until the LOG icon appears. 5. Insert your tape into the deck.
New tape name List of tapes Show Tapes option For guidelines when naming tapes, see “Logging Tips” on page 125. 6. Provide the system with a tape name in one of the following ways: • Select the name of the tape from the list in the Select Tape dialog box and click OK. • Click New if the tape is not in the list. A new tape name line appears in the dialog box. Type the new name and click OK. The tape name is displayed in the Digitize tool.
Go To IN • Go To OUT If the footage starts at a known IN point or ends at a known OUT point, type the timecode in the text box next to the Mark IN or Mark OUT buttons, press the Go To IN or Go To OUT button to scan the tape forward to the mark, or press Return to enter it. After you set the mark, the icon in the Log button changes to the corresponding OUT or IN mark, and a pencil appears on the button. 8.
Logging with Non-Avid-Controlled Decks You can use the Digitize tool to log clips directly into a bin from a source that is not Avid-controlled. For example, you can log clips from a deck that is not connected to the system, or from handwritten or printed log information for a tape that was previously logged but is not currently available. 1. If there is a deck connected to the system, eject the tape from the deck.
The Digitize tool opens. Digitize/Log Mode button Log button Channel Selection Message bar Timecode display Erase Mark button Deck controls Deck Selection pop-up menu Source Tape display Mark OUT button Mark IN button 7. Click the Digitize/Log Mode button in the Digitize tool until the LOG icon appears. 8. Click the Source Tape display button. A dialog box appears. 9. Click Yes to open the Select Tape dialog box. 10.
Modifying Clip Information Before Digitizing For complete information on working with bin columns and clip information, see “Using Text View” on page 287. You can change or modify the information logged in the bin. This is especially useful if you find that some of the data is incorrect, or if you need to update the information based on technical needs, such as varying timecode formats.
To modify selected clips: 1. Open the bin. 2. Click a Clip icon to select it. Shift+click each additional clip you want to modify. Selected clip is highlighted. 3. Choose Modify from the Clip menu. The Modify dialog box appears.
4. Choose an option, such as Set Timecode By Field, from the Modification Type pop-up menu. Depending on the modification you select, different options appear in the dialog box that allow you to establish the specific modification as shown in Table 5-1 on page 145. 5. After choosing the type of modification, select an option or enter information into the text boxes (timecode values, for example) when they appear. 6. Click OK. The modification takes effect.
Table 5-1 Modifying Bin Information Options Type of Modification Options Description Set Timecode Drop/ Nondrop Drop, Nondrop Changes the timecode format between drop-frame and non-drop-frame. Setting must match the timecode format of the tape. Set Timecode By Field Start or End Changes either the start or end timecode. Only start timecode can be altered after digitizing. Hour, Minutes, Second, Frame Allows you to enter custom timecode. Start or End Changes either the start or end timecode.
Table 5-1 Modifying Bin Information Options (Continued) Type of Modification Options Description Set Tracks V, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8 track selector buttons Changes the clip’s configuration of tracks (film projects only). Set Source None Opens the Select Tape dialog box. Selects another source tape name for the clips. Should match the original source tape name.
4. Choose the Export setting by doing one of the following: • If you have previously created an Export setting for exporting shot log files, choose the setting from the Export pop-up menu. Then, go to step 9. For information on creating Export settings, see “Creating and Using Export Settings” on page 717. • If you want to review or edit Export settings, go to step 5. 5. Click Customize. The Export Settings dialog box appears. 6. Select either Avid Log Exchange or Tab Delimited as the file type.
7. Type a name in the text box at the top of the dialog box to name the Export setting. The Export Setting name is added to the list of formats available from the Export dialog box. 8. Click OK to close the Export Settings dialog box. 9. Click OK to close the Export dialog box. A Destination dialog box appears with a default file name in the Export As text box, based on the file type. 10. (Option) Change the file name. In most cases, keep the default file name extension. 11.
CHAPTER 6 Preparing to Digitize Digitizing is the process of converting source material from analog videotape to digital form. Before you begin this process — described in Chapter 7 — you need to complete the following preparations: • Preparing the Hardware • Selecting Settings • Entering Capture Mode • Setting Up the Compression Tool • Setting Up the Digitize Tool • Preparing for Audio Input • Preparing for Video Input This chapter also provides a digitize preparations check list.
n For information on connecting your equipment, see the Avid Media Composer Products Setup Guide. You should check the following items prior to digitizing: For more information on the 16 x 9 format option, see “Using the 16 x 9 Display Format” on page 386. • Third, full-screen monitor. Before you begin digitizing and editing, set up your NTSC or PAL full-screen monitor by using a color bar generator (or house pattern) and lock in those settings, if you have not done so already. • 16 x 9 format.
Selecting Settings For a complete description of procedures for locating and changing settings, see “Using the Settings Display” on page 75. Several settings have a direct bearing on the digitizing process. Before digitizing, review the following options: • General Settings include options for NTSC tape formats and drive filtering: - n Drive Filtering Based on Resolution causes the system to dim all drives for which speed capabilities are unknown or untested in a particular resolution.
the entire tape as a single clip by digitizing to multiple media files. - The with outpoint set option allows you to mark an OUT point to stop digitizing when you are performing unattended batch digitizing or autodigitizing. Deck Configuration Settings Deck Configuration settings and global deck control preferences appear as separate items in the Settings scroll list of the Project window.
To configure a deck or multiple decks: 1. Double-click Deck Configuration in the Settings scroll list. The Deck Configuration dialog box appears. 2. If you are configuring your system for the first time, click the Add Channel button to add a new channel box on the left side of the Deck Configuration dialog box and automatically open a Channel dialog box.
n Channel refers to the signal path for deck control, whether directly through a serial port or through a V-LAN VLXi system connected to a serial port. Direct serial port connection allows one deck for each channel, while a V-LAN VLXi system provides multiple decks. 3. Choose one of the following from the Channel Type pop-up menu, depending upon your system configuration. • Direct if you are connecting a deck directly to the serial port. • VLAN VLX if you are connecting a deck via a V-LAN VLXi. 4.
Channel boxes appear on the left side. n You can reopen the Channel settings to change the options at any time by double-clicking the channel box. 7. Click the channel box to select it. 8. Click Add Deck to open the Deck Settings dialog box. n With a deck already connected to the system, you can also click the Autoconfigure button to bypass the Deck Settings dialog box and automatically configure a deck with the default settings. 9. Configure Deck settings based on your deck.
Decks appear on the right side. n You can reopen the Deck Settings dialog box to change the options at any time by double-clicking the deck box in the Deck Configuration dialog box. 11. Repeat steps 2 to 10 for each additional channel or deck you want to configure. 12. (Option) Select the “Verify configuration against actual decks” option if you want to check the deck configuration against the decks physically connected to the system.
14. Click Apply to complete the configurations and close the Deck Configuration dialog box. 15. If necessary, double-click Deck Preferences in the Settings scroll list of the Project window to adjust global deck control options. See “Setting Deck Preferences” on page 159. Deck Settings Options You can access the Deck Settings dialog box by doing one of the following: • Click the Add Deck button on the Deck Configuration dialog box.
Table 6-1 Deck Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Fast Cue Speeds up long searches, if your decks can read timecode in fast forward or rewind mode. Otherwise, this option is not useful. Switch to ff/rew (seconds) When this option is selected, the system switches to fast forward or rewind if the target timecode is beyond the specified number of seconds from your current location on the tape.
2. Click a channel box, a deck box, or the entire configuration to select it. 3. Click the Delete button in the dialog box to delete the element. 4. Click Apply to complete the changes and close the dialog box. Setting Deck Preferences Deck preferences are global settings for basic deck control. These settings apply to all decks connected to your system, regardless of your deck configuration. You can open the Deck Preferences dialog box from the Settings scroll list of the Project window.
Table 6-2 Deck Preferences Options Option Description When no tape in deck log as You choose the timecode format (Drop Frame or Non-drop Frame) for logging clips when no tape is in the deck. When a tape is in the deck, the system automatically uses the existing timecode format on the tape. Allow assemble edit for digital cut You can use the assemble-edit features in the Digital Cut tool along with the assemble-editing capabilities of your record deck.
To enter Capture mode: 1. Make sure the playback deck is properly connected to the system and is turned on. 2. Open your project and the bin in which you want to store your master clips. 3. With the bin active, choose Go To Capture Mode from the Bin menu. The Digitize tool appears.
4. Make sure you are in Digitize mode. If the Digitize tool is in Log mode, click the Digitize/Log Mode button until the DIG icon appears. n In Capture mode, the full-screen monitor displays the playback footage at all times when the video track is selected in the Digitize tool. Setting Up the Compression Tool You can choose various compression parameters in the Compression tool. To choose Compression settings: 1. Choose Compression from the Tools menu. Audio settings Video compression settings 2.
n Settings in both the Compression tool and the audio interface do not affect the sample rate of digital audio signals. 3. Choose a video resolution and color rate from the pop-up menus. The Resolution pop-up menu contains a list of the available compression ratios. For uncompressed media, choose 1:1 from the menu. About the Color Rate Option In addition to the video resolution, the Color pop-up menu allows you to choose to filter out all of the color from each frame of video with the monochrome option.
Setting up the Digitize tool involves the following steps: • Selecting a deck • Selecting a tape • Selecting source tracks • Choosing a video resolution in the Digitize tool • Choosing a target bin • Selecting the target drives • Checking the time remaining display • Selecting a custom preroll These steps are described in this section.
Selecting a Deck The Deck Selection pop-up menu in the Digitize tool contains a list of any decks that were connected to the system, powered up, and initialized when you entered Capture mode. For information about Capture mode, see “Entering Capture Mode” on page 160. You must have V-LAN VLXi hardware to control more than one deck at a time. For more information on V-LAN equipment, contact your Avid sales representative.
Selecting a Tape To select a source tape: 1. Insert a tape into your deck. The Select Tape dialog box appears. For information about deck preferences, see “Setting Deck Preferences” on page 159. n For information on tape naming conventions, see “Naming Tapes” on page 126. 2. In an NTSC project, play the tape briefly so that the system can detect the timecode format of the tape (drop-frame or non-dropframe).
Selecting Source Tracks You can choose the tracks to digitize from the source tape. Click the channel selection buttons in the Digitize tool to select only those tracks that you want to digitize. Channel selection buttons n When using an Avid-controlled deck, the TC (timecode) track will be selected by default, and the system will digitize the timecode from the source tape. If you deselect the TC button, the system will digitize with time-of-day timecode.
Choosing a Resolution in the Digitize Tool If you did not already choose a resolution in the Compression tool, or the Compression tool is closed, you can use the Res (Resolution) popup menu in the Digitize tool. To choose a resolution, click the Res pop-up menu in the Digitize tool and make a selection. The resolution list contains a list of the available compression ratios. Choose 1:1 from the Res pop-up menu for uncompressed media. n For more information on the video resolutions, see Appendix C.
Selecting the Target Drives Targeting drives for the digitized media is a three-step process: 1. Make sure you are in Digitize mode. If the Digitize tool is in Log mode, click the Digitize/Log Mode button until the DIG icon appears. For tips on targeting media drives for effective storage and playback, see Appendix C. 2. Decide whether to digitize audio and video to a single drive, or separate drives, as described in the following sections.
Targeting Separate Drives for Audio and Video To achieve optimal performance, stripe two or more drives. For more information, see the AVIDdrive Utility User’s Guide. You can target separate drives for video and audio tracks. If you choose the uncompressed resolution, you must target the audio to the audio drives and target the video to the video drives. This improves performance because the system is not required to address all the information in separate locations on a single drive.
You can interpret this display based on the following factors: • Each digitized clip has a maximum file size limit of 2 GB (gigabytes). Any video clip whose media exceeds the 2-GB limit will have more than one media file associated with it. • When adequate space exists on the chosen drive, the time remaining displayed in the Digitize tool is based on 2 GB per clip at the chosen resolution. This number will reappear for each clip digitized, as long as there is adequate drive space.
To digitize video or audio to multiple media files: 1. Double-click Digitize in the Settings scroll list of the Project window. The Digitize Settings dialog box appears. Multiple file options 2. Select the option “Digitize to multiple files.” 3. Select the option “Prepare multiple files for (minutes).” You can accept the default or enter a different time limit in the text box, based on the following explanation: Prior to digitizing, the system goes through a process of preparing the drive volumes.
5. Enter Capture mode or open the Digitize tool. Target Drive pop-up menu 6. To digitize to multiple files across drive volumes, choose Change Group from the Target Drive pop-up menu in the Digitize tool.
The Volumes dialog box appears. 7. Shift+click to select multiple volumes to include in the digitizing session, or click the All button to select all volumes. 8. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the changes. When you digitize, any clip that exceeds the capacity of a volume (whether that volume is empty or already contains media files) will continue digitizing onto another volume in the group.
Digitizing Across Timecode Breaks When digitizing across timecode breaks, you can use control track instead of timecode for VTR preroll. For more information on settings options, see Table 6-3 on page 176. For a complete description of procedures for locating and changing settings, see “Using the Settings Display” on page 75. Control track preroll allows you to capture all the footage following a timecode break.
General Digitize Settings Options The Digitize settings specify how to digitize video clips. Table 6-3 describes the General Digitize Settings options. For information on the batch digitize settings, see “Batch Digitize Settings Options” on page 230. Table 6-3 General Digitize Settings Options Option Description Digitize to multiple files When this option is selected, the system writes digitized video or audio to multiple files across multiple drive partitions.
Table 6-3 General Digitize Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Use control track instead of timecode for preroll When this option is selected, the system captures all the footage following a timecode break, instead of using 1–6 seconds of unbroken timecode following the break to perform the preroll before digitizing. For complete instructions, see “Digitizing Across Timecode Breaks” on page 175.
Prepare for audio input by using the following procedures described in this section: • Choosing the audio file format • Establishing sync for audio-only input • Adjusting Audio settings • Using the Audio tool • Using the Console to check audio levels Choosing the Audio File Format Media Composer supports the creation of audio media in the industry-standard Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF-C) and RIFF Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE).
The General Settings dialog box appears. 2. Choose either SDII, OMF (AIFF-C), or OMF (WAVE) from the Audio File Format pop-up menu. 3. Click OK. Audio is written in the chosen file format when you: • Digitize audio tracks in Capture mode. • Create new clips by using the Audio Punch In tool. • Create tone media by using the Audio tool. • Mix down audio tracks by using Audio Mixdown.
transition. For example, if the A-side of an audio dissolve is in OMF (AIFF-C) format and the B-side (incoming) is OMF (WAVE), the rendered file will be OMF (AIFF-C). • Audio media files written when using the Consolidate feature: Media files that are copied or created during a consolidate procedure retain their original file types. Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input When you digitize audio with video, the video input always generates sync for both.
Checking for a Valid Digital Sync Signal If you are digitizing audio-only input from a digital source such as a DAT deck, the eight-channel audio converter is limited to acquiring a digital sync signal from channels 1 and 2. c Channels 1 and 2 are often the first choice for input of a signal that provides digital sync. If you want to input audio from channels 3 through 8, however, you must have a valid digital signal coming in on either channel 1 or 2.
The Audio Settings dialog box appears.
• Sync Mode: The Sync Mode pop-up menu includes two optional sources for audio sync: - Video Sync — This sets the clock and timing for the sample rate internally. If your system is equipped with the Digidesign audio interface and black burst generator, set the Sync Mode to Video Sync. Use Video Sync for all analog audio input and output to ensure the audio sample clock is always in sync with the clock. This prevents long-term drift between audio and video.
Using the Audio Tool The Audio tool, along with your hardware’s audio parameters, allows you to do the following in preparation for input: • Check and manage your audio hardware setup. • Set audio levels before digitizing. In addition, controls in the Audio tool allow you to calibrate, set levels, and generate customized calibration tone for output to the speakers or a record device. For more information on output procedures involving the Audio tool, see “Preparing for Audio Output” on page 693.
The Audio tool has the following characteristics: • The Output Control button displays a panel that contains a single slider control for raising or lowering global audio output. • The Setup Control button displays a panel of audio output options for channel assignments, mixing tracks, and ignoring pan and volume settings. • The Reset Peak button resets the current maximum peak measurements. It also stops the playback of the internal calibration tone.
Resizing the Audio Tool You can resize the Audio tool for greater visibility during input and output. For example, when batch digitizing in a busy facility, you can make the tool larger to watch levels from across a room. To adjust the size of the Audio tool, click the top or bottom of the tool and drag it to the preferred size. Adjusting the Reference Level The volume unit scale (VU) to the right of the meters is a sliding scale relative to the fixed digital scale displayed on the left.
2. Enter the new value for the reference level (–12, for example), and click OK. The volume unit scale slides to match the new reference level, which is displayed on the digital scale. Volume unit scale slides up to display less headroom. Digital scale displays corresponding reference value.
Choosing a Peak Hold Option The Peak Hold pop-up menu provides two options for displaying peak levels in the meters, as follows: • When you choose the Peak Hold option, the meters display a normal rising and falling volume trail in the meters. This is the default option.
• When you choose the Infinite Hold option, each meter permanently retains a single bar at the peak volume level measured during playback. The effect is cumulative: the bar continues to rise and hold with each new peak, and serves as a record of the highest peak for each channel. Infinite Hold peaks remain during and after playback. To delete the peaks and start over at any time, click the RP (Reset Peak) button.
variations in levels among the source material, the playback devices, and the Avid system. To adjust input levels: 1. Click the In/Out toggle buttons for the appropriate channels to display the I for Input. 2. Play back the source audio (from a videotape or DAT, for example). If the recording includes reference tone, cue to the tone and play it back. n Voice recording serves as a good backup reference.
Volume Unit scale varies, displaying custom reference level setting, +1 dB above and –1 dB below. 2. Use a jeweler’s screwdriver to fine-tune the Input Level trim pots on the Digidesign audio interface until the peaks rest at the appropriate value. 3. To return to the default Audio tool display, choose Calibrate from the PH (Peak Hold) pop-up menu. To set the input level during digitizing, adjust the level externally until the signals fall within the appropriate range on the meters.
Creating Tone Media You can create your own tone media and master clips for editing directly into sequences. To create tone media: 1. Open a bin. 2. Choose Create Tone Media from the PH (Peak Hold) pop-up menu in the Audio tool. The Tone Media Parameters dialog box appears. 3. Set the appropriate calibration tone parameters for the project. You can also use the default output tone of –14 dB (digital scale) with a 1000-Hz signal.
Using the Console to Check Audio Levels Once you have played back audio through the Audio tool, you can use the Console to view a list of precise information about the peak levels. To check peak levels in the Console: 1. Open the Audio tool. 2. Click the RP (Reset Peak) button to clear the system’s record of the most recent maximum peaks. 3. Play a sequence or portion of the sequence. 4. After playing back the audio, open the Console by choosing Console from the Tools menu. 5.
Preparing for Video Input The Avid system provides a Video Input tool for calibrating composite video, component video, and S-Video. n If you are capturing serial digital video, for example, from a D1, D5, or digital Betacam VTR, you cannot adjust levels by using the video input controls in Media Composer. If you plan to make adjustments at the source deck, information in this section regarding the Internal Waveform and Vectorscope monitors might be useful. Otherwise, you can proceed to Chapter 7.
The Video Input tool has the following characteristics: n • The Input pop-up menu lets you choose either a Composite, Component, Serial Digital, or S-Video input source. • The sliders let you change the value for each setting. • The preset buttons are highlighted when the factory preset levels are displayed. • The Settings pop-up menu lets you save the settings for an individual tape each time you calibrate bars.
Using the Factory Presets The preset buttons on the Video Input tool show the status of each calibration setting as follows: • When you first open the Video Input tool in a new project, all preset buttons are lit (green), with the factory presets loaded for each slider. Preset button • When you click a slider of a lit preset button, the button pops out (arrow turns black), and the slider moves to the position of the pointer.
About Video Input Calibration For information on calibrating for video output, see “Calibrating for Video Output” on page 683. n c This section provides essential information for input calibration. You should calibrate the input levels for each videotape when you digitize to ensure the continuity of picture quality between tapes. If you are capturing serial digital video, for example from a D1, D5, or digital Betacam VTR, you cannot adjust levels by using the video input controls in Media Composer.
Calibrating Video Input To calibrate the video input: 1. Make sure you have properly connected the playback VTR to the system. For more information, see the Avid Media Composer Products Setup Guide. 2. Choose Video Input Tool from the Tools menu. The Video Input tool opens. 3. Choose the appropriate input channel from the Input pop-up menu based on your source tape format: Composite, Component, S-Video, or Serial Digital.
n n Sync for video input comes from the source selected in the Video Input tool, whether composite, component, S-Video, or Serial Digital. The proper source device must be connected to the Meridien I/O box as described in the Avid Media Composer Products Setup Guide. When you digitize audio with video, the audio is always synced to the video source. For information regarding sync during audio-only input, see “Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input” on page 180. 4.
The third, full-screen monitor displays one of the following types of bars (or a variation of them): Full-field color bars Color bars can be either 75% or 100% of peak levels. Full-field bars (NTSC or PAL) 100% white SMPTE standard split bars SMPTE bars (NTSC only) Color bars (top 67% of frame) 75% white 7.
5. Click the Consumer Source button located below the sliders in the Video Input tool only if you are digitizing from a consumer-grade video deck (such as a home VCR) or a deck that has no built-in time-base corrector (which includes a number of 3/4-inch U-matic or S-Video models) and you are having trouble with the incoming video quality. n The Composite and S-Video sliders are unavailable when the Consumer Source button is selected. 6.
NTSC waveform values (IRE) White level at 100 IRE (digital 235) (100% bars) White level at 77 IRE (digital 180) (75% bars) Black level at 7.5 IRE (digital 16) (Black level falls at 0 IRE for NTSC-EIAJ) Line slider PAL waveform values (volts) White level at 1 V (digital 235) (100% bars) Black level at 0.3 V (digital 16) Line slider 8. Adjust the Line slider located below the Waveform monitor to display the appropriate line of the test pattern, then adjust the luminance values based on Table 6-4.
Table 6-4 Luminance Settings for Video Input Parameter/ Video Standard a SMPTE Bars Full-Field Bars at 75% or 100% Signal Level Black level (setup) Adjust Line slider to approximately 190 Adjust Line slider to approximately 150 Adjust Black slider to place black level at: Adjust Black slider to place black level at: 7.5 IRE 0.0 IRE NAb 7.5 IRE 0.0 IRE 0.
11. Adjust the Sat and Hue sliders (composite or S-Video) or the RY Gain and BY Gain sliders (component) until the angle and amplitude of the six color vectors fall within the target boxes on the Vectorscope monitor. n c There is no hue adjustment for PAL video. If you incorrectly selected or deselected the 100% Bars button, the factory presets for Saturation or RY and BY Gain will be incorrect. Adjusting these controls in this condition results in oversaturated or undersaturated video.
2. Accept the default name (matching the tape name), or type a new name for the settings. c If you do not use a name that matches the tape name, the system will not recall the setting automatically the next time you load the tape. 3. Click OK. Whenever you batch digitize or choose a tape name during digitizing, the system recalls the saved settings as follows: • The system looks for a Tape setting with the same name as the tape. If the setting exists, the system recalls it.
To create a customized default Video Input tool setting: 1. Choose Video Input Tool from the Tools menu. The Video Input tool opens. 2. Adjust the Calibration settings, as described in “Calibrating Video Input” on page 198. 3. Choose Save As from the Settings pop-up menu in the Video Input tool. The View Name dialog box appears. 4. Type Default, and click OK. (You must use this spelling and initial capitalization.
Digitize Preparations Check List Check your hardware configurations: Turn on switches, cable connections, and remote switches on the source deck for deck control. Make sure you have the options selected in the General Settings, Deck Configuration, and Digitize Settings dialog boxes. Consider striping your drives in advance according to the AVIDdrive Utility User’s Guide if you are working on a complex project with multiple streams of video and high-resolution images.
CHAPTER 7 Digitizing When you digitize, you convert source material from videotape into master clips that contain reference information. You also create associated media files that contain the digital audio and video.
Before You Begin Depending upon your immediate needs, use the following guidelines for working through this chapter based on a chosen digitizing method: • If you want to add locators, create subclips, or log errors to the console during digitizing, read “Special Digitizing Procedures” on page 210. • If you have no logs and would like to begin digitizing right away, see “Digitizing and Logging at the Same Time” on page 214.
Table 7-1 list the Function keys that are available when the Digitize tool is active. Digitize mode overrides any other functions mapped to these keys. Table 7-1 Function Keys Available When Digitizing Function Key Result F1 Marks the beginning of the subclip while digitizing. F2 Marks the end of the subclip while digitizing. F3, F5 to F12 Adds a locator to the current frame while digitizing. Each Function key adds a different color locator. See “Adding Locators On-the-Fly” on page 212.
Consider the following when choosing whether to log errors to the Console during digitizing: For more information on Digitize settings, see “Batch Digitize Settings Options” on page 230. • If the option “Log errors to the console and continue digitizing” is selected in the Digitize Settings dialog box, when you batch digitize and the system encounters an error, it will abort the clip, enter error comments into the console, and continue digitizing the next clip.
3. While the system is digitizing, you can enter a name for the subclip by typing the name. Press the Tab key to enter comments about the clip. 4. When you want the subclip to end, press the F2 key. This highlights the subclip OUT mark in the Digitize tool. n You can press the F2 key repeatedly as you search for the end point of the subclip. The system accepts the last occurrence as the end point.
Table 7-2 Locators Mapped to Function Keys (Continued) Locator Color Function Key Light blue (cyan) F8 Magenta F9 Yellow F10 Black F11 White F12 To add a locator to a frame while digitizing, watch the playback of the footage in the Edit monitor and press one of the locator keys when you see the appropriate shot or frame. Adding Clip Names and Comments On-the-Fly The Avid system’s annotate feature allows you to type clip names and comments during the digitizing of a clip.
Digitizing and Logging at the Same Time When you digitize without entering log information in a bin ahead of time, the system creates clips and associated media files while you digitize. Digitizing in this manner involves manually cueing source footage with an Avid-controlled deck, using the deck controls in the Digitize tool. There are several ways to digitize and log at the same time: • Digitizing from a mark IN to a mark OUT.
Digitizing from a Mark IN to a Mark OUT Digitizing from a mark IN to a mark OUT lets you specify exactly where to begin and end digitizing. You can specify both marks, or only a mark IN or a mark OUT, and the system enters the other mark onthe-fly.
• Type a timecode for the clip’s duration in the text box next to the Duration mark (below the Mark OUT) in the format HH:MM:SS:FF. The system automatically calculates the appropriate timecode for the corresponding mark IN, mark OUT, or duration. 4. Click the Record button in the Digitize tool, or press the F4 key. The Digitize tool automatically rewinds the tape to the preroll point before the IN point of the clip, and the tape begins to play.
This method is useful if you do not need a precise mark IN, but do need to stop at a precise OUT point, for example, just before a timecode break.
Open/Close triangle 4. Use the deck controls in the bottom left corner of the Digitize tool to locate the position on the tape where you want to start digitizing. Fast forward/Rewind Stop Pause Shuttle Play Eject Clear Marks Single-frame step 5. To begin digitizing, play the deck, and when it gets up to speed, click the Record button or press the F4 key. n Make sure you have cleared any previous marks so that the deck does not begin cueing to the previous location.
6. While the system is digitizing, you can type a clip name in the Name text box. Message bar Open/Close triangle n If you want comments to appear in EDLs, add them during editing by using the Add Comments command from the Clip Name menu. For more information, see “Adding Comments to Sequence Clips” on page 456. If the Name text box is not visible on the Digitize tool, you can type a clip name but you cannot view your typing.
In some circumstances, the digitized material might exceed the 2 GB per media file size limit. In such a case, consider digitizing the shot in shorter overlapping pieces, breaking it at points that are likely to be cut out during editing. Autodigitizing Autodigitizing can save you time by allowing you to bypass both the logging process and the time it takes to cue each shot. However, this process requires the most storage space, and more time is spent while the system is actually digitizing entire tapes.
• Turn off the Fast Cue option and set the preroll to approximately 4 seconds in the Deck Settings dialog box. • You should have accurate notes on the number and content of takes on each tape to identify the content of each clip when necessary. To autodigitize: 1. Create one bin for each tape. This keeps bins to a manageable size and automatically names all clips from each tape after the name of their respective bins. 2.
2. Click the Toggle Source button in the Digitize tool until the Deck Offline icon appears to disable the deck controls and leave only the Tape Name display. Toggle Source button n The TC button also disappears. The footage will be digitized with timecode-of-day timecode generated by the system. 3. Click the Tape Name display to open the Select Tape dialog box and identify the source tape.
New tape name List of tapes Show Tapes option For guidelines in naming tapes, see “Logging Tips” on page 125. 4. Provide the system with a tape name in one of the following ways: • Select the name of the tape from the list in the Select Tape dialog box and click OK. • Click New if the tape is not in the list. A New Tape name line appears in the dialog box. Type the new name and click OK. The tape name is displayed in the Digitize tool. 5.
To digitize with time-of-day timecode: 1. Enter Capture mode and set up the tools, as described in Chapter 6. 2. When selecting tracks, deselect the TC button. 3. Digitize by using any of the techniques described in “Digitizing On-the-Fly” on page 217. Digitizing to the Timeline You can digitize footage directly from tape into a sequence loaded in the Timeline in one step, bypassing several steps such as organizing and reviewing clips, marking edit points, and performing edits.
6. Click the Splice-in button or the Overwrite button in the Digitize tool to choose the type of edit. Click the Splice-in button or the Overwrite button. Logging controls 7. Click the Record button to begin digitizing. 8. If you did not mark the OUT point in advance, click the Record button again when the footage reaches the appropriate frame. n If you already marked an OUT point, digitizing will stop automatically.
You can also use the batch digitize process to redigitize existing clips. The redigitizing process is described in “Redigitizing Your Material” on page 231. Preparing to Batch Digitize Preparing for batch digitizing involves an option of resizing the Digitize tool, and establishing settings that allow you to batch digitize with minimal supervision.
Preparing Settings for Unattended Batch Digitizing Unattended batch digitizing allows you to digitize a large number of clips with minimal supervision by selecting Digitize settings that avoid a pause in the digitize process. For more information on Batch Digitize settings, see Table 7-3 on page 230.
5. Choose Batch Digitize from the Clip menu. The Batch Digitize dialog box appears. Handle length options appear only when a sequence is selected. n If the clips that you want to batch digitize are not highlighted in the active bin, Batch Digitize appears dimmed in the Clip menu. 6. Select options in the dialog box: For more information on handle lengths when redigitizing, see “Redigitizing Sequences” on page 232.
n If you are batch digitizing the original source master clips used in the sequence, the sequence will automatically be updated. Therefore, you might want to deselect the sequence during this procedure. 7. Click OK. If you have not loaded a tape, the system prompts you to insert the first tape. 8. Insert the tape into the tape deck and click Mounted. A dialog box appears. 9. Click OK to confirm the tape and deck entries and begin the digitizing process.
Batch Digitize Settings Options The Batch Digitize settings specify how to batch digitize video clips. Table 7-3 describes the Batch Digitize Settings options. For information on the General Digitize settings, see “General Digitize Settings Options” on page 176. Table 7-3 Batch Digitize Settings Options Option Description Log errors to the console and continue digitizing.
