Expert Connections : Media Composer

Avid Workflow Expertise - an all round experience

balonso — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:47:00 GMT

Through my several years working at Avid as a workflow consultant, I have shared experiences with a huge variety of Avid users, from diverse backgrounds, with different goals and ambitions and with varying levels of Avid product knowledge.

To my surprise, one of the questions that I get invariably asked is: "in your experience, how have you helped others (other broadcasters, other production facilities, other users) go about addressing this challenge?" In other words, when it comes to implementing new technology, new products, new ways of working, users want to know how it is done elsewhere, how did we, Avid Consultants, go about working out similar conundrums.

It makes perfect sense that upgrading or changing technology should be taken up as an opportunity to re-evaluate the production processes, the way “things are done around here”, and to humbly re-assess what needs improving and what needs to be preserved in the new world. And this often happens in close collaboration with Avid Professional Services team: our project delivery team, trainers and workflow consultants.

Hence, an unexpected "bonus" that comes with being an Avid Workflow and Training consultant is that we are exposed to all sorts of practical situations both in broadcast and post-production environments. Either for news production, programme-making, high-end editing, material ingest, play out... you name it, we have probably been asked about it! It is a great satisfaction to work together with our users through the technological and workflow challenges that they may find, and agree on and implement a solution that makes everyone (or most!) happy. Not only that, but we know that workflows are organic and they evolve with time and as production needs change, so we are always prepared to review workflows and tweak them if needed.

As more and more users quizzed me about my recommendations based on “how others did it”, I gradually realised that such exposure was of huge value. Most end users do not get the chance to walk into another production or broadcast facility and spend time observing how they work, analysing their workflows and optimising them for efficiency. Avid Workflow consultants do! We gradually collect an invaluable set of tools, tips and tricks, which we can then pull out and apply at the relevant moment with whoever we work with next.

For example, whilst working at a start-up news channel in India, the library department had never worked with non-linear, digital archive systems. We spent a considerable amount of time exploring what their goals were, and agreeing strategies with the super users, to ensure that they had a reliable and effective archive workflow. This resulted in the creation of several custom metadata fields to their Interplay database (editable via Assist or Access), setting up of daily workflows to sub clip rushes with Assist, consolidate them with NewsCutter and then placing these archive compilations on an auto-archive folder which takes care of the actual archiving process.

I have also found that, during workflow discussions and workshops, my customers appreciate a session on “user cases” that describes how we helped broadcaster A, or post facility B tackle a particular workflow challenge. Or simply, to learn about alternative ways of ingesting, transcoding, editing, approving, sound mixing, archiving, etc. Obviously, we are extremely sensitive about how we share such information, and we will always discuss user cases as fully anonymous. The idea here is to learn about the processes and workflows, and not to share any “trade secrets”!

As another illustration, I recently worked with a large broadcaster in Central Europe, which produces programmes and promos for their national TV channels. Coming from an Avid MediaManager environment and upgrading to Interplay, they wanted a solution that allowed them to easily distinguish Interplay folders from checked-in MediaComposer projects within the Interplay database. This was easily achieved with a combination of folder colours and pre-fixing folders with special characters. A simple, but very elegant solution that suited all!

As you can see, Avid Workflow Consultants cannot only help our users understand more about Avid products and the processes that use those products, but we can also add that “all-round” experience that is so valuable in today’s content production industry. Ask us a workflow question: we have probably answered a similar one before… but, if not, rest assured we will reach out to the rest of the Avid Worldwide Consultancy team to offer you a variety of solutions. It’s in our inquisitive nature!

Bea Alonso-Martinez

Avid Senior Professional Services Consultant

Run useful reports on your clips and sequences in Media Composer 3.0.5

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:36:00 GMT

Media Composer has some brand new ways that you can quickly look up information about your source material, clips and effects. By running reports on your metadata, you can easily find things as you edit, and prepare for finishing (online) or confirming sessions. These reports can be saved, searched or emailed. (This feature was introduced in Media Composer 3.0, but has received some user-interface enhancements in 3.0.5.)

