Pinnacle Systems DS Nitris - 7.0 Getting Started Manual

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Avid® DS Nitris

Getting Started Guide

Version 7.0

make manage move | media

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Avid

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and

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.

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.

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.

If You Need Help

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).

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.

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.

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.

Using This Guide

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!

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.

“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.

Capture material

Digitize source material at low resolution directly from file or tape.

Archive the project

- Archive project and/or media to tape.

- Project and media can be restored at any time.

Output media

Output sequence to tape or file, such as .avi.

Fine-tune edit

Fine-tune timing of cuts, transitions, and other effects.

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

Process

Process all effects applied to clips and create new media files (source media remains untouched).

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.

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

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.

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.

Choose a video format.

The frame details are usually set automatically.

Type in your project

Creating a New Project

Set the resolution, bit depth, and compression for your video media.

Set the sample rate and bit depth for your audio media.

Save project

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.

Starting a Project

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Status Bar

Using the Menus

The status bar at the bottom of the desktop displays the timecodes of selected objects on the timeline and provides status, warning, error, toolbar, and active command information, as well as the global animation controls.

Timecode boxes display the timecodes of selected objects on the timeline.

Avid DS Nitris Workgroup Status indicator shows

the workgroup to which your workstation belongs.

Audio Scrubbing

button turns audio

output on/off while

scrubbing timeline.

Hardware Sync Status indicator

shows when external video and audio devices are synced.

turns

on/off.

Global animation controls for

recording keyframes and navigating between keyframes.

Viewer

button

viewer

Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop

Using the Views

Views contain groups of tools for creating, managing, and editing media. You can change the toolset within a view by clicking a button on the view switcher.

The animation view

View switcher

You can create a custom set of views that contain tools related to specific tasks, such as editing, trimming, slipping and rolling, applying effects, creating graphics, or audio mixing. These views can be divided horizontally, vertically, or in both directions. For more information, see

“Splitting Views” in the Help.

A combo view is a view that contains a group of tools for a particular task, such as the Scratch Removal or Graphics combo views, and can be moved around on the desktop. Like other views in Avid DS Nitris, you can customize it with your favorite tools.

View Switcher

Using the Views

The view switcher lets you access the different toolsets within a view. You can also add and remove sets of views, choose a different button for your view, and set the style of buttons that is displayed on the view switcher. For more information, see “Customizing the View Switcher” in the Help.

To switch to a different view:

t Click a button in the view switcher.

To remove tools from the view switcher:

t On the view switcher, right-click a button and select Remove View.

To hide the view switcher:

1. Select Layout > Edit Layout.

You are now in Edit Layout mode.

2. Right-click the view switcher and select Hide.

3. Select Layout > Edit Layout again to exit the Edit Layout mode.

The view switcher is hidden.

Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop

Using the Toolbars

The toolbars contain commonly used tools and effects. Toolbar buttons let you activate tools or commands, and apply effects.

Toolbars

Different types of toolbars

You can customize a toolbar by moving or copying buttons from one toolbar to another, including those on the transport controls, timecode boxes, and viewers. For more information, see “Customizing Toolbars” in the Help.

Property Editors

Property editors display the properties of a selected object or tool. You can adjust these properties to achieve a desired effect.

Property editors for effects usually have only a few properties that you can view in one property editor. Other objects, such as graphics objects, can have many properties that require several property editors. You can adjust the property values of objects using the text boxes, lists, options, and sliders. Any values that you change are immediately applied to the object.

Property editors can have one or more pages of properties, and global controls for loading, saving, and viewing presets, processing, animating properties, and previewing clips. Different property editors have different global controls. For more information, see “Global Controls” in the Help.

Global controls

Property Editors

Property pages contain

additional properties.

Highlighted buttons

are selected or active.

Click to turn an option on. If the box is already checked, click to turn it off.

Dimmed option is currently unavailable.

Animate a specific parameter.

Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop

To open a property editor, do one of the following:

t Right-click an object and select Properties. t Double-click an object.

Process controls let you choose what to process and how it will be processed.

Animation controls let you turn auto animation on or off, move between keyframes, and set keyframes.

Limits the

current effect to

a specified

region in the

viewer.

Turns the effect on/off.

Crops the selected effect’s function curve in the animation editor when the effect is resized on the timeline.

Plays current effect.

Selects the current, previous, or next effect.

Access online help.

In Focus mode, the same property editor is used when similar objects are selected, such as paint strokes or titles. A new property editor is displayed when a dissimilar object is selected.

In Recycle mode, the same property editor is reused whenever you select an object. Recycle is the default mode.

In Lock mode, you can use several property editors at the same time because a new property editor is displayed every time you select an object.

Preset controls let you load and save preset effects.

Dialog Boxes

A dialog box lets you set options and parameters. Selecting a command often opens a dialog box that requires you to provide input before a command can be executed. You cannot proceed with further operations while a dialog box is open.

To exit without applying changes, select Cancel or the X button, or press the Esc or Alt+F4 keys.

The changes you made are cancelled and the dialog box is closed.

Applies any changes you made in this dialog box.

Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop

Entering Values

There are several ways to enter numerical values. You can choose the method that is the most convenient for you.

Text boxes are located beside or below a property name in a dialog box or property editor. To increase or decrease values in a text box, you can enter new values directly in the box, drag the sliders to the right or left, or use a number of different keyboard and mouse operations.