Table 7-3 Batch Digitize Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Switch to the emptiest drive if current drive is full. When this option is selected, the system switches to the target media storage drive with the most available space when the current target drive becomes full during batch digitizing. The system switches before starting to digitize the clip, based on the number of minutes in the clip.
• c You can redigitize clips if you accidentally delete media files. Redigitizing requires your original source footage. Do not delete the media files if the source footage is no longer available, unless you will not need the material again. For information on loading the media database to relink clips, see “Loading the Media Database” on page 333.
its new master clips are linked to the newly digitized media files. There are two approaches to redigitizing a sequence: • Use Decompose to create a bin of clips, and then batch digitize the clips. • Redigitize the sequence without using Decompose. Saving Two Versions of a Sequence When Redigitizing To save the original version of your sequence before redigitizing, you can create a duplicate.
sort clips in the bin, modify the clips, and then redigitize selected clips in the sequence. To use Decompose: 1. Activate the bin that stores the sequence and select the sequence. 2. Choose Decompose from the Clip menu. The Decompose dialog box appears. 3. To preserve clips that already have existing media files, select the option “Decompose only those items for which media is currently unavailable.” Do not select this option if you plan to decompose and redigitize the entire sequence. 4.
c If you attempt to trim or add effects with no handles, you will receive an error message notifying you that there is insufficient media. 5. Click the Digitized clips check box to decompose digitized material. 6. Click OK. The new master clips appear in the bin. You can now sort and select these clips like all other objects in the bin. 7. Proceed with the redigitizing procedures described in “Batch Digitizing Clips” on page 227.
The Batch Digitize dialog box appears. 6. To preserve clips that already have existing media, select the option “Digitize only those items for which media is currently unavailable.” Deselect this option if you plan to redigitize the entire sequence. 7. Click the Handle Length text box and type the number of additional frames you want to digitize at the heads and tails of the new master clips. This provides enough overlap to allow for trimming and transition effects.
8. Click OK. The system prompts you to insert the first tape. 9. Insert the tape into the tape deck if you have not already done so. 10. Click Mounted to indicate to the system that the correct tape is loaded and ready for digitizing. A dialog box appears. 11. Click OK to confirm the tape and deck entries. The system digitizes each clip from the tape, in start timecode order. If another source tape is needed, the system prompts for the tape.
CHAPTER 8 Importing Files The Avid system support numerous file types. For a complete list, see Appendix B. The following sections describe how to import files: • Preparing to Import Files • Working with Mixed-Resolution Projects • Creating and Using Import Settings • Importing Files • Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Import Files • Reimporting Files For information about exchanging material with another system, another application, or another platform, see the Avid Products Collaboration Guide.
• For graphics file and OMFI (Open Media Framework® Interchange) file import, prepare the files in advance according to specifications described in Appendix B. • For a complete description of Import settings, see “Import Settings Options” on page 242. Working with Mixed-Resolution Projects For more information on resolutions, see Appendix C. You can work with mixed resolutions in the same sequence. This feature allows you to import graphics that will match the resolution of the final sequence.
Creating and Using Import Settings You can create one or more sets of import parameters and save them as an Import setting. For example, you can create one setting for importing QuickTime® files and another for importing files from AudioVision®. This feature is especially useful when you use the dragand-drop method to import multiple files. See “Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Import Files” on page 251.
To adjust the parameters in an Import Settings dialog box: 1. Double-click an Import setting in the Settings scroll list of the Project window. The Import Settings dialog box appears. The following illustration shows the default settings. 2. Select the appropriate options. For a complete description of all options in the Import Settings dialog box, see “Import Settings Options” on page 242. 3. Click OK. You can now select this setting whenever you import a frame, clip, or sequence.
Import Settings Options Table 8-1 describes the Import Settings options. Table 8-1 Import Settings Options Option Suboption Description Aspect Ratio, Pixel Aspect Maintain, square Select this option for an image that was created in a squarepixel environment, such as a graphics application. Use this option primarily for icons, logos, and other graphics that cannot be resized and are not intended to fill the entire screen.
Table 8-1 Option Import Settings Options (Continued) Suboption Description Maintain & Resize, square Select this option for an image that was created in square-pixel terms when you want to preserve an aspect ratio other than 4 x 3. The system fits the longest dimension to the screen size and fills the missing pixels in the shorter dimension with video black, creating a border. If the image has an alpha channel, this black will be keyed out in the alpha channel.
Table 8-1 Option Suboption File Field Dominance Import Settings Options (Continued) Description This pop-up menu allows you to choose the field dominance of the media you are importing. When the field dominance of the imported media matches the field dominance of the project format, no special processing is required. For more information, see “Two-Field Media Files and Field Dominance” on page 790. This setting does not apply to OMF imports when the import resolution matches the OMF file.
Table 8-1 Option Suboption Import Settings Options (Continued) Description Autodetect Sequential Files When this option is selected and you are importing sequential files, the system recognizes that a sequence of connected files is present and automatically imports the whole sequence. This is the default option. When this option is deselected, the system does not automatically import a whole sequence of files that have sequential extensions. You can then select any single file for import.
Table 8-1 Import Settings Options (Continued) Option Suboption Description Shot Log Combine events based on scene and automatically create subclips. Select this option to combine all the events for a scene into a single master clip and then link the master clip to subclips that represent the original events for that scene. To use this option, you must have scene numbers logged in a scene column in the bin. Combine events based on camera roll and automatically create subclips.
Table 8-1 Option Suboption OMFI Resolution Ask Me Import Settings Options (Continued) Description When this option is selected, the system displays a query about resolution selection for each imported file when the resolution of the OMF source file is different from the current setting in the Select Files to Import dialog box. Use Current When this option is selected, the system uses the current resolution setting in the Select Files To Import dialog box or the Compression tool.
3. Choose Import from the File menu. The Select Files to Import dialog box appears. Directory pop-up menu Import file list Source file list File Type pop-up menu Resolution pop-up menu Options button Media Disk pop-up menu 4. Choose an import file type from the File Type pop-up menu to display only files of the chosen file type in the source file list: • Choose Shot Log to import Avid log (.ALE) files containing clip information into a bin.
• Choose OMFI to import files that have been saved in the OMFI file format, such as sequences transferred from an effects or digital audio workstation. By default, the system displays only file types that belong to the chosen category in the source file list of the dialog box. 5. (Option) Select the option Show All Files in the lower left corner of the dialog box to display all files in a chosen folder, regardless of file type. Use this option if you want to batch import from multiple file types. 6.
n For a complete description of all options in the Import Settings dialog box, see “Import Settings Options” on page 242. 7. Select the options you want. Click OK to save the settings, close the Import Settings dialog box, and return to the Select Files To Import dialog box. 8. Choose a destination drive for the imported file from the Media Disk pop-up menu. 9.
If you are batch importing OMFI files at multiple resolutions with the OMFI Resolution: Ask Me option selected in the Import Settings dialog box, an alert box appears whenever the resolution of the source file does not match the current Resolution setting in the Select Files to Import dialog box. Select either the resolution of the source file or the current Resolution setting to continue. When the system finishes importing the files, the clips appear in the selected bin.
Reimporting Files If you are working with master clips or sequences that contain imported material, you can use the Batch Import command to reimport the imported files. For example, you might want to: c • Upgrade the video resolution of the imported files to an online resolution for distribution. • Replace low-quality material with high-quality material finished with other applications, such as Avid Marquee™ and Avid Media Illusion™.
About Reimporting Matte-Key Effects The Batch Import command allows you to reimport the source files for matte-key effects while automatically linking the new imported material with the master clips and sequences. When you play your sequence after reimporting the matte-key effect, the new imported material plays in your sequence.
Batch Import Dialog Box The Batch Import dialog box allows you to select a source file for each master clip that you selected in a bin. The Avid application finds the source file automatically if the source file is located in the same folder as the last time you imported the file. If the source file is located elsewhere, the file name appears in the File Name list, followed by .
File Section The File section of the Batch Import dialog box includes a list of all the files available for batch import and six buttons you can use to select and define the files: • Batch Import file list: Lists previously imported clips. • Select All: Selects all the files in the Batch Import file list. If all files are selected, clicking Select All deselects all the files in the file list. • Select Unknown: Selects only the files with unknown paths.
n The Import Settings section of the Batch Import dialog box contains global settings that affect all of the files you are importing. Media Disk and Resolution Section For information about the Import settings, see Table 8-1 on page 242. The Media Disk and Resolution section of the Batch Import dialog box allows you choose on which drive to store the reimported files and to select a resolution for reimported files. These are global settings that affect all of the files you are importing.
and included in your sequence, which saves system memory. Using Decompose gives you greater control during the reimporting process. You can use this procedure to sort clips in the bin, modify them, and then reimport selected clips in the sequence. To use Decompose: 1. Activate the bin that stores the sequence and select the sequence. 2. Choose Decompose from the Clip menu. The Decompose dialog box appears. 3.
Starting the Reimport Process n Before beginning the reimport process, you might want to mount all removable media drives. You might also want to create folders on the Avid hard drive and copy all files to these folders prior to importing the files into the project. To reimport imported files: 1. Open the bin and select the imported master clips and sequences that you want to reimport. 2. Choose Batch Import from the Clip menu. A dialog box appears. 3.
For information about the Import settings, see Table 8-1 on page 242. 6. (Option) By default, the file will be imported using the Import settings from the last time it was imported. You can change the Import settings for all clips being imported by doing one of the following: a. Select the option “Use Import Setting” and select a preset Import setting from the Import Settings pop-up menu. b. Select the option “Use Import Setting” and click the Customize button to open the Import Settings dialog box.
9. (Option) Select a source file for any selected files by clicking Set File. The Directory dialog box appears. a. Navigate to the folder which contains the source file. b. Select the source file and click Open when the source file name is displayed in the File Name text box. 10. Click OK in the Batch Import dialog box. n The Cancel button allows you to cancel the entire import operation. If you click the Cancel button, none of the source files are imported.
CHAPTER 9 Organizing with Bins The Avid system provides powerful database tools for organizing and managing your digitized material. You can view bins in three different display views. You can rename, sort, sift, duplicate, and delete clips and sequences. You can also print single-clip frames or whole bins. A worksheet at the end of this chapter provides guidelines for using these techniques to create and print storyboards for your project.
Before You Begin There are several procedures you might want to perform before organizing your project because they affect the display of information in bins or the way the clips play back during screening: • If you digitized clips by using LTC (longitudinal timecode) recorded on an audio track, and would like to instruct the system to address this timecode during editing, see “Using Audio Timecode” on page 262.
2. In the bin, select the appropriate clips, then choose Read Audio Timecode from the Special menu. The Read Audio Timecode dialog box appears. 3. To read timecode stored in the user bits of the LTC, select User Bit Timecode. If this option is not selected, the system reads the LTC timecode. c Information contained in the user bits of the LTC must be timecode only. Other data stored in the user bits will not appear in the Avid application. 4.
For example, in a 3-minute master clip, the audio timecode starts at 1:00:20:20. At 1:00:22:10, the timecode ends. With the Fill Undecodable Frames option selected, the system assigns 1:00:22:11 to the next frame and continues assigning timecode. Do not select this option if you do not want to fill timecode breaks. 7. Click OK to complete the procedure. The timecode appears in the bin in the auxiliary timecode column that you chose.
By default, the audio tracks for clips alternate with track 1 on the left and track 2 on the right speaker for monitoring and output. The All Tracks Centered option instructs the system to center the pan of all tracks between the two speakers for monitoring and output. Using the Center Pan Command You can use the Center Pan command on source material in bins. Use it prior to editing or at any time during the editing process.
To adjust the pan on clips: 1. In a bin, select the clips you want to pan to the center. 2. Choose Center Pan from the Clip menu. A dialog box appears and asks you to confirm the pan. 3. Click OK. The system pans all of the selected clips to the center. Setting the Bin Display By default, your bins display all existing media objects except source clips and rendered effects.
The Set Bin Display dialog box appears. Table 9-1 on page 268 describes the icons listed in the Display Bin Selection dialog box. 2. Select the object types that you want to see: master clips, subclips, sequences, and so on. 3. The option “Show clips created by user” is selected by default. Deselect this option only if you want to hide all objects except those created by the system. 4.
5. Click OK. The bin displays objects according to your specifications. Table 9-1 Object Icon Descriptions Object Icon Object Description Master Clip A clip that references audio and video media files formed from digitized footage or imported files. Subclip A clip that references a selected portion of a master clip. Sequence A clip that represents an edited program, partial or complete, that you create from other clips.
About Bin Display Views There are three display views for viewing and working with clips in a bin: Text view, Frame view, and Script view, as follows: • In Text view, clips are displayed in a database text format, using columns and rows, with icons representing the various objects. You can save various arrangements of columns, text, and objects as customized views. Column headings Object icons Fast Menu button Text View button For information on Text view features, see “Using Text View” on page 287.
• In Frame view, each clip is represented by a single picture frame, with the name of the clip. You can play back the footage in each frame, and change the size of frames. You can also rearrange the frames in any order within the bin. Clip frame Clip name For information on Frame view features, see “Using Frame View” on page 306. To enter Frame view, click the Frame view button (labeled F) in the lower left portion of the bin.
For information on Script view features, see “Using Script View” on page 310. To enter Script view, click the Script View button (labeled S) in the lower left portion of the bin. Bin Fast Menu All Bin menu commands are also available in the Bin Fast menu located in the lower left corner of every bin. To open the Bin Fast menu, click the Fast Menu button in any of the three bin display views.
n To view a complete list of the bins in your project, see “Using the Bins Display” on page 66. Setting the Bin Font To change the bin font: 1. Choose Set Font from the Edit menu. The Font Selection dialog box appears. 2. Choose a font from the Font pop-up menu. n Any font loaded on the Avid system appears in the list. For information on adding fonts to your system, see your Macintosh system documentation. 3. Type another point size for the font in the Size text box. 4. Click OK.
• Select multiple clips or sequences by doing one of the following: - Shift+click additional items. - Lasso several clips. To reverse your selection, choose Reverse Selection from the Bin menu. The clips that you previously selected are deselected and those clips that were previously deselected are selected. Duplicating Clips and Sequences When you duplicate a clip or sequence, the system creates a separate clip linked to the same media files.
To move clips or sequences from one bin into another: 1. Create or open another bin. Give the bin a name that represents its purpose or contents. 2. Position the bins so that you can see both of them at the same time. You might need to resize the bins to do this. 3. Select the clip or sequence that you want to move, or select multiple clips. 4. Drag the clips to the new bin.
reference clips, the referenced object types do not appear until you have saved the bin. When you copy clips from one bin to another, the custom columns that you created in the first bin are also copied to the second bin. The custom columns appear in the order in which you created them. Deleting Clips and Sequences To delete clips or sequences from a bin: 1. Select the clips and sequences that you want to delete. 2. Choose Clear from the Edit menu or press the Delete key on the keyboard.
In this example, one subclip and one master clip (along with their media files) are highlighted for deletion. 3. Select the items highlighted for deletion. 4. (Option) Delete the associated media files for master clips and effect clips. You can select clips and media files for deletion, or you can select only the media files if you want to retain the clips for later redigitizing. 5. Click OK. A dialog box asks you to confirm the deletion. 6. Click Delete.
A Bin Column Selection dialog box appears. 2. Click Color from the scroll list to select it. 3. Click OK. The Color column appears in the bin. n By default, a new column appears as the last column in the bin. To move the Color column, select the Color column heading and drag it to the left. Assigning a Source Color To assign a color to a clip, subclip, sequence, or effect clip in a bin: 1. With a bin in Text view, select the bin objects that you want to assign a color to.
2. Choose Set Clip Color from the Edit menu and choose a color from the submenu. The color appears in the Color column and on the clip icon. n You can also assign a color by clicking in the Color column and choosing a color from the pop-up menu. Assigning a Custom Source Color To assign a custom color to a clip, subclip, sequence, or effect clip in a bin: 1. With a bin in Text view, select the bin objects that you want to assign a color to. 2.
Limiting Color Choices When assigning colors to bin objects, you can limit the color choices to only the colors currently used in the bin. To limit the colors available when assigning colors to bin objects: 1. With a bin in Text view, select the bin objects that you want to assign a color to. 2. Option+click in the Color column in the bin. A menu of all the colors you are using in the bin appears. Any custom colors you assigned are labeled Other. 3. Choose one of the colors.
The Sift dialog box appears. Sift criteria text box Column pop-up menu Operator pop-up menu 2. Click the Operator pop-up menu and choose one of the sifting options. 3. Click the first Sift criteria text box and type the text that you want to use as a sift criterion. When sifting by color, type the name of the color in the text box. 4. Click the Column pop-up menu and choose a column heading to which you want to apply the criterion. 5.
Sifting Timecodes or Keycode Ranges You can sift on a timecode (or keycode) number within a specific range. For example, you can sift for all the clips that start before and end after a particular timecode. Before Custom Sift Enter 12:09:30:00 in the Sift dialog box, and choose Start to End Range. After Custom Sift The clips that encompass the timecode number 12093000 Some column pairs explicitly define a range, for example, Start and End or Mark IN and Mark OUT.
If you display any column in the bin that is associated with ranges, either explicit or implicit, the corresponding range menu item appears in the Column pop-up menu of the Custom Sift dialog box. For example, if you choose to display the Start column and the Auxiliary TC1 column in the bin, the Start to End Range and Auxiliary TC1 Range menu choices will appear in the Column pop-up menu.
Table 9-3 lists all columns associated with implicit ranges and their corresponding menu choices. The Duration column determines the end of these ranges.
The Sift dialog box appears. Column pop-up menu Operator pop-up menu 2. Type the timecode (or keycode) number for which you want to sift in a range. 3. Choose a range from the Column pop-up menu; for example, Start to End Range or Mark In to Out Range. The criterion “contain” is displayed in the Operator pop-up menu. If you try to change this criterion, a blank will be displayed in the column menu. 4. Click OK.
To lock items: 1. Click a clip, subclip, or sequence to select it. Shift+click additional clips if necessary. For more information on displaying columns, see “Showing and Hiding Columns” on page 290. 2. Choose Lock Bin Selection from the Clip menu. A Lock icon appears for each locked clip in the Lock column of the bin in Text view. Lock icon To unlock previously locked items: 1. Select the items in the bin. 2. Choose Unlock Bin Selection from the Clip menu.
The bin highlights all items that are missing media files. n To identify offline items in the Timeline, see “Highlighting Offline Media Clips” on page 470. Selecting Media Relatives for an Object When you identify the media relatives of a selected clip or sequence, the system highlights all other clips linked to the selected clip, such as subclips or other sequences. To identify media relatives: 1. Open the bin that contains the chosen clip or sequence. 2.
Selecting Unreferenced Clips When you select Unreferenced Clips, the system highlights all clips that are not currently referenced by clips or sequences that are present in the open bins. Any master clips, subclips, or effect clips you edited into a sequence in the bin are not highlighted. This command is effectively the reverse of the Select Media Relatives command. n The Unreferenced Clips command is useful for finding unused footage or media. Identify unreferenced clips as follows: 1.
To enter Text view, click the Text View button (labeled T) in the lower portion of the bin. Bin View pop-up menu Text View button About Bin Views To the right of the Text View button is the Bin View pop-up menu (Text view only) for selecting different Bin views. Bins have three default views that are automatically loaded: For more information on Film and Statistical column headings, see “Bin Column Headings” on page 303.
Customizing Bin Views in Text View You can create and save customized bin views that you can easily access from the Bin View menu. You can customize the bin view by adding, hiding, or rearranging Bin columns. The only required column heading is the clip name, displayed by default. There are several ways to customize views of the bin: • Alter the arrangement of existing columns in the standard Statistics view or Film view to suit your needs, without adding or hiding columns.
Moving and Rearranging Columns To move a text column in a bin: 1. Click the heading of the column that you want to move. The entire column is highlighted. 2. Drag the column to the position you want and release the left mouse button. The column appears in the new position, and columns to the right are moved over to make room. Aligning Bin Columns When you align bin columns, the system maintains the same order of columns from left to right, but spaces them according to the length of contents.
A Bin Column Selection dialog box appears. 2. Select the headings you want to add to the bin: • Click the name of a heading to select it. • Click a highlighted heading to deselect it. • Click Select All to highlight all the headings in the bin. • Click Deselect All to deselect all the headings in the bin. 3. Click OK. Only the headings highlighted in the Bin Column Selection dialog box appear in the bin or bin view.
page 290. When you delete a Custom column, however, you must re-create the column. To delete a column: 1. Click the column heading. 2. Choose Clear from the Edit menu or press the Delete key. The column disappears from the view and surrounding columns close to fill the space. Duplicating a Column You can duplicate existing columns containing timecode information in other compatible columns that you target in a dialog box. To duplicate a timecode column: 1.
In the example, “Copy Auxiliary TC1 to:” appears at the top of the dialog box because the user selected the Auxiliary TC1 column for duplication. Select a column name from the list. The column must contain the same type of data for the copy to occur. For example, you can copy start timecodes to the Auxiliary TC column, but you cannot copy timecodes to the Pullin column. The column of information appears in the column you designated.
To change the name of a custom column: 1. Press and hold the Option key, and click the heading to highlight it. 2. Type the new text for the heading and press Return. Saving a Custom Bin View Any time you add, hide, or delete a column, the bin view name changes to an italicized name with the file name extension .n to indicate that it no longer matches the original view. If you select a new bin view setting while the current setting is untitled or italicized, the system discards the current setting.
Managing Clip Information in Text View For additional bin shortcuts, see the Avid Media Composer Quick Reference. There are several ways to manage clip information in Bin columns. These methods include copying information between cells, moving information between whole columns, sorting clip information, and modifying clip data, as described in this section.
The following conditions apply to modifying clip information: • When you modify a clip’s information, related objects are automatically updated to reflect the new data. For example, if you change the name of a clip, the updated name appears in the sequences that use the clip. • Some data cannot be modified after digitizing because changes would prevent you from playing back and editing the material successfully. • Sequence data cannot be changed, even though it appears in your bin.
Table 9-4 Direct Modification Headings Heading Restrictions (Clip) Name No restrictions. Mark IN Altering the mark IN also alters the IN to OUT duration. This replaces any previous mark. Mark OUT Altering the mark OUT also alters the IN to OUT duration. This replaces any previous mark. Color No restrictions. Color Framing Must be according to tape specifications. See “Tracking Color-Frame Shifts” on page 518. Auxiliary timecodes, 1–5 No restrictions.
3. Click the cell again to enter text. If the pointer does not change to an I-beam, you might be attempting to modify a column that cannot be directly modified. 4. Type the new information and press Return. Modifying Data by Using the Modify Command The Modify command gives you specialized control over groups of clip information.
Table 9-5 Modify Command Options Option Restrictions Set Timecode Drop/ Nondrop Setting must match the timecode format of the tape. Set Timecode By Field Only start timecode can be altered after digitizing. Increment Timecode Only start timecode can be incremented after digitizing. Decrement Timecode Only start timecode can be decremented after digitizing. Set Key Number Generic (Prefix) Only for film projects. Set Pullin Only for film projects. Set Tracks Only for film projects.
The Modify dialog box appears. 4. Choose an option, such as Set Timecode By Field, from the Modify Options pop-up menu.
5. Select an option or enter information into the text boxes (timecode values, for example) when they appear. 6. Click OK. The modification takes effect. Copying Information Between Columns The following procedure describes how to copy all the information in one column to another column. The procedure uses an example of copying timecode information in one column to a new column. 1. Select the timecode column that you want to copy. 2. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu.
If you want to sort clips in a customized order in Text view, you must first rearrange the clips in Script view, and then return to Text view. For information about Script view, see “Rearranging Clips in Script View” on page 312. Sorting Clips in Ascending Order To sort clips in ascending order: 1. In Text view, click the heading of the column that you want to use as the criterion. The column is highlighted. 2. Choose Sort from the Bin menu. The objects in the bin are sorted.
Multilevel Sorting with Columns You can select multiple columns in a bin and perform a multilevel sort by using the information in the columns. To do this, rearrange the columns in the bin to establish the primary column. The column that appears farthest to the left in Text view becomes the primary criterion for the sorting operation. Sorting Clips by Color You can sort the clips by color if you assigned colors to the clips. See “Assigning Colors to Bin Objects” on page 276. To sort clips by color: 1.
Table 9-6 Bin Column Selection Heading Description Name This heading does not appear as a column selection, but it always appears in the bin. The column contains the name of the clip or sequence (you can rename a clip or sequence after it has been digitized). Audio The audio resolution (sample rate). Auxiliary Ink Auxiliary ink format settings allow you to display two types of ink numbers at the same time. This lets you track additional types of film information for different film gauges.
Table 9-6 Bin Column Selection (Continued) Heading Description Frame Displays the same frame that is displayed when you select Frame view for the bin. You can perform the same operations on the frame that you can perform in Frame view, as described in “Using Frame View” on page 306. can take longer for the screen to display frames than text. Because of this, n Itworking with frames can slow down the work that you do with bins. IN-OUT The length of the marked segment, if any.
Table 9-6 Bin Column Selection (Continued) Heading Description Scene The scene number of the clip. Shoot date The date the footage was shot. Sound TC The timecode for audio. Used for film projects only. Soundroll The sound roll this clip came from. Used for film projects only. Start The timecode of the clip’s head frame. Take The take number of the scene. Tape The source tape name. Tracks All tracks used by this media object. VITC The vertical interval timecode.
To enter Frame view, click the Frame View button (labeled F) in the lower left portion of a bin. Each frame appears in the bin with its assigned name directly below it. Changing the Bin Background Color You can customize the background color of the bin behind the frames. Changes affect one bin at a time. However, changes you make in Frame view appear in Script view as well. Text view remains black and white.
To change the bin background color: 1. Activate the bin you want to change and make sure you are in Frame view (or Script view). 2. Choose Set Bin Background from the Edit menu, and select a color from the pop-up palette. The bin color changes based on your selection. Enlarging or Reducing Frame Size You can enlarge and reduce the size of the frames appearing on the screen to five available sizes. You must enlarge or reduce all frames together. You cannot change the size of individual frames.
Rearranging Frames Frame view allows you to rearrange the display of the frames in the bin by moving them. To rearrange frames: 1. Click a single frame and drag it to its new position. To rearrange more than one frame at a time, Shift+click or lasso multiple frames and drag them to a new position in the bin. 2. Click the background area of the bin to deselect the clips. n When you return to Text view, the order of the clips is changed there as well.
Arranging Frames in a Bin To realign the frames in a bin after you have changed their display, use one of the following procedures: • To align all frames to an invisible grid, choose Align to Grid from the Bin menu. • To align only selected frames, choose Align Selected to Grid from the Bin menu. • To spread out the frames evenly to fill available space in the bin window, choose Fill Window from the Bin menu.
Script View button Adding Text in Script View To type text into the script box, click the box and begin typing. This text does not appear in sequences edited from the clips, only in printouts of the bin in Script view. You can use basic word processing procedures to highlight, delete, cut, copy, and paste text between script boxes. If the notes or script you type extend beyond the size of the script box, you can use the Page Up or Page Down keys on the keyboard to scroll through the text.
Rearranging Clips in Script View You can rearrange the order of clips in Script view in two ways: n • You can drag each clip up or down to a new location in the bin. • You can sort and sift clips in Text view, then return to Script view to display selected clips in the sort order you want. When you return to Text view, the order of the clips is changed there as well. Printing Bins The Avid application allows you to print entire bins or individual frames in hardcopy form.
6. Set the print options in the Print dialog box, then click Print. The system prints the frame currently displayed in the active monitor. To print a single frame of a clip or sequence: 1. Load a clip or sequence into the Source or Record monitor. 2. Select the frame you want to print. 3. Choose Print Frame from the File menu. 4. Make any needed adjustments to the print setup and click Print. The system prints the frame currently displayed in the active monitor.
Preparing Digital Bars and Tone If you expect to output your final sequence as a digital cut that requires calibration before playback (a digital cut that will be broadcast, for example), then in most cases you need a clip of color bars. You can add the clip to the front of the sequence, or you can output the clip separately as an assemble or insert edit onto tape during recording of a digital cut.
Importing Color Bars and Other Test Patterns The following procedure describes the method for importing a PICT file. This method is available to all users because your Media Composer system includes a SMPTE bars PICT file. To import a test pattern from a PICT file: 1. Open an existing bin or create a new one for the test pattern. 2. Select the destination bin. 3. Choose Import from the File menu. The Select Files to Import dialog box appears.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the test pattern file that is located in the Media Composer:SupportingFiles:Test_Patterns folder on the Avid drive. a. Click a test pattern and click the Options button. b. Choose CCIR, non-square from the Aspect Ratio, Pixel Aspect pull-down menu. c. Choose CCIR Video Levels from the File Color Levels pulldown menu. d. Click OK. e. Click Done. When you import SMPTEBars.pct, it will not exactly match the SMPTE bars generated by the Video Output tool.
Creating Leader Film editors traditionally use standard head and tail leaders for cueing and syncing material. You can use digital leaders in the Avid application to mark the beginning and ending of tracks, and to help you maintain sync, as described in “Managing Sync with Multiple Tracks” on page 641. You can create your own leader for video or film, as described in this section. Whatever you choose for specifications, be sure to make all your leader clips the same length, with common sync points.
Creating Audio Leader To create tail leader for audio tracks: 1. Load a clip that includes a section of digitized tone into the Source monitor. 2. Create a subclip according to your chosen specifications. 3. Name this new subclip Head Leader or Tail Leader. 4. Load this subclip into the Source monitor. 5. Prepare the sound levels by using one of the following options: • For leader without a sync point (no audio pop), open the Audio Mix tool and bring the audio level all the way down for the entire clip.
Storyboard Worksheet Make preliminary preparations such as synchronizing picture and sound, converting audio timecode, and modifying clip data. Set the bin display to show only the media objects you will use for your storyboard. Narrow down the clip selection by deleting, moving, copying, sorting and sifting clips. Select either Script view or Frame view to display your storyboard in the bin with or without a script box. Enter information into the script box if necessary.
CHAPTER 10 Managing Media Files When you digitize footage, the system creates digital media files for the video and audio tracks on the media drives attached to your system. In addition to the bin tools that allow you to organize the clips that reference these media files, your Avid system provides useful tools and features for directly managing media files for storage and playback efficiency, for backup, and for transfer between systems.
Using the Media Tool The Media tool is your window into the digitized video and audio data files stored on your media drives. As an important counterpart to the bins, the Media tool provides similar database tools for manipulating digital media files in tandem with your organization of clips and sequences.
• n You have the option of saving a custom view of the Media tool. Any view created in the Media tool is available from all bins and all custom bin views are available in the Media tool from the Views pop-up menu. For more information on creating customized views, see “Saving a Custom Bin View” on page 294. Media Tool views are saved as User settings and appear in the Settings Project window as Bin Views.
The Media Tool Display dialog box appears. 2. Select the desired display options as follows: • n The Media tool loads the media database only for the drives you select. The more drives you select, the more memory is required for the Media tool to open. • n You can select individual media drives or all drives. You can display files for the current project, for selected projects, or for all projects.
