Avid Media Composer ® Editing Guide Release 9.
© 1999 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. Avid Media Composer Editing Guide • Part 0130-04214-01 Rev.
Contents Chapter 1 Editing Overview Editing Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Starting a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Preparing to Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Editing a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 3 Starting a Work Session Opening a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Identifying a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Setting Up a New User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Selecting an Existing User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Selecting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Copying from a Help Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Changing the Font Size of Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Keeping Help on Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Changing the Color of Help Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Adding a Note to a Help Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Accessing Information from the Help Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Displaying Project Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Working with Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Selecting Another User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Modifying Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Working with Multiple Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Duplicating Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Blank Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Using the Add Alt Key Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Mapping Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Activating Commands from the Command Palette . . . . . . . . . 135 Using the Avid Calculator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Using the Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Assigning a Custom Source Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Limiting Color Choices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Sifting Clips and Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Sifting Timecodes or Keycode Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Sifting Within a Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Locking Items in the Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Playing Clips in Script View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Rearranging Clips in Script View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Printing Bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Gathering Format Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Preparing Digital Bars and Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Script Integration Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Using Script Integration in Video Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Script Window Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Script Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Importing a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Opening, Closing, and Saving the Script Window .
Deleting Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Displaying Take Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Changing the Representative Frame for a Take . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Loading Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Playing Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Adjusting Take Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Displaying Timecode in the Timecode Window. . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Displaying Multiple Timecodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Composer Window Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Color Framing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Miscellaneous Composer Window Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Fast Forward and Rewind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Viewing Methods . . . . . . . . . . . .
Moving IN to OUT Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Marking an Entire Clip or Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Subclips and Audio Sync for 24p Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Marking Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Using Locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Performing a Splice-in Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Performing an Overwrite Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 Performing a Replace Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Using Single-Mark Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 Using Phantom Marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 Setting One Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Assigning Local Colors to Clips in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . 363 Displaying Local and Source Colors in the Timeline . . . . . . . 364 Displaying Source Colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 Displaying Local Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 Highlighting Offline Media Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 Saving a Customized Timeline View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Replacing a Timeline View . . . . .
Adding Comments with Segment Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Using Advanced Timeline Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Bin Editing into the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Cutting, Copying, and Pasting in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 Editing with the Film Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 Editing in Heads and Tails View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 12 Working in Trim Mode Customizing Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Trim Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 Using Basic Trim Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422 Entering Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423 Exiting Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Selecting Tracks for Scrubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452 Multiple-Channel Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453 Performing Smooth Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453 Using the J-K-L Keys to Perform Smooth Scrub . . . . . . . . 453 Using the Mouse to Perform Smooth Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 Using Digital Audio Scrub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 Adjusting Digital Scrub Parameters . . . . . . .
Recording Audio Gain Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483 Using the Automation Gain Tool Window Sliders to Record Gain Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484 Using a Keyboard Shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485 Using an External Fader Box to Record Audio Gain Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486 Using the Automation Gain Tool and Audio Mix Tool Windows . . . . . . .
Plug-In Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 Troubleshooting AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Canceling a Render Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Addressing Error Messages When Rendering a Plug-in Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Recording Voice-Over Narration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Sync Point Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 Ganging Footage in Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 Using Match Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547 Performing a Match Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548 Performing a Reverse Match Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548 Matchframing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix A Using AudioSuite Plug-Ins Supported AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569 Core AudioSuite Plug-Ins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570 Additional Supported Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571 Digidesign D-FX Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571 Digidesign D-Fi Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571 Invert . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix B Connecting an External Fader Box to Your Avid System Using the FaderMaster Pro and MCS-3000X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 The MCS-3000X Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600 Using the Snap Mode Feature on the MCS-3000X . . . . . . . . . . 601 Ganging Faders on the FaderMaster Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602 Using the Yamaha 01v Digital Mixing Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603 Setting Up the Yamaha 01v Digital Mixer . . . .
Figures Figure 4-1 Sample Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Figure 4-2 Sample Spreadsheet Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Figure 9-1 Tracking Information Display Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Figure 9-2 Keyboard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Figure 11-1 Timeline Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 Figure 11-2 Track Selector Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tables Table 3-1 Project Types for Systems Including Support for 24p Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Table 3-2 Help Topic Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Table 3-3 Help Menu Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Table 4-1 Settings Scroll List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Table 4-2 Film Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table 9-5 Miscellaneous Composer Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Table 9-6 Fast Forward and Rewind Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Table 11-1 Timeline Fast Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Table 11-2 Timeline Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Table 12-1 Trim Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 Table B-1 External Fader Box Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER 1 Editing Overview This chapter provides an overview of the editing workflow. The editing process begins after you transfer your source material to the Avid system. For information about planning a project, digitizing your source material, and outputting your final sequence, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. For a complete overview of the capabilities of your Avid system, see the getting started guide for your Avid product.
Editing Workflow The editing workflow varies depending on your project. For example, you can log your clips before you digitize to eliminate creating and organizing bins during editing. The following procedure lists the basic steps to edit a sequence and refers you to other resources for more information: 1. Open a project containing the digitized material. 2. Set the appropriate project settings from the Settings scroll list. See “Using the Settings Display” on page 86. 3.
Starting a Project 1. Turn on your equipment in a prescribed order and start the Media Composer application (Chapter 2). 2. Select or create a new project: the job that will result in one or more finished sequences (Chapter 3). 3. Set the project settings from the Settings scroll list (Chapter 4). 1. Turn on and start your Avid system. 2. Select or create a project. 3. Set the project settings. Settings scroll list 4. Create and organize bins (Chapter 6). 5.
Preparing to Edit 1. Batch digitize, log and digitize, or digitize on-the-fly your source material into the Avid system. See the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. 1. Digitize footage, creating master clips and media files. 2. Sort and organize clips in the bins. 2. Use bins to organize the project items (Chapter 6). 3. Manage media files for storage efficiency and backup security. 3. Manage media files by using the Media tool (Chapter 7). 4.
Editing a Sequence 1. View your clips in advance and mark IN points and OUT points, or create subclips based on selected portions of your master clips (Chapter 9). 2. Build your sequence in Source/Record mode, which provides nonlinear editing controls with Source and Record monitors, and in the Timeline (Chapter 10). 1. Screen, mark, and subcatalog footage. Source monitor Record monitor Timeline 2. Edit in Source/Record mode and the Timeline. 3. Fine-tune edits and effects. 3.
CHAPTER 2 Desktop Basics Although the majority of your work is performed within the Avid Media Composer application, you will need to use a few basic Windows NT desktop procedures. For example, you use the desktop to move projects and user profiles between systems. This chapter describes the location of the various project files. For information about moving a project from one system to another, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide.
Working with the Desktop For information on the Windows NT operating system, such as the desktop and icons, see your Microsoft® Windows NT Help.
Working with Windows Each window contains a title bar (horizontal bar at the top of the window) that contains the title of the window or dialog box. On many windows, the title bar also contains the application icon and the Minimize, Maximize, Restore, and Close buttons. The following table describes these buttons: Button Minimize Description Reduces the window to a button in the taskbar. If the window contains an application, the application remains loaded and running.
You can also drag the taskbar to a different position, such as the left side of the Bin monitor. If you keep the taskbar hidden while running the Media Composer application and you minimize an application such as Help, you will not see the minimized button in the taskbar. To see the taskbar and minimized buttons, minimize the Media Composer application or press Ctrl+Esc. To change the taskbar settings: 1. Right-click an unused part of the taskbar. 2. Choose Properties from the pop-up menu. 3.
3. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Plus! tab. 4. Deselect the “Show window contents while dragging” check box. 5. Click OK. For a shortcut to the Display Properties dialog box, right-click an empty part of the desktop, and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
Setting the Avid Color Scheme Avid recommends you use the Avid color scheme provided with your Media Composer application. To use the Avid color scheme: 1. Right-click an empty part of the Windows NT desktop. 2. Choose Properties from the pop-up menu. 3. Click the Appearance tab. 4. Choose Avid from the Scheme list. 5. Click OK. Use this same procedure to switch to another color scheme. About the Avid Media Composer Folder The C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid Media Composer folder contains essential operational
Managing the Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders Managing projects, user profiles, and settings involves moving, copying, or deleting files and folders, and changing project or user names. These files and folders are considered data files. Because the data files can become large, Avid recommends that the data files be stored on a drive partition other than the C drive. The location on your system of the Avid Projects, Avid Users, and Settings folders depends on your Media Composer installation.
• When you create a new project, the system creates three items: - A project file (.avp) - A project settings file (.avs) - A project folder containing the two files Each item is given the project name you provide. This new folder is stored in a location separate from the media files. The default location is the drive:\Avid\Avid Media Composer\Avid Projects folder. Your settings are initially set to the default values.
4. Double-click the folder with the new name to open it. The folder contains profile, settings, and project files with the old names. 5. Change the old name of each file to the new name. n Do not change the name of the file MCState in the users folder. 6. Close the windows and restart the Media Composer application. The new project or user name appears in the Open Project dialog box.
Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder The Attic folder contains backup files of each bin in a project. For information on setting automatic save features, see “Reviewing Basic Settings” on page 92. You retrieve files from the Attic folder in the following circumstances: • When you want to replace current changes to a sequence or clip with a previous version • When the current bin file becomes corrupt The Attic folder contains a folder for each project.
5. Ctrl+click the bin files you want to retrieve. 6. Drag the selected backup bin files to the desktop. This makes a copy of the files, leaving the original files in the Attic folder. 7. Double-click the Media Composer button in the taskbar to activate it. 8. Click the Project window to activate it, and click Bins to display the Bins list. 9. Choose Open Bin from the File menu. Select one of the backup bin files you copied to the desktop and click Open.
Starting the Avid Media Composer Application For more information on using the Start menu and creating a shortcut, see your Microsoft® Windows NT Help. c The Media Composer application icon is located in the C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid Media Composer folder. For most users, the desktop or the Start menu is a more convenient location for starting the application. The installation process adds a pointer in the Start menu to the Avid Media Composer application.
CHAPTER 3 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 that conforms to the specifications of your material. 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.
about turning on your system, see the Avid Media Composer Getting Started Guide. n This chapter refers to the default installation directory path for the various Avid folders. If you chose a different directory path during the installation, you must substitute that path when using this chapter. Opening a Project Each time you start the Media Composer application, the Open Project dialog box appears.
Identifying a User To identify a user for the project, you can either create and identify a new user or select one from a list of existing users. This user name represents the user profile, which includes the settings associated with that user. New users begin with default user settings. When you customize the user settings in the Avid application, these customized settings are associated with the user name. The Avid Users folder is the default location for user profile files.
You are ready to select a project. See “Selecting a Project” on page 49. 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 drive:\Avid\Avid Media Composer\Avid Users folder is the default location for user profile files.
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 users scroll list displays the appropriate user name. 4. Click the user name to select it. You are ready to select a project. See “Selecting a Project” on page 49.
Creating a New Project To create a new project: 1. Click New Project in the Open Project dialog box. The New Project dialog box appears. 2. Type the name of your new project in the highlighted text box. n For a complete description of each option, click the New Project dialog box and press the F1 key. If you plan to move bins and projects from one platform to another, do not use the characters / \ : * ? “ < > |when naming projects, bins, and users.
information, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. Table 3-1 lists the format options available with Avid systems that include support for 24p projects.
The system creates the new project files and folder, and returns you to the Open Project dialog box. The project name is highlighted in the projects scroll list. You are ready to open the project. See “Opening a Project” on page 54. Setting Film Preferences Set film preferences in the Film Settings dialog box immediately after you create a project in order to provide the system with important information about the type of film and audio transfer you used for your job.
To select an existing project, do one of the following: • Click an existing project name to highlight it. • Press the first letter of the project name on the keyboard to highlight it. (If there are multiple projects that begin with the same letter, the first project in the list that begins with that letter will be highlighted.) 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.
To create a folder: 1. Click the New Folder button in the Open Project dialog box. The New Folder dialog box appears. 2. Type a name for the folder, and click OK. The folder appears with an asterisk preceding it in the project scroll list. 3. Double-click the folder name to open the folder. Any new projects you create now are displayed and stored in this folder. You can also nest projects by using the desktop to move existing projects into folders that display in the Open Project dialog box.
The title bar of the Project window contains the project name and user name you selected in the Open Project dialog box. Project name User name Project window Close button Closing a Project To close the Project window and return to the Open Project dialog box, do one of the following: • Click the Close button 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.
Backing Up Your Project Information Although the Avid system automatically saves your bins, projects, and settings, you should back up these items frequently to avoid losing any of your project information due to a hard drive crash or corruption of the files.
You can also drag folders and files, and drop them in the backup folder. c. Double-click the appropriate folder to open it. Folder Contains Avid Projects Project folders Avid Users User folders Settings Site settings file 3. Click a project folder, user folder, or settings file to highlight it. 4. Choose Copy from the Edit menu of the window containing the folder you want to save. 5. Click the destination backup folder window and choose Paste from the Edit menu of the backup folder.
If you are restoring an individual bin or bins, you must relink them to the project from within the Project window. For more information, see “Opening Bins from Other Projects” on page 79. 2. Open a window containing the appropriate folder and paste the files. a. Double-click the appropriate folder in the drive:\Avid\Avid Media Composer folder to open it. Folder Contains Avid Projects Project folders Avid Users User folders Settings Site settings file b.
• If you are between projects, from the Open Project dialog box: a. Click the Quit button. The system asks if you want to leave the application. 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 Start menu.
5. Turn off each external drive in the chassis, then turn off the chassis itself. 6. Turn off all other hardware. c Never remove media drives from your Avid system when it is turned on. Shut down the computer and then remove the drives. Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives The Eject command makes selected media drives inaccessible to the Avid application. If the drive being ejected supports the auto-eject feature (for example, Jaz® drives), the command ejects the disk from the drive.
The Select a Drive dialog box appears. The scroll list displays all drives currently available. 2. Select a drive to remove. Ctrl+click to select multiple drives. 3. Click Eject. The drives are no longer available to the Avid application. Mounting All Drives You cannot add selected drives to the Avid application, but you can add all drives connected to the system, including those previously removed. To add all drives, choose Mount All from the File menu.
Using Context Menus The Windows NT environment allows you to access frequently used commands by using the right mouse button (right-clicking) to click an object. Avid system takes advantage of this feature. When working with your Avid application, right-click on a window to access a shortcut menu that shows the most frequently used commands for that window. You can also right-click a screen object to access What’s This? Help for the object.
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 F1 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 Using the Contents Tab The Contents tab provides a list of books that contain topics covering the entire Help system. The list is organized by book.
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. • If you do not immediately arrive at the topic, scroll through the list and double-click an entry that makes sense, or try an alternative keyword 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. The topic is displayed, and the words you searched for are highlighted.
• 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. They also open from defined terms in the text, and from “hot spots” in illustrations.
Table 3-2 Help Topic Buttons (Continued) Button Description Options Provides the following features: Glossary Annotate Allows you to add a note to a topic. Copy Allows you to copy information from a help topic into another document. Print Topic Allows you to print the current topic. Font Allows you to change the font size of topics. Keep Help on Top Provides the option of displaying the Help window on top of other applications. The default is On Top.
To print a Help topic from the Contents tab, select the topic you want to print, and click the Print button at the bottom of the tab. To print a book of related topics from the Contents tab: 1. Select the book you want to print. 2. Click the Print button. If you select a book, all topics within that book, and all topics in other books contained in that book, will be printed. The system sends each topic as a separate print job to the printer, so this method can take a long time to print.
Changing the Font Size of Help Topics To change the font size of Help topics: 1. Open or click a How To or Reference window to make it active. 2. Click the Options button and choose Small, Normal, or Large from the Font submenu. Keeping Help on Top By default, the Help window remains on top of other application windows. This feature lets you refer to a Help topic while you are completing a task on your Avid system. To change the Keep Help On Top setting: 1. In a Help topic, click the Options button. 2.
To use the system color for Help windows: For information on changing the color settings for your entire system, see your Windows NT documentation. 1. Open or click a How To or Reference window to make it active. 2. Click the Options button and choose Use System Colors from the pop-up menu. 3. Click Yes in the message box. 4. Choose Media Composer Help from the Help menu. Follow the same procedure to revert to the two-color scheme. Adding a Note to a Help Topic To add a note to a Help topic: 1.
Accessing Information from the Help Menu In addition to the Help system, the Help menu provides other types of online information. Table 3-3 describes the Help menu choices. Table 3-3 Help Menu Choices Menu Item Description Shortcuts Displays a list of topics that describe keyboard shortcuts for Media Composer operations. Online Books Displays the opening screen of the Avid Media Composer Online Publications CD, if you have loaded the CD into your CD-ROM drive.
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 4 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. Close button Project window To close the Project window and return to the Open Project dialog box, do one of the following: • Click the Close button 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.
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. To view a list of only the folder contents and not the folders, select Flat View from the Fast menu. The Trash icon and its contents disappear until Flat View is deselected. Creating a Folder in a Project To create a folder in a project: 1. Click Bins in the Project window. 2.
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. Ctrl+click each additional bin you want to open. 3. Choose Open Selected Bins from the File menu.
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 the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. 3. Click the Open button. The bin appears in the Bins list of the Project window in a folder called Other Bins. The name Other Bins appears in italics. You can rename this folder.
To delete a bin or folder: 1. Select the bin or the folder you want to delete in the Bins list. 2. Press the Delete key. A Trash icon appears in the Bins list in the Project window. It contains the deleted item. 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.
To empty the Trash in the Bins list: 1. Choose Empty Trash from the Fast menu. A message box appears. 2. Click Empty Trash to delete the bins or folders from the Trash and from your system drive. 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 second set of bins for organizing your project. For example, you can create a separate bin for each segment of a video project or each scene of a 24p project, depending upon the preferences of the editor.
