Pinnacle Systems Media Composer - 8.0 User’s Guide

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Avid® Media Composer

User’s Guide

Release 8.0

for the Macintosh® Operating System

tools for storytellers™

Avid Media Composer User’s Guide • Part 0130-04015-01 Rev. A • May 1999

Chapter 1 Desktop Basics

About the Media Composer Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Managing Avid Project and Avid User Folders

About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders Changing Project and User Names

Deleting Projects and User Profiles Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder Starting the

Chapter 2 Starting a Work Session

Opening a Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Identifying a User

Selecting a Project

Opening the Project

Closing a Project Backing Up Your Project Information

Saving Yo ur Project Information

Restoring from a Backup Ending a Work Session

Quitting the Avid Application

Media Composer Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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Setting Up a New User Selecting an Existing User

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Creating a New Project Selecting an Existing Project Nesting Projects in Folders

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Turning Off Your Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives

Ejecting Drives

Mounting All Drives Using Context Menus Using Help

Opening and Closing the Help System

Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes

Getting Help for Screen Objects

Finding Information with the Help Topics Dialog Box

How Help Windows Work

Using Buttons in a Help Topic

Printing Help Topics

Copying from a Help Topic

Changing the Font Size of Help Topics

Transferring Help to Another Macintosh System Session Check List

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Using the Contents Tab Using the Index Tab Using the Find Tab

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Chapter 3 Working with the Project Window

Opening and Closing the Project Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Using the Bins Display

Displaying Bins

Creating a Folder in a Project

Creating a New Bin

Renaming a Bin

Opening and Closing a Bin

Opening Selected Bins Opening Bins from Other Projects Closing a Bin

Deleting a Bin or Folder

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

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Viewing Contents in the Trash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Emptying the Trash in the Bins List

Managing Folders and Bins

Saving Bins Automatically

Saving Bins Manually Using the Settings Display

About Settings

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Defining Settings

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Reviewing Basic Settings

Bin Settings General Settings Interface Settings

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Displaying Project Settings

Working with Settings

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Selecting Another User Modifying Settings

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W orking with Multiple Settings Duplicating Settings Naming Settings

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Selecting Among Multiple Settings Deleting Settings

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Restoring Default Settings Copying Settings Between Settings Files Using Site Settings

Using the Info Display

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Displaying a Project Profile

Displaying Usage Information

File Structure and Layout

Importing the Statistics File into a Spreadsheet Displaying Disk Space Statistics Viewing Memory

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Accessing the Hardware Tool

Customizing Your Workspace

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Creating a New Workspace Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Linking User Settings and Workspaces Switching Between Workspaces Deleting a Workspace Assigning a Workspace Button

Chapter 4 Using Basic Tools

Using the Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using the Deck Controller Using the Command Palette

About Button Mapping Mapping User-Selectable Buttons Using the Blank Button Mapping Menu Commands Activating Commands from the Command Palette

Using the Avid Calculator Using the Console

Displaying System Information Reviewing a Log of Errors Getting Information with the Console

Using the Hardware Tool Using the Serial Ports Tool

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Chapter 5 Logging

Logging Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Logging Preroll Logging Timecode Naming Tapes Double-Checking the Logs Adding a Memory Mark

Preparing Logs for Import

Transferring Bins from MediaLog for Macintosh Converting Logs with Avid Log Exchange

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Drag-and-Drop Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Creating Avid Logs

Importing Shot Log Files Logging Directly into a Bin

Logging with an Avid-Controlled Deck Logging with Non-Avid-Controlled Decks

Modifying Clip Information Before Digitizing

Using the Modify Command

Modify Command Options

Exporting Shot Log Files

Chapter 6 Preparing to Digitize

Preparing the Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Selecting Settings

Deck Configuration Settings Deck Settings Options Deleting Deck Configurations Setting Deck Preferences

Entering Capture Mode Setting Up the Compression Tool

About the Color Rate Option

Setting Up the Digitize Tool

Selecting a Deck Selecting a Tape Selecting Source Tracks Choosing a Resolution in the Digitize Tool Choosing a Target Bin Selecting the Target Drives

Targeting a Single Drive

Targeting Separate Drives for Audio and Video Interpreting the Time-Remaining Display Selecting a Custom Preroll Digitizing to Multiple Media Files

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Digitizing Across Timecode Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

General Digitize Settings Options

Preparing for Audio Input

Choosing the Audio File Format Establishing Sync for Audio-Only Input

Checking for a Valid Digital Sync Signal Adjusting Audio Settings Using the Audio Tool

Resizing the Audio Tool

Adjusting the Reference Level

Choosing a Peak Hold Option

Adjusting Audio Input Levels

Creating Tone Media Using the Console to Check Audio Levels

Preparing for Video Input

Using the Factory Presets About Video Input Calibration

Before You Begin

Calibrating Video Input Saving Settings Saving a Custom Default Setting for the Video Input Tool Adjusting Video Levels by Eye

Digitize Preparations Check List

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Chapter 7 Digitizing

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Special Digitizing Procedures

Logging Errors to the Console Creating Subclips On-the-Fly Adding Locators On-the-Fly Adding Clip Names and Comments On-the-Fly

Digitizing and Logging at the Same Time

Digitizing from a Mark IN to a Mark OUT

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Setting Both Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Setting Only One Mark Digitizing On-the-Fly Autodigitizing Digitizing from a Non-Avid-Controlled Deck Digitizing with Time-of-Day Timecode

Digitizing to the Timeline Batch Digitizing from Logged Clips

Preparing to Batch Digitize

Resizing the Digitize Tool

Preparing Settings for Unattended Batch Digitizing Batch Digitizing Clips Batch Digitize Settings Options

Redigitizing Your Material

Redigitizing Master Clips and Subclips Redigitizing Sequences

Saving Two Versions of a Sequence When

Redigitizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Using Decompose When Redigitizing

Redigitizing the Sequence Without Using Decompose

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Chapter 8 Importing Files

Preparing to Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Working with Mixed-Resolution Projects Creating and Using Import Settings

Import Settings Options

Importing Files Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Import Files Reimporting Files

About Reimporting Matte-Key Effects Batch Import Dialog Box Using Decompose When Reimporting Starting the Reimport Process

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Chapter 9 Organizing with Bins

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Using Audio T imecod e Adjusting Pan Defaults

Adjusting Default Pan Settings

Using the Center Pan Command Setting the Bin Display

About Bin Display Views

Bin Fast Menu

Basic Bin Procedures

Setting the Bin Font Selecting Clips and Sequences Duplicating Clips and Sequences Moving Clips and Sequences Copying Clips and Sequences Deleting Clips and Sequences Assigning Colors to Bin Objects

Adding a Color Column to a Bin

Assigning a Source Color

Assigning a Custom Source Color

Limiting Color Choices Sifting Clips and Sequences

Sifting Timecodes or Keycode Ranges

Sifting Within a Rang e Locking Items in the Bin Selecting Offline Items in a Bin Selecting Media Relatives for an Object Selecting Sources Used by an Object Selecting Unreferenced Clips

Using Text View

About Bin Views

Customizing Bin Views in Text View

Arranging Bin Columns

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Saving a Custom Bin View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Managing Clip Information in Text View

Moving Within Column Cells

Modifying Clip Information

Copying Information Between Columns

Copying Information from Another Cell in a

Custom Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Sorting Clips Bin Column Headings

Using Frame View

Changing the Bin Background Color Enlarging or Reducing Frame Size Rearranging Frames Changing the Frame Identifying the Clip Arranging Frames in a Bin

Using Script View

Adding Text in Script View Rearranging Clips in Script View

Printing Bins Gathering Format Elements

Preparing Digital Bars and Tone Importing Color Bars and Other Test Patterns Creating Leader

Storyboard Worksheet

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Creating Video Leader

Creating Audio Leader

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Chapter 10 Managing Media Files

Using the Media Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Basic Media Tool Features Opening the Media Tool Deleting Media Files with the Media Tool

Freeing Storage Space

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Consolidating Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

About the Consolidate Feature Using the Consolidate Command Loading the Media Database

Backing Up Media Files Finding a Related Media File Relinking Media Files

Relinking to Selected Clips Relinking Consolidated Clips Relinking Moved Projects

Unlinking Media Files

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Chapter 11 Using Script Integration

Line Script Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Explanation of Symbols Lining in the Digital Realm Script Integration Workflow Using Script Integration in Video Projects

Script Window Basics

Script Settings Options Importing a Script Opening, Closing, and Saving the Script Window Displaying Clip Information in a Script Window Navigating in the Script Window Adjusting the Script Margins

Manipulating Script Text

Changing the Font of the Script Selecting Text Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Script Removing Script Text

Searching Through Script

Using Page and Scene Numbers

Adding a Page or Scene Number

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

. . . . . . . . . 349

. . . . . . . . . . 350

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Changing a Page or Scene Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Deleting a Page or Scene Number

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Searching for a Page or Scene Number

Conducting a Text Search

Linking Clips to the Script

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Interpolating Position for Script Integration Manipulating Slates

Selecting Slates Resizing a Slate Hiding Slate Frames Showing One Take Per Slate Moving a Slate Deleting a Slate

Manipulating Takes

Selecting Takes Adding Takes Deleting Takes Displaying Take Numbers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Changing the Representative Frame for a Take Loading Takes Playing Takes Adjusting Take Lines Indicating Off-Screen Dialog Using Color Indicators

Using Script Marks

Placing Script Marks Manually Automating Screening and Marking

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Loading and Playing Marked Segments Moving a Script Mark Deleting a Script Mark

Finding Clips and Script

Finding Script

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Finding Clips and Bins from the Script Window

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

. . . . . . . . . . . . 369

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

. . . . . . . . . . . 378

Editing with the Script Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Assembling a Rough Cut Splicing a Script Range Revising the Script Interactive Screenings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Chapter 12 Viewing and Marking Footage

Customizing the Composer Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Changing the Composer Window Background Color Using the 16 x 9 Display Format Displaying Tracking Information Tracking Format Options Setting the Font and Point Size for Monitor Displays Displaying the Clip Information Window

Copying Text from the Clip Information Window Displaying Timecode Setting Multiple Timecode Displays Composer Window Settings Options

Color Framing Options Miscellaneous Composer Options

Fast Forward and Rewind

Viewing Methods Loading and Clearing Footage

Loading into Source, Record, and Pop-up Monitors Loading Multiple Clips or Sequences Using the Clip Name Menus

