Pinnacle Systems MediaCentral - 2.1 User’s Guide

Avid MediaCentral | UX

User’s Guide

Version 2.1

Legal Notices

Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc.

This product is subject to the terms and conditions of a software license agreement provided with the software. The product may only be used in accordance with the license agreement.

This product may be protected by one or more U.S. and non-U.S patents. Details are available at www.avid.com/patents

This document is protected under copyright law. An authorized licensee of MediaCentral may reproduce this publication for the licensee’s own use in learning how to use the software. This document may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this document or providing support or educational services to others. This document is supplied as a guide for MediaCentral Reasonable care has been taken in preparing the information it contains. However, this document may contain omissions, technical inaccuracies, or typographical errors. Avid Technology, Inc. does not accept responsibility of any kind for customers’ losses due to the use of this document. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.

The following disclaimer is required by Apple Computer, Inc.:

APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

The following disclaimer is required by Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics, Inc. for the use of their TIFF library:

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software [i.e., the TIFF library] and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

This Software may contain components licensed under the following conditions:

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of Daniel Dardailler not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. Daniel Dardailler makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire notice is included in all copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software.

THIS SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. IN PARTICULAR, NEITHER THE AUTHOR NOR AT&T MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:

Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.:

“Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller’s failure to perform reseller’s obligation; or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller’s products or the software; or any other damages, including but not limited to, incidental, direct, indirect, special or consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller’s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data, even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:

“Videomedia, Inc. makes no warranties whatsoever, either express or implied, regarding this product, including warranties with respect to its merchantability or its fitness for any particular purpose.”

“This software contains V-LAN ver. 3.0 Command Protocols which communicate with V-LAN ver. 3.0 products developed by Videomedia, Inc. and V-LAN ver. 3.0 compatible products developed by third parties under license from Videomedia, Inc. Use of this software will allow “frame accurate” editing control of applicable videotape recorder decks, videodisc recorders/players and the like.”

The following disclaimer is required by Altura Software, Inc. for the use of its Mac2Win software and Sample Source Code:

The following disclaimer is required by 3Prong.com Inc.:

Certain waveform and vector monitoring capabilities are provided under a license from 3Prong.com Inc.

The following disclaimer is required by Interplay Entertainment Corp.:

The “Interplay” name is used with the permission of Interplay Entertainment Corp., which bears no responsibility for Avid products.

This product includes portions of the Alloy Look & Feel software from Incors GmbH.

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/

This product may include the JCifs library, for which the following notice applies:

Avid Interplay contains components licensed from LavanTech. These components may only be used as part of and in connection with Avid Interplay.

This product includes FFmpeg, which is covered by the GNU Lesser General Public License.

This product includes software that is based in part of the work of the FreeType Team.

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

This product includes libjpeg-turbo, which is covered by the wxWindows Library License, Version 3.1.

P41-RR02188 by the National Institutes of Health.

Portions relating to JPEG and to color quantization copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, Doug Becker and copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, Thomas G. Lane. This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. See the file README-JPEG.TXT for more information. Portions relating to WBMP copyright 2000, 2001, 2002 Maurice Szmurlo and Johan Van den Brande.

Permission has been granted to copy, distribute and modify gd in any context without fee, including a commercial application, provided that this notice is present in user-accessible supporting documentation.

This does not affect your ownership of the derived work itself, and the intent is to assure proper credit for the authors of gd, not to interfere with your productive use of gd. If you have questions, ask. "Derived works" includes all programs that utilize the library. Credit must be given in user-accessible documentation.

This software is provided "AS IS." The copyright holders disclaim all warranties, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to this code and accompanying documentation.

Although their code does not appear in gd, the authors wish to thank David Koblas, David Rowley, and Hutchison Avenue Software Corporation for their prior contributions.

This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)

Media | Distribute enables its users to access certain YouTube functionality, as a result of Avid's licensed use of YouTube's API. The charges levied by Avid for use of Media | Distribute are imposed by Avid, not YouTube. YouTube does not charge users for accessing YouTube site functionality through the YouTube APIs.

Media | Distribute uses the bitly API, but is neither developed nor endorsed by bitly.

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks

003, 192 Digital I/O, 192 I/O, 96 I/O, 96i I/O, Adrenaline, AirSpeed, ALEX, Alienbrain, AME, AniMatte, Archive, Archive II, Assistant Station, AudioPages, AudioStation, AutoLoop, AutoSync, Avid, Avid Active, Avid Advanced Response, Avid DNA, Avid DNxcel, Avid DNxHD, Avid DS Assist Station, Avid Ignite, Avid Liquid, Avid Media Engine, Avid Media Processor, Avid MEDIArray, Avid Mojo, Avid Remote Response, Avid Unity, Avid Unity ISIS, Avid VideoRAID, AvidRAID, AvidShare, AVIDstripe, AVX, Beat Detective, Beauty Without The Bandwidth, Beyond Reality, BF Essentials, Bomb Factory, Bruno, C|24, CaptureManager, ChromaCurve, ChromaWheel, Cineractive Engine, Cineractive Player, Cineractive Viewer, Color Conductor, Command|24, Command|8, Control|24, Cosmonaut Voice, CountDown, d2, d3, DAE, D-Command, D-Control, Deko, DekoCast, D-Fi, D-fx, Digi 002, Digi 003, DigiBase, Digidesign, Digidesign Audio Engine, Digidesign Development Partners, Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction, Digidesign TDM Bus, DigiLink, DigiMeter, DigiPanner, DigiProNet, DigiRack, DigiSerial, DigiSnake, DigiSystem, Digital Choreography, Digital Nonlinear Accelerator, DigiTest, DigiTranslator, DigiWear, DINR, DNxchange, Do More, DPP-1, D-Show, DSP

Manager, DS-StorageCalc, DV Toolkit, DVD Complete, D-Verb, Eleven, EM, Euphonix, EUCON, EveryPhase, Expander, ExpertRender, Fader Pack, Fairchild, FastBreak, Fast Track, Film Cutter, FilmScribe, Flexevent, FluidMotion, Frame Chase, FXDeko, HD Core, HD Process, HDpack, Home-to-Hollywood, HYBRID, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, iKnowledge, Image Independence, Impact, Improv, iNEWS, iNEWS Assign, iNEWS ControlAir, InGame, Instantwrite, Instinct, Intelligent Content Management, Intelligent Digital Actor Technology, IntelliRender, Intelli-Sat, Intelli-sat Broadcasting Recording Manager, InterFX, Interplay, inTONE, Intraframe, iS Expander, iS9, iS18, iS23, iS36, ISIS, IsoSync, LaunchPad, LeaderPlus, LFX, Lightning, Link & Sync, ListSync, LKT-200, Lo-Fi, MachineControl, Magic Mask, Make Anything Hollywood, make manage move | media, Marquee, MassivePack, Massive Pack Pro, Maxim, Mbox, Media Composer, MediaFlow, MediaLog, MediaMix, Media Reader, Media Recorder, MEDIArray, MediaServer, MediaShare, MetaFuze, MetaSync, MIDI I/O, Mix Rack, Moviestar, MultiShell, NaturalMatch, NewsCutter, NewsView, NewsVision, Nitris, NL3D, NLP, NSDOS, NSWIN, OMF, OMF Interchange, OMM, OnDVD, Open Media Framework, Open Media Management, Painterly Effects, Palladium, Personal Q, PET, Podcast Factory, PowerSwap, PRE, ProControl, ProEncode, Profiler, Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, Pro Tools M-Powered, Pro Transfer, QuickPunch, QuietDrive, Realtime Motion Synthesis, Recti-Fi, Reel Tape Delay, Reel Tape Flanger, Reel Tape Saturation, Reprise, Res Rocket Surfer, Reso, RetroLoop, Reverb One, ReVibe, Revolution, rS9, rS18, RTAS, Salesview, Sci-Fi, Scorch, ScriptSync, SecureProductionEnvironment, Serv|GT, Serv|LT, Shape-to-Shape, ShuttleCase, Sibelius, SimulPlay, SimulRecord, Slightly Rude Compressor, Smack!, Soft SampleCell, Soft-Clip Limiter, SoundReplacer, SPACE, SPACEShift, SpectraGraph, SpectraMatte, SteadyGlide, Streamfactory, Streamgenie, StreamRAID, SubCap, Sundance, Sundance Digital, SurroundScope, Symphony, SYNC HD, SYNC I/O, Synchronic, SynchroScope, Syntax, TDM FlexCable, TechFlix, Tel-Ray, Thunder, TimeLiner, Titansync, Titan, TL Aggro, TL AutoPan, TL Drum Rehab, TL Everyphase, TL Fauxlder, TL In Tune, TL MasterMeter, TL Metro, TL Space, TL Utilities, tools for storytellers, Transit, TransJammer, Trillium Lane Labs, TruTouch, UnityRAID, Vari-Fi, Video the Web Way, VideoRAID, VideoSPACE, VTEM, Work-N-Play, Xdeck, X-Form, Xmon and XPAND! are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Apple and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Windows is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Footage

Hell’s Kitchen - Courtesy of Upper Ground Enterprises/Hell's Kitchen post team.

Avid MediaCentral | UX User’s Guide • 9329-65180-00 Rev A • December 2014 • Created 12/19/14 • This document is distributed by Avid in online (electronic) form only, and is not available for purchase in printed form.

Using This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Avid Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 1 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

About MediaCentral | UX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Signing In to MediaCentral | UX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Understanding the Application Layouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Working with Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Working with Areas and Panes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Menu Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

The Launch Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Using Plug-ins and MOS Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Support for iNEWS Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Viewing MediaCentral | UX Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 2 Working with Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

The Assets Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Navigating in the Assets Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Working with News Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Identifying iNEWS Directories, Queues, Projects, and Facets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Navigating the iNEWS Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Working with Interplay | Production Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Identifying Interplay | Production Systems and Media Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Navigating the Interplay | Production Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Adding or Removing Property Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Resizing Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Moving Columns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Moving or Copying Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Renaming Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Creating a New Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Displaying or Hiding Referenced Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Viewing and Editing Interplay | Production Metadata. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Viewing Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Navigating the Interplay | MAM Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Identifying Interplay | MAM Media Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Creating a New Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Renaming a Folder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Moving a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Deleting a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Adding Assets to a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Triggering the Rights Evaluation for a Basic Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Selecting Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Moving or Copying Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Renaming Asset References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Removing Asset References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Viewing and Editing Interplay | MAM Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Chapter 3 Working with Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Opening Projects or Facets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

The Project/Story Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Associating Stories with Projects or Facets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Opening a Project or Facet Associated with a Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Chapter 4 Building a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

The Queue/Story Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

The Queue/Story Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

The Script Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Creating a Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Segmenting Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Writing Stories in Right-to-Left Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Using Annotation to Dictate a Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Editing a Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Formatting a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Adding Production Cues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Adding Machine Control Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Adding a Primary Machine Control Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Deleting or Recovering a Deleted Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Ordering a Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Copying Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Locking and Unlocking a Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Floating Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Inserting Script Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Inserting MOS Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Adding Media to a Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Copying and Sending iNEWS Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Recovering Automatically Saved Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 5 Using the Sequence Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Displaying the Sequence Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

The Sequence Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Understanding Basic and Advanced Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Selecting a Horizontal or Vertical Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Using the Sequence Zoom Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Viewing Sequence Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Creating a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Creating an Interplay | Production Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Rules for Creating a Script Sequence (Interplay | Production). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Sequences Associated with Stories in Instinct and NewsCutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Audio-Only and Video-Only Advanced Sequences (Interplay | Production) . . . . . 111

Creating an Interplay | MAM Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Audio-Only Basic Sequences (Interplay | MAM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Saving a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Saving a Version of a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Recovering Automatically Saved Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Opening and Editing an Existing Sequence in the Sequence Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Opening a Sequence Associated with a Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Editing a Sequence Associated with a Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Working with Story Segments and Timing Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Working with Timing Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Editing Media into Timing Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Extending a Segment into Another Timing Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Showing and Hiding Empty Timing Blocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Manually Adjusting Timing Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Editing a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Locking a Basic Sequence (Interplay | MAM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Performing an Insert Edit in a Basic Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Performing an Insert Edit in an Advanced Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Performing an Overwrite Edit in a Basic Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Performing an Overwrite Edit in an Advanced Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Performing a Replace Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Enabling an Audio Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Adding Media from a Saved Sequence to a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Undoing and Redoing an Action in the Sequence Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Moving or Deleting Segments in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Adding and Removing Audio Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Creating an Audio-Only NAT or SOT Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Snapping in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Trimming Segments in the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Using L-Cuts in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Splitting a Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Adding Markers to a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Inserting Video Dissolves (Advanced Sequences Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Enabling Audio Scrubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Modifying the Start Timecode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Chapter 6 Working with Video Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

The Media Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Media Pane: Asset Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Media Pane Menu Options (Asset Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Media Pane: Group Clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Media Pane: Output Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Media Pane Menu Options (Output Mode). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Playing Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Using the J-K-L Keys for Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Stepping Through Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Playing Recently Viewed Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Selecting the Aspect Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Changing the Maximum Size of the Proxy Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Updating the Media Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Playback of Simple and Complex Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Selecting the Playback Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Adjusting for Playback Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Selecting Frame-Based Playback or File-Based Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Working with Remote Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Marking In and Out Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Working with Markers and Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Displaying Captions and Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Using the Timecode Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Entering Timecode to Cue a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Working in the Media Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Using the Media Zoom Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Reviewing in the STP Target Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Playing Back at the Highest Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Using Match Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Opening an Enclosing Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Transcoding Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Viewing and Editing a Clip During Ingest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Saving a Frame as an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Chapter 7 Using Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

The Audio Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

The Audio Pane for Asset Mode and Basic Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

The Audio Pane for Advanced Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Working with Audio Tracks in Basic Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Audio Monitoring for Assets and Basic Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Panning for Assets and Basic Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Working with Audio Tracks in Advanced Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Soloing and Muting Tracks for Advanced Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Overriding the Default Audio Track Patching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Adjusting Audio Levels for Advanced Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Panning for Advanced Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Setting the Audio Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Setting the Reference Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Recording a Voice-over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Chapter 8 Working with Group Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Group Clips and Multicamera Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Working with Group Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Loading a Group Clip and Changing the Angle View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Working with Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Selecting the Active Angle in Asset Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Playing a Group Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Timecode and Group Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Selecting Audio Monitoring Preferences in Asset Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Markers and Restrictions for Group Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Using Match Frame for Group Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Creating a Basic Sequence with Group Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Adding an Active Angle of a Group Clip to an Advanced Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Sending a Sequence with Group Clips to a Playback Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Chapter 9 Searching for Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Search and the Central Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Federated Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Media | Index and Indexed Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

