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Avid Media Composer 11.7 Quick start guide

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Avid
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Avid
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Products
Getting Started Guide
Copyright and Disclaimer
Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part
of Avid Technology, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement.
You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license
are also available in the product in the same directory as the software. The software may not be reverse
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6,407,775; 6,417,891; 6,426,778; D396,853; D398,912. Additional U.S. and foreign patents pending. No
part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission
of Avid Technology, Inc.
Copyright © 2003 Avid Technology, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.
The following disclaimer is required by Apple Computer, Inc.
APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ITS
MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF
IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT
APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE
OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
The following disclaimer is required by Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics, Inc. for the use of
their TIFF library:
Copyright © 1988–1997 Sam Leffler
Copyright © 1991–1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software [i.e., the TIFF library] and its
documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices
and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the
names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the
software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS,
IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:
Portions of this software are based on work of the Independent JPEG Group.
The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:
Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.
The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.:
“Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to
derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray
Sauers Associates, Inc. shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller’s failure to
perform reseller’s obligation; or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller’s products or the
software; or any other damages, including but not limited to, incidental, direct, indirect, special or
consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use
reseller’s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data,
even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such
damages.
The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:
“Videomedia, Inc. makes no warranties whatsoever, either express or implied, regarding this product,
including warranties with respect to its merchantability or its fitness for any particular purpose.”
“This software contains V-LAN ver. 3.0 Command Protocols which communicate with V-LAN ver. 3.0
products developed by Videomedia, Inc. and V-LAN ver. 3.0 compatible products developed by third parties
under license from Videomedia, Inc. Use of this software will allow “frame accurate” editing control of
applicable videotape recorder decks, videodisc recorders/players and the like.”
The following disclaimer is required by Altura Software, Inc. for the use of its Mac2Win
software and Sample Source Code:
©1993–1998 Altura Software, Inc.
The following disclaimer is required by Ultimatte Corporation:
Certain real-time compositing capabilities are provided under a license of such technology from Ultimatte
Corporation and are subject to copyright protection.
The following disclaimer is required by 3Prong.com Inc.:
Certain waveform and vector monitoring capabilities are provided under a license from 3Prong.com Inc.
Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend
U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial
computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or
documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with
respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to
FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.
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Film Composer, FilmScribe, FluidMotion, HIIP, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, IllusionFX,
Image Independence, Intraframe, iS9, iS18, iS23, iS36, Lo-Fi, Magic Mask, make manage move | media,
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Sound Designer II, SPACE, SPACEShift, Symphony, Trilligent, UnityRAID, Vari-Fi, Video Slave Driver,
VideoSPACE, and Xdeck are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the
United States and/or other countries.
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Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Apple and Macintosh are trademarks of
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of America. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are
trademarks used under license from Apple Computer, Inc. The QuickTime logo is registered in the U.S.
and other countries. RealMedia is a trademark or registered trademark of RealNetworks, Inc. All other
trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Footage
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Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior.
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Eco Challenge Morocco — Courtesy of Discovery Communications, Inc.
It’s Shuttletime — Courtesy of BCP & Canadian Airlines.
Nestlé Coffee Crisp — Courtesy of MacLaren McCann Canada.
Saturn “Calvin Egg” — Courtesy of Cossette Communications.
“Tigers: Tracking a Legend” — Courtesy of www.wildlifeworlds.com.
Windhorse — Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions.
GOT FOOTAGE?
Editors — Filmmakers — Special Effects Artists — Game Developers — Animators — Educators —
Broadcasters — Content creators of every genre — Just finished an incredible project and want to
share it with the world?
Send us your reels and we may use your footage in our show reel or demo!*
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*Note: Avid cannot guarantee the use of materials submitted.