Switching Between Loaded Clips

Clearing Clips from Monitors

Resizing Monitors

Hiding the Video in a Monitor Resizing a Monitor

Controlling Playback

Using Position Bars and Position Indicators

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

. . . . . . . 385

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

. . . . . . 390

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

. . . . . . 392

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

. . . . . . . . 402

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Using Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Play Reverse, Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, and

Fast Forward Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Play Standby Button

Step Buttons

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Using Single-Field Step Using the Keyboard

J-K-L Keys (Three-Button Play)

Home, End, and Arrow Keys Using the Mouse

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Jogging with the Mouse

Shuttling with the Mouse

Marking and Subcataloging Footage

Marking IN and OUT Points Moving IN and OUT Points Marking an Entire Clip or Segment Creating Subclips Marking Audio Clips Using Locators

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Ways to Use Locators

Adding Locators While Editing

Copying Locators from Source Clips

Marking Locators Using the Locators Window

Features of the Locators Window

Locators Window Fast Menu

Finding Frames, Clips, and Bins

Using Timecode to Fi nd a Frame Searching a Clip

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Using Match Frame Performing a Reverse Match Frame Finding a Bin

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Locating a Master Clip from a Subclip in a Sequence

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

. . . . . . . 433

Finding a Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Chapter 13 Editing in Source/Record Mode

Entering Source/Record Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Setting Up a New Sequence

Changing the Sequence Name and Timecode Setting Up Tracks for the New Sequence

User Preferences for Creating Tracks Adding Filler

Making an Edit

Creating an Instant Rough Cut

Undoing or Redoing Edits Editing Additional Shots into the Sequence

Performing a Splice-in Edit Performing an Overwrite Edit Performing a Replace Edit Using Single-Mark Editing

Using Phantom Marks

Setting One Mark Adding a Second Mark

Lifting, Extracting, and Copying Material

Lifting Material Extracting Material Copying Material Using the Clipboard

Preserving Clipboard Contents

Recovering Material from the Clipboard

Adding Comments to Sequence Clips Playing the New Sequence

Starting a Playback Loop Playback Performance Tips Using the Play Length Toggle Feature

Changing the Value for the Play Length Toggle Button

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

. . 459

Playing a Sequence Using the Play Length

Toggle Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

How to Fine-Tune the Sequence

Chapter 14 Using the Timeline

Customizing Timeline Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Using the Timeline Fast Menu Additional Procedures for Customizing the Timeline

Enlarging and Reducing Tracks

Moving a Track Changing the Timeline Background Color Changing the Timeline Track Color Assigning Local Colors to Clips in the Timeline Displaying Local and Source Colors in the Timeline

Displaying Source Colors

Displaying Local Colors Highlighting Offline Media Cl ips Saving a Customized Timeline View Replacing a Timeline View Setting the Scroll Option for the Timeline Timeline Settings Options

Restoring the Default Timeline View Navigating in the Timeline

Using the Position Indicator Using the Timeline Scroll Bar/Position Bar Displaying Detail in the Timeline Zooming In and Out Focusing the Timeline Using Full-Screen Timeline Displaying Source Material in the Timeline Controlling Movement in the Timeline IN to OUT Highlighting in the Timeline

Using Segment Mode

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

. . . . . . 466

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

. . . . . . . . . . . 468

. . . . . . . 469

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

Segment Mode Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Selecting and Deselecting Segments

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Selecting Segments with the Segment Mode Pointer

Lassoing One or More Segments

Deselecting Segments

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Performing Segment Mode Edits

About Four-Frame Display

Maintaining Sync in Segment Mode

Extracting/Splicing Segments

Lifting/Overwriting Segments

Deleting Segments with Segment Mode

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Marking Clips and Sequences with Segment Mode

Using Advanced Timeline Techniques

Bin Editing into the Timeline Cutting, Copying, and Pasting in the Timeline Editing with the Film Track Editing in Heads and Tails View

Working with Multiple Tracks

About Effects Editing About Nesting

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Using the Track Selector Panel Selecting Tracks Monitoring Tracks

Monitoring Video

Monitoring Audio

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

Monitoring a Solo Track Patching Tracks

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Locking and Sync Locking Tracks

Locking Tracks

Sync Locking Tracks Adding a Track Deleting Tracks

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Adding an Edit (Match Framing)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

. . . . . . . . . . . . 498

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

. . . . 487

. . . . 496

Removing Match-Frame Edits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Backtiming Edits

Additional Offline Aids

Detecting Duplicate Frames Tracking Color-Frame Shifts

Printing the Timeline

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Chapter 15 Working in Trim Mode

Customizing Trim Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Trim Settings Options

Using Basic Trim Procedures

Entering Trim Mode Exiting Trim Mode Switching Between Big and Small Trim Modes Selecting Between Trim Sides Selecting Additional Transitions Performing a Basic Trim Audio Solo in Trim Mode Reviewing the Trim Edit Trimming On-the-Fly Dual-Image Playback During Trims Trimming During a Playback Loop

Creating Overlap Edits Extending an Edit Slipping or Sliding Shots

Selecting Segments for Slip or Slide Trimming The Slip/Slide Display Performing the Slip or Slide Trim Slipping Shots in Source/Record Mode

Maintaining

Adding Black When Trimming Trimming with Sync-Locked Tracks

Using the Transition Corner Display

Sync While Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

. . . . . . . . . . . . 530

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540

. . . . . . . . . . . . 540

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Chapter 16 Working with Audio

About Audio Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

Accessing Audio Effect Tools Audio Editing Aids

Using Audio Scrub

Smooth Scrub Versus Digital Scrub

Selecting Tracks for Scrubbing Performing Smooth Audio Scrub

Using the J-K-L Keys to Perform Smooth Scrub

Using the Mouse to Perform Smooth Scrub Using Digital Audio Scrub

Adjusting Digital Scrub Parameters

Performing the Digital Scrub Procedure Using Waveform Plots

Displaying Audio Waveforms Muting the Audio

Using the Audio Mix Tool

Resizing the Audio Mix Tool Adjusting One Audio Track at a Time Ganging and Adjusting Multiple Tracks Ignoring Existing Volume and Pan Settings Adjusting Volume While Playing an Audio Effect

Using Audio Gain Automation

Automation Gain Values and System Clip Gain Values Adjusting Volume in the Timeline

Deleting Audio Gain Keyframes

Moving Audio Gain Keyframes on the Timeline Using an External Fader Box to Adjust Volume

Using an External Fader to Adjust the Volume of

Individual Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

About the Automation Gain Tool Window

Hardware Toggle Button

Track Solo Button

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556

. . . . . . . . 556

. . . . . . . . . . . . 557

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

. . . . . . . . . 572

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

. . . . . 574

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576

. . . . . . . 576

. . . . . . . . . . . . 578

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Position Indicator Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Automation Gain Tool Fast Menu Recording Audio Gain Information

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585

Using the Automation Gain Tool Window Sliders to

Record Gain Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

Using an External Fader Box to Record Audio Gain

Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

Using the Snap Mode Feature on the MCS-3000X Fader Connecting an External Fader to Your Avid System

The MCS-3000X Buttons

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590

Ganging Sliders on the FaderMaster Pro Fader

. . . . . . . . 589

. . . . . . . . . 591

Using the Automation Gain Tool and Audio Mix Tool

Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592

Using the Audio EQ Tool

Audio EQ Tool Features Applying Audio EQ Effects Saving Audio EQ Effects Removing Audio EQ Effects Audio EQ Examples

Low Shelf Example

Small Octave Range Example Using Audio EQ Templates

Applying an EQ Template

Creating Your Own Templates Adjusting EQ While Playing an Audio Effect

Using Digidesign AudioSuite Plug-Ins

Installing AudioSuite Plug-Ins Starting and Quitting the DAE Application Setting Playback Buffer Size Using Digidesign AudioSuite Plug-Ins

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Applying an AudioSuite Plug-In to a Clip in the Timeline Using a Plug-In Dialog Box

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

. 588

. . 612

AudioSuite Plug-In Fast Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Rendering Plug-In Effects Creating New Master Clips

Serial Versus Parallel Processing

AudioSuite Controls for Creating New Master Clips

Using the AudioSuite Plug-Ins to Create New

Master Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Using an AudioSuite Effect Template Plug-In Limitations Troubleshooting AudioSuite Plug-Ins

Addressing Memory Allocation Problems

Canceling a Render Operation

Addressing Error Messages When Rendering a

Plug-in Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623

Recording Voice-Over Narration

Using the Audio Punch In Tool Connecting the Hardware Creating the Voice-Over Voice-Over Media Files

Fine-Tuning Audio Transitions

Fading and Dipping Audio

Fading Audio

Dipping Audio

Mixing Down Audio Tracks

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616

. . . 616

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625

Chapter 17 Syncing Methods

Autosyncing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Managing Sync Breaks

Editing to Avoid Sync Breaks Displaying Sync Breaks Fixing Sync Breaks

Fixing Sync in Trim Mode

Fixing Sync in Source/Record Mode

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

Fixing Sync in Segment Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

Managing Sync with Multiple Tracks

Using Sync Lock Syncing with Tail Leader Syncing with Locators Using Add Edit When Trimming

Using Sync Point Editing Ganging Footage in Monitors Using Match Frame

Performing a Match Frame Performing a Reverse Match Frame Matchframing Tracks Using Match Frame to Find Sources

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

Chapter 18 Multicamera Editing

Developing a Postproduction Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

Tape Classification Schemes Production Paths Managing Audio Digitizing W orkflow Digitizing Methods

Logging Tips

Autodigitizing Tips

Storage Tips Checking the Bins

Replacing Missing Clips

Deleting Extra Clips

Checking Audio and Image Quality Additional Offline Editing Aids

Grouping and Multigrouping Clips

Creating Group Clips Creating Multigroup Clips

Multicamera Edit Modes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

Full-Monitor Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666

Quad Split MultiCamera Mode

Multicamera Editing Techniques

Switching Shots with the Arrow Keys Cutting On-the-Fly with Quad Keys Using the Add Edit Button Using the Group Menu Using the Quad Menus Using Match Frame in Multicamera Editing

Workflow Options

Selective Camera Cutting Cutting On-the-Fly Combination Cutting

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

Chapter 19 Output Options

Preparing for Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682

Establishing Sync for Output

Calibrating for Video Output

Using the Factory Presets Basic Video Output Calibration Advanced Video Output Calibration

