Pinnacle Systems DS Nitris - 7.0 Getting Started Manual
™
Avid® DS Nitris
Getting Started Guide
Version 7.0
make manage move | media
™
Avid
®
2
Copyright and Disclaimer
Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part
of Avid Technology, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement.
You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license
are also available in the product in the same directory as the software. The software may not be reverse
assembled and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is
against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license
agreement.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission
of Avid Technology, Inc.
Copyright © 2003 Avid Technology, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.
The Avid DS and Avid DS Nitris application uses JScript and Visual Basic Scripting Edition from Microsoft
Corporation.
Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend
U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial
computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or
documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with
respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to
FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.
Trademarks
888 I/O, Adrenaline, AirPlay, AirSPACE, AirSPACE HD, AniMatte, AudioSuite, AudioVision, AutoSync, Avid,
Avid DNA, AVIDdrive, AVIDdrive Towers, AvidNet, AvidNetwork, AVIDstripe, Avid Mojo, Avid Unity,
Avid Xpress, AVoption, AVX, CamCutter, ChromaCurve, ChromaWheel, DAE, D-Fi, D-fx, Digidesign,
Digidesign Audio Engine, Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction, DigiDrive, Digital Nonlinear Accelerator,
DigiTranslator, DINR, D-Verb, Equinox, ExpertRender, FieldPak, Film Composer, FilmScribe, FluidMotion,
HIIP, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, IllusionFX, Image Independence, Intraframe, iS9, iS18, iS23,
iS36, Lo-Fi, Magic Mask, make manage move | media, Marquee, Matador, Maxim, MCXpress,
Media Composer, MediaDock, MediaDock Shuttle, Media Fusion, Media Illusion, MediaLog, Media Reader,
Media Recorder, MEDIArray, MediaShare, Meridien, MetaSync, NaturalMatch, Nearchive, NetReview,
NewsCutter, Nitris, OMF, OMF Interchange, OMM, Open Media Framework, Open Media Management,
ProEncode, Pro Tools, QuietDrive, Recti-Fi, RetroLoop, rS9, rS18, Sci-Fi, Softimage, Sound Designer II,
SPACE, SPACEShift, Symphony, the Avid|DS logo, Trilligent, UnityRAID, Vari-Fi, Video Slave Driver,
VideoSPACE, Xdeck, and XSI are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries.
All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
GOT FOOTAGE?
Editors — Filmmakers — Special Effects Artists — Game Developers — Animators — Educators —
Broadcasters — Content creators of every genre — Just finished an incredible project and want to
share it with the world?
Send us your reels and we may use your footage in our show reel or demo!*
For a copy of our release and Avid’s mailing address, go to www.avid.com/footage.
*Note: Avid cannot guarantee the use of materials submitted.
Avid DS Nitris Getting Started Guide • 0130-05573-01 • September 2003
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Contents
Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Using the Mouse, Pen, and Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Customizing the Pen or Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Accessing the Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
If You Have Documentation Comments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Avid Educational Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Avid DS Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
E-mail Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Web Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
FTP Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Mailing List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 1 Starting a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Digital Post-Production Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Logging on to Your Workstation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Starting Avid DS Nitris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Working with Project Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Creating a New Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Layouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Accessing the Default Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Title Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Using the Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Undoing and Redoing Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Using the Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
View Switcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
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Using the Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Property Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Entering Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Chapter 3 Capturing Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Capturing Source Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Configuring the External Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Capturing from Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Capturing from File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Avid Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Logging and Capturing from File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 4 Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Methods for Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Conforming with AFE Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Creating AFE Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Importing AFE Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Re-creating the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Editing Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Locating Source Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Changing Bin Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Identifying File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Previewing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Using J-K-L Keys for Three-Button Play. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Using the Transport Controls for Previewing Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Marking In and Out-Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 6 Creating a First Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Placing Clips on the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
The Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Navigating in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Using the Track Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
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Marking In and Out-Points on the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Inserting and Overwriting Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 7 Refining the Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Rearranging Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Selecting Clips on the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Moving Clips on the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Removing Clips from the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Copying Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Overwriting with Three-Point Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Trimming Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Using Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Basic Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Using Ripple Mode When Trimming Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 8 Working with Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
The Effects Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Starting an Effects Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Using the Viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
The Effects Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Effect Bar Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Applying Effects to Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Applying Effects to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Applying Effects to the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Applying Transition Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Creating Clips with Source Generator Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Applying Effects to Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Applying Effects to the Effects Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Applying Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Editing Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Adjusting Effect Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Bypassing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Viewing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Loading Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
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Saving Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Animating Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Mix Parameter for Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Mixing Effects to the Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Mixing Effects to Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Chapter 9 Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
How Do I Process? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Chapter 10 Adding Graphics and 2D Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
The Graphics Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
The Graphics Combo View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Starting a Graphics Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Using the Graphics Object View (GOV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Using the Graphics Property Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Setting the Drawing Tool Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Displaying the Safe/Action Title Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Defining Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Creating Graphics and Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Changing the Properties of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Finishing a Graphics Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 11 Compositing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
The Compositing Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Starting a Compositing Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
The Layers View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Choosing a Compositing Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Simple Track-based Compositing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Compositing with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Chapter 12 Outputting a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Outputting to Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Outputting to File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
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Using This Guide
Congratulations on your purchase of an Avid DS Nitris system. You can
use your system to create broadcast-quality output incorporating every
possible production element from full-speed, high-resolution footage, to
multimedia artwork and animation, to computer-generated effects and
titling.