3. Click OK. The Media tool opens. Precompute clip Media file Master clip Frame view Script view Views pop-up menu Text view Deleting Media Files with the Media Tool You can use the Media tool to delete selected media files without harming the related master clips, subclips, and sequences. n If you use the Media tool to delete selected media files, you will no longer have access to visuals of the deleted material.
• Delete all unrelated media upon completion of a project, and retain only the media required for playback of a finished sequence as described in “Consolidating Media” on page 327. To delete selected media files: 1. Open the Media tool. In the Media Tool Display dialog box, select the types of files (master clips, precompute clips, or media files) that you want to delete. 2. Select one or more media files (audio, video, or both) or master clips whose media files you want to delete. 3.
4. Select the media objects that you want to delete: • Audio media file (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8). The master clip linked to that file is silent. Subclips and sequences created from the master clip are affected in the same way. • Video media file (V). The master clip linked to that file is black, with the message “Media Offline” displayed. Related subclips and sequences are affected in the same way. • Precompute media file (V, A).
4. Choose Reverse Selection from the Bin menu. All the clips in the bin that are not source clips for the sequence are now highlighted. c Motion effects are not counted as references by the sequence and will be deleted. 5. Press the Delete key, then click the check boxes in the Delete dialog box to select the clips or the media files to delete. 6. Click OK.
About the Consolidate Feature The Consolidate feature operates differently depending upon whether you are consolidating master clips, subclips, or sequences. There are also different advantages in each case, as follows: • Master clips: When you consolidate a master clip, the system creates exact copies of the media files. If you link the original master clip to the new files, the system creates a master clip with the file name extension .old that remains linked to the old files.
• Subclips: When you consolidate a subclip or group of subclips, the system copies only the portion of the media files represented in the subclip, and creates a new master clip that is the duration of the subclip and a new subclip. The file name extension .new is attached, along with incremental numbering beginning with .01. Consolidating a Subclip Original media files Master Clip Subclipped copy of media files Subclip 329 Master Clip.new.01 Subclip.new.
• Sequences: When you consolidate a sequence, the system copies only the portions of media files edited into the sequence, and creates new master clips for each shot in the sequence. The file name extension .new is attached to the master clips, along with incremental numbering beginning with .01. The sequence is not renamed, but is automatically relinked to the new media files.
Using the Consolidate Command To consolidate master clips, subclips, or sequences: For more information on rendering effects, see the Avid Media Composer Effects Guide. 1. If you are consolidating a sequence, duplicate the sequence to maintain links to the original files, if necessary, and render any unrendered effects. 2. With the bin open, select the clips or sequence to consolidate. 3. Choose Consolidate from the Clip menu. The Consolidate dialog box appears. 4.
• “Relink selected clips to target disk before skipping” to ensure that all selected clips are linked to media on the target drive. This option appears when you select “Skip media files already on target disk.” 5. Select a target drive from the Target Volume(s) list. To select additional target drives, Shift+click the drive name. Make sure that you choose a target drive with enough storage space for all the consolidated media files and the ability to play back media.
Another way to back up media files is to copy them directly onto another hard drive by using the Macintosh desktop. You cannot, however, take advantage of the storage-saving features of the Consolidate command, and it is more difficult to identify particular media files when searching directly through folders. c Do not make copies of media files from the Macintosh desktop, while the Avid application is running.
To update the offline sequences with the new media files, choose Load Media Database from the File menu to load all online master clips and precomputes. n c You need not load the media database more than once during a single editing session because the database remains in memory until you quit the application or restart the Avid system. If a bin continues to display the “Media Offline” message after loading the media database, either the media files are missing or the links have been broken.
Finding a Related Media File The Reveal File command allows you to select a clip in a bin and automatically open up its related media file. This is useful if you want to delete, move, or label the media file. To find a related media file: 1. Select the clip in a bin for which you want to find the media file. The clip is highlighted. 2. Choose Reveal File from the File menu. The system searches all available drives, opens the folder, and highlights related media files.
Relinking Media Files Sometimes after you consolidate or move material between systems, the clips or sequences lose their link to the original media files. When a clip becomes unlinked, it displays the message “Media Offline.” If appropriate media exists online, you can use the Relink command to reestablish the link. Media Offline message indicates a clip with no link to media files.
The Relink dialog box appears. 3. Choose an option from the Volume pop-up menu: • Choose All Available Disks to search across all media drives that are online. • Choose a specific drive volume if you know the location of the media, or want to relink to media on a specific media drive. 4. Select the option: • Select Relink To Selected to direct a relinking of related subclips or sequences to the highlighted clip in the bin.
Relinking to Selected Clips You can also use the Option key to modify the Relink command for connecting subclips or sequences to selected master clips and subclips. To relink to selected master clips and subclips: 1. Place the subclips or sequences that you want to relink into the bin containing the clips. 2. Select the clips targeted for relinking. 3. Press the Option key and choose Relink from the Clip menu. The subclips or sequences are linked to the selected clips or subclips.
To relink consolidated subclips or sequences: 1. Select the new master clips for a consolidated subclip or sequence (the clips will have the file name extension .new attached), and unlink them. For information on unlinking, see “Unlinking Media Files” on page 340. 2. Choose Relink from the Clip menu. 3. Target the volume containing the original media files in the Relink dialog box. The clips are relinked to the original media.
Unlinking Media Files You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys to modify the Relink command for unlinking clips from their media files. To unlink master clips from their current links: 1. Select master clips to unlink. 2. Press Ctrl+Shift and choose Unlink from the Clip menu. The clips are unlinked and display the message “Media Offline.” n Because subclips and sequences do not point directly to the media files, you can perform this procedure only by using the source master clips.
CHAPTER 11 Using Script Integration The lined script is traditionally used as a tool for managing scene and take information during postproduction on a dramatic feature film or television production. With the Avid system, script integration allows you to adapt the lined script to the digital realm for use in any type of production, from drama to documentary to spot advertising.
Line Script Basics The conventional lined script — which evolved during decades of trial and error in Hollywood — provides assistant editors and chief editors with a road map that helps them find the coverage they need to edit scenes in a film or television show. Traditionally, the continuity person creates the lined script on the set at the time of shooting. All notes are handwritten.
Explanation of Symbols Each vertical line drawn through the scene represents a single take from the moment the director says “Action” to the moment the director says “Cut.” Each scene might require several camera angles and positions, with one or more takes, all of which are lined and identified alphanumerically.
Lining in the Digital Realm Script integration in the Avid application provides a number of enhancements to this traditional system. These enhancements allow you to shorten dramatically the distance between the concepts captured on the page and the source materials used to assemble a finished program. Unlike the traditional lining of a script, digital script integration is usually performed after the shoot — by the assistant editor, for example — using the notes of the continuity person.
In addition to the standard lining conventions, script integration includes the following enhancements: • Slates: Takes are organized into slates that display a representative frame and clip name for the take that is currently selected. • Takes: The take tabs and lines extending from the bottom of each slate indicate the number of takes for that scene. Click a take tab to select the take.
Using Script Integration in Video Projects Script integration can be an effective tool for editing any type of production, not just feature films and television drama. For example: • You can adapt many of the procedures described in this chapter for use in audiovisual scripts for documentaries, corporate spots, news magazine segments, and spot advertisements.
Script Window Basics This section describes basic procedures for creating and manipulating script windows, including importing script text; navigating through the script; displaying clip information; opening, closing, and saving windows; and adjusting margins. Before you begin creating script windows, make sure you have established the proper defaults in the Script Settings dialog box for font, margin, and display of frames and takes.
Table 11-1 Script Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Show Frames When this option is selected, the system shows frames in take slates. Show All Takes When this option is selected, the system shows all takes in each slate. If you deselect this option, the Avid system will display only one take per slate.
3. Choose New Script from the File menu. A Directory dialog box appears. 4. Locate the file and double-click it, or select the file and click Open. The system creates a new bin named after the project by default. The script, with its original layout, appears in the bin. 5. Change the name of the script bin by clicking the title in the Bins list in the Project window and typing a new name.
• You can use the Open and Close commands in the File menu to open additional Script windows and add them to the Bins list in the Project window, or to close Script windows. Displaying Clip Information in a Script Window The Clip Information window displays statistical information about a clip. The window updates the information automatically. To open the Clip Information window from a Script window: 1. Press the Option key and click the take tab. 2.
Adjusting the Script Margins You can resize a Script window at any time to show more script or to enlarge the right margin by dragging the size box in the lower right corner. The default size of the left margin is established on import, based on the current Script settings. You can also override the margin setting and adjust the left margin after importing the script. To adjust the left margin of an imported script: 1. Choose Left Margin from the Script menu. The Left Margin dialog box appears. 2.
Changing the Font of the Script The default font and font size used in the script are established on import, based on the current Script settings. You can also override the settings and change the font and size after importing the script. To change the font and size of imported script: 1. Choose Set Font from the Edit menu. The Font Selection dialog box appears. 2. Choose a new font from the pop-up menu. The menu includes all fonts currently installed in the system. 3.
Selecting Text Selecting text in the Script window is similar to making selections in a word processor, except that the smallest unit you can select is an entire line of text. To select a single line of script, click anywhere in the line to highlight it. Selected lines are highlighted. To select several lines of script, use one of the following methods: • Lasso the first line of the selection and drag through the text. As you drag, a box outlines your selection.
Lasso a portion of script to select it. Release the mouse button when you finish lassoing the chosen lines. The text is highlighted. • n Click the first line of the selection, then Shift+click the last line. The entire block of text is highlighted. You can also extend a selection by pressing the Shift key and clicking a line of text preceding or following the current selection.
To cut or copy and paste lines of script: 1. Select the lines. 2. Choose Cut or Copy from the Edit menu. 3. Select the line below the location where you want to insert the text. 4. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. If only one line is selected at the insertion point, an alert box asks if you want to replace the selected line. 5. Make a choice based on your needs: • Click Yes if you selected lines at the insertion point that you want to overwrite.
Searching Through Script You can use the Find Bin and Find Script buttons to match back and forth between script and clips. For more information, see “Finding Script” on page 377. Script integration provides a number of search tools you can use during the preparation phase, during editing, or during screenings. You can apply and search for page or scene numbers, or you can conduct a full-text search.
For a scene, the number appears in the left margin next to the first line of the selected region. New scene number Scene/page status bar Scene and page numbers both appear in the status bar at the bottom of the Script window, and reflect your current position within the script. Each scene or page number will continue throughout the script until you mark another line as the beginning of a new scene or page.
The Change Scene or Change Page dialog box appears. 3. Type a new number for the scene or page and click OK. 4. If the renumbering affects page or scene numbers that precede or follow the current change, then repeat these steps as necessary. Deleting a Page or Scene Number To delete a page or scene number: 1. Select the first line of the scene or page. n You can also delete all page or scene numbering throughout a range of the script by selecting the range of lines or the entire script. 2.
To search for a page or scene number: 1. Choose Goto Page or Goto Scene from the Script menu. n You can also click on the page or scene display in the status bar at the bottom of the Script window. The Change Scene/Page (GoTo Scene/Page) dialog box appears. 2. Type the number of the scene or page and click OK. The Script window scrolls to the page or scene, and the first line of script is highlighted. Conducting a Text Search To search for text in the script: 1.
Linking Clips to the Script To link clips to the script: 1. Open the script bin. 2. Open the source bin for the clips that you want to link to the script. 3. (Option) Sort the source clips to make the job easier: • You can sort the Scene/Take column for an alphanumeric list of clips that matches their relative order in the script.
A slate frame appears above the text, with one or more of the takes covering the scene as lines. The slate appears. 6. Continue to apply clips to additional portions of the script until you have finished creating all your slates. Alternatively, you can create slates one at a time, place script marks, and fine-tune the lining of each scene before proceeding to the next portion of the script.
If you set a script mark in the take, the portions of the take on either side of the script mark are matched to the portions of the clip on either side of the IN mark in the Source monitor. To turn on Interpolate Position, do one of the following: • Choose Script from the Settings scroll list in the Project window, click Interpolate Position, and then click OK. • Choose Interpolate Position from the Script menu.
Resizing a Slate You can resize a slate the same way you resize frames in the bin in Frame view: n • To enlarge a slate, select it and choose Enlarge Frame from the Edit menu. • To reduce a slate, select it and choose Reduce Frame from the Edit menu. You can enlarge the font size of the script to increase the size of the slate frames. This can be useful for presentation or screening purposes when you need a large display for an audience.
To hide the slate frames, choose Show Frames from the Script menu. The Script window shows only the clip names for the takes. To restore the frames, choose Show Frames again. Showing One Take Per Slate You can display only one representative take per slate to minimize clutter on the screen.
To show one take per slate, choose Show All Takes from the Script menu. The Script window shows only the first take in each slate. A single take is shown. To display all the takes, choose Show All Takes again. Moving a Slate You can adjust the position of slates to make room for more slates, to avoid blocking words, or to display takes over specific lines. To move a slate, use one of the following methods: • To move a slate horizontally, click the slate and drag it to the left or the right.
• n To move the slate and all its take lines vertically to a new location in the script, press the k key, then drag the slate to the new location. As you move the slate, the takes continue to cover the same number of lines in the script. To lengthen or shorten the number of lines covered in the takes at the new location, see “Adjusting Take Lines” on page 370. Deleting a Slate Occasionally, you might need to delete a slate — for example, when you find that the takes in the slate are no longer needed.
Manipulating Takes Script integration provides a number of tools and techniques for manipulating the relationship between lined takes in the Script window and their source clips, as described in this section. Selecting Takes To select takes, use one of the following methods: n • Click any take tab to select it. The outline of the take becomes bold to indicate that the take is active. • Shift+click additional takes in the same slate or across slates to select them.
Deleting Takes As you screen clips, you might find that a take has been applied to the wrong scene and should be deleted from the slate. Or, you might decide to delete a bad take to simplify the script interface for the editor. c You cannot undo the deletion of takes. To restore a take after deletion, see “Adding Takes” on page 367. To delete one or more takes: 1. Select the takes. 2. Press the Delete key. The Delete dialog box appears. 3. Click the Delete Takes check box, and click OK.
Numbers in the Take column appear in the tabs for each take. Changing the Representative Frame for a Take To change the representative frame that appears in the slate for a take: 1. Select the take. 2. Press the appropriate J-K-L (step) keys on the keyboard to advance the footage displayed in the slate forward or backward to the frame you want. You can also select multiple takes and advance them all at once.
Playing Takes There are two ways to play back a take: • Double-click a take to load it into the Source monitor, then click the Play button or press the Play key. The clip plays back and stops when it reaches the end. • Select a take in the script, then click the Play button at the top of the Script window. The clip loads and plays back in a continuous loop until you press the space bar. If you selected more than one take, each take will play in sequence.
Indicating Off-Screen Dialog In the traditional lined script, you indicate off-screen dialog by drawing a jagged line next to the dialog. You can apply a similar effect to lines in the Script window. To indicate off-screen dialog: 1. Select the range of script containing the off-screen dialog. 2. Select one or more takes that you want to mark with the off-screen indicators. 3. Click the Off-Screen button in the Script window toolbar. The indicators appear, superimposed on the selected takes.
To apply color to takes: 1. Choose a color from the Color submenu of the Script menu. 2. Select the region of the script that covers the range within the take or takes that you want to highlight with color. 3. Select one or more takes. 4. Click the Color button in the script window toolbar. The color appears only in the highlighted script region of the selected takes. You can switch the indicators on or off by clicking the button repeatedly. To remove one or more color indicators: 1.
Placing Script Marks Manually To place script marks manually: 1. Map the Add Script Mark button from the Command palette to a user-customizable palette or to the keyboard. 2. Double-click in the Script window at the intersection of a take and the line of dialog that you want to mark. Intersection of take and line of dialog The take is selected in the slate, the chosen line of the dialog is highlighted, and the clip loads into the Source monitor. 3. Click or press Play. The take plays in the monitor.
The script mark appears. 5. Repeat these steps to add script marks. Automating Screening and Marking The Script window provides controls for automating the process of screening and placing script marks for a single take or across multiple takes. To use automated screening and marking: 1. Select one or more takes. 2. Click the Record Marks button in the Script window toolbar.
3. As you hear a line of dialog (or see a particular shot) that you want to mark, click the matching line in the Script window. A script mark appears at that location in the take, and the clip continues to play. 4. Continue to mark additional sync points by using one of the following methods: You can scroll through the Script window without affecting playback. • Click a line that already contains a mark to replace the previous mark and update the sync point in the clip.
To load all the coverage for a range of lines: 1. Select the lines in the Script window, dragging through all intersecting takes. The script lines and takes are highlighted. 2. Click the Play button in the Script window if you want to screen the takes for those lines, or click the Record Marks button if you want to add script marks. The takes load and play back one after another. You can use the Tab key or J-K-L keys to jump between takes and control playback.
To delete a script mark: 1. Click once on the mark. (If you double-click, you will load the clip and make the Source/Record window active.) 2. Press the Delete key. The Delete dialog box appears. 3. Click OK. The mark is deleted. Finding Clips and Script After you have placed script marks, synchronizing lines in the script window to frames in the source clips, you can use the Find Bin or Find Script buttons to search back and forth between the two.
Finding Clips and Bins from the Script Window Script integration allows you to search instantly through bins and find the source clips for takes that have been linked to the script. You can search on a single take, or on multiple takes across several slates. To find source clips and bins: 1. Select the takes that you want to find. 2. Click the Find Bin button in the Script window toolbar.
• The Single Mark Editing option is enabled in the Composer Settings dialog box. This option allows you to skip several steps by performing edits on-the-fly while playing back clips (without marking OUT points). For more information, see “Using SingleMark Editing” on page 450. Assembling a Rough Cut To quickly assemble a rough cut from the Script window: 1. Open the Script window for the current cut. 2. Double-click the first preferred take and load it into the Source monitor.
Splicing a Script Range During editing, you can use the Ctrl key to instantly splice clips linked to ranges of script directly from the Script window into the sequence. To use this feature with accuracy, you should carefully mark the ranges of script during the screening and marking phase. To splice a range: 1. Mark an IN point or place the position indicator at the location in the sequence where you want to splice in the segment. 2. Press the Ctrl key.
Sequences cannot be loaded into the Script window. Alternatively, you can perform a video mixdown and load the resulting master clips instead. For more information, see “Mixing Down Video Tracks” on page 738. All alternative takes are available for viewing and comparing. • Match back and cue source material to compare alternative takes. • Quickly find and open bins for retrieval of additional material not included in the Script window.
CHAPTER 12 Viewing and Marking Footage Before making your first edit, you can review your footage, add locators to clips, mark IN and OUT points, and create subclips. By viewing and marking your material in advance, you can concentrate on editing and refining your sequence at a later time without having to pause and set marks each time you load a new clip.
Customizing the Composer Window The Composer window is central to the finishing and editing process, providing all the essential controls for viewing, tracking, marking, and editing source and record footage. In Source/Record mode, the Composer window includes the Source and Record monitors. The upper region of the screen constitutes Source/Record mode.
Composer window Source monitor Record monitor Source/Record Mode button Timeline window Use the Composer Window Settings dialog box and various menus within the Composer window to configure displays and functions in the Source and Record monitors.
You can learn about Composer settings as follows: • For information on Composer settings, see “Composer Window Settings Options” on page 395.
Using the 16 x 9 Display Format The Avid system supports the 16 x 9 aspect ratio for the display of wide-screen images used in the high-definition television (HDTV) standard as well as some feature film formats. The 16 x 9 option allows you to offline edit wide-screen footage that you first transfer anamorphically to NTSC or PAL tapes.
3. Select Big Source/Record Monitors. 4. Select the option for 16 x 9. 5. Click OK. n To view the footage on a full-screen monitor, you need a 16 x 9 compatible full-screen NTSC or PAL monitor. Displaying Tracking Information Tracking information consists of any type of format used to identify clips, audio and video tracks, individual frames, or footage durations while you work. The Avid interface displays this information above the monitors in the Composer window.
By default, the tracking information area displays no information until you select a tracking format. In addition, there is no display of tracking data when there is no material loaded in the monitor. If you load a clip and no information is currently displayed, you can still open the menu by clicking in the area above a monitor. To choose a tracking information format: 1. Load a clip or sequence into the monitor. 2.
• The upper portion of the menu lists options for summary information, such as master timecode (Mas), duration of the entire clip (Dur), IN to OUT duration (I/O), absolute timecode (Abs), and time remaining (Rem). Upper portion of the menu • The second portion of the menu lists options for displaying the timecode for a specific track (V1, A1, A2, and so forth). This list contains options only for the tracks existing in the currently loaded clip or sequence.
• The lower portion of the menu lists tracking formats, such as timecode in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames (Timecode), feet and frames for film projects (Footage), a sum total of frames for either film or video (Frames), or none, to leave the display area blank. Lower portion of the menu Setting the Font and Point Size for Monitor Displays You can change the font and point size of the clip or sequence name and the timecode information displayed above the monitors.
To display information about a sequence in the Record monitor: 1. Place the pointer in the gray area above the red Overwrite button. 2. Press and hold the mouse button to display a pop-up window with clip information. Only fields with data will be displayed. 3. Drag the window to a new location to leave the window open. The Info window opens. As you move the position indicator through the sequence in the Record monitor, the information in the Info window is updated.
To display information about a clip in a pop-up monitor: 1. Place the pointer in the gray area to the right of the Clip icon. 2. Press and hold the mouse button to display a pop-up window with clip information. 3. Drag the window to a new location to leave the Info window open. To display information about the clip or sequence in a bin: 1. Press and hold the mouse button over the Clip icon in the bin to display a pop-up window with clip information. 2.
Displaying Timecode Each monitor has two lines available to display timecode as described in “Displaying Tracking Information” on page 387. In addition, the Timecode window allows you to display up to eight timecode displays in a separate window. You can view the timecodes from a distance by enlarging the Timecode window. To set a timecode display in the Timecode window: 1. Choose Timecode Window from the Tools menu. The Timecode window opens.
Table 12-1 Timecode Display Options Option Description Mas Displays master timecode at present location Dur Displays total duration of the sequence I/O Displays duration between IN and OUT marks Abs Displays absolute time duration at present position Rem Displays time remaining at present position V1 Displays the source track of the video on track 1 A1 Displays the source track of the audio on track 1 A2 Displays the source track of the audio on track 2 Clip Name Displays the name of th
Setting Multiple Timecode Displays To set multiple timecode displays: 1. Click anywhere in the Timecode window to display the Timecode pop-up menu. 2. Choose Add Display from the pop-up menu. 3. Select the option you want to display. Choose an option from the Timecode pop-up menu. See Table 12-1 for a description of these options. n You might need to resize the timecode display to see all the options. To do so, drag the lower right corner of the window. 4. Click the close box to close the Timecode window.
Table 12-2 Composer Window Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Center Duration When this option is selected, the system displays duration data (Mark IN/ OUT) for the material loaded in the Source or Record monitor, depending on which monitor is active. 16 x 9 When this option is selected, the system displays media in the Source and Record monitors in 16 x 9 format for standard NTSC and PAL signals.
Table 12-3 Color Framing Options Option Description Off This option prevents the color framing indicator lights from appearing above the Overwrite and Splice-in buttons. Select this option if you are not performing an online edit with material digitized from 1-inch, reel-to-reel tapes. This value is the default. If you turn the Color Framing option Off, you may have to make adjustments during online editing if your edits interrupt the color-sync, signals-per-frame fields in the sequence.
Table 12-4 Miscellaneous Composer Options (Continued) Option Description Phantom Marks When this option is selected, the system provides visual guidance when you set fewer than four IN or OUT points while editing. Phantom marks (shaded IN or OUT mark icons) appear, to indicate the remaining edit points calculated by the system to complete the edit. For more information on editing according to the three-mark rules, see “Using Phantom Marks” on page 450.
Table 12-5 Fast Forward and Rewind Options Option Description Stop at Head Frames When this option is selected, the position indicator stops at the first frame (head frame) of the clip on the selected track. This option is the default Fast Forward and Rewind key setting. Each time you press either key, the position indicator moves to the next consecutive head frame.
• Viewing in the Record monitor: You can load a sequence into the Record monitor to view, mark, or modify an existing sequence. You can load a series of clips into the Record monitor to create an “instant sequence (rough cut).” For more information, see “Creating an Instant Rough Cut” on page 444. You can also load a single clip into the Record monitor. See “Loading and Clearing Footage” on page 402.
• Viewing in pop-up monitors: You can load several clips into popup monitors to view and mark clips in smaller, movable windows. See “Loading and Clearing Footage” on page 402.
• Viewing in the Timeline: Use the Timeline to view individual tracks for either a sequence or a source clip. Click the Source/ Record Toggle button to switch between displaying the sequence tracks and the source tracks. Timeline in Source mode for viewing tracks Source/Record Toggle button Loading and Clearing Footage You can load individual or multiple clips or sequences into the Source monitor, Record monitor, or pop-up monitors by using different methods.
2. Open a bin and locate the clip or sequence. Press and hold the Option key, then double-click the clip or sequence to reverse the outcome. 3. Double-click the clip or sequence with one of the following results: • If you have set the “Loads clip into Source or Record monitor” option in the Bin Settings dialog box (the default setting), a clip loads into the Source monitor or a sequence loads into the Record monitor.
• If you set the “Opens new monitor for clip” option in the Bin Settings dialog box, the clips load into multiple pop-up monitors. You can also load a series of clips into the Record monitor to create an instant sequence (rough cut) by pressing and holding the Option key while dragging the clips from the bin to the Record monitor. For more information, see “Creating an Instant Rough Cut” on page 444.
The lower portion of the Clip Name menu contains a list of loaded clips. 2. Choose a different clip name from the menu. The selected clip will replace the current clip in the monitor display. n To see the list of clips or sequences sorted in the order in which they were loaded into the monitor, press the Option key while opening the pop-up menu. Clearing Clips from Monitors There are two options for clearing clips: • Remove the displayed clip and leave the monitor black but keep the clip loaded.
3. Choose one of the following commands: • Clear Monitor removes the displayed clip from the screen, leaving black. The clips are still loaded. • Clear Menu deletes the list of all loaded clip names and leaves only the clip currently displayed. Resizing Monitors You can resize the Source/Record and any pop-up monitors to provide more area for displaying the Timeline or other windows.
To redisplay the video in the monitor, Ctrl+Shift+click on the monitor and choose Hide Video again. Resizing a Monitor You can resize the Source and Record monitors to a variety of sizes. To resize the Source and Record monitors: 1. Click a monitor to make it active. 2. Drag the lower right corner of the window to the new size you want the monitor. The monitor is displayed with the new size.
• You can move the position indicator within the position bar by clicking anywhere in the position bar, or by dragging the position indicator to the left or right. The speed with which you drag the position indicator determines the speed at which you move through the footage. Position indicator Position bar • In the Timeline, the position indicator shows your position within the sequence.
Using Buttons You can use the user-selectable buttons that appear below the Source and Record monitors and in the pop-up monitors to play and step through your footage. You can also use the keyboard to manipulate footage. Aside from the default configurations, these buttons can be remapped from the Command palette in any configuration onto any of the user palettes and the keyboard. For more information about mapping userselectable buttons, see “About Button Mapping” on page 114.
When viewing sequences in the Source or Record monitor, you can play only video and audio tracks that are currently monitored in the Track Selector panel. For more information, see “Using the Track Selector Panel” on page 504. Play a clip by using the following procedure: 1. Load a clip or sequence into a monitor. 2. Click the Video or Audio Monitor buttons in the Track Selector panel to make sure they are active. 3.
When you have a single row of buttons displayed under your monitors, the Step Forward and Step Backward buttons appear. If you press and hold the Option key while clicking either button, you can advance 10 frames forward and 10 frames backward. n To display all four Step buttons, you must display two rows of buttons under the monitors when configuring the Source/Record window in the Composer Window Settings dialog box.
To use single-field step: Step Forward One Field Step Backward One Field 1. Click the Step Forward One Field or Step Backward One Field button, which are available on the Move tab of the Command palette and can be mapped to any tool palette. A number 2 displays in the upper right corner of the monitor to indicate you are parked on field 2 of a frame. (The absence of the number 2 indicates you are parked on field 1 of the frame.) Subsequent single-frame steps will be based on this field. 2.
Step buttons Delete key Play button Home key End key Stop n Play/Step/Shuttle buttons Arrow keys You can move and replace buttons on the keyboard or map menu commands by using the Command palette, as described in “Using the Command Palette” on page 113. J-K-L Keys (Three-Button Play) The J-K-L keys on the keyboard allow you to play, step, and shuttle through footage at varying speeds.
• Press the L key to move forward through the footage at normal speed. You can increase the speed according to the following table: Press the L Key To Play Footage at NTSC Rate PAL Rate 2 times 2x normal speed 60 fps 50 fps 3 times 3x normal speed 90 fps 75 fps 4 times 5x normal speed 150 fps 125 fps 5 times 8x normal speed 240 fps 200 fps • Press the J key to move backward at the same shuttle speed increments.
Using the Mouse You can use the mouse for one-handed control of playback. You can either jog or shuttle by using the mouse. Jogging with the Mouse To jog by using the mouse: 1. Do one of the following: • Load a clip or sequence into the Source or Record monitor. • Open a pop-up monitor. • Select a clip in a bin in Frame view. 2. Do one of the following: • Press the N key to activate mouse control for jogging.
2. Do one of the following: • Press the semicolon (;) key to activate mouse control for shuttling. • Click the Mouse Shuttle button, which is available on the Play tab of the Command palette and can be mapped to an editing button under the Record monitor. 3. Move the mouse to the right to increase the shuttle speed, or to the left to decrease the shuttle speed. 4. Click the mouse button to pause shuttling. 5. To quit shuttling with the mouse, press the space bar.
• You can use the process of rough-cut or storyboard editing, which allows you to instantly splice several prepared clips into a sequence, as described in “Creating an Instant Rough Cut” on page 444. • You can play back and mark clips in the bin before loading a single clip, which saves several steps. Even if your marks are not accurate now, the Avid application allows you to trim the edit points and fine-tune the sequence later without reediting the material. To mark IN and OUT points: 1.
5. Mark an OUT point by doing one of the following: • Click the Mark OUT button under the monitor to mark an OUT point and stop playback. • Press the Mark OUT key on the keyboard when marking a clip in a bin. The Sawtooth icon on the right side of the monitor indicates the OUT mark frame. 6. To clear a mark and set a new one, do one of the following: • To set a new IN point, you can either: - Click the Mark IN button or key when you reach a different frame.
To move a Mark icon: 1. Option+click the Mark icon. The mouse pointer changes to the hand pointer. 2. Drag the Mark icon to a new location and release the mouse button. Marking an Entire Clip or Segment Use the Mark Clip button to select an entire clip or an entire segment from a sequence. (A segment in a sequence consists of the material between any two edit points.) n The Mark Clip button chooses a segment between the first set of edit lines that line up on all the selected tracks. 1.
This is similar to creating circle takes of your best footage before editing. Unlike outtakes, however, subclips do not directly reference the original media. Subclips remain linked to the master clips from which they are created, and the master clips, in turn, reference the digitized media files located on your media drives. As a result, none of the original footage is lost. You can also create subclips while digitizing as described in “Creating Subclips On-the-Fly” on page 211.