To enter and adjust values in a text box:

Text box Slider

Drag clockwise or counterclockwise to increase or decrease values

1. Click in a text box. The contents of the text box is selected and an insertion point (flashing

vertical bar) appears.

2. Type in the numerical values and press Enter.

To replace the contents of a text box:

1. Click in a text box. The contents of the text box is highlighted in blue.

2. Type in new values and press Enter.

To adjust values using the slider, do any of the following:

t Drag the slider to the right to increase values or to the left to

decrease them.

t Press Shift and drag the slider to adjust values slowly. t Press Ctrl and drag the slider to adjust values quickly. t Click in a numerical text box and drag clockwise to increase values or

drag counterclockwise to decrease values.

Entering Values

To enter values using the calculator:

1. Click the Calculator button next to the slider. The calculator opens.

2. Do one of the following:

t Use the keyboard to enter numbers. t Use your pointer to select numbers on the calculator.

3. If you performed mathematical operations, click the Equal button.

4. Click OK. The calculator closes and the value is added to the text box.

Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop

Chapter 3

Capturing Material

Capturing material is the process of creating media files from video or audio source material. Avid DS Nitris can capture material from a variety of different sources, such as videotape, audiotape, and file.

Capturing Material

Capturing Source Material

Source material is the original, unaltered material from videotapes or digital recordings. This source material comes from a variety of sources, such as video, audio, animated sequences, graphics, and still images. When you capture material with Avid DS Nitris, you are digitally transferring audio or video material from an external device to a disk array on your workstation.

During capture, Avid DS Nitris creates media files, based on the parameters you have set, such as in-points, out-points, and compression. These media files are displayed as master clips in an Avid Explorer bin. Master clips contain information such as the location of the media on your disk array, the source data’s tape name, and original in and out timecodes. With this information, you can recapture the material at any time. Master clips also include information about the video format, resolution, compression, audio format, and so on.

Configuring the External Device

You’ll probably capture most of your material from videotape or audiotape. Before you capture material from tape, you need to configure the device from which you will be capturing, and then select options in the Capture Tool.

The Deck Configuration view lets you specify settings for an external device, such as a videotape recorder (VTR) or deck. Avid DS Nitris includes templates for many different types of devices. You can use the settings in the templates, or you can adjust them to your own requirements.

You can save the settings for your device as a preset, so that you don’t have to reconfigure the device each time you use it for capture or output.

To configure an external device:

1. Do one of the following: t Select View > Multi-Instance Views > Deck Configuration.

Configuring the External Device

t In an Avid Explorer panel, open the Views folder and click Deck

Configuration.

The Deck Configuration view opens.

Capturing Material

Click the Fast

Menu button and select Add New Deck Preset. Give the new preset a name.

Set options for

the external device.

Click the Save button.

For more information, see “Configuring the External Device” in the Help.

Capturing from Tape

The Capture Tool lets you capture media from a videotape deck. There are several ways to capture from tape. The following describes how to log and capture clips, so that you can later recapture using frame-accurate timecode.

To log and capture clips:

1. Select View > Single-Instance Views > Capture Tool.

Capturing from Tape

Click the Tape

button.

Select the

external device and click the Check button.

Select a tape

or name a new one.

Select a target

bin to hold the captured clips.

Set the Timeline/Deck

button to Deck.

Enter frames to record additional material

before the in-point and after the out-point.

Select the channels you want to capture:

video, audio, or both.

Set the Capture/Log

button to Capture.

Specify audio and video settings: format, quality, and input signals.

Enter a base clip name to prefix all captured clips.

Capturing Material

12. On the transport controls, click the Play button to play the source

material.

Play

Mark Out

Position indicator timecode

In timecode

Mark In

Duration timecode

Out timecode

13. Click the Mark In button at the point at which you want to start the capture.

The timecode of the in-point you selected is displayed in the In timecode box.

14. Play or shuttle the tape to advance to the point at which you want to end the capture and click the Mark Out button.

The out-point is displayed in the Out timecode box. The Duration timecode box displays the length of material to be captured.

If you already know the in and out timecodes, you can type them directly in the In or Out timecode boxes. You can also enter a value for the duration and Avid DS Nitris will calculate the out-point.

15. Click the Start Capture button. As the material is captured, clips appear in the selected bin according

to the in and out times that you specified.

16. If any problems are detected during capture, the Capture Error Log is displayed.

For more information, see “Logging and Capturing Material” and “Capture

Tool” in the Help.

Capturing from File

Avid DS Nitris lets you capture many kinds of material from file. You can capture still graphics files, animated graphics files, audio files, and more. To capture from file, you use the Avid Explorer.

The Avid Explorer

The Avid Explorer lets you view and organize clips, sequences, and effects within a hierarchy of folders. Avid Explorer folders are displayed as bins. The master clips you capture and the sequences you create appear in bins.

Capturing from File

Capturing Material

Avid Explorer tools let you control the content and arrangement of the Explorer window and bins. They also let you perform tasks for bins and views.

Panels display the contents of your system in a tree structure. A panel can display one of three views: My System, Project, or Shortcuts.

Bins display clips, sequences and the contents of folders.

Bin views include large icons, list, details, thumbnail, and script views.

Avid Explorer button.

Logging and Capturing from File

As with capturing material from tape, you can log the material without capturing, or log and capture at the same time. Before you capture the files, you need to specify the capture settings.

To log and capture from file:

1. Select View > Multi-Instance Views > Capture Settings.

Capturing from File

Set the video quality and

location to the storage folder for the media. By default, these settings match the sequence preferences.