n
The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models.
Therefore, your system might not contain certain features and hardware
that are covered in the documentation.
Who Should Use This Guide
This guide is intended for users who are new to Avid DS Nitris. This guide
provides basic information on how to create a project from start to finish.
You’ll learn how to capture media, edit clips and sequences, add titles,
composite clips, add effects, and process the project for output.
Using This Guide
Symbols and Conventions
Avid DS Nitris documentation uses the following symbols and
conventions:
Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action
n
c
w
> This symbol indicates menu commands (and
t
Margin tips In the margin, you will find tips that help you perform
Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to
A note provides important related information,
reminders, recommendations, and strong suggestions.
A caution means that a specific action you take could
cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose
data.
A warning describes an action that could cause you
physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this
document or on the unit itself when handling
electrical equipment.
subcommands) in the order you select them. For
example, File > Import means to open the File menu
and then select the Import command.
This symbol indicates a single-step procedure.
Multiple arrows in a list indicate that you perform
one of the actions listed.
tasks more easily and efficiently.
indicate variables.
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Courier Bold font
Bold font Bold indicates a user interaction.
Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.
Using the Mouse, Pen, and Keyboard
In Avid DS Nitris, you can use a two-button mouse (with wheel) or a pen
and tablet. The left and right mouse buttons perform different operations.
Unless otherwise stated, use the left mouse button.
The mouse and pen operate slightly differently. All the procedures in this
guide are documented for the mouse. You can, however, easily use a pen or
the keyboard. The following table shows the terms relating to the mouse,
pen, and keyboard.
This Term Means This with a Mouse Means This with a Pen
Symbols and Conventions
Click Quickly click and release the
left mouse button. Always use
the left mouse button unless
otherwise stated.
Double-click Click the left mouse button
twice rapidly.
Right-click Quickly click and release the
right mouse button.
Drag Click and hold the left mouse
button or the wheel while you
move the mouse.
Alt+key,
Ctrl+key,
Shift+key,
etc.
Press and hold the first key while you press the second key. For
example, “Press Alt+F1” means to press and hold the Alt key
while you press the F1 key.
Tap the tablet once with the tip of
the pen, or touch the pen to the
tablet with enough pressure to
click.
Quickly tap the tablet twice in the
same screen pixel or press the F5
key to go from single to doubleclick.
Press the top portion of the switch
on the side of the pen or press the
F6 key to go from left to rightclick.
Press the pen to the tablet while
moving the pen.
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Using This Guide
Customizing the Pen or Mouse
By customizing the pen, you can adjust the click pressure, switch
functions, and other features. For information on customizing the pen,
refer to the documentation provided with your Avid DS system.
You can also customize the mouse. For example, you can select lefthanded configuration or change the double-click speed. For information on
customizing the mouse, refer to the Windows online Help.
If You Need Help
If you are having trouble using Avid DS:
1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task
in this guide. It is especially important to check each step of your
workflow.
2. Check for the latest information that might have become available
after the documentation was published in one of two locations:
- If release notes are available, they ship with your application.
- If ReadMe files are available, they are supplied in your Avid
application folder. ReadMe files are also available from Help.
3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your
hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.
4. See “Avid DS Customer Support” on page 14.
5. For Technical Support, please call 800-800-AVID (800-800-2843).
For international enquiries and support services, contact your local
Avid Reseller. Support offerings may vary per location.
Accessing the Online Documentation
The online library contains all the Avid DS documentation in PDF format.
If it was installed on your workstation, you can access it from the Help
menu in Avid DS.
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If You Need Help
n
You will need to install Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view the online
documentation.