A new subclip as referenced in Text view For more information on trimming, see Chapter 15. Subclips do not limit your access to the original, digitized master clip material when trimming. Therefore, if you must trim beyond the marked IN to OUT boundaries of the subclip to make it longer or shorter, your system does accommodate the boundary adjustments during the trim. Marking Audio Clips You can mark audio and video separately for an edit by using the Audio Mark buttons.
Using Locators Locators are a type of electronic bookmark. They allow you to find and identify specific frames during editing. Key words you enter into the comments attached to a locator allow you to use standard Find procedures to call up the clips quickly. You can map Add Locator buttons, as described in “About Button Mapping” on page 114. There are eight Add Locator buttons on the More tab of the Command palette. Each Add Locator button is a different color, which allows you to group locators by color.
Locator displayed in the monitor, the position bar, and the Timeline You can add locators to your source material while you are in an editing session, as described in the following section. You can also add locators while digitizing, as described in “Adding Locators On-theFly” on page 212. Adding Locators While Editing To add locators while in an editing session: 1. Load a sequence or clip. 2. Cue to the frame and click an Add Locator button.
The Locator Info dialog box appears. 4. Type the locator information and click OK. The amount of information you can enter is limited to 255 characters. The information is stored with the marked frame, and the first line of the information appears at the bottom of the clip in the monitor. 5. To go quickly to a frame with a locator while editing, use the Find command in the Edit menu to search for a particular comment.
Marking Locators You can mark the area between two locators by using the Mark Locator button. To mark the area between two locators: 1. Move the position indicator between two locators. 2. Click the Mark Locators button located on the Edit tab of the Command palette. The area between the two locators is selected. Using the Locators Window The Locators window allows you to quickly add, delete, go to, and print a list of locators in the currently loaded clip or sequence.
Features of the Locators Window Many features of the Locators window are similar to those of the bin window: • The window displays information in text columns. • A Fast menu allows you to modify and sort the display. • You can print the Locators window. This is especially useful for identifying and listing specific frames — to be color corrected or used in an effect, for example. You can also make a list of marked IN and OUT points for adding music.
The Fast menu allows you to do the following: • Display a timecode or footage column. • Sort or reverse-sort (Option key) the display by timecode, track, comment, or locator color. Choose the text at the top of a column to specify which column to sort. • Display the frame associated with each locator. • Change the color of the Locator icon. The Avid system uses the same color in the Timeline, position bar, and Record monitor display.
To use timecode to find a frame, the top row of information must include timecode; for example, V1. To cue to a frame based on a known timecode: 1. Choose a timecode tracking format from the Tracking Information menu that appears above the monitor. 2. Enter the timecode for the frame by using the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard. In this example, the interface displays master timecode. Use one of the formats described in the next two paragraphs.
To cue a frame by using frame offset timecode: 1. Using the numeric keypad, type a plus sign(+) to move forward or a minus sign (–) to move backward from the current position. 2. Enter a number for the frame offset and then press the Enter key on the numeric keypad. Use the following formats: • One or two digits — Enter 1 through 99 to specify a number of frames forward or backward. For example, enter –42 to move backward 42 frames.
The Find dialog box appears. 3. Enter part or all of the text for which you are searching. If the exact text is unknown, enter only a known word or portion of a word. 4. Select one or more options: • Clip Names causes the system to search for matching text in Clip names only. • Locators causes the system to search for matching text entered into locator comments only. • Timeline Text causes the system to search for matching text in any clip text displayed in the Timeline. 5. Click OK.
Using Match Frame The Match Frame function locates the source footage for the frame currently displayed in either the Source or Record monitor, loads it into the Source monitor, cues to the matching frame, and marks an IN point. It removes the source clip’s original IN and OUT marks. In addition to helping you relocate and reedit master clips during a session, the Match Frame feature can be used to locate clips quickly based on media relatives when you have forgotten their location. To use Match Frame: 1.
first location of the match frame, and continues through the sequence to subsequent locations each time you click the Reverse Match Frame button. Finding a Bin With a clip or sequence loaded into a monitor, you can quickly find the original bin in which it is stored by using the Find Bin button. This command finds the bin, opens it, and highlights the clip or sequence within the bin. This works for sequences, subclips or clips within sequences, or clips in the Source monitor.
Locating a Master Clip from a Subclip in a Sequence To find the original clip in the bin for a subclip that has been edited into a sequence, you can use the Match Frame and Find Bin buttons together. n For this operation, you must have the Match Frame button mapped below both the Source and Record monitors. To locate a master clip from a subclip: 1. Cue to the subclip in the sequence. 2. Click the Match Frame button to load the subclip into the Source monitor. 3.
3. Click the Find Frame button. If the tape is not in the deck (for example, if you do not know which tape the footage is on), a dialog box prompts you to insert the appropriate tape. 4. Insert the tape. The system cues to the requested frame and displays the frame. You can redigitize as necessary.
CHAPTER 13 Editing in Source/Record Mode In addition to finishing projects created on offline systems, your Avid system provides tools designed to help you create new sequences. After you have viewed and marked your clips or created subclips, you are ready to create a sequence.
n Illustrations of the Composer window show two button rows, two information rows, and Center Duration. For information about changing the default display, see “Using the Settings Display” on page 75. Entering Source/Record Mode Source/Record mode is the default editing mode. It is composed of the screens and controls shown when the Source monitor and Record monitor are displayed within the Composer window on the Edit monitor. Use Source/Record mode to create new sequences from source clips.
Composer window Record monitor Source monitor Source/Record Mode button Setting Up a New Sequence There are two ways to establish a new sequence: • If you have specific parameters in mind for the project that you would like to establish first, you can create and name a sequence, set the start timecode, and determine the numbers and kinds of tracks to use before you make the first edit, as described in this section.
• If you would like to begin editing right away and build the sequence as you go without setting parameters ahead of time, proceed to “Making an Edit” on page 443. To set up a sequence with the New Sequence command: 1. Choose New Sequence from the Clip menu. One of the following occurs: • If just one bin is open, or one of several bins is selected and you have clicked a specific bin to activate it, the new sequence appears in that bin.
An untitled sequence appears in the bin, in the Record monitor, and in the Timeline. New sequence 2. To rename the new sequence, immediately type a new name while the Name field is active in the bin. n If you click anywhere in the interface after creating the new sequence, you deactivate the Name field. Click the sequence name again to rename the sequence. Changing the Sequence Name and Timecode You can also change the default start timecodes for all new sequences by using General Settings.
The Clip Info dialog box appears. 2. Drag the pointer across the sequence name in the Name text box, then type a new name. 3. Drag the pointer across the start timecode, then type a new timecode. 4. Click OK. Setting Up Tracks for the New Sequence When you create a new sequence by using the New Sequence command, and no material is loaded into the Source monitor, the Timeline displays only the TC (master timecode) track.
You can add any number of audio or video tracks to the sequence before making the first edit, as follows: • Choose New Video Track from the Clip menu to add a video track. • Choose New Audio Track from the Clip menu to add an audio track. The following illustration shows the Timeline after one video and two audio tracks have been added, with no material loaded in the Source monitor.
Alternatively, you can do the following: • Deselect the Auto-create New Tracks option to have the existing tracks in the sequence remain the same when you edit in new source material. This allows you to create new tracks selectively as you edit, which is often preferable at the more advanced stages of a project. • Deselect the Auto-enable Source Tracks option to leave the tracks of newly loaded material in whatever state they were in when they were last loaded.
Making an Edit This section explains one method of editing with your Avid system. As you learn how to use the various editing tools, you can develop an editing method that works best for you. Whether you establish a new sequence in advance, or do not prepare a sequence and want to begin editing right away, use the following procedure to begin editing: 1. Load the first clip into the Source monitor.
Screen display of the first edit in a sequence Source clip The end of the last frame of the first new edit Sequence Splice-in button Timeline generated by the edit Creating an Instant Rough Cut For additional information on editing directly from the bin into the Timeline, see “Bin Editing into the Timeline” on page 497.
To create a rough cut from a bin: 1. To create a more accurate rough cut, screen and mark clips in the bin in advance, as described in “Marking IN and OUT Points” on page 416. 2. In the bin, sort the clips in the order in which you want them to appear in the sequence: • In Text view, alphabetic or numeric sorting of clips might not provide you with the clip ordering that you want.
Undoing or Redoing Edits You can undo or redo up to 32 previous actions listed in the Edit menu. You can quickly undo or redo a just completed command, or you can search through a submenu to undo or redo all commands leading back to a particular command. Undo/Redo commands for previous edit Prior Redo commands appear in the upper portion of the Undo/ Redo List submenu. Prior Undo commands appear in the lower portion of the submenu.
Editing Additional Shots into the Sequence You can use two or sometimes one mark to complete an edit by using phantom marks. For more information, see “Using Phantom Marks” on page 450. The three primary edit functions for adding material to your sequence are the splice-in, overwrite, and replace commands. In most cases, you perform three-point edits in which you set three marks — two in the source material and one in the sequence, or the reverse. The fourth mark is determined automatically.
n Splice-in button If you do not mark an IN point, the system splices the new shot into the sequence at the current location of the position indicator. 4. Click the Splice-in button (yellow) to complete the edit. Performing an Overwrite Edit An overwrite edit replaces a section of the sequence with the material you select in the Source monitor. Unlike a splice-in edit, an overwrite edit replaces existing material and therefore does not lengthen the overall duration of the sequence.
Performing a Replace Edit For information about mapping buttons, see “About Button Mapping” on page 114. You use the Replace button (blue) to replace a clip in the sequence (video, audio, or both) with new material from the Source monitor, while maintaining the original IN and OUT points of the previous edit. The Replace button must be mapped to a button under the Record monitor before you begin to edit. To perform a replace edit: 1.
Using Single-Mark Editing Single-mark editing (also called mark-and-park editing) allows you to establish a single mark, then use the location of the position indicator to determine the second mark when making the edit. You can use this procedure in several ways to save steps: • You can mark an IN point in the Source monitor and then perform a splice-in, overwrite, or replace edit without adding an OUT mark.
or sometimes three edit points calculated by the system to complete an edit. The following are a few sample scenarios. Setting One Mark In this example, you set only the IN mark on the source side. By default, the system uses the location of the position indicator as the IN mark for the sequence, and calculates both OUT points based on the length of the source clip.
Editing or other complicated replace edits in which two or more marks are calculated automatically. Lifting, Extracting, and Copying Material Extract/Splice-in and Lift/Overwrite are Segment mode functions you can also use to remove and reposition segments. For more information, see “Using Segment Mode” on page 485. Lifting, extracting, and copying allow you to remove or reposition material quickly in your sequence.
Extracting Material The Extract function removes selected material from a track in the sequence and closes the gap left by its removal. As a result, when you extract material, you shrink the duration of the track or sequence. Extracted Shot Y Before Extract Shot X After Extract Shot X Shot Y Material is placed in the Clipboard. Shot Z Track is shortened. Shot Z To extract material: 1. Mark IN and OUT points at the start and end of the material in the sequence that you want to extract. 2.
Copy to Clipboard button 3. Click the Copy to Clipboard button. The system copies the selected material to the Clipboard, and leaves the sequence untouched. Using the Clipboard The Avid Clipboard is a cut, copy, and paste tool adapted to the special needs of the editing environment. You can place a marked section of the sequence into the Clipboard at any time by clicking the Lift, Extract, or Copy to Clipboard buttons.
Name menu. The n is an incremental numbering of clips placed in the Clipboard during the session. • Press the Option key when you copy, lift, or extract the material. The contents appear as a clip in the Source monitor, and the name “Sequence name. Sub” appears above the monitor and in the Clip Name menu. Repeat these procedures each time you want to preserve copied, lifted, or extracted material during a session.
2. Click the Mark Clip button to mark the entire segment. Toggle Source/Record in Timeline button (Optional) You can view the sequence segment as a source Timeline by clicking the Toggle Source/Record in Timeline button in the Timeline toolbar to mark and select specific tracks. 3. Locate the IN point in the sequence from which the segment was removed. Place the position indicator here, or mark an IN. 4. Splice or overwrite the material back into the sequence.
To add comments to the sequence: Segment Mode buttons 1. Click one of the Segment Mode buttons (located below the Timeline) and highlight the clip to which you want to add a comment in the Timeline. 2. Choose Add Comments from the Clip Name menu. The Comments dialog box appears. 3. Type your comments in the text box and click OK. n You can display the comments in the Timeline by using the Clip Text option in the Timeline Fast menu. 4. Click one of the Segment Mode buttons again to leave Segment mode.
4. Use the position indicator, buttons, mouse, or keyboard to play, step, or shuttle through footage. View the sequence in the Record monitor or in the third, full-screen monitor. Starting a Playback Loop You can play back your sequence in a continuous loop by augmenting the Play IN to OUT command with the Ctrl key. You must set marks in the sequence to determine the range of the playback loop.
page 100. If this number is large, reduce the number of media objects by doing one of the following: - Close bins that are not in use. - Reduce the number of clips in the open bins. - Unmount drives that are currently not in use by dragging them to the Trash or by using the Eject command. See “Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives” on page 52. You can remount the drives at any time by choosing Mount All from the File menu. • Restart the computer once a day to refresh the system memory.
Where n is the duration (in minutes) you want mapped to the Play Length toggle button. n The n variable must be a whole number set to 1 or higher. 3. Press Return. The Console window displays the value for playlength. For example, if you set playlength to 1, the Console window will display playlength = 1 (half forward/half backward). Playing a Sequence Using the Play Length Toggle Button To select the Play Length toggle button to map to the Play button: 1. Click the Play Length toggle button.
How to Fine-Tune the Sequence If you have finished a rough cut and are ready to fine-tune the sequence, proceed with the following: • To learn about the Timeline and Segment mode editing techniques, see Chapter 14. • To make frame-accurate adjustments to your edits by using Trim mode, see Chapter 15. • To edit with audio or mix audio tracks in preparation for playback or output, see Chapter 16. • To edit with synced tracks, see Chapter 17. • To edit with multicamera material, see Chapter 18.
CHAPTER 14 Using the Timeline Your Avid system represents each edit and effect in a graphical timeline structure to help you track and manipulate the elements of your sequence. The Timeline continuously updates as you work, displaying an extensive array of icons and information that you can customize in various ways. In addition, the Timeline has its own set of editing tools that you can use to create and revise edits and transitions across multiple tracks.
n Illustrations of the Composer window in this chapter show the full set of two button rows, two information rows, and Center Duration display, as selected in Composer Window Settings. For more information, see “Customizing the Composer Window” on page 383. Customizing Timeline Views There are also a number of on-the-fly procedures for changing your view of the Timeline (such as the Zoom and Focus functions) that are not saved as part of a Timeline view.
• Complex audio work: If you are doing advanced audio work with multiple tracks, or fine-tuning difficult audio edits, you can hide video tracks and enlarge audio tracks while displaying waveform plots. • Film and animation editing: If you are working on a film or animation project, you can display the film track, show every frame in the sequence, and display sync breaks where they occur.
• Basic trimming: If you are fine-tuning and trimming simple edits at the early stages of a project, you can view the sequence in Heads and Tails view to see a display of the first and last frame of every shot. Using the Timeline Fast Menu To create a custom Timeline view, you choose various options from the Timeline Fast menu. The Timeline Fast Menu button appears in the bottom left corner of the Timeline toolbar.
You can learn about the various Timeline view options as follows: • For an overview of all Timeline Fast menu options, see the Help. • For more information on Effect icons and displays, see the Avid Media Composer Effects Guide. • For information on different view types, see “Customizing Timeline Views” on page 463. • For information on Dupe Detection in the Timeline, see “Detecting Duplicate Frames” on page 517.
2. Do one of the following: • Choose Enlarge Track or Reduce Track from the Edit menu. • Press and hold the Option key and move the pointer to the bottom edge of the track selector until it appears as a bar intersected by double-headed arrow. Drag the edge up or down to make the track narrower or wider. This method applies to only one track selection at a time. • Press k+L to Enlarge Track or k+K to Reduce Track to change the height of all highlighted tracks quickly in the Timeline.
Changing the Timeline Background Color To change the background color of the Timeline, you also have to change the background color of the monitors. To change the background color of the Timeline: 1. Click in a monitor to activate it. 2. Choose Set Composer Background from the Edit menu. 3. Choose a shade of gray for the background from the pop-up palette. Changing the Timeline Track Color To change the track color in the Timeline: 1. Click in the Timeline to activate it. 2.
2. Choose Clip Color from the Timeline Fast menu, and choose Local from the Clip Color submenu. A check mark indicates that Local is active. 3. Choose Set Local Clip Color from the Edit menu, and choose a color for the clip from the submenu. The assigned local color appears on the clip in the Timeline. 4. Click the Segment button. The clip displays the color you chose. Displaying Local and Source Colors in the Timeline You can display source colors and local colors for clips in the Timeline.
Displaying Source Colors To display source colors in the Timeline: 1. Choose Clip Color from the Timeline Fast menu. 2. Choose Source from the Clip Color submenu. The source colors assigned to clips in the bin appear in the Timeline. n Clip colors assigned to sequences, groups, and title clips do not appear in the Timeline. Displaying Local Colors To display local colors in the Timeline: 1. Choose Clip Color from the Timeline Fast menu. 2. Choose Local from the Clip Color submenu.
n When working with nested layers, a clip that contains offline media appears red even if the missing media is nested many layers deep. Saving a Customized Timeline View You can save a customized Timeline view. Timeline views appear in the Settings scroll list in the Project window. You can save, rename, and copy several views.
The Name of This View dialog box appears. 2. Type a name for the view and click OK. Replacing a Timeline View If your saved views become extensive and there are views you no longer use and would like to replace, use the following procedure: 1. Press and hold the Option key while you click the Timeline View button to display the list of saved view names, each appended with the Replace command. 2. Select a saved view name that you want to replace from the list.
2. Double-click Timeline to display a list of your current Timeline settings. For more information on Timeline settings, see “Timeline Settings Options” on page 473. 3. Select the Scroll While Playing option. To turn off scrolling while you play, deselect the Scroll While Playing option in the Timeline Settings dialog box. n 4. Click OK. When you play a sequence in the Timeline, the sequence scrolls over the position indicator.
Table 14-1 Timeline Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Show Effect Contents When this option is selected, the system displays effect information. Show Marked Region When this option is selected, the system highlights the region from the IN to OUT mark. Show Marked Waveforms When this option is selected, the system shows waveforms drawn between a marked IN or OUT point instead of over the entire composition.
Restoring the Default Timeline View To restore the default view in the Timeline, choose Default Setup from the Timeline Fast menu. Navigating in the Timeline The Timeline window provides various controls for quickly moving through a sequence and adjusting your view of details displayed in the tracks while editing. You can use the position indicator, the Timeline scroll bar/position bar, the scale bar, Zoom In and Zoom Back commands, or the Focus button.
Using the Position Indicator The position indicator in the Timeline marks your place in the sequence. It also determines how some of your commands are interpreted. For example, when you perform an edit, the system takes the location of the position indicator as the mark IN in the absence of established marks. When you move the position indicator in the Timeline, the smaller position indicator within the Record monitor’s position bar also moves.
The Timeline Settings dialog box appears. For more information on the Timeline settings, see “Timeline Settings Options” on page 473. 2. Select Show Position Bar in the Timeline Settings dialog box. A check mark appears in the box. To deselect an option, click it again. 3. Click OK. The scroll bar changes to a position bar.
An advantage of the position bar is that when you focus on only a portion of the sequence, both the Timeline and Record monitor’s position bars show a highlighted region around the position indicator. This represents the range of material displayed in the window.
Displaying Detail in the Timeline The scale bar stretches and contracts the Timeline area centered around the blue position indicator. This allows you either to zoom in to focus on a specific area of your sequence, or to zoom out to display your whole sequence. This feature is especially useful when you have a lengthy sequence with many edits.
2. Move the scale box back to the left. The Timeline shrinks to its original size. Zooming In and Out The Zoom In and Zoom Back commands in the Timeline Fast menu stretch out the Timeline like an accordion to allow you to focus on detail, but with the following differences: • The Zoom In command does not expand the Timeline incrementally, but allows you to select a portion of the Timeline of any size to instantly expand to fill the window.
Focusing the Timeline The Focus button also allows you to zoom in on a section of the Timeline. It is located in the Timeline toolbar next to the Fast Menu button. Focus button The Focus button allows you to center the position indicator quickly and expand the Timeline. The Focus button always expands the Timeline to a scale of 90 pixels per second. The position indicator is centered in the window. When you click the Focus button a second time, it always returns the Timeline to its previous size.
2. Click the Resize box at the lower right corner of the window and drag it. n To restore a resized Timeline window to its default position, click the Timeline and choose Home from the Windows menu. Maximize button Resize box Notice that a Timeline with reduced tracks wraps around to show more of the sequence. As you reduce tracks in a full-screen Timeline, the sequence wraps around, allowing you to examine a long sequence in greater horizontal detail.
You can click in either window to activate it and bring it forward at any time, or you can click in the title bar of the Timeline window and drag it to the Bin monitor to place each window in its own monitor. Displaying Source Material in the Timeline The Toggle Source/Record in Timeline button allows you to view multitrack source material quickly in the Timeline for selecting and marking specific tracks. By default, the Timeline displays only the available tracks for source material.
Controlling Movement in the Timeline While working in the Timeline window, you can use the Ctrl, k, and Option keys to control the movement of both the position indicator and any segments that you move in Segment mode. The Timeline provides a small icon window called the motion mode indicator in the Timeline toolbar. Motion mode indicator This small window displays a specific icon, depending on the key you press to augment your movement within the Timeline.
IN to OUT Highlighting in the Timeline When you mark a sequence with IN to OUT points, the system indicates the selection by highlighting the marked region in the Timeline. Only selected tracks are highlighted. All tracks selected Highlighted region This visual guide helps you monitor track and segment selection more carefully when mixing or applying effects across multiple tracks and segments. To turn the highlighting feature on and off, select Show Marked Region from the Timeline Settings dialog box.
Observe the following guidelines when editing in Segment mode: • Transition effects on either side of a moved selection are deleted. Transition effects inside the selection are preserved. • You can track the audio while moving segments by pressing the Caps Lock key to enable audio scrub. For more information, see “Using Audio Scrub” on page 555.
Once you enter Segment mode by using either of these methods, you can continue to select or deselect additional segments. The selected segment or group of segments becomes highlighted, and remains in its original position during the move until you select its new position. Observe the following guidelines when selecting tracks: • You cannot simultaneously move segments that are separated along a track. You can, however, move segments separated on different tracks.
To lasso segments, draw a lasso beginning in the area above the tracks in the Timeline. Drag left to right and then down to select more than one segment. Begin Lasso box Segment End Extract/Splice-in mode is enabled by default when you draw a lasso. To switch to Lift/Overwrite mode, click the Lift/Overwrite button after drawing the lasso. Observe the following guidelines when lassoing segments: • Position the pointer above the tracks before dragging.
• Use the Shift key and the Segment Mode pointer to deselect specific segments on any track, leaving the remaining tracks selected. Performing Segment Mode Edits Once you have selected one or more segments and have entered Segment mode, you can reposition the segments by clicking and dragging with the Segment Mode pointer. You can also delete or mark the segments in one step. n You cannot overlap the source and destination tracks.
The two outer frames indicate ending and beginning frames of shots before and after the segment. Four-frame display Offset counter The two inner frames represent the start and end frames of the segment. When you drag the segments, the original highlighted segment remains in place, while a “ghost” segment enclosed in a dotted white box moves along with the pointer until you release it at a new edit point. Selected segment is dragged to new position.
When you release the segment into its new position, the actual lift (Overwrite) or extract (Splice-in) occurs. The preservation of the segment position in the Timeline until then allows you to maintain your perspective of the sequence while selecting the new edit point. Suppressing Four-Frame Display The four-frame display of incoming/outgoing frames can occasionally slow the movement of segments as you drag them through the sequence.
Maintaining Sync in Segment Mode You can move segments in the Timeline and maintain sync between audio and video by using the Segment Drag Sync Locks option. After moving a segment in the Timeline, this option maintains sync by adding filler to the following locations: • Where the segment was moved from • The location on all other sync-locked tracks that corresponds to the new location of the segment you moved You can move either an audio clip or a video clip. To move a segment and keep sync: 1.
3. Click OK. 4. In the Track Selector panel, click the Sync Lock button for the video and audio tracks that you want to keep in sync. 5. Click the Extract/Splice-in button. 6. Click an audio or video clip and drag it to the new location. In the following example, notice that in the video track, the system adds filler to the location where you moved the audio clip. All clips remain in sync. Before Segment Drag Sync Lock This clip will be moved.
Like the standard Splice-in function, the Extract/Splice-in edit inserts the segment into the new position. However, as an additional function, it also “extracts” or removes the segment from its previous position and closes the gap. Before Splice-in Shot W (selected shot) After Splice-in Shot W Shot Y Shot Y Shot Z Surrounding shots are unchanged. (selected shot) Shot Z To perform an Extract/Splice-in edit: 1. Click the Extract/Splice-in button (yellow) in the Timeline toolbar. 2.
Like the standard Overwrite function, the Lift/Overwrite edit deletes and replaces underlying material at the new position, effectively creating new edits. It also “lifts” the segments from the previous position, leaving black or silence of the same duration. Before Overwrite Shot W (selected shot) After Overwrite Shot W Shot Y Shot Z Shot Y (selected shot) Shot Z Blank Filler Underlying materials overwritten To perform a Lift/Overwrite edit: 1.
To delete segments quickly: 1. Click one of the Segment Mode buttons: • Extract/Splice-in (yellow) deletes the segments and closes the remaining gaps. The total duration of the sequence is shortened, and any synchronized tracks lose sync. • Lift/Overwrite (red) deletes the segments but leaves blank space or silence in their place. The total duration of the sequence remains the same, and sync is maintained. 2. Select one or multiple segments. 3. Press the Delete key. The segments are deleted.
The system marks an IN point at the start and an OUT point at the end of the selected segments. If you have more than one track selected, the IN and OUT points mark where the edit points across tracks line up.
Footage” on page 416. Otherwise, the entire clip is edited into the sequence. 2. Click one of the Segment Mode buttons: • Lift/Overwrite (red arrow) acts as an overwrite edit, causing the clip to overwrite material of the same length in the sequence, while maintaining the same duration of the sequence. • Extract/Splice-in (yellow arrow) acts as a splice edit, inserting the clip into the sequence, moving existing material down, and lengthening the total duration. 3.
Editing with the Film Track You can use the film track to examine each frame of the sequence in a linear display, much as you would when looking at a strand of film on a flatbed or workbench. Unlike your view of the footage in the monitors, which display one frame at a time, the film track within the Timeline allows you to compare individual frames side by side within a range of frames. To display the film track, choose Film from the Show Track submenu of the Timeline Fast menu.
The position indicator splits to surround each frame. The solid blue line indicates the head, and the shadow line indicates the tail of each frame. Solid blue position indicator (head of frame) n Shadow of position indicator (tail of frame) The film track displays frames for the topmost video track only. You cannot display more than one film track at a time. To quickly view more frames as you scroll, drag the resize box in the lower right corner of the Timeline for a full-screen view.
As you continue to scroll, each strand of the Timeline wraparound is updated.
view. These display formats are useful for quickly rearranging simple straight-cut edits. c If you rearrange a split edit (in which the audio extends beyond the video, or the reverse), the system cuts all tracks to the same edit point. To rearrange split edits, edits on multiple video tracks, or to move audio and video separately, use Segment mode editing techniques described in “Using Segment Mode” on page 485. To edit in Heads view or Heads and Tails view: 1.
Working with Multiple Tracks As your project progresses, you might need to add and edit with additional audio or video tracks. The Avid system allows you to edit up to 24 tracks of video and 24 tracks of audio. In addition, you can step into tracks to create additional tracks for nested effects. While working with multiple tracks, you can use the Track Selector panel to select, manipulate, delete, lock, patch, and monitor your tracks.
About Nesting Occasionally, effects editing involves a procedure known as nesting. This involves stepping into existing tracks to reveal added layers for combining multiple images and digital video effects. When the effect is applied, you can step out to view and render the effect as one segment on the track. Media Composer allows you to nest up to 24 additional tracks within each track. n For more information on nesting techniques, see the Avid Media Composer Effects Guide.
Figure 14-2 shows the Track Selector panel. Source Track Monitor buttons Source Track buttons Sync Lock and Lock buttons Record Track buttons Record Track Monitor buttons Timecode button Sync Lock All button Figure 14-2 Track Selector Panel The source side of the panel displays only those tracks available for the clip currently loaded and displayed in the Source monitor. For instance, a clip that has audio digitized only for track A1 does not display an A2 track in the Track Selector panel.
Selecting Tracks You can select tracks on either the record side or the source side of the Track Selector panel as follows: • You can edit selected tracks on the source side directly into the sequence, assuming you have selected parallel tracks on the record side. • You cannot edit deselected tracks on the source side into the sequence, regardless of record track selections. • You cannot edit deselected tracks on the record side, regardless of source track selections.
Monitoring Tracks The Track Monitor buttons allow you to choose which tracks to monitor in the Source monitor, the Record monitor, and the speakers. You determine the monitoring of tracks by clicking a Track Monitor button of either the source-side or record-side tracks to activate or deactivate the track for monitoring. Video Track Monitor buttons and Audio Track Monitor buttons behave differently in some circumstances, as described in this section.
Monitoring Audio Your Avid system allows you to monitor up to eight audio tracks at a time. The following characteristics apply to audio track monitoring: • The system pans odd-numbered tracks to the left speaker, and even-numbered tracks to the right by default. • If your sequence includes more than eight audio tracks, you can select any eight tracks to monitor at any one time by clicking the Audio Track Monitor button for each audio track you want to monitor.
Monitoring a Solo Track You can use the k key to quickly select an individual video or audio track for monitoring during editing. • To select a track for solo monitoring, press the k key and click the Track Monitor button for the chosen track. The Monitor icon changes to green to indicate solo monitoring. Video track selected for solo monitoring Audio track selected for solo monitoring • To deselect solo monitoring, press the k key and click the Track Monitor button again.
You can perform only one patch per edit, but there is no limit on the number of times you can patch from the same source track. Audio can patch only to audio, and video only to video. • To perform a patch, drag from a source track (audio or video) to the targeted record track (a white arrow appears during the patch). New source track order identifies the patch. An audio patch from a source track to a record track During Patch • After Patch To undo a patch, click in the Record monitor, or Timeline.
Locking and Sync Locking Tracks The system provides two ways of locking tracks: • You can lock selected tracks to prevent further editing from being performed on them. • You can sync lock selected tracks, so that when you trim one track, the other track follows. The Sync Lock and Lock buttons of the Track Selector panel display a Sync Lock icon for sync-locked tracks, and a Lock icon for locked tracks. The procedure for applying the locks is different in each case.
To lock tracks: 1. Select the tracks to be locked (Source, Record, or both). 2. Choose Lock Tracks from the Clip menu. The Lock icon indicates that the selected tracks are locked. No further editing can occur on locked tracks until you choose Unlock Tracks from the Clip menu. Sync Locking Tracks For more information on using the sync lock feature in Trim mode, see “Using Sync Lock” on page 642. Sync locking affects trimming and splice-in edits.