The Search Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

The Search Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Conducting a Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Advanced Search Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Indexed Search Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Wild Card Characters and Operators Supported for Federated Searches in

Interplay | MAM Databases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

The Search Results List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Chapter 10 Logging Interplay | Production Assets and Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . 259

Workflows for Logging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Understanding Markers and Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

The Log Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

The Logging Pane for Interplay | Production Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Adding, Saving, and Deleting Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Working with Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Understanding Restrictions in MediaCentral | UX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Adding, Saving, and Deleting Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Navigating by Markers in the Log Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Exporting Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Entering Marker Text in Right-to-Left Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Unicode Support for Marker Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Chapter 11 Logging Interplay | MAM Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Understanding Strata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Logging Overview (Interplay | MAM Assets) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

The Logging Pane (Interplay | MAM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Understanding Segmentation Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Locking a Stratum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Working with Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Creating Segments (Gaps Not Allowed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Creating Segment (Gaps Allowed). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Resizing Segments (Gaps Not Allowed Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Resizing Segments (Gaps Allowed Mode). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Resizing Overlapping Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Splitting Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Merging Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Deleting Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Segmenting During Ingest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Navigating by Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Annotating Text Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Entering Segment Text in Right-to-Left Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Annotating Using Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Adding, Replacing, and Deleting Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Editing Integer or Floating Point Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Editing Timecode or Duration Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Selecting Boolean Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Editing Time Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Editing Date and Date/Time Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Assigning Values from Drop-Down Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Assigning a Master Data Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Assigning the Term of a Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Defining Merge Rules for Annotated Segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Exporting Strata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Chapter 12 Sharing MediaCentral | UX Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

MediaCentral | UX Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Using the Messages Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Viewing Messages and Linked Media Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Sending Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Configuring E-Mail Forwarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Using E-Mail Forwarding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Chapter 13 iNEWS Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Sending Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Viewing and Replying to Received Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Chapter 14 Sending to Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Specifying Send to Playback Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Sending a Sequence to a Playback Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Sending a Mixed-Resolution Long GOP Sequence to a Playback Device . . . . . . . . . . 331

The Progress Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Interplay Services in the Media Services and Transfer Status Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Chapter 15 Delivering Assets and Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Understanding MediaCentral Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Delivering Assets and Media to a Remote Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Delivering Assets and Media to a Local Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Chapter 16 Working with Interplay | MAM Processes and Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Understanding Processes, Tasks, and Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Creating Processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Monitoring Processes in the Progress Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Working with Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

The Tasks Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Working in the Tasks Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Delegating User Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Applying Actions to User Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Displaying and Editing User Task Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Adding and Editing User Task Attachments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Chapter 17 MediaCentral | UX Mobile Application for the iPhone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Connection Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

The iPhone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Gestures for the Mobile Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Installing MediaCentral | UX on the iPhone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Starting MediaCentral | UX on the iPhone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

The Sidebar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Buttons of the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Customizing MediaCentral | UX Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Changing Roles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Accessing the iNEWS Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Viewing Video Associated with a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Editing Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Ways of Saving Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Formatting a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Adding Production Cues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Adding Machine Control Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Working with Links in Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Approving Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Working with Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Working Offline with Cached Queues and Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Caching Queues and Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Viewing Queues and Stories in Offline Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

MediaCentral | UX and Interplay | Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Viewing Media Assets with MediaCentral | UX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Chapter 18 MediaCentral | UX Tablet Application for the iPad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Connection Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

The iPad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Gestures for the Tablet App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Installing MediaCentral | UX on the iPad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Starting MediaCentral | UX on the Tablet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

The Sidebar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Buttons of the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Customizing MediaCentral | UX Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Changing Roles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Accessing the iNEWS Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Viewing Video Associated with a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Editing Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Ways of Saving Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Formatting a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Adding Production Cues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Adding Machine Control Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Working with Links in Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Approving Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Entering Presenter Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Working with Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Working Offline with Cached Queues and Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Caching Queues and Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Viewing Queues and Stories in Offline Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

MediaCentral | UX and Interplay | Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Viewing Media Assets with MediaCentral | UX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Chapter 19 MediaCentral | UX for Android Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Connection Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Android Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Gestures for the Mobile Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Installing MediaCentral | UX on Your Android Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Starting MediaCentral | UX on the Android Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

The Navigation Drawer and Directory Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Buttons of the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Customizing MediaCentral | UX Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Accessing the iNEWS Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Viewing Video Associated with a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Editing Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Ways of Saving Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Formatting a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Adding Production Cues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Adding Machine Control Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Working with Links in Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Appendix A User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Appendix B Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Queue/Story Pane Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Assets Pane Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Media Pane Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Logging Pane (Interplay | Production) Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Logging Pane (Interplay | MAM) Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Sequence Pane Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Appendix C Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Pane Type Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Launch Pane Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Assets Pane Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Media Pane Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Logging Pane Icons (Interplay | Production Assets) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Logging Pane Icons (Interplay | MAM Assets) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Progress Pane Icons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Sequence Pane Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

Tasks Pane Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

Media | Distribute Icons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

MediaCentral Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Using This Guide

This guide is intended for all users of an Avid MediaCentral | UX system (formerly Interplay Central). This guide describes product features and basic user procedures, such as user settings and story or asset creation.

For initial installation and configuration, see the Avid MediaCentral Platform Services

Installation and Configuration Guide. For administrative information, see the Avid MediaCentral | UX Administration Guide.

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the

(Windows), (Windows only), (Macintosh), or (Macintosh only)

Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to indicate variables.

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.

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.

This text indicates that the information applies only to the specified operating system, either Windows or Macintosh OS X.

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

If You Need Help

Monospace font

Ctrl+key or mouse action Press and hold the first key while you press the last key or perform the

| (pipe character) The pipe character is used in some Avid product names, such as

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using your Avid product:

1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide. It is especially important to check each step of your workflow.

2. Check the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published. You should always check online for the most up-to-date release notes or ReadMe because the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To view these online versions, select ReadMe from the Help menu, or visit the Knowledge Base at

www.avid.com/support.

3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.

Monospace font identifies text that you view and type from the operating system command line.

mouse action. For example, Command+Option+C or Ctrl+drag.

Interplay | Production. In this document, the pipe is used in product names when they are in headings or at their first use in text.

4. Visit the online Knowledge Base at hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read or join online message-board discussions.

Avid Training Services

Avid makes lifelong learning, career advancement, and personal development easy and convenient. Avid understands that the knowledge you need to differentiate yourself is always changing, and Avid continually updates course content and offers new training delivery methods that accommodate your pressured and competitive work environment.

For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).

www.avid.com/support and follow the Training links, or call Avid Sales at

www.avid.com/support. Online services are available 24

1 Getting Started

The following main topics describe basic user tasks as well as various concepts and features you might encounter when working with MediaCentral | UX.

About MediaCentral | UX

•

• Signing In to MediaCentral | UX

• Understanding the Application Layouts

• Using Plug-ins and MOS Integration

• Support for iNEWS Communities

• Viewing MediaCentral | UX Help

About MediaCentral | UX

MediaCentral UX delivers workflow tools for media professionals through both Web and mobile applications. With a customizable user interface, MediaCentral UX allows individuals in different media production functions to access the tools they need to complete tasks with greater visibility to assets, team collaboration, and workflow agility. Through MediaCentral UX, users can access Avid iNEWS, Interplay Production, Interplay MAM, or all three.

Avid iNEWS

The Avid iNEWS newsroom computer system provides journalists, producers, directors, and various technical personnel in the newsroom with an array of tools to make their job easier. It is primarily made up of iNEWS Workstations, linked together via a local or wide area network, and the iNEWS Server, which manages all the day-to-day activities of the newsroom.

Although referred to as a singular unit, the iNEWS Server typically consists of two or more

computers running the iNEWS Server software. Each one acts as a backup for the other to protect the overall stability of the network. For redundancy, the iNEWS system mirrors its database across these servers for redundancy.

Interplay | Production

The Avid Interplay Production system combines an asset database with workflow management software, both of which are integrated with Avid shared storage and Avid archive solutions. Interplay Production provides tools that let journalists and producers add rich media to stories and send the assembled video sequence to a playout server.

Interplay | MAM

The Avid Interplay MAM system helps to archive and manage media in a shared storage environment. It integrates production islands, facilitates and streamlines workflows, and grants access to media assets and associated metadata from any workstation. Interplay MAM provides tools that let archivists, journalist, editors, and producers assign metadata to assets; search, access, and preview assets; arrange assets in sequences and transfer them to the edit bay; and overview and manage business processes.

Signing In to MediaCentral | UX

Use a supported browser to connect to and sign in to your MediaCentral server. See the Avid MediaCentral ReadMe for a list of supported browsers.

Signing In to MediaCentral | UX

MediaCentral UX lets you use a single user name and password to access all Avid systems for which your account is configured. A journalist might have access to both an Avid iNEWS database and an Interplay Production database, while a logger might have access only to an Interplay Production database. MediaCentral UX credentials (user name and password) are created by a MediaCentral UX administrator in the Users layout.

• Interplay MAM users must sign in with MediaCentral UX credentials that match credentials set in the Interplay MAM system.

• iNEWS and Interplay Production users have the option of using MediaCentral UX credentials that are different from their iNEWS and Interplay Production credentials.

The first time you sign in to MediaCentral UX, you must use MediaCentral UX credentials. You are then given the option of using your MediaCentral UX credentials to sign in to iNEWS and Interplay Production or to use different credentials. The credentials you use depend on the user name and password that you can use to sign in directly to iNEWS or Interplay Production. Supplying these credentials enable you to use only the MediaCentral UX user name and password at future sign-ins.

Your iNEWS and Interplay Production credentials are set in the iNEWS or Interplay Production sections of the User Settings dialog box, which you access from the Home menu. You can change these credentials at any time.

After you supply your credentials for the first time, a dialog box asks you if you want to use MOS plug-ins. See

“Using Plug-ins and MOS Integration” on page 34.

Understanding the Application Layouts

To sign in to MediaCentral UX:

1. Open a supported browser and type the URL of your MediaCentral server.

The URL is the computer name of the server.

2. At the sign-in screen, type your user name and password.

3. Click Sign In, or press Enter or Return (Macintosh).

After a few moments, the MediaCentral UX application opens and displays the last layout that you used.

When you sign in to MediaCentral UX, you are automatically signed in to your iNEWS

newsroom computer system, your Interplay MAM system, your Interplay Production system, or all three. If, however, the credentials for one of these integrated systems is inaccurate, you see a warning message that states that the application is unable to authorize the sign-in name or password. If you receive this message, click the link provided and verify your security settings.

4. (Optional) If the layout you want is not displayed, select the one you want from the Layout selector.

Left: Sign Out button. Right: Layout selector.

Each MediaCentral UX user is assigned one or more roles by the MediaCentral UX

administrator. Each role is associated with one or more layouts. For more information about available layouts, see “Working with Layouts” on page 25. For more information about roles, see the Avid MediaCentral | UX Administration Guide.

To sign out:

t Click Sign Out in the menu bar.

Understanding the Application Layouts

A layout is a set of panes and other controls that is installed as part of the MediaCentral UX Web application. The size and location of the panes are set by default in each layout. Not all available panes are displayed in each layout, but users can customize which panes are displayed, their sizes, and where they are located in the window. For a list of installed layouts, see

Layouts” on page 25

“Working with

Understanding the Application Layouts

The following table describes the main panes.

Icon Pane Description Refer to...

Assets A pane that displays assets. These assets can

“The Assets Pane” on page 38

result from a search or from browsing. Assets are displayed in a folder hierarchy, if applicable to the assets displayed.

Audio A pane that displays the controls for adjusting

the audio settings for media assets.

“Working with Audio Tracks in

Advanced Sequences” on

page 209

Help A pane that displays the help system. “Viewing MediaCentral | UX

Help” on page 37

Launch A pane from which you navigate to various

“The Launch Pane” on page 33

locations. This pane displays remote file systems, local file systems, and other locations for assets.

Logging A pane in which you can add metadata to

media. The functionality of the pane depends on the type of asset loaded.

• For Interplay Production assets, you can

view and create markers (formerly called

“The Logging Pane for

Interplay | Production Assets”

on page 265

“The Logging Pane (Interplay |

MAM)” on page 284

“

the Markers pane)

• For Interplay MAM assets, you can

annotate and segment strata.

Media A pane in which you can view and edit media

assets. The controls that are displayed depend on the selected asset.

Messages A pane that allows you to send messages and

media links to other MediaCentral UX users.

Metadata A pane that displays properties that are

associated with a selected asset in the Interplay Production database or Interplay MAM database.

“The Media Pane” on page 162

“Sharing MediaCentral | UX

Messages” on page 317

“Viewing and Editing

Interplay | Production

Metadata” on page 48

“Viewing and Editing

Interplay | MAM Metadata” on

page 61

Understanding the Application Layouts

Icon Pane Description Refer to...

Packages A pane for Media Distribute users that you can

use to review and approve packages submitted for publication. The pane also displays a history of packages ready for publication and already published, which allows you to search all submitted and published packages.

Progress A pane in which you can monitor the progress

of background processes, such as send to playback and sequence mixdowns.

Project/Story A pane that displays the contents of a project,

its facets, and any associated stories. It can only be opened from the Assets pane, and is therefore not listed as part of the Panes menu.

Queue/Story A pane that displays the contents of a queue

with the contents of a selected story in the queue, including the story form and any production cues. It can only be opened from the Assets pane, and is therefore not listed as part of the Panes menu.

Search A pane from which you can conduct a search.

This pane functions similarly to the Search bar but includes criteria for advanced searches.

Avid Media | Distribute User’s

Guide.

“The Progress Pane” on

page 333

“The Project/Story Pane” on

page 68

“The Queue/Story Pane” on

page 72

“The Search Pane” on page 241

Sequence A pane that includes the Sequence Timeline

and other controls that let you create and edit a sequence.

Social Messages

A pane for Media Distribute users that lets you create packages for publication to social media sites.

Tasks A pane in which you can view and edit user

tasks of MAM processes created by you or user tasks that have been assigned to you by other users.

Thumbnails A pane that displays small images of an asset

that is loaded in the Asset mode of the Media pane.

Web Story A pane for Media Distribute that lets you

create packages for publication to Web Content Management Systems (CMS).

