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Car Video System PT
User Manual
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Avid Technology Car Video System PT User Manual

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Media Station|PT Guide
Ver si on 2.7
Legal Notices
This guide is copyrighted ©2007 by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Digidesign.
Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.
PN 9106-56839-00 REV C 12/07
Comments or suggestions regarding our documentation? email: techpubs@digidesign.com
Avid products or portions thereof are protected by one or more of the following
United States Patents:
4,746,994; 4,970,663; 5,045,940; 5,267,351; 5,309,528; 5,355,450; 5,396,594;
5,440,348; 5,467,288; 5,513,375; 5,528,310; 5,557,423; 5,568,275;
5,584,006; 6,704,445; 6,747,705; 6,763,134; 6,766,063; 6,791,556; 6,810,157; 6,813,622; 6,847,373; 6,871,003; 6,871,161; 6,901,211; 6,907,191; 6,928,187; 6,933,948; 6,961,801; 7,043,058; 7,081,900; 7,103,231;
5,577,190; 5,584,006; 5,640,601; 5,644,364; 5,654,737; 5,715,018; 5,724,605; 5,726,717; 5,729,673; 5,745,637; 5,752,029; 5,754,851; 5,799,150; 5,812,216; 5,852,435; 5,905,841; 5,929,836; 5,930,445; 5,946,445; 5,987,501; 6,016,152; 6,018,337; 6,023,531; 6,058,236; 6,061,758; 6,091,778; 6,105,083; 6,118,444; 6,128,001; 6,134,607; 6,137,919; 6,141,691; 6,198,477; 6,201,531; 6,223,211; 6,249,280; 6,269,195; 6,317,158; 6,317,515; 6,330,369; 6,351,557; 6,353,862; 6,357,047; 6,392,710; 6,404,435; 6,407,775; 6,417,891; 6,426,778; 6,477,271; 6,489,969; 6,512,522; 6,532,043; 6,546,190; 6,552,731; 6,553,142; 6,570,624; 6,571,255; 6,583,824; 6,618,547; 6,636,869; 6,665,450; 6,678,461; 6,687,407; D392,269; D396,853; D398,912. Other patents are pending..
contents
Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Video Output Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Supported Video Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Support for Avid Interplay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Support for Avid Unity ISIS and MediaNetwork Storage Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Avid Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
About the Pro Tools Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Conventions Used in This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
About www.digidesign.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 2. Installing Media Station|PT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Media Station|PT Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Upgrading Media Station|PT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Overview of Media Station|PT Installed as a Standalone Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Overview of Media Station|PT Installed as a Video Satellite System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Overview of Media Station|PT Installed on the Same Computer as Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Installing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Making Ethernet Connections with Video Satellite Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Full-Screen Playback of Video in Media Station|PT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Installing Media Station|PT Software on Windows XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Installing Media Station|PT Software on Mac OS X. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Authorizing Media Station|PT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Authorizing the Video Satellite Option in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Formatting Video Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Connecting and Configuring Media Station|PT to a Unity Storage System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Configuring Media Station|PT as a Client of an Avid Interplay System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Authorizing Media Station|PT After Installing for the First Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Launching Media Station|PT for the First Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Contents iii
Chapter 3. Basic Media Station|PT Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Starting a New Project with Media Station|PT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Changing Video Output Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Capturing Audio and Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Re-Digitizing an Existing Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Digitizing from an EDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Importing Non-MXF and Non-OMFI Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Entering Full-Screen Playback Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Down-Converting an HD Project to SD Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Assembling Clips in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Exporting Audio and Video from Media Station|PT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Transcoding HD Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Importing Audio and Video into Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Editing Audio in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Exporting Audio from Pro Tools for Media Station PT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Importing Audio into Media Station|PT from Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Synchronizing Audio with a Media Station|PT Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Methods of Exporting Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Chapter 4. Media Station|PT Video Satellite Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Cross-Mounting Media Storage on Remote Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Opening Sequences for Playback on a Video Satellite System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Opening an Avid Sequence from a Volume Supporting Direct Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Opening an Avid Sequence from a Volume Not Supported for Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Saving, Recalling, and Using Export Settings to Export AAF Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Opening an AAF Sequence for Playback on a Video Satellite System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Using a Video Satellite in an Avid Interplay Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Connecting Pro Tools and a Video Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Matching Media Station|PT and Pro Tools Settings in a Video Satellite System . . . . . . . . . . 115
Linking or Unlinking Pro Tools and a Video Satellite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Capturing Audio and Video with a Video Satellite System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Re-Digitizing an Existing Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Digitizing from an EDL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Laying Back Audio and Video to Tape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Exporting Audio and Video as a Digital Movie from a Video Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Media Station|PT Guideiv
chapter 1

Introduction

Avid Media Station|PT software is designed ex­clusively for audio-related post-production work either as a standalone application or in conjunc­tion with Pro Tools and Avid Mojo SDI, Avid Mojo, or Digidesign AVoption|V10 (re­ferred to here as Avid video peripherals).

Media Station|PT Limitations

Media Station|PT has the same basic engines and components as the full line of Avid editing ap­plications (such as Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro). However, it has been tailored to the needs of the audio post-production work­flows described in this guide and therefore has the following limitations when compared to other non-linear video editing applications:
• Editing is limited to inserting, overlaying, lifting, and cutting.
• Effects can be rendered, but not added or edited.

Video Output Options

Media Station|PT lets you output video using ei­ther of the following configurations:
• Playback to an external video monitor (Avid video peripheral required)
• Full-screen playback on your primary or sec­ondary computer monitor via DVI output

Playback to an External NTSC or PAL Video Monitor

(Avid Video Peripherals Only)
Media Station|PT requires an Avid video periph­eral for high-quality, frame edge-aligned play­back of SD video (or 1080 HD video converted to SD video) to an external NTSC or PAL monitor.
When outputting 1080 HD video using this con­figuration, you can either transcode an HD se­quence to SD video or down-convert an entire HD project to SD video in real-time. Transcod­ing HD video can take some time but results in higher quality output, while down-converting is immediate but results in lower quality output.
720p projects cannot be converted to SD.
See “Transcoding HD Sequences” on page 66 or “Down-Converting an HD Project to SD Video” on page 54.
Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Full-Screen Playback via DVI Output to a Computer Monitor

With a supported video card installed, Media Station|PT provides full-screen playback of SD or HD video through a DVI port to your primary or secondary computer monitor.
When you play back video on a monitor with a refresh rate that differs from the video frame rate (as is often the case during playback of video through a DVI output), the output yields visual artifacts and offsets in synchronization between audio and video. For example, this oc­curs during playback of a 24 fps video clip on a DVI monitor with a refresh rate of 75 Hz.
If your workflow requires high-quality play­back, you must output video through an Avid video peripheral to an NTSC or PAL monitor.
For detailed information on the quality of DVI output to your primary or secondary monitor, see “Video Frame Rate vs. Monitor Refresh Rate” on page 45.

Supported Video Resolutions

Media Station|PT supports the import, capture, and playback of all video resolutions and frame rates (including HD video) supported by Avid Media Composer:
• Avid DNxHD (10-bit and 8-bit 4:2:2) at 1080i at 59.94, 50 fps; 1080p at 25, 24, 23.976 fps; 720p at 59.94, 23.976 and 50 fps
Media Station|PT supports the import, play­back, and export of DNxHD video. DNxHD capture is not supported.
• Native DVCPRO HD support for 1080i 59.94, 50 fps; 720p at 59.94, 23.976 and 50 fps Na­tive XDCAM HD support for 1080i at 59.94, 50 fps; 1080p at 25, 23.976 fps
• Native HDV support for 1080i at 59.94, 50 fps; 1080p; 720p at 29.976 fps
• All standard-definition Avid OMF and MXF video files
The oldest class of ABVB files (ABVB “MFM” files) are not supported in Pro Tools. These files were created with ver­sions of Media Composer lower than 7.0, and do not have the .omf extension.
• Avid IMX MPEG50, MPEG40, MPEG30, and OP1a files
• DV50, DV25 and DVC Pro 25 resolutions compressed with the Avid codec, including:
• DV25 411: DV25 interlaced scan at 4:1:1 sampling (for NTSC 30i and PAL 25i projects)
• DV25 420: DV25 interlaced scan at 4:2:0 sampling (for PAL 25i projects)
• DV25p 411: DV25 progressive scan at 4:1:1 sampling (for NTSC 23.976p and NTSC 24p projects)
Media Station|PT Guide2
• DV25p 420: DV25 progressive scan at 4:2:0 sampling (for PAL 25p and PAL 24p projects)
• All standard-definition Avid Multi-Cam Resolution files
• The following video resolutions created with the Avid DV, JFIF or MXF video codecs:
• 1:1 (Uncompressed JFIF/MXF)
•DV50
• DV25 4:1:1
• DV25 4:2:0
• DV25P 4:1:1
• DV25P 4:2:0
• 15:1s 4:2:2
• 14:1P 4:2:2
• 28:1P 4:2:2
• 35:1P 4:2:2
For detailed information on supported resolutions and frame rates, see Avid Media Station|PT online help or visit the Avid website (www.avid.com).
To launch online help:
• Choose Help > Online Help (Windows) or Help > Avid Media Station|PT Help (Mac).

Supported Frame Rates and Avid Project Types

Media Station|PT supports the import, capture, and playback of video at the following rates:
• 23.976p NTSC
•24p NTSC
•30i NTSC
•24p PAL
•25p PAL
•25i PAL
• 720p/23.976
• 720p/29.97 HDV
•720p/50
•720p/59.94
• 1080p/23.976
• 1080p/24
• 1080p/25
• 1080i/50
• 1080i/50 HDV
• 1080i/59.94
• 1080i/59.94 HDV
HD projects that are interlaced have an ac­tual frame rate that is half that implied by the format description. For example, a 1080i/50 project has a frame rate of 25 fps, so an AAF sequence destined for this project should be exported from Pro Tools at 25 fps. In a progressive HD project, the true frame rate is implied in the project name. For ex­ample, a 720p/59.94 project has a frame rate of 59.94 fps, so an AAF sequence des­tined for this project should be exported from Pro Tools at 59.94 fps.
Chapter 1: Introduction 3

Support for Avid Interplay

Both Media Station|PT and Pro Tools support in­tegration with Avid Interplay.
Avid Interplay lets Pro Tools and Avid editors in­tegrate the complete workflow of each project by managing assets, tracking versions, and pro­viding powerful metadata and commenting ca­pabilities. Interplay also automates the data flow, eliminating errors and shielding users from complex import/export steps.
When connected to an Interplay system, Media Station|PT can:
• Check out projects and sequences from Inter­play, and export media as needed for Pro Tools
• Check in projects and sequences, including fi­nal audio created in Pro Tools
When equipped with the Pro Tools Avid Inter­play Option, Pro Tools can:
• Open AAF sequences formatted specifically for Pro Tools directly from Interplay.
• Export audio tracks directly back to the se­quence on Interplay, either adding to or re­placing existing audio tracks.

Support for Avid Unity ISIS and MediaNetwork Storage Systems

Avid Unity ISIS and Unity MediaNetwork are high-speed network storage systems that let multiple users store and share media through a gigabit Ethernet connection (for ISIS) or fibre channel connection (for MediaNetwork).
Media Station|PT and other Avid applications can use a Unity system to share the same media as follows:
• Stream audio and video media in real time
• Share Pro Tools, Avid, AAF, OMF, and MXF au­dio and video sequences
• Share AAF sequences using the Avid Interplay asset management system (Avid Interplay sys­tem required).
For detailed workflows, see the following sec­tions:
• “Checking In a Sequence to Interplay for Pro Tools” on page 69
• “Importing a Sequence into Pro Tools from In­terplay” on page 75
• “Exporting Edited Audio Tracks to Interplay from Pro Tools” on page 81
• “Importing Pro Tools Audio Files Back into Media Station|PT from Avid Interplay” on page 84
Media Station|PT Guide4

Avid Terminology

This section provides a brief glossary of Avid terms and, where applicable, their Pro Tools counterparts.
Clip A Clip references one or more media files which play in synchronization, for instance a video file and its two audio tracks. Clips are stored in bins.
Subclip A Subclip in Media Station|PT is like a re­gion in Pro Tools: it is a shorter version of the clip from which it was created. Subclips are also stored in bins.
Avid Sequence An Avid sequence is equivalent to a Pro Tools session: It is a collection of clips and subclips organized in a Timeline. Sequences are stored in bins.
AAF/OMF Sequence AAF and the older OMF are standards designed specifically for exchanging sequences between applications. Media Station|PT and Pro Tools can import and play AAF or OMF sequences. Media Station|PT can export Avid sequences as AAF or OMF se­quences for import into Pro Tools. Pro Tools can export tracks from a session as an AAF or OMF sequence for import into Media Station|PT or other Avid editing applications.
Projects Projects are where you organize a num­ber of bins. Bins can also be shared between projects.
In one project, you could create a new bin to hold all of your video clips and a bin to hold your sound effects, and a bin for sequences. You could close that project, open a new project and open the sound effects bin from the first project to use the same audio in a different sequence. Projects are stored at a user definable location.
Source Monitor The Source Monitor is the Video window above the Timeline (on the left). Use the Source Monitor to select what will be added to the sequence in the Timeline
Record Monitor The Record Monitor is the Video window above the Timeline (on the right). Play­back of the sequence in the Timeline is viewed in the Record Monitor.
Timeline The Media Station|PT Timeline shows the assorted audio and video elements arranged in a linear sequence, as in Pro Tools.
Client Monitor The client monitor is an external NTSC, PAL, HD or DVI monitor used to display the video output of Media Station|PT.
Bins Bins are like folders where you organize clips and sequences. Bins are stored in the indi­vidual project folders.
Chapter 1: Introduction 5

Pro Tools and Avid Counterparts

AAF, OMF, and MXF Basics

Pro Tools and Avid use different terms to de­scribe the same items. For example, a Pro Tools session is equivalent to an Avid sequence. The following table lists common Pro Tools ele­ments and their Avid equivalents.
Pro Tools and Avid terminology counterparts
Pro Tools Avid (AAF/OMF)
session sequence
whole file region master clip
region subclip
plug-ins real-time audio effects
automation automation gain (clip-based
gain or key-frame gain)
Bounce to Disk Video Mixdown
Whole audio files in the Pro Tools Regions List normally appear in bold type. However, master clip audio files imported from AAF or OMF sequences into Pro Tools will not appear in bold type even though they are whole audio files.
AAF and OMF files are mechanisms for storing and retrieving media data and metadata so that projects can be freely exchanged between differ­ent applications and platforms (such as between Pro Tools and Avid video editing applications).
Media data and metadata enable an application that receives AAF and OMF sequence files to au­tomatically and quickly reassemble the compo­sition. A simple metaphor for this approach is that media data files are the pieces of a puzzle and metadata is the set of instructions for as­sembling the puzzle.
In the simplest case, only an AAF or OMF se­quence is exchanged. If this sequence points to existing media files, the size of the sequence file is relatively small and the export/import process is relatively fast.
AAF and OMF sequences can also have media data embedded in them. This creates a single, larger file that is slower to export and import, but which may be easier to manage than thou­sands of files stored on different volumes.
Pro Tools supports AAF and OMF sequences that contain embedded audio media.
Pro Tools with DigiTranslator does not support AAF or OMF sequences containing embedded video media, except if you are importing such sequences into a video satellite track. In such cases, video metadata is imported into the track.
For the purposes of this user guide, AAF se­quences are emphasized and referenced over the older OMF sequence standard.
Media Station|PT Guide6
MXF
AAF
MXF is a media file format. There are MXF video files and MXF audio files, but there are no “MXF sequences.” An AAF sequence may refer to or in­clude MXF media files, but OMF sequences can­not refer to or include MXF files.
Media Station|PT Support for MXF Media
Media Station|PT supports MXF media as fol­lows:
• Create MXF media when capturing, transcod­ing, rendering, or using other methods to cre­ate media.
• Import of MXF media files created in other Avid applications
• Export of MXF audio and video files
Pro Tools Support for MXF Media
Pro Tools supports MXF media as follows:
• Import of MXF video and audio media
• Export of MXF audio media
Pro Tools cannot export video files of any type.
Video files digitized in Pro Tools are technically of the MXF format, but are intended only for use in Pro Tools and are not tested for compatibility with other applications.
AAF sequences are the best way to exchange projects and maintain valuable metadata. An AAF sequence can refer to OMF and/or MXF me­dia files, or have OMF and MXF media files em­bedded within them. There is no such thing as an AAF audio or video media file.
Media Station|PT Support for AAF Sequences
Media Station|PT supports AAF sequences as fol­lows:
• Import and export of AAF sequences with em­bedded video files (MXF or OMF) and/or au­dio files (MXF, WAV, or AIFF).
• Import and export of AAF sequences that refer to external (linked) video files (MXF or OMF) and/or audio files (MXF, WAV, or AIFF)
Pro Tools Support for AAF Sequences
With DigiTranslator 2.0, Pro Tools supports AAF sequences as follows:
• Import and export of AAF sequences that con­tain embedded or refer to external (linked) MXF, WAV, or AIFF audio files
• Import of AAF sequences that refer to external (linked) MXF or OMF video files
• Video satellite systems only: Import of AAF se­quences containing embedded video to a sat­ellite track, in which case Pro Tools imports only the metadata (cuts and clip names) and not the video
Pro Tools does not export video files, tracks or metadata as part of AAF sequences.
Chapter 1: Introduction 7
OMF
Embedded Media
OMF is both a media file and sequence format. OMF media files can be audio or video.
Media Station|PT Support for OMF Media and Sequences
Media Station|PT supports OMF media and se­quences as follows:
• Import and export of OMF sequences with embedded OMF video files and WAV or AIFF audio files
• Import and export of OMF sequences that re­fer to external (linked) OMF video files and WAV or AIFF audio files
Pro Tools Support for OMF Media and Sequences
With DigiTranslator 2.0, Pro Tools supports OMF media and sequences as follows:
• Import of OMF video files created by Media Station|PT or other Avid applications
• Export of OMF audio files
• Import and playback of OMF sequences that refer to external (linked) audio files or contain embedded audio files
• Import and playback of OMF sequences that refer to external (linked) OMF video files
• Export of OMF sequences that refer to exter­nal (linked) audio files or contain embedded audio files
• Video satellite systems only: Import of OMF sequences containing embedded video to a satellite track, in which case Pro Tools imports only the metadata (cuts and clip names) and not the video
• Pro Tools does not export video files, tracks or metadata as part of OMF sequences.
Exporting to OMF or AAF with embedded media results in one large OMF or AAF file containing both the metadata and all associated media files. However, it is important to note that file size is limited to 2 GB.
Media Data (Media Files)
Media data represents raw audio or video mate­rial and is stored in individual media files. Every time you record a piece of video or audio mate­rial into an application, you are creating a media file containing media data. Audio media data is stored as samples (such as 44,100 or 48,000 sam­ples per second of recording) while video media is typically stored as frames (24, 25, or 30 frames per second of recording).
The size of each media file depends on how much audio or video material it contains. For example, if you record ten minutes of continu­ous video material at a high resolution, you might end up with a video media file that is
1.8 GB in size, whereas a one minute recording at the same resolution might result in a 180 MB file. Media files tend to be large, since high qual­ity audio and video signals are data intensive. Video data generally requires considerably more storage than audio data.
Media Station|PT Guide8
MXF Media Data Locations On the volumes you have designated for media storage, Media Station|PT stores all MXF media:
• When stored locally, MXF media is placed in the Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1 folder. Media Station|PT can also read MXF media located at Avid MediaFiles/MXF/2, Avid MediaFiles/MXF/3, and so on.
• When stored in a shared environment, MXF media is placed in a folder called Avid MediaFiles/MXF/client.1 (where client represents the name of the client com­puter).
• For AAF or OMF sequences, information about automation (clip-based gain or key­frame gain).