Set the audio quality

and storage folder.

Select a bin to hold the

master clips and specify settings for capture from graphics files.

Capturing Material

Now use Avid Explorer to locatetext and capture the files.

In the Avid

Explorer, navigate to the folder where the files you want to capture are located.

Double-click the

folder to display the files in a bin.

Select the files that you want to capture.

Right-click a file and select Capture.

As the files are captured, clips appear in the target bin.

For more information, see “Capturing Material from File” and “Capture

Settings View” in the Help.

Chapter 4

Conforming

Avid DS Nitris provides you with the tools you need to finish projects that were created on other Avid editing systems, such as Media Composer You can use one of several file formats to transfer the sequence or project, and create logged clips. Then you can recapture the clips in uncompressed or HD format and you’re ready to add the final touches to complete the project.

Conforming

Methods for Conforming

Conforming is the process of bringing a project from an offline environment into Avid DS Nitris, so you can continue the editing process. Avid DS Nitris supports a variety of conforming file formats, from EDLs to AFEs.

Edit Decision Lists (EDLs) have long been the standard for conforming an offline session. An EDL is a detailed list of the edits contained in a sequence, including all the timecode and supported effects information. EDLs work well, but they are limited to the amount of effects information that can be transferred.

Open Media Framework

(OMF) was developed to allow users to transfer edit information, as well as many effects from the offline to the online session. Although OMF is more powerful than EDLs, it still has some limitations.

As a result, a new format was developed called Advanced Authoring Format (AAF). AAF was built on the strengths of the OMF format and was designed to avoid a lot of the current limitations. Avid DS Nitris supports the AAF format for conforming single clips or sequences. Avid File Exchange (AFE) files expand AAF technology to let you recreate complete projects with edit information, effects information, bin information, and the possibility of linking directly to the media captured during the offline session.

For the latest information on the conform process, such as which versions of Avid editing products are supported and the level of support for effects and titles, see “Conforming AAF and AFE Files” or “Conforming OMF,

EDL, and ALE Files” in the Help or the Avid DS Nitris Conform Guide.

The Avid DS Nitris Conform Guide is available on the Avid DS Nitris Customer Support website and the Avid Knowledge Center.

Conforming with AFE Files

Projects offlined on an Avid editing system, such as Media Composer, can be totally recreated in Avid DS Nitris using the AFE file format. After exporting your Media Composer project as an AFE file, you can drag the clips or sequences directly onto the Avid DS Nitris timeline. AFEs bring over a wide variety of effects. If your original media is stored on a shared storage device, such as an Avid Unity Avid DS Nitris links directly to the media, so that you have immediate real-time playback.

Conforming with AFE Files

™

MediaNetwork system,

Avid DS Nitris can only link to the source media in the original project. Any cache media will have to be processed again.

Creating AFE Files

The first step is creating an AFE file. You can create AFE files directly from some, but not all, Avid editing products. An alternative approach is to use Avid MediaLog

To transfer a project and create an AFE file:

1. On the Avid editing system, copy the project folder to a diskette, a CD-

2. Copy the project folder to the \Program Files\MediaLog\Avid Projects

3. Open MediaLog.

™

, which is shipped with your Avid DS Nitris system.

ROM, or a network location.

folder on your Avid DS Nitris system. The exact location of the folder depends on how MediaLog was

installed.

The Select Project and User dialog box opens.

Conforming

Directory list

4. If your user name is not listed, create a new user by clicking the New User button. Enter the name of the user and click OK.

5. Use the Directory list to find the project you want to transfer. Select the project and click OK.

The project opens.

Project window

Bins

6. To create a file that includes all bins in a project, click the Project window and select File > Export.

Conforming with AFE Files

The Export Project As dialog box opens.

7. Select a location, name the file, and click the Save button.

MediaLog creates an AFE file.

Make sure to close MediaLog before opening Avid DS Nitris. If MediaLog and Avid DS Nitris are open at the same time, Avid DS Nitris performance is seriously affected.

Importing AFE Files

The next step is to import the AFE file.

To import an AFE file:

1. Use the Avid Explorer to navigate to the AFE file. The AFE file appears in a bin.

Conforming

AAF/AFE settings

2. Double-click the AFE file. The imported bins are displayed in the AAF/AFE view.

Imported bins

3. Double-click an imported bin to display its contents. The contents can include master clips, subclips, titles, and sequences.

Avid master clip

Avid sequence

For more information, see “Exporting AFE Files” and “AA F/AFE View” in the Help.

Re-creating the Sequence

The next step is to re-create the offline sequence in Avid DS Nitris by dragging it to the timeline. You have the option of creating master clips at the same time.

Conforming with AFE Files

To re-create a sequence and master clips:

1. (Option) In the AAF/AFE view, select the Create Associated Clips

option and select the folder in which you want to create the clips. Deselect this option if you have already created master clips and you

want to avoid creating a duplicate set. Duplicate clips are indicated by the word “new”.

2. To append the AAF or AFE project name to the master clip source

names, select the Force Creation of External Tape Sources option. This option distinguishes between clips that are created from tapes associated with the conform and clips that are not.

3. Open a project and create a new sequence.

4. Drag the Avid sequence from the AAF/AFE view onto the timeline.

Conforming

To match the timecode of the imported sequence to the timecode of the sequence in the timeline, hold down the U key while you drag the sequence to the timeline.

The conform process begins. Depending on the length of the sequence, a progress bar is displayed.A message box displays a summary of the information contained in the AAF/AFE Conform Log and asks if you want to view the log.