A sample template of bins for a project is shown below: Project folder Folders containing Bin files Settings files Project file Bin files This hierarchy allows you to have one set of bins available in the Project window during the digitizing and organizing phase, and another set of bins available during editing to reduce clutter. Saving Bins Automatically The Avid system automatically saves changes to your work on a regular basis during each session.
from the Attic folder is described in “Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder” on page 42. To adjust the frequency of automatic saves: 1. Click the Settings button in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears in the Project window. 2. Double-click Bin in the Settings scroll list. The Bin Settings dialog box appears. 3. Type a number in the minutes text box for the Auto-save interval option. 4. Click OK.
• 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. Using the Settings Display From the Settings display of the Project window, you can view, select, open, and alter various User, Project, and Site settings, as described in this section. To view the Settings display, click the Settings button in the Project window.
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 drive:\Avid\Avid Media Composer\Avid Users folder. • Project settings are directly related to individual projects.
Table 4-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued) Setting Name Description For More Information Access to Dialog Box? Audio Project Sets parameters for audio setup. See the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. Yes AvidNet Sets the preference for opening the AvidNet Transfer Tool on startup. See the AvidNet Trans- Yes fer Tool User’s Guide. Bin Sets the Auto-save and Double-click preferences for bins. See “Bin Settings” on Yes page 96.
Table 4-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued) Setting Name Description For More Information Access to Dialog Box? Export Sets parameters for file export. See the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. Yes Film Sets parameters for edit play rate, ink See “Film Settings” on Yes page 92. number format, and transfer rate. General Defines several default values such as See “General Setthe default starting timecode for your tings” on page 97. project.
Table 4-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued) Setting Name Description For More Information Script Sets the default display options for scripts imported using script integration. See “Script Settings Yes Options” on page 234. Serial (COM) Ports Configures the serial ports on your system for deck control, controllers, and VTR emulation. See “Using the Serial Yes (COM) Ports Tool” on page 140. Timecode Window Displays various timecodes in an adjustable window.
Table 4-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued) Setting Name Description For More Information Access to Dialog Box? Video Output The Video Output tool enables you to calibrate output for composite or component video in a digital cut. Appears in the Settings scroll list to facilitate copying settings. See the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. No; choose Video Output Tool from the Tools menu. VTR Emulation Sets parameters when using the Avid system to emulate a VTR.
By establishing these settings once, and selecting the appropriate setting or bin view in context, you can save time and effort that would be spent searching for information or adjusting bin headings on-the-fly. You can also save these settings along with your template (as described in “Managing Folders and Bins” on page 82) for use on similar projects.
Table 4-2 Film Settings Dialog Box Options Option Description Edit Play Rate Select the play rate for Timeline play. See “Setting the Play Rate For Timeline Play” on page 94. Ink Number Format Select one of these industry-standard ink number formats to meet your production lab standards and your film format. See the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. Ink Number displayed as Select the format for the ink number display in bins and cut lists.
Setting the Play Rate For Timeline Play Depending on the type of project with which you are working, the options available from the Edit Play Rate pop-up menu vary. Table 4-3 describes the options available from the Edit Play Rate pop-up menu. Table 4-3 Edit Play Rate Options Project Type Options Description 24p PAL 24 fps Selects playback at 24 fps of all output except for digital cut 25 fps Selects playback at 25 fps of all output except for digital cut 23.976 fps Selects playback at 23.
Table 4-4 describes the Film to Video Transfer settings available in the Film Settings dialog box. Table 4-4 Film to Video Transfer Settings Options Option Description Video Rate Select this option when digitizing film footage that was transferred to PAL video or footage that was transferred to NTSC video without pulldown. Every frame of video is digitized. When you are digitizing at video rate in NTSC, you cannot digitize audio at the same time.
Bin Settings The Bin Settings dialog box controls the Avid system’s automatic save features, including the number of backups saved in the Attic folder. Table 4-5 describes the Automatic Save and Backup options, and the results of double-clicking an object in a bin. Table 4-5 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.
Table 4-5 Bin Settings Dialog Box Options (Continued) Option Description Double-click These options determine what happens when you double-click an object in a bin Opens new monitor for clip. Creates a new pop-up monitor and automatically loads the clip when you double-click an object in the bin. Loads clip into Source or Record monitor. Loads the clip or sequence into the Source or Record monitor when you double-click an object in a bin.
Table 4-6 General Settings Dialog Box Options (Continued) Option Description Audio File Format Choose the file format for the audio: • OMF (WAVE): Compatible with Windows applications • OMF (AIFF-C): Compatible with many third-party applications, including Pro Tools® Choose the AIFF-C format for all audio media when you need to transfer audio media files directly to a Pro Tools system for audio sweetening.
Table 4-7 User Interface Settings Options (Continued) Option Description Delay n seconds before showing If you select Show Tool Tips, you can delay the label display by entering a value in this field. A delay enables you to move the pointer across the interface without displaying the labels on items between the starting point and the destination of the pointer.
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 4-8 describes the different settings display groups.
To change the Settings scroll list display of the Project window: 1. Click the Settings button in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears in the Project window. 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.
Selecting Another User Because User settings are not project or site specific, you can display another set of User settings within the Project window. 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.
To modify available settings: 1. Double-click the name of a chosen setting in the Settings scroll list to open a settings dialog box. 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 button. The system saves changes in the appropriate User, Project, or Site settings file.
For example, you can have: • Two Bin settings: one that automatically saves more often when you are editing intensively, and one that automatically saves less often when you are doing organizational work in the bins • Multiple Digitize settings for digitizing various types of source material • 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 o
To enter a custom setting name: 1. Click the Custom setting name column in the Settings scroll list of the Project window. Custom setting name column 2. Type a new name and press Enter. 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 delete a setting: 1. Click a setting to highlight it. Ctrl+click each additional setting you want to delete. 2. Press the Delete key or choose Delete from the Edit menu. The selected settings are immediately removed. c You cannot undo the deletion. You can, however, restore the default settings, or you can transfer settings from other files, as described in the following sections. Restoring Default Settings You can restore your settings to the default values at any time by doing the following: 1.
Copying Settings Between Settings Files You can copy selected settings: • Between existing settings files. • Into a new settings file for use in other projects. • To change one type of setting to another. • Into the drive:\Avid\Avid Media Composer\Settings folder to establish standard system settings for all new projects and users. See “Using Site Settings” on page 109. You can also transfer settings files to another Media Composer (Windows) system.
3. Drag the highlighted settings to the new destination Settings window. Settings scroll list New target settings window 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, a message 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.
Using Site Settings When the system opens a new project, it first searches the Site_Settings file (located in drive:\Avid\Avid Media Composer\Settings folder) and loads any settings placed here. The system then proceeds to load any Project and User settings not included in the Site Settings file.
Using the Info Display The Info display in the Project window allows you to view basic project information, such as the video format (NTSC, for example). 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 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 4-1 Sample Data File Description of Data File Values The values in the first column indicate the content of the line.
104 105 106 110 111 113 114 115 116 117 Digitize tool active 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.
To complete the steps for the Text Import Wizard: 1. Choose Delimited for the Original Data Type and click Next. 2. Choose Comma for Delimiters and click Next. 3. Choose General for Column Data Format. 4. Click Finish. The statistics file appears in spreadsheet format. Spreadsheet Form of Statistics Data File Figure 4-2 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 Enter. 4. Choose Load Media Database from the File menu.
• Total physical memory: The total number of bytes of RAM (random-access memory). • Available physical memory: The amount of RAM available for allocation by Windows NT. • Total page file: The total number of bytes that can be stored in the paging file. The paging file is used as virtual memory by Windows NT. • Available page file: The total number of bytes available in the paging files. • Working set (minimum and maximum): The set of memory pages currently available to the application in RAM.
You can also access the Hardware tool by choosing Hardware from the Tools menu. For more information about the Hardware tool, see “Using the Hardware Tool” on page 138. 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.
assigned to the workspaces in the Settings scroll list of the Project window in the order that they appear. For example, the W1 button is assigned to the first workspace that appears in the Settings scroll list; W2 is assigned to the second workspace that appears in the Settings scroll list; and so forth. n You cannot assign certain tool windows to a workspace, such as the Hardware tool, Serial (COM) Ports tool, and Media tool. Creating a New Workspace Setting To create a new workspace setting: 1.
Custom name column New workspace b. Type a name for the new custom workspace; for example, digitizing. c. Press Enter. 6. Open the windows 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. Select or deselect the following options, depending on your preference for the behavior of the workspace: • Activate Settings Linked By Name: This setting allows you to link other settings to the workspace. See “Linking User Settings and Workspaces” on page 121. • Continually Update This Workspace: This setting automatically preserves the workspace in its most recent arrangement. Future changes to the arrangement of the tool windows are saved.
3. Click a setting from the Settings scroll list that you want to link to the new workspace. For example, click Timeline view. Adjust the Timeline to what you want displayed (enlarged tracks, audio waveform, and so forth). For information on naming a Timeline view, see “Saving a Customized Timeline View” on page 366. 4. Give this Timeline view setting the same name you gave the workspace in step 2. 5. Double-click another setting; for example, Audio.
7. Double-click the workspace you just created. The Workspace Settings 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.
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. More tab W1 button 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 5 Using Basic Tools The Tools menu on the Avid 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 F1 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 the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. - 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.
selectable 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. The functions are: Move, Play, Edit, Trim, FX, 3D, MCam, Other, and More. n When you are working with a 24p project, the Command palette displays the Step Forward 8 Frames button and Step Backward 8 Frames button.
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.
For example, if you drag the Add Alt key button onto the Mark IN button, the function of the Mark IN button changes to Go to IN Point. For a list of other functions that the Add Alt key can modify, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Quick Reference. n After you modify a button with the Add Alt key button, you can use the default function of the button by pressing the Alt key and clicking the button.
• 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. Select Menu to Button Reassignment at the bottom of the Command palette. n When you are working with a 24p project, the Command palette displays the Step Forward 8 Frames button and Step Backward 8 Frames button. 4.
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. The Command palette appears. 2. Select Active Palette at the bottom of the Command palette. 3. Select the tab from which you want to choose a command function. 4.
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. Click numbers and functions in the Avid Calculator, or enter numbers and functions with the numeric keypad or the top row of numbers on the keyboard. You do not need to enter leading zeroes, colons, or semicolons for timecode. 4. To convert your totals at any time to another format, choose a different frame code or key number format from the pop-up menu.
c 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). Displaying System Information To display current system information: 1. Choose Console from the Tools menu to open the Console window. 2. Scroll to the top of the Console window to view your system information and ID.
To get information with the Console window: 1. Choose Console from the Tools menu. 2. Select the item about which you want information, for example: • In the Timeline, place the position indicator in the chosen shot or segment. • In the bin, select an object or Ctrl+click multiple objects. 3. Choose Get Bin Info or Get Position Info from the File menu. Information about the shot appears in the Console window.
To check the hardware configuration of your Avid system, do one of the following: • Choose Hardware from the Tools menu. • Click the Info button in the Project window and choose Hardware from the Project window Fast menu. The Hardware tool opens. Online drives • 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.
To start the Avid System Test Pro diagnostic utility: 1. Click the Start button and then point to Programs. Point to Avid, point to Utilities, and then click Avid System Test Pro. 2. Click OK in the opening dialog box. 3. Choose Board Info from the Window menu. Using the Serial (COM) Ports Tool The Serial (COM) Ports tool allows you to view the current configuration of the serial interface at any time during editing.
CHAPTER 6 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 would like to customize the types of objects (clips, subclips, and so on) displayed in a bin, see “Setting the Bin Display” on page 142. • If you need to group or multigroup material, see “Grouping and Multigrouping Clips” on page 550.
You can use the Set Bin Display option to display clips referenced by a sequence, even if the clips were not previously in the bin. Place a sequence in a new bin and follow this procedure. To set the bin display: 1. Choose Set Bin Display from the Bin menu. The Display Bin Selection dialog box appears. Table 6-1 on page 144 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. Select the option “Show reference clips” to automatically display objects that are referenced by sequences in the bin, whether those clips were previously in the bin or not. 5. Click OK. The bin displays objects according to your specifications.
Adjusting Pan Defaults For information on using the Audio Mix tool to adjust pan for individual clips in a sequence, see “Using the Audio Mix Tool” on page 460. The way your footage was recorded in the field and digitized in the Avid system will affect the way sound pans between the speakers. By default, the system pans audio tracks 1 and 3 to the left speaker output and pans tracks 2 and 4 to the right speaker 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. Instead of adjusting pan on individual clips by using the Audio Mix tool, Center Pan allows you to create a standard distribution of audio between left and right speakers. You can adjust the pan on selected clips or all clips with a single command.
The Read Audio Timecode dialog box appears. 2. 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. 3. Choose the audio track containing the timecode from the Audio Timecode Source pop-up menu. A1 is the default. 4.
6. Click OK to complete the procedure. The timecode appears in the bin in the auxiliary timecode column that you chose. Film Scene Workflow During the organizing phase, common practice on film productions is to organize the digitized clips according to scene. This helps to simplify the work environment for the editor, and keeps crowded bins to a minimum. Use the various procedures described in this chapter to organize scene bins according to the following basic workflow: 1.
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: For information on Text view features, see “Using Text View” on page 169. • 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.
For information on Frame view features, see “Using Frame View” on page 190. • 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 Frame View button 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 194. • In Script view, the system combines the features of Text view with Frame view, and adds space for typing notes or script. The frames are displayed vertically on the left side of your screen with a script text box to the right of each clip. Clip information is displayed above the text box.
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. Fast Menu button The Bin Fast menu is especially convenient when you are working with several open bins and need to access Bin menu commands quickly. Basic Bin Procedures There are some basic procedures that you can use in any of the three bin display views for manipulating clips in the bin.
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 Windows NT documentation. 3. Type another point size for the font in the Size text box. 4. Click OK. The new font appears in all bin display views.
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. You can move, rename, and manipulate this clip without affecting the original clip. To duplicate a clip or sequence: 1.
3. Select the clip or sequence that you want to move, or select multiple clips. 4. Drag the clips to the new bin. n If the destination bin’s display has been set to show reference clips, the referenced object types do not appear until you save the bin. For more information on setting the bin display, see “Setting the Bin Display” on page 142. Copying Clips and Sequences When you copy clips or sequences, you are essentially cloning the same clip or sequence in another bin.
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 Delete from the Edit menu or press the Delete key on the keyboard. The Delete dialog box displays information about the selected items. 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. Assigning Colors to Bin Objects You can assign colors to clips, subclips, sequences, and effect clips to help you manage and organize the bin objects.
Adding a Color Column to a Bin To add a Color column to a bin: 1. With a bin in Text view, choose Headings from the Bin menu. A Bin Column Selection dialog box appears. 2. Ctrl+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.
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. Alt+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 Custom Sift Parameters dialog box appears. Sift criteria text box Operator pop-up menu Column 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 exact name of the color (using uppercase and lowercase letters) 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 01:08:32:00 in the Sift criteria text box in the Custom Sift Parameters dialog box, and choose Start to End Range.
Some column pairs explicitly define a range, for example, Start and End or Mark IN and Mark OUT. Other columns define the beginning of a range, and the end of the range is determined by the Duration column. For example, Auxiliary TC1 implies a range that begins at the value in the Auxiliary TC1 column, and ends at that value plus the value in the Duration column.
Table 6-3 lists all columns associated with implicit ranges and their corresponding menu choices. The Duration column determines the end of these ranges.
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. The bin will display those clips that encompass the timecode (or keycode) number that you entered. Locking Items in the Bin You can lock any item in the bin — including source clips, master clips, subclips, and sequences — to prevent deletion. When you lock clips in the bin, you lock their associated media files on your desktop as well.
To unlock previously locked items: 1. Select the items in the bin. 2. Choose Unlock Bin Selection from the Clip menu. n You can use the clip-locking feature along with archiving software to automatically archive all locked media files. For more information on archiving locked files, see your archiving software’s documentation. Selecting Offline Items in a Bin Offline items are clips, subclips, or sequences that are missing some or all of their original media files or have never been digitized.
4. Select the chosen clip or sequence, and choose Select Media Relatives from the Bin menu. The system highlights all related objects in all open bins. Selecting Sources Used by an Object Use the Select Sources command to identify all of the sources used by a particular object. For example, if you select a sequence as the object, you use the Select Sources command to identify every master clip, subclip, tape, and media file that is a source for that sequence. To identify sources for a clip or sequence: 1.
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.
Using Text View Text view provides the most complete view of clip information. It uses database columns that you can rearrange and customize to suit your needs. 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.
• Custom view: Allows you to create and save customized views. The only required heading is the clip name, displayed by default. You can customize the view by adding, hiding, or rearranging column headings. If you import a log file from your telecine transfer, much of this information will be placed in the bin when you import the log. If you do not have a film log, then you can enter this information manually by highlighting the field in the bin and typing the information.
Arranging Bin Columns This section provides procedures for adding, hiding, moving, duplicating, and deleting columns from a bin. After arranging the bin columns, you can save the bin view as described in “Saving a Custom Bin View” on page 175. 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.
A Bin Column Selection dialog box appears. 2. Select the headings you want to add to the bin: • Ctrl+click the name of a heading to select it. • Ctrl+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.
To delete a column: 1. Click the column heading. 2. Choose Delete 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 into other compatible columns that you target in a dialog box. To duplicate a timecode column: 1. Select the column you want to duplicate by clicking its heading. 2. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu.
to the Auxiliary TC column, but you cannot copy timecodes to the Pullin column. The column of information appears in the column you designated. When you duplicate a timecode column (Start, TC 24, TC 25, TC 25P, and TC 30), the values for master clips and subclips are converted to the appropriate timecode. For more information, see “Displaying Timecodes in a 24p Project” on page 184.