“The Sequence Pane” on

page 96

Avid Media | Distribute User’s

Guide.

“The Tasks Pane” on page 349

“Viewing Thumbnails” on

page 51

Avid Media | Distribute User’s

Guide.

Understanding the Application Layouts

qq ww

In addition to the panes, the application layouts also feature bars that offer additional information, options, and functionality.

The following table describes these bars.

Bar Description Refer to...

1 Menu A section of the application that provides

2 Message A section of the application in which you can

3 Search A section of the application from which you can

Working with Layouts

The MediaCentral UX Web application is installed with predefined layouts. Not all available panes are included in each layout, but you can open additional panes when you need them.

You select a layout from the Layout selector, located near the upper right corner of the window. The menu shows the name of the layout that is currently displayed. If you click the menu, it shows the name of the role or roles for the signed-in user, along with the layouts that are available for that role. You can select any layout that is displayed.

The following illustration shows the default layouts available to the Journalist role.

numerous menu options.

send and receive messages.

conduct a search. The results of a search can be dragged from the bar and placed in an area as a pane for better viewing.

“The Menu Bar” on page 33

“iNEWS Messaging” on

page 325

“The Search Bar” on page 240

Understanding the Application Layouts

The following table lists the layouts and which users have access to them.

Layout Description Available To

Cut Journalists, media loggers, and editors use this layout to

create sequences. By default the Sequence pane is displayed horizontally.

Media | Distribute Advance Journalists and Media Distribute Producers use

this layout to publish media packages to multiple delivery platforms and services. For more information, see the Avid Media | Distribute User’s Guide.

Log Media loggers use this layout to add markers to clips and

to create subclips. For more information, see “Logging

Interplay | Production Assets and Creating Subclips” on page 259

are in Logging view, but you cannot open a queue.

Research Journalists use this layout to search and collect Interplay

MAM assets and edit basic sequences.

Rundown Journalists use this layout to edit and create stories. All users, based on

Story Journalists use this layout to edit and create stories that

include video and audio. By default the Sequence pane is displayed vertically.

This layout is displayed the first time a user signs in. You can switch to another layout at any time by selecting it from the Layout selector.

. You can view an iNEWS database when you

All users, based on role.

All users, based on role, if Media Distribute is installed.

All users, based on role

role

All users, based on role

System Settings Administrators use this layout to specify various

configuration settings. For more information, see “Configuring System Settings” in the Avid MediaCentral | UX Administration Guide.

Users Administrators use this layout to import, create, and

manage MediaCentral UX users.

For more information, see “Avid MediaCentral | UX User Management” in the Avid MediaCentral | UX Administration Guide.

To change to a different predefined layout:

t Choose the layout from the Layout selector.

Administrators only

Understanding the Application Layouts

Changes that you make to a predefined layout are saved when you change to a different layout or

when you sign out.

To close a pane:

t Click the X on the pane’s tab.

To open additional panes:

1. Select the Panes menu.

2. Select the menu option corresponding to the pane you want to open.

The pane you select opens in the active area. For more information, see

Areas and Panes” on page 27

To reset a layout to its original configuration:

t Select Reset Layout from the Layout selector.

To reset all layouts to their original default configurations:

t Select Reset All Layouts from the Layout selector.

Working with Areas and Panes

You can customize MediaCentral UX by adjusting a layout’s areas and panes. A single area can contain one or more panes. When an area contains more than one pane, the panes are displayed in a tabular format, with one pane on top of the others.

“Working with

Understanding the Application Layouts

The following illustration shows a typical Story layout. This layout is composed of six different areas and seven different panes. The area in the lower right contains two panes.

Understanding the Application Layouts

One way to customize this layout is to combine two or more panes into one area, thus reducing the number of areas and allowing more space for the remaining areas. In the following illustration, the layout is composed of four areas and seven panes. The area on the left contains the Queue/Story pane, the Launch pane, and an Assets pane.

Understanding the Application Layouts

You can also move a pane to create a new area. In the following illustration, the Assets pane was moved to the left to create a new area.

If the number of tabbed panes within an area exceeds the area’s space within the browser window, Right and Left Arrow buttons appear next to the Pane Menu button, enabling you to navigate through all of the panes.

You can move panes to save screen space and reconfigure panes in a way that best suits your needs. The application saves the last arrangement and displays it the next time you sign in to the application.

You move panes into what are called drop zones within an area. Each area has five drop zones: center, top, bottom, left, and right.

To move a pane:

t Click the pane’s tab and drag it to a drop zone.

Do not click the X in the pane’s tab unless you want to close the pane.

The drop zone is highlighted in orange to help you identify where the pane will be positioned within the window when you release the mouse button.

The following illustrations demonstrate the process of dragging the Media pane to each drop zone. In the illustrations, the Audio pane is already located in the area to which the Media pane is being moved. If you drag the Media pane into the center drop zone, the two panes are displayed as tabbed panes, with only one visible at a time. Dragging to the top or bottom drop zones splits the area vertically. Dragging to the left or right drop zones splits the area horizontally.

Drop Zone Position Result

Center

Understanding the Application Layouts

Top

Drop Zone Position Result

Bottom

Understanding the Application Layouts

Left

Right

The Menu Bar

The application’s menu bar includes the following menus:

•Home

Option Description

User Settings Opens the Settings dialog box with configuration options available for

About Opens a screen with information about the product

•Panes

This menu lists the panes that you can open in the selected layout. For a list of these main panes, see instance of some panes within the user interface; however, you can open multiple instances of an Assets pane or Search pane. If a single-instance pane is already opened, the option representing that pane will appear grayed out in the Panes menu.

•Sign Out

Understanding the Application Layouts

modification to non-administrative users. For more information, see

“User Settings” on page 443.

“Understanding the Application Layouts” on page 22. You are only permitted one

Select Sign Out to leave the application and return to the sign-in screen.

The Launch Pane

The Launch pane lists the iNEWS system, Interplay MAM system, and Interplay Production system that are available on the MediaCentral UX system. The Launch pane also includes any iNEWS projects and iNEWS servers that are part of an iNEWS community.

Systems and projects are identified by the following icons.

Icon Description

Connected Interplay Production system

Disconnected Interplay Production system

Connected Interplay MAM system

Connected iNEWS system

Disconnected iNEWS system

Project in the iNEWS database

iNEWS Project (not started)

iNEWS Project (expired)

Using Plug-ins and MOS Integration

Opening a system, such as an iNEWS newsroom computer system, Interplay MAM system, or Interplay Production system, lets you view the contents of that system’s database in the Assets pane. Opening an iNEWS project from the Launch pane lets you view each project’s contents in the Assets pane.

To open a system or project from the Launch pane, do one of the following:

t Double-click the item you want to open.

t Right-click the item and select “Open in New Assets Tab.”

For more information about assets and projects, see “Working with Assets” on page 38

“Working with Projects” on page 68. For more information about iNEWS communities, see “Support for iNEWS Communities” on page 35.

Using Plug-ins and MOS Integration

MediaCentral UX provides support for MOS Active-X plug-ins. For example, Deko Select is a plug-in for a newsroom computer system’s interface that allows a user, such as a reporter, to drag and drop graphic templates directly into the story, as well as alter replaceable text or graphics in the selected template. You can also use the Avid Deko Select plug-in to add graphics to the video for a story sequence. Other plug-ins are available through third-party manufacturers.

and

These plug-ins are specific to iNEWS workflows.

The MediaCentral installation program installs only the container needed for Active X controls. You need to install additional software for your browser as described in the Avid MediaCentral Platform Installation and Configuration Guide.

Enabling MOS

To use plug-ins, you need to enable MOS in MediaCentral UX.

• If you are using a Chrome browser, the first time you sign in to MediaCentral, a dialog box asks if you want to use MOS plug-ins. Click Yes.

• If you click No, you can later enable MOS through a user setting. Select Home > User Settings > MOS and then select “MOS enabled.”

Installing Plug-Ins

For procedures on how to install plug-ins, see the documentation for the plug-in.

After installation and configuration, plug-ins are listed at the bottom of the Panes menu.

Support for iNEWS Communities

MediaCentral UX supports iNEWS communities. The iNEWS Community feature allows customers with multiple iNEWS systems to share content and collaborate on stories. An iNEWS user can work with content stored on any of the iNEWS systems in a community from a single iNEWS Workstation. MediaCentral UX provides similar functionality.

MediaCentral UX requires you to supply credentials to sign in to one iNEWS system. This system is considered your local system. If your local system is configured in an iNEWS community, you are able to automatically sign in to other systems in the community. These systems are considered your remote systems. In the Launch pane, your local iNEWS system is listed first, followed by the remote systems. To connect to a remote system, double-click the system name.

Support for iNEWS Communities

In the following illustration, MUCINEWS is the local system and KIEV-JEN and KIEV-MOB are the remote systems.

Any projects listed are associated with your local system. You cannot show projects that are associated with remote systems.

In MediaCentral UX, you can perform the following tasks on iNEWS remote systems:

• Browse stories in the Assets pane.

• Load queues in the Queue/Story pane.

• Display stories in the Queue/Story pane.

• Create and edit stories.

• Copy production cues from a story on one iNEWS system to a story on another.

• Search a selected remote system.

When searching an iNEWS database, you can simultaneously search multiple indexed queues.

However, you can only choose one non-indexed queue path at a time. Attempts to choose more than one result in an invalid selection error message.

• Display and play sequences associated with a story if the sequence is stored in the Interplay Production database configured with the MediaCentral UX system you are signed in to.

In other words, if you load a story from a remote system that is associated with a sequence, then click the Open Sequence button, the associated sequence will open if it is stored in the Interplay Production database listed in the Launch pane. You can then edit and save the sequence.

If you load a story from a remote system, but the associated sequence is stored in a different Interplay Production database, you cannot view, play, or edit the sequence. If you click the Open Sequence button, a message tells you that the “mob_id cannot be resolved.” (A mob ID is a software object that identifies the sequence).

Viewing MediaCentral | UX Help

Do not edit a story after you receive the message that the mob ID cannot be resolved. There is a risk of data loss if you remove or modify the existing attached mob ID information

• Float stories so that they remain in the queue but do not appear in the rundown.

Limitation for MOS Placeholder and Project Bucket Features

MediaCentral UX checks if the iNEWS server supports the MOS placeholder and project bucket features. These features were added in iNEWS 4.0.0, but the check only succeeds with iNEWS server versions 4.0.3 and later. For this reason, MediaCentral UX only enables workflows using MOS placeholders and project bucket features in iNEWS 4.0.3 and later.

Viewing MediaCentral | UX Help

The Help system for MediaCentral UX combines the contents of the following documents:

• Avid MediaCentral | UX User’s Guide

• Avid MediaCentral | UX Administration Guide

• Media | Distribute User’s Guide.

You can view help related to a specific pane. For example, if you want to know more about the Media pane and the controls available within the pane, you can view that information by opening that portion of the Help system through the Pane Menu button. You can also open the Help system to the Contents page and use the Contents, Index, or Search to find specific information.

To access a Help topic related to a specific pane:

1. Click the Pane Menu button.

2. Select Help.

You can click the Contents, Index, or Search button to find other information.

To open the Help system to the Contents page:

t Select Panes > Help.

2 Working with Assets

The following main topics describe the Assets pane and how you can work with various assets in MediaCentral UX.

The Assets Pane

•

• Working with News Assets

• Working with Interplay | Production Assets

• Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

See also “Working with Remote Assets” on page 182.

The Assets Pane

Assets are items that are stored in a database, such as stories, scripts, video clips, and audio clips. From the Assets pane, you can view assets for items that are contained in the Launch pane. For example, if you double-click the name of an iNEWS system in the Launch pane, the Assets pane displays the contents of the iNEWS database.

After you sign in to MediaCentral UX, an empty pane labeled Assets is displayed in one of the application areas. After you open a system or project, the label of the Assets pane changes to reflect your selection, and you can browse the database or work with the assets that are displayed. You can also open multiple Assets panes, which appear as multiple tabbed panes within an application area.

The options you have for working with assets depends on the type of asset you select.

The following topics describe working with different types of assets:

“Working with News Assets” on page 40

•

• “Working with Interplay | Production Assets” on page 43

• “Working with Interplay | MAM Assets” on page 52

To display assets in an Assets pane:

t Double-click an item in the Launch pane.

The Assets Pane

The following illustration shows the Interplay Production database selected in the Launch pane and its contents opened in the Assets pane below. The name of the highlighted system appears in the Asset pane’s tab.

To open an additional Assets pane, do one of the following:

t Select Panes > Assets.

t Right-click an item in the Launch pane and select Open in New Assets Tab.

The new pane is displayed next to a previously opened Assets pane.

If you closed the last open Assets pane, the new pane is displayed in an existing area.

To close an Assets pane:

t Click the Close button on the Asset pane’s tab.

To ensure the Assets pane has focus, click an item in the pane, not an empty area of the pane.

Navigating in the Assets Pane

As you browse through a database, the history of your navigation is retained in views, and you can go backward and forward to display those views. The name that appears in the Assets pane’s tab also changes to reflect your location within the database you are viewing.

The following table lists the navigation buttons in the Assets pane.

Button Description

Back button toggles the current view to the previous view in the pane.

Forward button toggles the current view to the next view in the pane.

Refresh button refreshes the current view in the pane.

Close button closes the pane.

Pane Menu button opens a menu providing various options, including opening the help content related to the pane.

To expand a folder within the current view, do one of the following:

t Click the turn-down arrow to the left of a folder.

t Press the right arrow key.

To collapse a folder within the current view, do one of the following:

Working with News Assets

t Click the turn-down arrow to the left of a folder.

t Press the left arrow key.

To open a folder in a new view in the existing Assets pane:

t Double-click a folder.

To display a view you already displayed:

t Click the Forward button or the Back button.

For a list of all keyboard shortcuts you can use in the Assets pane, see “Assets Pane Shortcuts”

on page 448

Working with News Assets

The following topics describe the iNEWS database as it is displayed in the Assets pane:

Identifying iNEWS Directories, Queues, Projects, and Facets

•

• Navigating the iNEWS Database

Working with News Assets

Identifying iNEWS Directories, Queues, Projects, and Facets

The iNEWS database is a file structure that is organized by directories that contain subfolders or queues, which in turn contain stories. Directories contained within other directories are known as subfolders or subdirectories.