5. To view the AAF/AFE Conform Log, click Yes . The AAF/AFE Conform Log window displays information about how

the effects and parameters were supported. Use this information to finish the final sequence.

When the conform is complete, the sequence, its clips, titles, and supported effects are re-created on the timeline. If you chose to create associated master clips, they are created in the location you specified.

If you are sharing media, the clips are automatically linked. If you need to recapture media, you can recapture from the

timeline—see “Batch Capturing” in the Help. If you chose to created associated master clips, empty master clips are created in the folder that you have specified. You can then recapture media from Avid Explo rer.

After recapturing the media, you can prepare your sequence for final output by refining edits, performing color correction, adding special effects, and so on.

Chapter 5

Getting Ready to Edit

Before starting an editing session, you need to understand how to organize and manipulate your clips.

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

Editing Layout

The Editing layout is where you perform most editing tasks. Once you place clips on the timeline, you can apply transitions and effects, trim, move, slide, slip, and synchronize clips.

The Editing layout consists of the Source and Record viewers, transport controls, and timeline. The buttons in the view switcher let you access the Avid Explorer and the Mixer, Animation Editor, and Sequence views.

To access the Editing layout:

t From the taskbar, click the Editing button.

Taskbar lets you switch between layouts.

Avid Explorer is a management tool that lets you explore and organize clips, sequences, and custom effects.

NLE Tools toolbar lets you perform general editing tasks, apply transitions and effects, find and add locators, navigate the timeline, work with container clips and reference clips, and process and purge material from the timeline.

Editing Layout

Source Viewer displays the current source clip.

Timeline navigation bar lets you pan the timeline, zoom in and out on the timeline, step into and out of container clips, switch between the Source and Record timelines, select Source/Record, Color Correction, Trim, or Slip/Slide modes.

Record Viewer displays the frame of the sequence at the current location of the position indicator.

Transport controls let you mark in/out-points, add locators, and control playback of sequences.

Timeline lets you build and edit a sequence.

Status bar displays the timecode of selected objects on the timeline and provides status, warning, error, toolbar, and active command information, as well as the global animation controls.

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

Locating Source Clips

Bins contain source clips and other objects for use in your sequence. The Avid Explorer tools let you navigate through and manage the contents of your bins.

To access the Avid Explorer:

t From the view switcher, click the Avid Explorer (Main) button.

The tools that appear on the top toolbar let you navigate to different bins and change the display of information within the bin.

Show/Hide Panel 1

Show/Hide Panel 2

Cascade

Capture Settings

Paste

Tile

Path

Back

Forward

Copy

Cut

Delete

Settings

Sifting

Locate

For more information, click the Help button.

Bin

HelpAddress Bar

Changing Bin Views

There are several bin views to help you locate clips for your sequence. The tools at the bottom of the bin let you change the way the contents of the bin are displayed.

Details view displays

clips as a list with details.

For more information, see “Working with Bins” on page 39 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

Locating Source Clips

Large Icons view displays clips as large icons.

List view displays clips as a list without details.

Bin list lets you select

a customized view.

Script view displays both pictorial icons and clip information.

Thumbnail view displays clips with pictorial icons.

Identifying File Types

Each file in a bin is identified by an icon. Because a bin displays the same files as your workstation, you see the same icons that appear in your Windows Explorer.

Files that are specific to Avid DS Nitris display a generic icon when viewed in the Windows Explorer.

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

Avid DS Nitris media files have their own icons, which appear on or beside clips in a bin. When an icon is highlighted in red, it means that Avid DS Nitris could not find any media associated with a clip. This clip must be recaptured before you can work with it.

Icon File Type Icon File Type

Audio clip Background or composite

container clip

Video clip Sequence

Combined audio and video clip Still image

Audio container clip Linked still image

Previewing Clips

The Source viewer lets you view and mark source clips before including them in your sequence. With a clip loaded in the Source viewer, you can review the clip to find and mark the footage you want to use in your sequence. You can move through the clip using the navigation keys on the keyboard or using the transport controls below the Source viewer.

To preview clips:

1. Drag a source clip from a bin to the Source viewer.

2. Go to the start of the clip or sequence by pressing the Home key.

3. Press the space bar to begin playing the clip.

4. To stop playback, press the space bar again.

Using J-K-L Keys for Three-Button Play

The J-K-L keys on the keyboard let you play, step, and shuttle through footage at varying speeds. This feature, also referred to as three-button or variable-speed play, lets you use three fingers to manipulate the speed of playback for greater control.

To shuttle through the footage using the J-K-L keys on the keyboard:

1. Do one of the following:

t Load a clip or sequence into the Source viewer. t Select a clip in a bin in Large Icons view.

2. Use the following keys to shuttle at varying speeds: t Press the L key to move forward through the footage at normal

speed.

Press the L key To play footage at NTSC rate PAL rate 24p rate

Previewing Clips

2 times 2x normal speed 60 fps 50 fps 48 fps

3 times 3x normal speed 90 fps 75 fps 72 fps

4 times 5x normal speed 150 fps 125 fps 120 fps

5 times 8x normal speed 240 fps 200 fps 192 fps

t Press the J key to move backward at the same shuttle speed

increments.

t Press and hold the K and L keys together for slow forward. t Press and hold the K and J keys together for slow backward.

3. To pause the shuttling, press the K key or press the space bar.

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

Using the Transport Controls for Previewing Clips

You can use the Step buttons under the viewer to play the clip backward or forward in 1-frame or 10-frame increments.