To change the name of a custom column: 1. Press and hold the Alt key, and click the heading to highlight it. 2. Type the new text for the heading and press Enter. 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.
especially useful if some of the data is incorrect, or if you need to conform information for organizational purposes. 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.
Table 6-4 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 414. Auxiliary timecodes, 1–5 No restrictions.
To modify the clip data directly: 1. Enter Text view. 2. Click the cell that you want to modify. Select only one item at a time. In this example, the timecode data is highlighted. 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 Enter. Modifying Data by Using the Modify Command The Modify command gives you specialized control over groups of clip information.
Table 6-5 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 24p projects and matchback projects Set Pullin Only for adjusting Pullin information from an imported
The Alter Timecode dialog box appears. Modify options pop-up menu 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. A dialog box prompts you to target a timecode column for the data. 3. Select the target column for the data and click OK.
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. n If the Sort command appears dimmed in the menu, you have not selected a column. To reapply the last sort, choose Sort Again from the Bin menu with no column selected. This step is especially useful after you have added new clips to a sorted bin.
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 157. To sort clips by color: 1. Click the Color column heading in the bin. 2. Choose Sort from the Bin menu. The objects in the bin are sorted by color. n Colors are sorted by hue, saturation, and value.
Table 6-6 shows the converted timecode for each timecode column. All of the values are equivalent. Table 6-6 n Timecode Columns Bin Column Timecode TC 24 01:00:00:15 TC 25 01:00:00:15 TC 25P 01:00:00:16 TC 30 01:00:00:19 The TC1 track in the Timeline represents the timecode of the project in which you are working. For example, when you are working in a 24p NTSC project, the TC1 track displays the same timecode as the TC 30 track.
To add timecode columns to a bin or the Media tool: 1. Choose Headings from the Bin menu. The Bin Column Selection dialog box appears. 2. Ctrl+click the timecode columns you want to display. 3. Click OK. The timecode column appears in the bin or the Media tool. To add timecode values to the timecode columns: 1. Open a bin or the Media tool. 2. Add the Start column and the timecode column with the format you want to use. 3. Select the Start column. 4. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu.
The values for master clips, subclips, and sequences in the Start column are converted to the appropriate timecode format and entered into the column you selected. Bin Column Headings You can select individual or multiple headings to be displayed or hidden in a bin. Table 6-8 describes the Bin Column Selection headings. For a procedure on how to select column headings, see “Showing and Hiding Columns” on page 171.
Table 6-8 Bin Column Selection (Continued) Heading Description Color Framing The color framing for the tape. For NTSC, the choice is Even or Odd. For PAL, the choices are A Standard, A Non-Standard, B Standard, or B Non-Standard. Creation Date The date and time the clip was logged or digitized. Drive The last known drive on which the media for that master clip existed. Duration The length of the clip. End The timecode of the clip’s tail frame.
Table 6-8 Bin Column Selection (Continued) Heading Description KN Mark OUT The key number for the OUT point, if you set one for the clip. Used for 24p projects only. KN Start The starting key number for the clip. Used for 24p projects and matchback projects only. Labroll The labroll containing the clip. Lock Specifies whether the clip is locked against deletion. Mark IN The timecode for the IN point, if you set one for the clip.
Table 6-8 Bin Column Selection (Continued) Heading Description Sound TC The timecode for audio. Soundroll The sound roll this clip came from. Used for 24p projects and matchback projects only. Start The timecode of the clip’s head frame. TC 24 The 24-fps timecode. Used for 24p projects only. TC 25 The 25-fps timecode, no pulldown. Used for 24p projects only. TC 25P The 25-fps timecode with PAL pulldown. Used for 24p projects only. TC 30 The 30-fps timecode with 2:3 pulldown.
You can also mark IN points and OUT points in Frame view. For more information, see “Marking IN to OUT Points” on page 309. 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.
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. • To enlarge the frame size, choose Enlarge Frame from the Edit menu.
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. Changing the Frame Identifying the Clip By default, Frame view displays the first frame of each clip in the bin. However, you can choose a different frame. There are several ways to change the represented frame: • Use the J-K-L keys. • Press the Home key or End key on the keyboard. • Step or shuttle by using the mouse.
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.
To enter Script view, click the Script View button (labeled S) in the lower left portion of the bin. 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.
Playing Clips in Script View Each clip is represented by a single frame in Script view. The head frame is the default, but you can play back the footage within any clip and select any frame to represent the footage. To change the represented frame, press the J-K-L keys to move through the clip. For more information about playing footage, see “Controlling Playback” on page 299.
To print entire bins in Text, Script, or Frame view: 1. Make sure your printer is correctly set up. See the Windows NT Help or your system administrator. n To print a frame in Script or Frame view, you must use a printer capable of printing graphics. 2. Click the T (Text view), S (Script view), or F (Frame view) button in the lower left portion of the bin to select the view you want to print. 3. Choose Page Setup from the File menu.
Gathering Format Elements While organizing your project, you can gather various format elements into a single bin that you can open and use later during editing. Some useful format elements might be: • Bars and tone • Head and tail leader • Repeated titles • Countdowns or SMPTE • Graphic elements (repeated animations, and so forth) This section describes techniques for creating digital bars and tone, as well as leader clips for use in sequences.
• Digitize bars and tone from a videotape. This method allows you to capture bars and tone simultaneously, but you must calibrate carefully to ensure accuracy. In addition, the final clip reflects the quality of the source tape recording. • Digitize bars from an external color bar generator. This method provides good results, but you must have a color bar generator available, and you must rearrange your system inputs to attach the generator.
The Import file(s) into bin dialog box appears. Look in pop-up menu Source file list The location of the Avid folders is determined during the installation of Media Composer. These are the default folder locations. 4. Navigate to the folder containing the test pattern file that is located in the C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid Media Composer\ SupportingFiles\ folder. a. Click a test pattern and click the Options button. b. Choose ITU-R 601, non-square from the Aspect Ratio, Pixel Aspect pull-down menu. c.
When you import SMPTEBars.pct, it will not exactly match the SMPTE bars generated by the Video Output tool. The I and Q blocks in the bottom portion of the pattern cannot be exactly represented in the RGB color space used when importing files. If you must have I and Q blocks correct in a sequence, do one of the following: • Digitize SMPTE bars from a signal generator. • Use the Video Output tool to generate SMPTE bars and record them to tape using the controls on the deck.
Creating Video Leader To create leader for picture tracks: 1. Create a black screen in the Title tool for tail leader, or a white screen for head leader. For information on using the Title tool, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Effects Guide. Optionally, you can type a title onto the screen that says Tail Leader or Head Leader. 2. Name this clip Head Leader or Tail Leader when you save the title. 3. Create a subclip, according to your chosen specifications. 4.
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 7 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 175. Media tool views are saved as User settings and appear in the Settings Project window as Bin Views.
Opening the Media Tool To open the Media tool: 1. Choose Media Tool from the Tools menu. The Display Media Selection 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.
• You can display only digitized master clips, precompute (rendered effect) clips, or media files, or any combination of the three. 3. Click OK. The Media tool opens. Master clip Precompute clip Frame view Script view 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.
Depending on your needs, you can do one of the following: • Delete selected audio or video tracks and retain other tracks from a clip. • Delete entire sets of media files and related clips from within the Media tool. • 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 212. To delete selected media files: 1. Open the Media tool.
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.
The new master clips are also numbered incrementally beginning with .01. Consolidating master clips does not save storage space because the system copies the same amount of media for each clip. Consolidating a master clip Original media files Link the master clip to new or old files. Master Clip.old.01 Master Clip 213 Copy of media files Master Clip.new.
• 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 214 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 and Film 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, Ctrl+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.
10. Click OK. Another way to back up media files is to copy them directly onto another hard drive by using the Windows NT 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 Windows NT desktop, while the Avid application is running.
quit the Avid application; restart the application and open the sequences bin only — the sequences might appear to be offline. 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.
see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide or the Avid Products Collaboration Guide. 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.
If more than one file is related to the clip, a message asks if you want to see the next file. If you click OK, you need to bring the Exploring window forward by holding down the Alt key and pressing the Tab key until you select the OMFI MediaFiles folder. Relinking Media Files After you consolidate or move material between systems, the clips or sequences might lose their links to the original media files. When a clip becomes unlinked, it displays the message “Media Offline.
information, and channels digitized. If the search is successful, the system establishes new links to the available media files. To relink clips, subclips, or sequences: 1. Select the unlinked object or objects in the bin. 2. Choose Relink from the Clip menu. The Relink dialog box appears. 3. (Universal Editing option) Choose an option from the Relink by pop-up menu: • Choose “Key Number (KN Start) - picture only” to relink by using the key numbers.
4. Select an option from the “Relink operation on selected clips” section depending on the type of object you are relinking, either non-master clips or master clips: • Select “Relink offline non-master clips to any online items” to relink only offline clips and sequences to the master clips that contain the same material. • Select “Relink all non-master clips to selected online items” to relink related subclips and sequences (online or offline) to the highlighted clip in the bin.
for each clip,” and “Use the video compression logged for each clip.” For information on batch digitizing, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. Relinking to Selected Clips You can also use the Relink command for connecting subclips or sequences to selected master clips and subclips. To relink to selected master clips and subclips: 1. Move the subclips or sequences that you want to relink into the bin containing the clips. 2. Select the clips targeted for relinking. 3.
7. (Option) Select “Relink only to media from the current project.” 8. (Option) Select “Match case when comparing tape names.” 9. Click OK. The subclips and sequences are linked to the selected clips and subclips. Relinking Consolidated Clips If the appropriate media exists online, you can reconnect consolidated clips, subclips, or sequences to the new or old media files by choice.
4. Select “Relink offline master clips to online media files” to relink master clips to media files that share similar database information. 5. Choose a specific drive volume that contains the original media files from the “Relink to media on volume” pop-up menu. 6. (Option) Select “Relink only to media from the current project.” 7. (Option) Select “Match case when comparing tape names.” 8. Click OK. The clips are relinked to the original media files.
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 the 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 8 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 8-1 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. The Open 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.
• Script window files are saved in the folder for the project along with bins, and backup copies are automatically stored in the Attic folder. • You can save a copy of the Script window by choosing Save a Script Copy As from the File menu. • 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.
n You can also use several search features, as described in “Searching Through Script” on page 242. 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.
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.
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. Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Script You can cut, copy, and paste text in the script just as you would in a normal word processor. However, because you cannot select individual words or characters, you can only move lines or paragraphs.
n To rearrange or rewrite individual words or characters in the script, you should make the changes in a word processor before importing them into a separate Script window. You can then use the procedures in this section to copy and paste the new lines into the existing Script window, overwriting the incorrect lines. Removing Script Text You cannot delete lines of text from the Script window by using the Delete key as you would in a normal word processor. Use the Cut command to remove the text instead.
Using Page and Scene Numbers When you add page and scene numbers to the Script window, you gain the ability to search for them during preparation of the script and during editing. You can customize page and scene numbering by adding, changing, and moving the numbers as necessary. Adding a Page or Scene Number To add a page or scene number: 1. Select the line of the script at the beginning of the scene or page. 2.
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 Go To Page or Go To 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 Go To 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.
Interpolating Position for Script Integration Interpolate Position matches a clip to a take and allows you to see where a particular line in the script would appear in the clip footage. When you turn on Interpolate Position, the length of the take in the script is matched to the length of the clip in the Source monitor. The position indicator in the Source monitor corresponds to wherever you click in the take.
Selecting Slates There are several ways to select slates: n • Click a slate to select it. • Shift+click additional slates to select all the active takes. • Drag a lasso through a region of the script containing slates. All slates and takes within the lasso are selected. Selecting multiple slates is especially useful when you are adding or deleting color or off-screen dialog indicators across takes, as described in “Manipulating Takes” on page 253.
Hiding Slate Frames By default, the system displays a representative frame for each take in the slates. You can hide this frame display and show only the clip name to simplify the interface or speed up scrolling and movement in a complex Script window. 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.
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 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 256. 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. n c When you delete slates and takes from the Script window, the digitized source clips remain in the source bins.
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. • Drag a lasso through an entire region of the script. All takes within the lasso are selected.
To delete one or more takes: 1. Select the takes. 2. Press the Backspace key. The Delete dialog box appears. 3. Click the Delete Takes check box, and click OK. The takes are deleted. Displaying Take Numbers To display take numbers within the tab of each take, enter the numbers in the Take column of the source bin for the clips. Numbers in the Take column appear in the tabs for each 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. Loading Takes You can load individual takes into the Source monitor one at a time, or you can load multiple takes, as follows: • Double-click any take tab. • Select multiple takes, then double-click any take in the selection.
To change the length of a take line: 1. Press the Ctrl key. Notice the movement icon that appears when you point the cursor at either end of the take. 2. Click the end mark or beginning mark of a take and drag it until you reach the correct line in the script. 3. Press the Ctrl key and drag the opposite end of the take to a new location if necessary. 4. Repeat the procedure for other takes in the slate as necessary.
Using Color Indicators You can use color to indicate several pieces of information, including: • Preferred takes or takes used in the current active sequence • Picture versus audio track used in the current active sequence • Line changes in dialog • Use of multiple cameras 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.
monitor for editing. This provides line-by-line control over alternative takes that the editor can instantly load and edit into the sequence. You can place script marks one take at a time, or you can automate the process of screening and marking selected takes in a playback loop. Placing Script Marks Manually To place script marks manually: 1. Map the Add Script Mark button from the Other tab in the Command palette to a user-customizable palette or to the keyboard. 2.
to find the exact line of dialog. The clip does not have to be playing. 4. When the playback reaches the chosen line of dialog, click the Add Script Mark button or key. The line is marked in the Script window with a small horizontal bar, and play stops. 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.
Several takes are selected for automated playback. Current playback is highlighted in green. 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.
Loading and Playing Marked Segments Once you have placed marks syncing lines in your script to points in the source clips, you can quickly load and cue takes for selected lines of dialog. You can load a single take, or you can load all the coverage for any given range of lines. To load the marked segment of a take, click the script mark at the line of dialog that you want to cue. The take is loaded into the Source monitor and is cued to the synced line of dialog. An IN mark is placed at the sync location.
Deleting a Script Mark When you remove a script mark, you do not delete the marked portion of the take, only the sync point between the script and the source clip. c You cannot undo the deletion of script marks. To restore a script mark after deletion, see “Placing Script Marks Manually” on page 259. 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 Backspace key. The Delete dialog box appears. 3.
To find the script linked to a loaded clip: 1. Place the position indicator in the clip at the line of dialog (or within a range of dialog) that you want to find. 2. Click the Find Script button. The Script window instantly scrolls to and highlights the portion of script that most closely matches the clip location. 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.
Editing with the Script Window Using the Script window in combination with the Single Mark Editing feature, an editor can conduct a highly streamlined form of editing. To use the Script window most effectively during a session, make sure: • The Script window is fully prepared, including preferred takes, alternative takes (indicated with colors), and script marks for matching lines of text to sync points in the clips. • The Single Mark Editing option is enabled in the Composer Settings dialog box.
6. Double-click the next preferred take to load it. 7. Play the clip until you reach the appropriate OUT point, and stop play. 8. Perform the edit on-the-fly. 9. Repeat steps 4 through 6 until you have moved through the entire scene or segment. 10. Fine-tune the edits by using normal trimming and editing procedures. Continue to use the Script window to quickly load and cue alternative takes as necessary.
Revising the Script During or after each session, or when a scene or segment is completed, the editor or assistant editor can update the Script window to reflect the final edit decisions made during the day. In this way, you can maintain a complete record of the elements used to construct the scene or segment, as well as all existing alternatives. When further changes or repackaging are required, you can quickly retrieve all the source material in one window.
The Script window provides a visual, interactive look at the content of the original script versus the elements in the final piece. All alternative takes are available for viewing and comparing. Matching colors indicate takes used in the preferred cut as well as alternative cuts. 268 You can mix down alternative cuts to form master clips and place them alongside the script.
CHAPTER 9 Viewing and Marking Footage Before making your first edit, you can review your footage, add locators and comments to clips, mark IN to 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 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 Playback monitor Timeline window Source/Record Mode button 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 and Playback monitor. You can learn about Composer settings as follows: • For information on Composer settings, see “Composer Window Settings Options” on page 286.
- Sync Point Editing (see “Using Sync Point Editing” on page 545) - Phantom Marks option (see “Using Phantom Marks” on page 342) - Options for creating tracks in the Timeline (see “Adding a Track” on page 405) In addition, you can: • Map various buttons onto command palettes or the keyboard, as described in “About Button Mapping” on page 130. • Display or hide labels on buttons by using Interface settings, as described in “Reviewing Basic Settings” on page 92.
Using the 16:9 Display Format The Avid system supports the 16:9 aspect ratio for the display of wide-screen images used in the high-definition television (HDTV) standard as well as some feature film formats and video formats. The 16:9 option allows you to offline edit wide-screen footage that was transferred anamorphically to NTSC or PAL tapes.
Using 16:9 for 24p Editing For 24p projects, you can use the 16:9 option to correctly display the 16:9 aspect ratio from the film transfer. To display a larger film image: 1. During either shooting or the telecine process, use a 16:9 lens to squeeze the film images anamorphically to the 3/4 aspect ratio. 2. After digitizing the footage, select the 16:9 option to return the squeezed image to its normal aspect ratio. The picture will be larger.
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. See Figure 9-1. This information is updated continuously to reflect your current position in the footage. You can choose various alternative tracking formats from the Tracking Information Display menu.