Preparing for Audio Output

Setting the Calibration Tone Calibrating Global Output Levels Adjusting Output on Eight-Channel Audio

Board Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

Preparing Record Tapes

Frame-Accurate Recording Manual Recording Recording Bars and Tone

Enabling Assemble-Edit Recording

Using the Digital Cut Tool

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700

Selecting a Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

Previewing a Digital Cut

Creating a Custom Countdown Display Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Remote Mode) Recording a Digital Cut to Tape (Local Mode) Accessing EDL Manager Using the Matchback Option VTR Play Emulation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711

Chapter 20 Exporting and Exchanging Material

About Exporting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716

Creating and Using Export Settings

Export Options Settings

Video Compression Options

Additional Export Options Settings Preparing to Export a Sequence

Mixing Down Video Tracks Exporting Frames, Clips, or Sequences Using Drag-and-Drop Method to Export Frames, Clips, and

Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743

About OMF Interchange

Choosing an OMFI Transfer Method Using the Avid

About the Avid

Installing the Avid

Exporting with the Avid

Exporting with Other Supported

Exporting from a Third-Party

Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756

Transferring a Project Between

(Macintosh) Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757

Methods for Transferring Files Between

Media Composer Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758

QuickTime Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

QuickTime Codec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744

QuickTime Codec on Other Systems . . . . 747

QuickTime Codec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738

QuickTime Codecs . . . . . . . 756

QuickTime Codec

Media Composer

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

Compatibility Requirements for Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759

Transferring a Project and Associated Media Files

Transferring Projects, User Profiles, and Site Settings

Appendix A Using AudioSuite Plug-Ins

Supported AudioSuite Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763

Core AudioSuite Plug-Ins

Additional Supported Plug-Ins

Digidesign D-FX™ Plug-Ins Digidesign D-Fi™ Plug-Ins

Core Plug-In Descriptions

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

Invert

Duplicate

Normalize

Gain

Reverse

DC Offset Removal

Time Compression/Expansion

Pitch Shift

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768

. . . . . . . . . 759

. . . . . . 761

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768

Appendix B File Format Specifications

Graphics (Image) Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776

Preparing Graphics Files for Import

Graphics File Import Specifications Animation Files Audio File Formats OMF Files Two-Field Media Files and Field Dominance

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790

Appendix C Compression Ratios and Storage Requirements

Screen Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793

Compression Ratios

Compression Groups and Image Quality

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794

Video Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795

Compression Specifications

Mixing Ratios Storage Requirements

Estimating Drive Space Requirements Maximizing Drive Space

Managing Storage to Improve Playback Performance

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804

Appendix D Avid Log Specifications

Understanding Avid Log Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806

Describing an Avid Log File

Global Headings

Column Headings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812

Data Sample Avid Log

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816

Index

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798

. . . . . . 804

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807

Figures

Figure 3-1 Sample Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Figure 3-2 Figure 6-1 Figure 8-1 Figure 14-1 Figure 14-2

Sample Spreadsheet Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Digitize Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Batch Import Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Timeline Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Track Selector Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505

Tables

Table 2-1 Help Topic Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Table 3-1 Table 3-2 Table 3-3 Table 3-4 Table 3-5 Table 5-1 Table 6-1 Table 6-2 Table 6-3 Table 6-4 Table 7-1 Table 7-2 Table 7-3 Table 8-1 Table 9-1 Table 9-2

Settings Scroll List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Bin Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

General Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

User Interface Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . 83

Displaying Groups of Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Modifying Bin Information Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Deck Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Deck Preferences Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

General Digitize Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Luminance Settings for Video Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Function Keys Available When Digitizing. . . . . . . . . 210

Locators Mapped to Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Batch Digitize Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Import Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Object Icon Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Range Menu Items for Explicit Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Table 9-3 Table 9-4 Table 9-5 Table 9-6 Table 11-1 Table 12-1 Table 12-2 Table 12-3

Range Menu Items for Implicit Ranges. . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Direct Modification Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Modify Command Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Bin Column Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Script Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Timecode Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Composer Window Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Color Framing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Table 12-4 Miscellaneous Composer Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Table 12-5 Table 14-1 Table 15-1 Table 19-1 Table 19-2 Table 19-3 Table 20-1 Table 20-2 Table 20-3 Table 20-4 Table 20-5 Table B-1 Table B-2 Table B-3 Table B-4 Table B-5

Fast Forward and Rewind Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Timeline Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

Trim Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Video Format Output Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685

Luminance Settings for Video Output . . . . . . . . . . . . 687

VTR Emulation Settings Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712

Export Settings Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719

Export Options Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724

Video Compression Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

Additional Export Options Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733

Transfer Devices for Transferring Projects. . . . . . . . . 758

Graphics File Import Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

Animation File Import Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . 785

QuickTime Import and Export Specifications . . . . . 786

OMF File Import Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788

Recommended Field Dominance Settings for

Two-Field Import/Export. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791

Table C-1 Table C-2 Table D-1 Table D-2 Table D-3 Table D-4

Compression Ratio Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796

Estimated Storage Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

Compatible Log Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806

Avid Log Global Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809

Avid Log Column Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810

Avid Log Data Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813

CHAPTER 1

Desktop Basics

For information on the System Folder and

other Macintosh® features, such as the desktop and icons, see your Macintosh documentation.

The Avid drive—the computer’s internal hard drive—contains a number of files and utilities you can use to organize and optimize your work. The desktop elements directly related to the Media Composer system (also referred to at times as the Avid system) are stored in the Avid Projects, Avid Users, Utilities, and Media Composer folders. The System Folder also contains essential extensions and control panels.

This chapter describes the location of the various project files. For information about moving a project from one Media Composer (Macintosh) system to another, see “Transferring a Project Between

Media Composer (Macintosh) Systems” on page 757.

For information on moving projects to other Avid systems, see the Avid Products Collaboration Guide.

The following sections describe basic procedures involving the Avid Projects, Avid Users, Attic, and Media Composer folders:

• About the Media Composer Folder

• Managing Avid Project and Avid User Folders

• Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder

• Starting the Media Composer Application

About the Media Composer Folder

The Media Composer folder contains essential operational files and supporting files. You should not touch any of these files, except where noted in the following descriptions.

• Help folder: This folder contains the online help files. For infor-

mation on using the Help, see “Using Help” on page 54

• Media Composer application: The application icon resides here.

Procedures for starting the application are described in “Starting

the Media Composer Application” on page 37.

• Settings folder: In addition to Project and User settings, the sys-

tem maintains two settings files in this folder that apply to all

users and all projects on the system. You can copy or move the

Site Settings file to other Media Composer (Macintosh) systems,

using the procedure described in “Transferring Projects, User

Profiles, and Site Settings” on page 761.

• Supporting Files: These are a series of files that add functionality

to the application. The system accesses most of these files from

within the application. You can add third-party effects to the 3rd

Party Plug-Ins folder and AVX_Plug_Ins folder from programs

such as Avid Visual Extensions (AVX™) for use in effects editing,

as described in the Avid Media Composer Effects Guide.

Managing Avid Project and Avid User Folders

Managing projects, user profiles, and settings involves moving, copying, or deleting files and folders, and changing project or user names.

About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

The Avid Projects and Avid Users folders allow you to move entire projects or selected project and user settings between systems by copying and moving files on your desktop. When you copy or move a project, the bins for that project are also moved or copied. For more information on transferring projects, see “Transferring a Project

Between Media Composer (Macintosh) Systems” on page 757.

When you create a new project or user profile, the system creates the following files and folders:

• When you create a new user, the system creates three items:

- User profile file

- User settings file

- User folder containing the two files

Each item is given the user name you provide. This new folder is

stored in the Avid Users folder on the top level of the Avid drive.

• When you create a new project, the system creates three items:

- Project file

- Project settings file

- Project folder containing the two files

Each item is given the project name you provide. This new folder

is stored in a location separate from the media files. The default

location is the Avid Projects folder at the top level of the Avid

drive.

Your settings are initially set to the default values. As you work, the files maintain current settings, and the project folder fills with bin files.

Changing Project and User Names

You cannot change project or user names from within the Media Composer application. You must change the name from your desktop before starting the application.

When you change a user name or project name, make sure you change the name of the folder and all the files in the folder that have the old name. The system does not automatically change the names of corresponding files in the folder.

To change a project or user name:

1. Double-click the Avid drive to open it.

2. Double-click the Avid Users or the Avid Projects folder to open it.

3. Click the name of the folder you want to change. The name is highlighted for text entry, and the arrow changes to

an I-beam.

4. Change the name of the folder.

5. Double-click the folder with the new name to open it. The folder contains profiles, settings, and project files with the old

names.

6. Change the old name of each file to the new name.

Do not change the name of the file MCState in the user folder.

7. Close the windows and restart the Media Composer application. The new project or user name appears in the Open Project dialog

box.

Deleting Projects and User Profiles

Digitized media related to a deleted project is not eliminated with the project folder . For more information on deleting media files, see

“Deleting Clips and Sequences” on page 275 and“Deleting Media Files with the Media Tool” on page 324.

You cannot delete projects and user profiles from within the Media Composer application. You must make the change from your desktop before starting the application.

To delete a project or user profile:

1. Double-click the Avid drive to open it.

2. Double-click the Avid Users or the Avid Projects folder to open it.

3. Drag the project or user folder you want to delete to the Trash. Empty the Trash to remove the files from the system.

Deleting a project also deletes any bins that are in that project.

4. Close the windows and restart the Media Composer application. The deleted project or user no longer appears in the Open Project

dialog box.

Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder

The Attic folder, located at the top level of the Avid drive, contains backup files of each bin in a project. For information on setting automatic save features, see “Reviewing Basic Settings” on page 80

You retrieve files from the Attic folder in the following circumstances:

• When you want to replace current changes to a sequence or clip with a previous version

• When the current bin file becomes corrupt

The Attic folder contains a folder for each project. When a bin is saved, a copy of the bin file is stored in the project folder in the Attic folder. The system adds the file name extension .bak plus a version number to the bin name. The bin file with the highest version number represents

the latest copy of the bin file. When you view a project folder in the Attic folder in List view, you can also identify the most recent backup file based on the name and timestamp of creation displayed in the Date Modified column.

The oldest backup file is overwritten only if the second oldest backup file is more than 2 hours old.

To retrieve a file from the Attic folder:

1. Quit the Media Composer application. See “Quitting the Avid

Application” on page 50.

2. From the desktop, double-click the Attic folder at the top level of the Avid drive.

The Attic folder opens and displays project folders that contain the backup files.