Projects are a way of categorizing stories by topic so that news teams working on a particular topic can find everything related to it in a single place, without moving or copying original source information within the database. Fac et s are sub-topics of projects that provide additional granularity. Any stories associated to a facet are automatically associated to that facet’s parent project.

You can view the contents of an iNEWS database by choosing the iNEWS system in the Launch pane. Likewise, Projects can also be opened from the Launch pane. Projects and iNEWS systems are identified by the following icons.

Icon Description

Connected iNEWS system

Disconnected iNEWS system

Project in the iNEWS database

iNEWS Project (not started)

iNEWS Project (expired)

After you double-click a system in the Launch pane, the database file structure with its directories and queues is displayed in the Assets pane. If you double-click a project, any facets of the chosen project are displayed in the Assets pane.

Working with News Assets

Different icons are used to identify queues, directories and facets in the Assets pane, as listed in the following table.

Icon Description

Directory or subfolder in the iNEWS database

Indexed directory or subfolder

Queue

Indexed Queue

Locked Queue

Indexed and Locked Queue

Facet

Facet (not started)

Facet (expired)

In addition to facets, each project also contains the following queues in the Assets pane:

Icon Description

ALL queue - shows all stories associated with the project and its facets. These stories do not actually reside in the ALL queue. Instead, they retain their original source queue location and permissions.

QUERY Search Queue - shows results of a search conducted with criteria pre-defined for the project in iNEWS. Each project can have only one search queue.

BUCKET queue - an indexed queue that acts as a repository for stories that do not exist elsewhere in the iNEWS database. All stories that reside in a project’s BUCKET queue will also appear in its ALL queue.

Navigating the iNEWS Database

This topic provides procedures for viewing the database file structure by opening directories and queues. For information about projects and facets, see

The contents of directories are displayed in the Assets pane. The contents of queues are viewed in the Queue/Story pane. For more information, see

To open a directory:

t Double-click the directory in the Assets pane.

This action opens the directory’s contents in the same pane. To return to the previous view of the database file structure, click the Back button.

t Click the turn-down arrow to the left of the directory in the Assets pane.

This action expands the directory to show its contents while still retaining a view of the rest of the database file structure. To close the directory, click the turn-down arrow again.

To open a queue:

t Double-click the queue in the Assets pane.

The queue’s contents open in the Queue/Story pane.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

“Working with Projects” on page 68.

“The Queue/Story Pane” on page 72.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

An Interplay Production database holds media assets such as clips, subclips, sequences, and graphics. You can browse the database in the Assets pane and display a media asset in the Media pane. You can rename assets but you cannot delete them.

The following topics describe working with media assets:

“Identifying Interplay | Production Systems and Media Assets” on page 44

•

• “Navigating the Interplay | Production Database” on page 45

• “Adding or Removing Property Columns” on page 45

• “Resizing Columns” on page 46

• “Moving Columns” on page 46

• “Moving or Copying Assets” on page 47

• “Renaming Assets” on page 47

• “Displaying or Hiding Referenced Assets” on page 48

• “Viewing and Editing Interplay | Production Metadata” on page 48

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

• “Viewing Thumbnails” on page 51

• “Working with Remote Assets” on page 182

Identifying Interplay | Production Systems and Media Assets

Different icons are used to identify Interplay Production assets and indicate status in the Assets pane.

Icon Description Column

Audio asset Name

Video asset: master clip. Name

Video asset: subclip Name

Video asset: sequence Name

Video asset: in-progress clip (Edit While Capture) Name

Video asset: group clip Name

Video asset: effect Name

Remote asset: downward-pointing arrow for each asset type Name

Supported State

Reservation State

Restriction State

For information about remote assets, see

“Working with Remote Assets” on page 182.

Navigating the Interplay | Production Database

The contents of folders in an Interplay Production system are displayed in the Assets pane. You can double-click an asset to open it in the Media pane.

To open an Interplay Production folder:

t Double-click the folder in the Assets pane.

This action opens the folder's contents in the same pane. To return to the previous view of the database file structure, click the Back button.

t Click the turn-down arrow to the left of the folder in the Assets pane.

This action expands the directory to show its contents while still retaining a view of the rest of the database file structure. To close the folder, click the turn-down arrow again.

To open an asset:

t Double-click the asset.

The asset opens in the Media pane. If the asset is a sequence and the Sequence pane is open, the asset is loaded in the Sequence Timeline. For more information, see

Video Media” on page 162

and “Using the Sequence Pane” on page 95.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

“Working with

Adding or Removing Property Columns

A set of property columns is shown when viewing media assets in the Assets pane. These columns display metadata that is associated with assets in the Interplay Production database. You can select other property columns to display. The columns that are available depend on the columns that are available in a particular Interplay Production database.

To add or remove property columns:

1. Click the Pane Menu button in the top right corner of the Assets pane and select Add or Remove Columns.

The Add Or Remove Columns window opens. The list is divided in System properties, User (custom) properties, and Resolutions.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

2. Select the columns you want to add or deselect the columns you want to remove.

You can use the search box to find a particular column.

3. Click the Close box or click anywhere outside the window to save your settings.

Resizing Columns

You can adjust the column width of any column displayed in the Assets pane.

To resize a column:

1. Position your mouse pointer over the dividing line between two columns.

The pointer changes to a bi-directional arrow when it hovers over the correct location.

2. Click and drag it right or left to adjust column width.

Moving Columns

You can rearrange the order of columns displayed in the Assets pane.

To move a column:

1. Click the header of the column you want to move.

2. Drag it right or left and release the mouse button when it is repositioned where you want it.

An orange line appears as a guide during the drag-and-drop process.

Moving or Copying Assets

You can move or copy assets in the Interplay Production database by using the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands.

To move an asset to another folder:

1. Select one or more assets.

2. Right-click and select Cut.

3. Select the folder into which you want to move the asset, right-click, and select Paste.

To copy an asset to another folder:

1. Select one or more assets.

2. Right-click and select Copy.

3. Select the folder into which you want to move the asset, right-click, and select Paste.

Renaming Assets

You can rename clips and other assets in the Interplay Production database.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

To rename an asset, do one of the following:

t Select the asset, click the name of the asset, and type the new name.

t Select the asset, press F2 (Windows) or Enter (Macintosh), and type the new name.

Creating a New Folder

You can create a new folder in the Interplay Production database. Your ability to create a new folder depends on Interplay Production rules. For example, the credentials you use to sign in to the Interplay Production database must allow creation of folders.

For more information, see the Interplay | Access User’s Guide or your Interplay Production administrator.

To create a new folder in the Interplay Production database:

1. In the Assets tab, navigate into the folder in which you want to create the subfolder.

Selecting a folder does not create a subfolder in the folder.

2. Do one of the following to create the folder:

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Create Folder.

t Right-click an item and select Create Folder.

A new folder is created with the name New.Folder. If there is already a folder named New.Folder, .01 is appended to the folder name, and incremented for each unnamed new folder (New.Folder.02, and so on).

3. Do one of the following to rename the folder:

t Select the folder, click the name of the folder, and type the new name.

t Select the folder, press F2 (Windows) or Enter (Macintosh), and type the new name.

Displaying or Hiding Referenced Assets

Referenced assets are assets that are referenced by another asset in the same Interplay Production folder, such as clips that are included in a sequence. You have the option of displaying or hiding referenced assets through a user setting. The default is to hide referenced assets.

To display or hide referenced assets:

1. Select Home > User Settings.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

2. Click Interplay Production.

3. In the Referenced Assets section, select “Show referenced assets” to display referenced assets. Clear the check box to hide referenced assets.

Viewing and Editing Interplay | Production Metadata

The Metadata pane displays properties that are associated with a selected asset in the Interplay Production database, such as Comments or Creation date. Some properties are created automatically and others you can create or edit manually. In the Metadata pane, if a property is editable, a text box or drop-down menu is displayed.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

qq ww

1 Refresh button 4 Editable text box

2 Save button 5 Non-editable field

3 Pane Menu button 6 Custom property drop-down menu

The properties that are displayed in the Metadata pane are determined by settings in the Property Layout view in the Interplay Administrator application. An administrator can select both system properties and custom properties as follows:

• On the System Properties tab, select items in the Inspector Default column.

• On the Custom Metadata tab, select items in the Inspector Default column.

A user must have write permission on an asset to add an identifier to an asset.

For information on system and custom properties, and assigning permissions, see the Interplay | Engine and Interplay | Archive Engine Administration Guide.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

Note the following:

• You can cut, copy, and paste text between the Metadata pane and other applications.

• You can use the Tab key to move to the next editable text box or use Shift+Tab to move to the previous text box.

• Text is limited to 32,000 characters.

• The following characters are not valid for text in the Metadata pane:

- Interplay Production asset names: / \ | Enter

- Interplay Production folder names: * ? : / \ " < > | Enter

If you try to save information that includes an invalid character, an error message is displayed.

You can also display database properties in an Assets tab (see “Adding or Removing Property

Columns” on page 45). In an Assets tab, you can display any property from the database, but you

cannot edit a property.

To open the Metadata pane:

t Select Metadata from the Panes menu.

To view properties of an asset:

t Double-click an asset in the Assets pane.

To edit properties of an asset:

1. Click in a text box and enter text, or select an entry from a drop-down list.

If you select from a drop-down list and type a letter, MediaCentral UX filters the list to all properties starting with that letter. As you continue to type, MediaCentral UX continues to filter the list according to the letters you type.

You can insert line breaks in a text box, such as the Comments box. However, line breaks are not supported when viewing metadata in Interplay Access or Media Composer. If the property is saved in Interplay Access, it is saved as a single line and is shown as a single line in MediaCentral UX.

2. Click the Save button, or click the Pane menu and select Save.

To discard your changes, click the Refresh button, load a different asset, or close the Metadata pane.

To update the information displayed:

t Click the Refresh button.

Viewing Thumbnails

The Thumbnails pane lets you display a series of small images of an asset (thumbnails). Viewing and double-clicking thumbnails can help you navigate through source clips and markers more quickly. You can view thumbnails in the following arrangements:

• Time-based: Shows the first frame, a frame every ten seconds, and the last frame. The exact frame displayed depends on the type of timecode (drop-frame, non-drop frame, 24 fps, and so on). Timecodes are displayed beneath each thumbnail, reflecting the timecode display that is set in the Media pane: Master, Absolute, or Remain.

• Marker-based: Shows any frame with one or more markers. A frame with a marker is indicated by a marker in the upper right corner of the thumbnail.

• Both time-based and marker-based thumbnails.

The following illustrations show each of these arrangements: time-based, marker-based, and both.

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

Note the following:

• You can show thumbnails for master clips and subclips, and sequences when loaded in Asset mode.

• You can view thumbnails for video clips, clips with video and audio, and audio-only clips.

• The size of the thumbnails depends on the aspect ratio selected in the Media pane. Changing the aspect ratio changes the size of the thumbnails.

• You can show thumbnails for group clips. The thumbnails reflect the grid selected in the Media pane: 1x1, 2x2, or 3x3.

• Currently, you cannot adjust the frequency of the thumbnails or their size.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

• You can view thumbnails for a clip that is ingesting (edit-while-capture) after it is checked into the Interplay Production database (approximately every two minutes). Click the Refresh button to update the display.

Support for edit-while-capture (EWC) is qualified only for Avid AirSpeed Multi Stream and

AS5000 systems.

• Click the Refresh button to update the display for changes to the asset, for example, if you add or delete a marker.

To view thumbnails:

1. Select Panes > Thumbnails.

If an asset is already loaded in Asset mode in the Media pane, thumbnails are displayed in the Thumbnails pane.

2. In the Assets pane, do one of the following:

t Double-click a master clip or subclip.

t Right-click a sequence and select Load in Asset Mode.

The asset is loaded in the Media viewer and thumbnails are displayed in the Thumbnail pane, with timecode for each thumbnail below it. If the asset contains markers, a thumbnail is displayed for each marker.

3. To show only time-based thumbnails, click the Marker button so that it is inactive. To show only marker-based thumbnails, click the Time button so that it is inactive.

4. To navigate to a particular frame in the Media pane, double-click a thumbnail.

The position indicator in the Media Timeline jumps to the frame.

If the double-clicked thumbnail has a marker associated with it, the associated marker information is highlighted in the Markers pane. If there is no marker associated with the thumbnail, the nearest marker information is highlighted.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

An Interplay MAM database holds media assets such as video and audio assets, basic sequences, and graphics. The Interplay MAM Workspace allows you to carry out many aspects of day-to-day work with these assets by mapping tasks to a tree structure. The Workspace is displayed as a set of folders that contain references to media assets in the MAM database. For example, you save sequences or references to video assets to a folder. This allows you to access the media assets directly at a later date — in other words, you do not need to search for them again.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

The Assets pane gives you access to the Workspace of any connected Interplay MAM system. You can see all folders that are released to you and browse and edit the folder structure in the Assets pane. You can add, rename, and delete asset references, view and edit asset metadata, and create basic sequences and initiate processes for assets in the Assets pane.

The following topics describe working with MAM assets:

• “Navigating the Interplay | MAM Workspace” on page 53

• “Identifying Interplay | MAM Media Assets” on page 54

• “Creating a New Folder” on page 55

• “Moving a Folder” on page 56

• “Renaming a Folder” on page 56

• “Deleting a Folder” on page 56

• “Adding Assets to a Folder” on page 57

• “Triggering the Rights Evaluation for a Basic Sequence” on page 58

• “Moving or Copying Assets” on page 59

• “Renaming Asset References” on page 60

• “Removing Asset References” on page 60

• “Viewing and Editing Interplay | MAM Metadata” on page 61

• “Creating an Interplay | MAM Sequence” on page 111

• “Creating Processes” on page 345

Navigating the Interplay | MAM Workspace

The contents of released folders in an Interplay MAM Workspace are displayed in the Assets pane. You can double-click an asset to open it in any pane that supports displaying aspects of that asset.

To open an Interplay MAM folder:

t Double-click the folder in the Assets pane.

This action opens the folder's contents in the same pane. To return to the previous view of the Workspace file structure, click the Back button.

t Click the turn-down arrow to the left of the folder in the Assets pane.

