Pinnacle Systems DS Nitris - 7.5 User Manual
™
Avid® DS Nitris
Getting Started Guide
Version 7.5
make manage move | media
™
Avid
®
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 © 2003–2004 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, Avid DNxHD, 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.
Footage
Saturn “Calvin Egg” — Courtesy of Cossette Communications.
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 • 0130-05573-02. August 2004.
2
Contents
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Using the Avid DS Training Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Accessing the Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Logging on to Your Workstation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Avid DS Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
E-mail Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Web Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Upload Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Avid Community Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Accessing the Online Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Avid Educational Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 1 Starting a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Digital Post-Production Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Working with Project Files and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
What is a Project? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Restoring the Default Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Title Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Accessing the Default Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Status Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Accessing the Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Combo Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Using the Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Entering Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3 Capturing Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Capturing Source Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The Avid Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Organizing your Project Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Changing the View Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Identifying File Types in a Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Configuring the External Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Capturing from Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Capturing from File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Chapter 4 Getting Ready to Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Editing Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Previewing Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Using J-K-L Keys for Three-Button Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Marking In and Out-Points in the Source Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Changing the Thumbnail of a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Chapter 5 Creating a First Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
The Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Working with Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Selecting Tracks and Regions of Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Adding, Reordering and Deleting Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Setting the Track Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Muting Audio and Video Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4
Setting Tracks to Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Navigating the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using the Scale and Scroll Bars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Selecting Objects on the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Placing Clips on the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Dragging and Dropping Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Inserting Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Overwriting Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Replacing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 6 Refining the Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Rearranging Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Copying Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Removing Clips from the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Trimming Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Using the Trim Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Using Ripple Mode When Trimming Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Chapter 7 Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
The Effects Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Effect Bar Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Applying Effects to Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Using the Property Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Applying Effects to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Applying Transition Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Applying Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Creating a Stack of Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
The Effects Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Using the Viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
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Chapter 8 Working with Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Editing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Opening an Effect’s Property Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Bypassing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Saving Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Substituting Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Animating Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Chapter 9 Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Processing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
How Do I Process?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Chapter 10 Adding Graphics and 2D Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Starting a Graphics Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
The Graphics Combo View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Graphics Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Displaying the Safe/Action Title Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Using the Graphics Property Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Setting the Drawing Tool Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Defining Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Creating Graphics and Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Using the Graphics Object View (GOV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Changing the Properties of Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Finishing a Graphics Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Chapter 11 Compositing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
About Compositing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Compositing Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Creating a Basic Matte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Viewing the Alpha Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Keying out the Blue Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Simple Track Compositing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6
Using Composite Container Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
The Layers View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Applying Effects to Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Viewing the Results of Composited Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Chapter 12 Outputting a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Outputting to Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Outputting to File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 13 Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Methods for Conforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Conforming a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Defining Your Storages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Conforming the Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
7
8
Getting Started
The Avid DS Nitris system lets you 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.
The Getting Started Guide consists of 13 chapters of the basic information
you’ll need to get working in Avid DS Nitris. The following table lists the
approximate amount of time needed to complete each chapter.
Chapter Time to complete
Chapter 1: Starting a Project 15 minutes
Chapter 2: Working on the Desktop 30 minutes
Chapter 3: Capturing Material 60 minutes
Chapter 4: Getting Ready to Edit 30 minutes
Chapter 5: Creating a First Cut 45 minutes
Chapter 6: Refining the Edit 30 minutes
Chapter 7: Applying Effects 90 minutes
Chapter 8: Working with Effects 30 minutes
Chapter 9: Processing 30 minutes
Chapter 10: Adding Graphics and 2D Titles 30 minutes
Chapter 11: Compositing 60 minutes
Getting Started
Prerequisites
Chapter Time to complete
Chapter 12: Outputting a Sequence 20 minutes
Chapter 13: Conforming 45 minutes
Before using the Avid DS Nitris Getting Started Guide, your Avid DS Nitris
system should be properly configured with the appropriate hardware.
You should also have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating
system. You must know how to use the mouse or pen, standard menus and
commands, as well as how to open, save, and close files. If you need to review
these techniques, refer to Windows online help.
Installing the DivX Codec and QuickTime
Before you can view or capture the media files for this guide, you will need to
install the DivX codec and Apple QuickTime (if you do not already have them).
• DivX codec: Install the free standard codec from: www.divx.com/divx/
• QuickTime: Install the latest version of QuickTime from
www.apple.com/quicktime/
Using the Avid DS Training Station
If you are using the software-only Avid DS Training Station, you should know
that although it functions just like the software running on Avid DS Nitris
systems, there are some notable exceptions:
• A license or hardware key (dongle) is not needed to run the Avid DS
Training Station.
• You won’t be able to output to tape or file, nor export OMF
or AAF files.
• There are no indexing services.
• Any archives created on an Avid DS Training Station can only be used
on other Avid DS Nitris Training Stations.
10
®
, EDL,
• Archiving is limited to project data (media cannot be included).
• Remote processing is not available.
• Captured and processed media, sequences, clips, and presets use
a different format than the standard Avid DS Nitris software.