3. Double-click the project folder that contains the files you want to retrieve.

4. Choose List from the View menu, if the project folder is not already in List view.

The project folder displays the file names and their creation dates.

5. Shift+click the bin files you want to retrieve.

6. Option+drag the selected backup bin files to the desktop. This makes a copy of the files, leaving the original files i n the Attic

folder .

7. Click a Media Composer window to activate the Media Composer application.

8. Click the Project window to activate it, and click Bins to display the Bins list.

The Avid application does not allow a bin and a copy of a bin to be open at the same time. You must keep all other bins closed, and open the backup bins one at a time.

9. Choose Open Bin from the File menu. Select one of the backup bin files you copied to the desktop and click Open.

When you open the backup bin, a link to the backup bin on the desktop is created in the Other Bins folder.

10. Create a new bin if you do not plan to overwrite existing files.

11. Open the new bin and open the backup bin in the Other Bins folder.

12. Select the material you want to keep from the backup bin, and drag the files to the new bin.

Repeat steps 9 through 12 for any other backup bin files you copied to the desktop.

13. Select and delete the backup bins in the Other Bins folder.

14. Drag the backup bin files on the desktop to the Trash.

Once you have moved the files, modify their creation dates so they are considered newest by the system. The creation date is modified whenever you make a change to an object and then save the bin. Since there is no conflict with sequences, there is no need to modify the creation date of a sequence.

Starting the Media Composer Application

The Media Composer application icon is located in the Media Composer folder on the Avid drive. For most users, the desktop or the Apple menu is a more convenient location for starting the application.

The application will not start properly if the application icon is moved from the Media Composer folder. To start the application from a convenient location, Avid recommends that you create an alias and place it in a convenient location.

For more information on making an alias and using the Apple menu, see your Macintosh documentation.

To start the application, do one of the following:

• Double-click the application icon.

• Double-click the alias icon.

• Choose the application from the Apple menu.

After the application starts, the Open Project dialog box appears, as described in “Opening a Project” on page 40

If your system includes the AvidNet™ Transfer Tool, you can prevent AvidNet from starting automatically by using the AvidNet settings. See Table3-1 on page77

CHAPTER 2

Starting a Work Session

Your work in Media Composer begins when you turn on the system, start the application, and open an existing project or create a new project. This chapter describes these and other procedures for starting a work session. There are also several techniques you can use to safeguard and restore your work if necessary. These topics are covered in the following sections:

• Opening a Project

• Backing Up Your Project Information

• Ending a Work Session

• Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives

• Using Context Menus

• Using Help

This chapter also provides a session check list.

For information about turning on your system, see the Avid Media

Composer Getting Started Guide.

Opening a Project

Each time you start the Media Composer application, the Open Project dialog box appears.

Use the procedures described in the following sections to establish your identity as a user with the system and to select or create a project to open. You can also create additional folders within which to store projects, or you can quit the application from the Open Project dialog box.

Identifying a User

To identify a user for the project, you can either create and identify a new user or select one from a list of existing users. This user name represents the user profile, which includes the settings associated with that user. New users begin with default user settings. When you

Users scroll list

Projects scroll list

customize the user settings in the Avid application, these customized settings are associated with the user name.

The Avid Users folder, at the top level of the Avid drive, is the default location for user profile files.

Setting Up a New User

To create a new user profile:

1. Click the New User button. The New User dialog box appears.

2. Type your name and click OK.

If you plan to move bins and projects from one platform to another , do not use

the following characters / \ : * ? “ < > |when naming projects, bins, and users. You can set the Use Windows® compatible File Names option in the General Settings dialog box to prevent the system from accepting these restricted characters in a bin, project, or user name.

The Open Project dialog box reappears with your user name highlighted in the list of users.

You are ready to select a project. See “Selecting a Project” on

page 43.

Selecting an Existing User

T o s elect fr om the list of existi ng users, click the user name to highlight it in the user scroll list on the left side of the Open Project dialog box. This user profile is used when you open a project.

The Avid Users folder is the default location for user profile files.

Directory pop-up menu

User name

Parent folder

To change the location of user profiles outside the Avid Users folder, you must use the Macintosh desktop.

Parent folders containing collections of users appear with a dot preceding them. If the needed user name is stored inside a parent folder within the Avid Users folder:

1. Double-click the folder to open it and display the user names.

2. Click a user name to select it.

If the user profile you want is stored on your system outside the Avid Users folder (in another folder or on a network, for example), you can locate it by using the Open Project dialog box.

To search for another user profile folder:

1. Click the Directory pop-up menu to display a list of other locations on the system.

2. Select a drive from the Volumes submenu if necessary, and locate the folder.

3. Double-click the selected folder to open it. Continue to open any additional folders until the user scroll list displays the appr opriate user file name.

4. Click the user name to select it.

Selecting a Project

To open a project, you can either create and open a new project, or open an existing project.

Creating a New Project

To create a new project:

1. Click New Project in the Open Project dialog box.

You are ready to select a project. See “Selecting a Project” on

page 43.

The New Project dialog box appears.

2. Type the name of your new project in the highlighted text box.

If you plan to move bins and projects from one platform to another , do not use

3. Select either NTSC or PAL from the Format pop-up menu.

4. (Option) Click Matchback Options and choose a film format from the pop-up menu. The Matchback Options item appears only if your Avid system includes the Matchback option.

For more information about matchback, see “Using the Match-

back Option” on page 711.

5. Click OK. The system creates the new project files and folder, and returns

you to the Open Project dialog box. The project name is high-

lighted in the projects scroll list. You are ready to open the project. See “Opening the Project” on page 47

Selecting an Existing Project

Existing projects appear in the projects scroll list in the Open Project dialog box.

The Avid Projects folder is the default location for project files.

Directory pop-up menu

Projects scroll list

To select an existing project, do one of the following:

• Click an existing project name to highlight it.

• Press the first letter of the project name on the keyboard to highlight it. (If there are multiple projects that begin with the same letter, the first project in the list that begins with that letter will be highlighted.)

If the project is nested in a folder:

1. Double-click the folder name to open it and display the contents in the project scroll list.

2. Click the project name to select it.

If the project is stored outside the Avid Projects folder (in another folder or on a network, for example), you can locate it by using the Directory pop-up menu.

To locate a project in another folder:

1. Click the Directory pop-up menu and choose a drive from the Volumes submenu.

The Open Project dialog box displays all the stored folders.

2. Double-click a folder name to open it. Continue opening folders until the project scroll list displays the project folder you want.

3. Click the project name to highlight it. You are ready to open the project. See “Opening the Project” on

page 47.

Nesting Projects in Folders

You can create folders in the Open Project dialog box for storing related projects. To nest a folder, you must first create a folder.

To create a folder:

1. Click the New Folder button in the Open Project dialog box. The New Folder dialog box appears.

2. Type a name for the folder, and click OK. The folder appears with a dot preceding it in the project scroll list.

3. Double-click the folder name to open the folder. Any new projects you create now are displayed and stored in this

folder.

You can also nest projects by using the desktop to move existing projects into folders that display in the Open Project dialog box. For more information about moving existing projects, see “Transferring

Projects, User Profiles, and Site Settings” on page 761.

Opening the Project

After you select the appropriate user and project names in the scroll lists of the Open Project dialog box, you can open the project with the selected user settings in one of the following ways:

•Click OK.

• Double-click the highlighted project name in the project scroll list.

• Double-click the highlighted user name in the user scroll list.

For more information about the Project window, see Chapter 3 more information about the Composer window, see Chapter 12

. For

Project window

Close box

The Composer window opens on the Edit monitor, and the Project window opens on the Bin monitor with the selected user settings loaded.

The title bar of the Project window contains the project name and user name you selected in the Open Project dialog box.

Project name

User name

Closing a Project

T o close the Pr oject window and r eturn to the Open Project dialog box, do one of the following:

• Click the close box in the Project window.

• With the Project window active, choose Close Pr oject fr om the File menu.

The Project window and all open bins close, and the Open Project dialog box appears.

Backing Up Your Project Information

Although the Avid system automatically saves your bins, projects, and settings, you should back up these items frequently to avoid losing any of your project information due to a hard drive crash or corruption of the files. Because the storage requirements are minimal, you can back up these files easily to a variety of storage devices, such as:

• Floppy disk or equivalent drive

• Removable storage device

• Network storage device

To back up the larger media files that are created when you digitize footage, you must use a high-capacity storage device. For information on backing up media files, see “Backing Up Media Files” on page 334

Saving Your Project Information

To save your work on a floppy disk or equivalent device:

1. Open a window containing the destination storage folder.

a. Mount the storage drive or insert the floppy disk as

appropriate.

b. Double-click the icon for the destination storage drive or

floppy drive to open it. Double-click any folders to target the appropriate storage location.

2. Open a window containing the folder you want to save. a. Double-click the Avid drive to open it. b. Double-click the appropriate folder to open it:

Folder Contains

Avid Projects Project folders

Avid Users User folders

Media Composer:Settings Site Settings file

3. Drag the project folder, user folder, or site settings file to the desti-

nation storage location.

4. When the system finishes copying the files, eject the floppy disk

and store it as appropriate.

Restoring from a Backup

To restore a project, user profile, or settings from a backup storage device:

1. Open a window containing the backup files. a. Mount the storage drive or insert the backup floppy disk as

appropriate.

b. Double-click the icon for the storage drive or floppy disk to

open it.

2. Open a window containing the folder where you want to restore

the files.

a. Double-click the Avid drive to open it. b. Double-click the appropriate folder to open it.

• Project folders and settings files go in the Avid Projects folder.

• User folders and settings files go in the Avid Users folder.

• Site Settings files go in the Media Composer:Settings folder.

3. Drag the backup copies from the storage device to the appropriate

folder on the Avid drive.

When you start the A v id application, the restor ed pr oject and user pr ofile appear in the Open Project dialog box.

Ending a Work Session

To end the work session, you must first quit the application, and then turn off your equipment in the order described in this section.

Quitting the Avid Application

There are two ways to quit the Avid application, depending upon whether you have a project open or you are between projects:

• If you are working on an open project and want to quit Media Composer quickly, choose Quit from the File menu.

The project closes and the application quits.

• If you are between projects, from the Open Project dialog box:

a. Click the Quit button. The system asks if you want to leave

the application.

b. Click Leave to quit the application. Click Cancel to return to

the Open Project dialog box and select another project.