This action expands the directory to show its contents while still retaining a view of the rest of the Workspace file structure. To close the folder, click the turn-down arrow again.

To open an asset:

t Double-click the asset.

The asset opens in the Media pane. If the panes are open, the asset opens also in the Logging and Metadata pane. If the asset is a basic sequence and the Sequence pane is open, the asset is loaded in the Sequence Timeline. For more information, see “Working with Video Media”

on page 162

and “Using the Sequence Pane” on page 95.

Identifying Interplay | MAM Media Assets

A set of property columns are shown when viewing MAM assets in the Assets pane. These columns display metadata that is associated with assets in the Interplay MAM database. The following columns are available for MAM assets: Name, Thumbnail, Type, and Rights.

Different icons are used to identify Interplay MAM assets and indicate rights in the Assets pane. Depending on the installed Interplay MAM package you might see additional icons.

Icon Description Column

Audio asset Name

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Document asset Name

Image asset Name

Other or Unknown asset type Name

Sequence asset (audio or video) Name

Video asset Name

Audio asset placeholder icon. Is shown until a specific image is assigned as a thumbnail.

Document asset placeholder icon. Is shown until a specific image is assigned as a thumbnail.

Image asset placeholder icon. Is shown until a specific image is assigned as a thumbnail.

Other or Unknown asset placeholder icon. Is shown until a specific image is assigned as a thumbnail.

Thumbnail

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Icon Description Column

Basic Sequence asset placeholder icon. Thumbnail

Video asset placeholder icon. Is shown until a specific image is assigned as a thumbnail.

Usage right “Free for use” Rights

Usage right “Not evaluated so far” Rights

Usage right “Parts need to be licensed” Rights

Usage right “Contains restricted parts” Rights

Creating a New Folder

You can create new folders in the Interplay MAM Workspace. Your ability to create a new folder depends on Interplay MAM rules. For example, the credentials you use to sign in to the Interplay MAM database must allow creation of folders.

For more information, see the Interplay | MAM Desktop User’s Guide or Interplay | MAM User Manager User’s Guide.

To create a new folder in the Interplay MAM Workspace:

1. In the Assets tab, select a folder.

The new folder is added as sibling or subfolder depending on the control you use.

2. Do one of the following:

Thumbnail

t To create a sibling of the selected folder, click the Pane Menu button and select Create

Folder.

t To create a subfolder within the selected folder, right-click the folder and select Create

Folder.

3. Rename the folder. See

“Renaming a Folder” on page 56.

Renaming a Folder

You can rename Interplay MAM Workspace folders in the Assets pane.

To rename a folder, do one of the following:

t Select the folder, click the name of the folder, and type the new name.

t Select the folder, press F2 (Windows) or Enter (Macintosh), and type the new name.

Moving a Folder

You can move folders with their contents in the Interplay MAM Workspace by using the Cut and Paste commands or drag and drop. Note that you can move but cannot copy folders.

Your ability to move a folder depends on Interplay MAM rules: The folder permissions in Interplay MAM Workspace must allow moving the selected folder and adding it to the target folder.

To move a folder to another folder by using commands:

1. Select one or more folders.

2. Do one of the following:

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Cut.

t Right-click and select Cut.

3. Select the folder into which you want to move the folder, right-click, and select Paste.

To move a folder by using drag and drop:

1. Select one or more folders.

2. Drag the selection to the folder into which you want to move the folder.

The folder expands to show its contents and a green icon indicates if dropping is possible.

3. Release the mouse button.

Deleting a Folder

You can delete folders from Interplay MAM Workspace in the Assets pane. If you delete a folder, all the references to media assets that it contains will also be deleted. Check whether you need the media asset references contained in a folder before you delete it.

Your ability to delete a folder depends on Interplay MAM rules: the folder permissions in Interplay MAM Workspace must allow the deletion of the selected folder.

To delete folders:

1. Select one or more folders.

2. Do one of the following:

t Right-click and select Delete.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Delete.

A security prompt opens.

3. Click Yes.

If your credentials allow deleting folders the folders are deleted.

If you are not authorized to delete some of the selected folders or folders at all a message opens. After closing the message the folders that are released for deletion are deleted.

Adding Assets to a Folder

You can add assets to a folder from the Search pane’s search results list after you have conducted a search or from the Tasks pane’s attachments area. This action does not save or copy the asset to the folder. You are creating and saving only a reference to the asset. Each folder can have only one reference that points to the same asset. If you try to add a second reference to the same asset, a message is displayed.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

To add asset references to a folder:

1. Do one the following:

t Open the Search pane and conduct a search for MAM assets. For more information, see

“Conducting a Search” on page 243.

t Open the Tasks pane and select a task. For more information, see

User Task Attachments” on page 356

“Adding and Editing

2. Select one or more assets in the search results list or the task attachments area.

3. Drag the selection to the name or icon of the folder into which you want to paste the asset references.

The folder expands to show its contents and a green icon indicates if dropping is possible.

4. Release the mouse button.

Valid asset references are pasted into the folder. References to assets that are not allowed as contents of the folder are not pasted.

If there is already a reference to an asset with the same identifier in the folder, a message is displayed, and the asset is not pasted.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Triggering the Rights Evaluation for a Basic Sequence

A set of property columns is shown when viewing MAM assets in the Assets pane. The Rights column displays the value of the usage rights property — symbolized by a Rights Indicator icon — that is associated with assets in the Interplay MAM database.

For basic sequences the usage rights information is not retrieved from the usage rights property but evaluated dynamically based on the usage rights of the individual segments of assets it contains. The usage right for the entire basic sequence is determined by the most restrictive usage right for a segment.

Therefore the Rights column initially does not show a Rights Indicator icon for a basic sequence. You have to trigger the rights evaluation once, as described in the following procedure. After that, the Rights Indicator icon of the basic sequence is shown during your current user session. You need to trigger the rights evaluation for each session.

To trigger the rights evaluation for a basic sequence:

t Select the basic sequence in the Assets pane.

The rights evaluation starts. During this time a busy indicator is shown in the Rights column. When the rights evaluation is finished the calculated usage right of the basic sequence is indicated by the corresponding Rights Indicator icon. For more information, see

Interplay | MAM Media Assets” on page 54

“Identifying

Selecting Assets

Clicking an item (basic sequence, other asset, or folder) in a folder selects and highlights it. Multiple items can be selected in different ways. Note that you can select items in different folders at the same time.

To select several nonconsecutive items:

t Ctrl+click the items you want to select, regardless of order or arrangement.

The items are selected and highlighted.

To select several consecutive items:

t Click an item and then Shift+click the item that ends the series of hits you want to select.

The items in the series are selected and highlighted.

t Shift+click an item above or below the highlighted selection.

The selection is expanded or narrowed.

To remove the selection:

t Click the Refresh button of the Assets pane.

The selection is removed.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Moving or Copying Assets

You can move or copy basic sequences and other assets in the Interplay MAM Workspace by using the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands, or drag and drop.

To move or copy an asset to another folder by using commands:

1. Select one or more assets.

2. Do one of the following:

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Cut, or right-click and select Cut.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Copy, or right-click and select Copy.

3. Select the folder into which you want to move or copy the asset, right-click, and select Paste.

To copy an asset to another folder by using drag and drop:

1. Select one or more assets.

2. Drag the selection to the name or icon of the folder into which you want to copy the assets.

The folder expands to show its contents and a green icon indicates if dropping is possible.

3. Release the mouse button.

Valid assets are pasted into the folder, and assets that are not allowed as contents of the folder are not pasted. If there is already an asset with the same identifier in the folder, a message is displayed, and the asset is not pasted. If your selection contained folders and individual assets, the folders and their contents are moved but the individual assets are copied.

Renaming Asset References

You can rename the reference of basic sequences and other assets in the Interplay MAM Workspace. Note that this action renames only the display name in the folder but not the basic sequence or the asset itself. To rename the asset or sequence, you must change its Title property in the Metadata pane.

Note also that the Media pane always shows the Title of an asset. If you only rename the reference of an asset in the Assets pane but not its Title property, you will see different names displayed for the same asset in the Assets and Media pane.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

To rename an asset reference, do one of the following:

t Select the asset, click the name of the asset, and type the new name.

t Select the asset, press F2 (Windows) or Enter (Macintosh), and type the new name.

Removing Asset References

You can remove basic sequences and other assets in the Interplay MAM Workspace. Note that this action removes the reference in the folder but does not delete the basic sequence or the asset itself.

To remove asset references from folders:

1. Select one or more assets.

2. Do one of the following:

t Right-click and select Delete.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Delete.

A security prompt is displayed.

3. Click Yes.

If your credentials allow deleting assets, the asset references are deleted.

If you are not authorized to delete some of the selected assets or any assets, a message is

qq ww

displayed. After closing the message the folders that are released for deletion are deleted.

Viewing and Editing Interplay | MAM Metadata

The Metadata pane displays properties that are associated with a selected asset in the Interplay MAM database, such as Comments or Creation date. Some properties are created automatically and others you can create or edit manually. In the Metadata pane, if a property is editable, a text box, drop-down menu, or other input control is displayed.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

1 Refresh button 5 Editable text box

2 Save button 6 Non-editable field

3 Metadata page selector 7 Examples of editable properties

Pane Menu button

The properties that are displayed in the Metadata pane are determined by the configuration of the property and the metadata template of the corresponding asset type in the Interplay MAM Datamodel Administrator application. An administrator can define the following:

• Which properties are displayed

• If a property is editable, read-only, read-only based on the values of another property, or mandatory

• If a property shows a default value

• Limits for text input

A user must have write permission on assets to edit the metadata of an asset.

For information on properties and assigning permissions, see the Interplay | MAM Datamodel Administrator User’s Guide and Interplay | MAM User Manager User’s Guide.

Property Types and Input Controls

The fields in the Metadata pane are linked to properties that describe an asset. Interplay MAM and MediaCentral UX support different property types and input controls.

Property Types

In Interplay MAM, the following three property types are distinguished:

• Single-value property: When you edit metadata that is allocated to a single-value property, there is only one field available in which to enter data, so only one value can be entered for this asset property. For more information, see

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

“Editing Metadata” on page 64.

• Multi-value property: When you edit metadata that is allocated a multi-value property, there are several fields available in which you can enter data for this asset property as shown in the following illustration. Existing values can be changed or deleted, and new values can be added.

• Compound property: When you edit metadata that is allocated a compound property, you edit several properties that are combined into a single property. For each of these single properties you have several fields in which to enter data, just as you do for multi-value properties. The following illustration shows how three single properties (Broadcaster, Broadcast Time, and Broadcast Date) are combined into the Broadcastings property.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Input Controls

Depending on the configuration of the metadata template in Interplay MAM, you might encounter the following input fields when entering data:

Display Field type Description

Text Text fields accept all characters. Input might be limited to a

certain number of characters by the property configuration in Interplay MAM.

Date Date fields are preformatted. The display format depends on

the locale of your account. You can enter the entire Date value manually, or select it from a calendar tool.

Time Time fields are preformatted. The display format depends on

the locale of your account.

Date/Time Date/Time fields are preformatted. The display format

depends on the locale of your account. You can enter the entire Date/Time values manually, or select the date value from a calendar tool.

Timecode

Duration

Integer Integer fields require figures.

Floating-point Floating-point fields require figures and decimal points.

Boolean Boolean check boxes differentiate between “applies” and

Timecode and Duration fields are preformatted for different timecode types (PAL, NTSC). They also support pasting copied timecodes.

“does not apply.”

Display Field type Description

Legal list Drop-down lists provide the available values of a property.

When you open a property of type legal list, the input control initially shows a search box and all values of the property.

Master data Master data, for example, data records about producers,

actors, and so on, consists of multiple distinct values. These multiple values are represented by one master data value, when used for annotation. When you open a property of type master data, the input control initially shows an empty search box.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Editing Metadata

In the Metadata pane, if a property is editable, a text box, drop-down menu, or other input control is displayed. Depending on the configuration of the asset template in Interplay MAM, the metadata is grouped on a page or might be distributed on several metadata pages.

Thesaurus Thesauri are mostly used to provide larger sets of invariant

terms that can be assigned as values to a property. When you open a property of type thesaurus, the input control shows a search box and the name of the thesaurus to search in.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Note the following:

• If you are editing an Interplay MAM asset, metadata is locked to prevent other users from editing the metadata at the same time. The lock is automatically set when you begin editing a metadata field. The Lock is released when you end editing, load another asset, or close the Metadata pane.

• You can cut, copy, and paste text between the Metadata pane and other applications.

• You can use the Tab key to move to the next editable text box or use Shift+Tab to move to the previous text box.

• If you select from a drop-down list and type a letter, MediaCentral UX filters the list to all values starting with that letter. As you continue to type, MediaCentral UX continues to filter the list according to the letters you type.

To open the Metadata pane:

t Select Metadata from the Panes menu.

To view properties of an asset:

t Double-click an asset in the Assets or Search pane.

To edit single-value properties of an asset:

1. (Option) If the metadata is distributed on different metadata pages, select the desired page from the Select View menu.

2. Click in a text box and enter text.

3. To edit a legal list property, click in the field and do one of the following:

t Double-click the value or check its check box.

t Navigate down the list using the Down Arrow key until you reach the desired value and

press Enter.

t Start typing the name of the value in the search box to filter the list, select the value, and

press Enter.

4. To edit a thesaurus property, click in the field and do one of the following:

t Navigate down the thesaurus using the Down Arrow key until you reach the desired

term and press Enter.

t Start typing the name of the term in the search box to filter the list, select the term, and

press Enter.

5. To edit a master data property, click in the field, start typing the name of the value in the search box to filter the list, select the value, and press Enter.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

6. To edit a date, time, or date-time property:

t Highlight the figures you want to change and type in the new figures.

t Click the field’s Down Arrow button and select the date from the calendar that opens.

7. To edit a timecode or duration property, click in the field and do one of the following:

t Type in the figures, including “0”, from right to left.

t Highlight the timecode and press Ctrl+V to paste a copied timecode.

8. To edit an integer or float property:

t Type the figures, and if necessary, the decimal point.

t Press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key to increase or decrease the figures.

9. To edit a boolean property:

t Check the check box to set the property to “true.”

t Uncheck the check box to set the property value to “false.”