These reports are:

Source Clip Summary: lists all tape sources used in a timeline, and all graphics used in the timeline with their original paths
Clip Summary: lists all clips in the sequence or subclip
Effects Summary: lists all effects in a timeline, including a list of Plugins used

There are two ways to generate these reports: via the Console or via the Report Generator window.

Console

To run an individual specific report on either source information, clip information or effects information, type one of the following commands into the console:

dumpsourcesummary
dumpclipsummary
dumpfxsummary

-dumpsourcesummary

-dumpclipsummary

-dumpfxsummary

To run a complete default report (that contains source, clip and effect information), drop a clip, subclip or sequence into the Console window. The default report will contain all information from the above separate reports.

Report Generator Window

In Media Composer 3.0.5, these reports can now be run from the new Report Generator window. This can be accessed from two locations:

From the Composer Window: Load an object (subclip, clip, sequence) into the Composer window and then right click on that wndow and choose "Get Info" to open the Report Generator window.
From the Bin: right click on an object in the Bin and choose Get Info to open the Report Generator window
Note: The Report Generator gives you several additional options,
such as using In/Out marks, showing specific types of effects,
showing offline sources only, etc.)

You can either send the report to an output file, or run it in the console, as above.

Immerse Yourself: Get the Training. Get Media Composer.

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:06:00 GMT

Now is the best time to immerse yourself into the world of Avid Media Composer.

Experience a full-week course and receive your own copy of Media Composer in one special package! Two new classes added — one on each coast — for the end of the year.

MC 108 Media Composer Immersion

This course gives you a "total immersion" experience in Avid Media Composer, the nonlinear editing system used to create the large majority of today's professional films and videos. And at the end of the week, you'll take home your own copy of Avid Media Composer version 3.0 software. You'll learn how to edit, create effects, manage media, import and export media, and more! Session time is divided between demonstration and hands-on practice, with ample time for experimentation with sample documentary, dramatic, and graphic material. Enrollment is this course also includes ALEX online courses on Avid Marquee Title Tool and Input and Output Essentials.

To request more information or register, please contact Avid Training Services at trainingservices@avid.com or 1-800-867-AVID.

Topics Include:

Preparing for editing
Working with bins
Basic editing techniques with sync and non-sync material
Fine tuning (Trimming)
Customizing your workspace
Trimming with sync material
Creating titles with Avid Marquee
Working in the Timeline
Working with audio
Performing Media Management tasks
Creating vertical and horizontal effects
Creating motion effects
Nesting effects
Importing and exporting
Working with SD, HD, HDV, P2, and HDCAM material

___________________________________________________________________

Contact:
Avid Training Services
1-800-867-AVID
trainingservices@avid.com

Instructor:
Ashley Kennedy

Course Details:

Avid Technology in Burbank, CA:
October 13 - October 17, 2008
Avid Technology in Tewksbury, MA:
December 1 - December 5, 2008

Registration fee:
$2495 includes Media Composer software or $2295 for Media Composer upgrade from Avid Xpress Pro v5.5

___________________________________________________________________

How To Create and Edit Open Captions with AVX Effects

Avid Community Team — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Let's take a look at the Avid AVX SubCap Generator effect.

Download high quality QuickTime for offline viewing (71MB)

As international distribution becomes the norm, open captioning is essential. Open captioning is a common industry term the refers to captioning that is always visible to the viewer. With the Avid AVX SubCap Generator effect you can easily input or import text which is then automatically composited into the video material along with any background effects such as drop shadows or background boxes. The text can be entered manually or imported from files in standard captioning formats and becomes a permanent part of the finished video material. The text created by the SubCap Generator is a form of open captioning and edits to the open captions can be re-exported to update changes in an iterative workflow. The subcap effect is typically used for two different types of text information. Text that provides a translation of the spoken dialogue in a program. In this case we're assuming a viewer can hear the audio for the program, but cannot understand the language in which it is spoken. Alternatively we may be working with text that provides a full description of all of the audio content in a program. Here we're assuming a viewer who cannot hear the audio for the program and needs a description not only of the spoken dialog but also for the sound effects, the character of the music and so on.