Accessing the Media
The media files that you’ll be using in this guide were installed along with the
Avid DS software. You can find the media in the C:\Program
Files\Avid\DS_v7.5\Media_GetStarted folder. In addition, you’ll need
a videotape with some material on it to practice capturing material from tape
and outputting to tape.
Logging on to Your Workstation
Before you start Avid DS Nitris, you must log on to your workstation with
your Windows user name and password. Since many users can work on the
same workstation at different times, Windows gives you security and a unique
user 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. 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:
1. When the Welcome to Windows dialog box is displayed, press
Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
2. In the Log On to Windows dialog box, enter your user name and password.
3. Click OK.
Once you have logged on to Windows, you can access your applications
and files.
11
Getting Started
To start Avid DS Nitris, do one of the following:
t Double-click the Avid DS v7.5 icon on the Windows desktop.
t Select Start > Programs > Avid Products > Avid DS v7.5 > Avid DS v7.5.
The Avid DS Nitris Release Notes window displays. After you close the
Release Notes, the Open Project dialog box displays.
Later on, when you have created a project, here’s how you can exit
Avid DS Nitris. For now, do not exit Avid DS Nitris.
To exit Avid DS Nitris, do one of the following:
t Select File > Exit.
t Click the X (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.
12
If You Need Help
If you are having trouble using Avid DS Nitris:
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” below.
5. For Technical Support, please call 800-800-AVID (800-800-2843).
Avid DS Customer Support
If You Need Help
E-mail Support
n
Web Support
The following sections describe various Avid DS Customer Support options.
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.
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 Support Center at http://www.softimage.com/avidds provides
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.
13
Getting Started
Upload Utility
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, you can upload your files for Avid DS
Customer Support to examine. You can upload a project's archive, media files,
or other necessary data. Simply zip the files that you need to upload and use
a short name (for easy retrieval), such as archive.zip or Case274877.zip.
To upload your files:
1. Go to the Avid web site at http://www.softimage.com/avidds.
2. Select Contact > Upload Tool.
3. 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.
Avid Community Forum
Although the Avid DS community forum 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, and there is 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 join other Avid forums on the Avid web site at:
http://www.avid.com. Select Support > Forums.
14
Accessing the Online Library
The Online Library contains all the Avid DS Nitris documentation in PDF
format. If it was installed on your system, you can access it from the Help
menu in Avid DS Nitris.
Accessing the Online Library
n
You will need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view the documentation online.
To access the Online Library:
Do one of the following:
t In Avid DS Nitris, select Help > Online Library,
t Insert the Software CD into the CD-ROM drive, and select Online
Library from the main menu.
To install Adobe Acrobat Reader:
1. If Acrobat Reader is not installed on your system, insert the Drivers CD
into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Under the Various section, select Utilities.
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).
15
Getting Started
16
Chapter 1
Starting a Project
This chapter introduces you to the Avid DS Nitris post-production process.
You will learn how to create a project in Avid DS Nitris.
This chapter takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Chapter 1 Starting a Project
The Digital Post-Production Process
The Avid DS Nitris system is a digital post-production environment. Once
you’ve acquired your footage in a digital format and put it on a storage device,
Avid DS Nitris gives you complete, random access to the media with instant
retrieval of clips and sequences. You also have quick, nonlinear access to any
part of your sequence, as well as the ability to apply a wide variety of digital
effects at any stage of your production.
Because each post-production facility and its projects are unique, you can use
the different tools and techniques available in Avid DS Nitris to complete
them. You can import sequences “offlined” on other systems and proceed with
your finishing tasks in Avid DS Nitris, or you can build a production from start
to finish directly in Avid DS Nitris.
After a project is complete, you can archive the media and files, making space
for your next project. If you need to go back and re-edit a project, you can
restore it at any time.
The following illustration gives you an overview of the Avid DS Nitris
production cycle.
18
2
“Offline” edit
Create a rough cut of clips and
decide on timing of cuts and
transitions.
If offlined externally, load *AAF, AFE,
OMF files or EDLs, and digitize
material from file, tape, or audio.
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.
Repeat if necessary
5
Process
Process all effects applied to
clips and create new media
files (source media remains
untouched).
*AAF: Advanced Authoring Format, AFE: Avid File Exchange,
OMF: Open Media Framework, and EDL: Edit Decision List.
19
Chapter 1 Starting a Project
Working with Project Files and Media
It is important to understand how Avid DS Nitris handles your data, so that you
can work efficiently when using large sizes of digitized video and audio files.
When you capture material, the digitized media is placed on an external
storage device, and the project files representing this media are stored in the
DS Projects folder on your workstation’s local disk drive. The project files
point Avid DS Nitris to the location of the corresponding digitized media
on the storage device.
Source material
20
Captured video and/or audio
are represented as master clips
in Avid DS Nitris.
Clips refer to media
on storage device.
Actual digitized material
(media)
is on storage device.
What is a Project?
A project contains all the clips and sequences required for your work in
Avid DS Nitris. In the Avid Explorer, which is a file browser similar to
Windows Explorer, a project is represented as a folder that can contain many
subfolders to organize all the elements related to your project.