10. To save your changes, do one of the following:

t Click the Save button, or click the Pane Menu button and select Save.

t Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Macintosh).

To discard your changes, click the Refresh button, load a different asset, or close the Metadata pane.

To edit multi-value properties of an asset:

1. To add a new value to a multi-value property, click the Plus button.

A new value is added at the bottom of the list.

2. Edit the value for each individual field inside a multi-value property as you would for a single-value property.

3. Press the Tab key to move to the next property within the compound property or use Shift+Tab to move to the previous property.

4. To change the position of a value, click the drag icon to the right of the value, drag it and drop it between other values or at the beginning or end of the property’s value list.

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

5. To remove a property, click the Minus button to the right of the value.

6. Click the Save button, or click the Pane menu and select Save.

To discard your changes, click the Refresh button, load a different asset, or close the Metadata pane.

To edit compound properties of an asset:

1. To add a new row to a compound property, do one of the following:

t To add a new row below the last row, click the plus button.

t To add a new row above a row, select the row and click the Plus button.

2. Edit every field as you would for a single-value property.

3. Press the Tab key to move to the next property within the compound property or use Shift+Tab to move to the previous property.

4. To change the position of a row, click the drag icon to the left of the row, drag it and drop it between other rows or at the beginning or end of the property’s table.

5. To remove a row, select the row and click the Minus button.

6. Click the Save button, or click the Pane menu and select Save.

To discard your changes, click the Refresh button, load a different asset, or close the Metadata pane.

To update the information displayed:

t Click the Refresh button.

3 Working with Projects

The following main topics describe the Project/Story pane and how to use projects and facets in news production:

Opening Projects or Facets

•

• The Project/Story Pane

• Associating Stories with Projects or Facets

• Opening a Project or Facet Associated with a Story

Opening Projects or Facets

Using projects is a feature of the iNEWS newsroom computer system that provides a way of categorizing stories by topic so that news teams working on a particular topic can find everything related to it in a single place, without moving or copying the original source information from its current location in the iNEWS database. Facets are sub-topics, providing additional granularity to projects.

In MediaCentral UX, iNEWS projects are listed in the Launch pane. Open a project from the Launch pane to view each project’s contents in the Assets pane. You open facets and the project’s queues from the Assets pane.

To open a project:

t Double-click the project in the Launch pane.

The project’s contents open in the Assets pane.

To open a facet:

t Double-click the facet in the Assets pane.

The facet’s contents open in the Project/Story pane.

The Project/Story Pane

The contents of a project include an ALL queue, a QUERY queue, a BUCKET queue, and any sub-topics, known as facets. For example, the following illustration shows the Hurricane Earl project has facets for topics like Damage and Evacuation.

The Project/Story Pane

Every project has an ALL queue that displays in the Queue panel all stories associated with the project and its facets. Any indexed story can be associated with a project or facet.

Stories associated with a project retain their original source queue location in the iNEWS database; they do not actually reside in the ALL queue. Stories associated with a project also retain their original source permissions. For example, a user without read access to a story’s source queue will not be able to see that story in a project to which its associated, even if the user has read access to the project.

Every project has a QUERY queue, identified by the magnifying glass icon, which is the search queue that runs the project’s query. For more information on the icons used to identify projects and facets, see “Identifying iNEWS Directories, Queues, Projects, and Facets” on page 41

Every project has a BUCKET queue, which is an indexed queue that acts as the repository for stories that don’t exist anywhere else in the iNEWS database. A user can copy, create, and delete stories in the BUCKET queue. All stories in the BUCKET will show up in the ALL queue.

The BUCKET queue was first introduced in version 4.0 of iNEWS. When an iNEWS database is

upgraded to v4.0 from an earlier version, current projects get BUCKET queues; however, these queues are not yet indexed, which is required for all stories associated with projects and/or facets. For more information, see the “iNEWS Projects” chapter of the Avid iNEWS Setup and Configuration Guide.

The Project/Story Pane

The Project/Story pane functions similarly to the Queue/Story pane. It can display either a project’s facet or a news story associated with that project’s facet. It can also display both at the same time, as shown in the following illustration:

The title that appears on the pane’s tab changes based on what is selected in the Project/Story

pane.

Two buttons, Project and Story, are located at the top of the pane. Use these buttons to toggle on or off the display of the project or a story. When toggled on the buttons appear orange.

For example, while viewing a project’s contents, clicking the Story button splits the pane’s display space to show the project’s contents on the top half and the selected story associated with that project or facet on the bottom half of the pane. Clicking the Story button again hides the story and displays only the project’s facet or queue once more.

You cannot have both the Project and Story buttons toggled off simultaneously. When only one is

on and the you click that button, the system automatically toggles it off and toggles the other button on.

The name on the tab of a Project/Story pane changes based on the story you have selected in the pane. You can move the mouse pointer over the tab to view the entire path name.

Associating Stories with Projects or Facets

When only the facet or one of the project’s queues (ALL, QUERY, or BUCKET) is shown, the display is called a grid view. When only the story is shown in the pane, the display is called a story view. And when both are visible, the display is called a split view.

You can use the horizontal dividing line between the grid and story sections of the pane to adjust the ratio of the split view display within the pane. When you position your mouse pointer over the dividing line, the pointer changes to a double arrow, letting you click and drag it up or down to adjust the space allocated to each section of the pane. However, it is not recommended to use this technique to hide one section of the pane or the other.

The ratio you set is retained when you sign out.

Associating Stories with Projects or Facets

Any indexed story can be associated with a project or facet.

To associate an indexed story with a project or facet.

1. Navigate to and open the indexed queue in which the story resides.

2. Right-click the story in the Queue/Story pane and select Associate Story to Project.

3. In the dialog box, select the projects or facets to which you want the story associated.

4. Click Apply.

Opening a Project or Facet Associated with a Story

In the Project/Story pane, you can open a project that is associated with a story or facet.

To open a project associated with a story:

1. Select a story in the queue section of the Project/Story pane.

2. Click the Pane Menu button and select Projects and the project or facet you want to open.

The project opens in a new Project/Story pane.

4 Building a Script

The following main topics describe the Queue/Story pane and basic techniques of script building.

The Queue/Story Pane

•

• Creating a Story

• Segmenting Stories

• Writing Stories in Right-to-Left Languages

• Using Annotation to Dictate a Story

• Editing a Story

• Deleting or Recovering a Deleted Story

• Ordering a Queue

• Locking and Unlocking a Story

• Floating Stories

• Inserting Script Templates

• Inserting MOS Placeholders

• Adding Media to a Story

• Copying and Sending iNEWS Links

• Recovering Automatically Saved Stories

The Queue/Story Pane

In MediaCentral UX, you can create iNEWS stories, edit them in the Queue/Story pane, and save them on an iNEWS server.

The Queue/Story pane can display either an iNEWS queue, such as a show's rundown, or a story in that queue. The Queue/Story pane can also display both a queue and a story in that queue, as shown in the following illustration:

The Queue/Story Pane

1 The Queue section

2 The Story section, also called the Script Editor

The name on the tab of a Queue/Story pane changes based on the story you select in the pane. You can move the mouse pointer over the tab to view the entire path name.

When only the queue is displayed in the pane, the display is called a grid view. When only the story is shown in the pane, the display is called a story view. When both are visible, the display is called a split view.

You can use the horizontal dividing line between the queue and story sections of the pane to adjust the ratio of the split view within the pane. When you position your mouse pointer over the dividing line, the mouse pointer changes to a double arrow. You can then click and drag the dividing line up or down to adjust the space allocated to each section of the pane. However, it is not recommended to use this technique to hide one section of the pane or the other.

The Queue/Story Pane

qq qw qe qr qt qy qu qi qo q1) q1! q1@ q1# gqg

The ratio you set is retained when you sign out.

You cannot enter data in the Queue section.

If you change queue attributes in iNEWS while you are working in MediaCentral UX, you need

to sign out of MediaCentral UX and sign in again to view your changes.”

The Queue/Story Toolbar

The Queue/Story pane includes a toolbar that has buttons that toggle the display within the pane and provide functions for editing your story.

Display or Control Description

1 Queue Toggles display of the queue on or off. When toggled on the button is colored

orange.

2 Story Toggles display of the Story editor on or off. When toggled on the button is

colored orange.

You cannot have both the Queue and Story buttons simultaneously

toggled off. When only one is on and you click that button, the system automatically toggles that display off and the other display on.

3 Bold Marks text as bold. See “Editing a Story” on page 81.

4 Italic Marks text as italic.

5 Underline Marks text as underline.

6 Normal Sets text as normal. See

7 Presenter Sets text as presenter instructions.

8 Closed Caption Sets text as closed-captioning.

9 Template Inserts an iNEWS script template. See

page 90

10 Open Sequence Opens the associated sequence. Use this button to create a new script

sequence or to open one previously created. See

on page 91

“Formatting a Script” on page 82

“Inserting Script Templates” on

“Adding Media to a Story”

Display or Control Description

11 Refresh Refreshes the queue.

The Queue/Story Pane

12 Lock Locks the story. See

13 Annotation Dictate text. See “Using Annotation to Dictate a Story” on page 80.

Although the toolbar always appears at the top of the pane, even when only the queue is shown in the grid view, most of the buttons are used for editing stories, not for modifying the queue.

“Locking and Unlocking a Story” on page 88

The Script Editor

The section of the pane in which the story appears is called the Script Editor. There are three sections of the Script Editor: Story Form, Cue List, and Story. The following illustration identifies these areas.

1 Story Form 3 Story (text area)

2 Cue List 4 Timing display

At the top of every story is the Story Form, which provides story information in fields that are predetermined by the iNEWS system administrator for each queue in the database. For example, a form can contain the story’s title (slug), page number, and status. Wire queues usually show different fields than rundown queues. You can edit fields in the Story Form, depending how they are configured by the iNEWS system administrator.

The Queue/Story Pane

You can use the horizontal dividing line between the Story Form and the rest of the sections to adjust the ratio of the Script Editor display within the pane. You can also choose to hide the Story Form while still viewing the other sections of the Script Editor.

To hide the Story Form, do one of the following:

t Click the Pane Menu button located at the top right corner of the Queue/Story pane and

select Hide Story Form.

t Right-click in the Story Form and select Hide Story Form.

To show the Story Form:

t Click the Pane Menu button located at the top right corner of the Queue/Story pane and

select Show Story Form.

The Story is the section of the Script Editor in which you write your story or view the text of an existing story. As you type, your text automatically wraps to the next line when you reach the end of the current line. A scroll bar at the right side of this area appears when text extends beyond the bounds of the text area.

The timing display on the right side of the story segment header shows the duration of the text in the story segment. The duration of the text is based on the read rate that is set in Avid iNEWS. This number is useful if you create a sequence to accompany your story. See “Editing a

Sequence Associated with a Story” on page 118

The Cue List is the section of the Script Editor in which you edit production cues and machine control events, such as those for a character generator (CG). Each cue is numbered within a story, beginning with one (1). If cues are rearranged in the story, the system renumbers the cues automatically. The following illustration shows an example of a cue containing a CG event.

Creating a Story

You can create a story in MediaCentral UX or edit a story previously created in MediaCentral UX or iNEWS. For more information on how to edit existing stories, see

a Story” on page 81

When connected to an iNEWS server version 4.0 or higher, you can create a new story in a queue or a facet. When you create a story in a facet, the story will be associated with that facet and will live in a special “project bucket.”

You can add an external link to a story, such as a Web URL.

To create a new story:

1. Navigate to the row in which you want the new story to be inserted in the queue.

2. Click the Pane Menu button located at the top right corner of the Queue/Story pane.

3. Select Create Story.

The existing row is pushed down, and a new row is inserted in the queue at that location.

If you are in split view, you can begin writing your story; if not, open the new story by double-clicking on the new row.

Creating a Story

“Editing

4. Enter the name of your story in the Title field of the Story Form.

5. Enter the text of your story in the first available segment.

6. Click the Pane Menu button located at the top right corner of the Queue/Story pane.

7. Select Save Story to save your changes.

Navigating away from a story in the queue automatically saves any changes made to the story, as

does closing the tab or pane.

Saving a story does not save a sequence associated with a story. You must save the sequence in

the Sequence pane. See “Saving a Sequence” on page 113

To view an existing story:

t Select the story in the queue you want to view and click the Story button to display the story

in the bottom half of the Queue/Story pane.

To open an existing story to story view:

t Double-click a story in the queue.

t Select the story in the queue and click the Queue button.

This toggles off the display of the queue in the Queue/Story pane and displays the story within the entire pane’s space.

Segmenting Stories

You can write a story in a single segment or divide it into multiple segments. The following illustration shows a story in a single segment.

Segmenting Stories

You can use segments to time the text and integrate it with video, audio, and production cues. See “Adding Media to a Story” on page 91. Multiple timed segments are combined to form the overall story. The following illustration shows the same story as the one in the previous example, but written as a segmented story.

Writing Stories in Right-to-Left Languages

You can add or delete segments, split a segment in two, and rearrange segments within a story.

To add a segment to a story:

t Click in the segment marked NEW located at the bottom of the story and begin typing. See

the previous illustration for an example.

To split a segment in two:

1. Position the cursor in the story where you want to split the text into two segments.

2. Do one of the following:

t Right-click and select Split Segment.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Split Segment.

t Press Ctrl+] (Windows) or Command+] (Macintosh).

To rearrange segments in a story:

t Click the header bar of the segment you want to move and drag it up or down into its new

location.

When you rearrange segments, any production cues or machine control events in those segments

are also moved and renumbered as needed.

To delete a segment and the text in the segment:

1. Select the segment.

2. Click the Pane Menu button located at the top right corner of the Queue/Story pane.

3. Select Delete Segment.

Deleting the segment also deletes the text in the segment.

Writing Stories in Right-to-Left Languages

The script editor lets you write stories in right-to-left languages (for example, Arabic and Hebrew). Alignment of the text changes based on the following rules:

• Automatic switching to right-to-left alignment:

- Story segments switch to right-to-left if more than 50 percent of the text consists of

right-to-left characters. To apply the new alignment to a segment, reload the story.

- Production cues switch to right-to-left if more than 50 percent of the text in the

production cue body consists of right-to-left characters.