You might use the SubCap effect to create text that becomes part of the finished program. Alternatively, you might use the SubCap effect to create text the provides a preview during your production process but that is then replaced in the finished program by closed caption text encoded in the video signal.

The SubCap effect has the following main features. Support for the EBU N19 (.stl) and the Avid DS caption file format including the storage of metadata such as contact and program information. Support for Unicode text entry. Parameter control over many aspects of text appearance including fonts, colors, line length and line spacing. Ability to apply parameter changes made on one caption effect clip to all other caption effect clips on the current track or throughout the entire sequence. And the ability to save sets of parameter values for any caption effect clip as a style-sheet file that you can then apply to other caption effect clips in the same or other sequences.

As with other effects, the SubCap plug-in can be found in the Effects Palette under Generator.

In my timeline, I'm going to add a new video track and then I'll add the SubCap effect to that new track. For more complex delivery requirements we might apply different instances of the effect to different video tracks and then simply toggle between them to create various language outputs. In this particular workflow, we're going to import an STL file. This file was created by a subtitling service. The STL files are quite small and can be sent as an email attachment. Before we do that, we will quickly run through the parameters in the plug-in. In doing so, we will setup a default style-sheet. Let's just add some text, adjust the size, opacity, shadow, then we'll center the text, remove the background. Once we have created a style that we like, we go to the global properties page. Many of the tabs reflect aspects of the STL specification such as Program Name, Program Title, Version, Creation Date, etc. The synchronize tab sets the priorities for which properties will propagate, or not, through to other captions when a style-sheet is applied. By selecting track the style-sheet will apply to all titles on the same track. By selecting program they will apply to all tracks in the program. This allows for flexibility in styles for different tracks if needed. Once complete we will go to the Stylesheet tab and save these parameters as a new style. This window allows for multiple styles to be saved. One can also be setup as a default.

The next parameter is the import-export selection. From here we can select the STL file as sent to us from the subtitle service. Once selected you can see how many captions are in the file, the timecode range of the sequence as well as the timecode range of the file. Since the captions are all based on timecode for placement the import dialog will alert you if the captions fall out of the range. To see in advance whether an import will be successful is another nice feature of this tool. Once the STL file is imported you will see all the captions placed as individual titles on the timeline. These are created by the start and end timecodes in the file for each caption. Lets go to the first title. It does not yet appear with the style we created earlier, so with this title selected, let's go back to the global properties and stylesheets. Highlight the style we saved earlier and apply. All the captions now have the same look and feel. Plus, this is a real-time effect ready for playout. Now if changes need to be made, you can easily go to the edit master caption list. Where you can see all the captions on the current track. You can also edit all the text in a single view. Or, add a return carriage if you want to break it at a certain spot.

Now lets add some open captions manually. I can add a subcap to each span of dialog in the timeline. And then I can enter the text for the first dialog and apply a pre-made style. Now when I make the second title active and start typing, you will see it automatically inherits the properties of the same style. This is a rapid way to create subtitles directly. And of course, each title can easily be moved and repositioned along with its sync track as needed.

Another great feature of this tool is the ability to create a new STL file that reflects any changes or corrections made to the sub-titles or captions. The DS Caption File can be exported as well. This text file is portable, easy to read and useful for things like legal sign-off or rights management. Also, because the file is easy to edit it can be sent to a translator and a new file can be returned.

Exporting an STL file can also be used in many DVD authoring applications as a subtitle track. Creating even more value for your productions or for your customer.

The AVX SubCap Effect Generator is a new feature available with:

Avid Media Composer Software v3.0 and above Upgrade or Buy Online | Request Info

Avid Symphony v3.0 and above Request Info

Avid NewsCutter Software v7.0 and above Request Info

Also available on Avid Nitris DX and Avid Mojo DX system configurations.

Editor's Note: Thank you to Lesley Glorioso, Michael Phillips and Steve Holyhead for writing this tutorial. Additional thanks to Steve Holyhead for creating and presenting this video.