Embedded Media and Linked Media

There are two ways to handle media files when exporting AAF or OMF files:
• Embedded media (in which the media files are embedded in an AAF or OMF sequence)
• Linked media (in which media files are ref­erenced by an AAF or OMF sequence)
This guide refers to the root folder name (Avi d MediaFiles) whenever referencing this folder.
OMF Media Data Locations On the volumes you have designated, Media Station|PT stores all OMF media in the OMFI MediaFiles folder.
Metadata
Metadata is used to describe:
• Information about each media file. This may include sample rate, bit depth, region names, the name of the videotape from which the media file was captured, and even time code values that specify where a file was used in a Pro Tools session.
• Information about Pro Tools sessions or other sequences, including what files are used, where they appear in a Timeline, and automation.
• For AAF or OMF sequences, metadata also includes information about unrendered AudioSuite effects (such as real-time EQ) on Avid workstations. Pro Tools skips unren­dered effects on import. Rendered effects are media files, that can be imported or skipped on import into Pro Tools.
Pro Tools with DigiTranslator 2.0 lets you im­port AAF or OMF sequences containing embed­ded audio files. You can also import AAF or OMF sequences containing embedded video files, but only if you are importing them to a video satel­lite track. In such a case, only the video meta­data is imported.
Chapter 1: Introduction 9
Frame-Rate Accurate Video
One Pro Tools audio region
5 frame video clip
The original audio region does not line up on video frame boundaries
Three exported audio regions
5 frame video clip
Exported audio regions line up on video frame boundaries
New audio region with padded silence
New audio region with padded silence
Editing and Sample-Rate Accurate Audio Editing
Media Station|PT edits with frame accuracy. This means that in a 30-fps project, you can edit at 30 different locations for every one second of video. Pro Tools edits with sample rate accuracy. In a 48-kHz session, there are potentially 48000 locations to edit for every second of audio.
When Pro Tools exports an AAF or OMF compo­sition destined for an Avid application, it must ensure that the audio files line up on frame boundaries. To do this, it might have to split an existing audio region into three clips. For exam­ple, the following illustration shows a 5-frame video clip and a corresponding audio region. In Pro Tools, the audio regions might not line up on video frame boundaries.
In order to export frame accurate audio regions, Pro Tools splits the audio media on frame boundaries and fills any gaps with silence. The following illustration shows the resulting audio regions that are exported to Media Station|PT.
When you use Export Selected Tracks as OMF/AFF to export tracks from Pro Tools with Enforce Avid Compatibility enabled, a number of additional media files labeled Sample Accu­rate Edit appear in the Avid bins. These are the additional media files that Pro Tools creates to ensure that Media Station|PT receives frame-ac­curate audio. You also see the sample-accurate edit media files if you zoom in on the imported audio in the Timeline.
Figure 1. Original audio region
Figure 2. Exported audio region
Media Station|PT Guide10

System Requirements

System requirements vary depending on how Media Station|PT is installed:
•As a video satellite of a separate Pro Tools sys­tem
•As a standard system, which can be installed in either of the following ways:
• As a standalone application
• Installed on the same computer with your Pro Tools system
Requirements also vary depending upon the op­tional peripherals installed.

Video Satellite System Requirements

• Digidesign-qualified Windows computer
• iLok dongle for the related Pro Tools sys­tem
• Avid Application Key (dongle)
• Avid video peripheral (required for high­quality video output)

Standard System Requirements

• Digidesign-qualified Mac or Windows com­puter
• Avid Application Key (dongle)
• Avid video peripheral (required for high­quality video output)

Avid Video Peripherals

For high-quality frame edge-aligned playback of SD video (or 1080 HD video converted to SD video), you must add the I/O capabilities of an Avid video peripheral, which includes compos­ite, component, S-Video and SDI.
Supported Avid Video Peripherals
Media Station|PT supports the following Avid video peripherals:
•Avid Mojo SDI
•Avid Mojo
• Digidesign AVoption|V10
When using an Avid video peripheral, the fol­lowing is required:
• An NTSC/PAL black burst generator

Digidesign Audio Peripherals (Optional)

Media Station|PT plays audio via your com­puter's built-in audio outputs through Avid Mojo or Avid Mojo SDI's analog audio out­puts, or through AVoption|V10's optical out­puts, and can capture audio via the Avid Mojo or Avid Mojo SDI.
Supported Digidesign Audio Peripherals
For the highest-quality audio input and output, Media Station|PT supports the following Digi­design audio peripherals:
•192 I/O
•192digital I/O
•96 I/O
Using Digidesign audio peripherals with Media Station|PT requires the following:
• Digidesign-qualified version of Pro Tools HD software
• Pro Tools HD Core Card
• Digidesign SYNC I/O or SYNC HD
Chapter 1: Introduction 11
Compatibility Information
Digidesign can only assure compatibility and provide support for hardware and software it has tested and approved.
For a list of Digidesign-qualified computers, op­erating systems, hard drives, and third-party de­vices, as well as information about specific ver­sions of ATTO and nVidia software, refer to the support pages at the Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com).

Conventions Used in This Guide

All Digidesign guides use the following conven­tions to indicate menu choices and key com­mands:
:
Convention Action
File > Save Choose Save from the
File menu
Control+N Hold down the Control
key and press the N key

About the Pro Tools Guides

In addition to the printed guides that came with your system, PDF versions of the Pro Tools guides are installed automatically with Pro Tools. To view or print the PDF guides, you can use Adobe Reader or Apple Preview.
Control-click Hold down the Control
key and click the mouse button
Right-click Click with the right
mouse button
The following symbols are used to highlight im­portant information:
User Tips are helpful hints for getting the most from your system.
Important Notices include information that could affect your data or the performance of your system.
Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or mouse shortcuts.
Cross References point to related sections in this guide or other Pro Tools Guides.
Media Station|PT Guide12

About www.digidesign.com

The Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com) is your best online source for information to help you get the most out of your system. The follow­ing are just a few of the services and features available.
Product Registration Register your purchase on­line. See the enclosed Digidesign Registration Information Card for instructions.
Support and Downloads Contact Digidesign Technical Support or Customer Service; down­load software updates and the latest online manuals; browse the Compatibility documents for system requirements; search the online An­swerbase; join the worldwide Pro Tools commu­nity on the Digidesign User Conference.
Training and Education Become a certified Pro Tools Operator or Expert; study on your own using courses available online, or find out how you can learn in a classroom setting at a certified Pro Tools Training Center.
Products and Developers Learn about Digidesign products; download demo software; learn about our Development Partners and their plug-ins, applications, and hardware.
News and Events Get the latest news from Digidesign; sign up for a Pro Tools demo.
To learn more about these and other resources available from Digidesign, visit the Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com).
Chapter 1: Introduction 13
Media Station|PT Guide14
chapter 2

Installing Media Station|PT

This chapter describes how to install Media Station|PT software and related peripher­als.

Media Station|PT Configurations

You can use Media Station|PT in three different configurations, as follows:
Standalone Media Station|PT is installed on a computer without Pro Tools installed, and func­tions as a standalone application. When in­stalled in this way on Windows XP, this config­uration can easily be modified to become a video satellite.
Video Satellite (Windows XP Only)
Media Station|PT is installed on a computer that does not have Pro Tools installed, and functions as a video satellite of Pro Tools.

Upgrading Media Station|PT

This section describes how to prepare your sys­tem for upgrading from a previous version of Media Station|PT or Media Station|V10.

Preserving Existing User Settings Before Upgrading from Media Station|V10

Media Station|PT handles user settings differ­ently from Media Station|V10. For optimal per­formance, it is strongly recommended that you create a new user profile after upgrading to Media Station|PT.
If you have user settings in Media Station|V10 that you do not want to lose, you can preserve them before uninstalling Media Station|V10 and then copy them into your new user profile after installing Media Station|PT.
Co-installed with Pro Tools Media Station|PT is installed on the same computer with Pro Tools, and can be launched when Pro Tools is not run­ning.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 15
To preserve user profile settings before
User Profile Selection pop-up menu
uninstalling Avid Media Station|V10:
1 Open the project in Media Station|V10.
2 In the Project window, click the Settings tab.
Project window (Settings tab)
3 Choose Special > Site Setting. The Site Setting
window opens.
4 Drag the settings you want to preserve from
the Project window to the Site Settings window.
5 Quit Media Station|PT. The contents of the
Site Settings window are automatically saved.
The settings you have added to this window will now be available to copy back to the Settings tab after Media Station|PT is installed.
See “Creating a New User After Upgrading from Media Station|V10” on page 40 for more information.
Uninstalling Pro Tools and Avid­Related Software on Windows XP
Before upgrading, you must uninstall all earlier versions of Pro Tools and Avid-related software.
To uninstall software:
1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
2 Launch Add or Remove Programs.
3 From the Currently Installed Programs list,
choose one of the following in any order:
• Digidesign Pro Tools HD
•AVoptionDNA
• Avid Media Station|PT or Avid Media Station|V10
•Avid DNADiags
• Avid Log Exchange
• EDL Manager
4 Click the Change/Remove button.
5 Follow the on-screen instructions to remove
the software.
If uninstalling Pro Tools, choose Pro Tools and Digidesign Device Drivers when prompted.
6 Do one of the following:
• If you want to continue uninstalling addi­tional software after the uninstall is com­plete, select “No, I will restart my computer later” and repeat this procedure until you have uninstalled all of the software.
– or –
• If you are finished uninstalling all of the software, restart the computer.
Media Station|PT Guide16
Uninstalling Pro Tools and Avid­Related Software on Mac OS X
Before upgrading, you must uninstall all earlier versions of Pro Tools and Avid-related software.
Uninstalling Media Station|PT 1.8.2 or Lower
The Media Station|PT 2.7 installer application is not the same as the installer application used with previous releases. Therefore, the 2.7 in­staller cannot successfully uninstall Media Station|PT 1.8.2 and lower. If you are up­grading from version 1.8.2 or lower, you must uninstall using a different installer on the Media Station|PT 2.7 installer disc.
To uninstall Media Station|PT 1.8.2 or lower:
1 Insert the Media Station|PT 2.7 installer disc
into your computer’s CD/DVD drive.
2 Locate and open the Other Installers folder.
2 Go to Applications/Digidesign/Pro Tools/
Pro Tools Utilities and double-click the “Uninstall Pro Tools” file.
3 Click Continue to proceed with the uninstall.
4 Choose the type of uninstall you want to per-
form:
Safe Uninstall Leaves certain plug-ins and sys­tem files needed for compatibility with some Avid products.
Clean Uninstall Removes all Pro Tools files, in­cluding system files, Digidesign plug-ins, and MIDI patch names. This is the recommended option, especially when you are updating to the latest version of Media Station|PT.
5 Click Uninstall.
6 Enter your Administrator password and click
OK.
7 Click Finish to close the Installer window.
3 Double-click the MediaStationPT Uninstaller.
4 Click Continue.
5 Select Uninstall from the pop-up menu.
6 Click Uninstall.
The older version of Media Station|PT is unin­stalled. You can proceed with the installation of Media Station|PT 2.7.
Uninstalling Pro Tools 7.2 and Higher
To uninstall versions of Pro Tools 7.2 and higher on Mac OS X:
1 Make sure you have Administrator privileges
for the computer where Pro Tools is installed.
For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, refer to your Apple OS X docu­mentation.
Uninstalling Pro Tools 7.1 and Lower
To uninstall Pro Tools 7.1 and lower on Mac OS X:
1 Make sure you have Administrator privileges
for the computer where Pro Tools is installed.
For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, refer to your Apple OS X docu­mentation.
2 Do one of the following:
• Insert the Pro Tools Installer CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive. Double-click “Install Pro Tools” or “Install Pro Tools TDM” (whichever is appropriate).
– or –
• Click on the downloaded installer file.
3 Enter your Administrator password and click
OK to authenticate the installation.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 17
4 In the Installer window, choose Uninstall
from the pop-up menu, and click Uninstall.
5 Follow the on-screen instructions to remove
Pro Tools.
6 When finished, click Quit to close the Installer
window.
7 Restart your computer.
Uninstalling Avid Xpress Pro
If this is the case, you must update the Avid Mojo firmware on a different computer. The firmware cannot be updated on the PCIe computer. (This will be true for all Avid Mojo in­terfaces manufactured before January 2006.)
If you attach an Avid Mojo to your PCIe­based Mac G5 or Mac Pro without following these steps, the system will not recognize the Avid Mojo and you will not be able to run Media Station|PT.
To uninstall Avid Xpress Pro on Mac OS X:
1 Insert the installer disc into your computer’s
CD/DVD drive.
2 Locate and launch the Installer.
3 Click Uninstall.
4 Follow the instructions to remove
Avid Xpress Pro from your computer.
5 Restart your computer.
Updating Avid Mojo Firmware for a PCIe­Based Mac
If you are using an Avid Mojo with an Apple PCIe-based computer (such as Apple Mac Pro or Mac G5 PCIe), the computer will not recognize the Avid Mojo firmware if you are upgrading from either of the following applications:
• Media Station|PT 1.6.1 or lower
• Pro Tools 7.0 or lower
To update the firmware:
1 Connect the Avid Mojo to a non-PCIe Mac or
any Windows XP computer.
2 On the computer connected to the Avid Mojo,
install Pro Tools 7.4 or Media Station|PT 2.7.
3 Launch Media Station|PT or Pro Tools. This
updates the firmware in the video peripheral.
A message box opens informing you that you need to power cycle the Avid Mojo and quit the application.
4 Turn off the Avid Mojo, then connect it to the
PCIe computer.
You are now ready to connect the Avid Mojo (with updated firmware) to your PCIe-based Power Mac G5 or Mac Pro system and install Media Station|PT 2.7.
Using an updated Avid video peripheral with an earlier version of Media Station|PT or Pro Tools software downgrades the firm­ware, and you will need to update the firm­ware again as described in this procedure.
See “Installing an Avid Video Peripheral” on page 22 and “Installing Media Station|PT Software on Mac OS X” on page 30.
Media Station|PT Guide18
Overview of Media Station|PT
Shared
Storage
Video Reference
(Black Burst)
Media Station|PT
CPU
(Video
Satellite)
Deck Control or 1394
Video I/O
Local
Storage
VTR
External monitor
Installed as a Standalone Application
To install Media Station|PT as a standalone application, do the following:
1 Install any optional hardware: See “Installing
Hardware” on page 22.
When installed as a standalone application, Media Station|PT comprises the following com­ponents:
• A dedicated Media Station|PT computer
• Local and/or shared storage for audio and video
• Avid video peripheral (required for playback to an external NTSC/PAL monitor, but not re­quired for capture, export, or layback)
• Video reference (connected to the Avid video peripheral and the VTR if present)
• Optional VTR
\
2 Install Media Station|PT software: See “Install-
ing Media Station|PT Software on Windows XP” on page 26 or “Installing Media Station|PT Soft­ware on Mac OS X” on page 30.
When installed as a standalone application, Media Station|PT on Windows XP can easily be configured as a video satellite of Pro Tools. See “Overview of Media Station|PT Installed as a Video Satellite System” on page 20.
Figure 1. Diagram Media Station|PT installed as a standalone application (with required components connected via solid lines and optional components connected via dotted lines)
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 19
Overview of Media Station|PT
Shared
Storage
Video Reference
(Black Burst) or
tri-level sync
Pro Tools
CPU
Media Station|PT
CPU
(Video
Satellite)
Deck Control or 1394
Ethernet connection (directly between two CPUs via hub or through LAN)
Audio I/O
Video I/O
SYNC HD
(or SYNC I/O)
Video
Storage
Audio
Storage
VTR
Speakers
External monitor
Installed as a Video Satellite System
(Windows XP Only)
Pro Tools and a Media Station|PT video satellite are known collectively as a video satellite system, and comprise the following components:
• A dedicated Pro Tools computer with:
• Pro Tools|HD card
• Pro Tools|HD audio interface
•SYNCHD or SYNCI/O
• Video reference (connected to the SYNC HD or SYNC I/O)
• Local and/or shared audio storage (local au­dio storage required and shared storage op­tional on Mac OS X)
• Video Satellite Option installed
• A dedicated Media Station|PT computer with:
• Local and/or shared storage for audio and video
• Avid video peripheral
• Video reference (connected to the Avid video peripheral and the VTR if present)
• Optional VTR
• Ethernet connection, either directly through Ethernet hub or via a larger Ethernet network
To install Media Station|PT as a video satellite of Pro Tools:
1 Install any optional hardware: See “Installing
Hardware” on page 22.
2 Make Ethernet connections between Pro Tools
and the video satellite system: See “Making Ethernet Connections with Video Satellite Sys­tems” on page 25.
3 Install Media Station|PT: See “Installing
Media Station|PT Software on Windows XP” on page 26.
4 Authorize the Video Satellite option on any
Pro Tools machine that will be used to interface with the video satellite: See “Authorizing the Video Satellite Option in Pro Tools” on page 32.
Figure 2. Diagram of Pro Tools and a Media Station|PT video satellite system (with required components connected via solid lines and optional components connected via dotted lines)
Media Station|PT Guide20
Overview of Media Station|PT
Shared
Storage
Video Reference
(Black Burst)
Media Station|PT
and Pro Tools
CPU
Deck Control or 1394
Video I/O
Video
Storage
VTR
External monitor
Audio I/O
SYNC HD
(or SYNC I/O)
Audio
Storage
Speakers
Installed on the Same Computer as Pro Tools
When installed on the same computer, Pro Tools and Media Station|PT comprise the following components:
• Local and/or shared storage for audio and video
• Avid video peripheral
• Video reference (connected to the Avid video peripheral, SYNC HD or SYNC I/O, and the VTR if present)
• Optional VTR
• Pro Tools|HD card
• Pro Tools|HD audio interface
•SYNCHD or SYNCI/O
• Video Satellite option installed

Installing Media Station|PT on the Same Computer as Pro Tools

To install Media Station|PT on the same computer as Pro Tools:
1 Install all Pro Tools hardware. See the Getting
Started with HD Guide.
2 Install optional hardware: See “Installing
Hardware” on page 22.
3 Install Media Station|PT: See “Installing
Media Station|PT Software on Windows XP” on page 26 or “Installing Media Station|PT Soft­ware on Mac OS X” on page 30.
4 Install Pro Tools HD. See the Getting Started
with HD Guide.
\
Figure 3. Diagram Media Station|PT installed as a standalone application (with required components connected via solid lines and optional components connected via dotted lines)
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 21
Using EQ II and Dynamics II Plug­Ins with Media Station|PT or Pro Tools
When you install Pro Tools after installing Me­dia Station|PT on the same computer, EQ II and Dynamics II plug-ins are automatically moved to the Unused Plug-Ins folder. If you want to continue using either of these plug-ins with Pro Tools or Media Station|PT, you must manually move them back to the Plug-Ins folder

Installing Hardware

This section describes installation procedures for the following:
• Avid video peripheral
• Audio monitoring setups
•VTR

Installing an Avid Video Peripheral

3 Connect one end of the FireWire cable to the
Host port on the Avid video peripheral, and con­nect the other end to any internal FireWire port on the computer.
All FireWire ports on Digidesign-qualified computers are connected to the same bus, and the Avid video peripheral must be the only device attached to this bus. If it is not the only device attached to this bus, the Avid video peripheral will not be recog­nized. Therefore, you must install a PCI or PCIe FireWire card if you need to connect other FireWire devices. For more informa­tion on where to connect a PCI or PCIe FireWire card, follow the guidelines de­scribed for Pro Tools in the Avid Video Pe­ripherals Guide (located on your Pro Tools installer disc) or on the Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com).

Monitoring Audio from Media Station|PT

To output high-quality video from Media Station|PT, an Avid video peripheral is re­quired.
To connect Avid video peripheral hardware:
1 Ensure that the Avid video peripheral is
turned off.
2 Connect the power cable for the Avid video
peripheral.
Media Station|PT Guide22
Monitoring audio from Media Station|PT is dif­ferent depending on how the software is being used, as follows:
Standalone mode Use the audio I/O of your Avid video peripheral. If no video peripheral is present, use the I/O of your computer. Capture and layback of DV-stream format audio and video can be performed via the FireWire port.
Video satellite mode The timing of the audio output of Media Station|PT is plus or minus ap­proximately 1/2 frame. While this is not as pre­cise as the audio output of Pro Tools, it may still be useful to listen to the audio output from Media Station|PT in your Pro Tools session. If desired, route the audio outputs from the video peripheral into the analog or digital inputs of
your Pro Tools audio peripheral. If using digital inputs, be sure that the Pro Tools Clock Refer­ence is set to the digital input, or pops and clicks may occur.
Installed on the same computer as Pro Tools Use the Digidesign audio peripheral as the audio I/O for Media Station|PT.
Connecting a VTR with No Avid Video Peripheral Present
If no Avid video peripheral is connected to the system—but the VTR supports input and output of audio and video as a DV-stream via FireWire— connect the VTR directly to the Media Station|PT computer.