To access the online library, do one of the following:
t In Avid DS, select Help > Online Library.
t Insert the Software CD or the Drivers CD into your CD-ROM drive,
and select Online Library from the main menu.
To install Adobe Acrobat Reader:
1. Insert the Drivers CD into your CD-ROM drive.
2. Select the required workstation and choose Utilities.
If You Have Documentation Comments
We’d appreciate any comments or suggestions you may have about the
Avid DS documentation.
Please e-mail your documentation comments to:
dsdocs@avid.com
Include the title of the document, its part number, and the specific section
you are commenting on in all correspondence.
How to Order Documentation
To order additional copies of this documentation from within the
United States, call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). If you are
placing an order from outside the United States, contact your local
Avid representative.
Avid Educational Services
For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications,
courseware, and books, please visit www.avid.com/training or call
Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).
13
Using This Guide
Avid DS Customer Support
The following sections describe various Avid DS Customer Support
options.
E-mail Support
The e-mail address for Avid DS Customer Support is:
dssupport@avid.com.
You can use it for sending bug reports, usability questions, and avidds.cab
audit reports for system analysis. All e-mails are logged in the support
database and assigned a case number. Send one support request per e-mail.
n
Web Support
FTP Support
It is mandatory that you include your SID number in the body of your
e-mail message for verification of your maintenance contract and case
logging, otherwise, response will be delayed.
The Avid DS Customer Support and Download sections at
http://www.softimage.com/avidds provide quick access to a wide range
of resources from the Avid DS teams and user community. Downloads,
including presets, drivers, and Quick Fix Engineering (QFE), provide the
latest solutions for use with your Avid DS system. Online documentation,
tutorials, and Knowledge Base articles ensure that you get the most out of
your work with Avid DS. It's like having a dedicated Avid DS Customer
Support engineer sitting at your desk!
For troubleshooting purposes, an FTP server is available for uploading
large files for Avid DS Customer Support personnel to examine. You can
upload a project's archive, media files, or other large piece of data. Simply
zip the files to upload and use a short name for easy retrieval, such as
archive.zip or Case274877.zip. You can use a Windows Command Prompt
or an FTP application to upload files to our server.
14
Avid DS Customer Support
Command Prompt Commands
Command Description
Site access ftp ftp.softimage.com [Enter]
Folder access cd incoming [Enter]
User name anonymous [Enter]
Password “your e-mail address” [Enter]
Transfer mode bin [Enter]
Upload command Put “path:\file name” [Enter]
Once the file upload is complete, send an e-mail to dssupport@avid.com
to inform Avid DS Customer Support as there is no automatic notification
when a file is uploaded on the FTP server. Please provide the complete and
exact file name (case sensitive) to retrieve.
Mailing List
Although the Avid DS mailing list is frequently monitored by Avid
employees, it is not part of the official support channels. You are invited to
send your support requests to any of the above channels when required.
If you have an e-mail account, you can join the worldwide network of Avid
DS users exchanging ideas. The mailing list has proven to be quite useful
for users, with a constant stream of new subscribers.
To subscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo@softimage.com with the
following text in the body of your message: subscribe ds. You can get
further information on using the automated list server by e-mailing
majordomo@softimage.com with “help” as your message.
You can also go to http://www.avid.com/support/forums.html, which is
another great source of info on the Avid web site for Avid DS.
15
Using This Guide
16
Chapter 1
Starting a Project
This chapter introduces you to the Avid DS Nitris post-production process.
You will learn how to start Avid DS Nitris and create a new project.
Starting a Project
The Digital Post-Production Process
Since Avid DS Nitris is a digital, nonlinear, post-production environment,
you no longer have to mount, shuttle through, and cue tapes every time you
want to access parts of the footage.
Once you’ve converted the footage into a digital format and stored it on a
storage disk, Avid DS Nitris gives you complete, random access to the
media with instantaneous retrieval of clips and sequences. You also have
quick, nonlinear access to any part of your sequence, and the ability to
apply a wide variety of digital effects at any stage of your production.
Each post-production facility has its own way of doing things, and every
post-production job is unique. You can use different tools and techniques
to accomplish your jobs—import sequences “offlined” on other systems
and proceed with your finishing in Avid DS Nitris, or build a full editorial
from start to end directly in Avid DS Nitris, using full resolution,
uncompressed media!
18
After your job is complete, you can neatly package all of its media and
files, making space for your next job. If you need to, you can always
restore the job at any time.