Turning Off Your Equipment

When you finish using your system and want to turn it off completely, follow these steps to avoid damaging your system or media storage drives:

1. Choose Shut Down from the Special menu. This turns off your Macintosh system. The screens on the Bin and Edit monitors become dark.

2. Turn off your speakers and monitors.

3. Turn of f each external drive in the chassis, then turn off the chassis itself.

4. Turn off all other hardware.

Never remove media drives from your Avid system when it is turned on. Shut down the computer and then remove the drives.

Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives

You can eject one or several drive volumes mounted on the desktop at any time from within the Avid application. You can also remount all the drives and return them to the desktop.

This is useful in several circumstances:

• If you work with drives for the backup and retrieval of lowresolution material, you can eject these drives and mount them as needed to avoid cluttering the desktop during normal use.

• If you work with an extensive array of fixed-storage drives, which can involve many partitions divided among several projects, you can selectively mount and eject drives as needed.

• If you work with the Avid Unity™ MediaNet, you might have to eject and remount icons on the desktop. See the Avid Unity MediaNet documentation for more information.

Ejecting Drives

To eject one or several drive icons from the desktop:

1. With the Avid application active, choose Eject from the File menu.

A dialog box appears.

The scroll list displays all drives and partitions currently mounted.

2. Select one or more drives to eject. Shift+click additional drives.

3. Click Eject. The system removes the drives from the desktop and can no longer access them.

Mounting All Drives

Because the system cannot interface with ejected drives individually, you cannot mount selected drives. You can mount all drives connected to the system, however, including those previously ejected.

To mount all drives, choose Mount All from the File menu.

The system mounts all partitions and drives that are turned on and connected to the system.

Using Context Menus

Your Avid system allows you to access frequently used commands by using the Ctrl+Shift keys and clicking an object. For example, Ctrl+Shift+click in a window to access a context menu that shows the most frequently used commands for that window.

You can also Ctrl+Shift+click a screen object to access What’s This?

Help for the object.

Using Help

You can get help and background information for tasks, windows, dialog boxes, and screen objects through the Media Composer Help system.

Opening and Closing the Help System

The Help system is also included on the Avid

Media Composer Online Publications CD-ROM.

T o open the Help system, choose Media Composer Help fr om the Help menu. The Help Topics dialog box appears. Use the Contents, Index, and Find tabs to access the information you need.

T o close the Help system, click the close box in each Help window. The Help system automatically closes when you close the last open Help window.

Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes

The Help system provides you with context-sensitive help for windows and dialog boxes, such as tools and settings.

To get help for windows and dialog boxes:

1. Make sure the Avid application is active.

2. Position the mouse pointer in the window or dialog box for which you want help.

3. Press the Help key on the keyboard. If there is no information about a window or dialog box, the Help

Topics dialog box appears.

For most dialog boxes that require an OK or Cancel response, you cannot move or click in a Help window until you close the dialog box. If you want to view the Help window while the dialog box is open, move the Help window to a part of the screen not used by Media Composer. Then open the dialog box again.

Getting Help for Screen Objects

Y ou can use What’s This? Help to learn about buttons and other screen objects.

To get help for screen objects:

1. Ctrl+Shift+click the screen object (for example, a button). A pop-up menu appears.

2. Choose What’s This? from the menu. The system displays a pop-up window that explains how you use

the item. Many pop-up windows include hypertext links (marked by underlined text) to more information.

Finding Information with the Help Topics Dialog Box

You see the Help Topics dialog box when you open Help from the Help menu. A topic is a single page of the Help system. The Help Topics dialog box includes three different methods for finding topics:

• Using the Contents Tab

• Using the Index Tab

• Using the Find Tab

To keep the Help Topics dialog box open and retain your search category, make sure the option Close Window When Displaying Topics is not checked. This option is located at the bottom of the Help Topics dialog box.

Using the Contents Tab

The Contents tab provides a list of books that contain topics covering the entire Help system. The list is organized by book. Each book opens to display a list of topics.

Use the Contents tab as follows:

Using the Index Tab

• To view the Contents, choose Media Composer Help from the Help menu and click the Contents tab, or click the Contents button in a Help topic.

• T o open a book and display a list of topics, select the book title and click Open, or double-click the book title.

• To open a Help window, select the topic and click Display, or double-click the topic title.

The Index tab provides an alphabetized list of entries, like the index of a printed book.

Using the Find Tab

To find topics by using the Index tab:

1. Choose Media Composer Help from the Help menu and click the Index tab, or click the Index button in a Help topic.

2. In the text box at the top, type a keyword for the topic that you

want to find (for example, type “audio” to jump to index entries listed under audio).

3. Open the topic in the list:

• If the typed keyword brings you to the topic you are seeking,

click the Display button, or double-click the index entry.

• If you do not immediately arrive at the topic, scroll through

the list and double-click an entry that makes sense, or try an alternative keyword in the text box. When you find the subject you are looking for, click the Display button or double-click the entry to view the topic.

The Find tab lets you search the entire Help system for words or phrases and then lists topics that include those words or phrases.

To search for topics by using the Find tab:

1. Choose Media Composer Help from the Help menu and click the Find tab, or click the Find button in a Help topic.

2. In the text box, type the word or phrase you want to find and click Search.

To find an exact phrase:

a. Type the first word of the phrase in the text box. b. Click More Choices. c. In the new line, choose “followed by” from the first pop-up

menu and type the second word of the phrase in the text box.

d. To add a third word, click More Choices and repeat step c.

e. Click Search.

A list shows the topics that contain the words you searched for.

Do not type quotation marks or asterisks in the text box.

3. To change the way in which you search for a word or words, click the Options button and choose your preferences from the Find Options dialog box.

Deselect the Word Stemming check box if you want a more complete search.

4. Select a topic in the list and then click the Display button or double-click the topic. The topic is displayed, and the words you searched for are highlighted.

How Help Windows Work

The Help system consists of the Help T opics dialog box and four types of windows:

• The Help Topics dialog box opens in the center of your screen by default. The Contents tab page contains a list of overview topics covered in the Help system. Double-click any book icon to see additional topics. Double-click a topic or select a topic and click the Display button to open a window containing the information you seek.

•The Media Composer How To window opens on the right side of your screen. It displays step-by-step information for completing tasks. You can close this window, or leave it open as you work. Each time you click a new How To topic, the window displays the new information. You can cycle back through the topics by clicking the Go Back button. Click on a hypertext link (marked by underlined text) to open a window with related information.

•The Media Composer Reference window opens on the left side of your screen. It contains background information, tables of options, or other information that helps you understand system features and tools. Each time you click a new Reference topic, the window

displays the new information. You can cycle back through topics by clicking the Go Back button. Click on a hypertext link (marked by underlined text) to open a window with related information.

•The Media Composer Illustration window opens on the left cen- tral part of your screen. It contains a graphic illustration of a feature that you can view while you read about it. Each time you click a new Illustration button, the window displays the new information.

•The pop-up windows open from screen objects. They also open from defined terms in the text, and from “hot spots” in illustrations. In illustrations, the pointer changes to a hand pointer when placed over an area that has a pop-up window associated with it. You cannot move or resize pop-up windows. Many pop-up windows include a hypertext link (marked by underlined text) to more information.

Using Buttons in a Help Topic

Each Help topic contains buttons to help you navigate through the system and perform basic functions. Table 2-1 buttons.

describes the Help topic

Table 2-1 Help Topic Buttons

Button Description

Contents Opens the Contents tab

Index Opens the Index tab

Find Opens the Find tab

Go Back Returns to the topic previously displayed in the window

Print Opens the Printer dialog box, from which you can

print the current topic

Glossary Opens a glossary of terms

Printing Help Topics

You can print a single Help topic or a group of topics listed in the Contents.

To print a Help topic:

1. Open or click the topic to make it active.

2. Click the Print button in the topic window.

3. Select the print options. When you are ready to print the topic, click Print.

To print a Help topic from the Contents tab, select the topic you want to print, and click the Print Topics button at the bottom of the tab.

To print a book of related topics from the Contents tab:

1. Select the book you want to print.

2. Click the Print Topics button.

If you select a book, all topics within that book, and all topics in other books contained in that book, will be printed. The system sends each topic as a separate print job to the printer, so this method can take a long time to print. You can more easily print large sections of user information from the Avid Media Composer Online Publications CD-ROM.

Do not use the Print All Topics command from the File menu. Choosing this command causes the system to print the entire Media Composer Help system, which consists of more than 2000 topics.

Copying from a Help Topic

To copy information from a Help topic into another document:

1. In the topic window, select the text that you want to copy. To select discontinuous text, press and hold the k key while you

drag the mouse pointer. To extend a selection that you have already highlighted, press and hold the Shift key while you drag the mouse pointer.

2. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.

3. Place the mouse pointer in another open application, such as a word processor.

4. Choose Paste from the Edit menu to paste copied text into a document.

You can also paste the text into the keyword text box in the Index tab or into the text box in the Find tab.

You cannot paste text from one topic into another.

Changing the Font Size of Help Topics

To change the font size of Help topics:

1. Open or click a How To or Reference window to make it active.

2. Choose Small, Normal, or Large from the Font submenu in the Options menu.

Transferring Help to Another Macintosh System

You can copy the Help files to another Macintosh system, such as a PowerBook

computer, and then use the Help independently of the

Media Composer system. To do this, you need 12 MB of hard disk space.

You can also copy these files from the Avid

Media Composer Online Publications CD-ROM.

If colors on your monitor flash or look unusual while viewing Help, choose Use System Colors from the Options menu. The quality of some illustrations might be affected, however, when this option is turned on.

To copy Help from the Media Composer system to another Macintosh system:

1. Create a new folder on the Macintosh system to which you are copying the Help.

2. Copy the following files from the Help folder in the Media Composer folder to the new folder:

• mchelp.hlp

• mchelp.cnt

3. Copy the QuickHelp file from the System folder on the Media Composer system to the System folder on the other Macintosh system.

4. Start Help by double-clicking the mchelp.hlp icon.

If you have a problem starting Help:

1. Start QuickHelp by double-clicking the QuickHelp icon.

2. Choose Open from the File menu.

3. Navigate to find mchelp.hlp, then click Open.

Session Check List

Turn on your equipment in the proper order: storage first, peripherals second, system last. For more information, see the Avid Media Composer Getting Started Guide.