Connecting a VTR

You can use Media Station|PT for capturing au­dio and video from tape, or for laying audio and video back to tape. There are four types of con­nections which need to be made:
•Video I/O
•Audio I/O
• Deck Control
• Video reference (black burst)
Connecting Video I/O to the VTR
Connecting a VTR to an Avid Video Peripheral
If an Avid video peripheral is connected to the system, connect the VTR’s video I/O to the Avid video peripheral.
To connect a VTR’s video I/O to an Avid video peripheral:
1 Connect the Avid video peripheral Composite
IN, Component IN, S-Video IN, or SDI IN con­nectors to the corresponding output or outputs on your VTR.
2 Connect the Avid video peripheral Composite
OUT, Component OUT, S-Video OUT, or SDI OUT connectors to the corresponding inputs on your VTR.
To connect a VTR’s video I/O without an Avid video peripheral:
1 Connect one end of a 1394 (FireWire) cable to
the 1394 connector on the VTR.
This only supports DV video formats such as DV25, DVCPro 100 and HDV.
2 Connect the other end of the 1394 (FireWire)
cable to an available FireWire port on the Media Station|PT computer.
Connecting Audio I/O to the VTR
Media Station|PT Installed as a Standalone Application with an Avid Video Peripheral
If Media Station|PT is installed as a standalone application and connected to an Avid video pe­ripheral, connect the audio inputs and outputs on the VTR to the audio inputs and outputs on the Avid video peripheral.
Media Station|PT Installed as a Standalone Application with no Avid Video Peripheral Present
If no Avid video peripheral is connected to the system—but the VTR supports input and output of audio and video as a DV-stream via FireWire— connect the VTR directly to the Media Station|PT computer.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 23
Media Station|PT Installed as a Video Satellite or Installed on the Same Computer as Pro Tools
If Media Station|PT is installed as a video satel­lite of Pro Tools or installed on the same com­puter with Pro Tools, connect the audio inputs and outputs on the VTR to the audio inputs and outputs on the primary Pro Tools|HD audio in­terface.
Configuring MachineControl with a VTR
If the VTR is DV-based (which means it accepts Deck Control via FireWire), connect the VTR to the Media Station|PT computer via FireWire.
If the VTR requires 9-pin control, you need to set it up differently.
Connecting a Serial 9-Pin Cable from the Media Station|PT Video Satellite to the VTR
Because the VTR is always controlled by Media Station|PT in a video satellite system, you need to connect the video satellite computer di­rectly to the VTR.
To connect a VTR via 9-pin to a Windows com­puter:
Connect the computer’s COM port to the
deck, using a 9-pin RS-322 to RS-422 cable (not provided).
The 9-pin RS-322 to RS-422 cable is in­cluded with the Digidesign MachineControl option, which is available separately from Media Station|PT. See www.digidesign.com for details.
Connecting a serial 9-pin cable is not necessary if you are using a DV-based VTR that accepts deck control commands via FireWire.
In this case, the serial 9-pin cable is not neces­sary since the FireWire connection between the VTR and the Media Station|PT client computer is sufficient. (See your VTR documentation for detailed support information.)
Connecting a VTR to Mac OS X
To connect a deck to a Mac computer:
1 Connect a Keyspan USA28x USB serial adapter
(not provided) to a USB port on the computer.
You may need to install a Keyspan driver to use the Keyspan USB serial adapter. See your Keyspan documentation for details.
2 Connect a male mini DIN-8 serial to male 9-
pin D-sub Deck Control cable (not included) to the end of the adapter.
The male mini DIN-8 serial to male 9-pin D-sub Deck Control cable is included with the Digidesign MachineControl option, which is available separately from Media Station|PT. See www.digidesign.com for details.
3 Connect the end of the cable to the deck.
Connecting Video Reference
If an Avid video peripheral is connected to the Media Station|PT computer, it must have an ap­propriate video reference signal (black burst).
Always make sure to connect the proper black burst signal to your Avid DNA periph­eral before opening a project.
To connect a video reference signal to your VTR:
Connect a black burst or house sync output to
a video input on your VTR (preferably a refer­ence video input).
Media Station|PT Guide24

Making Ethernet Connections with Video Satellite Systems

(Video Satellite System Only)
To exchange transport commands and files on remotely mounted storage, the computers in a video satellite system communicate via Ethernet with the standard TCP/IP protocol using 100 Base-T or 1000 Base-T connections. The computers may either be connected directly or via a Local Area Network (LAN).

Using a Direct Connection

Use a direct connection for any of these reasons:
• When the satellite will always be connected to the same Pro Tools system
• When a LAN is not available
• To avoid possible conflicts on the LAN with other network traffic
To connect the systems directly
1 Connect a CAT5e Ethernet cable between the
Pro Tools system and a standard Ethernet hub or switch.

Using a LAN connection

Use a LAN in any of the following conditions:
• If the video satellite is located in a separate room from the Pro Tools system
• If more than one Pro Tools system will be con­necting to the video satellite
• If you want Pro Tools and Media Station|PT computers on a LAN to access the Internet or connect to other locations on your network
To connect a video satellite system to a LAN:
1 Connect both systems to a standard 100 Base-
T or 1000-Base-T Ethernet network as you would any other computer.
By default, both systems communicate via TCP/IP port 28282, though that can be changed if necessary.
If you find you need to enter the IP address after each reboot, try turning off DHCP.
2 Connect another CAT5e cable between the
Media Station|PT system and the same hub or switch.
Direct connection using a crossover Ethernet ca­ble without a hub or switch may work with some systems, but is untested.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 25

Full-Screen Playback of Video in Media Station|PT

Installing Media Station|PT Software on Windows XP

With a supported video card installed, you can route HD or SD video to a DVI port and play back sequences in Media Station|PT using the full screen of your primary or secondary moni­tor.
Due to limitations related to outputting video on a monitor with a refresh rate that differs from the video frame rate, the output quality may not be suitable. See “Video Frame Rate vs. Monitor Refresh Rate” on page 45.
For detailed information on changing full­screen video playback options, see “Changing Video Output Settings for Full-Screen Playback” on page 44.
If you are using Media Station|PT on a Windows XP system and you want to con­figure more than one monitor for full-screen playback, see “Configuring More Than One Monitor for Full Screen Playback” on page 29
The Media Station|PT Installer DVD contains in­stallers for the following optional software:
• Avid EDL Manager
• Avid LogExchange
If you are installing Media Station|PT on the same computer as Pro Tools, install Media Station|PT before installing Pro Tools.
To install Media Station|PT software on Windows XP:
1 Start your computer and log on to Windows
with Administrator privileges.
2 If the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog ap-
pears (for any connected Pro Tools or Avid hard­ware), leave it open.
3 Insert the Avid Media Station|PT Installer
DVD into your computer’s DVD drive. The in­staller should automatically open and launch.
For detailed instructions on installing nVidia drivers for full-screen playback on Windows XP, see “Installing nVidia Driv­ers” on page 29.
Media Station|PT Guide26
Avid Media Station|PT Main Installer window
If the installer does not automatically open and launch, locate the Launch.exe file on the Avid Media Station|PT Installer DVD.
4 Click Install Avid Editor Suite to display the
next screen.
5 Click Next to begin installation of Avid Log
Exchange.
21 Click Next to accept the default location for
AVX plug- in s.
6 If an Avid video peripheral is connected to the
computer and turned on, the system prompts you to disconnect it. Turn off the Avid video pe­ripheral. (It is not necessary to disconnect it.)
7 Choose a country, then click Next.
8 If you agree with the license agreement, click
Yes.
9 Select the install location for Avid Log Ex-
change. For maximum reliability, select the de­fault location on your system volume (C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid Log Exchange).
10 Click Next to install Avid Log Exchange to
your system.
11 When Avid Log Exchange finishes installing,
click Next to begin installation of EDL Manager.
12 Choose a country, then click Next.
13 If you agree with the license agreement, click
Yes.
14 Select the install location for EDL Manager.
For maximum reliability, select the default loca­tion on your system volume (C:\Program Files\Avid\EDL Manager).
15 Click Next to install EDL Manager to your
system.
16 When EDL Manager finishes installing, click
Next to begin installation of Media Station|PT.
17 Choose a country, then click Next.
18 If you agree with the license agreement, click
Yes.
22 Select Typical for the Setup Type, then click
Next to complete the installation.
23 If a dialog appears with a message about Win-
dows Logo testing, click OK to accept. (If another message appears indicating the test did not pass, click Continue Anyway. It does not affect the installation.)
Avid Media Station|PT Setup Message
24 Click Finish to restart your computer.
25 When the computer powers back on, log in
as Administrator.
26 If an Avid video peripheral is connected to
the system, turn it on.
The Found New Hardware Wizard appears.
If the Found New Hardware does not ap­pear, ensure that the Avid video peripheral is connected to your computer and turned on. For more information, see the Avid Video Peripherals Guide.
27 If you see a message asking whether Win-
dows can connect to Windows Update to search for software, select the “No, Not This Time” op­tion, and click Next.
19 Select the install location for
Media Station|PT. For maximum reliability, se­lect the default location on your system volume (C:\Program Files\Avid\Avid Media Station PT).
20 Click Next.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 27
28 Click Next, and the Found New Hardware
Wizard will automatically search for and locate the driver for the Avid video peripheral.
If the Found New Hardware Wizard cannot find the driver for the Avid video peripheral, manually locate the Flamethrower.sys file at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\ SupportingFiles\WindowsXPDriv­ers\Win32.

Setting Power Options Control to Always On

After installing Media Station|PT, the applica­tion prompts you to set the Power Options con­trol panel to the Always On setting.
To set the Power Options control panel to Always On:
1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
29 Click Finish to complete the installation.
Media Station|PT software will only run if an Avid Media Station|PT Key (dongle) authorized for this version of the software is connected to a USB port on your computer.
If you have purchased Media Station|PT new, the dongle is included in the box. If you are up­grading to the latest version of Media Station|PT, the box includes a card with dongle upgrading instructions.

Installing Windows Media Player 11 and QuickTime 7.1 or Higher after Media Station|PT

After installing Media Station|PT, the applica­tion checks to make sure that you have Windows Media Player 11 and QuickTime 7.1 or higher installed on the machine—and prompts you if one or the other is not installed.
To download the Windows Media Player 11 in­staller, visit www.microsoft.com. To download the QuickTime installer, visit www.apple.com.
2 Double-click Power Options.
3 In the Power Options Properties dialog, select
Always On from the Power Schemes pop-up menu.
4 Click OK.

Disabling Drive Indexing for External Audio and Video Storage

To use Media Station|PT with Avid video periph­erals, it is strongly recommended that you dis­able drive indexing for external audio and video storage.
To disable drive indexing for external media drives:
1 Choose Start > My Computer.
2 Right-click the selected external drives and
choose Properties.
3 In the Properties dialog, deselect “Allow In-
dexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.”
4 Click Apply.
5 When prompted to apply only to the volume
or to all folders and subfolders, select all folders and subfolders, then click OK.
Disabling drive indexing for all folders and sub­folders begins. This may take some time.
Media Station|PT Guide28

Disabling Simple File Sharing

Ensure that you have turned off Simple File Sharing in Windows.
To turn off Simple File Sharing in Windows:
1 Click Start, and double-click My Computer.
2 In the My Computer window, choose Tools >
Folder Options.
3 In the Folder Options dialog, click the View
tab.
4 In the View tab of the Folder Options dialog,
deselect the Use Simple File Sharing option.
5 Click OK.
Performing this procedure should help rem­edy any issues that may occur if the Media Tool does not display media files. See “Re­storing Invisible Media Files in the Media Tool” on page 83 for details.

Installing nVidia Drivers

Installing nVidia drivers is required for using Media Station|PT on Windows.
To install the nVidia drivers:
1 In Windows Explorer, navigate to:
C:\Program Files\Avid\Utilities\nVidia.
2 Double-click the executable installer file.
3 Follow the instructions to install the nVidia
drivers.

Disabling the nVidia Display Driver Service

To use Media Station|PT with Avid video periph­erals, the nVidia Display Driver Service should be disabled.
To disable nVidia Display Driver Service:
1 Right-click My Computer, and choose Man-
age.
2 Double-click Services and Applications.
3 Double-click Services.
4 Right-click NVidia Display Driver or NVidia
Driver Helper Service.
5 Click Properties.
6 Select Startup Type > Disable.
7 Click OK.
Every time you update or reload the driver, this service is enabled again.

Configuring More Than One Monitor for Full Screen Playback

If you have the correct hardware installed (see “Full-Screen Playback of Video in Media Station|PT” on page 26), you can config­ure more than one monitor for full-screen play­back on Windows XP.
To configure more than one monitor for full screen playback on Windows XP:
1 Choose Start > Control Panel.
2 Double-click Display.
3 In the Display Properties dialog, click the Set-
tings tab.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 29
4 Set the resolution on both monitors to the
same resolution (1280x1024 is recommended).
5 Click the Advanced button.

Installing Media Station|PT Software on Mac OS X

6 Click the specific nVidia tab.
7 Select nView Display Settings and choose Du-
alview under nView Display Mode.
8 Click Apply.
9 Click Performance & Quality Settings.
10 From the View pop-up menu, ensure that the
Advanced Settings option is selected.
11 Ensure that the Hardware Acceleration op-
tion is set to Multi-Display Performance mode.
12 Confirm that Vertical Sync is set to Applica-
tion-Controlled.
13 Click OK.
Supported Video Cards
See www.digidesign.com for detailed informa­tion on video cards that support full-screen playback.
DVI Signal Distance Limitations
Due to limitations with DVI signals, the signal may degrade if the monitor is more than a few meters away from the computer.
If you experience signal degradation, you may need to use a DVI extension booster or a DVI to HDMI converter.
If you are installing Media Station|PT on the same computer as Pro Tools, install Media Station|PT before installing Pro Tools.
To install Media Station|PT software on Mac OS X:
1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra-
tor for the account where you want to install Media Station|PT. For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, refer to your Apple OS X documentation.
2 Insert the Media Station|PT Installer DVD into
your DVD drive.
3 On the Media Station|PT Installer DVD, locate
and launch Media StationPT.mpkg.
4 Click Continue.
5 In the Installer window, click Continue.
6 If you agree with the license agreement, click
Continue.
7 In the Select Destination page of the Installer
window, make sure the destination volume is on your system drive.
8 Click Continue.
9 Click Install.
10 If you are prompted to authenticate the in-
stallation, type your password and click OK.
11 Click Continue Installation.
12 When installation is complete, click Restart.
Media Station|PT Guide30

Installing Optional Software on Mac OS X

The Media Station|PT Installer DVD contains in­stallers for the following optional software:
• Avid EDL Manager
• Avid LogExchange
12 When installation is complete, click Close.
See “Changing Video Output Settings for Full-Screen Playback” on page 44 for de­tailed information on switching between two monitors for full-screen playback.
Some optional software (such as EDL Man­ager) is required for certain tasks described in this guide (for example, “Digitizing from an EDL” on page 52).
To install optional software on Mac OS X:
1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra-
tor for the account where you want to install Media Station|PT. For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X, refer to your Apple OS X documentation.
2 Insert the Media Station|PT Installer DVD in
your DVD drive.
3 On the Media Station|PT Installer DVD, navi-
gate to the Other Installers folder, and launch Avid Log Exchange Install or EDL Manager(TM) Install.
4 Click Continue.
5 In the Installer window, click Continue.
6 If you agree with the license agreement, click
Continue.
7 In the Select Destination page of the Installer
window, make sure the destination volume is on your system drive.
8 Click Continue.

Authorizing Media Station|PT

Use the included Avid Application key (USB dongle) to authorize Avid Media Station|PT.
If you have upgraded to Media Station|PT 2.7 from a previous ver­sion of Media Station|PT and you already have a dongle, see “Authorizing Media Sta­tion|PT After Upgrading from a Previous Version” on page 31.
To authorize Media Station|PT software:
Before launching the application, insert the
Avid Application Key (USB dongle) into an avail­able USB port on your computer.
On Windows systems, a dialog displays a mes­sage indicating that the computer is identifying and recognizing the dongle.

Authorizing Media Station|PT After Upgrading from a Previous Version

After upgrading to Media Station|PT 2.7, you must update your Avid Application key (don­gle). To do this, you will need to obtain an up­dater file from Avid’s web page, www.avid.com.
9 Click Install.
10 If you are prompted to authenticate the in-
stallation, type your password and click OK.
11 Click Continue.
After upgrading the Avid Application key to authorize Media Station|PT 2.7, the up­dated dongle may not properly authorize previous versions of Media Station|PT.
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 31
Obtaining the Dongle Updater
To obtain your updater file:
1 Install but do not start your Avid software.
2 Connect the Avid application key (dongle) to
the USB port on your system.
3 Use one of the following methods to deter-
mine your system ID and serial number:
• The system ID and serial number are on the tag attached to your dongle. If you have a dongle labeled with both PC and Macin­tosh System IDs, use the PC system ID and serial number, even if you are using a Mac­intosh computer.
• If the tag is no longer attached to your don­gle, run the DongleDumper program to ob­tain the System ID and Serial Number values. The DongleDumper program is lo­cated at Program Files\Avid\Utilities\
DongleDumper\DongleDumper.exe (Windows) or Applications/Utilities/Dongle Dumper/DongleDumperSuperPro (Mac OS X).
Updating the Avid Application Key (Dongle)
You only need to run the updater program on one platform (Windows or Macintosh). Once the dongle has been updated it will enable both the Windows and Macintosh versions of your Avid software.
The key on the upgrade activation card can only be used once. The DBHelper.exf file that you ob­tained via e-mail and download will only up­grade your specific dongle.
To update your dongle on Windows:
1 Place the DBHelper.exf file at:
Program Files\Avid\Utilities\DongleUpdater.
2 Run the DongleUpdater.exe file located in the
same folder.
To update your dongle on Mac OS X:
1 Place the DBHelper.exf file at:
Applications/Utilities/DongleUpdater.
4 Go to the following web page:
http://www.avid.com/upgrade
5 Follow the online instructions to obtain your
dongle updater file. You will need to supply the system ID, serial number, and the upgrade key that is on the bottom of the upgrade activation card included in the Media Station|PT package.
You can download a dongle updater file (DBHelper.exf). It will also be e-mailed to you.
Media Station|PT Guide32
2 In the same folder, launch DongleUpdater.

Authorizing the Video Satellite Option in Pro Tools

(Video Satellite System Only)
The Video Satellite option is authorized using the iLok USB Smart Key (iLok), manufactured by PACE Anti-Piracy, Inc.
iLok USB Smart Key
The iLok is similar to a dongle, but unlike a don­gle, it is designed to securely authorize multiple software applications from a variety of software developers.
This key can hold over 100 licenses for all of your iLok-enabled software. Once an iLok is au­thorized for a given piece of software, you can use the iLok to authorize that software on any computer.
4 Transfer the license from your iLok.com ac-
count to your iLok USB Smart Key by doing the following:
• Insert the iLok into an available USB port on your computer.
• Go to www.iLok.com and log in.
• Follow the on-screen instructions for trans­ferring your licence to your iLok.
5 Launch Pro Tools.
The iLok USB Smart Key is not supplied with your plug-in or software option. You can use the one included with certain Pro Tools systems (such as Pro Tools|HD systems), or purchase one separately.
If you have not already completed authorizing your software by following the instructions on the Activation Card, complete the steps in this section.
To authorize the Video Satellite Option using an Activation Code:
1 Locate the enclosed Activation Card. The
unique code on this card will allow you to re­trieve your iLok license.
2 If you do not have an existing iLok.com ac-
count, visit www.iLok.com and sign up for an iLok.com account.
3 Transfer the license for the Video Satellite Op-
tion to your iLok.com account by doing the fol­lowing:
• Visit http://secure.digidesign.com/activa­tion.
• Input your Activation Code (listed on your Activation Card) and your iLok.com User ID. Your iLok.com User ID is the name you create for your iLok.com account.
6 If you have any installed unauthorized plug-
ins or software options, you are prompted to au­thorize them. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the authorization process.