1 frame backward

10 frames backward

You can also use the Home, End, and arrow keys on the keyboard to move through footage when a clip is loaded in a viewer.

• The Home key takes you to the beginning of a clip or sequence.

• The End key takes you to the end of a sequence.

• The Left Arrow key moves the footage one frame backward.

• The Right Arrow key moves the footage one frame forward.

For more information, see “Transport Controls” in the Help.

Marking In and Out-Points

You can mark in and out-points for your clips in advance, which provides several advantages:

• You can quickly build a sequence by splicing the marked clips into place one after another.

1 frame forward

10 frames forward

• You can use the process of rough-cut or storyboard editing, which allows you to instantly splice several prepared clips into a sequence—see “Placing Multiple Clips on the Timeline” on page 105 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

• You can play back and mark clips in the bin before loading a single clip, saving several steps.

Position bar

Previewing Clips

Even if your marks are not accurate now, the Avid system allows you to trim the edit points and fine-tune the sequence later without re-editing the material.

Mark InIn-point Out-point Mark Out

To mark a clip for use in your sequence:

1. Drag a clip from a bin to the Source viewer.

2. Move the position indicator to the desired in-point.

3. Click the Mark In button.

4. Move the position indicator to the desired out-point.

5. Click the Mark Out button.

Creating Subclips

When you mark footage with in-points and out-points, you can either save the entire clip along with the new marks, or you can create subclips based on the marks you set. Subclips break up longer master clips into smaller segments of selected footage.

Unlike master clips, subclips do not directly reference the original media. Subclips remain linked to the master clips from which they were created, and the master clips in turn reference the digitized media files located on your storage drives. As a result, none of the original footage is lost.

An in-point and out-point appear in the position bar. If you need to adjust these points, drag them to a new location.

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

Instead of placing the marked clip on the timeline, you can first create a subclip from it. This leaves the original clip untouched while a copy of the original clip with new in and out-points is saved in a bin.

To create a subclip:

1. Verify the target location for the subclip, by doing the following:

a. In the Avid Explorer toolbar, click the Capture Settings button.

b. Verify the Capture Target settings and modify if needed.

Update Thumbnail

Create Subclip

The Capture Settings dialog box opens.

2. After you have previewed a clip in the Source viewer and marked the

in and out-points, click the Create Subclip button.

3. In the Create Subclip dialog box, type a name for the subclip.

You can use the default name, which is the parent clip name appended with a number, such as RealClip - 001.

4. Click OK.

The new clip is created and saved in the target bin.

The source clip maintains its original in and out-points.

To change the thumbnail frame of the subclip displayed in the bin:

1. Drag the subclip to the Source viewer.

2. Move the position indicator to the frame you want to display as the thumbnail frame.

3. Click the Update Thumbnail button to change the thumbnail frame of the subclip.

Previewing Clips

Chapter 5 Getting Ready to Edit

Chapter 6

Creating a First Cut

There are several ways to build a sequence. This chapter describes how to drag clips to the timeline to create a sequence.

Chapter 6 Creating a First Cut

Placing Clips on the Timeline

You can build a rough cut of your sequence by dragging source clips on the timeline. As you place clips on the timeline, the tracks stretch to accommodate the clips. However, if you activate Ripple mode on the timeline, then clips are inserted at the timecode where they are dropped. Existing clips move down the timeline to accommodate the inserted clip.

You can only place video clips on video or background tracks, and audio clips on audio tracks.

Preview and mark your source clips in

the Source viewer.

Create a rough cut of your sequence by

dragging clips to the timeline.

For more information, see “Creating Sequences” on page 96 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

The Timeline

Timeline controls

Timeline effect

track ripple

Track selector

The Timeline

The timeline is where you place and edit clips to build your sequence. The timeline displays all the elements that make up your sequence such as, video and audio clips, transitions and effects.

For descriptions of the various timeline components, see “Timeline” in the Help.

Overview area

Ruler Timeline ribbon Timeline effect track

Video tracks

Background track

Timeline

navigation bar

Navigating in the Timeline

The timeline provides various controls for quickly moving through a sequence and adjusting your view of details displayed in the tracks while editing.

Using the Position Indicator

The position indicator (the vertical blue line) in the timeline marks your place in the sequence. It also determines how some of your commands are interpreted. For example, when you perform an edit, the system takes the location of the position indicator as the in-point in the absence of established marks.

Audio track

Position Indicator

Timecode boxes

Chapter 6 Creating a First Cut

The Record viewer displays the frame of the sequence where the position indicator is located. When you move the position indicator in the timeline, the smaller position indicator within the Record viewer’s position bar also moves.

Using the Scale Bar and Scroll Bar

Depending on the length of your sequence, you might not be able to see the entire sequence on your timeline. You can pan the timeline, or zoom in and out to view the entire timeline.

Scale bar lets you zoom in and out around the position indicator on the timeline.

Using the Track Selector

While working with multiple tracks, you can use the Track selector to select, manipulate, delete, ripple, patch, and monitor the tracks. You can use multiple tracks to layer audio effects and sound, or to add video titles and other effects.

You can change track properties, such as the track name or the level of detail at which clips are displayed on a track. By default, tracks are numbered sequentially (V1, V2, A1, A2, and so on) as they are inserted into the timeline.

You can also scroll and adjust the heights of tracks.