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.
Tracking Format Options The Tracking Information Display menu contains options for information to be displayed above the monitors. Table 9-1 describes the tracking format options. Table 9-1 Tracking Format 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.
The option you select from pane 1, pane 2, or pane 3 is displayed above the monitor. The following is a summary of the contents of the menu: Tracking Information Display menu Pane 1 Pane 2 Pane 3 Pane 4 • Pane 1 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). The format type that you select from pane 4 determines the tracking format to be displayed.
clip with only one audio track does not show an option for A2. The item you select in pane 2 is displayed above the monitor. n The items listed in pane 2 and pane 3 of the Tracking Information Display menu vary depending on the display information you select. For example, if you select Clip Name from pane 3, the Clip Name moves to pane 2. Pane 2 • Pane 3 lists options for displaying the timecode or clip name for the source track of a specific track (V1, A1, A2, and so forth).
Selecting an option in pane 4 affects the items in pane 1. When you are working with a 24p project, the Timecode submenu allows you to choose an output timecode format, and the Footage submenu allows you to choose a supported film type. Pane 4 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.
Displaying the Clip Information Window The Clip Information window displays statistical information about a clip. You can open the Clip Information window from the Source monitor, the Record monitor, a pop-up monitor, a bin, or a Script window. The Clip Information window updates the information automatically. n If no clip is loaded in the Source monitor or Record monitor, the Clip Information window is not available. To display information about a sequence in the Record monitor: 1.
To display information about the clip or sequence in the Source monitor: 1. Place the pointer in the gray area above the yellow Splice-in button. 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. As you move the position indicator through the clip in the Source monitor, the information in the Info window is updated. To display information about a clip in a pop-up monitor: 1.
Copying Text from the Clip Information Window You can cut, copy, and paste information from the Info window anytime, but you cannot edit or change any information within the window. To copy text from the Info window: 1. Click the pointer and drag it over the information you want to copy. 2. Press Ctrl+C to copy the information. 3. To paste the information, place and click the pointer at the location you want to paste it, and press Ctrl+V.
To set a timecode display in the Timecode window: 1. Choose Timecode Window from the Tools menu. The Timecode window opens. Close button Resize display 2. (Option) Drag the lower right corner of the Timecode window to adjust the display size. 3. Click anywhere in the Timecode window to display the Timecode pop-up menu. 4. Choose a display option from the Timecode pop-up menu. For a description of these options, see Table 9-2. The window displays the type of information you have chosen.
Table 9-2 Timecode Display Options (Continued) Option Description TC, TC 24, TC 25, TC 25P, TC 30 For 24p projects only. Includes a submenu listing the source tracks of a specific track (V1, A1, A2, and so forth). 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. TC (or EC) Displays timecode (or edgecode) for the chosen track. Clip Name Displays the name of the clip.
Displaying Multiple Timecodes To display multiple timecodes in the Timecode window: 1. Choose Timecode Window from the Tools menu. The Timecode window opens. 2. Click anywhere in the Timecode window to display the Timecode pop-up menu. 3. Choose Add Display from the pop-up menu. A new line appears in the window. 4. Click the new line to display the Timecode pop-up menu. 5. Choose an option from the Timecode pop-up menu. For a description of these options, see Table 9-2.
Table 9-3 Composer Window Settings Options Option Description First (lower) Row of Info When this option is selected, the system displays one row of tracking, duration, and clip or sequence title information above the Source and Record monitors. Second Row of Info When this option is selected, the system displays a second row of information above the first row. The second row includes Fast Menu icons, duration information, and when applicable, ganging and multicamera icons.
Color Framing Options Use the Color Framing option if you are going to do online editing using 1-inch, reel-to-reel sources. The option enables the system to check each edit in a sequence as you edit, to ensure that transitions do not cut between the four fields (two frames) required to create a complete NTSC color-sync signal phase (or the eight fields — four frames — required for PAL). Table 9-4 describes the Color Framing options.
Miscellaneous Composer Window Options Table 9-5 describes the miscellaneous Composer Window settings. Table 9-5 Miscellaneous Composer Options Option Description Sync Point Editing (Overwrites) When this option is selected, the system overwrites material onto your sequence in such a way that a particular point in the source material is in sync with a particular point in the sequence.
Fast Forward and Rewind Table 9-6 describes the Fast Forward and Rewind options. n The Fast Forward and Rewind buttons in the Avid system monitors behave differently from the equivalent buttons on a tape deck. When you have a sequence loaded in a monitor, the Fast Forward or Rewind button causes a jump (forward or backward) to the next edit that is common to all selected tracks in the Timeline.
Viewing Methods You can work with clips and sequences in several different ways, depending upon your needs and preferences. Each method has its own uses and advantages, as follows: • Viewing in bins: You see pictorial images of the clips in your bins by using Frame view. You can also list the clips by name by using Text view. For more information, see “Using Frame View” on page 190 and “Using Text View” on page 169.
• Viewing in the Record monitor: You can load a sequence into the Record monitor to view, mark, or modify an existing sequence. In addition, 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 337. You can also load a single clip into the Record monitor. For more information, see “Loading and Clearing Footage” on page 294.
• Viewing in pop-up monitors: You can load several clips into pop-up monitors to view and mark clips in smaller, movable windows. See “Loading and Clearing Footage” on page 294. Two pop-up monitors with clips loaded • Viewing in the Timeline: Use the Timeline to view individual tracks for either a sequence or a source clip. Click the Toggle Source/Record in Timeline button to switch between displaying the sequence tracks and the source tracks.
Fast Frame Display in 24p Projects You can display a full frame in the Record and Client monitors when stopped on a frame or when single-stepping through the frames, by deselecting Fast Frame Display from the Special menu. Although the frames are digitized and stored as frames, they display by default as a single field representation of the frame. Deselecting Fast Frame Display does not affect playing a clip or sequence. The full frame only displays when the clip or sequence is stopped on a single frame.
Loading into Source, Record, and Pop-up Monitors To load a single clip or sequence: 1. Click the Source/Record Mode button to enter Source/Record mode. 2. Open a bin and locate the clip or sequence. Press and hold the Alt key, then double-click the clip or sequence to reverse the outcome. 3.
3. Drag the selected clips to the Source monitor or double-click one of the selected clips, with one of the following results: Press and hold the Alt key, then double-click to reverse the outcome. • If you set the “Loads clip into source or record monitor” option in the Bin Settings dialog box (the default), the clips load into the Source 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.
To switch between clips: 1. Click the name of the current clip displayed above the monitor to reveal the Clip Name menu. The list in the lower portion of the menu contains a list of all the clips or sequences currently loaded in the monitor. 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.
To clear the monitor or the clip names from the menu: 1. Click the monitor to select it. 2. Click the name of the clip currently displayed above the monitor to reveal the Clip Name menu. 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.
The video disappears. Only the position bars, the editing buttons, and the information portion above the monitors are displayed. To redisplay the video in the monitor, Right-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.
Using Position Bars and Position Indicators You can quickly access frames within a clip that has been loaded into a monitor or move through the footage by using the position indicators that appear in the position bars under the monitors, and in the Timeline when you are viewing a sequence. • 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.
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 130.
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 397. Play a clip by using the following procedure: 1. Load a clip or sequence into a monitor. 2. Click the Video or Audio Track 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 Alt key while clicking either button, you can advance 10 frames (NTSC and PAL) or 8 frames (24p) forward and 10 frames (NTSC and PAL) or 8 frames (24p) 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 Figure 9-2 Play/Step/Shuttle buttons Arrow keys Keyboard Settings 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. This feature, also referred to as three-button or variable-speed play, allows you to use three fingers to manipulate the speed of playback for greater control. You can also use the J-K-L keys to perform smooth audio scrubbing of selected tracks.
To shuttle through the footage by using the J-K-L keys on the keyboard: 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. Use the following keys to shuttle at varying speeds: • Press the L key to move forward through the footage at normal speed.
Home, End, and Arrow Keys You can also use the Home, End, and arrow keys (located to the left of the numeric keypad) to move through footage when a clip is loaded in a monitor. • The Home key takes you to the beginning of a clip or sequence. • The End key takes you to the end of a sequence. • The Left Arrow key moves the footage one frame backward. • The Right Arrow key moves the footage one frame forward. Using the Mouse You can use the mouse for one-handed control of playback.
Shuttling with the Mouse To shuttle 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 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.
Marking and Subcataloging Footage You can speed the editing process by marking clips with IN and OUT points, by subcataloging using locators, and by creating subclips. When subcataloging, you might want to create or open additional bins for storing and isolating specific subclips, marked clips, or sequences, as described in “Using the Bins Display” on page 76.
• Press the Mark IN key on the keyboard when marking a clip in a bin. (Mark IN on the keyboard does not stop playback.) In the Source or Record monitor, the Sawtooth icon indicates the IN mark frame. Marked IN point 4. Continue playing, stepping, or shuttling through the material. 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.
Moving IN to OUT Points You can move IN, OUT, Mark IN, Mark OUT, Audio Mark IN, or Audio Mark OUT points in the position bar of any monitor to a new location. To move a Mark icon: 1. Alt+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.
Creating Subclips When you mark footage with IN and OUT points, you can either save the entire clip along with the new marks, or you can create subclips based on the marks you set to break up longer master clips into smaller segments of selected footage. This procedure is similar to creating a pull reel of the selects or circle takes of your best footage before editing. Unlike outtakes, however, subclips do not directly reference the original media.
The new subclip will be listed in the bin, preceded by a subclip icon and identified with a numbered .Sub file name extension, as shown in the following illustration. A new subclip as referenced in Text view For more information on trimming, see Chapter 12. Subclips do not limit your access to the original, digitized master clip material when trimming.
Marking Audio Clips You can mark audio and video separately for an edit by using the Audio Mark buttons. This feature is useful for creating an overlap edit for an audio clip. To mark IN and OUT points on audio tracks: 1. Load a clip or sequence into a monitor. 2. Select the tracks corresponding to the cuts you want to mark. 3. Place the position indicator where you want to mark the audio clip. Audio Mark IN Audio Mark OUT 4. Do one of the following: • Click the Audio Mark IN button to mark an IN point.
Ways to Use Locators There are many possible uses for locators. A few examples are: • Color correction notations: Use locators to mark clips or specify frames that require color correction, noting the specific correction to perform if someone else does the job. • Visual track alignments: Use locators at matching points in synchronized audio and video tracks so that if the tracks lose sync, you can visually realign the locators in the Timeline to restore sync. For more information on sync, see Chapter 14.
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 the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. Adding Locators While Editing To add locators while in an editing session: 1. Load a sequence or clip. 2. (Option) Select a specific track by using the Track Selector panel. See “Using the Track Selector Panel” on page 397. 3.
6. 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. If you select the “Copy Source Locators” option in the Composer Window Settings dialog box, locators are copied from the Source monitor to the Record monitor when you edit clips and sequences. Copying Locators from Source Clips You can copy all locators currently placed in source clips directly into the sequence as you edit.
The following illustration shows a Locators window with three locators. To view locators in the window: 1. Load the sequence containing the locators. 2. Choose Locators from the Tools menu. 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.
Locators Window Fast Menu The following illustration shows the Locators Window Fast menu. The Fast menu allows you to do the following: • Display a timecode or footage column. • Sort or reverse-sort (Alt 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.
conventional timecode and frame-offset techniques, text searches, and Match Frame and Find Bin commands. Using Timecode to Find a Frame You can cue a loaded clip or sequence to a specific frame by typing timecode values into the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard. In addition, you can cue backward or forward from the current location in the clip or sequence by a specified number of minutes and seconds or feet plus frames by using positive or negative frame-offset values.
In this example, the interface displays master timecode. Use one of the formats described in the next two paragraphs. Master track Type a master timecode to find a frame in the sequence. • SMPTE timecode — Use two digits each for the hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. For example, type 01230200 to enter 01:23:02:00. • Current timecode — If you want to find a timecode that starts at the same hour, minute, or second as the current timecode, type only the last digits.
3. Enter a number for the frame offset and then press the Enter key on the numeric keypad. Use the following formats: n • 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. • Three digits — Enter 100 or a greater number to move forward or backward a specified number of seconds and 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.
monitor, cues to the matching frame, and marks an IN point. It removes the source clip’s original IN and OUT points. 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. Load a sequence into the Record monitor. 2. Move to the frame that you want to match. 3.
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. To find the bin in which a specific clip is located: 1. Load a clip into the Source monitor. 2. Click the Source monitor to activate it. 3. Click the Find Bin button.
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. Click the Match Frame button in the Source monitor to load the original master clip into the Source monitor. 4. Click the Find Bin button in the Source monitor to open the bin and highlight the master clip.
CHAPTER 10 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 “Customizing the Composer Window” on page 270. 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 in the Composer window. Use Source/Record mode to create new sequences from source clips.
Source monitor Composer window Record monitor Source/Record Mode button Setting Up a New Sequence There are two ways to establish a new sequence: • If you have specific parameters for the project that you want 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 want 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 335. 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. Start timecode Start key number 2. Drag the pointer across the sequence name in the Name text box, and then type a new name. 3. Drag the pointer across the start timecode, and then type a new timecode. n You only need to type the first colon (non-drop frame timecode) or semicolon (drop-frame timecode). For example, type 01:000000 for 01:00:00:00. 4. For 24p projects, drag the pointer across the start key number and type a new starting key number. 5. 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 TC1 (master timecode) track. For 24p projects, the output timecode format tracks and EC (edgecode) track are also displayed.
User Preferences for Creating Tracks For information on opening and changing settings, see “Using the Settings Display” on page 86. Your Avid system provides two options in the Composer Window Settings dialog box that help automate the way tracks are created and enabled as you edit. You can adjust these settings in advance based on personal preference.
n You cannot add filler to the end of a sequence. You can create black title media and insert it at the end of a sequence. For information about creating title media, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Effects Guide. To add filler: 1. Click above the Source monitor and choose Load Filler from the Clip Name menu. The system loads a 2-minute clip of filler into the Source monitor. 2. Mark the length of filler, as needed. 3.
As another example, if you are first laying down a music track, you would select track A1 or A2 depending upon where the music was digitized, and deselect V1. Splice-in button 3. Click the Splice-in button to add the edit to the sequence in the Record monitor. The Record monitor displays the end of the last frame of the new edit. (You can scroll the position indicator in the Timeline or the position bar beneath the Record monitor to review the shot.
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 391. As an alternative to creating a new sequence by editing shots one at a time, you can quickly create a rough cut by selecting and loading multiple clips directly from the bin into the Record monitor by using the Shift or Alt keys.
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 342. 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 130. 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 a mark OUT.
Setting One Mark In this example, you set only the mark IN on the source side. By default, the system uses the location of the position indicator as the mark IN for the sequence, and calculates both OUT points based on the length of the source clip. Three phantom marks One mark IN You can see the system calculations instantly and can make the edit after setting just one mark, when appropriate.
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 379. Lifting, extracting, and copying allow you to remove or reposition material quickly in your sequence. For example, you can move a clip from the end of your sequence to the beginning; or you can remove the material from the sequence altogether.
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 Alt 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.
• Open the Clipboard as a pop-up monitor by choosing Clipboard Monitor from the Tools menu. 2. Click the Mark Clip button to mark the entire segment. Toggle Source/Record in Timeline button (Option) 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.
Adding Comments to Sequence Clips You can add comments to sequence clips to appear in the Timeline or in lists that you create, such as an EDL or a cut list. Comments can include instructions for color correction or for adjusting an effect. To add comments to the clips in a 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.
To review your work so far: If you have several tracks of audio, you might need to mix them down and adjust levels before playback. For more information, see Chapter 13. 1. Make sure that the Video Track Monitor icon is located on the uppermost video track in order to display all video tracks and effects during playback. 2. Make sure the Audio Track Monitor button for the audio track is enabled to ensure proper playback of the audio tracks. 3.
Playback Performance Tips As you continue to edit, you might find the playback performance of the system diminishing as the sequence grows in length and layers. This can happen when you are using a great deal of system memory for playback of large and complex sequences. The following are a few tips for improving playback performance: • Check the number of media objects in use for your project in the Memory window, as described in “Viewing Memory” on page 116.
Changing the Value for the Play Length Toggle Button To change the value for the Play Length toggle button from the default: 1. From the Tools menu, choose Console. 2. In the Console window text box, type playlength n 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 Enter. The Console window displays the value for playlength.
Fine-Tuning 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 11. • To make frame-accurate adjustments to your edits by using Trim mode, see Chapter 12. • To edit with audio or mix audio tracks in preparation for playback or output, see Chapter 13. • To edit with synced tracks, see Chapter 14. • To edit with multicamera material, see Chapter 15.
CHAPTER 11 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.
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. You can customize your view of the Timeline to display a variety of information about your sequence as well as the clips and transitions it contains. You use the Timeline Fast menu to change the display. You can also save different custom views that you can call up instantly in various circumstances.
• Film and animation editing: If you are working on a film or animation project, you can display the film track, show several frames in the sequence, and display sync breaks where they occur. • Editing for online: If you are editing offline with plans to generate an EDL and finish the sequence in an online videotape suite, you can track detailed clip and dupe-reel information by displaying clip text and enabling Dupe Detection.
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. To select an item from the Timeline Fast menu, click the Fast Menu button and scroll through the menu to select or deselect an option. Selected options have check marks next to them. You must select some options from a submenu.
You can learn about the various Timeline view options as follows: • For an overview of all Timeline Fast menu options, see Table 11-1 on page 358. • For more information on effect icons and displays, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Effects Guide. • For information on different view types, see “Customizing Timeline Views” on page 355. • For information on Dupe Detection in the Timeline, see “Detecting Duplicate Frames” on page 411.
