Is there any way for pan and zoom to display the source it is expecting to find? I thought it used to throw up a source path to the image it was expecting. It doesn't seem to do this any more. Am I making this all up?
Andi
This is one of the major flaws with P&Z it will not indicate the expected path.
A little trick I use. (Don't tell everyone as it's part of the Avid media management training I do)
Make a fresh new bin.
Sub sequence just a short section of the clip with the P&Z effect. No other tracks just that one track.
Save that bin external to your project.
Open the bin in notepad and you will find buried in the cobbledy gook the file name and the original file path.
This is one of the reasons I don't reccommend P&Z as a useful tool currently. This issue when moving projects and the ongoing black frames with no solution.
Broadcast & Post Production Consultant / Trainer Avid Certified Instructor VET (Retired Early 2022)
Still offering training and support for: QC/QAR Training - Understanding Digital Media - Advanced Files * Compression - Avid Ingest - PSE fixing courses and more.
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Nice trick to add to my arsenal thanks.
2 other techniques that have always made P&Z a useful and reliable tool for me. Manage where I file each individual Projects graphics and make sure there is a copy of every graphic the project uses is in this folder. (For example L:\1 Projectname\Graphics\ ) Then there is a 95% chance my P&Z graphic will be in that folder (Should be 100% but **** happens )
Always have a P&Z bin in my projects and import all graphics (low res) into the project. Use these low res images as the placeholders for the P&Z effects. This will always show me the clip name of the image used. Then 3 Key strokes (Match Frame\Find Bin\Batch import will show me file path expected to the image used.
Yes that's what we do Andrew. But it's no help with clients projects that come in for finishing...
Pat Horridge:it's no help with clients projects that come in for finishing...
Nice tip Pat! Thanks! Would be easier if Avid just let you know where it thought it was, the info's clearly there, just needs to be displayed. Ho hum, add it to the list...
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almost five years later, and this saves me :PPP thanks!!!!!
derjules: almost five years later, and this saves me :PPP thanks!!!!!
That's a good one.
On my v8.8.4 PC MC, when I click on an existing online P&Z effect, then click on Import image in P&Z effect editor, I see only the LAST 8 characters.jpg in the "File name:" box, and if I copy that and paste it into its "Please choose an Image" Folder's Search input box. I get the FULL image name highlighted in that same "Please choose an Image" Windows box.
I am not sure what happens if the P&Z is offline. We've all learned to keep a "paper trail" on our P&Z imported images by making them into masterclips for the timeline, to then place the P&Z Effect onto... as a reference.
Without a paper trail, without knowing where source images are, restoring someone else's P&Z's is crazy-making. Even if you have their rendered mxf media- because any subsequent TRIM will make the image go black. (or offline).
I Like Pat's Bin trick.
Pat Horridge: This is one of the major flaws with P&Z it will not indicate the expected path...... .......you will find buried in the cobbledy gook the file name and the original file path. This is one of the reasons I don't reccommend P&Z as a useful tool currently. This issue when moving projects and the ongoing black frames with no solution.
This is one of the major flaws with P&Z it will not indicate the expected path......
.......you will find buried in the cobbledy gook the file name and the original file path.
Hi Pat, Is there ANY way to globally re-direct those SourcePaths for P&Z effects in a Sequence, by doing some kind of Find/Replace in an editor/program that will allow editing/saving of an Avid Bin containing that P&Z-laden Sequence? Perhaps something Avid makes available to Developers?
I have a project with a gazillion P&Z effects sourced from far and wide-- I want to cleanly hand off the project along with its P&Z source images, allowing the next editor to avoid those Black frames after trimming the rendered clips... because the original sourcepaths are of no use.
I don't think so. The structure of a Bin is beyond a mere mortal like me. I just found a quick fix.
I'd suggest it as a feature suggestion but Pan and zoom is so neglected in favour of Frame Flex I can't see it ever being addressed.
My suggestion would be to add a clip below any pan & zoom that holds the same source clip so you can see what it is and its location.
The Pan and zoom is then applied as an effect so the underlaying clip is hidden.
Pat Horridge: I don't think so. The structure of a Bin is beyond a mere mortal like me. I just found a quick fix. I'd suggest it as a feature suggestion but Pan and zoom is so neglected in favour of Frame Flex I can't see it ever being addressed. My suggestion would be to add a clip below any pan & zoom that holds the same source clip so you can see what it is and its location. The Pan and zoom is then applied as an effect so the underlaying clip is hidden.
Thanks!*
I realize now that this is truly the Achilles heel of Pan & Zoom. It requires some serious re-think on how to use it, if at all- at least when a hand-off is in mind.
I had previously tried minor testing of doing P&Z-style moves on a Hi-Rez photo file using 3D Warp FX, inside an 4K Project- then found the result compared decently, but only IF I made a video mixdown from inside the 4K project. (rather than simply flipping the Project Tab back to 1920X1080 HD)
The result at the max zoom point was just a tiny bit softer than if I had used FrameFlex or P&Z inside an HD-sized Project. Plus I got 3D Warp geometry. (but P&Z could have zoomed even further, and with interlace)
I might have to just video-mixdown regular P&Z's with handles (or variations) just to avoid this issue. Or get in practice of Source-Pathing my P&Z still files from a local external drive, which I believe Andrew A. had suggested in another thread.
One way or another, I wish a motivated Avid engineer would take on this important task.
Dear Avid Engineers: Please (!) provide us with a valuable Console command, perhaps called:
Redirect_PanZoom_SourcePaths. You will be a hero!
* I have started doing the source clip/masterclip tip you suggested, but of course it' not going to fully help the next editor. He or she still has to re-import any trimmed P&Zs in their system.
*You are probably right, but if FrameFlex is now intended as the replacement for P&Z, it does not provide the various Filters we currently use, right? or the other familiar features.
As a workaround: cut an imported clip of the bitmap, apply the P&Z on top of that, if the need be to find out the location of the bitmap match frame, find bin, in the bin colums enable sorce path.
peace luca
luca.mg: As a workaround: cut an imported clip of the bitmap, apply the P&Z on top of that, if the need be to find out the location of the bitmap match frame, find bin, in the bin colums enable sorce path.
That’s right, and it’s what I’m already doing. However, there’s a very large supply of image files, spread out inside a series of folders. I will copy those imported files into one Folder on a separate hard drive for the next editor. That editor though, will still need to re-Import them, one at a time, into the P&Z editor if they trim the existing rendered P&Z effect.
What if the editor didn’t need to do that? That’s what we are looking to achieve.
Think of it as a console command like RepairSequence. All P&Z source files remain, but their paths become unified to point to one Folder at the root level in a Volume. (And that volume name or letter could easily be changed to match).
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