Timeline scroll bar functions like any standard scroll bar. Click the arrows or drag the scroll bar to pan back and forth along the timeline.

Timeline effect track Ripple

button lets you activate or

deactivate the Ripple mode for

the timeline effect track.

Track selector lets you select or deselect tracks, mute, solo,

or ripple clips on a selected

track. You can also scroll and

adjust the heights of tracks.

The Timeline

Mute button lets you turn off the sound of clips on an audio track while playing the sequence or turn off monitoring the playback of clips on the video track while playing the sequence.

Solo button lets you play only the selected track(s). On audio tracks, you can solo more than one track at a time.

Patching Tracks

Track Ripple buttons let you

activate or deactivate the

Ripple mode for a track.

Tra ck butto ns let you select and deselect tracks. You must select the tracks before you can add clips to the sequence.

For more information, see “Working on the Tracks” on page 116 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

When working with multiple tracks, you can encounter a circumstance where you must edit source audio or video onto a track other than the parallel track displayed in the Track selector. To edit the source material onto another record track above or below it, you must patch the source track to the targeted record track.

You can perform only one patch per edit, but there is no limit on the number of times you can patch from the same source track. Audio can patch only to audio tracks, and video only to video or background tracks.

Chapter 6 Creating a First Cut

To perform a patch:

t In the Track selector, drag from a source track (audio or video) to the

targeted record track (a black line appears during the patch).

Patching V1 source track

to V2 record track

After patching tracks

The selected source track moves beside the record track to which it is patched. The patched track remains selected in preparation for your edit.

Marking In and Out-Points on the Timeline

In-points and out-points let you mark points on the timeline, where you can insert clips, or replace or overwrite existing clips.

When you create a new sequence, an in-point is automatically placed at the beginning of the timeline. If you want to place the clip at a specific timecode, you can mark the in-point on the timeline where you want to place the clip. After you place a clip at this in-point, the in-point moves to the last frame of the clip, ready for you to place the next clip in the sequence.

You can change the position of the in-point or out-point by dragging it along the timeline ribbon. For more information, see “Timeline Ribbon” in the Help.

To mark an in-point or out-point on the timeline:

1. Place the position indicator at the location where you want to place the in-point or out-point.

2. Click the Mark In or Mark Out button below the Record viewer. An in-point or out-point is displayed on the timeline ribbon and in the

position bar below the viewer.

Inserting and Overwriting Clips

If you’ve previewed and edited your source clip in the Source viewer, there are different ways to place the clip on the timeline. You can use the Overwrite, Insert, or Replace buttons.

Inserting and Overwriting Clips

The Ripple button must be deactivated on the tracks. For more information, see “Rippling Clips” on page 178 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

To insert or overwrite a clip on the timeline:

1. Mark an in-point at the timecode where you want to place your clip.

2. Click one of the following buttons: t Overwrite Clip to place the clip at the in-point and overwrite any

existing clips over the section that it covers.

Inserted clip

Chapter 6 Creating a First Cut

t Insert Clip to place the clip at the in-point and ripple all

To replace a clip on the timeline:

1. On the timeline navigation bar, click the Selection Mode button.

2. Select a clip on the timeline.

3. Click the Replace Clip button to overwrite the selected clip with the

one that is currently in the Source viewer.

subsequent clips on the timeline. The clip that is “inserted” on the timeline becomes active

regardless of other active clips on the timeline.

Inserted clip

Chapter 7

Refining the Edit

After you create a rough sequence in the timeline, you can refine your edits. Refining edits sharpens the look of your sequence and improves the relationship between pictures and sound. This chapter describes how you can rearrange, overwrite, and remove selected material in the sequence. You can also trim the edit points between clips to fine-tune transitions.

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

Rearranging Clips

All editing tasks are based on what you select on the timeline. The clips are associated with tracks, activeness bars, edit points, transition bars, effect bars, and regions. Selecting and manipulating any of these objects affects the position and appearance of the clip in the final output.

In-point indicates the starting point when adding source clips to a sequence.

Tracks contain the components of the sequence.

Selection Mode button lets you select objects on the timeline.

Unlike traditional tape editing, the Selection mode lets you to instantly reposition entire segments using visual controls as though you were physically “dragging” portions of your sequence around on a tape. You can move shots separately or together, on one track, or across tracks.

Effect bar indicates an effect is applied to the clip.

Activeness bar indicates the sections of the clip that can be used in the final output.

Selected region indicates an area of the timeline that is selected.

Clip indicates the location of a clip in the sequence.

Edit point lets you trim the end of a clip.

Transition bar indicates the transition area of a clip.

Selecting Clips on the Timeline

You can select several clips in a sequence before you move or remove them.

Rearranging Clips

Select a track.

Click the Selection Mode button.

Moving Clips on the Timeline

You can drag clips along the same track to move them to a different point in time. You can also drag clips from one track to another. When you move a clip to a new location, blank space or silence remains in the previous position. If Ripple mode is active on the track before you move the clip, then the selected clip is removed from its previous position and the gap is closed.

Synchronized video and audio clips always move together. If you need to move them independently, you must unlock them first. For more information, see “Synchronizing Clips” on page 183 in the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

Select a clip.

Ctrl-click other clips you

want to select.

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

Select a track.

Select a clip.

A red border surrounds the clip.

Click the Selection Mode button.

Drag the clip to a new position.

Removing Clips from the Timeline

You can remove any clip on the timeline. The master clip in the bin and its media are not affected.

To remove a clip:

t Select one or more clips and press Delete.