How To Create Real-Time Overlays of Source and Record Metadata Using AVX Effects

Avid Community Team — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Let's take a look at the Avid AVX timecode effect plug-in. This segment based effect allows for real-time overlay of source and record metadata as part of a digital cut, transcode or export.

Download high quality QuickTime for offline viewing (55MB)

Timecode burn-in is commonly needed in post production when handing picture over to sound or visual effects. Having the metadata as part of the image allows for easy reference for any of these downstream processes.

As you'll see here though, the Avid AVX Timecode effect plug-in takes this idea to the next level. As with other AVX effects, the Timecode plug-in can be found in the Effects palette under Generators.

In my timeline, I'm going to add a new track, then I'll add the AVX effect to that new track. This way, as I work, I can easily toggle the effect right here using the track monitor.

If I go into effects mode, we can see up to four overlay controls. Three for timecode metadata and another for notes. Inside each of the overlay controls are the parameters for that metadata overlay. It is here in the reader menu that you will select the type of data you wish to display. The type menu is then used to control how the timecode display is calculated. Plus, you can select from which track the metadata should be drawn for display from any one of the twenty-four video our audio tracks.

In addition to the timecode information the plug-in allows for any metadata that is currently displayed above the Source or Record monitor. This includes Keycode, duration, Ink Numbers, DPX, even clip names. For example, if I choose "Frames" from the reader menu and "Remaining" in the type menu, then I will get a countdown to the end of my movie in frames. Or, if I choose "Source" in the reader menu and "Current" from the type menu, then the source timecode for each clip in my sequence will be displayed.

The fourth metadata display is actually a notes track overlay. The content of which is user-definable. Identification or promotion is an ideal use for this tool. As is open watermarking for security purposes. If we want to add a notes track, it's easy to do so by directly typing into the text window of the notes section. Of course we can always copy-and-paste into this area too.

The appearance tab for each of the overlay windows allows for Position, Size, Opacity and Background Color. It is also convenient to be able to add the name of the clip to the overlay window so a producer or director can read which shot was actually included in the cut, maybe as a part of a review and approval process.

Another really useful aspect of this tool is the Display Label. If this option is selected the display begins with a label identifying the timecode format. If this option is deselected, only the timecode value itself is displayed.

As with all AVX plug-ins presets can be saved and quickly added as needed. The user can prepare layout, size, color, background, metadata type and position, and quickly add to the timeline when needed. As I drop these saved templates to the timeline, you can see how the timecode plug-in automatically inherits the source/record metadata of that timeline. And of course, all of these overlays are available in real-time.

Also unique to the Avid AVX Timecode plug-in is that it makes use of the extensive metadata database within the Avid Media Composer. And is therefore able to create 24 frames-per-second and 30 frames-per-second burn-ins directly from the original FPS source. This ensures that PAL and NTSC workflows can proceed with clarity and predictability for the entire production chain. Feet and frames as well as total frames can be selected to support animation and feature film workflows.

Avid built the AVX Timecode plug-in with the intention that it satisfy the most demanding of post production needs.

The AVX Timecode Burn-in Effect Generator is a new feature available with:

Avid Media Composer Software v3.0 and above Upgrade or Buy Online | Request Info

Avid Symphony v3.0 and above Request Info

Avid NewsCutter Software v7.0 and above Request Info

Also available on Avid Nitris DX and Avid Mojo DX system configurations.

Editor's Note: Thank you to Lesley Glorioso, Michael Phillips and Steve Holyhead for writing this tutorial. Additional thanks to Steve Holyhead for creating and presenting this video.

Pre MC 3.5* How To transfer media using Sony XDCAM EX Clip Browser version 2.0 software

BobRusso — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 GMT

This should only be used for Media Composer 3.0 / NewsCutter 7.0 and earlier. Please see: http://www.avid.com/xdcam/

I’m Bob Russo with Avid Technology. In this tutorial I’m going to demonstrate how to transfer media using version 2 of the Sony® XDCAM® EX clip browser software with the Avid® Media Composer®.