In Avid DS Nitris, everything that you do to your clips is non-destructive,
and can be edited and reconstructed at any time. This is because of the way
Avid DS Nitris was designed; its integrated environment allow a seamless
workflow between editing, compositing, graphics design, and audio.
The following illustration shows you the complete Avid DS Nitris
production cycle, and how Avid DS Nitris adds flexibility and creative
independence to the post-production process.
2
“Offline” edit
Create a rough cut of key clips and
decide timing of cuts and
transitions.
If offlined externally, load AAF,
AFE, OMF files or EDLs, and
digitize material from file, tape, or
The Digital Post-Production Process
Redigitize source
material in full,
uncompressed
resolution from
file or tape.
1
Capture material
Digitize source material at
low resolution directly from
file or tape.
7
Archive the project
- Archive project and/or media to tape.
- Project and media can be restored at
any time.
6
Output media
Output sequence to tape or
file, such as .avi.
3
Fine-tune edit
Fine-tune timing of cuts,
transitions, and other effects.
4
Apply effects
- Create composites.
- Add 2D and 3D effects.
- Mix and sweeten audio.
- Add titles and graphics.
- Perform dust/scratch
removal and color correction.
Continuous process
5
Process
Process all effects applied to
clips and create new media
files (source media remains
untouched).
19
Starting a Project
Logging on to Your Workstation
Before you start Avid DS Nitris, you must log on to your workstation with
your Windows user identification (ID) and password. This provides
security, as well as your personal preference settings.
Since many users can work on the same workstation at different times, the
Windows ID gives you a unique profile, so as not to conflict with the
settings of other users. When you run Avid DS Nitris, you are accessing an
environment that can be customized to your needs. If you set any personal
or project preferences while logged on, Avid DS Nitris saves them to your
user profile. The next time you log on to that workstation, it recalls your
previous settings.
To log on to your workstation:
t On your Avid DS Nitris workstation, enter your user name and
password to access your applications and files.
Starting Avid DS Nitris
To start Avid DS Nitris, do one of the following:
t Double-click its icon on the Windows desktop.
t Select Start > Programs > Avid Products > Avid DS Nitris v7.0 >
Avid DS Nitris v7.0.
To exit Avid DS Nitris, do one of the following:
t Select File > Exit.
t Click the Close button at the top-right corner of the title bar.
t Press Alt+F4.
When you exit Avid DS Nitris, any changes that you made to the
desktop layout or user preferences are saved with your user profile and
recalled the next time you log on to the workstation.
20
Working with Project Files
A project is the all encompassing structure for your work; it links and
tracks the master clips and sequences with their associated media, making
your file management tasks easier.
Projects contain
master clips,
sequences, and any
special presets and/or
scripts you create.
Sequence files
contain information
about your edit
decisions, composites,
and any effects you’ve
applied to your clips.
Working with Project Files
Master clips are
representations of the
digitized media stored
on your disk array.
Master clips can be
shared between
sequences within the
same project.
When working with several digitized video and audio files, it is important
to understand how Avid DS Nitris handles your data, so that you can work
efficiently.
When you capture material, the media is stored on the disk array, and the
master files (known as master clips) representing this media are stored in
the project folder on your workstation’s local disk drive. You can see these
clips in the Avid Explorer. Master clips contain information about the
location and source timecodes of the corresponding media on the
disk array.
When you place clips on the timeline to build your sequence, they maintain
pointers to the source media on your storage disk. Any edits or effects that
you apply to the clips are noted in the sequence file. Clips, sequences, and
21
Starting a Project
presets are all considered project files, which should be stored in the
project folder. That way, you can archive, restore, and/or purge all files
related to a project when required.
When you archive your project, a copy of the media is saved to tape or
external disk and the project files are saved in another location. With the
archived project files and associated media, you can reconstruct everything
in your project when necessary.
Creating a New Project
As soon as you start Avid DS Nitris, you are prompted to open or create a
project and sequence.
When you create a project, you define the format for all your sequences.
Once you set them, they’re applied to each sequence you create in the
current project. These preferences can later be changed for each sequence.
22
n
You can also change your video and audio quality settings during the
course of your work according to the amount of storage space that you
have. For example, if you want to conserve disk space, you can do your
rough cut on material captured at low resolution or in compressed form.
When your sequence is ready for finishing, you can redigitize a specific
clip, so that you can work at the quality at which you will be outputting.
To create a new project:
1. From the Open Project dialog box, click the New Project button.
The New Project dialog box displays for you to set your project
preferences.
3
Choose a
video format.
The frame
details are
usually set
automatically.