Formatting Video Storage

The following table describes requirements for formatting video storage drives for use with Media Station|PT:
Video Storage Formatting Requirements
Format
HFS+ Required for Mac OS X
NTFS Recommended for Windows XP
FAT 32 Supported only when using Satel-
FAT 32 Supports playback but not record
FAT 16 Not supported for either
Media Station|PT System Requirements/Recommendations
lite or Standalone mode (co-installed with Pro Tools not supported)
in Pro Tools
Media Station|PT or Pro Tools
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 33

Connecting and Configuring Media Station|PT to a Unity Storage System

Authorizing Media Station|PT After Installing for the First Time

Connecting and configuring a Media Station|PT workstation as a client of an Avid Unity ISIS or Avid Unity MediaNetwork system involves the same steps as setting up a similar Pro Tools workstation.
For detailed information, see the Pro Tools Unity
ISIS Guide or the Pro Tools Unity MediaNetwork Guide. Both guides are available on the Pro Tools
installer DVD.

Configuring Media Station|PT as a Client of an Avid Interplay System

(Windows XP Only)
Configuring a Media Station|PT workstation as a client of an Avid Interplay system involves the same process as configuring a Media Composer workstation as a client of such a system.
For detailed instructions on connecting and configuring a Media Station|PT workstation as a client of an Avid Interplay system, see your Avid Interplay administrator or refer to the Interplay installation instructions for Media Composer in the following user guides:
• Avid Interplay Software Installation and Con­figuration Guide
• Avid Interplay Best Practices Guide
Use the included Avid Application key (USB dongle) to authorize Avid Media Station|PT.
To authorize Media Station|PT software:
Before launching the application, insert the
Avid Application Key (USB dongle) into an avail­able USB port on your computer.
On Windows systems, a dialog displays a mes­sage indicating that the computer is identifying and recognizing the dongle.

Launching Media Station|PT for the First Time

Updating Firmware When Launching Media Station|PT

(Avid Video Peripherals Only)
On launch, Media Station|PT checks that the ap­propriate version of the firmware is installed on any attached Avid video peripheral. If the cor­rect version of the firmware is not installed, Media Station|PT automatically installs the cor­rect version of the firmware. Once the update is complete, you will be prompted to quit Media Station|PT and power-cycle the Avid video peripheral before the update will take ef­fect.
If you are upgrading from Media Station|PT 1.0 to Media Station|PT
2.7 with an AVoption|V10, you may be prompted twice to update the firmware. En­sure that you follow the steps to completely update the firmware.
Media Station|PT Guide34
Avid Mojo Firmware for PCIe Macs
If you attach your Avid Mojo to a PCIe-based Mac but Media Station|PT does not recognize the Mojo when launched, you need to properly update the Avid Mojo firmware.
See “Updating Avid Mojo Firmware for a PCIe-Based Mac” on page 18.

Selecting a Default Folder for Data Created by Media Station|PT

On launching the first time, Media Station|PT prompts you to define a location where applica­tion data will be stored by default. In order to al­low users without administrator privileges to ac­cess this data, it is recommended that you choose the default location (My Documents).
Chapter 2: Installing Media Station|PT 35
Media Station|PT Guide36
chapter 3

Basic Media Station|PT Workflows

Avid Media Station|PT software is designed ex­clusively for audio-related post-production work using Pro Tools with or without Avid Mojo SDI, Avid Mojo, or AVoption|V10 (referred to here as Avid video peripherals).
This chapter describes workflows for all Media Station|PT configurations, which let you:
• Start a new project and adjust any necessary settings.
• Capture NTSC, PAL, or DV-based HD video di­rectly from tape.
• Open and re-digitize an existing sequence from an Avid editing system (such as Media Composer Adrenaline).
• Digitize audio and video from an EDL by cre­ating an Avid sequence with Avid EDL Man­ager™.
• Import QuickTime and other non-OMFI me­dia files.
• Assemble clips into a sequence.
• Export an AAF sequence for import to Pro Tools, including:
• Export templates
• Manual export, including effects rendering and transcoding
• Video mixdown
• Import an audio and video AAF sequence into Pro Tools.
• Export an audio AAF sequence from Pro Tools back to Media Station|PT.
• Synchronize imported audio with a clip or se­quence.
• Lay back audio and video to tape.
• Export audio and video sequences as Quick­Time or other format digital files.
Workflows that apply specifically to using Media Station|PT in video satellite mode are described in Chapter 4, “Media Station|PT Video Satellite Work­flows.”
Media Station|PT and Pro Tools cannot run simultaneously on the same computer. If both applications are installed on the same computer, quit Pro Tools before launching Media Station|PT, and quit Media Station|PT before launching Pro Tools.
Media Station|PT provides the same digitiz­ing and batch digitizing capabilities as all Avid video editing systems.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 37
Media Station|PT software can output all frame rates of NTSC and PAL, but cannot output an NTSC master from a PAL source, or output a PAL master from an NTSC source.

Getting More Information

For more information about specific features and functions of Media Station|PT, search the online help.
To launch online help:
• Choose Help > Online Help (Windows) or Help > Avid Media Station|PT Help (Mac OS X).
For more information about Avid media cap­ture, layback, import, and export, see the Av id
Media Composer Adrenaline Input and Output Guide available from the Avid Web site
(www.avid.com).

Starting a New Project with Media Station|PT

Each project in Media Station|PT has a variety of settings for audio and video formats. These set­tings are stored on a per-project basis, and need to be set for each new project. One project can contain may sequences (the equivalent of a Pro Tools session) and the contents of each se­quence is completely independent, but within a project each sequence must have the same video format and frame rate.
Setting up each project can be time-consuming, but once properly configured, projects can make working in Media Station|PT much faster.
If you consistently use the same audio and video settings, you may be able to set up one project which handles all of your sequences. This will save time configuring Media Station|PT. If you work with different video formats, you will need to configure a different project for each.
If you installed Media Station|PT on the same computer as Pro Tools, ensure that Pro Tools is not running before launching Media Station|PT. Exit Pro Tools before launching Media Station|PT, and exit Media Station|PT before launching Pro Tools.
When launching Media Station|PT on a computer that also has Pro Tools installed, it is recommended that you mute the audio monitors during launch to prevent pops and clicks that may occur while Media Station|PT is starting.
Running other applications simultaneously with Media Station|PT can cause unpredict­able behavior, including AV sync problems, frame dropping and audio stuttering. It is suggested that you not launch other appli­cations when Media Station|PT 2.7 is run­ning. This can occur with or without the use of Satellite mode.
Media Station|PT Guide38
To start a new project, or select an existing
Project window
Bin window
project:
1 Launch the Avid Media Station|PT software.
You will be prompted to create a new project or select an existing project.
Select Project dialog
2 Select a user profile by doing one of the fol-
lowing:
• Choose Create User Profile from the User Profile pop-up menu, and enter a new user name in the Create User Profile dialog.
– or –
• Choose an existing user profile from the User Profile pop-up menu.
3 Do one of the following:
• To display projects that only the current user profile can access, select the Private option.
– or –
• To display projects which are accessible to all users, select the Shared option.
4 Do one of the following:
• Select the project and click OK.
– or –
• To create a new project, click the New Project button. In the New Project dialog, name the project, select the format appro­priate for your video monitor and preferred frame rate, and click OK.
In Media Station|PT, 29.97fps is referred to as 30i. The “I” stands for interlaced. “P” stands for progressive scan.
The selected project opens. The name of the project appears in the upper left-hand corner of the Project window.
If you have upgraded from Media Station|V10, user settings have changed. It is recommended that you create a new user and then copy any preserved set­tings from Media Station|V10 into your new user settings. See “Creating a New User After Upgrading from Media Station|V10” on page 40.
Each user can configure Media Station|PT to suit their needs without affecting other users' set­tings on the same workstation.
Project and Bin windows
To the right of the Project window is the first bin for the Project.
To view the bins in a project:
Click the bins tab in the Project window. Dou-
ble-click any listed bin to view its contents.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 39
To view and edit Project Settings:
Click the Settings tab to view the Project set-
tings, including Audio and Export settings.

Creating a New User After Upgrading from Media Station|V10

Because user settings have changed from the last version of Media Station|V10, it is strongly rec­ommended that you create a new user setting to achieve optimal performance.
If you preserved certain user settings before up­grading, you can copy those settings back into your new user profile.
To copy preserved user settings after installing Media Station|PT:
1 Launch Media Station|PT and create a new
user. See “Starting a New Project with Media Station|PT” on page 38.
2 Click the Settings tab in the Project window.
3 Choose Special > Site Setting. The Site Setting
window opens, displaying any user settings that you copied to it before uninstalling Media Station|V10.
4 Select all settings that you want to copy into
your new user settings, and drag them to the Set­tings tab.
5 Click Replace to replace all existing settings.

Configuring Video Settings

You can configure video settings that determine whether you capture MXF or OMF video.
To configure the video settings for a project:
1 Click the Settings tab in the Project window.
3 Click the Capture tab.
Avid Media Station|PT Media Creation dialog
4 Select the MXF (or OMF) option, depending
on the file type of video you want to capture. (Both types are compatible with Pro Tools, but MXF is recommended because it is more widely supported.)
5 Choose a video resolution from the Video Res-
olution pop-up menu.
6 If you want to apply the file type and resolu-
tion settings you made to all tabs on this dialog, click Apply to All.
Unless you click Apply to All, this setting will only affect video that you capture from tape—it will not force conversion of video that you im­port.
7 Click the Toggle Storage button so that two
volumes are showing, and select the volumes where the audio and video media will be stored. (Bear in mind that while Media Station|PT is de­signed to play audio and video from the same drive, Pro Tools requires separate drives for au­dio and video.)
8 If you want to apply the audio and video me-
dia drive settings you made to all tabs on this di­alog, click Apply to All.
9 Click OK to save your settings and close the
window.
2 Double-click Media Creation in the Settings
list.
Media Station|PT Guide40
Media Creation settings are saved with the project. You will need to configure the Video Project Settings for each new project.
Audio Project Settings are saved with the project. You will need to configure the Audio Project Settings for each new project.
To save time, you can re-use the same project for all of your audio and video cap­turing, and simply create new bins and se­quences as needed.

Configuring Audio Settings

To configure the audio settings for a project:
1 Click the Settings tab in the Project window.
2 Double-click Audio Project in the Settings list.
3 Click the Main tab in the Audio Project Set-
tings window.

D-Control and D-Command Configuration Requirements

When monitoring the audio from Media Station|PT via a Digidesign audio periph­eral and a D-Control or D-Command system, it is necessary to modify the Audio Project Settings in order to properly output audio.
To change Media Station|PT Audio Project Settings for D-Control or D-Command:
1 Start Media Station|PT and open a new project
as described in “Starting a New Project with Media Station|PT” on page 38.
2 In the Project window, click the Settings tab
and double-click Audio Settings.
3 In the Audio Project Settings dialog, click the
Output tab.
Audio Project Settings dialog, Main tab
4 Set the Sample Rate, Audio File Format, and
Sample Bit Depth. MXF and OMF WAVE (BWF) are the recommended audio file formats because they are widely supported and maintain the most metadata.
5 Verify other settings as required. For most
projects, the default settings are recommended.
6 After configuring the Audio Project Settings,
close the window.
Media Station|PT Audio Project Settings dialog
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 41
4 Do one of the following:
Channel buttons
• If the Stereo button is visible, click the Ste­reo button to reveal the Mono button, then click the Mono button to reveal tracks A1 through A8 in stereo pairs with their se­lected channels.
– or –
• If the Mono button is already visible, click the Mono button to reveal tracks A1 through A8 in stereo pairs with their se­lected channels.
Media Station|PT Audio Project Settings dialog
5 Click the channel pop-up menus, and change
all stereo pairs so that tracks alternate top to bot­tom between channel 1 (CH1) and channel 5 (CH5).
7 Just as you did in the Grp 1 channels, click the
channel pop-up menus in the second group, and change all stereo pairs so that tracks alter­nate top to bottom between channel 1 (CH1) and channel 5 (CH5).
8 Click the Grp 2 button to display Grp 3 and re-
peat as above.
9 Close the Audio Project Settings dialog when
you are finished.
Saving D-Command or D-Control Audio Project Settings
Once you have modified Audio Project Settings for optimal usage with D-Command or D-Con­trol, it is recommended you save these settings so that they can be retrieved at any time. Other­wise, you will have to configure these settings each time you create a new project.
To save your D-Command or D-Control Audio Project configuration settings:
1 In the Project window, click the Settings tab.
2 Create and open a new settings file by choos-
ing File > New Settings File. An “Untitled” set­tings file window opens.
3 Drag the Audio Project setting from the
Project window to the untitled settings file win­dow to copy it.
Channel pop-up menus alternating top to bottom between channels 1 (CH1) and 5 (CH5)
6 Click the Grp 1 button to display the second
group of tracks.
Media Station|PT Guide42
4 Choose File > Save Copy of File As.
5 In the Save As dialog, type a name for this set-
tings file.
6 Navigate to a location where other users can
easily locate this file. (The recommended loca­tion is the default Avid Users folder.)
7 Click Save.
To open and import D-Command or D-Control Audio Project settings into a new project:
1 In the Project window, click the Settings tab.
2 Choose File > Open Setting File.
3 Navigate to the location of the setting file
(.avs), and select it.
4 Click Open. A window with the title of the
saved D-Control or D-Command settings opens in Media Station|PT.
5 Drag the name of the setting from the new
window to the list of settings beneath the Set­tings tab in the Project window.
6 In the dialog that appears, click Replace to
overwrite the Audio Project setting in the cur­rent project with the setting you just opened.
To change Sync Lock to Reference:
1 In Media Station|PT, choose Tools > Video
Output Tool.
2 In the Sync Lock pop-up menu, select Refer-
ence.

Setting Sync Lock for Avid Mojo SDI

When you create a new project with Media Station|PT connected to an Avid Mojo SDI, Sync Lock in Media Station|PT defaults to Internal. It is recommended that Sync Lock be changed to Reference to allow the Avid Mojo SDI to lock to external video refer­ence.
This setting will be retained for the duration of the project, but will need to be reset each time you start a new project.
It is not necessary to follow these steps when creating new projects with Avid Mojo or AVoption|V10
Video Output Tool

Changing Video Output Settings

This section describes how to change the follow­ing video output settings for projects in Media Station|PT:
• Video quality
• Full-screen playback settings
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 43

Changing Video Quality

Full quality
Draft quality
Best Performance
quality
Select Monitor
The Media Station|PT Timeline includes a Video Quality icon that lets you change the video quality. This setting is saved for each project.

Changing Video Output Settings for Full-Screen Playback

The Full Screen Playback Settings dialog lets you make the following optional changes for out­putting full screen playback:
• Change the video output monitor (if you have more than one monitor connected)
• Prevent frame-tearing in full screen playback
• Adjust luminance for standard computer monitors
To change video output options:
1 In the Project window, click the Settings tab.
Video Quality icon (at the bottom of the Timeline)
Click the icon to change the video quality as fol­lows:
Draft Quality (Yellow/Green) Outputs a 1/4-reso­lution picture to all the monitors, but allows more real-time video effects. This is the default setting for every new project.
Best Performance Quality (Yellow) Outputs 1/16­resolution and supports the most real-time ef­fects, but is the lowest-quality output.
Full Quality (Green)
picture via the attached video peripheral. The DVI output is always Draft quality unless you se­lect both Full Quality in the Video Quality Menu and Display both fields in the in the Full Screen Playback dialog. When combined with the Dis­play Both Fields option in the Full Screen Play­back Settings dialog (see “Changing Video Output Settings for Full-Screen Playback” on page 44), this setting provides full-resolution output to the DVI port.
3 Outputs full resolution
2 Double-click the Full Screen Playback setting.
3 To designate the video output monitors in a
multiple monitor setup, drag the Full Screen Playback Settings dialog so that it is displayed on the monitor you want to designate as the video output monitor.
Full Screen Playback Settings dialog
Performing a Digital Cut always changes the output to the tape deck to Full Quality automatically.
Media Station|PT Guide44
4 Choose Select Monitor.
5 You can also change the following options:
Display Both Fields When combined with the
Full Quality setting in the Video Quality icon (see “Changing Video Quality” on page 44), this setting provides full-resolution output to the DVI port.
Flip On Vertical Sync If you notice that your video output is “tearing” (horizontal distortion on rapidly moving or heavily edited sequences), select this option.
.
Changing these settings may cause sync is­sues or cause the video output to stutter.
Expand Luminance for Computer Displays If you are outputting full screen playback to a standard computer monitor, select this option for a more accurate video image. If you are outputting full screen playback to a professional quality moni­tor through Component, DVI, or HDMI out­puts, you may want to deselect this option.
6 Click OK to save your changes and close the
dialog.
Frame “Tearing” & Video “Stutter” Frame “tear­ing” is the horizontal distortion on rapidly mov­ing or heavily edited sequences. Video “stutter” is the subtle shifting of video during playback.
You can remedy one of these issues at a time (but not simultaneously) using the Flip On Ver­tical Sync option, located in the Full Screen Play­back Settings dialog.
See “Changing Video Output Settings for Full-Screen Playback” on page 44.
Audio/Video Synchronization Offset Audio/video synchronization varies slightly with each frame. Though usually not noticeable to the eye, more precise measuring devices cause offsets in AV sync of up to 1/2 frame or more. This is normal whenever using the output of a computer's monitor card, and does not affect capture, edit­ing, or layback.
For more information, see “Changing Video Output Settings for Full-Screen Playback” on page 44.