Table 11-1 Timeline Fast Menu Commands (Continued) Command Description Render Ranges Indicates unrendered effects; see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Effects Guide Dissolve Icons Switches the display of dissolve icons Clip Frames Switches the display of start frames for each of the segments in the Timeline Clip Text Displays a submenu of clip text display options Sync Breaks Displays a submenu of sync break display options Dupe Detection Enables color-coded dupe material display; u
Additional Procedures for Customizing the Timeline In addition to the options provided in the Timeline Fast menu, you can customize a Timeline view by enlarging or reducing the size of tracks, or by moving tracks up or down in the Timeline hierarchy. Enlarging and Reducing Tracks You can enlarge or reduce the height of one or more tracks to improve visibility and display more information within the tracks. You can save these changes with a Timeline view. To enlarge or reduce the height of tracks: 1.
Moving a Track You can move a track to reposition it vertically relative to the Timeline. Surrounding tracks are repositioned above or below the track. You can save these changes with a Timeline view. Moving tracks is especially useful when you are working with multiple-layer effects and discover that the tracks are built in the wrong hierarchy to apply the effect correctly.
To customize the tracks to be displayed in the Timeline, choose the tracks from the Show Track submenu of the Timeline Fast menu. n The TC1 track represents the timecode of the project in which you are working. For example, when you are working in a 24p NTSC project, the TC1 track displays the same timecode as the TC 30 track. Changing the Timeline Background Color To change the background color of the Timeline, you also have to change the background color of the monitors.
Changing the Timeline Track Color To change the track color in the Timeline: 1. Click in the Timeline to activate it. 2. Choose Track Color from the Timeline Fast menu. 3. Choose a color for the tracks from the pop-up palette. If you want to choose a custom color for the tracks, press the Alt key while performing this procedure. When you release the mouse button on the pop-up palette, the Windows Color dialog box appears.
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. Source colors are assigned to clips in bins and local colors are assigned to clips in the Timeline. By default, the Timeline is set to display no colors.
n Clip colors assigned to sequences, groups, motion effects, 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. The assigned local colors appear in the Timeline. n If both Source and Local are selected in the Clip Color submenu, the local color overrides the source color.
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 View Name 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 Alt 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.
To set the scroll option: 1. Click the Settings button in the Project window to display a list of your current settings. 2. Double-click Timeline to display a list of your current Timeline settings. For more information on Timeline settings, see “Restoring the Default Timeline View” on page 368. 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.
Table 11-2 Timeline Settings Options Option Description Dupe Detection Handles Choose the size of the handles, in frames, to use for dupe checking. The chosen number of frames is added at the beginning and the end of each clip before checking for overlap. The handles are used only for internal calculations. Show Position Bar When this option is selected, the blue position bar is displayed in the Timeline. Show Effect Contents When this option is selected, the system displays effect information.
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. In addition, marked sections of the sequence can be highlighted for visual reference. Figure 11-1 shows the Timeline window.
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 IN point 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 “Restoring the Default Timeline View” on page 368. 2. Select Show Position Bar. 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.
Position indicator and highlighted region Position indicators Highlighted region 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.
To zoom in on a section of the Timeline at the position indicator and then zoom back to your original display: 1. Click the scale box and drag it to the right. The following happens: • The Timeline expands horizontally. • The Timeline track shows more detail. • The position indicator splits into a solid blue line and a dotted blue line (or “shadow”), marking the beginning and end of the current frame. You can click either the line or the shadow to move exactly one frame forward or back. 2.
To zoom in on a section of the Timeline and then zoom back to your original display: 1. Choose Zoom In from the Timeline Fast menu. The pointer arrow changes to a selection bar. 2. Position the pointer at either the start or end of the place you want to zoom in on, and drag to select the chosen section. When you release the mouse button, the material inside the Zoom In box expands to fill the Timeline window. 3. To return to the previous Timeline display, choose Zoom Back from the Timeline Fast menu.
Using Full-Screen Timeline As an alternative to constantly scrolling through the Timeline window or resizing tracks to get a view of the material, you can resize the Timeline window to full-screen display. 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. Resize box Notice that a Timeline with reduced tracks wraps around to show more of the sequence.
You can also enlarge the tracks to view complex audio or video layers in greater vertical detail. To enlarge tracks, select them and press Ctrl+L. You can also continue to work in Source/Record mode by resizing the Timeline window so that the two windows overlap. 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.
This feature is particularly useful when you are editing with a sequence or subclip created from a sequence; you can also use it to look at the contents of any source clip in a Timeline display. n Heads or Tails views are disabled when you are displaying material from the Source monitor. Controlling Movement in the Timeline While working in the Timeline window, you can use the Ctrl and Alt keys to control the movement of both the position indicator and any segments that you move in Segment mode.
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 451.
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.
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. For example, you can move audio segments from A3 and A4 to A1 and A2, but you cannot move them from A3 and A4 to A2 and A3 (A3 overlaps).
Four-frame display The two outer frames indicate ending and beginning frames of shots before and after the segment. 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.
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. You can improve the speed of segment editing by suppressing the four-frame display. To suppress the four-frame display: 1. Double-click Timeline in the Settings scroll list in the Project window. The Timeline Settings dialog box appears. 2. Deselect Show Four Frame Display from the Timeline Settings dialog box and click OK. 3.
To move a segment and keep sync: 1. Double-click Timeline in the Settings scroll list in the Project window. The Timeline Settings dialog box appears. 2. Select Segment Drag Sync Locks in the Timeline Settings dialog box. Segment Drag Sync Locks option 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, an audio clip in Track A2 is moved. Notice that the new location for the audio clip has filler added to the video track. All clips remain in sync. Before segment drag sync lock This clip will be moved. Filler added after clip is moved After segment drag sync lock Filler left after clip is moved Extracting/Splicing Segments Use Extract/Splice-in to move the selected segments in the Timeline without affecting any of the adjacent material.
To perform an Extract/Splice-in edit: 1. Click the Extract/Splice-in button (yellow) in the Timeline toolbar. 2. Select the segments you want to move. 3. Click the segment and drag it to its new position. Use the fourframe monitor display, the offset counter, and the segment image in the Timeline to carefully determine the new position. 4. Release the mouse button.
To perform a Lift/Overwrite edit: 1. Click the Lift/Overwrite button (red) in the Timeline toolbar. 2. Select the segments you want to move. 3. Click the segment and drag it to its new position. Use the fourframe monitor display, the offset counter, and the segment image in the Timeline to determine the new position carefully. 4. Release the mouse button. The system lifts the selected segment from its old position, leaving black, then overwrites the material onto the sequence at the newly selected location.
3. Press the Delete key. The segments are deleted. n If the segment has an effect, the system deletes the effect first. Marking Clips and Sequences with Segment Mode As an alternative procedure to marking sections of the Timeline in Source/Record mode for deleting, copying, subclipping, rendering, or creating an EDL or digital cut, you can use Segment mode to mark segments quickly, as follows: 1. Click one of the Segment Mode buttons. In this case, it does not matter which Segment Mode button you click.
Using Advanced Timeline Techniques There are several advanced techniques for displaying and editing in the Timeline that you can use in any combination, including: • Editing directly from a bin • Cutting, copying, and pasting • Editing with the film track • Editing in Heads and Tails view Bin Editing into the Timeline For information on editing multiple clips directly from the bin into the Record monitor, see “Creating an Instant Rough Cut” on page 337.
3. Drag a clip from the bin into the Timeline. You only can edit one clip at a time. The pointer changes to the selected Segment mode icon, and the interface changes to the four-frame monitor display. As you drag, a white outline of the clip indicates the segment position. 4. When you find the right placement for the clip, release the mouse button. The Timeline reflects the new edit.
To display the film track, choose Film from the Show Track submenu of the Timeline Fast menu. A row of film frames appears at the top of the Timeline. The film track displays as many representative frames as possible within the window. Film track To adjust your view of the Timeline quickly for frame-by-frame viewing and editing, choose Show Every Frame from the Timeline Fast menu. The position indicator splits to surround each frame.
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. You can reduce the size of Timeline tracks to wrap the sequence around several times. As you continue to scroll, each strand of the Timeline wraparound is updated.
Editing in Heads and Tails View While in the early stages of editing a project, you can easily rearrange shots in the sequence visually by using Heads view or Heads and Tails 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.
Working with Multiple Tracks As your project progresses, you might need to add and edit with more 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.
and include the superimposition effect in the Blend Effects menu, as well as any selection in the Film Effects menu. All film effects can be custom made to match existing standards for preparing film opticals, and can be sent to any professional lab for preparing effects.
The Track Selector panel also provides a quick display of track information. You can see which tracks are available, active, patched, monitored, or locked on the source and record side at any time. The following configuration shows only one example. The Track Selector panel can look very different depending on the nature of the source material or the work underway in the sequence. Figure 11-2 shows 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 for 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.
the tracks, as described in “Using the Audio Mix Tool” on page 460. Monitoring a Solo Track You can use the Ctrl key to quickly select an individual video or audio track for monitoring during editing. • To select a track for solo monitoring, press Ctrl+click the Track Monitor button for the chosen track. The Monitor icon changes to green with a black Speaker icon to indicate solo monitoring.
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. 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.
• You can sync lock selected tracks so that when you trim one track, the other tracks are trimmed, also. 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.
Sync Locking Tracks For more information on using the sync lock feature in Trim mode, see “Using Sync Lock” on page 540. Sync locking affects trimming and splice-in edits. This feature is especially useful when you are working with multiple tracks and want to maintain sync between two or more tracks. To sync lock the tracks, do one of the following: • Click a Sync Lock button to activate the Sync Lock icon for each synchronized track.
The New Track dialog box appears. New Track Type pop-up menu Track Number pop-up menu b. If you want to switch from the type of new track you chose to another type (for example, from a new video to a new audio track), choose that option from the New Track Type pop-up menu. c. If you want to select a Track Number other than the default consecutive numbering offered by the dialog box, choose another number from the track number pop-up menu. You cannot choose the number of an existing track. d. Click OK.
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. Add edit placed between frames 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Footage continues to play back continuously. This form of edit is also known as a match frame.
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. Adding Edits to Filler Clips You can add an edit to all tracks, including the filler, regardless of the track selection. To add an edit to filler clips at the position indicator: 1. Place the position indicator at the chosen frame. 2.
To remove match-frame edits: 1. Select the entire sequence or a portion as follows: • Select a portion of the sequence by marking an IN point and an OUT point surrounding the match-frame edits (add edits) you want to remove. • Select the entire sequence by removing any IN and OUT points. 2. Select the tracks from which you want to remove the edits. 3. Choose Remove Match Frame Edits from the Clip menu. The Avid system removes the edits.
• If you do not mark an IN point in the sequence, the Avid system uses the IN point and OUT point in the source clip (if both are marked) to determine the IN point in the sequence. If both marks are not set in the source clip, the system uses the position indicator as the IN point. • If you do not mark an OUT point in the clip and no OUT point is set in the sequence, the Avid system uses the end of the source clip as the OUT point.
Detecting Duplicate Frames When editing offline with plans to generate an EDL, the Dupe Detection feature allows you to visually track duplicate frames of footage as you edit so that you can eliminate or manage the requirements of an online dupe reel. When you activate Dupe Detection, each set of duplicate frames is tagged with a different color. (Up to 10 color sets can be distinguished during a single detection process.) Matching frames have matching colors.
n c The handle size used by Dupe Detection can be changed in the Timeline Settings dialog box. The Avid application might mark a special effect optical (such as a blowup) as a duplicate frame. Double-check your sequence for this possibility before deleting frames. Adjusting Handle Length in Dupe Detection You change handle length information for the display of dupes in the Timeline.
Different labs have different standards depending on the equipment used; usually a minimum of four frame handles is needed. 16mm conforming: Zero-cutting method Segments of sequence Transition Handles Adding specific handle lengths to dupes (as they appear both in the sequence and in film lists) has the following advantages: • In 35mm single-strand conforming: Editors can better track duplicate frames and provide the negative cutter with more than one safety frame to avoid losing specific frames.
2. Choose the number of handle frames from the Dupe Detection Handles pop-up menu. The default is zero. The normal 35mm safety frame setting is 0.5 frame (amounting to 1 frame total with both sides of a cut). 3. Click OK. The chosen value is applied to the head and tail of every event. When you enable Dupe Detection during editing, the handles are added onto the colored dupe indicators that appear in the Timeline.
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. Green color-frame phase bars blink during an interruption. Start Frame color phase indicator End 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 OK. 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 12 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.
Customizing Trim Mode Trim mode provides a unique set of controls within the Composer window for fine-tuning edits with various trim procedures. 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.
Small Trim mode leaves the Source monitor display intact, but has smaller displays for incoming and outgoing frames. Outgoing frames Incoming frames Small Trim mode 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 421.
Trim Settings Options There are several options available from the Trim Settings dialog box. Double-click Trim in the Settings scroll list in the Project window to open the Trim Settings dialog box. Table 12-1 describes the Trim Settings options. Table 12-1 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 12-1 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.
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. This is useful if you like to trim quickly as you edit, going back and forth between Trim mode and other edit modes. This method takes you to the last used transition. For more information on this method, see “Trimming During a Playback Loop” on page 433. n The Play Loop button does not appear in Source/Record mode by default.
• 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 or Finishing 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.
• To quickly add multiple transitions to the currently selected transitions, press the Shift key and lasso the additional transitions. You can select and trim two heads or tails simultaneously, in any combination, for each track in the sequence. All selected transitions are trimmed the same number of frames. This allows you to save time, and in some cases, maintain sync by performing a single trim procedure across multiple tracks and transitions.
• Use controls in the Timeline by clicking a roller at the selected transition and dragging forward or backward in the sequence. • For greater control: - Press Ctrl+Alt as you drag one frame at a time. - Press Ctrl to snap to other transition points. As you trim, all selected transitions in the Timeline move in unison. The Trim counter displays the frame count backward or forward for one or both trim sides, and the monitors display the new incoming or outgoing frames.
n You can also choose an option in Trim Settings to focus the Timeline automatically when you enter Trim mode. For more information, see “Focusing the Timeline” on page 375. 2. Click the Play Loop button. The system enters a playback loop. This repeatedly begins at a preroll point before the transition and ends at a postroll point, pausing briefly before beginning playback again. 3.
To trim on-the-fly: 1. Click either the outgoing (A-side) or incoming (B-side) monitor to play in real time during the trim. 2. Select one or more transitions for single-roller or dual-roller trimming. 3. Use the J-K-L keys to step (jog), play, or shuttle through the footage at varying speeds: • Press and hold the K key while pressing J or L to step slowly backward or forward through the footage. When you find the frame where you want to relocate the transition, release the K key to complete the trim.
4. Press one or a combination of the J-K-L keys. As the transition plays, notice that both the A-side and B-side of the trim play back in the Trim monitors. 5. When you see or hear the point to which you want to trim, press the space bar to stop playback and update the transition in the sequence.
Creating Overlap Edits You can use an overlap edit to smooth a transition by giving the viewer the illusion that the audio or video is shared between two separate but adjacent shots. Perform a dual-roller trim to create overlap edits. Audio overlap example V1 Before trimming A1 A2 Shot A Shot B Shot C V1 After trimming A1 A2 Shot A Shot B Shot C Shot B audio is extended. Shot C audio is trimmed in. To create an overlap edit: 1.
Extending an Edit Use an extend edit to perform dual-sided (A-side and B-side) trims on selected tracks from within Source/Record mode. Using an extend edit allows you to quickly create a split edit without entering Trim mode. It also allows you to establish the exact frame that you want to trim to by using the position indicator. (When you enter Trim mode, by default, the position indicator moves to the nearest transition.) You can extend edits backward or forward in the Timeline.
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 130. The adjustment appears in the Timeline. 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.
You can also select two or more contiguous segments within a track for slipping or sliding as a whole by dragging the lasso around four or more transitions. c Be sure to draw the lasso from right to left; if you draw from left to right, you enter Segment mode. • While in Trim mode, double-click a segment to select it for slip trimming. To select it for slide trimming, press the Alt key while you double-click.
The Slip/Slide Display Once you select the clips for slipping or sliding, the Trim mode interface changes to a four-frame display. For more information on four-frame display, see “About Four-Frame Display” on page 383.
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 (8-frame for 24p) 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 red bracket 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 14. 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.
Adding Black When Trimming If you are trimming a video track and need to fill the black, you can perform a replace edit to add another piece of footage. For more information, see “Performing a Replace Edit” on page 341. You can use the Alt key while trimming to add black on either the Aside or the B-side to maintain the overall duration of the track and the sync relationships. The system adds a black segment to fill the duration of trimmed frames. No black is added and sync breaks appear in the Timeline.
Trimming with Sync-Locked Tracks You can sync lock tracks to maintain a synchronized relationship when you perform a single-roller trim. Sync Lock icon Before trimming A1 A2 A3 After trimming A1 A2 A3 Single-roller A-side trim Maintains the relationship 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.
2. Perform single-roller trims as necessary, with the following results: • When you trim the A-side of a transition forward, all other segments locked in sync move forward with the trim. If the transitions are staggered, this might split one or more of the segments at the sync point established by the position indicator, leaving fill. Before trimming forward, three tracks are sync locked. After trimming forward, sync is maintained from position indicator forward.
• When you trim back the A-side of a transition, additional segments locked in sync move back as well. If the segments are staggered and one of the additional sync-locked segments encounters another segment on the same track, you can trim no further and the system emits a warning sound. Before the trim, three tracks are sync locked. Trim is stopped here. After the trim, sync is maintained, but the trim stops at earlier segment.