• If you want to manage the numbering scheme of tracks rather than use the consecutive numbering default: a. Press and hold the Option key and choose New Audio Track or New Video Track from the Clip menu. The New Track dialog box appears. Track Type pop-up menu Track Number pop-up menu b. If you want to switch from the type of new track you chose (for example, from a new video to a new audio track), choose the other option from the Track Type pop-up menu. c.
When you delete a track, it is permanently removed. If you want to remove the track temporarily, hide the tracks as described in “Customizing Timeline Views” on page 463. Adding an Edit (Match Framing) The add edit function places an artificial edit point between frames of a clip. The edit appears in the Timeline as a transition between two clips, but when you play the clip, the footage appears unchanged because the frames are continuous.
3. Click the Add Edit button. The edit appears in the sequence, with an equal sign to indicate a match frame. Equal sign indicates a match frame. n By default, the match-frame indicator is white. If a change in level occurs, the match-frame indicator changes to red. Removing Match-Frame Edits You can also remove individual match frames by selecting them in Trim mode and pressing the Delete key. For more information on Trim mode, see Chapter 15.
c You cannot remove match-frame edits between segments in which audio pan or volume levels have been adjusted. Alternatively, you can select the match-frame edit in Trim mode and press Delete. Backtiming Edits Backtiming an edit is effectively the reverse of the process you normally use for marking footage: instead of marking from the IN points forward, you mark according to the OUT points.
To backtime an edit: 1. Mark an OUT in the sequence where you want the edit to end. Also mark an IN where the edit is to start. 2. Select the appropriate tracks. 3. Load the clip into the Source monitor. 4. Mark an OUT point in the Source monitor to synchronize to the OUT point in the sequence. 5. Click the Overwrite button. The source material is added to the sequence, with the synchronized ending.
The colored bars that distinguish duplicate frames in the sequence are automatically drawn above the frames in the Timeline, as shown. Two duplicate frames marked above the clip by the automatic Dupe Detection option Red bars mark the first set of duplicate frames, green bars mark the second set, and so on. You can use Dupe Detection while you are editing to locate duplicate frames and remove them as the sequence evolves. To activate Dupe Detection, choose Dupe Detection from the Timeline Fast menu.
When Color Framing is enabled, green bars appear above the Overwrite and Splice-in buttons (Source and Record monitors) and blink whenever a color sync signal is interrupted by an edit. The blinking lights indicate that color framing is out of phase at the edit transition. End Frame color phase indicator Green color-frame phase bars blink during an interruption. Start Frame color phase indicator Use the following procedure to enable color-frame tracking while editing: 1.
To correct color-frame interruption as you edit: 1. Note any edits that cause the green lights to blink. You can adjust the edits now, or place locators to return to these edits and correct them later. 2. To adjust the edit, enter Trim mode. In Trim mode, the Avid system displays small green boxes on the top adjacent frame corners. When the color sync signals are in phase, the boxes are aligned horizontally.
Printing the Timeline To print the Timeline: 1. Choose Print Timeline from the File menu. The Print dialog box appears. n The name of the printer and details of the dialog box will vary depending upon facilities. 2. Select printing options, then click Print. The system prints the current view of the Timeline. You can also use the Print Timeline command to print the Timeline in Heads view or in Heads and Tails view.
CHAPTER 15 Working in Trim Mode Basic editing in Source/Record mode and in the Timeline initially produces a rough cut, which can be loosely defined as a series of straightcut edits with many rough edges and few effects. After creating a rough cut, you can enter Trim mode and fine-tune the transitions between each shot or between whole segments. You can also trim edits as you build a sequence, rather than creating a rough cut first.
There are two types of trimming modes. From any of the trim modes, you can perform many of the same functions, such as removing or adding frames, or slipping or sliding shots. • Big Trim mode is the system’s default configuration for trimming. • Small Trim mode is an optional display mode available from Big Trim mode. In Big Trim mode, the Source and Record monitors are replaced by displays of outgoing and incoming frames. Big Trim mode also shows transition playback loop parameters.
Small Trim mode leaves the Source monitor display intact, but has smaller displays for incoming and outgoing frames. Outgoing frames Small Trim Mode Incoming Frames Frame offset counters Trim buttons Play Loop button Use the Trim Settings dialog box to configure basic displays and functions. You can learn about Trim settings as follows: • For an overview of all Trim settings, see “Trim Settings Options” on page 525.
In addition, you can: • Map trim-related buttons onto palettes in Trim mode, as described in “About Button Mapping” on page 114. • Configure a Trim-mode-specific Timeline view, as described in “Using the Timeline Fast Menu” on page 465. Trim Settings Options Table 15-1 describes the Trim Settings options. Table 15-1 Trim Settings Options Option Description Never use Small Trim mode This option sets the system to enter Big Trim mode when you perform any of the operations that activate Trim mode.
Table 15-1 Trim Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Render On-The-Fly This option sets the system to display the result of effects as soon as you create them. Note that this can slow down the editing of the sequence. Dual Image Play This option enables dual-image play while trimming (also known as dual-roller trim). It displays outgoing and incoming frames in real time while you trim your edit (adding or shaving the same number of frames on both sides of a transition).
Entering Trim Mode There are four alternative methods for entering Trim mode: • Click the Trim Mode button. By default, the system enters Trim mode and selects the tracks nearest the position indicator for dual-roller trimming. This method is useful for selecting straight-cut transitions on one track or across video and audio tracks.
• Lasso the transitions in the Timeline. Draw the lasso by clicking at a point above the top track in the Timeline and dragging to surround the transitions. This method is useful when you need to select multiple transitions staggered across parallel tracks (overlap cuts) for simultaneous trimming. Lasso drawn across three tracks Transitions are selected for dual-roller trim. You can drag from right to left, or left to right, and you can lasso single transitions across several contiguous tracks.
• Click the Go to Previous Edit or Go to Next Edit buttons. By default, the system selects the nearest transition in either direction of the selected track for dual-roller trimming. If the transition is a straight cut, the system selects all edited tracks. If the transition is an overlap edit, with staggered transition points, the system selects the next transition where all selected tracks have the transitions at the same point. • Click the Play Loop button on a palette or the keyboard.
• Click a location in the Timecode (TC1) track at the bottom of the Timeline to exit Trim mode. The position indicator moves to that location. Click in the TC track. The system exits to Source/ Record mode and relocates the position indicator. Switching Between Big and Small Trim Modes When you click the Trim Mode button, by default the system enters Big Trim mode. If you click the Trim Mode button again, the interface switches between Big and Small Trim modes.
Selecting Between Trim Sides There are three ways to select sides of a transition to trim: A-side B-side A and B A and B A-side • In Big or Small Trim mode display, click the outgoing (A-side) or incoming (B-side) monitor to define which side of the transition to trim. Notice that the pointer changes to a single-roller A-side, single-roller B-side, or double-roller icon depending on position.
• To select additional transitions for single-roller trimming in varying locations on different tracks, Shift+click the transitions in the Timeline. This method is useful when you are working with staggered transitions across multiple tracks; it also allows you to select both A-side and B-side transitions for simultaneous trimming in opposite directions (asymmetrical trim). This is not possible with dual-roller trims.
Performing a Basic Trim With your transitions and trim sides selected, you can perform a basic trim by using one of the following alternative procedures: 1 frame • Use the Trim buttons to trim forward or backward by 1-frame or 10-frame increments. • Use the numeric keypad at the right side of the keyboard, as follows: 10 frames - To move the transition a specific number of frames, type a plus sign (+) or minus sign (–) and the number of frames (from 1 to 99) you want to move forward or backward.
To solo an audio track in Trim mode: 1. Click the Trim Mode button. 2. Press k+click the Audio Track Monitor button next to the audio track. The Audio Track Monitor button changes to green with a black Speaker icon to indicate solo monitoring. Reviewing the Trim Edit To review the most recent trim edit, or to play the currently selected transition while in Trim mode: 1. To see the Timeline in a closer view while you review the trim, click the Focus button.
4. Stop the playback loop by clicking the Play Loop button. 5. To leave Trim mode, click the timecode track in the Timeline or click the Source/Record Mode button. Trimming On-the-Fly In Trim mode, you can use the J-K-L keys on the keyboard to play through outgoing or incoming material and mark trim points. This is similar to the procedure for marking footage on-the-fly, as described in “Marking and Subcataloging Footage” on page 416.
Dual-Image Playback During Trims Dual-image playback allows you to view A-side and B-side frames in real time while performing a trim. You can play through the transition by using the J-K-L keys or the Play and Trim buttons. To use dual-image playback during trims: 1. Double-click Trim in the Settings scroll list in the Project window to open the Trim Settings dialog box. 2. Select the Dual Image Play option and click OK. 3. Enter Trim mode and select a transition for trimming. 4.
3. Press a keyboard equivalent to perform a Trim function. Also, if you are having difficulty determining which side of the transition to trim (for example, during a difficult audio edit), use the Go to IN and Go to OUT keys to review only one side. The system performs the trim before the next playback loop, so you can view the trimmed transition during playback, then make further changes until you are satisfied with the adjustment. 4.
2. Perform a dual-roller trim on either the video track or the audio tracks, but not both: • If the video transition occurs at the correct place, but you want the audio from one shot to linger into the other (or the reverse), trim the audio tracks accordingly. • If the audio transition occurs at the correct place, but you want the video to transition either before or after the audio cut, trim the video track accordingly.
2. Find the point in the sequence to which you want to trim. If the trim point is before the edit, mark an IN. If it is after the edit, mark an OUT. Video track is selected for extending back. Mark IN 3. Click the Extend button. You can map the Extend button from the Command palette. For information on the Command palette and button mapping, see “About Button Mapping” on page 114. The adjustment appears in the Timeline. Video track is extended back.
Slipping or Sliding Shots Slip and slide procedures are two unique Trim mode techniques that allow you to make frame-accurate adjustments to a selected clip. They occur without affecting the overall duration of the sequence or the sync relationships between multiple tracks. Procedures for performing them are described in this section.
You can also select two or more segments on different tracks for simultaneous slip or slide trimming. To do so, press the Shift key as you repeat this procedure. However, you cannot use the Shift key to select additional segments on the same track. • While in Trim mode, press the Shift key and select both the head and tail of a clip for slipping.
Outgoing and Incoming video (or A- and B-sides) Tail and head frames of the selected clip 542
The type of trim you perform (slip or slide) determines which frames are updated, as follows: • In slip trimming, the two inner monitors for the head and tail frames of the clip change because only the contents of the clip are adjusted. The frames that precede and follow the clip are not affected. Surrounding material remains fixed. Before Slip Slip 1 frame to the right.
• Use the trim keys or buttons to shift the selection by 1-frame or 10-frame increments. • Use the J-K-L keys. 2. Monitor the progress of the trim by using the monitors, the Trim counters, and the Timeline. When you reach the end of available material while slipping a shot, the trim stops. Similarly, when you reach the next transition while sliding a shot along a track, the trim stops. A bright white line at the transition indicates the limit.
Maintaining Sync While Trimming For more information about sync relationships, as well as additional procedures for managing sync, see Chapter 17. n Because single-roller (A-side or B-side) trims shorten or lengthen the duration of the track being trimmed, any relationships that exist with other tracks downstream of the trim will be thrown out of sync.
No black is added and sync breaks appear in the Timeline Trimming without adding black Black fills the trim duration, and sync is maintained. Adding black while trimming (Ctrl key + trim) Trimming with Sync-Locked Tracks You can sync lock tracks to maintain a synchronized relationship when you perform a single-roller trim.
Trim with sync-locked tracks as follows: n Sync-locked tracks aid only single-roller trim functions in Trim mode because dual-roller trims do not cause sync breaks. 1. Sync lock the tracks as follows: • Click the Sync Lock button in the Track Selector panel for the track you want to keep in sync. The Sync Lock icon appears. • Click the Sync Lock All button to switch sync lock on and off for all tracks. Sync Lock icon Sync Lock icon Sync Lock All button 2.
Before trimming forward, three tracks are sync locked. After trimming forward, sync is maintained from position indicator forward. If you trim the B-side of the transition in the same direction, the additional sync-locked segments slide back in the sequence to maintain sync until they encounter another segment in the same track. At this point, you can trim no further and the system emits a warning sound.
Using the Transition Corner Display The Transition Corner Display is a Trim Mode interface that shows six important frames you use as reference points when trimming a transition effect: Transition Corner Display button Frames on which the transition effect starts The two frames between which a cut point defines the transition 549 Frames on which the transition effect ends
Use the Transition Corner Display to trim the transition effect’s start frames, end frames, and duration. As you trim the transition effect, you will be able to see the corresponding frame adjustments in all six monitors simultaneously. c The Transition Corner Display is only applicable to the trimming of transition effects (for example, dissolves, wipes, picture-in-picture, and so on). It is not designed for trimming key, image, or segment effects.
• You can either: - Enter the number of frames you want to move forward on the numeric keypad, then press Enter. - Type a minus sign (–) and enter the number of frames you want to move backward, then press Enter. 4. To review your edit, click the Play Loop button.
CHAPTER 16 Working with Audio You edit audio by using many of the same techniques and tools you use to edit video, including Source/Record mode, Segment mode, and Trim mode functions. Your Avid system also provides several unique features that facilitate audio editing, such as audio scrub, waveform displays, and tools for adjusting and mixing audio levels and pan between speakers. In addition, you can adjust the high, low, and midrange frequency ranges of segments by using the Audio Equalization (EQ) tool.
About Audio Tools The Avid system provides a collection of tools for managing and finetuning audio volume, pan, equalization, and transitions. The general purpose of each tool is as follows: • Use the Audio tool primarily for adjusting and calibrating global input and output levels when digitizing from analog sources or outputting to tape. For more information, see “Preparing for Audio Input” on page 177 and “Preparing for Output” on page 682.
Accessing Audio Effect Tools You can access the following tools from the same window: • Audio Mix (for adjusting pan and volume) • Automation Gain • AudioSuite • Audio EQ To access one of the audio effect tools: 1. Choose one of the tools from the Tools menu. 2. To switch to another tool, choose the name from the Audio Effect menu.
Audio Editing Aids The Avid system provides audio scrub features and waveform plots specifically designed for frame-accurate cueing, marking, and editing of audio. You can use these features any time during editing or while making adjustments with the audio tools. Using Audio Scrub The term audio scrub originated in the film industry. It describes the process of “scrubbing” a magnetic audiotape across the playback heads to monitor a portion of sound.
Selecting Tracks for Scrubbing By default, the system selects the topmost audio track for scrubbing. The Audio Track Monitor button with a green Speaker icon indicates that the track is selected for scrubbing. Always check which track is selected for scrubbing and select the correct track, if necessary, to avoid marking or trimming the wrong track. Green Speaker icon indicates a track is selected for scrubbing.
To monitor audio with three-button play: 1. Select the correct track and adjust playback volume as necessary. 2. Play the audio, using the three-button variable speed playback procedures described in “J-K-L Keys (Three-Button Play)” on page 413. Using the Mouse to Perform Smooth Scrub You can use the mouse to perform smooth audio scrubbing of selected tracks. Like the J-K-L keys, you can jog and shuttle using the mouse.
• The frames of audio you hear are always at your point of destination. For example, if you step forward 10 frames, you hear a selected number of audio frames from a point behind the position indicator (outgoing frames) to a point in front of the position indicator (incoming frames) as it reaches the new destination point. • The audio is always sampled in a forward playback direction; whether you step backward or forward through the material, you hear the same audio sampling at each destination frame.
To adjust the parameters for digital scrub: 1. Open the Audio Settings dialog box, using one of the following procedures: • Double-click Audio in the Settings scroll list of the Project window. • If you have digital scrub parameters displayed in the second row of information above the Source or Record monitors, you can Option+click the digital scrub parameters. Source-side digital scrub parameters Record-side digital scrub parameters The Audio Settings dialog box appears. 2.
n To display audio scrub parameters in the Source and Record monitors, open the Composer Settings dialog box in the Project window’s Settings scroll list and choose Digital Scrub Parameters. Performing the Digital Scrub Procedure To locate an audio edit point in either source-side or record-side audio by using digital scrub: 1. Select an audio track for scrubbing, and adjust the output volume, if necessary. 2. Press the Caps Lock key to activate digital audio scrub.
Using Waveform Plots You can use waveform plots to help you visually locate points in an audio track for editing or trimming. There are two types of waveform plots, Energy or Sample, that you choose from the Timeline Fast menu. Displaying Audio Waveforms To display audio waveforms: 1. If you are searching for a point in a known section of the tracks, zoom in and show more detail in the sequence to isolate a section of the audio. With less audio to display, the system draws the waveform plot faster. 2.
• The Sample Plot option displays the entire amplitude of the audio waveform. This is the same as the sample voltage values you would see on an analog oscilloscope waveform. Waveform sample plot After you make a choice, the waveform appears in the selected tracks. 3.
n Audio waveform plots can slow your navigation through the Timeline. You might want to use them selectively. To facilitate this, you can create a custom Timeline view, as described in “Customizing Timeline Views” on page 463. Once you have created a customized waveform view, you can simply select it from the Timeline View pop-up menu when needed, and return to another view when done.
• Adjust the volume, pan, or both for one track at a time. • Adjust the volume, pan, or both for multiple tracks simultaneously by ganging them together. The system uses these adjustments for all playback, including output to a digital cut. n The Audio Mix tool adjusts entire clips only. You can adjust volume levels within a clip in the Timeline by using Audio Gain Automation. For information, see “Using Audio Gain Automation” on page 573.
Resizing the Audio Mix Tool You can simplify the Audio Mix Tool display by clicking the Display/ Hide Sliders button to switch between hiding and displaying the volume sliders. With the window collapsed, you can continue to adjust levels by selecting a track and typing values by using the numeric keypad on the keyboard, or by typing a value into the volume level display. You can resize the entire Audio Mix tool by dragging the edge or corner of the tool.
3. Choose Audio Mix from the Tools menu to open the Audio Mix tool. Output Options pop-up menu Audio Effect menu Stereo Mix Tracks pop-up menu Track Selection pop-up menu Gang buttons For Media Composer, the Audio Mix tool contains eight panels, one for each audio track you can monitor and adjust. The Audio Mix Tool window can only display tracks that exist in the sequence, or tracks that were digitized with the source clip. 4.
channels. For more information, see “Adjusting Output on Eight-Channel Audio Board Systems” on page 695. 5. Select the audio track to be adjusted by choosing the track from the Track Selection pop-up menu in a panel. 6. Choose the type of mix you want when applying stereo mix output from the Mix Tracks pop-up menu. You can choose the following channel combinations: 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, or 7 & 8. The system sends a stereo mix to the two channels you select.
To change a value in the panel, use any of the following methods: • Click a number along the vertical edge of the Audio Level slider. • Click the slider and type a value. Values are cumulative until you press Return. For example, if you want to enter the value 12, simply type it. However, if you enter 1 and then want to change the value to 2, press Return before typing the 2. Pop-up slider for pan • Click the slider and then drag it. • Click the Volume Level display box and type a value.
upon the types of marks you set within the clip or sequence, as follows: n The Clip Gain values set by the Audio Mix tool are the values for the entire segment that was set; for example, you cannot set a subsection of a segment without affecting the entire segment. • With IN and OUT marks: Commands apply adjustments to selected tracks between the marks. • With an IN mark (no OUT mark): Commands apply adjustments to full clips from the IN point to the end of selected tracks.
the marked region of selected tracks will be lowered by exactly 1 dB when you click OK. • The Remove Pan/Vols command deletes all audio mix adjustments that have been applied to segments in the marked region of selected tracks. Each audio clip is restored to its previous pan and volume settings. 10. Play through the audio again, using the J-K-L keys. Repeat steps 8 through 10 until you are satisfied with the pan and volume levels.
To set all ganged sliders to the same value: • For volume, click the number along the vertical edge of the volume slider or enter a value into one of the Volume Level displays. • For pan, click the Pan Value display box and enter a value. Ignoring Existing Volume and Pan Settings You can have the system ignore the volume settings established with the Audio Mix tool when playing back or recording a sequence.
Adjusting Volume While Playing an Audio Effect You can use the Play Loop button to create or change the volume on an Audio Mix effect while you play the clip. Play Loop button To adjust volume while playing an effect: 1. Choose an existing Audio Mix effect or identify an area of the clip with IN and OUT marks. 2. Click the Play Loop button. The Avid system repeatedly loops through the audio effect. 3. Adjust the volume as necessary. 4. Click the Play Loop button to stop.
To improve the response time, you can do the following: n • Monitor as few audio tracks as possible. • Deselect the video track if practical. • Use IN and OUT marks to choose a narrow interval to adjust. For additional ways to change the volume while playing an audio effect, see “Recording Audio Gain Information” on page 585.
Automation Gain Values and System Clip Gain Values When you add a keyframe, the Avid system adds the point at the level currently set for that track in the Audio Mix tool. Values set by the volume sliders in the Audio Mix tool window are referred to as system clip gain values. Audio gain keyframes are not additive to the system clip gain values. When you move a gain keyframe up or down, it cancels the system clip gain for that point in the sequence.
3. (Option) Expand the audio track by pressing and holding k+L, or by pressing and holding the Option key and dragging in the Track Selector panel. To drag in the Track Selector panel, press and hold the Option key and move the pointer in the panel. When the pointer changes to a cross, drag the cross to expand or shrink the track as shown in the following illustration. The following illustration shows the expanded audio track with volume data: 4.
A straight line appears in the selected audio track. The line shows the current gain level for that track in the Audio Mix tool. n You adjust gain in the Automation Gain Tool window by dragging keyframes in the Timeline or by placing the position indicator on a keyframe and adjusting the slider. After you add one keyframe to a segment, you can adjust the gain for the entire clip. When you move the keyframe up or down, the corresponding Volume slider in the Automation Gain window moves, also.
n To snap to the decibel lines, press and hold the k key while you drag the point. • Move a keyframe horizontally to move the start or end of a ramp. Place the pointer over a keyframe. When the pointer changes into the hand pointer, press and hold the Option key, click the keyframe, and drag it. • Move several keyframes vertically on a track at the same time by placing IN and OUT marks to select the area you want.
Using an External Fader Box to Adjust Volume Your Avid system supports the following two external fader boxes: n • JL Cooper FaderMaster Pro™ MIDI Automation controller. This low-cost unit allows you to make fine adjustments to audio clips. This unit does not support “flying faders,” which means that the sliders don’t move automatically as you record audio gain information and they must be manually zeroed prior to recording.
For information on connecting a fader, see “Connecting an External Fader to Your Avid System” on page 589. About the Automation Gain Tool Window Before this section discusses recording volume in the Timeline, it describes the Automation Gain Tool window in detail.
Some portions of the Automation Gain Tool window are identical to the Audio Mix Tool and Audio Punch In Tool windows. For example, the following record features are identical to the Audio Punch In Tool window: • The Record button starts and stops the recording. • The Cancel button stops a recording without saving the recorded data. • The Recording status light is black when there is no activity, green during a preroll, red during recording, and blue during a postroll.
Hardware Toggle Button The Hardware Toggle (HW) button indicates which sliders are controlling the volume: the external fader sliders or the Automation Gain Tool window sliders. Button Color To Enter the Mode Description Gray (default) Click the button or turn off the external fader. The sliders in the Automation Gain Tool window control volume for automation gain recording. The system ignores the external fader. Pink Click the button or press the Record button while the external fader is on.
Track Solo Button The Track Solo button (Speaker icon) lets you mute and solo individual audio tracks during audio gain automation recording. Button Color Description Gray The audio track is muted. Yellow The track is soloed. You can solo more than one track at a time. Green (default) The audio track is on. Click the Track Solo button or press the number keys 1 to 8 to switch between solo and on. The number keys (at the top of the keyboard) let you quickly select a track.
You can also use the buttons above each slider on the external fader to solo or mute an individual audio track as follows: • • The FaderMaster Pro has one button that you can use to solo or mute an individual audio track during audio gain automation recording: - Press the button above the slider once to switch between solo and on. - Press the button above the slider twice quickly to switch between mute and on. The MCS-3000X has separate buttons for Solo and Mute.
The position indicator lights are especially useful for the FaderMaster Pro because it is important to position the fader sliders close to the track volume before you start recording. Otherwise, you might create an unwanted jump in the volume when you move the sliders during a recording. n The Avid system does not record values from a slider on the FaderMaster Pro until you move the slider. Then it reads the current position of the slider and adjusts the volume accordingly.
maximum peaks.The Avid system tries to save major gestures while removing redundant points and points on a linear ramp. This is useful for deleting extra keyframes after a recording. For more information, see the examples later in this section. When there are no In/Out marks on the track, the menu item is Filter Automation Gain — Global. This option allows you to remove keyframes from the entire track. • Remove Automation Gain — In/Out removes all of the audio keyframes within the marked region.
To record audio gain information by using the Automation Gain Tool window sliders: 1. Select an audio track for adjusting volume. 2. Choose Volume from the Audio Data submenu of the Timeline Fast menu. n If there is audio volume data on a clip and Audio Data is not chosen from the Timeline Fast menu, the system displays a pink triangle on the clip to indicate that audio volume data is present but not displayed. 3.
8. Repeat step 7 until you have decreased the number of keyframes to an acceptable level. You should remove as many excess keyframes as possible while still maintaining the desired volume changes. You can move, add, and delete keyframes individually or as groups to further adjust the volume. For details on how to adjust the keyframes, see “Adjusting Volume in the Timeline” on page 574.
6. Depending on the fader box, listen to the audio and do the following: n • (FaderMaster Pro) When you want to start recording volume information, move the corresponding slider. The system does not begin recording until you move a slider. • (MCS-3000X) When you want to start recording volume information, either touch or move the corresponding slider. The MCS-3000X sliders are touch sensitive.
In Snap mode, the slider automatically stops recording as soon as you release the slider. In addition, the slider continues to display the volume information in the Timeline. To use Snap mode: 1. Click the Snap Mode button for the appropriate tracks on the external fader. You can click the button before or during a recording session. 2. Set your IN and OUT marks and click the Record button. The system begins playing the section and the sliders move accordingly. 3.
The setup procedure is similar for both units. To connect and initialize the fader, see the Avid Media Composer Products Setup Guide. c For the MCS-3000X to recognize the Avid application software, you must set the rear DIP switch #4 down (ON). To test the external fader: 1. Choose Automation Gain from the Tools menu. The Automation Gain Tool window opens. 2. Option+click the HW Toggle button in the Automation Gain Tool window. The box changes to blue. Position indicator lights 3.
The following illustration labels each row of buttons: Select Snap Mode Solo Mute • Select buttons: The green light next to the Select button for a track is on when you are recording audio gain automation on the track. The green light is off when you are listening to the volume level in the Timeline. If the track is in Snap mode, as soon as you touch the slider, the Select button light turns on to indicate that you are recording.
cal volume messages for both tracks when you move one slider. This can be useful when you have stereo tracks. Note that the ganged sliders do not move together physically. For information on ganging the sliders, see the FaderMaster Pro user’s manual. For example, if you have two stereo tracks and want to gang faders 1 and 2 to respond to movement on fader 1: 1. On the FaderMaster Pro, press the PROG button to light the Fader LED. 2. Press the Group button and move fader 2 until 1 is displayed. 3.
You can add keyframes to some tracks and use the Audio Mix Tool window to control the volume on other tracks. The Avid system provides visual clues to let you keep track of which type of audio effect is on a given track. The following illustration shows the Audio Mix Tool window and the Automation Gain Tool window with audio data on two tracks. In this example, there is audio gain automation information on track A1 and a system clip gain setting on track A2. Track A1 has audio gain automation.
Likewise, when you use the Audio Mix Tool window to change volume for a track, the slider for the track disappears from the Automation Gain Tool window. The word Clip appears in the Volume Level display. To add audio gain automation to a track that contains system clip gain information, you simply need to add an audio keyframe. To use the Audio Mix sliders on a track containing audio gain automation, you must first remove all of the audio keyframes from the track.
The Audio EQ tool opens. Play Loop button Effect icon Render Effect button Fast Menu button Enable/disable current EQ effect Track Selection pop-up menu Low shelf Parametric midrange 3-band controls High shelf EQ Range slider Audio EQ Tool Features The Audio EQ tool provides three bands of control: • The first band, the low shelf, has four turnover points (50 Hz, 80 Hz, 120 Hz, and 240 Hz). A turnover point is the point at which the curve starts to return to 0.
• The third band, the high shelf, has four turnover points (6 kHz, 8 kHz, 12 kHz, and 15 kHz). The high shelf affects all frequencies from the high shelf turnover point to 20 kHz. The horizontal center line of the graph is 0. As you move the curve below the zero line, the corresponding frequencies are deemphasized. Above the zero line the corresponding frequencies are emphasized. The parametric midrange allows a smooth transition from deemphasized frequencies to emphasized frequencies.
The following illustration shows the Audio EQ tool with the frequency response curve displayed and identifies the related areas of the window.
2. (Option) Isolate a portion of an audio segment by placing add edits. 3. (Option) Mark off a range of audio segments by adding IN and OUT marks in the track. 4. Open the Audio EQ tool. 5. Select the audio track to be adjusted from the Track Selection popup menu in the Audio EQ tool. Track Selection pop-up menu Notice that the Track Selector panel in the Timeline window is updated to reflect your selection. 6.
8. Apply the adjustments to a chosen region of the track by using the Audio EQ tool Fast menu located at the upper right of the tool. Fast Menu button The Fast menu on the Audio EQ tool allows you to remove or apply an EQ effect to clips included within the current IN to OUT range. It also provides access to a number of predefined EQ templates. For a description of predefined audio templates, see “Using Audio EQ Templates” on page 605.
Clip 3 in the following example, Set EQ In/Out deletes the EQ effect from Audio Clip 1 and Audio Clip 2. Before Set EQ In/Out After Set EQ In/Out – EQ effect is deleted from Audio Clip 1 and Audio Clip 2. Set EQ In/Out applies only to the audio track currently selected by the Audio EQ tool. You can change your selected region by eliminating or adding marks in the Timeline, or by selecting a different track. 9. Play through the audio again, using the Play Loop button. 10.
Saving Audio EQ Effects The Avid system treats an EQ setting as an effect. You can save EQ settings in a bin just as you save any other effect template. This makes it easy to save EQ settings and apply them whenever you need them. The following illustration shows an EQ Effect icon in a bin and in the Timeline. EQ effect template in a bin EQ effect in the Timeline Use the Effect icon in the Audio EQ Tool window to save EQ settings in a bin or to copy the settings to another audio clip.
Removing Audio EQ Effects To remove an effect: 1. Place the position indicator on the effect. 2. From Source/Record mode, click the Remove Effect button. From Trim or Effects mode, press the Delete key. Audio EQ Examples The following examples show two different ways to use the Audio EQ tool to remove excess bass from an audio track. In this example, assume that a bass drum in the sound track is very pronounced and we use the Audio EQ tool to deemphasize it.