The clip(s) are removed from the timeline.

Copying Clips

Rearranging Clips

You can easily copy clips on the timeline. When you copy a clip, you do not duplicate the media stored on disk. Both clips refer to the original media.

To copy a clip:

1. On the timeline navigation bar, click the Selection Mode button.

2. Select one or more clips to copy.

3. Select Edit > Copy.

4. Place the position indicator at the precise timecode that you want to place a copy of the clip, and click the Trac k button.

5. Select Edit > Paste. A copy of the clip appears at the selected point. The name of the copy

is prefixed by “Copy of...”.

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

Overwriting with Three-Point Edit

The three-point edit is an excellent way to replace a segment in a sequence. It lets you quickly overwrite a segment with the precise duration of the source clip. Use the Mark In/Out button to select the clip in the sequence (or mark an in and out-point for a segment that’s not a single clip), and mark either the in or out-point in the source clip. The system calculates the exact duration of the source clip to insert.

To overwrite a portion of a sequence:

Set an in-point and an out-point.

Mark In/Out

button

In the Source viewer, mark an in-point or out-point on

the source clip and drag the clip to the timeline.

The source clip overwrites the segment between the in-point and out-point.

Trimming Clips

Trimming is the process of fine-tuning the transitions between clips to create smooth transitions for the final output. Each clip has elements that you can select and edit: the trim handles and edit handles. Edit handles are located at the ends of the activeness bar of a clip, or where it transitions to another clip. You can trim clips in the Source/Record view or in Trim mode.

To display the trim handles:

t Click an edit handle on the timeline.

Trimming Clips

Using Trim Mode

Trim mode provides a close-up view of a clip, so that you can trim the clip on a frame-by-frame basis. The results are the same as if you were dragging the clip’s trim handles or edit points on the timeline, except that you are given more tools to work with in the Trim mode.

Trim-out handle

Changes the outgoing

frame on clip A

Trim-in handle

Changes the incoming frame on clip B

Activeness bar

Base edit handle

Changes edit time without moving clips

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

To enter Trim mode:

1. From the timeline navigation bar, click the Trim Mode button. The Source/Record viewers are replaced with the Trim mode and trim

controls. If you did not select an edit point before entering Trim mode, the transition nearest the position indicator is selected for trimming.

Trim Mode

Trim Nudge buttons

Outgoing frame

Transition buttons

Transition Alignment

Frame Offset Counters

Transition Duration Timecode box

Incoming frame

Transport controls

2. To exit the Trim mode, click the Trim Mode button.

Basic Trimming

Trimming Clips

To select a transition for trimming, do one of the following:

t Click the Incoming or Outgoing frame in a viewer. t Click between the incoming and outgoing views to trim an edit point.

A red border around the viewer indicates that it is active.

To trim a clip:

t Drag a trim handle or edit handle to the left or right.

Trim-out handle

Changes the outgoing

frame on clip A.

Base edit handle

Changes edit time without moving clips.

Trim-in handle

Changes the incoming frame on clip B.

To review the most recent trim edit or play the selected transition:

t Click the Play Preview button.

A playback loop begins playing in the Incoming Frames viewer. This loop begins at a preroll point before the transition and ends at a postroll point, pausing briefly before beginning playback again.

For more information, see “Understanding Trim Mode” on page 199 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

Using Ripple Mode When Trimming Clips

When trimming a clip with the trim handles, you may want to preserve the integrity of edit points on other clips. To do this, you must deactivate the Ripple mode on the timeline. You can activate Ripple mode to change the recording timecode when trimming.

Click the Ripple button to

active the Ripple mode.

Select the edit point

on the clip that you want to trim.

Drag the trim handle

to the right or left to trim the clip.

The trim handle can only be moved as far as there is extra material available on the clip.

The following illustrations show how clips are affected when you trim an in-point with and without the Ripple mode.

Trimming an in-point to the left

Ripple mode on

Before

Trimming Clips

Trimming to the left

After

Ripple mode off

Before

After

The following clip(s) ripple

Trimming to the left

Edit point remains fixed on timeline

For more information, see “Rippling Clips” on page 178 of the Avid DS Nitris Editing Guide.

Chapter 7 Refining the Edit

Chapter 8

Working with Effects

Avid DS Nitris offers a wide variety of effects that you can apply to your media. This chapter describes the Effects layout, the effects library, and the different tools used to apply effects.

Working with Effects

The Effects Layout

The Effects layout provides an efficient way of working with video effects such as color correction, blur, and graphics. The Effects layout consists of the viewers, the large property editor for the effect, and the timeline.

Taskbar

Avid Explorer lets you explore and organize clips, sequences, and custom effects within a hierarchy of folders.

View switchers let you access different toolsets or views.

Starting an Effects Session

When you apply effects on the clips, track, or timeline, you can switch to the Effects layout to start an Effects session. You must have material on the timeline to access the Effects layout.

By default, Viewers display three consecutive clips on the timeline at the location of the position indicator.

The Effects Layout

Large property editor lets you adjust the properties of the selected effect.

Timeline is where you place, edit, and apply effects.

Working with Effects

To access the Effects layout:

t From the taskbar, click the Effects button.

By default, the Color Correction effect with its large property editor is displayed.

A gray effect bar on the timeline indicates that although the Color Correction effect’s property editor is loaded, it is inactive. When you edit the values on the property editor, the effect bar automatically changes to light green.

Tip: To open a specific effect’s layout, make sure that you choose the effect on the timeline before switching to the Effects layout.