Using the Transition Corner Display The Transition Corner Display is a Trim Mode interface that shows six relevant 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 Frames on which the transition effect ends Use the Transition Corner Display to trim the transition effect’s start frames, end frames, and duration in timecode or feet+frames (for 2
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. To trim a transition by using the Transition Corner Display: 1. Select a transition effect for trimming: • Lasso the effect in the Timeline from right to left. • Enter Trim mode and click on the transition in the Timeline.
CHAPTER 13 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 the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide.
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 Avid system selects the topmost audio track unless you make a selection. Always check the position of the Audio Track Monitor button with the green Speaker icon and select the correct track, if necessary, to avoid marking or trimming the wrong track.
Multiple-Channel Audio Scrub The Avid system allows you to scrub multiple channels of audio. To set the system to multiple-channel audio scrub: 1. Click the Settings button in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears. 2. Double-click Audio. The Audio Settings dialog box appears. 3. Set the Audio Scrub Performance to More Audio Tracks. Performing Smooth Audio Scrub You perform the smooth audio scrub procedure by using either the JK-L keys or the mouse, as described in this section.
times the normal speed and comes back in after the speed drops below three times. 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 305. 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.
in pitch or speed. The following are unique characteristics of digital scrub: • The frames of audio you hear are always at your point of destination. For example, if you step forward 10 frames (8 frames for 24p), 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.
make it difficult to isolate an edit point or trim point based on the location of the position indicator. 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 Alt+click the digital scrub parameters.
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 select 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.
4. Move through the audio shown in the waveform by using any of the playback methods. You hear sound as you track the audio visually. When you have the position indicator at the point you want in the waveform, you can mark, trim, or perform any other function. 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 355.
The Audio Mix tool allows you to: • Adjust pan and volume for an individual clip, a whole track, several tracks at once, or a whole sequence. • 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.
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 window. Output Options pop-up menu Stereo Mix Tracks pop-up menu Audio Effect pop-up menu Track Selection pop-up menu Gang buttons The Audio Mix tool contains eight panels, one for each audio track that you can monitor and adjust. The Audio Mix Tool window can display only tracks that exist in the sequence and are monitored, or tracks that were digitized with the source clip. n Only monitored tracks appear in the Audio Mix tool.
• Choose Direct Out when performing a digital cut for output of up to eight source tracks to a maximum of eight output channels. For more information, see the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Input and Output Guide. 5. Select the audio track to be adjusted by doing one of the following: • Click the Track Selection button for the audio track to be adjusted. • Alt+click the Track Selection button and then choose a track from the pop-up menu. 6.
8. Decide whether to raise or lower the volume, or pan left or right. This adjusts the volume or pan for a single clip. Volume Level display Click Gang buttons to gang multiple tracks. Audio Level slider Pan Value display 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 Enter. For example, if you want to enter the value 12, simply type it.
For more information, see “Adjusting Volume While Playing an Audio Effect” on page 469. 9. Apply the adjustments to a chosen region of the track by using the Audio Mix Fast menu located at the upper right of the tool. Stereo Mix Tracks pop-up menu Fast Menu button The options in the Fast menu appear dimmed until you select a track by clicking the Track Selection menu. (To apply the adjustments to multiple tracks, click additional Track Selection menus.
To apply the adjustments, do one of the following: • The Set commands (Set Pan, Set Level) apply the same pan or volume levels currently set in the Audio Mix tool to all segments in the marked region of the tracks. • The Adjust Pan/Vols command opens a dialog box for adding incremental adjustments to all current settings across segments in the marked region of selected tracks.
Ganging and Adjusting Multiple Tracks You can gang multiple tracks in the Audio Mix tool to maintain the same relative settings between tracks when you make adjustments. This is useful in a variety of circumstances. For example, you can gang tracks to raise the overall volume of a portion of a sequence while maintaining variations in level adjustment among tracks. To gang and adjust multiple tracks: 1. Click the Gang buttons of the required panels. Click the button a second time to deselect it. 2.
The volume controls disappear. Deselect the option to restore the current settings. To turn off pan adjustments, choose one of the following from the Output Options pop-up menu: • Direct Out plays back the tracks with their default pan settings. • Mono pans all tracks to center during output. When you choose the Direct Out option, the pan controls disappear in the Audio Mix tool. Choose Stereo Mix to restore the current settings.
Limitations If there is not an existing Audio Mix 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 adjust the volume values on an existing Audio Mix effect, you might not hear the results immediately. It takes a few seconds for the Avid system to apply the changes to the clip. The response time for this feature is considerably longer than for changing EQ parameters while using Play Loop.
Using Audio Gain Automation Audio Gain Automation (also known as audio volume rubberbanding) allows you to change the volume of a segment by adding and manipulating gain keyframes in the Timeline. The following illustration shows an expanded audio track containing gain keyframe information. Gain values in decibels Graphic representation of keyframes and gain ramps in the Timeline The Avid system uses a linear ramp to change the volume from one gain keyframe to the next.
Adjusting Volume in the Timeline To use Audio Gain Automation to adjust volume: 1. Select an audio track for adjusting volume. 2. Choose Volume from the Audio Data submenu of the Timeline Fast menu. n 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.
The following illustration shows the expanded audio track with volume data. 4. Click the Add Keyframe button in the FX tab of the Command palette to add keyframes along the Timeline. The Avid system adds a keyframe to each enabled track. A straight line appears in the selected audio track. The line shows the current gain level for that track in the Audio Mix tool.
Deleting Audio Gain Keyframes To delete audio gain keyframes, do one of the following: • To delete a single keyframe, move the pointer over the point. When the pointer changes into the hand pointer, press the Delete key. If there are identical keyframes in other active tracks, the system deletes them also. (Do not press the mouse button.) • To delete groups of keyframes, mark an IN to OUT or mark the entire segment, then delete any keyframe in the marked area.
• 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 Alt key, click the keyframe, and drag it. • Move several keyframes vertically on a track at the same time by placing IN and OUT points to select the area you want. When you move one keyframe up or down within the marked area, all keyframes within the marked area move in relation to each other. This works for all enabled audio tracks.
For a description of the fader boxes and for information on attaching them, see Appendix B. For information on using these external fader boxes, see “Recording Audio Gain Information” on page 483. Using an External Fader Box to Adjust the Volume of Individual Keyframes You can use an external fader box to edit the volume for individual keyframes as follows: 1. Click the HW button on the Automation Gain Tool window. The button changes to pink. 2. Click an audio gain keyframe.
About the Automation Gain Tool Window Before this section discusses recording volume in the Timeline, it describes the Automation Gain Tool window in detail. The following illustration shows the Automation Gain Tool window.
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 faders or the Automation Gain Tool window sliders. Button Color To Enter the Mode Description Gray (default) Click the button or turn off control to the external fader box. The sliders in the Automation Gain Tool window control volume for automation gain recording. The system ignores the external fader box when not recording.
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.
- Press the button above the fader twice quickly to switch between mute and on. • The MCS-3000X has separate buttons for solo and mute. Mute buttons are on the bottom row and Solo buttons are above the Mute buttons. For more information, see “The MCS-3000X Buttons” on page 600. • The Yamaha 01v supports Solo mode only if you are not using the unit for audio mixing as well as Audio Gain Automation recording. For more information, see “Operational Notes for the Yamaha 01v Mixer” on page 606.
unwanted jump in the volume when you move the faders during a recording. n The Avid system does not record values from a fader on the FaderMaster Pro until you move the fader. Then it reads the current position of the fader and adjusts the volume accordingly. In many cases, it is not possible to exactly match the Timeline value. You do not have to reposition the faders on the MCS 3000-X and Yamaha 01v because the units automatically reset the faders to match the volume data in the Timeline.
The following illustration shows the Fast menu when an In/Out area is marked. When no area is marked, the words In/Out are replaced by the word Global. This allows you to perform the operation on the entire sequence track rather than only the marked region. The Automation Gain Fast menu is similar to the Audio Mix Tool Fast menu with the addition of the following items: • Filter Automation Gain — In/Out removes approximately 50 percent of the keyframes in the marked region.
the corresponding keyframes and saves them as part of a pan/volume audio effect. After you finish the recording, you can move, add, and delete keyframes to achieve the results you want. The Avid system supports two methods for recording audio gain information: 1. Use the sliders in the Automation Gain Tool window to adjust volume while you play the clip. 2. Attach an optional fader box to the system and use the faders on the fader box to adjust volume.
3. (Option) Expand the audio track by pressing Ctrl+L, or by pressing and holding the Ctrl key and dragging in the Track Selector panel. 4. Move the blue position indicator to the section of audio that you want to adjust and mark IN to OUT points. 5. Click the Record button or press the b key to start recording your actions. 6. Listen to the audio and adjust the Volume sliders in the Automation Gain Tool window as necessary. The Avid system adds volume keyframes to the audio in the Timeline.
Using an External Fader Box to Record Audio Gain Information To record audio gain information by using an external fader box: 1. Attach the fader box to your system (see Appendix B). 2. Move the blue position indicator to the section of audio that you want to adjust and mark IN and OUT points. Position indicator lights 3. (FaderMaster Pro only) Note the color of the position indicator lights for the track you want to adjust. Move the fader until both lights are blue.
8. To decrease the number of keyframes, choose Filter Automation Gain Control— In/Out from the Automation Gain Tool Fast menu. (Click the Track Selection button for a track to enable Filter Automation.) If you delete too many keyframes, use the Undo command to restore them. 9. Repeat step 8 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.
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. Track Selection button Track A2 has system clip gain settings from the Audio Mix Tool window. When you have audio gain automation on a track, the slider for the track does not appear in the Audio Mix Tool window.
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 segment. Choose Remove Automation Gain — Global from the Automation Gain Tool Fast menu. You need to remove any IN to OUT points on the track before the menu item changes from In/Out to Global.
The Audio EQ Tool window opens. Play Loop button Effect icon Track Selection pop-up menu Render Effect button Fast Menu button Enable/disable EQ effect 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.
3. (Option) Mark a range of audio segments by adding IN to OUT points 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. Click the Play Loop button to play the currently selected audio clip within the current IN to OUT range.
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 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 499.
If there is no EQ setting on the currently selected clip, choosing Set EQ In/Out deletes the EQ settings on all clips within the IN to OUT range. For example, because there is no EQ setting on Audio 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.
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.
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. • Use the slider to move the center point of the parametric curve along the frequency range while you play the audio track.
The Fast menu on the Audio EQ tool provides access to a number of predefined EQ templates as shown in the following illustration. The EQ templates are designed to fix problems that are often encountered with audio clips. For example, Tape Hiss Filter rolls off frequencies above 4 kHz. NTSC Hum Buster cuts the bass on frequencies that often cause hum on NTSC systems. Applying an EQ Template To apply an EQ template from the Audio EQ Tool Fast menu: 1.
the Timeline. As explained in the window, you cannot change the parameters of a predefined EQ template. n To see the parameter values of one of the EQ templates that cannot be edited, view the Console window after you apply the effect. To open the Console window, choose Console from the Tools menu. 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.
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. The Avid system stores the predefined EQ templates in a special bin named Site_EQs_Bin. This bin resides in the C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid Media Composer\SupportingFiles\Site_Effects folder. To add an EQ template to Site_EQs_Bin: 1. Open the bin containing your EQ templates. 2. Choose Open Bin from the File menu. A dialog box appears. 3.
Adjusting EQ While Playing an Audio Effect You can use the Play Loop button to create or change an EQ effect while a clip is playing. Play Loop button To adjust EQ while playing an effect: 1. Choose an existing EQ 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 EQ as necessary. 4. Click the Play Loop button to stop. The Avid system automatically saves your changes as part of an EQ effect.
Digidesign AudioSuite Plug-Ins Your Avid system supports AudioSuite, the Digidesign host-based, file-based Plug-In specification. Users have access to audio-processing plug-ins developed by Digidesign and by Digidesign third-party developers. These plug-ins perform pitch processing, artifact removal, audio reversal, and many other processes. For more information on using the AudioSuite Plug-Ins, see Appendix A.
Several basic plug-ins are installed automatically. For a description of the plug-ins, see Appendix A. When you purchase additional plug-ins, the third-party vendor will provide instructions on how to load the plug-ins. Some vendors might require you to drag the plug-in to the Plug-Ins folder. Other vendors might perform the task automatically for you via an installation program.
Using Digidesign AudioSuite Plug-Ins There are two ways to use AudioSuite Plug-Ins: • Apply a plug-in to a clip in the Timeline. The end result is a rendered effect. • Use the controls in the AudioSuite window to create a new master clip. This method allows you to process more than one channel at a time and to create new media that is longer or shorter in duration than the source media. For more information, see “Creating New Master Clips” on page 510.
Applying an AudioSuite Plug-In to a Clip in the Timeline The following illustration shows the default layout of the AudioSuite window. Audio Effect pop-up menu Effect icon Render Effect button Fast menu Play Loop button Display/Hide Master Clip Controls button Plug-In Selection menu Target Drive menu Status display Track Selection menu Activate Current Plug-In button To apply an AudioSuite Plug-In to a clip in the Timeline: 1.
5. Make any necessary adjustments and click the Preview button to preview the effect. For more information, see “Using a Plug-In Dialog Box” on page 508. 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 510.
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 You need to render all AudioSuite Plug-Ins before you can play back the 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 516. Creating New Master Clips You can use AudioSuite Plug-Ins to create new master clips.
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. • Parallel Processing: This option is available if the plug-in allows more than one input source and more than one output source.
The following illustration identifies the controls that appear when you expand the AudioSuite window. Display/Hide Master Clip Controls button Activate Current Plug-In button Toggle Master Clip Mode button Clip Selection menu Input source track selectors Processing Mode Selection menu Mark IN/OUT indicators Find Source button Target bin for new master clip Load In Source Monitor button Load Result In Monitor check box Status display • 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 click Display/Hide Master Clip Controls to display or hide the controls for processing a master clip. To enter or leave master clip processing mode, click the Toggle Master Clip Mode 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 (for example, Test Audio clip - AudioSuite Plug-In Effect: Normalize). 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. Canceling a Render Operation You can press Ctrl+period to cancel a render operation. However, be careful not to press Ctrl+period multiple times. If you press Ctrl+period after the render operation has been stopped (from a previous Ctrl+period), the Avid system closes the window after it cancels the render operation.
steps of recording the narration to tape first, digitizing, and then editing the audio clip into the sequence. The narrator can also watch the sequence and hear playback of edited sound tracks while recording. You access the Audio Punch In tool from the Tools menu. The following illustration identifies the various elements of the tool.
n • The Preroll text box allows you to provide a visual cue before the recording begins. The Avid system backs up the blue position indicator for the prescribed number of seconds. • The Postroll text box gives the same kind of visual cue at the end of the recording. • The Handles text box instructs the Avid system to record audio at the beginning and end of the clip. This allows you to perform trim edits on the audio.
Connecting the Hardware Before you can use the Audio Punch In tool, you need to connect a microphone or other input device to your system. The following are typical examples: • Connect a microphone to a mixer and connect the mixer to the audio interface I/O device on your Avid system. • Connect a microphone to a microphone preamplifier and connect the preamplifier to the audio interface I/O device on your Avid system.
The Audio Punch In tool opens. Record status light Record button Cancel button Input channel selection buttons and menus 3. Choose the channels that correspond to your hardware setup and set other values in the dialog box as appropriate. To choose the input channels you want, click and hold the Input Channel selection button.
4. To start recording, click the Record button or press the b key. 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. The following illustrations show the results of adding a voice-over. The system automatically names the voice-over.
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.
Fading and Dipping Audio In traditional analog editing, you manually change volume levels to smooth audio transitions between elements in an edited sequence by: • Fading audio up or down • Dipping to a lower level • Crossfading between audio elements on two separate channels With the Avid system, these effects are more accurately termed audio dissolves because they occur instantly when you apply the same dissolve effect that you use for video tracks.
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 Drive 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 drive and target bin. The target drive 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.
Displaying Audio Formats in Bins You can select a bin heading to display the audio formats in the bin. The applicable audio format (AIFF-C or WAVE) appears in the Audio Format column for master clips. To add the Audio Format column to a bin: 1. With a bin in Text view, choose Headings from the Bin menu. The Bin Column Selection dialog box appears. 2. Ctrl+click Audio Format from the scroll list to select it. 3. Click OK. The Audio Format column appears in the bin.
CHAPTER 14 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 537. 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 are autosyncing clips of different lengths, the longer clip is truncated to the length of the shorter clip; video clips override audio clips. • 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. 2. Choose AutoSync from the Bin Fast menu.
• Inpoints if you are syncing according to IN points set in both clips. • Outpoints if you are syncing according to OUT points set in both clips. • Source Timecode if the two clips have matching timecode. • 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. 4. Click OK. The subclip is created and named by default after the video clip with the file name extension .sync.
If you do not use AutoSync and the video clip timecode does not match the audio clip timecode, you should select only video clips when you use AutoSequence. You can then add audio to the sequence and sync the audio with the video by using Splice-in and Overwrite. Use the following guidelines when creating a synchronized sequence: • Your original videotape must have continuous timecode. • Only use master clips, subclips, AutoSync subclips, and/or group clips to create the synchronized sequence.
6. Record a digital cut of the audio directly onto the original videotape when you finish editing the sequence. c n Make sure the video tracks are not enabled when you begin recording a digital cut. You can build a sequence without filler by pressing and holding the Alt key while you choose AutoSequence from the Bin menu.