On your desktop, move any settings files, project folders, or user folders from another system into the Avid folders if necessary before starting the application.

Start the application.

Create new projects or user profiles or select existing ones in the Open Project dialog box.

After finishing your work for the session, quit the application.

Back up your work before shutting down the equipment.

Turn off your equipment in the opposite order from which you turned it on: system, peripherals, and finally storage.

CHAPTER 3

Working with the Project Window

The Project window provides controls in thr ee differ ent display modes for structuring and viewing important information about your current project. These include a display of bins and folders associated with the project, a list of all settings, and basic information about the format of the project and use of system memory. These topics are described in the following sections:

• Opening and Closing the Project Window

• Using the Bins Display

• Using the Settings Display

• Using the Info Display

• Customizing Your Workspace

Opening and Closing the Project Window

The Project window opens automatically when you select a project in the Open Project dialog box.

Project window

Close box

T o close the Pr oject window and r eturn to the Open Project dialog box, do one of the following:

• Click the close box in the Project window.

• With the Project window active, choose Close Project from the File menu.

Because the Project window remains open the entire time you are working within a project, it might be hidden from view by several open bins or tools on the Bin monitor.

To locate and redisplay the Project window, do one of the following:

• Choose Project from the Tools menu.

• Click any unobstructed piece of the Project window to bring it forward.

Using the Bins Display

Bins contain the master clips that are created when you digitize source material. (The master clips are linked to the media files.) Bins also contain the sequences, subclips, group clips, and effect clips that you create during a project. From the Project window, you can view a list of bins associated with the project, and open, close, and create bins. You can also open bins created for another project.

To view a list of bins associated with the project, click the Bins button in the Project window.

Bins button

Bin icon

Bins list

Fast Menu button

From the Bins list you can examine the number, names, size, and location of bins.

Displaying Bins

Open/Close triangle

New folders

Trash icon

Fast Menu button

You can add folders to the Bins list in the Project window to help organize your project. You can drag bins into folders, or drag folders into folders. See “Managing Folders and Bins” on page 72

Click the triangle next to a folder icon to display the folder’s contents in the Bins list of the Project window. Click the triangle again to close the display.

To view a list of only the folder contents and not the folders, select Flat View from the Fast menu.

Creating a Folder in a Project

To create a folder in a project:

1. Click Bins in the Project window.

2. Choose New Folder from the Fast menu. A new untitled folder appears.

3. Click the untitled folder name in the Bins list and rename it.

Creating a New Bin

T o cr eate a new bin in a project, with the Project window active , do one of the following:

• Choose New Bin from the File menu.

• Click the New Bin button in the Project window.

Performing either of these procedures opens a new (empty) bin that is given the name of the project as displayed in the title bar of the Project window. The new bin appears in the Bins list of the Project window. A corresponding file is placed in the project folder in the Avid Projects folder, and a backup copy is placed in the Attic folder.

You can keep the default name of the bin or rename the bin immediately. For more information, see “Renaming a Bin” on page 68

Renaming a Bin

Each new bin that you create takes the name of the project that appears in the title bar of the Project window, numbered incrementally.

To change the name of a bin, click the bin name in the Bins list of the Project window and type a new name.

Project name

Default bin name

Opening and Closing a Bin

To open a bin:

1. Click the Project window to make it active.

2. Click Bins in the Project window.

3. Double-click the Bin icon next to a bin name.

The bin opens in a separate window. The Bin icon becomes dimmed, indicating the bin is open.

Bin window

Opening Selected Bins

To open several bins at once:

1. Click the name of one of the bins in the Bins list.

2. Shift+click each additional bin you want to open.

3. Choose Open Selected Bins from the File menu.

Opening Bins from Other Projects

To open a bin from another project:

1. Choose Open Bin from the File menu. The Select a Bin dialog box appears.

2. Find and select the bin you want.

Closing a Bin

Never open a bin that is stored on a floppy disk; otherwise, the system will not be able to save your work. Always copy the bin to a project folder on the system drive before you open it. For information, see “Transferring a Project Between Media Composer (Macin-

tosh) Systems” on page 757.

3. Click the Open button.

The bin appears in the Bins list in the Project window in a folder called Other Bins. The name Other Bins appears in italics. You can rename this folder. This option is especially useful when you want to open a bin not currently displayed in the Project window.

The Other Bins folder disappears from the Bins list when you delete all the bins in the Other Bins folder.

To close a bin, do one of the following:

• Click the close box in the upper left corner of the bin.

• Choose Close Bin from the File menu to close the active bin.

Deleting a Bin or Folder

To delete a bin or folder:

1. Select the bin or the folder you want to delete in the Bins list.

2. Press the Delete key. A Trash icon appears in the Bins list in the Project window. It con-

tains the deleted item.

Clips, subclips, and effects that are in a bin appear in the T rash after you delete the bin. However, if you select a clip, subclip, or effect directly and press the Delete key, the item does not appear in the Trash.

Viewing Contents in the Trash

If you need to view the contents in the Trash or decide you do not want to delete those items in the Trash, you must first move the bins and folders from the Trash.

To view items in the Trash:

1. Double-click the Trash icon in the Bins list to list the contents of the Trash.

2. Click the bins or folders you want to keep (or view) and drag them from the Trash to the Bins list in the Project window.

3. Double-click the bin or folder to view it.

Emptying the Trash in the Bins List

You can empty the contents in the Trash that is located in the Bins list.

Emptying the trash permanently removes the bins or folders from the drive.

If you change the name of the Trash icon, you cannot empty the Trash.

To empty the Trash in the Bins list:

1. Choose Empty Trash from the Fast menu.

An alert box appears.

2. Click Empty Trash to delete the bins or folders from the Trash and from your system disk.

Managing Folders and Bins

You can use the Project window to create hierarchies of folders and bins that reflect the specific workflow of the current project. This str ucture should provide both simplicity and backup security. Although the specifics can vary depending upon your production needs and habits, the following are a few basic principles that can help you get started:

• Limit the number of sequences you create in each project. For instance, consider creating one new project for each show, episode, spot, or scene.

• Limit the number and complexity of clips in each bin by creating and organizing bins in three groups, as follows:

- Create a set of bins for the digitizing stage.

For example, you can create one bin for each source tape to be digitized to avoid slowing the system with large bins and causing confusion between tapes.

- Create a second set of bins for organizing your project.

For example, you can create a separate bin for each segment of a video project, depending upon the preferences of the editor.

- Create a third set of bins for the editing stage, including:

A current cut bin for storing each work in progr ess (sequence) An archive bin for keeping the original version of each cut

(sequence) A selects or storyboard bin for scr eening selected clips or cuts

gathered from the source bins A format cuts bin for storing the final cuts with added format

elements such as segment breaks, color bars and tone, slate, or countdown

For information on creating Script windows using scripts for your projects, see Chapter 11

• (Option) Create additional folders at the desktop level for better organization.

For example, you can create one folder for each digitizing bin and show cut bin, or a folder to contain all shot logs to be imported.

• Save these files as a template for future productions of a similar nature.

This hierarchy allows you to have one set of bins available in the Project window during the digitizing and organizing phase, and another set of bins available during editing to reduce clutter.

Saving Bins Automatically

The Avid system automatically saves changes to your work on a regular basis during each session. You can modify the frequency of the automatic backups by using the Bin settings in the Settings scroll list in the Project window.

Two things happen when auto-save occurs:

• Any open bins are updated with changes made since the last autosave.

• Copies of these bins are placed in the Attic folder as backup.

The system automatically places copies of all bins into the Attic folder at regular intervals for backup. The procedure for recovering bin files from the Attic folder is described in “Retrieving Bin Files from the

Attic Folder” on page 35.

To adjust the frequency of automatic saves:

1. Click the Settings button in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears in the Project window.

2. Double-click Bin in the Settings scroll list. The Bin Settings dialog box appears.

3. Type a number in the minutes text box for the Auto-save interval option.

4. Click OK.

You can manually save bins for added security — for example, immediately after an important edit. When your work is lost, or when you want to recover an earlier version of a bin or sequence, you can retrieve files from the Attic folder.

Saving Bins Manually

The Save Bin command appears dimmed if there have been no changes since the last time the active bin was saved.

There are three ways to save bins manually:

• To save a specific bin: a. Click the bin to activate it.

b. Choose Save Bin from the File menu.

• To save selected bins: a. Activate the Project window by choosing Project from the

Tools menu or by clicking anywhere in the window.

b. Click a Bin icon to select it. Shift+click any additional bins.

c. Choose Save from the File menu.

The system saves all the selected bins.

• To save all the bins : a. Click the Project window to activate it but do not select any

individual bins listed in the Bins list.

b. Choose Save All from the File menu.

The system saves all the bins for the project.

Using the Settings Display

From the Settings display of the Project window, you can view , select, open, and alter various User, Project, and Site settings, as described in this section.

Settings scroll list

To view the Settings display, click the Settings button in the Project window.

Settings button

Setting type

About Settings

Three types of settings are displayed in the Settings scroll list: User, Project, and Site settings.

• User settings are specific to a particular editor. User settings

reflect individual preferences for adjusting the user interface in the Avid application. Individual User settings are stored in each user folder within the Avid Users folder at the top level of the Avid drive.

• Project settings are directly related to individual projects. When a

Project setting is changed, it affects all editors working on the project. Specific Project settings are stored in each project folder within the Avid Projects folder at the top level of the Avid drive.

• Site settings establish default parameters for all new users and

projects on a particular system. These can apply to particular configurations of equipment installed at the site (for example, specification and node settings for an external switcher). They can also include other User or Project settings that you copy into the Site Settings window. Site settings are stored in a separate Settings folder in the Media Composer:Settings folder on the Avid drive.

Table 3-1

list. The table also lists where you can find additional information on a particular item, and indicates whether the item has an associated dialog box (or window) that you can access from the Settings scroll list.

contains a brief description of each item in the Settings scroll

Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List

Setting Name Description For More

Information

Audio Sets the default audio pan; contains

audio scrub options and audio setup parameters.

AvidNet Sets preference for opening the

AvidNet Transfer Tool on startup.

Bin Sets the Auto-save and Double-click

preferences for bins.

Bin View Selects and formats the information

displayed in bins in the Project window.

Composer Configures the display and behavior

of buttons and information in the Source and Record monitors.