Download high quality QuickTime for offline viewing (27MB)

Along with Mac – Intel support, version 2 of the Sony XDCAM EX Clip Browser software now enables the MP4 files to be directly rewrapped to Avid Media Files. The first step is to select the destination for the MXF files. Since these are Avid Media Files the exact folder must be selected: Avid MediaFiles – MXF and the appropriate numbered folder.

Now select the SxS card or folder where the EX media is stored; choose the clips to use in the Media Composer and select File, Export, Avid AAF.

Select a location for the AAF file and click execute. AAF files are created with the clip metadata and the clips are rewrapped as OPAtom MXF files.

Now in the Media Composer, select File, Import. Navigate to the folder where the AAF files are and select them. The clips along with sequences are imported into the bin linked to the media ready for an edit. The sequences can be deleted.

And that’s how you use media from an XDCAM EX camera with the Avid Media Composer.

Avid Editor QuickTime Workflow For Proper Brightness Levels

jkwan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:18:00 GMT

Justin Kwan, Avid Software Engineer, offers insight into his workflow for importing and exporting QuickTime movies to achieve proper brighness levels.
(Reposted from Kwancentral)

There seems to be a decent amount of confusion about which settings should be selected when exporting a video as QuickTime, and then importing the QuickTime movie into an Avid editor. In this article I will describe the proper settings for exporting video out of a third-party application such as Adobe After Effects using the Avid QuickTime DNxHD codec, and then importing the QuickTime DNxHD movie into an editor. Four workflows are shown, one of which is invalid.

This same workflow should hold true for all the Avid QuickTime codecs. It will not apply to non-Avid QuickTime codecs.

Exporting Source Material With RGB Levels

Source media with RGB levels

If you start with source material with RGB levels (0-255), such as the image above, you should select the RGB button in the QuickTime export options shown below. This is because the option in the QuickTime dialog specifies the levels of the source material. However, it isn't a disaster if you don't select the RGB button.

Assume you export two movies. The first has RGB level source material and is exported with the RGB option selected. This is called RGBsource_RGBOption.mov. The second movie has RGB level source material and is exported using the 709 option. This movie is called RGBsource_709Option.mov.

Select the RGB brightness option with RGB source material.

Importing Source Material With RGB Levels

When you import RGBsource_RGBOption.mov into the editor, select the 601/709 option to perform a quick import. Selecting the RGB button will bring the video in at the correct levels, but it will be a slow import. It is OK to select the 601/709 button as the levels within the QuickTime movie were converted to 709 compliant levels when the RGB button was selected on export. Quick import copies the 709 compliant video data from the QuickTime movie to the editor. See the image below for the optimal setting when bringing this movie into the editor.

Select the 601/709 option for import of RGB source material.

If you look at the levels while in color correction mode, you can see that the darkest black is 16 and the brightest white is 235 as shown in the image below. The left side of the color picker represents the darkest black value and the right side of the color picker represents the brightest white value. The levels of the imported media are correct.

RGB source material imported into the editor

When you import RGBsource_709Option.mov, you must select the RGB button in the editor import dialog as shown below. Selecting the 601/709 option will cause the video to come in at RGB levels.

Select the RGB button for import of RGB material exported with 709 option selected.

Exporting Source Material With 709 Levels

Source media with 709 compliant levels.

When you export source material that is already 709 level compliant, as shown above, the 709 button should be selected in the QuickTime dialog options as shown below. The RGB button should never be selected in this scenario, as this will not import into the editor with 709 compliant levels. Assume you export two movies. The first contains 709 level compliant source material and is exported using the 709 option. This movie is called 709Source_709Option.mov. The second movie contains 709 compliant source levels and is exported improperly using the RGB option. This movie is called 709Source_RGBOption.mov.

Select the 709 button for 709 compliant source material.

Importing Source Material With 709 Levels

Import 709Source_709Option.mov using the 601/709 option. This is the only option that can be selected for proper import of this movie.

Now, import 709Source_RGBOption.mov. No matter whether you select the RGB import option or the 601/709 option, the imported levels will be incorrect as shown below.

Media imported into the editor when 709 material is exported using the RGB option.