• The sync adjustments you make will be referenced in any cut list you output for any sequence that uses the adjusted subclip. • The number of perfs you slip appears in the Slip column of the project bin when the Slip heading is selected for display in the bin. To resync audio for a selected subclip: 1. Load the subclip into the Source monitor. 2. Use one of the audio scrub techniques described in “Using Audio Scrub” on page 451 to locate the closing-slate frame. 3.
n If you find a subframe sync problem within an edited sequence, be sure to correct the audio sync in the original subclip used in the edit. The sequence will then be updated. For sync problems with 16mm format, the telecine facility must correct the problem. Managing Sync Breaks Sync breaks occur when a frame-accurate relationship between two clips or between the audio and video tracks within a single clip is offset during editing.
• When performing Segment mode edits, use the Lift/Overwrite function instead of Extract/Splice-in whenever possible (Lift/ Overwrite leaves filler behind and overwrites material at the new destination, maintaining sync in both cases). • In Trim mode, you can sync lock tracks to avoid breaking sync or use the Alt key function for adding black during trims, as described in “Maintaining Sync While Trimming” on page 441.
For more information on match frames, see “Adding an Edit (Match Framing)” on page 407. • 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. You can also customize the Timeline view to display sync breaks and match-frame edits in video tracks only, audio tracks only, or none.
Always perform the trim on the IN point (B-side transition) of the segment. Fixing Sync in Source/Record Mode For more information on editing in Source/ Record mode, see Chapter 10. In Source/Record mode, restore sync by either adding new material or extracting material from the out-of-sync track. Add or extract the exact number of offset frames displayed in the Timeline, with the following considerations: • Do not use the Overwrite or Lift functions. These functions do not remove the sync break.
Managing Sync with Multiple Tracks The Sync Breaks display in the Timeline makes it easy to manage sync between video and one or two audio tracks. You can use additional techniques to manage sync when your work with four or more tracks. They include the sync lock feature, tail leaders, and add edits. Using Sync Lock For more information on sync locking tracks in Trim mode, see “Maintaining Sync While Trimming” on page 441.
• Sync locking affects entire tracks. This means that parallel segments in other sync-locked tracks are affected when you trim anywhere in the sequence. 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.
3. To restore sync, find the point at which the sync was lost. Add or remove frames by using the appropriate edit function, as described in “Fixing Sync Breaks” on page 538. 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.
The system adds a locator to the enabled tracks in the Timeline and in the Record monitor. Locators in sync Focus button 4. To add a note that will appear in the Record monitor whenever you park on the locator frame — such as Music sync or Sound Effect sync — double-click the locator in the Record monitor, type the text into the Locator Info text box, and click OK. 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 319.
Using Add Edit When Trimming When trimming with several audio tracks in sync, you can use the Add Edit button to create an edit in the silent or black areas of the synced tracks. These occur in line with the track you are trimming, and they trim all the tracks at once to maintain sync. n You can also add an edit to filler. For more information, see “Adding Edits to Filler Clips” on page 408. To use the Add Edit button while trimming: 1. Place the position indicator on the edit that you want to trim. 2.
Using Sync Point Editing Sync Point Editing (SPE) allows you to overwrite material onto your sequence in such a way that a particular point in the source material is in sync with a particular point in the sequence. For example, you can sync an action in the source video with an audio event, such as a musical beat in the Record monitor, then edit it so that the action occurs on the beat.
• Mark an IN or OUT point in the Source monitor, or an IN or OUT point in the Record monitor. For example, if you marked an IN point in the Source monitor, mark the OUT point in the Record monitor. 4. Move the source position indicator to the sync frame in the clip. This establishes the source sync point. 5. Move the record position indicator to the sync frame in the sequence. 6. Select Sync Point Editing in the Composer Settings dialog box, or choose Sync Point Editing from the Special menu.
To gang footage in monitors: 1. Load a sequence into the Record monitor. 2. Load one or more clips into the Source monitor and pop-up monitors. 3. Click the Gang button for each monitor that you want to synchronize (the Record monitor is always ganged). The button changes to green when enabled. n The Gang button appears by default in the second row of buttons below the monitors, and in the second row of information above the Source/Record monitors. 4.
The Match Frame button appears by default in the second row of buttons below the Source monitor. To match frame from footage in the Record monitor, you must map the button to the Record monitor palette or the keyboard. Performing a Match Frame To use Match Frame: 1. Load a sequence into the Record monitor. 2. Select a track for the footage you want to match, and place the position indicator on a selected frame. 3. Click the Match Frame button.
Matchframing Tracks You can matchframe a single track without having to turn off all other tracks. With audio, you can select the audio track that you want to matchframe instead of the system matchframing the top audio track. To matchframe a selected track, right-click on the track number that you want to matchframe and then choose Match Frame Track from the pop-up menu.
CHAPTER 15 Multicamera Editing The Media Composer multicamera editing tools allow you to incorporate multiple camera angles easily into the nonlinear editing process. Techniques for using these features are described in the following sections: • Grouping and Multigrouping Clips • Multicamera Edit Modes • Multicamera Editing Techniques • Workflow Options Grouping and Multigrouping Clips The grouping and multigrouping procedures gather selected clips into a single unique clip.
• The Group function allows you to sync clips based on common source timecode, auxiliary timecode, or marks placed in the footage. Because of the need for complete accuracy in sorting and grouping the clips, multigrouping is performed on the basis of common source timecode only. • The MultiGroup function is designed primarily for situation comedies and similar productions that record multiple takes sequentially on the same source tapes.
The last two options are generally for use in smaller multicamera projects. Sorting, marking, selecting, and grouping individual takes of a larger project can be very time-consuming. To create a group clip: 1. If you are using a sync point, load the clips and mark an IN at the sync point at the start of each clip, or mark an OUT at the sync point at the end of each clip. n For multicamera video or film shoots, you typically use a slate for marking IN and OUT points.
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. This option appears dimmed if you are not working on a 24p project. • Inpoints: If you are syncing according to IN points set in each clip. • Outpoints: If you are syncing according to OUT points set in each clip. • Source Timecode: If the clips have matching timecode.
3. Choose MultiGroup from the Bin menu. The system creates several group clips for each take in the bin, then creates a multigroup from the groups. The multigroup has the same icon as the groups, but the icon is preceded by a plus sign. 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.
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 tools are described in “Multicamera Editing Techniques” on page 559.
A Group Menu icon appears in the second row of information above the Source and Record monitors. Quad Split display Group Menu icon Sequence or linecut The basic features of Quad Split are as follows: • Provides source-oriented control of multicamera material, like Full-Monitor display. You can switch camera angles, playback (one camera angle at a time), cue, and mark material without affecting the sequence.
• Allows you to use the Quad Split button to switch the Source monitor between Full-Monitor and Quad Split viewing and editing (editing functions are the same in both). • Displays whichever monitor is active in the Client monitor. MultiCamera Mode After loading a group clip into the Source monitor and editing it to create a new sequence, you choose MultiCamera Mode from the Special menu to activate the features.
Group Menu icon Source monitor controls are disabled. 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 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 F10 F11 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 Alt 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 130. 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.
3. Choose the shot you want to display from the menu. The new shot appears in the quadrant. 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 547.
You can perform selective camera cutting in two ways: • Lay down an entire group as a master sequence, then add edits, switch camera angles, and trim within the sequence or cut in new shots. • 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.
Cutting On-the-Fly When cutting on-the-fly, you use MultiCamera mode in conjunction with the Quad keys (function keys F9 to F12) to switch between Quad Split camera angles ganged to the record sequence. 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.
After cutting in various angles, you can adjust transitions and edit out the superfluous material from the sequence in Trim mode. 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.
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 13. Supported AudioSuite Plug-Ins Your Avid Media Composer system comes with a set of core plug-ins.
Core AudioSuite Plug-Ins The following basic plug-ins are installed automatically as part of the Avid Media Composer 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 points 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.
useful for reducing noise or signal leakage that creeps into recorded material as the signal level falls, as often occurs in the case of headphone leakage. • Mod Delay — Provides time-delay-based effects. Effects obtained through the use of Mod Delay include slap echo, doubling, chorusing, and flanging. The following sections give a brief overview of each plug-in and, where appropriate, describe how to use the plug-in.
• Multi-Tap Delay • Ping-Pong Delay The D-FX™ and D-Fi™ plug-ins come with their own documentation. For more information, see the following Web page: http://www.avid.com/products/audio/product_list.html 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.
In addition to the standard AudioSuite parameters, the Max Peak At controls let you specify how close to maximum level (the clipping threshold) the peak level of your selection or file will be boosted. You can enter this information 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.
Reverse Reversed sounds are useful effects in many music and film and video projects. The Reverse plug-in lets you perform this type of processing very easily. DC Offset The DC Offset plug-in removes DC offset from your audio files. The term “DC offset” describes a specific type of audio artifact that might appears in digital audio signals.
Time Compression/Expansion The Time Compression/Expansion plug-in allows you to adjust the duration of any selected regions by increasing or decreasing the selection’s length without changing pitch. This function is particularly important in audio post-production applications because it allows you to adjust sounds to specific time lengths or timecode durations for synchronization. n To change duration (length) and pitch simultaneously, use the Pitch Shift plug-in.
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. These are located in the Source and Destination columns and also include the Ratio slider.
You can also enter a new tempo, bars:beats:ticks length, or time signature for regions that have tempo or Bars & Beats settings. This can be any region associated with a MIDI Metronome value (such as an overdub recorded to a MIDI click) or regions that have been processed with the Pro Tools Identify Beat command. The Ratio slider lets you set the destination length in relation to the source length.
manually adjust and optimize crossfade times if necessary. For audio material with sharper attack transients, use smaller crossfade times. For audio material with softer attack transients, use longer crossfade times. Min Pitch The Min Pitch slider lets you select the minimum, or lowest, pitch that will be used in the plug-in’s calculations during the time compression/expansion process. The slider has a range of 40 Hz to 400 Hz.
Pitch Shift The AudioSuite Pitch Shift plug-in allows you to adjust the pitch of any source audio file with or without a change in its duration. This powerful function allows sounds to be transposed a maximum of a full octave up or down in pitch with or without altering playback speed. Edit the Pitch Shift parameters by double-clicking and typing in any Destination field or by clicking and dragging the sliders. All Pitch Shift plug-in controls are linked so that changing one changes the others.
Pitch Shift Parameters The Pitch Shift plug-in has the following parameters: Gain The Gain controls set the input level, in tenths of a decibel. The input level 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 to the left decreases gain. Coarse and Fine Adjust the pitch by dragging either of the two faders, or by typing values in the Coarse and Fine text boxes.
Keep in mind that altering a file in this way has little detrimental effect on the fidelity of audio files, whereas time correction can affect fidelity in a pronounced way. 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 Ctrl key while dragging the slider to fine-adjust.
EQ There are four EQ plug-ins: • 1-Band EQ II • 4-Band EQ II • Digidesign 1-Band EQ • Digidesign 4-Band EQ The EQ II versions are new, and provide an enhanced “British EQ” sound that is favored by contemporary audio engineers and producers. The Digidesign 1- and 4-Band EQ plug-ins provide compatibility with sequences created on Macintosh systems (Media Composer 7.0 and later, and Avid Xpress 2.0 and later).
Freq Allows you to designate the center of the frequency region to be cut or boosted. Gain Allows you to control the amount that the selected frequencies are cut or boosted. Q (Peak only) Allows you to set the bandwidth of the Peak filter. Higher values represent narrower bandwidths. Lower values represent wider bandwidths. Bypass Bypasses the EQ. The 4-Band EQ has individual Bypass buttons for each band (black buttons with EQ curve icons).
“bell” shape to a narrow notch. Broad curves tend to be most useful for musical applications. Narrow curves are useful for special-purpose processing such as hum removal. Higher values represent narrower bandwidths. Lower values represent wider bandwidths. High-Shelf EQ Produces a lift or a cut at the specified frequency and above it.
Release times should be set long enough so that if signal levels repeatedly rise above the threshold, they cause gain reduction only once. If the release time is too long, a loud section of the audio material could cause gain reduction that persists through a soft section. Of course, compression has many creative uses that break these rules. The Compressor has built-in metering that allows you to monitor the amount of gain reduction taking place.
Reduction Indicates the amount of gain reduction in dB. Threshold Allows you to set the threshold level. Signals that exceed this level will be compressed. Signals that are below it will be unaffected. A level setting of 0 dB is equivalent to no compression. Unlike scales on analog compressors, metering scales on a digital device reflect a 0-dB value, which indicates full scale (fs)—the full-code signal level. There is no headroom above 0 dB. Ratio Allows you to set the compression ratio.
times on material with fewer peaks that do not occur in close proximity to each other. Knee Allows you to set the rate at which the compressor reaches full compression once the threshold has been exceeded. This parameter ranges from 0 (hardest response) to 200 (softest response). Graph Displays the response curve set by the Compressor’s Threshold, Ratio, and Knee settings. As you adjust these parameters, refer to the graph to see how the shape of this curve changes.
from hearing the gain changes, use extremely short attack and release times. Limiting is used to remove occasional peaks because gain reduction on successive peaks wouldn’t be noticeable. If audio material contains many peaks, the threshold should be raised and the gain manually reduced so that only occasional, extreme peaks are limited. The Limiter’s ratio is internally set to 100:1, and the Attack time is automatically set to 0 milliseconds. The Limiter is similar to heavy compression.
Reduction Indicates the amount by which the signal is being attenuated. Threshold Allows you to set the threshold level. Signals that exceed this level will be limited. Signals that are below it will be unaffected. Attack Allows you to set the Limiter’s attack time. The smaller the value, the faster the attack. The faster the attack, the faster the Limiter applies attenuation to the signal.
Key Listen This parameter has no effect on the AudioSuite Plug-Ins. Gate The Gate plug-in reduces noise by decreasing the gain of signals that fall below a user-selectable threshold. Gate Parameters The Gate plug-in has the following parameters: Phase Invert Allows you to invert the phase (polarity) of the input signal in order to change frequency response between multi-miked sources or to correct for miswired microphone cables. Gating Indicates the amount of reduction in dB.
Hold Allows you to specify a duration (in seconds or milliseconds) that the Gate will stay open after the initial attack cycle. This can be used as a one-time function to keep the Gate open for longer periods of time with a single crossing of the threshold. It can also be used to prevent gate chatter, which may occur if varying input levels near the threshold cause the Gate to open and close very rapidly.
Expander/Gate The Expander/Gate plug-in reduces noise by decreasing the gain of signals that fall below a user-selectable threshold. Expanders are particularly useful for reducing noise or signal leakage that creeps into recorded material as the its level falls, as often occurs in the case of headphone leakage. Expanders can be thought of as soft-noise gates because they provide a gentler way of cutting off noisy low-level signals than the typically abrupt cutoff of a gate.
Ratio Allows you to set the amount of expansion. If this parameter is set to 2:1, for example, it will lower signals below the threshold by one half. At higher ratio levels (30:1 or 40:1, for example) the Expander/Gate functions as a gate by reducing lower level signals dramatically. As you adjust the Ratio parameter, refer to the built-in graph to see how the shape of the expansion curve changes. Attack Allows you to set the Expander’s attack time.
Key HPF This parameter has no effect on the AudioSuite Plug-Ins. Key LPF This parameter has no effect on the AudioSuite Plug-Ins. Graph Displays the response curve set by the Expander/Gate’s Threshold, Ratio, and Range settings. As you adjust these parameters, refer to the graph to see how the shape of this curve changes. It allows you to see the effect of your settings. External Key This parameter has no effect on the AudioSuite Plug-Ins. Key Listen This parameter has no effect on the AudioSuite Plug-Ins.
• Medium Delay provides 16384 samples of delay (371 ms at 44.1 kHz or 341 ms at 48 kHz). • Long Delay provides 162474 samples of delay (3.68 seconds at 44.1 kHz or 3.38 seconds at 48 kHz). Mod Delay Parameters The Mod Delay plug-ins have the following parameters: Input Allows you to control the input volume of the delay to prevent clipping. Wet/Dry Allows you to control the balance between the delayed signal and the original signal.
Rate Allows you to control the rate of modulation of the delayed signal. Feedback Allows you to control the amount of feedback applied from the output of the delay back into its input. It also controls the number of repetitions of the delayed signal. Negative Feedback settings give a more intense “tunnel-like” sound to flanging effects.
APPENDIX B Connecting an External Fader Box to Your Avid System Your Avid system supports the following external fader boxes for Audio Gain Automation recording: • 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 faders don’t move automatically as you record audio gain information and they must be manually zeroed prior to recording.
n An external fader box is optional. It is not required to perform Audio Gain Automation recording. Table B-1 compares the three external fader boxes. Table B-1 External Fader Box Features Feature FaderMaster Pro MCS-3000X Yamaha 01v Record gain Yes Yes Yes Flying faders No Yes Yes Touch-sensitive faders No Yes No Solo/mute Yes Yes Yesa Supports audio mixing No No Yes Snap mode No Yes No Number of steps of accuracy between 0–max 127 127 551 a.
• Snap mode: In Snap mode, the fader box automatically stops recording as soon as you release the fader. In addition, the fader continues to display the volume information in the Timeline. For more information, see “Using the Snap Mode Feature on the MCS-3000X” on page 601. For more information on using these external fader boxes, see “Recording Audio Gain Information” on page 483. Using the FaderMaster Pro and MCS-3000X The setup procedure is similar for both units.
The MCS-3000X Buttons There are four rows of unlabeled buttons at the top of the MCS-3000X fader box. 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.