Using the Viewers

By default, the three viewers in the Effects layout let you view up to three consecutive clips on the timeline, making it easy to make a clip-by-clip comparison.

The Effects Layout

1 Frame Backward

10 Frames Backward

10 Frames Forward

1 Frame Forward

The transport controls beneath the viewers let you preview your media in the viewer and play back the clips that you have color corrected.

Source menu

Position indicator

Next Clip

Previous Clip Loop

Play

For more information, see “Transport Controls” in the Help.

Configuring the Viewers

By default, the viewer displays images from three adjacent clips on the timeline. The Current monitor displays the clip that the position indicator is on in the timeline. The following illustration shows the default viewer behavior.

Working with Effects

When you move the position indicator to a new clip on the timeline, the Current monitor updates, displaying the clip on which your position indicator is located. The other monitors also update to maintain the relationship between the displayed clips.

The Current viewer refreshes to display the Inside_Cave clip. The Previous viewer now displays the preceding clip, Cave_Call while the Next viewer displays the clip next on the timeline, which in this case is Agent_CloseUp.

You can use the Source menu to configure each monitor to display the clips that you want to see.

To configure the display in a viewer:

t Click the monitor’s Source menu and select an option.

For more information, see the “Configure Viewer Display Menu” in the Help.

The Effects Library

The term effect refers to a range of filters, DVEs, keyers, and transitions. Each effect has several properties that allow for unlimited variations. You can save custom property settings as presets and use them on other projects.

The Effects Library

The 3D DVE and tree effects are not available in Avid DS Nitris Editor.

The effects are grouped into these categories:

Effect categories Description

3D DVE Effects that let you create 2D and 3D titles, as well

as 3D DVEs. You can apply these effects to clips, tracks, or trees.

Audio Effects that let you adjust the output signal of your

audio clip. You can apply these effects to audio clips, tracks, or mixer strips.

DVE Effects that are either a transition from one clip to

another clip, or a 3D transformation between layers in a composite. You can apply these effects to clips, tracks, layers, or trees.

Image filters Effects with single inputs that encompass a wide

variety of effects that you can apply to video clips, tracks, layers, and trees. These include blur, fadein, fade-out, and noise, to name a few.

Image transition Effects with two inputs that let you transition from

one clip to another. For example dissolve, wipe, fade, DVE, or crossfade effect. You can apply these effects between two clips or to trees.

Working with Effects

Effect Bar Colors

When you apply an effect, an effect bar appears on the timeline in various colors depending on the type of effect. This makes it easy to identify the different types of effects on the timeline.

Color Effect

Blue Keyer

Green Edge and Blur

Light blue Fade

Gray Default Color Correction

Light green Color Correction

Orange AVX Host

Purple Graphics

Red Image and audio

Yellow DVE and Picture-in-Picture

Applying Effects

Avid DS Nitris provides tools for applying a variety of image and audio effects. All effects applied on the timeline are based on what you’ve currently selected. They are represented by a bar over the affected element. There are five types of effects: clip, track, timeline, transitions, and source generators.

Track effect

Video track

Audio track

Applying Effects

Clip effects

Timeline effect

Working with Effects

Apply the effect as:

Clip effect

The following illustration shows you how effects are typically applied.

Timeline effectTrack effect

Gain effect is applied to the audio clip.

Edit and animate any of the effects.

Animate effect’s parameters.

Edit parameters.

In some cases, you must process an effect to play it in real time. When the Process button on the timeline turns red, it means that one or more effects on a section of the timeline require processing. The region that requires processing is also highlighted on the timeline ribbon.

Process the effects.

100

Pinnacle Systems DS Nitris - 7.0 Getting Started Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

Who Should Use This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

Using the Mouse, Pen, and Keyboard

Customizing the Pen or Mouse

If You Need Help

Accessing the Online Documentation

If You Have Documentation Comments

How to Order Documentation

Avid Educational Services

Avid DS Customer Support

E-mail Support

Web Support

FTP Support

Mailing List

Starting a Project

The Digital Post-Production Process

Logging on to Your Workstation

Starting Avid DS Nitris

Working with Project Files

Creating a New Project

Working on the Desktop

Layouts

Accessing the Default Layouts

Title Bar

Using the Menus

Undoing and Redoing Actions

Status Bar

Using the Views

View Switcher

Using the Toolbars

Property Editors

Dialog Boxes

Entering Values

Capturing Material

Capturing Source Material

Configuring the External Device

Capturing from Tape

Capturing from File

The Avid Explorer

Logging and Capturing from File

Conforming

Methods for Conforming

Conforming with AFE Files

Creating AFE Files

Importing AFE Files

Re-creating the Sequence

Getting Ready to Edit

Editing Layout

Locating Source Clips

Changing Bin Views

Identifying File Types

Previewing Clips

Using J-K-L Keys for Three-Button Play

Using the Transport Controls for Previewing Clips

Marking In and Out-Points

Creating Subclips

Creating a First Cut

Placing Clips on the Timeline

The Timeline

Navigating in the Timeline

Using the Position Indicator

Using the Scale Bar and Scroll Bar

Using the Track Selector

Patching Tracks

Marking In and Out-Points on the Timeline

Inserting and Overwriting Clips

Refining the Edit

Rearranging Clips

Selecting Clips on the Timeline

Moving Clips on the Timeline

Removing Clips from the Timeline

Copying Clips

Overwriting with Three-Point Edit

Trimming Clips