Video Frame Rate vs. Monitor Refresh Rate

When you play back video on a monitor with a refresh rate that differs from the video frame rate (as is often the case during playback of video through a DVI output), the output yields visual artifacts and offsets in synchronization between audio and video. For example, this oc­curs during playback of a 24 fps video clip on a DVI monitor with a refresh rate of 75 Hz.
If y ou r w or kf lo w r equ ir es hi gh -q ua li ty pl ay ba ck, you must output video through an Avid video peripheral to an NTSC or PAL monitor.
The artifact and audio/video sync issues occur as follows:

Capturing Audio and Video

Media Station|PT lets you capture video and au­dio by:
• Manually capturing audio and video
• Re-digitizing an existing sequence
• Digitizing from an edit decision list (EDL)

Manually Capturing Audio and Video

Before capturing audio and video from tape, en­sure that you have made the following connec­tions:
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 45
For connections with an Avid video peripheral, do
Reveal triangles
Toggle
Source
Record
Video input source
Audio input source
Video record enable
Audio record enable
Capture/ Log Mode
Time Code Enable
Overwrite
the following:
1 Connect the composite, component, S-Video,
SDI or FireWire cables from the desired outputs of the video deck to the corresponding inputs on the video peripheral.
2 Connect the audio source to the inputs of
your primary Pro Tools audio interface
For connections without an Avid video peripheral, do one of the following:
For FireWire-based connections, connect the
FireWire cable directly to the Firewire port on the Media Station system.
Since video and audio are streamed in one signal via FireWire connections, it is not necessary to connect any audio inputs.
If you are capturing HD video, the video source must be connected directly to the Media Station|PT computer via FireWire (1394) cable.
For more information, see the Getting Started guide and the guide for your Pro Tools audio in­terface.
To configure the Capture Tool for manual capture:
1 Choose Tools > Capture to open the Capture
Tool.
Avid Media Station|PT Capture Tool
2 Ensure that all the reveal triangles on the left
side of the Capture Tool window are pointing down so that all of the controls are visible.
3 If necessary, click the Capture/Log Mode but-
ton to select Capture mode (CAP).
Configuring the Capture Tool
When using the Capture Tool, you may hear a variety of clicks or pops when doing any of the following:
• Changing Video Resolutions
• Logging clips
• Selecting Tape
In order to avoid these clicks and pops, it is best to lower the volume of your speakers.
Media Station|PT Guide46
• Going in/out of Batch Capture
• Opening/closing the Capture Tool.
Avid Media Station|PT Capture Tool (Record controls)
4 If necessary, enable control of the tape deck by
Video
storage
Toggle
Storage
Audio
storage
clicking the Toggle Source button so that it does not display a circle with a slash.
5 Below the Record button, click the record en-
able buttons as needed to record your video, au­dio, and time code inputs. (V is for video, A1–A8 are for audio, and TC is the time code channel).
The TC (time code) button should always be enabled, even though no time code is be­ing sent.
6 Choose the video and audio input sources
from the Video Input and Audio Input pop-up menus.
7 Select the bin where you wish the captured
clips to appear.
This setting does not affect where the cap­tured files are stored. All captured media files are stored in the OMFI Media Files folder (for OMF media) or Avid MediaFiles folder (for MXF media) on the volumes de­termined in the Media Creation dialog. A bin in Media Station|PT is analogous to the Audio region lists in Pro Tools, except that a project in Media Station|PT may have an unlimited number of bins, and clips may be organized between the bins as best suits the user.
8 Choose the resolution of video you wish to
capture from the Res pop-up menu. For exam­ple:
• 1:1 is uncompressed and has the best qual­ity, but takes up the most storage space and requires several drives to play back cor­rectly.
• 20:1 takes up the least amount of storage space, but has the lowest quality picture.
• DV25 has a good quality picture with a moderate level of compression.
• 10:1m and 4:1m are multi-cam resolutions and should not be used if the video will be exported to Pro Tools.
• Resolutions beginning with 720p, 1080i, or 1080p are all HD resolutions and should not be used if the video will be exported to Pro Tools.
Avid Media Station|PT Capture Tool (Storage controls)
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 47
9 Click the Toggle Storage button so that two
Source pop-up menu
Tape Name pop­up menu
Delay Audio
volumes are showing, and select the volumes where the audio and video media will be stored. The available recording time for each volume displays next to it.
Media Station|PT can play audio and video from the same volume while Pro Tools re­quires audio and video to be stored on sepa­rate drives. When capturing on a computer that also has Pro Tools installed, ensure that you choose different drives for audio and video.
On the video volumes you have selected, Media Station|PT stores captured video files in the Avid MediaFiles folder (for MXF video) or the OMFI MediaFiles folder (for OMF video).
10 If the VTR is not correctly identified in the
Capture Tool’s Transport controls, choose Auto­Configure from the source pop-up menu. (Click Yes to auto-configure the VTR with the Capture Tool and display its name.)
12 Insert the tape into the VTR.
Media Station|PT will present a list of tapes al­ready associated with this project and ask you which tape you have inserted.
Select Tape dialog
13 Do one of the following:
• Select one of the displayed tape names and click OK.
– or –
• Click New to add a new tape to the list.
Avid Media Station|PT Capture Tool (Transport controls)
11 Ensure that Delay Audio is set to 0 Frames.
Media Station|PT Guide48
14 To check your inputs and levels, do the fol-
lowing:
• Click Play on the transport controls. Video should appear in the Record Monitor and your client monitor.
• Choose Tools > Audio Tool to meter audio input levels.
• Adjust the audio output levels of your VTR if necessary.
You are now ready to capture.
Capturing Audio and Video
To capture audio and video:
1 Ensure the Capture Tool has been configured
for capturing. (See “Configuring the Capture Tool” on page 46.)
Source pop-up menu
Tape Name pop­up menu
Delay Audio
Mark Out
Duration
Mark Memory Go To Memory
Go to In
Go to Out
Mark In
Clear Display
Record
2 To record, do one of the following:
• Use the Transport Controls to queue the tape to the position at which you wish to start capturing, then click Record. The VTR will start playback, and Media Station|PT will begin capturing as soon as the tape comes up to speed.
Avid Media Station|PT Capture Tool (Transport controls)
• Use the Transport Controls to begin play­back on the VTR, then click Record when you are ready.
• Use the Mark In and Mark Out controls to select a specific portion of video to capture and click Record. (See “Selecting a Portion of Video to Capture” on page 50.)
The flashing red light indicates recording is in progress.
During recording, video will appear out of synchronization with audio. However, au­dio and video will be synchronized during playback.
While capturing video from a VTR con­nected to the DV port, Media Station|PT does not output audio, but the audio will be included in the digitized clip.
3 Click the Record button again (or press the
ESC key) to stop.
4 Type a clip name and optional comments in
the Name and Cmnt fields. These can be entered before recording is started, while recording, or by clicking on the clip’s name or comment field in the bin after recording has completed.
Avid Media Station|PT Capture Tool (Name/Comments)
5 To view the captured clip, do one of the fol-
lowing:
• Double-click the captured clip in the bin to open it into a pop-up window.
– or –
• Drag the clip to the Source Monitor.
6 Preview the clip in any of the following ways:
• Click the Play button (or press the Space­bar) to play or pause.
• Click the Rewind button (or press the Home key) to return to the beginning.
• Drag the scrub cursor to move back and forth through the clip.
Mark In and Mark Out controls (and Record button)
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 49
Selecting a Portion of Video to Capture
Mark Out
Duration
Mark Memory Go To Memory
Go to In
Go to Out
Mark In
Clear Display
The Mark In and Mark Out controls in the Cap­ture Tool let you select a portion of video to cap­ture.
To select a portion of video to capture:
1 In the Capture Tool, use one of the following
methods to mark the position where you want the capture to begin:
• Press the Spacebar (or click Play) to start playback on the VTR, and click Mark In at the desired position.
• Use the Transport controls to queue the tape to the position at which you wish to start capturing, and click Mark In.
• Type a time code value in the Mark In field.
2 Use one of the following methods to mark the
position where you want the capture to end:
• If the VTR is playing back, click Mark Out at the desired position.
• Use the Transport controls to queue the tape to the position at which you wish to end capturing, and click Mark Out.
• Type a time code value in the Mark Out field.
3 The exact length of the clip to be captured ap-
pears in the Duration display.
4 You can also do the following:
• To automatically queue the tape to the Mark In point, click Go to In.
• To automatically queue the tape to the Mark Out point, click Go to Out.
• To automatically mark a specific frame (not to be reflected in the capture), click Mark Memory.
• To clear any of the Mark In, Mark Out, or Mark Memory points, click Clear Display next to the appropriate button.
5 You are now ready to begin capturing, as de-
scribed in “Capturing Audio and Video” on page 48. When you begin capturing, the VTR queues to the In point and begins capturing video, then stops automatically when it reaches the Out point.
Working with Captured Video
Once you have captured audio and video clips into a bin, you can:
• Create a sequence of clips to send to Pro Tools.
• Add captured clips to an existing sequence, then send that sequence to Pro Tools.
• Export the clips as media files for importing into Pro Tools.
Mark In and Mark Out controls
Media Station|PT Guide50
For more information, see “Assembling Clips in a Sequence” on page 55 or “Exporting Audio and Video from Media Station|PT” on page 58.

Re-Digitizing an Existing Sequence

Media Station|PT can open sequences created on other Avid editing systems (such as Media Composer Adrenaline). However, you may want to re-digitize some or all of the media files be­cause they were the wrong resolution, missing, or corrupted.
To re-digitize either a sequence or individual clips:
1 Choose Tools > Capture and configure or ver-
ify the settings as you would for manual capture (see “Configuring the Capture Tool” on page 46).
2 In the bin, select the sequence or clips to re-
digitize.
3 Select Clip > Batch Capture.
4 Select or deselect the Offline Media Only op-
tion as required. The result of the batch capture depends on a combination of this setting and the resolutions for audio and video chosen in the Audio Project Settings and Media Creation dialogs:
• If the Offline Media Only option is se­lected, only those files which are offline will be re-digitized using the settings se­lected in the Audio Project Settings and Media Creation dialogs.
• If the Offline Media Only option is not se­lected and the resolution settings in the capture tool are the same as the original files, the original files will be discarded and replaced by the new files.
• If the Offline Media Only option is not se­lected and the resolution is different from the original files, new media will be re­corded at the new setting and the original files will be left intact. The new files will be substituted for the old files in the sequence.
5 Type a handle length in the Handle Length
field. This extends the beginning and end of the captured file by the specified number of frames.
Batch Capture dialog
Setting an adequate handle length is useful if you need to trim an edit past the end of the orig­inal clip boundaries. Adding handles creates a new, longer clip in the bin, even if you are using the same resolution as the original clip being re­digitized.
6 Click OK.
Media Station|PT prompts you to insert the re­quired tapes as needed and notifies you when the capture is complete.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 51

Digitizing from an EDL

Media Station|PT includes Avid EDL Manager software, which lets you open an EDL from an­other editing application, create a Media Sta­tion|PT sequence from that EDL, then re-digitize the sequence.
To create a sequence from an EDL, and digitize the sequence:
1 While Media Station|PT is still running,
launch EDL Manager by choosing Start > All Pro­grams > Avid > EDL Manager (Windows) or nav­igating to Applications/Avid EDL Manager (Mac).
6 Verify the settings (input, resolution, and
drive settings) for the clips to be digitized. For more information, see “Configuring the Cap­ture Tool” on page 46
7 Select the sequence in the bin.
8 Choose Clip > Batch Capture.
Media Station|PT will prompt you to insert the first tape for the batch capture.
For more information, select Help > EDL Manager Help. Also, see the Avid® EDL Manager User’s Guide available from the Avid Web site (www.avid.com).
2 Open the EDL to be digitized:
• If the EDL resides on a standard disk, select File > Open in EDL Manager, and navigate to the EDL.
• If the EDL is saved on an RT-11 disk in a CMX, GVG, or high-density GVG (HDGVG) edit controller format, insert the RT-11 disk and select File > Read from RT11 Disk.
3 Click the left-pointing arrow in the EDL Man-
ger window. Media Station|PT will become the active application.
EDL Manager window
4 Select the bin where you wish to store the new
sequence, and click OK.
5 In Media Station|PT, choose Tools > Capture
to open the Capture Tool.
Importing Non-MXF and Non­OMFI Media Files
Media Station|PT can import many different types of graphics, audio and video files (such as QuickTime). On import, new MXF and OMF media files are created and stored on the speci­fied volumes. You can select the video resolu­tion in the Import dialog. Audio resolution is de­termined by the Audio Settings for the current project (see “Configuring Audio Settings” on page 41).
Media Station|PT Guide52
To import non-OMFI media files into Media Station|PT:
1 Open the bin where you want the imported
file to be stored.
2 Select File > Import.
Select Files to Import dialog
3 In the Select files to Import dialog, locate and
select one or more files to import.
4 Select the video resolution for selected files.
When importing QuickTime DV25, you can save time by importing it as DV25. The pro­cess of converting Quicktime DV25 to Avid DV25 is optimized to be significantly faster than other conversions. Since both Media Station|PT and Pro Tools with Avid video peripherals support mixed video reso­lutions in the Timeline, it does not matter if the other video clips in your project are dif­ferent formats, as long as they are the same frame rate.
5 Select the Audio Import Options.
Unlike Pro Tools, Media Station|PT sup­ports audio files of mixed sample rate and bit depth in the same sequence. Therefore, it is not necessary to convert all audio files to the same sample rate and bit depth on im­port into Media Station|PT. You will have the option to convert audio files to a single sample rate and bit depth when you export them from Media Station|PT, and again when you import them into Pro Tools.
6 Select the volumes to store the new media
files. Pro Tools requires that audio and video media must be stored on physically separate drives. Click the button to the left of the volume selector until there are separate selectors for au­dio and video, then select the desired drives for each.
Separate drives for audio and video
7 Click Open.
The selected files are imported into the selected bin.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 53

Entering Full-Screen Playback Mode

If you have configured one or more monitors for full-screen playback through a DVI port, you can enter full-screen playback mode.
See “Full-Screen Playback of Video in Media Station|PT” on page 26 for details.
To enter full-screen playback mode:
1 In Media Station|PT, ensure that the
DNA/1394 button in the timeline is set to 1394.
2 Do one of the following:
• Select Special > Full Screen Playback.
– or –
• Press Control+Shift+F (Windows) or Com­mand+Shift+F (Mac).
If using two monitors, both monitors must be set to the same resolution when using this feature.
Down-converting HD video is faster than transcoding HD video or creating a video mix­down, but outputs video of lesser quality. If you see dropped frames during playback after down­converting HD video, you can remedy this by transcoding to an SD format or creating a video mixdown.
See “Transcoding HD Sequences” on page 66 or “Creating a Video Mixdown” on page 67.
To change an HD project’s Project Type:
1 Open the Project in the Avid editing applica-
tion.
2 In the Project window, click the Format tab.
3 Choose a corresponding SD resolution from
the Project Type pop-up menu. For example, in an NTSC 1080i/59.94 project, switch to a 30i format and in a PAL 1080i/50 project, switch to a 25 format.

Down-Converting an HD Project to SD Video

(Media Station|PT with an Avid Video Peripheral Only)
If you want to output HD 1080 video, you can down-convert it in real-time to SD video and play it back through an Avid Mojo SDI, Avid Mojo, or AVoption|V10.
Avid video peripherals output only standard definition images with a 4:3 aspect ratio. When playing back files with different as­pect ratios (such as 16:9), the image will be stretched to 4:3. Some professional monitors can compensate for this by letterboxing the image.
Media Station|PT Guide54
Project window, Format tab
Because no SD equivalent exists for 720p projects, they cannot be converted to SD prior to exporting. If you export an AAF se­quence from a 720p project in Media Station|PT, Pro Tools can import only the video metadata. Or, you may wish to only export the audio.
Assembling Clips in a
Rewind
Fast­Forward
Step Forward 1 Frame
Cursor
Play/ Pause
Step Backward 1 Frame
Mark Out
Mark In
Clear Both Marks
Mark Clip
Sequence
Once you have used Media Station|PT to capture or import a clip, you can add it (or selected por­tions of it) into a new or existing sequence.
See “Exporting Audio and Video from Media Station|PT” on page 58 for informa­tion on exporting sequences from Media Station|PT.
You can export a captured clip directly from Media Station|PT without having to first add it to a new sequence. See “Exporting Au­dio and Video from Media Station|PT” on page 58.

Adding Clips to a New Sequence

You can add an entire clip (or a selected portion of it) to a new sequence.
To add clips to a new sequence:
1 Choose Clip > New Sequence to create a new
sequence.
4 Use the controls underneath the Source Mon-
itor to locate the first frame of the portion of the clip that you want to edit into the sequence:
• To begin playing the clip, click Play (or press the Spacebar). (Click Play or press the Spacebar again to Pause.)
• To move to the beginning of the clip, click Rewind (or press the Home key).
• To move to the end of the clip, click Fast­Forward (or press the End key).
• To nudge by frame, click Step Forward 1 Frame or Step Backward 1 Frame (or press the Left/Right Arrow keys).
• To scrub, click and drag the cursor beneath the Source Monitor. (Enable the Caps Lock to hear audio while scrubbing.)
2 In the bin, name the sequence and drag it to
the Record Monitor.
3 Drag the original clip to the Source Monitor.
Media Station|PT main window
Source Monitor controls
5 Click Mark In to mark the In point (the first
frame of the selected portion) at the current po­sition of the cursor.
6 Using the same controls, locate the last frame
of the portion of the clip that you want to edit into the sequence.
7 Click Mark Out to mark the Out point (the last
frame of the selected portion) at the current po­sition of the cursor.
You can also select the entire clip by clicking Mark Clip.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 55
The portion of the clip between the In point and
Overwrite
Source track linked to Time­line track V1
Linking Source track to Time­line track
the Out point is now selected for editing into the sequence.
You can also click the Clear Both Marks button to clear the In and Out points.
4 Under the Source Monitor, use the controls to
set the In and Out points marking the portion of the clip that you want to edit into the existing sequence. (See “Adding Clips to a New Se­quence” on page 55 for detailed information on using the controls.)
8 Click the Record Monitor to select it, and press
the Home key to move the cursor to the begin­ning of the new sequence.
9 Click the Overwrite button. The selected por-
tion of the clip in the Source Monitor is edited over the new sequence in the Record Monitor.
Overwrite button

Adding Clips to an Existing Sequence

You can add a clip (or a portion of clip) to an ex­isting sequence.
To add clips to an existing sequence:
1 Open the bin containing the existing se-
quence.
If the In or Out points have not been marked, the sequence will include every­thing after the cursor.
5 In the Timeline, ensure that the Source Track
Enable buttons are properly aligned with the Timeline Track Enable buttons.
If it is necessary to align the Source and Timeline tracks, click on the Source track button and drag to the Timeline track button.
2 Drag the sequence from the bin to the Record
Monitor. The sequence appears in the Timeline below the Source and Record Monitors. (If the Timeline does not appear, choose Tools > Time­line.)
3 Drag the desired clip from the bin to the
Source Monitor.
Media Station|PT Guide56
Aligning the “V1” Source video track with the “V1” Timeline video track
In order for a track in the clip to be edited into the linked track on the Timeline, both the Source Track Enable button and the Timeline Track Enable button must be en­abled (purple).
6 In the existing sequence, choose any of the
OverwriteSplice-In
Timeline Track Enable buttons
Source Track Enable buttons
Mark Out
Mark In
Mark Clip
following methods to set the starting position at which the selection in the Source Monitor will be added:
• Drag the cursor in the Timeline to the de­sired position.
• In the Record Monitor, use the controls (similar to the Source Monitor controls) to queue to the desired position.
• In the Timeline or the Record Monitor, press the Home key to move to the begin­ning of the sequence, or press the End key to move to the end of the sequence.
7 Choose one of the following methods to add
the selected portion of the clip at the location of the cursor:
• Click the Overwrite button to paste the se­lected clip over any existing material in the Timeline.
– or –
• Click the Splice-In button to paste the se­lected clip into the Timeline, and push all the clips which come after the insertion point later in the Timeline (analogous to a Shuffle edit in Pro Tools).
To delete clips from a sequence:
1 In the Timeline, click the clip you want to de-
lete so that the cursor appears between its boundaries.
Cursor in clip boundaries in Timeline
2 Click the Track Enable buttons on the left side
of the Timeline so that all audio and video tracks in the Timeline are selected (purple).
Track Enable buttons
3 Above the Timeline, do one of the following:
• Click the Mark In and Mark Out buttons to set the In and Out points.
– or –
• Click the Mark Clip button to automati­cally highlight the entire clip.
Overwrite and Splice-In buttons
8 To add another clip to the sequence, repeat
the preceding steps.

Deleting Clips from a Sequence

When you delete a clip from a sequence, all se­lected (purple) audio and video track layers of the clip are removed from the sequence.
Record Monitor controls
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 57
4 Do one of the following:
LiftExtract
• Click the Extract button (Scissors) to re­move the clip and shuffle the following clips earlier to close the gap (analogous to a shuffle edit in Pro Tools).
– or –
• Click the Lift button to remove the clip and leave the following clips at their current time code location.
Extract and Lift buttons
To undo your last action, choose Edit > Undo, Control+Z (Windows), or Com­mand+Z (Mac). Media Station|PT has 32 levels of Undo.

Deleting Clips, Sequences and Media

To delete a clip, sequence, or media file from Media Station|PT:
1 Select the item to delete in the bin.
2 Press the Delete key.
Use the Select Unreferenced Clips command in the menu at the bottom of the bin to se­lect all clips which are not referenced by any sequence.

