Expert Connections : NewsCutter

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

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.