3. Boost the midrange of the parametric curve to +7.7 dB. Small Octave Range Example This example isolates the particular frequency that we want to deemphasize. In this example, we do not use the low shelf, but instead use the parametric midrange to isolate the frequency. 1. Use the 1/4-octave influence range. 2. Set the midrange EQ parameter to –15 dB.
3. Use the slider to move the midpoint of the parametric curve until it isolates the bass frequency. In this case, the bass frequency that we want to deemphasize is approximately 80 Hz. Use this slider to move the center point of the parametric curve and locate a specific frequency. This technique allows you to locate a specific frequency and either emphasize or deemphasize it: • Use the 1/4-octave influence range and a large negative decibel value. • Keep both the high shelf and low shelf set to zero.
Using Audio EQ Templates Your Avid system provides a set of predefined audio EQ templates. These templates address a number of common audio problems such as removing tape hiss or boosting the low frequency on a music track. The templates are accessible from the Fast menu on the Audio EQ tool. You can also add your own custom EQ templates to the Fast menu list. The Fast menu on the Audio EQ tool provides access to a number of predefined EQ templates as shown in the following illustration.
Applying an EQ Template To apply an EQ template from the Audio EQ Tool Fast menu: 1. Place the blue position indicator on the audio clip in the Timeline. 2. Choose the template from the Audio EQ Tool Fast menu. The Avid system places the EQ effect on the audio clip. The following illustration shows the contents of the Audio EQ Tool window when you select the Female Voice with Presence template in the Timeline. As explained in the window, you cannot change the parameters of a predefined EQ template.
Creating Your Own Templates If you create an EQ effect that you want to use again in another sequence or on another track, simply drag the Effect icon from the Audio EQ Tool window to a bin. The system creates an EQ effect in the bin. Rename the template by clicking the text and typing a new name. Effect icon You can add your own EQ templates to the Audio EQ tool Fast menu. You do this by storing your EQ template in the same bin as the predefined templates.
4. Click the Play Loop button to stop. The Avid system automatically saves your changes as part of an EQ effect. Limitations If there is no existing EQ effect on the clip before you start, you will not hear any changes until you click the Play Loop button to stop and replay the effect. As you are adjusting the EQ values on an existing EQ effect, you might not hear the results immediately. It takes a few seconds for the changes to be applied to the clip.
Installing AudioSuite Plug-Ins The Avid system installation software automatically creates a folder in your System folder named DAE folder (DAE stands for Digidesign Audio Engine). The DAE application manages the AudioSuite Plugins. The DAE folder contains the following files and folders: • The DAE application. • A Plug-In Settings folder. The plug-in vendor might install settings in this folder. • A Plug-Ins folder containing the following: - A set of basic plug-ins from Digidesign.
To quit the DAE application while the AudioSuite window is open, k+click the status display in the AudioSuite window. Plug-In Selection menu Drive Selection menu Status display n The DAE application uses between 9 and 16 MB of memory, depending on how many plug-ins are loaded. If you plan to use other applications while the Avid system is running, you might find it useful to quit the DAE application to free up memory for the other application.
tion than the source media. For more information, see “Creating New Master Clips” on page 615. By default, the AudioSuite window displays the controls for applying a plug-in to a clip in the Timeline. When you drag a master clip into the window, the window expands to display additional parameters for working with master clips. The following illustration shows the expanded view.
Applying an AudioSuite Plug-In to a Clip in the Timeline The following illustration shows the default layout of the AudioSuite window: Audio Effect Mode Selector pop-up menu Effect icon Play Loop button Render Effect button Fast menu Open/Close triangle Plug-In Selection menu Drive Selection menu Status display Track Selection menu Apply Plug-In button To apply an AudioSuite Plug-In to a clip in the Timeline: 1.
5. Make any necessary adjustments and click the Play Loop button to preview the effect. For more information, see “Using a Plug-In Dialog Box” on page 613. 6. (Option) To save the effect as a template, drag the Effect icon to a bin. 7. To save the effect, click OK. To close the dialog box without saving the effect, click Cancel. n If you want to use plug-ins that operate on stereo pairs or that change the length of the audio clip, use the methods described in “Creating New Master Clips” on page 615.
Some plug-ins can preview in real time and some cannot. If the plug-in cannot preview in real time, the Avid system plays back the processed audio in 2-second intervals. The Avid system processes 2 seconds of audio, plays it, processes the next 2 seconds, plays it, and so on. • Bypass plays the selected audio without processing. This is useful for comparing the audio with and without processing applied. • Optional performs an analysis pass on the audio data.
Rendering Plug-In Effects Some plug-ins can process a file in real time and some cannot due to the complexity of the effect. Even if a plug-in can run in real time, you must render it before you can add it to the following: • An audio mixdown • An EQ effect If you do not render the effect manually, the Avid system automatically renders the effect before it creates an audio mixdown or audio dissolve containing the effect. For more information, see “Troubleshooting AudioSuite Plug-Ins” on page 621.
• Apply one mono AudioSuite effect to any number of inputs of a master clip in a multiple-mono fashion. These plug-ins use serial processing. Serial Versus Parallel Processing Each AudioSuite Plug-In allows one or both of the following processing modes: • Serial Processing (default): The Avid system applies the effect to each source track one after another, in a serial manner. The system creates a new master clip with the same number of tracks that you selected in the AudioSuite window.
The following illustration identifies the controls that appear when you expand the AudioSuite window. Open/Close triangle Apply Plug-In button Toggle Master Clip Mode button Clip Selection menu Input source track selectors Processing Mode Selector menu Mark IN/OUT indicators Match Frame button Load In Source Monitor button Target bin for new master clip Status display Load Result In Monitor check box • Clip Selection menu — allows you to choose the active clip.
than the maximum are initially selected, the system automatically disables tracks until it reaches the plug-in’s maximum number. n • Target bin — allows you to choose the target bin. The system will place the new media and a corresponding AudioSuite effect template in the bin. The template allows you to modify the effect at a later time. • Toggle Master Clip Mode button — activates the master clip processing mode. The button is yellow when master clip processing mode is active.
Using the AudioSuite Plug-Ins to Create New Master Clips To create new master clips using the AudioSuite Plug-Ins: 1. Drag one (or more) master clips or subclips into the AudioSuite window. The system automatically enters master clip processing mode and expands the AudioSuite window if necessary. You can use the Open/Close triangle to display or hide the controls for processing a master clip. To enter or leave master clip processing mode, click the Affect Master Clip button.
Using an AudioSuite Effect Template When you create a new master clip, the system also creates an AudioSuite effect template in the bin. This effect template contains a reference to the original master clip that the effect was applied to. The system names the template by combining the original clip name with the effect name and adding a .effect extension (for example, QuietClip.Normalize.effect). The template is useful if you want to modify the effect after it is created.
Troubleshooting AudioSuite Plug-Ins This section describes problems you might encounter when using the AudioSuite Plug-Ins. Addressing Memory Allocation Problems The DAE application requires between 9 and 16 MB of RAM, depending on how many plug-ins are loaded. When the application starts, it attempts to allocate enough memory for all the plug-ins in the PlugIns folder in the DAE folder.
7. Choose Set Playback Buffer Size and set the buffer size to 0. n The Set Playback Buffer Size setting has no effect on the Avid system’s performance. 8. Quit the DAE application. 9. Open the Get Info dialog box again and change the Preferred Size value back to the Suggested Size. 10. Restart the Avid application. If you still receive memory errors when using the AudioSuite PlugIns, you might have too many plug-ins in the Plug-Ins folder in the DAE folder.
Addressing Error Messages When Rendering a Plug-in Effect If the DAE application is not running when you start to render a plugin effect, the system displays an error message stating that the DAE connection does not exist. The dialog box gives you the following choices: • Cancel stops the rendering process. This allows you to start the DAE application and then start rendering again. • Bypass continues rendering but doesn’t render the plug-in effect.
The following illustration identifies the various elements of the tool. Recording status light Record button Cancel button PreRoll and PostRoll text boxes Audio Tool button Handles text box Input Channel Selection buttons and menus Timeline Track Selection menus Bin Selection menu Drive Selection menu Features of the Audio Punch In tool are as follows: • The Record button starts and stops the recording. • The Cancel button stops a recording without saving the recorded data.
• n The input channels identify the channels on the audio hardware that are used for recording. Click the button to select the channel. The button changes to pink when it is selected. Option+click the button to display a menu and select another channel. The selected input channels are not used for playback. Do not select the same channels as mix output on the Audio Mix tool. • The Timeline Track selection menus allow you to specify where the Avid system places the audio in the Timeline.
Creating the Voice-Over You can replace part (or all) of an existing track or you can instruct the Avid system to create a new track for the voice-over. The following procedure shows how to use the tool when you want to mark IN and OUT points and plan to create a new track for the voice-over. 1. Mark the IN and OUT points in the Timeline as shown in the following illustration. 2. Choose Audio Punch In from the Tools menu. The Audio Punch In tool appears.
3. Choose the channels that correspond to your hardware setup and set other values in the dialog box as appropriate. 4. To start recording, click the Record button. If you started with both IN and OUT points in the Timeline, the Avid system automatically stops recording when it reaches the OUT point (or after it adds the appropriate audio handle after the OUT point). If you only added an IN point, click the Record button a second time to stop the recording.
Voice-Over Media Files The Avid system automatically names the voice-over and stores it as an audio clip as shown in the following illustration. Fine-Tuning Audio Transitions When making audio level and pan adjustments, the Avid system looks at either an individual clip in the Source monitor, a segment in the sequence, or entire tracks. To change level or pan settings in an area not defined by a discrete clip or group of clips, use the Add Edit function to define your own custom area.
6. Click the Add Edit button. 7. Use the process described in “Using the Audio Mix Tool” on page 563 to change the level or pan within this new segment.
The Quick Dissolve dialog box appears. 3. Do not choose another effect from the Add pop-up menu at the top; only dissolves work with audio tracks. 4. Select a duration for the dissolve, measured in frames (30 frames equals 1 second of NTSC footage; 25 frames for 1 second of PAL footage). 5. Choose the location for the dissolve from the Position pop-up menu. • Ending at Cut fades the audio on the A side to 0, ending at the cut point. • Centered on Cut or Custom Start creates a crossfade.
6. If you chose Custom Start, enter the number of frames before the transition to begin the effect in the “Starts x frames before cut” text box. Otherwise, leave the default value in the text box. 7. (Option) Choose a media drive other than the default from the Target Disk pop-up menu. 8. Click Add to place the effect at the transition point without rendering. Click Add and Render to do both at once.
choose “Centered on Cut” or “Custom Start” from the Position pop-up menu. After rendering, the audio dips smoothly from the higher levels of the adjacent segments of the track to the lower level applied to the middle segment. Mixing Down Audio Tracks When you work with multiple audio tracks while editing your material, you might need to mix the final audio down to two tracks. After you edit a number of tracks of audio, mix them down to one or two tracks of audio by following these steps: 1.
Destination tracks Selected section of audio 5. Click Mono and select the target track to which you want to mix down the audio. If you want stereo, click Stereo and select two target tracks for the mixed-down audio. 6. Choose a target disk and target bin. The target disk is the media drive where the system stores the media files for the mixed-down audio. 7. Click OK. The audio is mixed down and Avid displays the new master clip in the bin.
CHAPTER 17 Syncing Methods Your Avid system provides special tools that help you establish and maintain sync relationships between various clips. This includes managing sync between unrelated clips or clips with the same timecode, ganging footage, match-framing footage, and using Sync Point Editing.
Autosyncing Clips For more information on tracking sync breaks, see “Displaying Sync Breaks” on page 638. When you digitize footage that includes both audio and video, the system automatically establishes sync when it creates clips in the bin. Autosyncing applies to audio and video clips that have been digitized separately, usually from two separate sources. Autosyncing creates a new subclip that displays sync breaks in the Timeline as though the audio and video were digitized simultaneously.
• If you autosync according to common timecodes that are staggered (one clip starts later than the other), the later starting timecode becomes the start of the new subclip. The clip with the earlier starting timecode is trimmed accordingly. To create an autosynced subclip: 1. Highlight the two clips in the bin. Choose AutoSync from the Bin Fast menu. The AutoSync dialog box appears. 2.
• Auxiliary TC1–TC5 if the two clips have matching timecode in the same auxiliary timecode column. Choose an Auxiliary TC, 1 through 5, from the pop-up menu. 3. Click OK. The subclip is created and named by default after the video clip with the file name extension .sync.n, where n is the incremental number of subclips created with the same name. You can change the name according to preference. You can load an autosynced subclip into the Source monitor and immediately edit it into a sequence.
Editing to Avoid Sync Breaks One way to avoid breaking sync is to maintain the duration of the track when adding or removing material, as follows: • When adding material to a track, use the Replace or Overwrite functions instead of Splice-in, whenever possible. • When removing material from a track, use Lift instead of Extract (the Lift function leaves filler of the same duration when removing footage).
You encounter sync breaks and match frames in different circumstances: For more information on match frames, see “Adding an Edit (Match Framing)” on page 514. • You can encounter sync breaks in one or several video tracks, audio tracks, or both. Sync-break offset numbers appear by default only in the affected tracks. • You encounter match-frame cuts whenever you perform an add edit or whenever you move a segment up against footage from the same clip, and the timecode is continuous across the edit.
Fixing Sync in Trim Mode For more information on trimming, see Chapter 15. In Trim mode, restore the frames to sync by performing one or more single-roller trims on the out-of-sync tracks. Trim the exact number of sync-break frames displayed in the Timeline to reverse the break. Consider the following: • Sync lock any additional tracks that are synced to the track you are trimming. Otherwise, you might restore sync in one track and break it in the others.
Fixing Sync in Segment Mode For more information on editing in Segment mode, see “Using Segment Mode” on page 485. In Segment mode, you can restore sync in some circumstances by selecting and moving the entire out-of-sync segment. You can move the segment forward or backward in the opposite direction of the break to reverse it, but with the following considerations: • Use Lift/Overwrite (the red arrow) to leave filler behind and maintain any other sync relationships that might be affected by the move.
Using Sync Lock For more information on sync locking tracks in Trim mode, see “Maintaining Sync While Trimming” on page 545. The sync lock feature allows you to maintain sync among several tracks while adding or removing frames in Trim mode. For example, if you insert an edit into one track that is sync locked to a second track, the system automatically inserts filler in the second track to maintain sync between the two.
Syncing with Tail Leader You can add tail leader to the audio or video material in your Avid system to provide a useful visual reference in the Timeline for tracking and fixing sync breaks across any number of tracks. Tail leaders lined up for multiple video (vid) and audio (aud) tracks Film editors traditionally use standard head and tail leaders for this purpose. You can create your own leader according to any specification, as described in “Creating Leader” on page 317.
As a quick fix, you can enter Extract/Splice-in Segment mode by clicking the yellow arrow button. Drag the black segment at the end of the out-of-sync tail leader to the location where the sync was lost. This segment of black, created when the track went out of sync, is the exact length of the sync break. Move the black segment using Extract/Splice-in. Syncing with Locators For more information on using locators, see “Using Locators” on page 422.
4. Repeat the procedure for subsequent synchronized tracks. Make sure you keep the position indicator in the same location to line up the locators in sync. Locators in sync Focus button You can use the Find procedure to go to a locator quickly with text. For more information, see “Finding Frames, Clips, and Bins” on page 427. 5. After completing an edit that you think might have affected the sync, return to the segment that contains the locators and click the Focus button.
To use the Add Edit button while trimming: 1. Place the position indicator on the edit that you want to trim. 2. Select only the additional tracks that are in sync, and click the Add Edit button. The system adds a transition at the location of your position indicator in the Timeline. 3. Select the transition and trim (be sure to select all the synced tracks). As you trim, frames are added or removed from the additional tracks as well. 4.
SPE requires two pieces of information: • The sync points: These are the points where the synchronized relationship between the source and record material is established. • The duration of the relationship: This is determined by the positions of the head and tail frames (and sometimes by the position indicator). Both marks can be in one monitor, or one mark can be in one monitor and the other mark in the other monitor.
To turn off Sync Point Editing, deselect the option from the Composer Settings dialog box or from the Special menu. Ganging Footage in Monitors The Gang function does not combine tracks into a synced relationship, but rather locks monitors in sync so that you can move through footage in two or more monitors simultaneously. This is convenient for viewing and marking the sequence and source material simultaneously, based on syncing of the position indicators in each monitor.
stops. Simultaneous full-motion playback is not possible, although sync is maintained at all times. Using Match Frame The Match Frame feature allows you to call up and display matching footage in the Source monitor from the Record monitor. Reverse Match Frame lets you load a source clip and locate its sync frame in the sequence.
The system loads the source clip into the Source monitor, parks on the match frame, and marks a new IN point to prepare for making an edit. n Any previous IN or OUT marks are removed when you use match frame. To override this, Option+click the Match Frame button. Performing a Reverse Match Frame To perform a reverse Match Frame: 1. Place the position indicator on the frame you want in the source footage. 2. Make sure the appropriate tracks are selected in the Timeline. 3.
Using Match Frame to Find Sources The Match Frame function also provides the ability to trace objects quickly through their hierarchy of links. For example, you can match frame a cut in the sequence to its original subclip, then from the subclip to the original master clip, and finally locate the bin in which the master clip is saved. For more information on finding clips and frames with Match Frame, see “Finding Frames, Clips, and Bins” on page 427.
CHAPTER 18 Multicamera Editing The Media Composer multicamera editing tools allow you to incorporate multiple camera angles easily into the nonlinear editing process.
this model to suit the particular needs of other productions, such as sports, documentary, and music videos. The guidelines of organizing for a large multicamera project are as follows: • Choose a tape-numbering scheme and be consistent. • Record the multicamera shoot logically according to offline and online editing needs. • Manage the production path of both sound and picture for quality and efficiency.
Production Paths In addition to a numbering scheme, you can organize the flow of recorded material throughout postproduction to make efficient use of resources and maintain the quality of video and audio. For videotaped production, often two sets of reels are recorded during production: a set of online masters and a set of offline work tapes. The online masters remain untouched until editing of the final show master begins.
Managing Audio The Media Composer MultiCamera features allow you to patch channels of audio from any source clip to any track during editing. You can strategically designate specific channels of audio to record on specific reels or tracks in preparation for editing and generating an effective EDL. In this example, the goal is to create a finished master with production dialog on channel 1, music and sound effects on channel 2, audience left on channel 3, and audience right on channel 4.
Record: Digitize: Online edit: Line Dialog & audience 10 Ch 1: Dialog Video only D2 Cam 1 Dialog & effects 11 Cam 2 Dialog & audience 12 Ch 3: Audience L Ch 4: Audience R Video & audio Video only Ch 2: Music & FX EDL generates the final mix. Offline edit: Cam 3 Dialog & audience 13 Video only Cam 4 Audience L audience R 14 Video & audio Digitize and patch selected channels in Media Composer. This is just one example. Choose the right path for your production.
Using the numbering scheme and production plan described in the example, the path of video for the first tape load digitized might be as follows: Line 10 Cam 1 3. Gather all multigroups into one bin for easy access. 11 Cam 2 12 Cam 3 13 2. Gather each tape load into one bin, sort by name, then multigroup. Cam 4 14 1. Digitize each reel separately. Digitizing Methods For more information on logging and digitizing procedures, see Chapter 5, Chapter 6, and Chapter 7.
• Autodigitize entire reels: This method allows you to bypass the logging procedure, but requires the most storage space. However you choose to digitize, you should have accurate notes on the number and content of takes on each reel to identify the content of each clip when necessary. Logging Tips For additional logging tips, see “Logging Tips” on page 125.
• Name each bin after the source reel number. By default, all clips are named after the reel and numbered incrementally beginning with the file name extension .01. • To start digitizing, cue the source reel past any false starts, play the tape, and wait 4 seconds before clicking the Record button in the Digitize tool. Storage Tips The following tips can help you make the best use of media drives: • To save storage space, digitize only the audio channels required for offline editing.
With this set of circumstances, you might distribute the media as shown in the following illustration. Storage requirements are based on information provided in “Storage Requirements” on page 798. Work tapes Tracks digitized Storage required Line 10 X2 3.60 GB Cam 1 11 X2 4.24 GB Cam 2 12 X2 Cam 3 13 X2 Cam 4 14 X2 Targeted drive 3.60 GB 3.60 GB 4.
To create a dummy clip: 1. Log a new source clip into the bin. 2. Match the timecode from one of the clips from another camera, and use any name. When the clips are grouped and loaded during editing, this dummy clip displays the message “Media Offline,” and maintains the distribution of camera angles in the Quad Split. Deleting Extra Clips For specific procedures for deleting clips, see “Deleting Clips and Sequences” on page 275.
Additional Offline Editing Aids If you are editing your multicamera material with the intention of generating an EDL and preparing a master tape in an online tape editing suite, Media Composer provides features specifically designed to aid the offline editing process, including: For more information on these features, see Chapter 14.
• Because the Group function allows you to sync the clips based on customized IN marks or OUT marks, you can group any collection of shots for quick cutting of montage sequences or music-video sequences. Creating Group Clips In addition to the multicamera context, grouped clips can be useful in other circumstances. Unlike multigrouping, which requires clips with matching source timecode, you can group clips that were shot at different times, on different days, and on completely different source tapes.
n For multicamera video or film shoots, you typically use a slate for marking IN and OUT points. But you can use any visual or aural event that is recorded by all cameras simultaneously. 2. In the bin, select all the clips you want to group. 3. Choose Group Clips from the Bin menu. The Group Clips dialog box appears. 4. Select an option, based on the following: • Film TC/Sound TC: If you are syncing clips with matching film and sound timecode recorded in the field.
5. Click OK. A group clip appears in the bin, with the name of the first clip in the group, followed by the file name extension Grp.n. The n is an incremental numbering of group clips with the same name in the same bin. You might want to rename this to something easier to read, such as name.Group. Creating Multigroup Clips Multigrouping is strictly for use in large multicamera productions, such as situation comedies, in which all synchronous camera shots are recorded with the same timecode.
Multicamera Edit Modes The three edit modes you use during multicamera editing are FullMonitor display, Quad Split, and MultiCamera mode. You can edit with either group clips or multigroup clips in all three modes. Full-Monitor Display When you first load a grouped or multigrouped clip, the Source monitor displays a single frame from one clip in the group in Source/ Record mode.
The basic features of Full-Monitor display are as follows: • Provides source-oriented control of multicamera material. You can switch camera angles, cue, and mark material without affecting the sequence. • Provides all the same Source monitor controls that are available when editing other clips in Source/Record mode. • Provides all the same multicamera editing tools that are available in Quad Split and MultiCamera mode. These are described in “Multicamera Editing Techniques” on page 671.
Quad Split Quad Split button After loading a group clip into the Source monitor, you enter Quad Split by clicking the Quad Split button located in the Command palette on the MCam tab. The Source monitor splits into four quadrants. A Group Menu icon appears in the second row of information above the Source and Record monitors. The third, full-screen monitor displays the Quad Split when the Source monitor is active, and fullscreen when the Record monitor is active.
The basic features of Quad Split are as follows: • Provides source-oriented control of multicamera material, like FullMonitor display. You can switch camera angles, playback (one camera angle at a time), cue, and mark material without affecting the sequence. • Provides the same Source monitor controls that are available when editing other clips in Source/Record mode.
Source monitor controls are disabled. Group Menu icon The Gang icon changes to green. The basic features of MultiCamera mode are as follows: • Provides sequence-oriented control of multicamera material, in contrast to Full-Monitor and Quad Split. Whenever you play back, cue, switch camera angles, or mark material, your changes take place in the sequence. • Provides only Record monitor controls.
• Provides the ability to cut between shots on-the-fly during fullmotion playback, as you would during live switching of a show. • Provides a list of all video and audio tracks in the group in the Quad Split menu, for custom selection and patching. • Lets you deselect MultiCamera Mode in the Special menu at any time to switch between source-oriented and sequence-oriented multicamera editing. • Lets you deselect MultiCamera Mode when you need to play back full-screen.
Switching Shots with the Arrow Keys You can switch the display of camera angles by using the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys. The angle selection switches in either the Source monitor (source material) or in the Record monitor (sequence material), whichever is active. If the group contains more than 4 camera angles, the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys will cycle through all the clips, but only the first four clips are displayed in the Quad Split display.
Key equivalents for quadrants: F9 F11 F10 F12 If you press a Quad key when the footage is stopped, the system switches the camera angle and also creates an edit in the sequence. You can use this method to walk through one long group or multigroup sequence and edit camera angles as you go. n To switch without creating a cut, press the Option key while pressing a Quad key.
To use this method, you must first map the Add Edit button onto the keyboard. Consider mapping the Add Edit button to a function key next to the default Quad keys. For more information on mapping keys, see “About Button Mapping” on page 114. To add edits on-the-fly: 1. Load the group or multigroup into the Source monitor and splice it into a sequence. 2. Play the sequence. Each time you want to make an edit, press the Add Edit key. When you stop the sequence, the edits appear in the Timeline.
Click the Group Menu icon to display the pop-up menu. n The Second Row of Info option must be selected in Composer Settings to display the Group Menu icon above the Source monitor. In addition, you can choose the Audio Follow Video option from the Group menu to instruct the system to switch both audio and video for each camera angle when you cut on-the-fly or selective camera style. The Group Menu icon changes to green when you select the Audio Follow Video option.
3. (Option) Choose the Audio Follow Video option to switch both audio and video for each camera angle together when you cut onthe-fly or selective camera style. Using the Quad Menus You can use the Quad menus to group up to eight clips at a time, and select additional shots to display in any of the Source monitor quadrants. To select an additional shot from the group to display in one of the quadrants: 1. Press the Ctrl key to activate the display of shot names in the Source monitor quadrants. 2.
Using Match Frame in Multicamera Editing You can use the Match Frame button to call up the matching shot within the group when matching from the sequence. Or you can call up the original clip when match framing from the source group. For more information on using the Match Frame feature, see “Using Match Frame” on page 649. n If the group contains more than four shots and you match a clip that is not visible (shot 5 and above), the Avid system will select the clip but not display it.
• Edit one clip at a time, without laying down a master sequence first, effectively building a sequence as you would with single-camera material. The advantage of selective camera cutting with grouped clips is that all the clips are synchronized, for simplified selection of camera angles. Selective camera cutting generally requires use of a detailed line script, or detailed notes, that enable you to select shots and assemble the sequence one clip at a time. To perform selective camera cutting: 1.
While you are cutting on-the-fly, the Source monitor controls are disabled. You cannot mark IN and OUT points as you do during selective camera cutting. Generally, you are editing from the quads according to the action in the Record monitor. To cut on-the-fly: 1. Load the group or multigroup into the Source monitor. 2. Using timecode notes and the numeric keypad, type in the timecode for the first take to begin the sequence, and press Enter to cue the clip in the Source monitor to the take. 3.
Combination Cutting Combination cutting involves the use of both selective camera cutting and cutting on-the-fly interchangeably. Most productions use both methods at one time or another. Others use them in combination throughout postproduction. Two examples are: • If you are editing a situation comedy or similar production that requires a specific show length for the finished master, you can begin using selective camera cutting to edit the show for time.
CHAPTER 19 Output Options The Avid system provides tools for generating output for individual tracks or entire sequences to various videotape or audiotape formats. In addition, you can generate an edit decision list (EDL) to be used by editors in a videotape suite for preparing a master tape. You can also use VTR emulation for direct playback of sequences by using an edit controller in an analog editing suite.
Preparing for Output Preparing for video output involves the following procedures: For more information on mixing down audio tracks, see “Mixing Down Audio Tracks” on page 632. • Render all non-real-time effects in the sequence, as described in the Avid Media Composer Effects Guide. • Establish a sync source for output, as described in “Establishing Sync for Output” on page 682. • Calibrate and adjust video output levels, as described in “Calibrating for Video Output” on page 683.
If you connect a reference input while the Avid application is running, you can reestablish sync by doing one of the following: • Exit and then restart the Avid application. • Open the Digital Cut tool. • Enter and then leave Capture mode. Calibrating for Video Output Before you calibrate video output for an NTSC-EIAJ project (for Japan), make sure the “NTSC Has Setup” option is not selected in the General Settings dialog box.
• When you click a slider of a lit preset button, the button dims (appears gray), and the slider returns to the most recent manual level setting. • When you click an unlit preset button, it becomes lit (green), and the slider moves to the factory preset level for that parameter. As you adjust levels in the tool, you can switch the preset buttons between the levels you set manually and the factory preset levels.
n Up to three output signals are active at once: Composite output, Serial Digital, and either Component or S-Video. You can record your output to any of these devices, or all at once if you record manually. For more information, see the Avid Media Composer Products Setup Guide. 2. Select the output format and display the appropriate controls: n • For Composite output, click the Controls button in the Out 1: Composite pane.
Table 19-1 Video Format Output Parameters (Continued) Parameter Video Formats Description Hue Composite and S-Video (not available for PAL) An attribution of color perception based on varying proportions of red, green, and blue in the video signal. Also known as color phase. Sat Composite and S-Video Saturation: a measurement of chrominance or the intensity of color in the video signal.
choosing either SMPTE_Bars.pct (SMPTE standard bars) or ColorBars.pct (full-field color bars) from the Test Patterns popup menu. Bars are displayed on the third full-screen monitor, and the signal appears on the external Waveform and Vectorscope monitors. n The internal Waveform and Vectorscope monitors do not display output signals from the system. 4. Adjust luminance values based on Table 19-2.
angle and amplitude of the six color vectors fall within the target boxes on the vectorscope. n If you do not have separate Vectorscope and Waveform monitors, you can use the third, full-screen monitor’s “blue only” feature, if available, to adjust SC phase output. For more information on this feature, see your monitor’s documentation. 6. Save this setting by choosing Save As from the Settings pop-up menu, typing a name, and clicking OK.
The additional options appear and the arrow button points down. To return to the normal display, click the arrow again. Displays advanced calibration controls Test Patterns pop-up menu Using Test Patterns The expanded Video Output tool provides a pop-up menu of test patterns you can use to calibrate the system output. To display a test pattern, click the Test Patterns pop-up menu and choose a pattern.
You can add test patterns to the list by doing the following: 1. Find or create a PICT file for a chosen pattern. n You can create your own test pattern files by digitizing the pattern from videotape, and exporting it as a PICT file. You can improve the accuracy of the image by correcting colors and removing errors in a third-party application such as Adobe Photoshop™. 2. Place the file in either the NTSC or PAL folder in the SupportingFiles/Test_Patterns folder, as appropriate.
Calibrating the System with Passthrough Signals If you work in a production environment in which house standards are used to synchronize a number of devices including the source decks connected to your Avid system, you can calibrate the system one time to conform to existing standards with the least amount of alteration of the signal. This method involves the use of a passthrough signal (a signal that gets sent directly from an input source through to the output channels).
n For more information on using the Video Output tool, see “Basic Video Output Calibration” on page 684. You can precisely match only one output format at a time in phase to the reference signal. In most cases, you should choose either Composite or Serial Digital. 9. Calibrate any of the available controls in the Video Output tool while checking the external waveform and vectorscope monitors. For example, composite output provides Black, Gain, and Saturation controls. 10.