Exporting Audio and Video from Media Station|PT

To export sequences from Media Station|PT for import into Pro Tools, you can choose from the following methods:
• Using the Send To templates to export an AAF sequence
• Manually exporting an AAF sequence
• Creating a video mixdown
• Exporting an AAF sequence directly to an Interplay server (Avid Interplay system re­quired)
• Checking a sequence into Avid Interplay for Pro Tools (Avid Interplay system re­quired)

Using the Send To Templates to Export an AAF Sequence

The Send To Templates let you create an AAF se­quence that references audio and video files.
To use the Send To Digidesign Pro Tools templates:
1 Select a sequence in a bin.
2 Choose File > Send To > Media Station|PT to
Pro Tools, then choose one of the following op­tions:
Link to Audio and Video Creates an AAF se­quence that links to existing audio and video wherever possible and only creates new media files for effects that have not been rendered. This is the fastest and most storage-efficient way to export a sequence.
Media Station|PT Guide58
Choose this option for a scenario in which Pro Tools will link to the same media files as the current Media Station|PT sequence. Use this set­ting if the media files are currently stored on volumes that are suitable for Pro Tools media playback.
VIdeo Mixdown - Link to Audio Creates an AAF sequence that links to existing audio and in­cludes editing metadata as well as a video mix­down in the video format defined by Media Cre­ation settings. When imported into Pro Tools, the video mixdown and metadata are displayed in two separate video tracks on the Timeline.
Choose this option for any of the following sce­narios, in which Pro Tools can link directly to audio files:
• Co-install system
• Video satellite system with video storage mounted on the Pro Tools computer
• Shared storage environment
Link to Video and Audio with QuickTime Creates an AAF sequence that links to existing audio, and creates a new QuickTime movie.
Choose this option when exporting a sequence for a Pro Tools system that does not have an Avid video peripheral attached.
Send To dialog (LInk to Audio and Video options shown)
3 If you want to view or change export settings,
click the Options button, and then make any changes. If you make any changes, you can use the Save As Template button to create a new template.
This workflow assumes that you use the de­fault values. This means that you are ex­porting using the Project sample rate, audio file format, and sample bit depth.
4 Click Set.
5 Navigate to the location where you want the
AAF sequence to reside.
6 Click OK.
7 Media Station|PT exports the files to the desti-
nation folder. If Media Station|PT has to transcode video files to a new resolution, render effects or perform audio file conversions, a new sequence appears in the bin with the name file- name.Export.01, and a new master clip appears in the bin with the name filename.new.01.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 59
Manually Exporting an AAF
Mark In
Mark Out
Sequence
Manually exporting an AAF sequence from Media Station|PT involves more steps than us­ing the Send To templates, but it provides more flexibility.
You will need to render all video effects be­fore manually exporting the sequence.
Rendering All Effects
Though it is not possible to add or edit video or audio effects in Media Station|PT, you may need to export a sequence with effects that were cre­ated on another Avid editing system. Before you can export the sequence, you must render all ef­fects. Media Station|PT can only render those ef­fects which are currently installed. Media Station|PT contains all of the standard Avid video effects. Third-party effects must ei­ther be installed for Media Station|PT by the user, or rendered by the Media Composer editor before opening the sequence in Media Station|PT.
For more information on rendering effects in Avid products, see the Avid Effects Guide included in your Avid application package.
To render all effects in Media Station|PT:
1 Drag the sequence to the Record Monitor. All
elements of the sequence can be viewed in the Timeline. Unrendered effects appear in the Timeline as small squares with blue or green dots. Rendered effects appear in the Timeline as a square with no colored dot.
2 If there are any audio effects to render, choose
Tools > AudioSuite to open the AudioSuite dia­log, which can be left open in the background while you work.
3 Click the Track Enable buttons on the left side
of the Timeline so that all audio and video tracks in the Timeline are selected (purple).
Enabled tracks are colored purple
4 Click in the Timeline, and press the Home key
to move the cursor to the beginning of the se­quence.
5 Click the Mark In button to mark the In point
at the beginning of the sequence.
Mark In and Mark Out buttons
6 Press the End key to move the cursor to the
end of the sequence.
7 Press the Mark Out button to mark the Out
point at the end of the sequence.
Media Station|PT Guide60
8 Choose Clip > Render In/Out (if the command
Track Enable button
Remove Effect
appears grayed out, click in the Timeline again).
9 In the Render Effects dialog, choose Effect
Source Drive from the Drive pop-up menu. This will write the rendered effect to the same vol­ume as the original files.
Render Effects dialog
2 Click the Track Enable button to select the
track that holds the effect.
3 Click the Remove Effect button.
This selection keeps audio files on audio stor­age and video files on video storage. If you se­lect only one volume, both the rendered audio and video files will be stored on the selected volume, which could cause playback errors with Pro Tools.
10 Click OK.
11 To play the sequence with the rendered ef-
fects, press the Home key to move the cursor to the beginning of the sequence, then click the Play button (or press the Spacebar) to play.
Removing Third-Party Effects from a Sequence
If you open a sequence that has a third-party video or audio effect that you cannot render, you can remove the effect.
To remove an effect from a sequence:
1 Click the effect in the Timeline so that the cur-
sor is placed over the small effect box.
Remove Effect button
Exporting a Sequence
Once all effects have been rendered, export the sequence as an AAF sequence.
To manually export an AAF sequence:
1 Select the sequence in the bin.
2 Select File > Export.
Export As dialog
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 61
3 Type a name and select a location for the ex-
ported sequence.
6 In the Video Details tab, select one of the fol-
lowing from the Export Method pop-up menu:
4 Select Export to Pro Tools from the Export Set-
tings menu at the bottom of the Export As dia­log.
5 Click the Options button to open the Export
to Pro Tools Settings dialog. Verify the settings:
• For Export As, select AAF.
• Select the Include All Video Tracks in Se­quence option. When the sequence is im­ported into Pro Tools. All of the video tracks will be “flattened” so that the im­ported sequence shows only a single video stream.
• Deselect the Include All Audio Tracks in Se­quence option if you do not want to export any audio.
Link to (Don’t Export) Media The Pro Tools ses­sion will link to the same video files as the cur­rent Media Station|PT sequence. Use this setting if the video files are currently stored on a vol­ume suitable for Pro Tools video playback.
Copy All Media New complete video files will be created on the designated volume.
Consolidate Media Similar to Copy All Media, but only the parts of the video clips which are actually used in the Timeline are copied. Use this setting to copy the video files to a volume suitable for Pro Tools video playback.
Video Mixdown The exported AAF sequence will reference a video mixdown with or without its corresponding metadata for individual edits.
The following settings may also appear under the Video Details tab, depending on the selected export method:
Media Destinations Choose where to store cop­ied video files.
Export Settings – Export To Pro Tools dialog, Video Details tab
Media Station|PT Guide62
Handle Length Extends the beginning and end of the consolidated file by the specified number of frames. This lets you trim edits later, though the sequence would need to be re-edited in Media Station|PT. (Pro Tools does not support trimming video regions, so you can save space and time by setting this to 0.)
Render Video Effects Always select Render Video Effects. If you already manually rendered effects, selecting this option will not create new files. It is highly recommended that all effects be ren­dered before exporting the sequence. (See “Ren­dering All Effects” on page 60.)
Transcode Video To Use this only if you need to change the video resolution. Pro Tools supports most SD resolutions supported by Media Station|PT, and even supports mixed res­olutions in the Pro Tools Timeline, so in most cases there is no need to spend extra time transcoding the video. However, if you have video of a resolution which is not currently sup­ported by Pro Tools (such as DVCPro HD or HDV) or you want to play back HD video to an external monitor via an Avid video peripheral, use this setting to transcode it to a supported resolution.
If your Pro Tools system is running on a slower computer, you may be able to reduce some of the CPU load in Pro Tools by transcoding the video to 1:1 on export. 1:1 video is uncompressed, and consequently it does not need to be decompressed before playing back. However, 1:1 video requires significant amounts of storage space.
While new video files are typically stored in the OMFI MediaFiles folder (for OMF media) or the Avid MediaFiles folder (for MXF media), some workflows let you choose a different target des­tination for video in the Media Destination sec­tion of the Video Details tab, as follows:
Embedded in AAF This option embeds the video media in the AAF sequence that is exported from Media Station|PT.
Pro Tools cannot play video that is embed­ded in an AAF sequence, but it can read the video editing metadata when imported into a satellite track. Do not use this option if you want to import the video itself into Pro Tools. (See “Opening an AAF Sequence for Playback on a Video Satellite System” on page 110.)
Media Destination section of the Video Details tab
7 Click the Audio Details tab, and select one of
the following from the Export Method pop-up menu:
Link to (Don’t Export) Media The Pro Tools ses­sion will link to the same audio files as the cur­rent Media Station|PT sequence. Use this setting if the audio files are currently stored on a vol­ume suitable for Pro Tools audio playback.
Media Drive This option exports media to the OMFI MediaFiles folder or Avid MediaFiles folder on a connected storage drive. Select the Use Media Creation Settings option to use the default settings, or deselect that option to choose a media drive from the pop-up menu.
Folder This option exports video media to a spe­cific folder. Select the Use Same Folder as AAF File option to export the video media into the same folder you designated for exporting the AAF sequence, or deselect this option to select a specific folder location for the media.
Copy All Media New complete audio files will be created on the designated volume.
Consolidate Media Similar to Copy All Media, but only the parts of the audio which are actu­ally used in the Timeline are copied. Use this set­ting to copy the audio files to a volume suitable for Pro Tools audio playback.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 63
The following settings may also appear under the Audio Details tab, depending on the selected export method:
Render All Audio Effects Select the Render All Audio Effects option so that all audio effects are rendered before export. If you already manually rendered effects, selecting this option will not create new files. It is highly recommended that all effects be rendered before exporting the se­quence. (See “Rendering All Effects” on page 60.)
Include Rendered Audio Effects Select the In­clude Rendered Audio Effects option. Otherwise, the exported sequence will include the original audio files without any AudioSuite effects from the original sequence—even if those effects were previously rendered.
Convert Audio Sample Rate/Bit Depth/File For­mat Select Project for any of these, and the cur-
rent Audio Project Setting will be used. (See “Configuring Audio Settings” on page 41.)
While new audio files are typically stored in the OMFI MediaFiles folder (for OMF audio) or the Avid MediaFiles folder (for MXF audio), some workflows let you choose a different target des­tination for audio in the Media Destination sec­tion of the Audio Details tab, as follows:
Media Drive This option exports audio media to the OMFI or Avid MediaFiles folder on con­nected storage. Select the Use Media Creation Settings option to use the default settings, or de­select that option to choose a media drive from the pop-up menu.
Embedded in AAF This option embeds the audio media in the AAF sequence that is exported from Media Station|PT. Unlike embedded video, Pro Tools can import and play audio which is embedded in an AAF sequence. Embedding au­dio within the AAF sequence makes file manage­ment much simpler because there is only one file to move—the sequence. There is a limit of 2 GB for embedded AAF.
Pro Tools cannot play video that is embed­ded in an AAF sequence, but it can read the video editing metadata when imported into a satellite track. Do not use this option if you want to import the video itself into Pro Tools. (See “Opening an AAF Sequence for Playback on a Video Satellite System” on page 110.)
8 Click Save or Save As in the Export Settings di-
alog:
• Click Save to use the specified settings whenever Export to Pro Tools is selected from the Export Settings menu. These set­tings will also be used when choosing any of the options located at File > Send To > Media StationPT to Pro Tools.
• Click Save As to save these settings as a pre­set with a different name. These settings can then be recalled in the Export dialog. If you click Save As instead of Save, the Ex­port to Pro Tools settings will not be changed.
9 Click Save in the Export As dialog. (The Export
Settings cannot be saved until you have selected a target drive for both audio and video.)
Folder This option exports audio media to a spe­cific folder. Select the Use Same Folder as AAF File option to export the media into the same folder you designated for exporting the AAF se­quence, or deselect this option to select a spe­cific folder location for the media.
Media Station|PT Guide64
When the export is complete, you are ready to
Rewind
Fast­Forward
Step Forward 1 Frame
Cursor
Play/ Pause
Step Backward 1 Frame
Mark Out
Mark In
Clear Both Marks
Mark Clip
import the file into Pro Tools.
For more information on opening and im­porting AAF sequences in Pro Tools, see “Importing Audio and Video into Pro Tools” on page 71. For more informa­tion on the Import Session dialog, see the
Pro Tools Reference Guide.
To export only part of a sequence:
1 Choose Clip > New Sequence to create a new
sequence.
2 In the bin, name the sequence and drag it to
the Record Monitor.
Media Station|PT main window
3 Drag your original sequence to the Source
Monitor.
4 Use the controls underneath the Source Mon-
itor to locate the first frame of the portion of the clip that you want to edit into the sequence.
Source Monitor controls
See “Adding Clips to a New Sequence” on page 55 for detailed information on using these controls.
5 Click Mark In to mark the In point (the first
frame of the selected portion of the clip) at the current position of the cursor.
6 Using the same controls, locate the last frame
of the portion of the clip that you want to edit into the sequence.
7 Click Mark Out to mark the Out point (the last
frame of the selected portion of the clip) at the current position of the cursor.
You can also select the entire clip by clicking Mark Clip.
8 Click the Record Monitor to select the empty
sequence, then press the Home key to move the cursor to the beginning of the sequence.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 65
9 Click the Overwrite or Splice-In button. The
OverwriteSplice-In
selected portion of old sequence is edited into the empty sequence in the Record Monitor.
Overwrite and Splice-In buttons
10 Follow the preceding steps for exporting the
new sequence (see “Exporting a Sequence” on page 61).

Transcoding HD Sequences

You can use Media Station|PT to transcode a 1080 HD sequence to SD video for either of the following purposes:
Playback of HD Video in Pro Tools Pro Tools with an Avid video peripheral can import and display editing metadata in HD Avid video, but cannot play back or display HD video frames. For this reason, sequences exported from Media Station|PT HD projects should also in­clude a video mixdown in an SD resolution cor­responding to the original HD resolution if you need to view the video in Pro Tools. Changing the resolution of the video mixdown involves changing the project’s Format type.
Playback of SD Video from HD Sequences
Media Station|PT with an Avid video peripheral can play back SD video to an external NTSC or PAL monitor, but cannot play back HD video to an NTSC or PAL monitor. However, if you first transcode an HD sequence to SD video, you can output the transcoded video to an external video monitor with frame edge-aligned accu­racy.
Transcoding an HD sequence to SD video is a slower process than down-converting an HD project in real-time, but yields better video qual­ity.
See “Down-Converting an HD Project to SD Video” on page 54 for details.
To transcode HD resolution video to SD resolution video:
1 Open the Project in Media Station|PT.
2 In the Project window, click the Format tab.
3 Choose a corresponding SD resolution from
the Project Type pop-up menu. For example, in an NTSC 1080i/59.94 project, switch to a 30i format and in a PAL 1080i/50 project, switch to a 25 format.
Project window, Format tab
Because no SD equivalent exists for 720p projects, they cannot be converted to SD prior to exporting. If you export an AAF se­quence from a 720p project in Media Station|PT, Pro Tools can import only the video metadata. Or, you may wish to only export the audio.
4 Open the bin containing the sequence you
want to transcode, and select the sequence.
Media Station|PT Guide66
5 Choose Clip > Consolidate/Transcode.
Track layers reflected
in video mixdown
Consolidate/Transcode dialog
6 In the Consolidate/Transcode dialog, do the
following:
• Click the Transcode option.
• Select the Create New Sequence option.
• Choose the video resolution to which you want to transcode the sequence from the Target Video Resolution pop-up menu.
• Select the drive into which you want to save the transcoded media.
7 When you are ready, click Transcode.

Creating a Video Mixdown

Video mixdown combines a sequence (or por­tion of a sequence) into one video file that re­flects all edits and effects.
You can mix down multiple video tracks or a single track. For mixdowns of multiple tracks, the selected track and all tracks under it are com­bined into one file that always reflects the top­most visible track.
Layered video tracks in a video mixdown
Creating a video mixdown is analogous to bouncing to disk in Pro Tools, except that the video mixdown creates only video and no audio.
To create a video mixdown:
1 Open the bin containing the sequence you
want to mix down.
Media is transcoded to SD and SD sequence is created.
8 When Media Station|PT has finished
transcoding media, export the new sequence as an AAF. (See “Exporting Audio and Video from Media Station|PT” on page 58.)
2 Drag the sequence to the Record Monitor. The
tracks comprising the sequence display in the Timeline.
Record and Source Monitors
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 67
3 Do one of the following:
Record Track Monitor
Record Track Monitor (solo)
Mark Out
Mark In
• To combine multiple video tracks into the mixdown, select a video track, then click the Record Track Monitor button next to the track. Video tracks above the selected track will not be included in the mixdown.
Record Track monitor
– or –
• To select only one video track for mix­down, Control-click (Windows) or Com­mand-click (Macintosh) the Record Track Monitor button. The button will turn green.
5 Under the Record Monitor, click the Mark In
button to mark the In point at the beginning of the sequence.
Record Monitor controls
6 Drag the cursor to the position at which you
want the sequence to end. (Press the End key to move the cursor to the end of the sequence.)
7 Click Mark Out button to set the Out point.
The portion of the sequence you have selected will be mixed down.
8 Choose Special > Video Mixdown.
Record Track monitor
4 On the Timeline or in the Record Monitor,
drag the cursor to the position in the sequence at which you wish the mixdown to start. (Press the Home key to move the cursor to the begin­ning of the Timeline.)
Media Station|PT Guide68
Video Mixdown dialog
9 From the Target bin pop-up menu, choose the
bin where you wish to store the master clip of the video mixdown.
10 From the Target Drive pop-up menu, choose
the volume where you wish to save the video mixdown. On the volume you select, MXF me­dia are stored in the Avid MediaFiles folder, and OMF media are stored in the OMFI MediaFiles folder.
11 Choose a file resolution for the video mix-
down from the Resolution pop-up menu.
12 Click OK.
A progress bar displays as Media Station|PT saves the video mix to the location and resolutions you have specified.

Checking In a Sequence to Interplay for Pro Tools

(Avid Interplay System Only)
This section describes how to use Media Station|PT to check in a sequence to In­terplay for Pro Tools.
To check in a sequence to Interplay for Pro Tools:
1 In Media Station|PT, navigate to the bin con-
taining the sequence you want to export.
2 Do one of the following:
• Select the sequence, and choose File > Check In to Interplay for Pro Tools.
– or –
• Right-click the sequence, and choose Check In to Interplay for Pro Tools.
If you have previously used the Interplay Ad­ministrator to set the Editor Export Settings for Pro Tools plug-in for the project folder, the Pro Tools Video Mixdown dialog appears.
Video Mix dialog
See the Pro Tools Avid Interplay Guide for detailed information.
3 Select one of the following options:
Bin containing the sequence to export
New Video Mixdown Includes a video mixdown in the exported sequence using the resolution set in the Project Type pop-up menu of the project window’s Format tab. Select this option if you are working on an HD project. No video effects will be rendered in the project.
Link to Existing Video Media Use this option when effects have either been rendered or are unnecessary for working in Pro Tools. (Ensure that linked video can be played from the Pro Tools system.) With this option, Media Station|PT:
• Does not render any effects.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 69
• Determines whether the current resolution matches the Transcode resolution in the Edi­tor Export Settings for Pro Tools plug-in in the Interplay Administrator. Depending on whether the settings match, one of the follow­ing occurs:
• If the settings either match or have not been created for the check-in folder, the system creates a sequence that links to the existing media and does not create a video mixdown or render any video effects.
• If the settings do not match, the system transcodes the sequence according to the setting in the Export Settings for Pro Tools plug-in and links the sequence to this new media. The system also renders (or re-ren­ders) all video effects to match the transcode resolution. The application over­rides the “Link To” option in order to guar­antee that you have access to a resolution supported by Pro Tools.
4 Click OK to check in the sequence to Interplay
for Pro Tools.
After Checking In a Sequence to Interplay for Pro Tools
The system exports the sequence from Media Station|PT, and then checks in the se­quence to Interplay.
If the Interplay folder containing the exported sequence has been configured with video and audio settings defined in the Editor Export Set­tings for Pro Tools plug-in, those settings are ap­plied to the sequence. (These settings can apply to either the entire database or to one or more folders, depending on how they are configured.)
When you use Media Station|PT to check in a se­quence to Interplay for Pro Tools, the system chooses a destination folder in the Interplay da­tabase based on the current Interplay view set­tings, with the default destination folder as fol­lows:
Projects\project_name\bin_name
If your check-in destination folder is a folder for which settings have not been defined, the sys­tem displays the Pro Tools Export Settings dia­log so you can specify the settings.
Pro Tools Export Settings dialog
Exported Files in Interplay
If this is the first time the you have checked in a sequence to Interplay for Pro Tools for this project, the system performs the following oper­ations:
• Checks in the Avid sequence to the bin_name folder.
• Creates a Pro Tools folder within the bin_name folder.
• Checks in the files for the Pro Tools editor to the Pro Tools folder.
Media Station|PT Guide70
• Checks in a Pro Tools sequence to the
The name matches the name in the Media Station|PT application bin
Red dots
“_v1_forPT” appended to the sequence name
Pro Tools folder.
Location of the Avid sequence and its associated Pro Tools folder
The first time the sequence is exported, the sys­tem appends the text “_v1_forPT” to the se­quence name in the Pro Tools folder. Each sub­sequent time the sequence is exported, it uses the text “_v2_forPT,” “_v3_forPT,” and so on.
The following illustration shows the contents of the Pro Tools folder after the first export.