Post by Justin Kwan

Media Composer 202: The Documentary -- This July!

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:28:00 GMT

Media Composer 202: The Documentary

Come join us, and delve into the world of documentary workflow.

Documentary filmmaking takes passion. It also takes proficiency with the industry-standard tools that enable you to transform your vision into reality. MC 202: The Documentary – the first in the new series of Avid Training Services workshops – will help you achieve your professional ambitions. Whether you’re an independent filmmaker, a journalist, an educator, or an assistant editor, this hands-on, roles-based training will get you up to speed and on the road to success.

Day one is an instructional experience that includes topics such as the documentary post process, advanced bin organization, script transcription methods, scene construction techniques, and useful “invisible” effects for documentary editing. You will be working with raw documentary footage to practice these techniques.

On the second day, we will screen and analyze excerpts from several films in different documentary genres in the morning, and hear in-depth workflow talks from guest speakers in the afternoon. Q & A with these industry professionals will accompany the talks.

___________________________________________________________________________________

What: New Class – MC202: The Documentary
When: July 30 and 31
Where: Avid Corporate Headquarters, Tewksbury, MA (One Park West, Tewksbury, MA 01876)
How to Enroll: Register here, or contact trainingservices@avid.com (978-275-2071)
Cost: $800 for 2-day MC 202 only
$1280 (20% off) for 4-day MC 201 and MC 202 combo
___________________________________________________________________________________

Steve Audette, senior editor for PBS Frontline, will be the keynote guest speaker at July’s class. Mr. Audette received rave reviews when he spoke at a MC 202 course last year. Join us again to experience one of the industry’s most interesting presenters share his documentary workflow tips with you!

Enroll now and save!
Enroll in both MC 202 and MC 201 (the Advanced Techniques for Avid Media Composer class that immediately precedes MC 202 on July 28 and 29) and get a 20% savings for all four days!

The MC 201 is a perfect compliment to the MC 202, because it emphasizes efficient editing, a detailed look into project and media management, and lots of advanced techniques using the Avid Media Composer – all skills that are essential for documentary workflow.

Reactions from the course’s debut at Avid Technology in Tewksbury, MA (Sept. ’07):

“The small class size and workshop format allowed us to share our reactions to the samples that the instructors and guest editors showed us. For me, a documentary producer and editor, that was a rare opportunity to see creative decisions and their effects through the eyes of editors and filmmakers very different from myself.”
-Jaysari Hart, Independent Documentary Filmmaker, Los Angeles

“…it's nice to see the tips and tricks of experienced and, most importantly, SUCCESSFUL documentary editors. It's a great experience to have them show us their timelines, bins, project settings and talk us through some of their favorite tricks. This class was one of the best values we've invested in.”
-Jim Hart, PAO-HQUSAREUR, U.S. Army, Europe

"I thoroughly enjoyed the MC202 Avid Workshop Series: Documentary Editing course. I enjoyed the fact that the format of the class was structured loosely enough to allow a little bit of free form discussion and variance from the class outline. We could cover as little or as much as the individual class members desired. The guest speakers were also a nice departure from the typical Avid class. New perspectives and different workflow techniques helped provide a balance to what could have been a more one-dimensional approach."
-Breann Neal, Senior Producer/Editor, State Farm Creative Services

How To Change the Frame Rate of a P2 clip

BobRusso — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:21:00 GMT

Maximize your P2-workflow knowledge! In this video, learn how to change the frame rate of a P2 clip using DVFilm's MXFX, and edit with it in Avid Media Composer.

Video Text:

I’m Bob Russo with Avid Technology. Today I’m going to talk about how to change the frame rate and frame size of P2 clips using DVFilm’s MX – FX for use in the Media Composer.

In this example I’m working in a 1080i – 59.94 project and have a virtual P2 card with clips that were shot using a variable frame rate.

I can import the P2 clips into a bin but when I try to play the clip, I receive an error message that the frame rate doesn’t match the projects frame rate.

To change the frame rate and frame size of the clip to match my project I’ll use MX-FX.