Avid Products Getting Started Guide • Part 0130-05032-01 • January 2003
Contents
Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
If You Have Documentation Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Avid Educational Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Using the Tutorial Sections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
What You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Turning on Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Installing the Tutorial Files (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Installing the Tutorial Files (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Starting the Avid System (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Starting the Avid System (Macintosh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Electronic Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
How to Proceed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Using Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Setting Up Your Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Getting Help for Screen Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Keeping Help Available (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6
Restoring Help from the Taskbar (Windows Only). . . . . . . . . . . 38
Resizing the Application (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Using Alt+Tab (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Finding Information Within the Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Using the Contents List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Using the Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Using the Search Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using the Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Printing Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Using Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Chapter 2 About the Avid System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
About the Avid System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
About Avid Symphony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
About Avid Film Composer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
About 24p Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
About 25p Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Editing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
About Nonlinear Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Editing Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Project Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Preparing to Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Editing a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Finishing a Sequence (Symphony Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Generating Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Behind the Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Avid Attic Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Chapter 3 Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Copying Project Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Using the Bins Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
About Trash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using the Settings Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7
About Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Reviewing Basic Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Customizing Your Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Tutorial: Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Starting the Application (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Starting the Application (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Opening a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Creating a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Selecting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 4 Digitizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Selecting Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
About the Digitize Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
About the Audio Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
About the Video Input Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Digitizing Preparations Check List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
About Digitizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Digitizing and Logging at the Same Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Batch Digitizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Redigitizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
About Bin Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Using Position Bars and Position Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Using Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Play Reverse, Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, and Fast Forward
Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Step Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Using the Tool Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Using the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
J-K-L Keys (Three-Button Play). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Home, End, and Arrow Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Stepping with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8
Shuttling with the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Marking IN and OUT Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Tutorial: Getting Ready to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Viewing Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Using Text View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Using Frame View (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Using Frame View (Macintosh). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Playing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Playing Clips in the Source Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Marking Edit Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Marking the planing ms Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Marking the ducks Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Marking the draw knife cu Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Using Timecode to Find a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Using Frame Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Subclipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Clearing IN Points and OUT Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Closing the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Ending the Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Chapter 6 Editing a Rough Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Viewing Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Navigating in the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Using the Position Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Using the Scroll Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Displaying More or Less Detail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Focusing the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Displaying Source Material in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Using the Track Selector Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Selecting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Monitoring Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Monitoring Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Auto-Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
9
Tutorial: Rough Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Making the First Edit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Using Digital Audio Scrub to Locate a Specific Frame of Audio . . 122
Splicing an Audio Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Playing a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Confirming the Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Splicing Video into the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Splicing a Clip in a Pop-up Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Playing IN to OUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Using the Go to OUT Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Moving to the Head and Tail of a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Using the Splice-in Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Splicing a Clip into the Middle of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Undoing an Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Using the I/O (IN Point / OUT Point) Tracking Display . . . . . . . . . 131
Chapter 7 Refining the Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Using Segment Mode to Edit in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Editing in Segment Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Distinguishing Between Two Types of Editing Buttons . . . . . . . . . 134
Basic Trim Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Entering Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Exiting Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Switching Between Big and Small Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Selecting Between Trim Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Performing a Basic Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Using the Command Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Audio Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Adjusting Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Tutorial: Refining Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Overwriting Clips into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Storyboarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Marking Clips for Storyboarding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Storyboard Editing the Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Rearranging Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
10
Overwriting with the Three-Point Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Changing the Order of Clips in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Removing Footage from a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Removing Footage and Closing the Resulting Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Removing Footage and Retaining the Resulting Gap . . . . . . . . . . 153
Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Adjusting Both Sides of a Transition (Dual-Roller Trimming) . . . . . 154
Using Dual Rollers to Trim the Outgoing Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Trimming the pan lumber Clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Single-Roller Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Adding Synced Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Working with Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Adjusting Audio Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Adjusting Audio Pan (Balance). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Chapter 8 Adding Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Effects Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Displaying the Effect Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Effect Categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Effect Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Segment Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Applying Effects to a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Working in Effect Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Rendering an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Tutorial: Adding Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Adding Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Displaying Editing Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Adding a Dissolve Effect (Fade-In). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Dissolving Between Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Creating a Series of Dissolves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Creating Audio Dissolves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Adding a Fade-to-Black Effect Within the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Adding a Picture-in-Picture Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Using the Second Video Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
11
Creating the Picture-in-Picture Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Repositioning the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Adjusting a Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Adding Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Adding Background Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Rendering the Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Screening the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Chapter 9 Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Creating New Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Understanding the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Text Formatting Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Selecting Colors and Setting Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Adjusting the Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Editing a Title into a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Tutorial: Creating Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Adding a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Creating a New Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Repositioning Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Changing Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Adding a Shadow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Saving a Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Editing the Title into the Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Adding Rolling Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Editing an Existing Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Adding a Video Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Viewing the Creation Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Splicing the Title into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Deleting Excess Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Closing the Title Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
12
Chapter 10 Finishing Your Sequence (Symphony Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Finishing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Using Finishing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Selecting and Correcting Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Color Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
About the Paint and AniMatte Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
About the 3D Effects Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
About Nesting Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Tutorial: Finishing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Removing Red from a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Adding a Blurred Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Chapter 11 Generating Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Output Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Preparing for Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Digital Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
About Exporting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Preparing to Export a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Tutorial: Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Recording a Digital Cut to Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Chapter 12 Backing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
About Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Media Objects and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Media Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Basic Media Tool Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Freeing Storage Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Consolidating Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
About the Consolidate Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Backing Up Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Backing Up Project Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Tutorial: Backing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Consolidating the Boat Shop Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Saving Your Work on a Drive or Floppy Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
13
Restoring from a Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Quitting and Shutting Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
14
Figures
Figure 1 Command Palette Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Figure 1 Command Palette Tabs (Continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
15
Tables
Table 1 Mark Points for Tutorial Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Table 2 Media Objects and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
16
Using This Guide
This guide provides information about how to get started using your Avid
system. It presents the essential features of the system; most chapters also
contain hands-on tutorials so you can practice what you learn.