Importing Audio and Video into Pro Tools

This section explains the basic steps of import­ing an AAF sequence into a Pro Tools session.

Importing an AAF Sequence as a Pro Tools Session

The easiest way of using Pro Tools to edit a se­quence exported from Media Station|PT is to open it as a new session.
To open an AAF sequence as a Pro Tools session:
1 Launch Pro Tools.
2 Choose File > Open Session.
3 In the Open Session dialog, navigate to the
AAF sequence you want to import.
4 Click Open.
Contents of Pro Tools folder (left pane) and sequence listed in that directory (right pane)
The red dots in the illustration indicate that the system has placed a reservation on the files to prevent unauthorized deletion for a fixed period of time. For more information, see the
Avid Interplay Access User’s Guide.
Pro Tools New Session dialog
5 Name your session in the File Name field.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 71
6 Select the I/O Settings to use for the session.
Several pre-configured I/O Settings are included with your system, or you can select a custom I/O Setting that you have created.
7 Click Save.
The Import Session Data dialog appears.
8 From the Audio Media Options pop-up menu,
choose how you want to import audio files into Pro Tools:
• If the audio files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools can play back audio, select Link to Source Media (Where Possible).
• If the audio files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools cannot play back audio, select Copy from Source Media to copy all audio to the Pro Tools audio storage or Consolidate from Source Media to copy only the portions of the audio used in the Pro Tools Timeline to the Pro Tools audio storage.
9 From the Video Media Options pop-up menu,
choose how you want to import video files into Pro Tools:
• If the video files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools can play back video, select Link to Source Media.
• If the video files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools cannot play back video, se­lect Copy from Source Media to copy all video to the Pro Tools video storage.
Import Session Data dialog
Pro Tools lets you open and import AAF se­quences that reference audio files with mixed sample rates and/or bit depths. Audio files will be converted to the highest sample rate and bit depth of the files being imported (for new sessions) or to the current sample rate and/or bit depth (for existing sessions).
Media Station|PT Guide72
10 Change other parameters as desired. For
more information, see “Exporting Audio from Pro Tools for Media Station PT” on page 78.
11 Click OK.
Pro Tools will create a new Audio Files folder, a Fade Files folder, a Video Files folder, a cache.wfm file, and a session file at the desig­nated locations. This session will match the au­dio file type, sample rate, and bit depth of the audio in the AAF sequence you selected.

Importing an AAF Sequence into an Existing Session

You can import an AAF sequence containing au­dio and video into an existing Pro Tools session.
Any video imported into Pro Tools must be the same frame rate as video already placed in the Timeline.
To open and import audio and/or video tracks from an AAF sequence:
1 Open an existing Pro Tools session.
2 Choose File > Import > Session Data, and
choose the AAF sequence that you wish to im­port.
Pro Tools cannot play video that is embed­ded in an AAF sequence, but it can read the video editing metadata when imported into a satellite track. Do not use this option if you want to import the video itself into Pro Tools. (See “Opening an AAF Sequence for Playback on a Video Satellite System” on page 110.)
You can also open an AAF sequence by dragging it from any location on your com­puter or the DigiBase browser to the Pro Tools Timeline.
3 From the Audio Media Options pop-up menu,
choose how you want to import audio files into Pro Tools:
• If the audio files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools can play back audio, select Link to Source Media (Where Possible).
• If the audio files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools cannot play back audio, select Copy from Source Media to copy all audio to the Pro Tools audio storage or Consolidate from Source Media to copy only the audio used in the session to the Pro Tools audio storage.
4 From the Video Media Options pop-up menu,
choose how you want to import video files into Pro Tools:
• If the video files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools can play back video, select Link to Source Media.
• If the video files reside on a volume from which Pro Tools cannot play back video, se­lect Copy from Source Media to copy all video to the Pro Tools video storage.
5 In the Import Session Data dialog, deselect
any source tracks that you do not want to be im­ported. (If you are importing Session Data from AAF sequences, all tracks are selected by default. If you are importing tracks from a Pro Tools ses­sion, no tracks are selected by default.)
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 73
Drive Selection When Importing Session Data
When using the Import Session Data dialog to import audio files with Copy or Consolidate Source selected in the Audio Media Options pop-up menu, all new audio files are stored on the volumes designated for their respective tar­get tracks in the Disk Allocation dialog.

Importing Avid Video into Pro Tools

You can import an OMF or MXF video file into Pro Tools. You might do this, for example, to import a video mixdown created in Media Station|PT.
Import Session Data dialog
6 Click OK.
If there are any errors or region name trun­cations, a dialog will appear asking you if you want a detailed report of the changes. Click Yes and choose where you want to save the log.
7 If your audio or video is on a volume that is
not suitable for playback (shown as a Transfer volume in the Workspace browser), Pro Tools displays a dialog that guides you to copy the me­dia to a volume designated for Playback or Record. (Click Yes.)
Pro Tools imports the audio and video to the Timeline. Audio tracks with mixed sample rates and/or bit depth are automatically converted to the same sample rate and bit depth as the ses­sion.
Now you are ready to edit the audio files in Pro Tools.
To import Avid video into Pro Tools:
1 Create a new Pro Tools session or open an ex-
isting session.
2 Choose File > Import > Video.
3 In the Select Video File to Import dialog, lo-
cate the video file.
Select Video Files to Import dialog
4 Click Open.
Pro Tools imports the video file into the Video track.
Media Station|PT Guide74

Importing a Sequence into Pro Tools from Interplay

(Avid Interplay System Only)
This section describes how to locate a sequence that has been exported to the Interplay database from Media Station|PT and import it into Pro Tools. This section assumes that you have already configured the Pro Tools Import settings in the Interplay Administration tool.
For more information, see the Pro Tools Avid Interplay Guide.
If you do not establish Pro Tools Import Settings before importing the sequence into Pro Tools, you can select the appropriate values in the Im­port Session Data dialog during the import pro­cess.
When importing a sequence from Interplay into Pro Tools, you can import into a new or existing session.
3 Navigate to the Pro Tools folder containing
the sequence you want to import.
Navigating to the sequence
4 Right-click the sequence, and choose Import
to Digidesign Pro Tools.
Importing a Sequence into Pro Tools from within Interplay
To check out the sequence and import it into Pro Tools from within Avid Interplay Access:
1 If you want to import the sequence into an ex-
isting session in Pro Tools, launch Pro Tools and open that session.
2 Start Avid Interplay Access.
Importing a sequence into Pro Tools from within Access
Importing a Sequence from Interplay from within Pro Tools
This section describes to how to use Pro Tools to import a sequence from Interplay. If you have not yet opened Interplay Access and specified a server to connect to, you must do that before performing this procedure.
See “Importing a Sequence into Pro Tools from within Interplay” on page 75 for de­tailed information.
To check out the sequence and import it into Pro Tools from within Pro Tools:
1 Start Pro Tools.
2 If you want to import the sequence into an ex-
isting session, open that session.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 75
3 Choose File > Import > Sequence from Avid
Interplay
database
Interplay.
The Interplay Engine Browser appears.
Interplay Engine Browser
4 In the Interplay Engine Browser, expand the
Interplay database by clicking the plus sign (+) next to it.
5 Expand the root folder of the database—usu-
ally titled AvidWG or a variation thereof—by clicking the plus sign (+) next to its name.
The folder structure matches the structure in Interplay Access.
6 Expand the Projects folder.
7 Expand the project containing the sequence
you want to check out and import to Pro Tools.
9 In the Interplay Engine Browser, locate and se-
lect the sequence that you want to import.
Interplay Engine Browser (folder structure displayed)
Files that appear in greyed out text out are not available for import into Pro Tools.
10 Click OK.
11 If the Name the Session dialog appears, nav-
igate to the appropriate location either on local storage or on a dedicated Unity workspace, and click Save.
The Logon to Interplay dialog appears.
8 Enter your username and password, and click
OK.
Name the Session dialog
Logon to Interplay dialog
This dialog does not appear if you are im­porting a sequence into an existing session.
Media Station|PT Guide76
12 If the Pro Tools Import Session Data dialog
appears, select the appropriate options and click OK.
Pro Tools imports the sequence, copies any me­dia (if the settings require copying), and displays the imported sequence within the Pro Tools ses­sion.
If the sequence was linked to media files on unmounted volumes, the system provides a warning and asks you to mount those vol­umes before you proceed with copying or linking to media.
Import Session Data dialog
This dialog does not appear if you config­ured the Pro Tools Import Settings in the Avid Interplay Administrator. Pro Tools au­tomatically uses those settings to import the sequence. (See the Pro Tools Avid Interplay Guide for detailed information on configur­ing Pro Tools Import Settings, and the Digi­Translator Guide for detailed information on setting options in this dialog.)
Sequence imported from Interplay into the Timeline

Editing Audio in Pro Tools

Audio files created in Media Station|PT are ei­ther MXF files or OMF-wrapped AIFF or WAV files, which Pro Tools cannot edit destructively.
When you use Pro Tools to perform a destruc­tive edit (such as using AudioSuite processing to replace the original sound), it creates a new copy of the file and leaves the original untouched.
See the Pro Tools Reference Guide for de­tailed information on editing audio files in Pro Tools.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 77

Exporting Audio from Pro Tools for Media Station PT

In Pro Tools, you can export audio tracks for use in Media Station|PT using any of the following methods:
• Exporting selected tracks as an AAF se­quence
• Bouncing to disk
• Exporting edited audio tracks to Interplay from Pro Tools (Avid Interplay system re­quired)
For other export methods, see the Pro Tools Ref-
erence Guide.

Exporting Tracks as AAF Sequences

Use Export Selected Tracks as OMF/AAF to ex­port individual tracks or an entire Pro Tools ses­sion in AAF format.
Tracks are exported in their entirety and time selections are ignored.
3 Under OMF/AAF Options, choose AAF from
the Export As pop-up menu.
4 Select Enforce Avid Compatibility.
Enforce Avid Compatibility creates frame-accu­rate edits, wraps the files as OMFI (unless you choose MXF), and limits the sample rate options to 44.1 or 48 kHz. Dithering without noise shap­ing will be applied to files being exported from 24-bit to 16-bit.
Export to OMF/AAF dialog
Volume and pan automation is not retained on export if Quantize Edits to Frame Bound­aries is enabled (Avid Compatibility Mode).
The Movie track cannot be exported to AAF or OMF from Pro Tools.
To export selected audio tracks from Pro Tools as an AAF sequence:
1 In Pro Tools, select the tracks you want to ex-
port in the Pro Tools session by Shift-clicking the names of each track.
2 Choose File > Export > Selected Tracks as
OMF/AAF.
Media Station|PT Guide78
An OMF sequence cannot reference MXF media files. In the Export Selected Tracks as OMF/AAF dialog, MXF is only available when AAF is selected in the Export As pop­up menu
5 Ensure that the Target Project Time Code For-
mat pop-up menu displays the correct frame rate for the Media Station|PT project.
6 Click OK.
7 In the Publishing Options dialog, type the
Pro Tools Comment and Sequence Name.
Publishing Options dialog
8 Click OK.
Pro Tools will create a sequence with the name you supply. (The Pro Tools comment appears in the Media Station|PT bin in a Pro Tools Com­ment column.)
9 In the Name the AAF/OMF File to Export dia-
log, navigate to a folder where you can easily lo­cate the Pro Tools composition when it is time to import it into Media Station|PT.
11 In the Please Choose a Folder for Converted
Audio Files dialog, do one of the following:
• If you are exporting to the same storage that Media Station|PT will be accessing, navigate to the OMFI MediaFiles folder (AIFF or WAV files) or the Avid MediaFiles folder (MXF files).
– or –
• If you are exporting to a location that is not directly accessible to Media Station|PT, navigate to a location where you can easily find the audio files when you need to copy them over to the Media Station|PT com­puter.
Name the AAF File to Export dialog (OMF dialog not shown)
Do not save the sequence to either the OMFI Media Files folder or the Avid Media Files folder.
10 Click Save.
Navigating to the OMFI MediaFiles folder (OMF media) or Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1 folder (AAF media)
12 Click Use Current Folder (Windows) or
Choose (Macintosh).
Pro Tools exports the following files:
• The sequence is saved to the folder you des­ignated.
• If you exported audio files directly to the Media Station|PT video storage, related me­dia is saved to the appropriate volume and folder (OMFI MediaFiles or Avid Media­Files/MXF/1) accessible to Media Station|PT.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 79
13 Do one of the following:
• If you are using Media Station|PT on the same computer as Pro Tools and are ready to use it to import the files you just ex­ported Media Station|PT, exit Pro Tools.
• If you were unable to save the audio por­tion of the AAF sequence to storage that is directly accessible from Media Station|PT, copy the audio files from their saved loca­tion to the OMFI MediaFiles folder (for AIFF or WAV media) or Avid MediaFiles folder (for MXF media) on a drive con­nected to your Media Station|PT system
3 Choose File > Bounce to > Disk.

Exporting Audio Files Using Bounce to Disk

Use the Bounce to Disk command to create pre­mixed files of the current Pro Tools session. This does not export the individual files on the Time­line, but it does guarantee that the mix you hear in Media Station|PT will be identical to the mix you hear in Pro Tools, including all panning, ef­fects and automation.
To export audio files using Bounce to Disk:
1 In Pro Tools, finalize the mix.
2 Select the time range of the session that you
want to export. (All audible tracks in that time range will be included in the bounce, whether they are selected or not.)
Bounce to Disk dialog
4 Select the Enforce Avid Compatibility option.
Enforce Avid Compatibility creates frame-accu­rate edits, wraps the files as OMFI (unless you choose MXF), and limits the sample rate options to 44.1 or 48 kHz. Dithering without noise shap­ing will be applied to files being bounced from 24-bit to 16-bit.
5 Choose a file type from the File Type pop-up
menu.
6 Click Bounce.
7 In the Publishing Options dialog, type the
Pro Tools Comment and Clip Name.
If you selected more than one region for export, the Clip Name field will not be available and the names of the regions will be used for the ex­ported files.
Publishing Options dialog
Media Station|PT Guide80
8 Choose the Target Project Time Code Format.
9 Click OK.
10 In the Save Bounce As dialog, navigate to the
volume you will use for audio playback in Media Station|PT.
• For MXF audio files, ensure the file is saved to the Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1 folder.
• For all other audio files, ensure the file is saved to the OMFI MediaFiles folder.
11 Click Save.
All audible audio in the selection will be ex­ported to two multi-mono audio files.
3 In the Export Comment dialog, type a com-
ment and click OK.
Export Comment dialog
4 In the Replace or Add Selected Tracks dialog,
select a method for laying back edited audio ma­terial into the Pro Tools sequence residing on the Interplay server:

Exporting Edited Audio Tracks to Interplay from Pro Tools

(Avid Interplay System Only)
“Importing a Sequence into Pro Tools from In­terplay” on page 75 describes using Interplay to import an AAF sequence created specifically for use in Pro Tools. This section describes how to use Interplay to export final audio from Pro Tools back to that same AAF sequence so that it may be easily imported into Media Sta­tion|PT, Media Composer, or other Avid editors.
It is recommended that you provide com­pleted audio stems rather than audio tracks with edits.
To export audio tracks from Pro Tools, and then check in audio tracks to Interplay:
1 In Pro Tools, select the tracks that you want to
export into the Pro Tools sequence on Interplay.
2 Select File > Export > Selected Tracks to Se-
quence in Avid Interplay.
Replace with Selected Tracks Replaces the old audio tracks in the Pro Tools sequence with the edited audio tracks. Select this option if you do not want to preserve the original audio in the se­quence.
Add Selected Tracks Adds the edited audio tracks to the Pro Tools sequence on the Inter­play database. Select this option if you want to preserve the original audio in the sequence.
When adding selected tracks, ensure that the total number of tracks in the sequence residing on the Interplay server does not ex­ceed the total allowed number of tracks for Media Station|PT—24 audio and 24 video tracks.
Replace or Add Selected Tracks
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 81
5 Click OK.
A confirmation message box appears.
6 Click OK.
The sequence in the Avid Interplay database is now ready to be checked out and imported by Media Station|PT.

Importing Audio into Media Station|PT from Pro Tools

The Media Tool Display lets you scan all media files in both the OMFI MediaFiles and Avid Me­diaFiles folders.
4 Select the Master Clips and the Media Clip op-
tions.
5 Under the Media Drives list, do one of the fol-
lowing:
• Select the drives that contain media files for your project.
– or –
• Click All Drives to select all applicable drives for scanning.
Once you have exported audio files or sequences from Pro Tools, you may import them into a bin in Media Station|PT.

Importing Audio Files into a Bin

To import audio files into Media Station|PT:
1 Launch Media Station|PT, and open the de-
sired project.
2 Open the bin into which you wish to import
the audio files from Pro Tools.
3 Choose Tools > Media Tool.
6 Under the Projects list, click All Projects to
scan all available media files.
7 Click OK.
The Media Tool window appears, displaying the media you selected.
Media Tool
8 To sort the files in the bin by a specific column
(such as Name or Creation Date), right-click the column and select “Sort on Column, Ascend­ing” or “Sort on Column, Descending.”
9 In the Media Tool window, select the Stereo
(or multi-mono) master clip exported from Pro Tools.
Media Tool Display
Media Station|PT Guide82
10 Drag the master clip to the bin.
11 Close the Media Tool.
12 To preview the contents of the imported au-
dio clip, double-click the audio clip in the bin. The audio clip will open in a pop-up monitor.
7 When the Media Tool displays the contents of
the media folders again, you can transfer the ex­ported Pro Tools audio back into the appropriate media folder.
Restoring Invisible Media Files in the Media Tool
(Media Station|PT on Windows XP Only)
If you have not disabled Simple File Sharing on Windows XP—and you have exported audio from Pro Tools to either the OMFI MediaFiles or Avid MediaFiles folder on a Windows-based Media Station|PT system—you may notice that those audio files or the entire contents of the media folder become invisible in the Media Tool.
If this occurs, you can repair the problem by fol­lowing these steps.
To restore the visibility of media files in the Media Tool:
1 On the Media Station|PT machine, disable
Simple File Sharing as described in “Disabling Simple File Sharing” on page 29.
2 Quit Media Station|PT.
3 In Windows Explorer, navigate to the OMFI
MediaFiles or Avid MediaFiles folder (whichever folder you exported the audio files from Pro Tools), and move those files to another loca­tion (or delete them).
4 Launch Media Station|PT.
5 Do the following:
• Choose File > Refresh Media Directories.
• Choose Tools > Media Tool.
6 If the Media Tool does not display the media
files, repeat the last step until the contents of the media folders are visible again. You may have to do this several times.