Select Options, the options box opens. Since my clip is 23.976, I need to add 3:2 pulldown, change the frame rate to 29.97, and convert the frame size to 1920X1080.
Select OK.

I’ll drop the clip from my virtual P2 card into the window and select start.
MX – FX will create a new virtual P2 card that will retain the meta data from the original card.
Depending on the host computer and exactly what process is being performed, this could take two to four times the length of the clip.

Once it’s done I’ll go back to the Media Composer an import the clip from the new virtual P2 card MX – FX just created.

The clip imports and can play in my project 1080i – 59.94 project with the variable frame rate intact.

And that’s how to change the frame rate of a P2 clip for use in the Avid Media Composer.

Streamline Your P2 Workflow

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:10:00 GMT

As most users know by now, the typical workflow for using P2 media is the (Texas-) Two-Step...

File > Import P2 > Clips to Bin,
File > Import P2 > Media.
Most users, however, will go on to a third step:
Transcode the raw DVCPRO HD material to DNxHD.

The benefit of working in DNxHD on an Adrenaline system is that you get real-time playback of the footage on the client monitor, whereas DVCPRO HD is only played back real-time in the Composer window. But, why do in three steps what you can do in two? To streamline the workflow, skip the second step, and go straight to the Transcode.

Here's how:

1. File > Import P2 > Clips to Bin

2. Press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on the Mac) to highlight all the clips. (Or be selective if you like, it'll work on just the highlighted clips.)
3. Right-click > Consolidate/Transcode.

4. Select the target drive and DNxHD resolution you want.
5. Click “Transcode”, and grab a quick cup of coffee.

The nice perk here is that the system doesn't take any longer to do the Transcode to DNxHD using this workflow, and you get to skip the step of Consolidating the original DVCPRO HD material from the card to your drives. Happy Editing!

Post by Bryan Castle, Avid Training Services Instructor and Curriculum Developer

Creating the "Pleasantville" Look: Using the Color Effect and Chroma Key

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:33:00 GMT

The following post is provided by John Lynn of Genius DV. GeniusDV provides Avid Media Composer Training to many locations nationwide.

While secondary color correction is a specialty of Avid Symphony Nitirs, it can also be achieved in Avid Media Composer or Avid Xpress Pro. In fact, creating the "Pleasantville" effect in these applications is a fairly simple task.

For learning purposes, find a short clip that has a dominate object that contains mostly one shade of color. In this example, the orange flower.

Start by editing the same exact clip to V1 and V2 on the timeline as shown below. Make sure the starting and ending points and each clip match up exactly.

Then, navigate to the Effect Palette and place a color effect onto V1.

After you apply the color effect to V1, click on the Effect Editor button. Make sure that you're monitoring V1, so you can see that changes that you make to V1 while in the effect editor window.

Now, drag the (sat) slider to -100. This should make the clip that is on V1 turn to black and white. The composer window should now display the clip as a black and white video image.

Go back to the Effect Palette and apply the Chroma key effect to V2.

Enter the Effect Editor on V2. Make sure to monitor V2 so you can see the changes that you make in the Effect Editor window. Before moving forward, your timeline should like like the example below.

Within the Effect Editor, you need to specify the color that you want to key out. In this case, the orange color. You can click in the key color box and drag your cursor to the composer window to pick the color you want by using the eyedropper. This will give you a good start to matching the color.

Make sure you click on (Invert key) to see the black and white image underneath V2.

The controls can be finicky. It will take some experimenting to find the correct value. Normally, it is a fine mix between the Hue, Gain and Softness controls. Once you get the correct mix, the result can be spectacular.

How To Create an Offline-Online Workflow with Panasonic P2

BobRusso — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:16:00 GMT

One of the most popular emerging workflows in today's post-production world is the Offline-Online workflow with the Panasonic P2 camera. Watch this video to learn exactly how to take your HD media from the P2 card, edit at a SD resolution, and then relink back to its HD flavor. A transcription of my narration is posted below the video.

I’m Bob Russo, the media education evangelist for Avid Technology. Today I’m going to talk about an offline – online workflow with media from a Panasonic P2 camera and the Avid Media Composer.