Deck Configuration Configures channels and decks into

the system.

Deck Preferences Sets preferences that affect all decks

configured into the system.

See Chapter 16

“Adjusting Audio Settings” on page 181.

See AvidNet Transfer

Tool User’s Guide.

See “Bin Settings” on

page 80.

See “Bin Column

Headings” on page 303.

See “Composer Win-

dow Settings Options” on page 395.

See “Deck Configura-

tion Settings” on page 152.

See “Setting Deck

Preferences” on page 159.

and

Access to Dialog Box?

Yes

Digital Cut Sets parameters for previewing or

recording a digital cut to tape. Appears in the Settings scroll list to facilitate copying settings.

Digitize Defines how the Avid system

digitizes and batch digitizes in specific situations.

Export Sets parameters for file export. See “Export Options

See “Using the Digi-

tal Cut Tool” on page 700.

See “General Digitize

Settings Options” on page 176.

Settings” on page 724.

No; choose Digital Cut from the Output menu.

Yes

Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued)

Setting Name Description For More

Information

General Defines several default values such as

the default starting timecode for your project.

Grid Defines the grid to use when you

create effects.

Import Sets parameters for file import. See “Import Settings

Interface Defines the appearance and function

of certain interface elements.

Keyboard Maps commands from the Command

palette to the keyboard.

Render Controls the size of imported graphics

and rendered effects to ensur e that the graphic or effect will be playable.

Script Sets the default display options

for scripts imported using script integration.

See “General Set-

tings” on page 82.

See Media Composer Effects Guide.

Options” on page 242.

See “Interface Set-

tings” on page 83.

See “Using the Key-

board” on page 412.

See Media Composer Effects Guide.

See “Script Settings

Options” on page 347.

Access to Dialog Box?

Yes

Serial Ports Configures the serial ports on your

system for deck control, controllers, and VTR emulation.

Timecode window Displays various timecodes in an

adjustable window

Timeline Contains the latest Timeline settings. See “Timeline Set-

See “Using the Serial

Ports Tool” on page 123.

See “Displaying T ime-

code” on page 393.

tings Options” on page 473.

Yes

Table 3-1 Settings Scroll List (Continued)

Setting Name Description For More

Information

Timeline View If you save your Timeline settings,

Timeline View appears in the Settings scroll list to facilitate copying settings.

Title Style Sheet If you save a title style while you are

using the Title too l, Title Style appears in the Settings scroll list.

Trim Customizes the Trim mode

environment.

Video Input The Video Input tool enables you to

calibrate composite or component video when digitizing. Appears in the Settings scroll list to facilitate copying settings.

Video Output The Video Output tool enables you to

calibrate output for composite or component video in a digital cut. Appears in the Settings scroll list to facilitate copying settings.

See “Customizing

Timeline Views” on page 463.

See Media Composer Effects Guide.

See “Trim Settings

Options” on page 525.

See “Preparing for

Video Input” on page 194.

See “Calibrating for

Video Output” on page 683.

Access to Dialog Box?

No; select saved setting files from within the Timeline.

Yes

No; choose Video Input Tool from the Tools menu.

No; choose Video Output Tool from the Tools menu.

VTR Emulation Sets parameters when using the Avid

system to emulate a VTR.

Workspace Enables you to associate settings and

windows with a workspace.

Defining Settings

You can use the Settings display to establish a hierarchy of settings that address the specific needs of each production phase.

See “VTR Play Emula-

tion” on page 712.

See“Linking User Set-

tings and Workspaces” on page 105.

Yes

For example, you can establish:

• User settings for the assistant editor: Facilitate logging, digitiz-

ing, and organizing projects.

• User settings for the editor: Include editing interface preferences.

• Project settings: Reflect the specific needs of the project.

• Bin View settings: Display useful columns of information for each

of the bins described in “Managing Folders and Bins” on page 72

By establishing these settings once, and selecting the appropriate setting or bin view in context, you can save time and effort that would be spent searching for information or adjusting bin headings on-the-fly. You can also save these settings along with your template (as described in “Managing Folders and Bins” on page 72 similar projects.

Reviewing Basic Settings

The following list describes basic system settings to revi ew at the start of your project:

) for use on

Bin Settings

• Bin settings

• General settings

• Interface settings

Double-click each setting in the Settings scroll list of the Project window to view the dialog boxes.

The Bin Settings dialog box controls the Avid system’s automatic save features, including the number of backups saved in the Attic folder.

Table 3-2

results of double-clicking an object in a bin.

describes the Automatic Save and Backup options, and the

Table 3-2 Bin Settings Dialog Box Options

Option Description

Auto-save interval Specifies the length of time between attempts to auto-save project files.

The default is 15 minutes. To avoid interrupting an edit, the Avid system waits until the system is

inactive before auto-saving. Use the “Force auto-save at” option to specify an interval at which the system will interrupt an edit to autosave.

Inactivity period Specifies the length of time the Avid system waits while the system is

inactive before automatically saving the project files. The default is 0 seconds.

Force auto-save at Specifies the maximum length of time between auto-saves. When the

system reaches this time, it will auto-save the pro ject files even if it must interrupt an edit to do so. The def a ult is 15 minutes.

Maximum files in attic Specifies the total number of files stored in the Attic folder. When a bin

is saved, the A vid system copies the previous version of the bin to a special folder called the Attic. The default is 30 files.

Keep more files if there are many editors working on the system. This ensures that all the bins are backed up.

When there are multiple editors working on one system, store Bin settings as Site or Project settings. This will ensure that another user does not override your settings and delete your backups.

Max versions of any one bin

The Double-Click options determine what happens when you double-click an object in a bin.

Opens new monitor for clip. Creates a new pop-up monitor and automatically loads the clip when

Loads clip into Source or Record monitor.

Specifies the total number of single-bin copies stored in the Attic folder. This setting prevents filling the Attic with too many copies of one bin, at the risk of losing the others. The default is five copies.

you double-click an object in the bin.

Loads the clip or sequence into the Source or Record monitor when you double-click an object in a bin.

General Settings

Table 3-3 describes the General Settings options.

Table 3-3 General Settings Dialog Box Options

Option Description

Drive Filtering Based on Resolution

Default Starting Timecode Specifies the timecode value you want the system to use as the

NTSC Has Setup Allows systems using NTSC-EIAJ

Project Format Displays the format currently selected for the project (NTSC or

Audio File Format Choose the file format for the audio:

Prevents digitizing high-resolution media to drives that do not have sufficient speed to play the resolution. If you select this option, the drives affected by drive filtering are unavailable when you try to access them with the Digitize tool.

Drive filtering does not verify the drive speed when you select a drive while rendering effects. Be sure when selecting your target drive for rendering that it is fast enough to play the media.

default starting timecode for each new sequence.

(used primarily in Japan) to

use the correct color mapping. NTSC-EIAJ users should not select this box. All other users should select this box.

PAL). This option cannot be changed.

• OMF (WAVE): Compatible with Windows applications

• OMF (AIFF-C): Compatible with many third-party applications, including Pro Tools®

• SDII (Sound Designer II): Compatible with AudioVision®

Use Windows® compatible File Names

Prevents you from using the characters /\:*?<>| in b in, proje ct, or user names. These characters are not allowed in Windows file names. This option is useful for moving bins and projects from Macintosh to Windows NT platforms.

Interface Settings

The Interface settings determine the level of basic information displayed in the interface. Table 3-4

describes the User Interface Settings

options.

Table 3-4 User Interface Settings Dialog Box Options

Option Description

Show Labels in Tool Palette

Show Tool Tips When this option is selected, the system displays

Delay _ seconds before showing

Show Graphics on Client Display

When this option is selected, the system displays text labels with the icons in tool palettes. To tear off the T ool palett e, click anywher e on the palette, hold the mouse button, and drag the palette to the location you want.

labels for buttons and icons when you position the pointer over them.

If you select Show T ool T ips, you can delay the label display by entering a value in this field. A delay enables you to move the pointer across the interface without displaying the labels on items between the starting point and the destination of the pointer.

When this option is selected and you have a third, full-screen monitor, the system displays graphics such as grid lines in the third, full-screen monitor as well as in the Record monitor.

Displaying Project Settings

You can display the Settings scroll list of the Project window in different groups, depending on what you need to view. Table 3-5 the different settings display groups.

Table 3-5 Displaying Groups of Settings

Option Description

All Settings Displays all settings available in the

Base Settings Displays Project, User, and Site settings only; no

Bin Views Displays all the Bin View settings you cr eated

Timeline Views Displays all the Timeline View settings you cre-

Title Styles Displays all the templates you created for the Title

describes

Media Composer system

views are displayed

ated

tool

Video Tool Settings Displays all the Video Tool settings

Import Settings Displays all the Import settings

Export Settings Displays all the Export settings

Workspaces Displays all the Workspace settings you created

Workspace Links Displays all the workspace links you created

To change the Settings scroll list display of the Project window:

1. Click the Settings button in the Project window. The Settings scroll list appears in the Project window.

2. Choose a settings display group from the Fast menu or from the Settings menu.

Settings menu

Fast Menu button

The Settings menu displays the settings group selected and the Settings scroll list displays only the settings in that group.

Working with Settings

You can view and modify most of your current settings by double-clicking them in the Settings scroll list of the Project window and by selecting new options. You can duplicate, rename, copy, and move settings among files or systems.

Selecting Another User

Because User settings are not project or site specific, you can display another set of User settings within the Project window.

User pop-up menu

Modifying Settings

To select another user, choose another name from the User pop-up menu.

The previous user’s settings are saved, and the new user’s settings are loaded into the Avid system and the Project window.

You can alter the default options for various settings to reflect the specific needs of a project or to customize the system based on personal preferences.

There are three types of settings you cannot modify. They are:

• Settings that require the presence of standalone peripherals, such as the Digidesign® 888

• Settings that can be modified only from within the tools in which they are used, such as Timeline views

• Film settings when you are working in nonfilm projects

To modify avai lable settings:

1. Double-click the name of a chosen setting in the Settings scroll list to open a settings dialog box.

Settings scroll list

A dialog box or window opens.

2. Enter new values or select new options for the settings.

3. Click OK, Save, Apply, Cancel, or the close box. The system saves changes in the appropriate User, Project, or Site

settings file.

Working with Multiple Settings

Y ou can have multiple versions of settings in your Settings scroll list in the Project window that apply to several users at various stages of production.