Importing an AAF Audio Sequence into a Bin

To import an AAF sequence into Media Station|PT:
1 Launch Media Station|PT, and open the de-
sired project.
2 Select the bin where you would like to import
the sequence.
3 Choose File > Import.
4 In the Select Files to Import dialog, navigate to
the sequence you wish to import, and ensure the correct drive is selected for audio.
5 Click Open. The new audio sequence appears
in the selected bin, along with all related audio clips.
One of the following occurs:
• If you imported an AAF sequence containing embedded audio, Media Station|PT automati­cally copies the embedded audio to either the Avid MediaFiles folder or the OMFI MediaFiles folder.
• If you imported an AAF sequence that refer­ences audio—and Media Station|PT does not have direct access to the audio—you must copy the audio files from the Pro Tools audio storage to either the Avid Media Files folder or the OMFI MediaFiles folder.
6 To hear the contents of the imported audio se-
quence, double-click the audio sequence in the bin. The audio sequence opens in a pop-up monitor or in the Timeline (depending on your Bin settings). Press the Spacebar to play.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 83
Importing Pro Tools Audio Files
Pro Tools folder Files checked in by
the Pro Tools editor
Imported
sequence
Video mixdown
created during
first check in to
Interplay
Original
sequence
Back into Media Station|PT from Avid Interplay
(Avid Interplay System Only)
After you have checked the completed audio stems from Pro Tools back into the AAF se­quence on the Interplay server, you must import the sequence back into Media Station|PT.
To import the sequence into Media Station|PT:
1 In Media Station|PT, open the Interplay Win-
dow and navigate to the location of the checked-in Pro Tools sequence.
Interplay browser
Depending on edits made in Pro Tools, you might see several audio files with names containing the prefix “Sample accurate edit.” For more information, see “Frame­Rate Accurate Video Editing and Sample­Rate Accurate Audio Editing” on page 85.
2 Drag the sequence into the bin.
Media Station|PT checks out the sequence and imports it and its related files into the bin.
Bin after import
3 You can now do one of the following:
• Add the new audio tracks into the original sequence.
– or –
• Work with the imported sequence.
In this example, the Pro Tools audio tracks are added into the original sequence.
If you plan to check in the sequence to Inter­play for Pro Tools again, it is simpler to im­port the audio into the original sequence. Every time you export a sequence for Pro Tools, the system appends the text “_vx_forPT,” where x is the number of times the sequence has been exported. It can become confusing if several similar text strings are appended to the name.
4 Load the imported sequence into the Source
monitor.
5 Add the audio into the original sequence us-
ing standard editing techniques.
Media Station|PT Guide84
For more information, see the documenta­tion (PDF or Help file) for Media Station|PT.
The following illustration shows the audio
Sample-accurate edit audio files
1 Pro Tools audio clip
5 frame video clip
tracks cut into the original sequence. In this ex­ample, the original tracks are overwritten.
Sequence in the Avid Timeline after overwrite
6 Now you can use Media Station|PT to make
any adjustments to the sequence and do the fol­lowing:
• Create a digital cut.
• Perform a Send to Playout operation.
• Check in the sequence to Interplay for Pro Tools if the Pro Tools editor needs to work on the sequence again.
The following illustration shows Sample accu­rate edit files in the Interplay Window.
Sample-accurate edits in the Interplay window
Frame-Rate Accurate Video Editing and Sample-Rate Accurate Audio Editing
After a sequence has been exported back to In­terplay from Pro Tools, a number of additional media files appear in the Interplay Window and in the bin. Some have names containing the prefix Sample accurate edit. These are the addi­tional media files that Pro Tools creates to make sure that Media Station|PT receives frame-accu­rate audio. Sample-accurate edit media files are visible if you zoom in on portions of the im­ported audio in the Timeline.
Avid video editing applications edit with frame accuracy. This means that when using Media Station|PT to work on a 30-fps project, you can edit at 30 different locations for every one second of video. Pro Tools edits with sample rate accuracy. In a 48 kHz session, there are po­tentially 48,000 locations to edit for every sec­ond of audio.
When Pro Tools exports a sequence, it must en­sure that the audio media files line up on frame boundaries. To do this, it might have to split an existing audio clip into three clips. For example, the following illustration shows a 5-frame video clip and a corresponding audio clip. In Pro Tools, the audio clips might not line up on video frame boundaries.
The original audio clip does not line up on video frame boundaries
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 85
In order to export frame accurate audio clips,
3 exported audio clips
5 frame video clip
New audio clips with padded silence
Timeline Track buttons
Source Track buttons
Timeline Track buttons
Pro Tools splits the audio media on frame boundaries and fills any gaps with silence. The following illustration shows the resulting audio clips that are exported to Media Station|PT.
Exported audio clips line up on video frame boundaries
To cut down on the number of sample accurate edit files, the Pro Tools editor can perform a Bounce to disk for each track (or a bus-record to an audio track) rather than exporting tracks that contain all of the audio edits.

Synchronizing Audio with a Media Station|PT Sequence

Once you have imported an audio file or se­quence from Pro Tools into a bin in Media Station|PT, you can synchronize it with video. This is especially useful for verifying sync with the original video sequence, then laying audio and video back to tape or creating a digital movie with your final mix.
2 Drag the original sequence to the Record
Monitor to see all elements in the Timeline.
Record and Source Monitors
The original sequence displays in the Timeline.
Original sequence displays in Timeline
3 Drag the imported audio clip or sequence
from the bin to the Source Monitor. New Source Track buttons for the source appear to the left of the Track buttons for the Timeline.
To synchronize an edited audio file or sequence with the original video sequence:
1 Ensure that the audio exported from Pro Tools
is now residing in a bin within your current project.
Media Station|PT Guide86
New track buttons
4 Use the controls underneath the Source Mon-
Rewind
Fast-For­ward
Step Forward 1 Frame
Cursor
Play/ Pause
Step Backward 1 Frame
Mark Out
Mark In
Clear Both Marks
Mark Clip
Existing audio tracks
New audio tracks
Source
Track linked
to Timeline
track
Linking
Source track
to Timeline
track
itor to locate the first frame of the portion of the clip that you want to edit into the sequence.
Source Monitor controls
See “Adding Clips to a New Sequence” on page 55 for detailed information on using these controls.
The portion of the audio source between the In point and the Out point is now selected for ed­iting into the sequence.
You can also click the Clear Both Marks button to clear the In and Out points.
8 Choose Clip > New Audio Track to add audio
tracks to the sequence. (This leaves any original audio tracks in place to compare synchroniza­tion.) Add a new track for each channel of audio you want to add.
Audio tracks in the Timeline
Enable the Caps Lock to hear audio while scrubbing.
5 Click Mark In to mark the In point (the first
frame of the selected portion) at the current po­sition of the cursor.
6 Using the same controls, locate the last frame
of the portion of the source that you want to edit into the sequence.
7 Click Mark Out to mark the Out point (the last
frame of the selected portion) at the current po­sition of the cursor.
You can also select the entire source clip or sequence by clicking Mark Clip.
9 If necessary, click on the Source track buttons
and drag to the desired new Timeline track but­tons so that the new media will be placed on the correct tracks in the Timeline.
Aligning Source audio tracks with Timeline audio tracks
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 87
10 If the original audio tracks still display yellow
Speaker icons
Enabled tracks
Disabled tracks
Clear Both Marks
OverwriteSplice-In
New audio tracks from Pro Tools
speaker icons, click the speaker icons in the Track Enable button to mute them. The speaker icons for the original tracks will disappear, and the speaker icons should appear yellow in the new tracks, indicating that they will be heard.
Clicking the speaker icons to disable Source tracks
11 If the video track and the original audio
tracks are enabled (gray), disable them and en­able the new audio tracks (purple), by clicking the correct audio track buttons (A1–A24). This will ensure that only the new tracks will be af­fected by any editing commands.
13 Under the Record Monitor, click the Clear
Both Marks button to remove any In and Out points (if present).
Record Monitor controls
14 Click the Overwrite button to lay the audio
into the Timeline.
Overwrite and Splice-In buttons
The audio selected between the In and Out points in the Source Monitor is laid into the Timeline at the position of the cursor.
New audio tracks in Timeline
12 In the Timeline, place the cursor at the posi-
tion where you want to lay the new audio into the Timeline. (Press Home to move to the begin­ning of the sequence.)
Timeline containing two empty audio tracks
Media Station|PT Guide88
Timeline with new audio sequence
15 If you want to display audio waveforms in
Fast menu
Monitor button
the Timeline, click the Fast Menu (located on the lower left hand corner of the Timeline), and choose Audio Data > Energy Plot. Ensure that the new audio tracks appear synchronized with the originals.
Fast menu
16 If necessary, make sure the video track’s Mon-
itor button is enabled (purple). This will allow you to view the video portion of the sequence in the Record Monitor (or client monitor).
Enabling the Video track

Methods of Exporting Media

This section covers the following methods of ex­porting media:
• Laying back audio and video to tape
• Exporting to XDCAM

Laying Back Audio and Video to Tape

Pro Tools video playback is intended for moni­toring purposes only, and is not suitable for pro­fessional layback or broadcast, regardless of the resolution or frame rate of the video. However, video output from Media Station|PT is profes­sional quality. Use Media Station|PT when you need to output both audio and video to tape. To avoid dropped frames, it is recommended that all effects be rendered before performing a lay­back.
To record audio and video to tape from Media Station|PT:
1 Insert a video tape into your VTR. In most
cases, Media Station|PT will present a list of tapes already associated with this project and ask you which tape you have inserted.
17 Press the Home key to move the cursor to the
beginning of the sequence and press the Space­bar to play the sequence. The new audio should be synchronized with the video.
After verifying the new audio sequence is cor­rectly synchronized, you can do either of the following:
• Lay audio and video back to tape using Dig­ital Cut
• Export your sequence as a QuickTime, MPEG, or other format digital movie.
Select Tape dialog
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 89
2 Do one of the following:
DNA/1394 button
Source Track buttons
Record Track buttons
Record Enable
Preview
• Select one of the displayed tape names and click OK.
– or –
• Click New to add a new tape to the list.
3 Ensure that the Device setting is set to Avid
DNA (if you are outputting through an Avid video peripheral) or IEEE 1394 (if you are out­putting through FireWire) by doing one of the following:
• Click the DNA/1394 button in the Time­line.
DNA/1394 button (showing both DNA and 1394 status)
4 Set the In and Out points in the Timeline as
desired.
5 Choose Output > Digital Cut. The Digital Cut
Tool appears.
Digital Cut Tool
6 In the Source Track buttons on the far left, se-
lect the top video track. Only the selected track and the video tracks below it will be recorded.
– or –
• Select Special > Device > Avid DNA or IEEE
1394.
Avid DNA and IEEE 1394 options in the Device pop-up menu
Media Station|PT Guide90
Selected Source tracks
7 Select the audio tracks you want to include.
Only the selected tracks will be included in the recording.
8 Use the Record Track buttons on the right to
select which audio and video tracks to record on the tape.
9 Do one of the following:
• To record the entire sequence to tape, select the Entire Sequence option.
– or –
• To record the portions of the sequence you marked with In and Out points to tape, en­sure that the Entire Sequence option is de­selected.
10 If you are laying back via a FireWire (1394)
connection (Special > Device > IEEE 1394), select the appropriate output mode from the Output Mode pop-up menu as follows:
• If all of the media on your Timeline is DV25, or if it is all DV50, and all of your ef­fects are rendered, you can achieve a slightly higher quality of output by select­ing DV25 or DV50 as appropriate.
– or –
• Otherwise, you must select the RT DV25 or RT DV50 options to render and transcode all of your video to that format.
11 Select the Video Effect Safe Mode option.
This will warn you if any effects remain un-ren­dered.
12 Select the Stop on Dropped Frames option if
you want Media Station|PT to automatically stop the tape if the audio and video does not record correctly.
13 Select the Add Black At Tail option.
14 Select one of the following modes from the
Deck Control section:
Local Manually initiates record. This is useful if you are recording to a tape which does not al­ready have time code.
15 Specify the Sequence Time to start recording
on the tape at the same time as the start of the sequence. For example, if the sequence starts at 1:00:00 in the Timeline, Media Station|PT will start recording when the tape reaches 1:00:00.
16 Specify the Record Deck Time to start record-
ing wherever the VTR is currently parked.
17 Specify the Mark In Time to start recording at
the address entered in the top window to the right of the transport controls.
18 Click the yellow Preview button to check
that all of the tracks you selected are playing and that the insert points on the tape are correct.
19 To record using Local mode, press play on the
VTR. When ready, click the Record button in the Digital Cut window.
– or –
To record using Remote mode, press Record in the Digital Cut window. Media Station|PT will queue the tape, play, then drop in at the appro­priate location.
Be sure to record at least a few seconds of black to the tape before performing a digital cut. This will guarantee that the video tape is correctly formatted when your digital cut starts

Exporting to XDCAM

You can export NTSC and PAL projects. Depend­ing on the format (SD or HD), you need to use the appropriate XDCAM device (if you export SD media, use an XDCAM SD device; if you ex­port HD media, you must use an XDCAM HD device).
Remote Records to a tape that already has time code. Media Station|PT will start the VTR and drop into record at the specified time code.
Chapter 3: Basic Media Station|PT Workflows 91
To export to an XDCAM device:
1 Connect your XDCAM device.
2 Select the appropriate mode on your XDCAM
device that corresponds to the video format that you will be exporting.
For example, set your XDCAM device to 1080i
59.94 if you want to export a c lip or sequen ce at XDCAM-35 1080I/59.94.
3 Select the sequence or clips to export.
4 With an XDCAM device connected to your
system, do one of the following:
• Choose Output > Export to Device > XD­CAM.
– or –
• Right-click the clip or sequence in a bin and select Export to Device.
If you have a sequence loaded in the Record monitor, the sequence is exported when you se­lect Export to Device from the Output menu.
If the target XDCAM disk you are exporting to already has other clips on it, you are only al­lowed to export a clip with the same number of audio tracks. For example, if the target XDCAM disk has a clip with 4 tracks of audio, you cannot export a new XDCAM clip with 2 tracks. You ei­ther have to reformat the disk and wipe it clean or add two dummy tracks to your 2-track se­quence before you export.
8 Select a Video Format as follows:
• For SD projects, select: DV-25, IMX30, IMX40, or IMX50. For SD, a disk cannot have mixed formats. For example, in order to export IMX40, the disk must be format­ted as IMX40.
• For HD projects, select XDCAM-35, XD­CAM-25, or XDCAM-17. For HD, a single disk can have clips with mixed bit rates (17.5, 25, and 35 Mbits). Additionally, a se­quence that is being exported to an HD XDCAM disk can have mixed bit rates as well.
The XDCAM Export Settings dialog box opens.
5 Do one of the following:
• If you want to export only the portion of the selected clip or sequence marked by In and Out points, select Use Marks.
• If you want to export the entire selected clip or sequence, deselect Use Marks.
6 Do one of the following:
• If you want to export only enabled tracks in the Timeline, select Use Enabled Tracks.
• If you want to export all tracks in the se­quence, deselect Use Enabled Tracks.
7 Select an XDCAM disk from the Target XD-
CAM Disk list.
Media Station|PT Guide92
If your exported sequence has more than two audio tracks, only two tracks are exported, even though the Sony XDCAM device is capable of handling 4 to 8 tracks. If your sequence has more than two tracks, they are mixed down dur­ing export.
9 Select a Sample Bit Depth: 16 or 24 bits. (For
HD projects, select 16 bits—XDCAM HD devices are not capable of handling 24 bits.)
10 Click OK.
Sony applies its own file-naming convention. All exported clips are given a new sequential name of Cxxxx.mxf, for example, C0019.mxf.
A progress bar appears displaying the new Sony XDCAM sequential clip name. The sequence is exported.
chapter 4

Media Station|PT Video Satellite Workflows

This chapter describes the following workflows for using Pro Tools with Media Station|PT con­figured as a video satellite:

Cross-Mounting Media Storage on Remote Systems

1 Cross-mounting media storage on remote sys-
tems
2 Opening Avid sequences that have been deliv-
ered to you in an Avid bin
3 Opening AAF sequences that have been ex-
ported from another Avid application or Pro Tools
4 Connecting Pro Tools to a satellite
5 Linking Pro Tools to a satellite
6 Capturing audio and video
7 Batch capturing audio and video
8 Laying back audio and video
9 Digitally exporting audio and video
To simplify the transfer of sequence and media files between the Pro Tools and satellite systems, it is helpful to mount the media storage of one system on the desktop of the other system. This practice is known as cross-mounting, and the computer on which you are mounting that stor­age is known as the remote system.
For example, you most likely want the video storage—which is physically connected to the satellite system—to appear on the desktop of both the satellite and Pro Tools systems. How­ever, some workflows are simpler if the audio storage—which is physically connected to the Pro Tools system—also appears on the desktop of the satellite system.
Cross-mounting audio or video storage on a re­mote system involves the following steps:
1 Choosing a storage configuration
2 Sharing the desired volume so that it can be
mounted on the remote system
3 Mounting the shared volume on the remote
system
Chapter 4: Media Station|PT Video Satellite Workflows 93

Choosing a Storage Configuration

While it is possible to cross-mount both the au­dio and video storage on both systems at the same time, the workflows in this chapter only require that you cross-mount one or the other.
Mounting the video storage on the Pro Tools system is the preferred configuration for most common satellite workflows.
Mount the audio storage on the satellite system if you frequently use any of the following work­flows:
• You receive updated versions of AAF se­quences with additional audio files.
• You export audio from Pro Tools for import into Media Station|PT.
• Your satellite system is connected to a shared storage system, but your Pro Tools system is not.
• Your satellite system is connected to Avid In­terplay, but your Pro Tools system is not.
To share a Windows XP volume that resides on a domain:
1 On the Windows XP computer containing the
volume you want to share, double-click My Computer.
2 Right-click the volume that you want to share,
and select Sharing and Security.
Selecting Sharing and Security
3 In the Properties dialog, click the Sharing tab.

Sharing Media Storage for Mounting on a Remote System

This section describes how to share media stor­age for mounting on remote computers.
Sharing Windows XP Media Storage for Mounting on a Remote Computer
You can share a Windows XP volume for mounting on Mac OS X or another Windows XP system. The process is slightly dif­ferent depending on whether the computer you are sharing is part of a domain or part of a work­group.
Media Station|PT Guide94
Properties dialog, Sharing tab
4 Select the Share this Folder option.
5 Type a name in the Share Name field to iden-
tify this share. This name can be anything, but it is probably easiest if you use the name of the shared volume.
You should share the entire volume if possi­ble and not just individual folders. This makes it easier for you to re-link files in your Pro Tools session.
6 Select any other options in this dialog.
7 Click OK to share this volume.
You are now ready to mount this shared volume on another computer. See “Cross-Mounting Shared Media Storage on a Remote System” on page 98.
When you manually copy files from a Mac volume to a mounted Windows XP volume, a “ghost” file appears for each file that you copy. The ghost file has a nearly identical name to the original file, except that it is prefixed with the characters
._ and a greyed
out icon. For example, copying the filename
Macintosh.doc would create another file
called
._Macintosh.doc. These files do not
affect anything and can be deleted without causing any issues.
To share a Windows XP volume that resides on a workgroup:
1 On the Windows XP computer containing the
volume you want to share, double-click My Computer.
2 Right-click the volume that you want to share,
and select Sharing and Security.
Selecting Sharing and Security
3 In the Properties dialog, click the Sharing tab.
Properties dialog, Sharing tab
Chapter 4: Media Station|PT Video Satellite Workflows 95
4 If you agree, click the option called, “If you
understand the risk but still want to share the root of the drive, click here.”
5 Select Share This Folder on the Network.
6 Type a name in the Share Name field to iden-
tify this share. This name can be anything, but it is probably easiest if you use the name of the shared volume.
You are now ready to mount this shared volume on another computer. See “Cross-Mounting Shared Media Storage on a Remote System” on page 98.
When you manually copy files from a Mac volume to a mounted Windows XP volume, a “ghost” file appears for each file that you copy. The ghost file has a nearly identical name to the original file, except that it is prefixed with the characters
._ and a greyed
out icon. For example, copying the filename
Macintosh.doc would create another file
called
._Macintosh.doc. These files do not
affect anything and can be deleted without causing any issues.
Sharing Mac OS X Media Storage for Mounting on Windows XP
You can share a Mac OS X volume so that it can be mounted on a remote Windows XP machine. Sharing Mac OS X media storage other than the boot drive with a Windows XP machine requires installing a third-party utility (such as Share­Points by Hornware).
Properties dialog, Sharing tab
You should share the entire volume if possi­ble and not just individual folders. This makes it easier for you to re-link files in your Pro Tools session.
7 If you would like network users to be able to
modify your files, select Allow Network Users to Change My Files.
8 Click Apply.
9 Click OK to share this volume.
Media Station|PT Guide96
Digidesign does not endorse or guarantee performance or availability of any third­party software. Instructions for using Share­Points are included below for your conve­nience only. Digidesign encourages every­one to support independent software developers appropriately.
To download and install SharePoints:
1 In Mac OS X, launch a web browser and navi-
gate to:
http://www.hornware.com/sharepoints
2 Download the appropriate version of the soft-
ware.
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