One of the ways to work with media from a P2 camera is to copy the contents of a P2 card to a folder on a drive. This is what I’ve done here. The first step in working with P2 is to import the clip information into a bin. Select File, Import P2, Clips to Bin. A finder window opens. Navigate to the drive with the P2 media. The top-level folder must be selected. If this folder is not selected the Media Composer will not be able to import the clip information and you will receive this error.

Once I selected the correct folder the Media Composer indexes the media. The media isn’t being imported, instead, just the clip information is being loaded very quickly into a bin. You can see how the clips are actually linked to a virtual P2 card on the drive and can be played right away. I’ll make my selects and consolidate the media over to my local storage using the File, Import P2, Media. The clip media is now on my local drive. For storage and performance reasons, I like to edit the sequence in a standard definition resolution. To do this, change the Format tab to 30i. Select Clip, Consolidate/Transcode. The Consolidate/Transcode box opens. I now have the option to transcode the HD media to any SD resolution. I’ll select DV25. As you can see, three new clips are made, and I can start my edit.

Once the edit is done and the sequence is ready for the online, it can be relinked to the HD media. Change the Format tab back to HD. The SD media changes to yellow, warning that there is SD media in an HD sequence. With the sequence selected, select Clip, Relink. The Relink box opens and select the Highest Quality in the Video Relink Parameters. These options can be turned off, and click OK. The sequence is quickly relinked to the original DVCPRO HD media and ready for the online.

And that's an offline – online P2 workflow with the Avid Media Composer.

Pre MC 3.5* How To Edit with Media from a Sony XDCAM EX Camera

BobRusso — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:19:00 GMT

This should only be used with Media Composer 3.0 / NewsCutter 7.0. Please see: http://www.avid.com/xdcam/

Watch this video to learn exactly how to take media from the XDCAM EX card and edit with it in the Media Composer. A transcription of my narration is posted below the video.

I’m Bob Russo, the product evangelist for Avid Technology. Today, I’m going to talk about how to use media from a Sony® XDCAM® EX camera with the Avid® Media Composer®.

Using the Sony XDCAM EX Clip Browser software, select a memory card or drive where the EX media is stored. The clips load and I can play them in the viewer. Decide on the clips to use in the Media Composer and select File, Export, MXF. Choose a location for the files and click Start. The clips are quickly rewrapped as MXF files, like the files from an XDCAM™ HD camera.

Now in the Media Composer, select File, Import. The import box opens. Navigate to the folder where the MXF files are and select them. The files are added to the Media Composer very quickly, because they aren’t actually being imported. Instead, the clip information is being created in the bin and the media is being copied to the Avid media files folder. Once the clips are in, I’m ready to edit and combine them with other clips in my project.

And that’s how you use media from an XDCAM EX camera with the Avid Media Composer.

How To Change Audio Speed without Affecting Pitch

BobRusso — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:21:00 GMT

Avid makes it easy to dynamically change the speed of audio in the Timeline, without affecting its pitch. This results in a virtually undetectable speed-up or slow-down, so that you can accurately match all of your audio and video tracks. Watch this video to learn more, a transcription of my narration is posted below the video.

I’m Bob Russo, the media education evangelist for Avid Technology. Today I’m going to talk about the Time Shift Audio Suite Plug-in.

A common problem for editors is when the narration doesn’t fit the time allotted. As you can see in this example, the narration is too long. Instead of re-editing the spot, I’ll use the Time Shift Audio Suite Plug-in to get this to fit.

Select Tools, AudioSuite, the AudioSuite opens and select Time Shift from the menu. Click on the plug icon to activate the plug-in and adjust the parameters. Adjust the Shift menu in the Time parameter. Since we just need to speed the audio up by about a second. I’m going to choose a percentage just above real-time speed. Let’s start with 104%. Select Render, and OK. This will increase the speed of the audio but maintain the pitch so it’s difficult to detect. You can see from the waveform that the audio is now the correct length. And it sounds great.

This is just one use for the Time Shift Audio Suite plug-in.