Preparing for Audio Output The Audio tool allows you to generate and customize calibration tone, and adjust global output levels. For information on additional audio mix procedures such as adjusting volume and pan, mixing down selected tracks, or ignoring mix levels, see Chapter 16. The Avid system supports direct output of up to eight channels of audio, depending upon your system’s configuration.
2. Choose Set Calibration Tone from the Peak Hold (PH) pop-up menu. The Calibration Tone Parameters dialog box appears. 3. Enter new values for the tone level and frequency, and click OK. To play back the tone, choose Play Calibration Tone from the Peak Hold pop-up menu. To check the adjusted tone level in the meters, make sure the In/Out toggle buttons are switched to O for Output.
Adjusting Output on Eight-Channel Audio Board Systems To adjust global output from an eight-channel audio board system: 1. Choose Audio Tool from the Tools menu. 2. Click the Output Control button (the speaker icon) to display the master attenuator (slider).
• Choose Direct Out to map tracks directly to up to eight channels of output (depending on your hardware configuration). 5. (Option) Depending on your type of output, you can make additional adjustments: • By default, Stereo Mix directs the mixed tracks to output channels 1 and 2. • By default, Direct Out maps all audio tracks in numerical sequence to existing output channels. You can remap a track to any channel by clicking the channel assignment display and choosing another channel.
Frame-Accurate Recording Frame-accurate recording involves using the Digital Cut tool to record your sequence onto a prestriped tape (a tape with prerecorded control track and timecode), or a partially striped tape.
Recording Bars and Tone You can also record a portion of bars and tone onto the tape before recording a digital cut. There are two methods of recording bars and tone to tape: • If your recording must be frame-accurate, consider adding a segment of digital bars and tone to the front of your sequence, or prepare it as a separate sequence that you can record by using the Digital Cut tool. For more information, see “Preparing Digital Bars and Tone” on page 314.
assemble-editing capabilities of your record deck, to quickly record frame-accurate digital cuts without striping entire tapes in advance. c To avoid accidentally breaking timecode on prestriped tapes during digital cut recording, enable assemble editing only when in use, and disable it during normal insert edit recording. To enable assemble editing: 1. Double-click Deck Preferences in the Settings scroll list of the Project window to open the Deck Preferences dialog box. Assemble-editing option 2.
• The switch for internal timecode should be set to Regen (regenerate) or Slave Lock, not Preset. • After you record 15 to 30 seconds of timecode onto the record tape for jam syncing, return the Local/Remote switch to Remote for deck control from within the Avid application. Using the Digital Cut Tool The Digital Cut tool provides controls when you record a sequence to tape.
The Digital Cut tool provides several options for you to manage the recording of your sequence. For example, you can: • Record by using either assemble or insert edits. • Record a selected portion of the sequence or selected tracks. • Record an entire sequence. • Record according to different timecode parameters. • Select the sequence video and audio tracks to record (Sequence Track buttons). • Select the tracks to record to on the tape (Enable Track button – Remote mode only).
Sequence Track buttons Enable Track buttons Timecode text boxes Deck controls Deck Selection pop-up menu Selecting a Deck The Deck Selection pop-up menu in the Digital Cut tool contains a list of all decks that were connected to the system, powered up, and initialized when you opened the Digital Cut tool. For information about configuring decks, see “Deck Configuration Settings” on page 152. The Deck Selection pop-up menu also lists three commands: • Adjust Deck opens the Deck Settings dialog box.
• Check Decks helps to reestablish deck control if the power on your decks was off or the decks were disconnected when you opened the Digital Cut tool. Previewing a Digital Cut You can manually record a digital cut including countdown, but the recording will not be frame-accurate. For more information, see “Preparing Record Tapes” on page 696. You can preview a digital cut before recording it to tape to make sure your preparations and output settings are correct, or for screening purposes.
3. (Option) Select the With Countdown option to preview the digital cut using a countdown. The default countdown is a computer-generated countdown containing the Avid logo. 4. (Option) Select Custom Screen for counting down by using a customized countdown screen that you create, as described in “Creating a Custom Countdown Display” on page 704. 5. Choose a deck from the Deck Selection pop-up menu. See “Selecting a Deck” on page 702. 6.
The Custom Countdown dialog box appears. Font Font Size Font Color 5. (Option) Choose another font, font size, or font color from the pop-up menus. n The menus display all currently available fonts, as determined by the contents of the Fonts folder. 6. Click the Import button to import an available graphic file to use as a custom background. The Directory dialog box appears. 7. Locate a graphic file to serve as the new background image. 8. Select the graphic file and click Open. 9. Click OK.
Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Remote Mode) To record a digital cut to tape: 1. Load a sequence into the Record monitor. (You cannot access digital cut options without a sequence loaded.) 2. Choose Digital Cut from the Output menu. The Digital Cut tool opens. Sequence Track buttons Enable Track buttons Play Digital Cut button Deck control option area 3.
• Deselect the Entire Sequence option if you have established IN marks, OUT marks, or both for recording a portion of the sequence. 4. (Option) Select the Add Black at Tail option and enter a timecode to add black at the end of the digital cut. 5. Choose a deck from the Deck Selection pop-up menu. See “Selecting a Deck” on page 702. 6. Select Remote in the deck control option area. 7. Choose either Insert Edit or Assemble Edit from the pop-up menu.
10. Select the audio and video tracks that you want represented in the digital cut by using the Sequence Track buttons. The display of tracks in the Digital Cut tool varies according to the tracks existing in the sequence. 11. Select the video and audio tracks to record to on the tape by using the Enable Track buttons. 12. Click the Play Digital Cut button. The system cues the record deck, then plays and records the sequence. The playback appears in the Record monitor and the full-screen monitor.
The Digital Cut tool opens. Sequence Track buttons Deck control option area 3. Select or deselect the Entire Sequence option based upon the following: • Select the Entire Sequence option if you want the system to ignore any IN or OUT marks and play the entire sequence from start to finish. • Deselect the Entire Sequence option if you have established IN marks, OUT marks, or both for recording a portion of the sequence. 4.
7. (Option) Select the With Countdown option to record the digital cut using a countdown. The default countdown is a computer-generated countdown containing the Avid logo. 8. (Option) Select Custom Screen for counting down by using a customized countdown screen that you create, as described in “Creating a Custom Countdown Display” on page 704. 9. Select the audio and video tracks that you want represented in the digital cut from the Sequence Track buttons.
For more information on specific features and capabilities of EDL Manager, see the Avid EDL Manager User’s Guide. Using the Matchback Option The Matchback option on an Avid system along with the FilmScribe™ application allow you to generate a film cut list from a 30-fps or 25-fps video project that uses film as the source material.
VTR Play Emulation VTR play emulation allows you to control a sequence loaded in the Record monitor from an edit controller for playback in the edit room along with other sources. n To use VTR play emulation, you must connect a supported controller (any controller that uses Sony® serial control protocol) to the system by using a 9pin VTR emulation cable and a serial adapter. For information about the cable connection, see the Avid Media Composer Products Setup Guide.
Table 19-3 VTR Emulation Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Inhibit preloading when cueing by single frame. Do not inhibit preloading under normal circumstances. Preloading occurs by default in the Avid system. It improves playback performance by preparing the digital media for playback each time you cue a new frame. This option causes the system to match the behavior of a tape deck when you step through footage frame by frame.
A check mark appears next to the command to indicate that the system is ready. A yellow outline appears around the Play button in the Record monitor to indicate that VTR emulation is active. n The VTR Emulation command behaves like a Local/Remote switch on a playback device, with VTR play emulation disabled (in Local mode) by default when you start the system.
CHAPTER 20 Exporting and Exchanging Material You can export and exchange material with another system, another application, or another platform. Your Avid video-based editing system provides tools for exporting clips and sequences in various formats, or for transferring projects and media between systems.
For information about transferring projects and media to other Avid systems, see the Avid Products Collaboration Guide. For information on importing files, see Chapter 8. About Exporting Files You can export material directly from your Avid system to many supported file types. You can export an individual frame, a selected region of footage, or an entire clip or sequence.
Creating and Using Export Settings You can streamline the export process by selecting a setting before beginning the export. Use the Settings scroll list to select a preset template or customize one of your own. For example, if you are exporting an OMFI composition with SD2 media to AudioVision, select the setting labeled “AudioVision SD2 External.” For information on each of the templates, see the Avid Products Collaboration Guide.
To adjust the parameters in an Export Settings dialog box: 1. Double-click an Export setting in the Settings scroll list of the Project window. The Export Settings dialog box appears. The following illustration shows the default settings. n The name of a custom Export setting or template Export setting appears in place of (Untitled). 2. Select the appropriate file type and options based on the descriptions in Table 20-1.
Table 20-1 Option Suboption Export Settings Dialog Box Options Description Avid Log Exchange Select this option to export the selected bin as a shot log file that complies with Avid Log Exchange (ALE) specifications. For information about Avid Log Exchange, see “Converting Logs with Avid Log Exchange” on page 130. Tab Delimited Select this option to export the selected bin as a shot log file in the form of a tab-delimited ASCII text file.
Table 20-1 Option Suboption Export Settings Dialog Box Options (Continued) Description Use Audio Media Select this option to embed audio media (AIFF-C or WAVE files) in the OMFI composition, or to create external audio media (SD2 files) along with the OMFI composition (if necessary for conversion). Use this option if you plan to enhance audio in an OMFIcompatible application such as a digital audio workstation.
Table 20-1 Export Settings Dialog Box Options (Continued) Option Suboption Description Sound AIFF-C Select this option to export audio tracks in the industry-standard AIFF-C format, which is compatible with many third-party sound editing and multimedia applications. Note that your Avid system does not compress audio media. SD2 Select this option to export audio tracks in the Sound Designer II format, which is compatible with Pro Tools and other third-party applications.
Additional options for the clip or sequence are listed in the lower third region of the dialog box. The following screen shows an example of a clip selected for export as a PICT file. Current export options set in the Export Options dialog box 3. If you want to change any of the additional options, click the Options button in the Export Settings dialog box. An Export Options dialog box appears.
4. Select the options you want in the dialog box. Some file types include additional settings. To view or adjust these settings: a. Click the Options button (for graphics files) or the Compression Settings button (for QuickTime files) in the lower left corner of the dialog box. These buttons appear gray if no additional options are available. b. Select the options you want. c. Click OK to return to the previous dialog box. d. Click OK to return to the Export Settings dialog box.
5. When all options are listed correctly in the Export Settings dialog box, click OK. You can now choose this setting whenever you export a frame, clip, or sequence. For more information, see “Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences” on page 740 and “Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Export Frames, Clips, and Sequences” on page 743. Export Options Settings Additional options are available from the Export Settings dialog box. The available options depend on your choice in the Export Settings dialog box.
Table 20-2 Option Suboption Export Options Settings (Continued) Description Use Both Fields When this option is selected, the system combines both video fields to produce higher resolution. Select this option if you are exporting any of the two-field resolutions (20:1, 3:1, 2:1, or 1:1). Field Dominance This pop-up menu appears when Use Both Fields is selected. It allows you to choose the field dominance during export. The default value of this setting matches the project default format.
Table 20-2 Export Options Settings (Continued) Option Suboption Description Color Levels RGB Graphics levels When this option is selected, the system exports the file with levels calibrated for RGB computer environments. Choose this option for most graphics file types if the destination is a third-party computer graphics application.
Table 20-2 Export Options Settings (Continued) Option Suboption Description Audio Sample Size 8 bits When this option is selected, the system exports an 8-bit audio sample size for use in third-party systems that do not support 16 bits. This option is also used to minimize the data throughput requirements (for example, to improve playback in multimedia projects). 16 bits When this option is selected, the system exports a 16-bit audio sample size (currently the industry-standard bit rate for audio).
Video Compression Options The Compression Settings button appears in the Export Settings dialog box when Use Source Compression is not selected. Click the Compression Settings button to open the Video Compression dialog box. n Because the Avid QuickTime codec uses the resolution of your original source files, selecting another resolution requires conversion of the media and slows down the export process considerably. Maintain the resolution of the source media whenever possible.
Table 20-3 Option Suboption Compressor Video Compression Options Description The compressor suboptions are QuickTime codecs. The exported file is in QuickTime format. Animation For high-quality, lossless compression (in which no picture information is lost). Uses a run length coding scheme to encode each pixel, resulting in a file that is 70 to 95 percent the size of the uncompressed file. At the maximum quality, this is lossless compression (in which no picture information is lost).
Table 20-3 Option Video Compression Options (Continued) Suboption Description Component Video For high-quality, lossless compression (in which no picture information is lost). Uses the same algorithm as the Animation method but saves the file in YUV RLE format, which separates the luminance from the chrominance. All QuickTime applications can read this format, but only some can write to this format. DV-NTSC DV-PAL For storing original or edited DV (digital video) footage in QuickTime files.
Table 20-3 Option Video Compression Options (Continued) Suboption Description Motion JPEG B For medium-quality, lossy compression (in which some picture information is lost) requiring much storage space and additional hardware support for real-time playback. Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) is a variant of the ISO JPEG specification for use in digital video. Format B cannot use the markers that ISO JPEG and format A do; supported by chips from LSI Logic Corporation.
Table 20-3 Option Video Compression Options (Continued) Suboption Description Video For export at low resolution for use in contexts where high quality is not an issue, such as presentations or educational uses, or for small-screen size playback from CD-ROM or hard drive. Uses the standard Macintosh compression, which takes less time to compress but does not play back as effectively as Cinepak. Colors Choose the colors that you want included in the exported file.
Additional Export Options Settings Dialog boxes for additional Export Options settings appear when you choose one of the listed file types and click the Options button. When you are working in these dialog boxes, you can click Default to return the settings to their default values. Table 20-4 describes the additional Export Options settings.
Table 20-4 File Type Dialog Box Additional Export Options Settings (Continued) Option Description Gamma This option specifies an adjustment to correct for any gamma inconsistencies in the output display. Values can be between 0.01 and 100.0. Use a value of 1.0 (the default) for images displayed on a PC monitor. Use a value of 0.59 for a Silicon Graphics® or Macintosh® monitor. Use a value of 0.45 for ITU-R 601 (CCIR-601) video.
Table 20-4 Additional Export Options Settings (Continued) File Type Dialog Box Option Description OMF® Parameters Compression This option controls the compression ratio and, therefore, the size of the file. You can choose from all the compression ratio options used by the Avid system when digitizing. For more information on Avid compression ratios, see “Compression Ratios” on page 793. Photoshop® Parameters Compression This option controls the size of the file on disk.
Table 20-4 File Type Dialog Box Wavefront™ Parameters Additional Export Options Settings (Continued) Option Description Compression This setting controls the size of the file on disk. With None, image data is not compressed and can produce large file sizes. RLE (Run Length Encoded) produces relatively small and fairly portable files. JPEG produces files that can vary in size, depending on the quality you have set using the JPEG quality slider. The higher the quality setting, the larger the file size.
Preparing to Export a Sequence If you are exporting part or all of a sequence — to create a QuickTime file (through a codec), ERIMovie, Sequenced PICT, or OMFI file, for example — you can speed the export process by preparing the sequence in advance, as follows: For more information on rendering, see the Avid Media Composer Effects Guide. • Make sure all media for the sequence is online. For more information, see “Selecting Offline Items in a Bin” on page 285.
• For OMFI files, consider consolidating the sequence to create smaller source clips, thereby saving time and disk space. For more information, see “Consolidating Media” on page 327. • OMFI files with very complex sequences can fail during import into some applications due to memory limitations. Try one of the following solutions: • - Break the sequence into smaller sequences and export the new sequences. - Add more physical memory.
2. Choose a video resolution for the mixdown from the Resolution pop-up menu. 3. Make sure the Video Track monitor is in the topmost track that you want to mix down. Video mixdown works from the monitored track down, regardless of track selection. 4. Mark an IN and OUT point around the area to be mixed down. 5. Choose Video Mixdown from the Special menu. The Video Mixdown dialog box appears. 6. Choose a Target Disk for storing the new master clip and click OK.
A progress indicator appears, indicating the progress of the video mixdown. When the mixdown is completed, a new clip appears in the bin along with the sequence, and a new media file is created on the target drive. Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences For information on using the drag-anddrop method, see “Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Export Frames, Clips, and Sequences” on page 743. n To export frames, clips, or sequences: 1.
2. Select a clip or sequence in one of two ways: • Click the monitor that displays the clip or sequence you want to export. • Click the clip or sequence in a bin. Shift+click to select multiple clips or sequences. 3. Choose Export from the File menu. The following dialog box appears. 4. Choose a setting from the Export pop-up menu. This setting determines the format of the exported file. The default setting is labeled Untitled. If you have created an Export setting, choose it from the menu.
5. Click OK. A destination dialog box appears with a default file name in the Export As... text box, based on the file type. 6. (Option) Change the file name. In most cases, keep the default file name extension. 7. Select the destination folder for the file, and click Save. The file is exported and appears at the chosen destination. c c The Avid system allows a maximum exported file size of 2 GB. If you exceed this limit, the file is unusable and an error message is displayed.
Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Export Frames, Clips, and Sequences To export a clip or sequence by using the drag-and-drop method: 1. Select the material you want to export in one of the following ways: n n • To export specific tracks in a clip or sequence, enable those tracks in the Track Selector panel, and disable all others. Make sure the Use Enabled Tracks option is checked in the Export Settings dialog box. See step 2.
3. Export the frame, clip, or sequence in one of the following ways: • Drag either the Create Subclip icon or Create Subsequence icon, located above the Source and Record monitors, to the location (folder or drive) where you want to store the exported file. Subsequence icon Subclip icon • In a bin, drag the clip or sequence you want to export to the location (folder or drive) where you want to store the file.
Choosing an OMFI Transfer Method OMF Interchange, as implemented in the Avid system, provides two basic methods for exporting files: • Method 1: OMFI compositions only The Avid system can export an OMFI file that contains only the editing information about a selected master clip or sequence. You then need to transfer both the OMFI file and the media files, or redigitize the media on the other system.
Using the Avid QuickTime Codec You can speed the process of importing and exporting QuickTime files by using the Avid QuickTime codec when exporting into a third-party application or before reimporting the QuickTime files into your Avid system. The following sections describe the codec and procedures for using it: • To learn more about how the codec works, see “About the Avid QuickTime Codec” on page 746.
Consider the following: • Using the Avid QuickTime codec usually involves maintaining the ITU-R 601 (CCIR-601) standard video dimensions of the media (720 x 486 non-square pixels for NTSC, 720 x 576 for PAL) as well as large media file sizes. This codec might not be appropriate for some uses. For example, if the destination of your Avid QuickTime export is a multimedia title, you should use another appropriate codec such as Cinepak.
A dialog box asks if you would like to install the file in the Extensions folder. 3. Click OK. 4. Restart your system. The codec is installed. n If you are having trouble opening or playing the export in a third-party application, increase the memory allocated to the program. For information on using the codec, see “Exporting from a ThirdParty QuickTime Codec Application” on page 756. Exporting with the Avid QuickTime Codec To export with the Avid QuickTime codec: 1.
You can use the dragand-drop method to export QuickTime files. See “Using Drag-andDrop Method to Export Frames, Clips, and Sequences” on page 743. 2. Choose Export from the File menu. You can set these options in advance. See “Creating and Using Export Settings” on page 717. 3. Choose the Export settings by doing one of the following: The Export dialog box appears. • Choose a setting from the Export pop-up menu, if you have created a setting in advance, and go to step 7.
Current export options set in the Export Options dialog box 5. Select one of the following QuickTime options: • Video and Audio: Select this option if you are using an entire clip or sequence in a multimedia project. • Video Only: Select this option if you are adding effects in a third-party application. • Audio Only: Select this option if you are using or enhancing audio in a third-party application.
After you select export options, note that additional current options for the clip or sequence are listed in the bottom part of the dialog box. These options vary depending on the current video compressor selected. The following is an example of a sequence selected for export as a QuickTime file: Export file type options from the Export Settings dialog box 6. Select the Avid QuickTime codec, resolution, and other options for the export by doing the following: a.
The QuickTime Options dialog box appears. b. Select the options you want. n For information on QuickTime options, see “Export Options Settings” on page 724. If you want to use the resolution of the source file, select Use Source Compression (which uses the Avid QuickTime codec) and go to substep i. If you want to use a different codec or a different resolution, deselect the Use Source Compression option and go to substep c.
c. Click the Compression Settings button. The Compression Settings dialog box appears. d. Select the options you want. n For more information on other codecs and video compression options, see “Video Compression Options” on page 728.
e. If you want to change the compression, drag the Quality slider to display the Choose Avid Video Resolution dialog box. f. Choose the resolution you want from the pop-up menu. g. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the Compression Settings dialog box. h. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the QuickTime Options dialog box. i. Click OK to close the QuickTime Options dialog box and return to the Export Settings dialog box. j.
A Destination dialog box appears with the default QuickTime file name extension in the Export As... text box. 8. (Option) Change the file name. In most cases, keep the default file name extension. 9. Select the destination folder for the file, and click Save. The file is exported and appears at the chosen destination. c c The Avid system allows a maximum exported file size of 2 GB. If you exceed this limit, the file is unusable and an error message is displayed.
Exporting with Other Supported QuickTime Codecs In addition to the Avid QuickTime codec, the Avid system also supports other third-party codec applications. To export files using any supported third-party codec, follow the steps from “Exporting with the Avid QuickTime Codec” on page 748 with the following change: • When performing step 6, substep d, select the appropriate QuickTime codec from the Compression Settings dialog box and set the appropriate video compression options.
3. When you get to the step where the standard QuickTime Export Options dialog box appears, select the option Avid QuickTime compressor. n If you select another frame size, the Media Composer system will not import the file quickly using the Avid QuickTime codec. 4. Complete the export.
Methods for Transferring Files Between Media Composer Systems The type of transfer device you use depends on which method of transfer you choose. Moving project folders, settings, and media files requires large amounts of storage space because of the size of media files. Transferring only the project folders and settings files requires minimal storage space. Table 20-5 lists the recommended transfer devices for transferring projects between systems.
Compatibility Requirements for Transfer When you transfer a project between Media Composer (Macintosh) systems, make sure: • Both Macintosh systems have the same release or a compatible release of the Media Composer application. • The memory allocation of the Media Composer application is similar in both systems. • The resolutions are compatible, if you are transferring media files. • The fonts used in the project are installed on both systems.
To transfer a work in progress and associated media files to another Media Composer (Macintosh) system: 1. (Option) Consolidate the media for the project onto an appropriate drive for transfer to the other system. c • For more information on consolidating, see “Consolidating Media” on page 327. • For more information on transferring files using removable storage devices, see the Avid Products Collaboration Guide. Do not rename the folders named OMFI MediaFiles located on the media drive.
n The Media Composer application will reconstruct the MediaFiles database the first time you start the application to incorporate the new media into the system’s internal directory. Transferring Projects, User Profiles, and Site Settings To open projects, bins, and user profiles created with another Media Composer (Macintosh) system, you must transfer specific folders directly into the Avid Projects, Avid Users, or Settings folders before starting the Media Composer application.
3. On the destination Media Composer (Macintosh) system, do the following: a. Copy the project folder from the floppy disk or server to the Avid Projects folder on the top level of the Avid drive. n Do not rename the project folder. The project settings will not link to the project if you rename the project folder. b. Copy the user settings folder from the floppy disk or server to the Avid Users folder on the top level of the Avid drive. c.
APPENDIX A Using AudioSuite Plug-Ins This appendix describes how to use the AudioSuite Plug-Ins. Access the plug-ins by choosing AudioSuite from the Tools menu. The following illustration shows the AudioSuite window. Plug-in Selection pop-up menu Drive Selection pop-up menu Status display For details on installing and accessing the plug-ins, see Chapter 16. Supported AudioSuite Plug-Ins Your Avid system comes with a set of core plug-ins.
Core AudioSuite Plug-Ins The following plug-ins are installed automatically as part of the Avid system software installation: • Invert - Inverts the polarity (phase of the audio file). • Duplicate - Creates a new master clip from a selected audio clip. The plug-in uses the IN and OUT marks on the selected clip to define the boundaries of the new clip. • Normalize - Finds the peak value in the source audio file and scales the entire file proportionally to that maximum value.
Additional Supported Plug-Ins The following AudioSuite Plug-Ins can be purchased separately and have been qualified for this release: Digidesign D-FX™ Plug-Ins This set of plug-ins provides analog synthesizer effects.
Core Plug-In Descriptions The following sections give a brief overview of each of the core AudioSuite Plug-Ins, and where appropriate, describe how to use the plug-in. Invert The Invert plug-in reverses the polarity of the selected audio. All positive sample amplitude values are made negative, and all negative amplitudes are made positive. This process is useful for permanently altering the phase (polarity) relationship of tracks.
maximum level (the clipping threshold) the peak level of your selection/file will be boosted. You can enter this in three ways: • By entering a numeric decibel value below the clipping threshold • By entering a percentage of the threshold • By adjusting the on-screen slider Editing any of these controls automatically calculates the equivalent value in the others. To configure the Normalize parameters: 1. Enter the amount of boost you want applied during the Normalize process. 2.
Reverse Reversed sounds are useful effects in many music and film/video projects. The Reverse plug-in lets you perform this type of processing very easily. DC Offset Removal The DC Offset Removal plug-in removes DC offset from your audio files. The term “DC Offset” describes a very specific type of audio artifact that infrequently appears in digital audio signals.
Master Clip Mode Parallel Processing The Time Compression/Expansion plug-in allows two tracks to be time-compressed or expanded as a "stereo pair," so that the two sides of the stereo signal are processed relative to each other. The Time Compression/Expansion plug-in has many special parameters that let you enter time compression or expansion values in different formats, as explained below. They are located in the Source and Destination columns, and also include the Ratio slider.
The following describes special control features: • Press and hold the k key to engage slider fine-tune mode. • Option+click a field or slider to reset its default value. Source and Destination The Source fields display the length of the current selection before processing in each of the listed formats. All of the fields in both columns are constantly active, and a change made to one value is immediately reflected in the values displayed in the other fields.
Crossfade The Crossfade slider allows you to manually adjust the crossfade length in milliseconds to optimize performance of the Time Compression/Expansion plug-in according to the type of audio material you are processing. The Time Compression/Expansion plug-in achieves length modification by replicating or subtracting very small portions of audio material and very quickly crossfading between these alterations in the waveform of the audio material.
This slider should be set lower when processing bass guitar or another instrument with a similarly low range. Set the min pitch higher when processing instruments such as snare drums, violins, and other higher range instruments and sounds. Experiment with combinations of the other fine-tune controls in relation to the Min Pitch slider. Accuracy Use the Accuracy slider to prioritize the processing resources allocated to audio quality (sound) or timing (rhythm).
Edit the Pitch Shift parameters by double-clicking and typing into any of the Destination fields (tempo, bar:beats:ticks, or time sig), or by clicking and dragging the Coarse, Fine, or Ratio sliders. All Pitch Shift plug-in controls are linked so that changing one changes the others.
Gain The Gain controls set the input level, in tenths of a dB. They should be set so that the plug-in can adequately handle amplitude peaks in the selection. Dragging the slider to the right increases gain, and dragging it to the left decreases gain. Coarse and Fine Adjust the pitch by dragging either of the two faders, or by typing values in the boxes below them. The Coarse slider transposes in semitones (half steps), and the Fine slider transposes in cents (hundredths of a semitone).
Ratio The Ratio slider lets you set the amount of transposition (pitch change). Moving the slider to the right raises the pitch of the processed file, while moving the slider to the left decreases its pitch. Press and hold the k key while dragging the slider to fine-adjust. n For a description of the Crossfade, Min Pitch, and Accuracy sliders, see “Crossfade” on page 771.
APPENDIX B File Format Specifications To be compatible with a variety of imaging standards, Media Composer accommodates many file types and formats. For import and export procedures, see Chapter 8 and Chapter 19. This appendix contains descriptions, specifications, and notes for importing and exporting specific file formats. To ensure usability and high quality, the files in some formats require preparation before being imported to the Avid application.
This list briefly describes the supported graphics (image) file formats: • Alias: Alias PIX image format, developed by Alias Research, Inc. (now Alias|Wavefront™) for use with their animation and visualization software. • BMP: Developed by Microsoft Corporation as the standard image file format used by Microsoft Windows. • Chyron: Developed by Chyron Corporation for use with video frame buffers of Chyron character-generator titles.
• PICT: Developed by Apple Computer, Inc. as the format for Macintosh QuickDraw® images. • Pixar: Developed by Pixar for stored pictures. • PNG: Developed by the PNG Development Group originally as an alternative to the GIFSM image format. PNG is an acronym for Portable Network Graphics and is pronounced “ping.” • QRT: Developed on the Amiga personal computer to run on several operating systems. Used by many ray tracing programs, such as DKB Ray Trace and the QRT ray tracer.
Preparing Graphics Files for Import Before you import a graphics file to Media Composer, you can use third-party image-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, to make adjustments such as the following: n • Convert the file to the appropriate size, resolution, and bit depth. • Crop or color-correct an image. • Eliminate jagged edges in an image by using the image-editing application’s anti-aliasing or high-quality option.
these dimensions might be distorted. An image resolution of 72 pixels per inch is recommended. • Bit depth: These numbers refer to color-depth resolution of the image based on the number of bits per pixel. For example, 2-bit images are displayed in black and white; 8-bit images are displayed in 256 colors; 16-bit images are displayed in thousands of colors; 24-bit images are displayed in millions of colors; and 32-bit images are displayed in millions of colors with an alpha channel.
Table B-1 Format Graphics File Import Specifications (Continued) Default Recommended Bit Depth Exten- Full-Screen Support sion Size (Pixels) Framestore .fs 720 x 486 NTSC 24-bit 720 x 576 PAL Alpha Notes Channel Support No Pixel aspect information is saved with image data. When importing files generated from Video Toaster, choose the option Force to Fit Screen. IFF .
Table B-1 Format Graphics File Import Specifications (Continued) Default Recommended Bit Depth Exten- Full-Screen Support sion Size (Pixels) PhotoCD 720 x 486 NTSC 720 x 576 PAL Alpha Notes Channel Support NA If you are importing PhotoCD files, you must install QuickTime® software and a compatible QuickTime Photo CD driver. Most PhotoCD files are high resolution, and if the photo has a portrait orientation, the image will be automatically rotated upon import.
Table B-1 Graphics File Import Specifications (Continued) Format Default Recommended Bit Depth Exten- Full-Screen Support sion Size (Pixels) Alpha Notes Channel Support Rendition .6rn 720 x 486 NTSC 32-bit 720 x 576 PAL Yes SGI .rgb 720 x 486 NTSC 8-bit or 16-bit Yes 720 x 576 PAL grayscale; 8-bit grayscale plus 8-bit alpha channel; 24- and 48-bit color; 24-bit color plus 8-bit alpha channel; 64-bit (16 bits per component) Softimage .
Table B-1 Graphics File Import Specifications (Continued) Format Default Recommended Bit Depth Exten- Full-Screen Support sion Size (Pixels) Alpha Notes Channel Support Wavefront .rla 720 x 486 NTSC 32-bit and 64-bit 720 x 576 PAL Yes XWindows .xwd 720 x 486 NTSC 1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, 24-, 720 x 576 PAL and 32-bit No YUV 720 x 486 NTSC 24-bit 720 x 576 PAL No .yuv Pixel aspect information (based on the video format) is saved with image data.