Using Annotation to Dictate a Story

- Queue grid cells switch to right-to-left and right-aligned if the first character in the cell

is a right-to-left character. If the cell is center-aligned by default, it will remain center-aligned regardless of cell content.

• Manual switching

- If focus is in any segment, alignment of all segments will be switched. Reloading the

story will return the segment alignment to the default.

- If focus is in the production cue body, only the current cue body alignment will be

switched. Reopening the production cue returns cue body alignment to the default.

- If focus is in a story form field, only the current story form field alignment will be

switched. Reloading the same story form keeps the current field alignment. Reloading a different story form returns the field to the default.

To manually switch alignment of the segment that has focus, do one of the following:

t Press Ctrl+Shift.

t Select “Switch to RTL” from the Queue/Story Pane menu. If the story is RTL, select “Switch

to LTR.”

t Right-click and select “Switch to RTL.” If the story is RTL, select “Switch to LTR.”

Using Annotation to Dictate a Story

The Annotation feature allows users to dictate their stories, using the Chrome browser's Speech-to-Text technology.

This feature requires a connection to the Internet, and it is only available on Windows-based

computers with Google Chrome, not Apple computers with the Safari browser.

To use the Annotation feature to write stories:

1. Open a blank story and place your cursor in a segment.

2. Click the Annotate button.

A speech bubble appears below the button, instructing you to begin speaking. The speech bubble also displays an audio level bar and a Cancel button.

3. Speak clearly.

If you want sentence punctuation in your text, you can type it in later, or you can say what punctuation is needed as you speak. For example, if you want the text to be

Jane Doe.

punctuates contractions for you.

For best results, conduct your dictation in a location without much background noise. When you finish talking, the system transfers your speech into text starting at your cursor position.

A pause in your speech can stop the annotation. To continue, click to position your cursor and

click the Annotate button.

4. After your text is displayed in the Script Editor, you can edit the text as needed.

, then you would need to say, “Hello comma I’m Jane Doe period.” The system

Editing a Story

When you modify a story, changes you make in MediaCentral UX are automatically updated in the iNEWS newsroom computer system. The reverse is also true: changes made to a story at an iNEWS workstation are automatically updated if you open the story in MediaCentral UX.

The standard editing features found in MediaCentral UX are the same as those for most word processing software applications. You can cut, copy, or paste text as you work on a story. When cutting or copying text, the system stores the text in a temporary storage spot known as a clipboard; only one block of text can be stored at a time, so whenever you cut or copy something new, it replaces whatever was previously stored on the clipboard.

Editing a Story

Hello, I’m

You can use cut, copy, and paste to move text within a single story or from one story to another.

Production cues cannot be copied and pasted from one story to another.

You can also change text to a bold or italicized font, and underline selected text within a story, using keystroke combinations or the toolbar buttons circled in red in the following illustration.

To cut text:

t Select the text and press Ctrl+X (Windows) or Command+X (Macintosh).

To co py text :

t Select the text and press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Macintosh).

To paste text:

t Select the text and press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Macintosh).

To immediately undo the previous editing change, press Ctrl+Z. On a Macintosh, press

Command+Z.

To undo the previous edit, do one of the following:

t Press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Macintosh).

t Right-click and select Undo.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Undo.

To redo the previous edit, do one of the following:

t Press Ctrl+Y (Windows) or Command+Y (Macintosh).

t Right-click and select Redo.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Undo.

To set text to bold, do one of the following:

t Select the text and click the B button.

t Select the text and press Ctrl+B (Windows) or Command+B (Macintosh).

Editing a Story

To italicize text, do one of the following:

t Select the text and click the I button.

t Select the text and press Ctrl+I (Windows) or Command+I (Macintosh).

To underline text, do one of the following:

t Select the text and click the U button.

t Select the text and press Ctrl+U (Windows) or Command+U (Macintosh).

Formatting a Script

When you write a story, the text appears in the normal, the default text style. When you format a story as a script for a news broadcast, you might need to mark certain text, such as instructions for presenters or closed captioning.

Presenter instructions are most often used as brief instructions to news presenters (also called news anchors). The text for presenter instructions appears red in the script, in reverse video on the teleprompter, and is not included in the text used by the system to calculate the read time.

Closed captioning is most often used for “sound-bite verbatims.” The text for closed captioning appears green in the script and is sent to a closed caption encoder if your station uses such a device to broadcast scripts for the hearing-impaired. Closed captioning text does not appear in the teleprompter, and it is not included in the calculations of a script’s read time.

The default normal text style is sent to both the teleprompter and to any closed caption encoder

used at the station.

The following procedures use the toolbar buttons circled in red in the following illustration.

To mark text as a normal text:

t Select the text and click the N button or press Ctrl+Alt+N (Windows).

To mark text as a presenter instruction:

t Select the text and click the P button or press Ctrl+Alt+P (Windows).

To mark text as a closed captioning text:

Editing a Story

t Select the text and click the CC button or press Ctrl+Alt+C (Windows).

You can click the N, P, or CC buttons before typing your text as well. Any new text you type will

appear in the format you selected. To change the format of the text you type at any time, select another format.

Adding Production Cues

When you format a story as a script for a news broadcast, you might need to add production cues. Production cues provide important information to technical staff as well as machine control commands for devices, such as character generators.

Production cues are added to scripts from the Story area and edited in the Cue List area of the Script Editor. Each production cue you add is given a numerical value. This number appears in a black box as a production cue marker in the script, which corresponds to the insertion location of that production cue’s text box in the Cue List.

Editing a Story

When selected, the production cue marker is colored orange, and the information in the production cue is visible in the Cue List.

You can copy one or more production cues from one story to another.

To insert a production cue in a script:

1. Position your cursor in the story where you want to insert the production cue marker.

2. Do one of the following:

t Right-click and select Insert Production Cue.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Insert Production Cue.

t Press Alt+Insert (Windows).

3. Enter the production cue information, such as Take VO, On Camera, Take SOT, or Take Live. The information is automatically saved when you click someplace else in the story.

To move a production cue in a script:

t Click the production cue’s marker and drag it to another location within the script.

When production cues are rearranged in a script, the system automatically renumbers them,

beginning with one (1). The same renumbering occurs if new production cues are added or existing ones are deleted.

To delete a production cue from a script:

t Select the production cue and press the Delete key.

To copy one or more production cues to another story:

1. Open two stories.

2. Click and hold the mouse and select the production cue or cues, or text that includes the production cues.

3. Press Ctrl+C.

4. Position the insert cursor where you want to insert the production cue or cues.

5. Press Ctrl+V.

If necessary, the production cues are renumbered to fit sequentially into the target story.

You can also drag and drop the production cues from one story to another.

Adding Machine Control Instructions

If your station integrates with a broadcast control system, such as iNEWS Command, the production cues might include machine control instructions.

These instructions must be preceded by an asterisk (*) and written in a special format, beginning with a command for the type of device the instruction is for, such as CG for a character generator. After the command the format specifies a particular item or template, such as 2line for a template that contains two lines for fulfillment data. If additional comments or information is required it would follow on succeeding lines in the same production cue text box.

Editing a Story

In the following procedure, a machine control instruction for a 2-line character generator graphic is used as an example.

To add machine control instructions for a CG event:

1. Insert a production cue in the script.

2. In the production cue text box (in the Cue List), type *CG 2line and press Enter.

3. Type the first line of text that should appear on the 2-line CG graphic, such as Mayor Joe Smith. Press Enter.

4. Type the second line of text that should appear on the 2-line CG graphic, such as Pleasantville.

Your CG machine control instruction will appear in blue font.

Adding a Primary Machine Control Instruction

The machine control event associated with the Story Form, by default, takes precedence over other machine control commands put into a script, when the event list is generated by the iNEWS monitor server. If you want the machine control event associated with the Story Form to appear in a position other than first in the event list, you can insert a placeholder in the Story. The system then inserts the Story Form machine control event at that location in the event list. You can insert one primary machine control instruction cue. Only one is allowed in any given story.

Like other machine control instructions, the instructions you type must be preceded by an asterisk (*) and written in a special format, beginning with a command for the type of device the instruction is for, such as CG for a character generator.

To insert a primary production cue:

1. Position your cursor in the story where you want to insert the production cue marker.

2. Do one of the following:

t Right-click and select Insert Primary Cue.

t Click the Pane Menu button and select Insert Primary Cue.

A production cue labeled *Primary is created.

Deleting or Recovering a Deleted Story

When an iNEWS story is deleted, it is sent to a folder labeled Dead (the Dead queue), from which an administrator can retrieve it for a limited amount of time. This time frame is pre-determined based on a purge interval set for that queue by each site’s system administrator.

To delete a story:

1. Select the story.

2. Click the Pane Menu button located at the top right corner of the Queue/Story pane.

3. Select Delete Story.

Ordering a Queue

As the stories in a rundown queue develop, the order in which they are presented in the newscast can change. Only individuals with the proper permissions to order queues (usually a member of the production staff) can do so.

Copying Stories

Users with ordering privileges can select and move stories to change their sequence within a queue. You can select one or multiple stories, and you can reorder the rundown by dragging the stories to a new position and dropping them in the new location. An ordered queue can also be locked to prevent changes to the story sequence.

You can also hold the Ctrl key down as you drag a story to copy it from one location to another or from one queue to another. For more information, see “Copying Stories” on page 87

To order a queue:

1. Open the queue you want to order.

For more information, see

2. Select the story you want to order. Ctrl+click to select multiple stories, or Shift+click to select a range of stories.

3. With the stories selected, drag the stories and drop them at the new location.

A line indicator shows the intended new order, and the repositioned stories appear in their new place within the queue when you release the mouse pointer.

“Navigating the iNEWS Database” on page 43.

Copying Stories

You can copy stories from one location in a queue to another or from one queue to a second queue, including different queues within an iNEWS Community configuration. If you run a search of iNEWS stories, you can copy stories from the search results to an open queue.

To copy a story from one location to another, do one of the following:

t Select the story you want to copy and press the Ctrl key as you drag it to another location in

the queue.

t Open two queues in separate tabs, then select the story you want to copy from the first queue

and press the Ctrl key as you drag it to the second tab and another location in the second queue.

A copied story appears in the new place in the queue or in a new queue.

t Select a story from the search results in the Search pane, and press the Ctrl key as you drag it

to another location in an open queue.

Locking and Unlocking a Story

The iNEWS newsroom computer system has multiple types of locks, such as edit locks, segmented edit locks, easy locks and key locks. Locking a story makes it impossible for another unauthorized person to change a story while you are working in it. If a story is edit locked by another user, you can still navigate to that story and view it, but a warning message appears if you attempt to edit the story. The warning message states:

Story is currently locked by another user.

Segmented edit locking allows for one user to change Story Form data while another user has a lock on the story’s text and cue list. This is beneficial for producers who might need to make modifications in the Story Form section of the Script Editor while a reporter is still working on the body of the story itself.

Locking and Unlocking a Story

Unable to obtain edit lock.

Easy locks and key locks can only be applied to a story from an iNEWS workstation, but the security measures are honored within MediaCentral UX. With easy lock, an iNEWS user locks the story to his or her user name, so that only that user or an iNEWS system administrator can access it. If any other user attempts to open an easy-locked story from MediaCentral UX, they will be denied viewing or editing access to the story. Likewise, an iNEWS user key locks a story by applying a password so that only those who know the password can view or edit the story. If a MediaCentral UX user attempts to open a key-locked story, the system will prompt that user for the password.

System administrators cannot supersede the edit lock of another user from MediaCentral UX. However, neither the easy locking feature nor the key locking feature apply to iNEWS system administrators. They can access any easy- or key-locked story in the iNEWS database at any time.

To lock a story, do one of the following:

t Begin typing in the body of the story. An edit lock is automatically applied to the story body.

t Click the Lock/Unlock button in the toolbar. An edit lock is manually applied to the story

body.

When you have a story locked, the Lock/Unlock button is colored orange.

To lock the Story Form, do the following:

t Begin typing in any field in the Story Form of a story. The segmented edit lock is

automatically applied.

To unlock a story, do one of the following:

t Navigate to another story in the queue. The story you edited is automatically saved and

unlocked.

t Click the Lock/Unlock button.

If you click the Unlock button, a confirmation dialog box appears stating the following:

Story has been modified. Do you want to save it before unlocking?

Choose Yes to save it and then unlock the story, No to unlock the story without saving modifications, or Cancel to return to the story with the edit lock still in place.

Navigating between the Story Form section of the Script Editor to the Story or Cue List sections releases any segmented edit lock you have on the Story Form. The reverse does the same for any edit lock you might have on the story body. All changes you made while having either lock are saved by the system before the locks are released.

Floating Stories

When you are unsure where in a rundown you want to place a story or whether you want to keep it in the rundown at all, you can float the story. Floating a story keeps it in the queue but removes the story’s time from the show timing, causing it to be ignored by machine control and the network prompters.

To float a story:

1. Open the queue containing the story with which you want to work.

For more information, see

2. Click a story to select it. Ctrl+click to select multiple stories, or Shift+click to select a range of stories.

3. Do one of the following:

t Click the Float button in the toolbar.

t Right+click and select Float.

t Press Alt+F.

t Click the Pane menu and select Float.

“Navigating the iNEWS Database” on page 43.

The story you chose is now floating, or removed from the show’s timing. The Float button is highlighted, and the floated story displays blue text in the queue.

4. To add the story time back to the rundown, click the Float button again or right+click and select Unfloat.

Inserting Script Templates

Script templates are templates created by an administrator for you to use to quickly insert predefined text and segments into stories. For example, if a daily weather story in a show has a standard set of production cues and presenter instructions that are always the same, an administrator can create a script template that contains this information. The template can then be made available to MediaCentral UX users to insert within new stories they write for subsequent shows.

Inserting Script Templates

Script templates are inserted at the current cursor position of an opened story.

To insert a script template:

1. Position your cursor in the story body where you want to insert the template information.

2. Do one of the following:

t Click the Template button in the toolbar.

t Right-click and select Insert Script Template.

t Press Ctrl+Shift+I.

3. Select the template you want to use from the list by double-clicking on it.

If you already know the name of the template you want, you can also type it in the Search field

and press Enter.

Inserting MOS Placeholders

You can create a placeholder item for a third-party MOS device in an iNEWS story, in either the story form or as a story’s production cue. To add it to the story form, the story form must be capable of including MOS information.