For example, you can have:

• Two Bin settings: one that automatically saves more often when you are editing intensively, and one that automatically saves less often when you are doing organizational work in the bins

• Multiple Digitize settings for digitizing various types of source material

Duplicating Settings

Naming Settings

• Multiple Keyboard and Composer settings to use for various activities such as digitizing, offline editing, or online effects editing

• Multiple Deck Preferences settings for various types of digitizing or for output

To create a new version of a setting:

1. Click the Settings button in the Project window to display a list of your current settings.

2. Click the setting you want to copy. Shift+click any additional settings you want to copy.

3. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu. A copy of each setting appears in the window. Duplicate settings

with custom settings names followed by a period and a version number in the second column appear with each custom setting name. Name your settings to indicate their functions.

Custom setting name column

You can add a custom name to a setting to differentiate it among more than two copies or to indicate a specific use.

To enter a custom setting name:

1. Click the Custom setting name column in the Settings scroll list of the Project window.

2. Type a new name and press Return. The new name appears in the list and is saved in the settings file.

Selecting Among Multiple Settings

With multiple settings, only one setting at a time is active. Settings that are currently active have a check mark to the left of the setting name.

To change the active setting, click in the space to the left of the setting you want to select as the active setting.

A check mark indicates that the setting is active.

Deleting Settings

You can delete settings from the Settings scroll list in the Project window at any time. For example, you might choose to delete one or more among multiple versions of a particular setting. Or you might want to delete all but a few settings to transfer into another Settings window. For information on transferring settings, see “Copying Settings

Between Settings Files” on page 90.

To delete a setting:

1. Click a setting to highlight it. Shift+click each additional setting you want to delete.

2. Press the Delete key or choose Delete from the Edit menu. The selected settings are immediately removed.

You cannot undo the deletion. You can, however, restore the default settings, or you can transfer settings from other files, as described i n the following sections.

Restoring Default Settings

You can restore your settings to the default values at any time by doing the following:

1. Click a setting to highlight it. Shift+click each additional setting you want to select.

2. Choose Restore to Default from the Special menu. An alert box asks whether you want to save the settings.

3. Click Copy & Restore to copy the current settings before restoring the default settings, or click Restore to discar d the current settings.

The system restores the default values for the selected settings.

Copying Settings Between Settings Files

You can copy selected settings:

• Between existing settings files

• Into a new settings file for use in other projects

• To change one type of setting to another

• Into the Settings folder in the Media Composer folder on the Avid drive to establish standard system settings fo r all new projects and users. See “Using Site Settings” on page 92

You can also transfer settings files to another Media Composer (Macintosh) system. See “Transferring Projects, User Profiles, and

Site Settings” on page 761.

Settings scroll list

To copy settings between files:

1. With the Settings display active, open the destination settings file in one of the following ways:

• Create and open a new settings file by choosing New Setting

File from the File menu. An untitled settings window opens.

• Open an existing settings file by choosing Open Setting File

from the File menu. The Open dialog box appears. Locate and select a settings file in the Avid Projects or Avid

Users folder and click Open. The settings file window opens.

2. Click the setting you want to copy in the Settings scroll list of the Project window. Shift+click any additional settings that you want to copy.

3. Drag the highlighted settings to the new destination Settings window.

New target settings window

4. You can also drag settings from the Settings window into the Settings scroll list in the Project window. When you copy a setting into the Settings scroll list and the setting is active, an alert box appears.

5. Do one of the following:

• Click Add to add the new settings to the project without

affecting the project’s current settings.

• Click Replace to replace the current version of each setting

with the new settings. Additional versions of each setting are not affected.

The copied settings are saved when you close or save the file or project.

Using Site Settings

When the system opens a new project, it first searches the Site Settings file in the Media Composer:Settings folder on the A vid drive and loads any settings placed here. The system then proceeds to l oad any Proje ct and User settings not included in the Site Settings file.

This feature is useful if you need to establish gl obal settings for all new users and projects, such as switcher settings, a specific start timecode for all sequences, or various customized features of the interface.

To load settings into the SiteSettings file:

1. Open a project with the settings you would like to establish as site settings. If a project does not already exist with the settings you want, create a project and make adjustments to the default settings as needed.

2. Choose Site Settings from the Special menu. The Site Settings window opens.

3. Click a setting in the Settings scroll list of the Project window or Shift+click multiple settings and drag them into the Site Settings window.

Copies appear in the Site Settings window.

4. Close the Site Settings window.

All new users and projects opened from the Open Project dialog box use these settings as the default settings.

Using the Info Display

The Info display in the Project window allows you to view basic project information, such as the video format (NTSC, for example).

To activate Info display, click the Info button in the Project window.

Fast Menu button

The items listed in this view are for information only and cannot be changed from the Info list.

The Fast Menu button at the bottom of the Info display in the Project window displays four menu items: Profile, Usage, Memory, and Hardware.

Displaying a Project Profile

Info button

The Profile displays basic project information, such as the video format (NTSC or PAL).

To display the Profile information:

1. Click the Info button in the Project window.

2. Click the Fast Menu button.

3. Choose Profile from the Fast menu. Basic project information is displayed.

Displaying Usage Information

The statistics feature gathers and reports information on system usage. You can use this information to support business functions such as resource management.

All statistics are gathered and reported by project. The file that contains this information is formatted so that you can use it as input to software programs such as analysis applications, spreadsheets, or report generators.

Fast Menu button

Do not rely on the statistics feature for billing or other financial purposes.

To view statistics for an open project:

1. Click the Info button in the Project window.

2. Click the Fast Menu button.

3. Choose Usage from the Fast menu. You see a dis play similar to the following:

4. Click the Info button again to update the Usage window to reflect any changes you made to the project.

To print this file, choose Print Usage from the File menu.

File Structure and Layout

A new statistics file is created each time you open the project. The files are stored in a Statistics folder inside each project folder.

The file name has the following format:

Statistics.

where:

Variable Description

yy Indicates the last two digits of the year

mm Indicates the month

dd Indicates the day

HH Indicates the hour

MM Indicates the minutes

SS Indicates the seconds

yymmdd.HHMMSS

The statistics file is formatted as comma-separated ASCII text, so it can be accepted by a variety of software programs. Each line in the file is tagged with indicators for identifying content and data type to assist in programming custom applications. Figure 3-1

shows a sample

data file.

Figure 3-1 Sample Data File

Description of Data File Values

The values in the first column indicate the content of the line. Values are:

01 title1 02 title2 03 heading 100 project info 101 Time Project open 102 Digitize tool open 104 Digitize tool active

105 Digitized Media bytes used 106 Rendered Effects bytes used 110 Effects rendering time 111 Title tool open 113 Title tool active 114 Title tool rendering 115 Digitize tool digitizing 116 Digitize tool logging 117 user comments

The value in the second column indicates the type of data in the line. Values are:

01 project info 02 time used 03 bytes used 04 text string

Importing the Statistics File into a Spreadsheet

You can import the statistics file into spreadsheet or other programs as an ASCII file and use the application to set up the proper format. For

example, to create a statistics file in Microsoft® Excel™:

1. Start Microsoft Excel.

2. Choose Open from the File menu and navigate to the statistics file you want to import.

3. Click Open. After you open the file, the Text Import Wizard starts.

To complete the steps for the Text Import Wizard:

1. Choose Delimited for the Original Data Type and click Next.

2. Choose Comma for Delimiters and click Next.

3. Choose General for Column Data Format.

4. Click Finish. The statistics file appears in spreadsheet format.

Spreadsheet Form of Statistics Data File

Figure 3-2

is the same sample file as it appears when you import into a

spreadsheet.

Figure 3-2 Sample Spreadsheet Form

Displaying Disk Space Statistics

To improve system performance, statistics for disk space (digitized media and rendered effects) are not calculated and are not displayed in the Usage window, unless you issue a Console command.

To display disk space statistics in the Usage window:

1. Choose Console from the Tools menu.

2. In the command entry text box, type:

toggleStatSpace

3. Press Return.

4. Choose Load Media Database from the File menu.

After the media database is loaded, the Usage window displays the number of files and disk space used for digitized media and rendered effects. To update the display, click the Info button on the Project window. To prevent recalculation, reenter the toggleStatSpace command.

Viewing Memory

To display system memory information:

1. Click the Info button in the Project window.

2. Click the Fast Menu button.

3. Choose Memory from the Fast menu. The Memory window opens.

100

Pinnacle Systems Media Composer - 8.0 User’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Desktop Basics

About the Media Composer Folder

Managing Avid Project and Avid User Folders

About Avid Projects and Avid Users Folders

Changing Project and User Names

Deleting Projects and User Profiles

Retrieving Bin Files from the Attic Folder

Starting the Media Composer Application

Starting a Work Session

Opening a Project

Identifying a User

Setting Up a New User

Selecting an Existing User

Selecting a Project

Creating a New Project

Selecting an Existing Project

Nesting Projects in Folders

Opening the Project

Closing a Project

Backing Up Your Project Information

Saving Your Project Information

Restoring from a Backup

Ending a Work Session

Quitting the Avid Application

Turning Off Your Equipment

Mounting and Ejecting Media Drives

Ejecting Drives

Mounting All Drives

Using Context Menus

Using Help

Opening and Closing the Help System

Getting Help for Windows and Dialog Boxes

Getting Help for Screen Objects

Finding Information with the Help Topics Dialog Box

Using the Contents Tab

Using the Index Tab

Using the Find Tab

How Help Windows Work

Using Buttons in a Help Topic

Printing Help Topics

Copying from a Help Topic

Changing the Font Size of Help Topics

Transferring Help to Another Macintosh System

Session Check List

Working with the Project Window

Opening and Closing the Project Window

Using the Bins Display

Displaying Bins

Creating a Folder in a Project

Creating a New Bin

Renaming a Bin

Opening and Closing a Bin

Opening Selected Bins

Opening Bins from Other Projects

Closing a Bin

Deleting a Bin or Folder

Viewing Contents in the Trash

Emptying the Trash in the Bins List

Managing Folders and Bins

Saving Bins Automatically

Saving Bins Manually

Using the Settings Display

About Settings

Defining Settings

Reviewing Basic Settings

Bin Settings

General Settings

Interface Settings

Displaying Project Settings

Working with Settings

Selecting Another User

Modifying Settings

Working with Multiple Settings

Duplicating Settings

Naming Settings