Using the Snap Mode Feature on the MCS-3000X The MCS-3000X has a Snap Mode button for each track that allows you to easily punch-in and punch-out small sections of automation gain information. The second row from the top contains the Snap Mode buttons. For more information on button locations, see “Using the Automation Gain Tool and Audio Mix Tool Windows” on page 487. In Snap mode, the fader automatically stops recording as soon as you release the fader.
Ganging Faders on the FaderMaster Pro You can use the features available on the FaderMaster Pro to gang faders. When the faders for two tracks are ganged, the fader sends identical volume messages for both tracks when you move one fader. This can be useful when you have stereo tracks. Note that the ganged faders do not move together physically. For information on ganging the faders, see the FaderMaster Pro user’s manual.
Using the Yamaha 01v Digital Mixing Console The Avid system supports the Yamaha 01v Digital Mixing Console. The Yamaha 01v is a fully functional digital audio mixer that also supports Audio Gain Automation recording. The following illustration shows the Yamaha 01v controls. The exploded view shows the buttons that you use to operate the unit for Audio Gain Automation recording. For a comparison with other external fader boxes, see Table B-1 on page -598.
Setting Up the Yamaha 01v Digital Mixer This section describes how to set up the Yamaha 01v digital mixer. For instructions on connecting the Yamaha 01v to your Avid system, see the Avid Composer Products Setup Guide. Initializing the Yamaha 01v This section describes how to initialize the Yamaha 01v digital mixer. These steps should only have to be done once, and repeated only if the mixer’s operational parameters have been manually changed to settings that are incompatible with the Avid system.
Configuring the Mixer to Recognize MIDI Control Messages After you initialize the mixer, you must configure it to receive and transmit MIDI messages. 1. Press the MIDI button. The system displays the first pane of the MIDI Options window. 2. Set the following controls in the MIDI Options window: • Set Control Change TX to ON. • Set Control Change RX to ON.
Channels 17 through 24 use the same physical controls as channels 1 through 8, as shown in the following illustration. You use the Home and Option I/O buttons to switch the assignments from 1 through 8 to 17 through 24.
Accessing Audio Gain Automation Recording You must be in Option I/O mode to record gains in the Automation Gain tool. 1. Press the Option I/O button. The faders move into the correct position for recording automation gain. 2. When recording automation gain, use the On button on each channel to switch between Timeline control of audio gain to user control of audio gain. You can punch-in and punch-out of gain recording as many times as you want.
To enable Solo mode: 1. Press the MIDI button. The mixer displays pane 1 of the MIDI Options window in the LCD display. 2. Set the following controls in the MIDI Options window: • Set Param Change TX to ON. • Set Param Change RX to ON. However, if Solo mode is on when you are mixing audio, it interferes with the normal operation of the mixing board functions. If the Avid system audio outputs are connected to the Yamaha 01v, leave Param Change TX and Param Change RX set to OFF.
APPENDIX C Keyboard Shortcuts: Macintosh and Windows NT Equivalents This appendix compares keyboard shortcuts on Media Composer® for Macintosh systems with the keyboard shortcuts on Media Composer for Windows NT systems. Keyboard shortcuts are listed in the Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Quick Reference and the Shortcuts topic, which you can access from the Media Composer Help menu.
Option Key = Alt Key For most shortcuts that use the Macintosh Option key, substitute the Windows NT Alt key.
Macintosh Key Combination Windows NT Key Combination Action Marks between locators (or marks entire sequence) when no locators present Control + Ctrl + Alt + Reverses a match-frame edit Control + Control + trim A or B side Alt + trim A or B side Adds black filler at trim to maintain sync Control + click in Timeline Alt + click in Timeline Allows lassoing inside Timeline Control + click a control point in Paint Effect Alt + click a control point in Paint Effect Changes a Straight Edge Join into
Other Keys For shortcuts that use other keys, substitute the following keys or key combinations: Macintosh Key Combination Windows NT Key Combination Action Option + drag a trim roller Ctrl + Alt + drag a trim roller Allows for single-frame motion while dragging trim rollers B key F4 Begins digitizing in Digitize mode, and enters IN and OUT points for logging clips in Log mode Shift + Command + = Shift + Ctrl + L Sends to front (Title tool) Shift + Command + hyphen Shift + Ctrl + K.
Index ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYZ Numerics Adding (continued) during editing 349 edits 407 filler during a trim 442 to a sequence 334 locators while editing 314 new tracks 405 off-screen indicators (Script window) 257 page and scene numbers in the Script window 243 script marks 259 takes in the Script window 254 Adjusting digital audio scrub parameters 454 dupe detection handle lengths 413 margins in the Script window 238 pan in the Audio Mix tool 461 take lines in the Script window 256 volume in the Audio
Alt Key Behavior options (Interface settings) 99 Annotations adding to Help Topics 71 Application location of 38 Application icon, location 38 Arrow keys, stepping with 307 ASCII text files importing to a Script window 235 A-side (outgoing frames), in trims 427, 432 Attic Files setting (Bin settings) 96 Attic folder defined 84 retrieving files from 42 Audio AudioSuite Plug-Ins Core plug-ins 570 D-FX and D-Fi plug-ins 571 crossfading 523 dipping 525 dissolves 523 EQ templates 499 fading 523 file formats (Gen
Automation Gain and the Audio Mix window 487 connecting a fader 597 Fast menu 482 keyboard shortcuts 485 selecting tracks in 482, 482 Auto-save function, described 84 Auto-Save options (Bin settings) 96 AutoSync command (Bin menu) 531 Autosyncing 530 Auxiliary timecode 277, 285 Avid application location of 38 Avid application tools 126 Avid Calculator tool, using 135 Avid color scheme 38 Avid Media Composer folder 38 Avid Projects folder deleting folders from 41 described 39 renaming 40 Avid system applicat
Bins (continued) columns in adding 174 aligning 171 deleting 172 duplicating 173 moving 171 showing and hiding 171 creating 78 deleting 81 display views for 149 to 151 displaying in Project window 76 editing from in Segment mode 391 Fast menu 152 finding 325 finding from the Script window 264 Info display 110 information in Console 138 listing timecodes 184 locking items in 165 managing 82 managing clip information 176 opening 79 opening from a different project 79 organizing a project with 141 to 197 print
B-side (incoming frames), in trims 427, 432 Buttons See also User-selectable buttons Add Scene and Add Page (Script window) Changing (continued) page and scene numbers in the Script window 244 representative frame in takes 255 the frame identifying a clip 193 track color in the Timeline 363 Choosing a user 47 Choosing bin headings 169 Clear command (Edit menu) deleting media files 210 Clear Monitor command (Monitor menus) 297 Clearing clips from monitors 297 Clearing IN and OUT points 310 Clip colors assig
Color Framing options (Composer settings) Clips (continued) displaying source colors in bins 158 displaying source colors in Timeline 364 duplicating 154 group, creating 552 linking to script 247 loaded, switching between 296 loading into monitors 294, 295 locking 165 marking entire segments 311 with IN and OUT points 309 moving 154 multigroup, creating 553 playing using buttons 301 rearranging in Frame view bin display 192 in Script view bin display 196 relocating 323 searching for text in 323 selecting 1
Custom Sift command (Bin menu) 160 Customizing bin views 170 the Composer window 270, 271 the Timeline 355 timecode 331 Trim mode 419 Cut, copy, and paste in the Timeline 392 Cutaways, marking with locators 314 Cutting See Editing, Specific edit modes Cutting text in the Script window 241 Cycle Picture/Sound button 399 Console bin information in 138 displaying system information in 137 drive space statistics 116 Console command (Tools menu) 137 Console tool, using 137, 137 Consolidate command (Clip menu) 2
Dialog, in the lined script 230 Digidesign AudioSuite Plug-Ins See AudioSuite Plug-Ins Digital audio scrub adjusting parameters for 454 compared to smooth audio scrub 451 using 454 Digital Audio Scrub options (Audio settings) Deleting (continued) clips and sequences 156 media files in bins 156 with Media tool 209 page and scene numbers in the Script window 245 script marks 263 segments, in Segment mode 389 settings 106 slates in the Script window 253 takes in the Script window 255 text in the Script window
Edits (continued) Lift/Overwrite (Segment mode) 388 on-the-fly cutting (multicamera) 567 Overwrite 340 Replace 341 selective cutting (multicamera) 565 undoing or redoing 338 Effect mode in workflow 31 Effects Audio EQ 489 nesting, defined 397 types of 396 Eject command (File menu) 60 Emergency repair disk 34 End key 307 Energy Plot in Timeline 458 Enlarge Frame command (Edit menu) 192, 250 Enlarging and reducing frames in the bin 192 Enlarging tracks in the Timeline 360 Entering Source/Record mode 328 Trim
Find dialog box 322 Find feature in Help 65 Find Frame button 326 Find procedures 322 Find Script button 264 Find tab using 65 Finding bins from a monitor 325 from the Script window 264 related media files 220 Finding clip names, with Find command 323 Finding frames with the Find command 322 with the Find Frame button 326 with timecode offset 320 Finding script from marked takes 263 Finding text in the Script window 246 Focusing the Timeline 375 Folders creating 53 deleting 41 managing 82 Font changing in b
Frame offset 322 Frame size, changing 192 Frame view (bin display) defined 150 in Media tool 206 using 190 to 194 Frame View button 191 Frame-by-frame movement in the Timeline 378 Frames aligning in bin 194 displaying matching footage for 547 finding with the Match Frame button 547 with the Match Frame function 323 with timecode offset 320 identifying a clip, changing 193 rearranging in Frame view 192 in Script view 196 Frequencies (audio), adjusting 489 Full frame display 294 Full-monitor multicamera displ
J Help system (continued) using buttons 67 using the Contents tab 64 using the Find tab 65 using the Help Topics dialog box 64 using the Index tab 64 What’s This? Help 63 Help Topics dialog box using 64 Hiding bin columns 171 slate frames 251 High shelf in Audio EQ tool 491 Home command (Windows menu) 376 Home key 307 J-K-L keys (Three-Button Play) 305 JL Cooper fader boxes 475 Jogging See Stepping Frame-by-frame movement K Keyboard Macintosh and Windows NT shortcuts 609 mapping user-selectable buttons t
Local colors assigning in Timeline 363 displaying in Timeline 365 Location of application 44 Locators adding while editing 316 copying from source clips 317 finding frames with 323 for managing sync breaks 542 using 314 Lock Bin Selection command (Clip menu) 165 Lock icon in Track Selector panel 404 Lock Tracks command (Clip menu) 404 Locking bin items 165 tracks 404 Log files importing from film-to-tape transfer systems 170 Logging errors to the Console 137 Low shelf in Audio EQ Tool 490 LTC (longitudinal
Menu commands (continued) Color (Script menu) 258 Console (Tools menu) 137 Consolidate (Clip menu) 216 Custom Sift (Bin menu) 160 Delete (Edit menu) deleting clips and sequences 156 deleting column headings 173 Delete Take (Script menu) 253 Duplicate (Edit menu) 104, 154, 173 Eject (File menu) 60 Enlarge Frame (Edit menu) 192, 250 Fast Frame Display (Special menu) 294 Fill Sorted (Bin menu) 194 Fill Window (Bin menu) 194 Find (Edit menu) 246, 322 Get Bin Info (File menu) 138 Get Clip Info (File menu) 331 Ge
Monitors clearing clips from 297 displaying the Clip Information window Menu commands (continued) Print Bin (File menu) 197 Print Timeline (File menu) 417 Read Audio Timecode (Special menu) 146 Redo (Edit menu) 338 Reduce Frame (Edit menu) 192, 250 Relink (Clip menu) 222 Remove Pan/Vols (Audio Mix Fast menu) 281, 282 ganging footage in 546 hiding video 298 loading footage into 294, 295 loading multiple clips and sequences into 467 295 Restore Default Patch (Special menu) 403 Reveal File (File menu) 220
O Multicamera editing (continued) techniques 559 workflow options 565 Multicamera mode, described 557 Multigroup clips, creating 553 Multilevel sorting of columns 183 Multiple tracks, working with 396 to 410 Muting audio 460 Offline editing detecting color-frame shifts during 414 detecting duplicate frames during 411 Offline items, selecting in the bin 166 Offline media indicator, in Timeline 365 Off-screen dialog in the lined script 230 indicating in the Script window 257 Off-screen indicators (script in
Position indicator in the Timeline 371 using 300 Postroll in Trim mode playback loop 431 Precompute media files deleting 211 Preroll in Trim mode playback loop 431 Print Bin command (File menu) 197 Print Timeline command (File menu) 417 Printing bins 196 Help topics 68 statistics 111 the Timeline 417 Product version numbers 72 Profile 110 Project settings, defined 87 Project window bins display 76 closing 75 Info display, using 110 opening 75 Settings display, using 87 Projects closing 55 creating new 50 de
Render On-The-Fly option (Trim settings) 422 Render settings access and brief description of 89 Replace edits 341 Replacing Timeline and bin views 367 Resizing monitors 298 slates in the Script window 250 Restore Default Patch command (Special menu) Q Quad menus 564 Quad Split display 555 Quick Dissolve dialog box 523 Quitting the Avid application 58 R 403 Read Audio Timecode command (Special menu) 146 Read Audio Timecode dialog box 147 Rearranging clips in Frame view bin display 192 in Script view bin
Script window (continued) changing font in 239 changing scene or page numbers in 244 cutting, copying, and pasting text in 241 deleting slates in 253 deleting takes in 255 displaying Clip Information from 237 displaying take numbers in 255 editing with 265 finding bins from 264 hiding slate frames in 251 indicating off-screen dialog in 257 linking clips to 247 loading takes from 256 moving slates in 252 navigating in 237 opening, closing, and saving 236 playing takes from 256 removing text in 242 resizing s
Segment mode (continued) four-frame display described 383 suppressing 385 in workflow 31 lifting/overwriting in 388 marking segments in 390 Segment Drag Sync Locks option 385 workflow 380 Segments cutting, copying, and pasting 392 deleting 389 marking 311, 390 moving in sync 385 selecting 380 Select All Tracks command (Edit menu) 399 Select Media Relatives command (Bin menu) Sequences (continued) copying 155 deleting 156 displaying information 281, 331 duplicating 154 finding original bin for 325 making th
Settings scroll list (continued) Video Output 91 VTR Emulation 91 Workspace 91 Shortcut menus See Context menus Show All Takes command (Script menu) 252 Show Every Frame command (Timeline Fast menu) 393 Show Frames command (Script menu) 251 Show Track submenu (Timeline Fast menu) 393 Showing bin columns 171 Shutting down the system 58 Shuttling with J-K-L keys 305 with the mouse 307 Sift Parameters dialog box 161 Sifting clips and sequences 160 Single track monitoring See Solo track monitoring Single-field
Starting a project overview 29 Starting Help 62, 62 Starting the application 29, 44 Statistics displaying drive space 116 displaying usage 111 file structure and layout 112 imported into a spreadsheet 115 printing 111 sample file 112 viewing 111 Statistics folder 112 Stepping by single-field 303 with buttons 302 with J-K-L keys 305 with mouse 307 Storyboard editing from the Script window 266 Storyboard worksheet 204 Subclips consolidating 214 copying 155 creating 312 deleting 156 duplicating 154 handle 312
Takes (script integration) (continued) removing color indicators from 258 removing off-screen indicators from 257 showing one per slate 252 Taskbar, changing 35 Telecine importing log file from 170 Test patterns importing 199 Text in the Script window changing font of 239 cutting, copying, and pasting 241 linking clips to 247 removing 242 searching through 242 to 246 selecting 239 Text search in the Script window 246 Text view (bin display) defined 149 in Media tool 206 using 169 to 183 Text View button (bi
Timeline (continued) view customizing 355 examples of 355 replacing 367 restoring default 368 viewing in 293 working with multiple tracks in 396 to 410 zooming in and out of 374 Timeline settings access and brief description of 90 Dupe Detection Handles option 369 how to use 286, 368 Timeline Settings dialog box accessing 372 Timeline View pop-up menu 366 Timeline View settings access and brief description of 90 Timeline, adding offline media indicator 365 Tips playback performance 351, 351 Title bar on win
Trash emptying 82 moving bins from 81 viewing contents of 81 Trim adding filler during 442 during a playback loop 433 edits, reviewing 430 maintaining sync during 441 on-the-fly 431 sides, selecting 427, 432 slip and slide procedures 436 with sync-locked tracks 443 Trim mode basic procedures in 422 to 431 Big Trim mode switching with Small Trim mode 426 customizing 420 defined 419 entering 423 exiting 425 in workflow 31 Play Transition Loop parameters in 431 selecting several transitions in 427 single trans
U User-selectable buttons (continued) Fast Forward 301 Find Bin 325 Find Frame 326 Find Script 264 Go to Next Edit 424 Go to Previous Edit 424 jog 302 Lift 344 Lift/Overwrite (Segment mode) 388 Make Subclip 312 mapping 130, 131 Mark Clip 311 Mark IN 309 Mark OUT 309 Match Frame 323 Mouse Jog 308 Mouse Shuttle 308 Mute 460 Pause 301 Play 301 Play Loop 425, 430 Replace 341 Reverse Match Frame 548 Rewind button 301 Slip Left button 440 Slip Right button 440 Splice-in 336 Stop 301 Transition Corner Display 446
W Video displaying in monitors 298 leader creating 201 using to maintain sync 541 number of tracks supported 396 syncing 142 tracks, monitoring 400 Video Input settings access and brief description of 90 Video Output settings access and brief description of 91 Video solo feature 402 Videotape digitizing bars and tone from 199 View Heads and Tails, in the Timeline 395 View Name dialog box (bin) 175 View Name dialog box (Timeline) 367 View Type command (Timeline Fast menu) 395 View, Timeline customizing 355