Projects contain
master clips,
sequences, and any
special presets and/or
scripts you create.
Sequence files
contain information
about the edit
decisions, composites,
and effects you’ve
applied to your clips.
Working with Project Files and Media
Master clips are
representations of the
digitized media stored
on a storage device.
Master clips can be
shared between
sequences in the
same project.
A project also links and tracks master clips and sequences with their
associated media, making file management easier.
When you place clips on the timeline to build your sequence, they maintain
pointers to the source media on the storage device. Any edits or effects that
you apply to the clips are noted in the sequence when you save it. Clips,
sequences, and presets (a customized set of properties saved for reuse on other
projects) are all considered project files, and must be stored in the project
folder. That way, you can easily archive, restore, and/or purge all files related
to a project.
When you archive a project, a copy of the media is saved to tape or disk and
the project files are saved in the DS Archives folder on your local workstation.
With the archived project files and associated media, you can reconstruct
everything in your project when necessary.
21
Chapter 1 Starting a Project
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
each sequence that you create in that particular project.
n
You can change the video and audio quality settings during the course of your
work according to the amount of storage space available. For example, if you
want to conserve disk space, do a rough cut on material captured at low
resolution or in compressed form. When the sequence is ready for finishing,
redigitize the material you need, so you can work at the quality at which you
will be outputting.
To create a project:
When you start Avid DS Nitris, the Open Project dialog box displays.
1
Select the Local Projects Only option at the bottom-left.
Click the New Project button.
2
22
Give your project a name. We named ours My First Project.
2
Creating a New Project
Select the
3
NTSC 4/3
video format.
The frame
details are
usually set
automatically.
7
Save project preferences.
A new sequence is opened and the Editing layout is
displayed for you to start building a sequence.
Select File > Save. In the Save Sequence dialog
8
box, name it Sequence1 and click OK.
Set the
4
resolution,
bit depth, and
compression for
capturing the
video media.
Set the sample
5
rate and bit
depth for the
audio media.
Get more information on each
6
setting in this dialog box.
23
Chapter 1 Starting a Project
24
Chapter 2
Working on the Desktop
In this section, you will be familiarizing yourself with some of the basic elements
in Avid DS Nitris, such as the layouts, toolbars, dialog boxes, and menus.
This chapter takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.
Chapter 2 Working on the Desktop
Restoring the Default Layout
Note that you might not be viewing the default Editing layout if your system
was previously in use by a different user. Before you start exploring the
Avid DS Nitris desktop, you should restore the layout to its defaults.
To restore the layout:
1. Select Layout > Restore Default Layout.
A message window displays.
2. Click OK.
3. Close and restart Avid DS Nitris.
In the Open Project dialog box, the name of your project is already
highlighted.
4. Select Sequence1 and click the Open Sequence button on the right side
of the dialog box.
Name of last-opened
project is highlighted.
26
Sequences available
in this project.
The layout is restored to its default settings. Turn to “Layouts” on page 28
to see how the Editing layout should appear.
Title Bar
Title Bar
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.
Project name
Sequence name
Sequence video format
Close/exit window
Minimize window
Maximize window
27
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: Editing, Effects, Graphics, Compositing, and 3D DVE.
n
Taskbar is a navigational aid
for moving between layouts:
Editing, Effects, Graphics,
Compositing, and 3D DVE.
The 3D DVE and Compositing layouts are not available in the Avid DS Nitris
Editor product.
View is an area that contains a group of
tools that are specific to the tasks you’ll
Menu bar contains commands, such
as opening and saving projects and
sequences, editing layouts, and
accessing online help.
perform in a layout. The Editing layout
below shows the Avid Explorer view, a file
management tool that is useful when
handling files and editing.
28
View switcher lets you access different
views within a particular layout.
Too lbar contains commonly used commands grouped
together to make certain tasks quicker and easier.
All toolbars can be customized.
Viewers display the output of your sequence.
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 shows toolbar,
warning, error, and active command information, as well as the global animation controls.
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.
29
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
corresponding layout, views, and tools are displayed.
Editing layout
n
Taskbar
To switch layouts:
1. In the taskbar, click the Compositing button.
The Compositing layout displays. Notice that the timeline and view have
changed. You are now in a nested clip called a composite container clip.
You’ll learn more about this later in “Compositing” on page 133.
2. Return to the main timeline by clicking the Go to Top Timeline button
at the lower end of the taskbar.
Tip: If you hover over active buttons on the desktop, such as the taskbar or
transport controls, tooltips will appear to help you identify icons and provide
keyboard shortcuts.
A clip called Composite is created on the B1 background track on the
timeline. This clip was automatically created when you switched to the
Compositing layout. Background tracks are usually used for compositing.
Effects layout
Graphics layout
Compositing layout
3D DVE layout
30
n
3. Click any of the other layout buttons to explore the other layouts.
Some of the layouts can’t be accessed unless a clip is selected on the timeline.
4. Switch back to the Editing layout when you’re done.
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