n
The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models.
Therefore, your system might not contain certain features and hardware
that are covered in the documentation.
Who Should Use This Guide
This guide is written for video and film editors who are learning to use an
Avid video-based editing system.
About This Guide
This guide was designed to be used for both the Avid Symphony
™
product
and the Avid Media Composer
®
or Film Composer
®
product.
The Contents that precedes this Using This Guide section lists all topics
included in the guide. They are presented with the following overall
structure:
• Chapter 1 explains how to turn on your system, install the tutorial
media, and use Help and online documentation.
• Chapter 2 presents basic editing concepts and walks you through a
typical workflow scenario.
Using This Guide
18
• The main body of the guide presents introductory material on various
aspects of your workflow, followed in most chapters by a tutorial
section. Work through the tutorial for guided hands-on experience with
your Avid system.
• A detailed Index helps you quickly locate specific topics.
This guide should get you started with your Avid system. For more
information, see the Help and the Avid Symphony Editing Guide or the
Avid Media Composer and Film Composer Editing Guide.
Symbols and Conventions
When the text applies specifically to the Symphony product, it is marked as
follows:
• (Symphony only) means the information applies to the Avid
Symphony product only.
Unless noted otherwise, the material in this document applies to the
Windows 2000 and Mac OS X operating systems. When the text applies to
a specific operating system, it is marked as follows:
• (Windows) or (Windows only) means the information applies to the
Windows 2000 operating system.
• (Macintosh) or (Macintosh only) means the information applies to the
Mac OS X operating system.
The majority of screen shots in this document were captured on a
Windows 2000 system, but the information applies to both Windows 2000
and Mac OS X systems. Where differences exist, both Windows 2000 and
Mac OS X screen shots are shown.
Symbols and Conventions
19
Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:
Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action
n
A note provides important related information,
reminders, recommendations, and strong
suggestions.
c
A caution means that a specific action you take could
cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose
data.
w
A warning describes an action that could cause you
physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this
document or on the unit itself when handling
electrical equipment.
> This symbol indicates menu commands (and
subcommands) in the order you select them. For
example, File > Import means to open the File menu
and then select the Import command.
t
This symbol indicates a single-step procedure.
Multiple arrows in a list indicate that you perform
one of the actions listed.
k This symbol represents the Apple or Command key.
Press and hold the Command key and another key to
perform a keyboard shortcut.
Margin tips In the margin, you will find tips that help you
perform tasks more easily and efficiently.
Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to
indicate variables.
Courier Bold font
Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.
Click Quickly press and release the left mouse button
(Windows) or the mouse button (Macintosh).
Double-click Click the left mouse button (Windows) or the mouse
button (Macintosh) twice rapidly.
Using This Guide
20
If You Need Help
If you are having trouble using your Avid system, you should:
1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task
in this guide. It is especially important to check each step of your
workflow.
2. Check the release notes supplied with your Avid application for the
latest information that might have become available after the hardcopy
documentation was printed.
3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or
your hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.
4. Visit the online Knowledge Center at www.avid.com/support. Online
services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this
online Knowledge Center to find answers, to view error messages, to
access troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read/join
online message-board discussions.
5. For Technical Support, please call 800-800-AVID (800-800-2843).
For Broadcast On-Air Sites and Call Letter Stations, call
800-NEWSDNG (800-639-7364).
Right-click Quickly press and release the right mouse button
(Windows only).
Drag Press and hold the left mouse button (Windows) or
the mouse button (Macintosh) while you move the
mouse.
Ctrl+key
k+key
Press and hold the first key while you press the
second key.
Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action
/