Table B-2 Animation File Import Specifications Format Default Bit Depth Alpha Notes Exten- Support Channel sion Support ERIMovie .mov 24-bit Yes packed and 32-bit raw movie files QuickTime for Windows also uses the .mov extension. However, QuickTime does not support ERIMovie, and double-clicking an ERIMovie file will cause an error. is no player for ERIMovie on Macintosh or n There Windows platforms; the mview program supports ERIMovie on Silicon Graphics systems. PICS Animation .
Table B-3 QuickTime Import and Export Specifications QuickTime File Notes Import Specifications QuickTime files For QuickTime import and export, you must install QuickTime software, Version 1.5 or later. Avid recommends Version 3.0 or later. Avid QuickTime files The Avid QuickTime codec enables you to import and export QuickTime files at a rate of three to four times real time. To use the codec in a third-party application, install the codec in the System folder’s Extensions folder.
Audio File Formats This list briefly describes the supported audio file formats: n • Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF-C): Format for audio files developed by Apple Computer, Inc. • Sound Designer II (SD2): Native format of the Sound Designer II application developed by Avid Digidesign, Inc. • Wave Format (WAVE): Format for audio files developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. WAVE files are playable by nearly all Windows applications that support sound.
. Table B-4 OMF File Import Specifications OMF File Notes Import Specifications Resolution For optimum import speed and quality, export or render the file from the source application at the resolution you want, and then import the file into the Avid application at that resolution. To do this, click the Options button in the Select Files to Import dialog box, and then select the “Use Source” option from the OMFI Resolution area of the Import Settings dialog box.
Table B-4 OMF File Import Specifications (Continued) OMF File Notes Import Specifications OMFI version Media Composer recognizes and supports OMF 1.0 composition and media files and OMF 2.0 composition files. The following OMF 2.0 effects are supported generally: • Video effects: dissolves, wipes, freeze frame, film pulldown, slow motion, fade to black • Audio effects: pan and volume, audio dissolves Other effects can be imported from other Avid applications.
Two-Field Media Files and Field Dominance Media with two fields can be even-field dominance or odd-field dominance. The first line of the image determines the dominance of the media. If the first line of the image belongs to the first field, then the media is odd-field dominant. If the first line of the image belongs to the second field, then the media is even-field dominant. The Avid system includes options to specify the field dominance in both the Import Settings and Export Options dialog boxes.
Table B-5 Recommended Field Dominance Settings for Two-Field Import/Export Format Visible Frame Size Recommended Field Dominance Setting AVR NTSC 720 x 243 x 2 Odd Field AVR PAL 720 x 288 x 2 Odd Field Meridien™ NTSC (Media Composer resolutions) 720 x 243 x 2 Even Field Meridien PAL (Media Composer resolutions) 720 x 288 x 2 Odd Field 791
APPENDIX C Compression Ratios and Storage Requirements When the Avid system digitizes and stores video, it employs compression techniques that affect the size of the resulting files and the resolution of the images they contain. The less the data is compressed, the higher the image resolution, and the more drive space the file takes up. Large media files at high resolutions can take up very large amounts of drive space.
This appendix describes the different resolutions and lists their specifications. It also explains how to estimate the drive space you will require to store your digitized media. • Screen Resolution • Compression Ratios • Storage Requirements • Maximizing Drive Space Screen Resolution The screen resolution for the Avid application is different for NTSC and for PAL: • NTSC resolution is 720 x 486 non-square pixels covering all the active video.
There are three groups of compression ratios: • Single-field (identified by an -s suffix to the ratio notation): 15:1s, 4:1s, 2:1s • Two-field: 20:1, 10:1, 3:1, 2:1 • Uncompressed: 1:1 Using a lower compression ratio (a lower number to the left of the colon) when you digitize results in better image quality but requires more drive space to store the digitized media. A lower compression ratio might also require drive striping to keep up with the high volume of data.
Video Streams Whenever you have more than one video track, you have two streams of data (“dual streams”). Some effects create a second stream. When you render effects, you combine two streams into one. Two streams demand a significantly higher throughput than one stream. Sometimes, drive striping is required to accommodate two streams, even though a single stream at the same resolution would not require striping.
For detailed guidelines on estimating space requirements, see “Storage Requirements” on page 798.
Table C-1 Compression Ratio Specifications (Continued) Ratio Field Size (Pixels) Fields per Frame Drive Striping Minimum Requirements Quality 3:1 720 x 248 (NTSC) 720 x 296 (PAL) 2 2-way striping Online 720 x 248 (NTSC) 720 x 296 (PAL) 2 720 x 248 (NTSC) 720 x 296 (PAL) 2 2:1 1:1 (Uncompressed) A medium-quality online resolution that can sustain two-stream playback on 2-way striped drives 4-way striping Online Provides the highest image quality of any compressed resolution and sustains tw
• For storage and playback efficiency, you can digitize complex footage at the draft-quality online ratio and edit it along with other online ratios. • You can avoid some redigitizing by importing complex graphics at a high ratio and digitizing the remaining footage at draft quality during the offline phase. • You can exchange material between projects with a minimum of redigitizing.
To estimate media drive space requirements: 1. Using Table C-1 and the information in your media drive documentation, select a compression ratio that is compatible with the drive and striping capacity on your system. 2. Use the Hardware tool to determine the available space on your media drives. For information about the Hardware tool, see “Using the Hardware Tool” on page 122. n Be sure you are not in Capture mode when you open the Hardware tool.
n The figures in the table represent drive space for video material that includes typical variations in image complexity. Actual drive space requirements may vary slightly from these estimates, depending on the overall complexity of the video you digitize and store. Keep the following in mind when you interpret this information: c • Minutes per gigabyte are approximately the same for NTSC (29.
Table C-2 Estimated Storage Requirements Compression Audio Ratio Tracks Minutes per Gigabyte Drive Space Needed for 1 Minute of Media Drive Space Needed for 10 Minutes of Media Drive Space Needed for 30 Minutes of Media 15:1s 0 48.5 20.6 MB 206 MB 618 MB 1 38.6 25.9 MB 259 MB 777 MB 2 32.1 31.2 MB 312 MB 936 MB 3 28.2 35.5 MB 355 MB 1.07 GB 4 24.5 40.8 MB 408 MB 1.22 GB 8 16.1 62.0 MB 620 MB 1.86 GB 0 11.6 85.8 MB 858 MB 2.57 GB 1 11.0 91.1 MB 911 MB 2.
Table C-2 Estimated Storage Requirements (Continued) Compression Audio Ratio Tracks 20:1 10:1 3:1 Minutes per Gigabyte Drive Space Needed for 1 Minute of Media Drive Space Needed for 10 Minutes of Media Drive Space Needed for 30 Minutes of Media 8 4.7 214 MB 2.14 GB 6.42 GB 0 16.6 60.1 MB 601 MB 1.80 GB 1 15.3 65.4 MB 654 MB 1.96 GB 2 14.1 70.7 MB 707 MB 2.12 GB 3 13.2 76.0 MB 760 MB 2.28 GB 4 12.3 81.3 MB 813 MB 2.44 GB 8 9.8 103 MB 1.03 GB 3.09 GB 0 8.
Table C-2 Estimated Storage Requirements (Continued) Compression Audio Ratio Tracks 2:1 1:1 (Uncompressed) n Minutes per Gigabyte Drive Space Needed for 1 Minute of Media Drive Space Needed for 10 Minutes of Media Drive Space Needed for 30 Minutes of Media 8 2.6 386 MB 3.86 GB 11.58 GB 0 1.9 516 MB 5.16 GB 15.48 GB 1 1.9 521 MB 5.21 GB 15.63 GB 2 1.9 526 MB 5.26 GB 15.78 GB 3 1.9 531 MB 5.31 GB 15.94 GB 4 1.9 537 MB 5.37 GB 16.11 GB 8 1.8 558 MB 5.58 GB 16.
Maximizing Drive Space If your media drive space is limited or you are digitizing a large amount of source material, follow these suggestions to maximize your usage of the media drive space: For more information on batch digitizing and redigitizing, see “Batch Digitizing from Logged Clips” on page 225. • Digitize only the audio channels required for the edit. • Log in advance. Batch digitize only the footage required for the edit. • Digitize at a lower resolution for editing.
APPENDIX D Avid Log Specifications This section explains the Avid log file format. The Avid application can import logs that meet Avid log specifications. These logs must follow the formatting requirements. Table D-1 lists the log formats that can be imported directly into the Avid application. You can use a text editor to adapt other log formats so that they meet Avid log specifications.
Table D-1 Compatible Log Formats Log Requirements File Name Extension AatonBase Conversion required .ATN or .ATL Avid Logs Create with text editor and import directly .ALE CMX EDL Conversion required .CMX Evertz Import directly (conversion optional) .FTL Excalibur Conversion required .ALE or .FLX FLEx Conversion required .FLX Keyscope Import directly .KSL Log Producer Conversion required .LLP Log Right Import directly .ALE OSC/R Conversion required .
the correct timecode, in the format 08:19:10:00 (or 08;19;10;00, for drop-frame timecode). • [Tab] and [Return] keys are surrounded by standard brackets. • The fifth column contains the word “Required” if the heading must be included in the log. • The final column contains notes about the heading or values. The following is a sample heading from the format table: FPS [Tab] <25> <29.97> [Return] Required Capture rate is 25 fps for PAL and 29.97 fps for NTSC video.
The tables in this section adhere to this order. When you create an Avid log, you must follow the order precisely. You may choose not to display a defined heading (including a required heading), except for Name. Name must always be displayed. The maximum number of combined global, standard, and custom headings in a log file is 64. Global Headings The global headings must come first in an Avid log file, and you must enter one value for each heading.
Table D-2 Avid Log Global Headings GLOBAL HEADINGS: Global headings are case sensitive and must be spelled exactly as shown. Include all required headings. Other headings are optional but may be necessary for your project. The maximum number of combined global, standard, and custom headings in a log file is 64. Heading FIELD_DELIM [Tab] VIDEO_FORMAT [Tab] AUDIO_FORMAT [Tab] [Return] Required This marks the start of the global headings.
Column Headings The standard column headings appear after the global headings in the Avid log file. Note that you do not enter the data for a column heading along with the heading. You will enter the data later, in a separate data section. You must include the five required standard column headings; they are listed first in Table D-3. You can create your own custom column headings. Enter them after the standard headings (see the last heading in this table).
Table D-3 Avid Log Column Headings (Continued) Auxiliary TC1 [Tab] Heading for auxiliary timecode. Auxiliary TC2 [Tab] Heading for auxiliary timecode. Auxiliary TC3 [Tab] Heading for auxiliary timecode. Auxiliary TC4 [Tab] Heading for auxiliary timecode. Auxiliary TC5 [Tab] Heading for auxiliary timecode. CFPS [Tab] Heading for video capture rate for digitizing the individual clip. If omitted, the global entry applies.
Table D-3 Avid Log Column Headings (Continued) Labroll [Tab] Heading for lab roll ID for clip. Lab rolls are a combination of several camera rolls. Camroll [Tab] Heading for camera roll ID for clip. Sound TC [Tab] Heading for Nagra time code, Aaton code, Arri code, and so on, at the sync point. Syncs with the Start timecode. Required if tracking the sync sound. Capture rate can be 25 or 30 fps. Soundroll [Tab] Heading for sound roll ID for clip. Scene [Tab] Heading for scene ID for clip.
You must enter data so that it aligns with its column heading. For example, the data that goes with the ninth column heading must be the ninth data entry. Be sure to enter data for all the required values. To leave a data position unfilled, press the Tab key instead of typing data. Press Return at the end of each line. Table D-4 Avid Log Data Headings DATA HEADINGS: The word Data marks the start of the data for each clip.
Table D-4 Avid Log Data Headings (Continued) <22 kHz> <24 kHz> <44 kHz> <48 kHz> [Tab] Under AUDIO_FORMAT heading. Enter the audio sampling rate for this clip only. If omitted, global entry applies. [Tab] Under Tape heading. Enter the source videotape ID for this clip only. <29.97> [Tab] Under FPS heading. Enter the video capture rate for this clip only. If omitted, global entry applies. Use 25 fps for PAL video or 29.97 fps for NTSC video.
Table D-4 Avid Log Data Headings (Continued) [Tab] Under Soundroll heading. Identify the sound roll using letters and numbers. [Tab] Under Scene heading. Identify the scene using letters and numbers. [Tab] Under Take heading. Identify the take using letters and numbers. [Tab] Under DESCRIPT heading. Describe the clip. [Tab] Under COMMENTS heading. Comment on the clip.
Sample Avid Log This section contains a sample Avid log for an NTSC video project. Formatting keys (such as [Tab] and [Return]) are shown in brackets. Heading [Return] FIELD_DELIM [Tab] TABS [Return] VIDEO_FORMAT [Tab] NTSC [Return] AUDIO_FORMAT [Tab] 44khz [Return] TAPE [Tab] 001 [Return] FPS [Tab] 29.
Index ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Add Page button (Script window) 356 Add Scene button (Script window) 356 Adding bin columns 293 color indicators (Script window) 371 comments during digitizing 213 during editing 457 edits 514 filler during a trim 545 to a sequence 442 locators during digitizing 212 while editing 422 new tracks 512 off-screen indicators (Script window) 371 page and scene numbers in the Script window 356 script marks 373 takes in the Script window 367 Adjust Deck command (Deck Selection pop-u
Aspect Ratio options (Import settings) 242 Assemble-edit recording 697 enabling in Deck Preferences 699 Attic Files setting (Bin settings) 81 Attic folder defined 74 retrieving files from 35 Audio See also Audio Gain Automation, Audio Mix tool, Audio tool AudioSuite Plug-Ins core plug-ins 764 description of 766 D-FX and D-Fi plug-ins 765 list of 763 checking for multicamera 661 crossfading 629 dipping 631 dissolves 629 eight-channel input 177 EQ templates 605 fading 629 file formats (General settings) 82 fo
Audio File Format pop-up menu 151 Audio File format, selecting 178 Audio file types brief description of 787 importing 247 Audio Gain Automation deleting keyframes in 576 enabling and adding keyframes in 574 recording 585 Tool window 579 using an external fader box 578 Audio Mark buttons 421 Audio Mix command (Tools menu) 563 Audio Mix tool adjusting volume and pan on a single track 565 on multiple tracks 570 and Automation Gain 592 Fast menu options 568 Audio Mixdown media files, deleting 326 Audio Mixdown
Audio tool (continued) digital scale, defined 185 features, described 184 Peak Hold option, choosing 188 reference level, adjusting 186 resizing 186 Setup options 184 volume meters, defined 185 volume unit scale, defined 185 Audio Tool command (Tools menu) 184 Audio volume rubberbanding See Audio Gain Automation AudioSuite Plug-Ins applying 608 core plug-ins 764 creating new master clips 615 descriptions of 766 D-FX and D-Fi plug-ins 765 limitations 620 list of supported plug-ins 763 rendering 615 troublesh
Bin settings (continued) defined 80 Double-Click option 81 Bin View settings access and brief description of 77 column headings 304 Bin views customizing 289 types of 288 Bins aligning frames in a bin 310 auto-save function, described 74 background color, changing 307 Bin View pop-up menu 288 changing the display font in 272 checking for multicamera 660 closing 70 columns in adding 293 aligning 290 deleting 291 duplicating 292 moving 290 showing and hiding 290 creating 68 deleting 70 display views for 269 t
Buttons (continued) Focus 481 for controlling playback 409 Gang 648 Grid 114 In/Out (Audio tool) 185 mapping user-selectable 114 Mark IN 418 Mark OUT 418 New Project (Open Project dialog box) 43 New User (Open Project dialog box) 41 Off-Screen (Script window) 371 Output Control (Audio tool) 185 Play (Script window) 370 Preset (Video tools) 196, 683 Reset Peak (Audio tool) 185 Toggle Source/Record 483 Bins (continued) preparing for digitizing 209 printing 312 rearranging clips in 309, 312 renaming 68 retrie
Clearing clips from monitors 405 Clearing IN and OUT points 418 Clip colors assigning source colors 277 viewing in bins 276 Clip data in Avid logs 812 Clip information managing in bins 295 modifications table 145 Clip Information window displaying from a monitor 390 opening from a Script window 350 Clip Name menus, using 404 Clip names, finding in a monitor 430 Clipboard copying to 453 preserving contents of 454 recovering material from 454 Clipboard Contents command (Monitor menu) CCIR See ITU-R 601 CCIR
Color indicators (script integration) adding to takes 371 described 345 Color option (QuickTime) 732 Color submenu (Script menu) 372 Color-sync signal phase 396 Column headings (Bin View settings) 304 Columns See Bins Combination cutting in multicamera editing Clips (continued) loading into monitors 402, 403 locking 284 marking entire segments 419 with IN and OUT points 417 modifying information in 142 moving 273 multigroup, creating 665 playing using buttons 409 rearranging in Frame view bin display 309 i
Control track breaks, digitizing across 227 Control track, using for preroll 175 Converting shot log files with Avid Log Exchange 130 Copying clips and sequences 274 in the Timeline 498 locators from source clips 424 text from a Help topic 61 text from the Clip Information window 392 text in the Script window 355 to Clipboard 453 Countdown customizing 700 in a digital cut 700 Crash recording See Manual recording Creating See also Editing, Deleting a folder in a project 67 an instant rough cut 444 Avid log f
Cut lists, FilmScribe 711 Cut, copy, and paste in the Timeline 498 Cutaways, marking with locators 422 Cutting See Editing, Specific edit modes Cutting text in the Script window 355 Cycle Picture/Sound button 506 Default Pan options (Audio settings) 264 Defaults for settings, restoring 90 Defining settings 79 Delete dialog box 276 Delete dialog box (script integration) 358, 368 Delete Media Files dialog box 325 Delete Take command (Script menu) 366 Deleting See also Creating, Editing add edits (match frame
Digital cuts previewing 700 Record options 707 recording 701 Digital Format options (Audio settings) 183 Digital scale (Audio tool), defined 185 Digital Scrub Parameters option (Composer settings) 395 Digitize across timecode breaks option 151 Digitize command (Tools menu) 136 Digitize settings access and brief description of 77 Batch Digitize options 230 General Digitize options 176 Digitize to multiple files 151 Digitize tool logging with 136 resizing 226 resolution, choosing 168 setting up 163 subclip st
Drive space (continued) for rolling titles 800 managing to improve playback performance Digitizing (continued) preparing for hardware considerations 149 resolution selection 168 settings selection 151 source track selection 167 tape selection 166 targeting bins 168 targeting drives 169 video input 194 to 206 setting custom preroll 171 setting only Mark IN 216 sources for 151 storage guidelines 798 to multiple media files 171 to the Timeline 224 using time-of-day 223 workflow, multicamera 656 Dipping audio
Enlarge Frame command (Edit menu) 308, 363 Enlarging and reducing frames in the bin 308 Enlarging tracks in the Timeline 466 Entering Source/Record mode 436 Trim mode 527 EQ effect adjusting while playing 607 applying 596 removing 602 templates for 605 ERIMovie file format additional export options 734 brief description 784 import specifications for 785 Errors viewing digitizing errors in the Console 210 viewing log of in the Console 120 Events in an EDL, defined 710 Evertz log format 806 Exiting Trim mode
Files exporting procedure for 740 reasons for 716 using drag-and-drop method 743 with Avid QuickTime codec 746 to 756 importing guidelines for 238 mixed resolutions 239, 252 procedure for 247 reimporting 252 using drag-and-drop method 251 specifications for importing animation 784 specifications for importing graphics 779 specifications for importing OMFI 788 Fill Sorted command (Bin menu) 310 Fill Window command (Bin menu) 310 Filler adding during a trim 545 adding to a sequence 442 Film track, editing wit
Frames aligning in bin 310 displaying matching footage for 649 exporting 716 finding with the Match Frame button 649 with the Match Frame function 431 with timecode offset 427 identifying a clip, changing 309 rearranging in Frame view 309 in Script view 312 Framestore file format brief description of 777 import specifications for 781 Frequencies (audio), adjusting 594 Full-monitor multicamera display 666 Full-screen image size defined 779 Full-screen Timeline 481 Finding frames with the Find command 429 wi
Goto Page command (Script menu) 359 Goto Scene command (Script menu) 359 Graphics codec (QuickTime) 730 Graphics file types importing 247 Grid button 114 aligning frames 310 Grid settings access and brief description of 78 Group clips consolidating 332 creating 664 Group Clips command (Bin menu) 664 Group Clips dialog box, options 664 Grouping procedures 664 Help system (continued) using buttons 59 using the Contents tab 56 using the Find tab 57 using the Help Topics dialog box 56 using the Index tab 57 Wh
JPEG file format additional Export options for 734 brief description of 777 import specifications for 781 Importing files batch importing 252 before you begin 238 guidelines 238 in mixed-resolution projects 239, 252 procedure for 247 reimporting 252 using drag-and-drop method 251 IN and OUT marks 417 In/Out buttons (Audio tool), defined 185 Index tab (Help system) using 57 Indicating off-screen dialog 371 Infinite Hold option (Audio tool) 189 Info display in Project window 93 Info Display window displaying
Manual recording Mapping menu commands 116 user-selectable buttons 114 Mark In Time option (Digital Cut tool) 707 Mark Subclip button 420 Mark-and-park editing See Single-mark editing Marking clips 419 entire segment 419 IN and OUT points 417, 418 segments in Segment mode 496 with locators 422 marking audio 421 Marks clearing 418 IN and OUT points 417 phantom 450 Marquee, importing materials finished with 252 Master clips consolidating 328 copying 274 deleting 275 duplicating 273 locating from subclip 433 l
Menu commands (continued) Align Selected to Grid (Bin menu) 310 Align to Grid (Bin menu) 290, 310 Audio Data (Timeline Fast menu) 561 Audio EQ (Tools menu) 594 Audio Mix (Tools menu) 563 Audio Mixdown (Special menu) 632 Audio Tool (Tools menu) 184 Auto-configure (Deck Selection pop-up menu) 165, 702 AutoSync (Bin menu) 636 Batch Digitize (Clip menu) 228, 235 Batch Import 254 Calculator (Tools menu) 118 Calibrate (Peak Hold pop-up menu) 190 Center Pan (Clip menu) 265 Check Decks (Deck Selection pop-up menu)
Menu commands (continued) Set Bin Background (Edit menu) 308 Set Bin Display (Bin menu) 266 Set Calibration Tone (Peak Hold pop-up menu) 694 Set Font (Edit menu) 272, 352 Set Level (Audio Mix tool) 569 Set Pan (Audio Mix Fast menu) 569 Set Reference Level (Peak Hold pop-up menu) 186 Show All Takes (Script menu) 365 Show Every Frame (Timeline Fast menu) Menu commands (continued) Group Clips (Bin menu) 664 Hardware (Tools menu) 122 Headings (Bin menu) 276, 290 Home (Windows menu) 482 Import (File menu) 134 L
Multicamera editing (continued) production paths 654 Quad menus 676 Quad Split menu 674 Quad Split mode 668 selective cutting in 677 switching angles 672 tape classification 653 techniques 671 workflow options 677 Multicamera mode, described 669 Multigroup clips, creating 665 Multilevel sorting of columns 303 Multiple media files, digitizing to 171 Multiple tracks, working with 503 to 517 Muting audio 563 Monitors (continued) hiding video 406 loading footage into 402, 403 loading multiple clips and sequenc
Online Help See Help system 54 Open Bin command (File menu) 69 Open Project dialog box 40 Opening a project 40, 47 Opening bins 69 Opening Help 54 Opening the Project window 65 Operator pop-up menu (Sift Parameters dialog box) 280 Orphans See Offline items Output See also Digital cuts, EDL, Playback calibrating for video 684 change list 711 cut list 711 options 681 preparing for 682 Output Control button (Audio tool), defined NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) video edit format 44 NTSC (Nationa
Parametric midrange in Audio EQ tool 596 Pasting in the Timeline 498 Patching tracks 509 Pause button 409 PCX file format brief description of 777 import specifications for 781 Peak Hold option (Audio tool) 188 Peak Hold pop-up menu (Audio tool), defined Playback controlling with buttons 409 controlling with position bars and indicator 407 controlling with the keyboard 411 controlling with the mouse 415 improving performance of 458 improving performance of (storage management) 804 with audio scrub 555 Pla
Q Preroll custom for digital cut 707 custom for digitizing 171 in Trim mode playback loop 534 logging 126 using control track for 175 Preroll option (Deck settings) 157 Preset buttons 196, 683 Previewing digital cuts 700 Print Bin command (File menu) 312 Print Timeline command (File menu) 521 Printing bins 312 Help topics 60 statistics 95 the Timeline 521 Production paths for multicamera editing 654 Profile 94 Project settings, defined 76 Project window bins display 66 closing 65 Info display, using 93 ope
Resizing monitors 406 slates in the Script window 363 the Audio tool 186 the Digitize tool 226 Resolutions 163 Resolutions, mixed 239, 252 Restore Default Patch command (Special menu) Redigitizing (continued) sequences procedure 232 using Decompose 233 Redo command (Edit menu) 446 Reduce Frame command (Edit menu) 308, 363 Reducing and enlarging frames in the bin 308 Reducing tracks in the Timeline 466 Reimporting material batch import 252 using Decompose 257 Relink command (Clip menu) 336 Relink dialog box
Script window adding color indicators to 371 adding page and scene numbers in 356 adding takes in 367 adjusting margins in 351 adjusting take lines in 370 changing font in 352 changing scene or page numbers in 357 cutting, copying, and pasting text in 355 deleting slates in 366 deleting takes in 368 displaying Clip Information from 350 displaying take numbers in 368 editing with 378 finding bins from 378 hiding slate frames in 364 indicating off-screen dialog in 371 linking clips to 360 loading takes from 3
Segment effects, defined 503 Segment mode 485 to 498 deleting segments in 495 editing from a bin in 497 extracting/splicing in 494 four-frame display described 489 suppressing 491 lifting/overwriting in 494 marking segments in 496 Segment Drag Sync Locks option 492 workflow 486 Segments cutting, copying, and pasting 498 deleting 495 marking 419, 496 moving in sync 492 selecting 486 Select a Bin dialog box 69, 438 Select All Tracks command (Edit menu) 506 Select Files to Import dialog box 135 Select Media Re
Set Bin Display command (Bin menu) 266 Set Bin Display dialog box 267 Set Calibration Tone command (Peak Hold pop-up menu) 694 Set Font command (Edit menu) 272, 352 Set Level commands (Audio Mix Fast menu) Settings scroll list (continued) Composer 77 Deck Configuration 77 Deck Preferences 77 Digital Cut 77 Digitize 77 Export 77, 724 General 78 Grid 78 Import 78 Interface 78 Keyboard 78 Render 78 Script 78 Serial Ports 78 summary of contents 77 Timecode window 78 Timeline 78 Timeline View 79 Title Style She
Show All Takes command (Script menu) 365 Show Every Frame command (Timeline Fast menu) 499 Show Frames command (Script menu) 364 Show Track submenu (Timeline Fast menu) 499 Showing bin columns 290 Shutting down the system 50 Shuttling with J-K-L keys 413 with the mouse 415 Sift Parameters dialog box 280 Sifting clips and sequences 279 Single track monitoring See Solo track monitoring Single-field compression ratios 794 Single-field step 411 Single-mark editing 450 Single-Mark Editing option (Composer settin
Striped drives preparing to digitize 150 Striping record tapes 697 Subclip status (Digitize tool) 211 Subclipping on-the-fly 211 Subclips consolidating 329 copying 274 creating 420 creating during digitizing 211 deleting 275 duplicating 273 handle 420 locating master clip from 433 moving 273 redigitizing 232 selecting 272 sifting 279 SunRaster file format brief description of 778 import specifications for 783 Supporting Files folder, defined 32 Switching multicamera shots 672 Sync autosyncing 635 for audio-
Sync breaks displaying 638 fixing 640 Sync Breaks command (Timeline Fast menu) Targa file format additional Export options 735 brief description of 778 import specifications for 783 Target bin, choosing 168 Target Drive pop-up menu (Digitize tool) 169 Test patterns See also Bars and tone importing 315 importing new 690 video 689 Text editor creating Avid logs with 807 Text editors for Avid logs 133 Text in the Script window changing font of 352 cutting, copying, and pasting 355 linking clips to 360 removin
Timeline (continued) position indicator 476 printing 521 recording to 224 removing add edits in 515 resizing 481 saving 471 scroll bar/position bar 476 scrolling option 472 Segment mode editing in 484 setting the scroll bar 476 source material, displaying 483 Track Selector panel 504 to 512 using 462 view customizing 463 examples of 463 replacing 472 restoring default 475 viewing in 402 working with multiple tracks in 503 to 517 zooming in and out of 480 Timeline settings access and brief description of 78
Tracks (continued) number supported 503 patching 509 preferences for creating and enabling 441 selecting 506 for digitizing 167 selecting for audio scrub 556 sync locking 512 sync-locked, trimming with 546 Transfer Tool access and brief description of 77 Transferring bins with MediaLog for Macintosh 129 Transferring projects between systems 759, 761 Transferring settings between systems 761 Transition Corner Display 549 Transition effects, defined 503 Transition Play Loop option (Trim settings) 526 Transiti
Undo command (Edit menu) 446 Undoing and redoing edits 446 Unlinking media files 340 Unlock Bin Selection command (Clip menu) 285 Unlock Tracks command (Clip menu) 512 Unreferenced clips deleting 326 selecting in the bin 287 Usage information displaying 95 User identifying 40 selecting another 85 selecting existing 42 setting up 41 User bits in LTC, reading 263 User profile creating new 33, 41 deleting 35 User settings defined 76 opening a project with 47 selecting a user from 85 User-selectable buttons See
User-selectable buttons (continued) Find Script 377 Go to Next Edit 529 Go to Previous Edit 529 jog 410 Lift 452 Lift/Overwrite (Segment mode) 494 Make Subclip 420 mapping 114, 115 Mark Clip 419 Mark IN 417 Mark OUT 417 Match Frame 431 Mouse Jog 416 Mouse Shuttle 416 Mute 563 Pause 409 Play 409 Play Loop 529, 534 Replace 449 Reverse Match Frame 650 Rewind button 409 Slip Left button 544 Slip Right button 544 Splice-in 443 Stop 409 Transition Corner Display 549 Trim A-side 531 Trim B-side 531 Trim mode 527 U
VTR Emulation command (Special menu) 713 VTR Emulation settings access and brief description of 79 Device Code option 712 Inhibit Preloading option 713 Runup option 712 VTR play emulation 712 VTR See Video deck Video resolutions guidelines for use 792 Video solo feature 509 Video streams defined 795 Videotape classification schemes for multicamera editing 653 digitizing bars and tone from 315 naming guidelines 127 preparing for output 697 recording digital cut to 701 recording to 697 striping requirements
X XWindows file format brief description of 778 import specifications for 784 Y YUV file format additional Export options for 736 brief description of 778 import specifications for 784 Z Zoom Back command (Timeline Fast menu) 480 Zoom In command (Timeline Fast menu) 480 853