Type in your project
2
Creating a New Project
4
Set the
resolution, bit
depth, and
compression
for your video
media.
5
Set the
sample rate
and bit depth
for your audio
media.
Save project
6
preferences.
Click the Help button for detailed information on setting all the
preferences in this dialog.
After saving your preferences, a new sequence is opened and the Editing
layout is displayed for you to start building your sequence.
23
Starting a Project
24
Chapter 2
Working on the Desktop
Before starting a project in Avid DS Nitris, it’s helpful to familiarize
yourself with some of the basic elements on the desktop. This includes the
layouts, views, toolbars, property editors, dialog boxes, and menus.
Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop
Layouts
A layout contains tools for performing specialized tasks. Whether you’re
digitizing media, editing, compositing, painting, or titling, there’s a
corresponding layout for the job. The default layouts in Avid DS Nitris
include the Editing, Effects, Graphics, Compositing, and 3D DVE layouts.
Menu bar contains commands, such
as opening and saving projects and
sequences, editing your layouts, and
getting help.
Taskbar is a navigational aid
that lets you move between
layouts that are optimized for
particular tasks: editing,
effects, graphics,
compositing, or 3D DVE.
Avid Explorer is a management
tool that lets you explore and
organize clips, sequences, and
custom effects within a hierarchy of
folders. It acts in much the same
way as the Windows Explorer.
26
View switcher lets you
access different toolsets or
Too lbar s contain commonly used tools grouped together to
make certain tasks quicker and easier. All toolbars can be
customized to accommodate your style of working.
Viewers display the output of your sequence at the position of the
position indicator. During a graphics session, it serves as an area to
create and arrange titles and graphics objects.
Layouts
Status bar displays the timecodes of selected objects on the timeline, and
provides toolbar, warning, error, and active command information.
Transport controls let
you preview media in the
viewer or play sequences
that have been edited on
the timeline.
Timeline is where you
place and edit clips to
build a sequence. It
graphically displays the
position of video and
audio clips, transitions,
and effects over time.
27
Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop
Accessing the Default Layouts
Switching between the different layouts lets you access tools for particular
tasks, such as editing, creating effects and graphics, compositing, and
adding 3D DVE elements. When you click one of these buttons in the
taskbar, its layout, views, and tools are displayed.
In some situations, certain layouts are not accessible. For example, you
cannot switch to the Graphics layout if you have not selected the clip
you’re going to work with.
Title Bar
Project name
To switch layouts, click a
button in the taskbar.
Editing layout
Effects layout
Graphics layout
Compositing layout
3D DVE layout
The title bar at the top of the Avid DS Nitris window displays the name of
the project and sequence, sequence video format, and buttons for
minimizing, maximizing and closing the application window.
Sequence name
Sequence’s video format
Close window
Minimize window
Maximize window
28
Using the Menus
Menus appear in different places to make it easy for you to access
commands.
• The menu bar is displayed across the top of the desktop directly below
the title bar. The commands in the menu bar include general operations
related to opening and saving projects, as well as setting project
preferences and customizing layouts.
Using the Menus
n
When you open a menu, you will notice keyboard shortcuts to the right of
the command. Instead of opening a menu, you can use the keyboard
shortcut. For example, to undo an action, press Ctrl+Z on the keyboard.
Not every menu command has a corresponding keyboard shortcut.
• Pop-up menus are displayed by right-clicking individual elements or
specific areas of the interface, such as the timeline, viewer, tracks, or
layers. These menus provide commands that are specific to the
particular interface element you’ve chosen.
Right-click an area of the
desktop, such as a track
on the timeline. A pop-up
menu opens with a list of
commands that are related
to the area.
29
Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop
• Pop-up menus are also available in dialog boxes and property editors.
Undoing and Redoing Actions
To correct errors while you’re working, you can undo and redo most
operations. For example, you can recover the properties of an object that
you recently edited by undoing the commands that you just applied to the
object.
In dialog boxes and
property editors, click to
display a list of options.
30
You can undo commands as far back as the system memory can recall. This
is limited by the number of undo levels that you have specified in your user
preferences, and by the complexity of the operation you want to undo. An
operation, such as purging media from a project, cannot be undone. For
more information, see “User Preferences Dialog Box” in the Help.
To undo a command or operation:
t Select Edit > Undo or press Ctrl+Z.
The command or operation is undone. You can keep using the Undo
command until you recover the desired properties.
To redo a command or operation:
t Select Edit > Redo or press Ctrl+Y.
The command or operation is redone.
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