The iNEWS server must be running iNEWS v4.0.3 or later.

To insert a MOS object placeholder:

1. Position your cursor in one of the following places:

- In a segment in the Story editor.

- In any field in the Story form.

2. Click the Pane Menu button and select Insert Placeholder.

The Create MOS Object Placeholder dialog box opens.

3. Select a device name and enter a title. Optionally, enter a description.

4. Press OK.

The new MOS object placeholder appears as a production cue in the Story editor and the Cue List, or in the MOS-Title field.

Inserting MOS Placeholders

The MOS device user can later update the placeholder with a real ID and object by turning on or loading the monitor server. The MOS Gateway will then return data back to iNEWS and MediaCentral UX in the production cue.

Adding Media to a Story

If you want to add media to your story, you need to create a video sequence that is associated with the story. To create a sequence, click the Open Sequence button in the Queue/Story pane toolbar. You also use this button to open a sequence that you already associated with a story. You then edit the sequence in the Sequence pane. For more information, see

Pane” on page 95

You can set an option to automatically load a sequence associated with a story. Select Home > User Settings > iNEWS > Autoload Sequence.

The following illustration shows the Open Sequence button and a sequence that is associated with a story.

and “Editing a Sequence Associated with a Story” on page 118.

“Using the Sequence

Copying and Sending iNEWS Links

Saving a story does not save a sequence associated with a story. You must save the sequence in

the Sequence pane. See “Saving a Sequence” on page 113

Copying and Sending iNEWS Links

You can copy and send links to stories, queues, iNEWS folders, iNEWS facets, and iNEWS projects. These links are in URL format and can be shared through e-mail, wikis, documents, or chat messages. The links are valid as long as the item exists in the iNEWS database.

When you click an iNEWS link or paste it into the address bar of a supported browser, MediaCentral UX opens with the correct layout and asset selection. If you are not signed in, the sign-in screen is displayed. After signing in, the link target is displayed.

You can select Copy Link or Copy Container Link. Copy Link creates a link to the selected item, and Copy Container Link creates a link to the item that holds the selected item.

To create a URL for an iNEWS link from the Asset pane, do one of the following:

t In an iNEWS list, right-click an item and select Copy Link.

t In an iNEWS list, select an item, click the Pane Menu button, and select Copy Link or Copy

Container Link.

Recovering Automatically Saved Stories

To create a URL for an iNEWS link from the Queue/Story pane or the Project/Story pane, do one of the following:

t Right-click an item and select Copy Link.

t Select an item, click the Pane Menu button, and select Copy Link or Copy Container Link.

To create a URL for an iNEWS project link from the Launch pane, do one of the following:

t Right-click an item and select Copy Link.

t Select an item, click the Pane Menu button, and select Copy Link.

In all cases, a popup dialog box opens with a URL that is already selected for copying. Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Macintosh) to copy the link, then use Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Macintosh) to paste the link.

Recovering Automatically Saved Stories

When you work in MediaCentral UX, sequences and stories are automatically saved on your local Windows or Macintosh system every 60 seconds. This auto-save feature is helpful in case of a disconnection or service failure, or if you close a browser session without saving your work. This feature is also helpful if your administrator sets an automatic session timeout.

You can recover your unsaved changes in several different ways:

• If a disconnection or failure occurs and you remain signed in, the editing functions of the Queue/Story pane are deactivated, and the Auto Recovery dialog box is displayed, as described below.

• If the disconnection or failure results in the need to sign in again, a dialog box is displayed that lists assets with unsaved changes.

Recovering Automatically Saved Stories

Click the name of the asset to open the last saved version. If the asset is a story, the Queue/Story pane displays three additional buttons:

- Recovered: Click this button to open the recovery file (from the local system).

- Last Saved: Click this button to open the last saved file (from the Interplay Production

database).

- Keep This: Click this button to save the version that you display and delete the other

version.

If the story includes a script sequence, and the Sequence pane is open, these buttons are displayed on the Sequence pane.

You can switch back and forth between versions to compare them, and click the Keep This button when you decide which version to keep.

• If you close the Auto Recovery dialog box without selecting an asset, you can select Auto-Recovered Assets from the Queue/Story pane menu to display the Auto Recovery dialog. This option appears only if auto-recovered assets are available.

This feature works similarly for stories and sequences. For specific information about auto-save

for sequences, see “Recovering Automatically Saved Sequences” on page 114.

If your browser crashes, but the MediaCentral UX session and iNEWS session are still active,

iNEWS stories are locked for five minutes. You will not be able to edit or restore the story unless the lock is released or the MediaCentral UX and iNEWS sessions end. You can ask your MediaCentral UX administrator to end the MediaCentral UX session, which will release the lock.

5 Using the Sequence Pane

The following main topics describe the Sequence pane and how to use it:

Displaying the Sequence Pane

•

• The Sequence Pane

• Understanding Basic and Advanced Sequences

• Selecting a Horizontal or Vertical Timeline

• Using the Sequence Zoom Bar

• Viewing Sequence Information

• Creating a Sequence

• Saving a Sequence

• Saving a Version of a Sequence

• Recovering Automatically Saved Sequences

• Opening and Editing an Existing Sequence in the Sequence Pane

• Opening a Sequence Associated with a Story

• Editing a Sequence Associated with a Story

• Editing a Sequence

Displaying the Sequence Pane

The Sequence pane is displayed in the default Cut, Log, and Story layouts. It is displayed with a horizontal timeline in the Cut and Log layouts, and with a vertical timeline in the Story layout. You can change the orientation if you prefer (see

on page 101

To display the Sequence pane:

t Select Panes > Sequence.

The Sequence pane opens in the mode and orientation in which it was set when you signed out of the application.

“Selecting a Horizontal or Vertical Timeline”

The Sequence Pane

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The Sequence pane includes the Sequence Timeline and controls that let you edit a sequence. You can work with one of two Sequence Timelines: basic or advanced. See

Basic and Advanced Sequences” on page 99

You can display the Sequence pane with a vertical timeline or a horizontal timeline.

The following illustration shows the two timelines and two orientations and identifies the controls.

The Sequence Pane

“Understanding

Left: Vertical timeline for an advanced sequence. Right: Horizontal timeline for a basic sequence.

Control Description

1 Sequence Pane tab Move the mouse pointer over the tab to display

2 Add Video Dissolve button Adds a video dissolve (advanced sequence only).

3 Split button Divides one or more segments into two at the

information about the sequence. See

Sequence Information” on page 104

“Inserting Video Dissolves (Advanced

See

Sequences Only)” on page 158

position indicator. See

page 156

“Splitting a Segment” on

“Viewing

The Sequence Pane

Control Description

4 Overwrite button Performs an overwrite edit. See “Performing an

Overwrite Edit in a Basic Sequence” on page 134

“Performing an Overwrite Edit in an Advanced

and

Sequence” on page 136

5 Replace button Performs a replace edit. See

Edit” on page 140

“Performing a Replace

6 Delete Segment button Deletes the selected segment from the sequence.

“Moving or Deleting Segments in the Timeline”

See

on page 146

7 Audio pane button Opens the Audio pane or brings it to the front.

8 Save button Saves the sequence in the Interplay Production or

Interplay MAM database. See

on page 113

“Saving a Sequence”

9 Extend/Retract button (Script sequence only) Extends a segment beyond

the boundary of a timing block or retracts it. See

“Extending a Segment into Another Timing Block” on page 125

10 Show/Hide Empty Timing Blocks (Script sequence only) Shows or hides empty timing

blocks. See

Blocks” on page 127

“Showing and Hiding Empty Timing

11 Sequence zoom bar Lets you enlarge a section of the timeline. Displays

segments, tracks, and other sequence information.

“Using the Sequence Zoom Bar” on page 102.

See

12 Track selectors Lets you select the track for an insert edit, an

overwrite edit, or a split segment operation (advanced sequence only). See

“Performing an Insert Edit in an Advanced

•

Sequence” on page 132

• “Performing an Overwrite Edit in an Advanced

Sequence” on page 136

• “Splitting a Segment” on page 156

13 Timecode bar Displays timing for the sequence in hours, minutes,

and seconds, depending on the length of the loaded asset. Click in the timecode bar to drag the position indicator, Right-click in the timecode bar to access certain commands.

The Sequence Pane

Control Description

14 Timing block header (Script sequence only) Displays the duration of the

media currently contained in the timing block and the duration of the text in the associated story segment. See “Working with Timing Displays” on

page 121

15 Pane Menu button Provides options for working with sequences.

16 Position indicator Lets you scrub through a clip or sequence.

17 Lock button Lets you manually lock a sequence to prevent other

users from editing the same sequence. See

“Locking

a Basic Sequence (Interplay | MAM)” on page 130

The following table describes the items in the Pane menu.

Menu Item Description

Undo Undoes the previous edit. See “Undoing and

Redoing an Action in the Sequence Pane” on page 145

Redo Redoes the next previously undone edit.

Save As Lets you rename and save a sequence in a different

location. See

page 114

“Saving a Version of a Sequence” on

Save Sequence Saves the sequence in its current location in the

Interplay Production or Interplay MAM database.

“Saving a Sequence” on page 113.

See

Insert Dissolve Inserts a video dissolve (advanced sequence only).

“Inserting Video Dissolves (Advanced

See

Sequences Only)” on page 158

Split Divides one or more segments into two at the

position indicator. See

page 156

“Splitting a Segment” on

Delete Deletes the selected item (segment or effect).

Modify Start Timecode See

“Modifying the Start Timecode” on page 161.

Hide/Show Empty Timing Blocks (Script segment only) Shows or hides empty timing

blocks. See

Blocks” on page 127

“Showing and Hiding Empty Timing

Understanding Basic and Advanced Sequences

Menu Item Description

Sequence Mixdown Sends a sequence to mixdown. See “Transcoding

Assets” on page 196

Audio Scrubbing Enables or disables audio scrubbing. A check mark

shows that audio scrubbing is enabled. See

“Enabling Audio Scrubbing” on page 160.

Orientation Lets you select the orientation of the timeline and

toolbar: horizontal or vertical. See

Horizontal or Vertical Timeline” on page 101

Help Opens a Help topic that describes the Sequence

pane and its functions.

The Sequence pane does not include commands to create a new sequence.

You cannot add clips to the timeline until you have created or loaded a sequence. See “Creating a

Sequence” on page 106

“Selecting a

Understanding Basic and Advanced Sequences

When you create a sequence from the Assets pane, you can choose whether to create a basic sequence or an advanced sequence. Interplay Production supports basic sequences and advanced sequences. Interplay MAM supports only basic sequences.

•A basic sequence includes a timeline with one video track and one audio track. The single audio track represents all source audio tracks. A portion of media that is contained on a track in a sequence is called a segment. The following illustration shows a basic sequence with one video segment and one audio segment.

Understanding Basic and Advanced Sequences

A basic sequence consists of cuts only. It is sometimes referred to as a shotlist or a cut list, or, in an Interplay MAM context, as an EDL (Edit Decision List). You cannot add video dissolves or audio dissolves to a basic sequence.

All source audio tracks in the clips that compose a sequence are monitored in a single audio meter. You can select which channels are monitored. See “Audio Monitoring for Assets and

Basic Sequences” on page 206

- Interplay MAM supports audio-only basic sequences, which contain one audio track but

no video track (see

“Audio-Only Basic Sequences (Interplay | MAM)” on page 112). It

does not support video-only basic sequences.

- Interplay Production does not support audio-only or video-only basic sequences.

•An advanced sequence includes a timeline with one video track. By default it includes three audio tracks, named NAT (natural sound), SOT (sound on tape), and VO (voice-over) for use with iNEWS stories. You can create a sequence that is associated with an iNEWS story, or you can create and edit an independent sequence.

Different colors for segments in the timeline indicate relationships between the segments:

- Video without associated audio: dark blue

- Video with associated NAT, or NAT only: green

- Video with associated SOT, Video with associated NAT and SOT, or SOT only: light

blue

-VO: purple

The following illustration shows, from left to right, Video with NAT and SOT, VO, Video with NAT, and Video only.

100

Pinnacle Systems MediaCentral - 2.1 User’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

Avid Training Services

1 Getting Started

About MediaCentral | UX

Signing In to MediaCentral | UX

Understanding the Application Layouts

Working with Layouts

Working with Areas and Panes

The Menu Bar

The Launch Pane

Using Plug-ins and MOS Integration

Support for iNEWS Communities

Viewing MediaCentral | UX Help

2 Working with Assets

The Assets Pane

Navigating in the Assets Pane

Working with News Assets

Identifying iNEWS Directories, Queues, Projects, and Facets

Navigating the iNEWS Database

Working with Interplay | Production Assets

Identifying Interplay | Production Systems and Media Assets

Navigating the Interplay | Production Database

Adding or Removing Property Columns

Resizing Columns

Moving Columns

Moving or Copying Assets

Renaming Assets

Creating a New Folder

Displaying or Hiding Referenced Assets

Viewing and Editing Interplay | Production Metadata

Viewing Thumbnails

Working with Interplay | MAM Assets

Navigating the Interplay | MAM Workspace

Identifying Interplay | MAM Media Assets

Creating a New Folder

Renaming a Folder

Moving a Folder

Deleting a Folder

Adding Assets to a Folder

Triggering the Rights Evaluation for a Basic Sequence

Selecting Assets

Moving or Copying Assets

Renaming Asset References

Removing Asset References

Viewing and Editing Interplay | MAM Metadata

3 Working with Projects

Opening Projects or Facets

The Project/Story Pane

Associating Stories with Projects or Facets

Opening a Project or Facet Associated with a Story

4 Building a Script

The Queue/Story Pane

The Queue/Story Toolbar

The Script Editor

Creating a Story

Segmenting Stories

Writing Stories in Right-to-Left Languages

Using Annotation to Dictate a Story

Editing a Story

Formatting a Script

Adding Production Cues

Adding Machine Control Instructions

Adding a Primary Machine Control Instruction

Deleting or Recovering a Deleted Story

Ordering a Queue

Copying Stories

Locking and Unlocking a Story

Floating Stories

Inserting Script Templates

Inserting MOS Placeholders

Adding Media to a Story

Copying and Sending iNEWS Links

Recovering Automatically Saved Stories